That Radiant Light Series

* Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. "Why," he exclaimed, "when I went a-courtin’ I never carried one of them things. I always went in the dark." "Yes," the hired man said wryly," and look what you got!"

* Read Text.

* Here is an interesting writing technique, the location is placed in verse 20, at the last of this section.

* The significance: the Treasury was in the Women’s section of the Temple where the offerings were dropped off.

* During the Feast of Tabernacles, it had another significance.

* Special torches were lit and the people danced, sang and worshiped, following one who had the torch.

* The torches wicks were made of old priests’ garments.

* They represented the pillar of cloud and fire that led the children through the wilderness.

* They represented the light that led the way to freedom.

I. Radiant Witness (12)

* In this context, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”

* Here he used the physical setting to point to an eternal truth.

* I John 1:5 - This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

* One has said, Jesus made his “I am the light” statement after his encounter with the woman caught in adultery because the Pharisees had left like roaches escaping the light, from the oldest first to the youngest.

* Others have said, Jesus is like the head lights of a car.

* But the exact analogy suffers from this.

* Headlights do not lead or decide the way. The driver does.

* This is the way many Christians live, expecting God to enlighten the way they want to go (J. V. McGee, Thru the Bible, VI, pg. 417, para. 3)

* Jesus is the light that leads the way. He guided the Children of Israel,

* I Corinthians 10:1-4 - Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

* All of those pictures, the cloud of fire and smoke, the baptism of the Red Sea, the bread from heaven and the rock, are pictures of Jesus Christ.

* The question of the Radiant Witness is, “What position do we give Him in our lives?”

* Do we ask Him to bless our efforts and goals, or do we follow Him with a whole heart.

* Psalms 119:2 - Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!

* Jesus has one place. That place is number one.

* Where is Jesus Christ in your life? What do you place in more importance?

II. Reasons to Believe. (14-18)

1. I know who I am. (14)

* Have you noticed, people who do not know who Jesus is are obsessed with telling us who He is?

* Sam Harris, A.D. Aczel, George Ainsley, and the list goes on.

* All of these, and a growing list, are best-selling authors who committed their lives to discredit the testimony of Jesus Christ?

* But they don’t know Jesus Christ.

* There are over 3,000 books bent on disproving the claims of Christianity.

* Why? Why don’t they just leave us alone?

* Because, in their hearts, they know the truth, and they hate it.

* Page after page of their writings drips with hatred for Christ and His followers.

* That in itself testifies to the truth of Jesus.

* Jesus predicted this. He said the world would hate us because it hated Him first.

* Again, He told us the truth.

* The rabbinical law stated one could not testify of himself.

* Jesus reasoned first, I know who I am. I am qualified to testify for myself.

* Here is an illustration. Evolution has no eye witnesses, is based on fragmented evidence and is from total speculation.

* They scoff, “where did God come from?” They have the same problem. “Where did big bang come from?”

* It comes down to faith: Either faith in speculation based on fragmented evidence with changing conclusions, or faith in the changeless Word of God, the Creator Himself, the only eye witness.

* John 1:1-4 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.