It's enabled this morning, wish
to direct your very prayerful attention to the chapter that
we read together in John's Gospel in chapter 8. And by way of text,
I'll read from verses 47 to the end of verse 51. I'll just read
the words through the once. John's Gospel, chapter 8. commencing at verse 47 and to
the end of verse 51. He that is of God heareth God's
words, ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast
a devil?" Jesus answered, I have not a
devil but I honor my father and you do dishonor me and I seek
not mine own glory there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you
if a man keep my saying He shall never see death. Experience would teach us that
when men are at variance, it's very rarely an immediate thing. It's very rarely immediately
manifested. but begins with perhaps an undercurrent
of frustration that builds and builds and builds until it's
set forth or comes to a crescendo when men's real feelings are
known. That's the general way with men. And in that sense and in that
context This is exactly what we see here. You know John's
Gospel, chapter 8, perhaps you've read it, perhaps you've heard
many sermons from it. Quite a well-known chapter. But
it's actually more forceful and it's more intriguing. It's very
history has more to it than what we would even think. even in
recent times. You may be aware, just going
back to the beginning of the chapter, we have not time to
read the first 12 verses, the first 11 verses, I should say,
but that first narrative there of the woman taken in adultery
is the most attacked portion by liberals and comes under such
scrutiny. You might ask why that is? Why
is it? Because this chapter actually speaks very succinctly
in these 59 verses of the Gospel over and over and over and over
again. Man's sin is never excused once. But the Gospel in all its fullness
is that which is made known. Put simply like this, when Jesus
lifted up himself and saw none but the woman in verse 10, he
said unto her, Woman, where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither
do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Thus, we see here, this ministry
is a dividing and a sifting ministry. It always was and continues to
be so. Notice this, even in the previous
chapter. We've considered this at various
chapels and don't think I perhaps have preached it here but John
7 and verse 43 put simply it's
like this. So there was a division because there's a division among
the people because of him. There was a division among the
people because of him. And thus here, again, this sets
the scene for what is taking place in our text this morning,
in these verses. Really, what was taking place,
we're now speaking AD 32, the Lord Jesus was about two years
into his ministry, it had become well established and the Jews
were losing ground. They were worried, they were
concerned, that this ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, which
utterly undermined them, was not only becoming well-known,
but was being received. But the content of what he was
saying really cut so close. Verse 47, He that is of God,
heareth God's words. Ye therefore hear them not, because
ye are not of God. What the Lord Jesus Christ is
here saying and is here doing, he is continuing that theme that
he set before Nicodemus in the third chapter. He that is of
God has the same meaning as we read it in John chapter 3 and
verse 7. Marvel not that I say unto you,
ye must be born again. It's speaking of one who is born
from above, one who is born from heaven. It's not speaking of
anything to do with man. It's not speaking of the flesh.
It's speaking of the Spirit, and of the divine work of the
Spirit. He that is of God is one who
is born of God. One who is born of the Spirit
of God. And thus, here, he says, you
know, the Lord Jesus Christ is often very very misrepresented, of course,
and misrepresented by modern man. Because the Lord at times could
speak very directly. And he was not afraid to condemn
men in this sense. He says, ye therefore hear them
not because ye are not of God. The Lord here was separating
between believers and the religious. He does it. He does it. He does it himself. Heareth God's words. Heareth God's words. Now this
is becoming acquainted as the word in Job says, acquaint thyself
with him and be at peace. This is speaking of being acquainted
not only with the word, inscripturated, but the word incarnate, as the
hymn writer puts it, which is in all things are the same. Heareth God's words. It's interesting to note that
that word, words, is that well-known Greek word. I make no pretense
to be a Greek scholar. I know the odd word or two. Logos,
meaning word. And it's the very same meaning
as we go to the beginning of John's Gospel. Remember, the
person of Christ by this time had come under considerable attack
when John was writing this Gospel. In the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him.
and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life and the life
was the light of men. This is speaking of everything
that the Lord Jesus Christ is. Everything. We have to remember
that when we're speaking of the work of Christ When we're speaking
of His redeeming work, of His power, it's everything of Him. He was obedient in all things,
even unto death. Thus here, He's speaking here
of Himself. He says, Therefore hear them
not. The word not is in italics, you
might say, ye therefore hear them because ye are not of God. They don't hear, and they can't
hear. And this affected their whole
spirit. And what was the consequence
of this? They did not wish to hear the Lord's words, so they
simply became obsessed with the externals. And this is what happens when
religion is not Christ-centric. This is exactly what happens.
Men become obsessed with the externals. their religion becomes
touch not, taste not, handle not. You see, this ministry of the
Lord Jesus, so such hostility to it because it threatened them.
All they were interested in was their political position in civil
life. My, if you find a religious man
who is under threat He'll react in this way. Some of us have
experienced it. And thus, the Lord Jesus here
was cutting through all of that. He's speaking here of being and
belonging unto Christ. We move on. Then answered the
Jews, and here we see, and they said unto him, say we not well
that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil?" My! By now, they were utterly
enraged. No other word for it. They were
enraged. As the Lord points out quite
rightly, that although they claimed to be of Abraham's seed, They
were not. Remember Galatians 3.29, the
Apostle speaks it. If ye be Christ's ye are Abraham's
seed and an heir according unto the promise. That's what it is
to be of Abraham's seed. The real followers, the real
adherents to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the Christian
Church, and none other. It's not the synagogue, it's
the Christian Church. And thus here, we can see this
very point. Now, notice their accusation
here. And again, they're attempting
to appeal to those of whom the Lord is preaching to, and also
to try and enhance their own character as well as undermining
the Lord when they say, say we not well that thou art a Samaritan
and hast a devil. Say we not well that thou art
a Samaritan. Now, it is apparent here that
they had called the Lord Jesus a Samaritan before. Although
it's not mentioned in Scripture, because they said, say we not
well, it's evident that this was the accusation that was put
and here they're saying, oh this is evidenced. It was evidenced
to them or they set this forth for two reasons. The first reason
was the fact that he'd been seen to be preaching amongst them.
My! And remember, the Jews had absolutely
nothing to do with the Samaritans. Even Cyrus, the king, was opposed
to them. There's a quotation from Ezra
chapter 4 and verse 3. I'll just read it for you. But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and
the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said unto them,
ye have nothing to do with us, to bind in house unto our God,
but we ourselves altogether will build the house of the Lord of
Israel as King Cyrus, the King of Persia, hath commanded us."
There was an absolute condemnation of the people of Samaria altogether. But there's a further reason
why they accused him of being a Samaritan, was that was because
by now, by this time, the parable of the Good Samaritan was well
known. And of course this grossly offended
them. My! They would be very angry at such
a setting forth of a Samaritan in a positive light. And thus
they accused him of being a Samaritan. But there's also something worse
than being a foreigner. We can see here racial prejudice
and racial hatred was not new. It's always been that way. It's
always been that way. Men are just carrying on those
things today. But we see something further
here. There's something worse than that. And that's to be considered
mad. And this was really their accusation
here. When thou hast a devil. And really
there's a particular reference to Matthew 8 and verse 28. And when he was come to the other
side of the country, etc. there, they met him, they
possessed him with devils coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce,
so that no man might pass by that way. It was a particular
stigma. And of course, if the thought
was, if you accuse somebody of something enough, the mud will
stick, as it were. And this was their intention.
There's no question about it. This was their intention. And so we read the Lord Jesus
Christ's answer. Very interesting. Jesus answered,
I have not a devil but I honor my father and ye do dishonor
me. Now, this is an excellent example
of how to respond to a false accusation. Really, they'd leveled
two accusations at him. One had been a Samaritan, and
the other had been a devil. And, it's interesting here that
no answer was given in respect of his accusation of being a
Samaritan. That first accusation, he doesn't
answer it. What's the reason for that? Well, it was just so
ridiculous. And you know a man could accuse
a person of something and it's just so ridiculous, there's no
point in even responding. You see, his people knew for
two reasons. One was, We read it so many times,
don't we? Jesus of Nazareth! Jesus of Nazareth! This was the
man who'd gone about preaching and they knew! They knew! This was a man of Nazareth. But of course, and it's important
to note this, The Lord Jesus Christ being very God of very
God, but he's also very man of very man. We know that his appearance
was much older than his years when they said thou art a man
not above 50 years of age, but remember he had the physical,
that apparent physical appearance of being a Jew and belonging
to that people. It wasn't a questionable point,
it was there. And thus it was a ridiculous
accusation. But he does respond very directly
to this second accusation. Because what they were doing
really was they were attributing the wonders which should be attributed
to his father. those miracles, those great things,
those things that would honor the Father, I should say, to
the devil. So he says this, ye do dishonor
me. Ye do dishonor me. A clear declaration of how they
had denied, and this is the seriousness, they had denied the true God-man. They had denied their very hope. They had denied Him of whom the
Scriptures speak would come. And indeed, this is more serious. They even go further than this,
because what they were setting out really was a righteousness
of their own. You know, it's always been that
way. Men today, still attempt to set out a righteousness of
their own. It's not just the Jews, it's
all men. Irreligious men, but particularly
religious men. They submit not to his righteousness,
but they set about to establish their own. You know, it's also been observed
that the ways of Christ are always evil spoken of. It remains the case today. Remains the case today. Nothing
has changed. But thus, He speaks unto them
and He says, Ye do dishonor me to dishonor
Christ. My! This was the most serious of
matters. And we hasten on. He goes on further. You see,
these things are set in the most wonderful glory. He says, and
I seek not mine own glory, there is one that seeketh and judgeth."
Now, on first glance at that, you may look at that, and you
may scratch your head and say, well, surely the scripture is
contradictory. If in all things he must have
the preeminence, surely there's something wrong here. No, not
at all. Because what we're actually speaking
of here, and we have to receive these things by faith, they're
a mystery. I'm not saying we can comprehend
them with the mind, but we're actually speaking of the wonders
of the Trinity. They're all seen here. They're
all seen here. Because remember, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Apostle recounts it in Philippians and chapter
2, He puts it like this, "...let this mind be in you," verse 5,
which is also in Christ, "...who being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of sinful men. And being found fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross." Fulfilling that prophecy of Isaiah
of him coming in the form of a servant. Thus, we see here,
he humbles himself before the Father. But you see, how is he
exalted and where is he exalted? Perhaps I have a few more references
today than I usually do, but do we not find this in John's
Gospel and chapter 16? This is the Spirit's work here. When we read in verse 13, Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, But whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to
come. He shall glorify Me, for he hath
received of Mine, and I will show it unto you. All things
that the Father hath are Mine. Therefore said I, that he shall
take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." There is a mystery
here. But it's the truth. And we have
to let, hold upon it by nothing else than the eye of faith. Nothing
else can see these things. But this is a glorious aspect
of one, of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His
glorious divinity and humanity. And thus, when he speaks of one
who seeketh and judgeth, this is meaning that God the Father,
as Dr. Gill puts it, had his glory,
the glory of the Son, at heart. Then we read these words, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never
see death." Verily, verily, I say unto you,
if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Now, anybody who does not have a correct
understanding of what this means, would be rubbing their hands
together, they'd be fastening up their shirt sleeves, and they
would be saying, ooh, this is a great exaltation to be up and
doing, and winning souls for the Lord in that sense. Well,
we'll consider that subject if the Lord will this evening. But this has nothing to do with
any kind of work. Keep my saying. It's nothing
to do with that. We would again notice the Lord
is saying, verily, verily. Although all words of the Lord
Jesus Christ are of utmost importance, this is speaking of the Lord
Jesus drawing our attention to a matter. pointing us particularly
to something exhorting us to pay careful attention if a man keep my saying now this
has the same meaning as to see or to watch in other words to be a follower
to be a disciple. Obviously the word disciple is
a derivative of how we get our word discipline. Another misrepresented word and
term but what's the emphasis here? What's the emphasis here? The emphasis is that of absolute going forth. just in the using a natural illustration
to watch to see those of us who have children
our son is two years old and he can walk and he has absolutely
no sense of danger none at all and thus if you do
not watch him or if there's somebody not watching him he'll just wander
out into the road Just like that. And there is a watching. There
is a careful attention being paid. And if our attention is
deviated, there can be severe consequences, obviously. And
this really is what the sensing, what is being meant, it's a careful
a careful attention and thus does the hymn writer not express
our words most succinctly Christ is the keeper of his saints he
guards them by his power subdues their numerous complaints in
every gloomy hour there is a watching If the Lord keeps us, there is
a watching, there is a constant attention upon nothing else but
Calvary's tree. And this is the point here. This
is the point. To be a disciple of Christ, to
be jealous for His honour and for His glory. And thus, We see here, if a man keep my
saying, if he continues, in other words, he that endureth unto
the end, the same shall be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ expounded
that He was the fulfillment of all the things that they denied.
And here He is. And here he is. He's making this
but great declaration. But we would also notice here
in conclusion that there's a promise isn't there? There's a promise. If a man keep my saying, he shall
never see death. Now, they immediately misunderstood
these words. Abraham is dead and the prophets. And thou saying if a man keep
my saying he shall never taste of death art thou greater than
our father the Abraham which is dead. Again there's a comparison
made. There's a comparison made with
the patriarchs. If the patriarchs have died and
they're the greatest of men what does that say for the rest of
us? And what about you? You see here, they're completely
misunderstood. Because we have to really go
back right to the garden. In the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die. As the margin says in the Cambridge,
in the Cambridge references, dying thou shalt die. there was
an immediate spiritual death but the physical death would
continue now we have to say this this is one important way to
look at things that for an unbelieving person they are born but once
and they die twice for a believing person They are born twice and
they die but once. We'll see that physical death
unless we are present at the Lord's return. But thus here, there is a promise
set forth and again it's only something we can lay hold of
by the eye of faith. He shall never taste of death. Well, the Apostle explains this. This is a text, I think, that
is excellent. It's speaking here and speaking
of the whole church. If we go to Timothy chapter 1,
verse 8, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me his prisoner. but be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God who hath saved us
and called us with unholy calling not according to our works but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus." Notice that. Before the world began. But this
statement here comes to a crescendo in verse 10. "...but is now made
manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ who
hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel." There it is. There it is. There's no life outside of the
Gospel. But the power of the Gospel is
eternal life. And thus here we can see the
Lord Jesus Christ hath abolished death. Notice this is in the
present tense. It's the present tense. Now I
say these things and you know we are saying sometimes we have
to express things in the Scripture that are, in that sense, prophetic. We cannot say we've experientially
entered into death because it's not come upon us as of yet. But we can say this, he hath
abolished death. Death is described in the scripture
as the king of terrors. And thus none is exempt. And
you know we can be a real believing person. We can be a real believing person
and be subject to such a terror. Is there not in, for some, there
is no dying bed and it's instant death and instant glory regardless
of how a person feels if he's in Christ Jesus, but are there
not many occasions that we can see and that we can read of and
we can hear of? Many occasions when too numerous to name here
But when there has been upon a person perhaps a fear of death
for many years, but can say and do say at that very moment, death
has lost its sting. And there is now therefore no
condemnation. to them who are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. You see,
the Lord, unlike us, is faithful unto His Word. And He says this,
"...if a man keep My saying, he shall never see death. The Lord Jesus Christ hath abolished
death." Amen.