LANGUAGE:
Behind The Lies We Believe
Our series is entitled The Lies We Believe (and how they affect us). I’ve entitled my message this morning, Behind the Lies We Believe.
As we begin this morning, I invite you to open your Bibles to John chap 8. As you turn to John 8 I want to entrench in our minds a phrase out of Romans 12:2, do not be conformed to this world. That is difficult advice since we are surrounded by a growing crowd pressuring us to move with the status quo. It is really hard to speak truth when the crowd is cheering otherwise. As George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”.[i]
Take Romans 1 as an example. You can read the full context in the previous verses, but V32(NLT) reads as follows: knowing God’s justice requires that those who are greedy, wicked, envious, arrogant, proud deserve to die, yet people act that way anyway. ‘But Worse yet’, they encourage others to join them in their greed, wickedness, enviousness, arrogant behavior. Martin Luther King writes: There are many voices and forces urging us to choose the path of least resistance, they bid us never to fight for an unpopular cause and never to be found in a pathetic minority of two or three. Today everyone seems to crave the numbing security of being identified with the majority.[ii] But Romans 12:2 tells us that as Christ followers we are called to be a people of conviction,
The problem for many of us is that we wrestle with thermometers, measuring the temperature of majority opinion to see how we might fit in, versus being thermostats that transform and regulate the cultural temperature around us. Mark this down--we are called to walk in the ways of our God, to love and serve Him with all of our hearts and souls, and to keep His commandments.[iii] We need to recapture the gospel passion of the early Christians, who refused to let the world shape their lives and opinions. They willingly sacrificed life itself in behalf of a cause they knew to be right.[iv] This can happen only when there is an inner spiritual transformation. It is only then that we can gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.
The time has come when we must make a choice between the voice of the god of this world, that would be Satan, or the God who created heaven and earth and gave us life. We need men and women who will courageously rise to battle for truth.
Let’s begin with a Word of Prayer. Heavenly Father, as we open your book, set us free from the growing voices of the crowd. May we make every effort to train our minds to think godly. Amen
Well, you should have your Bibles open to John chap 8. A large crowd of critics had surrounded Jesus bent on His destruction.[v] In the midst of the argument the Jews claimed to be the children of Abraham. Jesus responded that they were not true sons of Abraham because Abraham believed God. And if they were true sons of Abraham they would do what Abraham did. But instead, Jesus said in v44(NLT), You are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Did you catch what Jesus said? Let me highlight two things Jesus said.
First, I find it very interesting that He tied ‘murder’ and lying together. Here Jesus highlights two particular evil character traits of Satan: murder and lying.
If I were to ask what you think are the top most heinous sins, my guess is that for most of us, the top two sins would be murder and adultery. But listen to Proverbs 6:16–19 (NLT) where we are told that 16There are seven things God hates: 17a proud look, a lying tongue, and murder 18a heart that plots evil, eagerness to do wrong, 19a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who sows discord in a family.[vi] These are the same sins that flow from the heart mentioned in Matthew 15.
The point is, lying is a very serious offense in God’s eyes, right up there with murder. Just how serious? Revelation 21:8 (NASB95) all liars will find their eternity spent in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” So make a note of this: lying is not just a problem, it has serious deadly consequences.
The second thing that I want us to note is how Jesus lays lying out. Notice how He draws the crowd into a dominate Satan character trait. You are the children of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father . . . who speaks out of his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. The point Jesus is making is that “Who one walks with tells us who you are.”
Satan’s primary weapon for all time is lying. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 we are told that Satan is a schemer. One of the most sobering facts about life is that we have a supernatural spirit enemy who, according to 1 Peter 5:8, creeps around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, to destroy, to lame to sideline. [vii] Just how brazen is he?
Lying and Satan go hand-in-hand. “Who one walks with tells us who you are.” Follow me. In Ephesians 4:22ff we are told . . . to get rid of all falsehood. Falsehood by definition refers to making untrue statements. We’re told to get rid of such behavior because . . . now hear me . . . it gives Satan a foothold in our lives.
Let’s focus on the word ‘foothold’ for a moment. The Greek word for foothold is a military term that means “beachhead.” A beachhead is when an army attacks enemy territory, and gets a solid footing in their territory. From this point the army moves to conquer the rest of the territory. So in practical terms a beachhead means a place of control within enemy territory.[ix] As a side note . . . in an interview with Judy Dunagan, author of The Loudest Roar, slumber parties gave Satan a beachhead, a foothold in her life at the age of 16.
Perhaps one of the most graphic illustrations of Satan establishing a beachhead in one’s life would be Judas Iscariot. In John 12:6 we are told that “he was a thief; and as the keeper of Jesus’ disciple money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” Remember the story in John 12 where Mary takes very costly perfume and anointed Jesus feet? Judas had a real problem with what he considered a wasteful moment. And according to both Matthew and Mark, it was following this instance that he immediately went to the chief priests to concoct a deal to betray Jesus. The beachhead for Judas was his greed. Hours later Satan took control of Judas, and Jesus was crucified. So here in Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that letting falsehood run freely in our lives gives Satan control of us. And so Paul says bluntly, “Do not give a place of control to Satan.[x]
2 Corinthians 11:14 warns us that Satan and his yinyins will often “masquerade as angels of light” for the purpose of deception with the intent of sidelining the believer and possibly leading to their death. Like a dripping water faucet, he will play with our emotions and thoughts with lies such as “there is no God,” “God doesn’t care about you,” “the Bible cannot be trusted,” and “your good works will get you into heaven.”[xi] Billy Graham spoke of an old Scottish clergyman who said that the devil has two lies that he uses at two different stages. Before we commit a sin, he tells us that one little sin doesn’t matter — ‘no one will know.’ The second lie comes after we’ve sinned, he tells us we’re hopeless lost, depraved, and dirty, and unforgivable.[xii]
Before we move on to some of Satan’s 20th century lies, I want us to get a feel as to just how powerful Satan is. The best insight as to Satan’s power is found in the book of Job. We need to get our minds wrapped around this truth: Satan has the ability to distress and harm our lives to a breaking point, though he is ultimately subservient to God.
When we meet up with Satan in the book of Job we see that he is free to wander the earth. As the story unfolds, Satan comes into the courts of heaven, perhaps for accountability reasons. The conversation between God and Satan was as follows: The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? … There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.”[xiii] We find that Satan indeed had considered Job and was not overly impressed. He believed God’s appraisal was an overstatement. He thinks Job’s faithfulness is shallow and superficial, with a tinge of selfishness.
V8 Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? He questions the depth, the sincerity, and spirit of Job’s relationship with God. He wants to do a deep dive into the heart of Job and expose Job’s heart as being hollow! And so he challenges God: Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, everything he has is in your power, but you must not lay a hand on him!”[xiv]
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Don’t forget, Satan’s goal was to get Job to curse God to His face. And so he begins to mess with Job’s head.
What I want us to grasp is the manipulative power of Satan. Notice he controls people groups—the Sabean’s and Chaldeans to impact Job emotionally and economically; he can control weather--concocted a huge destructive lightning storm; and he can impact our health—causing boils to break out all over Job’s body. You don’t mess with Satan. Jude 9 (GW) Even Michael, the number one angel didn’t dare to hand down a judgment against Satan. Apparently war broke out in heaven as to Moses body. Instead, Michael said, “May the Lord reprimand you!” Satan is bold, confident and brazen.
In John 12:31 Jesus said he is the ruler of this world. What I want us to grasp is that Satan is now working in the sons of disobedience, influencing wars, ideas, opinions, goals, hopes and views of the majority of people. He influences the world’s philosophies, education, and commerce. The thoughts, ideas, speculations and false religions of the world are under his total control from which spring up lies and deceptions.[xvii] For whatever reason God, in His infinite wisdom, has given Satan permission to operate ‘freely’, yet within a set boundary. He is not the ultimate authority, but the unbelieving world does follow his agenda.
2 Corinthians 4:4, as the god of this world he blinds the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. His schemes promote false ideology that imprison people to carry out his will. That’s what Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:26. He seeks to take people captive so that they carry out his will. And how does Satan convince people to carry out his will? Paul gives this warning in 1 Timothy 4:1(NLT): The Holy Spirit clearly says that in later times some will turn away from the true faith; because they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.
This is a good place to pull the pause lever. Next time we will do a deep dive into deceptive spirits and their teachings, or perhaps better, doctrine of demons. This all falls under the premise--the lies that we believe and how they shape our lives.
John 8:44 (GW) Jesus points out that Satan has never been truthful. He doesn’t know what the truth is. He’s a liar and the father of lies. When it comes to Satan and his schemes there is no neutrality. Either we condescend to his lies and following him like sheep to the slaughter, or we resist him and his lies by standing firm in the faith.[xviii] There is no neutrality.
I want us to be alert. Do not be conformed to this world. Know this, lying identifies us as to our relationship with Satan. Satan is real and has a role directly and indirectly in many of our mishaps, but he does not have the final word.
But there is a mystery. It comes from James, the half-brother of Jesus. In chap 5, v11 he makes clear that God had a good purpose in all Job’s afflictions. “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11). We cannot begin to wrap our minds around the mystery of the mercies of God. … Some of our hardest lessons come from God using Satan to accomplish His good purposes in our lives. … Like it was for Job, it is in the inconceivable for us that God’s compassion and mercy come as a beacon of hope,”[i] …
Ephesians 3:10–11 (NASB95) 10so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
The Gospel is good news that Jesus has overcome Satan’s lies. We have a choice today, we can either triumph by the blood of the Lamb and our testimony of faith, or be enslaved by Satan’s lies to carry out his bidding.[xx] Let’s not be outsmarted by his lies. God has exposed him for who he is and tells us what we need to know so that we are not ignorant of his designs.” Revelation 20:10 says that the day is coming when his lying tongue will be over: “ [he will be] thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone . . . and there be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Let’s pray:
Lord, we wait upon you now. We understand we live in a day of twisted mayhem and twisted morality, but also a day of great possibilities. Some of us are being torn between the lies of the world and the Word of Your truth. Give us the strength to say "No" to the things we must, and to say "Yes" to the things that we should; and may you find us usable to herald the good news of salvation from Your wrath to come. We pray in his name, Amen.
[i] George Orwell,
https://www.azquotes.com/author/11147-George_Orwell.
[ii] Martin Luther King, Transformed Nonconformist, Romans 12:2, https://transformingcenter.org/2016/01/transformed-nonconformist/
[iii] Deuteronomy 6:12–18 (NASB95) 12then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13“You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 14“You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth. 16“You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah. 17“You should diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18“You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore to give your fathers,
[iv] Hebrews 11:35–40 (NASB95) 35Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36and others experienced mocking’s and scourging’s, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38(men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. 39And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
[v] John 8:37–40 (NASB95) 37“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38“I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” 39They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40“But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. John 7:1 (NASB95) 1After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.
[vi] Cf., https://www.gotquestions.org/seven-things-God-hates.html
[vii] The Bible has many names for Satan to describe his true nature, including “ruler of this world” (John 12:31), “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), “tempter” (1 Thessalonians 3:5), “deceiver” (Revelation 12:9), “Beelzebub” (literally, “lord of the flies,” the ruler of demons, in Matthew 10:25), and “Belial,” meaning “wicked” (2 Corinthians 6:15).
[viii] 2 Corinthians 4:4–6 (NASB95)4in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
[ix] Neil Anderson, Defeating Satan’s Footholds and Strongholds, https://preachitteachit.org/articles/detail/defeating-satans-footholds-and-strongholds/ Author Mark Bubeck defines stronghold, saying: “a stronghold is an idea, belief, fear, feeling, desire, or anything else (arguments, pretensions against the knowledge of God) that has a strong hold, or a firm grip on, our mind, spirit, body, or heart—enslaving us—motivating us to act out against God’s will through repeated sinful behavior. A stronghold is a believed lie we have allowed to become reality to us and hold us in bondage to sin. It’s a lie that has darkened our minds to the truth of Christ.”
[x] Cf., I Gordon, Ephesians 4:17-32 Bible Study, Walking in a confused world, https://jesusplusnothing.com/series/post/ ephesians-4-bible-study-walking-confused-world. 1 John 3:8 (NASB95) 8the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
[xi] Bob Millsaps, Satan Is A Liar—Three Common Lies He Tells Believers and How to Overcome. https://folcc.org/satan-is-a-liar-three-common-lies-he-tells-believers-and-how-to-overcome/You are as good as anyone else. You may have made a few mistakes. You haven’t sinned against God. You haven’t killed anyone. What do you need Jesus for?
[xii] Billy Graham, Satan is the father of lies, https://www.elizabethton.com/2020/04/17/satan-is-the-father-of-lies/
[xiii] Douglas Sean O”Donnell, Why Was Satan Allowed to Torment Job? (Job 1), https://www.crossway.org/articles/why-was-satan-allowed-to-torment-job-job-1/What is also curious is that God is impressed not by Satan’s extraordinary abilities but rather by Job’s character. Echoing the narrator’s fourfold commendation (Job 1:1), the Lord agrees that Job is “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8). Moreover, in God’s estimation, Job is more than merely “the greatest of all the people of the east” (Job 1:3); he is unlike any other (“that there is none like him on the earth”; Job 1:8). Satan, who has traveled “the earth” (Job 1:7), is asked if he has “considered” Job, on whom Yahweh bestows the rare and cherished designation “my servant” (Job 1:8). Job joins Abraham (Gen. 26:24), Moses (Num. 12:7), and David (2 Sam. 7:5) in receiving this title.
[xiv]Ibid., The ESV’s rendering of the Hebrew particle hinneh as “behold” adds theological stress in ways few words can. From Genesis (“and behold, it was very good”; Gen. 1:31) to Revelation (“Behold, I am coming soon”; Rev. 22:12) and from the incarnation announcement (“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son”; Matt. 1:23) to the empty tomb (“And behold, . . . an angel of the Lord . . . came and rolled back the stone”; Matt. 28:2), the “beholds” of the Bible are there to catch our attention. The “behold” in Job 1:12 is no different; it announces that something important is to follow—here, a surprising pronouncement. the “behold” is followed by a bestowal of power: “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand” (Job 1:12).
[xv] Mark 4:35-41. A fierce storm arose as Jesus headed for the country of the Gerasenes where a man with an unclean spirit lived.
[xvi] John 10:30–33 (NASB95) 30“I and the Father are one.” 31The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
[xvii] See https://www.gotquestions.org/Satan-god-world.html
[xviii] 1 Peter 5:9 (NASB95) 9But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
[xix] Ephesians 3:10–11 (NASB95) 10so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
[xx] Revelation 12:11 (NASB95) 11“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.