I Saw The Light

Well, let's take our Bibles and open them up this morning to the Gospel of John.

The Gospel according to John.

Last week we began our sermon series in the Gospel of John,

and this morning we're going to pick right back up where we left off in verse 6 of chapter 1.

If you're using the Pew Bibles there in front of you, you can find that on page 833 of those Bibles.

If you didn't bring your own Bible, I'd invite you to take that Bible and turn to page 833.

And we're going to read from verse 6 through to verse 13 this morning.

John 1, verses 6 through 13.

John 1:6–13

Follow with me as I read.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him.

He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Let's pray once more.

Lord, this is your holy word, and we pray now that you would bless the preaching of your word.

May it fall on fertile soil in our hearts, we ask.

In Christ's name, amen.

In January 1947, that's 76 years ago now, one of the greatest songs in country music history was born.

A woman by the name of Miss Lilybell Williams was driving home from a dance in Fort Deposit, Alabama,

and the back seat of her car was her youngest son, Hank.

Hank had had a good time that night, and he was in an altered state of mind, as the story goes.

He was attempting to sleep it off in the back seat of the car, and as they made their way to the house,

they passed by a beacon light from the nearby airport.

And so Miss Lilybell Williams called to the back seat of the car to wake up her son, saying,

Wake up, Hank. We're nearly home. I just saw the light.

Legend has it that as Miss Lilybell Williams bore witness to the light,

between there and his home, Hank Williams penned the words to the now famous song,

I Saw the Light.

You know the words? I'm not going to sing it.

I saw the light. I saw the light.

No more darkness. No more night.

Now I'm so happy. No sorrow in sight.

Praise the Lord. Help me out. Come on.

I saw the light. Okay.

Well, this morning, as we come to the Gospel of John again,

continue our look here in this text,

we meet a man who truly saw the light.

He came as a witness to the light,

bearing witness to the light of the world.

He bore witness to a lost and a broken world,

calling them to respond in faith.

So when you look at this text,

verses 6 through 8 show us a witness to the light.

Verses 9 through 13 show us two responses to the light.

This will be our outline this morning.

If you're following along, taking notes,

one witness, two responses.

One witness, two responses.

First, verses 6 through 8.

First, we see a witness to the light.

Look there to verse 6 with me.

John the Apostle, who is writing this book,

he's introducing us to another man who goes by the name of John,

who we call John the Baptist.

So he says in verse 6,

There was a man sent from God,

whose name was John.

He came as a witness to bear witness about the light

that all might believe through him.

He was not the light,

but came to bear witness about the light.

And at first read,

this is a little bit jarring, isn't it?

If you're reading straight through,

this doesn't really seem to fit.

It doesn't really seem to flow nicely

from verses 1 through 5.

If you try to read this introduction to John's gospel

in a linear fashion,

you're probably going to get a little bit confused

because he doesn't speak in a straight line.

He doesn't speak like we would normally speak.

He kind of goes around in circles a bit.

And so we're introduced to John the Baptist here

for the first time in verses 6 through 8,

but then he picks him back up in verse 15.

Then he picks him back up in verse 19

before eventually beginning the narrative there.

He's just kind of running right by him quickly here.

So let me tell you what I think is going on here.

This introduction, verses 1 through 18

of the gospel of John,

is a beautiful mixture of theology and poetry.

It is theology and poetry.

You can't read it in a straight line.

It's truth communicated in a poetic way.

Many in the early church called this a hymn

of the incarnate Word.

So these verses in poetic,

theologically rich, beautiful,

sometimes confusing ways,

they show us who Jesus is.

But why does John just skirt by

and throw in John the Baptist the way that he does?

I have a few reasons.

One reason, one reason I believe

is that he is rooting these events in human history.

One reason why John is drawing our attention

to John the Baptist here

is that he's rooting these events in human history.

So verses 1 through 5,

you remember last week,

it showed us the greatness of Christ

being one with the Father,

creating all things.

But now we're brought down to earth,

so to speak,

to see that these events

that we're reading about in this letter,

in this gospel,

are rooted in human history.

They happen.

These aren't fairy tales.

They are real.

There was a man.

He was named John.

He was sent by God.

He witnessed these things

as a living, breathing witness.

He's validating the historical reality

of the events in this book.

But also,

he's rooting them in redemptive history.

Redemptive history.

The Old Testament prophesied the coming Messiah.

It foretold the coming Messiah,

and it prophesied a forerunner to the Messiah,

one who would come before him

and proclaim his arrival.

And so the last chapter of the last book

of the Old Testament,

Malachi chapter 4,

Malachi 4 · chapter mention

400 years before John the Baptist

pops onto the scene,

it says this.

It says,

Behold,

I will send Elijah the prophet

before the great and awesome day

of the Lord comes.

And Jesus,

in Matthew chapter 11,

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

he says,

John is that prophet.

He says in Matthew 11,

he says,

All the prophets and the law

prophesied until John,

and if you are willing to accept it,

he is Elijah who is to come.

In other words,

this John the Baptist

is the last prophet of the Old Covenant.

He is the promised forerunner of the Messiah.

He serves as the hinge

between the Old Covenant

and the New Covenant.

So John the Apostle

is helping us to see

where we are in this story of redemption.

And he says the forerunner is here,

which means the Messiah is here,

and his name is Jesus.

But you know what else he's doing?

As significant as John the Baptist is,

by skipping right by him

the way that he does,

John the Apostle

is keeping the focus on Christ.

He's the main focus here, isn't he?

John the Baptist

is almost an afterthought,

and as soon as he draws

our attention to John,

what does he do?

Right away,

he makes sure that we know

that John is not the Christ.

There was a man,

not God,

not the eternal word,

a man sent by God.

He came as a witness,

to bear witness about the light,

not the light,

came to bear witness about the light,

the true light.

He's the focus of this book.

He's the focus of this story.

Let's talk about him.

See, John is fixing our attention

on the main focus of the book.

He's fixing our attention on Christ.

And if you know anything about John the Baptist,

you know that he would read these words

and say,

Amen.

This was John's message,

wasn't it?

He must increase,

I must,

what?

What does he say?

I must decrease.

He says,

I am not the light.

He is the light.

Don't look at me.

Behold the Lamb of God.

John is a witness to the light.

And here's the application for us,

church.

While you and I cannot

represent and imitate his position

as the God-appointed forerunner

to the Messiah,

we can and we must

imitate his posture

and carry on his proclamation.

We must imitate his posture

and carry on his proclamation.

Does your posture look like John's?

A posture that's just allergic to attention

that says,

Not me.

Don't look at me.

Don't think about me.

Don't make it about me.

Don't give me the credit.

Don't give me the glory.

Look to Jesus.

See,

one of the things that I love most

about John the Baptist

is that he is a living,

breathing rebuke

to our natural bent

towards self-exaltation.

What does he say?

He must increase.

I must decrease.

Imitate that posture

and imitate his proclamation.

How will our lost friends

and family members

and neighbors

and co-workers

see the light of Christ?

The way that God has chosen

to cause sinners to see the light

and be saved

is by using men and women

like you and me

to bear witness

to the light.

To proclaim the glory of God

in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so,

so we must carry on

this Christ-exalting witness

of John the Baptist.

when we lived in,

when we,

when we lived in Charlotte,

we had the opportunity

to go to the Billy Graham Museum.

And Billy Graham,

as I'm sure you all are,

are all aware,

he was one of the greatest witnesses

to the glory of Christ

in modern Christian history.

He was,

was a powerful witness.

And we walked through this exhibit

after exhibit,

after exhibit,

of,

of his witness

to the glory of Christ.

And as the tour ended,

we walked out,

one of the workers there

noticed that the gentleman

behind me

was wearing a LeBron James t-shirt.

And on the front of it,

it said,

witness.

LeBron

had a whole clothing line,

shoes,

shirts,

a whole marketing campaign

behind this idea

that,

that we are all witnesses

to his greatness.

Well,

as we came out,

the worker,

he looked at that man

and he saw

what was on his shirt

and he simply said,

witness to what?

And you could tell

that after walking through

that whole building

dedicated to a witness

of the glory

and greatness of Christ,

that that man wished

that he had worn

a different shirt

that day.

But church,

we are so quick,

aren't we?

To bear witness

to the greatness

of all sorts of things.

Athletes,

musicians,

food that we eat,

people that we know,

we bear witness

to greatness

when we see it.

How much more quick

ought we to be

to bear witness

to the greatness

of Christ?

we have seen

the light

and if we have seen it,

then we must

share it.

And as we do,

what we'll see

is that people

will respond

in one of two ways.

Two possible responses

to the light.

We'll see this

in verses 9 through 13.

Here,

we see two responses

to the light

of the world.

There are two

and only two

possible responses

to the gospel.

rejection

or reception.

There is no middle ground.

There is no such thing

as a safe,

neutral spot.

There are no

fence-riding Christians.

We have either

accepted

or rejected

the Messiah.

The first response

we see here

is to reject

the light.

Look to verses

9 through 11.

John says,

the true light,

which gives light

to everyone,

was coming

into the world.

He was in the world

and the world

was made

through him,

yet the world

did not know him.

He came to his own

and his own people

did not receive him.

I hope you see

how absolutely

absurd

this is.

Do you see this?

We move so quickly

here in these verses

from the astonishing

to the absurd.

The astonishing,

the astounding truth

is that the eternal

word of God,

the one through whom

all things were created,

the light of the world

was stepping

into the world.

This should astound us

that the creator himself

was entering

into his creation.

The one who exists

outside of time

and outside of space

was now entering

into time.

The author of history

was writing himself

into the story.

But how was he received?

He wasn't.

He was rejected

by his own creation.

The world did not

know him.

This is the

absolute absurdity

of rejecting God.

This is the depth

of spiritual blindness.

And this is what sin is.

We need to know

and see this

for what it is.

It is foolish absurdity.

Sin is a rejection

of God

and his rightful rule

over all things

including me

and including you.

It is blindness

to the reality of God

that he is creator

of all things,

everything in the universe.

It is blindness

to the rule of God

that he is Lord

that we belong to him

that we are accountable

to him

that we will all

give account to him.

It is blindness

to the reach

of God.

Now he is

through the witness

of nature,

through the witness

of the scriptures,

through the witness

of Christ himself

in the incarnation,

reaching out

and communicating

who he is

so that we are all

without excuse.

The psalmist says,

the fool says

in his heart,

there is no God.

Look what John

is saying here.

Look what John

is showing us.

John is showing us

that it is just

as absurd

to deny that

Jesus is God.

This is John's message

here.

The light has come,

our creator has come,

the Messiah has come,

and he was rejected.

This was a rejection

of God.

John wants us

to know

that to see Jesus

is to see God.

To hear the words

of Christ

is to hear

the words of God.

To touch him

is to touch God.

To be near him

is to be near God.

And to reject him

is to reject God.

We see this is exactly

what the Jewish people did.

Look at verse 11.

John says in verse 11,

he came to his own people,

and his own people

did not receive him.

Even if the rest

of the world

wouldn't recognize

God in the flesh,

surely,

surely the people

of God

would know him.

This Jewish Messiah

promised to Jewish people,

spoken of

through Jewish prophets,

came into the world

as a Jewish baby,

grew up,

and lived,

and walked,

and learned

in Jewish culture,

began to speak,

and to teach,

and explain

from the Jewish scriptures

that he was

the long-awaited

Jewish Christ,

and how did they

respond to him?

They murdered him.

They hung him

on a cross.

He came to his own,

and his own people

did not receive him.

This is the tragic

absurdity of sin.

And to this day,

some 2,000 years later,

what has changed?

Many ethnic Jews

still reject him.

Many who are of

Jewish heritage,

sadly,

to this day,

are still rejecting

Christ,

still waiting for

the Messiah to come,

still believing

that they are okay

with God

while they deny

and despise

his son.

But hear me,

because this is

John's point.

No one

is okay

with God

if they deny

his son.

No one

is okay

with God.

Jew

and Gentile

alike,

no one,

no matter how

kind,

no matter how

generous,

no matter how

spiritual,

no matter how much

they speak

about God,

no one

can claim

God

while denying

or ignoring

Christ Jesus.

We need to be

careful,

church.

In our witness,

as we share

the gospel

with our neighbors,

with our friends,

in our witness,

that we are not

content to see

people give

appearance of love

for God,

but zero evidence

of faith in Christ.

Christ.

That's not enough.

Apart from

faith in

Jesus Christ,

no one

can know

God,

no matter how

religious or

devout they may

seem.

Even as we

consider our

own personal

relationship

with God,

don't bypass

Christ on the

way to God.

You can't.

Jesus says,

I am the way

and the truth

and the life.

No one

comes to the

Father except

by me.

The more

you understand

that all

of your

relationship

with God

is in

Christ,

through Christ,

by Christ,

the deeper

and the more

profoundly

beautiful you

will see

your relationship

with God

to be.

Even as we

consider our

own practices

here as a

church,

as a family,

we exist

to magnify

the glory

of God

in what?

In the

gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

I was told

by an old

mentor to

never preach

a sermon

that I could

go and

preach at a

synagogue.

You understand

what he's saying?

Never preach

a sermon

that I could

go and

preach in a

synagogue and

not be booed

out of the

room.

every text,

every sermon,

every message,

every lesson,

preach Christ.

Bear witness

to the

light so

that everyone

in the

room is

now faced

with the

decision,

will I

reject him

or will

I receive

him?

There's

another

response

here.

Second

response in

this passage

is to

receive

the

light.

John the

Baptist came

bearing witness

to the

light.

Why?

Verse 7,

why?

That all

might believe

through him.

We'll see in

this book that

John has a lot

to say about

believing.

This is the

first time that

we see that

word here.

We're going

to see that

one word

97 more

times in

the book

of John.

His aim

in writing,

our aim

in witnessing,

our aim

in gathering,

here and

singing and

praying and

preaching this

word is that

all might

believe in

Christ Jesus

and live in

light of that

faith in the

Son.

Look here to

verse 11 again.

It says,

He came to

his own,

his own

people did

not receive

him,

but to

all who

did receive

him,

who believed

in his

name,

he gave

the right

to become

children of

God,

who were

born not

of blood,

nor of the

will of

the flesh,

nor of the

will of

man,

but of

God.

John is

showing us

here the

unfathomable

richness of

grace toward

those who

believe.

all who

deny him,

Jew and

Greek alike,

are denying

God and

are separated

from him,

but all who

receive him,

Jew and

Greek alike,

man and

woman alike,

rich and

poor alike,

boys and

girls alike,

people from

every tribe,

tongue,

and nation

alike,

to all who

did receive

him,

he gave

an

unchangeable,

irrevocable,

eternity

changing

right to

become

children of

God.

How much

do you

make of

the fact

that through

faith in

Christ you

have been

made a

child of

God?

J.I.

Packer,

he says,

if you want

to judge how

well a

person understands

Christianity,

find out how

much he makes

of the thought

of being

God's child

and having

God as

his father.

If this is

not the

thought that

prompts and

controls his

worship and

prayers and

his whole

outlook on

life, it

means that he

does not

understand

Christianity

very well

at all.

See,

this right

is an

incredible

gift.

If you

are in

Christ,

if you

have been

given this

right to

become a

child of

God, you

have been

united to

Christ by

faith, you

have been

given the

right to

become his

child, and

you have been

given all the

rights of

being his

child.

Think about

this with

me.

Think about

this.

Because as I

was studying

this passage

this week, I

could not get

past the depth

of this word

right.

He gave us

the right to

become his

children.

Those who

receive him are

given the

right.

He didn't

just make us

his child, he

gave us the

right to

become his

children.

We make so

much out of

our rights,

don't we?

Especially as

Americans, my

goodness.

We hold these

truths to be

self-evident, that

all men are

created equal,

that they are

endowed by

their creator

with certain

unalienable

rights, that

among these are

life, liberty,

and the pursuit

of happiness.

I want to

very gently

poke a hole

in that,

because that's

simply not

true.

In relation

to fellow

man,

horizontally

speaking, in

relation to

one another,

man to

man, yes,

of course,

we have to

protect and

uphold certain

man to man

horizontal rights

in order to

function as a

society.

It is not for

man to take

what is only

God's to give

and to take.

So yes,

horizontally, amen.

But vertically,

before God,

we need to

know that we

have no such

rights.

Who among us

can look at

God and claim

a right to

life?

You forfeited

your right to

life when you

first sinned

against God.

What does

Romans tell us?

The wages of

sin is

death.

It's by his

mercy alone

that we are

breathing right

now, not by

right.

You forfeited

your right to

liberty when you

became a slave

to sin.

You squandered

your pursuit

of happiness

when you

pursued it

outside of

the only

source of

true and

lasting joy

and happiness.

What right

can anyone

claim before

God?

No one

who has

rejected

Christ can

claim before

God any

right to

life, to

liberty, to

happiness, to

anything

whatsoever.

But

John tells

us those

who have

received

Christ

have been

given a

right

right to

become

children of

God.

And as

his

children,

they have

an irrevocable

right to

eternal life,

to freedom

from sin,

to pleasures

forevermore

in the

presence of

God, their

father.

Do you see

what a blessing

it is to be

called a child

of God?

What a

privilege.

That's not

shared with

everyone

everywhere.

Not everyone

is a child

of God.

This is

no one's

natural

right to

be his

children.

Yes, we

are all

his creation,

but no, we

are not all

his children.

To call

God

father

is a

precious

right.

right.

So how

do we

get in

on this?

That's the

question, isn't

it?

How is

anyone given

this right?

Well, we

see, John

tells us,

it's not of

blood.

It cannot

be earned

by a natural

belonging to

any earthly

race, to

any earthly

family, to

any earthly

nation, to

any earthly

culture.

You cannot

be born

naturally into

the kingdom

of God.

God has no

grandchildren,

only children.

This was a

problem for

the Jews.

It may be a

problem for

some of you.

You are not

his child

simply because

you were

raised in a

Christian home

or because

you were born

into a

nominally

Christian

culture.

John says

no one is

his child

by blood.

God.

We see, it

is not of

the will

of the

flesh.

This

right cannot

be earned

by our

doing.

It is not

by works

so that no

one may

boast.

You cannot

work your

way into

the family

of God.

You may

have gone

to church

your whole

life,

come and

sung the

songs,

prayed the

prayers,

walked an

aisle,

and still

not get

it.

There are

so many

who think

that if

they are

just good

enough,

they are

not as

far gone,

not as

bad as

some other

people,

that they

know that

they are

fine in

the sight

of God.

This is a

lie.

You cannot

work your

way into

the family

of God.

It is

not of

the will

of man,

John says.

this right

cannot be

earned by

our

willing.

He gave

the right

to become

children of

God who

were born

not of

blood,

nor of

the will

of the

flesh,

nor of

the will

of man,

but of

God.

There are

so many

professing

Christians who

when you

begin to

peel back

the layers

of their

relationship

with God

at the

bottom,

at the

foundation,

what you

find is

not the

saving grace

of God

and the

will of

God,

it is

their

will.

John says,

no,

the foundation

of your

new birth

as a

child of

God is

not your

will,

but God's.

John is

laying the

groundwork

here for a

topic that

he's going

to come

back to

again and

again and

again,

which is,

as he says

later,

that a

person cannot

receive even

one thing

unless it is

given to

him from

heaven.

This is a

right given

from God.

So how is

it given?

It's given

simply through

the gift

of faith.

To all

who received

him,

who believed

in his

name,

he gave

the right

to become

children

of God.

Sounds

almost too

simple,

doesn't it?

You and I,

we're so

hardwired,

aren't we?

To want to

work for

what we

get.

To want to

try to earn

our keep,

to try to

work and

to labor

and to

strive and

to do and

to do and

to do and

to do.

John says

you can't

earn this.

This is

given,

simply

received by

genuine

faith in

the Son of

God,

Jesus Christ.

Do you

believe that

Jesus is

God?

Do you

believe that

he is

worthy of

your worship?

Do you

believe that

he's risen

from the

grave,

that he

and he

alone can

conquer and

save you

from your

sin,

that he's

defeated

death,

that he

stands to

intercede

between you

and the

Father,

that he

brings us

back into

right relationship

with God?

If so,

rejoice

and rest.

You have

been made

his child.

And if

not,

the time

has come

for you

to stop

rejecting

God

and to

turn,

to believe

and to

receive him

by faith.

Last week,

we got to see

three of our

members baptized.

I call that a

low country

baptism,

y'all.

Outside,

in the rain,

in my church

clothes,

in the hot

tub,

that's a

low country

baptism.

I don't

know if you

could hear

the questions

that I

could,

I was

asking them

over the

rain and

the noise.

I asked

them a

series of

questions.

I said,

do you,

do you

believe that

you have

sinned

against a

holy God?

That you've

offended him

with your

sin,

that your

sin has

earned you

his wrath,

every one of

them,

all three?

Yes,

I do.

Have you

trusted in

Christ Jesus

alone for

the salvation

from your

sins,

the light of

the world,

that he has

lived perfectly

where you

have failed,

that he

suffered and

died in

your place

on the

cross,

that he

bore the

wrath of

God that

you deserve

for your

sin?

Yes,

I have.

Yes,

I do.

And do you

commit now

to live out

the Christian

faith by

the power

of the

Holy Spirit,

to put

sin to

death and

to walk

by the

power of

the Spirit

and newness

of life?

Yes,

I do.

Church,

I want to

see more

people in

the hot

tub.

Don't

you?

I want

to see

more and

more and

more come

into the

kingdom.

I want to

see more

and more be

given eyes

to see

the glory

of Christ.

I want to

see more

given this

unchangeable

right to

become children

of God.

How will

that happen

unless we

go and

bear witness

to the

light?

Let's pray.

Lord, the

decision is

placed before

us, not

just now, not

just once, but

every moment.

Will we

receive you?

Will we

believe upon

you?

Will we live

as your

children?

children?

We pray,

Father, that

if there are

any here who

don't know

you, who

are standing

and living in

rejection to

Christ, would

you change

that right

now?

Give them

eyes to

see.

And for

those who

know you,

Father, as

your children,

we pray that

our eyes would

be open to

understand the

depth of

that gift,

that we've

become children

of God.

Lead us to

live in light

of that glorious

truth.

And Father,

we pray that

as we go from

this place,

would we take

something of a

witness to

share the good

news of Christ

with those around

us.

We pray all

this in Jesus'

name.

Amen.