John Lesson 26

Introduction

Very pleasant good day to you and welcome to Let the Bible Speak. I’d like to encourage you to get your New Testaments and open with me to the reading find in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John. Those of you who have been studying along with us know that we’ve been going verse by verse through this book that tells us about the deity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In fact, in John chapter eight, we’ve talked about how that in our last lesson how that Jesus said to the Jews that they were really not the children of Abraham. Though they claim to be, and in a physical lineage they really were, yet from a spiritual point of view, he said you’re the child of the devil.

By the very fact that you have rejected the Son of God. If you were really God’s children, then you would have recognized and believed in the Son of God. Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus has made several stirring statements, such as this, that to those who were his enemies, that is, those who rejected Jesus as the Christ, it seemed rather baffling and in fact stirred their animosity against him. In our study today, John chapter eight, verses fifty one through the end of the chapter, Jesus makes three significant statements. Finally, they even take up stones to stone him. This is not the first time that the Jews, uh when Jesus was crucified on the cross, it’s not the first time that the Jews would have killed him.

They would have killed him several times before. And as we’ve studied the gospel of John, we’ve pointed out that you cannot read this book about Jesus Christ and be passive about him. You cannot just simply say, Well, he was a good man. The religious people of his day did not regard him as a good man. Either the claims that he made are true. He is the Christ, the Son of God, or else he was classically insane and just believed himself to be something that he was not. Or he was the greatest imposter ever to walk the face of the earth. How do you view Jesus who lived on this earth? Who died on the cross? Is he your Savior? Have you come to know him as the Son of God?

1. Keep My Saying, Never See Death

Have you obeyed Him? I hope that you’ll have your Bibles open and study along with us the significant statements made in John chapter 8, because Jesus said some things that are very little vital to you and to me. I’m reading now in John chapter 8 and verse 51, where we continue our study. For he said, Verily, verily I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, now we know that thou hast the devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets, and thou says, if a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our Father Abraham, which is dead, and the prophets are dead. Whom makest thou thyself? Well, Jesus said in verse 51 that if you keep my saying, a man will never see death.

That was a statement that in a figurative way blew their minds. How is it possible for a person to never see death? And in fact they contend, why this just shows that you don’t know what you’re talking about. Why even our great father Abraham lived nearly two thousand years ago? He died. And are you greater than Abraham? Or the prophets who who came and have spoken to our fathers, they’ve all died. How is it that you say, just keep the sayings of Jesus and you’ll never see death? Of course they were thinking only from a physical point of view. But Jesus was talking about the kind of life that is eternal in nature, spiritual in nature. Certainly, the followers of Jesus Christ will die physically, like all men will die physically.

But Jesus came to bring life. That’s one of the key words in the Gospel of John. That in him is life. He’s the light of the world. He illuminates the way for eternal life. Back in John chapter 5 and in verse 24, Jesus made the statement that if you will believe, or if you’ll hear my word and believe on him that sent me, that this one hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Passed from death, caused by sin, eternal death. But through Jesus Christ we pass from death unto life, eternal life. In Christ is no condemnation. In him is salvation. You see, it is important whether or not we really accept Jesus as the Christ. Believe in him, and you’ll have life.

Never see death. Reject Him, and there is condemnation, eternal death, eternal separation from the Father. Some years ago it was said that in the Bible, the margin of the Bible of Martin Luther, that great reformer who lived back in the 1500s, that someone noted in the margin of his Bible was a statement that pretty well summarizes man’s life here on earth. The statement was born twice, die once. Born once, die twice. That really, in a nutshell, states our relationship with God. We’re all born once, obviously. We are born in the flesh, we’ve come to live, and yet if we’re born only once, we’ll die twice. Physical death and spiritual, eternal death. But if we are born twice, we’ll die only once. Surely Jesus talked about this, though he didn’t pin it in just exactly those words.

You remember back in John the third chapter when Jesus had the discussion with Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews. Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3 and in verses 3 to 5, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now Nicodemus reacted much like the other Jews. How is this possible? He thought only in terms of physical birth. And he said, How is it possible? Must a man to be born a second time enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time? And Jesus explained in verse 5 when he said, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.

But the way to have salvation through Christ Jesus is to be born again by him. And he said, the way of birth, the time of that birth, is when we’re born of water and the spirit.

When he comes to know Christ and is born again, he’s going to look much like he did before this spiritual birth. But there is an inward change. There is a forgiveness of sins. There is a walking in a new lifestyle, and we become a new person. The time at which we’re born again, in Romans chapter 6, verses 3 to 5, describes a newness of life as being a time when as believers we’re baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. Read with me, Romans chapter 6, where in verses 3 to 5, the apostle said, Don’t you know, or know you not, that so many of us as we’re baptized into Jesus Christ, we’re baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death.

That like as Christ was raised from the lead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Did you notice he says that we shall walk in newness of life? That’s the same time as being born again. But when does it take place? As we believe in Jesus as the Christ, repenting of our sins, confessing him to be the Son of God. We are buried by baptism into his death. That’s where his blood was shed. And you see, that’s when water is involved in this new birth. We’re born of water in the Spirit. The Spirit has revealed God’s scheme of redemption, has told us about Jesus as the Christ.

But as that Spirit has also led us to understand who the Christ is, it also teaches us what commandments of God ought to be obeyed. And so it is that as we are obedient to the word of God, the Spirit revealed word of God, so it is that we are born again, born of water and the Spirit, in this one occasion of the new birth, at baptism, a believer rises to walk in newness of life. You see, that’s how you can be born again. Have you been born twice? As a person who believes in the Christ, have you repented of your sins? Have you been immersed or buried by baptism into the death of Jesus Christ? If so, then you have the promise of dying only once.

As Hebrews 9 27 says, It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment. We’re going to die once. But if you have rejected the Christ, then my beloved, you shall die twice. You’ve been born once physically. But if you reject Jesus as the Christ, you shall see the second death. The book of Revelation talks about the second death as that lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, and it’s a fearful place in Revelation chapter 20, verses 14 and 15, where he pictures a judgment scene. He says, Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. And then in chapter 21 and in verse 8, he talks about the fearful, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the whoremongers, the sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

2. Your Father Abraham Rejoiced to See My Day

You see, we’ll die once physically, but the second death is an eternal death, a separation from God, and a lake described as burning with fire and brimstone. It’s a fearful thought, isn’t it? But you see how that really summarizes life here now. Born twice, die once, born once, die twice. And that really, Jesus said this in John chapter 8, when he said, If you’ll hear my sayings and believe on me, ye shall never see death. The Jews didn’t understand what that meant. But those who have come to Jesus Christ understand fully that he’s talking about a spiritual birth and a deliverance from a spiritual death. But now in verse 54, Jesus made another statement that astounded them. He said, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing.

It is my Father that honoreth me, of whom ye say that he is your God. Yet ye have not known him, but I know him. And if I should say I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you. But I know him and keep his say. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Immediately.

He’s not only said that you can believe in me and never see death, now he says, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And was glad. Well, how could they how could how could Abraham see Jesus’ day? In fact, in verse 57, then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old. And hast thou seen Abraham. You’re not old enough to have seen Abraham who lived nearly two thousand years ago. You’re you’re not even yet fifty years old. How is it possible? Well, here again, they did not understand what Jesus was really talking about. Well, you see, Jesus was talking about the promises that God had made to Abraham that pointed to the coming of Jesus Christ. There is a sense in which Abraham saw the day of Christ through the eye of faith.

Back in Genesis chapter 12, in verses 1, 2, and 3, God made three distinct promises to Abraham. He said, Of Abraham, of your lineage, of your seed, I’m going to make a great nation. And that’s the nation of Israel. He said, Furthermore, I’m going to give you a land to live in. And we know that is the land of Canaan, the promised land. Both of those promises were fulfilled. But the third promise in Genesis 12 and verse 3, he said, Through your seed I will bless all families of the earth. You see, God’s promise to to Abraham about the nation of Israel or the Jews. They they were God’s chosen people, and they were favored by God. But it was not just for the sake of the Jews alone.

God didn’t just love Jews only, but rather what God was doing was preparing the world for the coming of Jesus Christ. It was not by chance that he was a Jew. It is not by accident that he happened to have been born of Mary, of the lineage of David, of the lineage of Abraham, but rather by God’s promise. And so Abraham knew and believed that even through his lineage, out of his family would come the Messiah, the Savior of the world. And in that sense, Abraham saw the day of Jesus Christ. In the book of Galatians in Galatians chapter 3, a great deal is said about this very promise that God made to Abraham in Galatians 3, I’m reading in verses 7 through 9, where he said, Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Those today who are the children of God by faith are also Abraham’s children. You see, Abraham saw the day of Jesus, in that he saw that there would come a time that all people would be blessed through his seed. Then the last three verses of Galatians 3, where he says, verse 26, for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there’s neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. Are you Abraham’s lineage? Are you his seed? Have you come to be the child of God by faith, and consequently of that same blessing that God promised through Abraham? He said, As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. I hope you’ll stay with us. We want to continue the last two verses of John chapter 8, because Jesus made yet another astounding statement to these Jews that stirred them up so that they took up stones to kill him. We’ll be back in just one moment. We’ve already observed two statements that Jesus made that astounded these Jews. The first one in verse 51, where he said of John chapter 8, where he said that if you’ll keep my sayings, a man shall never see death.

3. Before Abraham Was, I Am

And then when he said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and rejoiced in it. The Jews could neither understand either statement. How was it that a man could could never see death? Who do you think you are? And then especially who do you think you are if you think Abraham saw your day? Why, why Abraham lived nearly two thousand years ago and you’re not even fifty years old as yet. But there’s a third statement Jesus made. In the last two verses of John chapter 8, it so antagonized these Jewish leaders that they took up stones to stone him. I’m reading John 8, verses 58 through 59. Where Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.

Then took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. When he made the statement, I am, they recognized that to be the same identity that was made by the Lord to Moses in the burning bush. You may remember back in Exodus chapter 3, where Moses saw the burning bush, and as he approached it, he was told, Take off thy shoes for your own holy ground. And the Lord spoke to him, and at that time, through the burning bush, the Lord called Moses to go down to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Moses was reluctant about doing so, but but he did go, and yet he asked, Who shall I say has sent me?

When Pharaoh requests of me, who sent you? What shall I say? And the expression was, you tell Pharaoh, I am, that I am, hath sent you. Now, in the time of Jesus Christ in Palestine, they were using a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, for Greek was the common language that was being spoken at that time. And that translation was called the Septuagint version. It is significant that in the Septuagint Greek translation of the Hebrew scripture, Exodus 3.14, the same words are found as are used here in the Greek text of John 8.58. The words ego and me. Jesus reached into that testament and used identically the same expression and said, I am. In fact, it’s the way of saying, I have always been, I am existing now, and shall ever be.

4. He Claimed to Be Deity

How could Abraham see my day? Why, Abraham saw it through the eye of faith, but even before Abraham was, I am. Jesus existed. You see, when you study the book of John, you cannot mistake the fact that he claimed to be deity. There are those who like to say, well, Jesus was just a good man, he was even a great man, but they want to deny that he is the Son of God. But one cannot study the gospel of John without being convinced that either he was the Son of God, is the Son of God, that he made such astounding claims that either he is what he claimed to be, or he had to be the greatest imposter ever to walk on the face of this earth.

The book finishes, in fact, in John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31 with saying that this is the purpose for which it is written. When the apostle said many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. The very first words of the Gospel of John open with a claim that he is the Son of God, that he is God, eternal. The opening words in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

A very bold assertion to begin this great book. But then as you go through the book, you see that the Jews obviously understood the claims of Jesus. Why, in John chapter 5, you recall as we were studying when he healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, and they they began to complain because he had done this on the Sabbath day, and Jesus said, Well, my father worketh hitherto, and I work. In other words, don’t accuse me. The father’s the one who healed the man, and they took up stones to kill him, because he said that God was his father making himself equal with God. Even in this text of John chapter 8, they understood that he was making a claim to be God when he said, I am.

When they took up stones to stone him, for under the law of Moses, blasphemy could be punished by stoning. And that’s what they were doing. They were fulfilling the law by what they thought was blasphemy. We’re going to see later in John chapter 10, where Jesus says in verses 30 through 33, I and my father are one. And again they took up stones to stone him. And the Jews said to him, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy. And because that thou being a man makest thyself God. He claimed to be God. They understood. That is the claim that he made when he said, I am the Son of God. John 10 and verse 36. Oh, there are those today who do not seem to understand the same claims that the Jews understood.

Our Jehovah’s Witness friends, for example, they say that Jesus was first created as an angel. But later he became a God. But they deny that he was eternal in existence as God. Our Muslim friends deny the deity of Jesus Christ. They say he is a great man, in fact, a prophet of God. But they deny that he is greater than simply a prophet. In fact, they say Mohammed was a later prophet, and we need to follow the the words of Mohammed. But Jesus Christ made such statements that one cannot just lightly disregard them. If you’re going to accept Jesus as a good man, then accept him for what he said. If he’s a good man, he wouldn’t lie. And if he did not lie, then accept him as the Son of God.

He is the one who came with life. He gave his life that you and I might have life. But he could not have died for us had he not been the perfect one, the sinless one, who in the body is God with us. Yet he could die on the cross, as one who had been tempted in the flesh, as we are, and yet without sin, he made the perfect sacrifice. It is no light thing to reject the Christ. What do you say about him? There are other scriptures that corroborate his claims. In fact, look with me at Colossians chapter one, in verses fifteen through eighteen, there the scriptures also describe him as being the one who created all things. When it says, Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature?

For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. He is the head of the body of the church, who is the begetting, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. What do you believe about Jesus Christ? Do you believe that he is before all things, and by him all things consist? Even in Hebrews chapter one and in verse eight, the scripture quotes from the Old Testament a quotation that describes Jesus as God.

Under the Son, he said, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness as the scepter of thy kingdom, quoted from Psalm 45, verses six and seven. But then even in Philippians chapter 2, the scripture there speaks how that there will come a time when every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That he is Lord. The word that is used there is the same word that is elsewhere translated Jehovah, that He’s not the same as the Father, but He possesses the characteristics and the quality of deity, of Jehovah, of Lord.

Conclusion

He is the one who has come to bring life to you and me.

And that now as a believer, you will be born again. Not just accepting Christ in a mental verbal way, but rather as one who will now obey him. Jesus said, Why call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? And if you want to never taste of death, then as Jesus said in this text of John 8 51, keep his sayings. That means to be obedient. Hearing the gospel that Christ is the Son of God, won’t you now commit your life to him? Repenting of your sins. For Jesus said in Luke 13 and 3, Except a man repent, he’ll he’ll perish. Confess your faith that Christ is the Son of God, for in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 32, Jesus said, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father, but whoever will deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father.

But then you need to be baptized. Because it is in the birth of water and the Spirit that you can come to know eternal life. Baptized into Christ, being the seed of Abraham. Galatians 3:26-29. Until our next study, we bid that the grace and peace of our Lord be with you.