These are just remarkable statements. Jesus cried. Jesus cried and
said. The Lord Jesus Christ was fully
man. but he was also fully God and
so all of his emotions are the emotions of one who is not tainted
with all of the sin that we so rarely see in ourselves. And so all of his cries and all
of what he experienced is the experience of the Holy One of
God and it's the experience of someone who has lived in this
world and is touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
And what a remarkable thing it must have been for him as God
Almighty to see into the very hearts of everyone
he was ever speaking to. And that's why, you know, we'll
look at it more in John chapter 13, but it's absolutely remarkable,
isn't it, in three and a half years that he was with Judas.
He knew everything that Judas was going to do, and he knew
that Judas was a child of the devil and was destined to go
to hell, and not Not once in three and a half years, according
to the scriptures, did one of the apostles ever know that that
was Judas's state. And nor did Judas. Part of the trial of the Lord
Jesus Christ's journey through this earth was actually being
aware of those things and then still acting with compassion
acting in such a way that none of his people were damaged by
any of that. We, in our fallenness, are always
trying to humanise God. It's one of the reasons I find
it objectionable that this religious world has almost universally
these days removed the titles from the Lord Jesus Christ. And
if you read their statements of faith and you listen to their
proclamations again and again and again, they just talk about
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And the Bible says that there
are many Jesuses out there, but the Lord Jesus Christ is distinguished. He was distinguished by those
titles and they're not titles that he There were titles that
he was worthy of as God Almighty and worthy of as the Christ but
I do love how in Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit comes
and the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed publicly by this proclamation
of the gospel and people's hearts are cut. I love what God the
Father says, therefore let all Israel know assuredly that God
hath made that same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ. It's a good thing for us to be
reminded again and again, and to, as the Lord would allow us
to use his titles, I know that in the Gospel accounts he's called
Jesus all the time, and that name refers almost exclusively
in the New Testament to his earthly ministry. And if you go and read
the accounts of him in the rest of the New Testament, he's given
his titles almost universally, unless they're referring to him
in his earthly ministry. But his emotions were controlled
by this holy nature. So why did he cry? He cried in
John chapter 7, if any man thirst, let him come unto me. The trumpet must sound clearly. The trumpet call, the trumpet
declaration of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ must be
sounded emphatically, must be sounded passionately, and it
must be sounded in such a way that those who hear and believe
not know exactly what they believe not. They may not know why they believe
not, but they must know exactly what they believe not. He never
ever shirked from declaring his absolute deity over all things
and over all flesh. And that was his high priestly
prayer in John 17. He has power over all flesh.
The Lord Jesus Christ didn't come to win a popularity contest.
The Lord Jesus Christ didn't come to be put up for vote before
people as if they could pick and choose him. The Lord Jesus
Christ came as God Almighty, and he came with a purpose. And
we'll see, Lord willing, as we go through these statements,
a purpose. So he cried. He cried. The Old Testament describes him
as not crying and lifting up his voice to be heard in the
street. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't come like so many other
people did, making a name for themselves and making a noise
about themselves. Most of the time he spoke extraordinarily
quietly. And all of the time, almost all
of the time, Those who didn't have enlightened eyes could just
say this is just a carpenter from Nazareth. But his words
were powerful and they were effective when the Jews sent religious,
that army, little band of soldiers to gather him. In John chapter
7 they said, well, we couldn't bring him in because no man spake
like him. But here we have a cry of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And to whom was he crying? Ultimately, who is going to hear
the cry of the Lord Jesus Christ? There's only one, there's only
one group of people in this world which will really hear the shepherd's
voice. But these people heard words
and they rejected him, they believed not on him. They received not
his words and he says these words are words of eternal life and
they're words of eternal damnation and these are words that will
never ever disappear. Isn't it extraordinary? These
people that heard this and received him not and rejected him are
still hearing these same words now. forever. Oh may the Lord cause us to hear
these words and hear this as the shepherd's voice and we might
come and we might fear him and we might tremble before him.
This is the one to whom the Lord Jesus Christ looks isn't it in
Isaiah chapter 66. He speaks of those who will hear You read these first couple of
verses with me. Thus saith the Lord, Heaven is
my throne, and earth is my footstool. Can you imagine that? He plants
his feet upon this earth. It's his footstool. Where is
the house that you will build unto me, and where is the place
of my rest? For all those things hath my
hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But
unto this man will I look, Even to him that is poor and contrite
and of a contrite heart and trembleth at my word. Poor, poverty stricken, contrite,
I'm just a sinner. you speak when you speak may
I be caused to tremble he cried and these words were
written for us to hear today and for us to read these words
today and I pray that we read them and we find the words of
rejoicing And what's he go on to say? He
cried and said, he that believeth on me, he that believeth on me,
believeth not on me. There is a believing on to the
Lord Jesus Christ, isn't there? There's a believing that causes
you to rest on him. There's a believing in him. But
he that believeth on me, believeth not on him, not on me, but on
him That sent me. To believe the Lord Jesus Christ
is to believe God the Father. If anyone ever talks about God,
and doesn't talk about him as the Lord Jesus Christ being God
and being one with the Father, then the word God is a meaningless
word, isn't it? But for us the word God signifies
the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who sent
me, the Lord Jesus Christ was sent. To believe Christ is to
believe God the Father. To believe Christ's word is to
believe the word sent by God. And he says in John chapter 10,
I and my Father are one. I and my Father are one. And so this passage of scripture
in verse 38 earlier on, he says, He quotes Isaiah 53, who has
believed the record that we have given? Who can believe the record
that we are giving of the Lord Jesus Christ? Who can believe
the record that Christ gives of Christ? Those to whom the
arm of the Lord has been revealed when the power of God Almighty
is exercised. There is a believing And a believing
is a believing of what God says. God gave a record of his son. The record's recorded in the
Holy Scriptures. It's a record of this word. If we've received the witness
of men, this is 1 John 5, chapter 9. If we've received the witness
of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness
of God, which he has testified of his son. that he that believeth
on the Son of God has the witness in himself. He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar. Not that you can make God a liar,
but you're declaring God to be a liar. That's how serious this
issue of believing is, which is why the Lord Jesus Christ
says these words continue on forever. Because he that believeth
not, makes him a liar because he believeth not the record that
God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God
has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. There's a record to be believed.
There is a testimony of God about His Son to be believed. And it's believing on Him. It's believing on Him that was
sent at the end of that verse, isn't it? Believe on Him that
sent me. To believe on Him that sent me
is to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was the I Am before He
came. that he and the Father were in
that glorious union of fellowship that we read about at the beginning
of John's Gospel and in the beginning was the Word and the Word was
with God, the Word was face to face in communion with God because
he was equal with God and the Word was God. To believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ is to believe the record of Him being sent by the Father
and what happened before He was sent. According to Revelation
13.8, this is such an extraordinarily significant verse, isn't it?
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain, the Lamb having been
slain from the foundation of the world. is to believe, to
believe Him being the Set One, is to believe Him being the One
that entered into that eternal covenant union that we speak
of and rejoice in. To believe Him to be the Set
One is to believe that salvation is of the Lord and salvation
is an eternal salvation. And that's where the Lord Jesus
Christ goes at the end of this. He says, I know His commandment
is life everlasting. To believe on Him being the Set
One and to believe on Him and His works before the foundation
of the world is to believe that salvation is 100% sovereign grace. I know we keep repeating these
things and we keep adding words to words. If it's 100% sovereign
grace, it's 0% the works of man. And if God saved his people from
before the foundation of the world when he put them in the
hands of the Lord Jesus Christ and he saved them on Calvary's
tree, he saved us knowing full well the life we'd live here,
the sins that we'd commit here, knowing full well the sins that
we committed in the garden. When we sinned in our father
Adam, To believe on him as a set line is to believe that our works,
good or bad, do not change, alter or affect God's eternal election
and grace. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace to love his words, For those who love
his words are the Jacobs of Romans 9, that can see nothing in themselves. To be sent, the Lord Jesus Christ
once again declares that in 44 times in John's Gospel, I think
it is, he's declared to be the sent one. The Lord Jesus Christ
is not diminished in being sent. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
diminished in any way in declaring himself to be the one who came
in perfect obedience to his father's call on his life. To believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ is to believe on God that sent him. Verse 45, and he that seeth me
seeth him that sent me. People in this world say seeing
is believing and they want people to have evidence. Not according
to God, that's inverted according to God. Do you remember what
the Lord Jesus Christ said at the tomb of Lazarus? He says
to those grieving people, he says, if you would believe, you
should see the glory of God. How do you see the glory of God?
Believing. People saw the most glorious
works of the Lord Jesus Christ and didn't see. But he that seeth
me, seeth him that sent me. To believe Christ is to believe
God the Father. To see Christ is to see God the
Father. That's what Philip says in John
14. Don't you love the apostles? They're so much like us, aren't
they? Philip says, show us the Father. And that'll be, I'll
be happy if you just show us the Father now. And the Lord
Jesus Christ turned to him, he says, Philip, I've been, have
I been so long with you? If you've seen me, you've seen
the Father. In this time and in this part
of the world, of our lives. I don't know all of what goes
on in all of eternity and whether there will be any seeing of the
Father, but to see the Lord Jesus Christ is to see God the Father.
That's all you'll see of him. And if you look outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ to see something about God, then you won't be
seeing him at all. The word was with God and the
word was God. I love what Moses is declared
to have seen in Hebrews chapter 11. Moses saw him and he really
did see him who is invisible. Isn't that remarkable? God is
spirit. And he's revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
46 of our text, I am come, I am come, a light into the world. He's a light. into faith he is
that one that enlightens the eyes of the understanding of
his people so that they will see him. To see Christ is to
see God. To see Christ is to see the one
who was and is and will be and the one who is sent. And to see
Christ is to see light. To see Christ is to have light
on everything. On everything that matters. Now and forever. Everything that matters about
your soul is in Him. He's the light. of the world. He's that spiritual saving light. And these pick up all those themes
that we've looked at so often, but what is it for him to be
the light of the world? In John chapter 9 you have that
remarkable story of the woman who's brought, John chapter 8,
the woman who was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ in the
most disheveled and sad state. And he is the light of the world,
can say to that woman, having taken away all of her accusers. Where are they? Where is the
condemnation? She says, they're gone. And he says, neither do I condemn
thee, go and sin no more. I am the light of the world.
I am the light of the world. To know God as a just God and
a savior, to know that there is now no condemnation. No condemnation. to see him as the light of the
world is to go down to the next verse, is to see him as the one
who came not to judge the world but to save the world. He came
as a saviour. He came as a saviour to save
his people from their sins. He says, I've come a light into
the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. should not abide in darkness. There is a glorious, powerful
operation of God to take his people out of this kingdom of
darkness. What darkness there is in this
world that we live in. He has delivered us from the
power of darkness and has translated us. into the kingdom of his dear
son. And we give thanks to the Father,
which has made us meet. He's made us, he's qualified
his people in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's qualified every
one of his people to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. I've come a light into the world.
He's come as God Almighty. He's come as one who is equal
with God. He's come as one whose words are the words of God. He's
come as one whom you, to see God you must see him. And listen
to what he says. I've come a light into the world
that. There's a purpose in Him coming.
The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't do anything by accident. He came
on purpose. There is a purpose in creation.
The display of the glory of God. This creation exists for the
glory of God. This creation exists because
of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This creation exists
to display his salvation to his people. There is a purpose. Everything
is working according to purpose. There's a purpose in Providence.
There's a purpose in his promises. There's a purpose in the cross.
There's a purpose in the resurrection. There's a purpose in the new
creation. Known unto God are all his works
from the foundation of the world. This is the one crying to us. That Whosoever believeth on me
should not abide in darkness. We were born in darkness, weren't
we? When we sinned in and with our
father Adam, we did immediately, immediately we ran to the darkest
place in the garden and immediately we started stitching fig leaves
together. And that's exactly where God
has to find us. And when God finds us, he brings
us to himself and he makes himself known to us. And he strips us
of our fig leaves and he robes us in the very righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We were born in that darkness
and it's a darkness that people loved. And people loved the darkness
so much they thought that the darkness was actually light.
And that's why the Lord Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 to
these same people at the beginning of his ministry, he said, if
the light which is in you be darkness, if the, Matthew chapter
6, he says, But if thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness. These people
thought they had the light. They had the light of the scriptures.
They had the light of God's dealings with the Jews. They had the light
of them being the children of Abraham. They had all of that
light. And that light was just darkness. What a shocking thing to think
that there are people in this world and all of their religion
is nothing other than darkness. What is it to have a single eye? If the light of the body is the
eye, if therefore the eye be single, the whole body shall
be full of light. But if the eye be evil, the whole
body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? What's a single
eye? just looks to the Lord Jesus Christ only, always only. Look to him for all of what I
need to stand before God. He does not abide in darkness. So what does abiding in the darkness
look like? Let's go down to our text and
see. In verse 46 it means, sorry, in verse 47, if any man
hear my words, and the Lord Jesus cried these words to these people
and he cried them repeatedly to these people for three and
a half years, if any man hears my words and believe not, Verse 48, he that rejecteth me
and receiveth not my words. Walking in the light is believing.
Walking in the light is seeing the Lord Jesus Christ and seeing
him as God Almighty and seeing him as the sent one. Walking
in the light is leaving darkness. Walking in the light is hearing
the shepherd's voice and him saying, come, abiding in the
darkness. Those words, believe not, rejecteth
me, and receive not, in the original, they're all in the active voice. It means that they are ongoing,
continuing, active works of men. Our active words to abide in
the darkness is to be active in your abiding in the darkness.
To reject the Lord Jesus Christ is to do away with him, to disregard
him, to refuse him. He was despised and rejected
of men. He is the stone that the builders
rejected. The son of man was going this
next day to be rejected, next week, later this week, to be
rejected of the elders. and they receive not. To abide
in darkness is to receive not. It's not to take him to yourself.
It's not to embrace him, to lay hold of him, to take possession
of him. If any man hear my words and
believe not, verse 47, I judge him not, for I came not to judge
the world. The world's already judged. This is the condemnation. Light's come into the world.
Men love darkness rather than light. The world is already judged.
We need a savior. We need a savior to save us from
that situation, from that judgment. I judge him not, for I came not
to judge the world, but to save the world. If anyone thinks that
the world there means all of humanity, then you must then
necessarily immediately declare that the Lord Jesus Christ failed.
The word world has many, many descriptions in it. The Lord
Jesus Christ, did he come to save the world of his elect?
Did he come to save the world of his chosen ones? Of course
he did. He cannot fail. His bride scattered throughout
this world. His people scattered throughout
this world. The world of men. And so here
we have the basis of judgment. We have its justice. We have its evidence. We have the warnings given. We have the warnings heard. We have the warnings ignored. We have, throughout these gospel
accounts, we have the most marvellous pictures of salvation by free
and sovereign grace to the outcasts of this world, to those who do
not belong, to those who do not fit in, to those who are rejected,
to those the word that I have spoken. Verse 48, he that rejecteth me,
who does away with the Lord Jesus Christ, 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. There is a last day. He spoke of this time being a
time of a little while, and there is a last day. There must be
a judgment. And we see here the basis of
this judgment. It's simply, what say ye about
Christ? What think ye of Him? These words,
as I've said before, will never pass away. Heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my words will endure forever. Forever the word
of God is settled in the heaven. The word of God is magnified. He's magnified his word above
all of his name. Psalm 138, the word of God is
sure. God spoke it and it was. God
creates reality by speaking. People will be hearing these
words forever. For I, verse 49, for I have not
spoken to myself, but the Father which sent me. And he gave me
a commandment, what I should say. The Lord Jesus Christ just
speaks as God commanded him, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment
is life everlasting. What's everlasting life? Our way of thinking of it, and
we can't help but live in this time frame and this creation
that we're born in, but our way of thinking about it is that
it begins and it goes on forever. That's not everlasting life.
Everlasting life works in both directions, brothers and sisters.
That's what everlasting means. It had no beginning. It has no
end. That which it always was, always
will be, which is why he can declare that his people were
saved from the foundation of the world. That's life everlasting.
We were put into the hands of God the Son from before the foundation
of the world. As a child of God, are you happy? Are you pleased to be judged
by the word of God? As all of your confidence and
all of your hope in the Lord Jesus Christ has set forth before
us here as he cries to us, is all of your salvation, all
of your hope for what happens in this world and in the world
to come, just on the basis of a word spoken by God Almighty. What's his commandment? Life
everlasting is his commandment. What's the commandment of God?
People think, well, it's to do something. It's to do, isn't
it? That's what we think, isn't it?
Now here's a list of commandments. I'll give you a list about Bible
reading and about quiet times and about witnessing and you
can sign a covenant and tick the boxes and say I'm doing all
those things. What's the commandment of God? Turn with me in your
Bibles and we'll close. And I trust rejoice. Turn with
me in your Bibles. So I want you to read this with
me so that you are clear about it. In verse 23 of 1 John chapter
3 there is the commandment of God laid out for us. 1 John chapter 3 verse 23, and this
is his commandment, that we should believe on the
name, which is all the character of the Lord Jesus Christ as he's
cried to us here in these verses and throughout this book of God.
We should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ. This
is his commandment. And love one another as he gave
his commandment. We love him because he first
loved us. What a great commandment. The
commandment is to believe and love. That's why John says earlier,
isn't it? His commandments are not burdensome.
They're not burdensome at all. Oh my God, make it to be so for
us. Command what you will and grant
what you command. Do as you've commanded. That's
what David said, didn't he? God, just do as you've said.
Let's take a break and may the Lord bless his words.