Deceiving ourselves (James 1:21-27)
21Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. 27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
1. Who is a truly saved person?
(i) One who lives without committing sin all the days of life from the time they got saved (1 John 3:8-10).
(ii) In order to live without committing sin, Please, give yourself to Jesus completely so that He will be living His life in you every second of your life. We must receive the risen Lord to live His life in, and work through, us by the Spirit. This is what it means to yield your body as a living sacrifice to God (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 2:13).
(iii) You are the one God uses as His servant to spread the Gospel to the world through your actions, thoughts and words (John 14:12; 1Cor.6:19-20).
- Who deceives themselves that they are saved? (Luke 6:46: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”). Refusal to be ruled by Jesus in all our ways is rebellion. It is dishonest to declare that you are saved, but in actual life, you do not live as a faithful subject of Jesus. If you are not faithful to Jesus, you are deceiving yourself when you think you are a Christian.
These days, God (Jesus) speaks to us through the Bible, and directly through the Holy Spirit, and also the church, His true servants. (–His true servants are only those He lives in and walks among as He said in 2Cor.6:16-18). If you refuse to hear from God, you are lost forever.
3. What makes people deceive themselves ? Jesus explains why people deceive themselves.
(Math. 13:15 “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them”)
Consider the phrase “waxed gross” as used in math. 13:15. What does it mean ? A number of bible translations have the phrase this way: “Become fat” (BBE); “grown dull” (RSV); “grown dense” (TCNT), “made gross” (YLT), “is stupefied” (WNT), “grown callous” (WEB).
Has your heart been affected this way by worldliness and sin in any magnitude? If so, please, heed our plea: you need to repent.
Those whose heart has been affected this way are a people whose conscience has been hardened by sin and the love of it. The lusts of the flesh have planted themselves in and taken hold. They are ruled by these lusts insomuch that they cannot heed God’s word.
(1Tim. 4: 1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth”
If you want to harden metal, you burn it red hot, then let it cool. It becomes real hard. It is the same with hearts that are laden with sin, “having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1Tim.4:2). Each sin heaped up on a heart just hardens it insomuch that the word of God does not sink in and is just plucked away by the devil from them.
4. Now, let us read the parable of the One who sowed seed in Math. 13:3-8:
“ 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear”.
What kind of people is Jesus talking about here in Math. 13: 18-23 “
(i) Those who do not understand the word of God. Math.13: 19 “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side”.
Some of these people go to church, but not for the love of God. They love the things of the world insomuch that when they want to go to church, they go to seek for those things, but not because they love God. If these things of the world are not done in the church, they will not come. They have given their lives to sin insomuch that the worldly things have become a part of their life and they do not want to let them go. Eg— gambling, drinking, dancing, taking drugs, prostitution, cheating, entertainment, etc, etc. Many of these people call themselves Christians and in fact some even go to church. Many of them attend the big Gospel campaigns held openly and do the things the evangelists tell them to do with vigor. But the word of God does not have any effect on them. It is simply taken away by the devil who rules them through the things they love so much.
As God reveals to us in the book of Acts, we need to be sure we assemble ourselves as the church to worship God and adore Him in praise and thanks; To pray to Him for our needs and salvation of souls; To edify each other in love; To hear from God; To enjoy God’s glorious presence and show the world His love and glory as His bride (John 17:21-24).
(ii) Those who do not let the word of God take root in their lives.
“20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended”.
The fears of loss have gripped many peoples’ hearts. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1John 4:18). They fear to lose their fame; they fear to suffer shame; they fear to lose in life; they fear to suffer pain for the love of Jesus. Yet, they like to go to church, and would like to be esteemed ad true saints of God. But they do not love God enough to die rather than displease Him.
(iii) Those who are prevented by the cares of this world.
Eg—obsessed by hunting for food, clothes, housing, education, leisure, comfort, etc, etc.
Having such obsessions precipitates fear in our life insomuch that we disregard God’s voice as we put all our efforts in such activities. Let us consider Daniel (Dan.6). He never flinched at the peril of His life and this love for God made Him have no fear even if it meant death for Him. Oh, how it brought glory to God’s name at the end !. Yet, Daniel served his employer so faithfully that there was neither fault nor error found in his work (Dan. 6:4). Yes, we have duties to perform, but how about doing everything in the name of Jesus (Col 3:17).
Math. 13:22 “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful”
(Luke 21: 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares”).
(iv) God wants us to produce 100 fold.
Mah. 13: 23 “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty”.
Note that all the truly saved are fruit bearers and all do not bear the same amount of fruit. We are not all expected to do things the same way and in the same magnitude. In Romans 12: 3, God says: “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”. God has given each one of us a measure of faith according to each one’s level of love, understanding, sacrifice and consecration. Further He says “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness” (Rom. 12:6-8). Each one of us is able to serve according to the measure of grace given by the Lord in the circumstances and environment one works in.
Hear Him speaking to you daily and obey: “James 1: 22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only”. Seek Jesus leadership every second of your life. Stay connected with Him.
Are you deceiving yourself that you are a Christian ?
===================================
CHURCH OF GOD IN KENYA . 