WEBVTT 00:00:00.989 --> 00:00:05.230 life, and that gift is Jesus Christ. Do you and 00:00:05.230 --> 00:00:08.949 I have the opportunity to present that gift to 00:00:08.949 --> 00:00:11.150 others? We can't force them to receive it, but 00:00:11.150 --> 00:00:14.650 we can use this opportunity of the season to 00:00:14.650 --> 00:00:18.629 present that gift to them. Would you open your 00:00:18.629 --> 00:00:24.489 Bible with me please to John chapter 1. Sermons 00:00:24.489 --> 00:00:27.410 from science demonstrated some of the remarkable 00:00:27.410 --> 00:00:31.870 physical qualities of light as we sat under that 00:00:31.870 --> 00:00:35.469 ministry last summer. We listened to music that 00:00:35.469 --> 00:00:38.509 was transmitted by a light beam. We marveled 00:00:38.509 --> 00:00:42.469 at the power of a laser. But the most common 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:45.689 quality of light is perhaps its most useful. 00:00:46.409 --> 00:00:48.490 And that is the one that we're using here this 00:00:48.490 --> 00:00:55.149 morning. For light dispels darkness. We create 00:00:55.149 --> 00:00:58.929 light in order to dispel darkness with lamps, 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.500 street lights, a flashlight. These things are 00:01:03.500 --> 00:01:07.359 useful to us and they're even important to society. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:12.040 For when the light is on, it tends to reduce 00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:14.680 evil. But when the lights go off, as they did 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:18.280 a few years ago in New York City because of a 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:24.579 power outage, evil explodes. Light destroys darkness. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:29.599 It illuminates what is unseen until the light 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:36.060 is present. In John chapter 1, in verse 4, we 00:01:36.060 --> 00:01:39.920 read regarding the Word, the logos of God, in 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:46.859 him, in Jesus Christ, was life. And the life 00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:52.439 was the light of men, and the light shines in 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:57.019 the darkness. The Apostle John uses light here 00:01:57.019 --> 00:02:01.280 as a metaphor for the gracious work of Christ 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:08.780 the Messiah, whom he names the Word of God. Later 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:12.139 John will tell us about Jesus standing before 00:02:12.139 --> 00:02:16.139 a crowd and saying, I am the light of the world. 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:20.360 He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:25.539 but shall have the light of life. The work of 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:30.379 Jesus Christ can be described as light. As light 00:02:30.379 --> 00:02:36.000 in several respects. Revelation, salvation, life, 00:02:36.460 --> 00:02:42.139 hope. Today we want to think of his work as that 00:02:42.139 --> 00:02:46.020 of revelation. Jesus Christ is the word who brought 00:02:46.020 --> 00:02:50.680 the light of revelation to the world. We dare 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:55.539 not miss what he came to reveal. In the first 00:02:55.539 --> 00:02:59.219 place, he came to reveal to us the situation. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:05.819 What is that situation? It is that darkness exists. 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:11.599 In verse 5 it says, and the light shines in the 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:16.960 darkness. What is this darkness of which John 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:23.479 speaks? Well, it's not physical darkness. It's 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:28.340 moral. and spiritual darkness. Darkness can be 00:03:28.340 --> 00:03:33.520 defined as the absence of light. It's difficult 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:37.759 to define darkness in positive terms. For darkness 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:40.360 is the absence of something. It is the absence 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:43.939 of light. It's the lack of clear understanding. 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:51.520 It's difficulty in perceiving. Darkness is the 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:56.560 clouded intellect. Darkness is ignorance that 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.879 thus leads to sin and wickedness. Darkness is 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:06.020 a moral state. It is the state of humanity in 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:10.819 its sinfulness. It is the absence of God's truth 00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:15.560 as the enlightening, controlling force in the 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:20.220 world. That is the cause for darkness. The world 00:04:20.220 --> 00:04:25.279 is shrouded. It is shrouded in darkness of sin 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:31.339 and unbelief. And why this present darkness? 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:39.180 Did God not create light? Yes, He did. Then where 00:04:39.180 --> 00:04:44.139 did moral darkness originate? The answer to that 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:50.199 is that moral darkness began in an angelic creature. 00:04:52.220 --> 00:04:58.339 This angel of light became the prince of darkness 00:04:58.339 --> 00:05:04.060 and he is the ruler of the darkness of this present 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:07.699 world system. I invite you to turn back to the 00:05:07.699 --> 00:05:11.259 book of Isaiah for a moment to the 14th chapter 00:05:11.259 --> 00:05:17.360 in which Isaiah is describing on the human side 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:23.860 the king of Babylon in his pomp arrogance. But 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:27.779 beyond a human king, Isaiah by the Spirit of 00:05:27.779 --> 00:05:31.980 God is describing to us what happened to this 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:34.759 angelic creature that brought moral darkness 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:40.839 to God's universe. In verse 12 it says, How you 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:45.740 have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning. 00:05:46.300 --> 00:05:52.439 Literally that means, O bright one. How you have 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:56.879 fallen from heaven son of the dawn You have been 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.259 cut down to the earth you have been weakened 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:03.519 to the nations But you said in your heart. I 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.680 will ascend to heaven I will raise my throne 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:10.360 above the stars of God a metaphor for the angels 00:06:11.549 --> 00:06:15.810 I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses 00:06:15.810 --> 00:06:18.610 of the north. I will ascend above the heights 00:06:18.610 --> 00:06:21.910 of the clouds. I will make myself like the Most 00:06:21.910 --> 00:06:25.850 High." Here we find the pride that entered the 00:06:25.850 --> 00:06:30.990 heart of this star of the morning, Lucifer. Because 00:06:30.990 --> 00:06:34.050 of his arrogance, God said, nevertheless, you 00:06:34.050 --> 00:06:38.689 will be thrust down the shield to the recesses 00:06:38.689 --> 00:06:43.959 of the pit. Our Lord said, I beheld Satan fall 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:49.259 from heaven like lightning. The suddenness of 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:54.540 his judgment was that of lightning. And he came 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:58.579 to the earth and the result has been that he 00:06:58.579 --> 00:07:03.439 spread his moral darkness to humanity. He deceived 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:08.759 mankind into joining him in his lie that he can 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:14.300 be like God. and thus the sin of rebellion. Humanity 00:07:14.300 --> 00:07:19.639 was plunged into sin, into darkness and ruin. 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:24.459 And having rejected the truth of God, humanity 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:29.040 turned to the lie. And the process of Romans 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:32.680 chapter 1 began, where man rejected the Creator 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:37.079 and began to worship the creation. Turning his 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:39.720 back on the truth, he was turned to the lie. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:46.399 and the judgment of God comes. The awful cycle 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:49.579 of Romans 1 is being lived out again today in 00:07:49.579 --> 00:07:54.420 our culture. For our culture is turning from 00:07:54.420 --> 00:07:59.540 the light of God and as a result of that the 00:07:59.540 --> 00:08:06.060 darkness is intensifying. The situation is that 00:08:06.060 --> 00:08:09.100 darkness exists in our world and Jesus Christ 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:13.509 came to expose that, to reveal it to us. We need 00:08:13.509 --> 00:08:19.430 to hear what he has to say. He also came to bring 00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:26.470 the solution. Darkness exists, but light exposes. 00:08:27.910 --> 00:08:32.470 The light shines. John says the light keeps on 00:08:32.470 --> 00:08:36.690 shining in the darkness. In verse 9 of this chapter 00:08:36.690 --> 00:08:40.830 he says, There was the true light, that is the 00:08:40.830 --> 00:08:46.009 genuine light, which coming into the world enlightens 00:08:46.009 --> 00:08:51.289 or illuminates every man. Jesus Christ is the 00:08:51.289 --> 00:08:54.230 light who comes to expose. Now what is light 00:08:54.230 --> 00:08:59.250 if darkness is the absence of light, resulting 00:08:59.250 --> 00:09:06.090 in moral and spiritual death? The light brings 00:09:06.090 --> 00:09:12.159 life. The light brings knowledge. The light is 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:15.779 the truth that enables people to recognize God's 00:09:15.779 --> 00:09:20.100 working in the world. Although there has been 00:09:20.100 --> 00:09:25.399 light extended to man in the creation and in 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:30.720 our own conscience, the light is fully, preeminently, 00:09:31.460 --> 00:09:35.600 and uniquely embodied in the person of Jesus 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:40.240 Christ, God's Son. He is the full revelation 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:44.980 of all that God is and He brings understanding 00:09:44.980 --> 00:09:50.759 of everything else in its relation to God. He 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:53.580 brings us understanding of the world in which 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:56.159 we live. He brings us understanding of what God 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:59.480 is like. He brings us understanding of who we 00:09:59.480 --> 00:10:04.580 are in our relationship to God. Why is it that 00:10:04.580 --> 00:10:09.330 light exposes? because that's its very nature. 00:10:11.250 --> 00:10:15.029 Light exposes. It illuminates. It interprets. 00:10:15.149 --> 00:10:18.529 It defines. It clarifies everything that is in 00:10:18.529 --> 00:10:23.389 the darkness. So Jesus Christ as the light of 00:10:23.389 --> 00:10:29.470 revelation removes ignorance. He destroys every 00:10:29.470 --> 00:10:33.809 lie. He dispels every distortion about God. the 00:10:33.809 --> 00:10:37.950 world in ourselves which Satan has generated. 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:43.750 Jesus Christ is alone the solution to the dilemma 00:10:43.750 --> 00:10:50.830 of humanity's darkness. Verse 9 declares that 00:10:50.830 --> 00:10:53.870 this light is found only in the one that is spoken 00:10:53.870 --> 00:10:59.809 of, Jesus Christ. He is the true light. John 00:10:59.809 --> 00:11:03.809 tells us of John the Baptist. who came, but he 00:11:03.809 --> 00:11:07.190 wasn't the true light. He was a witness to it. 00:11:08.129 --> 00:11:11.269 He introduced to us, says John, the one who is 00:11:11.269 --> 00:11:15.289 the true light, Jesus Christ, who in his coming 00:11:15.289 --> 00:11:20.009 into the world brings light, light that exposes. 00:11:21.509 --> 00:11:25.450 Jesus Christ brings light that makes the sinner 00:11:25.450 --> 00:11:29.409 morally responsible to God for his darkness. 00:11:32.460 --> 00:11:35.480 In the third chapter John explains to us what 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:39.279 the response of the world of humanity is to the 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:44.240 light of Jesus Christ. We might think that there 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:48.440 would be a ready response, a glad acceptance 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:53.120 of the light, but instead it says in verse 19 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:57.860 of John 3, this is the judgment that the light 00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:04.519 is come into the world. And men loved the darkness 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:10.139 rather than the light. What is the response of 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:12.740 the world to the light that is in Jesus Christ? 00:12:13.899 --> 00:12:18.700 It is that the world loves its darkness and rejects 00:12:18.700 --> 00:12:24.419 the light. Why? Because the deeds of those in 00:12:24.419 --> 00:12:28.899 the world are evil. They do not want that revealed. 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:33.200 They don't want it exposed. Everyone who does 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:37.919 evil hates the light. Hates the light. A very 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:40.860 strong term. Opposite of love. Loves darkness. 00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:45.000 Hates light. And does not come to the light lest 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:50.720 his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:55.909 the truth comes to the light. that his deeds 00:12:55.909 --> 00:13:00.110 may be manifested as having been wrought in God. 00:13:00.909 --> 00:13:03.769 The one who practices the truth is the one who 00:13:03.769 --> 00:13:09.409 loves the light. And he comes to the light. He 00:13:09.409 --> 00:13:12.710 is not afraid that his deeds should be manifested 00:13:12.710 --> 00:13:18.009 because they agree with the light. He wants God's 00:13:18.009 --> 00:13:22.080 approval upon his deeds and his works. Why? Because 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:24.940 those deeds of his life have been wrought in 00:13:24.940 --> 00:13:35.639 God, not by the evil one. Jesus Christ came to 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:39.740 bring the solution. As the light, he came to 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:45.120 expose the truth to us. And today we are called 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:48.019 upon to respond to that light, to come to the 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:52.779 light. That brings us finally to this idea that 00:13:52.779 --> 00:13:57.539 Jesus Christ brought the salvation as well. As 00:13:57.539 --> 00:14:00.399 the light of revelation, He came to tell us about 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:04.759 salvation, the fact that faith extricates us 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:09.240 from darkness. How can an enlightened sinner, 00:14:10.740 --> 00:14:14.340 recognizing his moral unworthiness before God, 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:20.950 be freed from his judgment? How can one who is 00:14:20.950 --> 00:14:26.429 under conviction of his guilt before God Receive 00:14:26.429 --> 00:14:32.830 a verdict from God that says innocent The answer 00:14:32.830 --> 00:14:39.529 is By faith in Jesus Christ go back with me again 00:14:39.529 --> 00:14:43.549 to chapter 1 and look at verse 10 Where John 00:14:43.549 --> 00:14:46.350 says he that is the true light was in the world 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.360 the world of humanity and the world was made 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:56.759 through him and the world did not know him not 00:14:56.759 --> 00:15:00.299 only that says John he came to his own and those 00:15:00.299 --> 00:15:03.840 who were his own his own people did not receive 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:11.799 him but as many as received him to them he gave 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:16.289 the right to become children of God even to those 00:15:16.289 --> 00:15:20.629 who believe in His name, who were born not of 00:15:20.629 --> 00:15:22.389 blood, or of the will of the flesh, or the will 00:15:22.389 --> 00:15:29.529 of man, but of God. By believing in Jesus Christ, 00:15:31.389 --> 00:15:34.350 by placing one's faith in Jesus Christ, he can 00:15:34.350 --> 00:15:38.129 be extricated from the darkness. The darkness 00:15:38.129 --> 00:15:41.830 within him can be forgiven and replaced by the 00:15:41.830 --> 00:15:45.710 light that dispels that darkness. and he can 00:15:45.710 --> 00:15:49.730 be identified with light and no longer darkness. 00:15:50.950 --> 00:15:53.870 It is faith in Jesus Christ alone which frees 00:15:53.870 --> 00:15:57.110 one from darkness to belong to the light. The 00:15:57.110 --> 00:16:00.809 Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter 1 states this 00:16:00.809 --> 00:16:04.590 so clearly and beautifully. When he writes to 00:16:04.590 --> 00:16:07.029 the Colossians these words, we give thanks to 00:16:07.029 --> 00:16:09.850 God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying 00:16:09.850 --> 00:16:13.629 always for you since we heard of your faith. 00:16:13.850 --> 00:16:18.529 in Christ Jesus. He says in verse 12, giving 00:16:18.529 --> 00:16:23.230 thanks to the Father who has qualified us to 00:16:23.230 --> 00:16:28.389 share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 00:16:30.009 --> 00:16:33.149 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness 00:16:33.149 --> 00:16:37.769 and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved 00:16:37.769 --> 00:16:41.399 Son in whom we have redemption. the forgiveness 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:46.200 of sins. How is it that we are qualified to share 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:49.960 in the inheritance of the saints who live in 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:54.379 the light? How can people who are born into darkness 00:16:54.379 --> 00:16:57.919 and who express darkness in their lives ever 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:02.120 be qualified to belong to the light, to share 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:05.880 in the inheritance of the saints? The answer 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:09.180 is by faith in Jesus Christ and finding in Jesus 00:17:09.180 --> 00:17:14.119 Christ the forgiveness of his sins. That's why 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:17.220 he died on the cross and rose again victoriously. 00:17:18.819 --> 00:17:21.299 That we might have that forgiveness with God, 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:24.319 that there might be redemption, the payment for 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:28.799 our sins might be made, that we might be transferred, 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:34.420 translated, changed in our identity. Over in 00:17:34.420 --> 00:17:37.420 Ephesians chapter 5, Paul says that we have become 00:17:37.420 --> 00:17:43.220 the sons of light. Our identity is no longer 00:17:43.220 --> 00:17:46.240 with the darkness. Our identity is with the light 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:50.019 of God, the light of holiness. And we are not 00:17:50.019 --> 00:17:52.359 afraid of the light. We are not ashamed of the 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.980 light. We come to the light that our deeds may 00:17:55.980 --> 00:18:00.390 be exposed, that they are wrought in God. We 00:18:00.390 --> 00:18:02.509 who are the sons of light on the other hand must 00:18:02.509 --> 00:18:06.869 be careful not to partake of the deeds of darkness 00:18:06.869 --> 00:18:12.210 We are no longer a part of that system. We're 00:18:12.210 --> 00:18:17.069 a part of God's system We are citizens of God's 00:18:17.069 --> 00:18:24.450 kingdom No longer slaves to sin and darkness 00:18:24.450 --> 00:18:30.619 Jesus Christ is the light He has come to reveal 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:34.640 God to us and to reveal ourselves to us and to 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:38.660 reveal the way to God. And that way is open today 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:43.579 for any of us who will come. He invites us to 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:48.440 come freely. What is it? What is it that keeps 00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:53.519 one who is in darkness enslaved? What is it that 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:58.359 keeps one who is guilty of sin, hiding from God, 00:18:58.589 --> 00:19:02.970 hating the light, loving his evil? What is it 00:19:02.970 --> 00:19:05.849 that keeps a sinner from seeing the light of 00:19:05.849 --> 00:19:13.089 God in the person of Jesus Christ? We have the 00:19:13.089 --> 00:19:16.289 answer in the Word. If our Gospel be hid, it 00:19:16.289 --> 00:19:20.329 is hid to them who are lost, in whom the God 00:19:20.329 --> 00:19:25.410 of this world has blinded the minds of those 00:19:25.410 --> 00:19:31.859 who are perishing. you see the Prince of Darkness 00:19:31.859 --> 00:19:36.680 supernaturally casts his darkness upon the mind 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:39.259 of the sinner. Not only has the sinner darkened 00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:42.420 in his own sin, but there is a supernatural mask, 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:45.900 as it were. There is a shroud around him. There 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:51.539 is a fog and a haze around the mind and the heart 00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:56.140 of the one who is perishing that is created by 00:19:56.140 --> 00:20:03.049 Satan. But I tell you that that is not an impenetrable 00:20:03.049 --> 00:20:09.230 darkness. That is not a fog that cannot be penetrated. 00:20:10.069 --> 00:20:13.410 The light of God is able to get through the most 00:20:13.410 --> 00:20:18.589 difficult of moral darkness. The light of Jesus 00:20:18.589 --> 00:20:22.289 Christ is able to pierce into the heart that 00:20:22.289 --> 00:20:28.099 is most hardened. And it may be today that you 00:20:28.099 --> 00:20:30.480 are here and the light of God has shown into 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:34.059 your heart. There has been a hole punched into 00:20:34.059 --> 00:20:39.660 the darkness of your life by Jesus Christ. You 00:20:39.660 --> 00:20:42.880 are morally responsible for God for your response 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:48.259 to that light, whatever it be. And today God 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:53.079 calls upon you to receive. To receive Jesus Christ 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:56.000 means to believe on Him. It's a very active idea. 00:20:57.480 --> 00:21:00.039 It means to place all of your trust and your 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:02.740 faith in Him, to dedicate yourself fully to Him, 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:06.799 to give yourself unreservedly to Him, to believe 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:10.599 on Him, and in believing, receiving Him into 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:14.680 your life, that He might change you into a son 00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:23.819 of light. Back in 1789, the terrible French Revolution 00:21:23.819 --> 00:21:26.339 took place. I say terrible because of the great 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:30.819 loss of life that occurred as a part of that 00:21:30.819 --> 00:21:36.420 revolution. The Bastille was a prison -like structure 00:21:36.420 --> 00:21:42.779 in Paris. And when the Revolution took place, 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:46.819 people went down into the depths of that prison, 00:21:47.099 --> 00:21:51.259 into its gloomiest dungeons. and there brought 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:56.440 out the prisoners. There was one man who was 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:59.000 brought out into the light for the first time 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:04.619 in many years, and he begged that he might go 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:09.329 back to his dungeon. It had been so long since 00:22:09.329 --> 00:22:11.930 he had seen the light that his eyes could not 00:22:11.930 --> 00:22:14.369 endure the brightness of it. His only desire 00:22:14.369 --> 00:22:17.289 was to go back to the murky dungeon where he 00:22:17.289 --> 00:22:22.390 had been held captive all those years. In the 00:22:22.390 --> 00:22:24.869 same way, there are some people who see the light 00:22:24.869 --> 00:22:29.500 of God and then reject it. And that process of 00:22:29.500 --> 00:22:31.640 seeing the light and rejecting it and seeing 00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:34.200 it and rejecting it eventually hardens their 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:37.400 heart until they actually prefer their ways of 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:41.160 death leading to judgment before God rather than 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:47.720 coming to the light. Day if that light of God 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:51.460 is shining into your heart. If in the midst of 00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:55.460 the foggy darkness in your mind You are able 00:22:55.460 --> 00:22:58.500 to understand and to perceive the truth of God 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:03.119 today that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Who 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:05.819 died for your sins and rose again from the dead 00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:09.039 if you're able to Understand that he died for 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:11.680 you and that if you will believe on him you can 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:16.519 be saved from your darkness Then today take that 00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:20.099 step Whatever the cost may be however much you 00:23:20.099 --> 00:23:23.980 leave behind Remember you leave behind also the 00:23:23.980 --> 00:23:27.019 chains that held you, the darkness of your dungeon, 00:23:28.299 --> 00:23:32.460 the enslavement to Satan. You leave that behind 00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:36.319 to come to the freedom and the light and the 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:41.819 inheritance of the saints. Will you today leave 00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:47.039 behind your slavery and darkness and by faith 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:52.730 in Jesus Christ become a citizen of the Kingdom 00:23:52.730 --> 00:23:57.349 of God. I hope you will. I hope you will today. 00:23:58.309 --> 00:24:01.769 You can before you leave here by coming to Jesus 00:24:01.769 --> 00:24:05.250 Christ and leaving behind your darkness in receiving 00:24:05.250 --> 00:24:13.329 His light. Let's bow together in prayer. In a 00:24:13.329 --> 00:24:15.970 moment we're going to sing a hymn. It will be 00:24:15.970 --> 00:24:19.849 a hymn of invitation. during which I'm going 00:24:19.849 --> 00:24:22.730 to invite you, if today you would trust Jesus 00:24:22.730 --> 00:24:26.789 Christ as your Savior, to come here and take 00:24:26.789 --> 00:24:30.190 me by the hand and say, today I want to leave 00:24:30.190 --> 00:24:37.109 behind my darkness. Today I am choosing to receive 00:24:37.109 --> 00:24:43.569 Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Savior. Today 00:24:43.569 --> 00:24:48.720 I come as a guilty sinner that I might be forgiven 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:57.480 and made a saint of God. I hope that you will 00:24:57.480 --> 00:25:01.599 do that if you don't know Christ. I hope that 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:06.859 you will trust Him. Father, I pray that you will 00:25:06.859 --> 00:25:10.859 work in our lives. And if there be some here 00:25:10.859 --> 00:25:14.160 today who are struggling with their darkness, 00:25:15.150 --> 00:25:18.190 who are imprisoned in it, and yet who have seen 00:25:18.190 --> 00:25:22.009 the light. The light has pierced through. May 00:25:22.009 --> 00:25:25.630 they follow that light and come to the Savior 00:25:25.630 --> 00:25:28.990 today, that they might be transformed into a 00:25:28.990 --> 00:25:35.690 child of light. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:25:36.990 --> 00:25:44.849 I'm going to sing hymn 336 that says, sorrow 00:25:44.849 --> 00:25:53.089 at night, Jesus. Jesus, I come, I come. I remember 00:25:53.089 --> 00:25:57.589 the testimony of a woman who is a part of our 00:25:57.589 --> 00:26:01.609 church, who shared that there came a point in 00:26:01.609 --> 00:26:05.329 her life after having been involved in drugs 00:26:05.329 --> 00:26:10.509 and playing with the occult, when she realized 00:26:10.509 --> 00:26:15.980 that she was doomed. and damned. And she sat 00:26:15.980 --> 00:26:19.039 in a room reading her Bible, a Bible that had 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:22.720 been given to her. Not knowing really what to 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:26.740 do, but just reading the Bible. And it seemed 00:26:26.740 --> 00:26:29.079 as though the room was growing darker and darker 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:34.619 to her. And she heard as it were the voices of 00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:38.140 Satan saying to her, give up, it's useless, you 00:26:38.140 --> 00:26:42.980 can't do it, you're worthless, you're ours. And 00:26:42.980 --> 00:26:45.220 in the midst of that darkness, she said, all 00:26:45.220 --> 00:26:50.019 I could do was cry out and say, God. And she 00:26:50.019 --> 00:26:53.380 said, in that moment, light flashed into that 00:26:53.380 --> 00:26:55.680 room. The voices were silenced. The darkness 00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:59.299 was lifted. And she said, in just crying out 00:26:59.299 --> 00:27:04.259 and saying, God, he came to me. And she was saved, 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:08.200 gloriously saved. And today all you need to do, 00:27:08.279 --> 00:27:10.900 if you can't say any more than God, then say, 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:15.579 Jesus, I come. He invites you to come to Him 00:27:15.579 --> 00:27:20.539 now and be delivered, to be saved. Let's stand 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:33.640 as we sing, Jesus, I come to thee. Out of my 00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:44.460 bandage, sorrow and thine, Jesus I come, Jesus 00:27:44.460 --> 00:28:35.279 I come. Eternal is the Jesus, I come to thee. 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:55.220 Out of the fear and dread of the truth, Jesus, 00:28:55.980 --> 00:29:08.259 I come Jesus, I come into the joy and light of 00:29:08.259 --> 00:29:22.680 thy hope. Jesus, I come to thee out of the depths 00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:35.910 of ruin. To the peace of thy sheltering throne, 00:29:36.809 --> 00:29:49.269 Ever thy glorious face to behold, Jesus I come 00:29:49.269 --> 00:29:59.799 to thee. today worshiping with us after having 00:29:59.799 --> 00:30:02.619 been back in Taliabo for two or three months. 00:30:02.839 --> 00:30:04.640 Steve, would you come and close the service in 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:18.019 prayer, please? Let's bow together. Let's pray. 00:30:20.259 --> 00:30:23.220 Heavenly Father, we're grateful to you for the 00:30:23.220 --> 00:30:26.660 light that you are to us. We're reminded as we 00:30:26.660 --> 00:30:28.960 were this morning of the darkness that is all 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:32.980 around us, and we're grateful that even a small 00:30:32.980 --> 00:30:35.619 light such as you can shine through our lives 00:30:35.619 --> 00:30:40.579 can break that darkness. Help us, Lord, to walk 00:30:40.579 --> 00:30:42.839 in the light as you are in the light, that we 00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:45.660 might have fellowship with you, with one another. 00:30:46.460 --> 00:30:48.880 But help us also to remember, Lord, that when 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.599 we are not with one another, fellow Christians, 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:56.099 when we're in our workplaces, at school, Shopping 00:30:56.099 --> 00:30:58.819 in the malls, Lord, that we might let our light 00:30:58.819 --> 00:31:02.380 shine so that others might see Jesus Christ through 00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:06.180 us. Thank you for your word this morning. Please 00:31:06.180 --> 00:31:08.200 break our hearts with it, Lord. In Jesus' name 00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:09.559 we pray. Amen.