2026-01-04 - Let There Be Light!

[00:00:00] But today we're going to learn a lot about what it really means to experience light. What light is, what darkness is. Sermon outline is very easy, very simple. You got on the back of your bulletin and no pictures today. Sorry. I'll usually do that, but time constraints. [00:00:20] I can't even see the clock up there. Okay, I'm on. [00:00:25] First point concerning light and darkness is that there are many expressions concerning light but only one source. You get that many expressions now I go to Genesis chapter one. I feel like I cut out again in verses one through four. By the way, this is your memory verse for the month 1 through 3. [00:00:48] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [00:00:52] Now the earth was formless and empty or null and void, or abs without something. [00:00:58] Darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, let there be light. [00:01:05] And there was light. And God saw that the light was good. See, the one source that we find in the Bible for any form of light whatsoever is God. [00:01:17] God is the source of natural light. He's the source of spiritual light. And the only really the one source for any light, whether it be natural or spiritual, is God in 1st John 1:5. And by the way, I'm going to go through a lot of verses today, so I'm not going to wait for you to catch up with me. Most of them are marked down. You can find them eventually or see me afterward. I'll give you the whole sermon. [00:01:43] So in 1 John 1:5 says, this is the message we have heard from him and declare to you, what is it? God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. Now that's a key verse to understanding light and darkness. God is light and he's not darkness. And it's clear, it's very straightforward. [00:02:06] Meaning that there is no darkness at all to be found in God. So don't blame anything that's dark and dreary in your life on God. [00:02:14] I mean, total darkness. God is not a mixture of light and darkness, just light. [00:02:21] And there are many expressions of light found in the Bible but only one source. Did you get that? Many expressions but only one source for natural light we have the sun luminaries like the moon that reflects the light from the sun. [00:02:44] You have stars do the same thing, reflecting. We have lightning. That's all. These are mentioned in the Bible, by the way, as lights. And you have lightning, firelight around the campfire, and even a lamp light. And it's really all the same word in the New Testament. And The Greek translation of the Old Testament Septuagint, which I enjoy. The primary word used is phos. [00:03:15] Phonetically, it's P H O S, and it's expressing light as seen by the eye. [00:03:22] It enables the eye to discern form and color. And actually light requires to experience light requirements. The natural light, you must have an organ that is adopted for its reception. That means your eye. [00:03:39] And when the eye is damaged or absent, light is pretty much useless as far as seeing the natural light, the physically. But even a blind person can experience, even someone who is not seeing well at all can experience the light of God. Because the second point reveals to us that there's two types of light. [00:04:05] There's the natural and then there's the spiritual light. Now, the natural is found again in Genesis, in one illustration of that, in chapter 1, verses 14 and 15, says, and God said, let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night. [00:04:25] And let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, days and years. Let them be as lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was. So now it's interesting when the light is burning very brightly, or shining very brightly is a better way to say it. [00:04:44] What do we do with physical light? [00:04:47] We try to hide from it. [00:04:50] We will pull out our dark glasses and put on. We will pull the shades down, we will turn the light switch off. Because sometimes it's hard to deal with because it's too bright for us to handle. But if you understand, we know we appreciate light, but the absence of light is very simple. What is it? [00:05:17] Darkness. It's not something that we find God creating. Darkness. [00:05:22] It was already there. [00:05:25] It is what is there when there is no God. [00:05:29] Darkness. [00:05:30] The less light you have, the harder it is to see, the less clear things become. The less light you have spiritually, the harder it is to see God, the less understanding you have of God. [00:05:45] But the Bible speaks more about spiritual light than he does physical light, the spiritual. A good verse for that is in 1st Peter 2, 9. Just listen as I read it. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful what light. [00:06:16] Now, this is not talking about natural light. It's not something you see with your eyes. [00:06:24] It's not the sun, the moon or anything like that. [00:06:27] It's not what you have on your phones when things really get bad. [00:06:31] It's not talking about that. Matthew 6:22 23 gives us a good understanding of the difference between natural and spiritual light. Listen to this. This is Jesus speaking. He says the eye is the lamp of the body. [00:06:48] If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. [00:06:54] But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. All that is he's saying. He says. He was explaining blindness physically. [00:07:02] And he says, you're blind because you're not experiencing the light through your eyes. [00:07:08] But then he closes this out by saying, if. Then the light within you, within you is darkness. Oh, how great is that darkness? [00:07:18] He's saying that it's terrible to be without light spiritually, without the light of God in your mind, in your heart, in your emotions. [00:07:28] And to experience that, that only one way you can experience is through Jesus Christ. [00:07:34] Now, in order to understand light, we need to understand the darkness, and we understand physical and natural darkness. [00:07:43] What about spiritual darkness? I know about a little bit about natural darkness, and you do, too. When the lights are gone, we experience a little bit of that. [00:07:55] But what about spiritual darkness? [00:07:58] Now, the next point is simply understanding spiritual darkness and we can move it on. [00:08:08] And then we. Okay, you got it. And then there's three points to that. [00:08:14] And the world we live in is first of all a world that's in spiritual darkness. And why? Because it's a dark world. [00:08:24] And a good scripture for that is Isaiah 50. [00:08:27] And then. [00:08:28] And then also Isaiah 5:20. By the way, I'm sorry. And then also 9:2. Listen to this. Isaiah said, woe to those who call evil good and good evil. [00:08:43] Who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet, sweet for bitter. And then at the that chapter nine verse, he says, the people who are walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in a land of deep darkness, spiritual darkness. [00:09:08] A light has dawned now in a dark world without the light of God, everything is turned upside down. [00:09:19] Isaiah described it very clearly. He said, everyone is doing what is wrong. And they're saying it's right. [00:09:27] And everyone is doing what is right. Everybody's doing right. And others are saying, no, that's wrong. Everything's reversed. [00:09:38] And everyone does what is right and wrong in his own eyes, apart from God's direction. And you're going to have nothing but chaos. [00:09:46] And that's what Isaiah was saying was going in the hearts of men then. And guess what? It's going on today. [00:09:52] But what God says is right is right, not wrong. And what God says is wrong is wrong, not right. [00:10:01] So those living in darkness, in a very dark world, they have a problem. They live without understanding what. What God wants from them. And they don't really care. [00:10:14] That's darkness. [00:10:16] But Isaiah, he also saw into the future, didn't he? [00:10:21] And he saw a great light that would be sent by God. [00:10:27] He was referring to Jesus Christ. [00:10:30] He wasn't thinking about the sun or a new sun or a moon or something like that. He said, they've seen something special, this Jesus Christ, this Messiah that would come. And Isaiah said he would come to bring real light to those who would be willing to receive it. [00:10:47] Now we can go a little bit further in John, chapter one, verses 10 through 13, and we get a better understanding of this. It says, Jesus. Speaking of Jesus, John said he was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him or know him. [00:11:05] He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him. [00:11:11] But now that's talking about darkness. [00:11:15] But then he goes on and says, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor the will of man, nor the will of the flesh. But he says, but of God. [00:11:30] And guess what? [00:11:32] See, that's why Jesus came into this world of darkness. [00:11:38] Jesus came to a world that loved the sin, the life and lifestyle that ignored the word of God. [00:11:46] But this darkness would only lead deeper and deeper into darkness until ultimately it overtakes you or anyone else who is not known in Christ or does not know Christ, and. And they become bound by it. That's why Jesus warned his disciples. Listen to this warning. In John 12, 35 and 36, and then 46, Jesus told them, you are going to have the light just a little while longer. Now, when did he say this? He was walking with them, giving them light through his teachings and his presence. They didn't understand a lot of it. They were still on the unearthed boundary of light and darkness. And they were having more and more light come in as they experienced Christ. And he says, walk while you have the light before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. [00:12:39] You ever try to walk not knowing where you're going Anyhow? Believe in the light while you have the light so that you may become children of light. And then he summarizes this, and he says, I have come into the world and as light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. So I'm getting to this. Everyone has to make a choice. You get that? [00:13:04] Stay in the darkness or enter into the light. But if you enter the light, you can't go back and forth, in and out. [00:13:15] You can't do that. Darkness to light and light back to darkness. [00:13:20] This isn't a game we're playing, but a lot of people treat it like that. [00:13:25] First, John 1, 6, 7 says this and listen to this. If we claim to have fellowship with him and not walk with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie. [00:13:39] We do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. [00:13:47] And the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. [00:13:54] So not only do we live in a world that's dark, it's filled with people who have, next point, dark hearts and minds. And you see this darkness that we have now? We're the next point. Then I'm going to go further. We need to be back up on the last point. Dark hearts and minds. Now, in Second Corinthians 4, 3, 6, it says this. Even if our gospel is veiled, mean hidden, it is veiled to those who are perishing. [00:14:29] The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. For God who said let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of God. [00:15:04] Now, earlier I mentioned that when the natural light gets too bright, we try to evade it by putting on dark glasses, pulling down the curtains or the shades, or just shutting our eyes. [00:15:20] Those in darkness do the same thing when they're exposed to spiritual light, they are constantly exposed to the truth of the light of Jesus Christ. You can't live in this country without being exposed to the light of Jesus Christ. [00:15:37] We're reminded all the time. And Christ reminds them that their life without Jesus is dark, going nowhere but to the pit of hell. [00:15:47] And it's filled with faulty directions that leads to great destruction. In the end, relationships are bad. [00:15:56] Sometimes your health is bad and destroyed mental capacities are compromised because you choose to dwell in the darkness. They are on a road that leads to spiritual destruction. [00:16:07] So what do they do when God speaks? Well, out come the dark glasses. [00:16:14] Well, I don't like that light. [00:16:16] Might be some here today. You're not liking the light. [00:16:19] And you may have already put on some dark glasses. I don't know the dark glasses of denial. You may pull down the shade of doubt. [00:16:27] You may build up a wall of hatred and discontent. [00:16:33] These people make really bad decisions about life and get their advice from really bad sources. They don't go to the light for resource. They go to the dark only to get them darker and darker into the pit. They shut their eyes to the truth, choosing to believe lies. But so what happens though, when darkness is exposed to light? [00:16:56] And that's important for us to understand. [00:17:00] And we'll get into that understanding spiritual light next. Here's what happens in John 3, 1921. Listen to this. Jesus said, this is the verdict now. [00:17:14] Verdict means the final decision. [00:17:17] Light has come into the world. [00:17:21] But people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. And everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been been done in the sight of God. So you got dark world, dark hearts, dark minds, dark deeds. But let's look at this next point, and that is understanding spiritual light. And this is the one where we want to focus on and close out with today. Because you don't want to dwell in the darkness too much, do you? [00:18:01] We're seeing here that understanding spiritual light. This is speaking of light, seeing how much time I got. Okay, need my dark glasses on. But not to that. [00:18:13] When we understand spiritual light, we're going to be looking at Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 8 through 14. And you can go there because I'll be reading it a verse at a time. [00:18:26] Because the first thing you need to understand about spiritual light is that you initially were in darkness. You say I was in darkness? Yes, you were. [00:18:38] Just as the darkest darkness that I've been reading about from Scripture. When you did not have Jesus Christ shining in your life through the spirit of Christ, you were in darkness. [00:18:53] Deep, deep darkness. [00:18:56] And you were formerly darkness. Look at chapter five of Ephesians in verse eight and the first part of that verse, it says, for you were formerly darkness. [00:19:09] That's what you were. [00:19:11] But now if you go to the second point up there, you are now what? [00:19:16] Light. [00:19:18] But now you are the light in the Lord, or light in the Lord. So you see, you go from darkness. This is what you were. [00:19:28] And now what you are is light. [00:19:32] You see, we are bearers, bearers of light in A dark world. Now, that doesn't mean we carry around a flashlight and shine it in somebody's face. We offer the world a spiritual light that is found only in Jesus Christ because he is light and there is no darkness found in him at all. Now, I know a lot of people are critical of Jesus and they try their best to come up with something wrong with him or his life or the writings in the Bible. There's no darkness found in him at all. 0 and because we are light, we have no light of our own. [00:20:12] We only have the light of Jesus Christ that shines through us out to a dark world. Now, John the Baptist, he really had an epiphany. [00:20:25] We know that he said he came to bear witness to the light. [00:20:31] That means if he had to bear witness to the light, that means people were not seeing the light. He had to point it out to him and remember the day that John the Baptist. One of the things celebrated on Epiphany Sunday is baptism by some churches that celebrate this because that would be the baptism of Jesus. They celebrate the baptism of Jesus. We why? Because John the Baptist had an epiphany, an understanding that he didn't have before about Jesus Christ. You see, he was a cousin of Jesus Christ, and yet he didn't know who he was. But then one day he was baptizing people at the Jordan, and here comes Jesus walking in the distance and he says, wow, Behold the Lamb of God, my cousin. [00:21:23] Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. [00:21:29] You talk about an understanding coming upon you in a moment, an epiphany. [00:21:36] He had one big time. [00:21:39] And then he saw a dove coming down. [00:21:43] Baptism. And the voice of God speaks, saying, this is my beloved son. So people go ahead and they celebrate baptism. I'll tell you one thing. What else? Now you in my Sunday school class, you can't answer this, but what else do people celebrate concerning epiphanies, which is Tuesday, by the way, January 6th. [00:22:05] What else do they celebrate? Anybody remember? [00:22:09] It'd be the miracle of Jesus at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, because that was his first miracle and everybody was able to see him for what he really is. He works the miracles of God. Now we know what happens on concerning baptism. There's more people being baptized today around the world than any other time, right? Today. Isn't that great? [00:22:33] But there's also a lot of other things happen this time of year. [00:22:37] One more thing. That's the epiphany, and that is weddings. [00:22:41] Because the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee. But unfortunately, there's something else that happens a lot too. [00:22:47] What do you think people buy in Cana of Galilee? And I've been there many times, but I didn't buy any the wines because that's where Jesus changed water into wine. [00:22:58] So. But that's. That's another. That's why they celebrate those three things. But of course, we don't do that as far as celebrating the baptisms we have in the past or the weddings. I haven't ever performed a wedding on Sunday morning that I can remember. [00:23:13] But you know, I did once, Josh, remember that you and Missy came up and did a mock wedding of some sort. And I told it was a drama where we talked about how the vows you were taking, we knew you wouldn't keep them, that sort of thing. Praise God. You have. Hey, that's good. [00:23:30] Okay. Okay. [00:23:33] I wouldn't mention it otherwise. [00:23:36] But then we did a real one where a man and wife came and we pronounced them husband and wife to the entire church. Anybody else remember that? [00:23:45] Oh, I do. [00:23:48] Okay. [00:23:50] You were in darkness. [00:23:52] Now you are light. [00:23:54] And we now walk in light. [00:23:58] We walk like children of light. Look at verse 8c. The command now is walk as children of light and go through verse 10. For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. It's saying there to walk, live as children of light. [00:24:22] For this is what God wants us to do. And it pleases him when we do that. You see, a child of light concerns himself with conduct that is personally and morally fitting for those who are blessed to have Jesus Christ dwelling within them. [00:24:39] And this text here demands that we ask ourselves as we look at it, am I living as a child of light? [00:24:47] It's a big question. [00:24:49] Am I projecting light of Christ into a dark world with my everyday walk or actions? Now, Paul, he wrote the letter to the Christians in Ephesus. [00:25:04] And he had gone to Ephesus years earlier and he had found there a booming economy and a city steeped in sin. [00:25:14] And in 1st century Ephesus, there was a temple and a God dedicated to about every single lifestyle and sinful lifestyle you could conceive of that would be apart from Christ. And one of the main attractions was a temple of Athena or Artemis, I should say. I'm sorry. And the temple there was run by a fertility cult and even had temple prostitutes in this city. And for two and a half years. We know that Paul preached there and he laid a foundation of understanding for the believers in that city. And it's safe to say that much of his preaching in that city was directed at the sexual misconduct that had become such a way of life for the people of Ephesus. And even those new Christians who had been enlightened by the truth of Jesus were constantly bombarded by these temptations. [00:26:15] So the church in Ephesus was full of people who were grossly affected by the dark, immoral culture in which they lived every day, just as you are. [00:26:29] But he turns around and he gives us this next point. [00:26:33] He says, go to the next. Don't act like darkness have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. You see, Paul used Gentiles as an example for defining the darkness. And he said it this way in Ephesians 4, 18 and 19. He said, they are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. [00:27:12] Why do people not come to Christ today? [00:27:16] Because they're darkened in their understanding and they're living in ignorance because of what they have this hard heart that gets harder and harder by the darkening around them. And the darkened world that they're living in goes on. Says having lost all sensitivity. That word sensitivity is the word we use for scar. They've lost it. [00:27:41] Many of you, most of you have scars somewhere. You can't feel anything. At least I don't. [00:27:47] When I try to rub my hand on my scar, I don't feel that I've lost sensitivity. And that is what has happened to their consciousness and even their spiritual understandings. [00:27:58] They have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more. You see, those who live in the dark without understanding, without understanding, a man or woman has no basis for their conduct apart from what feels right. [00:28:24] That's how they make their decisions. They don't know God. They ignore his Word, the Bible. They cannot understand his ways. So they can only act on instinct that is corrupted by their own darkness and selfishness within them. So they indulge themselves with a continual lust for more and more darkness. Give me more darkness, more darkness. [00:28:47] Putting their lights, their glasses on when the light comes around, and they ignore that. Well, Paul, praise God. He gives us an alternative to the problem of dealing with darkness. [00:29:00] He says there live as children of light, live as children of understanding. And that last little phrase there that you have in your bulletin on the outline read at verse 13 through 15. He says, but all things become visible when they are exposed by the light. You see life for what it really is. When you have Jesus in your life, you're able to discern right and wrong. You're able to say, ah, that's a temptation. I'm not going there. Or you see someone in need and you have a burden for them. You see someone that doesn't know Christ and they're in the darkness and you think, oh, God, how can I say something to this person or do something that's going to bring them out of that pit of darkness into the light of Jesus Christ? And this is saying, but all things become visible when you are exposed by the light. Why? For everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason. It says, awake up, O sleeper. [00:29:59] Wake. [00:30:02] Rise up from the dead and Christ will shine on you. [00:30:08] Well, I think that's a good resolution this year. [00:30:16] Pray to God that many of your friends, neighbors, family members, by your witness and the light of Christ shining through you and other witnesses of the lights of Christ shining, that they will wake up, come out of their sin into the glorious light of Jesus Christ. [00:30:34] And if you're struggling, you crossed over into the light, but you're still looking back at that darkness and longing for it. Every now and then, pray to O Lord God that he'd wake you up, that you need to wake up, too. I need to wake up. We all need to wake up to the truth of what we need to be focusing on in this upcoming year. [00:30:59] We need to pray, oh Lord Jesus, shine on me. [00:31:03] Shine on me. Shine through me. [00:31:06] And thank him for the salvation that he's given us through Jesus Christ. [00:31:11] So wake up. [00:31:12] We're going to do one thing right now to demonstrate how that we can wake up. I want our servers to go back and get prepared for the communion that we're going to celebrate. [00:31:24] And it fits very well with what we've been talking about because of the passage I'm going to read in First Corinthians, chapter 11, and it says verse 23. [00:31:41] Now, when we take communion, you're all invited to if you're in Christ, if you believed in the light of Jesus Christ and he's come into your life, and now you are. You know it. He saved you from your sin. You're not bound for hell. You know you're going to heaven. It's what a glorious way living that is. But if you know that this is true and that Jesus died for you on the cross. And he gave his life so that you might live. And he shed his blood so that your sin could be forgiven. He was raised again on the third day so that you might live not only now, but eternally in light. Well, you're invited to partake of this as it's passed. And there's. It's important. Now, this morning you say, well, I've never made a public confession of my faith in Jesus, but I've had an epiphany this morning. [00:32:37] God has spoken to me to let me know I've been in the darkness long enough and I'm going into the light, saying goodbye to the darkness and entering to the glorious light of Jesus Christ. [00:33:00] And if you say, I'm asking Christ to come into my life now and save me and forgive me and start this year out right in righteousness, then I invite you to take it too. [00:33:14] And by your taking and eating and drinking, you are giving testimony to the fact I am a follower of Christ. [00:33:23] You see? Listen what it says. [00:33:25] For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. [00:33:30] Pardon me. That the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, he took bread. [00:33:36] When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body which is for you. [00:33:41] Do this in remembrance of me. [00:33:44] In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. And then Paul's comment is, for as often as you eat this bread, hear this. As often as you eat it and drink the cup. What are you doing? You proclaim what? [00:34:03] The Lord's death until he comes. [00:34:06] So this is not a small thing. Every time you take that little wafer, you're saying, I am proclaiming Christ. [00:34:15] I am a follower of Christ. When you drink the little cup of juice, you're saying, I am cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. [00:34:23] Praise God. [00:34:24] Well, anyhow, let's do it as a testimony of your faith in Jesus Christ and in remembrance of the body given for us on the cross the suffering that he went through in order to bring us from darkness into the light. Let's eat the bread together. [00:34:52] And then as a testimony of the blood of Christ that has cleansed us from all sin. [00:34:58] And as we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again, let us drink together. [00:35:07] Father, thank you for Jesus. [00:35:11] Without him we are in terrible shape, terrible, terrible condition. [00:35:18] But with him we are not only receive your light, but we now shine for you to others who have a really. [00:35:27] Not just a bad disposition in life, but they're just in darkness, terrible darkness. [00:35:32] Help us in this new year to shine for you, always giving thanks for Jesus who gave his all for us. We pray this in the name of Jesus, amen.