What Children of Abraham See

Q: What does the Bible say about who can hear God's Word?

According to John 8:47, only those given an ear to hear by God can truly understand and receive His Word. In John 8:47, Jesus states, 'He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.' This highlights the sovereign grace of God in granting understanding and belief. The religious world often contends that anyone can choose to believe, but Jesus emphasizes that true hearing and understanding come from being of God, which refutes the notion that all men have the innate ability to respond to the Gospel without God's intervention. This belief aligns with the historic Reformed understanding of total depravity, wherein the natural man is incapable of perceiving spiritual truths unless God first acts upon their heart.

Q: How do we know that Jesus is God?

Jesus claims divinity in John 8:58 by stating, 'Before Abraham was, I am,' directly linking Himself to the divine name revealed in Exodus. In John 8:58, Jesus asserts, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.' This declaration is significant as it refers to the divine name 'I AM' revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). By using this title, Jesus unequivocally identifies Himself as God, affirming His eternal nature and divinity. This profound truth challenges the established views of his listeners and aligns with the Reformed understanding of Christ's dual nature as fully God and fully man. The Gospel of John consistently presents Jesus as the incarnate Word, God in flesh, validating His claims through miracles, fulfillment of prophecies, and His teachings that reflect divine authority.

Q: Why is the second death significant in Christian belief?

The second death represents eternal separation from God, which all who do not believe in Christ will face. The concept of the second death is crucial in the Christian faith as it speaks to the eternal consequence of sin without redemption. In John 8:51, Jesus proclaims, 'If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death,' indicating that belief in Him grants eternal life, while those who reject Him face the second death, described as eternal separation from God. This aligns with historic Reformed theology, which emphasizes that Christ's atonement protects the elect from this fate, affirming the necessity of grace in salvation. Understanding the second death motivates believers to proclaim the Gospel, offering the hope of life through Jesus, who promises to spare His followers from this eternal judgment.

Q: Why is faith important in the life of a believer?

Faith enables believers to truly see and understand God's Word and receive eternal life through Christ. Faith is foundational in Christianity as it is through faith that believers access the grace of God and the truth of His Word. In John 8:51, Jesus emphasizes that keeping His sayings through belief leads to eternal life, indicating that faith allows individuals to comprehend spiritual realities that are beyond natural understanding (1 Corinthians 2:14). The historic Reformed perspective affirms that faith itself is a gift from God, not a mere act of human will, reinforcing the belief that salvation is entirely by grace. This underscores the necessity for believers to cultivate a relationship with Christ through faith, which secures their standing before God and assures them of eternal life.

Your Bibles again to John chapter
8. The title of the message this
morning is What Children of Abraham See. Every child of Abraham sees
the same thing, sees the same Savior, believes the same Savior,
trusts the same Savior, has the same faith. What the children
of Abraham see. Our Lord in verse 47 of John
chapter 8 is continuing his discussion with these Pharisees, and he
says, He that is of God, heareth God's word. 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? What they are telling our Lord
is, You are crazy. Anybody can hear God if he wants
to. Anybody can believe God if he wants to. And isn't that what
all men think? It's not just these Jews. All
men think that. Anybody can hear the gospel.
Anybody can choose to believe if they want to. And if you tell
them from God's Word that the only people who can hear God's
Word are the people that God has given an ear to hear, the
religious world will say, you're out of your mind. That's what
the Pharisees told our Lord. And they say, you have a devil.
What they're telling our Lord is, you're out of your mind. audacity of these people. And if you tell people, everybody
just can't believe God if they want to, the only people who
can believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ are those people
that God calls in power and He gives them faith to believe.
Those are the only people who can believe Christ. The religious
world will call you a heretic. They say, you're not giving everybody
a chance. That's what these Pharisees call our Lord. Samaritan. The worst kind of religious person. This is the worst insult. A Samaritan. You're a heretic. But you'll
notice our Lord ignored their personal insult when they called
him a Samaritan. And you know, it wasn't insulting
to him at all to be called a Samaritan. Some of his elect are Samaritans. He revealed himself to that Samaritan
woman at the well, didn't he? Some of his elect are Samaritans.
He came to identify himself. with Samaritans. So being identified
with his people wasn't insulting to him at all. He's not ashamed
to be called their God. But he did answer their charge
of having a devil. Look at verse 49. Jesus answered,
I have not a devil, but I honor my father, and you do dishonor
me. And I seek not mine own glory,
but there's one that seeketh and judgeth. Now the Pharisees,
boy, they got mad. When the Lord told them, God's
not your God, the devil is your father. Oh, they got mad. And
he said, well, you prove I'm right. You prove that you're
not of God because you dishonor me. Now, anyone who dishonors
Christ, who doesn't believe him, who dishonors him, who ignores
him, they're not of God. And the Lord says, I seek not
mine own glory. What he's saying is, I seek not
my own glory or my own honor. separate from my Father. The
Father and the Son are one. So their honor is one. And if
you refuse to honor the Son, you don't honor the Father. If
you refuse to honor the Son, you can't be of the Father. Look
back a few pages at John 5. Verse 23. That all men should honor the Son, even as
they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father which is sinning." Now, there's an
article in the Bulletin this morning, I hope you'll read it,
on Christ the servant of the Father. Christ came as the servant
of His Father. Now, since He was the servant
of the Father, He answered to His Father. His responsibility
was to His Father. Well, He didn't seek honor. He
didn't seek glory from anyone except His Father. He's the servant
of the Father. Now Christ was a humble servant.
He was the obedient servant. And the hatred of men didn't
bother Him. Whether they thought well of
Him or they thought evil of Him. It didn't affect Him at all because
He's not the servant of men. We need to get that out of our
mind. Christ is not the servant of
men. He's not our servant that we
order around. Janice got me watching this show
down in Abbey and these servants just waiting around for the bell
to ring or somebody to look at their glass to run and fill it.
That's not our Lord now. He's not the servant of men just
waiting with bated breath to do our bidding. No, sir. He's
the servant of the Father. He never sought the approval
of men. He sought the honor of his Father. Well, he got the job done, didn't
he? He honored his father, and in return, the father is going
to honor and glorify the son. The purpose of Christ was to
honor his father. Gene Mission accomplished. He honored his father. He honored
his father by keeping the law, fulfilling every jot and tittle
of the law. He magnified the law and made
it honorable. He honored his father by doing
the will of his father. He saved his people from their
sins. In saving God's elect, he honored
his father. Well, all right. He honored his
father. He's a servant of the father.
How does that affect you and me? Well, look at verse 51. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Now, how powerful
is the Word of God. We make so much of God's Word
here. Why do we? Because of how powerful
God's Word is. If you keep, and the word keep
means to observe, if you observe what God's Word says, you'll
never see death. That's how powerful God's Word
is. Well, what does God's Word say
to do? It's very simple. I love the simplicity of the
gospel. God's word never gives anything
complicated for us to read. It's very simple. Just believe. Believe Christ. If you believe
Christ, you'll never see death because he fulfilled all the
law for you. He satisfied God's justice. If
you believe Christ, you'll never see death. And if you don't believe
God's word, all that shows is you're dead already. Look at
John, chapter 11. If you believe Christ, you'll
never taste death. You'll never see death. You'll
never experience it. John, chapter 11, verse 25. Jesus
said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Well,
you do if you keep God's Word. You believe Christ. Now, you
know our Lord here is not talking about physical death. All flesh
dies because of sin. I mean, it's just every one of
us is going to die. Our body is going to die. What
our Lord's talking about here is something much more important
than the death of this flesh. What he's talking about is the
second death. He's talking about eternal death.
He's talking about eternal separation of the soul from God and everyone
who believes Christ, they'll never see the second death because
Christ died for them. Now, this truth that our Lord
spoke here, it is so simple that he's talking about the second
death. You will never experience, you'll never taste the second
death if Christ died for you. I mean, it's just so simple.
And the natural man, no matter how hard he thinks about it,
no matter how hard he tries, can never understand that or
can never believe that. Look at verse 52. This is a perfect
example of it. Then said the Jews unto him,
Now we know you have a devil, Abraham's dad, and the prophets.
And thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste
of death. Well, we know Abraham believed you, we know the prophets
believed you, and they die. You're crazy. They still don't
understand. If you look back earlier in this
chapter, verse 27, here's the root of the problem is they do
not understand. In all this conversation our
Lord's had with them, they still don't understand. They understood
not that he spake to them of the Father. They don't understand
because they're dead in sins. And all these things our Lord
is speaking to them of are spiritually discerned. Our Lord himself is
spiritually discerned and spiritually believed. And the reason an unbeliever
doesn't understand and they don't believe is simply this. God's left them where they are.
He left them and they're unbelieved. By nature, we don't understand
any of this. We can't believe it because our
understanding is darkened by sin. Now, verse 53. They ask our Lord. Are thou greater
than our father Abraham which is dead, and the prophets are
dead? Whom makest thou thyself?" What patience of our Lord. How patient is He with this world. He should have just wiped them
out. They are so bold. They are asking the Son of God,
who do you think you are? And He didn't wipe them out.
Are you greater than our father Abraham? Why don't you ask Abraham? Are you greater than all the
prophets? Now, I know they're dead. You can't ask them face
to face. So why don't you read what they wrote? Did they write of a Savior greater
than them? Did they write of a God greater than them? Of course
they did. Why don't you ask them? Just
read their writing. You see, the difference between
Abraham and these Pharisees is Abraham died in faith. So he didn't taste death. And
without that exact same faith in Christ, these men and all
of us will suffer the second death, eternal death, eternal
separation of the soul from God. Verse 54, Jesus answered, If
I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father that honoreth
me, of whom you say, He is your God. Now they ask our Lord, who
do you think you are? And he answered them, I'm not
making myself to be anything. I'm just telling you that I am.
I am. Our Lord didn't have to honor
himself. Eric, I am doesn't need to seek honor. He already has
all honor. He's not seeking honor. Our Lord
did not have to honor himself. The Father had already honored
him and will continue to honor him. The Father honored his son
at his birth. announced the birth of the Lord
Jesus. We put a birth announcement in
the paper and think that's something you'll cut out and save it. The
father sent angels to announce the birth of his son. I know
when our girls were born, we hung up this banner that said,
it's a girl. The father hung a star over the
place where his son was born. He honored his son at his birth.
He honored his son at his baptism. He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased. The father honored the son at
his death. The death of Christ satisfied
the father and the father honored his son in his death. When the
son died, the father shook creation. He turned the sun out, darkened
the earth. And when he did die, the father
honored the son. He didn't suffer his body to
see corruption. Because there's no sin. And he
honored him when he raised him from the tomb. He honored his
son in his death. Then he honored his son when
he sent him back to glory. The son came back to glory and
the father said, you sit here at my right hand. I'll make your
enemies your footstool. You sit here in the place of
preeminent honor on the throne. The father honors the son today. Right now, the father is honoring
the son by the gospel. that God's servants preach in
the power of God. The gospel honors the Son. And
at the last day, everyone is going to see the Father honoring
the Son. I know everybody doesn't see
the Son honored in the gospel. But everyone, every eye will
behold the honor of the Son in that last day. The Father is
going to cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord. All honor belongs to Christ.
It already belongs to Him. He's not seeking honor from you
and me. It already belongs to Him. Now, verse 55. Now, you say God's your God,
but you've not known Him. But I know Him. And if I should
say I know Him not, I should be a liar like unto you. But
I know Him, and I keep His saying. Now, you've not known Him. Now,
this knowledge our Lord is talking about here It's not just mental
acceptance of facts. Look at James chapter 2. Saving
knowledge is not knowledge of natural knowledge, natural understanding
of doctrine or true statements about our Lord. Look at James
2 verse 19. Thou believest that there's one
God. You know that and you do well. The devils also believed
that in Trimble. It didn't save them. That kind
of knowledge, that kind of faith, that's not the kind of knowledge
our Lord's talking about. Look at 1 John chapter 5. Here's
the knowledge our Lord's talking about. He's talking about spiritual
understanding, spiritual knowledge that God gives to every one of
His children. 1 John 5 verse 20. And we know,
this is what saving faith knows, that the Son of God has come
and has given us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true. Saving faith is not knowing things,
not knowing facts, it is knowing Him that is true. And we are
in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is
the true God and eternal life. Now that is very sobering. Isn't
that sobering? They've got knowledge of the
Scriptures. I mean, they've got so much knowledge
of the Old Testament Scriptures. They've got knowledge of the
traditions of men because they made up most of them. So they've
got all this knowledge. But they didn't know the father.
They didn't know the father. So all their knowledge is useless
knowledge because they've ignored that one thing needful. They've
ignored the necessary truth of knowing Christ. Look in Romans
chapter 10. You know why men won't submit
to the righteousness of Christ? Why won't men surrender to Christ? Because they don't know God.
Because they're ignorant of who He is. Look at Romans 10. The Apostle Paul is writing about
these very same kind of men that our Lord is talking to in John
8. Brethren, My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but it is not according to knowledge. It
is spiritual knowledge, for their being ignorant of God's righteousness,
going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth."
And that's the very one you keep going reading. That's the very
one Moses described. That's the very one that David
described. Moses and all the prophets spoke of Christ. Abraham spoke of Christ. Yes,
he is greater than their father, Abraham. And our Lord told these
men, you got all this knowledge, but you lie when you say that
you know God and everything you say about God is a lie. And boy,
you know how mad they got. when our Lord contradicted them.
Now, our Lord's not going to retract anything. He's not going
to take anything back that He said just because it hurt their
feelings. And we can't take back any part of the truth. We can't
gloss over or hide any part of the truth just because it hurts
the natural man's feelings. I promise you, if we preach the
Gospel right, we're going to step on men's toes. We're going
to hurt men's feelings. Because the gospel hurts the
feelings of natural man, hurts the feelings of this flesh, because
it slays our flesh. It tells us that what our flesh
really is is full of sin and depravity and death and gives
us no hope in our flesh. The gospel gives us no hope other
than hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's going to hurt the
feelings of the flesh, but we can't retract any of it. We can't
hold back any part of the truth. And that's what our Lord's saying
here. I know it hurts your truth, it hurts your feelings, but I'm
not going to take it back. I'm not going to withhold any
of the truth from you. Verse 56, I want to hear, he gets right
down to brass tacks. Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day and he saw it and was glad. Abraham saw my day. Now, how did Abraham see the
day of Christ? It was three ways. Abraham saw
the day of Christ by faith. He saw the day of Christ in type,
and he saw Christ by special revelation. Abraham saw the day
of Christ by faith. God one day called Abraham out
of idolatry. Abraham was an idolater, and
he told Abraham, you get out of your father's house, you leave
this place, and you go to a place that I'll show you. And by faith,
Abraham left. He started walking. because he
believed God. Abraham saw Christ by faith,
and he walked with God by faith. Then secondly, Abraham saw the
day of Christ in type. Now when Abraham was ready, God
told him to do it, go to the top of the mountain, offer your
son, your only son Isaac, as a burnt offering. Abraham had
the knife raised, ready to draw and quarter his son offer his
body as a burnt offering to the Lord. And God called Abraham
out of heaven and told him, don't you touch the lad, don't you
harm him. He showed Abraham behind him a ram caught in the thicket
by his horns. And Abraham took that ram and
he offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead as a substitute
for his son Isaac. And at that time, Abraham saw
Christ's day. He saw it in type. He saw Christ
suffering in the stead of his people and his people living
because Christ is going to die in the stead of his people. He's
going to die as a substitute for his people that his people
may live. And Abraham called the name of
the place Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide. But that
name also means this. It does mean the Lord will provide,
but it also means it shall be seen. it shall be seen." Abraham
said, here's where I saw, in type, the Lord Jesus Christ suffering
and dying for his people. And you'll see it too if you
look there. In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. Then thirdly,
Abraham saw the day of Christ by special revelation. You remember
after the slaughter of the kings, Abraham went and he rescued Lot
and all those people from those kings that came and sacked Solomon.
Abraham came upon a man named Melchizedek. And Abraham had
a special revelation. He knew this man Melchizedek
was Christ himself. Look in Hebrews chapter 7. By
special revelation, Abraham knew this man is a pre-incarnate appearance
of Christ. Appearance of Christ on the earth
before he came incarnate. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 1. For this Melchizedek, king of
Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning
from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also
Abraham gave a tenth part of all, he gave tithes to this man
Melchizedek, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after
that also king of Salem, which is king of peace. He is without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning
of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God,
abideth a priest continually." John, that sure sounds like Christ
to me. He's king of peace, king of righteousness. He doesn't have beginning of
days or end of days. By special revelation, Abraham knew this
is no man. This is Christ himself. And Abraham,
he gave Melchizedek bread and wine. He didn't bring the Old
Testament picture of a lamb. He brought the New Testament
picture of bread and wine. Because Abraham was already looking
back at the finished work of Christ. His broken body and his
shed blood which accomplished the salvation of his people.
Abraham saw Christ crucified for sin. Then there was another
time, Abraham. He saw three men coming. He got
up to meet him. These three men were on their
way to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. One of those men was the Lord
Jesus. Genesis 18 says the Lord appeared unto him in the plains
of Mamre. One of these men was a pre-incarnate appearance of
Christ. And he sat down to eat with Abraham. And he told Abraham,
you're going to have a son. At this time next year, you're
going to have a son. Sarah was on the other side of
the tent listening and she laughed. Now, this this only Christ can
can say this because he's the life giver. And Sarah laughed. She thought it's impossible for
a woman as old as me to have a son. It's impossible. Abraham
saw past that. Abraham laughed, too. But Abraham
didn't laugh in unbelief. It seems impossible that Sarah,
as old as she was, could have a son. It's impossible a virgin
can bring forth a son too, isn't it? Abraham saw past all that. He laughed for joy. Because by
special revelation, Abraham saw Christ the Savior coming through
that promised son. The child of promise. Abraham
saw the day of Christ by faith. He saw the day of Christ in type.
And he saw the day of Christ by special revelation. That's
what our Lord is telling them before Abraham was. I am. Well, look at verse 57. Then
said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old,
and hast thou seen Abraham? The Jews said old age began at
fifty. You know, they were expected,
when you turn fifty, you're expected to know something. So about next
year, you expect me to know something. I'll turn fifty, maybe I'll know
something. I don't know. Maybe they're just, this is hope.
I don't know. But also they could have used
50 as an age right here, because even though our Lord is only
in his early 30s, he probably looked a whole lot closer to
50 than he did 30 because of the sorrow and the grief that
he bore as a man. Our Lord was a man acquainted
with sorrows, acquainted with suffering. His suffering didn't
begin at Calvary. His suffering didn't begin in
Gethsemane's garden. His suffering began at conception
when He humbled Himself to take on human flesh. And even at this
time, when He's standing here talking with these Pharisees,
He's suffering. You can understand that to a
degree. Have you ever had a discussion with the religious people? And
you just think, this conversation is never going to end. I mean, just maybe the Lord will
come. How am I going to get out of this? You think, oh, It just
grates on your soul like fingernails on a chalkboard. Magnify that
infinitely. That's how our Lord stands suffering,
talking to these men. Patiently suffering. Not wiping
them out when they ask, who do you think you are? Can you imagine
the suffering? You're not yet 50 years old.
How could you see Abraham? Even at this time, he's suffering
for his people. For his people. He's suffering
the humiliation of being a man so he could be our representative.
Verse 58, patiently Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Now, I am is the name that God
revealed to Moses at the burning bush. The writers say, I am that
I am. We read that to open the service.
I am that I am. means I save in the manner in
which I choose to save. And the Lord Jesus is plainly
telling them and He is telling us He is Sovereign, Almighty,
Eternal God in human flesh and He saves whom He will. This man having this conversation
with these Pharisees is none other than God Himself. Now where
the name I Am was revealed is very significant. It was at the
burning bush. That burning bush is a picture
of the cross of Calvary. At the cross Christ burned under
the fire of God's wrath for sin and he was not consumed. Just
like that bush was not consumed. Christ the sacrifice consumed
the fire. He put out the fire of God's
wrath. Not the other way around. Normally,
the fire consumed the sacrifice, didn't it? In our Lord's case,
the sacrifice consumed the fire. And the very one who spoke at
the burning bush is the same one speaking from the cross when
he's not consumed. And Roy, the message is the same.
The message at the burning bush is the exact same message at
the cross. Let my people go. I've been made
sin for them. They're free of sin. Let my people
go. I'm suffering, satisfying justice
for my people. Let my people go. I'm dying for
my people. I'm dying the death that they
deserve. So let them go, that they'll never taste death. I
am that I am. That's his name. Now verse 59. Then they took up stones to cast
at him. But Jesus hid himself and went
out of the temple, going through the midst of them and so passed
by. Now, hearing the truth that this man standing, talking to
them is God, oh, that made the Jews so angry they wanted to
kill him. But our Lord just made himself
invisible to these rebels. And walked out of there right
through the midst of them. He didn't hide and sneak around
the corner. He didn't hide and go out the back door. He hid
himself from them as he walked right through their midst. They
never saw him. They couldn't lay a hand on him
because they couldn't see him. He does the same thing today. The same thing to unbelievers
to this day. As the Gospels preach, some see
him. Some of you see him. Some don't. He's in our midst. He said we're
two or three gathered together in my name, they are mine in
the midst of them. Why don't some see? Because he's hid himself. He's passed them by. Now someone
said, no, he wouldn't do that. Really? He blinded the eyes of
a whole nation. He blinded the eyes of the Jewish
nation. Why wouldn't he blind the eyes
of unbelievers? The reason an unbeliever does not see is because
God's left them alone. He's left them in their darkness.
He's left them in their blindness. And he's passed them by. That's why they don't see. Now,
Abraham saw the day of Christ. And every child of Abraham sees
the exact same thing Abraham saw. You see Christ. If the Lord's
not passed us by, there are some things we always see. In verse
48, we saw this. Unbelievers saying the gospel,
that's crazy. Only a madman would believe that.
You believe heresy. But if you've seen Christ, you've
heard Christ speak from His Word, like Abraham did, you know this. Christ is the only way to approach
the Father. Christ is the only way you can
worship the Father. What unbelievers call heresy,
that's the way you worship God, because He's revealed Himself
to you. You worship God through the Lord
Jesus Christ, through this man, Christ Jesus. Verse 49 and 50,
we saw that the Father honors the Son. No one else. He honors the Son. Well, unbelievers
don't honor the Father because they don't honor the Son. But
if you see Christ, you see Him in His Word, You've heard him
in his word. Then you honor the father by
honoring the son. Well, how do you honor the son?
Just believe him. If you want to truly honor somebody,
take them at their word. You honor Christ, you honor him
by believing him. Verse 51 and 52, we saw this. Unbelievers can't see past this
life. They can't see through this fleshly
realm. They don't understand all this
talk about spiritual death and second death because the flesh
is all that they see. But if you've seen Christ in
his word, you've heard Christ in his word, you know this. This world is not all there is.
This life is not all there is, and you know that because God's
given you new life. He's given you spiritual life
that he's created in you. It's eternal life that you'll
never lose. Yeah, you'll lay down this fleshly
life, but you're not losing much, are you? But you'll never lose
the eternal life that God's given to you in Christ. And you keep
the sayings of Christ. Every last one of them. Every
one of them. By faith. By faith in Christ. Christ as a man, as our representative,
kept every saying of God in me. He kept the law in every jot
and every tittle. Well, if you believe Christ,
you did, too, in him, by faith. And you'll never taste death.
Now, your body of flesh is going to die. Unless the Lord returns
first, your body of flesh will die. But you'll never taste death. You'll never experience that
second death because Christ has already died for you and he's
made you perfect. So you've got no reason to die.
Because Christ has made you perfect. You have eternal life. And the
death of your body will never harm you at all. It's just laying
down the body of sin and going to be with Christ. That's not
going to harm you. That's not going to hurt you any. Verse 53, we saw this. Unbelievers
don't hold Christ in any regard. But if you've seen Christ in
His Word, and you've heard Christ in His Word, This is what you
know. If you've seen him as he is,
you know this. Christ is exalted above all.
Above all. Now, it's true. Your loved ones,
they're great to you. They're special to you. But once
you've seen Christ, this is what you know. Christ is greater than
husband or wife. He's greater than son or daughter.
He's greater than brother or sister. Christ is all. Of course you love your family.
We all, we love our family. We love the great preachers of
the past. We love the patriarchs of scripture.
But you know this, Christ has been given a far more excellent
name than all of them put together. Christ is all. In verse 54, we saw an unbeliever
will never honor Christ. But the Father's honored him.
And if you've seen Christ, you've heard Christ in his word, You
see the Father honoring the Son by the way He saved a sinner
like you. Nothing honors the Son more in
your eyes than God saving you by His grace through the death
of His Son. Nothing is ever greater than
that. And Christ is going to get all
the glory in that because we didn't contribute anything to
it. He did it all. The way God saves sinners honors
who God is. And you love it that way. if
you've seen Christ as He is. Verse 55, we saw an unbeliever
cannot know the Father. Can't do it. But if you've seen
Christ and you've heard Christ in His Word, you know the Father. You know the Father because you
know the Son. And the Father and the Son are one. Verse 56,
we saw an unbeliever can't see the glory of Christ. An unbeliever,
someone who hasn't seen Christ, they don't know what all the
fuss is about. What's the big deal? But if you've
seen Christ and you've heard Christ in his word, you know
all the fuss has to be about Christ. It's all about him. You rejoice to see the finished
work of Christ just as much as Abraham did. Now, you've not
seen a pre-incarnate appearance of him like Abraham did, but
you rejoice just as much as Abraham did. Verse 58, we saw an unregenerate
heart cannot understand Jesus of Nazareth, a man saying he's
God. Can't understand that. The best
thing an unbeliever can say about Christ is, well, he was a good
man. He was a prophet, but no more.
Now, that's the best they can say. How insulting is that to
the character of our Lord Jesus Christ? But if you've seen Christ,
And you've heard Him in His Word. You rejoice to see the God-man
as your Savior. He's God. So He's got the power
and ability to save me from my sin. And thank God He's a man. He's bone of my bones so He can
be my representative and my substitute. The most amazing grace ever told
to any sinner is that God would become a man, that he'd suffer
and die as a man to save a wretch like me. That's amazing grace. In verse 59, we saw Christ pass
by unbelievers. The reason an unbeliever stays
in their unbelief is Christ passes them by every day. In my study, I pray that the
Lord not passes by. Thankfully, he hasn't. There
are some he has not passed by. And if he's not passed by you,
you know that you see and you hear because Christ didn't pass
you by. He stopped and he called you
down from your high horse like he did for Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus
come down. He stopped. And he commanded
that you be called and he gave you your sight and you follow
him in the way, just like Blind Bartimaeus did. Every child of
God sees the same Christ, loves the same Christ, believes the
same Christ that Abraham rejoiced to see. And if we see, it's by
God's grace, because God did not pass us by. I pray this morning,
he's in the midst of us, that he not pass us by. Maybe he'll
be merciful. All right, let's bow in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, how we thank
you for your unsearchable mercy and grace to sinners such as
we are. That you'd not pass some by, but that you'd call us by
your grace. That you'd reveal your Son to
us and in us. that by faith we would see, understand,
and believe Christ crucified for our sin. Through his blood,
our sin is cleansed. In his righteousness, in his
person, we're accepted. Father, we're thankful. And Father,
I pray that this morning that you not pass us by. Would You, in Your mercy and
Your grace, continue to reveal Yourself to Your sheep here in
this place? We pray that You would, for Your
glory, for the glory of Your Son. Honor Your Son in saving
the lost. We pray that You'd honor Your
Son, that You'd bring honor and glory to Your name and for the
good of people. Call us to Yourself. Continue
to reveal Christ. to the preaching of your word
in this place. It's in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and for his glory we pray. Amen.

What Children of Abraham See

What does the Bible say about who can hear God's Word?

How do we know that Jesus is God?

Why is the second death significant in Christian belief?

Why is faith important in the life of a believer?

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What Children of Abraham See

What does the Bible say about who can hear God's Word?

How do we know that Jesus is God?

Why is the second death significant in Christian belief?

Why is faith important in the life of a believer?

Sermon Transcript

About Frank Tate

Comments

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