Jesus is the Light (August 8th, 2021)

the whole sermon which I will try to make sure I see, I do see the time, but the whole sermon is on one sentence that Jesus said can you build a Can you build a sensor going around? One sentence? Yeah, when you purse language very carefully very often you can tease out additional meaning. I said this a hundred times but send it. We don't have a TV service anymore. But when we did Sandy and I enjoyed watching crime shows not the crime, drama shows like CSI, but the ones that are kind of documentary, like they talk about real crimes. Well, there was one where a little boy eight or nine years old just went missing and the case was never solved at the time. There was there was a suspicion that two older boys 14 or 15 has something to do with this but there was no real evidence at the time. They were interviewed by the police. Nothing really turned up in the case went cold. For twenty years later. However, Cold Case. Investigators started. Going through all the evidence, including the transcripts from the interviews, including the transcripts of the interviews from the boys, the fifteen-year-old boys. And at one point, the police asked the boys, where, what were you doing at the time he disappeared. And one of the boys said, we want all went up to the campsite. They had made up a shift, make shift for it up in the wilderness and so forth. And he said we all went up to the campsite book twenty years after the fact. Some Cold Case guy is reading this, please just wait a minute. With nobody says we all when you're talkin about 2, You would say my friend and I or both of us, but nobody says we all unless it's three or more. I wonder if it was three or more and if I wonder if the third one was the boy, so sure enough that went up to that camp site that makes you for it. And I found unfortunately, the remains of the boy confronted the two young men at this point. Middle-aged men at this point and they secured convictions all because of one word. Oh, if it is, Heather said we went up to the campsite that doesn't betray anything. Did you know in the UK? There's an official part of the government called companies house and companies house is responsible to keep track of all the companies in the United Kingdom. And they publish news updates on how the companies are doing, which ones are starting, which ones are ending and they published in their periodical. The fact that Taylor & Sons was going bankrupt. One small problem Taylor & Sons was not going bankrupt. They were a thriving engineering company, the implied, 250 people, Taylor and son was going bankrupt. A totally different company in a totally different industry that one letter made. All the difference. Of course everyone read from the house of companies that the Taylor & Sons was going bankrupt, all of their customers for the business and Taylor & Sons really did go bankrupt because the one letter, by the way, the owner successfully sued the UK government. In 1962, the United States government, send up a spacecraft or they tried to called Mariner one. Mariner one was supposed to go to Venus, but as it lifted off, it started flying erratically endangering people. And so someone had to push the big red button and they did push the big red button and it was self-destructed before it ever. Got to orbit, will course. There was an investigation. What one character in one line of one program on the ship, had the wrong character, it had our, the character should have been our with a bar over it. That one bar, change the way it navigated and resulted in the destruction that cost the government. A hundred fifty million dollars, more importantly, it gave an important when to the US are at the time which was involved in the space race. Words are important. This is a line from the taxation code of the United States from just after the Civil War. Is talking about import taxes. So when you import things into the country you get taxed and there are certain exemptions an exemption. 572 says fruit, plant's Tropic. 170, tropical are all exempt from all exempt, from import taxes. So people were importing tropical fruit and the government was paying them taxes. The government was charging them taxes and the people said, exemption 572, fruit, plant's, you can't text this. We didn't mean,, we meant - route Dash plants. Not fruit, plant's as in two different things fruit or plants fruit Dash plants. As in one thing on which fruit grow. Well, the Fruit Growers took the government to court and one. Do you know, the United States was very small compared to that cost them 1% of their entire GDP to refund that money. Parsing out language is important. There are important details that we've lost over if we don't go through this carefully. Or text today is John 8:12 again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me and we will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. You may think that's just one sentence, but is very information dense. From that one sentence. We will answer five questions. Who is speaking. What did he say to whom was he speaking? So what part 1? So what part 2 So I can answer your question 6 from this text. So what's the big problem? But there was something else that Jesus said that doesn't answer questions 6 and I'll drive that to your attention at the proper time. Who was the winner of the simple sentence and answer these six questions who is speaking? Jesus says, I am and that's all you need to know. Jesus, at this point is claiming to be God. You think we're okay. First point in your sermon and you've already lost me. Those are just two words. They don't mean God. They don't mean anything. It's just into. These are just necessary parts of grammar to get to the next part. I am the light of the world. No. When Jesus said, I am, he was claiming to be God. And just from an English point of view, and English readers point of view. I understand why we could miss this, but the phrase, I am has a long and deep history in the Scriptures. It starts in the story of Moses to remember God calls Moses in a burning bush and Moses Caesars Bush. And it's weird because the bush is burning, but it's never consumed and then God speaks out of the Bush and I want to I want you to go back to Egypt. I want to free my people and I'm going to use you to do it. No, don't send me. Send my brother. I know I got know you. It's you baby. I'm asking you. And Moses says, what they're going to ask me who sent me who sent me. God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say this to the people. I am sent me to you.

And this phrase is significant in the New Testament to at one point. Jesus is disputing with the Pharisees. And Jesus is something to imply that he was alive at the time of Abraham. Which service is mine is crazy. You're like 30 years old. Give me a break. And so they say are you saying that you were alive during Abraham's time? And he said before Abraham I am.

And they knew exactly what he's mad. Because that's when they picked up stones to try to kill him. If they knew, he was claiming to be God. John 18 live at the Last. Supper, Jesus wash, the disciples feet Judas has decided to betray Jesus. He's left the last supper. He's gone to the leaders. Jesus is now gone to the Garden of Gethsemane. The Jewish leaders, give Judy, a whole platoon of armed, hardened soldiers and the soldiers, come to the Garden of Gethsemane. And Jesus says, who do you see, they say Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus says, I am

And the power of God's name. Emanate these hardened Soldiers. The Bible says they drew back and fell to the ground. Who is speaking? God. God himself is saying this. No second question. What did he say when he said I'm the light of the world. Let's talk about this word light in scripture. Light generally has two meanings. What one has to give vision? This is the way we would think of it. I don't know if you've ever been in the dimly-lit circumstance and you can't quite make out your surroundings. Like you honestly don't know what you're looking at. I member when I'm sending I were camping and I had to use the Outhouse in the middle of the night. So it's dark. And I'm walking around and unfamiliar think. And I stopped, I stopped because I saw a snake and he was looking at me, and I was looking at him and I said, did he notice me? I just had, I just stood there for a while, and I kind of tiptoed and finally made it to the Yard House, the next morning with a lot of light, I could see that it was an exposed root. What's the snake at all? I absolutely misinterpreted. The date. I was getting there. Just wasn't enough light to tell. I remember one time I was driving in the US, it was at nighttime and the driver side, headlamp left. I only have the passenger side is really hard to make things out. Is very confused and didn't have enough light with Jesus is the light, he allows us to see things and perceive things that we wouldn't see without him. But just tell you a couple of them. Where did we come from? Jesus, the light will expose you to that? What is our life purpose in Jesus light, we can see that? Why is the world so wonderful? And terrible is a beautiful sunset and his animals eating each other? Why is that? Jesus is the light. You will see that. Where is history headed? Like what is the point of human history in the light of Jesus? We can see that because like, who Am I, who Am I? Who am I at my deepest core? Why was I made? What is my mission in the light of Jesus? We can see that and we can see things that without the light. We cannot see. The first meaning of light in the Bible is Vision, but the other meeting is holiness.

God is always quote in light. When Isaiah Sees God in the throne room is light. Jesus. When he said, I am the light, he was saying I can give you, I can make clear to you things that are not clear to you now, and he was also saying, I am the model of Holiness that you are aiming for. Just a couple of the things about this phrase. Notice the word the Jesus does not say, I am a light of the world. There's a lot of luminaries out there. It doesn't say that he says, I m z the one, the only often imitated never duplicated. I I am the light of the world and noticed this world word here world. That is the Greek word Cosmos, from which we get our English word cause must he is not the light for some demographic from gender group, some group of European settlements. Some people living in a particular set of time in a geographic Smith. No, no, no,

Every human soul has to figure out who Jesus is and a lot of people want to say. He's a very nice teacher. He makes that very difficult here. He doesn't say he's a very nice teacher. He says he is the one and only light of the cosmos of the entire created so that you can believe them. You cannot believe them, but it's hard to hear him. Say that and say yeah, he's just a really nice guy.

Question 3, who is he speaking to whoever?

whoever, Find exhaust.

Think about it, God. It's saying he's the light. Bass. Right now. In this room. Do you? To me.

This is Broad. Deep implications.

Which figure out? What we do with this. I'm not asking you to believe Jesus. You can reject them, but you got to do something.

Whoever follows me. This is the decision. We have to make God is saying that he's glad that the world to us and we have to decide what we're going to do.

I would invite you to consider surrendering yourself to him. Now. Here. Let's just get it settled.

Jesus wants you to give yourself to him now.

like Laura did

We don't baptize people when they come to the conclusion. That Jesus is a real super duper guy. We baptize people when they come to the conclusion, that Jesus is The Great. I Am.

We don't baptize people when they come to the conclusion. That Jesus is one of many wonderful illuminaries, and we should probably read more of what he said. Could be super helpful. We don't baptize those people. We baptized people. When they realize that Jesus is the light of the world.

When bored and I were meeting in our baptism class. I said Lori in the baptismal tank. Two people have to believe two things to be possibly one thing. You have to believe that you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, or you shouldn't be requesting baptism. And I have to believe it because I can't baptize you unless I do. We baptized Laura because she has seen that Jesus is the light of the whole world and has decided to follow her him and I believe her. Today's big deal.

God says that he is the light of the world to whoever follows him. He's asking for a commitment. Is clear at 1 a.m. Or 2? It's 1 today. Commence meant when you get with, you need to get all dusty. Have you ever done that to school? But Jesus also makes a commitment for people that follow him. They will not walk in darkness. They will walk in that late. You will know who you are. You will know why you're here. You will know where human history is going. You will know what your duty and your rights and your responsibilities are. Jesus will bring light to all of that. But we will also have the light of life. There's more. We will not only live in knowledge, but we live with the promise of everlasting life.

Let me briefly and with the last question, what's the problem here? I mean if everything is so wonderful and I get to know who I am and where I'm going to wonder. Why doesn't everybody except Jesus? Well, It's because there was a dark side of the light. There is a dark side to Jesus being the light of the world.

Have you ever known someone? Or have you ever been this person that you're free to go to the doctor?

Have you ever known as anyone or have you ever been this person that you were afraid to go to your accountant? Students. Have you ever been afraid to pick up your exam paper or go online and see what your grade was?

Have you ever been involved in an intimate relationship and afraid to ask the other person? A deep question? What, what's the source of the fear?

It's the suspicion that we're going to get bad news. I don't want to hear the doctor cuz you're going to tell me something that I want to talk to my account because he's going to talk about financial loss. I don't want my exam paper cuz it's going to reveal that. I failed. I don't want to hear the answer to my question cuz it's going to reveal that I rejected.

Nobody wants bad news and surprisingly bad news is exactly what the light of the world delivers first. Cuz every first thing that Jesus illuminates, when he becomes our light, is your a sinner. When Laura was sharing her testimony with me, she said, I thought it was pretty good. Rob too. Many banks have been killed. Too many people. I'm pretty good. When I met the Lord. I realized I'm sinful. The first thing she saw was her own synth. Not everybody wants to see that.

And so I am the light of the world. No. Thank you. I have important information for, you know, thank you. Ignorant Bliss.

This is exactly what Jesus says in John 3:19 and 20. And this is the judgement Jesus says, the light has come into the world. That's him and people love the darkness rather than the light.

Because their deeds for the works for evil. For everyone who does Wicked thing hates, the light does not come to the light left. His work should be exposed.

Friends seeing her sin is the first part in understanding the gospel. And this may be news to you, just may be intriguing to you. I would encourage you to find out more. There are two ways. I have set out, a little pamphlets called the story. Some have this cover, some have a slightly different cover, exactly the same pamphlet. It will direct you to a website where you'll be able to watch it as short film understand the gospel. And if you have any questions, you can submit the questions on the website, there, go to me or call me. There's another opportunity. Our group in the fall is going to start something, start a group just for you, where we will explore and explain and answer questions about the Gospel called an alpha group. Alphano. Alpha group. Would love to have you come as matter fact. If you go to our website, there's a series of videos that are called the in-between Sunday's go to our website. After the service. Watch the most recent in between Sundays and you will be introduced to one of your Alpha leaders is not at the second. One is right here at knowing Naomi with no enemy. Would you mind standing up for me? There we go. You can talk to it. Thank you very much. We would love you to come. You'll Be Our Guest, it'll be fun. And at the end, no pressure. There was no coercion. There is no manipulation. But at the end you will understand what the gospel of Christ is enough to say yes or no, and we will leave that choice to you. Friends, it is time as we consider the light of the world to turn Our Eyes Upon Jesus.