 Our sermon title this morning is Like Father, Like Son. Like Father, Like Son. And we are in John chapter 8. And we've come to this paragraph now, this section of scripture that runs from verse 37 down through verse 47. Like Father, Like Son. As the Lord taught us last week in John chapter 8 verses 31 through 36, everyone, all men, all women, are a slave to Christ. Everyone is in bondage to sin. Everyone is a slave to sin unless they are set free by the Son of God. And if the Son of God sets you free, you are free indeed. This is a sober and tragic diagnosis, if you will, of the fallen human condition. Everyone is a slave to sin outside of Christ. As we work through these conversations now in the Gospel of John and specifically here in John chapter 8, the Son of God works here like a great physician. He works like a great surgeon, cutting even to the joints and marrow. He lays bare for us the heart of man, flaying him open, if you will, exposing the horrific nature of our disease and diagnosing our deadly enemy. Like a good doctor, the Lord says these things not to hurt, but to heal. He gives us this instruction not to damn, but to deliver. As he does this necessary soul surgery, he makes a critical distinction among men. Apart from popular opinion today, not everyone is a child of God. There are those who are saved and there are those who are lost. There are the wheat and there are the tares. There are the sons of the kingdom and there are the sons of hell. There are those who by faith in Christ are sons of God and there are those who by nature are children of wrath and the sons of Satan. The furthermore this morning as we examine verses 37 through 47, we have to remember Jesus is addressing those who have said that they believed in him from verse 30. They say that they believe in him and yet we see them tragically deceived and in bondage to sin. They're missing something, this group of people, missing something when it comes to genuine saving faith. They simply don't understand their sinfulness and so they can't comprehend their great need for the Savior. So Jesus says in verse 31 that they are truly his disciples if they abide in his word. And then he says in verse 37 that his word has no place in them. So now listen, in laying bare and in diagnosing the depraved heart of man and confronting us with the incredibly high cost, the high demands of Christian discipleship, the Lord exposes the sinful pride of man in his tendency to justify himself before God. In order to avoid having to do business before God concerning his sin, in order to avoid having to do business before God concerning his rebellion, man in his wicked deceptive heart looks for the easy way out, looks for opportunities to justify himself in his sin. In other words, now think about this, we convince ourselves that we believe and yet we continue in our rebellion. Man will convince himself that he is heaven bound all the while that he is in love with this world. Man will convince himself that he is a child of God and yet he has the desires in his heart of the devil. He'll say to himself, I'm not that bad and God's not that mad, right? And justifying himself, he looks for the easy way out. And there are many, there are many today that are ready and willing to provide for you a way out if you're interested in justifying yourself and your sin. We'll come along and say, listen, let me lead you in this prayer to receive Christ, right? We'll say to you, just go to confession. Listen, a few Hail Marys and you're good to go, right? Listen, you're forgiven. Why are you so concerned over your sin? You're forgiven. Let go and let God is not what they say. I know you've never read your Bible. I know you're addicted to pornography. I know you're angry all the time. I know you're flaunting your liberties and you're not really all that beat up about it. Listen, you know what your problem is? You're trying too hard. Why are you so concerned over your sin? And those liars, those charlatans, those snake oil salesmen will go out of their way to quote, unquote, help you out. They're motivated by their pride to have a big church or a fat wallet. And they make you twice as much a son of hell as themselves. So as the Lord teaches us here in John chapter eight, we're once again faced with a self-justifying infection that is bound up on our own heart. This self-justifying disease wrapped up in the heart of man. And we're asked, we're left asking the tough question. And again, the question not to hurt, but to heal, not to damn, but to deliver. Who may truly call God their father? Who is it that can truly call God their father? The sad truth is that there are many listening out there who are of their father, the devil. The disciples in the upper room on the night before the Lord's crucifixion. They knew the weakness inherent in their own hearts enough to ask about the one who would betray the Lord. Asking the Lord, Lord, is it I? Is it I? What about you this morning? What about you this morning? There's a vast group of those who would profess to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and yet they will die in their sins. Lord, is it I? God, do I have a genuine saving faith? Can I assure my heart before you that I am a child of the kingdom? There are those that are secure in their supposed salvation when they shouldn't be secure. They're deceived and they're on the broad road to destruction. There are those who have professed a faith in Christ and yet they've fallen into fruitlessness. Your self-justifying heart keeps you from seeing the great danger that you're in, the peril that you're in. There are those who are genuinely safe here today. Maybe you just need encouragement from God's Word. Or maybe you need a warning from God's Word to continue persevering in the faith to cling it to the cross, to keep your hand of the plow and not turn back. That one that turns from his hand of the plow is not fit for the kingdom, the Lord says. There are those here today who are truly and genuinely lost. You are now, even now condemned already, sons and daughters of Satan. Today, today, you must repent and put your faith in Christ. The Lord says, in an accepted time I've heard you and the day of salvation I've helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Why would you not turn to Him now, today, for the salvation of your soul? Many of us have heard the expression before, like Father, like Son. Like Father, like Son. Here in John chapter 8 verses 37 through 47, the Lord Jesus Christ provides the foundation for that expression. Who may truly call God their Father? Who is truly a child of God? We're going to explore the answer to that question. And we're going to do that by profiling here the sons of Satan. We're going to look at the profile of the sons of Satan, like Father, like Son. The sons of Satan, like Father, like Son, they reject His Word. The sons of Satan, like Father, like Son, they reject His works. They fail to love. They fail to listen. The sons and daughters of Satan, like Father, like Son, they reject His Word. They reject His works. They fail to love. They fail to listen. In all of that, the Lord exposes their evident nature so that He can point them to their evident need. He exposes their nature to point them to their great need for Christ. If it wasn't for the grace of God in Christ, this would be a hopeless endeavor, right? Consider the depravity of your own heart. Apart from the grace and mercy of God in Christ, this would be a hopeless cause, a hopeless endeavor, a hopeless portrait. What the Lord says in John chapter 20 verse 21 that these things are written, these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in His name. Not to hurt but to heal, not to damn but to deliver. So now the first mark of a deceived son of Satan is that one, they reject His Word. Look at verse 37 with me. They reject His Word. The Lord says, I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill me because my Word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with my Father and you do what you have seen with your Father. Now this confrontation about fatherhood here happens as a result of the claim they made earlier in the conversation. He implies in verse 32 that they weren't truly free apart from Him and His Word. And so to justify themselves in deceiving themselves and justifying themselves to assure themselves, they respond in verse 33, we are a Abraham's descendants that have never been in bondage to anyone. In other words, they're saying to Christ, listen, we don't need you. We don't need you. And we don't need saving. We're not in bondage to anyone. We're God's chosen people. We're descendants of Abraham. And they saw themselves as entitled to heaven. So the Lord picks up his argument then in verse 37. After they've said, listen, we're not in bondage to anyone. We don't need saving. We certainly don't need you. The Lord then picks up that argument in verse 37. And at first here, He acknowledges the truth of their physical relationship to Abraham. He said, I know that you're Abraham's descendants. Literally there, that word for descendants is seed. I know that you're Abraham's seed. I know that you're Abraham's descendants. But then immediately in verse 37, He begins to expose the obvious contradiction in their behavior. Although they're descendants of Abraham, look at what they do. They seek to kill him. He says, no, wait a minute. But you seek to kill me. That's certainly not what Abraham would have done. In fact, in verse 56, if you drop down to verse 56, Abraham rejoiced to see the coming of the promised Messiah. Abraham rejoiced to see his day. Jesus said it. He saw my day and was glad. So they were seeking, verse 37 here, they're seeking to kill the very Messiah that Abraham was rejoicing over. Do you see it? They're not acting like sons of Abraham. They're acting like sons of their father, the devil. You seek to kill me, He says in verse 37. And then it's further explained. He further explains it by the contrast that He sets up in verse 38. He says in verse 38, I speak what I've seen with my father and you do what you have seen with your father. See the contrast there. In other words, what he's implying here is we have different fathers. You have a father, I have a father. We don't have the same father. Two different fathers here. The farther we go in the conversation, the clearer that's going to get. Jesus is basically saying, you know, listen, you know that I've claimed to have come from God. You know that I've claimed that God has sent me. I've come forth from Him. And all that I say has been given to me by my father to say, and you're acting in accord with who your father really is. Like father, like son. So now what reason does He give for this wicked conduct? They seek to kill Him. And then they do what they have seen with their father. What's the reason He gives for this wicked conduct? He says in verse 37. He says, my word has no place in you. My word has no place in you. Literally it means it's not making any progress into you. It's a word that means it's not getting through. It's not making progress into you. It's not having its way in you. And this is how they reject His word. They reject the word of the Lord. And in rejecting the word of the Lord, His word has no effect in them. Has no progress in them. Now follow me with this. Follow the train of thought. Follow the argument here the Lord is making. They were supremely confident that they were right with God on their way to heaven. And all of their confidence, all of their assurance is grounded in entirely the wrong place. Supremely confident in all of their confidence grounded in the wrong place. For them, their confidence was primarily bound up in the fact that they were Jews descended from Abraham. Put yourself in the situation this morning. For you, it may be any host of things, any number of things. Maybe you're here this morning and you're confident that you believe in the Lord. You're confident that you're a Christian. You're confident because you believe yourself to be sincere. You think to yourself, listen, I know I'm a Christian. I know I believe. I was sincere when I made that commitment. I was sincere when I prayed that little prayer. I was sincere when I walked forward at the altar call, gave my life to Christ. And you think today that you're in Christ because you're sincere. You think to yourself, I know I love the Lord. And listen, in saying that, your confidence entirely wrapped up in your feelings. Do you see? Confidence in your feelings. Confidence in your emotions. Confidence in the sincerity of your heart, which the Bible describes as deceitfully and desperately wicked. Maybe you're here this morning and your confidence is wrapped up in the fact that you don't see yourself as being that bad. Maybe you're confident this morning because you don't see yourself as a sinner. And so your confidence is grounded in your morality. You just don't see yourself as that bad. And so in your self-righteousness, you justify yourself before God and your confidence in your salvation, your confidence is based in your morality. Maybe you're here this morning because you like church. Maybe you like the Lord's people. You like to come and sing the songs. You like to worship. You like the tradition of it all. And so maybe your confidence this morning is grounded in your religion. Maybe you've just been at it a long time. Maybe you grew up in church. You were here as a kid every time the doors were open. And so maybe your confidence this morning is grounded in or founded in your ability to persevere as a hypocrite for all these years. Where's your confidence this morning? On what are you basing your confidence in the Lord? Your confidence that you're a Christian. In verses 37 and 38 here, the Lord effectively pulls that proverbial rug right out from under your feet. You can't misplace your confidence. You have to put it in the right thing. You have to ground it on the proper foundation. He doesn't allow here for a false confidence or a false assurance. And he doesn't allow for it because he grounds the Christians practical assurance on the right evidence. On the right evidence. I want you to see that. Here, verse 37 and 38, he specifically grounds the professing Christians assurance on the professing Christians ongoing relationship with his own word, with his word. In verse 38, Jesus speaks what he has seen with his father. He speaks his word, what he has seen from his father. In verse 31, if you abide in that word from him, you are truly his disciples. When we look through that text, it means now to abide in his Bible. His spoken word is given to us in the Bible. We have the words of Christ. If you abide in them, you are truly his disciples. And in verse 38, here, by implication, if you act in accord with his word, then God is your father. What you do, he says to the Pharisees, these Jewish opposition, the Jewish opposition against him, what you do, what you have seen with your father. In other words, their father is not God. And remember from Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7, verse 24, the Lord says, whoever hears these words of mine and what? And does them. Whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house. He built his life on the bedrock foundation of obedience to God's word. Whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them. I'm going to liken that man to a wise man who built his life. He built his life on the bedrock foundation of obedience to God's word. When the storm of judgment comes, when the storm of judgment comes, that house, that life, stands. Because it is founded, it is grounded on the bedrock of obedience to God's words. His word abiding in you and you abiding in his word. And a life built on that foundation will stand. But he goes on in Matthew chapter 7. Whoever hears the Lord's words and does not do them. You hear these sayings of his and you do not do them. He likens you to a foolish man who built his life on the shifting sands of something else. If you hear these words of his and you don't do them, you are a foolish man, a foolish woman who has built the foundation of your life on the shifting sands of something else on your religion, on your morality, on your hypocrisy, on your feelings, on your emotions, on that commitment that you made, on that prayer that you prayed, on that time when you were baptized, on that time that you walked an aisle, the third or fourth time that you rededicated your life, whatever it is, right? You're basing it, you're grounding it in something else, shifting sand. And when the storm of judgment comes, that house falls. And the Bible says great, great is its fall. In verse 38, the evidence that one is a deceived disciple, the evidence that one has grounded their assurance in the wrong place, the evidence that they should not be secure, the evidence that they should not have assurance of their salvation is that his word makes no progress in you. His word has no place in you. There's no room in you for his word. Coreo is the word. S. Lewis Johnson speaks of the word being used for a growing plant or flowing water, meaning here that the plant just isn't growing. The water, the water of life just isn't flowing. They are simply unreceptive to the Word of God. If you're familiar with the parable of the sower from Matthew chapter 13, it's like that seed that fell by the wayside. It just lands on that hard, impacted, packed down soil. It's like seed hitting concrete. It just can't find any root. It can't take root and it can't produce fruit. Let me explain something very carefully at this point. Let's think about this together, theologically. Let's understand the theology of the Bible together. Justification, when someone is genuinely saved, genuinely right before God, justification is where those whom God calls, those that God calls to himself are granted by God, right standing with God. By grace alone, meaning that it's an entirely, it's entirely a gift of God, a free gift of God, not based in anything that you do, not based in any of your works. By grace alone, through repentant faith alone, meaning that it comes to us through the means or the instrumentality of our faith, our trust, which is also a gift from God, Christ takes our sin upon himself. Christ takes our sin upon himself. He imputes or he credits his perfect righteousness, his perfect obedience to us. And based entirely on the promises of God, the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. We are cleansed. We are declared righteous before God. Not any righteousness of our own. It is an alien righteousness. It is the righteousness of Lord Jesus Christ credited to us and we're justified. We're right before God. What a glorious gift. Justification, sanctification, sanctification is where those who are called and those who are justified now are conformed into the image of Christ. We are made more and more and more holy. Sins are weakened and put to death and mortified. Believers are strengthened and matured in the faith. By virtue of God's word and by virtue of God's spirit dwelling within the Christian, that Christian is fruitful. They do good works and they are made more and more practically holy day by day. Sanctification is God's work. Sanctification is God's work, but he has ordained to perform it through the means of the diligent and righteous pursuits of his people by faith in Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's sanctification. Paul said to the Philippians, work out your own salvation. Why? That's right because it's God who is at work in you. Work out your own salvation because it's God who is at work in you. Sanctification inseparably follows justification. Sanctification is distinct from justification but married to it. You are justified and then you are sanctified. That is the life. Sanctification is the life of a true disciple of Christ. That one that is justified will certainly be sanctified. So now listen. Assurance then. Assurance of justification. Assurance of your salvation. Assurance that you are standing right. You are in right standing before God is primarily based in the promises of Almighty God. Those promises of God secured and blood bought by the perfect and sufficient and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When God makes a promise in Christ it is yes and amen. It is secured by Christ at 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20. So the immediate ground, think about it now, the immediate ground and the primary ground of your assurance before God is the person in work of Christ. If you want to have assurance of your salvation. If you want to be assured that you are sons and daughters of God and not sons and daughters of the devil then your assurance begins at the person in work of Christ. The person in finished work of the Son of God. However, and think about it now, the promises of God, the work of Christ is not the only ground of our assurance. Our assurance also comes from inward evidence of that grace of God in our hearts. It's what theologians have called the benefits of Christ. You have the person in work of Christ but we're also assured through that evidence of grace in our hearts that is the benefits of Christ, the benefits of his work applied to us. The inward evidence of that grace of God in our hearts that we call sanctification. Here's how Mark Jones explains it in drawing assurance from these evidences of inward grace. Listen to this now. The Bible teaches that those who truly love Christ keep his commandments. Jesus said if you love me, keep my commandments, right? The Bible teaches that those who truly love Christ keep his commandments. So you make a premise then. Listen, by the grace of God by the grace of God, I keep God's commandments. So the conclusion that you can come to the conclusion that you can reach is I truly love Christ. The Bible says that those who truly love Christ keep his commandments. You can say to yourself I keep his commandments by the grace of God by faith in Christ, I keep his commandments and you can say I truly love Christ. The opposite is also true. The Bible teaches that those who truly love Christ keep his commandments. If you can say to yourself I don't truly keep his commandments and you can't assure yourself before God, you can't reach the conclusion that you truly love him. Similarly now, listen, God promises that in our salvation he will indwell us with his spirit. He'll give us a new heart, a new nature and he'll cause us to walk in his statutes. He'll cause us to keep his statutes and do them. So you may make an examination of yourself. You may examine yourself and say I'm not keeping his statutes in the power of the Holy Spirit. So the conclusion would be that God has not saved you. Do you see how it works? Do you see the the evidence, that inward work of grace that then becomes one grounds of our assurance before God. The objective promises of God in Christ and the inward evidence of a work of grace in our heart that forms the ground on which you can have assurance before him. All this to say, you cannot separate Christ from his benefits to his people. You cannot separate the person in work of Christ from the benefits of that person and that work purchased on Calvary for the believer. You can't separate them. Okay? The Westminster Confession states it this way. The Westminster Confession says, Good works done in obedience to God's commandments are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith. And by them, believers manifest their thankfulness and strengthen their assurance. I don't want you to hear that again. Good works done in obedience to God's commandments are the fruits and evidences of a true, a genuine, a real, a saving and lively faith. And by them, by those good works done in obedience to God's commandments, believers manifest their thankfulness to God and they strengthen their assurance. You want to be assured that you are a son or daughter of God and not a son or daughter of the wicked one and look to the promises of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and look at your own heart examine the evidences there examine what you see. Are you seeing fruitfulness? Are you seeing obedience? Are you seeing faithfulness? Are you seeing a love for God's word? Is his word truly abiding you or are you truly abiding in his word? Those according to here to the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 8 we've seen this picture painted for us in negative form. Those that do not have Christ's benefits in the gospel do not have Christ. Do you see? What are the benefits of Christ that they're missing out on? What are the evidences that they're missing? One, they don't abide in his word. If you abide in my word the Lord says you are truly my disciple. If you don't abide in his word you're not his disciple. Pretty simple, right? Other evidence, they're still enslaved to their sin. If you're still enslaved to your sin and you don't have the benefits that Christ has afforded to the believer you're enslaved to your sin you're not enslaved to him. Certainly his word has no place in them. It's not making any progress in them. I heard it said one time that if you're not being sanctified you're not justified. If you're not being sanctified you're not saved. The evidence, so to speak, of our justification again, one, the promises of God and Christ, but two the evidence that we are justified is our sanctification. We are being sanctified by God. It is a benefit that is blood-bought for us at the cross by Christ. So what's the inevitable conclusion here from John chapter 8? Those that don't abide in his word those that are still enslaved to their sin those people who God's word doesn't find any place in them. They're not sons of God but rather they are sons of their father the devil. I want to look at another passage of scripture that expresses this same truth. Turn with me to John 1 John chapter 3 1 John chapter 3 I want you to see this same truth expressed here again in the writing of John 1 John chapter 3 and look beginning with me at verse 7 1 John chapter 3 verse 7 like father like son like father like son 1 John chapter 3 verse 7 says little children let no one deceive you that points us to the fact that we are so easily deceived listen don't let anybody deceive you don't let anyone deceive you don't let your heart deceive you don't let your own mind your own reasoning deceive you. He's gonna say it he's gonna lay it out here for you clearly your eternity depends upon it your eternal soul depends upon you understanding these things don't be deceived don't let anyone deceive you heart to see of you? Listen, he who practices righteousness is righteous just as he, who's the he? Jesus Christ, that's right, just as he is righteous. Listen, he who makes a practice of righteousness, it characterizes his life. The practice of living holy, the practice of righteousness, obeying the Lord's commandments, that one that makes a pattern of obeying the Lord's commandments is righteous just as he, the Lord Jesus Christ, is righteous. Listen to verse 8. He who, and again the word there in Greek means a practice of sins, he who makes a practice of sinning, sin characterizes his life. That practice of unrepentant sin marks who he is. That guy is a liar. That guy is a thief. That guy is an adulterer. Whatever the case may be, right? That one who makes a practice of sin is of the devil. So the devil has sinned from the beginning, like father, like son. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested. For this purpose he came, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Some people who will say, I've been saved. And what they mean is they've been saved in their sin. They've been saved and free to continue sinning. And they'll continue sinning and call themselves a Christian. When I grew up in easy believism and I was in churches left and right that didn't preach an accurate and faithful gospel, and all you had to do, all you had to do to be saved was to ABC, right? You've heard that before? Admit, believe and confess ABC. It's interesting. There's no R in there. There's no repentance. There's no turning from sin. And so all my life I was just listening to that false gospel being preached, not with the Bible teaches. It's not what the Bible teaches. And yet deceived by that false gospel would have called myself a Christian, even though I live like the devil. I was of my father, the devil all the while believing and secure and assured that I was a child of God. You see how deceptive, how wicked that is. And if I had died, if I had died anywhere along the way, I would have dropped into hell. I would have been one of those crying out, Lord, Lord, I went down front when I was 12. I said that prayer. I was in church every time the doors were open, perplexed over why I'm in torment. It's deception. It's deception. So this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Verse nine, whoever has been born of God, born again of God's spirit, whoever has been born of God, does not make a practice of sin. Can John say it any clearer? I don't know how you would, right? Listen, don't sin. Don't make a practice of sin. You must turn from your, that's all I got. Exactly what John says. So listen, little children, don't let anyone deceive you. Listen, if you are in some practice of sin, you are playing with devil's fire. You are on the precipice of an abyss. You may think that you're a Christian, but if you're entertaining that unrepentant pattern of disobedience in your life, isn't he who makes a practice of sin is of the devil? Don't let anyone deceive you. Now listen, you can say to yourself, and people do left and right all the time. We're all sinners. We're all sinners. I remember witnessing to a guy one time. He says, I can't control my sin. I can't stop sinning. You know what I said to him? That you're exactly right. You can't. Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, not your own effort. And if you're genuinely saved, then there's going to be evidence of the work of God's grace in your heart causing you to overcome your sin and to walk according to His statues. Does that mean that you're going to be sinlessly perfect? No. We battle with sin. We struggle with sin. But that's another evidence of grace in your heart. There's a war raging. I'm sure you've talked to people, you've witnessed to people before, that there's not that battle going on. I remember talking to a guy one time, I'm standing in his door, sharing the gospel with him, and we were talking about sin. And he came under conviction. And he lashed out at me and he said, you're making me sound like I'm not saved. I said, well, it sounds like you're being convicted of your sin. Or what's the most important thing that Paul ever said? And I'm like, Paul said a lot of really important things. I don't know what was the most important thing that Paul ever said. And he goes, you know, that thing that you do that you don't want to do, but you do it because you can't do the things you want. Trying to quote Roman 7, you know, that voodoo that you do that we just couldn't quite get it right. But listen, the reality though in his life is that although he claimed Romans chapter 7 as an excuse for his sin. Listen, there are no excuses in the Bible for your sin. There was no evidence in his life of that raging war that takes place in the heart of a Christian once they've been genuinely saved. It is the bittersweet reality of the Christian life. Listen, the Lord Jesus Christ went to Calvary's cross to die, to take your penalty on himself, on the tree to bear the wrath of God that you deserve. Praise God if he died for you. But at the same time, we on this side of eternity still have indwelling sin to deal with and to contend with. And we know the cost. We know the cost that Christ paid for that sin. And if you love the Lord Jesus Christ, it's Paul in Romans 6. How can we who have died to sin live any longer in it? Whoever has been born of God does not make a practice of sin for his seed. His seed remains in him and he cannot sin because he has been born of God. Do you understand that? He cannot. He cannot because he's been born of God. Like Father, like Son, like Father, like Son. What about you this morning? Is the Word of God this morning having its way in you? Is the Word of God making progress in you? Think about your Christian life. Do you see evidence of the grace of God in your sanctification? You may have said to yourself, when you were 12 or when you were 18 or when you were 4 or whatever, that you were genuinely saved. Think about your life from that time until now. Has your life been one of direction, not perfection, but direction? Has it been this steady growing in grace, maturing in faith, strengthened by the Lord, growing in holiness, increasing righteousness over time, more and more and more conforming into the image of the Son of God, more and more love for his Word, greater victory over sin, more and more obedience to his Word? Has that been the direction, the pattern of your life? Just simply obeying him more and more and more consistently as time goes by. Of course, listen, of course, there are going to be times when you struggle and times when it becomes difficult and times when you fight and scratch and claw. And the Bible calls us to that scratching and clawing. It's a high cost of discipleship, but there's going to be victory. There's going to be overcoming. There's going to be progress. If you're like me, when I was lost and deceived and in my sin, there were years, years that went by where there was no progress. If there was any progress, it was in the opposite direction. That's not the Christian life, folks. That's not what the Bible teaches. One of the great exposers, if you will, of false theology is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Those who are bloodbought by Christ will persevere in faith to the end and be saved. Today, the church is teaching on eternal security or once saved, always saved. That's true. That's true. But that's only part of the truth. And if you teach that part of the truth and fail to teach the whole truth, someone will believe a whole lie all the way to hell. Is the Word of God making progress in you? Does it find a regular and life-sustaining soul enriching, soul-nourishing place in you? Do you make room in you for the Word of God? Do you? What does your life look like? The plague of the modern professing church today is often an easy believism, a cheap, powerless grace. It's a lawlessness. Theologians call it antinomianism, no law. It separates Christ and his benefits. His Word makes no progress in them. It separates faith from its fruits. It separates our sanctification from that striving and that effort that the Bible clearly calls us to. It strips the gospel of its power. And ultimately, it's a not-so-subtle way of rejecting his words, rejecting his word. One, they reject his words, the Lord's words. Secondly, they reject his works. Look at verse 39. They reject his works. Verse 39 says, they answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. So Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. 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. You do the deeds of your father, like father, like son. They reject his works. So now picking up on the Lord's implication, they get what he's getting at, right? They understand what he's saying. Picking up on that implication in verses 37 and 38, the Jews then here defensively retort with Abraham is our father. Abraham's our father. There's a tone of irritation there. There's a tone of hostility there. They get the spiritual point that the Lord is making and they think to themselves, well, he may be talking about spiritual descendants of Abraham. We measure up in that way too. We're not just physical descendants of Abraham. We're also spiritual descendants of Abraham. We match up that way too. And Jesus basically says, no you don't. That's his answer to them. Verse 39, no you don't. Paul said this in Romans chapter 9 verse 6. Listen, but it is not that the Word of God has taken no effect, for they are not all Israel who are of Israel. Do you get that? Verse 7, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham. Their physical descendancy from Abraham is not even close to as important as their spiritual descendancy from Abraham. It's far more important, far more important to be a spiritual seed of Abraham. It says there, but in Isaac your seed shall be called. That is, verse 8, it says, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as the seed, the children of promise. That promise comes to us by faith. My faith in the Son of God who lived and died gave his life for us. Listen what Paul says again in Galatians chapter 3. Let's go there. Turn with me to Galatians chapter 3 quickly. Galatians chapter 3 and look there with me at verse 6. Galatians chapter 3 at verse 6. Here Paul says to the Galatians, just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him, accredited to him for righteousness. In other words, that's that imputation again, right? The crediting of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to those who put their faith and trust in him, right? Abraham believed, he put his faith in God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Verse 7, Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. That's pretty clear, right? Verse 8, in the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying in you, all the nations shall be blessed. So then, those who are of faith to that Jew, that ethnic Jew that puts his faith in God to that Gentile that puts his faith in God, that puts his faith in Lord Jesus Christ, those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. In the same way that believing Abraham was blessed, you're blessed if you have the faith of Abraham. Do you see that? Drop down to look at verse 26. There it says, for you all are sons of God through what? Through descendancy in Abraham? Through our physical relationship to Abraham? No. You're all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. You want to be a son of God? Put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So those who are then, listen, those who are the true children of Abraham are those who share the faith of Abraham. They have the same faith of Abraham. And that faith, that faith inevitably produces the fruit that faith will produce. It produces good works like father, like son. Abraham put his faith in God and Abraham produced, as it says there, the works of Abraham. The works of Abraham, which are works done in faith are good works. Works as a fruit of faith in Christ. Those who share the faith of Abraham, those who put their faith in Christ will also do, as it says there, the works of Abraham, which are good works done in faith. Faith inevitably produces good works. So like father, Abraham, like son, a guy that shares his faith, right? Same kind of thing. Jesus goes on to say then, in verse 39, to contrast this with these Jewish opponents here, he says in verse 39, if you were Abraham's spiritual children, then you would do the works that Abraham did. Okay? If you were truly his spiritual children, then you would do the same works. You'd do the works that Abraham did. So again here, making the case here that for anyone who claims to be a Christian, for anyone who claims to be a Christian, that claim, if it's true, is going to be backed up by evident good works. It's going to be backed up by the evidence of the fruits of faith. Do you get it? So what are the works of Abraham then? What are the works of Abraham? Based on the context of Scripture, we can deduce that the works of Abraham are obedient works done in faith. You're going to do the same kind of thing that Abraham did in his faith. He did good works. He obeyed the Lord, and he obeyed the Lord in faith. Listen to this from Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8. This is the great hall of faith, which Abraham is a key part. And listen to the works of Abraham from Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8. It says there, by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. The Lord called him out of Ur of the Chaldeans. He called him out, and Abraham obeyed by faith. He just simply trusted God, and he went. That's good works that are the fruit of faith. Abraham had faith, and it produced obedience. Verse 9, it says, by faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. Now by faith, by faith Abraham trusted God. He was waiting for that heavenly city whose builder and maker is God. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country. By faith he went out. Now in great contrast to Abraham, in great contrast to the works of Abraham, the Lord's opponents here in John chapter 8 reject works, giving evidence of faith in Jesus Christ. They reject the works of Abraham. They don't do the works of Abraham, they do the works of their own Father. They'd rather rely on their own works. They'd rather rely on their religious traditions, right? Their religious rituals. Specifically here, they would rather just kill him. They just want to kill him. Those are their works. That's the works of their Father. Often today, professing Christians either by their word or by their lifestyle or both, they believe many, believe that good works or holy living are ultimately unnecessary. I don't have to do the works of Abraham. I don't have to produce fruits of faith. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and frankly my faith doesn't produce any fruits and yet I'm a Christian. And they believe that. They deceive themselves and they'll wind up in hell when they die because their faith isn't real. Their faith isn't genuine. Paul says to Titus in chapter 1 verse 16, they profess to know God but in works they deny him being abominable, disobedient and disqualified for every good work. Now someone may say, listen, I go to church every week. I go to church every week. I worship. I go to Sunday school class. I'll go to a small group on a Tuesday night and Wednesday night. I'll read my Bible every now and then and all that is is a heartless, mindless ritual. You profess the Lord with your lips but your heart is far from him. It's not the works of Abraham. It's not the fruits of faith. It's something else entirely. It's based in faith in Christ, the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your faith in Christ, if it is genuine saving faith in Christ, will produce the same kinds of works that Abraham's faith produced. Think about it now. Abraham being a distant brother of ours. In Abraham, a man with a nature like ours, like Elijah, right? Like James says, a man with a nature like ours by faith obey the Lord and we today can put our faith in Christ and do those good works by faith in Christ and the power of his spirit in the same way that Abraham did. It will so to speak produce the works of Abraham. Look with quickly with me at James. Look at James chapter two. James chapter two. Here, these sons of Satan are just rejecting out of hand that they have to do any works. They're not going to do works by faith in Christ. They're going to trust their own works. They're going to trust their religious traditions. They're going to trust their morality, their religious rituals. In James chapter two, we won't get into it too much just for lack of time but listen to what this says now. Beginning at verse 14. Verse 14. What does it profit my brethren? If someone says he has faith but does not have works, can in this better way to say it, can that kind of faith save him? What does it profit? If someone says he has faith but does not have works, can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked in destitute of daily food and one of you says to them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Is this preaching works salvation? Nope. It's preaching a salvation that works, right? A faith that works. It's a powerful faith. Listen to verse 18. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works. Can you do it? No. You can't demonstrate faith. How do you demonstrate faith? I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe. You can't do it. Faith is demonstrated by your works. This one other one says, listen, I will show you my faith by my works. That's what the Lord calls us to. That's what the Bible teaches. You believe that there is one God you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. So in other words, what differentiates your faith from the faith of a demon? Listen, demons have seen the Lord Jesus Christ. They have heard him preaching. They know far more than you and I do, and yet their faith is not a saving faith. What differentiates it? It's the works of faith, the fruits of faith produced by faith in Christ and the power of the Spirit of God. There's 20. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham, our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? In other words, his faith was confirmed by his obedience. He obeyed the Lord. Do you see that faith was working together with his works and by works, faith was made perfect? In other words, faith is seen as genuine. Faith is seen as real. Faith is seen as true when it's evidenced by good works, when it's evidenced by obedience to the Lord. Apart from that evidence, faith is dead. Verse 23, and the Scripture was fulfilled which says Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. It's not justified there by works in a salvific sense. It's that his faith is confirmed or affirmed by the fruit that genuine saving faith produces. So again, now the contrast back in John chapter 8 is very clear. The contrast is clear. Abraham wasn't a murderer and they're seeking to kill the Lord Jesus Christ, right? Abraham obeyed God's word. They're here rejecting God's word. And so as clear as the contrast is, the conclusion is equally as clear. Verse 41, the Lord says, you do the deeds of your father. In other words, Abraham is not your father. God is not your father. You do the deeds of your father, like father, like son. They reject his works. Thirdly, they fail to love. Look at the second part of verse 41 there. They fail to love. Then they said to him, we were not born a fornication. We have one father, God. And Jesus said to them, verse 42, 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. So now in the second half of verse 41, they not only fail to love him, they show utter contempt for him. There are a couple of possible explanations for what they mean here when they say we're not born a fornication. We have one father, God. But the one that seems to make the most sense here is that this is a wicked jab on the part of this Jewish opposition against the Lord's virgin birth. It's a wicked accusation, a wicked jab. In other words, we're not born a fornication like you were. Right? Speaking of the relationship of Joseph and Mary, how they thought that was adulterous or fornication, they saw him, they saw the Lord Jesus Christ as being the illegitimate product, if you will, of an illicit relationship between Joseph and Mary. And in contempt they say we're not born a fornication in a sense to say like you were. Just shows contempt for him. It's extremely disrespectful, hateful, right? But once again, despite all the evidence to the contrary, they still claim God as their father. And so once again, the Lord then provides them with more evidence of their true spiritual condition. Verses 41 and 42, they're speaking here and responding from their own depraved nature. This flows out of their own depraved heart. The primary evidence of that is that they have failed to love him. They failed to love the Lord Jesus Christ. The secondary evidence implied there is that they actually show a contempt for God by showing a contempt for the Lord Jesus Christ. They reject him whom God has sent. Verse chapter 5 verse 23 says he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. They fail to love the Lord Jesus Christ. They fail to respond in love. They respond rather with hate. So think about it now, the profile of the sons of Satan. They reject his word. They reject his works. They fail to love. Lastly, they fail to listen. Verse 43, why do you not understand my speech? The Lord asks rhetorically because he says you are not able to listen to my word. He answers his question. So the Lord asks very simple, but it's a very profound question. Why do you not understand my speech? Speech there is referring to language. It's his manner of speech, the way that he's talking. Why do you not understand my language? He might as well be speaking a different language to them because they can't understand. Word there, the second part of verse 43, word, because you are not able to listen to my word, refers to his message, the content of his preaching, so to speak. So the essence of what he's saying is this, there's no fault here in the messenger. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a poor communicator. The fault lies with those opposing the Lord Jesus Christ here. They're unable to hear, they have no ability to hear, and the word there for here, the word there for here implies an obedience. It implies a response to what he's saying. You can't understand the language I'm using, the Lord says, because you're unable to grasp the spiritual content of what I'm saying. You get it? You just can't do it. You're not able to. Their lack of ability to get it, so to speak, is evidence that they are children of their father, the devil. They're children of their father, the devil. They're not children of God because they just can't get what he's saying. Second Corinthians chapter 4 verse 3 says this, Paul says, but even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age, who's that Satan is right, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. Now, there's a connection there between Second Corinthians chapter 4 and the passage we're looking at, verse 43. It says in verse 4, Paul says in Second Corinthians, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe lest. They don't believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. Here they fail to listen lest they should have to submit to that message that he's preaching. Do you get it? They don't want to submit. They want to suppress the truth of God in their sin. They don't want to believe. They want to remain steeled in their unbelief, and so they reject his word. They fail to listen. And so they claim to be sons of Abraham or sons of God, but the Lord here presents them with all this evidence that they in fact are not sons of God. They are in fact sons of their father the devil. They reject his word. They reject the Lord's works. They fail to love the Lord. They fail to listen to his word. They fail to receive his word, so to speak. And so he presents them then with the final and inevitable conclusion in verse 44. These are the fruits of their evident nature, like father, like son. Verse 44, you then 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. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Now what he has previously implied, he now states explicitly. The Jews may have been related to Abraham physically, but spiritually they are sons of Satan. Ephesians 2 would explain it in this way, they are dead in their trespasses and sins. They walk according to the course of this world, which is under the sway of the wicked one, according to the prince of the power of the air, according to the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom they all conduct themselves in the lusts of their flesh, doing the desires of their father. They fulfill the desires of their flesh and of their mind, and they are by nature children of wrath, just as the others, as Paul says in Ephesians 2. Their father was a murderer and a liar from the beginning. And he's referring to Satan in the garden from the beginning. From the beginning, God said to Adam and Eve, of the fruit of that tree, of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. If you eat the fruit of that tree, you'll surely die. Satan comes along, lies, and says, you'll not surely die. Attempts Adam and Eve, Adam and Eve take the fruit. All of mankind falls, and sin enters the world, and as Paul says, death through sin. And Satan becomes the murderer of the human race in that sense. Their desire to kill Christ is evidence that they proceed forth and come from Satan, like father, like son. It says that when he speaks a lie, when Satan speaks a lie, he speaks of his own resources. That means that he's, he's speaking out of his own essential character. He's speaking from his own nature, from his own character. And listen, like father, like son. Outside of Christ, you act and you speak in accord with your wicked nature, with your depraved heart. You sin. You're not a sinner because you commit a sin. You commit sin because you are a sinner. By nature, you are children of wrath outside of Christ, like father, like son. All of this points to, ultimately, their evident need. You know, in verse 45, because I tell you the truth, this is like 2 Corinthians chapter 4, because I tell you the truth, you don't believe me, they reject the truth of God because they don't want the truth of God. In their hard-hearted rebellion, they reject his word. This all points to their evident need. Look at verse 46. Which of you convicts me of sin? The Lord asks. And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears God's words. And again, that word for hears carries within the implication of obeying, of responding to it. Therefore, he says, you do not hear because you are not of God. The argument in verse 46 is meant to challenge them to consider their need. I want you this morning to consider your need, consider where you're at, consider the evidence, consider what's been presented. Where are you with the Lord this morning? Where are you? Verse 46 is meant to challenge them to consider their need. Listen to the challenge. As proud as they were of their knowledge of the law, and considering how much they hated and disputed the message that Christ preached, if they find it impossible to truly convict him of sin in heaven's courtroom, so to speak, shouldn't they then question their own position? They had a lot to accuse them of. They could accuse them of blasphemy. They could accuse him of breaking the Sabbath. They could accuse him of eating and drinking with sinners and tax collectors. None of those accusations could stick against the Lord Jesus Christ. They were dredging up false witnesses at his court, at his trial before his crucifixion, and couldn't find any testimony against him. None of that evidence, none of those baseless accusations would stick. He is sinless. He is perfect. And so listen, if they couldn't find any fault against him, if they couldn't convict him in God's courtroom, so to speak, maybe they need to consider they're on the wrong side of this thing. Maybe they need to consider that they're wrong. They're thinking about this wrongly. And yet the Lord says, if I tell them the truth, they don't believe me. If I tell you the truth, you don't believe me. And in the Greek in verse 46, it should read because I tell you the truth. You do not believe me. It's precisely the truth that brings up their defensive, self-justifying unbelief. That self-justifying defensive unbelief just sort of scrambles to the surface to try to knock down any knowledge of God rising up before them. They just want to quickly suppress it in their sin, suppress the truth and unrighteousness and believe the lie. Like father, like son. So how do you do it? How does this work then? Where is their hope? If you recognize your need, then listen to God's words. John chapter 3, verse 3 says, the only way that it's possible is if they are born again of God's Spirit. John chapter 6, verse 44 says they must be drawn by the Father. John chapter 6, verse 37 says they must be given to the Son. John chapter 6, verse 45 says they must be taught by God. John chapter 6, verse 70 says that they are chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to throw yourself upon Christ for mercy. Throw yourself the foot of the cross and cry out to God that He would cause you to be born again by His Spirit, that He would open your eyes to the truth, open your eyes to your own sinfulness and show you Christ as your need been exposed this morning. Do you see it? Who's your Father? Where are you this morning? Where does the evidence point? Don't listen to your heart. Don't look back at some fleeting temporary experience you think you had. Where's the evidence? Where does the evidence point in your life? Don't rise up in pride. Don't rise up in anger and defensiveness and hostility. James says a wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. All the anger and hostility in the world is not going to get you saved. Don't justify yourself that you are righteous. Look for evidence that you are righteous. What's the testimony of your life? Who is your Father? Are you a son? Are you a daughter of God? Or are you a son of Satan of your Father the Devil? What's the testimony of your life? If you're here this morning and you're lost, turn to Christ now today. Put your faith in Him. Trust Him. He will save you. He'll cleanse you. He'll forgive you. He'll sanctify you. He'll conform you into His image. He'll give you the strength and the power that you need by His Spirit to live the Christian life and one day He will glorify you with Himself in heaven. If you're here today and you're a Christian, you profess the Lord Jesus Christ, what's the evidence of your life? What's the evidence of your life? Are you living by faith in Him? Have you fallen into neglect, fallen into apathy or indifference? Gird up the loins of your faith. Live for Christ. Put your faith in Him. Trust Him. Live the Christian life, the power of the Spirit. Obey the Lord. Live for Him fervently. It's that one that perseveres to the end that is saved. Don't play games with fire. Put your faith and trust in Christ. Amen. Amen. Let's take a few moments and just in silent prayer and ask the Lord to work in our hearts considering this text this morning. Let's pray together, Father in heaven. God, I pray even now, Lord, that you would do the work in our hearts that only you can do. God, we look to you in faith, trusting you, trusting you, Lord, without doubting. And we pray, God, that you would do that work. God, we know that you are the one who grants repentance and faith and you draw us to yourself. God, that you cleanse us, you justify us. So we come to you this morning, God, for mercy. For that one who doesn't know you, God, for mercy, we know, Lord, that you are slow to anger and of great kindness. You relent from doing harm. We praise you and thank you that in Christ all of the promises to the believer are yes and amen and that we can be adopted into the family of God. We can cry out to you, Abba, Father, and lay all our cares upon you because you care for us. And we praise you and thank you for those glorious blessings. For my brother and sister here this morning, God, I pray that you'd strengthen them in their faith, that you would bless them with great fruitfulness, great faithfulness to your word, that your word would have its way in their hearts by your spirit for their good and sanctification, God, but for your glory as trophies of your grace that we would live for you as a testimony to this lost world. God, please work, work in us, Lord, for your glory. I pray that we'd be faithful or to work out our salvation, as Paula said, in fear and in trembling and God with a confident assurance that it's you who work in us to willing to do according to your good pleasure. We love you, Lord. Thank you for your word. Thank you for Christ in his perfect and sufficient and finished work by grace through faith. God, apply that work to us, Lord, as we live for you. I hope it's to live for you more faithfully. It's for your great namesake. It's in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we pray all these things. Amen.