The Fatherhood of Satan and the Brotherhood of Man

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[Message] John chapter 8, verse 37 through verse 47 is the Scripture reading this morning. So if you have your Bibles turn with me there. And listen as we read over these verses that are the subject of the message this morning. For those of you who have been attending right along regularly, of course, you know that this section of the Gospel of John contains ministry that the Lord delivered on his visit to Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. And in this particular section of it he evidently is in the temple carrying on conversation with the Jews and perhaps some others that were gathered there as well. There seemed to be several groups present. In the midst of his ministry with them he had said in verse 33 of the 8th chapter, “They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” And the Lord Jesus had concluded in response in verse 36 by saying, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” And he continues at verse 37.

“I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. (Or as one of the versions renders it, “You have no room for my word. Another version renders it, “My word makes no headway among you.) I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. (That’s a figure of speech called litotes, and it means to affirm something by denying the opposite. Of course, not only did Abraham not do this, but he did the precise opposite of that.) Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God (Or I came from God and am now here, as the New International Version renders it.); neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. (That’s an interesting statement, and of course the sense of it depends on the distinction between speech and word, one having to do with his discourse, somewhat like the form of his speaking, and the other something like the content of it. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word.) Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. (Now probably we are to render that “abode not in the truth” as “does not stand in the truth,” because of the present tenses that follow. “Because there is no truth in him.”) When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”

May the Lord bless this reading of his word. Let’s bow together in a moment of prayer.

[Message] This morning in the exposition of the Gospel of John is “The Fatherhood of Satan and the Brotherhood of Man.” When I first became a Christian one of the characteristic phrases or two of religious people was the phrase, “The universal Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man.” I occasionally still see that expression, ‘The Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man.” That probably is still the prevailing view of people who think about spiritual things. That there is a universal Fatherhood of God, and there is a universal brotherhood of man. There is a sense, probably, in which that is a just expression. Because we do read in, for example, the Book of Acts, chapter 17 and verse 26 in one of the statements that Paul made in his sermon on Mars Hill, “And hath made of one all nations of men, for to dwell on the face of the earth.” That would seem to suggest that there is a universal Fatherhood of God, since we are all made of one.

And then there are other expressions that might indicate that there is some truth to that. But the Fatherhood of God by creation is a great deal different than the Fatherhood of God by redemption. The apostle also makes a statement in Galatians chapter and verse 26 which bears on this subject. There you’ll remember he said, “For ye are all the sons of God.” We might stop there and not finish the verse, and then we would affirm the universal Fatherhood of God. But the apostle says, “Ye are all the sons of God by faith in Jesus Christ.” So we need to distinguish the Fatherhood of God by creation and the Fatherhood of God by redemption. And when we speak of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, those who make that statement, as a rule, do not make that important, decisive distinction. Men may have a Fatherhood of God by creation, but the apostle very, very carefully and definitely limits the Fatherhood of God in redemption to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And unless we make that distinction, it is wrong for us to say that the Bible teaches the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. It teaches the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of those who have in the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is that group of people who may truly call God their Father.

One thing that we notice about the Lord Jesus Christ’s ministry is this. He not only denies these false views, but also delivers some startling conceptions in opposition to common views. For example, here he speaks of the Fatherhood of Satan, not the Fatherhood of God. He says in verse 44 of John 8, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” So the Lord Jesus, in his ministry not only denies the Fatherhood of God, of all men in the sense that we are all saved and all related to the one God in heaven. But in fact, he makes a distinction among men. He affirms that there are some who are the sons of God, and there are others who are of their father the devil. So he not only denies the common view but delivers this startling new conception that those who not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are not only the sons of God, but rather belong to a different Father entirely. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.”

We learn from this, of course, that the Lord Jesus is not a nimbi pamby kind of individual who only says what other people would like to hear. One thing that you can say about Jesus Christ is that he was not only a man, but he was a manly man. He was the crown and glory of humanity. And scant justice has been done to this fact. Many artists have attempted to paint the portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ and he has more often been represented as womanly and weak than as manly and masculine. Now, it’s certainly true that the Lord Jesus Christ was a gentleman, but he was also a gentle man, and we should never forget that. He was a person who was truly man and truly manly man. And this fact of the gentleness of the Lord Jesus has been given an undo emphasis in many cases. And we’ve lost, unfortunately, the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was a man’s man in the true sense. I’m not trying to suggest that he would have been the middle line backer of one of our National Football League teams. I would, of course, if that were true, it would be nice to be on that team. But nevertheless we are not to think of our Lord Jesus as a muscular athlete, but at the time we are certainly not to think of him as weak an unmasculine.

After the First World War, there was a sentence in the report of the chaplains of the service that confirmed the impression. Among the British it was said that, “Average Tommy believed that Jesus was just and good, but a trifle soft.” That is surely not true. I read a story m any years ago about a young man who being presented by acclaims of Christ by a Christian worker. And when the conversation turned to the Lord Jesus Christ specifically, he was heard to say something like, “But I do not admire your Christ. He was weak and effeminate. I like a man with red blood in his veins.” The other person was wise and said, “I suppose you were told the Bible studies when you were younger.” Oh yes, I used to love the stories about the Old Testament men.” “Well, I suppose then that you liked the stories about rugged Elijah who appeared dramatically before the king of Israel and challenged the whole nation.

And I would imagine that Elijah would be one of your favorite characters. And you certainly have heard of John the Baptist. John the Baptist who wore that strange garb and went about fearlessly preaching in his day. He went about in a very unorthodox manner, but he preached orthodox theology with fearlessness. And surely I would imagine you responded well to him.” The other man, “Strangely enough you’ve lighted on my two favorite Bible characters, Elijah and John the Baptist.” Then the Christian said, “Then would it surprise you to know that when Jesus asked his disciples who men said that that he was, what they said. They said, ‘Some say that thou art Elijah, and some say that Thou art John the Baptist.’ So how can it be that he was an effeminate, weak, womanly kind of person if they got the impression that the characters of the Old Testament that best represented him were rugged Elijah and fearless John the Baptist?”

The Lord Jesus Christ contained within him not only the manliness of man but the gentleness of women. And he contained those two aspects in perfect harmony. You can certainly see that here in this passage, because he is fearless in the proclamation of the truth of God. But he is also gentle in its application. Now, he is in the context pressing home the claims that he has just made. And he’s talking now specifically with deficient believers. As we noted last time in our studies in verse 31, he’s speaking specifically to the Jews who believed on him. Or, as we said last Sunday, who believed him. That is, who had credence with reference to him, who believed that he was speaking things that might be truth, but who nevertheless so far as we can tell from the context doubtfully have placed saving faith in him.

Now, they said in verse 33, “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” So he discusses in the following verses from verse 34 through verse 36 the subject of freedom and bondage. Now he will come to discuss the point that they made in verse 33, “We be Abraham’s seed.” So he’s discussed bondage, and now he will discuss Abraham’s seed. And in verse 37 and verse 38 we have the revelation regarding the satanic relationship. Verse 37 of John 8 says, “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed, but ye seek to kill me because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and you do that which ye have seen with your father.” So he concedes the physical relationship. He says, “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed.” But he proceeds to the contradictory actions and their cause.

Now he said in verse 37, “You seek to kill me.” Is that the act of Abraham’s seed? Would Abraham have sought to kill the representative of Jehovah, the triune God? Would he have sought to slay one of the members of the trinity? Would he have sought to slay one who came on a mission from the Father in heaven? How different from the actions of Abraham. In fact the Lord Jesus will say later on in this very chapter, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. So a person who claims to be Abraham’s seed surely will not be seeking to kill the representative of the Father in heaven. “I know that you are Abraham’s seed.” It is clear that this is a reference to the physical relationship. “I know you are Abraham’s seed, but you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you.” He would have rejoiced to see me. You are anxious to slay me. Of course the reason is, “My word has no place in you.” You have no room for my word. The Greek word suggests that, “You have no room for my word.” Or as it has been rendered, “My word makes no headway among you.”

The word is an interesting word, because it is used in several figures of speech that help to explain exactly what he was talking about. It was used of the growing of a plant. “So my word does not make any headway in you.” It is also used of the flowing of water. And it was used of a man’ investment growing. So my word makes no headway in you. My word has no place in you. The investment is not growing. The plant is not growing. The water is not flowing. It is clear from this that our Lord regards them as unreceptive to the things of the word of God. That is a very solemn thing, of course, and to have the Lord Jesus say that “My word makes no headway in you” to my mind is a very, very terrible thing.

The Lord Jesus gave a parable of some soils. It’s described in passages like Mark chapter 4. He describes the sowing of the seed, and he says in the 5th verse of Mark chapter 4, “And some fell on stony ground where some had not much earth. And immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.” And then later on in the exposition of the meaning of this, in verse 16 and verse 17 Jesus Christ says to explain, “And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the word immediately receive it with gladness and have no root in themselves. And so endure but for a time, afterward when afflict or persecution ariseth for the world’s sake, immediately they are offended.” One thinks that the Lord Jesus had many responses like that, and as you look down the history of the Christian church you will find much of that too. It’s sad to see some immediate surface response to the word of God and then find that the individuals have no root in themselves at all and do not belong among those who bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty fold, some one hundred fold. So “My work makes no headway among you.”

I wonder if I may ask you a question. Is the word of God really making any headway among you? Can it be said of you, as it is said of these Jews by the Lord Jesus Christ, “My word has no place in you.” Is it fair to say that you have no room for my word? Is it possible that there is no real place in your life for the sustenance that comes from the word of God? The Lord Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” What is the extent of your appropriation of the word of God? Is the word of God your spiritual food? Is this something you find that you must have in order to make it through the day and through the week and through the month? Is the word of God your true food? “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” It seems to me from observation, I speak of myself as well as of you because I don’t want to take the position of being someone who stands up here and lectures you on your faults, but as we look around among Christians one would think that there is very little growing, vital study of the word of God in the body of Christ. The word of God is not making much headway among evangelicals. It’s not making much headway among many of whom we are acquainted. And is it making headway among me? Is it that I have no room for his word?

One would think that if we were really an individual in which the word was making headway, there would be signs of vital interest in the things of the Lord. There is no man who is interested in football who can go through a day without saying something about it. If he’s really vitally interested in a subject it will come out, whether it be interest in a person or interest in a thing, interest in his business. It will come out. But there are some believers who give no spontaneous response whatsoever to the things of the Lord as found in the word of God. It is a very sad thing.

Then the Lord says in verse 38, “I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and you do that which you have seen of your father.” Now, our Lord’s sight of the Father, to which he refers here, is of course the supernatural sight that he had from the sight of his heavenly Father. Theirs is a human knowledge. In the Lord Jesus Christ ultimately, he was the one who could say, “With Thee is the fountain of life,” speaking of his Father. “With Thee, Father, is the fountain of life, in Thy light we shall see light.” And the Lord Jesus as the perfect Son of man was one who was taught by the Father. As the days awakened, as the days began, the Lord Jesus awakened to interest in the things of the word of God. He spoke of how the Father taught him morning by morning. I would think that’s the pattern of believers. Wouldn’t it be nice if every morning you wakened upon your bed and thought of the things of the word of God and asked God to teach you and instruct you and make this day a day in which you have the word of God making headway in you?

Now the response to the Jews of this is characteristic, for these Jews here with whom he is dealing do not understand the things of the Spirit of God. They simply say to him, “Abraham is our father.” And the Lord Jesus replies, “If Abraham is your father, then those words should produce corresponding works.” If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the words of Abraham. That, it seems to me, is very strong evidence for contending that if a person has relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ he should be expected to do certain works characteristic of this. And they, he said, “If you really were Abraham’s children, then we would see the things that Abraham did, in your life.”

What did Abraham do? Well, when we think of Abraham the characteristic thing about him is that he believed God and it is reckoned to him for righteousness. If you go back in the Old Testament and read through the Old Testament and notice the references to Abraham, he was a friend of God. He believed in the Lord. He was the one to whom the Lord appeared, and to whom Abraham responded by going out and not even knowing where he was going. He was a man who believed God. That is the thing that characterizes him. And that is why we are told in the New Testament when we believe in Jesus Christ that we are sons of Abraham. We are the sons of Abraham in faith. And when we believe the things of the word of God, we belong to the company of whom Abraham is the leading representative among men. He was believing Abraham, Paul calls him in Galatians chapter 3. So if you really sons of Abraham, you will do the works of your father. May I ask you again, Paul says that believers are the children of Abraham. He does not say they are the children of Israel. He says they are the children of Abraham. And if we are the children of Abraham we should expect to see in our lives faith, belief, walking by faith. That characterized Abraham.

Furthermore, another thing characterized Abraham. When one of God’s representatives came to him as he returned from the victory described in Genesis chapter 14, when this representative of the Most High God by the name of Melchisadek came to Abraham and blessed Abraham, how did Abraham respond to the representative of God? Well he gave him tithes. In fact, it is singled out in the word of God for special emphasis in the 7th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrew. So Abraham was an individual who believed God and who also responded to the representatives of God. That has special point for the people with whom our Lord is dealing, because they not only have not believed him, but they have not responded to him as the representative of God. Instead of receiving him and welcoming him and offering to him the praise and thanksgiving that might be compared to the tithes that Abraham rendered, acknowledging his authority over them, they seek to kill him.

What else characterized Abraham? Well, he accepted those things that looked forward to the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was told to offer up Isaac his son, he obeyed. He went to Mount Moriah. He offered up ideally Isaac, and received him back by resurrection. And in the activities of Abraham we see the climax of faith in the gift of Isaac as a beautiful picture ahead of time of the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you were Abraham’s children you would do the works of Abraham. And may I say to you, if we are the children of God there will be evidence in our lives that we do do the works of God. So the Lord must say, “But now you seek to kill me,” a man that had told you the truth, which I had heard of God. This did not Abraham.” That’s the affirmation of the truth that their actions are not like Abraham. And he does it by the negative in order to emphasize the affirmative. Yes, not only did Abraham not seek to kill him, Abram rejoiced to see his day.

Well, the Jews reply again. “Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” They’re great believers in ball control. They want to keep our Lord on the defensive if they possibly can. So they say, “We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” Now possibly they are referring to the fact that after the return from the Babylonian captivity in which so many Jewish people intermarried, it was reckoned among them that if a person had married a heathen, then on one side those who were descended from them were of Satan. And they thought of them like that, and perhaps they are referring to that. They may be thinking that he’s accusing them of having some other Gentile heathen blood in their veins.” And so they say, “We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” That is, we are truly Jewish on both sides.

On the other hand, it may be a sinister accusation. “We are not born of fornication as you were born of fornication.” We don’t have any actual knowledge that they spoke of our Lord Jesus Christ as a bastard in the time that he was here. But the later rabbinic literature is filled with references to the fact that the Lord Jesus was the bastard son of Mary. And there may be some indication of that in this statement. “We be not born of fornication,” meaning simply, “We were not born like you were born.” In other words, a questionable birth. He was born of a virgin, of course, but that being supernatural and miraculous, they accused him of being born in an elicit relationship between Joseph and Mary.

Our Lord replies, “If God were your Father,” verse 42, “ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.” Now this is a fuller discussion to show that their actions reveal their antipathy to God and their sympathy to Satan. And there are three evidences for the condemnation our Lord pronounces upon them. First of all, their lack of love for him, in rejecting the sent one, that indicates that they reject the sender. “If God were your Father, you would love me for I proceeded forth and came from God.” To refuse to receive an ambassador from a land is to reject the country.

Many years ago when my son was rather young, we sent him off to Canada for camp about five summers in a row. The first time I took him myself. And then I think maybe another time I went with him, because I was speaking in the north quite frequently then. But on other occasions we entrusted him to some of our friends. And I occasionally would call some friends of mine in Toronto with whom I may have gone to school or whom I knew and just ask simply that they would meet him at the train and be sure that he was located in a place in which he would be able to catch the train the next day for the north country in Canada. I don’t remember ever receiving any rejection of that, and when my son arrived they didn’t know him, but they received him because of their relationship to me.

The Lord Jesus is speaking something like that when he says, “If God were your father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God.” You might now know me, but you might at least ideally have known the Father. And if you knew the Father, you would receive me. The modernist’s watchword has always been, “Let us go back to Jesus. Let us avoid the theologizing of the Apostle Paul and back to the simple things of the Lord Jesus Christ. As if to suggest that all that Jesus taught was the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. And that the way to heaven is by just doing good. Listen to what he says about himself. H e says, “For I proceeded forth and came from God.” That is a reference to his divine incarnation. And also a reference to his mission. They say, back to Jesus, but when one goes back to Jesus and reads his words, then we come again to the conviction that he was an unusual supernatural person. Have you ever noticed this about the Lord Jesus Christ? Only once in his entire ministry did he ever mention that he had been born. Has that ever surprised you? Only once did he ever mention that he had been born. I dare say if you’ve been here in Believers Chapel very long, most of you knew that I was born in Alabama. I would mention that I was born or I would refer to my birth. And you would, in your conversation sooner or later make reference to that. The Lord Jesus one time said he was born, and then he quickly modified that expression. He was speaking to Pilot. Pilot said, “Are you a king then?” The Lord Jesus answered, “Thou sayest that I am a king, to this end was I born.” And then he says, “For this purpose came I into the world,” almost as if to say in your language Pilot, you are a pagan, you are a heathen, and of course I was speaking your language. “To this end was I born, but for this reason came I into the world.” The characteristic way in which the Lord Jesus speaks of his entrance among us is “I came, and I was sent.” In other words, even in the way that he speaks of himself, he affirms the fact that his sonship is different from our sonship. “If God were your Father you would love me, for I proceeded forth, and I am now here. I have come from God; neither came I from myself but sent me.

There’s a line, a little stanza, that’s found in an old Latin inscription. Listen to what it says. “I am what I was, God. I was not what I am, man. I am now called both, God and man.” In that simple Latin inscription is expressed the idea that when he became a man he still was what he was, the eternal second person of the trinity. There is also expressed the fact that he is now something that he was not in the ages past. He can be called a man. He says in verse 40, “A man that hath told you the truth.” And he said, “Now, I am called both God and man.” Or as we would like to say, “The God-man.” “There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” God-man.

Well, they don’t understand. We read in verse 43 through verse 45, Jesus says, “Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word.” I wish we had time to go back over this chapter and notice the obtuseness of these who are listening to him. Over and over again the Lord Jesus speaks of the fact that they do not understand. And they manifest that in the things that they say. He talks about great spiritual truths, and they translate them into ordinary mundane things. They do not understand. And their physical desires against him prove that their spiritual descent is a spiritual descent that issues in homicidal tendencies. Listen, “Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word.” You cannot understand the language that I am using because you are not in touch with the content of the things that I am saying with the reality of the message. “You are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father you will do.”

Those homicidal tendencies that you have prove your connection with the original man slayer in the Garden of Eden, who by the tempting of Adam and Eve brought about the fall of man. And in your destruction of life you deny the truth. He was murderous. He was mendacious. He was a liar and also he was the instrumentality of the fall of man. You manifest that in the fact that you are seeking to slay me. And anyone who seeks to controvert the message of the Lord Jesus Christ belongs to the fatherhood, not of God, but the fatherhood of Satan. “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he has not or does not abide in the truth because there is not truth in him” When he speaks a lie he speaks of his own things, for he is a liar and the father of it. There is no text in the Bible that more clearly points out that our Lord believed in the existence and personality of the devil. The devil was fairly voted out. And of course, the devil’s gone, but simple people would like to know who carries his business on.

Some years ago at chapel at Dallas Theological Seminary I heard a man come of whom I had heard for many years, Tom Olson. He was in chapel speaking that morning. He had magnificent knowledge of the word of God. He had memorized vast sections of the New Testament and was famous for that. In the midst of his message he made reference to this particular text and he said, “The modernists preach that we are all the sons of God and brothers one with another.” And then he pointed out, “While it is true we are the creatures of God by creation. But it’s definitely true we are not all the sons of God by redemption. The fail to read the rest of Galatians 3:26,” he says. “Through faith in Jesus Christ, they forget that there are two fatherhoods. One is the Fatherhood of God and the other is the fatherhood of the devil.” And then he just said as an aside, “On Sunday morning as they stand behind their pulpit, these individual who deny the word of God but who profess to be Christian, when they close their eyes and say, ‘Oh God our Father,’ to whom are they addressing their prayer? Their father is the devil.” “You are of your father the devil.”

The Lord Jesus, when it came to truthfulness and faithfulness to the word of God did not hesitate to express frankly the word of God. I heard about a man who went to a town out west in the state of Nevada. I always thought it was, I heard someone the other day keep saying over the radio Nevada, or maybe those Nevadans pronounce Timothy that way, but it’s really Nevada. We back here in the east know better, I think. Anyway, he went to this town in Nevada and he was greeted by the minister. He was going to hold some evangelistic meetings. And the minister said to him, “Now I want you to be careful about the things you say. Don’t say anything about divorce, because out here in Nevada we have many divorced people. And as you know, it’s a divorced sinner.” Everybody used to go to Reno many years ago in order to get their divorce. “And you don’t dare mention the liquor question, for some of our best paying members are in the liquor business. And a great many of our people earn their living by furnishing worldly amusements to the world that travels out to be in our particular land. So be careful about that.” And the poor evangelist, a simple kind of fellow, said, “Well, of whose sins may I speak then?” And the minister was supposed to have said, “Well go for the Piute Indians and their sins. They never go to church anyway.”

Well the Lord Jesus was not like that. He didn’t mind stepping on the feelings on the most significant of us. And finally, I know our time is up. He traces it all to the fact that they are not of God. And the fact that they are not of God indicates that they do not have faith. That statement in verse 46 is one that he must have uttered with silence after each part of it. “Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” And there was silence. And our Lord looked for some statement with regard to his own sin. By the way, this is probably one of the most magnificent statements that Jesus ever made. I cannot imagine anyone making a statement like this but the Lord Jesus Christ. He evidently waited, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” Because he’s able to say, “And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” So can you not see the dramatic nature of it? “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” Silence. “Now if I tell you the truth, why do ye not believe me?” Silence.

And then comes the answer. “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” Have you heard this message today? Can it be said that you really are of God? “He that is of God hears God’s words. If you hear them not, it’s likely that you are not of God.” What a solemn thing. How important it is to be of God. May God speak to your heart to that end. I apologize for keeping you a few minutes over this morning. But this is a very important section. “Are you of God?” Let’s stand for the benediction.

[Prayer] Our Father, we are so grateful to Thee for these magnificent words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ. They are very solemn words Lord, and we pray that if there should be someone in this audience who does not know him, by the Holy Spirit work that miraculous work of regeneration…

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