John Chapter 8 Verse 31, Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  Abide is an interesting word.  In the Greek, its “meno” which actually means “to remain” or “to continue.”  In its most extreme translation, it actually means “to be the same as or to live as one” and so what Jesus is saying here is if we abide, if we remain, if we continue, then we are indeed His disciple.  Not camp out, not vacation, not get away into His word, but man it’s the very breath in our lungs, the very marching orders of our Commander.

 

Why?  Why so is the word so important…why does the Lord direct us to abide in His word?  Let’s jump ahead for a moment to John 15…Look at verses 1 – 8.  If we are bearing fruit, then we are firing on all cylinders…we are living beyond this temporal, physical realm and we are touching eternity itself!  And just a breath of that…a glimpse of that is what many refer to as revival!  You are energized, you are filled with the Spirit of God and the by product of that, the outward display of that inward peace and purpose and power…is fruit!

 

Contrast that with the branches that do not bear fruit…they get burned.  Trampled here, hurt there, dried up and brittle…that is not God’s will for you!  God’s will for you, His desire is that you would bear fruit and in that come alive unto Him…that is to be His disciple…that is to abide in Him and how do you do that, how do you get there…?  Abide in His word!

 

Now understand that abiding in the word of God is not a condition of discipleship…it is not a prereq…but rather it is the desire of a true disciple…it’s not a condition of discipleship is the manifestation of it. 

 

What do I mean by that?  Abiding in the word is not a task to be completed by Jesus’ disciple drone on a daily basis.  No, it is the rhythm of the one who has been set free from sin, filled with the Holy Spirit and simply loving the Lord…seeking to be used by Him…seeking to grow in Him.  

 

Another way to translate that word abide or “meno” is “endure.”  What do you do when following the words of everlasting life make you forsake this neverlasting life?  When God’s word says love, when God’s Son has shown you how, yet when they hurt you, when they reject you…what then?  Do you run to the Lord and find strength in His word?  Or do you fall to sin and find yourself again wrapped in the consequential chains of carnality?

 

And so Jesus says, if you abide in My word, you are truly, genuinely, you are for real my disciple…and He continues, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  This is why I teach the word of God.  John 8:32.  I don’t teach the word of God so that you might be filled with knowledge.  No, I teach the word in hope and expectancy that it will be mixed with faith…in other words that you may apply it to your lives, and in doing so, learn the truth.  See it to be true.  Experience it to be the very word of the Father of Eternity.

 

That’s in fact what Jesus is saying here.  He uses the word “ginosko” there saying, “you shall ginosko the truth.”  That word doesn’t mean to academically digest the truth, understand it in such a way that data is processed but rather that you will experience the truth and in that, you own it! 

 

So much more than memorization or mental acceptance…Jesus says if you’re My disciple then the word will abide in you and you will apply the word and experience that it is true in that, faith will explode!  And then, you’re free!  Free from the guilt of yesterday because the word says you are, free from the worries of today because the word says you are and free from the speculation as to tomorrow because the word tells us what’s even yet to come!  Free!

 

And so Jesus has turned to the ones that believed in Him and He tells them now what they must do…abide in His word, apply His word and discover experientially for themselves that He indeed is faithful.  That He indeed will do what He has said He will do, and in discovering that for yourselves, and with the Holy Spirit even revealing deeper truths of life and eternity along the way, you become unstoppable!  1 Cor 4 says that it is the servants of God, the disciples of Christ who are the stewards of the mysteries of God! 

Yet some of these apparently were believers who had no interest in becoming His disciples and we’ll see that here as we continue.

 

Verse 33, They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.  This is a rather ridiculous statement because even at this time they were in bondage to Rome…and I suppose they had momentarily forgotten of Egypt and the Babylonians and the Medo-Persians…but what this shows is just how blinding pride can be…how it can take you right out of reality and a good mark, a good sign that you have exited reality is that word “never.”  He never takes me anywhere.  She never tells me she loves me.  I never hit this light green.  See what I’m saying?

 

The truth is they are in bondage, not just to Rome, but to sin.  But they don’t see it…to see it, to face it, would require a response, would prompt repentance and change but they don’t desire that…those that are there that don’t believe and those that are there that may believe but simply do not desire to be His disciple.  So they ask there in the later part of verse 33, “How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

 

Verse 34, Jesus answered them, Most assuredly (in other words listen up), I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  You say that you are free, that you are not under bondage yet you serve your flesh, you serve sin.  The definition of slavery is a someone being dominated by something of influence, whether it be a person, a nation, a behavior, an attitude or an addiction. 

 

Romans 6:16 says, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

 

But Paul goes on to say that he is so thankful to God for sending His Son that we might be set free from the chains of sin and rather than serve death, we now serve life as the very family of God…His sons and His daughters!  Look at what Jesus says next, “And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed!”

 

Stuck in the rut of anger, He can make you free.  Lost in the fog of worthlessness, He can make you free.  Unable to love, unable to show grace, wrapped in the chains of rejection, He can make you free.  Drowning in pain from what’s happened, He can make you free. 

 

The bottle can’t, the pipe can’t, the porn can’t, the clubs can’t, the drugs can’t, the job can’t…nothing else has the power to set your soul free of its weight and burden but Jesus Christ and He says here, if it is Me that you look to for freedom…if it is Me that you look to so that you might find life…then you’ll find it!  You will explode with life!  You will ignite with liberty!

 

Verse 37, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.”  Isn’t that interesting.  The word has no place in you so you seek to kill Me He says…He said in 5:24, “if you hear and believe My word then you have everlasting life.”  He said in 8:31, “if you abide in My word then you are My disciples.”  And here He again says “My word” but this time, the result of the rejection of the word, Jesus is killed.  Life Himself is rejected.  Do you see why it is so important to get the word into you?  When the temptation arises, when the tough time comes, will you choose life or will you miss out? 

 

Do you trust the word over your own emotions?  Do you follow the word or do you follow your way?  These folks that Jesus speaks to, they do not give place to the word in their heart and so no thanks Jesus, we’ll keep our chains, we’ll keep our death, we don’t believe. 

 

And so Jesus continues in verse 38, “I speak what I have seen with My Father (so the word is literally the very presentation of the perspective of the Father…or simply stated, the truth) I speak what I have seen WITH My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.  So notice Jesus compares His word with their actions…He says “I speak, you do”…and what we do shows us the household which we rep. 

 

Jesus speaks in truth, grace, love, mercy, patience…all characteristics of God the Father yet the Jews there that are arguing speak filled with emotion, ruled by their flesh, accusing, name calling…and refusing the truth…all characteristics of the enemy…and they continue…

 

Verse 39, They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”  It’s interesting the self righteousness of this response.  This response speaks not only to Jesus regarding His statement about their father, but also regarding His statement about them being in bondage.  By claiming Abraham as their father, in their self righteousness, they were envoking God’s covenant with Abraham…they were saying hey, the gentile is in bondage because they are not a part of the Jewish church, the covenant people…but not us…we’re Jews, we’re circumcised, we are just fine.

 

And we see this still today.  The word of God is taught in churches and the fact that man is ruined and lost apart from following the Lord is preached…and the result is not all that removed from what we see here.  Career Christians, professional church patrons and even those that simply will not bow the knee will resent being classified like that.  They embrace pride and rebuke shame and hold on to the lie that they are better than others because they go to church and pay their tithes…and they’re lost…because they stand in their own strength.  They claim the title of Christian and yet reject the doctrine of Christ.

 

What it boils down to is that you and I and we need a Savior.  No matter how well-to-do you are or how down-and-out you are…the ground is level at the foot of the cross.  And to realize that is one thing but to embrace and accept that fact is something completely different.  But truly to find yourself at the feet of Jesus is to find yourself freed.  Liberated.  But that position unto Christ is not for the got-it-together crowd…it’s for the broken.  A broken and a contrite heart, that I love, God says…why?  Because that is a heart that has faced the truth. 

 

These Jews have not…and so they again lay claim to their self righteousness, “Abraham is our father.”  Look at Jesus’ response. “If you were Abraham’s children”, (Jesus doesn’t say decendants…He says children…so He is speaking now spiritually…what household do you rep), “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.”

 

So important and interesting to me and I hope you’re picking this up…Jesus keeps saying “you do, you do, you do”  He is being very clear and this speaks very clearly to me that the very works of your life, including reactions, attitudes…because even those are manifestations of what is inside…even your words…the Bible says that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks…the very works of your life indicate to which father you belong…is your Father God or is he sin and death…or sin and death personified, Satan.

 

What happens next is not surprising, but it is appalling…look at how the Jews respond.

 

Back in Verse 41, Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication;  (they basically said, “your momma.”  The truth was given, they questioned…Jesus explained…they rejected…Jesus pleaded…now they insult…exactly how it happens…and it’s just so childish…they condemn His mother)  “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father-God.”  Great representation of God guys…childish insult…oooook.

 

Jesus again responds in love and grace and truth, Verse 42, Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech? (rhetorical question…why do you not get what I’m saying, why do you not understand the truth…now the answer) Because you are not able to listen to My word.  (That is a very complex phrase in the Greek…it can also be translated…you have shut your ears to the truth…it doesn’t work for you, with your customs, with your setup, and so even though it is heard, it is not heard…hearing they will not hear…as it is written)  You are of you father the devil (laying it out for real now) 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.

 

Ever hear the question, “if God created everything, did He create evil?”  The answer is “no.”  John 8:44, Satan created lies…he is the father of evil…all that God created, He looked upon and saw that it was very good…including free will.  Satan speaks lies, he is the father of lies and all of that comes from his own resources.  John 8:44.

 

Continuing in Verse 45, But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which of you convicts Me of sin?  And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  He says to them here, pleading still with them, “if you do have accusation against me of sin, can you prove it?”  Can you prove the big bang?  Can you prove that humans in all of their wonder and complexity emerged accidentally from the ooze created from nothing…can you prove it?  Can you disprove Jesus…can you produce His body, can you produce one testimony of a disciple turning from Jesus in the face of death…if not then why do you not believe?  That is what Jesus is saying here to the Jews. 

 

Verse 47 as we finish up, He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.  Remember, throughout this conversation Jesus has associated the hearing, the accepting with the doing.  And now He says clearly, plainly, if you want to know which team you rep, check your jersey colors…check which goal you’re working towards…do you hear His words?  Are you even in His word?  Astonishes me when people talk to me about their inability to find time for God’s word…if you’re not in the word, then where is the hearing in the first place?  How can you apply that which you do not ingest?

 

He who is of God hears, does, lives God’s word…in other words…He who is of God…lives FREE!  Huh?  God’s word is truth…the truth about you, the truth about me, the truth about God, the truth about life, the truth about eternity!  And Jesus says to us today that it is the truth that makes you free…the truth! 

 

And what is that truth exactly?  That because of sin, because none of us can look ourselves in the eyes and honestly say…you are perfect…but there is One who is…and He loves you so much that He gave Himself for your freedom…and even now He has promised to see you thru…see you thru what you’re going through right now…and ultimately see you through to eternal life in heaven. 

So he who hears, does, lives God’s word…is of God…and is FREE!  And free you can see!  Free is what God wants for me and for you…it’s what He wanted here for these Jews…its why He did what He did for me and for you…so that we may be free!