Deception (Part 13) - Methods of Deception (Part F), Motivations for Deception

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12. Deception can be accomplished using alcoholic drinks (Pro 20:1). A. When they are consumed for too long, they will bite like a snake hiding in the grass (Pro 23:30-32). i. It will trick you into getting into arguments that you wouldn't normally get into (Pro 23:29). ii. It will deceive you into thinking you are tougher than you are and consequently getting beaten up in fights (Pro 23:29). iii. It will trick you into looking at women that you wouldn't normally look at and saying things that you wouldn't normally say (Pro 23:33). iv. It will deceive you into thinking that the same thing won't happen all over again when drink again the next time (Pro 23:35). B. Alcohol dulls the senses and one's reason, and therefore makes deception much easier. i. Why do you think casinos offer free drinks? ii. Why do you think sleazy sales people often take clients out for free drinks? iii. Why do you think worldly men buy women drinks at the bar? iv. These questions all have the same answer: because they can more easily coerce their victims into doing what they want them to do with the help of alcohol. C. Beware of the man who takes you out and says "eat and drink...to thee; but his heart is not with thee" (Pro 23:7). 13. Deception is accomplished by the allure of quick success. A. Riches are deceitful (Mat 13:22). B. Using deceit is sweet at first because it affords some temporary benefits, but in the long run it will be bitter when you are found out (Pro 20:17). C. The deceitful worker will sometimes achieve fleeting success, but the honest man will win in the long run (Pro 11:18). D. Beware of men who try to entice you into doing something criminal with the promise of gain (Pro 1:10-13; Pro 16:29-30). 14. The wicked (who are deceitful) will try to deceive the righteous by telling them that their leader is trying to deceive them (2Ki 18:28-30). A. The way to avoid being deceived is to not even engage in a conversation with such a man (2Ki 18:36). B. Cease to hear the instruction that leads you away from the truth (Pro 14:7; Pro 19:27; Pro 17:4). 15. The wicked will try to trick us into thinking that God has deceived us into believing that He will save us (2Ki 19:10). A. God might allow this to happen to us to test our faith. B. We will always be safe by putting our trust in the Lord (Pro 29:25). C. If we trust in the Lord we will not never be ashamed (Rom 10:11). 16. Wicked people will bear false witness against an innocent man to deceive others into believing he is guilty (Pro 24:28). A. They did this to our Lord Jesus Christ (Mat 26:59-61). B. They did this to Stephen (Act 6:11). C. You are in good company if men do this to you because of your religion or your righteousness (Mat 5:10-12). 17. Righteous and innocent men will sometimes be slandered and called deceivers (Mat 27:63; 2Co 6:8). A. Remember this when you hear someone being called a deceiver. B. Not everyone accused of being one is one. XI. Motivations for deception 1. People will deceive us to get information out of us that they can use against us (2Sa 3:25) (this was not the case with Abner, but it is often the case). 2. Men will use deceit to hide their true intentions in order to manipulate others into putting themselves into a position of vulnerability so that they can do them harm. A. This is what the sons of Jacob did to Hamor, Shechem, and their family. B. They were upset that Shechem had fornicated with their sister, Dinah (Gen 34:7). C. Shechem wanted to marry Dinah, so he and Hamor his father went to Jacob and proposed that he let Shechem marry her, and then they would give each others' daughters to each others' sons (Gen 34:8-12). D. Jacob's sons answered Hamor deceitfully and said they would consent to the proposal if Hamor, Shechem, and the men in their family would get circumcised and become like themselves (Gen 34:13-17). E. Hamor was deceived by them, and he and his family were circumcised according to their agreement (Gen 34:18-24). i. Notice that part of the reason that Hamor was deceived is that he thought that he was going to gain from the deal in more ways than were agreed to (Gen 34:23). ii. Greed will cloud our judgment and make it far easier for us to be deceived by a deceiver. F. On the third day after they were circumcised when they were sore and unable to defend themselves well, Simeon and Levi murdered Hamor, Shechem, and all of the males of their family and took their women and spoiled their goods (Gen 34:25-29). G. Let this be a warning to us. i. If you have offended someone and they offer to forgive you only if you put yourself in a weak position, beware. ii. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. iii. Don't make a decision based on greed or a perceived benefit that you will get at the expense of the person who is offering you a sweetheart deal. 3. Wicked men use deceit in order to become rich and powerful (Jer 5:27; Hos 12:7; Amo 8:5). A. A lot a marketing tactics are deceitful such as: i. Putting a countdown timer on a product page that restarts every time someone lands on it. ii. Using false scarcity to make customers act urgently. iii. Posting the normal price as a sale price. B. A Christian businessman should never use such tactics even if it would increase his sales.