Devil's Lies – a Message to Children

In this part of the sermon: Focusing on John 8:44, Martin details the two core aspects of the devil's character: he is a murderer from the beginning and a liar, the father of lies. He explains that the…

Martin distinguishes between a manslayer (e.g., a policeman in duty, a soldier in war, an accidental death) and a murderer, emphasizing that the devil is a deliberate, willful murderer, not merely a manslayer.

You see, when the policeman in the course of duty must use his gun in seeking to defend innocent people, or to apprehend people who are seeking to harm others, and kill someone in the line of duty, he's not a murderer. He is not unlawfully taking another human life. When a soldier in a war fires his gun at a soldier on the opposite side of the battlefield and takes his life, if he is engaged in a legitimate war, he is not guilty of being a manslayer. We're thankful that in the accident that happened tonight, no life was taken. But if someone in an automobile accident, through a mechanical defi...

15:07 - 16:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Focusing on John 8:44, Martin details the two core aspects of the devil's character: he is a murderer from the beginning and a liar, the father of lies. He explains that the…

He uses the analogy of stating one's height to explain what truth and reality are, and how deliberately misrepresenting one's height constitutes a lie, making one a liar.

a liar is someone who deliberately misrepresents the truth or reality. Truth and reality are the same thing. Let me illustrate it. I stand before you as a man who is approximately six feet tall. That's reality.

18:01 - 18:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Focusing on John 8:44, Martin details the two core aspects of the devil's character: he is a murderer from the beginning and a liar, the father of lies. He explains that the…

He gives an example of a child lying to parents about completed homework to watch TV, illustrating how misrepresenting known reality makes one a liar.

I can do that by getting me to back up to the wall and make a mark and then take a yardstick or take a tape measure and you'd see it would come out at about 72, 73 inches with my shoes on. Now that's truth. That's reality. Now if someone says, how tall are you? And I say five foot eight or I say six foot four and I know that I'm not that, I am a liar. I am misrepresenting reality. When mom and dad say to you kids, If you've got your homework done because you know that unless you do, you can't watch that favorite television program that they permit you to watch that they have monitored and scre...

18:19 - 19:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The lie is the devil's weapon by which he seeks to murder the souls of men.

He asks if the devil came to Eden with a rifle or sword, then answers that he came with a 'smiling face' and lies, showing that lies are his weapon to murder souls.

He's a murderer, he's out to slay human life, and he's a liar. Here's the relationship. The lie is the devil's weapon by which he seeks to murder the souls of men. When the devil comes to murder in the garden of Eden, did he come with a rifle on his shoulder?

22:14 - 22:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Know that the devil hates you and wants to take you straight down to hell to burn with him forever, and he will try to get you with his lies.

Martin shares a personal anecdote about his grandmother's Swedish phrase regarding a 'wrinkled brow' and his own self-consciousness about his serious expression, to convey the gravity of the topic to the children.

That's to take you into hell with himself. Now listen to me, dear young men and women and boys and girls. And this is where pastor wishes that if I could have made me in my mother's womb, I wouldn't have made me with these deep wrinkles in my forehead, but I got them from my grandmother. And when I was a very young lad.

24:45 - 25:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second lie is that one can sin and avoid paying the consequences. Martin contrasts God's warning of death with the devil's assurance of impunity, explaining how sin leads to…

He uses the example of someone addicted to cigarettes, who started with a single puff, to illustrate how sin leads to bondage and that one cannot simply stop anytime they want.

Seen people in their midlife who would give their right arm if they could quit puffing on cigarettes that they knew were going to lead them to an early grave, but they couldn't stop. You see, the first time they took that puff behind the barn or down at the schoolyard with the other guys or gals to prove that they were big shots. Do you think they believe the time would come when, as a mature man, a mature adult, able to raise a family, hold a job, in the pictures,

47:01 - 47:45 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second lie is that one can sin and avoid paying the consequences. Martin contrasts God's warning of death with the devil's assurance of impunity, explaining how sin leads to…

He uses the example of a young man who first glanced at a 'girly magazine' and now cannot go a week without buying more, to illustrate how sin becomes a master.

That's right. You think the first time you, young man,

48:02 - 48:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second lie is that one can sin and avoid paying the consequences. Martin contrasts God's warning of death with the devil's assurance of impunity, explaining how sin leads to…

He uses the example of telling a first lie to parents, thinking it won't become a pattern, to illustrate how one can become an 'inveterate liar' and sin's enslaving nature.

And sin again, and stop any time you wanted. But your sins become your master. Same way with lying. First time you thought that up, that lie, and said, oh, I can just tell one lie to mom and dad, and I would never...

48:44 - 49:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the third lie: repentance and belief can be postponed until a more convenient time. He uses the account of Felix in Acts 24, who was terrified by Paul's…

He references a bumper sticker that says 'Christ is the answer' and the question 'What's the question?' to explain that Paul's preaching to Felix not only presented Christ as the answer but also clarified the question of how unrighteous sinners can be right with God.

Repent and believe when it's more convenient to do so. You can repent and believe when it's more convenient to do so. Turn to Acts chapter 24. The great Apostle Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, stands before one of the great ones of the earth and he speaks to him about the things of God. Acts 24 and verse 24. But after certain days, Felix came with Drusilla, his wife, and his wife, and his wife, and his wife, and his wife, and his wife, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ Jesus. Paul became a gospel preacher before this man, Felix, Drusilla, his wi...

53:58 - 55:06 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have felt any terror of standing before God, do not believe the devil's lie that there will be a more convenient season to do something about it.

He describes Felix's terror under Paul's preaching, noting that his next meal, TV program, or intimacy with his wife would not bring comfort, to illustrate the conviction of sin.

That's why he equips and commissions his servants to plead with you in his name, to be reconciled with God. You know what happened? Some of this began to get under the spiritual hide of this man. Felix, look what happened. As Paul was reasoning of these things, Felix was carrying this in the day when somebody under my preaching will get terrified. Until you're terrified, you'll never be comforted. With a comfort that'll stand the test of death and the judgment. It got under his hide, and he was terrified. I mean, the next meal wasn't going to go down

56:18 - 57:13 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have felt any terror of standing before God, do not believe the devil's lie that there will be a more convenient season to do something about it.

He contrasts Felix's procrastination with the Philippian jailer's immediate response to terror, highlighting the danger of delaying repentance.

so easy. The next television program wasn't going to bring him much comfort. The next tumble to bed with his wife wasn't going to bring him much joy. He should have done what the Philippian jailer did when he was full of terror, fell down before the servants of God and said, Sir, what must I do to be saved? But instead, you see what he did? Look what he did. The devil came along and said, Felix, this is all right, but there'll be a more convenient time. He answered, go you for this time. When I have a convenient season, I'll put myself right back into this present frame of mind and pick up whe...

57:13 - 58:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin shares his personal testimony of childhood fear of death and hell, and the peace he found in Christ in his senior year of high school, despite the cost of discipleship. He…

Martin shares his personal story of fearing death in his sleep as a child, believing sinners go to hell, to connect with the young audience and illustrate the reality of spiritual terror.

When Pastor was just a little boy, just the age of some of you younger ones here. As long as I can remember who I was and where I slept in the homes in which we lived, I can remember going to bed almost every night, fearful that I might die in my sleep.

66:01 - 66:25 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't believe the devil's lie, but flee to him who is the truth, who came to give us life. Take all the devil's lies and unpack them at the foot of the cross and look at his lies in the light of the cross.

He recounts losing friends and being mocked as a 'holy roller' after his conversion in high school, to illustrate the cost of discipleship and the reality of persecution for Christ.

Oh, God, let me live another day so I don't die and go to hell. I tell you, since my senior year in high school, when God brought me to embrace the Lord Jesus, to throw off the devil's lies and find peace of conscience through the blood of Christ, you ask me, has the Christian life been easy? I'll tell you, no, I paid a price. No sooner did I embrace the Lord Jesus than I lost almost all my friends.

67:32 - 68:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't believe the devil's lie, but flee to him who is the truth, who came to give us life. Take all the devil's lies and unpack them at the foot of the cross and look at his lies in the light of the cross.

He shares the personal cost of maintaining sexual purity in dating relationships, to illustrate the struggle against sin and the value of obedience.

I got mocked out. That's right. You think it cost something when I felt all the passions and sexual drives of any young man to determine that I would keep. Pure and in my dating relations to keep my hands to myself.

68:29 - 68:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't believe the devil's lie, but flee to him who is the truth, who came to give us life. Take all the devil's lies and unpack them at the foot of the cross and look at his lies in the light of the cross.

He states that all the costs of discipleship multiplied a thousand times over would not compare to the privilege of going to bed with a conscience at peace with God, emphasizing the value of salvation.

But listen, you can take all of that cost and multiply it a thousand times over and I wouldn't trade it off for the privilege of just going to bed one night with a conscience at peace with God. What a wonderful thing to go to my bed at night and know in the language of that simple little prayer, if I should die before I wake, not I pray the Lord my soul to take, but now I can pray I know the Lord my soul will take. For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. To depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Oh, dear children, young people, men and women, don't believe th...

69:12 - 70:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't believe the devil's lie, but flee to him who is the truth, who came to give us life. Take all the devil's lies and unpack them at the foot of the cross and look at his lies in the light of the cross.

He contrasts the childhood prayer 'If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take' with the believer's confidence 'I know the Lord my soul will take,' illustrating the assurance of salvation.

But listen, you can take all of that cost and multiply it a thousand times over and I wouldn't trade it off for the privilege of just going to bed one night with a conscience at peace with God. What a wonderful thing to go to my bed at night and know in the language of that simple little prayer, if I should die before I wake, not I pray the Lord my soul to take, but now I can pray I know the Lord my soul will take. For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. To depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Oh, dear children, young people, men and women, don't believe th...

69:12 - 70:28 Read in full sermon