He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. - John 8: 44b (ESV)
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. - John 17: 14-17 (ESV)
Strip away the niceties and diabetic sermons you hear today and you will come to the reminder that we are in a daily war. The Bible says we war against unseen powers in the heavenlies. Evil and dark forces that crouch at our door waiting to devour us. Thankfully, the Bible also assures us that greater is He that is in us than he that is in this world. We have a greater power inside of us if we would just learn to walk in it. Life is always and inevitably a series of choices. Some less consequential than others. Some life altering. As we get older it is common to start isolating those moments in time where a good choice has led us to a good place or a bad choice has led us to a bad place. Sometimes it seems as if those choices have shackled us and hold us prisoner. When you strip out all of the details and whittle down everything to the core, our decisions come down to what we will believe. The world likes to sell life in shades of gray. Where nothing is really definitive. Consider for a moment lyrics from a widely popular song by two lesbian artists:
We go to the bible, we go through the workout
We read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
To the world there are always more than one answer. Shades of gray makes it a lot easier to craft our own gods. The world is always looking to seek sources that are not definitive. In fact, one of the most infuriating things about Christianity to the world is the notion of absolute truth because it goes against the lies they have been taught. Those lies are meant to push a victim mentality amongst people. That circumstances are just beyond our abilities sometimes. It also pushes this because it allows us to feel better about our sin - that which we know deep down is wrong. The Bible however teaches us and assures us that life is in fact black and white. There is right and wrong. There is truth and lies. The question in every decision we face is - what will we believe?
What will we believe today? There are only two choices. There is truth and lies. There is what the Lord says and what the world says. There is what we have hidden in our hearts and what we allow to infect us. The key verses today outlines this simple battle that wages inside all of us every day. The first verse deals with the enemy. We live in a world that has turned the devil into a caricature. A laughable little fellow in a red suit with a pitchfork. A cartoon character we laugh at kids dressed up for Halloween as. The church in modern times has done precious little to speak the truth about our enemy. Rarely preached anymore because the subject is not deemed friendly to those "seeking" God, you rarely hear sermons about the enemy to our souls. I assure you, he is not a caricature:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. - John 10: 10 (ESV)
Do we understand what this verse means? There is only one reason why the enemy draws near to us. That is to steal, kill and destroy. Eve thought the enemy just wanted to have a conversation about what God had said but his intent all along was to steal, kill and destroy. There are no secondary motives. As I have written before, we need to be careful if we think we can dance with the devil because he always leads. What does our key verse regarding our enemy teach us? First of all, he is a murderer. He is in the business of taking life. Where Jesus came to provide abundant life the devil seeks to steal that. To murder that. When you get past his motives and desires though we find out what is at the core of our enemy and that is simply put - lies. He does not hold to the truth and that is the kindest of the descriptions. When he lies he is in fact speaking his native language. So just like English or Spanish might be our native language, lying is his! And here is the news we often forget - the devil is not bilingual! Lying is not only his native language - it is his only language! There is no truth in him. He may be slick and mix in slivers of truth but overall what he is saying are lies. When he quoted Psalm 91 to Jesus he knew he was leaving out part of the Scripture. When he asked Eve if God really said to not eat of any of the trees he knew full well that was not what He had said. When we look at the account of the garden we over-focus on the decision to eat the fruit. The problem though was when Eve engaged in a conversation with the enemy. There is never a good reason to do so. There is a reason he is called the enemy. If we know that everything he says is a lie - of what value can a conversation with him hold for us? Some may be asking how we can know if what we are hearing is in fact from the enemy? The answer is simple - because it will be a lie. How then can we know what is a lie? Because it will be contradicted by the truth.
Which brings us to the second set of key verses for today. Here we learn that the Word of God is the truth. Period. There is no equivocation. There is nothing left up to chance or wonder. Why do you think the world, which is run by the devil, spends so much energy trying to have science disprove the Bible? Because if doubt is cast into the hearts of believers in the inerrancy of Scripture then everything falls back into shades of gray. The loss of absolute truth for the believer is a poison slowly killing our faith. Well maybe Genesis was not meant literally...a lie from the pit of hell. Well maybe the ark was just a metaphor, I mean c'mon...two of every animal... a lie from the pit of hell. Look at how the key verses spell out these truths. Jesus is telling us point blank that the world will hate us for not believing the same lies that they believe. Yet our role is to remain in the world we refuse to believe in. But look at what Jesus prays for us! Just that we are kept from the evil one. That we are kept from the crippling powers of his lies. Jesus prays that we are in fact sanctified by the truth of His Word. What does sanctify mean? To be set apart from. We are meant to be set apart from the World through His Word. We are meant to be set apart from the lies of the devil through the truth of His Word.
That is the battle we face beloved. Every day and in every decision we make. There is truth and there are lies. There is the black and white reality of God and the shades of gray of the enemy. There is the world system and the Bible. They are always at odds with each other. They are never in agreement. One is the truth and the other is a lie. The question is always - what will you believe? My greatest fear that I see being realized every day is that we are seeing a generation of biblically illiterate Christians being raised. Christians who are being taught poorly and cannot tell the difference. What is the danger? What will be the result? We will be unable to tell the truth from a lie. That is why you see whole denominations caving into the cultural demands of the world. That is why you see greed, sloth, and sexual sin rampant in the pulpits across this country. What is worse however is that when the leaders fall we see the people embracing the sins and not the truth. We see a congregation of people who cannot tell the truth from a lie because they do not know the Word of God. We see people fleeced by the hundreds of thousands because they do not know any better. We see sports stadiums sold out to hear false teachers sell empty lies because we do not know the truth. Why do millions fall for false prosperity? Biblical illiteracy. Why do millions fall for greasy grace? Biblical illiteracy. Why do millions fall for false signs and lying wonders? Biblical illiteracy. There is always a cost associated with being unable to tell the truth from a lie. For so many that cost may very well be their soul.
What will you believe?
Rev. Anthony.
