Saturday, July 9, 2011

Bible Truth #23 - John 8:42-47

42  Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
43  Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
44  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.
45  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
46  Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?
47  He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.

For starters, look at verse 43. Jesus said they can’t hear His Word. Perchance was it because they don’t have ears that hear? Obviously they have physical ears so Jesus must be talking about spiritual ears. And someone with NO spiritual ears, or ears that belong to a dead spirit, is NOT going to hear the things from God. And does someone just “will” themselves spiritual ears? Nope, they are given by God. Think how many times Jesus says he who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15; 13:9; 13:43; Mark 4:9; 4:23; 7:16; Luke 8:8; 14:35) I believe when Jesus said this He was giving a warning to Christians because the lost do NOT have ears to hear.

I wanted to put in all the verses for context but I now want to focus on the last verse. Jesus clearly says there are those who do not hear, and they do not hear because they are not of God. It’s not that they hear and understand it but reject it. They hear and don't understand it, which is why they reject the Truth. They are not chosen, and only those who are chosen and in whom God works will understand it - and even then, only WHEN God reveals it to them. They are NOT of God, they are NOT children of God, God has NOT done a work in them (John 6:29), they ARE of their father the devil and do not have the ability to “hear” God’s Words. All of those who are lost, every human being ever born, have the devil as their Father, all of the lost have the devil as their ruler and they follow the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work IN those who are disobedient (Ephesians 2:2) - i.e. the lost. It’s clear that the lost are demon-possessed and that demons are NOW AT WORK in the lost.

There is no way that any lost person, without God working in them, will accept, believe, confess, or repent because they are demon-possessed! Ephesians 2:2 explains WHY a lost man does only evil continually (Genesis 6:5), WHY a lost man hates the Light (John 3:20), WHY a lost man won’t come into the Light (John 3:20), WHY a lost man is an enemy of God (Romans 8:7), WHY a lost man can’t please God (Romans 8:8), WHY a lost man can’t understand (1 Corinthians 2:14), and WHY a lost man thinks the preaching of Christ crucified is foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14). Because he’s demon-possessed. There is NO other credible way to understand these verses.

A lost man hates God and will never believe or accept the Truth unless God, without asking him, FIRST does a work in him (John 6:29) ENABLING him to come to Christ (John 6:65). Once a man is enabled, He is drawn (Strongs #1670, Gr. helko, i.e. dragged, see James 2:6 which uses the same Greek word) to Christ and those drawn to Christ, Jesus WILL raise up (John 6:44). HALLELUJAH!!! There are NONE who are drawn to Christ that Jesus does not raise up.

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