tonight to that eighth chapter
of John. And I'll read one verse of scripture in this chapter, and it is the
verse that follows the one that we looked at this morning. And that verse would be 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. These events took place at the end of the Feast of the
Tabernacles, and in that feast they would
set up these booths or tents as a kind of remembrance of all
that they as a people went through when they traveled after the
exodus throughout the wilderness. They lived in tents, they carried
the tabernacle with them, and they, in that feast, remembered
those things. And as they remembered them,
they had also in the temple these giant candelabra that they would
light, that would be so bright, I suppose to commemorate that
pillar of fire that followed them as they traveled through
the wilderness. And so it is in that context
that our Lord says to all that are gathered there after He has
delivered this woman taken in adultery, I am the light of the
world. And who but the Lord Jesus Christ
could ever make such a statement? And to say in such a definite
and singular note, I am the light of the world. And this is in one part, one
more declaration of his deity. If you remember this same apostle
when he wrote in that first chapter of 1st John, he begins by saying,
this is the message that we heard and this is the message that
we preach, that God is light and in him is no darkness. He is the light of the world. And if you look back in John
chapter 1, here in the gospel of John, John begins by stating
something very much like that here in John chapter 1 beginning
in verse 4. He says of this one that he calls
the Word, who he says was with God, and who he declares is God,
and was also made flesh and dwelt among us. He says in him was
life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth
in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. 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
that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Every time I read those verses
and hear what the apostle says about John the Baptist, saying
that he was a witness to bear witness of the light, it makes
me know and be reminded that those who have sight, they don't
need a witness to the light. But it is to those who are blind,
they must have a witness to the light. And so John the Baptist
is described as a witness to the light who is none other than
the Lord Jesus Christ that he was the forerunner to. And not
only does it speak of his deity, light also is used to speak of
purity. He is the light in the sense
that he is the pure one, the holy one, the sinless one, the
perfect one. And as we see in this context,
Christ as the light does what light does. Light on the one
hand illuminates And on the other hand, it blinds, as we have just
seen. Christ as the light has just
illuminated, if you will, this woman taken in adultery. And yet, at the same time, he
has blinded He has blinded, as the light, all these Pharisees. They now go away, and what we
find also is that if Christ is the light, then all the world
must be in darkness. These Pharisees were, in a sense,
considered the lights of their day. And without a doubt, they
had some light. But the light that they had proved
to be a further blinding and a further bringing them into
darkness. Because this is what Christ says. He says, if thine eye be evil,
The whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the
light that is in the B darkness, how great is that darkness? If the light you have. which
is simply the light of nature on the one hand, and as it was
with them, some light that trickled down through their tradition. But that light in them was darkness,
and as was demonstrated in this text, how great was that darkness. But if you notice also he describes
himself saying, I am the light of the world. Meaning on the one hand that
he is the only true light. But meaning also on the other
hand, saying he is the light of the world, he is light not
simply to these Jews who had what they thought was an exclusive
on God, but he is the light of the world. He is the light to
Gentiles as well as Jews. And this is exactly what the
prophet had long said before in Isaiah. He says, speaking
for God, it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant
to raise up to the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved
of Israel. But I will also give thee for
a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto
the end of the earth. In other words, he was not only
come to bring out of darkness a people from among the Jews,
but also a people, maybe a greater number of people, also to lighten
the Gentiles. But although all of these things
be true, light is also used for truth. The word of truth, the
gospel. Light is used to speak of understanding
and to speak of revelation. so that those who believe on
Christ, they are those who believe the truth, the gospel of Christ,
and who, as he says here, also follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because he's the light. And whoever, he says, he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness. I said recently that
Jesus Christ that place that is as Paul said in him is the
place where the sun never goes down. He is the light of the
world and he is the sun in that city that the scriptures use
to describe his people. That new Jerusalem, that Zion
of God, not simply a place, but most especially a people. So that when John saw the new
Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, how was it? As a bride
adorned for her husband. And he goes on to describe that
city, that people. And it says, And the city had
no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb was the light
thereof." In other words, if we ever have,
if we ever receive any true light from God, it will be in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when you read as scripture
shows us in places like the last chapter of the book of Malachi,
the prophet is used of God to speak of the Messiah, to speak
of God's coming Christ in this way. Malachi chapter four and
verse two. He says, but unto you that fear
my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. What are the wings of the sun? Well, the wings of the sun are
simply the beams of the sun. And Christ is described not only
as a son, but he is also described as the son of righteousness that
arises with healing in his wings. and being the son of righteousness,
the light of righteousness. He is the light of righteousness
which is none other than God's righteousness. He is the light
as to where righteousness is given in and where the gospel
wherein that righteousness is revealed so that each and every
one who has true light, it is according to the truth as it
is in Christ Jesus. Now you may have what men call
light concerning every subject known to man. And you may even
have light in the sense of having some knowledge of the facts and
the figures and the places and the people and the history and
all these things that we find in the Bible. But we only have
light as we know these things and as we understand those things
concerning Jesus Christ and him crucified. He is the light of
the world. Turn over to 2 Timothy and look
with me in 2 Timothy at what the Apostle Paul writes in 2
Timothy to Timothy when he says concerning his own state that
he was presently in, being in prison for preaching the gospel. Verse 8 of chapter 1 he says,
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God. God who has saved
us and called us within holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now Paul is
admonishing Timothy. to be faithful to that which
he had been taught by the apostle, faithful to this gospel, do not
be ashamed to preach it, do not be ashamed because Paul, for
preaching it, was now in prison. But he says, God who has saved
us. Past tense. who hath called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, but is now made manifest. You see, there's not any new
gospel. That old writer said, if it's
new, it isn't true, and if it's true, it isn't new. This is the
everlasting gospel. And he says, but it is now made
manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who
hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light. through the gospel. Here it all is, life. You can't separate light and
life. Here it is, that life which God
gave his people in Christ, which he gave them in Christ, which
he gave them before the world began, which he gave them according
to his own grace and not their worth. He's brought it to light
through the gospel. And somebody says, well, why
do we have to hear the gospel all the time? Why can't we hear
something about this and that and all the other subjects that
men delight to delve in because they do not want to preach the
gospel that gives all the glory to God and does not accomplish
their real purposes? Because it's through the gospel.
that he who is the light is made manifest and this abolishment
of death and this life and immortality is brought to light through the
gospel. So when you hear what Paul says
and turn over and listen to what Peter says when he writes in
2 Peter 2 Peter chapter 1. Because in 2 Peter chapter 1,
Peter is talking as a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ when
they were on the Mount of Transfiguration and there shined as it were such
a glorious light around him that we call it the Mount of Transfiguration. And I'm sure everybody would
look at Peter and say, oh, to have been witness to that. Oh,
to have seen the glistering, as the scriptures describe it,
the glistering light, the bright holiness, the shining deity,
the glory of God. Now listen to what Peter says. He said, we were eyewitnesses. to that majesty. Verse 18 he
says, and this voice came from heaven, we heard when we were
with him in the holy mount. Next statement, we have also
a more sure word of prophecy. Wait a minute, you mean to tell
me that there's something more sure, something more real if
you will? than actually by the natural
light beholding the light and the glory and the glistening
and the shining of the glory of Christ in person. That's what he says. We have a more sure word of prophecy
where unto you do well that you take heed He's talking about
the written word of God. He's talking about the gospel
of the grace and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, where
into you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place. My friends, there is no darker
place. than the human heart. There is
no darker place than the human natural mind. And the proof of it, there are
so many, but the proof of it is in evidence in everything
that you see going on in this world right this hour that makes
you shudder and tremble with fear. You know where it came
from? Came from the darkness of the
human heart. Christ said out of the heart. precedes all these murders, lies,
all the vileness, he said, out of the heart. So
he said, we have this more sure word of prophecy, and you would
do well to take heed to it, as unto a light that shineth in
a dark place until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your
hearts. You know what the day star is. I don't know at what point in
my great education it came, but at some point I found out that
the day star was the sun. The stars come out at night,
but there is a star, the Day Star, that is so bright that it lights
up the whole earth that it's shining on. It's light. And Christ is likened
to the Day Star. He is likened and called even
the Son of Righteousness. So if we find anything out about
purity and holiness, if we see anything out about how and who
God is, if we see anything about the truth, it'll have to be in Him and it'll
have to be from Him. Why? Because He is the light
of the world. Now I want you to look also in
1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1, because here
is John who, as I quoted earlier, has made the statement that this
is the message that they heard of him and declare unto you that
God is light and in him is no darkness at all. But he's just talked about some having fellowship with God. Did you know that the apostle,
Christ, the prophets, all in some way or another said that
there is no connection between dark and light? And yet he is now talking through
the Apostle John of a fellowship that exists between some that
in themselves are nothing but darkness and him who is the light
himself. God is light and in him is no
darkness. But look at what he goes on to
say. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as
He is in the light, We have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And if we say that we have not
sinned, We make him a liar, and his word is not in us." Now,
he's talking about men and women who, though sinners in themselves,
who though darkness itself, and yet they're having fellowship
with God. And I can tell you how this is
most often by most commentaries spoken of. They say something
like this, if you walk and your conduct of life is such, if you
walk the Christian walk, if you walk in such conduct, you have
fellowship with God. If you don't do that, you can't
have fellowship with God. But is that not based on something
we do or we don't do? So it really comes down to this
question. What is it to walk in the light? What is it to walk in the light and in that have fellowship with
God who is nothing but light? Well, to walk in the light is
to walk by faith, to be led by the Spirit of God in the things
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't really have anything
to do with sinning less. And on that basis, being able
to fellowship with God. Because he goes on immediately
and says, if you say that you haven't sinned, you not only
lie, you make God a liar. In what way, at what point, can such as we are have fellowship
with God? God who is light. What is it
to walk in the light? It is simply and plainly to walk
by faith, to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and only Him as
all of our righteousness, all of our salvation, and in that
we are brought in a total agreement with God. You say, what do you mean? Well,
what is fellowship? I'll tell you what this fellowship
is. This fellowship is God and the believing sinner meeting
together and both agreeing on one thing. This fellow. God said, I've laid hold and
help on one that is my fellow. The sinner who by the grace of
God is brought to believe on Christ and trust in Christ for
all of salvation, that sinner is confessing and believing that
we have committed all to this one fellow. And in this one fellow,
the Lord Jesus Christ, we have fellowship with God. Can you just for a minute imagine
the foolishness of thinking that you can improve enough tomorrow
and maybe by the week improve a little bit, improve a little
bit more, read the Bible a little bit more, Say less ugly things,
be more kind, which you ought to do, by the way. But do you think at the end of
the week, you'd be any closer to being able, on the basis of
that, to having fellowship with him who's light? When he says, man at his best
state. You on your best day is altogether vanity. Vanity. He says, but if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, How is God in the light as far
as it being light to us? He's light to us through and
by the gospel, which brings to light that life to light through
and by the purpose, the grace of God and the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If we walk in the light, as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. Where does a sinner have no sin
so as to be able to have fellowship with the thrice holy God? in Christ. I have sin in myself. I'm still sinful in myself. I
could never improve on my best day enough to be able to fellowship
with God. But in the light of the gospel
of Christ, I have no sin. Because he hath perfected forever
Them that are sanctified. Because He has by Himself purged
our sins. He has by Himself saved us from
all our sins. And that's what is brought to
light. And it is life itself through
Him who is the light of the world. But how does a sinner who's in
darkness come to this light? Well, as we say sometimes, the
law of first mention works really well sometimes in interpreting
the scriptures. And if we follow this rule, the
law of first mention, we'll go all the way back to Genesis where
the earth was nothing but darkness. How did light come about then? It came about when the Almighty
God said, let there be light and there was light. Or as it
reads, actually, I think he said, light be and light was. And the same is true with a sinner.
who's brought to the light, whose eyes are opened, who's given
sight. That light as it came in the
beginning comes also by an act of God, an act of revelation,
not only to us concerning Christ, but in us. This is exactly what
Paul said. He said, but if our gospel be
hid, It is hid 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. And he continues. For we preach
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your
servants, for Jesus' sake, 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. So Paul says, the God of this
world has blinded the eyes of men and women. And they cannot
see in their blindness. They cannot see Christ as the
light. They have no light in matters
concerning to God and they'll never have it if left to themselves. So somebody says, Paul, why'd
you preach then? Paul said, because that's the
way we were. And that God, who is light, has
done just like he did in the natural creation. He hath shined
light rather so into our hearts that we might behold the glory
of God in the face of Christ. And if he did that to us, he can do it to whomever he pleases. I'll tell you, I have family
members that sit in darkness. It's multiplied darkness. Because
the light that they have is darkness in them. They can quote John
3, 16 and a few other verses, but the light that they have
in them is actually darkness. And great is that darkness. You say, well, they'll never
be saved, I guess. No. Because the God who said in the
beginning, let there be light, and there was light. The God
who shined in the heart of Saul of Tarsus, that rebellious, religious,
wicked sinner. The God who shined in the light
of this blind preacher can as easily, be they one of his children,
shine into their hearts. And when he does, They're going to see the light
of the world. They're going to see the glory
of all that God is, the glory of all his grace, the glory of
his salvation. They're going to see that every
bit of it is in Christ and they'll have light. Not until then. But everyone that the Spirit
of God comes to them and in their heart and reveals Christ, they
have light. And it is light that Paul says
comes from a revelation. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not
heard, it's not even entered into the mind of man, the things
that God has prepared for them that love him, he says, but he
hath revealed them unto us. He's given us a revelation. He's
shined the light in our darkness. He's shined the light to reveal
Christ and His perfect work of righteousness. And He says, He's
shined the light in our hearts that we might know the things
that are freely given unto us of God. Now, those who preach their opinions and those who imagine that works
have some part in salvation and a host of other things, too many
to mention, they're darkness. God said if they speak not according
to this word, it is because there's no light
in them. No light. If they had light,
they would be preaching Christ and only Christ. what he says in this book about
Christ. And the practical effect of this
light in us, which is knowledge of salvation,
which is understanding as to how God can save us and be just,
is peace and comfort Have you ever had those nights
when you couldn't sleep? Or maybe you sit up with a sick
loved one, or maybe you're sick yourself, something like that,
and every minute seems to be an hour in itself. And when that first beam of sunrise
comes up the next morning, what a glorious, wonderful, delightful,
comforting, joyous sight it is. And my friend, when we live in
the darkness of ourselves, in the darkness of our sin, What a glorious sight it is when
we see the glory of God's saving mercy and grace in the face of
Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you in closing,
I'll give you just one more effect of light. And that is something we find
everywhere in this book. Not only is the effect of light
a knowledge of God in Christ, fellowship with God in Christ,
salvation in Christ, hope in Christ, peace in Christ, but also it brings a love for
the brethren. This same apostle Writing in
1 John chapter 2, he says, Again a new commandment I write unto
you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness
is past and the true light now shineth. But he that saith he's
in the light and hateth his brother is in
darkness even until now. Wherever there is real light,
there will be real love for the people of God. And the basis
of fellowship that we have for one another, being still sinners as we are
in ourselves, the basis of fellowship that we have one for another
is the same basis of fellowship we have with God. And that's
Christ. We love one another. We forgive
one another. We delight to have fellowship
with one another because we agree on Christ. And some of the petty things
that men and women divide over in our day If we could just for
one minute stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, all those divisive
things would appear so utterly ridiculous because Christ is everything. Paul says to the Ephesians, for
ye were sometimes darkness But now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. He says to the Thessalonians,
you are all the children of light and the children of the day.
We are not of the night nor of darkness. And Peter says, you're a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood. a holy nation, a peculiar people,
that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Where there is light, there is
the light of the world. Where there is light, there is
the truth concerning Christ and God's purpose of grace to his
people in Christ. And where there's light, real
light, there's love. There's love. And he that saith he's in the
light and hates his brother, is in darkness even until light. And we may be able to, we may
be able to quote a few things or explain a few things. But he said, if we have not love,
we're like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. And we don't have any real true
light. Because true light with that
light brings love. Christ said, I'm the light of
the world. He that followeth me shall never
walk in darkness. But they'll have the light of
life. God help us to keep our eyes
on the light. I've been in a few situations
in my life, in some dark places. And when I saw just the slightest
flicker of light, that's where I hit it. And I
was never disappointed. God helped us to be among those
who follow the light. Thank you.