May 13, 2025 • 44 mins
Pastor Jeff Schreve will join us to tackle Satan’s fake news head-on. Once we understand that these lies are the problem, we can turn back to the truth and promises from God’s word that bring victory and restore order in our hearts and minds. We don’t have to live defeated. We can live victoriously by setting our thoughts on God’s perfect truth.
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S1 (00:00):
Hi friend, thanks so much for downloading this broadcast and
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out into the marketplace of ideas. But before you start listening,
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he takes the story of Paul's shipwreck, recorded in the
(00:20):
book of acts, and gives us ten principles of how
we push through the storm, learning to trust in God
and all that he has done for us. It's a
magnificent book. It's a short book, and in typical Robert
Morgan writing style, it is a powerful book. I strongly
recommend that you have a copy of The Mediterranean Sea Rules,
because trust me, every single one of us will find
(00:40):
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(01:03):
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(01:25):
the truth tool the Mediterranean Sea rules. Thanks so much.
And now please enjoy the broadcast.
S2 (01:31):
Here are some of the news headlines we're watching.
S3 (01:33):
This time the conference was over. The president won a pledge.
S4 (01:36):
Americans worshiping government over God.
S3 (01:38):
Extremely rare safety move by a major 17 years.
S4 (01:41):
The Palestinians and Israelis negotiated.
S3 (01:43):
This is not true. Hi friends.
S1 (02:00):
Welcome to In the Market with Janet Parshall. Thank you
so much for joining us. We are about to embark
on a fabulous conversation. So you just heard that audio
representation of the marketplace of ideas and you know who's
in that marketplace? I didn't say what. We always know
that there's ideas out there. Good ideas have good consequences,
bad ideas and bad consequences. There are a lot of
shabby goods being bought and sold. They're being traded as
(02:22):
though they were the truth with a capital T, they're not.
They're counterfeits. But I'll tell you, part of that counterfeiting
gets done by the great adversary himself. We learn in
Scripture that our battle is against the world, the flesh
and the devil. And since we live East of Eden,
all three are out there banging on us on a
regular basis. But we're going to focus in on the
great Liar himself. And I think it's a great title,
(02:45):
given where I'm coming to you from, from the nation's capital.
We're going to talk about The Devil's Newsroom this hour
and how we can meet Satan's fake news and turn
it into God's glory. Doctor Jeff Shreve is with us.
He became the pastor of First Baptist Church Texarkana in
February of 2003 and founded from His Heart Ministries in
late 2004. He spent 12 years in the business world
(03:07):
as a salesman. Then God said, no, I want you
to preach. So he went on to get his Masters
of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In December of 2000,
got a Doctorate of Ministry degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary in December of 2004. He loves Jesus. He's passionate
about the word and the words of Jeremiah. He's got
the word is fire in his bones. So I'm looking
(03:28):
forward to this conversation. Jeff. The warmest of welcomes. Okay.
Curious minds want to know you've got some great endorsements,
but at the beginning of the book, you have none
other than a few words from Mike Huckabee. Now, unless
you're a prophet or the son of a prophet, I
know how books are written. So I just want to
know how you knew to call him the US ambassador
to Israel underneath his signature in the book. That's pretty cool.
S5 (03:52):
Yeah. So, you know, Mike used to pastor in Texarkana, Janet.
And so I got to know him. Uh, pretty soon
after I moved here and when he was governor of Arkansas. And, uh,
so he's been to First Baptist Texarkana has preached for
me before. And so he was very, very gracious in, in, uh, willing,
(04:12):
being willing to write the foreword and then the, the
nice things that he said. So I was very grateful.
S1 (04:18):
Well, I'll tell you what. That's enough to get my
friends to go out and get a copy of The
Devil's Newsroom. Can I just tell you I love the
way you wrote this? I love the way that you
zoomed in on the news. We talk about the news
all the time on this program. We can't but help
to do that because we're here in the communications Center
of America, for goodness sakes. But I love the way
that you point out that the liar is just that.
(04:38):
He takes God's truth and he blasts it through his newsroom,
and it's just a series of lies. You also give
us a really excellent tutorial toward the beginning of the
book of exactly who Satan is. And there's so many questions,
you know, I'm so thankful. Let me just tell you,
as someone who sits in the pews to someone who
preaches from the pulpit, I'm glad that all the answers
aren't there. Because I have an eternity to be with
(04:59):
my Savior. And I got a bunch of questions, and
I've got enough time when I get there to ask him,
because eternity will go on and on. But we're almost
taunted a little bit about the beginnings and the rebellion
and what happens. But you take us to this very
interesting chapter in Ezekiel, which I thought was absolutely fascinating,
that really and truly gives us what you call kind
of a cryptic reference to Satan is it's Ezekiel 28,
(05:20):
verses 11 through 19. Why? Why was Ezekiel writing this
at that time? And how does it go from from
his talking about what's going on in the land of
Israel to his referring specifically to the fallen angel?
S5 (05:34):
Yeah. So he's talking about the the king of tyre,
and then he gives us the power behind the throne
of the King of Tyre. And when you read Ezekiel
2811 through 19, you can tell pretty quickly he's not
talking about an earthly king. He's talking about this, this
satanic power behind the throne. And it does give us
(05:55):
tremendous insight into Lucifer who rebelled against God and became Satan.
And you know, the Bible doesn't tell us a lot
other than in this passage. And then in in the
book of Isaiah, chapter 14 about the five I wills
from from Lucifer. Uh, other than that, we don't know
anything about him. Uh, you know, we meet him in
(06:19):
Genesis chapter three when he slithers on the pages of Scripture.
But but this gives us the backstory, and it is fascinating.
S1 (06:26):
Oh, it is. And so I'm going to ask you again,
appeal to your pastor's heart. Um, why do you think
God chose in his 66 inspired and, you know, these
transitional books that he wrote? Why is he scant on
the details of Satan's derivation? He's certainly present. We see
him multiple times throughout Scripture, but the the origination story
(06:47):
other than the rebellion and a third that, uh, fall
and leave heaven. Why do you think God doesn't tell
us any more? It's a subjective question, but I'd love
your heart on this.
S5 (06:56):
Yeah. Um. Great question. I don't know, uh, really, you know,
there's so much in Scripture we would love to know more. And, uh,
God gives us by his Spirit, he gives us what
we need to know. It's kind of on a need
to know basis. And I guess he's saying, well, you
don't need to know more than that. Um, but yeah,
I would love to know more. And how long were
the angelic beings in existence before the fall? And, uh,
(07:20):
he doesn't tell us timelines on that either, but, uh,
you know, suffice it to say, there there was this
being Lucifer, who was one of the top angels and, uh,
who evidently led the worship in heaven, as it, uh,
describes his musical qualities, something musical about him. And, uh,
he just couldn't take it. And he said, I'm too beautiful.
(07:41):
I'm too wise. This worship that's going through me needs
to come to me. And that's when he rebelled against God.
You know, I talk about how he had, uh, he
had pride, he had ingratitude, and then he had rebellion.
And we see those same three play out in our
hearts when we sin against God.
S1 (07:59):
Yeah, exactly right. Exactly right. You talk about discovery and
you tell us. The first thing we need to know
is that Satan was originally created by God as a
holy angel. And it really, again, I love to just
sit and ruminate and, you know, set your mind on
things above, but you think you are in the presence
of God. You had a position of importance. The little
that we've been told. What in the world would have
(08:21):
caused you to do that? And you hinted at the answer.
I think, Jeff, when you said it's pride, right? Pride
cometh before the fall. It's a Bible verse we all
memorize in Awana early on, but it really was the
cause of a global rebellion, a universal rebellion. More to
the point.
S5 (08:36):
Right. And when you think about the, uh, the ability
for Satan to draw people to himself, I mean, he's
a he's a master liar. He's a master salesman because
he got a third of the angels to join him
in that rebellion against God, which was obviously totally futile.
But they did, and they were cast out.
S1 (08:56):
Wow. It is an absolutely fabulous book. It's called The
Devil's Newsroom, muting Satan's fake news and turning into and
tuning into God's truth. Remember Genesis three. It starts right there.
The first live. Did God really say fake? Newscaster. Right. Oh,
there's so much more. More with Doctor Jeff Shreve right
after this. Are you going through a storm right now?
(09:38):
Do you feel lost at sea? That's why I've chosen
the Mediterranean Sea Rules as this month's truth tool. Robert
Morgan reveals principles that will help you navigate rough waters.
Learn how God is always with you through the storm.
As for your copy of the Mediterranean Sea Rules, when
you give a gift of any amount in the market,
call eight 7758. That's eight 7758 or go online to
(09:58):
in the market with Janet Parshall. Doctor Jeff Shreve is
with us. He became the pastor of First Baptist Church
Texarkana in February of 2003 and then founded from His
Heart Ministries in the late 2004. He's got a brand
new book out so germane to the times in which
we live, so applicable, and it's really a deep dive
into exactly who Satan is, so that you will recognize
(10:21):
the great liar for exactly who he is. Because trust me,
he is still prowling, seeking whom he may devour. The
book is called, brilliantly, The Devil's Newsroom, muting Satan's fake
news and tuning into God's truth. So let's go to
this fact that that he's a liar. And again, you
don't have to wade into the word more than your ankles,
and you've got him pulling out his most effective. And
(10:42):
his first tool, which is this idea of lying. Okay,
you will be like, gods. Did God really say, I mean,
right out of the gate? And you know, when you
think about it, Jeff, you see him whispering that in
the hearts of men and women to this day? It
was effective then. It's still effective now. So you point
out the fact that one of the discoveries we need
to make about him is that he speaks subtle lies.
(11:04):
I love this, not my momma used to say growing up, listen,
he doesn't show up with a pitchfork and a cape.
He's far too subtle for that. So talk to me
about how he speaks in subtle lies so we'll learn
to recognize them.
S5 (11:16):
Yeah. So isn't it interesting, Janet, how in Genesis three,
he gets Eve deceived enough to eat the fruit and
he doesn't say a whole lot that's not recorded in Scripture.
He has an economy of words. But, uh, you know,
the subtle lie indeed. Has God said, you shall not
eat from any tree of the garden. Well, God hadn't
(11:37):
said that, but it was close to what God said.
And then he adds a question mark. So he gets
Eve to start questioning, well, maybe. Maybe God, uh, is
is holding out on me. Maybe he's not good like
I thought he was. Uh, doesn't seem right that he
would make all these fruit trees and then say, ah,
you can't eat from any tree of the garden. When
(11:57):
actually God said the opposite from any tree of the
garden you may freely eat. And God is a good God,
and he is a God that we can trust. But
the devil gets hurt. A question with those subtle lies.
And then he comes in with a blatant lie. You
shall not surely die. And then the twisted lie that
you know, if you eat of this tree, you'll be
like God, knowing good and evil. And the twistedness of
(12:19):
that is, God wants us to be like him, but
he doesn't want us to be independent from him. We
don't separate ourselves to be like him. We depend on
him and we become like him.
S1 (12:32):
Wow. So I love the way you break down the
kinds of lies the great liar does. There has to
be an antidote, and it's implied. But I think this
is a primer in understanding who the enemy is. What
is my antidote to not to be taken captive by
twisted or blatant or subtle lies?
S5 (12:50):
You have to know the truth of the Word of God.
And so the the emphasis of the book is you
shine the light of the truth of the word on
the devil's lies. And then you see, just like Genesis
three one, well, that's not what God said. So you
go back to Genesis two. What did God say? From
any tree of the garden you may freely eat? Um,
(13:12):
and I think as we continue to take his lies
and we pull them into the light of God's truth,
we see. Wait a minute. This is not what God said.
God is saying the opposite of this and the subtle lies.
We have to be in tune with the word. The
more blatant lies, you shall not surely die. I mean,
that is obviously totally against what God said. And then, uh,
(13:34):
finding out where the twistedness in those lies is, you know,
because he's a master liar. He tells lies that just
they appeal to our flesh. They sound right to our minds. Uh,
but they will take us down a road that leads
all the way to hell.
S1 (13:49):
Jeff, do you think that Satan knows our Achilles heels?
S5 (13:53):
Yes, I do, I think he. I mean, he can't
read our minds, but he knows what we do. And, uh,
you know, with his demonic horde, they can see where
we have weaknesses. They can see if our weakness is
bitterness or fretting or lusting or greed or whatever, and
then they can really work, uh, you know, on that,
(14:15):
through the temptations of the world and through the temptations
of our own flesh.
S1 (14:19):
Yeah. And I say that only because you're talking to
folks all across the country. And I want to stop
and just say, here, can we just take a minute
and remember, God hasn't given us a spirit of fear,
but of power, love and of a sound mind. Here's
another one. Greater is he that is in us than
he that is in the world. You know, my daddy
was a football coach, and I can tell you before
the game he'd watch the films of the other team,
and I would hear that old projector running in our
(14:42):
family room, because he'd be watching the plays of what
the other team did. And when they got on that field,
that gridiron, he knew exactly what kind of plays that
they would have to call to beat the opposition. Now,
that's a takeaway for me, because I want to be
tuned in to the kind of plays the enemy is
going to have. It doesn't scare me for the couple
of verses I just quoted and a whole lot more.
(15:02):
But Jeff, I have the power of God's Word and
the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and I have
to remember that it's not like the bears versus the Packers.
There's not equity here between God and Satan. Can you
talk to me a little bit about that? He's a
fallen angel. He is not king of the universe. Never was.
S5 (15:17):
No, no. Never was. And you know God at any moment.
God can just destroy the the devil. He will destroy him.
In revelation chapter 20, the devil is thrown into the
lake of fire. Uh, he he destroys the false prophet
and the beast in revelation chapter 19, they're thrown alive
into the lake of fire. But he's letting this play
(15:39):
out for his purposes. And, Janet, one of the things
I don't really talk about this in the book, but
one of the things that we see in revelation 20,
at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, the Lord releases
Says Satan from his prison. And what does he do?
He gathers rebels to himself like the sand that is
on the seashore. Just to show the whole world that
you can live in a perfect environment with a perfect king.
(16:01):
And still in the heart of man is the is
the word from Luke chapter 19. We do not want
this man to reign over us. And that that's the
heart of sin, is just rebelling against God, just like
the devil did.
S1 (16:16):
Yeah. Exactly right. So important. Because again, he's alive and active.
He's the prince of this world. Today we read the story.
We know what happens at the end. Note to file
does not end well for him. But that doesn't mean
that he's not going to try to wound as much
as he can now. And that's the other thing. I
don't want people to be afraid of Satan. I want
(16:36):
people to understand. And I don't ever want this to
be a deterrent for people's spiritual growth. Is that when
you're completely sold out to Christ and you can hear
the music in a second, Jeff, I'd love for you
to respond on the other side. But if you say
you're you're not just my savior. You're my Lord. You
are my all in all. In him I live and
move and have my being. Thank you. Paul. Acts 17.
So if I'm going to suit up and play. Sorry,
(16:58):
daughter of a football coach again, it seems to me
that he wants to cripple those he can't claim forever.
Talk to me a little bit about that so that
I understand the overall strategy here again. He's a liar.
He's constantly telling lies. Your book tells us the ways
in which we recognize the work that he does. But
I need to be aware that I'm going to be
targeted simply because I've said, yes, Lord. Flesh that out
(17:21):
for me when we get back. The book is called
The Devil's Newsroom, muting Satan's fake news and tuning in
to God's Truth. Excellent book. Back after this. The devil's
newsroom muting Satan's fake news and tuning in to God's truth.
Great book written by Doctor Jeff Shreve. He's our guest.
He became the pastor of First Baptist Church Texarkana in
(17:42):
February of 2003, and then went on to found From
His Heart Ministries in late 2004. So the question I
asked Jeff just before the break was, it's this idea
of I said earlier that our battle is against the world,
the flesh and the devil, and even though greater is
he that is in me than he that's in the world,
it doesn't mean that I'm not going to be subject
to the attacks of the enemy. So help me understand
(18:06):
that that it is to be expected and when it comes.
And I think I got a clue here in that
locker room I find in Ephesians chapter six. But talk
to me about how I deal with this.
S5 (18:17):
You're right. So you have to put on the full
armor of God. As it says in Ephesians six, stand
firm against the schemes of the devil. As James said,
submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you. So, Janet, as you know, if we're
not submitted to God, if we're out on our own
and we're not yielded to him and abiding in the Lord,
(18:39):
then we're going to be a sitting duck for the enemy.
He comes to devour us. But if we're submitted to
the Lord and we have on all the armor and
the belt of truth, and the the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the spirit, and our feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And we
have the, uh, the breastplate of righteousness. We have all
(19:00):
the armor on. Then we can stand firm. We don't
need to fear him. The devil will fear us, and
he will flee from us, as the Scripture says. But
it's important that every day we suit up for the battle.
S1 (19:12):
Yeah. Amen. And recognize that it is real. It's going
to end, but it is a part of our existence.
East of Eden and Pre glory, you have a chapter
with a very intriguing title, The World's Most Believed Lie. Now,
if I were to ask my friends listening right now,
what do you think that is? I don't know what
they'd answer. But you've got an answer for it. What
is the world's most believed lie?
S5 (19:30):
Yeah, the world's most believed lie is that you can
get to heaven by your good works. And really, every
false religion, every, uh, every cult. It's all based on
what must I do to be saved? As the Philippian
jailer asked Paul. And the answer. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. There's nothing to do.
(19:51):
Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin
had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
But Janet, as you know, with the with the Pope
just coming in to the new Pope, coming into power
and into his place, just reminds us again, there's so
many in our world believe that salvation is. Yes, it's
(20:12):
what Jesus did on the cross. But you have to
add your works to it. And this idea that heaven
is a place for all good people is just not true.
It's not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us.
S1 (20:26):
How important that is. And so why do you think
it is? In fact, I love the way that you've
contextualized this as being a lie from Satan. In other words,
sometimes I could say, well, that's just bad theology. People
don't understand what the word has to say. So there's
the world. Um, sometimes it's the flesh. Well, you know,
I usher a church. I teach the Sunday school class,
so surely that's good enough to get me entrance. There's.
(20:47):
There's the flesh. But you've added the third component here.
Do you think that Satan purposely goes out of his
way to twist the idea that salvation is by faith
and grace alone?
S5 (20:57):
For sure. You know, and and it really appeals to
it appeals to our sense of pride. Look what I did.
Look what I accomplished. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps.
It sounds right to our minds. Well, obviously, there's no
free lunch if I'm in a, you know, if I'm
going to get to heaven, it's because I worked for it. Um,
(21:17):
and and here's the the twisted thing about it, Janet.
You know, once you're saved, good works follow that. So
good works are the fruit of of genuine salvation, but
they're not the root of genuine salvation. And that's where
the devil really gets us focused, you know, takes the
book of James and twists that, uh, you know, and
James was just saying, hey, if you have genuine faith,
(21:39):
you're going to have works. And if you don't have works,
you probably don't have genuine faith.
S1 (21:44):
Hmm. Mhm. There's so much in the book that I love.
First of all, thank you for quoting Adrian Rogers as
much as you do. Just those pearls of wisdom just
have an everlasting shelf life. So thank you for folding
it in. But the way you write is wonderful. You
write this first. We are saved by grace. Second, we
are saved through faith. Third, we are saved for good works.
(22:05):
It sort of puts it in order, doesn't it?
S5 (22:07):
It really does. I learned that from Adrian. I've learned
a lot from Adrian, listening to hundreds of hours of
his sermons as a young, young guy, young Christian, he
was just my mentor from afar. And so, yeah, Ephesians two,
when you keep that in line. So why does God
save us? He saves us for good works. He doesn't
save us, save us by good works. We're saved for
(22:30):
good works. And that's how, you know, if we keep
that in line in Ephesians two eight through ten, then
we understand, oh, when he comes to live inside my heart,
good works will follow, because he is going to change
me from the inside out.
S1 (22:45):
So let me appeal to your pastor's heart because with
the big footprint. Thank you, Lord that this program has,
not everybody listening knows Christ as their personal Savior. And
they might have just heard you say, wait a minute.
You said, we're saved by grace. That's way too simple. Now,
that is part of the lie that the great liar
likes to promulgate. How do we respond to that? Because
for people who are I mean, we live in a
(23:07):
culture that the harder you work, the bigger your paycheck.
The bigger your house, the more advancement you get. It's
so antithetical to the human experience here compared to God's economy.
So how do we combat that idea that it's just
too simple to say it's by grace?
S5 (23:21):
Well, I think you have to back up and say, okay, well,
the gospel Evangelion, good news. Uh, it's good news when
you understand the bad news. And people need to understand
the bad news that I'm a sinner before God, I
am hopeless and helpless. There's nothing I can do to
to make myself acceptable to him. And when you learn that,
(23:43):
Then you see, I need a Savior. Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me. As blind Bartimaeus cried out.
S1 (23:51):
Wow! Amen and amen. What a wonderful conversation. It's going
by far too quickly. Doctor Jeff Shreve is with us.
He's the author of the book The Devil's Newsroom Muting
Satan's Fake News and Turning into God's Truth. What a
timely conversation, because he is still the great liar and
he whispers in our ears on a regular basis, the
antidote for lie is the truth that is found in
(24:13):
the one who said his name is truth. Back after this.
(24:36):
Christians are called to go into the marketplace of ideas.
Throughout history, men and women of God have been thought leaders, innovators,
and forces for good. We want this program to continue
in that bold tradition. Join me by becoming a partial partner.
Your monthly gift will make a difference as we help
Christians take a bold stand in the marketplace of ideas.
Call today eight 7758 or go online to in the
(24:56):
market with Janet Parshall. Doctor Jeff Shreve is our guest.
He became the pastor of First Baptist Church, Texarkana in
February of 2003, and then went on the next year
to found From His Heart Ministries. He just loves the Lord.
He loves encouraging people, he loves teaching the word. And
he's got a fabulous new book out called The Devil's Newsroom.
(25:18):
It really is this great profile of who the Chief
Liar is out there. But then he gives us the
answer and it's hinted at in the subtitle, Muting Satan's
Fake News and Tuning in to God's Truth. So I'm
so glad that you wrote a chapter about our circumstances,
you know, and you and I'm going to talk about
Lamentations in a minute, Jeff. But I was thinking about Joe.
(25:40):
You know, there's so much in that book and you
either love it or you hate it because of what
happens in that story. But I find it absolutely fascinating
that Satan A has access to God. We were talking
earlier about what little we know, right? But here's another
little sneak peek. He gets access to God. He's caused
a rebellion. He's been thrown out. He's the prince of
this world. And yet he gets access to God. And
(26:02):
when it comes to Brother Job, not once, but twice.
So he doesn't deny him. He goes back again, and
God goes, you can't kill him, but you can try him.
Now that, I think raises a fascinating theological question in
and of itself. Does that make God a mean God?
Because he allowed Satan to try job? And I'm going
to ask you if the answer to that question in
(26:22):
a minute, but, uh, we could have looked at job's
circumstances and said, well, he's an awful god, and I
don't want anything to do with him. And Satan would
love for us to think that that's exactly the case.
You take a look at this through the book of Lamentations,
this crying out, this weeping prophet who writes deeply in
his heart. Honestly, as believers, I don't think we lament enough.
(26:42):
And if we were to talk to people. Hey, what's
your favorite of the 66 books? I'm not sure Lamentations
would be up there as number one for anybody. But
let me go to job and then we'll go to Lamentations.
So why? Because I want to slay the lies of
the enemy. So God says you can't kill him, but
you can try him. Now. It's because I think and
I want your heart on this. But God knew who
job was. Give me your take. Because some could say
(27:05):
this is Christopher Hitchens argument. He's a cosmic bully. He
came back, he wipes out his children. He wipes out
his crops, he wipes out his his flocks, and it
gives him sores. Bad friends. And you think he's a
good God? Talk to me about that.
S5 (27:19):
Yeah, well, it's a test. You know, the question that
Satan asked the Lord? Does job fear God for nothing?
And so, God, the only way you can get people
to worship you is you have to bribe your your followers.
And so you're the sugar daddy for job. If you
take away the sugar, he'll curse you to your face.
And so that's that's the test. The thing that's interesting, Janet,
(27:41):
is it would have really helped job to be in
on those conversations between God and Satan. But he didn't
know any of those. He didn't know what was going
on above him. And and so, you know, he proves
at the end of job that job did fear God
for nothing. He did love God and serve God for nothing.
But he learned about God. He said, you know, I
(28:03):
heard of thee with the ear, but now my eye
sees thee, and I repent in dust and ashes. And
so job wouldn't have traded his experiences for anything. He
probably wouldn't have wanted to go through that again. But
his knowledge of the Lord through all that he experienced,
was so much deeper and richer. And then God blessed
(28:24):
him double for all the trouble that he experienced.
S1 (28:28):
And, you know, it's it's interesting because, again, you either
love the book or you loathe the book because it
is a tough book, by the way. It is about
trusting God in the midst of awful circumstances. And while
I wouldn't want to sign up for his experience, I
want to be like him. You know the Lord gives
and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. That. That the profundity of that. I don't
(28:49):
know anything. He's king, I am not. Everything in my
life comes from him. I hold it with an open hand,
and I trust him regardless of my circumstances. That truth,
that reality, that response from job must have driven Satan
absolutely bonkers. Because no matter what he did, he couldn't
get job to say, God, you are cruel, you are mean.
(29:09):
You are sadistic just like you write in your book.
S5 (29:12):
Yeah, and you know, job didn't understand he wanted to
have a conversation with God. When God does talk to
job in job 38, it's pretty awesome. And fear producing
in the human heart because the Lord says, hey, you're
asking me all these questions. Well, let me ask you
some questions. You know, gird up your loins. If you're
a man, you think you can go toe to toe
(29:34):
with me on understanding. And, you know, I think I
wrote in the book, Janet, how, you know, we have
this little teacup mind, and God is like the Pacific Ocean, uh,
in terms of wisdom and knowledge and understanding. And we
want God to fill our teacup with the ocean. Well,
he can't do that. It's impossible. So he says to
(29:54):
you and me, just trust me. I know what I'm doing.
I'm good. I love you, and I'm going to work
all things together for good to those who love me.
S1 (30:03):
Yes, Amen and amen. You talk about one of the
things that Satan wants to do, particularly when our circumstances
aren't where we want them to be, that Satan wants
us to lose hope. Tell me why.
S5 (30:16):
Well, I think you know when you lose hope. I
think that's why people kill themselves. Because they just lose
hope that anything's ever going to get better. And, uh,
Romans 1513, one of my favorite verses. Now, may the
God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
in believing that you may abound in hope, overflow in
hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And Jeremiah,
(30:37):
as he experienced the fall of Jerusalem and the devastation
that the Babylonians brought on the city, his heart was broken.
He was losing hope until he put his eyes back
on the Lord. And he says, you know, surely my
soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I
recall to mind. Therefore I have hope that God's loving
(31:01):
kindness is indeed indeed never cease, and his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning, and great is his faithfulness.
And Lamentations is a great book, especially chapter three, to
give us hope and to know that even in the
midst of suffering, God has promised, I will never leave
you and never forsake you.
S1 (31:22):
Yeah, you know, you were referencing before, I love Romans.
I remember reading when we were going through the dark
night of the soul in one incidence in our family.
Romans five. You know, we rejoice in our sufferings because
we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, Surveillance character, character,
hope and hope does not fail. I think what that does,
(31:43):
particularly to the Western mind, where we think that we
should avoid suffering at all costs as opposed to our
brothers and sisters in persecuted countries where they know that
suffering is part of the Christian experience. Um, we can
begin to see that even in our circumstances, while Satan
wants us to say what a terrible, bad, awful, cosmic
bully God is. In fact, those circumstances could be unnecessary,
(32:04):
sometimes painful, but necessary refiner's fire. I mean, if the
goal is to be conformed and transformed to the image
of Christ, and those are words that are used to
describe a potter's work, there's a lot of pushing and
pulling that goes on here.
S5 (32:16):
Right, right. You know, as Paul said, when he had
the thorn in the flesh, whatever that was, uh, you know,
concerning this, I entreated the Lord three times that it
might depart from me. And he has said to me,
my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected
in weakness. I think we miss that, Janet, that that
God really does do his greatest work in the darkest
of Of circumstances as we trust him. I tell people
(32:39):
in my church this all the time, you need to
have carved in your heart these three truths. God is good.
As it says in second when they were dedicating the temple.
Second Chronicles chapter seven. Truly he is good. Truly his
loving kindness is everlasting. God is good. God really does
love me, and God does. Romans 828 work all things
(32:59):
together for good to those who love him, to those
who are called according to his purpose. And when you
have those three things deep down in your heart, you
can handle any obstacle, any hardship that comes your way
because you're trusting in the Lord to work it all
for good.
S1 (33:15):
You've done it by example. But I want to underscore
this because I think this is so crucial for all
of us who are listening to you. And that is
the antidote for these lies, if you can. The vaccine
is God's truth. So when I ask you about a
characteristic of Satan, you counter with what the word says.
That's not by accident. That's because that goes to the
subtitle of your book. This is How the muting of
(33:36):
the fake news is done is by hiding his word
in our heart. If if we don't do that and
you know I love conversations that take us back to
the basics of the faith. Sometimes we make it more
complicated than necessary, but also we fail to remember that
when nothing else works, go back to the basics, okay?
Read the instructions. Start all over again. That having his
word in our heart, knowing it is a lamp unto
(34:00):
our feet and a light unto our path. Doesn't that
help us square off and recognize not only the lies,
but how to handle the lies when the enemy gives
them to us?
S5 (34:09):
It really does. You know, if, as the Scripture says
in Ephesians six, that the Word of God, the sword
of the spirit, which is the Word of God, and
we need to handle accurately the word of truth, as
Paul told Timothy. And so if you're a soldier and
you don't know how to use your offensive weapon, which
is the sword, you're not going to do very well.
(34:30):
And so we have a lot of Christians, Janet, sadly,
that are they haven't really immersed immerse themselves in the word.
And they're they're not spending time and meditating on the word.
Hiding it in their heart. Reading the Bible systematically. You know,
Adrian used to talk about a lucky dip. You know,
you just open up the Bible. Oh, this is my
verse for the day. That's not a good way to
(34:52):
do it. And so I was talking to one guy
today and I said, you know, maybe everybody starts out somewhere.
And so you're a, you're a brand new Christian where
you're long for the pure milk of the word that
by it you may grow with respect to salvation, but
from milk then we need to move on to meat.
And uh, as Paul said in Hebrews, solid food is
(35:12):
for the mature, who, because of practice, have their senses
trained to discern good and evil. We need to spend
time in the word so that we're just not little
babies on the bottle all the time, but we can
feed ourselves and we can listen to sermons and teachings,
and then we be like the Bereans. We go back
and search it out for ourselves to make sure this
(35:33):
is true.
S1 (35:34):
Exactly right. That is an absolutely fabulous verse. How else
will we know unless we are deeply rooted in the word?
Such an important point. Oh, there's so much I want
to talk to you about with this book, and time
is going by. I'm glad I have another segment with
you in the meantime, friends. The book is called The
Devil's Newsroom muting Satan's fake news and tuning into God's Truth.
By the way, I have a link to Jeff's ministry
(35:56):
from his heart. Org it's all there in the information page,
because if you're driving home and you can't write it down,
don't worry about it. It's there. Just go to In
the Market with Janet Parshall. Click on the red box.
It says Program Details and Audio. It will take you
to the information page. A much longer bio for Doctor
Jeff Shreve, a link to his website. And on the
right hand side, the book. We're talking about, the Devil's
(36:16):
Newsroom back after this. Doctor Jeff Shreve is with us,
(36:36):
pastor of First Baptist Church Texarkana and founder of From
His Heart Ministries. His newest book is called The Devil's Newsroom.
And I'm going to say the subtitle again, because that's
what the book is all about muting Satan's fake news
and tuning in to God's truth. So you write in
the book that you want to share five truths that
are so critical and foundational for us to believe, so
(36:57):
that we can walk in victory and shield ourselves against
Satan's fake news. This is why I love this book, Jeff,
is because in in it's it's a primer. It goes
back to the basics of the faith. And I think
also it it implies and yet states at the same
time that we sometimes think that Satan's lies are big
and grandiose and they're going to come with a blaring
(37:17):
brass horn, and yet they sneak in very subtly and
start corroding the believer's heart like, I can lose my salvation,
or I can get too far away from the grace
of Calvary, or I can commit some unpardonable sin and
therefore I'll never enter into heaven. I love the way
you walk us through these five truths, and the first
(37:39):
one that you say, you know this. This could be
bad theology, or it could be the work of the enemy.
And I think a maturing state has to recognize this
as the work of the enemy. You tell us that
God's love for us is not based on our performance.
Oh boy, is that a biggie in the church as
well as the world. But the church especially. Talk to
me about that.
S5 (37:58):
Yeah. So, you know, if it goes back to the
most believed lie that it has to do with my works,
you know, to get me into heaven, and that God
loves me when I'm doing well and he doesn't love
me when I'm doing poorly. And, Janet, I've been a
Christian long enough to know that there are ups and
downs in the Christian life. And there are times that
we're we're soaring spiritually, and there are times that things
(38:21):
are dry and the heavens seem like brass. And, um,
you know, our quiet times just seem God seems a
million miles away. And it's in those times we have
to We have to remember the truth. What does God say?
My pastor was the man shook when I was in Houston,
and he used to say, you know, even when I
don't feel good or feel close to the Lord, that
(38:44):
doesn't mean I'm not. I don't I don't walk by feelings.
I walk by faith. And I set my eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of faith. And so, uh, if
if my relationship with him is based on how well
I'm doing, uh, in terms of his love for me,
his acceptance of me, then it's then it's all about me.
(39:05):
And the Christian life is about us trusting the Lord.
Adrian Rogers used to say, the Christian life is not hard.
It's impossible. The only one who can live it is Jesus.
And so it's not about trying harder and gritting your teeth.
It's about just yielding to him, as we said in
our battle with the devil. Submit therefore to God. Resist
(39:27):
the devil, and he will flee from you. So as
we abide. John chapter 15. As we abide in him,
his life flows through us as we yield to the
Holy Spirit. Galatians five. Then we're able to, uh, not
succumb to the flesh. We're able to conquer in the
power of the Holy Spirit.
S1 (39:46):
Amen. Oh, this is such good stuff. So your second
truth kind of dovetails perfectly on the first one. And
that is, God's acceptance of you is not based on
your performance. How is that a distinction from the first truth?
S5 (39:59):
Okay. God's acceptance of you is not based on your
performance because, uh, Ephesians one six, we're accepted in the beloved.
So the moment that we accept Christ, he accepts us. And, uh,
and we're born into his family. Uh, you know, the
prodigal son says, uh, you know, I'm going to go
home and say to my father, father, I've sinned against
heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to
(40:21):
be called your son. Make me as one of your
hired men. Well, you didn't become his son by worth.
You became his son by birth. And so often we
feel like we're not worthy because we have sinned in
this way or that way or the other way. But
we have to remember our acceptance before God is based
on Jesus. It's not based on how well we are
(40:43):
walking out our Christian life. And so it's not a
he loves me and he loves me not. He loves me.
He loves me not. Like we did with the the
little flower petals when we were kids. About the girl
at school or in your case, the guy. But it's
not like that and so we can rest in his
love for us. Obviously when we blow it, we need
(41:04):
to come before the Lord, confess our sins to him,
agree with God, and receive an abundant pardon. Not a
partial pardon, but an abundant pardon. And so we can
walk with him and walk in the light with him.
S1 (41:17):
Amen. Truth number three God's forgiveness of your sins is
complete and total. And as I say these, I know
that people are going, whoa! I've been struggling with that. Well,
now you understand why he's called the liar. Okay, this
could be bad theology, but this is absolutely evidence of
the devil still prowling, seeking whom he may devour. He
doesn't want you to think that he will remember your
(41:39):
sins no more. He'll separate them from himself as far
as the East is from the West. So this idea
of being total and complete. I love to hear some
400 level theologians talk about the fact that, well, I
don't need to confess my sins, or I'm not sure
it's forever. And we could walk down that meandering trail,
but I want to know what the Word of God says.
How do I know? Completely and totally. I've been forgiven
(41:59):
when I confess my sins.
S5 (42:02):
Yeah, because he promises in first John one nine, if
we confess, if we homologeo believe, you know, agree with
God about our sins, and then God is faithful and righteous,
he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all A-l-l all unrighteousness. As David said,
I acknowledge my sin to you and my iniquity I
(42:23):
did not hide. I said, I will confess my transgressions
to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
And so, Janet, you know, you hear people talking about, well,
you have to forgive yourself. The Bible never says that.
But what the Bible does say is you have to
receive God's forgiveness. And, you know, it's not like God forgives.
(42:43):
And then my standard is higher than God. So I
have to forgive myself. No, you just have to receive
God's forgiveness completely and say, Lord, this is what you said.
And like the prostitute who wept at his feet, uh,
your sins have been forgiven. Your faith has saved you.
Go in peace. Don't go in guilt. Don't go in shame.
Don't hears. You're not Hester Prynne. Here's your scarlet a
(43:06):
go in peace because you've been forgiven.
S1 (43:09):
Wow. For God's will and ways are good. And his
grace is sufficient. Talk to me about that.
S5 (43:16):
Amen. Uh, well, his his ways are sufficient. His will
is right concerning everything. We don't have to be afraid
of God when we yield ourselves to his will for
our lives. That's when we find that it's good and
acceptable and perfect. It's tailor made for us. He made us.
He knows what's going to make us click and what's
(43:36):
going to make us go, and what's going to fill
our hearts with joy and peace and purpose.
S1 (43:41):
You know what's so wonderful about this part of the
conversation is that there's been a seismic shift from focusing
in on the great liar and deceiver himself, to the
majesty and the hope and the mercy and the grace
and the love that is ours, so readily available because
of Christ Himself. Truth number five God's Spirit will never
leave you, and he will faithfully lead you. Kick Satan
(44:02):
to the curb. Okay, that's why this book is so important.
You need to remember who God is, what he said,
what he has done in for and through you and
the wiles of the devil. He might be out there prowling.
His days are numbered. Jeff. It's a fabulous book. There's
so much more in it we didn't even get a
chance to discuss. The title is so wonderfully current The
Devil's Newsroom muting Satan's fake news and tuning into God's truth.
(44:25):
Thank you for a great book and a great conversation.
See you next time, friends!
Hi friend, thanks so much for downloading this broadcast and
it is my hope that you'll hear something that will
challenge you, grow you up in him, and get you
out into the marketplace of ideas. But before you start listening,
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because he's such a superb writer, and in this particular book,
he takes the story of Paul's shipwreck, recorded in the
(00:20):
book of acts, and gives us ten principles of how
we push through the storm, learning to trust in God
and all that he has done for us. It's a
magnificent book. It's a short book, and in typical Robert
Morgan writing style, it is a powerful book. I strongly
recommend that you have a copy of The Mediterranean Sea Rules,
because trust me, every single one of us will find
(00:40):
ourselves on stormy seas at some point in our voyage
through life. As for your copy of the Mediterranean Sea
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(01:03):
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(01:25):
the truth tool the Mediterranean Sea rules. Thanks so much.
And now please enjoy the broadcast.
S2 (01:31):
Here are some of the news headlines we're watching.
S3 (01:33):
This time the conference was over. The president won a pledge.
S4 (01:36):
Americans worshiping government over God.
S3 (01:38):
Extremely rare safety move by a major 17 years.
S4 (01:41):
The Palestinians and Israelis negotiated.
S3 (01:43):
This is not true. Hi friends.
S1 (02:00):
Welcome to In the Market with Janet Parshall. Thank you
so much for joining us. We are about to embark
on a fabulous conversation. So you just heard that audio
representation of the marketplace of ideas and you know who's
in that marketplace? I didn't say what. We always know
that there's ideas out there. Good ideas have good consequences,
bad ideas and bad consequences. There are a lot of
shabby goods being bought and sold. They're being traded as
(02:22):
though they were the truth with a capital T, they're not.
They're counterfeits. But I'll tell you, part of that counterfeiting
gets done by the great adversary himself. We learn in
Scripture that our battle is against the world, the flesh
and the devil. And since we live East of Eden,
all three are out there banging on us on a
regular basis. But we're going to focus in on the
great Liar himself. And I think it's a great title,
(02:45):
given where I'm coming to you from, from the nation's capital.
We're going to talk about The Devil's Newsroom this hour
and how we can meet Satan's fake news and turn
it into God's glory. Doctor Jeff Shreve is with us.
He became the pastor of First Baptist Church Texarkana in
February of 2003 and founded from His Heart Ministries in
late 2004. He spent 12 years in the business world
(03:07):
as a salesman. Then God said, no, I want you
to preach. So he went on to get his Masters
of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In December of 2000,
got a Doctorate of Ministry degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary in December of 2004. He loves Jesus. He's passionate
about the word and the words of Jeremiah. He's got
the word is fire in his bones. So I'm looking
(03:28):
forward to this conversation. Jeff. The warmest of welcomes. Okay.
Curious minds want to know you've got some great endorsements,
but at the beginning of the book, you have none
other than a few words from Mike Huckabee. Now, unless
you're a prophet or the son of a prophet, I
know how books are written. So I just want to
know how you knew to call him the US ambassador
to Israel underneath his signature in the book. That's pretty cool.
S5 (03:52):
Yeah. So, you know, Mike used to pastor in Texarkana, Janet.
And so I got to know him. Uh, pretty soon
after I moved here and when he was governor of Arkansas. And, uh,
so he's been to First Baptist Texarkana has preached for
me before. And so he was very, very gracious in, in, uh, willing,
(04:12):
being willing to write the foreword and then the, the
nice things that he said. So I was very grateful.
S1 (04:18):
Well, I'll tell you what. That's enough to get my
friends to go out and get a copy of The
Devil's Newsroom. Can I just tell you I love the
way you wrote this? I love the way that you
zoomed in on the news. We talk about the news
all the time on this program. We can't but help
to do that because we're here in the communications Center
of America, for goodness sakes. But I love the way
that you point out that the liar is just that.
(04:38):
He takes God's truth and he blasts it through his newsroom,
and it's just a series of lies. You also give
us a really excellent tutorial toward the beginning of the
book of exactly who Satan is. And there's so many questions,
you know, I'm so thankful. Let me just tell you,
as someone who sits in the pews to someone who
preaches from the pulpit, I'm glad that all the answers
aren't there. Because I have an eternity to be with
(04:59):
my Savior. And I got a bunch of questions, and
I've got enough time when I get there to ask him,
because eternity will go on and on. But we're almost
taunted a little bit about the beginnings and the rebellion
and what happens. But you take us to this very
interesting chapter in Ezekiel, which I thought was absolutely fascinating,
that really and truly gives us what you call kind
of a cryptic reference to Satan is it's Ezekiel 28,
(05:20):
verses 11 through 19. Why? Why was Ezekiel writing this
at that time? And how does it go from from
his talking about what's going on in the land of
Israel to his referring specifically to the fallen angel?
S5 (05:34):
Yeah. So he's talking about the the king of tyre,
and then he gives us the power behind the throne
of the King of Tyre. And when you read Ezekiel
2811 through 19, you can tell pretty quickly he's not
talking about an earthly king. He's talking about this, this
satanic power behind the throne. And it does give us
(05:55):
tremendous insight into Lucifer who rebelled against God and became Satan.
And you know, the Bible doesn't tell us a lot
other than in this passage. And then in in the
book of Isaiah, chapter 14 about the five I wills
from from Lucifer. Uh, other than that, we don't know
anything about him. Uh, you know, we meet him in
(06:19):
Genesis chapter three when he slithers on the pages of Scripture.
But but this gives us the backstory, and it is fascinating.
S1 (06:26):
Oh, it is. And so I'm going to ask you again,
appeal to your pastor's heart. Um, why do you think
God chose in his 66 inspired and, you know, these
transitional books that he wrote? Why is he scant on
the details of Satan's derivation? He's certainly present. We see
him multiple times throughout Scripture, but the the origination story
(06:47):
other than the rebellion and a third that, uh, fall
and leave heaven. Why do you think God doesn't tell
us any more? It's a subjective question, but I'd love
your heart on this.
S5 (06:56):
Yeah. Um. Great question. I don't know, uh, really, you know,
there's so much in Scripture we would love to know more. And, uh,
God gives us by his Spirit, he gives us what
we need to know. It's kind of on a need
to know basis. And I guess he's saying, well, you
don't need to know more than that. Um, but yeah,
I would love to know more. And how long were
the angelic beings in existence before the fall? And, uh,
(07:20):
he doesn't tell us timelines on that either, but, uh,
you know, suffice it to say, there there was this
being Lucifer, who was one of the top angels and, uh,
who evidently led the worship in heaven, as it, uh,
describes his musical qualities, something musical about him. And, uh,
he just couldn't take it. And he said, I'm too beautiful.
(07:41):
I'm too wise. This worship that's going through me needs
to come to me. And that's when he rebelled against God.
You know, I talk about how he had, uh, he
had pride, he had ingratitude, and then he had rebellion.
And we see those same three play out in our
hearts when we sin against God.
S1 (07:59):
Yeah, exactly right. Exactly right. You talk about discovery and
you tell us. The first thing we need to know
is that Satan was originally created by God as a
holy angel. And it really, again, I love to just
sit and ruminate and, you know, set your mind on
things above, but you think you are in the presence
of God. You had a position of importance. The little
that we've been told. What in the world would have
(08:21):
caused you to do that? And you hinted at the answer.
I think, Jeff, when you said it's pride, right? Pride
cometh before the fall. It's a Bible verse we all
memorize in Awana early on, but it really was the
cause of a global rebellion, a universal rebellion. More to
the point.
S5 (08:36):
Right. And when you think about the, uh, the ability
for Satan to draw people to himself, I mean, he's
a he's a master liar. He's a master salesman because
he got a third of the angels to join him
in that rebellion against God, which was obviously totally futile.
But they did, and they were cast out.
S1 (08:56):
Wow. It is an absolutely fabulous book. It's called The
Devil's Newsroom, muting Satan's fake news and turning into and
tuning into God's truth. Remember Genesis three. It starts right there.
The first live. Did God really say fake? Newscaster. Right. Oh,
there's so much more. More with Doctor Jeff Shreve right
after this. Are you going through a storm right now?
(09:38):
Do you feel lost at sea? That's why I've chosen
the Mediterranean Sea Rules as this month's truth tool. Robert
Morgan reveals principles that will help you navigate rough waters.
Learn how God is always with you through the storm.
As for your copy of the Mediterranean Sea Rules, when
you give a gift of any amount in the market,
call eight 7758. That's eight 7758 or go online to
(09:58):
in the market with Janet Parshall. Doctor Jeff Shreve is
with us. He became the pastor of First Baptist Church
Texarkana in February of 2003 and then founded from His
Heart Ministries in the late 2004. He's got a brand
new book out so germane to the times in which
we live, so applicable, and it's really a deep dive
into exactly who Satan is, so that you will recognize
(10:21):
the great liar for exactly who he is. Because trust me,
he is still prowling, seeking whom he may devour. The
book is called, brilliantly, The Devil's Newsroom, muting Satan's fake
news and tuning into God's truth. So let's go to
this fact that that he's a liar. And again, you
don't have to wade into the word more than your ankles,
and you've got him pulling out his most effective. And
(10:42):
his first tool, which is this idea of lying. Okay,
you will be like, gods. Did God really say, I mean,
right out of the gate? And you know, when you
think about it, Jeff, you see him whispering that in
the hearts of men and women to this day? It
was effective then. It's still effective now. So you point
out the fact that one of the discoveries we need
to make about him is that he speaks subtle lies.
(11:04):
I love this, not my momma used to say growing up, listen,
he doesn't show up with a pitchfork and a cape.
He's far too subtle for that. So talk to me
about how he speaks in subtle lies so we'll learn
to recognize them.
S5 (11:16):
Yeah. So isn't it interesting, Janet, how in Genesis three,
he gets Eve deceived enough to eat the fruit and
he doesn't say a whole lot that's not recorded in Scripture.
He has an economy of words. But, uh, you know,
the subtle lie indeed. Has God said, you shall not
eat from any tree of the garden. Well, God hadn't
(11:37):
said that, but it was close to what God said.
And then he adds a question mark. So he gets
Eve to start questioning, well, maybe. Maybe God, uh, is
is holding out on me. Maybe he's not good like
I thought he was. Uh, doesn't seem right that he
would make all these fruit trees and then say, ah,
you can't eat from any tree of the garden. When
(11:57):
actually God said the opposite from any tree of the
garden you may freely eat. And God is a good God,
and he is a God that we can trust. But
the devil gets hurt. A question with those subtle lies.
And then he comes in with a blatant lie. You
shall not surely die. And then the twisted lie that
you know, if you eat of this tree, you'll be
like God, knowing good and evil. And the twistedness of
(12:19):
that is, God wants us to be like him, but
he doesn't want us to be independent from him. We
don't separate ourselves to be like him. We depend on
him and we become like him.
S1 (12:32):
Wow. So I love the way you break down the
kinds of lies the great liar does. There has to
be an antidote, and it's implied. But I think this
is a primer in understanding who the enemy is. What
is my antidote to not to be taken captive by
twisted or blatant or subtle lies?
S5 (12:50):
You have to know the truth of the Word of God.
And so the the emphasis of the book is you
shine the light of the truth of the word on
the devil's lies. And then you see, just like Genesis
three one, well, that's not what God said. So you
go back to Genesis two. What did God say? From
any tree of the garden you may freely eat? Um,
(13:12):
and I think as we continue to take his lies
and we pull them into the light of God's truth,
we see. Wait a minute. This is not what God said.
God is saying the opposite of this and the subtle lies.
We have to be in tune with the word. The
more blatant lies, you shall not surely die. I mean,
that is obviously totally against what God said. And then, uh,
(13:34):
finding out where the twistedness in those lies is, you know,
because he's a master liar. He tells lies that just
they appeal to our flesh. They sound right to our minds. Uh,
but they will take us down a road that leads
all the way to hell.
S1 (13:49):
Jeff, do you think that Satan knows our Achilles heels?
S5 (13:53):
Yes, I do, I think he. I mean, he can't
read our minds, but he knows what we do. And, uh,
you know, with his demonic horde, they can see where
we have weaknesses. They can see if our weakness is
bitterness or fretting or lusting or greed or whatever, and
then they can really work, uh, you know, on that,
(14:15):
through the temptations of the world and through the temptations
of our own flesh.
S1 (14:19):
Yeah. And I say that only because you're talking to
folks all across the country. And I want to stop
and just say, here, can we just take a minute
and remember, God hasn't given us a spirit of fear,
but of power, love and of a sound mind. Here's
another one. Greater is he that is in us than
he that is in the world. You know, my daddy
was a football coach, and I can tell you before
the game he'd watch the films of the other team,
and I would hear that old projector running in our
(14:42):
family room, because he'd be watching the plays of what
the other team did. And when they got on that field,
that gridiron, he knew exactly what kind of plays that
they would have to call to beat the opposition. Now,
that's a takeaway for me, because I want to be
tuned in to the kind of plays the enemy is
going to have. It doesn't scare me for the couple
of verses I just quoted and a whole lot more.
(15:02):
But Jeff, I have the power of God's Word and
the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and I have
to remember that it's not like the bears versus the Packers.
There's not equity here between God and Satan. Can you
talk to me a little bit about that? He's a
fallen angel. He is not king of the universe. Never was.
S5 (15:17):
No, no. Never was. And you know God at any moment.
God can just destroy the the devil. He will destroy him.
In revelation chapter 20, the devil is thrown into the
lake of fire. Uh, he he destroys the false prophet
and the beast in revelation chapter 19, they're thrown alive
into the lake of fire. But he's letting this play
(15:39):
out for his purposes. And, Janet, one of the things
I don't really talk about this in the book, but
one of the things that we see in revelation 20,
at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, the Lord releases
Says Satan from his prison. And what does he do?
He gathers rebels to himself like the sand that is
on the seashore. Just to show the whole world that
you can live in a perfect environment with a perfect king.
(16:01):
And still in the heart of man is the is
the word from Luke chapter 19. We do not want
this man to reign over us. And that that's the
heart of sin, is just rebelling against God, just like
the devil did.
S1 (16:16):
Yeah. Exactly right. So important. Because again, he's alive and active.
He's the prince of this world. Today we read the story.
We know what happens at the end. Note to file
does not end well for him. But that doesn't mean
that he's not going to try to wound as much
as he can now. And that's the other thing. I
don't want people to be afraid of Satan. I want
(16:36):
people to understand. And I don't ever want this to
be a deterrent for people's spiritual growth. Is that when
you're completely sold out to Christ and you can hear
the music in a second, Jeff, I'd love for you
to respond on the other side. But if you say
you're you're not just my savior. You're my Lord. You
are my all in all. In him I live and
move and have my being. Thank you. Paul. Acts 17.
So if I'm going to suit up and play. Sorry,
(16:58):
daughter of a football coach again, it seems to me
that he wants to cripple those he can't claim forever.
Talk to me a little bit about that so that
I understand the overall strategy here again. He's a liar.
He's constantly telling lies. Your book tells us the ways
in which we recognize the work that he does. But
I need to be aware that I'm going to be
targeted simply because I've said, yes, Lord. Flesh that out
(17:21):
for me when we get back. The book is called
The Devil's Newsroom, muting Satan's fake news and tuning in
to God's Truth. Excellent book. Back after this. The devil's
newsroom muting Satan's fake news and tuning in to God's truth.
Great book written by Doctor Jeff Shreve. He's our guest.
He became the pastor of First Baptist Church Texarkana in
(17:42):
February of 2003, and then went on to found From
His Heart Ministries in late 2004. So the question I
asked Jeff just before the break was, it's this idea
of I said earlier that our battle is against the world,
the flesh and the devil, and even though greater is
he that is in me than he that's in the world,
it doesn't mean that I'm not going to be subject
to the attacks of the enemy. So help me understand
(18:06):
that that it is to be expected and when it comes.
And I think I got a clue here in that
locker room I find in Ephesians chapter six. But talk
to me about how I deal with this.
S5 (18:17):
You're right. So you have to put on the full
armor of God. As it says in Ephesians six, stand
firm against the schemes of the devil. As James said,
submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you. So, Janet, as you know, if we're
not submitted to God, if we're out on our own
and we're not yielded to him and abiding in the Lord,
(18:39):
then we're going to be a sitting duck for the enemy.
He comes to devour us. But if we're submitted to
the Lord and we have on all the armor and
the belt of truth, and the the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the spirit, and our feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And we
have the, uh, the breastplate of righteousness. We have all
(19:00):
the armor on. Then we can stand firm. We don't
need to fear him. The devil will fear us, and
he will flee from us, as the Scripture says. But
it's important that every day we suit up for the battle.
S1 (19:12):
Yeah. Amen. And recognize that it is real. It's going
to end, but it is a part of our existence.
East of Eden and Pre glory, you have a chapter
with a very intriguing title, The World's Most Believed Lie. Now,
if I were to ask my friends listening right now,
what do you think that is? I don't know what
they'd answer. But you've got an answer for it. What
is the world's most believed lie?
S5 (19:30):
Yeah, the world's most believed lie is that you can
get to heaven by your good works. And really, every
false religion, every, uh, every cult. It's all based on
what must I do to be saved? As the Philippian
jailer asked Paul. And the answer. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. There's nothing to do.
(19:51):
Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin
had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
But Janet, as you know, with the with the Pope
just coming in to the new Pope, coming into power
and into his place, just reminds us again, there's so
many in our world believe that salvation is. Yes, it's
(20:12):
what Jesus did on the cross. But you have to
add your works to it. And this idea that heaven
is a place for all good people is just not true.
It's not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us.
S1 (20:26):
How important that is. And so why do you think
it is? In fact, I love the way that you've
contextualized this as being a lie from Satan. In other words,
sometimes I could say, well, that's just bad theology. People
don't understand what the word has to say. So there's
the world. Um, sometimes it's the flesh. Well, you know,
I usher a church. I teach the Sunday school class,
so surely that's good enough to get me entrance. There's.
(20:47):
There's the flesh. But you've added the third component here.
Do you think that Satan purposely goes out of his
way to twist the idea that salvation is by faith
and grace alone?
S5 (20:57):
For sure. You know, and and it really appeals to
it appeals to our sense of pride. Look what I did.
Look what I accomplished. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps.
It sounds right to our minds. Well, obviously, there's no
free lunch if I'm in a, you know, if I'm
going to get to heaven, it's because I worked for it. Um,
(21:17):
and and here's the the twisted thing about it, Janet.
You know, once you're saved, good works follow that. So
good works are the fruit of of genuine salvation, but
they're not the root of genuine salvation. And that's where
the devil really gets us focused, you know, takes the
book of James and twists that, uh, you know, and
James was just saying, hey, if you have genuine faith,
(21:39):
you're going to have works. And if you don't have works,
you probably don't have genuine faith.
S1 (21:44):
Hmm. Mhm. There's so much in the book that I love.
First of all, thank you for quoting Adrian Rogers as
much as you do. Just those pearls of wisdom just
have an everlasting shelf life. So thank you for folding
it in. But the way you write is wonderful. You
write this first. We are saved by grace. Second, we
are saved through faith. Third, we are saved for good works.
(22:05):
It sort of puts it in order, doesn't it?
S5 (22:07):
It really does. I learned that from Adrian. I've learned
a lot from Adrian, listening to hundreds of hours of
his sermons as a young, young guy, young Christian, he
was just my mentor from afar. And so, yeah, Ephesians two,
when you keep that in line. So why does God
save us? He saves us for good works. He doesn't
save us, save us by good works. We're saved for
(22:30):
good works. And that's how, you know, if we keep
that in line in Ephesians two eight through ten, then
we understand, oh, when he comes to live inside my heart,
good works will follow, because he is going to change
me from the inside out.
S1 (22:45):
So let me appeal to your pastor's heart because with
the big footprint. Thank you, Lord that this program has,
not everybody listening knows Christ as their personal Savior. And
they might have just heard you say, wait a minute.
You said, we're saved by grace. That's way too simple. Now,
that is part of the lie that the great liar
likes to promulgate. How do we respond to that? Because
for people who are I mean, we live in a
(23:07):
culture that the harder you work, the bigger your paycheck.
The bigger your house, the more advancement you get. It's
so antithetical to the human experience here compared to God's economy.
So how do we combat that idea that it's just
too simple to say it's by grace?
S5 (23:21):
Well, I think you have to back up and say, okay, well,
the gospel Evangelion, good news. Uh, it's good news when
you understand the bad news. And people need to understand
the bad news that I'm a sinner before God, I
am hopeless and helpless. There's nothing I can do to
to make myself acceptable to him. And when you learn that,
(23:43):
Then you see, I need a Savior. Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me. As blind Bartimaeus cried out.
S1 (23:51):
Wow! Amen and amen. What a wonderful conversation. It's going
by far too quickly. Doctor Jeff Shreve is with us.
He's the author of the book The Devil's Newsroom Muting
Satan's Fake News and Turning into God's Truth. What a
timely conversation, because he is still the great liar and
he whispers in our ears on a regular basis, the
antidote for lie is the truth that is found in
(24:13):
the one who said his name is truth. Back after this.
(24:36):
Christians are called to go into the marketplace of ideas.
Throughout history, men and women of God have been thought leaders, innovators,
and forces for good. We want this program to continue
in that bold tradition. Join me by becoming a partial partner.
Your monthly gift will make a difference as we help
Christians take a bold stand in the marketplace of ideas.
Call today eight 7758 or go online to in the
(24:56):
market with Janet Parshall. Doctor Jeff Shreve is our guest.
He became the pastor of First Baptist Church, Texarkana in
February of 2003, and then went on the next year
to found From His Heart Ministries. He just loves the Lord.
He loves encouraging people, he loves teaching the word. And
he's got a fabulous new book out called The Devil's Newsroom.
(25:18):
It really is this great profile of who the Chief
Liar is out there. But then he gives us the
answer and it's hinted at in the subtitle, Muting Satan's
Fake News and Tuning in to God's Truth. So I'm
so glad that you wrote a chapter about our circumstances,
you know, and you and I'm going to talk about
Lamentations in a minute, Jeff. But I was thinking about Joe.
(25:40):
You know, there's so much in that book and you
either love it or you hate it because of what
happens in that story. But I find it absolutely fascinating
that Satan A has access to God. We were talking
earlier about what little we know, right? But here's another
little sneak peek. He gets access to God. He's caused
a rebellion. He's been thrown out. He's the prince of
this world. And yet he gets access to God. And
(26:02):
when it comes to Brother Job, not once, but twice.
So he doesn't deny him. He goes back again, and
God goes, you can't kill him, but you can try him.
Now that, I think raises a fascinating theological question in
and of itself. Does that make God a mean God?
Because he allowed Satan to try job? And I'm going
to ask you if the answer to that question in
(26:22):
a minute, but, uh, we could have looked at job's
circumstances and said, well, he's an awful god, and I
don't want anything to do with him. And Satan would
love for us to think that that's exactly the case.
You take a look at this through the book of Lamentations,
this crying out, this weeping prophet who writes deeply in
his heart. Honestly, as believers, I don't think we lament enough.
(26:42):
And if we were to talk to people. Hey, what's
your favorite of the 66 books? I'm not sure Lamentations
would be up there as number one for anybody. But
let me go to job and then we'll go to Lamentations.
So why? Because I want to slay the lies of
the enemy. So God says you can't kill him, but
you can try him. Now. It's because I think and
I want your heart on this. But God knew who
job was. Give me your take. Because some could say
(27:05):
this is Christopher Hitchens argument. He's a cosmic bully. He
came back, he wipes out his children. He wipes out
his crops, he wipes out his his flocks, and it
gives him sores. Bad friends. And you think he's a
good God? Talk to me about that.
S5 (27:19):
Yeah, well, it's a test. You know, the question that
Satan asked the Lord? Does job fear God for nothing?
And so, God, the only way you can get people
to worship you is you have to bribe your your followers.
And so you're the sugar daddy for job. If you
take away the sugar, he'll curse you to your face.
And so that's that's the test. The thing that's interesting, Janet,
(27:41):
is it would have really helped job to be in
on those conversations between God and Satan. But he didn't
know any of those. He didn't know what was going
on above him. And and so, you know, he proves
at the end of job that job did fear God
for nothing. He did love God and serve God for nothing.
But he learned about God. He said, you know, I
(28:03):
heard of thee with the ear, but now my eye
sees thee, and I repent in dust and ashes. And
so job wouldn't have traded his experiences for anything. He
probably wouldn't have wanted to go through that again. But
his knowledge of the Lord through all that he experienced,
was so much deeper and richer. And then God blessed
(28:24):
him double for all the trouble that he experienced.
S1 (28:28):
And, you know, it's it's interesting because, again, you either
love the book or you loathe the book because it
is a tough book, by the way. It is about
trusting God in the midst of awful circumstances. And while
I wouldn't want to sign up for his experience, I
want to be like him. You know the Lord gives
and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. That. That the profundity of that. I don't
(28:49):
know anything. He's king, I am not. Everything in my
life comes from him. I hold it with an open hand,
and I trust him regardless of my circumstances. That truth,
that reality, that response from job must have driven Satan
absolutely bonkers. Because no matter what he did, he couldn't
get job to say, God, you are cruel, you are mean.
(29:09):
You are sadistic just like you write in your book.
S5 (29:12):
Yeah, and you know, job didn't understand he wanted to
have a conversation with God. When God does talk to
job in job 38, it's pretty awesome. And fear producing
in the human heart because the Lord says, hey, you're
asking me all these questions. Well, let me ask you
some questions. You know, gird up your loins. If you're
a man, you think you can go toe to toe
(29:34):
with me on understanding. And, you know, I think I
wrote in the book, Janet, how, you know, we have
this little teacup mind, and God is like the Pacific Ocean, uh,
in terms of wisdom and knowledge and understanding. And we
want God to fill our teacup with the ocean. Well,
he can't do that. It's impossible. So he says to
(29:54):
you and me, just trust me. I know what I'm doing.
I'm good. I love you, and I'm going to work
all things together for good to those who love me.
S1 (30:03):
Yes, Amen and amen. You talk about one of the
things that Satan wants to do, particularly when our circumstances
aren't where we want them to be, that Satan wants
us to lose hope. Tell me why.
S5 (30:16):
Well, I think you know when you lose hope. I
think that's why people kill themselves. Because they just lose
hope that anything's ever going to get better. And, uh,
Romans 1513, one of my favorite verses. Now, may the
God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
in believing that you may abound in hope, overflow in
hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And Jeremiah,
(30:37):
as he experienced the fall of Jerusalem and the devastation
that the Babylonians brought on the city, his heart was broken.
He was losing hope until he put his eyes back
on the Lord. And he says, you know, surely my
soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I
recall to mind. Therefore I have hope that God's loving
(31:01):
kindness is indeed indeed never cease, and his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning, and great is his faithfulness.
And Lamentations is a great book, especially chapter three, to
give us hope and to know that even in the
midst of suffering, God has promised, I will never leave
you and never forsake you.
S1 (31:22):
Yeah, you know, you were referencing before, I love Romans.
I remember reading when we were going through the dark
night of the soul in one incidence in our family.
Romans five. You know, we rejoice in our sufferings because
we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, Surveillance character, character,
hope and hope does not fail. I think what that does,
(31:43):
particularly to the Western mind, where we think that we
should avoid suffering at all costs as opposed to our
brothers and sisters in persecuted countries where they know that
suffering is part of the Christian experience. Um, we can
begin to see that even in our circumstances, while Satan
wants us to say what a terrible, bad, awful, cosmic
bully God is. In fact, those circumstances could be unnecessary,
(32:04):
sometimes painful, but necessary refiner's fire. I mean, if the
goal is to be conformed and transformed to the image
of Christ, and those are words that are used to
describe a potter's work, there's a lot of pushing and
pulling that goes on here.
S5 (32:16):
Right, right. You know, as Paul said, when he had
the thorn in the flesh, whatever that was, uh, you know,
concerning this, I entreated the Lord three times that it
might depart from me. And he has said to me,
my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected
in weakness. I think we miss that, Janet, that that
God really does do his greatest work in the darkest
of Of circumstances as we trust him. I tell people
(32:39):
in my church this all the time, you need to
have carved in your heart these three truths. God is good.
As it says in second when they were dedicating the temple.
Second Chronicles chapter seven. Truly he is good. Truly his
loving kindness is everlasting. God is good. God really does
love me, and God does. Romans 828 work all things
(32:59):
together for good to those who love him, to those
who are called according to his purpose. And when you
have those three things deep down in your heart, you
can handle any obstacle, any hardship that comes your way
because you're trusting in the Lord to work it all
for good.
S1 (33:15):
You've done it by example. But I want to underscore
this because I think this is so crucial for all
of us who are listening to you. And that is
the antidote for these lies, if you can. The vaccine
is God's truth. So when I ask you about a
characteristic of Satan, you counter with what the word says.
That's not by accident. That's because that goes to the
subtitle of your book. This is How the muting of
(33:36):
the fake news is done is by hiding his word
in our heart. If if we don't do that and
you know I love conversations that take us back to
the basics of the faith. Sometimes we make it more
complicated than necessary, but also we fail to remember that
when nothing else works, go back to the basics, okay?
Read the instructions. Start all over again. That having his
word in our heart, knowing it is a lamp unto
(34:00):
our feet and a light unto our path. Doesn't that
help us square off and recognize not only the lies,
but how to handle the lies when the enemy gives
them to us?
S5 (34:09):
It really does. You know, if, as the Scripture says
in Ephesians six, that the Word of God, the sword
of the spirit, which is the Word of God, and
we need to handle accurately the word of truth, as
Paul told Timothy. And so if you're a soldier and
you don't know how to use your offensive weapon, which
is the sword, you're not going to do very well.
(34:30):
And so we have a lot of Christians, Janet, sadly,
that are they haven't really immersed immerse themselves in the word.
And they're they're not spending time and meditating on the word.
Hiding it in their heart. Reading the Bible systematically. You know,
Adrian used to talk about a lucky dip. You know,
you just open up the Bible. Oh, this is my
verse for the day. That's not a good way to
(34:52):
do it. And so I was talking to one guy
today and I said, you know, maybe everybody starts out somewhere.
And so you're a, you're a brand new Christian where
you're long for the pure milk of the word that
by it you may grow with respect to salvation, but
from milk then we need to move on to meat.
And uh, as Paul said in Hebrews, solid food is
(35:12):
for the mature, who, because of practice, have their senses
trained to discern good and evil. We need to spend
time in the word so that we're just not little
babies on the bottle all the time, but we can
feed ourselves and we can listen to sermons and teachings,
and then we be like the Bereans. We go back
and search it out for ourselves to make sure this
(35:33):
is true.
S1 (35:34):
Exactly right. That is an absolutely fabulous verse. How else
will we know unless we are deeply rooted in the word?
Such an important point. Oh, there's so much I want
to talk to you about with this book, and time
is going by. I'm glad I have another segment with
you in the meantime, friends. The book is called The
Devil's Newsroom muting Satan's fake news and tuning into God's Truth.
By the way, I have a link to Jeff's ministry
(35:56):
from his heart. Org it's all there in the information page,
because if you're driving home and you can't write it down,
don't worry about it. It's there. Just go to In
the Market with Janet Parshall. Click on the red box.
It says Program Details and Audio. It will take you
to the information page. A much longer bio for Doctor
Jeff Shreve, a link to his website. And on the
right hand side, the book. We're talking about, the Devil's
(36:16):
Newsroom back after this. Doctor Jeff Shreve is with us,
(36:36):
pastor of First Baptist Church Texarkana and founder of From
His Heart Ministries. His newest book is called The Devil's Newsroom.
And I'm going to say the subtitle again, because that's
what the book is all about muting Satan's fake news
and tuning in to God's truth. So you write in
the book that you want to share five truths that
are so critical and foundational for us to believe, so
(36:57):
that we can walk in victory and shield ourselves against
Satan's fake news. This is why I love this book, Jeff,
is because in in it's it's a primer. It goes
back to the basics of the faith. And I think
also it it implies and yet states at the same
time that we sometimes think that Satan's lies are big
and grandiose and they're going to come with a blaring
(37:17):
brass horn, and yet they sneak in very subtly and
start corroding the believer's heart like, I can lose my salvation,
or I can get too far away from the grace
of Calvary, or I can commit some unpardonable sin and
therefore I'll never enter into heaven. I love the way
you walk us through these five truths, and the first
(37:39):
one that you say, you know this. This could be
bad theology, or it could be the work of the enemy.
And I think a maturing state has to recognize this
as the work of the enemy. You tell us that
God's love for us is not based on our performance.
Oh boy, is that a biggie in the church as
well as the world. But the church especially. Talk to
me about that.
S5 (37:58):
Yeah. So, you know, if it goes back to the
most believed lie that it has to do with my works,
you know, to get me into heaven, and that God
loves me when I'm doing well and he doesn't love
me when I'm doing poorly. And, Janet, I've been a
Christian long enough to know that there are ups and
downs in the Christian life. And there are times that
we're we're soaring spiritually, and there are times that things
(38:21):
are dry and the heavens seem like brass. And, um,
you know, our quiet times just seem God seems a
million miles away. And it's in those times we have
to We have to remember the truth. What does God say?
My pastor was the man shook when I was in Houston,
and he used to say, you know, even when I
don't feel good or feel close to the Lord, that
(38:44):
doesn't mean I'm not. I don't I don't walk by feelings.
I walk by faith. And I set my eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of faith. And so, uh, if
if my relationship with him is based on how well
I'm doing, uh, in terms of his love for me,
his acceptance of me, then it's then it's all about me.
(39:05):
And the Christian life is about us trusting the Lord.
Adrian Rogers used to say, the Christian life is not hard.
It's impossible. The only one who can live it is Jesus.
And so it's not about trying harder and gritting your teeth.
It's about just yielding to him, as we said in
our battle with the devil. Submit therefore to God. Resist
(39:27):
the devil, and he will flee from you. So as
we abide. John chapter 15. As we abide in him,
his life flows through us as we yield to the
Holy Spirit. Galatians five. Then we're able to, uh, not
succumb to the flesh. We're able to conquer in the
power of the Holy Spirit.
S1 (39:46):
Amen. Oh, this is such good stuff. So your second
truth kind of dovetails perfectly on the first one. And
that is, God's acceptance of you is not based on
your performance. How is that a distinction from the first truth?
S5 (39:59):
Okay. God's acceptance of you is not based on your
performance because, uh, Ephesians one six, we're accepted in the beloved.
So the moment that we accept Christ, he accepts us. And, uh,
and we're born into his family. Uh, you know, the
prodigal son says, uh, you know, I'm going to go
home and say to my father, father, I've sinned against
heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to
(40:21):
be called your son. Make me as one of your
hired men. Well, you didn't become his son by worth.
You became his son by birth. And so often we
feel like we're not worthy because we have sinned in
this way or that way or the other way. But
we have to remember our acceptance before God is based
on Jesus. It's not based on how well we are
(40:43):
walking out our Christian life. And so it's not a
he loves me and he loves me not. He loves me.
He loves me not. Like we did with the the
little flower petals when we were kids. About the girl
at school or in your case, the guy. But it's
not like that and so we can rest in his
love for us. Obviously when we blow it, we need
(41:04):
to come before the Lord, confess our sins to him,
agree with God, and receive an abundant pardon. Not a
partial pardon, but an abundant pardon. And so we can
walk with him and walk in the light with him.
S1 (41:17):
Amen. Truth number three God's forgiveness of your sins is
complete and total. And as I say these, I know
that people are going, whoa! I've been struggling with that. Well,
now you understand why he's called the liar. Okay, this
could be bad theology, but this is absolutely evidence of
the devil still prowling, seeking whom he may devour. He
doesn't want you to think that he will remember your
(41:39):
sins no more. He'll separate them from himself as far
as the East is from the West. So this idea
of being total and complete. I love to hear some
400 level theologians talk about the fact that, well, I
don't need to confess my sins, or I'm not sure
it's forever. And we could walk down that meandering trail,
but I want to know what the Word of God says.
How do I know? Completely and totally. I've been forgiven
(41:59):
when I confess my sins.
S5 (42:02):
Yeah, because he promises in first John one nine, if
we confess, if we homologeo believe, you know, agree with
God about our sins, and then God is faithful and righteous,
he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all A-l-l all unrighteousness. As David said,
I acknowledge my sin to you and my iniquity I
(42:23):
did not hide. I said, I will confess my transgressions
to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
And so, Janet, you know, you hear people talking about, well,
you have to forgive yourself. The Bible never says that.
But what the Bible does say is you have to
receive God's forgiveness. And, you know, it's not like God forgives.
(42:43):
And then my standard is higher than God. So I
have to forgive myself. No, you just have to receive
God's forgiveness completely and say, Lord, this is what you said.
And like the prostitute who wept at his feet, uh,
your sins have been forgiven. Your faith has saved you.
Go in peace. Don't go in guilt. Don't go in shame.
Don't hears. You're not Hester Prynne. Here's your scarlet a
(43:06):
go in peace because you've been forgiven.
S1 (43:09):
Wow. For God's will and ways are good. And his
grace is sufficient. Talk to me about that.
S5 (43:16):
Amen. Uh, well, his his ways are sufficient. His will
is right concerning everything. We don't have to be afraid
of God when we yield ourselves to his will for
our lives. That's when we find that it's good and
acceptable and perfect. It's tailor made for us. He made us.
He knows what's going to make us click and what's
(43:36):
going to make us go, and what's going to fill
our hearts with joy and peace and purpose.
S1 (43:41):
You know what's so wonderful about this part of the
conversation is that there's been a seismic shift from focusing
in on the great liar and deceiver himself, to the
majesty and the hope and the mercy and the grace
and the love that is ours, so readily available because
of Christ Himself. Truth number five God's Spirit will never
leave you, and he will faithfully lead you. Kick Satan
(44:02):
to the curb. Okay, that's why this book is so important.
You need to remember who God is, what he said,
what he has done in for and through you and
the wiles of the devil. He might be out there prowling.
His days are numbered. Jeff. It's a fabulous book. There's
so much more in it we didn't even get a
chance to discuss. The title is so wonderfully current The
Devil's Newsroom muting Satan's fake news and tuning into God's truth.
(44:25):
Thank you for a great book and a great conversation.
See you next time, friends!
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