Classic Christianity – Book of John Part 432 (07-09-19)
Bob George continues where he left off in John 8. The Pharisees were unable to understand the language of Jesus. They had no room in their heart for truth. You either have the devil as your father or God as your Father. The devil’s desire is to steal, kill and destroy. The believer is set free from the clutches of the devil and is eternally saved. But the devil still speaks lies. He lies to us about our past, about our future, when we project such thoughts as if they are a reality today. So if you have resentment in your heart today, are you also worrying about tomorrow? Are you unable to let go of past resentments, hurts, insults or injuries? Is so, then you are believing a lie. Replace such error with the truth and the truth will indeed set you free. Let the words of Jesus renew you and set you free. Grab a hold of the truth and let His life be lived in you and through you. Many are trapped in emotional pain because they are dwelling on the past, projecting or fantasizing about the future. We live moment by moment. We can only praise God at this moment. The past is gone and the future is God’s country. We can thank God for what we have learned from the past and trust God for today and rest in his loving care for the future. Take God at His word. He has not given us a Spirit of fear, but a Spirit of love and a sound mind. If you are not experiencing love and a sound mind, then who is lying to you? The devil is the father of lies and speaks his native language. So let us forget what lies behind and press on toward our heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.
Have you ever said, “How come that dumb church did not teach me right?” So we build resentment in our hearts. That resentment can destroy you and me if we let it fester. That is committing suicide.
How many of you have ever been insulted, injured, or rejected? How many of you have insulted, injured or rejected someone else?
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but fear not [or be of good cheer] ; I have overcome the world.
In this world you will have tribulation. What is that tribulation. Getting insulted, injured or rejected by someone else.
We have options. You can choose to hang on to that rejection or let go of it. Are you going to release it into the hands of God? Jesus hung on a cross and said, “Father forgive them. They do not know what they are doing”. Was it bad? Yes. Was it evil? Yes. Can God take it and turn it around for good? Yes. How?
Luke 23:34
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
By the God of comfort, who comforts us in all of our problems, we too can comfort others with the same comfort we have received from God.
Why does God allow us to experience trials and tribulations? It is because he gave free will to man. So if God allows free will, then that choice of evil is possible? Why do we go through these things? To give us comfort. If we never had a trial or tribulation, how will we understand grace?
Is there forgiveness in your heart for others? How many of you have someone in your heart you have not truly forgiven? Not only do you punish yourself, but you also punish the other as well. We need to be able to say, “I forgive you”. Those words are the greatest words you will ever hear, “I forgive you.” Allow that to be true in your life. I know there are things you and I have done so far out of God’s will, we do not even need to talk about it. Jesus Christ came to suffer on a cross to forgive. Yet our prideful hearts will hold on because if I forgive him, he will do it again. What is that called? Speculation and fantasy. You do not know what will happen. Ninety percent of the time, the things we worry about never happen.
John 8:32-34
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Those demons that grab a hold of your soul and your mind, keeps you in bondage. No one will be set free apart from Jesus. There is no other way to be free from the error that binds us. The error that binds us is all through the world we live in today. The only truth that we can go to, to find out what is real, is to go to the word of God. It is the only book, that when you pick it up you, you are going to read one hundred percent truth. That truth will set you free from the error that occupies your mind.
John 17:17
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
2 Peter 1:21
For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
John 8:33
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
They did not understand who he was talking about. These people were in bondage to rules and regulations, and saying, “What do you mean I am a slave? I have never been a slave to anyone.”
John 8:34
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
How many of you can say today, you are a slave to sin? How many of you have sinned? How many of you have sinned today? What does he say you are? You are a slave to sin.
John 8:35
35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
If you are a slave to sin, you have to be set free from that. So what does it mean to be set free? Does that mean you will never sin again? No. There are those who teach that. Bob once asked a man who believed that to put his wife on the phone. She was not on the phone for long.
When you are talking about being free, then you are saved from the consequences of it. What is the consequence of sin? Death.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death
If you think that if you are born again that you will never sin again, then is that practical? Anyone going along with that? When was the last time you got upset when somebody cut in front of you on the freeway? Was that after you were born again?
Romans 14:23
everything that does not come from faith is sin.
So have you ever been worried about tomorrow? About being unemployed in a layoff that was announced? Is not your fear and worry an expression of your lack of faith in God who said he would provide for all of your needs? So you sinned then after you were born again?
Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
So the truth is we all sin, though less and less (2 Corinthians 3:18), as our minds are being renewed (2 Corinthians 4:16), and at other times, and we sin even when we know better when we give into the desires of our flesh that is in conflict with the Spirit within us (Galatians 5:17). We are no longer under the law of sin and death, but under grace (Romans 8:2), and have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1), who defends us against Satan, who accuses us day and night (Revelation 12:10). Jesus says to Satan, “His sins have been paid in full and there is now no condemnation for him. I am at work within him to will and to act according to my good purposes.” (John 19:30, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 8:1, Philippians 2:13).
John 8:36
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
We have been set free from being a slave to sin, from the consequences of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is life. And if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. How long will you be free? Forever.
John 8:37
37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
Why then are they trying to kill Jesus? No room for his word. These are religious people. There are people who know the word of God from beginning to end, and in many cases, had most of the Old Testament memorized. Jesus said to them , “You have no room for my word in your heart.”
Is there a difference between what Jesus is saying and what the Old Testament was saying? Was not all of that the word of God? What is the difference? Jesus was teaching what the word of God means? Do you put your faith in what the bible says or in what the bible means? In what it means. If you do not know what it means, you do not know what it says. A computer knows what the bible says but a computer does not know what the bible means. Neither do you and I unless Jesus reveals it to us.
1 Corinthians 2:9-11
9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him — 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
Earlier, in John 7, Jesus was teaching to have this attitude so that you may recognize truth when you hear it.
John 7:16-17
16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
Now, he continues to speak to the hard of heart and gave them a strong rebuke.
Proverbs 1:23
Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
That is why a person can be in a bible study, who will hear what it says, but will not know what it means. You can teach the meaning to someone who is lost as clear as a bell, and as logical as you can get, and he does not understand anything. The lost says, “I do not understand that”. He is dumb as dirt. He does not understand anything. Why? He does not have the Spirit of God in him. If you do not have the Holy Spirit of God living in you, then you do not understand what the bible means. You may be able to quote it all day long just like an actor as to what it says, but if you do not know what it means, then you do not have anything to put your faith in. So Jesus says to them, “Even though you know what the bible says, you have no room for the word I am giving you, which is what it means”. You have no room in your heart for that.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness
Why do you have no room in your heart for truth? Because you have already determined what it means by leaning on your own understanding. You have no room in your heart for true understanding. All you have room for is your man-made understanding. People today have grown up with unbelievable type of false teaching. When you tell a person the truth about that, there is no room in their heart for that. They reply, “This is what I believe. This is my tradition. I have been taught this. So do not tell me these other things because I do not believe them. There is no room in my heart for truth”.
John 8:38-42
38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.
39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did.
40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.
41 You are doing the works of your own father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.
43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.
The language of truth of Jesus is not clear to a person who is not able to hear what you are saying. That is why when you talk to a lost person, and the language you speak, the language of God, is unclear. You do not hear truth because you are unable to hear what Jesus is saying. Here is why.
John 8:44
44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies
There are two fathers. You have the father, the devil, and you have God the Father, and you will worship at the feet of one of the two. When you are talking about worshiping at the feet of the devil then your desires will be to carry out his desires.
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Who do you think a person walking around to destroy people, blowing up people in the name of God, who is their father? The devil is their father. When people say they believe in Allah, then their god is the devil, when what they were doing is the devil’s work, to carry out his works. The same thing with the Pharisees. So instead of blowing up buildings in New York, they are out to kill God. What greater travesty is that, to kill God?
John 8:44
The devil is speaking his native language because he is the father of lies.
Why? Because your father is the father of lies. How many of you experience a Satanic attack? How many of you ever had Satanic thoughts in your head? Whatever you think things are contrary to God, who is putting that in your heart? When you have fear, who is putting that in your heart? God does not give you a Spirit of fear, but of love and a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
How many of you believe that to be true? So when you have thoughts of fear, not natural fears, but fears in them. I am talking about the fantasies you put in your mind. Your husband is late for dinner and your husband is late. The reality is he is late for dinner. The reality is he is late. So you get mad because he is 15 minutes late. He was late yesterday too. In fact, he was late twice last week. Before long, you have 40 mads built up. How many of you have done that? But that is not good enough. So you think of the future. You project that he will be late in the future, and even late for his funeral. So now you have 100 mads built up. You are now in fantasy land. Unless you are God, you think you know what is going to happen tomorrow and the next day, week and even year. So you just think it is going to happen. So you have yourself convinced that what is going to happen is reality. Your emotions do not know whether that is true or not. Your emotions are merely responding to what you put in your mind. That is how we become emotional basket-cases, of an unsound mind.
Matthew 6:25-26
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Matthew 6:34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
All we know is that today, I am cooking supper, and he is 15 minutes late. The past is gone and the future is God’s country. So what happens is you get into self pity. So you have a pity party and nobody comes. So all these emotional things result from not letting these things go and deal with just in the moment, the present. Past thinking and future thinking is not from God. It sounds like it is. The devil always tells you it is. So quit believing the liar.
John 8:45-
45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
You live in the present, one day at a time. There is only one time I can praise Jesus, and that is right now. What I did yesterday is over. If you do not forget the past, you will live in the past. Your past will always be a current mistake if you do not let go of it and move on.
Philippians 3:12-14
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Whose business is the future? If I knew the future, I would make a million dollars on the stock market. The future belongs to God. The future is God’s country. Praise where you can, which is right now. Thank God you are alive today. Praise God that whatever happened in the past, learn from it. Be grateful for what you have been given today. Praise God for what has happened. Praise God for what you have. Do not worry about tomorrow, that is God’s country. Forget the past. It is over. This is the truth. Believe me and be happy.
We must learn that if we are going to live in peace and be free, we must learn to hand these things over to God. Thank God for the forgiveness that has been given to you. So many times I have had thoughts that are not real, and had resentments that are not of you. Thank God for His patience and love in my life. Thank God you for His love extended to each and every one of us so deeply that our minds cannot comprehend it. But we can apprehend it. I pray that if today that if something said or written down that will enable people to let go of past and resentments, and once done that, you realize such thoughts are not from God, and then to release those things to God forever. In the name of Jesus, we pray.
