Turn with me this morning, if
you will, to the eighth chapter of the book of John. Eighth chapter of the book of
John. In this twelfth verse of the
eighth chapter. Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying," this is what he said, "'I am
the light of the world.'" But now if you notice, in the first line of verse 12,
it says, "'Then spake Jesus again unto them.'" That reverts back to the first part of the chapter
where it says that Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and
early in the morning he came again into the temple. And all the people the common people. It doesn't
have reference to the scribes or the Pharisees or some particular
branch that's been so designated in regard to the human race,
but unto the people. And all the people came unto
him, and he sat down and taught them. But he was interrupted. he was
interrupted in his teaching here, because immediately the scribes
and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had set her in
the midst, put her up here in a prominent place, you remember
now, He's here to teach the people, all the people, not the scribes
and Pharisees. He didn't have them in mind at
that particular time. And he started to teach the people,
and he was interrupted by the scribes and the Pharisees. And they set her in the midst,
and they said unto him, This woman was taken into adultery in the very act. It wasn't like
they were suspicious of her immorality, or there's any question about
it. They said, in the very act, we know positively that she has
committed adultery. Verse 5, it says, And they reminded
our Lord of this. Now Moses in the law commanded
us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? What do
you say about it? The law says that she is to be
stoned, but what do you say about it? Well, we've got to understand,
first of all, that the scribes and the Pharisees were very anxious
to discredit the Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of the people.
That was their objective, to discredit him, to say or do whatever
they could to make him to appear in a bad light. in the presence of the people. And so they said, Moses in the
law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou?
I said they are anxious now to discredit him. That is their
reason for bringing her to him. Now, listen to me. It was not
because they were shocked at her conduct. That wasn't the
reason they brought him, or brought this lady. That they were just horrified
because of this awful act that she had committed. That's not
the reason. And they were not shocked at
this woman for what she did, and neither
were they grieved because the law of God was broken. They only
used her as a means to discredit the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'll
stop reading there, and you can maybe later on read the story
there, and maybe I'll preach on it sometime here in the future,
about the woman But anyhow, he comes down to the end of his
conversation with them and with the poor woman. And when Jesus
had lifted up himself, in verse 10, and saw none but the woman,
he said unto her, Woman, where are thine accusers? Hath no man
condemned thee? And she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither
do I condemn thee, go and sin no more." Now, it comes to that twelfth
verse. Then spake Jesus again. See, he's interrupted up here
in verse 2. He is interrupted. He sat down
to teach the people, and while he was teaching them, the scribes
and the Pharisees, Seeking to discredit him brought a woman. So he dealt with this issue.
He dealt with this problem in regard to the woman taking an
adultery. He dealt with that. And now it
says, and Jesus spake again. And this is what he said. He
said, I am the light of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, at the
conclusion, of his dealing with this woman
who had committed adultery, he takes up again his teaching with
the people that he left. And he said unto them, I am the
light of the world. Now, certainly there's a wealth of
meaning in what he said, I am the light of the world. There's
the I am, has a whole lot of meaning in that. When Moses said,
well, who will I say has sent me? And he said, tell them, the
I am that I am has sent thee. He is the I am. He is God. I am that I am. And that'll be
enough. Well, anyhow. I am the light
of the world, and these words certainly imply this. It implies
that the world needs light and is naturally in a dark condition. Now, the opposite of darkness
is light. The sun is the center of light
and heat and life. As we view it during the morning
hours here, it's light outside and we can see. But he said,
I am the light of this world, which implies that the world
is covered with darkness when looked at from a spiritual viewpoint. We know that there's light that
we can see to walk around, but he's not talking about that light.
He said this world is in darkness, and all of those who know not
that he is the light, they dwell in darkness. We'll talk about
that in a little bit. The world needs light because
it's naturally in a dark condition, and it has been so since Adam
fell. It's been in that condition from
the spiritual viewpoint. Dead men are dead in trespasses
and in sins. They can't hear, they can't see,
they can't understand. They're groping in the thickness
of darkness, not knowing where they go or where they came from. The last 6,000 years in Egypt
and Greece and Rome and England and France and Germany and the
Philippines and China and Japan and the United States of America,
darkness hovers over the earth. Men are in darkness. And they've
got one great need, and that is to see. They can't see in
the darkness. They've got to have light. They
can't see. The vast majority of men do not
see, and they do not understand. When I say the vast majority
of men, I apply that to men, women, and boys and girls. The
vast majority, now listen, this is a whole lot of people, the
vast majority of the peoples of this world, human beings,
the vast majority of them, they do not see or they do not understand
the true nature of God. They don't know who God is. That's
an indictment against the human race. That the God who made them,
they don't know Him. And they are not making any effort
to find out. They don't know God. The true
nature of... Now, I'm not saying that they
don't have some conception of God that they formed in their
minds, that they got from tradition, or they got from conscience,
or they got from reasoning. They have some concoction of
some God of their own that they've passionate with their own hands,
with their own thinking. Their God won't do this, and
their God won't do that, and all that. But they don't have
any understanding of the true nature of God, that who God is. You scare people to death in
the common religious service of our day. if you was to spend
about ten or fifteen minutes talking about the one aspect
of the glorious God in regard to His sovereignty. God is sovereign. Most people don't even know what
you're talking about when you're talking about sovereignty. It
goes in one ear and out the other. They give it no consideration.
because it has no meaning to them. And the reason why it has
no meaning, because they don't know the true nature of God.
The true nature of God is that He's sovereign, and He does what
He wants to do, when He wants to do it, and why and how, and
He doesn't ask anybody for any information or cooperation in
doing the job. That's God's sovereignty, His
prerogative. None can stay his hand, or none
can say, why do you do this and why do you do that? Man has no
idea of who God is. God alone is sovereign. Sovereign in the dispersion of
His gifts. Sovereign in salvation. That's
the reason everybody's not saved. God hath chosen from the beginning,
out of this fallen human race, someone to Himself that He's
going to save. And He gives no reason for it
other than it pleased Him. You see what I'm talking about?
I am the light of the world, He said. And I said the majority
of people at any given time are in darkness, they can't see,
they can't understand the very nature of God. You've got to
find out who God is. Not only the vast majority of
men do not see or understand the true nature of God, they
don't understand the value of their souls. They don't understand
the value that God places upon a soul. The most precious thing
that you've got as a human being is your soul, because your soul
never dies. The soul never dies. God breathed
into that figure Adam, breathed into his nostrils, and he became
a living soul. And that soul, saved or lost, must live forever and forever,
must live either with God, or without God. One of the two.
No in-betweens. Either goes to be with God and
live with God and worship and praise God forever, either there,
or go to a place where the name of God is not to be heard. No value, no value. Now, as old
as I am, I marvel at men and women, young men,
young women, older women, older men, of their non-consideration,
non-consideration of the value of their souls. They don't care! It's now! It's now! Eternity
will take care of that when they face it. They have no understanding of
the true nature of God, and they have no value of their soul,
a human soul. Our Lord talked about the value
of a... He said, is not one of these
far more valuable than one of these? What shall it profit a man? What
good will it do a man if he gains everything, if he gains the whole
world? What good will it do him? If
he has a fine family and a fine home and a fine car and fine
children, what good is it to him comparing it to the eternity? What shall it profit a man if
he gain the whole world and lose his soul? the value of their souls or the
reality of the world to come. They don't believe that there's
a heaven to gain and a hell to shine. They don't believe that. Notwithstanding, notwithstanding
all the so-called discoveries of the arts and sciences, darkness
still covers the earth and its people. are still in darkness. Over here in, I think it's Psalm
36. If I can find that real quick,
I'll read this to you. 36 and 9, I believe. It says this. It's talking about
God. is the fountain of life. Now,
listen to this. Remember what he says now. I
am the light of the world. It says, For with thee is the
fountain of life, life in God, and in thy light, and in the
light of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in that light shall we see
light. No man can have light and understanding
until he knows the Lord Jesus Christ. Until he commits himself
to Christ and is a follower of Christ, then in the light of
Christ, he'll have light. That's what he's saying. He'll
have light. That's the state of the world
in darkness. And our Lord Jesus Christ, in
this twelfth chapter, He declares this in light of all that's involved
in saying, I'm the light of the world in regard to the darkness
of this world. He solemnly declares here in
no uncertain terms, I am. The light of the world. He says, I'm the only remedy.
I'm the only remedy to get out of this darkness. I'm the light
of the world. Broken in darkness. You want
out of darkness? He said, I'm the light. I'm the
light. I'm the light of the world. He
tells him this, told those people. Early in the morning, he came
again in the temple, and all the people came unto him. He
sat down and taught them. Interrupted, He comes back here.
Then Jesus spake again unto them, saying, If I am the light of
the world. To these people, they gathered,
I'm the light of the world. In darkness. It implies that
they're in darkness. He didn't have to say they were
in darkness. The implication is there. They
can't see, they can't understand. They're ignorant. They don't
know which way to go. He said, I'm the way, the truth,
and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father except by me.
I'm that bread that cometh down from heaven. I'm the good shepherd
of the sheep. I give my life for the sheep.
I lay it down, I might take it up again. I am the light of the world. He
said, I'm the only remedy, the only remedy a man's got. He has risen, dead, buried. He's risen. He's like the sun,
risen to bring light and life and peace and salvation in the
midst of the darkness of this world. And if you've got light
this morning, brother or sister, if I've got light, it's because
He gives it to me. because he's the only one who
has it, and he's sovereign in the dispensing of it. It has
to do with his nature. What the sun is to the solar
system, the center of light and heat and life and so forth, that's
what he is to poor, hopeless, weary, wandering sinners in darkness. that are groping in ignorance.
Now, this saying I said is full of meaning, and it'll take on
that description by what I'm about to say. There's false lights
on every side all around us that invite our attention. False lights. Remember now, he said, I am the
light of the world. In saying that, He condemns every other light
because He is the light. And there's false lights all
around us that grab our attention. There is reason. I talk to people
practically every day. and tell them something about
the Bible, that doesn't seem like good reason to me. Now,
are you sure it's like that? Have you studied your Bible enough
to know that it's like that? It doesn't sound reasonable to
me. Reason invites people's attention. Philosophy, liberalism, they
all cry. We got the light! Come to the
light! What about those poor people
out there in California? Remarkable, wasn't it? Oh, no doubt these 39 people
were dedicated and committed to their leader. They thought
he was right. Some of them had been listening
to him for over 20 years. And they thought he was right.
They said, this is right. They had no statements from the
Bible to substantiate their theories. But this fellow said, let's reason
about this thing. He said, now, we know that in
the last days there's going to be a couple of prophets that's
going to come on the face of the earth and preach. And he
said, my wife and I, we're those two prophets. And folks believed
it. And he began to tell them about
the spaceship behind the comet there. And so he said, we got
the times ready. And so they blindly and ignorantly
did what the fellow told them to do. without thinking for themselves. Sounds right. This world and
all of its immorality, I want to get out of it, they said.
So do I. But I want to get out of it the
right way. Boy, if you don't start right, you're going to
end up wrong. You've got to start right. Well, there they go. All of them
put on their black coats, their gym shoes, their white shirts, folded their clothes, packed
their suitcase, drank the poison and went to sleep, hoping that they was going to
get on that spaceship. They never made it. They never
made it. I feel sorry for them, don't
you? I feel sorry for them. No need to feel sorry now. You
can't change it. But I just emphasize that to
say there's many false lights. See, there's many false lights
that grab our attention and want us to listen. Say, listen. If you listen long enough, you
may be deceived. It's the blind following the
blind. Neither one of them can see,
and they're both going to fall in the ditch. I'm the light of
the world, implies that this world's in darkness, and our
Lord Jesus declares solemnly and truthfully, without reluctance,
I am the light of the world. He's the only true light. who came into this world, who
suffered, who died, and who rose again as the Savior of sinners,
the substitute of sinners. Now, this is the next thing that
he said. The first thing he said was to these people. He said, I am the light of the
world. Now, the second thing he said unto them, it says, He
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. He that follows
me shall not walk in darkness. Now, those people out there in
California, they wasn't following him. Now, I know they thought
they was, in a sense. They thought they was following,
but they was following this fellow up here. They was following this,
What was his name? Broadwater? Whitecliffe? Whitcliffe? What was his name?
Whitecotton or something. They're following Him. Jesus
said, I'm the light of the world, and he that followeth Me shall
not walk in darkness. He'll not walk in ignorance.
Ignorance is the root of darkness. That's the reason why our Lord
said, and they all shall be taught of me." God teaches His children
through teachers, through the Word of God, and through their
individual study and the preaching of the Word. He teaches them. He teaches them as to what His
true nature is, as to the value of their souls. and as to the
reality of the world to come. He teaches them. And he said,
I'm the light of the world, and he that followeth me. Followeth and believing are the
same thing. Following and believing are the
same thing. It's like the... The sheep to the shepherd. The
sheep follow the shepherd. I'm the good shepherd of the
sheep, he said, and they follow me. And he said, those that follow
me, those that follow me shall not walk in darkness. They'll
not be saturated in ignorance, but they'll know some things.
because they shall have the light. I am the light, and life is in
Him, and they'll have the light of life to understand and to
know the difference. Very few people know the difference.
You'd be surprised how many people, religious people, that doesn't
know the difference between you and them. They don't know the
difference. They don't know what your church stands for, and they
don't know what their church stands for. All they know is
that we're all going in one direction, and we'll wind up in the right
place. No light, no light, no light. If they haven't got no light,
how are they going to see? How are they going to understand
the mysteries of the Bible? How are they going to believe
if they have not heard? The next thing He said concerns
them that follow Him. He promises, He that follows
Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light. Now,
to follow Him is to commit ourselves entirely to him. That's what
those fellas done out there in California. They committed themselves
entirely to their leader. They did that. We're to commit
ourselves entirely to our leader. And our leader is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the knowledge of... He is the light of this world
and the knowledge of this world. Follow Him is to commit ourselves
entirely to Him as our leader. He's the captain of our salvation,
our leader and our savior. It means to submit ourselves
in every matter, in doctrine and in practice, to our leader,
who is the light of the world. That's what it means. Following
is another word for believing. It's the same act of the soul,
only seen from a different viewpoint. When Israel of old, what was there, about a million
of them, all gathered there and camped in one place, didn't they
have Moses for a leader? But Moses, they was going to
a strange, strange land, in the wilderness. And so God told Moses
to tell the people. He said, there's going to be
a cloud by day and a fire by night that will hover over you. And when the cloud moves, you
move. And when the cloud stops, you
stop. And so they did so without question. They moved when the cloud moved,
and they stopped when the cloud stopped. And they didn't move
again until the cloud moved again. And that's what I'm talking about
here, about following. In practice, in doctrine, in
every matter, we follow Him. It's what He says. It's what
the Bible says. His word. Over here in the book of the
Revelation, there's something I'll read to you from chapter
14. Chapter 14 of the book of Revelation, verse 4, The first verse says that the
Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four
thousand, having his Father's name written in their forehead.
And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters,
as the voice of a great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps. And they sung, as it were, a
new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the
elders. And no man could learn that song
but the 144,000 which were redeemed from the earth. These are they
which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are
they," now listen to this, this is the part I want you to see,
"'These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These are redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.'" They follow
the Lamb wherever committed themselves to it. And
that certainly should be the way it is with us. And he says,
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. Now, we talked
about that. Let me just mention this. Shall
not be left in ignorance like the rest of the people around
about us. You can, without questioning your truthfulness and veracity,
you can say that the majority of the people that surround us
are walking in darkness and in ignorance. Now, you can say that. Maybe I ought not to say it.
I'm not calling out names, just calling out people. And I know
there's lots of fine, moral people that that you work with and talk
with and they're around you, acquaintances and all that. But
I'm telling you, the majority of them is in darkness. They're
in darkness. But he that follows me shall
not be in darkness. You won't be in darkness. You're
not going to be left in ignorance. You're not going to grope in
doubt and uncertainty. But you'll see the way to heaven.
You'll see the way to heaven. You'll know how to get to heaven.
These folks don't know how. All of them entertain a vague
notion that somehow, some way, they're going to wind up in the
right place. How that is, they have not the foggiest idea. They don't even have the slightest
suspicion as to how it'll be. You'll not be left in ignorance. You'll know the way to heaven.
When you hear them say that Jesus is the way, you'll say, He's
the way and the only way. He's the light and the only light. Come to Him. Have the light,
and in His light you're able to see. They'll see the way to
heaven. Have the light of life. and feel the light of God's presence
shining upon them. They'll find light in their conscience. They'll find light in their understanding. They'll find a living light which
nothing can put it out. Nothing can put it out. This
light, it can't be put out. It can't be quenched, this light. They'll walk in the light. not
in darkness, and this light that they walk in shall not be put
out." Won't be put out, won't be erased, won't be quenched,
won't be something put over it, smothered. Now all these false
lights that raise up and grab our attention, they won't get
the job done when they experience The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth my soul. And when we go down into the
valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. Now, when
we go down into the valley of the shadow of death, we'll have
a light, a light that's unquenchable. It won't go out. It won't go
out. This is the promise of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who said, I am the light of the world, and he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. It won't go out, Bob. It won't
go out. That's something, isn't it? What about all these others?
Got a manufactured light. Got a light here, but it's going
to go out. That light will go out. It won't
stand the valley of the shadow of death. Oh, no. Well, the light which many today are
pleased with shall certainly go out. That's the best way I
can say it. It'll go out. There's something
else he's got to say here, and I'll tell you that, and then
I'll quit. He's going to say something to
the Pharisees. He said something about himself. I'm the light
of the world. He said something to these people
and to the people that follow after him. He that follows me
shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. He said
something to those, to the believer in Christ Jesus, and now his
enemies. The scribes and Pharisees were
the enemies of the Lord Jesus. The scribes therefore said unto
him, Thou barest record of thyself, and thy record is not true."
You're talking about yourself, and what you say is not true.
That's what they said. They looked the Son of God squarely,
I suspect, in the face and said, what you said is not true. There's
enemies. I told you beforehand, the only
reason they brought this woman was to discredit the Lord Jesus
Christ. Their whole life was used in
order to discredit the Son of God who said, I am the light
of the world. Well, he says this to these Pharisees
and scribes with all of their pretended wisdom. They know it
all. They know everything. They know
everything that is to be known, these scribes and Pharisees,
but they were ignorant of this one thing, the true and the living
God. They were ignorant of them. If they were not ignorant of
who He is, the true and the living God, the light of the world,
why did they say, What you say, you say of yourself, and it's
not true? They didn't know Him. They didn't
know Him. He told them, listen, Thou barest record of thyself,
my record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto
them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. For I know whence I came, I know
where I come from, and I know where I go. But you cannot tell
whence I come and whither I go. You don't know where I come from,
you don't know by what authority I come from, and you don't know
what I come to do." That's what he's telling them. You judge
after the flesh. You judge by appearance. I judge
no man. And yet if I judge, he said,
my judgment is true. For I am, I am, I am, in italics. For I am not alone. but I and
the Father that sent me." The Father sent him. "'It is written
in your law that the testimony of two men is true,' he tells
the Pharisees. I am one that bear witness of
myself,' that's one witness, "'and the Father that sent me
bear witness of me.' Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father?'
Jesus answered, he said, You neither know me, nor my father."
Now, he said a lot of things to them, but this is the sum
and substance of his charge against the Pharisee. He had something
to say about himself, had something to say to the people who followed
him and so forth, and now he has something to say to the enemies.
He said to his enemies, "'Ye neither know me,' you don't know
me, and you don't know my father.'" Now, that's pretty hard language,
isn't it? You don't know me, and you don't
know my Father. If you had known me, if you know
me, you would have known my Father also." Those are the words that
our Lord Jesus Christ let fall upon the ears of the scribes
and Pharisees. Many can argue and reason about
religion. Yet, in reality, know nothing
about Him who is the light of this world. Now, there is such a Being as God,
they readily admit that. But His character and His attributes
revealed in the Scriptures, such as His holiness, His purity,
His justice, His perfect knowledge, His unchangeableness, are things
that they know nothing about and don't want to know anything
about. God help them. As a matter of
fact, as a matter of fact, the subject of God's character and
God's nature makes all men outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, uncomfortable,
uncomfortable. They don't like to think about
God's nature. They don't like to think about
who God is. They don't like to talk about
it. They're uncomfortable. But I'm telling you this morning
that the only way that a man can know God Almighty is through
Him who is. the light of this world. It's
all shut up in Him. You can't know God the Father
until you know the Son, see? He said, if you knew Me, you'd
know Him as the Father, see? From this viewpoint, from the
viewpoint of knowing God in the Lord Jesus Christ. God outside of Christ is a living fire. God out of
Christ. Oh, we couldn't approach God
out of Christ. High and holy being is God. We couldn't come into His presence. Well, we just wouldn't come.
We'd be too afraid to come. However, we hide behind something
and call for the mountains and the rocks to fall in us and hide
us from Him who sits upon the throne. But to know God in Christ is
altogether different. Outside of Christ, flaming fire,
taking vengeance. calling into account, but knowing God in Christ as
our substitute, our Savior, who bore all of our responsibilities
and liabilities for them all, stood in our place instead of
room, penalty fell on Him, satisfied the inflexible justice of God.
covered us with His pure, holy righteousness, made us accepted
in the Beloved. He's a friend of sinners. To
know God in Christ is to know Him as a friend and a Savior
of sinners. The following is what? Commit
ourselves to it. Turn our backs on everything
else. every idea that we ever formulated in our minds or our
conscience as to how God saved sinners. We renounce it all,
these fictitious plans. Renounce it all. Submit ourselves
to Him and to Him alone as our representative, as our Savior. God in Christ is full of mercy. There's no mercy experience of
God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. All the mercy of God
is shut up, bound up in Jesus Christ. God's full of mercy,
and that's what every sinner needs, the mercy of God. God
in Christ is full of mercy, full of grace, full of peace. His
law demands are satisfied in Christ, and if we know Him. We know the Father. Ignorance
of Christ. If this is all you get out of
it, write it down. Ignorance of Christ is the root
of the ignorance of God. Ignorance of who He is, out of
the light of the world, is the root of the ignorance of God. Start off wrong, end up wrong. Start off wrong, in ignorance,
everything else is contaminated.