A Light That Changes the World

Isaiah chapter 60, verses 1 through 3. We'll

Isaiah 60:1–3

read through these three verses, then we will

pray and get started. Isaiah chapter 60, verse

Isaiah 60:1

1. Arise, shine, for your light has come. and

the glory of the Lord shines over you. For look,

darkness covers the earth, and total darkness

the peoples. But the Lord will shine over you,

and his glory will appear over you. Nations will

come to your light, and kings to the brightness

of your radiance. Let's pray. God, we come to

you, and we thank you for these words. And we

thank you for the light that has come. Dear Lord,

our lives are full of struggle and stresses and

pains and temptations and trials, dear Lord,

that are in fact darkness in our life. And that's

the worst place to be, dear Lord. Nobody longs

to live in the darkness. And so I pray, God,

that through your word today and through your

Holy Spirit, That Jesus Christ would be a light

in our lives today. God, as we walk through this

world, it is not easy. But you are a lamp unto

our feet, God. So I pray that your word would

light our way this morning. I pray that your

Holy Spirit would free us of the distractions

and the worries of this world. I pray, God, that

you meet us where we are. We may not be where

we want to be. Our hearts may be happy today

or they may be sad today or our struggles may

be tough today, but wherever we are, dear Lord,

we just pray that in your grace you'd just meet

us there and help us to experience your presence.

God, I pray that you'd take away any pride or

fear I have today, that I would preach your word

for your glory. And I ask these things in Jesus'

name. Amen. The book of Isaiah was written over

a long period of time. It was written, part of

it at the beginning of or before Israel was going

to go into the Babylonian captivity and then

part of it during that time and then part of

it follows after probably. And that would be

where this verse takes place. Now God's people,

they lived in a lot of disobedience. And as a

result of that, God often would hand them over

to their enemies, and that's exactly what happened.

God handed Israel over, and eventually they were

dispersed, and then sometimes later he handed

Judah over, and they were taken over by the Babylonians,

and that was prophesied. We see by several prophets

in the Old Testament that this was going to occur,

that a foreigner was going to come in and overtake

them, and they were going to be taken from their

land, but that God was going to restore them,

and he did. He did deliver them. that 70 years

of captivity, Israel was restored to the land.

But there's also other promises in Isaiah that

are not just farther than Israel, but pointing

us forward to something greater than just Israel

being restored to their land. And they were,

and they rebuilt the walls, and they rebuilt

the temple, and all of those things we see in

Scripture were fulfilled just as they were said

they would be. But there was also something pointing

us forward in Isaiah. pointing us forward to

Jesus Christ. That's the ultimate deliverance

that was going to come for God's people. When

we read through the Old Testament, if you never

have, you should. You should read through the

New Testament. You should see who Jesus is and

see that he is the Messiah. And then you should

go back and read the Old Testament. And as we

read the Old Testament, And it takes a lifetime.

There's always things we're seeing. But over

time, we begin to see verses and we see clearly

that they are pointing us to Jesus. Most everything

in the Old Testament is pointing us to Jesus.

Most every main story that we see and every main

character that we see, there's something in that

story that's letting us know, okay, this is pointing

forward to the perfect way that God is going

to fulfill this. You've got characters like Moses

who are going to be the one who delivered God's

people and bring them into the promised land.

And Moses is foreshadowing Jesus who would ultimately

be the one not just to deliver Israel, but deliver

all people. And not to a spot of land on this

earth, but into heaven, into an eternity. in

the presence of Jesus Christ, in the presence

of God. And so we see all of these characters

and all of these stories and all of these books

in the Old Testament, and they are pointing us

forward to Jesus Christ. That's the central theme.

That's what God wanted his people to know about.

He wanted them to look forward to a day of deliverance,

eternal deliverance. And he wanted them to look

forward to the day that the Messiah was going

to come. And there were all kind of hints throughout

the Old Testament, all kind of language that

was used by Jesus in the New Testament, I think,

to hopefully catch the ear of the audience to

say, wait a minute, I've heard this language

and these phrases before. And in the Old Testament,

they were talking about the Messiah. And here

this man has come, and he's doing miracles, and

he's preaching and teaching in a way unlike anybody

else. And he's saying some of these things, and

some people caught it. Some people recognized

that Jesus was the Messiah, and others totally

missed it. But in the book of Isaiah, throughout

this book, it's pointing to Israel's deliverance

and return to the land, which they were. And

it's also pointing forward to Jesus Christ. And

that's what we see here. We see in these verses,

in verse 1 it says, Arise, shine, for your light

has come, and the glory of the Lord shines over

you. Now in the context, he's talking about his

people Israel that have been delivered, that

he's taken care of. And God does shine upon them.

And it continues on, for look, darkness covers

the earth and total darkness the peoples, but

the Lord will shine over you and his glory will

appear over you. Now this is good news for us

today. Because we would agree that this is true

today, that darkness covers the earth. Now, we

talk about darkness and light in Scripture, and

those terms are in some way symbolic. It's not

talking about physical darkness. It's talking

about darkness that is sinfulness and evil. And

I think we would all agree that that exists in

our world today. That there is darkness in our

world today. You turn on the news. You go out

amongst the people that you see just out and

about town. And sometimes you see some of the

most evil things and you hear some of the most

evil things. And there is darkness all around

us in this world. And it's quite depressing.

And some people have never heard the gospel of

Jesus Christ. They've never read God's word.

Maybe even some of you today. Maybe you just

sit on the church pew for all your life and you

never heard a thing. Maybe today you just see

the darkness around you, but I want to tell you

today that God's word promises something better

than the darkness. That God says there's darkness

over the face of the earth. There is evil, and

I've got news for you. There will always be evil

in this world. There will always be darkness

in this world. But God says, I will shine over

you. Who's he talking to? He's talking to his

people. God is saying that if you will seek me,

if you will trust in me, I'm going to take care

of you. I'm going to deliver you. I'm going to

be your light in the midst of the darkness. And

praise the Lord. Because that's what we need.

If we only saw the darkness in our life, we would

all give up. And sadly, there are many people

in our world that have given up. Maybe there

are some of you today and you're struggling and

maybe you want to give up. But maybe it's because

you're living in the darkness. But I want to

tell you today there's something better than

what this world has to offer. Yeah, there's going

to be evil people. There's going to be bad things

that are going to occur. But I want to tell you

that God loves you today. And I want to tell

you today that there is light, that there is

goodness, that there are good people in this

world. That there are people who trust in the

Lord. That there are people who reflect the goodness

of God. At least we should as Christians. We

should be a light to the world. And God tells

His people here in Isaiah, and He's pointing

forward to Jesus Christ. He said, I'm going to

shine on you. I'm going to be a light to you.

The source of light was going to come from God's

very people. Jesus was going to come from the

people of Israel, and he was going to be a light

not just for the people of Israel, but for all

people in the world. He was going to be a light

for all to see, a light that could shine through

whatever darkness there was, and God is telling

his people, look, I am your light. But ultimately,

he's pointing them forward to what that source

of light is going to be. He says in verse 3,

Come to your light and kings to the brightness

of your radiance. He says right before that,

His glory will appear over you. He's pointing

the people forward to Jesus Christ. What's God's

desire? It's that people would follow Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he came to

this earth and he was nailed to a cross and he

died so that our sins could be forgiven, so that

we could be freed from the darkness. Had it not

been for that, we wouldn't be here today. We

would have no reason to rejoice today. Had Jesus

Christ had not have come and died on the cross

and been raised from the dead, we would still

be living in a day of darkness. But praise God,

we are not. And God says, look, I'm going to

shine down upon you. And he did through Jesus

Christ. And what does he say in that last verse?

Nations will come to your light and kings to

the brightness of your radiance. He says of God's

people, okay, I'm going to be a light to you.

I'm going to change your life. And that light

that's in you that comes through Jesus Christ

ultimately is going to be a light that all of

the nations will see. God says, I don't just

want to save you, Israel. You are my chosen people.

I chose you to carry out my plan and so that

the Messiah could be brought into the world.

But my goal, he says, is that my light would

be shown upon you that you would experience my

glory through Jesus Christ and that that light

that comes through you will be a light that all

of the nations will flock to. That all the people

of the world will experience this light that

I am bringing through you. Praise God. That's

exactly what we see in the world today. That's

why we sit in this room. Because the light has

come into the world. Because we know that there

is hope from the darkness. That that hope is

for everybody. And so just as God had said, it

had been fulfilled. And everybody around us should

see, if we are Christians, if we profess to be

Christians, people should see some light in us.

But what is our source of light? Well, it's clear

who the light is. It's clear in the New Testament

who the light is. In John 8, verse 12, it says

John 8:12

this, Then Jesus spoke to them again, I am the

light of the world. Anyone who follows me will

never walk in darkness, but will have the light

of life. Same thing, same idea that we see in

Isaiah. And Jesus tells us flat out, If there's

any question for you today as to where your light's

going to come from, it's not going to come from

your wealth. It's not going to come from your

addictions. It's not going to come from your

fame. It's not going to come from your success.

Those are not the things that light your life

up. Those things will bring more chaos and depression

and all kind of problems. The light in our life

is only going to come from one source, and that

is Jesus Christ. And Jesus says, I am the light.

Now if you're walking in darkness today, I want

to tell you the only hope that you have this

morning is to trust in Jesus Christ. He says,

I am the light of the world and whoever is in

me will not walk in darkness but walk in that

light. Again, in John chapter 12 verse 46, I

John 12:46

have come as a light into the world so that everyone

who believes in me will not remain in darkness.

Again, same type of language. Very simple stuff.

We understand sometimes the darkness is scary.

It's a beautiful thing to have lights. Most of

us have night lights outside of our house. Why?

We like to look outside. If it's dark, we want

to see what's going on. We got lights on our

cell phones now. We always have a light on us.

And we use those lights all the time. A lot of

you have night lights in your house. On a bright

night, the moon shining, there's always some

source of light that we see. And we like light

because light cuts through the darkness. And

so it is spiritually for us. When we're in the

midst of the darkness of our sin and our struggles

and our pain in this life, those are dark times.

Sometimes we have a long, dark night of the soul.

We understand this language and this symbolism.

We know what it feels like to live in darkness.

I remember it's been, oh, I guess the first of

this year. I don't remember when it was. Michelle

and I, we were in Missouri, and we went into

a cave. Of course, they had lights in it, and

it was all lit up, and you could see. And we

got down to the bottom of the cave, and Michelle

and I were the only two people on the tour. It

was a private tour. Nobody else showed up. And

we get to the bottom of the cave, and the guy

says, hey, you want me to turn off the lights?

And I said, yeah, that sounds great. So we get

in there, and he turns off the lights. And guess

what? It was completely pitch black. That's the

only time in my life that I have ever been completely

in the pitch black. I'm talking about zero source

of light whatsoever. It was complete and utter

darkness. And you know what? It was kind of scary.

It's kind of scary when you're sitting there

and you're in a cave and there is complete silence

and there is complete darkness. It's a scary

place to be. And sometimes in our lives spiritually

we get that way. Sometimes because of our sins

and because of our struggles. We make some bad

decisions and we do things and we get down roads

and we just... our life begins to fall apart,

and we are living in complete and total darkness,

and that's a scary place to be. Maybe you've

been there before. Maybe you're there now. It's

a scary place to be when we're in the midst of

complete and total darkness. And oftentimes,

it can feel hopeless. If he hadn't turned those

lights back on in that cave, I would have been

hopeless. There's no way I would have ever gotten

out of there. I would have never been able to

find my way back up the steps. I would have died

in the bottom of that cave. I would have died

in my darkness had he not provided a source of

light. That light was only off for 10 seconds.

But boy, it felt good when he flipped that light

back on. It felt good instantly. Instantly there

was relief because I was out of the darkness.

And that's how it is for us spiritually. Because

there are some times in our life that we are

in the midst of some dark stuff. Some dark sins.

Some dark decisions that we have made. And man,

it's a scary place to be. But I want to tell

you, the best feeling in the world is when you

see the light. And I want to tell you today,

the light is Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 5:14

5 verse 14 says this. For what makes everything

clear is light. Therefore it is said, Get up,

sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and the Messiah

will shine on you. Same language that he used

in Isaiah, that idea of rising up. The light

is upon you. The source of light, the source

of hope, the source of deliverance is here. We

see it in the pages of Scripture. We see it in

Jesus Christ. And so when you hear the words

of Scripture, when you've heard the gospel of

Jesus Christ, when you know that there is hope

and light, God says, rise up. Rise up and go

to that source of light. The question is, are

we going to do that? Maybe you know the source

of light. Are you going to the source of light?

You know, it'd be foolish. It'd be foolish for

us to go home tonight. Sun goes down, it gets

dark, and we don't turn on any lights in our

house. We all got lights. I think you all got

lights, probably. You got switches all over your

house. You flip them, light comes on. It'd be

pretty foolish for you every night to walk around

your house in darkness when all you got to do

is flip the switch. Even in the old days, before

there were switches, there were still lamps.

There was still a source of light. It'd be pretty

foolish to live in the darkness when you don't

have to. And we don't. Every one of us tonight,

we're going to turn on our switches. We're going

to turn on our TVs. We're going to have all these

things that's going to light up our houses. How

much more foolish is it in our life and our struggles

and our sin and our pains and our sorrows? How

much more foolish is it to know that the source

of light is right here for you today? Your source

of hope and deliverance through Jesus Christ.

He's available today. Would you rise up from

the dead, the scripture says. In the darkness,

it's death. We are doomed to die in the darkness

if we don't find the source of life that is Jesus

Christ. The source of light is available for

us today. But it's up to you to decide whether

you're going to seek the light or whether you're

going to live in the darkness. You know, sometimes

we may deceive ourselves and we may think we're

living in the light. But if you're not living

for Jesus Christ, you're not. And Jesus says,

if the light within you is darkness, then how

deep is that darkness? Sometimes we think we're

living in the light, but really we're deeper

in the darkness than we've ever imagined because

we're still living for ourselves and we're not

trusting in Jesus Christ. So the call today to

each one of us is to rise up. Flee from the darkness.

It will flee from you. All it takes is, I'm talking

about the smallest amount of light and darkness

flees. The smallest amount of light. And here

is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And the scripture

says the Son, Jesus Christ, is the radiance of

God's glory. That's the same language we see

in Isaiah chapter 60. That God's light is going

Isaiah 60 · chapter mention

to shine upon his people and that the nations

are going to radiate among the other people and

the people will see that light. What is the source

of that light that's going to radiate in our

lives and radiate in the lives of those around

us? It is Jesus Christ who is the radiance of

God's glory. Will you walk in the light today?

I don't know the answer to that. John chapter

John 3:19

3 verse 19 says this. This then is the judgment.

The light has come into the world and people

love darkness rather than the light because their

deeds were evil. That's pretty scary. That the

light has come into the world, our source of

hope and deliverance and forgiveness and joy

and peace. The things that we want, the source

of that is Jesus Christ and it has come into

the world. But the scripture says that some people

love the darkness so much that they chose to

continue to live in the darkness rather than

the light. Is that any of us today? I'm not just

talking about lost people. I'm talking about

God's people sometimes. I'm talking about people

that know the Scripture and have read the Scripture

and people that sit on the church and people

that are God's people and we get into the temptation

of sin and living for ourself and living for

the world and we start living in darkness so

much that we begin to choose the darkness over

the light. That's not a good place for us to

be. Maybe there are some of you in this room

today. You've been choosing the darkness over

the light. I pray that today that you would choose

the light. Matthew chapter 5 verses 15 and 16

Matthew 5:15

says this. No one lights a lamp and puts it under

a basket but rather on a lamp stand. And it gives

light to all who are in the house. In the same

way, let your light shine before men so that

they may see your good works. and give glory

to your Father in heaven. We are called to choose

the light in Jesus Christ. And when we choose

the light, and the light shines in the darkness

of our heart, it will change our heart. If you

come to Jesus Christ and your life is not changed,

then you have not come to Jesus Christ. Now,

I'm not telling you your life's not going to

be tough. I'm not telling you you're not going

to have temptations. I'm not telling you that

you're never going to sin again. But when we

come to Jesus Christ, there should be some change

in our heart. It should change our desires. It

should change how we treat people. It should

bring a sense of joy and a sense of peace to

us. Once we've experienced forgiveness that comes

through Jesus Christ and the grace of God, there

should be some change that comes to us once the

light of Jesus shines in our hearts and in our

lives. And praise God, I hope that's the case.

If you've come to Jesus Christ, I hope you feel

that peace and that grace and that love of Jesus

today. If you don't know Jesus Christ, I pray

that you'd come to the light today. That it would

draw you in. That you would find that there's

hope and that there's peace and that there's

deliverance in Jesus Christ. And once we've experienced

that, what does this scripture say? Let your

light shine before men. Now if Jesus Christ has

touched our life, then that should be evident

to those who are around us. Are you a light to

the people that you encounter? in the world today.

Think about the people that you were around last

week. Were you a light to them? Did they leave

with more joy after getting to visit with you

or did they leave angry? Do people love to see

you coming or do they dread to see you coming?

Do you bring joy and peace and love when you

enter into a room, when you enter into your workplace,

when you enter into your church, when you enter

into your house? Are you a source of light or

are you a source of darkness? If Jesus Christ

has become the light of our life, then that should

reflect from us in some way that we are a light

to the world that we go out into every day. We

don't care if people come to us and say, oh,

we just love you so much. You just have joy and

peace, and we love to see you coming. No, that's

not what the Scripture says. It doesn't say let

your light shine so people will give you praise.

It says let your light shine so people will see

that light that comes from Jesus Christ and give

glory to God. Now, we have light in us, but we

are not the source of light. We reflect that

light, or we should. But the question is, do

you? What kind of impact are you having in the

world? Are you shining in the world that you

go out into today? Philippians chapter 2 verses

Philippians 2:14

14 and 15 says this, Do everything without grumbling

and complaining, so that you may be blameless

and pure, children of God who are faultless in

a crooked and perverted generation, among whom

you shine like stars in the world. Anybody think

we're living among a crooked and perverted generation

today? Yep. Guess what? People hadn't changed.

There's nothing new under the sun. People didn't

just become perverted. It's been that way through

the history of the world. But there's still hope.

Praise God, there's still hope. Darkness is all

around us, but there's still hope. Because we

serve a Lord in Jesus Christ who is the light

of the world. A light that will never go out.

You know, light travels forever in a vacuum.

It travels forever, not here on this earth, but

you look out into space, light will travel forever.

It will never stop. There are stars in our solar

system that are so far away that it takes years

and years and years and years for their light

to reach us. Sirius, one of the brightest stars

that there is that we know of. You know how long

it takes the light of Sirius to reach us? Eight

and a half years. So the light that we see when

we look up, if we can find Sirius in the sky,

the light that we see from it, it left there

eight and a half years ago. And guess what? If

the source of that light goes out, in eight and

a half years, we won't be able to see it again.

We won't know that it went out for eight and

a half years. The sun in our sky. Praise the

Lord. Isn't it beautiful, the sun shining today?

The sun could be gone out right now for all we

know. It takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for the

sunlight to reach us. By the time we get out

of this place, the sun could be out and we wouldn't

even know it. But we serve a source of light

that will never go out. Jesus Christ will never

go out. Jesus Christ will shine forever. It is

a light that will reach for eternity. It will

never stop. He is the light. Of the world. And

he can change our lives. And he can forgive our

sins. And he will show us love. And give us grace.

And give us hope in the midst of our darkness.

He is a light that outshines every other light.

If you would just call on him today. And God

says. If your life has been changed by Jesus

Christ. Then you are to shine. Like stars. In

the world. How long is it taking your light.

to reach people that you encounter. If it's taken

eight and a half years for the light that comes

from you to reach people, then you're way too

far off from these people. You're way too far

off from God. The light that's in our life that

comes through Jesus Christ should be evident

to people that we encounter. And it's a light

that can change the world. It's the only thing

that can change the world. It's the light of

Jesus Christ. I know sometimes, maybe you're

like me, maybe you think, man, I wish I could

change the world. You think, man, I wish I could

do this, I wish I could do that. Realistically,

probably nobody sitting in this room is ever

going to do any amazing thing that changes the

world. I could be wrong, I hope I am. But there

are very few people who out the history of the

world have really done extraordinary things that

have really changed the world in some way or

another. But through the light of Jesus Christ,

you can change the world, maybe in ways that

you haven't expected. You might not can change

the world for 7 billion people, but there are

people that you encounter in your life every

day, every week, and you can change their world.

People struggling with sickness and sin and just

the difficulties of life and pain that comes

along. When we're in the middle of those things,

the rest of the world kind of fades out. That

becomes our world. Our worries for family, our

worries for ourselves, our worries for work,

our sin that we struggle against, our sickness

that we struggle against, that becomes our world.

And you encounter people that experience those

things every day. But you can be a light to them

and you can change their world. You might not

can change everybody's world, but you can change

somebody's. Are you being a light to the world

when you leave this room today? It doesn't always

require us to do some extraordinary thing. Sometimes

it's just something as simple as loving somebody.

Just sitting with them, listening to them. Love

listens. Do you know that? You know, so many

times we want to be so quick to speak. Oh, we

know all the answers to all the problems, right?

We can solve everybody's problems. People tell

us their problems and we are quick to give them

advice on how to fix their problems and what

they need to do. Sometimes we don't need to speak.

We just need to listen. We just need to love

people. We just need to be gracious to people.

We need to help people when they're struggling.

We need to pray with them. We need to help meet

their need if we can help meet their need. You

just need to love people. And it will change

their life. There are so many people that if

you just go and visit them, it will change their

life. They're in the darkness of depression and

old age and poor health and never see a soul

and never hear from anybody. And that's their

world. But if you just go love them, you change

the world. You change the world they live in.

And there's people like that all around, of all

ages. And the light of Jesus Christ and the love

of Jesus Christ should transform us in such a

way that it can transform others through us.

So think about that this week. Think about the

words that you say, the way that you treat people,

the things that you do or the things that you

don't do. Are you being a light to the world

today? Jesus Christ is that light. I hope he's

the light in your life. And I hope that we as

brothers and sisters in Christ are faithful.

to let that light shine through us in the lives

of those we encounter. Let's pray. God, we come

to you. We thank you for your good word. We thank

you that through your people you have brought

about the Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank you

for the light that has come. It shines upon us

today. And God, just as your word says in Isaiah,

God, that that light is to shine upon the nations

through us. I believe that's still true today

dear Lord. Not just of your people Israel. When

Isaiah wrote those words. But God true to us

today in 2025. So God I pray that if there are

any in this room today. That are living in darkness.

That even now you'd give them some peace. That

they'd feel your spirit. That they'd feel your

presence God. That they would know that there

is hope. That they would know that there is light.

God, that their sin doesn't have to get the better

of them, that their temptation doesn't have to

get the better of them, dear Lord. But I pray

today that through your words they have heard

Jesus, that he would call out to their hearts

now and tell them that he is the light that they

need, God, that they would know that, that they

would repent of their sins, that they would turn

from the things that they're doing and they would

seek Jesus Christ with all of their heart. God,

I pray that today that that light would flood

into their soul and give them peace and strength

and grace, dear Lord. Give them hope to carry

on. God, I pray that maybe there are some in

this room today and they're yours and maybe they

know the light, but they have not been living

in it, dear Lord. I pray that you would help

us, God, to see the light and to walk in the

light. God, the light is before us today in Jesus

Christ. I pray that we would not be those who

would choose the darkness over the light. I pray

that we would experience your joy and your peace

and your grace and it would bring about a change

in our life that... that is evident to those

that we encounter, dear Lord. God, I'm ashamed

to say that I and maybe others have just not

always been a good light to you in the world.

If we profess to be yours, dear Lord, we need

to live like it. We should be one, God, that

brings your love to those that we encounter,

not a sense of dread, dear Lord. So let us be

a light to the world. Whoever it may be, dear

Lord, let us see those opportunities to serve

today. Let us see those opportunities where we

can be light each and every day. I pray that

you bless these next few moments, dear Lord,

that we would just take time to reflect on your

word and listen to you. If there's any that don't

know you, dear Lord, I pray that they would today.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.