Let us turn to God's Word. We
turn again to the chapter from which we read, John chapter 3,
and I'll read now at verse 18 through to verse 21. It is marked
here as a paragraph, a distinct paragraph, verses 18 to 21. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, But he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world,
and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. For every one that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they
are wrought in God. In these verses then we have
the conclusion of the discourse between the Lord Jesus Christ
and Nicodemus. These are the final words that
the Lord speaks to that man to whom we are introduced at the
beginning of the chapter. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus. The ruler of the Jews, the same,
came to Jesus by night. He came to Jesus by night, and
it's interesting that whenever he is subsequently spoken of,
referred to, that particular fact is mentioned time and again
in chapter 7. And verse 15, Nicodemus says
unto them, And then in the parenthesis, he that came to Jesus by night
being one of them. And also in chapter 12 we have
the same truth declared concerning this particular man, how he came
to Jesus by night. Chapter 12 rather chapter 19 to excuse me
my eyes get worse and worse chapter 19 and verse well I can't find it but there's a second reference
to the fact that this man Nicodemus was one that came to the Lord
Jesus by night why is it that Each time the man is spoken of
we have this particular reference to him coming under the cover
of darkness. Because here as we see in the
portion that we've just been reading, that paragraph that's
marked from verse 18 to verse 21, the Lord speaks of himself
here as one who is light, in the midst of darkness and yet
how strangely men prefer the darkness to the light. He speaks
then particularly in verses 19 and 20 and 21 of those who hate
the light and therefore refuse to come to the light because
they have such a love of the darkness and then of course he
speaks of that one who delights, who loves to come to the light
in verse 21. He that doeth truth cometh to
the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are
wrought in God. But as we turn to this portion
this morning I want more particularly to consider the character that
the Lord is speaking of here in verses 19 and 20. This is
the condemnation, says Christ, that light is coming to the world
and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds
were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. Considering then something of
those who are haters of the Light. First of all, we must consider
the Light itself. What is the Light that is particularly
being spoken of here? It is that Light, of course,
that is associated with God Himself. John tells us in his first epistle
that God is Light. God is Light, and in Him there
is no darkness at all. And therefore if God is light
we have to recognise that he is the one who is the source
of all true light. Now we see this certainly in
creation, God is the creator of light. That is the very first
thing that we are told concerning His great work of creation. Remember the opening verses of
Holy Scripture there in Genesis 1 and verses 1 to 3. In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and
void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters and God said, let
there be light and there was light. God, on the very first
day of creation then, is the one who speaks the light into
being. And I know it's not until we
come to the fourth day that we read of the creation of the light
bearers. Later there, in that same opening
chapter of Genesis of course, Verse 14, God said, Let there
be light in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day
from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons
and for days and for years. And let them be for light in
the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. And
it was so. And God made two great lights,
the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule
the night. He made the stars also. And God
set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon
the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to
divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good
and the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And we have
no problem of course with that because the sun, the moon and
stars, what are they? They are like bearers. They are
not the source of light. But God himself is the only source
of light and God creates the light before he creates the light
bearers. That's what we see there in Genesis
chapter 1, the book of origins. God only then is the source of
true light. And God also is that one who
is the source of light in man. What light there was in Adam
when he came in that pristine condition from the hand of his
Creator. What remarkable light was there
in the intellect of that man who was created in the image
made after the likeness of God and we see something of it in
what we are told in Genesis chapter 2 when God brings the beasts
of the fields and the fowl of the air brings all these creatures
to Adam to see what he would call them and whatsoever Adam
called every living creature that was the name thereof and
Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air and
to every beast of the field but for Adam there was not found
and help meet for him but he was able to give appropriate
names to every one of those creatures that God brought before him.
He had light in his intellect. Of course, subsequently we see
how Adam falls, he transgresses, he disobeys the commandment of
God, there in Genesis chapter 3, and he is enveloped in all
the darkness of his sin. But then when we come to the
great work of God in salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ and
the application of that salvation to the sinner, what do we read
concerning the believer in Colossians chapter 3? He is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him. The point I make is simply
this, that the source of light in man's intellect, in man's
reason, the source of that light is God. It was God who made man
thus. And so we have it here in this
Gospel. Remember the words that we have
at the beginning there in chapter 1 and verses 4 and 5 concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. In him was light and the light
was the light of men. And the light shined in darkness
and the darkness comprehended it not. Verse 9, that was the
true light. which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world. The true light which lighteth
every man. Now Dr. Gill in his commentary
says there with that ninth verse that it is best to be understood
in terms of the light of nature that is in man, man's intellect,
man's reason. And here we see, you see, that
the Lord Jesus Christ is God. He is the creator. He is the
source of light. He is the one who makes the light.
He is the one who gives light to man in his intellect. God,
I say then, is the one who is the source of light. And here
we see it in creation and we see the Lord Jesus Christ as
that one who is the great creator. That's what John is saying there
in those opening verses in chapter 1 concerning the Lord Jesus as
the light of man. But then, Ultimately we see the
source of light when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ as the
one who is the mediator, as the one who is the saviour, the one
who comes into all the darkness of the sinful world, comes even
into the dark souls of those who are sinners. What does he
say in chapter 8 and verse 12, I am the light of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life. One of those great I am statements
that we find in this gospel so many times, the Lord Jesus takes
up those words, the words that God had spoken to Moses in Genesis
chapter 3 when God revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush
and declared his name to be I AM. And here of course in the Gospel
of Christ we have the fullness of that revelation of the great
I AM, the great Jehovah. And so Christ says I AM the light
of the world. Again in chapter 12, I am come
a light into the world that he that believeth in me should not
dwell in darkness. When we think of the Lord Jesus
Christ then as the mediator, as that one who comes as light
into the midst of the darkness of this sinful world. What do
we see with the coming of Christ and the light? that shines in
his gospel, we have that full and that final revelation of
God. He is the brightness of God's
glory, is he not? Remember the opening words of
Paul's epistle to the Hebrews. Yes, God did speak in times past
in the Old Testament scripture. But it is in the New Testament
that we have the fullness of that revelation. God who at sundry
times and in diverse manner spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds, who, being the brightness of his glory, and
the express image of his person. He is the brightness of God's
glory. He is that light that comes and
shines in the midst of all the darkness. And of course in that
opening phrase we see how William Gadsby recognises there was that
light that was there in the Old Testament. But now in the New
Testament the true light is God. The fullness of the revelation
of God. in the person and the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we have in the Old Testament?
We have types, and we have shadows, but all of those things have
been fulfilled. We now have the substance of
these things. Paul said to the Colossians,
the body is of Christ. And so when we come to consider
the Gospel, If we come to consider the New Testament Scriptures,
we see here that there has been that fullness of the revelation. The light has come into the midst
of all the darkness of this world. Now, remember the Lord Jesus
here, in this chapter, is discoursing with Nicodemus, the ruler of
the Jews. And so the Lord speaks to him
in verse 10, He answered and said unto him, They were master
of Israel, and knowest not these things. He speaks to this Jew,
he doesn't really understand this Jew. He doesn't understand the great
purpose of God which is being fulfilled in the ministry of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Because this revelation, this
fullness of the revelation, this light that has come, it's an
extensive revelation. Christ speaks of himself as the
light of the world. He doesn't just come as the light
of the Jews, God's ancient covenant people. No, there is a greater
work that God is about to accomplish. and he will do it, will he not,
in the calling of sinners of the Gentiles. That is the significance
of what the Lord Jesus is saying to this Pharisee, this ruler
of the Jews, this man Nicodemus. See how the Lord's ministry is
spoken of there in the fourth chapter of Matthew after John
the Baptist has fulfilled his ministry as the one who prepares
the way, who is the harbinger for the Lord Jesus when Jesus
had heard that John was caught in the prison he departed into
Galilee and leaving Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capernaum
which is upon the sea coast in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet
saying, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtalim by way
of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people which
sat in darkness saw great light and to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death light he sprung up. Here is Christ
ministering mainly in the north of Palestine in those regions
of Zebulun and Naphtali those peoples that are near unto the
Gentiles the Lord Jesus has a ministry to Gentile sinners when Simeon
speaks of the Lord Jesus even as they, remember what he says
there in the second chapter of Luke's Gospel, a light, we read,
to lighten the Gentiles. Or the Lord Jesus, when we think
of him then in his office as the mediator, the one through
whom God will minister grace in this fallen, this sin-darkened
world, we see that that light of the Gospel is to extend to
the end of the earth. It's an extensive revelation
then, the light is to shine in all the darkness of the world. But then also we must recognise
this, that it is, and it must be, an internal revelation. The light is to come and to shine
into the darkness of the hearts of men. Why so? Well, man's condition
as a sinner is such that he is in total darkness and he cannot
therefore receive the things of God. The natural man receives
not the things of the Spirit of God. We are told they are
foolishness to do. Neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned. How the light must come into
the man's soul. The psalmist says, in thy light
shall we see light. Or there must be something inward
then, some inward working in the soul of man. God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness has brought, has shined in our
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. But the truth is then, is it
not, that men They love darkness rather than light. This is what
it says here in the text. Light is coming to the world
and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds
were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. The margin tells us here that
the word reproved means discovered. The light discovers the sins
of men. Again we have similar words spoken
by the Apostle in Ephesians 5. All things that are reproved,
again the margin says discovered, are made manifest by the light. For that that make us manifest
is light. The light reveals the truth,
it reveals the sad condition of men's hearts by nature. And this is why men despise the
Gospel, and refuse the Gospel, and will not come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the source of light, I
say. He is the source of light when we think of God's great
work of creation, He is the one who is the creator of light.
He is the one who has put light into man's reason as he comes
from the hand of his creator as we see in the case of Adam
before his fall. But he is that one who as the
mediator comes to bring the light of the gospel into the souls
even of Gentile sinners. But I want us to consider more
carefully why it is that men so hate and despise and refuse
this light that is set before us here in the Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Two reasons, two reasons we see. First of all there is the disposition
of men and then secondly there are the works or the deeds of
men. Look at verse 19, light is come into the world And men
love darkness rather than light, it says. Men love darkness rather
than light. Man's very nature is, of course,
a sinful nature. That is the consequence, is it
not, the awful consequence of Adam's transgression. Because
all who are born of Adam partake of his fallen nature. He brings
forth a son, we read subsequently, in his own image. He was created
in the image of God, made after the likeness of God, but now
he's a fallen creature. And this fallen creature brings
forth a son in his own image. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? Not one, it's not possible. And
so David is brought to cry out in his great Penitential Psalm
in Psalm 51, Behold, I was shaken in iniquity, and
in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward parts, and in the hidden parts thou shalt make
me to know wisdom. Significant is this confession
on David's part in each of these verses, 5 and 6, We have that prefix, behold.
How we are to consider this confession and the words that David is speaking
with regards to his own condition as a sinner. I was shaken. Oh
look at this, consider this, behold I was shaken in iniquity. And in sin did my mother conceive
me. And then again, behold, consider
this, fix your eye on this truth. Thou, that is God, desirest truth
in the inward parts, and in the hidden parts thou shalt make
me to know wisdom. How we have to be confronted
by what we are and the awful character of our souls by nature,
having the understanding darkened, alienated from the light of God.
through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness
of their hearts. That is man's condition. He is
a fallen creature. His very reason is invalid. In all the darkness that has
come because of his sin he is in that state then where we have
to declare that he is totally deprived. There is no good thing
in him. No one can bring a clean thing
out of an unclean thing. And then furthermore, this man,
he is so willful in his sinning. He is willful. This is the bondage
of the will, is it not? That man's will is not free to
choose that that he votes. His will is governed by his condition,
his natural condition, and he's in that state where he's fallen. And so, time and again in scripture
we see how his will is spoken of as that that is in bondage. The Lord Jesus says later in
chapter 5, ye will not come to me. He's willful, you see. Ye will not come to me. that
she might have life. Everyone that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh for the light, lest his deed should
be reproved. Man is, I say, a willful sinner,
the carnal mind, the natural mind. What is it? It's enmity
against God, it's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can it O friends, this is man's awful condition, willful in his
sins. And see how Paul constantly spells
these things out in his epistles, when he writes to the Romans
there in the third chapter. What does he say, verse 10, as
it is written? He is referring to the Old Testament. And he is referring to two Psalms.
He is referring to Psalms 14 and 53. And then he quotes from
those Psalms quite extensively as it is written. There is none
righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Their throat is
an open sepulchre with their tongues. They have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their
lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways, the way of peace. They have not known. There is
no fear of God before their eyes. What an awful catalogue of sin
we have here. And as I say, he is referring
to what is written. And it's written twice in the
Old Testament. And so this is the third time
that that awful catalogue is to be found in Holy Scripture.
And our significant friends is the repetition. We cannot avoid
these things. No, God constantly confronts
man with what he is by nature. He is a willful sinner. And so
he is one who doesn't desire in any sense to come to the light.
He doesn't love the light. Light is coming to the world.
The men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds
were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hate of the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. There is in at the root of the
matter man's disposition, his condition as he is born into
the world, he is born dead in trespasses and in sins. And all
that he is, is enveloped in that awful darkness obviously but
here in the verses you will observe that there is a certain emphasis
upon his deeds upon his doing he that doeth evil it says and
he speaks of his deeds it is actions men Love, darkness rather than
light, we're told, because they're these, were evil. How awful then, that what man
is, is betrayed by the things that he does. He shows himself. He shows himself. No, man doesn't want to show
himself. The sinner really wants to conceal his deeds if he can. Isn't that what the Lord is saying
here? He doesn't come to the light. Light is coming to the world
and men love darkness rather than light. They want to cover
their wicked deeds under darkness. And so this is spoken of in the book of Job. Job there
in chapter 24 in his book. Bear with me, Job. Chapter 24 verse 13. They are those that rebel against
the light They know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths
thereof. The multitude rising with the
light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer
waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see him, and disguise
of his face. In the dark they dig through
houses which they had marked for themselves in the daytime.
They know not the light, for the morning is to them even as
the shadows of death. If one knows them, they are in
the terrors of the shadow of death. Our men, you see, want
to do their evil deeds under the cover of night. or the darkness,
you see, it will conceal what they are. Here then the Lord is speaking
of the deeds, the actual sins of men. To recognise sin in this
two-fold fashion, do we not? We can use the word in the singular,
sin, that's what we are in our very nature, but then we also
use the word in the plural, sins, because we actually commit sin. We do the thing we ought not
to do. And the thing we ought to be doing
is the thing we don't do. Such is the perverseness of man.
And how the apostle is careful to exhort believers with regards
to these things. when he writes in his epistle
to the Ephesians. We have in the epistles of course
those oratory parts, those practical parts of the epistle as well
as the more doctrinal parts. And as you know we have a striking
example of that in the Ephesian epistle because the first three
chapters are more particularly doctrinal in content and he sets
forth there some tremendous doctrines but then in the latter part,
the last three chapters from chapter 4 to the end we have
the practical outworking of those doctrines where there is the
embracing of the truth of the gospel it will influence, it
will affect a man's life. And so in chapter 4 he says,
I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk
worthy of the vocation or the calling wherewith ye are called,
those who have known that effectual call of the gospel, those who
have been made willing in the day of Christ's power and have
experienced the efficacious grace of God, are they not called to
be a people separated from this wicked world. And so we find
Paul in the last chapters giving all sorts of exhortation to believers. And look at what he says in chapter
5 verse 11. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame
even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved
are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever doth make manifest
is light. All the believer is to have no
fellowship with those unfruitful works of darkness. He is to refuse
that way, that wicked way of the sinner. He is to walk in
that narrow way, the way of life, that way that leads ultimately
to the celestial sitter. And so here, coming back to the
words of our text, and those wicked evil men who despise the
light, who hate the light because they love the darkness. Men love
darkness, he says, rather than light because their deeds were
evil, for every one that doeth truth ate of the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Now again mark the language that
he uses when we take account of the alternative reading here
in the margin, lest his deeds should be discovered. How are they discovered? They
are discovered when a man comes to the light. And who is the
light? The Lord Jesus Christ himself
is the light. I am the light of the world,
he says. And what do we read concerning
Christ as the light there in the opening chapter of the Revelation?
John is favoured whilst in exile on the Isle of Patmos, cut off
from all fellowship with his fellow believers, and yet Though
they would exile him they cannot cut him off from his communion
with the Lord. Now there he is favoured with
such a revelation, the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave
unto him to show unto his servant that Christ comes and Christ
reveals himself to John. And how John describes him there,
in that opening chapter, his eyes were as a flame of fire. Here is the Lichesson, all those
eyes, they are all searching, they are all seeing, he sees,
he sees into the very hearts of men, does he not? Is he not
that Word of God, as we have said many times, there in the
fourth chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, He is spoken
of, is he not, as that Word of God? Yes. It's true of the Scriptures. But it is principally Christ
that is being spoken of there in Hebrews 4 verse 12. The Word
of God is quick and powerful. sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the dividing the slender soul of spirit and to
the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." It's him,
you see. Him with whom we have to do,
seeing then that we have a great that he's passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, it's the Son of God. It's
God incarnate, the Word made flesh, that he's spoken of as
that one quick and powerful, who is as a two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing, the son of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. Oh friends, the wicked man, the
sinner, will not come to the Lord Jesus Christ because he
doesn't want to be exposed. But then, in contrast, he that
doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God. Here is the mark you see of those
who are truly the children of God. Those who as Christ says
previously in the chapter are born again. Born again by the Spirit of God,
born from above. They desire to come to this life. They desire to have their souls
exposed to the light of Christ's all-seeing and all-searching
eyes. Or they want to know the worst
about themselves, because the worse they know of themselves,
the more they will love the light, the more they will love the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is only the source of true light. Well, the Lord willing will go
on this evening to consider something more of what Christ is saying
concerning this particular character in verse 21. Those who love the
light and those who come to the light. Oh God grant that we might
be those friends who are so different to those characters spoken of
them in the previous verses. This is the condemnation that
light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. But, O thank God again for that
little word, but, might this be you, might this be me, he
that doeth truth cometh to the light. that his deeds may be
made manifest, that they are wrought in God, that we have
that in our souls, that is truly the work of God, that faith,
that is of the operation of God, that faith that is a result of
that inward work of the Spirit in regeneration. Well, God be
pleased to bless his truth to us.