But before we read that specific passage from the book of John, I would like to remind you that in this church building, I've already preached on John 8:31-41. And that's under the heading, the children of Abraham. And on that particular day, we looked into the meaning of who really are the descendants, the true descendants of Abraham. But this specific text lies within the context of John 8, and we just need to look at that before we come to the conclusion that we had on that day, and then look at what Jesus said about the children of the devil. So brothers and sisters, you will see the heading, the first heading for our scripture reading this morning, the children of Abraham.
We will look at that conclusion, and then we will continue on to the children of the devil because Jesus did not leave it there when He pointed out that they who said that they are the descendants of Abraham, really weren't the true descendants of Abraham. And then Jesus took the next step and He called them the leaders of the Jews. He called them children of the devil, which is a harsh word. And if we don't understand the context in which Jesus said this, it will leave us with a number of problems in understanding the eighth chapter in the book of John. Now, if you've got a start a study Bible like me of the NIV version, you will see that John 8 doesn't have a heading.
The interesting thing is, the last verse of John 7 and the first verse of John 8 were originally not in the Bible. So the heading here in my study Bible correctly reads like this, the earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53 to John 8:11. The original manuscripts of the earliest times and many ancient witnesses did not have this passage. This passage is about the woman who committed adultery, and that's where John 8 starts. And we have to understand this, there is a sinful woman brought to Jesus, and the spiritual leaders wants to see how Jesus interprets the law.
Because according to the 10 commandments, if you commit adultery, according to the law, you have to be stoned to death. There were channels that they could use to actually stone that woman to death, but they chose not to. And the setting before we even come to where Jesus calls these people children of the devil starts with the story of the woman who committed adultery. And it was placed specifically in the beginning of John 8, this passage that was originally left out and the reason for why it was originally left out is because people were ashamed of the story. Because this woman committed adultery and these people who found her brought it to Jesus.
She wasn't brought through the normal channels. And the reason for that is that these Jewish leaders wanted to test Jesus. They had nothing. Nothing happening around the women. Their intention was to get Jesus and to corner Him into saying the wrong thing and misinterpreting the law, so that they could have evidence against Jesus.
And they figured they had Him where they wanted Him. Because if He says have grace on this woman, He's not keeping the 10 commandments. Because the 10 commandments read, you shall not commit adultery. On the other hand, if He were to say stone her to death, He would lose everything that He preached about. Everything, every word of love that He was busy preaching to the people would be nullified and they thought we have Jesus where we want Him.
There is no way out. And then Jesus bowed down in that passage and I for one believe that He prayed in that moment to His father for wisdom and when He stood up, He didn't answer straight away like He usually does. He bowed down and He sat and He prayed and He stood up and He said, and He answered them with their own law, with their own Jewish law. He said, let the first one who does not have sin pick up a stone and throw this woman with that stone. And He knew everybody there, and He knew their sin.
So this passage in the beginning of the book of John is placed here so that we can understand that Jesus is dealing on the topic of sin, and He dealt with the sin of this woman. He gave her His grace, but He also said, go and sin no more. He dealt with the sin and He's given forgiveness to the sinner and He's taught us a valuable lesson on why we have the 10 commandments. This is what He's trying to explain now to the Jewish leaders, to the Pharisees. Let us read.
The Pharisees, the Jews, the leaders, the spiritual people, the descendants of Abraham because physically, they were the descendants of Abraham. And we read from verse 31, the children of Abraham. To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, if you hold to My teaching and you are really My disciples, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. A really important verse in John 8. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
They answered Him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free? Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now Jesus explains how sin works. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.
So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet, you are ready to kill Me because you have no room for My word. I am telling you what I have seen in the father's presence and you do what you have heard from your father. Abraham is our father, they answered.
If you were Abraham's children, Jesus said, then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does. We are not illegitimate children, they protested.
The only father we have is God Himself. So they didn't want to hear anything of what Jesus wanted to tell them in this setting about their own sin. They were quick to point out the sin of this woman who committed adultery, but their own sin they kept hidden from Jesus or so they thought. And that's why Jesus didn't leave it there. Verse 42, under the heading, the children of the devil, Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love Me.
For I came from God and now I'm here. I have not come on my own, but He sent Me. And here starts our text verse. Why is My language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Can anyone of you prove Me guilty of sin?
Jesus comes back to the topic of sin. I am telling you the truth. Why don't you believe Me? And then our text verse 47. He who belongs to God, hears what God says.
The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God. That is our text. So when we ask the question and the theme for our sermon this morning, it is why don't we hear God's voice anymore? Jesus does not beat around the bush. The straight answer is this, he who belongs to God hears what God says.
The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God, full stop. How is your relationship with God? That's Jesus' question. If you say, I find it so hard. I struggle in my prayer life.
I don't know whether God even speaks to me anymore. The real question underneath of that according to Jesus is, what is your relationship with God like? If you're not in relationship with God, if you don't walk with God, if you don't live a holy life like the 10 commandments suggests, you will not be in the will of God, you will not be in relationship with God, and you won't understand a word of what He is saying to you. Isn't that the truth? Only people that we trust, we believe.
Now, I want to use a little example, especially for the kids in the congregation. I'm now 46 years old, but there was a time when I was only four, and I loved it. I was that little boy that wanted to be outdoors. That little boy that loved camping. That little boy that stayed on the banks of the river.
The one that the mother couldn't get to come back in. I could catch a crab before I could walk. I was that kind of a boy. Love the outdoors, but I had a flaw just like many young boys. Boys have flaws.
My biggest flaw was called the pocket knife. I couldn't hang on to any pocket knife. If my grandma gave me a pocket knife, surely I would put it in my pocket and I will lose it. If my dad gave me another pocket knife, I would lose it. And then people around me started giving me like real cheap pocket knives.
Because they knew that he's gonna lose it. Most probably he's gonna have it until next weekend and it's gonna be gone. But I had real work for a pocket knife. I knew that I needed a pocket knife. It needed to be in my pocket.
And then as I grew up, my brother actually gave me the best pocket knife ever. After many years, he was the one, the bloke who reckoned this guy needs a Kershaw. Now a Kershaw, that's a real knife. He gave me a little pocket knife, a Kershaw. And I took that pocket knife and I put it next to my Bible in front of my bed, and I never put it in my pocket because I knew I'm gonna lose this pocket knife.
And then my uncle who knew me since I was born, uncle Philip, he came to me and he said, what are you doing? And I said, no. I've got this el cheapo in my pocket, but I've got a real knife. And he says, no. You don't have a real knife because you never use your Kershaw.
You don't have it. It's lying in front of your bed. And then he said, put it in your pocket. You won't lose it. And you know, that is the truth.
It's the same truth that Jesus referred to when He said, right in the beginning of our scripture reading, I am the truth and I am telling you the truth, but you need to believe the truth. And you start living in the truth, and you will explore, and you will find Me, and you will be in relationship with Me, and you will hear God's voice. That's Jesus' promise right in the beginning of chapter 8. I'm 46 years old. This is my cursor.
I have it. I have it in my pocket. I love it. I use it. It's a great knife.
I'm never gonna lose it because I value this pocket knife. This is the truth. The gospel according to John is the truth, and we have the truth. We have the truth with us. Don't put your Bible on the shelf.
Don't do this and put the Bible next to your bed onto your shelf because then you don't have the Bible. You've got a Bible, but you don't have the Bible in your heart. You don't carry the Bible. You carry the gospel in your heart. That's where Jesus wants it.
If you want to understand how the 10 commandments work, you have to have the love of God in your heart. Then you're a true descendant of Abraham. That's what we said on that day in that sermon. Only if you believe in Jesus, and in you if you believe that He is the Son of God, and you carry His love in your heart, you are a true descendant of Abraham. So yes, those Jews were descendants of Abraham, but in the new covenant, they've missed out because they didn't believe in the truth.
They didn't believe in Jesus Christ. Now in my spare time, I've started teaching at Christian Heritage College and first year students are more or less like young boys. They know everything. So I thought, I'm battling with this question and I've asked them this question a few weeks ago. Would you say and I'm now, you know, I'm hoping one of the young men will be bold enough to just, you know, say, man and mankind, the men and women sitting in these pews, are we good or bad?
Because now Jesus, he's dealing with spiritual leaders. He's dealing with an adulteress on the other side. He's dealing with people claiming that they're true descendants of Abraham. Are they good or bad people? Are we good or bad?
Because the whole topic of John 8 is sin. Are we sinful people or are we free? Are we good or bad? Because on the one side, think about it. If I read my Bible, I look at the fall of man and I see the role that sin plays in the lives of people, they are bad.
But on the other hand, if I read into the book of Genesis and I think about the creation, God said it was good after creating people, man and woman. We were created in the image of God, that is good. Are we good or bad? Let's ask the father because only in relationship with our heavenly father will we be able to answer that question. No first year student will be able to give you the correct answer there.
I just gave them a tip and said, please don't try and separate these two issues. They're one in the same. That's my tip for you in trying to give me a solid answer on this. Because sin works in a specific way and Jesus spoke into our lives this morning. He said that sin enslaves you.
You become a slave of sin. That's how sin works. So I've created you good, man, but there is sin out there and sin will make you a slave. The true meaning, the Greek word means imprisonment. It will imprison you.
It will put you in prison. That's how sin works. And that's what Jesus knew when that woman who came who was brought to Him who committed adultery, He knew that she was imprisoned. He knew that she was a slave of sin when she did that. And even then, He showed her His grace and He forgave her.
So in Christ, she became good. And in Christ, we become what the father meant us to be. In Christ, I become holy. In myself, I am very unholy, but in Christ, I become holy. Now in this passage and in our text verse this morning, in continuing on after understanding who the true descendants of Abraham are, Jesus calls these spiritual leaders children of the devil because He's following through on this concept of sin, sin imprisoning us, sin that actually made slaves of the leaders of the Jewish people.
Jesus also knew that. He knew that they were trapped in sin and they wanted to be free and they needed to be free and this is for you and me as well. Sitting here today, we need to be free. But you see, freedom is a concept that people don't understand either. None of us understand this because when we look at the most probably what you've said when you've heard the word, the 10 commandments earlier this morning.
Our natural way of thinking about the 10 commandments is I want to be free. I want to break free from it. I'd much rather read Matthew 22 because it sounds a whole lot easier to love God with everything that I have, and to love my neighbour as myself. That sounds a lot easier than looking at the 10 commandments, but Jesus never said that. Jesus never erased the 10 commandments.
Jesus said, this is the summary. This is the focus point. Everything I'm telling you here is to be found in the 10 commandments, and that is where the will of God is. That is where you will be free. But now Satan is lying to us.
Satan tells us that we need to say, I want to break free. Do you know, do you remember that song? I don't know whether it happened in the eighties or when, but there was that song, I want to break free. Man, it was a hit because people want to be free. People want to break free.
They want to break free from their parents. They want to break free from school. They want to break free from their marriages. They want to break free. They want to be free.
They want to be me. They want to be their own man. They want to be themselves, but that is a lie. And that's what Jesus is saying in this passage. If you believe Satan, he's lying to you.
He's a liar and he's lying to you in saying that you will be free if you take yourself out from under the 10 commandments, you won't be free. Sin will trap you and will imprison you and you will become a slave of the sin that you are committing. It's not easy. I wish Jesus was here. I honestly wish that He could explain this to us because we are so close to the truth, but none of us have the truth.
And then in saying that, realised, but Jesus said, I will leave you with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will live in you so that you can be in this relationship with your father and so that you can hear His voice. Now you'll have to hang on or you'll have to get me back to preach on John 14, but I just want to read two verses. The book of John, the book of John is the complete gospel and everything that Jesus had in His mind is in the book of John. John 14:16-17 reads like this, and I, John 14:16, and I will ask the father and He will give you another counsellor to be with you forever. And listen to this word, He calls the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth.
Right in the beginning in John 8, He said, I am the truth. Now He calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you who know Him, for He lives within you, and will be in you. You know the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit lives in you.
And with the Holy Spirit in us, we are in that relationship and that's what Jesus is all about. It's helping us understand to be living a holy life is to have Jesus Christ in your heart through the Holy Spirit and then our realities will change. Many young people have tried to break free from their parents. Many young people have declared, I am now moving out. I just can't take it anymore with your laws and the ways that you've set up this house.
And they move out, and they go do life, and they take responsibility for their own lives. But may I ask you, who do they call? Who do they call when life happens to them and they're in real trouble? I was with one of my mates yesterday, and he took his dad's ute without him knowing it.
It's a really nice, lovely, new ute. And in this nice weather, he made an accident and he's at fault. Who did he call first? His dad. There's no better person to call than your dad.
Straight to dad. Not through mom now or not trying to hide it or not trying to fix it or not because the problem is just gonna get bigger. I said, I need to speak to my dad now straight away. I've worked with many young people who's let go of their parents, and at a point in their lives, they go, I miss them. I wanna get back with them.
Why? Because love conquers all, and because love is bigger than anything else. And what we've seen with the work of Jesus in John 8 by forgiving that woman and judging the sin, He's allowed her back into a relationship with God. He's allowed her back into that relationship. And brothers and sisters, this is John 8, helping us to understand that if we're not in relationship with the father, then we are believing a lie, and then we are living a lie, and then we are children of Satan.
If we believe that we need to break free from the 10 commandments, we are missing the point according to Jesus Christ Himself. The 10 commandments show us the way to a holy living and yes, no one of us would be perfect enough to keep the 10 commandments. But luckily, we are the true descendants of Abraham because the new covenant is our part. Because in Jesus Christ, I came and covenant means that God started a relationship with me. I am in a God relationship and it's not up to me to make this relationship work.
It is God who takes the initiative in my life, and I'm in a God relationship. I'm in a new covenant. The new covenant God is in relationship with me, and therefore, I'm free. I'm free from sin. I am not free from the 10 commandments.
I am not imprisoned by sin. Yes. I do have sin in my life and you have sin in your life and if you have to answer that question on whether or not you're good or bad on your own, you unfortunately have to tick the box on bad. But in Jesus Christ, you are freed from sin and that's what He wants us to understand. And in those moments, we can look and wish and pray for the second coming of our Lord.
We can move into Easter in saying, Lord Jesus, we are looking forward to the day that You will be returning to us, and we can celebrate Easter this year by knowing that the work that Jesus has done on the cross and His resurrection and Him ascending to heaven are all promises like the promises we've read. And He wants us to be in a true relationship with His father. He's given us that so that we can live a holy life as the true descendants of Abraham. Actually, are descendants in Jesus and no longer more of Abraham. We are descendants, children of God in Christ.
And then I just want to read one more verse in the Bible because Jesus asked this one important question. After He's explained this whole passage, He comes to this last question. In asking the spiritual leaders the most important question in verse 46 to help us to understand our text. Can any of you prove Me guilty of sin? It's what Jesus asks.
And He asks that for a very specific reason. The obvious answer is no. He is the only one that has walked on this earth in all time of the history of the earth. The only one without sin and therefore, His offer, His death on the cross was the perfect offer. He who had no sin died for the sin of you and me, and now we belong to God.
And then He says, he who belongs to God hears what God says. He who belongs to God, hears what God says. Brothers and sisters, there was an uncle who still plays an important part of my life, a mentor, a second father, a figure, someone who loved me since I was catching crabs and dirty in mud. He, one time in my life, he spoke a truth in my life. He said, put this knife in your pocket and you will never lose it because I can see you value this knife.
That's the truth. He spoke the truth that day. It was no different. Said in other words, it was more the truth. It was perfectly the truth when Jesus said, I am the truth and I will tell you the truth.
And the truth is that sin will enslave you. It will imprison you. Don't try to break free from the 10 commandments. You are freed in Me, in Christ. Start living holy lives in relationship with our father.
You are now My brother. That's what Jesus said. And you know, my brother passed away when he was 34 and I now have a brother in Jesus Christ. It doesn't get any deeper than that. He makes us His brother, and I value a brother.
I don't know about you, but I do. Jesus Christ is our brother. It's His relationship with us. Amen.