My Testimony is True - John..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. John chapter 8 from verse 12. Again Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. So the Pharisees said to him, you are bearing witness about yourself. Your testimony is not true. Jesus answered, Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I am going, but you do not know where I come from, my apologies, and where I am going.

You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. Yet if I do judge, my judgment is true. For it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two people is true.

I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me. They said to him, therefore, where is your father? Jesus answered, You know neither me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. These words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple, but no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come.

Amen. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains forever. So, brothers and sisters, church friends, we this evening or this afternoon, by God's grace, we will continue in the gospel according to John in the chapter where we left off last time. And as you can see from verse 13 onwards to verse 20, we see the response of the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, those men who are known to be the elites as far as Torah was concerned. Their response to Jesus' claim, His second I Am statement.

And that was the statement that we together considered last week. When Jesus stood in the temple grounds and in verse 12, we're told he uttered these glorious words, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So many ways, I said last time that we can take these words to mean, but I reminded us that faithful interpretation of God's word must, must always not be devoid of the historical context. These words, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, have been written and recorded for us by the Apostle John, and in the sacred writing of Scripture.

And I, for one, am extremely grateful for them, and I know you are too. But we have to remember, before we opened our Bibles or ever read these words, they were spoken in a real time in history some 2,000 years ago. There was an original audience that heard these words before you and I had a chance to read them. And a proper understanding of that context, I believe, is very important for us to understand what Jesus was meaning in his words. So last week we journeyed back 2,000 years in time and we had a bit of a glimpse of exactly what was going on in the first century in that place, the temple in Jerusalem, at the time of the Feast of Booths, or at least at the end of the feast.

And I hope that helped us discern the words of our Lord, which are so remarkable and extraordinary to us, but more so probably to His listeners who are actually there. They would have been massive, those words of our Lord, to their ears. Precisely because how they understood His words. considering what was fresh on their minds. in the temple ground, and they were celebrating the third of three main feasts of the year, the Feast of Booths.

And I've said over and over again what that feast entails. I'm hoping it's still fresh in our minds. But really, in summary, what they're doing is the people of Israel come from all over the place to commemorate, to remember the faithfulness of Yahweh in His provision for the people of Israel for 40 years after departing from Egypt and making their way into the Promised Land, how He provided for them in so many different ways, through so many different means. All the activities and the rituals that would take place during this festivity, during this festival, was to illustrate an aspect or a facet of God, Yahweh's provision amongst the people, for the people, their ancestors in 40 years of wilderness. And so, you remember, there were two main activities that I mentioned last week.

The first was the pouring of the water, and that was to commemorate that God provided for the people of Israel life-giving water, and he did that miraculously through or in from a rock in the wilderness. And so when Jesus utters the words before the people in the temple, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Chapter 7, 37, 38. Those words were impactful for the people who were there.

That water ceremony was fresh on their minds. And then the second thing I mentioned, the second ritual that these people were celebrating was the light show. You remember those big candles that stood in the temple ground and lit over practically most of the city of Jerusalem. Brilliant lights. As far as they could see.

And you might remember I said that was to point back to the brilliant light of the manifest glory of Yahweh. In particular, the cloud in the day. But more in particular, the pillar of fire by night that led the people of Israel for 40 years in the wilderness. We're told He never left them. And we're also told they did journey by day and they did journey by night.

And so when Jesus stands before these people, this is the context that he utters the words in verse 12, where he says, I am the light of the world. Whoever follow me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. What a statement! This is a true claim to his deity, a true claim to him being the only one, the only light of salvation. both Jews and Gentiles, because He is the light of the world.

And apart from Him, there is only what? Darkness. Apart from Him, there is only darkness. And devoid of light is death, because where there is light, the light of God is where there is life. Apart from Christ, there can only be death.

These were certainly shocking words for those who could understand them. Those who were given spiritual ears to hear and spiritual eyes to see. These words were shocking because what Jesus was doing was he was identifying himself with the brilliant light, the manifest glory of Yahweh in the wilderness. He's saying that I'm being identified with Yahweh. So he's saying practically that I am God in flesh.

You remember that the manifest glory of Yahweh, which is what you're celebrating, these big lights, what they're symbolizing, that belongs to me is what Jesus is saying. This is a statement of divine truth, a statement of His deity, that He is indeed God. Now, it may have gone over some of these people, some of these listeners' heads. We know that because that was the case with many of Jesus' teachings, many of His statements. In fact, His first, I am statement, I am the bread of life.

How many heads did that go straight over? Especially when He began to teach them, they began to think, this is a gross teaching. You want us to eat your body? Straight over, straight over their head. And that was likely the case here as well, but there may have been some in this crowd.

who put two and two together. For the most part, we don't know how the words were received. We're not told by the majority how they received the words. But some, if some in the crowd got it, if some could understand what Jesus was saying, then we would have to say it would be those who at least had the most familiarity with the sacred writings, right? Those who knew the Scripture.

Those who knew what Jesus is boldly asserting himself to. What is Jesus doing? He's attaching himself to that event, that glory in the Old Testament. You would have to think that maybe the Pharisees got what Jesus was saying. Or at least that's what you may think.

Whether they did or not, we'll come to see. Because they knew the Scripture. If anyone could put two and two together, you would think they're the ones who could do it. And it's their responses that the Lord was pleased to give us in the passage that we'll be examining today. It's their response to our Lord.

Their response to that great statement that I am the light of the world. And then we will begin to examine also the response of Jesus Christ to their response as we continue to study this discourse between our Lord Jesus and the so-called religious elites of the day. Verse 13, So the Pharisee said to him, You are bearing witness about yourself. Your testimony is not true. Surprise?

Surprise. They don't believe him. They do deny His testimony immediately. But why? Do they have good reason to deny Christ's testimony?

Is this a fair assessment of what they have been seeing in Christ? Well, not at all. We know already. We've been following the tracks of our Lord. We've worked our way through the gospel according to John.

And over and over again, we've come across the Pharisees. We know that the religious leaders of the day have one thing at this point on their mind. One thing only. And that is to eliminate Christ. We can agree on that, can't we?

So that shouldn't come as a surprise to us that they denied Christ, that they rejected His testimony. In the last days, in the last four days alone since Christ made it to Jerusalem, we've seen their hostility and their antagonism increase with Jesus' every word. They wanted nothing more than to muffle His voice, to remove His influence from among them once and for all. They despised His presence and they abhorred His teaching. They were bent on getting rid of Jesus.

The religious authorities were striving to that end, beloved, but everything they tried failed over and over again. What did they try? How did they try to eliminate Christ? Only in the last few days alone we've seen a number of ways that they've tried to eliminate Him. The first one was they tried to kill Him, and that would have been the simplest thing, just to get Him out of the way.

They sought to do that, we're told, in verse 19 of the previous chapter. But that didn't work. Why? Because, we're told, because His time had not, or His hour had not yet come. But beloved, irrespective, there was murder in the hearts of these men.

And that murder was in their hearts, not only in this trip, but it had been in their hearts for a very long time. In fact, the very first time that we have recorded for us in Scripture that Jesus has a meaningful discussion with the Pharisees, we know what side they're on. And from that point, they're seeking to kill Christ. That's way back in chapter 5. So what else did they try?

They tried to discredit our Lord. They try to discredit Him among His followers. If He's discredited, then no one's going to listen to Him, right? I mean, that makes sense. Remember back in chapter 7, when they declared Him to be a man who is unlearned, no formal education, implying that He's not sanctioned by us.

He hasn't gone through the formal rabbinical schools. He doesn't have one of our degrees. You shouldn't listen to this, Jesus. Did that work? No.

Because every time our Lord opened his mouth, they could not, they could not compete with his divine wisdom. He left them dumbfounded. They'd never come across anyone like our Lord ever. He would refute everything they say, and they couldn't stand up to his wisdom. Every time they tried, their egos were dashed and crushed.

They were humiliated in front of the very crowds that esteemed them as the religious leaders, as their own teachers. It didn't work. What else? Well, how can we forget their command to the officers of the temple to arrest our Lord. You remember that?

The Levite officers. You remember what happened there. That failed and that failed dismally because they come back and they were speechless. They could not lay a hand on our Lord because no one, no man has ever spoken like this man, they said. No doubt the religious leaders were now getting a little desperate.

Everything they tried has now backfired into their face. So now it seems they adopt a tactic involving legal technicality. A legal technicality. An attempt to discredit Jesus by throwing out his testimony, throwing out his claim, throwing out what he says of himself, based on the fact that there is only one testimony, one testifier, a sole testifier in Christ, that he is the light of the world. That's what we're talking about.

the claim that Jesus is making that I am the light of the world. Without other witnesses, according to these men, according to these Pharisees that are before us here in John chapter 8, Jesus' testimony is not true. Or as you might find in some of your translations, it's translated that Jesus' testimony is invalid. Invalid. So they thought anyway.

So with their chest pumped out, likely, these prideful men were thinking, we know Torah, We know what is written in the law. We can make our case right now before this Jesus. Jesus your testimony is not true or as I said earlier according to some translations your testimony Jesus is not valid. Not valid meaning that your words Jesus the claims that you're making are not admissible in our courts. They're likely referring to the law aren't they?

They're referring to the law that is written for us in the Old Testament. And there's two clear passages that they would be referring to. We have Deuteronomy chapter 17 verse 6 that reads like this. On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, the one who is to die shall be put to death. A person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.

Maybe. Maybe they're appealing to the second. The passage that is found in Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 15. And that reads like this, "...a single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrongdoing in connection with any offense that he has committed.

Only on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses shall a charge be established." Now, true, these passages deny the testimony of a sole witness in the courts. But it's clear, beloved, both these passages require two or three witnesses to convict a person of a crime that is punishable with death or a serious consequence. These laws were given because God, who himself sits on the throne of righteousness and justice, that's the foundation of his throne, according to Psalm 89, 14. He's concerned that none of his people suffers injustice in his theocracy, where he is king.

Throughout the scripture we can see it's abundantly clear that God hates injustice. He despises it. It's an abomination in his holy eyes and we can recite scripture after scripture that speaks to this. So he's made a law to protect his people from the injustices that become and be cause in or rooted in man's sinful wretched heart. But that's not what's going on here.

The Pharisees are mishandling the law. They're mishandling the law by making application to those passages in the Old Testament to prompt justice and they're applying them to Jesus' self-declaration of being the light of the world. He's not being tried for a crime, is he? He's making a declaration of who he is. He's professing to the crowd of who he is.

And this claim that Jesus is making ought not to be tried with two or three witnesses. That's not how you assess a claim someone makes. You would in a way of a crime where there's a serious penalty. Jesus, that's not how you assess what Jesus is saying, even though Jesus will go on to say that there are indeed two witnesses that speak to him and to his veracity, the veracity of his claims. There is the Father and the Son.

We'll get into that later. But it's a claim that should be assessed by its own merits. Otherwise nothing anyone says is trusted. Nothing anyone says on their own is trustworthy otherwise. People would have to go around walking in groups of two and three because everything they say cannot be trusted by one another.

That would be meaningless. Their words would be meaningless unless there's always a witness next to them in everything they say. Now that's not the meaning of the law here. Not the meaning of the law in Deuteronomy at all. The Jews or the Pharisees are misappropriating that law.

In this situation Jesus' claim should be discerned in light of Scripture and based on the truthfulness and the reliability of the character of the person making the claim. Appeal to Scripture. and then appeal to the reliability and the truthfulness of the character making the claim. Now in relation to Scripture, Jesus has already rebuked these religious men in chapter 5. You remember that rebuke?

He rebuked them because they thought they knew the scripture, but he said, you don't know scripture. Your hearts are devoid of the word of God. Devoid of the word of God. They lacked understanding because everything they read was set, sat and resided in their minds. None of it soaked into their hearts, soaked into their souls.

They could know what is written, the letter of the law, but they didn't know the spirit of the law. They lacked understanding. So as far as Scripture was concerned, they couldn't discern through Scripture. And in relation to Jesus' character, well the Pharisees may not have openly admitted my apologies to it, but Jesus was faultless in his character. He'd never uttered a lie.

And God was so clearly authenticating His ministry. So clearly authenticating His work and His words and His claims. So clearly authenticating the truthfulness of Jesus Christ's word through His power. The power of God was seen in everything Jesus did. Many of the things Jesus did could only be attributed to divine power of God.

And God would never sanction a liar. His character was spotless. In fact, before this discourse closes in chapter 8, the Lord will publicly challenge everyone there in the public square, those who have seen Him, His public ministry and His words and His actions, His dealings with His disciples and with others. He will challenge them all if anyone can convict Him of a single what? Sin.

That's how squeaky clean the character of Jesus is. But the hateful hearts, the darkened hearts of these men had blinded them of truth. Even truth that is so saturated with grace. A truth that could redeem and save sinners just like them if they would only open their eyes and embrace Christ by faith. But they'd been blinded to that truth.

we see is a willful suppression of that truth in unrighteousness. And the wickedness of that suppression, beloved, is that it was manifested in the public square. What do I mean by that? Their attempt to discredit our Lord to discredit his life-giving words and his testimony of himself would not only result in them denying themselves of the light of life, but also they were placing obstacles in the paths of the lay people in that place from coming closer to the Lord. You see, the lay people in that place, I've said on many occasions, they highly esteemed the Pharisees.

In fact, from the religious leaders of the day, they were the most highly respected. Highly esteemed. Such an influence among the people was clearly evident. They knew Scripture. They taught Scripture.

They recited Scripture. They looked like the most holy of holy of the men. And they were the ones that were highly Highly respected. People would only simply side with the Pharisees because otherwise they think they would be deceived on their own. They couldn't rely on their own understanding.

And now you have the Pharisees discrediting our Lord, or at least attempting to. That's a serious sin. placing stumbling blocks before others that's a serious serious sin especially for those who have been called to to teach and and preach the word of God the scripture they're meant to be faithful with their teaching they're meant to be faithful with the promotion of of truth that's a huge responsibility we know in James chapter 3 verse 1 we're told that those who have been called to teach they will be under greater Judgment. Stricter judgment, I think is how he says it. And Jesus said well when he spoke of these scribes and Pharisees.

On this point, in Matthew chapter 23, when he said, "...Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces, for you neither enter yourself..." That's what they're not doing. They're shutting the kingdom of heaven and they're not entering themselves by slurring and defiling and profaning Christ and everything that comes out of his mouth.

But then Jesus goes on to say, "...nor allow those who would enter to go in." What a serious charge. What a serious charge is the one who puts obstacles in the place of others who are coming towards the light. Don't come.

Remain there. Go back into the darkness. That's what they're doing. And in this case, beloved, in their own moral darkness, the instrument that they use in their attempt to discredit Jesus is the Holy Law. the law that is good, the law that is righteous.

They mishandle it, they misappropriate that law. That which is meant to be for good and righteousness, they use for their own selfish agenda to promote their own wicked desires. And I think that might be the reason That might actually be the reason Jesus refers to the law as your law in verse 17. He doesn't say the law or our law. You'd expect him to say that.

But he looks at the Pharisees and says according to your law. I think it's because these religious men were more on one occasion pulled up by our Lord for manipulating the law for their own private personal benefit. misusing the holy precepts of God's law to satisfy their own sinful passions and to satisfy their perverted hearts. And so Jesus, I believe now, is calling them up on that and saying, according to your law. But this goes deeper again.

Let's face it, it may look on the surface like these men were only seeking to comply with Torah, that there's a certain nobility, a certain aura around them. All we're trying to do is observe the law. At least their perverted understanding of the law. But yet, they still, they may be only looking to preserve the law. But beloved, that was a facade.

That was a mask. That was a show for what was really taking place beneath all this, beneath the surface, in their hearts. And we should be able to see through the hypocritical facade. Jesus certainly did. Do you really think that their goal is simply to throw out Jesus' testimony?

Do you honestly think that's all they're looking at doing? Saying, Jesus, you claim that you are the light of the world and there's only one witness. We can't have your testimony because there's only one. It can't be admissible in our courts and therefore we can't accept it. Do you really think that the claim in verse 13 should be translated as it is in some translations, your testimony is not valid, because they're talking just simply of a legal situation?

As if to say, sorry Jesus, you said you are the light of the world, and as much as we would love to believe you, and we really really would, You know, we're religious men and we know Torah and we would rather honour and serve God according to our understanding than to believe something like your testimony which cannot be admitted in court because it is a sole testimony. We are so sorry. If the circumstances were different, maybe things would have been different also. Do you think that's what's going on? Or do you think, going by what Jesus says, The following words of our Lord, the piercing words of refutation that we find in this passage, based on their increasing hostility towards Him, and their growing desire to arrest Him, even in a moment's time, we're told in verse 20.

You think the words of our Lord's refutation and their desire to continually arrest Christ and kill Him, do you think maybe the ESV got it right when he translated it? Your testimony is not true. Hiding behind the law, maybe, but in reality they're accusing Jesus of false testimony. Accusing our Lord, hear this, of being a liar. I believe it's option B.

Especially in light of what is yet to come. It's clear, beloved. These men don't believe in what Jesus is saying. And these men see Christ as a liar. As far as they were concerned, the court is closed.

Not because of lack of evidence. No, that's not it. The court is closed because they've already made judgment. And that judgment is, Jesus, you're guilty. We don't believe what you're saying.

Your words are untrue. Wait just one moment. Even if the Deuteronomical laws were applied here and Jesus' testimony is not admitted according to their understanding of the law, that doesn't make him untrue, does it? Think about it. It means that his testimony is not admissible in their courts, but it doesn't make Jesus necessarily untrue.

Are you telling me if there's only one witness and no more, then that person is a liar? No, that's not what it is. There could be no witnesses and still truth. A judgment cannot be cast either way when there's only one witness, according to their understanding, because of a lack of evidence, lack of witnesses, a lack of testimony. But herein lies the natural darkness of the human heart.

And I want you to see this. Despite, in their eyes, not having enough evidence either way, they already make a judgment call. And beloved, that judgment call is that Jesus is guilty. That He's untrue. That He's a liar.

And so beloved, no matter what anyone else tells you, there is no neutral ground when it comes to Christ. There's no such thing as sitting on the fence and we're just going to weigh up the evidence. There's no such thing. You're either one way or the other. You're either for Him or you're against Him.

Matthew 12, 30, from the lips of our Lord Himself. Either you acknowledge His claims and believe His words by faith, or recklessly, like these Pharisees, you deny the truth and you declare Him to be a liar. But there's no middle ground. There are none. There is none.

You're either for him or you're against him. If you're for him, you love him, you obey him and you walk in his light. If you're against him, you turn your back on him, you reject him and you claim that he's untrue, that he is a liar. That's the two options. Only two sides.

And before this chapter comes to a close, Jesus will stress that truth. He'll stretch that truth to these Jews in a universal way. You probably know what I'm speaking about because in chapter 8, towards the middle, we're told that there's only two families in this world. Only two families that exist. And everyone belongs to one of these families or the other.

Either children of Abraham, Jesus says, that is children of God living in the light of God, doing the works of God. What's the other option? Children of the devil. And which of the two does Jesus confirm them to be? Again, option B.

Listen to how he puts it. From verse 44. Chapter 8, verse 44. You are of your father the devil. And your will is to do your father's will.

He was a murderer from the beginning. Now remember, these men have murder in their hearts, do they not? And hear this, and speaking of the devil still, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him like father, like son. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character. For he is a liar, and the father of lies.

But because I tell the truth, he this, you do not what? Jesus is not debating whether his testimony is invalid in the court of law. And neither are these men. These men have refuted the words of Christ. Jesus speaks the truth, and they're saying, you are speaking lies.

They don't accept the truth. Jesus says, you do not believe. what I have to say. They cannot see the truth. Even when the personification of truth stands right before their very eyes.

That's dark. That's spiritual blindness, beloved. And don't think for a moment that their ignorance and their spiritual blindness will excuse them on the last day. Irrespective of how dark and blind their hearts are, judgment will be served. I can't think of a greater judgment than that deserving of those who use their sinful lips to defile and to profane and to blaspheme our sinless Son of God, the only Savior of the world, and call him to be untrue, to call him to be a liar.

I can't think of how great a judgment that would be. Reckless words, beloved. are inevitably a result of a heart that is darkened by sin. Morally, dark hearts will produce reckless words. It produces evil.

Beloved, proper recompense is coming. Remember Christ? Remember Christ's word back in Matthew chapter 12 when he rebukes the Pharisees? You remember what he said? Listen to what he said then.

He said, either make the tree good or its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34. You brood of vipers. He's speaking to the Pharisees. How can you speak good when you are evil?

For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." What comes out is not happenstance. It doesn't come out by chance. What comes out of the mouth of a person is a result of what is inside here. It comes out from the abundance of the heart.

The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, Jesus says, on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak. I'm going to say that again. On the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak. Are they not terrifying words?

For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Jesus, we don't believe your claims. We don't believe your words. Jesus, we don't believe your testimony. Jesus, you're a liar.

Do those words not bring chills to your spine? But here's the thing, beloved. It's easy for us to look back and point the finger. It's easy for us to look back, read the text, and look at the actions of the Jews and point the finger as though that sort of darkness of heart is unique to a particular people in a particular time. So easy for us to do that.

And in fact we're probably very good at doing that. But you know the Bible is very clear. The default position for every single human being in Adam is the same darkness. The default position is to reject Jesus and to assert in the heart that He is untrue. We must remember that, beloved, because although Jesus is claiming here that He is the light of the world, and that's the definite article, the light of the world, meaning there is no other light, no other light of life, He goes on to say towards the end of chapter or verse 12, we must also realize that no one, no one, no one, no exceptions, no one is born in that light.

And He is the only light. No other light, apart from Him, there is darkness. And no one is born in the light of Christ. Then I ask you, where are people born? All in Adam are born in darkness.

All in Adam are rebels. All in Adam are haters of God. All in Adam refute the words of Jesus Christ by nature. They don't believe. And contrary to what you've seen, or what you've read, or what you've seen out there, even in some of the seeker-sensitive places that you've seen, it's not that most people are generally good, apart from a few bad apples.

That's not what the Bible says. That's not the testimony of Scripture. Beloved, the default is not light, but darkness. That's the default. moral darkness.

That which is antithetical to God. That is what is antithetical to the one in whom there is no darkness. That's the default. That's the default. It's so clear through scripture.

Even from the beginning. Even from the beginning. Let's go, if we go back to Genesis chapter 6, just before the fall, you might remember the words that are written there in chapter 6. The Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Okay.

hear these words, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. Did you get those adjectives? They're pretty comprehensive, are they? Listen to them. Every intention of the heart, of the thoughts of his heart, were only, so every intention of the thoughts of his heart, were only evil, and if you didn't get it, continually.

Non-stop. Unbroken evil. Unbroken darkness. Not even a glimmer of light in there. Is there any goodness?

Not at all. Alright? You might say, brother, you might say, that was before the flood. That's why God destroyed the earth. because he recreated the earth and with these eight people in the ark and surely mankind is better now after the flood the heart is deceitful above all things our brother referenced it here this afternoon and desperately sick or desperately wicked who can know you jeremiah 17 9 that's after the flood okay maybe things got better in the new testament Paul doesn't think so.

He goes and claims a text from the Old and says this is just as applicable in the New. And he says, no one is righteous. No, no one. No one understands. No one seeks for God.

All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not one Paul. Not even one.

These chilling words. They're actually very scary words when you think about it. The default position for mankind, beloved. This is the Bible. This is the Word of God.

We may see with our eyes maybe some different things out there when we have unregenerate friends who are acting in ways of benevolence. We may see that. But this is the Bible. This is what the Bible tells us. In the human heart, there is only darkness apart from the light of Christ.

Only darkness. The only source of light is Jesus. No other light. Everything apart from Christ is dark. Our Lord even reiterates those words.

If you remember John chapter 12, we're not there yet, but you might remember the text. When Jesus is reiterating the truths that He has made, the statement, the I am statement that is made here in chapter 12 about Him being the light of the world, He reiterates that truth in chapter 12. But He says something very interesting there. In the 46th verse in chapter 12, listen to what our Lord says. He says, I have come into the world as light.

So whoever believes in me, hear this. Actually I want you to turn there. Let's go to chapter 12. Only a few pages for you. So John chapter 12.

Because I think this is a good verse to have in your minds, in your hearts. John chapter 12 and verse 46. John chapter 12 verse 46, I have come into the world as light so that whoever believes in me may not, what? May not remain in darkness. He's come into the world as light so that whoever believes in him may not remain in darkness.

Remain in darkness? He came into the world beloved. Not to keep things running as they are. People aren't in the light. Generally pretty good, apart from, as I said earlier, some bad apples.

Now the words of our Lord say something completely different to that. He came into the world so that people would not remain in darkness because they were in darkness to start with. So he came into this world to rescue his people who were in the darkness, in moral darkness, in the place of spiritual death. Because they were far removed from the only source of spiritual light. They were lost in the darkness.

unable to see, unable to hear, with no spiritual heartbeat whatsoever, completely lost. For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost. Luke 19.10. So what does all that mean for us?

Well, it means if you or I, even for a single moment, entertain the thought that if we were in the shoes of these Jews in the natural state, apart from Christ, we would have actually acted differently, that we would have weighed up the evidence and given Jesus the benefit of the doubt. If that's what you're thinking or have ever thought, then I will challenge you to think again. Because sometimes we can't have that attitude that I'm holier than thou. Apart from Christ, beloved. Apart from grace.

You know what we would have done? If you pleased the Lord that we would be born in that era, in that epoch, you know what we would have done? We would have stood right there beside them, pointing the finger at the perfect, sinless Lamb of God. The God in flesh. And we would be shouting, liar!

That's what we would have done. and we would have no remorse. Why? Because in the darkness you're blind and you can't see anything. We would cower back into the darkness and then we would wallow in our sin.

Oh Christian, brothers and sisters, Christians, Oh, that we would see. Oh, that we would see how wretched and pitiful we once were. Oh, that we would see what we were before. The God who said, let light shine out of darkness, shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Before that occurred to you and I, oh that we would know what wretched people we were.

How helpless we were. How pitiful we were. Darkness. Wallowing in our sin, in our filth. Helpless.

Completely helpless. We could not edge ourselves out of that darkness. We could not see. And here's the thing, we would not even want to get out of that darkness. Because we love the sin.

We held it close to our heart. We loved sin, and we didn't want the light. We had zero desire for God, zero desire for the Son of God, and we had no concern for salvation. When we look back at the Jews, beloved, may our hearts not condemn the pity, because we were no better. We are no better apart from Christ.

Remember that. Brothers and sisters, please remember that it's good to look back. It's good to remember the thick darkness that we were in. When the Lord came and invaded our lives, that darkness with his glorious light, it's good. It's good to look back, to be reminded of the filth and the wickedness and depravity of our hearts, that we were in fact worthy of eternal death.

It's good to look back and be reminded. Because if you don't see it that way, if you don't see the filth that you were once in, if you don't think, if you're thinking that I wasn't all that bad when Jesus saved me, You won't appreciate His grace. You won't. If you think you weren't all that bad when you were saved, you're not going to see how glorious His grace is. You won't appreciate the love of God in Christ.

Beloved, you're not going to appreciate unless you know the pitch black darkness. that you were once in and I was once in before the mercy of God invaded our soul with the glorious light of the sole source of light, the one who declares, I am the light of the world, the one in whom there is no darkness, the one in whom there is no unrighteousness. You won't appreciate what it means You won't appreciate what it means to be delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the sun, the kingdom of the light. And that, beloved, hear my voice, and that would be a tragedy. Not to recognize the grace of God that has been poured out upon you, Because you don't see how filthy and wicked you were apart from Christ.

That would be a tragedy for your Christian life. Look back. Look back. Look back. Remember who you were.

And now acknowledge what He has made you in Christ. That your life is in Jesus Christ. His life is your life. His light is your light. And then fall on your knees and give Him thanks.

Appreciate the light for what it is. The Pharisees said, your testimony is not true. And then Jesus responds. From verse 14 through 18, the response of our Lord is so rich, as always, it's saturated with divine wisdom. It's clear by now to our Lord that through his response that he can see the facade of these Pharisees.

He can see what they're trying to do. He sees right through them. He doesn't need to be told what is in man. He knows what is in man. And he can see that they are accusing him of false testimony.

He can see that they're hiding behind the law, at least their faulty understanding of the law, acting all righteous. But their minds are already set. Actually, their minds have already been set for years now, isn't it? Years. But further hardening is taking place.

Way back, a year and a half ago or so, in chapter 5, we know that they're back then. They hated Christ. They wanted Him dead. But beloved, every time they're exposed to His light, every time they're exposed to His claims, every time they're exposed to His teachings, and they walk away, they're hardening their hearts for judgment. So Jesus systematically breaks down what really is going on behind the words that are coming out of their mouths, behind the pretense that they're showing in their hearts.

And he justifies why indeed he can be trusted. And more pertinent to his listeners, in verse 19, he reveals why they have rejected him. And in a nutshell, They've rejected him because God, the only true God, God the Father, is unknown to them. blinded in their thick moral darkness and in the deception of their heart. They thought they knew God.

They claimed to know God. They were teachers of God. Yahweh is our God. You want to know about Him? Come.

Come see us. We can introduce you to Yahweh. Come. But tragically, they don't know Him, is what Jesus is saying. And that's a scary thought.

We'll examine those verses in future weeks. For the time we have left, I just only want to briefly look at verse 14. Verse 14. It's interesting here that even though our Lord will go on to mention in verse 18 of the two witnesses. It's probably what they are hoping to hear, right?

They're saying, Jesus, a sole testimony we're not going to accept. And Jesus will go on to say in verse 18 that there are indeed two witnesses to testify about the truths that I'm speaking, to testify about the authenticity of who I am and who I claim to be. There is the father who is the witness, and there is a son who is the witness. He says that in verse 18. But it's interesting, before he goes there, He begins with the fact that His self-testimony stands as true on its own.

Before I go and satisfy your evil minds, I'm going to tell you that on my own, the words I say, the claims I make are true. They stand as truth on their own. Irrespective of what they're demanding in the way of witnesses, the words of our Lord are objectively truth. His claims don't suddenly become true because two or three witnesses can now come and testify on his behalf. That's not truth.

I mean, the veracity of truth is dependent on the one who spoke those truths. Witnesses can testify. Witnesses can indeed testify to the truth. Witnesses can also point others to the truth. But truth is truth whether there's a witness or not.

It's objective. It's in God. Truth is in It is in God. And His words are objectively true because of what He has already told these religious leaders over and over again on His several, His trips to Jerusalem. That He and the Father are one.

That He is not of this world, but from above. That He is indeed divine. In a word, that He is God in flesh. Therefore, beloved, when Jesus speaks, who speaks? God speaks.

Who's going to question the truthfulness of God? God cannot lie. Titus 1.2. Hebrews 6.

18 tells us it is impossible for God to lie. The testimony of Jesus Christ stands true on its own. Yes, the Father and the Son are one. Yes, He'll say that. And the Father, everything that the Father testifies to, the Son testifies to.

There's a beautiful unity. But Jesus is saying, My testimony is true because of who I am, because of where I've been, and where I'm going. And if He's the Son of God, and He alone was in heaven, and He was apprised to all the things of heaven, because that's what He's saying, you don't know where I, because of where I came from, He came from being with the Father, then all the truths of heaven are made known to Christ, are they not? Only He has that experience. Only He can speak of that experience.

And so when Jesus says, I am the light of the world, his testimony is true, because he was with God. He is God. His audience can demand all the witnesses they want, but no mere man can verify the eternal truths that Jesus is speaking of, because no mere man has been where Jesus has been. Who's been there to come back and say, I can verify what Jesus is saying? No one's been there.

And Jesus looks them in the eye and says, you don't even know where I came from or where I'm going. His testimony stands true. Now I want us to see something. I want to bring this up because this might be on some of your minds. Our Lord's words here may seem like a contradiction to what He said earlier.

Actually, back in chapter 5, verse 31 indeed, Jesus says back there, He says, if I... He's again, He's in Jerusalem as well. He's before the religious leaders as well. So the context is very similar to what we have here. But there He says, in verse 31, He says, if I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.

That's confusing. And then here He says, my testimony is true. So which one is it? Now beloved, context. Remember, context.

Context is important. I submit to you that back in chapter 5, that it would be better interpreted, because of the context, as my testimony is not valid. Because that's what the context demands. See, in the passage in chapter 5, Jesus was appealing to their own understanding of the judicial requirements of needing two or three witnesses to establish truth. Without going into any further details about their understanding or misunderstanding of the law, our Lord reveals the hardness of their unbelieving hearts by simply showing them that the Father has indeed provided credible witnesses.

Credible witnesses to testify of who He is. And you might remember those witnesses. We went through it. It's been a while, but we did go through it. You have John the Baptist.

You have the works of Christ. John the Baptist was the one who was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, declaring the Messiah to come. And when the Messiah had come, he pointed his finger at Jesus and said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Then you have the work of Christ, the works, the miracles that Jesus did. They were attested to because the power of God was upon him.

And as I said earlier, the power of God cannot be sanctioned or cannot sanction one who is a liar, one who bears false testimony, one who claims lies of himself. And of course, the last is scripture. Scripture. That Scripture itself points to Jesus Christ. He said to them, you search Scripture for eternal life, but they testify about me.

You remember the passage. But here in chapter 8, Jesus is asserting the testimony is indeed true on its own, not because of witnesses like was the case he was appealing to in chapter 5, but because of who he is and where he has come from. He'll go on to speak about witnesses in verse 18, but for now, here in verse 14, that's what he's saying. Because only He, and none of His audience knows where He came from or where He's going. Only He from the beginning was in a face-to-face relationship with God the Father, who sent Him.

You remember back in John chapter 1 verse 1, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. Was with God is a face-to-face relationship with the Father. He's the one, that's the Father who sent Him from heaven to earth. And He sent Him to earth. to accomplish a work that the father had given him and Jesus will one day return to where he came from.

That's what he's saying. He'll return to heaven. Therefore only he is qualified to testify what he has seen and what he's heard at the father's right hand. He is uniquely qualified to testify of his true identity and although his testimony stands true It is in perfect unity with the Father. Now, if these men knew who it was that stood before them, if only they would acknowledge who He is, they would not dare ask Him for a witness.

But as we said earlier, darkness is blindness, spiritual blindness, and they cannot see who it is that stands before them. But if they did know, they would recognize that it is God in flesh speaking. And if they did recognize that it is God in flesh speaking, they would not dare ask for a witness. But rather, the only fitting response for a creature before a Creator God who stands before them is one of perfect obedience and worship. But you see none of that.

But beloved, the reason you see none of that, and the reason none of that can take place, is because before one can recognize Christ for who He is, the Son of God, first the light of Christ must pervade the darkness of their soul. That needs to take place first. And Jesus will make that known as He progresses. And beloved, we'll continue our Lord's stream of thought in future weeks. But I want us to end this evening reflecting on how glorious for us contemporary Christians, how glorious the words of our Lord are for us when he says, my testimony is true for I know where I came from and where I am going.

They are glorious words. I hope you've been able to see how wonderful they are. Now these words were directly initially spoken to the Pharisees but beloved they are there are many rays of hope in those simple but profound words to us believers in them clearly Jesus is testifying of eternity yeah that he knows where he came from heaven that he was from eternity past with the father he's attesting to that truth over and over again the fourth gospel and we've worked our way through we know that That He's from above and not from below. That's where He came from, from heaven. And now that's remarkable.

That's an incredible attestation to the divine nature of our Lord. And that is absolutely glorious. But it's the next words that have really moved me through the week. And I want to share that with you. For I know where I came from and where I am going.

His claim, or at least his claiming, that he'll be going back to where he came from in due time. And beloved, it's very easy for us to acknowledge these words in hindsight. That is, looking back after the facts. But we need to remember. We need to remember that these words were spoken by our Lord during His earthly ministry.

The Father sent the Son in real time in this world, your world and mine. And he sent him with a work to be accomplished. Jesus himself said in John chapter 6 verse 38, I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. He was clear. I've come down from heaven sent by the Father to do his will.

That will is the work that would bring completion or to completion, the plan of redemption, the plan that was in the heart of God from eternity past. What was required of our Lord, beloved, was nothing less than perfect obedience, nothing less than faultless submission to the Father's will to accomplish the plan, despite the incredible difficulties that lie ahead. The path was rough. Major torment, unbearable suffering, soul-wrenching anguish. That was the path that he would have to endure before he could cry out, it is finished.

All those things are yet to come. When he uttered these words, I know where I came from and where I am going. Such assurance. But Jesus, don't you, do you actually know what you're going to have to endure when you say these words? Do you know that if you falter even on one minutia of the plan of God, If you falter even in one tiny little element of the will of God, you will fail in your mission.

Jesus, do you know that? A failure to comply perfectly to the will of God. One small, one small disobedience. One tiny lie. A careless word.

A small selfish act. A minute complaint. will not only disqualify you, Jesus, from being Messiah, but would confine you to the grave and disqualify you from ever returning to the right hand of the Father. Jesus, before you speak too rashly, have you considered these difficulties? Have you considered what lies ahead and calculated the consequences of your words?

I know where I come from, he says, and where I am going. But Jesus, look at what you'll have to endure. You'll be hated by all. You'll be profaned and blasphemed by many. You'll be subject to the full human experience, all those emotions.

Jesus, being betrayed by the ones you love, that's gonna hurt. Yet you're saying you will not sin? You're gonna be subjected to the full weight of human temptation. Slip up once. Slip up once and you're not going back.

I know where I came from and where I am going. But the worst is still yet to come. The enemy will target you with the full force of his power. And he'll do it when you're most humanly vulnerable. Jesus, the garden of Gethsemane is still to come, Jesus.

You're going to experience anguish of the soul like never before. To the point where you will sweat drops of blood. And as it all comes to a climax, you will be hung on a tree to receive the full curse of the cup of the wrath of God poured out by your Father, the Father that loves you and that you love. Jesus, are you ready? Your Father, the one that you love, is going to treat you on the cross with the treatment deserving of wicked, depraved, filthy sinners.

Jesus, are you ready? Sinners that you will substitute for, their filth, their condemnation, you're going to be treated like they are hanging on the cross. Jesus, you're going to become sin, and you have never known sin. You've never experienced that type of dread, Jesus, before. Oh, the temptation that you're going to be confronted with, when all it will take is one word to Pontius Pilate, and you'll be free.

And you won't have to bear the sin of the world. If you break under pressure, your Father's will will be broken, and you will not return home. Jesus, what lies ahead? Shouldn't you You're seeing what lies ahead. Shouldn't you back up just a bit on your confidence and just see how things pan out?

My testimony is true. I know where I come from and I know where I'm going. Divine, unbreakable confidence. Beloved, for you and I, the situation is seemingly impossible. But for our Saviour, for our Lord, the Eternal Son of God, failure was never an option.

It was not a possibility. It is a, or was, an impossibility. Why? Because before the foundation of the world, a loved people united to the Son. And he pledged that he would save them from the darkness no matter what.

No matter what. And he came to bring that salvation. He came to bring that light to a sin darkened world to save his own. And that He has done, beloved, and He's done it to perfection, despite the impossibilities. Can His testimony be trusted?

Absolutely He can, because He is God in flesh. He and the Father are one. Oh, how glorious those words, I and the Father are one. Christian, those who have been saved by grace, through faith, by the precious blood that was shed upon the cross of our Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God. Christian, Jesus Christ, the same Christ, oozes with the same confidence, the unbreakable divine confidence, when He says to you, I will fulfill the promises in my word to you, no matter what.

And beloved, whatever you're going to face, they are nothing compared to what he bore and what he faced. And yet he had unshakable confidence and he accomplished his plan, the task, the will that the Lord had given him, the mission with absolute perfection. Often I think about grievous sins and I'll end with this. And sometimes we think, what are some sins more grievous than others? And when I asked, well, what is the most grievous sins?

You're going to get many different responses based on people's experience. Some will say murder. Some will say adultery. Others will say treason. But beloved, I submit to you in light of what we've just gone through.

I submit to you in light of what we've just meditated upon. and knowing the reliability of our Lord to keep His promises no matter what, I submit to you one of the most grievous, if not the most grievous sin is unbelief. Unbelief. Because there's not one iota of a warrant to distrust this Savior. And here's the rub.

That's a sin that you and I can fall into. Unbelief. And if you don't believe me, think to yourself, remind yourself of Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, remind yourself why he was made mute. Unbelief. Mistrust in the one who is the personification of truth, He's never broken any of His promises.

He's never said a lie. There is no unrighteousness found in Him. He's the one who said, I am the way, the truth and the life. Oh, beloved, there is absolutely no warrant for us to distrust Him. No warrant for our confidence, our faith to shake in light of who our Savior is.

No justifiable reason to lack trust in the One who is true. Only that the Lord would give us hearts to recognize this. That we could look back and see how filthy and how dirty we once were, and to see the mercy of God flooding in our life through the work of Jesus Christ, through His shed blood upon the cross, in whom we've come to know by grace and through faith. That this will give us a greater appreciation of what it is to be in the light and now what it is to be in the light. Over there we would also remind ourselves of the words of our Lord who said, I will go back.

I know where I've come from and I know I'm going back to the reign of the Father. Knowing all well what he is going to face, the experiences he's going to endure. Experiences he's never endured before. pain and suffering and anguish. The father's wrath poured upon him.

He who knew no sin became sin. Like how can we even begin to understand that statement? And knowing that he is the one who has promised that not one of his sheep will be lost. Is there a warrant for disbelief? The Apostle Paul knew by experience how faithful this Lord is and he wrote these words to the Philippians.

And I am sure of this. Sure? The Apostle was sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Beloved, if the Lord has saved you, if he's plucked you from the kingdom of darkness and transferred you into the kingdom of light, if he has had his light shine into your hearts, if you've come to embrace him by faith, Trusting Him for the forgiveness of your sins. Believing He died on the cross, not as a general sacrifice, but for you.

That it was your sins that He paid for upon that cross. That He was your own substitute. That it should have been you there, but you're believing that He died and bled for you, that He was buried on your behalf, that He rose on your behalf, and now that the light has shone into your heart, that you've risen with Him in the light of life, the resurrected life that is Christ, is your life. If that is you, then beloved, beloved, trust Him. Embrace Him.

Trust and obey Him. Walk in His light. Walk according to His statutes and His precepts. He says that if you love Me, you will obey My command. If you don't obey His word, it shows that you don't trust Him, you don't love Him, and you may not belong to Him.

Trust Him. Obey Him. Draw near to Him. That's where there is strength. That's where there is blessedness.

That's where there is light. And no matter what comes your way, whatever tribulation, whatever difficulty, whatever suffering, whatever the Lord has written for you, you can't be trusted. You've been given His life to purchase yours. Trust the one who says, my testimony is true. Let's pray.