Go ahead and start. Please turn
to John chapter 1. John chapter 1, and I want to
begin reading in verse 6. I'm just going to read verses 6 through
10. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. The same came for a witness to
bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe.
He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that
light. 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. I started to title this message,
The World Knew Him Not, but I changed it. I want to entitle it, The
True Light. Because the true light, He is
our message. Hopefully. This is speaking of and starting
in verse 6 of John the Baptist. So we have John the apostle writing
about John the Baptist And in verse 8 he comes out and explicitly
states this fact That John the Baptist was not that light Now it seems a strange thing
to put in this gospel But it's kind of been I've kind of had
my face rubbed in it here and there lately. But I come to think of it, and
the Apostle John was actually addressing a subject that some
were concerned with. Because there were those who
thought John the Baptist might be the Messiah. There were those
out in the world that the only thing they knew was the message
of John the Baptist. The Apostle Paul ran into him
in Ephesus. Others ran into him in other
places. Because those people that John baptized and John preached
to, went. And they had not heard of Christ. But the Apostle John is definitively
and with certainty stating this fact that John the Baptist was
not the light that was to come. He was to bear witness of that
light, and he did bear witness of that light. Christ himself
says that there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. But he that is least in the kingdom
of God is greater than he. There were those who had received
and believed the teaching of John the Baptist who had never
heard of and never received Christ. There's a sign in Princeton up
on a church. I pointed it out to Walter as
we drove by. And what it says is, and it is
a scripture quote. It says, have you received the
Holy Ghost since ye believed? Now it's on the sign of a Pentecostal
church, which I'm not supposed to call that anymore. Apostolic
church is what they call it. It's the same place. They used
to have a sign on the side of the building that says, obey
Acts 238. And I always wanted to put up
the sign below it saying, believe Acts 239. But they are putting this up
here because they believe in what this called a second work
of grace. That's why it's up there. That
you believe, and then later on, somewhere down the line, Sometimes
somebody has to lay hands on you, and you receive the Holy
Ghost What we have here is a really bad case of talking about apples
and oranges Because the people that Paul asked this question
to it's in Acts chapter 19 I'll turn there for just a minute Acts chapter 19 verse 1 it says
and it came to pass while Apollos was at Corinth Paul, having passed
through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain
disciples. He said unto them, Have you received
the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, This
is the part that everybody leaves out. We have not so much as heard
as whether there be any Holy Ghost. So Paul said unto them, Unto
what then were ye baptized? And they said, unto John's Baptism
These men have never heard the message of Christ You understand
they have never heard the message of Christ Paul in Ephesians does
go on to say he says after he believed you were sealed But
he's talking about being believing in Christ These men were looking
for the Messiah They believed in the Messiah, but they did
not know the Messiah because it had not been preached to them
yet So have you received the Holy
Ghost? We didn't even know there was one. John the Baptist didn't
tell them about the Holy Ghost. John the Baptist was not that
light. John the Baptist, though, knew
that light. He bore witness of that light. John the Baptist was looking
for that light. And John the Baptist saw that
light. And he said, behold, the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And he said
that when he saw Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is that light. And if you notice in your scripture
in your Bible, Will see in verse 8 it says he was not that light
verse 7 he came to bear witness of the light that word is capitalized
and It was capitalized on purpose, and it was capitalized correctly
because it is talking about our Lord Jesus Christ He is the light. He is that light John the Baptist bore witness
of that true light the Son of God manifest in the flesh Verse 9 says that was the true
light which light if every man that cometh into the world I Got a question for you What is the first recorded statement
of God speaking in the Bible first words we have recorded
that God said in the Bible are Let there be light That light the light the true
light spoke those words Jesus Christ is the one that brought
everything into being he spoke the words he was the voice of
the father and He spoke and guess what there was light The first recorded thing we have
of the word of God speaking in the Bible is let there be light Our father God is called the
father of lights God is the source of all light,
natural and spiritual. So why did the Bible, why did
God start with light? Well, I am one of the persuasion, almost what Brother Don said
the other day. Nothing is written in this scripture
accidentally or by happenstance. And it's always in a significant
order. We may not understand the order
sometimes. We may not get the order. We
may miss the order. But there are times where it's
definitely, you will see a progression throughout this book. And the
first thing God started with here, he said, let there be light.
Because I believe this to be true in the natural world as
well as in the spiritual world, in the world of the Holy Spirit,
in the world of our spirits. There is no life where there
is no light. There is no life. Life starts
with the light. And that goes for the natural
as well as the spiritual. All life starts with light. Verse
4 here, John chapter 1. In him was life, and the life
was the light of men. The light shined in the darkness,
and the darkness didn't comprehend that light. Why? Because darkness is incapable
of comprehending light. Light is an anathema to darkness. Light is incomprehensible to
darkness. They are more than polar opposites. Darkness doesn't understand that
light exists or that it can exist. They have no way of comprehending,
darkness has no way of comprehending the light. It has no frame of reference.
It just doesn't get it. Now the true light shines all
the time. But it's equally true that until
he shines in you, until the day star arises in your hearts, man
will not comprehend that light. He will not understand that true
light. The lost soul is not only in
darkness, the lost soul is blinded to the light of our Lord Jesus
Christ. whom the God of this world has
blinded the minds of them that believe not." This is the way of the world.
And this is where John goes in this chapter after, 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, and all things were
made by him. And without him was not anything made that was
made. He goes to the fact that men love darkness. And the darkness
can't comprehend the light. But the light shines nonetheless,
whether the world knows it or not. That light shines all of
the time. Now there are some people who
have trouble with this next statement. And I can understand why, where
it says, that was the true light, our Lord Jesus Christ, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Now there are some who try to
add way too much to that statement. And there are some who like to
kind of explain away that statement. The Arminians think this is a
proof that Christ died for every man. That's not so. Armenians try to say that Christ
came to try to save every man They use this as a proof also
that God has purpose to save every man, and it's not so None of that's true and none
of us in this verse, but it does say I Mean if you look at exactly
what it says that was the true light which lighted every man
that cometh into the world and So what did he mean by this?
Well, he means exactly what he says, that that was the true
light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Now, I want to be very clear
here, if I can, relate this. The word John used here, lighteth,
it just means to shine upon, to shed rays. That's what the
light does. You understand the light, if
it's not shining, if it's not bright, it's not that light. And that light does shine upon
every man. Now, first negative, I will say
that it does not, it's not the same thing as when Paul wrote
in Ephesians about the eyes of your understanding being in light. that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling. Paul is very specific about ye
may know. Your eyes are being enlightened.
Here John does say every man which cometh into the world. And that's what it means. I do believe this. But what I
do believe, Paul wrote of it in Romans chapter 1. The same
sort of thing. In Romans chapter 1 and verse
18. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and all and unrighteousness of
men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them."
Verse 20, for the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen. Being understood. By the things
that are made even his eternal power and Godhood Godhead So
That they are without excuse I Believe that's what John was
writing in John chapter 1 you understand there is a light that
shines he always shines and That light is seen and the power of
God is revealed in it and the darkness of Comprehended it not
but they are without excuse They hold the truth in unrighteousness
And I believe that's what John was talking about because if
you go from here from Verses six through ten here are basically
an explanation or expat expounding upon verses four and five In him was life, and the life
was the light of men, and the light shined in the darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. And they are still to
this day without excuse. What about people that never
heard the gospel? They are still to this day without excuse. That's what the book says. I
know it's not the most cheerful message this early in the morning,
but this is the message I got, and this is the message in this
book. You understand? I love to talk
about the elect. I love to talk about what God's
done for the elect. But there are others that are
spoken of in this book. And all of us were darkness at
one time. And we were without excuse. But
then, something happened. But that's what I believe this
verse is teaching, is the fact that that light, and it comes
to every man in the world, every woman in the world, and they
are still without excuse. Things are clearly seen. Things
are lit up by the true light. That true light. The darkness
can't comprehend it. The darkness can't see it. And
the darkness won't have it. Why? Men love darkness rather
than light. Men love darkness and hate the
light. And they're without excuse. Light
has come into the world, and men love darkness. They hate what that true light
reveals. They hold the truth in unrighteousness. And they are without excuse. Verse 10 says, he. We're back
to the person again, for sure. That true light is he was in
the world. The light, the light of life,
the life of men, the life, the light is a person. He was in the world and the world
was made by him and the world knew him not. You people see Christ everywhere.
What's wrong with you? Nothing's wrong with us. Other
than our natural self. Because Christ is everywhere.
That light shines all over this whole world. This whole world
doesn't see it. Cannot see it. This world was
made by Him. And this world doesn't know Him. How depraved is that? Totally. Totally depraved is
what that is. God Himself manifest in the flesh. He was in the world. And the
world didn't know it. He made the world. And these
things are clearly seen. But the world knew Him not. Our Creator, our true light,
is a person. In Him was life, and that life
was the light of men. And the light shineth in the
darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. John is writing about here those
who are in darkness and those who are darkness. And they're
the same people. Walter and I talked a little
bit about this. I mentioned it when we were out on the porch
waiting for Paul and David to show up so we could put the ten
up there. Matthew 6 and verse 23. But if thine eye be evil,
thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the
light that is in thee be darkness, How great is that darkness? And I believe that is one of
the scariest statements in scripture. Sort of like that one about strong
delusion, that they send you strong delusion to believe a
lie. Because if you're deluded, you don't know you're deluded.
If you've got a delusion, you're deluded. If the light that's
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? That scares me. But even after all this, from
verse 4 to verse 10, look at verse 11, and then 12. Because John doesn't stop here.
This is the way of the world. This is the way the world is.
He says in verse 11, he came unto his own, and his own received
him not. But, verse 12, but, and that
is one of those glorious buts, as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name, which were born. There's no way I could do this
without going to this. not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Those that are born of God are
no longer in darkness. They have the light of life. Those that are born of God are
not darkness anymore. He tells them you at sometimes
were darkness. And those which are born of God
are the only ones who will understand both the darkness and the light. Because those in darkness only
know the darkness. And every one of us had been
there before. Every one of us was walking in
this world without Christ at one time. But now are ye light in the Lord. That's a blessing from God. He would have been justifiably
right to leave me right here where it says, in the darkness
comprehend it not. That's what I deserve. That's
what I earned, Walter. That's what I had. That's who
I was. But, as many as received him,
to them gave you the power to become the sons of God, to them
that believe on his name, and that not of yourselves. It doesn't
say that there, but that's what it means. That's what it's teaching,
which we're born of God. Not of the will, not of blood.
Doesn't matter who your family is. Doesn't matter what your
family is. Doesn't matter whether your family's
good or bad. Doesn't matter whether your grandmother
believed or not. Doesn't matter if you can take
your history all the way back to Adam or Noah. Who knows? I
don't think anybody can. And it wouldn't matter if you
could, because it is not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God, born of God. The light shines into the darkness. And of itself, the darkness comprehended
it not. But he that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness. The world is still walking in
darkness. They think this is a wonderful,
this is the information age, you know that, because of the
internet. And there is a lot of information out there. Sure, 99.9% of it is of absolutely
no value. And the 1% that is of value,
I have to use for work most of the time. But this world still walks in
darkness. Why? Because they do not know
the light of life. They don't know the true light. They don't know that there is
a true light. 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. Born of God. That's how you get it. It's of nothing you have done.
It's of nothing you will ever do. It is all of His purpose
and His almighty power and His sovereign grace bestowing life
on dead, fallen sinners that He chose from before the foundation
of the world. That followeth me a person shall
not walk in darkness Christ body does not walk in
darkness Christ Church does not walk in darkness They follow their good shepherd
They shall have the light of life and Why? Because they have Him. He has
given Himself to His people. He has given us His Spirit. He
is the light of the world and the world still doesn't know
Him. But He is still the light. And He is that light. He is the
true light. And I like I like talking about
that light. I like hearing about that light. I like to follow the light. I like to stay away from darkness,
Mason. And his people love the light. His people love His light. They love His word. They love
His presence. They love what He's done for
them. They love what He has done to
them. I remember Earl telling me one
time what a other preacher said that something about you can't
love Christ until you love yourself just a little. And I said, the only thing I
love about me is what he's done for me and what he's done to
me. The me part, I don't care so
much for. And you're not supposed to. But there are people who think. I'm not going into philosophy,
but by gollies, it's out there. He is the true light. And outside of Him is nothing
but darkness. So rejoice in the light. Rejoice in Him. Praise Him. Our Father, we are thankful again
for this time that we came together in Your name. Help us, Lord,
because we need Your help. Your Son has done everything
for us. Help us to see the light brighter
and clearer and better. And help us to love Him who gave
Himself for us. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.