John 8:12-25 (Teaching)

[0:00] Morning. Good morning. Back in the Gospel of John, chapter 8.

[0:11] Last week we covered the first 11 verses of this, which is the woman that's brought to Jesus that was caught in the act of adultery.

[0:24] We covered all that and I talked kind of probably more extensively than I should have about how some folks say that that account is not supposed to be in the Scripture because it's not found in some of the oldest scrolls or parchment of the Scripture.

[0:42] But I beg to differ that. I think it fits well where it's at and I think that it is part of the inspired Word of God.

[0:53] Anyway, we covered that account last week, which will bring us to verse 12 today. In verse 12, I think, verses 1 through 11, I should say, give a really good segue to what we find in verse 12.

[1:11] That's one of the reasons that I'm persuaded that verses 1 through 11 are really from the last verse of chapter 7 and on through verse 11 of chapter 8, belong where they are in the Scripture.

[1:24] So in the Gospel of John, chapter 8 and verse 12 says, Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I and the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of light.

[1:41] So here we have the Scripture saying, then spake Jesus unto them saying, I and the light of the world. Well, last week we covered this woman that was brought to Jesus that was caught in the very act of adultery and the Pharisees brought her.

[1:56] And we talked last week about how the Pharisees were not concerned that this woman had broken God's law. They weren't concerned about her well-being.

[2:08] They weren't concerned about anything along those lines. They were concerned about proving Jesus wrong. They done these things to tempt Jesus and to test Jesus and to back him into a corner.

[2:23] So they thought and this showed the darkness of the Pharisees and the darkness of their intent. But at the same time, that being the case, that also showed the darkness that was around and in the entire nation of Israel at that point, really of the world, but in particular of the nation Israel.

[2:46] They were in darkness and Jesus Christ here in verse 12 says, I am the light of the world. And we know from John chapter one, we go back at far when we first began this study through the Gospel of John that he's the light.

[3:05] He was the light that was given and he's lots to lie the lives of man and these other things we talked about back then. But here it says he's the light of the world.

[3:17] Now, some people will use this very verse here or the very front part of this verse, I should say, to justify universalism.

[3:29] And universalism is not taught in the Bible. Jesus Christ, yes, Jesus Christ came, Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. I'm persuaded of that by the scripture.

[3:41] But this verse here does not teach universalism just because Jesus said, I'm the light of the world folks. He is the light of the world and he will always be the light of the world.

[3:53] But this verse continues and that's what boots universalism out of the water. He says, I'm the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.

[4:04] So that kicks universalism to the side universalism or the people that claim there's all these different ways to God. There's multiple ways to God. There's multiple ways to heaven that Jesus Christ is not the only way.

[4:19] This is what universalism believes and they'll use this verse like I said before where he says, I'm the light of the world. To justify that, but folks, he is the light of the world.

[4:32] He being the light of the world, not only does he shine in the lives of those of us who believe that folks, he being the light of the world, he is the way he's the very way that people know right from wrong.

[4:47] He's the very way that they have some morals about them. Moralism begins with Almighty God. He's the chief of moralism and so for Jesus Christ to be the light of the world, people will have an idea of what it is to be moral.

[5:08] What it is to be perfect because Jesus Christ is perfect. We can't be perfect, but Jesus Christ is. So through Jesus Christ, through the Scripture and through the things that the Scripture teaches through the very moral law that God gives in Exodus chapter 20, we know right from wrong and we know good from evil.

[5:30] So this is how Jesus is the light of the world, but that verse again, it continues. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. He that follows after Jesus shall not walk in darkness.

[5:42] So if Jesus Christ is the light of the world, but they that follow him shall not walk in darkness. That that intimates to me or indicates to me that there are those that are still walking in darkness because they are not following Jesus Christ.

[5:58] J.C. Raul used the picture of the of the Israelites going through the wilderness and following the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. This was them following after God.

[6:10] This was them following the way that he was setting before them. So we that follow Jesus Christ, we have we shall have the lot of life.

[6:22] Now the verse here says that Jesus Christ is the light of the world, but they that follow him shall have the lot of life. That's two different lives. It sounds like to me that Jesus Christ is the light.

[6:33] He's the light of the world, but we shall have the lot of life. Folks, Jesus Christ is life. Jesus Christ is the one that grants life. He's the one that started life.

[6:43] He being the second person of the Godhead. It was just as much Jesus that breathed down into Adam's nostrils as it was God the Father and as it was of the Holy Spirit.

[6:54] It was just as much Christ had done that he and parts life. So when we as believers in Jesus Christ, we follow after Jesus Christ, we shall have the lot of life.

[7:07] The rest of the world, they can go on their way and they'll still know the difference between right and wrong. No man will be able to stand before God and said, I did not know any better.

[7:18] No man will be able to stand before God and say, I was ignorant. As Romans chapter one says, they are without excuse. When nature itself testifies, testifies of a creator, mankind stands without excuse.

[7:34] We had no excuse before God, but we who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We that believe that He is Messiah, that He is the cross, that He is the promised one.

[7:44] We shall have the lot of life and we have that lot in our lives. In John chapter three, when Jesus Christ is talking to Nicodemus, what's the condemnation that we brought up there a few chapters ago?

[8:02] Jesus Christ says this is the condemnation that men love darkness rather than life. And that goes on. Jesus Christ continues talking there and He teaches that lost men, men that don't believe in Christ, men that are unregenerate, they steer away from the lot.

[8:21] They don't go to the lot. Why? Because it exposes their deeds. But we which are saved, we which follow after Christ, we love the lot of God. We love it because it is our life.

[8:32] It's the lot of life and we love it because it exposes our deeds. And we can go to God when our evil deeds or our sin is exposed in our lives. We go to God in repentance, but they stay away from that lot because they don't want their evil deeds exposed.

[8:48] So these are the people. This is the contrast of those that are still dwelling in darkness and those that have the lot of life. Those which are in darkness, they have not Jesus Christ.

[8:59] They follow not Jesus Christ. We which follow shall have the lot of life. Verse 13, The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself.

[9:10] Thy record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. For I know whence I came and whither I go, but ye cannot tell whence I come and whither I go.

[9:24] Ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am the Father that sent me.

[9:35] So back up to verse 13, The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself. Thy record is not true. This is a brazen statement of these Pharisees, but folks, this shows just how deep and just how far in the dark that they were.

[9:53] This is the very Son of God, the very promised Messiah that God had promised over in the Old Testament that these Pharisees should have recognized right off of the bat because they were so well versed in the Scripture and in the law and in the political books and the historical books and in the prophets.

[10:11] They were so well versed in these they should have recognized cross for who he is. But they said, You're bearing record of yourself and your record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true.

[10:25] Now folks that contend the Bible, so-called atheists, folks that go against the Bible, trying to disprove the Bible, they'll go back to John chapter five, which we covered that a few weeks ago and see where Jesus says, I bear record of my if I bear record of myself, my record is not true.

[10:42] But here Jesus is saying, I'm bearing record of myself. My record is true. But you've got to take the context of John chapter five and what was going on there and compare it with the context here in John chapter eight and what is what's going on there.

[10:56] Jesus Christ was bearing witness of the father of the father. Then he said, If I bear record of myself in John chapter five, five bear record of myself and it's only me, my record is not true because that would go against the law that God had provided over in the Old Testament.

[11:12] But here Jesus says, Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. For I know whence I came and whether I go, but ye cannot tell whence I come and whether I go, ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man.

[11:26] He says, you're judging after the flesh. There's two different ways you can look at this statement that Jesus Christ makes here. Ye judge after the flesh and I judge no man.

[11:37] And yet if I judge my judgment is true, for I'm not alone, but I'm my father that sent me. So when he says, ye judge after the flesh, he could be saying, you're judging on the outward appearance.

[11:48] You're judging on what you see here. You're judging that I'm here as robed, as sinful man is in the same skin, the same flesh.

[12:00] And everything just, he was standing there without sin, yes. But he was still robed in the same skin, in the same flesh as they were. Or he could say, you're judging within yourselves.

[12:11] You're judging wrongly because you're judging within yourselves how this should be. Ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man. And yet if I judge my judgment is true, for I'm not alone, but I am the father, and the father that sent me.

[12:28] He says, I judge not alone, but I am the father, and the father that sent me. This is Jesus Christ laying claim to his deity, just as he did back in verse 12. We didn't even talk about that in verse 12.

[12:40] That Jesus Christ saying that he's the light of the world, he was laying claim to his deity in stating that. And here he's doing the same. He said, when he says, I'm the father that sent me, they judge together.

[12:57] He and the father that sent him. It is also written in your law, the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself and the father that sent me, beareth witness of me.

[13:08] He said, I'm bearing witness of myself and the father that sent me also bears that same witness of me. Well, how did how did God the father bear witness of God the Son folks?

[13:18] It's all over the New Testament. It's all over the Old Testament. There were prophecies given in the Old Testament that that were God inspired, that talked about the Messiah, that talked about how he how he would come and talked about how he would save his people and talked about how he would be born and where he would be born and all these other things.

[13:40] So it's all over the prophetical, the the the prophetical books of the Old Testament. But even in the New Testament, we have the baptism there at the Jordan River.

[13:52] John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ and God the Father says, this is my beloved son and whom I'm well pleased. And John the Baptist testified that Jesus was the Christ and that Jesus is the Christ.

[14:05] So there's multiple people that are testifying as to who Jesus is and as to what his purpose here on this earth was at this time. So Jesus is saying, I'm not short of any witnesses.

[14:19] Your law calls for two. He said, I'm bearing witness of myself and my father is bearing witness of me. And not only is he bearing witness of him now at this time that we're reading about here, but he bore witness of Jesus Christ for hundreds of years over in the Old Testament.

[14:34] He bore witness of him. In other words, Jesus is saying, you don't believe what you read in the Old Testament about me. You're not trusting in the God inspired scriptures that that that that you claim to believe.

[14:49] Jesus is in a fewer words here saying that to them. He says, it's also written in your law testimony. Two minutes true. I'm one of the birth witnesses of myself and the father sent me bear witness of me.

[15:02] Then said they unto him, where is thy father? Jesus answered, you neither know me nor my father. If you had known me, you should have known my father. Also, this is a typical retort to someone who feels defeated in what they're trying to get across.

[15:25] They change the subject all of a sudden. Jesus Christ comes out saying, I'm the light of the world laying claim to his deity and saying that. And he goes on down through here in these verses that we've read this morning.

[15:39] And he's telling them you're judging after the flesh. He says, I judge no man says, but you're judging after the flesh what you see standing here and within yourselves. But here he says, they asked the question, where is the father?

[15:54] This is typical of someone that feels defeated. They'll change the subject. They'll try and go off in another direction. Jesus answered, you neither know me nor my father.

[16:04] If you had known me, you should have also, you should have known my father also. So Jesus here is wearing them out in these words that he's speaking here.

[16:16] He says, you don't know me. You don't know my father. If you had known me, you would also know my father. And if you know the father, you would also know me, but you know neither one.

[16:27] And that's how dark it was for these Pharisees. That's how dark it was for the entire nation of Israel at this time. We read in John chapter one, he came into his own and his own received him not.

[16:40] They did not recognize the Messiah that was promised to come. Why? Because they were in darkness and they liked it there. They wanted to stay in darkness.

[16:51] Why? Because the light exposes their deeds. He says, if you had known me, you would also, you would have known my father also. These words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple.

[17:05] And no man laid hands on him for his hour was not yet come. These words spake Jesus in the treasury. What do you think the Holy Spirit would have inspired this to have been written here?

[17:18] Jesus spake these words in the treasury. Where was the treasury located in the temple? The treasury was located at the very forecourt of the women's court.

[17:29] What did we read about last week? We read about these Pharisees and scribes that brought a woman that was called in the act of adultery to Jesus. So that corroborates that validates for me.

[17:42] It may not for you, but it does for me that this one cause that woman couldn't have been brought to Jesus anywhere else in that temple, except for the women's court or just outside of it.

[17:54] So if the treasury was at the forecourt of the women's court and it was according to history, and there were 13 brass chests that were set there at the front and none of them were for the lawful giving.

[18:12] And four of them were for free will giving. You can find all this in history as far as the temple goes, as far as Jewish custom goes. But he would have been right there at the women's court in the temple.

[18:27] Now, in verse 12, back to verse 12, then spake Jesus again unto them. Under who? He wasn't speaking to the Pharisees and scribes that had brought this woman in adultery that we read about last week.

[18:41] They exited the scene. They were gone. So who's the them that he's talking to there? That's found in verse 2 in chapter 8. The them is the people that had gathered around Jesus that morning when he went to teach in the temple.

[18:55] That's the them that's brought up there in verse 12. So when it says these words spake Jesus in the treasury, the Holy Spirit, I believe put this here so that we could verify where Jesus was, not just there in the treasury or where the brazen chests or pots were, where they collected the money for the temple tax and free will offerings, but so that we could verify as far as the account previous to this, verses 1 through 11, where it happened.

[19:27] So then spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no man laid hands on him for his hour was not yet come. It's not no man laid hands on him because they couldn't catch him.

[19:39] It's not because he was slippery. It's not because he was sly. No man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come because God had not ordained it to be this hour that we are reading about right now.

[19:53] Multiple times throughout not only the Gospel of John, but throughout the rest of the Gospels, multiple times did people want to stone Jesus. People wanted to arrest Jesus. People wanted to kill Jesus.

[20:05] People wanted to beat Jesus. Whatever the case was, multiple times, but it did not happen because that was not his hour. His hour was coming and Christ knew his hour was coming up, but this was not his hour.

[20:20] Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way and you shall seek me and shall die in your sins. Whether I go, you cannot come. Then said the Jews, will he kill himself?

[20:33] Because he saith, whether I go, you cannot come. And he said unto them, year from beneath, I am from above, year of this world. I am not of the world. I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins.

[20:47] For if you believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Jesus telling them multiple times here, you shall die in your sins. But back to the beginning of that little passage.

[21:01] Then Jesus said again unto them, I go my way and ye shall seek me and shall die in your sins. Whether I go, you cannot come. The important part of this is you shall seek me.

[21:14] He says, I'm going away and where I'm going, you cannot come. He says, you shall die in your sins. You shall seek me, but you shall die in your sins.

[21:27] Folks, there was a time coming and Jesus Christ being God knew all about this time that was coming. The Jews at this point, yes, they were under Roman rule, but they still somewhat had their own government about themselves.

[21:43] And the Romans didn't want to infiltrate into that government too much for fear of rights and for fear of insurrection and for fear of revolt of the Jews.

[21:57] So the Jews somewhat had their own government. They still had power within themselves to practice their own laws and do their own things to an extent.

[22:07] But Christ here says, there's coming a time when ye shall seek me and ye shall not find me. What time would that be? Folks, from the time this was written to 70 AD when Titus came in and raised Jerusalem.

[22:24] It wasn't too long. It was just a few decades. Just a few decades from this time to that time. That's the time that I believe Jesus was specifying here.

[22:36] Now, does it fast forward to our own time? Sure, sure it does. We can use this in our own time. But what Jesus would have been specifying here was there's coming a time when you will seek me, but you will not find me and you're going to die in your sins.

[22:54] You will die in your sins. When Titus came in and ransacked Jerusalem, how many Jews do you think fell on their faces and fell on their knees begging God to send the Messiah that he had promised would come so that Jerusalem wouldn't be destroyed and so that the temple wouldn't be destroyed and so that all these other things.

[23:17] I guarantee you there's a lot of Jews doing that. They were seeking the Messiah while all this was going on. Folks, Messiah had done Ben, he'd done been crucified, he'd done been buried, he'd done resurrected, he'd already ascended back to the Father.

[23:32] They were seeking him, but they could not find him. And how many do you think died in their sins? How many died in their sins now?

[23:43] Quote unquote seeking Jesus. Folks, I'm persuaded there's people that come to Alters genuinely brokenhearted, and they come to Alters with their broken heart and maybe a contract spirit and these other things that we read about.

[24:02] They may even cry at the thought of what Jesus Christ done on the cross for them and their sins, but they still leave this world unsaved.

[24:13] They still leave unsaved because they did not truly believe that Jesus Christ wasn't is the Son. Jesus Christ wasn't is the Son of God.

[24:24] They did not truly believe in Jesus Christ and trust in Jesus Christ for the remission of their sin. They were still holding on to something. They were still holding on.

[24:35] Maybe they thought that they were too bad to be saved. Maybe they thought they had sinned too much to be saved. Folks, that's a prideful thought to think that you've done something so bad that not even God can do something about it.

[24:47] That is a prideful thought. Maybe they thought I really haven't done anything to be saved, but I feel moved to do this. Folks, that's no way to approach an altar and that's no way to approach God.

[24:59] To truly seek after Jesus Christ and not be saved. That's a sad thing, but that's what these people, that's what Jesus was saying these people would do.

[25:10] He said, you shall seek me, but you shall not find me and you shall die in your sins. But he says, whether I go, they're in verse 21 again, whether I go, you cannot come.

[25:23] And that's the worst part. It's not you shall not come. It's not you may not come. It's you cannot come. It's impossible for an unregenerate person.

[25:35] It is impossible for someone who does not believe. It is impossible for an unpenitent sinner to enter into heaven. They cannot go to heaven.

[25:47] It's a can't. It's absolute. There's no way around that. And once again, that blows universalism out of the water as well, but we won't get so far into that again.

[25:59] Then said Jesus to the Jews, then said the Jews, I'm sorry, then said the Jews, will he kill himself? This is them once again, when Jesus is making these statements, this is them once again trying to alter the subject matter, trying to go off in a different direction.

[26:14] Will he kill himself? Because he said, whether I go, you cannot come. And he said unto them, year from beneath, I am from above, year of this world, I am not of the world. I said therefore, that word therefore is very key.

[26:27] I said therefore, that you shall die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. Everything that Jesus said up to that point that we've been talking about for the past few minutes here is the therefore.

[26:41] I said therefore, you shall seek me and you shall not find me. You shall die in your sins. I said therefore, that you shall die in your sins, because I am from above and you are from below.

[26:52] You are of the world and I am not of the world. Folks, we know from the book of James in chapter four, friendship with the world is enmity with God. And he's telling these folks here, you are friends with the world.

[27:04] You cling to the world. You want the things that the world wants. And this is not a godly way to go, we are to follow after Christ if we want to have the light of life. Then said they unto him, who art thou?

[27:17] Jesus said unto them, even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. These are awesome words that Jesus speaks here. He says, or they said, who are you?

[27:28] He said, even the same as I said unto you from the beginning, from the beginning of what? From the beginning of this discourse that we are reading about right now, beginning at chapter 12. Now, granted, we can go plumb over to the Old Testament to go to the beginning of the things of Jesus Christ.

[27:44] But specifically, we'd be talking about this specific context that we began this morning. He said, even the same that I said unto you from the beginning, what has he spoken about?

[27:56] He has spoken about light and he has spoken about truth in this discourse. He's saying, I am light and I am truth. We know from John chapter 4 that he's the way, the truth and the life.

[28:09] Jesus Christ is saying, I am these things and I am exactly what I've been telling you that I am. I am that light. He's already said I am the light of the world and I am truth.

[28:20] But they had to ask the question. I have many things to say and to judge of you, but he that sent me is true and I speak to the world. Which I have heard of him.

[28:34] You know what? Let's stop. We ain't got but a few minutes and a couple of minutes. We'll pick back up here next week. That's not in here as far as I was wanting to get this morning, but that's okay.

[28:46] Anybody got any questions or any comments on any of that?