Well good afternoon again brothers and sisters good afternoon good afternoon it’s wonderful to see you all welcome to another Thursday afternoon webinar and it is my heartfelt wish my heartfelt hope that you have all been having a wonderful week thus far whenever we stop to think about it
We can all see very clearly the goodness of God in many different ways in our lives and I just want to acknowledge that this evening and hope that all of us can say Amen to this so welcome as always we’re going to start our our prayer with um we’re going to start our
Meeting with prayer and I’m going to invite you all to Bow your heads with me as we acknowledge our father’s presence let’s pray father Our God we’re here this afternoon in the name of your son Our Savior Jesus we want to start by thanking you for the many
Blessings we know father that we are very close to the time when the history of this planet will come to an end we believe it we can see it in so many things that are happening there are so many things that come together to tell us that we are close to
The end of time we thank you for preparing us we thank you for helping us to keep the oil burning in our lamps in spite of what is going on everywhere in the world it’s our prayer father that as we study together this afternoon it might be a blessing for every one of
Us it might help us to be become more what you want us to be thank you Father in Jesus name I pray amen all right so we are continuing our study in the Book of John we have been a long time well quite a number of weeks in John chapter
8 um I don’t know it just seems to me that a lot of the chapter is like the experiences I repeated over and over very striking very very clear message but at the same time it seems to be repeated over and over as we are going through the through the chapter well
We’re almost at the end of the chapter and I think that um maybe we might complete the chap we will complete the chapter this evening and maybe even start on chapter 9 but let’s go to the Bible directly and see if we can complete chapter 8 this evening chapter
9 is I’m looking forward to chapter 9 because it’s a little bit different and it has some strong lessons there as well so anyway yes John chapter 8 and we’re at about verse 50 last week we read we read verse 50 but um I didn’t comment too much
About it but we’re going to continue from there so verse 50 says and I seek not mine own Glory there is one that seeketh and judge it you see the thing is that the Jews have just accused Jesus they just accused Jesus of having a devil why because Jesus told
Them you are you do not hear God’s words you do not hear God’s words because you are not of God I keep thinking you know if I said this to somebody today if there was somebody who professed to be a Christian or a group of people who professed to be Christians who professed
To be God’s people and I said to them you’re are not of God I might very well get the same answer I’m not surprised by what the Jews say you know probably what we we should be surprised about is how they were so blinded that they could not
See who he really was you know even right at the beginning I’m going I I am reminded the real underlying problem here is the same problem that has that has continued for Generations in all ages with people from different religious groups you see the problem was that the Jews the Jews saw
The miracles of Jesus the Jews saw that there was something special about Jesus they saw that his teaching was divine it was not of this world but on the other hand they believed in their religious organization this was the real problem they set their religious organization against Christ and because they had been
So brainwashed is probably the right word they had been so indoctrinated so in inculcated in this way of thinking in this way of life it was their whole world and that’s the danger of traditional that’s a danger when we we operate on the basis of tradition it became their whole world
And so they were so entrenched in this misguided concept that their system could not be wrong that not even the the extraordinary life and teachings of Jesus could break them down and so when Jesus says you’re not of God I mean I don’t think he was criticizing them so much as
Individuals as much as he was criticizing their religious system when he says you don’t understand my words because you are not of God he was speaking to them as a group okay okay like he would say woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites you are whitewash sekers he did not exclude Nicodemus and
He did not exclude Joseph of ARA he didn’t exclude gel you had some honest ones among them but he didn’t exclude them because he was speaking to them as a class and I think that’s what he’s doing here when he says you don’t hear my words because you are not of God even
Though John is referring to them as the Jews the Jews said the Jews answered but but it’s not all the Jews it’s most of those who are standing before him and so he says to them you are not hearing my words because you are not of God so he’s not
Saying he’s not saying every one of you is not of God he’s saying that as a class as a group of people you don’t belong to God I your part you don’t belong to God your teachings your religious philosophy your educational system your your religious Str structure has set you against God and
You are not of God so you can imagine why this infuriated the Jews so much because he was actually saying that the Jewish Nation those people that were the children of Abraham those people who had been given the laws of Moses those people that had seen God’s Mighty works
In the days of old he was really saying you are not of God was Jesus correct in saying this was the thing is you can you can measure identity in two ways you can measure a person’s connection with God in two ways you can look at his religious system you can
Say you’re a Catholic so you’re one of God’s people or you are a sevenly Adventist so you’re one of God’s people or you’re Jehovah’s Witnesses so you are one of God’s people this is the perverted way that the majority of people in the world today look at religious identity it
Depends upon which group you identify with and that’s how the Jews s but there’s another way that you can look at identity and it is it is how the New Testament Jesus Christ Paul uh looks at religious identity Paul says if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of
His you know this was a new idea with the New Covenant this was a new idea that Jesus was introducing it was something the Jews were unfamiliar with it it only really became established it only really became understood in the time of the Apostles but up onto this point in time the idea
The idea that you could individually be a child of God where you are was not an acceptable idea you know even even the Gentiles who somehow came into God’s God’s salvation plan who became identified as God’s people even those Gentiles they had to become a part of
The Commonwealth of Israel they had to be circumcised they had to identify as Jews so that was the concept they had and so when when Jesus says you are Jesus says you can’t hear my words because you’re not of God he was speaking to them as a group he’s really
Saying there’s something wrong with your system there’s something wrong with all of you in terms of your religious experience and attitude and that’s why they said to to to him it says then answered the Jews and said say we not well aren’t we telling the truth when you say that you are a
Samaritan and you have a devil okay so I suppose you can understand from this perspective why they say you are a Samaritan because the Samaritans were another religious group as as I’ve pointed out before as most of us will understand the Samaritans were like a almost what you
Would call an offshoot group there were a group of people who were descended from from the Jew from from Israel they were half Israel but they were mingled with other nations other other racial groups and for the Jews this was the worst crime of
All to to to to corrupt the holy seed by mingling with other races and so they they saw the Samaran an as dogs and less than human but there were another religious group and so when they said you’re a Samaritan it was the worst insult they could they could give you know so
They’re really saying you are criticizing our our group our our religion our our our nation then our national religion but you are worse you are a Samaritan they were putting him with other group that was that was held in utter contempt not only are you a Samaritan but you are demon possessed
You have a devil so Jesus answers I don’t have a devil I mean I don’t even know why he bothers to answer that because when people make those kinds of wild and and and clearly it’s not a serious statement it’s a statement intended to insult and to put him down
And when people insult me really I I don’t respond to the insult but Jesus responds anyway he says I don’t have a devil but I honor my father and you dishonor me so he he really sets the contrast here with what is happening the things I’m saying the things I’m doing I
Am honoring my father and the way you are responding to me you are dishonoring me you are you are rejecting me you are criticizing me you are condemning me and yet I am honoring my father and you are dishonoring me so so you can you can draw the conclusion as
To who you are and what work you are about and that’s why Jesus says to them you are not of God you know as he pointed out your father Abraham didn’t do this if Abraham was your father you would do the works of Abraham over and over as we have seen as
We have gone through these previous chapters over and over Jesus is looking at things from a spiritual point of view he’s saying you are not Abraham’s children because spiritually you don’t have the spirit of Abraham physically yes you are the Abraham’s genes genetically you are Abraham’s children
But Jesus is not looking at genetic identity that that belong to the old Covenant Jesus has come to introduce something different he’s now understanding that they who are of Faith these are the children of Abraham those who have the spirit that that Abraham had the same kind of attitude and
Outlook these are the children of Abraham he he he is introducing a different way of identifying people and this is where the New Covenant begins you know every time I hear people talking about how special physical Israel the Jews are to God I think what Darkness what Darkness they don’t they have they
Don’t understand Jesus they don’t understand his words so Jesus says and I seek not my own Glory there’s one that seeketh and judgeth so he’s piling up evidence after evidence proof after proof okay so here’s another thing for them to consider I am not I I have not come in
The world in the world I’m not seeking to exalt Jesus I’m seeking to exalt God the Father you know and in everything that he’s doing he’s trying to point to the father and trying to to show that what he’s doing is not he him doing it it’s
Not his work it’s the work of the father through him okay he’s he’s pointing Direction to the father and even when he was about to be crucified he he made it clear that this is what he was about because he says in in John 17 I have glorified you on the
Earth I will I have glorified you on the Earth as it says in in in the same book in in chapter 1 and verse 18 no man has seen God at any time the only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father he has declared him or he
Has made him known so that was his ministry he he was not seeking his own Glory he was seeking the glory of God I was in a a I saw a a a question on on Facebook and I responded but the question basically said where does it say where is there a
Statement that says Jesus was 100% God and 100% man so I responded to the question and I said well I can’t think of a verse that actually says it in that way but Jesus had to be 100% not God but Divine because if Jesus was not 100%
Divine part of his mission he could not have accomplished you see because many people don’t realize that a major part of Jesus’s Ministry that was that he came to glorify the father he came to reveal God he came to make God known many people think that
Jesus only work was to save Humanity no that was that was it was important but it may even be the Lesser part of what he had to do his major work in this world was to make God known was to reveal God that is why he could say to
Phillip if you have seen me you have seen the father have I been so long with you and yet you don’t know me and there are there are so many verses that point to this real reality that Jesus one of Jesus major work was to reveal God and
So that is what he’s saying here I do not seek my own Glory my purpose in this world has been to seek my father’s Glory but at the same time while Jesus was seeking God’s glory god was doing something for Jesus he was seeking Jesus’s Glory because
Look here you remember where Jesus says if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all men to me in other words God wanted the world to be attracted to Jesus God wanted the world to pay attention to Jesus God wanted everybody to fix their eyes on Jesus why
Because not only what Jesus was doing in glorifying God but what he was doing in Saving man the world needed to know about it everybody needed to fix Their Eyes Upon Jesus other because accepting what Jesus did means understanding and believing it you understand it you
Believe it you see what he did and then it begins to have an impact upon us the human race and also upon the rest of the universe as they come to understand as well so as Jesus glorifies the Father the father is exalting the son both things are happening and so Jesus is
Making the point I I am not seeking my own Glory there is one who seeks that means who seeks my glory and there is one who is judging all right so again he’s saying I’m not here to glorify myself you all can stand in judgment on me you
Can dishonor me you can do what you’re doing but there’s somebody else who is seeking my glory and there’s somebody else who is judging everything that is happening between you what you are doing and also seeing what I’m doing in verse 51 he says truly truly it shall be so it shall
Be so I say unto you if a man keep my saying he shall never see death oh boy I I look at this and I think provocation upon provocation they already hate you enough Lord why are you telling them this as well you know I I
Think it just seems to me like he’s saying things to get them more and more upset but you know it’s like I I think he’s saying well those of you who hate me already hate me those of you who are trying to destroy me you already destroy me but
There are some people here who really have a heart open for the truth and for these people I’m going to tell the truth and I’m going to tell it more and more clearly and more and more forcefully and the consequence will be that those who hate me will hate me more
But those who see the truth will appreciate it more and I love that lesson you know I love that lesson because it’s something I need to remember and something I need need to live by because you know all of us as human beings we tend to be a
Little bit affected by public opinion by the way people think about us and as I look at the life of our Lord and the way he dealt with things you know it motivates me it gives me insights as to how I am to operate as well because I also have people
Who I think are my enemies at least they are enemies of the things that I teach and they are very vocal and very forceful and almost violent sometimes in how they attack the things that you know we teach so the Temptation is there as a human
Being to turnone down to to to mute what you are saying you know to try to be less aggressive and more pleasing to everybody but many times that is the spirit of the devil getting to you not the spirit of God you know Satan’s ideas getting into your
Head because if you look at what Jesus did here Jesus didn’t tone down what he was saying because of his enemies he was even more forceful he was even stronger in proclaiming the truth because in every congregation in every place where people gather there are some honest people and the honest
People will will take hold of the truth I remember one time many years ago I was handing out some um tracks about the godhead you know the truth about God there were three tapes that I was I I I I did and I was handing them out and there was a a a
Brother I call him brother advisedly there was a person who I thought was my friend you know we used to be kind of we used to we used to talk together he would ask me for materials and I would ask him we we would share ideas but just
After I came to understand the truth that God is not a trinity sometime afterwards I met this guy in town and we started talking a little bit and I started trying to to share with him about the the fact that God is not a trinity and I was astonished at how he he
Responded he never he hardly gave me a chance to talk he just G uh let out a TI of words and started abusing me with his words and I was amazed because you know this guy and I had always gotten along fairly well used to show a fair degree
Of respect but now all of a sudden he was acting like I was his enemy and he he over he was trying to overwhelm me with a tiate of condemnatory words I was so taken a I could hardly even get in a word anyway at the
End now what happened was that I offered him the tapes I offered him the tapes and he said what is it about and when I showed him the the title and explained what it was about that’s how he responded so after all that was over I said okay
No problem you take care and I was walking off and there was another fellow who was standing close by and he said you know of course the person I was talking to he refused to take the tips refused to even take them to even listen to them but this other person was
Standing there he never said a word he listened to the the the conversation or or to the monologue from this brother and at the end he says um can you give me the tapes I’d like to listen to the tapes and very happily I handed the
Tapes to this other guy so he took the tips the guy I offered them to didn’t want it but there was somebody there who had an open heart and an open mind and he took the Taps and he he he appreciated them so that’s what I I I’m I I am saying you
Know this fellow who launched into me who attacked me this kind of way with his voice I mean no matter how I had tried to explain the truth to him it wouldn’t matter because I tried to be very Pacific and kind and gentle and and yielding I tried to I tried to be
Diplomatic and he he he he launched into me with a tiid of accusing words if I had responded in the same way it wouldn’t have made a difference he would not have listened he would not have accepted what I said anyway but almost by me saying nothing
The person who was standing there he heard and he he asked for asked for the tips so I’m saying this is what I see with Jesus it it seems like he is constantly saying things to antagonize them but I think it’s because of this principle when when you have people who
Are your opponents you don’t have to try to please them when people are determined to condemn you and you see that you see that no matter what you say it’s not really what you’re are saying it’s that they hate you it’s not really the way you say it it’s that they have
Made up their minds when this is the case then the most important thing is not how you say it the most important thing is that you tell the truth without compromising and this is what Jesus was doing he was telling them the truth whether they hated him or
Not so Jesus says if a man keep my saying he shall never see that of course again he’s talking about he’s he’s speaking of spiritual things and he’s making spirit ual points now many people have looked at this and I have even had the question asked of me
Personally you know why did Jesus say this because you know even today we have Christians dying every every Christian dies so why did Jesus say for man keep my saying he shall never see death and of course Jesus is here speaking of Eternal death okay Jesus is speaking
Of not death as a slave sleep okay you you remember three chapters later on we’ll come to it but when he when he says to his disciples our friend Lazarus sleepeth Lazarus is sleeping and the disciple says Lord if he sleep he shall do he shall do well and then Jesus spoke
To them it says Jesus spoke plainly and Jesus says Lazarus is dead so first of all he tries to speak to them using his his his normal spiritual mode of of speaking and and he says Lazarus is sleeping because he is constantly in the atmosphere of Eternity he’s constantly
In the atmosphere of spiritual things so it is it is normal for him to speak in a spiritual way you know when I was a a young a young Christian and I was going to college there was a group of us there we belong to the uh we belong to the 7 Adventist
Brotherhood fraternity they call we call it but um one of the things that you know we got into the habit of saying we kept we got into the habit of referring to one another as Saints and as Israel you know it sounded a bit immature um because you know we we were
Young people and very idealistic but you know when we saw one another how how are you Saint or or how are you Israel and then we would refer to ourselves as Israel and the sounds a little bit um cheesy maybe but the truth is that indeed if you look at things
Spiritually that is the way we are we are identified God’s people are Saints God’s people are holy ones that’s what the Bible refers to us as as Saints not Sinners and and those who are in Christ are the true Israel so to refer to a Christian as Israel is absolutely in
Order you know so Jesus was was doing this all the time and I think I think there’s no there’s no we we should if Jesus spoke in this way it’s not inappropriate for us to do the same thing so it’s it’s appropriate to say our sister is sleeping when when
A Christian is laid in the grave when a Christian stops breathing it’s proper to say he has gone to sleep you know he will soon be awakened by the lifegiver sometimes you have to speak according to the common terminology like Jesus did with Lazarus our friend Lazarus is dead
Okay but first of all you understand he’s only sleeping and to not only say this but get into this mode of thinking so of course the Jews they are this is a foreign language to them then said the Jews unto him now we know that thou Hast
A devil now we are certain you’re demon possessed Abraham is dead and the prophets and you say thou sayest if a man keep my saying he shall never taste of death now there’s another instance where um let me see maybe I should look for this we have been talking maybe it will
Help if we look at a at a verse um um I’m looking for the passage where Jesus says God is not the god of the Dead let me see Matthew 22 right look at what Jesus said speaking to the the people who came to him and asked about Resurrection who who didn’t
Believe in the resurrection but look what Jesus says um but as touching the resurrection of the Dead have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying I am the god of Abraham and the god of Isaac and the god of
Jacob God is not the god of the dead but of the living so here Jesus Tau very clearly that Abraham is not dead and Isaac is not dead and Jacob is not dead even though all these men were in the graves for hundreds of years Jesus said
They were not dead and how does he prove it because he says God is not the god of the Dead God God is the god of the living so when God says I am the god of Abraham God is saying Abraham is still alive now he did not say Abraham is
Conscious he didn’t say Abraham is conscious because Abraham certainly was not conscious he was in an unconscious State he was not aware of anything neither was Isaac and neither was Jacob but God said he’s the god of the living which says that Abraham is not dead in
God’s thinking when somebody is dead is when that person has been totally eliminated they cease to exist and that will happen at the second death but until that time everybody is just sleeping so this is what Jesus means if a man keep my saying he shall never taste of that
So the Jew says now we know that you have a demon and uh they they dare to ask the question are you greater than our Father Abraham who is dead and the prophets are dead who maketh thou thou thyself and this is this is another way of saying
Who do you think you are who do you think you are because you’re saying here’s the here’s the thing that outrages them you’re saying if a man keep my saying he shall never taste of death now clearly you know if you said you’re somebody unusual we might buy that if
You said you’re a prophet we might buy that but when you say somebody can keep your saying and he will never die you’re making yourself greater than the greatest of our people who was Abraham and then there’s Moses and you’re making yourself greater than these men because these men are dead and
You claim to you claim you have a greater ability than them your word is so important that the person who accepts your word will never die so your word is greater than the word of Abraham it’s greater than the word of of Moses and the prophets these men are dead and they
Were they were the great pioneers of our movement who do you think you are this is their question and um you know you really have to sometimes modernize the situation to get an idea I don’t like to keep putting myself in the picture but you know
Sometimes I you know most of you will will know that I I come from the background of the 7 Adventist Church okay I say I come from that background because I’m no longer a member and I am I I have diverted so far from some of the teachings I don’t even consider
Myself an Adventist anymore but one of the things that is always interesting to me is how many enemies I have now among Adventists and why because sometimes I dare to contradict the pioneers of adventism or the prophit of adventism sometimes in the things I’ve come to understand from the Bible I deare to
Contradict these people I I remember one person who is my he’s still my friend but he was was a very close friend and I remember one Sabbath I was giving a Bible study and I contradicted some of the revered Pioneers the early Adventists I I I I was teaching
Something that was contrary to what they taught and this brother who was my dear friend and who he had never stood up against me before he stood up and he gave me a tongue lashing on the top of his voice I couldn’t get a word in he
Gave me a tongue lashing because of of me Dearing to contradict the Pioneers you know afterwards we kind of still communicated in a kind of cordial way but our friendship has never been the same since that time but it I am reminded of it when I look at um how
These Jews are responding because the situation doesn’t change you know people will be your friends even even on Facebook all right to be perfectly transparent even on Facebook there are people who have you know sent me friend friend requests people who have been my friends
And people who used to we used to have good discussions in the past and something has changed because I started I started sharing ideas that contradicted the pioneers and that contradicted Ellen White and since that time it’s so noticeable people that used to pass by and say hi they don’t even
Say hi anymore and and if I put up a post they don’t comment and if if if I I if I comment on a post they make no comment it’s almost like they they they consider me to be dead and my great crime is contradicting the pioneers of the movement that they they
Rever and they look upon as the gateway to Heaven that is the problem and um I’m not talking about that this evening but I I I I I think about it when I when I look at what is happening with Jesus the the the the outrage the
Outrage is because Jesus DARS to suggest that it is possible that he knows more than Abraham and he knows more than the prophets and furthermore he’s greater than Abraham and he’s greater than the prophets because if you believe his word you will never die and yet if you believe Abraham’s
Word and Moses word you die so they don’t understand what he’s saying really but this is their conclusion and so they say who do you think you are Jesus doesn’t break it down and make it any clearer for them he just he just keeps on going back to the same point Jesus
Answered if I honor myself my honor is nothing he said it earlier on above he says that um that you know he has said it many times in this chapter many times in this chapter that it is not he who is speaking it’s the father who is speaking and
Um you know it is not he he he he is not testifying of himself he’s not glorifying himself because where is it I think a little further down they said onto him oh yes you are bearing record of yourself you’re is not true and um we made the point where he
Says in verse 18 I am one that bear witness of myself and the father that sent me Bears witness of me so that’s a point he keeps on making the father is the one who is testifying about who I am and and and and what I’m doing so here he
Says if I honor myself my honor is nothing look here if I’m the one who is who is who is trying to prove myself then you have a right not to believe but look here it is my father that honors me of whom you say that he’s your god what
Proof did they have that God was honoring Jesus the proof that he keeps going back to again and again is the Miracles that he was doing the depth of the words that he was speaking these were the evidences that he was not of this world his lifestyle
Which of you convinces me of sin that’s one of the things he asked his lifestyle his pure and holy life his words never man spake like this man and the Miracles that bore witness of his divine origin these were testifying of who he was and it was the
Father who was doing these things through him so he says it is my father that honth me of whom you say that he is your God all right so he keeps going back to that point again you don’t like me you don’t like my teaching but you have to you
Have to think about this who is it that is working through me who is it that is doing these Miracles that you see happening he’s saying to them have a little sense think about what you’re doing and think about what is happening where do I get this power from where do
I get this Authority from if God is not working through me that is the evidence he keeps bringing them back to and then he says you know you say you say that he’s your God that’s the claim you make yet you have not known him you don’t know
Him and that’s evident you know because first of all Jesus says my sheep hear my voice but but Jesus also makes a point that if you were of God you would you would love me because I am of God okay if if you if you say you love God why
Don’t you love me because I am the image of my father why would you love God and yet you don’t love me it’s because you don’t know God you think you love God but if you know God you would recognize that God is the same kind of
Character like I am so if you love God why wouldn’t you love me because like father like son you cannot love the father without loving the son and vice versa because their characters are identical yet you have not known him but I know him and if I should say I
I know him not I should be a liar like unto you but I know him and keep his saying again those volatile words I shall be a liar like unto you he’s not afraid to call them Liars I mean even today when I encounter a liar I don’t think it’s the most
Diplomatic thing to label him as a liar but Jesus was not into diplomacy as much as he was into telling the truth so he look at the contrast he says you are liars because you say you know God if I say did I don’t know him I’ll be a
Liar like you not that I will believe your lie it would be that i’ be I’d be I’d be lying I’d be denying the truth just like you deny the truth your truth and my truth are two opposite truth you say you know him and you don’t know him I say I
Know him and I know him but if I deny that I know him I’ll be lying like you because you say you know him and it’s a lie and I would say I don’t know him and it’s a lie that’s what he’s saying but I know him and keep his sing and
Then he he puts maybe the nail in the coffin he says your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day he saw it and was glad and you know at this point we can only conclude that what Jesus is talking about is the events of Abraham’s life where Jesus was revealed because of
Course Abraham there’s no record that Abraham actually had a vision where he saw Jesus but he had encounters with God where God told him of something unusual to come for example when God told him in Genesis 18 Genesis 15 Genesis 22 that his seed his
Seed he would have a seed and in his seed all nations would be blessed that is something that Abraham saw AB did not see it physically but he saw it Through The Eyes of faith God promised him he would have a seed and through this seed all nations would be
Would be blessed so so so Jesus makes reference to this and says it was Abraham seeing his day and again it was it when he when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice again in this illustration he he saw Jesus in two ways first of all in
The sacrificing of his son he came to understand in some way the sacrifice that God would make but at the same time just as he was about to kill his son God provided a lamb and the lesson was there again in a second way God provided a ram
A sheep the lesson was there in a second way God provides a sheep a substitute instead of the one who is going to die there was Christ for you again but also the one who was to die and didn’t die there is Christ again because it was
Abraham’s only begotten son so it was a symbol of Christ in two different ways the lamb the the the Sheep was a symbol and the sun was a symbol even though the symb the sun didn’t actually die but in these ways Abraham saw Christ he saw Jesus’s day he foresaw what was
Coming even though his his understanding was of course necessarily very limited okay certainly he didn’t have our kind of understanding but he kind of got the idea and he believed so but anyway when Jesus says it he’s provoking the Jews again you know what he’s really trying to say is that my
Identity goes back to Abraham my my place in history is so important that even Abraham the one you rever and you respect and you uphold even Abraham knew about my coming my coming is of such significance that Abraham knew about it and Abraham saw it but this is how the Jews interpreted
It then said the Jews unto him you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham I guess that’s how they interpret what he says when he says Abraham rejoiced to see my day um I wonder if there’s something else implied in what Jesus says let me look
At um the Amplified Bible in the Amplified Bible it says your forefather Abraham was extremely happy at the hope and the prospect of seeing my day my Incarnation and he did see it and was delighted yeah that’s basically what I explained that’s basically what I think
It means but um you know how the Jews answered it seems that what Jesus says suggest to them that it’s not just that Abraham saw Jesus but that Jesus also saw Abraham I think that must have been implied in what he said so maybe the translation is a little bit maybe maybe
The translation is not perfect I don’t know I’m just suggesting because why would the Jews say have you seen Abraham you’re not yet 50 years and have you seen Abraham it seems to me that Jesus said something that made them think he was suggesting Abraham saw my day and I saw Abraham
Something was there in the way in what was said I don’t see it in the translation but I I think it’s there somewhere so so they say you’re not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham and Jesus puts the final nail in the coffin because Jesus said unto
Them truly truly absolute truth unmistaken I say unto you I’m telling you before Abraham was I am now this statement here is uh is a statement that that has been used by trinitarians over and over as a as a and they suggest that Jesus Jesus was claiming to be
Yahweh the I am of the Bible as a matter of fact if you look at this translation the world English Bible look at the the panel on the right it says most certainly I tell you before Abraham came into existence I am look at the the word
Am you’ll say they have put it in full caps that suggest that he’s not just saying I existed he’s not talking about a condition but an identity they are suggesting that it means that he is The Great I Am of the bible let me see if any other translation takes that Liberty
Because this is not the new English the new English translation no no the world English Bible we saw that already okay the Amplified Bible does the same The Good News Bible does the same all right but that that that is a translation Liberty that they are taking because the
Text itself does not does not Merit that is Jesus saying that before Abraham existed I am that I am was he really deliberately meaning to take the the title that God used in Exodus chapter 7 was it as I said many trinitarians point at this and they say you see Jesus was the
Jehovah of the Old Testament now to be to be honest I believe that Jesus was the identity that appeared as Jehovah in the Old Testament I’ll just show you quickly why this is not something difficult to accept if you go to Exodus chapter 7 all right it tells you that
Um it’s not s it’s chapter 4 I think or chapter 3 could be chapter 3 all right Exodus chapter 3 and um yeah here it is it says and God said unto Moses I am that I am and he said thus shalt thou say unto
The children of Israel I am that sent me unto you now the interesting thing is that when you go back to um verse verse two it says and the angel of the Lord the angel of Yahweh appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
Bush and he looked and behold the bush burned with fire and the Bush was not consumed this is the it says it’s the angel of the Lord right and it’s this same angel of of the Lord who is talking and it’s this same angel of whom
It is said God said unto Moses I am that I am it’s the angel who carries the title or who makes the claim I am that I am now even though we understand that this is this is applying to God the one God of the Bible the
Person who is actually speaking is this Angel and most of us I think all of us believe that this Angel who was speaking out of the Bush was actually Jesus Christ the messenger of the Covenant the messenger of Yahweh which is Jesus right he’s today Jesus back at that time Jesus wasn’t his
Name but he says I am that I am so if if Jesus now in the New Testament is actually saying before Abraham was I am if he’s saying I am the same I am that was claimed in the Old Testament I don’t see that there’s any difficulty
Because it was a title that Jesus Jesus used at the time and for those who have a difficulty understanding this let me explain in the Old Testament maybe I should show my face for this um explanation in in the Old Testament there is a device that is that God uses
And God wasn’t the only one who uses it it was a way of communication through another person and it happens over and over in the Old Testament I could I could look and find quite a few examples for you you know today when we talk we talk about direct
Speech and we talk about reported speech and direct speech is is if I say to you I Am David Clayton and if you take my words and you go somewhere else with it you will say he said he was David Clayton but it it wasn’t like this in
The in Bible times you don’t carry a person’s word like that the the the the third person reported speech that’s not how you carry the message you take the message and you carry the message in the exact word so if I say go and tell Mr Mr Brown that I Am David
Clayton you would go to Mr Brown and says he said to tell you I am David Clayton you carry the exact words and you say what I actually said if I said I Am David Clayton you going and say I am David Clayton and and so when jesus carried the
Message if he brought a message from God he spoke as God he did not give reported speech and you can see it many places when when the king of Assyria sent a messenger to King Hezekiah he carried the message you know you will read in the Bible where it says many times and
The word of the Lord came the word of the Lord came to Jonah the word of the Lord came to to Isaiah or whoever it’s like the word of God is a living thing and it travels from one place to another you don’t change the word you carry the
Word just as it is given to you or the word travels just as how it comes from the the mouth of the originator so you don’t say God says that he said so and so you say God says or if you or you you sometimes you even eliminate God says
Because when the angel comes he does not say God says he says I am that I am he’s speaking the words of God because he’s the messenger of God he’s acting as though he’s God himself so I don’t really see a problem when Jesus says before Abraham was I am
Because he was the person who was really operating in that identity you know but there’s also another way in which you could look at the verse Jesus could just be saying before Abraham was I am in existence you know you could read it this way before Abraham was before Abraham existed I
Exist he he is actually putting himself in the Eternal present you could call it the present continuous so he’s saying it’s a way of he’s saying I’ve always been there long before Abraham before Abraham was I am in existence and I am in existence today he’s really making a
A striking claim for eternity for for for divine existence for an existence that goes back beyond the mind and the ability of man to conceive of what whatever he means by this whether he means I am the I am that appeared in the Old Testament times or I have existed from times Beyond
Computation if that is what he’s saying any one of these it’s enough to give them an excuse to kill him it’s enough to infuriate them to the point that they can’t tolerate him no more at this point they are so filled with rage like like like happened with
Steven then took they up stones to cast at him they said no no this is too much and they they start looking around for Stones it says but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple and went out of the temple going through the midst of them and so passed
By again this has to be another incidence of divine protection because there are all around him I suppose there are many people in the crowd who are not really intending to kill him but there are quite number so I suppose it was wasn’t too difficult for him to get lost
Among the crowd but I think also you have a you have evidence here of a Divine protection because it says Jesus hid himself it wasn’t just that he got lost in the crowd you know somehow a hand of protection was around him and so they couldn’t find him and
Again it points out it it highlights the point that Jesus Jesus was was Immortal he was infallible he could not die until the time came for for until God’s time came because many times they tried to kill him and they couldn’t kill him he walked through the midst of them and he passed
On over and over but when the moment came for him to die he set his face toward Jerusalem you know that’s why it says he laid down his life he didn’t kill himself but he put himself in the place where they had the opportunity to
Kill him he put himself in a place where he was under Satan’s power and in the hand of Satan’s agencies and he had to go there because he was the last Adam and as Adam he had to take Adam’s Place and overcome where Adam failed so he had to be put in that
Place but until that time came until the moment was right nobody could take his life and that is a good thing for us to remember brothers and sisters when we pass through our own challenges and difficulties so that brings us to the end of our session for today that brings
Us to the end finally of John chapter 4 next week we’ll start on John chapter 9 and I think I really look forward to the story in chapter 9 because it’s a it’s a very interesting story and there are some striking lessons that we can learn from that story so I look forward
To joining you again next week at the same time as we continue our study in the Book of John so let me see if I can remember where everybody is from I’m sure I can’t but I’m going to try sister Z of course from Miami sister Destiny from I think it’s
Georgia somewhere in America right sister Destiny I’m not sure but I think it’s Georgia and brother Wayne from cold from cold England I guess it’s the same thing for America and especially Canada but Warren from where it’s warm down under there at this time of the year brother Reggie
Good to see you my brother somewhere up there in America not sure don’t remember this state brother Florian from Germany brother Patrick from St Lucia brother mat and also Sister Amy from up in North Carolina we’re all getting blessings brother Matt there’s Brother Sam hi brother Sam I think he’s in Florida even
There is cold I think right now uh sister Angela greetings and blessings and um s angel I think he’s from up in the north of America I think somewhere up in up in Oregon or Washington State I believe sister Anita from England brother Michael from Germany Daniel my neighbor my son from
Nearby just a couple of miles down the road s sister Chris from Washington God bless you Sister Chris brother Robin from Tech from Trinidad by we of Texas but Teran from South Africa sister pom pom this must be sister pom from Romania God bless you my sister brother
Alexander from Serbia God bless you my brother brother Brian from up in Canada there cold cold I see Canada God bless and keep you warm brother Brian sister L my dear sister from nearby just um a community not too far from here God bless you Sister L brother
Andrew from St James probably in mville at the moment sister Sharon from Miami brother Moss digity hi brother Moss I I I am not sure where you are from but I think I probably should know but anyway it’s good to see you sister Tracy my Jamaican sister from not far
From here either good to see you sister van from up there in Serbia blessing sister Vania brother binil from Indonesia I think is it Indonesia brother benil um I think I missed the name a little bit it’s not exactly Indonesia I think is it no no maybe Indonesia and another name keeps coming
To my mind brother Ben but anyway it’s great to see you I know you’ll correct me John 3:16 from Canada hello brother or sister as the case may be greetings up there where it’s very cold sister arthia from Jamaica by way of Texas hello sister Aria blessings
Too yes praise God brother Brian praise God he is so good he always gives us just what we need just when we need hi brother Francisco from Panama God bless you brother Sylvie from up there in Romania good to see you sister Sylvie brother ryel good to see you also
From New York if I am not mistaken yeah New York I think brother Cato from Costa ricao blessings my brother sister Marjorie my little Jamaican sister from not far from here out on Spirit Road God bless you great to see you but Colin from Guyana by way of the
US blessings brother Colin good to see you too sister E from the Philippines blessings my dear sister it’s great to see you when you’re able to join us brother Edwin also up there in the USA I think in New York right brother Edwin good to see you and Sister Christina from
Washington wonderful to have you sister Nathalie from Texas down there in Texas Jamaica by we of Texas blessings Sister Beth good to see you better late than never and if I’m not wrong you’re joining us from here Wisconsin or is it Michigan somewhere up there top things in the world I know for
Sure it’s the first time I’m seeing that name blessings glad you with us here there’s sister Lia from Hungary to see you sister L always happy when you can join us brother Marvin is here from up there in the US brother Owen from Trinidad byway of New
York God bless you brother Terence I am sorry it’s over to but sometimes sometimes I am a little tired so I’m glad for the chance to take a break but um thank you for the word of appreciation sister Karina it’s great I always is glad to see you I know we
Don’t get to see you a lot of the time because of the time difference but it’s wonderful to know you can join us on a Thursday praise the Lord and I’m glad it is a blessing Maria Hova I assume you’re from up in Serbia as well good to see you my
Sister Alban New York brother Owen I thought so and brother Leonard um is it from is it from Rwanda I know it’s Africa somewhere but God bless you Sister Maria from Belgium okay all right sister Maria over God bless you it’s so wonderful to have you all brother Edwin
From connectic cot all right Sister Christina from Colorado I must remember I probably won’t but it’s good to see you and to know where you’re all coming from we have a wonderful family sister Angela from Alberta all right I keep I keep putting you in the north of America but it’s
Alberta God bless you Sister Angela and as I say keep warm but I must digity it from USA from Ohio okay my brother God bless you all I appreciate you all very much thank you for joining me and look it means a lot to me keep on coming okay and um let’s
Just close off by giving our father thanks for the time we have spent together love you to Sister Christina and everybody else love and appreciate you one day I will meet you face to face and show you how much I mean it all right God bless you let’s
Pray thank you beloved father for the time we have spent together this evening we thank you for the beauty of your words we thank you for how much depth there is in even even one verse from the Bible every time we study together we are learning better how to
Represent how to represent you in the world how to show your goodness to others how to relate in different situations we’re grateful father and we give you thanks we pray now that you dismiss us with your blessing and keep us all safe keep us all locked into your son
Jesus until we meet again in his name we pray amen all right God bless you all and again thank you for the words of encouragement brother M the hearts the love everybody take care I see you all next week by his grace take care
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