of God or not of God. That would describe you and I
in one of those two groups, of God or not of God. Verse 47, he that's of God, heareth God's words. You therefore hear them not because
you are not of God. I know that if I am preaching
God's Word, not my opinion or my thoughts or my slant on God's
Word, but God's Word, I know that if I am preaching God's
Word, Every believer in the world will be in agreement with what
I'm saying. No dissonance. How can you say
that? Because of what the Lord said,
he that's of God, heareth God's words. Every one of them. He says, you therefore hear them
not, because you are not of God. Let's go back to verse 31 and
see the context of him making this statement. Let's begin in verse 30. As he
spake these words, many believed on him. Now I have to say, we've seen
this the last couple of weeks, these same people who believed
at the end of this message will pick up rocks to stone him to
death. But at this time, they believed. If you would have asked
them if they believed, they would say, yes, I do. Verse 31, then said Jesus to
those Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my word,
then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, we be
Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest
thou you shall be made free? Jesus answered them. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the slave of
sin. And the slave abides not in the
house forever, but the son abideth forever. If the son therefore
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Now he says to these people who
said they believed, I know that you're Abraham's
seed, but you seek to kill me because my word hath no place
in you. They prove themselves to not
be disciples indeed by That response. Now, what he says is probably
the most searing indictment against the Pharisees that he ever made,
other than that passage in Matthew chapter 23, when he said to the
Pharisees, and let me say this about the Pharisees. That's the natural man's religion.
That's your natural religion. The word Pharisee means a separated
one. The natural man thinks there's
something they can do that will separate them from other men. Separated one. What a perfect
example of what our human religion is. We think something we do
can separate us from others and bring us into heaven. Look what he says to these people
in verse 44. We'll come back to this in a
minute, but these people who were said to believe, he said,
you are of your father, the devil. That's strong language. 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 the truth because there's no truth in him. When
he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own for he is a liar and
the father of it. Now go back to verse 37. He says to these people, I know
that you're Abraham seed. I know that you're physical descendants
of Abraham. There's no doubt about that. You're Jews. Claiming
all the privileges of being a Jew. I know that. I know you're Abraham
seed, but you seek to kill me because my word has no place
in you. Now they would, by the end of
this message, seek to kill him. They would pick up rocks to throw
at him and to put him to death. And he looks at these people
and he says, you seek to kill me. I know you're Abraham's seed,
but you're not spiritual Abraham's seed. I want to read you a passage
from Genesis chapter 18, verse 17. I'll read it to you. You can turn there if you want.
And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which
I do? seeing that Abraham shall surely
become a great and a mighty nation and all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed in him for I know him that he will command his
children and his household after him and they shall keep the way
of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring
upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him." Now does this
mean he was a great parent? I'd like to be a parent like
that. And you would do that. You could make sure your children
did what was right, but this is not talking about his physical
descendants. Because for one thing, if that's
the case, that wouldn't be true because the Jews were like you
and I evil, like you and I evil. This is not talking about good
parenting. This is talking about his spiritual seed that will
believe the gospel. He said, now I know you're Abraham's
seed, but you're not his spiritual seed. And then he brings this
indictment against them. You seek to kill me. You hated me and your hatred
of me is so complete that you want my death. Now that describes
me and you by nature. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. The carnal mind would take God's
place. The carnal mind would put God off his throne and take
his place. That is the mind me and you were
born with. Enmity, hatred of the living
God. The cross is the proof of that.
Don't say, well, I don't feel that way. Well, look at the cross,
and you'll find out that's what you are. That's what I am. He said, you
seek to kill me, and here's why. Because my word hath no place
in you. It's not received by you. The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they're foolishness unto him. Neither indeed can he know
them. because they're spiritually discerned.
Now he looks at these people who claim to be Abraham's seed
and temporarily at least believed on him. He said, you're sick
of my death because of your hatred of me. And number two, my word
has no place in you. It doesn't find any place of
affinity with you. Verse 38 of John chapter 8, he
says, I speak that which I've seen with my father, and you
do that which you've seen with your father. Now the Lord says,
I speak as the father speaks. As God, he speaks what he had
seen with his father, preaching, declaring the very word of God. And you do that which you've
seen of your father, like father, like son. Verse 39, they answered
and said unto him, Abraham's our father. Jesus saith unto them, if you
were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham's
children. Now it's true, they were physically
Abraham's children. I love that passage of scripture.
Hold your finger there and turn with me to Romans 9. Verse six, it's not as though
the word of God has taken none effect, for they are not all
Israel, which are of Israel. Just because someone was born
a physical Jew, that doesn't make them a Jew. Neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise. are counted for the seed for
this is the word of promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil that the
purpose of God, according to election might stand not of works,
but of him that calleth the children of the children of the promise.
You know what that means? The elect. The elect, they are the
true children of God. Now back to John chapter eight. They answered and said unto him,
Abraham's our father, Jesus saith unto them, 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 prove that you're not his
seed. And then he says in verse 41,
you do the deeds of your father. They said unto him, we're not
born of fornication. We have one father. Even God. You do the deeds of your father. God's our father. Now listen
to me. God is not everybody's father. Only the believer can pray our
father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. A child of God, praise to his
heavenly father, birthed by his father, a child of God. And the Lord says to these people, you do the deeds of your father.
Your father's not God. You do the deeds of your father. Like I said, in verse 44, it
says you're of your father, the devil. Verse 41, they said unto him,
we be not born of fornication. We have one father, even God.
They didn't understand his language. Jesus said unto them, if God
were your father, this is verse 42. If God were your father,
you'd love me. It's that simple. Look what he says, for I proceeded
forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me." Now, the language is so mysterious, it's so glorious. He said, I proceeded forth from
God. Now, he's a separate person from
God, but he's God. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God. As a distinct person, the Word
was God. If I took this glass of water and poured it into another
cup, That water would proceed from this? It'd be the same water
though, wouldn't it? Same H2O, same properties. God is who He is. Jesus Christ is God. The scripture
says, in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a
body. How glorious this person is.
I proceeded forth from God. I came from God. That's my origin. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me." And then he asked this question, why do you not
understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. My word has no place in you and
you cannot, you lack the ability to hear. You can hear audibly,
just like those Murmurs in John chapter 6 where he said when
they murmured at him. They said this is a hard saying
who could hear it Who can be expected to listen to this kind
of stuff? They heard what he said audibly
But they didn't hear with hearing ears because only those who have
ears to hear That he's given ears to hear. Oh Lord. Give me
ears to hear Don't leave me to myself. Don't leave me alone
thoughts and understanding Give me these ears to hear. Now he says to these people,
the reason that you cannot understand my speech is because you cannot.
You lack the ability to hear my word. the seeing eye and the
hearing ears of the Lord. I hope every one of us will ask
the Lord right now, Lord, give me ears to hear. I will not hear
except you give me ears to hear the glory of your gospel. Now
look what he says to these people in verse 44. You're of your father, the devil.
Now, I can't look at somebody and say, you're of your father
the devil, because I don't know. I hope you're of God. I hope
I'm of God. But I can't look at somebody
and say, you're of your father the devil. Now, I can say this.
If you die, if I die in unbelief, not believing the gospel, not
bowing the knee to Christ, the devil's my father. Such strong language. I know
it is. If you're outside of Christ, if you don't believe Christ,
listen to this, you're of your father the devil, Satan. And he says, the lusts of your
father you will do. Those who are of God have God
as their father. Those who do not believe have
the devil as their father. And this describes all who do
not believe He said, you're of your father the devil, verse
44, and the lusts, the desires of your father you will do. That's
what you want to do. The devil wanted to kill it,
didn't he? That's what he was seeking to do. And that's what
these people were seeking to do. They had no love for the
Lord Jesus Christ. You're of your father the devil
and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning. And abode not in the truth, because
there's no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he's a liar, and the father of it." Now Adam
wasn't the first person to fall. The devil was. He was an angel
of God. And he fell from that place. You can read about it in Isaiah
chapter 14. He wanted to take God's place. He said, I'll exalt
my throne above God. And that's what every natural
man wants to do. This is the issue, if it were in my power,
if God left me to myself and it were in my power, I'd put
Christ off the throne and take his place. I'd want to be the
one there. That's what every natural man is guilty of. And
the devil was the first one to fall from this place. Now he
says in verse 45, and because I tell you the truth, you believe
me not. Now I want you to think about
this statement. I tell you the truth. I tell you the truth. And you believe me not. Unbelief
is a choice. If you do not believe, it is
because you choose not to believe. I'm not going to believe that. I do not believe that. Now, if you believe the truth,
you do not choose to believe the truth. You believe the truth
because it's true. It's not a choice you make. You
don't think, well, I think I'm going to believe it. No. You
believe something because it's true. You really believe it's
true. That's why you believe. If you do not believe, it's because
you choose not to believe, and that's what makes unbelief so
intrinsically, essentially, and fundamentally evil. Every sin
comes from this sin, unbelief. It's the mother of all other
sins, and it is a choice. That's why it's so bad. You choose
to not believe. To not believe Him who is the
truth. He's the one who tells the truth concerning who God
is, who we are, how God saves by Christ. He tells the truth
and you don't believe. He said, if I tell the truth
because I tell the truth, you believe me not. Now, if you leave,
if I leave, This place, not believing, it's because I've chosen not
to believe. That's the only reason. That's
why men are responsible. Don't think, well, if God didn't
elect me, I'm not held responsible for my sin. Yeah, you are. Yeah,
you are. Your unbelief is a choice. Now he makes this statement in
verse 46. Which of you convinces me of
sin? You know, he's the only one who
could ever say that. Nobody else could make that claim. If you're
around me for five minutes, you're going to be able to convince
me of sin. You'll see something. I'll see something in you. But
the Lord could say, nobody here can convince me of sin. And there's
one reason. He never sinned. He never had
a sinful thought. He never had a sinful motive.
He never had a sinful action. He never had a sinful desire.
And he could look at these people and say, which of you convinces
me of sin? You can't do it. I'm without
sin. Every believer knows that. The
thief knew it. The thief on the cross said, this man had done
nothing amiss. You see, if you know him, you
know for sure that he's never sinned because of who he is.
Which of you convinces me of sin. And then he asked this question
in verse 46, and if I say the truth, why don't you believe me? And then he gives the answer. And this is what I entitled this
message. He that is of God, heareth God's words. You, therefore, hear them not,
because you are not of God." The title of this message is,
Of God or Not of God? Which one am I? Am I of God? Or am I not of God? Now He already said to these
people, you are of your father the devil. And the lust of your
father you will do. Like father, like son. The acorn doesn't fall far from
the tree, does it? You're of your father the devil. The lust of your father you will
do. He describes two kinds of people, of God or not of God. And I love the way the scripture
always makes things clear. It's always two. There's never
a third party. One or the other. Righteous or wicked. Saved or
lost. Born of God or not born of God. Nothing to get confused about.
One or the other. Children of God or children of
the devil. Believers or unbelievers. Sheep
or goats. Tares or wheat. Now, the preposition
of, of God or not of God, the preposition of denotes origin,
possession, and relationship. Those three things. Who you're
of, Tells of your origin, who you belong to, and your relationship
to that one you belong to. Of God or not of God. To be of God means I'm from him. That's mysterious, I realize
that. You know, I'm from Ashton, Kentucky. No, I'm not. That's not my origin. My origin,
I'm from God. This denotes possession. I belong to Him. You know, there's
a Psalm, a verse in Psalm 119, where the psalmist says, I'm
thine. Save me. I'm thine. I belong to him. Oh, I belong to him. So I'm his. And it speaks of relationship.
I'm his son. I'm a son of God. I'm a child
of God. Now that's what that little preposition
denotes. Your origin, who you belong to,
and your relationship with that one to whom you belong. Of God. He that is of God, heareth God's words. That's why
I can say I know if I'm preaching the Word of God, you're going
to be in complete agreement if you're of God. Because he that's
of God heareth God's words. I'm not going to say you're going
to believe everything I say because I say it. If it's just my words
or my opinion or my take on something, you might say, well, I don't
believe that. I don't blame you. I don't either. I don't know what I'm
saying. But if I'm preaching God's Word, he that's of God
heareth God's words. Salvation is what? Of the Lord. Now, if I'm of God, that means
that God placed me in Christ before the foundation of the
world. That salvation which is of the Lord, election of the
Father. If I'm of God, that means I was
in the Lord Jesus Christ when He died. The Father gave me to
the Son. The Son took full responsibility for my salvation. What a thought! Jesus Christ
took complete responsibility for me to save me. He died for
me on the cross. If I'm of God, Jesus Christ died
for me. If I'm of God, I'm born of God. I have been given life by God
the Holy Spirit, birth of God. To be of God is to be chosen
of God, eternally loved by God. It's to have Jesus Christ die
for me. It's to have God the Holy Spirit
give me the life of God in my heart, the life of God in my
soul. Of Him, listen to this scripture,
Of him are you in Christ Jesus. And not everybody's in Christ.
But everybody's in Christ who of him they're in Christ Jesus.
Who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption of God. That means I'm united to Christ. Both he that sanctifyeth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. For the witch cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. Now if I'm of God, that means
I'm eternally of the Lord Jesus Christ, eternally united to him,
eternally in him. To be of God is to be born of
God. Now turn with me to John 1. Verse 12. But as many as received him. Now let me say this. If I'm saved,
I receive him. I embrace him. There's no salvation apart from
receiving his person. as many as received Him." Well,
what in the world does that mean, to receive Him? I mean, I've
never seen Him physically. I can't tell you what He looks
like. What do you mean, receive Him? Well, John tells us immediately. Here's who they are. "...even
to them which believe on His name." And this is what it is
to receive Christ. You believe on His name. You
believe His name is the only reason why the Father will accept
you. That's what you believe. You believe on His name. You
know that His name is the name above every name. And at the
name of Jesus, every knee is gonna bow. And the only name
you plead as to why you would be forgiven or saved is His name. You understand even as God for
Christ's sake, have forgiven you, not for your
sake, not because of something you've done, but for Christ's
sake. That's the ONLY reason. And you know that. Those are
the people who receive Him, they believe on His name. Now, how
did they get to that place where they believed on His name? Well,
let's go on reading in verse 13, which we're born. That's
so important. If you're of God, you were born
of God. You were birthed of God. How do you get that way? Which
we're born. Not of blood. Children. You who
have believing parents. You will not be saved because
your parents believe. It's not in the bloodline. which were born, not of blood,
not of the will of the flesh. You will not be born because
a bunch of people got together and said, we're going to pray
through until they're born again. Now we should pray for one another
and we should pray for the spiritual birth of those around us. But
people are not born again because of the prayers of people getting
together. I'm going to pray for you. I
want to pray for you. I want you to pray for me. But
my prayers, God works through those prayers, but they don't
cause the birth, which we're born. Not of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man. If you're born again, it's not
because you decide to become born again. It's not because
of some kind of act of your will. Free will is the biggest lie
there is. It is the lie. They were born, not of blood,
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of
God. If you're of God, you're born
of God, birthed by God, fathered by God. To be of God is to be
eternally united to Christ. It's to be born of God. It's
to possess the righteousness of God. The Lord said their righteousness
is of me. If I'm of God, that means the
very righteousness of God is mine. And I stand before God
in his own righteousness. That's why there's nothing to
fear with regard to judgment. My righteousness is the righteousness
of God, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Paul said, not
having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which
is of God by faith. For he hath made him to be sin,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. I can look forward to judgment
day because I've got the righteousness of God as my personal righteousness
before God. What a glorious thing. To be of God is to have God in
you. First John 4, 12, God dwelleth in us. Colossians 1, 27, Christ in you. The hope of glory. To be of God is to have the living
God by His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. dwelling in me." To
be of God is to have God as your teacher. "...and they shall all be taught
of God." Now, when you believe the gospel, it's because God's
been your teacher. He Himself has taught you who
He is, who you are, who his son is, and made you to rely on him
completely. See, he's such an effectual teacher. I've never preached the message
where I have gone away thinking, I wish I would have said this
and maybe things would have been every message I ever preached.
There's a element of frustration with it because I didn't say
things the way they should have been said. I didn't say things
with the proper earnestness, the proper brokenness, the proper
persuasiveness, the whatever. That doesn't matter. If God teaches his word, everything
fine. If I'm of God, I'm taught of
God. To be of God is to see God. Not that I, no man has seen God
at any time, but here's what we see. The Lord said, he that
hath seen me hath seen the Father. And this is something that everybody
that's of God sees. They see that Jesus Christ is
God. and they rely on Him as God their
Savior. They see who He is. Turn to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John
chapter 3. Verse 9. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed, the seed of God, remaineth in
him. And he cannot sin. He lacks the
ability to sin because he is born of God. Now, if I'm of God, I've got
a man, a nature, a holy nature that cannot commit sin. That doesn't say he doesn't practice
sin. It says he didn't commit sin. That's the new man. He does not
commit sin. He's holy. birth by God. Turn to chapter 4 of 1 John,
verse 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is of God. There's that statement again.
And every, verse three, and every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. Now let's think about this word
confess. You know what the word confess means? It means to speak
the same thing. You speak the same thing God
does. You know, people thought, well,
if you commit suicide, you can't be saved because you weren't
alive to confess the sin, and you can't be saved unless you
confess all your sins. That's not what confession means. Confession means to agree with
what God says, and it's to do so publicly. Every spirit that's of God confesses
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. I love the simplicity
of that. He was before He came. We believe
He's eternal God. He came in the flesh. He became
man. And whatever it was He did when
He came in the flesh to do, He did. He accomplished salvation. And we confess that. Everybody
that's of God That is a summary of everything they believe regarding
the person and work of Jesus Christ. Everyone that's not of
God, they don't make this same confession that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh. And they don't confess that.
They don't really believe it. They don't believe in his character
as God man and that he did what he came to do. Now what is the one evidence
that somebody's of God? This is why I'm close with this
thought. What is the one evidence that I'm of God? He that's of
God, heareth God's words. You hear them. You believe them.
You rely on them. The gospel. And he says to these
people, you therefore hear them not. You're bucking at this.
And here's the reason. You're not of God. Now, that's
plain language. That's simple language. It's
lovely language, too, isn't it? May God give every one of us
the grace to hear God's words and to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
words. And Lord, we will not and cannot hear them
unless you cause us to be of you. And Lord, our prayer is
that we may win Christ and be found in him. We ask that you would give us
the grace to hear your words. to receive your words as good
news, to believe your words altogether. Now, Lord, bless this message
for the Lord's sake. In His name we pray.