You have a demon

April 1, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:52-59, Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ ⁵³Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”

     ⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. ⁵⁵Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

      ⁵⁷Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

      ⁵⁹Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

What it means – research:

• David Guzik, BlueLetterBible.org:
  • Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead: This claim delights the Pharisees opposing Jesus; they believe they finally have Him! How can Jesus promise such life – shall never see death – when Abraham himself could never make such a promise! Does Jesus claim to be greater than Abraham was? Whom do You make Yourself out to be?
  • It is My Father who honors Me: Jesus does claim to be greater than Abraham – but it is not an honor He takes to Himself. Yet they do not recognize this honor, because they have not know Him.
  • Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad: Not only is Jesus greater than Abraham, but Abraham himself acknowledged this! Jesus declaration of this brings back the accusation “How could you know Abraham rejoiced in You? Were You there?” To which Jesus replies, “Yes!“
  • Before Abraham was, I Am: this is the third time in this chapter Jesus uses the phrase I Am (John 8:24, 8:28), and here in John 8:58.
    • I Am: The ancient Greek phrase is ego emi, which is the same term used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day to describe the Voice from the burning bush.
    • In using the phrase I Am (John 8:24, 8:58, 13:19) Jesus used a clear divine title belonging to Yahweh alone (Exodus 3:13-14, Deuteronomy 32:39, Isaiah 43:10) and was interpreted as such by Jesus’ listeners (John 8:58-59).
    • “The phrase harbours within itself the most authentic, the most audacious, and the most profound affirmation by Jesus of who He was. ” (Stauffer)
  • The best proof what Jesus meant by claiming to be the I Am is found by seeing the response of His listeners: They took up stones to throw at Him. They wanted to stone Him for blasphemy, for claiming to be God.
    • But it could not happen, even as it could not happen back at John 7:30, because His hour had not yet come.
  • The remarkable theme through this whole chapter is expressed strongly at the end: Jesus is in perfect unity with God the Father, because He Himself is God. Those who reject Jesus reject Him because their “spiritual parentage” is not of God.
    • Our spiritual parentage is of the utmost importance – and it is revealed by our response to Jesus. Who is your spiritual father? You prove it by your actions as well as claiming it by your words.

What have I learned about God? Those who reject Jesus reject Him because their “spiritual parentage” is not of God.

What’s the application? Know who your spiritual father is, God or the devil.

Never see death

March 30, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:48-51, Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” ⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. ⁵¹Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

What it means – research:

• Tyndale Life Application Bible:
  • When Jesus says those who obey won’t die, he is talking about spiritual death, not physical death. Even physical death, however, will eventually be overcome. Those who follow Christ will be raised to live eternally with him.
• Chuck Smith, BlueLineBible.org:
  • And now this radical statement, “If a man keeps My saying he shall never see death.” Then the Jews said unto Him, “Now we know that you have a devil. For Abraham is dead and the prophets, and you say if a man keeps my saying he shall never taste of death.”
  • Jesus often was misunderstood because Jesus spoke of spiritual things and these people could only think in terms of material things. And there is a biblical definition of death and a material definition of death. And from a human material definition, death is the separation of a man’s consciousness from his body. If they put the EKG on a person, and they get a flat reading, there’s no motion at all, and twenty-four hours later they again put the EKG on and there is still a flat reading, if they then, which they often do, pull the plug and watch the EKGs if there still remains a flat movement, the person is clinically dead. It means that there is no activity in the brain at all. The brain or the consciousness of the person has departed, there’s no brain activity. He is dead, his consciousness is now separated or has left his body.
  • Now a spiritual definition of death is the separation of your consciousness from God. So that, the Bible says if a person is living only for pleasure they’re dead while they’re still living. You see, if pleasure is your god, if pleasure is your chief goal, if you’re living simply for pleasure, then your consciousness is separated from God, thus you are dead. Even though you may still be alive from a physical standpoint, yet you’re dead because your consciousness is separated from God. God is not in your conscious the Bible says.
  • So Jesus, making reference to that spiritual definition, “If a man keeps My sayings he will never see death.” I will never consciously be separated from God. Hey, my consciousness may leave this old body, but I will not be dead. I’ll be more conscious of God then than ever, because I’ll be right in the presence of God. Very much alive. “He that keeps my saying will never see death,” I believe that. I believe that completely. I believe that one day my consciousness will leave this body and people will read in the paper “Chuck Smith died.” That’s poor reporting, inaccurate to say the least. To accurately record they must write “Chuck Smith moved out of a decrepit worn-out tent into a beautiful new mansion.” I won’t be dead, I’ll be very much alive their in the presence of God in His eternal kingdom. For we know that when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, we have a building of God not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. So then we who are in these bodies do often groan earnestly desiring to move out. Not to be an embodied spirit, but that I might move in to that new body which is in heaven. For I know that as long as I’m still living in this body I’m absent from the Lord. So I would rather be absent from this body and to be present with the Lord. So one day I’m gonna move out of the tent into the house. Not dead, just moved.

What have I learned about God? God doesn’t deviate from the big picture. It’s all about rescuing us from the penalty of sin. He tells us how to be rescued . . . if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.

What’s the application? Keep God’s word.

He who is of God

March 29, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:47, He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

What it means – research:

• Am I of God?
  • John 8:19, Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”
  • John 8:31, Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
  • John 8:42, Jesus said to them, “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.
  • John 15:6, If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
  • 1 John 2:3, Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
  • 1 John 2:5, But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
  • 1 John 2:15-16, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
  • 1 John 2:23, Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
  • 1 John 3:3-4, Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
  • 1 John 3:5-6, But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
  • 1 John 3:10, In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
  • 1 John 3:15, Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
  • 1 John 3:24, Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
  • 1 John 4:2-3, By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
  • 1 John 4:7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
  • 1 John 4:8, He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
  • 1 John 4:13, By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
  • 1 John 4:16, And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
  • 1 John 5:1, Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
  • 2 John 1:9, Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

What have I learned about God? He lets us know where we stand with Him.

What’s the application?

Consider the scriptures above to see where I stand with God.  It’s not about what I think, but what God is showing me through scripture.

Why do you not believe?

March 28, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:46, Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?

What it means – research:

• Chuck Smith, BlueLetterBible.org:
  • You can very quickly tell who your father is. “He that is of God hears God’s words. You therefore hear them not because you are not of God.”
• Matthew Henry Commentary, BlueLetterBible.org:
  • Note, If men would but enquire into the reason of their infidelity, and examine why they do not believe that which they cannot gainsay, they would find themselves reduced to such absurdities as they could not but be ashamed of; for it will be found that the reason why we believe not in Jesus Christ is because we are not willing to part with our sins, and deny ourselves, and serve God faithfully; that we are not of the Christian religion, because we would not indeed be of any, and unbelief of our Redeemer resolves itself into a downright rebellion against our Creator.

What have I learned about God?

• God sent Jesus to us. If we do not believe Jesus, we do not believe God.
• John 3:34, For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

What’s the application?

• Believe.
• John 14:6, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I tell you the truth

March 27, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:45, But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

What it means – research:

• Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, BibleHub.com:
  • And because I tell you the truth.—The pronoun is full of emphatic meaning. And I, as contrary to him, because 1 tell you the truth, as contrary to the lie which is his characteristic.
  • Ye believe me not—i.e., ye believe not what I say. It does not mean, Ye believe not on Me, but Ye accept not the truth which I speak. There is something startling in this sharp opposition of truth and unbelief. To speak the truth is commonly to command belief. The mind of man is so constituted that truth is the first object of its search. Here was perfect truth presented to men, and they refused to accept it, because it was the truth, and they were themselves children of him who was a liar.
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary, BibleHub.com:
  • And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not—not although, but just because He did so, for the reason given in the former verse. Had He been less true they would have hailed Him more readily.
• Expositor’s Greek Testament, com:
  • “But I”—in contrast to the devil—“because I speak the truth you do not believe me.” Had I spoken falsehood you would have believed me, because it is your nature to live in what is false ( Euthymius).

What have I learned about God? Many of us believe in a God, but are against the God of the Bible. We need to settle in our hearts and minds if the Bible is true. We need to do the homework because God is telling us there are lies and there is truth. He’s telling us about the father of lies, the devil.

What’s the application?

Though the world, people around me, even some friends and family, say otherwise, trust Jesus.  If it’s not a God truth, it’s a lie from the devil.

John 14:6, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The devil – Part 4

March 26, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:44, 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.

What it means – research:

• Scripture references to Satan – continued
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
  • John 8:44, 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.
  • Colossians 1:13-14 ,He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
  • Ephesians 2:1-2, And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ²in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.
  • 1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
  • Ephesians 6:12, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
  • Luke 11:15, But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’
  • John 12:31-32, Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³²And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.
  • Mark 1:13, And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
  • Revelation 12:9, So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
  • Revelation 9:1, Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit.
  • Matthew 4:3, Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’
  • John 10:10, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
  • Ephesians 6:16, Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
• What have I learned about God? God has warned us against Satan. He doesn’t want us deceived.
• What’s the application? Always remember 1 John 4:4, You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

The devil – Part 3

March 25, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:44, 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.

What it means – research:

• Scripture references to Satan
  • Revelation 12:10, Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.’
  • 2 Corinthians 11:14, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.”
  • Ezekiel 28:14, You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
  • 1 John 4:3, And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
  • Revelation 14:9-10, Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.’
  • 2 Corinthians 6:15, And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
  • 1 John 3:8, He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
  • Matthew 13:39, The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
  • John 17:15, I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
  • 2 Corinthians 4:4, 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 Thessalonians 2:8-10, And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. ⁹The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
  • Isaiah 27:1, In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; and He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.”
  • Daniel 8:9-11, And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. ¹⁰And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. ¹¹He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.
  • Isaiah 14:12-14, How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! ¹³For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

The devil – Part 2

March 24, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:44, 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.

What it means – research:

• The Dictionary of Bible Literacy:
  • Literally, “accuser.” This is the main title for the fallen angelic being who is the supreme enemy of God and man. Satan is his name, and the devil is what he is – the accuser or deceiver. The title “devil” appears 35 times in the NKJV. In every case it is preceded by the article “the,” indicating a title rather than a name. The term comes from a Greek word that means “a false witness” or “malicious accuser.”
• GotQuestions.com: “Who is Satan? Who is the devil?” – continued
  • Satan became the ruler of this world and the prince of the power of the air (John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2).
    • John 12:31, Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
    • 2 Corinthians 4:4, 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.
    • Ephesians 2:2, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
  • He is an accuser (Revelation 12:10), ,
    • Revelation 12:10, Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
  • a tempter (Matthew 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5),
    • Matthew 4:3, Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
    • 1 Thessalonians 3:5, For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.
  • and a deceiver (Genesis 3; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:3).
    • Genesis 3
    • 2 Corinthians 4:4, 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.
    • Revelation 20:3, and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
  • His very name means “adversary” or “one who opposes.” Another of his titles, the devil, means “slanderer.”
  • Even though he was cast out of heaven, he still seeks to elevate his throne above God. He counterfeits all that God does, hoping to gain the worship of the world and encourage opposition to God’s kingdom. Satan is the ultimate source behind every false cult and world religion. Satan will do anything and everything in his power to oppose God and those who follow God. However, Satan’s destiny is sealed—an eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).
    • Revelation 20:10, The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

What have I learned about God? God is not Satan’s equal. God is the creator and Satan is created.

What’s the application? Know God and you will know truth and not be deceived by the devil.

The devil – Part 1

March 23, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:44, 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.

What it means – research:

• The Dictionary of Bible Literacy:
  • Literally, “accuser.” This is the main title for the fallen angelic being who is the supreme enemy of God and man. Satan is his name, and the devil is what he is – the accuser or deceiver. The title “devil” appears 35 times in the NKJV. In every case it is preceded by the article “the,” indicating a title rather than a name. The term comes from a Greek word that means “a false witness” or “malicious accuser.”
• GotQuestions.com: “Who is Satan? Who is the devil?”
  • Put simply, the Bible defines Satan as an angelic being who fell from his position in heaven due to sin and is now completely opposed to God, doing all in his power to thwart God’s purposes.
  • Satan was created as a holy angel. Isaiah 14:12 possibly gives Satan’s pre-fall name as Lucifer.
    • Isaiah 14:12, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
  • Ezekiel 28:12-14 describes Satan as having been created a cherub, apparently the highest created angel.
    • Ezekiel 28:12-14, “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. ¹³ You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes as prepared for you own the day you were created. ¹⁴ “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
  • He became arrogant in his beauty and status and decided he wanted to sit on a throne above that of God (Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:15; 1 Timothy 3:6).
    • Isaiah 14:13-14, For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
    • Ezekiel 28:15, You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.
    • 1 Timothy 3:6, not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.
  • Satan’s pride led to his fall. Notice the many “I will” statements in Isaiah 14:12-15. Because of his sin, God permanently removed Satan from his exalted position and role.
    • Isaiah 14:12-15, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! ¹³ For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ ¹⁵ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.

He is a liar – Part 2

March 22, 2015

What’s God saying to me? John 8:44, 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.

What it means – research:

• Matthew Henry Commentator:
  • He was a liar. A lie is opposed to truth (1 Jn. 2:21), and accordingly the devil is here described to be,
    • He is a friend and patron of lying: When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own. Three things are here said of the devil with reference to the sin of lying:
      • First, That he is a liar; his oracles were lying oracles, his prophets lying prophets, and the images in which he was worshipped teachers of lies. He tempted our first parents with a downright lie. All his temptations are carried on by lies, calling evil good and good evil, and promising impunity in sin; he knows them to be lies, and suggests them with an intention to deceive, and so to destroy. When he now contradicted the gospel, in the scribes and Pharisees, it was by lies; and when afterwards he corrupted it, in the man of sin, it was by strong delusions, and a great complicated lie.
      • Secondly, That when he speaks a lie he speaks of his own, ek toµn idioµn. It is the proper idiom of his language; of his own, not of God; his Creator never put it into him. When men speak a lie they borrow it from the devil, Satan fills their hearts to lie (Acts 5:3); but when the devil speaks a lie the model of it is of his own framing, the motives to it are from himself, which bespeaks the desperate depth of wickedness into which those apostate spirits are sunk; as in their first defection they had no tempter, so their sinfulness is still their own.
      • Thirdly, That he is the father of it, autou.
        • He is the father of every lie; not only of the lies which he himself suggests, but of those which others speak; he is the author and founder of all lies. When men speak lies, they speak from him, and as his mouth; they come originally from him, and bear his image.
        • He is the father of every liar; so it may be understood. God made men with a disposition to truth. It is congruous to reason and natural light, to the order of our faculties and the laws of society, that we should speak truth; but the devil, the author of sin, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience, has so corrupted the nature of man that the wicked are said to be estranged from the womb, speaking lies (Ps. 58:3); he has taught them with their tongues to use deceit, Rom. 3:13. He is the father of liars, who begat them, who trained them up in the way of lying, whom they resemble and obey, and with whom all liars shall have their portion for ever.
  • Christ, having thus proved all murderers and all liars to be the devil’s children, leaves it to the consciences of his hearers to say, Thou art the man.

What have I learned about God? The devil is a liar. Where ever there is a lie, he is the father of it. It’s creepy to think about.

What’s the application? Focus on Jesus, the truth.

John 14:6, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.