WWUTT 813 The Light Has Come?

Jesus is described as the light of the world. In fact, we're told in John 3, 19, this is the judgment that the light has come into the world and exposed our sin so that we may be forgiven when we understand the text.

You're listening to When We Understand the Text, committed to the sound teaching of the word of God. For questions and comments, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com. And don't forget our website, wwutt .com.

Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky.

John 3:16-21 and the Light That Exposes Sin

We have been blessed this week to study John 3, verses 16 through 21. And we return to that section again today. The apostle John writes, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God.

And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his work should be exposed.

But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. So remember in verse 16, when we read that God so loved the world, that's being contrasted with what we just read in verses 14 and 15.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. And we also need to keep in perspective who it is that Jesus is talking to.

He was talking to Nicodemus, the Pharisee who is asking Jesus about why he did the things that he did. What is exactly this message that he is preaching? And so Jesus calls attention to what has been written in the scriptures by the prophets.

These are things that Nicodemus should understand. And as a teacher in Israel, how can he teach if he doesn't know these things? If I have told you earthly things, verse 12, and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

So he comes back again to referencing those things that Nicodemus would be familiar with, the Old Testament scriptures. And he points to the story in Moses to show how that story was actually about him.

But this Messiah who is coming was not just for the Jewish people. He is a Messiah for everyone, Jews and Gentiles. Anyone who believes on him will be saved, not just among the Jewish people, but anyone on the face of the earth.

So then you get the context of verse 16, for God so loved the world. That's the contrast. Not just the Jews, not just Hebrews, not just Israel. God so loved the world, Jews and Gentiles, that he gave his son, that whoever among Jews and Gentiles believe in him should not perish, but will have everlasting life, eternal life.

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. And as we were considering that verse yesterday, I mentioned that the reason Jesus came was not to be that final judgment.

That's gonna be his second coming. But if you wanna take world in context with the way that we considered it at the start of verse 16, then you might also think of God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, as those from the world that Jesus was going to call out to himself.

Of course he didn't come to condemn them. He came that they might be saved, but in order that the world might be saved through him. So everybody is a sinner. Everyone deserves the wrath of God, even those whom God has called out to himself.

Had Christ come as a judge to lay down a judgment on sinners, well, those in the world who were going to be saved by him would not have survived. They would have been destroyed by the judgment of God.

But Jesus came not to condemn those who were going to be saved, but by his sacrifice on the cross. And if they put their faith and trust in Jesus, they would be saved. For whoever believes in him, verse 18 is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he's not believed in the name of the only son of God.

This is the only way that a person is saved, faith in Jesus Christ. He is the only way to God. There is no other way to get to God, no other way to have fellowship with God, no other way to have the forgiveness of sins, no other way that God receives us because of an imputed righteousness that is not ours, but was given to us by Christ.

The only way we are received by God, the only way that we have eternal life is by faith in Jesus Christ. You might think of that as being a simple point, and maybe to most of you who listen to this program on a regular basis, you know that it's only by faith in Christ that we are saved.

It's by no other way. So why do you think that you need to continue to press that Pastor Gabe? Well, it's because in our postmodern culture, although it's kind of like a post postmodern culture now at this point, but in the culture in which we live, that idea is increasingly under attack and it's starting to seep its way into even evangelical circles.

Even among those who call themselves Christians, they are beginning to lose sight of the fact that it is only through Jesus Christ that we are saved. The Oprah rhetoric has just kind of infected everyone, whether they call themselves a Christian or not.

This idea that a person can get to God by some other means other than Christ. All roads lead to God. And it's really true that all roads do lead to God, but only one road leads to his grace and his mercy and his love, and that's Jesus Christ.

All other roads lead to his judgment. Everyone is gonna appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And it is only those who followed Christ in life who will be saved from the judgment of God. The rest will perish.

And to them, Jesus will say, as we read in Matthew 25, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And these will go away into eternal punishment. It's Matthew 25, verse 46, but the righteous will go into eternal life.

And as we also read in Matthew chapter seven in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, there are gonna be many who are gonna come to me and are gonna say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do many mighty things in your name?

And I will say to them, depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you. And the worship of Christ is not a cooperative. It's not, hey, I have all this other spiritualism that I like because it fills me up, it fulfills my life, and I worship Jesus, so at least I worship him in there too, right?

Well, God said in the 10 commandments, Exodus 20, verse three, you shall have no other gods before me. And in Isaiah 42, eight, I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

You can't have your spiritual practices, and as long as you get Jesus in there, you are covered. It is faith in Christ alone by which we are saved. That recent survey that was released by Ligonier, they do this survey every other year, the state of theology survey, and one of the questions that was asked of the survey takers, a statement that was given to them that they had to agree or disagree with was the following.

God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. And among evangelicals, among people who call themselves Christians, 51 agreed with that statement. More than half of professing Christians believe that God accepts the worship of all religions.

Again, it's that Oprah mentality that's infected everybody. And when we're not being catechized, we don't understand catechism, we're not faithful to the word, and the preachers who were standing at the pulpits are not teaching the scriptures.

They're giving moralistic lessons. They've got a church that is built upon consumerism and driven by consumerism. And then you've got very feelings-based, pragmatic messages, things like eight ways to a better you, Jesus loves you just the way you are.

I listened to a pastor just last month, one of the most popular pastors in the state of Kansas, deliver a sermon in which one of his key points was if you have low self-esteem, you're sinning. Well, what about the passage in James where it says be wretched and mourn and weep so that you would be forgiven your sins?

The ways of this world are creeping into the church. The messages that are being delivered are not straight from the scriptures. We're not even understanding basic essential doctrines, which is why you got a survey that exposes most evangelicals in America believe that you can worship anybody and God will accept that as worship of him.

No, that's a fast track to hell if you are not exclusively worshiping Christ. For God has said, I will have no other gods before me. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God.

The Light Has Come and Exposes Evil Works

And now verse 19, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. So Jesus comes and he exposes the fact that people are wretched, awful, filthy sinners.

And this is one of the reasons why you have what's going on in our culture right now. And again, even in the church, what you have going on in our culture is this effort to make a different Jesus, make a Jesus that makes a little bit more sense to me, that looks more like me, that's more palatable to me than the Jesus of the Bible.

And likely what many churches are worshiping is not the true Christ. It is a Christ of their own making, one that looks and fits in accordance with what the culture wants because we don't want to offend anybody.

We don't want to make anyone feel bad. So we're going to give them something that looks like them, that will get them in the door, that'll get them into their pews. You know, there was a point when this kind of method and this kind of strategy was for the purpose of kind of conning a person to come to church.

I mean, that's really what it was. It was lying to get people to come to church. The whole attractional method of promising gifts or putting on a good show or even presenting Jesus in such a way that looks friendly to people, the buddy Christ, if you've ever seen that parody before.

So giving that to people and trying to get them to come to church. And then once they're in the doors, bam, then we're going to give them the true gospel. There was a time when that was the strategy, but then what eventually started happening was the church realized, well, once we give them the gospel, then they all leave.

So we need to find a way to keep them here. And then the gospel just went away. Then it just became all attractional all the time. It was all the stuff that people like and want and were promised. And they came to church to get, to feel comfortable, to not feel uncomfortable.

And then the gospel was lost. So that whole attractional method was wrong from the start. And eventually it changed the very heart of the church. The reason why people don't want the true Christ is because he exposes the fact that we are sinners.

Jesus is our savior. Jesus Christ is savior. He died to save men from their sins and the wrath of God that was going to be poured out on all unrighteousness. So if Jesus is savior, what exactly has he saved you from?

Has he saved you from a mediocre life? People probably think that. Has he saved you from your sins so that you can go on sinning without fear or repercussion of the judgment of God? Yeah, there are people who believe that too.

That's not what we mean though. When we say that Jesus is savior, it means that he has saved us from our sin, from the wages of sin, which is death. And he has saved us from the wrath of God, which is going to be poured out upon all those who lived in ungodliness.

And the only way that we can be rescued from that judgment is to put our faith in Christ. For every believer, it is necessary that there comes a point when they realize their sin that has separated them from God.

And they mourn over that sin. They realize what they deserve for their sin is death. Every person must experience that because then what comes next, if they're experiencing a godly grief, is joy in the gospel.

Hearing the good news that I'm not going to perish in my sin. By faith in Christ, God has forgiven me of my sin. He poured out his wrath on his son, who was the only one who could take the wrath of God and survive and pay the penalty for me.

Came back from the grave so that all who believe in him will not only be forgiven their sins, but will also receive his eternal life. Everyone must mourn over this. And this is what Christ shows to us.

It's what he shows in his earthly ministry. In all of his teaching, he shows how sinful and wretched we are. Go to the Sermon on the Mount. If you have even lusted after a person in your heart, you've committed adultery with them.

If you have hated a person in your heart, you are guilty of murder. If you have even called a person a fool, you've called them names, you are guilty of the fires of hell. No one is innocent. And Jesus, who is the light, is the one who has exposed all of that.

This is the judgment. The judgment that reveals that we are sinners and worthy of the wrath of God. It's not the final judgment, but it's certainly a judgment. The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

The only other book in the New Testament that has the word light, that appears as many times as it does in the book of John,.

Is the book of Luke.

Luke and John combined even have, they share that word light more than the rest of the books of the New Testament combined. So John really is emphasizing Christ being the light of the world, the one who shines forth the truth, who illuminates God and also exposes the sinfulness that is in our hearts and our need for a savior.

The light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. So they didn't believe in Jesus. Jesus came into the world, no one went running to him.

They all went running away back into the darkness. It's like cockroaches. Have you ever opened up a cabinet door or a drawer or something like that and there's cockroaches in there and as soon as the light hits them, boom, they all scatter.

This is not a problem at our house right now, by the way. I just know that I've experienced this before. So if you've got cockroaches, as soon as you shine the light, they run away. Well, we're cockroaches and that would probably even be generous to describe our sin that way.

What we're deserving of is to be exterminated and yet God demonstrates his love for us in giving his son to die for our sins so that we would be cleansed of this unrighteousness. But those persons who have not received the spirit of God to understand the gospel, to be convicted over their sin and to love God, well, they run to the darkness because they know their works are evil and they don't want to have their works exposed by Christ.

It's why people don't run to the Christ of the Bible. They try to make a Jesus of their own making. Verse 20, for everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works should be exposed.

But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. So let me impress this upon you this way. Do you have any secret sins? Are there things that you are doing that you don't want anyone else to know about?

And maybe you even think to yourself, if I just take care of this problem on my own, then nobody ever has to know and my covering up this issue just takes care of it.

There we go.

I'm done, I don't have to suffer the embarrassment. I don't have to put all this hurt upon other people who would be affected by this. I can handle this on my own. How have you been doing with that, by the way?

Haven't you made that promise to yourself before? I can handle this on my own and yet you're still doing the secret sin and as long as no one finds out about it, can it even really be considered a sin?

Maybe you've pushed it back in your mind that way. Well, I must tell you that if you're convicted over this because of what we've read today, because of what we considered in John 3, 16 through 21, we've seen the holiness of Christ and therefore the unholiness of our hearts and that our sins are exposed before him.

For God searches mind and heart and he knows the deeds of every person. Then perhaps you need to go and talk to somebody about your secret sin. Maybe the first person you need to go to is your pastor.

Maybe the first person you need to go to and talk about it is your spouse so that there would be no evil way in you but that you love the light and so desiring to do what is true, you come into the light so that it may be clearly seen that your works have been carried out in God including the work of repentance which is what you probably need to do next and by the way, that sin that you're guilty of that you need to confess to somebody else is not low self-esteem.

James 4, verse 8, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. James 5, 16 now, therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

The light of God's truth has shown upon your heart and exposed your sin and if you are convicted of that, come into the light so that it may be clearly seen that your work has been carried out in God.

Let us pray. Our heavenly Father, we thank you for the discipline that you give us as sons and daughters for without the discipline of God, we would be illegitimate sons and not the adopted sons through the blood of Jesus Christ.

So may we be convicted over our sin and desire the righteousness of God. Lead us in paths of righteousness for your name's sake. May we do what is true and come to the light so that it may be clearly seen that our works have been carried out in God and that work that needs to be done in the light so it can be seen that the work of the Holy Spirit was upon our hearts may very well be repentance.

Repentance before God and there may be others that we need to repent to as well, confessing our sins that we may be healed. Revive us, oh Lord. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on a Old Testament study When We Understand the Text.