The Model Life: Alertness, Part 9

Take your Bible, if you would, to the 1st or the 5th chapter of

First Thessalonians. This is our 39th message in the

book of First Thessalonians. We have quite a few yet to go,

and so we want you to be able to master and understand the book

of First Thessalonians. It surely revolves around

modeling the way. If you haven't been with us or

you have forgotten, chapter 1 is all about the model church and

what the model church truly looks like and acts like.

That's in chapter 1. When you embark on chapter 2,

you begin with the model leader in that church.

And what does a model leader look like?

How does a model leader impact the church?

That was in verses 1 to 12 of chapter 2, and then we moved on

to the model follower that's in verse 13 of chapter 2 to the end

of that chapter. What does the model follower

look like? You know as well as I do, you

can't be an effective leader unless you're an effective

follower. Great followers make great

leaders. And So what does the model

follower look like? That's at the end of Chapter 2.

When you come to Chapter 3, you embark on what we called the

model friend. What is a true friend, what they

look like? That's what Chapter 3 is all

about. And then you come to Chapter 4

and Chapter 5. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 is all

about the model life. In order to be a model friend, a

model follower, a a model leader, a model church, you must

be the kind of person that models the life of Christ.

And So what does the model life look like In all of chapter 4

and chapter 5 deal with what the life of the believer actually

lives out. And so you begin in chapter 4

verse #1 with the model life being the life of abstinence.

You abstain from sexual immorality.

We spent several weeks there because the Lord wants us to be

a pure model, a holy model. And that's where it all begins,

right? You're instead of pardon to God

for his purposes. And so he wants a holy church.

And the holy church is filled with people who are committed to

abstaining from sexual immorality and living a holy

life. So the model life is 1 of

abstinence. And then we moved on to verse #9

of chapter 4. The model life is 1 of

aspiration, that is to to love abundantly and to live

appropriately. Then we moved on to verse #13 of

chapter 4. And the model life was one of

anticipation, 1 of anticipating the return of Christ for His

church. And then you come to chapter 5.

In chapter 5, you have the model life, which centers around the

word alertness. The model life is awake,

vigilant, alert, sober minded, clear thinking.

That is the model life. And we've spent nine weeks on

the 1st 3 verses of First Thessalonians, chapter 5.

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

We will move on to verse #4 and following this morning.

But Christ was concerned about this alertness among His people.

In fact, He said in Mark's Gospel, the 13th chapter, these

words in verse 33, take heed, keep on the alert, for you do

not know when the appointed time will come.

It's like a man away in a journey who, upon leaving his

house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one

his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.

Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know when the master

of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight or

when the rooster crows, or in the morning, in case he should

come suddenly and find you asleep.

But what I say to you, I say to all be on the alert.

There's something about the model life that screams

vigilance, awakeness, alertness, and therefore Paul addresses

that in verses 1 to 12 of chapter 5.

Peter was saying something similar when he said in first

Peter chapter one verse #13 Therefore prepare your minds for

action, Keep sober in spirit, be alert, be awake, be conscious,

be vigilant, fix your hope completely on the grace to be

brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Peter said the same thing in chapter 3 of the second Epistle

of Peter. Peter says it this way, but the

day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will

pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with

intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort

of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

looking for and hastening or looking for with a vigilant

spirit alert to the coming day of God?

And so Peter jumps from the day of the Lord to the day of God,

which is all very, very important, because we made it

very clear to you that when you look at the return of Christ,

you must see it from a broadview, a broad perspective.

You must look at the return of Christ by looking at the day of

Christ, the day of the Lord and the day of God.

All three are unique and distinct.

If you confuse them then you mess up your eschatology.

So you must uniquely distinguish them one from the other.

The Day of Christ is about the rapture of the Church and the

reward of the Christian. That's First Thessalonians

4/13/18, living in anticipation of that.

The day of the Lord when you come to 1st Thessalonians 5 is

about the retribution of sinners and the redemption of Israel.

And then when you come to the day of God, which is as Peter

says at the end of his epistle, and Second Peter chapter 3, the

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

day of eternity, the day of God and the day of eternity are one

of the same. The day of God deals with the

the righteous rule of the king for all eternity because man's

day is over and now it's God's day.

It's called the Day of God. So you must distinguish it in

those three things to understand the broad scope of the return of

the King. So as you go to 1st

Thessalonians chapter 5, he says you need to be on the alerts

because it models the kind of life that Christ wants you to

have. And so we say that there are

four unique aspects to that. In chapter 5, verses 1 to 11 #1

you need to be reminded #2 need to be responsible #3 need to be

refreshed, and #4 you need to be reliable.

We've covered the first one. Being responsible.

Being responsible to what? First of all, the times and

seasons and epics #2 to be reminded of the term, the day of

the Lord, what it means #3 be reminded of the thief that comes

in the night #4 to be reminded of the terror that's going to

come suddenly upon those and destroy them.

And then #5 to remember the thrill of that.

Because you, he says in verse #4 but you brethren, are not in

that darkness. We spent nine weeks or excuse

me, 8 weeks covering that aspect.

In the first three weeks, if you weren't with us, you can go

back. You can download it from, from

our website. Listen to those sermons because

it's very important to know this.

Why is it important to know this?

Because you remember Paul was in Thessalonica for three Sabbaths

and maybe a little bit beyond that before he was chased out of

Thessalonica. So it wasn't there long, but

it's but but why he was there. A church was born and there were

a few numbers of of believers and what he taught them

primarily was about the second coming of the Messiah.

That's what chapter 4 and chapter 5 deal with primarily.

And that's why every chapter ends with something about the

coming of the Christ. Why?

Because all new believers must understand primarily the second

coming of the Messiah. Outside of soteriology,

eschatology is the greatest doctrine to be taught, learned

and known. Because everything about today

resides in the blessed hope of the coming, the Messiah.

Every cure to your your mental issues focuses in on one thing,

the blessed hope, the coming, the Messiah.

Everything about your emotional issues is, is squelched when you

understand the second coming, the Messiah.

Everything about your relational issues is squelched when you

understand the second coming, the Messiah.

Every issue that you have in your physical life, in your

mental life, in your emotional life, is all seen in proper

perspective when you understand the return of the King.

That's everything. It is our blessed hope, it's

what we anticipate, it's what we are alert to as model citizens

in God's Kingdom. And that's what keeps us going

from day-to-day, knowing that Jesus is coming again.

And so he says, be reminded, be reminded as to the times and

epics, be reminded as to the day of the Lord.

In fact, he says, I don't have much to say to you because I've

already taught you this. Knowing that in those three

weeks or three weeks plus that he was there, that he taught

them about the second coming. He taught them about the day of

the Lord. He taught them about the return

of the King. So they would understand those

aspects because it would take them through the tribulation and

persecution that they would face.

Read the epistles, read the apostle Paul.

What was his hope amidst all his heart?

I miss all of his pain. I miss his shipwrecks, his snake

bites, his imprisonments. It was what the blessed hope of

the coming of the Messiah, that is the answer to every one of

your issues. That is the answer.

Now, you might not believe that. You might not get that.

I'm just telling you, the emphasis the Bible puts on it,

it is so crucial and so clear and so important that you can't

afford to neglect it. Why?

It keeps you looking above and not below.

It keeps you living in anticipation, and it keeps you

always, always focused on the one thing that matters, Jesus

Christ our Lord. And the reason we have the

issues we do is because we're focused on who yourself.

You're focused on me, my disappointments, my heartaches,

my problems, my pains. And so we so we become so

inwardly focused that we can't begin to even look up and see

Jesus is coming again. Whether we like it or not, we

are living the life of Ecclesiastes.

We're living Solomon's life. We're living below the sun.

We're not living beyond the sun. We're living below the sun.

And Solomon's whole book of Ecclesiastes about what happens

to you mentally and emotionally, physically and spiritually, when

you live life below the sun. But when you live life beyond

the sun, everything about Solomon's life was different.

It was changed. That's where we need to be

living our lives. So let's move on.

And our outline to point #2 it's taking us 8 weeks to get here.

It won't take us 8 weeks to finish, I promise.

But we want to move on to the point #2 not only are you to be

reminded of what it means to be alert, but you need to be

responsible when it comes to being alert.

And that responsibility falls into three key phrases. 1A

witness, 2A watchman, and 3A warrior.

Every person who is alert is a witness, a watchman, and a

warrior. Look what it says.

First Thessalonians 5 verse #4 But you, brethren, are not in

darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief, for

you are all sons of light and sons of day.

We are not of the night, nor of darkness.

So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert,

awake, and sober. For those who sleep do their

sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.

But since we are of the day, let us be sober.

Wow, so important. What is he doing?

He is telling them about the responsibility be a witness, a

watchman and a warrior. He begins by telling them that

they are a witness. He says you are children of the

day. You are not children of the

night. Children of the Night Live in

darkness. Children of the day live in the

light. Children of the night who live

in darkness are drunk and sleep, but children of the day who live

in the light are alert, awake and sober.

So important. So he says, you, because you are

sons of light and sons of the day.

This is who you are. Live this way because the alert

life lives responsibly because you're a witness.

Turn back to me, if you would, to the first chapter of the book

of Acts. Let me show you how Jesus said

this Acts chapter one verse 6. So when they had come together,

they were asking him saying Lord is that this time you are

restoring the Kingdom to Israel. Why would they ask that

question? Because he spent 40 days talking

to them about things pertaining to the Kingdom.

You read about that earlier in chapter 1.

So by by nature they would ask, well, if you're talking to us

about the Kingdom, when are you going to restore the Kingdom?

Is now the time that you're going to do that?

That would be the natural progression of thought.

He said to them, verse 7, It's not for you to know the times or

epics which the Father has fixed by His own authority.

In other words, it's a fixed time.

The Kingdom is a fixed time, and God by His own authority, God

the Father by His own authority has determined that fixed time.

Now listen to what He says next. He says, But you will receive

power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be

my witnesses. You shall be my witnesses.

There's something about Christianity and the Spirit of

God residing within you that makes you into something, that

you become something that you were not before you were saved.

Yes, you are a new creation, but you are now a witness.

You really can't be a You can't go out witnessing unless you are

a witness. You can't go out serving unless

you are a servant. You can't go out and live

Christ's life unless Christ lives in you.

You see, to be is always more important than to do.

We forget that we think doing is more important than being.

No, no, being leads to doing. Who you are is the most

important aspect of your life, and who you are is defined by

the fact that you are a witness, you are a testimony, you are a

living light to the Lord Jesus Christ.

So he says, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, listen, don't be

concerned or consumed with revealing me or ruling an

eternity as much as you should be concerned about revealing me

to humanity. That's what Jesus is saying.

Until I come reveal me to humanity, you are going to be my

witnesses. So now Paul says in First

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

Thessalonians chapter 5, you are not of the night, you are not of

the darkness, you are of the light.

Therefore shine bright as children of the light, because

the people in darkness need to know the way.

So when he speaks about darkness, he's speaking about

mental darkness and moral darkness.

He's speaking about those who are ignorant of the truth and

those who are not just indifferent to the truth, but

immoral to the truth. Those are the ones in darkness.

Now to understand this, turn back with me if you would, to

John's Gospel, the 1st chapter, John chapter 1, John chapter one

John 1 · chapter mention

verse #4 says in Him was life, and the life was the light of

men. The light shines in the

darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Christ is the light of life, but those in the darkness did not

comprehend it. Go to chapter 3, verse #19 This

is the judgment that light is coming to the world, and men

love the darkness rather than light, for their deeds were

evil. For everyone who does evil hates

the light, and does not come to the light for fear that his

deeds will be exposed. You ever wonder why the friend

of yours, the family member of yours, the person you're sharing

Christ with, does not embrace Christianity?

It's because they love the darkness.

They love their sin. They do not love the light and

they love the sin so much is because they don't want to have

their sin exposed to the light, so they don't come to the light.

And then over in chapter chapter 8, he says these words I am the

light of the world. Verse 12 He who follows me will

not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.

He who follows me will not be in the darkness, but will be in the

light. This is how John says it over in

first John. First John chapter 1 He says

1 John 1 · chapter mention

these words. Verse 5 This is the message we

have heard from him and announced to you, that God is

light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk

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

But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we

have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus

his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Look what it says over in first John chapter 2 verse #9 The one

1 John 2 · chapter mention

who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the

darkness. Until now.

The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is

no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his

brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does

not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded

his eyes. So John makes it very clear.

Paul makes it very clear that you are not children of

darkness, but children of light, and you need to be responsible

as a witness to shine forth that light.

So important. As you recall, everything about

the Old Testament pointed to the arrival of the Messiah, and the

Messiah was described as a light.

All you got to do is go back to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

Chapter 9, Isaiah chapter 4140240649, 60, chapter 60.

It's all about this arrival of the light of the Messiah.

Why? Because earlier on in the book

of Numbers chapter 24 verse #17 it says that a star shall rise

Numbers 24 · chapter mention

out of Jacob or a light shall shine out of Jacob with a

scepter in his hands. And that that became the the key

verse to describe the arrival of the Messiah as as a light.

Malachi would say that when the sun SUN of Righteousness

appears, then you will receive the healing that you need

spiritually to live appropriately.

It was all about the coming light.

So in Luke's Gospel, in the 2nd chapter of of Luke's Gospel,

Simeon says this when he holds the Christ child in his hands.

For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have

prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation

to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.

Earlier Zechariah the priest, the father of John the Baptist,

said in verse 78 of chapter 1 of Luke, because of the tender

mercy of God, with which the sunrise from on high will visit

us. He quotes from the book of

Isaiah then and says to shine upon those who sit in darkness

and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Peter called the Messiah the day star in the Book of Revelation

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 and chapter 22 he is called the bright morning star.

So everything was about light and the brightness of the

Messiah that that's why it talks about in Psalm.

I think it's Psalm 50 or or Psalm 51.

My memory is not clear on that just yet.

But it's all about Zion. And the meaning of Zion means

sunny that that that the Lord will shine forth from Zion.

Why? Because that's where the glory

of the Lord dwells. That's what the Prince of God

is. And so Zion is equated, which is

Jerusalem, which is Mount Zion, which is Mount Moriah is a

testimony to the shining 4th of the Messiah.

And so when when the Messiah came, the glory of the Lord

would shine all around, which is the the Prince of God manifested

in brilliant light. Everything is about light,

everything is about brightness, everything is about the shining

4th of the Messiah. And so now because we are

Christians, we are children of the light, we are sons of the

day. We are sons of the light.

We're not sons of the night, we're sons of the day.

So he says, listen, you need to be responsible in your witness

to shine forth the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,

because Christ reigns within you.

Remember over in Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Paul says this in verse #17 So this I say and affirm together

with the Lord that you walk no longer.

Just as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind

being darkened, in their understanding excluded from the

life of God because of the ignorance that is in them,

because of the hardness of their heart.

And they having become callous, have given themselves over to

sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with

greediness. But he says you did not learn

Christ in this manner. And then over in chapter 5 verse

#8 Paul says these words for you were formerly darkness, but now

you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, walk

as children of light. Remember what Jesus said in in

in John chapter 12 when he gave this invitation, John's Gospel,

John 12 · chapter mention

the 12th chapter, the 46th verse.

I have come as light into the world so that everyone who

believes in me will not remain in darkness.

So listen, everybody in the world falls into two categories.

One of the other light or darkness, night or day, drunk or

sober, alert unto Christ or sleep from Christ.

But everybody falls into one or two categories.

Either a children, a child of the darkness, or you're a child

of the light. And those who come to the light

don't walk in darkness anymore because they follow the light of

life. That, that, that is just so

important to understand this, that that's why the Bible says

in Matthew chapter 5, you are the salt of the earth.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

You are the light of the world. It's part of your identity.

Why as salt of the earth do you retard corruption?

Because you are the light to the world.

Therefore you retard corruption by revealing Christ.

That's how it happens. And so therefore Christ says you

are the light of the world, so important and those he says, he

says you are the sons of light. You are the sons of day.

You need to understand that term because it's a Hebrew idiom and

it begins to to help you understand what it means to be a

a son of the day or a son of the night.

Because to say something or someone was the son of something

would say that you are equal in nature to that aspect.

It is the dominant influence of your life.

So in Judges chapter, Judges chapter 19, it says that the

Judges 19 · chapter mention

wicked people were the sons of the devil or the sons of Belial.

That means that their nature was equal and equivalent to that of

the devil. All their wickedness

characterized their lives. That's why the Bible says in

Mark's Gospel, the 3rd chapter that James and John were called

the sons of Thunder. It doesn't mean that James and

John had a mother and father name Mr. and Misses Thunder and

that they were the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Thunder.

No, they they were equal in nature to equivalent to a

thunderous, violent, aggressive act.

And all you got to do is read the book of or the Gospels and

realize that they were a thundering crew.

In chapter 4 of the book of Acts, Barnabas was called the

son of encouragement. It doesn't mean his father and

mother or Mr. and Mrs. Encouragement.

It means that he is a son characterized by encouragement.

That's his life. His life was characterized by

being and encouraging individual.

The Bible says in John 17 that Judas was the son of perdition.

But what does that mean? That means that his nature was

one of destruction. His nature was one of perdition.

His nature was one of damnation. That was His nature, and He

acted in accordance with that. Ephesians 2 verse 2 says that

Ephesians 2:2

before we were saved, we were the sons of disobedience.

That is, our lives were by nature disobedient to the things

of God. Over in Matthew chapter 15, or

Matthew 15 · chapter mention

excuse me, 13 verse #38 the tares, the unbelievers are

called the sons of the wicked one.

That is, they have a nature that's equivalent in kind to the

DNA of Satan himself. So here Paul comes along and

says, the reason you're going to escape the day of the Lord, the

reason why that destruction is not going to come up on you is

because you're not in darkness. You're in daylight because

you're sons of the light. You're not sons of darkness, you

are sons of the day. In other words, your nature is

equivalent and like that of our Lord who is light, it's speaking

to the nature of the Christian You are sons of light.

You are sons of day. Therefore, be responsible as a

witness to live out the nature of your calling, simply because

this is where Christ has placed you as a citizen in His Kingdom.

Be responsible to live as a child of the light, child of the

day, so incredibly important. In verse 6 He says so then let

us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert, awake,

vigilant, sober minded. Let us not sleep.

In other words, let's not be insensitive or in a coma,

spiritually speaking. Let's not be insensible nor let

us be drunk. You ever seen a drunk person?

They, they, they, they wander aimlessly around because they

have no direction. That's the unbeliever.

But the believer is sober minded.

He's in his right mind, he is alert, he is awake.

He is vigilant because he's not drunk.

But the unbeliever is described in a drunken stupor.

So Paul is just basically saying this, listen, be, be responsible

as a as a witness, because that's who you are.

You're sons of light, you're sons of the day.

That's why you escape the coming wrath of God, the day of the

Lord. That's why you have to worry

about those things that that's set aside for the children of

the darkness. That's set aside for the for the

unbelieving person. It's not set aside for the

believing person. Oh no, only for the unbeliever.

And over in the book of Romans, Paul says something very

similar. Romans chapter 13 he says verse

Romans 13 · chapter mention

11 do this, do this knowing the time that is already the hour

for for you to awaken from sleep.

For now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.

So the same thing be alert, be a vigilant, don't be asleep, be on

the watch. You're a watchman.

You're awake, you're alert. Why?

Because your salvation is nearer than it's ever been before.

What does that mean? I'm already saved.

It means that yes, you are saved And, and, and judicially,

you're, you're born again. You're justified before Christ.

You're sanctified in Christ, but you're yet to be glorified.

That's going to happen when you see him face to face, you'll

have this glorified body. You'll have this perfect body.

So your salvation, the completion of your salvation is

yet future. It will one day happen.

And when it does remember this, it's soon going to happen

because it's closer than it's ever been before.

It's soon coming, Paul says, and he says just 2000 years ago.

So if it was close 2000 years ago, how close must it be today?

And so he says, awake from your sleep because your salvation is

nearer than it's ever been before.

The night is almost gone, verse 12 and the day is near.

Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the

armor of light. Paul knows that we have this

tendency to slip back into the night.

We have this tendency to to slip back into, into the darkness.

We had this tendency to, to not live as a witness to the light

as we should. That will always be a struggle

until we receive our glorified body.

That's why we sin and that's why we confess our sins, right?

So Paul knows this. So Paul is just reminding those

in Rome about what it is that should be happening in their

lives. Awake from your sleep, awake

from the stupor you are in. Be vigilant, be on your guard,

be a witness. Put on the armor of light.

What's the, what's the armor of light?

Christ is light. Christ is your armor.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying.

In fact, he says it later. He says this, he says verse 13.

Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and

drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not

in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and

make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

See put it on the armor. Light is put in the Lord Jesus

Christ. It's walking in obedience to to

the light of the world because that's who we are.

See, we can do that because that's in our spiritual DNA.

We are children of the light, not children of the night,

children of the day, not children of darkness.

And so we can put those things on.

We can, we can live that way simply because of what God

himself has done in our lives. Your conduct, your conduct must

demonstrate of the condition of your character.

And that's Paul's exhortation to be responsible because the day

of the Lord's not going to come upon you.

You're going to escape that. You're going to escape that

time. You're going to escape that

terror, you're going to escape that thief, you're going to

escape all of that. So therefore, act responsibly,

act responsibly, be alert, be awake, be vigilant, be the

witness you were called to be, be the watchman you need to be,

and make sure you're the warrior you should be.

And he goes on and says these words in First Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. He says, But since we are of the

day, let us be sober or alert or vigilant, having put on the

breastplate of faith and love as a helmet, the hope of salvation

for God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining

salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

He says you're a warrior, you're a warrior in God's army and you

need the helmet of hope, which is your salvation.

You need the breastplate of faith and and love because

you're in a battle and you war every single day and you must be

responsible as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So Paul's call is this, the day of the Lord is coming.

And I told you about this, but the thrill of this is that

you'll escape that. You're going to miss it because

who you are by nature, child of the day, the child of the light.

And, and my, my plea to you today is, do you know that

you're a child of the light that you walk in the light as he is

in the light that, that, that your nature demonstrates the

Christ that you are. You are the brightest light in

your workplace because light exposes sin, does it not?

The brighter you shine, the more sin you'll expose.

You know that, right? Just try looking in the corners

of your house and shining light underneath the furniture.

You'll expose all the dirt that's there.

Turn the light off. It's like it doesn't exist.

Oh, but it's there. Turn the light on.

Oh wow, look how dirty it is there.

And the brighter you shine for Christ, the more sin is exposed

all around you. And people don't like that.

That's why they hate Christ. Can you imagine Christ walking

into your church, Christ walking into your house, and he's the

light of the world. He'll expose everything that's

evil in there just by simply His presence, because He dwells in

unapproachable light. And He is.

In him is no darkness at all. And so whenever he walked into

the temple, whenever he walked with his men, wherever he walked

into a room, the light would shine bright because He is the

light of the world. How about you?

Have you embraced the light? Have you come to the saving

grace of the light? Are you still wandering around

in darkness, groping around in the night, trying to find your

way through life, trying to find your way to heaven, trying to

find your way out of the muck in the mire you find yourself in?

Or if you embrace the light of the world, Jesus Christ Himself,

and giving your life to Him that He might guide, direct and lead

you from this day forward. I would trust that that's the

case. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for today. It is a great day.

It's a great day, Lord, because you gave it to us.

That's number one. You gave us this day and we are

grateful. And not only did you give us

this day, you give it gave us this day for a purpose.

And today's purpose was was to worship, worship the King of

kings and Lord of Lords. And in our worship, understand

what your word says to each and every one of us.

That meant we might respond in a way that brings glory to you and

your Kingdom. We want to do that, Lord.

What a great day. What a great day to walk as

children of the light. Children of the day to be alert,

sober minded, awake, vigilant. This is the coming day of the

Lord. We thank you Father, that you've

saved us. If there be one among us that

has never embraced the light, may today be that day.

May you go before us, Lord, in a great and mighty way for the

glory of your Kingdom. And may this week be one that

Lord, we are able to shine brighter and brighter until the

coming day You take us home to be with you.

Then at home with our family, the light shines bright.

That at a workplace or vacation or school, the light just shines

brighter and brighter. And that, Lord, you use us as a

witness for the glory of Your great Kingdom.

To you come again, as you most surely will, in Jesus name,

Amen.