back to index2020-4-19 I AM the light of the world
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So we're going to be looking at this morning is John chapter 8. 00:00:08.000 |
We're going to be going through parts of chapter 7 and chapter 8. 00:00:12.600 |
So I encourage you to keep your Bibles open to those texts. 00:00:15.420 |
But this morning I'm going to be reading from chapter 8 verse 12 before we get started. 00:00:22.720 |
Then Jesus again spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. 00:00:27.160 |
He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. 00:00:34.160 |
Heavenly Father, we pray that you would ordain these words. 00:00:38.640 |
May it go forth and not return until it has accomplished the purpose that you have ordained. 00:00:45.000 |
We ask Lord God that you give us soft hearts, open ears, a willing spirit, Lord God, to 00:00:52.960 |
Open our eyes, Lord, that we may understand and a desire to continue to seek you, Father 00:01:07.040 |
All right, so now it's already been five weeks and we're hoping that at the end of maybe 00:01:16.440 |
a week or two that we'll get some news from the government and that social distancing 00:01:21.520 |
and all that stuff will probably be in place, but maybe the shutdown will begin to ease. 00:01:27.360 |
And I know many of you who are still working and not able to enjoy a lot of the things 00:01:33.560 |
that we had before, that we're looking to go back to our normal life. 00:01:38.440 |
And as I mentioned at the beginning of this, I think it's a good opportunity for us to 00:01:47.360 |
What are the things that we miss that if it does open back up, what will we do? 00:01:51.800 |
Maybe hang out with our friends, go to a restaurant, maybe get back to certain things that we enjoy 00:01:57.340 |
doing in larger numbers, come back to church. 00:02:01.640 |
In fact, you know, this is the exact thing that Jesus was trying to address with these 00:02:11.920 |
When Jesus said the seven I am statements, the emphasis on the I am statements is not 00:02:18.400 |
that he is the bread of life or he's the light of the world, he's the resurrection and the 00:02:24.000 |
It really is the I am statement, because it is the I am statement that connects him to 00:02:32.920 |
So if we read this like any other sentence, it was I am this and I am that, we missed 00:02:38.200 |
the whole point of this, because as I said in the beginning of this, in the Greek composition 00:02:43.520 |
of this word I am, it is the two to be statements back to back that connects this to the I am 00:02:51.120 |
statement of God when he introduces himself to Moses and he says I am. 00:02:56.280 |
So the Jews clearly understood when Jesus was saying this that he was saying that he 00:03:04.240 |
But what's different about the I am statements in the New Testament is that Jesus was actually 00:03:14.080 |
So every one of these I am statements is trying to correct what became normal to the Jewish 00:03:22.920 |
Much of it was a misunderstanding of who the Messiah was. 00:03:27.400 |
They were expecting Jesus or the Messiah to come and he was going to feed them, take care 00:03:32.120 |
of them, he was going to lead them, and each one of these I am statements are stated in 00:03:39.280 |
He didn't have a curriculum of seven I am statements and decided that this is something 00:03:43.840 |
that he needs to teach, you know, the seminary students so they can have this knowledge. 00:03:48.300 |
Each one of these I am statements are given in a specific context that they had a misunderstanding 00:03:54.400 |
or expectation of what they thought the Messiah was going to be and Jesus was correcting them, 00:04:00.480 |
a correct understanding of the I am is that he is the bread of life, that he is the light, 00:04:07.820 |
And so if you remember, we've gone through two I am statements already. 00:04:11.360 |
We have the I am the bread of life and the context in which he says that is after he 00:04:15.760 |
feeds the 5,000 and they're looking for more bread and Jesus says I am the bread of life. 00:04:22.800 |
Last week we talked about in the resurrection, Jesus says I am the resurrection and the life. 00:04:26.960 |
He says that in the context of raising Lazarus because they wanted him to live. 00:04:32.200 |
And so in that context he says no, it is not just because he has breath, he says I am the 00:04:40.560 |
So today's statement, I mean we've already gone through two, this is actually the third, 00:04:45.080 |
but out of the seven, this is the second, out of the seven statements where he says 00:04:51.040 |
It is also within a specific historical context. 00:04:55.000 |
He wasn't just saying this out of the blue into the air. 00:04:58.640 |
If you look at chapter seven, again I'm not going to turn there, but if you look at chapter 00:05:02.520 |
seven, he says this in the context at the end of one of the Jewish's seven major feasts. 00:05:12.080 |
In fact it happens to happen at the very end of their calendar. 00:05:16.120 |
The beginning of their calendar starts with the Passover and then the seventh and the 00:05:20.000 |
last of the festivals was called the feast of booths. 00:05:24.080 |
Some of your translations may have feasts of tabernacles and it was the same. 00:05:28.400 |
They consider this probably the biggest of their ceremonies. 00:05:32.240 |
And we would naturally think that it may have been the Passover, you know. 00:05:36.680 |
But the Jews celebrated this in a big way because it was connected to two specific things 00:05:44.640 |
One, it was the celebration at the end of the harvest. 00:05:49.160 |
So you can kind of think of it as their Thanksgiving. 00:05:52.200 |
But after the harvest they would collect all the fruits and all the bounty that they had 00:05:56.440 |
from the harvest and they would take that and then all throughout the week they would 00:06:01.800 |
They would have families gather together and have these huge festivals. 00:06:05.400 |
And so it was like a Thanksgiving and this lasted for about eight days. 00:06:09.440 |
And during these eight days, one of the things that they did was they would set out a temporary 00:06:19.400 |
And the reason why they did that was to remember God's deliverance of Israel and how God led 00:06:28.320 |
So if you remember the Passover was to celebrate how God protected them over the angel of death 00:06:34.960 |
and led them out of Israel, or led them out of Egypt. 00:06:38.660 |
The Feast of Booth was a celebration of how God led them in the desert for 40 years and 00:06:44.120 |
So they would live in tents for those eight days, having these large festivals, enjoying 00:06:50.960 |
And at the end of the eighth day, again, they would have a ceremony to remember that God 00:06:57.920 |
So Jesus is saying, I am the light of the world in the context of them celebrating the 00:07:05.280 |
And the reason why this is so significant is because one of the main things, main things 00:07:12.880 |
that they did in this ceremony was that they set up at the temple a 75 foot, like a lamp, 00:07:22.200 |
And so the priest would climb this up and light this and it would be going for seven, 00:07:29.720 |
And the purpose of this lighting was to remember that while they were in the desert, during 00:07:34.960 |
the day, the cloud would, cloud would be with them and God's presence would be with them. 00:07:41.360 |
And whenever the cloud would move, they would move with the cloud. 00:07:44.120 |
But at night, there would be this fire, right? 00:07:47.920 |
And the fire would lead them in the darkness in the desert. 00:07:51.740 |
And so wherever the fire moved, they would move. 00:07:53.520 |
So they would light this torch to remind the nation of Israel that this is how God led 00:07:59.640 |
And that torch, every time they saw it, would remind them that the Messiah was going to 00:08:04.120 |
come and they would also be led, like the fire led them through the desert. 00:08:09.080 |
So it was at that ceremony, looking at that lamp that Jesus is telling the nation of 00:08:20.900 |
But you'll be interested if you read the rest of chapter eight. 00:08:26.400 |
Remember, we looked at chapter six and it starts out with them wanting to make Jesus 00:08:33.680 |
Well, chapter eight begins with people kind of questioning him in the middle of the chapter, 00:08:46.560 |
And so he's talking to Jews who have believed him in the context of him saying, I am the 00:08:50.920 |
He says, if you abide in me, right, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you 00:08:56.520 |
And then they have, he has this encounter with these Jews who believed him. 00:08:58.840 |
But at the end of the chapter, it says they wanted to kill him. 00:09:03.920 |
So we see in the first, in chapter six, they want to make him king. 00:09:08.040 |
And then chapter 666, because of what he says, they wanted to leave. 00:09:13.800 |
Chapter eight, Jesus says he's the light of the world. 00:09:16.280 |
And as a result of what he says at the end of the chapter, they want to kill him. 00:09:20.720 |
So Jesus is correcting something about their belief about the Messiah that was skewed. 00:09:28.020 |
So whatever it is that you were thinking was normal was unbiblical, wasn't correct. 00:09:33.960 |
So Jesus says that he has come to bring true light. 00:09:37.400 |
So what we want to do this morning is to look at three aspects of what this light represents. 00:09:43.200 |
What did Jesus mean and how did they understand it? 00:09:47.180 |
So the way I phrase it so that it could be easier to follow along in these three ways, 00:09:52.300 |
what does the darkness represent in light of the light? 00:09:58.320 |
So if you're looking at the outline, those of you who are at home, darkness represents 00:10:06.820 |
Darkness represents ignorance as light represents revelation. 00:10:11.500 |
All throughout the scripture, it is stated that the reason why the Israelites were straying 00:10:18.100 |
from God is because they did not know him, Isaiah 513. 00:10:21.840 |
Therefore my people go into exile for their lack of knowledge. 00:10:25.220 |
Isaiah 4.6, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 00:10:30.900 |
As Christ was hanging on the cross, he cries out to his father, said, "Father, forgive 00:10:35.500 |
them for they do not know what they are doing." 00:10:44.420 |
Whatever it was that they thought that they saw was wrong. 00:10:49.800 |
So when Jesus says he is the light, he's basically saying is, I came to open your eyes to see 00:10:58.260 |
To cause us to see, to shed light on what is truth. 00:11:01.500 |
In John 1.9, it says, "There was a true light which was coming into the world, which enlightens 00:11:09.080 |
So in other words, when he says to the Jews, I am the light of the world, he's telling 00:11:14.460 |
them that everything that I'm telling you is true. 00:11:22.340 |
Which many of them would have been offended by because all this time the Jews thought 00:11:33.420 |
So when Jesus shows up and says, no, I am the truth. 00:11:38.260 |
And he was basically telling them that they're blind. 00:11:42.020 |
So if you look at the encounter that Jesus has with them, they're very offended by what 00:11:47.260 |
So it wasn't just a, I am the light of the world. 00:11:49.860 |
You know, it's like, oh, okay, you're light, we're light, we're all light. 00:11:55.820 |
2 Corinthians 4.6, it says, "For God who said, let light shine out of darkness, is the one 00:12:04.000 |
who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the 00:12:10.020 |
The primary thing that they were ignorant about was God himself. 00:12:13.940 |
And he says, Jesus says, the reason why he came was to shed light of his glory. 00:12:22.220 |
The Bible tells us that people who do not follow Christ, people who are not Christians, 00:12:28.940 |
it's because the God of this age, Satan, has blinded the mind of the unbeliever so they 00:12:33.860 |
do not see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:12:37.180 |
So in other words, he says a non-Christian is somebody who remains blind. 00:12:42.020 |
A Christian is one whose eyes have been open to the truth. 00:12:46.760 |
And so because we saw the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we saw God's glory, we are 00:12:53.580 |
And that's exactly what Jesus means when he says, I am the light. 00:12:56.780 |
I have come to turn on the light so that you may see. 00:13:05.580 |
Which is really interesting because, remember I told you in the Feast of Booths, for eight 00:13:10.160 |
days they would set up a tent, a temporary shelter where they would sleep outside of 00:13:15.940 |
their home, remembering how God led them through the desert. 00:13:21.060 |
What Jesus has described in John chapter 114, the word became flesh and he says, dwelt among 00:13:29.020 |
The word for dwelt here literally means to pitch a tent. 00:13:33.940 |
That Jesus Christ came and he pitched a tent among us. 00:13:37.920 |
And so one of the primary aspects of this festival was to live in their tents and these 00:13:44.860 |
tents represented God's presence, how God delivered them in the midst of being lost 00:13:52.620 |
When Jesus came, turned on the light, he pitched the tent among us and says, we saw his glory, 00:13:59.640 |
glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:14:05.660 |
So first and foremost, what he means by him being the light, that he came and he pitched 00:14:12.660 |
a tent among us so that we may open our eyes and to see the glory. 00:14:18.660 |
Because the Bible describes all of mankind as falling short of that glory and we could 00:14:22.900 |
not by ourselves reach that glory, so what Jesus did was he came to us and turned the 00:14:29.980 |
light on so that we may again see that glory. 00:14:35.480 |
And that's a distinction between somebody who is changed and not changed. 00:14:40.720 |
Somebody who's just a churchgoer, somebody who grew up in the church, somebody who's 00:14:45.920 |
culturally Christian versus somebody who is born again, completely radically changed forever. 00:14:53.500 |
It's not a distinction between somebody who goes to church, memorizes scripture, was raised 00:15:00.300 |
The distinction between a Christian and non-Christian is somebody whose eyes have been opened by 00:15:07.240 |
In John 14, 8 through 9, Philip says to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father and it is enough 00:15:14.200 |
Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you and yet you have not come to know me, 00:15:25.160 |
In other words, Jesus was saying exactly what the rest of scripture says. 00:15:32.600 |
Hebrews 4, 1, 3, "He is a radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his 00:15:37.720 |
nature, God's nature, and upholds all things by the word of his power." 00:15:45.000 |
You know, in Acts 17, 26 through 29, when Paul was introducing God and Christ to the 00:15:57.120 |
He said, "He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the 00:16:02.960 |
earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that 00:16:08.920 |
In other words, God has put boundaries and God has done all these things in creation 00:16:16.360 |
for the purpose of his creation to look at these things and say, "Who is this? 00:16:24.000 |
If perhaps they might grow for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of 00:16:33.760 |
As even some of your own poets have said, "For we also are his children." 00:16:40.760 |
Christ came, turned on the light, and by seeing him would initiate in us a desire to have 00:16:51.320 |
And that's why Jesus says in Matthew 7, 7, "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and 00:16:54.960 |
you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." 00:17:00.080 |
You know, before we met Christ, right, and some of you guys may be able to relate to 00:17:03.640 |
that, but I remember the day that I met Christ, everything that I didn't understand all of 00:17:12.680 |
You know, it was almost kind of like if you woke up in the middle of the night and you 00:17:15.800 |
were at a strange house and you're trying to figure out what everything looks like, 00:17:19.840 |
so you're touching the dining room table for the first time, you're going to the kitchen, 00:17:23.840 |
but imagine if you had no reference for what they were, and you were only seeing things 00:17:28.960 |
through your touch, and your eyes just weren't working, because your eyes are meant to work 00:17:34.320 |
with light, but without light, you're using your senses to figure out everything else. 00:17:39.760 |
So imagine if your whole life was like that, you were blind, and you were looking through 00:17:44.480 |
life through your hands, your senses, your smell, then all of a sudden, you are gifted 00:17:52.940 |
Light gets turned on, and everything that you were touching, that you kind of had a 00:17:56.960 |
sense for, but you didn't fully see, imagine what that would feel like. 00:18:02.440 |
Well, every Christian, whether it happened gradually, whether it happened all of a sudden 00:18:08.280 |
like it did for me, knows exactly what I'm talking about, because that's exactly how 00:18:15.320 |
The moment I met Christ, everything that I was trying to figure out, why am I the way 00:18:20.720 |
I am, why are my parents the way they are, why did we come to the US, why are we this, 00:18:25.600 |
and why is my dad that, and all of these questions all of a sudden made sense. 00:18:38.880 |
That's what the Bible says, what Christ does. 00:18:43.760 |
When he turns on the light, all of a sudden, we see things through his light. 00:18:57.120 |
Until our eyes are opened by the author of light, God himself, Christ, everything that 00:19:04.800 |
we're trying to figure out, everything that we're trying to figure out is like in darkness, 00:19:11.600 |
It's almost like you have eyes, but you're not using it, because our sin has blinded 00:19:16.320 |
So the first thing that the Bible says about who Jesus is, I am the light, it means he 00:19:24.600 |
So when our eyes are open, the world no longer looks the same. 00:19:39.200 |
And I think the benefit now for us to have the whole world flipped upside down is a good 00:19:44.880 |
opportunity for us to take a step back and ask ourselves, what is normal as a Christian? 00:19:51.840 |
Through the lens of his light, now that we see everything, what is it that we consider 00:20:08.440 |
And that's the first meaning, what Jesus meant. 00:20:17.880 |
Secondly, darkness represents sinfulness, as light represents righteousness. 00:20:25.480 |
Darkness represents sinfulness, as light represents righteousness. 00:20:30.640 |
The ignorance wasn't simply because they weren't taught. 00:20:34.840 |
The Bible says that ignorance happened as a result of their moral failure. 00:20:40.320 |
Romans chapter 1, 21-23, "For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God 00:20:45.280 |
or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hearts 00:20:51.440 |
Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God 00:20:55.360 |
for an image in the form of corruptible man and of the birds of the four-footed animals 00:21:01.480 |
Do you notice how he says, "They professed to be wise, but they became fools"? 00:21:08.280 |
It wasn't that because they were blind that they began to be immoral. 00:21:12.960 |
The Bible says, because they were immoral, they began to become foolish. 00:21:19.920 |
You know, from years of doing ministry and counseling and teaching the Bible and talking 00:21:26.440 |
to people, you know, I've talked to so many people who are at one point on fire for God, 00:21:32.840 |
and then there's certain events that happen in their life, and they get caught in sin, 00:21:37.060 |
and then they begin to embrace their sin, and they begin to fall out. 00:21:42.680 |
And one of the first things that I notice, and it doesn't happen to every single person, 00:21:46.560 |
but it happens enough where it's predictable. 00:21:50.320 |
One of the first things that happens when an individual begins to embrace their sin 00:22:02.480 |
How did somebody who was on fire for God and at one point talking about giving their life 00:22:06.040 |
and becoming a missionary, and then they get caught up in sin, and they're unwilling to 00:22:11.520 |
let go of that sin or to admit it as sin, and all of a sudden they say, "I don't know 00:22:21.220 |
It wasn't because people didn't answer their questions. 00:22:24.640 |
Just like it says in Romans, when we allow ourselves to go into darkness, we cause ourselves 00:22:43.440 |
It's like, "Well, what authority do you have?" 00:22:47.720 |
And he goes back and forth, and he says, "My authority comes from the witness of God, myself, 00:22:55.040 |
And he goes back and forth, and some of them get offended, and they leave. 00:22:59.160 |
But in verse 31, it says, "Some of them believed." 00:23:02.920 |
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed him. 00:23:06.400 |
Jesus says, "I am the light of the world, and some of them believed him. 00:23:10.360 |
If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine, and you will know the truth, 00:23:16.240 |
Now, you wouldn't think there was anything controversial, at least in that statement. 00:23:24.840 |
If you heard, "Jesus is the light of the world. 00:23:29.840 |
That he's the light that they've been waiting for. 00:23:32.560 |
That the reason why they lit that temple up every year for hundreds of years." 00:23:39.940 |
You would think Jews who are able to believe that, that what he says here is really innocuous. 00:23:46.580 |
He said, "If you believe I am the light," he said, "well, if you continue my words, you 00:23:55.020 |
But that word, "set you free," triggered them. 00:23:58.780 |
They didn't get upset by Jesus saying, "I am the light." 00:24:01.860 |
They got upset because he said, "You will be set free," because it was personal. 00:24:05.240 |
Now he was pointing to them, saying that, "You need to be set free." 00:24:09.140 |
So these Jews who believed him have another encounter with Christ in verse 31 and on. 00:24:22.300 |
Because they were offended because Jesus just told them that, "You need to be set free." 00:24:28.420 |
Back and forth that they go, and then Jesus ultimately calls them out in verse 44. 00:24:32.980 |
He said, "You do not know me because you do not know my father. 00:24:39.340 |
I mean, that's a long way to go from verse 31 saying the Jews who believed him and then 00:24:49.960 |
And then in verse 59, it says, "Therefore they picked up stones to throw at him, but 00:24:54.740 |
Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple." 00:24:58.780 |
So people who believed in him was okay with the statement, "I am the light of the world," 00:25:04.220 |
but when he pointed out that you need to be set free, they got offended. 00:25:11.420 |
And those same people wanted to stone him and kill him. 00:25:16.940 |
You see, people who have embraced the darkness, embraced their sin, doesn't want the light 00:25:24.420 |
You know, just like imagine if you're three in the morning and somebody comes into your 00:25:35.940 |
But if you need to wake up at 7 o'clock and you have an appointment or you need to go 00:25:40.700 |
to work and you're late and somebody flips the light switch on, you would thank them 00:25:44.540 |
because you need that light because you need to get out of bed. 00:25:48.300 |
That's exactly how it's described, John chapter 3, 19 to 21. 00:25:51.220 |
"This is the judgment that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather 00:26:00.620 |
For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that 00:26:10.140 |
But he who practices the truth comes to light so that his deeds may be manifested as having 00:26:17.900 |
That's why an individual who embraces his sin, whether it is sexual immorality, whether 00:26:24.380 |
it is his own pride, whether it is bitterness and hatred, they don't want to be exposed 00:26:31.260 |
They want to be where it is dim and darker the better. 00:26:38.620 |
You know, the scripture makes it absolutely crystal clear in 1 John 1, 6 through 7. 00:26:45.060 |
"If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not 00:26:54.220 |
But if we walk in light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another 00:26:58.580 |
as the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin." 00:27:03.140 |
See, Jesus came to not only open our eyes to see the glory of God, but in his light, 00:27:09.860 |
once we see his light, only then we can see all things. 00:27:15.380 |
But not only that, he came to flip the switch on to turn the light onto darkness because 00:27:21.320 |
Remember, the whole purpose of Old Testament history and the law was to make sin utterly 00:27:29.520 |
Because until they recognize the filthiness of the sin that is inside of each one of us, 00:27:38.260 |
Jesus didn't come primarily to feed the hungry. 00:27:41.780 |
Jesus didn't primarily come to change our economy so that we can have a comfortable 00:27:45.140 |
life or get rid of crime or make the country more prosperous. 00:27:51.880 |
His primary purpose right now is not to get rid of pestilence so that we can go back to 00:28:01.140 |
His primary purpose in human history is to turn the light on. 00:28:06.040 |
And sometimes pestilence may serve that purpose. 00:28:16.340 |
Causes us to see things that we would not have seen. 00:28:20.100 |
God turns the light on so that we can see clearly. 00:28:23.700 |
Because until we recognize sin as sin, we will never be able to recognize Christ as 00:28:30.180 |
See, 1 Timothy 6, 15-16, it says, "He who is blessed and only sovereign, the King of 00:28:37.220 |
kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, 00:28:43.300 |
whom no man has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion. 00:28:54.220 |
Until our eyes become open, until he turns on the light, we are not able to approach 00:29:02.820 |
And that's why when he says he is the light of the world, it's to show the glory of God 00:29:13.260 |
See, a Christian is not a Christian who only repents at the beginning of conversion. 00:29:20.900 |
A Christian is a Christian because he continues to recognize his sin. 00:29:26.500 |
And he continues to repent because he recognizes the filth. 00:29:30.720 |
You don't recognize the filth only in the beginning. 00:29:34.380 |
He continues to, that's what sanctification is, is to move us along from the filth that 00:29:39.380 |
we were okay with in the darkness because when we didn't have sight, we didn't know 00:29:44.780 |
We didn't know how filthy the television was. 00:29:46.820 |
We didn't recognize how filthy our hands were until the light got turned on. 00:29:51.940 |
And in light of his light, all of a sudden, the world doesn't look the same. 00:29:58.060 |
So for a Christian, for a Christian who has seen the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ 00:30:03.940 |
and the world seems just as appealing as it did before you met Christ, there is a big 00:30:11.860 |
doubt to whether that light was ever turned on. 00:30:17.420 |
Because the light gets turned on and when we see things as God sees it, God doesn't 00:30:28.140 |
This is a world that is waiting for judgment. 00:30:30.380 |
This is a world that can only be saved by the blood of Christ and we are only waiting. 00:30:36.940 |
We are only waiting as the creation is groaning for the sons of men to be revealed that he 00:30:46.020 |
For somebody who claims to have seen the light and has eyes have been opened and never really 00:30:52.180 |
recognizes the filth that is around us is inconsistent with what the Bible tells us. 00:31:04.380 |
But when there is no distinction between before opening their eyes and after opening their 00:31:09.900 |
eyes, at least in practice, it is inconsistent. 00:31:19.220 |
John is not saying, "Hey, you should work harder." 00:31:25.780 |
You can't say that your relationship with God has been restored while you're continuing 00:31:30.620 |
to live in darkness because God is in light and those who walk with him will also be in 00:31:40.660 |
Third and final thing that darkness represents. 00:31:44.260 |
Darkness represents lostness as light represents direction. 00:31:49.180 |
As I mentioned, the light for the Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Booths, was a constant 00:32:00.540 |
At night, the pillar of fire would go before them. 00:32:04.500 |
So if the pillar of fire would stop, they would stop and camp out. 00:32:07.380 |
But when it started to move, they would take up and move because they didn't have navigation. 00:32:11.940 |
In fact, they didn't even know where they were going because where they were supposed 00:32:16.580 |
to go, because of their sin, God would make them wander. 00:32:21.340 |
So it wasn't like, "We're headed to the promised land, so if you make this direct 00:32:25.500 |
God said, "No, you're going to wander for 40 years." 00:32:27.500 |
So those 40 years, they were absolutely dependent upon this light. 00:32:34.900 |
And if you remember, the Israelites, even though they were large in number, they had 00:32:39.700 |
This was not, these were not soldiers who were marching in the desert. 00:32:45.940 |
You know, typically, I don't know if you've ever noticed, but typically, if you're out 00:32:50.900 |
in the market or if you're trying to cross the street, and if you have small children 00:32:53.940 |
with you, most people tend to be a bit more generous, a little bit more gracious because 00:32:59.780 |
we're vulnerable when we have small children with us. 00:33:04.940 |
And so we're not talking about soldiers, men who are marching out in the desert. 00:33:09.100 |
We're talking about a large group of community with small children and grandparents walking 00:33:13.820 |
And if any army wanted to come and attack them, they were completely vulnerable. 00:33:19.540 |
So it wasn't like there were food lying around everywhere. 00:33:22.180 |
In fact, one of their primary complaints was they didn't have enough food, they didn't 00:33:30.620 |
So what God told them was, "If I tell you to move, you move. 00:33:41.660 |
So for 40 years, they were doing basic training. 00:33:45.260 |
And in the basic training, all they had to do was look at that fire and say, "Do what 00:33:54.980 |
And so that fire not only represented the presence of God, it was their salvation. 00:34:00.900 |
Because as long as they obeyed, as long as they went where God told them to go, God took 00:34:07.460 |
So when Jesus says, "I am the light," He wasn't simply saying, "I'm going to open your 00:34:15.900 |
He wasn't just saying that your sins are revealed, so now you need to repent. 00:34:25.100 |
In Psalm 18, 28-29, "For you light my lamp, the Lord my God illumines my darkness. 00:34:31.540 |
For by you, I can run upon a troop, and by my God, I can leap over a wall." 00:34:38.860 |
In other words, when God lights my path, I can run upon a troop. 00:34:44.940 |
In other words, we're no longer vulnerable because God is with me. 00:34:52.540 |
Because my strength does not depend upon chariots or horses, but on the Spirit of God. 00:35:00.180 |
He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:35:04.780 |
And that's basically what He was saying when He says, "I am the light of the world." 00:35:09.580 |
And He says, "He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 00:35:17.700 |
In fact, the early church, today, if we want to identify somebody who follows Christ, we 00:35:26.140 |
Or maybe more specific, evangelical Christians. 00:35:29.780 |
Or even now, that's been watered down, so now we have fundamental Christians. 00:35:34.020 |
And we have more words that are added to describe a genuine born-again Christian. 00:35:40.620 |
The early church, you know what the first description of the early church was? 00:35:47.460 |
The word Christian was actually given to Christians in a derogatory way. 00:35:53.140 |
Jesus gave that to Christians, saying, "Those little Christ, those people who are following, 00:35:59.460 |
But the actual word that the Christians used to describe themselves is mentioned in Acts 00:36:10.220 |
That's how they refer to themselves to the other Christians. 00:36:17.220 |
Because Jesus said, "I am the light," and they understood what he meant by that. 00:36:26.100 |
See, Christ turned on the light not simply for us to admire him. 00:36:32.340 |
We have people all around the world who say they're Christians, but all they are are admirers. 00:36:58.380 |
The early Christians knew exactly what Jesus meant when he says, "I am the light." 00:37:02.820 |
He who follows me, he said, will not walk in darkness. 00:37:07.460 |
So this is a Christianity, is a call not only to see the glory of God, not only to repent 00:37:16.920 |
You notice at the Great Commission, he says to go make disciples, baptizing them in the 00:37:23.740 |
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and then what? 00:37:26.820 |
Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 00:37:35.380 |
The purpose of why we go to proclaim the gospel is so that non-Christians can open their eyes 00:37:39.840 |
and see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:37:42.980 |
And when that happens, baptism is a symbol of repentance. 00:37:49.080 |
They are buried with Christ in their old life, and then they're resurrected with Christ. 00:37:57.140 |
The third part of it is to teach them to follow Jesus Christ. 00:38:03.440 |
He says, "I am the light that they may follow." 00:38:05.380 |
Matthew 4, 19, when he called the disciples, and he said to them, "Follow me, and I will 00:38:12.940 |
That's the first thing he told his disciples when he said, he didn't just say, "Come after 00:38:19.020 |
I'm going to reveal to you who I am so that you can marvel at who I am." 00:38:23.980 |
He said, "No, follow me so that I can make you fishers of men." 00:38:27.820 |
John 12, 26, "If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant 00:38:36.020 |
If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." 00:38:39.540 |
Finally, in John 10, 27, he says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow 00:38:49.220 |
He doesn't say, "My sheep hear my voice, and they acknowledge me." 00:38:53.380 |
He doesn't say, "My sheep hear my voice, and they admire me." 00:38:58.140 |
He said, "My sheep, they hear my voice, and then they follow me." 00:39:16.540 |
You know what's interesting is, if you look at the Bible dictionary, they'll give you 00:39:19.660 |
all the synonyms and the antonyms of this word in the Greek. 00:39:26.380 |
I thought it was interesting because when you looked at all the antonyms of this word 00:39:29.900 |
follow, the opposites of this word follow in Greek, it's interesting because it says 00:39:36.420 |
the opposite of this word to follow is to lead. 00:39:42.900 |
Obviously, you can't be following if you're leading. 00:39:48.820 |
Many people have already determined what they wanted, and all they're seeing with Christ 00:40:09.340 |
They're leading and asking Jesus to help them. 00:40:21.380 |
He said the opposite of follow is to come late, which I thought was interesting. 00:40:29.700 |
If you're following somebody, right, and if you come late, meaning that you come at your 00:40:34.300 |
own time, when you're ready, when you're ready, you're not following, right, just like obedience. 00:40:41.320 |
If you tell a child, "Hey, I want to take your trash out," say, "I will, but when I 00:40:47.940 |
feel like it, when I'm ready, when I'm done with my homework, right, when I'm no longer 00:40:57.460 |
That's disobedience, and that's what he says. 00:41:00.340 |
Again, this is the antonym of this word follow is to simply be late or to fall short or to 00:41:07.340 |
linger behind, right, or to stand off or to leave behind or to forsake or to abandon. 00:41:17.380 |
All of these words, according to the Greek dictionary, are the opposites of this word 00:41:28.020 |
Disobedience doesn't always come saying, "God says follow me," say, "No." 00:41:33.860 |
Much of disobedience looks like not yet, maybe later. 00:41:39.180 |
Once I have this, if you answer me this, if you allow me to have this, and we're negotiating 00:41:47.780 |
But the word for follow, when Jesus told his disciples, "Follow me," they left everything 00:42:03.780 |
When he said, "Follow me," they left everything and immediately followed him. 00:42:09.500 |
And the reason why that happens is because in light of who Christ is, once the light 00:42:12.740 |
gets turned on, whatever it is that we were looking at, whatever we were seeing, we were 00:42:22.980 |
All of a sudden, he switches the light on and we realize we weren't on the right path. 00:42:28.680 |
We realized that we were possibly going to the bathroom in the living room. 00:42:37.860 |
But that's what we were doing in the dark because we weren't seeing things properly. 00:42:45.180 |
We have been, maybe we've been cooking lunch or dinner in the bathroom. 00:42:51.600 |
It's because we were trying to figure out in the dark and all of a sudden, he turns 00:42:55.020 |
the light on and he says, "All of this is wrong. 00:42:59.900 |
He wasn't telling us to follow him because he wants to make our life harder. 00:43:05.380 |
It's because every decision you made, everything that you valued, everything that you've been 00:43:14.500 |
I will show you where you're supposed to sleep. 00:43:17.500 |
I will show you where I intended for you to cook. 00:43:21.620 |
I will show you where the car is supposed to be. 00:43:27.740 |
And that's why he switched the light on and he tells us to follow him. 00:43:33.700 |
Not only does he tell us to follow him, he tells us that we also must be that light to 00:43:41.220 |
As he is our light, the scripture says we are to be the light. 00:43:44.900 |
Matthew chapter 5, 14, "You are the light of the world. 00:43:47.500 |
The city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under 00:43:51.880 |
a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 00:43:56.780 |
Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and 00:44:04.680 |
If we are the light of the world and we live no different than the rest of the world, we 00:44:09.020 |
value the same thing that they valued in the darkness, how can we possibly be the light? 00:44:17.140 |
The reason why he tells us to be the light is to live as people that the light of Christ 00:44:24.580 |
It's been turned on and we see things clearly now with an eternal perspective because we've 00:44:29.660 |
seen the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:44:42.980 |
So that light that he has given us, he says now we are to take that light and go to the 00:44:48.660 |
You know, a lot of times, you know, like you can preach the gospel, but if your life doesn't 00:44:58.660 |
fit the gospel that you preach, all they hear is hypocrisy. 00:45:06.220 |
You can preach with power, with accuracy, with precision, with articulation, but all 00:45:14.540 |
they see is hypocrisy because what you say and what you do doesn't fit. 00:45:22.980 |
So that's why he says not only to admire him, not only to say, "Oh man, I feel so bad for 00:45:30.380 |
my sins," but to follow that we may also be that light. 00:45:39.460 |
You see, every one of these "I am" statements is challenging the Israelites' normal, normal. 00:45:49.900 |
What they became accustomed to, what they were hoping for, what they were looking to. 00:45:56.620 |
The only difference between the Israelites and the non-Christians, the Gentiles, was 00:46:01.700 |
that the way to get to the top, the avenue to get to the top was different. 00:46:07.660 |
Where the pagans were praying to their gods and their idols, or they built up their armies 00:46:12.980 |
so that they can conquer the smaller nations so that they can be the superpower. 00:46:17.380 |
The only difference for the Israelites at this time was the avenue in which they were 00:46:21.540 |
going to achieve the same thing that they were going to achieve is through their Messiah. 00:46:25.820 |
The easiest way to get on the top is to have the Messiah just come and conquer and feed 00:46:32.980 |
So when Jesus says, "I am," he's flipping their worldview upside down. 00:46:38.940 |
He said, "The food that you desire, I am that food. 00:46:43.900 |
The light, the Messiah that you're waiting for, I am that light. 00:46:48.660 |
The life that you are looking for, I am the resurrection and the life." 00:46:59.340 |
Maybe for many of the Christians, what we consider to be normal really should be considered 00:47:03.700 |
abnormal in light of what we profess to believe. 00:47:08.260 |
You know, if you look at, again in conclusion, Genesis chapter 1, the very first thing that 00:47:18.900 |
He says, "All he did, he said, 'Let there be light.'" 00:47:34.020 |
Just like he told Lazarus to give him life, to put breath back into him, all Jesus did 00:47:39.820 |
was Lazarus come out and by his words with authority that he has brought him back to 00:47:48.780 |
God created all the light we saw instantaneously with the word of his mouth, "Let there be 00:47:56.820 |
But the light that he has come to recreate life in us wasn't that simple. 00:48:11.160 |
That same God who created the universe by the proclamation of his words humbled himself, 00:48:17.900 |
took on our flesh, lived humbly, humiliated, was beaten, punctured on his side with a spear, 00:48:28.700 |
All of our sins laid upon him, our burdens he took upon himself, and then he took our 00:48:39.460 |
So the first light he created, even though we look at the vastness of the creation, all 00:48:50.300 |
But the light that we celebrate, the light that we have been given, Christ had to give 00:48:57.580 |
And that's why, again, when Jesus says, "I am the light of the world, he who follows 00:49:05.260 |
me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 00:49:11.340 |
Maybe this period of quarantine, however long it lasts, whether it's a week or two weeks 00:49:16.620 |
or several months, is a great opportunity for us to take some time to think, "What 00:49:28.620 |
Did I actually see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ? 00:49:31.640 |
Has that caused me to see sin in the world the way that God sees it? 00:49:36.060 |
And then thirdly, am I following this Jesus or am I just admiring him from a distance?" 00:49:43.180 |
As we conclude, I asked our praise team to sing our final hymn, "Be Thou My Vision." 00:49:50.180 |
And I know this is a hymn that we all know very well. 00:49:53.580 |
But again, I want us to sing very purposefully, just looking at the lyrics of what it says, 00:49:59.540 |
because it relates to the passage that we looked at. 00:50:02.460 |
It says, "Be Thou my vision, O Lord my heart." 00:50:06.420 |
In other words, let everything that I see, let me see light in the light of who he is. 00:50:20.500 |
Let all other things in light of his light disappear. 00:50:31.020 |
May the thought of Christ take the center stage of day and night, walking or sleeping.