Introduction
It is no secret that this world is getting eviler by the day. You turn on the news and you might hear about someone driving his or her car at high speed through a crowd of people killing or injuring those who were hit by the car. Or you might hear about someone pulling a gun and shooting another person just because they had an argument.
How evil this world has gotten in our lifetime might surprise us, but it does not surprise God. Jesus says this in: John 3:19 (NKJV)
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
What can be said about our world today from God’s Word is that it loves darkness. What can also be said from God’s Word that it loves evil. The Bible has with pinpoint accuracy describes the world we are living in.
But here is the Good News. Jesus has an answer to the darkness and to the evil so that we, who are his children, don’t have to be part of it. And that is what we want to look at today.
We are going to read one verse this morning from John 8:12.
Scripture
John 8:12 (NKJV)
“I Am the Light of the World”
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”
So today I want to know how the Light of Christ, keeps me from walking in darkness in a world that is dark and evil.
Point #1
God keeps me walking in His light by shinning His light on my unconfessed sin so that I am faced with having to dealt with that sin.
Numbers 32:23 (NKJV)
23 ...take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.
Luke 8:17 (NKJV)
17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.
Let me show two examples: one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament where God’s light was shined on unconfessed sins.
First, an Old Testament example of an unconfessed sin being brought to the light. King David had Uriah the Hittite killed with the sword and then King David took Uriah’ wife, Bathsheba, to become his wife.
King David thought that he has gotten away with his little scheme that would result in having Bathsheba as his wife. With David’s clever plan he thought his actions had been swept under the rug and nobody knew.
But God was not going to allow that unconfessed sin to remain hidden. No telling how many times God tried to get David to see his own sin to no avail. But after a period of time, God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David’s sin and to shine a light on that sin.
When that sin was brought to the light, David did the right thing. He acknowledged he messed up and in 2 Samuel 12:13 David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord”
At that point God put away the sin but David still had to deal with the consequences.
You need to understand when you confess your sin, God is going to forgive you that is His promise, but you still may have to deal with the consequences. God forgave David, but the consequences remained. In David’s case it was a loss of a child, Bathsheba child, from David.
And then in the New Testament Book of Acts Chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira came to Peter declaring that they sold a parcel of land, and they are giving all the moneys to the Lord’s work. And God used Peter to shine a light on their sin. Their sin was not that they did not give all the proceeds, their sin is that they told God they gave it all and didn’t. They held some back and Peter told them in verse 4, they lied to God.
I believe that it is God’s desire that He shed His light on that unconfessed sin in our life. But if we don’t heed that light, don’t be surprised if God uses some other way to shed light on that sin. In the Old Testament case it was Nathan the prophet, and in the New Testament it was Peter.
But it does not have to be a person, it could be a book you are reading that exposes your sin. It could be a show that you are watching that exposes your sin. God has unlimited ways to expose your sin to light.
And understand when God exposes sin, it is not to beat you down, it is for one purpose only. To move you closer to holiness because our God is holy.
Point #2
God keeps me walking in His light by shinning His light on me when I decide I want to draw back from fellowship with other Christians.
Hebrews 10:24–25 (NKJV)
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
1 John 1:3 (NKJV)
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Christianity is not to be done in isolation from other Christians. Our Christianity is to be lived out in community with other Christians. I believe those two Scriptures clearly show that. But understand there are many more Scripture that deal with fellowship with one another.
And let me state clearly watching a TV preacher from your den on Sunday morning is not fellow shipping with other Christians. I cannot even tell you how many people have told me I don’t go to church any more since Covid, but I watch so and so on television. And let me tell you, as I read the Bible, watching TV preaching rather than in person attendance is not acceptable to God. It is fine to watch TV preachers, great if you watch TV preachers, but it got to be in addition to your active involved in a local fellowship.
And I believe that there are several why God stresses the fellowship with one another. Let me give you a couple of them.:
A. I need you to teach me, encourage me, pray for me, hold me accountable when I mess up, and provide counseling when I need it. And I need to do the same thing for you.
B. I need back up support when a problem I am facing is bigger than me. This past Monday, Obie was having an angioplasty procedure and Obie thought that they might have to put a stent in his heart. Unfortunately, everything went south in the procedure and his heart stop two to three times on the table. The doctors were able to bring him back and sent him immediately to Baptist. Then on Thursday the doctors at Baptist Hospital performed a triple bypass. Well, a call went out to pray for Obie and so in instead of facing this alone, he had an army of people praying for him. I want a church family praying for me. I want a church family having my back. At that happens when I am fellow shipping with my church family.
C. Each one of us is called to make disciples. The charge to the disciples is the same charge to you and me- make disciples. Being in fellowship with one another allows us to work together in a united effort to win the lost and teach them about Christ rather than approaching it all disjointed.
How does God shine his light on you to stay united in fellowship. First and foremost, he has the Holy Spirit speaking to you. God desires us to Fellowship so the Holy Spirit might send someone your way and tell you that you are missed. Or maybe a phone call from someone at the church who has not seen you in church for a while.
When Anne and I were young Christians, we got burnt out and stepped back from going to church. And it was a guy by the name of Jesse Jones that stopped by to fix our television and he told us that he has been missing us in church. And that was all we needed to get back in church.
Point #3
God keeps me walking in His light by shinning His light on the right path that I should take.
Psalm 119:105 (NKJV)
? Nun
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
2 Samuel 22:29 (NKJV)
29 “For You are my lamp, O Lord;
The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.
Have you ever noticed that decisions you and I made usually has two or more paths to consider? Do I stay at this job, or do I take this new job that has been offered to me. Now that I am turning 65, do I stay working a couple more years or do I retire now? Do I stay here in Pike County MS, or do I move somewhere else?
On decisions we make, you need to understand it is God’s desire to lead us to the right one. He does that by shinning His Light on the right path. He also has given me His Holy Word to further guide me.
The problem is even with God and His Holy Word lighting my path, I still sometimes make the wrong decision.
Why is that?
Sometimes I base my choice on my feelings to decide what to do. “I feel good about this decision.” The problem with feelings is that they cannot be trusted. They will turn on you. In your life, have you ever made a decision that you felt really good about that in the end turned into a disaster and now you have horrible feeling about that decision?
Sometimes I make a wrong decision because I got bad advice. Even if a person is a Christian, if the advice that he or she gives doesn’t line up with God’s Word, it is bad advice.
And finally, I make a bad decision because I go along with the crowd. Well, everybody else is doing it.” Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do, or the right way to go.
It is only God’s light that He personally shines on our path and His Word that we can trust to always point us in the right direction.
Something to Ponder
This world is full of darkness. Have I made the choice to walk in God’s Light?
