John #24 New Year New Light or A Light to Direct My Path
That you may believe and have life #24
John 8:12-30
After two months off today we move back into the Gospel, the Good News, of John the Beloved.
The book of John had a purpose
John 20:30-31 (NIV)
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Jesus Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly and any faithful witness, as John was, proclaims Christ, so that through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, the hearer might believe and have faith in Christ and have life, life everlasting.
We have begun a New Year - 525,600 minutes. We don't know how many of those minutes have been allotted to us. You may not make it through the year, I may not make it through the year. Perhaps none of us will make it through, we don't know what a day holds much less a year. However, I believe the Lord intends us to be faithful, prudent, to seek to make the most of the year. If he delays his coming, if he gives you life to finish the year, how will you live this time? How will you live the next month? How will you live tomorrow? How will you live THIS day?
In the word of God, as inspired by the Holy Spirit and written down by John, today we find Truthful Suppositions that will Change This Year. We find precepts upon which you can build a life and have life. Oh a lot of people are building their life on presuppositions but their lives don't contain life.
Read with me the Word of Life, and today as we begin a new year, let's STAND TOGETHER in HONOR of God's Word
PLEASE STAND
READ John 8:12-30
John 8:12 (NIV)
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."
Psalm 119:105 (NIV)
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Do you believe that his Word is a lamp to our feet?
Do you believe that his Word is a light to our path?
What will you do with that belief? Today? This year?
WORD is in Psalm 119 in 30 verses … and According to Psalm 119
His Word will keep our way pure and keep us from sinning
His Word will strengthen us and preserve our lives
His Word is a place for us to place our hope
In the Beginning was the Word
And the Word was with God and the Word was God
All things were made by him and without nothing was made that was made
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory of one and only of the Father, full of Grace and Truth
Your WORD is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path
Jesus IS the Word and Jesus Is the light
Jesus said
I Am the Light of the World
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, But will have the LIGHT of LIFE
You may not know what's around the corner but you will have light for the next step when you need the next step and when you can't see the next step you will be able to see his face and it will be alright
1. Suppositions for the New Year
A. #1 - Jesus is the Light of the World
1. We have to decide that Jesus IS the Light of the World
2. Not just the light for eternity but the light for today
3. it is amazing how we will trust God with our eternity but we won't trust him with 80 years here on earth. We will trust him with our eternity but not with this year, not with this month, not with today, not with THIS MOMENT
4. Jesus is the light for today, so he is the light for your marriage. He is the light for your parenting. He is the light for your free time. He is the light for your business life. He is the Light of the WORLD TODAY, right now!
B. #2 - All other "luminaries" are darkness
1. there are a lot of things out there that pretend to be witnesses to truth
2. there are a lot of things out there that pretend to be light. But if JESUS is the light of the world, everything else is darkness
3. Those who don't know Christ are blind and don't even know it. How is a blind person going to tell you what light is? Some of you are reading self-help books written by people who don't know Christ. Some of you are ordering your lives according to those who don't know Christ and wondering why it doesn't seem to be quite right. It doesn't seem to be taking you in the same direction with Christ and scripture. How can a blind person tell you where to find light?
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Matthew 6:23 (NIV)
23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
John 3:19-20 (NIV)
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Matthew 15:14 (NIV)
14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
Revelation 3:17-18 (NIV)
17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
All other luminaries are darkness if they do not come from Christ so we must make the last supposition then
C. #3 I will Walk in the Light, I will NOT walk in Darkness
Jesus came for the purpose of setting us free from darkness
Isaiah 42:6-8 (NIV)
6 "I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. 8 "I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
I kept that last verse in that because how dare we call something light that is not light and give Christ's Glory to someone else HE alone is light and he alone came to bring light
2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)
6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
How are you going to consciously choose to walk in the light?
Make some commitments
· I must PRAY … you can't have light if you won't look to the light
· I must READ the WORD … you have to let the word shine … we have to hold out the light for it to light our paths. I get frustrated when I hear Christians say "I don't know which way to go and what to do" and then I ask them, "are you reading your word, are you praying?" "not really" … well … this word is NOT outdated, it is NOT irrelevant, it is not out of touch … it is light and life
· I must choose the path of light and life. Once I have seen, with the light, the right path, I must CHOOSE to take it. As for me and my house … we will serve the Lord, we will walk in light
As Darkness spreads through the minds, hearts, lives of all around us, we must shine the light … we must Advance on the darkness
We should Not be standing saying, "I have the light, I have the light, come over here and see" … we must "Advance on the gates" and my Bible tells me that the gates of hell cannot stand up against us
So with these suppositions as ourTruth … let's make a
2. Commitment for the New Year
I will follow and Advance on the Gates of Hell
We will take back territory that Satan has stolen from us
Perhaps we've just turned our backs and he has set up his tent in an area of our lives or neighborhood … well we need to advance on the gates
We will banish fear in every area of our lives apart from the fear of the Lord …
I have been preaching for the last week in Psalm 56 and the last message that I preached had this Title …
"Retreat, I'm sorry, I don't know this word"
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to take Retreat OUT of our vocabulary
He leads us
He is our light
He takes us through the valley of the shadow of death, but even in that darkness
I will fear no evil
So I will NOT retreat
Let me read for you our text from this past week
Psalm 56:9-13 (HCSB)
9 Then my enemies will retreat on the day when I call. This I know: God is for me. 10 In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, 11 in God I trust; I will not fear. What can man do to me? 12 I am obligated by vows to You, God; I will make my thank offerings to You. 13 For You delivered me from death, even my feet from stumbling, to walk before God in the light of life.
How do we move forward, following the light, never retreating?
We must know three things
A. My Enemies will turn back
1. Believing the promise
a. THIS I KNOW … God is For me
b. Oh Listen people … you can't read this Bible without understanding that God is FOR you. Yes he has expectations, yes he has commands, yes he calls us to Holiness, but he is FOR you and he equips you, instructs you, empowers you, and accompanies you every Time
c. David said "this I KNOW …"
That's the Hebrew Word "YADA"
It means "to learn to know" and "to know by experience"
David knew from Experience that he could trust God and he was COMING to Learn through mistakes and being reminded …
God is FOR US
Ro 5:8 God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us
Ro 8:31 … if God is FOR US, who can be against us …
Ro 8:34 … Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us
The Father is FOR us
The Son is FOR us
The Spirit is FOR us
So Believing the Promise … we can Believe the Outcome
2. Believing the outcome
a. my enemies will turn back …
b. faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see …
c. if you know you are on God's Mission and in HIS plan you need not fear and you can believe the promise and know the outcome
d. I KNOW my enemy will retreat … it may not be today, it may not be the way I think … but I can keep moving forward in obedience because I know that no matter what … GOD WINS … SATAN is Defeated … Men and Women have given their lives in wars knowing that ultimately the enemy would turn back …
Believe the outcome
Read the Back of the book …
Believe the Outcome
Listen to the encouragement of the Spirit and believe the outcome
3. Obeying his commands
a. David had to trust because of what he had read in the Word, what he had heard from God
b. Trust is a command - David taught it to his Son and Solomon taught us "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths"
c. When we fail to trust, we fail, we sin, we don't acknowledge him as Lord
We can move forward without retreat because we know God is for us, we no the outcome, we are obeying his commands …
But also we must move forward, taking retreat out of our vocabulary … because …
B. I Have an Obligation
1. You have delivered me from death
a. David literally was delivered from death over and over again. When he faced a lion and a bear as a child, when he faced Goliath, when he faced Saul …
b. "But I've never come close to death?" Oh Really, I've got news for you, you were BORN close to death. Jesus said he didn't come into the world to condemn the world, the world was condemned already.
c. My Bible tells me that we are all sinners … we have all taken our shot at God's perfection and we come up short. It's not just that we are missing the target and need to get better aim, we are short of the target will never hit it. And the Payment for our sin, is death … but the free gift of God is eternal life.
d. If you have given your heart and life to Christ … he has set you free from the power of sin and death
He has released you from the law of sin and death (Rom 8) and made you subject instead to the law of life … the law is simple … dead things are dead … and LIVE things are Alive …
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die …
I am obligated to stand without fear, without retreat …
2. I am grateful
a. we learned of Matthew 18 of a man who owes 10,000 Talents … and he can't repay so he begs for the opportunity for time to repay, but the King instead forgives the debt completely … it's a picture of what we have been forgiven and a call for a grateful life. That man owed the king, 10,000 denarii … now depending on whether the Talent was in Gold Or Silver, according to today's exchange rate … 10,000 Talents would be $220 million in Silver and $25 Billion in Gold. That's God's picture for what we have been forgiven that we owed God. We learned it was a debt that couldn't be repaid … how could we ever repay a debt of $220 million, let alone $25 billion?
b. I can't back down, shrink back …
3. I am compelled
a. The literal translation of verse 12 renders it "On me, O God, are thy vows, I repay thank offerings"
b. We tend to take the things God has done for us too lightly
c. in ancient times it was considered custom that if someone saved your life, you gave your life to them as a slave. Because he has delivered us from death. Because he has forgiven our great debt …
We MUST press forward with no retreat
I know that I did not earn my Salvation
I know that I can't earn the right to keep it, that is all on Jesus Christ
BUT I CAN spend the rest of my life doing everything in my power for Christ to feel that his sacrifice was worth it for me!
4. I am not afraid
a. So, I am NOT afraid, because I am in his hands, I am under obligation to him so the outcome is NOT in my mind, nor in my hands, it is all on him
If he wants my life today he can have it
b. If he wants me to serve him in the most difficult place, I will serve him
If he wants me to serve in obscurity I will serve
If he wants me to bear a burden, great or small I will bear it
c. I will not retreat, because my enemy will turn back
I will not retreat because I am obligated to my Lord …
I am not afraid … because
C. I Walk Before God
This really is the bottom line … who is your audience?
Who are you trying to please?
Who do you serve?
1. When we retreat we walk before men and are afraid of what they will say or do
a. Fear will cause you to do some STUPID STUFF
b. You will give up when you think you can't win when you walk before me
c. Israel turned back from the promised land because they said they looked like grasshoppers in the eyes of the "giants in the land" … they spent 40 years wandering the desert while a whole generation died, because they were walking before men instead of walking before God
2. When we walk before God it doesn't matter what men will say or do
David finally understood it …
a. "what can mortal man do to me"? was the question he asked with the answer being … NOTHING … because he understood another question- "what can God do to me"? EVERYTHING
b. God can bless us, God can curse us … Jesus said "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
c. When God is our only audience … we make smarter decisions, we make Godly decisions … we won't back down … we get godly perspective
d. Paul knew it when he said "for me to live is Christ to die is gain" … NO RETREATS for us … it's a win win situation … If God Gives you victory HERE … BEAUTIFUL to him be the Glory, if you don't get victory and reward till you get to heaven, No Problem, that's all that matters, if your life is taken, it just puts you in a better zip code … I believe the number there is 7 7 7 7 7 …
e. If you found out tomorrow that you had Cancer, are you going to back down?
f. if your friends and family say they will leave you if you follow Christ, are you going to back down?
g. If you find out God wants you to go to the mission field in the most remote place on the earth, are you going to back down
I don't have to please anyone in this world I Walk Before GOD!
So Advance on the Gates
Reformation's Two Martins
At the beginning of the Reformation, Martin of Basle came to a knowledge of the truth, but, afraid to make a public confession, he wrote on a leaf of parchment: "O most merciful Christ, I know that I can be saved only by the merit of thy blood. Holy Jesus, I acknowledge thy sufferings for me. I love thee! I love thee!" Then he removed a stone from the wall of his chamber and hid it there. It was not discovered for more than a hundred years.
About the same time Martin Luther found the truth as it is in Christ. He said: "My Lord has confessed me before men; I will not shrink from confessing Him before kings." The world knows what followed, and today it reveres the memory of Luther; but as for Martin of Basle, who cares for him?
Where will your light come from?
Who will you follow this year?
Many of this world will leave you when you choose to follow the light of Christ but what will you do …
They will say you are blind, ignorant, wasting your time … but will you walk on?
George Matheson was engaged to be married, set to have a happy life … when he found he would soon be totally blind. His fiancée said, "I can't marry a blind man" … She left him and shattered his dreams. He even thought of taking his own life. Instead he gathered himself and set his eyes on the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith. And he wrote a beautiful Hymn of confidence and faith
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light that foll'west all my way,
I yield my flick'ring torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine's glow its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me thro' pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow thro' the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to hide from Thee;
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red,
Life that shall endless be.
O Love that will not let me Go
O Light that follows all the way
O Joy that seeks me through pain
O Cross that Lifts my head
O fellow Traveler …
Will you walk in his light alone?
Will you fight in his strength?
Will you march on without retreat?
Advance … in the light
Advance … in the power
Advance … in truth and trust
Advance … with no retreat
Advance on the gates in 2008