Let's go to the book of John,
chapter 8. Let's see if we can finish up
this great chapter. This evening, throughout John
8, we see the hatred against our Lord building the hearts
of His enemies to the very end. When he says something
that just sort of pushes them over the edge, so to speak, he
makes a declaration that is so offensive to them that they go
into a vicious, vicious frenzy. Look at verses 58 and 59 of John
8. This is right at the end of our
Lord's give and take, this debate. If you want to refer to it that
way, between the leaders of the Jewish religion and the Lord
Jesus, He says in verse 58, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily. He often used those words which
preceded something of unusually great importance We know that
on some occasions, he used it once. He would use the word just
once. But there are other times, like
this time, when he uses the word twice. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, before Abraham was, I am. And then, This is sort of what,
as I said, pushed them over the edge. They've been listening
to the other things that he had to say, but he's definitely,
as far as they're concerned, gone too far. Because this declaration, when
he says, before Abraham was, I am, this is a declaration that
he is Jehovah. that He is God. He's the everlasting
God. He's the unchangeable God. When He says, before Abraham
was, I am, this is saying He's Jehovah, our Savior. This is
His everlasting identity. It sets forth the fact that He
is immutable. He is the unchanging God. He stretches through all of the
ages, through the past, into the future. He is the everlasting
God. He makes this great declaration
before Abraham once, and then, immediately, they took up stone
to cast at Him. They've had all they can take.
This has been building. I'll show you this in just a
little bit. It's been building throughout
the chapter. This chapter begins with our
Lord Jesus beginning to teach in the temple. The leaders of
the Jews, the Pharisees, brought a woman to Him caught in adultery. And he put them to silence. And then through the rest of
the chapter, it's like you can see the pressure building. And
then he makes this announcement. Before Abraham was, I am. And then they're ready to stone
him. Let's look back and see how things
built up to such a fever pitch in the hearts of his enemies. In John chapter 8, we see our
Lord being spoken against by the leaders of the Jewish religion.
But even more than that, we see the Lord Jesus speaking against
the leaders of the Jewish religion. They had nothing good to say
about Him, and guess what? He had nothing good to say about
them. As they gave it to Him, so He gave it back to them. And
they deserved it. He didn't. They were very much deserving
of the rebukes that He gave them. This is, after all, God of very
God. This is the one who saw right
into the very depths of their souls. These are very depraved
men. These were men who said that
they knew the Scriptures. These were the men of whom our
Lord spake back in chapter 5, when He says, you do search the
Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these
are they that testify Me. These are the men who said they
knew the Law. They said they loved Moses. But they didn't know the God
of Moses. They said that they were themselves the offspring
of Abraham. They said, we're the children
of Abraham. Our Lord said to them, if you
were the children of Abraham, you'd love me like Abraham loved
me. And you'd do the works of Abraham
like Abraham did. But you don't do the works of
Abraham. You don't honor me. Well, there
were a few people who did believe the Master. Look back, if you
would, in chapter 8 here, verses 30 and 31. As He spake these
words, many believed on Him. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on Him, If ye continue in My Word, then are
ye My disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free. The truth will liberate you. But, for the most part, the majority
of this bunch of people that gathered around him, they remained
very obstinate in their unbelief. Look at verses 45 and 46. He says, because I tell you the
truth, you believe me not. There is only one truth. The
truth. The truth of the gospel. One
gospel, not many gospels, just one gospel. One message of good
news, one message of glad tidings of what God through the Lord
Jesus has done for sinners. This is a message of accomplishment. This is a message that the Savior
finished the work of redemption. He said, because I tell you the
truth, you believe me not. I tell you the truth, you don't
believe the truth. He said, which of you convinces
me of sin? And if I say the truth, why don't
you believe me? This is their guilt that our
Lord is setting forth. He's bringing it to the surface.
They don't believe Him. Those that believe Him have life.
This is the record that God has sent His Son into the world.
He that hath the Son hath life. You believe the Son of God, you've
got everlasting life. What must I do to be saved? The
jailer said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. And there were some individuals
who believed when our Lord Jesus preached. here in John chapter
8, in the temple, in the treasury of the temple, in the women's
section of the temple, the women's area. But these men would not
believe the gospel. And though our Lord Jesus was
Himself, He was the accomplishment, He was the fulfillment of infinite
number, practically, of Old Testament predictions and typologies, They
hated him so much they couldn't even see the Scriptures. Those
things are so obvious to us. We read in the Old Testament,
then we see in the New Testament our Lord Jesus fulfilling some
picture, some type, born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem. We read this
passage over here in Isaiah, born of a virgin. We go to Matthew
1, He's born of a virgin. And to us, one and one make two.
That's so simple. It's so easy. But these people,
they hated Him so much, it just blinded them. They refused to
see the truth. They wouldn't believe Him. They
wouldn't believe Him. They just dug their heels in.
They refused to budge. And even though our Lord Jesus
warned them of what it means to remain in unbelief, still
they wouldn't budge. Look at verse 23. He said to
them, John 8, 23, He said to them, Year from beneath, I'm
from above. You're of the world, I'm not
of the world. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins. You will. I know you say you
love the Bible. I know you say you love Moses'
law. I know you say you're the offspring
of Abraham, but you're going to die in your sins if you don't
believe me. That's what he said. He says,
for if you believe not that I am, If ye believe not that I am,
and he winds this whole thing up, as we just read at the very
end of the chapter, when he says, before Abraham was, I am, and
he says to them now, if you don't believe that I am, if you don't
believe that I'm God, if you don't believe that I'm Jehovah,
who saves, If you don't believe that I am the everlasting One
from everlasting to everlasting God, if you don't believe that
I am absolutely unchangeable, immutable, if you don't believe
that I am, you will die in your sin. And that didn't budge. That didn't budge. What does
it mean to die in your sin? You are going to perish forever.
You think to people who have got a little bit of intelligence,
And these Jewish leaders, they had much biblical intelligence. They just didn't have any understanding
of the Scriptures. But they knew what it meant to
die and not believe in God. These were men who believed in
everlasting punishment. And our Lord Jesus said, if you
don't believe that I'm He, that I am, I am Jehovah, I'm God,
You'll die in your sins. And He said, if you die in your
sins, where I am, you can't come. That didn't face Him. That didn't
face Him. I tell you, you want to see the
steadfastness of an individual in unbelief. Right here they
are. They're just not going to move.
And our Lord Jesus, He showed them His mercy. Because they
brought this woman before Him, caught in adultery. He showed
her mercy. He didn't compromise the law. He knew what the law demanded. He forgave her. He forgave her. He is merciful. They saw that
He was merciful. They said on other occasions,
this man is the friend of sinners. They said when he went home with
Zacchaeus, this man's gone home to be the house guest of a man
who's a sinner. They knew he associated with
sinners and that he forgave sinners. They said, we'd be not sinners.
We'd be not sinners. They thought he was kind and
gracious, but that didn't faze them. It's like people today,
you can talk about the sweetness of the Gospel, How precious it
is to have your sins forgiven. To know that when you leave this
world, you enter into the presence of God. To be with the Lord Jesus
forever. Oh, how glorious is that! And
we paint a picture of the beauties of the Son of God. What a great
Savior! Oh, He's the friend of sinners. He forgives all of our transgressions. They're all under the blood.
the blood that was shed for His people, those who believe Him,
those who embrace Him, those to whom the Father gave Him before
the foundation of the world. Oh, how sweet is His forgiveness
and this salvation! And that doesn't move them. And
now He says, if you die in your sins where I am, you can't come.
And even the threat of hell and punishment, that doesn't move
them either. You know what it's going to take
to move them? The same thing it's going to take to move you
and me and every other sinner is the grace of God. That's what
it's going to take. Listen, they had the best of
teachers. This is the best. This is the
very prophet that the Lord had Moses write about. God said,
I'm going to raise up a prophet. Here he is. Never a man spoke
like this man. And yet when this man spoke,
they didn't believe him. I'm not surprised when people
don't believe this gospel when I preach it. They didn't believe
this gospel when the Lord Jesus preached it. The only way they would ever
believe, like these people I read about up here, In verse 30, as
he spake these words, many believed on him. The only reason they
believed the Son of God is the same reason you believe my preaching,
or Bill's preaching, or Henry's preaching, or some other gospel
preacher's preaching. The only reason any of us believe
is because God does a work of grace within us. He shows us
Christ Jesus. He shows us how God can be just
and justify the ungodly substitutionary death of the Son of God. To these religious leaders, Jesus
of Nazareth was anything but a Savior. He was anything but
the promised Messiah. To them, He was a fake. He was
a fraud. He was a deceiver. He was a disruptor of their peace. What was he to them? He was a
threat to their leadership. He's getting a big following.
We've got to do something about him. That's what they said. He
therefore became the target of their jokes. They saw him as
a breaker of the law. They saw him as one to be mocked. and ridiculed. He was to be insulted
and they wanted to murder him. And you know what? About six
months from this, it'll be done. I find it interesting that in
John chapter 8, the Jews rejected his word, they rejected his teaching. In the next chapter, the healing
of the man who was blind, they reject his work. Here they reject
his words, there they reject his work. They would receive
neither his word or his work, even when faced with undeniable
evidence. I tell you, if ever there was
a passage of scripture that dispels the myth that it doesn't matter
what you believe as long as you're sincere, it's John chapter 8. I suspect that no religious group
has been more committed to their cause than the Pharisees were,
the leaders of the Jewish religion. And yet no group of people was
more severely rebuked by the Lord than these same Pharisees. Don't tell me that it doesn't
matter what you believe. You just need to be sincere.
That's just not true. It does matter what you believe.
It matters who you believe. In this very chapter, our Lord
says to them, look up at verse 19 or back at verse 19. Then
said they unto him, where is thy father? Jesus answered me,
ye neither know me nor my father. Do you realize what he's saying? He looked these religious leaders
right in the eyes and he said, you don't know God. You don't
know. You talk about God, you talk
about the Scriptures, you talk about the prophets, you talk
about Moses, you talk about Abraham, you talk about the Lord, you
don't know God. He said, you don't know me nor
my Father. Boy, how that statement must
have infuriated them. Look over at verse 54. Verse
54 and 55. Jesus answered, if I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It's my Father that honoreth
me, of whom you say that He is your God. You say He's your God. Yet ye have not known Him. You
don't know God. You say you know God, but you
don't know God. You don't know him. But I know
him, he says. And if I should say I know him
not, I'd be a liar just like you. Just like you. I tell you, he didn't hold anything
back. This is a bunch of liars he's talking to. Note what he says in verse 48. Back up to verse 48. 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. Ye do dishonor me. You don't
honor me. And I'll tell you, you need to
get this. If you miss everything else,
don't miss this. If you want God to honor you,
you better honor His Son. These people refused to honor
the Lord Jesus Christ. They are not honoring God. They
are dishonoring God. When you dishonor the Son of
God, the Son of God's love, when you dishonor this One who is
the very heart and soul of salvation, when you dishonor the only Mediator,
when you dishonor the Savior the Father sent into the world,
when you dishonor Him, you dishonor God. And later when they spit in His
face, they were spitting in the face of God. And yet they don't
know this. They don't know this. You can't dishonor the Son of
God and then wind up in glory. You can't dishonor the Lord Jesus
and then expect God to take you into heaven, to open the gates
of heaven and say, welcome home. That's never going to happen
if you dishonor His Son. God help us to honor Him. Lord,
help us to bow. Lord, help us to fall down before
Him in our souls. Lord, help us to believe Him,
to embrace Him, to worship Him as the great I Am. Because if
we don't, God's going to dishonor us. That's
for certain. You cannot abide in unbelief
of the truth and then just think that you'll dwell forever with
the one that you despised. Our Lord was very firm. He directly
confronted these people. They're rebellious. Sinful people. Look at His words to them again
in the first part of verse 55. He says, Yet ye have not known
Him. Yet ye have not known Him. You
know the letter of Moses' law. You know the traditions of the
elders. You know about the history of
Israel. You know the rules about the
feast days of the nation. You search the Scriptures thinking
that because you do, you have eternal life, but you don't know
God. Do you know God? Do you know the Lord? I tell you, the way to know the
God of the Bible is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Otherwise,
you can't know Him at all. This chapter gives undeniable
evidence that those who deny the deity of Jesus of Nazareth,
who despises person and his work, they're the object of his very,
very stern rebukes. Some have called this chapter
about our, have spoken of our Lord Jesus in this chapter as
being the divine disturber I'll tell you this, his attitude in
this chapter and really throughout his earthly ministry, it was
not a live and let live. In other words, his attitude
was not, well, you believe your way and I believe my way and
we'll all wind up in heaven together someday. Oh, no. Oh, no. There's no truth to that kind
of nonsense. You take this road, and you take
that road, and somebody else take that road, I'll take this
road, and we'll all wind up in heaven someday. That's too many
roads. They're going in a different
direction. There's one way to God. Christ said, I'm the way.
I'm the way. I'm the door, He said, by me
if any man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and
find pasture. The way, the door. That's what
He said. Understand this, as it was back
then, so it is true now. There are only two possible reactions
to the Lord Jesus and His person and His work. And indifference
isn't one of them. It's like He says in Matthew
chapter 12 and verse 30, He said, He that is not with me is against
me. And of all of you here this evening,
I'm thankful you're here. Those that are watching on the
internet, I'm thankful you're watching. This is the way it
is. You're either with him or you're
against him. There is no third area. Well, no, I'm not really against
him. Well, if you're not really for him, then you are against
him. That's what he said. He that
is not with me is against me. He that gathereth not with me
scattereth abroad. Matthew chapter 12 verse 30 says
that. 1 John 4 verse 6 says this. We
are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us.
He that is not of God heareth us not. Hereby we know the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. There is truth and there is error.
You believe the truth, you're with us. If you don't believe
the truth, you're against us. That's pretty simple. You either love Him or you hate
Him. You either believe Him or you don't believe Him. There
is no middle ground. Here in John 8, had you been
one of the Pharisees back then, it was only one of two responses
to the claims of Jesus of Nazareth. You bowed to him, acknowledging
his deity, believing him in his heart, or you remain obstinate
and rebellious and unbelieving like the rest of these. How is
it with you? I want you to notice how their
attitude grows progressively worse the deeper you get into
the chapter. Our Lord set Himself forth as
being the light of the world in verse 12. And immediately
the Jews began to debate Him. Now a debate has several levels. We last year went through several
debates in the political arena. A debate begins on an intellectual
level. You present your side. The opposition
presents their side. But if it appears that you're
losing or you're not getting your point across the intellectual
level, kind of progresses to an emotional level. That's when
you get red-faced and you make some little snide remark because
you're getting frustrated. You've moved past the intellectual
level now to the emotional level and then that progresses. If
that doesn't work, then you move to another level and that's name-calling. You can't make your point. You're
losing your argument. You're losing the debate, so
you resort to slander and name-calling. And then things might even progress
to the lowest level, violence. What was it I saw on TV not too
long ago? They was having a debate and
some of these two guys wound up at blows. They're fighting
one another. Yeah. So there are different
levels of progression when it comes to a debate. And all of
those levels are evidenced right here in John chapter 8. First,
the Jews could not match our Lord on the intellectual level. Oh, they thought they were smart.
They thought they were intelligent. But they were no match for the
Lord of glory. The one who is full of wisdom,
the knowledge of God, And we know the reason because He's
from above. And they're from beneath. That's
what it says in verse 23. Back at verse 23, He said to
them, you're from beneath. You're talking to me. You're
trying to make your points with me. You're from beneath. I'm from above. You're of this
world. I'm not of this world. These
have different origins. No wonder they couldn't match
him on the intellectual level. He's God in the flesh. This is
one who has all knowledge. Nothing escapes his attention. Well, then that progressed to
emotional frustration. Remember what the Savior said
to them in verse 21? Then said Jesus again unto them,
I go my way and ye shall seek me, ye shall die in your sins,
whether I go ye cannot come. I'm going away and you'll not
be able to come where I'm going. They reflect that frustration
by answering this way in verse 22. Will he kill himself? Is
he going to commit suicide? Because he said, whether I go,
you cannot come. And they're getting frustrated.
They're getting frustrated. And then that progressed to another
level, name-calling and slander. Look at verse 48. Then answered
the Jews and said unto him, they said, say we not well that thou
art a Samaritan? You know, the Samaritans were
those who married way back when the northern king was taken into
captivity. And when most of them were released,
went home, some of the Jews stayed up there and they married Gentiles,
married heathens, and they called them half-breeds. Half-breeds. And a pure-blooded Jew didn't
have anything to do with the Samaritans. half-breed. So they've resorted now to name-calling. You're a Samaritan. And then
they said, you've got a devil. This is more name-calling. More
name-calling. They're losing the debate. They're
losing their argument. And then it reached another level. violence. Verse 59, then when
he said before Abraham was I am, then took they up stones to cast
at him. Now we'll just kill you. We can't
match you on an intellectual level. You've emotionally got
us frustrated. We've already slandered your
name. Now we'll just kill you. But
it wasn't the time for him to die. That's about six months
later. Violence. But we must never think that
these Jews ever had the upper hand on the Lord Jesus Christ. See right here, they took up
stones to cast at him, but he hid himself. He went out of the
temple. How did he hide himself from
so many people? Well, he's God. And it wasn't the time for him
to die. You see, when it came time for
him to die, he didn't hide himself. In fact, they came after him.
He said, who are you looking for? He took the initiative,
didn't he? He took the initiative. He said,
who are you looking for? He said, Jesus of Nazareth. He
said to them once again, I am. And they fell backwards. And
they got up and dusted themselves off. He said, who are you looking
for? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am. If you seek me,
let these go their way. That's substitution. Can't have
me and my followers too. It's all purposed by God that
he would be rejected and crucified to save his people from their
sins. You know, when the Jews were
arguing with the Master, they again ran back to Abraham. They said this in verse 52, Then
said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil.
Abraham is dead, and the prophets And thou sayest, if a man keep
my saying, he shall never taste death. Art thou greater than
our father Abraham, which is dead?" They're drawing a comparison.
Are you saying you're greater than Abraham? Why, in their estimation,
Abraham's the greatest of all. And Jesus of Nazareth, he's just
a fraud. He's a deceiver. Are thou greater
than our father Abraham, which is dead, and the prophets are
dead? And they said, Whom makest thou thyself?" Who do you think
you are? That's what they're asking. Who
do you think you are? Well, he's the Lord of glory.
And Abraham, well, he's just the son of Adam. And Abraham, as they correctly
pointed out, was dead. Well, Abraham had been dead now
for about 1850 years, nearly 1900 years perhaps. And Abraham had to die. I tell you, there's a real hidden
lesson here. Abraham had to die. You know
why he had to die? He was a sinner. But our Lord
Jesus, I know He had to die because He was purposed in the covenant
of grace. But he didn't have to die because
he was a sinner. Had he been a sinner, he would
have had to die. You know, when death came to
Abraham, death didn't say to Abraham, okay, if I take you
now. And when death comes to you,
death is not going to knock on your heart's door and say, okay,
okay now. Is this a good time for you? No. Debt doesn't ask permission. That's a debt we owe. But you
know who didn't know it? Christ Jesus didn't know it.
Death had no claim on Him. You say, but all of our sins
were imputed to Him. Yes, I know, but He Himself was
not a sinner, so He need not die except to save us. Death had no hold on Him. Death
couldn't take him. The only way he could die, therefore,
was to yield up the ghost. That's right. He said, no man
takes my life from me. I have the power to lay it down.
Death can't take it from him. He's got to lay it down. If he'd
have been a sinful man like Abraham, He had owed a debt to death. Death would have come calling
and death wouldn't even ask Him. Death would have taken Him. But
He didn't. That's another evidence that
our Lord was the just dying for the unjust, that He was the blameless
sacrifice dying. He did not owe that to death. He died willingly. He's the voluntary
sacrifice. That's what the scriptures teach
us. He willingly laid down his life. He bowed his head and gave up
the ghost. Ah, these Jews. They're so wrapped up in Abraham.
And there's Abraham's Savior right there in front of them. And our Lord Jesus said this,
and let me close with this and make a few points on this. He
said, verse 56, He said, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see
my day, to see my time. He doesn't mean a 24 hour day. He means my time. He saw How
did he see it? By faith. He saw by faith. And he was glad. He was exhilarated. He rejoiced. He saw Monday. He saw his day of humiliation. He saw his day of sacrifice.
Remember back in Genesis chapter 15 when Abraham offered sacrifices
to God? And then the vultures, the vultures,
they came and tried to snatch the animals off the altar and
Abraham drove them away. I tell you, he knew, he appreciated
the truth of substitution and satisfaction. I'm going to defend
the sacrifices. He saw Christ's day by special
It's a very special promise. The apostle tells us in Galatians
3, Abraham having spoken about his
seed, the Lord said, in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed. Paul tells us in Galatians 3,
he didn't say seeds as in many, but seed as in one, as in Christ
Jesus. Abraham rejoiced to see my day,
he was glad. Abraham saw his day in type and
Melchizedek, king priest. Abraham gave him tithes of all
that he possessed and Melchizedek blessed Abraham. Abraham was
coming back from the wars against the kings. He's hungry and tired
and thirsty. Melchizedek met him, refreshed
him, gave him bread and wine. That's the elements of the Lord's
Supper. The bread, the manna from heaven, the wine, that's
the gospel. The gospel. Abraham saw Christ's day in the
birth of his promised son Isaac. Isaac was a miracle child, the
promised seed who prefigured another miracle child, the seed
of the woman. But especially Abraham saw his
day when he took his son up on Mount on Mount Moriah and he
offered him as a sacrifice to God. He saw his day when he said
to Isaac, my son, God will provide himself a lamb. He saw his day
and he rejoiced. He was glad. He rejoiced exceedingly. Abraham was filled with indescribable
happiness and joy in seeing the day of Christ coming into this
world to perform the work of redemption. He saw that day and
rejoiced. And these men, if they had been
the children of Abraham, they would have rejoiced that he had
come too. But they didn't. They didn't. Do you rejoice in
Christ Jesus? I do. I rejoice that Christ Jesus
has come into the world. I worship Him. I bow down because
He gave His life a ransom for me. He paid my sin debt. He has robed me in His righteousness. I stand accepted in the Beloved. I am so glad. I am so happy. Just like Abraham was. And I
will see brother Abraham someday. And together, all the saints
of God will worship Christ Jesus the Lord. Well, let's sing a
song of praise to Him. Number 46. Oh, for a thousand
tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise. Number 46. Let's stand. 46. Oh, for a thousand tongues to
sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of His grace. My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of Thy name. He's just the name that charms
our fears, that bids our sorrows cease. His music in the sinner's
ears gives life and health and peace. He breaks the power of
canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the
foulest clean. His blood availed for me. Hear him, ye deaf, his praising
done, For loosened tongues employed. Be mine, behold, your Savior
come, and lead me, lame, for joy. Glory to God and praise
and love be ever, ever given by saints below and saints above
the church in earth and heaven.