When You Turn On The Light

When You Turn On the Light

Griffith Baptist Church – 3/8/09

A.M. Service

Text: John 8:1-12 (9:1-5)

Key verse: John 8:12 - Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Premise: Light reveals not only what we want to see but also what others don’t want us to see. Jesus, as the true light, does both, all for the purpose of offering freedom to a world trapped in darkness.

The Introduction

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!”

We need light to operate in our daily lives

• Imagine driving on a moonless night on a country road with no headlights

• Experience the joy of navigating your house when there is no light – you don’t know your house as well as you think you do.

• Read something such as a book without adequate light and you will ruin your eyes

Light was the element created on the first day and God called the light good (Gen. 1:4) (Darkness already existed in verse 2)

This is where God dwells - 1 Tim. 6:16

Light is where we are called to – 1 Pet. 2:9

We are also called upon to be lights in the world (Matt. 5:14-16):

• Noticeable (14)

• Beneficial (15)

• Influential (16)

Here in this text we have four (4) basic observations concerning the Light of the World, Jesus Christ and how he affected those around them:

Body

1. The View of the Pharisees – Intrusion

A. The farmer killed a pig and hung it up for the night, intending to butcher it in the morning, but the next day it was gone. He didn’t tell a soul about it, and nothing happened for more than two months. Then another farmer, who lived down the road, came by and said, “By the way, Josh, did you ever find out who stole your pig?” “Nope,” said Josh. “Not till just now.” Contributed by Mrs. H. Castle

i. Sometimes, evil reveals itself

ii. All the time, when exposed by the light, is evil revealed

iii. Evil doesn’t like it and those who hang on to their sin don’t like having it exposed either. It is an intrusion.

B. The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus (6)

i. If he said “stone her” his followers would wonder what happened to his preaching of forgiveness.

ii. If he said “let her go” he would be breaking God’s law and arrested.

iii. The Pharisees hated Jesus for what they thought was a false teacher

iv. They looked at Him as an intruder into their power and control

v. They would not see their own hypocrisy and darkness – Matthew 23:25-28 - 25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

C. Those who love their sin hate the exposure:

i. John 3:20 - For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

ii. Light reveals imperfections

iii. Light unveils filth

iv. Light exposes dangers and traps

2. The View of the Woman – Relief

A. Not long before she died in 1988, in a moment of surprising candor in television, Marghanita Laski, one of our best-known secular humanists and novelists, said, “What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.” John Stott in The Contemporary Christian

B. The woman was caught in the act of adultery:

i. Whether this was a set-up or not, the fact is, that was the accusation

ii. This was punishable by death for both the man and woman (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22)

iii. She remained speechless while her accusers surrounded her.

C. Those who are caught in and see their sin face guilt from the light of truth: