John 8.32
MILK
March 16th 2014
Welcome.
Our prayer this morning will be offered by ________________ and our Sermonette by _____________________.
If you haven’t been here before we tape the sermons and actually broadcast them live over the internet through You Tube.
Additionally, we sing the word of God set to music and then afterward sit for a few minutes in silent reflection.
Afterward we will come back and pick up our verse by verse study of John chapter 8 beginning at verse 21.
Prayer
Sermonette?
Silence?
Okay, we left off last week with Jesus (in verse 21 chapter 8) saying to the Pharisees and scribes gathered in the temple to accuse Him . . .
“I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.”
We talked about this (verse 22)
22 Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.
23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
25 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.
26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
27 They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
In my Bible I wrote this above chapter 8:
Perhaps the most insightful words Jesus could have with the Nation He came to save.
I wrote this because of the depth of the material He presents, and the almost visceral reaction they have to it in the end.
The chapter has presented and continues to present heavy stuff.
We’ve had the woman taken in adultery. We’ve had Jesus proclaim that He is the light of the world.
And in the passages we are going to study today He repeatedly established the fact that “He was sent from God and or heaven” – which brings to them and us the implication that He came forth from God, out of God, and is God.
So Jesus said in verse 21
“I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
(verse 22)
22 Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.
We can’t really tell if this was a serious question the leaders asked among themselves or if it was mockery.
To me – and in my failing estimation – they were quite critical of Him and so the thinking was aimed at bringing shame and distain on His person any time they could. So their comment was like saying:
“Look at this deceiver – this liar. He has broken the law of Moses, He is obviously crazy, so now after getting all sorts of followers He is going to go off and kill himself.”
Let’s talk about suicide for a minute.
Okay. Whatever the stance with suicide, the Lord doesn’t appear to address the query that He was going to take His own life. Instead He delivers one of the best lines against the idea that human beings came from a pre-mortal existent state, saying (verse 23)
23 “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”
The first comparative:
“You are from beneath, I am from above.”
From this line we have a number of applications.
First, they were wanting to take Him and kill Him – they were carnally driven, of the more base elements, “murderers from the beginning if your will,” and such desires were not then or now of God who reigns above from the light. So from a moral sense, they were from beneath in their intentions. He was not.
James says the following in James 3:14-17:
James 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Talking with this crowd Jesus discerned earthly wisdom which is full of envying and strife.
Within Him however was “the wisdom from above,” which is first
“pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
Then we could look at the statement literally. As mentioned, Jesus will on a number of occasions here refer to Himself as “being sent.”
Sent from where? “From above,” “from the Father,” “from heaven.”
In John 3:31 we’ve read:
“He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.”
If something came from God it would be and act and do what God would do – earthly things are earthly, heavenly things heavenly.
Jesus plainly and clearly differentiates between the two.
So far here in John Jesus has clearly explained that He was the bread of life sent from heaven, living water, and John has told us that in the beginning the Word was with God, the Word was God, and the Word became flesh.
From heaven.
In fact in a few verse Jesus actually says:
(John 8:42) “If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.”
It can be hard on the ego to not believe we originated from anywhere but the dust of the earth, animated by the living breath of God – but it’s so.
Only one who has ever walked this earth or who ever will originated from heaven – the Savior.
This being said, and as a final point, there is one way (and one way alone) that believers can honestly say that they come from heaven.
When Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3 that he “must be born again” the better translation is, “born from above.”
He came from above so we could be born from above – and after this life make our home heaven where He came from.
In his epistle, John the Beloved writes to believers. And he compares those who are of this world (or those who have not been born from above) to those who are and says:
1st John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
The beautiful and challenging thing about being human and being born from above is we have the light pouring in, the Spirit present, but our flesh won’t really let it shine and flow all the time or completely.
But as we let the flesh die and take a back seat to the spirit, we find ourselves seeing and thinking and speaking and acting like “we came from above too.”
Wild.
Jesus continues, saying in conjunction with His coming from above and them from beneath:
24 “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
You have probably already taken notice that the “he” here in the King James, which follows the “I am” is missing in the original manuscripts.
So we would read verse 24 like this:
24 “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.”
This name, I am, is sacred to the Jews. It’s a shame the King James writers add “he” here to make it make sense to the modern reader, but it shouldn’t be here and without it here we get a much clearer insight to what Jesus is saying.
In fact, it is this name, “I am,” that Jesus will appeal to again at the end of the chapter that gets the Jews to take up stones to kill Him on the spot.
Why the sacredness?
You are all familiar with the origins I’m sure, but when Moses was told by God to go back to Egypt and lead the COI out of bondage Moses asks God:
Exodus 3:13-14 “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
Much has been said about this name or title or description and in the end, I think God used it because there was really no other way to describe Himself to a human being.
The Latin Vulgate translates the name “EGO SUM QUI SUM,” – I am who am.
I think that touches on the meaning but still fails.
The Septuagint, the greek translation of the Old Testament has it as, “I am He who exists.” Meaning I have not been created but self-exist.
Getting closer.
The Arabic paraphrases the words to say, “The Eternal, who passes not away,” and the Jerusalem Targum paraphrases the words saying:
“He who spake, and the world was; who spake, and all things existed.”
One of the best definitions of the words, in my opinion, say that God is saying to Moses (and Jesus is saying here):
“I am what I will be outside of your definitions. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I am from before the beginning, I am uncreated, self-existent, I am Light, I am Love, I am Spirit, I am Fire. You wanna know my name? I can not be defined, therefore, I AM.
(verse 25)
25 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.
To me, it seems like when Jesus says here for the first time, “If you do not believe that I am you will die in your sins,” that it was so unheard of, so out there, that they really didn’t believe their ears.
I would suggest this is why they responded by saying:
“Who art thou? . . . “who do you say you are?”
Again, He will come back to this claim later in this setting to confirm to them they heard Him right. But at this point it seems the shock overwhelmed the actual words.
After asking Him who He was saying He was, Jesus adds:
“Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.”
What did He say to them at the beginning? Do you recall? He said:
“I am the light of the world.”
He said that “He was sent by the Father.”
He said that “if they had known Him they would have also known the Father.”
(In verse 26 Jesus continues, saying)
26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
He seems to say this to show that as the Light of the World, sent by the Father, that He knew their character of pride and hypocrisy, and that there were many things He could say in judgment of them.
Or, I other words, it’s like He is saying:
“I have a lot of things I could say to blame or condemn you. In fact I have already said a number of them but I speak only those things which God has commanded me to say because I don’t speak of myself but say and do only what He commissions. And His commissions (which I carry out) are good.
John adds in verse 27:
27 They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
Remembering that they were wanting to take Him earlier, have Him killed or to kill Him, Jesus says something that alludes to His death in verse 28:
“When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am . . .” (Again, the “He” is not in the original mss. – so again . . .)
“When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
“When ye have had me crucified me then shall ye know that I am.”
Wow. How? What would happen? And when He was crucified did they know that He is the I Am?
I don’t think we can say that the moment He was lifted up on the cross they knew He is the I Am . . . and I don’t think He was saying this.
I think we might read these words this way:
“When ye have crucified me, and you have filled up the measure of your iniquities, you will come to know that I am the Christ by the signs that will follow.
What signs?
Some will know the moment He dies.
Some would know when the tomb was empty.
Some would know when the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost.
And some would know by the judgments that would follow upon Jerusalem.
In the end, all will know, and every knee will bow and every tongue confess.
John records Jesus saying something interesting in chapter 12 relative to His being lifted up.
He says:
(John 12:32) “And I, if (or when) I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all unto me.”
So in a universal sense, I think Jesus was not only talking about the Jews listening to Him there in the temple, but was literally saying to the whole human race:
When the Son of Man is lifted up (because the Son of Man is lifted up) you will all know that I am.
Something to consider.
He reminds them that He does nothing of Himself and then adds:
“And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.”
The Father who sent me is with me – look at the miracles – He has NOT left me alone – why? Because, Jesus says (or for):
“for I do always those things that please him.”
Remember, with the COI God’s continuing abidance was conditional. Jesus, coming to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, unconditionally obeyed the Father, and so He says confidently that the Father is always with Him “for I do always those things that please the Father.”
Because of this, we, through faith on Him and His finished work, have access to the God where He was not completely accessible before.
So in addition to the sacrifice of Himself for the sins of the world, we have the fact that He lived obediently to the total will of the Father.
This is why God says at His baptism:
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Why Paul wrote in Philippians 2:8
“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
This is why 2nd Peter 1:17 says
“For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Its why on the Mount of Transfiguration Matthew reports:
“While he (Peter) yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
Having identified Himself twice now as the I Am . . . having been testifying of His identity and purpose we are brought to the outcome that sometimes occurs when
Truth is spoken. Ready?
30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
It is a fascinating phenomenon that then presented truth some are hardened against it and others are softened.
Sort of like the sun shining on certain substances – sometimes the substances are warmed and softened and sometimes they are hardened.
What we do know is while the Pharisees continued to reject His message there were some present who believed.
This is the first step toward life eternal, and being born from above – believing.
Now, we make a huge deal on believing on Him in the church today.
I would have to add that the reasons are obvious – it is belief on Him that takes us from death to eternal life.
But belief alone does not set us free nor give believers the freedom in Christ available to all.
When someone truly believes unto salvation, they have taken the leap of faith, trusted God and His promises and word over all the other promises of Man, and placed faith in Him who was sent.
But there are a few key elements to remember about this belief.
First, I think it is important to remember the words Jesus Himself uses here on the Jews:
“If you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sin.”
So while belief is vital, it has to be belief upon truth. And perhaps one of the best ways to know if our belief is properly placed we have to ask ourselves:
“Do I believe that Jesus is the I AM.”
And then yes, while we do preach the Gospel and the good news and Jesus as a means to help people come to the point where they believe on Him we must also be honest and note that this belief, this nascent faith in “Him and His life and word and resurrection” is not the end-all to the Christian walk.
Listen to the next verse:
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, (so they believed on Him, presumably, when we look at the context of His words, they believed on Him as the I AM, ) then Jesus says to them who believed on Him:
“If . . . ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.”
What’s another way to put this?
Belief is sufficient to salvation. In fact there is no other way to receive it. But there is more to salvation that being saved from hell, the lake of fire and the second death.
In other words, once we have believed, Jesus would lay out for each of us the following four items. READY.
1 “If . . . you continue in my word . . .
2. Then you are my disciples in deed . . .
3. And you shall know the Truth . . . (and finally)
4. And the Truth shall make you free.
We preach and teach and speak of believing, and it is vital. But there is SO . . . MUCH . . . MORE . . . and there is so much more because God wants so much more for those who are His.
There isn’t so much more because we have to earn our way, or maintain our way, or make sure we are accepted.
All of this happened when we believed.
But God being love desires something so profound, so out there it almost seems impossible for us humans to comprehend it.
He wants His children to be . . . free.
The moment we believe there is a freedom we experience.
We are often freed from the guilt and shame of sin and freed from the fear of death most thinking human beings bear with them.
But we are certainly not emancipated from everything that holds us bound, are we?
We remain bound, tied up by the master of puppets and if those bindings are not obvious they are certainly present, whether manifesting in the flesh, the mind, the soul, prejudice, or an assortment of other facets in modern living.
So believing, while wonderful is not the end all of the Christian walk. This point caused James (2:19) to write:
“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
So Jesus, being sent from the Father and saying nothing on His own, gives us a plain and wonderful four step approach (if you will) to ultimate and total freedom, saying:
1. “If . . . you continue in my word . . .
2. Then you are my disciples in deed . . .
3. And you shall know the Truth . . .
4. And the Truth shall make you free.
Let’s wrap the morning up with a summary of each of these lines of advice.
Then said Jesus to those who believed on Him, IF . . .
Because of this condition I am of the opinion a “few,” “some,” “many” or possibly even “most” who have believed on Him DO NOT . . . continue in His Word.
What does it mean to continue in His Word?
Because the Greek term for Word here is logos, it means more than just continuing in His Spoken Word, but it certainly includes it.
If we continue in the things He has said and taught, His thoughts, His topics, His reasoning, on His account, in His cause, within His communications, His doctrine, and purposes, intentions, ideas, notions, and work . . . if, you who have believed, continue in these things that have come from me and will continue to pour from me
THEN . . .
If/Then . . . cause and effect.
“If you do this, then that will happen.”
“IF” you continue to abide in the vine, soaking up my Word, “THEN” you are my disciples in DEED.
Another way Jesus puts this in a number of places is “IF you love, you are my disciples, as His word could probably be summarized in this one term.
If you continue in my word then you love me indeed, you truly follow me, you are my disciples indeed.
In John 14:21 Jesus says:
“He that hath my commandments and keepeth them is He that loveth me.”
That word commandment is His Word.
I would suggest that Jesus is telling them not to place too much emphasis on feeling. He said to those who believed (they were feeling it with Him, they agreed with Him) IF you (now) continue in my Word you are my disciples in deed.”
You’re not just a speaker of the word but a doer of the word.
Certainly those who were standing there believed and had experienced a conversion at some level or another.
But time would test their faith. Here Jesus assures them that for their belief to stand the tests of faith they needed to “continue in His commands and words,” and in so doing, they would truly be His disciples (they would be His disciples “in deed” the King James says.
That word for indeed is alethos – its where we get our ministry name Alathea and it means truth – If you continue in my word you will truly be my disciples.
Now, there are some frightening places in scripture where we are given scenarios where those who have said they were His disciples are exposed.
Matthew seven gives us a couple back to back teachings that support each other in this vain.
Hang with me: In Matthew 7: 21 Jesus says:
21 Not every one that saith unto me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Listen to what he says hereafter (verse 24)
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, (“ in other words, “whomever continues in my word”) I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not (again, the implication is He has been heard and believed) shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Ultimately, and to rephrase . . .
If you continue in my commands to love, you are my disiples truly, (LISTEN – last verse)
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
This verse brings us to an amazing . . . (I don’t know how to say it) . . . and interesting biblical truth Jesus brought to the world.
We first believe.
If we continue in his word
We are truly TRULY His disciples
And (as true disciples . . . because we have continued in His word) we will know “the Truth” and “the Truth” will set us free.
What is this Truth we can know that will set us free?
There is ONE answer manifested in a couple of ways.
First, in John 14 Thomas says to Jesus:
“Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?”
And Jesus says to Thomas the all familiar line:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
So in the first sense, as believers we continue in His word (which is to love) then we become His disciples in deed (disciples of the Truth) and we will know Him (the truth) and knowing Him (as the truth) we are set free.
In the second sense, God is love and Jesus is God so Jesus is love. To know Jesus (as the Truth) is to know Love.
Therefore, as His disciples we know Love, and Love sets us free.
The thing is to Know Jesus is to Know love, and to know true agape love is to know Jesus . . . and in and through this knowing of love, we are truly set free.
We don’t have enough time to really break this down – we need to do one of those popular five part sermons (and then sell a DVD package – just kidding).
No, the bottom line is agape love brings liberty. Nothing else will truly set us free.
It’s obvious if we allow ourselves to think about it.
Someone said to NOT forgive is like drinking poison . . . and then expecting the world to die.
To forgive – in every case – is to love. And to truly set ourselves free.
SO while we might admit that love is the solution to everything what we often miss is God wants us to love so His children will be free.
Liberty in Christ.
Freedom in Christ.
Final but VERY important point –
In order to teach us to love, and how to love, and when to love, and exactly how far LOVE is supposed to be taken in the human experience, He first . . . loved us.
And saved us WITHOUT PRICE!
And in the process replaced the LAW (which brings wrath and all sorts of non-loving responses) with grace.
I think we can say Jesus words in another way and be right in doing so:
If you continue to love instead of living by the Law . . .
You will know me, and in knowing me – how to live a life of love, you will be set free.
If you have trouble with others.
If you are bogged down in prejudice, past hurts unforgiven, feelings of betrayal, resentment, bitterness, etc. etc., drop the law . . . and replace it with grace filled love.
Got it?
Questions
Prayer
Added scripture . . .
Romans 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
James 1:25
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
