HOW DO I GAIN VICTORY OVER SELF-DECEIT? [PART 4]

 I believe in order to gain a clear perspective of our own deceitfulness, it’s crucial to see where we come from and compare how far we’ve fallen and how much we need God to help us.

The Genesis account of the origin of mankind records:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our own likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the every living thing that moveth upon the earth.-Genesis 1:26-28

How can we know the image and likeness of God?

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the worlds.

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the power of his word, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.-Hebrews 1:1-3

In order to understand how we were character-wise before the fall, we need to study the character of God and see how much we have fallen.

The character of God according to His image

 ²⁰But ye have not so learned Christ;

²¹ If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

²² That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

²⁴ And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.- Ephesians 4:20 - 24

From the text above we learn that the image of God is righteousness and true holiness

The Character of God from Scripture

Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgement, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. –Jeremiah 9:23, 24

The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.-Psalm 145:15

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. - Psalm 145:8, 9

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. - 1 John 4:7

From the texts above we learn that God possesses:

-Lovingkindness

-Judgement (Justice)

-Everlasting Righteousness

-Everlasting goodness

-Impartiality

-Compassion

-Slowness to anger

-Holiness

-Truthful

Lastly, God is love

The Character of God as Revealed in Christ’s Life

²⁸And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

²⁹ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. - Romans 8:28-29

Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ; for I am meek and lowly in heart. -2 Corinthians 10:1a; Matthew 11:29b

²¹ For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

²² Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

²³ Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

²⁴ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. – 2 Peter 2:21- 25

Christ, the express image of God and thoroughly expression of God:

-Meek

-Gentle

-Never sinned

-Without guile (purity of speech / without deceit)

-Reviles not

From the few scriptures we’ve gathered we have learnt about the image of God, which only reveal him in part; and since men were created in His image, we can conclude that:

Mankind came from the hands of God possessing love, compassion, humility, impartiality, right doing (righteousness), justice, gentleness, without deceit and more. He possessed no taint of sin.

In the next article, we’ll look at how sin has corrupted mankind and led to self-deceit. We’ll also look at the cure for self-deceit thoroughly.

HOW DO I GET VICTORY OVER SELF-DECEIT? [PART 3]

HOW HUMANS GOT DECEIVED & CONTINUE TO BE DECEIVED 6000 YEARS LATER

From the past articles, we learnt about how deception started and how the Devil managed to deceive a third of holy angels. We learnt that he worked through lies. Today we'll go deeper and find out: how is it that we are deceived too and we find ourselves in such a sticky situation. Yet we need not to fear because we serve a wise God.

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.-Revelation 12:7-9

The Devil was expelled from heaven as a result of his rebellion and He was cast down on earth. This signifies that God does not coerce us to worship Him. After the fall of Lucifer, God created planet earth. Genesis 1 & 2 give a thorough account on the creation story and we’re told after each instant God declared ‘it was good’.

The Bible gives us this account about the origin of mankind:

²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

From this we learn:

·        Mankind was made in the image and likeness of God

·        Mankind was given dominion upon creation

·        Both male and female when created in the image of God

·        God blessed them

·        He told them to be fruitful i.e. to inhabit the earth

Like we learnt that in heaven there are commandments which angels subscribe to (Psalm 103:20), God gave Adam & Eve a command:

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.-Genesis 2:16,17

From this command they were given the liberty to eat from every tree except one. Following the command, God also told them the consequences that will occur upon breaking this command. Another trait about God shines out: He is a transparent God. Furthermore, there’s a principle: every action has a consequence. After every good thing that befell Adam and Eve, Genesis opens with an interesting scene; we find the Devil exercising his deception again:

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.-Genesis 3:1-6

In this instant, the Devil used the serpent (which is said to subtle than any other animal) to lure and deceive. It’s important to note that the Devil’s war is truly against God and His law. He used the very command which God had laid out to be obeyed.

From the account we see that the Devil:

·        Questioned Eve so as to cast doubt

·        He tweaked God’s word to suit his plan, which was to deceive in this case

·        He then painted God as a jealous God who withholds information and stated they shall be as ‘gods’. Quite an interesting observation to make. Satan was the one who desired God’s office and yet He was perpetuating the very agenda.

·        Through Satan’s deception: Eve saw the tree differently. She saw it ‘good for food’, ‘pleasant to the eyes’ and a ‘tree desired to make one wise’. Eve wanted more than God had given and unfortunately she took of the tree and gave her husband too.

·        Unfortunately, our original ancestors, Adam & Eve gave in to Satan’s deception. But instead of gaining wisdom, we learn that instead they became naked and had to cover themselves.

·        Prior to this: they were covered with the same covering as God’s (Psalm 104:2)

Paul mentions how Satan made our parents fall into sin:

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. – 2 Corinthians 11:3 (emphasis mine)

Eve, upon deceiving herself that she will be wiser and the fruit looked lovely to eat, fell into sin. The lesson here is: self-deceit results when we decide to go against God’s expressed will. It also occurs when we listen to the suggestions of the Devil, who happens to be the greatest deceiver.

Our safety against self-deceit is knowing what truth is, so that we may be able to have a barometer to test every suggestion whether it’s from within or from the Devil himself. Not only is it important to know the truth but it’s important to take heed of it and do it.

This is the sad story of how mankind bought the lies of Satan and how everything went from ‘good’ only to evil too. Death, strife, hatred, oppression, pain, poverty, homosexuality, fornication, lust, intemperance and every evil originates from this very event INCLUDING self-deceit. And from the pair giving into the suggestions of Satan, the great controversy has been the result- a war between good and evil (God & Satan) and the Devil seeks to do the very thing he did to our ancestors and have us perpetuate his own agenda and die hopelessly.

On the next article we’ll zoom into self-deceit and look at the cure for it. We’ll also look at what truth is and how it can help from self-deceit and more.

HOW DO I GAIN VICTORY OVER SELF-DECEIT? [Part 2]

⁷ And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

⁸ And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

⁹ And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. ~Revelation 12:7-9

What was the cause of this war?

 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.~Ezekiel 28:15

¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. ~Isaiah 14:13-14

From these two scriptures, we note 2 things about the Devil. Iniquity was found in him and he wanted the office of God. Instead of submitting to God as the Creator, He sought His place and the same adoration that belongs to Him.

This war was really about God’s law. The Bible speaking of angels says: Bless the Lord, ye his angels that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. ~Psalm 103:20.

Angels do the commandments of God and they take heed to God when He speaks. Secondly, we are told they are God’s ‘ministers that do his pleasure’ ~Psalm 103:21

So Satan’s perfection not only referred to outward resemblance but inward perfection too – which refers to harmony to God’s law. This we know because we are told it was up until this point then iniquity was found in Him.

Furthermore in coveting the office of God he was essentially saying: I’ll no longer be God’s minister nor do His pleasure. He was rebelled against His Maker hence there war took place.

So two things led to this war: Sin in Satan’s heart and pride.

Other elements that led to the war in heaven

Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.~Ezekiel 28:17

The text above also speaks about Satan’s pride. It goes on a step further and highlights that Satan corrupted his wisdom by reason of his brightness.

Self-deceit had a play in Satan’s rebellion. So had disobedience.

When the Bible speaks of wisdom it says:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.~Proverbs 9:10

What does it mean to fear the Lord? The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.~Proverbs 8:13

And lastly it says: But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.~James 3:17

Thus in corrupting his wisdom, Satan no longer feared the Lord (hate evil, pride, the evil way etc.). Nor was he pure anymore because iniquity was found in Him.

Essentially, iniquity was found in him because he ‘transgressed God’s law’ because iniquity is ‘the transgression of God’s law’. ~1 John 3:4

Had obedience and self-lessness reigned in Satan’s with him continually doing God’s commands and heeding to God’s voice this war would not have ensued.

The war between two parties: how did Satan get angels on his side?

⁷And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. ~Revelation 12:7

We learn that the war took place between Jesus and his angels & Satan and his angels. Yet it’s important to note that Satan is a created being.

 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.~Ezekiel 28:13

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.~Ezekiel 28:15

Satan’s work as a Deceiver begins

³ And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

⁴ And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.~ Revelation 12:3-4

It is important to note that the book Revelation uses symbolism and imagery to explain things. The text above refers to the great red dragon. In this context this dragon refers to Satan. Now it says something interesting: with his tail he drew the third part of the stars of heaven.

What are the stars and what does the tail of the dragon refer to?

¹² And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

¹³ And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

¹⁴ His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

¹⁵ And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

¹⁶ And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.~ Revelation 1: 14-16

My interest lies in verse 16 and it highlights that Jesus had seven stars in his right hand. Then we later on find out what is the meaning of these stars in this context:

 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.~Revelation 1:20

The text tells us that the stars here refer to angels. Now let’s put the puzzle together: Satan used his tail to get a third of the angels in the heaven, which are told were on his side in the war and were later cast down on earth.

Tail

Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.

The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail. ~ Isaiah 7:14, 15

The tail is associated with lies. So essentially what we learn is: The devil drew a third of the angels with lies, hence he was able to have angels on his side when the war took place.

Through lies, the devil began a journey as the Deceiver. Furthermore, Jesus speaking about the Devil affirms this by saying:

 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.~John 8:44

The Devil invented lies. He is the father of lies. And to deceive you cannot speak the truth. You must tweak it here and there.

So began the journey of Satan as a Deceiver. His first targets were the third of angels he left with in heaven.

We’ll look at how Satan managed to deceive humans in the following article.

HOW DO I GAIN VICTORY OVER SELF-DECEIT? [Part 1]

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it? ~Jeremiah 17:9

We all have a heart issue. The problem is that our hearts are deceitful. So deception comes from within and our hearts happen to be wicked too. This combination cannot help us to overcome self-deceit. The scriptures have also made us aware that our hearts are unclean and nothing clean can come from us (Job 14:4; Job 15:14-16).

We need something outside of us to cleanse us from the wickedness and deception that abides in our own hearts.

The good news is: there is someone who can help us so we need not to worry and feel defeated. This someone is God. But in order to understand how we even got here, let’s go back a bit.

¹² How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. ~Isaiah 14:12-14

¹² Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

¹³ Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

¹⁴ Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁵ Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

¹⁶ By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁷ Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. ~ Ezekiel 28:12-17

From the following scriptures we can conclude the following about the Devil’s biography:

·         The Devil was created by God

·         His residence was in heaven and he often visited Eden

·         His original name was Lucifer

·         He was referred to as ‘the son of the morning’

·         He was full of wisdom and beauty

·         He has a workmanship of ‘tabrets and pipes’ – musical talent

·         He was an anointed covering cherub

·         He was perfect

Until he had a heart issue-Pride. We see that he coveted God’s office and was determined to have a throne too. Thus iniquity was conceived in his heart. He tried to exalt to the throne and instead war ensued.

⁷ And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

⁸ And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

⁹ And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. ~Revelation 12:7-9

On the next article, we will discuss the initiation of Satan’s journey as a Deceiver.

Then we’ll answer how mankind became deceived up to now and finally discuss the solution to gaining victory over self-deceit. Stay tuned!

DECEPTION: TWO-FOLD

DECEPTION:

The act of deceiving or misleading.

Artifice practiced; cheat

Deception is not one-sided. It is two-fold. It comes from within and from without.

Inward Deception

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?~Jeremiah 17:9

From this text, we learn that inward deception comes as a result of our wicked hearts. Our hearts are wicked because we are sinners. The Bible speaking about the human condition says:

For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 (glory=character)

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. 

What is man that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous?

Behold he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water? {Job 14:4; Job 15:14-16}

These texts go on further to explain the evil nature of every human being and this we can conclude as a reason for inward deception or self-deception.

Outward Deception

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. {Revelation 12:9}

We note that the Devil exists and his habitation is the earth. He does not exist alone but with his angels. He has a mission and it is in deceiving the whole world. He is responsible for every deception that is in the world. Furthermore, none of us are immune to his deception. Every race, tribe, nation, and people is not immune, including you and I.

In follow-up articles we will seek to answer the following questions:

·         How can I gain victory over self-deceit (inward deception)

·         How do I determine what is deception?

·         How do I gain victory over the Devil?

·         Why does the devil use deception and what is his end goal?

·         What constitutes deception?