The Deceiver
Sermon notes from Pastor Don Roscoe at Grace Church, introducing Tricks and Treats and examining deception, Satan’s methods, and our dependence on God.
The Deceiver
Pastor Don Roscoe
Grace Church
Part of Tricks and Treats, a four-week series looking at Old Testament tricksters and encouraging us to build relationships.
Tricks and Treats
A trickster might be a deceiver, impostor, liar, or fraudster. The word can also describe a playful prankster or mischief-maker.
Pastor Don recalled crawling beneath church pews to surprise a friend who was painting a mural. A prank can be playful, but a trick can also have evil intent and harmful results.
It comes down to motivation and impact. Even something intended to be funny can offend or physically hurt someone.
The Treat: Get to Know Someone
The challenge for October is threefold: connect as individuals, as families, and as a church.
- Individually: Get to know one person at church whom you do not already know well. Knowing a face or a name is not the same as knowing a story.
- As a family: Spend time with another family. Share a meal, have a game or movie night, attend a school game, or visit a park.
Take the initiative. Do not wait for someone else to make the effort.
Connect as a Church
- Trails and Treats, October 25: Explore the church’s 78 acres after the service, with snacks, games, trails, and the nine-hole disc golf course.
- Trunk and Treat, October 31: Decorate cars and give candy to children and families at Independent Bank downtown, formerly High Point Bank.
These events are opportunities to build relationships with people in the church and community. Use the property throughout the year to spend time with others, including families who are not Christian.
Like the “Matthew parties” discussed in the previous series, these are opportunities to connect with friends and help them discover Jesus through relationships and an authentic Christian life, not a time to preach at them.
Why We Admire the Trickster
Our culture often admires cunning and cleverness. Heist movies, hustlers, and characters who work the system can fascinate us, until their deception affects us personally.
Examples range from mythological figures and cartoon characters to the Joker, Jack Sparrow, and films such as The Sting and Catch Me If You Can.
Whether playful or malicious, a trickster tries to pull something over on someone else. Success is not required for trickery to become part of a person’s character.
The Bible Reveals Human Nature
Scripture contains scammers, deceivers, and con artists. It does not promote their behavior. It reveals the messy, broken parts of humanity.
We all lie. When we lie, we are attempting to deceive someone.
Pastor Don illustrated this with his teenage son asking for the car keys to “hang out” with friends. His wife recognized the deception before he did. Children do not have to be taught to lie.
That is why we need Jesus.
The Old Nature and the New
A trickster lives according to the sin nature, surviving, conniving, and thriving through words, wits, and a willingness to deceive.
Calling something a “white lie” does not change the last word: lie.
We have to acknowledge our old nature, but we do not have to continue living by it. We need Jesus to save us, give us a new nature, and teach us to live by that new nature.
13 while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Deceiving and Being Deceived
We may readily identify with persecution for living a godly life, but the passage also describes evildoers and impostors going from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Recognizing deception in our own nature lets us ask: How would God want me to speak? How would God want me to live?
We often present the person we want others to think we are, rather than who we really are. This happens in relationships and in business.
Our deception does not overrule God’s plan. God wants us to live like Jesus, who did not lie or sin. God can change our lives, but we must stop insisting on our own way.
Before the Deception
In the garden, Adam and Eve enjoyed a relationship with God. It was good before deception entered.
As you consider the serpent’s conversation with Eve, go back to the creation account and ask: What did God actually say?
2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.”
7 So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.
8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.
10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so.
12 The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
15 And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so.
16 God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.
17 God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth,
18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”
21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
25 God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.
30 And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
2 And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.
5 Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
6 But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
7 Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
9 Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:
11 The name of the first river is Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12 And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there.
13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.
14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,
17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18 The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”
19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
22 And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.
23 And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
“Did God Really Say?”
The serpent began by questioning what God had said. Eve’s reply included the added restriction that they must not touch the fruit.
The serpent then contradicted the warning about death and offered the prospect of being like God, knowing good and evil.
This is where the sermon traces humanity’s corruption: the move from innocence and trust in God to deception and a changed nature.
2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden,
3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.
5 “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The Father of Lies
Jesus identifies the devil as the father of lies. Deception reflects the old nature from which we need to turn.
The Deceiver of the Whole World
Satan’s deception is not confined to one person or one place. Revelation describes him as deceiving the whole world.
Deception Can Look Good
Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. What is dangerous may appear attractive and familiar rather than frightening.
Pastor Don asked why Eve seemed comfortable with the serpent. Familiarity can leave us open to what is being said.
An Enemy with a Strategy
Satan has schemes and plans to deceive us. The word Satan means adversary, not friend.
Cartoons can make him seem harmless. At the other extreme, we can make him greater than he is. He is a created being with limited power, under the Lord’s authority.
His great danger is his ability to mislead: promising what he cannot give and making something harmful look good.
From Trusting God to Trusting Myself
The enemy twists God’s Word and raises questions: Does that really apply today? Is that meant for you?
In the garden, he began by casting doubt. Doubting God’s authority, righteousness, and love sets us up to become our own god, making our own decisions and our own truth.
Pastor Don pictured this as stepping away from God’s “big G” and putting a “little g” on ourselves. If I am not following God, I am following me.
When Falsehood Looks Real
Pastor Don used AI-generated deepfakes as a present-day illustration of deception. Altered video, audio, and images can make people appear to say or do things they never said or did.
As convincing falsehood becomes harder to recognize, he warned against leaving children and grandchildren with screens without considering who is shaping their worldview.
The concern is not merely entertainment, but influence over what people believe.
A Threefold Strategy
The sermon identifies three areas through which Satan works:
- The lust of the flesh.
- The lust of the eyes.
- Pride and selfish ambition.
Pastor Don traced this pattern through Eve, Jesus’ temptation, and David.
The enemy seeks destruction, and his approach is to undermine our trust in God.
1. The Lust of the Flesh
The enemy works through natural appetites, urges, and desires. Food, shelter, safety, and security are legitimate needs. He takes something God created as good and twists it.
Eve saw fruit that looked good to eat. Jesus, after fasting in the wilderness, was tempted with bread.
David looked out over his kingdom from his rooftop and got into trouble.
Consider your natural desires: How could they be used against you?
2. The Lust of the Eyes
This involves greed and dissatisfaction: looking at what others have until our hearts fill with discontent.
Wanting a home or a car is not automatically wrong. The danger comes when comparison turns into questions such as, “Why do they have that and we do not?” or “Why hasn’t God given us the ability to have what we want?”
We can begin blaming God without knowing his plan for our lives.
3. Pride and Ambition
There is nothing wrong with wanting to succeed. The problem is believing we deserve success simply because we are who we are.
Entitlement says, “I deserve this because I am me.” It focuses on what I want instead of what God wants.
Parents were challenged to consider whether their children expect things merely because their friends have them, rather than asking about God’s will.
Where Has He Made Inroads?
Satan is neither smarter nor more powerful than God. But he has experience deceiving people, and we should not assume we can outwit him on our own.
Ask yourself: In which of these three areas has he made the most inroads into my life?
The sermon describes him as a whisperer, repeatedly introducing small thoughts and doubts. We need to recognize the danger to ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren.
Application 1: Study the Original, Not the Counterfeit
Watch your life and doctrine carefully. Do not approach your Christian life carelessly.
When Jesus was tempted, he responded with what God’s Word says. We need that Word woven into our lives through regular reading, memorization, study groups, and church classes.
The sermon used the illustration of handling genuine money: familiarity with the original helps you recognize a counterfeit.
Do Not Live Alone
Pastor Don compared the enemy’s approach to a hunting lion that targets the weak or the one separated from the herd.
“Nobody has to guide me” and “Nobody has to tell me anything” are dangerous attitudes.
Know God’s Word, and do not assume you are safe living without the guidance of others.
Application 2: Shut the Gates
Do not leave openings. Even a small foothold gives the enemy territory from which to work.
Like a climber finding a narrow ledge, he looks for somewhere to gain a hold. A doubt or a distortion of Scripture can become that opening.
The sermon also pictured a predator getting through an unsecured fence: the enemy keeps looking and digging for a way in.
Application 3: Spend More Time on Your Knees
Submit yourself to God. Humble yourself and acknowledge your weakness and need for protection.
Then resist the devil. Do not simply allow him to play around in your life.
Depend on God rather than yourself, your peers, or the surrounding culture.
Keep Depending on God
Resisting temptation once does not mean the enemy will leave you alone forever.
After tempting Jesus, Satan withdrew until a more convenient time. We must continue to recognize our vulnerability and our need for God.
None of us likes admitting that we are easy prey. But we all need his help.
Pray for One Another
The congregation was invited to spend a few minutes praying together, either for the person beside them or for their group.
Keep it simple: Ask God to help your friend remain vigilant, keep their eyes open, and be protected from the enemy.
Our God Is a God of Grace
God knows that our fallen nature still lurks within us. But we also have his nature within us.
We need to come to him more often, be more honest with him, and depend on him more fully. That is when our lives begin to show noticeable changes.
Closing Prayer
Father, we are all in the same boat. We desperately need you because of who we are. You love us far more than we deserve or can imagine, and you want the best for our lives.
Work in us this week. Help us live a life that honors you more than we have been. Use us to touch someone else’s life in a positive way, because we all struggle in these areas.
We love you and thank you. As we stand and worship, may it bring a smile to your face as you see your children loving you. In Christ’s name, amen.
