I AM the Light of the World

Have you ever been cold, hungry and in the dark? These are all predicaments that today we may remedy with a switch of electricity. But there was a time in our not-so-ancient history when these problems could only be solved with a flame.

Hypothetically, If you had only one match and entered a cold and dark room in which there was a kerosene lamp, oil heater, and a wood burning stove, which would you light first?

I have a gift that I will get to the first person to comment on our church Facebook page with the correct answer to that riddle. If you are watching on Facebook Live you can comment below this video. If you are listening on the Podcast you can find us at Facebook.com/flinthillschurch

As we are socially-distanced, check our Facebook page and website frequently for 2 reasons: 1) to stay connected with one another, and 2) I have 4 other give-aways planned for this week.

Ten weeks ago, we celebrated a holiday based upon LIGHT overcoming darkness. For most of us the significance of the Christmas holiday is that Jesus came into our sin-darkened existence as the Light of the World.

Two weeks ago, we were told that LIGHT is so valuable it must be saved. That Sunday was honored in many homes with an extra scoop of grounds in the coffee maker. Today we borrow an hour from the morning and redeem it each evening.

I’m curious about your experience with darkness. Have you ever been in a place where it was so dark that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face? Some place where there is no light at all? Not the glow of a watch or a pilot light? Perhaps in a cellar with no crack around the door? I recall the power outage in December when the whole community was dark, there was something unnerving when getting up at night didn’t even have the glow from the oven clock or the LED in the lightswitch. It was so dark it was palpable.

I have known people with varying degrees of blindness. Some can make out shapes, some can feel warmth on their face, some can see details but no color. While people have different abilities of sight, the only people you must tell that the light is shining are blind people.

In John 1:6-7 we read :

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

Apparently, they were so spiritually blind that they didn’t even recognize the light in front of them.

The most dangerous darkness in our “enlightened age” is the dense spiritual darkness that blinds the minds and controls the hearts of people who have never trusted Christ or who claim to know Him but don’t follow Him. Jesus came to dispel spiritual darkness, and to do so, He had to endure the darkness and the suffering of the cross.[i]

Transition: Today we see that Jesus is the only hope to move people from illusion to illumination.

From Illusion… (John 7)

The setting for today’s text is set up in the second verse of chapter 7

Festival of Tabernacles/Booths

1. This 8-day Fall festival is based in Lev. 23:33-44.

a. It was a time of thanks for the Fall harvest

b. It was a celebration for God’s care of their ancestors when they lived in tents.

2. Early each morning during that week, some priests would carry water from the Pool of Siloam and pour it out on the west side of the brazen altar in the temple court. This reminded the people how God had provided water for their ancestors during their difficult journey to Canaan. On the last day of the festival when the water was poured out, Jesus used the event as an opportunity to tell the people…

John 7:37–38 (ESV) — On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

3. At night during the week, the priests lit four large candelabra in the court of the women, and the glow from the light could be seen across the city. These lamps were reminders to the Jews of the pillar of fire by which God led Israel through the darkness.

4. Just as we get swallowed up in the Christmas Spirit and sometimes forget the true meaning, I wonder if Jews in Jesus’ day remembered or forgot this verse from their Scripture:

· “The LORD is my light and my salvation” (Ps. 27:1)

5. When the priests were putting out the lamps at the end of the festival, perhaps that’s when Jesus cried out, “I am the light of the world!”

Transition: It is here that we see false illusion turn..

…to Illumination (John 8:12-30)

John 8:12–30 ESV:2016

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.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

The Menorah or the Messiah

1. Jesus exposes that a Festival that had been commanded by God had become so wrapped in traditions that they couldn’t see when the Heavenly Light was right in their presence.

2. Nowhere did the Lord command the priests to light huge candelabra or to pour out water at the altar. There was nothing essentially wicked about either activity; but unless the priests and people lifted their minds and hearts to the Lord and experienced changed lives, those traditions were futile.

3. As the priests extinguished the candelabra in the court of the women and thus ended the festival, Jesus called out, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). He didn’t condemn their tradition; He simply asked them to allow that tradition to point to Him. In spite of the light in their temple, the priests and people were dead in their sins, and the festival itself could never give them life. Jesus offered them life—eternal life—if only they would trust Him and follow Him.

4. In short, Jesus wanted them to have lasting blessing in the present tense, and only He could give them that blessing. The Jews were only looking back and remembering what God had done for their ancestors. Here they were, pouring out water, lighting lamps, living in booths, and having a joyful time, yet they really had nothing to celebrate because they had ignored Jesus.

The Sun/Son at the Center

1. These Jewish religious leaders could see the sun in the heavens (John 8:2), but they did not know the Son who came down from heaven to save them.

2. In our physical world, the sun is “the light of the world,” but in the spiritual kingdom, Jesus is the Light and there is no other. Everything in our galaxy depends on the sun, and without it, there would be only darkness and death.

3. The sun is in the center of the earth’s solar system and our planet orbits around it. Jesus is at the center of all things that relate to the Father and to His church and we must keep Him central. He must never be relegated to the fringes.

4. If the sun were extinguished, life as we know it on the earth would also be extinguished. Jesus is “the light of life,” but only to those who trust Him and follow Him. The Son of God shines His grace and glory only on those who trust and obey. “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, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

5. When we fellowship with the Lord, meditate on the Word, and obey what He commands, God’s light shines “in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). We not only learn more about Christ, but we also become more like Christ.

Transition: When the light of the Gospel changes us from the inside we are more than enlightened, we …

Become Incandescent (John 9)

Our Time to Shine

1. Jesus is not visibly walking our city streets today, but His people are here to represent Him and spread the light. Jesus promises that if we follow Him, we will walk in the light, not in the darkness, and that His light will give us life. Even more, we will be lights in this dark world and help others find the true Light.

2. Our Savior left people who were spiritually blind to go heal a man who was physically blind. Our Lord turned away from the religious leaders who rejected Him and ministered to a poor man who obeyed Him and ended up worshipping Him! In the temple, Jesus exposed darkness and was rejected, but to the beggar, He brought light and was worshipped.

3. How we look at other people determines how much we can help them. (various perspectives of the blind man)

a. The Jews saw this man outside the temple as a pitied beggar

b. The disciples saw this man as a theological puzzle to figure out.

c. Jesus saw the man as one created by God in need of assistance.

Yesterday morning I make a quick run to Emporia. It was the first time I had been out of Chase County since last Sunday. As I quickly ran my errands at the pharmacy and grocery store, I sensed a somber, subdued countenance on each person I encountered. Each person was unusually aware of others around them, but I received the glare of suspicion more than courteous smiles.

Now, more than ever, the world around us needs the hope-giving light of the Gospel

As a loving church family, we must reflect Christ’s light on each other, and as His ambassadors we must shine attractively to those in fearful darkness.

4. God’s Word is light (Ps. 119:105, 130) and God’s Spirit is light (Rev. 4:5), and if we yield to the Spirit and live in the Word, God will teach us.

5. When we follow Jesus and walk in the light, we see this world and its dangerous illusions as they really are and we will not be deceived.

6. The way Jesus healed the blind beggar helps us better understand how we, the “children of light” (1 Thess. 5:5), may share God’s love and be used by Him to open the eyes of those who are spiritually blind.

Conclusion:

In our modern world, we are so accustomed to electric lights of all kinds that we forget the spiritual darkness that enshrouds our globe and blinds the minds and hearts of lost people. But the greatest tragedy is that people think they are “enlightened” when the light that is in them is actually darkness. To obey Jesus and follow the Light of the World means to become a living light and avoid the delusions that lead toward darkness. It means to become the kind of people who can point others to the Savior so that they too might experience “the light of life.”

Closing Song: I’m aware that it is a simple song and you may feel silly singing wherever you are watching or listening to this message, but I encourage you to stick your forefinger in the air and sing with me. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”

[i] Warren W. Wiersbe, Jesus in the Present Tense: The I Am Statements of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2011).