Since the days of my youth in grade school, the Devil has told me many lies out of his own resources.

I was convinced that I would not live to see my eighteenth birthday. I’m way past that. So evidently, the Devil is a liar!

Our Adversary is persistent and does not easily give up. Even after that birthday, he convinced me that I was too broken, too backward, and too hell-bent to ever be used by God. Over half of my life has now been spent saved, surrendered, and serving God, so evidently, the Devil is a liar!

Satan’s modus operandi has not changed since in the beginning. Jesus Christ, Himself, preached about this as recorded by John. He says, “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” (John 8:44). Essentially, Jesus is saying, the Devil is a liar!

I want to expose four lies that the Devil is pushing on today’s Christians.

1. The Devil is telling us that sin doesn’t matter.
   But sin does matter! Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Ezekiel declared, “The soul who sins shall die” (18:4). And Paul proclaimed, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). If you have any doubt, ask Jesus! He will tell you that sin matters. He came to Earth seeking to save the lost. To save us from our sin He was broken at Golgotha and spilled His sinless blood. God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Sin will rob you of your peace of mind. It will destroy your relationships, distort your mind, and mar your body. Worst of all, sin will separate you from God and Heaven. Unrepentant sin will take you to Hell.
   
2. The Devil is telling people that holiness isn’t required.
   But according to the Word of God, holiness is required! “Follow peace with all men, and holiness (sanctification), without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). God still says, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). It appears that too many of us are no better off than our non-Christian friends. Even “some preachers live as if they are more afraid of holiness than they are of sin” (J. Allen Blair). Nothing is so much needed throughout the American Church as a genuine revival of scriptural holiness. “Regeneration is the fountain; sanctification is the river” (J. Sidlow Baxter). It is God’s will for His children to dive into the river of His holiness.
   
3. The Devil is telling us that the Church isn’t important.
   But the Church is important! She is a living institution ordained by God, and He maintains Her by His Spirit. The Church preserves the faith of our forefathers and passes it down. The Church proclaims the Gospel and prepares our souls for eternity. Jesus lived, died, and arose from the dead to establish Her, and He is Her soon-coming King. He still says, “I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). By our example of faithful participation, we are saying to the un-churched world that Jesus is the answer. This is why Hebrews exhorts us to not be “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (10:25).
   
4. The Devil is telling people that preaching isn’t needed.
   It might not surprise you to know that millions outside of the Church believe this lie. Alas, there are those within every congregation who doubt the need for solid Bible preaching. However, Bible preaching is a “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). Our Cross message “is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). But the devil does not like it, and he will do everything he can to keep us from that kind of preaching. So whatever shall we do? We shall “preach the word!” We will “be ready in season and out of season.” We will “convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).

It all comes down to this. Whose report will you believe? I (we) shall believe the report of the Lord! Sin does matter. Holiness is required. The Church is important. Preaching is needed.

Do you know how to tell when the Devil is lying?

Anytime you feel doubt arising over the inerrancy of the Word of God or God’s authority, he is manufacturing a lie. It’s all he knows how to do. Have you believed any of these or other lies? Comment below or contact me privately for prayer.