Scene: Day after the feast of Tabernacles
A)8 Day
celebration - Commemorate 40 yrs
.
B) Ritual each
night Light giant Menorahs golden
Candelabras -
1)Symbolized
Pillar of Fire - Shikinah
in Tab
C) Jesus is in
the temple court yard teaching
1) Woman
caught in Adultery dealt w/ beautifully -
D) With that
as a BACK DROP Jesus makes this statement
12
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He
who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of
life."
Dark world News stand Darkness
hate crime war
Radio /TV
Darkness in the form of perversity
Public Jr/ Sr high listen kids talk
darkness
Friday nite Kirkorian{ football movie 89
swear
This morning I
want to make SIX observations about Light
Give application to how Jesus is the Light of the World.
#1 Light is bright and obvious.
A)When a light
gets turned on everyone knows it.
B) Doesnt
need to be identified announced explained Obvious the light is on.
C) So too when
Jesus came on the scene He stood out as an obvious light.
1) Nicodemus
came We know you are a teacher sent from God
..
unless God is w/ Him.
D) Crowds were
attracted Jesus was different
1) For the mass of humanity
dwelling in darkness Jesus was a spot light {
E) Shopping centers / what is that People came out
of sheer curiosity over the shinning of His light.
His light was far reaching Light to the World
A)The other
gospel writers use the word world a combined 15 times Cosmos /
B) It can mean
the system what makes things go around
1) Been used to describe that which is against God
The World those
who are anti God / heaven
C) But here John is using this word to describe Humanity
Light for Humanity
1) For God so
loved the World Humanity mankind in the world
D) The world
is going to dissolve but man lives forever. -
1) God sent His son Jesus to be the light for
Humanity.
#2 Light brings illumination.
A)Light goes
on see clearly no longer tripping over things shoes / toys / chairs { who
moved that
B) See your
way: clearly walk with confidence no longer tip toeing in the dark.
C) Jesus came
on the scene came into the world brought illumination Concerning Who God is!
1) How to
live! What is important.
People wanted to Know God wanted to know what God was
like.
A)As the light
of the world Jesus brought illumination about God.
B) The writer
of Hebrews said this about Jesus He was the
brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.
C)John wrote
B)
The word "full" means that He could
not hold any more.
C)When
John looked at Jesus he saw a normal man on the outside - / No Halo / didnt glow Judas / No booming voice /
D)
He wasnt the Best Looking had no special beauty
or form to make us notice him;
1)John saw a normal guy on the OUTSIDE
E)
But what caught John's attention was the glory
that he saw inside.
1)
That is what he says was remarkable. / Attraction
Have
you ever walked around a campground at night & seen lights inside the tents
glowing in the darkness shinning thru the fabric?
A)That
is descriptive of what John saw when he saw
Jesus: he saw the glory inside.
B)John
says here is how it was manifested Full of Grace & Truth !!!!
C)
Grace = Gods
undeserved Favor Those who deserved Judgment Jesus gave Blessing /
offered forgiveness
D)
grace is "the
generosity of love." Grace is love giving itself.
Truth
is the manifestation of reality, the unveiling of what is actually there
A)
It is the stripping off of all the illusions, veils, shams, phoniness, the
facades, and getting down to what is actually there.
B)
It is righteousness & rightness personified.
1) All that is Right Just
/ true / Perfect was seen in Jesus
C)
Jesus was full of both grace and truth. He was the ultimate revelation of RIGHTNESS & REALNESS
D)
All that we want to know About God is found in
#3
Light pierces the Darkness.
A)A little girl who was camping
described what her dad was doing as he walked toward them with a flashlight
in the dark
B) Look
Daddy is poking holes in the darkness!
C) That is a good
description of what Light does It pokes holes in the darkness it pierces the darkness
D) There was plenty of
darkness in the world when Jesus arrived.
Darkness
of religion: Artificial light
A)Left men still longing for
intimacy with God and to be right with God
B) The religion of the Jews like most today primarily focused on cleaning up
the outward man
1) Problem the heart was
still dark and dirty
C) Jesus came to pierce the
darkness of religion
1) Came to shine his light
on the real problem
HEART PROBLEM.
D) Man needed a change in
his heart
Darkness
of sin Moral depravity
A)Jesus shined his light on
that area as well
B) Revealed that sin wasnt
just about our actions but also our attitudes Look w/ lust
1) Angry Covetous
Darkness
may be more pervasive, but light is more powerful.
A)We turn on the lights; we
dont turn on the darks if the room is too bright!
B) The only way for darkness to prevail is the
light has to be turned off.
C)A
little light can lighten a large area.
Satan
is spoken of in Scripture as the Prince of Darkness,
A) but JESUS Light of the
World conquers that darkness!
B)And there is no darkness
in your life that HIS Light cannot overcome!
A
little boy heard his Sunday school teacher talking about how Jesus shines in
the darkness
A)Responded I wish He would come and shine at my house it is dark
over there.
B) When the Light of who
Jesus is shines in a home it exposes the darkness
1) Reveals exactly what needs
to Change
C) Person who dresses in the dark hangs out
in dark places may not realize not matching
1)Stripes with plaids
D) Get into the light
another story Hideous what was I thinking -
E) When Jesus shines in a
life He Reveals exactly what God wants
to fix!
1) What doesnt belong
Pride - / attitudes
Notice
Jesus says He who follows me = He who is committed to me by product
doesnt walk in darkness
A)He is a
person who is no longer having those problems
B) Not in the dark
intellectually beginning to understand what is up. { Not religion
1) relationship.
C) Not in the dark morally
HS conviction -
#4
Light brings direction.
A)Making decisions in the
dark can lead to some regrettable consequences.
B)Back in the days before
electricity, a tightfisted old farmer got after one of his farm hands for
taking a lantern to go and call on his girlfriend.
C) What are you doing wasting the oil in the
lamp for when I went a courting my wife I never carried a lantern I just
went in the dark
D) The farm hand replied Yea and look who you ended up with!
As
the light of the world Jesus shows us how to live
A)How to please God Focus
was fathers way
.
B) Reveals how to love washes feet / serves
C) Reveals no racial barriers in Gods kingdom
1) Samaritan woman
D)
Shows us the value that God places in one life
1) Goes out of his way to
seek out Zacchaeus
E) He shows us about
forgiveness Sought out Peter after his Rez
Notice
not only did Jesus say that those who follow Him would not walk in darkness
A)But He also said that they
would have the light of life.
B) I like the way the NLT
puts it.
12 Jesus said
to the people, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't
be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads
to life." NLT
C) Light that leads to real
living! Abundant life.
The captain on the bridge of
a large naval vessel saw a light ahead on a collision course. He signaled, "Alter
your course ten degrees south."
The reply came back,
"Alter your course ten degrees north."
The captain then signaled, "Alter your course ten degrees south. I am a captain."
The reply: "Alter your course 10 degrees
north. I am
a seaman third-class."
The furious captain
signaled, "Alter your course ten degrees
south. I am a battleship."
The reply: "Alter your course ten degrees
north. I am a lighthouse.
D) He will lead us into that
abundant life if we are humble enough to listen.
E)
I can be just like that captain of the
battleship at times strong / stubborn / Im right / your wrong
1) Sometimes I just need to
remove myself from a situation open my mouth I will regret it.
2) Jesus
is that Lighthouse lead us if we listen
#5 Light
brings warmth.
A)Did you know that one
small candle, properly reflected, can raise the temperature of an igloo from
below freezing to over 45 degrees Fahrenheit?
B) Light gives warmth.
C) In the Bible warmth is
often equated with the comfort that God provides to the grieving, the rejected,
and the oppressed.
It
was a cold world that Jesus came into !
A)In Jesus day people
werent trusted: Because of Roman domination there were spies
B) So no one was trusted
cold in that way.
C) Coldness of religion
Pharisees and Sadducees
1) Stiff and sterile rigid
coldness to the faith
Jesus
came into a cold world Brought warmth
Showed
us that He cared / God cared !
A)Widow of Nain raised her son. Easily passed by
B) Man at the pool of
C) Blind Bart - list goes on and on.
D) Light brings warmth
#6
Light can be reflected.
A)Jesus said I am the light
of the World but He also said -
B) Little boy was sitting in
Church- stain glass windows who are those people - Saints
1) Saints
are people the light shines thru!
C) Still a cold world Our
Candle
15 Nor do they
light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand,
and it gives light to all who are in the house.
D)there are two basic
reasons people dont know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior: (1) they have never met a
Christian; and (2) they have met a Christian.
E) What Kind of light will
you be!
On February
4, 1993, officials at the
This aluminum-covered disc was used by
cosmonauts in the space station Mir to reflect light from the sun to the dark
side of Earth.
With
a twenty-five-foot disc in space, they were able to produce a two-mile circle
of light on earth. At the time that move placed
A
Christian is a reflective light like the moon no light in and of itself
Reflects the sun
A)We are to be reflections
of the SON -
B) Closer to the Son the
greater the reflection
16 Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father in heaven.
C) Sometimes we shine the brightest when we
are cracked -
D) Gideon!
E) Your life a platform!