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Lord's Day for that rather difficult hymn that we've been trying to sing, Lift High the
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Cross. Much better today than we were the first Sunday of the month, thank the
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Lord. But, you know, I chose that because it was based upon the passage before us here in John chapter 12, when
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Jesus said, I, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself, fitting him even to consider.
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Well, it's our desire and intention to complete our consideration of this passage today, which our
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Lord had announced that the hour had arrived. After so many occasions, he had declared his hour had not yet come.
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Here he had taught that his hour had arrived for him to be glorified.
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And of course, what it indicated to him that his hour had arisen was the request of certain
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Greeks or Gentiles who wished to see him. And as a result, he said it was time for him to go to the cross, because in going to the cross, the kingdom would break out of the
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Jewish, from the Jewish people to the Gentile world. And those Greeks who wished to see him would indeed be able to come in faith, full faith into his presence.
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The outline that we have proposed and repeated now on five occasions is once again before you.
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And today, Lord willing, we'll deal with the fifth division. Jesus exhorts those
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Jews who heard him to believe that which they had been taught and had witnessed regarding him.
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And this is verses 34 through 36 of this passage. And so one last time, let's read the passage for the context, which is so important.
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Now, there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. That would have been the
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Passover feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying,
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Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew. And in turn,
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Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the
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Son of Man should be glorified most assuredly. Again, one of those many occasions, verily, verily, amen, amen, amine, amine in Greek.
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I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain.
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He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
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If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also.
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If anyone serves me, him my father will honor. And now my soul is trouble.
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And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose
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I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. And then a voice came from heaven, saying,
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I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. And therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.
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And others said, an angel has spoken to him. And Jesus answered and said, this voice did not come because of me, but for your sake.
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And now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
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And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself.
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And this he said, signifying by what death he would die. The people answered him, we have heard from the law that Christ remains forever.
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And how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?
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And Jesus said to them, a little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.
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He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.
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These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them. So after our
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Lord Jesus had declared to this crowd that when he was glorified, that is when he was crucified and risen, then he would draw all peoples unto himself.
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In other words, he was declaring that his death upon the cross, his exaltation, would result in being enthroned in heaven.
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And then the Gentiles would be gathered to him, as well as a remnant of Jews.
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That would be the onset of the promised kingdom of God, the promised messianic kingdom of the Old Testament.
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And his kingdom would then expand from that point, from his cross, expand and extend and encompass the world, again bringing salvation to Gentiles, as well as Jews, even to all who believe on him.
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Citizens of the kingdom of God would include not only his disciples from among the Jewish people, but his kingdom would include his disciples from the
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Gentile nations of the world. The Greeks had wished to see
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Jesus, and if they had faith, they would see him as Lord of all the world.
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And in the biblical definition, most of us here are Greeks. There's a few
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Jewish people, but most of us are Gentiles. And we wish to see Jesus, and we see him with the eye of faith.
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And it's because he was lifted up, is what Jesus is declaring here. But as we have pointed out, the death of Jesus Christ on his cross was not only the means by which salvation was secured for his people and then proclaimed to the world through the gospel, but the cross of Christ was also a passing of judgment upon the fallen world.
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The cross was both a means of salvation as well as a means and announcement of judgment.
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And here's a good word regarding that judgment upon the cross. The death of Jesus is not a defeat, but a victory.
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The cross is not where Jesus is judged, but where the world and the ruler of the world are judged.
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When the world puts Jesus on the cross, it is from its perspective a judgment on Jesus' person and work.
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In reality, however, the crucifixion of the son is in fact the exact reverse. It is the judgment of the world.
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The cross is the pinnacle of the paradox. And it was a paradox. For the throne upon which the king of kings is crowned, his glory.
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And yet it's also the point of decision for the world, either as the place of their salvation, in which the cross is the sacrifice of the
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Lamb of God on their behalf, or the place of their judgment, by which they stand already condemned.
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It was the death of Christ that was the true beginning of a properly ordered state and the complete restoration of the world.
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The cross is not the defeat of Jesus. It is the victory of God. This victory is not just a moral victory of a martyr, but the physical and spiritual victory over all opposing forces and powers.
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And by this victory, all humanity is either judged or saved. And all challengers have been defeated, even death itself.
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Even Satan, the longstanding opponent of God, is defeated, exorcised from the world he too long had tried to rule.
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The mission of God was not merely about the soul of humanity, but the entire created order.
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The ruler of this world is cast out and replaced by a new ruler, the rightful king.
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The cross is therefore the dethronement of Satan from his tyranny over the world and the enthronement of the true king,
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Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. In the story John tells, an entirely true story,
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God wins. And it's the cross where the victory is won.
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And yet it's a paradox. All those who stood there seeing Jesus on the cross, even his own disciples, this is the end.
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They thought it was over and that their hopes were dashed. No one, not even the devil and his minions, had a clue that their doom was secured when they crucified
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Jesus. Now we could cite many Old Testament passages that speak to this great event of God establishing his promised kingdom through Jesus Christ.
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If we had time, I wish we did, but we don't, we could read the entire second chapter of the book of Daniel, and it's a long chapter, in which it was declared that in the days of the
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Roman Empire, God would establish the kingdom of his Son. Daniel had declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, and this was in the 6th century
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B .C., the interpretation of his dream of a great image. And Daniel declared to this king, in the days of these kings, the
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God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. He is referring to the days of the
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Roman Empire. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
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Inasmuch as you, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great
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God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this, the dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.
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All the Jewish people were anticipating the coming of the Messiah because of Daniel's prophecy.
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Daniel had proclaimed 490 plus years in advance, the exact year in which the
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Messiah would be crucified, that the Messiah should be cut off, but not for himself, and this would result in the enthronement and reign of the promised
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Messiah. And that's the true meaning of the 70 weeks of Daniel. In Daniel chapter 9, it's not a prophecy of an end -time seven -year tribulation, it's a prophecy of the cutting off of the
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Messiah in the midst of that 70th week when he died upon the cross, and as a result he was enthroned.
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Isaiah proclaimed this great establishment, enlargement of the promised Messianic kingdom in Isaiah 55.
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He first foretold the gospel, that gospel preachers would announce that the new Messianic kingdom had been established and was going forth into the world.
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And then the prophet Isaiah spoke of the Gentile nations entering this kingdom. And remember, here
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Isaiah 55 is shortly following Isaiah 53, which speaks of the suffering servant, and now we see the glorified servant who is king.
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And so the announcement of gospel preachers, and Paul takes this verse and applies it to New Testament gospel preachers, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, that's the gospel, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, your
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God reigns, your watchmen shall lift up their voices, talking about the watchmen, the proclaimers on the walls of Zion, spiritual
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Zion, the people of God, your God reigns, your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye when the
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Lord brings back Zion, break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the
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Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem, the Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
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God. And again, the fact that Paul picks up this first verse and applies it to New Testament gospel preachers shows that this is the promised messianic kingdom that began because Christ was crucified,
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Isaiah 53, but risen and enthroned, Isaiah 55. And so our
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Lord announced on this occasion in John 12, 23, that his hour had come, because it was in the eternal purpose of God that he would enthrone his son over a kingdom that would reconcile a fallen, alienated world unto himself.
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God had purposed, through Jesus Christ, to bring about peace between himself and his people who had been estranged from him due to their sin.
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And so God purposed to make peace through the blood of his cross and by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.
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That's kingdom language. And all of these purposes and promises of God would be realized due to his son being glorified.
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That is, being lifted up upon his cross, whereby God reconciled alienated sinners, strangers everywhere, bringing them into the realm of his glorified son.
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And as Daniel had foretold in his prophecy, God, through Christ crucified, would cause his son to bring about the finish of the transgression, that is, the broken law by his people, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint,
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I would argue, the most holy one. That's the Messiah, the anointed one.
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And so we see in the Old Testament that this messianic kingdom was prophesied to come, and it was realized through the death of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's consider in some detail these last few verses of this section of John's Gospel, in which we consider
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Jesus exhorting those Jews who heard him to believe that which they had been taught and that which they had witnessed regarding him.
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This is John 12, 34 -36. Now, when
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Jesus had announced his impending death before the crowds, a question was posed that reflected the error and confusion of the
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Jewish people regarding the promised Messiah and his kingdom. And so we read in John 12, 34, the people answered him,
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We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say the
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Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? And if I can paraphrase, who is this
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Messiah that you're talking about who's going to die? We know nothing of that, is basically what they're saying.
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And so we read, the people answered him. These people were not the Greeks who wished to see him, but rather these were the
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Jews in Jerusalem. Some of them had truly hoped Jesus was the
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Messiah. In fact, in mass they had lauded him and congratulated him and welcomed him as the promised son of David on Palm Sunday.
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But other Jews, of course, were opposed to him quite vocally because they saw
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Jesus as a threat to their power, their own position. And so they refused to believe on him.
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As we'll read several verses later, these Jews were not sympathetic to his teaching but were skeptical and therefore they challenged him with rather caustic cynicism rather than inquiring him with sincerity to understand what he was telling them.
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They said to him, We have heard from the law that Christ remains forever. And here we should understand the reference to the law is not the law of Moses at Mount Sinai, not the law of Moses as say the first five books of the
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Old Testament, the Torah, the books of Moses, but rather here the reference to the law is the entire
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Hebrew Scriptures, which we have, of course, in our Protestant Old Testaments.
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We have heard from the law that Christ remains forever. In other words, he's going to live forever.
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And yet you're saying that he's going to die. He's going to be lifted up.
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What are you saying? This is in conflict with our understanding of the Scriptures. Well, where does it say in the
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Old Testament that the Messiah would dwell forever? It does so in many, many places.
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For example, we read in Psalm 110, verse 1 and 4, talking about a son of David who would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, but he would live forever.
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The Lord said to my Lord, this is King David speaking about his son,
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God is going to say to my Lord, his son, who is also Lord, that's the deity of Jesus Christ there in the
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Old Testament, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. That's what God the
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Father said to Jesus when he ascended into heaven after his resurrection. The Lord has sworn and will not relent, you are priests forever.
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And so the Jews thought the Messiah would live forever. Jesus, how can you say he's going to die on the cross?
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The Messiah is going to live forever. In addition, we read of the Messiah in Psalm 45, your throne,
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O God, is forever and ever. Another clear reference to the deity of Jesus Christ in the
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Old Testament, by the way. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness.
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This was a pronouncement of the Messiah who would live forever. Psalm 89, 36 and 37, we read of the
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Messiah, his offspring shall endure forever. His throne as long as the sun before me, like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.
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And then Daniel 7, 13 and 14, we read of the reign of the Messiah. I saw in the night visions, and behold the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man.
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He came to the Ancient of Days. This is not the second coming. It's one like the son of man coming to God the
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Father, the Ancient of Days in heaven, who's sitting on the throne. It's Revelation 5 in prophetic form.
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And was presented before him. And to him, this would have been the son of man, was given dominion and glory and a kingdom.
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And all peoples and nations, that's Gentiles too, and all languages should serve him.
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His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
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And so here's another passage that speaks about the fact that the Messiah would live forever. How can you say,
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Jesus, that the son of man must be lifted up, must die upon the cross? And so the
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Jews challenged Jesus when he declared to them that he was the Messiah who would be lifted up, that is, crucified.
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How could he die when the Scriptures declare that he would live to reign forever? Here are the words of an old
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Baptist back in the 1700s, John Gill, who pastored the same church that Charles Spurgeon would a hundred and some odd years later.
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The Jews have entertained a notion that the Messiah, the son of David, shall not die. And they laid down this as a rule, that if anyone sets up for a
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Messiah and does not prosper but is slain, it's a plain case he is not the Messiah. So all the wise men at first thought that Ben -Cazibah was the
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Messiah. But when he was slain, it was known to them that he was not. And upon this principle, these
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Jews confront the Messiahship of Jesus, saying, and how sayest thou the son of man must be lifted up?
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To them that would have negated any claim that he was the Messiah, because he was to live forever.
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Now, by the way, it's clear that these Jews who were listening to Jesus understood that when
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Jesus spoke of being lifted up, he was speaking of being crucified. And again, this would have presented a problem for virtually everyone listening to him.
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Probably even his disciples were troubled by this, even though he had taught them of his impending death on a number of occasions throughout his earthly ministry.
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Here's an assessment of the attitude and the reaction of the Jews to Jesus' announcement of his imminent crucifixion, which immediately followed the voice of God from heaven.
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The crowd hears the sound of the voice from heaven but does not understand its meaning.
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Some judge it to be the sound of thunder. Others suppose an angel to have spoken to Jesus.
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No one perceives it was the voice of God and that he has spoken to them words of supreme importance.
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The people do, however, understand the meaning of the words of Jesus. They knew exactly what he was saying.
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At least they now understand his removal to be imminent, and they perceive that he has shattered their hopes that he would act as the
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Messiah. He had said the Son of Man would be lifted up from the earth, but the law, in other words the
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Scriptures, promised them a Messiah who would abide forever. And of course they didn't see the resurrection, did they?
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Who then is this Son of Man? It seems almost as if they rightly understood the words lifted up means to die.
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The scandal of the cross is meaningless to them. And the paradox, the
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Christ must suffer, puts an end to their welcome of Jesus as the Messiah of the Jews.
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They had welcomed in him the permanent and glorious Messianic King. He declares the necessity of his imminent death and removal to their question,
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Who is this Son of Man you're talking about? I'm kind of paraphrasing. That is, who is this
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Messiah who's going to die? For in this passage the Jews rightly understand the phrase
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Son of Man to be equivalent to the Messiah. Jesus gives them no answer that can satisfy them.
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You have to understand the entire turn -off of everybody present when Jesus announced these words.
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I'm going to be lifted up. And they knew he was talking about dying by means of crucifixion, which would have been an indication to them that he was cursed of God.
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And yet he claims to be the Messiah? What kind of Messiah are you talking about that's going to die?
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Well, then the Lord Jesus answered their query with the words of verses 35 and 36a.
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Then Jesus said to them, A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have light, lest darkness overtake you.
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He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become the sons of light.
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Here we see once again Jesus referring to himself as the light. And light, of course, is a common metaphor in John's Gospel.
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We've seen it numbers of times. And I cited a number of verses there for you from John's Gospel in which
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Jesus referred to himself as the light. And here in John 11, 35, and 36,
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Jesus said to them, A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.
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He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become the sons of light.
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In other words, Christians. And these things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them.
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And that's how our episode, our pericope concludes. And so when
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Jesus spoke of himself as the light, he was describing himself as the one who reveals God.
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Light carries the idea of knowing God, being informed of who God is, being able to see
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God. Jesus is the light. Jesus is the light imparts knowledge of God through which the true life from God and before God may be experienced and enjoyed.
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Life imparts and enables one to have life. And he is light. There's one more place in John's Gospel where Jesus is set forth as light, and it's in the passage it will begin to address next week.
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It's in verse 46. There Jesus declared, I've come as a light into the world that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.
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It was a common metaphor that our Lord used regarding himself. Now Jesus declared to them, his presence among them would only be a little while longer in duration, but then he, the light, would be taken from them.
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But he was not speaking only of his physical removal from them to his death.
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Jesus was warning them of their responsibility and accountability while the opportunity was available to them.
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They were to embrace him for who he was and follow him as his disciples while the opportunity was before them.
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Their opportunity for responding to him in faith was brief. They had only a short time remaining to them.
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As one wrote, this was D .A. Carson, the light -darkness contrast is prevalent in John's Gospel.
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The crowds are strongly urged to trust Jesus, the light of the world, based on what they do know of him.
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Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light. The last expression, sons of light, reflects idiomatic
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Hebrew, an idiom, a common phrase of the Hebrews.
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A son of light displays the ethical qualities of light, has become a disciple of the light. It will not be an easier place to trust in Jesus after the cross.
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The crowd should commit themselves to him in trust and discipleship now before he, as the light of the world, is taken from them, and they found themselves in total darkness.
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And so through our Lord's words here, we may detect a sense of urgency that he's pressing upon his heroes.
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The door of opportunity was open before them, but it would soon be closed to them. They must act and do so immediately.
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Procrastination would be fatal for them. It would be a loss of opportunity, a forfeiture of great prospect laid open before them.
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The opportune time is present, but the time is also short. And so we urge them and press them to consider his claims, who he was, and what it should have meant to them.
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And in doing so, they were to become sons of light. That is, as one John Gill once wrote, that they might appear to be such who are enlightened persons, and such are truly so who are made light in the
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Lord, and who are enlightened by the Spirit of God to see their own sinfulness, impotency, the unrighteousness in their need of Christ, and his righteousness and strength and of salvation by him, and who are made meet by the grace of God to be partakers in the inheritance of the saints in light, and which is made manifest by believing in Christ, walking on in him as they have received him, and by walking honestly as in the daytime, circumspectly not as fools, but as wise for such walk as children of light.
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And so here we see the Lord, even though it was so short a time, just a couple days before his arrest, trials, and crucifixion, nevertheless he was seeking the well -being of the souls that were standing before him.
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There was a sense of urgency. He was pressing upon them the importance of the moment, the opportunity, but it was short -lived.
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As Matthew Henry wrote, the concern Christ has for the souls of men and his desire of their welfare, with what tenderness does he here admonish those to look well to themselves who are contriving ill against him.
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Even when he endured the contradiction of sinners, he sought their conversion. The method he takes with these objectors with meekness instructing those who oppose themselves, a reference to Scripture, were but men's consciences awakened with a due concern about their everlasting state, and did they consider how little time they have to spend and none to spare, they would not waste precious thoughts and time in trifling cavils.
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In other words, this argument, what kind of son of man are you talking about, Messiah? Are you talking about who's going to be lifted up?
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And so we see, really, our Lord behaving toward these people, dealing with these people in a manner
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Paul would later counsel Timothy in his pastoral work. The servant of the
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Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach patience in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth.
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And the Lord Jesus, even at this occasion, this late time, saw the opportunity was before these people, and he urged them to consider him as the light while he was only going to be there for a short duration.
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So let us take some lessons from his words. First, it would be good for all of us to consider what little time we have.
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Light, the light of God, the light of Christ, in this lifetime. Young people are never aware of this.
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All old people are, of the brevity of this life. And the scriptures speak of it.
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And knowing the brevity of this life, it should cause us to prioritize spiritual and eternal matters. James wrote of this.
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Come now, you who say today or tomorrow will go to such and such a city. Spend a year there. Buy and sell, make a profit.
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Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life?
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It's even a vapor that bears a little time and then vanishes away. In the light of eternity, that's what your life is.
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Matthew Henry admonished his readers respecting this matter. Note, it's good for us all to consider what a little while we are to have the light with us.
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Time is short, and perhaps opportunity not so long. The candlestick may be removed, at least must be removed shortly.
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And yet a little while is the light of life with us. Yet a little while is the light of the gospel with us.
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The day of grace, the means of grace, the spirit of grace. Yet a little while. The warning given them to make the best of this privilege while they enjoyed it because of the danger they were in of losing it.
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Walk while you have the light. As travelers who make the best of their way forward, that they may not be benighted, that is, that night not fall upon them while they are journeying, because traveling in the night is uncomfortable and unsafe.
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Come, say they, let us mend our pace and get forward while we have daylight. And thus why should we be for our souls who are journeying towards eternity?
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I came across a sermon of a Puritan. I wanted to incorporate it, but there was no time.
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And the entire sermon was on the matter of procrastination. And that's a great problem that we all have.
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We have good intentions. Yes, we'll deal with that tomorrow, not today.
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Note, Matthew Henry wrote, it's our business to walk, to press forward towards heaven and to get nearer to it by being made fitter for it.
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Our life is but a day and we have a day's journey to go. The best time of walking is while we have the light.
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The day is the proper season for work as the night is for rest. The proper time for getting grace is when we have the
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Word of Grace preached to us and the Spirit of Grace striving with us, and therefore then is the time to be busy.
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Now. We are highly concerned thus to improve our opportunities. For fear lest our day be finished before we have finished our day's work and our day's journey, lest darkness come upon you.
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Quoting Jesus' words here. Lest you lose your opportunities and can neither recover them nor dispatch the business you have to do without them.
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And then darkness comes that is such an utter incapacity to make sure the great salvation as renders the state of the careless sinner quite deplorable, so that if his work be undone then, it's likely to be undone forever.
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Jesus is pressing urgency upon these people, but they were oblivious to it.
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Now, for some who may be just beginning to seek Christ, the light of Christ may seem to be rather dim to them and rather distant from you.
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You're curious, you're interested, you're looking, you see a little light, a little knowledge of Christ, but perhaps very little.
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Well, what is one in this condition to do? Well, he's to act upon that light that God has given him.
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That's what Jesus is saying. He's to be guided in his thinking and his living by that bit of illumination that the
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Spirit of God has given him. And when I was thinking about this, I thought about Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress.
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This is exactly what he set forth for his main character, Christian, before he was converted in the
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Pilgrim's Progress. He was called Graceless. And he was reading the
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Scriptures and became burdened about his sin. He knew that he dwelled in the city of destruction that was likened to Sodom and Gomorrah.
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God was going to rain fire down and destroy it. He needed to escape and get to the celestial city, to heaven.
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But he didn't know what to do. He didn't know where to go. And so God, in his providence, sent to him evangelists who gave him some instruction.
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And we have that in your notes before you. Then said evangelist, if this be thy condition, and he was miserable, desperate, why standest thou still?
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What are you doing here? He answered, because I know not whither to go. I don't know where to run.
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And then he gave him a parchment roll. And there was written within, Fly from the wrath to come. A quote of Jesus from the
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Sermon on the Mount. Actually earlier than the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 3.
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The man therefore read it, looking upon evangelists very carefully, and said, Whither must I fly?
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He didn't know where to run, what to do. Then said evangelist, pointing his finger over a very wide field,
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Do you see yonder wicked gate? That is the point of repentance and becoming a disciple of Jesus.
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But again, graceless was clueless at this point. No, I don't see it, he said.
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And then said the other evangelist, Do you see yonder shining light? He said,
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I think I do. It was just a faint glimmer to him. And the evangelist said, Keep that light in your eye and go up directly thereto.
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You put that light in front of you and you proceed, you follow that light. So shalt thou see the gate, at which when thou knockest it, shall be told thee what thou shalt do.
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So I saw my dream that the man began to run. Now he had not run far from his own door, but his wife and children, perceiving it, began to cry after him to return.
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But the man put his fingers in his ears and ran on crying, Life, life, eternal life. And so he looked not behind him, but fled towards the middle of the plain.
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Quotations from Genesis of Lot fleeing out of Sodom before its destruction. The point is, you may not see much, you may not understand much, but you get an understanding of what we're claiming.
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Jesus Christ is the light to reveal God to you. He's the way of salvation.
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You follow that light and you will become a son of light, is what
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Jesus said. And so whatever knowledge you have, even though it be very simple and rudimentary, follow it, apply it, think it, and begin to apply your thinking and your behavior immediately toward that end.
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And the light will become brighter to you and he'll direct you. And you'll find yourself becoming a son of light.
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You'll become a child of God. You'll become a disciple of Jesus Christ. But you're to follow that bit of light that he's already given to you.
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Don't turn away from it. And so if your purpose to begin your journey with heaven is your final destiny, but you feel you know so little, what are you to do?
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You see the glory of Jesus, the light of Jesus. Of him as the only Savior appointed
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Lord of mankind. Perhaps you don't see it brightly or clearly. Nevertheless, follow that light.
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Begin to order your life according to that bit of light you have. And as you come closer to him, his glory will appear brighter and more certain to you.
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And in this way, he'll direct you to your soul's salvation when you put your faith wholly and fully in him.
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Calvin gave some comments on several of these statements of our Lord. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.
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This statement that the light does not continue to shine on them but for a little while applies equally to all unbelievers.
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For Scripture promises that to the children of God the sun of righteousness will rise and never go down.
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The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor the moon by night, but the Lord shall be your everlasting light.
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But all ought to walk cautiously because contempt of the light is followed by darkness.
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This too is the reason why night so thick and dark sat down on the world for many centuries.
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He's referring to Roman Catholicism and the Dark Ages there. Calvin was always hitting on Rome in his comments.
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He was a former Roman Catholic who was converted to the Gospel once he got the Bible in front of him.
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It was because there were few who deigned to walk in the brightness of heavenly wisdom. For Christ enlightens us by his
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Gospel, in order that we may follow the way of salvation which he points out to us. And for this reason they who do not avail themselves of the grace of God extinguish, as far as lies in their power, the light which is offered to them.
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And he who walks in darkness knows not where he goes. To strike them with still deeper alarm,
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Jesus reminds them how wretched is the condition of those who, being destitute of light, do nothing but wander throughout the whole course of their life.
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For they cannot move a step without the risk of falling or even destruction. But now Christ declares that we are in darkness unless he shine upon us and hence infer what is the value of the sagacity or the folly of human wisdom when it's the sole guide and instructor apart from Christ.
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Go ahead and order your life according to what you think is right and true. You're in darkness and you're going to end up damned.
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You need to follow Christ who is the only light that God has given to this fallen world. Well, let's consider in the last couple of minutes we have now the consequences of failure to walk in the light of Jesus Christ.
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The Lord Jesus told his listeners, Walk while you have the light lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he's going.
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The word of God describes all unconverted persons, that is, those who are not true
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Christians as ones who are in darkness. Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus saying to them,
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For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
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Before we were Christians, we were at that time darkness. The Puritan David Clarkson, who was the successor to John Owen, once gave a message,
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Unconverted sinners are darkness. It took me a while, but I finally dug it up and downloaded all three volumes of his writings, and this was in Volume 2, and a sermon entitled
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Unconverted sinners are darkness. But what is it to be in darkness?
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What is the unconverted state that the Holy Ghost so often calls darkness? Take it in these particulars.
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To be in darkness first is to be in sin, the work of darkness. Two, to be under Satan, the prince of darkness.
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Three, to be under wrath, the fruit of darkness. And four, near to hell, the place of darkness.
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The Scripture by darkness ordinarily expresses some or all of these. When an unconverted state is called darkness, we are to understand by it a most sinful and miserable state.
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And then Clarkson went on. That was the outline he used, and then he expanded each one of those four points.
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And I had just included the first and fourth. He went on saying to be in darkness is to be in sin, the work of darkness.
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Sin is called in this chapter a work of darkness. And he that lives in sin acts in the works.
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He is said to walk in darkness. He that is not converted is holy in sin under the power of the pollution, the guilt of sin.
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All the qualities and motions of his soul, all the acts of his life are sinful. He that is but once born, in other words, he's not born again, he's just once born, physically born, not born again of the
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Spirit, owes his being to no other birth but that of the flesh. He is flesh. He is holy only.
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By flesh is meant the corruption of sin, is flesh. In other words, holy corrupted by sin.
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His whole soul is full of sin, mind and conscience, will, affections. All are tainted with it, possessed by it, or overspread with pollution of it.
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There is nothing in his soul but what may be called flesh, in other words, sinful and corrupt, no principle of holiness.
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Such a soul is sunk in sin, is encompassed and quite covered over with sin. Hence that of the apostle,
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Romans 8, in the flesh. Nothing they have, nothing they can do, nothing can possibly please
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God because all they have or can do is sinful, so abominable to God.
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That's what it is to be in darkness, apart from the light of Christ. Again, we don't have time to rehearse them all, but I did want to just touch on the fourth, in which he said, to be in darkness is, fourth, to be near hell, the place of darkness.
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And so to be in darkness is to be near to hell, the place of darkness. That is a land of darkness, is darkness itself.
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It's called utter darkness. So near is an unconverted state to hell as it joins as an outer room.
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Being in sin is in darkness as in a room next to hell, which is the place of darkness.
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And he says it's just separated by a little wall. There's but a small weak partition betwixt them.
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If conversion does not bring the sinner out of this state, the partition will be broken, death will overthrow it, and then no passage but to the outer room, into outer darkness.
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And that's a biblical description. Hell is called the mist of darkness. Until thou be converted, thou art a child of darkness.
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This is thy portion. It's reserved for thee. Thou art every moment in danger to fall into the woeful possession of it.
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Thou canst lay claim to no other portion, canst hope for no other inheritance until conversion. To be in darkness is to be in danger of hell.
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It's a state bordering on hell. It is the confines in the suburbs of it.
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In other words, if you're outside of Christ and your soul is in darkness, you're in the suburb, you're in the region of hell, the place of darkness.
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But those who have come to Christ as the light are ones to whom
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God has revealed himself in the way of salvation through Christ, and God befriends that one.
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And so those who believe on the light become children of light, and they shall forever dwell in the light of God's presence, enjoying the joy, warmth of comfort, delight of understanding him, and knowing that they are in his eternal favor.
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Our Lord Jesus concluded this section by declaring to the crowds before him, by giving a word of instruction and hope, while you have the light, believe in the light that you may become the sons of light.
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By looking to Jesus Christ, who is the light, you may become a child of light, a true
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Christian. Those that have God for their father are children of light, for God is light.
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They are born from above, heirs of heaven, children of light, for heaven is light. And then the gospel writer records this description of Jesus leaving them.
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And this is important. And we conclude with this. Verse 36b reads, These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them.
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The manner that the gospel writer stated this was itself a warning to his readers. You and I reading the gospel.
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To decide now, the importance of it. For as our Lord had warned that he is the light would soon depart from them, he does so.
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He departed from them and was hidden from them. That's how short the opportunity was for them.
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Here are the words of Donald Carson again. That Jesus then left and hid himself from them, recalls chapter 8, verse 59.
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But in this context, it signifies much more. Not only is the public ministry of Jesus now drawing to a close, but by his withdrawal, his self -conscious hiding from the people, he is acting out the judicial warning he just pronounced.
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This acted parable of judgment, the evangelist finds to be not only a suitable climax to the warnings and entreaties of the previous verses, but a telling introduction to his own theological reflections on the unbelief of so many amongst his people.
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And so may the Lord in his mercy and grace enable each of us to see clearly and fully the glory that is the light of the
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Lord Jesus, so that he may transform us and conform us to his likeness through that sight of him as the light of God.
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May we in faith see the light of his transcendent nature in his authority, in the eminence of his humanity, and may he transform us into the image for having done so.
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And then we'll close with Matthew Henry's words. It is the duty of every one of us to believe in the gospel light, to receive it as a divine light, to subscribe to the truth that discovers or reveals, for it is a light to our eyes and to follow its guidance, for it is a light to our feet.
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Christ is the light. We must believe in him as he's revealed to us, as a true light that will not deceive us, a sure light that will not misguide us.
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We are concerned to do this while we have the light, to lay hold on Christ while we have the gospel, to show us the way to him and direct us in that way.
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Those that believe in the light shall be the children of light. They shall be owned as Christians who are called children of light and of the day.
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Amen. And may we who are Christians rejoice in the light we have and continue to follow that light as well.
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Let darkness overtake us. We don't want that to happen. Let's pursue Christ and see in him everything that we're in need of that comes to us so freely and fully by God, his
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Father. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word and for these concluding words of our
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Lord Jesus in his public ministry. Help us to take it to heart.
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We pray, Lord, that these words would not be a cause of distress or despair but rather of hope for each and every one of us.
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We are in need of Jesus Christ and we that have seen his light, we rejoice in that because you enabled us,
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Lord, to see with our spiritual eyes. And we just pray that you would help us to see more, a greater degree of the glory of Jesus Christ and that we would continue to follow him as sons of light.