Jesus Wants to Give You the Best Life
The Gospel of John
John 8:31-51
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - January 18, 2017
(Revised September 14, 2019)
BACKGROUND:
*Here in John 8, the major Feast of the Tabernacles had just ended in Jerusalem. A large crowd was still in the city, and Jesus was preaching in a very public part of the Temple (John 8:20).
*Some of the people there believed in the Lord, but Jesus was also preaching to religious rulers who hated Him. In fact, some of them hated Jesus so much that they had been trying to kill Him for months. But Jesus was there, preaching to them all, and warning the unbelievers that they were lost without Him.
*He preached great truths of the gospel like we find in John 8:12: "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'''
*In John 8:23-24, Jesus said to them:
23. . . "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
24. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.''
*And John 8:30 says, "As He spoke these words, many believed in Him." With this background in mind, let's read vs. 31-51, focusing on the truth that Jesus Christ wants to give people the best life they can possibly have.
MESSAGE:
*Have you ever had any bad days as a Christian? Of course we have. Some of us have had more hard days than we can count. But let me ask you this: Would you trade your worst day as a Christian for your best day before you got saved? -- Definitely not! Never in a million years! The Christian life is the best life anyone can possibly have!
1. WHY? BECAUSE JESUS GIVES US THE BEST FREEDOM.
*It's the freedom we talked about last week in vs. 31-32:
31. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.''
33. They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?''
34. Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
35. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
36. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
*The unbelieving scribes and Pharisees did not understand that Jesus was talking about the never-ending, spiritual freedom only the Lord can give. But they did understand slavery. I say that because historian Edward Gibbon estimated that the number of slaves in the Roman Empire under the reign of Claudius (41-54 A.D.) was no less than half the entire population of 60 million people. (1)
*The unbelieving Jewish rulers were well acquainted with the cruelest forms of slavery. It's much harder for us to understand because by God's grace, we live in the United States where our God-given freedoms were firmly established in our founding documents.
*It helps us to take another look back at the plague of slavery in our own nation. This is a diagram of a slave ship from 1700s. From the 1600s to the 1800s, African warlords and kidnappers sold captives to Europeans. The captives were usually force-marched to coastal ports on the west coast of Africa, where they were held for sale to the European or American slave traders.
*Historians estimate that between 9 and12 million slaves arrived in the New World. Typical slave ships contained several hundred slaves. They were chained together and often stacked like wood, as you see in this picture. Two to four million died on the way. (2)
*Imagine for a moment what it would have been like to be a slave, under the total control of your master, no matter how cruel he might have been. You had to get up when he said; you had to go to bed when he said. You had to work where he told you, when he told you. You had to eat what he gave you, even if it wasn't fit for the dogs. He could beat you for any reason or no reason at all. And he could split up your family at the drop of a hat.
*Think how horrible that would be: No freedom, no choices, never knowing when you would be beaten or abused, never knowing when your wife or children would be sold away from you. But on January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves in our country. And after the Civil War, our most terrible war, our Constitution was amended to prevent that from ever happening again.
*I would never minimize the misery of slavery in our country, or the misery that still goes on today wherever people don't have political freedom. But the truth is that the spiritual slavery of sin and death is infinitely worse! Thank God Jesus came to set us free!
*That's why Hebrews 2 says:
9. We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
14. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15. and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
*Jesus gives us the best freedom, freedom from the chains of sin and death, freedom to be the best we can be, freedom that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
2. JESUS GIVES US THE BEST FREEDOM. HE ALSO GIVES US THE BEST FATHER.
*In vs. 37-38, Jesus said this to the unbelieving Jews who wanted to kill Him:
37. "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
38. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.''
*We must understand that when it comes to spiritual life, there are only two fathers: It's either the Lord's Father in Heaven, or it's the devil. Christians: By the grace of God and the cross of our Risen Savior, God the Father is our Heavenly Father!
*But how can you tell? How can anyone tell if the Lord's Father is our father? In this Scripture, Jesus gives us 3 sure signs.
[1] AND THE FIRST IS THAT WE WILL RESEMBLE OUR FATHER.
*The Lord made this truth clear in vs. 38-40. Here Jesus said:
38. "I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.''
39. They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father.'' Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
40. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this."
*There will be a family resemblance: "Like Father, like Son." "He's a chip off the old block." It's often true in the earthly realm, and it's always true in the spiritual realm.
*Jesus has such a close resemblance to His Heavenly Father that in John 14:6-9, the Lord could say:
6. . . "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
7. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.''
8. Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.''
9. Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"
*On the other hand, these unbelieving Jews in John 8 closely resembled their spiritual father: The devil. They were "chips off the old block" too, and we can see this in vs. 38-40. Again, Jesus said:
38. "I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.''
39. They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father.'' Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
40. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this."
*Then in vs. 44, Jesus told them: "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."
*If God is truly our Heavenly Father, then we will begin to think and feel and act the way He does. There will be a family resemblance. But that doesn't mean we will be flawless yet.
*Pastor Watchman Nee told about a new Christian who came to see him in deep distress. He said, "No matter how much I pray, no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot seem to be faithful to my Lord. I think I'm losing my salvation!"
*Pastor Nee wisely replied, "Do you see this dog here? He is my dog. He is house-trained. He never makes a mess. He is obedient. He is a pure delight to me. Out in the kitchen I have a son, a baby son. He makes a mess. He throws his food around. He fouls his clothes. He is a total mess. But who is going to inherit my kingdom? -- Not my dog. My son is my heir." (3)
*And Christians, we are children of God, not through our perfection, but by the Lord's death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. That's why in 1 John 3:2, the Apostle could say, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
*On top of that, Romans 8:16-17 says:
16. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17. and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. . .
*We are joint heirs with Jesus, and now God is our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, so there will most certainly be a family resemblance with our Heavenly Father.
[2] IF THE LORD'S FATHER IS OUR FATHER, WE WILL RESEMBLE HIM. AND WE WILL GIVE REVERENCE TO HIS SON.
*The Lord shows us this truth in vs. 40-42. Here Jesus said this to those murderous Jewish rulers:
40. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this."
41. "You do the deeds of your father.'' Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father God.''
42. Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me."
*If God is truly our Father, we will love, reverence, and worship His Son, Jesus Christ! We will love God the Son. We will want to please Him. We will appreciate Him both for who He is, and what He has done. What has Jesus Christ done for us? He has blessed us in countless ways! But best of all, He died on the cross for our sins! He died to save our souls and set us free forever!
*John Newton loved the Lord, and he knew what Jesus had done for him. We can sing his most famous song by heart: "Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me." Most of us have been greatly blessed by that song written by John Newton almost 250 years ago. It has been recorded thousands of times, and Jonathan Aitken, one of Newton's biographers, estimated that this song is publicly sung ten million times every year!
*You may know that John Newton spent his early years in the slave business and became captain of a slave ship, but he was gloriously saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. And at the age of 39, he was ordained as a pastor. John Newton faithfully served God for over 40 years. Toward the end, of course, his health began to fail, his eyesight, and especially his memory.
*Once a friend asked John if he still had a bad memory. And I love John Newton's reply. Newton said, "Yes, I do, but I remember two things: I am a great sinner and I have a great Savior. And I don't suppose an old slave trader needs to remember much more than that." (4)
*"I may be a great sinner, but I have a great Savior." John Newton loved our Savior Jesus Christ, and so should we!
[3] IF THE LORD'S FATHER IS OUR FATHER, WE WILL GIVE REVERENCE TO HIS SON, AND WE WILL RECEIVE HIS WORD.
*The Lord stressed this truth in vs. 43-47. Here Jesus asked the unbelieving Jews:
43. "Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
44. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
45. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
46. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?
47. He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.''
*This Scripture goes along with what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:12-14. There Paul was speaking to Christians, and said:
12. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
*Without the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts we cannot understand the truth. And one of the devil's main weapons in this world is to blind lost people to the truth.
*Verses 45-47 are shocking in their significance. Again, Jesus said this to those people who stubbornly rejected Him:
45. "But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
46. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?
47. He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.''
*But if God is our Father, we will receive the truth of His Word, and we will know that we have the best possible Father!
3. JESUS GIVES US THE BEST FATHER, AND HE GIVES US THE BEST FUTURE.
*In vs. 51, Jesus said this to everyone who believes in Him, to everyone who trusts Him as Lord and Savior: "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone KEEPS My word he shall never see death.''
*That word "keeps" has the idea of watching over something carefully, and that's how we treat God's Word if we believe it. We will treasure His Word, love it, trust it, and try our best to follow it.
*Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word HE SHALL NEVER SEE DEATH.'' Well, the cemeteries are full of Christians' bodies, including many people we know and love. So Jesus must have been talking about spiritual death, the everlasting death in the horrible place called hell.
*The Bible calls that death "the second death" And in Revelation 2:11, our glorified Lord said, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.''
*And in Revelation 20:11-15, the Apostle John said:
11. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
*Jesus was talking about the second death here in John 8, but Christians, the Lord rescued us from the second death when He died on the cross for our sins!
[1] AND WHEN WE TRUST IN JESUS, HE GIVES US A NEW VIEW OF DEATH.
*As Christians, we can view death in a whole new light. We know the truth of what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."
*Christian author Malcolm Muggeridge had the right view of his death. In his later years, he wrote, "When you're old as I am, there are all sorts of extremely pleasant things that happen to you. The pleasantest of all is that you wake up in the night and you find that you are half in and half out of your battered old carcass. It seems quite a tossup whether you go back and resume full occupancy of your mortal body, or make off toward the bright glow you see in the sky, the lights of the city of God." (5)
*One of our friends, Mary Parker, had a similar experience. Because of failing health, Mary had been compelled to let go of almost everything she ever had in this world. But every time we spoke, Mary talked over and over about how good God had been to her.
*A couple of months before Mrs. Parker died, an aid went into her room to wake her, and Mrs. Parker said, "Why did you wake me up? I was already there." Now she is there. And she will be there forever, because of the cross of Jesus Christ! Praise the Lord!
[2] WHEN WE TRUST IN THE LORD, HE GIVES US A NEW VIEW OF DEATH, AND HE GIVES US NEVER ENDING VICTORY OVER DEATH.
*Jesus gives us this everlasting victory not only because He died on the cross for our sins, but also because He rose again from the dead! That's why in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul could also say:
53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory.''
55. "O Death, where is your sting? O (grave), where is your victory?''
56. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
*Warren Wiersbe told of the last days of John Wesley. He said that Wesley preached his last sermon of Feb. 17, 1791. It was a message on Isaiah 55:6: "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near"
*The following day, he was put to bed in his home on City Road, a very sick man. During the days of his illness, Wesley often repeated the words from one of his brother's hymns, "I the chief of sinners am, but Jesus died for me!"
*Wesley's last words were, "The best of all is, God is with us!" He died in victory on March 2, 1791. (6)
CONCLUSION:
*The Apostle Paul knew it. Watchman Nee, John Newton, Malcolm Muggeridge and John Wesley all knew it. Mary Parker knew it. And Christians: We know it! We've got the best life! And we've got the best life, because Jesus gives us the best freedom, the best Father, and the best future anyone could ever have.
*Please think about that, as we go back to the Lord in prayer.
(1) "Christianity and Slavery" - HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, VOLUME I by Philip Schaff
https://biblehub.com/library/schaff/history_of_the_christian_church_volume_i/section_48_christianity_and_slavery.htm
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Passage
(3) Sources:
-Sermonillustrations.com - Topic: Security
-SermonCentral sermon "Who's Your Daddy" by Guy Caley - John 8:31-45
(4) Sources:
-"Baptist Standard," Aug. 23, 1989 - Source: MCHENRY'S QUIPS, QUOTES & OTHER NOTES by Raymond McHenry - Copyright 1998, Hendrickson Publishers - Topic: Memory, p. 162)
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace
(5) Malcolm Muggeridge, Christian Times, Sept 3, 1982 - Source: Sermonillustrations.com
(6) W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers, p. 245 - Source: Sermonillustrations.com
