In the sermon 'Who Is Your Father?' by Scott Brown, the dialogue in John 8 is explored, where Jesus confronts the Pharisees about their true spiritual lineage. Although physically descended from Abraham, Jesus exposes their spiritual father as the devil, due to their rejection of His word. Jesus makes profound claims about His divine nature, asserting Himself as the eternal 'I Am' and highlighting His unity with God the Father. The sermon underscores the importance of rejoicing in Jesus Christ, the self-existent God, as the essence of true Christianity, contrasting it with the Pharisees' hostility. The sermon further discusses the pivotal role of the Word of God in identifying one's spiritual father, emphasizing that a true Christian loves and abides in God's Word, which leads to eternal life. The sermon concludes with a call for personal reflection on one's spiritual lineage and disposition towards Jesus, urging rejoicing and gladness in Him as the heart of the Christian faith.

We're going to be reading in John chapter 8 and starting in 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. And 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 have heard from God.

Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your Father." And 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 words. 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 you 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 rightly say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?

And 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 words he shall never see death.' Then the Jews said to him, now we know you have a demon. Abraham is dead and the prophets, and you said 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? And 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 have known 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 words. 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 fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?' And 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.

Let's pray. Lord, I pray as we listen to the words preached that we would apply them to our hearts, Lord, that we would have you as our father and not the devil As we are examining here this the end of this very long Very long chapter John chapter 8 in the gospel of John. It's very clear that John keeps staying on point with his primary message, and His primary message really is summed up at the end of the gospel in chapter 20, verses 30 and 31, where John tells why he wrote the gospel. And he said that Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, but these things were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name." And So Jesus, He will not let us forget that Jesus is the Son of God, that He's been sent from God and that He is God. And so over and over again, John makes this point and He does it over and over again in this chapter.

This is his primary message. And this makes it very clear what we've articulated many times before in this church, and that is that Christianity is not first and foremost the adoption of a lifestyle. It's not the embracing primarily of a philosophy. It's not even getting your life together and being a better dad and a better husband and a better worker. It includes those things but it's not primarily about that the gospel of John points to something far far more fundamental than that And that is it is it's rejoicing in a person it's loving a person following a person hearing a person obeying a person trusting and and really being swallowed up in the kingdom of an eternal, uncreated, self-existing, everlasting God, and that is Jesus Christ himself.

And this whole matter of the fatherhood of God and the sonship of Jesus Christ and his Demonstrating his glory in the earth is repeated over and over again God is father in John occurs over 120 times there. And so the gospel of John is all about how God manifested Himself in the flesh in his Son Jesus Christ. And this was stated at the very beginning of the Gospel in John chapter one verse 18. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him." And so this is the heart of John's message, and this is the heart of the entire chapter of John chapter 8, that Jesus came to explain God.

And of course that's our responsibility in the world as well is to explain Him. You know, Jesus said, and this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. So in our text this morning, we learn that Jesus is the great I Am, using what's commonly called by theologians the Tetragrammaton, that Jesus is the same self-existent God revealed in Exodus in the story of the burning bush. You know the story of the burning bush. Hopefully every child knows the story of the burning bush.

It was a bush that wouldn't burn up. There was no fuel. God doesn't need fuel, God doesn't need anything. God, in His burning presence, is independent and self-existent, and He doesn't even need wood, He doesn't even need the bush. He is greater than that bush.

And we find here in this passage that Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus' day, and he was glad. And My goal this morning really is fairly simple, and that is that all of us here would know whether our hearts rejoice in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And that if that is the case, that today would be such a day of rejoicing It would be a day of delight It would be like Isaiah spoke that you're riding on the high hills of the earth knowing that Jesus Christ the self-existent I am the everlasting God is your God and he's taking you to heaven and and and verifying the hope that you have in God in his everlasting and in his unchanging being This really is the heart of Christianity. I pray that this would come for you today if that's your condition and that That that we together as a church Would know that happiness that rejoicing that gladness. This is a mark of a true church gladness in Jesus Christ and then of course, you know further if if you if you realize that you don't rejoice You can't rejoice in Jesus and you you don't have affection for His word, then these words here in John 8 would convince you to do so, that they would push you over, that they would win you over because Jesus is attempting to win over His hearers who are attacking him and that you would recognize that he is full of grace and truth he is the Lamb of God he he is the the best wine he is living bread he is living water and he is the self-existent God that you would somehow get pushed over by that today and you would embrace him as your Savior because, you know, rejoicing really is the heart of Christianity.

And on the contrary, you see the scribes and the Pharisees here, They're not rejoicing at all. They hate him in this chapter alone They are they are attacking him 10 times. I I'm going to argue 11 times Their first attack was bringing a fake situation, a woman caught in adultery to try to trick him, to try to trap him. And they were continually trying to discredit him. And 10 or 11 times, depending on how you count it, they're trying to discredit Jesus.

And Jesus continues to actually Answer them very patiently and graciously but very Pointedly as well getting right to the heart of the matter and not pulling any punches at all, but telling them the truth about the state and who their father really is, because they're claiming that their father is Abraham, and Jesus says, your spiritual father is not Abraham at all. And so in this section, these Pharisees are making these claims to discredit Jesus. And again, this chapter really speaks of one time in the life of Jesus. It's very difficult to break this up in sections. You really can't break it up in sections because it's one long dialogue.

We've broken it up into three sections. Many have broken this up into eight and 10 sermons. It's easy to do that because all of these attacks have a response that teaches them about themselves and about God Himself and throughout all these attacks Jesus is proclaiming himself to be God in the flesh and he ends up with this I am I am the one who is of God and I am God he is the self-sufficient self-existent unchanging God and He's not like any other deity And so in this chapter you see the intensity of the hatred of Jesus escalating, and it reaches a boiling point when you get to the end of this chapter where they pick up stones to stone him. That's where it ends. And they don't rejoice to see Jesus' day.

They're not glad to see His day. And I think the central truth of this passage comes from the words that are used over and over in this section. And rejoicing, being glad, loving, honoring, obeying, having a father, these really form the heart of this message. And you know, It should cause us to ask, what do I rejoice in? What makes me glad?

What do I obey? Who is my father? Those are the questions that this asks of all of us. And I think all of this hinges on who is your father You rejoice and who is your father your true spiritual father and he makes it very clear that there are only two fathers There's the devil or there is God the Father as manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are no other ways, there are only two ways.

And you either come from one lineage or another, and it's not black and white, red and yellow. It's not any of those. Your only true lineage in this world is a spiritual lineage. And you either have your father the devil or you have your father as God the Self-existent everlasting God so now there I want to take two approaches with these verses And first of all, I want to walk through them thematically and you have an outline in front of you That'll help guide you to see where I'm going here. And then I want to work through them Sequentially, so I want to walk through this passage and show you the themes before we walk through it systematically and and and sequentially Now I'd like you to look for these themes now in order to track with me this morning I'm very I'm very aware that you're gonna need to have your Bible open You're gonna need to have your finger on these verses.

So I first of all just ask you to get your Bibles open, get your finger in John 8 37 because I'm going to direct you to particular phrases that are there and I'm going to identify them by the verses that they are assigned to. So I've identified five themes here and the first is really the dialogue itself and there are three cycles in this dialogue and you see them in your outline they're listed the first is in verses 37 to 51 the second is in verses 52 to 56 and The final cycle of dialogue is in 57 through 59 and what you find in this in this dialogue is that there there are accusatory discrediting blasphemous things that are said to Jesus about Jesus and then The second thing is that truth is communicated by Jesus. And then thirdly, Jesus really issues a gracious invitation to them. That's the cycle of dialogue that you see here. And this chapter really is a classic example of how lots of dialogues go, how debates often escalate.

It follows a really common and consistent pattern. You've experienced this when you're debating or you're having a dialogue, particularly about the Bible and the things of Jesus Christ. And the debates usually begin with an intellectual argument, you know, where facts are presented. Isn't that nice? But they don't usually stay there.

If it's not resolved by that, then the debate turns into an emotional argument. And then if the argument's not won by the emotional arguments, and if the party is not convinced, it turns to a personal attack. And that's what you find here. And if the personal attacks don't work it turns to physical violence and that's exactly what you find in this cycles of debate that take place here in this section and so I think we should first recognize that there is a cycle of debate where an accusation is made, it's blasphemous, and a truth is communicated by Jesus, and then there's a gracious invitation. That's the pattern that you see throughout this whole thing.

Secondly, you can't miss the claims of Christ about himself. They are very densely loaded in here. Jesus' claims are remarkable. I mean, and really, his claims go way back. He's making claims all throughout this chapter in verse 31 He says you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free and you shall be free indeed and You know in verse 31 if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed." So he begins with these these claims but but beginning in verse 38, I speak what I have seen with my father.

That's a claim. Verse 40, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. He's saying my words are coming from God. In verse 42, for I proceeded forth and came from God, nor have I come of myself, but He sent me." These are claims. You know, if Jesus really was sent from God, you better wake up.

If it's not true, you need to run. If it is true, you need to wake up and follow Him. In verse 49, He says, "'I do not have a deenamon, but I honor My Father.' Verse 50, "'I do not seek My own glory.' Verse 51, "'If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.'" These are astonishing claims. And he just continues to make these claims in verse 54 it is my father who honors me I know him verse 55 and but I do know him and I keep his word and then in verse 56 he says your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he when when he saw it he was glad And then finally in verse 58 he says most assuredly I say to you and he uses that Terminology that Jesus loves to use truly truly. I say to you uses over over 25 times Truly truly I say to you before Abraham was I am So Jesus is making claims all the way through this and John wants us to know that and he wants us to know it so much that he from now on to the rest of the gospel of John, John will continue to show us the claims of Jesus.

You have to come to terms with who Jesus claimed to be. And then the third thematic issue is that Jesus is shining his light and exposing the true nature of the Pharisees. He's exposing their true spiritual condition. There's the condition that they think they're in, but there's actually the condition they are actually in. And Jesus, in His kindness, puts His finger in the wound, and he shows them who they really are and this is the blessing of Jesus he shows you who you really are and he goes after your woundedness so that he would heal you and so in verse 37 he says my word has no place in you.

And he says, you do what you've seen with your father, and by the way, your father is the devil. And he says in verse 39, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham but you seek to kill me Because you do the deeds of your father. He says Abraham Love to see my coming, but you don't your your father your spiritual father is not Abraham and then in verse 42 He says if God were your father You would love me He's putting his finger on what they love. And then in verse 43, you are not able to listen to my word. He tells them that they're not listening and they are obviously know that but then verse 44 he says you are of your father the devil and the desires of your father you want to do and He says in verse 47 you are not of God So Jesus is putting his finger on their true spiritual condition That's a theme that you see here in this section And then the fourth theme is that Jesus identifies the importance of your spiritual father.

Everybody has a physical father, and by the way, everybody has a spiritual father. And they're different. That's what Jesus is saying. In verse 38, Jesus says, I speak what I have seen with my father and you do what you have seen with your father. He's talking about this matter of what is a spiritual father and what is a physical father.

Verse 41, you do the deeds of your father. Verse 42, if God were your father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came from God. Verse 44, when your father the devil speaks, he speaks a lie and he's he's the father of lies in verse 47 he who is of god hears god's words therefore you do not hear because you are not of god so he's identifying their spiritual father And every person has to come to terms with that question, who is your spiritual father? Who are you following? Where is your lineage lead?

And then number five, the fifth thematic matter is that Jesus identifies the importance of your disposition toward the Word of God. And this is pivotal, this is repeated over and over again in this section, what do you feel about the Word of God, and what do you do with the Word of God? Those two things Jesus is identifying as sort of a litmus test as to who is your father. Like where are you getting your life? Are you getting it out of the Word of God or are you getting it out of some other well?

And in verse 31 he says, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. In verse 37 he says, my word has no place in you. Verse 43, you are not able to listen to my word. Verse 45, I tell the truth. Verse 47, he who is of God hears God's words.

Therefore, you do not hear because you are not of God." And then verse 51 is the most astonishing of this collection of appeals to the word of God. Look at verse 51, most assuredly I say to you, if anyone keeps my word He shall never see death So Jesus is establishing that cleaving to his words is the chief mark of a Christian. Because Jesus said this earlier, quoting Moses, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So these are thematic Constellations that we need to understand to get what John is wanting to communicate to us about Jesus and Then We turn to the text now. Let's work through the sequence of the dialogue itself.

Now, the sequence of the dialogue actually begins in verse 12, but most recently in verse 31, there's this debate about who their father is, and Jesus says, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free, and you shall be free indeed. But we find these three attacks that I've identified there in the notes and the first attack to discredit really centers around this question, you know, who is your father? And they say Abraham is our father the second attack to discredit Begins in verse 52 where they say you have a demon and it should ask us and help us to ask the question You know where where is the source of our lives? And then thirdly, the third attack is in verses 57 to 59, you are not yet 50 years old. In other words, you're lying because, you know, you're...

The prophets in Abraham are dead, so how can you say what you're saying? So they're just accusing him of being a liar. Now let's walk through this. The first attack is surrounding this matter of who is your father in verses 37 to 51. Now verse 37 he says, I know that you are Abraham's descendants.

So he acknowledges that their lineage is of Abraham. Their physical lineage is of Abraham. They are physical descendants, but there is another legacy That is far more important. He acknowledges their physical lineage But he exposes their spiritual lineage and he says that that's proven by what how they approach the word He says my word has no place in you. That's really important in John's argument.

My word has no place in you and the language that he's using no place is a word that means my word doesn't move you my word Goes no place with you It does not spread. It does not go forward My word doesn't go anywhere It just falls on your ears and this is really critical that we understand this What happens to you when you hear the word of God? Does it just fall to the ground or does it take root and bear fruit in your life? That's the question. Does it have a place in you?

Does the word of God change you? The true Christian loves the words of God and they make progress and they move you in a particular direction. And that's why Jesus said a very similar thing in John 5. Verse 24, when he said, Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but has passed into death into life and you know even even as we're all listening to the words of God today I too am listening to the words of God while I'm speaking them you know what what is the word doing what What does the Word of God want to do in you? What place does it have?

You know, is it spreading in you? Is it taking you somewhere? And it's critical that we, you know, are people who meditate on the Word of God. We are not just hearers, but we consider it and we do it. And that's what Jesus is pointing to here.

You know, does the Word of God come to a dead standstill and halt in your heart? That's how J.C. Ryle explained this situation here. And then Jesus identifies What is the mark of a true son? At the end of verse 39 and in verse 41 and there's a distinguishing mark between those who are physical children and spiritual children and it has to do with your relationship again with the Word of God.

Again John repeats this if you were Abraham's children you would do the works of Abraham and Jesus is telling them that their relationship with Abraham is useless unless they love the God of Abraham with true faith and Not with just not just with the great that they He's saying you're identifying with the great heroes of the faith You have an intellectual acceptance of the historical realities of this faith And it you know this can happen to people that they can they can have an intellectual Embracing of the doctrines and the historical record of the faith and they can believe in the incarnation and the crucifixion and the resurrection and they can believe in heaven but they don't delight in these things and that's the distinguishing mark and then they attack him and to discredit him in verse 41 when they and they said to him you were we were born we were not born of fornication we have one father God and It's unclear exactly what they are meaning here by born of fornication it could be that it could mean that they he was they were connecting Jesus with paganism because sexual immorality is always the center of paganism and its lures are lures of immorality and paganism.

Or he could be speaking of Mary and the virgin birth both are blasphemous whatever it is But then Jesus replies in verse 42 and he analyzes their criticism in verse 42 And he's very pointed. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me. And this is just another infallible test of salvation. If there is no love for Jesus Christ, there is no sonship. And, you know, the Apostle Paul said the same thing to the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians 16-22.

He said, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ let him be accursed and Jesus is saying the very same thing you know Jesus said in John 14 15 if you love me you'll keep my commandments love Love for God is manifested in love for His Word. And then He even continues to shine a light into their souls in verses 43 through 47. And he's addressing the fact that they can't hear him. Have you ever talked to somebody about Jesus and they just can't hear you? They just can't hear.

Maybe it's your child, maybe it was you. It was you at one point. You just couldn't hear. It went right over your head. His words fell to the ground.

And his words fell to the ground because you didn't love him. And Jesus says, why do you not understand my speech? Because you are not able to listen to my word They are not able to listen to their true father's voice. They're listening to another father's voice They love they love their spiritual father the devil's voice better than they love the Father's voice. They want to listen to Him.

And then He penetrates them like with a dagger in verse 44, you are of your Father the devil and the desires of your Father you want to do. And that's a distinguishing mark. A terrifying thought is here. These are the most religious people probably on the face of the earth at that time in terms of some some version of biblical religion and they didn't know God and You know the terrifying thought is that you could be part of Christianity you could read your Bible well the Pharisees may have memorized the whole Pentateuch and to go to church and even get baptized and go to conferences and never be a true a child of God This is the most terrifying thing that we should always consider We must consider this am I a true child of God is my father the devil. This is the most serious consideration that you can ever make.

Because there will be some day at the judgment who will seem to be surprised. And Jesus said, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, do many wonders in your name? And Jesus says that they'll hear these words, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Now these are people who are in the Old Testament church, Who are involved in a highly regulated? Religion as regulated from the Bible as you could find so We have to consider this this thing that Jesus says you are of your father the devil and the desires of your father you want to do everyone must consider this and then the character of the devil is revealed in verse 44 he was a murderer from the beginning Now I take that to mean that his murder was the murder of souls as a result of the fall, original sin being passed down.

The devil introduced a poison in the human race that is passed down to every child that is born. Yes your cute children who? Are so Remarkably beautiful, especially when they're born and you look into their eyes and they have a fatal flaw. He was a murderer from the beginning and their only hope is to hear and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's really their only hope at all.

He was a murderer from the beginning and he's a liar. He speaks when he speaks a lie He speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of lies and there is no truth in him The first lie that he told to Eve was you shall surely not die He's a liar and the devil lies about everything. And you know what he lies the most about I think? I think he mostly lies about what is pleasurable and how You find happiness. I think he lies about those things more than anything else He's a liar and then Jesus explains in Contrast his own character But because I tell the truth you do not believe me and then in verse 46 He's claiming to be sinless Which of you convicts me of sin?

In other words, they knew he was sinless. And then Jesus explains why they can't hear, because you are not of God, in verse 47. And then the Pharisees accused Jesus again in verse 48 and then and Jesus answers them do we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon They're accusing him of being a Samaritan. Well, he wasn't a Samaritan Unless they're just trying to accusing him of being a pagan and a rejector of the Word of God like the Samaritans were But this is character assassination And Jesus doesn't really answer their this accusation that he's a Samaritan You remember the progression of a debate you discuss an idea and it quickly devolves to character assassination That's exactly what is here. You have a demon and you're a Samaritan we should never be surprised if that happens to us.

The Bible makes it really clear that his people will suffer these things, just like Jesus. There will be evil reports about you, slanders, nicknames, misrepresentations. People will even make up things and spread them just like they did with Jesus here. He's a Samaritan. That was just made up.

And Jesus answers the accusation, verse 49, I do not have a demon, but I honor my father and you dishonor me I do not seek my own glory there is one who seeks and judges you see how kind Jesus is to come back with the truth in a very simple way. And then Jesus responds with words of life in verse 51. It's such a gracious invitation that he makes in the midst of all these attacks, 10 or 11 attacks. We're right at the end of the attacks and here's what he says, Most assuredly I say to you if anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death. He's holding out his arms of opportunity.

He's desiring to embrace them and so he says, If you keep my word, I will have you and my father will have you." And then he says, if anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death. That's in verse 51. And he's not saying that the physical body won't die. He's not saying that. Everyone who has a body will die.

But he's talking about the second death, what the Bible says about the second death. And you can read about it in Revelation chapter 20 and 21 and Revelation 1. But in Revelation 20, John reports that he sees the great white throne and the book of life is opened at that time and everyone is judged according to their works and then in verse 14 you read then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and anyone found not written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire So he was talking about the second death and you can read about this in Revelation 21 8 and Revelation 26 and in Revelation 2 verse 11 and Then and then they attack again I'm just gonna call this the second attack 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 and who do you make yourself out to be and then Jesus answers he says if I honor myself my honor is nothing it is my father who honors me of whom you say 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 But I do know him and keep his word." And then in verse 56, Jesus speaks about what was the heart of Abraham's justification by faith.

56 is critical in this whole dialogue. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. This was the heart of Abraham. I Think we need to somehow explain how happy Abraham was as a man Abraham was a happy man.

He was glad He was justified by faith. There are two words that describe Abraham in this text. He was glad and he rejoiced. That is the heart of what the Pharisees didn't have. They had Abraham as their physical father, but they didn't have the heart of Abraham that was glad and rejoiced.

These two words, rejoiced, it's a Greek word that means to experience a state of great joy and gladness involving even like a verbal expression and even bodily movement and it's the same word that is used in Luke 1 47 of Mary where she said, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices greatly because of God my Savior. Mary had the same heart as Abraham and the and he uses a completely different word for glad He's used this word for rejoice, but he uses the word glad it means to enjoy a state of happiness You know you might ask how is it? How is this possible? How how did Abraham? Rejoice to see Jesus day.

Well, I mean The Bible explains it really very clearly, how it was that Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus' day. He did rejoice to see Jesus' day, and he was justified by faith. He believed the Lord and it was accounted to him for righteousness in Genesis 15 6. But Galatians 3 verses 5 through 9 explained exactly how this happened. In verse 8 in Galatians 3 it says this, And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed.

So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham." So the gospel was preached to Abraham when God came to him and said, In you all the nations of the earth will be blessed." Abraham heard the gospel in the scriptures and he rejoiced and this is why Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek who was a type of Christ. He was a prophet and a priest and a king. He was a priest forever. Abraham's heart was toward Jesus and Hebrews 11 makes this really clear that all the Old Testament saints were in the same category Hebrews 11 13 we see very clearly that What happened to Abraham happened to all the Old Testament saints. They saw his day.

They saw Jesus' day. I'll read it to you in Hebrews 11.13, where Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham obeyed. These died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. All the Old Testament saints embraced Jesus Christ in the types of the Old Testament and the gospel was preached to them. And every Old Testament saint was saved if they had faith like Abraham and they believed in Jesus and they rejoiced in him all those mentioned they rejoiced that was the heart of their religion They were glad they were like their father Abraham And it's like this I think this is an invitation.

I think he's saying Abraham rejoiced you can rejoice too Rejoice like all the other Old Testament Saints Be glad I'm here. That's what he's appealing to them He's drawing them in this great conflict of accusations and then they accused him again the third attack to discredit him in verses 57 to 59 It's the same pattern blasphemy truth and a gracious invitation the Jews said you're not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham? And then in verse 58 Jesus lets the hammer down like So massively clear Now he's used this term I am three very specific times, but actually many times before this Jesus said to them most assuredly I say to you before Abraham was I am Case closed It's what John is trying to communicate to us. And this is a gracious invitation. Come to the one you've been reading about your whole life.

Come to the one you've meditated upon and worshiped in the temple all your life long. Now, this is a gracious invitation and Jesus is not saying, I was. He's using the language that describes continuous being, irrespective of time. He's not saying that he predates Abraham. It's not that simple.

He's saying that he was eternally pre-existent. That's what this means. He is the independent, self-existent, uncreated creator. He's omnipotent, he's omniscient, He is the source of life who always was and always will be. And theologians like to call this the doctrine of the assiety of God.

And like the righteousness of God and the love of God and the justice of God, you have the assiety of God, that he is the eternally self-existent independent God and that's who Jesus is claiming himself to be. Now children you know how big is God? How big is God? Guess what? You'll never know.

You'll never be able to understand how big he is. He's bigger than big. He is. He is older than old. He created wisdom.

He created everything. He just was. And you know what? You'll never be able to figure out how that how ask your father. He won't be able to explain it How big is God?

Oh? Son oh sweetheart daughter. He's bigger than big he's wiser than wisdom, he's greater than great, he's before everything. And by the way there is no rock bigger than God, he can move them all. Moses said this in Psalm 90, before the mountains were brought forth, or Ever you had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting you are God Now it's interesting There are many people that don't believe that anymore.

Our Ligonier ministry just completed a study of the beliefs of evangelicals and it was shocking to me. 78% of evangelicals Who claim a number of points of sound doctrine? 78% believe that Jesus is the first and the greatest being created by God 78% believe that Jesus was created by God The false doctrine that exists in the church today I think is a direct result of just poor preaching and a refusal to preach the very words of God And to try to make people feel good about different things and give them antics, but they're not giving them God and as a result 78% of evangelicals Believe that Jesus was created by God And I mean it's there are many things about this study that are that are really astonishing the word of God has been set aside in the modern church and then verse 59 they take up stones to throw at him 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, so and so passed by." Some say that this term, hid himself, in Greek is more probably translated, was hid.

And here's the reality. No one can touch Jesus until it's his time. And you know, Jesus walked right through the crowd. I don't think he became invisible. I think he just had the authority and the protection of God and he walked out of that crowd and There they were standing with their stones and This will be what it will be like at the end of the age Those who have not rejoiced and were glad in Jesus will be standing there with their rocks in their hands And they'll be facing something greater How embarrassing it will be to be there with your rocks in your hands and no one to throw them at.

So there are only two fathers and there are only two destinies and there are only two attitudes of the heart toward Jesus Christ. And it is either gladness and rejoicing or it is gnashing of teeth for all eternity and that's the reality of it all. And so again I think we encounter this so strikingly in this passage that Christianity isn't first of all the adoption of a lifestyle, it's rejoicing in a person. It's loving the person of Jesus Christ. It's following His Word and obeying His Word and trusting in His Word.

And it is having a life built around the kingdom of the everlasting, uncreated, joyful being of Jesus Christ. And that's the heart of Christianity. And you know as we go on together as a local church of Jesus Christ, that should be the heart of everything that we do. We gather to be glad in Him, to rejoice, to learn how to obey Him, to learn how to walk with Him, to to lay our cares upon Him, to care for one another, to love one another. This is the way of Jesus Christ in His church.

Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank you that you are the great I AM. We thank you, Father, for sending your Son. Oh, Lord, we thank you for His everlasting mercies and kindnesses, and that He is such a good Father, such a good Shepherd, such a marvelous Savior. Amen.