3-To The Seduction Of Deception | Series: No Longer Slaves | Rick Atchley

Welcome to the hills pastor Rick here. I'm greeting our online community and Welcoming all of you in person to our four campuses in Dallas West Fort Worth Keller and North Richland Hills If you're new to our church, maybe you're visiting for the first time I can tell you in 15 seconds What our church is about the hills church exists to make and grow followers of Jesus And we do this together by being with Jesus becoming like Jesus and doing what Jesus did all year long We've been asking the question. What was Jesus actually? Meaning when he said to someone follow me and what we're learning is that it was not a call to accept Jesus it was an invitation to apprentice under Jesus so that you could continue what he started this is why it's so important to be with Jesus and become like Jesus because our rabbi wants his Apprentices to keep doing what he began to do So what did our rabbi do and as I read the Gospels I came up with two big words I've been teaching you proclaim and reclaim Our rabbi proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and he reclaimed those held captive by the enemy everywhere Jesus went people got Free so in this short series no longer slaves were Learning how Jesus did that and the very first teaching you'll recall We said that Jesus spoke of a personal devil That he was trying to free people from real evil powers in the unseen world Every New Testament author writes about a personal devil Because that was the worldview of their rabbi Jesus spoke of a personal devil He acknowledged the reality of evil powers in the unseen world And he made it his mission to free people from their

influence I think I got this point across well in my first sermon because a lady came up to me later and said pastor I Never saw the devil so clearly as when you were up there preaching on him I'm gonna take that as a compliment But the reality is it is often hard to see the devil clearly Because his primary Strategy for enslavement is not possession. It is deception You see when someone is possessed by an evil spirit the evil is so obvious and we know it's the devil He prefers to remain in the shadows and so his primary strategy to enslave people is not possession it is Deception listen to our rabbi John 8 You belong to your father the devil and you want to carry out your father's desires He was a murderer from the beginning not holding to the truth for there is no truth in him when he lies He speaks his native language for he is a liar and the father of lies So we're asking the question. How did Jesus combat the Lord? of the lies Because to set people free he must undo what the enemy is doing You see when Jesus said from the beginning, I don't think he's just talking about the start of the Bible. I think he's talking Pre-genesis how good of a liar is the devil consider this? he could convince a legion of angels That existed in the very presence of God That they could rebel against him and be successful Now you are really good at deceiving if you can do that This Satan's strategy has always been a misinformation campaign and Every lie he spins that is believed Serves only to feed the powers

So Jesus knew that to disarm the powers he would have to dismantle Their narrative. So what did Jesus do I could say unequivocally Jesus was a truth teller and When I say that I mean more than just that he never told a film. What do I mean by truth? Truth in its essence Is that which corresponds to reality two simple illustrations may help Gravity is a reality Now you cannot like it You can't ignore it You can stand on the edge of a tall building and flap your arms as hard as you want and defy it But gravity is reality gravity wins and you crash The Bible says outwardly we are wasting away. That is reality Now I Can put some dye in the parts of my hair turning white. I Can have surgery to get rid of some of the wrinkles on my face. I Can go out and buy me a pair of jeans with holes in the knees But the reality is father time always wins outwardly We're wasting away. That is the truth. Now what the enemy wants to do is spread the lie That you don't have to accept reality. In fact, you can define your own reality you can Determine your own truth and We love this thought it's why we go to the movies because the movies entertain us with Narratives that propose

alternative realities Think about all the things you would not know if you did not go to the movie for example That it's always possible to park directly outside any building you're visiting you ever noticed that have you ever gone to the movie and seen the hero have to park five blocks away like we do a Detective can only solve a case once he's been suspended from duty If you decide to start dancing in the street everyone you bump into will know all the steps That's an alternative reality. I like this It doesn't matter if you're heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts Your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a menacing manner until you knock out their predecessor Or that police departments give their officers personality test to make sure they're deliberately assigned a partner Who is their exact total opposite? see we go to the movies and they present these Alternative realities and we love to think well, that's what we get to do. It's just decide what reality is And so one of the most popular Afternoon talk show hosts received an award a few years ago and made this comment What I know for sure is That speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have See what we want to hear today is that there is no such thing as absolute truth because that would mean some things are just Right, and some things are just wrong for everybody that there is a moral order. We should all submit to And so we say there's no such thing as absolute truth if you believe that you're a bigot It's an interesting claim because to say there's no such thing as absolute truth is in self an absolute truth claim So what happens then when we to say you just find your truth and I'll just find my truth Does that bring a world of blessing or a world of bondage? Because our truths are going to collide And so what happens when your truth of my truth run into each other? I'll tell you what happens the person who's the mightiest wins Power wins that game. We see it right now in our culture That whatever most people decide is truth. You better accept or we will vilify you. We will criticize you

We will fire you we may even sue you Because that game always gets won by the powerful or You just need to Promote your own self-sovereignty How does that work Because the universe doesn't recognize your sovereignty and so when it's up to you to define yourself and You're still unhappy Think how crushing that is It's no wonder so many teenagers have such high degrees of anxiety They're told a narrative that cannot lead to freedom We can create all the narratives we want but here's the reality. This is God's world and What is not aligned with his reality is going to result in bondage when I say Jesus was a truth teller I don't just mean he never and they had integrity. I meant Jesus taught people how to align their lives with God's reality about human value, about marriage, about money, about sin, about fear, about death, about life after death. And here's what he said in John 8. If you remain faithful to my teachings, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Freedom is not the result of believing my truth. It comes from believing the

truth as it is delivered by our rabbi, who is the living word. So Jesus commissions his apprentices, I want you to go out and speak truth to a world in bondage to lies. So what do we need to understand to do that? Three big ideas. Here's the first. That the battle is in the mind field. Football coaches will tell you the line of scrimmage is where the game is won or lost. The same is true in spiritual warfare. Who controls the mind? One of the greatest philosophers ever said this, before battle of fist must come battle of mind. Who said that? It was this guy. And he knew exactly what he was talking about. But long before Kung Fu Panda, the scriptures said, be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. You see, the wrong place to

start the pursuit of freedom is by addressing enslaving behaviors. Now, I did not understand that as a young preacher. When I saw people in bondage to destructive behaviors, I thought you'd just say, stop that. I did not understand. People behave like they behave because they believe what they believe. You can tell the workaholic father who's losing his family, you need to go home at 5 o'clock every day, but if he believes that his self-worth is determined by his net worth, he'll take work home. He'll never turn that brain off. And you can tell that helicopter mom to stop putting so much pressure on your children. But if she believes her validation comes from having perfect kids, she'll simply change one set of behaviors for another set just as toxic. When I was a very young preacher, a woman came to me one

time from our church because she had absolutely no joy in her life. And I could not understand. She had a pleasant appearance, a loving husband, a cute baby, a home. And so I gave her behaviors like work out and hang out with friends and count your blessings and everything I said was true and none of it helped. If I had listened better, I would have learned that her parents were not trying to have another baby. And they didn't want her and it was obvious from the beginning. And her father actually said to her on more than one occasion, I wish you had been a boy. And she grew up with the narrative, I am unwanted, I am undeserving of love. And she lived in bondage. The mind is the key. And the unseen powers are always trying to claim it. Satan wants to plant thoughts in the mind field that are not in

line with reality. Like, my body is mine. We're married in our hearts. Just looking is not hurting anybody. Or the one that's really frustrated me lately, the kids will be all right. In the last two months, I've had at least six conversations with grown people still dealing with the wounds of their parents divorcing. Now, please understand, I understand times when divorce happens and no one wanted it. I'm not trying to put guilt on anyone. I am confronting the foolish narrative that is often spoken. Well, you just need to do whatever you have to do to be happy, the kids will be all right. And whoever speaks that is speaking nonsense when it comes to actual reality. See, these narratives, the Bible calls them strongholds. They're patterns of thought.

Contrary to the truth of God, that just increases the enemy's influence in our lives. And here's what I learned. You cannot abolish the slavery until you demolish the stronghold. So Jesus would teach people how to take these false narratives captive before they became captives. And this is what the church must teach every new believer to do. Boy, we are celebrating that 87 people made the decision last week to surrender to Christ and to be baptized. And to all of you who did, let me say, your first thing is not to think, what behavior do I need to change, but what new thinking do I need to begin to think? Listen to Ephesians 4. Since you've heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, you've learned the truth that comes from him. Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Maybe your Bible says let it renew your mind. Jesus said the Spirit will guide you into all truth. We need Holy Spirit help in discerning reality, because I got to remind you again, the enemy is a brilliant liar. In fact, that's the second big idea. The enemy traffics in true lies. He's not going to make ridiculous evil statements and expect you to believe them. He knows how to say things in ways that sound good. Think about the beginning in the garden. He questioned a truth.

Did God really say, are you sure about that? Did you get God right on that? He challenged a truth. You'll not die. He told a truth. Your eyes will be open. He's so good at spinning a narrative that just sounds right. So, this is way before the time of most of you, but 1980, there was actually for a short time a conflict between Great Britain and Argentina over a small set of islands called the Falklands. England dispatched the HMS Sheffield, a 3500 ton destroyer to protect their sovereignty over those islands. An Argentine pilot fired a missile, one single missile that hit that ship, sank it with great loss of life. And many said, see that proves naval warfare is obsolete. But after more study, they learned. The ship's computer saw that missile coming far away, had plenty of time and capacity to shoot it out of the air. But that missile was made in France. And the computer said, that is our ally, that is a friendly missile. You talk about an oxymoron. And so, they allowed something coming at them to get close to them because they did not think it was from an enemy. This is what our enemy does. Paul said, 2 Corinthians 11, I fear somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. He is cunning.

Please understand, he's going to spend the stronghold he wants to build in your mind like a truth. What you need to remember is reality is not defined by what I feel. Reality is not defined by what I want. Reality is not defined by what the masses out there have decided in a popular vote must be true. The brilliant writer and theologian G.K. Chesterton said, fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions. Something is not true just because it is currently in style. And the price is high when I replace the truth with my truth because unreality always results in captivity. That's why when Paul says in Ephesians 6, hey, we're not fighting flesh and blood. Our battle is against unseen powers in heavenly realms. The first piece of armor, he says, you need is the belt of truth. Now, I'm not a soldier. I'm thinking if I'm going into battle, that's not the first thing I'm going to grab. But Paul knew that when the powers look for someone to attack, the first thing they're going to do is attack. they check is that person's relationship to truth. But I got some good news. I know where to get a belt. That's the third big idea, the truths of Jesus help people become free thinkers. Remember Jesus is not a word, Jesus is the word. And so when Jesus speaks, false narratives get exposed and true reality gets revealed. I want you to remember that when you read the Gospels. You're not just reading platitudes and words of wisdom. You're reading truth that is exposing enslaving narratives. I'll give you some

examples. Jesus said, can any of your worries add a single moment to your life? Now you can fret, you can stew, you can spend hours on your phone scrolling and getting really scared. You can pop a pill or have a drink every night to take the edge off. But did you add one moment of value to your life? Jesus is speaking reality. Or life is not measured by the abundance of your possessions. Now do you realize every day I get between three to 7,000 messages that speak a different narrative. But when you go to a funeral, do you hear stories about how much stuff a person has? About what they did that blessed other people. Jesus is speaking reality. Or how about, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Jesus says you have a life, it's temporary, it was given to you by God. And then there's going to be a meeting with God about the next life. And if you're living today, not getting ready for that day, then scripture says you're living like a fool. That's reality. Or maybe the most counterintuitive and countercultural thing he ever said. If you want to save your life, you need to lose it. You need to stop promoting your self-sovereignty and surrender to God. That's the path to the best possible life. That's reality. You see, the words of Jesus are emancipation speech. He's teaching people how to think freely. Yes, we love God with all our hearts, but also as apprentices, we love God with all our minds. We learn to love truth. And it can't be emphasized enough, the living word used the written word to define reality. Every time Satan tried to plant a false narrative in Jesus' mind, he would go straight to scripture. Like Matthew 4, during that time, the devil came and said to him, if you're the son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread. But Jesus told him, no. The scriptures say people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. The enemy is too cunning to come to you and say, hey, just throw your Bible in the trash. And so he comes and says, just read the parts you like. The parts of the Bible that line up with your truth, like those parts, and the parts that don't, get rid of those parts. Jesus said, every means every. And if you're treating the Bible like a cafeteria and you just like the parts that you want, you're putting a target on your back for the powers. We're not going to live more freely than we think. So we must do what Jesus did and combat the enemy with truth that comes from the scriptures. John wrote to his flock, I've written to you who were young in the faith because you're strong. God's word lives in

your hearts and you've won your battle with the evil one. I'm going to go old school. Certainly some of you will remember a very respected Senator from the past named Bill Bradley and some will remember before he was a Senator, he was a hall of fame basketball player for the New York Knicks. And before that, an all American. with Princeton so one day the Princeton basketball courts getting resurfaced they go to a local high school to practice he was a brilliant shooter he went to his favorite spot took six straight shots all six hit the back rim and bounced out he seemed perplexed made an adjustment made five in a row said to the one who managed the gym your rim is an inch and a half too low and after practice they got a tape measure and sure enough it was 1 and 1 8 inches below he was so aligned with the reality of a 10-foot rim that it was just a little off he knew and was not deceived Bible says let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly let God's Word teaching of Christ be so much a part of you that you can't be fooled because when it dwells richly you live freely when Jesus defines reality we escape captivity that's what happened to that young mom she and her husband moved away he got a different job and it so happened about ten years later I was speaking in the town where they had moved and I got reacquainted and as soon as I saw her I saw joy all over her face you see she had encountered the gospel in a way she never had before not just in her heart but in her mind and she got a new narrative I am a child of God I am beloved I have a father who has always wanted me and the truth of the gospel demolished that stronghold that had kept her bound all those years this is what Jesus sends us to do he set people free from the seduction of deception and he wants his apprentices to continue what he started so what do we do we do this we speak with clarity and charity in Jesus name we speak truth in love and I know you can speak truth in a way that is not loving but hear me say today you can't love people by denying reality as is defined by God as apprentices of Jesus we welcome everybody but we lie to nobody as Paul said we don't change the teaching of God we speak truth plainly why because we love people and we want them to live in freedom I remember preparing this lesson a story

I'd forgotten about happened over 20 years ago I was flying to Seattle to speak at a church if you've made that flight it's about four hours long I got on the plane sat down to a young woman sit next to me we escaped exchange pleasantries the plane took off I got a book out to read and after about 20 minutes she said is that a Christian book I said yes are you a Christian yes in fact I'm a minister she exploded with joy I'm a new Christian I haven't been a Christian a full year yet and then she shared I'm a folk singer and she had some renown in that genre she said I'm going to do a concert a fundraiser to save a historic building in Seattle and it's being planned by my family she was raised to be an atheist she said my mother and my brother hate that I am now a Christian and they speak cruelly about it all the time she said now when I do a concert I give my testimony and I sing at least one song I wrote about Jesus but if I do that in Seattle they will be so angry I don't remember what I said but I quoted a scripture probably something like Joshua 1 be strong and courageous oh wait I want to write that down she got on a tablet for the next three and a half hours she took 13 pages of notes of scriptures that she could read so that she wouldn't be afraid and you could just see the walls of the stronghold coming down we landed I promised I would pray for her I'm walking off the plane she tapped me on the shoulder there was a tear in her eye and she said I prayed to God before I got on this plane that he would see somebody next to me that knew the Bible and I tell you that story not so you'll think more of me but so that you'll think more of Jesus that was Jesus doing what he does setting people free with truth We are His apprentices and we need to do what He did. So, pray with me, please. So, God, I pray right now, whoever hears this teaching, whether it's in person, online, whatever venue, later, that You will use this message to increase our understanding of how important it is to know and love and seek truth. To live in line with the way God has ordered reality.

And so, would You, God, because we need to love the truth, would You increase our hunger for the Scriptures? That we will love the Scripture like Jesus did. Every word. So that we can be better at speaking truth in love and seeing people get free. And we declare now, to whoever can listen to prayers, be they powers good or evil, that we believe Jesus is Lord, Jesus is the Word, Jesus is the truth, and in Jesus we find freedom. And in His name we pray, amen.