Last Sunday I preached on John 8:48-59, the closing paragraph of the chapter. You can listen to the entire audio of the sermon here.

Here’s how I closed the message and summarized the passage:

It’s conceivable that you may be listening to this message and think you know God when you don’t. There is only one way to tell. Do you hear the words of Jesus so as to keep, obey, treasure, guard, observe them? If not, you aren’t of God. You’re of a different father, the devil. And you need to hear certain things again: the truth of Jesus’ relationship to His Father –mutual devotion; the truth of Jesus’ relationship to His mission – singular dedication – yet one more time today He comes to you and holds out the promise – truly, truly, if you keep his word, you will never see death; and the truth of His relationship to spiritual giants of the past, like father Abraham – Before Abraham was He is. Don’t harden your heart against the words of Jesus today. Believe in the Son of God. Honor Him and then and only then will you honor the Father. Then you will be of God and never see/taste death because He tasted it for you (Heb. 2:9).

Throughout the sermon I interspersed six practical lessons for sharing our faith especially when we have the chance to do so with religious people. Here they are for your review:

1. Don’t give up too soon on someone. You may need to share the gospel multiple times with someone even as Jesus did with His hearers.
2. Expect persecution. The servant is not greater than the master. If they persecuted Him, they will persecute us.
3. Do not revile in return when insulted.
4. Stick to the message of the gospel. Keeping bringing things back to the cross.
5. When given the opportunity, share the whole truth about the gospel, even the potentially most offensive truths.
6. When necessary, shake the dust off your feet and move on. It is not fitting to cast the pearls of the gospel before “swine.”

You can listen to the whole message here.