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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 50
10 May 2009
Evil Communications
Corrupt Good Manners
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the
Worship Service, 2:00 pm, May 10, 09)
Text: 1
Cor 15:32-34
Many are being deceived without
knowing that they are being deceived. Many are followers of human
religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, ancestor worship, etc. Many
others are following a cult and an occult group like Mormon, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, New Age Movement, etc. Many others are compromising and
blindly misled by unbiblical doctrines, textual criticism and false isms
like Catholicism, Liberalism, Modernism, Ecumenism, Neo-Evangelicalism,
Charismatism, Open Theism, Neo-Fundamentalism, and so forth. Many others
are deceived by lying signs, and wonders, worldly philosophies of life,
etc. Many believe that they are right and are serving God so they
willingly risk their lives and fervently fight for their unbiblical
beliefs. It is really serious and dangerous not to know that we are
being deceived either by ourselves or by others. Are you and I being
deceived? How do we know that we are right or on the right track,
following the living and true God and His Truth? How? It is by God’s
Word, the Holy Scriptures, which Satan has tried his best to cast doubt
on and attack since the beginning, “Yea, hath God said” (Gen
3:1). The moment you and I doubt God’s Word, we are being deceived or
misled by Satan!
None of us wants to be deceived. We
love our children and never want them to be deceived, so we usually warn
them to be cautious and not to play with bad friends nor follow
strangers. Our Lord Jesus loves us and does not want us to be deceived,
warning us, “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matt 24:5).
God’s Word warns us, “Let no man deceive you with vain words”
(Eph 5:6) and “Let no man deceive you by any means” (2 Thess
2:3), and here is also God’s command, “Be not deceived: evil
communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor 15:33). May the Lord
graciously keep us close to Him and His Word from all the deceits of
Satan, sinful men, and false isms in this world.
Be Not Deceived
“Be not deceived”
is a command in passive and in the simple present tense, denoting
“Stop being deceived or misled,” so it is a sin against God if we
continue letting ourselves to be deceived or misled. The Greek verb
planao means lead astray, cause to wander, mislead, deceive,
in passive, it means go astray, be misled, be deceived (BAGD
Lexicon). God commands you and me to stop being deceived or misled by:
Satan, the Devil:
God’s Word tells us that Satan, the Devil, is the deceiver, who deceives
the whole world, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Rev
12:9). He often disguises himself as an angel of light, “And no marvel;
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14),
with a very nice and bright appearance but full of deceits and
temptations to lure many people away from the living and true God and
from God’s truth, the Holy Scriptures. He has attacked, twisted, and
cast doubt on God’s Word since the first human beings were on the earth.
Nowadays, Satan still attacks God’s Word through unbiblical preaching
and writings of false prophets, false teachers, deceitful workers and
wicked men, “seducing (deceiving)
spirits, and
doctrines of devils” (1 Tit 4:1).
Satan also likes to attract and deceive people with Satanic miracles,
lying signs and wonders. Our Lord Jesus warns us, “For there shall arise
false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect” (Matt 24:24).
Human Heart:
God created the
heaven and the earth, everything in it including human beings, and
“God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good”
(Gen 1:31). However, due to the disobedience of Adam and Eve, the
curse of sin and death entered into the world (Gen 3; Rom 5:12), and
then, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9). The philosophy of the world
nowadays is to promote oneself by thinking, “I am good, I am smart, I am
able” and by denying, “I am bad, I am sinful, I am helpless.” They do
not know that they are deceiving themselves as God’s Word says, “If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us” (1 John 1:8).
Human Words and Beliefs or by Worldly
Wisdom and Mindset:
How cautious you and I should be so that we may not be deceived or
misled by unbiblical words! “Let no man deceive you with vain (empty)
words” (Eph 5:6), or “good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of
the simple” (Rom 16:18).
Many are deceiving themselves by
thinking that death is the end, no Judgment, no Hell, so they just enjoy
their lives without any care for their souls in the future, “let us
eat and drink; for to morrow we die” but God’s Word says, “Be not
deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor
15:32-33). They even do not believe that one day they shall reap what
they have sowed, but God’s Word says, “Be not deceived; God is not
mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal
6:7).
Many are deceiving themselves by
thinking that they will go to Heaven
through their good works, religious practices or attendance at a church
regardless of their sinful life without sincere repentance, but God’s
Word says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the
kingdom of God”
(1 Cor 6:9-10).
Many are deceiving themselves by
thinking that they are wise and scholarly and serving God while they are
attacking God’s Word and persecuting His servants, “yea, the time
cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service”
(John 16:1-2). God’s Word warns us, “Let no man deceive himself. If
any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a
fool, that he may be wise” (1 Cor 3:18).
Dear friends, how serious and
dangerous we are if we think that we are wise, right and serving God
while we are deceived by ourselves, by others or by Satan, “Let God
be true, but every man a liar” (Rom 3:4). Yes, let God and His Word
alone be right and true for ever and ever, “Thy word is true from the
beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever”
(Ps 119:160). If you and I are trusting in men or in ourselves and
following anyone or anything that is not submissive to God and His Word,
we are just fools before God.
Evil Communications Corrupt Good
Manners
The Greek term kakos means bad, evil,
worthless, inferior, dangerous, harmful, wrong; the Greek term homilia
means communication, association, company, a speech, a sermon; the Greek
term phtheiro means destroy, ruin, corrupt, spoil, seduce; and the Greek
term ethos means custom, usage, habit (BAGD Lexicon) and
manner, morals,
custom, character (Zodhiates’ Word Study Dictionary). Then let us not be
deceived by thinking that it is fine if we are compromising or keeping a
companionship with bad or ungodly friends, or hearing or reading
unbiblical sermons, articles, books, commentaries, or watching ungodly
programmes and movies because surely, as God says, they shall slowly and
gradually influence, corrupt, and destroy our holy faith, pure mind, and
godly character in Christ, “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump?” (1 Cor 5:6) and “But I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh
preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive
another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye
have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (2 Cor 11:3-4).
Wisely Follow Jesus Christ and
God’s Word
We thank God that the Holy Spirit and
God’s Word are able to make us wise, give us good discernment, and keep
us from being deceived if we humbly and carefully follow our Good
Shepherd and hear His voice (God’s Word) alone with our trust,
dependence and submission. But first of all we must be sure that we are
born again as human
heart is deceitful above all things. We are to receive Jesus Christ as
our Lord and Saviour (John 1:12) and submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit
and God’s Word (John 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23). The signs of a truly
born-again Christian are to thirst for the Lord and for God’s Word (Ps
42:2; 1 Peter 2:2) and to stop living in sins as a habit (1 John
3:4-10). Then are you
and I true children of God?
Follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Perfect Example: In
order not to be deceived, we are to “look unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:2). “Little children, let no man deceive
you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he (Jesus) is
righteous” (1 John 3:7), and “purifieth himself, even as he (Jesus)
is
pure” (1 John 3:3), and “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself
also so to walk, even as he (Jesus) walked” (1 John 2:6). Satan and his
followers can show great signs and wonders, but they can never live in
holiness and righteousness nor walk as Jesus walked, nor teach as Jesus
taught, nor have the same motives as Jesus had. Our Lord Jesus is our
perfect example of a true Son and Servant of God, seeking and doing
God’s will, living by God’s Word in holiness and righteousness without
any compromise, teaching God’s Word without any addition nor
subtraction, exalting and glorifying God alone without seeking honour
and glory from men, ministering and not being ministered, and obeying
God unto death. Let us compare others with our Lord and His Word so that
we may discern whether they are true servants of the Lord. Let us also
look unto the Lord and compare ourselves with Him and His Word so that
we may be more humble, teachable and submissive.
Understand the Word of God, the
Perfect Standard:
Our Lord said to the Sadducees who denied the
resurrection, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power
of God” (Matt 22:29). The verb “err” is the same root verb of
“deceive.” They deceived themselves by their wrong and false judgment or
understanding of the Scriptures and God’s power. Then let us diligently
“study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). To
understand God’s truth, we are to humbly submit to the Spirit of Truth,
who teaches and guides us into all truth (John 14:26; 16:13). With the
anointing of the Holy Spirit, we may discern the truth from empty words,
deceiving words or heresies from false prophets and false teachers (1
John 2:26-27). We thank God that He has perfectly preserved His inspired
Word for us today so that we may have the perfect standard for our
study, judgment and discernment of God’s truth. When we know God’s Word
and are familiar with our Shepherd’s voice, we may discern the
strangers’ voice and unbiblical teachings and then run away from them
(John 10:5, 27).
Separate from Evil Communications:
And in order not to
be deceived, we have to keep ourselves from evil communications, “Be
not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to
righteousness, and sin not” (1 Cor 15:33-34). We have to be
discerning and cautious, and separate ourselves from bad friends, evil
companionship, unbiblical articles, sermons, books, journals, websites
which will corrupt, ruin or destroy our good manners, morals and
character in the Lord. We have witnessed many leaders and seminaries
that used to be fundamental but now are new evangelical, liberal or
ecumenical due to their compromise and acceptance of textual criticism
and corrupt modern versions! Then we should not be deceived.
Conclusion
Dear friends, God still commands you
and me, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good
manners.” It is vital that you and I are born again and keep a close
fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ and His true and godly children as
“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of
fools shall be destroyed” (Prov 13:20). Let us look unto our Lord
Jesus alone, hearing His voice alone, studying and understanding His
Word and separating ourselves from evil communications without any
compromise so that we may not be deceived. Amen.
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