2. I’ve had an interesting time in this life, determining
where my traits come from
School Science taught me that DNA was everything
My Daddy, the Preacher, believed that it was all
determined by environment
My own experience however, causes me to
understand– in a personal way– exactly what Jesus
was saying in our focal passage today
Take-Home– the way I act on a daily basis proves who
I belong to
3. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s
descendants; yet you seek to kill Me,
because My word has no place in you. 38 I
speak the things which I have seen with My
Father; therefore you also do the things
which you heard from your father.” 39 They
answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our
father.” Jesus *said to them, “If you are
Abraham’s children, do the deeds of
Abraham.
4. 40 But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a
man who has told you the truth, which I
heard from God; this Abraham did not do.
41 You are doing the deeds of your father.”
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 have come from God, for I have not
even come on My own initiative, but He sent
Me.
5. 43 Why do you not understand what I am
saying? It is because you cannot hear My
word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and
you want to do the desires of your father. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and
does not stand in the truth because there is
no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he
speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar
and the father of lies.
6. 45 But because I speak the truth, you do not
believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me
of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not
believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears the
words of God; for this reason you do not hear
them, because you are not of God.”
John 8:37-47, NASB
7. In today’s passage, the debate centers around the
word father
Jesus identifies Himself with the Father in Heaven
He identifies the Pharisees with the Father of Hell,
Satan
Of course the Jews claimed Abraham as their
father
Jesus made a careful distinction between
Abraham’s “seed”, and Abraham’s “children”
8. Abraham’s “seed”
Physical descendants (DNA)
Abraham’s “children”
Spiritual descendants (because of personal faith)
See the difference? (Vv 37-38)
1. They wanted to kill Him (Abe– friend of God)
2. Abraham listened to God and was obedient
3. They resisted the Truth
9. One’s Nature is determined by Birth
Natural Birth is determined by Paternity
If God is your Father, you share His Nature
2 Peter 1:1-4
10. To those who have received a faith of the same kind as
ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus
Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His
divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to
life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him
who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by
these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent
promises, so that by them you may become partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world by lust. 1 Peter 1:1-4, NASB
11. One’s Nature is determined by Birth
Natural Birth is determined by Paternity
If God is your Father, you share His Nature
2 Peter 1:1-4
If Satan is your father, you share his nature
Understand– not all lost folks are children of
the Devil– the parables teach us that “false
believers” are Lucifer's progeny
Satan is an imitator- his kids fake
righteousness– NO WAY TO HEAVEN
12. What showed these leaders to be evil?
1. They rejected the Truth, (V 40)
2. Tried to kill Jesus because He spoke Truth,
(vv 42)
3. They didn’t love God (vv 42)
4. They could not understand Jesus’ teaching
(vv 43, 47)
1. Satan’s children may be well versed in
religious traditions, but NO understanding
of the WORD
14. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of
flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am
doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing
what I would like to do, but I am doing the very
thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want
to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law
is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it,
but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that
nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for
the willing is present in me, but the doing of the
good is not.
15. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I
practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am
doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer
the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find
then the principle that evil is present in me, the one
who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with
the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a
different law in the members of my body, waging
war against the law of my mind and making me a
prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
16. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free
from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God
through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one
hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of
God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Romans 7:14-25
17. Conflict in my 2 Natures
Romans 7:14-25
Remember last week– the key is my
“habitual” life, not just occasional
mishap
Satan is a liar and a Murderer
He lied to A & E and engineered
their deaths
Cain was a liar and killer, child of
the Devil
18. Cain killed his brother and lied
about it
Where is this going?
The worst bondage is the kind the
prisoner himself does not
recognize– gilded cage
The Religious thought they were
free but were really in bondage to
sin and the Devil
They wouldn’t face the Truth…
19. The way I act on a daily basis proves
to whom I belong
It also does the same for others you
know
I’m not saying you should be a Holy
Joe
I’m giving you the tools to diagnose
yourself and others for prayer
This week’s challenge…
