We'll look at it again, Proverbs
14 and 12, and the title again, A Fatal Delusion. And Proverbs 14 and 12 says this, There is a way that seems right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. There
are two parts of that. There is a way that seems right
unto a man, and so he espouses it and he walks in it, but the
end thereof are the ways of death. But let me give a little introduction
about this matter of delusion and deception. There is an ever-present
threat to every person's good and happiness and eternal joy
in deception, in the fact that not a person is there but what
is subject unto some form of deception. Something can deceive
us on some level, or on some matter, or to some degree. And that's because we all carry
in our bosoms that which deception might work upon. We have in our
own selves that which might be a party unto our deception. Deception comes in many varieties. It may come by many hands, not
just by one way or by one hand. Does not always, in fact seldom
ever, appears in its true and natural colors. It always desires
to hide the consequences. In fact, it seldom, if ever,
presents itself in a true and proper light unto us, always
promising us one thing and delivering or paying off in a counterfeit. That's the problem with deception. And no wonder that that's so. Jeremiah 17, And verse 9 is a
very powerful verse. The heart is deceitful above
all things. It is desperately wicked and
who can know it? Jeremiah said that. So we ask
ourself, is it deceitful? How often it leads us in a wrong
way. How easily is the heart of man
persuaded in an unlawful way or an unlawful thing. even taking
a bribe and counsel from a defiled conscience at certain times in
our life, even pronouncing that evil is good. It turns all things
upside down until it has one saying that evil is actually
good and vice versa. But then we ask further, Is it
evil? Yes. Is it desperately wicked? Well, the prophet Jeremiah pronounced
it so. So did our Lord Jesus Christ. Genesis chapter 6 and 5, God
said. Genesis 8 and 21, He said that
the thoughts of the heart are only evil from a man's youth
up. The very Son of God said to some
people one day, recorded in Mark chapter 7 and verse 21, from
within, that is out of the heart of man
proceeds evil of every kind. And he names some 15 or 20 evils
there that come out of the heart of an individual for the heart
of men and women is actually like a cesspool in that all manner
of evil and evil thought and inclinations dwell in that. Consider the many times, if you
will, that the Scripture, the Word of God, both the Old and
the New Testament warn us about deception that might come upon
us. Remember these famous words,
take heed that no man deceive you. And they were said by our
Lord Himself, Mark or Matthew 24 and verse 4. Mark 13 verse
5, Luke 21 and verse 8, all record this warning of our Lord, take
heed that no man deceive you. Again, our Lord said to His disciples
and followers, these words, beware, of the leaven of the Pharisees,
and of the scribes, and of Herod." Mark 8 and verse 15. Now I tend
to be in agreement with the old writer named Thomas Manton, actually
a Puritan, in a sermon that he preached on the Lord's model
prayer as he taught his disciples how to pray. And the model prayer
taught the disciple that temptation and deception has a threefold
point of origin. Number one, at times God may
send delusion and deception upon a person. As in Jeremiah chapter
20 and verse 7, the prophet said, O Lord, You have deceived me
and I was deceived. You overpowered me and you prevailed. Jeremiah 19 and verse 14 said,
The Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof and
caused Egypt to err. 2 Thessalonians 2, And verse
11 speaks that God shall send strong delusion that some should
believe a lie and be condemned. So sometimes God actually sends
deception and delusion upon some. Secondly, Satan is the arch-deceiver
and a liar. He is the one who put it into
the heart of Judas Iscariot to go out and betray our Lord Jesus
Christ. It was him that beguiled Eve. in the garden and deceived her. Genesis 3 and 13. 1 Timothy 2
and verse 14. Eve was deceived, Paul said,
as Satan came against her. He seeks to get an advantage
of us and we must therefore be wary of his devices. 2 Corinthians chapter 2. And
verse 11, and the devil is especially successful at transforming himself
and his ministers into an angel of light that he might deceive
us. He is a liar. He is the father
of it. He is a deceiver. And many of
his ministers are exactly like him. They lie and they deceive
and bring people under a fatal delusion. But then thirdly, the
third source of temptation that is possible unto us may be the
most prevalent and the most dangerous of all. that we have to deal
with, which we have already mentioned, and that is the heart of every
person, every man, and every woman. Does Jeremiah say, it
is deceitful above all things? So much so that the prophet asked,
who is there that can know it? Does this mean who can know his
or her very own heart? and its devices? Or can it mean
who can know the extent, the depth of its sinfulness and the
extensiveness of its vileness? Surely there is more to see that
the heart is capable of in each and every person than we actually
have ever realized in all of our life. And hardly a person
is there who perceives the extent of the heart's deviousness as
it goes about to deceive us and delude us. Now, coming to our
subject, which is again a fatal delusion, and the text, which
is a proverb from Solomon found in chapter 14, and verse 12 of
Proverbs repeated again almost verbatim in Proverbs 16 and verse
25. But shall we hear it again? There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death. Now let's look at it very carefully.
It is a way that seems right. As you look upon it, as one considers
it, one even walks in its way, it is a way that seems right. Furthermore, it may have the
outward appearance unto one of seeming or being right. A way that seems right. It doesn't seem wrong, it seems
right, and therein is the problem. Granted, as some expositors on
Proverbs have noted that rightly well, it is hard to imagine that
some people would think that some way is a right way, the
way of open sin, and vileness and excessive wickedness and
open ungodliness, such as the bleary-eyed drunk and the addicted
gambler and the child molester and the street prostitute, the
serial robber. How in the world could one be
so low as to think that these ways are right. But we remember
then, so corrupt is human nature, so deceitful is the heart, so
depraved the mind, so darkened the understanding of every man
and woman, that even they which do things that are worthy of
death, Romans 1, And verse 32, they then delude and flatter
and deceive themselves that their end will not be so bad as they
have heard or as some have told them. Because you see, as Solomon
said, every man, every person will proclaim their own goodness. You talk to people anywhere,
some of the worst people, people in prison. And here they are
proclaiming their own goodness. Now as we look at that text,
that one verse, there are two words in the text that we want
to consider a little more than usual. And though they are small
words as to their size, yet are they the heart of the verse that
is before us this evening. Number one is the word way. There is a way that seems right. And the other little word is
the word end. the end of the way that seems
right. There is a way it seems right. So let's look at the word way. Way in scriptural terminology
you probably already know. The word way which is so often
mentioned in scripture such as Psalms 1 and verse 6. It's used there in two ways.
The way of the righteous, the way of the ungodly. Both of them
are mentioned in that verse. In Hebrews chapter 10 and 20
in our New Testament, a new and a living way. Acts 9 and 2. Christianity is called the way,
if they find any in this way. Acts 19, 23, the same thing. Jesus saying, John 14, 6, I am
the way, the truth, and the light. Now in some cases, in both the
Old Testament and also the New Testament, the word way has the
meaning of a road, or a path, or a highway, and then figuratively,
a course or action of life, a course or way of living, the way that
is fallen, the practice or the habit of our life is called away. It is what Paul calls our conversation,
which means actually our manner of life. It is the belief and
the practice that one follows out in their life by which their
life And their way is defined is the way, which way is determined
by what they believe, which way is determined by the state and
the condition of their heart. Whether it be a truth or whether
it be a lie, it has an influence upon the way that they follow
or the way that they live. And make no mistake, mark it
down, everyone has a way. There's none without a way that
they follow. Everyone has a view that is reflected
in the way that they live out their life in the world. They
have a view, they have a persuasion, and this influences their way
or their manner of life, their religion, their death, eternity. And Solomon reminds us in Proverbs
21 and verse 2 that every way of a man is right in His own
eyes. Ask Him about it. Talk to Him
about it. And you'll find that it is so. Proverbs 16 and verse 2, all
the ways of man are clean in His own eyes. When He judges
Himself, He sees that His way is good, that it is right. And Solomon also said in Proverbs
chapter 30 and verse 12, There is a generation pure in their
own eyes, but yet they are not washed from their filthiness. A man sets his own standard of
morality. He judges himself and then pronounces
that his way is good. I think a proof of this is Think
how many think themselves or a friend or a family member or
someone they know fit for heaven exactly as they are and based
upon the way that they have lived their life. We hear it at almost
every funeral that we attend. He or she is in a much better
place. He or she has gone to a place
where they are so much better off, without regard to saying
whether they professed or knew Christ or not, simply saying
they are in a better place. Now as a result of the delusion
that many find themselves under, they do or they practice, they
do that which is right, not according to Scripture or the law of God
or the law of the land, but that which is right in their own eyes."
You read that in the book of Judges 17 and verse 6. Verse 25 of chapter 21, you read
the same thing again. No king in Israel Nothing to
restrain them. Every man ran excessively and
did that which was right in his own eyes. So that in Proverbs
12 and 15, even the way of a fool is right in his own eyes. How be it? In Deuteronomy chapter
18, chapter 12 and verse 8, Moses cautioned the people. He said,
listen, when you enter into the land of Canaan and God has driven
out your enemies and has established you there, do not do whatever
is right in your own eyes, but keep the statutes of the Lord
that He has given unto you. Do not fall down. to every man
doing what is right according to his own estimation or in his
own opinion. Now, let's glean two things from
our text and from our subject. Number one, there is a way that
may seem right unto people, but God is the one who weighs the
heart. Proverbs chapter 21 and verse
2, and he weighs the spirits in Proverbs 16 and verse 2. God is the only one who is the
proper judge of what is right and what is wrong, of what is
holy, what is profane, what is clean and what is unclean. It is not social standards or
social mores that determines that. It is not what seems right
unto people, not what others do that feels right or seems
right unto themselves. And the second thing is, the
way that seems right may be a way that leads to death and to ruin,
and that's what Solomon warns in our text. Matthew-Henry wrote
on Jeremiah chapter 17 and verse 9, quote, the heart cheats men
into their own ruin. Unquote. Sad indeed will be the
lot of those who think that they have followed in a right way
to find in the end that it is the way of death and of ruin. We have a good example of this
from the Lord Himself in the seventh chapter of Matthew's
Gospel, verse 21 through verse 23. Now this is a part of the
closing summation of the Sermon on the Mount delivered by our
Lord. First the Lord sets before them
two roads and two ways. One has a narrow gate and is
a narrow path. The other has a broad gate and
a broad and wide way within. And oh yes, once inside the path
is narrow on the one, once inside it is broad on the other. And in that narrow path and that
straight gate, our Lord said, yes, the wayfarers there are
many. Not many find it. Not many enter
in at the straight or the narrow gate. There's another road or
a way. It has a broad gate. It has a
broad superhighway as it was. It has more travelers. It is
the more popular. It has the more easy access in
the midst of what is popular with the people of the day. But
the Lord warns that the broad gate and the broad way leads
unto destruction. Yes, the end of this pleasant
and this easy way with religion is death. It is a road to perdition. Maybe call it a super highway
to hell. It is the route more easily accessed
and more easily traveled, but it is a dead end at the pit when
it is at its end. Now, along this line, The Lord
warns them against false teachers in Matthew 7, verses 15 through
verse 20, and how to recognize them that are false teachers. For the Savior calls them ravening
wolves, He said. They are in sheep's clothing. They are wolves who come wearing,
as it were, sheep's clothing. They present themselves as gentle,
caring shepherds, as devout servants of God Most High, preaching the
love of God as they come among the people, smiling like a mule
in a briar patch, saying smooth things, playing down good sound
and hard doctrine, making being saved as easy as falling off
a log backwards, nothing to it at all. These are the proponents
of easy-believism. Say the old sinner's prayer.
Bow your head and pray the old sinner's prayer. But Matthew
7 verse 21 is a somber word from the lips of our Savior. To such as profess the Lord in
some way and degree, he says, not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now while
it is true none will enter unless they bow to the Lord as Lord
of all, Master, Sovereign, Lord, and Christ. And yet the one who
says Lord, Lord in word only and in empty profession, who
travels in the broad way, who believes and practices and spreads
heresy, who follows false teachers and is not able to discern between
error and between truth, has only what Paul called a form
of godliness, but denying the power thereof. And no doubt there
are multitude nestled in the apostate churches of our day,
hardly ever hearing any truth from their apostate minister,
but who on the other hand assure themselves that all is well with
their soul. They are content that they are
in a right way and they fully expect heaven when they die. It never enters their mind that
they are in a false way and are listening to heresy. Yea, they
are encouraged, never questioned, never doubt, but that they are
in the glory land way, as they might express that. So let's
return to that text in Proverbs 14 and verse 12. There is a way that seems right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. I was reading a commentary on
Proverbs from a man an older writer by the name of Ralph Wardlaw
on his commentary on proverb concerning the ways, W-A-Y-S,
which under the bias influence of pride and corruption, he said,
seem right and yet their end is a way of death. As people
look at them from a biased influence, they think that their way is
right and is good. Matthew Henry also described
these as being adherents of, quote, the way of hypocrisy in
religion, external performances, partial reformation, and blind
zeal, unquote. And Isaiah chapter 44 and verse
20 says of those that make and that serve idols, He feeds on
ashes, and deceived hearts have turned Him aside, that He cannot
deliver His soul. He cannot say, that is, He cannot
admit or confess that a lie is in His right hand, Isaiah said,
such as are not interested Not at all in examining whether they
are in the way of truth or not. They have no interest whatsoever
and are offended and insulted if you press them to examine
their way by the Scripture, by God's Word. But on a matter so
important as the deliverance of their soul from evil, yet
do they resist any challenge based upon the scripture, the
holy word of God. There they sit week after week
after week, never checking what they are hearing by the infallible
word of God. So many wear their religion and
judge it as do their clothes, saying, I'm comfortable in this
way of church and in this way of worship. They refuse to try
it by the standard of Scripture are bound to remain in their
way even if they cannot defend their belief by the Scripture
or the Word of the Lord. This is connected to a second
fault, their failure to try their ministers by the teaching of
the Scripture, the criteria of God's Word. So now let's look
at some of the ways that may seem right to those that walk
in them, but the end of them actually is nothing more than
a way of death. Now, as for some of the ways
in religion or that claim to march under the banner of the
cross and of Christianity, we might make three categories for
our better definition. Number one, There is what John
Brown, one of my favorite writers, called, quote, the nominal Christian. In one of these ways, there is
what would be called or answered to the nominal Christian. Now they're a nominal Christian
in that they disavow atheism, they are not pagans, they are
not idolaters, they are not open infidels, they believe in God,
however it might be the God that they refer to irreverently as
the old man upstairs, or as I heard a Newcaster say the other day,
the big guy, as she talked about the Lord our God. They call themselves
Christian. It has little effect upon their
life, little noticeable change upon them. They're content with
what they call morality, but they have no heart for true biblical
godliness none at all. Long ago, they were confirmed
somewhere, or they were christened somewhere, they were dedicated
in a church, and they refer to themselves now as what they call,
quote, a lifelong Christian, unquote. They have never seen
themselves as guilty, hell-deserving sinners. nor do they recognize
the power of sin that is working in them constantly. They do not
attribute vile human behavior to indwelling sin that needs
cleansing by the blood of Christ. No, they say this is a sickness
of some kind that needs treatment. They generally deny the full
measure of human depravity, believing that most people are generally
good and decent. And while this way seems right,
it is certainly a way of death to those that traverse in it
all the days of their life. Secondly, there is the way, we'll
call it formalism. There is the way of formalism
or legalism or ritualism, if you want to call it or lump it
all together. They go through the rituals of
their religion and of their church. They recite the creed at the
appointed time. They stand, they sit, they kneel
in unison, and they pray. Ralph Wardlaw described these
saying, quote, they follow strictly and punctually the routine of
external religious observances, unquote. They often place too
much emphasis on their church traditions rather than the scripture,
rather than weigh their tradition in the scales of holy scripture. They confuse formalism with reverence
and sincerity. And the more formal their service,
the holier they take it to be, shall they find that this too
is a way of death in the end. Then thirdly, there's the way
of self-righteousness, if we may call it that, which the prime
example is the Pharisees in the New Testament in our Lord's day. Now these people fasted, they
prayed, they tithed, they did many such things. They put scripture
on the borders of their phylacteries and they disfigured their faces
to be in pain as they fasted and went without food. They did
All of these things, and yet these are the people that our
Lord scolded the most sternly of any that He met in His ministry. They trusted in themselves that
they were righteous. They condemned others. They thought
themselves were the objects of God's love and of God's favor
and worthy of eternal life. And yet the Lord said to them,
unless your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and of the
Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5 and verse 20. Matthew 21, 31, the Lord gave
a parable and he said that the publicans and the harlots go
into the kingdom of God before the scribes and the Pharisee. The way of self-righteousness
is a way of death. It is obnoxious in the nostrils
of God for a man to think that he himself is righteous enough
to be rewarded with heaven. Then we go further. What about
the sober, well-behaved whirling, as one expositor called him? He and others consider him a
good, decent, honest human being. An honest man, fit for heaven
because of the quality that he has in his life. Because he pays
his debt. He keeps his word. He helps those
in need. He gives to charity. He's chairman
of the food bank to feed the hungry in his community. He doesn't go to church, and
if he does, it is a very liberal church. He may not belong to
church, but may be a member of some fraternal order. This is
one of the most deceptive ways of all, the way of self-righteousness. Then I would ask, what about
the way of the professing atheist? All of his life he lived saying,
there is no God. To deny God, to ridicule the
Bible when it comes up in his presence, to claim that we actually
evolved up from monkeys over a course of millions and millions
of years. To live out his life unto himself
and then die, fall into the hands of a living God, the end of that
way certainly is dead. Then I thought this week, what
about the way of the Islamic Islamic bomber, to blow yourself
to smithereens, to blow yourself to pieces for the glory of Allah
in expectation of a great reward of 70 dark-haired virgins when
one arrives in heaven and then to find out they're Texas blondes
or something like that. But anyway, to blow themselves
up and then expect that this will bring them a great reward. The end of that way certainly
is dead. What of those who spend their
life in a cult? All of their days they give themselves
working in a cult, going door to door, doing missionary work
here in a foreign country, riding bicycles for miles, handing out
pamphlets, standing on street corners or in an airport begging
for money for their church. This may seem like a way that
is right, but it is a way unto the house of death. Now, so much,
I say in closing, for the claim of sincerity. You hear that all
the time. So much for the claim of sincerity
or the excuse of ignorance. Well, I was sincere or I didn't
know. And how many times has it been
said, one religion is just as good as another. The only thing
is if you are sincere. You'll hear that from time to
time. All one religion is just as good as another, as long as
you are sincere. But remember, my brother and
sister, one may be sincerely wrong. Did not Saul at one time
think that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of
Jesus of Nazareth? Sincerity to a wrong way. counts for nothing in the end
before God. Sincerity in heresy or error
has no credit toward eternal life or eternal happiness. So that idea that as long as
one is sincere in whatever religion they choose to espouse, all is
well. With us there is one way, and
Jesus said, I'm the way, I'm the truth, and I'm the life.
And to be deceived in a false way is a fatal delusion. To follow heresy and to follow
it with sincerity all the days of one's life and then find at
the end that it is a way of death is sobering indeed. But this is the truth of the
scripture.