The Gospel of John
(James J. Barker)


Lesson 24

THE INFLUENCE OF THE DEVIL

(John 8:37-44)



INTRODUCTION:


1.     Many people do not believe there is a real person named Satan.  They consider Satan nothing more than the personification of evil; they do not consider him a real being. 

2.     But if one accepts the Bible as the infallible Word of God, then the reality of Satan cannot be denied.  We are introduced to Satan in the Garden of Eden way back in Genesis 3.

3.     And from the earliest pages of Genesis to the final pages in the Book of Revelation we read about Satan (Rev. 20:10).

4.     “Every writer of the New Testament affirms Satan’s existence and activity” – Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology.

5.     In Matthew 4 (also recorded in Mark 1 and Luke 4) our Lord was tempted by Satan.  If Satan does not exist then who in the world was our Lord talking to?   And who was He talking about in John 8:44? It is impossible to believe the Bible and deny the personality of Satan.

6.     Harry Ironside said the devil is “a foul, malevolent spirit who actuates and moves upon those who do not acknowledge the authority of God.”

 

I.     THE DEVIL & HIS FOLLOWERS HAVE A MURDEROUS HATRED FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (8:37, 40, 44).

II.     THE DEVIL & HIS FOLLOWERS DENY THE VIRGIN BIRTH, DEITY OF CHRIST & OTHER FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES (8:41, 56-59).

III.     THE DEVIL & HIS FOLLOWERS ARE LIARS (8:44, 55).

 

I.     THE DEVIL & HIS FOLLOWERS HAVE A MURDEROUS HATRED FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (8:37, 40, 44).

1.     I should point out that when I refer to Satan’s “followers” I am not speaking only of Satan-worshippers.  I am not referring to these strange individuals who wear robes with hoods and sacrifice animals to the devil. 

2.     I remember back in 1996 my family and I decided to sell our house in Queens and move to Nassau County.  We were looking at one house and the broker brought us up to the attic where there was a huge pentagram drawn on the floor.

3.     When Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil…” (8:44), He was speaking to the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Israel, not to pagan devil-worshippers (cf. John 8:13).

4.     These men were Satan’s followers because they were ready to do his bidding in killing the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. John 13:2, 27).

5.     Consider what the Bible says in I John 3:11-15.  Cain may not have actually worshipped the devil but he was certainly influenced by the devil.  Satan instigated the murder of Abel and he has instigated the death of millions of others since then.

6.     Ephesians 4:26, 27 is a warning to professed Christians.   Our Lord said Satan “was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).

7.     If we look carefully at what our Lord is saying, we can see how people can be easily used as instruments of Satan.  First, notice the unregenerate (and even certain backslidden Christians) are in bondage to sin (8:34).  This makes them susceptible to attack from the devil.

8.     Secondly, there is a disdain for the Word of God (John 8:37).  First they will not hear, then they cannot hear (8:43). 

 

II.     THE DEVIL & HIS FOLLOWERS DENY THE VIRGIN BIRTH, DEITY OF CHRIST & OTHER FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES (8:41, 56-59).

1.     Their implication in John 8:41 is that our Lord was born of fornication; that He was the illegitimate son of Mary. These Pharisees did not accept the virgin birth.

2.     This slander is bad enough coming from the hypocritical Pharisees who had our Lord crucified.  But it is far worse coming from men who profess to be ministers of Jesus Christ.  In fact, they are ministers of Satan (cf. II Cor. 11:13-15).

3.     Up until about 100 years ago, it was unheard of that a Christian minister could deny the virgin birth.   If a preacher dared to say such a thing he would be kicked out of the ministry.

4.     But Satan took over the big universities and seminaries.  Then he took over the denominations and most of their churches.  Now the majority of ministers in America are as liberal as the devil himself.

5.     I read an article about a conservative United Methodist that has started a group in opposition to their apostasy.   He is trying to fight all of the liberalism and homosexuality in the United Methodist denomination.  In my opinion he is wasting his time.  The devil has had that group for a long time now.

6.     Of all biblical doctrines, the doctrine of Christ's virgin birth seems to be the #1 target for denial and attack.

7.     One hundred years ago, Albert Schweitzer wrote a book called The Quest of the Historical Jesus.  Schweitzer was a great hero to many people but Albert Schweitzer’s “historical Jesus” is not the Jesus of the Bible.   Albert Schweitzer denied the virgin birth and the deity of Christ.

8.     Another influential liberal was Rudolf Bultmann, often considered the most influential New Testament scholar of the 20th century. Bultmann argued that the New Testament presents a mythological worldview that modern men and women simply cannot accept as real.

9.     Bultmann attacked the virgin birth as well as all of the supernatural elements in the Bible.   If you remove the supernatural from the Bible you have no Bible.  The Bible is a supernatural book.

10.The Bible is full of miracles.  The Bible tells us that Christ was born to a virgin, that He lived a sinless life, and that He died a vicarious death. 

11.The Bible teaches that Christ rose from the dead and that He is coming back.  The devil’s crowd does not believe any of this.  They also do not believe in hell but they are heading there whether they believe it or not.

12.In America, the open denial of the virgin birth can be traced to the emergence of Protestant liberalism in the early 20th century.

13.Harry Emerson Fosdick was the most prominent liberal in America.  He preached from the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church as well as the infamous Riverside Church right here in New York City.   

14.In his famous sermon, “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” Fosdick referred to what he called “the vexed and mooted question of the virgin birth.”

15.Episcopal Bishop John (“Right Reverend Doctor”) Shelby Spong has gained a large following by attacking the virgin birth and other fundamental doctrines.

16.Unfortunately these days there are many apostates writing books, teaching in prestigious schools, and preaching from influential pulpits.  Indeed it is a sign of the times (II Peter 2:1).

17.The question is often asked – can a true Christian deny the virgin birth? The answer to that question must be a decisive “No.” Those who deny the virgin birth reject the authority of Scripture, deny the supernatural birth of the Savior, undermine the very foundations of the Gospel, and attack the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

18.“This assault on the doctrine of the Virgin Birth is, however, but one phase of a great battle to evacuate the supernatural from Christianity and to reduce it to the plane of natural religion. These naturalists in religion are out to destroy supernatural Christianity. They go through the Bible and tell us there is no supernatural revelation there; they go through the Birth of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural incarnation there; they go through the Person of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural deity there... they go through the Works of Christ an tell us there are no supernatural miracles there; they go through the Words of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural wisdom there; they go through the Death of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural atonement there; they go through the Blood of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural cleansing there; and they go through the Tomb of Christ and tell us there is no supernatural resurrection there. Having jettisoned the supernatural from the Gospel Ship they have reduced her to an old hulk of man's manufacturing, a mere plaything for the storms of unbelief and the reefs of infidelity” (Ian Paisley)

19.The devil is behind all false doctrine (cf. I Timothy 4:1).

 

III.     THE DEVIL & HIS FOLLOWERS ARE LIARS (8:44, 55).

1.     There was a time when the devil was not what he is now.  Our Lord said he “abode not in the truth” (8:44).  He was the anointed cherub known as Lucifer, but he rebelled against God and became Satan (“Adversary”).

2.     He became “the devil” (“Slanderer”).  And his followers have been slandering Jesus all throughout history (John 8:48).

3.     Satan’s fall is recorded in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.

4.     After his fall, he slipped into the Garden of Eden in the form of a serpent, and he lied to Eve.  He told her, “Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4, 5). 

5.     Our Lord said the devil “and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (8:44).  The devil lied to Eve and he has been lying and deceiving ever since.

 

CONCLUSION:


1.     Nearly five hundred years ago Martin Luther wrote these famous words:

“For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.”

2.     But do not be frightened.  Remember the first two lines of that great hymn!

3.     “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.”

4.     And remember the words of James 4:7, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”



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