Few pictures from our family history speak more of family camaraderie than those of my dad with his 5 boys. I wouldn’t want to minimize Mom’s significance for a second, or fail to point out that my dad always said, “I have 5 sons, and each one of them has a sister!” But there’s something about pictures of Dad with his boys that really stands out – He seems to have a kind of Harrison Ford smirk on his face as he stands there. Here’s a picture of all 6 of us at my brother’s wedding. If you could step back from it and line us up, you’d see that everyone gets shorter and wider with age. My oldest brother, Dan, was born 17 years before me. He was headed off to college while I was learning to walk. Still, I know that I could turn to any one of my brothers with a need at any time and they’d be there for me. There’s a sense of “brotherhood” among us. What causes that? Well, for one, Dad did. We were raised in the same home, with the same father. As a result, although we each bear certain traits of Mom, we all have a similar appearance. As a result, each of those brothers has a good sense of humor. As a result, each one has a certain way about him that marks him as a Nichols. There’s a part of us that can’t help it! We are brothers. What’s most wonderful is that each one of these guys is also my brother in Christ.
Now, let’s consider family ties for a minute. Brothers, sisters – that includes most of you here this morning. You’re my brothers and sisters in Jesus. That’s why you might hear us rightly calling one another “brother” or “sister.” That family tie also includes many people who are meeting to worship today in Carthage, Carl Junction, Carterville, Webb City, Oronogo, and a bunch of other Christian Church congregations in the area, and in places around the world today too.
That includes some people who are meeting at those “other churches” this morning - people who are obedient to Christ and who are sincerely seeking to be His disciples. Have you come to grips with that? You’re part of a church that recognizes we are trying to be “Christians only” but not the only Christians. So, through the years, we’ve wrestled with this idea of who we are to call “brother” or “sister” in Jesus. Some want to be inclusive and kind – to just make it include anyone who’s part of any church, or any religion, any-where. That sounds nice. Let’s just call us all part of the “great big brotherhood of man.” With God as our Father, brothers all are we! Are we?
What about those who want to just toss around that title – brother – as a way of trying to claim a certain kinship where there’s really no right to it? Have you ever had anyone call you “brother” because he was trying to get something from you?
I want to play a sound clip for you from one of my favorite radio personalities. He calls his character Gilbert Gnarley. Once in a while, from his radio station in Cincinnati, he’d call up certain businesses and engage them in a phone conversation – also known as a crank call. This particular day, Gilbert calls up a psychic hotline, looking for help. Now, keep in mind that the guy on the other end of the phone is a fast-talking con artist.
"Gilbert Gnarley" audio clip here – on CD (psychic hotline – text below. 1 min. long - the text of the dialog can be put up as it plays:
Ehh, hello?
Yes, uh, is this the Reverend, Uh, Jordean, God-gifted-problem-solver-and-medicine-man?
Uh, yes it is.
My name is Gilbert Gnarley: G-n-a-r-l-e-y.
Yes?
And I’m very glad I reached you because I have an emergency.
How can I help you?
Well, last night, see, I was watching TV – I don’t know if you saw it – it was that special tribute to the Partridge Family’s Danny Bonaduce …
Yeah.
He’s one of my favorites… Anyway, my lottery number came up on the screen.
Your, your what?
My lottery number! You know at first I didn’t believe it, but then I realized that those were the numbers that I play every week.
Well, Brother, how can I help you?)
Isn’t it amazing how, suddenly, you’re someone’s brother?!
Not all people are brothers. I don’t believe in "the great big brotherhood of man," and I suggest to you today, we ought to be careful about whom we call "brother." Not everyone this morning can rightly be called my brother or sister. According to Jesus here in Jn 8, that just isn’t true.
He’s teaching about the relationships in this spiritual family, and part of what He makes clear is that not everyone can rightly call God "Father."
That matters for a couple of reasons:
1. Because I need to have God as my Father if I expect to live with Him forever. If I don’t belong in His family, I don’t belong in heaven, and come Judgment Day, I won’t be there.
2. Because I need to know who my family members are. If someone claims to be my brother or sister, I have a special obligation to take care of that person.
(as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to those who are of the household of faith.) And that person has the same obligation to me. We have an obligation to hold each other accountable, and to have certain expectations of each other…that is, if we’re really brothers and sisters.
Many people realize the importance of this question, and many would like a quick answer for deciding who’s my “brother” or “sister.” I have that answer for you this morning. What makes people my brother or sister in Christ is their parentage -- who is their Father? Who’s your daddy? That’s how a family works. If God is your Father, there’s no choice. You are my brother or sister.
I want to get this right. So how do I tell the difference between someone who has God as Father and someone who doesn’t? How can we tell it about ourselves, and about others? That’s what Jesus is teaching in ch8.
There are some marks of parenthood that show who you have for a father. Jesus said a child...
I. Does the Deeds and Desires of His Father
John 8:37-41
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," said Jesus, "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."
There’s no question that they were doing the deeds of their father. The question was, who was their father?
Every parent knows that we manage our words depending on the way our kids are behaving. You know…”Your son just sneezed in the punchbowl!” “Our daughter brought home straight A’s on her report card.” “Your daughter was the one making all that noise during the program.” “Our son was elected senior class president!”
What decides if you’re a child of God or a child of the devil? Well, you decide. Whose actions are you imitating? Whose desires are you doing?
These people claimed Abraham as their father. They claimed to have a connection by race and they claimed to have his spiritual heritage. Jesus said that just wasn’t true! Why? They were doing deeds that Abraham never did.
Paul writes about that spiritual heritage in
Galatians 3:7
"Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham."
They may have been Abraham’s descendants, but they weren’t his children. Had Abraham been there, he wouldn’t have acknowledged that they were his children. Spiritually, they were someone else’s!
How could Jesus say such a thing? Because of their actions. A person simply can’t claim sonship with God and not have it influence his actions!
That means, young people, and I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it to you, "Your parents went to church" isn’t going to cut it! There’s going to have to be a day when your faith is your own, and you acknowledge a father who’s of even greater importance than your earthly father.
That means, every one of us, that if you’re going to claim to be a child of God, your actions have to back that up.
-Ill - One way you can tell I’m my father’s son is that I’m cheap! Ask my wife. She’ll confirm it!
One way we can tell if you’re a child of God or a child of the devil is to ask "Whose actions, whose desires am I living?" You show whose child you are by whose desires you carry out. A child does the deeds and wishes of his father.
A child also
II. Hears and Understands the Words of His Father
John 8:42-47
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 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 any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
Families develop idiosyncrasies – certain ways of saying things. Sometimes, you have to be an insider to understand. When my dad said, “Let’s take off like a herd of turtles,” I knew what he meant. When my dad said, “That beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick,” I knew what he meant. Being able to understand the Nichols dialect was another indicator that I belonged to that family.
Do you realize that how a person receives and understands God’s word is also a reflection of his sonship?
Look at the progression here. What Jesus was saying wasn’t clear to these people. Why? V43 “Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.” Unable to hear it? Why? V37 “…you have no room for my word.” No room for it? Why? V47 “The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
A child hears and understands the words of his father.
Jesus told the parable of the soils and 3 of the gospels record it. (Mt13, Mk 4, Lk 8) Now, when He explains the story, Jesus talks about the way people hear the word of God. It’s like seed that falls on the soil. And I want you to look at all 3 accounts of this story as, in different words, they relate what Jesus said about people who hear God’s word the right way:
Mt 13:23 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it..."
Mk 4:20 "And those are the ones on who seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it..."
Lk 8:15 "And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast,..."
How we respond to the word of God, how we listen to it and receive it, is a reflection of the attitudes of our hearts. Kind of like a speed limit sign out in the middle of nowhere. If we don’t want to accept it, we won’t. Nobody can make us! If there’s a bit of Scripture we don’t want to listen to or believe, we won’t. We can ignore it. If we don’t feel like taking the time or effort to learn and apply it, we won’t. After all, who‘s going to make us?
So, who’s your Father? The way we as a church family regard this book is a reflection of Who is really our father. Acts 17 says the people of Berea were "more noble-minded" than the people of Thessalonica, "because they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so." In other words, they received God’s word like it mattered.
John writes about this indicator in
1 John 4:6a
We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.
If you want to know who your Father is, step back and take a look at the way you connect with what God says. Someone once said that to destroy the education of the nation you don’t have to destroy all its books, just leave them unread for a couple of generations. The same is true of the Church. To destroy the Church, you don’t have to destroy its book -- that’s been tried for years. All you have to do is have a weak attitude toward it or leave it unread for one generation.
For every group of people who are forbidden to study the Bible, or who can’t because they just don’t have it, there are scores in our own country, many in our churches, who are doing just that; leaving them unread.
If you’re one who doesn’t give the word of God a hearing in your life, I’d be concerned. Jesus said that’s one of the indicators of being a child of the devil.
III. Honors Who the Father Sends
John 8:42, 48-59
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.
The Jews answered him, "Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" "I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?" Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
(A. His messengers)
If how we treat God’s message is a reflection of who our Father is, then it makes sense that how we treat the ones who bear that message is also a reflection of who our Father is.
Jesus said to His disciples (messengers) in
Mark 9:41
I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in My name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
The early church was careful to provide hospitality to teachers of God’s word, because they realized that when they did they were sharing in their work. So John says in
2 John 1:10-11
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
How do you treat the people who bring you God’s word? There’s an indicator there of who you have as a father.
(B. Jesus)
But what’s even more important than the way we treat His messengers is our attitude toward Jesus.
These Jews went from denying Jesus’ message, to calling Him crazy (demon-possessed) and a Samaritan, to finally picking up stones to kill Him. Once again, they were demonstrating their spiritual heritage - Just like the Hatfield kids might throw stones at the McCoy kids, these were saying who their father was.
Children of God honor the One He sends.
v42 If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God.
The ultimate question about your relationship with God is "What do you do with Jesus?"
People may try to find all kinds of ways to approach God without going through Jesus: saints, Mary, Mohammed, a society, a denomination -- but none of them will ever get through.
John 10:9 - "I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he shall be saved,"
John 14:6 - "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me,"
Romans 5:1b-2 - "…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand."
Ephesians 2:18a - "For through Him we both have access to the Father..."
The child of God honors the One He sends. We must! There’s no other way to be God’s child, than to honor His Son and your brother through faith, Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
(Rom 8:12-16) “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
"if by the Spirit you will put to death the misdeeds of the body..."
We’re not just talking about wearing some family name, about having nice brothers and sisters. Having God as father is what makes heaven possible for us today.
My Father is rich in houses and lands, He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands. Of rubies and diamonds of silver and gold His coffers are full. He has riches untold...I’m a child of the King, a child of the King. With Jesus my savior, I’m a child of the King.
Can you call God "Father" today? Have you submitted to Him? Whose desires do you do? To whose message do you listen? Do you honor the One He has sent?...
