Judges 17:1-9
Let me tell you a story about two Christians.
They went to church.
They read their Bibles with some regularity, but they were spiritually deluded.
They fell in love with each other, well, if they were honest, they would say they fell in lust with each other.
After a couple of months, they decided not to get married, but to move in with each other.
He said that he could spend his whole life with her.
He was asked why he didn't marry her.
His response was that they just wanted to be together, and that marriage could wait.
He had already experienced several failed relationships, but he believed this one would last.
Unfortunately, it didn't last.
She became pregnant after a month of living together, and their relationship started coming apart.
He wanted her to get an abortion.
She wanted to keep it.
He said that he had a "real peace" about this decision, because the baby would really mess up his life
and God would not want that to happen.
They quit talking to each other, and soon quit loving each other.
Then, she miscarried.
She was devastated.
He felt like God was really looking out for him.
He wanted to put the pieces back together with her, but those pieces had been damaged beyond repair.
They could never again be put together.
She left him and has never spoken to him again.
They were living under a delusion.
Many Christians live with a spiritual delusion.
They believe God doesn't mind their sins all that much.
They go to church, but live like the devil.
Each of us should examine our lives to determine if we are living under a spiritual delusion.
Our answer is tremendously important.
Thousands of years ago, there were followers of God who deluded themselves.
Let us read about one this morning.
Judges 17:1-9
Micah lived during a time of anarchy.
Sin was prevalent in the land.
Everyone did what they wanted to do.
This is similar to our world today.
People do as they please, instead of what God desires.
Look at our Scripture passage.
Micah had stolen money from his mother.
His mother cursed the thief and this concerned Micah, so he returned it to her.
She decided that something good must be done with that silver.
She probably had good intentions, but she and Micah were spiritually deluded.
Let us look at some things that would indicate that we could be spiritual deluded.
You are spiritually deluded, when. . .
You Expect God to Bless Your Sinning. (Verses 1-4)
The mother was so glad her thieving son had returned her silver, that she felt compelled to do
something great for God.
That sounds nice, but she was delusional.
In verse 3 we see what she wants Micah to do.
She was consecrating something to the Lord.
She was dedicating her silver to the Lord, to be used in making an idol of Him.
People in those days would give things to God, expecting His blessing.
They would consecrate something to Him and expect to receive God's favor.
She was delusional.
The 10 commandments made it very clear that there were to be no graven images made of God.
Yet, this is exactly how she was going to honor God and then, expect Him to bless her in return.
This was a clear command of God, and she was going to blatantly violate it.
How about you?
Do you commit sin, and still expect God's blessings.
Do you ever find yourself in a crisis caused by your sins, and yet, pray and ask God to get you out of it?
Are you living a lukewarm Christian life, and expect God to deliver you from harm, and provide you
with good health and strength?
If you are doing sinful things in your life, do not expect God's blessings.
You will not get it!
If you do expect God to bless you while living in known sin, you are spiritually deluded!
When we allow ourselves to find reasons to excuse what we know is wrong -- we are "rationalizing."
Rationalization of sins sets us up to be spiritually deluded.
What sins do you rationalize?
How many of us have rationalized our sins, by thinking that God understood.
We might have reasoned that they were not that important.
God will not bless you while you are deep in sin.
You are just dreaming if you think God will bless you when you are in the midst of sin.
You are only deluding yourself!
You are spiritually deluded when you never do anything wrong. (Verses 5-6)
Micah continued the idea his mother had.
He not only had some idols made, but also made his own priestly garments.
He even made one of his sons a priest.
He was setting up his own place of worship.
In those days, people could only worship at the Tabernacle in Shiloh.
God had commanded this.
Only Levites could be priests, who were members of Aaron's family.
This did not bother Micah.
He had a graven image of God, made some priestly clothes, and said to one of his boys,
"Your are now a priest."
He now had his own place of worship.
He did not have to go to Shiloh as commanded by God.
What was he thinking?
Did he think God would appreciate this gesture of faith?
Obviously, Micah did not think he was doing anything wrong.
Even though, he had to have known that it was completely against the commands of God.
How could he be so deluded?
When you read verse 6, you discover that he was like most of the people of his time.
They did whatever they wanted to do.
They decided for themselves what was right and wrong.
God was no longer their authority for what was right and wrong.
Micah had deluded himself!
He was not even aware of it!
He did not even suspect that God would be angry with him.
He did as he saw fit, even though it was against the written commands of God.
He was religious, like the people of his time, yet, he did not notice his own sins.
Do you notice yours?
Do you rationalize them and think they are such little sins?
There is no such thing as a little sin.
Sin, any sin, will cause your relationship with God to suffer.
Do you rationalize away your sins?
Do you come up with reasons why they are not so bad?
Do you think God does not really expect you to keep His commandments?
If any of these are true of you, you are spiritually deluded!
Let me also say that if you honestly believe that you never sin,
something is wrong with your theology.
I sin.
Not as much as I used to, but I still sin.
God shows me my sins.
He points them out to me.
All of us sin.
If you expect to grow spiritually, then you must acknowledge your sins, and must seek forgiveness for them,
and then, strive with the help of God not to continue in them.
If you believe you have grown spiritually as much as it is possible, you have deluded yourself.
If you believe you are as holy as Moses and can now take it easy, you are spiritually deluded.
You may not commit such horrible sins as murder, stealing, and adultery; but if you are arrogant
and if you allow your anger to explode on someone, and if you are always putting others down,
and if, you behave as though you are better than others -- then you are sinning.
If you know of something good to do and you don't do it -- you have sinned.
If you know of one who you should have witnessed to about Jesus, and you didn't -- you have sinned.
If you know of one that you should have invited to Bible study and to worship services and you didn't -- you have sinned.
Acknowledge your sins!
Confess them to God!
Strive not to repeat them!
When you become so deluded that you are unable to recognize your own sins, you will be dragged down by them.
You will eventually know tragedy and you will wonder how it all happened to you, without considering
the consequences of sin.
High in the Rocky mountains, a man huddled on the cabin floor, and was slowly freezing to death.
Outside a blizzard raged.
John Elliott had logged several miles that day through the deep snows of the mountain.
As dusk and exhaustion overcame him he had decided to "hole-up."
He was somewhat fatigued, so he did not light a fire or remove his wet clothing.
As the blizzard blasted through the cracks in the old cabin walls, the sleeping forest ranger
sank into oblivion, paralyzed by the pleasure of the storm's icy caress.
Suddenly, however, his dog sprang into action, and with unrelenting whines, finally managing to rouse
his near-comatose friend.
The dog, a St. Bernard, was John's constant companion.
The St. Bernard was famous for their heroics in times of crisis.
"If that dog hadn't been with me, I'd be dead today," John Elliott says.
"When you're freezing to death you actually feel warm all over, and don't wake up because it feels too good".
This story illustrates the spiritual condition of many people today.
They are spiritually cold, and are oblivious of their true condition.
Thank God for all the ways in which He arouses us.
He sends His messengers to nudge us awake.
Sometimes, the methods He uses to awaken us are drastic, but always for our good.
Let us not imagine when He shakes us that He hates us.
He awakens us from lethargy because He loves us, and wants us to serve Him.
You can also recognize spiritual delusions when. . .you think rituals replace righteousness. (Verses 7-13)
Micah hired a young Levite to be his priest.
Of course, he was not a Levite of Aaron's family or he would have been serving at the tabernacle.
God was the only one who could ordain a priest.
God was the only One who could install them.
Yet, Micah saw nothing wrong with hiring his own.
He was spiritually deluded.
He set up his own tabernacle, installed an unqualified priest on his own, and worshipped a graven image
of God in his own shrine.
No doubt, he thought God would be pleased with these efforts on His behalf.
If you want to know how deluded he was, look at verse 13.
He said, "Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest."
Circumstances and chance had brought this Levite to his door, but Micah took it as a sign
that God was pleased with what he had been doing!
He believed God had approved of his actions, even though they were contrary to the Lord's commands!
He was spiritually deluded.
You are spiritually deluded, if you think any kind of religious practice makes you righteous,
when you are blatantly breaking God's commands.
You are not righteous.
God will not bless you.
If you come to church, but live however you want during the week, you are spiritually deluded.
If you give money to God and think that makes up for your sins -- think again.
It does not.
Your Sunday worship and your offerings will be tainted by the sins you have committed.
They do not cause God to see you as righteous.
Actually, they make God sick!
Do not let rituals replace personal obedience.
They are worthless if not backed up with heartfelt devotion and obedience to God!
A rather pompous-looking Sunday School teacher was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys
the importance of living the Christian life.
"Why do people call me a Christian?" the man asked.
After a moment's pause, one youngster said, "Maybe it's because they don't know you."
That kid knew how the man really lived outside the church.
Believe me, people know if your religion is in the heart.
They know if it is nothing more than giving lip service to God at church.
If other people know it for what it is, you can believe that God truly knows the level of your commitment to Him.
Do not delude yourself!
Are you spiritually delusional?
Do you expect God to bless your sinning?
Do you think you never do anything wrong?
Do you think rituals make you righteous?
Many do.
They see no conflict with being a Christian and still do what they please.
I read about a hymnal made especially for the spiritually deluded, lukewarm Christian of today.
It is titled: Hymns of the Lukewarm Church(God's Frozen People)
The LukeWarm Church announces publication of "Church Songs," whose title, according to the editor,
was chosen because People in today's society get kind of uncomfortable with too much talk about things
like commitment and dedication.
They'd much rather have a religion that they can turn on or off at will.
Our book seeks to meet that need."
Here is a list of some of the songs:
A Comfy Mattress Is Our God
Joyful, Joyful, We Kinda Like Thee
Above Average is Thy Faithfulness
Lord, Keep Us Loosely Connected to Your Word
All Hail the Influence of Jesus' Name
My Hope is Built on Nothing Much
Amazing Grace, How Interesting the Sound
My Faith Looks Around for Thee
Be Thou My Hobby
O God, Our Enabler in Ages Past
Blest Be the Tie That Doesn't Cramp My Style
Oh, for a Couple of Tongues to Sing
He's Quite a Bit to Me
Oh, How I Like Jesus
I Lay My Inappropriate Behaviors on Jesus
Pillow of Ages, Fluffed for Me
I Surrender Some
Praise God from Whom All Affirmations Flow
I'm Fairly Certain That My Redeemer Lives
Self-Esteem to the World! The Lord is Come
Sit Up, Sit Up for Jesus
Spirit of the Living God, Fall Somewhere Near Me
Stick Nearby, It's Getting Dark Outside
Take My Life and Let Me Be
There is Scattered Cloudiness in My Soul Today
There Shall be Sprinkles of Blessings
What an Acquaintance We Have in Jesus
When Peace, Like a Trickle. . .
When the Saints Go Sneaking In
Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following
God of Taste, and God of Stories
Lift Every Voice and Intellectualize
Were some of those titles a little too close to the truth for you?
If you know in your heart that you should be singing hymns along these lines, yet,give lip service
to the real ones, you are spiritually deluded.
Don't delude yourself any longer!
Your commitment and dedication to God is extremely important and He knows the extent of yours!
Do not delude yourself any longer!
Sermon adapted by Dr. Harold L. White