It's a Sick World
The Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted
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The Sickness that Plagues the Souls of Men
The Sickness that Plagues the Souls of Men
Introduction:
In February 2014 a funeral took place in the country of Guinea near the Liberia border. You have to keep in mind that in a West African funeral… especially one in the village… death is very up close and personal. The body is typically handled by the family and those who attend the funeral. The funeral feast can last for days and the sanitation standards are usually less than ideal.
On that day in February, a lady who had been attending the funeral in Guinea returned to her home in Liberia. She crossed the border into Lofa county where she lived. Life went on as usual.... until it didn’t.
After some time of living life surrounded by people… this woman began to show signs of sickness.... high fever… vomiting… diarrhea… It got to the point where she felt like she had no choice but to make the 14 hour taxi ride through some of the worst road conditions that you can imagine... from Lofa county to the capital city of Monrovia.
You also have to understand that in a Liberian taxi, no one ever rides alone. The taxi doesn’t even begin moving until it is full.... like full full. Imagine 5-10 people with all of their stuff… cramming inside a 4-5 passenger vehicle for 14 hours on roads that would be difficult to walk… much less drive on.
Well,.... 14+ hours later… the taxi arrives in a densely crowded market place in Monrovia called “Red Light”… one of the most populated areas of the country…
By this time… this woman is covered in her own vomit.... and unable to move… She is taken out of the taxi.... and left there… people passing..... touching her.....
Eventually she is taken to a hospital.... and from that point the Ebola outbreak becomes public knowledge.... and the rest is history.
There are some diseases and viruses that do not show themselves right away.... a person can walk around for weeks without showing any symptoms… but are still actively carrying the virus (without knowing it) and transmitting that virus to other people.
Sometimes the symptoms do not show until the sickness has planted deep roots and has imbedded itself deep within…
One of the saddest parts about these kinds of viruses are that people can become infected with a deadly sickness and not even know it.... sometimes until it is too late.
Some of the aspects of these kinds of illnesses (Ebola, Coronavirus, etc…) are an expression of how sin works in our lives. Sin creeps in… our fallen sin nature desire to sin. .. and if we are not careful.... we can become saturated with sin.... in such a way that we don’t even realize we are sick.....
When sin abounds in our life… we can become so spiritually anemic that we don’t even realize how spiritually weak and ill we have become.
Because we are living in a world plagued by the curse of sin… in bodies that are plagued by the sickness of a sin nature… we have to be constantly watching… and guarding against sin....
… like with any sickness.... if it goes unchecked… untreated.... there could be some serious consequences… (illustrations from Liberia how small sicknesses (tooth infection, ulcer, malaria, high-blood pressure, etc… can lead to death if untreated)
Sin is something we have to constantly keep ourselves aware of an on guard against… sin is constantly creeping into our lives....
As we continue our study in the Gospel of John.... Jesus confronts a group of people who are living as though they have no sin.... but in reality they are deathly illl.... having been infected by the plague of sin to the point where they are no longer even able recognize the cure.... even when it is standing right in front of them.
As we open our Bibles today to the 8th chapter of the Gospel of John, let’s remember that the events we have been studying for the last few weeks are all taking place in Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths.
Jesus has just made the “I Am the light of the world” statement… standing in the treasury under the glow of the giant torches which symbolized the presence of God, leading the People of Israel in the Wilderness.
In John 7:40-52 — we saw that the ministry of Christ brings separation….
Then in John 8:12-20, Jesus said that He is the light of the world….. and all those who do not believe will walk in darkness….. this truth saturated proclamation implies a level of separation..
To be with Christ in eternal Light…. or to be against Christ in eternal darkness
In reality, Jesus is talking to a crowd of sick people….
One of the saddest parts of it is…. many of them don’t even realize how sick they really are…
Think about it, Jesus has been talking with this same general group of religious leaders during the Feast of Booths since chapter 7.
Jesus has been making many of the same statements; how He had been sent by the Father not speaking or acting on his own authority… but under the authority of God the Father,… how He isn’t seeking His own glory but the glory of the Father… and how He would soon go back to be with the Father.
But the leaders are either hard of hearing and don’t understand or have hardened their hearts so that they cannot understand.
Throughout His conversations with these Jewish leaders, Jesus diagnoses the sickness that many of them are suffering from… the fatal illness of unbelief!
As we look at verses 21-30 today, Jesus shares with these Jews… (these enemies of Jesus) what the result will be if their sickness goes untreated.
So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will 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’?” He said to them, “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, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have 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.” 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. 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.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
As we come to verse 21, Jesus is still in Jerusalem and this group of people to whom Jesus is talking are most likely the same group that he was talking with earlier in John 8:12-20.
When we read through the text, John presents two statements that almost serve as bookends in this continuing conversation between Jesus and this group of Jewish religious leaders. The first is a statement made by Jesus in verse 21 and the second is a contrasting comment made by John in verse 30.
The statement recorded for us in verse 21 helps to set the stage for the following conversation. Jesus says, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.”
That is a pretty straight forward statement. With surgical precision, Jesus diagnosis the spiritual sickness of these … so called religious leaders... and pronounces what will happen if the proper course of treatment is not fully embraced.
Remember Jesus has just declared that He is the light of the world and all those who follow Him will walk in the light of life. A wonderful truth!
While this is a wonderful blessing to those who believe… the opposite is also true.... it is a horrible hardship to those who do not believe.
If we were to frame Jesus’ statement in the negative, it would be something like this.... ‘I am the light of the world… the very absence of darkness.... all those who reject my invitation and do not follow me will stumble in utter darkness leading to death.’
Now in verse 21, Jesus (the light of the world) continues his conversation by telling this group of Jewish leaders (who are already spiritually stumbling in the dark) that they are going to die in their sins and will not be joining Jesus in the light of life, but will be left in the utter and complete darkness of death.
That is a pretty heavy statement… from the Jews response we can see that they were pretty offended by the words of Christ.
(side note.... when we talk with people why are we always so afraid we will offend them? One truth we can take away from this example of Christ’s life and ministry is that sometimes people need to be offended to see their need for belief and true faith)....
Jesus expresses the truth that all those who refuse to follow Him will be separated.... but in the text we will look at today, Jesus brings more clarity to that separation as He declares that those who do not follow Him will actually die in their sins.
Pretty clear and sobering words from Jesus here. Rejection of Jesus leads to death...
Let’s look at the conversation that follows Jesus’ statement and see several different aspects of the sickness that separates.
I. The Sickness that Separates (22-27)
a. Self-Righteousness (19)
The first sin that separates shown to us in this passage is the sin of self-righteousenss.
Throughout almost every conversation Jesus has with the religious rulers… there is a level of sinful self-righteousness that separates. Let’s look back at verse 19 for an example of this...
In verse 19, the Jewish leaders ask Jesus .. “Where is your Father?” At the very least this was asked with some pretty insulting and demeaning overtones.
There had always been some rumbling in the Jewish community that Jesus’ father “Joseph” was not his real father… While the virgin birth was a miracle… it was also somewhat of a cultural burden that Mary and her family would have to bear in their community…
This demeaning slur and self-righteous prejudice against Jesus is confirmed later in verse 41 when these very same Jews say.. “We were not born of sexual immortally...” …
Just picture the scene in your mind… these self-righteous men standing before Jesus in their unbelief saying.... ‘Jesus… we know you have done some pretty amazing things… but.... you don’t expect us to believe what you say.... you’re nothing more than an illegitimate son!”
If you were to go back to chapter 7 and re-read through the events recorded there, you would see that each time the Jewish leaders ask a question or make a statement… it is said with the venomous bite of self-righteous vipers.
One author commented that “self-righteousness is a deadly deception, and utterly contrary to genuine salvation. The Judaism of Jesus’ day was an intricate legalistic system of salvation by human achievement”. (Mac)
Those men who are talking with Jesus based their hope of salvation on performing good works, observing ceremonies and rituals… keeping the law (at least outwardly).
In a similar way many people… in own communities… are trusting in their good works… the money they give… their church attendance… or any other good things.... for their salvation.
People who are trusting in their own works… fail to understand the words of Paul in Romans 3:30… ‘no one is justified in God’s sight by the works of the Law (or of their own hands).’
As Jesus gives the religious leaders a serious warning of their impending death and separation due to their sickness.... the sinful unbelief.... in verse 22 the religious leaders strike back with their characteristic self-righteous venomous bite....
Jesus offers sincere truth… and the sinful, self-righteous jewish leaders respond with sarcasm and worldliness.
b. Worldliness (22-24)
Worldliness is the 2nd sin that separates shown to us in this passage.
Some people jokingly say that sarcasm is their spiritual gift. While sarcasm can sometimes be humorous… verse 22 suggests that sarcasm may very well be an outward expression of sinful worldliness that lies in the heart of a person.
Let’s look at verse 22-24
So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “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, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
Confident in their self-righteousness, the religious leaders begin mocking Jesus by taking his words and twisting them in a blasphemous way… when they sarcastically ask… “Will he kill himself?...”
It’s ironic that this this group of people... who were plotting to kill Jesus by the way... were asking if he would commit suicide.
These people understood fully that when Jesus said, “Where I am going, you cannot come”, he was talking about his own death.
The Jews despised the idea of suicide. They believed that if someone killed themselves that they would then go to the blackest part of hell. Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, wrote “The souls of those whose hands have acted madly against themselves are received by the darkest places in Hades.”
These Jewish leaders all assumed that they were going to heaven.... in their unbelief they mock Jesus by suggesting that when Jesus spoke of his death… he must be speaking about killing himself.... meaning that they sarcastically are suggesting that Jesus would be the one who would die and go to hell.
It is true that Jesus was commenting about his death… but He was not talking about committing suicide.
In John 10:17-18, Jesus would later reveal, “I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one has taken it away form me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again...”
While Jesus would give up his life voluntarily... He wasn’t going to die by his own hand.
The very men that were mocking him would be the ones who would have a part in his crucifixion.
The religious rulers self-righteousness and sarcastic whit has really done nothing more than reveal the true condition of their hearts....sinful worldliness and unbelief.
Look at verse 23 as Jesus responds to this demeaning slur and sarcastic blasphemy when he says…
"You are from below; I am from above.” then for emphasis… He repeats himself but with different words … “You are of this world; I am not of this world.”
Jesus is making a pretty profound spiritual statement here. He is saying that they are from 2 different spiritual places… 2 different realms.... One above… and one below....
By saying this Jesus is suggesting that the 2 can never be joined… they will always remain separate.
This was illustrated through the story of the Rich man and Lazarus… When they had both died.... the Rich man woke in a place of torment and flames.... and Lazarus woke up in a place of paradise. The two realms were separated by a chasm which no man can cross. (Luke 16:19-31)
When Christ further clarifies His statement by saying, “You are of this world’ I am not of this world.” We are given a better understanding of what he means...
The word Christ uses that is translated as “world” in our Bibles refers to the “invisible spiritual system of evil that opposes the kingdom of God, and according to 2 Corinthians 10:5, is comprised of “every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God”. (Hughes & MacArthur)
The word also refers to this “world system” as being under the control of Satan (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 1 John 5:19).”
The “world” hates God and does not recognize Jesus’ true identity. As a result, those who are part of the “world”… are blind to spiritual truth.
The world system promotes things like materialism, humanism, immorality, pride, selfishness… 1 John 2:16 sums up the world systems motto: “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life”.
Those that side with the “world” oppose divine truth, righteousness, virtue, holiness and are focused on selfish gain, sinful pleasure, immoral influences, corrupt politics, empty honor, and false love.
The word “world” that Jesus uses here is a term that is loaded with significance.
This sinful world system is where Jesus says these jewish leaders have pledged their allegiance.
Under the banner of serving God… they are actually serving Satan…
These religious rulers are parading around wanting to be seen as the model of spiritual health and blessing… but they are actually dead within… desperately sick in need of spiritual cleansing and healing. … and the worst part of it is.... they don’t even realize how lost and in the dark they are!
This should be a warning to us. It is very easy for us to wear our Christianity on our sleeve… but never truly embrace Christ in our hearts.
It is quite possible for someone to play church.... and to be culturally christian.... but never truly submit to Christ as Lord and Savior.
We need to be careful and search our own hearts and make sure that we are not just playing church… that we are not just playing the role of a good cultural christian…
There are many people in churches in our community today that are satisfied by knowing that others consider them to be good Christians…
Friends, I hope that is not your desire. I hope that your desire is better than that. I hope that your passion and desire is to make sure that Christ Himself, who sees into your heart recognizes you as one of His… not just those in your community who merely see your outward appearance.
As Jesus talks with these Jews, He has diagnosed the problem… their sickness is one of self-righteousness, worldliness, and spiritual unbelief.
In verse 24, He reminds his listeners about how their sickness of sin can be treated.
I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
The word “he” is not in the original manuscript. It has been added to help form a complete sentence in English.
The text reads… “unless you believe that I Am you will die in your sins.”
Jesus uses the phrase “I AM” here with purposeful intent.
Jesus’ use of the phrase ‘I AM” is a direct claim to full deity.
This would have immediately connected with the listeners memory of the time when God spoke with Moses from the burning bush. When Moses asked God for His name in Exodus 3:14, God said “I AM WHO I AM”.
… ‘unless you believe that I AM… you will die in your sins…
… ‘unless you believe that I am GOD… you will die in your sins!
In order to be a Christian a person must believe all that the Bible says about Jesus.
He is the eternal 2nd person of the trinity, He entered space and time as God in human flesh, He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross in order to pay the penalty of our sin, his substitutionary sacrifice was the only sufficient way for our sins to be forgiven and God’s wrath against sin could be absorbed… He rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven where He now intercedes for His people… those who respond in faith to Him.. and He will one day return in glory!
That is the Gospel! … this is who the Bible says that Jesus is…
Jesus is saying.... friends… unless you believe this… unless you believe that I AM… that I am God… ..... you will die in your sins… be separated from God… and everything and everyone else forever and ever…
How do these people Jesus is speaking with respond? As we look at verse 25… John shows us that their lack of spiritual discernment and maturity has led them to a place of willful unbelief.
c. Willful Unbelief (25-27)
So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have 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.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father.
The question given here in verse 25 demonstrates that while these religious leaders have listened to Jesus, they have not really heard Him.
They have listened to Jesus say who He is… where He is from… who has sent Him… but still they ask the question… “Who are you?”
As Christ answers this last question… it is almost as if He is saying… ‘Why do I bother talking to you people at all?’
From the beginning Jesus had been telling them about His unity with the Father. From the beginning Jesus had been telling them that when He spoke, it was the Father speaking… When Jesus acted… it was the Father acting....
But, the Jews willful unbelief has led to their inability to understand.
Later, Paul warns of this happening in 1 Corinthians 2:14,
“The natural person (the person without the Spirit… the unbeliever) does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
John tells us in verse 27 that they didn’t understand that Jesus was speaking about God the Father…
Because this group of religious leaders had rejected Christ’s claims to be God they could not cross over into the realm of the spiritual.... their unbelief kept them from discerning spiritual things.
Later Paul will share this same truth with the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:18)when he says… “For the word of the Cross is folly (incomprehensible.. moronic… foolishness)to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Everyone on this planet is either in the process of being saved… or in the process of destruction. Our response to Christ and the cross determines which path we are taking....
To those who are part of the world… the sinful wicked world system… you will not be able to discern spiritual things.... the cross and making such a big deal about Christ will seem like too much.... it will seem foolish.
To those who are citizens of heaven… anyone who has responded in true faith to Christ.... the cross and Christ are the light of salvation… a powerful wisdom.
In the midst of the peoples sinful sickness of self-righteousness, worldliness, and willful unbelief…
As part of God’s divine plan of redemption Jesus pronounces the only prescription that will heal... the Only Cure for the sickness that plagues the souls of men.
III. The Only Cure (28-29)
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.
The only cure is the lifting up of the Son of Man.
a. Lifting Up the Son (28)
This is not the first time Jesus has used this imagery…
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Each time when Jesus uses the phrase “lifted up the Son of Man”… he is connecting his listeners minds back to the bronze serpent event recorded in Numbers 21.
If you will remember, in that event… because of the people’s unbelief and complaining… God sent serpents into the camp… when the serpents bit someone they would die… God instructed Moses to make a serpent of bronze and lift it up on the top of a pole…then… anyone who had been bitten could lift their eyes and look up at the serpent… and they would be healed.
There wasn’t anything magical about the bronze serpent. The healing came when people humbled themselves, believed what God said was true… and looked up in faith that God would do what He said that He would do.
Anyone who took God at His word… and looked upon the bronze serpent by faith was healed.
So, when Jesus says… “when you have lifted up the Son of Man...” He is saying… just like Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness… the Son of Man must be lifted up… so that all who look to Him by faith may be healed.
Look at Jesus’ statement again…
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he...”
Again, the word ‘he” has been added to our English translations. The original would simply read… “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM”.
Jesus was saying.... When I am lifted up on the Cross… then you will know that I AM… the Great I Am… Yahweh.... God.
The only cure for the sickness of sin that plagues the hearts of mankind is Christ.
The only cure for self-righteousness, worldliness and willful unbelief.... is belief in the truth that Jesus was lifted up on the cross to die in your place.... to pay the penalty for your sins…
Conclusion/ Application:
What we believe about Christ is of the highest importance.
We can think that He is the greatest teacher and that He is sinless, we can dwell on his perfection, we can believe He is brave, kind, and honest, compassionate, and truthful. We can idolize Him… We can pray to Him… but that is not enough.... we have to embrace Him by faith as the only cure for the sickness of sin.
— “There was a mane named Dr. Gordon A. Alles who was a noted chemist and the man who pioneered the development of insulin for the treatment of diabetes. He actually ended up dying of that very disease. His friends who were closest to him wondered how someone who was so knowledgeable of the cure, could still die of the disease… They came to one of two conclusions. Either he did not know he had the disease or he purposely neglected to use the remedy. What irony… the man who knew more about the cure for diabetes than anyone else in the whole world died from the very disease. It’s hard to say what the true reason was… but, if Alles knew his condition, the situation was even more tragic” (Hughes)
In the same way a person can know that Christ is the I AM, he can give all of his mind to that, but unless there comes a belief that involves receiving the cure… he will die in his sins.
The Jews that Jesus was talking with lacked that belief.... They had a lot of head knowledge but no heart understanding.... no whole-hearted belief.
Let’s make sure that all of us… and those we come in contact each day with don’t make that same mistake.
Christ is the only cure for the sickness that plagues the hearts of men.
That is a truth we can take with us today and meditate one.... it is also the truth we are to take out with us and proclaim to the lost and dying world in which we live.
I would like to challenge you to use this time of self-isolation as a time to dedicate to some self-reflection
- What do your habits and lifestyle choices reflect to the world around you?
- When people see you… do you reflect the world (self-righteousness, worldliness, and unbelief)...
... or do you reflect Christ?
When people look at you… your action…. your character…. who do they see?
Do your actions and character attract people to Christ?
… or do your actions reinforce their unbelief and misconception that they don’t need Christ?
This passage has challenged me… and I hope it challenges you to put away any self-righteousness…. separate yourself from any and all aspects of the sinful system of the world…
… stop elevating your opinions, yours cause, your desires as more important than Scripture…
… stop running away from the truth of God’s Word… and embrace it’s truth… the truth of Christ…
Friends… Christ is our only hope in life and death! I hope that this truth excites you and that hearing it makes your soul rejoice in its wonderful truth!!!
Christ is the only cure for the sickness that plagues the souls of men...
How you respond to that truth… will give you a fairly accurate measurement of your spiritual health and condition.
Does that truth excite you and give you hope?
Or, does that truth stir up questions… disagreement… or possibly even anger?
If you have questions about anything you have heard today, please contact us. We would love to talk with you and give you answers from the Bible about any questions you may have.
Let’s pray: