Introduction

A.     The Savior And the Pharisees (8:12-59)

1.       The Light of the World (8:12-20)

a)        The Pharisees’ Challenge—Your bear witness of Yourself, Your witness is not true (13,19a)

1)        That Jesus serves as His own witness, therefore making His testimony unacceptable (v.13)

“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established." (Deuteronomy 19:15, NKJV)

(a)      Their Hardheartedness Shows Us Another Reality.  When Jesus is loved, followed and trusted, He becomes light.  But when He is neglected, He becomes darkness.

(b)      The Wilderness Cloud produced the same effect (Ex.14:19-20)

2)        That He cannot show them His Father (v.19a)

(a)      If you want knowledge of God you can only find it through Him (John 14:6., 9; Col.1:16)   

b)        Jesus’ Correction—I am the Light of the world those who follow Me will not walk in darkness (8:12, 14-18, 19b)

1)        The Feast of Tabernacles (booths).

(a)      First Ceremony: The pouring out of the water (7:37-39)

(b)      Second Ceremony: The Illumination of the temple

In the center of the treasury four great torches were set up. Some accounts say that the torches were as high as the highest walls of the temple and that the torches were as high as the highest walls of the temple and at the top of these golden candelabra were great bowls holding sixty-five liters of oil.  There was a ladder for each candelabrum, and in the evening priests would carry the oil up to the top, where they would light the protruding wicks.  The flames that leap out of these torches illumined the whole temple and much of Jerusalem.  The light illuminated the temple area and the people gathered to sing praises and dance. The light reminded the Jewish people of how God was with them in their wanderings in the wilderness in a pillar of cloud, which turned to fire at night.

2)        The Cloud In The Wilderness (Num. 9:15-23).

(a)      The Cloud Symbolized God’s Presence (Exodus 13:21-22).  The presence of God had once filled the Holy of Holies where Christ is now standing!

(b)      The Cloud Protected His People.  At this time temperatures could reach 140 or 150 degrees at day, & at night can fall below freezing. 

(c)      The Cloud Guided His People.  Walking in the light is a matter of following Christ (1 John 1:5-7). 

1.         The world is in darkness, a symbol of evil, sin, and ignorance (Matt. 4:16; John 3:19).

2.         “Light” in the Bible is a symbol of God and His holiness (Acts 9:3; 1 John 1:5).

3.         When Jesus said, Whoever follows Me, He meant whoever believes and obeys Him (John 10:4-5, 27; 12:26; 21:19-20, 22). Jesus was speaking of salvation.

4.         Following Christ is a matter of faithful submission and obedience.  When the joy & the power leave & confusion and weariness set in, lay everything before God and submit. 

5.         Ephesians 5:8-14; Philippians 2:14-15; Matt.13:43; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 22:5

6.         “follows” in 8:12 means to “continue and keep on continuing” (John 12:46)    

3)        Jesus says His claims are validated by two witnesses (v.14-17)

(a)      The testimony of Jesus bears Witness (v.18a)

(b)      The testimony of the Father bears witness (v.18b)

4)        Jesus says His accusers cannot know the Father, because they don’t know Him (v.19b)

c)         It Wasn’t His Time—No one laid hands on him for his hour had not yet come (v.20)

2.       Dying in Your Sins, or Abiding in Christ (8:21-32)

a)        Jesus’ Claims—Four Claims From Jesus (v.21, 23-24, 25b-26, 28-29)

1)        He is going away, they will die in their sins, unable to go where He goes (v.21).  There Are Two Ways To Die According To The Bible. 

q      You may die in the lord: "Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord… ” (Revelation 14:13, NKJV)

q      You may die in your sins: to die with the burden of one’s sin upon oneself and, as a result, to be forced to bear the penalty of sin, which is spiritual death (Rom.6:23)

2)        He is from above, they are from below (v.23-24)

(a)      The Pharisees were Spiritually blinded (2Cor.4:4; Eph.2:1-3).

(b)      But our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20)

(c)      A warning of the fires of Hell (Heb.10:26-31)!

3)        He is the Messiah sent from God (v.25b-26)

4)        He will be crucified (v.28-29)

(a)      Three Times “lifted up” is used (3:14-15; 8:28-29; 12:32)

(b)      Many Jews believed On Jesus after His death & ascension, realizing that the One whom they rejected was truly the Messiah (Acts 2:36, 37, 41)

(c)      Looking at the cross is where you will find life!

b)        The Confusion—Will He kill Himself… Who are You…? They did not understand (v.22,25a, 27)

1)        The Pharisees do not understand when Jesus says they cannot follow Him (v.22)

(a)      The Jews believe that suicide caused a person to occupy the worst place in hell.  In essence they were saying, “He says we cannot follow Him?  He must be going to Hell then!  And he’s right—we wont be following Him there

2)        “Tell us who You are” (v.25a, 27).

(a)      1 Corinthians 2:14

c)         The Path to Freedom—Many believed in Him (v.30-32).

1)        A Disciple Is One Who Abides In His Word (V.31)

(a)      True Discipleship Means: abiding in His Word (i.e.) welcoming it, being at home with it & living it so continually that it becomes part of the your life, a permanent influence of every area of life, leading to holiness. 

1.         Abiding begins with being students of the Word of God (Matt.4:4; Col.3:16; 2Tim.2:15).

2.         Abiding Continues with the obeying of the Word of God (2 John 9; Rev.2:26; James 1:22) prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

James 4:17 to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Luke 6:46-48  “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?  “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

Ezekiel 33:31 “They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.

3.         Samson was meant to be a deliverer but became a slave because he did not abide.

a.         His Birth (Judges 13:1-6, 24-25)      

b.         His Tragedy (Judges 16:20-21)

2)        The Result of Abiding: Knowing The Truth Shall Make You Free (V.32)

(a)      Romans (6:3,6,9,16) we ought to know we have been set free from sin!

3.       Freedom or Slavery (8:33-47)

a)        The Confusion—The Jews feel they are free because Abraham was their father (v.33)    

1)        Jesus was speaking spiritually, they were thinking physically.

2)        All throughout history the Jews had been slaves, in Egypt, Babylon, under the dominion of the Philistines, the Greeks, and now the Romans, they were slaves but would not admit it.

(a)      The first step to spiritual freedom is to recognize our slavery & that we have no power to liberate ourselves.  People today don’t like to be told they are enslaved.   

3)        Samson imagined he was the freest of men, & yet he was the greatest slave (Judges 16:20)

(a)      In Samson’s increasing immersion of the world, his sin robbed him of his sensibilities.

(b)      Our lives might be on Shifting Sand & we don’t realize it!

(c)      The path to freedom lies in obeying the Word of God

4)        Being Set Free (Salvation) Takes A Personal Surrender To Christ (Philippians 3:3-10).

(a)      A reliance on other things is what prevents people from making a personal surrender to Christ.  Paul thought he had privileges and achievements by his:

1.         Advantages of birth

2.         Accomplishment’s by Self-effort

Thought-how many people think they are acceptable to God because they –

Ø      Have been born in American

Ø      Have received Jesus when I was 3 years Old & had been raised in a Christian home

Ø      Have godly parents – Example of Franklin Graham \ my children

Ø      Have a godly spouse

Ø      Have godly friends

Ø      Have kept religions rituals and religious ceremonies

Ø      Do you expect the godliness of others to rub off onto you?

Note: John 1:12

Thought- How many people think that they are accepted by God because they

Ø      Do well & are faithful?

Ø      Faithful in studying their religion, the Bible, and the great Doctrines of the faith?

Ø      Know & use religious spiritual terms, Christianese –Praise the Lord, washed in the blood, etc.

Thought-How many people think they have achieved goodness and righteousness thinking

Ø      They are the only ones?

Ø      They are more righteous than others?

Ø      They will get into heaven when in reality they will not?

Thought-Few have ever been committed, devoted, for his religion as Paul. 

Ø      Paul was zealous as one could get

Ø      If persecuting zeal could ever have opened the gates of heaven, Paul would have walked right in!

Thought-Integrity & righteousness are not & cannot be found in keeping all the ritual, ceremonies, and even all the commandments of Scripture

1.      Yet, how many people have you talked to say they live by the Sermon on the Mount?

2.      Or how many people think that God judges on some sort of curve?

—    "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20 NKJV)

—    "Many will say to Me in that day, `Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'   "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' (Matthew 7:22-23 NKJV)

3.      Or measuring themselves against others?

—    For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

—    There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness. (Proverbs 30:12 NKJV)

—    Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man? (Proverbs 20:6)

Thought-Real saving faith makes a total commitment to Jesus Christ.

A person who genuinely believes in Jesus Christ will give all he or she has and is to Christ, counting his or her own efforts, righteousness, & works a loss in order to gain Christ.

1.      Yet, how many people will try and bring their own luggage (works, self-righteousness) into heaven?

—    "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV)

—    Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23 NKJV)

b)        The Clarification—Jesus Reveals to them that they are slaves of sin & sons of the Devil (v.34-44)

1)        Whoever commits sin is a slave to Sin… a slave does not abide in the house (v.34-35)

(a)      Whoever habitually asserts his own will, priding himself on his own independence, following his own inclinations, & concerned with living & pleasing himself, a self-centered life, is a slave.

(b)      A slave has no rights, but a son has all the rights (1John 3:1; Jn 1:12)

2)        If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (v.36)

(a)      Cities of Refuge (Num.35:6, 25)

1.         Jesus is our High Priest who died for us (Heb.4:14-16)

2.         God is our refuge, strength & help (Psalm 46:1

3.         Jesus is our refuge (Matthew 11:28) come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden

(b)      We have been freed from sin (Rom.6:22)

(c)      No condemnation in Christ (Rom.8:1)

3)        Abraham Is Not Their Father, But Satan Is (V.37-44).  The Reason Is:

(a)      Jesus’ Message Does Not Find A Place In Their Hearts (v.37-38)

(b)      They don’t do the works of Abraham, which is to receive Him (v.39)

1.         They seek to kill Him (v.40).  Abraham never behaved like that.  Remember Abraham welcomed the divine messengers (Genesis 18:2)

(c)      They Do The Deeds Of Their Father (v.41).  Jesus’ point is important. Our spiritual parentage is what determines our nature and our destiny.

1.         If we are born again, and have God as our Father, it will show in our nature and destiny.

2.         But if our father is Satan or Adam, it will also show in our nature and destiny - just as it shows in these adversaries of Jesus (1 John 3:10-15).

(d)      They Don’t Love Jesus Which Proves God Is Not Their Father (v.42; 1Cor.16:22)

(e)      They Don’t Understand What He Says Because They Are Unable To (v.43)

4)        Jesus Say That They Are Children Of Satan, & Satan Is Their True Father (v.44)

(a)      The issue comes back to spiritual parentage: You are of your father the devil. Because they are the spiritual children of the devil, they do the things he does - lie and murder. 

1.         He was a murderer from the beginning (1 John 3:8-10, 15).

2.         Does not stand in the truth, & he is a liar & the father of it

3.         If you are a child of Satan, you will not desire to do God’s will!

c)         The Claim—Jesus claims to be sinless!  Which of you convicts Me of sin (v.45-47)

1)        He tells them the truth they do not believe (v.45)

2)        No one has anything on Him (v.46)

3)        They do not hear His words because they are not of God (v.47)

(a)      Their hearts were not like the good soil (Luke 8:15)

(b)      They were not His sheep, His sheep hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:26)

(c)      These peoples ears are closed, God’s word is offensive to them (Jer.6:10)

(d)      Jesus presses home the point of spiritual parentage, which is evident by the way that people act, and will determine people’s destiny (Matthew 5:43-45). 

4.       Round Four (8:48-59)

a)        The Jewish Leaders Try And Slander Jesus (v.48-58)

1)        Their Accusation: They accuse Jesus of being a demon possessed Samaritan (v.48, 52)

2)         His Answer:

(a)      He honors His Father, and does not seek His own glory (v.49-50)

(b)      Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die (v.51-52)

3)        Their Accusation: Are You greater than our Father Abraham (v.53)?

4)        His Answer:

(a)      My Father honors Me & I keep His word, but you don’t know Him but you don’t know Him because you are a liar (v.54-55).

(b)      Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to My coming (v.56)

5)        Their Accusation: You aren’t fifty years old, how can you say you have seen Abraham (v.57)

(a)      Jesus Replied: I existed before Abraham was even born (v.58)

b)        The Jewish Leaders try and stone Jesus but Jesus his Himself (v.59)