The Devil's DNA - Part B

A tell-tale sign that a person is not spiritually related to God as their Father is their refusal to hear, not just their inability to get it, but once they do get it, to go, don't want it.

They have a hardened or recalcitrant heart. Welcome to Connect with Skip Weekend Edition. Today we're going to look into the eyes of pure evil, and when we do, we'll discover that we don't have any reason to blink if we're in Jesus Christ. If there's one truth we need to remember about the devil's DNA, he can always be undone by the power of Jesus.

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Open your Bibles once again to John chapter 8 and we'll join Skiff Heitzig as he resumes our study. Now, if you're a Christian, the devil is your enemy. Can I just say that's where you want him.

You do, yep. If you're going to have any relationship with him at all, you don't want him as your friend. You want him as your enemy. You want to have defected from his kingdom and be followers of the Lord because greater is he that is in you, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, if you're a believer, than he that is in this world system, that is the devil. Let's move and get a little more narrower from the premise to the pretenders, the crowd Jesus is speaking to. Verse 37, he says, I know that you are Abraham's descendants. Now, they had claimed they were, and they were. They were physical descendants of Abraham. They were Jewish people. However, they were pretenders because what they're doing is hiding behind their physical ancestry, trusting in that for their spiritual standing before God. He acknowledges, I know you're Abraham's descendants.

Look at verse 39. They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if Abraham were, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham, but now you seek to kill me. If you're going to have somebody in your family tree, Abraham's a good guy to have in your family tree. Abraham's a good guy to have in your family tree. He's the man of faith in the Old Testament. It says in Genesis 15, Abraham believed God, and God accounted that to him for righteousness. In fact, the New Testament holds up Abraham as the example of faith. An entire chapter of Romans, Romans 4, Paul devotes to Abraham, the example of faith.

Hebrews chapter 12, that list of people who believed. Abraham is one of the first, and the writer of Hebrews says by faith, Abraham obeyed God. So you have Abraham believed God, Abraham obeyed God. There's something else Abraham did. Abraham received heavenly messengers. Remember Genesis 18, those three people that came as visitors, and Abraham went out of his way to get Sarah to whip something up for him, a nice meal, and he treated him real special. They were God's messengers, and so we're Abraham's children. Jesus is saying you might be Abraham's children physically, but you're sure not Abraham's children spiritually, because Abraham wasn't trying to kill anybody.

You're trying to kill me. Abraham received heavenly messengers. You don't receive me. Abraham believed God. You don't believe anything that I have said, and I'm God's messenger. You're not Abraham's offspring, but they were relying upon their physical descent for their spiritual well-being. You know you can be related to somebody physically, but be miles away from them spiritually.

Let me give you a classic example. Ever heard of King Manasseh? King Manasseh. Nobody has?

Okay, only a fourth of you have? Okay, King Manasseh was called the wickedest king in Judah, more wicked than all who had come before him, more wicked than the pagan kings around him. His dad was King Hezekiah, one of the best kings Judah ever had.

Great dad, really bad son. Related genetically, miles apart spiritually. So here's this group claiming to be Abraham's children. They were descendants of Abraham physically, but they go from their physical birthright to their spiritual boast in verse 41. Notice what they say. Jesus says, you do the deeds of your father. They have no idea what he's meaning. They said to him, we were not born of fornication. Let me just stop right there.

I have to explain what that is. This is an insult. They're trying to embarrass Jesus because Jesus, we know, was born of a virgin. She had no relationship physically with Joseph, the Holy Spirit impregnated her. She was a virgin when she was pregnant. But the rumor mill was that Jesus was an illegitimate child, that his mom had been fooling around before they got married and got pregnant. Now, if you want to insult somebody, you just talk badly about their mama, is that right? They're trying to bring this up and pointing it at Jesus, we're not born of fornication.

That's an insult. Look at the second part of their statement. We have one Father God.

Now, to this group, both the first and the second claim were tied together. Because we are descendants of Abraham physically, therefore, we will be God's children and be in heaven. All right, they believe that. The rabbis told them that. Did you know that one of the sayings of the rabbis was that Abraham was sitting next to the gates of hell forbidding any Israelite to enter, even the most wicked Israelite couldn't enter because he was a child of Abraham, a descendant of Abraham. That was their security blanket. They automatically believed that if you're Jewish, you will occupy a place in heaven.

Why? Because there's a little scripture in Exodus 4 where God himself, speaking of the nation, says, Israel is my firstborn. That must mean, then, that every single Jew that would be born children of Abraham will occupy a place in heaven. Well, that's not what Paul says. Romans 9, verse 6 and 7, Paul the apostle says, For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children.

Let me press this point applicationally. If you have Christian parents or grandparents, you have a great heritage. But if you think you will automatically go to heaven because you have Christian parents or grandparents, you better think again. I once had a conversation with two people who claim to be Charles Haddon Spurgeon's descendants. I don't know if they were or not, but they said they traced their answers.

I was delighted. I love Charles Spurgeon, but I was a little disappointed after a conversation with him. They didn't seem to quite reflect the value system of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Physically attached. Spiritually, maybe not so much. Have you heard of Aaron Burr? Aaron Burr was arrested for treason at one point. He was the guy who shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel. He claimed himself as the emperor of Mexico even at one point.

Anyway, he was charged with treason. Did you know that Aaron Burr's grandpa was a guy by the name of Jonathan Edwards? Jonathan Edwards was one of the greatest, not only intellects, but spiritual preachers this country has ever seen, and yet his grandson was Aaron Burr. It doesn't matter who your parents or grandparents or great-grandparents were.

Who are you? You've heard the adage, God has no grandchildren, only children. Every generation has to have their own relationship with Christ.

So from the premise there's a real devil and everybody has a relationship with him, to the pretenders, spiritual posers who said, well because we're Jewish and descendants of Abraham, therefore we will occupy a place in heaven. Now Jesus gives the paternity test. Is there a way to know today for us, as well as for them back then, who our spiritual father is?

Yes, there's four questions you need to ask. Number one, who do you love? Who do you love? Look at verse 42. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me. Now did they pass this test? No, they hated Jesus.

They hated him, they wanted to kill him. One of the tell-tale signs that a person is truly following God and God is their heavenly father, spiritual father, is they love his son. Any parent gets that. Anybody who has shown favor to my son shows that that person loves me. They went a special place in my heart. If you were God's children, you'd love me. If you'd honor God, you'd love me.

One of the first things you notice about people who come to God, who really are saved, is they love Jesus. When I first got saved, you could say I went overboard. I wanted the Jesus T-shirt. They didn't have them like manufactured. We had to make our own.

Tie-dyed, so I'm giving away my era. And I put bumper stickers on my car and carried Bibles around and tracks with me. And it wasn't because I was trying to show off. I just really love Jesus, and I wanted people to know him.

It happens. You love him. You want to talk to him. You want to spend time with him. Talk to him.

You want to spend time with him. I get email from this ministry in the Middle East. They put out a radio program throughout the Middle East, and many Muslims come to Christ.

It's very secretive, but there's one. They give him different names, but there's one guy. We'll call him Salim from Pakistan, who moved to Saudi Arabia. When he moved to Saudi Arabia, he had met some Christians in Pakistan, and he was always curious, who is Jesus? He always wanted to know, who is this Jesus? He's even mentioned in the Quran, so he kept wondering, who is Jesus?

In Saudi Arabia, on several occasions, he tried to have conversations with people. Tell me about who Jesus is. Nobody would talk to him about Jesus, because if the government authorities found out you're having a conversation about Jesus, you're in trouble.

No freedom of speech. So he said, I kept praying, Allah, show me who is Jesus. I kept praying that, show me who Jesus is. I want to know who Jesus is.

That was his prayer. He said one day he went into a mosque, Friday prayers in a mosque, and he's saying, Allah, who is Jesus? He said, I actually heard a voice speak to me saying, this Jesus, he is God. He heard that in his mosque, praying to Allah, this Jesus, he is God.

Well, he got on the internet when he got home, did a little bit of research. Eventually, he gave his life to the Lord, and he's writing this radio ministry back, and he sent first words out of his mouth that he wrote, I love Jesus Christ. That's how you can tell if a person is spiritually connected to God as Father.

They love the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter writes this, even though you have never seen him, you love him, and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. You know why Peter wrote that? Because Peter was asked the same question after the resurrection by Jesus, the same question three times.

Remember what it was? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me?

Peter, here's the big issue, Peter, do you love me? Do you love Jesus? Do you love to talk about Jesus? Do you love to tell others about him? Do you love to spend time with him? That's first part of the paternity test.

Who do you love? Here's the second part. What do you understand? Notice verse 43, Jesus says, why do you not understand my speech? He gives him the answer, because you're not able to listen to my word. Here's one way that I know that you're not God's child, you're the devil's child, is because I'm speaking God's language, you don't understand it.

Children always understand the language of their father. I'm speaking the language of my father. You don't get it. You speak a foreign language. You don't understand my words. You don't understand my words.

Why is that? This is what Paul writes, first Corinthians chapter two, the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God. They are foolishness unto him.

Have you ever shared with someone and as you're talking to them about Jesus, God, the gospel, their need, they're looking at you sort of like, huh? And you're thinking, don't they get it? And no, they don't.

They don't. It's sort of like describing a beautiful sunset to somebody blind. They lack the capacity to appreciate.

And why is that? Paul tells us, this is second Corinthians chapter four, Satan, the God of this evil world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. So they are unable to see the glorious light of the good news. They don't understand the message we preach.

They lack the ability to get it. That is why any person who is saved has to have their heart opened up by the Lord himself. You can't do it. I can do it. Only the Lord can do it.

It has to be sort of this aha moment, this epiphany, a revelation of who they are and who God is. So who do you love? What do you understand? Here's the third question.

What do you do or what are you doing? That's the third part of the paternity test. Verse 44. 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 his native language or from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it. You do what he does like father like son. Your actions prove your relationship.

That's the point that he's making. Jesus will say when we get to it in a few chapters whoever has my commands and obeys them he is the one who loves me. Ever had somebody say I love God.

I love Jesus. I'm all about God and yet you look at their life and you go really because everything you do is totally opposite to a life conformed to him. Jesus said I'll tell you who really loves me the one who has my commands and does them. The paternity of God is demonstrated by the conformity of God's kids. That's why in Luke chapter 6 Jesus said why do you call me Lord Lord and you don't do the things which I say. So it's an easy point obedience proves relationship. Make sense? Obedience proves relationship. Doesn't produce relationship. It's not like I'm going to work really hard and be a really good person and then I'll get saved by doing that. Not at all.

Once you are saved you prove that you are by the obedient lifestyle that has developed because of that. Irma Baumbach you may have heard her name she was a an American humorist who wrote in newspaper columns but she always had witty ways of saying things. This is what she said never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. Isn't that good? I mean if you're sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office he's going to work on you and you look around his office every living thing in that office is dead you're going hmm I don't think so.

Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. How do we apply that? It's simple nobody's going to go to a Christian for direction if that Christian seems lost himself. There has to be something compelling and that comes by what they see in terms of our deeds. So who do you love? What do you understand?

What do you do? And the third question in the paternity test is when do you listen? This is a good question before I read this when do you listen? Well I like those messages that make me feel really good about myself. I listen then when there's hard truths I don't listen.

Not good sign. Verse 45 but because I tell the truth you do not believe me. Which of you 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. A tell tell sign that a person is not spiritually related to God as their father is their refusal to hear not just their inability to get it but once they do get it to go don't want it they have a hardened or recalcitrant heart. Now this wasn't new to Jesus. You have to understand something this nation had a history of that. You think of prophets like Isaiah or Jeremiah you know what their biggest problem was as prophets is many people they preached to turned away walked away from what they heard because it was getting too close to home. Listen to Isaiah chapter 30 God says for these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay any attention to the Lord's instructions they tell the prophets shut up we don't want any more of your reports they say don't tell us the truth tell us nice things tell us lies you know if Jesus would have walked up to this crowd and said okay you guys I want you to know something you're okay I'm okay you're a bunch of good guys I'm a good guy let's just all be good guys and believe whatever we want because in the end it'll all pan out they had a loved him they would have if he can do miracles and say that man we're in business with him but they want to kill him you know why they didn't want true preachers they wanted court jesters they wanted entertainment they wanted sermons that would not disturb their comfortable way of life and because Jesus didn't comfort their affliction but afflicted them in their comfort rattled their feathers they want to kill them they don't want anything to do with them this group was like Christmas trees decorated on the outside dead on the inside I love Christmas trees but I always look at it once I put up all the lights and stuff I go that looks so beautiful but I always remember it's dead just give it a week and all those needles fall off you got to clean up those puppies like every day these people were like that now I don't want to stop here I just want to stop with the alternative to this because if you leave here moping thinking I guess I have some of the devil's DNA I'm just saying this it's quite simple jump ship defect leave his kingdom and if the light has turned on in your heart and you realize I've been on his team all along I just didn't know it now you know it now jump ship now defect now leave that family because here's the thing about Jesus Christ he came to seek and to save those who are lost and you know what only people who admit they're lost get found denial can keep you from eternal life in heaven denial can keep you trapped in your sins and doomed to an eternity in hell don't live in denial like pastor Skip said just admit that you're lost and know that Jesus came to find and save all who are willing to admit that if you'd like to talk with someone some more about what all that means about what it means to be found by Jesus and not to be lost anymore just give us a call at 1-800-922-1888 now if you'd like a copy of today's teaching it's available on cd for just four dollars plus shipping when you call us at 1-800-922-1888 or when you visit connectwithskip.com well now that we know all about the devil and his ways let's find out more about the victor we have in Jesus join us next time right here in connect with Skip weekend edition a presentation of connection communications connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times