January 26th, 2025

The Father You Follow 

John 8:31-45 

Key Point: “The father you choose to follow will reveal whether you walk in the truth that leads to freedom or the lies that lead to folly.” 

31.Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word,[a] you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

1. The Seed of Salvation (v.31-32) 

1. They will persist to follow Truth!  

1. They will perceive Truth! 

1. They will possess freedom! (v.32) 

33 “We are descendants[b] of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”  

34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. 38 I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; [c] so then, you do what you have heard from your father.” 

1. The Seed of Sin (v.33-38) 

1. They are a slave to sin. (v.34) 

1. They will be separated from God’s Kingdom forever. (v.35a) 

1). A follower of Christ will be set free forever! (v.35b-36) 

1. They have no space for truth in their lives. (v.37-38)

39 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied. “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “You would do what Abraham did. 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You’re doing what your father does. ” We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.” 

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to[d] my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature,[e] because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 

1. The Seed of Satan (v.39-45). 

1. Satan and his followers hate Truth. (v.42) 

1). They can’t hear truth. (v.43) 

2). Their history is marked by murder. (v.44a) 

3). They hold to no truth. (v.44b) 

4). They have no truth in them. (v.44c) 

1. Satan is a heretic that spews heresies. (v.44d)
2. Satan and his followers can’t heed to truth. (v.45)