All right, if you wanna turn to Matthew 24, I'll just open up with two verses real quick. Matthew chapter 24. I'll read a verse here and then another verse we'll look at real quick and then I'll get into the message this evening. Matthew 24, verse four. It says, and Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy chapter three. verse 13 and says, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. I been dealing in Sunday school about salvation and what it means to be saved and the effects of it, how it changes your life. And I know there's many testimonies I've heard growing up where preachers get up talking about how different testimonies of where they were deep in sin, drinking, whatever it may be, and once they got saved, God completely changed their lives and they they quit all those things. And growing up I kind of I couldn't relate to that. Obviously, I grew up in church. I didn't really get into a lot of the drinking, smoking, whatever it may be. So I couldn't have that kind of testimony. But I know God can use any testimony. I mean, he does make changes when we do to get saved. And he does make a change. whatever way it may be, and he can use that testimony for others to see the change that God's done in each life that he does become a part of, and they receive Christ as their Savior, and there is a change that is made. So this evening I kind of just want to I know Pawpaw's been dealing with deception, these two verses I just read here talking about people being deceived and how it'll get worse and worse in times, people being deceived and deceiving others. And I was kind of thinking over my life and my own testimony of salvation. And there's a lot of professions that I made throughout my life that deal with these very verses here of being deceived. And I know that it is prevalent nowadays. As the last verse we just read, it's going to get worse and worse. So there's going to be more people that are deceived in matter of salvation. And I just kind of wanted to go through my own testimony, my life of the different professions that I made and hopefully try to point out some of these deceptions that are being taught and even that people think of themselves. They don't even have to be deceived by others. They kind of deceive themselves. The Bible tells us to make sure that we're not deceiving ourselves. And so, like I said, I'm trying to go through my own personal experience here of this deception that I faced. And then again, like I said, I'm sure many people throughout the world face with the easy believisms and everything that's being taught. I know it's, like I said, growing up in church, sometimes we don't think that we have the testimony of some of these others that were out in the world and God was able to draw them out of that sin or out of the world that they're a part of. A guy can use anybody's testimony to be a light to others. And I know you can look in Acts, And we won't turn there, but the Apostle Paul gives his testimony to King Agrippa. And King Agrippa admits, he's like, almost else persuaded me just from the testimony that Paul shared of his own life of how Jesus met him on that road and changed his life completely. And so again, like I said, I'm trying to go through my own life and just hopefully point out some Common deceptions, I mean, sometimes we might not even realize some of the deceptions that people face in their lives and we might have even faced ourselves. But the first profession that I ever made was when I was five years old. And I know there's a lot of questions about kids getting saved. reach in the age of accountability. And I know that's a very popular age group that the Easy Believe-ism targets. Simple, one, two, three, repeat after me, the kids all join in. They want to go to heaven. It's easy. Just repeat after the teacher and going through those steps. And personally, I don't have any recollection of that profession. I was just going off of what I was told of being saved. And there was pictures of me getting baptized and different things. So I couldn't speak from experience that I was deceived in that area. But afterwards, I was deceived in believing that it happened. For a while, I believed that I did get saved at a young age, even though I don't remember it. And then there's a lot of people that face that deception. They maybe question their salvation because they don't remember it. And it should be something that we do remember. makes a change in our lives. But unfortunately, there's a lot of people that hold on to that fact that they, at some point in their life, made that profession, even though they don't remember it. So there for a while, I went off of that. I claimed that as my salvation, but obviously it wasn't. And I was deceived for a while. It wasn't until I was about 15 that I went to a youth camp. And the Lord really started dealing with me throughout my teenage years, showing me that I wasn't really saved. I couldn't recall that profession at a young age and that I wasn't really saved. At this youth camp, there was a preacher one night that his whole sermon was on hell. I mean, he went into the details of how there's going to be torture and it's going to last for eternity and you're going to be in pain and agony and misery and there's no escape. And of course, I think half the auditorium went forward just because they were scared, didn't want to go to hell. And I was one of those. I just went forward with a crowd. I didn't want to go to hell. Who would? But again, I went forward for the wrong reasons. I went just kind of, as the preacher mentioned in his opening passage when he was reading, he was talking Was it this evening? It might have been this morning when he was talking about people just wanting that ticket to heaven. And that's all they think that there is, is just a ticket to get out of hell and to go to heaven. And that's the main reason I went forward that evening. To this day, I don't remember, that's all I remember is the preacher dealing with hell and not wanting to go there, but I don't remember any of him dealing with why. I mean, it's obviously, it's because of our sin that we go to hell and that we need to have that, seek forgiveness and repent of that sin in order to escape hell. And so I went forward that evening, again, I think half the auditorium went forward, so it was kind of like going along with the crowd. I was scared, didn't want to go to hell. And so I went forward for the wrong reasons. And I remember my youth leader or one of my youth leaders taking me aside and dealing with me. I have no idea what he was saying, but I do remember telling him that I didn't feel it anymore. I didn't feel the conviction or whatever it might have been and it's obviously because I didn't, I wasn't going forward for the right reasons and I mean it could have been just the feeling of fear and whatever it may be and being pulled aside it kind of relieved me of that pressure and that fear of going to hell. And I told him. I told him I didn't have the feeling, the draw to continue on. But he kept pressing and walked me through the steps and told me to repeat after him. And I went along with it. And again, being deceived. And it wasn't long after that, though, a few weeks, And the Lord was dealing with me. After that profession, right after that profession on through a couple of weeks, he's really started dealing with me. He's like, you didn't go forward for the right reasons. You didn't get the change. You didn't get rid of the sin. You still have the problems that you had before. And so the Lord was really dealing with me over the next few weeks. concerning that profession and how it wasn't real, and really dealing with my heart and convicting me. And I went forward again on one service. I don't remember what was preached. I remember Sunday morning going home and the Lord really dealing with me and I just remember praying to him, Lord just allow me to get back to the service Sunday evening and I'll go forward. And that's what I did. And I remember When I went forward, a guy came forward and kind of talked to me and pretty much told me I should know what needs to happen because I grew up in church and I should know how to go about getting saved. So he kind of just knelt there beside me and prayed for me as I was praying and then I went I remember going forward and telling the preacher that I had gotten saved and he kind of announced it differently that I was confused and wasn't sure of my salvation that I professed a few weeks earlier and that I was just getting reassurance, that I was making it, getting clear that I was now, that I was saved and that it's settled. So again, another deception there that people, I know Papa's used that example of the boy with his parents, living in sin and the preacher asking them if they ever made a profession and he said yes and he's like well they're saved they're just backslidden so it's kind of I guess it's all part of that deception of people trying to convince you that you're saved even though you're not. And so that went on for several years. I was kind of based that as the main profession of my life. But it was a lot of God continuing to deal with me. I guess if you look, through each step of my life of what I mentioned already. I mean, at a young age, you kind of come to a realization that if your need for salvation, that when I was 15 and made that profession, I acknowledged the reason, the need to why what I'm getting why I wanted to be saved, the reason for getting saved, and then kind of dealing with what needs to take place in order to get saved. But there's still a lot of growth in my life that need to take place. And I know salvation can be, in and of itself, a simple matter, calling on Christ, but there is a lot that does need to take place. And for some, it comes quicker than others. I think it was a few years ago in a kids camp that I brought this message of salvation. I kind of tried to give an illustration. There's certain steps we have to take in order to get saved, but it might take others longer. distracted, pulled aside before they make the decision. Sometimes it's harder for them to get to that decision of overcoming the temptations or the addictions or whatever it may be that they're facing. And so I know with each of us, there is a different process of of coming to salvation, I'm not saying that there's different ways of getting saved, there's just different circumstances and lives involved that make that process more difficult for others or easier for others. And so there's a lot of learning and growing that I had to do in my own life of overcoming the different deceptions of whether I was really saved or not. And so like I said, that last profession I made, I really claim that as my salvation. But it wasn't until I, after college, got married and we moved up here and really started listening to the preaching and really getting involved in the church and trying to study for myself that I really came to the realization that all those professions I had made earlier It was just that. It was just professions. It wasn't the true decision of turning from my sin, repenting of my sin, and turning to God. And so it wasn't long after we moved up here that God really dealt with me. And one of the main questions I was faced with is, is this life that I'm living, that I'm wanting to live for myself, that I'm not that I'm wanting to hold on to, is it worth dying and going to hell over? And a lot of that is a matter of holding on to the pride and holding on to the things you want for yourself. And we need to be able to I mean, along with the deception, pride and self is the biggest obstacle that people have to overcome in order to get saved. And I had to come to that realization that that was my problem. I remembered that profession that I was holding on to before I moved up here. I knew all the steps of acknowledging your sinner and believing that Jesus came to die for your sins and then you need to confess your sins. But I had it in my mind that that was it. You didn't have to repent of your sin, you just had to confess it, ask for forgiveness. And I mean, a lot of people, they don't want to admit it. They want the forgiveness of sin. They want to try to do what is right. But in the back of their minds, they still want to hold on to it. And they don't want to truly give it up. And that was the case in my situation. I didn't want to give up the life, being in control of my life, doing what I want to do. make the profession, get saved, and get forgiveness of my sins, but I didn't really want to give it up to them completely. So, like I said, I was deceived there for a while until God dealt with me and I truly showed me in my life that I need to get rid of self and get myself out of the way and stop going after the things that I want and give my life over to Him. And so that's what I did, like I said, not long after I moved up here. And then as I mentioned before at the beginning about preachers having the testimonies of The addictions or whatever they had being pulled out of the world and doing a complete 180. It might not have been that drastic in my own life, but it was still evident. I saw after that. finally repenting and and turning to God and and making that true profession of salvation that there was a change in my life and I could see the difference even in just reading the Bible it I mentioned before and Sunday school or a couple times where after you're saved it's almost like I told you, and many of you know, I grew up in church. I thought I heard it all. I memorized scriptures. I recognized passages in scripture. But after I got saved and really started reading God's word and studying God's word, it was almost like there's verses in there I've never seen before. And they mean differently. They meant something different after I got saved. we was able to understand them better and so there's a difference in there and obviously we know that you're given the Holy Spirit and he bears witness with your spirit that you're saved but with him being in your life there's evidences like the understanding of the scripture and there's also the changes of of that being a new creature and having new desires. I mentioned before how before I was saved, I always wondered how someone can get up there and talk about how they were smoking a pack of cigarettes every day and then after they got saving, just stop cold turkey. And I didn't understand how that was possible. But after I got saved, Realized that it became real to me and I he changes your desires. You don't have the desires to live in the world to do the things of the world and and Because you don't have that desire anymore. It's a lot easier to overcome those things overcome the temptations that you're faced with and that's that's one of the reasons why I the Bible tells us that we can have that victory over sin because he takes away that desire and that addiction, the urge to continue in sin because we are, the Bible tells us that we are dead to that sin and no longer has control over us. And so it can, it does make us a new creature, gives us new desires and understanding and then obviously I've been dealing with love and past messages, Sunday school, different times and that's another evidence of our salvation is love for others and I'm kind of a laid-back person and easy to get along with, and generally don't have problems with people. But it was a lot easier after I got saved to be able to love others and to treat them as a Christian should. And so he does help you with that. There's a verse here I want to kind of close with in 2nd Corinthians 13 5. I mentioned at the beginning of the two verses how there's going to be many out there deceiving and being deceived. In 2nd Corinthians 13 Verse 5, it tells us that we need to examine, it says, examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves, and know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. So I guess my challenge for tonight in the giving of my testimony is just to show that it is easy to be deceived. I've had several instances throughout my life where I was deceived for a while, whether it was being talked into making a profession or if it was a matter of deceiving my own self that I followed the steps, that I did what I thought I needed to do, and I was deceiving myself. But we need to... examine ourselves and see if Pawel dealt with it being evident in your life. Others should be able to see your good works. And you know what? They should be able to see your good works, but you should be able to see them yourself. You need to examine yourself to see if you are producing those good works that you prove your own selves that you are showing the love or the patience whatever it may be the fruits of the spirit that you are being a testimony example for others and that you are being a light and not a not a hindrance, not being deceived or deceiving others, and on the way you live. one of the ways you can deceive others is a lot of times when we think of deception we think of false prophets and easy believism but our own lives can deceive others. I mean if others are looking at you as a Christian and saying that you're no different than they are, you're deceiving them in that they can become a Christian and still live the way they want to live. And so we need to be careful of our lives and examine ourselves to see, one, if we are for sure Christians, and then two, that we are portraying what a Christian should be, that we have these fruits of the Spirit, that we're not deceiving others and we're not deceiving ourselves, that we are being the right kind of testimony to others about how Christ would have us live. And so that's my challenge. David in Psalms, the very familiar verse talking about, search me, O God, and know my heart. See if there be any wicked way in me. It's not just a matter of examining yourself, whether you're saved. We need to examine ourselves every day to see if we're living as we should live, if we're preparing ourselves for Christ's coming if we're being a hindrance to others or if we're being a help example to others, a good testimony. And so I just want to leave that challenge that we examine ourselves and that we are doing our best to be more like him. Amen. Probably the majority of people that's deceived are not deceived by anybody else but themselves. It's very easy to do. We tend to trust what we know, trust our wisdom. I know this. I know what the Bible says. I know what to do. I've done this. I know. So the reason Holy Ghost had Paul to write that your faith doesn't stand in the wisdom of man. Here's the key, but in the power of God. That's a lot of difference than you being involved whatsoever. Your faith shouldn't have nothing to do with what you say, do, think, believe. Your faith should stand. It's 1 Corinthians chapter 2, not by wisdom of words, but by the power of God. There's a world of difference between what you think yourself, what you feel about yourself, what your wisdom tells you, your intellect, than what the Holy Ghost has to say. You hear me preaching this morning about the relationship you have Relationship with God is one that is of such a magnitude in what it does to you, the effects it has on you, the way it... It's just not really explainable in a lot of words because it's not words. You can't just put it in words, well, I did this and I know the Bible says that, I know the Bible says this. What you know the Bible says, now please listen, what you know the Bible says does not mean it applies to you, or it has affected you, or it was you that the Bible's speaking of. The only one that can make it direct and personal, you can't do that. The only one that can make it direct and personal is His Spirit bearing witness to our spirit, His Spirit not bearing with our intellect, His Spirit not dealing with our wisdom, but His Spirit dealing with our spirit that we are children of God. You can't trust anything else. You can't trust what you've done, You can't trust your experiences. You can't trust your emotions. The just shall live by a good feeling now. The just shall live by faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Holy Ghost makes the application personally to you. He's right. It's something that's going on today that the prince of power of the air has sewed it up so tight, this doctrine of devils of salvation that People might be people standing here tonight just as sure as they could possibly be of themselves that have never experienced the Holy Spirit of God's revelation to their spirit. Preach too much on it. No. It's so real. You know scores of people that sat in this church, testified, put on a good show for a long time, and they're right back out there in the world. And you know them. You know them. a salvation that fails to make progress and knowledge and a clear understanding with your spirit, that you just give up trusting in yourself and your faith lies totally in the power of God not the knowledge of my mind. I know a lot of that is just words. What the Bible teaches you, that's the only thing you can rest on, is on the power, not on the wisdom of man, but on the powers of God. You look in 1 Corinthians 2, it's about verse 4 or 5, right down in there, you'll see. And we've been taught That we can know it when taught, we can know it by our intellect. And that's the most deceiving part of your body is your mind. And you know, it tells you lies at times, many of them. The key is knowing the Holy Ghost of God personally. Not somebody else telling you. It's knowing the Holy Ghost of God personally. Born of the Spirit. It's the only way you get born. It's the only way you get born. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the not to the intellect, not with a no in the Bible, not with fleshly experience, that which is born of the Spirit, the spiritual Father in Jesus' name. How it crushes our heart to think how subtle the devil is on this thing is, I think a couple of verses before what Paul read, or how Apostle Paul was so troubled, he said, lest the subtlety of Christ deceive you about the simplicity of Christ. And it goes on and it goes on, and so many people you know and you love and you want to believe, but their lack of the Holy Spirit living in their life is there. Lord, I pray you'd strip us all down of any kind of confidence in ourselves and trust in ourselves and trust in what we know and do. And may our faith rest totally in the spirit of God, bearing witness to our spirit that we're a child of God. I love you. I thank you for your help. I thank you how you've worked in many in this building. I wish and pray all. I do, I pray for all. But certainly there might be somebody in here that's trusted like Paul did for a long time. And I've done it years ago in an old profession, and it didn't work. It didn't keep me out of sin. It didn't correct my tongue. It didn't correct my desires. Thank you for the truth that sets us free. Bless and watch over each one. I pray for the ease of the church family that's sick. My heart reaches out to them. I know they'd want to be in church. They'd want to be with the family. It's so important you could be with the family of God. And draw strength off one another and admonish one another, exhorting one another, encouraging one another, praying for one another, growing together. And I pray it'd work in our hearts and our lives, we pray. In Jesus' name, watch over us as we go, I pray. Amen and amen. You are the Smiths. Thank you.