John 8:26-32 (Teaching)

[0:00] Morning. Good morning. Back in John chapter 8. Seems like we've been here for a while, don't we?

[0:16] It is. And we're going to continue to be here for a while. I do ask that if I try and go beyond verse 32, somebody stopped me last week, because I'm prone to doing that, going further than I really should.

[0:35] Last week, I didn't get as far, I wanted to get to verse 32 last week, and I failed in doing so, and so I stopped in a really strange spot right after I read verse 26.

[0:49] And we didn't even try and get into verse 26. I realized then I wasn't going to make it as far as I wanted to, so we just cut it off right there. So, but this discourse that Christ is speaking here, we've got to remember where it began at, which was the woman that was brought to Jesus that was caught in the act of adultery at the beginning of John chapter 8.

[1:16] Then John chapter 8 began at verse 12. Jesus begins to address the people that he had begun teaching there in the temple at the beginning of chapter 8.

[1:29] And this is where he tells them, I'm the light of the world. And he goes on to talk about how he is the light of the world, how he is the truth, and how God the Father is the truth.

[1:42] And he's come speaking the things that God the Father has told him to. And we talked last week about how these people kept trying to dissuade Christ. They kept trying to change the subject matter, saying, who is your Father?

[1:57] And when he said he would go away, they said, will he kill himself? You know, because he said that where he's going, they cannot come. They're asking questions that really weren't pertinent to what was going on there.

[2:12] And they were trying, in doing that, they were trying to change the subject matter. And they asked him finally in verse 25, and we talked about it last week, they asked him the question, who art thou?

[2:24] And it says, in Jesus' saith unto them, even the same that I said to you from the beginning. And we said last week that he would be immediately talking about the beginning of this speech, or this lesson, this sermon, this discourse that he's giving them right then.

[2:41] When he says the same as I told you from the beginning, he's saying, I am the lot, and I am the truth that I just told you that I am. So that brings us to verse 26, where we left off last week.

[2:56] So John chapter 8, verse 26 says, 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.

[3:09] So Christ, right after he says even the same that I said unto you from the beginning, just reiterating what he had said, that we went over last week, he says, I have many things to say and to judge of you, but he that sent me is true.

[3:27] Christ here is saying there's a whole lot of things that I could say, and there's a whole lot of judgments that I could pass right now on you. And this would be for their unbelief, for them really mocking Christ and asking some of the questions that they were asking, and trying to get away from the subject matter, that was a hand.

[3:50] So I have many things to say and to judge of you, but he that sent me is true. So he's saying, although I have many things that I could say right now, and I have many things to say, and I have many judgments that I could pass, he says, him that sent me, he that sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

[4:14] And I think this is a wonderful, beautiful picture of the long suffering of Christ, and of the patience of Christ, because these people here, even though we read here, and just the next few verses, will read that many of the people believed on him, just like we read the same thing in John chapter 7 a few weeks ago, many of those people believed on him, but then they went and they said, Christ comes, is he going to perform even greater things than these, showing that they didn't truly believe in Christ, not with saving faith that they believe in Jesus Christ.

[4:50] And these people here are the same, but Christ says, I have many things to say, I have many things that I could judge you for right now, and Christ, being Christ and being God manifest in the flesh, could have cast eternal judgment on them at this time, but in his patience and in his long suffering, he did not do that.

[5:15] He says, he that sent me is true, and the things that I'm saying to you now, he says those things which are those things which I've heard of him, he has heard these of the Father, and remember from verse 12 up to this point, Christ has affirmed his deity a couple of times up to this point, and he does it again in saying this, that he that sent me is true, and the only things that I'm telling you, everything that I'm telling you, I've heard of him, he is the one that has told me to tell you these things.

[5:48] But Christ says, because you're not believing these things, I have many things that I could say and to judge of you. Verse 27, they understood not that he spake to them of the Father.

[6:01] Folks, this is sad, this is sad because he has made it plain from verse 12 up to this point, he has made it very plain that he is speaking of the Father, but it says they understood not that he was speaking of the Father.

[6:17] And this brings to light John chapter 3 and verse 3, where Jesus Christ is having the conversation with Nicodemus, he says, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, he cannot see, and these folks here couldn't see, they couldn't understand, they did not comprehend that Christ was referring to the Father, even though he had told them in very plain language a few times from verse 12 up to where we're at right now, whom he was talking to, who had sent him, even though he had said these things.

[6:54] The Bible says they understood not that he spoke to them of the Father. That's a sad situation, but folks, that's the case with all the world, that's the case with all the unregenerate world.

[7:09] They don't understand God because they don't know God, and these folks here did not know God. I didn't understand God before I got saved, and my understanding of God now is very minuscule, but I have a much better understanding of God now that I'm saved, and now that I have the Holy Spirit as my God and as my teacher as I read the Scriptures, I have a better understanding of God, and I have a better understanding of who he is, and the things of God, but they understood not that he spoke to them of the Father.

[7:45] And again, that's the same shape that the lost world is in. And unfortunately, I personally have a feeling that there's a lot of saved people that don't understand God and don't understand the Word of God as fully as they should or as much as they should, and that lies in our own labs. That lies with us. That's our own fault.

[8:09] That has no fault of God's. If we're not studying the Scripture and we're not listening to teaching, we're not listening to preaching, we go to church and we sit through a service just because that's what we do on Sundays or that's what we do on Wednesdays or whatever, and we're not learning. Folks, you're staying on the milk, and that's a dangerous place for any Christian out there to be.

[8:33] It's just like the writer to the Hebrews, I'll put it in my own terms, but he said, you know, by this time, some of you should be teaching. Some of you should be teaching the Word, but you're still on the milk. You haven't graduated to the meat yet.

[8:48] And he says, if you want to stay back here with the milk, that's fine, but I'm moving on to better things. I'm moving on to other things, and that's what the writer to the Hebrews was telling some of the professing Jews, those that profess Jesus Christ as Savior, and that's the case with a lot of church folk nowadays.

[9:07] They don't understand the Father. It's not because necessarily they're not saved, it's because they haven't put forth any effort to understand the Father, to understand the Word.

[9:19] Verse 28, then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, Then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself.

[9:31] But as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. Jesus said unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, Then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself.

[9:44] And this is kind of a reiteration of words that Jesus spoke a chapter or two ago, when he was talking about that he could do nothing without the Father, and we talked about then how Jesus Christ was God manifesting the flesh, and that it meant that he was incapable of it.

[10:03] It simply meant that what the Father wanted, the Son wanted, what the Son wants, the Spirit wants, what the Spirit wants, the Father wants, and what the Son wants, the Father wants. Folks, you can never have the Trinity, you can never have the three person Godhead in disagreement.

[10:20] They will always be in agreement with one another. But he says here, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, Then shall ye know that I am he.

[10:31] Folks, that's a little ways down the pock here from where we're at in the Scripture, when they have lifted up the Son of Man. He of course is talking about his crucifixion, but not only the crucifixion, not only while he's hanging there on the cross, but the burial and the resurrection at that point, there were people that believed that he was the Son of God.

[10:54] There was a Roman soldier there that believed that he was the Son of God at the crucifixion. When he said, Surely this was the Son of God. But Jesus here is saying, When ye have lifted me up, Then ye shall know that I am he. Then ye shall know that I am the truth.

[11:12] Then ye shall know that I am the lot that I claim to be in verse 12 of this chapter, when he said, I am the lot of the world, you will know these things to be true. And no better manifestation of that is found in the Scriptures in the day of Pentecost, when literally thousands of people believed on Jesus Christ after the preaching of an apostle named Peter.

[11:35] No better example of that is found, but it was after Jesus Christ had been lifted up. It was after he'd been crucified, after he'd been buried, after he'd been resurrected that these things happened.

[11:46] But Christ here is saying, After these things come to pass, then ye shall know that I am he, and that I can do nothing of myself. But as my Father had taught me, I speak these things, once again reiterating, I can do nothing without the Father.

[12:01] I can do nothing against what the Father would want me to do. And we read back in chapter 4 where he told the disciples that were with him there, it was Christ's meat to do the Father's will. That's why Christ came.

[12:15] Yes, he came to save sinners. Yes, he came to reconcile, follow man back to an Almighty God. He'd done those, but folks, ultimately, that was the will of the Father, and that is what Christ came to perform and to do, was the will of the Father.

[12:31] Verse 29, And he that sent me is with me, the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him. He that sent me is with me. Again, he just keeps on going back as he has since verse 12, to who has sent him. He that sent me is with me.

[12:52] The Father hath not left me alone. And folks, this is something that you and I can rest in. This is something that can console us. That the Father had not left Christ alone while Christ was here on this earth, robed in flesh, and I promise you that if that is the case, and we are in Christ, as in us, that the Father hath not left us alone while we are here on this earth, while we are still wandering around in this wilderness that we refer to as earth, we refer to as this world. God is with his people.

[13:28] God is coming. He is tabernacled, not only amongst, but within his own people, as each of us have received the Spirit of God at the point of conversion.

[13:39] We're not saved and then get the Holy Spirit a month later, or three months later, or six months later. When we are saved, that is when we receive the indwelling of the third person of the eternal Godhead, the Holy Spirit himself, being God himself, comes to dwell with his people.

[13:59] So these words that Jesus spoke here, and he that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone. Folks, he hath not left us alone either. Find consolation in that. Find rest in that.

[14:11] Find assurance in that that God hath not left us alone. There's a lot of times in the Christian's walk, myself included, where I might feel alone, where I might feel like Elijah did.

[14:23] And Elijah, after he'd done performed miracles, he'd called fire down out of heaven. He'd done killed the prophets of Baal and all these other things. And the next place you find him is winding.

[14:35] He's in a cave and he's by himself and he says, I'm here by myself. I alone and left. And God told him to get up. He said, you're not the only one. He said, I've reserved for me. I forget how many thousands it was that had not bowed the knee unto Baal.

[14:52] But God has not left us alone, for I do always those things that please Him, folks. This is key. God has not left us alone.

[15:05] And Christ here says God had not, the Father had not left Him alone. He says, for I do always those things that please Him. This is key. If we go out in the world and we go back out in rebellion against God, if we go against the judgments and the statues and the words of the Scripture, it's not that God's going to just up and leave, but there will be rebuke and there will be punishment.

[15:34] There'll be chastisement for the children of God. So many times in the life of born-again people, born-again people, we say, I don't know why I'm in this fix. I don't know why I'm in this mess.

[15:49] I don't know why this is happening to me. And so many times, if they look back on their lives, they'll see where they have drifted from God. And it might just be God using those situations to draw them back to Him, that they come back to Him in repentance.

[16:09] One, for drifting away from Him, for going away from Him, for not staying on the straight and narrow, but veering off to the left or the right. And God may be using those situations to do just that, to bring His own back to Him.

[16:24] So, and I'm not talking necessarily that every sickness or every pain that you have is because you've drifted from God. That's not what I'm saying at all. But I've seen this in the lives of people.

[16:36] I've seen this in the lives of people that have gotten out of church. I've seen it in the lives of people that once preached for God, but now don't. I've seen it in the lives of people that used to teach Sunday school, but now don't. People used to get up every service and sing for the Lord.

[16:49] People used to testify with just fiery testimonies about the goodness of God. And then they just up and leave. They up and leave.

[17:01] And then disaster strikes. Then calamities happen. Some of us have heard it, referred to. I know I have. God puts them flat on their back. And the only place you can look at that point is up where God's at.

[17:16] I'm not saying again that every ailment that passes through a few woke up this morning with a headache. I'm not saying that that is God trying to bring you back home. But I have seen that many times.

[17:30] Just in my short walk as a Christian, it'll be 15 years I've been saved come this February. February 10th will be 15 years. And just in that 15 years, I've seen this happen to people that were strong for God at one time.

[17:46] And it breaks my heart when I see that. So when Jesus says, for I do always those things that please Him, that needs to be key for us as well.

[17:57] We can't. I mean, and one of those things, the main part of those things is faith. The Bible teaches us in the book of Hebrews without faith, it is impossible to please Him.

[18:09] It is impossible to please God without faith. Folks, it's impossible to be saved without faith. But it's impossible for us Christians, believers to please God without faith.

[18:22] So if you feel your faith dwindling, if you feel your faith dwindling, pray to God. Ask God to restore that, to reignite that. Ask God to help you with that, folks.

[18:34] The most powerful and most neglected tool that we Christians have is prayer. That is the most powerful thing we have at our disposal, but yet it is the most neglected thing that we have.

[18:46] We run into a situation and we'll go every route before we get to prayer to try and fix it. We'll try and fix it ourselves. And it's just not highly advisable.

[18:59] We're at the 30th. And as He spake these words, many believed on Him. And again, this is very reminiscent of John chapter 7.

[19:10] As He spake these words, many believed on Him. And here in the next couple of verses, Jesus indicates to us that they didn't believe with a saving faith.

[19:22] And folks, there's been all kinds of people, and I talked about in chapter 7 when we reached that point, when it said that many people believed on Christ, and then they asked the question.

[19:35] Very next verse, they said, when Christ comes. So that shows that they didn't believe that He was the Christ, but they believed some of the things that Christ was saying. And the world's full of people like that.

[19:47] They believe parts and bits and pieces of the Bible. They believe in the golden rule of doing unto others as you had done unto yourself. And they believe so many different things, but they don't believe in Christ as Savior.

[20:00] They don't believe in Him as Messiah. That says, He spake these words, and many believed on Him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him.

[20:13] If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So in verse 30 says, as He spake these words, many believed on Him.

[20:26] As He spake what words? From verse 12 up to that verse is the words that Jesus spake, that cause these people to believe on Him.

[20:38] Verse 31 then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him. That's key here. He's talking to the ones which believed on Him. If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.

[20:51] This indicates to me that Jesus knew they did not believe on Him or in Him in a saving way, or with saving faith. He says, if you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.

[21:07] That word indeed there is key to all of this. And folks, it is key to you, and it is key to me, and it is key to anyone who makes a profession of Jesus Christ.

[21:19] If you continue in my words, and this is where so many fail, and this is what shows failure. This is what shows that saving faith was never had by those people, because they do not continue in the Word of Christ.

[21:36] You can't continue perfectly in the Word, nor can I continue perfectly in the Word. We cannot perfectly keep the commandments of God. We cannot perfectly keep the commandments of Christ, even though He just narrated down to two, love God and love your neighbor.

[21:51] We cannot perfectly keep those commandments, but we strive to do so. We try our best to do so, and we feel guilty if we don't. That's the Holy Spirit bringing conviction on us when we don't.

[22:04] Jesus said to those Jews which believed on Him, if you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. In other words, if you don't continue in my word, you are not my disciples, even though they believed on Him.

[22:18] And y'all have heard me teach it, and I'll tell it since we've been in John, that Jesus wasn't the only one with disciples. John the Baptist had disciples. All kinds of people had disciples. Rabbis had disciples that followed them around and sat around them and were taught by them, and they were referred to as disciples.

[22:35] Disciples simply means follower. But He says, if you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

[22:47] And folks, you cannot alter this order in these two verses that are here. Jesus says, if you continue in my word, if you continue, continue, you cannot take that out of the first slot of the order of what has to happen.

[23:04] If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth. That's the second one. If you continue, you shall know. If we continue in the Word of God, we shall know, and we cannot change that order.

[23:18] It has ever been that way. It was that way with Abraham. It was that way with Moses. It was that way all the way through the prophets. It was that way for the psalmist. It was that way for David. It was that way for everyone that we read about in the Scriptures.

[23:32] If they continue in the Word, what does the Bible say, Mark 13, 13, they that endure them to the end the same shall be saved. Folks, it matters, yes, how we begin this thing.

[23:44] We don't begin it with saving faith. We are still under the condemnation of God. But the middle and the end of this thing, enduring unto the end, that is continuing in the Word of God.

[23:56] A true born again child of God will do this. Will they slip up? Yes. Will they stumble? Yes. Will they fall flat on their face? Absolutely. But they'll get up and they'll continue.

[24:09] They'll get up and they'll continue. It reminds me of a conversation I had with my oldest boy one time. When I was teaching him how to ride a bicycle. I stayed behind him and kept a hold of the back of the seat.

[24:22] I'd help him along. One time I let go of him. He trekked right on through the yard. And he done fine until he realized I wasn't behind him. And he laid that back down on the ground. It didn't crash. He just laid the back down after it got slow enough.

[24:35] Run back up there to me and said, Daddy, I didn't want you to let me go. I said, well son, that's the only way you're going to learn to ride. He said, but I'm afraid I'll crash. So I picked that boy up and I sat down Indian style in the yard back when I used to be able to bend my legs like that.

[24:51] And I sat down and I plopped him in my lap and I said, boy, let me tell you something. You will crash. You will crash. You're going to get cuts. You're going to get scrapes. You're going to get bruises.

[25:03] You might even get a broken bone. But if that happens, you pick that back up and you take it back to the house and you try again when you're better. And folks, this is the same way here. We're going to crash. We're going to fall on our face.

[25:19] We're going to sin, period. I mean, there ain't no use in candy coating. I'm not going to call it an oopsie daisy. We're going to sin against God. But when we do, that same God that saved our soul is merciful.

[25:36] And He is long suffering and He is patient and He is full of compassion and He knows that we are but dust and He understands our frames and He will forgive us.

[25:47] And when we sin against God, we go to Him in repentance and we go to Him in faith, the same repentance and the same faith that we got saved with. We repent of our ways and we trust Him to forgive us of that sin.

[26:00] And that is following the Word of God. And that is the doing, the things that God has instructed us to do. So here in verse 31, if you continue in my Word, continue is the first part of that.

[26:14] And you shall know the truth. If we continue, we shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. That's the third slot in this. And that order cannot be changed. If we continue, if we continue, we shall know.

[26:31] And if we know, we will be free. And that has been the order from the get-go and it is the order now. But we must continue in the Word of God. They that enter into the end, the same shall be saved.

[26:48] Praise God for that. And born again children of God will endure into the end, for God is eternal. And everything about God is eternal and His help for us is eternal.

[27:00] Anybody got any questions or comments on that? I hate to close off this early, but I'm not going to get into that next section.

[27:11] Alright, God bless you all. I appreciate your attention.