JE 12
June 12
John 8:43-50. Christ accuses his enemies of being the children of Satan.
It may well excite dismay in the bosom of a human creature to hear these words; "You are of your father the devil." A faithful minister once preached from these words in a village church, to a numerous congregation of very poor people. Great was the consternation with which some of them heard, for the first time, that those who lived in sin were the children of the devil. Poor neighbors met one another, and lamented with tears over the dreadful truth. Nor did they lament or weep in vain; for some who were then the children of wrath, became by faith the children of God. One of these blessed converts, in extreme old age, would often lift up her withered hands, and thank God for having shown her the danger she was in.
And what are the marks by which the children of Satan may be known? The marks are the features of their father. He was a murderer and a liar from the beginning—even from that dreadful and mysterious hour when he departed from the truth; for he was created in the truth. God, who created all things, can create nothing evil; therefore Satan and all the wicked angels were originally good. How evil sprang up in them, no human creature knows; it is a deep mystery, not revealed to us. It is sufficient for us to know that Satan was good—that he became evil, and will continue so forever. After his fall, he was a murderer, and sought to murder the souls of Adam and Eve, by tempting them to sin, and to murder in them the whole human race—for in Adam all die. So dreadful a crime was never again perpetrated upon earth, until—Satan's own children, at the instigation of their father, murdered the Son of God, who came down from heaven to save sinners.
Satan is not a murderer only; he is also a liar. He commits his murders by means of lies—he used a lie to murder Eve, when he said, "You shall not surely die." And still he murders by lies; for he tempts men by deceiving them. He persuades them that sin will make them happy, and that it is not dangerous. Above all, he speaks lies of God. He endeavored to set Adam and Eve against their best Friend, by slanders; for he said that God had forbidden them to eat of the fruit of the tree, because He feared they should become wise.
Satan still speaks lies of God, representing him as a God whose service is bondage, whose promises are unfaithful, and whose threatenings are uncertain. Thus men are induced to keep at a distance from God. As long as men believe Satan's lies, they cannot hear God's words, or understand the Bible. But Jesus came to undeceive us, and to defend his Father's character. Why will not men believe his report? Shall we still be deceived by the lies of Satan, when Jesus tells us the truth! Satan has deceived all who have trusted in him; the Son of God has never deceived one. Who ever heard of a dying believer exclaiming, "I have been deceived—I trusted in the Savior, and I have found his promises vain?" No true believer, however afflicted, has spoken thus. All dying Christians have said by their looks, and many by their words, "He is a faithful God."