Amen. Well, turn with me in your copy of God’s Word to John chapter 8. It is at times like these and passages like these that we see what I believe is the benefit of preaching verse by verse through the Bible. Because in places where that’s not done and sermons are more topical and more focused on what it seems you want or need to hear, we don’t often hear about being children of the devil. How many preachers want to preach on who are the children of the devil? But here we find ourselves in John chapter eight, and we pick up once again in the middle of a heated exchange between Jesus and these Jews.

These people who once again appeared to believe in verse 30. But as we’ve seen in the last few sermons and the previous few passages, Jesus is revealing that they do not truly believe. Jesus showed them that they needed to be set free from their sin, as I read earlier. And they needed to see their need for Him as a Savior, as a Redeemer from their slavery to sin. And they did not like that one bit. So as we saw last week, Jesus exposed what they truly hoped in.

They were Abraham’s seed, so they said. But as Jesus revealed, they may have been Abraham’s seed in the flesh by their blood, by their lineage, but if they were truly Abraham’s seed of promise, they would do what Abraham did. They would do the deeds of Abraham. If they were really sons of Abraham, they would believe like Abraham did. Being children of Abraham only meant something if they were children by faith like Abraham.

So their false sense of security was founded on their physical family, not in their spiritual family. And even as we saw briefly last week, this type of confidence in physical family or physical realities remains a problem even today. People assume that they are automatically going to heaven and they are automatically in the realm of God’s people for various reasons.

Some, you ask, and they’ll answer, well, I grew up in church. My family always have gone to church. My family’s Christian. Or some will say, well, I’m baptized. That’s how I know that I’m a Christian and I’m going to heaven, because I was baptized. And some even say, well, I was baptized as a child and that received me into communion with the church. So I’m in God’s people. That’s who I am.

And while it’s a great privilege to be raised in church, and it’s a great privilege to be baptized and take communion as a member of God’s family, as great as those privileges are, those are not the things that grant us salvation. and membership in the family of God. Salvation comes only through personal trust in Jesus Christ. That’s the only thing that grants us into the family that really matters.

As Jesus was trying to get this point across to these Jews. A really helpful illustration that I found as I was studying this sermon, one of the commentaries pointed out this as an illustration of the very thing that Jesus was trying to help these Jews understand, that it’s not your physical family that actually matters, it’s your spiritual family.

But a good illustration of this is to look back at one of the greatest Christian families that America has seen. And that is in the family of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. Jonathan Edwards, as many of you know, was probably the greatest theologian America has ever known. Even secular scholars today recognize he was one of the most intelligent men born on American soil. He was a brilliant theologian, a great Christian man. And Sarah, his wife, was a great Christian lady in her own right. They had 11 children who then began a great and faithful legacy.

Jonathan and Sarah Edwards’ children and their grandchildren’s legacy, the offspring that came from this family, listen to the resume of this great family. These are the offspring of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. There’s a vice president of the United States. A dean of a law school, a dean of a medical school, three US senators, three state governors, three mayors, 13 college presidents, 30 judges, 60 doctors, 65 professors, 75 military officers, 80 public office holders, 100 lawyers, 100 clergymen or pastors, and 285 college graduates, all come from the family of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. Apparently, being a descendant of Jonathan Edwards, that counts for something. That means you’re going to be a good and moral person, right? Not so fast.

If you know your history, if you know the history of America and the history of this family, you may know the story of Aaron Burr. Aaron Burr was the grandson of Jonathan Edwards, and he was the highest ranking member of that family as it comes to political office. He was the one who was the Vice President of the United States. The Edwards’ daughter, Esther, gave birth to Aaron Burr. He would go on to be Vice President under President Thomas Jefferson.

However, despite his status, despite his heritage, Despite his family lineage that ought to mean something, Aaron Burr displayed the very opposite of his grandfather Jonathan’s godly character. Aaron Burr rejected Jesus Christ and the Christian faith. And he was most well known for killing the great American statesman Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Not only that, he went on to betray his country and to conspire with Mexico to start a war with the United States, and was charged and tried for treason for that. In fact, one poet of his time said about Aaron Burr, this is a line from his poem, eight lines of clergymen converged to meet in Aaron Burr, but Aaron was Beelzebub in mocking miniature. That’s the grandson. of Jonathan Edwards.

Clearly, a good heritage, good family line doesn’t guarantee anything. The family you come from doesn’t guarantee you anything as you stand before God. As we’ll see today, there is only one family that makes all the difference in your life and in your eternal destiny. Jesus was well aware of the fact that human lineage, human heritage doesn’t guarantee morality or salvation.

Speaking to these men, these Jews who boasted in their descent from Abraham, we are Abraham’s seed, Jesus points out to them that their claim to be the children of God is proven false. by their hatred of him. In verse 37, I read that Jesus says, I know that you’re Abraham’s seed. He means physically speaking. I know that you come from Abraham. Then he says, yet you are seeking to kill me because my word has no place in you. Not only were they not imitating their ancestor, Abraham. But Jesus goes on to say that they’re doing the deeds of their true Father.

In our text today, Jesus will go on to show that not only are they not Abraham’s children in a spiritual sense, and they’re not God’s children either, they’re children of the devil. They are children of Satan himself. In our text today, Jesus explains, number one, who are the children of God? Number two, who are the children of the devil. And thirdly, we’ll see he points out the difference, how you know the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil.

I want you to read for us again, John chapter eight, verses 41 through 47. This is the word of the Lord. You are doing the deeds of your father. And they said to him, We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father, God. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and have come from God. For I have not even come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word.

You are of your father, the devil. and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not hear them because you are not of God.” The first distinction that our text makes for us is those who are the children of God.

At least that’s what these Jews are claiming to be. In verse 41, Jesus finishing His statements to them previously, where He points out to them that you’re doing the deeds of your true Father, they respond by saying, well, we’re not of sexual immorality. We’re not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God. So these false believers, they respond to Jesus’ challenge to them. about not truly being the children of God, they respond to Him by insulting Him. And that’s exactly what this is. They say, we’re not born of sexual immorality. And what they imply is, like you are, Jesus.

Hey, we’re not the ones with questionable circumstances surrounding our birth. Remember how your mother was pregnant before Joseph married her? We’re not the ones born of sexual immorality, Jesus. If you don’t quite see the mocking tone yet, wait till verse 48 when they call him a demon-possessed Samaritan. Here, they’re implying that his birth, unlike theirs, was illegitimate. We have one Father, God.

And I’m sure they have in mind what the Old Testament says about Israel. Like in Exodus 4, verse 22, where it says, thus says Yahweh, Israel is my son, my firstborn. Or later on in the prophets where Jeremiah says in chapter 31, verse 9, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. So yes, God does say Israel. is His Son, and they are claiming that. Hey, the Bible says something about us, you know. We’re Israel. We’re God’s children. What does that mean? I mean, we’re all God’s children, right? That’s what you’ll hear today, that we’re all God’s children and God loves all of us equally. That’s not what the Bible says. That’s not what John 8 says. That’s not what Jesus has to say to these Jews. Jesus does not say that we’re all God’s children, and he doesn’t even grant to these Israelites that they are God’s children.

It was true that God was the father of Israel in the sense that he chose them as a nation to be his people. As we pointed out last week, spiritually speaking, he was the father of those who believe, those who come to saving faith, just like Abraham, the forefather of Israel. His faith was counted to him as righteousness.

Romans 4.11 specifically says that Abraham is the father of all who believe. God’s children are believers. in the sense that they mean they’re believers, and they’re believers in the son whom he sent. That’s Jesus’ response to their claim here that God is their father. Jesus says to them in verse 42, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come of myself, but he If you were God’s children, you see, this is the DNA test for the children of God. This is the paternity test.

Do you love Jesus? Do you love Him? Do you believe in Him? Do you trust that He is true and what He says is true? That you are a sinner, you are enslaved to sin, and that you cannot save yourself. That He alone is the Savior that you need. That He lived and He died and was buried and rose again for you. That He is seated at the right hand of God and will return one day to judge the living and the dead. Do you believe that? Do you love Him? That’s the paternity test of God’s children.

Those who say they love God but reject the one that he sent cannot be the children of God. So by refusing Jesus here, or refusing to embrace him as the Messiah they were waiting for, these Jews are proving their true paternity, their true lineage. Jesus had told us earlier in chapter five that he who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. And later in chapter 15, verse 23, he says explicitly, he who hates me hates my father also. If you’re children of God, why do you hate him? If God is your Father, why do you hate Him? Jesus has repeated here, you’re trying to kill me. He who hates me hates my Father also.

True children of God are characterized. What makes them the children of God are characterized by a love for His Son. John goes on to speak more of this in his letter of 1 John. 1 John 2.23 says, everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father. The one who confesses the Son has the Father also. This is what Jesus is saying here. If you’re denying Him, you don’t have the Father. You’re not children of God. He’s not your Father. John says in 1 John chapter 4. That everyone that confesses Jesus is the Christ and that he has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. If you are of God, you believe in the one whom he sent.

And because Jesus has repeated himself over and over here, and they still are refusing to believe in him, it is clear that this isn’t getting through to them. They’re not getting it. They’re not understanding what he says. And the question is why? Why aren’t they getting it? It’s pretty clear. And he said it over and over. Why aren’t they understanding him? And that’s exactly where Jesus goes next. In verse 43, why do you not understand what I am saying? Why aren’t you getting it? This is quite clear. Why are you not understanding what I am saying? And Jesus’ answer is so clarifying. It is because you cannot hear my word. You cannot hear it. Remember, Jesus just said that to be his disciple, You must abide or remain in his word. And now he says, you can’t even hear it. You cannot hear my word.

He was speaking to them. They were hearing words. They could hear his voice. They were clearly comprehending the words he was saying, because they were having a conversation. But it wasn’t getting through to them. They weren’t hearing Him. It’s like when my wife asks me to go get something in the other room, and I get to the other room, and I know she said something, but I have no idea what she said. But notice here, Jesus doesn’t say that you do not hear Him. That’s my problem. I didn’t listen well enough. He didn’t say that you do not hear Him. And He doesn’t say that you will not hear Him, that you refuse to hear Him. He says, you cannot hear Him. Literally, it says, you are not able. You do not have the ability to hear and understand my word. Why? He was speaking the same language. Why couldn’t they understand Him? Because they have not been given the ability. This shows us that we need to be given the ability to hear Him. This is the point that the great ancient theologian Augustine worked so hard to get across to people his whole life in ministry.

He argued that because of the fall, mankind, men without God, are morally unable. They are unable to come to Christ. They are unable to hear Him, unable to understand what He’s saying. Fallen humanity, us before Christ, we do not respond to the Word of God because we have no taste for it. By nature, the things of God are foreign to fallen human beings. Fallen man doesn’t want God in his thinking, and he refuses to have anything to do with Him.

By nature, the Bible tells us, his desires are only wicked. That’s why God has to change a person’s heart before they can come to Him, before they will ever respond to the Word of God. The Spirit has to set him free. He must be born again before he can enter the kingdom of God. Listen to how the London Baptist Confession of Faith explains the effect of the fall on humanity. This is what it says in chapter nine, paragraph three.

Humanity, by falling into a state of sin, has completely lost all ability to choose any spiritual good that accompanies salvation. Thus, people in their natural state are absolutely opposed to spiritual good and dead in sin so that they cannot convert themselves by their own strength or even prepare themselves for conversion. In our natural state, without Christ, as these Jews Jesus is talking to are, as you and I were before the intervention of God. We have completely lost all ability to come to Him, to please God, to choose God, or as Jesus says here, to even hear His word.

As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, but a natural man, a man unconverted, a man without Christ, a man in his natural state of fallenness, But a natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually examined.”

You ever met that guy? You ever talked to that guy? We try to explain the gospel, the simplicity of God sending his son to die for us and all we need to do is believe and accept what Jesus Christ has done on the cross, and he thinks you’re foolish? You believe that? That is where we are without God, the natural man. This is everyone’s natural state. This is where these Jews standing before Jesus are. They cannot hear his word. They think it’s foolishness. And they are proving that they are not children of God.

And next, Jesus reveals their true lineage, their true father. Secondly, Jesus says they are the children of the devil. In verse 44, Jesus continues and says, you are of your father, the devil. and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he’s a liar and the father of lies.” You see, there are only two options that Jesus gives. There’s the children of God and the children of the devil. Jesus has already proven that they’re not children of God because they don’t love Him. The only other option is that they are, in fact, children of the devil.

We are not all children of God. We are not born children of God. As well-meaning as the kind lady that told you that is, it’s not true. It’s important that we know this. That we are not all children of God, and you’re not born a child of God, and your children are not born children of God. We’re all born children of the devil.

We need to be converted. We need to be born again into the true family of God. We see it in Ephesians 2, the state that we’re in before Christ. Ephesians 2 verse 1, and you were dead. in your transgressions and sins, in which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all formally conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh.”

We were all formally children of disobedience, children of the devil, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature Children of wrath, even as the rest. We’re all born children of wrath, every one of us. And listen to how Peter describes children of wrath, children of the devil, people without Christ, our state before we come to Christ. 2 Peter 2, starting in verse 12.

But these, these children of the devil, these people without Christ, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, blaspheming where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering unrighteousness as the wages of their unrighteousness. These are false teachers he’s speaking of and he’s saying they’re still children of the devil and this is their destiny without Christ. And he closes by saying, they are accursed children. This is the state of unbelievers. We are not innocent. We are corrupt. We are born children of wrath and children of the devil, and this is why we need to be born again. You don’t just need to straighten your life out. You don’t just need to figure it all out and put it all together. You need to be born again.

Being dead in our trespasses and sins, we need to be made alive by the power of God. As Ephesians goes on to say in verse 4, but God, being rich in mercy, He must be, if that’s what we were like. Children of wrath, sons of disobedience, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions. He made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. This is why it’s grace. Because that’s what we were like. He made us alive, he must do it. Because until he does, we remain unable to hear or respond to his word.

And Jesus tells these Jews who think they’re children of Abraham and therefore children of God, no, you’re children of the devil. You’re still enslaved to sin. You do need to be set free. You are a child of your father, the devil. And so it’s not surprising that they want to do the evil desires of their father, as Jesus says. Same way that physical children naturally take after their physical fathers, unbelievers take after their father, the devil. Like father, like son.

And next Jesus explains the difference. There’s a clear difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. He lays out a few of the differences. First, he points out, as we’ve already seen, that children of God love Jesus. This is how he knows they’re not children of God. If God were your father, you would love me. Children of God love Jesus.

This is why Jesus encourages His disciples in John 15 verse 18, saying, “‘If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.’” They hate Him. It’s children of God who love Jesus, so don’t be surprised if someone who’s not a children of God doesn’t act like a child of God. Don’t be surprised when unbelievers act like unbelievers. Don’t be surprised when unbelievers hate people who love Jesus.

They’re like their father, the devil. And that’s the second characteristic or distinction. First, children of God love Jesus and children of the devil don’t. Secondly, children of the devil do what he desires. Verse 44, you are of your father the devil and you want to do the desires of your father. Children of the devil take after him. And then Jesus gets specific as to what those desires are.

At first he says the devil’s a murderer. He was a murderer from the beginning. It was the devil who convinced Eve to take of the fruit. And when Adam and Eve took of the fruit, they died. It brought death to them. It brought sin into the world. Spiritually they died and eventually physically they died. And then the very first murder of Abel by his brother Cain was a result of the devil’s disastrous evil coming into the world. Remember what God warned Cain? Sin is crouching at the door.

Even now, Peter says in 1 Peter 5.8, your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. It’s crouching at the door. The devil is prowling around. The devil is loose in this world looking for people to devour. He’s not bound. He is looking for people to devour. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. It’s who he is.

And this is why the Jews are seeking to kill Jesus, because they’re just like their father. And you might think, well, I’m not a murderer. I know unbelievers that haven’t killed anybody. But don’t forget that Jesus said in Matthew 5, that anger and hatred in your heart is the equivalent of murder. So the devil’s children are murderous and they’re hateful.

And second, Jesus says the devil’s a liar. He’s a murderer and a liar. He continues and says, he does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. He’s the father of lies. He told the first lie. He told the first lie to Eve. In Genesis 3, 4, the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. That was a lie. Eve’s not alive now. Eve did die. From there, lying and liars were born. Even today, the devil continues to lie and to deceive people. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, Paul explains the work of the devil.

Paul says, even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. in whose case the God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.

The devil is now currently and actively blinding the minds of the unbelieving. There will be a day when he is bound and prevented from deceiving the nations. It’s what Revelation 20 says, that’s what the binding of Satan is, preventing him from deceiving the nations. And Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, that’s what he’s doing right now. The God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Right now he is currently blinding the minds of the unbelieving. And later in 2 Corinthians, Paul has a lot to say about the devil to the Corinthians, understandably so. 2 Corinthians 11, verses 14 and 15, he says, no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Therefore, it’s not surprising if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. False teachers today are ministers of Satan, and they look like ministers of light. You don’t see false teachers going around looking like Satan himself. They look like ministers of righteousness. But their father is the devil, the father of lies. He’s the father of liars, and lying is the mark of someone who’s a child of the devil.

This is important for us to understand. Lying can be a bad habit for even believers. Little white lies, exaggeration, embellishment, not being completely honest on your taxes. When you lie, you are doing what the devil does. This is important even for you children.

The devil is the father of lies. So when you’re a liar, you’re acting like the devil. So if you are a child of God, you need to stop lying and stop acting like a child of the devil. That’s the second difference between children of God and children of the devil. Children of the devil do what he desires. Specifically, they murder and they lie. They hate and they lie.

Thirdly, Jesus says that children of God hear and believe his word. Jesus says in verse 43 that they, children of the devil, cannot hear his word, and now he says in verse 45, But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God, hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not hear them because you’re not of God. So by rejecting the truth that was standing there before them, the truth in the flesh, By rejecting him, these Jews revealed that they are children of the devil. Because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. They don’t believe him because he’s speaking the truth, because they hated the truth.

Then he says, which one of you convicts me of sin? Jesus is giving them a logical argument here. Which one of you convicts me of sin? And he’s not asking, which one of you thinks I’m guilty? Clearly many people thought he was guilty. They accuse him over and over and try to kill him. But the question is whether anyone can prove him guilty. Which one of you can convict me of sin?

And the answer is nobody. No one can convict him, no one can prove that he’s a sinner, because he’s not. And so follow the logic. If you can’t convict him of any sin ever, and he’s not guilty of sin, therefore he cannot sin, and of course he’s telling the truth. I’ve never sinned before, what makes you think I’m sinning now? I’ve never lied before, what makes you think I’m not telling the truth now?

But as children of the father of lies, they were unwilling and unable to hear and believe the truth. And the exact same thing is true of anybody who rejects the truth of the gospel. Unless the Lord opens your heart to respond to the truth, no unbeliever will listen to it. No unbeliever can hear it.

As Jesus said in John 6, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It’s up to the Father. No one can come to me unless the Father draws him. Just like what happened to Lydia in Acts 16. Verse 14, a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening. Whose heart the Lord opened to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul. The very thing that God did not do for these Jews. He opened her heart so that she could listen. And so that she could hear and believe. And God has to do that very same thing with each one of us.

He has to open our hearts, because as I read in 2 Corinthians, the devil is blinding the minds of unbelievers. 2 Corinthians 3 talks about these Jews who are blinded to the truth, even though they go to synagogue and read from the Bible every week. 2 Corinthians 3, again, Paul speaking about why unbelievers aren’t coming. 2 Corinthians 3, 14 through 16, but their minds were hardened.

For until this very day at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains, unlifted, because it is brought to an end by Christ. But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Until God lifts the veil over their eyes, they cannot hear the Word of God, even though they sit and hear the Word of Moses every Sabbath. Until God lifts the veil, they can’t see it. They can’t hear it.

So if that’s up to God, for anybody to come to Him, what are we supposed to do? How do we affect the cause of Christ if it’s God that must do the work and bring people to Himself? What are we supposed to do? Well, God tells us in Romans 10. Turn to Romans 10. Romans 10, starting in verse 11. God tells us exactly what to do. In the middle of Paul’s exposition of the sovereignty of God over salvation, this is what we are to do.

For the scripture says, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on him. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

And here’s the question, how then will they call on him? whom they have not believed. How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things. However, they did not all heed the good news. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. What do we do if God is in control of this? We go and we tell them. We bring the good news.

And yes, some will reject the truth. Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. Some will remain veiled. Some will call you foolish. But some will hear the truth of the gospel. and the veil will lift, and they will respond, and they will come to Christ.

As Jesus promises in John 10, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. That’s how it works. There will be those who are his sheep. His sheep are out there to be found. And when they hear his voice, they will come. As Jesus says here in our last verse in John 8, he who is of God hears the words of God. And for this reason, you do not hear them because you’re not of God.

That’s the difference. That is why we go and we tell them. I began with the example of the influence of the Edwards family. And your earthly human family may or not be influential But your spiritual family is what really matters. Who is your father? There are the children of God and there are the children of the devil and there is a clear difference.

So what about you? Have you heard his word? Do you love him? Do you hear and believe and obey when he speaks in his word? Or are you still a child of the devil? If you have not yet come to Christ, you need to hear his word and come to him today. If you are one of his sheep, it’s only a matter of time until you will come to him. Don’t wait any longer to come to the Lord who bought you with his blood. And if you are a believer, if you have come to him, if you’re a child of God, Do you have any children of the devil around you?

In your life? Have you told them about Christ? Have you given them his word? How do you know if they’re a child of God or not if they haven’t heard his word? Unless you tell them about Christ, they may just be waiting to hear the shepherd’s voice to come to him. And the shepherd may use you to call them to Himself. So what are you waiting for? Tell them. Tell them about the Good Shepherd. Tell them about Jesus Christ. What’s the worst that could happen to you? They hate you? Well, they hated Him. Be like the apostles who went on their way from the presence of the Sanhedrin rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer for his name. Tell them about him.

Stand with me as we close in a word of prayer. Our God, we thank you. We thank you for sending your son. We thank you for giving us your word so that those who are yours will hear and will come to him and will be born again into the family of God. Lord, I pray if there are any here today who are not yet in the family of God, who have not been born again, that you would open their ears, open their heart to hear and understand the truth, to know Christ, to be born again and to be brought into the family of God and to live for him. And Lord, for each one of us as we go from here this morning, I pray that you would give us the desire and ambition to be the voice of the good shepherd to any sheep around us who may just be waiting to hear his voice. Help us to tell them about him so that they may come and believe and become your children. We thank you for who you are and for who you have called us to be and chosen us as your children. We pray this in Jesus’ precious name, amen.