Laying Aside Guile

 

1 PETER 2:1-2

SUBJECT: GROWTH THROUGH PERSEVERANCE

THEME: because God is always in control and our hope is in Christ, we are admonished to never despair or backslide due to difficult and unfair circumstances. We should rather strive to grow spiritually and persevere in practical righteousness. We must lay aside wrong attitudes because they hinder our spiritual appetite and growth.

INTRODUCTION: How should I conduct myself when life seems to fall apart?  What does God expect of us when things are unkind, unfair, and filled with unwanted pressures? 1 Peter 1:6-7, Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: [7] That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Pursuing the will of God despite our pressures is God’s answer, but how do we do that?

1) There is a tendency to quite living for God resorting to the world’s way of handling hurts, troubles, and unfair treatments. In such times we need to refocus ourselves and adjust our perspective to live more completely up to God’s expectations in the realm of our emotional life. 

2)  Instead of becoming cold towards God in our trials, we must maintain a correct attitude and spirit toward Him and others. Sometimes it is very easy to put on a smile and go through the motions, but to be real in our spirit, attitude, and heart is a different matter. Trials can be real opportunities to grow spiritually but we will have to be especially attentive to the purpose of living for God during these hard times.

When you come to the point of quitting draw on God’s strength, you’ll build endurance in your life.

MESSAGE: 

STRIVE TO GROW IN THE LORD BY LAYING ASIDE HARMFUL ATTITUDES  1Pet. 2:1

There is a great temptation to take on non-Christian attitudes and to assume a hostile spirit when difficulties come our way.  Sometimes extreme adjustments, out of the ordinary pressures, and unfamiliar challenges can generate negative energies that will eventuate into hostility, irritability, and shortness of patience with others. In such times the child of God must resist the temptation to revert back to the old sin nature and actually take off the “Old Man.”

     B.  WE MUST LAY ASIDE ALL GUILE “And all Guile,” (1Pet. 2:1) 

         1. This is Any Form of Deceit, Dishonesty and Trickery.  Guile, or deceit in words and the ability to cunningly mislead innocent people. This type of person would cleverly play on the gullibility of others or manipulate people for personal gain. They are crafty, duplicitous, insidiously cunning; they have very little, or no integrity and they are not worthy of trust. Rom 1:29, Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

DECEPTION: Trickery, fraud, double-dealing, lying, cheating, are all the practices of one who deliberately deceives. This is the practice of deceiving people or using other dishonest methods to achieve one’s aims, or the ability to deceive people for this purpose.

ILLUSTRATION: These are the people who will falsely income tax returns, cheat on exams, lie about their age, bribe government officials, manipulate people out of their savings, pull shady business deals, falsely a report, misuse allocated funds, and lie about their past accomplishments. Keep the extra change from the cashier, or who will shortchange a customer. God says take this mentality off like a filthy garment because it defiles the character of the Child of God.

              i) The Deceit of Flattery.  Ps. 55:21

They sometimes will approach people with words of Flattery. 

Psalm 55:21, The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

Psalm 34:13, Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

              ii) The Deceit of False Promises.

They will make False Promises, they will tell half-truths and use suggestive language to mislead people. They carefully select their words to shroud or cover their true meaning.

             iii) The Deceit of Falsehoods.

They comprehend falsehoods and deception, which is a crafty imposing upon another's ignorance or weakness, to his manipulations.

             iv) Deceitful Living Has Serious Consequences.

Psalm 36:3, The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.

                   a)  The Most Devastating Loss Associated with Deceit Is the Dulling of Spiritual Awareness and Sensitivity.

                  b)  Guilt Associated with a Known Deception Will Cause the Christian to Withdraw from God's Presence. (They quit church, stop reading the Bible and praying, they avoid Christian fellowship, and dissolve spiritual obligations.)

                 c) Deception Becomes Easier. Once withdrawn, subsequent deceptions become easier, less conviction is felt, and life is eventually full of defeat and frustration.

                 d) Deception Destroys Trust and Leads to Hypocrisy and a Critical Spirit.

No one is immune to the temptation to deceive, particularly when money is concerned. God's Word gives us guidelines for making decisions despite our normal reactions.

Proverbs 4:24, Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

Psalm 120:2, Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

        2. The Scripture Teaches That Internal Reality is Much Greater Than External Images. A camera commercial states, “Image is everything.” Our culture boldly emphasizes image over substance! (Consider movies, TV shows, music, and politics.)

            i) Words Are Important—Immensely Important.

What we say and the way we say it expresses what is most personal and intimate in us. But mindlessly repeating holy words no more creates a relationship than saying “I love you” twenty times a day makes us skilled lovers.

      ii) The Outside Is a Lot Easier to Reform than the Inside.

Going to the right church and saying the right words is a lot easier than working out a life of fair treatment, honesty, integrity, and love among the people you work and live with. Showing up at church once a week and saying a hearty amen is a lot easier than engaging in a life of daily prayer and Scripture meditation that develops into concern for souls, holiness, and injustice.

      iii)  Are the People Who Do this Deliberately Trying to Pull the Wool over the Eyes of Their Neighbors and Fake God into Blessing Them? Some are, but for most I don't think so. I don't think they are trying to get by with anything. I think they have lived for so long based on outward appearances that they have no feel for inward reality.

We live in a culture where a new beginning is far more attractive than a long follow–through. Images are important. Beginnings are important. We Say, “A first Impression is a lasting impression.” 

      iv) But an Image Without Substance Is a Lie.

A beginning without continuation is a lie. This is the important message true Christians must grasp, or we are living in guile and deceit. We must learn to recognize the importance of internal substance and reality and put away images that deceive.

1 Thess 2:3-4, For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: (4)   But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

2 Cor 8:20-21, Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us: (21) Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

Yes, reality is more important than shame because pretense involves deceiving on purpose including actions and appearances that look real but are fake fabrications. Many live in denial to avoid dealing with the realism of their emotional pain. Nevertheless, God still calls believers to live without hoaxes because this is a more truthful, more honest, and more compassionate way to live.

CONCLUSION: How does God expect me to conduct myself in troubled times? We must lay aside wrong attitudes of the heart because they hinder our spiritual appetite and growth. Let Us Lay Aside Wrong Attitudes!

1. God expects us to take off some things. He expects us to grow spiritually even in hard and unfair situations. 1 Peter 2:1-2, Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, [2] As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: Certainly, there is great concern for living to please the Lord among His people!

2. We must not resort to the world’s way of handling hurts, troubles, and unfair treatments.  We no longer allow anger, revenge, backbiting, and resentment to prompt us to vent our frustrations. We do not have to relinquish our fellowship with the Lord. We must not stray away falling behind harboring wrong attitudes that hinder our spiritual progress. In such times we can refocus and adjust our perspective to live more completely up to God’s expectations choosing the power of the Spirit and refusing to be controlled by our emotions!        

3. When life seems to fall apart we find the strength to live Godly, Pure and Clean inwardly in this polluted unfair world by submitting to the control of the Holy Spirit (Temperance). Galatians 5:22-25, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. [24] And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. [25] If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.  

Temperance is the ability to harness and control our passions, attitudes, feelings, and desires, and is also known as spiritual self-control. 

4. Thank God for trials instead of spending your energy avoiding them because he uses them. Adversity helps us develop endurance, and endurance is a powerful weapon to have in our character arsenal. Romans 5:3-5 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience (Perseverance/Endurance); [4] And patience, experience; and experience, hope: [5] And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

Endurance Sustains Courage. A burst of courage for fifteen minutes is good, but it is not enough to carry you through. Endurance gives staying power to discipline. It is important to understand delayed gratification (Self Discipline) and to make advance decisions, but these are not one-time actions. Endurance turns your vision into reality. Without it, visions are no more than pipe dreams.

If you are at a quitting point right now, count the cost very carefully before throwing in the towel. Quitting is not glamorous. It does not develop your character. God does not call it blessed. In most cases, you will regret it for the rest of your life. But when you come to the quitting point and then, drawing on God’s strength, you build endurance in your life.