1 Peter 2:1-3 ESV
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
The Lord is having me to focus today on the subjects of
deceit and hypocrisy and this little word “if,” which brings into question that
some of those who are hearing or reading this message today may not have truly
had any kind of relationship with Jesus Christ at all, but that they may be
faking it. And, they may be deceiving others by trying to convince them that
they truly do have a relationship with Jesus Christ, when, in fact, they don’t.
And, the purpose for this deception would be to convince
others that they are righteous, or at least that they are “struggling,” or that
they are trying to do what is right, and that they are trying to not do what is
wrong.
But, the goal of it all is to cover up and conceal and hide
what they are really doing behind closed doors, when no one else is looking.
So, the whole “Christian” thing is really just a masquerade (a clever
performance) to trick people into thinking they are righteous and that they
have good intentions, while behind the scenes they are doing just the opposite.
And, in fact, in many cases, these who portend to the faith
in Jesus Christ are actually antichrist, because by their actions towards
others they are doing what is against Christ, and against his Word, and against
his gospel. And, they may even be killing (murdering) and abusing and
persecuting and falsely accusing and slandering those who truly are followers
of Jesus.
And, they may be doing all sorts of evil against the
servants of the Lord while pretending to be the “good guys” who really care
about other people, and who are humanitarian, and who really are trying to
serve God with their lives. But, the whole thing is a show, a performance for
an audience, while pure evil is lurking in their hearts and while they are
devising all sorts of wicked and evil schemes against those who truly are
righteous.
1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
But, the whole point of our salvation from sin is that we
are called out of the darkness and that we are brought into God’s wonderful
light. And, this is what we are to proclaim. For, Jesus died that we might die to
sin and live to righteousness, not so we could continue in blatant willful sin
against God without guilt and without remorse.
For, these masqueraders of righteousness are of the
antichrist and they are out to destroy the gospel of our salvation, and to
manipulate and twist the truth to their advantage, and they are out to deceive
others so that others will not follow Jesus Christ, either.
And, so they make up all sorts of clever stories to convince
people that God requires nothing of us and that he is perfectly ok with us
living in gross sin and rebellion against him, and then they call that “love.”
And, they call it “compassion.” And, then they attempt to make us feel guilty, if
what we teach condemns sin and calls for repentance.
These masqueraders of truth and righteousness know exactly
how to twist the truth to their advantage and to make those who are teaching
the truth look like the “bad guys.” They want to appear as those who truly love
and care about you who do not judge you and who accept you. But, what they are
really doing is condemning you to hell, because they are lying to you, and they
are giving you the false notion that you can live in sin and still have eternal
life with God. But, God’s Word dispels those lies over and over again.
So, don’t buy into their lies and their tricks, for they do
you no favors. They are not your friends. And, they don’t care a lick about
you, otherwise they would tell you the truth about your sins and your eternal
destiny rather than sugar coat it and make it sound as though you can sin as
much as you want and God just overlooks it and he will keep smiling on you no
matter what.
1 Peter 2:11-12 ESV
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
It is true that the passions of the flesh do wage war
against our souls. But, what the Lord is showing me here is that many are even
faking this war within them, as though they really are battling against Satan,
and as though they really are on the right side, doing the right stuff. They
are trying to convince others that there really is a spiritual war going on
inside of them, and that they really are crying out for help. Yet, this is to
gain sympathy for themselves, and to convince people to believe that they are
genuine.
But, all this is so contrived, for these fakers, these
masqueraders of righteousness are just laying a trap for you. They are trying
to get you to come to their rescue as a way to distract you, to pull you in to
their emotions, and so that they can manipulate you and deceive you.
Or, they do so in order that they can twist the truth in
such a way as to trip you up, either to get you to come their way, or to
discredit you, or to prove that you are the bad one, i.e. the perpetrator, and
that they, in fact, are the victim of your “persecution” of them.
And, they are very good at what they do, and they can be
very convincing, and they may even pour on the tears, and appeal to your
compassion, while they are just using you with the hopes that they can pull you
away from Jesus in one way or another.
They may even fake confessions of sin so that you think they
are being honest, but by their lifestyles, and the repetitions of these
performances, it should become clear that what you are seeing is a performance,
for nothing ever changes. Everything just gets recycled over and over and over
again, like someone just driving around in circles.
1 Peter 2:16 ESV
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
These liars and deceivers do not have true freedom in Christ
Jesus, and yet they fake that they do, but it is a cover-up for the evil that
they do. And, many of them are our leaders in our nations, or in our churches,
or in our homes, or they are our neighbors and our friends and our co-workers.
So, we must all be very discerning and not just believe
people because they seem sincere. I know that sounds horrible, but truly this
is where we are in this world of ours. So much is faked. So many of our
government leaders are pretending one thing while they do another. So many of
our church leaders are deeply engaged in sinful addictions and so they water
down the gospel to appease their own consciences, and they lead others astray.
We really have to know the Word of God. We have to be living
lives which are completely separate from the world, and separate unto God. We
have to be walking in obedience to the Lord, and we have to be in tune to His
Spirit within us, or we might be caught in their web of deceit and be led astray
from our pure devotion to Christ. So, just because it looks real, or it feels
real, doesn’t mean it is real. And, just because someone seems sincere doesn’t
mean he or she is.
For certain I am not saying we go around distrusting
everyone and being suspicious of everyone or that we go around making judgments
of everyone. But, honestly, we live in an age of great and massive deception,
and many truly can’t be trusted, and many are antichrist who are masquerading
as servants of righteousness. And, they are very convincing, and they are very
good at their performances, and any of us could be fooled.
So, be wise. Be discerning. Don’t believe everything you
hear or see or read. Pray for guidance and wisdom, and then do as the
scriptures teach that we all must do who are in Christ by faith in him. Pray much.
Resist Satan. Flee temptation. Draw near to God. Put on that spiritual armor
with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against you. And, know the truth
and follow the truth, and learn how to discern the lies so that you aren’t led
astray.
For
Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
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