The Devil Who Lies

Introduction

Good evening, church. I sure appreciate y’all being out this evening. It’s been good to sing praises of God together and to go to his throne in prayer. It is enriching. My name is Andrew Roberts. It is my privilege to stand before you and to share with you a study in the Word of God. I greatly appreciate this opportunity. I’m thankful to the elders and Brother Ken for inviting me to be with you this week. If you are a guest here like I am, I trust that you will find this to be a very warm fellowship of people who love God and love one another. And they are dedicated to know God by knowing his word. We cannot love what we do not know. And so there’s a great principle and a commitment to the truth in the Bible in this place.

If you’d like to know God and to know his word, then you are in the right place. And I hope that you’ll return to this congregation again and again. If you have a Bible, please turn with me to the Gospel of John in the eighth chapter. John chapter eight is where we’re going to begin our study together here in just a moment. John chapter eight. I appreciate the help from Brother Ken and Sister Marion making the interactive outlines available for everyone as we study along in the scriptures. That is a study aid. Maybe you’re like I am. I’ll be studying along and listen to a sermon and I’ll have a thought or I’ll want to ask a question about something that’s said, but you know by the time the service is over, that’s gone.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a piece of paper so I could write that down? Well, now you have that piece of paper. And I’m not going to be running off. I love to meet new people, make new friends, and talk about spiritual things. So I hope we can visit a little bit after services this evening. John chapter 8. As we look around ourselves today, we can observe many instances of kinetic warfare among nations, and culture wars among our neighbors. We are witnesses to hostility and to conflict. And as we see those things, I hope that we pray for peace. I hope that God’s people pray for peace amidst conflict and for God’s truth to triumph. But I begin to appreciate, I want us to appreciate this week that there is another conflict and there is another war going on before and in back of any open hostilities that we witness.

It is a spiritual war. It is Jesus against the devil. It is the truth against lies. And this conflict, this division, I believe is spelled out for us to see quite clearly in John chapter 8 and verse 37. Have you found John 8 in your Bible? Verse 37, our Lord speaks.

A man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father. Then they said to him, We were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God. Jesus said to them, If God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God. Nor have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Because you are not able to listen to my word. You are of your father, the devil. And the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth. Because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears God’s words. Therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God. The devil versus Jesus. Lies versus truth. This is the real conflict. This is the war going on. And in our society of affluence and ease, Christians can easily forget that we are at war and that we are God’s soldiers. We are spiritual soldiers of Christ. And we are taught this again and again in the New Testament. The scriptures teach us that we are soldiers in the Lord’s army. In 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verses 3 and 4, you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And often I’m afraid that it is our entanglements with this life, it is our affection for and our investment in this life. In carnal pursuits and these things and carnal comforts and these things hinder us from being good soldiers in the Lord’s armies. But nevertheless, we are to be soldiers. Why in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 7? Paul, the apostle, by inspiration and as an example. He writes, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there’s laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day.

And not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearance. Finishing well means fighting the good fight. And we are looking forward to a crown of victory, but if we’ve waged a war, and loving the Lord means taking up spiritual arms in his cause. And so he equips us, he equips us for this spiritual warfare. We had a lesson about this yesterday morning, but just real quick in Ephesians 6 and verse 13. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stay. We’ve talked about this, to stand, withstand, and stand in victory. We are to be diligent in our preparation and aware of our participation in a spiritual war.

To stand, to withstand, because we are often attacked. In Ephesians 6 and verse 12, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenlies. And so we are prepared, knowing that we don’t always get to pick the moment of the test statement. We don’t always get to pick the field in which there will be battle, but we’ll be thrust into spiritual battle. And look at who we wrestle with. Locked in close, fierce combat with an enemy. And this struggle certainly manifests itself in a temporal world, but let us understand it is a spiritual fight. And the real enemy is a spiritual one. I begin tonight by asking the question.

Do you know your enemy? Do you really know your enemy? Scripture warns us that he is our most dangerous, active, and crafty enemy, the devil, the Satan. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles, the expert schemes of the devil. The devil.

That he’s at work. Do we understand that we are at war today? That we are at war right now in the cause of Christ. I would tell you that I got a real wake-up call along these lines, reading a book earlier this year called Live No Lies by John Mark Coleman. And that book really kind of convicted me to kind of wake up and study again the scriptures about our adversary, the devil and understanding what’s going on. And I cannot recommend everything that’s written in that book, but I do have to give a hat tip to the book. That book helped me. And as I looked and studied these things again, I believe that this study of the devil and his tactics is good for us all.

1. The Devil Is Real

And so tonight we are starting this three-part series, The Devil You Don’t Know. And so we’re going to identify our enemy and his weapons and his tactics. Tonight it is the devil who lies. Tomorrow night at 7 o’clock, we’ll be together again and we’ll be talking about the flesh which listens. And Lord will on Wednesday night we’ll conclude with a third part in a world that normalizes the lies. But really, we begin to know our enemy right here, with identifying him, with identifying the devil. When I think on the devil you don’t know, that may very well be the devil himself. And so let’s just start right there. Number one in your notes, the devil is real. The devil is real. How does that get you?

How does that sound to your ears? Are you surprised that a grown man, that an educated man would stand up and speak to a room of people and say, There is a devil? Be aware of the devil. Oh, I don’t think we hear that from too many places. I’m not sure that too many people would accept to say that there’s a real devil. Ah, we’re too sophisticated to accept that there’s an actual personal being with the title, the devil, the Satan. Title meaning the accuser, the devil, the slanderer, the Satan. I mean, aren’t we too technologically advanced to think something like that exists? Maybe those ancient people, maybe those backwards people would believe in that kind of thing. But don’t we know better now? Some people mock the idea of a devil.

They’d have us to believe that the devil’s like the big bad wolf in a grim fairy tale or that monster in the closet that your child thought was there, but you could always assure them there are no monsters in your closet. You get a little older and you’ll know. Well, surely the devil’s like that. They dismiss Satan because he’s a caricature. What does the devil look like? We all know. It’s a man in red tights. He’s got a pointy nose and a pointy beard, he’s got a pointy tail. He’s got a pig’s fork. That’s the devil. And they mock it. Let us be warned. If people don’t believe the devil exists, he is all the more dangerous and deadly. Why do I believe that there’s a devil?

Because Jesus taught about the devil. Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the one who conquered death and the resurrection. He is the truth teller, and he is our teacher. I got a question for you. What if? What if? What if Jesus knew the true nature of reality better than we do? What if? What if he has the most intelligent, or rather he was the most intelligent teacher to ever live? And his insights into our problems and his solutions to our problems are the most acute of all time. What if? Now, as a Christian, I say I believe that. But maybe it gets tested a little bit when I realize, and Jesus said there’s a devil. And Jesus teaches us about the devil.

Jesus taught us about the devil. What did he teach us? We read it together in John 8 and verse 44. Why Jesus teaches that he is a real, immaterial, and intelligent being. Jesus teaches us that the devil is old. Not that he is God, not that he is a God, because there’s only one God. But he is a spiritual being, a spiritual being. Not only does he teach us that he is real, immaterial, and intelligent being, but secondly, that he is a murderer who spreads ruins. In John 8 and verse 44, you are of your father the devil. The desires of your father you want to do. What’s the devil like? He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth. Because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar, and he is the father of it. This murderer. His desire then is to wreak havoc. His end goal is to spread ruin in our souls and ruin in our society. In fact, in John chapter 10 and verse 10, in John chapter 10 and verse 10, we are told here about the two kind of people coming after the flock. You have a true shepherd, a good shepherd, but then there is this thief. And in John 10 and verse 10, the scripture says, the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I’ve come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Who’s going to give you life?

2. The Devil’s Weapons Are Lies

The Lord Jesus Christ. Who is coming to steal from you and wreak havoc and kill? The devil. The devil. That’s what he’s all about. And how’s he going to do these things? His primary means are lies. He is a liar. He is the father of it. When he speaks his lies, he speaks from his own resources. The devil’s lies. The devil’s real. I believe it because Jesus taught me all about this. And that his weapons are lies. Let’s dig into that a little bit more. As we go to number two in our notes, the devil’s weapons are lies. Deceptions. There’s the tools. I’m not sure what we often picture in our mind when we think about spiritual warfare. If it’s a lot of Frank Peretti novels and all that kind of thing, but but when we get back to the Bible here, Jesus is going to tell us what the weapons are and the Holy Spirit and other passages as well.

And it is lies and it is deceptions. Jesus said the devil’s the liar, the father of lies, and the Bible warns the people of God again and again and again. Do not be deceived. Don’t be tricked. Don’t be fooled. Do not be led astray. Why does it tell us this again and again and again? I mean, and there really are specific statements where deception is identified and exposed. Right? First Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 9. Do not be deceived. Talking about people that practice such wicked wickednesses will not inherit the kingdom of God. First Corinthians 15, verse 33, do not be deceived. Evil companion corrupts good morals. Galatians 6 and verse 7, do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Do not be deceived. The Lord doesn’t tempt anyone. Why would these specific teachings be called out and say, hey, and don’t let anyone deceive you about this? Because these are the very lies that people will buy into and fall for time after time after time. Do not be deceived. Specific deceptions identified and exposed. Why? Because this is the devil’s weapons, lies. Furthermore, the scripture again is speaking about be careful about fine sounding arguments. For these things will deceive. In Colossians chapter 2 and verse 4. I took, quote, I tell you this, so no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments. There is an alluring appeal. An alluring appeal to the wisdom of men and men of academic accomplishment. And I’ll tell you tonight that I have no desire to be anti-intellectual at all.

But I know that the Bible warns against demonic wisdom. And I know that the Bible warns against what is falsely called knowledge or so-called knowledge. And the warning is this that when people fall, follow the demonic wisdom or fall for that false, so-called knowledge, they run shipwrecked of their faith. Which means that it isn’t true. These other teachings didn’t come from God. They don’t accord with the word of God. When you are in truth, it’s going to build you up in God. Not run you shipwrecked to the faith. But the demonic wisdom, the so-called knowledge, the things that ruin people’s faith, these are lies. They didn’t come from God. They are deception. They are deception. Why so many warnings? Because there’s an active force and being, the devil who is working to deceive 24 cent.

That lies are in the air, they’re in the ether because he is the prince of the power of the air, according to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2. Do not be deceived. Do not be deceived. Lest the serpent deceive you and lead you astray. As he did with Eve in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3. Again, deceive you and lead you astray. What’s the devil’s weapon? Lies. Deceptions. Satan himself deceives the world. Revelation 12 and verse 9. Who deceives the world? Satan. The Satan. What are his weapons? Lies. Deceptions. Again and again and again we are taught this. And friends, lies truly hurt us. And lies enslave us. We can become enslaved to lies. I’ve used this word lies several times. What’s a lie? Lies are false stories that we hear, we trust, we repeat, and we act upon them.

False stories that we hear, we trust, we repeat, we act upon them. And they’re false because they do not accord with reality. And there can be some massive lies. I mean huge lies, umbrella lies, and envelop a whole culture. A lie such as there is no God. And so we’ll explain all of this world and everything in it with some not God story. Or a lie. I mean a huge lie. There is no devil. Only backwards ancient peoples would ever believe in something like that. Think about how it changes all the world. Oh, if those were true, that there was no God, that there was no devil. Those are big, big lies. They’re in the ether. But I would tell you that it’s not just the big lies that capture people and enslave people.

There are great implications as well of quite personal lies. Lies very limited in scope. And yet, regardless, when we believe the lies, we act and live in those lies. We are in bondage to the lies. For example, it’s the grown man who was berated by his father, and he comes to believe I am only as good as I am successful at work. Or it’s the teenage girl who, comparing herself to the mirage of Instagram, comes to believe I’m ugly and I’m unworthy of love. It’s the preacher who was the high-energy child, scolded constantly by his parents, who now believes I am a bad person. Lots of people are living at some level in bondage to lies, and it hurts themselves. It hurts their relationships in their families, which in turn brings about negative social and cultural effects.

Lies are dangerous to ourselves, to our families, to our society. These are the devil’s weapons, lies, deceptions. But this is why Jesus came to be the teacher of truth, to be the Savior of the world. He came to set us free. In John chapter 8, a little further on in our reading, your Bible, I trust is still open there. But in John chapter 8, and in verse 31, then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

3. The Devil Wars on Ground You Cannot Avoid

And it is lies versus truth. It is devil versus Jesus for life, for souls, for mankind, and you’re in it. In fact, you cannot leave the battlefield if you want it. Let’s talk about where Satan attacks us with our lies. And again, all of these scriptures, all of these notes are available on the interactive outlines. So you can grab those on your way out if you don’t have one now. Let’s go to point number three in the notes. The devil wars on ground, you cannot avoid. You cannot escape it. Can’t avoid it, and you can’t escape it. Where is this war at? Well, according to 2 Corinthians 10 and verses 3 through 5, the battlefield is your mind, and it is your heart. You’re not leaving those.

The scripture says, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Now notice the emphasis here. He’s talking about what’s going on in your thoughts. He’s talking about we need to make some captives in the mind. He talks about knowledge and he talks about arguments that would even raise themselves up against God. He says here that the weapons are not carnal, rather, they are spiritual. Again, spiritual. They’re arguments. High things exalted over knowledge of God. These walls, they’re built and they’re built up in our minds to keep God’s word out of our hearts, to keep God’s perspective out of our way, to try and keep the truth out.

Lie builds on lie, builds on lie, builds on so-called knowledge, builds on more lies. Fortresses in the mind. There’s a war between truth and it lies in our hearts. The deception and the lies bombard us. This is constant. Arguments, seemingly advanced knowledge, wise things, building up a fortress to block out the truth of Jesus Christ. But they are in fact lies. And so what does that mean? It means truth can tear them down. Truth can pull them down. And truth can take them captive. And so we begin to understand or need to understand that all we are allowing into our minds has an effect upon the mind, has an effect upon the heart. It’s not neutral content. It’s not neutral material. It’s affecting us for good or for evil.

What we give our attention to will shape the person we become. This is actually quite ancient wisdom that we gain from the Proverbs as the Holy Spirit moves Solomon. Why in Proverbs 23 and verse 7? For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Or Proverbs 4, verse 23, give your heart with all keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Wow. When I understand that, I begin to appreciate. Of course, the devil fights here. Because you cannot leave your heart and you cannot leave your mind. If the devil gets you to thinking wrong things, if it gets you to believing wrong things, then you’re gonna be doing wrong things. And you’re gonna be repeating wrong things to others, which in turn wreaks havoc upon your own life and in the society.

So how much time do you offer the devil to lie to you? How much time do you give the devil to think on his lies? Because you will be what you contemplate. You’re gonna be like your father, gonna be like God. You’re gonna be like the devil. How much time do you give the devil to lie to you? And all the different channels and media where his message just comes through. According to research done in the year 2020, the average American adult watches TV or videos online about five to six hours a day. And the average millennial is on his or her phone for four hours a day. Five to six hours a day, or another four, maybe ten hours a day that we’re on screens.

And do you know that adds up to almost a decade of your life? A decade of your life. What were the 80s like for you? What was the 90s like for you? Imagine being on your deathbed and looking back over your life and be like, well, you know, there was that one decade I spent watching television, being on screens. A decade. That really is incredible. A decade of your life. Watching and listening to messages, to stories, to teachings, to songs, to advertisements. And how much of that will be truth from God’s word? How much of that will be truth consistent with God’s word? Think about it another way. We’ve seen our children off to school, and uh society says children need to be in school until the 12th grade.

K through 12, 1st through 12, something like that. But to be educated and prepared to be a functioning, you know, productive member of our culture, you need to have 12 years of education. You need to have 12 years of schooling, and then congratulations, and you get your diploma and go do great things for our society. 12 years will train you up to go do something in our culture. That’s what we all believe. We send our kids to school. What do you think 10 years in front of screens has been educating you, preparing you, equipping you to go produce, to go be? Don’t think we’re not being educated by these things. The question is, what are we educating to be? What are we being made to be?

So all recently, I’m gonna give you some more stats here. Recent Barta group research on millennials found that millennials spend almost 2,800 hours a year consuming digital content. But only 153 of those hours are identified as Christ-based content. I’m not exactly sure what Christ-based content would be. I don’t know if that means watching the chosen, that means watching a live stream of a worship, or that means veggie tales, I don’t know. But what I am impressed with is out of 2800 hours, 153 might be labeled some type of Christian content. All the rest of this is YouTube or Instagram or Netflix and so forth. And I just kind of was crunching numbers on that a little bit. And I’m beginning to realize, wow, so 54 hours per week of digital content per week means about three hours of it is quote Christian content.

And that probably would be watching a sermon on YouTube or a couple. Hmm. Or it breaks down this way eight hours per day consuming digital media. And of the eight hours, 24 minutes is Christian content. That’s not a sermon. Even a kin sermon, and he’s brief. So we easily spend our hours every day filling our minds with these messages, these stories, these advertisements, these content, filling our minds with lies. Cutting off our minds at the least from God’s truth, and only spending a few minutes, if that during the day, trying to fill our minds with God’s truth. Only a few minutes, if that a day, refreshing our souls with Christ’s peace. Only a few minutes, if that a day, to equip ourselves for another round of warfare against the devil’s lies.

And the dangerous lies are the ones inside of our own heads. The dangerous lies are the ones that we are repeating to ourselves again and again, and that the devil is feeding the messages, advertisements, false stories, lies like I can’t trust my wife. She’ll cheat on me just like my mom cheated on my dad. Lies like my husband and I are a bad fit. And I would be happier if I got a divorce. Good things never happen to me. So why even try? Why even try to be successful? My best days are all behind me. If anyone actually knew me, they would reject me. The world would be better off without me in it. These are terrible lies. Terrible lies. The people will repeat to themselves again and again.

And act on it. God’s word never lies to you. God’s word heals your mind of these evil lies. It is a truth that will set you free. Set you free from lies. But we don’t, we don’t give ourselves enough time to even read God’s word or listen to God’s word because we are consuming everything else. Scripture warns about deceptions and the multiplying effect of deceptions and what that effect brings on us. The dangerous lies are the ones that we repeat to ourselves. What is it that happened when we are lied to again and again and again? What begins to change in us? I think we get a sense of it in Matthew 24, verse 11. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

But take the principle here. Then many false prophets, what’s that mean? Lying teachers, liars. They’re going to rise up and they’re going to deceive many. And because lawlessness will, excuse me, because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. What happens when you get lied to again and again and again? And you’re believing lies over and over again. We get cold. Our soul gets beat down and abused by the effects of being lied to. When we’re lying, we get angry. When we’re lied to, we feel disappointed. You ever been lied to? How’d it make you feel?

4. Jesus and Truth Are Victorious

Foolish, embarrassed, betrayed, trapped. That’s how we feel when we’re lied to. And we’ll become until we become numb and cold and hard-hearted and cynical. And that’s probably when we begin to believe some of the darkest lies in our own heads. It’s the devil, his weapons are lies, the battlefield’s in the heart. And so, so who is our champion? And where are our weapons to win against the devil’s lies? And that brings us to number four tonight. It’s Jesus Christ. Jesus and truth are victorious. Jesus and truth are victorious. Jesus is the champion. Jesus is the victor over the devil. In John 14 and verse 6, he said, I am the truth. I’m the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.

The truth. Jesus is the antithesis of the devil. And the Bible shows that as surely as Jesus taught, the devil is real, the devil is a liar. Jesus vanquished the devil in his resurrection. If we are in Christ, we fight this war and we fight from a place of victory. If we’ll take his victory, if we’ll have the victory, if we’ll accept the truth. But the truth saves. I go back to what we read in John at the beginning this evening. In John 8 and verse 40, Jesus told the truth. In John 8, 45 and 46, Jesus tells the truth. In John 18 and verse 37, Jesus bore witness to the truth. In John 17 and verse 17, Jesus prayed to the Father, thy word is truth.

Conclusion

God’s word is truth. You know in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 5, what the gospel of Jesus Christ is called? It is called the word of truth. It is Christ who is our champion. Truth, his truth, our weapon that we have in the Word of God. To be effective and active in this spiritual war against the devil and his lie. As we draw this lesson tonight to close, I want to make a little application of these things, and it’ll be yours. I want you to consider this. Who do you listen to first each day? When you think about your normal course of life, who gets first shot at your eyes? Who gets first shot at your heart? Where do you accline your ear? Every day.

What’s first? How to throw on TV and see the morning guys and have our cup of coffee with me? What’s first? What’s first? How might life look different if first was actually going to be on God’s things? I’m going to look on that first. The beauty of family and marriage. That’s God’s blessing. The beauty of creation, the world around, outside. That’s God’s blessing. The word of God is truth, the Bible. That’s from God. But what if we looked on the things of God first? We got to think about where do we look first? Who do we listen to first? Who do we give dibs to in our mind and our heart every morning? Second? Who do you listen to loudest each day?

Isn’t it amazing these earbuds? Isn’t it amazing these bows, headphones? Silencing cuts out all of the exterior sounds so you can just focus on what’s getting piped right into your ears. I mean, when you put those things on and put those things in, it kind of sends a message to everybody else. This is what I’m really listening to right now. This is what’s loudest. But you know for yourself. And so my question is, when it’s time for you to drown out everything, so you can listen loudest. Who do you do that for? What messages and teachings and thoughts and content is coming through, and you’re going to drown out everything else and listen to that the loudest? And how different would it be if you made the decision that God’s truth is going to be loudest?

And God’s things are going to be loudest. Third and finally. Who do you listen to the longest each day? What’s that last bit of content you take into your heart before you go to sleep? The last thing you put before your eyes, the last thing you hear in your ears before you go to sleep. Who do you give all your time to listen to? I’m not sure who said this first. Maybe it’s trite to you. I think it’s somewhat axiomatic. But the saying is this.

And he just has a whole lot of channels and a lot of ways to turn up the volume. And so often we gladly and voluntarily soak it all up. Our hearts and souls suffer under the shouts of lies. Our hearts and souls have been have to endure the devil’s lies for a long time. And tonight I’m saying we need to wake up.

That we need to break the chains of the lies, and it begins with what we are feeding our hearts and our minds. And so we can feed, and we need to feed our hearts and our minds with truth, with scripture, with making truth, God’s word, that dominant content coming into my heart and coming into my mind. And as we do that, we are equipping ourselves. As we do that, we are putting on the armor of God and going to spiritual warfare. But if we don’t do that, we are overpowered by his lies. We can be held by his lies. Perhaps held in his lies to the degree that the devil we don’t know is the devil himself. And we don’t even believe he’s there. I appreciate so much your good attention.

If you want to put your Bibles away, put your notes away. The devil you don’t know may actually be the devil who lies. But today, you know. You know. So where do we go from here? Because the devil cannot make you do something that you don’t want to do. So, so next in our series, tomorrow night, we’re going to talk about our flesh, and we’re going to talk about the flesh which listens. Perhaps the devil you don’t know is yourself. And your own disordered desires and flesh. So in part two of our series, we’re going to be doing a scriptural introspection. We’re going to be doing some self-evaluation. Why do we listen to lies? And what is the appeal of all of these lies? How are we so easily duped?

Whether we think, you know, macro like the society all around us or even, you know, quite individually. And what happens when we act out on those lies and live those lies? We’re talking about that tomorrow night. For tonight, we’re going to sing a song just now. We call this an invitation song. What’s the invitation? It is the Lord’s invitation through the gospel. That there may be one here tonight who has not taken hold of victory that is found in Jesus Christ and nowhere else. That there may be one who is here tonight who has not been obedient to that word of truth, which is the gospel of Christ. And we are inviting you, you have the opportunity now to obey this word of God, to obey this truth, that you be set free from sin and the chains of sin and the bondage of these lies.

If you believe that Jesus Christ is a Son of God who died for your sins and rose again, confess that truth before people. There’s some people in this room. Confess it tonight. Turn from sin in your life and be baptized. That means immersed in water. Baptized for the remission of your sins. And we have water here and we have clothing here so that you can be baptized into Jesus Christ tonight. Your sins washed away, made pure, made new in Christ. Given a new family, his body, his church in Christ. Not just a family, but an army. And you come be a soldier in God’s army as well. We can help you tonight to baptize you into Jesus or to pray for you and encourage you in God’s truth over and against the devil lies, whatever spiritual need you have.

We invite you to come forward and make your desire known as we stand and sing. Won’t you come forward now? Come to Jesus.