Why The Devil Is A Liar Series

“Why the Devil Is A Liar”

(“The Devil Is A Sly Old Fox” - cassette tape)

(P. Jimmy Illustr. - “Can I tell you somethin’?”) Well, there’s something I just need to get off my chest this morning. So, Can I tell you somethin’? (pause) The devil.....is a liar!! That’s right! (say it with me.) He’s not just any old liar. He’s the biggest stinkin’ liar in the whole world. In fact, he’s the biggest liar that’s ever lived. You know what Jesus called him? “The Father of Lies”. That means he’s the guy who came up with the concept. The Big Kahuna of the Shady Deal. The Daddy of Deception. The Original “Lyin’ King.” (Get it?) He probably likes all those titles in his own cocky kind of way, but I’ve got another one he doesn’t like because it reminds him of his future. He’s the ultimate, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!”

So you’ll have to excuse me this morning but I’m just a little ticked off at the devil. That low-down, dirty rotten’, two-timin’, lyin’, stealin’, cheatin’, good-for-nothin’, scumball is on my bad side. You wanta’ know why? (P. Jimmy Illustr. - “I wanta’ know why?”) I’ll tell you why: I know what he’s up to - and I don’t like it. And you won’t like it either when I tell you what it is. (pause) He’s after you. Just like another song says that I used to sing as a kid.“1 -2 -3, the devil’s after me...”

Let me tell you some more reasons why I don’t like him: *Satan hates God. Now that really ticks me off because I love God. *Satan hates anything or anyone that God loves. See, his real enemy is God, but because he’s powerless against God, he attacks those closest to the heart of God; you and me. Doesn’t that tick you off? He’s using you and me to get at God. (Illustr. - Old boyfriend/girlfriend) I told you, he’s a scumbag! I can’t stand the guy. Oh, and here’s another one: *Satan hates the way God takes care of His people. That’s why he wanted to take a shot at Job. He resented the way God was taking care of him. You remember what he said to God about Job? Let me paraphrase:

“Oh sure, God! Sure he serves you! What do you expect! You’ve got this impenetrable wall of protection around him and his nice BIG house and his nice big family and everything that he owns. You bless everything he does. The guy’s filthy rich. For Pete’s sake, he owns enough livestock to open a zoo! No wonder he loves you! But you take down the wall and give me a shot at him and I’ll make sure he curses you to your face!” - Job 1:9-11. And just like he was after Job, he’s after you and me. He hates you. But he’s smart. He won’t come right out and tell you he hates you. That would be too obvious.

No, he wants to make you think he’s on your side. So he’ll tell you, “Your way is the best way. Do what you want. You’re an intelligent adult. You’re right. You’re a good person. You don’t need anybody telling you how to live!” All that is his sneaky way of getting you not to do things God’s way. That way, he never even has to mention how much he hates God or you and he still gets the same results!

I’m tellin’ you, the devil is a liar! Always has been, always will be.

And any time you lie, there’s a reason. (Illustr. - your mom’s broken vase, out past curfew, because you were with the wrong person or in the wrong place, etc.) You’re covering up something that you don’t want someone else to know. And that’s what this message is all about. I wanted to find out what he’s up to. So I asked myself,

Why does the devil need to lie?

HERE ARE THE THREE MAIN REASONS I CAME UP WITH:

I. TO DISCREDIT GOD. - Gen. 3:5

Gen 3:1-5

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.

5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."