John 8

Tonight we're going to be opening and reading from John chapter 8. As we've said, it is a very lengthy chapter, even more so by a few verses than what we've been looking at in chapter 7. The outline that I've provided may be a little more sketchy than what we had for chapter 7, and that's because it was put together today. Not having the responsibility of opening this chapter in the Bible reading at the conference a week ago. But as Brother Jim Beattie pointed out, apart from the occasion that starts the chapter, those first 11 verses with the woman who was taken in the act of adultery, the rest of the chapter is one long exchange of thought and point and counterpoint between the Pharisees and the Lord Jesus.

And so it's not real easy to divide it up, and it would be hard to try and cut it up in reading tonight. So we're going to read the whole thing so that we all get the full overview of the event, and then we'll look as best as we can through a number of the sections that we've tried to identify according to the outline so we have a sense of progress. So verse one, Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives.

And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him.

But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 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. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord.

And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go, and sin no more. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world.

He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself, thy record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true.

For I know whence I came and whither I go, but you cannot tell whence I came and whither I go. Ye 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 bears witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. Then said they unto him, Where is thy father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me nor my father. If ye had known me, ye 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. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins.

Whither I go, you cannot come. Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? Because he saith, Whither I go, you cannot come. And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath, I am from above.

Ye are of this world, I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins. For if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus said unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge of you, but he that sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he spake to them of the father.

Then said Jesus unto them, When you have lifted up the son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself. But as my father hath taught me, I speak those things, these things. And he that sent me is with me.

The father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him. As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin, and the servant abides not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever. If the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

I know that ye are Abraham's seed, but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father.

Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham.

Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication, we have one father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your father, ye would love me.

For I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech, even because ye cannot hear my words? Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it. Because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words, ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Then answered the Jews and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I am not a devil, but I honor my father, and ye do dishonor me. And I seek not mine own glory, but mine own glory. There is one that seeks and judges.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets.

And thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead, and the prophets are dead? Whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my father that honoreth me, of whom ye say that he is your God.

Yet ye have not known him, but I know him. And if I should say I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you, but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad.

Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

This chapter is one of those chapters like various ones in our Bibles where we have our, and I don't say this to, you know, elevate myself and make light of anybody else, but we have our choice verses, our choice thoughts. It's sort of like picking low-hanging fruit kind of thing, and we pass them on generation to generation, and they're undoubtedly tremendous things, precious thoughts, statements that the Lord Jesus makes here. But it's wonderful to just read the whole account, and to look at the overall setting, and see where and when the Lord Jesus said some of these things that we so often would quote and refer to.

So like we started off yesterday evening with such a profound statement, the statement is somewhat applicable to tonight as well. Profound statement number one. Chapter eight comes after chapter seven.

And you say, why in the world are you saying it this time? Well, you remember if you were here last night, we noted that many individuals, good writers, good expositors, suggest that verse 53 of chapter seven would more properly be the first verse of our chapter tonight, where it concludes, every man went unto his own house, and the word but could have been in part of the English translation, but Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. As if to make a distinction between that crowd, that mob that was opposing the Lord Jesus so vehemently on this occasion, and even dismissing Nicodemus as he raised his legal defense concerning the Lord Jesus. And yet in the end, all those individuals, all that mob went down to their own homes, and the Lord Jesus in his solitary distinction went up into the Mount of Olives by himself.

Not that he was lonely, but really because he stands in total contrast to every person, whether Nicodemus that had believed it seems, or those even that opposed. He went to the Mount alone. So we tried to, in the two portions of chapter seven, we tried to just put one overriding statement for a theme of it.

In the first half of chapter seven, we emphasize the idea of how the Lord Jesus went into conflict for the sake of at least some, and if not just one soul. So though he had stayed in the north regions in Galilee, he eventually did go into Judea and Jerusalem where they were seeking to kill him, and if for no other reason, it was for the sake of one soul. He was willing to face the conflict for the good of one.

Then in the second half, we emphasize the idea of how his experience and even that of Nicodemus is a real lesson for us, and that simply this, when you can't win the argument, just speak the truth. And of course today that's as relevant as it was on that occasion that the Lord Jesus had experienced. What about this evening? In the first half, as much as we can cover tonight here in chapter eight, something that appealed to me, and it's the way the chapter begins, and it's a principle that we all need to face, and it's this.

Christ went from communion on the Mount to conflict with men, and it is that thing that we need, that principle, that truth, that practice that we have to be reminded about in our Christian life. We have to commune with our Lord if we're ever going to be able effectively to face the conflict of men. So the Lord Jesus, when he went up into the Mount of Olives, the words aren't there in black and white, but it's very commonly recognized that on those occasions when he went up there, and there's a reference in Luke's gospel in chapter 21, and it says, if I can paraphrase it, the likes of this, that in the daytime he was in the temple teaching the people, but in the evening, in the night, he went out to the Mount of Olives.

So it wasn't just this one occasion, but it was a pattern that was repeated during those days when he was in the city and spending the time teaching in the temple. He went to the Mount in communion, and then he went before men in conflict. We need to learn to practice that consistently.

So if you've got the outline in front of you, first 11 verses in, we've just simply called it the Pharisees' Trap and Christ's Response. And in this, we get the three players, if you would, in the event that unfolds. You've got the judge, you've got the prosecution, and you've got the defendant.

The Lord Jesus really is the one who sits as the judge. You've got these hypocritical accusers, they're the prosecution, and you have the woman that has been brought into the presence of the Lord, the defendant in this circumstance. So let's just consider these 11 verses, not only how the event actually unfolds, but even for our own benefit in our learning, in our living as believers.

It was early in the morning, and the Lord Jesus, verse two says, came into the temple. People came to him. He didn't have to seek an audience.

His reputation has been established in the area, and people come to hear. Isn't it a wonderful thing as a believer, after some period of time, maybe even saved a short while or a long time, but it's tremendously encouraging when you find then that somebody comes to you because they have gained this impression that what you say, maybe not even so specifically about matters of eternity, but even just the matters of daily living, they want to hear it. And the Lord Jesus had established himself, and there were people that wanted to hear, and they came to him.

You know, it says he sat down and taught them. Yesterday evening, we emphasized that when he gave that call on the last day, the great day of the feast, and it's a tremendous gospel verse, if any man thirst, let him come unto me. Well, it says it very pointedly that he stood and said, as if there was some distinction from the rest of the time, how he behaved himself.

And this verse may indicate that when he had gone into taught, perhaps he was in a posture of sitting. But I've enjoyed just simply when the statement is made here in chapter eight and two, it demonstrates his attitude. He didn't stand and take a prominent place when he was going to teach these people that had arrived wanting to hear him.

The standing and proclaiming that invitation in chapter seven was a shout out to the audience at large, that there might be somebody that would stop and hear if any man thirst, let him come. So it was to everybody that was there. But now you've got a crowd that have particularly arrived to hear him, and he sits down as one among them.

I looked to several commentary writers to see if somebody would comment on that and didn't find anything specific. It seems to me I'd heard somebody say years ago that it was either typical or atypical. And I can't remember which one it was of how the rabbis taught the people of their day.

So if you know, please tell me after. Because like I said, I can't remember if it was typical that I heard somebody say, well, that's just the way the rabbis did it. So he took that same posture or it was totally contrary because they stood in distinction.

And so if you've got some good sound writing, historical record, I would be really interested to hear that. But now it unfolds. The Pharisees thought they could trap him.

It was pointed out and rightly so at the readings at the conference in Sault Ste. Marie that Nicodemus raising at the close of chapter seven there, a legal defense, if you would, of the Lord Jesus saying, you know, you can't condemn this man to death until you hear him and know exactly what he's done. And now they've been just seeking for something, some cause to put him to death, to discredit him at least.

So they're going to create a legal basis to do it. Bring a woman caught in adultery before him and see if he then dismisses the letter of the law and how to respond to her. And then we'll have a basis they're thinking of how we can condemn this man and perhaps even see him pursued to death.

But let's just look at this setting. My inclination some years now when looking at this setting is that this woman was used. Where's the man that was involved in the act? We have caught, we have taken this woman in adultery in the very act.

Obviously then they know who the man was. Where is he? Didn't bring him. Can't help but wonder if he was in the number actually that delivered her into the very presence of the Lord Jesus.

So my inclination is to think that it was a setup. Now I want to be very careful how I say this because I don't know everybody's background, you know, necessarily in particular. But one thing it teaches me is this, that victimization is a real thing.

People, particularly more often females rather than males, can be victims of abuse, taken advantage of. And so you could, you know, sort of set this lady in that category. And that sometimes makes it very, very difficult.

Usually it's something that takes place in younger years and it causes the individual to despise themselves because of what they were involved in. Though they don't realize that they were totally victimized in the occasion. And they have a hard time seeing themselves as a sinner because of what they have suffered at the hands of somebody else.

And it's always that perspective of what somebody else has done to me, even though I am as despicable as I am. The recognition of being a sinner seems to come hard to people like that. So there's a sense in which that woman doesn't, this woman rather, doesn't fit that scenario.

She's not younger because she's obviously been a willful participant. But I do believe she was used in the situation. Maybe from her female nature, she was enticed by a man that made some kind of promises that would feed to that need for a sense of security within her very soul.

And so this relationship would be commenced and this act of sexual union she was hoping would be a means of bonding with an individual that would secure her in the days to come forward. And she wakes up, not literally, but mentally awakes when whoever the intruders were into the scene. I mean, who in the world walks in and finds this incident unfolding? I mean, there's just so many things that make this seem like a situation set up to get a victim to use in the presence of the Lord to maybe tug at his apparent heartstrings of sympathy and break the law and have a reason to condemn him.

This woman, though, had participated evidently willfully in this act. The man walks away. Now she realizes she's been used and she can't escape, physically can't escape.

She's been overwhelmed by a however number of men are there and brought to the very temple. You can imagine the sense of guilt that would overwhelm this woman when she sees where they're taking her. They're actually arriving at the precincts of the temple.

They're walking into it. And I would take it that they're somewhere in the area of what is called the court of the women, of women. There was a segment, an area of the outer parameters of that court area that was a place where women were allowed to be brought or to come in even of their own volition.

And you'll notice down there in verse, I'm not looking at it right now, but where it says he said these things in the treasury and the treasury apparently was located in the court of the women. And that's why you remember the time when the Lord Jesus stood over to the side with the disciples and that widow came in and she threw everything that she had into the treasury box that day. It's why she was allowed to be there.

It was in the court of the women. And so these men dragged this poor victimized individual into that scene. And you can almost think, you know, they're taking me into the very temple and I've been caught in this very act and the sense of guilt that would overwhelm her.

Had she ever met Jesus of Nazareth? We don't know. But she was brought right into the midst of the audience that sat to hear him teach that day. She's made a spectacle and they say we caught her in the act.

The law says we should stone her. What sayest thou? John then adds his comment in verse six to make it clear what was going on. They were hoping to find something to accuse him and Jesus stooped down and just started writing in the ground.

Now I'm not going to dismiss what people have said. Some have likened the idea that he was writing the commandments of the law in the dust of the earth. You remember it was the finger of God that wrote on the stones that were provided to Moses, the ten commandments in particular.

That's a worthy thought indeed. Others have suggested as he wrote there in the dust of the ground there, maybe some of the very deeds that those men themselves had fulfilled of sin in their lives. Don't know.

But I appreciated one of the things that brother Brian Crawford said at the reading. He says it was a good thing it was written in the dust of the ground and it wasn't preserved. We would have made an idol out of it.

Things written by the finger of the Lord Jesus himself. And so when the Lord Jesus looked at them and isn't it interesting how the ungodly of the world have little tidbits of the Bible that fit their agenda at times. This expression, he that is without sin let him first cast the stone, you know that gets used.

When it seems fitting to ungodly and generally people that are totally opposed to anything biblical. When it seems that it would suit the occasion of maybe somebody's challenging them about their sin and they want to say well you cast the first stone. They seem to know some of these things don't they? Well the Lord Jesus said that to them.

And then he stooped down and he continued to write in the ground. And then verse 9 we need to note this. It's good relative to us.

When I say us I'm talking about the men who have to publicly preach the gospel. But even sisters in their exercise whether with the younger ones or witnessing to friends and family how it unfolded. They which heard being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one beginning at the oldest unto the last.

Interesting then that those men had a form of remorse. They're probably thinking oh man I wish I hadn't done that or whatever it was that was crossing their mind. But it's not repentance.

Brother Bruce Rogers at the readings used the expression he said they were convicted but they weren't contrite. You remember how the psalmist says how the Lord is near to those that are of a contrite spirit. That's a definition.

That's a way of speaking about what it means to be convicted right in the very spirit of the individual of sin and guilt accountability to God. Those individuals then convicted by their own conscience the last thing they wanted then was to stay in the presence of this man and be further exposed so they just one by one slip away. But who's left behind? The woman is standing there.

Initially she was accountable to the men that discovered her with the man in the act. Now she has come to realize she's not just accountable in fact she's really not accountable to them all. Is any man condemned? They no man.

They're all gone. But she's accountable to the man who wrote in the ground and she says no man Lord. No man Lord.

What those accusers wouldn't do she did. She stayed there to face her accountability before the Lord Himself. Those are the kind of people that get the blessing.

Those are the souls that find deliverance and forgiveness of sin. But those that may suffer some sense of regret or remorse for things that they have done but will not hear the gospel message further. They won't seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while is near.

But they just exit and get out of the light as it were and back into the darkness. And that's what you're going to see what the Lord Jesus says. No blessing for those.

This dear soul, this woman, she stands and awaits the word that he will say. And so he lifted himself up and asked the question has no man condemned thee? In verse 11 she said no man Lord and Jesus said neither do I condemn thee go and sin no more. So was the Lord Jesus saying go out and live a sinless life? No.

No. And personally I think verse 12 was if not specifically addressed to her and it indicates that it was spoken on maybe a little broader basis. I believe verse 12 in some sense or measure was spoken for her benefit as much as anybody else.

Go and sin no more then spoke Jesus again unto them to the larger crowd saying I am the light of the world he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. As if to say to that dear woman when he said go and sin no more follow me. And if you follow me you won't walk in darkness.

You won't persist in a life of sin but rather you'll have the light of life. It will both demonstrate who you are by following him. The practice of the life indicates the position of the person in relationship to God but as well it also affects the life that they live.

Following me will keep her in the light. And so that's a tyrannous really practical relevant thing for you and I tonight. You and me that are believers.

We need to keep following him. It's not a question of keeping our salvation. It's a matter of keeping from sin.

Go and sin no more. Well she's probably thinking how in the world am I gonna do that? My life has been marred by sin. Follow me.

The Lord Jesus of course had a lot to say both on this occasion but in all occasions. He taught, the people heard, they believed, they followed and they lived a life that was enjoying the sense of light as opposed to being immersed in the darkness. And that's why in some sense we felt that compulsion just a few minutes ago but the men that lived or left they went back out into a life of darkness of unbelief.

But this dear woman she was able to live a life immersed in the light of Christ. First by bond to him in faith and then following him and enjoying it the days of her life. So that brings us then into this section section we noted on the outline.

I am the light of the world. This is the second I am then in John's gospel and you know he doesn't say a whole lot beyond that statement about what he was saying does he? That's why I think it's very pertinent and probably spoken as much for the dear woman as it was anybody else. Follow me.

Be preserved from a life of sin. Walk in the light. We sing that don't we? Walk in the light and so shall it be.

We have a there's obviously a gospel or a believer's hymn that is based on this very verse and the sentiment of it. Shall have the light of life. Do you appreciate it believer? You know at times I'm impressed more than others when observing others that we know whether it's in our own community or even extended family that are without Christ.

Really the darkness in which they live. Well they might be busy and successful for this present world but they have no eyes for things eternal. They have seemingly so little consciousness of where they are and where they're going.

But the person who has Christ and the person then that lives in the good of that following him participating in that relationship with him who is the light of the world is preserved from such darkness and uncertainty that marks the lost souls of this world. Tremendous privilege to know him who is the light of the world and then to follow him. Verses 13 to 20 then we have simply identified in the outline as the record of Christ and this is going to then initiate this another sort of a debate as we said not that the Lord Jesus never argued.

He didn't need to argue. Not only did he know who he was talking to, he knew what they were thinking and he knew where it was going to end up in the end of the conversation as he would have an exchange with people. But he said things to prod and to dig into the consciousness of those that opposed him and we remind ourselves again it wasn't to win.

It was to waken those who were in darkness. Whichever occasion we read and like I said we've been looking in Matthew's gospel for some time back home in Sherman and time and again we see these confrontations. He just speaks the truth whether he is winning an argument or not and it was up to those that heard to receive the truth of his words.

So we read here verse 13 the Pharisees therefore said unto him thou barest record or witness of yourself thy record is not true. So they're accusing him of being a liar. So you can see it's really even their words that will initiate things that are going to be looked at even tomorrow night when he's going to get to very distinctly defining who their father is despite what they might claim.

And so they're claiming and charging him with lying. Your witness of yourself is not true. Verse 14 Jesus answered and said unto them though I bear record of myself yet my record is true for I know where I came from and whether I'm going but you cannot tell whence I come where I'm from and where I'm going.

He wasn't just belittling them he was telling them the fact you really don't know where I'm from and you don't know where I'm going. You judge after the flesh. You judge according to natural insights.

Remember yesterday in the seventh chapter we talked about how he said to them in summing up his first message judge not according to the appearance but judge righteous judgment. They lived to be seen and to be recognized by people and we saw the very real principle there the way we live the manner in which we live eventually affects or determines the manner in which we judge others and they live to be seen and that's how they judged others by what they saw in them. And here the Lord Jesus says he attributes it to judging just by natural insight.

You judge according to the flesh. But he says you know I judge no man. That's interesting isn't it? Remember what he said to Nicodemus that night son of man came not into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.

You know if the Lord was there to judge nobody would have been able to stand. Everybody would be found guilty immediately on the spot and he could justly deal out vengeance upon them. So there was a sense in which he was not there to pass a verdict and judgment upon people.

But the very things that he said at times just pricked the heart and stirred the consciousness of people and either got an honest response or just as it were stirred up greater hypocrisy on the part of those that heard. Verse 16 and yet if I judge my judgment is true for I'm not alone. And so here comes the principle of witness of two he's not doing this all on his own.

For I'm not alone but I and the father that sent me it is written in your law. You know the Lord Jesus had a way of really making a point. He didn't say it's written in the law.

He refers to your law which was the law of God but it would just have that much more impact on them because they were forever trying to claim that they had an understanding of the law of God delivered by Moses and that they were the only faithful adherents of it. So he says it is written in your law. Testimony of two men is true.

I bear witness of myself and the father that sent me bears witness of me. Then said the end of them well who where is thy father? If you're going to claim to have a father that is the second required individual in a lawful witness as a lawful witness where is he? Sometimes I wish I had the insights of the Lord Jesus because he always knew what they're going to say and he'd have a response that would just take the feet right out from underneath the individual so promptly. Where is your father? Jesus answered you neither know me nor my father.

Right back in chapter one when John the apostle begins to write this record the gospel that he as the spirit of God guides him in verse 18 he says no man has seen God at any time the only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father he has declared him. So right at the beginning of the gospel as John records it he makes it very clear that what you saw when you saw Jesus of Nazareth you were seeing of God the father in heaven. So the Lord Jesus just plainly said you don't know me nor my father.

If you'd known me you would also know my father. If you really knew who I was to use our expression be a done deal. You'd be good you'd be settled because if you knew me you'd know the father.

The son is here to declare the father. So verse 20 these words this is what the verse we were looking for these words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple and no man laid hands on him and here it's said again as it was said in chapter seven for his hour was not yet come. The hour when men would by his own submission take hold of him and lead him off to abuse and eventually crucify.

So that's the section then I am the light of the world the record the witness of Christ with complete harmony in that of the father who has sent him. Spoken as I suggest then as it points here in the treasury a segment of that area of the temple precincts called the court of women where the charge against the poor lady caught has been brought examined by the judge the prosecution has had as it were to fade from the scene and the verdict comes down neither do I condemn they why she's trusted him. Remember Romans 8 1 there's therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.

The scene is unfolded then and comes to the completion of this particular section identifying where it has all taken place a place that impressed me then with this the Lord Jesus was not did not give gender preference of any sort when he went into the temple he went to the place where women legitimately could come and when he taught he taught for the benefit of male and female and he was able to provide to forgiveness for each of both if only they would receive it. So our third section on the outline verses 21 to 29 the stark distinction in natures now just the eight verses there's a lot of material that'll be still there before tomorrow evening God willing so we're at least going to work into this and again what the Lord Jesus is going to do he is going to show that the men who don't know the father it is because they don't know him and if they were to know him then as we said it would be settled the business of sins and guilt and accountability before God and so he is going to elaborate on how utterly distinct he is from all that were there any man that has ever lived verse 21 then said Jesus again unto them and when it says again you remember last night in chapter 7 he said he was going to go away and that they couldn't be there but this time he's even going to make it more specific he's going to elaborate on it I go my way and you shall seek me and then he adds this and shall die in your sins whither I go you cannot come tremendous principle verse very applicable to be used in gospel preaching but the Lord Jesus is trying to waken up this oppressive audience that they don't know him and by not knowing him they are in danger of dying in their sins dear soul tonight you don't want to die with sins not forgiven you can either die in your sins or you can die in Christ there's only two ways to die and the tremendous blessing is as that verse in Romans 8 is no condemnation to them which are in Christ faith in the Lord Jesus brings forgiveness of sins and when God looks at the person he sees them in Christ accepted in the beloved is how Ephesians chapter 1 puts it so I'm going to go away you'll seek me but you'll die in your sins whither I go you cannot come then said the Jews remember yesterday they said was he going to take off and go out to the Jews that are dispersed among the Gentiles and we're too holy to go out there so I guess that's why he would say we won't be able to find him because he's going into no Jewish no faithful Jew will ever go out there but now they take it to another step he said well is he going to kill himself is he going to take his own life and so therefore we we can't follow him because he said whither I go you cannot come and he said unto you are from beneath um Mr Beattie reminded us last weekend a week ago there in the Sioux and I'd heard this before most of you here are very familiar with brother Bill Lavery when you've probably heard Bill say at times that his father an elder in one of the assemblies in Ireland was a very capable man a good student of the scriptures and uh highly regarded and one of the things that he had said that's quoted by others is that the Lord Jesus never answered the question he answered the questioner and that's a tremendous thought and whether we look at any of this as question or just charges that are being you know heaved at him it's evident sometimes that that same concept is true he doesn't necessarily answer the exact point but he says something that gets to the person who threw the made the point and so he said to them uh verse 23 you are from beneath you don't know me you don't know my father are you going to kill yourself doesn't answer the question he says you are from beneath I am from above you are out of this world this is where your roots have sprung from and your life is from the world I am not out of this world so we've got this tremendous distinction first in destinies where I'm going you cannot come and now this tremendous distinction in origins you're of this world I'm not of this world you're from beneath I'm from above and it's all said just to try and wake them up to who they're dealing with verse 24 I said therefore unto you that you shall die in your sins for if you believe not that I am you shall die in your sins those who are here Sunday night the Lord's day in the gospel meeting um no that was that here I can't keep track of one day to the next I know I was here yeah I was in some other world I'm just trying to think of what I spoke on because I enjoyed recently oh boys you see this guy's losing it um you remember when the Lord Jesus was confronted in the garden by Judas and those that came with him was that here Sunday boy anyway they came to him and he said who do you seek and they said Jesus of Nazareth and he said I am our English Bible as it does here in this verse in italics adds he as if to explain make it a real sentence but when he said I am they fell back to the ground on their faces they were compelled to back away from him on their faces because he revealed himself just in that response I am it's the statement that the Lord Jesus could make because of his eternal nature like when Moses stood at the burning bush and spoke to God and when he said to the Lord who do you who do I say is sending me back to Egypt and the response was I am that I am the eternal ever existent one and so when the Lord Jesus uses this response here it's exactly what the term that he in the garden at a later time when they came to arrest him you believe not that I am the God that saves if you don't believe that I am you'll die in your sins and so that tremendous distinction of destinies where I'm going you can't come the distinction really is determined because of the origin I'm from above you're from beneath I am eternal you are of this world and if you don't believe who I am you will die in your sins verse 25 then said they end him who art thou and Jesus said unto them even the same I had said unto you from the beginning there's no conflict in what he's saying he's been presenting himself as the son of the father from the beginning of his days of ministry so that's verse 25 as I noted on the outline the consequence of refusing to believe the distinction now I don't want to confuse anybody that's sitting here tonight because the night that God saved me because of my background raised in a Christian home with good faithful teaching and gospel preaching there were a lot of things that I understood but there are a lot of things I didn't have a clue about but what I knew was that Christ died for me and in that moment I was delivered from the dark despair of certainty of going to hell because of my sins and given the tremendous relief of thinking well Christ has died for me I am saved I'm going to heaven now if you jumped on top of me and said uh so do you believe that Jesus is the son of God the eternal one and started rhyming a bunch of stuff off you might have made my head spin I'm not sure I probably wouldn't have denied it but you might have had me you know suck in here and go listen when we look at things like this we are looking at it not to challenge a person necessarily in their faith but ideally strengthen those who do have faith to be saved tonight and to read things like this brings tremendous assurance and now as I as the years have passed and I can read things like this and I can look back over the years of good instruction that has been given to me and with full confidence all there are times I may doubt this but not him you don't believe that I am he the eternal one you'll die in your sins there's no reason to question who the Lord Jesus is he lived it he demonstrated it and the scriptures has recorded it so verse 26 I have many things to say to you or rather to judge to say and to judge of you but he that sent me is true and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him what was he saying he says I could judge you men on the spot right here and now but I am faithfully serving the one who sent me the son of man came not to condemn but to save so his primary mission at this point of being in this world his second coming won't carry this same primary mission but at this time is to awaken souls through their condition to persuade them of who he is and what he can do concerning the condition and hopefully they will believe that's why he was there so he says I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him we love these words don't we they're down there in verse 29 when we won't rush ahead but he says I do always those things that please him he's doing exactly what the father wanted him to do in every step every occasion every circumstance verse 27 they understood not that he spoke to them of the father sadly still in the dark why we're going to see God willing then tomorrow night as we look at verse 30 proceeding that the principle that the Lord Jesus introduced in chapter 7 verse 17 he's not going to let it go and that was the principle of if you're going to know the will of God you do what he has already revealed to you and they had been revealed had had revealed to them through the old testament commandments thou shalt not kill and they were looking for a basis to kill him some way to kill him and so he said the reason why you don't understand what I'm saying is because you aren't doing the will of God the principle fit the occasion and he's going to pick it up again and just as it were mercifully try to waking up wake up these oppressors these accusers and hopefully one would turn but it still applies to us God help us to be to obey what we know and seek what we don't and to walk in his light and really have the light of life learning to commune with him so that we'll be ready for when the time of conflict comes with men we'll pray and then we'll sing