When you turn back to 1 John
3, verse 10, I've entitled this message, Children
of God and Children of the Devil. And you see that from this verse
of scripture, verse 10. In this, the children of God
are manifest and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. That's kind of a shocking thing
to think about in a way, isn't it? Children of God and children
of the devil. We don't normally think of people
as actually being children of the devil, the devil's offspring. That's just not the way we think.
But when you look at humanity, there is such diversity. Now
there's a sense in which everybody's the same. We all came out of
Adam and there's just not much difference between anybody. But
it's also true that there's so much diversity among Adam's descendants,
some good and some bad. The amount of languages that
are spoken tells us something about the diversity and differences
between men. You know, the Bible, parts of
it at least, are translated into over 2,500 different languages. Now you think of all the different
cultures, the different religions, the different ways of thinking,
the different philosophies that are found in that many different
languages. And there are at least 6,900 languages known, and there are
probably more that we don't know anything about from different
tribes and so on. There are different races, there
are different ethnic groups, there are people in different
countries with different religions and different philosophies and
there's such a difference made by wealth or the lack thereof. Education or the lack thereof. Diversity can be good and diversity
can be bad too. Classes and so on. But with all the diversity, there
are still only two groups, children of God and children
of the devil. There are only two groups. And
you and I right now are in one of those two groups. We are either
a child of God or we are a child of the devil. And John, in this
verse of scripture, tells us what the difference between a
child of God and a child of the devil is. In verse 10, whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth
not his brother. Now, the child of God does righteousness. He loves his brother. The child
of the devil does not righteousness and does not love his brother. Now turn with me to Matthew chapter
13, because I want to show you what a issue this is in scripture
from this parable. Beginning in verse 24, Matthew chapter 13, verse 24.
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom
of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his
field. But while men slept, his enemy
came, and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung
up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. Now,
the tares looked just like the wheat. You couldn't really see
much difference between them as far as the outward appearance
goes. There was wheat and there was tares. And that's the way
any church service is. They're wheat and they're tares. They're children of God. and
they're children of the devil. That's a sobering thought, but
true nonetheless. Let's go on reading. Verse 27, so the servants of
the householder came and said unto him, sir, didst not thou
sow good seed in the field? From whence then hath it tears?
He saith unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servant said
unto him, wilt thou then that we go up and gather them up?
But he said, no, No, don't do that. Lest while you gather up
the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. Let them both
grow together until the harvest. And the time of harvest, I will
say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares and
bind them in bundles to burn them. But gather the wheat into
my barn. Look in verse 36. Same chapter. Then Jesus sent
the multitude away and went into the house, and his disciples
came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares
of the field. They didn't understand what the
significance of this parable was. Explain this to us. He answered
and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed, the gospel, is
the son of man. The field is the world, The good
seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the
children of the wicked one. Now we see this concept scriptural,
don't we? Children of the kingdom, children
of God, children of the wicked one, children of the devil. Verse
39, the enemy that sowed them is the devil. and the harvest
is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As
therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall
it be in the end of this world. The son of man shall send forth
his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things
that offend, and them which do iniquity, and cast them into
a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing, and gnashing of teeth,
then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
of their father. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear." Now here we see this concept. Our Lord brings in this parable
of this thing of children of the devil and children of God. Well, I want to be a child of
God, don't you? I do not want to be a child of the devil. And
I'm so thankful for this parable. I love the way the Lord said
in this parable, when they said, you want us to get rid of the
tares? He said, no, let them both alone.
Let them grow together. You see, me and you, for the
most part, don't have the sense to know who's the wheat and who's
the tares. And we would end up pulling up
the wheat. He said, don't do it. Don't do
it. I'm thankful for this parable,
aren't you? Don't do it. You don't have, and I don't have,
the sense to know who the tare is and who the wheat is. I mean,
sometimes it seems pretty apparent, but sometimes it's not. And the
counsel is let them alone. Don't try to pull up the tares.
I'm so thankful for that. But in this assembly, their tares
and their wheat, their children of God and their children of
the devil, and judgment day will clearly show which. And I love this back to our text
in 1 John chapter 3. Verse 10, in this the children
of God are manifest and the children of the devil, whosoever doeth
not righteousness. is not of God, that's a child
of the devil, neither he that loveth not his brother. Now turn to John chapter 8 for
a moment. John chapter 8. Beginning in verse 30, John chapter
8. As he spake these words, many
believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, this group of many, if you continue in my
word, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the
truth. And the truth shall make you
free. Now, let me remind you, it's
not your knowledge of the truth that makes you free. It's the
truth himself. He is the truth. And the only
way you and I will ever be free is if the truth makes us free. And the Lord gives this promise,
you shall know the truth. There's no freedom, there's no
liberty apart from the truth. And the truth shall make you
free. What a promise. Verse 33, then
they answered him, we be Abraham's seed and were never in bondage
to any man. How sayest thou you shall be
made free? Now, how ignorant. They were in bondage to Rome
at that time. They were the tributaries of
Rome, and they were under complete bondage when they said that.
Yet what an arrogant statement. We've never been in bondage to
any man. How sayest thou you shall be
made free? Jesus answered them, Verily I say unto you, Whosoever
commiteth sin, is the slave of sin. What's that mean? Exactly what
it says. If you commit sin, sin is your
Lord and sin is your master. Anyone who commits sin is the
slave, is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in
the house forever, but the son Now if the Son therefore shall
make you free, the only way you and I are ever going to be free
from sin is if the Son makes us free. If the Son makes you
free, you shall be free indeed. Now I know, verse 37, that you're
Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me because my word hath
no place in you. I speak that which I've seen
with my father, and you do that which you've seen with your father. Now see, he speaks of two different
fathers. He speaks of my father, I do
that which I've seen of my father, and you do that which you've
seen of your father. Verse 39. They answered and said
unto him, Abraham's our father, Jesus. say unto them, if you
were Abraham's children, you'd do the works of Abraham. You'd do what he did. You wouldn't
be doing what you did. You're seeking to kill me. They
hated him. They hated him. They didn't like what he was
saying. Turn with me for a moment to Genesis chapter 18. I want us to see about these
children of Abraham. They claim to be children of
Abraham. He said, if you were, if you were, you do what Abraham
did. So obviously you're not true children of Abraham. Look
in Genesis chapter 18. This is when the Lord is getting
ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And he says in verse 17, and
the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?
Speaking of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, seeing that Abraham
shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I know him, that
he will command his children and his household after him,
and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment,
that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken
of him. Now, do you see that passage of scripture? His descendants
are going to do justice and judgment. Now his physical descendants
were the wickedest bunch of people you'll ever come across. I mean
you look at his grandsons, his great-grandsons, Reuben and Unstable
as Water. They were bad people. If you
look at the children of Israel, the children of Israel were disobedient,
unbelieving, idolatrous people. So when he's speaking of Abraham
commanding his children, he's talking about his spiritual children.
You see, Abraham is the father of the faithful. A child of Abraham
is a believer. Look in Galatians chapter 3.
I want you to see this so you understand what the Lord is saying
to these people. Galatians chapter 3. The whole idea of a Jew. Believers are Jews. You're looking
at a Jew. I'm a true Jew. He is a Jew which
is not one outwardly, but one inwardly. Whose circumcision
is that of the heart, not the letter. Whose praise is not of
men, but of God. Now look at this scripture in
Galatians chapter 3. Verse 26, For ye are all the children of
God, by faith in Christ Jesus. That's
what a child of God is. He's someone who looks to Christ
only. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ to
put on Christ, there's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither
bond nor free. There's neither male nor female.
For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ,
then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
Now these people were saying, we're Abraham's seed. Abraham's our father. And the
Lord says, If he was, you'd do the works of Abraham. Now turn
back to John chapter 8. Verse 40. But now, John 8, 40. But now you seek to kill me,
a man that has told you the truth. which I've heard of God, this
did not Abraham. Now, you know when people find
out that they hate Christ? When they hear the truth. That's
when men find out what they really think about God, when they hear
the truth. Do you love God? Well, of course
I do. Well, let me tell you what he's like. He's absolutely sovereign. He's the first cause of all things.
You're in his hands and your salvation's up to him. I mean,
he can save you or he can pass you by. I don't love that God.
I know you don't. I know you don't. Men's hatred of God comes
out when they hear the truth. He said, you seek to kill me
because I tell you the truth. This did not Abraham, verse 41,
you do the deeds of your father. They said unto him, we be not
born of fornication. We have one father, even God.
God's our father. Jesus saith unto them, if God
were your father, you would love me. I love the simplicity of
that. If God were your father, you
claim he is. If God were your father, you'd
love me. You'd love my person. You'd love who I am. You'd love
my attributes. You'd love my sovereignty. You'd
love my holiness. You'd love my justice. You'd
love my power. You'd love my word. You'd love
my words. You'd love my righteousness as
your only righteousness before God. You'd love my precious blood
that makes you perfect before God. You'd love my intercession. You'd love my reign and rule
at the right hand of the Father. Oh, you'd love my return if God
were your Father. You'd love me. Now this is what
all of God's children have in common. Every one of them love
the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't love him as they ought
to love him, and everybody knows that. We ought to love him more
than we do, and it's a shame that we even have to say something
like that. But concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, every believer
loves him, and we wouldn't change him if it were in our power.
We love him just the way he is, just as it was revealed in the
scripture. He says, if God were your father, you'd love me. Verse 42, for I proceeded forth
and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. He's the sent one. Verse 43. Why do you not understand my
speech? Because you can't. You lack the ability. You cannot,
you are unable to hear my word. Do you know that you will not
and I will not understand anything in the gospel unless he's pleased
to make it known. It's just beyond us. You cannot
hear my word. Now look what he says in verse
44. And how would they have felt
when he said this? You are of your father the devil. You know, I think when he spoke
to those people in Matthew chapter 23, he said, you snakes, you
generation of vipers. And this is what he's referring
to them being children of the devil. And he says to these people,
you are of your father, the devil and the lusts of your father,
you will do. And he points out three things
about Satan. He was a murderer from the beginning.
He abode not in the truth because there's no truth in him. And
when he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own for he is a liar and
the father of her. Now here is the family likeness
that all children of the devil have with him. First, he says
he's a murderer. He's a murderer from the beginning.
And John tells us later on in first John chapter three, that
to hate your brother is to be a murderer. This is what all
of his children have in common. He's a murderer. And then it
says, he abode not in the truth. You know something an unbeliever
cannot do is abide in the truth, abide in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They can't do it. I mean, they might seem to be there for a
while, but they're not going to stay there. They're going
to leave. He said he could not abide in the truth. And then
he says, he's a liar. He's a liar and the father of
it. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own. Remember how
he lied to our first parents in the Garden of Eden? And this
is his method of operation, lies. Now let me ask you a question.
Do you ever lie? Do you ever lie? Well, if the
answer to that is yes, you know what that makes you? A liar. Simple enough. Somebody says,
I can't take it that far. You mean my character is that
of a liar? Yeah, yeah. But what if I've only lied once?
That makes you a liar. What if you only murdered somebody
once? That makes you a murderer. What if you only robbed a bank
once? Well, that makes you a robber.
And if you lie, a liar. This is, oh, what an evil thing
lies are. And Satan is the father of lies. Now let's go on reading. You're
of your father the devil, the less of your father you'll do.
He was a murderer from the beginning. He abode not in the truth because
there's no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And I think
of the natural man, I think of myself. What do I think of myself? I'm a liar. I'm a liar. I always present something that's
not totally true. You do too. Somebody says I'm
always honest. You just lied right then. There's no such thing as that.
And what I thought of when I was thinking about this is there
in Romans chapter 1 where it says they held down the truth
in unrighteousness. They heard the truth and they
held it down in unrighteousness because they didn't like what
they heard. We don't like a God like that,
therefore we'll change Him to be like unto a creature, a forfeited
beast and creeping things. We'll change the truth of God
into a lie and worship the creature rather than the Creator who is
blessed forever. That's what men do. They don't
like what they hear, so they hold it down, change the truth
of God. It's called a lie. That's all
men by nature, liars. They lie about themselves and
they never take a place as a sinner before God. They know nothing
of honesty before God. Now let's go on reading verse
45. And because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? Not one of you can. And if I say the truth, why don't
you believe me? Here's the reason. He that's
of God, heareth God's words. Now I'm either of God or the
devil. He that's of God, heareth God's words. You therefore hear
them not because you are not of God. And this is everybody's
response, verse 48. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast
a devil. You're the one demon possessed
saying things like that. That was their response to the
Lord. Now go back to our text. And
you see how clearly this concept is taught in the scriptures that
there are children of the God and there are children of the
devil. Now look what John says is the difference between the
two. Verse 10, in this the children of God are manifest and the children
of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. Now what
is this thing of doing righteousness? Good question, isn't it? What
is meant by doing righteousness? I can tell you exactly what is
meant by doing righteousness. Keeping the law perfectly. You know, it kills me the way
these scriptures in 1 John 3 are presented. Well, that means the
tenor of your life is righteousness, and you practice righteousness,
and you might mess up some, but the tenor of your life is righteousness.
No, no, if you have any sin at all, you can't say the tenor
of your life is righteousness. That's being dishonest before
God and dishonest with the scripture. The doing of righteousness is
the keeping of the law. Sin is the transgression of the
law in the very context of this. Look in verse 4. Whosoever commit
a sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression
of the law. And you know that he was manifested
to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth
not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous,
even as Jesus Christ is righteous. That's how righteous that one
is who doeth righteousness. He that, verse eight, he that
commits sin is the devil. For the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that
he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin. For his seed, the seed of God,
remains in him, that new nature, and he cannot sin, he lacks the
ability to sin, because he's born of God. In this the children
of God are manifested, and the children of the devil. Whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth
not his brother. Now, this gives us the true nature
of justification. Justification is not some certificate
or some declaration that says I'm not guilty even though I
still am. Everybody here your conscience
will not accept that. Well God says I'm justified but
I know I'm really still sinful. You know there are people right
now in Lexington Kentucky who stand before the law justified. The law has nothing to say against
them, but yet they've committed crimes that nobody knows about. Now, they stand before the law
not guilty, but they still have sin that nobody knows anything
about, crimes that nobody knows anything about. They're just
before the law. They have a legal standing before
the law. But you and I both know that that's not right before
God. There are men who have gone before
juries and the juries have found them not guilty and the law declares
them to be justified. Maybe through the missing evidence,
or the mistake of the jury, or some slick lawyer being able
to find some way to make them stand before God perfect, or
I mean before the law perfect and righteous. But you and I
know that that's not real. You know that statement, justification,
just as if I never sinned. That's a farce, because you still
sinned. Justification means you never
sinned. You never transgressed God's
holy law. You've always been perfect and righteous before
God. I want us, by the grace of God,
to feed on that. No sin. No sin. just before God, righteous
before God. I've always kept God's holy law. Now when God justifies you, you
are just. When God justifies you, you never
sinned. You're a doer of righteousness. Look what it says, whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God. Let me show you one passage
of scripture in Matthew chapter three. Now all these preachers and people
and commentaries that deal with this passage as well, he doesn't
practice sin. Sin's not the bend and tenor
of his life. If he's born of God, he's gonna
have a good life. I'm all for a good life, but
that has nothing to do with what that passage of Scripture's saying.
It's just not what it's teaching. Look at Matthew chapter three,
verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to
be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying,
I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it be so now, for
thus it becometh us. Us. You know, I'm one of those
us's he's talking about. All of God's elect, every believer,
Thus it becometh us to fulfill, how much righteousness? All righteousness. Now when Jesus Christ fulfilled
all righteousness, he did it as an us. And every single believer
fulfilled all righteousness. Now this is also, remember there's
only one righteousness is. This is also talking about the
actions of the new birth. He that's born of God, the new
man, doth not commit sin. He can't sin. His seed, God's
seed remains in him. This new man is incapable of
sin. Now, here's the problem we have
with that. That doesn't line up with my
experience. I see this in the Word of God.
It says, he that's born of God doth not commit sin. And this just doesn't line up
with my experience. I can't get a hold of this. Well,
the reason being is we're one man, we're two men with one consciousness. What do I mean by that? Well,
here's a very simple illustration. When you go to the sink, the
kitchen sink, I dare say you have one faucet. It used to be
they'd have two faucets, a hot one and a cold one. But for the
most part, you only have one faucet, one faucet. And there's
hot water on one side and cold water on the other. They're totally
different, but they come out of that same faucet, don't they?
You have one consciousness. And the new man comes through
him, the old man comes through him. And that's why it's so hard
to get a hold of this thing of, well, I see it, yeah, I know
you do, and I do too. But every believer has two separate
natures, a holy nature and a wicked nature. I'm gonna talk more about
that Sunday night. I wanna bring a message on that.
But the point is, not only did we really do righteousness when
Christ did, I have perfect righteousness. I've kept the law. I don't have
any sin. I've never disobeyed God's commandments because if
Christ didn't, I didn't either. Now, believe it. That's all I
can say about that. Believe it. That's so hard to
grasp. Believe it. You can't grasp it.
Just believe it. This is the gospel. I'm not asking
you to understand this, but I'm asking you to believe it. It's
the truth. It's what God's word teaches. And I have a holy, righteous
nature. And you know, it's that holy
nature that sees the sin and that owns the sin. A man without
a holy nature doesn't even understand what sin is. He looks at it all
as behavioral. He doesn't see the reality of
the depths of his own sinfulness because he doesn't have a holy
nature. And if somebody hears him talk, then what's wrong with
you? Boy, you need to get a better attitude about yourself. You're
so negative. Well, you don't understand. A believer understands. Neither,
back to our text, and this is the children of God
are manifested and the children of the devil, whosoever doeth
not righteousness is not of God. Those who are of God do righteousness.
They do righteousness. This is not righteousness is
the bent and tenor of their life. It's absolute perfect righteousness. They keep God's law all the time. Because if Christ did, I did
too. And we have a righteous nature that does not commit sin. That's what the Bible says. And
it gives another example. Neither he that loveth not his
brother. The love of the brethren is an
evidence that a child of the devil is incapable of. Now, he
can love his wife. She can love her husband. He
can love his children. He can love his country. He can
love his friends. And I'm thankful for these human loves. But the
kind of love that John's talking about, a child of the devil cannot
perform. Look in 1 John chapter 4. Beloved, verse seven. Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone
that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God, for God is love. And you see, he that loveth,
every one of them, they're born of God. Now, what is this love
of the brethren? Well, who are the brethren? The brethren are
the ones who have the same father. It's that simple. They're the
ones who have the same father. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. The brethren are those who are
eternally united to Christ. Moreover, those he predestinated
to be, how does it go? Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. The writer of the Hebrews says
in Hebrews 3, 1, wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling. Now, every brother loves every
brother. It doesn't have to be taught.
It comes natural. It's the love of the Spirit,
which is the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love.
What is the evidence that the Lord gave in John chapter 13?
By this shall all men know you're my disciples, by your love one
toward another. And it's that love that's expressed
in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Go home and read it sometime
this week. It's a beautiful chapter. But
all of God's people, all of God's children, they do righteousness. That's true in justification.
That's how real justification is. I don't have any sin. I've
never died. I've never broken God's law. You know, that's the
only thing that satisfies my conscience. Nothing else does.
But that said, I stand faultless before God's law because when
Christ kept it, I did too. And I have a nature given to
me in the new birth, that which is born of God that does not
commit sin. There's righteousness. And those
who have this nature, the reason they love is because they're
born of God. Now that's something that cannot be duplicated. Only a believer can do this.
because he is born of God. And the two kinds of people in
this world, children of God and children of the devil. And you
know, if you would ask most people who are children of the devil,
they wouldn't know it. They wouldn't think they're children
of the devil. They'd say, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in
your name? And in your name, have we not
Cast out demons, and in your name have we not done many wonderful
works. They wouldn't think of themselves
as children of the devil, but it's very evident in the scripture
that there are only two kinds of people, children of God and
children of the devil. Now let me leave you with this
thought. Turn to 1 John chapter 3 verse 23. And this, verse 23, and this
is his commandment. That we should believe on the
name of his son, Jesus Christ. And love one another as he gave
us commandment. Now this is what no unbeliever,
no child of the devil could ever do. Simply believe on the name
of his son. And always have to add something
to it. They can't believe, they can't rest that His name is everything
in salvation. He saves for His namesake. And
He is all in salvation. An unbeliever can never simply
trust Christ alone. Can't do it. But a believer can
because he doesn't have anywhere else to go. He doesn't have anything
else to trust. That's all he's got. Every believer's
like that. And every child of God loves
God's people. You see, if God loves them, if
they're loved by Christ, we can't help but love God's people. Children of God and children
of the devil. I tell you, I don't want to be
a child of the devil. Lord, cause me to be your child through faith
in your Son. Let's pray. Lord, we know that by nature we're no different than any child
of the devil. Lord, we really believe that
in and of ourselves we're as bad as Satan himself. But Lord,
how amazed we are that you've made us through thy son, your
own dear children. Lord, enable us to walk as thy
children. We know the world will not be
impressed with that. The world won't know us, won't
recognize us. But Lord, we don't care what
the world thinks. We care what you think. And we
ask that you would enable us to believe the gospel, to believe
on the name of thy son, and enable us to love one another as you've
given us commandment. Bless this word for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.