Audio Sermon File: John 8:42-44
Going Deeper: n/a
The Marks Of A True Disciple - Part 2
The last time we were in chapter 8 of the Gospel of John we uncovered a gross miscomprehension of who Jesus is because of the Jews earthly ideas and darkened minds. Yet Jesus tackles things head on and ups the ante, and lays it all out in the open - no more allusions, no more implied statements, but the full force delivery the of truth prevails…and in so doing Jesus confronts the Jews and we can discern what some of the marks of a true disciple are by seeing what the marks of a false disciple are.
All this take place in the shadow of Jesus’ statement - ""I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life" (Jn. 8:12). And then as we move down to verse 30 we found this statement - As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So we discovered the transforming power of God’s Word - that as Jesus spoke the truth to the people, the Holy Spirit was working in their midst. Some of those in the crowd were saved from their sin, yet as we discovered that others who believed in Jesus, only possessed a shallow commitment of faith, which would be put under the gun of examination and questioning. Real or false faith, was going to be exposed.
Today Jesus is calling forth those who are true disciples. In real life, many profess to be a disciple of Christ, but inevitably there will always be some frauds. In last time’s sermon dealing with Jn. 8:31-41, we identified three marks of a true disciple, these being:
A True Disciple Perseveres In The Truth,
A True Disciple Acknowledges Sin’ Bondage, and
A True Disciple Acts Upon God’s Word In Faith
In past few years we have found ourselves as Canadians, constantly being threatened with another federal election. Any voting Canadian can cast one ballot - either you are Liberal, Conservative, NDP, or any of the other fringe parties. That is the world of politics, but in the spiritual realm, there are only 2 camps that you can either be in - there is no middle ground - either your are with God or against God - if you are against God then you belong to the father of lies - Satan - either your in or your out.
John 8:42-44 - Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? [It is] because you cannot hear My word. 44 "You are of [your] father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own [nature], for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Today we will continue to discover that discipleship is not simply a mere profession, but it is a profession of faith in Jesus, which is demonstrated by a changed life focused upon bringing glory to Christ. This changed life shows itself through THE MARKS OF A TRUE DISCIPLE, and in today’s passage we can see further marks of a true disciple:
A True Disciple Loves Jesus
A True Disciple Rejects Sin and Satan
A True Disciple Understands Satan’s Character
1. A True Disciple Loves Jesus
Jesus slices it right to the bone and calls our attention to the fact that our attitudes and actions reveal if we belong to the Father of truth, God - or - the father of lies, Satan. You can say all you want about being a disciple, like the Jews….but if all it amounts to are empty words - lip service - then watch out !
v.42 - Behind the mask of religion, the Jews lay claim to having God as their only Father. The Jews if you remember back in verse 41 protested against what Jesus was saying about them - and they blast back by saying - we are not illegitimate children - yet Jesus knows better. Jesus knows that these Jewish rulers are not the true disciples that they make themselves out to be. Jesus knows this because If God were [their] Father [they] would love [Jesus]. But they didn’t because the child of God will always acknowledge God’s Son Jesus - and they didn’t - and therefore were not true disciples. These Jews didn’t have any fear of God, but used Him as a smoke screen for their illicit activities.
Jesus once again states that He came from God, and is here incarnate on this earth. Jesus came to earth not for Himself, but for the purpose that God sent Him for. Being sent by God also implies that all that Christ is, and eternally will be, is consistent with God’s holy character and will. Nothing in Christ will be in conflict with anything in God….nothing that Jesus Christ teaches will be of human or earthly origin. As we look at our first point - A True Disciple Loves Jesus…we find that…
1a) You can love Jesus by consistent righteous living
The proof that a person who claims to be a true disciple is whether he or she loves Jesus. If one doesn’t love Jesus then it doesn’t matter what they claim for themselves about God… the bottom line is that God is not their Father. A true disciple cannot lay claim to having a relationship with God if one rejects the image of God…that image being Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus is God because as we can read from Colossians it is clear from Colossians chapter 1 - 15 And He is the image of the invisible God….. 19 For it was the [Father's] good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross…
There must be a deep genuine continuing love for God, and for Christ. Do you love God, Christ? Do you love Christ’s nature? Do you seek God through prayer and the Word? Do you seek to know and worship God?
1 Corinthians 16:22 states - If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.
The opposite of genuine love for Jesus is hate and resentment against Him. The person who rejects Jesus has no pleasure in knowing that God is sovereignly in control of you. Genuine love of Jesus is demonstrated by a life that is centered around making Jesus’ glory known to others - friends, neighbours, co-workers. Loving Jesus is not out of personal convenience to be happy, or to gain a life insurance policy…just in case - in fact following Jesus does have a price - sometimes the road is rough - people may reject you - and pushing the envelope…the ultimate price for loving Jesus is martyrdom.
Jesus never promises that our life here on earth is going to be a rose garden. Loving Jesus means that we put away self centeredness, we no longer seek personal gain and self-fulfillment. Genuine love for God in Christ, elevates God and Christ to their rightful place… and reduces our high view of self. Genuine love for God and Christ is a decisive mark of a true disciple. In addition…
1b) You can love Jesus by listening to Him
v.43 - The rejection of Jesus manifested itself in the willful opposition to the substance of Jesus’ teaching, and Jesus even gives them the result of such rebuff. Have you ever been in a conversation where the other person on the phone is talking non stop? I have… I can clearly think of times where I hardly even had the chance to say a few words, except for hello and goodbye. Isn’t it frustrating? The reason some people are like this is that they are self centered - the issue is pride - basically they don’t want to listen to you. OR maybe you have made this observation….Isn’t it true of us - that when we don’t like someone, or we don’t think what somebody has to say is important then we tune them out… whatever is said is dismissed… filtered…. Blocked. We do not understand… because we choose to make it that way - and we suddenly make ourselves unable to hear, we increasingly get impatient.
The sin of pride was present in the Jews. Remember this issue of pride because I am going to touch upon it later again. The Jews proclaimed their thoughts for rejecting Jesus - which was based upon human reason and logic - but Jesus rebukes his audience for their willful ignorance and their hatred of His teaching. In short the Jews were unwilling to hear therefore were acting out in disobedience.
In the true disciple’s life there must be a determined effort to listen to Christ, that is there must be a willing obedience to follow Christ (obedient living). Do you show strong desire to please Christ by willingly obeying Scriptural teachings? Do you accept correction or instruction from the Bible humbly and then respond Biblically? Do you love the faithful preaching of God’s Word? Do you apply Biblical commands, teaching, and principles to your life the best way you can?
Hebrews 5:9 states that Jesus - became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.
Obedience to Christ and His Word is not an option it is commanded - and stems out of a genuine love for Jesus. A True Disciple Loves Jesus.
2. A True Disciple Rejects Sin and Satan
How many of you have heard of a man named Clerow Wilson? Clerow Wilson is better know as Flip Wilson - some of you who are under 40yrs of age may still not of heard this name. But ‘The Flip Wilson Show’ was one of the Seventies' most popular and successful variety series, lasting a solid four years. You may be thinking only 4 years, but this is amazing because ‘'The Flip Wilson Show’ was the last time a television variety show was successful in focusing solely on one performer. It featured no notable regular supporting players, just Flip Wilson front and center. One of the most memorable Flip Wilson comedic characters was a sassy woman named Geraldine. Through this character Flip popularized the saying ‘The devil made me do it.’ The saying has made it through the years even to this day in various media forms like cartoons, and television. The reason I bring this show up and the famous saying is that Jesus confronts the Jews with the hard hitting facts about the source of their spirituality. The Jews didn’t listen to Jesus, so He goes one step further to explain why they don’t hear what He is saying….
v.44 - and Jesus reveals who these Jew’s father is. What Jesus is going to say is stinging - he says this - You are of [your] father the devil. Jesus implied this earlier in this section of John, but now He unloads the unsavory truth of these religious leaders allegiance - that they belong not to God, but to Satan… they are children of the devil. By such revelation they are unmasked as the natural declared enemies of God and Christ, and therefore they want to do the desires of [their] father’s desire. Just as Satan and his fallen angels fight Christ, so do his children - back to that saying ‘like father like son.’
In fact in verse 44, the words want to do the desires - speaks of, in the Greek - a wish to keep on doing what Satan wants. In other words Jesus is saying to these false disciples - you belong to Satan, he is your spiritual leader - your actions and attitudes make it abundantly evident - you have no desire to follow God the Father - but instead you willingly love to continue in sin - and you callously have no plans to change that.
In contrast, the true disciple rejects Satan and hates sin. When we were unbelievers we loved sin, but Christ has changed us - it should go without saying that the more mature we are - the more that we will reject sin. We do this by applying what it says in 1 Peter 5, it states - Be of sober [spirit], be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in [your] faith…
And this begs the question of us - WHO DO YOU BELONG TO? WHICH FATHER DO YOU HAVE?
3. A True Disciple Understands Satan’s Character
Jesus goes on to further tell us about the character of Satan. And this is what Jesus says - "You are of [your] father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own [nature], for he is a liar and the father of lies.
3a) Understand that Satan is a person
There are many people today who are uneasy with the thought that there is a supernatural being called the devil, or Satan, or Lucifer - and even the concept of hell. Instead many including some Christians, would rather believe that this shadowy figure is just a personification of the existence of a force called evil. Many would rather have the little red figure that has horns, wielding a pitch fork, and sporting a spear ended tail, and discount the reality of the person who lays behind these cartoons.
Satan is a person - by person I don’t mean that he is a supernatural human being, but that being a person is that Satan is not an imaginary figure but is indeed a real being. So I want to spend the rest of our time looking at what the NT says about Satan in light of Jesus’ comments to the Jews. A true disciple will gain an understanding of Satan’s character so that he or she can Resist him, standing firm in the faith (1 Pet. 5:9a NIV).
A good place to start would be to weigh the evidence that Satan is a person, and not an imaginary character Satan is a person because he possesses intellect, emotions, and will. It is clearly demonstrated in the New Testament that Satan has intellectual ability. The Lord Jesus dealt with Satan as a real person when He was being tempted by Satan (Matt 4:1-11). Satan used his intellect by selecting a verse of Scripture (Ps 91:11-12) and then twisting it out of context, in a bid to tempt Christ to distrust and doubt God. Satan attempted to make Christ believe He needed to take control of His own destiny because God would not keep His Word.
Satan’s ability to think and plan out successful deceptions upon the people of the world during the Tribulation, as indicated in Revelation 12:9, demonstrates that he has intellect. Also in 2 Corinthians 2:11 the Apostle Paul stated that Satan would possibly try to take advantage of believers and to plot against others.
Satan also possesses emotions as he expresses his rage against Israel after being cast out of heaven in the end times. Satan’s condemnation by God was due to the emotion of pride as expressly implied in 1 Timothy 3:6.
True to personality is will, as expressed in 2 Timothy 2:26, that there were some who have been "taken captive by [Satan] to do his will." Such an example is Judas in John 13:2 which states that "the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, [the son] of Simon, to betray [Jesus] (Bellshaw, 24-25)." Satan’s will is also demonstrated in filling the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira, in Acts 5:1-11, with evil thoughts, lies, and covetousness.
3b). Understand the names of Satan
Another reason why Satan is a person is because he is given names. The most commonly used and well-known name of Satan is "the devil" and this name is only used of him in the New Testament. The Devil has at least eighteen names (descriptive titles and proper names) attributed to him in the New Testament. These names can best be understood when applied to a person for they outline character and deeds.
The second most frequently used name is "Satan" and occurs thirty-five times in the New Testament. The name "Satan" is the personal name of the head of the demons. It is a Hebrew word that is taken from the Old Testament and is translated as "adversary" (Grudem, 414). The name "adversary" in Greek has the legal sense of an opponent in a lawsuit, thus meaning an enemy (1 Pet 5:8). As an opponent he is described as being as "ferocious as a lion, continually walking about with the intent of devouring someone."
His other names include "accuser" for he brings accusations against believers before the throne of God (Rev 12:9-10). "Beelzebub" is found seven times in the New Testament which probably is connected to the sense that he is the lord of filth, which refers to idolatrous sacrifice (Luke 11:15). In 2 Corinthians 6:15 Satan is named "Belial" which means "worthlessness" as contrasted to Christ, the worthy One. The key name of Satan that is repeated in the book of Revelation is "dragon" giving the image of one who is of great size and frightening in appearance. Satan is known as the "enemy," for it characterizes his hatred for God and His spiritual children (Matt 13:39).
The age that we live in is evil and 2 Corinthians 4:4 places Satan as the "god of this world." Ephesians 2:2 attributes the title "the prince of the power of the air" to Satan for he rules the sphere that we live in through rebellious and ungodly mankind. John designates him in John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11, and other verses as the "ruler of this world." Together with his demons, Satan exercises his power over the nations using the things of this world to entrap man under his schemes.
Satan is also referred to as a serpent which brings into mind the garden of Eden and the origin of sin in us. The characteristics of Satan as a serpent conjure up that which is "mainly evil, emphasizing its treachery, its venom, its skulking, and its murderous proclivities (Bellshaw, 27)." He is the "tempter" for he continually tries and tests man in order to cause him to fail before God (1 Thess 3:5). Satan is given the name "the wicked one" for the emphasis of his character is active evil (Eph 6:16).
Satan is a murderer which literally means that he is a man-slayer (John 8:44a). The motive behind murder is his hatred of God and His people, and Satan is the person behind it.
With God’s creation of Adam and Eve, Satan was devising ways to destroy humanity - and he in a sense was successful, since he was able to cause the entrance and imputation of sin into the human race - therefore plunging all people towards eternal wrath - everlasting spiritual death apart from God forever.
But ultimately Satan’s success is limited, since God is infinitely more powerful and is fully sovereign - and He had planned to send Christ to redeem from eternal death, all those who would trust in Christ to remove the murderous sting of sin.
Satan is a murderer because he robs people from eternal life. He sets to take people’s eyes off God and onto things of this world and even onto himself in Satanic ritual and worship via his multitude of vehicles which include the occult, new age movement, humanism, naturalism, secularism, and false religion.
Lying is part of the nature of Satan. Jesus says that lying is his native language He is the father of lies which is used to describe him as the first and foremost liar (John 8:44b). In fact the very first recorded words of Satan are of deceit in Genesis 3:1. In contrast to Satan, God is the Father of truth, everything that comes forth from God is true and by implication everything that Jesus speaks is also the truth because He does the will of the Father and is God the Son.
For true disciples, Satan tries to tempt you to weaken your faith, he’s going to try hard to make you stumble, bring doubt into your minds so that you don’t trust God - and even try to make you resent God and his people. Satan tried this on Jesus - so how much more will he try it out on us?
3c). Understand where Evil came from
So where did evil come from? Satan has a beginning - the Bible speaks to his origins - that he was created as an angel, and specifically a Cherub (Ezek. 28:14). Satan remains an angel, but now is a fallen angel since he sinned against God (Is. 14:12-14) ….he is an angel of darkness. Satan was created good - that is he was not created evil - otherwise it would go to say that God created evil and that God created sin, and that God is evil, therefore God could not overcome evil for Himself or for us, so God did not create evil. We can understand that evil came from outside of God. In Adam and Eve they made a choice and it was a wrong choice, an evil choice - which plunged the world into turmoil, and caused all people to be sinners. When Adam and Eve disobeyed evil became a reality. "Sin is not an entity; it is not a force; it is not a being. It is the absence of moral perfection" (MacArthur)
We understand that the origin of evil came from the author of evil - the devil. At the moment that Satan rebelled against God he plunged himself and a third of the angels in heaven (Rev. 12:4) into the realm of earth.
Satan was created good because even in verse 44 - stated in reversed terms, that Satan was not holding to the truth. This means that at one time he was holding to the truth as an angel in an unfallen state.
Write this reference down - Ezekiel 28:12-19 - this gives us a clear synopsis of the history of Satan (another reference is Isaiah 14). We don’t have the time to go through this whole passage so I encourage you to read it on your own. But what I want to highlight is the answer to where did evil come from? Look at verse 15 of Ezek. 28…. You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. The wickedness or sin was found where?….in you - within Satan.
Evil did not come externally. The created order was perfect so there was nothing to influence Satan to sin. God was and is righteous and perfect. God only reveals that unrighteousness was found in Satan. I think that even this revelation is too deep for us to fully grasp. So evil was somehow generated in the being of this holy angel.
Remember I asked you to take note of the pride that was found in the Jews? The sin that began Satan’s demise was also pride as we can see from verse 17. The up-swelling of pride in Satan manifested itself in rebellion as Satan tried to make himself to be God. As a result God turned Satan into the antithesis of God and cast him out of heaven. In a moment what was beautiful and holy, became ugly and wicked.
Yet now in his fallen state there is no truth in him (back to Jn. 8:44) - Jesus clearly expresses that the devil, willfully abandoned the truth and continues in this path of defection. The very fabric of his person is bent on falsehood. The only time that he speaks truth is when it is mixed with lies so that the lies might appear to be true - this is how he operated in the tempting Eve to sin - this is how con artist today operate.
Satan’s desire is that all people be deceived - and that the light of the world - Jesus Christ may not be seen. His foremost weapon of mass murder is falsehood. If we accept the lie of Satan that Jesus is NOT the only way, the truth, and the life - as Jesus declares (Jn. 14:6) - then the destination of our soul is doomed - no one can go to God the Father.
3d). Understand that we are not immune to Satan’s character
How do we properly and Biblically engage in spiritual warfare? Angels and therefore fallen angels have incredible power. God’s holy angels, under God’s command exercise their powers to do God’s will. Fallen angels also use their powers to do Satan’s will and their own.
But they are not all knowing, all powerful, all present like God. But with the powers that they do possess they can, and do, para-normal things to people. So we find in today’s church many believers that have involved themselves in the spiritual warfare movement. They are being encouraged by the many books and Christian leaders who have proclaimed themselves to be experts in this field. (Frank Peretti, C. Peter Wagner, Neil T Anderson, missions agencies like YWAM ).
What are we talking about here?…deliverance ministries, rebuking Satan, strategic level spiritual warfare, binding Satan and demons, prayer walks - journeys -expeditions, destroying demonic strongholds, generational curses, claiming territory, pleading the blood of Jesus…. all these unfounded Scriptural practices. Do we truly understand what we are engaged in and whom we are up against? Perhaps we would rethink these warfare tactics if we knew who Satan is? If you engage in these practices I believe that you could be opening up yourself to demonization.
Our mandate is not to focus on Satan and defeat him if that were possible… but we are called to focus on Christ and on living a righteous life in Christ. It is possible that this pre-occupation with the Demonic is one of Satan’s tactics to take our eyes off our Lord and Saviour Jesus. True spiritual warfare is not to engage in the unBiblical warfare methods that are being promoted today, but instead we are to follow the clear teaching of the Word of God. This can be found in 1 Pet. 5:9; James 4:7.
In short it is to live our life as a true disciple by applying what Ephesians 6:11-18 teaches Christians….and that is to…..
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil [one]. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saint
The sum of the spiritual armor is righteous living, by living out God’s Word every moment. Satan effectively operates in the realm of wickedness not in the realm of righteousness. If there is unrighteousness in your life then Satan can move right in and use it to tempt you and cause you to stumble.
By understanding Satan, through his character as a person, we find that he is the father of those who reject Christ - the unbeliever. The partial list of Satan’s names and descriptions give us a good understanding of who he is - that he actively opposes God and His people. And he is a formidable enemy that the Christian faces. As demonstrated, he is a person who possesses intellect, emotions, and a will, and must not be seen as an impersonal force for evil. Though Satan is limited in his power by God, he still possesses a wide range of abilities whereby the Christian must have complete dependence on God to defeat Satan. We resist the devil through loving Jesus evidenced by daily righteous living, listening to Jesus through obedience to Biblical instruction. A true disciple Rejects Satan and Sin, understands Satan’s Character and makes an informed commitment to Christ.
Flip Wilson may have popularized the saying ‘The devil made me do it,’ but we cannot make that claim. Satan cannot make you sin. We sin because we choose to sin - and this stems from the falleness of man. But in the face of sin the true disciple has Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the one true Father God, and we can have victory over sin and the ways of Satan and we can stand firm in truth, and say instead ‘Christ saved me from it.’
Thankfully we know Satan’s end - that he will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. There he will be tormented day and night along with his fallen angels and all those who reject Christ for eternity (Rev. 20:10)….and Jesus Christ wins…and He shall reign forever more, and we His saints shall spend an eternity with Him.
