JOHN 8
8 Outlines
CONFRONTATION
John 8:1-11
CONDEMNING LEADERSHIP
Vss. 1-5
CONVICTING COMMAND Vss.
6-9
COMPASSIONATE SAVIOR
Vss. 10-11
COMMANDING GOD Vs. 11
"Go and sin no more."
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John 8:1-11
IT'S EASY
Some things are hard to
do, while others things seem to be pretty easy.
One of the easy things to do is to have a critical spirit. Especially in church you will find people who
have the "gift of criticism".
No matter what you do in church, someone will criticize. Jesus certainly dealt with his hare of
critics, and we meet some of them in this passage.
IT'S EASY TO FIND FAULT
- Vss. 1-6
The scribes and Pharisees
brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in the act of adultery. Look around and you will find it easy to
identify the sins of others. That's
because we have all sinned (Romans
They suggested to Jesus
that Moses said that such a person caught in such an act should be stoned (Vs.
5). The interesting thing is that they were suggesting this, so they could
accuse Jesus after he gave an answer.
IT'S EASY TO FORGET OUR
OWN SINS - Vss. 7-9
Jesus simply told them
that whoever was not guilty of sin to cast the first stone.
They were willing to
condemn the woman caught in sin, but were not remembering their own sins
(Matthew 7:1-2).
They were so convicted
that each one of them left without throwing a single stone.
IT'S EASY TO BE FORGIVEN
- Vss. 10-11
Jesus could have
condemned this woman, but He didn't.
Instead, He told her to
go and sin no more.
It is easy to receive
forgiveness from the Lord Jesus, because it is He who died for our sins (Romans
5:6-9). When a person trusts Christ as Savior forgiveness and eternal life
comes(John
When Christians confess
their sins, they are forgiven (1John 1:9).
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John 8:1-11
APPEARANCE BEFORE THE
SAVIOR
There was once a woman
who committed adultery.
The last person she
probably wanted to see was the Son of God.
However, the meeting
before the Savior not only showed Jesus' superiority over His enemies, but also
gave the woman forgiveness.
ACCUSATION BY THE ENEMY
- Vss. 1-6
ANSWER OF JESUS - Vss.
7-8
APPRAISAL OF SELF - Vs.
9
ASSURANCE OF MERCY -
Vss. 10-11
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John 8:12
THE LIGHT OF LIFE
(This outline was adapted from the writings of
Alexander MacLaren's Expositions of Holy Scriptures. The notes are my own.)
DARKNESS! Making
decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days
before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task
for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl.
"Why," he exclaimed, "when I went a-courtin' I never carried one
of them things. I always went in the dark." "Yes," the hired man
said wryly," and look what you got!"
http://www.bible.org/illus/l/l-34.htm#TopOfPage Source unknown
DARKNESS! Go to one of
the news pages such as http://foxnews.com
and to your local newspaper.
Mention several headlines that show that we live in a dark and sinful
world.
Darkness! This world is
full of it. There's the occult, there's
murder, there's suicide, there's infidelity, there's abortion, there's lying,
there's stealing, there's drugs, and there's a host of other things that attest
to this world's spiritual darkness.
What does the Bible say
about darkness? John 3:19, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 1:20-22, Romans 3:10-12
The world is full of the
darkness of sin. That's the bad news. The good news is found in our text. John
Light is the opposite of
darkness. Jesus said, I am the light of the world.
So, if you are disturbed
by the wickedness that surrounds you, and the wickedness you sense in your own
heart, Jesus in the second of his "I Am" statements found in the
Gospel of John, presents you with the solution to the problem of darkness.
As the light of the world,
we want to see:
CHRIST'S GLORY
CHRIST'S GUIDANCE
CHRIST'S GREATNESS
In order to better
understand John 8:12, we need to understand the context in which Jesus is
speaking. When Jesus was speaking he was
probably at the temple in
He was there for the
celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles commemorated
the wilderness wanderings of the Jewish people as they left
At least on the first
night of the Feast of Tabernacles, and perhaps on other nights a huge
candelabra was lit in the Court of the Women at the temple. This huge candelabra gave a tremendous amount
of light. The light was a reminder that
God had guided and protected his people with a pillar of fire. Exodus 13:21
Just as the pillar of
fire was the light for the Israelites and the candelabra was the light for the
temple, Jesus is saying that He is the light of the world.
Also, at the beginning
of this chapter some of the Jewish leaders, the scribes, and some of the fundamentalists
of that day, the Pharisees, had brought a woman caught in the very act of
adultery to Jesus. John 8:4-11. In the
midst of the moral darkness as represented by this woman and by those who would
condemn her, Jesus says, "I am the light of the world." The world is morally corrupt and dark but
Jesus is the light that answers the darkness.
CHRIST'S GLORY - "I
am the light of the world."
Here's a quick quiz for
you. What is the first thing that God created in Genesis 1? He created light!
Genesis 1:1-5
Why did God create light
first? I can't say for sure, but I
believe it has to do with his nature!
God is light! Psalms 104:1-2, 1
John 1:5, Revelation 21:23
Jesus, as God, announces
in our passage, I am the light of the World.
As God, Jesus came to
bring light. John 1:4-5
Peter gave testimony
that he and others had witnessed Jesus' majesty.
2 Peter 1:16-17 When did
Peter witness this majesty? At the
transfiguration of Jesus.
Matthew 17:2
See the glory of Jesus
Christ!
He is the light of the
world!
He came to this old
earth darkened with sin.
He came to this old
earth and died for the sins of the world.
He came to this old
earth and rose from the dead.
He left this old world
bodily to sit at the right hand of God.
Through His Holy Spirit
He is still present in this world, and inside of each person who has trusted
Him as Savior.
As light in this dark
world He offers forgiveness of sin.
As light in this dark
world He offers eternal life.
As light in this dark
world He offers hope.
Think of your unsaved
friends. Think how they walk in the darkness and depravity of sin. Think of them as in a dark tunnel.
At the end of that dark
tunnel is light, and it's not a train. Jesus is that light for those in the
darkness. They need to come to that light in faith!
The sad thing is that
many chose to remain in darkness rather than coming to the light. John
CHRIST'S GUIDANCE - John
So how does a person
follow Jesus.
To follow Jesus means
first to trust in Him for eternal life.
You can't truly follow Jesus
until you trust Him has Savior. John 14:6
He must be trusted as
the way to Heaven. 1 John 5:11-12
One of the ways you know
that you have truly trusted Christ as Savior is because you are following the
Lord Jesus. John 10:27
You say you've trusted
Jesus as your Savior. That's great.
But let me ask you,
other than showing up for church when it's convenient, are you following him?
Other than just praying
when you or a loved one has a problem are you following him?
Are you looking to Him
for guidance in the decisions you make?
Are you looking to Him
for guidance as you try to read and understand His Word?
Are you allowing Him
through His Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth?
Have you come to a point
in your life where following Him is the most important thing in your life?
Here are two important
scriptures for you to consider: Luke
1 John 2:6 - If we are
following Jesus, we are allowing Him to be our guide!
Christian, are you
accepting Christ's guidance.
CHRIST'S GREATNESS -John
When Dottie and I go
camping or visit strange places, we often take a flashlight. A flashlight on a dark night works wonders.
We avoid walking in darkness. When we drive our cars at night we turn on our
headlights, and when there's no vehicles coming the other way we turn on the
high beams. We avoid walking in darkness.
If you follow the Lord
Jesus you will not walk in darkness because Jesus will light the way. But the choice is ours. Even as Christians,
we can chose to walk in darkness.
Turn please to 1 John
1:5-7.
Vs. 5 - God is light! In
him is no darkness. That means there is no darkness of sin found in God!
Vs. 6 - If we say that we
are having fellowship with God. That is communion or communication with God. If
we say we are walking with God or know God, and walk in darkness, we are lying!
Vs. 7 - How do we walk
in the light? We follow the Lord Jesus.
We let Him expose the sin in our
lives.
According to Vs. 9, we confess that
sin.
When we do this, we then
have fellowship with others of like faith.
It is impossible to have true Christian fellowship if you are walking in
darkness.
If we are honest before
God in our Christian lives, allowing Jesus to be our guide, we will experience
constant cleansing from sin. I believe this is so because as the light of Jesus
exposes the sin, we will confess it.
Follow Jesus and you
will no longer walk in the darkness of habitual sin.
Follow Jesus and you
will have the light of life!
Yes, you will have the
light of eternal life because of your faith in Christ.
But you'll also have the
light of real life now.
In John
No longer will you live
in habitual sin and defeat.
You will have the light
of victory and the light of joy because of your fellowship with Christ and His
followers.
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John 8:30-36
SUCCESSFUL DISCIPLESHIP
THE PREMISE OF
DISCIPLESHIP - BELIEF - Vs. 30
THE PROOF OF
DISCIPLESHIP - CONTINUATION IN HIS WORD - Vs. 31
THE POWER OF
DISCIPLESHIP - VICTORY OVER SIN - Vss. 32-36
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John 8:30-36
FAITH TYPES
John 8:30 - As he spake these words, many believed on
him.
TRUE FAITH
John 8:31-32 - Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed
on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; [32] And ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
TENTATIVE FAITH
John 8:33-34 - They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and
were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? [34]
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin
is the servant of sin.
TRIUMPHANT FAITH
John 8:35-36 - And
the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. [36]
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
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FREE INDEED
John 8:31-36
COMFORTING PROMISE Vss.
31-32
CONTENTIOUS PEOPLE Vs.
33
CHALLENGING
PRINCIPLES Vss. 34-36
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John 8:31-32, 36
TRUE!
TRUE DISCIPLES -
Continue in His Word - Vs. 31
TRUE DELIGHT - Knowing
The Truth - Vs. 32
TRUE DELIVERANCE - The
truth sets us free - Vs. 32
We
are free indeed - Vs. 36