There is a very interesting and captivating passage of scripture in the Bible where Jesus was in a confrontation with the religious Jewish leaders who rejected Him. Jesus was basically telling them that God could not possibly be their Father if they rejected him, whom the Father had sent!
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 said unto them, IF GOD were your Father, ye 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. (John 8:41-43)
The passage above is most important because it speaks volumes to all the people of the world. Even though the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking in this particular instance to the Jewish people, it still applies to every one in the entire world. Listen to those words again from Jesus Christ:
“If GOD were your Father, ye would LOVE me: for I proceeded forth and came from GOD; neither came I of myself, but HE SENT ME”
What an incredible statement is made by the Lord right there. Do those words which the Lord spoke that day, still apply to us in our time? Of course they do. If a person truly claims God to be their Father, then they MUST LOVE JESUS CHRIST, because the Father is the very one who sent him!
Ye are of YOUR FATHER the DEVIL, and the lusts of YOUR FATHER ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is 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. (John 8:44-45)
The Lord pushed the matter even further and held nothing back. In this passage of scripture, the Lord shows us all the clear dichotomy of the scriptures. The Lord was never ambiguous in his preaching to people, because the Lord was serious about souls. What a contrast to what you see going on in our modern day.
Do you remember the time when the late Pope John Paul II gathered leaders from all of the different religions to pray at Assisi, Italy in 1986? That meeting included Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, “Christians,” Catholics, Witch doctors and others. Pope John Paul II even smoked a peace pipe at that meeting. The late Pope John Paull II who is NOW a Catholic Saint, whom Roman Catholics pray to, told all of those people, who were gathered at that meeting, that they were all praying to the same “god.” Is that not SPIRITUAL INSANITY? Well you might say, that is just the Roman Catholics and I do not believe that. Read on:
In 1994 major Christian leaders signed a document entitled Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT), which basically declared that we could all work together despite our differences. Chuck Colson was one of the main inspirations behind that document. Other signers of the original ECT document included the late Dr Bill Bright, Pat Robertson, and J.I. Packer. As a former Roman Catholic I was outraged when I first heard about this document, but I learned through the years that much of what is going on in the “church world” is nothing more than religious games. I learned to discern the truth and I became accustomed to that blank stare which I received from “friends” and Pastors. A person has a choice to make when they see things like this become the norm. They can either choose to follow Jesus Christ and and continue in His word, or they can follow the blind leaders who are leading the blind into apostasy. I choose to follow Christ and His word and to earnestly contend for the faith, which was once delivered to the Saints. (Jude 3)
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. (John 8:31-32)
When you speak up against this type of thing be ready because you will not be very well received. There is a battle raging for souls and people are sinking into Hell by the millions, thinking that they are right with God, when they are not. True born again Pastors should be taking a stand for the truth, and speaking up against these things, and against those people who propagated that whole ECT thing, but instead they invite these “heroes of the faith” to speak in their churches. Where is the outrage from the TRUE men of God of our modern day? What an insult to the many martyrs who stood against Rome , and were burnt at the stake for the sake of the Gospel. The true born again martyrs of the faith suffered greatly because they desired common people like ourselves to have a Bible in our hands today. Do the modern day “Christian leaders” really they think that the true and living God is sleeping or winking at all of this? Do these modern day leaders truly think that the wolves and the sheep can work together? I call this apostasy.
The Lord knew what was at stake here in his confrontation with the religious crowd of his day, and he truly LOVED the ones to whom he was speaking. The Lord also knew that their was a great spiritual battle raging for the souls of men and women everywhere. The Lord knew that if the people who were opposing him did not repent and believe in him, whom the Father had sent, they would be lost for eternity. It was absolutely needful that the Lord tell them that God was NOT their Father. The Lord Jesus Christ also made it clear that the Devil was currently their Father. That is also true for any person who does not KNOW the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact it can be said of ALL true believers in Jesus Christ, that we were formerly “children of WRATH” ourselves, until the time, we repented and came to Christ!
And you hath he quickened (made alive), who were DEAD in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were BY NATURE the CHILDREN OF WRATH, even as others. (Ephesians 2:1-3)
Every single one of us was walking according to the course of this world, under the influence of the prince of the power of the air, and that is talking about the Devil himself! It is nothing but the GRACE and MERCY of God that SAVED our wretched souls from an eternity in Hell!
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? (John 8:46-48)
The spiritual confrontation continued between Jesus Christ and the religious Jewish leaders who opposed him. The Lord told them that those who were of God would listen to the words that were coming out of his mouth and hear (believe) them! The Lord then told them that they were NOT of GOD. They responded by telling Jesus that he was a Samaritan, a people whom they despised, and that he was possessed by a devil (a demon).
This is a passage that we may learn from, because it makes it perfectly clear that people can be very religious in appearance, and yet NOT be of God. It is clear from the words of Jesus, that the determining factor was whether or not a person received Him and the words which he spoke. That still holds true today in the sight of God. It is quite obvious in this modern day “religious” world that the words of Jesus Christ are still not believed by most. Can a person be SAVED outside of Jesus Christ? Not according to Jesus himself. Can a person claim God as their Father without receiving and believing in the Son, Jesus Christ? Once again that is impossible according to Jesus Christ himself.
JESUS answered, I have not a DEVIL; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour 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? (John 8:49-53)
Jesus denied their accusation that he was demon possessed and gave glory to his own Father. He then told them that those who kept his sayings (believed his word) would never see death. Jesus was talking about everlasting life here. Once again the Jewish leaders accused him of being demon possessed. They were more adamant than before, and found it incredible that Jesus would even compare himself to Abraham and the prophets who were already dead. It is very obvious that the Jewish leaders did not think of Jesus as being sent from God. The thought of Jesus as being the eternal Son of God, was the last thing on their minds. They were looking at a Jewish man in his thirties who was coming forth with statements that they thought were absurd. That type of behavior toward Jesus Christ was not uncommon in his day, and it is not uncommon today. Many find it absolutely laughable that Jesus is thought of as God, with any special power. Many still believe that Jesus is nothing more than a fable.
JESUS answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth 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 fifty 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. (John 8:54-59)
Jesus continued to give glory to the Father, and he even said that Abraham rejoiced to see his day. The Jewish leaders could not comprehend that Jesus could have “seen” Abraham considering his young age, because they were not aware of the deity of Jesus Christ. That is why the Lord told them that he was “before Abraham” and he used the name “I AM” the very same name that God used when He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush. (Exodus 3:13-14)
Why did the Jewish leaders take up stones at that point to stone Jesus Christ? They did that because they knew EXACTLY what Jesus was saying when he used that name “I AM”! They knew full well that it was the name of “their God” and they counted Jesus to be guilty of blasphemy. They knew that the book of Leviticus declared that a man should be stoned for blasphemy:
And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to DEATH, and all the congregation shall certainly STONE HIM: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to DEATH. (Leviticus 24:16)
How does God speak to us in these last days? The Bible tells us that it is through His Son (Jesus Christ)!
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us BY HIS SON, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:1-3)
The passage above tells us that “in time past” God had spoken to His people through the prophets, but that was until the Lord Jesus Christ came on the scene. Jesus is greater than all the prophets of the past, and Jesus is the heir of all things. More important than that, is the truth that Jesus by Himself, purged our sins. (Romans 5:6-10) A person can have a ton of Bible knowledge stored up in their memory bank, but if they do not KNOW Jesus it means nothing. Many in these last days know a lot ABOUT the BIBLE, but they do NOT KNOW the real Jesus of the Bible. In the following passage of scripture Jesus was asked if HE was the one who should come (the Messiah) or if they should look for someone else. Jesus let them know that HE was truly the one who was promised to come. Jesus Christ told them to GO TELL JOHN what you have SEEN and HEARD. Jesus said that because the scriptures prophesied that the coming one would do all of those things!
“And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. ” (Luke 7:19-23)
Here is something to think about here. The people of Islam (Muslims) do not believe that God even has a Son, and yet there are many “Christians” in these last days that will tell you that the people of Islam serve the same God as they do! How can this be?
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; BECAUSE HE BELIEVETH NOT THE RECORD THAT GOD GAVE OF HIS SON. And this is the record, that God hath given to us ETERNAL LIFE, and THIS LIFE IS IN HIS SON. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:9-12)
So the bottom line is that eternal life is found in the Son and nowhere else. You have a physical NATURAL life but ETERNAL life is a spiritual life that can only be found in the person of Jesus Christ!
” For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ” (John 3:16-18)
So salvation comes THROUGH HIM! Do not ever forget those words. Are you hoping that you will go to Heaven by your own good deeds, living a so called “good life” and hoping for the best? Forget about it you will not be there! You must put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the one who died for your sins on the cross!