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The Gospel of John Lesson 23 INTRODUCTION: 1. When we were back in John
6:35, I mentioned that this was the first of the seven “I am” statements found
in the Gospel of John. 2. These statements identify the Lord Jesus Christ
with Jehovah God who spoke to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.
3. “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I
come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your
fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name?
what shall I say unto them? And
God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:13, 14; cf. John 8:24; 58). 4. Jesus declared that He is “the bread of
life” (6:35, 48), “the light of the world” (8:12), “the door” (10:7, 9), “the
good shepherd” (10:11, 14), “the resurrection and the life” (11:25), “the way,
the truth, and the life” (14:6), and “the true vine” (15:1,
5). 5. No mortal man could ever make such
claims. The Gospel of John
emphasizes the deity of Christ. 6. Just the other day I was talking to a man
who denies the deity of Christ.
When I asked him about John 1:1 he refused to answer
me. 7. Tonight we will look at the second “I am”
statement – “I am of the light of the world.” Referring to John 8:12 and the other
“I am” statements, Harry Ironside said, “If Jesus Christ had been anything
less than God it would be blasphemy to speak like
this.” 8. It would be a profitable Bible study to
get out your concordance and trace out all the references to “the light” (cf.
John 1:1-9; 3:19-21; 5:35; 8:12; 9:5; 11:9, 10; 12:35, 36,
46). 9. Those are just a few references from the
Gospel of John. There are many
others throughout the Bible, both in the OT & the
NT. 2. The apostle Paul said in
Acts 26:18, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God.” 3. And in Ephesians 5:8, “For
ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as
children of light.” 4. And in I Thessalonians 5:5,
“Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are
not of the night, nor of darkness.” 5. First Peter 2:9 says, God
“hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light.” 6. And I John 1:7, “But if we
walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin.” 7. There are numerous other
Scriptures, all attesting that this world is in spiritual darkness. In our Lord’s day, the Greeks and the
Romans were educated and sophisticated, but they were in spiritual
darkness.
8. It is the same today. The unregenerate are lost and in
darkness. They are spiritually
blind (cf. II Cor. 4:3, 4). 9. Spiritual darkness is
engulfing our nation – the darkness of sin, superstition, unbelief, deception,
idolatry, ignorance of God’s Word, rock music, pornography, drugs and alcohol,
Hollywood, homosexuality, abortion, etc. 10. America needs to turn back
to God. We often sing “Send the
Light, the blessed Gospel Light!” but do we really mean
it? 11. Many Christians sing that
song but never contribute one nickel to missions; never go out soulwinning; and
never witness to their unsaved coworkers and
neighbors. 12. P.P. Bliss wrote that great
Gospel song, “The Light of the World is
Jesus.” The whole world was lost Come to the light, ’tis shining for
thee; 13. Jesus said those who
follow Him will not walk in darkness (cf. John 10:27). Are you following
Jesus? II. OPPOSITION TO THE LIGHT
(8:13). 1. As we study this chapter we
notice that our Lord was frequently interrupted and contradicted by His enemies
(8:13, 19, 22, 25, 33, 39, 41, 48, 52, 57). 2. Finally, after our Lord’s
amazing statement, “Before Abraham was, I am” (8:58), they tried to stone Him
(8:59). 3. This chapter reminds us of
John 1:5 and 3:19, and 20. ·
“And the light shineth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5). ·
“And this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the
light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John
3:19, 20). 4. When our Lord said, “Ye
cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go” (8:14), He meant they were
walking in darkness. They
were spiritually blind and could not see the
Light. 5. When our Lord said, “Ye
judge after the flesh…” (8:15), He meant they were carnal. They judged superficially. They had no spiritual discernment (cf.
8:21-23).
6. They were worldly
(8:23). Religious, but
carnal, worldly, spiritually blind, and on their way to hell (8:24)! What a lesson for us! Churches are full of such
people. 7. One of the great themes of
the Gospel of John is that Jesus was sent from God the Father (8:16, 18, 26,
29). The message of John’s Gospel
is that God sent His only begotten Son into the world to die on the cross
for our sins, and those that believe in Him are
saved. 8. Those who do not believe in
Him are lost and will die in their sins (8:21-24). When Jesus said, “For if ye believe not
that I am he…” (8:24), He was referring to Jehovah God, the same
God who revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:13,
14). III. RESPONDING TO THE LIGHT
(8:28-30). 1. At first
glance verse 30 seems to indicate that “many” of those listening to our Lord
were saved – “many believed on Him.” 2. However, our
Lord said in verse 31, “If ye continue in my word…” meaning that those
who do not continue in His word are not genuinely saved. The following verses reveal that these
men were not children of God, but children of the devil (cf.
8:37-44). 3. Mark that
word “continue” (John 8:31). First
John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went
out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 4. I have seen
people leave here and join the JW’s and other unscriptural groups. They were never genuinely
saved. 5. The word
“believe” must be understood by its context. James 2:19 says, “Thou believest
that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and
tremble.” 6. I am always
meeting people who claim that they “believe” in Jesus but give absolutely no
evidence of the new birth. CONCLUSION: 1. According to
the Bible there are only two ways to die.
In the book of Revelation, chapter 14 and verse 13, it says, “Blessed are
the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit,
that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow
them.” 2. And here in
John 8:24, our Lord warns those who reject Him that they will “die in their
sins” (John 8:21, 24). 3. These are
the only two choices. |