Let's open our Bibles tonight
for the last time in this study, at least, to John chapter 12. Seems like we have been in this
chapter for many weeks now. And beginning with chapter 13,
we have the Lord Jesus Christ alone with his disciples. But
in John chapter 12, verse 44 through 50, Jesus cried and said, he that
believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me, seeth him
that sent me. 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. For I have not spoken
of myself, but the Father which sent me. He gave me a commandment,
what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore,
Even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." It's impossible
for us to know exactly when the Lord Jesus Christ spoke these
words that we've just read. But I'm confident tonight that
it was on one of the days in the last week before he was crucified
or the week in which he was crucified. George Hutchison in his commentary
on John He said that these words were Christ's farewell sermon
to the Jews concerning his person, his office, and his doctrine. The passage you notice begins
with these words, Jesus cried and said. Now this Greek expression
is only used four times in the New Testament in reference to
Christ. And every instant, in each of
the four times, it means that the Lord cried with a loud voice. He lifted up his voice and cried
aloud. It's a cry like you might cry
if you were in a house and it was on fire. You wouldn't say,
fire, fire. You'd say, fire, fire. So the Lord Jesus Christ cried
with a loud voice to show the importance, the importance of
the subject that these words contain. What is the subject? It is faith in Christ. That's the subject, faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. The importance, the importance
that each one of us realize that we believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Why is it, why is it so important
that you believe on Christ. Why is it so important that I
believe on Christ? Well, there are four parts of
the message tonight, and I would like to answer in each one of
these parts that question. Why is it so important that men
believe on Christ? First, because of His person. because of Christ's person. You
notice in these verses, he said in verses 44 and 45, he that
believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me, seeth him
that sent me. Let this truth be stated in the
loudest and the clearest way possible. In calling upon man
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we're not calling upon
man to believe in anyone other than the true and the living
God. Why is it so important that men
believe on Christ? Because of who he is. The Lord Jesus Christ said, And
if you don't see this, it sounds like a contradiction. He that
believeth on me, believeth not on me. What? He that believeth on me, believeth
not on me. What does this mean? We do not
believe on Him as a mere man. He that believeth on me. If you
just believe upon Him as a mere man, apart from the truth that
He is God-man, that He is one of the same essence as God the
Father and God the Holy Spirit. To believe on Him is to believe
on Him who sent Him. Who sent Him? God sent Him. God sent Him to be the Savior. The Apostle Peter in 1 Peter
said, who by Him, that is by Christ, who by Him do believe
in God. There is no true believing in
God apart from believing in Christ, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are of the same essence,
the Father and the Son, but they are not the same persons. We
recognize that, that there are three persons in the Godhead.
But you know, He said here, He that seeth Me, seeth him that
sent Me. Look over just a few pages into
John chapter 14. We're all familiar with this
question that Philip asked. And I don't know about you, but
I'm thankful for the questions these disciples asked. I really
am. By asking questions, the Lord
taught us a great deal. John chapter 14 in verse 8. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father. This is not really a question
here, is it? Father, show us the Father. Lord, show us the
Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, have I
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me. He doeth the works, Believe me that I am in the Father, and
the Father in me. Or else believe me for the very
work's sake. Why is it so important that men
believe on Christ? Because of who He is. To believe
in Christ is to believe in God. To see Christ with the eye of
faith is to see God. In Hebrews 1 and verse 3, We
are told that the very one who purged our sins, who's that? Well, that's Christ, isn't it?
Who loved us and washed us from our sins with His own blood.
But in Hebrews 1 and verse 3, we are told that that one who
purged us from our sins is the express image of the Father. The express image. Years ago,
I read this, that when a king would seal a letter. They'd put
the wax on the letter and then he would take his ring and press
it down into the wax and it would be authenticated, authorized. Everyone would know that this
was from the king. Why? Because the seal had the
same image, image rather, as on his ring. And Christ is the
very image of God. To believe on Him is to believe
on God. To see Him is to see God. Also in Colossians 1 and verse
15, the Apostle Paul said, Who is the image of the invisible
God? Christ, the God-man, the man
that was born of the Virgin Mary, lived in Nazareth, worked in
Joseph's carpenter shop. And at the age of approximately
30 years of age, that's when a man would enter into the office
of the priesthood. He was baptized of John and began
what we call his public ministry, most of the time ministering
in Galilee, but also in Judah. And then he was crucified under
Pontius Pilate, the man Christ Jesus is the express image of
the Father, the God-man. To see Him is to see God. Now we cannot see Him tonight
with the eye, the natural eye, but many people did who did not
see Him. Many people who saw the Lord
Jesus Christ didn't see Him, They saw him with the natural
eye, but they didn't see him with the eye of faith. They did
not see him as God manifest in the flesh. All right. Why is it so important
that men believe on Christ? Because Christ alone delivers
from darkness. Verses 4, or verses 46 rather,
Christ alone delivers from darkness. I am come a light into the world,
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Notice that, whosoever believeth
on me should not abide in darkness. All men, when we come into this
world, are in darkness. And if we do not believe on Christ,
we will come into this world in darkness, and we will exit
this world in darkness, and we will go out into everlasting
darkness. Why? Is it so important that
men believe on Christ? Because Christ alone delivers
from darkness. Men without Christ are under
the power of darkness. And in the Word of God, darkness
stands for a number of things, but it stands for ignorance. And when I use that word ignorance,
I'm not saying that people who are lost or ignorant in the things
of this world. Maybe some of the brightest minds
in this world, in the things of this world, and on the subjects,
the science of this world, they may be super intelligent, but
if they're in darkness, spiritual darkness, they're ignorant. They're ignorant of the truth.
They're ignorant of God's way of righteousness. You know, Paul
says that in Romans chapter 10 about those of his day. Verse 1, he says, Brethren, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might
be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, But not according to knowledge. See that word knowledge? Darkness? They're in the dark. They're ignorant of the knowledge. A person might have a lot of zeal.
In fact, many of the cults, they put Christians to shame when
it comes to zeal. They're zealous, some of them,
out on the streets going door to door. give two years of their
lives, every one of them, to be a missionary for their church.
They're zealous. So were these Jews. But they
were lost. Paul said, They have a zeal of
God, but not according to knowledge. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they have been
ignorant of God's righteousness. Now the Jews of whom he's speaking
here, They were not ignorant of God's essential righteousness. They knew. In fact, from what
I've read, they would not even write the name of God. They wouldn't
pronounce the name of God. They wouldn't write the name
of God when they were copying the scriptures without going
and bathing, going through some ritual. Why? Because they believed
in God's essential righteousness. What they were ignorant of is
how you and I, how a sinner may be made righteous with God. Being ignorant of God's righteousness,
that is the absolute holiness of God, they go about to establish
their own righteousness. I remember several years ago
when we visited a place, and I didn't know when we went there
who owned that place. It was in Hawaii. But they wouldn't
sell Coca-Cola's on the ground. They wouldn't allow Coca-Cola's
on the ground. Why? Have caffeine. Contain caffeine. That's very important to them.
Drink no caffeine. You want to be right with God?
Don't drink any caffeine. Wouldn't you hate to stand before
God trusting in the fact that you had never drunk caffeine? Wouldn't you? Being ignorant of the righteousness
of God, to think that there's anything that we can do to make
us right with God, that there's anything that we can do to satisfy
God Almighty. If there was, why did He send
His Son? Why did He send His Son into
this world? To give Himself a ransom if it
were possible for men like you and I, by our doing, by what
we do to merit or to become righteous. being ignorant of God's righteousness,
going about to establish their own righteousness, they have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness unto everyone
that believe it. Christ is the goal of the law.
The law was given, why? To show us our sinfulness, to
show us, to teach us that we need a savior. Christ is the
goal of the end of the law. He came into this world and he
perfectly fulfilled and obeyed God's law. And he did that to
establish a righteousness that might be imputed unto all who
believe. Our Lord said in this text, I
am come, a light into the world that whosoever believeth on me
should not abide in darkness. In darkness, men are in ignorance. ignorant of the righteousness
of God, and how it is that a man or woman might be made righteous. And not only being in darkness
signifies ignorance, but it also signifies wickedness, sinfulness. Paul in Titus, he described those,
and he included himself. You know, Paul was not one of
those preachers When he did like that, he pointed one finger at
you, but three back at himself. He wasn't one of those preachers
that tells you how bad you are and excludes himself. He was a preacher of God who
confessed the truth that we're all sinners by nature. And this
is the way we all lived. when in darkness. He says this
in Titus. He said, foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers' lusts and pleasures, living in malice,
envy, hateful, and hating one another. That's a good description
of all who are in darkness. Not only ignorance, but wickedness. And not only ignorance and wickedness,
but misery. People in darkness are in misery. God said, there is no peace,
saith the Lord unto the wicked. Now in contrast, the light. The light stands, first of all,
for knowledge. For knowledge. Believing on Christ,
the light of the world, it is then that we know the true God. And believing on Christ, the
light of the world, it's then that we know the truth. And the
truth makes us free. You know, that's a word that's
used a lot today by the world. The truth shall make you free.
I hear it all the time. The truth shall make you free.
But what they don't understand, most of those people who say
that, the truth is a person. The truth is a person. Who is
he? The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. And no man cometh unto
the Father but by me. You shall know the truth, that
is Christ, and you shall be made free. Free from what? Free from the curse of the law?
Free from the penalty of sin? Free from eternal destruction?
Eternal separation from God, you shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. And believing on Christ, the
light of the world, and we know true joy. A person apart from
the Lord Jesus Christ does not have true joy. Paul said, rejoice in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And again, I say rejoice. You know, joy is a strange thing,
isn't it? The world has one idea of joy
completely different from the scriptural understanding of joy. You can have joy and be weeping. Right? Sure. You can be filled
with joy and be weeping. The world, they understand joy
to mean you're kicking your heels up in the air, you know, everything's
good and everything's going your way. And they confuse joy with
happiness. Happiness has to do with our
happenstance, our circumstances. And when our circumstances are
right, when they're good according to the way we want them to be,
we're happy. But joy is something we can have
when our circumstances, our happenstances are a whole lot different than
what we might prefer. We still may rejoice in Jesus
Christ. When the Holy Spirit gives us
spiritual light and opens our eyes to behold the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ, it is then that we behold sin
in its true colors, and we behold ourselves in our true position,
and we see the most holy God as he reveals himself, and his
plan of mercy as he sets it forth in the scripture, and the world
to come as it is described in the word of God. I am come a light into the world.
Why? Why must men believe upon Christ? Because if a person does not
believe on Christ, he will, she will abide in darkness. You know, one of the closing
words of the Old Testament found in the book of Malachi says this,
The Son, S-U-N, the Son of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his
wings. You know the sun comes up every
morning and the sun gives us light, it gives us warmth, it
gives us fruitfulness. So the sun, S-O-N, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he gives us warmth, he gives us light, and he makes
us fruitful. As the scripture says, without
me you can do nothing. Why is it so important that men
believe on Christ? Number three, because Christ's
first coming to save doesn't mean that he will not come again
as the judge in the last day. Notice his words in verses 47
and 48. 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. When the Lord Jesus
Christ, His first coming, was not to judge the world. He came
as the one mediator between God and men. He said the same thing
in John 3, 17. For God sent not His Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him
might be saved. When the Lord came into this
world, the world was already condemned. It was already condemned. He came as His name proclaims,
thou shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His people
from their sins. He came to give Himself as that
one offering, that one offering for sin which satisfies the justice
of God. But this doesn't mean, as our
Lord has told us in another place here in John, it doesn't mean
that He will not come as a judge, because He will. All judgment
has been committed unto Him, unto the Son. But at His first
coming, He didn't come to condemn the world. He didn't come to
judge the world. He came to save the world. He's
the only Savior that this world has. In John 5 and 22, the scripture
says, for the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son. Men may reject Christ, may not
receive his word, but in the last day, they will be judged
by his word. John Gill made this comment about
wicked men being judged He said, according to the dispensations
under which they lived, he names three dispensations, the law
of nature, the law of Moses and the gospel. Some men, women,
they live their lives under the law of nature. They've never
heard the word of God. They never heard the law of Moses
and they never heard the gospel. They will be judged by the law
of nature. Other men and women heard the
law of Moses, what we call the Ten Commandments, and what's
contained there in the law given on Mount Sinai. They shall be
judged by the law under which they lived. But others have lived
under the dispensation of the gospel, like you and I, and have
rejected it. In that day, they shall find
the greatest judgment or the greatest punishment of all, those
who've heard the gospel and have rejected it. Our Lord speaks
of some who will be beaten with many stripes and some with few
stripes. And anyone who's lived in the
United States of America, for sure, anyone who's lived in Texas,
anyone who's attended the Lincoln Wood Baptist Church and rejects
Christ, rejects the gospel, will have a more severe judgment than
someone who lived at a time and in a place and never heard the
word of God, never was exposed to the word of God. Judgment's coming, isn't it?
It is, it's coming. There's going to be a last day.
When that last day comes, it's going to be a day of judgment. You read about it in the book
of Revelation. when all the books are open,
and everybody's there, we'll all be there. And men are judged
out of the things that are written in the books. And whosoever's
name is not found written in the Lamb's book of life shall
be cast into everlasting darkness. Fourth, why is it so important
that men believe on Christ? Because Christ's words are words
of eternal life. Notice that in 49 and 50. For
I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me.
He gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should
speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever
I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. And these words that I've just
read again, I see clearly that this is a fulfillment of Deuteronomy
chapter 18 and verse 18 and 19. Look back there with me if you
will. Moses was a great prophet. And God spoke to him face to
face. To other prophets, he spoke in
visions and dreams and things of that nature. But God told
Moses, told the nation of Israel through Moses, that he was going
to raise up a prophet that would be superior to Moses. Deuteronomy 18, verse 18. I will raise, well let me read
verse 17. The Lord said unto me, they have
well spoken that which they have spoken. Now what was it that
they had spoken? They told Moses, you go up on
the mountain. You go up, you let God speak
to you, and then you come back and you tell us. In other words,
they asked for a mediator. God said, they've well spoken. They have well spoken that which
they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet
from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words
in his mouth. Isn't that what our Lord says
here in our text? I will put my words in his mouth,
and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto
my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it
of him. Someone said, I believe in whosoever
will. I do too. I do too. Whosoever will. Are you willing? Person said, no, I'm not willing.
Well, I believe in whosoever will. If you will, The word is to you. The message
is to you. Whosoever will not hearken unto
my words, I will require of him. The Lord here said, I have not
spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment. Now the commandment which the
Lord gave him is the gospel. As Moses, he said this in John
3, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life. Have eternal life. My words, he said. I know that His commandment is
life everlasting, life eternal. That is the gospel that the Lord
Jesus Christ preached. The message of salvation is life
everlasting. Go ye therefore into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. Whosoever, or
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. Why is it so important that men
believe on Christ? Because He's the only Savior. And to reject Him is to reject
God. It's to go out into eternity
lost. And there's no recovery. There's
no recovery. A rich man our Lord spoke about
who went to hell. Remember, he said, Father Abraham,
send Lazarus to my brothers. I've got five brothers and warn
them. Tell them not to come to this
place. What did Abraham say? They have Moses and they have
the prophets. In other words, the word of God.
They won't hear them, they will not hear if someone rose from
the dead. Hear the gospel, believe the
gospel, trust on the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing is more important
to each and every one of us here tonight than that we believe
on Christ. May the Lord bless His word,
David.