John 8:21-30

He has to have this eternal destiny in mind.

In John chapter 17, in verse 3, Jesus defines eternal life this way.

John 17 · chapter mention

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Their part is that they would be with God forever.

They thought that they were pleasers of God, and yet the opposite was true.

Whatever you can imagine might be most horrific about hell,

the worst thing will be exclusion from the place where God resides.

I earnestly hope that you do not want to die in your sin.

It is possible this morning that you just don't really care.

It's possible that you love your sin.

And I just want you to know that this is not a good position to stand in.

Your eternal destiny matters.

You should not want to die in your sin.

You should want to die clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

You should long for eternal life.

I hope that if someone were to tell you how to avoid a temporal and eternal life of misery,

that you would at least grant them a moment of your time, a bit of your attention.

Will you give me just some moments?

Hear the words that the scripture says.

What the Bible has to say about your eternal destiny has the potential to change your life forever.

Our outline for this text is going to follow John MacArthur's because I just thought it was so clever.

He often is.

This one especially so.

He titled the chapter on these verses in his commentary,

How to Die in Your Sins.

So the first way to die in your sins.

How to die in your sins.

Number one.

Be self-righteous.

Verse 22.

We note the response of the Jews.

They say,

Will he kill himself?

Since he says,

Where I am going,

you cannot come.

The religious leaders of Jesus' day were so confident in their righteousness

that they assumed heaven was their destination.

Jesus is saying,

I'm going to a different place than you're going.

And they so assumed they were going to heaven.

They ask sarcastically,

Will he kill himself?

Suggesting that where he was going was hell.

You see, the Jews had strong opinions about suicide.

The first century Jewish historian Josephus wrote,

Quote,

The souls of those whose hands have acted madly against themselves

are received by the darkest places in Hades.

End quote.

You have to understand that to see what they're doing as they respond in this way.

Will he kill himself?

Will he send himself to hell?

Because clearly,

He won't be where we are by his own proclamation.

They're being smug.

They can't imagine Jesus going to heaven and that they won't be there.

It's not possible.

Self-righteousness is a deadly deception.

Do you want to die in your sin?

Go on believing that you're good enough.

That somehow in your estimation,

you've tallied more marks on the good side than on the bad side.

Think that somehow God owes you something because you tried.

Proverbs 30 and verse 12 says,

There are those who are clean in their own eyes,

but are not washed of their filth.

Humility, rather, marks the saved.

Those who have repented of their sin and turned to Christ.

Jesus says in Matthew 5, verse 3,

Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Those who recognize their spiritual need,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

You want to die in your sin?

Be self-righteous.

Isn't it a great irony

that the men who had already decided to murder Jesus,

which decision had been made in previous chapters,

that they suggest that he may take his own life

and not inhabit the same place as them?

How self-righteous to think

that the murder of an innocent man

would gain them reward

and find them in a different place than he.

Secondly, how to die in your sins?

Be worldly.

Verse 23, he said to them,

You are from below.

I am from above.

You are of this world.

I am not of this world.

As Jesus points out his opponent's

different destination in verse 22,

here he points out their different origin.

The concept being presented by the word world

is an important one.

Jesus is not referring here

to the material world,

but to the immaterial,

spiritual realm

that opposes the kingdom of God,

the system of this world.

I thought this paragraph from John MacArthur

summed this very well.

He says,

Materialism, humanism,

immorality,

pride, and selfishness.

The lust of the flesh

and the lust of the eyes

and the boastful pride of life,

1 John 2.16,

are the world's hallmarks.

It is utterly opposed to divine truth,

righteousness,

virtue,

and holiness.

Its opinions are wrong.

Its aims are selfish.

Its pleasures are sinful.

Its influences are demoralizing.

Its politics are corrupt.

Its honors are empty.

Its smiles are phony.

Its love is false and fickle.

End quote.

The starting point of the Jews' animosity towards Jesus

is the fact that they are part of the world.

They walked,

following the course of this world,

following the prince of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now at work,

and the sons of disobedience,

Ephesians 2.

2.

This is why Jesus calls Satan their father.

Do you want to die in your sin?

Love this world.

Love the system that functions here.

Excuse me.

Listen to its falsehoods.

Believe that you are at the center of the universe,

that your emotions and whims define the truth,

that you can outwit God.

Instead,

we have to humble ourselves and submit ourselves

to God's word.

Third way to die in your sins.

Be unbelieving.

How to die in your sins.

Number three.

Be unbelieving.

Verse 24.

Jesus says,

I told you that you would die in your sins.

For unless you believe that I am he,

you will die in your sins.

For those of you who care and have been keeping up,

I think this is the chiastic center of this text.

Although,

Jim Hamilton disagrees.

And that was hard for me this week.

Maybe we can talk about it later.

I told you you would die in your sins,

for unless you believe that I am he,

you will die in your sins.

Unless you believe that I am he.

Isn't that an interesting phrase?

What specifically does the pronoun he refer to?

What's it referring back to?

I want to tell you,

my punchy response was to go back up the text

and start looking.

What does he mean when he's referring to the he?

Well,

the pronoun he

is not in the original Greek text.

It would be better

to render the phrase

unless you believe

that I am.

He's declaring himself to be deity.

It's not the first time that he's done this.

So if you want to include the pronoun,

I think he's going all the way back

to what he said in John chapter 5,

John 5:17

verse 17 and 18.

You may remember,

this is where some of this kicked off.

He said,

my father is working until now

and I am working.

And then verse 18 says this.

This was why the Jews were seeking

all the more to kill him.

Right?

There's their plan.

Why?

Because

not only was he breaking the Sabbath,

you remember he healed a man

at the Pool of Siloam,

but he was even calling God

his own father,

making himself

equal

with God.

That is exactly what he's doing here.

He is declaring

that he is

the I

Am.

The self-existent one.

Yahweh.

Later in verse 28,

he's going to refer to himself

as the

son of man.

The book of Daniel.

The one who will

reign at the father's

right hand over

the nations.

He is

unequivocally

doing that

very thing.

The thing that they're so

mad at him for doing,

that is exactly

what he is

doing.

And he says,

unless you believe

that I am,

you will die

in your sins.

Jesus is either

a liar,

he's a lunatic,

or he is

who he says

he is.

Do you want to die

in your sin?

Dismiss Jesus

as maniacal

or as a madman.

Dismiss him as that.

or

humbly receive him

as the great

I am.

The fourth way

to die

in your sins

is to be

willfully

ignorant.

Look at their response

in verse 25.

They said to him,

who are you?

Jesus said to them,

just what I have been

telling you

from the beginning.

It's like they want

to have a point

of contention

with him here,

and yet he has

already explained

to them

who he is.

They already

had the data

to believe

that he is

the I am.

To have the

forgiveness

of their sins,

and yet they

willfully

ignore him.

I want to

be brief

here.

I just want

to note

it,

just for the

sake of our

time.

They've had

enough to

place their

faith in

Christ.

They could

have approached

him as

Nicodemus did,

unsure and

curious.

They could

have asked

him honest

questions.

They could

have said,

these claims

you're making

are massive

claims.

You're claiming

to be God.

Tell us

more.

But this is

not their

approach to

him at all.

They are

positioning

to have

him killed.

They are

happy to

remain just

as they

are.

Self-righteous,

self-deluded,

unbelieving,

worldly,

sitting in

positions of

power,

trying to

play a

political game

with Rome.

They're so

happy to

see him

off the

scene.

They want

to get rid

of Jesus

as a

nuisance

to what

they have

going on.

Do you

want to

die in

your sin?

Ignore

everything you

have ever

heard about

Jesus.

Most of

you, I

would assume,

have grown

up hearing

about Jesus.

If nothing

else, you've

heard about

him.

I'll tell you

more here

in just

a moment.

You want

to die

in your

sin?

Ignore

everything

that I'm

going to

say to

you today.

But notice

the final

verse of

our text.

I'm

grateful for

verse 30.

It says,

as he was

saying these

things,

many

believed

saved in

him.

For those

of you who

have not

placed saving

faith in

Jesus Christ,

what if you

don't want to

die in your

sin?

What must you

do?

Or to state

it better,

what must you

believe to be

saved?

the Bible

gives us a

clear and

gracious

answer.

Zoom back

a bit from

it.

It begins

with God

himself.

The scripture

tells us that

in the beginning

God created

the heavens

and the

earth.

He's

over the

universe

and he is

perfectly

holy in

his character.

The prophet

Isaiah records

the angels

declaring before

him,

holy,

holy,

holy,

that thrice

repetition,

perfectly

holy,

is the

Lord of

hosts.

The whole

earth is

full of

his glory.

That's

Isaiah 6

Isaiah 6:3

verse 3.

Because

God is

holy,

set apart,

and he is

righteous,

he cannot

ignore

rebellion.

He cannot

dismiss

sin.

He cannot

be in

fellowship

with

rebels

to his

will.

His

justice

requires

that evil

be judged,

and every

human being

stands

accountable

before him.

The Bible

tells us that

humanity has

rebelled against

this holy

God.

It starts

in Genesis

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and it carries

on to this

day.

Though we were

created to know

him and live

under his

good rule,

we have

all turned

away.

Scripture

says,

for all

have sinned

and fall

short of

the glory

of God.

Romans 3

23.

Every one

of us

guilty

before him.

Sin is

not just

some

weakness

or failure,

some minor

deficiency.

It's

rebellion.

It's declaring

God our

enemy,

the one who

created us.

calling him

no longer

our God,

our creator,

but that

is set

against us.

Each of

us has

broken

God's law

in thought,

in word,

in deed.

And because of

this rebellion,

the Bible says

the wages

of sin

is death.

Romans 6

23.

Death now,

death forevermore,

eternal separation

from God.

Sin leads

to physical

death and

ultimately to

eternal

death.

Left to

ourselves,

we cannot

right this

wrong.

No amount

of moral

effort or

religious activity

can remove

the guilt

of our

sin.

But the

good news

of the

gospel is

that God

has acted

to save

sinners.

In his

great love,

he has sent

his son

Jesus Christ

into the

world.

The

apostle Paul

writes,

but God

shows his

love for

us,

and that

while we

were still

sinners,

Christ

died for

us.

Romans 5

8.

Jesus

lived the

perfectly

righteous

life that

we have

failed to

live,

and then

he

willingly

went to

the cross

to bear

the penalty

of our

sin.

As the

apostle Peter

explains,

he himself

bore our

sins in

his body

on the

tree that

we might

die to

sin and

live to

righteousness.

1 Peter 2

and verse

24.

After his

crucifixion,

Jesus raised

from the

dead on

the third

day,

demonstrating

that his

sacrifice was

accepted and

that he has

conquered sin

and death

forever.

God

The Bible

calls every

person to

respond to

this good

news.

Jesus himself

proclaimed,

the time is

fulfilled and

the kingdom of

God is at

hand.

Repent and

believe in

the gospel.

Mark 1

15.

To repent

means to

turn away from

sin, to

change your

mind.

This is no

longer the

trajectory I

want to be

on.

I want to

go a

different way.

I'm not

going to live

for myself.

I want to

live for

God.

To believe

means to

place your

trust in

Jesus Christ

alone,

relying on

his life,

his death

and resurrection

as the only

basis for our

forgiveness and

acceptance before

God.

I used to use

an analogy with

my boys,

which I stole

from somebody,

I'm sure,

that we put

on Jesus like

a parachute and

we jump out

the plane.

We believe

he will catch

us and we

will,

not die.

We used to

practice jumping

out of the

plane off our

couch.

We put on

backpacks and

jump off the

plane.

That's what it

means to

believe.

We hold

on to him.

The promise

of scripture

is clear.

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.

Romans 10,

9.

Salvation is

not something we

earn by

religious effort.

Instead,

by grace,

you have been

saved through

faith.

This is the

gift of God,

not a result

of works,

so that no

one may boast.

Ephesians 2,

8 and 9.

So what must

you believe to

be saved?

You must

believe that

God is the

holy creator,

that you are

a sinner in

need of

forgiveness,

that Jesus

Christ died

and rose again

to save

sinners,

and that you

must repent

and trust in

him alone

for salvation.

salvation.

The Bible

gives this

gracious promise

to all who

respond in

faith.

Everyone who

calls on the

name of the

Lord will be

saved.

Romans 10,

13.

If you don't

want to die in

your sin,

repent and

believe that

Jesus is the

Christ.

for those of

you who have

placed saving

faith in

Jesus Christ.

Don't forget

the gospel for

you.

Once again,

we should never

grow tired of

hearing it.

It's a glorious

thing.

We should be

reminded of who

we once were

and now who

we are in

Jesus.

Never grow

cold, never

grow tired of

hearing this

glorious thing.

And secondly,

don't forget

the gospel for

others.

God is saving

a people for

his glory.

We want to

have God's

glory magnified

and we want to

be part of his

saving work in

the world.

So preach the

gospel to

anyone who

will listen to

you, to

your children

in your home,

to your

neighbors, to

your coworkers,

to your

extended family

members.

Follow a

simple outline.

It's what I

just presented

for you.

God, man,

Christ,

response.

It's not

difficult to

have conversations

about things

that you

love.

It's easy to

get into this

conversation,

particularly at

the man point.

Everybody's got

problems.

Everybody experiences

trouble in this

world.

Talk about the

fallence of the

world and then

back them up to

God, walk

through man, show

them Christ, ask

them to respond.

It's not a hard

thing to do.

Just do it.

Be faithful to

proclaim the

gospel.

Pray that God

will use your

gospel proclamation

to save souls.

You will not

logic anybody

into heaven.

It's not going to

happen.

Declare the gospel

to them.

I'm not

anti-apologetics.

We see Paul

reasoning with

people day by

day.

But it is not

the primary thing

that should be

done.

Help people put

down their guard,

lower their fists,

preach the gospel

to them.

Take them back

to their sinful

state.

Show them their

need of justification.

Present to them

Jesus.

Charles Spurgeon

once said, and

this is in your

bulletin if you

care to read it,

a great many

learned men are

defending the

gospel.

No doubt it is a

very proper and

right thing to do.

Yet I always

notice that when

there are most

books of that

kind, it is

because the

gospel itself is

not being

preached.

Stop it there

for a second.

You hear what

he's saying?

When we're

spending all of

our time making

apologetic arguments

for it, Spurgeon

says it's because

it's just not being

preached.

I'll pick back

up.

Suppose a number

of persons were

to take it into

their heads that

they had to

defend a

lion, a

full-grown

king of

beasts.

There he is

in the cage,

and here come

all the soldiers

of the army to

fight for him.

Well, I

should suggest

to them, if

they would not

object and

feel that it

was humbling

to them, that

they should

kindly stand

back and

open the

door and

let the

lion out.

I believe

that would

be the best

way of

defending him,

for he

would take

care of

himself.

Let's

pray together.