Come to the Light Come to the Light John Cole / General Christmas; Light; Jesus / Luke 2:25 32 Light is often used in Scripture as a symbol of the presence of God in the world. It is often especially associated with the word of God, the salvation brought about by God, or the person of Jesus Christ. Has anyone here ever been afraid of the dark? 10,000 Sermon Illustrations Fear of the Dark Fear of the Dark 5 year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn t want to go in alone. It s dark in there and I m scared. She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, It s OK Jesus will be in there with you. Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: Jesus, if you re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup? Our children act like that when it comes to going downstairs by themselves here at the church. I don t know why someone would choose to stay in the dark... 10,000 Sermon Illustrations Making Decisions in the Dark Making Decisions in the Dark Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. Why, he exclaimed, when I went a courtin I never carried one of them things. I always went in the dark. Yes, the hired man said wryly, and look what you got! 1
Oh, we can all agree life and choices are best carried out in the light. Now, sometimes our definition of what it means to be in the light can be different. Consider the reflections of one woman: 10,000 Sermon Illustrations He Becomes the Light in the Darkness He Becomes the Light in the Darkness Patricia St. John, who has been described as an ordinary woman with an extraordinary faith, poured out her life ministering to people in the neediest places on our planet. She was in Sudan when war refugees flooded that country. They had suffered terribly and had lost everything, yet those among them who were Christians still gave thanks to God. Patricia said that she stood one night in a crowded little Sudanese church listening to those uprooted believers singing joyfully. Suddenly a life changing insight burned its way into her mind. We would have changed their circumstances, she said, but we would not have changed them. She realized that God does not always lift people out of the situation. He Himself comes into the situation... He does not pluck them out of the darkness. He becomes the light in the darkness. Our Daily Bread, August 19, 199 And that is exactly what God did when God the Son came here to earth as the God man. He came to bring light into a dark world. He did not come to transform the world surroundings and circumstances. He did not come to bring global reform. He came to bring personal reform to each person who would believe on Him. 2
He came to bring light to the individual light to the soul to bring light into this dark world. Luke 2:32 KJV ³² A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. Isaiah 49:6 KJV ⁶ And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, That thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. John 8:12 KJV ¹² Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 9:5 KJV ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Acts 13:47 KJV ⁴⁷ For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. Acts 26:23 KJV ²³ That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. Consider with me light from a biblical stand point: Light as a symbol of God God s purity 1 John 1:5 KJV ⁵ This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 3
God s glory Revelation 21:23 KJV ²³ And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. God s knowledge Psalm 90:8 KJV ⁸ Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. God s unchangeability James 1:17 KJV ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Satan as an imitator of light 2 Corinthians 11:14 KJV ¹⁴ And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Light as a symbol of God s word As perceived by believers Psalm 119:105 KJV ¹⁰⁵ NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path. As perceived by unbelievers 4
John 3:20 KJV ²⁰ For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Light as a symbol of salvation 1 Peter 2:9 KJV ⁹ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Light as a symbol of Jesus Christ Foretold in the OT Numbers 24:17 KJV ¹⁷ I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: There shall come a Star out of Jacob, And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite the corners of Moab, And destroy all the children of Sheth. Revealed in the NT John 8:12 KJV ¹² Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. CONCLUSION 5
Hebrews 1:1 3 KJV ¹G, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, ² Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; ³ Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Respond to the Light God Himself brought the light of His Person to us. Not everyone recognizes it though. There must be an inner response to the Light brought by God the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider the need for an inner response to light from as natural standpoint: 10,000 Sermon Illustrations Catching the Light Catching the Light In his brilliant new book, Catching the Light, quantum physicist Arthur Zojanc writes of what he describes as the entwined history of light and mind (correctly described by one admirer as the two ultimate metaphors of the human spirit ). For our purposes, his initial chapter is most helpful. From both the animal and human studies, we know there are critical developmental windows in the first years of life. Sensory and motor skills are formed, and if this early opportunity is lost, trying to play catch up is hugely frustrating and mostly unsuccessful. Prof. Zajoc writes of studies which investigated recovery from congenital blindness. Thanks to cornea transplants, people who had been blind from birth would suddenly have functional use of their eyes. Nevertheless, success was rare. Referring to one young boy, the world does not appear to the patient as filled with the gifts of intelligible light, color, 6
and shape upon awakening from surgery, Zajoc observes. Light and eyes were not enough to grant the patient sight. The light of day beckoned, but no light of mind replied within the boy s anxious, open eyes. Zajoc quotes from a study by a Dr. Moreau who observed that while surgery gave the patient the power to see, the employment of this power, which as a whole constitutes the act of seeing, still has to be acquired from the beginning. Dr. Moreau concludes, To give back sight to a congenitally blind person is more the work of an educator than of a surgeon. To which Zajoc adds, The sober truth remains that vision requires far more than a functioning physical organ. Without an inner light, without a formative visual imagination, we are blind, he explains. That inner light the light of the mind must flow into and marry with the light of nature to bring forth a world. National Right to Life News, March 30, 1993, p. 22 It is our opportunity to respond to the light of Jesus Christ and live no more in darkness. 10,000 Sermon Illustrations Afraid of the Light Afraid of the Light We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark, the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Plato Come to the Light. Come to Jesus. 7