A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day (May 11, 2016)
So that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:18, Amplified Bible)
A few years ago, while I was out of town speaking at several meetings in Iowa, I stopped in at a little Bible bookstore. While I was there, I met a man who was a minister and pastor of one of the local denominational churches. He told me of all the great things his church was doing and how he was teaching his people the whole truth about the Bible.
While we were talking, I reached down and picked up a book by Billy Graham on angels. The minister immediately stopped talking, looked intently at me, and said, “You don’t believe in angels and demons do you?” At first I thought he was joking, and then I noticed that he wasn’t smiling. He went on to tell me his philosophy. At his church, he had taught his people that demons and angels do not really exist. Instead of actually being spirit beings, they were merely a representative of good and evil in the Bible.
Well, let me say this: Angels and demons do exist. God’s Word, the Holy Bible is true. (John 17:17.) It’s not partially true. It’s not mostly true. It’s all true. Everything it says, everything it promises, is true. If the Bible tells about demons and angels, then they do exist. Evidently, this minister was trying to tell me that he believed some parts of the Bible but not all of it.
The bottom line is this: That kind of thinking is confused and wrong. We must believe the whole Word of God. There is no middle ground. The Bible tells us in Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18 that it is impossible for God to lie; He cannot do it. Every word that proceeds from His mouth is true. Everything that He says will happen, will happen. What He says He will do, He will do. Not only does God not lie, but God cannot lie. It’s impossible!
Satan, on the other hand, is a liar. Jesus said in John 8:44 that Satan is a liar and the father of lies. There is no truth in him. Just before that, Jesus said that when Satan speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar.
So, here we have it clearly divided. On one hand, we have God who will not and cannot lie. On the other hand, we have Satan who will not and cannot tell the truth. Now, if someone tells you that something in the Bible is not true, where do you think that comes from? Satan, of course! Whenever God speaks, whether it’s through His Word or whether it’s to your heart by His Holy Spirit, as soon as the words leave His mouth, Satan is there to lie and confuse. That’s what happened in the Garden of Eden. God told Eve one thing and Satan implied that God didn’t really mean what He said. He made Eve think that it was possible for God to lie and it destroyed her. (Genesis 3.)
That’s what Satan wants to do to you and me. Faith is the key to everything in the Bible. Salvation, healing, peace, and victory all depend on faith. Believing that God does not lie is the key to faith. If Satan can get us to believe that it is remotely possible for God to lie, then our faith will be small or nonexistent, and that gives Satan an advantage in our lives.
God loves faith and Satan hates it. Faith will destroy Satan’s kingdom. So, remember this and you will take the first step toward victory. God cannot lie and Satan cannot tell the truth.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. (Mark 4:15)
