In the sermon 'Physical Father, Spiritual Father' by Jason Dohm, the speaker explores the distinction between physical and spiritual lineage as revealed in John 8:37-47. Jesus challenges the Pharisees who claim Abraham and God as their fathers. He points out that although they are physical descendants of Abraham, their actions, such as seeking to kill Jesus, reveal a spiritual disconnect. Dohm explains that being a true child of Abraham is not about physical descent but about sharing in Abraham's faith and righteousness. Abraham is presented as a type that foreshadows a greater spiritual reality, emphasizing that true Jewishness and spiritual heritage are inward, not outward. The sermon delves into the nature of saving faith, using Abraham's obedience and trust in God as an example. Dohm underscores the importance of recognizing one's spiritual parentage—either God or the devil—and how that impacts one's reception of Jesus' message. The sermon concludes by affirming that love for Jesus is a mark of true spiritual lineage and that the opposition to Jesus is spiritual, not rational, emphasizing the need for dependence on the Holy Spirit in sharing the Gospel.

The sermon text for today is John chapter 8 verses 37 through 47. For context, we'll start reading in verse 31. Please follow along. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' They answered him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free?

Jesus answered, the most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. 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 it 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 that 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." Let's pray. Lord, we pray that this text will cut through to our hearts, Lord, that we will see our works whether they are of God or of the devil, Lord. We pray that you'll Bless Mr. Dome as he comes and preaches the word, Lord, that you will give him the message for your people. You will pour out your Spirit on this preaching, Lord.

Bless our hearts. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. The title of the sermon this morning is Physical Father, Spiritual Father. As a physical father, spiritual father, the physical lineage and the spiritual lineage of the Jews is in view in our text.

The Jews, these Pharisees that Jesus is in conflict with in John chapter 8 are claiming that God is their Father and that Abraham is their Father. And so They are speaking of physical lineage and spiritual lineage. Jesus is examining these claims. They've been examining the claims and rejecting the claims of Jesus. Now it's really Jesus' term.

He's examining and rejecting their claims as well. He's on such sound footing in doing so. Last week's text was wonderful. It was about the ability of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to set us free. That comes with an underlying assumption That we are in bondage and need to be set free.

The Pharisees who were in conflict with Jesus won't accept the underlying assumption. But it is wise to agree with God about these things. That we are in bondage and we need to be set free and that if we run to Christ he is willing and able to set us free. He is the heir of the house and he can change your status from a slave to a freeborn son. He can set you free from the guilt of sin.

Though you really did the crime, and you're guilty of your sins, He can render you innocent. It's not just that the guilt is removed, it's that His own righteousness is given to you in its stead. So you are not just out from under the burden of condemnation. You are actually imparted righteousness. Jesus' righteousness.

He can free you from the penalty of your sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. You deserve death for your crimes against God. R.C. Sproul called it cosmic treason.

Sin is cosmic treason. God has only ever been good to you and only faithful to you. Living in rebellion and defiance to Him is cosmic treason. You deserve the death penalty for it. But instead of the death penalty, you can get the favor that Jesus deserves.

In other words, Jesus lived the life that we should have lived. A perfectly thankful, obedient life. Jesus lived from the beginning of his life to the end of his life. God has such favor towards Jesus because of that. Instead of getting what you deserve, you can get what he deserves.

You can gain the favor of God. Jesus can set you free from the power of sin. Worldlings only can serve sin like a slave. They think they can be done with sin at any time but That's a mirage. That's self-deception.

They actually serve it like a slave. And if they try to stop, they'll stop for a day or a week or maybe a month, but they'll be back wallowing in the mud because at heart they're slaves to that sin. Christians can live free. Christians don't have to serve sin like that. We should live free.

Christ purchased our freedom with His blood. We shouldn't become re-entangled in that sin. It so easily entangles us, but we are encouraged, exorted, commanded by Scripture to live free because we are free. This week Jesus continues to challenge the Pharisees' claim from verse 33. This is from last week's text.

They said, We are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. Last week he examined their claim that they had never been in bondage to anyone. He says, If you have patterns of sin in your life, you are a slave to sin. This week, he examines the other part of that claim that they are Abraham's descendants. So as we go to the text, let's ask the Lord to help us.

The Lord to help us. God like many texts of scripture, our text today offends our sensibilities in many ways. Our sensibilities in many ways. We think of ourselves as autonomous, able to do what we please whenever we please. Who of us ever thought of ourselves as slaves of sin, unable to be anything else?

Who here has ever thought of ourselves as having the devil for our Father. God, I pray that you would wash over us with truth today. As we've thought wrongly about many things, that your Word would come and train our minds. Every thought would be taken captive. And we would learn to agree with your Word at every point.

If your word says it, we want to be content that it's true, and to embrace it, and to live in the shadow of the truths of your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Oh, please help us God. Amen. I'd like to begin by looking at the first portion of this text.

I'll be reading verses 37 through the first part of 41. I'm actually cutting 41 in half. So hopefully your finger is in John chapter 8. Follow along as I read 37 through the first part of 41. Again, remember, this is one continuous discourse, so please keep it connected with what's before it and after it, because all this happened at once.

We just need to take a longer period of time to digest the rich, comprehensive teaching that's here. Verse 37. Jesus says, 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." In this section we see Jesus saying that these descendants of Abraham are fundamentally different than Abraham. So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's different. These descendants of Abraham, these Pharisees that Jesus is addressing, are fundamentally, at their core, different from Father Abraham.

Jesus puts his finger right on the problem. They are Abraham's descendants. He is happy to concede that genealogically, if they trace their family tree back through their relatives, They will arrive at Abraham. They are Abraham's descendants, but they want to kill him even though all he is doing is speaking the truth that God sent him to speak. So he is putting his finger on the problem.

Even though it's true that they're physical descendants of Abraham, they want to murder him. They should see a disconnect there. They should understand how problematic it is that people who are only getting from a man truth that God sent him to declare, and they want to kill him. That is Jesus' great crime. He is declaring those things and only those things that God sent him to declare.

Now, how could that possibly be a problem? How could you possibly have a problem with that? God sent someone to declare truth to mankind, and that to you is a crime worthy of death. Well, it's a problem because God's truth exposes hypocrites. And they are hypocrites.

They are being exposed by Jesus' preaching, by all the truth that he is declaring. And so they hate him. Rather than repent, they dig in. When God confronts you with truth, when God puts his finger on your hypocrisy where you've been a game player and cultivated an external reputation, but your heart is nothing like that, you should repent. It's God's mercy to you that He's confronting you in your hypocrisy, in your game playing.

You should give up the game when that happens. But they are not giving up the game. They are doubling down and tripling down. They are digging in and waging a war against Jesus and his claims. They are not just ignoring Jesus.

They want to kill Jesus. Jesus' Word, this body of truth, this sum of truth that God has given Jesus to declare, has no place in them. No room in the inn for God's truth. Imagine that. Truth direct from God, unmixed with any error.

You have no place for it. You are pushing it out. You are actively keeping it out of your consciousness. Pure, unmixed truth direct from God, declared to you by His Son, and you have no place for His truth. What is the response of the Pharisees?

They just repeat their claim. Abraham is our Father. Good one guys. Jesus is deconstructing their hypocrisy. And all they do is repeat the claim that Abraham is their father.

This is interesting. Jesus has conceded that they are the descendants of Abraham. He did that in the first verse of our text. But he will not say that they are Abraham's children. You are Abraham's descendants, but Jesus won't say that They are children of Abraham.

What is this? What is Jesus doing here? He is teaching that Abraham is a type. Abraham is actually representative. Abraham is a picture.

Representative. Abraham is a picture. Abraham foreshadows a great reality, a great spiritual reality that his whole existence points to. So there's more to Abraham than just Abraham. Abraham is actually a type, a picture, a foreshadowing of a greater spiritual reality.

There's more to Abraham than meets the eye. So Jesus is saying, yes, you're the physical offspring of this man Abraham. You can send in your hair sample to ancestry.com and it will say what you're saying. You are physical descendants of Abraham. But you are not the fulfillment of the spiritual reality he points to.

Abraham is a type and a picture and a foreshadowing of a greater spiritual reality. So your physical DNA matches, But your spiritual DNA doesn't match. He's a picture of a greater spiritual reality. And you don't match up with the greater spiritual reality that Abraham foreshadows. If you were the fulfillment of the greater spiritual reality that Abraham foreshadows, you would do the works of Abraham.

You would act like his spiritual descendants. What are the works of Abraham? Thankfully, we have a text that actually tells us what the works of Abraham are. It is in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is the great faith chapter.

It is a listing of many of Scripture's characters who exhibit saving faith. Abraham is a big part of this listing. So hopefully you are in Hebrews chapter 11. I'll start in verse 8. These are the works of Abraham.

Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. This is the story of Abraham from Genesis. God tells Abraham to go to leave his homeland but he doesn't tell him where he's going.

Abraham believes what God says and He acts on it by faith and he entrusts himself to this God. To this point in our study of the Gospel of John, we keep encountering what Jesus says is necessary in order to be saved. It is to believe in Him. Over and over and over again I've been pointing out that the Greek word rendered to believe in Jesus has two elements to it. It is to believe the truth but also to entrust yourself to the one declaring the truth.

Either one of those without the other isn't the full picture of that word. If you just believe the propositions about Jesus Christ, you are not saved. You have to go further And entrust yourself to the one who is the subject of those propositions. That is to believe in. That is the nature of saving faith.

And Abraham has it. He believes what God says, but he also entrusts himself. How do you know? Well, God told him to go somewhere. He was content to leave, not even knowing where he was going.

He entrusted himself to this God. As we work through the works of Abraham in Hebrews chapter 11, we're going to see This is the pattern for Abraham. The Word of God is sacred to Abraham. He believes what God says and he entrusts himself to this God and so he obeys by faith. Verse 9.

Hebrews 11, verse 9. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed. She bore a child when she was past the age because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Not only did Abraham act this way, but by faith, believing what God said, and trusting himself to the God who said it, and then watching out in obedience, he was married to a woman who was exactly the same. Verse 12, Therefore from one man and him as good as dead were born as many as the stars of the sky and multitude, innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. Now let's skip down to verse 17. Read 17-19. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, in Isaac your seed shall be called." Concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

This is again the Genesis history of Abraham. After God gave him a son after a hundred years, God then asked him to offer up this son. He came within a hair's breadth of offering him up. He heard God, he believed what God said, he entrusted himself to this God. He figured that God had made the promises through Isaac so that if Isaac was dead, God would have to raise him from the dead to fulfill his promises because it was unthinkable to Abraham that God wouldn't do what he said.

By faith. The works of Abraham were done by faith. They were simply a demonstration that Abraham believed what God said and was entrusting himself to the God who said it. That is the essence of saving faith. And you didn't have to look far to find proof in his life that he believed God and entrusted himself to God.

These are the works of Abraham. The Word of God was sacred to Abraham and he proved it by how he lived his life. You could never say of Abraham that the Word of God had no place in him. You say a lot of things about Abraham, but not all of them are complimentary. But you could never say that the Word of God had no place in him, as Jesus is saying to these Pharisees.

What is the phrase that is repeated over and over and over again in the New Testament, across the New Testament, across multiple authors of the New Testament about Abraham? Do you know what I'm thinking? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. What was the nature of Abraham's, Father Abraham's righteousness? Was it works righteousness?

No. Across the New Testament, the New Testament authors, one after the other, say the nature of Abraham's righteousness was a righteousness by faith. He believed God and God accounted it to him for righteousness. Some translations say credited it to him as righteousness. Abraham's righteousness was a righteousness by faith, a righteousness from faith.

Paul says a lot about Father Abraham. And Father Abraham as a type and a picture and a foreshadowing of a greater spiritual reality. So I want to take us on a tour of those places in Paul's letter to the Romans. Turn to Romans chapter 2. Paul speaks of this exactly what Jesus is speaking of.

Paul speaks of it in Romans chapter 2, Romans chapter 4, and Romans chapter 9. When anything is repeated by the Apostle Paul like that, we should pay attention. It is given repeatedly because God doesn't want us to miss the truth because it's so fundamental. Romans chapter 2. I'll be reading Romans chapter 2 verses 28 and 29.

I hope you're there. You really need to see these. Romans chapter 2 verses 28 and 29. Paul writes, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly. So you already see the connection to John chapter 8 and our text.

He is not a Jew who is one outwardly. Genealogically, who can just trace his DNA up the family tree to Abraham. He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God." What is Paul saying?

Well, he's saying what Jesus is saying. He's saying that God has given us types, pictures, which foreshadow a greater spiritual reality. They're given to us to teach us about the greater spiritual reality, but you shouldn't confuse them with the greater spiritual reality. They're a physical thing. It's a teaching tool.

So Jewishness is actually a teaching tool. You're not in right standing with God just because you have certain physical, genealogical DNA. It's a picture, a type that foreshadows a greater spiritual reality. Real true Jewishness that is the spiritual reality is spiritual DNA a spiritual condition Circumcision is is an outward type picture Foreshadowing a greater spiritual reality So you can have the surgery physically. But not have the spiritual reality.

You can have the physical mark, but not be circumcised in the heart. It's the heart. It's the heart. It's the heart. Now look at chapter 4.

In my Bible I don't have to turn a page. Chapter 4 verses 1 through 3. Paul picks right back up on this topic. What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by words, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. John quotes that same text. That text is Genesis 15 verse 6. In Genesis 15, God promises old, practically dead Abraham that he's going to have a son.

Abraham believes God and it's accounted to him for righteousness. That's Genesis 15.6. John quotes that. Paul quotes that. Peter quotes that.

James quotes that. It's so fundamental. What did Abraham learn about righteousness? Abraham learned that righteousness was not by works of the flesh, but that righteousness was by believing God. Believing what God says and entrusting yourself to that God is what is accounted to you for righteousness.

Now verse 16, still chapter 4 but verse 16, Paul drives the point home. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Here in verse 16, Paul is declaring that anyone who has saving faith is a child of Abraham. This is why in John Chapter 8, Jesus is happy to call them descendants of Abraham, but he won't call them children of Abraham. True children of Abraham are not just the result of the type in the picture and the foreshadowing of a greater spiritual reality.

They're the fulfillment. Children of Abraham are the fulfillment of their greater spiritual reality. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. All of those after who believe God and have the righteousness of God imputed to them, imparted to them, are the children of Abraham. Not just physical descendants.

Some are, some aren't. Some of Abraham's physical descendants are his children, a fulfillment of the greater spiritual reality. Some aren't. Chapter 9. Romans chapter 9.

Paul takes up the topic again. Romans chapter 9. I'll be reading verses 6 through 8. In this section, Paul is answering the question, why are so many Jews lost? God has made so many promises to the Jews.

Why are so many rejecting their Messiah?" Paul answers the question in Romans chapter 9 verse 6. But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. No effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel. They are not all Israel who are of Israel.

They are not all the greater spiritual reality who are of the type, the picture, the foreshadowing. Nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham, but in Isaac your seed shall be called." That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. Not the children of flesh, but the children of promise. They are the seed. Now, just listen to Galatians 3.

Paul, one more time. But in writing to a Gentile church. Here's what Paul writes to a Gentile church. Of course many in the church in Rome would have been Gentile as well. I'm sure there was a mixture of Jew and Gentile in all these churches.

Galatians 3 verses 6-9. Just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. Only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the scripture for seeing 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.

Then in verse 29, this is the last verse of Galatians chapter 3, verse 29, and if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Gentile Galatians, fresh out of paganism? If you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed. They had zero claim to being genealogical descendants. Most of the people that Paul is writing to in this letter, don't have a drop of Jewish blood in them.

And yet, Paul calls them Abraham's heirs. Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. The point is Abraham is the father of all who have genuine saving faith. In the ultimate sense, in the very transitory temporary sense that God just gave as a teaching tool, as a type and a picture and a foreshadowing of the greater spiritual reality, Jews are descendants of Abraham. In the ultimate sense, all who have saving faith are the real children of Abraham.

They have a greater claim. You have a greater claim. Everyone, every Gentile in this room who has repented and believed the Gospel has a greater claim to being a child of Abraham than a person with perfectly pristine Jewish blood. Because that was just the type and the picture and the foreshadowing of the greater spiritual reality. If you're a Gentile and you've repented and believed the Gospel, you are the fulfillment of the greater spiritual reality.

Circumcision is not an outward mark, that's just a picture of an inward reality. Circumcision of the heart. By the way, this is not a New Testament concept. Circumcision of the heart is a phrase from the Old Testament. This was always true.

Back to our text. John chapter 8. Verses 41. The second half of 41 through 45. The first half was, you do the deeds of your Father.

I'm picking up right there. 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. In this section, Jesus assesses the claim that God is their Father. They begin by saying, we were not born of fornication. Is this a shot at Jesus' birth?

Possibly. A lot of commentators going all the way back say this is them alluding to the rumor mill that Jesus is illegitimate, that he was conceived out of wedlock. That's possible, but I doubt it. I don't actually think it's that. The major point is the relationship of that statement to what is said next.

We have one Father, God. Instead of, we were not born of fornication, the NIV renders it, we are not illegitimate children. Jesus, we are not illegitimate, We are true children of God. The NIV is not a great translation here, but it is pretty good commentary. The point seems to be that they are claiming to be good Jews.

Many of their forefathers, they would tell you, were bad Jews. They were descendants of Abraham, but they didn't keep the Sabbath, they didn't keep the theses, and they engaged in the idolatry of the nations of the land that they had possessed. They were bad Jews and so illegitimate children, we are good Jews and so God is really our Father. These are Pharisees. They are very precise about their law keeping.

They fast twice a week. They tithe down to the garden spices. They never miss a feast. They believed that keeping up the outward connection with their physical heritage was enough. So, we are the descendants of Abraham, And we are walking in the footsteps of Abraham.

We are not engaged in idolatry. This is what it means to be in right standing with God. John the Baptist says this, Do not think to say to yourselves, We are children of Abraham. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones. This is John the Baptist 2.

This very same group of people, I don't know if it was the exact same people, but it was scribes and Pharisees who would come out to see John as he baptized. This is Matthew chapter 3 verse 9. Don't think to say to yourselves, we are children of Abraham. Jesus weighs that claim in the balance. If God were your Father, you would love me.

There's a test for if God is your Father. Do you love Jesus? It's a perfect test. There are no false positives with this test. If you do, then you are.

If you don't, then you aren't. Jesus came from God as God's Messiah, the Anointed One, sent on God's mission. He was one with His Father. He was doing only the Father's will. In Hebrews 1, the author of Hebrews says that Jesus is the brightness of the glory of God and the express image of the person of God.

If you don't like Jesus, you don't like God. If you don't have a place for Jesus' Word, you don't have a place for God's Word. Jesus is God. He doesn't have a different song to sing than God the Father has. He was sent by God to declare truth from God on behalf of the Holy Trinity.

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. If God is your Father, you love His Son. Period. There are no exceptions to that. If God is your Father, you love His Son.

This is the infallible mark of a saved person. Does that mean that love for Jesus saves? No. That would be works-based salvation. Then we would all try to love Jesus hard enough so that we could be saved.

And we would wonder, do I love him enough? No. Love isn't a work that saves, but love always accompanies saving faith. When you are saved, you get a new heart. The heart of stone is removed and it's replaced with a heart of flesh that has different affections.

And the governing affection is love for Christ. He loves you first, and then you love him. Do you remember, so love for Christ is not a work, it's a result of receiving a new heart with new affections. This is so important. Lest we change love into a word.

And try to add that to a self-righteousness regimen. Heaven help us. Do you remember in John chapter 6 Jesus says, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. And I thought that was so helpful because it takes saving faith out of the realm of just the intellect. Because you can ask people, do you believe this about Jesus?

Yes. Do you believe that about Jesus? Yes. Do you believe that about Jesus? Yes.

Do you believe this about Jesus? Yes. Do you eat his body and drink his blood? That's a different question. That's a radically different question which gets closer to the heart of the Gospel than do you believe the propositions that you find in the New Testament.

Well, to me this is the same. This is not do I believe some facts, Do I have love for Jesus? Do I have a new heart with new affections? If you are a Christian, your heart cries out, I love the Lord Jesus! How can a Christian not love Christ?

How can someone whose eyes have been opened to their desperate condition without Him receive grace, have their sins washed away and not love Him? That's impossible. That's all Jesus is saying here. It's impossible that a saved person who has felt the weight of their sins and has felt that weight lifted off by His cleansing blood would not love Him. That's impossible.

Love Him. That's impossible. Listen to 1 John 5 verse 1. 1 John 5 verse 1. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.

And everyone who loves Him who begot also loves Him who is begotten of Him. Let's break that down. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. There is an intellectual aspect to an embracing of the Gospel. There are real propositions, truth propositions, that must be embraced to be saved.

If you believe that Jesus is God's Christ, you are born of God. And, there's a second part here, and everyone who loves Him who begot, who is Him who begot? The Father. The Father begets. Whoever loves God the Father also loves Him who is begotten of Him.

Who is that? Who is the one begotten? Jesus, the Son. Whoever loves the Father loves the Son. Period.

No exceptions. Here is how Paul ends the book of Ephesians, or the letter to the Ephesian church. This is the very last verse of the letter to the Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 24. Paul says, grace Be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.

Amen. Listen to that again. Paul is pronouncing a blessing. He is writing to this fledgling church, a baby church. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.

All those who really love Jesus, grace be to you. Amen. What is he saying? He is saying, grace be with the born again in Ephesus. The born again are those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.

They really love Him. They really do. Not only do these Pharisees not love Jesus, they hate Him. And in not loving Him and in hating Him, They show that they have a different father. God is not their father.

The devil is their father. When you hit this point in the conflict, there's really no way back. Other than just total humility and repentance on one party's part or the other. Now the big question is this. To me this is the big question that looms over the entire text that we are studying today in John chapter 8.

Day in John chapter 8, is the teaching that people who outwardly, blatantly rage against Jesus have the devil as their father? Is that the point of this text? These Pharisees are bad news. They're arguing with the Son of God in public, which is bad policy. Note to self, never argue with the Son of God in public.

They're raging against him. They'll actually call him a Samaritan and demon possessed in next week's text. Is Jesus saying, people like you have the devil for your father. The answer is no. The teaching is that either God is your father or the devil is your father.

This is so important because otherwise you just come away with the text with a soft-pedaled version of what Jesus is really teaching. And You figure, as long as you don't argue or blaspheme Jesus in public, you're clear of what He's saying here. You're not. It takes more than just shrinking back from blaspheming Jesus in public to be clear of what Jesus is teaching in this text. Jesus is teaching in this text that either God is your Father or the devil is your Father, and there is not a third category.

Think of the parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13. In the parable There's a planting and wheat grows, but weeds grow too. And the servants of the farmer ask the farmer, didn't you sow good seed? The farmer says, yes I sowed good seed, but an enemy did this. He sowed these weeds.

The servants say, do you want us to pull up the weeds? The farmer says, no. You might pull up wheat too. We will wait till the harvest is ripe and at the end we will separate. This is what happens.

There is actually an explanation. Jesus explains exactly what everything is in the parable. He says this in Matthew 13 verse 38. Jesus says, The field is the world. Not the church, not the government, not a home.

The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, But the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The field is the world, the whole world. In the whole world there are wheat and there are tares. There are only wheat and tares.

Listen to what John writes in his first letter, 1 John 5, verse 19. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. He's writing to believers, writing to Christians, writing to saved people. We're of God. And the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

Category A, of God. Category B, under the sway of the wicked one. Category C, doesn't exist. That's it. These Pharisees cannot listen to Jesus.

His word has no place in them. I wish that had been translated, cannot hear instead of cannot listen. The other good English translations render it cannot hear. Both are fine translations, but cannot hear hyperlinks you, connects you right to He who has ears to hear. They cannot hear.

They cannot listen to what Jesus is saying. They cannot hear what Jesus is saying. They don't have ears to hear. Listen to Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 10. This is a remarkable verse that I know I've read it.

I've read the Bible several times. I know I've read it, but I don't remember reading this verse. It's stunning. Jeremiah 6 verse 10. God through the prophet says, To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear?

Warning that they may hear. Indeed, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them. They have no delight in it. Did you know you can have an uncircumcised ear?

Because circumcision isn't about a physical surgery. It's a type. It's a picture. It's a foreshadowing of a greater spiritual reality. So you can have an uncircumcised ear.

So that You cannot give heed to the warnings that God is giving. His Word is a reproach to you. You have no delight in it. This is what Jesus is facing in John chapter 8. People with uncircumcised ears.

They can't even hear what he's saying. Even though he's giving them warnings from God, they can't hear what he's saying. The devil, by the way, The word literally means false accuser or slanderer. They are really the sons of their father, the false accuser and the slanderer. They're just walking it out in John chapter 8.

The devil is their father and they are under the sway of their father. We are of God. The whole world is under the sway of the wicked one. He is their father. The things he desires, they desire.

What the devil desires, they desire. The things he does, they do. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. And lying is his native language. It says that when he tells a lie, he speaks from his own resources.

Isn't that what it says in our translation? Another translation says he speaks out of his own nature. The NIV actually says lying is his native language. Again, bad translation, great commentary. In Genesis 3, when we're introduced to the serpent of old, those things are combined, lying and murdering.

He murders through deception and lying. Do you know that? He murdered souls this week. Famous souls. Rich souls.

He talked them into a hopelessness that had them taking their lives. Are you following the news this week? Rich and famous people were lied to by the devil and he murdered them by talking them into murdering themselves. He is doing it today. He did it in the garden.

He did it with Jesus. We are going to see this play out in the Gospel account where he will enter Judas and he will murder Jesus through the betrayal. That was the work of the devil. It was just The devil's sons doing what they do. Participating in his lies and his murder.

Think of how the Gospel account plays out. The Jewish leaders lie, lie, lie. These men who are entrusted to advance Scripture, religion. Who is advancing Scripture, religion here? We are!

And they are lying and lying and lying and they murder the son of God. They are sons of the devil. What the devil wants to do, they want to do. What the devil does, they do. They participate in his lies and his murder.

Back to Genesis 3, he murdered the human race. His lies brought death into the world. You're going to die because of his lies. You know that. Last two verses.

Jesus says, 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." Here, it just puts the punctuation mark on it. Not much new is said here.

They don't hear, they can't hear because they are not of God. Here we have Jesus, the sinless truth teller. So if you're filling in blanks on the handout, It's truth teller. He lays down this astounding challenge. Which of you convicts me of sin?

I think if I laid out that challenge, which of you convicts me of sin, you would have rushed to the front. Wanting to be first. In our family worship time, one night we're reading in the Old Testament, the next night we're reading in the New Testament. Our Old Testament, we're in Leviticus now, and there's this phrase that we encounter over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, and it is without blemish. Lamb without blemish.

Ram without blemish. A kid of the goats without blemish. A bull without blemish. All of the sacrifices have to be without blemish. They're pointing to Christ.

No man could say that they ever heard him in coarse jesting one time. Or even careless with his words. Or that they saw him do something unrighteous. Or that he spoke in sinful anger or annoyance. Not one time, not one person.

He was the lamb without blemish. He is the sacrifice acceptable to God. I'm going to skip to the very end because I'm over time. I turn to Philippians 3. Paul gives us the bottom line in Philippians 3.

Paul preaches a mini sermon on John chapter 8 in Philippians chapter 3. And it's wonderful. Philippians chapter 3, follow along as I read verses 3 through 9. Paul writes, for we are the circumcision believers, Philippian believers, Gentile believers, just out of paganism believers, we are the circumcision. Because circumcision was a type, a picture, a foreshadowing of a greater spiritual reality.

You are the fulfillment, Gentile believer. We are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin concerning the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in the law blameless. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. Here's the punch line. And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, and the righteousness which is from God by faith. Paul puts himself forward as the perfect case study for what Jesus is preaching. Is it enough to be a Jew?

No. How about A Hebrew of Hebrews? No. How about a Pharisee? No.

How about zealous? No. How about an outward blamelessness with respect to the law of God? No. He counted all of that as rubbish that he may gain Christ forsaking a righteousness of his own, that he might have a righteousness by faith, an external righteousness, Christ's righteousness.

He laid hold of it by faith. That's what Jesus is teaching. Applications. I'm just going to read them. Number one, utterly abandon cultivating a righteousness of your own.

There is no such thing. There is not a righteousness of your own. There is not such a thing as works-based righteousness unless you're talking about the perfect life of Jesus. Without blemish, it doesn't exist outside of Jesus. Forsake, cultivating that.

Does it matter if we obey? Not for salvation. How's that for an antinomian phrase? Number two. Understand that while spiritual heritage is a blessing, it is not saving.

Is it good or bad to grow up in a Christian home? It's good. It does not save you. In fact, it actually increases your responsibility to repent and believe. If you grew up in a Christian home and you don't repent and believe, it will be worse for you than if you'd grown up with no exposure to the Gospel.

To the one who is given much, much is required. The one who didn't know his master's will and didn't do it is beaten with a few stripes. The one who knew his master's will and didn't do it is beaten with a few stripes. The one who knew his master's will and didn't do it is beaten with many stripes. This is the teaching of Scripture.

If you don't repent and believe, it's worse for you than if you had never heard the Gospel once. It's a blessing to grow up in a Christian home. There's an accountability that comes with it. 3. Who is the greatest preacher of all time?

Whitfield? No. Paul? No. Jesus?

Yes. Was he universally heard and understood? Not on your life. You'd think he was a bad preacher from the reception he gets in John chapter 8. You would think he was a bad preacher from the reception he gets in John chapter 8.

You would think he was a defective teacher from the reception that he is getting. What does this prove? The opposition is spiritual, not rational. The opposition to the Gospel is spiritual, not rational. It is a matter of spiritual parentage.

We are of God, but the whole world is under the sway of the wicked one. This means something for our attempts to do the work that God has given us to do to share the Gospel. It means that we are utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit. We shouldn't be discouraged when we are rejected. Jesus was the greatest preacher of all time and he was rejected a lot.

The problem wasn't defects in his teaching. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive to remove the defects from our teaching, which I know we have. I'm just saying, if we removed all the defects, we would still be rejected in a lot of places, because the problem is not rational, it's spiritual. It's spiritual parentage. Worldlings are sons of the devil.

God, thank you for your word. I pray that you would press these truths on our hearts. Oh, I pray that we would love your son Jesus in sincerity. Thank you for His grace, in Jesus' name, Amen.