Father of the Devil
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Todays verses are really about ....
Where do you anchor your identity?
Do you fully put your “WHO YOU ARE”
in Christ Jesus?
or do you struggle with your identity
Are you Christian
before
Republican
Democratic
White, Hispanic, Black or your race
are you a Dad before a Husband
or a Mother before a Wife
are you a child of the World or a Child of God
This is the challenge in these verses we have been studying
Last Week we discussed being a True Believer Genuine and focused on Christ alone
This week is expanded as part of the same interaction at the Festival of Booths
and next week our message is on God, I Am
We are re entering a narrative of some new Believers starting to slide away.
The flame was lit and now it is beginning to waiver, and unfortunately it is getting help from satan
Lets open our Bibles and read along
Jesus has called out the new believers who are drifting
He makes the statement
John 8:31–32 (ESV)
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
in verse 38 --- Jesus calls them out concerning who they call there father.
John 8:39–47 (ESV)
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,
40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
All this discussion on fatherhood raises two questions.
Who is the father? and the concept of Spiritual Children.
First -I want to look at the growth cycle of Christians
SPIRITUAL CHILDREN
SPIRITUAL CHILDREN
Warren Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Chapter 8)
The Bible speaks of four different kinds of “spiritual children.”
We are born by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3);
Born with the ability and desire to sin
Born under the curse of Adam
God covers the little ones until......
When we reach the age of accountability and deliberately sin, we become children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2).
When we put faith in Christ, we become the children of God (John 1:12).
But the person who finally rejects the Savior and prefers self-righteousness (the devil’s substitute) becomes a child of the devil.
(See Matt. 13:24–30, 36–43, where the children of the devil are portrayed as counterfeit Christians.)
It is important to understand that most of our friends are over the age of accountability and living in disobedience.
Living by their terms and not living in Christ
But the FORK in the Road of Life is only two ways
Life or Death
Child of God or Child of satan
Jesus pointed out the characteristics
of the children of the devil:
A. They will not give place to the Word of God (v. 37).
B. They trust in the flesh—human birth, works (v. 39).
C. They hate Christ and seek to kill Him (vv. 40, 44).
Satan is a murderer and his children imitate him.
D. They do not love Christ or the things of Christ (v. 42).
E. They do not understand the Word—blinded by Satan (v. 43).
F. They are liars and love lies more than the truth (v. 44).
G. They will not hear the Word of God; they hate it (v. 47).
Remember, these “children of the devil” were not grossly immoral people;
they were self-righteous religious people who rejected Christ.
Many people today are deluded by Satan into an outward form of godliness
that lacks the power of the Gospel,
but these people think they are truly saved and going to heaven.
People leaning on their truth and NOT the TRUTH
They don’t know Jesus (the Truth) and are not FREE
keep that in mind
Find your heart for these people then and now.
There is a battle for our mindset, for your heart, and for your conduct.
Can you imagine with me
You decide you need a change in your life.
You buy a ticket for a bus trip to go to San Diego
you ask the vendor which bus and random people along the way and the direct you to the bus to your destination.
you get on the bus and simply sit in your seat and go to sleep
You wake up hours later and all you see is mountains and snow.
You say nothing as you have never been to San Diego and know that it is Paradise, but you don’t know the scenery along the way
You decide not to ask any question you simply got the ticket, got on the bus and then sat down
YOU are on the BUS RIGHT. now let the process play out. right?
You simply sit down and listen, not really seeking change that will come at the end of the journey right?
So you simply go back to sleep knowing you bought a ticket to San Diego and others told you what bus to take.
Imagine at the end of the line you are awoken, and realize that the bus door is wide open and you are freezing.
your shorts and hoodie for San Diego weather appear to be inadequate.
through the frost bus window all you see is snow and you feel the cold.
You realize that you have been on the wrong bus, to the wrong location
NOW WHAT?
Is this not the question and the confusion in our message today?
I bought the right ticket
I ask others around me
i got on the bus that they told me
Yet i never verified
and 12 ft from one bus to the other changed my situation
You bought the ticket but got on the wrong bus and headed in the wrong direction.
Do you start to blame others, lean on your past,
OR DO YOU SEEK TO HEAR ABOUT THE FUTURE
CHANGE YOUR LORDSHIP TO CHRIST or STAY IN THE WORLD YOU WISHED TO LEAVE
THE TRUTH is what Jesus is teaching.
JESUS is REBUKING the DRIFTING BELIEVERS
Warning them --- there are having an identity crisis
Friends always a reminder that you are
NEVER TOO LOST, NEVER TO FAR AWAY
NOW Grace allows you to buy the right ticket and get to where you should be going.
Patience allows for you to know that you made a bad choice and you have the ability to correct it
and wisdom was learned to check and verify and not blindly trust others.
I don’t know if you feel the same way
but instead of judging the Pharisees and the people around Jesus.
it makes me sad for them
and it motivates me to understand the practicality of our world today.
These Jews that professed Belief are now having a CRISIS of Faith
Many people haven’t decide to buy the ticket.
Many more have purchased the ticket, but got on the wrong bus following BAD ADVICE.
This is why we must FOCUS on JESUS. HE IS THE ONLY TRUTH THAT MATTERS
Man will get you SIDEWAYS, JESUS WILL SET YOU STRAIGHT.
and many are asleep in the vehicle not learning, or verifying.
Some times we need to look for the clueless, the lost and the misdirected.
We are to give a wake up call
to those on the WRONG BUS.
We need to GO, and Make disciples
teaching them in the way of righteousness.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
What should we do?
First we GO
and to clarify it is really AS WE GO?
meaning LOOK AROUND!
Second we ASSESS
Third we ANSWER
Fatherhood
Fatherhood
Who is your Daddy?
WHo is ABBA FATHER to you?
These verses are not about a earthly father at all
it is truly a wake up CALL
Who is your leader --- Who is your focus ---Who is the Life you Follow, who is the Bread you eat?
At the fork in the road of life will you chose Jesus?
and as you journey down the road
will you remain steadfast
will you abide in CHRIST or satan
Good or bad?
Righteousness or evil
Jesus or the world?
41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”
Big surprise.
Jesus is seeking to help, to explain, to teach
and the Jews attack his character
They know the birth story of Jesus
remember the Nazareth and Bethlehem issue??
Now they are going deeper in the attack
they are referring to Jesus born out of wedlock
Jesus gets personally attacked
good lesson here.
i want you to feel Jesus in his response
feel the patience, the firmness to truth,
truth in love
John 8:42–44 (ESV)
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here.
I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Conduct Reveals Character
Conduct Reveals Character
Friends
Who is your father?
Who are you following?
Our Daily conduct displays our Character
and our Character must be in Christ
our Identity must first be
CHRISTIAN
our identity must be
a Followers of Christ way
and His way alone
The covering of Grace forgives our mistakes
but the Christian will fight to stay on the Path,
the way that Christ has lined for us.
When our Identity is focused on Christ
our Conduct our daily thoughts and actions come from our Character
Jesus is making I AM statements
and
maybe we need to make a few of them daily.
I AM A CHRISTIAN FIRST AND ABOVE ALL THINGS
I AM A CHILD OF GOD
Let us close in prayer from these verses
Jesus
you are our Father
you and the Father are one
Thank you for your grace
Thank you for your directions,
for patience when we got on the wrong bus
for kindness when we simply slept through the journey instead of being engaged and paying attention to your voice
Jesus we all sin, but we are NOT a SLAVE to that SIN
YOU SET US FREE
the Son of God has set us Free, and we are Free indeed
THANK YOU for being the TRUTH
The TRUTH which is our Foundation on Which to Stand.
Amen.
We look forward to celebrating The BIRTH OF CHRIST
In my basic understanding of Spanish
the word MAS means MORE
Lets embrace CHRIST MORE
Lets celebrate CHRIST MAS