A Deceitful Heart Jer.17: 9 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The trouble with a deceitful heart according to this text is that the man who has it doesn’t know it. The Lord asks, “Who can know it?” Well, as hard as it is for us to know the deceit of our own hearts, I believe there are some verses in the Bible that can help us spot when our hearts are deceived. You can tell that you have a deceitful heart by the:
Gods that you serve – Deut 11:16 – other gods; not the God of the Bible – I had a heart that deceived me that the Jesus I was serving in the Catholic Church was the same Jesus of the Bible – I was deceived and called the host “My Lord and My God” – that wasn’t Jesus – the Pharisees said that they served God but they were serving the devil Jn 8:42-44 – they were covetous [Lk 16:13-14, they served mammon and killed Jesus] – Paul’s heart deceived him into persecuting Christians.
Woman that allures you – Job 31:9 – when a woman other than your wife allures you your heart is deceitful – you believe that you love your wife more than you really do and you want her to believe that you love her more than you do – when your heart is drawn to another man’s wife your heart is deceitful – when your heart is drawn to a woman God doesn’t want you to have your heart has deceived you into believing that the infatuation you are feeling is Biblical love – you are deceived.
Things that you imagine – Prov 12:20 – when you imagine evil you have a deceitful heart – God destroyed and entire generation of the earth because of their wicked imaginations Gen 6:5; 8:21 – the weapons of 2 Cor 10:4-5 will not work until you have a change of heart – a deceitful heart will always imagine evil but will either justify his imagination or deny it so that he can continue to harbor wicked thoughts.
Preachers that you follow – Rom 16:18; Jer 14:14 – you are supposed to know that they are false by the Bible – when you follow these false preachers and teachers today [and there are many of them] your heart is deceitful – it has deceived you into believing that you can follow these guys and still please God – impossible!!!
Pride that you have – Oba 3 – you know when you are proud and arrogant – you are self-sufficient – you are ambitious – you are self-willed – you harbor a secret pride in your accomplishments – and you believe that others and God should be proud of you.
The things that you say – Jas 1:26 – out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh – you will tell people something about yourself and you will believe that just because you said it that makes it so – in other words, the things that are true about yourself are the things that you say about yourself – nothing could be further from the truth because you have a deceitful heart – you want people to believe that nonsense and have come to believe it yourself.
Conclusion: Now if your heart is deceived the Lord can show you the deception that he sees if you are willing to believe the Bible and apply it to your own life – you will be able to see where you are deceived and that way you can address it and change it.