What a blessing it is to believe what we just sang. That's a miracle that God would give us faith to, to trust him, to trust him. Um, I want us to pray before we begin. We're going to be in john chapter eight. Um, but I want us to pray especially for Jeanette and Donnie Briggs. Jeanette went in the hospital Tuesday and she'll be there for a month. She's at ORMC and has to be in quarantine for a bone marrow transplant for her leukemia. And we've been trying to help out with Donnie. Donnie's been home by himself and yesterday He was outside walking and tripped over a root and fell and broke his jaw in two places, lacerated his finger, broke his toe, and cracked one of his vertebrae. And now he's in the hospital at Sanford. So we've been talking to Jeanette, and I don't think she would mind me sharing this with you. After giving me an update on what was going on, she said this, she said, the Lord is gracious. He is ever our true need. I am praying for the Lord's blessings this morning on his people with open ears and the message from his word. All the troubles that they are having right now. She is thinking about us here and asking the Lord's blessings. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, thank you for the faith that you give us to trust you or to trust you in times of trouble and to believe you and rejoice. in all that you've done to put away our sin, to save us, and Lord, to provide as you see fit for our daily needs. Lord, we thank you for Jeanette and Donnie. Ask, Lord, that you would continue to comfort their hearts, Lord, be with those that minister to them and bring physical strength and healing to their bodies. Might we be reminded in times of trouble to pray for one another and to encourage one another. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. You have your Bibles open to John chapter 8. We looked at verse 12 last Sunday, where the Lord Jesus says, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. The Pharisees, therefore, said unto him, thou bearest record of thyself. Thy record is not true. Thy record is not true. God had just spoken. And these smug, self-righteous Pharisees stood in the presence of God Almighty and called him a liar. How foolish. And yet, that's exactly what we would do and what we did do. prior to the Lord doing a work of grace in our hearts and giving us faith to believe Him, we lived our lives shaking our fists toward heaven and refusing to believe what the Lord had said. I've titled this message, God Has Spoken. God Has Spoken. And I'm reminded of the verse over in chapter 7 if you look over just a page or so in verse 46 where the Pharisees sent the the temple police officers out to to apprehend the Lord Jesus and they came back empty-handed and Made this statement when interrogated by the Pharisees. Why didn't you bring him with you? And they said never man spake like this man We've never heard anyone say the things that he said. And we've never heard anyone speak with the confidence and the authority that he spake with. We had no power in his presence. We were completely intimidated by what he had to say. He's Pharisees. in another place accused him of being the very incarnation of the devil. They called the Lord Jesus Christ Beelzebub. And had he not been who he said he was, that would have been a fair conclusion. Think about it with me for a moment. Let's be reverent about how we say this, but if a man made the claims that the Lord Jesus Christ made, clearly declaring himself to be God Almighty, let's just say any man was to make that claim, you would only have three conclusions, you would only have three options that you could make. Either this man knows he's not God, and he's trying to convince others of something that's not true. That's what the Pharisees accused him of. Your testimony is not true. And that would make a man who made the claims that Christ made a liar. Another option would be that he believed himself to be God, genuinely believed it, but he in fact was not, which would make a man to be a lunatic. And there's only one other option. Only one other. He is who he says he is. We cannot conclude from what the Lord Jesus said that he was a prophet or that he was someone to be listened to or that he was someone to consider. No. You either have to conclude that he was perpetrating a lie, that he was out of his mind, or he was who he said he was, which leaves us with one option, and that is to hear and to obey every word that proceeds out of his mouth. This is God. God is speaking. How foolish it would be for us to say with these Pharisees, you're lying. The Pharisees profess themselves to be the light of the world. Not in the same sense that the Lord Jesus, no one ever spake like this man. No one ever said, I am the light of the world. Plenty of men would pretend to be able to guide someone into the light. I noticed on my phone that there's a celebration coming up Tuesday, and I didn't know what it was. Diwali or something like that? So I had to look it up. and found out that it's a festival of lights practiced by the Hindus and by the Buddhists and several other Eastern religions. It's coming up this Tuesday, and in the Festival of Lights, they profess to have knowledge over ignorance, they profess to be promoting good over evil, light over darkness, and 1.5 billion people this week will be celebrating the Festival of Lights, believing that they have knowledge, they have light. into truth. In another month or so, the Jews will all celebrate Hanukkah, which is their festival of lights. And in every religion, there are those who believe themselves to have some understanding and some truth and some light. Turn back with me to Romans chapter 2, or forward, to Romans chapter 2. Here's what God says about the Jews. In Romans chapter 1, the Lord exposes the lawlessness of the Gentiles. And then in Romans chapter 2, the Lord exposes the lawlessness of the Jews, who are promoting themselves to be living by the law, but in fact are just as guilty of violating God's law as are the Gentiles who make no pretense of keeping God's law. And so in Romans chapter two, in verse 17, behold thou art called a Jew and restest in the law and make it thy boast of God. He's addressing now the Jews, the law keepers. Those same ones that Paul speaks of in Romans chapter 10 when he says, they have a zeal for God, but without knowledge, going about to try to establish their own righteousness. They are ignorant of the righteousness of God. For Christ, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. These self-professing Pharisees, these are the same Pharisees that we're looking at in John chapter eight, the ones who were accusing the Lord of being a liar. Verse 18, you say you know his will and you approve the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law. and are confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light to them which are in darkness." Here's these men who have the word of God and have promoted themselves as the ones who are able to shed light on God's word to help men know the truth. In another place, the Lord told the disciples, leave them alone. Leave them alone. They are not a light. They are blind guides, leading blind men, and they're all going to fall into the ditch. And now the Lord Jesus Christ comes and says, I am. I am. I'm not going to show you the light. I am the source and the substance of all true light. You cannot know God apart from knowing me. I am the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All the nature and character of God is revealed in Christ. What an amazing thing. I am the self-existent, uncreated creator of all things. I am the holy one, other than you in every way. I am the omnipotent one. I possess almighty power. Nothing is too hard for me. No man can stay my hand. No man can say unto me, what doest thou? I'm God. I'm God. God is speaking. Oh, what comfort, brethren, we have. What hope we have. We have the word of God. We don't have to go around lighting a bunch of candles and pretending to have a festival of lights and listening to gurus and Pharisees and self-righteous religious men promote themselves as being guides to the light. We have the light. The Lord Jesus Christ himself, he is our light. All that we will ever know about who God is, we will find in him. And we cannot know ourselves until he reveals himself to us. And when he reveals himself to us, we come to one clear conclusion. Woe is me. I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. I live among a people of unclean lips. My eyes have seen the king. I'm a dead man. Look, in light of who he is, where does that leave me? It leaves me as a sinner in need of that God to have mercy on me and to show me his grace. I've seen a glimpse of his glory, and I've concluded in light of who he is that there's nothing in me like Him. Matter of fact, everything that's in me, in light of His holiness, in light of His justice, in light of His glory, is nothing less than hell-deserving. And apart from the Lord Jesus revealing, and all the glory of God is on full display at Calvary's Cross. His love, His mercy, His grace, His righteousness, His justice, His holiness, And looking to Christ at the cross is where we learn how it is that a holy God can maintain His holy justice and at the same time justify a sinner like me. The only place. I am the light of the world. You're lying. That's what they said. Go back with me to our text. He that followeth me, back in verse 12, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The light of life. Look back to the first chapter of John. Verse 4, in him, in the Lord Jesus Christ, was life. And the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. And now John is John the Baptist. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light. John said, I'm not the light. I'm but a voice of one crying in the wilderness. I'm not worthy to unlatch his sandals. Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. John the Baptist had a following. But he would not dare rob Christ of his glory. When his disciples wanted to leave, he encouraged them to leave. He said, I must decrease. He must increase. He's the light of the world. I'm just here to bear witness to the light. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which giveth light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, the world was made by him, the world knew him not. He came into his own, his own received him not. But to as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God who were born. You see the miracle of the new birth, the miracle of the spirit of God giving us eyes to see and ears to hear. has to happen. Otherwise, we would be just like the Pharisees. We would conclude that this one, well, we would not be as honest as the Pharisees were. By that, I mean that we would draw some other conclusion about this man professing him to be a good man or a prophet or a messenger from God or one who's trying to save God's people but was not quite able to get it done without their help, we would make all sorts of foolish conclusions about him. At least the Pharisees were honest enough to know that that wasn't an option. That wasn't an option. The option is he's either Beelzebub or he is who he says he is. And they, promoting themselves to be the one who were the dispensers of light, refused to bow. Turn back with me to our text in John chapter 8. What is it to walk, to follow Christ, What is it to follow Christ? Many in the world would say that, well, it depends on what you do and don't do. Certainly what we do and don't do is a result of following Christ. It's a result of following Christ. Many in the world would say, well, it depends on, you know, what church you go to or what religious ceremonies you participate in. Certainly there is a true church and there are many false churches. Certainly the Lord has given us ordinances such as baptism for new believer to profess Christ and the Lord's table for us to worship and celebrate him at. But those things are the result of following Christ. They're the result of following Christ. Following Christ is just the opposite of what these Pharisees refuse to do. It's to believe him. It's to believe him. It's to hear what he says and to bow to his word and to rejoice that God has spoken to your heart. And to say with Samuel, speak Lord, speak Lord, I need to hear a word from God. I'm a sinner in need of salvation. I live in a sinful world who profess to have light, but they have none. Lord, I need the source and substance of life, of light, to give me life. I need Christ. Jesus, verse 14, 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 you cannot tell whence I come or whither I go. They were judging by outward appearances. You judge after the flesh. I judge no man. They were looking at this Galilean, this Jew, who was clothed in the likeness of sinful flesh, the Bible says. He looked just like any other man. And they were hearing what he said. They were looking at his appearance, and the Lord said, you judge after the flesh. You're not judging based on what I'm saying. You're judging based on what you're seeing. Here's what it is to follow Christ, brethren. Here's what it is. It's to believe him. It's to believe his word. God has spoken. We don't judge after the flesh. We don't make our judgments based on how we feel, what our circumstances are, what we do or don't do. We make our judgments according to what God has said. We just believe God. Turn with me a few pages up to John chapter 12. John chapter 12. The Lord said, I judge no man. You judge according to the flesh. Look at verse 46. I am come a light into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken. The same shall judge him in the last day." Faith comes by hearing. And here he comes by the word of God. What an unspeakable miracle of grace it is that we would believe every word that he has spoken. That we would not respond to anything that God says with, certainly with You bear false witness. But even with a, yeah, but, yeah, but, oh, people dismiss the word of God by saying, well, you know, that was penned by men, and that was written 2,000 years ago, and things have changed. No, God hasn't changed a bit. Our God, this is another glorious attribute of Christ. He's immutable. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He changes not. He came as a suffering servant clothed in human flesh. And they looked at him and they made their judgments based on what they saw with the physical eye rather than what they were hearing him say. Faith makes its judgments based on what it hears and what it believes. When he returns, he will not come as a suffering servant. He'll come as a reigning king. The Bible describes the second coming of Christ as having eyes like fire and a tongue like a sword, riding upon a white horse with a sword strapped to his side and on his thigh written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We're going to look at that in the next hour. from the book of Joel, but now, right now, we base our judgments on what he has said. Turn with me to 1 John chapter 5, 1 John chapter 5. I'm so thankful that we have a word from God. So many opinions in this world. So many men have so many ideas about what things are and what the truth is and what the light is. The Lord Jesus just said, yeah, I bear witness to myself, but my witness is true. But it's not just me that's bearing witness, it's my father bearing witness as well. The father did bear witness of the son when he spoke at his baptism and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased, hear ye him. The Holy Spirit bore witness of Christ when he appeared in the form of a dove. But more importantly, the scriptures given to us by God Almighty. bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's what we have in 1 John chapter 5. Look with me at verse 7 if you will. For there are three that bear record in heaven. Now, these Pharisees were using the law to accuse the Lord Jesus of being a liar. Because in Deuteronomy God says you don't Judge a man guilty based on the accusation of one witness. You have to have two or three witnesses. And in the voice of two or three witnesses is the thing confirmed. And the Lord gave that in order for, you know, in order for there to be more evidence or proof of guilt when it comes to the civil law. But he also gave it in order to say to us, that this witness of Christ, of being the light of the world, this witness of Christ, of being none other than God himself, is not only his witness, but it's the Father's witness, and it's the Spirit's witness. Look, look what we have here in verse seven of 1 John chapter five. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, that's Christ, the Word that was made flesh, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. They are in complete, perfect agreement. Their testimony does not change. It's the same, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three distinct, separate persons in the triune Godhead. who are all in perfect unity when it comes to their witness, their testimony, their promises. Verse eight, and there are three that bear witness in the earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. The Spirit of God takes the water of God's Word and points us to the testimony of the blood of Christ, which washes away our sins. Here we have the witness that God has given to his people. The world will not believe it. What a blessing it is that we would be made to believe what the witness testifies of. Go back with me to John chapter eight, if you will. Then said they unto him, verse 19, where is thy father? And Jesus answered, you neither know me nor my father. If you had known me, you should have known my father also. And when Philip said, in John chapter 14, he said, Lord, show us the father and we'll be satisfied. What'd the Lord Jesus say? Oh, Philip, have I been with you so long that you don't know that if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, for I and the Father are one. All the attributes, all the glory that God the Father has, and that he would reveal, he reveals through his Son, by Christ. If you've seen me, you've seen the father. They don't know the father because they didn't believe what the Lord Jesus was saying about himself. How can we know God? We know God by believing that when Christ speaks, he is the living word that gives to us the infallible word of God. These words 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." We read that several places in the New Testament. These Pharisees, and this is saying to us that the Pharisees wanted to put him to death right there, but his time had not yet come. He was in complete control of all the events surrounding his life and his death. He laid down his life for his sheep. No man took it from him. He ordained and he ordered all the details of what he was going to do. He came into this world in order to die. And he was in control and in charge of everything surrounding that event. He's God. He's God. Then verse 21 said Jesus unto them again, I go my way and you seek me and shall die in your sins. Whether I go, you cannot come. Now, I believe in part, the Lord is referring to what's going to happen in about 40 years. In about 40 years, the Romans are going to come in and the Jews are going to experience a An annihilation like they have never known in the history of their nation. The Romans are not going to leave one stone left upon another. And these Jews are going to be crying to God. But because they did not believe Christ, they cannot know God. They cannot know God. how many times we've seen people become interested in the things of God, like these Jews will become. When the Romans come in, they're going to be crying out to God. But the Lord Jesus said, you're going to die in your sins. And where I go, you cannot go. Nothing's changed. Men find themselves in trouble. They have sickness. They have divorce. They have family problems, whatever it might be, something beyond their ability to handle. And they cry out to God to deliver them from that problem. Now, here's the problem with that. When that problem goes away or changes, and eventually it will, there's no longer a need for God. There's only one legitimate reason for coming to Christ. Let's approach it from a different angle. Why did the Lord Jesus come into this world? If it was just a matter of knowledge, he would have come as a teacher and as an educator to show us the right way. If it was a matter of distress, he would have come as a counselor and given us some words of comfort. No, he came for this reason. You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. There's only one legitimate and lasting reason for coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's to be saved from my sins. It's to be saved from my sins. And here's the, here's the mystery of all mysteries. When the Lord puts away our sins and separates us, separates them from us as far as the East is from the West and covers them by the blood of Christ and justifies us in the presence of God Almighty so that there's no condemnation for our sin. It's been put away. It's been put away. He leaves us in this world living out the rest of our lives of faith in a sinful body. And so our problem never really goes away. It's not like, it's not like a problem that men go to God for to be delivered from. It's a problem that we never really do get delivered from. It's a problem that's always with us. Paul said in Romans chapter seven, oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? He said, to will is present with me. What was his will? It's every believer's will. I would will to live without sin. But how to perform that which is right and that which is good, I find not. Why? Because I'm carrying this old sin. I've got to have Christ all the time. I've got to have a Savior. And as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see more and more of our need for grace. and we see more and more of how far short of his glory we are. Oh, no, the Lord Jesus did not come as a counselor. He did not come as a financial advisor. He did not come as an educator. He came as a savior, a savior, and only sinners need a savior. And there's the problem with these Pharisees. They weren't sinners. They weren't sinners. Interesting that the word Pharisee and the word Saint come from the same original word. Translated, it means separated one. Separated one. The question is, who does the separating? If I separate myself from other men and I believe that I've separated myself from my sin, then I'm a Pharisee. God has separated me, sanctified me, then I'm a saint. The Pharisees professed themselves to be the light. They did not believe themselves to be in darkness. And the Lord tells us in verse 21, told those Pharisees, you're going to die in your sins and you He didn't say you will not. He didn't say you will not want to. He said you cannot. You cannot come to where I am. Why is that? Because in heaven there's nothing but righteousness and holiness. Sin can never enter into heaven. Ever. That's why we have to be changed from this body of death that we live in. We have to be given a resurrected body. We have to be given a perfect body, a sinless body, before we can enter into glory. And we have to be found in Christ, not having our own righteousness. which is of the law, but that righteousness which is by the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our righteousness before God. You cannot come to where I am. God has spoken. Faith believes what he has said. It's all we have. It's all we have. We can't look to what we do and don't do. We can't look to our feelings. We can't look to our experiences. The eye of faith is what enables us to look to the Lord Jesus and believe that all that he said about himself is true, that he is God incarnate, and that everywhere that he speaks, well, he said, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. They can only be understood and believed by the power of the spirit of God, and in so doing, they give you Life. Life. All right, let's take a break.