Children of Light

We're going to be in John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

We're picking up kind of in the middle of chapter 12.

We're going to be reading verses 20 through 36 here.

So we have a pretty good size chunk that we're going through this morning.

It was very much a narrative, but it is there's a lot here that you might not see at the first pass.

So we're going to be reaching back into the Old Testament and into some of Paul's letters to try and kind of bring a lot together here of what I really think John is conveying through his writing, obviously through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

So if you're able, would you please stand for the reading of God's Word?

John chapter 12, starting in verse 20.

John 12 · chapter mention

Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival.

So they came to Philip, who was from Beth Seda in Galilee, and requested of him, Sir, we want to see Jesus.

Philip went and told Andrew.

Then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus replied to them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself.

But if it dies it produces much fruit.

The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

If any one serves me, he must follow me.

Where I am, there my servant will also be.

If any one serves me, the Father will honor him.

Now my soul is troubled.

What should I say?

Father, save me from this hour, but that is why I came to this hour.

Father, glorify your name.

Then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.

The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder.

Others said, An angel has spoken to him.

Jesus responded, This voice came not for me, but for you.

Now is the judgment of this world.

Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.

He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die.

Then the crowd replied to him, We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever.

So how can you say the Son of Man will be lifted up?

Who is this Son of Man?

Jesus answered, The light will be with you only a little longer.

Walk while you have the light, so that darkness doesn't overtake you.

The one who walks in darkness doesn't know where he's going.

While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.

Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you as we always do for your word.

That we get to open it so freely and in a public place like this and study it.

And I pray that we wouldn't just open this and read it and try to learn for head knowledge, but that it would also be for heart knowledge.

Lord, that you would use this to change our lives, to mold us and shape us this morning.

Whatever it is that you want to do within our church as a whole and within us as individuals here this morning through your word, I pray that you would use it as a chisel and that you would shape us and mold us to become more and more like Jesus on a daily basis, we pray.

Have your perfect will and way in us, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.

You may be seated.

So as I said, we're picking up here in chapter 12.

This is the third week that we've been in chapter 12.

We've already covered the uh anointing of Jesus in Bethany, uh, followed by the triumphal entry that we saw last week of Jesus coming into Jerusalem.

We've already seen that there are a ton of people in Jerusalem.

A lot of people have made their pilgrimage into Jerusalem for this Passover festival.

And really, Jesus is in the headlines, so to speak.

You know, there's a buzz within Jerusalem about Jesus and all these questions about whether he's the Messiah or not, and what are the religious leaders going to do to him or not?

And something that John doesn't mention in particularly in his gospel, and as far as I can tell timeline-wise, in between the triumphal entry and our passage that we have today, Jesus cleanses the temple.

He drives out the money changers, and then he quotes from Isaiah 56.

So I want you to keep one finger in John and then turn to Isaiah 56 so that we can all read this passage together.

It's around the middle of your Bible, it's right in between Song of Solomon and Jeremiah.

But I think it's going to help us to make sense a little bit about what we're seeing with these Greeks coming to Jesus at this specific time during this feast.

So Isaiah 56, go ahead and turn there.

And the reason is that we're turning here is I think maybe, and this is just a guess on my part, maybe these Greeks are coming to Jesus specifically at this time because maybe they witnessed the cleansing of the temple or they heard about the cleansing of the temple, and that Jesus said, It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer.

And that's where this comes from, is Isaiah 56 that Jesus is quoting.

And it's all about Gentiles coming to the Lord and coming to worship the Lord.

But even if this is not the reason that the Greeks came to Jesus at this time, this prophecy that we're going to be looking at kind of brings a lot of things together for us at this point in this Passover week, in this Passion week of Jesus, specifically regarding Gentiles coming to faith in God.

And Jesus not only dying for the Jews, but dying for the world.

So I Isaiah 56, starting in verse 1, and we'll read the first eight verses, says this This is what the Lord says preserve justice and do what is right, for my salvation is coming soon, and my righteousness will be revealed.

Happy is the person who does this, the Son of Man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

No foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord, keep that in mind, should say, The Lord will exclude me from his people.

And the eunuch should not say, Look, I am a dried up tree.

For the Lord says this for the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold firmly to my covenant, I will give them in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters.

I will give each of them an everlasting name that will never be cut off.

As for the foreigners, there's the foreigners again, as for the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to become his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it, and who hold firmly to my covenant, I will bring them to my holy mountain, and let them rejoice in my house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

This is the declaration of the Lord God who gathers the dispersed of Israel.

I will gather to them still others besides those already gathered.

So this is a huge prophecy of Gentiles coming to faith in Jesus and the worship of God being opened up to anyone that desires to join themselves to the Lord through Jesus, as we just read in Isaiah 56.

You know, the temple at this time was not very accepting of Gentiles that practiced Judaism.

They actually had their own court that they had to stay in.

They weren't warmly welcomed, I think is a good way to say it.

But God says here in Isaiah that it will be a house of prayer for all nations.

You know, it could be that these Greeks in our story today, that they either witness Jesus cleansing the temple, they hear about it and what Jesus said, and they just want to know more about what this means specifically for them moving forward as Greeks that are worshiping the Lord.

So keep all of that in mind as we jump into verse 20 here.

So let's take a look at verse 20.

It says, Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival.

So they came to Philip, who was from Beth Seda in Galilee, and requested of him, Sir, we want to see Jesus.

Philip went and told Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

It could be that they went and they asked Philip specifically because he has a Greek name.

He's the only disciple with a Greek name.

Maybe they thought they would get some special favor with him being Greeks and say, Oh, this guy has a Greek name.

Maybe he'll actually take us to Jesus.

Who knows?

But Philip grabs Andrew, they go and tell Jesus this.

And what's not clear here is if the Greeks actually went with them as they went to ask Jesus if they could come and talk to them.

But we do learn a little bit at the end of this passage that there is a crowd around Jesus when all of this is going on.

But regardless, Jesus' response to the Greeks wanting to come to him, his response is actually to his disciples, as you'll see here in verse 23.

Jesus replied to them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

You know, as we've been going through John, we've just seen over and over again Jesus staying on God's timeline.

And he just keeps saying, My hour has not come.

It is not here.

And then we'll see him slip away from the crowd, or slip away from violence, or slip away from the religious leaders, just staying on God's timeline because so many people wanted to bring violence against him.

But here he finally says, The hour has come.

And he says this, like I was saying, in response to the Greeks wanting to come to him.

You know, Isaiah 56 is starting to unfold, these Greeks wanting to come to Jesus.

And this is the week of his crucifixion.

It's time for him to be glorified.

It's time for people to see who he really is and for him to be glorified through his death, his burial, and his resurrection.

You know, this whole time that Jesus had been on this earth, he'd been veiling his glory.

You know, other than in the transfiguration, as we see, when the veil was lifted for that moment and his face shone like the sun and his clothes were as white as light, it says, but that veil is about to be lifted permanently from Jesus.

And we're gonna talk a little bit more about that once we hit verse 30, verse 30.

But first, we're gonna look at verse 24 and how Jesus will predict his death and his resurrection.

Not sure why that went out, but I'll try and talk louder.

So verse 24.

Truly I tell you, until a grain of sin, just want to make sure it's not on my end.

Okay, I don't think it is.

Um Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself.

So Jesus knows the method in which he will die, doesn't he?

And he compares his death, burial, and resurrection to a seed here.

Now, a question for you.

If a seed remains in a container on a shelf or in a sack or something like that, or modern day, if a seed remains in its little packet on the shelf at Home Depot, you know, on that little display, what is that seed going to do?

It's gonna stay dried up and it's going to stay a seed forever, isn't it?

It has to go down into the ground, be buried in the ground if it is ever to become the plant that it was created to be, right?

And if that seed germinates, what then happens to that seed?

It doesn't remain a seed, does it?

Rather, it's transformed into new life that never would have come without first being buried.

You guys following where this is going with the seeds?

So, where does the seed go if it's planted in the ground and becomes this new plant?

Where does it go?

You know, it gave itself up to become a plant, doesn't it?

Now, stick with me here, okay?

We're gonna do a little botany lesson that has a physical and spiritual implication to our text here this morning.

So the shell on a seed is called a testa.

It's the part on the outside, the hard part that protects the embryo on the inside from drying out and from being damaged.

If a seed sits for too long, the whole thing dries out and it's worthless.

There will never be life in it again if that seed is left for too long.

A lot of times they say between five and ten years, there's no chance of any uh any seeds lasting.

There's exceptions, of course.

But if you plant that seed in time where that embryo does not dry out, and it's planted in time, I want to show you a picture of what happens.

So you plant the seed into the ground and it starts to germinate, the roots start to come out, it starts to sprout, the sprout starts to come out, and then you have this plant.

Where's the seed?

Where's the testa?

Where's the outside of that shell once that plant starts to grow?

You know, I like to think of this shell, this testa, as our physical bodies that one day we're going to shed.

We're gonna leave behind in physical death, but our spirit will live on.

You know, and after Jesus' return, we will get our resurrected bodies.

And Paul makes a lot more sense about this uh than I do.

So I want us to look at 1 Corinthians 15, uh, and it'll be up on the screen behind me if you don't want to turn there.

But 1 Corinthians 15, verses 35 through 38.

1 Corinthians 15:35–38

This is what Paul has to say about this.

He says, but someone will ask, How are the dead raised?

What kind of body will they have when they come?

You fool, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

Sound familiar?

And as for what you sow, you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.

But God gives it a body as He wants, and to each of the seeds its own body.

So we will be resurrected to life in new resurrected bodies, just like Jesus.

What we have now is just a seed of what's ahead, of what God has for us ahead.

So don't miss what Jesus is saying here.

You know, unless his body is planted in the ground, buried in the ground, there will not be new life.

If a seed is never planted, it'll never become what it was intended to be.

But look at the end of verse 24.

It says, But if it dies, it produces much fruit.

His body will be planted in the tomb for three days.

We're about to see this just later in this week.

And it's going to be resurrected to life in his resurrected body, producing the best fruit that humanity will ever know.

And that's the fruit of having peace with God.

Fruit like the forgiveness of sin.

Fruit of the Jesus defeating death and the grave for us, offering salvation to anyone, even to the Gentiles, if we simply believe and follow him.

But it starts with death.

For Jesus physically, but for us, our death is dying to self.

It's dying to our flesh.

Which Jesus explains here in verse 25.

Look at that with me.

The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Dying to self is planting our life in the ground with Jesus.

Sharing in the death of Christ so that we can also share in the resurrection of Christ as well into new life.

And when people choose to not plant their seed for Christ, they will die a spiritual death.

Like the seed that was never planted, that just completely dries out outside and inside.

That's why Jesus says whoever loves his life in this current seed will lose his spiritual life.

And whoever hates his life in this world will plant that seed in the ground and have eternal life with Jesus Christ.

So I think the question for us here today becomes well, how do we plant that seed?

As believers, how do we plant that seed?

Well, Jesus tells us in Luke 9, verses 23 and 24, he says, If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Luke 9:23

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.

And I want to make sure we're clear on something here.

This is not a call to hate ourselves or to try and harm ourselves or to disregard the life that God has given us in this world.

It's a call to prioritize the kingdom of God above this body.

To prioritize the kingdom of God above the earth, the world that is around us.

You know, in Philippians 3, chapter, or uh chapter 3, verses 7 through 8, Paul tells us how he views this concept.

He says, But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.

More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ.

That's how the Apostle Paul viewed this concept that we're looking at.

This call from Jesus to hate our life in this world is a call to consider all the things of this earth as loss compared to him.

That means if we have to decide between our reputation or following him, we follow him.

We have to choose between pleasing our family or following him, we follow him.

Losing our job or following him, we follow him.

And it doesn't mean that we stop caring about or caring for those things that I just mentioned, but they need to pale in comparison to pleasing Jesus.

The enduring word commentary says this, it's very appropriate.

It says, to be a Christian is to serve Jesus, to follow him.

It doesn't mean that you stop working your job or caring for your family or studying at school.

It means you do all of that as a servant of Jesus, as a follower of Jesus.

You know, it's our act of worship to do those things in our daily life for Christ.

Which leads us right to verse 26.

Look at that with me.

If anyone serves me, he must follow me.

This is discipleship at its core right here.

Following him means watching everything he does and then emulating that, and then doing the same thing that we see Jesus doing, becoming more like him in that way.

You know, what did Jesus say when he called his twelve disciples?

You can say it out loud.

What did he say?

Okay, good.

You guys do know that.

Okay, that's awesome.

I wasn't really that worried.

But follow me.

And they literally did that for three years with Jesus.

They accompanied him, they watched him, they studied him, they asked him questions.

And then through the rest of the New Testament, they did what they saw their master doing.

Which included discipling others just as Jesus discipled them.

And I believe that if you've been faithfully following Jesus Christ for three years, faithfully following being the keywords there.

If you've been faithfully following him for three years, you're ready to start discipling somebody less mature in the faith.

You know, discipleship is not a program that you have to become certified for, it's not some class that you have to go.

Through.

It's as simple as telling somebody younger in the faith, hey, let's hang out.

You know, you can watch what I do, you can ask questions, and we'll look at what it looks like to become like Jesus together.

You know, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1

And that's what discipleship looks like for us today as well.

You know, saying, I'm flawed, I have a long way to go, I'm a sinner.

So don't imitate me in everything, but imitate me as I imitate Christ.

As I grow closer to Christ, why don't you come along and we'll both grow closer to Christ together?

Because, look at the second part of verse 26.

Jesus continues, Where I am, there my servant also will be.

You know, the word servant is the same word that we see for deacon.

And it means one that executes the commands of another, especially of a master.

This is the relationship that Jesus is calling us into with him.

And if Jesus being our master and us being his servant sounds extreme, well, let me ask you a question.

Where's the best place for a sheep to be at all times?

With the shepherd, right?

Right next to the shepherd, following the shepherd.

You know, Jesus already told them he is the good shepherd and that we are his sheep if we're following him.

So it makes sense that where he is, we should be, right?

Abiding in him, drawing closer to him, following him step for step.

And look at the promise at the end of verse 26.

He says, If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Just take a moment and let that sink in.

The Father will honor him.

God the Father, the ruler of the universe, that can resurrect the dead, who is about to speak, and people tremble and think it's thunder, will honor, esteem, respect you.

Think about that.

With only one condition, that you honor Jesus in your life.

That you serve him and that you follow him and place following him above everything else in your life.

And Jesus says the Father will honor you.

That should blow our minds.

That God the Father will honor us if we do those things in Christ.

You know, Jesus couldn't have made it any easier for us to be honored by God, could he?

If we just believe and follow him.

But doing that was excruciating for Jesus to make it that easy for us.

Look at verse 27.

Now my soul is troubled.

What should I say?

Father, save me from this hour, but that is why I came to this hour.

Father, glorify your name.

You know, this prayer is incredible.

It's a prayer that we need to mimic within our own life.

You know, he admits, doesn't he, that his soul is troubled.

He knows he's heading to this excruciatingly painful death.

He's not looking forward to the pain that's coming, the abuse and the torture that's coming.

But he asks this rhetorical question what should I say?

Father, save me from this hour.

He knows his mission.

He knows why he came, he knows where he's going just in a few days.

So instead of praying for safety, instead of praying for rescue from his circumstance, he prays for God to glorify his name.

The Father's name in Christ.

You know, we see in Matthew 26 in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus will pray a very similar prayer.

You know, my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.

Yet, not as I will, but as you will.

Sometimes God's glory comes through pain.

That's a hard one to swallow sometimes, isn't it?

That sometimes God's glory comes through pain.

If you came here today for a warm, fuzzy Sunday.

Sorry, you're not gonna get that today.

Because the truth of it is this if we are to be like Jesus, we need to be more concerned with God's will and God's glory than our own comfort and our own health and our own safety.

You know, that's a big part of taking up our cross daily and following Him.

And then look at how God responds to Jesus praying for God to glorify his name.

Second part of verse 20, it says, Then a voice came from heaven.

I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.

I wish I could make that booming, you know, voice of the Lord, not that I know anything about what it sounds like, but you know, just the power in which God says this.

You know, there's three instances like this in the Gospels where God audibly speaks about or to Jesus.

You know, there's John the Baptist when he's baptizing Jesus, God's voice comes and says, This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

Then at the transfiguration, same thing, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

And then right here in our verse today, you have glorified my name and will glorify my name.

God is pleased and glorified by everything Jesus does and will continue to be glorified by what Jesus is going to do as well, including the looming death of Jesus on the cross.

Now look at the response of God speaking in verse 29.

The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder.

Others said, an angel has spoken to him.

So there's power in God's voice.

And this tends to happen whenever God speaks audibly.

Think of Mount Sinai, you know, in the in the Exodus.

The Israelites were so freaked out.

They're like, Moses, why don't you just talk to God and tell us what he says?

Because we're gonna die if we keep listening to this.

Transfiguration.

The disciples were shaken in their boots when God spoke to them.

People are terrified at the power of God and the authority of God's voice.

So Jesus explains, verse 30.

Jesus responded, This voice came not for me, but for you.

Now is the judgment of this world.

Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

So the ruler of this world is Satan.

You know, this world became his kingdom when Adam and Eve sinned.

Their sin brought on the death and the decay and the destruction that we see all around us.

It brought on struggle, it brought on pain into this world.

Something that the world had never known before.

And that led both to spiritual death and to physical death.

Two things that we were not created for, but we are dealing with now in the world that we live in.

So Jesus comes to this cursed earth in his first coming, not to rescue us physically, but spiritually.

To defeat Satan and give everyone an option that doesn't end in spiritual death.

Colossians tells us that through the cross he disarmed the rulers and authorities of this world and he disgraced them publicly.

So that now we have an option to be done with spiritual death if we accept the gift of Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 32 with me.

As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.

He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die.

You know, this word lifted up that we see right here, it's translated in the New Testament in the Greek six times as lifted up, like we see here, but it's also translated 14 times as exalted.

So there's a double meaning that's going on here.

Jesus will be physically lifted up on the cross and at the same time exalted on the cross, as the Son of God, the perfect Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

So not just the sin of the Jews, but he would draw, it says right here in our passage, all people to himself.

And all the while Jesus is saying this, there's this crowd that is listening and they're hearing all that Jesus is saying, and they're trying to connect these dots.

So they have a question.

Look at verse 34.

Then the crowd replied to him, We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever.

So how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up?

Who is this Son of Man?

So, one, they know that Jesus is talking about dying on a cross.

They've connected those dots already.

And two, they know something about prophecy, don't they?

Psalm 72, 17 might be what they're referring to.

And it says, His name shall endure forever, speaking of the Messiah.

His name shall continue as long as the Son and men shall be blessed in him.

All nations shall call him blessed.

This is probably the verse that they're referring to.

So they simply ask him, How can you be crucified and also remain forever as it's been prophesied?

I think it's safe to say that the majority of Israel had not considered the possibility of their long-awaited Messiah being crucified on a cross.

Or that they would only see him face to face for a limited time on this earth at his first coming.

And I think that's where verse 35 comes from.

Look at verse 35.

Jesus answered, The light will be with you only a little longer.

Walk while you have the light, so that darkness does not overtake you.

You know, they have an opportunity to fully accept their Messiah that they're looking at face to face in the flesh.

You know, later Jesus is going to tell Thomas and the other disciples that are there in chapter 20, that we're going to see here in the Gospel of John.

He's going to say, Because you have seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

That's us.

All right?

We have a special blessing from Jesus.

Because we have not seen him face to face, yet we follow him.

Which I think the implication is that following him and not seeing him physically is actually a bit harder than what these people in this crowd are having to do to accept Jesus.

Which is, I think, is why Jesus is saying here, you know, walk while you have the light, so that the darkness does not overtake you.

He's telling him, I'm right here.

Why would you wait?

God incarnate is looking at you eye to eye right now.

Why would you wait?

Plant that seed before it dries up and dies.

He goes on at the very end of verse 35 there.

He says, The one who walks in darkness doesn't know where he's going.

While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light.

Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.

Ben told me this morning this is proof that Jesus was an introvert, right there.

So no.

It means that he is.

I hope I didn't steal your joke from next week.

Okay.

But this means that he escaped from their view.

He's remaining on God's timeline.

He's not going to allow anything to happen to him until it's actually time for his trial and to die on the cross.

But if you remember going back to chapter 9, how Jesus defined spiritually blind and spiritually seeing.

Do you remember we were there probably about a month ago or so?

The spiritually blind are those that don't believe they need a savior and are blind to the things of God.

And the spiritually seeing are those that do recognize their need for a savior.

You know, you can't see light if you're completely blind, can you?

And you also can't see light if you're in complete darkness.

You know, we were camping this last summer up near Mount Lassen, and we did this hike through this lava tube, this big old lava tube cave thing that we're up there.

And once you get into those caves, when you shut your headlamp off, you cannot see your hand in front of you.

Like it is that dark.

I mean, you can't see any bit of light.

And so every now and then when we get in there and we're away from other people, like, oh, let's let's turn our headlamps off.

And we would turn them off for about five seconds.

And then it was like, okay, let's turn them back on.

This is kind of freaky, you know.

But if you were to put me deep into one of those caves, and then you told me that I had to get out without a light, you know, just hoping to not run into stuff, hoping that I'm going in the right direction, I would not be okay with that.

I was good for about five seconds, and then I was ready for light again.

It's like Jesus is saying, You have a light in me, in this dark cave that is the world.

But that light is going to be gone shortly.

And you're gonna be in this dark world without me.

But if you accept me, I will give you my light for yourself.

And not only give you my light, you will become, what does it say?

Children of light.

Jesus is light then living through us.

To both navigate the world for ourselves, but also to be a light in this world, as Jesus is a light in the world.

You know, what did he tell us already in chapter 8?

He told us, I am the light of the world.

Anyone who follows me, there's that word again, follows me, will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.

You know, I want to leave you with Jesus' words here from Matthew chapter 5, verses 14 through 16.

Matthew 5:14–16

And I'll just gonna read them to you.

And I want you to listen like Jesus is talking directly to you.

Here's our marching orders as we finish up here today.

Matthew 5, verses 14 through 16.

Matthew 5:14–16

Jesus says, You, you are the light of the world.

A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand.

And it gives light for all who are in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

That's what Jesus wants us to be doing as we go out and in our weeks and for the rest of our lives to be that light, that reflection of Him living in and through us to this world.

Will you please pray with me?

Jesus, you are so good and so faithful.

And we thank you so much that you've called us to be your sons and your daughters, to be children of light.

Lord, would you show us how to live this out?

There's some hard things in this passage today, but would you show us how to die to ourselves?

How to plant this seed that you've given us for your glory for all of eternity.

Lord, to be able to share in your death, your burial, and your resurrection, being resurrected to this new life that you've offered each one of us, if we'll simply accept it and follow you.

So I pray if there's anybody here that has not made that decision, Lord, it's not an easy decision, but it's the right decision.

I pray today would be the day of salvation.

Just like Jesus said to them, Lord, that the light wouldn't be with them very, very much longer, Lord.

An encouragement to accept Him now.

There's no reason uh to wait.

I pray that if there's anybody here, Lord, that they would do that right now.

And for all of us, Lord, that we would be eternally grateful that you've done this for us and that we can share in your death, burial, and resurrection.

That you died for us in our place, but you defeated death in the grave, so that we can have eternal life with you.

We're so thankful for that.

Lord, have your perfect will and way in us and show us how to become more and more like you, and show us how to bring more and more glory to your name, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.