I am the light of the world | Pr Gloria Paul

You're listening to a message to go from axt church. We hope this message

will light up your day as I bring to you today's word. Okay,

just want to just do a bit of a recap. Okay, if you

remember listening to the past few weeks of the messages, we've been going through

the IM series, right, So can you maybe just shout out what are

some of the ims that you can remember that we have studied. I am

the living Water. Yes, I am the braid of life. What else?

I am the good Shepherd ship get yeah, the good Shepherd yes,

okay? And one more, yes, the truth? Right. I am

the Way, the Truth and the Life. And so we studied about the

truth, okay, and so today we're going to go into the next IM.

Right. And when we studied all these different ims, you realize that

there was a time and place the Jesus was telling this, okay, So

there was a close relationship to the environment at that time. So when we

studied the breid, okay, why break because he related it to the manna

that was that was from heaven, you know, and so the people could

actually connect it to that. Okay, why living water because of you know

how water is just something that sustains us essential, right, and he related

it to that. And so today we are going to go into the next

I am, which is I am the light of the world. Yes,

I am the light of the world. Right. And so do you know

what is the light in your lives? Do you have lights in our life?

I'm sure if you go into your houses, there's lights. Right when

we step into our home, the first thing we do is switch on the

light, okay, and we can see, right, but without the light,

we can't see with my trip, right. And so let's just study

what the word of God tells us and why does Jesus refer to him as

the light? And we will go deeper and understand how we can apply this

as well. Okay, So if you have your bibles, I hope you

have yours. Okay, if you can turn with me to the Book of

John, okay, John chapter eight? Are you there? Yes? All

right. So one of the things that we did yesterday was we all brought

our bibles. Okay, yeah, So we want to cultivate that culture,

that habit of bringing our own physical bibles, because you know, it's just

it's just a prouting to hold right that I have the truth, I have

the promises of God, you know. So yeah, let's let's continue to

do this, okay. So John Chapter eight Versus twelve to twenty. Okay,

so if you read this portion here, in fact, if you read

it from the beginning of chapter eight, that's a story that you'll see where

Jesus was trying to teach a lesson to the people. You know, when

the Pharisees were trying to stone this lady, Okay, this lady who was

found to commit sin, agacious commit she committed adultery, and they wanted to

stone her. Okay. In fact, that was the culture of punishing at

that time. Right, the moment you commit a sin, that's how you

are treated. But what did Jesus do? Jesus ask them a question,

what is the question? Anyone can tell me, Yes, if anyone is

not sin right, cast the first stone? Right? So guess what did

anyone was able to throw a stone? No? Because everyone was sinners right,

Everyone made mistakes. You know, there was mystics that they did that

when they were not in a position where they can actually judge this lady right.

And so then ended up no one threw a stone to her. And

she said, tells her sin normal you. No, I'm not here to

judge you as well. Okay. And it's a very powerful story because you

know, sometimes as humans, we are very quick with our words. We

tend to point another finger to another person and say, hey, you you

need to change, you need to get better. Right, But how about

our own lives? And Jesus was teaching them this, and of course the

Pharisees were trying to test how Jesus would respond, and without doubt, without

doubt, he he did something really unexpected, Okay, that the people I

believe would have seen another side and believe God as well through that I am.

So as you read this chapter, when we go on to verse twelve,

okay, this is when Jesus proclaims that I am the light. Okay,

So this I think I believe we have one portion of it. But

I'm going to read true from verse twelve until verse twenty. Okay, so

let's read it says here then Jesus spoke to them again, saying I am

the light of the world. He who follows me shall never walk in darkness,

but have the light of life. Now let's go on to verse thirteen.

It says, yea, the pharise is. Therefore, say to him,

you bear witness of yourself, your witness is not true. Jesus answered

and said to them, even if I bear witness of myself, my witness

is true. For I know where I came from and where am I going.

But you do not know where I came from and where am I going.

So if you notice here he is trying to explain, he is the

light. He knows, he knows where he is going, he knows where

he came from. Right. And then it goes on in verse fifteen.

You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. And yet if

I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone,

but I am with the father who sent me. It is also written in

your law that the testimony of two men is true. Was eighteen. I

am one who bears witness of myself, and the father who sent me best

witness of me. Then they say to him, where is your father?

Jesus unswered, You know neither me nor my father. If you had known

me, you would have known my father. Also these words Jesus spoke in

the Treasury, as he taught in the temple, and no one laid hands

on him, for his hour has not yet come. God blessed the reading

of his word. Yeah, so you can just imagine him standing in the

temple and sharing this, and then you have all the pharises there questioning and

not asking, and you know, of course, full of doubt, and

it is waiting for a moment to catch him. Yeah. But as the

word of God says, he is our not yet come. So he was

still proclaiming the truth. And as you can see, they may not be

in the right heart condition to also accept what he's trying to say. But

as we know, Jesus was very radical with what he was trying to preach,

and he always spoke the truth. Yeah. So now why the light?

Okay, why does it use the meaning of light over here? Now

let's go back to a little bit of history. Yeah, it's always very

interesting as we read and understand why Jesus says certain things at certain time.

So if you look at this image here that we have on the screen,

Okay, it's a little bit, but if you notice, this is what

we call the during the fees of the tabernacle. Okay, and so this

feace of the tabernacle happens for a few days actually, okay. So they

have the unleavened breid okay, that they'll eat, which we spoke about it,

right. Why unleavened because they don't eat without the I mean they can't

eat it with yeas or not, they can't, but because it just reminds

them of what their and their ancestors did. You know. They didn't have

time to wait for the bread to pop up with the yeast, and so

they just add it as it is, right. And so then during this

phase there's this festival where they'll actually be doing the torch dance okay, if

you know what's a torch right with the handle and the fire. And so

the women at that time were the ones who will be dancing with this,

okay. And so this image here is the whole court room is a very

huge place, okay. And there are different sections in this cord, right,

different rooms where different things will be taking place. And what do you

see in the middle here that is lighted up is what we call the They

call this the the women caught, okay, because that's where the ladies will

be dancing, right, and it's placed right in the middle. So that

it can actually light up the whole of Jerusalem, right, light up the

whole of Jerusalem. And it happened during the night, and the lights were

really strong, so they used a lot of lights. They were dancing.

You can just imagine with the whole Jewish culture and the whole hype of dancing

and you know, risk remembering. The whole idea of this is to remember

remember what to remember the past, the present, and the future. So

they wanted to recall what God had been doing for the people, right,

what they have been God, God has been doing in their lives, and

how He's going to lead them, okay. And so this whole light was

to just resemble Okay, this is what has been going on and who our

God is. Right, And so that was the whole festival. So you

can imagine. And they are different commentators, okay, different scholars of the

Bible. They say that when Jesus proclaimed this that I am the Light,

he was actually he actually said it right after the lights went off. Okay,

So once the feast or the festival was done, when they were done

with all the dance and the hype, right when all the lights have gone

off, that is when he actually proclaims that I and the light. Okay,

so what does this mean? What is Jesus trying to tell here?

Was that he's saying that he has come to put an end to the meaning

of tradition, right. And Jesus in every way fulfills and surpasses every image

and symbol of light that came before him. So you must understand this.

People at that time they held on to traditions very much. You know,

that was something that they needed, you know. That's why sometimes they they

couldn't even comprehend the idea of having Jesus in front of them because, oh,

no, we're meeting for Messiah, right, we know what our ancestors

have walked and journeyed, right. And so they were holding on so much

to this, to the point where they taught they have the light which was

so bright, yeah, with their festival, but yet they were still in

darkness. They couldn't see what the true light is even when he was in

front of them. So when Jesus was saying this, he was not just

talking about the physical light or the torch that they can see, but he's

talking about the spiritual light. And that's something that we want to learn today.

Right, a lot of us. We have a lot of things very

bright in our lives, okay, and sometimes too much of light okay,

too much of stimulating a light from our devices. Okay, that goes on

and on, but we miss out on what's the true light that needs to

direct our parts? Right, that directs our steps? Yeah, and so

Jesus tells us here. Now, if we look at verse twelve, there

are two promises that Jesus tells us. Can you tell me what are the

two promises? Verse twelve? I'm going to read again. It says I

am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in

darkness, but have the light of life. What do you think are the

two promises there is giving us. Yes, anyone can pick it up as

his children. What is he telling us? We are carrying his light?

What else? And will never walk in darkness? Amen? Right? These

are the two things that he's promising us. How much are we holding on

to it? Because I believe there will come a point of time in our

lives? Or maybe we are also already living in it because we are in

the world where darkness is there. Right, There are tribulations, there are

challenges, but what does his words say, we will not walk in darkness?

Yeah? But what does he say over here? If you notice?

Okay, Jesus said that once we have the light, will not walk in

darkness. But he did not say that he would take the darkness away.

Right, So meaning darkness is going to be there. It is there,

but as long as we choose. So again, it's a choice that we

have. If I choose to follow him, if I choose to walk with

him, I don't have to remain in this darkness, right, I'll be

good. Yeah, So think about this question. Has there been any examples,

any encounters in your life? Okay? Where? Right? It says

where in your life of walking in the light where Jesus is leading you?

Think about it? Right, If you've been a believer for some time,

you've been journing you know Jesus, then think about it. How has he

been leading you even in the smallest way, doesn't have to be always in

big moments. Right, But you want to make a decision and he says,

okay, go for this. Or if you're feeling trouble, then it

gives you a word and you sullenly feel well, there's some who there's some

light. Yeah, think about it, right, because this encounters that we

have with them is so important because when life hits us, we can recall

and say, God did this for me, Why wouldn't he not do it

again? Right in the smallest way, you know. I remember just three

days ago, I was driving after work and my cars at least stopped in

the LdB road. Also panic okay, And you know, I'm always very

on time with my car car, you know, servicing and all that,

because I don't want to get into problems like this or to do the car

is getting old, okay, And so it stopped again. It stopped,

and I just just I just remained calmed. The sort of cars and it

was a traffic it was quite I mean, it's a big time about five

something. It stopped and so then I just restart the car and then it

came event okay. And then so I reached home. I reached home,

I called the insurance, They came, they checked and all that. So

the guy said, okay, your battery is all fine, but could be

some wiring thing where you need to take to the mechanic. But next day

I had morning class and I couldn't take to the mechanic right away. So

I just drove. Okay, I drove to work, and you can imagine

how much I prayed while I was driving. Okay, I was praying so

hard, and I avoided the fast lane. I was just in the slow

lane, you know, and I was praying, God, can you please

make sure my car don't stop until I reach office? And as I was

praying, you know, okay, So when I drive, usually I will

put on some songs or listen to this one app that I have that is

a devotion. Again, this devotion is like you know, it just says

certain scriptures and some reflection. So it makes my traffic when the morning's a

bit worth it, you have some listening to something. So I put it

on and guess what did the devotion say? Okay, It's said you should

let go of your staring wheel and allow God to navigate, to navigate your

journey. And I was just chuckling in the car. I was like,

wow, so right, God just knows how to speak. Of course,

I didn't leave my steering bill, okay, but at least there was some

kind of a comfort assurance. Okay, God has it, and true enough,

I reached office safely got my car fixed, you know, and it

stopped again yesterday while I was driving back after church, but I took to

the mechanic and got it sorted. You know, I think it's about time

to change my car. But protection, yeah, okay, just sometimes times

like that, when you're just by yourself and you're figuring out and I'm not

great with car and what has it, you know what's going on. But

when you pray and God gives you the word that you need for that moment,

right, that is the light. Right, that is the light for

that very moment. And sometimes that's how God works. It doesn't give you

all that you need for all your lives. It just gives you for that

moment. And then the next day he says, look at me again,

seek me, and I'll give you your daily break. That's why we see

the Lord's prayer every day. Give me my daily break for today. And

that is trust, that's faith. Right. But sometimes with our human mind,

we just want to stalk up. We want to keep things. And

that's what the Israelis did. They kept manna from for next day and then

they couldn't eat it anyway because God was teaching them to rely, right.

So how many of us here needs to trust just for today. Okay,

don't take things on yourself, because that's not how God meant it to be

anyway. He is our light. Yeah, so think about the times when

He has been directing you and use that as a reminder even in tough times.

And of course it's important for us to also learn from others. You

know. How have you seen artists walk in the light? Okay? And

sometimes we have friends believers, you know, or or pastors or leaders in

our lives where we can glean from them, where we can learn from them,

you know. And I've always had friends who could just speak and all

like, hey, it's going to be all right, this is what God's

words says. Yeah. Or you see from far sometimes you may not have

meals with them all the time or talk to them, but you can see

how the way they make decisions, you know, the way they live their

lives, and you can see that, wow, this is the light of

God in their lives. Right, And so it's important for us to have

that kind of a you know, that kind of a circle, right,

people who can we can learn from and can speak into our lives as well.

Yeah. So this is what Jesus reminds us that I am the light.

And as we think about it, you know, it can be sometimes

easy for us to focus on the darkness that's around us, that we never

address the darkness in us. Yeah, like we say it, right,

sometimes you point the finger because it's so easy to see outside because we can

see right, but to see what's within takes time, takes humbleness, takes

courage and say I am weak, I'm incapable, or I need to you

know, ask for forgiveness. Right. And so we need to recognize what

are the potential areas of darkness in our life and to be aware because some

of these things that we may not know until God reveals it brings that light

into our lives. Yeah, and so just want to show you this,

this you know, diagram that we have here, okay, and what does

the light do to us? Okay? And remember there's a difference between conviction

and condemnation, right, Jesus our faith. You know, when we walk

with him, he does not condemn. Okay, when he exposes something he

wants us to just know it, repent and walk with him. Yeah,

But of course the enemy condemns. So the moment you feel that you're made

a mystic and you feel all down, all terrible. Then you know it's

not from God, yeah, because he's there to make you feel worse.

Yeah. And so when we speak about the light of God, this is

what it does, exposing when we speak about sin. Okay, sin,

maybe the different mistakes that we have made. Okay, like it says here

the lie that we may think that we have done it, but oh,

anyway, it's not a big deal. Everyone is doing it, or it

might be done in the darkness that we don't realize that it's wrong because we

can just go on with life. Yeah, so you don't see, I

mean, we're not living in the Old Testament days, where in the Old

Testament days, if you read some of the stories, you get the punishment

right away. Okay, the fire comes and you're gone. Yeah, that

was the times that they were living in. But the Old Testament was different

with God's grace, right, And so sometimes it's more tricky to notice the

sin where you feel that it's fine or could be too deep in it that

we think that it's impossible to come out of it. Right, So that's

sin. And then of course we have things that may be holding us back.

Right. You know, God's promises may tell us that you know,

we are courageous, you know we have got power within us. But because

of certain mistakes that we have done in the past, or maybe because you're

worried that because I've not been able to pass, I'm going to fail again.

So it's holding us back from what God wants or intends for us.

Yeah, so that's another area. And chains, Okay, chains can come

in different forms. Sometimes it could be generational curses. In the past,

right, mistakes has been done and it's been passed on because remember the would

have. God reminds us that we are not dealing with flesh and blood,

but principalities the spirit. Right, there's so many things that we don't see,

but it's there working and trying to pull us down, especially when we're

the children of God. Right, and so as believers, it's very important

for us to come into the light of God and allow him to expose some

of these things. Right, How does it happen? Can be during a

quiet time, you know, we're praying and we are asking God if there's

any area in my life that needs to be set free, if there's any

area in my life that I'm just living for myself and I'm not doing it

for you for your glory? Can you show it to me? And he

does? Right, he does, He does it true the word he does

it by if you can listen to his voice, yeah, or true word

true the sermon right through a worship song he speaks, or it could be

true people around you. Okay, if you have a matured believer who's speaking

to you and say, hey, I know you for a while, maybe

you should think about this decision, pray about it. Don't get too deep

on it, you know or you know you have been into this relationship,

think about it. Yeah, so people may be speaking in to your life.

Yeah, so different ways that God or different channels that God uses to

expose. Yeah. And when he does what he has to do, it

gives you the experience that He intends for us. Light. What does light

do? It brings restoration. So it could be in the deep the lowest

valley, right, you feel really down. He's able to restore, He's

able to speak hope, he's able to bring healing. That is what is

light does, right, and that happens when we step into the light of

truth. Okay, because we need to recognize what's the truth, right,

Remember when we learned about it. Truth can mean different things for different people.

But which truth are you holding on to? Yeah? So the word

of God. And then of course forgiveness comes in, right, asking God

for forgiveness. So it takes both ways. God is there ready to forgive

us, but we have to step in and say God, please forgive me.

Yeah. One thing about forgiveness is to also come to a place of

recognizing that God has actually forgive me. You know, for some people it's

very hard to also accept that Jesus actually forgiven me. I am free,

you know, because why we are holding on still to the sin. We're

still holding on to the chains thinking that I've made a terrible mistake. This

cannot be forgiven. And guess what, we still live in that bondage.

Right, We still leave in that struggle because thinking that there's no way out,

right, But we've got to come to an assurance knowing that if Jesus

did for me, he did it. That's a finished story, right,

the cross, He went to the cross an empty tomb. That is a

story that we believe in the resurrection, right, And do you believe that

with all your heart, because if you don't, then it's very easy for

us to fall back into the lie of the enemy that hey, remember that

mistake you did five years ago or ten years ago, You're still a good

person. Right. The enemy can whisper those kind of lives until we hold

on to the truth and the forgiveness that He has given us. Amen.

Right. And of course then freedom. John eight thirty two speaks about him

being the one that is Satisfree. I am the way, the truth,

and the life freedom in Christ. Yeah, this is what the light does.

So take some time church to think about arias in our lives that needs

the light to shine true. Yeah, so that we can come out before

God and say this is who I am before you, right, and just

have that honest conversation with him. Like I said, sometimes we don't realize

that there are arias in our lives that needs freedom, right to experience the

true light. And again, it's either truth or lie. It's either darkness

or light. You can't say that I am living in the light, yet

I'm comfortable in the darkness. There's no such thing. Yeah, it's either

light or darkness. So as Christians, as children of God, you know,

we have to be very careful with the choices that we make. You

know, the choices we make, the stand that we take, the places

that we go to, the decisions that we take, does it actually reflect

the light of God? Amen? Right? Yeah? In Collisions one thirteen

to fourteen, it says he does not only bring light, but he also

brings deliverance from the darkness. So meaning when he gives his life, when

he says that I am the light, he's stepping into your life and saying

I want to also deliver you from the darkness. Because you know, sometimes

it can be easy for us to be in the light where we're enjoying God's

presence, we are worshiping him, we are serving freely, but at the

same time, the fear of the darkness can still be catching our hearts because

why we are living in a fall, will remember, is not taking away

done, and it's not still there. There's still lies, there's still sin,

right, there's still the enemy working, okay. And so sometimes I

notice that as CHRISTI as we can be so comfortable in this bubble, you

know, this happy bubble. We are coming to church, we are worshiping,

you know, we are set free. Yes, we are set free.

But we must also remember that the moment we step out, that's the

real deal. Right the world, when we go into our offices, when

we go into our schools, there there's always ways that the enemy is trying

to pull us down. So when we come into those kind of encounter,

how would we respond? Would you say, stay away from me? Because

I am a child of God? Right, the light is in my life?

Okay, And you know what, it's a constant decision that we have

to make every day. Okay. Just because I have a powerful quiet time

today doesn't mean that I can hold on to it for the rest of the

week. But every other day day I must seek his face. Every other

day I must glean on his word. You know why. He gives you

fresh manner. It gives you fresh daily break, just sufficient for that day.

Okay, we all a fresh food, right, imagine just getting fresh

word of God so powerful it brings you through the day and what you need

for that day as well. Amen? Right, are we doing good?

Church? Yeah? So now that we understand about the light and why does

he use this word, We're just gonna share with you three points, okay,

from what the scriptures tells us and how could we actually recognize the light

of God in our lives. Now, this thing about I am the Light

started off way at the beginning when He created the heavens and the earth.

Okay, Now let's look at the first point here about responding to the light.

In Genesis Chapter one was one to five. The most of you would

ever memorize this portion of scripture. So do you know what's the first creation

he did? Yes? What does his first creation? Let there be lights?

Right? And so now can you see why he says I am the

light. It means so much to him. He knew the power of light.

Okay, And so now let's look at the scriptures. He says here

in chapter one, verse one, in the beginning, God created the heavens

and the earth. The earth was without form en void, and darkness was

on the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over

the face of the waters. Then God said, let there be light.

And there was light. And God saw the light and it was good.

And God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day,

and the darkness he called ninth. So the evening and the morning were the

first day a man. Right, So at this in this scripture, we

can see that the first thing he created was light, and he knew that

there needed to be a separation between the darkness and the lights, right,

so he is and I mean his purpose, his plan has always been that

it cannot go together. There's always a difference, okay. And sometimes when

we look at creation we see that a lot. That's a reason why we

have mornings and then it goes on to the night. Yeah. You know,

some of you would know that I just moved to a new place right

recently, and I'm facing a forest, okay, and I'm not just talking

about trees, but I'm talking about forests, you know, really tall trees.

And I can hear sometimes some sounds inside, you know, animals and

monkeys and all this. Uh. So, you know, in the mornings,

it's just a very very fresh look, you know, because you and

see the birds chopping, and it's so bright, the clouds is moving,

and all forms of trees that are there. So it's nice. I can

just sit and stare and look at it, okay. And so we'll usually

open up our windows until when it comes towards the evening. But when it

gets dark, sometimes I just I don't like to look outside because it's just

dark, peach dark. And then you can't hear the birds chopping, right,

you can't really see the clouds at night. Yeah, and then there's

different kind of sounds, different kind of insects, and so then you and

and so I mean I wouldn't go to the forest at that time, definitely,

okay, But if you ask me to go in the daytime, yes,

I would go because I can see things. I can admire his creation.

Right, I can just walk freely without being afraid. But in the

dark, I would feel afraid or I'll need a torchlight as I walk because

I can't see what's there. Right, And so there's always a difference between

the morning, the night, the light and the darkness. And this is

what Jesus is trying to teach us here from the scriptures when he created light.

You know when we speak about, you know, the purpose of light.

Okay, let's try to understand. Yeah, what are some of the

purpose of light that we can relate to, would be it reveals what is

hidden? Okay. So, like I said, you know, when it's

bright, you see the sun, you can see things. Imagine if we're

all sitting here Without the lights, we can't see, right, we can't.

I mean, there can be something in front of us, but we

might just miss it, okay. So it gives it reveals what is hidden.

It illuminates what is beautiful. Okay. So if you've gone for performance,

theater, performance, or if there's a big stage in front, there's

always a spotlight on that one dancer, right on that one you know,

star actor or actress, because they want to put that spotlight on that person,

so you can even appreciate their performance, you know, or look at

them, focus on them. So it illuminates the beauty. Yeah. It

gives warmth, do you think so? Right? It gives warm as you

sometimes even walk under the sun, and if you don't like to do that,

but sometimes you just walk. You feel the warmth, right, and

sometimes with your lighting, the kind of lights that you use creates a little

bit more, you know, making it cozy, making it feel good.

Right. Another thing that light does is that it causes growth. If you

thought about it right, it causes growth. You can't plan a plan right

and just put it in a hidden cupboard. It's not going to grow,

right. But if you put it in front of the sun, you see

it growing, right, so you see growth taking place. And then of

course it sustains life as well. It sustains meaning it keeps it going,

keeps us going. Do you all know that we actually need vitamin D as

part of our nutrition, right? And where do we get vitamin D from?

Sign? Yes? Correct, Finn, Yes, okay, from the

sun. But I think research has shown that many people are lacking whiteamin D

these days because we don't take enough of the sun. Yeah, so sustains

life. We need the light to keep us going, right, And this

is what the light does to us. And in the same way when we

look at this different purpose of light. Right, we can only experience it

when we respond to it, do you think so? Right? We can

only enjoy it. We can only experience when we actually respond, Okay,

So the light of God is not a passive experience. We don't just sit

back and look and say, well, how good you are, Lord,

how great you are? Okay, and then just that, right, But

we experience God's presence, We experience God's goodness when we respond to it.

Simple example, during worship, you know, we can just sit at the

back and just listen to how beautiful Chelin's voice is how great Eugene is playing

the guitar. Right, you can just sit there, but would you feel

anything until you actually raise your hands and you mean what you mean. Right,

You're saying God, I love you, meaning you truly love God.

God, I need your presence because I truly need you. And when you

lift your hands and when you say that pray in your heart, then you

experience God. And that's the same thing with responding to the light. If

you want the very purpose of light to workin us, we've got to respond

to it, right, We've got to respond to it. And the way

we respond could mean different in different ways in our lives. Could be through

prayer, through worship, like I mentioned, it could be just our thoughts,

our thinking. You know, sometimes, like I said, thinking,

our thoughts can take us places. But how can we direct our thoughts back

to the light, right, being it praying in tongues or just listening to

worship songs, meditating declaring his word? We respond? Yeah, So let's

respond to the light. Okay. Let's not become robots or people who just

sit there and wait for answers. Okay, but we've got to respond.

Yeah, We've got to respond sometimes I get very frustrated when I'm in classroom

and students just don't say anything the way ask the question. Just look at

me. Yes, if you're a student, please don't do that. Okay,

respond to your teacher. Right, that's how learning happens. Okay,

that's how you get to experience something. You know. We can, Like

I always tell my students, you know, I can do a lot of

things for you, activities and all that. But if you don't, if

you step into it thinking, oh what as it has for what is it

for me? Then I won't get anything from it. Right. And the

same thing is without faith. You know. We can go to two conferences,

you can go to prayer rallies, you can listen to great worship songs.

But if you think that it's God really going to speak to me,

it's got really going to set me free, then you wouldn't get that breakthrough.

Right. But if you can come before God and say, God,

this is where I am. I am weak, I just don't know what

to do. Could you come and meet me where I am? He does

he does? Amen? Right, So let's respond to the light. Now.

The second point that we can learn from the scriptures about the light is

at the middle of the scriptures. Okay, so the first we saw is

the very first book Genesis. Now the next one we can see is that

the light came for us. Do you know that? Tend to a person

next to you and say the light came for you. All right, So

let's look at the Book of John. Okay, the Book of John.

Okay, how many of you actually like, you know, having people that

actually comes and see you, visit you, brings you, gives some saying

no, rather be by yourself. Okay, you know, just doing something

for you. Well, Jesus done it for you. He has given you

the greatest gift, right, and so he came for or let's look at

John. Chapter one was one to five. Okay, So if you read

these scriptures, you will notice that this is the whole encounter that you'll see

with John. The Baptists. Yeah, so it says here in John chapter

one was one. In the beginning was the word, and the word was

with God, and the word was God. Kind of a tricky sentence,

right, A lot of was Okay. So beginning was the word, and

the word was with God, meaning with God, and the word was God

meaning it is from Him. Yeah, he was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that

was made, you get it right, Meaning whatever that you see was not

made without him. He was the one who made it happen. Yeah.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And

the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it a

man. Yeah, So when we look at these scriptures here we can see

how, you know, the light came, Okay, like it says here,

the light came, but of course the darkness could not comprehend it.

And so sometimes it's hard for us to see what's there, what God is

showing to us if you're still fixated with the old mindset, right, if

you're still caught up with the lies of the enemy. Right. And so

when we talk about darkness here, darkness is always trying to overcome the light.

And that's the reason why you may feel that every day seems to be

a battle. If you may feel that way, or if not every day,

sometimes yeah, you're struggling and you're saying, why is this so hard

in my workplace? Why is it so hard to deal with these people?

So tough? So hard to speak to them? Right? Why am I

not capable enough? What is wrong? Sometimes? You know, you may

not be doing anything, but there's problems around you. Why Because the world

is filled with darkness. That's something we've got to understand and accept as well.

Okay, it doesn't mean that as once we are Christian everywhere we walk,

Wow, the light folloss. Of course, the light followsers. But

there will be no harm will come near us, right, there will be

no troubles. The challenge that we have is how can we overcome these challenges

with the light in our lives? Right? That's this promise that he has

given to us. Yeah. In Second Quarantine eleven fourteen, what does it

say Satan himself transforms him self into the angel of light? You know that?

Okay, So the enemy, the Satan may not look like how we

see in the movies where they're all scary with their horns and you know,

the funny looking faces. Okay, they can look the most good looking.

Okay, they may look with the most deceiving words. Right, Yeah,

you could look like it. And that's how deceiving the enemy can seem.

Right, And he's always trying to find ways to snare us. Do you

remember the encounter that you've had with the serpent? Okay, the serpent definitely

knew how to speak communication skills, he had it, Okay, He knew

what to say to her, He knew how to deceive her to the point

that she fell for it. Okay, And that is how the enemy can

actually tempt us. So my question for all of us this morning is how

would you tell the difference between the enemy's words and what God is telling to

you something is too good to be true? Right? What would we use

as believers? Okay? Because this is reality. You know, when life

hits you, when you're in that moment of struggle, how we respond?

Because remember, there's always going to be two voices. There's going to be

the lies of the enemy, and there's going to be Jesus telling you and

say come, come to me. But when you're in that situation, it's

going to be very hard for you to make that decision, especially if you're

not in the right position or the right emotionally, you're not in the right

place. How do we tell the difference? Now, let me just share

this with you here. That knowledge is very powerful and if you can recognize

that Satan is who he is and is trying to show up in our lives

as light. We can call on him and reach the true light. How

do we tell the difference? In Psalm one hundred and nineteen, verse one

hundred and five, it tells us, your word is a lamb unto my

feet, a lie on my path. Men, it's a lamb unto your

feet. That is what the word of God is. Okay, It's meant

to guide you. It's meant to direct your steps. And until you see

the Word of God in such a way, you'll be able to use it

to the fullest potential. Right, it says here in verse one hundred and

thirty the same chapter, nineteen hundred and nineteen, verse one hundred and thirty,

the unfolding of your words gives life. It gives understanding to the simple.

So it's not meant to be rocket science. It's not meant to be

difficult to comprehend, even if you come across the book of numbers. Right,

It's meant to the Holy Spirit, and you work along with the Holy

Spirit. Is made even for the simple. Even if you feel that my

language is not too good, I can't understand deep geology it still speaks to

you. It still speaks to you. Yeah, you know, it's just

so powerful when you see a different side of a community. You know,

my parents, you know, they were missionaries. They used to travel to

different places, and so I've heard a lot of stories, especially from my

dad, and he goes into places like India, Indonesia, and these are

rural places where some people don't even know how to read well, you know,

or they can't even speak as sometimes you may think that those who have

education they can speak. But when you enter into their churches, when you

enter into their rallies, so powerful you'll see how much they honor the word

of God. And then most of them memorize if they can't read, you

know, what they do, they memorize the scriptures. So them saying it

would seem to us like, wow, this person is reading it, but

no, he has it on their hearts their minds, and so when trouble

comes, they can just say those words out, you know. And I've

always admired that side of of the world, you know, because because they

lack on education or they lack you know, the resources, they use what

they have and they have they have learned the secret to the Word of God,

which is truly the lamb unto their feet, right, the lamb unto

the feet. And so it challenges me a lot when I think about you

know, we know the word, we have so much of resources, not

just the one Bible. So some hours we have so many Bibles in the

house, different versions, uh, you know, or if you going to

your Google, you can ask all the questions that you want, rite interpretation

of verses and commentators. But how much of the Word are we remembering?

How much of the Word are we applying in our lives? Right? We

need that, we need that. Please, don't know, don't always think

that life will always be the same. That is when rarety kicks us.

There's countries around us where they're not even allowed to hold a Bible. We

don't have, you know, countries like you know, we hear a lot

of testimonies of them sometimes holding one Bible and they share. I've heard testimonies

where they'll actually pull out the pages of different books and share it among themselves

because they can't own a Bible, right, they can't own And yet there's

so much of hunger and ters for the Word of God. You know,

Let's take this as a desire a challenge for ourselves. Now, since we

are so blessed in Malaysia, we can hold our Bibles freely and preach,

you know, and you know, just hold it. We can find a

Bible anywhere in the book sauce. Why not use it? Why not use

it? It's possible to remember, you know. I always say, our

Malaysian education system at least has thought our students learn to how to memorize.

Okay, My students can memorize essays just like that. So I don't think

it's difficult for us. Okay, we can remember and it will not go

into ways because when you need it, the world of God comes and you

can just speak into your lives. Right. So if you're going through a

troubling time, you say, well, the world of God said, I've

not given you a spirit of fear, but of power of love and sound

mine, right, And imagine just saying it into yourself how it changes your

spirit, your inner man, changes your respond things just change, right,

So let's take it as a challenge. You're halfway through the year, okay,

and if you have not started on your Bible, or if you're missed

out, it's never too late. Okay, do it today, pick it

up where you are, read it, remember it, you know, and

if you need help. Always I'm always happy to answer questions about the Bible.

I always love to have conversations about the scriptures. You know, we

can learn, we can grow, right, There's so much that God wants

us to know. Amen. Yeah. So the word of God is a

lamb unto our So I put up some scriptures here. You can go through

it in your own timing. You know what the light brings, you know,

in these different scriptures it talks about the light and what does it do

to us? Okay, but just like to pick up one of the scriptures

that we have here. I believe it's the third one in First John.

Let's see if I've put it up. Yeah, okay, yes, let's

look at this scripture. Okay, what does it tell us about the light?

It says in First John one five to seven, this is the message

we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light and in

him is no darkness all at all. If we say that we have fellowship

with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

It's so straightforward to us right. We cannot be saying that I am

having fellowship with God. I'm a believer, I'm a Christian, but we're

walking in the light in the darkness. Yeah, but if we walk in

the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,

and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Right, this is what the light of God does to us. Amen.

So let's walk in truth. Okay, let's not lie to ourselves.

Let's not lie to I mean to people. It's a different thing. But

it's between you and God. Yeah. How is my encounter my relationship with

him because he sees our hearts. Amen. Right, Okay, now we're

coming to the last part here and then we will close the third point that

we can learn about the light. So the first is that we need to

respond to the light because the very beginning he created light, He meant it

to be as it is. And of course the second point that we went

through was from the Book of John about how the light came to us.

Yeah, and we are set free through him. And we've got to know

the difference between what is the lines of the enemy and what's his word in

our lives. Yeah, knowledge is powerful. And the last point that we

have here is at the very end of the Bible, which is Revelations.

Okay, And so what is the third point that we have is, Yeah,

Jesus is the only true light that we need. Okay, the only

true light that we need. I was driving through this morning. I saw

you, Phillips, the light brand. I think their slogan is something like,

there's only one light that you need, actually, something along those lines.

So what they're trying to say is that it's the best brand, okay,

Phillips. Okay, Yeah, but you don't need that Phillips even you

just need Jesus as your lights. Okay. It stays on forever. Times

and seasons will change, but God never changes, man, God never changes.

Let's read this final scripture from Revelations twenty two. You know West Revelation

the last book. Yeah, okay, So Revelations chapter twenty two, in

fact, is the last chapter. Okay, verse one to five. Now

what does it tell us. It's about the river of life, okay,

and of course speaking about the coming of Jesus. And it showed me a

pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, Proceeding from the True

of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of the street, and

on either side of the river was the tree of Life, which bore twelve

fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the trees

were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curves,

but the True of God and of the Lamb shall be in it,

and his servants shall serve him. They shall see his face, and his

name shall be on their foreads. There shall be no night there. They

need no lamb nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them

light. And they shall reign forever and ever a man. And you know

what this is eternity. This is the promise that God is giving to us

that whatever we leave now, yes, the world as darkness. You know,

there's things that we need to keep battling with God, right, I

mean the help. But the promise it gives us is that this are all

temporary. The pain that we are going through is temporary. That one day

He's coming. He's coming. Are we preparing ourselves for that? And when

we look at the signs and things that are happening around us, it's not

too far it's coming nearer, right, coming near it, and there's such

an urgency for us as believer, us to rise up. Okay, let's

not grow too comfortable be where we are. Yeah, let's rise up.

Take ownership of our faith, take ownership of our walk with God. You

know, it's never too late. If you want to do it, you

can do it. It's a choice that we have, right, and always

remember that this is the promise is given to us. In fact, the

Word says here, you don't need lamb, you don't need light, because

he gives us light. God gives us light. And you know what,

that's the light that you need. That's the light that we all need,

and we should all desire for men. Right, and as we draw to

a close here, you'll see how the Word of God comes in so beautifully.

If you notice, he starts off with light and the creation, his

very first creation. And then when he sends Jesus in the Book of John,

see that he came for us as the light he created. He came

to us in the form of light. He declases the people that I am

the light of the world. And then it ends by saying He is all

that we need as our light. Is the beginning, it's the end.

It's the alpha is the omega. Right, He's all that we need.

And as we know this truth, Okay, I think it's important for us

to also remember we are called to be the lights to the people around us,

right to the people around us. And I can only imagine if all

of us have lights on our You know, when you go for hiking,

you have the light on your heads, right, you imagine if all of

us have those lights and we are walking in different places and in the darkness,

people are still drawn towards you because you have that light. Can you

have that image? Yeah, we all have that light on us that People

just want to speak to you. People just want you know, your prayers.

People just want your encouragement. They say, hey, I want to

have a meal with you. What's your story? I mean, we are

living in darkness, but yet you're shining so bright. What keeps you going?

And you have a story to share? Right, you have a story

to share. And the thing about light, we are not meant to always

be together forever. Remember, just imagine all the lights come together. It's

going to be too bright, too bright, and too hot. But if

you can all spread to north southeast west. We're going to spread the light

all around and it proclaims what the Word of God says, that all may

know right, that all may know true the light that God is given in

our lives. Amen. We hope you've been blessed by this message. For

more information on our church, please visit as church dot org. We are

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be a good week, a hit for you. God bless