John 8:13-59

[0:00] Chapter number 8, and we concluded last Sunday, and at the end of this portion of Scripture that's omitted, or attacked at least, by some saying it's not authenticated, it doesn't belong in the text, it's not in what they call the oldest manuscripts, and handled that a little bit, really didn't go into depth about it.

[0:28] There's things within the very chapter itself that allows it to fit very well, but nevertheless we'll not spend the time on that this morning. We're going to pick it up in verse 12.

[0:38] I do remember commenting and reading the verse, verse 12, and commenting about what it would be like to have no light at all, and we can't, I doubt, we can even fathom it.

[0:50] Even if you grew up a lot of your life lost, you still just cannot comprehend a world without truth, without Christ, without the Word of God. Just living in America, you've been in a society that has been shaped in some way by the Word of God, and so you probably, you just can't comprehend that thought of there being no light at all in your world or in your life.

[1:13] So, glad we don't have to. Darkness around us is enough. But, alright, let's pray and then we'll get into this text. Father, as we bow before you, as we meet this morning, we are grateful for our Savior, the Lord Jesus.

[1:27] Thank you for the light of the world. Thank you for shining in our hearts by the glorious, the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. Thank you for saving our souls from hell and for giving us eternal life.

[1:41] And as we meet this morning, it's our prayer that you'll meet with us and that you'll guide our thoughts and our minds through the Word of God and draw our attention to you and to truth and away from this world.

[1:53] Expose the darkness in our hearts and in our minds. And Lord, give us grace and courage to make decisions and to repent and to lean on you and to trust you.

[2:05] And help us, God, in this day. Help us to edify one another. And I pray that your words will be a blessing this morning in Sunday school. And we pray this in Christ Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, so verse 12 again.

[2:16] Let's pick it up there. Then spake Jesus unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

[2:27] Now, it's a little confusing to me where exactly how this takes place. You'd have to kind of study the context a little more. From verse 2, we know that Jesus in the morning went into the temple and that he sat down and taught them.

[2:42] And that's when the scribes and Pharisees of verse 3 bring this woman taken in adultery and set her down in the midst. So he's teaching people. He's seated. There's students, if you call it that, present in his midst.

[2:54] And then with his comments and his rebuttal to them, the scribes and Pharisees, beginning at the eldest, even to the last, they went out one by one. So they depart from this, at least the general area of his teaching.

[3:09] Now, notice verse number 20. It says, these words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple. And I'm kind of, I don't know if I'm confused. I just, I don't know how this is laid out specifically and how, where exactly he sat down and taught in verse 2.

[3:26] If it was in the treasury the whole time, or if he, as the scribes and Pharisees make their way out of his classroom, in verse 13, they're right there again.

[3:39] So it's, either it's a separate time completely, or, or possibly after this situation with the woman taken in adultery, it says, at the end of verse 9, Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst.

[3:56] And I reckon the students were still there that he was teaching. But nevertheless, all those scribes and Pharisees are gone. Then the next verse he says something and there they are again. And I can't help but wonder if he didn't finish his lesson there and then go seek them out.

[4:09] To where they were in the treasury, which is a place that you're familiar with him observing the widow and the others later on and toward the end of his ministry, where he sat over against the treasury and he watched them as they came in and cast in their gifts into the treasury.

[4:26] So treasury is typically a separate room, a storehouse. And it seems that they probably had some kind of container or something there, a chest to receive the offerings.

[4:38] But to be a place where he would go into and stand and teach people, it seems a little odd to me. But again, I don't know the layout of everything and if that's even possible. So I'm curious if he didn't go seek them out in verse 12 after this whole thing was finished with the woman in adultery and they left.

[4:57] And then he goes after him, finds him again there in the temple and says, hey, I got some more things to say to you. And it kind of matches a little bit the thought because in a couple of verses he's going to tell them they're going to die in their sins.

[5:11] And they're guilty of sin being that he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. They all left at that. So they're guilty of sin. And he kind of seems like he goes up to him and says, kind of finishes the thought and offering to them, letting them know he's the light of the world and they need to believe on him or they'll die in their sins.

[5:33] Now, verse 12, he makes that comment, I am the light of the world. That's a common thought and one of the I am's of Christ. You're kind of familiar with it. But I want to just just poke at it a little bit and make sure it's not something that you're so familiar with.

[5:46] Yeah, I am the good shepherd. I am the light of the world. What does that mean? I'm the light of the world. What kind of point is that? I am the light of the world. So if you if you follow me, you won't walk in darkness.

[5:58] Remember how many times we've hit these spiritual concepts that go right over the head of everybody or at least the majority of everybody. And here's another spiritual concept. I am the light of the world.

[6:11] Let's see. Look at chapter nine. I'll just run a quick few references here before we comment too much. Chapter nine, verse one or no, verse four and five. I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day.

[6:25] The night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. So it's as long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world.

[6:37] As in his presence in the world is light. Look at chapter 12 and verse 46. A little bit before that, let me get 1235.

[6:56] Then said Jesus unto them, yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.

[7:06] For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. And then later in verse 46.

[7:17] I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Now these thoughts might draw your mind all the way back to the very beginning of John's gospel.

[7:30] When John introduced Jesus Christ as the light with a capital L. Flip back there, John chapter 1. He introduces him as the word that was with God.

[7:47] And we've studied this already. In the bosom of the Father existed the word in eternity. And then the word came forth from the Father. Verse number 3.

[7:59] All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life. Just note that again. And the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness.

[8:12] And the darkness comprehended it not. Then in verse 7. John is sent as a witness. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light. That all men through him might believe.

[8:23] He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light. Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world. As the light of the world.

[8:34] And the world was made by him and the world knew him not. Now, the Bible says in 1 John that God is light. And in him is no darkness at all. And the Lord Jesus Christ came from God to this earth to be that light that God is in the world.

[8:54] As long as I'm in the world, I am the light of the world. And so look at verse 18 again of John chapter 1. I know this is going back pretty far from our studies. But let this just be remembered.

[9:09] Remember this here. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. And so the Son, the Father is light.

[9:23] He is the light. God is light. And the Son came forth from that being and declared in a physical form, in verse 14, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

[9:36] He is a visible representation of the true light of heaven, God the Father. And so he's a light. He's the light of the world now.

[9:47] That thought is a spiritual thought, of course. And I think you get it. He's not a certain amount of watt beam shining in people's eyes and blinding them.

[9:57] He is, spiritually speaking, a light that can shine in darkness and how important light is. So back in John chapter 8, when he says, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.

[10:10] But here's a statement. But shall have the light of life. And that's a little peculiar of a statement, I think. It's something that if you don't really study it or look at other verses, it's just an odd sound.

[10:24] The light of life. What in the world is the light of life? Well, it's not complicated. Just a few chapters ago, he said, I am the bread of life. And it's the same idea. It's just a different analogy or illustration.

[10:36] He is the bread of life. He is the light. Is this time the illustration of life. If you receive that light into you, you're receiving life. You'll have life.

[10:47] From back in chapter 1, in him was life. And the life was the light of men. And so if you'll receive that light, figuratively speaking, just like you've received that bread of life in chapter 4 and in chapter 7 of John, he likened himself to water, to living water.

[11:04] It never says water of life in those passages, but it's the same concept. Bread of life, water of life. If you drink, you'll never thirst again. Same thing here this time. It's about light.

[11:15] So he shall have the light of life. Verse 13. Of course, the Pharisees don't like him speaking to them about much of anything. The Pharisees, therefore, said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself.

[11:29] Thy record is not true. Now, their statement is, and it's Jewish law and even understood as custom. You don't come on the scene and boast yourself.

[11:41] You don't bear witness of yourself. The law says you'd have to have two or three witnesses for something to be established. And so Christ acknowledges that. Verse 17.

[11:51] He says, It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. So their statement about him has some kind of backing, speaking of Moses and the law, saying you're not allowed to come up here and just boast of yourself.

[12:06] Well, Christ acknowledges, No, it's not exactly what's happening. I'm not here alone. So they say, Thy record is not true. Verse 14. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true.

[12:22] So he is acknowledging, typically speaking, yes, you don't bear record of yourself and expect people to believe you. Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true.

[12:33] For I know whence I came and whither I go, but ye cannot tell whence I come and whither I go. So they're talking to somebody who has been in eternity with the Father and has come a light into the world to shine in the darkness, and they don't comprehend him at all.

[12:53] Ye judge after the flesh, meaning that's all you can do. In a matter of fact, you can judge what you see, judge what you hear, judge how it looks, judge how you feel that day, but that's all you can do.

[13:06] 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 and the Father that sent me.

[13:16] It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.

[13:28] And we've already covered this in chapter 5. This very conversation took place before, so we'll keep moving. Verse 19, Then said they unto him, Where is thy father? Jesus answered, Neither have you known me nor my father.

[13:41] If he had known me, you should have known my father also. Now this is over their heads, like so much. These words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no man laid hands on him, for his hour was not yet come.

[13:54] So you may not hear it in the reading, or in my tone, but John kind of inserts that. There must have been some tense words there, and there must have been some strife, and we already know that they sought to kill him, and they sent soldiers to lay hands on him and take him.

[14:10] And so here they are again, probably just in the same spirit, and the same attitude toward him, but no man laid hands on him. So verse 21, Then said Jesus again to them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins.

[14:28] Whither I go, ye cannot come. So you understand, reading this from their perspective, the Pharisees, you're going to, I go my way.

[14:38] It just sounds like you're going out the door and going home. And then he says, you're going to die in your sins, and you can't come where I'm coming. So that ought to indicate, he's not talking about going home. He's talking about going someplace else, where they can't go, because they are of the flesh, and judge after the flesh.

[14:55] And they are from beneath, as he says here in a moment, where we at 20, 21, ye shall die in your sins. What a lovely statement from Jesus Christ, to tell people that they're going to die in their sins.

[15:09] Why would anybody be so insensitive? And why would anybody be so harsh and crass, to just tell them that to their face, while they're in the holy temple in Jerusalem?

[15:22] Very religious people, at church. And he tells them, you're going to die in your sins. Whither I go, ye cannot come. Verse 22, then said the Jews, will he kill himself?

[15:33] Because he saith, whither I go, ye cannot come. And he said unto them, ye are from beneath. Now, it's not a reference to hell, I don't believe, it's from this passage, it says the world, later in the verse, I am from above, ye are of this world, I am not of this world.

[15:50] I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins. Notice now, for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. I am he.

[16:02] Do you know now by now, who we're talking about, and that this is the Christ, and that, look back at chapter 4, and just another cross reference to this.

[16:14] In verse 25, the Samaritan woman, verse 25, chapter 4, verse 25, the woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ, when he's come, he'll tell us all things, Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, am he.

[16:33] So Christ says, if you don't believe that I am he, referencing the Messiah, the Christ, the one that should come, then you're going to die in your sins.

[16:44] So he doesn't deal with their sins at all, does he? He doesn't say, if you don't stop your sins, if you don't clean up your life, it's all about belief. That's where it starts, and you'll see that again here later in this chapter.

[16:58] Christ is not reproving them of individual sins. To even strengthen this, the woman that was taken in adultery in the very act, stood there and he said, neither do I condemn thee.

[17:09] Go and sin no more. And so he didn't come to judge, as he said in verse 15. Now, where am I at? Verse 24, if you believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

[17:27] So the third time that statement comes up, something you ought to take account of, and allow that to sink in and consider, why is he talking about them dying in their sins?

[17:38] What does that mean? Dying in your sins. Dying in your sins. Dying in your sins. Why would he say such a thing? Everybody's going to die, but what is it to die in your sins? You better find out what that means.

[17:50] They better find out what that means, dying in their sins. Well, we have Moses, and we are Abraham's seed, they say a little bit later. It doesn't make a bit of difference. You're going to die in your sins, the children of Abraham.

[18:03] God's going to deal with your sins. You better get them forgiven. You better get a lamb. Verse 25, Then said he unto them, Who art thou? So again, with the questions, 19, Where is thy father?

[18:15] Here, Who art thou? And the religion, always asking questions, don't have answers, but Jesus Christ is the answer. He says unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. Kind of a, kind of a, maybe getting fed up with their questions, and their lack of faith, and I'm not going to just keep answering the same questions over and over.

[18:36] I already told you. 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 spake to them of the father.

[18:50] So yet again, there it's more plain, it's over their heads, some common speech that you understand reading through the scriptures. In the moment, it was over their heads, and their eyes are blind, the veil's on their heart.

[19:02] They can't believe, they can't see or understand. Now verse 28, Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, there's a prophecy of his death, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself.

[19:19] But as my father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me. The father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him.

[19:32] As he spake these words, many believed on him. So you might think, well, why is he still going at these guys when they're not believing on him, they want to kill him, and they're not interested, they can't even understand and grab what he, they don't understand he's speaking to them of the father, but there's some people standing by that do.

[19:50] And they hear his words, and the common people heard him gladly. And so, you never know when you're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, who's listening. And while you feel like, well, my family's not hearing it, and my co-workers aren't hearing it, you don't know that there are others, or that your faithful testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ going out, going out, is going to have effect somewhere.

[20:11] I know we like to use that verse, that my word shall not return unto me void. It's kind of an over-applied thought from what it's really saying, but it's still a good concept.

[20:22] You don't know what's going to happen, just put out the word. And so here they are, many believed on him, while he's going at these Pharisees and scribes that will not believe on him. But many did, and so this is John.

[20:35] Again, he's going to insert that, because John's theme, as we saw every single chapter, and nearly every discourse, and every account that he writes about, has somebody believing on him.

[20:45] And that's the reason he gave this gospel. Verse 31, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if, that's a condition, if ye, because you could or you could not, but if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.

[21:09] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So there's a kind of, if you want to call them steps or stages here, there's number one, believing on him.

[21:21] That has to happen first. To those Jews which believed on him, secondly, they have to continue in his word. And then the result of that, verse 32, they'll know the truth, and the truth will make them free.

[21:38] Believing, continuing, learning, or knowing the truth, and then liberty of knowing the truth. Now, believing alone doesn't make you free in the sense of, well, just say it like this.

[21:53] Some people get saved, young in the Lord, and still just have no idea. Some have come through these doors, born again, but wrestling, am I still saved? Did I lose it because I lost my temper at the job the other day?

[22:07] And they don't have liberty. They're saved, they're free and born again in Christ, but they don't, mentally, they don't have any liberty about it. They're struggling, they're fighting, but once they know the truth, once they get a hold of the word of God, then poof, nobody could talk them out of it.

[22:24] That's liberty. So the truth shall, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And what a place to be, to be free. Now their reply to this is, again, what in the world is he talking about, making somebody free?

[22:40] We be Abraham's seed. And here comes a statement, for the life of me I'll never understand. We were never in bondage to any man. So are they speaking, spiritually?

[22:53] We're, even though we've been in bondage to Pharaoh? Did they forget that, or are they speaking in another way? Do they actually believe that they're the children of God, and free from many physical bondage?

[23:08] Because if they're trying to talk on a spiritual level, they've missed it. They want to kill their Messiah. And the whole time say that they see.

[23:20] As in, we'll see a little bit in chapter 9, they say we see. Yet they don't. We be Abraham's seed. We were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, ye shall be made free?

[23:31] Well, they were in bondage to Pharaoh, and Ahasuerus, and Darius, and Nebuchadnezzar, and in Judges, you got many a time, Sisera, many of the other kings that came in, and took them bondage for years and years, then currently speaking.

[23:50] So they must be either just living in a fantasy, or they're speaking, or they're trying to speak on a spiritual level, that they have a connection to God, regardless of their physical situation.

[24:04] I don't know if that's what they really believe, and if so, then they're trusting in that they're Abraham's seed, and therefore children of a covenant to God through Abraham, and that is their religion.

[24:19] That is what they're trusting in. And I kind of tend to see it that way, more so than thinking they actually believe we've never been in bondage to Herod, and now Caesar Augustus.

[24:31] And so I'm thinking that they're saying, no, spiritually speaking, we're free, because we're the children of Abraham. And Christ has a reply to that. Verse 34, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

[24:49] So you can be Abraham's seed, or you can be the seed of, I don't know who else is back there. And you commit sin, then that's your master.

[25:00] In Proverbs chapter 5, it says that a man will be taken and holden by the cords of his sins. And so he's speaking about sins on the inside. You know, sins, I have to back up a little bit here, where the truth will make you free, and yet, they don't get this concept, they want to talk about being free, as if they are free, but Christ is going to say, no, sin is your master.

[25:27] And Paul said, that sin dwelleth in me, in his flesh. Well, I'll probably just pass on.

[25:40] I have a thought there to go, but it'll probably go down a wormhole for a while, so I'll resist it and keep moving in the passage. Verse 35, The servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever.

[25:53] So the servant is granted liberty, and they would understand that under their law. Verse 36, If the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

[26:04] Now let's back up and see, verse 32 said that the truth will make you free, and now verse 36 says, If the son therefore shall make you free. So which is it?

[26:17] Is it the truth? Is this a contradiction, or is this a slip up of words? Does the truth, knowing the truth, and intellectual knowledge of the truth, make you free?

[26:29] And is that even possible? Well, we know that you have to believe first, and continue in his word, and then you'll know the truth from his word, and then be free. And Christ then just adds it all together, saying, If the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

[26:45] So is it the truth, or is it the son, or is it both, or are they, better said, one in the same? You're familiar, I'm sure many of you think in John 14, 6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the, thank you, the truth, and the life.

[27:01] Look at Ephesians chapter 4. Look at Ephesians chapter 4. Christ, you might say, is the embodiment of all truth.

[27:21] Pilate said to him, what is truth? It's a good question. What is it? And how do you know you got it? How do you know you can stand and proclaim it? And you know this term that's come about in our lifetime, it's my truth.

[27:36] And well, you have your truth, and I have my truth, and we all just see it our way. And how does that actually work? How does that apply to real life or to eternal situations? If a couple engineers at NASA both came up with a formula to send a rocket and to do something like that, and one of them said, well, I believe it's this way.

[27:56] The other says, no, that doesn't work. It's this way. And one says, well, that's my truth, and that's your truth. How do they decide which one's right? They're going to have to test them, I suppose.

[28:07] They're going to have to put them to the test and find out if one truth is right and another is wrong. And I think the same thing can be said about your truth and my truth. And I would say my truth comes out of the Word of God.

[28:19] Other than that, I won't stand on anything that I think or believe. And where do I get that from? Well, I get it from a person. Look at Ephesians 4. This is just a statement that Paul makes kind of offhand here.

[28:33] Verse 21, he says, if so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him, and then he just throws this in, as the truth is in Jesus. So verse 20, you have not so learned Christ, if so be ye have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in him.

[28:51] So the Son will make you free because he is the truth, and in him is the truth, and you're going to have a hard time separating him from the Word of God. We're not going to run the references there.

[29:02] We've already done that at one point and showed you lists of the Jesus Christ and the Word, the incarnate Word, and the written Word, and how they match in many, many, many points.

[29:12] And here's yet another case where they're both truth. Come back to John 8. We're in verse 36. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

[29:26] What a great word to tack on to that, to give it gravity and give it weight and to solidify the statement. It doesn't just say, if the Son will make you free, you'll be free, but you'll be free indeed, like in very deed, in all points, the entirety of it all.

[29:43] Verse 37, I know that you're Abraham's seed. That's their claim from verse 33. We be Abraham's seed. I know that you're Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

[29:56] I speak that which I have seen with my father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. Okay, so you're Abraham's seed, but you do, he's introducing another father, because it's not Abraham that they are following here.

[30:11] Verse 39, They answered and said unto him, Abraham's our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God.

[30:27] This did not Abraham. This is a great argument that he gives them. Abraham wasn't a murderer. He wasn't a violent man, seeking to kill somebody that didn't agree with him. And you're his children, are you?

[30:39] You're not following his ways at all. You're following a different father. Verse number 41, Ye do the deeds of your father. Now he didn't introduce you who that father is, but in verse 44, he just blows the whole room up and says, Ye are of your father, the devil.

[30:58] That's who he's speaking about the entire time here. So verse 41, Ye do the deeds of your father, not Abraham, your father, the other one.

[31:09] Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication. And it sounds like that's a slam on Jesus Christ, an attempt to discredit him as they view his mother Mary and as this supposed father Joseph, as if that was her being found with child before they were married.

[31:29] So it sounds like they're taking shots at him there to discredit him and saying, We be not born of fornication like you were. We have one father, even God. So they're physically claiming to be connected to Abraham.

[31:44] Earlier, they're claiming to be Abraham's seed and never in bondage to anybody. So I'm seeing that as something spiritual. But now they're going to say, No, we are in fact God's children through Abraham.

[31:55] And it's all one and the same to them. So we have one father, even God. Verse 42, Jesus said unto them, If God were your father, ye would love me.

[32:07] For I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but he sent me. And so there's what I believe is the only begotten son, is that he proceeded forth when the word came forth from the father.

[32:23] And he came out from him, and he came from God. Neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Verse 43, Why do you not understand my speech?

[32:34] And the answer is, Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father, the devil. And the lust of your father ye will do. So they've got two fathers.

[32:47] In verse 37, I know ye are Abraham's seed. I know you come from Abraham, after the flesh. He acknowledges that? Absolutely.

[32:58] And yet spiritually, verse 44, Ye are of your father, the devil. Verse, Back in chapter 6, he said that the flesh profiteth nothing. It is the spirit that quickeneth.

[33:11] And they're dead in their sins, and going to die in their sins, being of their father, the devil. So come back to chapter 1. Or come back to chapter 3, and then we'll go back to chapter 1.

[33:26] And herein is the necessity of a new birth. Why he says in chapter 3, verse 7, Ye must be born again.

[33:37] You're of your father, the devil, spiritually speaking, and need a new birth, a second birth, a spiritual birth. So let's back this up and look at this passage briefly.

[33:50] In verse 2, The same came to Jesus by night, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, and said unto him, Rabbi, We know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

[34:02] Yeah, you're an amazing man. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Okay, so after the flesh, how is that possible?

[34:14] Verse 4, Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? No, Nicodemus, not after the flesh.

[34:25] Verse 5, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and profiteth nothing, Abraham's seed, but that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

[34:41] A new birth by the Spirit of God. Come back to chapter 1 and notice that this birth is a birth of God.

[34:53] I'll start in verse 11. Chapter 1, verse 11, He came unto His own, the seed of Abraham, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

[35:16] to be born of God. We've all been born of a woman, and yet we need to be born again, to be born of God. Come back to chapter 8.

[35:29] Spiritually, they need to be born. And here's another analogy that goes right past them, right over their heads. Another way to describe what they need to do.

[35:40] And what He came to do is teach them these things. Partake of bread, drink of water, receive light, so that they can see and be born spiritually, a different birth.

[35:53] Verse 44, Year of your father, the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there's no truth in him.

[36:06] When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, because you're of your father the devil, a liar, there's no truth in him, that's why, when I tell you the truth, you believe me not.

[36:21] Because the devil in you, you're of him, you do his will. Verse, where was that? Somewhere up there, I lost it.

[36:36] Verse 41, Ye do the deeds of your father. And when I put the truth right in front of you, you don't receive it, you don't believe me at all. I tell you the truth, you believe me not.

[36:47] Which of you convinceth me of sin? Great question. Unanswered. And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? He that is of God, heareth God's words.

[37:01] Ye therefore hear them not, because you're not of God. Now I'm running through this thing, and we could stop and park on a lot of these and get some good spiritual thoughts and things that can, I'm just trying not to derail the study here to take weeks and weeks and weeks.

[37:19] But I will park on 47 for a minute. He that is of God, born of God, if you have the new birth, God in you, Jesus Christ, then you hear God's words.

[37:30] Not just with your ears audibly, but you, the thought is receiving them. You hear the God's words. I'm not here to tell you that if you don't live right, you're lost and on your way to hell.

[37:42] But I'm here to tell you that if you've been born of God, then that's what's expected of you, is to hear God's words and to receive His words and His instruction for your life.

[37:54] And not what's being pumped on your radios and on your news and on all of that being pumped into you is how you should think and how you should react and how you should treat everybody. And this is what's acceptable in society.

[38:06] If you're of God, then you go to the word of God and seek what He said, what the truth is. If you continue in His word, you'll be His disciple, know the truth, it'll make you free.

[38:18] One of the greatest blessings of knowing the truth and being established in Bible truth is it's incremental. You grow into this, but you can hear all of this noise in this world and it can just bounce right off of you.

[38:34] For a younger Christian or another person, it'll alarm them. It'll cause concern and anxiety. They'll absorb it. But for a born-again Christian, that's just noise.

[38:46] That's just man worried about things. That's just the kingdoms of this world rising and striving and fighting against each other. And it doesn't get you all wound up and worried what's going to happen to our world.

[38:59] It just evaporates because you have something stronger. You have truth, something that's concrete. And it doesn't bother you.

[39:09] You hear God's words. The world and the lost hear them not because they're not of God. Verse 48, Then answered the Jews and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil?

[39:25] Isn't that the truth? You're a Samaritan. You're not even a Jew. Now where do they get that from? I, for the life of me, don't know where they could possibly because they claim that they knew his father.

[39:35] They claim they knew his mother. If they did any research, several of them did. And there's no connection or ties to Samaritans. But they said, Isn't it true you're a Samaritan?

[39:46] You're not even a full-blooded Jew? So that's another chance or attempt to discredit him. And hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil, but I honor my father, and ye do dishonor me.

[40:01] And I seek not mine own glory. There is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

[40:12] And so here he goes. Now they're going to just follow this one and not understand it. The Jews said 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 a death.

[40:25] Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead, and the prophets are dead? Who makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing.

[40:36] Going back to what we saw earlier in the chapter. It is my father that honoreth me, of whom ye say that he is your God. Yet ye have not known him, but I know him.

[40:48] And if I should say, I know him not, I should be a liar like unto you, but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.

[40:59] Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? I'm guessing they're elbowing each other, or mocking him, and laughing, this lunatic saying things that are impossible.

[41:14] Jesus said right to their face, stone cold, matter of fact, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. And that just, that just, they didn't have an answer.

[41:30] They didn't want to say another word. Then took they 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.

[41:42] So it begs me to think there's stones in the temple, or there's something that they could get a hold of as it took place in the temple. But this statement of him being, I am, I think you understand what he's saying there, going all the way back to Exodus 3, where the Lord God from the burning, fiery bush spoke to Moses and said his name was, I am that I am.

[42:08] And when he said, I am the light of the world in verse 12, they didn't flinch at that too much, although I'm suggesting that God is light, and that is a revelation of God to this world in the flesh.

[42:20] But for him just to stand up and say to their face, before Abraham was, I am, boy, they understood quite well that he was speaking something that they considered blasphemy and were ready to kill him according to their law on the spot.

[42:36] But Jesus hid himself. How did he do that? Must have been a crowd, just kind of slipped into the crowd, disappeared before anybody could throw stones.

[42:46] You can't really throw stones into a crowd of people too well and have that turn out. You kind of have to get them against the wall by themselves. And so just that quickly, he's gone, and now they're fuming at what he just did in front of them.

[43:00] Number one, he said they're going to die in their sins. And he said this publicly in front of all the other Jewish temple goers. He said that they don't know the truth, that they're in bondage.

[43:12] He said that they do the deeds of their father and that he's the devil and he's a liar and they're liars. And they accused him of having a devil. I don't have a devil. If you knew anything, you'd know exactly who I am.

[43:24] And as a matter of fact, I am. And when he came all the way to that final point, the climax of it all, they were ready to kill him. They're bloodthirsty. They want him dead.

[43:35] And all he's doing is warning them and offering them the light of life. And they would, what's the verse there in chapter 3?

[43:46] They love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. So again, he escapes with the skin of his teeth, as the Bible says, and gets out of it. And we're going to see that he passes by and he heals somebody and he gets it all stirred right back up in the next chapter with people coming after him because he does a deed, he does a work and causes some to believe on him and others to hate him even more.

[44:11] So we'll stop there and pick it up next Sunday, John chapter 9.