Do you remember the setting?
Jesus is in the temple.
The woman was drug in front of him, accused of adultery.
And Jesus said, if anyone's without sin, let him throw the first stone.
So they fade back into the crowd.
And he continues teaching.
He had said, I am the light of the world.
And now they challenge him.
Look at verse 31.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him,
If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
They answered him,
We are the offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How is it that you say you will become free?
Jesus answered them,
Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
The slave does not remain in the house forever.
The son remains forever.
So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
I know that you are the offspring of Abraham,
yet you seek to kill me because my words find no place in you.
I speak of what I have seen with my father,
and you do what you have learned from your father.
Verse 39.
And they answered him, Abraham is our father.
Jesus said to them,
If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.
But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.
This is not what Abraham did.
You are doing the works your father did.
And they said to him,
We are not born of sexual immorality.
We have one father, even God.
Jesus said to them,
If God were your father, you would love me.
For I came from God, and I am here.
I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
Why do you not understand what I say?
It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
You are of your father, the devil.
And your will is to do your father's desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
Which one of you convicts me of sin?
If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me?
Whoever is of God hears the words of God.
The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.
Verse 48.
The Jews answered him,
Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?
Jesus answered,
I do not have a demon, but I honor my father, and you dishonor me.
Yet I do not seek my own glory.
There is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.
Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.
The Jews said to him,
Now we know that you have a demon.
Abraham died, as did the prophets.
Yet you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.
Are you greater than our father Abraham who died?
And the prophets died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?
Verse 54.
Therefore, Jesus answered,
If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.
It is my father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God.
But you have not known him.
I know him.
If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you.
But I do know him, and I keep his word.
Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.
He saw it and was glad.
So the Jews said to him,
You are not 50 years old.
Have you seen Abraham?
Jesus said to them,
Truly, truly, I say to you,
Before Abraham was,
I am.
So they picked up stones to throw at him.
But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.
Let's pray.
Speak, O Lord, as we come to you,
To receive the food of your holy word.
As we've sung,
Take your truth,
Plant it deep in us,
Shape and fashion us in your likeness.
Father, I just read a glorious passage from the Bible.
And I know,
Like always,
The word of man,
Even proclaiming,
Will fall short.
And I know there are going to be sentences that don't come out the way that you want them to.
And I just ask, Father,
That any words I speak that are just of man,
That they'll fall to the dust,
That they'll be forgotten.
But I pray, Lord,
That by the power of your Spirit,
The truth of Jesus
Will be clear.
And that it'll be unforgettable.
Amen.
Beloved congregation,
Of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Jesus calls you to abide in the word of the Lord.
That's my message for you today.
Abide in the word of the Lord.
What does it mean to abide?
According to the dictionary,
It means to dwell with,
To embrace,
To rest in,
And to live in accordance with
The word of the Lord.
And in today's passage,
First we see that
Jesus has given his word.
Picture that scene.
Like we saw last week,
They drag this woman
To the middle of where Jesus is teaching
In the court of women,
The treasuries over here,
The Sanhedrin's on the other side of that wall
With an earshot.
And he's been preaching.
He's been giving them the word of God
That the Father gave him,
Preaching it to them.
They drag the woman,
The light of Christ
Pushes back the darkness
So those who were trying to kill this woman,
They get pushed back into the crowd,
They dissolve,
They fade away.
And now,
Jesus continues preaching and teaching,
And as he does that,
They come back out of the woodwork
At him.
And in this passage,
I hope you heard it,
The tone,
It's a fight.
The fight is on.
And you know what happens
When there's a fight?
More and more people come around
To gather around this fight.
That's what's going on
In the temple setting.
Jesus proclaims the gospel
In verse 31.
He says,
Now notice,
It distinguishes.
Who is he talking to?
Look in verse 31.
To those who believed him,
He's speaking the gospel.
Listen,
If you,
You who believed,
If you abide in my word,
Then you are truly my disciples.
And to my true disciples,
Listen to the promise.
Verse 32.
You will know the truth,
And the truth will set you free.
The gospel went out.
But the crowd in front of Jesus
Is a mixed group.
I told you last week,
That's going to be important,
That distinction.
So who he's addressing,
Who he's speaking to,
That's important.
I believe it's one big group.
If you were standing there,
You would not be able to tell
Who's a true disciple,
And who is,
Like he just calls them,
A son of the devil.
But they're a big mixed group here.
And our Lord Jesus says,
If you are truly my disciple,
Then my word will abide with you.
Jesus can say that
Because he comes from the Father.
He is the Son of God himself.
And he knows his Father's will.
And he knows his Father
Has not been silent.
His Father has given his word.
Deuteronomy 4.2
From the pen of Moses
To the second generation,
Right as they go into the promised land,
You shall not add to the word
That I commanded you,
Nor take from it,
That you may keep the commandments
Of the Lord your God
That I commanded you.
Deuteronomy 11.8
You shall lay up these words of mine.
See, God has given his word.
The Bible.
You shall lay up my words
In your heart
And in your soul.
That's what it looks like
To abide in the word of God.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
And they shall be always before your eyes.
It's the same message Christ is declaring.
It pleases the Lord.
It has always pleased the Lord
When his people abide in his word.
The Bible is the word of God.
Many will fight you on that point,
Won't they?
And I've come to the conclusion,
You don't need to persuade them,
But you need to pray for them.
Here's how our catechism answers that.
Same objection, same problem.
And we should know all the answers.
You know, we should know
Like why we believe
But at the same time,
We can't change the heart.
But we can have faith and pray.
Here's how our catechism
By Benjamin Keech
In the 1600s answers the question,
How do we know that the Bible
Is the word of God?
The Bible evidences itself
To be God's word
By the heavenliness of its doctrine,
The unity of its parts,
Its power to convert sinners
And edify saints,
By the spirit of God only
Bearing witness by
And with the scriptures
In our hearts.
Are we able to fully
Be persuaded ourselves
That the Bible is
The word of God?
So you see that?
There's beauty in it.
It's united.
The doctrines are otherworldly.
It's one gospel
Story of redemption.
But ultimately,
It's the Holy Spirit
Working with power
To persuade you.
This is the word of God.
It's mysterious, isn't it?
I was reminded of this
Though, Friday night,
We had our Bible study
And just putting our eyes
Together on Proverbs
And understanding,
Just seeing the truth.
This is the word of God.
The spirit teaches that
And convinces us of that,
Doesn't he?
So that's the first observation.
Our Lord Jesus Christ says,
If you are truly my disciple,
When you hear the word
I have given
From the Father,
You will believe it's true.
Second observation.
How you respond
To the word of God
Reveals to whom you belong.
The word of God goes out.
The group in the temple
Before Jesus is a mixed crowd.
And he gets very different responses,
Very different reactions
From those that are there.
Some want to kill him.
And others will abide
In the house of Jesus,
His own Father's house forever.
Two extremely different
Groups of people.
And I just,
Before we point out
How different they are,
I just want to point out
How hard it is to discern.
Think about it.
Even in the temple,
To your and my eye,
They would have all
Looked very similar.
Both groups
Would have been born
To religious parents.
They're here as Jews
Worshipping the true God
In the temple.
They were people
Who routinely would come
To the house of God.
You know,
This is after the Feast of Booths,
The Feast of Nations.
They're still there
Hearing this teaching.
They would have had
Access to God's word
And even in this setting,
In chapter 8,
They would have heard
The gospel already proclaimed.
God has given them the word.
You and I would not be able
To tell the difference.
Jesus had told them already,
I am the bread of life.
I am the light of the world.
John,
The apostle John,
Has said that
In the beginning was the word.
The word was with God.
The word was God.
John 1,
For the word became flesh
And dwelt,
Abided among us.
And we have seen his glory.
Glory as of the only son
Of the father,
Full of grace and truth.
They've heard the gospel.
But yet there's two
Very different groups
Among them.
Man can't tell the difference
Most of the time.
But God knows the heart.
Jesus knows the heart.
See,
Some will respond
In obedience
By the end of this chapter.
Look at verse 51.
If anyone keeps my word,
If anyone abides in my word,
Jesus says,
He will never see death.
So he's still speaking
To those in this mixed group
That will believe.
That will never see death.
But listen to the opposite reaction
In verse 32.
Jesus says,
My truth will set you free.
It's a simple gospel pronouncement.
But the reaction he gets
Seems way out of bounds.
So picture,
As Christ is preaching the gospel,
They're stepping forward
And forming this inner circle now
Of the Jewish religious elite
Who want to kill him.
And they take over the conversation.
And Jesus looks even beyond
These religious elite.
He looks beyond them
To the powers of darkness
And the principalities
That are behind them.
Giving them these words of hatred
And wanting to kill
The very son of God.
See, when they,
When Jesus said,
The truth will set you free,
Most likely their pockets
Were being lined by Rome.
They said,
We don't need freedom.
We're children of Abraham.
We got it made
In the shade.
We know what we have
And what we don't need.
And we don't need
What you're trying to give us.
Please leave our temple.
That's their tone.
Well, if they really knew
The word of God,
If they knew the book of Judges,
They were,
No, there were seven nations
That have enslaved God's people.
In the time of Judges,
Even before there were kings.
And tracing their history
A bit further,
By the time the northern tribes
Get conquered by Assyria
And the southern tribes
By Judah,
For a period of 70 years.
Read the book of Daniel.
70 years they're in exile
In slavery.
So they don't even know
Their own history well enough
To deny that they
Have been in bondage.
On top of that,
There's a spiritual curse.
Deuteronomy 27 says,
Cursed be anyone
Who does not confirm
The words of this law
By doing all of them.
And all the people
Shall say amen.
Galatians 3.10
Helps us to understand that.
All who rely on works of the law
Are under a curse.
See, everyone
Who has sinned
Is under a curse.
And Jesus says,
You are sinners.
You are slaves
To your own sin.
By the time we get down
To verse 55,
He's pointed out,
You have not known God.
You think you know God.
You have never known God.
You are slaves to sin.
I looked it up.
The latest number in the USA,
According to the Cultural Center for Research,
Is that 70% of Americans
Believe they are Christian.
But only 6%
Believe that the Bible
Is accurate
And true.
You see those numbers?
So,
Of all Americans,
If we take out
All the ones who think
They're Christian,
Just deal with that
70%,
It's only 6%
Then we're down to
So 9% of those
Actually believe
That the Bible is true.
So they think
That they don't have to
Abide in the word of the Lord.
They can still be
A cultural Christian.
Jesus warned them
Out of love
That they will die
In their sins.
Look back at verse 24.
I told you
Unless you believe
That I am He
You will die
In your sins.
Jesus warns them
And He warns all those
Who think they can
Call themselves Christian
Get all the blessings
Of Christ
While rejecting
Christ and His word.
He says,
You think you're
In the holy temple
The holy presence of God
Near God
Forgiven of your sins
You are not here.
You need to look over there.
Look over those walls.
Look east into the wilderness.
That's where you go
If you're banished
If you're unclean.
That's where you are
Spiritually.
You will die
In your sins
Away from God.
You're dying.
Now picture the vultures
Flying above
In the wilderness
Where the carcasses are.
Like the hands of a clock
The shadows are circling them.
He's warned them.
What should our attitude
Be toward those
Who think they are Christians
But they don't want
The word of God?
I've wrestled with that
This week
Preparing for this.
What should my heart
Be toward those
Who think they are Christians
And don't want
The word of God?
I was really helped
By the words of Paul
In chapter 10 of Romans.
Paul describes
These people.
He said,
They have
Zeal for God
But not according
To knowledge.
They are ignorant
Of the righteousness
Of God.
They seek to establish
Their own.
They do not submit
To God's righteousness.
And here's how we should
Have a heart
Toward those people.
Paul said,
Brothers,
My heart's desire
And prayer to God
For them
Is that they
May be saved.
Paul comes to
The same conclusion
That is our Lord Christ.
They need salvation.
They will die
In their sins.
They've rejected
Christ
And his word.
There is no
False assurance
Of salvation
For them
But pray for them
And have a genuine
Desire in the heart
That the Lord
Will save.
Jesus says,
If you are truly
My disciple
Then you will
Respond
By abiding
In my word.
Because how you respond
It reveals
What's the truth.
It just pulls
The blanket off
Of what's already there.
How you respond.
What's truly
In the heart.
So,
Who is
A child
Of the devil?
Jesus
Unmasks
Those slaves
Of sin
And it turns out
It's the religious
Elite.
See,
They were
Mixed into this
Crowd in the temple
But they were
Really wolves
In sheep's clothing.
They pretended
To be sheeps
Following God
As their shepherd.
They got some
Sharp teeth
Underneath that.
And Jesus
Unmasks them.
It's hard though,
Isn't it?
How can we tell
Who is a true
Disciple
And who's not?
What's a true
Church and what's not?
And as I've gotten
To know
Each family
This is something
We all have in common.
I think it's actually
In common for all
True disciples
Is that you will
Go through in life
Some deep
Hurt.
Some deep wounds
From the fangs
Of those who claim
To be children
Of God.
I think that's one
Thing we all have
In common here.
And I think that
Will be true
Of God's people
Everywhere.
They've claimed
To be Christians
They've claimed
To be leaders
And I'm going
To call them
Organizations
Which claim
To be the true
Church but are not.
And Jesus
Doesn't leave us
Wondering.
I've tried to
Trace out here
Everything he says
About these sons
Of the devil.
I've got nine of them.
Number one
They practice sin.
He says they are
Slaves to sin.
Look at verse 34.
Everyone who practices
Sin
Is a slave to sin.
Now to practice sin
In this sense
It's ongoing
Unrepentant
Unconfessed
Covering up sin
Loving the sin.
Number two
Christ's words
Find no place
In them.
Look at verse 37.
You seek to kill me
Because my word
Finds no place
In you.
Number three
They practice
What they hear
From Satan.
See how he sees
Even beyond these men.
He sees the enemy
Who seeks to destroy.
Verse 38
You do what you have
Heard from your father.
You claim to be
A Christian
But really
You're just a servant
Upon a slave
Of the great deceiver.
Number four
They think they are
Sons of God still.
Verse 41
They have
They say
We have one father
Even God.
Jesus says
You are doing
The works
Your true father did
And it's not God.
Number five
They cannot bear
To hear
Christ's word.
You do not understand
He says in verse 43
Because you cannot bear
To hear
My word.
I've shared
With some of you
In Brazil
We did evangelism
With soccer
And it's so true
The simple gospel message
You know
One of our
Brothers in the Lord
We're just going to
Open up the Bible
Read a verse
And tell about
How God saved him
From his sin
And the guys
Would show up
A little bit late
To not have to hear that
So they could just
Play soccer
And then he started
Doing it at the end
Well they would
Leave before the game
Was quite over
So they did not
Have to hear the gospel
So we stop soccer
Right in the middle
Half time
We're going to do the gospel
And then they would
Hear a little bit more
But isn't that so true?
The gospel
You can't bear
To hear the word
Of Christ
Until God gives you
A new heart
Number six
The devil
Is their father
Look at verse 44
Your father
The devil
Has you as a slave
And you do
What he desires
What a terrifying
Reality
See Satan
Was a murderer
From the beginning
In Adam all die
He hates the truth
There is no truth
In him
Jesus calls Satan
The father of lies
Now pay attention here
One scholar pointed out
And this was so helpful
To me
Jesus is not saying
That everyone
Who is a lost sinner
Is a child of the devil
He doesn't say that
He does say
That the Pharisees
The counterfeit Christians
These people
And these religious leaders
The elite
Claiming to be children of God
But were really
Hating Christ
And hating Christ's word
They are children
Of the devil
Because Satan
Is a great imitator
There's a difference
Between being
A lost lamb
That Christ will rescue
As the shepherd
And being an imitator
Of God
To dispel
And to turn many away
From the true salvation
Number seven
They attack
His person
See they don't like
His truth
So they go after
His person
Nothing has changed
Has it
Every generation
Look at verse
41 first
They say
Are we the children
Of adultery
That's probably a slur
It's probably a jab
At Christ's own birth
Number four
Verse 46
Jesus recognizes
You dishonor me
You're attacking me
Personally now
Not even about
The truth I'm giving you
And then in verse 48
They say
You are a Samaritan
And have a demon
See they're going after
His humanity
By saying
You're not even
A pure blooded
Child of Abraham
You're not even
A pure breed Jew
You're a Samaritan
You're a mixed race
They're attacking
His humanity
Your humanity
Is of a lower quality
Than ours
And you have a demon
So they're attacking
His divinity
You're not of the
Holy God
Your divinity
Is polluted
You've got
The influence
Of Satan
They go after
His person
Satan's obsession
Has always been
To kill
The seed
The promised
Seed
Of the woman
Look at
Verse 40
You seek
To kill me
Jesus says
A man
Who has told you
The truth
I heard
From God
Now look down
At verse 59
They picked up
Stones
To throw at him
It was Satan
Through Cain
Trying to kill
Abel
The seed of the woman
Through whom the promise
Would come
That would crush
The serpent's head
It was Satan
Through Pharaoh
To wipe out
All the boys
The seed
That God would send
To crush
The serpent's head
It was Jezebel
Haman
King Herod the Great
Killing all the baby
Boys in Israel
When Christ was born
It's always Satan
Trying to kill
The promised seed
Of the woman
The seed that would
Crush the head
Of the serpent
And now it's
The Pharisees
Stones in their hands
Ready to smash
The head of this man
In 2 Corinthians 11
We're told
There are
False
Apostles
There are
Deceitful workmen
Disguising themselves
As apostles of Christ
Paul wrote
No wonder
Even Satan
Disguises himself
As an angel
Of light
His servants
Disguise themselves
As servants
Of righteousness
Their end
Will correspond
To their deeds
Leave the justice
In the hands
Of God
Pray for them
And know that God
Will bring his justice
Their end
Will correspond
With their deeds
Misleading many
In the name of Christ
Jude 4
Points out this same problem
As a caution
To the true church
He says
Certain people
Have crept in
To the church
Unnoticed
What do they do?
They pervert
The grace of our God
Into sensuality
And deny
Our only master
And Lord Jesus Christ
He calls them
Hidden reefs
He says
They feast with you
Without fear
They are shepherds
Feeding themselves
Waterless clouds
Swept along by winds
Fruitless trees
In late autumn
Remember the feast of booze
Celebrating the bountiful harvest
But if they're in the middle
Of that feast
They are twice dead
And uprooted
They do not bear
The fruit that keeps
With repentance
They are wild waves
Of the sea
Casting up the foam
Of their own shame
They are wandering stars
For whom the gloom
Of outer darkness
Has been reserved
Forever
Such men
Do not make room
In their hearts
For the word of God
And there will be
No room for them
In the house
Of God
Forever
How do you respond
To the word of the Lord
If you reject
The word of Jesus
Then you will die
In your sins
If you are truly
My disciples
Jesus says
My word will
Abide
In you
Well
If those are the
Sons of the devil
How about the others
Who do respond
By faith
Do we have any help
To discern
Or find encouragement
If you are
Not a son of the devil
But you're a true
Spiritual son
Of Abraham
Yes we do
See their argument
The argument of the Pharisees
Is this
Your nature
Is determined
By birth
And birth
Is determined
By paternity
This is their
Jewish way of thinking
So who I am
Is based on my bloodline
And it comes through
The line of my fathers
Verse 33
They say
We are the offspring
Of Abraham
Now remember
Jesus began this message
He starts by saying
If you're my disciple
My word will abide in you
But then come the hecklers
And all those
Trying to pull them
Way off topic
They're pulling in Abraham
And the demons
He does not lose sight
Of his point
My point to you
Is that my word
Will abide in you
If you are truly saved
But he uses
Their same arguments
He said okay
We can talk about Abraham
Jesus uses Abraham
In a way that
That is going to be
So helpful
That all of the
New Testament
Apostles are going to
Then pick up on
Okay
He says so
You're trying to say
You are holy and righteous
Because you have
The bloodline of Abraham
He said I'll tell you
What made Abraham special
It was not his blood
It was his faith
He says there are the
There are the physical
Seed of Abraham
The Jews
The whole point in that
Was to bring
The Messiah
But what you need
To pay attention to
Are the spiritual
Sons of Abraham
In verse 35
He says look
Only it's the
Spiritual son of Abraham
Only the one who
Truly belongs to God
By faith
Like Abraham
In verse 35
That's the spiritual son
That gets to stay
In the land
In the temple
In the house
Of the father
The house of God
Forever
He says okay
You want to talk
About Abraham
If Abraham's in view
You are not Isaac
Of the promised
Line of blessing
You are Ishmael
You are the son
Of the slave
You are slaves
To your sin
You want to talk
About the line
Of blessing
You are not Abel
Or Seth
You are Cain
In verse 56
Jesus says
If you're like Abraham
You will bear
The same fruit
Your works will
Correspond to the
Works of Abraham
What was Abraham's
Work
Look at verse 56
Abraham rejoiced
That he would
See my day
And he saw it
And he was glad
Now how
Did Abraham
See the day
Of the Lord
What a great promise
See he rejoiced
In anticipation
Of the salvation
That would come
But then he
He actually
Saw it
And was satisfied
In it
Was glad
God gave him
That faith
By what he
Actually saw
One commentator
Summarized it this way
How did Abraham
See our Lord's day
Verse 56
How did Abraham
See the life
And the ministry
Of Jesus
On earth
The same way
Abraham
Saw that future city
That future land
Heaven itself
It was by faith
God did not give Abraham
Some special vision
Of our Lord's
Life and ministry
But he did give him
The spiritual perception
To see those future events
Certainly Abraham saw
The birth of the Messiah
In the miraculous birth
Of his own son
And when Melchizedek
The priest ministered
To Abraham
God used that
To show Abraham
The heavenly priesthood
Of our Lord Jesus Christ
And he certainly
Saw Calvary
When he offered Isaac
To God
In Genesis 22
Then when his son
Grew up
Isaac grew up
And was married
In Genesis 24
Abraham could see
Even in that marriage
A picture
Of the marriage
Of the Lamb
Of God
To his church
Galatians 3
6-14
Explains this
So clearly
Abraham believed God
And it was counted
To him
As righteousness
Those of faith
Who are the sons
Of Abraham
The scripture says
Are those who
Have that saving faith
That God
God foresaw
That he would justify
Not only the line
Of Abraham
But all the Gentiles
As well
And he preached
The gospel to them
Beforehand
Even to Abraham
Saying
In you
Shall all the nations
Be blessed
One last connection
Think about
Where they're standing
Even this very moment
A couple weeks ago
We said
As they would come
To these feasts
They would be singing
The Psalms of Ascent
And they would be singing
These Psalms
As they climbed up
This mountain
And now they're standing
On the temple
And the temple
Is one peak
Down the hill
Is another hill
Called the hill
Of Calvary
And it's all part
Of this great mountain
The mountain
They're standing on
Is Mount Moriah
The same mountain
Where God called
Abraham to walk up
With Isaac
And to trust him
And abide
In the word of the Lord
By faith
That very mountain
And Jesus says
Before Abraham
Was
I am
I am the one
Who showed
This shadow
Of the gospel
And gave Abraham
A faith to believe
And just as I did
For Abraham
To disciple him
To grow him
To show him
My plan of salvation
I do that
For all my true disciples
Who abide in me
Today
What does it mean
To be a disciple
See look at 31
Jesus says
If you believe in me
And abide in my word
Then you are truly
My disciples
You must abide
In the word of the Lord
To be truly his disciple
You will continue
Learning
You will continue
Taking in his word
And letting his word
Change you
A disciple
Is a follower
And adherent
To a person
It's someone
Who puts themselves
Under the teachings
And practices
Of someone else
You give your full
Personal loyalty
And support
To that person
That's what it means
To be a disciple
And he says
Those I adopt
Those who get to live
In my father's house
Forever
I disciple them
In my word
So if you are growing
As a disciple
Of Jesus
If you are growing
Through abiding
In his word
Then you can have
Assurance
That you have been
Adopted
Into his family
1 John
Chapter 2
Verse 14
Jesus says
You know him
Who is from the beginning
Before Abraham was
I am
And in him
You are strong
The word of God
Abides in you
And you have overcome
The evil one
Jesus says
I will disciple you
In my word
And you will know
My father
Has adopted you
By the evidence
That my word
Dwells in you
It grows in you
Because the Lord
Disciplines
Those he loves
I traced out for you
The portrait
Of those who are
Children of the devil
I want to go through
The same passage
And look at now
What does that look like
To be a disciple
Of Christ
One who truly
Abides in his word
Number one
It looks like this
You love Jesus
And you can call
God
Your father
Look at verse 42
If God is your father
You will
Love me
Number two
You belong to God
And you want
To hear
The word of God
Verse 47
Whoever is of God
Hears
The words
Of God
Number three
You keep the word
Of Christ
And will never
See death
Look at verse 51
Truly truly
I say to you
If anyone
Keeps my word
He will never
See death
As you abide
In his word
He gives you
That assurance
When you're laying
On the deathbed
One day
It could be here
Very soon
For any one of us
You have God's word
In your heart
You have the truth
Of the promises
From scripture
Sealed to you
By faith
Through the Holy Spirit
And even
Even though
Your sanctification
Will be gradual
And painful
And you will
Continue sinning
Because of the flesh
John says
If anyone thinks
He's without sin
He deceives himself
What you will be able
To see is this pattern
Though
I used to not
Love God's word
Like I do now
And I want to love
It even more
I used to not
Abide in the word
Of God
The way I do now
And I hope to
Abide in it
Fully and perfectly
And when your soul
Leaves your body
You will abide
In the word of God
Jesus Christ himself
You will dwell with him
Perfectly
And forever
Number four
You see Jesus
Glorified by his
Father
In heaven
Look at verse 54
It is my Father
Our God
Who glorifies
Jesus Christ
When you hear
The word of God
You see Jesus
And the spirit
Stirs your heart
And God once again
Glorifies his son
In your eyes
Number five
He teaches you
To read his whole word
All the Bible
In the light of Christ
Look at verse 58
Truly truly
I say to you
Before Abraham was
I am
Paul picks up on this
In Galatians 3
He says
The promises were made
To Abraham
And his offspring
Saying
It's not to all the Jews
It's to the one offspring
In the singular
It's to Jesus
And Jesus wants you
To read your whole Bible
That same way
He says
Before Abraham was
I am
Abraham saw the gospel
He saw my kingdom coming
And if you're in Christ
If you're abiding in his word
You will learn to read
The whole Bible
The whole word of God
As the redemptive plan
Of salvation
Fulfilled in Christ
All of God's promises
Find their yes
And amen
In Jesus
The last one
Number six
Is that your good works
Will flow
From rejoicing
In the kingdom
Of Christ
Look at verse 39
He says
If you were
Abraham's children
You would be doing
What Abraham did
Then look at verse 56
And this can be
An encouragement to you
If you are
Adopted into the family
Of God
A true spiritual
Child of God
Like Abraham
You will also rejoice
At seeing that coming day
When Jesus will return
In glory
And you will also
Now see it
And find satisfaction
And be glad right now
Spiritually
I see the day
I see the kingdom
The rule of God
Over my life
And that's my
Encouragement to you today
Abide in the word
Of the Lord
He says that
You belong to him
You get to live
In the house of God
Now
And forever
Jesus standing in the temple
They pick up stones
They want to kill him
Right there
On temple grounds
And again
I don't know
If Jesus
Looked
But he would be
Very aware
On the hill of Calvary
The edge of the wilderness
Where the jackals
And the demons
And the goats
That had the sins
Of the nation
Put on them
On the day of atonement
That were sent out
That's where they roam around
In the wilderness
That's where he would die
Not here
Not in their hands
By stones
He would willfully
Lay down his life
In the wilderness
He would say
My God
Why have you forsaken me
Knowing that by being
Forsaken spiritually
It's so that
People could be welcomed
Into the house
Of his father
He would be forsaken
So they could be accepted
And his gospel goes out
If you receive his word
And abide in his truth
You are in the house
Of God the father
And he did not have his life
Taken from him
He laid it down willfully
To accomplish the mission
That the father promised the son
Sealed by the spirit
And applied to you
The plan of redemption
Before time was even created
Is now being applied
In your life
And the purpose
Of your life now
Is for the word of the Lord
To abide in you
Let the word of God
Abide in you
Let the spirit
Reform you
Change you
Transform you
By the renewing
Of your minds
A lifetime is too short
Isn't it?
Let me try to pull it together
The Lord has given his word
How you respond
To the word of the Lord
Reveals
To whom you belong
Christ came with one mission
Give his life
For your life
And if you are ransomed
By Jesus
You're washed in his blood
You are his disciple
His word abides in you
He will train you
To abide in his word
More and more
He will grow you
Into his likeness
Forever
My prayer for you
Has been
That everything else
In your life
That has caused you pain
Every other thing
That currently causes you stress
And makes you want to doubt
The goodness and kindness of God
My prayer has simply been
That he will show you
A little bit more today
Abide in his word
Jesus came so that you can be
Near the father
Trust him
And grow as his disciple
Let's pray
From Isaiah 41
Oh God
Oh God you chose us
In Christ
And you promised
To never cast us off
Thank you for sending
Jesus your son
The offspring of Abraham
Your servant
Thank you for calling us
From the farthest corners
Of the world
Thank you for how you have
Taken us
Into your family
Train us Lord
To abide in your word
To fear not
But to trust that you are with us
You have not left us as orphans
We are not dismayed
Because you strengthen us
You help us
You uphold us
With your righteous right hand
Our Lord Jesus
Amen