Name Above All Names "Light Of The World" | Advent Series Part 4

Well, it is the last Sunday of Advent, and that means that

Christmas Eve is just around the corner Wednesday night.

You know what, There is in no other season of the year than

Christmas that people are more open to receiving the good news

of Jesus Christ. And so I'd encourage everybody,

if there's somebody in your life, somebody on your on your

block, in your family that isn't attending church or whatever

reason, to invite them to Christmas Eve service.

God can do powerful things. Do that.

Don't assume they're not into it.

The first invitation I handed out last week to a neighbor

hadn't invited them yet. They were fairly new to the

neighborhood, invited them to the Christmas Eve service and

they said I'd love to go and then you kind of waiting.

But she says I'm not doing anything that day.

This is exactly what I need this season, first one and actually

another neighbor with very, very similar response.

Like don't assume that people are going to reject you as I

guess is what I'm trying to say. There is an openness more so now

than ever before I believe in particularly in the Christmas

season. So I encourage you, there are

some invitations still at the back.

You don't need an invitation to invite somebody, but to

sometimes that's helpful to give them the time.

Turn with me, would you, to John's Gospel Chapter 8 New

Testament Matthew, mark, Luke, John it's up there on the screen

to make your way there. Let's get the scriptures open in

front of us. We have been in this series,

name above all names, learning about or learning more about

Jesus through His names. And through His names He's

helping us to relate to Him and to be able to relate to the

world in a much more effective way, especially during this

Christmas season. So we have been looking

particularly at the names that are mentioned in the Christmas

narrative. First week we looked at the name

Jesus in particular, which means the Lord saves and relating to

Jesus, both Lord and Savior. The importance of doing that son

of David was the second week and just looking at the the power

that there is in Jesus name when we ask God in accordance with

his will in the name of Jesus, that is that's the most powerful

name ever. And so we know we're praying to

the King of kings and the Lord of Lords, the promised one to

come. And then last week it looked at

the Prince of Peace and this idea that we can know the peace

of God through just knowing that the favor of God to know that

peace no matter what the circumstances were going

through. Well, this week, today we're

looking at John chapter 8, verse 12 for the name.

John 8:12

And so Lord, as we as we read this verse and meditate on your

word, we pray Lord, that that word, living and active, would

minister to us or that you would speak to us and teach us more

about who you are and your plan for a life in Jesus name, Amen.

Matthew chapter 8, verse 12. Sorry, did I say Matthew?

Matthew 8:12

I think I did. Excuse me.

John say, flipping back and forth.

John's Gospel. John chapter 8 verse 12.

John 8:12

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said I am the light

of the world. Whoever follows me will never

walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

What's the name that we're going to look at today?

Light of the world, the light of the world.

So you might think, OK, what does this have to do with the

Christmas narrative? This is John chapter 8.

John 8 · chapter mention

Jesus is a grown adult. He's actually speaking in the

middle of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Well, if you go back to the very first chapter of John, you will

see the connection. You see, John is gone.

John's got this. So unlike all the the other

gospel, the other three gospels, John gives us this cosmic big

picture view of the of Christmas of Christ, the Christ before

Christmas in coming into the world in verse verse four and

five. It says in him Speaking of Jesus

in him was life and that life was the light of all mankind.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not

overcome it and it just dropped down to verse 9.

It says the true light. This is the Christmas verse in

John. The true light that gives light

into everyone was coming into the world Christmas.

We can see it as light piercing or darkness, the light of God

coming into the world at Christmas, that very first

Christmas. That's what this is all about.

Now, what is the darkness when we're talking about the

darkness? Because particularly in John's

Gospel uses that. John uses that darkness language

quite a bit, but we're talking about the fallen, the fallen

world, the world that has been corrupted by sin, a world that

is under the domination of the Evil 1.

And because of that, there's a coldness to the world.

There is chaos in the world, there is hopelessness.

That sense of hopelessness and all of that is inherent in this

concept of darkness. I usually use the 3D's when I

think about Darkness 1 is that it disorients us.

Like in the dark we can't really see very clearly and we're sort

of disoriented. That's where that's what it's

like living in the darkness. It also debilitates us in the

midst of the chaos in, in, in, in the darkness, our fears begin

to multiply. You know, if if you're, you're a

child and you're actually, all of us can probably remember this

when it's at night time and the lights go out and it's time for

bed. We want that door opened up just

a little bit to bring some light.

Because when it's pitch black, it's like the fears begin to

multiply. What's under my bed?

What you know, who's going to jump out of the closet, all that

kind of stuff. I don't know if everybody's as

paranoid as I am in that way when I was a kid, but our fears

multiplying the most of of the darkness, it debilitates us and

as well the third is that it destroys.

Without light, nothing can flourish.

Everything that's living and is vibrant requires light.

And in the darkness it just brings a deadness to things.

And so this is this is the nature of the darkness.

Contrast that with the light. The scripture speaks about

light. It's it's speaking about

everything that is pure, everything that is right,

everything that is beautiful, everything that is good.

It's warm, it's clear, it's life giving.

This is what light, light life does.

Everything flourishes in the light.

So we're in darkness where fears multiply.

When there's light that's brought into the darkness, it

kind of dispels those fears and it gives us the proper

perspective. That is what the light is

referring to in Scripture. And all the way through

Scripture, the light is associated with God himself.

Everything is linked to God himself.

You remember the when, when when God led his people out of the

wilderness, he led them out with a pillar of fire at night and a

pillar of smoke during the day as well.

When they set up the Tabernacle, the tent, they would have a

candle in that Tabernacle that represented the physical

manifest presence of God. He's referred to as a consuming

fire in Scripture. And actually John himself in, in

his first letter refers to God as that, that just God is light.

He is light and in him there is no darkness.

He's kind of summarizing all of what Scripture teaches about God

yourself. So here we have.

This is where it gets very significant, the Feast of

Tabernacles, which is where we get in John 8 verse 12, He's

John 8:12

he's in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles.

You need to understand what the feast is all about. 1 of this is

one of the three annual festivals that the Jewish people

celebrated. And this one in particular was

all about celebrating God's light that he brought his people

through out of darkness, out of the darkness of Egypt, through

the wilderness with that pillar of fire, pillar of smoke.

And where that pillar stopped, that was the, that was the

indicator. They knew they had to set up

camp, set, set up camp. And so they would stop, they

would set up camp. They'd set up the tent with the

candle in there to represent the presence of God.

And then when the pillar moved, it was time to move.

And God brought them out of the darkness into the promise land.

Eventually the feast was all about a celebration of God's

saving His people from the darkness.

In fact, they would have, they had four huge pots, like vats of

oil that they would light. And then the flame, which I

mean, would shoot up past this ceiling, that's how high they

were, and would light up the whole city of Jerusalem, this

celebration. And the, you know, they had the

Levitical orchestra just rocking it, whatever, whatever rocking

it was at that time. And the, the holy man, the pious

man would be dancing to the, to, to the music with torches in

their hands, you know, like this.

And you don't get too close to those guys.

I'm gonna go up and up and smoke yourself.

But it was and it was a seven day party.

There was just an all out celebration of God is like 7 day

party. We don't know how to party guys.

What we need to learn from scripture, how to party now at

the end of the festival on the 7th day.

Just picture the shock that there would be and the people

there when Jesus stands up and begins to teach and he says

this. I am the light of the world,

whoever follows me. We'll never walk in darkness,

but we'll have the light of life.

How would that have gone over? It's like Jesus was saying, you

know what? You guys have been celebrating

who you've been celebrating over these last seven days.

I'm Him. That did not go over well.

OK, if you look at verse 13, then you want says the Pharisees

challenged Him. Here you are appearing as your

own witness. Your testimony is not valid

right now. When you're God, you don't need

a witness, OK. And his life would have been a

witness already. I mean, his life was witness

enough. If you think about it, His

teaching, his compassion, his love, his miracles, his the, the

healing that he did and ultimately his death and his

resurrection from the dead would have been all testimony to who

he was. But there was a resistance in

the people of God to this. And actually in the beginning of

John's Gospel, it speaks about this kind of resistance.

It says in verse in chapter 1, verse 5, it says the light

shines in the darkness and the sorry not 5 paper skin.

Yeah, He was in the world, though the world was made

through him. The world did not recognize him

as his. Verse 11 He came to that which

was his own to his people, but his own did not receive him.

Light comes into the world and there is a resistance.

And we can look at this and say, well, you know, that was them,

but what about us? There is a natural resistance to

light in each one of us. You know, if you're, if you're

sleeping in a dark room, if you're over sleeping in a dark

room, if you're sleeping in a dark.

Actually, how many of our students are back from

university? They're back home and they're

trying to catch up on their sleep after a hard one.

Yeah. Congratulations, guys.

You made it through another semester.

And someone comes in to your room, dark room, and they crack

open the curtains and say, you know, people die in bed, you

know, wake up, right. It's like, what's your response?

Right. Pitch black for now.

The light is beaming in. It's like, go away, head over

the pillow, right? Trying to hide.

Well, there's a natural resistance, especially when

we're used to the dark. There's a natural resistance to

that light. If you come out of a matinee,

you know, so you've gone to a movie or in a dark movie theatre

in the middle of the day, the movie finishes.

You walk out the doors like, whoa, you know, you need to put

on some shades, right? It's just that, that, that, that

initial reaction that we have. It's the same thing when someone

points out a little darkness in you or in me, right?

When someone sees something, there's a little off and they

want to point that out to us. So, for example, you kids, you

have parents. And if you have good parents,

your parents will point out every once in a while something

that's not quite right, right? OK, your, you know, your

attitude stinks a little bit, son, or you know, you're being a

little bit mean to your, your, your brother's daughter or

whatever it might be, right? There's a, there's a reaction

that happens when our parents point out things in us that

aren't quite right, right? We kind of pull away a little

bit. I, I would say, you know, kind

of flip it over. And for us parents, you know, if

our children question us on something that we have done.

And even when we know that, you know what, I really did blow it

in that moment, I'm not going to admit that I did something

wrong. Cause the parents gotta always

be right. I don't want to lose respect,

whatever it might be. There's still a resistance to

that. Or when your spouse, if you're

married, if your spouse points out something to you that isn't

quite right, what's the natural reaction when GAIL points out

something in me that isn't quite right?

You know, my first reaction is not thanks, honey.

I mean, you know, give me a kiss.

Come on. I really needed that.

That is not my initial reaction. It's like, what do you mean?

Like you got to be kidding. And you're not right that, you

know, you know, there's just that immediate reaction that we

have to the light. After a while, when we think

about, it's like, OK, actually there's a little bit of truth

there, right? But there is a reaction to the

light. Now, the air interesting thing

about this is that we're not really reacting to the people

that are pointing these things out.

We actually are reacting to the light that they're bringing into

our darkness. Ultimately, we're reacting.

We're resisting Jesus himself, bringing his light into our

dark, our darkness. Plato once said we can easily

forgive a child who is afraid of the dark.

The real child tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the

light. We're afraid of the light and

John chapter 3, this is this great commentary on this.

John 3 · chapter mention

John chapter 3 says this. This is the verdict.

John 3 · chapter mention

Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness

instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the

light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

Think about it, who enjoys having their wrongs exposed?

I know I don't. And this is what the light does.

It kind of cleans house. It cleans up and, and, and and.

It shows us things that we do not want to see, but it's always

for our good. Because remember, nothing

flourishes in the darkness, it's only in the light.

That's why Scripture speaks about light is being life.

He follows me, will never walk in darkness, but he will have

the light of life. Here's the gospel.

Here's the good news. It is in love that God himself

shines His light into our darkness.

It's nothing but love and he's going to continue to do that.

In fact, he's been doing that since the beginning of time

where he first said let there be light.

He hasn't stopped saying let there be light anywhere.

With this darkness, I'm bringing my light into this place right

here, and we need to be open to that.

Why does he do it? Because he cares.

He cares too much for us to let darkness wipe us out.

He knows I don't want them, I don't want to disorient it.

I don't want people, you know, destroyed in any way disabled.

I'm bringing my light in to bring life because he knows

that's the only way that we're going to flourish, and he's

continuing to do that. He's liberating us, liberating

me, making me a different kind of person, confronting myself,

centeredness and healing me of that stuff.

I remember when I first acknowledged that I was a people

pleaser, I can't remember who it was that told me you're a

people, please. And I thought, OK, well, you

know, if that's if that's a major fault of mine, that's not

too bad. At least I'm pleasing people in

the midst of my sin, right? And so I kind of took a little

comfort in that, maybe a little pride until I went to a

counseling sessions many years later.

And I wasn't going for that, but the counselor counseling session

ended up being about that. And this counselor was asking me

questions about why I enjoyed pleasing people so much.

And there were a lot of good reasons and positive reasons.

I love, you know, and people, you know, making people happy,

etcetera. But there was also a darker side

to my people pleasing. And that was, is that as long as

I know that this person is happy with me, they're not going to be

upset with me. They're going to, you know, it's

going to be positive. And in fact, if if I know that

I'm, if things are not right with this particular person,

it's going to bother me. And so I ended up realizing

actually much of what I'm doing and people pleasing is actually

to please myself. I can't stand the thought of you

not liking me and so I need to please you for me.

Talk about a light going on in my darkness.

Like see, I didn't know there was darkness there, but there

was a ton of darkness and God just flooded His light into my

soul and exposed myself. Centeredness and has been

healing me ever since and it's been a beautiful thing.

No, some, no, I shouldn't say. Sometimes, very often, that

process of healing is slow and it takes a lot of time.

Sometimes we don't see any movement in our life.

And, you know, sometimes when we're in the midst of a world

that is so consumed with darkness it can feel like a

stranglehold on our neck, we can feel the weight of it on us.

Things look bleak. Things look hopeless, but there

is always hope, of course, and this is what the message of

Christmas is. This is a message of Christmas,

that God has entered the darkness with his light, and

that light will never be overpowered, will never be

overcome. Actually, Rich, I forgot to ask

you, did I dim the lights for us?

Actually, just turn them off for a second.

You mind doing that? Just a I love this little

exercise. Good little reminder.

I know it's not pitch black, but one single match, one single

flame. Whoa.

No matter how much darkness there is, it is not going to

overcome that light. That light, that small little

light is going to Pierce the darkness.

And this is the message of Christmas where there's always

hope. It looks, it can look so, so

bleak. But a light has come.

This is the message. A light has come in the

darkness. You can you can raise those up

again. Rich, thank you.

So we paid the big bucks. Isaiah Chapter 9 verse 2 says

Isaiah 9:2

the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those

living in the land of the shadow of death.

A light has dawned. That is what that's a prophecy

of what is to come. And God is shining his light on

us. This is what this is what the

Advent candles are about. You're picturing how light is

pushing back the darkness. Even a little light is enough.

His latest powerful light is far more powerful than the darkness.

And here is Here's the spoiler alert everybody.

Darkness does not win is oppressive and intimidating that

darkness looks. Sometimes in life we can't see

any light. Everything is coming down.

Some of us, you know, feels like the world is closing in on us,

that there, there, whether we're grieving or, you know, there's,

there's, there's great loss or we're encountering challenges

that we can't seem to find a solution to.

There's no solution, no salvation insight, so to speak.

But there is, there is, and we're called to believe it.

This isn't just a comfortable metaphor, it's true.

Light has come in the in a person in history, and His name

is Jesus Christ. He calls himself the light of

the world and he has come and I just love the way he does come.

You know, light pierces the darkness, but he's so gracious

about it. He comes as a baby, gentle.

I think that's one of the reasons why sunrises happen so

slowly, for for those of us who have just finished a semester

and we can't handle the light breaking in too fast, God's

gracious and kind to us, bringing his light gently to us.

But it's light nonetheless, and He's come to heal us of the

darkness that is with him. And nothing is gonna hold that

love back to the point of his rejection, to the point of his

suffering, his torture, his crucifixion and his death.

All for us. That's how much God is after us.

That's why he's continued to bring his light to us.

It's polling. It's powerful.

And then on the third day after his death, what happens in

blinding light? He is raised from the dead.

This is the God that we served. You know, every world religion

has a founder that claims to be a prophet or a guru or a teacher

of some sort. Jesus never claimed that.

He claimed to be God himself. Now either you are crazy or

that's true. It can't be one or the other.

He is not just a light among many lights.

He is the light of the world, the only light.

He said it in another way. John Chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

Lot of John going on right now. John's preaching to you says I

am the way and the truth and the life.

That's what it means when he says I am the light of the

world. I am the way, the truth and the

life for all people. And so He asked us to walk with

Him. Whoever follows me will never

walk in darkness, will have the light of life.

He's inviting us to cling to him, who is the light.

He's inviting us to walk with him because when we're doing

that, we're in the light. We're going to stay in the

light. I love the story of a

grandfather who took his little grandson on a walk through the

woods and they were walking along and stopped for a moment.

The grandfather asked, do you know where we are?

And the grandson said no. And then grandfather said, well,

do you know where we're going? He says again, no.

And the grandfather begins to chuckle a bit and said, well, I

guess that you're lost then. And the little boy looks up at

his grandfather and says, no, I'm not lost.

I'm with you when we're with Jesus.

When we're walking with Jesus, we're never lost.

No matter how we might feel, no matter what the circumstances

might look at. Look, look like we are walking

in the light of life. I think that's pretty good news

and it is good news. Just cling to him now.

OK, just just talk about, OK, what do we do with that?

What what, what do we do with that?

I think that the call of Christmas, particularly when we

hear the name Jesus as the light of the world, is to be more and

more open to the light that he brings.

So two things I want to leave with you to do. 1 is to let the

light in more and more. Let the light in the next time

someone points out a fault in you.

OK, Practice your response. Respond something like, Thank

you Jesus, let there be light in my life, but just you respond.

In other words, our initial response is always a reaction,

but see it as no, this is the light of the world, bringing His

light into my darkness. Thank you Jesus, let your light

shine in me. Now not every criticism that we

receive in our life is valid to be sure.

And some of us have been beaten down through our life and, and,

and to such an extent that our it's kind of blown up our self

esteem. But we still need to hear, we

need, still need to allow room for the light to shine.

And so it should be the beginning of a conversation with

Jesus to know what should I receive from this and what

should I lay aside. But there needs to be an

openness, think about it, the light of the world maybe

speaking to me right now, and to receive that.

So letting the light in the second thing and just just to

this next one, is to let the light wind in your life.

Keep letting the light wind. Sometimes our world can look so

dark, can be so cold, can be so helpless.

We don't want to give in. This is the message of

Christmas. Do not give in.

Do not give up. Jesus can light your world.

Darkness does not win. And so we'll take a verse like

this, John chapter 8, verse 12. I just encourage you to memorize

John 8:12

it, particularly remembering it in times when we're grieving or

times of whether it be great loss or confusion, or when the

darkness just feels so weighty. Remember this verse right in our

card reading on a card and put it on your mirror, tack it to

your fridge or keep it in your pocket or put it in your

bedside. Whatever it is, and remember

this first. Memorize it and reflect on it,

Jesus says. I am the light of the world.

I am the light of your world. Whoever follows me will never

walk in darkness. We'll have the light of life.

Embrace it. The light of life in Jesus talk

to your soul, but it speak to your soul and turn that into a

conversation with God and he will minister his light to you.

Keep coming out of the darkness, keep coming out of the dark

Zetas. There's there's so much to be

spoken of in that regard, but we're not just meant to just

bask in the light of God. We're meant to be the light of

God. Because we're connected to

Jesus, who is the source of light, we now can reflect the

light as well. Last Scripture passage, Matthew

5, Jesus says you are the light of the world, speaking to his

followers, to his disciples. Because you're connected with

me, you can reflect my light to the world.

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be

hidden. Neither do people light a lamp

and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its

stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others that they

may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

We don't do good deeds so that other people can see us do them.

That that's actually something that Jesus taught us not to be

doing. But we're just called to do them

because in the midst of doing these good deeds, we're actually

bringing his light into the world.

Think about it. I mean, we're, we're giving to

the blessing box and, and well, and that's just one way that we

can bring the light of God into the world, whether it be through

through an invitation to Christmas service or just a

smile, smile. And to who loves going Christmas

shopping on Christmas Eve and seeing the panic on people's

faces. There is a ministry on that day.

Friends like don't miss the Christmas Eve service, but go

and shed the light of Jesus and be a help to people that are

freaking out because they only have so much time to, to get the

present anyway. There's lots of different ways.

Maybe it's someone on your block that you know is alone or down

and just a little gift or a word of encouragement.

What good thing could you do? And this is so important for us,

particularly when it feels like the darkness is so dark, so

oppressive, and I see no light. There is something that happens

to us when we think outside of ourselves and believe the truth

even though we can't see it, even though we can't feel it.

And we start bringing light to other people based on what we

know to be true, even though our senses tell us something

different. Few things lift the human spirit

more than being used by God to brighten someone's day.

I would just encourage us to be be the light, enjoy the light

and be the light. Yeah.

Anyway, so much to be said on that.

It revealed the light. You know, when we're, when we're

sharing the light of Christ, it's revealing who God is.

And we are participating in this work of defeating the darkness.

May that light be a bonfire among us, say among God's

people. Let's shine his light to the

world. Let's pray, Lord Jesus, we

declare the truth that you are the light of the world, and we

thank you that you are. Lord, forgive us where we have

resisted the brightness of that light in our lives.

We ask, Lord, that you would humble us.

We ask that you give us a willingness to receive from you.

And we say to you, God, let there be light in me.

Let there be light in my world. Lord, I pray for each one of us

here today, for those of us who are walking strong in the light.

Lord, may you and continue to encourage.

Father, I pray for those who are just hanging on for dear life to

your light. And I pray, Lord, that you would

draw very near and bring great comfort and shine your light,

the warmth of your light in the midst of darkness.

Lord, I pray for those who even just this year have just stepped

into the light for the first time, just getting into the

Bible, starting to get regular at attending worship and

adjoining life groups in the very new to this.

Lord, I pray that that light will continue to grow more and

more and more, deepen, strengthen, bless all those who

are new to the faith. And we're 2 pray for us in the

midst of our resistance that you would show yourself as the God

that you are through this Christmas.

Incredibly powerful, absolutely sovereign, and yet so gentle, so

compassionate, so kind to us. Reveal yourself to us, light of

the world the way that you want to reveal.

Thank you for your great love for us.

We pray it all in Jesus name, Amen.