except we turn this morning to the second half of John 8. We'll read verses 31 through 59. This is God's Word. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, we be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, ye shall be made free. Jesus answered them, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin, and the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever. If the son, therefore, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed. But ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.' They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, if ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, we be not born of fornication. We have one father, even God. Jesus saith unto them, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father, the devil. In the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer. from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there's no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words. Ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil, but I honor my father, and ye do dishonor me. And I seek not mine own glory, There is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead and the prophets, and thou sayest, if a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? And the prophets are dead? Whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my father that honoreth me, of whom ye say that he is your God. Yet ye have not known him. but I know him. And if I should say I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you. But I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet 50 years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. You've likely heard of the nurture versus nature debate. The question is, what best shapes a person? What has the most influence? Is it their nature? Who they are? Their DNA? The family lines? Or is it what nurtures them, the influences in the way they're brought up, what they learn, what they think about. You may have heard of Aaron Burr, Jr., before he was eventually a vice president of the United States. And if you would look at his nature, he came from a line of theological and philosophical giants. Aaron Jr.' 's mother was Esther Edwards, the daughter of Jonathan Edwards. Within the Edwards family, there would be 13 college presidents, 65 professors, three senators, and one vice president of the United States. Aaron Jr.' 's father was, as you might imagine, Aaron Burr Sr. He was the president of what would become Princeton University. And when Aaron Jr. was born, everyone had very high hopes. Here was the next one in line. And Aaron Jr. had to fight to prove himself, and he worked up the ranks, eventually becoming vice president. But his nature and all his biological advantages did not make him a good person. He rejected Christianity. He's known for murdering Alexander Hamilton in a classic duel. And he plotted to crown himself emperor of Mexico. Some could have said, despite his nature or his lineage, it was nurture that shaped him because Aaron Jr.' 's father died when he was very young. He was sent off to live with an uncle and then boarding school. That could have nurtured him in the wrong way. Civil War happened at the very influential time of, formative time of his youth. That could have nurtured him the wrong way, because he really was a soldier boy. You see, many others had very similar experiences, and they didn't display the opposite character of their parents and grandparents. So what influenced Aaron Burr? Was it his nature, or was it nurture? One person said of this Aaron Jr., This is true. Eight lines of clergymen converged in the family tree of Aaron Burr, Jr. And yet Aaron was a Beelzebub in miniature. How can it be? Right, the nature-nurture debate isn't just about society. Some people think of church life and spiritual life this way as well. How will the church prosper? Some say it's nature, right? Let's have big families. Let's make sure there's babies born into the church and they have stable families and they're baptized. That's how the church will prosper, right? That's a nature argument. Others say it's nurture. Right? We have to make sure there's enough classes. We have to make sure there's enough programs. We have to make sure there's enough relationships. And then they will be blessed Christians. Then the church will prosper. That's the nurture debate or argument. And people have often fallen into the trap. It's not society even, and it's maybe not the church, but it's even personal spiritual life that's dependent on one or the other. How can I be a blessed Christian? I need to be this way. I have to have the right parents. Or I need to be nurtured exactly this way. Right, what matters more to receiving spiritual joy and blessing? Is it the family, parents, or is it the pastor? Right, pastor can only nurture. Maybe you think it's both. Yeah, it's not either or, it's both. Hold on to the thought. In John chapter eight, the people are around the temple, as we said last week, because they've come to this feast. But let's remember, who comes to all these feasts? It's the Jews, people called to observe the laws, people who've grown up Jewish. And as Jesus teaches them, they're looking for blessing. And some might think, Jesus suggests in chapter eight, that spiritual life depends on nurture. If you look at verse 32, right, you shall know the truth, or back up even, if ye continue in my word, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Right? It needs to be nurtured. You need to continue in the Word and you will gradually know the truth. You might think Jesus is encouraging a nurture argument, but the Jews around him can't understand that because their mindset's very different. After all, verse 33, what's their response? We are Abraham's seed. We're never in bondage. We don't need to be made free because we're already part of the right family. We have the right nature. Well, is it really because you grew up Jewish and you have Jewish parents and grandparents and you can go all the way back to Abraham? Is that why you're free? Well, so that we understand also where spiritual blessing comes from. We want to look at this section of John 8, seeing how Jesus addresses the crowds on this point, so that if we truly understand spiritual blessing and joy, we understand the real source of it. We want to summarize that, as you see in the title of the sermon, descendants or children. Let's notice first the claim that the people make here. It's summarized in verse 39, that's really the essence of our text this morning. They answer and say again to Jesus, and the implication is somewhat ardently, they're passionate about this, Abraham is our father. We can trace all the lines back, right? We have the long chart on the wall. It's not a motto, it's our identity. We are an Abrahamic faith, and we can go all the way back. And since they have that chart on the wall, they're good. Right? They know the truth. They think they have freedom and joy. And the challenge is, they can find proof texts for this. God said to Abraham, Genesis 17 verse 7, We have the chart, we have the proof text, we must be blessed. Right? And it seems like it should be that easy. God said it, We claim it, and therefore, why do we even need to listen to this? We have the right nature. Our DNA has led us to this point. And that's their claim. We are Abrahams. Do you think the Jews were wrong to do this, say this? I think we have to be careful here, right? We might, we, being us today, might not claim Abraham so quickly, but we claim other things very quickly. We are reformed. We are a Reformed congregation. Actually, we're not even United Reformed, or Canadian Reformed, or Christian Reformed, or Netherlands Reformed. We are Heritage Reformed. Oh, we are in a line, and the line goes all the way back to 1995, or 1944, or 1834, or 1619, or 1517. We are heritage. Heritage is our Father. Right? We claim John Calvin. We can claim von Maastricht. We can claim Brackel. And we can think as long as we can carry that forward, God's going to be pleased to call us His children. And that's where blessing is going to be found. Or maybe even closer to the Pharisees, because remember, Pharisees were a political party who wanted purity in the land. We are Puritans. Oh, not the political Puritans of England. No, but we're in the tradition of Puritans. Right? We claim Perkins. We claim Flavel. We claim Dutch Second Reformation, Comrie or Tehlinker, whoever your favorite author is. Right? And as long as we can trace back, we think we're okay. And as long as we can say to people who challenge us, but we are reformed, we think that's the answer. while just claiming the connection doesn't make it so, right? The source of blessing is not nature in this sense that I can just create the chart and show how it all happened. Just making the chart doesn't make the blessing. So notice how Jesus puts them through a test. Right? This is verse 39 again. Jesus says in response to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. Now what works would those be? What did Abraham do? If you scan Abraham's life, not everything he did was positive, but the angle here is that it was a good work. So what good work is Jesus referring to? Genesis 26 verse five says, the blessings came to Abraham because he obeyed God's voice and kept God's charge, commandments, statutes, and laws. Abraham believed and obeyed. It wasn't Abraham's DNA. It wasn't Abraham's nature. It wasn't even his title. It wasn't even his pilgrimage. The mark of distinction, the evidence for the test, whether we are mere descendants or blessed children is this, faith and obedience. Now, if that's the category, Abraham's faith and obedience, what faith and obedient act is Jesus referring to? You might think of Genesis 12, right? God called Abraham out of Ur, and Abraham heard, traveled towards the promised land, and Hebrews commends him for this. But this was before the covenant was even established. And I don't think this is the work Jesus is referring to. But you can go to Genesis 17, and the covenants established in the beginning of the chapter, and Abraham's name changes to Abraham, and God makes these great promises. And then Abraham does something, because if you continue reading chapter 17, he goes about and he circumcises his whole family, including his servants, including Ishmael. But Romans 4 points out that Abraham's good work was not circumcision. because he was already justified by faith. I don't think this is the work that Jesus is referring to either. Right, and if we put this as the test, if you are Abrams, you would do the works of Abraham. If we are Reformed, are we doing the works of the Reformed? Would we pass even the most basic test? Right, it's not about saying it and claiming it. It's not about memorizing the five solas. It's not about being able to sign your signature at the bottom of the three forms. It's not gonna save you. Because that wasn't The summary of the Reformation or the Reformed Church. Until it got crystallized in moments. And those are only documents of response. But what's the heart of Reformation? I think we need to see what Abram's good work was. To understand even that. Think the Lord here, Jesus is referring to Abram's work in Genesis 18. Because what happens in Genesis 18? Abram's sitting in the doorway of his tent. And you can read, three men appeared to Abram. And he saw them. And he responded. What did he do? He invited them in. He got water to wash their feet. He invited them to stop here and sit under the tree in the shade and rest a while. He brought them fresh bread and tender meat. He brought them butter. It's interesting that Genesis 18, it's one of the few times butter is mentioned in the Bible. But Abram brought them butter. and shared, as it were, the fat things of life with them. And then, when they wanted to leave, he went with them a while. And then, Abram pled with one of them for the safety of the wicked city. Right? Who were the three men? Why was Abram doing that? Well, Genesis 18 verse 1 says, the Lord appeared to Abraham. And later as Abram's leaving the tent and going away from the tent on this walk with these three, chapter 18 verse 22 says, Abraham stood before the Lord. He pled in person with a pre-incarnate revelation of Jesus Christ for the safety of believers in Sodom. What was the good work Abraham did? Abraham had already received the Lord Jesus Christ into his house, into his life. He had believed Christ's words. He had interacted with Christ's words. And Jesus is turning that around and saying, if your father is Abraham, you would be doing the same thing that Abraham had done. He received me, he talked to me, he believed me, he pled with me. But you aren't doing that. You aren't doing that. Right? What are the results? What are you doing? Verse 40, now you seek to kill me. A man that's told you the truth, which I've heard of God. Abram didn't seek to kill me, I was a stranger to him. And yet when I came to his tent, he received me, he welcomed me. And yet I come to you and I plead with you and you want to kill me. You want to put me out. You want to arrest me. In other words, you do the deeds of your father. You have a different father. I'll go back up to verse 39. Right, if you were Abram's children, you would do the deeds of your father. The Greek word for children here And I don't do the Greek or Hebrew lesson very often, but it's helpful here. The Greek word for children here is technon, and it literally means a child with the same image as their father, right? Go back to the how do you bear the image thought. He looks just like his dad. Well, technon is a word that reflects that relationship, that reflection of character. And Jesus says, if you were Abram's technon, you would do the deeds of your father. But they're not technon. They are seed, as in verse 37. Jesus says to them, I know you are Abraham's seed. He's making a distinction. If you were his children, you would do this. I understand that you're Abraham's seed. The Greek word here for seed is sperma. Biological descendant. Has nothing to do with image, nothing to do with character. It's pure biology. Right? You are growing out of the family tree. You are sperma, but you are not technon. Just because your grandfather was Jonathan Edwards, it doesn't mean you're going to be like him. Just because you can trace your family tree back to someone great, it doesn't mean you're going to be like them. Right? And the question really is, where does blessing come from? It doesn't come from sperma. It comes from technon. You need to reflect your father. But what are you doing? Verse 40, you seek to kill me. Verse 41, you do the deeds of your father. You're not showing this same reception that Abraham showed. You're not of those who believe. And so, your mind should jump ahead to Paul in Romans 9. Not all children of Abraham are his offspring. Not all Israel is Israel. There's a distinction that gets marked. Now, this distinction is used in many ways. Sometimes people use it against each other, right, to dismiss any and all who say they have come to believe. Because the easiest way to maybe make sense of that for some people's minds is to say, well, not all Israel is Israel. I don't really have to believe them. It might even seem true when you think of everyone who calls themselves Reformed. Right? We follow Calvin. We follow de Kock. We follow Kuiper. We follow Kirsten. Whatever. Are you Technon? Or are you just sperma? Calvin himself says on this passage, this point, hypocritical religion presumptuously shelters itself under the name of God. Everybody can say, I'm Reformed. Everybody can say, I belong to God. Hypocritical religion always shelters itself under the name of God. But how can they agree with the Father if they do not believe in His only Son in whom the Father is well pleased? Right? Even Calvin says this is the issue. How can you agree with the Father if you don't believe in His Son? How can you say I am of God? How can you say I'm a Christian if you don't do the works of one who is a Christian? How can you say I know God and I'm upholding the truth if you reject his lively image who comes to you and says, follow me. Other people use the distinction of all Israels, not Israel against themselves. To wonder or to doubt if they could even be children of God. After all, there's such a large group and not everyone in the group is. Some people deceive themselves. They think they're children when they're only descendants, right? They think they're technon when they're only sperma. And they hesitate to believe. But our question should be, why is Jesus drawing this out with the Jews here? Why is Jesus saying this is an issue you need to think about? Why is half a chapter devoted to this discussion? Jesus is not trying to make the number of elect as small as possible. He's not trying to say we have to be as narrow as possible. He's not trying to say you shouldn't follow, or you shouldn't know who you are, or you shouldn't know where you come from. He's not saying any of those things, but he's saying do you understand what the real heart issue is, and do you have it right yourself? Because, Romans 9 verse 8, Those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. Not everyone who listens is hearing God. And those here in John 8 who are interacting with Jesus, not all of them are believers. Those who do not listen to Jesus, those who do not believe, have an entirely different father, no matter what they say their nature is or what their family tree is. And who is that father? Let's be clear. Jesus is saying, I know you are Abraham's seed in the sense of this is what you can trace. But let's be clear who your father is. Your father, verse 44, is the devil. The devil who is the father of lies. The devil who says to you, whispers in your ear, just having the nature of Abraham is enough. All right, 2 Corinthians 4 says, He blinds the minds of them who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Right? The devil sits on the shoulder and whispers in the ear, you have Abraham for your father. You don't need anything more. You have Abraham. You're reformed. You don't need anything more. And He binds, and He enslaves, and He doesn't free. And He might say to you, even as a young person, you were baptized. You went to catechism class. You attended youth group. You even took confession class twice. But he's the father of lies. Because if his argument to you is its nature, it doesn't matter. And if his argument to you is nurture, oh, you ought to call these classes. It doesn't necessarily matter. Right? He's reinforcing his lies because he wants you to dismiss Christ. He wants you to say, I don't want anything to do with him. Now, you might say, I would never kill Christ. And you might say, I would never say, I want nothing to do with him. But the point Jesus is making to the people here, and the point this morning is, Christ is taught to you, told you, Christ is pointed to over and over again, and you're not listening. And how can you say that if you're not listening, I'm looking for blessings in Jesus Christ? Anyone who doesn't live for Christ is of an entire different father, being deceived. It's okay to be separate from the Son. It's okay to be separate from His Word. It's okay, the kingdom of heaven. You don't need the Holy Spirit for that. You don't need faith to come to church. Right, and he's always saying, he's not saying about it being a reality, he's saying it's okay. It's okay. Right, and if the devil's sitting on your shoulder whispering to you, it's okay that Abram's your father. It's okay that you've been nurtured this way. It's okay you don't believe yet. It's okay if you don't understand Jesus. He's the Father of lives. Right? And He wants to destroy you. He wants to rob you. He wants to keep you bound up. He wants you to never know the truth. He wants you to never be free. And let's be clear, one of the ways he does that, he deceives some people away from the church and he pulls them out and says, you don't need to go back there. And he puts other people in the church and he deceives them inside the church and he says, it's okay to sit here as long as you don't believe. Right, and he even says to other people, It's impossible for you to know whether you're actually a child of God, so don't think about it, or don't try, or don't ask the question, or certainly don't go to God. He also does exactly the opposite. He says to some people, you are a child of God, when they have no relationship with him. But they can say, I belong to Abraham, or I belong to Calvin, I belong to a heritage reformed. Well, what should our conclusion this morning be? There's a huge, absolutely critical difference between descendants and children. And it's not just a descendant of Abraham versus a child of Abraham. It's not just a descendant of the Reformed Church versus a child of the Reformation. Those are crucial things too. But he's wanting. Well, let's back up. You must never think that nature makes you a child of God, and you must never think that attending nurturing activities makes you a child of God. Right? Biologically connected to the church, nurtured within the church is never enough. And those who are listening to Satan sitting on their shoulder, whispering in their ears, all kinds of things, should never think that they're upholding the truth. Because they're not. If you do not have the works, the faith, and the good works of Abraham, you are not counted as children or heirs. God's not going to argue your family tree to you. He knows it. He put you in it. But the blessing, the inheritance that comes to children doesn't go to all descendants. Right? And what's the worst part of thinking I'm a child but only being a descendant? Look at verse 59. This is a horrible conclusion to the whole episode here. They took up stones to cast at Jesus. Right? Their reaction was, let's get rid of them. That's one horrible part of it. But here's the other horrible part. Jesus hid himself, went out of the temple, going through the middle of them, and so passed by, and literally, and so he disappeared. Jesus is like, you want to stone me? You want to argue this? I'm out of here. Right, that's, if you think of this in light of eternity, that's a horrible conclusion. Jesus, of course, protecting himself from the stoning, knowing his death's coming in a different way. But in a sense, he's leaving all those stony hearts behind. Their opportunity's gone. The point of this passage, though, is not to stir fear. The point of this passage is understand what Jesus is doing right from verse 31 to 59. He's drawing this line, this distinction. Why? To understand or so that those who see and hear and read of this would understand the difference between just being a historical descendant and being a child who reflects faith and obedience. And if you were to go back to the very beginning, understanding the truth and the truth that frees, you need to know the source, the true source of spiritual blessing. And it's not nature, and it's not nurture. You must be born again by the Spirit of God. And only then will you have the life of blessing. Only then will you know the truth and the truth will set you free. Only then can you live for God. Only then can you really say, I am a Technon. Right? And it's not because of you. As John says, behold what manner of love the Father's displayed unto us that we should be called the children of God. It's God's love that says, you are my Technon. You will reflect my image. And I will give you this inheritance." Right? Go back to Romans 9. Romans 9, the line of distinction is not drawn so that people can be down and out and beat themselves up and question election forever. No, the point of Romans 9 is that they which are the child of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. This is the word of promise. Right? And what promise then comes? Think of it this way. You don't need to be born into the right family to be a child of God, right? You don't need nature to become a child of God. There are those who grew up outside of Israel who were brought in to God's people. You can think of it in the Old Testament, right? Zipporah, Rahab, Ruth, there's others. But also this, you don't have to be nurtured in exactly a certain singular way to become one of God's children. There's all kinds of people who become God's children who are nurtured and brought up in all kinds of ways. You can grow up in a Greek, rowdy, huge, blended family. and become one of God's children. You can grow up in a village in Africa where literally the village raises the child and become one of God's children. You can grow up in the highlands of Scotland all by your lonesome and become one of God's children. And you can grow up in Oxford County in a relatively stable environment. and grow up to be one of God's children. Right? It's not nature, and it's not nurture. It's whether God plants His Spirit, whether that Spirit of regeneration is planted, whether you are born again, and then the identity comes, and then the reflection of the child comes, and then the blessings of inheritance come, and the blessings are given to all who believe from every tribe and every nation and every language and every culture, and they become one in Christ Jesus? How can you know you were born again into that family and blessed in that family? 1 John answers that question, actually, in detail. But what is it? You learn to love the Lord. You welcome Christ. Like Abraham, it's your delight to commune with him. You hear him, you listen to him. Yes, you may interact, but you hear his word and you delight in obedience. And you see, it's those who come to know that that are the true children. Galatians 3.29 puts it explicitly. If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Right? That's what the Jews and John ate and never got. They thought they could just be Abraham's seed and then heirs. But no, it's if ye be in Christ, then are ye Abram's seed, and then are ye heirs according to the promise. And then you can say, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Right, Jesus is pointing this out so that people wouldn't rest in heritage, but they would rest in Christ. They wouldn't live out of heritage. but they would live out of Christ. There's one more caution though. It's possible to say we are of Christ and never do what he says. And then we're just repeating the same mistake with a different name. But if we are born again, it leads to a life that changes, transformed, turned around, forsaking sin, dedicating itself to walk in newness of life, seeking to do the Father's will, walking in His path, obedient to His word, learning, yes, sometimes gradually, but learning to love Him and loving His children, brothers and sisters. And that's not just a name faith, that's an act of faith, right? This is Abram's faith. And so let's be clear about Abram, too. Abram was saved by the same Savior. Have you ever wondered, did Abram believe in Jesus? Abram believed in Jesus, Christ. And what a difference then, between Abram and those who thought they were the seed of Abram. But there's one more conclusion that I want to point to from this chapter. Jesus' words, verse 56. Your father Abram rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad. Right, what was their response? Let's pick up stones and kill this fellow. And Jesus says, no, Abram was glad for this day. He rejoiced. He was happy that day. Right, when God came to Abram and said, All those promises, Abram obviously had a glimpse, but the day that he interacted with the pre-incarnate Christ, he was happy, joyful. He saw and was glad. You think a full understanding of joy in Christ is still ahead of you. Maybe see, just think about this for a minute. How much did Abram see? Not everything. But he saw the promise was true in Christ Jesus. Who made the promise true in Christ Jesus? God, because God's the one who promised. And what does God promise to you? When He comes back, we don't know what it will be like, but we know this, we will see Him as He is. God didn't disappoint the desires of Abraham, and He will not disappoint everyone who looks to the day of Jesus Christ in faith. And if that's in the future for you, realize it was in the future one day for Abraham too, and yet, God fulfilled that promise and God gave him gladness and joy in that. It was a small foretaste, but it was enough to say Abram saw, rejoiced, and was glad. And I think it's Calvin who said, Abram's joy that day was the highest joy. because he saw the kingdom of Christ and his desires were fulfilled. That's a true child, child of God, child of Abram. Not just one who says, I'm reformed, I'm a Christian, but one who sees, believes, and rejoices. May you all be not descendants, but children. Let's pray.