John 8:28- Believers with no place for the Word.

Joh 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall
ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me,
I speak these things.
Joh 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do
always those things that please him.
Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.

Jesus is teaching the people and as was often the case, his words were hard to be
understood. I know that many times I am reading the gospels and I am simply amazed at
the words of the Lord Jesus. So often I come away from the Bible and in my heart I say,
Never a man spoke like that man.

I have to believe that everyone here today has a desire to hear from the Lord today. I want
to believe that, yet when I read a passage like this one I know that it simply isn´t true.
The text tells us that after the listeners heard the words of Jesus and believed on him.
That they disagreed with his observations. They did not receive his words and that led to
this exchange.
That´s what I find sobering. Here is a group of people in our text that have believed on
Jesus and yet, as the Lord continues to speak to them; the conversation begins to take a turn
where it appears to devolve into an argument of sorts.
Believers don´t argue with the Lord do they? Or do we?
Chapter 8 is a conflation of several incidents where the Lord speaks to different groups of
people. A woman taken in adultery, the Pharisees that seek to debate him, other times the
Jews.
Then he states that when he is lifted up, or crucified, they will know who he is.
Joh 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall
ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me,
I speak these things.
Joh 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do
always those things that please him.
Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.

So the Lord is now addressing those that the Bible clearly says have believed on him, and
that is what I wish to speak on this morning.
Jesus said that when you know the truth it shall make you free indeed.
The Jews, those that have been listening to him, those that the Bible says have believed on
him cannot understand.
One of the issues, although it is not the primary issue, is one of self-perception.

1. A faulty perception of self leads to a resistance of the truth.

Vs.32-33 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?
There is a difference of opinion between what Jesus thinks of them and of how they
perceived themselves. Jesus sees a people in bondage. But they see themselves as freemen.
Jesus said that they could be free; they said that they have always been free.
Do you see the disconnect?
The fact is that they had been in bondage many times as a nation and what is really
exceptional is that at the very moment they said these words they were in fact in bondage to
the Roman Empire.
There are 2 things this false perception will do to you –
a. Distort the truth about the past – They said they were never in bondage to any
man, yet even a careless reading of the Old Testament would demonstrate they had been
under the bondage of many of their enemies at many different times.
The tendency is to glamorize the past. The saying, Those were the good old days. I have
talked with many Christians and often they are eager to tell me about what they have done
in days gone by. The spiritual activities they had once participated in. Many times I have
heard brethren tell me of the great things they used to do for the Lord at the church they
attended before. How they preached on the streets and went out door knocking regularly. I
think that over time we tend to exaggerate our activities, and the truth about our past
becomes distorted by time and we believe things to be true about us that are not and were
not.
So a false perception not only distorts your memory of the past, but it also
b. Blinds you to the present truth, your present condition. – While these Jews who
had believed on Jesus debated about their past bondage, they completely failed to see that
they were at this very time under the yoke of Rome.
So here is the idea. Because there is a false image of self, based upon distorted memories,
there will often be blindness to the present condition, resulting in the heart cannot perceive
the truth of the word of God.
That is exactly what Jesus says.
There are 2 conditions that Jesus brings to the attention of these believers. We mustn’t
forget that the Bible said these Jews were believers.

#1 – The word cannot find any place in them.

They said But we´re the seed of Abraham, and Jesus said, I know you are.
We say, But we´re the church, we´re Christians, and Jesus says, I know you are.
But the thing is, My word has no place in you. (vs. 37)
Here is the believer that cannot receive the word of God due to not allowing it an entrance.
There is no room. There is no space allowed for the doctrines of the Bible, the words of
God in the heart of these believers.
Today many such believers fill our churches. They manifest no real interest in the word of
God.
When the heart is filled with the world, the flesh and the devil.
Jesus it is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Abundance, what the
heart is filled with.
In Matthew 15:19, or out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Many Christians, many believers are characterized by these very things. Evil thoughts –
they world has completely influenced them and they think like the world thinks. Adulteries
and fornications – the world does it and they do it. False witness and blasphemies – the
world says it and they say it.
They think like the world thinks, act like the world acts, speak like the world speaks. There
is no place in their heart for the word of God because they have filled it up with all these
other things.
A full cup can hold no more, it must be emptied of its contents before it can be refreshed.
Jesus said, I know you´re the seed of Abraham, I know you are a son of God, but my word
cannot find any entrance into your life, my word has no real influence on you, my word has
not been engrafted into you and therefore you do not bear the fruits of the Spirit, in fact you
do the deeds of your father.
Christians looking for the power of God in their lives, the presence of Christ in their homes,
their families, their marriages and yet, His word has no place there. It is almost as if it is not
welcome.
Then Jesus says,
# 2 – The word is not understood
The Lord says you act more like the devil than you do the Lord. You do the deeds of your
father. They respond and say, we have one Father, even God.
Jesus says in vs. 43, Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear
my word.
They lack spiritual discernment. They are unable to meditate upon what he has been saying.
Jesus asks the question, Why do ye not understand my speech? He intimates that what he is
saying is really not that difficult to understand.
I have come from the Father, I have come to give you the truth, I have come speaking the
truth and the proof is what you see me do.
The great contrast of this chapter finds itself in the behavior of the Lord and that of those
that believed on him.
Jesus says his deeds please the Father, while your deeds are more in line with the devil.
Jesus says that his speech is the truth, but your words are full of untruth.
The great contrast between your life and that of the Lord´s Jesus is the issue that comes to
the forefront.

There is such a great difference between the 2 that it is sobering.

It comes from a self-perception that is faulty. It is based upon a distorted recollection of the
past, and blindness to one´s present condition.
The word of God can find no place due to the heart being filled with so many other things
that there simply is no room for the words of Christ.
There is no real spiritual discernment.
Too many Christians today think like the world, sound like the world, look like the world
and speak like the world that there is no difference between them and anyone else.
That is what the Lord is pointing out.
You say you are Abraham´s seed, you say you are a Christian, yet when I see you, when I
watch you and when I listen to you I see no difference at all.
Vs. 23 Ye are from beneath, I am from above, ye are of this world, I am not of this world.
The Lord said something earlier in the passage and it where we can find our help.

# 3 Belief is not enough - we must Continue in his word to be his disciples

–
Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
This people believed on him, and Jesus gives challenges them to continue in his word, it is
upon that condition they would be deemed his true disciples.
If we will be Jesus ‘disciples – we must continue in his word – there is no other way.
The idea is to continue, to abide, to live in, to dwell, to make it your home.
It is a place of permanence, it an immovability, it is as though one has been planted and the
root drives deeper and deeper.
The word of God is what we must wrap our lives in; what we must saturate our minds with;
our thoughts are a continual mediation upon it.
1 Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them:

I want to finish with one more passage: would you go with me to Revelation 3:1 And unto
the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits
of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou
livest, and art dead.
I know you are the seed of Abraham, I know that you are a Christian; I know you are
attending Grace Baptist
Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I
have not found thy works perfect before God.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and
repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt
not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Hold fast Christian, continue in my word, let the word of God have a place, spend time in
the word, let it become your delight, mediate upon it day and night. Seek the wisdom of the
Lord; decrease yourself so that Jesus can be increased.
Jesus never said that if you continue in my word, you will become my disciple. To know
Jesus is to spend time in his word. One of the most important convictions you will ever
form is that Jesus, as a real person, a living person is known today chiefly, through his
word.
1 Sa 3:21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to
Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
Be watchful, take heed to the doctrine, strengthen the things that remain, hold fast, continue
in his word,