Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

81.— [Then Jesus said...Jews...believed...him.'] It is clear, I think, from the tone of the conversation that runs from this verse uninterruptedly to the end of the chapter, that this "believing " was not faith of the heart. These Jews only " believed " that our Lord was One sent from heaven, and deserved attention. But they were the same Jews to whom He says by and by, "Ye are of your father the devil."

[If ye continue... my word...disciples indeed.] This sentence does not mean that these Jews had really begun to receive Christ's word into their hearts. Such a sense would be contradictory to the context. It must mean: " If you take up a firm stand on that Gospel and Word of Truth which I have come to proclaim, and go on sticking firmly to it in your hearts and lives, not merely convinced and wishing, but actually following Me, then you are truly My disciples."— The word rendered " indeed " is more literally, "truly." The converse throws light on our Lord's meaning: "You are not truly disciples, unless you continue steadfast in My doctrine."

Our Lord teaches the great principle, that steady continuance is the only real and safe proof of discipleship. No perseverance, no grace! No continuance in the word, no real faith and conversion! This is one of the meeting-points between Calvinist and Arminian. He that has true grace will not fall away. He that falls away has no true grace, and must not flatter himself he is a disciple.

Let us note, that it is not the "word continuing in us," but " our continuing in the word," which makes us true disciples. The distinction is very important. The word " might continue in us," and not be seen. If we " continue in the word," our lives will show it. In John xv. 7, we have both expressions together: " If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you."

$2. — [And ye shall know the truth.'] The expression, " the truth." here cannot, I think, mean the Personal Truth, the Messiah. It must be the whole doctrinal truth concerning Myself, My nature, My mission, and My Gospel. Steady continuance in My service shall lead to clear knowledge. It is a parallel saying to the sentence, "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine." (vii. 17.) Honest obedience and steady perseverance in acting up to our light, and doing what we learn, are one grand secret of obtaining more knowledge.

Chrysostom however thinks that our Lord means by " truth," Himself. " Ye shall know Me, for I am the truth." So also Augustine, Theophylact, Euthymius, and Lampe.

[The truth shall make you free.] This freedom can only mean spiritual freedom, — freedom from the guilt, burden, and dominion of sin, — freedom from the heavy yoke of Pharisaism, under which many Jews were labouring and heavy laden. (Matt. xi. 28.) " The Gospel I preach, and its good news, shall deliver you from spiritual bondage, and make you feel like men set at liberty."

I think these words must have been spoken with special reference to the bondage and spiritual slavery in which the Jewr were kept by their principal teachers, when our Lord came among them.' In the synagogue at Nazareth He had said, that He came " to preach deliverance to the captives." (Luke iv. 18.) This, however, is the first place in the Gospels where He openly declares that His Gospel will give men freedom.

Until truth comes into a man's heart, he never really knows what it is to feel true spiritual liberty.

Augustine says, " To Christ let us all flee. Against sin let us call on God to interpose as our Liberator. Let us ask to be taken on sale, that we may be redeemed by His blood."

53. — [They answered, We be Abraham's seed.] Here we see the usual pride of carnal descent coming out in the Jewish mind. It is just what John the Baptist told them when he preached, "Think not to say that we have Abraham to our father." (Matt. iii. 19.)

[And to ere never in bondage to any man.] This is the blindness of pride in its strongest form. The seed of Abraham were in bondage to the Egyptians and Babylonians for many years, to say nothing of the frequent bondages to Philistines, and other nations, as recorded in the book of Judges. Even now, while they spoke, they were in subjection to the Romans. The power of self-deception in unconverted man is infinite. These Jews were not more unreasonable than many now-a-days, who say, " We are not dead in sin, — we have grace, we have faith, we are regenerate, we have the Spirit," while their lives show plainly that they are totally mistaken.

[How sayest thou... made free?'] This question was partly asked in anger and resentment, and partly in curiosity. Angry as the Jews were at the idea of being subject to any one, they yet caught at the expression "be made free." It made them think of the glorious kingdom of Messiah foretold in the Prophets. — ■ " Art Thou going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Art Thou going to set us free from the Romans? "

We should observe here, as elsewhere, the readiness of our Lord's hearers to put a carnal sense on spiritual language. Nicodemus misunderstanding the new birth, the Samaritan woman and the living waters, the Capernaites and the bread from heaven, are all illustrations of what I mean. (See John iii. 4; iv. 11; vi. 34.)

Pearce thinks the Jews here spoke of themselves individually, and not of the Jewish nation. Yet surely, even when they spoke, they were subject to the Romans.

Henry observes: " Carnal hearts are sensible of no other grievances than those that molest the body and injure their secular affairs. Talk to them of encroachments on their civil liberty and property, — tell of waste committed on their lands, or damage done -to their houses, and they understand you very well, and can give you a sensible answer: the thing touches and affects them. But discourse to them of the bondage of sin, or captivity to Satan, and a liberty by Christ, — tell them of wrong done to their souls, and you bring strange things to them."

34. — [Jesus answered, etc.] In this verse our Lord shows His hearers what kind of freedom He had meant, by showing the kind of slavery from which He wished them to be delivered. Did they ask in what sense He meant they should be made free? Let them know, first of all, that in their present state of mind, wicked, worldly, and unbelieving, they were in a state of bondage. Living in habitual sin they were the "servants of sin." This was a general proposition which they themselves must admit. The man that lived wilfully in habits of sin was acknowledged by all to be the slave of sin. Sin ruled over him, and he was its servant. This was an axiom in religion which they could not dispute, for even heathen philosophers admitted it. (See Rom vi. 16—20; 2 Pet. ii. 19.)

" Committeth," we must remember here, does not mean " commits an act of sin," but habitually lives in the commission of sin. It is in this sense that St. John says, " He that committeth sin is of the devil," and " He that is born of God doth not commit sin." (1 John iii. 8, 9.)

35. — [And the servant abidethnot, etc.'] This is a difficult, because a very elliptical verse. The leading object in our Lord's mind seems to be to show the Jews the servile and slavish condition in which they were, so long as they rejected Him, the true Messiah, and the free and elevated position which they would occupy if they would believe in Him and become His disciples. — " Atpiesent, living under the bondage of the ceremonial law, and content with it and Pharisaic traditions, you are no better than slaves and servants, liable, like Hagar and Ishmael, to be cast out of God's favour and presence at any moment. — Receiving Me and believing on Me as the Messiah, you would at once be lifted to the position of sons, and would abide forever in God's favour, as adopted children and dear sons and daughters. — You know yourselves that the servant has no certain tenure in the house, and may be cast out at any time; while the Son is heir to the Father, and has a certain tenure in the house forever.—Know that I wish you to be raised from the relation of servants to that of sons. Now, under the bondage you are in, you are like slaves. Receiving Me and My Gospel you would become children and free."

Something like this seems the leading idea in our Lord's mind. But it is vain to deny that it is a dark and difficult sentence, and requires much filling up and paraphrasing to complete its meaning. The simplest plan is to take it as a parenthesis. It then becomes a comment on the word " servant," which to a Jew, familiar with the story of Hagar and Ishmael, would be very instructive, and would convey the latent thought that our Lord wished them to be not servauts but sons. I cannot for a moment think that " the Son" in the last clause means the Son of God, or that the whole clause was meant to teach His eternity.

It is certainly possible that a deep mystical sense may lie under the words " servant " and " son " in this verse. " Servant" may mean the Jew, content with the inferior and servile religion of Moses. " Son " may mean the believer in Christ, who receives the adoption and enjoys Gospel liberty. He that is content with Judaism will find his system and religion soon pass away. He that enters into Christ's service will find himself a son forever. But this is at best only conjectural, and a somewhat questionable interpretation.

One thing, at any rate, is very clear to my mind. The latent thought in our Lord's mind is a reference to the story of Hagar and her son Ishmael being cast out as bond-servants, while Isaac the son and heir abode in the house. He wished to impress on His hearer's minds, that he desired them, like Isaac, to have the privilege of sons forever, and to be free to all eternity. Keeping this thought in view, and regarding the verse as a parenthesis, its difficulties are not insuperable.

Chrysostom says: " ' Abideth not' means ' hath not power to grant favours, as not being master of the house; ' but the Son is master of the house." The Jewish priests were the servants, and Christ was the Son. The priests had no power to set free;

Maldonatus calls attention to the expression in Hebrews, where Moses and Christ are put in contrast, and each in connection with the word " house," Moses as a servant, Christ as a Son. St. Paul certainly seems there to refer to this passage. (Heb. iii. 2, 5, 6.)

36. — [If the Son shall make you free, etc.~\ In this verse our Lord explains what He had meant by freedom. It was a freedom from sin, its guilt, and power, and consequences, which believers in Him were to receive. " If I, the Son of man, make you free, in the sense of delivering you from the burden of sin, then you will be free indeed! " This was the freedom that He wished them to obtain. Here, as elsewhere, our Lord carefully avoids sayiug anything to bring on Himself the charge of rebelling against constituted authorities, and of heading a popular rise for liberty.

The word rendered " indeed " here is not the word so rendered at the 31st verse. Here it means " really, in reality," from the participle of the verb "to be." There it means " truly."

Let us not forget in these days that the only liberty which is truly valuable in God's sight is that which Christ gives. All political liberty, however useful for many purposes, is worthless, unless we are children of God, and heirs of the kingdom, by faith in Jesus. He only is perfectly free who is free from sin. All beside are slaves. He that would be free in this fashion has only to apply to Christ for freedom. It is the peculiar office and privilege of the Lord Jesus, to enfranchise forever all who come to Him.

Augustine carries the freedom here promised far into the

future. He remarks, " When shall there be full and perfect liberty? When there shall be no enemies, when the last enemy shall be destroyed, even death."

37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

39 They answered aud said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus

saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

Then said they to him, We he not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, yo would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the begin-

ning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of hia own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

47 He that is of God heareth God'a words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

There are things taught in this passage of Scripture which are peculiarly truth for the times. Well would it be for the Churches if all Christians would ponder carefully the matter which it contains.

We are taught for one thing the ignorant self-righteousness of the natural man. We find the Jews pluming themselves on their natural descent from Abraham, as if that must needs cover all deficiencies: " Abraham is our father." We find them going even further than this, and claiming to be God's special favourites and God's own family: " We have one Father, even God." They forgot that fleshly relationship to Abraham was useless, unless they shared Abraham's grace. They forgot that God's choice of their father to be head of a favoured nation was never meant to carry salvation to the children, unless they walked in their father's footsteps. All this in their blind self-conceit they refused to see. " We are Jews. We are God's children. We are the true Church. We are in the covenant. We must be all right." This was their whole argument!

Strange as it may seem, there are multitudes of so-called Christians who are exactly like these Jews. Their whole religion consist of a few notions neither wiser nor better than those propounded by the enemies of our Lord. They will tell you " that they are regular Church people; they have been baptized; they go to the Lord's table;" — but they can tell jrou no more. Of all the essential doctrines of the Gospel the}' are totally ignorant. Of faith, and grace, and repentance, and holiness, and spiritual mindedness they know nothing at all. But, forsooth! they are Churchmen, and so the}' hope to go to heaven! There are myriads in this condition. It sounds sad, but unhappily it is only too true.

Let us settle firmly in our minds that connection with a good Church and good ancestors is no proof whatever that we ourselves are in a way to be saved. We need something more than this. We must be joined to Christ himself b}' a living faith. We must know something experimentally of the work of the Spirit in our hearts. " Church principles," and " sound Churchmanship," are fine words and excellent party cries. But they will not deliver our souls from the wrath to come, or give us boldness in the day of judgment.

We are taught for another thing the true marks of spiritual sonship. Our Lord makes this point most plain by two migh^ sayings. Did the Jews say, " We have Abraham to our father"? He replies, "If ye were Abraham's children ye would do the work of Abraham." — Did the Jews say, "We have one Father, even God"? He replies, " If God were your Father ye would love Me."

Let these two sayings of Christ sink down into our hearts. They supply an answer to two of the most mischievous, yet most common, errors of the present day. What more common, on one side, than vague talk about the universal Fatherhood of God? "All men," we are told, " are God's children, whatever be their creed or religion; all are finally to have a place in the Father's house, " where there are many mansions." — What more common, on another side, than high-sounding statements about the effect of baptism and the privileges of Church-membership?

" By baptism," we are confidently told, " all baptized people are made children of God; all members of the Church, without distinction, have a right to be addressed as sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty."

Statements like these can never be reconciled with the plain language of our Lord in the passage before us. If words mean anything, no man is really a child of God, who does not love Jesus Christ. The charitable judgment of a baptismal service, or the hopeful estimate of a catechism, may call him by the name of a son, and reckon him among God's children. But the reality of sonship to God, and all its blessings, no one possesses who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. (Ephes. vi. 24.) In matters like these we need not be shaken by mere assertions. We may well afford to despise the charge of undervaluing the sacraments. We have only to ask one question: "What is written? What saith the Lord?" And with this saying before us, we can only come to one conclusion: " Where there is no love to Christ, there is no sonship to God."

We are taught, lastly, in these verses, the reality and character of the devil. Our Lord speaks of him as one whose personality and existence are be37ond dispute. In solemn words of stern rebuke He says to His unbelieving enemies, "Ye are of your father the devil," — led by him, doing his will, and showing unhappily that you are like him. And then He paints his picture in dark colors, describing him as a "murderer" from the beginning, as a " liar " and the father of lies.

There is a devil! We have a mighty invisible enemy alwa}rs near us, — one who never slumbers and never sleeps, — one who is about our path and about our bed, and spies out all our ways, and will never leave us till we die. — He is a murderer! His great aim and object is, to ruin us forever and kill our souls. To destroy, to rob us of eternal life, to bring us down to the second death in hell, ai'e the things for which he is unceasingly working. He is ever going about, seeking whom he may devour. — He is a liar! He is continually trying to deceive us by false representations, just as he deceived Eve at the beginning. He is always telling us that good is evil and evil good, — truth is falsehood and falsehood truth, — the broad way good and the narrow way bad. Millions are led captive by his deceit, and follow him, both rich and poor, both high and low, both learned and unlearned. Lies are his chosen weapons. By lies he slays many.

These are awful things; but they are true. Let us live as if we believed them. Let us not be like many who mock, and sneer, and scoff, and deny the existence of the very being who is invisibly leading them to hell. Let us believe there is a devil, and watch, and pray, and fight hard against his temptations. Strong as he is, there is One stronger than him, who said to Peter, " I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not," and who still intercedes at God's right hand. Let us commit our souls to Him. (Luke xxii. 32.) With such a being as the devil going to and fro in the world, we never need wonder to see evil abounding. But with Christ on our side, we need not be afraid. Greater is He that is for us than he that is against us. It is written, "Resist the devil, and he shall flee from 3Tou." — " The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." (James iv. 7; Rom. xvi. 20.)

87. — [I know that ye are Abraham's seed.'} In this verse our Lord takes up the arrogant boast of the Jews, that they were Abraham's seed. He had replied to their assertion, " We were never in bondage to any man," by showing the nature of true bondage and true liberty. He now returns to their opening saying, " We be Abraham's seed,' and begins by telling them that He knew, and fully admitted, their carnal descent from Abraham.

Abraham does you no good, for ye are seeking to murder Me at this very moment, though I have come to fulfil the promises made to Abraham."

Here, as well as at the 40th verse, and chapter vii. 19, our Lord shows His perfect knowledge of all the designs of His enemies. He gives us an example of steady perseverance in God's work, even though we know our lives are in peril.

[Because my word hath no place in you.~\ This means, "Because the Gospel I preach, the message I brought from my Father, makes no way or progress in your hearts, or among you." — The Greek word, which our translators have rendered "hath place," is never so rendered elsewhere. The idea here seems to be that of " going forward, spreading, and marching on."

This describes literally the condition of many who hear Christ's word in every age. It seems to come to a dead standstill or halt in their hearts, and to make no way with them.

88. — [I speak that, etc.~\ The sense of this verse appears to be filled up thus: "The truth is, that there is an entire gulf and breach between you and Me. I speak, and am ever speaking, the doctrine which I have seen with My Father, in our eternal councils about mankind, and which I am sent by Him to proclaim to the world. You, on the other hand, clo and are always doing the things which your father the devil presents to your minds, and which you have seen and imbibed into your characters, under his influence."

When our Lord speaks of what He has "seen" with His Father, we must remember, as elsewhere, that He uses language accommodated to our weak capacities, to describe the relation between Himself and the first Person in the Trinity. Compare John iii. 32 and v. 19.

There can be no doubt that the "father" of the Jews, to whom our Lord here refers, is " the devil," when we read the verses following. It conveys an awful idea of the state of unbelieving and wicked men, that they are doing what they have seen and learned from the devil. There may, however, be special reference to the design of the Jews to kill Christ. Our Lord's meaning may be, "Ye are doing what ye have seen with the devil your father. He has suggested to you to kill Me, and you are listening to his suggestion."

39. _ [They ansicered... Abraham is our father.'] This is a repetition of what the Jews had already said. Startled at what our Lord said about their " father," they reassert emphatically their relationship to Abraham.— "What do you mean by thus speaking of our father? Abraham is our father."

[Jesus saith...if Abraham's children... works of Abraham.] Our Lord here tells them that it is possible to be Abraham's children according to the flesh, and yet not Abraham's children according to the Spirit. — "If ye were true spiritual descendants of Abraham, you would show it by doing such things as Abraham did. Your works would be like his, because springing from a like faith."

The distinction here drawn by our Lord is a very important one for Christians to notice. The utter uselessness of carnal relationship, or formal outward succession, is a truth which man does not like to admit, but one that needs to be constantly taught in the Churches. How common to hear men say, " we belong to the one true Church; we are in the direct succession from the Apostles." Such claims are utterly useless, if not accompanied by " works."

We must never forget the importance of " works," if put in their right place. They cannot justify us. They are at best full of imperfection. But they are useful evidences, and serve to show whose we are, and what our religion is worth.

40. — [But now ye seek to kill me, etc.~\ Our Lord in this verse confirms the charge made in the preceding one, — that His enemies were not Abraham's spiritual children, although carnally descended from Abraham. — " At this very moment you are wishing and endeavouring to put Me to death, not for any crime, but simply because I have spoken to you that mighty message of truth which I heard from My Father, and am sent to proclaim to the world as the Messiah. This is the very opposite of what your great forefather Abraham would have done. He longed to see My day. He rejoiced in the prospect of it. He would have hailed My appearance and message with delight. Your conduct, therefore, is an unanswerable proof that you are not Abraham's spiritual children."

Our Lord's argument is the same that St. Paul uses to the Romans. " He is not a Jew which is one outwardly." — " They which are the children of the flesh are not the children of God." (Rom. ii. 28, 29; ix. 8.) The importance of it cannot be overrated. It establishes the great principle that fleshly relationship, or ecclesiastical connection, is nothing without grace in the heart, and indeed only adds to a man's condemnation.

The expression " this did not Abraham " is a Hebraism. Of course literally Abraham could not " seek to kill " Christ, because he never lived with Him on earth. The meaning must be " your conduct is the very opposite of what Abraham would have done, and utterly contrary to the general tenor of what he did while he lived." Compare Deut. xvii. 3; Jer. vii. 22 — 31: xix. 5; xxxii. 35, where the same form of speech is used.

When our Lord calls Himself here simply " a man," He uses an expression which He nowhere else employs in the Gospels. As a rule, He calls Himself" the Son of man," when speaking of His human nature. Here, however, He seems to speak of

Himself in the point cf view iu which His unbelieving enemies ought to have regarded Him, if they could not yet acknowledge His divinity. " I am among you a man speaking the truth: and yet ye seek to kill Me." — The attempt of Jews and Socinians to show that our Lord was not really God, founded on this text, is futile. Our Lord's real and true humanity no sound Trinitarian thinks of denying.

41. — [Ye do the deeds of your father.] This means "You are doing the things that your' father the devil approves and suggests to you. You are showing yourselves genuine children of the devil, by doing his works." The word "ye" in the Greek is emphatic, and may possibly be intended to contrast with " I," at the beginning of the 35th verse.

[Then said they... not born of fornication.'] These words can hardly be taken literally. Our Lord was speaking to the Jews not as individuals, but as a nation and a class, and was speaking of their descent in a religious point of view. The question was, " Who was their father"? From whom did they get their spiritual character? To whom were their proclivities and tendencies to be traced?" This our Lord's hearers understood, and said, " We be not born of fornication; we are not heathens and idolaters at any rate, even if we are not as good as Abraham."— That idolatry was called fornication, because it was unfaithfulness to the covenant God, a forsaking Him for false gods, is, I think, clear from many places in the Old Testament. See for instance Jeremiah ii. 1—20, and iii. 1 — 3. I think this was in the minds of the Jews, when they spoke to our Lord here. This is Augustine's view.

The notion of Euthymius, Rupertus, and others, that the Jews refer to other children of Abraham, by Hagar and Keturah, and boast themselves his true children by Sarah, is not satisfactory. It is surely too much to charge Abraham with the sin of fornication, because he took Hagar to be his wife, at the instance of Sarah, and married Keturah after Sarah's death!

The notion of some, that the Jews refer here to the many marriages between Jews and Gentiles in the Old Testament times, (as seen in Ezra x. 1, etc.,) and repudiate them, is not probable.

Some have thought that the Jews insinuated wicked doubts of our Lord's legitimate birth in this phrase. But it seems unlikely.

[We have one Father, even God.] The Jews here lay claim to be regarded as God's children. That God is called "the Father " of Israel in several places in the Old Testament, is undeniable. See Deut. xxxii. 6; 1 Chron. xxix. 10; Isai. lxiii. 16 and lxiv. 8; Mai. i. 6. But it is very clear that these texts specially refer to God's relation to Israel as a nation, and not to Israelites as individuals. The Jews, however, in their pride and self-righteousness, made no such nice distinction. They did not see that national sonship and covenant sonship without spiritual sonship, are nothiug worth. Hence they brought on themselves the stern rebuke of the next verse.

42. — [Jesus said... if God...your Father...love me.'] Our Lord here tells the Jews, that although they might be children of God by covenant and nationality, they were evidently not God's children by grace and spiritual birth. If God was really their Father, they would show it by loving the Son of God, even Himself.

Let us note carefully the great principle contained in this sentence. Love to Christ is the infallible mark of all true children of God. Would we know whether we are born again, whether we are children of God? There is one simple way of finding it out. Do we love Christ? If not, it is vain and idle to talk of God as our Father, and ourselves as God's children. No love to Christ, no sonship to God!

The favourite notion of many, that baptism makes us sons and daughters of God, and that all baptized people should be addressed as God's children, is utterly irreconcilable with this sentence. Unless a baptized person loves Christ, he has no right to call God Father, and is not God's child. He has yet to be born again, and brought into God's family. Before the point and edge of these words, the doctrine that spiritual re generation always accompanies baptism cannot stand.

The modern notion about God's universal Fatherhood, which finds such favour with many, is no less irreconcilable with this sentence than baptismal regeneration. That God the Father is full of love, mercy, and compassion to all is no doubt true. But that God is really and truly the spiritual Father of any one who does not love Christ can never be maintained without contradicting our Lord's words in this place.

The sentence is full of condemnation to all who know nothing experimentally of Christ, and neither think, nor feel, nor care anything about Him. Crowds of so-called Christians are in this unhappy state, and are plainly not God's children, whatever they may think. — The sentence is equally full of comfort for all true believers, however weak and feeble. If they feel drawn towards Christ in heart and affection, and can truly say "I do love Him," they have the plainest mark of being God's children, and "if children then heirs." (Rom. viii. 17.)

[For I proceeded forth, etc.] Our Lord here shows the Jews His own divine nature and mission. He had proceeded forth, and come from God — the eternal Son from the eternal Father. He had not come of His own independent will and without commission, but specially sent and appointed by the Father, as His last and dearest Messenger to a lost world. Such was His nature. Such was His position and relation to the Father.— If therefore they really were children of God the Father, they would love Him as the Father's Sod, the Father's Messenger, the Father's promised Messiah. Not loving Him, they gave the plainest proof that they were not God's children. — A true child of God will love everything belonging to God, and specially he will love God's only begotten and beloved Son. He can see and rind nothing nearer to the Father than the Son, who is the •' brightness of His glory and the express image of His person." (Heb. i. 3.) If, therefore, he does not love the Son, it is clear that he is no true child of the Father.

Calvin remarks: " Christ's argument is this: whoever is a child of God will acknowledge His first-born Son; but you hate Me, and therefore you have no reason to boast that you are God's children. We ought carefully to observe in this passage, that there is no piety and no fear of God where Christ is rejected. Hypocritical religion presumptuously shelters itself under the name of God; but how can they agree with the Father, who disagree with His only Son? "

43. — [ Why do ye not understand? etc.'] In this verse, our Lord seems to me to draw a distinction between "speech" and "word." The expression " word " is deeper than " speech." By " speech," He means " My manner of speaking and expressing Myself." By "word," He means generally " My doctrine. " — The sense is, " How is it that ye do not understand My manner of expressing Myself to you, when I speak of such things as freedom and of 'your father'? It is because ye will not receive and attend to My whole message, — the word that I bring to you from My Father." — Lightfoot takes this view.

This explanation seems to me to describe most accurately the state of things between our Lord and His hearers. They were continually misunderstanding, misinterpreting, and stumbling at, the expressions and language that He used in teaching them. Did He speak of " bread"? They thought He meant literal bread. — Did He speak of " freedom "? They thought He meaut temporal and political freedom. — Did He speak of " their Father"? They thought He meant Abraham. — How was it that they so misunderstood His language aud dialect? It was simply because their hearts were utterly hardened and closed against the whole " word of salvation" which He came to proclaim. Having no will to listen to and receive His doctrine, they were ready at every step to misconstrue the words and figures under which it was conveyed and placed before them.

Any one who preaches the Gospel now must ofteu observe that precisely the same thing happens in the present day. Hearers, who are strongly prejudiced against the Gospel, are constantly perverting, wresting, and misinterpreting the language of the preacher. None are so blind as those who will not see, and none so stupid as those who do not want to understand.

can come unto Me," and " His brethren could not speak peaceably unto him." (John vi. 44; Gen. xxxvii. 4.) It means, "Ye have no will to hear with your hearts."

44. — [Ye are of your father the devil, etc."] This verse deserves special attention, both for the sternness of the rebuke it contaius, and the deep subject which it handles. The general sense is as follows: "Ye are so far from being spiritual children of Abraham, or true children of God, that, on the contrary, ye may be rightly called the children of the devil; and ye show it, by having a will set on doing the evil things which your father suggests to you. He, from the beginning of creation, was a being set on the destruction of man, and abode not in the original truth and righteousness in which he was created; for now truth is not in his nature. When he now speaks and suggests a lie, he speaks out of his own peculiar inward nature, for he is emiently a liar, and the father of a lie."

When our Lord says to the wicked Jews, " Ye are of your father the devil," He does not mean that the wicked are made wicked by the devil in the same sense that the godly are made godly by God, created anew and begotten of God; but He uses a common Hebraism, by which persons who are closely connected with, or entirely under the influence of, another, are called "his children." It is in this sense that the wicked and unbelieving are truly the children of the devil. This must be carefully remembered. The devil has no power to " create" the wicked. He only finds them born in sin, and, working upon their sinful nature, obtains such an influence, that he becomes practically the " father of the wicked." (See Matt. xiii. 38 and 1 John iii. 8; Matt. xiii. 19; Luke xvi. 8; xx. 34; Isai. lvii. 4; Numb. xvii. 10.)

Augustine says: " Whence are those Jews sons of the devil?— By imitation, not by birth." He also refers to Ezek. xvi. 3, as a parallel case.

When our Lord says, " Ye will do the lusts of your father," we must remember that "ye will " is emphatic in the Greek. " Ye have a will, and mind, and purpose, and disposition." — By " doing the lusts," lie means "ye follow those evil inclinations and desires " which are peculiarly characteristic of the devil, and according to his mind, — such as to commit murder, and to love and tell a lie. The desire of the devil can only be for that which is evil.

When our Lord says the devil was a "murderer from the beginning," I do not think He refers exclusively to Cain's murder of Abel, -though I think it was in His mind. (See 1 John iii. 12.) I rather think He means that the devil, from the beginning of creation, was set on bringing death into the world, and murdering man both body and soul.

Origen remarks: " It was not one man only that the devil killed, but the whole human race, inasmuch as in Adam all die. So that he is truly called a murderer."

When our Lord says that the " devil abode not in the truth," I think He teaches that the devil is a fallen spirit, and that he was originally made very good and " perfect," like all other works of God's hands. But he did not continue in that state of truth and righteousness in which he was originally created. He kept not his first estate, but fell away. " Truth " seems to stand for all righteousness, and holiness, and conformity to the miud of God, who is "Truth itself." This verse, and Jude 6, are the two clearest proofs in the Bible that the devil fell, and was not created evil at the beginning.

When our Lord says, " Because there is no truth in him," Pie does not mean that this was the reason why the devil " abode not in the truth." If this had been His meaning, He would have said, " Truth was not in him." But He says, "is." — His words are meant to describe the present nature of the devil. "He is now a being in whom truth is not." — It seems to me a somewhat similar expression to that of St. Paul, when he says, " I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly; " where " because " does not mean the reason why he obtained mercy. (1 Tim. i. 12.) The Greek word for " because " in both cases is the same.

Calvin remarks: " As we are called the children of God, not only because we resemble Him, but because He governs us by His Spirit, — because Christ lives and is vigorous in us, so as to conform us to His Father's image; so, on the other hand, the devil is said to be the father of those whose understandings he blinds, whose hearts he moves to commit all unrighteousness, and on whom, in short, he acts powerfully, and exercises his tyranny."

When our Lord says that " the devil speaketh of his own," He does not mean that he " speaks about his own," but that he speaks "out of his own things." It is like, " Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." (Matt. xii. 34.) He speaks out of those things of which he is full.

When our Lord says that the devil " is a liar," I think He refers to the great original lie by which he deceived Eve at the beginning, "Ye shall not surely die." (Gen. iii. 4.)

When our Lord says here of the devil, that "he is a liar and the father of it," I think the most likely and natural meaning is, that " he is the father of every lie." A lie is specially the result and work of the devil. The expression " of it " is undeniably difficult, and is variously interpreted.

viz., of the liar, of every one that tells a lie. This is the view of Brentius, Bengel, Stier, Hengstenberg, and Alford.

(b) Some think that it means " he is a liar, and his father." This was an error of the Manicheans, and justly reproved by Augustine. Yet Grotius seems to hold this view, and maintains that he who deceived Adam and Eve was not the prince of the devils, but one of his messengers I (See 2 Cor. xii. 7.) This seems an untenable idea.

Neither of these views is at all natural and satisfactory, — and the one I have given— " father of a lie"— seems tome much more probable. It is the view of Augustine, Theophylact, Rupertus, Calvin, Bucer, Beza, Bullinger, Rollock, Burgon, Wordsworth, and the great majority of all commentators.

Let us note, in this verse, how strongly and directly our Lord rebukes His enemies. There are times when strong condemnation becomes a positive duty, and we must not refrain from it through fear of being charged with severity, personality, and harshness.

Let us note how clearly this verse establishes the personality of the devil. The expression before us can never be explained by those who think he is only a vague evil influence.

Let us note how the fall of angels is recognized and taught by our Lord, as one of the great truths that we must believe.

Let us note how murder and lying are specially mentioned as characteristics of the devil. They are sins most opposite to the mind of God, however lightly regarded — and lying especially — by man. An indifference to the sin of lying, whether among old or young, rich or poor, is one of the most unmistakable symptoms of an ungodly condition.

Luther says: " The world is a den of murderers, subject to the devil. If we desire to live on earth, we must be content to be guests in it, and to lie in an inn where the host is a rascal, whose house has over the door this sign or shield, ' For murder and lies.' For this sign and escutcheon Christ Himself hung over the door of his house, when He said, He is a murderer and a liar."

45. — [And because I tell, etc.~\ Our Lord in this verse puts in strong coutrast His own teaching and the lying suggestions of the devil, and the readiness of the wicked Jews to disbelieve Him and believe the devil. — "The reason why you do not believe Me is, your thorough dislike to the truth of God. You are genuine children of your father the devil. If I told you things that are false, ye would believe Me. But because I tell you things that are true, you believe me not."

We see here how little cause faithful ministers of Christ have to feel surprise at the unbelief of many of their hearers. If they preach the truth, they must make up their minds not to be believed by many. It is only what happened to their Master. " If they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also." (John xv. 20.)

46.— [Which of you convinceth me? etc.'] Our Lord in this verse asks two questions, to which it was impossible for them to give an answer: " Which of you can reprove or convince Me as an offender concerning sin of any kind? You know that you cannot lay any offence to My charge. Yet if I am free from any charge, and at the same time speak to you nothing but what is right and true, what is the reason that ye do not believe Me? "

Let us note here the perfect spotlessness and innocence of our Lord's character. None but He could ever say, "I have no sin. I challenge any one to find out any imperfection or fault in Me." Such a complete and perfect Sacrifice and Mediator is just what sinful man needs.

47.— [He that is of God, etc.~\ Our Lord in this verse supplies an answer to His own questions, and conclusively proves the wickedness and ungodliness of His hearers. — "He that is a true child of God hears with pleasure, believes, and obeys God's words, such as I bring to you from My Father. You, by not hearing, believing, and obeying them, prove plainly that you are not God's children. If you were, you would hear gladly, believe, and obey. Your not hearing proves conclusively that you are what I said, children, not of God, but of the devil."

Let us note here that the disposition to hear and listen to truth is always a good sign, though not an infallible one, about a person's soul. It is said, in another place, "My sheep hear my voice." (John x. 26, 27.) When we see people obstinately refusing to listen to counsel, and to attend to the Gospel, we are justified in regarding them as not God's children, not born again, without grace, and needing yet to be converted.

Let us note here, as elsewhere, how carefully our Lord speaks of His teaching as " God's words." It consisted of words and truths which God the Father had commissioned Him to preach and proclaim to man. It was not " His own words " only, but His Father's as well as His own.

Bollock observes, that there is no surer mark of an unsanctified nature than dislike to God's Word.

Musculus, Bucer, and others maintain here that the phrase, " He that is of God, heareth God's Words," must be confined to God's election; and means, " He that was chosen of God from all eternity." I cannot, however, see reason for confining the sense so closely. I prefer to consider " of God " as including, not only election, but calling, regeneration, adoption, conversion, and sanctification. This is Rollock's view.