Innocent by Association

God’s people would take their
Bibles once again, and literally once again, turn to chapter 12. We will, by God’s grace, be closing
out this incredible chapter this week. John chapter 12. And we have been in the midst
of not just the closing of a chapter of Scripture, but really the
closing out of Christ’s public ministry there in Jerusalem.
There will be other public events, but the elements of his teaching
ministry are coming to a close, and John has already begun to
wrap up. I’ve entitled this message Innocent
by Association. I learned early on as a kid that
there were times where I could be guilty by association just
by merely hanging around with the wrong crowd. No doubt, bad
company corrupts good morals. But here in this passage, essentially
what John presents before us is an innocence by association,
a blessing that comes to us that by placing our faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, We have blessings from God Himself in abundance. John will open that to us momentarily. I wanted to take us back to verse
35 as we take a running start at the close of this chapter.
Verse 35, if you will, where we looked at the well-lit path. This is Christ preaching. This
is Christ laying out one more time the gospel in all its clarity. Jesus Christ sets forth spiritual
illumination. Look at the first. Spiritual
illumination is available and fleeting. Verse 35, Jesus said
to them, For a little while longer the light is among you. The light
is available. Spiritual illumination is available,
but it’s only for a little while longer, Jesus said. We saw secondly
that spiritual illumination by the Lord Jesus Christ is truly
helpful and protective. Walk while you have the light
so that the darkness will not overtake you. He who walks in
the darkness does not know where he goes. There is real blessing
to being in the light of Christ, to being in His guidance. spiritually speaking the third
we looked at there was that spiritual illumination by the Lord Jesus
Christ is or may we say must be appropriated and if so it
is life-changing verse 36 while you have the light believe in
the light so that you may become sons of light. This is Christ’s
clarion call to salvation. This is Christ’s last public
opportunity to repent and believe, to come to Him in faith. What an incredible message it
was. John seizes upon that very opportunity
to give one of the most solemn passages and messages in his
entire gospel, but also in all of scripture. Last Lord’s Day,
we looked at what we called the perilous ledge of doubt. Jesus Christ has just bidden
people to come to the light to be saved. And John says, for
any who do not move and move immediately in faith, you’re
standing on a perilous ledge. And that ledge may not even be
there tomorrow. You may not have the physical
legs to stand upon that ledge much longer. You may not even
be alive. Look at the end of verse 36.
These things, John says, Jesus spoke and he went away and hid
himself from them. The time to interact, the time
to fellowship, the time to hear Jesus teach, the time to enjoy
His company was over for some people. And I mean over forever. And we looked at the dreadful
features of unbelief as John lays them out. First of all,
the miserly thoroughness of unbelief. the miserly thoroughness of unbelief,
verse 37, but though he had performed so many signs before them, yet
they were not believing in him. They were so abundant, John says,
at the end of his gospel, we couldn’t even write them all. Couldn’t even chronicle all the
things that the Lord had done, and yet, in some of these people’s
case, they wouldn’t give him even the grain of faith. miserly
unbelief. Secondly, the historical pattern
of unbelief taken from Isaiah’s gospel. This was to fulfill the
word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke, Lord who has believed
a report and to whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed? In
Isaiah’s day, it captures those words, Lord, nobody’s listening,
nobody’s coming, nobody’s attending to our words, nobody is heeding
our warnings, nobody is coming to Christ. John says that’s exactly
what Isaiah was talking about. Not only the miserly thoroughness
of unbelief and the historical pattern of unbelief, but finally
the deadly sentence of unbelief. In verse 37 it says they were
not believing. In verse 39 it says for this
reason they could not believe. No longer is there opportunity
for repentance. No longer is there opportunity
for learning. No longer is there opportunity
to consider Christ. No longer is there opportunity
for repentance and faith. For this reason they could not
believe. It’s over. For Isaiah again said,
he has blinded their eyes. He has hardened their hearts
so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with
their heart and be confirmed and I heal them. These things
Isaiah said because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Isaiah
was talking of Christ, not only in Isaiah 53, but even at Isaiah’s
commissioning into ministry there in Isaiah chapter 6. He’s speaking
of Christ. That there would come a time
when people would turn a deaf ear to Jesus Christ, and God would take away their
opportunity of repentance. That’s why I agree with that
assessment. Sunday morning is the most dangerous
hour of all. Listening to God’s Word, if it
doesn’t liven, it must deaden. And if the gospel, the first
section of the gospel closed there, what a hopeless thing,
what a downcast feeling we come away with. And I believe even
In John’s heart and mind, he knew that. These were John’s
words. This was John’s assessment of
the situation. He’s driven, compelled by the
Holy Spirit to say these things. But John isn’t content to leave
off there. The Holy Spirit isn’t content
to leave off there. The gospel must be preached one
last time. And that’s what John does. If
you would look at verse 42. Nevertheless, many, even of the
rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees, they were not
confessing him for fear that they would be put out of the
synagogue for they loved the approval of men rather than the
approval of God. And Jesus cried out and said,
He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who
sent Me. He who sees Me sees the One who
sent Me. I have come as light into the
world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears My sayings and
does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I did not come
to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me
and does not receive my sayings has one who judges him. The word
I spoke is what will judge him in the last day. For I did not
speak on my own initiative, but the Father who sent me has given
me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is
eternal life. Therefore the things I speak
I speak just as the father has told me John has just wrapped up one
of the most intense sections of scripture up to verse 41 in
all of scripture and Yet he seems to paint a picture
of hope I would have you hold judgment until we look at this
passage more thoroughly. It’s a transitional narration
that John gives in verses 42 through 43. It’s not an unimportant
section but it is transitional. He’s transitioning from those
very hard words leading up to verse 41 and John’s opportunity
to proclaim the gospel one last time here in this opening section. Verse 42, nevertheless many even
of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees
they were not confessing him for fear that they would be put
out of the synagogue. He says that there were rulers,
those that were members of the Sanhedrin, Roman rulers per se. These were Jews, Jewish believers,
Jewish religious elite that were coming to faith in Christ somewhat. These are the rulers that we
met up with back in chapter 7. The rulers there, the chief priests,
the Pharisees were much in view and their argument at the end
of that section went something like this. Of course Jesus Christ
is unimportant. You don’t see us placing our
faith in Him, do you? John chapter 7 verse 48, the
argument went like this. No one of the rulers or Pharisees
has believed in Him. Has he? It was sarcastic in tone. It was belligerent. They were
suggesting that not a single ruler even gave any kind of assent
to faith in Jesus Christ. Well, they were wrong. There
were others, Nicodemus for one, Joseph of Arimathea, another. There were probably many, many
more that were at least considering Christ’s claims. There were many
that wanted to hold back on some of the more radical approaches. And so it says that even here,
John points out that some of them believed, and yet there
was this hesitation. They held back being too overt
about their belief in Christ, such as it was, and largely because
there had already been a rule passed that if anybody confessed
Christ, that he was going to be excommunicated. You remember
the man born blind, John chapter nine. And they wanted to interrogate
John, and yet the more they, they wanted to interrogate the
blind man, and yet the more they focused on him, the more enthusiasm
there became about this stupendous miracle, healing a man who was
born blind, even from birth. So in John nine, they call the
parents. this man’s parents, the man who
was born blind. And his parents were nervous
because of the Jews, because they had already agreed that
if anyone confessed him to be the Christ, the Messiah, he was
to be put out. Well, these so-called believers
of verse 42 are under the same admonition, they’re under the
same rule. Perhaps they were even part of
the commission that made the rule. If anyone says that Jesus
is the Messiah, he’s out. And so because of that, they
had to be not just circumspect, they had to be downright sneaky
about their so-called faith in Christ. One historian characterized excommunication. You see, excommunication in this
day, you know, if you get removed from one church, you just go
down the street to another church, and if they don’t accept you,
you just keep going until someone does, and they will. But here
he characterizes first century excommunication to be forbidden
to enter a synagogue, even for a short period, would be a serious
matter for a member of the Sanhedrin. To be shut off from the common
worship of friends and colleagues is a grave penalty, but especially
for a spiritual leader. To be cut off of the very church
that you’re supposed to be leading. So John says that they believed,
but They stopped short of confessing Him. If they were asked point-blank,
they would have said, no, I don’t know who you’re talking about.
They did not confess Christ. They didn’t go out of their way
to talk about Him. They didn’t go out of their way
to say, you know what, you’re wrong about Christ. He is the
Messiah. I have placed my faith wholly
and completely in Him. They stopped short of that. And
that was a deadly move on their part. This is not saving faith. It was amazing to me in reading
through the commentaries, the wrestling match that went on
over this issue of whether they’re saved or not. John says, nevertheless,
even many, even of the rulers believed in him. And we want
to take that, that, you know, mere testimony is salvation. But what John goes on to do is
paint the picture of their lifestyle. They said they believed. That
wasn’t enough. They said they believed, but
because of the Pharisees, they would not confess Christ. In
Luke’s gospel, Jesus made it very clear what Christianity
is supposed to look like. I say to you, everyone who confesses
me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before
the angels of God. But he who denies me before men
will be denied before the angels of God, Jesus says. If you want
to prove your faith, then tell somebody. Confess me before men,
and if you’re asked, point blank. There’s your opportunity. Saints,
that’s essentially what the waters of baptism are, right? That’s
your opportunity to come down into the waters of baptism and
to proclaim, as it were, from the housetop, I have placed my
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What an incredible opportunity. Gospel of Mark records it this
way, whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous
and sinful generation, the son of man will also be ashamed of
him when he comes in the glory of his father with his holy angels. That’s essentially what they
were, right? And in every one of us there’s
a measure of this that we need to eradicate, we need to weed
out. Whether we walk into a restaurant
and there’s friends of ours two tables away and we’re afraid
to bow our head in prayer. Or somebody asks us what church
we go to. Or asks us point blank if we’re
a Christian or what it means to be a Christian. I’ll tell
you what Paul said, the basics. What is the basics of Christianity?
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe
in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved. It’s that simple. And these men,
it was too difficult. There were political reasons.
There were reasons that they couldn’t testify. There were
reasons that they had to continue to shrink back from being full-fledged
believers in Christ. What was the reason? What’s their
justification for this behavior? for they loved the approval of
men rather than the approval of God. That is a dangerous place
to be, people, a dangerous place to be. Jesus has just painted the picture
to confess him or to deny him the dangers of denying Christ. And these people, these so-called
rulers were just like so many. They loved to be in the chief
places. They loved honor. They loved
the place at the head of the table. They loved the titles
that came with their position. They loved the accolades. They
loved it all. And what they loved so much was
the flatteries of their friends that would call them these titles
and give them all kinds of, oh, hey brother, so and so. Jesus
said in John chapter 5, how can you believe? It’s almost impossible
for you to believe when you receive glory from one another and you
do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God. And so this so-called faith that
they had that doesn’t bother to confess Christ, refuses to
confess Christ, refuses because of the political pressure around
them is not saving faith. And that’s John’s point. John
could have stopped right there at that first phrase in verse
42 and been done with it. Many were believing, great. He
didn’t stop there. And the picture he paints is
not of people who were saved. Their hearts, as one said, Their
minds were convinced, but their hearts remained unmoved. They were more afraid of people
than they were of Almighty God. I love the way one, A.W. Pink, in his, many of you have
that book that A.W. Pink wrote on the attributes
of God and what a great tool it is. Here’s what A.W. Pink
said of this idea We read of many believing on the Lord Jesus,
concerning whom there is nothing to show that they had saving
faith. John, throughout his gospel,
divides these so-called unbelievers into two classes. There is the
hardened mass, he says, who were all together unmoved by the wondrous
works of Christ. These were the great majority
of people that didn’t give him even an ounce of faith miserly
in their unbelief. He says, by far the greater number
of those who come under the sound of the gospel remain unmoved,
heeding neither its imperative authority nor being touched by
its winsome tidings. It’s good news. It’s the best
news that mankind has ever heard. That Jesus Christ has taken your
penalty. and he’s put it on himself, and
in place of that, he’s given you his righteousness. There
is no better news. But he says there’s a second
group of unbelievers. He says, secondly, there’s a
company, evidently by no means small, upon whom a temporary
impression was made, but yet who failed to yield their hearts
captive to the Savior. These are found in every congregation. A class who are affected in some
measure by the word of the cross. Remember last week we mentioned
the parable of the soils. There are many different kinds
of soils. Four presented in that parable. And the seed comes. There’s nothing
wrong with the seed. And the seed comes and in some
places it sprouts up. It does grow. but then the worries
of the world, the thorns choke it out. Or perhaps there’s no
depth of soil and the seed is able to germinate but not able
to grow and thrive and flourish. He says there is a class, there’s
a group of people in every church that is affected in some measure
by the word of the cross. It pricks our conscience. It
piques our attention. It moves us emotionally. They
do not despise its contents, yet neither are their hearts
won by it. They are not openly antagonistic,
but neither are they out and out Christians. They’re not sold
out. They’re not all in. May I just
say it, they’re not believers. That’s what John is telling us
in those opening verses. And he does it for a purpose. He has just given some of the
most solemn words in all of scripture. And now he paints the picture
that if there are any of those hiding in the pews, hiding in
the shadows, hiding in their own heart, John wants to give
them an opportunity. John wants them to consider Christ
one more time. And he takes them to this section
that we have, verses 44 through 50. What you have, the first
time I read this, I brushed it aside as, you know, it says in
verse 44, Jesus cried out. Somehow there was this meeting,
and Jesus is probably, because he’s already pulled himself back
from the crowds, he’s with the twelve, John was evidently there,
and Jesus gives this one last gospel presentation. Except that
there was not just one, but I would say the great majority of the
commentators said, you know, there’s something funny, there’s
something interesting, fascinating, by these words, verses 44 through
50. Almost every word, almost every
syllable, certainly almost every sentence has already been presented
to us in John chapters 1 through 12. What you have Here’s how
one described it, how strange that this supposed discourse
of Jesus should consist of repetitions alone and only such words as
are already found in John’s gospel. That’s the conundrum. Why would
Jesus preach a sermon that just went on and on and on and on
with things that he’d already said? Well, that’s why I think I think
that some of these commentators are right. What you have is not
so much one more discourse by Christ, but John himself, writing
as it were, bear with me, a tract. John wants to preach the gospel. John wants to give one last opportunity
here in this opening section of the gospel of John. He wants
to preach the gospel and he uses, is there a better source? He
uses Christ’s words. And he goes back into the first
12 chapters of John’s gospel and he draws out these pithy,
powerful gospel phrases from Christ Himself. What one called
a summary of the teaching of Jesus. Certain statements said
another which serve well as a summation of his teaching. John, what he
does here, is he caps off this opening section up to chapter
12, the public ministry of Christ, with one last appeal to believe,
but he does it with the very words of Christ. John compiles
this by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And I think that’s a
good way to look at this. It’s not impossible. And if you
want to go there, that’s fine. If you want to maintain that
Christ pulled these guys aside and preached the gospel one last
occasion to them and John recorded it word for word, that’s fine.
I think it’s a very plausible explanation that what you have
here under the Spirit’s direction is John writing, as it were,
a gospel newsletter. And what he gives to us here
are the blessings. The blessings that are enjoyed
by believers because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Who better
to know this but John himself? John knew the richness of the
gospel that was already in his account, that he was already
enjoying. What better way to appeal to
those who do not know Christ that to tell them the riches,
the blessings that are theirs, if only they would believe in
Christ. First of all, the first blessing is that faith in Jesus
Christ leads to friendship with God. Well, that’s a good sounding
message, isn’t it? Because the Bible tells us that
in our natural state, we are at enmity, at war with God to
be his friend. That has a nice ring to it, doesn’t
it? Look at verse 44. Jesus cried out and said, he
who believes in me does not believe in me, but in him who sent me. Well, that message, as I said,
that message has been preached declared from the opening chapter
of John’s Gospel, John 1 18. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is
in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him. If you want
to know God, know Christ. John 5 24. Truly, truly, I say
to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me
has eternal life and does not come into judgment. but is passed
out of death into life. Later on in that same chapter,
verse 36, the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony
of John, for the works which the Father has given me to accomplish,
the very works that I do testify about me that the Father has
sent me. Repeatedly throughout John’s
gospel, that’s the message, that Jesus Christ came as an emissary,
if you will, an ambassador of his Heavenly Father. He was sent
by God and to receive Christ is to receive the Father. To
reject Christ, likewise, as we’ll see in a moment, is to reject
the Father. He who believes in me does not
believe only in me, that’s the intent there of that sentence,
but he believes in him who sent me. He has placed his faith in
Almighty God as well. One Puritan said it this way,
yea, though we have seen Christ after the flesh. Now granted,
two thousand years later we didn’t see Jesus walking around and
neither did the Puritan writing this section, but what he’s acknowledging
is there were those that saw him face to face, walked with
him, talked with him, knew him. Yea, though we have seen Christ
after the flesh, yet from now on we know him no more. Christ
descended to us that he might unite us to God. Until we have
reached that point, we are in the middle of the course. We
imagine ourselves but half a Christ if he does not lead us to God. Do you get his point? To come
and to come only to Christ and to place your faith only in Christ
is to come only halfway. Because Jesus Christ’s entire
mission was to come and to open the doors and to lead us by way
of the cross to the Father. The person who places their faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ puts his faith not just in the Lord
Jesus Christ, but it opens up his faith to Almighty God, the
Heavenly Father as well. To trust Christ is to trust Almighty
God. But there’s a second blessing. There’s a second blessing that
is enjoyed because of our faith in Jesus Christ. John says not
only that faith in Jesus Christ leads to friendship with God,
but faith in Jesus Christ secondly provides a knowledge of God. Look at verse 45. He who sees
me sees the one who sent me, I have
come as light into the world so that everyone who believes
in me will not remain in darkness. When he says he who sees me,
it’s not just a passing glance. It isn’t even a literal view
of Christ in some physical way. It means a steady contemplation
of Christ. A fixedness. An intensity to
that gaze upon Christ. A patient contemplation as one
put it. That we are to look intently
at Jesus Christ. We are to focus upon Him. We
are to study Him. We are to know Him. and that
the more we come to know Christ, what becomes more and more evident
to us is that to know Christ is to know Almighty God. And
the more we know about Christ, the more we know about His Heavenly
Father. And we see Christ in that one
decisive moment of faith. where we see Christ as the Savior
that He presents Himself to be. We see ourselves as sinners,
and how can we not respond in faith? We are hopeless and helpless
without Him. We know there is no salvation,
but the minute we place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we
begin to grow in our knowledge of God. We begin to see God as
sovereign and holy and almighty. And those results continue, they
perpetuate, don’t they? Those of you who have walked
with Christ for many years know this. The longer you walk with
Christ, the more we realize how little we know about God, but
we know infinitely more than when we first began to walk with
Christ. One pastor said, see is here. The word see is here. not used
of external but spiritual perception. And an appreciation of the glory
of Christ’s character has a perception of divine glory. We see God for
who he is by what we know in Christ. No wonder Jesus could
say that you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. Hebrews chapter
1 says He is, Jesus is, the radiance of His, that is the Father’s
glory, the exact representation of His nature. And the more that
we get to know Christ, the more that we see the character of
Christ on the pages of Scripture, the more that we are led by a
patient Savior who welcomes us and greets us and and walks with
us, and forgives us, and encourages us, and graces us, the more we
see the Heavenly Father. We know God because we know the
Savior. John seizes upon one of the many,
and this concept, these images must have been absolutely powerful
to John himself, because in John’s writings, John seizes hold of
the concepts of light and darkness, spiritual light and spiritual
darkness. He seizes upon those and replays
them frequently in his writings, not just in his gospel. Look
at verse 46, I have come as light into this world. John seizes
upon that teaching already given in the gospel, and he seizes
upon it for the purpose of reminding the reader what he comes to by
placing his faith. It is spiritual light, spiritual
illumination like none we’ve ever had before. Because darkness
sits over the whole realm of humanity. And it stays there
and abides there and it does not abate until one places their
faith in Jesus Christ. That’s the bottom line. And that light ultimately leads
to the Heavenly Father. It illuminates our path as we
saw several weeks ago. And that life is lived by communion with the
Heavenly Father. The path is lit. We begin this
walk and it’s sustained only by a continued relationship with
Almighty God. As one characterized it, the
object of Christ’s incarnation and atonement is that through
faith in him we may be, as Colossians 1.13 put it, rescued from the
domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of his beloved
son. I told you that John was taken
with his image of light and darkness. We have just a minute. Turn,
if you would, to John, the first John, all the way back near the book
of Revelation, first John, chapter one. Jesus Christ had come into the
world as light itself presented right there in the opening chapter
of John’s gospel. He came with a… set and express
purpose of illuminating the sin of mankind and revealing God
to the world to draw people to faith, to draw people to Almighty
God. Well, John was absolutely taken
with this image. Look at 1 John 1 verse 5. This is the message we have heard
from him and announced to you that God is light and in him
there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship
with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice
the truth. But if we walk in the light as
he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another
and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin. What
great news. Turn if you would to chapter
two. In chapter 2 verse 8, on the
other hand, I’m writing you a new commandment which is true in
him and in you. Because darkness is passing away,
the true light is already shining. The one who says he is in the
light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.
The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there
is no cause for stumbling in him. John was taken with this
image. of spiritual darkness. That’s
where we are without Christ. That’s where the world is. That’s
where all of humanity is. If they do not believe in Jesus
Christ, they are in utter spiritual darkness, without God and without
hope, as Paul says. But to come to Christ, to come
to the light, to have our path illuminated by the Lord Jesus
pointing us and drawing us and beckoning us to Almighty God. Well, there’s a purpose to that.
And the purpose is point three. Faith in Jesus Christ leads to
a friendship with God. Faith in Jesus Christ leads to
a knowledge of God. Faith in Jesus Christ produces
obedience of God. That simple. Doesn’t mean we’re
ever going to be perfect. Let me free you up right quick.
It doesn’t mean that your obedience is ever going to be perfect.
That’s why we start our service with confession, because we know
God tells us that we blow it frequently. That’s the purpose
of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, to bring us to repentance
and to conviction. But by and large, When a person
places their faith in Jesus Christ, they are gonna yearn and long
and desire and grow in their obedience to Almighty God. Look
at verse 47 if you would. If anyone hears my sayings and
does not keep them. Now that points directly back
to these people who said they believed but would not confess.
If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not
judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save
the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings
has one who judges him. The word which I spoke is what
will judge him at the last day.” These two are all thoughts that
are replete throughout John’s gospel. John 8 31, Jesus was
saying to the Jews who had believed in him, You continue in my word,
you are truly disciples of mine. Obedience is the key. Calling
out for God’s grace to change and to live like God would have
you to live, that is the key. John 8, 51, truly, truly I say
to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death, spiritual
death. John chapter 14, which verse
we have not studied yet, but which verse John the apostle
was fully aware of. Jesus answered and said, if anyone
loves me, he will keep my word. My father will love him. We will
come to him and make our abode with him. He who does not love
me does not keep my words. And the word which you hear is
not mine, but the father’s who sent me. In other words, Jesus
says, look, this is the truth. That’s why this whole argument
back in whatever it was the 80s or 90s of the Lordship of Christ
and do we have to obey the same God that does the work of salvation
in an individual begins the work of sanctification. You will not
ever obey perfectly. We’ve never even had a perfect
day, have we? Not me. We’ve never even had
a perfect day. but God will continue the work.
He’ll continue the work and one day you will be perfected in
glory in heaven. This is not somebody who never
heard the gospel and of course obviously is living like a hardened
sinner. This is somebody who heard Christ’s
words, who is just outright neglectful of them, disregarding of Christ. his commands. He understands
full well what God expects of him. If anyone hears my sayings and
does not keep them, I do not judge him for I did not come
to judge the world but to save the world. There will be a time
of judgment. There will be a day where we
answer. As one said, the book of each
man’s life shall be opened and compared with the life of Christ,
which is the pattern. The comparison will be conclusive
and there will be no need of investigation or of sentence.
There will be no debate. Jesus painted the picture this
way in Matthew chapter 7. Not everyone I mean, that ought to be it right
there, shouldn’t it? Not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the
will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to
me on that day, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and
in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many
miracles? And then I will declare to them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice
lawlessness. Therefore, everyone who hears
these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a
wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against
that house. And yet it did not fall, for
it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words
of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who
built his house on the sand. The rain fell and the floods
came and the winds blew and slammed against that house and it fell
and great was its fall. Jesus says, if anyone hears my
words and does not keep them, Don’t let anyone ever tell you
that obedience is not an important part of Christianity. That’s
one of the reasons we read the word is to have our sin exposed
so that we can confess it so that we can be perfected by God
himself. Look at verse 48. He who rejects
me does not and does not receive my sayings has one who judges
him. Ultimately, it’s God’s Word who judges him. This too is a
thought that has been uttered many times in John’s Gospel.
John 3, verse 18, he who believes in him is not judged. He who
does not believe has been judged already. John 5.24, John 5.45.
Essentially, to reject Christ, it doesn’t require this absolute, hard and fast, deliberate
decision against Christ? It’s just to remain where you
are. It’s just to kind of brush Him aside, to be indifferent
towards Christ, to treat Him as unimportant, When the gospel is preached and a person is indifferent, ultimately what he’s doing is
rejecting not only the gospel, rejecting not only the Savior,
he’s rejecting Almighty God himself who sent him. And then John finishes off his summary with,
one final explanation. Verses 49 and 50, if you’re looking
at the chapter. And there was a question as to
whether this explanation covers all three of the points, friendship
with God, a knowledge of God, obedience with God. But I would
suggest to you that this explanation points specifically to that point
number three. It’s explaining the rejecting
of Christ’s words, the rejecting of the gospel, the rejecting
of Christ’s testimony. And here’s why I say that. If
you look at verse 49, Jesus says, I did not speak on my own initiative,
but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment
as to what to say and what to speak. I know that his commandment
is eternal life, therefore the things I speak, I speak just
as the Father told me. Here’s what Jesus says. We need
to shorten this. Here’s what Jesus says. I came
and I said exactly what the heavenly Father told me to say. I said
it even the way that he wanted me to say it. I said it in completeness. I said it with the intensity
with which God prescribed. So when you reject my words,
you’re not just rejecting me. You’re not just, you don’t just
prefer to hear the message another way. You don’t prefer to hear
the message from another source. You don’t like the message. You
don’t like the messenger. You don’t like the one who sent
it. I did not speak on my own initiative,
but the father himself who sent me has given me a commandment
of what to say. And that commandment, ultimately,
he says, is eternal life. That was the purpose for sending
the Lord Jesus Christ, was eternal life, verse 50. Therefore the
things I speak, I speak just as the Father told me. The whole
purpose in Christ conducting His ministry, John looks back
and says, this was fulfillment of the command of God, to repent
and believe, to place your faith in the only place that it matters,
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That was Christ’s commissioning.
That was the hope of humanity. The commandment is eternal life. And it’s with those words that
the first portion of this gospel comes to a gentle and faith-filled
end. John has done his part. We know
that the Lord Jesus has done his. John brings it in for a
gentle landing for all who read it to consider well, to consider
carefully the blessings of placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Friendship with God, knowledge of God, obedience to God. Would you examine your hearts?
Our merciful God, we do humble ourselves in your glorious presence. And we thank you for John’s diligence
and gentleness. We thank you so much for the
Holy Spirit resident within him as he penned these incredible
words, reaching back to grasp and to synthesize the thoughts
of Christ as he proclaimed himself as the word The Word of the Gospel. Lord, your heart’s desire is
that all would repent and believe. Lord, we pray that if there are
any in this room who have never done so, we pray that today might
be the day of salvation as you seize hold of their hearts and
bring them to repentance and draw them into faith in the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, let them not be like
those cowards, those religious leaders who had a degree of faith,
who might have even called what they did belief, but were too cowardly to even
name his name. Bring them to true and saving
faith, we pray. It’s in Jesus’ name that we ask,
amen.