WWUTT 887 He is a Liar and the Father of Lies?

The truth is from God. Lies are from Satan. Whoever follows the truth will have everlasting life.

Whoever walks in lies will be put to death. When We Understand the

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We return to our study of the Gospel of John, Chapter 8.

And again, I'll be reading verses 39 -47. The Apostle John wrote.

The Jews answered Jesus, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were

Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.

This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.

They said to him, We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father, even

God. Jesus said to them, If God were your father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here.

I am not of my own accord, but He sent me. Why do you not understand what

I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.

He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin?

If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God.

The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. So Jesus again says to them,

Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.

He does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in the devil.

You think about the first time that we are introduced to Satan in the scriptures.

It's in Genesis 3 .1. Genesis chapter 3, where we read about the fall of man.

Verse 1 is where Satan slithers up to Eve and says, Did God really say you must not eat of any of the trees of the garden?

And of course, Satan knows exactly what it is that God has said. He is testing Eve to see whether she knows what it is that God has said.

And she said, We can eat of any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, nor can we touch it.

For the day that we do so, we will surely die. Now God didn't say you couldn't touch the tree.

He just said you could not eat of that fruit. It's interesting to consider that since the responsibility of Adam was to care for the garden, care for all of the animals, plants, trees, everything, you got to think he was probably working around that particular tree.

I mean, Adam and Eve were right there by the tree for some particular reason. So they could touch the tree, but they could not eat of the tree.

That was specifically the command that God gave. But here through Satan's asking of Eve, he is testing her to see what she knew.

She's already doubting or she's she's playing the legalist here. Not only can we not touch it, we or not only can we not eat of it, we can't even touch it or we will die.

And Satan replies, you will not surely die for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil.

Now there's some sense in what Satan said was true, because that's exactly what

God says of Adam and Eve after they eat of the fruit. He says their eyes have been open and they've become like God knowing good and evil.

But it was a half truth that Satan gave to them because they did die for eating that fruit.

Death came into the picture. All of creation was subjected to futility, as it says in First Corinthians 15, 22, as in Adam, all die.

And in Romans chapter five, verse 12, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin.

So death spread to all men because all sinned. So all who are descendant of Adam, as I mentioned yesterday, have inherited the sin nature of Adam and also his curse.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3, 23 and then Romans 6, 23 for the wages of sin is death.

But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So, again, the first time we are introduced to Satan in the scriptures is him saying to Eve, did

God really say and lying to Eve that resulted in her eating the fruit and then sin and death coming into creation, into this creation that God had said was very good.

And then the tempter got a hold of that creation that had been made in the image of God, man and woman.

And through the temptation of the tempter and the sin of Adam and Eve, death came into the world.

So, therefore, lies result in death. That's what happens when a person lies, when a person tells lies, they will die.

They will go to hell. Hell is for liars. You ever heard the expression, do you know where liars go?

You know, testing to see whether or not you are actually telling the truth. Revelation 21, eight, as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral sorcerers, idolaters and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

That place that had been prepared for the devil and his angels. Anyone who tells lies speaks out of the character of Satan and they will be judged with Satan in the end times.

At the final judgment, Satan is a liar. And if you are of your father, the devil, your will will be to do your father's desires.

If you are not adopted into the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ, then you are a child of Satan.

So you're a child of somebody. You're either a child of God or you are a child of Satan. Those who are children of God will do the works that Jesus did.

Or as Jesus is saying here, even to the Jews, you will do the works that Abraham did because Abraham had a righteousness that was not his own, a righteousness by faith, as Paul illustrates in Romans chapter four.

So if you are of God, then you will behave as the children of God. But if you are of Satan, then you will behave as the children of Satan.

You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, again, because lies breed death.

That's what happens when a person lies. It brings about death. Satan lied. Adam and Eve believed the lie and they entered into death.

The curse that came upon all of creation because they listened to the devil rather than God.

They listened to the creation rather than obeying the creator.

If you've been keeping up with the what videos, you'll know that the last couple of videos have been related to religions in the world.

How do we know that Christianity is the true religion? And when it comes down to it, there are only two kinds of religion in the world.

You are either worshiping the created or the creator. If you are of your father, the devil, then you would be worshiping the created things, listening to the created rather than subduing creation, as was commanded of Adam to do.

But if you are a child of God, then you listen to the creator and you worship the creator.

So all of the religions in the world can be separated into worshiping the creator or worshiping the created.

And even if you have some of those religions that claim that they worship the creator, like, for example, Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, they will claim that they worship the creator.

But when it comes down to it, they worship a God of their own making. It is not the God of the Bible. It is a

God of Mohammed or the God of Joseph Smith or the God of Charles Taze Russell, or in the

Jews case, it is a God that is not the father of Jesus Christ. So therefore, it is a different God.

It is a God of their own creation, the God that they want to worship, a God of rules and regulations that I might declare my own righteousness instead of understanding that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

So these do not worship the true creator. They worship the created, a God of their own making, though they might claim to worship the creator.

So Christianity is the only religion that knows the one true God for, as Jesus said in John 14, six,

I am the way, the truth and the life. No one gets to the father, but by me, we come to know the father.

We come to be adopted into his family as his children. We know his mercy and his grace because of faith in Jesus Christ.

We are forgiven our sins. We are not under his wrath. We are no longer his enemies at the final judgment.

We will be standing with God. We will actually be judges in the final judgment.

Jesus says in Revelation two and three, those who endure to the end,

I will give to him a place to sit with me on my throne, and we will be with Christ when he judges the nations.

First Corinthians six, the apostle Paul says to the Corinthians, do you not know that we will even judge angels in that final judgment?

So we become fellow heirs with Christ. We are with him on his glorious throne. We give glory to him for all eternity.

We are with him in judgment. We were, we are not under his judgment, but with God, when he issues his judgment against those who followed the devil, who were the enemies of God.

But we in Jesus Christ are not his enemies. We have been adopted by his blood through faith, have received the grace of God.

And we can now call upon him as father. When we pray, we know that our prayers are heard by God.

Because we have a mediator, Jesus Christ, the righteous one who is advocating for us before the father, as it says in first John two, one.

So we come to know God as father through faith in Jesus Christ, the one true

God. And no other way do we come to God except by faith in Jesus.

Any other way is of Satan. And it is not a way that gets to God. It is a way to be under the judgment of God.

You are of your father, the devil and your will is to do your father's desires. Those who are of Satan and not of God will do the things that Satan did.

He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.

When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies.

All lies that have come into the world have come because of Satan and anyone who lies, who murders, who does any of these sins that would result in death and the judgment of God.

Does what they know their father to do, the devil, they may not even know that name or give homage to that name or say,

I'm a follower or a worshiper of Satan, but the fact that they do what is in their character to do displays who they are really from, whether they are from God or whether they are from Satan.

I had an interesting run in with some Satanists recently, and I'm talking people who claim to be of the

Church of Satan. They follow Anton LeVay, who is the guy that founded the

Church of Satan. I don't know how many years ago that was previous previous century. But anyway, when you when you talk to them about what they worship and whose name is in this religion that they say that they adhere to the

Church of Satan, they will be sure to tell you. They don't actually worship Satan. It's not like the occult.

It's not like they're doing spells and incantations and saying, Hail Satan or anything like that. They're sure to tell you we're atheists.

We're irreligious. You don't understand the teachings of Anton LeVay, who, by the way, wrote a book called the

Satanic Bible. Have you ever seen pictures of this guy? Have you ever seen what

Anton LeVay looks like? Or Howard Stanton? LeVay was that was his real name. He changed his name.

But anyway, he looks like a guy that you would think would be a priest in a satanic church. He just has that look.

Whatever you're picturing in your mind, that's that's probably what Anton LeVay looks like.

So anyway, he just has that sinister look, the bald head, the the real sharp, pointy eyebrows and the scowl on his face.

You know, that's that was Anton LeVay. But they'll say they're not Satan worshippers. They're atheists.

They're irreligious. And I was having this conversation with about two or three of them. And I said, you guys just don't understand that you are worshiping

Satan. You don't even realize it. Like, it's so blatantly obvious. It's even in the name.

And when I said that, they were like, no, no, no. See, once again, you don't understand. And I said, no, you don't understand.

It is so obvious what it is that you're doing. And you won't even see it, though it is right there in front of your very eyes.

Church of Satan, satanic Bible. And yet you think that you're in some sort of irreligious thing.

It's not irreligious. It will lead to death and judgment and destruction. And you will be cast into the hell of fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels because you did the things that Satan did.

Rather than turning from all of this and following God, you must worship Jesus Christ so that you will not fall into judgment on that last day.

But now they were I don't I did not convince them in the moment that we were speaking. Hopefully some words rested upon them much later and another evangelist came along and probably shared some words with them, maybe in a more convincing manner than I was able to in that moment.

Of course, it's all the work of the Holy Spirit to transform their heart away from something so blatantly obvious into becoming a child of God and a follower of Jesus.

But those who who have no truth in them will follow after the liar.

And that is Satan. Verse 46, which one of you convicts me of sin, Jesus asks.

In other words, if you say that I am sinning, because remember, previously the

Jews said we were not born of sexual immorality. And I talked last week about the kind of accusation that they were making of Jesus when they said that, that he was born of sexual immorality.

He didn't really know who his real father was because it wasn't Joseph. Mary got pregnant before she got married to Joseph.

So they're kind of trying to slam Jesus. But but Jesus says, which one of you convicts me of sin? Show me what my sin is, is basically what what

Jesus is saying. And we know he was sinless. He was without sin. He was good. The only good man there ever was.

You ever heard the statement, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? R .C. Sproul said that only happened once and he volunteered.

So Jesus Christ, with no sin, who speaks only the truth, because the words that come from him are the words of God.

Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?

Whoever is of God hears the words of God. You know, of course, that's a rhetorical question that Jesus asks there when he says, if I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?

Well, he gave the answer a moment ago. It's because you're of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires, who is a liar, a murderer from the beginning.

He tells lies. Believing the lies results in death. Satan is a murderer. If you believe the lies, it's because you are a follower of Satan instead of a follower of God.

So why is it that you don't believe me? Kind of trying to trigger in their brains what they they can't grasp, what they don't understand, the reason why they think

Jesus is crazy is because they're of Satan and not of God.

But if they were of God, if they were children of God, then they would understand the words that Jesus says. Now, now recognize that there's a contrast going on here.

Jesus is speaking to the Jews who said that they believed in him, but he pressed them further to expose in their hearts that they really didn't believe in him because they were not children of God.

Jesus disciples are with them as this exchange is going on. So the disciples believe

Jesus says to his disciples, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit.

So the disciples have been drawn by the father to believe in Jesus Christ.

They are children of God instead of children of Satan, with the exception of Judas, who is there.

Jesus pointed that out in John chapter six. One of you is a devil and that's

Judas, who is eventually going to betray Christ. Nevertheless, Christ has called these disciples to him and the 11 minus the one believe in him because of what has been shown to them by the father, not because they were of their own will, more convinced than anybody else.

The disciples know Christ because God has drawn them to Jesus because Jesus has chosen them and shown them the father.

As I've stated before, that salvation is a Trinitarian work. Father, son and Holy Spirit working together to bring about the salvation of those whom

God had chosen for salvation from the foundation of the world.

So we come to know God because the father has drawn us. He has shown us the son.

The son has revealed the father and he has given to us his Holy Spirit poured into our hearts, sealed for the day of redemption.

We are temples now of the Holy Spirit of God who lives within us. Every follower of Jesus Christ has the

Holy Spirit. So with the spirit in our hearts, we can hear the words of God and understand them.

That's what Paul states in first Corinthians two, that it is through the spirit of God that we are able to discern spiritual things.

The naturally minded man can't discern these things for their spiritually discern. Therefore, whoever is of God hears the words of God.

Verse 47, the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. You are still the naturally minded man and the natural man descended from Adam is born into sin.

And if he stays in that state without having his soul born again, then when he dies, it will be seen clearly at the last judgment.

That he was a follower of the devil instead of a child of God. If you are a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ, then you've been adopted into his family and there is nothing that you can do that would result in you losing the love of the father.

If indeed you have been chosen and become a follower of Christ, we are told in second

Timothy chapter two, that though we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot disown himself.

You've been sealed by the Holy Spirit. God is not going to break fellowship with you if you are truly a follower of Christ, but you must endure to the end.

If at any point a person says that they have eternal life, but then they fall away from the faith, then they never had it to begin with because it's eternal.

So if you have eternal life, but then you lose eternal life, then you couldn't have really had eternal life.

It couldn't have been eternal. So the scriptures are clear that those whom the father has chosen, he seals with his

Holy Spirit and keeps them for the day of redemption. So endure to the end, endure in the faith, no matter what it takes, repent of sin, stay far away from it and disobedience.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And if you have been given the

Holy Spirit of God, then you'll be able to do that through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Let us pray.

Our great God, we thank you again for this word and for adopting us into your family. And I pray that we are convicted of sin.

If we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we will be convicted and desire to walk in holiness and righteousness as our father has called us to, desiring to be sons and daughters of God.

We've been named that, we've been adopted into the family, but we desire to please our father because of the spirit that is within us.

And so lead us in that, that we may do what is pleasing unto the Lord. In Jesus name,

Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt

.com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page. Join us again tomorrow as we continue our