The Light of the World
Introduction: Once more I want to take you back to the time of Christ. It is again to the feast of Tabernacles. In John chapter 7 we saw Jesus on the steps of the temple the High Priest has carried the golden bowl from the pool of Shalom and turned it over to show that the water from the Rock had ceased. And Jesus had cried out “If any man thirsts!” Now we move into the court of the Women. It is called the “court of the Women” for it is as close to the Ark of the Covenant as a woman can come. Around the court is a colonnade or porch; and in that porch set against the wall we see thirteen treasure chests called the “trumpets.” They are called the trumpets because they are shaped like trumpets, wide at the top and narrow towards the chest itself. Each chest had it’s allotted offering
2 for the ½ shekel paid for temple upkeep
3&4 for the purchase of the two pigeons for the purification of the women
#5 to purchase wood for the altar fire
#6 to purchase incense
#7 upkeep of the gold vessels
#9-13 offerings other than the tithe
In the center of the court were four large gold candelabra which were lit from sundown till sun-up. To the mass of people gathered there Jesus says”
“I am the Light of the World!”
John 8:12 - 20 (NKJV) 12Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” 13The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.” 14Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. 15You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. 17It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” 19Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” 20These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.
Blind men cannot even recognize the light
Matthew 6:22 - 24 (NKJV) 22“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
ILL: Like a blind dog in a meat packing plant, jumping and snapping in the air – they know something is there but they just cannot get their teeth into it!
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) 14But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
A. They cannot recognize the uniqueness of Christ.
Psalms 27:1 (NKJV) 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
ILL: Who? “The Lord God!”
Isaiah 60:19 (NKJV) 19 “The sun shall no longer be your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory.
Job 29:1 - 3 (NKJV) 1Job further continued his discourse, and said: 2 “Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me; 3 When His lamp shone upon my head, And when by His light I walked through darkness;
Micah 7:8 - 9 (NKJV) 8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me. 9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord, Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case And executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness.
Jesus has just told the Pharisees “I am God!”
B. The uniqueness of the claim of Christianity
The offence is the exclusiveness but all religions and philosophies believe they are exclusive
Muslims believe that the sole, sufficient and consummate miracle of Islam is the Koran – and only in Arabic
Hinduism believes the law of karma as absolute – every birth is a rebirth and that all religion and truth is syncretistic
Atheists reject the idea of God and that is absolute truth
Pure Truth itself is exclusive
ILL: The color of light is not white but a mixture of color that does not make pure white untrue, its truth is in the eye of the one looking at it. While there are many colors and shades of color all color and shades are mixtures of blue, red, yellow and green – even green is a mixture of blue and yellow – so they are not exclusive – but THE Truth is!
The four fundamental questions of life answered in Christ.
We Are not identical with God, we did not create ourselves (Hinduism claims we did, humanism says we did, Darwinism says we did – Only Christ is identical with God!
In Christ, meaning only comes through worship and the case for worship is exact – first redemption, then morals, then worship!
Morals and ethic grown out of the character of God not out of culture
Destiny is based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ*
(Based upon Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith)
Blind men make poor judges – for they judge what they cannot see!
How can a sinner judge God or judge the Holy?
The Witness of Jesus is the effect of Jesus upon men
Who else can make a bad man good
Jesus can do for a man what he cannot do for himself
How can a man judge what he does not understand?
John 8:21 - 27 (NKJV) 21Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.” 22So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?” 23And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” 25Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” 27They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.
Jesus said “I am going where you cannot come – so they said “He will kill Himself”
Jesus said, “If you do not believe I am God you will die in your sins” – They said Who is He?
It is not good enough to believe that Jesus a man died on a cross – that will not get the job done!
1 Peter 1:3 - 5 (NKJV) 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
III. Men cannot see because they are near sighted
John 8:39 - 58 (NKJV) 39They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.” 42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” 48Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” 52Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ 53Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?” 54Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
The view of men is limited to this earth – but spiritual sight can see into heaven
The view of men is limited in time – but spiritual sight sees into eternity
They are looking right at God but cannot see Him – “I AM!”
The man who walks in the light
John 8:31 - 32 (NKJV) 31Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Walking in the light begins with belief
Walking in the light continues with walking in the Word
Psalms 119:105 (NKJV) 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
Walking in the light breaks the chain of sin and enables the person to be who we ought to be
Conclusion:
I want to give you something the Pharisees could not understand – that Jesus was before was – He existed before existence – He existed before existence!
Revelation 1:8(NKJV) 8“I am the Alpha and the Omega, £the Beginning and the End,” says the £Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
When Abraham discovered that there was only one God, “the Lord said” (Gen 12:1) the Lord was Jesus! When Abraham died, who did he see? Jesus! When Adam walked with God in the Garden of Eden who did he walk with? Jesus! When John was caught up on the Island of Patmos who did he see? Jesus!
How can this be? Because Jesus is I Am he never was, He always is I Am and when heaven and earth have passed away and time will be no more He will still be – I Am!
John 8:59 (NKJV) 59Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
How did He hide Himself in the “midst of them?”
Because they were blind!
Like it or not you will die in your sins and be judged unworthy of heaven if you will not believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is the Lord God who died on a cross and paid for your sins and rose again from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven and there reigns until all enemies will be put under His feet! God doesn’t send anyone to hell – you choose hell or Jesus – there is no other way no other choice – so choose Jesus!
