May God be pleased to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
Gospel of John, chapter 8, and we'll read verse 12. The Gospel
of John, chapter 8, and reading verse 12. Then spoke Jesus again
unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. These were the very simple words
of the Lord Jesus. And what it tells us really is
this, that you and I are either walking in darkness or we are
walking in the light. Either we have continued to be
in darkness, that darkness which we were born into, and we are
still in that darkness. and the light has never shone. We may think of course that we
are in the light. The truth is that we shall know
when we are in the light by the wonderful effect that this true
light has in our souls. It will be something which will
be very real. We won't then be still in a state
of darkness. The position of darkness and
light are quite opposite, aren't they? Quite opposite. We don't
have to try very hard to understand the difference between darkness
and light. We know what it is naturally.
It is the same in our spiritual life. There is a vast difference
between darkness and light. All of us were born in darkness.
All of us remain in darkness until the Holy Spirit comes and
shines light into our very soul. We must therefore pause. We must look into our hearts and to see whether we do possess
that light. Because if we don't, we shall
continue in darkness throughout our life. and then fall into
that eternal hell. It is a most terrible consideration
and yet it is very true and very real and how vital it is for
every one of us that we realise there is that
light which shines into our soul. This twelfth verse concludes
with this, but shall have the light of life. Because without
the light of Almighty God, there is no spiritual life. What I mean by that, I mean spiritual
life to eternal happiness in glory. We shall perish in our
sins. Let us not think that we're safe
on the journey, when in actual fact we're still
in darkness. The Word of God draws the analogy
so much in the Word of God between darkness and light. It's a very
simple analogy for us to understand. But what a wonderful thing it
is when God and only God shines the heavenly light into our souls
and reveals to us that which we had not seen before. And that of course operates by
the Spirit of God in various ways. When the light shines, One of the things it most certainly
does is to convince us that we are a guilty, hell-deserving
sinner. And there is no hope for ourselves. We realise we have a hopeless
condition. We are condemned because of our
sins. We are before most holy and righteous
God and we are most unholy and unrighteous. It destroys all our self-confidence. It destroys all the hopes we
had built upon our own works which were of the flesh and had
no benefit, eternal benefit with them. And when that light shines, it's
not a very pleasant light, or at least the light's pleasant,
what it reveals is not very pleasant. Because what we see is sins,
which perhaps we didn't realise were there. Or how bad our sin is, how terrible
our sin is, and how because of that sin, we will perish in our
sin unless we come to know the glorious saving knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Because then it is when the Holy
Spirit then shines light into our hearts to reveal unto us
the Lord Jesus Christ as the only one who can save our souls,
the only one who can deliver us from the wrath to come. When that light shines into our
heart and reveals to us the Lord Jesus Christ, what a change,
what a blessing. What does it do? It rejoices
our heart. to know that the Holy Spirit
has caused this light to shine into our heart. And then we understand
what this Word says. When Jesus tells us, and don't
forget, as I said this morning, the Word of God is true. He says,
I am the light of the world. And what it means is this. outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ is darkness. There's no true spiritual light
outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will save our souls. And
really it comes down to this, when the Holy Spirit shines in
our heart, to give us that concern About our soul, our cry is, give
me Christ or else I die. So tonight, when we think of
this statement, I am the light of the world. We may be young,
we may be old, We may be every age in between, but all of us
need to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is our light. That he has shone into our hearts
and revealed to us himself as that one who has indeed died
to redeem our soul. The truth is, The gospel becomes
alive. The light shines. We rejoice
in it. We bless God for it. We're a
new creature. Old things have passed away.
All our old religion that we were resting in, which was in
the flesh, old things passed away. Behold, all things are
become new. Oh, there's heavenly sight. God has granted to us. And as
we read in the first chapter of this same gospel of John,
the very wonderful and beautiful words speaking about this light. In the fourth verse we read,
in him was life. and the life was the light of
men. We may perhaps have agreed in
our minds that in him was life, but when the Holy Spirit shines,
then we realise that this life was our spiritual light. And the Lord says, and the light
shineth in darkness. and the darkness comprehended
it not. We didn't quite understand what
had occurred. But we did realize that now we
were a new creature. We did realize that all things
are now new. And so the apostle goes on when
he says, that was the true light which lighteth every man. that
cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the
world was made by him, and the world knew him not. By nature,
we shall never know Christ. We shall know him as a theory,
we shall know him as a historical figure, but we won't know him
as our true Saviour. until the Blessed Spirit works
in our heart. And then, you see, we rejoice. And you know the effect? It's
this. We are then drawn to the Saviour.
There's something then very glorious, and very precious, and very real,
which we never knew before. And this word then becomes alive. I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not
walk in darkness. You see the effect will be to
turn us from walking after the world. From walking after the
things that please ourselves. but to change our life, to make
us a true follower of this great and blessed saviour. He that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness. We don't want to be
found walking in darkness. We want to be found walking in
the great and glorious light of the everlasting gospel. because
it is a wonderful experience. And it is and must be the true
testimony of the Church of God. These things are not natural. These things are spiritual. These things emanate from the
blessed work of the Holy Spirit. And what a tremendous evidence
it is when this work occurs in our souls and we truly bless
God for it the Apostle Peter when he wrote his epistle and
the first epistle and the second chapter in the ninth verse he
tells us this it's a wonderful statement this rejoice in it
if the light has shone Ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvellous light. To us this evening, is it a marvellous
light. That's the evidence, isn't it,
of those who are a chosen generation. We must never think that we are
a member of the chosen generation unless we have such an evidence. And the Apostle goes on, which
in time past were not a people. Yes, there was a time in our
life when we were not a people. Just like the Apostle, when he
wrote to the Ephesians in the second chapter, he commences
by saying, and you hath he quickened, means and you hath he made alive,
who were dead, spiritually dead, in trespasses and in sins, in
time past, history. Now we're a new creature. Now
we're blessed. to know this glorious truth,
that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called
you. The Church of God desire, the
living Church of God desire to show forth the praises of such
a great and glorious Saviour who has come and called them
and redeemed their souls and granted them the newness of life,
that they have obtained mercy. Yes, what a blessing then to
know this great truth. And the Apostle previously spoke
about the reality of this. He says, unto you therefore which
believe, he is precious. Again, that's an evidence of
the light shining. when the Lord Jesus Christ becomes
precious to us. Someone who we long to hear of,
we long to read of, we long to speak of. This is the wonderful
clear evidence that a light has shone. Whereas before, we didn't
really want to hear Jesus spoken above, There was nothing attractive. In actual fact, we turned away. We didn't want to hear Jesus
spoken of. What a blessing it is when the
Holy Spirit convinces us so that we are amongst those who rejoice,
therefore, in this precious Saviour. Unto you therefore which believe
he is precious, What it means is this, if he's not precious,
we don't believe. Just ponder that. If he's not
precious, we're not amongst those who believe. My friends, Christ didn't die
so that he is not precious. What a mercy it is then, which
we have this great statement, unto you therefore which believe,
He is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is become
the head of a corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence,
even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed. That's a tragic scene, isn't
it? And that's a terrible consideration. If you and I numbered among such
people, Good all tonight, may the light have shone, and if
the light has not shone, pray urgently to God that it may shine
into your dark heart, the light of the glorious Gospel of our
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. As most of you know, I often
refer to that very glorious text which is in the second book of
the Corinthians and the fourth chapter and the sixth verse it
is well worth repeating and it's well worth remembering and this
is what it says remember 2 4 6 it's easy isn't it for God who commanded
and that's what it is God commands You and I can't demand, but God
commands. The light to shine out of darkness
hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's put in
a nutshell, isn't it? Very succinctly stated. What a wonderful word it is. what a true word it is and how
all of us tonight need to be inside this word not outside
inside for God who commanded light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and he goes on
to say and this is also very relevant but we have this treasure
It's a very valuable treasure. It's far more valuable than any
treasure of this earth. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels. That's our body, an earthen vessel. God comes and places this within
us, the light of the glorious gospel. He tells us that the
excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. That means you and I cannot claim
any virtue ourselves. But we rejoice in the work of
God. We rejoice in the glorious light
of the gospel. We rejoice in this word that
the Lord tells us, I am the light of the world. Well, tonight,
again, it's so important. I don't want you to go home.
contend with living in the darkness. I don't want you to end up your
life in darkness and perish in hell. I want you to hear the
word of the Lord. I want the Holy Spirit to apply
his word with power to our hearts, so that we rejoice tonight in
this great and glorious truth. It wasn't just, of course, in
the New Testament, these encouraging words were also in the Old Testament. Isaiah speaks of it in the sixteenth
chapter in Isaiah, and he speaks in these words in the second
verse. I'll read the first verse. Arise,
shine, for thy light is come. the glory of the Lord is risen
upon thee for behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross
darkness the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his
glory shall be seen upon thee and the Gentiles shall come to
thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. What a mercy then,
if you and I are partakers of this great and glorious light. Well, Isaiah knew it, the psalmists
also knew it. And turning to Psalm 27, and
the first verse in that psalm, this is what we read. The Lord is my light. This is
David speaking. From a personal testimony. Bless
God that we have personal testimonies in the word of God to encourage
us. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom should I fear? See, if God is our light and
our salvation, we have no one to fear. The Lord is the strength
of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Well, are we tonight
a companion of the Psalmist David? A companion of he who is indeed
the real example for us to show to us what it is to know this
light. And in the book of Job, we also
read Eli who is speaking to Job in the 33rd chapter. And he says
this, verse 29, Lo, sorry that's verse 28, he will deliver his
soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the light. Lo, All these things worketh
God, oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the
pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living. You may have feared you were
going to tumble into hell, and that a deserved hell. And then
to be blessed with this realization, that the Lord brings back the
soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living. And Elihu says, Mark, Willow,
Job, hearken unto me. Yes, what words they were. What
words of encouragement. What words of direction. And
my friends, may there be direction to us tonight as the very true
Word of the ever-living God. Then spake Jesus again unto them. I wonder perhaps, if the Lord
had spoken to your heart and you shut your ears, you didn't want to hear because
you knew it would change your life. Don't forget, when God spoke
to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos, when he was writing
and to write to all those seven churches, in every instance,
these words were spoken. And they weren't just confined,
of course, to that. There are other parts of the Word of God as well.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And so tonight, your ears hearing
the blessed word of God. They're not my words. The words
which we read are the words of God. Don't despise them. Don't mock God. Don't turn away
from them. Don't think they're irrelevant.
They are very relevant. They are very important. The
words of Jesus. Every word that Jesus speaks
is important. Again, the scriptures tell us,
today, if we will hear his voice, harden not our hearts. My friends,
it's tragic when we harden our hearts. It's a blessing when the Spirit
of God gives us a soft heart to receive the Word of God. And we receive it as the Word
of God, and not the Word of man. And this is the Word of Jesus
tonight. I am the light of the world.
No doubt about it, at all. No true light anywhere else.
He is the light of the world. And so is he tonight, our light. is Jesus our light. Has he shone? Has he shone? If you're questioning
yourself tonight, you think, well, I don't know. Well, plead to God that you might
know. Because when the light shines,
you do know. You do know. There cannot be
any doubt. Because there's that change,
vividly as it is, from darkness to light. You know, I remember in the tabernacle,
in the temple, in the holy place, there was the golden candlestick. There was light shining. Without it, it would have been
dark. the candlestick shone those seven branches. With all those
seven candles would have given a lot of light into that relatively
small area. And my friends, so the light
of God gives a great light into our souls. And what a blessing
it is if we can bless God for it. In the 12th chapter of this
same Gospel, we read in verse 46,
well let me read verse 44 first. Jesus cried and said, he that
believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me, seeth him
that sent me. I am come, a light into the world,
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Therefore, the evidence is, if
a light shines into our hearts, we are privileged to be amongst
those who are true believers. And of course, how important
that is, that we do believe the Word of God. We believe His promises
and we praise God for it. Well, here we have this word
then, that the Apostle writes, Whosoever believeth on me should
not abide in darkness. See how these things go together. They join together, the light
and believing. When the light shines, we must
believe. We cannot but believe. And we
bless God for it. That he's given us a believing
heart. The devil doesn't want you to.
But the devil can't shine light. No, he can't. He might try to,
but it'll be a false light. And I'll tell you the difference.
False light doesn't bring honour and glory to God. True light
does, because you and I can't produce the true light. But God,
blessed be God, He grants it, He brings it to us, so that we
praise God for this wonderful favour. Wonderful favour it is. Well, We have these words before
us tonight. I am the light of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. And again,
it's joined together. It's joined here. Those who are
in the light, they walk in the light. And if they're walking
in the light, they follow the Lord Jesus Christ. They follow
me. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. and it's
a blessed privilege to follow the Lord Jesus. To follow his
wonderful example, as we desire to be with him, to hear his voice,
to be guided and directed by him, and at last to be received
in the glory. Can you and I expect the Saviour
to receive us into glory when we have ignored him, when we've
turned our back upon him, when we've not followed him, and somehow
we then expect God to turn around and to be a very different God.
Well, The Apostle, when he wrote the 14th chapter of John, which
is a very wonderful chapter, and the Apostle tells us these
words of the Saviour, I go to prepare a place for you. And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself. Well, do you and I hope and expect
the Blessed Saviour to receive us? Or do we expect him to turn us
away and to say, I never knew you. You were not a follower. You weren't one who walked in
the light. You were one who walked in darkness. You were one who
turned your back upon me. And therefore I say, depart. I never knew you. What a very
tragic scene that is. But may we know the blessed words
as the Lord spoke. Remember, these are spoken in
the upper room on that Passover night to his disciples. Let not your heart be troubled.
Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go. to prepare a place for you. Is that good news? I hope it
is. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also. Let me just make this comment.
If you and I are those who are walking in the light, and those
who are blessed with the evidence of the work of the Spirit, we
shall want to be with Jesus. On the other hand, if we are
those who are walking in darkness and have never known the light,
we shall not want to be with Jesus. It won't be anything attractive
to us to be with Jesus eternally, but to the Church of God it is
a wonderful prospect. It is that which the Church of
God are looking forward to. It's not a morbid view. Looking forward to that time
when they will be, as the Apostle Paul said, to be with Christ,
which is far better. Well, tonight, may we have the
blessed evidences in our own soul that we're amongst those
who rejoice in this light. bless God for it, and can thank
him for the word of God which tells us the words of Jesus,
I am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Amen.