You'd open your Bibles, please,
to John's Gospel, chapter 8. John chapter 8. I propose this morning to begin reading at verse 12
in John chapter 8, and reading through the end of the chapter,
which is verse 59. We've been in John now for the
last two or three messages. I know last Sunday and last Wednesday,
and maybe the Wednesday before, I don't remember about that one,
but my purpose this morning, taking it from one of the clearest and plainest
books in our Bibles, the Gospel of John, that there are two kinds of faith, two kinds of believing. One is saving and the other is
damning. and we can easily see in this
chapter of Scripture which is which. First of all, I ask you to join me in Praying to this God about whom
we've sung, this triune God, this God in three Persons, let's
beg Him to make this Scripture come to life for us. Show us what that faith is that
saves the soul. and what that faith is that damns
the soul. Surely you can't be like a fellow
I met once. It seems like he came here on
a Sunday night a long time ago. There was a certain lady attending
at that time that was not married, and so this fellow came for that
reason. But he made a statement as he
left that night. He said, did you know there's
not a negative statement in the whole Bible? I thought, man, you must be crazy. You've lost your mind. What preacher
have you been sitting under? I wish I had asked him that.
But I didn't. But I know one thing for sure.
This book is God's book. There's not but one Bible. Old and New Testament. There's one gospel. Many counterfeits,
but only one real one. And only one Savior of sinners.
And that's the Son of God and the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now may we pray. Lord, we come before you this
morning clearly understanding and professing that for many, many years, I personally did not know the
God of the Bible. a preacher, but a lost preacher,
spiritually dead preacher. And this is every man's condition
by nature, no matter our parentage, no matter our heritage, no matter
our religious background, we are born into this world lost
Helpless, doomed and dying and damned sinners. And the only
hope for real sinners, O Lord God Almighty, unless you come
to us, we will never come to you. Unless you pour out your blessings
and your grace Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
we have no hope. Lord, we don't deserve it, but if you would see fit to bless
us with your presence and with the power of your Holy
Spirit, Take the things of Christ, things that describe Him, the
things that declare who He is, and show them unto us. Without this, we have no hope. We bless Your name. We thank
You. In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Amen. Now, you know my habits and faults
and all that stuff. I ain't going to tell you I'm
not going to stop, but I can't stop long because I want to get
back to these verses that we're about to read. We're going to
start at verse 12 in John chapter 8. Then spoke Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world. And try to look at this remaining
part of this chapter through that statement, Christ the light
of the world. He that follows me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Spiritual
life from the dead. Eternal life. The Pharisees therefore
said unto him, who was this now? The Pharisees, these are wonderful
people. They think themselves to be absolutely
perfect, and they are lost and damned and doomed to eternity
in hell. These were the most religious
people among the Jewish religion of our Savior's day. The Pharisees
therefore said unto Him, You bear record of yourself. Your
record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto
them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. For I know from where I come,
tame, and where I go, and you cannot tell from where I come
and where I go. You judge after the flesh. I
judge no man. Not in his earthly life as he
came down here. But don't take this to mean that
he's not the judge on the great day of judgment. He's the only
judge you'll ever see. Though I bear record of myself,
my record is true. For I know from where I came
and where I go, but you cannot tell from where I came and where
I go. You judge after the flesh. I
judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment
is true. For I am not alone, but I am
the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law,
O and the Jews were Oh my, they loved the law. They boasted that
they kept it, but our Lord told them right to their faces, you
do not keep the law. You're dreaming. You're wishing. It is written in your law that
the testimony of two men is true. Verse 18, I am one that bear
witness of myself, and the Father that sent me bears witness of
me. Then said they, the Pharisees, unto him, Where is your father? Jesus answered, You neither know
me nor my father." Now what about us? Do we know
Him? And do we know God truly as our
Father? Everybody and their brother claims
that God is their Father. That doesn't make it so. You neither know me nor my Father. If you had known me, you should
have known my Father also. These words spoke Jesus in the
treasury. This is not the temple problem. It is one of the courts that
surrounded that temple in Jerusalem. In the beginning of this chapter,
when these same famous Pharisees dragged a woman taken in the
act of adultery into where Christ was teaching the people, and
just laid her right there on the ground, Not pavement, not
tile, not anything else. It was simply on dirt. Because
the Lord took a stick and began to write in the dirt. While these
guys tried to make their case that God said you are to stone
people guilty of adultery. Well, where's the man that was
involved? They don't bring him. They're
only trying to trip and trap the Lord Jesus. So if He says,
well, you ought to let her go, they'll say, well, there goes
the justice of God for sure. And if He said, stone her, then He's not kind and gentle
and patient with people. So what's He going to do? He
says, let the man That the man that is without sin cast the
first stone. And from the oldest to the youngest,
these proud Pharisees hung their head and went out the door. And
now they're here talking with our Lord again. They failed to
discredit Him in the eyes of the people in that earlier part
of this chapter. These words, verse 20, spoke
Jesus in the treasury as He taught in the temple, and no man laid
hands on Him, for His hour was not yet come. How come they couldn't
take Him? It wasn't time. God does everything
on time. Then said Jesus again unto them,
I go my way, and you shall seek me, and shall die in your sins."
Now, ladies and gentlemen, that's one thing no sane person wants
to do is to die a sinner without a substitute, without a Savior. I go my way, and you shall seek
me, and shall die in your sins where I go, You cannot come. Oh preacher, everybody is going
to be in heaven. That ain't what he said. Then said the Jews in verse 22,
will he kill himself because he said where I go you cannot
come? And he said unto them, the Lord
Jesus speaking again, you are from beneath. I mean lower than the earth.
You know where that is, don't you? He said, you are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this
world. I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, If
you don't have a Bible, please let me read this in your hearing. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am
The word he is italicized, meaning the translators added it, and
it is a tragic mistake that they have put it there. If you believe not that I am,
that is the I am God. Same one that talked to Moses
at the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3. If you believe not that I am,
you shall die in your sins. Then said they unto him, Who
are you? And Jesus said unto them, Even
the same that I said unto you from the beginning, I have many
things to say and to judge of you, but he that sent me is true.
And I speak to the world those things which I have heard of
him. They understood not that he spoke to them of the Father,
Then said Jesus unto them, when you have lifted up the Son of
Man, then shall you know that I am, there again the word he
is italicized, and that I do nothing of myself, but as my
Father has taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me,
the Father has not left me alone. I do always those things that
please Him. Now, I need both ears and both
eyes on these next few statements. We're going to come back and
talk about these, but I'm not going to have enough time to
do it justice, but I'll have to try. Verse 30, as he spoke these words, many
believed on him. Now, you don't run into that
phrase too many times in the gospel accounts. Many believed
on him. But you have to understand that
this crowd is not made up of just Pharisees. If it were, I
doubt there could be the word many there. They're still lurking
in the background waiting to seize an opportunity, as you'll
see in just a moment. Many believed on him. Verse 31. Now, our translation,
the King James translation, which most of us have, uses that word,
again, on, in reference to Christ, as him. But Mr. Spurgeon, among some others,
the Greek interlinear New Testament Word studies in the Bible tell
us that this word, own, should not be in this 31st verse. And I believe they're right.
And I think I've told you this before, so I'm just telling you
again what I've told you already. Let me read it without the own. Verse 31, Then said Jesus to
those Jews, which believed him. Now, the
ones in verse 30 believed on him. But the ones in verse 31
simply believed him, believed things about him, but did not
truly believe him, believe and trust on him. He said, If you
continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. Now,
this second group, it is a different kind of believing. It is one
that has understood conditions with it. And it's not just simply
saying, Lord, wherever you go, I'll follow you. And whatever
you say, I'll believe you. These people have conditions
that must be met. which makes it pretty unlikely
that they're going to wind up in the believer column after
all. We'll come back to that, all right? Verse 32. My text
is going to be 30, 31, and 32. And you shall know the truth. Still speaking to these now that
believed Him but did not believe on Him. You shall know the truth.
And the truth shall make you free. And Christ is the truth. They answered him, objection
number one, they have a complaint. They answered him, we be Abraham's
seed and we ain't never been in bondage to anybody, which
anybody that reads the Bible just a little bit knows better
than that. I mean, even if you just read
some of the gospel accounts, Where is Israel right now when
this takes place? They're in bondage to Rome. The
Romans rule their land, collect their taxes from them, and they
let them play their little religious games as long as it doesn't get
out of hand. And that's just scratching the
surface. Just scratching the surface.
I'll come back to that if I have opportunity. We be Abraham's seed and were
never in bondage to any man. How on earth can you say to us,
you shall be made free? Before I forget this, I want
to make several remarks about it. These people were slaves. They were slaves in the Old Testament.
They are slaves now in the New Testament period. And that's
you and me. But natural, physical, political
lack of freedom is nothing compared to the slavery of sin. That, my friend, every son and
daughter of Adam from the beginning of time to the end is spiritually
dead in trespasses and sins. Verse 34, Jesus answered them,
Verily, verily, I like Mr. Hawker's translation of that
truth. Amen, amen. Other people translate it truly,
truly. I say unto you, you've got to
look at this one too. I can't just leave it alone.
Whosoever commits sin, and in the King James it's commiteth,
which means to commit and to commit and to commit. You understand? It's not a one-time thing. It's
a constant sinning. Whosoever commits sin, or sins
repetitively, is the servant of sin, the slave of sin. And if we're the slave of sin,
we're somebody else's slave too. Do you know who that is? It is
the devil himself. He's tickled to death with you
if you're one of these that sin repetitiously. And the servant
abides not in the house forever. But the Son abides ever. Now here's a most innocent statement
in verse 36, but oh, it's more than they can swallow. How about
you? How about me? If the Son therefore
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I'll tell you up front, now they're
offended by this statement, verse 36. Our Lord said, I know that
you're Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me. No evidence
yet in all the verses of this chapter that that's what they're
after, they're trying to kill him. But our Lord knows full
well what's going on. It can't keep on going like it's
going. Something's got to give. Thereafter is life. And by the
time we reach the 59th verse of this chapter, there it is
right straight in front of your eyes. They took up stones to
stone him to death. Wonder why they couldn't do it.
It wasn't time. The time had not come. I know you're Abraham's seed,
but you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. I speak that which I have seen
with my father, and you do that which you've seen with your father.
And he's talking about the devil, but these guys are up in arms
over that statement. They answered and said unto him,
Abraham is our father. Our Lord said if you were Abraham's
children, you'd do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me,
a man that has told you the truth which I have heard of God. This
did not Abraham. You do the deeds of your Father. Then said they unto him, We be
not born of fornication. We're not illegitimate children.
We have one Father, even God. Really? No, it ain't really true. They
said that. But watch what the Savior says.
Our Lord said if God were your Father, There are some things you would
do if God is your Father, and if He's mine, there are some
things we'll do. You would love Christ. He said,
you would love me. If we don't love Christ, God
is not our Father. For I proceeded forth and came
from God, neither came I myself, but He sent me. Why do you not
understand my speech, even because you cannot hear my words?" Why
could they not hear them? They are spiritually deaf. Why
could they not see them? They are spiritually blind. And
the hearing ear and the seeing eye, both of them are from the
Lord, according to Proverbs 20 and verse 12. But look what he
says to them in verse 44. Now you talk about getting people
riled up, but our Lord is a master at that, and it doesn't take
long to do it. You are of your father the devil. They just maintain that God is
their father, and our Lord said, no sir, he isn't. The devil is
your father. You are of your father the devil,
and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him when he speaks a lie. He speaks of his own,
for he is a liar and the father of it." And these Pharisees and
whomever else is involved in this debate with our Lord Jesus
Christ is certainly in that boat of lying. And because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Now that looks like the reason
why you should believe him, not why you shouldn't. But sinners are strange creatures.
They do all kinds of stuff. Don't you remember? How far back
have you got to remember that you're a sinner? It shouldn't
be very long. I'm sure today would be a fine place to start. Because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? Is the truth not welcome here? He that is of God, he that knows
God, hears God's words, you therefore hear them not because
you are not of God. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, Say we not well that you are a Samaritan, a half-breed,
and have a demon, your demon possessed? And you're just like
those Samaritans, half-breeds, half-Jewish and half-Gentile. Jesus answered, I have not a
devil. This is in verse 49. I have not a devil, but I honor
my Father, and you do dishonor me. And I seek not my own glory,
there is one that seeks and judges. Amen, amen, I say unto you, if
a man keep my sayings, if a man keep my sayings, he
shall never see what? Death? People die all the time. You're going to and I'm going
to. I'll probably beat you to it, but we're headed that way. What does this mean then? If a man keep my saying, he shall
not see death." I'm probably going to run out
of time before I finish reading, so how about looking back at
verse 24 on that statement in verse 51? Verse 24, John chapter 8, I said
therefore unto you that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am, you shall die in your sins. Surely it's not necessary for
me to tell you that Jesus Christ is God Almighty, is it? I mean, if you don't know that,
where on earth have you been? You sure ain't been here. Because
we hark on that string pretty constantly. Why? Because this professing religious
world thinks of the Lord Jesus as their servant, not as their
God. He can only do what they let
him. Our Lord is talking here of not
seeing spiritual death, eternal punishment in hell, that kind
of death. Alright, verse 52, Then said
the Jews unto him, Now we know that you have a devil. Abraham is dead. And you said,
He shall never see death. Abraham is dead and the prophets,
they are dead. And you say, if a man keep my
saying, he shall never taste of death. Are you greater? Is Christ greater than Abraham? Well, he's Abraham's God. Are you greater than our father
Abraham, who is dead and the prophets are dead? Whom do you
make yourself? Jesus answered, If I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It is my Father that honors me,
of whom you say that He is your God. But He is not really, but
you say He is. What verse was that? Somebody
tell me. Huh? Alright. Verse 55. Yet you have not known
Him, but I know Him. And if I should say I know Him
not, I shall be a liar like unto you. But I know Him. Referring to God the Father,
our Lord said, I know him and keep his sayings. And this one put the nail in
the coffin. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Now,
Abraham has been dead how many, Craig? At least 1,500 or better years
at this point. And he says, your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. And one of the most obvious ways
in which that can be easily thought of and proved is to go to Mount
Moriah where Abraham is about to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice
as God has instructed him. And at the last second, the angel
stops the plunge of his knife and there's a ram caught in the
thicket and they substitute that ram for Abraham's son. And that's called substitution. Now that's a picture of Christ.
Christ is our substitute. I tell you, Abraham was tickled
that day. He saw it and was glad. Then
said the Jews unto him, You're not yet fifty years old, and
have you seen Abraham? The Lord Jesus said, now this is the final statement leading up to the attempt
to stone him. Verily, verily, amen, amen, I
say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. I can tell you better than that,
before Adam was, I am. Before the world was made, I
am. Christ is the eternal God. Then took they up stones to cast
at him, But the Lord Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple,
going through the middle of them, and so passed by. And he's so
upset. Look what he does in the first
verse of chapter 9. And as Jesus passed by, he saw
a man that was blind from his birth, and the Lord gave him
his sight. And after that, gave him repentance
and faith to believe and trust him as the Son of God. Unless y'all want to stay another
hour or so. How about that Johnny? Oh my goodness alive.