Well, turn to me in your Bibles to John chapter 8. This passage of scripture has been awe-inspiring for me this week as I’ve studied it. And you see the title in your bulletins of the sermon is, You Will Die in Your Sin. And we will be focusing in the text on those who will die in their sin and their characteristics. So you might wonder, well, how is that awe-inspiring? But it’s often against a backdrop like that, as has often been used as an illustration where a jeweler will use black velvet as a backdrop as he displays diamonds. to bring out their clarity and color and shine. And it’s against a backdrop like this that we see the Savior in all of his beauty, in all of his glory. And that’s what we see this morning in John chapter eight.

We’ve been studying John’s gospel and as the last few weeks we’ve been coming through John chapter eight and even through the previous chapters we’ve been seeing the witnesses and their testimony to who Jesus is, and as we saw last week, these Jewish leaders try to discredit Jesus, try to discredit the witness that Jesus himself brings, and they charge him with lying because he had no corroborating witnesses according to them, which of course is not true, which we’ve seen over and over throughout this gospel. And because of the overwhelming evidence in his favor, in who he is, unbelief in Jesus is inexcusable.

Those who hear the gospel and reject it will be eternally punished for their sin. They will miss their opportunity for salvation from what each and every one of us is due for our sin. And they will have no one to blame but themselves. Even those who have not heard the gospel are still responsible for rejecting the truth that they have been given according to what we read in the Bible.

And every person Every person who will end up in hell will be sent there to pay for their own sin. Every person is a sinner and deserves to die and suffer the punishment reserved in hell for eternity. But God graciously offers salvation. from that eternal destiny. And he offers that salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. But again, all who reject him are fully responsible for choosing to die in their sins.

And that’s exactly what Jesus has to say to these Jewish leaders who are confronting him here in John 8. He has repeatedly warned these Jews about the danger of not knowing him. As we saw last week in verse 19, they were saying to him, where is your father? And Jesus answered, you know neither me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. In other words, these men, despite their position and learning and their biblical acumen, they didn’t know God.

And it was because of this that they asked the mocking questions that they do. And that’s what they’re doing here in John chapter 8, by their questions. They’re mocking Him. We’ll see two more questions like this in our text today, but we need to understand exactly what type of questions these are. This type of question is aimed not so much at finding out the truth. These questions are aimed at resisting the truth. These questions are an attempt to justify their refusal to believe in Him. The refusal to believe what God has already made known to us.

This is what God is speaking about in the first chapter of Romans. In Romans 1, we see that some things about God are revealed to all men. Romans chapter 1 verse 20 says, for since the creation of the world, can’t go back any farther than that. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, both his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Who’s without excuse? Anyone who has seen creation. Any human being who has ever existed. is without excuse, because there are some things about God that are plain, but so many refuse to believe in Him.

And a few verses later in Romans chapter one, in verse 28, we read that they did not see fit to acknowledge God. Despite all this evidence throughout creation, in all the things that have been clearly seen, they did not see fit to acknowledge God. And so, God gave them over to an unfit mind. Because men and women do not like what they clearly know, and they do not want to recognize the implications of it, They refuse to acknowledge God. And they willfully reject it. There’s no such thing as an atheist. An atheist believes there is no God. No. An atheist rejects the God who is.

David tells us why in slightly different language in Psalm 77, verse three. He says, I remember God and I am disturbed. I muse and my spirit faints. Remembering God is disturbing to those whose hearts and minds are not at peace with him through the death of his son, Jesus Christ. And since we don’t like to be troubled in our minds and pricked in our consciences and disturbed, these people do everything they can think of to block God out of their minds.

And one of those ways is to ask skeptical questions that imply, you must be ridiculous if you believe this. But again, the first chapter of Romans reminds us of another truth, and it’s a warning about what God does to those who will not acknowledge him. Perhaps the scariest words in scripture, I’ve said that before, but there’s some scary words in scripture, and these are some of them.

We’re told in verse 28 that because they do not acknowledge God, God gave them over. He gave them over. The idea is that since man has abandoned God, God abandons him. They gave up God. So God gave them up. He gave them over. And this phrase is repeated three times in Romans 1. The first two speak of the wicked sins to which God gives them over. That’s what you want? Have it. But then it says God gives them over to something much worse than the sins they want. After they do not acknowledge God, verse 28 says, God gives them over to an unfit or a reprobate mind. He abandons them to their own judgment, to their own ignorance.

And this is what we see on display in our text this morning. And this is the world we live in. People who are given over. to their unfit minds because they refuse to acknowledge God. That’s why you see the literal insanity in our world today. Their minds are unfit because they refuse to acknowledge God.

In our text today, we see the characteristics of those who die in their sins. Jesus uses that phrase three times in this passage. He uses it as a warning to these Jews. And in this warning, Jesus shows us four characteristics of those who will die in their sins. And they’re the very same characteristics you see in Romans 1. Those who die in their sins are, first of all, self-righteous. Secondly, they’re worldly. Thirdly, they are unbelieving. And fourthly, they are ignorant. Those are the four characteristics we see of these men that Jesus warns will die in their sins. I’m going to read our text for us this morning. Please follow along as I read John chapter 8. We’ll pick up in verse 21 where we left off last week and go through verse 27. John chapter 8, verses 21 through 27. This is the word of the Lord.

Then he said again to them, 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 were saying, surely he will not kill himself since he says, where I’m going, you cannot come. And he was saying to them, you are from below and I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.

So they were saying to him, who are you? Jesus said to them, what have I been saying to you from the beginning? I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but he who sent me is true. And the things which I heard from him, these I am saying to the world.” They did not know that he had been speaking to them about the father.

As we saw earlier, these Jews had already tried to arrest Jesus. You saw in verse 32 of chapter 7, they sent officers to seize him. And they failed. So they try to attack his character by saying, no prophet comes from Galilee. And when that didn’t work, they attacked his testimony. Jesus, you’re lying. Nobody agrees with you. And then when that doesn’t work, The Pharisees and these Jewish leaders sink to the lowest level of all, and they start to mock him.

Again, they started by asking the question, where is your father? And as we saw last week, this is either a jab at Joseph, who at this point, most scholars agree, is most likely no longer alive because we don’t hear of any mention of Joseph in Jesus’ adult life. Or, as we see in verse 41, this is an accusation of being born from sexual immorality.

So that’s the first question they try to mock him with when they can’t discredit his testimony. Who is your father anyways? And then we see the question today, will he kill himself? And the third question we’ll see is, who are you? We’ll address these questions as we come to them in the text, but this implication here is a rejection of everything he said to them. So what is Jesus’ response to these insults, to these mocking questions, to this hatred that they showed him? What we see here, Jesus answers with the strongest description of unregenerate people. that we’ve seen yet in John’s gospel. First, Jesus says that those who will die in their sins are self-righteous.

He starts in verse 21. He says again to them, I’m going away and you will seek me and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come. Jesus says he’s going away and they will seek him. They’ll seek after Him, they’ll look for Him. And typically, when we read this at face value, we think, oh, they’re gonna realize the truth. And eventually, once Jesus is gone, they’re gonna think, oh no, where’d that Jesus go? I wanna be saved now. Where is Jesus? I want Jesus. But that’s not what this means. That’s not what Jesus is saying that they will do.

Because as we know, as we read the rest of scripture, for all but a few of them, none of them ever seek Jesus. Even after they have him killed, they don’t seek for him. Instead, they start rumors about his disciples stealing his body and trying to cover up the resurrection. That’s these men. And then they send men like Saul of Tarsus to kill Jesus’ followers. So they don’t ever actually seek for Jesus. But that’s not what Jesus means.

What Jesus means is He will go away and they will continue to look for the Messiah. They will continue to look for the one that He is. He is the Messiah. But they’re going to keep looking for a Messiah. And when they do, they will not find him because they’ve already rejected the only Messiah that there is. And Jesus was right because the Jewish people today, those who practice Judaism, they’re still looking for their Messiah. They’re still waiting for the Messiah to come. They still believe that he hasn’t come yet. And they’re still looking and waiting in vain, because He did come. And they rejected Him.

But one day, as the Bible promises us, many in Israel will be saved. And this will happen when they realize that Jesus is the Messiah. As the prophet Zechariah told us would happen. In Zechariah chapter 12, Verse 10, God speaking. He says this, I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication so that they will look on me whom they have pierced. And they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son. Has Israel done that yet? No. But the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will look on the one they’ve pierced and they will mourn for him and mourn for an only son and they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

This will be the sorrow and repentance of those who finally turn to Christ. But there will also be those who don’t. For those who never turn to Christ and will die in their sin, the Bible tells us about them too. Because Jesus is coming back one day. And the book of Revelation tells us exactly what that will be like. And in Revelation chapter one, verse seven.

It says this, behold, he is coming on the clouds. He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Yes and amen. They will mourn over him, even those who pierced him. because they will finally realize that Jesus is who he says he is. He’s the only Messiah that they will get.

And these Jews standing before Jesus will seek the Messiah, but they will not find him because they rejected him and they will die in their sins. And Jesus says, where I am going, you cannot come. To reject the Son is to reject the Father, as we’ve seen. So how will they enter the Father’s presence, where Jesus is going, if they’re still in their sins? They can’t.

You see, the Bible tells us there are only two conditions that every single person dies in. Everyone will die, and you will die in one of two conditions. Either in Christ or in sin. Again, in Revelation chapter 14, it speaks of those who die in Christ. It says, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Those are believers. Those who are in Christ.

But then there are those who reject Him. Who never come to Him. Who are never in Christ. John 3.18 tells us that he who believes in Him is not judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. They’re still in their sins. And that’s Jesus’ warning to these Jews.

Their response reveals their wickedness, their sinfulness. and their self-righteousness, because they go on to say, surely he will not kill himself, since he says, where I am going, you cannot come. At first, this doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, because as Jesus warns them, you can’t come where I’m going, the response turns into a joke. Was he going to kill himself? And ironically, those who were trying to kill him supposed that he might do it for them. And it is true that Jesus will lay his life down of his own accord. That’s what he says in John chapter 10. He says, I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. Jesus laid his life down.

But that’s not what they mean here. They do understand that he’s speaking of his death when he says, where I’m going, you cannot come. But even that, they misunderstand. And the significance of this is seen when you understand the Jews’ view of suicide, of taking your own life. You see, they believe that those who killed themselves went to the blackest part of hell.

They’re, of course, wrong in that. That’s found nowhere in the Bible. But the first century Jewish historian Josephus said this, he said, the souls of those whose hands have acted madly against themselves are received by the darkest place in Hades. This is what they believed.

So, if you follow the logic of their question here, since they assumed that they were obviously going to heaven, I mean, they are God’s children after all. They mockingly suggest that if he’s going where we can’t go, that can only mean one thing. He must be speaking of going to the darkest place in hell. Surely they wouldn’t be going to hell. So that must be where he’s going. And in their arrogance and self-righteousness, They were deaf to Jesus’ words, and they mockingly twist what He actually says. Because self-righteousness is a deadly deception.

And the Judaism of Jesus’ day based their salvation on their own righteousness, on performing good works, by observing the ceremonies and the laws And Paul wrote about these people in Romans 10, and he said, for not knowing about the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

They did not subject themselves to Christ. And Paul himself, who was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, he was the best of the best when it came to Pharisees, he was a zealous Finally, he comes to realize after Jesus saves him miraculously, he says in Romans 3 verse 20, because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified. No flesh will be justified by anyone’s own righteousness. Even if they could keep the law, obedience saves nobody. God tells Israel in Isaiah 57 verse 12, I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. Your own righteousness does not profit you. Salvation comes only from Christ’s righteousness imputed to those who believe.

2 Corinthians 5.21 says, he made him who knew no sin, Jesus, to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And that righteousness far surpasses the false righteousness of the Pharisees, what they were trusting in. And let me tell you, if you think that you are good enough to impress God on your own, that God is impressed by anything good you do, even if you’re a believer.

Or that you’re not as bad as this other guy. So that must mean something, right? It does not. That’s just self-righteousness. You are either in sin and have absolutely no righteousness. or you’re in Christ and you have His righteousness. That’s how God sees you. And these Pharisees, they were the best of the best in self-righteousness, in human achievement. They were the most righteous people you’d ever meet. Just ask them.

But Jesus says in Matthew 5 verse 20, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Unless your righteousness, unless your goodness is better than the best person you ever met, which it’s obviously not by the very framing of the question, you cannot get into heaven. So if you follow this example set by these Pharisees and trusting in your own goodness, thinking that you’re pretty good in and of yourself, and that’s going to mean anything to God.

If you refuse, like them, to admit your inability to contribute anything for your salvation. If you refuse to cry out, God be merciful to me, the sinner. then you will die in your sin. The self-righteous will never see heaven. The second characteristic of those who will die in their sins is that they are worldly.

Verse 23, He was saying to them, you are from below and I am from above. You are of this world and I am not of this world. They were from a completely different place than he was. They were from below. They were part of this world. And here he does not simply mean that he was from heaven and has a heavenly father and they were just born of earthly parents.

Here the below in the world refers to their spiritual state. They are citizens of the kingdom of this world. That’s the world they belong to, and they are ruled by Satan himself. They are in the state that all people begin in, that even we were in before salvation. Ephesians 2, starting in verse 1, says, and you were dead in your transgressions and sins. This is where they are. in which you formerly walked, according to the course of this world.” This is where they are. This is where they are from. According to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. The world, the place they were from.

The world hates Jesus. Jesus tells His disciples that in John 7. The world hates Him and they’ll hate you too. This is the reason why they reject him and couldn’t see him for who he truly was. The light has come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light. The things of this world are completely opposed to Christ. John, later on as he writes his first letter, says this very thing. In 1 John 2, verses 15 and 16, he says, do not love the world or the things of the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. There are two different sources. from the world or from the Father. And in contrast to them, Jesus is from the Father.

He is from above, he says, and not a part of this world’s system. And his believers are no longer part of this world. Jesus says in John 15, if you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, But I chose you out of the world because this world hates you.” Because we are not of the world. We’ve escaped the corruption that is in this world, Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1, 4.

But on the other hand, those who will die in their sins, those who Jesus is talking to, they are of this world. They remain of this world because they refuse to come to Him. The third characteristic of those who will die in their sins, and most obviously, is that they are unbelieving. Thirdly, they are unbelieving. In verse 24, Jesus continues and says, So because they’re from below and He’s from above and they’re from the world, because of that I said to you that you will die in your sin. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sin. So on top of their self-righteousness and on top of their worldliness, Jesus points out that The ultimate issue is their unbelief. Belief would solve all of this. But Jesus says that those who reject him will die in their sins because they refuse to believe that I am he.

John 8 can really be called the I am chapter. It’s the I am chapter of the Bible. Jesus began back in verse 12 by saying, I am the light of the world. We saw that. And that upset them because they knew that means he’s claiming to be God because God is the light of the world. And we often recognize the typical I am statements in John. I am the bread of life. I’m the light of the world. I’m the way, the truth, and the life, and all the seven instances that he claims that title. But here in John 8, in the very same conversation with these Jews, Jesus keeps saying, I am.

After verse 12, he says it again in verse 18, and verse 24, and verse 28, and then finally in verse 58. And I mentioned before that this, in Greek, is ego eimi. And it’s a very peculiar way to speak, even in the Greek that it’s written in. It’s very repetitive. It’s literally I, I am, or I am, I am. Nobody speaks like that. In English, several of the translations have translated I am he just to make it smoother. But here Jesus is trying to emphasize something to these Jews. Something that their Old Testament trained ears would hear and recognize. I mentioned last week that I am is how God referred to himself to Moses in Exodus.

Exodus 3.14, God says to Moses, I am who I am. Tell them I am has sent you. And that’s the origin of God’s name, I am.

But that’s not the only reference they would recognize. Because the further background of this phrase in John 8 is found in Isaiah. In the Hebrew, God reveals himself repeatedly with this declaration that comes across as I am he. which gets translated in the Greek version of the Old Testament exactly the way it’s spelled here. Remember, I read earlier to open or in the service in the scripture reading, Isaiah 41 and down in verse four, it says, who has worked and done it, calling forth generations from the beginning. I, Yahweh, am the first and with the last, I am He. And the I am he is repeatedly used by God for himself throughout Isaiah 40 to 55.

But listen especially to Isaiah chapter 43 verse 10. Turn to Isaiah 43 10 in your Bibles. As Jesus is bearing witness and defending himself, defending his witness to them, everything that we’ve been seeing in these last few chapters. Listen to Isaiah 43, verses 10 and 11, and see if any of this sounds familiar to John 8. Isaiah 43, starting in verse 10.

You are my witnesses, declares Yahweh, and my servant, whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me there was no God formed and there will be no God after me. I, even I, am Yahweh and there is no Savior besides me. You are my witnesses.

That’s John 8. My servant whom I have chosen. That’s Jesus. So that you may believe That’s John’s purpose statement for the gospel. And understand that I am he. That’s what he’s saying. This is the background. This is what they knew. They may have even had this memorized.

So when he says, unless you believe I am he, you will die in your sin. In Isaiah, I am He means I am Yahweh, I am God. This is what Jesus is saying. And for anyone to apply this title to themselves would be blasphemous. It’s an invitation to face the wrath of God. So for Jesus to use these very words of himself was a claim to be God himself. The only Savior. And to think there are people today who say that Jesus never claimed to be God. This is exactly what he claims here repeatedly in this chapter.

And not only does he claim it, he says, unless you believe it, you will die in your sins. Those who continue in unbelief and refuse to believe in all that Jesus is and all that he’s done will die in their sins. They’ll be under the wrath of God forever.

And apart from the knowledge and belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ, no one can be saved. Unless you believe. Unless you believe I, even I, am Yahweh, and there is no Savior besides Me. Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. This is why we are commanded to go to all the world, and to every one of your neighbors, and preach Christ to everyone. Make sure they know. Because unless they believe, they will die in their sins. Those who die in their sins are unbelieving. Lastly, those who die in their sins are, as we saw in Romans 1, ignorant. They’re ignorant.

The last few verses here, starting in verse 25, so they were saying to him, who are you? Jesus said to them, what have I been saying to you from the beginning? I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but he who sent me is true. And the things which I heard from him, these I am saying to the world.” They did not know that he had been speaking to them about the father. So they were saying to him, who are you?

What a question. In light of all that he’d done. in light of all that he had preached to them and had already claimed to them. After he just clearly once again claimed to be Yahweh God himself, they ask, who are you anyways? Who are you? And they ask that because he was right. They don’t know God. so they don’t recognize God in the flesh standing before them. And what they obviously mean by this is, who do you think you are to tell us that we’re gonna die in our sins? And Jesus doesn’t even answer the question. Who are you? What have I been telling you this whole time? What have I been saying from the beginning?

They knew. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse. They’re without excuse. They can ask any question they want to, but at this point, they are clearly without excuse. They had more than creation to tell them. They had the word who was with God and the word who was God standing before them in the flesh. They had seen and heard it all. And they were ignorant of him. Because they did not see fit to acknowledge God. So God gave them over. to an unfit mind.

Jesus says he has many things to say and judge concerning them, which is an understatement if there ever was one. They will hear that judgment one day, but that was not this day. For now, Jesus tells them what they need to know. And that is that he who sent me is true and the things which I heard from him, these I am saying to the world. He goes back to the truth and authority of his witness. This is where they started. And despite all that he said, John tells us that in their ignorance, they didn’t know he was talking about the father. The ignorance of unbelief. And this is true of all who die in their sins. All who die in their sins are self-righteous and worldly and unbelieving and ignorant. So what about you? Are you still in your sins? Or are you in Christ?

You can’t know You can know your relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ simply by the way that you would answer the questions that they asked him. To the question, where is your father, Jesus? Can you say, Jesus, your father is God Almighty, and you are his only begotten son? To the question, will he kill himself? Do you say, no, but he gave himself for me. And to the question, who are you, Jesus? Is your answer. You are the Christ. The son of the living God, and you are my savior.

Unless you can answer these questions like that, like he says. You will die in your sins. Please don’t leave here today in your sins. Please come and talk to me or to somebody here about how you can know Christ and be in Christ and no longer in your sins. And if you are in Christ, isn’t Jesus Christ of Nazareth beautiful?

What a Savior. What grace that he would come for us when we were in this state. You have an eternal destiny you can be sure of. The very God of the universe, the I am, he came in the flesh. He came as a man to save us. And he told us so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me there was no God formed and there will be none after me. I, even I, am Yahweh and there is no Savior besides me.” What amazing grace. Stand with me as we close in a word of prayer this morning.

Our God and Father and Savior, we thank you for sending your Son, for coming in the form of human flesh, the Son of God, the Christ, the only Messiah. God, we marvel at your goodness, at your grace, We can’t fully understand it. We have a hard time explaining it, but we are so thankful for it. We praise you and glorify you for the loving and saving God that you are. We pray now that you’ll accept our worship of you for your amazing grace. And we pray this in Jesus’ precious name, amen.