52

John 8:21-24 ONE DYING IN HIS SINS

Introduction:

As Jesus taught in the temple courtyard, He told a great

crowd of people that He is the Light of the world. The

Pharisees challenged His statement. They said that because

He bore witness on His own behalf that His witness was not

true. Jesus said that there were two who bore witness of

Him. Not only did He bare witness of Himself, but God the

Heavenly Father also bore witness of Him. The witness which

God the Father gave on His behalf was so conclusive that it

proved beyond a reasonable doubt that He is the Christ.

Only those who were extremely prejudiced against Him would

continue to doubt that He is the Christ.

Yet the Pharisees were so strongly prejudiced against

Him that they stubbornly refused to accept Him as the

Christ.

In our text today Jesus warns the Pharisees that because

they refused to believe in Him as the Christ, they would die

in their sins.

I. Another declaration by Jesus that He would depart

V. 21, "Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way..."

Back about the middle of The Feast of Tabernacles on the

very first day of His arrival at the feast, Jesus had told

the Pharisees even then that He would soon depart. He did

not tell them how He would depart or where He would go. He

did tell them that He would be returning to the One who had

sent Him. Now He tells them again that He is soon to go

away. He literally said, "I go my way."

Jesus still did not give any details. If He had given

them details, He would have informed them that He would soon

allow them to put Him to death. He would have informed them

that He would be crucified and resurrected. Soon after His

resurrection He would rise up in the air and go away into

heaven.

If He had wanted also to inform them of the time

element, He would have told them that they would not be able

to put Him to death at this present time as they desired to

do. They would have to wait for another six months until

the next Passover Feast before they could put Him to death.

II. Seeking the Christ, but not finding Him

(V. 21), "...and ye shall seek me..." Jesus said that

after He is gone they would seek Him. Again He does not

give any details. Since those events have already taken

place and we can look back upon them now and fill in the

details. They would not be seeking Him in repentance of sin

and seeking Him as a Savior to save them from their sins.

It was just that since they had rejected Him as the Christ,

they would still be looking for the Christ to come. They

would seek for the Christ to come. . In fact they would

very earnestly plead with God to send the Christ to deliver

them. But let me repeat, it was not that they wanted the

Christ to deliver them from their sins and save their souls.

Rather, in 70 A. D. they would be facing an overwhelming

invasion by the Roman armies and they would be pleading with

God to send the Christ to deliver them from the powerful

Roman forces.

They wanted to be saved alright, but it was not the

salvation of the soul that they wanted. They wanted the

Christ to come alright, but it was not Jesus whom they

wanted to come. Even in the Roman invasion, they would

still persist in their rejection of Jesus as the Christ.

They would seek a Christ, but they would not find a

Christ. God would not send them a Christ, because they had

rejected the real Christ and were looking for a false

Christ. Much the same thing will happen in the end-time.

The world will reject the real Christ, but they will be

ready to accept a false Christ, the Anti-Christ.

III. Dying in sin

(V. 21), "...and shall die in your sins..." Jesus told

those Pharisees that they would die in their sins. Jesus

wanted them to know that they had, indeed, sinned against

God. The Pharisees were a self-righteous bunch. It was

hard to get them to see that they were guilty of sin. If

they had believed the Old Testament scriptures, as they

claimed, they would have known that they had sinned.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 says that there is not a just man on earth

that doeth good and sinneth not. Psalm 14:3 reads, "They

are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy:

there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Even if they

would believe their own Pharisee brethren, they would admit

their guilt before God. You will remember that when the

adulterous woman was brought before Jesus, Jesus had said,

"Let him that is without sin cast the first stone" and all

of that whole group of accusers walked away. By walking

away they all acknowledged their guilt before God. So would

they all, if they were honest.

They were all guilty of sin and the wages of sin is

death. They would all die because of their sin. What is

worse, Jesus said that they would die in their sins. That

is, they would die without forgiveness of their sins. They

would die to face the full penalty of their sins. They

would die unsaved. They would die lost. They would remain

lost forever.

IV. Not able to go where Jesus will be

(V. 21), "...whither I go, ye cannot come." Jesus was

going away, and He told them, "Where I go, you will not be

able to come." On the earlier occasion, He had told them

that He would return to the One who had sent Him. That

means that He would return to heaven.

He had even told them on that first occasion that they

would not be able to find Him. Now He speaks in even

stronger language. He says, "Where I will be you cannot

come." He is telling them that they will not be able to go

to heaven.

The Pharisees all of their lives had been taught to

believe that they would be in heaven. But Jesus told them

in no uncertain terms that they would never make it to

heaven. If they were not going to heaven that does not

leave but one place where they were headed. They were

headed into the everlasting fires of hell.

This was information that was not pleasant to hear, but

it was information that they desperately needed to hear.

How tragic it would be to believe all your life that you are

going to heaven only to find out when it was too late that

you were not allowed in heaven! Jesus told them the truth,

not to vent His anger against them, but rather to show His

love for them. He told them so that they could yet repent

of their sin and get saved before it was too late.

V. The question which the Pharisees raised

V. 22, "Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself?

because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come." I want you

to note how these men so easily shrugged off the news that

they were in danger of going to hell. They totally ignored

the fact that Jesus just told them that they would not go

heaven and started asking one another, "What is He going to

do? Is He going to kill Himself? He seems so sure that He

is going away. How can He be so sure? Is He going to kill

Himself?

We cannot be sure just what they had in mind by this

question. It could be that they were genuinely confused

about His statement about going away and wondered how He

could be so sure.

On the other hand, it could have been that they were

saying this in mockery. Jesus had told them that they would

not be able to come where He was going. It could be that

they immediately assumed that the reason they would not be

where He would be was because He would be in the very worst

possible kind of place. The Pharisees considered suicide to

be such a horrible sin that those who were guilty would not

only go to hell, but they would be in the very worst part of

hell. They may have thought, "That's right. We are not

going to be where you are going, because you are going to

the very worst part of hell and we could never go there. We

don't even want to go where you are going."

VI. An effort to correct their erroneous thinking

V. 23, "And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am

from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world."

The understanding of the Pharisees was woefully lacking.

They thought they would be in heaven in the hereafter and

that Jesus would be in hell. However, it was the other way

around. He would be in heaven and they would be in hell.

Jesus tried to correct their thinking by pointing out

that they understood only from an earthly point of view.

They were from earth and had limited knowledge. They saw

things from a prejudiced earthy point of view. They were

sinful in their nature and evil in their thinking.

On the other hand Jesus was from heaven. The

information which He had given to them was from heaven. He

was from heaven and every word which He had spoken to them

was exactly what God the Father had instructed Him to say.

There was no error on His part. He spoke from unlimited

knowledge. There was no prejudice on His part.

VII. A repeated warning from Jesus

V. 24, "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in

your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die

in your sins." Jesus sounded out another warning to the

Pharisees. He had already told them that they would die in

their sins. Now He repeats that warning. He repeats it for

emphasis. He wants them to wake up to the fact that they

are in grave danger of dying in their sin and missing out on

heaven.

In the latter part of the verse He gives the reason why

they will die in their sins. The reason is that they have

not received Him as the Light of the world, the Christ of

God. They have not believed in Him and trusted in Him to

save them from their sins.

But note especially the word "if." Jesus did not say

that absolutely positively they would die in their sins.

Rather Jesus said, "...if..." He said, "...for if ye believe

not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." There was

still time for them to repent of their sins and to believe

in Him and be saved. But "if" they would not trust in Him

they would die in their sins.

VIII. Looking at ourselves and at those around us

Now let us forget about the Pharisees for a few minutes.

Let us concentrate our thoughts upon ourselves and the

people we know in our family and in our neighborhood and in

the communities around us. It is just as important for

people today to believe in Jesus and be saved as it was for

people back in that day.

We were all born with a sin nature inherited from Adam.

We have all sinned and come short of God's perfect standard.

There is not a sinless man, woman, boy or girl among us.

The truth is that we have all sinned and we would all die in

our sins if it were not for the saving grace of God through

faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

People do not die in their sins because they have not

been baptized. People do not die in their sins because they

are not members of a church. People do not die in their

sins because they are not members of some certain kind of

church. People die in their sins because they are sinners

and because they have not trusted in Jesus Christ to save

them from their sins.

On the other hand, people do not get saved from their

sins because they get baptized. People do not get saved

from their sins because they come to church or join a

church. The only way that people can get saved from their

sins is by repenting of their sins and trusting in Jesus

Christ to save them from their sins.

If you are still in danger of dying in your sins, let me

point out to you that once you die in your sin it will be

forever too late to try to seek the Lord and ask Him to have

mercy on your soul. If you want Jesus to have mercy on you

then now is the time to call on Him and ask Him for mercy

and salvation. If you want to go to heaven then you had

better not wait until you die in your sins to seek

salvation.

Let me also point out to you that there is no question

about whether or not you will die. You will die. The

question is whether or not you will die in your sins.

If you are saved, then perhaps you need to start looking

around in your family or friends and start warning them to

trust in Jesus and be saved. Don't brow beat them and don't

hound them. Just pray for them and witness to them. It

will then be up to them to either trust Jesus Christ to save

them or to die in their sins. Let me say that everybody who

is unsaved needs somebody who is interested enough in their

soul to pray for

them and witness to them.

Conclusion:

If you are unsaved, would you like to make preparations

this morning so that when your time comes to die, you will

not die unprepared to meet God? Will you trust Jesus Christ

to be your Savior so that you will not die in your sins?

If you are already saved, will you get someone on your

heart and start praying for them? Will you seek an

opportunity to witness to them?