The Truth About Lies: The Devil Made Me Do It

The Truth About Lies

Sermon: The Devil Made Me Do It

Pastor: Phil Juthman

John 8:44

Sermon Summary

BIG IDEA: The root of Satan’s deception lies in leading us to consider our own will before God’s will. When we take the driver’s seat in deciding what is right and wrong we push God away from us and set ourselves up as god and experience the shame and hurt of sin. In contrast, by submitting to God we discover great freedom, beauty and life.

It can be a tricky thing to figure out why we do the things we do. We have an incredible capacity for goodness and love, but also great ability to hurt and hate. Lying in the center of this is the scheme of the Devil, who uses lies to lure us away from God’s good order back into chaos. Satan leads this rebellion by tempting us to put what we want before what God wants, separating us from Him. By examining Genesis 1-3 we discover that God’s boundaries are good for us because they keep us in His presence. We can guard ourselves against the lies of Satan through the journey of submitting our lives to the will and promises of God by Christ’s saving work for humanity. What Satan tricked Adam and Eve into, Jesus undoes on the cross!

Questions for discussion:

1. There are often two extremes: ‘The devil makes us do it’ vs. ‘The devil isn’t real’. How do you think scripture communicates the reality of ‘the Devil’?

2. Pastor Phil talked about the idea that we have freedom in boundaries. Do you have any experiences where having boundaries actually ended up helping you?

3. Discuss this thought: We don’t get to decide what is good and evil. How can we communicate this well to a culture that is set on the idea of discovering our own truths?

4. What are some promises of God that you regularly hold onto that help you defend against the temptation toward sin?