Okay, John Chapter 12, Gospel
of John Chapter 12. As you know, we've been studying
verse by verse through John's Gospel. One way that we know
this is God's Word is that He says so much. He has written
so much in just a few words, just a few phrases and verses. This is how we know. It's infinite
wisdom, glory. and a mystery that He has to
reveal to us. These are vital words. Vital
means your life depends on it. You nurses, you take patients'
vital signs, which means their heart beats, their heart beating
right. These are vital words. Our lives depend on it. We need
to hang on His Word. They did live on His Word, live
by this Word. God's Word is light. That's what we're going to see.
Look at verses 35 and 36. Just two verses, but there's
so much here. Verse 35, Then Jesus said unto
them, that is everyone that was around Him, there were many,
Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have
the light, lest darkness come upon you. He that walketh in
darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light,
believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.
These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself
from them. God's Word is light. This world
is in darkness, Scripture said. Christ is a light. Scripture
says the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word
of God personified. That is, God was manifest in
the flesh. God who wrote the Word became
a man and walked in this world, living proof of all that he said. Okay? The Word. And we need to
walk by faith in His Word. We need to walk according to
His Word, and we need to walk by faith looking to Christ the
Word, looking to Him. And we need to walk with Him. It says that Noah walked with
God, Enoch walked with God. Not the Word. The world's in
darkness and they don't know where they're going. They really
don't. Our Lord said this very thing.
Walk while you have the light. Walk in the light of His Word.
Walk with God, with Christ. Walk by faith, not sight. Not
sight, by faith. Now verse 35, the Lord said,
Get a little while is the light with you. Christ is the light.
He kept saying this. I am the light of the world.
I am the light of the world. He said, a little while the light
is with you. This is spoken to the Jews. His
whole earthly ministry was there in and around Jerusalem, all
of Israel. He spoke to the Jews. They were
in darkness. They were in darkness. Look at
Mark chapter 7, the gospel of Mark chapter 7. They had the
law of Moses. They had the Jewish traditions. But yet they were still in darkness.
Because Christ is the light. If you don't see Christ in the
scripture, it doesn't matter how many you can quote or what
you believe of history and Jewish history and even the law. Here's the key to the law, understanding
the law. Romans 10 verse 4. Some of you
know that verse. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes. Do you understand
what that means? A few people do. What's said about that? Righteousness, the law. But Mark
chapter 7, the Jews had the law, the Jews had the old Jewish traditions,
and they had the ceremonies, But here's what our Lord said
in verse 7. He said to these Jews, in vain
do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men. And it was true then, it's true
now, that people blindly follow men and their traditions, whatever.
men come up with, which may be contrary to God's Word, yet people
blindly follow this and go walk according to these rules laid
down by them. Verse 8, he said, you lay aside
the commandment of God and hold the tradition of men. And verse
13, he says it again, you make the Word of God of no effect
through your tradition which you have delivered. Many such
like things do you. I've had brethren go and preach
places where the truth was not declared, and they preached the
truth to these so-called churches, and the people didn't like it,
what God's Word said. And they actually said that.
One man said this to a brother that was preaching the truth,
and he said, I don't care if it's in God's Word or not, that's
not in our church covenants. You need to throw that church
covenant away. Isaiah 8, 20 says, to the law
and to the testimony, that's the word of God, that's the gospel.
If they speak not according to this word, there's no light in
them. No understanding. Light is understanding. Our Lord said, a little while
and there's a light with you. When men are in darkness, Men
are ignorant of the God of the Bible. Most everyone thinks God
is one thing, love. Why is there a hell? If all God is is love, why is
there hell? Why is there death, judgment,
punishment? Why? Because God is chiefly and
foremost holy. He said, I'm a just God and a
Savior. He said, I will by no means clear
the guilty. That's what God said. This is
the God of the Bible. And they're ignorant of the God of the Bible.
They're ignorant of the law. If I just keep... A woman told
me one time when I used to work on the railroad. She said, I
don't know much, but I know this. You better keep those Ten Commandments.
Well, the scripture says, by the law is no man justified before
God. You notice that? How few notice
that? The law, our Lord magnified the
law and made it honorable. He brought up the law, the Ten
Commandments. You see, you've heard it said,
I shall not commit adultery. If you look on somebody, you
are guilty. James said to offend in one point
is to be guilty of adultery. It shall be, Leviticus 22, 21,
it shall be perfect to be accepted. You've got to keep the law perfect. Not just what you know, not just
what you think. Not do the best you can. You've got to be as good as God. Who can? Nobody. That's what Scripture says. But
the law is no man justified, he said. How are we justified
then? How is God accepted? How are we going to get the glory?
Jesus Christ. Substitute. Lord, I rush it. Men and women are ignorant of
God, ignorant of the law of God. They're ignorant of themselves.
Men and women are blind to themselves. God's Word exposes everything
about us. God's Word doesn't say anything
good about man. Nothing. It says, from the sole
of his feet to the top of his head, there's no good in the
same. No sense. It has nothing to do with good. Not one. That's
what God's Word says. Well, he's a good man, she's
a good man, according to God's Word, isn't it? Men and women are ignorant of
God's Word, themselves, because they don't read God's Word and
their preachers aren't preaching it. Men and women are ignorant of
the salvation of God. How a sinner can be justified
before God. How God can be just and justified.
How an unrighteous sinner can be in the presence of a holy
God who is a consuming fire. They're ignorant of that. When the Lord said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life, He meant just that. Not you and
Him. Him. We're going to get there.
We're going to get to glory, not by us doing anything, but
by Him doing it for us. Him taking us there. And when they're ignorant of
salvation of God, they're in the darkness of traditions, and
we just read that. Millions and millions of people
keep traditions. Blindly following men and their
traditions, not God's Word, not Christ's. So he said in verse
35, a little while is the light with you. Christ literally was
among them a short time. He literally preached only three
and a half years. And this gospel, the truth, the
truth is not long in any given place. The gospel doesn't stay
in any given place very long at all. The gospel, the truth
began over in Israel. That's where it began. In Jerusalem,
in the east, the gospel began, the light of the word, the light
of truth, the gospel began in the east, just like the sun rises
in the east, right? Well, they rejected the truth.
The Jews rejected the truth. Paul, remember, he said, you've
rejected the truth. I'm going to the Gentiles. So
he moved up into Asia. Those churches were in Asia,
what is now Turkey, right? The truth, the gospel. Left Israel. He left them in darkness and went up into Asia. Is the gospel in Israel right
now? Do the Jews believe Jesus Christ? No, they don't. They're
in darkness. He left. The gospel left. Like
the sun rising in the east and settling in the west and then
finally going down and there's no light. That's what's happening. The Lord arose, the truth arose,
the light came up in the east, and it moved up into Asia and
Turkey, and it left there. None of those seven churches,
Ephesus, Philippi, Lodacy, none of them were there. They're gone. The light shone there for a little
while. Then it moved from there over into Greece and Rome, the
Roman church. What happened to it? Roman Catholicism. There's not a darker religion,
but all religions believe the same thing, like them. And it left there, left Greece
and Italy and Rome, went into Europe, Germany, Switzerland,
John Knox, John Calvin, Martin Luther, light at the dark ages. thousand years or more. In 1400, the word was being printed
through men like Martin Luther, John 10. The word is light. So
God, the light arose in Europe, in Germany, in Switzerland. Light.
Gospel. They only went into France. Is
the gospel in Germany right now? You know it? God's not left himself without
a witness in any place. There's a little remnant here
and there. But there was a bright, shining light in Germany. That's
the truth of the gospel to a man like Martin Luther. Our Lord
said of John, he was a bright and shiny light. He said of his
people, you're the light of the world, as long as you declare
the truth to people. That's the light. Christ is the
light. Left Europe, left Germany and
Switzerland and France and went into the United Kingdom, went
into Britain and Scotland and Ireland. Oh, how many preachers.
I'm still reading those men. Great preachers. John Flavel,
John Bunyan. Name them. John Gill. A lot of Johns. That's fitting,
isn't it? Burning, shiny like John. I've been to England. I've preached
in Ireland. The dust was not there much anymore.
It's just not. It's just not. All right? The
wind blew. Holy Spirit, the wind bloweth
where it lives. and brought the light across
the ocean into North America. Thank God, or we'd still be in
darkness even as the light. 16th century, 17th century, early
18th century, a man named George Whitefield. Came from England,
all the way from England. Rough, hard ship. Riding the
ship, the boat, across that ocean. Perils of water, perils of pirates,
perils. But the Lord spared him and brought him over
here and he preached all over the south and the north and the
light shone. Churches raised up. Churches
light a dark world, a pillar and ground of the truth. It hadn't
been here long. That's the 18th century, right? That's not long, is it? You know,
Europe, the history of Israel goes back Thousands of years
ago, our little country, we call something old, it's a hundred
years old. That didn't help. Hadn't been here long. Our Lord
said, little while is the light with you. And you know what I
see in this country? I see darkness covering this
land. I mean literally. Darkness. Our Lord said this
in our text. He said, little while there's
a light with you, walk while you have the light, lest darkness
come upon you. He that walketh in darkness doesn't
know where he's going. Walk while you have the light,
lest darkness come upon you. And then you won't know where
to turn, who to turn to. And darkness is ignorance. Darkness is fear. Without the
light of God's word, we're in fear. The unknown. Danger? I don't care. The strongest man on earth is
still afraid of the dark. I mean pitch black dark. Can't
see what's coming. Don't see what's lurking out
there. You're afraid. Admit it. Darkness. God's word is the only thing
that will enlighten us. So He's telling us, He's showing
us, walk by faith in Him. He is the light, gospel light.
If not, we'll be in darkness. Darkness. Exodus 11, go over
there, Exodus 11. This is significant. God hasn't
changed. The truth hasn't changed. The
whole story of God bringing Israel out of Egypt, and this is what
we're studying in Exodus. The whole book of Exodus is bringing
out, it means going out. The whole story is about God's
people being brought out of Egypt, wandering through the wilderness,
and the Lord bringing them to the promised land. That's a picture
of all of God's true people being brought out of this world, out
of darkness, out of bondage, out of sin, wander through this
world, strangers and pilgrims, not out of this world. They have
the light God showed them, the truth Himself, God brought them
out. Somebody give me one word why
the children of Israel escaped the wrath of God and didn't perish
like Egypt. Somebody, one word. Blood. Do you hear much about the blood? God said, when I see the blood,
Not when I see your goodness, not when I see your good intentions,
not when I see blood. That's faith in Christ is what
that is. That's faith in Christ. The Lamb of God. Exodus 11, God
hasn't changed. God hasn't changed. I'm sorry,
chapter 10. Exodus 10. God hasn't changed,
and God put a difference between His people, His chosen people,
and the Egyptians, and the people of this world. He put a difference,
didn't He? What was the difference? Life, blood, truth. Look at it. Exodus 10. Verse
21, the Lord said unto Moses, stretch out thine hand toward
heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness
which may be felt. Such thick darkness, and such bondage, and such darkness,
and such confusion, you could feel it. Do you not feel it today? Look around you. Most everybody
is literally wearing dark clothing. I know I've cut once more. Isn't it? It's a dark world.
Dark. It's not dark to God. It's darkness
and light. Moses stretched out his hand,
verse 22, and there was darkness in all the land of Egypt three
days. And verse 23, they saw not one another. Egypt, people of this world. Our Lord said, blind leaders
of the blind, and they both fall in a ditch. Don't you see where
everybody's headed? Can't you see where all this
is going to end up? There's a way that seems right to man. The
end is what? Destruction. And yet, let's go. Follow them,
blindly follow them. Look, they're following over. True story. Years ago, there
was a man driving down a road in West Virginia, I believe.
And it was rain, torrential rain. And the rain washed the bridge
out. Well, he went over that precipice and the Lord spared
him. And he got back up on the road
and he said, I've got to warn people. And he got out on the
road. in front of that washed-out bridge,
and he began to wave cars down. They none of them paid any attention,
went right by him. Nobody was stopping, went right
by him. And I forget how many dozens of cars went in that pit,
and how many people died, but it would not heed the warning. And that's the swirling. It's
a pit, and people are in it, and people have fallen in it
and fallen for it. And I'm here to warn you. God's
words are warning you. Look at verse 20 in Exodus
10. It says, verse 23, they don't
see one another. They don't see what they're doing.
They don't see what's going on around them. Because we walk
by faith, not by sight. Verse 23 says, they didn't rise
from their place for three days, but all the children of Israel
had light in their dwelling. The children of Israel had life. By God's grace, by God's mercy,
we're not going to follow what this world is telling us. We're
not going to follow what the world is saying. Who are we going
to follow? Who are you following? Who are
you listening to? Who can you trust? Can you trust
modern man? Can you trust the news? It's
a lie. Who can you trust is one who's
not a liar. Scripture says God cannot lie. Christ said, I am the truth.
Follow me. Trust me. Look to me. John 3,
go to John chapter 3. Why don't people Read God's Word. Why don't they listen to God's
Word? Why don't they heed it? Why do
they reject the truth when a man preaches it? Why? Why? Why? Because
the truth offends us. The truth offends man. The truth
offends his sense of pride, his sense of worth, his sense of
knowledge. Man thinks he's something when
the Scripture says he's nothing. Man thinks he knows something
when the Scripture says we know nothing as we ought to know. Man thinks he can do something.
Man thinks he has done something. Scripture says, without me you
can do nothing. He says, what do you have you
have not received? And why would you glory if you
have not received? Why would you act like it's something you
did? You didn't have anything to do with it. You got a sharp
mind? God gave it to you. You didn't
develop that mind? God gave it to you. If you got
strength, God gave it to you. It won't take much to take it
away. One little germ sent by God will show you just what you're
made of. The people don't like that. In
John 3, verse 20, everyone that doeth evil hateth the light.
Neither cometh to the light, lest his what? Deeds should be reproved. He
told young Timothy, preach the Word. He said, reprove, rebuke. People don't like that. Don't
tell me how bad I am, tell me how good I am. This Gospel is
only for bad people. This Gospel is only for sinners.
Christ said, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners.
And if you don't hear God's Word tell you what you really are,
you won't need Jesus Christ. You won't need blood. You just
need a fire escape, in the name of Jesus. Verse 21, though he
that doeth the truth, that is, believes the truth, trust Christ
alone, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest
there before God. I want to know that God's done
something in me and for me. I want to know, don't you? The
only way you know is by His Word. Oh, how blessed, how blessed
we are. We have the truth. Ephesians 2 says that you had
to be quickened who were dead and trespassed that sand. You
who walked according to the course of this world, a prince of the
power of the air, rulers of the darkness of this world. Blindly following others just
like the other people. Rich in mercy. In great mercy.
In great grace. Sent the truth. Sent the light. Sent the gospel. It's not everywhere.
It continues to see it. So our Lord said, in closing,
in our text, go back to John 12. John chapter 12. He that walketh in darkness,
knoweth not whither he goeth. Our Lord said, if you follow
me, you'll not stumble. If you follow Me, and you know
we're not going to follow Him unless He tells us to, unless
He keeps us. We're kept by His power. It's
not up to us. Aren't you glad we're kept by
the power of God? Now, some of you have dogs or
pets and you teach them to follow you. Well, some of you are not
very good at it, teaching your dog to follow you. I see people
leading their dog all the time. Who's leading who? I had a dog and I taught him
well. I taught him to heal. Stay right beside me. There's
a reason for that. If you let that dog run wild,
he'll get hit by a car. He'll run off and be gone and
never come back again. If you teach him to heal, that
is, follow you, stay right beside you, he's safe. Teach him to
follow you. You know where you're going.
He's just a dumb dog. He doesn't know, does he? You
do. Christ said, you follow me, you
won't stumble. You don't know where you're going.
Christ said, I'm the way. Here's the way, look into Christ. Walk in, walk in. So he said
in verse 36, while you have light, believe in the light. That's
not believing in the sun. Lots of people worship the sun,
you know, get up in the morning and enlighten people over in
the east. I used to do this, sit cross-legged
and, you know, yoga and one man called it navel gazing. You're
looking into your inner self, you know, reach nirvana. That's
a bunch of crap. Navel gazing. Our Lord didn't
do that. Isaiah didn't do that. We don't
do that. We look into His Word. We look
at His truth. He said, while you have the light,
believe in the light. What is the light? Christ said,
I'm the light. You may be children of the light.
Everybody's not God's child. Scripture says plainly. Our Lord
one time turned to some Pharisees and said, you believe not because
you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. I know them. And they what? Follow
me. And I'm following me. Follow
me. You're not my sheep, he said.
If God were your father, he said, you'd love me. You'd follow me.
But you're not. He said, you're of your father. That's what Jesus
Christ said. You know what? I believe Jesus
Christ. I don't care what any preacher say. I believe Jesus
Christ. I really do. Children of light. Children of
light. Now look at this. This is prophetic.
This should be frightening. This should make us sit up and
take care of, heed. Verse 36 says, These things spake
Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. He just said that. Then he hid himself. He's a God that hides himself.
And you won't know him until he reveals yourself to you. Seriously, these words are vital. Walk in the light while you have
it. We have the gospel now, thank God. Walk in it. Okay.