Well, I want to begin by thanking
you all for loaning us your pastor for a couple of days. In about
two weeks, we're going to have our winter conference. And I've asked your pastor to be
our key speaker. I've been so blessed over these
last two years to watch the Lord raise up one of His ministers.
I know Kevin, He'd been around the block a
time or two before he got here, but he's a young man, and to
see how he has grown in grace, it inspired me to bring him up
here for our winter conference and let the people see what God
has done in a man, and how God raises up men to preach the truth
of His gospel. We are so fortunate here out
here on the West Coast to have a couple, just a couple. There may be more, but not well
known. Down here in San Diego, people
know about Sovereign Grace being preached here. A couple of pastors
up there in the middle of the valley. One of them way up there
in Oregon. So not very many of us out here,
brother. I thought I wouldn't be that
nervous getting up here this evening. I know most of you pretty
well. Even Chuck and Patty, I know
a little bit. Met you folks a couple times.
And Andre, I've heard enough about you. I know a little bit
about you, too. So I feel like I know you already. But I hope
my deodorant's working. Oh, wait a minute. I've got to do that. If you've
ever seen the YouTube videos or sermon audio videos, you know
how wonderful that water looks. And I've just got to taste it
when I get up here. I'd like to ask you to open your Bibles
to the third chapter of John. When I was a little child, I
had to ask Deanne yesterday what this song was that I remembered
being taught when I was a little one. I remember the Sunday school
teacher, the wife of the pastor, taught us this song, My Little Light. How does that
go again? This Little Light of Mine. Yeah.
And I remember being taught that song in a way that this is what
I need to do out in public, out and around. I need to let my
little light shine. How do we do that? How do we
do that, Sunday School teacher? Well, you go out and you be as
good as you can. You do this, you do that, you
do this, you do that. What a contrary thing to the
Scripture of God. Have you ever noticed that most
of the crimes in the world are committed by night rather than
by day? You know, I used to run around in the night quite a bit
myself. And there was a time when John ran around in the night a lot.
It's the most unusual for crimes to be committed during the day.
or in broad daylight, as one might say. And it's no mystery
as to why. We all know why. That's when
everything's the darkest. Darkness hides things. You can't openly see all that
is going on. Are you with me in the book of
John? I'd like you to read verses 19 through 20 with me. John chapter
3, beginning at verse 19, and this is the condemnation that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved." Now, this is the root cause of
man's unbelief. We love the darkness. And we hate the light. It's not
only that men are in darkness, but they love it. We don't want
to come to that light because that light proves how dark our
darkness really is. When you turn the light on in
a room, you can see everything. There may be shadows or something
in the seats, but you can see it all. Well, that's what this
is talking about. I don't want you to see the darkness
that was in me one time. I don't want to see your darkness.
But we all have it, don't we? We all had it at one time. We loved the darkness. We prefer
ignorance. What do you think our government
is thriving so wonderfully on right now? The ignorance of the
people. Error. We love superstition. the light
and the superstition to the light of truth. Wait a minute, where
did I go there? Yep, we prefer ignorance, error,
and superstition to the light of truth. I've never met one
person who tells the truth and nothing but the truth. Never. You say, oh, John, wait a minute
now. Don't you say that about me.
I've never lied in my life. You know, the Bible says you
come from your mother's womb speaking lies. A white lie is just as
bad as any other kind of lie. They're all untruths. They're
all lies. And that's what we are. That's
the darkness that we loved. Hiding in that darkness, covering
up the lies, the untruths, the untruths about who we are before
God. I'm not that bad of a person.
Don't you tell me I'm a sinner. One time we were up there in
rescue, this lady come in with her granddaughter, and if I've
told you this story before, you'll forgive me for being old and
forgetful. She literally got up, Two-thirds of the way through
the message, and she says, I'm not a sinner like the way you
were explaining it. And we all heard her and walked out, took
her granddaughter and walked out of there. She just, that's
the way we all were before the light was shined in the heart.
What proof? What proof of man's depravity
in the way lies are spoken? Christ in His perfect holiness,
His perfect love, and His perfect truth came and dwelt among men. What was their reaction to the
sovereign ruler of all that is? Crucify Him! Crucify Him! And we would be right there in
that crowd if it weren't for the grace of God. I've thought
about that before. Would I have yelled out the same
thing? I've been in mobs before. Yes, I would have. I'd have been
right there with them, just crying out, just right along with the
next person. All it would have taken was one person to start
doing it, and the whole crowd starts following along. Crucify Him. Crucify Him. We
will not have this man reign over us. Here's the final test. Verse
21, But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, and that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God. Here's our final test. Everyone
that loves and practices evil hates the light, the truth of
God, and neither do they come to the light. Why? Lest their
deeds be lest their deeds, their errors,
their sinfulness should be revealed and judged. That's why religious
folks, worldly folks, refuse the Scriptures as they are. God's
Word condemns them. It tells the world that you're
not what you think you are. It's not your will, but the will
of Him. It's not the will of Him that
runneth, nor... I said that backwards, didn't
I? It's not of Him that willeth, nor of Him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy." The world hates the truth, and
the word truth convicts us. God's Word shuts us up to the
mercy of God and His Son, our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.
On the other hand, He that doeth truth, as we read in verse 21,
which describes what it is to be a characteristic of every
believer, we come to the light. Not just once, but we cometh
over and over and over again, because in this flesh we battle
that sinfulness that's in the flesh still, the old nature,
the old man. Our new man, we want to do the things that please
our Lord. We try. We battle with that flesh
all the time. We come to that light over and
over and over again. And for what purpose? Why do
we come to that light over and over and over again? It's to
learn of God. I remember when the Lord first
called me by His Gospel. Kathy was still walking in darkness
as we both had been for 40 years of our marriage. And she asked
me, she goes, what are you doing? Sunday morning I got up and got
dressed. Went out to go get on the motorcycle and leave. Where
are you going? I'm going to church. Why? I don't know. I need to go hear more about
this one that was talked about. I need to learn more about God.
I need to learn more of His grace. I need to hear more of my blessed
Redeemer, His Son. As believers, we find great comfort,
great strength, help, directions, and our hope in the exceeding
great and precious promises of His Word. Why do we come to the
light? Because that light shows me my
salvation. In my Lord Jesus Christ, there's
none in this flesh. I have no confidence in this
flesh. The Lord has proven that over and over and over again
to me. So I come to the light because that's the only confidence
that I can have. All of God's children learn that
in trials and tribulations. Our weakness shows us His strength. Hear what the psalmist says about
the Word of God. In Psalms 119, 103, we read these
words, How sweet are thy words unto my taste. I want that to resonate. When you hear the Word of God,
does it burn? Does it burn in your heart? Of the wonders of
the grace of our Savior for us. Does it bring you to tears at
times? Knowing the depth of His love for us and saving us by
His grace? I love to tell that story. You
talk about the wonders of our Lord. You think that was by accident
that they chose that song tonight? I didn't ask them to sing any
specific song. I don't know how they chose it,
but I know who led them to. Our Lord and Savior. Because
I love to tell the story. How sweet are thy words unto
my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through thy precepts
I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Thy word
is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." When the Lord
of all creation turns on the light of truth, the Word of God
shines bright as the sun. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
5 if you would please. He shines bright as the sun.
And we who have been loved from the foundation of the world,
born into this darkness, just as all mankind are. For we too
walked once in darkness, the lie of self-importance, the lie
of self-righteousness. We read those words in Ephesians
2, Ephesians 5 is where you want to be. I'll be there in a moment.
And you have to be quickened. You're familiar with these verses.
Who are dead and trespasses in sin. you hath he given life,
who were dead in trespasses and sin, wherein times past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others." In Isaiah 9-2 we read it this way,
"...the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.
They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them
hath the light shined." Did you catch that? Upon them hath the
light shined. That's like giving the impression
here that the light was always there. Folks, Jesus Christ is
eternal. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit have always been. Christ just hadn't
been in the flesh yet. He had to come in the flesh so
that He could pay for our sins. It's the only way. A righteous
man had to shed righteous blood to pay for the sins of unrighteous
people. No man could do that. Nothing
of our flesh could sacrifice that kind of a sacrifice. God
would accept nothing but perfection. So our Lord had to come in the
flesh. The Eternal God became flesh I can't pass this by without
saying this at every message. Do you catch how deep that is
that God humbled Himself for us? I'm talking about the love
of Christ for His people. The very fact that He laid down
His own life for you and I. This is grace magnified. Beyond
anything that we can really understand, we get a little bitty inkling
of how deep that grace is. There's coming a day when we're
all going to be in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ forever,
and we're going to understand the depth of that love perfectly. Oh, I look forward to that day.
I look forward to that day when we'll see everything perfect
as our Lord sees it now. Upon them hath the light shined. It was always there. We just
didn't know it. And there are some who go through
that doormark death and will never know it. Notice the impression here, the
light was always there, but now the light shines upon them. Where
it didn't before, it does now. Man can do nothing for the light
to shine on them. The natural man will not come
to the light, as we read in John 3. Nor will he even look for
it. In John 1, we read this, in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. We're talking about the eternal God, Jesus Christ,
He who was manifest in the flesh, as you may read in John 1.14,
and all things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not." Does that describe anybody
here tonight? That describes me. Forty years. I was forty years old when the
Lord shined His light in my heart. When He broke my heart, and crushed
my spirit." That's what a broken and contrite heart means. Crushed
my spirit. The spirit that said, I would
not have that one world over me, now says, I love the one
who first loved me. Does that fit you? Does the light
of God shine in your heart giving you the love of Christ that you
never had before? Scripture tells us that whosoever
calls on the Lord Jesus shall have everlasting life. But how
are you supposed to call on someone you've never heard of? Oh, what
are you saying, John? There's Christian churches all
over the place. I love it. When we went back
to Kentucky one time, I was on the phone with my brother Bill,
talking to him while we were driving, and they had just come
out with that Google world on the computer where you could
type something in and see your satellite, just where somebody
was. And you could zoom all the way down on it. We're going through
an intersection, and he goes, is that four churches on each
intersection? Oh, yeah. Yeah, they're big ones.
We're going through some town in Kentucky, and here's four
churches on all four corners. And they're all Christian churches.
A different Jesus in every one of them. There's only one Jesus,
and that's the God of Scriptures. Sovereign over everything, including
man's will. If He rules the dust, how much
more is it for Him to rule the creation of man? If He rules,
then He rules. Is that correct? Isn't that what
the word sovereign means? Sovereign ruler of everything?
How are you supposed to call on someone
you've never heard of? I like this explanation of it.
How can you explain light to one who has never seen it? Could
you imagine trying to explain light to a blind person who's
never seen light or color? What's light? Well, it's kind
of bright. You can see stuff. What's seeing
stuff? I don't even know what that is.
I've never seen before. How are you going to explain
light to one who's never seen it? They can't comprehend what
light truly is. In the book of John, again, we
read in chapter 8, verse 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."
In chapter 12 of that same book, verse 46, we read these words,
"...I am come a light unto the world, that whosoever believeth
on me should not abide in darkness." Are you with me in Ephesians
chapter 5? Look at verse 6 with me, if you would. Verses 6-21. Paul, writing under the inspiration
to the saints in Ephicus, let no man deceive you with vain
words, empty words. For because of these things come
at the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience, but
be not ye therefore partakers with them. I have friends who
tell me that It's the same Jesus over here. We were having lunch
with Marvin Marston up there in the Palm Springs area, somewhere
up there by San Bernardino. And a friend of his was joining
us, and she said, you know, we worship the same God. I keep
trying to tell Marvin his God is the same as mine. And I asked
her, I said, well, have you ever heard anybody say Jesus loves
you? Well yeah, yeah, I say that to
a lot of people. So I like to say this back to
them, how do you know? How do you know Jesus loves me? Jesus doesn't love everybody.
Very clearly in scripture he says, Jacob have I loved, Esau
have I hated. She had a different explanation
for that. But we see here, be not ye therefore partakers with
them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Now, I want to stop
there for just a moment because the world's taking these very
words and they put it right along with that, I want to let my little
light shine. See, children, this is what I want you to know. If
you go out and do this, folks, there is no righteousness in
us. What a thing to teach our children
that if you go out and act good, you're going to be saved. God's
going to look favorably on you. Your little light is going to
shine in the world. Here's a good one for you. Did you know that
people, when the Lord Jesus Christ preached Christ, and He did,
that's what He preached. He preached Himself. He declared
Himself to be God Almighty in the flesh, ruler of everything,
in charge of all things, the giver of life. They didn't see
Him as Christ when He was standing right before them. What makes
you think that you have anything in you Or that you could have
anything you, that people would see Christ. You hear that phrase
that, I want people to see Jesus in me. What a self-righteous statement. I like being like that guy over
in the corner over here. The beggar who's pounding on
his chest. And he's saying, Lord have mercy
on me, because I don't deserve the grace that you have given
me. But ye were sometimes darkness,
but now are ye light in the world. Walk as children of light, for
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness,
and truth is all in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Proving
what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For
it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of
them in secret. But all things that are reproved
are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever doeth manifest
is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because of the days
of evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but
understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk
with wine wherein excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking
to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always
for all things unto God the Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in fear." Now,
if you would, I would like to ask you to turn over to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. How can we best keep ourselves
in the light? How can we be children of light,
keeping ourselves in the light? How can we turn from the darkness
that continues to plague our flesh? In our spirit, we desire
the light, yet our flesh desires the darkness. One of our greatest
gifts that God has given his people is the gift of prayer. Call upon the name of the Lord,
is what it says. Cry out in your private soul
unto the Lord. In Romans 10.13 we read these
words, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. And then he says again, To give us assurances to that
all that the Father giveth me, in John 6.37, shall come to me,
and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 1 Thessalonians
5, we read in beginning in verse 1, But of the times and of the
seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with a child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren,
are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a
thief. Ye are all the children of light
and the children of the day, we are not of the light nor of
the darkness, therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let
us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in
the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night, but
let us who are of the day be sober, putting our breastplate
of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we
wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Wherefore,
comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as
also ye do." Now, he calls us children of light. In 2 Corinthians,
in fact, you know, I'm going to ask you to turn over there
for a moment. Mark your place in 1 Thessalonians. Turn over to 2 Corinthians, to
the left just a few pages. Chapter 4. How do we stay in the light?
How do we shine our light? Because we do shine a light in
us, you know. God's people don't take the light and hide it underneath
the bed. We don't take it and hide it
away. We let it sit out in front so that it lights up the whole
city. So how do we do that? If we're not to do that with
our own righteousness, if we're not to do that with our own works,
if we're not to do that with the flesh, how do we let the
light shine in us? 2 Corinthians chapter 4, look
at verses 3-7 with me. But if our gospel be hid, it
is to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which believe not. Lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves."
Here comes that story that we love to tell. This is how the
light shines in the people of God. We preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord. How do I let the light shine
in me? I'll tell you. I point to my Savior. Don't look
to John for anything. Don't look to the way John walks.
Now, I'm not saying that we can go out there and sin willy-nilly.
That's not what I'm saying at all. Absolutely not. God forbid
is what Scripture says. But don't go out like the Pharisees
do in the middle of the marketplace and show everybody how righteous
I am and pray in front of them. So can you see the light shining
in me? All this righteousness? The robes
that I wear? The times that I go to church?
This and that and that and this? No. God's people point to Christ
because He is the light. He's the light, not what you
see in John, not what I see in you, but the Christ that you
believe in, the one that you put your faith in. Where was
I there? We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servants for Christ for
Jesus' sake, for God who has commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, we're still speaking
about Christ, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God, in what? In John? In you? No, in the face
of Jesus Christ, there's our light that shineth in us. But
we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on
every side, yet not distressed. Folks, right now we have the
biggest thing in my lifetime bearing down on us as a people,
this thing we're so afraid of, this virus. And there's reasons
to be afraid of it. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying
that you shouldn't be afraid of it. I'm just saying that God's
people aren't scared to death by it. We know that our Lord
rules over this virus. Excuse me. He rules over everything. If
a plane crashes and we're in... Oh, sorry. Bad time for me to
bring that one up, wasn't it? Whatever. If a car gets in front
of me and I have a car accident tomorrow, I'm sorry, Kevin. If I get in a car accident tomorrow,
folks, it's not an accident. With God there are no accidents.
I was talking, I believe it was with Mike today, we were conversing
about something, we talked about a lot of things. There are no
accidents with God. He doesn't do anything wrong.
There are no mistakes. Everything that happens to us,
the day that I got COVID and I had to go into the hospital,
I thought I was gonna die. That was not a mistake. God had me
there for a reason. And if he'd have taken me home
that day, that would have been for my good. But it was for my
good that he kept me here for a little while longer. If he
takes me home tomorrow, tonight, he doesn't make mistakes. We are troubled on every side,
verse 8, yet not distressed. Why are we not distressed? Because
we know our Lord works all things out for the good to them that
love Him. We are perplexed but not in despair. This is the light
that shines in us. Be ready to give an account for
your hope. When somebody comes to you and
says, how can you be in such a good mood? The boss just fired
a hundred people. We may be the ones who get fired
tomorrow. governments doing such and such.
It may have an effect on our taxes tomorrow. How can you be
in such a good mood? My Lord rules over everything.
If He wants to raise my taxes, it's for my good. If I get fired,
it's for my good. If I leave this world, it's for
my good. Persecuted but not forsaken,
verse 9. Cast down but not destroyed.
Always bearing about in the body of the dying of the Lord Jesus.
that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in your body. For we, which live, are always
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." The world is taking
these words and they said, the life of Christ in you is good
works. And I'm over here to tell you
that Scripture says that the life of Christ in you is grace
and mercy. For there are no good works in
us. We are an enlightened people.
Our understanding has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit concerning
the person and the work of Christ Jesus. Taking our eyes off of
ourselves, bringing us to that understanding that we have no
confidence in this flesh. Our only confidence is the One
who walked perfectly and paid the perfect price for my sins. He who was made sin for me, that
we might be made righteous in Him. Ephesians chapter 1, verses
17-19. Go back to the book in 1 Thessalonians
if you would. In Ephesians chapter 1 we read
these words, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom. The revelation
in what? In how good you are? No. the
revelation in Christ Jesus, the knowledge of Him, the eyes of
your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the
hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to usward, who believe according to the working of His
mighty power." We are the children of the gospel day, in a distinction
from the religious darkness. Therefore, let us not be in a
drowsy and different frame of mind and spirit like an unbeliever."
Oh, I'll tell you, you say, what do you mean by that, John? Well,
I know people who have been baptized five times. It wasn't good enough the first
time. God's people, are baptized once in the Spirit of Christ
and that's all that's needed. Let us not be taken up with the
cares and the concerns of this world. But let us set our watch
over our hearts, our faith. You're worried about what you're
going to do out there in the world? Worry about your faith.
Think about, is my faith in Jesus Christ, or is there something
in me that I'm building up my faith in? Golf is a good way
to explain this. I played golf the other day.
I shot nine holes on the front, is what they call that. Six pars. Wonderful. Never played that
well in my whole life. The back nine, totally different. I shot three times what I did
on the front. I'm telling you, I believe this.
I really believe this. If you've ever played golf, you
understand what I'm saying about this. You just don't know what
it is you're doing. I didn't know what I was doing
to play so well. And then when I got to the back, I couldn't
figure out what I was doing wrong to play so bad. I believe the
Lord was showing me right there, for that reason, that John, you're
getting a little puffed up. All of a sudden you get a little
bit too good there. Now, that's it. I'm going to show you the
real thing. No confidence. I'm thankful. I'm thankful for the trials my
Lord sends my way. I'm thankful that I was in that
hospital wondering whether I was ever going to see my wife again.
And I'm telling you, if you've never been in that position,
that's a dreadful downright dreadful thing to go through. Not knowing if you're going to
see your family ever again. I was closer to my Lord that night
when the doctors told me, we don't know what's going to happen
next. We'll see tomorrow. However you wake up, that'll
tell us which way it's going to go. Great, all night long,
that's all I could think about was, is it gonna go like that
guy next to me? He's been here for five weeks. I'm thankful for the trials my
Lord brings our way. I'm thankful for the virus he's
brought into this country. The fear that he's brought among
the people, maybe somebody will have enough fear that the Lord
will bring them to him. Let us not be taken up with the
cares and the concerns of this world, but let us set a watch
over our hearts, our faith, our fellowship. Living as temporary
citizens in this world, we are travelers, but passing through.
I was sitting at the table with Kevin last night, didn't I? I
got to start singing a song. This world is not my home. I'm
just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere
beyond the blue. If heaven's not my home, Lord,
what will I do? Let's keep going. Back in 1 Thessalonians. Do we
not read in verse 9, For God hath not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ? Be assured,
folks, be assured this, that the elect of God were not chosen
in Christ to be destroyed by His wrath and judgment. But we
were chosen that we might obtain the salvation through our Savior,
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Look over at Ephesians. Again,
hold your place. We'll come right back here in
a moment. And while you turn over to Ephesians 3, verse 7,
allow me to read a couple of verses from Romans 8-1. These
are the promises of God that we stand on, folks. There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. The people
of God, those who have been born again, given a new heart to love
the Lord, for He first loved them, there is now no condemnation
because Christ has already taken our condemnation on Him. That
was the crucifixion at the cross. He took our sins as His own. He died in our stead. He knew
no sin. Our Lord never sinned. Never. He was perfect when He went to
that cross, but when He was on that cross, He paid for those
sins as though they were His. He had to. God turned His back
on His Son. That's something that should
boggle our minds big time. How can the three in one, who
are one God, turn their back on one or the other? But they
had to because Christ was made sin. God the Father could not
look upon Him. He turned His back on Him. There is no condemnation to him
for which you are in Christ. Or in 2 Thessalonians 2.13 we
read these words, But we are bound to give thanks always to
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through the sanctification
of the Spirit, and what? The belief of truth. The light. That's what truth is. It's the
light of Christ. And that's what this whole book
is about. It's about our Savior. And it's about His truths. Are
you with me in Ephesians chapter 1? Look at verses 3-7. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. See how the blessings come through
Him? who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ, according as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him, in love, having
predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."
This is the light, folks. This is the light that we go
out into the world with. It's the light of us pointing
to our Savior. What He has done. The blessings
that come through Him. My peace in this world has nothing
to do with you, or me, or anybody that's running this world, or
the governments. It has to do with my Savior.
He's my light. He's my peace. Grace from Him. Now back in our text one more
time, and I'll bring this to a close here real quick. Let's
just wrap up these last two verses. We read these words over in 5.10,
and it points us, folks, our Lord died for us. with this purpose
and view, that He would make us partakers of His life. There's
no reason why we should be in doubt of our salvation if we
are in Christ Jesus by faith. Our faith is in Him. Do we have
doubts? I do. But only when I take my
eyes off of my Lord and what He promises me and start looking
at this faulty flesh that's before me. Do you not have those same
faults, those same doubts, when you take your eyes off of Him?
Look to the light. Look to our Savior. Take your
eyes off of yourself. And then in verse 11, we read
the words, "...therefore comfort one another and encourage one
another, communicate to one another the things revealed to you, edify,
strengthen, build up one another in the faith of Christ." And
this can be done by this. Let my light shine. When I sit with Mike and Karen
at the lunch table this afternoon, oh, how we glorify the Lord in
fellowship. I play golf with men who have
no idea who the Lord is. I'd much rather sit down with
lunch with you folks anytime, like we have just recently. Dinner
with you. I'd much rather do that and talk
about the wonders of my Lord for me. Glorifying my Lord in
conversation and fellowship. Letting my light shine. I don't
get a chance to do that on the golf course. I wish I did. Can
you move to Sacramento and come play with me more often? We could
talk about the Lord a lot out there on the golf course. Come
on, Chuck. I'll even buy you a spare set
of clubs. Let our light shine in worship.
What about worship? When God's people come together,
we shine the light of Christ by coming together with Him.
Did you come here tonight to hear John Reeves or Angus Fisher,
or did you come here tonight to get a message from God? to
hear God speak to your heart, to see the light of Christ, because
that darkness that we have to walk through in that valley of
the shadow of death outside can be overbearing many a times. How do I let my light shine?
I fellowship and worship with the saints. I try the best to glorify my
Lord in my actions, with them, and my words. In prayer. I told you a moment ago, one
of our greatest gifts that God has given us is the ability to
pray to Him. To bow our heads and submit ourselves
to His will. Lord, I know I really want this
to be this way. And this was my prayer in that
hospital that night. Lord, I really want to be with
my wife a little longer. I want to see my children a little
more. But Thy will be done. If it's time to go, and it's
Your will, I accept it. Not just in words, but in heart. Teaching and preaching. How do we let the light shine
in teaching and preaching? We preach Christ and Him crucified. I wish to know nothing of you
save my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, and what He's done for
me. Bearing one another's trials
with a sincere love. Love God with all your heart
and all your mind. And love your brothers as yourself. Amen.