Single Vision Part 1… Seduction
Single Vision
Tuesday June 25, 2024
2 Corinthians 11:2-4 (ESV) 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
This is a specific kind of deception. It is more like seduction.
1 Timothy 4:1 (ESV): 4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
Every seduction is an attempt to lure us away from a single vision. Wandering-eyed Christians
Matthew 6:22–23 (KJV 1900): 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
Contrary to modern translations, which describe the eye as, “healthy”, KJV calls it single. This is closer to the original meaning, which refers to one or several things made into a single one.
573. ἁπλοῦς haplŏus, hap-looce´; prob. from 1 (as a particle of union) and the base of 4120; prop. folded together, i.e. single (fig. clear):—single
4120. πλέκω plĕkō, plek´-o; a prim. word; to twine or braid:—plait.
πλέον plĕŏn.
Though we have two eyes, we must have a single vision. A double vision is not merely bad. Jesus used the word “evil” to describe a double vision.
4190. πονηρός pŏnērŏs, pon-ay-ros´; from a der. of 4192; hurtful, i.e. evil (prop. in effect or influence, and thus differing from 2556, which refers rather to essential character.
3 Types of Seduction
Seduction to become more loyal to self, above God.
Genesis 3:4–7 (ESV): 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
2. Seduction to follow another god/agenda apart from the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NLT - 4 “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
Exodus 20:2-3 NLT
"I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. [3] "You must not have any other god but me.
3. Seduction to receive another gospel, different from the true gospel.
Galatians 1:6-9 LSB
I marvel that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, [7] which is really not another, only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. [8] But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to the gospel we have proclaimed to you, let him be accursed! [9] As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is proclaiming to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be accursed!
Every seduction has two things in common…
a deceitful offer of something “better,” delivered quickly and at little or no cost.
Pain and loss as a consequence.
Loyalty, (single vision, sincerity) always protects from seduction.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 NLT
But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. [4] You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 ESV
3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
3 Sources of Deceit… the devil, sin and the heart.
The devil
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
Sin
Romans 7:11 LSB
For sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Hebrews 3:13 (ESV): 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
The heart
Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT
"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? [10] But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve."
The mind is the battleground but the heart is the target.
Proverbs 4:23 LSB
Guard your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 7 is a cautionary parable.
Romans 7:11 (ESV) 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
When we move away from the simplicity of the gospel, we run the risk of thinking that Jesus is not enough. We begin to desire more than what God has made available. Our hearts begin to accuse God as one who is holding back from us. Our hearts begin to harbor a spirit of dissatisfaction, discontent, feeling as though there is never enough.
The Method Of Deception
The devil first showed Eve a different vision, a false vision of God, in her mind.
Then he showed her another false vision of herself, in her mind.
When they disobeyed, they gained a third vision of themselves.
The first two false visions they saw were in their hearts. Their hearts were corrupted and their physical eyes became infected with the same corruption. (The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life.)
Eve saw that the tree was good for food, it was beautiful and desirable to make one wise. The tree had always been there but the recent corruption of her heart, enabled her to see it in a new light. The corruption of her heart made her see God and herself in a new false light.
