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Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to John chapter eight, as we continue to work through 
this extradition of John's gospel. We're in a very negative section, 
just to alert everybody here today. The Lord Jesus is dealing 
with the unbelieving Jews, specifically the religious leaders, and he 
pulls no punches, and he lets them have it. He tells them what 
their true condition is. I think in our generation we 
might think, well, that's unseemly. You can't really tell people 
their particular challenges or issues. Well, if we don't tell 
people their challenges or issues, they'll never see their need 
for the gospel of our blessed Savior. And so Christ is truth 
itself, Himself, and He declares to them their true spiritual 
condition with a view, according to His humanity, that they would 
lay down their resistance, they would believe the gospel, and 
they would know the joy of everlasting life. Just saw a clip of Martin 
Lloyd-Jones, and he was being interviewed by a secular interviewer, 
and she asked something about treating people with various 
maladies. And he said, it seems to me that 
we want to apply the treatment before we know what the problem 
is. It's absolutely essential that we know what the problem 
is before we try to make the treatment or application. So, 
this morning, as we consider these particular people, we will 
see certain characteristics and traits that obviously match with 
unbelievers in our own generation. And the hope again is that they 
would see their sin, their rebellion against God, and by grace come 
to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So our focus will 
be on verses 44 to 47, but I want to read the larger context just 
to remind us what's going on. So beginning in chapter 8 at 
verse 37. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you 
seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. I speak 
what I have seen with my father, and you do what you have seen 
with your father.' They answered and said to him, Abraham is our 
father. Jesus said to them, if you were 
Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But 
now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which 
I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You 
do the deeds of your father. Then they said to him, we were 
not born of fornication. We have one father, God. Jesus 
said to them, if God were your father, you would love me. For 
I proceeded forth and came from God, nor have I come of myself, 
but he sent me. Why do you not understand my 
speech? Because you are not able to listen to my word. You are 
of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you 
want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning 
and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in 
him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, 
for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the 
truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? 
And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who 
is of God hears God's words. Therefore, you do not hear, because 
you are not of God. Then the Jews answered and said 
to him, do we not say rightly 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. And I do 
not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges. 
Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he shall 
never see death. Then the Jews said to him, Now 
we know that you have a demon. Abraham is dead, and the prophets. And you say, If anyone keeps 
my word, he shall never taste death. Are you greater than our 
father Abraham, who is dead, and the prophets are dead? Who 
do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered, if I honor myself, 
my honor is nothing. It is my father who honors me, 
of whom you say that he is your God. Yet you have not known him, 
but I know him. And if I say I do not know him, 
I shall be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. 
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it 
and was glad. Then the Jews said to him, you 
are not yet 50 years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus 
said to them, most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham 
was, I am. Then they took up stones to throw 
at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going 
through the midst of them, and so passed by. Amen. Well, let 
us pray. Our Father in heaven, again, 
we thank you for this beautiful day. We thank you for the blessed 
provision in creation of the beauty and the things necessary 
to sustain life. We thank you for your sovereignty 
and providence that you govern all your creatures and all their 
actions. And God, we praise you in redemption. for having sent the son of your 
love into this world to live, to die, to be raised again for 
the salvation of sinners. We rejoice in this good news. 
We pray that it would be proclaimed throughout the earth that your 
word would go forth, conquering and to conquer. And even in this 
place, God, may you encourage our weary hearts and build us 
up in our most holy faith. May you as well save those who 
are still dead in their trespasses and sins, open their hearts and 
cause them to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. May sin be 
exceedingly wicked before us, and may the glory of Christ be 
seen as the bride sees the bridegroom in the song, that he's altogether 
lovely and chief among 10,000. Forgive us now for all sin and 
transgression. Wash us in that precious blood 
of the Lamb, and guide and lead us now by your Holy Spirit. And 
we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, we're coming 
to the end of this particular discourse. Remember the particular 
setting, it's after the Feast of Tabernacles, which is indicated 
in John chapter 7. After the Feast of Tabernacles 
is concluded, on the next day, early in the morning, Jesus goes 
back to the temple, and all the people draw near to Him to hear 
Him. And so He teaches positive truth, 
but along the way, He causes the enmity to rise in His opposition. The religious leaders oppose 
him. They disdain him. There is a growing enmity. They've 
already expressed a desire to kill him. We see that this chapter 
ends on that same sort of a negative note, and we'll see that it continues 
all the way to chapters 18 and 19 when they carry out their 
plan, when they actually put to death the Lord of glory himself. So all of this transpires in 
the space of a day, probably less than a day, a couple hours 
at the most. John, I think, probably gives 
us the heads of doctrine. But when it comes to this enmity, 
as I said, it continues to grow and Jesus does not shrink back 
from declaring to them their problem. So last time we saw 
that there was a twofold assertion by the Jews in verses 37 to 41. They claim in verses 33 and 37 
to be the sons of Abraham. So Jesus applies a very simple 
test. Notice in verse 39, Jesus said 
to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works 
of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, 
a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham 
did not do this, you do the deeds of your father. So he refutes 
their claim that they are the sons of Abraham. And then on 
the heels of this declaration, when he says, you do the deeds 
of your father, they double down. And notice they say, we were 
not born of fornication. Perhaps an implication that he 
himself was. We're not like you, Jesus. We 
don't have questionable sort of circumstances relative to 
our birth, but more likely they're not idolaters. They're not Samaritans. They're not those who are divided. 
They are committed or they have allegiance to Yahweh of Israel. 
So we were not born of fornication. And then they say in 41b, we 
have one father, God. So just as Jesus refutes their 
claim to being the sons of Abraham, here in verses 42 to 47, he refutes 
their claim to being the sons of God. And he does that first 
by rejection, verse 42. He says, if God were your father, 
you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came 
from God, nor have I come of myself, but he sent me. We saw 
last week that there's two emphases there on Christ's having been 
sent by the father. And I think that's purposeful 
in John's gospel. Remember, John not only tells 
us about the economy of salvation, but he tells us about the theology 
of the persons of the Godhead. So when he says, for I have proceeded 
forth and came from God, he's referring to the fact that he's 
the eternally begotten Son from the Father. So if you loved me, 
or rather, if God were your Father, you would love me. Why? Because 
I have the same nature as the Father. If you reject the Son, 
you reject the Father. And then he mentions his mission. 
So the word became flesh and dwelt among us. So if God were 
your Father, you would receive me. You would receive me as the 
only begotten of the Father. You would receive me as the Lamb 
of God who takes away the sin of the world. So he rejects their 
claim. Notice then he affirms their 
inability in verse 43. Why do you not understand my 
speech? Because you are not able to listen to my word. They're 
dead in their trespasses and sins. They have no ability to 
click with or to traffic with what Jesus is putting down in 
terms of truth. And then that brings us to the 
identification of their father in verse 44. And then finally 
today, we'll look at the confirmation of their paternity in verses 
45 to 47. So last time we saw with reference to the identification 
of their father, the first part of verse 44. Notice what Jesus 
says, he makes this declaration, you are of your father the devil. 
Verse 41, you do the deeds of your father. Verse 41, they double 
down, we have one father God. Verse 44, you are of your father 
the devil. We saw how in Matthew 23, for 
instance, the Lord Jesus does not shrink back from declaring 
the sinfulness of these unbelieving Jews, these religious leaders. 
In fact, he tells his disciples, what they tell you that is consistent 
with the law of Moses, Do it, but don't follow their conduct. 
Don't follow their actions. Why? Because they're hypocrites. 
They're blind guides. They're like graves. They're 
full of dead men's bones. They are lawless wretches. Well, 
here he uses language that I'm not sure any other prophet has 
ever used in the context of debate with their opponent. He says, 
you are of your father, the devil. And then he demonstrates the 
validity of this by underscoring the fact that the desires of 
your father you want to do. It's not that you're unwitting, 
it's not that you're unwilling, it's not that you're hesitant, 
it's not that you're resistant, but the desires of your father 
you wish to do. It is something intrinsic in 
you. It is in you as a result of your sinfulness against the 
living and true God. And now he goes on to describe 
the devil and each time or each step of the way we're supposed 
to think in terms of context and how this does confirm what 
he says concerning his opponents. Notice with reference to the 
description, he underscores that the devil is a murderer. Well, 
obviously, the Jews want to murder Jesus. We see that in John's 
Gospel at chapter 5, after Jesus heals that man at Bethsaida. 
What do the religious leadership, what do they claim? This man's 
a Sabbath-breaker, and this man is a blasphemer, because he makes 
himself out to be God. He makes himself equal with God, 
so they want to kill him. In John chapter 7, at the very 
beginning, Jesus is reluctant to go into Jerusalem. Why? Because 
he knows that the religious leadership wants to kill him. Jesus rebukes 
them in John 7 at verse 19. Jesus rebukes them in this particular 
context. So when he wants to demonstrate 
the reality of his declaration, he describes the deeds of the 
devil and shows them that he's not making this up. He's not 
pretending. This is not make-believe. I'm 
not going overboard. This isn't hyperbolic. This isn't 
pejorative. This is absolute truth from the 
Savior, who is the Lord God of truth Himself. So he describes 
the devil as a murderer. Notice in verse 44, you are of 
your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want 
to do. He was a murderer from the beginning. Now this is an obvious contrast 
to our Lord Jesus. Turn back to the prologue in 
John 1. John chapter 1, we see the apostles 
description of our blessed savior. And in John 1 at verse 4, he 
says, in him, speaking about the word that was with God and 
the word that was God, in him was life and the life was the 
light of men. And then over in John 5, 26, 
I preached this as an eternal generation from the father, the 
son's eternal generation from the father text. Notice in 5, 
26, for as the father, has life in himself, so he has granted 
the Son to have life in himself. And then, of course, the famous 
I am saying in John 14 at verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and 
the life. No one comes to the Father except 
through me. So when Christ underscores the 
fact that the devil is a murderer, this is contrary to the Lord 
Jesus. This is in opposition to the 
Lord Jesus. And you see the appropriateness 
with reference to his opponents. They are contrary to Jesus as 
well. How do we know that? Because 
they wanna kill him. They wanna murder him. Abraham 
didn't do this. Abraham didn't go around killing 
prophets. Abraham didn't go around killing 
innocent men. Abraham didn't go around doing 
the things that you've claimed is true of you. And if God were 
your father, if God were your father, you would love me. And 
absolutely, positively, if we have love for Christ, that means 
we don't want to murder him. We don't want to kill him. And 
when he says he was a murderer from the beginning, I think this 
is a reference to Adam and Eve in the garden. Remember, God 
made man upright, but they sought out many devices. And you see 
that serpent come and tempt Eve, and Eve takes the fruit and gives 
it to Adam. The Apostle Paul does covenant 
theology in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 22. He says, in Adam all 
die. So God killed, rather Satan killed 
Ada and we died in him. And when it comes to this reality, 
turn to 1 John. John in his first epistle makes 
this connection as well in 1 John 3. 1 John 3. Notice what he says concerning 
Cain. 1 John chapter 3, specifically 
at verse 8, he who sins is of the devil, for the devil has 
sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of 
God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. 
And then drop down to verse 12, well, verse 11, for this is the 
message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love 
one another, not as Cain, who was of the wicked one and murdered 
his brother. And why did he murder him? Because 
his works were evil and his brothers righteous. So Cain was moved 
upon, prevailed upon by the devil himself, such that he took whatever 
instrument it was, blunt force trauma, to rid the world of his 
godly brother Abel. And so Jesus indicts these unbelieving 
Jews as being those who desire to do the works or want to do 
the desires of the devil. And he's able to prove that in 
the context because these men want to destroy him. And in terms 
of the devil and his animus toward our Lord Jesus Christ, you see 
it in the beginning of Matthew's Gospel. Herod massacres the innocents. Why is that? Because the devil 
is behind the scenes wanting to destroy the coming Son of 
God Most High. You see the devil in the wilderness 
tempting Jesus, throw yourself off of this building and God's 
angels will come and deliver you from that. We see the devil 
behind the actions of these particular men in terms of wanting to destroy 
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a murderer from the beginning. It ought to amaze us that there 
are persons out there that are involved in the occult, that 
are involved in witchcraft, that are involved in those dark arts. To try and have truck with the 
devil? Really? He is a murderer from 
the beginning. There's nothing good in him. 
There's nothing positive in terms of benefit. There's no sort of 
upside to being a servant of the devil himself. It's all about 
contrariness to the living and the true God. It is to express 
one's opposition to the blessed Savior. The Geneva Bible says, 
from the beginning of the world, for as soon as man was made, 
the devil cast him headlong into death. So the Lord Jesus Christ 
tells them that they want to do the desires of the devil, 
and then he describes for them what the devil does. He's a murderer 
from the beginning. But notice he doesn't stop there. 
He goes on to describe the devil in more detail. He was a murderer 
from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there 
is no truth in him. This again is an obvious contrast 
with our blessed Savior. Look in the same chapter at verse 
26. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you. 
but he who sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things 
which I heard from him." Now remember, he doesn't hear it 
from him the way that your sons heard it from you. It's not discursive 
reasoning between the father and the son. Since they have 
the same nature, he's always known it along with the father. 
And the truth that he speaks is the one truth of father, son, 
and Holy Spirit. Notice as well in our context 
at verse 28, Verse 28, when you lift up the Son of Man, then 
you will know that I am, and that I do nothing of myself, 
but as my Father taught me, I speak these things. And then as I mentioned 
earlier, chapter 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and 
the life. No one comes to the Father except 
through me. Jesus' statement here in John 
8, notice in verse 31, if you abide in my word, you are my 
disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth 
shall make you free. Dropping down to verse 36, therefore, 
if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. What's 
Jesus saying? Jesus saying it is consistent 
with those who oppose him. It is consistent with those who 
are in allegiance to the devil. It is consistent with those persons 
to be committed to murder and to be committed to lies. There's 
no truth in him. There's nothing about him that 
resonates in terms of trueness. Now, that doesn't mean he can't 
get 2 plus 2 right. That doesn't mean he's always 
wrong. He quotes scripture in Matthew chapter 4 in the wilderness 
with our blessed Savior, but he always does it for vicious 
ends. He twists the scripture. He tries 
to utilize it in such a way as to upbraid the Son of God himself. But in terms of the devil, those 
committed to the devil are not big on truth. They revel in, 
they delight in that which is contrary to truth, namely our 
blessed Savior. And so they are liars. And as 
it comes to a head here in the particular chapter, that's one 
of the ways he's going to prove their paternity. I've come to 
you in the name of the Father. I've come to you as the one sent 
by the Father, the only begotten Son of the Father, and I've spoken 
truth to you. And instead of receiving that 
truth, instead of bowing to me, instead of confessing that I'm 
Lord and Savior, instead of receiving me as the Messiah promised in 
your Old Testament Scriptures, you want to murder me. You want 
to destroy me. Brethren, this is a very practical 
observation in terms of how do I know I'm in Jesus? Well, we 
don't want to murder him, and we rejoice in the truth, and 
we despise lies, we reject lies, and we don't want to traffic 
in those things that are indicative of the devil himself. So the 
absence of truth in the devil, and the absence of truth in the 
unbelieving Jews, this is something that they desired. They wanted 
it. They loved it this way. Again, 
they're not unwilling participants here. They're not saying, oh 
no, we really want to serve you, Jesus. And this isn't a context 
where, you know, we're just saying, prone to wander, prone to leave 
the God that I love. The Scripture doesn't upbraid 
us, remaining corruption people. It doesn't upbraid the saint 
of Christ that, you know, says what Paul in Romans 7, the good 
that I wish to do, I don't do, and the evil I don't want to 
do, I find myself doing. You'll not find Jesus say, you 
son of the devil. No, these are persons that are 
living contrary to our blessed Savior. They don't believe on 
Him. They have not received Him. They have not come to Him. They 
are dead in their trespasses and sins. And this particular 
class, notice again, John 4, he doesn't go to that woman at 
the well and say, you're a son of the, a daughter of the devil. 
No, he doesn't do that typically with the rank and file, but he 
does that with the leadership. And perhaps that's why James 
says in James 3.1, let not many of you become teachers. Why? 
because we'll receive a stricter judgment. To stand in a pulpit 
and lead men into a pit? You're going to find great judgment 
on that day, because you've twisted the Scriptures, you've departed 
from the truth, and you have used those things for your own 
wicked ends. And this leadership is being 
indicted by the Savior. So he's a murderer, he's a liar, 
but then notice that he goes on to say he's the father of 
lies. Here's your paternity. Here's your fatherhood. Here's 
the identification of dad. You know, there's that saying 
that was famous at least several years ago. Who's your daddy? 
Well, guess who their daddy is. Their daddy is a murderer from 
the beginning. He's a liar and he is their father. So their claim to being Abraham's 
children, false. Their claim to being Yahweh's 
children, false. Their claim Not their claim on 
their part, but Jesus' claim to them being the devil's children 
is absolutely correct and true. Look at what he says in verse 
44. Not only a murderer, not only a liar, but he's also the 
father of lies. He says when he speaks a lie, 
he speaks from his own. Resources is supplied. The idea 
is there. He speaks from his own. It's 
his nature, right? The nature of Christ is truth. 
The nature of Christ is life. The nature of Christ is blessedness, 
and joy, and happiness, and peace, and those things that are described 
in Galatians chapter 5, the fruits of the Spirit. What are the fruits 
of the devil? He's a murderer, he's a liar, and he speaks from 
his own. His own resources are tainted. And then notice, for he is a 
liar and the father of it. So we're talking about fatherhood 
in this particular clash between the religious leadership and 
our Lord Jesus. They've claimed to be Abraham's 
children. They've claimed to be God's children. 
Jesus brings it to a pinnacle now and says, no, you're of your 
father, the devil. And here's how I know, because 
you want to murder me, because you reject the truth, and because 
you do the exact bidding of your father. He's the father of lies. And those who traffic in those 
lies, those who live in those lies, those who continue to move 
and live and have their being in those lies, and that constantly 
and fervently reject the truth as it is in Jesus, evidence their 
true paternity. So for all the blather that they 
had in terms of their religiosity, and they did. You read the scriptures, 
brethren. Jesus describes for us their 
wickedness. How does he describe praying? 
Don't be like the hypocrite who stands out on the street corner 
to pray. Luke 18, Jesus taught them how 
to pray. Don't be like the guy who stands 
thus and prays with himself. Thank you, God, that I'm not 
like other men. Now, brethren, there might be 
a place to pray that petition. Thank you, God, that I'm not, 
you know, Hitler. Thank you, God, that I'm not 
Joseph Stalin. Thank you, God, that I'm not 
Pol Pot. Thank you for that. Praise God, but for the grace 
of God, there go I. I think there's that legitimacy 
in that reality. But that's not the spirit of 
the Pharisee in Luke 18. Thank you God that I'm not like 
other men. I mean, I fast, I tithe, I'm not unjust, I'm not an adulterer, 
I'm not an extortioner. I'm really not like this publican 
here. I mean, this guy is just the 
dregs of society, and I thank you, God, that you've separated 
me from him, and that I'm such an upright and wonderful spectacle 
of a human being. What's the publican do? He can't 
even look up into heaven. He beats his breast and says, 
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Now, when Jesus says, I tell 
you truly, it was that man who went to his house justified. 
Probably everybody's mouth gaped open. Probably everybody's jaw 
dropped. Why? Because the Pharisees were 
everything. They were the religious guys, 
the Sadducees. I mean, there was differences 
theologically between the two groups. The Pharisees would have 
been more sort of, what would we call them, orthodox, more 
consistent with the old covenant scriptures. The Sadducees were 
what we would call today theological liberals. They denied the angels, 
they denied the supernatural, they denied the life beyond the 
grave and that sort of thing. But those people that were enamored 
with the Pharisees, I mean, these guys are the purists. The etymology 
of Pharisee goes back to that. They're the pure ones, they're 
the extra holy ones, they're the spotless ones. So when Jesus 
says that publican went to his house justified and the other 
man didn't, That would have scandalized his hearers in Matthew 23, when 
he's got them in his crosshairs and he tells them that they're 
hypocrites. Brethren, I guarantee you that 
was their first rodeo. They probably had never heard 
that before. They walked around the city streets 
with everybody praising them, with everybody esteeming them, 
and everybody seeing them as the right reverend doctors in 
the church today. And Christ says, they're hypocrites. 
They're blind guides. They're filled with dead men's 
bones. They're like a cup that's clean 
on the outside, but on the inside, it's filthy. It's disgusting. 
It's wretched. He never shrunk back from declaring 
those truths. And here, specifically in the 
temple context, after the Feast of Tabernacles, as he's going 
head to head with these people, he says, you are of your father, 
the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He 
was a murderer. He is a liar. And he is the father 
of lies. Guess what that means to them. 
They're the sons of the devil. Jesus proves his point now specifically 
in verses 45 to 47 to confirm their paternity. And notice the 
three emphases that he gives. He's not making up new stuff. 
He's banging the same drum. He's pounding the same nails. 
He says they reject truth, verse 45. He says they're suspicious 
of Jesus, verse 46. And he says they're condemned 
by God in verse 47. So this is the confirmation of 
their paternity. Notice in verse 45, but because 
I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Now, it's easy to 
kind of read passages or even easier to hear passages and not 
to kind of give them a moment's reflection. Notice he doesn't 
say verse 45, But although I tell the truth, you do not believe 
me. That changes it a little bit, doesn't it? Although I tell 
the truth, you don't believe me. I mean, I'm telling you the 
truth and you don't believe me. The emphasis is more on the sort 
of the incredulity involved. I'm telling you the truth and 
you don't believe me. But that's not what he says. 
He says, but because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 
Because I tell it, not although. Again, it may seem like a subtle 
distinction, but think about it. The incredulity of, although 
I tell you the truth, you don't receive it, is different than 
because I'm here telling you the truth. because that's my 
nature, because that's what my function is, because that's how 
I roll, to use the vernacular, you do not receive the truth. Why is that? Because you're sons 
of the devil. He's a liar. He's a murderer. He's the father of lies. And 
since you reject the truth that I tell because it's truth, that's 
indicative of the fact that what I'm saying, again, is not hyperbolic. I'm not just saying you're sons 
of the devil the way that some zany preacher might say it to 
a group of people. So he makes this observation 
that the Jews do not believe because he tells the truth. Notice 
in verse 46, they're suspicious of him and he's calling them 
out here. Which of you convicts me of sin? I think the emphasis 
here is simple. If he's sinful, if he's unreliable, 
if he's erratic, if he really is a Samaritan, if he really 
does have a demon, if he really is a madman, well then, okay, 
perhaps you can discount what I have to say. Which of you convicts 
me of sin? Which of you has the goods? Which 
of you can pony up? Which of you can present a cross-examination 
to validate why you're refusing the very truth of God Most High 
that I have brought right into your laps? And brethren, this 
is another very important emphasis in our own day. When we're dealing 
with unsaved people, we're not dealing with a neutral people. 
We're not dealing with, you know, blank slates. We're not dealing 
with a person that can sort of go either way. We're dealing 
with people who have enmity against the living and true God. We're 
dealing with a people that need the presence and the power of 
the Holy Spirit. This is why I encourage us as 
a church to pray for the presence of the Spirit on the Lord's Day, 
that He comes and blesses the preaching. We want sinners to 
be saved. We want them to be awakened. 
We want them to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. They're not 
going to get there by my efforts. They're not going to get there 
by your efforts. They're going to get there by the supernatural 
power of God the Holy Spirit, causing them to be born again, 
granting them the graces of faith and repentance, that they may 
close with the Savior, that they may come to Him, that they may 
taste and see that the Lord is good. See, these people are at 
odds with Jesus. And so he says to them, which 
of you convicts me of sin? This is great apologetics for 
us on the street. Can you say, can you claim, can 
you make any credible sort of objection to Jesus of Nazareth? 
Seriously, read the pages of Holy Scripture. Look at 1 Peter 
2 for just one moment, just to evidence or illustrate this particular 
truth. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. So my contention is 
that when Jesus says, which of you can convict me of sin? He's 
presenting them with an out. He's presenting them with an 
objection. He's presenting them with an opportunity. If you can 
convict me of sin, if you can show that I'm a lunatic, if you 
can show that I'm a liar, if you can show that I'm one that 
ought not to be trusted, well then perhaps you have a case. 
So when we go about the evangelistic enterprise or apologetics, it's 
a good question. What did Jesus ever do wrong? 
What did Jesus ever do that was sinful? What did Jesus ever lie 
about? Now, I know that people out there 
say, well, the Bible's filled with contradictions. Just hand 
it to them and ask them to show you one, not 15. Just show me 
one! Show me one contradiction. Oh, 
well, you know, I just know there's a billion in there. Really? You 
know there's a billion in there and yet you can't show me one 
when I hand you my Bible? So I know there's people out 
there that think that Jesus was a lunatic or that Jesus was a 
liar. They think that Jesus was off 
his rocker. They had a messianic complex 
that was invalid. But they can't demonstrate that, 
they can't show that, they can't provide evidence for that. And 
then when we come along and say, no, he was actually, according 
to Paul in Hebrews 7, holy, harmless, and undefiled, listen to what 
one of his closest friends said, okay? Ask yourself this question. Could your wife, I looked at 
the kids, not you guys, but could your wives, men, or could your 
husbands, ladies, say what Peter was able to say about Jesus? 
Not asking what I could say. You all look nice to me. You 
clean up well on Sunday. You don't throw tomatoes at me. 
I don't live with you. I don't know what it's like to 
not put my socks in the hamper and bear your wrath. I don't 
know what it's like to live in your shoes. But those people 
that are closest to us, it's kind of an interesting paradox. 
We typically sin the most against them, don't we? The people that 
are closest to us are typically the people that know us the best, 
and they're the ones that have borne the brunt of our sin. They 
know what we're about. Listen to what Peter, who spent 
three years in proximity, close proximity, to our blessed Savior 
is able to say. The context is submission to 
masters, verse 18, but look at what he says when he points to 
Jesus as the example. Verse 21, for to this you were 
called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example 
that you should follow his steps. He goes back to the prophet Isaiah 
to apply 53.9 to the Savior. And here's the question, again, 
ladies, men, could your significant other say this about you? Who 
committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth? Well, I love 
him, I love her, but I can't sign off on that one, brother, 
because once in a while, maybe it's a full moon thing, I don't 
know, once in a while, they kind of lose their minds a little 
bit, and I let love cover a multitude of sins, and I give them a hug, 
and I try to just see them through it. Peter was with Jesus for 
three years and he's able to say who committed no sin. There 
was no guile on his mouth. Brethren, the more we get to 
know one another, the more sinful we see ourselves or we see others 
to be. And yet Peter's able to say this 
relative to our blessed Savior. He goes on, who when he was reviled, 
did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not 
threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. 
So going back to John 8, specifically at verse 46, which of you convicts 
me of sin? But he doesn't stop there. He 
goes on to say, and if I tell the truth, what's the supposition? 
You can't convict me of sin. You don't convict me of sin. 
You haven't convicted me of sin. So the only other alternative 
is, is that I'm speaking the truth. And if I'm speaking the 
truth, why do you not believe me? Why do you continue to resist 
me? Why do you continue to reject 
me? Why do you continue to treat me like a pariah instead of the 
one that Isaiah wrote about? Instead of the one that Jeremiah 
prophesied concerning? Instead of the one that Moses 
promised or God through Moses promised would come to save his 
people from their sins? So Jesus is affirming their, 
or confirming their paternity. He shows it by the rejection 
of the truth, and he shows it by their suspicion of Jesus himself. There's no convicting Jesus because 
he is wholly harmless and undefiled. There's no way to say, oh yeah, 
he's just not what he purports to be. He's always what he purports 
to be. That's one of the blessed ascriptions 
or perfections of our Savior. He's the same yesterday, today, 
and forever, according to Hebrews 13 and verse eight. And then 
that brings us finally to his death knell to them in terms 
of the condemnation of God. Look at verse 47. He who is of 
God hears God's words. Therefore, you do not hear because 
you are not of God. So he who is of God hears God's 
word. Same argument that we've seen 
in John 8, verse 38, verses 39 and 40, and again at verse 42. 
Not a new thing, but he's bringing this particular section to a 
conclusion. Now there's a following section, 
obviously, when they respond by saying, of course we knew 
you were nuts, we knew you were a Samaritan, we knew you were 
a madman, we knew that you were a demon. What are they saying? 
Anybody that would talk to us like that, anybody that would 
reprove us like that, anybody that would rebuff us like that, 
you must have a demon. You must be mad. You must be 
out of your mind. What are they assuming about 
themselves? We're the religious elites. We're the leaders in 
Israel. We're the guys that stand and 
pray to us with ourselves. We're not like other men. How 
dare you actually come into our territory, our temple, and level 
these accusations against us? This is their response in verse 
48. God willing, we'll take that up next Sunday morning. But verse 
47, he says what he said all along. He who is of God hears 
God's words. Therefore, you do not hear because 
you are not of God. Now in this, he acknowledges 
the sovereignty of the Father. You're not of God. You haven't 
been regenerated. You haven't been affectionately 
called. You haven't been justified by faith. You haven't been born 
again. You are of your father, the devil, 
and the desires of your father you want to do. You've not gone 
through what Jesus taught in John chapter 3, verses 1 to 10, 
about the necessity of the new birth, that you must be born 
again in order to see the kingdom of God. So notice he explains 
this, not just in terms of their rebellion, not just in terms 
of their free will, but in terms of the majesty and the sovereignty 
and the glory of God Most High. He's not dealing with renegade 
maverick sinners. He knows exactly what's happening. 
He knows exactly what the score is. And he knows exactly why 
they're responding in the manner in which they're responding. 
And he makes it very clear. He who is of God hears God's 
words. Therefore, you do not hear because 
You are not of God. The underlying problem and the 
reason why they are linked with the devil is because they are 
not of God. It's a God problem. You claim 
to have God as your father, and yet the devil is your father. 
So by inference, by implication, he's laying down again the necessity 
for them to come to him, to be born again, to look unto someone 
outside of themselves. not to look at their physical 
descent, not to look at their covenantal status. These are 
all common ways that sinners evade the clear teaching of the 
gospel. Well, I'm the son of an Anglican 
minister, of course I'm going to go to heaven. Oh, I'm in the 
covenant. I was born into the covenant. 
Brethren, find that for me in the Bible. Validate that claim. We must be born again of God. We must be regenerated by the 
power of the Holy Spirit. We must be of God in order to 
not have the devil as our father, that one who is a murderer from 
the beginning, and that one who is a liar, and the father of 
lies that we willingly do the bidding of. So Christ ends this 
section in terms of refutation of their claims by shutting their 
mouths, by silencing them in terms of this claim to paternity 
with reference to God the Father. He who is of God hears God's 
words. Therefore, you do not hear because 
you are not of God. I want to make a few observations 
and then we'll close. The first is, again, it's a negative 
subject, isn't it? Whenever you look at the Bible 
and you start looking at us, it's not always a happy thing, 
is it? It's always good to look at the glory of Christ, the beauty 
of the Godhead, the majesty of, you know, the Psalms where it 
speaks of God's creation and power and glory. But when we 
do a little investigation as to what man's real problem is 
before we can know how to treat it, it's kind of depressing. 
You know, when you look at Romans chapter 1, for instance, and 
the apostle shows the condition of the heathen outside of Jesus 
Christ, that's not a pretty picture. You know, therefore, three times 
God gave them up to a reprobate mind. Chapter 1, 24, 26, and 
28. Why does God do that? Because 
they're vile, wretched idolaters. I mean, it makes sense in a moral 
universe governed by a just God that there is judgment for those 
who reject and rebel. You know, you read the vice lists 
in the New Testament, again, just to see what we're capable 
of, to see, you know, that proneness to wander, proneness to leave 
the God that I love. I've heard before that the hymn 
writer there didn't end his life real well. The hymn writer there 
didn't end his life real well. I'm not suggesting he was an 
apostate or a defector, but somebody saw him on a train and mentioned, 
you know, I love that hymn. And he said, I wish I had the 
same glory now that I had when I wrote that hymn. So the man 
who wrote, prone to wander, prone to leave the God that I love, 
was prone to wander and prone to leave the God that he loved. 
There's that reality, brethren, in the realm of remaining corruption. 
But when we look at the reigning corruption, when we look at the 
Word of God's sort of indictment or response or diagnosis of what's 
going on in our world today, outside and within the professing 
church, it's not always a positive subject, but it's one that needs 
to be taken up. Notice with reference to the 
conduct of these unbelieving Jews, they falsely claim that 
Abraham is their father. Again, physically speaking, yeah, 
they had descended from that line, but spiritually speaking, 
there's more going on to Abraham than just being born of his loins. 
They falsely claim that God is their father in verse 41, and 
they do it with a bit of vehemence. We were not born of fornication. 
We have one father, God. As well, they boast in their 
status as the covenant people. So verses 33 and 41. We're Abraham's 
sons, of course we do what's right. We're Abraham's sons, 
of course we're faithful to Abraham's God. That's when Jesus says, 
well, if Abraham were your father, you'd want to do the works of 
your father. They demonstrate solidarity with their true father, 
the devil, and they affirm and confirm what Jesus' indictment 
of them is. They want to murder him. They 
reject constantly his truth. Therefore, they align themselves 
with the father of lies, who is the devil himself. It is a 
horrible position for a sinner to be in. But as well, they confirm 
that God himself is not their father. And Jesus makes that 
clear in two places, verses 42 and 47. So conversely, if you 
want to know if God is your Father, conversely, if you want to know 
you're rightly related to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 
here's two tests. Look at verse 42. If God were 
your Father, you would love me. Right? If God were your Father, 
you would love me. That's a no-brainer. That absolutely 
and necessarily follows. The people that I've explained 
before out there that, you know, I'm spiritual or I'm religious. 
Well, what think you of Christ? Well, I'm not one of those born-again 
Christians. Well, if you don't have the Son, you don't have 
the Father. We see that in spades in John's Gospel. You see it 
in spades in 1 John as well. John makes this very clear, what 
it is to be born of God, to be one who's in allegiance to God. It is indicative of one who loves 
the Savior. So verse 42, they didn't love 
the Savior. But verse 47, they didn't love 
the Word. They didn't love the truth. They 
rejected the truth. And again, 1 John makes this 
evident, that if we are in Christ, if we are servants of God Most 
High, we will love Jesus. We'll love the brethren too. 
That's a necessary corollary. But we'll also love that truth. 
We'll respond to it. We may not understand every jot 
and tittle. There may be some confusing sections. 
We're reminded in the last hour concerning Bible translation, 
there's some riddle in the scripture. Well, one of the tasks of the 
translator is to leave the riddle in the scripture, right? Matthew 
chapter 13. One of the purposes, four parables. Why do we think the parables 
were given by our Lord? Oh, it was to bring us to an 
elevated plane so that we could appreciate the glory of Christ. 
It was to confound the unbeliever. It was to distort them. It was 
to confuse them. It was means and intended to 
judge them is what Jesus says in Matthew 13. So we'll love 
Christ and we'll love truth. Now, one other thing I want to 
observe before we leave the conduct of the Jews is something that 
John deals with in 1 John. You can turn to chapter 2. 1 
John chapter 2. We're getting close to the end, 
I don't mean of the world. Be nice, hasten the day Lord 
Jesus, stay with the apostle, even so come Lord Jesus. But 
1 John and 2 John are the only places in scripture that references 
Antichrist. Now, Antichrist has been a very 
popular sort of subject. in the last 100, 200 years, right? Everybody wants to know who the 
Antichrist is. There's an assumption that's 
built in that I've not seen exegetically demonstrated that the Antichrist 
mentioned in 1st and 2nd John is the Beast of Revelation in 
Revelation 13. Again, everybody assumes that, 
but it's never been exegetically demonstrated that that's true. 
I think they're separate. I think the Beast of Revelation 
is something different than the Antichrist in 1 and 2 John. Now, 
you may disagree, and that's fine. Nobody goes to heaven or 
hell based on, you know, their view of Antichrist. It's on our 
view of Christ, right? And then, you know, the man of 
sin in 2 Thessalonians 2, he's another one that we just assume 
must be the antichrist slash beast of revelation. Again, I 
think each of these references are a bit distinct, they're a 
bit different. There's overlap, there's similarity, 
and that sort of thing, but to identify the one as the other 
goes too far in my mind exegetically. So 1 John 2, 1 John 4, and 2 
John 7, 8, and 9 are the only places in the New Testament that 
refer to Antichrist. Now, we want to find the Antichrist 
in our own generation, don't we? It must be this particular 
political leader. It must be this particular religious 
leader. It must have been this guy in 
history. He was the Antichrist. May I 
suggest we don't have to get out of the pages of the New Testament 
to find the Antichrist? And it's probably consistent 
with what Jesus is teaching in John chapter 8. Now, there's 
two ways to understand Antichrist. That word anti means two almost 
different things. It means on the one hand, it 
means in the place of or in the stead of. I think this applies 
to the Pope of Rome today. He claims to be the vicar of 
Christ on earth. He's Antichrist. He claims to 
be in the place of Christ. This is the word anti-type. You 
have a type in the Old Testament and the anti-type in the New 
Testament. It's in the place of. The type, the temple, is 
fulfilled in Jesus. He's in the place of that temple. Now, I'm not suggesting the Pope 
really is that, but that's one of the ways to understand that 
word. We typically understand it in the way that I'm going 
to use it, against. Well, who in the first century 
was against Christ? Ah, gee, I don't know. Who could 
it possibly be? When John gets to describing 
Antichrist, there might be a little Gnosticism or pre-Gnosticism 
in this particular group. There might be a lot of unbelieving 
Jewishness in them as well. Being anti-Semitic, I'm not picking 
on anybody. Simply trying to point out something 
about the Bible that we've accepted that may not necessarily be the 
case. We're waiting for this personage to come along the scene 
and cut a covenant with the nations and all that sort of thing. Well, 
if the antichrist is here in John, then it's probably not 
something we're going to see here in Canada. I'm not saying 
that everything's going to be hunky-dory and life is going 
to be glorious and wondrous. My point is, is that we don't 
have exegetical warrant to insert our country into biblical prophecy, 
to insert our generation into biblical prophecy. And dare I 
say it, we certainly don't have the right to do that with the 
United States of America. Oh, they're the object of prophecy. 
Look at 1 John. John tells us several things 
about Antichrist. He says in 1 John 2.22, they 
denied that Jesus is the Christ. They denied that Jesus is the 
Christ. Notice in verse 22, who's a liar, but he who denies that 
Jesus is the Christ. He is Antichrist who denies the 
Father and the Son. He goes on there to say, they 
deny the father and the son. This is consistent with our Lord's 
teaching. John 5, 23, if you don't honor 
the son, you don't honor the father. You don't have the son, 
John 8, 19, you don't have the father. John 8, 42, if God were 
your father, you would love me. So the rejection of Jesus is 
the rejection of the father. And they denied that Jesus came 
in the flesh. That's in 1 John 4, 1 to 3, 2 
John 7. That's the teaching on Antichrist. That's what the Bible says. Now, 
to try to plug that into Hitler or Mao or whoever in our generation 
is a massive exegetical step that you need to be able to furnish 
proof of. And especially when there's evidence in the first 
century that there was an actual heresy, that's what I think Antichrist 
was, that was in opposition to our blessed Jesus. It was against 
Jesus. Notice the presence of Antichrist. 
They were John's contemporaries. Look at 1 John 2.18. Little children, 
it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the Antichrist 
is coming, even now many Antichrists have come, by which we know that 
it is the last hour. Notice in 1 John 2.19, they were 
religious people. We're not dealing with an entity 
outside of the professing people of God. We're not dealing with 
the beast of revelation. At least one of them is a political 
entity. Notice in 219, they went out 
from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, 
they would have continued with us. But they went out that they 
might be made manifest that none of them were of us. As well, 
they were deceptive. 1 John 2, verse 26. These things 
I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. And then in 2 John 7. Notice, 
many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess 
Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and 
an antichrist. That's what the Bible says about 
Antichrist. Do we have a first century answer 
to who Antichrist might have been? Yes, it was unbelieving 
Jews that had rejected that Jesus was the man specified in the 
Old Testament prophets who was sent by the Father to save his 
people from their sins. Intriguingly, in two of the churches, 
in Asia Minor and Revelation 2 and 3, in Smyrna and in Philadelphia, 
He refers to the false churches, the synagogue of Satan. Interesting 
language choice, isn't it? Unless it was the fact that the 
unbelieving Jews were those hesitant to, and those who rejected, and 
those who showed animus toward the professing people of God. 
So brethren, when Jesus is standing before these people in the flesh, 
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth. We beheld His glory that way. They didn't. They saw 
him as a fake. They saw him as a charlatan. 
They saw him as a pretender. They charged him with being a 
madman, with having a demon, with being a Samaritan. They 
ultimately cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. 
Was there a group of people that was against Christ in the first 
century? You better believe there were. 
And when you read the book of Acts, who's the first formal 
enemy of the church? It's not the Empire. The Empire 
initially just saw Christianity as a subset of Judaism and for 
the most part left them alone. It was when they went to the 
synagogues. It was when Paul went to Pisidian Antioch. It 
was there that the outrage of the unbelieving Jews came to 
a fever pitch. It's in that context, in Acts 
13, when Paul and Barnabas say, since you judge yourselves unworthy 
of eternal life, we're gonna go to the Gentiles. They take 
that messianic promise concerning the blessed Savior, that servant 
of Yahweh's song, where he'd be a light unto the Gentiles, 
and they invoke that, and they apply that to themselves. Now, 
I'm not trying to be, you know, contrary to your accepted school 
of eschatology, but I'm trying to show you that what we're dealing 
with in the pages of Scripture, we're vicious and vile men. And 
when Jesus calls them out as vicious and vile men, we're not 
supposed to second-guess that. We're not supposed to say, wait, 
you know, he kind of went overboard. He should have been a bit more 
tolerant, should have been a bit kinder and a bit gentler. We 
do that same sort of thing. Hopefully not we here specifically, 
but the church does that in the Old Testament. Yeah, that genocide 
of Canaan. Yahweh doesn't look really good 
in the eyes of the world out there. Where in the Bible does 
it say that Yahweh must look good to God-hating rebels? We're not supposed to apologize 
for God. We're not supposed to apologize 
for Jesus. He says to these criminals, you're 
of your father, the devil, the desires of your father you want 
to do. Let's not soften the blow. Let's 
not try to pair off the rough edges. Let's not be willy nilly 
and apply that to everybody. You know, this guy cuts me off 
in traffic. No, I'm not suggesting that, but I am suggesting until 
persons know the problem, they're never going to apply to the remedy. 
And we have a problem in our churches today where we're soft 
on sin, we're soft on rebellion, we're soft on transgression. 
because we want to be winsome. We want to be polite. We want 
to be kind. And I'm not against those things. 
I'm not, you know, running down the street, screaming with a 
bullhorn, repent or you're going to hell. But there is a sense 
where when the church pears off the rough edges that God intended, 
it might be the case that we're not seeing the spirit move and 
work because we're not preaching the truth. If man doesn't know 
his problem, he's never going to seek out the remedy. So enough 
of the bad news there, let's finish on the glory of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father. John 8, 42, 
I am convinced, brethren, that that's what he's talking about. 
For I proceeded forth and came from God. He is the eternally 
begotten Son of the Most High. He is the one described in John 
1.1, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, 
the word was God. He is the one described in John 
1.18, no one has seen God at any time, but the only begotten 
son who is in the bosom of the father has declared him. What 
creature could be in the bosom of the Father? That's the language 
of identity. That's the unity of essence. 
There is but one only, the living and true God. And in this living 
and true God, there are three persons or subsistences, the 
Father unbegotten, the Son begotten, and the Spirit proceeding from 
the Father and the Son. Our Savior doesn't shrink back 
from declaring theology proper. He's letting us in, He's teaching 
us, He's telling us about His relation to the Father. He proceeded 
forth from Him. Those missions, those processions 
reflect something of notions, the relations between the Father, 
the Father unbegotten, the Son begotten by the Father. As well, 
He is the Word who assumed our humanity so that He could live 
for us, so that He could die for us, so that He could be raised 
again for us. That's a beautiful concept that 
we need to make sure we give due attention to. It's not just 
the case, and I think there are some out there, not hopefully 
in the church, though I wouldn't be surprised, but out there that, 
oh, you know, Jesus, what a great example. Just an example of just 
a loving fellow and how we should conduct ourselves and just live 
in this world. Yeah, He's an example. Peter 
invokes him that way in 1 Peter chapter 2 when he wants us to 
be humble or obedient to our masters. That's not the accent 
in Holy Scripture. Remember, Jews seek after signs 
and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ and Him 
crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks a foolishness. But to those who are being saved, 
Christ, the power and wisdom of God. So the accent does not 
fall on his example. The accent falls on his life 
of perfect obedience to the Father. The accent falls on his death 
at Calvary as a substitute, as an atonement. And the accent 
falls on his resurrection from the dead. Why is that? Because 
that's the means by which sinners are saved. When we believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ, we are forgiven of our sins because 
of His death. When we believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, we receive His righteousness. The righteousness that He accomplished, 
it's imputed to us and received by faith alone. And when we believe 
on Him, we have all the benefits associated with His finished 
work. Paul summarizes it beautifully. And I know you all know this, 
and I hope that you'll go to your grave invoking Romans 4.25. 
It's a passage that I speak of a lot because it summarizes, 
it encapsulates, it brings to us the beauty of the Christian 
gospel. Jesus was delivered up because 
of our offenses. Why did Jesus die? Because of 
our offenses, because of our sins. And he was raised for our 
justification. It's most glorious, it's most 
wondrous, it's most awesome. And if by grace we have believed 
in him, if by grace God is our father, you know what the response 
is gonna be? We love him. In the Song of Solomon, the bride 
describes her man this way, he's chief among 10,000 and he's altogether 
lovely. We don't love him as we ought, 
we don't love him as we should, we don't love him as we one day 
will, but we love him. And there was a time when we 
didn't. And God gets glorified, God gets praised, God gets honored 
for that blessed transaction. 1 John again, we love him, why? Because he first loved us. Brethren, we have been graced 
by God Most High. We have been blessed richly. 
We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into 
the kingdom of the Son of His love. And if we, in our guilt, 
have received His grace, then let us respond with our gratitude 
to this blessed God who has saved us, who has delivered us, and 
who has given us everything in Jesus Christ our Lord. And if 
you're not a believer here this morning, may I encourage you 
and may I exhort you to come to Jesus. We're not in Christ, 
the believers in this room, because we're good. We're not in Christ 
because we've accomplished something. We're not in Christ because we 
made the next level. We're in Christ because God is 
mercy. God is gracious. God takes us, 
God transfers us, God brings us every spiritual blessing in 
the heavenly places in Christ. It's kind of like that story 
of that prodigal. Remember the two sons of that one father and 
the one son said, oh father, give me my share of the loot. 
He's saying, dad, yours good to me is dead. That's when you 
typically get your inheritance, isn't it? When your father dies. 
Imagine your son coming to you this afternoon and saying, can 
I get your inheritance or can I get my inheritance now? What 
are you saying, son? You want me out of the scene? 
That's the scenario. So what does the kid do with 
the inheritance? He goes out and he blows it. 
He wastes it. He throws it away. And then he 
comes to himself, not in redemption. The light of God's sovereignty 
hadn't hit him. He's thinking like a mercenary. He's thinking 
like a sinner. First, he seeks out help from 
another neighbor, which doesn't give him the help that he wants. 
And then he says, you know what? I'm going to go back to my father's 
house. I'm going to just cast myself on his mercy. Not in salvation, 
brethren. I'm gonna cast myself on his 
mercy so that I can eat three meals a day or two or whatever 
the custom was at that time. I need nourishment. I can't eat 
pig food. So what happens when he's a long way off? The father 
runs to him, the father falls on him, not to buffet him, not 
to reject him, not to smack him and not to say, how dare you 
come back here and show your wretched face. He falls on him 
with love and affection and grace and mercy and kindness. He hauls 
the kid back to the house and he says, let's put a robe on 
him. Let's put a ring on his finger. Let's kill the fatted 
calf. If you have this concept that 
God is miserly, that God only saves this select little group 
of people, you need to reflect upon the scriptures. The father 
ran to him when he was a long way off. There is a great multitude 
that no man can number in Revelation 7. God is in Christ reconciling, 
listen to the word choice by Paul, the world unto himself. There is hope to be had in one 
who has riches of grace. So come to him, believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for your word. We thank you for the clarity 
of our Lord's teaching, and we pray that you would help us to 
examine our own hearts in terms of our love for Christ, in terms 
of our love for the Word of God. We know ultimately we're justified 
by grace through faith, but that finest fruit of faith is love 
for Jesus and love for our fellows. So God help us in this as well. 
We pray for those who are dead in their trespasses and sins, 
that you would awaken them by the power of the Holy Spirit 
and bring them out of darkness into marvelous light, confessing 
Jesus as Lord and Savior. And we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let us turn to the doxology 
on page 568 and close out our worship singing praise to our 
triune God. And we'll stand together. ♪ Praise God, your truth of blessings 
flow ♪ ♪ Praise him, all preachers hear me now ♪ ♪ Praise him, above 
the heav'nly host ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. The grace of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
Spirit be with you all. Amen. Father, thank you for your 
word. Thank you for the word incarnate. 
Thank you for this local church, and we pray for your blessing 
upon us. Help us to sanctify the day, and help us to commune 
with you, and to commune with one another. We pray that you 
would go with us now, that your face would shine upon us, that 
you would keep us, and that we would know your blessings. And 
we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, please 
be seated for a brief time of meditation.