Follow the Light Luke 11:33-36

Have you ever been in the dark?

-Who were the ones opposing Jesus in this text? The religious leaders were considered those who could give spiritual insight, and yet they were the ones in the dark

-Light was all around them and they could not see it

1 The Light is Visible

-No one hides the light, the point: Jesus has not hid the evidence that He is the light, if anything He has made the light visible

Luke 11:33 ESV

33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.

Psalm 36:9 ESV

9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

John 8:12 ESV

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 1:4–5 ESV

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

-There was not a need for more light, for more signs, more miracles, Jesus is the light, He has made the light known, He had preached repentance, He had prophesied of His death and resurrection, He had revealed that He was God in the flesh

-So what was the problem?

2 The Problem: Spiritual Blindness

Luke 11:34 ESV

34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.

-The eye is the entrance for the reception of the light, the eye is not the light

-When I was younger I played association baseball, I could not hit the ball, I would swing - strike three, my parents eventually took me to the eye dr. to find out that I was in desperate need of glasses, I could not see, the problem was not my swing but I could not see the ball

-The problem with these Jewish leaders was not that the light was not visible but they could not see it

John 3:19–20 ESV

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

-Greek word for eye = also translated as understanding

-eye healthy = what you are receiving, if you are receiving sin, self-righteousness then you will blinded to the truth of the gospel

Matthew 15:14 ESV

14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

3 Warning Against Artificial Light

Luke 11:35 ESV

35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.

σκοπέω - skopeo = to scope out, to look out for

-light in you may be in fact darkness, what you perceive to be light is leading you away from the light

-What are signs of this?

-We see for these Jewish leaders it was denying that Jesus was God, the failure to see Him as light

-It can also be when we fail to see the truth of God’s Word, when we come to God’s Word with presuppositions which means we come to God’s Word with certain beliefs and try to make God’s Word fit what we want, instead we are to come to God’s Word for God teach us His truth

-There are many groups who believe they have the light? Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Islam, Hindu, they have darkness not the light

-But there are even those who go to a Bible preaching church, exposed to the light but still have darkness inside, they lean on their works for salvation, and have yet to turn to the light of the gospel

-God doesn’t desire verbal decisions, he desires disciples who love Him, serve Him, who study His Word, who share the gospel

4 Open Your Eyes

Luke 11:36 ESV

36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

-whole body full of light - have turned from your sin and turned to Christ, have repented from the sin that blinds

-it is going from total blindness to complete sight

-We begin to understand the things of God, His Word becomes clear to us

1 John 1:7 ESV

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

2 Peter 1:19 ESV

19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,

-If you have been changed by the gospel, you see the light and you want more of the light, you want to understand His Word, you want to treasure it, you say Lord teach me your statutes, if you do not have a desire for the Word then you need to check to see if the light is in you, if you are more concerned about your feelings or emotions then the Word you need to check to see if you have the light in you, if you are more concerned with getting your way then you need to check to see if you have the light in you. Have you opened your eyes?