Not Of This World - John 8:12-31 - Who is Jesus? - Pastor Jason Fritz

- everyone here May every heart be receptive by the power of your spirit that worked today Jesus name we pray amen you guys can have a seat thank you Chris preciate it good morning everybody welcome my name is Jason you're new for the first time I'm one of the pastor's here at the church and I would love to have the opportunity to meet you right after the service I'm gonna be hanging around right in front if you want to take a couple of seconds and introduce yourself to me personally before you head out that would be great we're in John chapter 8 beginning with verse 12 and as I was reading through this section this week I was reminded of a book that I had read a long time ago many years ago when I was in my early 20s the title of the book why you do what you do written by a Christian he's an executive coach his name is Bob Beal and I bought the book because of well since I was inspired by hearing an interview with him and in this interview he said something that really grabbed me as a young twentysomething he said that in his professional experience most men and women in their 40s are not living the lives they thought they would live they're not at that place in life that they thought they would be and because of certain fears fear of either changing jobs or maybe the fear of pursuing a relationship or some some fears held them back and and they actually they die they die with the sense that I really haven't lived the life I thought that I was going to live and in addition to their fears holding them back they weren't surrounded by people who would give them input people who would look look into their lives and and tell them what they needed to hear and that was the other major factor that kept them back from living the lives that they've always wanted to live they weren't receptive and open at times even to people's input this held them back though speaking of input my wife Jill our oldest son and our daughter have been in Portland Oregon in Oregon for about a week up near Bend actually they're important Portland this weekend and before she left she sat me down and she said okay there's a few things I need to let you know so that nothing it's down I said okay because it's usually me that's going away right but now it's now Jill's gone she's gone for a week so it's me and our our middle child Caleb together and so she's looking at me she says she says okay here's what you what you need to know just some of the things that I do day in and day out you know to keep things going and so she's sitting down and I'm sitting across from her and she's talking to me and I'm talking and talking and I'm like you know and she's like okay probably should write this down for you yeah I'm like we'll go ahead why don't you write this down so she writes it down and hangs it on the refrigerator and and I want to show you a picture but I want you to note the first line here how to survive without mom and I take no offense to this whatsoever right because I'm totally open to this input so you can see there's some basic instructions and you notice that at the bottom there's actually some meals to eat right meals to eat now this is a little bit of an inside joke kind of kind of a joke kind of not because what happened was about a month ago I went to the pantry and grabbed a can of tuna and I opened it up and immediately I'm like man there's something bad something rotten with this tuna you know it's it's it was like dark brown and so I took a fork put it in there and I tasted it I was like this is the worst thing I've ever had so I put my glasses on and I look for an expiration date and what I discovered is that under the word tuna were two other smaller words for cats I ate cat food so this is how immature I am I got so mad at Jill why would you put the cat tuna with the human tuna right it was there with all the other cans of tuna right none of us will ever get where we need to be in life if we're not open and receptive to the input of other people so this is why the Bible is constantly challenging you to be the kind of person you've always wanted to be and in addition to those challenges it actually gives you an image or a picture of the kind of person you've always wanted to be and that image is the person of Jesus Christ Jesus as I've said in the last last or the last few weeks is encountering that stage in his life that can best be described with two words escalating hatred there are those surrounding him the religious leaders that want him dead because he keeps making these announcements about himself he keeps making this association between himself and God the Father and they don't like that he posed a threat to their authority they were not open to his input and yet Jesus says here's the deal you're my enemies but I I have this thing that I do where I die even for my enemies in hopes of making them my friends that's how radical the love of Jesus is so with this in mind John chapter 8 beginning with verse 12 again Jesus spoke to them that then refers to the crowd we know from verse 20 that he's near the Treasuries in the Treasury which is on the temple grounds gathered there many people worshippers of God during a major festival one of three major Jewish festivals the feast of booths of course the religious leaders are also in the crowd and they're listening to what he has to say and we talked about this a few weeks ago that during this festival there is a very important ritual that has to do with light so in the midst of this he says 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 these are the guys that had it out for Jesus they said to them you are bearing witness about yourself your testimony is not true they say this because according to their law the testimony had to be based on two witnesses and so if a man said hey let me tell you about Who I am they're gonna dismiss that right your testimony about yourself doesn't count it doesn't qualify you have to have two witnesses so they appeal to the law your your witness about yourself your testimony is not true jesus answered even if I do bear witness about myself my testimony is true because I know where I came from I know where I'm going but you do not know where I come from or where I am going he says I came from heaven and I'm going back to heaven so essentially what he's saying is what makes a person what makes anyone think that they would follow Jesus to heaven if they're not willing to follow Jesus on earth verse 15 you judge according to the flesh I judge no one he judges no one according to the flesh Jesus does judge spiritually with the woman caught in adultery he makes a judgment he says you've sinned but you've been pardoned go your way and sin no more these guys judge according to the flesh that's exactly what they're doing to Jesus yet even if I do judge my judgment is true for it is not I alone who judge but I am the father who sent me there he goes he's constantly making this connection to God the father being his father and your Lord is written that the testimony of two people is true so he gives them that I am the one who bears witness about myself you want to here you go I am the one that bears witness about myself and the father who sent me bears witness about me there's your two witnesses they said to him therefore where is your father this is an insult back in the day when lineage was everything to question someone's where the question who their father was I mean now that that was that's condescending where is your father it's meant to be an insult these guys have done their homework they think they know Jesus they've heard these rumors about oh yeah this is a guy that says he's born of a virgin where's your dad we know all about you so Jesus responds you know neither me nor my father if you knew me you would know my father also like father like son 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 that's a definite time referring to the time of his crucifixion so he said to them again I am going away and you will seek me and you we'll die in your sin where I am going you cannot come so the Jews said will he kill himself since he says where I am going you cannot come this is another insult for the ancient Jews too if a person takes his or her life the lowest places of Haiti are reserved for them that was their belief so is he gonna kill himself and then descend to the lowest parts of Haiti well we're definitely not going there and so Jesus makes a perfect response he says you are from below you are from below I am from above you are of this world I am not of this world I told you that you would die in your sins unless there's a way out see when someone's antagonistic toward me I have a tendency not to give them much grace and mercy Jesus says there's actually a way out for you even though you're you proclaim to be an enemy here's what you need to know unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins so in your translation your Bible translates from the word he and that verse might be italicized what that means is it was added by the translators in order to help you understand it better but what it's not it's not it's actually not there it's just more literally reads like this I told you that you would die in your sins for unless you believe that I am you will die in their sins this is a much more compelling phrase far more compelling because in Exodus chapter 3 verse 14 God says to Moses let me share with you who I am I am it's kind of a crazy way of explaining yourself basically it's a Hebrew word for existing when Moses is God when I come off the mountain people gonna ask me who are you meeting with what am I gonna tell them God says tell them this I am I always have been I always will be I exist I am real I'll tell them that what does Jesus do I told you that you would die in your sins for unless you believe that I am in the next few verses they're going to understand exactly what Jesus means by saying this because he'll say it again and with this they're gonna pick up rocks and try to kill him for being a blasphemer for making himself out to be God so they said to him who are you jesus said to them just what I've been telling you from the beginning I have much to say about you and much to judge but he who sent me is true and I declare to the world what I have heard from him so in other words this Jesus says look if you're having a hard time receiving my words you're actually having a hard time receiving the words of God they did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father so jesus said to them when you have lifted up the Son of man then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as the father taught me though when he uses the phrase lifted up he's not talking about hey when you guys you know exalt me he's not saying that he's referring physically to his lifting up as he's crucified nailed to the cross and lifts it up when you have seen when you have lifted up the Son of man then you will know that I am he in other words Jesus says this you doubt Who I am you've heard the things that I've said but if you really want to see things change if you really want to see things happen if you want to see my movement catch fire kill me crucify me and then you're gonna know you're gonna know that I am and Jesus was exactly right if you read the text carefully when Jesus is arrested what happens to his closest followers we don't know him they bail home they leave them these are the guys that have been with him for three years they've heard the most profound teachings ever they've seen the miracles hey weren't you with that Galilean that they've just arrested the one Jesus from Nazareth Peter says no not once but three times he denies it something happened that moved these men from being cowards to ultimately watch this now they will die the death of martyrs some of them excruciating deaths martyrdom why what happened Jesus was lifted up on that cross wasn't that lead to three days later his resurrection his post resurrection experiences total GameChanger the movement caught fire Jesus says my crucifixion my resurrection that's how you guys are gonna know that I am he I do nothing on my own authority I speak just as the father taught me see if Jesus came to to grab attention and to to have a following you know this would be it it's all about me - no I speak just as the father taught me and he who sent me is with me he has not left me alone for I always do the things that are pleasing to him how do you know this once again the cross I always do the things that please God what is the thing that was gonna please God to redeem mankind that means I have to go to the cross as he was saying these things many believed in him people could see that Jesus was close to God and many believed so I mentioned earlier that Jesus is the master of the moment and we see this again I mentioned this a couple weeks ago but it's worth repeating now during this feast there was a special event a very special event that took place on the temple grounds it was part of the festival of lights or the lighting of the candles and so what would happen is these men would ascend these massive candelabras 75 feet high and they would light the wicks and these candles were placed all over the temple grounds and so at night the temple just before it just lit up historians tell us you could see the temple grounds from miles away and at some point I gotta believe because Jesus is the master of the moment where these candles are lit and this bright light is shining Jesus says I am the light of the world now you can understand the depth of this meeting without understanding the symbolism of these candles so let me share with you the symbolism in Exodus chapter 13 verse 21 and 22 as God led the people through the wilderness that's what the festival of Tabernacles or booths was all about booth means tents so all around the city you'd see these tents set up because it was a way of reminding the people there was a time when we had no homeland and God led us through the wilderness in tents and by day we were led by a cloud wherever the cloud went is where the people went and at night we were led by a pillar of fire and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light that they might travel by day and by night the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people so you know at night especially in the desert we know this it can be pitch black my son and I went camping a couple weeks ago and sometimes you forget when you're out away from the city lights and you look up and you see the beauty of the sky the nighttime sky and that thousands and thousands of thousands of the stars you can see with your naked eye it's pitch black outside and so at night God provided this light to lead the people but in day at during the day he provided a cloud you say a cloud what what that's kind of interesting way but you know what a cloud does for you a cloud provides what shade some of you this week or like God why don't you still lead us by a cloud I mean come on you know it's hot in the desert the cloud provided shade the light led them through the darkness so on the missus is massive celebration the perfect time Jesus says I am the light of the world what's he saying he's saying I am the very presence of God these massive candles and they're bright lights that you're commemorating I'm better than those things hey those things were foreshadow of the light that I bring to the entire world you see those candles they represent God's provision for the people his people the nation of Israel but my light is for the world and do we need it or what you know when 9/11 occurred one of the most common questions was how could this happen I mean thousands of innocent people dying in the name of religion what kind of world are we living in and then 10 years later Sandy Hook elementary school 28 kids killed most of them six and seven years old eight months ago Las Vegas 59 people killed and again the question was asked what kind of society are we living in how can a human do this but you know it's interesting as time goes on the more public violence we see you know what's happening we're kind of becoming used to it we're kind of becoming used to it and it's kind of like society at large is this beat down bloodied up man that's just stumbling around in the dark and there is no way we can find a solution to that problem until we identify the root of the problem and Jesus says I have your answer you need to turn on the light and then he says I am the light I am the light that will lead you out of darkness I'm the light at night and I'm the cloud during the daytime so if you've seen me you have seen God in the way that God led the people he's leading through me now no major founder of any religion and this is the thing I love one of one of the many things I love about being a Christian our leader is the best he's supreme no major founder of any religion had the boldness in the audacity to say something like this and then he backs it up with his resurrection so there are several practical ramifications to this statement but I'm gonna give you just a couple of major ones in here I put it like this Jesus and his truth provide light in the darkness of this world and shade from the killer heat of yourself what I'm what do I mean by that first of all when you even you have shade that means you're taking refuge under that cloud come to Jesus and you'll find refuge from yourself one of the things that you and I need to be shaded from is our guilty conscience ah these aren't really fun conversations to have but the bottom line is this every single person in this room has this inward disposition to serve themselves really it's not debatable well the most easily verifiable truth of the Bible is that men and women are sinners we have this overwhelming tendency to serve ourselves and in doing so we end up causing pain for others very often toward ourselves see that's one of the big questions in life isn't it you know you ever do something and you know you've just messed something up so bad and you can't sleep at night you're like you know this one's on me I shouldn't have said that I shouldn't have acted in that way and you have a hard time you're wrestling with it one of the major major dislike we go through life and we have this backpack and as we go through life we start putting rocks in it and these rocks are all of the things that you know the harm the heartache and we carry these things around with us and then you know we've got broken relationships and damaged relationships and as you get older you start to accumulate more what do you do with that what do you do with all of that junk see this is one of the major questions in life what Jesus is saying is I'm your shade come to me and you'll find shade see beautiful example of this is what we read last week when this woman is caught in adultery what happens Jesus shields her right Jesus pardons her and at the same time he gives her light by saying go your way you've been pardoned but sin no more there's the light there's the light so as Christians and every spiritually mature Christian I've ever met does one thing he or she consistently applies the light of God's Word to their lives moment by moment by moment I love these verses acts 26 verse 18 this is the Apostle Paul when he speaks of his encounter with the resurrected Jesus Christ he said Jesus told me why he came to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me so when Jesus says I am the light what you say as you come to me and falsehood is exposed in the light of my truth mature people are in spirit make sure people are never in the they're constantly thinking about the Word of God it's constantly thinking about the words of Jesus psalm 119 says this 105 your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path so in other words if you and I are not in the Word of God we will forever be in the darkness people ask me why do I need to read the scriptures this is why otherwise society see this is actually this is the cure for society's ills it will not be your legislation it's not gonna be your politics it's going to be the transformative light of Jesus Christ through his people in this world this is why the gospel is so important that's why you always have to keep the main thing the main thing and at this church I'm not gonna let anything get in the way of the main thing and let me tell you something sometimes even good things can become stumbling blocks for certain people why would we want to do that what does Jesus say remember me lift me up lift me up see the spotlight is right on Jesus why because he is the spotlight so how do you get this shade and light in your life he tells you how by saying he who follows me has it so what does it mean to follow him because we had a lot of people running around on the planet saying I'm a follower of Jesus he tells us verse 28 when you have lifted up the Son of man then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as the father taught me John 12:32 and when and I when I am lifted up from this earth will draw all people to myself so here's a revolutionary concept for a lot of people including Christians to follow Jesus actually doesn't mean that you just live a good life it means that you lift Jesus up and to lift Jesus up is to do what is to see him crucified remember he's speaking about his physical death now in order for this to happen in order for Jesus to be lifted up what that means is you have to make yourself low you have to make yourself low it's really hard to be filled with the things of God if you are filled with yourself this is why John the Baptist Jesus says he's the greatest man who ever lived born to a woman so he makes some really profound statements about himself in light of Jesus one of those statements is he must increase I must what decrease more of him less of me and see that's that's the nature of my problems the more I'm filled with myself the more I put myself on the throne the more difficult life is for me but when Jesus is kept on the throne one when he increases and I decrease what's the key the key is following him what's the key to following him seeing that resurrection what came before that resurrection the truths of fiction because when you concentrate on the crucifixion you know what happens to your heart it completely and totally begins to soften that Jesus died for you John 3:16 most famous verse in the Bible explains it all what's the motivation love don't you ever think for a second that you were not loved so I've said before this is what the gospel is so great because it totally comes into your life and it just wrecks you in the worst possible best possible way and then it actually builds you up so if you're a proud person you look at the cross and what happens and you become humbled if you have really low self-esteem and you say I'm just not worth anything you look at the cross and you say wow I'm worth a son to the father this is the multifaceted beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ and so here's the challenge some of us are walking in partial light I think right we're still keeping ourselves and some shadows still opening up those dark little closets walking in and what we're doing is we're depriving ourselves of sunlight so fellowship with God if it means living in the light and by the way remember in heaven there is no what darkness in heaven there is actually no Sun because it's the light of God that illumines it then vital Christianity sees the beauty of Jesus and the fullness of this life and when this happens you begin to change radically how so you know those old familiar sins they no longer have their hold on you so when I was in high school one of my favorite classes was photography and I love being in the darkroom that's so cool with the red light and everything and in the corner of the darkroom we had a little like a little sink you wash your hands off because what you didn't want you didn't want the dirt from your hands getting into the solution that you dip the photo paper in as it developed so you'd have to wash your hands and so you wash your hands when you dip the photo paper in the solution and then you'd hang it up and daren't before your eyes and you see the black and white photo cap here is just the coolest thing but every once in a while you'd see little specks of dirt in it and you realize ah there was dirt on my hands and it got in a solution and now it's stuck to the paper so you walk outside the room and you're in the light of the classroom and you really can you like yep I didn't wash my hands good enough I can still see the dirt now you take those same hands and you put them under ultraviolet light and you're like ooh disgusting you see even more see the more intense the light the more you see your need to be cleaned so practically speaking here's how it works a person comes to faith in Christ and maybe their thing is mad if they were upset or offended they would just cuss somebody out then they'd come to Christ and they realize you know what I shouldn't be saying those kinds of things so they stop they stop and then a few months later they realize wow I've made great progress but then they get confronted because they've gossiped behind someone's back and they realize I'm still a work in progress and so maybe a year later they become a small group leader they're no longer cussing people out they're no longer talking behind people's backs but then they get pulled aside as a small group leader and they're told you know what I just gotta let you know on behalf of the group that you have this overwhelming tendency to dominate the conversation and to speak on top of other people and you're like man you know what I need to receive that as true and then you realize you get to the core the sin underlying all the other sins is your insecurity and your need for attention or your need for power and as you begin to identify that it becomes less and less of an issue in your life see so when Jesus says I'm the light of the world what he's also saying is I look every step of the way I will lead you out of the darkness and I began by saying ask majority of people in this world are not living the lives they want to live because they're not the kind of person they want to be that's why the Bible is constantly challenging you in the Bible is painting the picture of the life you want to lead and it is the picture of Jesus Christ so this is all very revolutionary and I love I love the the observation when I I get to see it in so many of you the godliest people I know are happy because they're always saying God loves me and boy am I messed up in spite of my junk I am a massive work in progress and I'm completely different than what I was before because I follow Jesus and that I see his crucifixion I see him lift it up I see the love of God I see that Jesus died for me and so these are the very same people that live on this planet as though they are not of this world and I love that phrase so I'll conclude by sharing this fairy tale with you a fairy tale about a young boy who was born in the confines of a prison with massively high walls he's never seen the outside world one day a visitor comes and he's eager to talk to this visitor about the possibility of what might be out there and the man says to the boy you can't imagine what the world is like and the voice thinking help me so the man has attempts to describe trees but the boy is not quite getting it he can't he has no frame of reference and so the man h's a picture of a tree and so the boys looking he's fascinated by it and then the man edges a picture of some animals and the boys he's mesmerized by he's ever seen anything like it before and in his mind he's thinking can it be true and the man says not only is it true but there's a prince outside of these walls and that prince is gonna come and set you free and show you what you've never seen or experienced before and then suddenly he hears this he hears this digging on the other side of the wall so the boy rushes over any puts his ear to the wall massive wall and finally this hand punches through and as his hand punches through this cascade of light comes shining through this hall and boys fixes I through it he looks and he sees to choose he sees the skies he sees the animals and he's mesmerised it's all true and the Prince gets down after poking a hole through that wall and he says it is all true not only is it true but I'm coming back for you I'm coming back for you and when I do I'm gonna bust you out of these walls and you're gonna experience what you've never experienced before from that second forward that boy has a completely different outlook on life within those walls Jesus says I'm not of this world and if you follow me if you see me lift it up you will not be of this world either so from the Christian perspective no better way to lift Jesus up than to participate in the Lord's Supper communion because he said do this in remembrance of me what's he talking about he's talking about his death it all comes back to the cross so if you've never participated with us as we remember the Lord's Supper what we do is worship team's gonna come up and as they're playing this song we'll have some people down in front and they're gonna serve you the elements you just come forward and take them the Apostle Paul rightly encourages us to examine ourselves in light of what we're about to do examine your own life as you remember that Jesus has lifted up and following him father what a statement from Jesus just so compelling and so needed in our own time father we pray that we would be vessels of that light although for a time we live within the prison walls of this earth we know the prince is out there and that we will be set free until then our perspective has changed we live today in light of eternity we live today in light of what we know is to come and so we follow you we lift you up in our lives are transformed we pray it in the name of your son Jesus Christ amen

Channel: Illuminate Community

Views: 1,698

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: gospel of john, gospel, jesus christ, god, jesus, christian, Not Of This World, John 8:12-31, Who is Jesus, Jason Fritz, illuminate community church, christianity, preaching, scottsdale church

Id: 3FLTrFccgW0

Length: 36min 2sec (2162 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 26 2018