Reject Lies and Embrace Truth - John 8:39-47

Spotting truth and lies have gotten more complicated these days, hasn’t it? Clear truth and lies have been replaced with your truth or my truth, misinformation, disinformation, and narratives and false narratives.

If you Google the words, “false narrative” you will get millions of hits. Did we even use the terminology twenty years ago? Nothing is clean and straightforward anymore. It’s all complicated and messy.

But distinctions that the world often wants to blur, God’s Word makes abundantly clear. Contrary to what the world teaches there is truth, and you can know it! And conversely, there are lies promoted by the devil himself.

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus says when Satan lies, “he speaks out of his own character?” It’s really no wonder the ninth commandment forbids lying. “You shall not bear false witness.”

Because whenever you lie you’re imbibing or taking on the very character of the devil himself. As Jesus reminds us, he is indeed, the father of lies.

No doubt, there is a broad application to what Jesus tells us about lying and its relationship to the devil. But I think he has something a little more specific in mind in this passage. Like I said, he’s condemning lying in general, but he’s really attacking a particular lie of the devil.

And that lie that the devil regularly promotes is false assurance of your salvation. The devil wants you to believe that you are fine just the way you are. That is really the core of what the devil wants you to believe. And as we’ll see in this passage, it hits a little closer to home because he wants to give you religious false assurance.

And it’s from that one fundamental lie, that the devil puts people on what I’m calling, “his pipeline of unbelief.” Which is a phrase I just invented. The trademark is still pending. In all seriousness though, once the devil has convinced you that you’re fine in your natural spiritual condition (vv. 39-41a) two things happen from there: Your heart hardens (vv. 41b-44), and you reject the truth (vv. 45-47).

Really from chapter 8 verse 32 through verse 47 Jesus has been drawing a major contrast between the truth and lies.

Last week, we read where Jesus famously said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

And when he said that it really sparked a debate between him and the Jews. Because the Jews understood that if Jesus is telling them that the truth will set them free that certainly suggests that they’re living in bondage. If his truth will set them free that means that they’re enslaved to lies.

Which of course is something that they completely object to! They’re not enslaved because they’re the offspring of Abraham. But the reality of Israel’s history is they’ve been politically enslaved many times. But of course, if you remember from last week, they actually understand Jesus’ reference correctly. Jesus is speaking of spiritual enslavement, but according to the Jews they’re religiously free! Afterall, God covenanted with their forefather, Abraham. Therefore, they had the right religion and everyone else had the wrong religion.

On a side note, if you’ve grown up in the church isn’t it hard not to hear the song Father Abraham? Father Abraham had many sons, Many sons had Father Abraham…

But in our passage this morning, they continue to make their case, that their nationality, their history, their heritage is what earns them favor with God.

The Lie (vv. 39-41a).

If you're taking notes, I’m calling the first point, “The Lie,” which we see in verses 39-41a. And as I already stated, the great lie that the devil told the Jews and still tells to this day, is that you're fine just the way you are.

Isn’t that exactly what our modern society literally teaches? Rarely do we hear about sins that need to be mortified, and rarely do we hear about people accepting responsibility for their sin, owning it, and turning from it.

Now it’s all about self-love and accepting who you really are.

I read an advice column from the New York Times where someone wrote in and shared about his success, strong work-ethic in spite of a difficult past and asked this pointed question: “How do I cut myself some slack?”

And one of the advice columnists wrote, “When you grow up amid instability, fear, and sadness, these feelings become your default setting, the known, and the safe. And it’s hard to leave them behind and enter the kingdom of self-love.”

Enter the kingdom of self-love? Doesn’t that advice carry Christian, spiritual, and religious overtones to it, and yet, at the same time it’s not Christian at all.

It’s standard advice for someone to encourage you to have a religious devotion to yourself.

It’s all quite tempting isn’t it? The Jews believed something similar.

Last week, we ended where Jesus said, “I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

And so now, we’re looking at the Jews response.

Look at verses 39-41a.

“39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.”

Obviously, we know that when Jesus makes these subtle references to the Jews father in verses 38 and 41, he’s ultimately referring to the devil.

But what exactly is Jesus talking about when he says, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.”

What exactly did Abraham do?

Abraham obeyed God’s commands, he fully trusted the Lord to work all things together for good, and he also received and welcomed the messengers of the Lord with all joy and gladness.

Do you remember how Abraham received the three visitors in Genesis 18 or how he treated Melchizedek?

He treated them with respect and humility. He got Sarai to quickly give the visitors something to eat. He went out of his way to make sure they were taken care of. And in a similar way, he humbled himself before the priest-king Melchizedek and received a blessing from him.

My point being, Abraham responded appropriately when he encountered those sent to him from the Lord. But most importantly Abraham looked forward to Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the World.

There is tons of Scripture that supports my point! Now just think about Abraham and compare him to the way the Jews are treating Jesus in this passage.

It’s a night and day contrast isn’t it?

They don’t receive him as the Son of God. They don’t respect him. In fact, they want him dead.

The Jews bought the lie. Whereas we’re constantly told to believe in yourself, you’re enough, self-love, self-care and all the rest, the Jews believed they were fine just the way they were because of their ancestry.

Their whole mentality was, everything is taken care of Jesus, my father is Abraham! And in a sense, they were close, weren’t they? They knew about the One True God, the Lord had covenanted with Abraham, and from them the Messiah would come.

All of those things were true, but they were never meant to be trusted in for their salvation. It’s the ever so slight twisting of the truth. It’s a little cheesy, but appropriate nonetheless because “the devil is in the details,” right?

Their faith is built upon a house of cards. It’s a lie, isn’t it?

Notice the clarity of Jesus in verse 40. “...but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.”

Jesus spoke the truth of the gospel which came directly from God. Abraham believed it and it was counted to him as righteousness.

The Jews took comfort in their natural spiritual condition. Abraham didn’t do that! He trusted in Christ!

I had an old Honda Accord for many years, and eventually the motor on the passenger side window was about to die. The situation was, if you rolled down the window there was a solid chance it wouldn’t roll back up.

I remember one time driving a friend somewhere and they went to roll down the window and I was like, “No, don’t do that!” I could have gotten it fixed at any point, but I chose to just deal with it the way that it was. Keep the window lock permanently on.

Haven’t we all experienced something like that? We’d rather keep things just the way they are than deal with them.

The Jews had fallen for the devil’s twisting of the truth, which is a lie right? They didn’t really want to interact with what Jesus was saying because they were fine. They had the right religion, but really they had put their faith in the trappings or appearance of religion, but not Christ. Don’t we see this still today?

The multiple baptisms, the walking the aisle, saying the sinner’s prayer, regular church attendance. It’s tempting to believe these actions are what save us? At a certain point it becomes more about religious actions and motions than faith in Jesus Christ! Amen?

This is exactly what makes the lies of the devil so sinister! They’re incredibly subtle, aren’t they?

At the end of the day, it’s faith in Christ that saves you, not your religious experiences.

Your Heart Hardens (vv. 41b-44)

Have you ever talked to someone that doesn’t appear to be walking with the Lord and you try to share the gospel only for them to say something like, “I haven’t gone to church in twenty five years, and I never think about Christ, but thirty-two years ago I said the sinner's prayer and walked the aisle and was baptized.”

Or it could be something like, “I went to church for fifteen years, and now I’m off the hook. I put my time in and now I can do what I want.”

I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced conversations like that, but I have, and typically that’s exactly where they want to leave the conversation. But the great irony is that their religious trappings, experiences, and understanding didn’t soften their hearts toward the Lord, it hardened it.

I tend to think that we see this in John chapter 8. Over the course of the chapter, the Jews have continued to become increasingly more hostile towards Jesus. Notice what they say at the end of verse 41 the Jews tell Jesus, “We were not born of sexual immorality.”

The Jews thought that they’re entitled to God’s grace because they came from Abraham. And they were of course from the true line, however, where did Jesus come from? Who was his biological father? The comment, “We were not born of sexual immorality,” functioned as both a theological remark and as an insult against Jesus. There’s a few different ways to understand this comment, but I think the best way to understand it is as an insult against Jesus. They were suggesting that he was an illegitimate child.

They didn’t understand the virgin birth, so they took a cheap shot at Jesus and accused him of being an illegitimate child.

But right after insulting Jesus, suddenly the Jews are going to take the high road and claim that God is their Father.

Ironically, there is some element of truth there! God did claim to be Israel’s father. The Lord said in Exodus 4 that, “Israel is my firstborn son.” But what’s the connection that they’re missing?

The Apostle Paul makes this connection for us in Galatians 3:29, “...if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”

You see, in order to be a son or daughter of Abraham, you have to be Christ’s. That is, a man or woman of faith in Christ are truly Abraham’s offspring.

And the people of faith recognize their need for Savior. They recognize their need for Jesus Christ.

Which explains why Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.”

The more you’re convinced you are of the lie that you're fine in your natural spiritual condition the colder and harder your heart will become toward the gospel Jesus Christ.

If you think that you're spiritually fine, it becomes easier to ignore the call of the gospel.

You know, if the intensity of this passage was a stock ticker, its apex is in verse 44. Jesus says something shocking.

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Jesus tells the Jews that the father they follow isn’t Abraham, it’s the devil. I wonder what the faces on the crowd looked like? Contrary to what the Jews have said, their father is not Abraham, it’s not God, rather, it’s the devil.

And it was the devil that brought death and destruction into the world when he lied to Adam and Eve and tricked them into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As one commentator put it, the devil “plunged humanity into the ocean of death.”

The devil orchestrated Christ’s crucifixion. Luke 22:3 actually tells us that, “…Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.”

The devil is real and is at work. And I find it very odd, that in a culture that rejects the virtues of Christianity, there's been a dramatic rise in satanic, demonic imagery. I don’t think it's a coincidence.

Look, I’m not one of these people that sees the devil hiding under every rock. And yet at the same time, I think we’re often naive, willfully ignorant, or indifferent toward the real spiritual warfare that’s taking place all around us.

The more you buy into the belief you're spiritually fine, the harder your heart will become towards Jesus Christ.

You Reject The Truth (vv. 45-47)

And the colder and harder your heart becomes towards Jesus Christ - the easier it becomes to wholesale reject the truth of the gospel. Notice what Jesus says in verses 45-47:

“But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Jesus says it’s because he tells the truth they do not believe in him.

That sounds sort of weird doesn’t it? Wouldn’t you assume that they’d listen to him because he tells them the truth, not reject him because he tells the truth? What he says is pretty counterintuitive.

As one commentator put it, “The children of God will so love the truth that they will believe in Jesus; the children of the devil will be so characterized by lies that they will not be able t o accept the truth, precisely because it is the truth.” (Carson, 354)

Right? Because if your father is the devil you take on his character - which is void of the truth. Jesus said the devil cannot stand in the truth. As the commentator said, the children of the devil reject the truth because it is the truth. It’s consistent with their character and their father.

Jesus asks an obvious question: if they don’t believe he’s telling the truth, then that means he’s a liar and a sinner, which is why in verse 46, he says, “Which one of you convicts me of sin?”

In other words, if what I say is a lie, then prove where I have sinned. Show me where I’m wrong. But if Jesus is sinless and speaks the truth then, “...why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

If you are truly of God, then you will receive the words of Jesus as coming from God himself. But if you reject the words of Jesus then you are not from God.

The devil is a liar, but Christ is the truth. The devil is a murderer but the Lord Jesus is the giver of life.

Whenever the Bible mentions the devil, demons, or evil, as a pastor you’re pretty much required to quote C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. There’s a great line where Screwtape tells his demon understudy Wormwood that, “... the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts…”

Falling for the lies of the devil doesn’t necessarily mean you’re drawing a pentagram on the floor in your house, joining the cult of Satan, or regularly conjuring demons with a ouija board.

You see the lies of Satan are so insidious not for their flambouncy, but for their subtlety.

The devil just needs you and I to believe that we’re fine just the way we are.

Is this not precisely the lie that the Jews believed? They had Abraham! They didn’t need Jesus! Everything was golden! They were fine! And Jesus was bad simply for questioning the validity of Abraham as their father!

And that’s exactly what the devil wants you to believe! He wants you to find assurance in your religiosity. He wants you to be comforted by your great reputation. He wants you to find assurance in your work ethic. He wants you to believe that you need to do a better job of accepting yourself for who you are. He wants you to trust in your own self-sufficiency, because he wants to turn you away from Christ!

But the truth is, you’re not fine the way you are. And you’ll never be able to convince yourself otherwise no matter how much self-love or self-care you practice it’ll never be enough. You’ll always know something is wrong deep inside your heart.

I have a pastor friend who’s young son asked him once, “Daddy, do you preach the same thing every Sunday?” And he thought for a minute and said, “Not exactly, but sort of.”

You need to be regularly reminded of the truth of Christ. You need to have the good news of Jesus Christ put before you constantly put before you. Isn’t that why the Christian goes to church? To remind yourself of your sin and the forgiveness, mercy, and grace that is yours in Christ. You go to church because you need to be reminded of the truth. Because we forget!

And in those moments of weakness and forgetfulness it’s so easy to fall for lies.

But the Apostle John wrote some powerful words in 1 John 3:8: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

You see Christ doesn’t merely neutralize the devil - he destroys him.

The devil wants nothing more than to fill your mind with cloudy, confusing lies! If you want to resist the lies of the devil, then fill your mind with the truth of Christ. Amen.