Gospel according to John chapter 8. We're going to be in verses 37 through 47. You should have a little insert in your bulletin too. I gave you all our verses today and our proof text as well. This is a heavy one today. The title of the sermon is called, The Devil's Descendants. The Devil's Descendants. So starting in verse 37, the gospel according to John chapter 8. Hear now the inspired and inerrant word of the living God. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, yet you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with my father, therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father. They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father. They said to him, we were not born of fornication. We have one father, God. Jesus said to them, if God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God. For I have not even come on my own initiative, but He sent me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not hear them, because you are not of God." Thus ending the reading of God's incredible, amazing word. Let's pray, church, before we begin. Lord, You know I need you today. Lord, help me to speak by your spirit. Lord, use me today. Edify your people, encourage your people, teach your people. God, as always, please don't let this simply be data or information. Let it be the words of transformation. God, help us to have these things sit within us and in our hearts and our minds that we ponder them and consider them and be changed by them. Lord, these are hard truths. Please teach us as a loving father does to your children. I pray this in the righteous name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. You know, for some people, their ancestry, their heritage is very important to them. If a child didn't grow up with their father, they often want to find out about that father more later in life. Sometimes you have an adopted child wanting to look into the blood relations from which they came. Maybe you're just generally curious. You want to learn more about your ancestry. I remember for myself, It was maybe about five, six, seven, I don't know, years ago. I was very interested in when my grandfather, great-grandfather, had come to America. James Milziadei Orsini was born March 6, 1893 in Procedi, a province of the city Latina in Italy. It was roughly 60 miles southeast of Rome. And his father, my great-great-grandfather Pietro, which is actually Peter, Peter Orsini, was only 18 when he had my great-grandfather James. And it's interesting to see the history of the Orsini family. And apparently they had feuds with other families in Italy. There was power struggles, things like that. Strange stuff, I'm telling you. The Orsini family had five different popes. In it, the Orsini family has had 34 Roman Catholic cardinals. And I pray, of course, that somehow these men and their families experience the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think I'm going to get a t-shirt that says a proud Protestant Orsini or something like that. That's a lot of Roman Catholicism there. But you got to break the chain somewhere, right? So I don't say these things to put a spotlight on me or my family or anything like that. These things of course are interesting, but they add no bearing on how I live my life. My life is for Christ. And my allegiance is to Him alone. I have a new family. Others may find great significance through their ancestry and hope that knowing who their original patriarch was, that they may find more meaning in this life. Who, where did I come from? Who am I? And we're looking at it in all the wrong places. But this world was built on families. The world is full of families. All people, except Adam and Eve, came from an existing family. We're all connected to family, in one way or the other. Even if you find a man who lives alone, he's a total hermit, he lives out in the middle of nowhere. Man came from a family. We all do. But as far as Scripture goes, we're going to see Jesus define humanity into two families here. Only two. Everyone, all people, according to Jesus here in this context, are in one of these two families. God's family or the devil's family. And so let's consider that in our text. The characteristics of these two families and how one may enter a new family. Starting in verse 37, Jesus says, I know that you are Abraham's descendants, yet you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. And so Jesus has continued this dialogue with a mixed crowd of Jews. Some have said that they believe Him. Some are against Him. And He acknowledges their statement from earlier. They are descendants of Abraham, sure, according to blood. However, faith dissent, or spiritual dissent, is more real and valid to Jesus than physical dissent. Paul will later confirm this in Romans 2, verse 28-29. Paul says, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. And his praise is not from men, but from God. And so these Jews considered their freedom wrapped up in this covenantal status, this heritage, this blessed parentage. Yet, they seek to kill Jesus. Surely, the descendants of Abraham would recognize the long prophesied Messiah who would be the righteous seed and the true Son in whom all the nations would be blessed, but they don't. They don't. They don't recognize Him. Instead, they want to murder Him. The seed, lowercase s, is trying to kill the seed, uppercase S. The seed is trying to kill the seed, Lord Jesus. This very action is seeking to cut them off from what they've always hoped for. That's what's crazy. It's suicidal in a sense. And Jesus tells them why they want to kill Him. He says, Your Word, My Word, has no place in you. And you remember from last week, remaining, abiding, continuing in Christ's Word. Well, they can't continue in His Word, because it has no place in them. This word in the Greek, koreo, means to make an advance in movement. To make progress in something. Jesus' Word has no movement in them. It makes no progress in them. They don't even have ears to hear. His Word doesn't remain in them. It doesn't take up residence in them. This reminds me of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. Here's Jesus' explanations of the different soils. Hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no firm root in himself. It is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the Word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil. This is the man who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and brings forth some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." You see, these people have no firm root. They are exposed to God's Word all the time, but it takes no root in them. I mean, they read it as a living. They go before synagogue. They're exposed to it. But it's snatched away. It's scorched. I suppose it begs the question for us listening, does God's Word move in you? Does it make progress in you? Are you being changed by what you read and hear from the Holy Writings? I bet it does. That's how powerful it is. And the Word making progress in us will undoubtedly make progress in every part of us. It touches everything. The words of the gospel penetrated our stony hearts and gave us a new fleshly heart by His Spirit. And it started to beat for Him. That's movement, progress, transformation, real change. And according to the parable of the sower, it begins then a life of bearing fruit. Go to verse 38. I speak the things which I have seen with my Father. Therefore, you also do the things which you heard from your Father." Jesus has stated this multiple times before in chapters 7 and 8. He doesn't speak alone. He speaks with His Father and for His Father. The Triune God speaks as one voice. This also demonstrates, once again, Jesus affirming His deity. He is from heaven. He's not from earth. He has seen things with His Father, and He speaks those things. He has seen His Father speak, even though the Bible says the Father is invisible. Jesus knows things no human, no angel, or any creature has ever seen or been privy to. And aside from these things, Jesus is also going to draw a line between His divine origin, and His lineage, and the people's true lineage. Jesus' nature, His words, His conduct, His life, demonstrates His paternity. Jesus' life demonstrates He's from the Father. And they are ignorant, though. They do the things that their Father does. They don't know the Son's true Father. They don't even realize their own Father, in a sense. They do the things which they have heard from Him. They follow right after their Father. And do you see this? Jesus' Word makes no progress or place in them, but their Father's Word does. So Jesus says, My Word has no place in you. My Word makes no progress in you, because you don't do the things that I tell you to do. Continue in my word. But then we see they do though other things. And what other things do they do? They do the things of their father. So they don't listen to God. They listen to someone else. The question is, who is Jesus talking about? Who is their father? And so they'll answer in 39. They're starting to pick up on this paternity challenge. And they go, Abraham. Abraham's our father. And Jesus says to them, if you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. Back to Abraham. They believe they are heirs of the kingdom. The holy and special covenant people of God. They believe they are the direct manifestation of the promises God made to Abraham. They are the many descendants of Abraham. But they've completely missed Jesus' allusion to a different father. He's not alluding to Abraham. He's alluding to a father of a far worse kind. Even John the Baptist recognized this with these sort of Jews. When he rebuked them in Matthew 3.9, John the Baptist said, And do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. So don't think you're all special. God could take a rock and make it his child. Jesus makes it clear. The children of a father do what their father has done. Children follow after their father in many ways. And Abraham was a faith-filled and devout man of God. Abraham was sensitive to the words of God. He had a heart for God. They don't. If they were Abraham's children, then they would do the deeds of Abraham. Abraham looked ahead, right? He had faith in the promise of the Messiah. The blessed seed would come and it would impact all the nations. This is what Abraham thought. Heaven would touch down to earth and things would never be the same. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. But they are not like father Abraham. They either have been looking ahead to a Messiah of their own desires, a Messiah for their own selfish purposes, to use as a pawn for their own kingdom-building purposes, or in their own self-righteousness, they have no room in their hearts to worship anyone except for themselves. Right? What's interesting is if you pay attention to the text, There are two words that have been used by Jesus to demonstrate some distinction in John 8. Seed and children. Seed and children. What am I trying to say? The Jews are the seed of Abraham in one sense, but they're not the children of Abraham in another. That's what Jesus says. One is a natural function and the other is of a spiritual and higher function. and significance. Much of John 7 was Jesus pointing to the spiritual realities of things. Do you remember? He said, don't judge by appearance, judge with righteous judgment. He says, don't judge by the flesh. He kept admonishing them. You're thinking about the flesh. Think about the spiritual. And it's once again, the same thing. Not being the children will then remove someone's seed status. If you're not a child of God, then you're not a child of Abraham, and ultimately then, for eternity, you're not the true seed. We see that here, and especially in Romans and Galatians. In the end, it's always been being a part of Christ's family, God's family. That's what's been important. Now look at verse 40, Jesus continues, but as it is, you are seeking to kill me. A man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God, this Abraham did not do. Their actions betray their heritage. Their actions betray the heritage they've laid claim to. In this mixed crowd of people, I'm sure some are confused by that, but undoubtedly, Jesus knows the future, and the majority of people will shout on that fateful day, what? Crucify Him. Crucify Him. And what is His crime that makes Him worthy of death? Simply telling the truth. Because He told the truth. The truth which He heard directly from the Father, They are just like their ancestors. What does he say in Matthew 23? He says, you've stoned the prophets. You've killed the ones sent to you. He gives them those woes, not listening and heeding the words of truth at the time of their visitation. Think about it. You often hear people say, if only God could give me a sign. If only God could open up the heavens and tell me what to do, I'd do it. God, just tell me what to do. Right? And most of these people, actually, if God literally came down, just like these Jews, I'm not trying to say that we would do it. We wouldn't. If God came down without being saved, without a new heart, we wouldn't want to accept or hear what God has to say. That's just the reality. And that's often what those type of people... God, give me a sign. Tell me what to do. Those are the type of people that honestly, they don't want to hear what God's Word says. They don't want to hear it. Paul tells Timothy, people want their ears tickled. They want to find for them preachers who are going to give them messages that they want to hear, not what they need to hear from this Word. That's the reality of it. And they want to kill him for it. They want to kill Jesus for telling the truth. It goes to show that we can expect opposition when we speak the truth of God's Word. Don't be surprised when you speak the truth and people hate you for it. That's just the reality of it. It's not a welcome message to the world. Jesus says, even Abraham didn't do this, by the way. You see, Abraham didn't want to murder God. You say, what are you talking about? There were several theophanies during Abraham's life. A theophany is a theological term that simply means an appearance of God, a physical manifestation of God. And since scripture speaks emphatically to the father being invisible, never have been seen before by men, we can deduce That every time it says that Yahweh, the Lord, appeared in the Old Testament, we believe that that was possibly, most likely, the Son of God before His coming to earth. He manifested Himself. Because it says that the Lord appeared to Abraham and Sarah. He appeared to them. Who is that? Is that the Father? We believe it's the pre-incarnate Christ, the Son of God. With what the author of Hebrews says about Jesus being the only one who occupies the eternal office of Melchizedek. He's the only one who has that office. Then the author of Hebrews kind of alludes to the fact that Melchizedek in Genesis was possibly the pre-incarnate Christ. That is to say it was a theophany. It was the Son of God manifest on earth. And so with that in mind, if we think that maybe this is the pre-incarnate Christ in these moments before Abraham, then it's like Jesus is saying this, I've come down from heaven before, I've appeared before Abraham, I've given Abraham the words from the Father, I've given Abraham truth, and he didn't seek to kill me for it like you do. I've come before. I've appeared before Abraham. Abraham listened and heeded my words. But you do the opposite. And it's for a reason. We're going to see that shortly. Look at verse 41. Do you hear rain? Am I tripping? I preached twice for another church this morning. So I'm feeling, I'm starting to feel it. Lord, help me. Okay. Verse 41, You are doing the deeds of your Father. They said to Him, We were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God. And so, if you've noticed, all throughout John, The prologue, when we went over it, the prologue, John chapter 1 has been almost a template for the rest of the gospel. John has been alluding back to the prologue this whole time, and he's doing the same thing now. If you remember John chapter 1 verse 12 and 13, remember, He gave many the right to become the children of God, not born of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. He gave many the right to become children of God. It's not that you were born with the right. He gave you the right. He made you a child of God. And so we're starting to see the distinction that John laid out of the true children and the false children. And the Jews begin to pick up what Jesus is trying to emphasize. Jesus has been doing this paternity challenge on these Jews. And so, in a way, Jesus makes them out to be spiritual bastards. It's bastardization. And so what they say, this is not the best translation in the NASB 95, we were born of fornication. What that should say, what it's trying to convey is, we are not illegitimate children. We are not illegitimate children. Now some have speculated When they say that, when the Jews respond that way, we are not illegitimate children. Some have thought that instead of defending themselves, they're actually mocking Jesus. How? Maybe they've done a little homework. Maybe they're trying to say, we are not born illegitimately like you, Jesus of Nazareth. Because maybe they've heard and learned that his mother Mary was pregnant before she even consummated in marriage. In her betrothal period to Joseph, she was already pregnant. And what they wouldn't know is that was miraculously done by the Holy Spirit upon this virgin woman. She was a virgin. And so it could be like the Jews are saying, how are you questioning us about our father? Who's your real father? Jesus of Nazareth. Now we can't know that they're doing that simply by the text. It's a possibility. They could just simply be defending themselves or they could be mocking Jesus. I can't say one or the other, but it's an interesting prospect. And so if Abraham isn't their father, they're going to one-up Jesus. They're one-uppers. They state that they have one Father, God. God is our Father. And what makes this so atrocious, something they are too blind to see, is that since children do, here it is, since children do as the Father does, And if the children want to murder Jesus, then they're saying, when they say their Father is God, they're in essence saying the Father wants to murder Jesus. The Father wants to commit evil acts. Of course, they unintentionally imply that. But we know there is no unrighteousness in God. He is perfectly pure and holy. I didn't even bring a proof text, because the whole of the Bible testifies to that. There are so many verses that talk about the righteousness of God. And even then, general revelation demonstrates the goodness and righteousness of God. And so, Of course, they wouldn't understand the association I just made. And they recall when the Lord declared Israel his firstborn. Exodus 4, I am Israel's father, Jeremiah 319. So there's been some language in the Old Testament where God has said, I'll be as a father to them. And so that's what they say. Our father is God. One commentator says of this, Jesus' description of His adversaries as children of a foreign father would be, to their minds, the most offensive accusation He could advance against them. You see, you're not of Abraham. Huge offense. You're not of God. We want to kill you for saying that. You're going to say we're not of God? Unthinkable. But what's crazy is Jesus is so legit, He won't even stop right here. He'll keep going. He'll heighten it. Verse 42, Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love Me. For I proceeded forth and have come from God. For I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. So their secret weapon was, Heavenly Father. Boom. Can't get us on that. God's our Father. But Jesus shows them that their actions betray against God Himself. And not only God, but Abraham. Your actions show that Abraham is not your father. And your actions show that the Father, the Heavenly Father, is not your father. It doesn't matter if God declared to be their father, or that Abraham is their father according to descent. Jesus makes it clear that those things won't benefit a single person if they don't have faith in God. If God truly were their father, murder would not be in their hearts. They would not be rejecting the Messiah. They would be welcoming Him. If God were actually their father, He says what? You would love Me. That's His test. That's His test. They would love the Messiah. They would rejoice at His arrival. They would worship Him. But they don't. We've seen the Jewish leaders hate Jesus. They plot to kill Jesus. They've sought to capture Him and subdue Him. They've sent temple police officers after Him. And I just find that so fascinating that Jesus doesn't say, you would obey Me, you would have allegiance to Me. He says, you would love Me. He says, love. If God were your Father, you would love Me. He says, at the core of it all, do they love God and do they love His Son? And the allegiance and the obedience will be wrapped up in that love. That's probably why the Apostle John said later in one of his letters that God had to love us first before we loved Him. If they don't love the Son, they don't know the Father, and therefore God must be the Father to the spiritual Israel and not a physical one. While God loved humanity enough to send His one and only Son, it was for that same reason, sending His Son, that they hate Him. For in the way that God loved, they hate Him. He sent His Son. Preceded forth, by the way, can confuse some people, unless you look at the Greek. Preceded forth from God is not talking about Jesus' being, or that He was derived out of the Father, or something strange like that. That would disregard, of course, all the passages of His eternality, that He has had being from eternity past. He has never not been. So, exerkamai, is made up of two words, out of or from and came or arrived. It's speaking about leaving a place and arriving to a new place. That is to say, proceeded forth and came from God means Jesus was dwelling with the Father. He left the abode in which He dwelt with the Father and He came to earth. That's what that means. He comes from God as God. It's like He's saying, if God were really your Father, you would love anyone and anything that came from that Father. He says, I am from the Father. I am divine. God is my Father. And I come from our dwelling in heaven. We planned my arrival. And He sent me. And if you truly are the people of God, you would love me, the Son of God. But he says in verse 43, why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. And so Jesus isn't unaware of why they don't understand what he is saying. It's a rhetorical question. He says it's because they cannot hear his word. It's not that they're deaf, or hard of hearing, or something like that. It's because they cannot hear it. They don't have the capacity. They can't comprehend. They can't understand. He means despite hearing, they cannot hear. Hearing must be met with regenerative faith, and then hearing and understanding God, and His Word will be wrought in a person. But now we go to the climax of the text. The paternity test is finally in. Go to verse 44. I don't know why it kind of reminds me of one of those judge shows. You are not the father. Why don't I just think of that? The paternity test is in. This is heavy. You are of your father, the devil. and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." So Jesus has now said one of the most offensive statements in the Gospels hands down. The devil is their father. It's honestly no wonder what happens at the end of chapter 8. You'll see. But he's revealed who their father is. It's not Abraham. It's not God. Their father is the devil. The diabolos, the slanderer, the liar, the accuser, the adversary, the Satan, the serpent, the enemy, the evil one. The devil. And listen, the devil is not God's arch enemy who has always been here. Okay? He was once Lucifer. He was an angel that God created. And this angel aspired for more glory than the God who made him. And so he was cast out of heaven and away from the presence of God. And although in futility, the devil seeks to thwart God's sovereign plans. In turmoil, because it's all in vain. But he seeks to rebel. In fact, that is one of the biggest characteristics of Satan. Rebellion. Rebellion against the Lord Almighty. And he seeks others to join in his rebellion. He uses other creatures as pawns to do it. He is of this world, the evil of this existence. He is, as the Scriptures say, the prince of the power of the air. He is the God of this world. Always working in the sons of disobedience. These Jews are of their father, the devil. And here's the thing. They want to do the desires of their father, he said. They want to do the desires of their Father. As much as Christ was from the abode of His Father, commissioned by His Father, and sent by His Father, always in connection with His Father, always doing what pleases His Father, always speaking what His Father has spoken to Him, so do the slaves of sin do to their Father. They do exactly the opposite, but they're for their Father, the devil. You see, the very first one to have the desire to rebel against God. To lie, to be jealous, and to be envious, to want to commit murder. The very first one to desire these things was Satan. You see, the devil robbed Adam and Eve of spiritual life, and it resulted in spiritual death. Romans 5.12, Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin. And so death spread to all men because all sinned. And so when the Jews do these things, they follow after the example of their father. In fact, anyone who does such sin follows the example of the first one who did them, Satan. These things are not from God. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, they ultimately chose the false word of the devil opposed to the true word of God. By their actions, they picked a new master, they picked a new father, and in some ways, when they did that, they picked a new God. Thank the Lord for His redemption. Jesus then gives us some insight on the nature of the devil. It says, regarding the devil, he was a murderer from the beginning. Literally in the Greek, murderer here is two words, man, anthropos, and killer. Satan is a man killer. He wants to see men die, men and women die. He doesn't want them to have eternal life. When he tempted Eve in the garden that day, he promised, what? You will not surely die. Which is the opposite of what God said. What did God say? He said, the day you eat of this fruit, you shall what? Surely die. Either God or the devil was lying. And the evil in his heart wanted to see Adam and Eve dead. It was even Satan who tempted Cain to murder his brother Abel. It says in the Gospels that Satan entered Judas Iscariot so that he would betray Jesus to death. From the beginning, that is to say, from arche. From arche, the devil was a murderer, but in the arche, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In the beginning, Jesus brought light and life, but the devil brings darkness and death. The devil is the father of lies, and the Lord is the father of light. It says in Hebrews 6, it is impossible for God to lie. Satan, my friends, is no equal opposite to God. That's a hyphenated word. Equal opposite. Satan is not an equal opposite to God. That is not accurate. He is a mere creature. Simply remove the word equal. Opposite, retain that. Yes, Satan in every way is opposite to God. That is to say, God is very strong, and Satan is very weak. He's not equally strong, he's very weak. God is very good, and Satan is very evil. God is all-knowing, Satan must learn things. God is omnipresent, but the devil is finite and bound by that finitude. God is compassionate, Satan is merciless, Christ is the truth embodied, and the devil is a liar. In fact, Jesus confirms the devil does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. There's not a single drop of truth in him. Just constantly lies. It literally says, when he speaks the pseudos, that's where we get the word pseudo, P-S-E-U-D-O, pseudo, that is the falsehood, the lie. Whenever God speaks, he speaks the truth. Whenever Satan speaks, he speaks the falsehood. And Jesus said, when he speaks, he speaks of his own self. He speaks from his own nature. Speaking this way, lying all the time, is from something within him, and nothing and no one from outside of him. And for that reason, the devil is a liar and the father of lies." You know, the reality is, every single temptation, every lust, every sin is based on that falsehood. Sin is based on lies. Lying promises, right? Go ahead. Indulge this time. Touch here, that which you're not supposed to touch. Engage in this. It'll be fine. You can turn to God tomorrow. Look upon this, in which no eye should look upon. It'll be fine. No one sees you. All of this will bring you great pleasure. Go ahead. It will make you free. Don't be shackled by the commandments of God. Don't be bound by some rules. Live how you wanna live. Those are all lies, lies. And when you're unsaved, before you know God, these lies become truth to you. It's almost as if you can't see it any other way. These lies become your truth. Isn't that funny? And that's what that crowd says these days. They say, this is my truth. And it's like this sheds so much light on that. They take their lies and they say, my truth. It's like that's no truth at all. Now, as believers in Christ and dwelt by the Holy Spirit, we talked about being free and having the liberty to obey God. The power of sin has been broken in us. And unfortunately, though, with this old flesh still attached to us, there is a battle and that battle remains and will remain until we go to be with Christ. We are new creations in Christ, absolutely 100 percent. But even Paul, in Romans 7, that famous passage, he speaks of the difficulties of the flesh. That he does what he doesn't want to do, and he doesn't do what he wants to do. There's a struggle. He shows us, though, that we are not without a solution. Christ doesn't give us a one-time inoculation of salvation, but lifelong, holistic care and sanctification. You aren't saved one day, zap, and then He's done with you. He saves you, and tomorrow He saves you, and the next day He saves you, and He's changing you, and He's changing you, and He'll bring you home. That's the salvation of Christ. It's not a one-time deal. But even though sometimes we can believe lies as Christian. Lies about who we are now. We forget who we are. We go through this identity crisis in a spiritual sense. Forgetting, always forgetting. Lies about who God is. Wandering for a time. And when challenged by the Bible, we can even lie to ourselves that it doesn't mean what it says. No, I'll find a guy who's going to interpret this the way I want it. Right? Instead of plainly what it says. So don't you see why Christ keeps talking about His Word? This whole time He's kept saying, My Word, My Word. My Word has no place in you. Continue in My Word. He kept saying, My Word. My Word. And so it's important for us each and every day, if at all possible, to get truth in front of our faces. And in our ears and before our eyes, in this world, we're bombarded with lies all the time. You're going to walk out of this place and you're going to be bombarded with lies. It can make us weary. It can make us sometimes question things. And so we need to consume Christ's word. This salvation started with truth, it was achieved by truth embodied, Christ Himself, and you'll be carried through it by what? The Spirit of truth, Jesus says. You say, Pastor Wade, it's like every other sermon you're telling us to read the Word. Yeah, that's right. I'm telling you every other sermon to read the Word, because almost everyone that I counsel, inside or outside the church, or people on the phone, or this or that, All of it comes down to the fact they're like, yeah, I need to look at it more. I need to read the Word. So I'm just going to keep telling you that, okay? And even if all of you start going, wait, I'm reading the Word and I'm loving it, I'll probably still say it, okay? We're just going to keep going with that. See, we can't go long without food. That's our spiritual food. Don't run on empty. See, the world is trying to force feed us lies. Lies on TV, lies on billboards, lies on smartphone apps, lies at our workplaces, lies at schools, lies from the government, lies on the internet. Lies, lies, lies are all around you all the time. Someone speaks on the TV from the government, most of the time it's probably a lie. Lies. It's everywhere. So now we see the children of God, like Jesus, they desire life. Not death. We desire truth. Not falsehood. We desire righteousness. Not evil. The children of the devil desire the opposite. They want falsehood. They want lies. They want to be tickled. They want to be told it's alright. You know, they want to hide death. Man, COVID was totally such a, whoa, death could happen. That was huge. People hide cemeteries behind big walls. Right? It didn't used to be that way before. Just 200 years ago, by the time you were 12, some of your siblings possibly died. Your mom possibly died in the middle of carrying one of those children. Your uncle just died. This person just died. Death was all around us for two millennia. And then, in many ways, the gospel has led it to where there's wonderful medicines, and wonderful technology, extended life, more information on better eating. I'm not saying those are bad things, but we're hiding death everywhere. We're lying to ourselves. You see, this life, James says, is but a vapor. But everyone thinks they're going to live for eternity. We're the only ones that recognize this life is this, and we're going to be going for forever. Forever. So we will be looking at our final verses now, 45 through 47. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." So, now in quite the opposite, completely opposite way, Jesus speaks the truth. The devil speaks lies, but Jesus speaks truth all the time. He's never said anything false. And it's interesting that Jesus says it's because He speaks the truth that they don't believe Him. These people don't want truth. You see, the truth, according to the Bible, is foolishness to the world. It's foolishness. He told them in this same dialogue that they are slaves to sin. With their allegiance to sin and unknowingly the devil, they despise truth. They want falsehood. Paul said it this way, for we suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And this demands the fact that if they don't believe Him, and He speaks the truth, then they are indeed in partnership with the Father of lies. If they don't want the truth, they want the lies from the Father of lies. And the nature of a liar is such that not only does a liar like to deceive others with untruths, he also does not hold on to or remain in the truth, as this said. Those who believe The children of God, they will love truth, and they will herald it, and they will abide in it. And you will know the truth, and what? The truth will set you free. So belief is key. You don't believe me, he says. You don't believe me. And whether he's addressing this to just some Jewish authorities, or even the believing Jews, It's very revealing, because earlier some believed in Him, the Apostle John said, and now Jesus is like, you don't believe Me. We need belief, brothers and sisters. We need God to give us belief. We need this sort of belief that is outside of us, given to us. God Himself is speaking to these people. That's what's crazy. That's what's insane. People go, if only God could come down and speak to me. These people would say the same thing. And literally, standing in front of them, at a temple in Jerusalem, is the God of the universe. Literally, the Creator is in front of creatures. And He's telling them what to believe, and what to do. And that's what's insane. They can't see it. Amazing. It's ludicrous. It's ironic. It's like jumping in the air and landing back down on the ground and going, gravity doesn't exist. God's right in front of them. If Jesus just condemned them, like in a court setting as a judge. Then previously, he said, I have many things to judge concerning you. Well, now then, he will invite those on trial to find error in him. He'll ask them, which one of you convicts me? Jesus is like, which one of you can bring a reproof on me? Which one of you can charge me of something false? Which one of you can prove that I've erred? He invites them. Go ahead. Find something wrong in what I've done or said. It's possible that Jesus even gave a pause after that first question. Which one of you convicts me of sin? And He said it real loud, and there's all these people. Which one of you convicts me of sin? And it was quiet. Everyone looks around. Then why? Then why don't you believe me? Why don't you believe my words then, if you can't convict me of sin? And the question is, I'm sorry, the question is not if they think Jesus has sinned. Clearly, many people already believe that Jesus has been in sin. Remember at the pools of Bethesda when He was healing the lame man on the Sabbath? He said, you're a sinner. So many people think Jesus is guilty of sin, but His question is, can anyone prove He's guilty of sin? They could try all they want. No one could ever convict Jesus of sin. Why? Because He never sinned once. That's called the impeccability of Jesus Christ. John Calvin calls this a display of quote, perfect confidence. And what this confidence that Jesus has shown us is that He declares He's never sinned. Many scholars scoff and say surely even Jesus didn't say He was sinless. You believe that? Some scholars say, yeah, the New Testament writers after Jesus said He's sinless, but Jesus sinned. And even Jesus didn't say He was sinless. But we see right here. Jesus' self-assurance is unwavering. That's why John Calvin calls this perfect confidence. Holy confidence. That is to say, when Christ says, which one of you can convict me of sin? He could say that without lying. Get this. None of us could ever say, which one of you convicts me of sin? And none of us could say that with full confidence, without lying. Not a single person in all creation could say, which one of you convicts me of sin? Because we're all guilty. We're all guilty. And so His confidence is to say, I have not sinned. I've never sinned. He's holy through and through. And then Jesus once again pulls back the veil, and we understand these things from a spiritual perspective. We see His answer to the Questions above. The reality is, he who is of God hears the words of God. Those who are not of God do not hear the words of God. And he not only makes an explanation, but he makes a fierce rebuke. You can't hear them because you're not of God. This is a slap to the face. He's already said, your father is the devil. And then he says, you are not of God. You are not of God. The people who thought that they were God's chosen, God's select people, God's special people. He says they can't hear what Jesus is saying because they're not actually of God. We've been told what makes someone Not believe. But what makes someone truly believe? How does someone believe in this Jesus? How does someone hear His words and know them as truth? We already saw John 6 spoke so much to what makes someone believe. But now in this final verse in our text, John 8, 47, speaks of it as well. We remember, the Father will draw a people to Jesus. The Father will give a people to Jesus. They will be taught of God, and at the same time, John 6 verse 7, he says, Jesus will choose them And so how does one believe? Divine intervention. How does one believe? Divine initiation. And this strips away any arrogance, any boasting on the part of one who believes. It upholds God's glory. He says, he who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God. The reality is, Even if you haven't seen your mom or dad in a long time, if you grew up with your mom and dad, if your mom or dad were to come right behind you, right now, and they spoke, you'd turn around and you would recognize their voice. Okay? But right now, these Jews are standing there, And they say, we recognize the voice of our Father, God. And right now, God is standing right in front of them, and they say, we don't recognize You. They don't hear His voice. They don't know Him, and they are not of Him. Blinded and deaf by the God of this age, they are dead in their sin. And this is a terribly hard reality. Those who thought they were insiders are actually outsiders. They're not included in the Kingdom of God. And yet, it's not done here. It's not over. These are the type of people Jesus Christ came to save. Although many don't hear now, they will later. Although many are not of God now, they will be later. They'll be changed. And I bet they will be broken when they learn the truth and remember this dialogue with Jesus. And so let's wrap this up, church. You know, the temptation in reading these harsh statements from Jesus, is to think that we would have stood behind Him, pointing our fingers with Him, instead of being the people in front of Jesus. This would have been directed at us too. We must never think we are above the rejecting Jews. We far too often see ourselves in the apostles. I believe, but I make a few mistakes. I'm like Peter, how? No. Stop seeing yourself with these apostles. We ought to see ourselves with unbelieving Pharisees. And that reality should bring us to the greatest posture of admiration and gratitude of the grace of God in Christ. It's not that just their father is the devil. It's that all of us used to have that evil parentage. And God adopted us into His family. We have a new family. We have a new father. It doesn't matter where you came from. It doesn't matter who your father was or wasn't. It doesn't matter if you have the best family legacy of the last 500 years or not. It doesn't matter what your family name is today. What matters is the legacy and name you're under going forward. You could be born of Abraham. You could be born of Ham. You could be born of Ishmael. You could be born of whoever. It doesn't matter anymore. All that's important now is being born again. You must be born again, He says in John 3. It's not where you're from, it's where you're going. And here's what should make us marvel and be in awe of God. Just as how opposite Jesus is from the devil, and how opposite their natures are, and how opposite Jesus and the devil's characteristics are. Likewise, our positions, and our status, and our hearts, and our destinations, and our natures, and our deeds become so very opposite from what they were before God saved us. They're completely different now. We're no longer children of wrath, we're children of God. That's why when we're doing evangelism and people say, we're all children of God, it's like, this is a title that I can't just say that I have. Not all people are children of God. All people are children of Adam. All people are children of the devil, apparently. But then God, God steps in and He makes us His children. He adopts us into His family. Paul says, we don't have a great fear before God anymore, but having received adoption as sons and daughters, we now cry out, Abba, Father. He is the Father we did not know we needed. He's the Father we've always needed. Ephesians 1.5-6 says, He predestined us to adoption. He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the beloved Lord Jesus. So, brothers and sisters, we are now to walk and live as those sons and daughters of the Most High God. Your parentage is changed forevermore. And so do the deeds of your father. That's what Jesus said. Do the deeds of your father. Not to earn anything, but because he's made you his child. You see, to do the deeds of your father, you've got to become adopted first. And so do the deeds of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Don't do the deeds of the old father anymore. You don't need to. Don't do the deeds of the evil one anymore. The lying, the hatred, the murder, the envy, the jealousy. Do the deeds of your Father. And those who don't know Christ as Savior and Lord, you can have a legacy, you can have a heritage, you can have a family name with significance. Significance that goes beyond this life and into the next. And it's all worth it. It's all worth it. So let's pray. And ask the Lord. to be with us. Lord, thank you for this time of your word. Thank you, God, that you have adopted us into your family. And thank you, Lord, that you've changed us, that you've changed our status, you've changed our position, you've changed our hearts, you've changed our destinations. And Lord, we are, as your children now, You're not a fierce God of terror in which we have to be fearful of the day of judgment. You're now Abba, Father, the one in whom we cry to, the one in whom we love, the one who cherishes us, the one who picks us up when we're down, the one who has not left us without instruction, the one who has not left us without someone to indwell us, the Holy Spirit. God, you care for us in every way. You are our Father. We love you. We thank you, Christ, for paying the ultimate price. You became less than a son to make us sons and daughters. You gave your life so that we may have life. So we thank you and we praise you. We pray this in the righteous name of Jesus Christ. Amen.