Sermon Tone Analysis

Walk in the Light, Believe in the Light

Open:

Now that you are an adult , are you afraid of the dark?

I think we should be.

Job 24:13–17 (The Message) “Then there are those who avoid light at all costs, who scorn the light-filled path.

14 When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up— kills the poor and robs the defenseless.

15 Sexual predators can’t wait for nightfall, thinking, ‘No one can see us now.’

16 Burglars do their work at night, but keep well out of sight through the day.

They want nothing to do with light.

17 Deep darkness is morning for that bunch; they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.

Not just physical darkness, but spiritual, moral, intellectual darkness.

Jesus explains: John 3:19–21 (NASB95) “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Luke 22:50–53 (NASB95) And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered and said, “Stop!

No more of this.”

And He touched his ear and healed him.

52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a robber?

53 “While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.”

What “monsters” are in the dark that should concern us and make us watchful?

The devil

The devil’s followers - who torture, murder, pillage and destroy.

It would be easy to be terrified by the darkness all around us.

But we can pray and I believe we will experience a Goshen illumination.

In their book, Rebuilding the altar: a bold call for a fresh encounter with god, Pat & Karen Schatzline write:

We are living in one of the darkest times in history, and we know from history that when the world grows the darkest, God’s children must become the light.

How can we accomplish this?

It must start in our personal lives and in our homes and spread to our houses of worship.

The altar must once again be the place where we meet the Lord.

The most significant parts of our lives must start and end at the altar.

It is at the altar that true change takes place.

I am reminded of what one of our heroes of the faith, Leonard Ravenhill, once said:

“The greatest miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy man out of an unholy world and make him holy, then put him back into that unholy world and keep him holy in it.”

…

The atmosphere should shift when we walk into a room because when we enter, the Spirit of God comes in with us.

We are atmosphere-changers, called to be light in the darkness.

The Command

As we launch into this study, there is no doubt in my mind that I will always make it harder (deeper?) than it has to be.

It is no different with this lesson.

So, before we launch out into the deep (or the weeds), let me state the command of Jesus that we are studying (so we can be obedient to it)up front:

John 12:35–46 (NASB95) So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you.

Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.

36 “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”

These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.

37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.

38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?

AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?”

39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.” 41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.

42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

44 And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. 46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

Walk while you have the Light,

“Walk” is in Greek Present Imperative

The NT (Greek) present imperative ~! commands ongoing action, i.e. a regular, long-term way of doing something as an ongoing lifestyle.

The process-action must happen again-and-again over multiple situations or repeatedly (progressively) in the same scenario.

conveys: Go on doing this; it must happen habitually, continuously, progressively as a modus operandi (way of life).

Believe in the Light

“Believe” is in same tense “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

Ellicot: that the believer should become like unto Him in whom he believed.

Those who believed in the light should receive light, and become themselves centres whence light should radiate to others and illumine their own paths.

We must commit to trusting in Jesus as the Light so we will not be enveloped by the darkness

But what does it mean to do as Jesus commanded: to walk in the Light?

We will look at that phrase in 1 John 1

Where are we going?

As we begin this study let’s try to understand what it means to walk in light.

Matthew 4:12–17

Isaiah 9:1–2 Isaiah 60:1–3

Matthew 5:11–16 … 14 “You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

What do you think the terms "light" and "darkness" represent?

White Board:

Sproul, R. C. (2005).

The Unexpected Jesus: The Truth Behind His Biblical Names (pp.

64–65).

Christian Focus Publications.

The function of light

A few years ago I was occupied pursuing a layman’s understanding of astrophysics and astronomy.

The more I read of contemporary scientific investigations into the nature and behavioural patterns of light, the more I had the sense of approaching something on the edge of the mystical.

Light is an incredible thing.

What colour is a lemon?

You may reply, A lemon is yellow.

No, it isn’t.

A lemon is black.

Colour is a secondary quality which is not inherent in substances.

Why does a lemon look yellow to us?

Because of its chemical make-up.

The light that travels towards the lemon is carrying within itself all the rich and intense hues and colours of the spectrum, as seen in the rainbow.

When the light hits the lemon, many of the colours that are inherent in light are absorbed by the lemon.

The lemon divides and refracts the light coming to it, and gives us yellow, one of the colours of the rainbow.

The Birth of Jesus

(Sproul says:) I wandered away from the church and went over to an old stone wall.

It was a bright sunny day and, from the vantage point of the wall, I could look out over the seemingly unending plain called the Fields of Bethlehem.

It was on those plains that the shepherds tended the flocks.

As I sat there, I began to let my imagination roam freely.

I thought, ‘Imagine what it was like that night when, like hundreds of nights before, the shepherds were performing the tedious task of night sentries.

With absolutely no warning, the sky suddenly became brighter than noon.’

… I thought, ‘What would happen to my heart if I were sitting out there in the darkness and all of a sudden the glory of God shone around about me and I was face to face with an angel?’

I would be terrified.

… in the incarnation, for the most part, the refulgent, dazzling glory of the being of God was concealed, hidden behind the veil of Jesus’ humanity.

And as we have seen already, this is something that Jesus did willingly.

He downplayed his glory and his dignity by taking upon himself the outward display of servanthood.

In theology this is described as the humiliation of Jesus.