Matthew chapter four. Title of
the message is Light Is Sprung Up. The gospels were not written
in chronological order. They were written as the Holy
Spirit moved the writers to write at different times. This shows
that they didn't get together. They did not get together and
collaborate on this and write. They wrote at different times.
Here are some things that happened before this took place of our
Lord coming into Galilee to preach. The marriage feast at Cana had
taken place. The Passover at Jerusalem had
taken place. The Lord speaking to Nicodemus
about the new birth had taken place. the meeting of the woman
at the well had taken place before all this took place. Actually,
between the Lord going into the wilderness to be tempted of the
devil and Him going to Galilee, there's about a year's time went
by when this happened. And the time frame of this one
is given to us here in verse 12. when John was cast into prison. John, the forerunner of Christ,
the herald of Christ, the one who pointed out, behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John must now
decrease. He said that at one time. He
said, I must decrease and He must increase. And now it's time
for John to decrease in Christ His message. Christ is our message. I don't just have a message.
I have a person to preach to you this morning, to set before
you this morning. And there comes a time when Christ
who is our message must eclipse the messenger. He must eclipse
the messenger. There's a time, you know, there's
some in here, I know some of you whom the Lord saved and there's
some I'm sure there's not. I would not assume everyone knows
God. I'm not gonna assume that. I
believe that would be a danger on my part to assume that. But
there comes a time and coming here and you hearing me speak
week after week. But there comes a time if the
Lord is pleased to save you that you hear Him. Turn over to John
chapter 4. John chapter 4. In verse 39, this is the story
of the woman at the well And you remember the Lord told her
everything she ever did, and so she goes back to town and
says, and many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him
for the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all that
ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come
unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them and
he abode there two days. And many more believed because
of his own word and said unto the woman, Now we believe, now
get this, not because of thy saying, we have heard him ourselves. That's when salvation happens.
Not when you just hear me standing here week after week, opening
the scriptures and preaching the word of God, but when you
say now, I hear him. I hear him. And that's what must happen.
Now, John is a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. As I said,
he's the herald. He was the herald, the forerunner.
But now listen, the messenger is never a rival to Christ, the
message. Your attention is never to be
on me more than on him. When you leave here, I hope,
I hope you say, what a great Savior we have and not what a
great preacher. I hope God enabled me to be a
great preacher. But I tell you what, the evidence
that God's given you a great preacher is when you leave and
Christ is on your hearts and you leave saying, what a great
Savior, what a great Savior. and that your mind is not on
me but on Him. It says in John 4, 1, When therefore
the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus had made
and baptized more disciples than John. They heard more about Christ
than they did John. There's more being said about
Christ than about John. See, at first they all went out
what? They all went out to see John. The whole city went out
to hear and see John. But now the attention is on Christ. And if I've done my job, your
attention this morning ought to be on the Lord Jesus Christ.
John served his purpose. And I hope that when my life
is over and when my time is over here, that same thing can be
said about this John. He served his purpose. And now
it's time for him to go. Time for him to go. John's work
is complete. It's complete. All of God's children
have their time and place in the kingdom of God. Every one
of you, every last one of you have your time and place in the
kingdom of God on this earth. And when that time and purpose
is complete, the Lord will take you home. That's when God will
take you out of this world. That's when God will take you
home, is when He's finished with you. When you have served His
purpose, not yours, not when I've served my purpose, but when
I have served His purpose, that's when God will take me home. Now let's look at John's end
here. He's cast into prison. John is cast into prison. This
is the Lord's servant. This is a child of God. This
is one of His children. He's cast into prison and then
He's beheaded. Look over in Matthew 14. I think
that's where it's at. Matthew 14. The one thing I can
say about John, the Baptist, He never took the edge off the
message. I don't care who he was standing
before. It didn't matter. He never took the edge off. Let's
look at chapter 14 of Matthew. At that time, Herod the Tetrarch
heard of the fame of Jesus and said unto his servants, this
is John the Baptist. That's how much he thought of
him. He said, this is John the Baptist. He's risen from the
dead and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.
For Herod had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in
prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John
said unto him, it is not lawful for thee to have her. John, don't
you know better than that? Don't you know to stay away from,
don't you know just to leave that alone? You're standing before
King Herod. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. John looked at Herod and said,
it's not right for you to have your brother's wife. I don't
care if you are the king. It doesn't matter if you are
the king. God's law supersedes all laws. And when he would have put him
to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a
prophet. But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias
danced before them and pleased Herod, whereupon he promised
with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And so she was
instructed by her mother and said, give me here John the Baptist's
head and a charger. And that's what he did. He beheaded
him. I brought a message from that
one time. We'll probably do it when we get to it. John lost
his head, but not his life. I'd rather lose my head, not
my life. They beheaded John, but John went to be with the
Lord. He went to be with the Lord.
Herod went to hell. That's what happened to him.
Yes, he's God's servant, he's God's child, but this was appointed
for John. It's appointed for him. Just
as, and I want you to get this, just as all our trials and my
end, I don't know how I'm gonna die. You don't know how you're
gonna die. But God has appointed my end. He has appointed the exact way,
time to the second. that I'll die. Whatever way,
and you know what? That's fine with me. I find that
comforting. I find it comforting. Now it says here that he went
to Capernaum, Galilee. It says, and leaving Nazareth,
he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast in
the borders of Zebulun and Nephthilim. He went to preach to these Galileans,
it says, of the Gentiles. Us, us, Gentiles. These Galileans were a bunch
of nobodies going nowhere. That sounds just like me. It
does, it sounds just like me. I can read my title there. They were a people who sat in
darkness, religious darkness. Most people, most people that
I've ever come across, actually everybody I've ever come across
in my life, not most, everyone, believes somehow or another they're
going to be in heaven. I've never been to a funeral.
And I've been to some funerals of some scoundrels. But I've
never been to a funeral where somehow that person didn't wind
up in heaven. Somehow or another, he or she
winds up in heaven. I've never been to one. These people sat in darkness,
gross darkness. The worst darkness, I'm telling
you, the worst darkness you can be in is believing that you're
saved and you're lost. The worst way to be is believing
you're fully clothed and you're walking down the street naked. They sat in darkness, and listen,
in the region of death, a sad, sad place to live. But that pretty
much describes every place, doesn't it? That pretty much describes
every place of this world. Now, why did our Lord go there?
He wasn't just out strolling. He was not out just walking around,
see if he could find a place to preach. No, it was determined. It was absolutely determined
before the world began for Him to go through that place at that
time. He said to His disciples, I must,
needs go through Samaria. I must. Why? There's a sheep there. There's
a woman that's going to be at the well at a certain time and
I've got to be there. It is determined, predetermined
that I be there at that time. And that's why He went to this
place at this time. There are sheep there. There
are sheep there. Christ walked, He walked on a
divinely ordered path. I must knees go through Samaria.
I must knees go through Spring Lake. Why must He knees go through
Spring Lake? There are some sheep here. And
he's still going through here, which is a good evidence there's
still sheep here. He still has the gospel here. He walks on a divinely ordered
path. Look over in verse 13 through
16. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum,
which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zebulun and
Nephilim, that it might be fulfilled," see? "...that it might be fulfilled,
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of
Zebulun and the land of Nephilim, by the way of the sea, beyond
Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness
saw great light. And them which sat in the region
in shadow of death, light is sprung up." He's fulfilled the
Scripture. He fulfilled the purpose of God.
The very reason the gospel's here is he's fulfilling the purpose
of God. One day, one day, and this is, you can check this out
with history, one day the gospel will leave. The gospel comes in, you look
at history, it comes in, people are saved, and then it goes out. It goes out. You look at the
places back in history where the gospel was strongly preached,
and it's not there no more. It's not there no more. Now,
I don't know, there's some places it may be for years and years,
and some places it's not. When the Lord's work is finished,
it's finished. And that's how thankful, I'm
gonna tell you, I can't tell you how thankful we ought to
be that God still has the gospel here in Spring Lake. the gospel
of his grace, the gospel of his glory. It says, here's the reason he
went there, to give light to them that sat in darkness. It's
written over in Isaiah, to heal the brokenhearted, to set the
captive free. And that's what he's done here.
He has set captives free. He has healed some broken hearts,
broken over hearts, broken over sin. Has your heart ever really
been broken over sin? Job said, by the hearing of the
ear, I've heard of thee, but now mine eye seeth thee, and
now what? I feel bad about it. He said, I abhor myself. That's
a strong word. I abhor myself in sackcloth and
ashes. Until the gospel comes in power,
people are in darkness, religious darkness. They're in ignorance.
They are imprisoned by sin and Satan. There was a time when I was a
young man or a young teenager growing up, I thought I was my
own. But after God gave me light and
understanding, I realized that's the last thing I was, was my
own. We're never our own. We're never
our own person. I'm my own man. No, you're not.
No, you're not. You're blind as a bat if you
believe that. You are. You're blind as a bat if you
believe you're your own man, you're your own person. No! Sin
either has you, Satan, or Christ. Christ. And notice here it says that,
here's their condition. They sat in darkness, content.
Continue it. Were you looking for Christ when
He found you? When He revealed Himself to you, were you looking
for Him? No. No. These people, as well as all
others, were born in darkness, lived in darkness, and they will
die in darkness unless the Lord gives them life and light. Unless
He does it. They were religious but lost.
Being religious does not equal saved. I worked for a man once,
and I told him that. I told him, you know, just because
a man is religious doesn't mean that man is saved. And he got
upset with me. He got upset because he believed
if a person was sincere, if he was religious and very sincere,
he's saved. I said, no, he's not. He's sincerely wrong, But
that's not being saved. You know, I've been sincerely
wrong many times. Too many times. But this is not
one place you want to be sincerely wrong. Not here. Their darkness came from their
spiritual deadness, and that's where darkness comes from. Christ
said, if the light in you That is, if the understanding you
have of God, of Christ, of salvation, how God can be a just God and
safe centers, if that light in you is darkness, how great is
that darkness? There is no greater darkness
than that. None. Now, when our Lord came preaching
to them, what is it that they saw? What did they see? It says
a great light. a great light, spiritual light. Our Lord said this in John 8,
12, Then spake 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. My granddaughter wrote a poem
one time. She's always writing poems. And
the title of it was, What is Life? What is Life? I say to her, as I say to you,
get in this book and you find out life. Life is not a what. Life is a person. Life is a person. Light and life is a person. So what happened to these people
is the same thing that happened to you when God saved you. They
heard the truth from the truth. They heard the truth from the
truth. Christ gave them the true interpretation
of the scriptures, of the gospel, You know the only person, the
only one person that can interpret the scriptures? And that's the
Lord Jesus Christ. God. He's the only one who can
interpret it. Turn over to Matthew chapter
five. Let me show you something here. He's speaking to a people, a
religious people who are in darkness. And he's going to tell them the
truth. They're going to get the truth from the truth. You have heard, in verse 21,
you have heard that it was said by them of old times, thou shalt
not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, let me tell
you what it really means. Let me interpret this for you.
Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger
of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council, but whosoever
shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. He said,
that's the correct interpretation. That's the truth. That's light. That's light. It says here in verse... Let me find another verse here. You have heard, in verse 27,
you have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt
not commit adultery. But I say to you that whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart. Whoever looks at her with the
purpose of lusting after her. He said, I tell you what, you've
already committed adultery. See, they said, well, you know
what? I've never committed adultery. I've never gone out on my wife.
Oh, I bet your heart has. God looks on the heart. Remember this. We are what we
are in our hearts, not what we say we are. That's what we are. They heard the truth from the
truth is what they heard. Our Lord is the light. It's through
Him we understand how God can be a just God and a Savior. It's through Christ and through
the preaching of the gospel that I understand how God can be God
and have anything to do with me, a sinful man. It's through
the light of Christ. And Christ is that light. We
understand that the law is spiritual and we are carnal, sold under
sin. We understand that. You know, there's a difference
in believing some facts and understanding the facts. And understanding
it. It's one thing to memorize Scripture. Jack Van Impen, he get on television,
he just quotes scripture after scripture. But it's another thing,
it's a whole different thing, matter, to understand the scriptures. Philip said to that eunuch, do
you understand what you're reading? He said, how can I? Except some
man showed me, I don't know what I'm reading. And Philip got up
in that chariot and preached unto him Jesus from the same
scriptures And God gave him light. God gave him life. God gave him
understanding. The people who sat in darkness
saw God's salvation in Jesus Christ. That's what they saw.
When they saw a great light, they saw God's salvation. They
saw in Jesus Christ everything they needed. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, everything God demands, I have
in Christ, and I understand that. Scripture says, let not the rich
man glory in his riches, or the strong man in his might, but
let him the glory of this, that he understands and knows me. And it says also that they sat
in the region of death. They were helpless and hopeless
and didn't even know it. Did you know it before God saved
you? Did you know how helpless and hopeless you were? Did you
really understand and know what danger you were in? No, you didn't
know it at all. They were, They were not only
dead, but they sat in the region of death. Everyone around them
was dead. They were in a spiritual graveyard.
A spiritually dead graveyard is where they were. And light
sprung up. Light sprung up. This is where
we see God's sovereignty and salvation. You know, he said
in one place, and it says it's concerning Capernaum. He said,
if the mighty works had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah that
were done in you, they would have repented long time ago in
sackcloth and ashes. And when I read that, it struck
me, Lord, why didn't you do it? He said, if I had done the works
there that I have done here this day, they would have repented.
Why didn't He do it? Even so, Father, it seemed good
in Thy sight. That's why. That's the only explanation
we'll ever have on any matter of God's sovereignty. But here is... an example of God's sovereignty.
Light is sprung up. They weren't looking for it.
They were not looking for it. We do not ask the sun to rise
each morning, do we? I didn't ask the sun to come
up this morning. I did not ask the sun to rise and shine on
the house over here. God sovereignly brings it up.
God sovereignly shines. Listen to this scripture. In
2 Corinthians 4-6, for God who commanded the 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 brethren,
That command for the light to shine out darkness into the heart
is a sovereign act of God. I've known people that have sat
for years and years and years under the gospel and died and
had no interest in it, had no interest whatsoever. Someone
sitting over in the next aisle loves the gospel. Loves it. You
and I are shut up to the mercy of God in Christ. The sovereign
mercy of God in Christ. And you and I will never ever
worship God until we worship Him at His sovereign throne. A.W. Pink said, all others we'll
bargain with. We'll bargain with. Light has sprung up. Now light has to have a source.
It has to have a source. Just like the light we have outside,
the source of it is the sun. It's the sun. And Christ, the
son of God, is the source of the light that we have concerning
God, concerning salvation, concerning ourselves, concerning himself.
He's the light, he's the source of that light. It's his nature. It's his nature. You know, God
is said to be three things. God is said to be spirit, God
is said to be love, and God is said to be light. These express
the very nature of God. Therefore, when Christ said,
I am the light, you know what he's saying? I'm God, I'm God. A person who has not Jesus Christ
will always hold to some form of works and will spend their
life in darkness and will die in darkness. But the person who
has Christ, that person has light, that person will submit to Christ,
and that person will follow Christ throughout their whole life. Has God given you life? Has God
given you light? Has God given you understanding?
Has He given that to you? If so, confess Him. My soul,
confess Him. Confess Him before men. He's
not done that to everyone. Light has sprung up. And I thank
God it's still here. It's still here. All right, man.