Well, it's good to see you all out this evening. I was supposed to ask you a prayer. That's for Grant, his family, and Jeff Armitage, Teresa, somebody. Teresa's? Teresa
Cunningham, Harley's sister. That's right. Harley's sister. And Wilbur Paul. So remember these folks in the prayer.

General. No change on them. His name is General Grant. He's got stage four colon cancer. His brother's about the same, not much change. He's asking for no more visitors. I think he's probably coming close to an injury. But continue to remember him in your prayers. Seek the Lord's help for him. Remember each other also. And Wayne is still waiting to where they're going to send him. Where are they going to send him? They're looking for assisted living for him. They have where? Assisted. They don't mind yet. OK. OK. Continue to remember him in your prayers.

You know, worship service tonight at the end of 485 will revive us again.

Hallelujah. We praise Thee, O God,
Lord, Spirit of light
Who has shown us our Savior
and scattered our night
Hallelujah, Thine the glory
Hallelujah, Amen
Hallelujah, Thine the glory

Revive us again
All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain,
who has borne all our sins,
and has cleansed every strain.
Alleluia, Thine all glory!
Alleluia, God the King!
Alleluia, Thine all glory!

Revive us again!
Revive us again, fill each heart with Thy love.
May each soul be rekindled with the throne of God.
Hallelujah, light of glory!
Hallelujah, Amen!
Hallelujah, light of glory!

Revive us again!

Number 205. 205.

Free from the law, happy condition.
Jesus has been, there is remission.

Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for joy Crucified for Now, are we free? of sin and misdemeanors. For us your own, oh brother, we need thee. He gave the cross for the hurt and the fall. Christ, our redeemer, who walks for all. Children of God, your glory is glowing. His grace will keep us from falling. Passing from death to life, let it come. Blessed salvation, once for all. Once for all, Lord, sing and receive me. Once for all, Lord, run and relieve me. Into the cross the burden will fall. Christ has redeemed us once for all. You have your Bible in front of you, John chapter 8, verses 12 through 20. John chapter 8. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself. Thy record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto him, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. For I know whence I came and whither I go, but ye cannot tell whence I came and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man. Be it if I judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that beareth witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.

Then they said unto him, Where is thy father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me nor my father. If ye had known me, ye should also have known my father. These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. And no man laid hands on him, for his hour was not yet come.

Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, most merciful and gracious God, We thank you for rich and full salvation accomplished entirely by our Savior on Calvary Street. We thank you that you see us in Him because you put us in Him before the world began. We had no knowledge of this as we walked in our own sinfulness and wretchedness, had no conscience of what you had done.

We are thankful that in fullness of time according to your good pleasure and at the appointed time you sent someone to tell us the truth and then you gave us faith to believe. We still are full of wonder at the aspect of our salvation. We know it's true and full and yet we know it's also promised. We are heirs of promise.

Help us, Lord, to appreciate what you've done for us. Every day, cause us to ponder our own sinfulness and weakness and frailty. That you, by your grace, may give us sight to the fact of what we are in our great continual need of our Savior.

We pray for those fathers who are sick, those who are in prairies, those who are recovering from accidents, those who are suffering from grave illness. We ask Lord your help for them, comfort them, ease their suffering, and bring them to the feet of Jesus Christ, we pray.

Help us tonight as we've gathered here that you might be pleased to give us worship, that we consider the words of our Master, Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ. We dealt with those who despised Him in such a wondrous way. Help us now to see who He is and bow in submission and thanksgiving for what He's done.

We pray this in Christ's name and for His glory. Amen.

Now this episode takes place after the Pharisees that accused the woman of adultery had summarily left the premises in guilt and shame. But it appears, however, that their bent toward putting Christ in chains had not diminished. With the words, the Lord spake unto them again, or again unto them in verse 12. The text suggests that one dose of shame was not enough, and they came back for more.

The Lord immediately declares His deity in verse 12, then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me will not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. This is a declaration of His deity, saying to them, I am God, because the language of Scripture points to the Messiah as the Son of God. and also points to the Messiah as God himself.

In the very beginning of this book in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 3 and 4, our Lord said, and let there be light. Remember Christ said, I'm the light of the world in the third passage. I let there be light and there was light. And the Lord saw the light and it was good. That light was shed upon the darkness. And there's a picture of Adam's fall and his recovery in Jesus Christ.

Over in Psalm 50 it says, in verse 2 it says, out of Zion our God hath shined. Our God has shined. Let's look at a few passages of scripture. Psalm 84. And when he said, I'm the light of the world, these people who studied the scripture knew the concept of light. And they knew that God spoke of himself in those terms. throughout scripture,

Psalm 84 and verse 11, it says, for the Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will be withheld from them that walk uprightly. The Lord is a sun, S-U-N, S-U-N. In Isaiah chapter 16, the Lord preaching the gospel In Isaiah chapter 60 verse 1 and verse 3 it says, Arise and shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Then in verse 3 it said, The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. So this speaks of Jesus Christ in that passage as the light of the world.

In Malachi chapter 4 verse 2, It says, the Son of Righteousness shall rise with healing in His wings. The S-U-N of Righteousness shall rise with healing in His wings. In 1 John 1, verses 6 and 7, it says, if you walk in the light, you have fellowship with God, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all transgression.

So when we're talking about light, it's something that's commonly referred to in scripture and set forth. As God spoken of as light, we know that light is unique. It's a unique thing. We have light in this room. This light that's in this room is embracing every one of us. It's surrounding us. It's enlightening us. but it gains nothing from us and takes nothing from us. We are sinners but this light is shed upon us and it doesn't take any sin. It's not tainted by being in our presence. And that's the picture of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the light that Jesus Christ is. He embraces sinners but is never tainted by them. He exposes and discloses what things are just like this light does.

We cut off these lights and it's just darkness. There's nothing. You can't see the red of the pews or the brown of the walls or the different lights of the piano. You can't see any of that. How can you see that? Turn on the light. And this is the picture of the Lord. They that walk in darkness have seen a great light, it says in Scripture. That's a picture of Jesus Christ. He's the light of the world.

Paul employed the same kind of language concerning the preaching of the gospel over in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. After he had said, we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. He said this in chapter four and verse five. He said, for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light, to shine out of darkness and shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the crowning issue for the Pharisees as our Lord speaks in this kind of language. They knew what he was saying. when he said, I am the light of the world, and him that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. They knew and understood. The intimation of his words is that the Pharisees, since they do not follow him, since they do not believe in him, they are those that walk in darkness and not in light.

Jesus Christ is the light. According to John chapter 1 and verse 4, the light of all men. In Him is the light of life. That's how John describes Him in the very first chapter of this book. Verse 4 says, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. So that's the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So He's declaring immediately. Now remember, He's just sent these guys out. He's just told them, after writing in the dirt a couple times, that if they were without sin, that if we first cast the stone and all these Pharisees that lived from the eldest to the youngest walked out in shame and disgrace. And what does he say after this? He said, I'm the light of the world. They don't follow him. They walked away from him. This one woman followed him, but the rest of them walked away from him. And now he says, them that follow me, They walk in light. So this is all about what's just going on here in this passage.

The immediate response was that he was a braggart. This is what, when the person talks about himself so much, we don't like it. Do we? And they don't, they're real human beings, they didn't like it either. So they said to him, back in our text, the Pharisees in verse 13 said, thou barest record of thyself. The record is not true. They thought he was a braggart, that he was engaged in building up his own fame. This, to them, designated that he was a liar. Anyone who talked about themselves, especially referring to themselves in this manner as the light of the world, must be untrue. They were asserting that there was no one to back up his claims. That's what they were saying. You're the only one saying it. Now he had disciples, and we don't know what they were saying, but if they were saying anything, it's not recorded for us.

He's talking to these Pharisees, and it went out from him in shame, and now have come back to get another dose. And so our Lord talks to them, and he's talking to them, and he's setting forth them. But they think, you're the only one that's saying that. Nobody else is either. A lot of people that was following him, a lot of people said to be his disciples. Well, we don't hear anything from them. We did hear from Nicodemus in one place when he sort of defended Crisis. We don't put any man, judge any man until we hear at least what he says. But he's the only one, the only one, and they jumped on him and said, you his follower too? You one of those gang, one of that gang, that sect? So they called him a liar. They were asserting that no one was to back up his claim.

They had no problem, however, about talking about themselves. They did that all the time. Look over at Matthew chapter 23. It's a description of the Pharisees. The whole chapter is. And it's not, there are no kind words spoken by our Lord concerning these men. Not with one thing. He calls them snakes and vipers and whited sepulchres full of dead men's bones. two-fold more the child of hell, all those things. Here's what he says about them in verses five through seven of chapter 23 of Matthew. He says, yes, but their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries, that is to say, we know a lot about the Bible. They enlarge the borders of the garments. That was that blue ribbon that went about the bases of a garment that says, I'm really close to the Lord. But they enlarged their, so they say, I'm really, really close to the Lord. And they love the uppermost rooms at the feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplace to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi, teacher, teacher, master, master. So what they do, they do to be seen of men.

We know that the parable of the Pharisee, when he spoke over in Luke chapter 18, He talked about himself. I'm not like other men. I thank you, God, that I'm not like other men. I don't, I'm not like that public, and I've tithed thrice a week. I do this, I do that. I'm not an extortioner. So they don't mind talking about themselves without a witness, but they say they call Jesus Christ a liar for talking about himself.

And our Lord responds to the Pharisees basically to tell them that they are ignorant of who he is. Verse 14. Jesus answered, though I bear a record of myself, yet my record is true. He said, I don't speak of myself, but what I'm saying is true. For I know whence I came and whither I go, but you cannot tell whence I come and whither I go.

Those words, they sound a little familiar to you. Those words, that phrase that he used, he's speaking of spiritual things that we know. are carnal religionists. They're not spiritual beings. They've proven that by the fact they want to kill Christ rather than want to listen to Him. The description that He gives of Himself even sounds like He's speaking of the Spirit. Let's read those words again. Jesus then said, Though I am by witness of myself, yet my record is true. For I know whence I came and whither I go, but ye cannot tell whence I came or whither I go.

Look over at John chapter 3. Here he's speaking to another Pharisee named Nicodemus. In verse 8 he says this, The wind bloweth where it listeneth, and where it listeneth thou hearest the sound thereof, they've heard him speak. But cats not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth, so is every one that's born of the Spirit. He used the same kind of language to describe himself as he did to describe the Spirit of God. Why? Because he was speaking with spiritual terms.

In verse 16 it dictates it's an indictment of these men that their judgment is carnal. He says, it's you judge after the flesh. I judge no man. It doesn't mean he doesn't judge any man. It means he doesn't judge like they judge. They judge. after the flesh. Their judgment is carnal, born of what they see and not born of what they hear. He said basically the same thing in chapter 7, we've already seen in verse 24. He says, judge not according to appearance, but judge a righteous judgment.

And then said of them in Jerusalem, they said in Jerusalem, is this not he whom they seek to kill? But lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? Howbeit we know this man whence he is, but when Christ cometh, no man knows whence he is. Then cried Jesus in the temple, and he was taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am. And I not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.

Now who's he talking to? He was talking to men who spent their time in the temple and spent their time in the scriptures. The Lord does not judge as men do. Men look on the outward appearance. God looks on the heart. We can't see the heart. We can't see the heart. We can see only what men do. So most of our judgment has to do with what we see. But a righteous judgment is based on the Word of God, which Jesus Christ is. When the Lord makes a judgment, it is a righteous judgment, and therefore it's true, it's backed up by the impeccable witness, even God the Father, who has sent Him, who has sent Him.

Verse 16, that's what he says, and yet if I judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I and the Father has sent me. This is the issue. blood boy, that he himself made himself to be God. That's what he said in John chapter 10, if you want to look over there. He says in verse 30, after seeing my sheep here, my boys, and they follow me, and I give them to them eternal life, no man is able to pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them to me is greater than them all. No man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took stones up to stone him. Jesus answered, many good works have I showed you from my Father, for which of these works do you stone me? And the Jews answered, for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, because thou, being a man, maketh thyself to be God. That's why we want to kill you.

So that was the issue with him. This is what he's doing. He's setting forth his deal. I'm the light of the world. I'm the light that was promised in the Old Testament. I'm the light that's going to be the thing that draws the Gentiles to him. I'm the light, the one that shines out of Zion. I'm the light in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 3. I'm the light of the world. They knew what that meant. They knew what that meant.

Verse 17, he takes the Pharisees to the scripture. He says, it is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. And he takes that from Deuteronomy chapter 19. But it's not spoken in the text of him being God. It's spoken in the text of judging a man about sin. They knew, they knew, this verse they understood, chapter 19 and verse 15 of Deuteronomy says, one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth. At the mouth of two witnesses or the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. That's what he's quoting.

But it shows you, what it shows you that the use of scripture in the Old Testament, what things in the Old Testament have a, are fully revealed and understood in the New Testament. You can read the Old Testament thing, and we'd say, well that's all about two witnesses witness to some kind of crime. But our Lord uses two witnesses in the fact that the father is a witness to him being his son. So the Lord turns that around. It's a very interesting way. It's also an interesting turn of phrase. Our Lord says, in your law, in your law." Now he's talking to the Pharisees. He's a Jew. The law of Moses was the law he was born under to redeem them that are under the law. But he looks at him and says, in your law. He doesn't say in Moses' law or he doesn't say the law, but your law. Perhaps referring to the fact that they misuse the law and do not actually understand the law and do not do the law. And what they would employ to accuse one of sin, he uses the same to support his claim to deity.

They don't understand the Scriptures. They would have never got that out of Deuteronomy 19, and we wouldn't either, had he not given it to us either. That's the beauty of the Old Testament revealed in the New Testament. We see things like over in Acts, it says a nation was born in a day. What does that mean? We look back and it's the Old Testament. It's talking about the birth of the children of God. God's people born in a day. That day was the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what that's talking about, that nation born in a day. Many things in the Old Testament you read, and if you read them just as historical fact of what happened to the Jews, it don't mean a whole lot. the story of Abraham and Sarah. The bond woman and Sarah and Isaac and Ishmael being born, that's a true story. It really happened. And he took Ishmael and cast him out in the desert with a bottle of water and said, go do the best you can. I'm going to make you ten great nations. But you've gone. You can't live with Isaac. You can't live with Isaac.

Well, we might not even like that story. But we go over to Galatians, he said, that was an allegory. It was an alibi. It was a story that told another message. And the message was that the flesh and the spirit came out of God together. Israel was born by the power of Abraham. Isaac was born by the power of God. And we as Isaac were, the scripture says, are the children of hope. We were born spiritually. We don't have anything to do with our new birth anymore than we have to do with our natural birth. But being born spiritually is an act of God.

And so this he takes that thing about witnessing against a person's iniquity and turns it to mean something altogether different. To show these men that they didn't really understand the scriptures. Not yet. Remember in Luke 24, the disciples of Dumas, he took them to the scriptures. to the Psalms and the Prophets and to Moses and all the Scriptures concerning Himself. Then He opened their eyes to understand the Scriptures. That they're all about the Lord Jesus Christ.

What they would implore to choose one of sin, He uses the same to support His claim to deity. They would not come to Him, you see. They would not follow Him. They would not believe on Him because they refused to believe that the Scriptures spoke of Him. He was quoting Scripture. They didn't believe him. He's talking about what they read and believed, but didn't understand. They believed the historical fact, they believed that things happened, they believed in the old covenant promises, all of that, but they didn't understand who he was. And he told them that way back in John chapter 5, in verse 39. You're familiar with this passage. He said, search the scriptures, and he's talking to the Pharisees, And the way that's read in the original is, you do search the scriptures. So it's not saying they're not Bible scholars. They are. You do search the scriptures. For in them, by searching the scriptures, you think by knowing the scriptures that you have eternal life. That gives you eternal life by searching the scriptures.

There's a lot of people who believe that. I remember one fellow I knew that never darkened the church door, but he told me he'd read the Bible 20 times. He was proud of that, and he thought that meant something. There are people that spend their life in this book, have no interest in Jesus Christ, never get what it says. Search the Scripture in them, you think you have eternal life, and they, the Scriptures, are they, the Scriptures, which testify of me. Think about that. One man stands there in front of a whole bunch of ultra-religious people. The best of the best. So good, as far as works go, that Jesus Christ said, except your righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter heaven. He's not saying that their righteousness is good. He's saying their righteousness ain't good enough. Not to get to heaven. The only righteousness to get you to heaven is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And he says, and you will not come to me. Well, just what they've done here. They've not come to him except to try to catch him at some fault. You will not come to me that you might have life. I don't receive honor from men. But I know you, you have not the love of God in you. Isn't that what he says back in our text? Back in our text? He says that in verse 19. We'll get that in just a second.

In their law, in their law, the way they saw the law, the way they interpreted the law, they didn't see Christ as God. God right in front of them. God talking to them. And they didn't see. He bore witness of who He was, and the Father also bore witness of Him. The Father bore witness of Him.

Over in chapter 5, He said basically the same thing. Chapter 5, verse 36 through 38. He says this, but I have a greater witness than that of John. For the works which your Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness to me that the Father hath sent me. The Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness to me. Ye have neither heard his voice, nor any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word about him in you, for whom he hath sent you believe not." You're not a believer because the one he sent you don't believe.

The Pharisees answered this by smiling and saying, what about the father? Where's your father? Who's your daddy? Where's your father? Where's your father? That's what they say.

Verse 19, Jesus answers, you know not, you know, you need to know me, nor my father. You know what he said, didn't he just read it in chapter five? If you had known me, He should have known the Father also. They didn't see his Father because they judged according to the flesh. They could not look on the heart. They could only look on the outward appearance. They could not discern spiritual things.

This is what most people don't grasp is that the spirit is absolutely imperceptible to the natural man. Spiritual things are absolutely imperceptible. They cannot grasp it. They cannot see it. Our Lord made that clear as Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. He said this in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14, the natural man, the car-man, man as he's born in this world, the son of Adam, cannot receive the things of the Spirit. He cannot. Neither can he know them. nor discern them because they're spiritually discerned. But the spiritual man discerneth all things, yet he himself is discerned by no one.

If they had known Christ, if they had believed on Him, they would have known the Father. That's what they say. If you knew me, you would know the Father.

Chapter 6 and verse 46. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he that is of God. He hath seen the Father. He that is of God hath seen the Father.

Chapter 14 in verses 7 through 9. Our Lord talking to His disciples just before He goes to the cross. Remember John 14 through 16 is Him preparing His disciples for His departure. To go to the cross and die in the room instead of sinners. And He begins in chapter 14. Because they were troubled in their heart because he was saying, I'm going to Jerusalem. I'm going to be mishandled. I'm going to be mistreated. I'm going to be crucified. I'm going to die. They were troubled. I mean, they walked with him close to three years now. They had sat at his feet and listened to him tell what the scriptures mean. He was precious to them. He was precious to them.

And he says in verse one, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My father's house had many mansions. That's not great, huge castles. The word is many places to dwell. That's what that means. It's not a mansion in the corner of glory. It's a place to dwell. A cubicle is the actual interpretation of it. There's a place for you. There's a place for you.

I go to prepare the place for you if I go to prepare a place for you. In verse 7, he says this, if you had known me, you should have known my father also. And from henceforth you know him and have seen him. Wait a minute, we've seen the father.

Philip said to him, Lord, show us the father and we'll be satisfied. It'll suffice if you just show us the father. Jesus said, have I been so wrong with you, Philip? Thou hast not known me. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. How sayest thou? Show us the Father.

In his great high appreciated prayer in John 17. How did he glorify the Father? John 17 verse 6 says, I have manifested thy name unto men. Which Thou gavest me out of the world, Thine they were, and Thou gavest me in me, and I have kept Thine word. I have manifested." What does that mean? I've manifested the Father. I've declared the Father. Manifested. To make actual. To make known. To make visible. To be recognizable. That's what that means. I've manifested.

And he continued to teach in the temple until the day when he would give himself to those men to be crucified. But that hour had not yet come. These are the words of the Master. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

Let's just start understanding, praying Christ's name. Amen. God bless you.

I'm doing soup Sunday. You doing chicken and dumplings? Yeah. Would that be enough?