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“deceit”
There is nothing about this word that sounds good. Deceit is “literally, a catching or ensnaring. Hence, the misleading of a person; the leading of another person to believe what is false, or not to believe what is true, and thus to ensnare him; fraud; fallacy; cheat; any declaration, artifice or practice, which misleads another, or causes him to believe what is false” [Webster]. There is a definition you can read from your Bible, that I really like; it is found in the book of Psalms: (119:118) "Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood." The Psalmist got right to the point and wrote the fact about “deceit.” He wrote that “deceit is falsehood”; in other words “deceit” is generally in the form of a lie. The apostle Paul tells us where “deceit” comes from: (Rom 3:13) "Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:" He wrote “deceit” is issued from the tongue. But where does the tongue get its instruction? Is it not from the heart? Does not the heart inform the tongue what you desire to be spoken? Read Mark 7:21,22: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, {22} Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:" (Jer 17:9) "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" It is true that a person may once in a while say something they don’t mean or it doesn’t come out the way it was intended, but when we speak deceit we say what we intend to say. There is little wonder that James wrote as he did concerning the tongue: (James 3:5-6) "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! {6} And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." These words of James are especially true when we use our tongue in a deceitful manner. Lying, deceitful words will surely defile the whole body, and even worse they will cause you to lose your soul. What does God think about a person who uses “deceit”? (Psa. 5:6) "Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man." Again the Psalmist comes right to the point and declares that “God abhors the deceitful man” I didn’t look it up but to me it seems as though the word “abhor” is a stronger word than the word hate. No one in their right mind wants God to hate the words we speak. Or even worse we certainly don’t want God hating us. But if we use “deceit” and do not repent of this sin God will hate us just as He hates the “deceit” that comes out of our mouths. In fact we are given a direct command not to be deceitful: (Prov 24:28) "Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips." In a prophecy made by Isaiah we learn that Jesus Christ would not use deceit: (Isa 53:9) "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." And Christ fulfilled this prophecy: (1 Pet 2:22) "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:" Although I am not [neither are you] capable of reaching the perfection that Christ attained to here on earth; He has certainly set the example for you and me. He has given us a goal to work toward. Far too many Christians feel as though there is nothing for them to do in Christ’s church I say you are dead wrong. Until you are able to completely walk in the footsteps of Jesus there is plenty for you to do! Job said that he would not speak any deceitful words: (Job 27:4) "My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit." When we think of all the painful suffering that Job endured and see that he declares that his “tongue” will not “utter deceit” and realize that the suffering that we are exposed to does not even compare to the suffering of Job; can we not come to realize that it is also be possible for us to attain to the same? You know all that is required is that we use our heart before we open our mouths!
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