The message from God's Word will come from John 8 as we continue through the Gospel of John. This morning we should finish John 8, if God has mercy. Sorry, John 7. Is that where we are? I've got the wrong chapter, don't I? Hold on. No, it's John 8. I wrote John 7 in my notes. There you go. So we're on John 8. So what's happened so far in John 8? Well, I'm going to read most of the chapter. Just since I'm finishing it up, I want you to hear all the context of this particular incident, of this particular day or couple days that John describes. This all occurs during the Feast of Tabernacles. So Jerusalem is filled up with people, and Jesus has also gone to this feast. And in the midst of the lighting ceremony, where they light these big, giant lights on the temple mount, Jesus says, I'm the light of the world. And in the water-pouring part of the festival, which we know from extra-biblical sources this happened, Jesus says, if anyone is thirsty, he should come to Him and drink. But the Jews largely reject this message. Jesus explains to them that by rejecting Him, they're also rejecting their father, Abraham, and they're also rejecting his father, God. That they're truly not children of God, but children of Satan. So this conversation has escalated to this direct confrontation between children of Satan and Jesus Himself. Well, I'll read John 8. I'll begin in verse 12, but all the way through the chapter, so please follow along in your texts of the Scriptures. John 8, beginning in verse 12, the inspired and inerrant Word of God. Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So the Pharisees said to Him, You're bearing witness about yourself. Your testimony is not true. Jesus answered, Even if I do bear witness about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, My judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent Me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself and the father who sent me bears witness about me. They said to him, therefore, where is your father? Jesus answered, you know neither me nor the father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. These words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple, but no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come. So he said to them, I'm going away and you will seek Me and you will die in your sin. Where I'm going, you cannot come." So the Jew said, will he kill himself since he says, where I'm going, you cannot come? He said to them, you are from below and I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.' So they said to Him, Who are You? Jesus said to them, Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but He who sent Me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from Him." They did not understand that He had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but speak just as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. They answered him. We're the offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? Jesus answered them. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever. The sun remains forever. So if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my father, and you do what you have heard from your father.' They answered him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did. but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did. They said to him, we were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father, even God. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me. For I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My Word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe Me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. As I read these last ten verses, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God's holy Word. The Jews answered him, Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. The Jews said to him, Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets. Yet you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died and the prophets died? Who do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God. But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His Word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? And Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. Amen. Please be seated. And we pray that God would add His blessing to this reading of His Holy Word. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for this Word, this Word that You have given us, this inspired text of Scripture. Father, we pray that you would indeed help us, for we need help. Lord, please use these stuttering lips to boldly speak truth to your people. And please take all of our hearts and soften them that we might receive the word that you have for us. Encourage us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Convict us by the power of your Holy Spirit and change us as only you can do. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. So although I read the entire chapter, we've spent four or five sermons already on John 8. So I'm just going to focus on these last 10 verses, 48-59. We'll talk about the identity of Jesus. Of course, this has been the theme of the Gospel of John, as well as this particular passage of Scripture. Jesus is explaining to these people who He is. And it's not that they can't understand Him. It's that they don't want to believe it. They refuse to believe it. Well, Jesus uses His relationship with the world to show them who He is. He shows His relationship with His Father to show them who He is. And then He uses His relationship with their beloved patriarch, Abraham, to show them who He is. First, let's look at Jesus describing His relationship with the world. In verse 48, the Jews answer Jesus and say, we think that you're a Samaritan and have a demon. We talked about this in great detail last week. These people are not just name-calling an itinerant preacher named Jesus, Yeshua from Nazareth. This is blatant blasphemy against the Almighty God. This is a clear breaking of the third commandment. It's an assault on God Himself. And notice, Jesus ignores the Samaritan slur that He's a Samaritan. This is an insult, but probably not even worth mentioning in light of the greater blasphemy. Maybe it was so far beneath Him in such a worldly slight as if the Samaritans were greater children of the devil than the people that were opposing Him. And besides, as we've seen in chapter 6, although Jesus was a Jew and came first to the Jews, He loved Samaritans and saved Samaritans. So who knows why Jesus didn't respond to that particular slight. It seems that it was unimportant especially in light of the very grave accusation that Jesus had a demon. That He was working in league with Satan. He was not going to let that slide. And it was not because He's a prideful or prickly person. They've gone too far and now I have to address this. No, this is not just an attack on this man. this incarnate Son of God. But by claiming that He's in league with Satan, this is an attack on God Himself. And what He does is He refers to His mission from the Father. He basically refers to His Father. I don't know if you remember these kinds of experiences when you were children, but I clearly remember talking to kids in my neighborhood and on the playground when there would be some conflict. I would appeal to my father. My dad is big. He's not much bigger than me, but as a kid, I thought he was huge. And I'd never seen him fail at anything. And I would appeal to my father. I would say, my dad is going to come find you. Oh, yeah? Well, my dad's going to come find you. Well, my dad is bigger than your dad. Oh, yeah? Well, my dad can fight. Well, my dad has a gun. And on and on these kids' conversations go. Just another illustration. I remember in card playing, sometimes you have what's called a trump card. It's a card that beats every other hand on the table. The trump card. There was a friend of ours in our second fighter squadron, and his call sign, the call sign that was given him was Trump. As in trump card. This was before Donald Trump was anything particular. Well, why did we name him Trump? Well, he he went to. This particular base, I believe it's Nellis Air Force Base, and he is in the officers club and he sees a beautiful girl and he goes up to her and begins talking to her. And she said, I don't think you, Lieutenant Lieutenant, should be talking to me. You're probably going to get in trouble. And he said, why would I get in trouble? And she said, you don't understand. My dad is the base commander and lieutenants are forbidden from talking to me. He doesn't like it. And he said, I don't think you understand. My dad is the commander of all of air combat command. He's a four star general. And this girl said, oh, well, I guess you can talk to me. He had the ultimate trump card. He played this card. And of course, we all love that story. So we named him Trump. He's saying my dad is actually bigger than your dad. Well, you see, Jesus had complete confidence in his life. And one of the main reasons he had confidence in life, especially talking to these worldly people who hated him, because he knew who his father was. He had great confidence that his dad was the ultimate trump of anything else he could possibly face in life. He knew who he was and he knew who sent him and he knew who his father was. And this gave him confidence, as it should give us confidence as well, children of God. So as he talks to these worldly people, he appeals to his father and the mission that his father had given him. Verse 49, he says, I don't have a demon, but I honor my father and you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory, but there's one who seeks it, his father, and he's the judge. Jesus responds to this attack, calling him a servant of Satan by saying, you're actually attacking my father. I'm honoring my father, you're dishonoring me, and later he says, I and my father are one. This is an attack on the father, on the name of God, on the purposes of God, the redemptive plan of God, the very character of God. So what exactly does Jesus mean by saying He honors His Father? How does He honor His Father? That's the question we need to ask. Well, He honors His Father as He has always honored His Father. In the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost honor each other. They love each other. They lift up and exalt each other. They love the relationship they have in the Godhead. And it's perfect. And they need nothing outside of it. So He honors His Father as He has always honored His Father. And as He's sent to earth, He honors His Father doing the work of a mediator. By doing the work that Adam should have done. He honors His Father and it's necessarily tied to His mission on earth. To seek and save the lost. He came as a man. And this way He honors His Father. He left the glory He had above. He honors His Father by living a perfect life on earth. He honors His Father by pleasing His Father in every thought and word and deed. Have you ever thought about that? We pray that confession of sin. I've sinned against you in thought, word, and deed. But rarely do we pause and think about that, positively or negatively. Positively, Jesus, every thought was pleasing to the Father. Every word out of His mouth was pleasing to the Father. Everything He did was pleasing to the Father. And we're saying that we often disappoint God in our thoughts, in our words, and in the things that we do. So Jesus perfectly lived a human life as Adam should have done, and this honored the Father. And then finally, He honors the Father by going to the cross. Not only does His work on the cross honor the Father, but in John 17, the cross itself is part of His glory. In John 17, He says, Father, the hour has come. This is right before He goes off to the cross. And He says, glorify Your Son. Glorify Your Son. His active obedience, His perfect obedience to the law, as well of his passive obedience, his submission to take the wrath of God on the cross. All of this honors the Father. In John 17, he writes, I have brought you, or he says, I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. So Jesus glorifies and honors the Father. So when He says He honors the Father, He's talking about all His work on earth. Why He came in the first place. To take the wrath that was due to all of us whom the Father had given Him. This is the wonderful double imputation that is part of our Him the Rock of Ages. One top lady wrote, be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. What's imputation mean? Imputation means that you are imputed or given or looked at or accounted in a way that is not inherently yours. So we're imputed the righteousness of Christ. It's a foreign righteousness. It's an alien righteousness. And He's imputed, He's looked at, He's inherited on the cross the wrath that we deserve. That's the double cure that Christ came for. To save from wrath and to make me pure. We're imputed His perfect righteousness. This is part of His mission. And He was imputed all our sin and guilt so that all who would believe in Him would have eternal life. So all of this context is necessarily included in this blasphemy. For to attribute any of the work of Jesus to Satan is to attack God. It's to attack His name. It's to attack His works, His attributes, His purposes, and anything whereby He makes Himself known. So for those in the world who would reject Jesus Christ as these men and women are, is to attack God. And Jesus tells them they will someday face their Father as judge. But to those in the world who believe Him, verse 51, He says, "...truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death." And when you see truly, truly, you've probably read it so many times, It's kind of easy for you, and it doesn't really have the impact that it should. This, of course, is emphatic. To repeat this word twice. Amen. Amen. Twice. I was telling my kids, if Jesus were texting this, He would put it in all caps. I didn't know what that meant until probably pretty recently in my life. But He would put it in all caps. It's emphatic. You must hear this. Truly, truly. If anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death. This is the amazing promise of the Gospel. To believe in Jesus, or to keep His Word is another way of saying it. This is part of our conversion. To believe and repent. Whoever keeps My Word, whoever believes in Me, will have eternal life. He will never see death. In John 10, if you flip a few more pages to the right, in verse 24, Jesus has a similar discussion with similar Jews who have gathered around Him. In verse 24, they say to Him, How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly. And Jesus answered them, I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name bear witness about Me, and you do not believe, because you are not among My sheep. Here in chapter 8, he says, you cannot bear to hear my word. Why? Because you're not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. And I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life. They will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, so no one will be able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are one. So in the world He has come, offering salvation and life, and all who would hear Him and believe Him, who are part of His sheep, part of His flock, will know Him and follow Him. So God still offers the choice of life and death to a lost and broken world, to all who would hear today. His Father will come and judge all those who reject Him. His mission was to bring truth to the world, that the truth would set us free, to shine light to the world, to bring thirsty people nourishment with living water. And the Father, He says, will glorify the Son. We know that those who receive Him, those who believe in His name, He gives the right to become sons of God. They will never taste death. So, in addressing this demon accusation, Jesus' mission to the world was made clear. All through chapter 8, He's talked about His mission to the world. And it's a mission of love. And it's a mission of showing the Father to the world. But it's also a mission of truth. And eventually those who reject him will face the judge. So Jesus' relationship to the world was made clear. He's the Messiah sent to save his people. He's the light of the world. He's the living water. It's the preexistent word of God. He's the Christ. His relationship to the world is clear, but he's also the son of God. Again, throughout chapter eight and throughout this discussion with these Jews, he constantly refers them to his father. He is the son of God. This is the second point. Jesus has a unique relationship with the father that none of us do. He's part of the Godhead. Well, the Jews respond to Jesus in verse 52. They say, now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died. The prophets died. And you say that if anyone keeps My word, he won't taste death. Who do you make yourself out to be? So this follow-up argument of these people is anything but repentance. This is like most prideful hearts. When they hear the truth, it only makes them bristle. The response is a complete rejection of all that Jesus has told them about His identity, about His work in the world, and about His relationship with His Father. And their rebuttal is basically this. You've told us we're not children of Abraham, in verse 39. You've told us we're not children of God, in verse 42. But we say that you're not better than us, or our ancestors. Are you greater than Abraham? Are you greater than the prophets? You say that you are. You must have a demon. And then to claim that we should obey Your words. To claim that You are able to give eternal life. You're delusional. In their blinded eyes, maybe this was the only option. In their minds, He cannot be the Messiah. He must be inspired by a demon. And Jesus answered them. the patience with which He instructs them in the truth. First He says, I don't want any glory for Myself. Verse 54. If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. He only wants to glorify His Father. He emptied Himself. Philippians 2 tells us. This is a selfless service. He also says that even if they dishonor Him, the Father whom they claim to serve will glorify Him. They claim to serve the Father, and yet by dishonoring Him, they're doing nothing that really affects Him, because His Father will glorify Him. He says, it's My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say He's our God. Thirdly, he says that even if they lie and blaspheme and break commandments in so many words, that Jesus actually keeps His Father's Word. Verse 55. But I do know Him and I keep His Word. But fourthly, the most powerful response to their argument, I think, is in verse 55. He says that He knows the Father, and they do not. Jesus says they have not known the Father, but Jesus knows the Father, and Jesus keeps His Word. And if we want to know the Father, if anyone wants to know the Father, we look to Jesus. We look to Jesus. Some of you know that when Mary Kay and I were first married, we lived in England. And in England, we were there three years. They have this really interesting game called cricket. And I know a little bit about it. And we would go watch cricket matches. We'd lay out our blanket and watch these guys in white suits. I guess ask Patty if you want to know all the details about cricket because I don't know them still, but it's something about it's like baseball except you throw and then you throw back and you're trying to knock something off. Some sticks. But I don't know all the rest of the rules, so we would watch it, but it didn't mean much to me. I kind of could see what was happening. But I didn't understand it. until someone from England came and sat with us. And I began asking questions and he explained this game of cricket. Oh, well, this is when they're they're bowling the ball and it has to hit the ground once and all of the rules. And then all of a sudden the game actually began to make sense to me. The work of God on the earth and the work of Christ accomplishing the mission of the father when He came incarnate. To understand the Father, Jesus came to explain that work. To explain the Almighty God. If you want to know the Father, if you want to know His work, you look to Jesus. He's the one who explains the Father. He's the one who explains the work of God most fully. In John 1.18, He says, No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's side. He, Jesus, has made Him known. This is the word that's translated elsewhere, or means exegete, to explain, to make clear. In John 10.30, Jesus says, I and the Father are one. 14.6, He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. And if you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him. So we, the readers of this kind of argument, know the real answer to this question that they ask. Who do you make yourself out to be in verse 53? Who exactly do you think you are? And He knows. He's God. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. We know the answer. Jesus is God. In John 14, Philip says to Him, Lord, show us the Father. It's enough for us. And Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, show Me the Father? Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on My own authority. But the Father who dwells in Me does His works. As one with the Father, Jesus, obviously, is God. Jesus alone knows the Father. He is His only Son. He's the second Person of the Trinity. So we see in response to their blasphemy, first, Jesus talks of His mission to the world. Secondly, He speaks of His relationship to His Father and His obedience to the Father. And now He uses their beloved Father Abraham to drive home His identity to them. They say in verse 56, Your father Abraham rejoiced he would see My day. He saw it and was glad. Jesus tells them, their father Abraham, He's telling them, your father, that you hold us so high, Abraham, he rejoiced that he would see my day. But what is his day? His day is the time of his incarnation. His time on the earth, which included his humiliation on a cross, and then also his glorification as he went back as a resurrected body, back up into heaven. Jesus says that Abraham rejoiced that he would see Jesus' day. He rejoiced to see the day of Jesus. This Greek word rejoiced, it's a word that means more than rejoice, it's exult, to be full of joy. To rejoice greatly, if you will. A.W. Pink translates this verse, Abraham, your father, was transported with an exultant desire that he should see my day. And he saw it and rejoiced. So Jesus tells them that Abraham anticipated seeing the day of the Messiah. But what offends them isn't that Abraham was a prophet and could see the day of a coming Messiah. That's not what was offensive. What was offensive to them was that Jesus says He rejoiced to see His day, Jesus' day. The day of Jesus. And Abraham saw that day and was glad. And just to be clear, Jesus isn't stating that Abraham was up in heaven and he was looking down on the day of this conversation and he saw the day of Jesus. That's not what Jesus is saying. By the context, we know that he's implying that when Abraham was alive on the earth, that in some supernatural way, he knew that Jesus' day was coming. And he looked forward by faith to see the one who was the fulfillment of all the promises of God. Jesus says, Abraham hoped for the Messiah, and it's me, it's my day that he hoped for, and he rejoiced. He saw my day. So here's Jesus' point. Here's the point of this argument. So if Abraham, their father, rejoiced to see his day, then they must either accept Jesus as the Messiah, or reject their father Abraham. So the Jews said to Jesus, again, their hard hearts won't accept it. So they just keep arguing. You're not 50 years old. And you've seen Abraham. They understood exactly what Jesus was implying. How could Jesus possibly know what Abraham was thinking? How could Jesus possibly know any of Abraham's emotions? How could Abraham possibly know the man Jesus standing before them? The man from Nazareth whom they despised? And Jesus said to them, verse 58, TRULY, TRULY. Again, think all caps. Think exclamation points. TRULY, TRULY I say to you, BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM. And in using this name, I AM, Jesus is saying as clearly as possible to Jewish listeners, I'm Almighty God. And because He's God, He transcends time. And because He transcends time, He actually did know Abraham. Because He created him. He is before him and He's before all creation. I am. Before Abraham was, I am. And I'm just going to talk about this phrase, I am, one more time. Because it's very important to understanding the Gospel of John. John uses these two words, ego eimi, in Greek, which mean I am. It actually means, I am, I am. It's redundant. But John uses these words again and again. In the Greek Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, they also translate Exodus 3, when Moses says, who will I say who sent me? And God says, I am who I am. This is translated Eggo. Amy. Well, this is important because Jesus spoke Aramaic. Jesus spoke Hebrew and Jesus spoke Greek like most people in that day, we think at least had an understanding of Greek, especially the rabbis, especially devout Jews. They would understand Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. The Greek Bible was used by the apostles, it would seem. Even the apostle Paul seems to have used the Greek Bible in his study, in his research, through his writings. We can ascertain that. So the Old Testament written in Hebrew. Again, this is an important part of the argument. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. 200 years before Jesus was ever born, These 70 Hebrew theologians sat down and translated the Hebrew text into Greek. So that's what we're talking about. They translated it into the common tongue. Into Greek. And here's why John's translating the words that Jesus said, egoimi is so important. This is the exact phrase that's used in the Septuagint. Moses said, who will I say is sending me? I am who I am. Ego eimi. In Hebrew, it's haya asher haya. I'm probably not pronouncing it the way a Hebrew would, but this verb I am, I am is a being verb, or it could be translated, I will be who I will be. but it's very closely tied to the name of God, the proper name, Yahweh. It sounds very, very similar. And it's spelled similarly. So clearly, Egoemi is tied to the name of God. That's why it's so important to understand this. When Jesus says before Abraham was, I am in this Greek text of John, he says ego a me and all through the Gospel of John. This is a loaded phrase. Jesus says I am ego a me again and again and again. There are seven clear I am statements that John uses throughout the Gospel of John. I am the bread of life. in chapter 8, verse 12, which we studied a few weeks ago. I am the light of the world. I am the gate for the sheep. And again, remember to say Ego, a me is redundant. You could just say Ego, the bread of life, and it means I am the light of the world where I'm the bread of life. But he says Ego, a me I am. I am. The bread of life, the light of the world, the gate of the sheep, the Good Shepherd, the resurrection in the life, the way, the truth and the life. I am the vine. And then right when Jesus is being arrested, we see just this name used again. As an expression of raw divine power, who are you seeking? They said Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus answered, echoing me. And when Jesus said, echoing me, they all drew back and fell to the ground. So each one of these uses of this particular phrase are important and special, because John is communicating to us that Jesus is God. He's making a claim of divinity. He knew exactly who He was, and He's telling them exactly who He is. And this particular phrase, ego eimi, this name, in John 8, this is the fifth time it's used. He says it in v. 12, in v. 18, in v. 24, in v. 28. And it's all as if you're kind of wondering, did He really mean to say that? Is He really saying that He's God? Did He mean to say, Ego eimi? And then you get to the end and He says, before Abraham was, I am. I am. Almighty God. He's the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature. He upholds the universe by the word of His power. This is Jesus. He's the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He's the head of the body, the church. He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross." Jesus is Almighty God. And their response shows that they clearly understand this claim that He's making. Let's conclude with verse 59. They pick up stones to throw at Him. And Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. It wasn't His time. His hour had not yet come. So in the Gospel of John, again, we see this response to Jesus. And there's always two responses. To accept Jesus or to reject Jesus. To receive Him or to push Him away. to love Him or hate Him, to embrace Him or to stone Him. And today, Jesus claims, they're still offensive. Our culture, our modern age, still rejects the Lordship and the sovereignty of Jesus. Like these people, we'll talk to Jesus in our own way. We'll accept Jesus as long as He doesn't get into my life or get into my business. We like the Jesus that we can manage and set aside when we want to, but that's not the real Jesus. Jesus is the Lord and the King. He's sovereign over all of His creation. And that's a problem for our culture because our culture claims individual sovereignty over all of creation. Every single person just creates their own reality now. We see this. This isn't new. We just see it more clearly. People think they're going to create their own reality, and if you don't affirm this reality, whatever they say it is, you're going to be canceled. You're an enemy. You tell modern people that they're accountable to someone other than themselves. That they're going to face a judge someday. That they're going to face God and they're accountable to God. And all of a sudden you're a narrow-minded, racist, bigot, homophobe, fill in the slur. You tell them that they're someday going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the Almighty God, and they'll also pick up stones to throw at you. Why? Because they have stony hearts. The stony heart throws the stones. And it gives us compassion to think that the greatest need of generation Z isn't to be affirmed, although that's what they would tell us. We have to affirm them. The greatest need of our aging population isn't to be comforted or made secure. The greatest need of our middle-aged population isn't to be entertained or anything else. The greatest need of everyone in the entire world is Jesus. And He still speaks this message of love and reconciliation and repentance. He points out a straight way for those lost in our postmodern age. He gives hope to those troubled by an uncertain future. He gives true answers to those who are confused by relativism and this idea that nothing is certain. And most of all, he offers new life to those who are spiritually dead. Jesus is one with the Father. And Abraham saw this day and rejoiced. And Abraham is the example for us and for the rest of the world. May we also rejoice. in Jesus. Let us pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this time to study and hear your word. We pray that you would encourage our souls, that the lost would be redeemed, that your children would be comforted, that we would be comforted by a reminder of your identity. Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Lord, is God. Lord, may we have the confidence of Jesus, who knew His Father, and so could walk out boldly into a dark and hostile world. Lord, we know our Father. Give us the same boldness and the same confidence. Lord, we don't want to just stay in these four walls and talk about truth. We want to go out and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Please help us, encourage us, strengthen us, in Jesus' name, amen. Would you please stand and sing with me our hymn of response?