The blind spots of deception. The blind spots of deception. Like I said, it came up last week in prayer. This week I was in Dr. Banerjee's office doing some different tests and stuff like that, and so... You know the treadmill thing? You have to walk on it, right? And you gotta get your heart rate up so much, and the lady's doing that with me, and she's probably about 20 years old or so. And I'm giving you a little side lesson here, because I fail at this. I don't do good at this, lots of times. More so than I realize. than I'm happy with. So we're talking, and I said, hey, how many, how'd you get this job? And I studied, and you know, it's just treadmill, you know, you just walk on it, and they just tilt it up, and you walk to your heart rate gets so, I had to go to 130, what I had to go to. It was, you know, it's not that bad, but you're tired when you're done. Anybody ever had one? When you get, when you get done, you aren't, you're like, I mean, is it over yet? I mean, you know, you're not patent, but you know, And so, and I said, you ever see anybody get hurt or anything happen? I said, you ever die doing this? And she said, no, I haven't seen that. And I said, well, the good thing for me is I said, if I die, I know where I'm going. So we won't be so bad, be the best day of my life. And so she didn't say anything. So she's looking, she's at the machine. I'm right here. And so she's typing stuff in here. And then I said, I just waited for response. I said, are you a Christian? Yes. She ain't looking at me. And I said, well, the main thing is, is we just need to believe in the death, how Jesus Christ died on the cross, his burial and resurrection. And that, then we become, we're Christians. And I said, I talked to so many people that say they got baptized and, or they go to church every Sunday and this and the other. And so then I noticed, and can y'all, okay, now this is my perspective, because y'all will be right there. And so then she starts picking her finger up under her eye. She picked her other finger up. And I said, she got some in her eye? And so then, I sort of left it alone a little bit, and so she turned around and looked at me, and she was crying. And so, I didn't know what to do. I ain't gonna lie to you. I said, is she crying because she's happy she's going to heaven, or she's crying because she might not be going? And I'll see her again, but if I had a do-over, I'd have said, you do believe in how we die, the death, birth, and resurrection. I wish I'd have said that, but I didn't. I gave a little hug like that, that kind of thing. So you never know. You never know. Or was she crying because she heard that people say they're baptized or they go to church every Sunday? She thought that was me. I don't know. But I will find out. I've got to go back in about a month. I will find out. And I'll see her. I'll invite her to church. You know what I mean, that kind of thing. What's my point to you? You've got to be ready. you just catch you off guard. Are you a Christian? Well, sure I am. You've got to be ready. You know what I'm saying? Be ready to share with people. You never know what kind of response you might get. Deception. Deception today. You never know when you're deceived. I never know when I'm deceived. You don't know it. Because if you did, you would not be deceived. Right? I'm going to suggest to you that this might be our number one enemy in all the areas of our life, in our personal lives, in our family, in our spiritual walk, in our emotions, in our health. We can be deceived. And obviously, I'm well versed in deception. I know all about it. Proverbs 12, 15. The Bible says, Proverbs 12, 15. I'm being there for about three verses here. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. You remember a long time ago that mistake I made and I got hooked for $140,000? I'm not going to tell the story, but just refresh y'all's memory. I got some advice and I didn't seek any counsel about it. I knew I was right. I didn't tell my wife, didn't tell anybody, and I was very wrong. If you can't seek counsel and talk to somebody about making a decision, there's probably something wrong. Or you've really opened your case up for something to develop incorrectly. You need to talk to people and seek counsel, at least to the Lord. Proverbs 20, Proverbs 21, 21. Wine is a mocker. Strong drink is raging. and whosoever deceived thereby is not wise." If you're deceived, you are not wise. Is there anybody in here who has never been deceived? Raise your hand. Okay, everybody has been, right? Did any of you think you're deceived now in any area of your life? Raise your hand. And she, okay, well you just said you don't know, that's right, I don't know, so therefore I probably am. Some area of my life, some area. It could be, I'm sure the scripture, I don't understand all the scripture. I mean, I'm sure there are areas I've been deceived there, obviously. Proverbs 14, 15, Proverbs 14, 15. The simple believeth every word, but the prudent man looketh well to his going." You can't believe everything you hear. You know, I can tell you stuff and talk to you, and you go, I believe whatever he said. You need to back things up. I'm telling you, you need to check God's Word behind me. Don't just take what I say. I mean it's last I've been questioned several times. I like it I mean it helps me when under when people say what about this it helps me see and helps me understand I got a question day from somebody and then it had I had to rearrange my thinking to get where in the vein they were in and It helped me learn a little something to help me be a better teacher that makes sense Because I mean because the question was a good question. There's nothing wrong the question I You know, sometimes people have questions because they have a question. Sometimes people have a question because they got a knife. I don't like the knife. Do we understand? I don't like the knife. But I like a good question. Don't cut me up. Just ask me and we'll work it out. Amen? You don't like to be cut up either, do you? And then one I've said many times before, Proverbs 1412 There's a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death There's a way that seems right This is right. This is the right decision, but the end results in death father. Your word is absolutely true We believe it it's inspired and we thank you There's not one single error in this Bible and we thank you for it in Jesus name. Amen We all have it in our lives. And what's interesting, can't you see it? Can't you see what other people have deceived? You can see it, can't you? Right? You can see everybody else, but you can't see you. Right? Do you see what they did? Can you believe what they're saying? Can you believe it? And all those different things, but then when it comes to you, you don't see it. I mean, that's my experience. And last week we prayed, we talked about that the truth would be exposed. And you need, I'm praying that more. That's about everything. That's about our country, about my life, your life, the church, that the truth be exposed. That's what we want is the truth. And I pray that we also pray that we choose not to be deceived. There are people who choose to be deceived. I'll explain that later. They don't want to see the truth because the truth is going to hurt. And so they want to stay deceived to not see the truth so they won't experience pain. Anybody identify with that? I hope so. 1828 Dictionary, Deceived. This is awesome. That dictionary, y'all ought to have this on your phone. This is the best. Oh my goodness. Deceived. To mislead the mind. To be deceived is to mislead your mind. Not believe the truth, believe what is false. How many of you ever gotten up and now I'm just going to say, you can don't criticize me. You said, I swear I'll never do that again. I swear on my life. And he said, I swear on the Holy Bible. Come on, I mean, don't raise your hand, but I swear to God. Oh man, I'll never do that again. Has anybody never done that before? One of those. We all have, haven't we? Did you do it again? You were deceived, you didn't believe. Yeah, I realize that as a minister I've been deceived for a long time and I don't want to belabor the point, I'm not going to belabor it, but we used to believe years ago in the word of faith and that was sort of, you know, you believed in health, wealth and prosperity and you believe in giving and to get rewards and you believe, you know, music was the focal point. you know, music was the focal point of the service, right? If you remember that, that was the whole, and that's the best service ever. They never talk about the preaching, they talk about what they sang. There's a problem, there's a problem. Because your flesh got all goosebumpy and you just said, man, my flesh loved today. Oh, did you hear that? And I love hearing good singing, don't y'all? I love it. But that's not the point. We're here to worship God. That's the whole point in our music and our praise. Used to focus on the gifts of the Spirit. Y'all remember all of that. I don't really know, I'm surprised in God's mercy how I'm still alive. I used to make fun of the King James Bible. I've stood right here and made fun of the King James Bible, how you'd have to be a knucklehead to believe it. And of course, I was absolutely 100% wrong. And God has plenty of mercy. I mean, I said that. I'll never say that again. Be careful what you say. You know, looking back, what we used to believe years ago, talking about deception. I did sort of wonder why the stuff we prayed for and believed for It never really happened like I thought it would. You know, I never really saw things happen like I... And so then what happens is what? With me, you start doubting. Who do you start doubting? You. You need some candy, don't you? You start going, wait a minute, I prayed. I prayed for that person to be healed. They didn't get healed. I prayed for this, prayed for that, it didn't work. And so then all of a sudden, you put it back on you. And so then, or I used to judge, I mean, you want me to tell you how sick I was? I used to judge how addicted we pray for people. The more people fell down, the better I did. That's how twisted it gets. That's all, that's not true. There's nothing in the Bible talks about that. We had the chairs pulled back here so far to give people enough room to fall down when I laid hands on them. That's deceived. Amen? But anyway, my lack of faith was going on. Now I'm not making fun of anybody. I'm not making fun of anybody. There are people, there are Christians who still believe some of those things. I believe Christians and you're Christian, good. We can have disagreements on stuff, on that kind of thing. But I'm not making fun of somebody, I'm talking about me. And that's all I'm talking about. I bet probably 75% of the churches today, it's centered around music and worship and singing and specials and all that kind of stuff. The best service ever. couldn't tell you what the preacher talked about probably didn't talk 15 minutes but they couldn't tell you what the sermon was about but you get high on your emotions it's like going to a concert and get everybody involved in it and I was at one church and I was there and I worked there and they had two services and I like coming because I had to work there but I had two services and they had two different worships and The first worship service was more cerebral, more heartfelt. What's the right word? The second service was jacked up. The second service, you jumped around, clapped your hands, rubbed down the aisles, but the first service was more humble. To me, it felt like worship. and jumping over the chairs, that ain't really, you do what you want to do, but that ain't, anyway. And so, but he knew he had two crowds, and so he had to do, because the first service, the 830 service, liked the humble, the more quiet, the more solemn songs. And then the second service, which is probably, I'm assuming more of non-believers came, I'm just guessing, don't know that. And they liked, you know, all that action stuff. And so that's what he had to do. Pretty interesting. So see, you shouldn't have to, who are you singing to then? You're trying to make the crowd happy, right? You're trying to make them happy so they'll come. That's not correct in my viewpoint. Or somebody so I had a tongue interpretation and oh somebody, you know remember a long time ago We had we had a couple not here and the lady would have it but every two or four months and then somebody and somebody else would interpret it same people and it got to the point that That some people in church could they could tell you what the interpretation is going to be because it was the same interpretation every time y'all familiar with that? In other words, they could just say it, just what he was going to say. So, you know, you can judge that how you want to judge it. But anyway, all these different ideas, we get deceived so easily. I know one guy that lost almost everything he had because there was a prophet that came, it was a woman prophetess, and she pointed to this guy and said, you're going to do this and this and this and this. And he quit his job and and bought the equipment to do what she said he was going to do, and he lost everything. See, and as a matter of fact, he just sent me a request to talk on Messenger or something, long time ago. Anyway, so he's still around, but he's some other state. If you went to Bethel Church, where they have the School of the Prophets, you have to make three mistakes before you qualify to be a prophet. That's what you have. You have to make three mistakes. If you make a mistake in the Bible, you died. Are you a prophet? Yeah. I've made three mistakes, so I'm qualified now. I don't want his advice. He just told me he's made three mistakes. Why don't we listen to him? Right? But you see, you're deceived. Bless their heart, they're just deceived in what they believe. We don't want to be deceived. Please don't let us be deceived. Not at all. Not at all. I don't want to do it. I believe this. Some people might disagree. I do believe God still talks to you. He still talks to you. It's just we have too many people that abuse that. And they say God said, don't don't do that you better you better know I would never do that again I did I did one time I got it got shot down pretty quick I told a guy that I don't think we should do this you know God told me I said what do you think he said well what am I got to say about it you just told me God told you you've heard this story before and I felt I wouldn't even inch tall I was so humiliated I said what a jerk What's wrong with me? And so don't, be careful what you say. Talking about deception. Deception. The focus, a long time ago, our focus was on the gifts of the Spirit. Do y'all know what they are? What the gifts of the Spirit are? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12. And we'll go to 8. And I'll show you what I'm talking about. This is going to make perfect sense, trust me. Trust me, 1 Corinthians 12, and we'll start in verse 8. This is when Paul is talking to the Corinthian church. You realize he was correcting the Corinthian church. They were in error. They're like a baby church as he's correcting them. He says, to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith, to another gifts of healing, to another working of miracles, to another prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers tongues, interpretation. Those are gifts of the Spirit. And you can get deceived, and if that's your focus of what you're trying to accomplish, you are deceived. God does that, what He wants to do with that. That's all up to Him. One person told me one of these gifts was their gift. I said, it's not yours. It ain't your gift. I mean God gives it when He wants to give it. But anyway, you get focused on that and you can just get all mixed up in what you're trying to believe. Amen? Was it Andrew Womack? How many people did he save race from the dead? Was it three or eight? Do you remember? He said there are multiple people in his ministry that have been raised from the dead. I mean, you can look it up online. I mean, you can go and just see. Well, do any of y'all not have a cell phone with you? I mean, chances are if I'm in a service, somebody's getting up from the dead, I'm going to record that. Wouldn't you? This person, we can go raise them from the dead. I mean, I don't care if you're in Africa. They got cell, I mean, but nobody's got a recording of it. I mean, I'm skeptical of you. I don't think that's happened, but people get deceived. But see, we believe it because we want to believe it. You want to believe that. That's a good thing, ain't it? Somebody raised from the dead, you want to believe it. We believe what we want to believe. Every one of us. We can not believe that, or we can believe that. You can believe what the Bible says or believe what somebody told you. It's entirely up to you. It's entirely, and that's what we have to work with. It's hard, man, I'm telling you, it's hard to admit sometimes you believe incorrectly. I'm not saying anybody who believes incorrectly is not a Christian. I'm gonna say that one more time. I'm not, you can be a Christian and believe some goofy stuff. right? But if you believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ by faith, you are a Christian. You can believe some weird stuff over here, but you're still a Christian. Are we clear with that? You can be a Baptist, a Methodist, a Presbyterian, you can do all this and still be a Christian. It's what you have your faith in. But your doctrine might be a little mixed up. Right? Am I clear on that part? Alright, make sure I am. Now, Here's where we should be. Here's where I've learned. Galatians 5.22. Here's where we should be. Galatians 5.22. And as you mature in Christ, you will see this and you will understand it a whole lot better as you mature in Christ. Not to be deceived. Galatians 5.22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. That's what we need to be exhibiting as Christians That's what, when people see us, they don't need to see us do this other than us, they can see this right here. These things, love, joy, peace, long-sufferings, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, humbleness, temperance, sort of being moderate in what you're doing. That's the fruit of the Spirit. The gifts God does, the fruit, we have something to do with ourselves. You can choose to love somebody, can't you? You can choose to not love somebody, can't you? Right? You can have more patience. You can do those kinds of things. There's a peace. You can be gentle to people. You can be good to people. That's what we want to be trying to do. This is what will shape the world. This is what the lost people need to see from us, not the other things. They need to see this right here coming out of us. I want to ask you a question. Where, who was the first deception? Where was the first deception in the Bible? You're all wrong. Wrong. When I tell you, you're going to go, oh, you're right. Nope. Nope. Adam and Eve was not the first deception in the Bible. Satan. Satan was their first deception. You learn something today? Was that worth a quarter? That's where their first deception came. Satan. I'm gonna be like the most high. I'm gonna rule over all these other angels. Where was the second deception? You ought to get this one there. Nope. Huh? The angels. Then he convinced the fallen angels to follow him. A third of them. He convinced them. You see, that's why there's no redemption for them. They live with God. They serve God. They're in heaven with God. And then after all they've seen and done, they say, we're going to follow this guy. We're not going to follow you. I mean, you see how they think they're right there where it's all happening. All right. Now, let's try this. I think you'll get this one. Where's the third one? Adam and Eve, right? Well, that's not really right, is it? That's not right either. I just got corrected on that. That ain't right. You think I'm wrong there, don't you? Let me look it up for a say. First Timothy. 1 Timothy 2... Yeah. All right, put this up so we can see it. 1 Timothy 2, 14. You're going to learn some things today and you're going to go, man, I'm glad I came today. You're going to trick all your friends. What does that Bible say? Read out loud. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. So Adam was not deceived. That's what the Bible says. He was disobedient. He stood there like a knucklehead, let his wife do something wrong. Adam was not deceived. Adam was disobedient. disobedient So anyway, so the third deception was Eve And be careful you tell that to unless you got that verse now I haven't read other Bibles other Bibles may say something different You can check your blue letter Bible and see what it says compare them. But that that's what I go by So the devil was the first deception then his angels that followed him and then Eve. Okay, and You want to stop right there for the day and go home? All right. Was Goliath deceived? Was Goliath deceived? How? Oh, yeah. Yeah, but yeah. I've got something. You're right. Goliath thought he was fighting that little boy. You little puny thing. This little dog you sitting after me, but who's you really fighting? God Almighty. You heard what David said. You're nothing to me. Sunk that rock in his hand, he dropped it and chopped his head off with his own sword. carried his head around with him. You little rat and runny boy, you. Goliath was deceived, thinking that was his battle. David said, the battle's not mine, it's the Lord's. He told him, this ain't mine, this is the Lord's battle. You're gonna die. Chop your head off. It's hard to chop a head off a hog, ain't it? or a cow, I mean it's hard, you just don't, they didn't have like, you know, they had to chop it off with a sword. Anyway, I thought, glory to God. Deception is the blind spot. How many of y'all have a car? Does it have a blind spot in it? Some just irritate the fire. I mean you gotta you can't you twist your head back and forth You can't see anything going on. I get to drive these new cars. Y'all got them Cameras in the back. I love them things up. Maybe I'll have one one day But anyway, you know, we got to see behind you. You ain't got to turn your head and anyway, I got to turn my head See I can see perfectly fine. I said cataract surgery I can see great colors look wonderful, but a blind spot is You gotta, out of all what you can see, we got this little blind spot there. We can't see right there. Gotta move around, try to see if there's something back there. That is where our deception is. It's that blind spot in our sight. And you know the best spot remover you got? Truth. Truth is the blind spot remover. Where is your truth? Mine's right there. The Holy Bible, my King James Bible's my truth. That is the spot remover. Glory to God. Satan's lies are way louder than God's truth, right? Just drive down the road, watch some TV, go open up internet, Satan's lies, this visual lies, his spoken lies, his lies are way louder. The best life now, you know, come on this vacation and, you know, those ones where the people sitting at the beach and got the Caribbean thing and got the sand and got that beer with the lime, you know what I'm talking about. You go, man, gosh, I'd love to do that. You ain't got the money, but you'd love to still do it, right? Some people go and spend the money anyway, and then that catches up with them. His lives are much more visible. Music, oh my gosh, he uses music unbelievably to distort and deceive people. I watched something yesterday, well, part of it. It was songs that we sing, and then they put the words up. This is older stuff. And I said, that's the words we're singing? I mean, bad words, bad concepts, and we just think it's the greatest song in the world, and we're promoting the devil right there at the very beginning. God's much more silent. Can y'all justify y'all's sin? How many of y'all sinned in the last week? Can you justify when you sin? Oh, I can. Don't shake your head, no. We're the best at it. Because it ain't really a sin. I mean, I couldn't help it. I had to do that, you know? We can justify, and then that's why we keep sinning, because we're sort of good with it. It ain't a sin if he does it, but I'm in a different situation. My life is entirely different, and I got this going on. you know my wife she's all haggling me all the time and my job is no good and so you know I just think I'll have me a I'm gonna go get me a Miller Lite and then you have one Miller Lite and then you go home and I remember this I this is my life I used to be angry a lot before as a Christian and so I just get mad about stuff and just unhappy and how God was treating me and and so I I'd have me a few on my way home and but I never I never buy them all at one time I just buy I'd stop like get one or two here and one or two here. See in my mind I've deceived myself. I ain't really drinking a six-pack. I'm just getting two at a time. I mean did anybody know what I'm talking about? No, not a single hand went up in here. Y'all liars. And so all within my time to get home now, I'm looking for a fight. Because I need to justify more alcohol. So if I can get a fight going, then that gives me reason to go get some more. That's where I lived. And so then we get going, what's wrong with you? Whatever. And then I deceived myself. I wanted an excuse to drink too much alcohol, and I got a good one. When I wanted one, I'd get one. Just your boss told me, that son of a gun, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, goo, goo, guzzle, guzzle, guzzle. Anyway, I guess that's all foreign to y'all. Y'all never had to do something like that, but anyway, we make excuses for the things we do. We can justify it. Oh, my gosh. Remember that guy? Who's that guy that came here? He played the guitar in a really, it's a big band. Some of us went to lunch with him, not Grateful Dead, but Led Zeppelin. He was a big guitar player. Jeff brought him. You remember who he was? You've been talking about it, don't you? Remember the guy? He was in jail over here, and he got out, and so part of he'd come here, stayed at the halfway house across from Perelman's, or what do you call it, on that street there where you could stay. And so we went out to eat with him. We talked to him, and he had motorcycles, houses, cars. I don't think he had a Bentley, but he had all kinds of stuff. Lost it all. Lost his wife, everything. Guess what over? Opioids. And we talked to him, and he was taking like 30 a day. I mean, I couldn't, I mean, and I said, how did you, how did you even live? He said, you don't understand. I said, weren't you high? Like, I could take one, and I mean, I don't enjoy it, but anyway, if you're hurt enough, you'll take one. But I said, how do you do that? He said, oh, I didn't get high at all. I had to take that med just so my hands could shake and so I could play the guitar. Just so he could quit shaking that he to think about What a life He's on there. I never got high. I never even I just knew I had to take so many just so I could play the guitar lost everything he had And last time I heard he got arrested again because he stole a riding lawn mower from his neighbor I'd go to see him because we're trying to help him, you know and uh I saw a sort of cool thing. It's a big rock star. You know what I mean? But he got in trouble, stole a lawn mower, and went back to jail. I guess maybe to buy, I don't know what he did with it. That was it after that. He went someplace else. We're terrible. Solomon, the wisest man in the world. How many wives did he have? Thousands. What did God tell him? Don't you do that. And that's what led him astray. All these different wives. The wisest man, so he was deceived. It's so easy. The wisest man in the world can be deceived. we can justify what we're doing. But you know, bottom line is we're still responsible. It's still on me, still on you. The demons play a part. Yeah, demons play a part in it, obviously. They're trying to trick you, deceive you, put thoughts in your head, that kind of thing. I met my first, my first, how do I say this, far left person in person. And so we were talking, and very interesting. And I know this person. We never talked politics. And this person said, I saw, how are you doing? I've been on a demonic attack all week, last two weeks. And she's had been able to sleep. And so that where we were at the time, We were on Brambleton Avenue, and the moon was coming up. I mean, it was a huge, was it full moon? I said, that's what she's talking about. You know, the full moon messes people up when they can't sleep, right? That's what it was. And so, she said, my friends are saying, how are we gonna make it? I thought, what's she talking about? And so, anyway, all of a sudden, she said, how would you like to be black? And people send you a letter saying you're going to be picking cotton in this as a slave Coming up soon I thought when we go in some place here. I didn't I wasn't prepared for I was in a pretty good mood I thought then you start thinking is this person serious We're not going to have plantations Nobody's gonna be picking cotton And I'm sort of standing there, and she said, what about the air? What about the air we're going to breathe? She said, look what China's doing. You're going to know I'm telling you the truth. Look what China, I thought, China, I thought they were buying all the coal we had, filthy Nazi. She said, they're putting up wind turbines, thousands of them. Their air is getting so clean and we're just gonna just go backwards." And I thought, man, she is serious. And China is putting up wind turbines. I think it's probably because they can't afford to buy the coal from us. Their economy is collapsing. And she said, a friend of mine, I'm concerned about her committing suicide. And I'm going, man, I did not come for this. I wish I had not stopped by. And I'm not making, let's make sure, I'm not making fun of this. This person believes it. She believes it. And she said, my friend came by and they were, they were at Kroger in the parking lot, and they had parked straddle the line. And you know, if y'all, if you want to see me get furious, just go with me next time to go to the hospital in Roanoke, and ride with me in the parking garage, and I might say something bad. These idiots. You got no place to park and they take two spaces. If I could, y'all still love me, won't you? If I had one of them valve steam removers in my car, you got one of those yards I could park? I'd take it and just let the air out of one of them, I have it. So I don't want to cut the tire, I don't want to damage them, just make it, anyway. It's every time, and you'd make three or four laps and they got it, anyway. She said that she was parked in the wrong spot across the line over Kroger parking lot somewhere and somebody put on a car, you know go to place and not go to heaven and learn how to park and you know blah blah blah and they they spilled a windshield and peed on a car and Put a put a stick on that MAGA And I knew then I was done I knew then this conversation, I mean, I didn't, and I thought, you know, if somebody goes that kind of, I can see them spitting, but you know, to be in a public place and to peel somebody's car, that'd be pretty interesting, I think. I guess it could be done, but she wants to commit suicide. She's afraid she's gonna commit suicide. Anyway, I was unprepared for that conversation, I'll tell you that. I'm back right out pretty quick. I'm so sorry. It'll be okay. It's going to be okay. Oh, no, it's not. It'll be okay. It'll be all right. There's people out there that believe this stuff. Some of these people on TV, they really believe what they're saying. And it's so far out there, it's unbelievable. Proverbs 16, 18. I mean, Proverbs a lot today. Proverbs 16, 18. And no, I didn't use that for an excuse to drink either. Proverbs 16, 18, pride go before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. I'll tell you this right now. Pride is always going to be associated with deception. You're always going to have pride because I'm right. He says I'm wrong. She says I'm wrong. The preacher says I'm wrong. They say I'm wrong. But you're deceived. Everybody around you says it. You know, you're making some bad decisions, you're not seeing clearly, but see, your pride won't let you see the truth. See, pride's hard to see, too. You got to get those uncoupled. The greatest deception is self-deception. You just deny the truth. Like if you're reading your Bible, your Bible says something here. See, I still come to grips with that. The Bible talks about me not associating with people I know are in sin. Christians, I still, I ain't got that worked out yet. I ain't got that worked out. Maybe you can. But if you're not a Christian, it makes no difference. But some people you're supposed to avoid. So anyway, I ain't, I'm not in deception because I know it's true. So I'm not deceived. I have a hard time with it. Amen. I have a hard time with that. You can be self to get several things. Give some examples. You know, people that work someplace and they had a position where they watch the finances. Anybody got in a jam, maybe took $5 one day, and maybe, well, no big deal, it just happened, my car broke down, I get $100. Then before you know it, five years later, they get caught for embezzling, like thousands of dollars. See how it started? They stole. They justified, didn't get caught, and they had reasons. I mean, oh, they're making, man, these guys are making so much money. They didn't even miss $20,000. They got so much money coming in, and they don't pay me hardly squat. He doesn't deserve to make that kind of money. I'm only making this kind of money. I'll take some of it. Embezzling is a great way for you to deceive. It's wrong, 100% wrong. And for our children, you know, I say, hey, did you know your daughter's using drugs? That is not. You're out of your mind. Yes, she is. No, she's not. Do you know your son's using drugs? No, he ain't using drugs. You're crazy. We get deceived. We start believing things and other people tell us, oh, no, that, no, no, that can't. I had a guy, and we're adults, right? It's all Edelson here. You can get mad if you want to, but this is a true story. Had a guy come to me and he said, he talked about his marriage, and it's not here, don't even live in this county, or Franklin County, they're not even around here anymore, that is true. And I'm gonna try to get it as best I can remember it. The gist of it's what's important. And he said, I need to talk to you, I'm having some trouble. I think my wife's cheating on me. I said, what's going on? He said, well, it started when she'd be up on the computer late at night, and then I'd go in, and so she'd close the laptop. Or when I got her phone, I went to look at her phone, got real sensitive around the phone. Right? I mean, that's bad signs, right? I mean, maybe not. I know sometimes Brenda could be looking to buy stuff, Ellen Brody, for Christmas and she'll click the computer. Right? So it ain't got to be evil, right? It ain't got to be evil. What are you doing? Oh, nothing, nothing. Anyway. And he said, and I didn't think a lot about it, you know, but it just sort of bothered me that, you know, you know, what's she doing? And it wouldn't work. I mean, obviously it wouldn't work. And so then he said, we're adults, right? Then he said, our physical life changed. We're on the same page. Their bedroom changed. Different things started happening. He was thrilled. He couldn't believe, he said, man, this is awesome. And then he comes to find out that, I mean, you know, we're all married, right? Most of us are. And when things change, well, sometimes there's a reason for it. That's when he realized that she was cheating on him. He stayed deceived. He said it probably lasted six months before he realized. He was just so happy and thrilled, but he said, I knew something was wrong. Started drinking more and stuff like that. I knew something was wrong, but it was so much fun over here, I didn't want to imagine what was happening over there. Did I make that plain? I was having so much fun, I ignored how she got to that point. Deception. Didn't want to be, didn't want to see the truth. Tried for a long time. And see, in order to deal with deception, you've got to know you're in deception. So how do you know? I'm going to give you some reasons, some ways. How can you tell if you're in deception? I got some questions you can ask yourself. And these may hurt just a little bit, but you know different than me. Are there any areas in my life that I would not like examined in the light of God's Word? by others. Any areas in my life that I really don't want anybody else to examine them in the light of God's Word, that's a bad sign. That's a sign you may be in deception. Where do I go first when I have to make a decision? Do you go anywhere else? Do you talk to your friend? I talked to a lady this week, and she wants some counseling, not at this church, on the phone wants some counseling about some things in the marriage, and she said, I don't have enough friends outside my family. Okay. She said, when I go to my family and ask them questions about what to do, they're all on my side. She said, I need somebody, a friend that will tell me the truth. I don't have one right now. So you're the best I got. And I did tell the truth. Her concern was why her husband shuts down. It's not like no sin, I mean, no adultery, nothing like that at all. She said, he just don't talk to me anymore. He used to talk to me and we discussed things, now he doesn't. And I said, well, you got any idea of why that's changed? This might help somebody. I didn't plan on this. And then she says, well, I think so. I said, well, something's making him shut down. What do you think is making him shut down? And I got it. I mean, boom, I got it. And she said, well, it may be how I respond to him when we're having conversation. Right? And she says, I can get volatile. And so then he just shuts down. I don't want to talk about it. you know, he don't want to fight. It's very simple to me. And so I says, you need to figure out what to do. And so I talked to the husband and he's told me, he said, when we start talking, it gets to certain places and she gets all up in me and I just don't want to deal with it. So I just, I'm done. Can y'all see that? I mean, I understand it. I just, I'm done. And so she's upset. He don't want to talk about it because he can't talk about it. And this is real life, I'm not making this story, this is real life. Nobody here, ain't commenting on y'all for crying out loud. Another state, by the way. Gosh, I got more stuff out of the state than I do in, anyway. And so, and then, we talked about things, and it worked out good. And if they end up listening to this, I hope you're not mad at me, because nobody knows who I'm talking about, but I'm trying to help people, and your story does help people. And so, she's gonna work on, not, you know, getting volatile and then he's gonna try to work on talking and I think it'll work out. I think it will. Amen? But I understand it. I mean, maybe, anyway. Glory to God. Are you sneaking, next question he asks, are you sneaking around doing things? There's probably some deception going on if you're having to sneak around and do this and do that. I mean, I give a good example of deception in my life. Pansy gives me chocolate candy about every month, something like that, a little box of some. And so, I go home and if she gives me two, I go home and hide one of them. I hide it someplace. And what's hard sometimes, I forget where I hid it. Because sometimes, man, a chocolate truffle is just so good. It's just, oh, man. And so that's deception. I'm hiding it from Brenda because I want it. I mean, we laugh, but that is deception. I am deceiving her. How many did you get? Oh, just gave me this one. Did you give me just one box? Yeah, this little tiny box. Big box, I got hid. That is deception. You call it what you want to call it, it's what it is. She'll probably hear this. That's why I'm not going to tell you where I hide it. Are you always upset? Are you irritated? Are you agitated? Are you emotional? Are you a little bit angry? Are you bent? That's a good sign you might be in a bad spot. You might be deceived because when you don't, when the truth is not exposed and it just, the lies just sort of fester inside you and they come out in different places, different ways. And it could be a reason why you're angry all the time or upset all the time because you're living a life of this, your body could break down. I know that, I'm positive it could. The last one, and I know none of this ever happens to y'all, but is it always somebody else's fault? no matter what happens, it's, look what they did, look what they did, look what they did, look what she said, look what he said. If you're that, boy that's about as bad as parking over the line for me. If you're going to make me upset, see you're going to say, I'm going to show you how deceived you are, you're going to say, I don't do that. Well see, I know you're deceived because most everybody blames somebody else. A stupid smoker, Right? The first person you're going to look at is yourself. You have to be the first person. That's true. That's not weak, that's being strong. What if you made somebody angry? Okay, me and I ain't going to say his name. Let me pick on him. Me and him, I get mad. We get mad. He says something, I say something, we get mad. I ain't talking to him, he ain't talking to me. Well, who's going to fix that? How's it going to get fixed? Well, how? He's mad, I ain't talking to him. He's mad, he ain't talking to me. I'm mad, I ain't talking to him. How am I going to fix it? Somebody has got to make a move, just like in a marriage. Somebody has to make a move. You know, I'd reverence you if you'd love me. Well, if you'd love me like... Right? It goes back and forth. Somebody's got to be first. Why don't you just be first? I mean, I'm sorry. I should have never said that to you. And I'm done. He can be mad as long as he wants to be. It ain't on me anymore. we just walk around this in in pain and hurting one another all the time and blaming somebody else and Sometimes it's not your fault. Maybe it's not your fault But we have to we have to fix these things. You can't walk around the deception. It'll be one. It'll be okay One day we'll all work it out. I'll be good. Now somebody one of us has got to make a move right same way in your marriage one of y'all's got to make a move and You be the one to make the move. Yeah, but you just told me that, and I'm sitting beside my wife. I said, yeah, you make the move. Don't need to say that again. So you're sitting there right now beside your wife saying, well, you said for you to make a move. And so you're still thinking it should be her or it should be him. No, it's you, you. You make the move. Was that plain? We walk around unforgiveness. This is terrible. Glory to God. Now, remember, your mind is misled in deception. It's your mind that's been misled. So how are we going to fix this? How are we going to fix this? Very simple. There's only one way to fix it. I can't fix your deception. Your wife can't fix your deception. Your boss can't fix it. Only you can fix your deception. Nobody else can. Nobody can. I've done this a long time to know that I can't fix it. What are you going to do then? How am I going to get this fixed? You go to your Creator, you go to God Almighty, and you say, God, I give you total permission to set me free from all deception, Please open my eyes to any deception and any pride in my life and mean it. God, please expose any deception in my life to me, just to you, expose it to me and open my eyes so I can see any pride in my life. And if you mean that, God will do that. He's the only person that can. He's the only person that can. You ain't gonna do it. See, you may not even know you're in it. That person that's talking about the blacks picking cotton and the climate and the air, who's going to open her eyes? Only God can. Well, see, I don't think she knows God. Because if she knew God, she might not think what she's thinking. So where does she go? You don't have that excuse. As far as I know, all of y'all know God. You have no excuse to walk around in deception. Your marriage falling apart, work falling apart, body falling apart, because you're walking around deceived, and you think you've got all the answers, and it's somebody else's fault, and so you're just going to just sit there and have that pity party. It's not going to work. Pride keeps telling you, see the problem with deception and pride is pride keeps telling you, you're right. What you believe in is right. That's the pride. You're right. Pastor, you're right. No, no, don't listen to them. No, no, no, no. You're right. You stand your course, man. Stand your ground. Don't you back up. Don't give in to them. The whole time that pride is just tearing your life all down. Nothing like the words, I'm sorry. Lord, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Lord. You've been forgiven. All your sins been forgiven, but sometimes I still, I tell him, I'm sorry, man, I'm so sorry. I did bad. I messed up. I know I've been forgiven, but man, I messed up bad. Y'all tell him that? Surely, hopefully you do. You gotta go to God. I said, open my eyes. expose any deception in my life, whether it be personal, spiritual, biblical. If you hear me preach something you don't agree with, God, show me in the word. It's what he said, right? Show me, please. I don't want to be deceived. But I'm telling you, there are people right here listening that you really want to be deceived because your pride is so strong, you would never admit you're wrong. You couldn't even come close to that. And I pray that none of us feel that way. I'm talking about people listening, too. Father, we thank you for your word. Please, God, we make so many mistakes in our lives just trying to do right for the most part. I don't think any of us try to make bad decisions. We try to make good decisions, but oftentimes they are bad decisions, not according to your will. So Lord, please, please God, please help us open our eyes so we can see the deception. And then on top of that, give us the ability to correct it. Give us the courage to change our course, to make a different decision, because we want to be in your will, not the will of somebody else's. But we want to be in your will. Please help us, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.