In these studies in the Gospel by John, we are tracing the transition from the old order to the new. We are now in John 8, from verse 12 through into John 9.
I think we had better read some of this.
Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.
—John 8:12
The Pharisees therefore said unto Him, Thou bearest witness of Thyself; Thy witness is not true.
Jesus answered and said unto them, Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye know not whence I come, or whither I go.
—John 8:13-14
I judge no man. Yea, and if I judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me.
—John 8:15-16
Yea, and in your law it is written, that the witness of two men is true. I am He that beareth witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.
—John 8:17-18
I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you: howbeit He that sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these speak I unto the world.
—John 8:26
Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed Him, If ye abide in My word, then are ye truly My disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
—John 8:31-32
They answered unto Him, We are Abraham’s seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, Ye shall be made free?
—John 8:33
I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; yet ye seek to kill Me, because My word hath not free course in you.
—John 8:37
Now, we have not read the whole of it. It is a pity that the chapters are divided here, because John 9 is the demonstration of all that is in John 8. In a very practical way, it is the proof of what has been said.
In John 9, as He passed by, He saw a man blind from his birth.
And His disciples asked Him, saying, Rabbi, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?
—John 9:2
The night cometh, when no man can work.
—John 9:4
When I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
—John 9:5
When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed his eyes with the clay; and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.
—John 9:6-7
I think you know the rest of that story. It is perfectly clear that this incident is set in the background of the trial of Israel—the history of Israel.
The effect of this long section of the record is intended to show that Israel, after all, is blind. If ever men demonstrated how blind they were, these people did in all this argument.
Jesus is making them give themselves away. That is, He is compelling them to betray their own blindness. These people are not seeing; that is the fact. They are as spiritually blind as that man was naturally blind.
So, the passage that we have here is set in Israel’s blindness. But here, as a demonstration in John 9, the man born blind is made to see, all with the object of showing the specific characteristics of the new spiritual Israel which the Lord Jesus was bringing into being.
Now, can you just hold that for a few minutes? Do not forget it. I am going away from it for a few minutes.
Because there is one marvellous truth which embraces all these things that we are saying: God has ever expressed His thoughts in Israel. His thoughts were in the very conception of Israel. They were in the very constitution of Israel. They were in all that was said about Israel.
They were in all that was revealed as to God’s purpose concerning Israel. In a multitude of ways, God had expressed His thoughts in Israel.
Now, Israel failed to answer the thought of God. They would not give the answer to His expressed thought that He required. Those thoughts of God concerning this life were never realized because of Israel’s rebellion.
But God’s thoughts are not put aside with Israel. All those same thoughts are taken up in a new Israel.
Jesus Himself becomes the new Israel. You remember that He referred to Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, and He said to Nathanael:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
—John 1:51
Jesus is the new Israel in Person. All the communications of God between Heaven and earth are by way of Jesus, the new Israel.
All God’s thoughts in the past ages are taken up in the Lord Jesus in the first place. All that was ever intended by God concerning Israel, and that Israel failed to realize, is carried on in the Lord Jesus. It is fulfilled in Jesus and then transferred by Jesus to His companions.
The companions of Jesus are of the heavenly Israel—the new Israel, which is a spiritual Israel.
Now, I have opened a very big realm for you. It would be impossible for me to number all the characteristics of God’s mind concerning Israel. Let me just indicate what I mean.
You know, God marked Israel as a people distinct from all other people by appearance.
Some years ago, before he went to be with the Lord, I knew a very distinguished Hebrew Christian. He used to travel all over the world, and he said this to me: “Wherever I go, in all parts of the world, I always know when I meet a Jew.”
“They may have lived for generations in this country and in that, but there is something about them that they never lose. Without being told that they are Jews, I always know.”
God made Israel a people distinct from all other races. Now see how that is taken up in the Lord Jesus, and see how that is taken up in all the true companions of Jesus.
Not by the shape of our face, not by any outward form; but it is perfectly true that wherever you meet a true Christian in this world, you know before being introduced.
There is never any need for anybody to introduce them to you and say, “There is something about them.” You know you have met one of your own race.
There are spiritual features which stand out, that differ from all others.
And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
—Acts 4:13
They are different. There is that about them which is quite different from all others.
Now, that is the truth. We must very sacredly safeguard that truth. There are far too many who bear the name of Christ who cannot be distinguished from the world. Indeed, they are just trying to behave like the world.
My point is this: whatever the expressed thought of God was, in any one of a thousand ways, in Israel—that thought is taken up in Jesus Christ.
The companions of Christ always take some of His characteristics. That is why somebody started the name “Christian.”
And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
—Acts 11:26
Someone said, “These are Christ-ones.”
Now, that is the very large truth within which we are speaking in these days. Israel was to be God’s instrument of light to the world.
God raised up Israel to be light to all the nations for Him. All the nations were intended to come to know God through Israel—to see what God is like and to come into the knowledge of God through Israel.
Israel was set in the nations for that purpose: to be the light of the world. God intended to reflect Himself through Israel on this earth.
The light of God was intended to fall upon Israel like a mirror, and then from Israel to be reflected, to shine forth to all the nations. There were times when it was like that to some extent.
But the tragedy of Israel was that, when God was rather veiled by Israel than revealed, Israel became a terrible contradiction of God.
When you pick up these Gospels and read all these arguments between Jesus and the leaders of Israel, you read all this attitude of the Jewish rulers. The way they behaved, the way they talked, the spirit they displayed—you say, “Well, if that is God, I want nothing to do with God.”
That is a terrible misrepresentation of God. Because of that, God put Israel aside. But in this particular respect, He did not put His thought aside.
At the time when Israel was about to be rejected, into the world came God’s Son. He took up the thought of God that was intended to be realized in Israel, and He said, right in the midst of this darkened Israel, “I am the light of the world.”
Israel has failed, and only through Me can all the world know what God is like.
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
—John 9:5
He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
—John 8:12
God always intended that the races of this world should have the light of life—life-giving light, liberating light.
When I came out of my room to come into the meeting tonight, there was no light on the stairway. It was as dark as night. I was feeling everywhere to find where the light was.
I was afraid to walk to the top of the stairs in case I fell. I was helpless, a prisoner to darkness. I could do nothing in this darkness until I found the light.
And here I am, quite safe and sound.
I was a prisoner of darkness, and I might never have got out. When the light came, I was set free. I could go anywhere, do anything.
If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
—John 8:36
How does the Son make us free? Do you not remember His own words? “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world; and the effect of the light is to set men free.
Do you remember the commission given by the Lord to the Apostle Paul at the time of his conversion? It is most illuminating and instructive in the light of what we are saying.
The Lord said to Paul, giving him his commission to the nations:
To open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God.
—Acts 26:18
Prisoners of Satan are therefore in the dark. Every person of the human race by nature is in the prison of the devil.
I think perhaps some of you here have heard me quote from John Bunyan’s The Holy War in this connection. I hope you have already read his Pilgrim’s Progress.
You will remember that The Holy War sets forth the battle for man’s soul. Man’s soul is represented as a city.
Diabolus calls his leaders together, and he says this: “If we are going to capture Mansoul, we must first of all capture the burgomaster of Mansoul.”
The name of the burgomaster is Mr. Understanding. “We must capture Mr. Understanding and put him in a dark dungeon so that he does not see what is happening.”
The Word says, “Having the understanding darkened.” The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, lest the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ should shine unto them.
If light comes upon Jesus to any soul, that soul is liberated. The whole strategy of Diabolus is upset.
How important it is to the god of this age to blind the minds of men, to keep Mr. Understanding in a dark dungeon—not that he does not have understanding, but that he does not see what is going on.
That is the state of every child of Adam. The Lord was saying to Israel, “That is where you have got to. You who were intended to be the light of the world are now involved in the very darkness of the world. You are a contradiction to all God’s thought and intentions.”
That is quite clear and evident, is it not? But that is the negative side.
We repeat: what Israel failed to realize is taken up in the Person of God’s Son and transferred to the new collective Israel—called in the Hebrew letter the companions of Christ.
Do you see what the companions of Christ are supposed to be like? They are supposed to be vessels in which this truth is fulfilled.
They are supposed to be the very temples of Christ. In them, He is to be the light of life: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Now, that would lead us to a very large study. You know, the New Testament has a very great deal to say about spiritual understanding—the tremendous importance of spiritual knowledge. It puts a very high and great value upon this faculty of spiritual sight.
Do you remember that great passage in 2 Corinthians 4?
Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, Who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
—2 Corinthians 4:6
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.
—2 Corinthians 4:7
Do you notice how that marvellous statement is connected with Moses going up into the mountain where God was, receiving the law at the mouth of God, and then coming down the mountain not knowing that his face was shining?
It says that he wist not that his face shone. But the people saw it, and could not look. The light was too strong, and they could not look upon the face of Moses.
So Moses took a veil and put it over his face. The veil hid the glory of God.
Now, says the apostle, bringing this right up to date, from that time until now there is a veil upon the heart of Israel. Israel is incapable of looking upon the glory of God.
But, says the apostle, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
When the Holy Spirit removes the veil from the heart and shines Christ there, the life is liberated.
Oh, it is a wonderful thing just to see something of the Lord by the Holy Spirit. I am just hoping that that is what is happening here these days.
Well, if it is not happening in anyone else, it is happening in me. I am having a glorious time. Heaven is opening. We are seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and we are set free.
Who will say that there is not the liberty of the Spirit amongst us in these days? We can say about this, as Jesus said about something else, “This Scripture is fulfilled in your ears.”
Now, what I have said is a statement of fact. And when the facts have been stated, we are only at the beginning of the matter.
You will never be liberated by the statement of fact. I may stand here for years and state facts; it will make no difference to you. Something has got to happen.
It has got to begin to happen if you are not already born again. What has got to happen to you right at the beginning of your Christian life is what happened to this man born blind.
You have got to be able to truly say exactly the same words that he said:
One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
—John 9:25
That is a characteristic of the beginning of a true companion of Jesus Christ: the beginning of seeing.
The Apostle Paul had given tremendous amounts of teaching to the believers in Ephesus. He said to them, “I did not shrink from declaring unto you anything that was profitable,” and, “I testify unto you this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God.”
He spent some years with them, pouring out upon them the light that he had. They were therefore Christians who had a great deal of instruction.
After all that, Paul went to prison. In prison, he wrote a letter to them, and he said, “I pray for you. I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for you.”
This is what I pray to God for you, with all that you have received:
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; having the eyes of your heart enlightened.
—Ephesians 1:17-18
That was not for their salvation. They had been saved a long time. They had been taught very much. They had gone a long way with the Lord.
But all that you have received, all that I have given you, is nothing compared with what there is in the Lord Jesus. For all that, you need to have your eyes opened. You need a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
How important this is. And you notice how he finishes that letter:
Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
—Ephesians 6:12
We are not ignorant of his devices.
—2 Corinthians 2:11
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
—Ephesians 6:11
The wiles of the devil are to stop you getting more light, to rob you of the light that you have, to bring in something that will blind your eyes, to get your eyes off the Lord Jesus onto something else—perhaps onto yourself, or onto some worldly interest.
As soon as that happens, you will go into bondage. You will be helpless prisoners again. This matter of spiritual enlightenment is a great battle. There is always a battle bound up with receiving more true spiritual light.
Well, we have just come to the door of a very great matter. As we close, we repeat what we have said: this great thought of God is taken up in Christ and transferred to His companions.
I thought that I might say something this evening about Christ’s battle with His own companions in the days of His flesh.
He had made the disciples His companions, but, oh, what difficulty He had to make them understand—to get through their thick minds and bring them into the understanding of spiritual truth.
Do you know the picture? It is the picture of the little children, is it not? All the parables—and when He had finished them all, He had to tell them why He had spoken to them in parables: because they had not understanding.
All the way through, He was battling with their dark minds. He was pointing on to a day when they would understand. Because He knew that day was coming, He did not give them up.
In that day ye shall ask Me no question.
—John 16:23
Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth.
—John 16:13
I have thought that the Lord Jesus must have been very happy on the day of Pentecost. Have you read Peter’s address to the multitude on the day of Pentecost? Make a list of all the subjects included in Peter’s address on that day.
That address is just full of the Old Testament, and Peter is saying, “Why, it has all been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.” That is what Jesus had been trying for three and a half years to get them to understand.
On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit had come, the Bible was wide open to them. They saw it all. They were set free by the truth, by the light.
I think Jesus in Heaven must have been saying, “Now, this is what I lived for and what I have done before. These are My companions now.”
Companions of Jesus are those who see as Jesus sees.
How true that is of all companionship. There is really no companionship between two people if they do not see alike. You may want to keep together, but, oh, how difficult it is when one does not see what you see. You can only go so far, no further.
Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?
—Amos 3:3
Real companionship rests upon mutual understanding. I think there are few things that Jesus wants and longs for more than to have people who understand Him.
This is what God ever wanted. This thought is taken up in His Son and then passed on to the sons of His companionship.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
—1 John 1:7