UNDER THE FATHER OF LIES

 

John 8:37-47

 

When I think of the word “father” I think of: strength, honor, courageous, security, a leader, discipliner, and even a hero who come to save the day. See, a father is someone you’re supposed to trust, who will protect, nurture, love, guide, tell dumb jokes that make their kids cringe. He’s to be an example, imperfect as he is, but an example to his family. A godly father should raise and leave a legacy of godly men and women in a society of open sin and rebellion, as the Proverb says “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Prov 22:6

 

Sadly though, it is possible for a father and son not to truly be father and son. It’s possible, despite your efforts for your son not to follow you in the same path as it pertains to your spiritual direction and life. People around the world continue to relish, or fall, to lies of this world; and never realize their error until it’s too late. You take the formula of man’s depravity and the Greatest Deceiver of world; it will produce bondage that brings about death and destruction. All because they trusted in the wrong father! 

Who is their father then? Satan, the father of lies. 

The ruler of this world. John 12:31

The god of this age. 2 Cor 4:4

The tempter. 1 Thess 3:5

The deceiver Rev 12:9

Beelzebub literally ruler of demons Matt 10:25

Belial which means “wicked” 2 Cor 6:15

 

Satan has told more lies to more people than any other being ever created. His success is dependent on people believing his lies. This is everything from “white lies” to “Huge lies” Adolf Hitler said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Peter told us this, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 3:8. Satan is the one who told the first lie in recorded history to Eve, in the Garden. “Did God actually say” Gen 3:1. After planting these seeds of doubt in Eve’s mind, he went on to plant another seed of doubt about God’s commands. “You will be like God” Gen 3:5. We read, “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 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. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” Gen 3:4-7

 

Satan, purposely contradicts God’s Word by telling her, “You will not certainly die” With that lie, Satan led Eve to her death; and Adam followed, and so we all face death, which is why we are all cursed because of the fall. Many of Satan’s lies tend to have a ripple effect not only on them, but us as well. Today, Satan still uses people to spread his lies for him. Erwin Lutzer said “Often, Satan uses emotional charismatic but foolish people to further his falsehoods, as in the case of false religions and cults.” Emotional driven people who lack discernment are easy prey for his deception and lies. This is why emotionalism has infested itself in the church, my emotions are what need to be met, instead of being under the submission of God’s Word. This is why Paul instructed Timothy to stand the course. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,” 1 Tim 4:1

He even went on to say to Timothy in his last letter that false teachers will play on the emotions of weak people. “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” 2 Tim 3:1-5

 

Lying is Satan’s primary weapon against God’s children.

He uses the tactic of deceit to separate people from their heavenly Father.

 

And he also does this in the church to separate good bible believing people to be at odds with one another over things that have no kingdom value. If you don’t believe me, look back to these past 3 to 4 years. But, some of his more common lies are “there is no God,” “God doesn’t care about you,” “the Bible cannot be trusted,” and “your good works will get you into heaven.” What terrible and deceiving lies, but many will follow after these lies.

  

Satan’s deception is a primary goal in deceiving the church, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator...” Rom 1:25. Satan got the Church of the New Testament to get away from truth, as Jesus said, that devil was the father of lies. Again that’s why Paul said, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” 2 Tim 4:3-4. Have we not seen this more so in the church today? People are more excited to watch Canada win a medal, then they are to hear God’s word on Sunday morning. People are more excited to read about the latest trends, fashions and entertainment…. than they have over their devotional time. People are more excited and will arrive early to stand in line for a movie, concert, hockey game, school play, and then they are when it comes to church functions like bible study and fellowship times. People are more excited about the next Gospel concert than they are their own church.

See! Many inside the church will fall to the lies this world system; just as many will fall to the father of lies outside the church. Satan knows and recognizes human beings long for a sense of meaning, purpose, and a desire to fit in. That’s why he offers as John MacArthur said “the ultimate source of counterfeit hope.” False hope, like false religion, which deceives people into thinking there alright with God, when in reality they are not. It blinds a person to the truth and leads them to embrace the lie from the father of lies. “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

2 Cor 4:3-4

Carter Colon talks about the deception in the church! Carter said, “In this deception the last moments of your life the feet coming down the hallway are not taking you to Heaven. You can get through the deception your whole life, you can even sing in the choir.” 

This passage confronts that very issue of who is your father Jesus exposes the hearts of these men, as these religious men who are deceived in thinking they are going to Heaven as their father Abraham. Let’s examine the contrast between Abraham and these men who claim the same promise as their founding father did when God made His covenant with him.

 

ABRAHAM WAS A FAITHFUL TO GOD.

He was an extraordinary man of faith! He obeyed God by faith when he was told to leave his land and go to another land that God promised him. He was a pleading man of faith for lost individuals as we read him pleading with the Pre-Incarnate Christ over the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember when he went to offer his son as a sacrifice, because God told him to; he displayed a great faith in God. “And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.” Gen 22:7-8

 

His faith was so great; God did provide and he was ands became an example for us to follow the Great God who gives us life. “But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” Gen 22:11-18

 

By Contrast! Jesus said to these men “If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.” (v39) Did they do the works of their father? According to the scriptures they were haters of God and to top it off they hated Jesus and were plotting to kill him. (v40) These men were self-righteous trying to win, or earn favor, with God with their own works. As Frank Sinatra said “I did my way” sadly our way only leads to a path of destruction where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. What Jesus was teaching and confronting is that these deceived men were lost who thought they had the blessings of Abraham. Salvation is not based on legalistic effort, religious affiliation; salvation is definitely not based on ethnic background. John’s gospel is very clear on this as we have read in the opening of this letter. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13. See this is exactly what the father of lies wants to see happen, keeping people numb to the truth that can save their souls. Mixing some truth, with a whole lot of error, so that men and woman buy into what he is selling, his lies over the truth of gospel found in Christ. (v44-v45) 

 

ABRAHAM LOVED GOD

 

Though his act of faith and obedience to God his heart grew deeper in love for God. Abraham throughout his life he demonstrated what it means to love God with everything we have. See our love for God includes our emotions, our will, our intellect, and our labor. That was completely demonstrated when he took his son to mountain to sacrifice him for God. We know that Scripture calls Abraham “a friend of God.” "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.” Isaiah 41:8. The root of the Hebrew word for “friend” is the word for “love.” God tells us through the scriptures that Abraham was someone who loved God. So, if you truly love God, you would naturally love God’s Son. “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:9-12

 

By Contrast: This wasn’t the case for these Jews because Jesus said "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.” (v42) In reality these men hated God because they hated His Son and wanted to kill him. This is evident by their tone and questioning and the response that Jesus gives them in this portion of John’s letter. (v41) There are some simple truths we learn from this portion of scripture that we can use to evaluate to see if we truly love the Father.

 

All who truly love God, will truly love His Son, Jesus Christ. Men and women that pretend that they love God, and reject His Son, have no evidence that they are the friends of God. Men and women who reject the Bible, that is in part, or the whole canon of Scripture, cannot be the friends of God. Why? The answer is simple! If they loved God, they would love Son, who came from Him, because He bares the image of the Godhead to creation. This is evident in John’s first epistle, “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” 1 John 2:21-23

 

The father of lies wants you to hate Him and reject His Son, because he knows the power of the gospel that saves; that’s why He hates you and me! (The true believer) That’s why Jesus responds to their question this way. “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.” (v43-v45)

 

Satan knows who your father is, and he hates this; and he will do whatever it takes to tear you down. Satan the father of lies will do whatever it takes to keep the unregenerate to stay unregenerate, but he will continue to attack the true church. Who truly is your father? Are you positive you are a descendent of Abraham according to Paul’s letter to the church of Galatia? What do I mean, turn with me to Galatians chapter three. ”Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” Gal 3:6-14

 

Are you truly following in the footsteps

of your father Abraham?

 

Here Are Some Signs That You Are Being Deceived By Satan.

 

Forgetting that God’s teaching is different what the Religious Elites taught Jesus never lies, the Scriptures are trustworthy and true. Satan is leader of lies and deception and wants nothing more than for you to not turn to the Scriptures for comfort, rest and understanding. Trust the Scriptures and lean not on your own understanding.

 

Believing its too good to be true. Satan desires to keep in bondage to sin by casting doubt into your heart. “Did God really say that” Jesus says “The truth will set you free indeed.” Its that simple.

 

The world agrees with you and your choices. Satan says fulfill your wildest desires, because the world will cheer you on. Jesus tells us to not love this world, meaning the world system and the sin that is paraded in the streets. If the world agrees with you and your life choices, you might what to rethink your choices.

 

Ignoring the Holy Spirit for your life. This is evident when we do things in our own strength, I can do this I don’t need God or the church’s help. Satan loves this philosophy for your life. But Jesus promised a “Helper” not just when things are going accordingly, but life is messy and painful, when our sin is greater, God gave us the Spirit to correct and restore our focus and hearts.

Not seeing the dangers or the harm that you are putting yourself into. Satan says, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” So enjoy life and never worry about what comes next, you only live once, Right! Jesus says, “This is not our home, so live with the kingdom in view, live a life pleasing to Him.

 

You get defensive with those who care about you. Satan wants you to justify your sin, when we defend our worldly choices and wickedness, we are in dangerous place that has consequences with those around us. Jesus says, “If we confess our sins, He will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 

Lastly! You’re not suppose to think. Satan wants you to be numb to your sin, and the last thing he wants is for you to wake up. Jesus desires you grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Son. This was Paul’s prayer for the church, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Col 1:9-14

 

Are you truly following in the footsteps

of your father Abraham?

 

God sees the heart and He truly knows who are His, we can fool each other but we cannot fool God. These men thought they knew their father; but it seems that they didn’t know Abraham any more, than they knew Jesus. This is a shattering truth! Either God is your God, or He’s not, which means you have another father! As Jesus said “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.” (v44-v45)

 

Hear the warning of Jesus! Remember Satan is the great deceiver and imposter who imitates God. “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” 2 Cor 11:13-14. He gives, or he offers God’s created children false religion, false righteousness, false hope and false security. This will never gain them entrance into Heaven, and many follow after this lie today.

 

Satan is the faithful great imposter

and preacher of any generation.

 

Satan will always remind us that we are sinners and don’t deserve God’s grace.

 

Satan will always remind us that we have disobeyed God and broken His heart with our rebellion.

 

Satan will always remind us when we sin, that we are going to die and face judgement.

 

Satan is right but he always forgets to remind us of one important truth! “JESUS SAVES”

 

Jesus Christ came and laid down His life so that I go free without the guilt and shame.

 

Jesus Christ came so that I could taste His grace and freed from the bondage of my sin.

 

Jesus Christ came so that I could be declared His son and in turn reap the blessings promised to Abraham. 

 

As Jesus said a son will always have a permanent home “…..but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (v35-v36)

 

So, hear the warning and the promise this morning and

embrace the truth found in Christ!

 

What Christ is saying in this passage is that those who follow the devil are characterized by deceit!

They deceive themselves about their own hearts

They deceive themselves about the true meaning of life.

They deceive themselves about Christ.

They deceive themselves about the way of salvation.

 

The ultimate deception in this life, is believes

that you’re a child of God, when you are not.

 

That is tragic, but that what the father of lies wants for you. But Jesus reveals the truth Father and that is present in the Son. Jesus says their father is a “murderer” and murder flows out of deceit and those that follow after this father are characterized by deceit. Has it transformed you to cry out “Abba Father? ”But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. “ Gal 4:4-7. “Abba Father”, as a child of God, we call this name because it reflects the knowledge of knowing that God knows us better than we know ourselves. And that He/Father, has established paths for us before we took our first steps as humans. So the question is, ”Do we [do you] love Jesus truly?”