Title: Jesus is the light
Bible: John 8:12
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.
Praise the Lord, brothers and sisters.
Welcome you all to the house of the Lord.
We have come together to meet with God, to express our fellowship in the Lord Jesus, and to take part in this service of his church.
It is wonderful that we are still well, healed, and alive. We still have time to come into the presence of the true God and grow in the faith that came to us all through His blood on the cross.
Before we go into today’s message, I want to tell you about a great work of God.
Philippians 4:7 (NLT) Do not worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.
We were all seeing a lot of pollution all around for the past few days, and because of that, everyone was having trouble breathing.
One day I was in a pastor praying meeting, and an old pastor said in prayer, Pray to the Lord that He sends dew from the sky or rains so that all this pollution goes away because I have a lot of trouble breathing in it.
In Delhi, there is only a 3% chance of rain in the month of November; it is almost impossible for it to rain in November.
Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, with man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.
I knew that our government would not be able to stop this pollution; this work would not be done by the people.
But God can do this work.
We all prayed together that Lord, you showered rain from the sky; even we prayed in our Thursday service time.
Something happened that night that showed me how much he cares about his people.
That night, when I was going to my room, I saw some drops on my roof, and they were visible only in a few places, so I thought that our water tank must be full, but it was not so.
As soon as I moved to touch those drops, very light drops of dew were falling from above.
Those were the drops that I and all of us were longing for some days.
And by morning, the Lord had removed all the pollution from the sky through rain.
There is nothing impossible in his name; in prayer, everything is possible. The Lord hears all our prayers and fulfils them.
Let us pray.
Thank you, God, for being with us.
Lord, help us today to understand your words, apply them to our lives, and be in a light that has new life.
Lord, thank you for everything. We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
This is the season of festival in India. The whole country is celebrating Diwali. The good thing is that the Indian government banned firecrackers because of pollution, but each house is covered by colourful and expensive lights. There is no street where we could find darkness; everywhere is bright light.
But right after two and three days, we will see there are no more lights, people will remove their lights, and again, everywhere will be dark at night.
Everyone hates darkness. We do not like being in the dark; we do not want to be in the dark. We will get angry when we are put in a dark place.
No one wants to be in the dark, yet this is the dilemma of the world: we are in the dark.
From the wars in the Middle East, Europe, and other parts of the world, we know that we live in a dark world.
With floods and natural disasters in various places, we know that we live in a dark world.
Do you like dark? No one likes it. If everywhere there is darkness, the human being will not be able to do anything; therefore, we need light.
Let us open.
Genesis 1:1-4
1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
God made light at first and God is the source of light. Not the sun or moon but God.
Because the sun and the moon come on the fourth day, hence God himself is the one who gives the first light.
When God meets Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3, it is also shown that God is light.
In exodus 13, God appear before Israelites as a pillar of fire.
There are many places in the Old Testament Bible where God shows himself with light.
Psalm 27:1a the lord is my light and my salvation whom shall, I fear?
God is light and he gives to salvation.
If you will see John 1:4 In him was life and that life was the light of all mankind.
Who is him? Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ has life and that life is the light of all mankind.
5. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
9. the true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
Now open with me John 8:12
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. (NIV)
Jesus Christ himself says in John 8:12 that I am the light of the world, and those who follow to him they will never walk in darkness, but they will have the light of life, they will receive eternal life.
1. Light reveals
When light comes on, the things that were hidden in the shadows become revealed. The things that were hidden in the darkness are exposed. When we entered the room, as soon as we turned on the light, everything was visible in detail.
When light turns on, that which was under the surface of the shadow becomes apparent.
When that light falls, it not only makes things visible but also makes visible things that need to be changed in us.
I am talking about our secret sin, hidden motives within the heart, ungodly plans, and character flaws (weaknesses).
Jesus Christ is that light. When that light is present, it begins to reveal things in you and me.
I often tell the Lord, Lord, there are so many ways that I am not like you. Please make me like you, and it is only when I come into his presence that those flaws will appear in front of me.
In Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah saw heaven open; he saw this glimpse of God’s glory, where he says, Woe to me, I cried; I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king, the Lord almighty.
In other words, in the midst of that encounter with God, Isaiah becomes focused on himself.
Because as the Lord drew closer, his flaws became more apparent, and then the Lord touched his lips and took away all guilt and sins are forgiven.
As the Lord drew closer, Isaiah’s faith grew stronger.
The Lord does reveal our secret sin.
The Lord does reveal our hidden motives.
The Lord does reveal our ungodly plan and our character flaws; we have accepted that he does not reveal them to shame us, but he reveals them so that they might be eliminated from our lives.
2. Light Guides
Light guides us. In Isaiah 9:2, it says the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of deep darkness; a light has dawned.
Without the light, we would not know where to go.
When Jesus presence in our lives, our lives were guided by the cloud by day and a fire by night.
Moses said to the Lord, Lord, I will not go anywhere unless your presence goes with me.
In the same way, we should say to the Lord, Lord, be the light of my life, guide my every step, and show me the right direction.
Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Can you walk without light? You will fall down somewhere.
It is very dangerous to walk without the light. We should not have our lives led by our emotions, by our opinions, or by our predications; our lives should be guided by that light and directed by the light of the world.
As we follow the light, we are guided by God’s will.
As we follow the light, we come to reach the destiny that God has preordained for us.
3. Light brings color
Can you see colour without light? I cannot see either.
So, it is true—no light, no colour.
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
If there is no light, there is a dullness to life. Without Jesus, life is colourless.
Without the light and without the presence of Jesus, there is no colour in life; there is no purpose; it is aimless.
I want to ask you. Do you feel honoured and privileged to know Jesus Christ?
Yes, we have to feel the honour and privilege of knowing the glory of the Son of God.
He is that colour of life.
He brings that life to fullness.
He brings that life to purpose.
He is heaven, and when we come into his presence, we come into heaven, and in him we see, we know, and we experience the glories of God.
So, there is life in him, and without him, life is dull.
4. Light irritates the sleeper
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Those who are asleep do not like when light shines on them.
Think about it. Have you ever been sound asleep? Maybe your phone lights up and wakes you up, and you have to get up and turn it on Do not disturb mode.
Or maybe you have been in a dark room, and you go out into the sunlight, and it is so bright that it is irritating.
When we are in darkness, the light is irritating.
On this matter, the truth is that the world rejects the light of the world because they are asleep.
They are asleep in their darkness; they are asleep in their sin.
They do not want to wake up.
They do not want to leave their bed.
They do not want to come out of spiritual slumber.
They want to stay in the world that they have known.
That is why the light irritates them.
This is why so many Christians are persecuted in the present time: they shine a bright light, and they see that light as a threat to the darkness in which they are living.
The moment you carry his presence with you into a place that is dark, there is a recoil because light irritates the sleeper and they do not want to wake up.
5. Light dispels darkness
1 John 3:8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
Think about the world’s confusion.
All the news says that what they believe is the truth.
all the systems of education saying what they believe is truth.
all the misguided political leaders saying what they believe is truth.
all the famous faces of the film industry and all the famous voices in the music industry speaking against God, and it is all confusion.
but this will all be dispelled the moment the light shines.
The work of the enemy is all based on shadow.
But as soon as the light shines, everything that was founded on shadow instantly dissolves.
Jesus presence destroys the works of the devil.
Dear brothers and sisters
Let’s come into the light, in which we have life.
For life, do not come into the artificial light, but come into the light of Jesus.
Can we say? Yes, Jesus, I am coming into your light.
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.
Light revels, light guides, light brings colour, light irritates the sleeper, and light dispels darkness.
Let us pray
Lord Jesus, let your light shine in us and through us.
Lord, shine it in us so that we might know how we can like you.
And shine it through us so that others might see you through us.
Let your light shine, Lord. Let us be that shining light reflection of your glory.
We honour you, Lord. and we are blessed. Thank you, Lord, for sending the light of the world to your son Jesus. In his name, we pray. Amen
