Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
June 14, 2015 - W1524

Today, I want to talk about subtle deceptions, and I would like to begin with a story about an elderly looking gentleman who always had a great disposition. Every evening a woman would walk by his house and see him smiling while rocking in his rocking chair.  Well, one day, because she could not stand it anymore, she asked him what his secret was to having such a vibrant attitude.  He replied, “I smoke weed and three packs of cigarettes a day, I drink like a fish and I sin whenever I want to.”   She replied “Really? How old are you?”  He replied “26.”  Hah…hah…hah…subtle deceptions.

Every day we make hundreds of decisions; however, certain decisions are “weighted” more than others.  These are decisions that the Bible calls opportune moments, because they have your destiny, your future, your testimony as a Christian, and your legacy tied to them.  At the apex of these moments, the most subtle deceptions will arise.

Today I would like to talk about three Biblical characters:  Jesus, Joseph, and Esau - Joseph’s uncle.  Let’s begin with Jesus, during a period in time when the Holy Spirit, like a dove, descended upon Jesus after He had been baptized in the Jordan River.  This was the beginning of His public ministry, and He went into the wilderness, and fasted for 40 days.

The Bible says, “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days.”  “And when they were ended, He was hungry.  The devil said to Him ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’” (Luke 4:1-2)

After 40 days, Jesus was hungry, and the devil spoke to Him, but He overcame the devil’s temptation.  “And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune moment.”  “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.”   (Luke 4:13-14) 

Notice the Bible says He was lead into the spirit, by being filled with the spirit; but returned in the power of the spirit.  What turns someone filled with the spirit into someone empowered by the spirit? 

 Your destiny is tied to certain opportune moments concerning decisions that you make.  The choices Jesus made are examples of opportune moments.

Did you know that the most subtle of deceptions will hit you the hardest when you are hungry?  You may be hungry for affection, attention, prestige or power.  These are opportune moments, and the devil waits for them.  An opportune moment can allow you the opportunity to grow in your faith, or to recede in your faith, depending on the choice that you make.  It is a chance for you to build character or to recede in character.  It is a chance to strengthen your call, or dilute your call.  This is why in Luke 22:31-32, while Peter was going through an opportune moment, Jesus looked at Peter, and said, “Satan is the man with permission to sift you like wheat, but I prayed for you that your faith not fail.”

A person will never know the opportunity to know what true holiness is until he has had the opportunity to be truly unholy.

A person needs to go through temptations and overcome them to understand what it means to be truly holy.  The power of the Holy Spirit is available to you.  While going through certain trials, God avails His power to you, and you need to tap into it.  Joseph was a great example of this.  At an early age, Joseph was mocked, rejected, and hated by his brothers.  In fact his brother’s had thrown him into a pit and left him for dead, before selling him into slavery.  Fast forward the tape and Joseph is an adult and goes to Egypt to meet Potiphar’s attractive and willing wife who lures him into her bedroom.  Well, Joseph takes off like a bullet; however, she tears off a piece of his coat and falsely accuses him of trying to sleep with her.  Therefore, he gets thrown into prison.  This was an opportune moment for Joseph where he chose wisely to serve God, and God raised him up as a Pharaoh, to oversee all of Egypt. If Joseph had given into Mrs. Potiphar’s advances, I doubt that he would have ever made it to the throne.

In order to become all that God has created us to be, He will put us through various tests.  During these times, we need to call upon the power of the Holy Spirit.  This will empower us to overcome them.  Scripture tells us to flee from temptation.  You should run, because your destiny is at stake.  Let’s say a tall, dark and handsome man starts to pay attention to you at work, or you are a guy and an attractive woman starts giving you attention.  Run! ... Your future is not worth losing.  Maybe you are hungry, and you are on Maui.  While heading back to the airport to fly back to Honolulu, you pass Krispy Kreme donuts – run!

The first step in subtle deception is not sin, but is

1.       CONSIDERATION of sin.

If you “consider” it, it will reel you in.  If the temptation is around all of the time, then God will always give you the grace to overcome what you CAN’T get away from, but He won’t give you the grace to overcome what you CAN GET AWAY FROM.

Esau is the third example.  Isaac and Rebecca had twin boys.  Esau was the first born, and Jacob was the second born.

One day, Esau was hungry after hunting, and came home to the aroma of Jacob’s stew brewing. Esau had not caught any game and asked Jacob for a bowl of his stew; however, Jacob was crafty and said, “I will give you a bowl of stew if you give me your birthright.” 

According to the Old Testament, a birthright was valuable, because it gave the eldest child a double portion of their inheritance along with the destiny that a father crowns on the first born. 

The Devil …

2.       CAMOUFLAGES CONSEQUENCES.

So at an opportune moment, Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of stew; but later hated Jacob for what had happened and plotted to kill him after he realized the consequences of his decision.  So Jacob fled his homeland.  Esau made a foolish decision because of his appetite.  All of us have appetites – don’t be held hostage by them.

The devil told Jesus to throw Himself off of a cliff, and the angels would lift Him up.  Jesus replied, “It is written, you shall not test the Lord your God.” (Luke 4:12)

If you change or dilute God’s words, you will have no recourse during opportune moments that your destiny, your purpose and maybe even your eternity is tied to. 

Esau compromised his birthright, but the Bible says, “Later on, Esau wanted his birthright back so bad, but was rejected even though he sought it in tears.”

It is never too late to get your birthright back.  That is why it is important to …

3.       REPENT AND RETURN OFTEN.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

God will forgive you no matter how many times you sin.  The only sins that are unforgiveable are the sins for which you refuse to ask forgiveness, because you think that it is not sin, and because you have redefined sin.    Listen, just because it is okay with State law, the government, or social media, this does not make it not sin.  Remember who you will stand before someday for your soul.  Is it God, or the State?

As I have said before, we never sin alone.  Your sin will always affect someone – your children, your neighbors, or people who are watching you.  Miley Cyrus recently said, “I do not know what gender I am, and I don’t really care because I go both ways.  This is okay, because this is who I am, and because I am not hurting anyone.”  Well, did you know how many young ladies watched her say this?

Abraham Lincoln was trying to eradicate slavery and persuade a person to change his attitude to do the same.  So he asked this person, “How many legs does a cow have?  He answered, “Four.”  Lincoln then asked, “What if we call a tail a leg, now how many legs are there?”  He replied, “Five.”  Lincoln responded, “There’s your problem – Just because I say a tail is a leg, does not make it a leg.”    This is why I say, “This is my Bible, and I boldly declare that this is the highest law of the land.  I have what it says I have, and do what it says I do, because I am a citizen of Heaven.”

All of us go through opportune moments. This is why it is important to understand the power of the Holy Spirit, and how He will give you the grace that is needed to make the right decision like Jesus and Joseph did.  Let’s go back to Esau.  Twenty years had passed since Esau sought to kill Jacob because of giving up his birthright, and Jacob who was married to Lea and Rebecca, wanted to take his family and livestock back home to Canaan.  However, in order to do so, he had to pass through his brother’s land, and did not know if Esau was still angry with him.  Therefore, in hopes of appeasing his brother, he sent his flocks first, his slave women second, and left his family lagging behind, so that they could run away, in case Esau decided to attack. Well, Esau saw Jacob at a distance, ran toward him and hugged and kissed him. He then allowed Jacob’s family to pass through – saving a whole nation.   At this time Joseph was a little boy who had heard stories of how his father had stolen his Uncle Jacob’s birthright. Seeing how his uncle forgave his father, was an opportune moment which he learned from, and taught Joseph the value of forgiveness. 

Fast forward the tape, and Joseph is now Pharaoh.  His brothers who sold him into slavery had come to Egypt, because they were hungry due to the famine in their homeland.  Instead of killing them, to avenge what they had done to him, Joseph welcomed them, hugged them, and told them that they were forgiven.

Every opportune moment has two people waiting for you – the devil and his subtle deceptions, and Jesus with His strong grace.  When you meet an opportune moment, choose wisely, because your destiny is tied to it.  I do not know who you will choose, but for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, Amen.

Questions:

1.       Discuss a law, social media, or majority opinion that is sin, and how should we live our lives righteously in spite of this.
2.       What have you learned from opportune moments that you or others have experienced?
3.       How will you choose wisely during opportune moments?