Dear Explorer,
Read John 8:37-47
These are strong words coming from Jesus. They are directed at the Pharisees, the religious leaders of that day. Jesus essentially said, “You wouldn't know truth if it came up and bit you on the nose!”
Which brings us to a good question. How do you know what's truth and what is lies?
There are many religious leaders of our time who claim to know truth. So how come so much of it doesn't agree? How come one says one thing and another something different? How come there are so many different beliefs and religions?
Let's go back to basics. All of us start out with a God-shaped vacuum. When you ask God to fill it. He does. He sends the Holy Spirit to indwell us and direct our path.
John 8:47 tells us that if we are filled with God, we'll recognize the things of God. The implication is that we will also be able to recognize what is NOT of God. This also explains why the Bible makes little sense to those who are empty on the inside. It also explains why the Bible becomes alive and vibrant to a follower of Jesus who has invited Him in!
Re-Read John 8:44
This one verse gives us a very clear picture of Satan.
What do you see about Satan here?
First, we see that Satan is the guide or leader or Father of all the people who reject Jesus and are empty inside.
He is a murderer. He cares nothing about people. He causes a lot of physical death, but also spiritual death – because people choose to follow Him and reject Jesus.
He doesn't hold to the truth. It doesn't bother him at all to lie. It is his nature. In fact, he can't tell you the truth because there is no truth in him. Lying is his language.
We must learn to recognize his lies in our lives – because he will tempt us.
So, I believe that if you put this passage all together, you will see that there will always be teachers and groups and leaders who will be teaching incorrect things. They are either not filled with Jesus or not being obedient and are influenced by Satan. But we have the assurance that if we have invited Jesus into our core, we will be able to see their teaching for what it is. The Holy Spirit will direct us and show us what is truth and what is lies. If you are listening to the Holy Spirit, you will know when something is not right!
Read John 8:48-59
What is the promise given in John 8:51?
Hold it! I KNOW that followers of Jesus die! So, what is Jesus talking about?
Here's a Circle Model of what the physical death of a follower of Jesus looks like.
Remember we earlier defined SELF as “the real you” - your inner SELF that is different from the physical BODY but makes up all that you are. SELF separates from the BODY and is escorted by the Holy Spirit (Jesus or God) into Heaven. There we will receive a new BODY that is supernatural – but I'm getting ahead of the text. We'll talk about that later.
So yes, the follower of Jesus will go through physical death of the BODY, but the SELF will live for all eternity and never die. That's why Jesus states that His followers will never die and why He talks about Abraham and other Old Testament prophets being alive and well!
In John 8:56, Jesus claimed to have lived at the time of Abraham. Was He talking about the incident in Genesis 18:1-33 when He was visiting with Abraham and Sarah? He promised to give them a son and then told Abraham about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Maybe.
Also note that Jesus once again was protected by God from the Pharisees.
In His service, dale
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