Jesus confronts the liar and the lie

[0:00] Father, we ask that you would gently but deeply pour out the Holy Spirit upon us at this time. Father, your word reveals things which are hard for us, and we confess before you, Father, that we want to try to solve these things by our own categories and in our own way and in our own strength and not just listen to your word and believe it and to trust it and to have it bear fruit in our lives.

[0:35] So, Father, we ask for a deep work of your Holy Spirit in our lives as we open your word. And, Father, we want to lift Jesus high this morning here, and we want to lift him high in our daily lives.

[0:47] We want to lift him high in this city, and we want to lift him high to the ends of the earth. So, Father, please be gracious and kind. Pour out your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray.

[0:58] Amen. Please be seated. So, occasionally I do this with a sermon. I give a bit of a warning. I guess I should maybe have had a bit of an R symbol up there because it's a bit of a restricted sermon, not because I'm going to talk about sexual stuff, but I'm going to talk about the devil.

[1:16] So, if you're a guest here this morning or you've been here for a while and you're a bit of a seeker, I just want to let you know we're going to talk about the devil because it's sort of in the scripture text.

[1:29] And I know that when I say in Canada that we're going to talk about the devil, there's sort of nowadays there's sort of two types of reactions. For many Canadians to say that I'm going to talk about the devil, I have just revealed that I am an anti-intellectual kook.

[1:43] I've just revealed that to you folks. For many Canadians, that's what it would be. The eyes would roll. They'd go, oh, good grief. And for others, increasing numbers, maybe even the majority of Canadians, they'd say, well, that's interesting.

[1:58] I wonder what he has to say. I wonder if it fits in with how I understand demons and devils to work. So, wherever you are, that's what we're going to look at today amongst other things.

[2:08] Of course, it's not the main thing in the text, but it's a big part of the text. It's a bit of an iceberg or an elephant in the text, and we're going to look at it. We're not going to avoid it. So, if you have your Bibles, let's see.

[2:19] I mean, it doesn't jump right into talking about the devil right away, but it's going to get there. So, if you have your Bibles, turn in them to John 8, verse 31. John 8, verse 31.

[2:30] And here's how... Remember, when I was introducing this text before I read it, I said, this is part of a longer conversation of Jesus.

[2:42] And so, some of the things that are in the text, we sort of talked about last week, but John 8, verse 31, here's how it goes. So, Jesus said to the Jews, it's both the leaders and the people who had believed him.

[2:55] And notice, by the way, it says believed him, not believed in him, but believed him. They've started to believe some of the things he's said, but they haven't quite reached the point of having a trust in him. It's all the way through John's Gospel.

[3:08] It's a very subtle difference, but it's a very important difference. Since I've introduced the topic of demons in another place in the Bible, it says, Jesus says, the demons believe in God and tremble.

[3:23] They don't have a saving belief, but they have a knowledge. So, this is the way here it's been referred to. There's some knowledge that what Jesus is saying is true. So, I'll read it again, verse 31.

[3:34] So, Jesus said to the Jewish people who had believed him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

[3:46] And we're just going to camp there just for a few seconds. Andrew, if you could put that up on the screen. It's a really important verse. It's one of those verses that Christians should try to memorize if they possibly can.

[3:57] In a very interesting way, by memorizing the scripture, you're abiding and continuing in the word, right? It's also part of how you just meditate upon the word and have it try to come into your life.

[4:08] Some of your versions will say not abide, but continue. And both are very good words to translate the original idea in the original language. Abide sort of means to live there.

[4:18] Continue means also has that same type of idea that you listen, and then you continue to listen and continue to have it to have some type of role in your life. Well worth memorizing.

[4:31] And so, once again, I'm going in and out. Is that just my imagination? Imagination? Nope, it's not my imagination. Anyway, so it's a very, very powerful, wonderful verse.

[4:45] We're going to return to it at the end, but just in case I lose you, put you all to sleep. This is a very, very, very powerful set of four ideas that are all linked in the scripture.

[4:58] And you need to have all four of them to have any part of it work. So there's this first thing that Jesus says, you need to abide in my word.

[5:09] And if you abide in my word, if you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples. And his word here is opening the door to a far bigger thing. The historic understanding of Christians is that when we read the New Testament, we're reading ultimately the apostolic testimony to what Jesus said.

[5:30] And Jesus is in chapter 7 said how when you listen to the Old Testament, you're listening to the Father speak. So it's not only Jesus talking about the gospel that you have to believe and be gripped by the gospel, but you have to be gripped by the gospel, the message that God has sent his son.

[5:47] And how does he put it in John chapter 3, verse 16? For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son to the end that all who believe in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

[5:58] And so it's not only the message of the gospel, but the writings of the New Testament that we are to abide in and continue. And if we do that, we truly are his disciples, truly are ones who have been saved by him and are following him.

[6:12] And then what's the next linked idea? If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. And what will happen? You will know the truth. You will know the truth. You won't know lies. You won't know ambiguity.

[6:25] You won't know illusion. You will know the truth. You will be delivered from lies. And illusions. And delusions. To know the truth.

[6:36] That's God's desire for human beings. Is that we know the truth. Not only the truth about God, but the truth. That's his heart. That's his desire.

[6:47] That's one of the implications of the gospel. One of the implications of the gospel is that as it grips you, and as you now, in light of the gospel, continue in the word, that that basic creational purpose that God has always had for us, to know the truth, that that will happen.

[7:06] And part of how we will, one of the consequences of abiding in the word, and being the disciple of Jesus, and knowing the truth, is that the truth will make us free.

[7:17] Drugs don't make us free. Getting drunk doesn't make us free. Lies don't make us free. I mean, we might sort of think that they sort of get us out of some trouble, but lies ultimately always damage and hurt us.

[7:31] Illusion doesn't make, delusion doesn't, the truth will set you free. That's his powerful statement of Jesus. So even if you now fall asleep, I lose you for the next 30 minutes, hopefully that will grip you, and you'll want to memorize the scripture.

[7:45] But here's the problem. If we're honest, and all of a sudden now, because, you know, it's, we live in Canada, unless you're a guest here this morning from another country, if so, we're really glad you came to join us.

[8:00] But if we breathe the cultural air of Canada, and in Canada, well, Andrew, could you put up the next slide? I'm not sure what it's going to look like, because I gave Andrew some options.

[8:10] In Canada, we've taken part of Jesus' words and cut out the rest. This is a very Canadian statement.

[8:24] Know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Isn't that like a very, very Canadian statement? Jesus says, if you abide in my word, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

[8:39] But in Canada, we've gotten rid of abiding, abiding in the word, being a disciple of Jesus. And we've taken all of that part out of the scripture, and in some ways, this is a bit of a motto for the average Canadian.

[8:55] Know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Which means then, for the average Canadian, why do you need to add Jesus to the equation? Like, know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

[9:09] I mean, that's why we buy the self-help books, isn't it? That's, that's, why, that's just basically, it's like, it's so, in some ways, part of the history of Canadian culture is that shift.

[9:23] It's actually, what if just, it's the enlightenment here. Sorry, a little bit of an intellectual geek moment. Sorry, time out. Intellectual geek moment. The switch, from what Jesus said to that, is the beginning of the enlightenment.

[9:36] It's the enlightenment project. That's what it is. And, and so, for the average Canadian, they say, one moment, you just know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

[9:46] How on earth does knowing Jesus add anything to that project whatsoever? In fact, for the average Canadian, the average Canadian, they'd say, in fact, actually moving towards, what Jesus actually said, about abiding in the Bible, and, and actually being a follower of Jesus, that actually is a movement away from knowing the truth.

[10:11] It's a movement away from freedom. That's the cultural area we live in. Knowing Jesus only messes this project up, which is deeply ingrained in us.

[10:26] So, what do we do? Well, it's very, very interesting. interesting. The, the Bible is actually going to deal with this. Believe it or not, how Jesus talks about this afterwards, it's, it's one of the many ways that I really believe that the Bible is inspired, because, the, the words are just slightly different, but Jesus in the conversation anticipates the problem.

[10:50] But before we get, to what Jesus says, I just want to throw out a bit of a challenge to us. So, for the average Canadian, this is true. Know the truth and we'll set, and the truth will set you free.

[11:01] And the question to Canada is, how's that working for us? Like, how's that working? Like, just, just be real for a second. When you look at Canada right now, do you think Canadians generally, because this is what they believe, do you think there's a lot more freedom in Canada now than there used to be?

[11:18] Do you think that in Canada, more and more people are able to think well? Do you think in Canada there are fewer lies that people believe? Do you think in Canada that people generally are highly motivated by knowing what's true and real?

[11:36] Like, how's that going in Canada right now? Is it going so well that we can say that maybe you don't need what Jesus said, but you just need to listen to that?

[11:46] Let's just be honest for a second. It's not really going very well, is it? I mean, who reads Twitter for the truth? Maybe you have been.

[11:58] Sorry. But, it's a bad place to get the truth. It's good to get yelling. And innuendo. And people having their feelings hurt.

[12:11] In fact, actually, you know, for many Canadians now, it's actually more from know the truth, and the truth will set you free, is to know your feelings, and your feelings will set you free.

[12:22] And that's working even worse than knowing the truth. Now, some of you might say, okay, George, well, that's actually a very, very clever point you just made, but I'm going to push it right back at you.

[12:36] George, how on earth can what Jesus said, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free? Like, George, how dare you get up there and say that, that that's somehow a better thing.

[12:49] George, I mean, you know, George, you're going to be going to a conference at Southern Seminary in a couple of weeks, sort of a continuing ed thing.

[13:00] George, Southern Seminary, great place of learning, but you know what, that was segregated. It was racist up until just a few decades ago. Like, what about apartheid? All those good reformed Christians in South Africa, practicing apartheid.

[13:14] What about Christians in slavery? What about just, George, okay, yeah, yeah, so maybe the project's not going very well in Canada, but George, given Christianity's terrible history connected to racism, and apartheid, like, how is that any better?

[13:35] Now, by the way, that's a really good question for a non-Christian to ask us. That's a completely and utterly fair question. It might not be a question we feel comfortable with, but it's a great question.

[13:48] And here, by the way, because as you know, I have notes here, but a lot of times I don't look at them. If I forget to come back and answer the question, please shout at me and say, George, you didn't answer the question, because we are.

[14:02] So let's look at the Bible. Actually, what Jesus says is very, very contemporary. He's going to address these issues. So if you, if you turn in your Bibles, get your Bibles back open.

[14:13] John chapter eight, verse 31. I'll read it again, and we'll see what happens next. So Jesus said to the Jewish people who had believed him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

[14:28] They answered him, we are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? All you need to change in that is we are Canadians.

[14:43] We are Canadians. We've never been enslaved by anyone. How on earth can you say that you will become free? And Jesus answered them, and here's the first thing.

[14:57] We're going to camp in this for just a couple of minutes, but here's, see, Jesus is going to say that this enlightenment project that most Canadians believe in completely and utterly ignores two important realities.

[15:11] That if you don't understand these two important realities, that's why this doesn't work. And why what Jesus says will work.

[15:24] And the first is right here in verse 34. Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

[15:37] What this doesn't take into account of is sin. Human sin. You see, in the enlightenment project, in what most Canadians think of, they think that all we need to do to sort of fix this is, the problem is we're finite.

[15:55] And so what we need to fix, how we need to fix this is we just need to have a bit better philosophy. We need, and in particular, we need better technology. You know, like maybe what we need to know the truth more is to have something that you can just carry around in your hand that will access virtually all of the knowledge on the planet because that one, one moment, that doesn't work at all right now, does it?

[16:17] Like, in fact, actually, that's made it worse, hasn't it? I mean, if you're honest with it, right? The internet hasn't made us smarter, wiser, more pursuing of truth. It's made us want to look at cat videos and porn and believe the latest rantings and ravings of people who are fools.

[16:38] Right? I mean, that's what's happened. But, you know, in our, for us in Canada, we're so committed to this, to making sure that Jesus has nothing to do with anything.

[16:50] We think that, okay, if the tools are better, if the technique is better, if society is just better, if we elect the right leader, if we elect a really good progressive prime minister, one moment, how's that going?

[17:04] Didn't we just do that? Like, it's not going very well. We did it in Ontario. I mean, it's not, it just, you see, what Jesus says is the problem isn't that we don't have the best tools, or the best philosophy yet, or the best social structure.

[17:21] He says the problem is us. The problem is that human beings are bent and fallen.

[17:35] And when the Bible talks about sin, by the way, if you're a guest here, it's not a, it's not a code word for sex. Sex isn't sinful.

[17:46] I mean, there's a way that sex is sinful, sexual knowing and stimulation is sinful, but it's not a code word. It's, it's referring to Genesis chapter three. It's, it's referring to the great lie that, but before that, that God had made all things good for us to, to know God and to be known by God and to be transparent and to, and to live in our home and to develop the home and to make the whole, the whole earth like a beautiful garden and, and have God provide all of our needs.

[18:14] But instead of that, we chose to not believe God and to, in fact, to say that, that God, I don't believe any of, I don't believe what you're saying is true and I don't trust you. And I want to be God.

[18:25] I want to be just as much a God as, as you. And I want to become the center and I want to be in control. And in that fundamental break to be like God bent human beings.

[18:39] And if you read Genesis 3, the result of it is, is that human, all of a sudden, Adam and Eve didn't talk each other, trust each other anymore and they passed blame and, and they hated transparency and, and we want to hide.

[18:54] And the Bible says that's the human problem. That's what Jesus says. That's the problem with, it's, it's not, and, and God in his common grace made sure that everything didn't completely and utterly fall apart, but the fall is just present with us.

[19:08] Sin is present with us. And that's why just merely knowing the truth and the truth will set you free, it just doesn't work because it doesn't deal with the fact that human beings are fundamentally bent.

[19:24] And by the way, when I say this, I'm not saying that those who are Christians aren't bent and fallen and non-Christians are. I'm a fallen human being too.

[19:34] And by the way, here when, when Jesus is saying, and, and, and, you know, there's a, and we're bent in our, our spirituality and our religion, we're bent in our technology, we're bent in our philosophy, we're bent in our emotions, we're bent in our thinking.

[19:53] So, now that I've just depressed you all, well, Jesus goes on to say something which gives us hope. Like, what is it he says?

[20:04] Look at verse 35. He uses a bit of an analogy about how, that the analogy sort of works by, you know, a slave would say, I'm a slave in this house.

[20:19] Whereas a son or a daughter would say, I live in this house. Sort of the, the different, the very, very different worldview. Very different, they both can inhabit right beside each other but their status is different, how they understand things is different, their freedom is different, their power is different, everything is different.

[20:43] So, verse 35, the slave, so, verse 34 again, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin as a slave to sin, the slave does not remain in the house forever.

[20:55] The son remains forever. So, if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. If the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. You know, if, if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

[21:14] See, that's going to start, point back a little bit about what it means to actually believe in Jesus and to abide in his word and to follow him because it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

[21:30] And it's for a freedom that Christ has set us free that's true and in the truth. that's why he set us free.

[21:41] Then he says, in verse 37, I know that you are the offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me. We talked about that more last week because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my father and you do what you have heard from your father.

[22:00] Now, just sort of pause here. Those of you who are looking a little bit ahead, Jesus is now going to begin into this second thing. Remember, why does know the truth and the truth will set you free not work?

[22:10] The first thing is, Jesus says, very wisely and correctly, is that we haven't taken into account the fact that every human being has sinned. And what's the second thing? The second thing is, is that the world hasn't taken into account that the devil is real and exists.

[22:29] Look at what he goes on to say in verse 39. They answered him, Abraham is our father. In other words, that's the lineage that they come from. And Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works that Abraham did.

[22:47] But now you seek to kill me, which is actually what's happening. A man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works that you're doing the works your father did.

[23:00] They said to him, we were not born in sexual immorality. Probably a little bit of a dig that they would have said that Jesus was born of sexual immorality. We have one father, even God.

[23:14] Jesus said to them, 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.

[23:25] Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.

[23:38] He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks, sorry, when he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

[23:57] I'm going to read that verse 44 again. It's a very, very powerful verse. 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.

[24:16] When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Andrew, if you could put the next point up, please.

[24:28] The devil desires you to die in the unending grip of lies. The devil desires you to die in the unending grip of lies.

[24:42] So, remember I said that when I first introduced this sermon, I said just a bit of a warning, a heads up. We're going to talk about the devil a little bit this morning.

[24:56] And for many Canadians, I've just revealed myself as an unintelligent, unread kook. And for other Canadians who sort of through a variety of reasons have come to basically accept that there's a supernatural world and I'm now sort of just curious as to whether I'm going to talk about whether you can have little boxes that can capture demons or something like that or what the right spells are or the difference between white and black magic.

[25:26] The Bible has a lot more to say about the demonic than this, but I've disappointed everyone in Canada virtually outside of those who are disciples of Jesus with our description of the devil's work right now because this isn't very sexy, is it?

[25:47] It's just this sense that the Bible says is that the devil, that every single human being has an experience of the devil and their experience of the devil is when they lie.

[26:02] And that's not very sexy. You see, part of the thing that this text is revealing, for many Canadians, we sort of almost believe that we live in a naked public square.

[26:17] But what I mean by a naked public square here is that all we see is what is. If we don't see it, it doesn't exist. And then what we see is we see stores, we see buildings, we see people.

[26:30] But the Bible paints a very, very different world picture that there are, in fact, angels and demons and we walk amidst unseen beings. that's what, in fact, we walk amongst.

[26:45] And that the devils, so to speak, they whisper in our ears and to our hearts and to our minds. And one of the things which is sort of shocking about what Jesus is saying, he's saying many things that are shocking, is that if we do tend to think that there are things like devils, we sort of imagine ourselves that there's God and there's sort of devils and where devils have lots of influence and we're sort of somewhere in between.

[27:23] And we can sort of be lured this way to where there's devils or we can be lured this way towards where there's God, but it's very powerful for most of us unless we've had a terrible experience with demonic oppression and possession.

[27:40] It's very common for us to think that somehow we are in a bit of a neutral area between these two. But what the Bible is revealing is that that entire image is wrong. Every human being lives here.

[27:54] Every human being lives here. And it's in fact out of here that Christ has redeemed us.

[28:06] It is out of here that Christ has saved us. It is out of here that Jesus adopts us as his child. It is out of here that we are, in the words of verse 31, that we are to abide in his word and you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

[28:30] We are to hear that while we're here. Not in some neutral places if we're gods. That's the original lie. I am a creature, not a god.

[28:43] In heaven, I will be a creature, not a god. Although, as C.S. Lewis so wonderfully put it, if a creature who is now in the new heaven and the new earth was to come to what is now the earth, the glory would be so deep and so wonderful that in fact we could hardly bear to look at such a creature and would be tempted to worship him or her.

[29:13] But we are not in the new heaven and the new earth yet. We are here. We dwell among a people of unclean lips. I, Lord, as well have such unclean lips.

[29:32] So, why be a Christian if we're all in the same boat? If the devil also whispers to us, well, Jesus is going to talk about this.

[29:43] He's going to talk about the great deliverance that God has done and he's going to put everything in a radically different context. Look at what he does and how he begins to deal with this in verse 45. I've just paused to make sure we heard this important teaching in verse 44, but listen to what happened.

[29:59] He keeps going. But because I tell you the truth, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Isn't that interesting? Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

[30:09] verse 46, which of you convicts me of sin? That's an astounding statement.

[30:22] Listen, if I told you which of you convict me of sin, my wife and kids would start to snicker and laugh. They know I'm a sinner. Either that or they'd start to worry that I had become completely and utterly deranged and unhinged to actually stand in front of you and say, who can convict me of a sin?

[30:43] And then the staff would start laughing and all of you would. Maybe those of you who have just met me think, oh, he hasn't sinned since I've met him, you know, but I'm a sinner. And Jesus gets there and with a completely and utterly straight face says, which one of you can convict me of sin?

[30:59] Well, what an arrogant thing to say unless something else is going on. Look at verse 46 again. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?

[31:10] Whoever's of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you're not of God. The Jews answered him, are we not right in saying that you are Samaritan and have a demon?

[31:22] Verse 49, Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my father and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it and he is the judge.

[31:33] Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. Now, Jesus, you know, one of the things which is very interesting here in this, if you read John chapter 8, verse 12, right to the end of chapter 8, 12 times Jesus is rebutted.

[31:57] 12 times. This isn't him with a group of his groupies who hang on as every word. This is Jesus talking in the midst of conflict. 12 times people either push back at him, tell him he's wrong, tell him he's a Samaritan, tell him he's demon-possessed.

[32:12] 12 times. And this is part of it. These are hard-headed Canadians, in a sense, who aren't going to take guff from somebody.

[32:24] And so, verse 52, the Jews said to him, now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died as did the prophets. Yet you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.

[32:36] Are you greater than our father Abraham who died and the prophets died? Who do you make yourself out to be? I'm just sort of pause there for a second. What Jesus is claiming? He is claiming that he is greater than death.

[32:51] And they got it. He is claiming that he is greater than death. And the claim that he is greater than death means that he is also greater than sin which causes death.

[33:02] It's an unbelievably powerful claim. And you also notice that they actually changed Jesus' words. He never says that he won't taste death.

[33:13] He says that the people will never see death. Although, as we are going to see in a moment, we are going to loop back around this in a couple of minutes. It's actually almost like a prophetic thing. They have caught up a sense of Jesus which they deny.

[33:25] But in fact, Jesus will taste death. He will taste my death for me so that death no longer has a hold on me.

[33:36] And he does that for you too, friend. So continue reading. It's going to get even more remarkable. Like, how on earth could anybody say that they're greater than death?

[33:47] Verse 54, Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me of whom you say he is our God. But you have not known him.

[33:58] I know him. And if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.

[34:09] So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old. And you, have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

[34:25] He pronounces the divine name. He says he's God. For the Jewish people, it's to say, to use the divine name, to use the divine, you know, it's actually, this is true.

[34:39] They, in all the way through the, most like, I think in the English Standard Version, if you see in the Old Testament, the word for God, Lord, and if it's four capital letters, it's the, it's four Hebrew letters.

[34:51] And because the Jewish people thought that the actual name of God was so holy, they thought that it was wrong to even say it. And it's actually now, they, no longer, people no longer know, because they took out, there's no vowels, they no longer know how to say it.

[35:07] They don't know how it was pronounced. And in common language, back then, when they were coming to the word Lord, they would use another word instead, so they wouldn't say the divine name.

[35:19] It is literally a word that they no longer know how it was originally pronounced. And Jesus not only says the word, but he says that that's who he is, that he's God.

[35:29] And they recognize it because look what happened. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. Now, where are we with this?

[35:41] Let's wrap it up. If you could put up the next point, Andrew, that would be very, very helpful. The first thing for us to remember, having said all this, is that Jesus is infinitely greater than the devil.

[35:52] And I mean infinitely in the literal sense. The devil is a creature. Jesus is God. God is an infinite being, the only infinite being that exists.

[36:09] Everything else is finite. So this talk that's so common in our culture as if there's yin and yang and light and darkness and opposing spiritual forces, there are opposing forces, obviously, but they're not equal.

[36:27] They're not at all the same. Jesus is infinitely greater than the devil. Infinitely greater than the devil.

[36:38] And that gives us great hope. If you could put up the next slide, Andrew, that would be great. Because he is God, by grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone to save everyone who trusts in him.

[36:56] That's from the book of Hebrews. In other parts in the New Testament is that because he is God, by grace, when Jesus tasted death, when he tasted death, he can taste death for everyone.

[37:10] He dies my death for me. We talked about it last week. Is that when you put your faith and trust in Jesus, then your sin dies before you because it dies on him.

[37:25] But when you don't put your faith and trust in Jesus, you die in your own sin. That's why he's such a wonderful savior. He tasted death for everyone because in grace and mercy, he wants to save all who put their faith and trust in him.

[37:45] He wants to save you, brother and sister. He wants to save you. And if you could put up the next point, that would be very great. Only Jesus can silence the hissing lies of the serpent so that you can truly listen to God and freely think.

[38:07] Remember, this all goes back in the Enlightenment project, which now we Canadians are an heir of. we know the truth and the truth will set us free. And now turn into you will know your feelings and your feelings will set you free.

[38:19] But what did Jesus say? If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Only Jesus can silence the hissing lies of the serpent so that you can truly listen to God and freely think.

[38:41] You see, that's one of the things which is common to every human being. Are you rich or are you poor? For both, there are the hissing lies of the serpent in your ears.

[38:55] Are you Chinese? Are you Rwandan? Are you from Mississippi? Are you from Peru? Doesn't matter where you're from.

[39:06] The hissing lies of the serpent is in your ears. Do you have a very high IQ or a low IQ? Are you really good looking or are you not very good looking?

[39:18] Are you very athletic or not very athletic? Are you a male or a female? We're all united in the hissing lies of the serpents in our ears. And only Jesus can begin to silence the hissing lies of the serpent in our ears.

[39:37] And you know what? You can't think without listening. That's one of the things which is so profound in what Jesus says. It's like modern psychologists, if you read books like that, I can't remember the name of that, psychologists, anyway, but thinking fast and slow or something like that is, it's increasingly understood by psychologists.

[39:56] Just what Jesus says right here is that thinking is connected to listening. What is it Jesus says? if you abide in my word, if you listen, in other words, to my word, and you not only listen but you bring it into you and you continue listening to my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

[40:23] And if you could put up the final point, Andrew, that would be great. Continue in the gospel and God's word written. Abide in it in your day-to-day life.

[40:36] And Christians aren't just lone rangers, we're also to be part of a local church. So I added that pray and plan that your church, that our church, continues in the gospel and God's word written, abiding in it in all that it does.

[40:52] So I'd mention apartheid and racism. See, one of the things which is so important about this is the Bible doesn't say that the second you become a Christian, that the devil stops hissing in your ears.

[41:09] And we Christians share in the human problem. The difference is that we have a mighty Savior. We have a mighty Savior.

[41:20] And this mighty Savior is God, the Son of God, who is true, who is only truth, who only speaks truth and wants us to live and abide in truth.

[41:33] And Jesus came to save us from the lie and save us from lies. And as we abide in his word, humbly coming to him and saying, Jesus, you are God, I am not.

[41:43] You are infinite, I am not. You are perfect, I am fallen, I am broken. You do not need a Savior, I need a Savior. As we come to him humbly and abiding in his word, there is the possibility that the hissing lies of the serpents are silence and we can start to actually listen to God and know the truth about human beings and know the truth about ourselves.

[42:06] And this isn't just sort of an irrelevant thing because as we begin to hear the truth from God, it becomes easier and easier to hear the truth in other places, to hear the truth in the world and the truth in science and the truth in terms of how human beings move and work and act.

[42:20] It's something which is far-reaching. It's not just purely and merely spiritual truth, but truth. Jesus, the Father, wants us to know truth in general and what happens in apartheid is we listen to lies.

[42:33] What happens in racism, we listen to lies. And here's the thing. You know, I would say, I might lose you with this, but I say that the problem with the Koran is it needs to be corrected.

[42:46] I would say that the problem with Hinduism is it needs to be corrected from outside. I would say that the problem with Buddhism is it needs to be corrected from outside. But I would say when it comes to things like racism, anyone who has listened to the fact that Jesus dies for every person and that every person is made in the image of God should never be a racist.

[43:08] It is completely and utterly rebuked. And not only is it rebuked in the Word, it is rebuked by His shed blood. He died for that.

[43:18] Crap. Crap. And I know that there are some of you here who have been complicit in abortion, and I don't say this to make you feel guilty.

[43:30] Everything in God's Word, if it confronts us of sin, it's because God wants to connect to you and to me that we would come to Him for healing. But we live in a culture filled with lies.

[43:41] There are many churches that the denomination that we left was very, very weak on things like abortion, very, very weak on euthanasia, and those are lies. You cannot kill innocent human life.

[43:52] And science, it's not a religious doctrine. Science teaches us that human life begins at conception. That's a scientific fact. And the fact that Christians are pro-life isn't because we deny science.

[44:05] We just believe the science and know you can't take innocent human life. And no church should be complicit in the culture of death. And we don't need outside advice or wisdom.

[44:16] We just need to open the Scriptures. We need to become more deeply and fully disciples of Jesus Christ. the care for the poor all the way through the Bible.

[44:28] The deconstructing of the claims of the powerful all the way through the Bible. We do not need to read Derrida or Mark's. We need to be disciples of Jesus.

[44:42] So just in closing, continue in the gospel and God's word written. Abide in it in your day-to-day life and pray and plan that we as a church and if you're a visitor here from another church that your church will continue in the gospel and God's word written abiding in it in all that it does.

[45:03] And friends, if you are here and you have not yet given your life to Jesus, please consider to do it today. There's no better time than right now. It won't be better tomorrow or next week.

[45:14] I just really invite and encourage you to just to say something like this right now, maybe even just as I'm saying it, just to say amen to everyone. Father, I've believed the lie and I believe lies.

[45:29] And I am powerless to save myself. Jesus, thank you that you came to save me if I put my trust in you. I give myself to you.

[45:42] Be my Savior and my Lord. Come and live within me forever. I encourage you to say that prayer today.

[45:53] Please stand. Father, we thank you that you are infinitely greater than the devil.

[46:08] Father, the devil can tempt us but he can't make anything. He can break things, Father, but he can't make anything. Father, we thank and praise you that you give us eternal life when we put our faith and trust in you.

[46:21] That you have the power, the right power for salvation for all who put their faith and trust in you. That, Father, you have the ability to adopt us as your sons and daughters.

[46:33] You have the ability to grip us so that we will never be let go and that you will bring us to the new heaven and the new earth. You have the power to silence the hissing of the serpent that we might begin to listen to you and listen to each other and know the truth so that we are free, Father, that we begin to know freedom.

[46:52] Father, only you, only Jesus, only the gospel. Father, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for your word written, for his word.

[47:02] Father, we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Father, make us confident in Jesus in the gospel. Make us joyful in Jesus in the gospel. Make us disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel, who are day by day learning to abide in your word as your disciples gripped by the gospel so that we might know the truth and be free, free to love, free to bring you glory in this city and to the ends of the earth.

[47:30] Father, we ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.