Light of the World
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Do you prefer in an unknown situation to be in the light or the dark
on an open beach in the sun,
or a cave in the dark?
which world do you really want to live in
THIS ONE or JESUS’s WORLD
the choice is not a small one, or a light one
It is the simple BIGGEST MOST IMPORTANT decision of EVERYONE'S life
DO YOU KNOW JESUS AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR?
Do you seek to be more like HIM daily?
are you becoming Him in the world.
our verses today open with the Proclamation from Jesus
I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Light of the World
Light of the World
Jesus is Proclaiming His Divinity---
for God is Light
1 John 1:5 (ESV)
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Darkness speaks of Fear, Death, ignorance and sin
BUT
light casts out Fear, shining the light on something is to understand it
Let us PRAY this morning as we open our time together
that your hearts and minds be open by the LIGHT
PRAYER
[RECONNECT TO Review]
We must go back and set the stage to understand these verses
Jesus is still at the Feast of Tabernacles
Jesus is teaching to the Jewish people
The Jewish Leaders have interrupted His teaching time
The Temple Guards were sent by the Chief Priests to bring Jesus in to them
The Guards do not follow through as in verse 7:46, it says they were so amazed they basically forgot their mission
SO the Pharisees grab there robes and go to Jesus to confront Him
The mindset of the Pharisees is pretty emotional and they are bent on disruption and destruction
They call out the people listening as an Ignorant mob who know “nothing of the law” in fact they say they are cursed
Yet Nicodemus is back in the scene and speaks up
Nicodemus reminds the Pharisees of the Law they are bent on following. We need to hear this man out!
The rest of the Pharisees are so full of rage they attach one of their own.
insulting Nicodemus but asking if he is from Galilee also. basically asking are you “worthless also”
I imagine the scene was somewhat like this church today.
Beautiful people sitting and listening to a teacher.
THEN the priests and pharisees appear
you can almost feel the tension in the air.
The Pharisees are waiting for a chance to pounce
I would suggest they were listening to every word of Jesus,
but there intent was to trap not to learn.
They show up
and Jesus says
John 8:12 (ESV)
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
and the Pharisees POUNCE
I want to bring up the end of the verses today
so that you see the result in the turmoil
John 8:30 (ESV)
30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Keep this in mind
in fact write that in your notes
“Many Believed in HIM”
We all have witnessed this as we all started
as UNBELIEVER,
we heard the WORD,
and we BELIEVED.
but for many of that we did not respond on the first call
Lets seek to walk through the text today just as Jesus presents it
Jesus proclaims to the crowd
I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
You will never walk in Darkness
What a beautiful promise from Jesus
Jesus does not mention this concept of Light the rest of these verses today
BUT
JESUS is never SIDETRACKED
Jesus made and commands the Rabbit, but never follows its trails.
In fact along this interaction
Jesus points to the fact that HE and THE FATHER are One.
The main point is the main point:
Jesus is God, sent to provide a way of Salvation for All who believe in Him. Jesus is the Light of the World and the Giver of the LIGHT OF LIFE
Let that sit a moment
Its Beautiful
a light in the Darkness
The Pharisees do not see the beauty in it.
Testify
Testify
So the Pharisees challenge Him
The FORMAL- PROPER- LAW FOLLOWING- PHARISEES
want their TRUTH,
They want to make it a legal situation
and not the TRUTH standing in front of them.
It is likely a reference to a few chapters ago
31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.
32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.
33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.
34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
i would offer that Human opinion
in cases was even more important
with the Pharisees and the Jews
in this time period than in our world today.
They didn’t have cameras and recording devices, it was solely on the testimony of others
We live in a world that it is hard to discern truth.
Which news is really, what law will stay and which will change
Our Great Constitution has had 27 amendments, 33 proposed and 27 ratified.
Medical journal are reprinted and updated
New editions are needed regularly in text books.
The BIBLE has and will never have any amendments
The word of a man was the key in court
it is why the Bible says two or more witnesses
it is why Nicodemus said “does our law not provide that we hear the accused first”
Yet the mindset of the Leaders is not seeking Truth, but to condemn
There whole mindset is to trick and trap.
The Scrolls of the Old Testament, the Prophets, and John the Baptist TESTIFIED to JESUS coming
Yet the TRUTH IS STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM.
This is a picture of the WISDOM and CONTROL
that Jesus has and we can learn from.
Jesus is saying in Verses 14-18
I have the authority over all things.
Jesus only does what the Father says
and since GOD is His Father,
then He is the SUPREME AUTHORITY
Jesus is answering their question, but they don’t like the answer.
Judging
Judging
Someone ask me what is the difference between judging and rebuking
My answer for many years has been judging is a salvation decision on a non- believer
and rebuking is a believer seeking to correct another believer
and i still stand on that
BUT
I gave another answer the other week.
The difference is a heart condition
Judging comes from our selfish, weak, sinful attitude towards others
Rebuking comes from a heart aligned with Christ, to correct to improve Believers daily walk
I believe that the more MATURE the CHRISTIAN, the more open to rebuke or correction they should be.
a Christian deeply desires to walk in line with Christ
to live a life worthy of their calling.
I want to give you another TRUTH to challenge your thinking.
Jesus NEVER CONDEMNS
We often believe that because HE is the one whom decides life and death
that it means he decides
and i would argue that
Jesus provided a way to eternal life,
BUT everyone must CHOSE TO FOLLOW, CHOSE TO BELIEVE.
JESUS HAS NEVER AND WILL EVER FORCE ANYONE TO BELIEVE
EACH MUST CHOSE.
We are SAVED BY FAITH, provided by HIS GRACE
Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Where is your Father?
Where is your Father?
19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
They still don’t get it
Legalism over TRUTH
The Leaders are still wanting to know who the Father is and where is He
their two or more witnesses requirement will be met
WHERE IS THIS FATHER?
Jesus wants them to get IT
They are stuck in stinking thinking
Jesus is pressing them to understand
Jesus is REBUKING them here.
Jesus is wanting them to come to the RIGHT CONCLUSION
They know the Scripture, They know the Law, They know the situation
BUT THEY DON”T KNOW JESUS.
This is a reminder for us.
Knowing academically
believe there was a man named Jesus
Memorizing and repeating SCRIPTURE,
even calling out to JESUS for Help
is not the POINT
We must BELIEVE,
BE BAPTIZED,
BECOME like HIM,
BELONG to the BODY,
and then we are BLESSED.
It is FAITH IN HIM, it is walking and becoming like CHRIST which is the SAVING.
We must KNOW HIM, BELONG TO HIM, SERVE HIM ALONE.
KNOWING and LIVING our
IDENTITY MATTERS
IDENTITY MATTERS
Who we were is past? SINNER
Who we serve and love is paramount?
Look at verse
John 8:23 (ESV)
23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
This is Jesus teaching us.
There are two kinds of people in this world
SAVED and UNSAVED
Not black or white
not this country or that
not even good or bad
BUT SAVED and UNSAVED.
We know the unsaved, and often struggle with
Christians the proposed SAVED.
Not all in a church are going to Heaven
We want to believe that don’t we
the truth is that we must BELONG to HIM
Below or Above
This world or Kingdom of JESUS
what are you choosing?
What are you encouraging in others?
are you modeling Jesus?
Look at verse
John 8:24 (ESV)
24 I told you that you would die in your sins,
for unless you believe that I am he;
you will die in your sins.”
This is the Gospel
THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS
That we are lost, sinners, from this world
BUT Jesus came and paid the price so that we could die to the old and live ETERNALLY in the NEW LIFE
we can be a NEW CREATION
GOD’s Masterpiece
crafted by HIM, for HIM
Jesus gives us the ANSWER to the Most important question in this WORLD
DO YOU KNOW JESUS AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR?
Will you CHOSE JESUS?
Will you LIFT JESUS UP?
Will you put HIM on the THRONE OF YOUR HEART
Lets close with the final verses for today.
the Leaders ask WHO ARE YOU?
and Jesus answers
25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.
26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”
27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father.
28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.
29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
Friends
we have all experienced the divisions in the church
we have all suffered from church hurt
suffered from bad teaching
suffered from denominational beliefs that are not in line.
Our mission to LEAN ON SCRIPTURE ALONE.
do you see that if the Pharisees would have search the SCROLLS
they would have SEEN the CHRIST
SCRIPTURE points to JESUS
We should take a note of the last two lines of these verses
Verse 29 is for us to model
that we are never alone and seek that everything we do is PLEASING TO HIM
THE RESULT, the way we GLORIFY GOD is to see the beauty in the last four words of Scripture
John 8:30 (ESV)
30 ..., many believed in him.
“MANY BELIEVED IN HIM”
Lets Pray
Jesus we are your workers may we do your will
May we have the courage to speak of YOU
May we be a part of the process for those around us
and may you bless us with seeing the FRUITS of our Labor for YOUR GLORY.