Preaching of God's Holy Word, let us turn to selection 171. 171, a word of God incarnate. 171, and please rise if you can. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave you you. Please remain standing for the reading of God's holy word as you turn again to the gospel of John chapter 8. John chapter 8 and verses 30 through 47. John chapter 8 verses 30 through 47. This is God's holy, inerrant, and infallible word. As he spoke these words, many believed in him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? Jesus answered them, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And the slave does not abide in the house forever, but the son abides forever. Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. 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.' They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. 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. Then they said to him, we were not born of fornication. We have one father, God. 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? Because you are not able to listen to my word. You 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's a liar and the father of it. But because I tell 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 who is of God hears God's words. Therefore, you do not hear because you are not of God. Congregation, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen. Please be seated. Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are still at Christ's third encounter with the Jews in the temple in Jerusalem shortly after the Feast of Tabernacles. And last week we left off at verse 30 where it says, as he spoke these words, many believed in him and we were cautiously optimistic. And as encouraged and as optimistic as we might have been at reading this, we must note something. We must consider the fact that this belief mentioned here in verse 30, many believed in him, does not necessarily, and in all cases, mean or refer to saving faith in Jesus Christ, but might only refer to the fact that, at least for a time, they believed that he was who he claimed to be. you have to understand that there is a big difference between agreeing as to who Jesus is and fully surrendering to him as one savior and Lord. The difference is about as big a gap as the gap between life and death and between heaven and hell. Many evangelicals in this country today believe If you just get somebody to say the words, Jesus is Lord, or praise some ominous sinner's prayer, he has become a Christian. But such a view, of course, is biblically utterly untenable. Nowhere in the scriptures is it written that if you say a certain prayer, or mention, or say certain words, that it has spiritual implications of this magnitude. There is no reference to a sinner's prayer in order to be saved. And the opposite is actually true, that in order for a person to be even able to repent, a person to come to Jesus Christ, God must first change their hearts. So when a person comes and wants to ask and wants to know and says, I want to come to Jesus Christ, how do I do it? We smile and say, it's already happened, otherwise we wouldn't want to come. And what happens then and the rest of their lives, it's just a consequent of what happens. That they have received a new heart, a new disposition that now chooses life and not death anymore. They do not want to serve themselves anymore, but the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to be clear on this. That speaking a few words or a certain prayer does not change a person. from an unbeliever to a believer. I've mentioned this before, but you know that repetition is the mother of most learning. And I will mention it again that the Reformers pointed out for us, biblically, three stages of faith. Because people often ask, Pastor, how much faith must I have? to be saved. It's not the question of much, how much, but what kind of a faith you have. Now the first stage they talked about, they used the Latin word notitia, or notitia as we would say it, where I come from. And that just means the Latin word for knowledge. And it denotes a person that knows the content of Christianity or the content of the gospel, knows the facts of Christianity. But just knowing the facts is, of course, not saving faith. Because if knowing the facts was saving faith, we would just buy radio time or buy billboards. And as soon as people inadvertently read or hear the facts of Christianity, they would be saved. That cannot be it, just knowing the facts of Christianity does not make a Christian. The next stage they called in Latin, assensus, which is easy to decipher because it means assent. Assent is a conviction or an agreement that the content of the Christian faith is true. So here's somebody who not only knows the gospel, or not only knows the facts of Christianity, but he says, yes, I believe them to be true. And from the verses that follow in our text, we can figure that that's the kind of faith that many of the Jews had there. They knew and agreed, at least for the time being, that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. But now it gets a little bit more difficult if we ask, is this saving faith? Is it saving faith to know the gospel and to say, yes, I believe the gospel is true and I have to disappoint you? This is not saving faith. The answer must be a clear no. James chapter 2 verse 19 warns us, you believe that there is one God? You do well even the demons believe and tremble. So you have to understand that even knowing Christianity, knowing the gospel, and even saying, I agree with it, does not denote or show saving faith. So let it be clearly said that this kind of faith does not save. And then there's a third stage, which is called fiducia, or fiducia, which means trust. This refers to personal trust and reliance, being rooted and grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ, leaning on Christ and on Christ alone for this life and for the life to come, having one's hopes only put on him. Faith is only effectual, in other words, faith is only saving faith if one not only knows and ascends to the gospel, to the claims of Jesus Christ, but if he also personally trusts in Him alone for the forgiveness of sins, if he surrenders to Jesus Christ. I have to say one of the strangest things that I've encountered coming to this country was a gospel was being presented that doesn't go beyond the scent. When people say, allow Jesus to be your friend, allow him to be your savior, agree that he's Lord. And if you think about it, it's very much like a gym membership, or a golf club membership, or you are a member in some air mile gathering or collecting program. You add Jesus Christ to your life, and then you have him, and then you have this blasphemous commercial, God Jesus, which was taken from the old commercial, God Milk. Do you have Him additionally to all the other things that you have in your life? The gym membership, the golf club membership, and your job and this and that. Add Jesus so you have covered that base too, that you will go to heaven. My dear friends, this is not the gospel. This is not Christianity. This is another religion. It's a religion of darkness. We do not become Christians by adding Jesus to whatever else we already have. We become only Christians by submitting unto Jesus everything that we are and everything that we have, including our wishes, our desires, our fears, all of it. There is no less faith required to be saved. It has to be said in this day and age, in this culture of easy believism, that I'm afraid even in this city, or shall I say, especially in this city, there might be many surprises at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ or at their death, whatever comes first. That people think, well, I did agree, I was baptized, I went to Sunday school, I did my catechism, I did my profession of faith, yes, I agreed to Christ. But he never owned you. You kept claiming yourself, the final word always you had, and not Christ. All these people that I see that go to church, but their real interest is not Christ. You can see it in the church parlor. You can see it in the North Ex of the churches. As soon as the service is over, the talk is about football. The talk is about baseball. The talk is about camping. The talk is about holidays. It's never about Christ. Hardly ever do we hear a conversation in the churches of the city that revolves around Jesus Christ and how we can serve him. Oh, let me ask you something else. In these churches in this land, How often do you see those in the pews asking each other for forgiveness? How often do you see pastors, elders asking the congregations for forgiveness? How often have you been asked for forgiveness? We say we have been saved by grace alone. We say, oh, we are sinners. And we prayed every time in the consister room, oh, forgive us the multitude of our sins, oh, great God above. And we do not really mean it. We never go to anyone and ask, I have wronged you. Forgive me, brother. I have severely wronged you. When have you heard that? When was the last time somebody came to you? Now there's a disparaging fact here. There's a disconnect. On the one hand, we see we're all sins and the multitude of our sins that we never ask for forgiveness. What kind of a faith is that? A faith that never comes to life. We must surrender to Jesus Christ, not only as Savior, but also as our Lord. And we must give ourselves to him and to his people, which is our brothers and sisters in Christ. So believing that Jesus is the Messiah in one emotional moment is not saving faith. But there needs to be a fundamental and lasting change of this position. from self to Christ. And I'm saying this because there's another big problem with evangelicalism, especially in this country, at least since the days of Charles Grandison Finney and his hyper-Arminian theology. that we think, and we mean well when we evangelize, but we think that all we have to do is create an atmosphere of emotion, have a praise team that truly goes under the skin, and then convince people while the music is still playing, this stanza, for the 23rd time. We talk while there is background music, very emotional, in order to convince you, to persuade you. to come and to say that you believe in Jesus Christ, to pray a sinner's prayer, in complete neglect of the fact that it is not us who convince or persuade people into the kingdom, but it's the sovereign grace of the living and true God. You see, there's a lot wrong in the West with evangelicalism in these days. So these decisions, these crusades that also came to Europe, and when thousands went to the front and prayed that sinner's prayer, the question I always had was, why does nobody check a year after, five years after, 10 years after, if all these people are still Christians? And this is exactly what Jesus means when he tells the Jews in verse 31, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. That's the way to identify genuine saving faith, to look whether a person is abiding in God's word, or in other words, whether he displays continual covenant obedience. If you abide in my word, you are my disciples, indeed. Now, we have to, of course, ask the question, now does it mean that it is all about works and obedience after all? Is that what Christ is saying here? Is he saying that in order to become and remain disciples, we have to continually do good works? Well, let me be very clear. and say that nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus here is not talking about good works as a means for salvation. The only means for salvation is faith. He just said in verse 24, if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. Faith is the instrument, true saving faith. No, Jesus is not talking about obedience as a means, but as an indicator for salvation. What He's saying is, what really is going on in your heart will show in your works, in your life. You see, if somebody really has this fiducia, this trust and total surrender faith, he has already received a new heart. He's already received new life. He will not live on like he lived before. His life will increasingly cease to be about himself and increasingly be more about Jesus Christ. If you truly love Christ, you will keep his commandments, because that's what your new heart now desires. If you love me, you will keep my commandments, John chapter 14, verse 15. As I've said many times before, what Calvin and many others said, God will never justify men whom he will not also sanctify. This is what Christ's words here mean. If you claim to be a Christian, but your life hasn't changed, you're not. You're misclaiming. You're not understanding. You're claiming something that is not really yours. So abiding in God's word is sanctification, and true sanctification is caused only by a new heart, which is given only by God's sovereign grace and regeneration. A true disciple knows the truth, and the truth will set him free from his slavery to sin. He's free to do what is right. That is what freedom means. The freedom that Christ is talking about is freedom from condemnation, but also now you are free to do what is right before God. You're not a slave of your sin anymore. to abide in his word, that's the freedom of the Christian. I'm always puzzled when Christians in this country seem to confuse the Bible with the Constitution, putting the Constitution off and above the Bible, as it were, and saying, no, we believe in freedom, we believe in freedom of opinion. My dear friends, I have to disappoint you. We do not believe in freedom of opinion. We do not believe in all the civil liberties that this country now at least proclaims. Freedom in the scriptures means something else. It means being free to do what is right, not being a slave of sin anymore. The great Puritan preacher, Joseph Alain, hit the nail on the head when he wrote, though sin may be in the Christian, yet it has no more dominion over him. He hath an unfeigned respect to all of God's commandments, making conscience even of little sins and little duties." That's freedom. Before that, we were enslaved by our lower desires, by our sins. We were like animals that were going to the slaughter, drawn by our own sin. That's how the adulterer, for example, is described in Proverbs. The strange woman comes along and like an animal that goes to the slaughter, he follows her as if he cannot do any other. This principle is broken by Jesus Christ for those who have received a new heart and regeneration. And I also have to warn you, dear friend, if your life is still dominated by And if you're still in complete bondage of your own sinful desires, your anger, your pleasure, your pornography, your selfishness, then you are most likely none of Christ's. This is a harsh saying, but it has to be said. It would be harsher to deny or to hide this truth. Don't deceive yourself. You cannot live like the world and cherish the things of the world, and at the same time claim heaven. That's what millions do in this country. But let us now see how the Jews respond to Christ's admonition, verse 33. They answered him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? So here comes the pride. Here we have the first indicator that many of these men actually didn't embrace the saving gospel of Jesus Christ as they have clearly not understand or understood their own state of sinfulness and misery. And if you don't understand your own lost state of sin and misery, you cannot repent. What would you repent of? I heard this week of a Barnard study that said that 80% of Christians in this country think that they're inherently good, that man is inherently good. And these are the people that call themselves evangelicals. If you do not know that you're in a state of utter misery and sin, how could he ever run to his Savior? What you need is a friend, but the friend won't save you. You need to know that you are lost in order to look for a Savior. And that's why, beloved, we need, in evangelism, we need to preach the law first. That's not legalism. Legalism means to think you can be saved by the keeping of the law, or inventing new laws that are not in the scriptures. Preaching the law is not legalism. The law is our schoolmaster that drives us to Christ, as it says in Galatians chapter 2, I believe. So how do you want to evangelize? How do you want to present a Redeemer? If you never tell people they are lost, well, you will say, well, I tell them they are lost. Well, how are they lost? You have to explain to them what it means to be a sinner. And the Westminster standards tell us, sin is the failing and the keeping of God's precepts, which is God's law. So there's no other way to show a person their lostness, their sin, than showing them the law of God as the rule that shows how crooked their own life, their own person is. These Jews hope. is not set on Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but on their ethnicity as Jews, the seed of Abraham. And don't think those dumb Jews in Israel. There is a similar effect in this country. There is a lot of people who think if you're a good American patriot, you automatically have your ticket to heaven. Membership in the Republican Party? You've got to be a patriot. You run your flag on 4th of July and Memorial Day and so forth, and you stand for this country and its constitution. Well, that's kind of like evangelicalism already. And evangelicals in this country have no problem standing side by side by these people for the same causes, completely distinguishing, eradicating the antithesis between light and darkness. So we are not so far from the mindset of these Jews in our text. Jesus has addressed them as slaves and that has angered them and they are back to their old ways and now attacking them. Their pride is hurt. And they immediately claim their superior lineage from Abraham with whom God had covenant. Then they say, didn't God covenant with Abraham and his children? Well, Abraham, we are his children. And they were right. Genetically, they were right. Genetically, they were Abraham's children. And now they say, surely we cannot be slaves to anyone. But here's the old mistake that they have been making unto this very day, and which dispensationalism in this country has also implemented into their doctrinal system, to think that ethnicity makes somebody superior. But it was never ethnicity, it was never race that constituted God's people, it has always been faith. A Jew needs Jesus Christ as much as an American in order to become a child of God, and that's exactly Jesus' answer in verse 34, when he says, most assuredly, I say to you, and here comes the word, whoever commits a sin is a slave of sin, 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. Now, this is a very remarkable statement because with it, our Lord repudiates any distinction between Jews and Gentiles whatsoever with regards to one's salvation. Everyone who practices sin, everyone who is still dominated by sin is a slave to sin, no matter whether he be Jewish, Russian, or Swedish. Now, it is true that even the most mature Christians will still find remnants of sin in their hearts. We all do. Every Christian still wrestles with sin, but he wrestles, and that's the difference. What Jesus means here when he speaks about being enslaved by sin is a life that is completely untransformed by the gospel and dominated by sin and its desires. encountered scores of people in some of the most conservative churches who would faithfully attend, but in my estimation, did not have one spiritual bone in their body. And if you confronted them with scripture, it was like, leave me alone, what do you want of me? I'm here. So you will find people, scores of them, who have no regards really for the Christian life, no regards for Jesus Christ, no interest in submitting to him, and yet go to church because the generations before them went to the same church. And it's the right thing to do in Grand Rapids, Michigan. and many other places like it. Let's not always pick on this area. There's a Bible Belt, right, where the same things go on, just not with Dutch heritage, but with Scotch-Irish heritage and others. Beloved, both unbeliever and believer commit sin. but there's a significant difference between the two. The unbeliever, by his fallen nature, lives in peace with sin, while the believer, on the other hand, hates sin and fights against it with all that he has, and he hates the sin most that he himself has. That's also a characteristic. He's not the one who sees sin always in everybody else, but he's most concerned about his own. Because there is a... a kind of or a type of morbid criticism and dead orthodoxy of people in churches who make it their business to constantly point out the sins of others while never being concerned about their own. There is also very worldly, a very sinful mindset. And it is mainly the sin of pride. You see, the believer has repented, and he lives in a mindset of repentance. He loves God, and therefore he hates sin. But Jesus talks about the first one, about the unbeliever, the one who lives in sin. He is a slave of sin, and he says it does not matter whether he's a Jew or a Gentile. You see, this world is kind of funny in a very sad way. When you confront people in this culture of ours, whether it be here or across the pond, they will laugh at you and say, no, they want to be free to do what they want. Of course, we know that that's not freedom, that they are slaves to their lower desires. They're slaves to their sin. It's not like they are neutral judges and they now stand here and life's before them and they freely and unaffectedly decide what is best for them. No, Scripture teaches us they are slaves of sin. They must sin. But Satan is a liar, he calls it freedom and Christ says, no, that's not freedom, that's slavery. In Christ you can be free, in Christ you have this new heart, in Him you have this new disposition, only in Him you are free. It doesn't matter whether one be a Jew or a Gentile. It doesn't matter whether he's rich or poor. It doesn't even matter whether he professes Christ or not. It doesn't make a difference. The only thing that matters is whether he actually is in Christ and whether he therefore hates sin and fights against it. These Jews thought that because they were genetic descendants of Abraham, they were automatically right with God, but Jesus says, no way. There are many in the church who think in a similar way. They think that because they grew up in the church or because they were baptized, they're automatically children of God. And then they somewhat play along, and they behave themselves, and they go ahead and consider themselves true children of God. I was professor at a reformed university. And I met the children. the fruit of these churches. And I got to tell you, scores of them didn't even know the gospel. And then I started evangelizing, started meeting with them, started in the classroom to preach the gospel. And the president came and said, we do not evangelize our students. And that's the situation in many of our churches, too. to a degree, at least, the inheritance of Abraham Kuyper. Presumptive regeneration. We have been in the church for so long. We're all Christians. We're all good. We are sons and daughters of Abraham. Sorry, of Kuyper. And I have to say, truth be told, that they went far beyond what Kuyper taught. But it is not so. You are not a Christian because you sit in the church. We cannot look into people's hearts, but there is one sign that will show you and others whether you are truly in the faith, and that is that you love and obey Jesus Christ, and that you therefore abhor sin and fight against it. It's not that hard. all these fights in ourselves about a lack of assurance. They don't have to be that hard. Don't ask yourself, when was I converted? What exactly happened? And was it really conversion? You don't need to go back. Just look now. Do you love Jesus Christ? Are you griefed over not obeying him more? Are you griefed over your sin? Do you want to follow him? Let me also ask you, why are you even concerned about your assurance if Christ is nothing to you? Don't let the evil one trick you. But those who habitually commit sin without great trouble of conscience are slaves of sin, and these are not sons and daughters of God. Now, in verses 35 and 36, John further develops this picture of slavery. saying that while a slave might for a time enjoy similar privileges as a son, these privileges only last for a while. And he's referring to the Jews here and the old covenant administration. One commentator writes, at any moment, a slave may be dismissed or sold. The Jews who pride themselves upon their descent from Abraham must bear this in mind. The old dispensation with its special privileges for Israel has ended. Abraham's true children will remain in his household and enjoy its privileges permanently. But Abraham's slaves, think of Hagar, will be driven out. Only a son enjoys freedom. If therefore the Son of God will make them free, they will be free indeed." End of quote. So he says, not these men who think they are sons of Abraham are in reality slaves and those who have the same faith as Abraham and the Messiah and the coming Messiah, those are the real sons and the slaves will be kicked out. Beloved, we must be very careful not to fall into this kind of thinking that because we think we are outwardly among the people of God that we run with the right crowd, we actually are God's children. Just like the Jews in our text, a person might be among God's people for a time and enjoy the outward privileges of fellowship, of comfort, and some worldly hope, while in reality they are still slaves of sin. Only time will tell. Now see what Jesus answers them in verse 37. He tells them right away who they are. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. Here he goes deeper into the distinction, genetic and faith. He acknowledges their status, but he's saying you claim to be descendants of Abraham. But you do the opposite works of Abraham. So how can you claim to be his children? And then comes the knockout punch in verse 41. You do the deeds of your father. You see, every man, woman, or child has a spiritual father. And it is either God, the living and true God, or Satan. And he says in verse 44, he tells them who their father really is. You 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. This is who they really are. While they're genetically truly descendants of Abraham, they are spiritually the offspring of the devil because they're doing his works. And beloved, here lies the invaluable lesson for us, how to recognize a true child of God. It is the lesson explained in texts like Matthew 7. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. You will know them by their fruits. This is how you know if somebody's for real. I've seen many so-called conversions in my life, many. But I don't get overly excited until time has passed. Because I've seen many of these just walk right back into the world. And therefore, you look at the person's works over time and you will see who they really are. See what is important to them and you will see what's in their hearts. So the defense mechanism in many in the church, like you do not know my heart, is not entirely true. Because scripture actually teaches us that we can know a person's heart and we can know it by their fruits. by their life, by their actions, by their desires. Now look at your own works and see whose child you really are. What is your heart's desires? What is your real longing? Is it to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever? Or is it to live in sin and still get away with it and still snatch that ticket to heaven out of God's hand, as it were? This is not Christianity. Which one is it? What are you living for? I'm asking you, what is the longing for your very soul? Is your life about God? Is it about his glory? Or is it really about you and your desires? Do you long to serve God with all that is in you? Or do you want to live your way and still have a cheap seat in heaven? This is why I constantly insist that God's word is for all of life. that the scripture applies to every area of life because God owns, through Jesus Christ, every area, every facet of your life. The true offspring, beloved, the true son, the true daughter of God, wants in all things what the father wants. And our Lord promises to us, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. What is it that you want? Slavery or freedom? Decide today, but decide before God and stick with it. Amen and amen. Let us pray. Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Holy Spirit, that you have penetrated our conscience. We ask you, Lord, that those who are not in you Be penetrated to the degree that they bowed their knees finally before you, and ultimately. And that those who are in you are being strengthened by these words. And may your name be glorified by all of us. We ask these things in Jesus' most precious name. Amen. In response to the preaching of God's...