But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me.And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.But because I say the truth, ye believe me not.
4 sermons cite this verse
… Either I surrender or I fight. Now, that's the way we find Jesus in this crowd that surrounded him in John chapter 8, verses 12 to 59. He is not around a crowd that had never heard of God. I want to make that clear. He is in a context of religion. As a matter of fact, one of the three great festivals of the year is where he was at the time he spoke the words of John 8, the Feast of Tabernacles. Remember the other time that he brought a sword? He said, Are any of you thirsty? Come to me and drink. They were pouring out the water from that sacred vessel on that sacred altar, and he said, Wait a minute! Let me tell you where real water is. It's in me, and you come to me, you'll never thirst again. Oh, that was a sword. And it started an argument that still hasn't ceased. Now, he comes to this place called the treasury, according to verse 20 of chapter 8. …
… a lie he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it but because i tell you the truth you do not believe me which of you convicts me of sin and if i tell you the truth why do you not believe me he who is of god hears god's words therefore you do not hear because you are not of God. Wow. Talk about getting torched. So the world lies under the influence of the wicked one. The word that's used here is the sway, which means to recline or be laid out. It's like they're lounging in it. Like they have no problem with it, but they also don't understand the consequences of it. To be under the sway of the wicked one or the influence of the wicked when. Those without Christ are under his, that's the prince of the power of the air, his influence. Look at Ephesians 2.3. We're told here, you he made alive. That's us, believers, who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world. …
… They resisted Him, they rejected Him. Back in John chapter 8, our Lord said, "'Because I speak the truth, you do not hear Me.'" And He said that to the same Jewish leaders. "'Because I speak the truth, you do not hear Me.'" Verse 43 of John 8, "'You cannot hear My word because you're of your father, the devil.'" Verse 45, "'Because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.'" Then verse 47, "'He who is of God hears the words of God.'" You don't hear them because you're not of God. Salvation comes to those who belong to God, whose names are known by the Redeemer, whose whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And when He calls, they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to hear, to recognize Him, to know Him as He knows them, to hear His voice, and to follow. And at that point, He becomes the door to the Father's kingdom. And this is all so fresh. That's why in verse 7, "'Truly, truly I say to you, I not only led you out, I became the door to lead you in.'" The shepherd is the door. …
And when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears God's words. Therefore, you do not hear because you are not of God. He who has ears to hear the word of God, let them hear. Let us pray. Father, we need help in understanding the words of Jesus that we've just read. And so we invoke the help of the Holy Spirit who would illumine for us, for our understanding, for our edification, the words of this text. We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. We've already seen in the earlier portions of chapter 8 and even before that, going back to chapter 6, how the hostility of Jesus' contemporaries is escalating against Him, and He is moving relentlessly toward His hour, His final hour, when He will be betrayed and crucified. But in the passage that we've read today, there are some very important insights for our understanding as Christians that come out of the context of debate. …