1. People Who Were Lost and Did Not Know It John 8:52-59 Wrap-up message in our series called Jesus In the Present Tense...I AM Sunday, September 11, 2011 Speaker: Doug Virgint

2. 2 Lost and did not know it ! 1) Introduction 2) The context 3) They misunderstood what it meant to be Abraham’s descendants. 4) They misunderstood who Jesus really was. 5) Conclusion

3. 3 Lost and did not know it ! 1) Introduction 2) The context 3) They misunderstood what it meant to be Abraham’s descendants. 4) They misunderstood who Jesus really was. 5) Conclusion

4. 4 1) Introduction A question to the men : Are you ever lost but don’t know it? Are you ever lost but won’t admit it?

5. 5 Lost and did not know it! 1) Introduction 2) The context 3) They misunderstood what it meant to be Abraham’s descendants. 4) They misunderstood who Jesus really was. 5) Conclusion

6. 6 2) Context In the Gospel of John : Chapters 1 - 4 – Jesus favourably accepted Chapters 5 - 8 – Jesus progressively rejected

7. 7 2) Context In this chapter : Abraham is named 11 times not mentioned in the other 20 chapters “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free ? (8:33)

8. 8 Lost and did not know it! 1) Introduction 2) The context 3) They misunderstood what it meant to be Abraham’s descendants. 4) They misunderstood who Jesus really was. 5) Conclusion

9. 9 3) Abraham’s descendants Their thinking: Abraham is blessed by God God promised to bless Abraham’s descendents We are Abraham’s descendants There is nothing for us to worry about!

10. 10 3) Abraham’s descendants Jesus’ answer: God is interested in spiritual lineage, not physical lineage. Are you descended from Abraham spiritually? Do you do as Abraham did?

11. 11 3) Abraham’s descendants Abraham: A) placed the calling of God above earthly considerations B)believed God in spite of circumstances C)placed his ultimate hope in the coming of the Lord Jesus as Messiah, and rejoiced in His coming

12. 12 3) Abraham’s descendants A) He placed the calling of God above earthly considerations : Abraham was rich Abraham was rich He did not allow Ur or Haran to detain him He did not allow Ur or Haran to detain him He left the past behind and set out to obey God He left the past behind and set out to obey God He sought only the honour that came from God. He sought only the honour that came from God.

13. 13 3) Abraham’s descendants A) placed the calling of God above earthly considerations : These men in John 8 were only concerned with man’s respect and honour These men in John 8 were only concerned with man’s respect and honour They rejected Christ because they wanted to maintain their position and honour They rejected Christ because they wanted to maintain their position and honour

14. 14 3) Abraham’s descendants “It is not difficult to honour oneself. One can quite easily surround oneself with a kind of synthetic halo. It is easy enough - in fact it is fatally easy – to bask in the sunshine of one’s own approval. It is not overly difficult to win honour from men… … But the real honour is the honour which only eternity can reveal, and the verdicts of eternity are not the verdicts of men.” (William Barclay)

15. 15 3) Abraham’s descendants B) believed God in spite of circumstances : And they were difficult circumstances And they were difficult circumstances Famines Famines Family problems Family problems Attacks from armies Attacks from armies And there was sterility And there was sterility

16. 16 3) Abraham’s descendants C) placed his ultimate hope in the coming of the Lord Jesus as Messiah, and rejoiced in His coming. “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” (8: 56)

17. 17 3) Abraham’s descendants When did Abraham see Christ’s day? By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sac- rifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so … he did receive Isaac back from death. (Heb 11:17-19)

18. 18 3) Abraham’s descendants When did Abraham see Christ’s day? When God provided a substitute sacrifice for Isaac, Abraham clearly saw with the eyes of his faith the coming of Christ, and the meaning of His death and resurrection. And he rejoiced in that coming!

19. 19 3) Abraham’s descendants When did Abraham see Christ’s day? But here, these religious people were seeing Christ with there own physical eyes. They saw His miracles and heard his teaching. And they rejected him!

20. 20 3) Abraham’s descendants Have you really seen Christ’s day? Have you rejoiced in Christ? Have you received Christ? Or is something stopping you from receiving Christ?

21. 21 3) Abraham’s descendants Have you really seen Christ’s day?  Pride  Preferring your own goals  Looking for man’s honour  Refusing to believe

22. 22 3) Abraham’s descendants Have you really seen Christ’s day? “The sun did stand still” “The iron did swim” “This God is our God” (Leland Wang)

23. 23 Lost and did not know it! 1) Introduction 2) The context 3) They misunderstood what it meant to be Abraham’s descendants. 4) They misunderstood who Jesus really was. 5) Conclusion

24. 24 4) Who Christ is “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad. “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him,” (8:56-59)

25. 25 4) Who Christ is Two important questions: Who am I? Who am I? Where am I going? Where am I going?

26. 26 4) Who Christ is Two much more important questions: Who is Jesus-Christ? Who is Jesus-Christ? Is Jesus-Christ God? Is Jesus-Christ God? On these questions hang our destiny

27. 27 4) Who Christ is The Gospel of John starts with this verse: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

28. 28 4) Who Christ is The Gospel of John ends with this verse: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31)

29. 29 4) Who Christ is In between these verses: Much evidence is given to support Christ’s claim that He is God.

30. 30 4) Who Christ is In chapter 8 the question is not: about Jesus’ teaching about Jesus’ teaching about Sabbath keeping about Sabbath keeping or about Jesus’ good deeds (or evil) or about Jesus’ good deeds (or evil)

31. 31 4) Who Christ is The question is: Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? Is He God? Is He God?

32. 32 4) Who Christ is If Jesus is God: He has the right to our allegiance He has the right to our allegiance We must follow Him as Lord and God We must follow Him as Lord and God We can not be indifferent to Him We can not be indifferent to Him Which will it be? Which will it be?

33. 33 4) Who Christ is “Before Abraham was born, I am” (58) “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3:14,15) “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3:14,15)

34. 34 4) Who Christ is God revealed himself to Moses by his personal name: Jehovah or Yahveh Jehovah or Yahveh YHVH – the tetragrammaton YHVH – the tetragrammaton from the Hebrew verb “hovah” from the Hebrew verb “hovah” - The one who is - The absolute and unchangeable one - The existing, ever-living

35. 35 4) Who Christ is An additional point here: The reaction of the Jewish leaders The reaction of the Jewish leaders They tried to stone Him They tried to stone Him The penalty for blasphemy The penalty for blasphemy “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” (John 10:34)

36. 36 Lost and did not know it! 1) Introduction 2) The context 3) They misunderstood what it meant to be Abraham’s descendants. 4) They misunderstood who Jesus really was. 5) Conclusion

37. 37 5) Conclusion Jesus’ reaction to those who rejected Him: “Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. (John 8:59) “going through the midst of them, and so passed by” (KJV)

38. 38 5) Conclusion Jesus’ reaction to those who rejected Him: They rejected Christ They rejected Christ So Christ rejected them So Christ rejected them He passed them by He passed them by

39. 39 People who were lost and did not know it John 8: 52-59