Light

Well, good morning. While singing that song, I realized someday that's not just going to be a song, but that's going to be a desperate desire. You know, in the end, when the judgment comes, you'd better have Jesus.

And if you don't have him, then there will be some serious consequences to that, doesn't matter how much of the world you have. All right, let's take some time here this morning to continue in the book of John. And so let's go to John chapter 8. John was written, this gospel was written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing you might have life through his name.

And so all of these words that John wrote had a purpose. They have a goal, and that is to get to the end of this gospel and believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I think we have some time here this morning.

I'd like to read down through the passage that we're going to look at in John chapter 8, starting in verse number 12, and we'll go down through verse number 20. This is following, and I know it's been a number of weeks since we looked at the first part of John chapter 8, but this is connected to the story of the woman taken in adultery. And I'll do a little bit of review before we jump into the message here this morning.

But starting in verse number 12, after the Lord has said to this woman, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. Verse number 12 says, Then spake Jesus again unto them. This is the people who have observed this whole situation where the woman was taken in adultery.

The Pharisees brought the woman. 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 barest record of thyself, thy record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bare record of myself, yet my record is true. For I know whence I came and whither I go, but you cannot tell whence I come and whither I go.

You judge after the flesh, I judge no man. And yet 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 bare witness of myself, and the Father that sent me bareth witness of me. Then said they unto him, Where is thy father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my father.

If you had known me, you should have known my father also. 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. So let's pray and let's ask the Lord to quicken these verses to our hearts, to enlighten us, and maybe in enlightening us, showing us some darkness, perhaps in our own life, and so let's have a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, again this morning we acknowledge you, thank you for the privilege that we have to gather together in peace, and in safety here in our land. And also we thank you for the treasure we have in our lap, the word of God, the truth. And while many people grow up in darkness today looking for answers, looking for direction, Lord we thank you this morning that you have revealed unto us the truth.

You've revealed unto us the son of God, and Lord may he be more revealed to our hearts here today. Lord I pray you would encourage those who are discouraged, you'll give admonition to those who need it, and Lord bless us and walk amongst us as you do the church, and speak to each one of our hearts, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, I want to do a little review here because last time, which is about four weeks ago, we talked about this woman who is brought, she is taken in adultery, and I shared some on how simple and how beautiful the Lord lays out a little sermon here in this story.

He shows us first of all the sin of this woman, she is taken in adultery, she is living in immorality, and then we looked at how the law responds to that sin. And here in verse number five, the Pharisees say, Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? So you see here the sin of the woman, and you also see the response of the law. The Pharisees represent the law, Moses in the law commanded us.

And we talked last time about what the law does. The law exposes sin, and that's why this woman is brought out, she is exposed. The law's purpose is to expose sin in our life and in our heart.

Paul said in Romans chapter 7, I had not known covetousness unless the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. And so the law is the one that exposes, and the law is good. We don't want to make the law look to be bad, but the law is something that is good.

It exposes sin, and here this woman is exposed. But something else the law does, here the law judges, and this woman was to be stoned. The law commanded that those who had sinned were to be stoned.

And so this woman was to be stoned. The law did not give her any hope. The law did not show her any mercy.

The law simply exposed her, and the law wanted to sentence her. And then we come to grace and the Lord Jesus. And thank God we're not under the law today, amen? Because the Bible says that if we were under the law that every mouth would be stopped, and all the world would find themselves guilty before God.

But then we talked about what Jesus, how he responded to this woman's sin in verse number 11. He says this, Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. And here's how grace responds to this woman.

I do not want to condemn you. I want you to go and sin no more. And we talked about how this was basically a prophetic statement.

This describes the gospel. I do not want to condemn thee. I am going to die for you on a cross.

I am going to suffer for you the consequences of the law. I do not want to condemn you. And after I die for you, I'm going to send my spirit.

And I'm going to give you the ability, the grace to go and sin no more. Go and sin no more. And so the grace of God responded differently than the law.

And so this woman here is not condemned, and the Lord encourages her to go and sin no more. Now we start here at verse number 12, because this is spoken to the same crowd of people that have been observing this story or this account of the woman taken in adultery, and they've just witnessed the Pharisees bringing this woman. Can you imagine us sitting here this morning and the doors busting open, and a bunch of men, religious men, drag a woman down here in front, and we're observing the things that are happening.

And these men say, This woman ought to be stoned. She was taken in adultery. And of course, Jesus is going to say to these men, Well, that's fine.

Let's stone her. But let's start off with maybe you. How about you? Have you sinned yourself? You that are without sin, let him first cast a stone at her.

We observe these men, one by one, after they hear Jesus saying that, leave. Maybe they go out this door. Maybe they go out that door.

And everyone leaves, and finally there's a woman standing there in Jesus. And then Jesus says to this woman, I don't condemn you. Go and sin no more.

And so the woman slowly walks out, and we've just observed this event. And then we hear Jesus say these words in verse 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world.

I am the light of the world. Now, the Lord is not talking about these kind of lights here, obviously, or the light of the sun. But he's referring to another kind of light, and that is a spiritual light.

I am a spiritual light to this world. I am understanding. I am revelation.

I am wisdom. I am truth. I am here to be a light to a dark world.

I'm here to be the way, to show you the way, not only to live in this world, but also the way to eternal life. I am here to give you understanding. I am here to give you wisdom.

I am the light of the world. And so we see in the Bible how the light refers to understanding or revelation, the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The psalmist said the entrance of thy word gives light.

And there are many, many examples of how wisdom and understanding are referred to as light. Light is what you and I need. Yes, we need these things right here, especially at night, that we don't stumble and fall and get ourselves into trouble.

But more than anything else, every one of you here today needs spiritual light. We're living in a dark world. We are born as sinners into a dark world, and humanity is groping for light, wisdom, understanding, and revelation.

And we need that light. I mean, I grew up in a dark home. I grew up in an irreligious home.

My parents, every once in a while I went to a Presbyterian church. It was a very dark church and never spoke about the Bible or taught the Bible. And so I grew up as a young man in darkness.

Spiritually speaking, I had no understanding, or I understood a little bit about what sin was, but I had no understanding of the way and how to live to please God and how to live in such a way as to find eternal life. And I was a 19, 20-year-old young man in darkness, spiritual darkness. And then God sent light to me.

And I remember as I look back over my life, the first real light that came to me was when I began to date a young lady at around 19 years old, and then she took me to her home. Sometimes they would take me to church, and I noticed this family, this young lady's parents and the sisters that were involved in the family, and I realized that they had something that I wanted. They had some light in their life.

There was something good about their testimony. That's the first I've ever experienced light. This is good.

This is what I want in my darkness. And praise God for a good testimony in a dark world. People look at our lives and say this is something I desire.

This is something I want. I look back on my life, and in my darkness, this is the first glimmer of light at age 19 that I saw a Christian family. I saw a Christian home.

I saw young people that respected their parents. I saw people that feared God. I saw people that had joy and peace in their heart, in their life, and it was a light to me, and it was something I desired, and I gravitated to it, and I didn't understand it, but I know one thing, that that light brought repentance in my heart, and as I looked at their life, there was a deep desire in me to be like they are.

I don't want to live in the sin and the wickedness that I was living in, but I wanted to live like them, and so that was the first light I experienced, and then about six months later, I got another glorious light come to me, and that was the night I was at a golf shop, closing the golf shop down, and my heart was seeking to understand the way and how to find peace with God and how to live like these people lived. I was a hypocrite. I was living an ungodly life and hiding it before this young lady and her family, and there on the wall at this golf course where I was working, on July 15, 1978, I picked a gospel track up, and all of a sudden, the light of the glorious gospel of Christ shone into my heart, and that night, I realized my own condition and the direction that I was heading, and also realized that Jesus Christ was saying to me, neither do I condemn thee, and light came to me in a very, very strong and glorious way, and that night, God worked a work of salvation in my heart, and so many today are sitting in that darkness, and as Isaac was sharing here this morning, people are looking for some light.

Many are. Many are not, and we've already learned in John chapter 3 that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil, but there are a lot of people who are sitting in darkness and don't even know it, much like me. Don't even know how to find the way.

Don't even know how to proceed in life. I read a story one time of a man who was on a journey, and it was nighttime, and he came across a cave, an entrance into a cave, and he went in there, and he laid himself down, and it was dark in the cave, and he went to sleep that night. In the morning, the sun rose, and the sun shone into the cave, and the man was aroused from his sleep, and he looked around, and he saw that he had been sleeping all night in the midst of snakes, venomous snakes and scorpions all about the cave, and he did not realize that he was sleeping in the midst of peril because he was sleeping in darkness.

You know, that's a beautiful picture of lost people today. They are sleeping in darkness, and yet all around them, and they don't even realize it, that they're only one heartbeat away from eternal damnation, the danger that is so near to them, and yet they sleep in their darkness. And so Jesus says, I am the light.

I am the light of the world. There's a beautiful account of this in Matthew 4. You don't have to turn there. I'll just read it to you.

One of my favorite ones is in Matthew 4, verse 12. It says, Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee, and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, and the borders of Zebulun and Nephthys, that it might be fulfilled which is spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, listen to this, the land of Zebulun and the land of Nephthys, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness saw great light. And to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.

Here are people sitting in the region and the shadow of death, people sitting in the proximity of death, some people sitting on the verge of death, in the shadow and region of death, in darkness. And the Lord comes to that town, and he lifts up his voice and preaches the word of God. And they see a great light.

You know, that's what we're supposed to be, by the way. We're supposed to be light, amen? You are the light of the world. And so we as a church, we ought to be working in people, repentance, like this family worked in me.

I see those people who attend Redmond Christian Fellowship. I see their children. I see their families.

I want to be like them. We ought to be a light for the lost world. And then we ought to show them the glorious light of the gospel.

Well, when Jesus says this in verse number 12, I am the light of the world, he is referencing this account that he was just a part of with the scribes and this woman taking an adultery. And Jesus is declaring that he has just given light. He has just addressed some darkness, and he has spoken light into this darkness.

And you know, you can go back and you read the book of John, all the times that Jesus met people and he spoke light. You know, he met Nicodemus, and he gave Nicodemus light. He must be born again, Nicodemus.

He met the woman at the well, and he gave the woman at the well some light. Go call your husband. I have living water for you.

And throughout this gospel, we've been seeing how the Lord goes from place to place, and he is giving light to people. And I believe this morning the Lord is going to give light to us and revelation to our hearts in different ways, in different areas. But here in this story, when Jesus said, I am the light of the world, he is speaking to the people who just observed this account of the Pharisees and the woman taken in adultery.

And so he has given light to these Pharisees. And we talked a little bit about this last time, but these Pharisees were proud men, pride-blind men. They were critical and judgmental.

They wanted to focus on the sins of others, not their own sins. And this attitude left them in darkness. But Jesus had some light for them.

And you see that light here in verse number 7. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. That is a statement to give these men some light. Fellas, you're in darkness.

Fellas, you don't understand what's going on here. I want to give you some light. And here's light for you, you that are without sin.

Let you first cast a stone at her. I look at it this way. The Lord says to these men, fellas, if you want to be judged by the law, why don't we do this? Let's start with you.

And you know what? These guys said, let's move on. You know, most people, if you start with them, they'll move on. But the Pharisees wanted to judge the woman.

But when Jesus turned it and said, let's start with you, all of a sudden things changed rather dramatically. And so light came to them. And something beautiful happened here when this light comes to them in verse number nine, and they would turn it being convicted.

Oh, that's a good light there. Being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one. And so the Lord spoke that to give them light.

And the first thing that happened in me with regards to light was conviction. This family is convicting me of my darkness and my sin. And that's where God starts when he brings light to a lost soul.

And so conviction set in with these men. And that's what we need, by the way. We need a little godly sorrow.

By the way, you know that light's coming to you when you have conviction and godly sorrow over your sin. So the Lord directs them to their own issue, to their own heart. I shared this last week.

A godly man says, search me, O God. Know my heart. See if there be any wicked way in me.

Amen. You notice all the me's there? It's me. It's me, it's me, it's me, O Lord.

Standing in the need of prayer. Right? It's not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, O Lord. And so the Lord brought light to these men.

I am the light of the world. He brought some light to them. Here's some light for you.

Look inward. And they did. And there was conviction that came upon their own heart.

These Pharisees needed some humility. They needed some godly sorrow. So the Lord tried to shed some light into their soul.

There's something else he did here. He shed light into the woman's heart, too. And it was the glorious light of the gospel.

Here is a woman. We talked about her last time. She is hopeless.

I mean, what hope does she have? She's going to be stoned. It's all over. She's standing there.

She's condemned. Her sins have been exposed. Now what is she going to do? Well, Jesus gives her light.

And it's the light of the gospel. He says this to her. I do not condemn you.

Oh, that's light, isn't it? That's beautiful light. You're going to forgive me. Yes.

But go and sin no more. I am going to suffer in your place. I'm going to die for you so that I don't have to condemn you and judge you.

And I'm going to give you my spirit so that you can go and sin no more. Live a holy life. That's the light she needed, wasn't it? That's good light for her.

And so the Lord gives light to every man. I love that verse. The Bible says that Jesus is the light that lights every man that comes into the world.

I believe everyone here, especially when you get to the age where you're 16, 17, 18 years old, God is shedding light into your soul. He's giving you opportunities to see yourself, to see your sin, to bring conviction to you so that you can turn from your sin and be blessed. And he's also trying to get through to you the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well, verse 12 says this, 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. In other words, didn't we sing something about being near to the Lord? Those who are near me will experience the light.

Some of you young people, if you take a walk in the woods when it's nighttime, it's dark, and one of you have a lantern, and that one is leading a group through the darkness, and as long as you're near the one that's holding the lantern, you can walk in the light. But if you get further and further back, maybe you and a friend stay further and further back, you draw further and further back, or you wander off to the side, the further you get away from the one who's holding the lantern, the farther you go into darkness. And Jesus says, I'm the light of the world.

If you come with me, if you stay near me, if you follow me, you won't walk in darkness, but you'll have the light of life. And folks, some of you young people, we need wisdom and understanding for life. You need it.

You've got to have wisdom and understanding. Wisdom and understanding are light for your life. This is a dark world.

It's a dark place, and unless you have wisdom and understanding, you're going to stumble and fall, and many of you, it's going to be a long fall. And so you need wisdom. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

It's talking about spiritual light. I remember as a young man, many examples, but one in particular. It wasn't long as a Christian, about two or three years of my Christian life, I was about $3,000 or $4,000 in debt.

I remember looking at my, you know, that credit card, that credit bill that they would send me, pay $20 a month, but my bill was like $3,000. And I realized, you know, I'm not going to pay this off. They're going to be getting 20 bucks from me for the rest of my life.

And I was realizing that there's something wrong. I'm going in the wrong direction. And in my innocency, I just started to study God's word.

I wanted some light with regards to finances. And I went through all the scripture, and I found all the principles that deal with how to use your finances wisely, and I needed to put those things into practice. And I've been blessed ever since.

It wasn't long before I was out of debt. I haven't been in debt since. And I've had a blessed financial experience for the last 40 years.

Why is that? Because I went to this Bible to find some light, to find some wisdom for life. And you can go in every area of your life and go to this book and search out light and wisdom. You don't have to stumble and fall.

You don't have to be 35, 40, 45 years old and be in a financial mess. You don't have to have a marriage that's in a mess. You don't have to have messes.

You don't have to stumble and fall because God has given us light. And we can walk in it. And so Jesus says, I'm the light of the world.

If you come along with me, I'm the one that has the lantern. You can stay in my light and you won't stumble. So I encourage you to walk with God.

Stay real close. What that means is you ought to get up in the morning and seek the face of God and spend some time on your knees and be honest with God every morning. Tell him what you've done.

Tell him what you need. Open up his Bible and let light shine into your heart. Immerse yourself in his word and in prayer and draw near unto the light of the world.

And you won't walk in darkness. You won't stumble. Well, we're not going to go very far here.

You don't have to turn there. In John chapter 11, he mentions something about this. Jesus says, Are there not 12 hours in the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not because he seeth the light of this world.

But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no light in him. You know, this world is built or is created to show us spiritual lessons. God put 12 hours, if you live on the equator, 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of night.

He teaches us a lesson. If you walk in the daylight, you don't fall. If you walk in night, you're going to fall.

And some of those falls are going to be tragic. And so you're encouraged to walk in the light. Well, let's jump down here to verse number 13 in John chapter 8. The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou barest record of thyself.

Thy record is not true. Now, when the Pharisees heard Jesus say, I am the light of the world, they say, listen, you're bearing record of yourself, and that record is not true. Now, in the law, in the Old Testament, and you go down here to verse 17, you'll see this.

It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. In other words, the testimony of one is not sufficient. You need two.

You need a second witness or a third in order for a statement to be true and valid. And so when Jesus says, I am the light of the world, they say, your testimony is not true because you're the only witness. Well, the Lord is going to show them another witness here in just a little bit.

But the law required the testimony of two witnesses for something to be true or an accusation to be true. Why is that? Because man is sinful and his heart is deceitful. How many of you are like this? How many of you are like me? You tend to shade things that you say in such a way as to make you look good and others look bad.

Is that just in me, or is that in all of us? We shade things to justify and to protect ourselves and to condemn and criticize others. And I know that shouldn't be that way, but that's human nature. Man is sinful in his heart.

His heart is deceitful. And we tend to protect our own reputation and to make others' reputations worse than what they really are. We usually don't judge ourselves accurately, nor do we judge others accurately because of our own frailty.

We have selfish interests. So to establish truth, there must be two or three witnesses. In our court system, they call it a corroborating witness.

You need more than just one. You need corroborating witnesses, a second or a third. I thought about, wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone told the truth with no shading? It would be great, wouldn't it? You've got the murderer on the stand, and the attorney says, Did you murder so-and-so? All I can do is say the truth.

Yes. Where did you put the gun? It's over there in the lake. I can show you exactly where it is.

Was there anybody with you? Yes, there was one other person, and here's his name and here's his address. Wouldn't it be great if one witness was all we needed because the witness always told the truth? You know, the problem is witnesses don't always tell the truth. Witnesses.

And that's what they're saying to Jesus. You bear a record of yourself, your record is not true. We need another witness.

We need another testimony. So we're encouraged in the Bible to speak truth with our neighbor. Now, I learned this way back when I first started counseling people in marriage, in church life.

And I'd sit down with that wife and say, What's your side of the story? Maybe the husband wasn't there. And she'd tell me her side of the story. And after I heard her side of the story, I was basically in my heart, this guy, this husband, he's not even converted.

I'm going to go and I'm going to rip him good. I mean, he's treating this poor young lady this way. So I go stomping over to the husband, sit down with the husband, praise God, say, Okay, let me hear your side of the story.

I'm ready to tear him up. And then he gives me his side of the story. And by the time he's over, I say, I can't believe that woman.

She is as evil as you. You know, you listen to these two sides of the story and you get something totally different. You know why that is? Because human nature tends to look at things in such a way as to protect ourselves and to blame others.

So I learned a long time ago that when you sit down and talk to people, you hear both sides of the story. Matter of fact, the book of Proverbs says, Don't judge a matter until you heard both sides of the story. So these Pharisees here don't believe that Jesus is who he says he is.

They don't believe he is deity. They believe he's a sinful man like them. And his testimony is not true.

I am the light of the world. But we know that he is deity. We know that he is the son of God.

Therefore, his word is good. As a matter of fact, the Bible says it's impossible for God to lie. I use this illustration with regards to that.

You know, I'm up here and I choose to lie or not to lie. I'm tempted either way. I can choose to lie or not to lie.

But there's some things I can't choose. For example, I cannot choose to have a baby. You ladies do.

You choose. You can get married, have children. That's a choice.

Or you can stay single and not have children. You have the ability to have a child. You have the ability to not have a child.

It's a choice. With me, there is no choice. It's impossible for me to have a child.

You all knew that, right? God doesn't sit up in heaven and say, Oh, I don't know whether I should lie today or not. I'm tempted to. I'm not tempted to.

Oh, I don't want to. I won't. No, God, it's impossible.

It is impossible. The Bible says for God to lie. And so here in verse 14, let's keep reading.

This is what Jesus says. And Jesus answered and said to them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. My record is true because I'm the son of God.

I am the truth, and I always speak the truth. For I know whence I came and whither I go. But you cannot tell whence I come and whither I go.

You judge after the flesh. I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true.

For I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. And so the Lord Jesus here says, I can bear record of myself because I am the son of God. And my judgment, my record is true.

Now, here in a few minutes, we're going to read. He's going to give a second witness. And that second witness is his father.

And we'll see that just in a minute. But humanly speaking, humanly speaking, and the law was given for humans, two or three witnesses are necessary to establish something as truthful. Verse 17, it is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.

I'd like to look at some examples of this here in the New Testament about the need for two or three witnesses. This statement is made four times in the New Testament. I'd just like to read and have you go through them with me, a couple of these examples.

Well, actually, all of them. Let's look at the first one in Matthew chapter 18, a very familiar passage about two or three witnesses. Matthew chapter 18, starting in verse 15.

Matthew 18, verse 15. Jesus says this, But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, and here's our phrase, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established. And so the need for a second or a third witness to establish the fact that this person whom is being approached is unwilling to repent.

Now, when the first person comes and says, hey, I see something in your life that you have, I want to approach you and ask you about it. There may be some questions about whether or not this person receives it, whether or not they're really repentant. And so to bring a second witness and a third witness establishes the fact that they are or they are not.

And so in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established. It's not just left to one person. You know how that would work.

Well, I went to talk to so-and-so and they didn't repent. Well, so-and-so says they did. Well, one witness is not sufficient.

Let's bring a second and a third. So you find it here in Matthew 18, when you go to your brother, when your brother trespasses against you. Now look back to 1 Timothy 5 as another example of it.

Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5. In verse number 19, it's used again. Speaking of elders, 1 Timothy 5.19 says, against an elder received not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin, rebuke before all that others also may hear.

So here we have this idea again of two or three witnesses. Now, the enemy of our soul would like to take out Brother Elson over there, myself as the elders of the church here, and he could cause one person to rise up and make a false accusation and wipe both of us out, if you believe the false accusation. So the Bible gives some safeguards here with regards to accusing those in leadership that it must be from the mouth of two or three witnesses.

And so a safeguard for the leadership. Look back to Hebrews chapter 10, another example here. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 28.

There's four examples in the New Testament. I'm going to start back in verse number 23 of Hebrews chapter 10. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful and promised, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

In other words, we ought to be coming together more and more as the second coming of Christ approaches. Verse 26, for if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. If we go on and live in sin willfully, presumptuously, forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.

Verse 28, he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, sayeth the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people.

It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Here's a picture of people who are just departing in their heart, no longer gathering together with the saints, going out into sin, sinning willfully. Well, the writer here in verse 28 says, he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.

You know, in the Old Testament, you would not be able to stone someone and give them a death sentence unless there was at least two witnesses. You couldn't stone someone based upon one witness. So he mentions here, those that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.

So this is a biblical principle. You see it throughout the scriptures. One more place, 2 Corinthians.

Let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 20. We'll read a little context here.

In verse 20 of 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul is writing to the church. In chapter 12 verse 20, And fornication and lasciviousness, which they have committed. This is the third time I am coming to you, and notice this, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

I told you before and foretell you as if I were present the second time and being absent, then I write to them which have heretofore sinned and to all others that if I come again, I will not spare. And so here Paul, the third time he's coming, he says, listen, these things are going on in the church. Debates and envy and wrath and strife and backbiting and whispering and swelling and uncleanness and fornication, lasciviousness going on.

It's not being repented of. He said, I'm coming to you and those who are continuing on in these type of sins, we're going to deal with it. It says in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established.

In other words, I won't take the witness of one, but I need two or three. And so Paul, he followed the same principle in the mouth of two or three witnesses. And so if we go back here to John, the Pharisees are asking Jesus or saying to Jesus, I don't, we don't agree with your testimony that you're the light of the world.

They want another testimony. They want another witness. And so the Lord is going to give them here another witness.

And that witness is found here in John 8 verse 18. He says this. I am one that bear witness of myself and the father that sent me bears witness of me.

So here's the second witness that the Lord gives my father that sent me is this second witness. And I don't have to turn very far. We went through this when we went through John chapter five, but listen to what Jesus says in John five, verse 36.

He says, but I have a greater witness than that of John for the works which the father has given me to finish the same works that I do bear witness of me that the father hath sent me. And so when Jesus says, I am the light of the world, the Pharisees say, wait a minute, wait a minute. You need two witnesses.

You need another witness. Jesus says, well, I'm the son of God and my word is good. I don't need another one, but I'll give you another one.

My father, my father is bearing witness of me and he bears witness of me by giving me these amazing works that he is giving me. And you look at those miracles that Jesus did. They bore witness that the father was declaring him to be the son of God.

He raised the dead. Boy, didn't that bear witness. He cleansed the lepers.

He healed the sick. He cast out devils. And so the Lord Jesus had a second witness to his word.

And that brings me to a subject that I have, I feel like, have experienced some in my life, but I don't know that we, we embrace this. And I'm just going to throw this out to you because I believe that the example in the scriptures are not only should the word of God bear witness, but God wants to give a second witness to his word. And you see this throughout the Bible.

You see even the son of God, God bore witness by mighty signs and wonders. And I'm not going to read all the examples, but in Matthew chapter 10, when Jesus sent his disciples out to preach the gospel, he said to go and preach to the gospel in every city in Israel. And he said, these signs I'm going to send with you.

And these signs will bear witness of the truth of this, of the word. And then in Mark 16, when Jesus sends his disciples out in the great commission, he said, these signs shall follow them. When they preach these signs, these miracles will follow them as they go from place to place.

And Hebrews chapter 2, you don't have to turn, let me read to you what it says in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. Listen to this. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his will.

And so the example we see over and over, whether it's the son of God, whether it's the disciples, God bears witness to his word. And so as those men in the book of Acts, it's very clear, as they went out and preached, there was another witness that bore witness to the truth of the word of God. And that was these miracles.

And we'll see a little bit of that here in just a minute. But jump down to verse 19 of John chapter 8. Verse 19, Then said they unto him, Where is thy father? And Jesus answered, You needn't know me nor my father. If you had known me, you should have known my father also.

In other words, what the Lord is saying here, and he repeats this in a number of different places in the book of John, I and my father are one. If you'd have known me, you'd have known my father. You don't know me, therefore you cannot know my father because I and my father are one.

When we reject the son, we reject the father because they are one. I know this is kind of a crude example, but I use this with regards to Muslims when we go to a college campus, and that is, I am a son. My father's name is Ronald and I'm his son.

So I'm a son, but I'm also a father. I have my own children, and so I'm both a son and I'm a father. If you're going to receive me, you need to receive me on both levels.

You cannot reject me as a son to my father and accept me as a father to my son. If you're going to receive me, you receive me on both levels. And that's what Jesus is saying.

I and my father are one. We are the same. Now turn over to John 14 and we'll close here at this passage.

John 14. I want to read a rather lengthy passage starting in verse number 5. The Lord addresses this whole subject and he brings it all together in John 14 starting in verse number 5. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.

If you have known me, you should have known my father also, and from henceforth, listen to this, and from henceforth you know him and have seen him. Now Thomas is looking right at Jesus. Show up, saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us.

He doesn't get it. And Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me.

He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else, believe me for the very works sake. Again, look at this for a minute.

Listen, believe me. Believe my word, Jesus says, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or if you don't believe that, believe me for the works sake. Believe me because of what works I am doing, the miraculous works that I am doing.

The second witness. And then here's a verse that's always troubled me, and maybe it ought to trouble all of us. Verse 12, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father.

And he's simply saying to those disciples, I'm going to go to my Father and send the Holy Spirit, and by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, those that believe on me will do greater works than I do. Wow. Now I know we want to cut that verse out of the Bible and kind of pitch it.

But think about that for a minute. They that believe. He that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do also.

He's talking about these works. And you see these works throughout the book of Acts that bear witness to the Word of God. Oh, would the God when we go on a college campus and preach the Word of God that there would be a witness.

God's power would be seen. And when we go everywhere and we talk to people. But it says here in verse 12, He that believeth.

And I'm under the persuasion that our greatest issue is a lack of faith. I mean, I shared with you a month or two ago in the book of Galatians, Paul says, says he miracles among you by the works of the world by the hearing of faith. It's the hearing of faith.

It's having this faith rise up in your heart to believe that God will do what he says. And if that faith is not there, I love James chapter 1, if any man lack wisdom and ask of God who giveth to all men liberally, but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering because he that wavers is like the sea tossed to and fro. Let not that man think that he shall receive.

What's the next word? Anything. Anything from the Lord. This faithless attitude is something that, you know, it's not going to be a hit and miss.

I'll get 50% of it. Nothing. And so what troubles me is, you know, you read a verse like that and that's not one of those verses you're going to get a lot of attention on, you know, in many circles.

You're not going to get an attention on that one because it just doesn't fit, you know, in most people's theology. But truly, truly I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also. God wants to testify or bear witness.

And greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father. Now I understand it. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, wow, that's an amazing work.

But there is a greater work than raising someone from the dead. And that is getting a soul saved and raising them from spiritual death. There is something greater than healing a leper.

Yes, it would be great to see, my daughter's in India right now and she tells me she was in a leper colony. I went to a leper colony in the Philippines. I shook the people's hands.

Praise God that leprosy is not contagious. But the leper was healed. I don't know where I was going with that one.

Greater works. Oh, I know what I was saying. Leprosy represents sin.

And yes, we'd love to see the leper cleansed and his limbs grow back and his leprosy removed. But far greater, we would love to see people set free from sin. That's the real leprosy.

A greater work than these. But I really believe that we have a problem with faith. That's just my personal opinion.

Faith. And I've experienced this over the years. My wife can bear witness to me here.

And some of you have heard me share this. I'll give you some examples. Faith.

My wife and I, many years ago, were having difficulty trying to help people with counseling. And we would get people in and counsel with them and just didn't seem to go anywhere. We'd hit a brick wall.

And we started to search and we came across a series of tapes on dealing with the demonic world, casting out devils. And we, my wife and I, spent, we would drive in the car, we would spend time just listening to these tapes and listening to this man talk, teach the Bible about dealing with the demonic world and casting out devils. And faith rose up in our hearts.

We began to see this is real. This is possible. And we ought to pursue this before we were in darkness.

We would never even thought of pursuing it or have any faith to believe that God could use us for that purpose. Within a month of listening to these tapes, God set a demonic person right in our midst. And this demon manifested in our midst and we addressed it as we understood by faith and God delivered this individual who's prospering even to this day.

And it was only because our eyes were open to the reality, we believed it, and then God laid it right before us. There's a second witness to that. And I know Valerie is not here today, but my wife and I, you know, we've dealt with many things that you start to lose sight of these things.

And about four years ago, I don't know why it happened. I just said, honey, you know, we should gather some families together and go through those tapes again. So what did we do? We gathered some families together, went through those tapes, sat down on a Monday night.

Some of you probably were involved in that. We began to hear, open our thoughts and eyes to the reality of this. And within just a matter of weeks of that, Valerie's situation came to the forefront.

And some demonic spirits, if you were here a number of years ago, manifested in her life. And those were addressed. It's almost like we are kind of in a darkness and we don't see until light comes to us.

And then we say, hey, maybe this is something God wants. And when that light comes to the heart, then God opens the door. If we don't think that we could have anyone healed or delivered or demons cast out, how many of you think it's going to get blessed? Nothing.

Nothing. And so it's by faith. It's believing.

You know, I read those words and I want to take those words that they're real. They're true. Some of you have heard me tell this story.

Some of you have not. So those of you who have heard me tell this story, you can turn your ears off or you can hear it again. But one of the first examples of learning this was way back when I was in Bible school.

And I love this story because God really taught me a lesson about faith. And it was January 1st. I was working for an outfit called Sport Mart.

I was in Bible school, probably about 26 years old. And I had a whole day off. This is a great idea for some of you young people.

Have a whole day off. A vacation. It's amazing.

You know what I wanted to do for that vacation? I had a day in my room. I was going to take my Bible, get up in the morning and start reading slowly through the book of Acts. And just as God would lay something on my heart, stop and study.

And then keep going. I don't know that whole day. I might have got to chapter 2 or chapter 3. I'm not sure.

But one thing that stuck out to me that whole day, God kept showing me, these men went forth and they said this little phrase, in the name of Jesus Christ. Everything was in the name of Jesus Christ. And I couldn't figure out.

So I studied, what does this mean in the name of Jesus Christ? And I come to realize that these men were standing in the place of Jesus. Jesus had gone back and he said, now you go and you stand in my place and you take my name and you do what I did. And those men understood that.

And so I spent the whole day in the word of God. And I focused on this phrase, in the name of Jesus Christ. January 1st in Chicago is cold.

The next day was a Sunday morning, January 2nd. I'm already got this in my heart and mind and my faith is risen. I've been in the word of God all day, the day before.

I'm in the bus ministry. We go to Chicago and we pick up children. We got about 60 children.

We're coming back from Chicago. It's maybe five or 10 degrees out, Chicago, January 2nd. Going down to Dan Ryan, probably eight lanes of traffic.

It's not very busy on Sunday morning. I'm sitting in the backseat of the bus. For some reason, the bus stops running, literally stops running in the middle of the Dan Ryan.

They don't even have a chance to get it off the highway. We are parked in the middle of the Dan Ryan. I'm in the back of the bus.

We have about two or three other men, Bible students that are on the bus. One guy is driving and a couple of them, and they're out trying to figure out what's going on with the bus. They can't get it started.

They set the flares out, and they're calling to have someone come and get us. You can imagine five, 10 degrees, Chicago, 60 kids, little ones, in a bus, no heat. I'm sitting back there on the bus.

It's getting cold. As I'm sitting there, the thought comes to me. You just spent a whole day yesterday, and you learned in the name of Jesus Christ, and how to stand in the place of the Lord Jesus.

I'm sitting in the back of the bus. You know how it is. I'm looking around and saying, Lord, if you were here, what would you do? What do you think he would do? These children are getting cold.

In my heart, and it's only because of faith, having been a whole day in the Word of God, my faith is rising up. The other men are outside the bus directing traffic. I got up, and I said, Lord, I'm going to go, and I'm going to sit on that bus, and I'm going to proclaim in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, this bus is going to start.

I walked to the seat, sat down in the seat, looked at the steering wheel, and I said, in the name of Jesus Christ, I command this bus to start. I turned the key on, and it started right up. It shocked me.

Remember the story of how Peter went, or they went to the door, and Peter was standing there praying for Peter. The bus had turned on. The men outside were shocked.

They put the hood down, grabbed the flares. We all jumped in the bus. I stayed in the seat because I had a driver's license too.

I drove the bus 30 minutes all the way to church. What a trip that was for me. The one thing that was a testimony to me was this, that it was the faith that came from the Word of God.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The faith that came out of the Word of God in my heart, expressing that faith. It's interesting to me that in most of these instances that I've been sharing with you, that when God reveals something to you that is truthful from His Word, oftentimes shortly thereafter, He'll set before you an opportunity to express it.

The day later, a week later, a month later. And so, faith. I believe we have a great lack of faith.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do also. It is impossible for God to lie. Amen? And then look at verse 13.

Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do. That the Father may be glorified in the Son. Verse 14, if you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.

That's if you have faith. And so I would encourage you here this morning to step out in faith. This is not a faith message.

We're going to close with that. Faith. I believe not only does Jesus want us to go forth and speak, but I also believe He wants to bear witness.

So you can call me a nut if you'd like. But throughout my life, I have seen God respond to faith in my heart. And it's an exciting life, and you ought to pursue that life.

Take the Word of God and pursue it. Believe it. Believe His Word and go forth.

Well, let's close here this morning. We'll take anyone's thoughts and comments who have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for your Word again.

And Lord, we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, that you are the Father, and the Father, you are one. And Lord, may we also have our eyes open to the reality that you've gone to heaven, and you have given us the power of the Holy Spirit of God to live and to function in your name. In your place.

And Lord, as you've said, the works that you have done, we will do in greater works. Lord, may that be real in our own hearts. We pray you'll drive unbelief from us, Lord.

Fill our hearts with faith to believe. May we truly believe that nothing is impossible to Him that believeth. And so Lord, make us a people of faith.

We pray your blessing on these words, now in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.

Does anyone have anything they'd like to share?