FINDING LIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS

(S1)

Phobia's or what people fear are pretty common—Spiders and snakes, small spaces, heights, dogs, thunder and lightening...

FEAR of the DARK—MOM

What looks like a simple chair during the day is transformed into a monster at night. Socks left on the floor suddenly appear to be snakes. The light, however, dispels those fears. The monster turns back into a chair, the snakes are shown to be just socks, and the fears are laid to rest. Adults to can be afraid, its common to be be more fearful at night—crime rates tend to be higher, more difficult to survey your surroundings.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus...What drove him there? We know he had questions…he was afraid of what the others would think (night)…as a Jew he feared God

Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul.”

There was a greater fear that brought hm to Jesus that night—His searching for light in the darkness of his own wilderness journey

(S2) — SERIES—Walking with Jesus in the WILDERNESS

Rivers to wilderness—Trouble—Giving-up—Next week—Finding LIGHT in the DARKNESS of our own wilderness journey

John 3:19 God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.

Jesus came not only to shed light in the darkness of our world, but to expose the darkness in our lives, to make room for his light.

“Today we go to the light...not out of fear, but out of a desire to know the goodness of God in Jesus.

John 12:46 “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Three ways to find light in the wilderness of our unbelief

PRAY—BIBLES

(S3) NIGHT EXCURSIONS—FLASHLIGHTS—SAFE

“On March 1, 2019, in Humboldt County, California, two sisters, ages 5 and 8, went for a walk in the woods adjoining their 80-acre rural property. They didn't come home. Search and rescue would find them, 44 hours later, huddled under a huckleberry bush in the forest, cold and dehydrated, but safe.

A study by SmokyMountains.com shows—wandering off trail is the number one reason, ahead of injury and bad weather, that adult hikers require search and rescue.”

Our human spirits have a tendency towards darkness, It is easy to wander off the path of God’s best for us—Light is what we need to find our way—Jesus knows this about Nicodemus.

(S4)

A Pharisee” and “teacher of Israel”—Comes to see Jesus in the dark of night, afraid and living in the darkness of his own UNBELIEF...He is not alone—Others like him even rejecting the disciples witness of Jesus as the Messiah

“You don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” John 3:12

The reason for his unbelief is holding on to a wrong idea about the mission of Jesus as the son of God

John 3:13-15 “No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.”

“(Num. 21)The people of Israel complained about their food and lack of water in the wilderness — speaking against God and against Moses” — the Lord sent poisonous serpents. After the serpents “bit the people, so that many Israelites died,” the people repented and came to Moses in order to beg for relief. In response, the Lord told Moses to “make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole.” Then, whenever a serpent bit a person, if that person looked at the bronze serpent, he or she would live.”

Even though they faced God’s judgment, He made away and helped them in their unbelief

Fast forward to Jesus now before a Nicodemus, whose biggest fear as a pharisee, was God’s condemnation—Jesus becomes the way to help him in his unbelief and avoid God’s judgment—The light in his darkness

(S5)

John 3:16–17 (NLT)

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that EVERYONE who BELIEVES in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to SAVE the world through him.

A most familiar passage—Football games—T-shirts—tattooed on our bodies

God’s love for the world—for EVERYONE who believes—In contrast to what Jews believed—Not just extended to a certain group of individuals, like the Pharisees—it is offered to EVERYONE

Jesus wants Nicodemus to know that BELIEVING is the fundamental requirement

(S6)—

“More than intellectual agreement that Jesus is God. It means putting our trust and confidence in him that he alone can save us. It is to put Christ in charge of our present plans and eternal destiny. Believing is both trusting his words as reliable and relying on him for the power to change us. Life Application New Testament Commentary (Nicodemus Visits Jesus at Night / 3:1–21 / 24)

As followers of Jesus we can say, we believe! But if were honest, even the faithful can get trapped in the wilderness of unbelief…Unbelief according to jesus, can lead to judgment—Nicodemus’ greatest fear

(S7)

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. John 3:18 (NLT)

Jesus said, no judgement here as long as you truly believe in me! No one likes to be judged, especially by others.

P.F.—”Home of the judgement free Zone”

...A Generation that doesn’t fear God—has produced a lost generation of unbelievers

The scriptures show us, that where there is God’s love, there is also God’s judgment—God’s GRACE there is TRUTH—Just as God has the compassion to love, hoping that all will come to believe, he has the authority to condemn those who do not.

Jesus as the light of the world brings judgment because like light it exposes what is in the dark

SCARED STRAIGHT (JAP)

Jesus does some scarred straight talk with Nicodemus—Not believing in Jesus is not believing the one who sent him, therefore without the light, and already been judged. The people Nicodemus associates with are lovers of the law of Moses—Those who have made it hard for others to know the love of God.

Matthew 19:14 “Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.””

Many churches and Christians today have fallen into this trap—Doing all the right things: serving, loving…we avoid talking about sin and the need for our human redemption by God’s grace and stopped bringing people to the light of Jesus

God’s judgment is based on this fact...People are lovers of Darkness

(S8) —

John 3:19–20 (NLT)

God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.

Its easy to categorize who is evil and who is not—certainly I am not evil and neither are you..

Talking to the religious who were not evil certainly by their standards—But they kept hidden who they truly were; lovers of themselves—They refused to see Jesus as light because it wasn't in there best interest— Jesus by his light exposed their sinfulness

Everything God knows about us that we avoid telling others

The light is jarring for those who live in darkness, just like it is painful to walk into sunlight after being in darkness for a long time. But when the light reveals who we are without Jesus, we can see more clearly who we can be with Him.

How do we find light in our wilderness? The same way Nicodemus did. We go to Jesus and expose our whole selves to his light

(S9)

(NIV) 21 But whoever lives by the truth, comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Three ways to remove the shadows of our UNBELIEF and find light in the wilderness...

But whoever lives by the truth...

(S10)

I. By LIVING into the light of God’s TRUTH

Following Jesus is trusting in the light of his word—Just as light dispels darkness, the truth of God’s word reveals how we are to live as lovers of truth. “Belief stays, prevents, arrests, and stops judgment.”

Romans 8:1 “1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

by living into the light of truth, we are acquitted, released and not condemned to darkness, but brought into the light of God’s love

Living in the light of God’s truth, gives us the ability to see who we are ment to be

Second way to remove the shadows of our UNBELIEF...and find light in the wilderness...

This who come to the light...

(S11)

II. By COMING into the light of God’s LOVE

When we are in complete darkness, we naturally drawn to the light? Nicodemus had questions, and he came searching for answers—He was drawn to Jesus

Jesus’ light is invitational—His words to Nicodemus were not to condemn but to cause conviction in his heart to turn his unbelief, into believe.

Coming to Jesus helps us find our way out of the darkness of our own sin—Grace shines the way to God’s love.

1 Peter 2:9 ...for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

The darkness of sin can take us off the beaten path. The light of God’s love helps us SEE a BETTER way

John 8:12 “Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.””

Third way to remove the shadows of our UNBELIEF.....and find light in the wilderness...

...so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

(S12)

III. By walking as CHILDREN of the LIGHT

This world needs a little light—Being light in the world, not only dispels darkness, but it spreads faster and has a greater affect.

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

When we walk as children of the light, we become a beacon of God’s saving light to the world

John 12:36 “Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.” After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.”

Truth is, we all have times of doubt and unbelief in our wilderness, but when we...

(S13)

LIVING into the light of God’s TRUTH — COMING into the light of God’s LOVE — WALKING as CHILDREN of the Light

...We have nothing to fear, cause the light of Jesus is greater than the darkness of this world

“All people are already under God’s judgment because of sin—specifically the sin of not believing in God’s Son. The only way to escape the condemnation is to believe in Jesus, the Son of God, because God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. He who believes in him is saved from God’s judgment. And God wants people to believe and come to the light.

(S14)

Going from darkness to light can be jarring…the light of God’s love in jesus can be revealing…but in it we find the best of God and God’s best for us.

The Light has come —Jesus is the Light