LIGHT FOR THE WORLD

 

 

John   8:12-59

 

Prayer

 

Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt.

When they got hungry, God gave them manna from heaven.

 

 

When they got thirsty, God gave them water from a rock.

When they traveled at night, God gave them light from a pillar of fire.

 

 

Later, He told them to remember these things.

And Jews from all over the world would gather at Jerusalem during the

Feast of Tabernacles to remember what God did for their ancestors in the  

wilderness.

 

 

To remember that God gave them manna,

They placed twelve loaves of bread on a table in the Temple.

 

 

To remember that God gave them water,

They went to the pool of Siloam,

 

 

Dipped out water,

Took it to the Temple,

 

 

And poured it out.

To remember that God gave them a pillar of fire to guide them at night,

 

 

They held a torch light parade through the inner court of the Temple.

These things pointed to Jesus.

With regard to the manna,

He said, ìI am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to me shall never hungerî    

(Jn. 6:35).

 

 

With regard to the water,

He said, ìIf any man thirst, let him come unto me and drinkî (Jn. 7:37).

 

 

With regard to the pillar of fire,

He said, ìI am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in    

darkness, but shall have the light of life.î

 

 

Jesus is the Bread of Life for your hungry soul;

The Water of Life for your thirsty soul;

 

 

The Light of the World for your darkened soul.

He revealed truths that are necessary for eternal life;

 

 

Truths that reveal Godís requirements for salvation.

Today, I want to discuss seven truths that Jesus gave when He said, ìI am the        

Light of the World.î

 

 

1st---Jesus is God

Heís the Alpha and Omega.

 

 

The Beginning and the End.

He told the Jews, ìYour father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it         

and was glad.î

 

 

 

 

 

ìThen said the Jews unto Him, thou art not yet past fifty years old and hast   

thou seen Abraham?î

Jesus replied, ìVerily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was I amî

(Jn. 8:56-58).

 

 

The Jews were right when they said Jesus was less than fifty years old by the          

worldís standards.

He was only about thirty-two or thirty-three years old by the worldís standards.

 

 

But Heís the ìI Am.î

He still existed before Abraham.

 

 

And the Jews understood that Jesus was saying He always existed;

That He was saying that He is God.

 

 

So they accused Him of blasphemy.

And took up stones to kill Him.

 

 

But He disappeared.

Is this important?

 

 

Yes!

If Jesus is God, what He said was the Word of God.

 

 

What He did was the work of God.

Itís something we canít take lightly.

 

 

If Jesus is God, our future is in His hands.

And we should choose to follow Him.

 

I hope youíve decided to follow Jesus because thereís a ton of evidence that          

Heís God.

Heís Lord;

 

 

The coming King of kings and Lord of lords.

And itís a mistake to ignore His words and works.

 

 

2nd---Not everyone is a child of God.

Jesus told the Jews, ìye do the deeds of your father.î

 

 

ìThen said they to Him, We be not born of fornication, we have one Father, even God.î

ìJesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me:î

 

 

ìFor I proceeded forth and came from God.î

ìNeither came I of myself, but He sent me.î

 

 

ìYe are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will doî

(Jn.  8:41, 42, 44).

The Devil is real;

 

 

The source of wickedness;

The father of those who do the things he does.

 

 

Theyíre not Godís children.

Theyíre the Devilís children.

 

 

Some believe a doctrine that teaches the universal fatherhood of God.

They say weíre all the children of God.

 

 

Weíre all trying to go to the same place.

But Jesus said, ìIf God were your Father, ye would love me.î

 

 

The children of God love Jesus.

Love causes us to want to be like Him.

 

 

It causes us to get our priorities straight;

Moves us to live moral lives;

 

 

Motivates us to surrender to Him.

We canít live any way we want.

 

 

And be a child of God.

John said, ìHe that committeth sin is of the devilî (I Jn. 3:8).

 

 

Ongoing sin in our life is a sign that we belong to the Devil.

If we donít abandon our sinful ways, weíre not a new creation.

 

 

Understand that Godís children have submitted to the lordship of Jesus.

If we havenít submitted to the lordship of Jesus,

 

 

The day will come when we will step out of this life.

And reality will slap us in the face.

 

 

If weíve lived a charade, it will catch up with us.

We have to get this thing right before itís too late.

 

 

I donít mean to be harsh.

But Jesus was talking to the religious leaders of His day when He said to       

those religious leaders, ìYe are of your father the devilî (Jn. 8:44).

3rd---Weíre not saved because we have religious relatives.

Jesus told the Jews, ìI know that ye are Abrahamís seed; but ye seek to kill  

me because my Word hath no place in you.î

 

 

ìI speak that which I have seen with my Father.î

ìYe do that which ye have seen of your Father.î

 

 

They answered and said unto Him, ìAbraham is our father.î

Jesus said, ìIf ye were Abrahamís children, ye would do the works of Abrahamî

(Jn. 8:37-40).

 

 

He was saying, ìI know youíre Abrahamís physical descendants.î

ìBut youíre not the spiritual descendants of Abraham or you would do the   

kind of things Abraham did.î

 

 

Abraham was a man of faith.

He obeyed Godís Word.

 

 

Some of my relatives have told me theyíre glad to have a preacher in the       

family.

Iím honored.

 

 

I know what they mean.

But my being a preacher wonít help my relatives when they stand before       

God.

 

 

The only way we can profit from having saved relatives is to accept their      

Saviour as our Saviour.

One man told me his father always took him to Church.

 

 

 

One lady said her mother was a wonderful Christian.

Another lady said her daughter loves the Lord and is very active in Church.

 

 

Iím glad.

I really am!

 

 

But our salvation depends on OUR faith in Jesus,

Not our motherís or our fatherís faith.

 

 

If weíre the kind of people our saved relatives were, weíll do the kind of       

things they did.

Some of our ancestors went to Sunday morning services, Sunday night        

services, Wednesday night services,

 

 

All day singings, spring revivals, fall revivals, etc.

One woman in a Moslem country wrote Thru The Bible to say that she gets  

up at 4:30 every morning to hear the radio broadcast.

 

 

She said, ìI want you to know that nothing else can make me get up at 4:30  

every morning.î

Thatís commitment, but will her commitment save us?

 

 

No!

And thatís what we need to understand about ourselves.

 

 

Weíre not saved because we have religious relatives.

Jesus said, ìno man cometh unto the Father, but by meî (Jn. 14:6).

 

 

Do we go to God through our religious relatives?

No!

 

We go to God through Jesus.

We have to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

 

 

4th----Those who donít accept Jesus will die in their sins.

Jesus told the Jews, ìI said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins;î

 

 

ìFor if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sinsî (Jn. 8:24).

If we die in our sins, we will die without mercy;

 

 

Without forgiveness.

Our eternal destiny will be the Lake of Fire.

 

 

Jesus said, ìHe that believeth on me is not condemned:î

ìBut he that believeth not is condemned already, because hath not believed in         

the name of the only begotten Son of Godî (Jn. 3:18).

 

 

These arenít my words.

Theyíre the words of Jesus.

 

 

Some people havenít accepted Jesus.

Theyíre under the condemnation of God.

 

 

If you havenít accepted Jesus, you need to do it.

You need to do it now---while you can.

 

 

If you never do it, youíll die in a condemned state.

You will stand before God.

 

 

 

 

It will be the same thing as saying, ìI heard about Jesus dying on the cross,  

but I didnít think it was very important.î

You donít want to try to tell God what Jesus went through wasnít important.

 

 

Itís one of the most brutal and important things that ever happened on the face       

of this earth.

5th---Jesus and His teachings will set you free from the sins that condemn  you.            

 

 

Jesus said, ìIf the Son therefore shall make you free, ye are free indeedî

(Jn. 8:36).

ìAnd ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you freeî (Jn. 8:32).

 

 

The Jews replied that they were in bondage to no man.

Jesus said, ìWhosoever commits sin is a servant of sin.î

 

 

If we commit a sin over and over again, weíre in bondage to that sin.

If we canít give up alcohol, anger, bitterness or hatred, weíre a servant of

sin.

 

 

If we canít give up work long enough to attend Church, weíre a servant of    

sin.

If we canít give up whatever weíre doing long enough to pray, weíre a          

servant of sin.

 

 

And we could go on and on.

But I want us to see that Jesus said we can be in bondage to sin.

 

 

The wages of sin is death.

God will in no wise clear the guilty.

 

 

 

But thereís hope.

Itís possible to give up our sins.

 

 

We receive power by accepting Jesus,

Learning His Word,

 

 

And confessing our sins.

I want to tell you something about confessing our sins.

 

 

Weíre not telling God anything when we confess our sins.

He already knows every little detail of every little dirty sin.

 

 

The purpose of confession is not to inform God of our sins.

Itís to admit that we sin and to deal with it.

 

 

If we never admit that we sin, we will die in our sins.

And be condemned forever.

 

 

6th---The things that happened when Jesus was crucified prove that He is the

Christ.

He said, ìWhen ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I   

am Heî (Jn. 8:28).

 

 

He was predicting that God would do something at the crucifixion to prove  

Ýthat Jesus is the Christ.

What did God do?

 

 

He caused an earthquake;

Caused the rocks to crack.

 

 

Caused the veil in the Temple to split from top to bottom;

Caused darkness to cover the land.

 

 

Godís the only One who could shake the ground, crack the rocks, tear the    

veil, and darken the sun.

Jesus wasnít an imposter.

 

 

Heís who He claimed to be.

Why did God do this?

 

 

ìFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that

whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting lifeî  

(Jn. 3:16).

We can stand before a loving God;

 

 

Or an offended God;

A forgiving God;

 

 

Or an angry God.

We choose.

 

 

We need to make an intelligent choice.

7th---Obeying the Word of God is a sign that people have eternal life.

 

 

Jesus said, ìIf ye continue in my Word, then are ye my disciplesî (Jn. 8:31).

He said, ìIf a man shall keep my saying, he shall never see deathî (Jn. 8:51).

 

 

Letís be clear.

Jesus wasnít saying our works will save us.

 

 

He was saying saved people do what the Word says.

The proof of salvation is in our attitude toward the Word of God.

 

 

Dr. J. Vernon McGee said, ìFaith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not  

alone.î (REPEAT)

The faith that saves is accompanied by obedience to the Word.

 

 

The president of a large company got sick;

Lost his job and insurance;

 

 

Spent all he had on his illness;

Wound up broke.

 

 

A preacher and a Church member went to visit him.

The Church member asked, if he was prepared for life after death.

 

 

He got mad.

He said, ìAll you care about is what happens after death.î

 

 

ìIf your God is so good, why doesnít He help people in this life?î

ìMy wife has no job or money.î

 

 

ìMy daughter has no tuition for college.î

ìI want you to leave.î

 

 

A week later the Church member returned to apologize.

He said, ìIíve found Church members who will help me pay your house       

payment until you die.î

 

 

 

ìAfter you die, I have a real estate agent who will sell your house and give     

his commission to your wife.î

ìYour daughter can keep the money from the sale of your house to attend     

college.î

 

 

ìThe real estate agent will give your wife free rent.î

ìAnd a job at some apartments he owns.î

 

 

ìHe will pay her to collect rent and supervise the building.î

I donít know whether the man accepted Jesus or not.

 

 

He cried;

His wife accepted Jesus, later on.

 

 

But the point is that the Church memberís actions showed that he was saved.

The saved obey the Word of God.

 

 

In closing, here are seven teachings that Jesus gave when He said He was the         

Light of the World:

1. Jesus is God.

2. All people ìare notî the children of God.

 

3. Weíre not saved because we have religious relatives.

4. Those who donít accept Jesus will die in their sins.

 

5. Jesus will set you free from the sins that condemn you.

6. The miracles that took place when Jesus was crucified prove that He is the         

Christ.

 

7. If youíre a disciple of Jesus, you will obey Him.

Itís not enough that Jesus loves us;

 

 

 

Not enough that He died on a cross.

We must accept Him as our Saviour, or we will die in our sins.

 

 

Have you accepted Jesus?

Will you accept Jesus?