The document provides a summary of a sermon on not being deceived based on 1 John 3:7-10. It discusses three ways people can be deceived: about righteousness, the devil, and the Son of God. Regarding righteousness, it notes some think unrighteous acts are acceptable but God's word shows they are not. On the devil, it explains he has been sinning from the beginning and those who sin are aligned with him. Concerning the Son of God, it emphasizes he came to destroy the devil's works and those fathered by God do not practice sin. The sermon warns not to be fooled in these important spiritual matters.

1. Let No One Deceive You 1 John 3:7-10 Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermon http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/be-not-led-astray-steve-shepherd-sermon-on-false-teaching-148970.asp

2. 1 John 3:7 NET Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. 8The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.

3. 9 Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God's seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness — the one who does not love his fellow Christian — is not of God.

4. One Sunday a national chain of stores had an ad for a Windows 7 laptop computer for only $319.99. The local store opened at noon on Sunday so a man went there after church. He figured there would be several people there to grab that bargain. He waited for about 15 minutes before they opened. One other person showed up to get the bargain laptop. It was a lady who was going to buy one for her son.

5. When the doors were opened they went in to see the laptop and the store personnel said, “Oh, we didn’t get any of those laptops.” The man said, “Your ad says that you would have a minimum of three per store.” The lady shopper said, “That’s false advertising!” And it was.

6. Customers don’t care much for any retail store that advertises something that they don’t have and especially, when they don’t give you a rain check for the item you wanted to buy.None of us like false advertising! It’s false. It’s fake. It’s deception! It’s a lie! let no one deceive you!

7. Volvo, Agency Fined for TV Ad: The car maker and its New York ad firm have each agreed to pay a $150,000 penalty for a misleading "Monster Truck" TV spot. The Volvo commercial, which aired in October, 1990, featured a structurally reinforced Volvo withstanding the weight of an oversized truck rolling over it. Rival vehicles that appeared in the ad were structurally weakened to be crushed by the truck. (Los Angeles Times, August 22, 1991)

8. Did anyone ever sell you a bill of goods? The devil has been doing that for thousands of years to all mankind. He says things like, “Go ahead and enjoy all of life. You only go around once in life. And this is all there is to life.” We know there is more than this life. We need to prepare for the next life. THIS LIFE IS A PREPARATION FOR ETERNITY. The devil is a big liar. He lied from the beginning and he’s been lying ever since.

9. In our text, John tells us how we can be deceived in regard to important spiritual matters. 1- Let No One Deceive You About Righteousness2- Let No One Deceive You About The Devil3- Let No One Deceive You About The Son of God

10. Let No One Deceive You About Righteousness 7Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. Don’t let anyone deceive you in regard to righteous living.

11. A young man shopping in a supermarket noticed a little old lady following him around. If he stopped, she stopped. Furthermore she kept staring at him. She finally overtook him at the checkout, and she turned to him and said, “I hope I haven’t made you feel ill at ease, it’s just that you look so much like my late son.” He answered, “That’s okay.”

12. “I know it’s silly, but if you’d call out ‘Good bye, Mom’ as I leave the store, it would make me feel so happy.”She then went through the checkout, and as she was on her way out of the store, the man called out, “Goodbye, Mom.” The little old lady waved, and smiled back at him.

13. Pleased that he had brought a little sunshine into someone’s day, he was ready to pay for his groceries.“That comes to $121.85,” said the clerk. “That can't be right! I only bought 5 items!” The clerk replied, “Yeah, but your Mother said you’d be paying for her things, too.”

14. There are some people (and maybe many)who would pull a trick like that. And, of course, it’s a con, it’s a lie, and it’s stealing! It’s certainly not right living! It’s not righteousness! The one who does what is right is righteous. That’s what John says in this text.

15. Matthew 12:33 NET "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. 34Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. 35The good person brings good things out of his good treasury, and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury.

16. We know that some people think it’s all right to do something when we know well and good that it isn’t right.What are we talking about? Stealing, murder, abuse, adultery, child abuse, greed, lust, etc. There are many people in our world who THINK these things are ok, but if you stack them up with the Word of God we know that they are NOT right or righteous.

17. For example, this article appeared on the internet, April 09, 2010. Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body.MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his wife and storing her body in a freezer for years.

18. People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the South sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children, isolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.

19. "He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant District Attorney Jill Phillips. After deliberating for 1½ hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-year-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse of a child between the ages of 12 and 16. (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/09/preacher-convicted-killing-wife-freezing-body/)

20. 7Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. let no one deceive you about righteousness. If a person is righteous within because of Jesus, they will be righteous in their living.

21. Let No One Deceive You About The Devil 8The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.A minister was preaching on the doctrine of Satan. "If there is anyone here who doubts the existence of a personal devil," he said, "just come and see me after one of my board meetings!"

22. Was he talking about himself or a board member? I’ve seen both, some preachers and board members, that I wondered about!An Irishman was trying to learn golf and having a terrible time of it. "I'd give just about anything to get this right!" he says out loud.

23. Suddenly, the Devil appears and says "Anything?" "Well, short of selling my soul, yes." "How about giving up sex for the rest of your life?" "Done and done!" He finishes the game in rare good form and rumor of his deal spreads thru the clubhouse. One of the members, a reporter, sees a story here and asks him, "Sir, is it true you made a deal with the Devil to become a great golfer?"

24. "True, enough.""And you gave up sex as your part of the bargain?""True again!""And may I have your name, sir?""Certainly. Father Mike O'Ryan."No, the devil is a lot smarter than this. You can’t trick the devil but he can surely trick you.

25. Thomas Brooks, Puritan preacher of the 1600‘s said: Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honor and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure and pays with pain; he promises profit and pays with loss; he promises life and pays with death.

26. 8The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.It appears that the devil started all this sin business in the beginning with Adam and Eve. You do know, don’t you that “The man blamed the woman, the woman blamed the serpent, and the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on.”

27. Because of Satan’s deceptive work, we all have been infected with the disease called sin. The devil has been sinning from the beginning. What beginning? The beginning of his appearance on earth and perhaps even before when he was kicked out of heaven for his prideful arrogance.

28. And whether we like it or not, when we sin we are in league with him. He who does what is sinful is of the devil.We really don’t like the idea of being related to the devil, but as a minimum we could be considered somewhat devilish when we sin.

29. A young African convert to Christianity was given a position of trust with the missionary. He violated the trust, however, and stole something. The missionary asked, “Why did you take something that didn’t belong to you?” The native replied, “It wasn’t I who stole, it was grandfather in the bones!”

30. That was his way of referring to his old sin nature. We all have grandfather in the bones, the evil one in our bones or the old man of sin who lurks within us.Someone said: The next time the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. That should make a difference.let no one deceive you about the devil.

31. Let No One Deceive You About The Son of God 8c,d For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil. 9Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God's seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.

32. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness — the one who does not love his fellow Christian — is not of God. - He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life. - Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water. - Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest. - Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King.

34. The NIV text reads: THE SON OF GOD APPEARED. Boy, did He ever! He appeared in human form and many people just can’t buy that. Why would the God who created everything come to earth in human form, especially, in the form of a helpless baby?

35. That’s the beauty of the wisdom of God! He confounds and refutes the thinking of man in every way! There is no way that man can disprove God and Christ or put them down. PAY DAY - SOME DAY. Pay day, Judgment day, is coming when all will see!

36. Philippians 2:9 NET As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth — 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This day is coming! However, people need to acknowledge and accept Jesus now. If they wait, it will be too late!

37. People need to recognize Jesus for who He is! He is who He claimed to be! As Peter boldly declared, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16 NET Amen. I believe it! I believe Him and in Him. I believe He is who He claimed to be. I believe He did what the Bible says!

38. Jesus can do what He was sent to do! Why did Jesus come into this world? - To seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)- To serve, not to be served (Mat 20:28,Mark 10:45)- To do the Father’s will (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38)- To destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8)

39. Sometimes we think the devil is very powerful and that he is, but he is not all-powerful! God has him on a leash. He can do only so much or go only so far. JESUS DESTROYED THE WORK AND WORKS OF THE DEVIL WHEN HE SAID, “IT IS FINISHED!” AND DIED ON THE CROSS. Then to prove positive He defeated death & the devil he came out of the tomb ALIVE FOREVER!

40. Luke 24:5 NET The women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again."

41. let no one deceive you about the Son of God. He is who He claimed to be and He did what God wanted Him to do! “It is true that you may fool some of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”

42. One thing we must never be fooled about is the truth of Jesus Christ! We may get fooled into sinning occasionally, but we must believe with all our hearts that we have Jesus to save us from sin and hell! let no one deceive you!