Jesus didn’t come to play nice; he came to wage war against Satan. And according to Jesus, Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan is hell-bent on our destruction, and his favorite way to crush us is by lying to us so consistently that we can no longer distinguish the lies from the truth.
So, the obvious question is this, “How do you defeat a liar?”
The simplest answer is, “With the truth!” But what does that mean in real-life terms? It’s more than just knowing the truth, you know? Even the Devil and his demons know the truth, but knowledge of the truth will be useless to us unless we choose to receive the truth in our hearts, to see the truth with our eyes, and to tell the truth with our mouths.
Receiving the Truth
In Matthew 13, Jesus told the well-known story about the farmer who scattered seed on four different kinds of soil. He described one type of soil as a “hard path” that doesn’t absorb the seed and, as a result, the birds of the air came and ate the seed up before it could grow. Later in the same chapter, Jesus’ disciples asked him for an explanation, and this is what he said about the hard path:
“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.” (Matt.13:18-19)
When someone hears Jesus’ message and does not understand it, Satan takes it away. Our enemy thrives on confusion; he loves whenever people don’t understand the gospel. This happens in all sorts of ways. For example, I’ve seen people fail to understand the gospel whenever churches and pastors overcomplicate the message of Jesus either with political agendas or with intellectual pride.
But it’s important to remember that the hard path in Jesus’ story represents a hard heart, and usually, a hard heart’s failure to absorb the gospel can’t be blamed on misguided preachers and church leaders. A hard-hearted person usually misunderstands because he wants to.
A hard heart is a cynical heart. A cynic will look for any reason whatsoever to criticize, tear down, and deconstruct the truth of Jesus. A hard-hearted person will respond to the message of Jesus by changing the subject to any number of non sequitur claims about the hypocrisy of Christians, the Church’s checkered past, or some problem they have with the Bible…anything to avoid absorbing and dealing with the plain truth of God.
Our Enemy does his finest work in the friendly confines of a proud man’s hard heart.
The best way to combat this tactic of the Enemy is to be receptive to the truth of Christ. To have a heart that is open to God, a heart that’s willing to give Jesus the benefit of the doubt. I’ll tell you the biggest difference between the man that I was before Jesus saved me and the man that I am today: before, whenever I opened the Bible, I did so expecting to find something wrong, some discrepancy, some reason to discredit God’s Word. Whenever I came across a difficult passage in the Bible, I’d stop there and say, “See?! Told you so. It’s all baloney!”
But now, whenever I open the Bible, I expect to find the Truth. And now, whenever I come across something in the Bible that’s hard to understand, I keep reading, because I trust God to reveal the Truth…and He never fails to do so.
Are you receptive to the truth of Christ?
Seeing the Truth
Once your heart is open to God, He begins to open your eyes as well. Jesus was always saying that certain people are just blind. Their eyes work fine, but they’re spiritually blind. And that’s most of us, if we’re honest. I know very few people who see spiritual reality because we live in a material world where all that matters is how you look, who you’re with, what you’re wearing, and how much you have.
Very few Christians today seem to know how to see spiritual Truth.
In 2 Kings, the Israel is about to be attacked by a neighboring kingdom, and the Israelites were terrified, but the prophet Elisha knew something they didn’t:
When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:15-17
Learning to see the Truth isn’t just about discerning evil; it’s also about opening your eyes to the Truth that God has your back. Whenever you’re facing a battle you think you can’t win, you’re up against an enemy who has your number, you’re climbing a mountain that seems insurmountable…you have no idea who is fighting for you. You are surrounded by hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around you. That hill you can’t climb; they’ll carry you over it. That enemy you can’t overcome; they’re fighting him for you. That battle you can’t win; it’s already been won. But if you can’t see it, you’ll never know. So ask God to open your eyes to see what Elisha saw.
Can you see the truth of Christ all around you?
Speaking the Truth
Telling the truth in matters big and small is one of the most powerful things you can do to combat our lying foe. Stretching the truth – even with “little white lies” – can leave us susceptible to the Enemy’s attacks, so following Jesus means learning how to use your mouth as a truth-telling weapon that tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
The Apostle Paul was well-acquainted with the toxic danger of untruthful talk. Look at how he encouraged the Christians in Ephesus to speak to one another:
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. – Ephesians 4:25-29
The things we choose to say – and the things we choose not to say – are weapons in our great war against the Devil. So choose your words wisely, and choose to speak the truth!
Are you a truth-teller?
The best way to overcome the Liar’s schemes is by receiving the truth of Christ, seeing His spiritual truth all around you, and speaking the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth of Christ. And of course, the best news of all is this: we are never alone in this fight. You are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), and our Lord Jesus Christ will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Hold fast to the truth of Jesus, and no enemy will ever overtake you!
