Let us turn tonight in our Bibles
to John chapter 12. John chapter 12 and beginning
to read in verse 37 through the end of the chapter. But though
he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed
not on him. that the saying of Esaias the
prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed
of report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe,
because Esaias said again, he hath blinded their eyes and hardened
their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor
understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should
heal them. These things said Esaias when
he saw his glory and spake of him. Nevertheless, among the
chief rulers also many believed on him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. For they loved the praise of
men more than the praise of God. Jesus cried and said, he that
believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him
that sent me. I am come a light into the world
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words
and believe not, I judge him not. For I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth
not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken
of myself, but the Father which sent me. He gave me a commandment,
what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. Our text tonight is verse 46,
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am come a light into the world
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. This verse speaks to us, of course,
of what, as you said, the world is celebrating, especially at
this time of the year, the birth of the Lord Jesus. I have four
observations I want to make. First, observe the importance
of these words. If you notice in verse 44, Scripture says Jesus cried and
said. The importance of the words of
our text. Every word that the Lord Jesus
Christ spoke was important. He was never guilty as you and
I of speaking an idle word, an empty word, but the fact that
he cried these words. The Apostle tells us that he
cried these words. To me, adds emphasis to them. In the Gospels, we read of several
times when the Lord Jesus cried. He lifted up his voice and cried
to give emphasis to his words. Let me give us a few examples.
In John 7 and verse 37, In the last day of the feast, that great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Outside the tomb of
Lazarus, we read, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. On the cross of Calvary, he cried
with a loud voice, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit
and gave up the ghost. What is it that we see here in
the context? And I remember a preacher one
time said, a text without the context is a pretext. A text without the context is
a pretext. So I always like to show us the
context in which our text is given. Now the text is, I am
come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me
should not abide in darkness. Now what's the context of our
Lord crying these words? What do we see in the context
that gives special importance to these words? Well notice in
verse 42, we are told that many believed on him. Many believed
on him, but did not confess him, for they loved the praise of
men more than the praise of God." Consider how important this is. And I ask all of us here tonight,
is there anyone here tonight like this? Do you believe on
Him? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and yet you have never confessed your faith in Him? The Apostle Paul in Romans 10
wrote, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. The context is that many believed
on Him. But they loved the praise of
men more than the praise of God, so they did not confess Him. They did not confess Him. How
is it, and how do we confess our faith on Him? Well, the first
thing is through baptism. We know that the Lord has given
us this ordinance of baptism for those who believe on Him,
to confess Him publicly. And not only in baptism, but
we identify with Him. We become a part of His family,
a part of a local church family. We profess Him, we confess Him,
we identify with Him. And not only that, of course,
but with our lives. We confess Him, the way we live,
the way we conduct ourselves. We confess that we are believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And with our mouths, we confess
Him when we are given the opportunity to confess Him before man, that
He is our Lord. So the context, the importance
of the words, they are important, and we see the context in which
they are given. Now second, I want us to see
this, observe that this is not one Now listen, this is not one
of the many great I am passages in the Gospel of John. We do
have those two words, I am, in our text. I am come a light into
the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. But this is not one of the many
great I am passages in the Gospel of John. This is different. from
those texts when he declared, I am. This is different. He said, I am the good shepherd. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. I am the resurrection and the
life. Verily, verily, before Abraham
was, I am. And look at this one back in
John 8, verse 24. There are just a number of these
I am passages in the Gospel of John, more so than in the other
Gospels. And that is the emphasis of the
Gospel of John, isn't it? The deity of Christ. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
and the Word became flesh. That's the emphasis of His deity
is set forth in every one of the four Gospels, that's true,
but especially in the Gospel of John. His being a servant,
for instance, is set forth in the Gospel of Mark. Straightway,
that's the word that is so common through the Gospel of Mark. And
Luke and Matthew, they both have their emphasis. But John's special
emphasis is the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am, I am. And here in John 8, in verse
24, he said, I said, therefore unto you that you shall die in
your sins, for if you believe not that I am, Ye shall die in your sins. You know, that was Peter's confession. Peter confessed the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you look in John six, turn
back with me to John chapter six, just a moment. We're talking
about confession. Here's Peter's confession in
John chapter six and beginning in verse 66, We are told from
that time many of his disciples went back. And what was it that
caused them to turn back? This is a hard saying. This is
a hard saying. What was that hard saying? Except
you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. There are several hard sayings
here. And because of these hard sayings,
many turned and walked no more with him. From that time, many
of the disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then
said Jesus unto the 12, will you also go away? Will you turn
back as well? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Lord, to whom shall we go? That's the confession of
every child of God, isn't it? Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. No one else has them. Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And now notice his confession.
And we believe and are sure. People talk about assurance.
Here's assurance. We believe and are sure. But
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord
Jesus Christ said, except you believe that I am, you shall
die in your sins. Thou art the Son of the living
God. In all of these I am passages
in John, he confesses to be Jehovah, the self-existent Lord. The Lord
who appeared to Moses at that burning bush and confessed his
name, I am, he was, when he says I am, he was, is, and will be
the same, unchangeably the same, past, present, and future, as
far as we consider things. I am eternally the same. Now that being said, that this
is not one of the great I am passages in John. We do see here
that he confessed his deity, his oneness with God, the Father. He confesses both his deity and
his humanity. Notice in verses 44 and 45, verse
44, he that believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent
me. Well, how is that? How is it
to believe on Him is to believe on Him that sent Him. And the
next verse, He that seeth me seeth Him that sent me. Obviously,
they're one. The Father and the Son are one. And so also God the Holy Spirit,
one God who manifests and exists in a trinity of persons. And
to see him is to see the father. He said that later, didn't he?
In John chapter 14, when Thomas said, show us the father, I believe
it was Thomas or Philip, show us the father and it sufficeth
us. Philip, have I been so long time
with you and you've not seen me? He that has seen me has seen
the father. Now that's only so because of
their oneness. He said in John 10 and 30, I
and my Father are one. One. So he confessed, this is
not one of those I am passages, that's true. But we see, he confesses
his deity, he's one with the Father. To believe in him is
to believe in the Father. To see him is to see the Father. And yet he also confesses his
humanity because we could hear him speak. That's what John said
over in first John, isn't it? When he talks about seeing him
and hearing him and touching him, we hear him speak. They heard him speak with a human
voice. He cried with a loud voice and
also they see Him and hear Him. He had a body, a real body that
speaks of His incarnation so that to believe on Him is to
believe on the Father and to see Him is to see the Father. He was sent by the Father. I am come, a light unto the world. So we see the importance of these
words, he cried. And we do see though it's not
one of the I am passages that he confesses his deity and his
humanity. And third, I want us to observe
seven things which are true of him and are pictured to us under
the emblem of light, light. He said, I am come a light unto
the world. There's one obvious thing that
is true of light that cannot picture him. There's one obvious
thing that is true of light that cannot picture him. Light had
a creator, and light had a beginning. He had neither. He is God. He had no creator. He is the
Creator, and He had no beginning. He's the Ancient of Days. But
in the beginning, in Genesis chapter 1, we read, yes, light
had a creator. God said, light be, and light
was. It had a beginning. And light
was created before God created the heavenly bodies, the sun
and the moon. light. But here are seven things
about light that may picture the Lord Jesus Christ. The first,
light reveals or makes things known. In Ephesians 5 and verse
13, the apostle said, whatsoever doth make manifest is light. In a dark room with the shades
pulled, There are many particles of dust, but they are not seen. But open the shades, turn on
the light, and there you see them. Now the light did not produce
the dust, it just manifested the dust that was already there. Light manifests. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
this is a condemnation that light is coming to the world. And men
love darkness rather than light. Why is that? Because their deeds
are evil. To come to the light is to have
their deeds made manifest. When we think of light as making
things known, how light makes the grace of God shine in such
beauty, doesn't it? Think about that. Light, light
manifests. And when we see and think about
the grace of God, how the light, the Lord Jesus Christ, makes
grace shine and sparkle and everything beautiful to a believer, the
grace of God. Does the scripture really say
that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound? Does it
really say that? Yes, it does. It really does. Oh, the grace. John Newton, listen
to his words, familiar words. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. Light manifests. And oh, how
Jesus Christ, the light of the world, I am come the light. makes the grace of God appear
unto us and appear so precious to His children. A second thing
about light, and before I move on, light manifests. reading a book, a very interesting
book, fearfully and wonderfully made. The author of that book
was a Christian missionary in India. He was a medical doctor,
and his wife also was a medical doctor, and they worked among
the lepers. His specialty had to do with
reconstructing hands, and her specialty was working with the
eyes. And leprosy causes a person to
lose their extremities and also to lose their sight. But one
of the examples he gave, and I could see this so well because
of our experience years ago, we would have dentists come and
visit us and we were working out and sometimes in places where
there was no electricity. And so my wife and I and Brother
Walter Grover and Betty and we'd hold a light, a flashlight. You
see, you go to the dentist, they've got that light, you know, up
above you and they put it right in there so they can see real
clear. And we'd hold the light shining in, manifesting, makes
manifest, shining into the mouth of those people the dentist were
working on so they could see. But the doctor, writing this
book, he told about his wife working in a village, and her
specialty was with the eyes, and she could do surgery in very
primitive conditions, probably even more primitive than we knew
in India. And he told about one village
where she chose a young lad, about 13 or 14 years old, to
hold the light for. And he was shining that light
on the eye that she was working on. And he was doing a good job,
patient after patient. But then a patient came along,
and she'd have to say, shine that light. Point that light
on the eye. And he'd get off the object. He'd be shining the light here
and shining the light there. Well, come to find out. The lady
the doctor was working on was this boy's mother. And he was
distracted. You can imagine watching the
doctor operating on his mother's eyes. And she did surgery, restorative
surgery. And for the first time, this
mother saw her son. First time. The one that was
holding the light. Not immediately, I'm sure. But
he was 13 or 14 years old, and this was the first time she had
ever seen the face of her son. That's amazing, isn't it? Light
manifests. In Christ, I am come a light. And he manifests. He manifests
our sin, and he manifests the grace of God. And a second thing,
light directs our way. In John chapter 11 and verse
9, he said, if any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not. because he seeth the light of
this world. The Lord Jesus Christ, he is
come a light, the light of this world. And he directs us into
the way of life. In fact, he himself is the way
of life. He said, I am come that they
might have life. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. When the Lord
Jesus Christ said, I am the resurrection and the life. There's no life
apart from Christ. There's no natural life, no physical
life. In Him we live and move and have
our being. And in union with Him, in union
with Him, He that hath the Son, by faith we have life. because He is our life. And apart from Him, separated
from Him, men do not have life, eternal life. Number three, light has the ability
to go anywhere, or I should say everywhere. It does. If there's
just a small crack in the wall, light just goes through it. It
has that ability to go anywhere. And so in Hebrews 4 and verse
12, it is said of the word that is the son of God, all things
are naked and open to his eyes. And every creature is manifest
in his sight. You know, light has gone all
over this world. Christ, I am come a light. I'm
sure you have read examples and you've been thrilled like I have
of many examples over the years. I remember reading in the life
of Charles Spurgeon. You know, they had a stenographer
attend the services there at the tabernacle and they would
take down shorthand his messages. And then the next week they would
be printed in the London papers. Can you imagine that in our day?
Well, people use those papers, read the newspapers. And he told
of hearing one time when they packaged up some stuff, and remember
back when we used to use newspapers to wrap things in? They wrapped
up a package in London, England, and sent it to one of the countries
in South America. and they open up the package,
and there's the sermon. They start reading the gospel
as preached by Mr. Spurgeon, and the Lord saved
someone there. The light has that ability to
go anywhere, everywhere, where the Lord sends it, where the
Lord directs it. I heard a man one time say he
was in jail, in a county jail, And the only thing he had was
a pencil, and he got a piece of paper, and he wanted to write,
I believe it was his family. And on that pencil was a verse
of scripture. And God used that. God used that
in this man's salvation, the word of God. Light, it has that
ability to penetrate, to go anywhere and everywhere. You know, the
writer of Ecclesiastes, he said, cast thy bread upon the water.
When you witness and testify, and I know you do in many different
ways, we all do, we do not know how the Lord may use his word
in calling out his people. But we do know this, he has a
people. He has a people that he's chosen.
He has a people that his son has redeemed And he has a people
he's going to save, he's going to call by the preaching of the
gospel. We do know that. What an encouragement
to all of us to testify and witness and share the gospel with others.
You say, well, I don't, I'm just not good at speaking. I just
don't know what to say. Ask the Lord to help you. Ask
the Lord to give you the words. None of us are sufficient in
and of ourselves. Our sufficiency is of God. Number four, light has a cheering
and warming virtue. A person shut up in a sick room
just benefits by being able to go outside and set in the sun
and let the sun shine upon your face. Be cheered and warmed. One of the prophecies of the
Lord Jesus Christ found in Malachi chapter four and verse two speaks
of him as the son, the S-U-N, the son. Unto you that fear my
name shall the son, S-U-N, the son of righteousness arise with
healing in his wings. And nothing can cheer the heart,
warm the heart like Jesus. I remember the first time I believed
that I ever heard that hymn, nothing thrills my soul but Jesus. Nothing thrills my soul like
Jesus. And I tell you, from the first
time I heard that hymn, I liked it. I liked it. Because that's
just so, isn't it? That's nothing. Light has that
ability to warm and cheer the heart. Don't you know that the
heart of Jarius and his family was cheered that day that his
daughter died, and the Lord Jesus Christ came into that bedroom,
and there she was, and Peter, James, and John, and he took
her by the hand, and he said, I say unto thee, arise, my daughter. Don't you know their heart was
cheered? The light has that ability. Christ,
what a picture of Christ. He has that healing and sharing
ability. And number five, light has a
purifying effect. One writer said, light is the
finding pot of nature. In areas where there is little
light, dark and damp places, diseases often breed. I remember
reading The Conquest of Mexico by Hernan Cortes. He didn't write
the book, but he's the one that conquered. And that's one thing
he figured out pretty soon. There in the lowlands of the
state that's now called Veracruz, his soldiers were going to die
of diseases. So what did he do? He ordered
the three ships to be burned. and moved his camp farther north
to get up in the mountains. A dark and damp place is just
a good place where diseases breed. And Christ is compared to a fountain,
and a fountain opened to purify from sin has that healing effect. who have ever been purified and
cleansed from sin. I remember years ago, mothers,
or ladies, rather, women, they used to take their bedding outside
and put it on the clothesline and just hang it out there in
the sun. Clean it, clear it, purify it, you know. How's that
affect like this? And oh, how Christ purifies the
soul. And you know something about
light, it cannot be defiled. If the light's shining down this
way and you put an old dirty window, and that light shines
right through that dirty window and it does, it's just as pure
on this side as it was on that side. It doesn't pick up any
of the defilement. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
light who was in this world, and yes, he walked, He talked
with sinners in the midst, he lived in the midst of a sinful
generation, but he was not defiled. When he died, he was still that
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, Lord Jesus Christ,
that Holy One of God. And number seven, light is difficult,
if not impossible, to fully comprehend. Have you ever tried to define
what light is? Have you ever read definitions
of light? Well, just take your dictionary
sometime and look, and you will see light is a substance that
is very difficult even for the scientists to define. And so Christ, there is about
him, my friends, that which is difficult. Difficult, impossible
to fully comprehend. We believe these great truths
about him, not because we understand them, but because they are revealed
to us in his word. God was manifest in the flesh. He purged our sins with his own
blood. There's no way we can comprehend
these truths, not fully, but we believe them because we believe
Him who is the light of the world. And the last thing, men born
in darkness need not abide in darkness. That's what He said,
I am come, the light. I am come, a light into the world
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness
by nature. We are born in darkness. We are
born part of Satan's kingdom of darkness. But God translates,
he translates out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
of his dear son. The light has come that whosoever
believes on him no longer abides in darkness. I pray that the
Lord would bless his word to all of us here this evening.
What a text. I am come, I am come a light
into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide
in darkness.