The Vision (4.6.18): He that is of God heareth God's words

Image: Ground cover, North Garden, Virginia, April 2018

Note: Devotion taken from last Sundays' sermon on John 8:33-47.

He that is of God heareth God’s words; ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God (John 8:47).

First, Jesus declares a basic principle (v. 47a): Those who are of God hear Christ’s words.

What does it mean to be “of God”? It means to be a spiritual child of God. One who has been claimed by God, adopted by God, one who has God as his spiritual Father. He not only hears Christ’s words externally but, most importantly, he hears them internally.

Second, Jesus declares a devastating verdict (v. 47b): They do not hear, because they are not of God.

This can be said by the Lord Jesus of every man who rejects him.

Paul provides a version of this statement in 1 Corinthians 2:14:

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Calvin describes Jesus in this temple dialogue as being “in the position of one who sings to the deaf”!

Here is a dividing line between believers and unbelievers. Those who are of God hear his words, while those who are not of God cannot hear them.

We who are in Christ can give thanks to the Lord that he, by grace, unstopped our deaf ears. We can also pray that he might bless the preaching of Christ, so that others also might be enabled to hear.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle