Latest / Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons / Jesus the Light of the World

Transcript

Jesus the Light of the World · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

0:00
Now we're going to begin our worship singing today firstly in Psalm 34, Psalm number 34,
0:06
that's on page number 40, a tuneless St. Stephen.
0:14
At all times I will bless the Lord, I'll praise Him with my voice.
0:18
Because I glory in the Lord, let troubled souls rejoice.
0:22
Together let us praise the Lord, exalt His name with me.
0:26
I sought the Lord, His answer came, from fears He set me free.
0:32
The theme of our sermon this morning is Jesus, the light of the world,
0:36
and that's following on from the Young Folks Club yesterday,
0:42
which had that theme of Jesus, the light of the world.
0:45
And in this psalm we find those who are looking to God, who look to Him,
0:49
that means believing in Him, trusting in Him, that they come to shine with joy.
0:53
They are like lights, as God gives them that joy.
0:56
So Psalm 34, verses 1 to 9,
0:59
At all times I will bless the Lord.
1:02
At all times I will bless the Lord, I'll bless Him with my voice.
1:21
Before us I will bless the Lord, let the Lord, let the troubled souls rejoice.
1:37
To get that grace, praise the Lord, and so will live with me.
1:53
I sought the Lord, His answer came, from fears He set me free.
2:09
To get that grace, praise the Lord, let the Lord be with me.
2:39
To get that grace, praise the Lord, let the Lord be with me.
3:09
He set His people free.
3:15
Come, take and see the Lord's truth, who does the heaven is blessed.
3:32
O hear the Lord, you say, you will not be oppressed.
3:47
Let's now pray briefly.
3:53
Our prayer, first of all, is focusing on the children and the young folks.
3:57
Lord, our gracious God, we thank you that we are together once again here to worship you.
4:04
And we thank you for the guidance you give us in your word as to how we are to come to worship you.
4:09
And in what spirit and frame of mind we ought to come to give praise to your name.
4:15
Help us, Lord, as we have been singing of those who look to you and were brought to shine with joy.
4:22
That we too, Lord, we pray to shine with that joy that knows Jesus as the joy of the world and the joy of our lives as well.
4:37
We ask today your blessing, Lord, to follow what was done yesterday at the club.
4:42
And we pray for all the children who attended, for their families and parents.
4:46
We pray for the children here today.
4:49
We give thanks for them and we give thanks, Lord, for the interest their families show in bringing them to church,
4:55
bringing them to the gospel and teaching them the things of God.
4:59
Lord, bless them, we pray today, and graciously apply your word to their hearts.
5:04
Help them in their young lives, Lord, as they develop to continue to look to you
5:09
and to continue to see you as the light of the world so that they may be guided in that right path
5:15
and be kept, Lord, and protected from all the evil that is in the world.
5:20
Lord, we know that there is much darkness in the world, many things that are contrary to what you tell us in your word
5:27
and would lead us astray and lead us into a different kind of life to what you require of us.
5:34
And so we pray that you would continue, Lord, to give us your light
5:36
and to enable the children themselves to walk by the light of your word to guide them through life.
5:44
Receive our thanks now and go with us into what remains of this day and of this service now.
5:50
And all we ask is with the pardon of our sin, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
5:57
Now, yesterday you had Jesus as the light of the world, as the theme of the conference,
6:05
and that's what we're following through today as well.
6:09
I was reading recently about a little boy in America,
6:14
and the little boy had been given some verses to learn or some scripture to learn,
6:19
and it was in fact this scripture, Jesus being the light of the world.
6:23
And he was to recite or remember the words of that verse when it came to the assembly
6:31
or the program that they had for Christmas.
6:34
So his mum was a wee bit afraid that he wouldn't remember the words.
6:39
I suppose all mums are like that, or all dads are like that,
6:42
when their children are taking part in a Christmas concert or something,
6:46
there's always the fear, well, I hope they don't forget what they were meant to say.
6:50
And sure enough, this mum was afraid that her little boy would actually remember,
6:57
would forget the words.
6:59
So what she did was she made sure that she got a place in the front row of those who were at the assembly,
7:06
so that if she saw the wee boys beginning to struggle for remembering the words,
7:12
she would just mouth them and hopefully he would follow.
7:15
And that's what happened.
7:16
Sure enough, he actually forgot the words when he came to this line.
7:21
So as mum went,
7:25
and the boy still didn't know anything of what she was saying,
7:29
so the silence just continued.
7:32
And then she leaned forward out of her seat and whispered,
7:36
Jesus is the light of, I am the light of the world, is what she said.
7:41
And the boy said,
7:44
my mum is the light of the world.
7:48
And of course that destroyed any sense of concentration.
7:54
And of course, his mum wasn't the light of the world,
7:56
or she might have been very bright.
7:58
Jesus is the light of the world.
8:02
And that's what the Bible, of course, tells us.
8:04
That's what we're going to be looking at today.
8:06
Because the Bible tells us that there is a lot of darkness in the world, bad things.
8:13
There's a lot of darkness in ourselves as well until Jesus gives us his light.
8:18
And it's the light of Jesus that enables us to see properly into the darkness
8:23
and to shine on our lives in such a way that provides for us a safe way onto heaven.
8:30
Because if we listen to a lot of other voices that tell us,
8:35
no, you should do this.
8:36
Forget about God.
8:37
Forget about the Bible.
8:39
Jesus, the light of the world.
8:40
You don't need all of that stuff.
8:41
Well, that's going to lead us into darkness and into trouble.
8:45
And we know that that's not going to be good for us at all.
8:49
So Jesus, as the light of the world, has given us his word,
8:53
which also is described as a light for our feet in the Psalms.
8:57
And apart from everything else, Jesus himself is the light of the world.
9:03
And as he shines brightly into our lives, what does he show?
9:07
He shows us that we need himself.
9:10
He shows us that we actually need to have our sins forgiven,
9:15
that we need to be cleaned up spiritually,
9:18
and he's the one who forgives our sins.
9:20
That's why he was given the name Jesus.
9:22
Remember that the angel came to Joseph and said,
9:26
Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife.
9:30
For the child that will be born, she will bear a son,
9:34
and you will call his name Jesus,
9:37
for he will save his people from their sins.
9:41
That's what his name Jesus really is about.
9:45
The Savior who saves his people from their sins.
9:49
So today, as you've been learning about Jesus, the light of the world,
9:54
we're going to be looking in the sermon later
9:56
at how we come to know this light for ourselves,
10:00
and how we need his light in our lives,
10:02
whatever age we're at.
10:04
And you today as children are not too young at all
10:08
to know Jesus for yourselves as the light of the world,
10:14
the light that gives us eternal life.
10:19
Now we're going to say the Lord's Prayer together at this point,
10:22
so let's just say the Lord's Prayer.
10:25
Our Father, which art in heaven,
10:28
hallowed be thy name.
10:30
Thy kingdom come.
10:32
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
10:35
Give us this day our daily bread,
10:37
and forgive us our debts,
10:39
as we forgive our debtors.
10:41
And lead us not into temptation,
10:44
but deliver us from evil.
10:46
For thine is the kingdom,
10:48
and the power and the glory forever.
10:51
Amen.
10:53
I'm going to sing again now.
10:55
This time we're singing from Psalm 119.
10:58
It's on page 163,
11:01
verses 105 to 112.
11:05
The tune this time is Eventide.
11:11
And there's the words there that tell us about God's Word being a lamp
11:17
that shines us for our feet, for our path.
11:21
Your Word's a lamp that shines before my feet.
11:25
It is a light that guides me on my way.
11:28
The oath that I have taken,
11:30
I have confirmed that all your righteous laws I will obey.
11:35
We'll sing the four stanzas down to verse 112.
11:38
Your words, a lamp that shines before my feet.
11:42
Your words, a lamp that shines before my feet.
11:56
It is a light that guides me on my way.
12:06
The oath that I have taken,
12:13
I have taken, I confirm,
12:16
that all your righteous laws I will obey.
12:28
O Lord, you know that I have suffered much.
12:38
All night that hasOH keep my mind.
12:40
My rest.
12:40
Set the lower
13:08
O Lord, I will notice,
13:15
We guide you wholly off,
13:22
Though constantly my life is in my hands,
13:32
Although the wicked set us there for me,
13:43
I have not left the path of your commands.
13:53
Your statutes are my heritage always,
14:05
And every day they make my heart rejoice.
14:13
My heart is set on keeping your degrees,
14:26
And to the very end they are my choice.
14:36
Let's now read God's Word as we find that today in the Gospel of John.
14:44
John chapter 9, and we're going to read verses 1 to 25.
14:55
So John chapter 9 from the beginning.
14:58
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth,
15:01
And his disciples asked him,
15:04
Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
15:07
That he was born blind?
15:09
Jesus answered,
15:10
It was not that this man sinned, nor his parents,
15:13
But that the words of God,
15:15
The works of God might be displayed in him.
15:18
We must work the works of him who sent me,
15:21
While it is day, night is coming,
15:24
When no one can work.
15:26
As long as I am in the world,
15:28
I am the light of the world.
15:29
Having said these things,
15:32
He spat on the ground and made mud with saliva.
15:35
Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud,
15:37
And said to him,
15:37
Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,
15:40
Which means scent.
15:41
So he went and washed and came back seeing.
15:45
The neighbors and those who had seen him before,
15:47
As a beggar, were saying,
15:49
Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?
15:52
Some said,
15:53
It is he.
15:54
Others said,
15:55
No, but he's like him.
15:57
He kept saying,
15:58
I am the man.
15:59
So they said to him,
16:01
Then how were your eyes opened?
16:03
He answered,
16:04
The man called Jesus made mud,
16:07
And anointed my eyes,
16:08
And said to me,
16:09
Go to Siloam and wash.
16:11
So I went and washed and received my sight.
16:15
They said to him,
16:16
Where is he?
16:17
He said,
16:18
I don't know.
16:20
They brought to the Pharisees,
16:21
The man who had formerly been blind,
16:24
And now it was a Sabbath day,
16:26
When Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes,
16:28
So the Pharisees again asked him
16:30
How he had received his sight.
16:33
And he said to them,
16:34
He put mud on my eyes,
16:35
And I washed and I see.
16:38
Some of the Pharisees said,
16:40
This man is not from God,
16:42
For he does not keep the Sabbath.
16:44
But others said,
16:46
How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?
16:49
And there was a division among them.
16:52
So they said again to the blind man,
16:54
What do you say about him,
16:56
Since he has opened your eyes?
16:58
He said,
16:59
He is a prophet.
17:01
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind,
17:03
And had received his sight,
17:05
Until they called the parents of the man
17:07
Who had received his sight,
17:08
And asked them,
17:10
Is this your son,
17:11
Who you say was born blind?
17:13
How then does he now see?
17:16
His parents answered,
17:17
We know that this is our son,
17:19
And that he was born blind.
17:21
But how he now sees,
17:23
We do not know,
17:25
Nor do we know who opened his eyes.
17:27
Ask him.
17:28
He is of age.
17:29
He will speak for himself.
17:32
His parents said these things,
17:33
Because they feared the Jews.
17:36
For the Jews had already agreed,
17:37
That if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Christ,
17:40
He would be put out of the synagogue.
17:43
Therefore his parents said,
17:45
He is of age.
17:46
Ask him.
17:48
So for the second time,
17:49
They called the man who had been blind,
17:51
And said to him,
17:53
Give glory to God.
17:55
We know that this man is a sinner.
17:57
He answered,
17:59
Whether he is a sinner,
18:00
I do not know.
18:02
One thing I do know,
18:05
That though I was blind,
18:07
Now I see.
18:10
And so on,
18:11
And may God bless to us that reading
18:13
From his holy word.
18:15
Let's now engage in prayer once again.
18:17
Let's call upon the Lord.
18:21
Our gracious God,
18:23
We do give thanks that you are the one who opens the eyes of the blind.
18:28
That you are the one whom your people call
18:30
As the God who has done miraculous things.
18:35
And we know that while this miracle
18:37
That we've been reading about here,
18:39
Lord,
18:39
That happened so long ago,
18:41
Is now in the past,
18:42
And was a natural opening of the eyes.
18:45
We thank you,
18:46
Lord,
18:46
For these spiritual openings that you cause,
18:50
That enable us to see and to know yourself.
18:54
We have thanks,
18:55
Lord,
18:55
For that great truth of your word,
18:59
That your people are able to testify
19:00
That whereas they were once blind,
19:03
Yet now they see.
19:05
And that they attribute this to your amazing grace.
19:08
We thank you,
19:09
Lord,
19:09
Today that you are still opening eyes
19:13
In various places throughout the world,
19:15
And even amongst ourselves.
19:17
That you are the one who brings your light
19:19
Into the darkness of human life.
19:22
And that you are the one who,
19:24
As the light scatters the darkness.
19:27
And we thank you,
19:27
Lord,
19:28
That we ourselves can look to you
19:29
To enlighten us today,
19:31
And to bring to us that light of life,
19:34
Which you alone are able to give.
19:37
And we thank you for the opportunity
19:39
We have now
19:40
To worship you together here in this place.
19:44
And we thank you,
19:44
Lord,
19:45
That as we worship you here together,
19:47
And so you impress upon us from your word,
19:50
The many reasons why we worship you.
19:52
The many things concerning your great name,
19:55
That constrain us to worship you.
19:57
To give glory to your name.
19:59
To uplift your name in worship.
20:01
And we thank you as we bow in your presence,
20:04
That you are worthy of that worship,
20:06
That worship of heaven itself,
20:08
Which is perfect.
20:10
And that worship that we seek to give you,
20:12
Lord,
20:13
As we come together today.
20:15
Bless us then, we pray,
20:16
And bless your word to us.
20:18
Help us to see by the light of your truth.
20:21
Enable us to have the testimony of the psalmist,
20:24
Who could say as we have been singing,
20:26
Lord,
20:27
That your word was a lamp to his feet,
20:29
A light to his path.
20:31
We thank you for your word.
20:33
We thank you for all that it contains.
20:36
For the many ways in which it brings to us
20:38
Such great truths that we are required to believe.
20:43
And that we do believe, Lord,
20:44
Despite the fact that so many of them
20:47
Are beyond our full understanding.
20:49
Give us faith, we pray,
20:51
To embrace your word.
20:52
Faith to live by the light that it gives us.
20:56
Faith to trust in you through what your word tells us about you,
21:00
And about ourselves.
21:02
And we do give thanks today,
21:04
That your word does not withhold the truth from us,
21:07
About ourselves,
21:09
About the world in which we live,
21:11
And about why we are in the state we are in,
21:14
In our lostness,
21:15
And in our sinfulness.
21:17
And that it does not hide from us the solution that you have provided,
21:21
In the Lord Jesus Christ,
21:22
The light of the world.
21:25
We thank you, Lord,
21:26
That you came into this world of darkness.
21:29
And that as the light that you are,
21:31
That you came to scatter the darkness in human life.
21:35
We pray today, Lord, for all your people.
21:38
We ask that you would bless them throughout the world today.
21:42
Lord, we know that there are many of them
21:43
In very different circumstances to ours.
21:47
That many of them know the power of darkness
21:50
Even more than we ourselves know.
21:53
The pressure of persecution,
21:55
The constraint that they are under from evil forces and powers
22:00
That seek to have them follow the works of darkness.
22:05
Lord, we give thanks that
22:06
No amount of power on the part of darkness
22:10
Is able to drive out the light that you create
22:15
In the hearts of your people.
22:17
And we pray, Lord,
22:18
That today,
22:19
Your people throughout the world may be encouraged.
22:22
Even despite the many difficulties they face.
22:25
We pray for them today that they may know
22:27
That you have given them the light of your truth.
22:30
And the light of your truth is
22:31
A light that is always inextinguishable.
22:35
And we'll lead them safely on.
22:37
Bless them especially in places where
22:39
Persecution,
22:40
Where war,
22:42
Where terror,
22:43
Where deprivation
22:44
Is faced by them.
22:46
We thank again,
22:48
Lord,
22:48
Of the nation of Ukraine.
22:51
And we pray for them today
22:52
As they continue to suffer
22:54
Adversity and suffer attack
22:56
From Russian forces,
22:59
From missiles,
22:59
From strikes against their infrastructure
23:02
That seeks to demoralize them.
23:05
We pray that you would
23:05
Maintain in them, Lord,
23:07
That spirit that they have shown thus far.
23:10
The spirit not only of resistance,
23:12
But on the part of many of them,
23:14
The spirit of trusting in the living God
23:16
And trusting in Him
23:18
For their salvation,
23:20
For not only this darkness
23:22
That's come to invade their land,
23:25
But also that moral and spiritual darkness
23:28
That they seek to be extinguished, Lord.
23:32
We pray that in our own land too,
23:35
The way in which darkness
23:37
Has so much come upon us
23:39
As a people
23:40
Instead of the light of the gospel.
23:42
Oh, Lord,
23:43
We pray that the light of the gospel itself
23:45
Might be blessed by you
23:47
To our good.
23:48
And we pray that that will penetrate
23:50
To every area of our society,
23:52
To those in government over us,
23:54
Right through to those
23:55
Who are in the greatest need.
23:57
Gracious Lord,
23:58
We ask for your blessing.
24:00
We pray that you would
24:01
Turn us to yourself
24:02
And enable us
24:03
To know you as the light of life,
24:06
But ourselves as a people.
24:07
For this is why
24:08
You came into the world
24:10
As you tell us in your word.
24:12
You came that we might have life
24:14
And have it the more abundantly.
24:17
And so, Lord,
24:18
We pray that today
24:20
Your light will truly come
24:22
To enlighten our paths through life
24:25
So that we may follow you safely.
24:27
We pray your blessing for all today
24:30
Who have difficulty,
24:32
Trials, adversity.
24:35
We pray especially today, Lord,
24:36
For these families
24:37
Belonging to us as a congregation
24:39
That mourn the passing of loved ones
24:42
In this past week itself.
24:44
Lord, we pray for them,
24:46
For those who have had funerals
24:47
In the past days.
24:49
For those who are expecting
24:50
Funerals in this week to come
24:52
Graciously provide for them, we pray.
24:55
Grant them your comfort.
24:56
Lord, bless those who are ill
24:58
At this time too.
25:00
Bless those who are receiving treatment.
25:02
Those who have gone through surgery.
25:04
Those who have been waiting a long time
25:06
For treatment or surgery
25:07
Due to the circumstances, Lord,
25:10
That prevail in our land at this time.
25:13
We ask that You would bless them.
25:15
We pray that You would bless
25:16
The National Health Service too.
25:18
So much in the news, O Lord,
25:20
In these days.
25:20
And we pray that You would continue
25:22
To provide resources
25:24
By which they may fully engage
25:27
In the work You have called them to.
25:29
And we pray for everyone involved
25:31
In the work of the NHS.
25:33
But we pray especially for those
25:35
Who are at the front line of services
25:37
And serve You so diligently
25:39
From day to day
25:40
In hospices and hospitals
25:42
And in various clinics
25:44
Throughout our land.
25:45
Lord, we pray
25:47
That You would continue
25:48
To encourage them
25:49
And that You would continue
25:50
To provide them
25:52
With not only substantial
25:55
And sufficient monetary gain
25:59
But also
25:59
That You would give to them, Lord,
26:02
The strength of spirit
26:03
By which to continue
26:04
In the face of
26:06
What may at times
26:07
Be so discouraging.
26:09
Remember the preaching
26:10
Of Your Word.
26:11
Remember today Your Word
26:12
As it goes forth, Lord,
26:13
Throughout our land.
26:14
Remember every congregation
26:16
Where Your Word is proclaimed.
26:18
Graciously provide for Your people
26:20
The strength and the encouragement
26:22
To go on serving You
26:24
To be lights in this world.
26:27
Continue with us now, we pray here.
26:29
And help us as we sing Your praises.
26:32
And as we come shortly
26:33
To look into Your Word
26:34
And seek its meaning for our lives.
26:37
Lord, we pray that
26:38
We may know the guidance of Your Spirit
26:40
Giving to us
26:42
What we ourselves don't have.
26:44
The light of Your truth to be blessed.
26:47
Hear us, we pray for Jesus' sake.
26:49
Amen.
26:52
We're going to sing
26:52
Before we turn to God's Word.
26:54
Sing once more.
26:55
This time it's in Psalm 27.
26:58
And it's on page 236.
27:01
Psalm 27 from the beginning.
27:03
Verses 1 to 5.
27:04
To the tune Jackson.
27:09
The Lord's my light
27:11
And saving health.
27:13
Who shall make me dismayed?
27:15
My life's strength is the Lord.
27:16
Of whom then shall I be afraid?
27:19
When as mine enemies and foes
27:20
Most wicked persons all
27:22
To eat my flesh against me rose
27:25
They stumbled and did fall.
27:28
These verses, Psalm 27.
27:30
Verses marked 1 to 5.
27:32
The Lord's my light.
27:33
The Lord's my light.
27:37
The Lord's my light
27:42
And saving health
27:45
He shall make me dismayed
27:52
My light's strength is the Lord.
27:58
Of whom then shall I be afraid?
28:07
When at my end
28:11
Mees and foes
28:14
Most wicked persons all
28:20
To eat my flesh
28:25
Against me rose
28:29
They stumbled and did fall.
28:36
Against me though
28:40
And who stand calm
28:44
My heart yet fear
28:48
And sins
28:50
Though Lord
28:53
Against me
28:55
Christ I have
28:58
Be confident
29:02
In this
29:06
One thing
29:08
I offer
29:10
For desire
29:13
And will see
29:16
To obtain
29:19
That all days of my life
29:27
I may
29:28
Within God's heart
29:32
Remain
29:34
That I
29:38
The purity
29:39
Of the Lord
29:44
Behold me
29:46
And admire
29:48
That I
29:52
In this
29:55
Holy
29:57
Place
29:58
May
29:59
For
30:11
ижу
30:12
OME
30:29
Let's turn again for a short time to John's Gospel, chapter 8 this time, and the words
30:44
you find in verse 12.
30:48
John chapter 8 and verse 12.
30:51
Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world.
30:55
Lord, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
31:04
When you look at the structure of John's Gospel, it's really interesting how you find him making
31:10
statements like these, what's usually called the I am statements.
31:14
Here it's I am the light of the world, but there are several of these throughout the
31:19
Gospel of John, as you know, I'm sure.
31:20
And the interesting thing is that the statements themselves are often, not always, but often
31:26
accompanied by a miracle that helps to explain what he meant by the statement.
31:33
For example, here you find, I am the light of the world, and you have to take this passage
31:38
with you right into the next chapter, because there he opens the eyes of a man born blind
31:44
to illustrate the fact that Jesus brings light to the blind, and of course that is also the
31:51
case spiritually, which is what these miracles really reveal to us.
31:55
You find the same chapter 6, when he spoke of himself as the bread of life, that's related
32:01
to the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000.
32:04
You find in chapter 11, Jesus saying to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life.
32:10
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in
32:15
me shall never die.
32:17
Do you believe this?
32:18
And he demonstrated the truth of that by the miracle of raising her brother, Lazarus, back
32:25
from the dead.
32:26
In other words, there is an explanation in miracle of the words that he uses to speak about himself,
32:34
I am such and such.
32:36
And here you find, we see the light of the world, I am the light of the world, illustrated,
32:43
if you like, as we said, by the following miracle in chapter 9 here of the gospel.
32:50
Now, it's interesting that when Jesus says, I am the light of the world, I am the bread
32:56
of life, he's taking what we know as ordinary aspects of life as we know it, things in the
33:03
natural world such as light and bread and so on, and he's using them in a way that provides
33:10
profound spiritual teaching.
33:12
That's one of the features of John's gospel, that he takes such things as here in the words
33:17
of Jesus, things like light and darkness, and presents the truth, spiritual and moral truth,
33:24
through these things so that we can better understand these concepts for ourselves.
33:29
And as you know, light has certain properties.
33:35
Light moves.
33:37
Light is really a form of radiation in a sense, electromagnetic radiation.
33:43
That's about as far as I know the physics of it.
33:46
I know that light is something that travels very fast, and light, of course, is measured
33:52
by scientists in those terms.
33:56
And light is made up, white light, made up of the spectrum of light.
34:00
All the colors that you know make up the spectrum, which you can see when white light is divided
34:05
into the color spectrum by putting it through a prism of some kind.
34:09
So light has lots of properties, things that are true about it, things that you can measure,
34:14
things that actually define it as light.
34:18
But darkness has no properties.
34:24
Darkness has no properties.
34:27
Why is that?
34:28
Because darkness really, essentially, is the absence of light.
34:34
Where you find darkness, you can say for certain, there is no property of light in this place.
34:41
It's only when light comes into a dark place that the darkness is then ended, because that's
34:49
one of the things that light does.
34:51
The properties of light are properties that remove darkness.
34:56
Wherever you shine a light into darkness, the effect is that the darkness is done away with.
35:04
And that's really so interesting when you come to think of what Jesus is saying here.
35:08
I am the light of the world.
35:11
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
35:17
In other words, he's really saying it is possible, and indeed it's true, that people walk in darkness.
35:22
He means spiritual and moral darkness because they don't have the light of Jesus in their lives.
35:29
And it doesn't matter how well constructed their life may be.
35:33
It doesn't matter how much they may live a decent and high-quality moral life.
35:38
It doesn't matter how much they might have achieved in society.
35:41
What Jesus is saying is, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.
35:47
And by implication, whoever does not follow him is walking in darkness.
35:52
We need the light of Jesus in order to avoid walking in the darkness or to be delivered from the darkness
36:01
that is naturally true of every one of us.
36:05
So, two things.
36:06
First of all, Jesus as the light of the world.
36:10
You remember in 1 John 1, verse 5, that John begins that first epistle that he wrote by…
36:16
In chapter 1, verse 5, he gives a definition there of God.
36:20
God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
36:27
And you come to John's gospel, and you discover that Jesus is the light of the world,
36:33
and that he's the light of the world as God, because Jesus is God.
36:37
In other words, what we remember at this time of year in terms of the Christmas story,
36:41
whatever term we use, and it's not just at Christmastime we remember it,
36:45
Jesus, the Son of God, coming into the world, the Son of God, taking our human nature to himself,
36:52
joining it to himself, working the work that the gospel tells us about,
36:55
especially culminating in the cross and in his resurrection.
36:59
That is God.
37:02
That is the light that God has always been.
37:06
And he's come into the world in the person of Jesus,
37:10
not just a human being that he chose to represent him,
37:16
but a human nature that he joined to his own divine person,
37:21
the Son of God.
37:24
Or as John puts it in the beginning of the gospel here,
37:28
the Word which was with God, and the Word was God.
37:33
Light reveals itself.
37:35
God revealed himself in the person of Jesus.
37:39
God is light.
37:41
The light came into the world in the person of Jesus
37:44
to lighten up the darkness for us,
37:47
to deliver us from darkness.
37:49
That's essentially what is in this definition
37:53
that Jesus is saying,
37:54
I am the light of the world.
37:57
Now, the context here is interesting.
37:58
As I said, you go back to the previous chapter as well, in fact,
38:05
and on into chapter 9.
38:07
And in verse 37 of the previous chapter 7,
38:11
you find on the last day of the feast,
38:13
the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out,
38:16
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38:21
And you have to follow that right through into chapter 9
38:24
because it's the same incident, really,
38:26
that you've got different aspects of brought before you.
38:29
And the interesting thing there, the important thing,
38:31
is that the feast there was the Feast of Tabernacles,
38:35
an annual event for Israel,
38:38
which followed through into the days of Jesus.
38:40
And during that time,
38:42
the practice was they would actually light up
38:47
four gigantic candelabras,
38:51
you might say they were,
38:52
or four gigantic chandeliers, you might call them,
38:57
but out in the open,
38:58
massive, massive things filled with lights.
39:02
And we're told that the light from these four giant lights
39:06
would actually go out and flood the whole town with light.
39:10
And you can imagine Jesus in that context
39:14
and with that background and in these circumstances
39:17
and with all that going on,
39:19
standing up and saying,
39:21
I am the light of the world.
39:23
Here is Jesus saying,
39:25
these lights that you are seeing,
39:26
they're brilliant lights,
39:27
they're shining up the town,
39:29
the whole city is actually invaded by this light
39:32
and covered by this light.
39:33
But I am the light of the world.
39:35
And whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
39:40
but have the light of life.
39:45
So the incarnation, as we call it,
39:48
the coming of the Son of God into the world,
39:50
the Christmas story,
39:52
it's about the light that God is
39:56
in the person of Jesus, His Son,
39:59
coming into this world
40:01
so that He now is the light of the world
40:05
and that those who follow Him
40:08
should not walk in darkness,
40:11
but have the light of life.
40:13
You'll find back in the Old Testament
40:15
such verses as, for example,
40:18
you find in Isaiah chapter 9,
40:21
we quote them very often,
40:23
or you'll find them maybe
40:23
on your Christmas cards as well.
40:26
If you come to have Christmas cards,
40:27
you'll find such verses as this
40:30
in chapter 9, verse 2,
40:32
the people who walked in darkness
40:34
have seen a great light.
40:36
Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness,
40:39
on them has light shined.
40:41
And you go down through the chapter,
40:43
you come to verse 6,
40:44
for unto us a child is born,
40:46
to us a son is given,
40:47
the government shall be upon his shoulder,
40:50
and his name shall be called Wonderful,
40:52
Counselor, Mighty God,
40:53
Everlasting Father,
40:55
Prince of Peace, and so on.
40:56
That is obviously a prophecy
40:58
about the Lord Jesus Christ.
41:00
In Matthew 4, verse 16,
41:02
that passage from Isaiah is quoted
41:03
in respect to Jesus being born into the world,
41:07
Jesus being the light of the world.
41:09
Here is John saying the same thing,
41:11
I am the light of the world.
41:15
Friends, there is no other light
41:17
that is adequate to meet
41:20
the requirements of the darkness.
41:24
Our world has so much in it today,
41:26
that fills us with almost a sense of despair.
41:29
Our own land has so much in it
41:32
that you can attribute to the works of darkness,
41:35
to the work,
41:36
to the mind of darkness,
41:40
to the mindset of darkness.
41:44
What is going to scatter that darkness,
41:48
that moral and spiritual darkness?
41:50
Those things that we know are contrary,
41:52
so much to the Word of God,
41:55
so much to the Word as a light to our feet.
41:59
So many attempts made,
42:01
even on the part of those in government,
42:03
to extinguish the light of the world,
42:05
to extinguish the light of the gospel,
42:08
to extinguish the moral and spiritual light
42:10
that's provided for us in Jesus Christ,
42:13
in the preaching of the gospel,
42:15
in the emphasis of Jesus alone being the way,
42:17
the truth and the life that leads us to God,
42:20
that leads us to salvation.
42:22
And the only antidote to that darkness
42:26
and to these movements of darkness
42:28
is the light of the world,
42:30
is the blessing of the gospel,
42:32
is Jesus coming to show Himself
42:33
as the light of the world.
42:36
Because there is no alternative
42:38
to lighten up our path.
42:41
There's nothing in between,
42:43
morally and spiritually,
42:44
there's nothing in between
42:46
darkness and light,
42:48
the light that Jesus is.
42:50
You don't find shades of truth.
42:53
You don't find penumbras, if you like,
42:56
in terms of moral or spiritual attributes.
42:59
There is light in the darkness.
43:02
And if we're not in the darkness,
43:04
we're in the light and vice versa.
43:06
I am, he says,
43:09
the light of the world.
43:12
But then he talks about following Him.
43:15
Whoever follows me
43:16
will not walk in the darkness,
43:18
but will have the light of life.
43:21
Well, following the light,
43:22
obviously following Jesus.
43:24
What does that mean?
43:26
How do we come to follow Jesus?
43:29
What is it to come to know Him
43:30
as the light of our life,
43:33
so that we will have what he calls
43:35
the light of life?
43:37
Well, John's gospel actually tells us
43:39
in many ways what that involves.
43:42
And we don't need to go out with
43:43
John's gospel for our study today
43:45
to see the answer to the question,
43:48
what is involved in following Jesus
43:50
as the light of the world?
43:53
Well, there's first of all,
43:55
coming to Him.
43:57
Let me just cast your mind back,
43:58
if you follow me through,
43:59
and just look up chapter 3 with me just now,
44:02
chapter 3 and verse 21.
44:09
We can read from verse 19.
44:14
John chapter 3, verse 19.
44:15
This is the judgment.
44:17
The light has come into the world,
44:20
and people loved the darkness
44:21
rather than the light,
44:23
because their deeds were evil.
44:25
For everyone who does wicked things
44:27
hates the light,
44:29
and does not come to the light,
44:31
lest his deeds should be exposed.
44:33
But whoever does what is through
44:35
comes to the light,
44:37
so that it may be clearly seen
44:38
that his deeds have been carried out
44:41
in God.
44:43
Now, you can see the two
44:44
contrasting groups there
44:48
that are mentioned,
44:49
those who come to the light
44:50
and those who don't come to the light.
44:53
And there's a little explanation
44:54
as to why it is some come to the light
44:57
and why it is some don't come to the light.
45:00
And indeed, you'll find
45:01
something like that illustrated
45:03
in the natural world as well.
45:05
There are different creatures
45:06
that help to illustrate
45:08
that very point for us.
45:10
If you light a lamp or something outside,
45:13
especially on a nice evening,
45:15
when it comes to darkness,
45:17
you'll find a lot of moths
45:19
attracted to that light.
45:21
Light attracts the moths.
45:23
They come to it.
45:24
They flutter around it for ages.
45:29
But if you have
45:30
a creature like a cockroach,
45:36
and cockroaches are scurrying about
45:38
in the darkness of a room,
45:40
and when you put the light on,
45:42
what do the cockroaches do?
45:43
They scurry back somewhere
45:45
for cover away from the light.
45:47
I'm not saying that.
45:49
Don't think that there are cockroaches
45:50
in the moths,
45:51
not as far as I know,
45:52
but that's the property,
45:54
and that's what cockroaches do
45:56
and creatures like that.
45:57
As soon as the light goes on,
45:59
the cockroach just makes its way
46:00
into somewhere
46:01
where it can hide in the darkness.
46:04
As soon as the light comes on,
46:05
the moth is attracted to the light
46:07
and comes to the light.
46:09
That's how it is
46:10
in our human life as well.
46:12
That's what Jesus is saying here,
46:14
what John is saying in chapter 3,
46:16
as we've read.
46:16
Whoever does truth
46:18
comes to the light,
46:20
that his deeds may be clearly seen
46:22
that they are carried out in God.
46:25
Everyone who does wicked things
46:27
hates the light
46:28
and does not come to the light,
46:29
lest his deeds should be exposed.
46:32
That's exactly how it is
46:33
in your life and mine.
46:35
Because when we come to think
46:37
about our lives,
46:38
when we come to think about
46:39
our relationship with God,
46:41
our relationship to God's truth,
46:43
we are very much aware
46:45
whether we're actually
46:46
concerned or desirous
46:49
of coming to God
46:50
or else staying away from Him.
46:52
What did Adam and Eve do
46:54
once they fell,
46:55
once they became sinners,
46:57
once they became afraid of God?
46:59
They went and tried to hide from Him.
47:01
Instead of being out in the light
47:03
like they were created,
47:05
they wanted somewhere dark,
47:06
somewhere to hide,
47:07
somewhere away from God
47:07
if it were possible,
47:08
which it wasn't.
47:10
But that's our natural human heart.
47:12
That's our natural human desire
47:14
to be away from the light,
47:17
to actually have our deeds
47:18
kept, as it were,
47:19
away from the eye of God,
47:22
from the verdict of God,
47:24
from the declaration of God
47:25
as to what we're like
47:26
and how He sees us.
47:28
But God is light.
47:30
And whatever is true
47:31
of your life and my life,
47:33
God is seeing it anyway
47:34
whether we try to hide it
47:36
from Him or not.
47:37
And sometimes we're experts
47:38
at hiding things
47:39
from other people.
47:41
We cannot hide things from God
47:43
because He is that eternal light
47:46
that shines in every way
47:48
into our life
47:49
to discover what's there
47:50
in our lives.
47:51
But here we are.
47:53
Whoever does the truth,
47:55
John is saying,
47:55
comes to the light
47:57
that his deeds may be made manifest,
48:00
that they may be made clear
48:02
that they are in God.
48:04
Now, how do we come?
48:05
How do we come to God
48:07
as the light?
48:10
Well, we come to God
48:11
as the light
48:11
because Jesus,
48:15
as the light,
48:16
shines into our hearts
48:17
and shows us our need of Him.
48:19
And He shows us
48:20
that we are, in fact,
48:21
darkness in ourselves,
48:23
even if we think well
48:25
of ourselves,
48:25
as all of us,
48:26
I'm sure, do naturally.
48:27
But in terms of God's acceptance
48:30
and God's approval,
48:32
we need more than
48:33
our own opinion.
48:35
We need more than
48:36
what other people
48:37
might tell us.
48:38
We need more than
48:39
the philosophies of this world.
48:41
We need to be right with God.
48:46
So, we come to Him
48:47
in repentance.
48:48
We confess our sins.
48:50
We pray for His forgiveness.
48:52
We pray for His acceptance.
48:55
We come to ask Him
48:56
to shine more light
48:57
into our lives,
48:58
to show up what is there
49:00
that still needs
49:00
to be attended to.
49:02
We want God's approval.
49:05
We seek God's approval.
49:06
So, how do we get
49:07
God's approval?
49:08
We come to Jesus
49:09
as the light of the world.
49:10
We come to ask Him
49:12
to receive us,
49:13
to forgive our sin,
49:14
to cleanse us,
49:15
not just to dress us up
49:17
a little bit
49:18
or to wash us here and there,
49:19
to do some sort of
49:21
repair job on us,
49:22
but to make us
49:23
into a new creation,
49:24
to give us the life
49:27
that God Himself
49:28
approves of.
49:31
We come to the light.
49:34
We come to the light
49:35
without confession.
49:37
And we are assured
49:38
that God will not actually
49:40
turn us back.
49:41
Chapter 12
49:42
also has a reference
49:43
to the light
49:44
and is a point
49:46
that we can make
49:47
in relation to
49:48
what we're saying
49:48
just now.
49:50
In chapter 12,
49:51
verse 35,
49:52
I love the sound
50:01
of these turning pages,
50:02
you know,
50:04
because it shows
50:04
that you're following
50:05
what's being said
50:06
and there's nothing better
50:08
for a preacher
50:08
than to hear
50:09
an audience
50:10
or a congregation
50:10
turning the pages
50:11
and following
50:12
the way that
50:13
we're trying to
50:14
unfold the truth to you.
50:15
So chapter 12
50:17
and verse 35,
50:20
you can see how
50:21
the light appears
50:22
there as well
50:23
where Jesus,
50:23
now this is coming
50:24
to the point
50:25
in John's gospel
50:26
where Jesus' public ministry
50:28
is coming to an end.
50:29
From now on,
50:30
He's just going to be
50:30
speaking mostly
50:31
to His disciples,
50:33
but His public ministries,
50:34
public declarations
50:35
are almost at an end.
50:37
And bear that in mind
50:37
when He says,
50:39
Jesus said to them,
50:40
the light is among you
50:42
for a little while longer.
50:45
Walk while you have the light,
50:47
lest darkness overtake you.
50:49
The one who walks in darkness
50:51
does not know
50:51
where he's going.
50:53
While you have the light,
50:55
believe in the light
50:56
that you may become
50:58
the sons of light.
50:59
What a great text that is.
51:01
It almost explains itself to us.
51:04
While you have the light,
51:06
believe in the light
51:07
that you may become
51:08
the sons of light.
51:10
In other words,
51:11
there's the light of the world
51:12
saying,
51:13
believe in me,
51:14
trust in me,
51:15
come to me,
51:16
give your life to me,
51:18
become lights
51:19
by trusting in me,
51:20
receive the life
51:21
that I have to give you.
51:23
And so you will become
51:24
the children of light
51:26
or the sons of light.
51:28
It's exactly what
51:29
you have here in our text
51:30
in chapter 8.
51:32
Whoever follows me
51:33
will not walk in darkness,
51:35
but will have
51:35
the light of life.
51:37
So you follow Him
51:38
by first of all
51:39
coming to Him.
51:40
But that's only
51:40
the beginning of the journey.
51:42
You then follow Him
51:43
as the light
51:45
that Jesus is
51:46
when you've come to Him.
51:48
That light then
51:49
follows you
51:49
into the journey of life,
51:51
the journey of your life
51:52
through this world.
51:53
That's what He means
51:54
by walk.
51:56
You walk
51:57
after the light
51:59
that Jesus is.
52:00
You follow Him.
52:01
You live life
52:02
by His terms,
52:03
in other words.
52:04
You regard Him
52:06
as the way,
52:07
the truth,
52:07
and the life.
52:09
And you're concerned
52:09
to build up your life
52:11
by more and more
52:13
being like Himself.
52:15
I'm old enough now
52:16
to remember
52:17
when there were no streetlights.
52:19
Some of you
52:20
are perhaps
52:20
as old as that
52:21
or even older,
52:22
but I remember
52:23
walking home in tongue
52:25
before there were
52:26
any streetlights
52:27
whatsoever there.
52:29
And although
52:30
there was an outside light,
52:31
well, eventually
52:32
there was an outside light
52:33
at our house,
52:35
but if I was walking up
52:35
that final part of the road,
52:37
there was simply
52:37
no streetlights whatsoever.
52:39
And it's hard
52:40
for young folks
52:40
to imagine nowadays
52:41
what it's like
52:42
without streetlights.
52:44
It's darkness.
52:46
And walking up
52:46
that part of the road,
52:50
my native village,
52:51
honestly,
52:52
seriously,
52:53
many a time
52:54
I was going like this
52:55
sideways
52:56
to just work out
52:57
where is the ditch?
52:58
So that I wouldn't
52:59
actually walk into the ditch
53:00
and then finding out,
53:02
oh, there's the ditch,
53:03
so take a step back,
53:04
go forward another few steps.
53:05
And eventually
53:06
you'd reach the house
53:07
and you'd come to
53:08
where the light
53:09
outside the house was.
53:10
But that's
53:11
when there's no streetlights,
53:13
when there's no light,
53:14
but when there's just darkness,
53:16
you don't know
53:16
where you're going.
53:19
You're fumbling about
53:20
in the darkness.
53:22
You're trying to make your way,
53:24
hopefully,
53:25
by the way
53:26
that you yourself
53:26
think best.
53:28
And that's what it's like
53:29
in our human life as well.
53:31
It's so easy
53:33
to stray
53:34
off the verge
53:35
that keeps you safe,
53:38
straying onto
53:38
where the darkness is.
53:41
So easy
53:42
just to accept
53:43
the darkness
53:43
for what it is
53:44
and say,
53:45
well,
53:45
this is how I've always been.
53:48
And even though
53:49
you're not right
53:50
with God,
53:51
it's all too easy
53:52
to let the evil one,
53:53
the dark power,
53:54
tell you,
53:55
it's all right.
53:57
You've managed so far.
53:58
You don't need to become religious.
54:01
You don't need to actually
54:01
follow Jesus
54:03
the way other people
54:04
are following Jesus.
54:05
That's all right for them.
54:07
But just listen to what Jesus
54:08
is saying.
54:08
I am the light of the world.
54:09
Whoever follows me
54:11
will not walk in darkness.
54:13
You need to follow him
54:14
or else you're walking
54:16
in darkness.
54:17
And I have to put that
54:18
to my life.
54:19
You have to put that
54:20
to yourself.
54:20
The safe way
54:22
through life
54:23
is the way
54:23
that follows Jesus.
54:25
The way that has
54:26
your life
54:27
in his hands
54:28
in him
54:28
as the light.
54:32
Psalm 27,
54:33
we sang together,
54:34
begins,
54:35
the Lord
54:35
is my light
54:38
and my saving health.
54:41
The Lord
54:41
is my light.
54:43
Not my own ingenuity.
54:45
Not what somebody
54:45
else tells me.
54:46
Not what the philosophy
54:47
of some other religion
54:48
says.
54:49
Not a mixture
54:50
of all kinds
54:51
of beliefs
54:51
and somehow or other
54:52
that provides me
54:53
a safe way.
54:54
No, he says,
54:55
I am the light
54:56
of the world.
54:57
Whoever follows me
54:58
will not walk
55:00
in darkness
55:00
but will have
55:01
the light of life.
55:04
And you know,
55:05
some people might be,
55:06
maybe yourself today,
55:07
might be afraid
55:08
to take that step.
55:11
You might be afraid
55:11
to just step
55:12
into the light
55:13
if you like
55:14
and begin
55:15
to follow Jesus
55:16
and to do so
55:17
meaningfully
55:18
and fully
55:18
and openly.
55:20
I once read
55:22
about a young girl
55:24
whose father
55:25
was a lighthouse keeper
55:27
way back
55:27
in the old days
55:28
when lighthouse keepers
55:30
were required
55:30
to live in lighthouses
55:31
and she had a little lamp
55:33
herself
55:34
that her father
55:35
had given her
55:35
so that when they were
55:36
going to go back
55:37
upstairs through
55:38
the lighthouse,
55:39
of course,
55:40
the stairs wind round
55:41
so very quickly
55:42
her father disappeared
55:43
as he went ahead
55:44
of her with his light
55:45
and she was following
55:47
with her own little light
55:48
and she began to panic
55:50
when her father
55:50
went round the corner
55:52
as he went up
55:53
the round stairs
55:53
and she said,
55:54
Dad, Dad,
55:55
I can't see you.
55:57
And he said,
55:58
it's okay.
56:00
The light you've got
56:01
is enough
56:03
for each step.
56:05
Just look at each step
56:06
as you carry your lamp
56:08
and you can go on
56:10
safely up the stairs.
56:12
That's what God
56:13
is telling you today.
56:14
The light you have today
56:16
is sufficient
56:17
for the steps of today.
56:19
Don't try and live
56:19
tomorrow today.
56:21
Don't try and go ahead
56:22
of yourself
56:22
and all the fears
56:24
that that will engender
56:25
in your own thinking.
56:27
How am I going to manage this?
56:28
How am I going to manage that?
56:29
How is this going to work out?
56:30
How is that going to work out?
56:32
Here's the light for today.
56:34
Here is Jesus
56:35
for you to follow today.
56:37
And whatever steps
56:38
or step you might
56:39
have to take today,
56:41
don't look to tomorrow.
56:42
Look to the light
56:43
that he is
56:44
and you'll find
56:45
that he's more than adequate
56:47
for the steps
56:49
you need to take today.
56:51
I am the light of the world.
56:53
Whoever follows me
56:54
will not walk in darkness.
56:55
But he says,
56:56
will have the light of life.
56:58
In other words,
56:59
the light which consists in life,
57:02
the life that Jesus gives
57:03
is here compared to a light.
57:05
So, you know,
57:06
that opens up
57:07
a whole new area
57:08
of study for us.
57:09
We don't have time
57:10
at all to go into it just now.
57:12
But it's the area of truth
57:14
that speaks about Christians,
57:17
the followers of Jesus
57:18
themselves being light.
57:20
And you remember
57:20
that's how Jesus spoke,
57:22
Matthew 5, 14,
57:23
you are the light of the world.
57:27
A city set on a hill
57:28
cannot be hidden.
57:30
Neither do people light a candle
57:32
and put it under a covering,
57:34
but on a candlestick
57:35
so that it gives out its light.
57:37
Here is Jesus saying,
57:39
when you come to know me
57:41
as the light of your life,
57:43
your life is transformed
57:44
into being a light as well.
57:47
And this world out there
57:48
needs not just the light of Jesus
57:51
as the light of the world,
57:52
but the light of Jesus
57:53
in human lives
57:55
to make them,
57:56
you and I,
57:58
lights by which people
57:59
will see Jesus for themselves.
58:01
They don't read their Bibles.
58:04
They don't come to church.
58:07
They don't know the gospel.
58:08
Many people out there today
58:10
in the darkness of sin
58:12
and of the ways of sin,
58:13
how are they going to find
58:15
light for their lives?
58:16
They're not going to find it in church.
58:18
They don't come to church,
58:18
though we want them
58:19
to come to church.
58:20
They don't know the gospel.
58:21
They don't read their Bibles.
58:23
So they have to see that light
58:24
in your life and mine.
58:26
And if your life and my life
58:30
is not a light for them,
58:32
then they are going to stay
58:33
in the darkness
58:34
unless God miraculously comes
58:36
to change it for them.
58:39
So the question you see today
58:41
is not so much,
58:42
well, there is this question,
58:44
do I know Jesus
58:45
as the light of my life,
58:47
as the light of the world?
58:49
Is the light of the world
58:51
shining in my life today?
58:53
Have I come to trust Him?
58:54
Have I come to know
58:57
the Christmas story for myself
58:59
in my own inward soul
59:01
so that I'm no longer
59:03
walking in darkness,
59:05
so that I have the light of life?
59:07
That's the first thing.
59:09
The second thing,
59:11
and it is a challenge for me
59:12
and for you too,
59:14
is my life.
59:17
Is our life as a congregation?
59:19
Because Jesus there was,
59:21
in Matthew,
59:21
talking to a crowd
59:23
of His disciples
59:24
in the Sermon on the Mount,
59:26
you are the light of the world.
59:29
There's our concern today
59:31
as we come to approach Christmas
59:33
and give out the Christmas story,
59:35
but here must be our concern
59:37
always, every day,
59:39
every moment of every year
59:41
that goes by,
59:42
that as a people
59:43
and as individuals,
59:45
we will prove to be
59:46
the light of the world,
59:47
the light that shines out
59:49
by which people
59:50
see the Lord
59:51
and by which people
59:54
will come
59:54
by His blessing
59:56
to follow Him.
59:58
I am
59:59
the light of the world.
1:00:03
Whoever follows me
1:00:04
will not walk in darkness,
1:00:05
but will have the light
1:00:07
of life.
1:00:09
To use his own words,
1:00:11
come to the light,
1:00:14
follow the light,
1:00:15
be light for Him.
1:00:20
May God bless these thoughts
1:00:22
on His Word
1:00:23
and bless His Word
1:00:24
to us again today.
1:00:26
We're going to conclude
1:00:26
by singing in Psalm 36.
1:00:31
Psalm 36,
1:00:32
and the Sing Psalms version again.
1:00:35
Verses 5 to 9
1:00:36
to the tune London New.
1:00:38
That's on page 44.
1:00:40
Your steadfast love is great,
1:00:49
O Lord,
1:00:49
it reaches heaven high.
1:00:51
Your faithfulness is wonderful,
1:00:53
extending to the sky.
1:00:55
And so on to verse 9,
1:00:57
which speaks about God
1:00:58
being a source of life
1:00:59
and light for us.
1:01:00
They feast within your house
1:01:01
and drink from streams
1:01:03
of your delight.
1:01:05
What with you
1:01:05
is the source of life
1:01:06
in your light.
1:01:08
we see light.
1:01:12
Verses 5 to 9
1:01:13
as we stand to sing.
1:01:14
Your steadfast love is great,
1:01:24
O Lord,
1:01:26
it reaches heaven high.
1:01:32
Your faithfulness is wonderful,
1:01:39
your faithfulness is wonderful,
1:01:40
extending to the sky.
1:01:46
Your righteousness is wonderful,
1:01:51
your righteousness is very great,
1:01:56
like light.
1:01:57
Your righteousness is great,
1:01:58
like mountains high and steep.
1:02:02
Your righteousness is great,
1:02:03
like ocean and earth,
1:02:07
O man and peace to be.
1:02:17
O Lord,
1:02:19
my precious is your steadfast love,
1:02:26
what confidence it brings.
1:02:32
For the name of you is Jesus,
1:02:34
O enseñ and louvers,
1:02:38
O platformer did you pray e'en the sky?
1:02:38
O nuestra fields,
1:02:40
who areως hot?
1:02:41
how are you?
1:02:42
as you thunder,
1:02:42
the soul of your eyeミー,
1:02:44
The shadow of your wings.
1:02:50
They feast with the new eyes and trail
1:02:58
From saints of pure delight.
1:03:05
For with you is the source of life
1:03:13
In your light we see light.
1:03:21
If you let me get to the main door, please, after the benediction.
1:03:25
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father,
1:03:30
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore. Amen.
1:03:43
Amen, Father.
1:03:44
Amen.
1:03:46
Amen, Father.
1:03:49
Amen.
1:03:51
Amen.
1:03:56
Amen.
1:04:05
Thank you.
1:04:35
Thank you.