If you will, turn of me in your Bibles to John chapter 8, and I'm going to be reading
from verse 12 through verse 20 of John chapter 8.
And what we are looking at here are the I Am Statements of Jesus.
Some of those statements you are very familiar with.
I am the good shepherd.
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
And today we are going to look at Jesus who describes himself as the light of the world.
Let's give our attention to how Jesus describes himself as he is getting in a dispute with
the Pharisees.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
The Pharisees challenged him, here you are appearing as your own witness.
Your testimony is not valid.
Jesus answered, even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know
where I came from and where I am going.
But you have no idea where I came from or where I am going.
You judge by human standards.
I pass judgment on no one.
But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone.
I stand with the Father who sent me.
And your own law, it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.
I am the one who testifies for myself.
My other witness is the Father who sent me.
Then they ask him, where is your Father?
You do not know me or my Father, Jesus replied.
If you knew me, you would know my Father also.
And he spoke these words while teaching in the temple court near the place where the
offerings were put.
Yet no one seized them because his hour had not come.
Let's ask God to bless his holy and inerrant word.
Heavenly Father, we need your Holy Spirit now, so that we not only are hearers of the
word, but doers of your word.
Help us to be people of the light.
You walk in the light.
Hear us as we ask for your help, because we are weak and needy, and sometimes we are stubborn,
and we don't want to hear what your word says.
Be with us now, amen.
What do the following have in common?
A flashlight, the sun, the moon, headlights, or a torch?
What do they all have in common?
Yes, and the answer is?
They all make light.
Very good.
For you today, they either create light or they reflect light in some ways.
Now, if you're a human being living in this world, we've got to have light.
It is important to us.
Now, every year I have to make my yearly trip to Orlando, and for whatever reason, American
Airlines on the way back cannot seem to get me from Orlando to Pensacola in one shot.
I always have to leave Orlando, go to Miami, and wait, and wait, and wait for a plane.
And finally, it is like nine or ten o'clock at night when I can get on that plane, and
you get on it, and then after a while they dim the lights, and it is very dark.
And you look out at the airport, you can see a few lights, but then you take off, and you
get up over Miami, and what do you see?
All of those lights.
I mean, not just a few, there is a lot of lights in Miami at night, and I just think
about all the power that is being expended to keep all those lights going.
But believe me, it is very beautiful to be in the air at night, and you're looking down
on a major city.
It is no wonder that our satellites from outer space can look down on this earth, and they
can see all the lights from those major cities.
Because we need to have light.
You've got to have light to get around.
You've got to have light to keep you safe.
You've got to have light in your house at night so you don't stumble over things.
And let me ask you, have you ever been in a situation where it is total darkness?
And most of the time, there is background light, especially if you live in a city.
There has been one time in my life when I'd experienced total darkness, and it was in
my first year of teaching, we took a group of kids camping in the Appalachian Mountains,
and there was no background light.
And since we were roughing it, we did not allow them to have flashlights, which by the
way, that was a mistake.
And I remember walking along, you could not see in front of you.
You were worried about, were you going to trip, or would you run into some sort of animal
and or creepy crawly that you did not want to meet?
It occurred to me then, you need to have light.
You've got to have it so that you do not get in trouble.
Well in this I am statement, Jesus tells us, he's the light.
I am the light, he said, and just as there is darkness in this world, so there is spiritual
darkness, which can be very dangerous and deadly to those of us who are Christians.
And the reason the Holy Spirit has given us this passage of Scripture is that it shows
us that Jesus is the light of truth in a very dark world.
And if you read through this passage in other portions of John's Gospel and Epistle, there
is that contrast between light and darkness.
Well Jesus is the light.
He's the light of truth.
And we as His people need to understand what are the implications for that for our life.
Jesus said, I am the light.
So what does it mean to you?
Well first of all, when he says I am the light, he reveals that he is the truth that is the
light.
That's what we need to understand.
And that image is used of light, it means truth.
That's what Jesus is talking about here.
And in the Bible, that word light, it can refer to many things.
It can refer to literal light like sun produces, the light of a lamp, the light that comes
from God himself.
The Bible, when God appears on the scene, he is so great that he manifests light, which
people can barely tolerate.
But we also have to keep in mind when light is used, it is referencing also something
about God.
The God is truthful.
God is good.
His salvation is true.
It is not unreal.
It is not false.
What you see and hear from God is what you get.
Because God is light.
And what does Scripture say in John chapter 1 verse 5, God is light.
In Him there is no darkness.
That light of God is His glory and it is His truth.
And if you look at what the Bible says here, over and over throughout this passage, that
word truth, validity, it is used over and over again.
In verse 32, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
And think about it from the old cartoons that you used to look at.
Remember when someone had a great idea, what would you see over their head?
A light bulb.
Yeah, or we say, let's say you go and hear a good talk or a good speech.
Oh, that was illuminating.
See the idea?
Light and truth go together.
And Jesus is saying here, I am the truth of God.
I am the light.
I and God are one.
Jesus reveals the ways of God to man through His words and through His character.
You want to know the truth about religion and salvation?
Turn to Jesus.
He's the light of the world.
You want to know the truth about the way to live?
Turn to Jesus.
He is the light of the world.
You want to know the truth about the condition of this world?
Turn to Jesus.
He's the light of this world.
Now we need to ask ourselves this morning, so what does that mean for me?
First of all, truth in today's world is a very rare commodity.
You don't hear a lot of truth.
The world is dark.
And we have got to think that God is the one who reveals truth.
He does not lie.
He does not represent, misrepresent Himself.
And look at the problem, the Pharisees were having here.
Jesus tells them, you guys judge things by the flesh in a more literal translation or
according to human opinion.
Jesus says, I tell you the truth.
And it's not only coming from me, it's coming from God who bears witness to me.
And here's the type of people who need to hear this this morning.
Let's just say you go out and you tell someone about this church.
Let's just say you tell them, look, the Bible is taught here.
If you want to know the truth about how you get to heaven, come to Warrington Presbyterian
Church.
And the response may be, oh, there are many ways to heaven.
We don't need to be too fanatical.
I'm sorry.
And what goes on in your mind when you hear that time after time again, you start to think,
well, maybe God hasn't revealed the truth to us.
Or let's just say you are married to your husband.
You tell him over and over again the truth of salvation that we find in Jesus Christ
and His Word.
And you tell him these things for years and years and years, but he's a macho man.
He likes to go out there and do that manly hunting and fishing.
It has no time for church.
But that wife tells him and the husband says, well, that's for wimps.
He's dying on the crosses for wimps.
I don't think so.
But what has that wife tempted to think?
Well, maybe it's not the truth.
Keep in mind, brothers and sisters in Christ, you should not be ashamed of what is a very
narrow view.
God is like.
Jesus is like.
And the light is truth.
And as Jesus later says, that truth will set you free.
And I want you to think for a moment of the imagery of light and truth for a moment.
When Jesus is talking to these people, it's probably the Feast of Tabernacles.
And during the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jews would light lights and put them out in their
courtyard.
And maybe when Jesus is telling him this, he can see the light from those candles around
him.
But it's not just light.
It's the true light with him or think of our New Year's service or our Christmas Eve service
rather.
The best part of that service is after the word has been read and the hymns have been
sung, we light the candles and all is dark.
But you could see the light.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, that light is truth.
And Jesus has shown it to us.
Jesus does not lie because he is the light.
And we face a world that has a lot of human opinions, which simply are not true.
When it comes to Christianity.
Now, all this talk about truth sounds awfully intellectual, doesn't it?
But there's more here.
We are not simply to be hears of the word, we're to be doers of the word.
And look in verse 12 what else Jesus says about the light.
He says, I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Did you see what he's saying there?
You're not to walk in darkness.
That is a way of saying the actions in your life should not reflect the evil of the world
around you.
You should not be walking in a way that is constantly denying by your life.
The idea of the word of God.
And that's what a lot of people do.
You and I want to reflect the holiness and righteousness of God.
Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians chapter five.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light.
The fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.
And find out what pleases the Lord, have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness,
but rather expose them.
Our life in Christ is to reflect the light and truth of God.
That's what he's saying here.
You need to ask yourself some questions this morning.
Can people see the light of God in you?
Can they see His truth in my works and beliefs?
Can they see the light of the love of God in my behavior?
Can they see a sinner who trusts in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Years ago, President Bush came out with a statement that a lot of people made fun of.
He said that in America we need to be a thousand points of light, and for various reasons people
made fun of it.
But I can't get over that image when it comes to the Christian church.
Because we are to be those points of light.
We are to reflect the light of God by what goes on not only in this church, but in our
homes and in our workplace as well.
That is why Jesus tells His disciples, let your light shine before men, and realize that
walking in the light, it is good for you.
It is not bad, evil is darkness, and there is a lot of that evil darkness in our behavior,
and in the behavior of this world.
Recently in the news journal this week, there was an article that came out.
And there is some debate in a school, I believe it's in Orlando or in South Florida, and here's
the debate.
There is a girl in name only who has gotten kicked off the volleyball team.
Why did she get kicked off the volleyball team?
Because according to state law, she's not a girl.
She was born a boy.
And what happened is the mom, when this child was in first grade, started giving that child
puberty blockers.
And I'm thinking to myself, how many of you listen to what your one year old wants?
But yeah, when it comes to human sexuality, we throw that all out the window.
That's darkness.
Do you realize what that type of drug does to the human body?
And that's just one example.
There are other examples as well.
If any of you want a good PBS series to watch, it's called Guilt.
It takes place in Scotland, and it begins with a man and his brother who has had a bit
too much to drink running over a man.
And they try to cover it up.
But here's what you find out as the story unfolds.
That man who got run over, one of his relatives was killing him by giving him poison, but
the other characters don't know that.
And then you've got the mob involved in all of this.
And the theme, guilt.
What's happening?
They're all leading miserable, guilty lives because they have chosen a path of darkness
by their behavior and their words, which is killing them, destroying their lives.
Darkness causes chaos.
And what do we see in our world?
A lot of chaos because of darkness and people refusing to walk in the light.
So you may be saying to yourself, now, well, Pastor, how do I walk in the light?
Well here's how.
First is it a desire of your heart.
Here's what separates the nominal Christian from the one who is truly saved.
The spiritual person has a desire to walk in the light.
Carnal Christian, as some have called them, or the not so spiritual one just doesn't care.
It's Christianity in name only.
That's why they're nominal Christians.
They don't care about what Jesus wants.
They may go to church.
They may put on a good facade.
There is no desire to do exactly what Jesus wants.
Two, you need to keep in mind that in this world you are a walking advertisement for
God.
Why does God say walk in the light?
Why does he say don't cover up your light?
Because your acts and words lead people to God.
Think of it this way.
If you go to New York and you go to Times Square, you see those big electric signs with
all their lights, what do they want you to do?
Buy that product in the more lights, the brighter, the more you may be tempted to do exactly
that.
That's what you are as witnesses of Christ.
Your righteousness is in part designed to draw people to Christ, not turn people off.
Ask yourself, is your behavior different from a non-Christian?
You know, I've been doing the church work for quite a while now.
And most of the time there's not a lot of difference between believers in name only
and non-believers.
They both act the same way.
They're not walking in the light.
Finally, take a look at Galatians chapter 5 and I'll repeat this over and over again.
If you want to know how to walk into the light, ask what the Spirit is doing in your life.
Are you filled with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness?
Those are the activities of light.
See Jesus is light.
Walk in the light.
And one other bit of information here that you realize is that light also gives life
in other words, it's good for you.
Think of photosynthesis.
You've got to have light for plants to grow.
In body, you've got to have sunlight to produce vitamins in your body.
Well, the light of God's ways give us light.
Now I've been a Christian since, I guess, my teenage years.
So that's several, several decades.
And I would not tell you that everything in my life has always been pleasant in following
Christ.
There have been some very tough times.
There have been temptations.
But I would also have to tell you I'm a lot better off and a lot more alive from following
Jesus Christ than not.
And there have been people who have been born in the exact same situation I have.
And what has happened to them?
They have made a mess of their lives.
They are in darkness.
But I thank God for the grace of the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's shown on me.
And that it saved me from darkness.
I thank Jesus that He is the light.
And that is so important in this dark, dark world.
Let's pray.
Our Heavenly Father, how we need the light of your presence, of your salvation, of your
glory.
And may we get it inside of our heads that we should not be ashamed of the truth of God
but instead help us to believe it, to walk in it and even to enjoy it.
Be with your people now so that we reflect the light of God.
Amen.