The Light That Never Runs Out: Jesus in the Temple Courts

If you brought a Bible, take it out right now. Wave it in the air like you care. We're going to find our way in the book of John today, but I want you to stand with me that we want to hear from the word today. So, on the count of three, we're going to shout word. Hey, you guys are standing for this. Let's do it. All right, let's stand. We've never done that before, but here today, we're doing it. We're doing things we've never done. All right, hold your Bible in the air. On the count of three, we're going to shout word. Here we go. One, two, three. Word. We're getting into God's word. That God's word would get into you. All right, you can go ahead and be seated. I know why you stood. You thought we were about to read God's word. We're not there yet. Uh we're going to do that again. This is going to be like Catholic church today. Up, down, up, down, all around. All right. So, uh we're going to have some fun. Some recovering Catholics in the house today. Here we go. Ephesians 5 verse 1 and 2.

Paul's writing to the church in Ephesus. Ephesus reminds me a lot of the world we're living in today. Ephesus is found in modern day Turkey. You can go visit the ruins of Ephesus. It was a huge city. It was pagan. They were filled with entertainment, sexual debauchery. Uh they loved their wine. They worshiped many false gods. It was a spiritual place. But it was also a very very dark place. And it was in this place that actually the church was thriving. Jesus doesn't shy away from dark things. He steps into it. And when Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, he says in Ephesians 5 1 and 2, he says, "Therefore be imitators of God. Be imitators of God as beloved children. Be imitators of God

as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. There's a whole sermon packed into these few words, but I just want you to hear this today. We should be imitators of God. So just as Jesus loved us, we ought to love. That's our theme this year. love like Jesus. So what God does, we want to do. Now, my kids are all grown up now, but when they were really young, they used to imitate their parents. And it's absolutely a joy when kids go into their parents' closet and come out wearing the big shoes and pretending like they're adults, you know, and they they put on the big shirt and it looks like a dress and you know, when they imitate you. My youngest daughter was the cutest because she used to take my my wife's glasses and my wife

was a a realtor for many years and she would pick up the cell phone and she would imitate uh her mother. She would say, "Uh, wow. Will a real estate? This is Kayla speaking. Can I sell you a house?" You know, and she would she would go through these motions and she would always just imitate her. And she's only doing what she's witnessed done. So, she was imitating her mother. She was imitating what she's heard. She was imitating what she sees. And what the Bible instructs us is that you should imitate God. But you can't imitate what you don't know. So God wants you to know him. He wants you to look at him. He wants you to see him. He wants you to to to to be loved by him that you would imitate his love. Now, we find ourselves today in John chapter 8. If you have a Bible, turn to John chapter 8. And we pick up where Jesus is now going to give

the second of seven I am statements which is profound because the name I am is the very name that God gives himself to Moses in the book of Exodus chapter 3. The name is so holy that even today when you go to Israel those who love the Lord don't even say this name. It's the name Yahweh. They say Hashem, which means the name. It's so revered. There's such an awe of God because the name I am is all-encompassing. I am who I am. There's nothing God can't do. He is almighty. He is all knowing. He is all powerful. He was, is, and will forever be God. So the name I am is

sacred and it's reserved for the one true God. And Jesus says seven times, I am. And then he follows up with a statement of a deep need that you have. Not just 2,000 years ago when he said this, but right now the need that you have. The first statement we looked at was in John chapter 6 when Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." He he touches into the the place of your soul where you're hungry. You have a need and you will only be satisfied in Jesus. If you go after spiritual food other than Jesus, you'll never be satisfied. Now, we come to the second I am statement of Jesus. And he says, I am the light of the world. I am the light of the world.

As we look at this statement, we're going to understand that all of us have a need for spiritual light. Last week after the sec or after the first service, before the second service, literally minutes after the first service, all the power went off in the building. I mean, like instantly we had church and the devil wasn't happy that we had church and he just shut off all the power within a block of here and and it was interesting because it went from like noisy and lights and LED walls to instantly black and it was a bit disorienting. What do you do when when it goes black today? What what do we do? Shout it out. We we grab our cell phones and we get out a flashlight. I What a miracle. Do you realize 150 years ago the light bulb was invented for the first time?

So for many a millennia they could not do what we do today and we just take it for granted. The lights went out and you grab your flashlight and then you can see where you're going. You know where you're going. In fact, we even have emergency lights here that you know where the exits are. And so at first it's disorienting, but because of those lights, we can know where to go. There is a desperate need for light in the world that we live in. Darkness is confusing. It leads to chaos. It leads to uh making poor decisions and you end up hitting things that you don't see. And and we all at some point, every one of us, no exception, will have spiritually dark times in our lives. For some, it's a lot longer than others.

You could blame your parents or the generations before. There's literal generational curses and you're born into darkness and you live this darkness out. If not, at some point you will be in darkness. Sometimes there's political seasons that you feel like, oh, we're just in darkness and we act like it's the first time that we're in darkness and Jesus is going to give us a solution. And it's not a cute metaphor. It's the reality of what you need in your life right now. So, here we go. John 8:es 12-20. Remember I said it's going to be stand up, sit down. Here we go. Go ahead and stand for the reading of God's word. I'm going to read this to you. Follow with me and then we'll understand the application for our lives. John 8:12-20. Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will

have the light of life." So the Pharisees said to him, "You are bearing witness about yourself. Your testimony is not true. Jesus answered, "If I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true. For I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true. For it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself and the father who sent me bears witness about me. They said to him, "Therefore, where is your father?"

Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my father? If you knew me, you would know my father also." These words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple. But no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Some speculate that this is taking place during the Feast of Booths. We learned about the Feast of Booths a few weeks ago. It's one of three feasts that you travel to Jerusalem to participate in. We've got the Feast of Booths. It's also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkat in the Hebrew. There's also Passover. And then I'm missing one.

What's the last one? What is it? You guys help me out here. Nobody's taking notes. Passover. What do we got? Passover. Feast of booth. It's going to come to me. Pentecost. Thank you. Who got that right? All right. You get you get some something. All right. Here you go. It's just blessing. All right. So, Pentecost. Well done. Pentecost. Acts chapter 2. Let's just go over them again. All right. since uh clearly we all need this. All right, there are seven feasts that God commands in Leviticus 23. This just a recap. All right, this is free. It's not in the notes. All right, so seven feasts that God commands. Three of which you travel to Jerusalem. Three of which the feast of booths, Pentecost, and Passover. The feast of tabernacles or the feast of

booths, Pentecost, and Passover. So when one of us gets a brain fart, we remind each other. All right. So, we all can study the Bible. It's not something the preacher has to do. It's something we all can do. So, the feast of booth is sign significant because the city of Jerusalem would swell up with people during this time. And in John chapter 7, Jesus made a statement that was significant to one of the traditions that would happen at the feast of booths. One of the traditions is they would get a picture of water from the pool of Saleom, which if you go to Israel with us next year, you get to see the pool of Saleom. They would make this journey all the way up to the temple and then the the priests would pour it out on the altar and it was a reminder that God provided water in the wilderness. And just like God provided water in the wilderness for the Israelites when they left Egypt and went on a journey through the wilderness to the promised land,

which today we call Israel, he still provides for us today. He's the great provider. He provides water out of the rock. And Jesus said, "If anyone is thirsty, believe in me and out of your heart will flow rivers of living water." John notes that that river is the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the rock. You can imagine in the wilderness and the Holy Spirit is the water. You get the rock, you get the water. You get the rock, you get the water. So if you're thirsty, believe in Jesus and you have the Holy Spirit. Now some speculate that it's still the feast of the booth when he says this. for the book of John is not in chronological order. We read last week about a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. That could have been at the same season right there at the temple. And here he is. John 8:20. Let's

turn to that really quickly again. John 8:20. Jesus, he he's in the treasury section of the temple. And I want to explain this to you so you know what's happening here. The treasury of the temple is in what's called the court of women. The court of women was a huge court. It was as far as the women could go in the temple. There was different sections in the temple that certain people could go at certain times. The Gentiles could only go so far and women could only go so far and uh and then the Jewish men could go so far. And then there was a place that only the priests could go into once a year called the Holy of Holies. Now, the temple is a great big place that was built up on the hill of Jerusalem. Today, there's only remnants of the temple. In fact, where the Holy of Holies is is what's called uh the Rock of the Dome. It's this big gold dome that the Muslim built hundreds

and hundreds of years ago right on top of the Holy of Holies. Today, if you go to that place in the temple, you can't read scripture out loud. You can't pray out loud. You can't sing songs out loud. I was there just a few weeks ago. And what we did is we read scripture out loud. We sing songs out loud. We prayed out loud. Uh it was a lot of fun. But I want to just show you what the temple looked like. And so we have a context here. Let's just do the first image of the temple just so we can see where it's at. Okay, so the temple is grandiose. So the temple treasury is in what's called the court of women. This is where you would pay your temple tax. You would pay your temple tax there. You would give your offerings financially where you'd go above and beyond. You trust God with your finances. Now the the temple treasury is the place where the court of

the women is. So it would be a bustling place because there's men there, there's women there. The rabbis would come and teach there. They would come and debate there. I mean, this was like the hub. Imagine, if you will, it's like Journey Church's lobby right before the service starts or right after the service starts. There's there's a lot of things going on. It can get a little bit loud. It was it was in this place that these things were happening. Now, the reason I tell you this is to set the stage for what we're about to look at today so you understand the greater context. So in this uh court of the treasury where the the the court of the women would be there were also these huge lamps. And when I just say lamps it doesn't even do justice. They were 75 ft high and they would burn. Let's go to the next image.

It's just an artist rendition of of what it could have uh looked like. And at the top of these lamps, you can see ladders that are going up there. There were these bowls that would be filled with oil. And one of the traditions they would do during the feast of booths is that they would light these lamps up at night and it would not only illuminate the temple but they were so bright because there were so many of them. There would be four of them each of these with these large bulls uh also known as a manora. It was the design that God gave for in the temple and it would illuminate so brightly the entire city of Jerusalem would be illuminated from this light coming from the temple. It was huge. Now this light was not based off of electricity like we have light today. It was fire. So it creates

some awe. It creates some wonder and it would create this glow that would come from the temple to illuminate the city. And they would do this every night as a remembrance. Not only did God provide water in the wilderness during the day, but at night he was a fire by night. God led the Israelites by a fire at night. And so they would remember God guides us. God provided his presence in the wilderness so that we would see him. Now manoras are huge in Israel. If you talk to a true Israeli, they're actually more important than the star of David that you see all over their flags. Manor, as you've probably seen, they look something like this. They've they've they have got seven separate uh places for light. Let me see this here.

So, we have here a traditional manora. These were in the temple. They'd be lit by the priests and it was a representation of God's light that you always make sure there's enough oil there because if the oil runs out, the light runs out. So the oil represents the Holy Spirit. The light represents what God does. He illuminates. He brings to light. Now when you go to Israel, you see manoras everywhere. In the airport, in restaurants, in stores, everyone sells manoras. You see them in windows of homes. Manurs are everywhere. So many people speculate that Jesus said these things in the treasury during this time. Now if he did not say this during

the feast of booths, the next celebration after the feast of booths is what's called Hanukkah. Has anyone ever heard of Hanukkah? It's it's called the feast of lights. It's the celebration of lights and they use a manora but the manora for Hanukkah actually has eight lights instead of seven. That's a whole another story. But either way, Jesus is saying this during a time that the temple would have been lit up. Are you still following with me? which gives us a context that if he said in John 8:12, if Jesus then said, "I am the light of the world." There would have been a context that they understood, they had an awe, they knew

what the light represented. And he's simply saying, "I was the one that led the Israelites through the wilderness. Come on. I am the one that illuminates to bring to light. I am the one that all of this is about. I'm here right in front of you. I am the one. Now, I'm going to come back to this so that we understand the seriousness of the statement, how it impacts us. But I want you to hear the response of the religious because we've been talking about this through the book of John. And it's really important that you understand demons are real. You can call them whatever you want. I'm just going to call them demons. I've gotten comfortable and used to it. You can call them fallen angels or bad angels. And what do I mean by demons?

They're persons without a body. The Bible tells us that the devil was kicked out of heaven because instead of worshiping God, he wanted to be worshiped. There's a word for that. It's called pride. It's when you refuse to surrender your life to God and you want to be God and it can't work. There's only one true God. The Bible says that not only was the devil kicked out of heaven, a third of the angels were kicked out as well. The Bible also says in the book of Revelation, one day they're going to be locked up forever. But until then, they've made earth their home and they're looking to deflect any glory off of God. Jesus says it simply in John 10:10. The thief referring to the devil wants to steal, kill, and destroy.

Demons are real. And and here's here's the deal. The devil is not like the way Hollywood paints the picture of the devil. The devil is a deceiver. So the devil disguises himself like truth. And one of the favorite demons of the devil is the spirit of religion. Where it looks good, it might sound good, but it's not of God. The demonic spirit of religion slips into every church. The demonic spirit of religion will even slip into your own heart. It's full of judgment. It's full of burdenbearing. And the demonic spirit is once again confronting and challenging Jesus. So I want you to see this so that you understand that if you really give your life to Jesus, you've just declared war with the enemy and the devil hates it.

So, so as truth advances, so does the devil. So, you ever been through some dark times, you may have upset the devil. So, the Pharisees said to him, this is the religious spirit. These are the religious elite of Jesus day. The Pharisees said to Jesus, "You're bearing witness about yourself. Your testimony is not true. Legal testimony in the days of Jesus would require two or more witnesses." We saw that earlier in John chapter 8 when a woman was caught in the act of adultery. There was a whole group of these religious spirits that came to bring accusation, but they only brought one of the two parties. And here they were willing to to to stone her to death. They were willing to condemn her according to the law. And now they're trying to do this with

Jesus, saying, "Who are you to make a claim about yourself? Where are your witnesses to testify?" See, here's a way a witness would testify. In the days of old, they would shout, "Amen." Someone would be so bold as to say this is true. I believe this. I've seen this. The word amen means so be it. I stand as a witness. When you shout amen, it's your way of saying I'm a witness. And they're telling Jesus there there are no witnesses here. This can't be true. And Jesus I he answered them. He doesn't leave them hanging here. He says, "Listen, even if I do bear witness about myself, and you don't see any more witnesses, my testimony is true. For I know where I came from and where I'm going, but you do not know where I come from or where I'm going." Now, I'm going

to say something that's going to sound so elementary, but yet it's so missed in the day in which we're living in. Truth cannot be changed. Amen. So it doesn't matter if the whole media, if the government or every teacher or even your parents say something is not true. The truth is always truth no matter what. So someone can tell you one thing about something whether it's sex, gender, or something about morality or something about Israel. This is why I say that you shouldn't find your truth about Israel from some other source because they might sound smarter than you, but it may not be the truth. And so Jesus is simply saying, you can say that all you want, but the truth is the truth is the truth no matter what.

And he'll later say in the same book of John 14:6, I am the truth. So you trying to tell me about truth is kind of funny. So he says, I I know where I came from. I'm eternal. I stepped off my throne in heaven. John chapter 1 says, he wrapped himself in flesh. The creator became the created. The one that made man became a man. And he says in verse 15, "You judge according to the flesh." Does that sound similar today? We love to judge one another. Jesus says, "I judge no one, but even if I do judge, my judgment is going to be true. For it's not I alone who judge, but I and the father who sent me." In 1 Samuel, God tells Samuel to find a second king over Israel. Saul, the first king, had uh lost his ways and he lost

his anointing and and God tells Samuel, I want you to find a new king. And he went to the house of Jesse. And Jesse had an oldest son. It just made sense that if God sent him to the house of Jesse, it would be the oldest who was the strongest and uh must have the most wisdom for being the oldest. And and and as Samuel is looking for the next king, and he's looking at the sons of Jesse, God tells Samuel in 1st Samuel 16:7, "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." This is sobering because all of us here are humans.

Which means this, all of us can be fooled by the outside. You can fool everyone but God. So there's only one person you can't fool. That is the Lord. So all of us have to acknowledge here that there might be things in this world that we don't know the full truth of because we can't see it. But Jesus says,"I can see it because I am God." What's interesting about this idea of a witness is that Jesus says of himself when he writes a letter to seven churches in the book of Revelation, he's really writing to the church. And one of the titles he gives himself and he gives himself these interesting titles. He says, "And to the angel of the church in Leodysia, right?" And this is Jesus speaking now, "The words of the amen,

the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation." So the name he gives himself is the faithful and true witness. So just in case anyone's wondering, he doesn't need two or three witnesses because we have one God and three persons. He is the faithful and true witness. Whatever he says is true. If Jesus says amen, it's true. He is the yes and amen. He is the witness. This is why I want to shout back church that says amen. We want the truth. We want Jesus. We want the heart of Jesus. We don't want our flesh. Because sometimes we go after things we think are true, but they're not true. So Jesus calls them out and says, "Even if you think you're true, we're not even on the same levels here. Where I come from, you've never been. And where I'm going,

you're not even going." Let's come back to what Jesus said that stirred up this little strife right here out in the treasury. You can imagine I used to always ask my my kids when they'd come home from school like was there a fight today because you know boys we just like it when there's a fight fight you know I can imagine the treasury Jesus is like I am the light of the world and these guys are like no you're not and people are like fight you know and there's a crowd coming together you know we just we still love drama 200 years later what stirred up the drama let's come back to the statement Jesus spoke to them looking up, I imagine, at these massive lamps, seven stories high. And he says, "I am the light of the world." He

doesn't say, "I am a light, one of many lights." He says, "I am the light." This is exclusive. He's letting us know he's either the truth, he's the light, or this guy's a lunatic. He says, "I am the way that you're going to be able to see." Now, let me just give you my own definitions of light and darkness. And this is paraphrase. I did not look this up in a dictionary or any theological commentary. So, this is just these are my definition of light and darkness. All right? Light to me means I can see. You could write that down. It's deep. It's profound. Light means I can see. Darkness means if you might even know this if you have the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Darkness means I can't see.

I'm just going to go really simple, really deep, really far, really fast here. Light means I can see. Dark means I can't see. So there there's two separate types of light in this world. There's natural light, which you learn about in school. Natural light brings life, helps things grow. Natural light helps you see. natural light is is what we need to live in this world because we cannot live in darkness. Now, not only is there a natural light, there's a spiritual light that emulates and does the exact same thing that natural light does. It lets you grow and it lets you see. So, there are some people that do not have the light of life, which is Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Therefore, they are still living in darkness. They don't

know it because they don't have the light. They can't see. And I'm just gonna put this yet. Just like at the sukat, the feast of booths, the feast of tabernacles, those lamps would go out because they would run out of oil. Jesus is simply saying, "I am the light that will never run out of oil. I am the light that this light was meant to be about." Jesus says this and he does this to let us know that all of the prophecies written in the Old Testament are about him. Like Isaiah when he says in chapter 42 6 and 7, I am the Lord. That's Yahweh.

I am I am I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people a light for the nations to open the eyes that are blind to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon from the prison those who sit in darkness. Jesus has positioned himself as the one to fulfill this prophecy. The one Isaiah spoke of 700 years ago is here. I'm the light for not the Jewish people, for all people. There's hope for everyone. I am the one that opens blind eyes. And he does it. Read John chapter nine.

I am the one that rescues prisoners. He just did it in the same chapter. A woman that could have been condemned is set free from her sin. A woman that could have been labeled in her identity as an adulterer is given the identity of Jesus Christ. Amen. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus. So Jesus shows us that he's the one that was written about so many years earlier. He's the one Psalm 36:9 speaks of for with you is the fountain of life. Jesus says, "If anyone's thirsty, come to me and out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. In your light, the Psalmist says, do we see light?" How can you see light? You need the light of the world. Jesus is the light that brings illumination to our souls. He is the

light that brings the loss that are in darkness into the light. The book of Ephesians says we go from death to life, from darkness to light so that we would see that what was done at all of these feasts point to Jesus. He is the one to be celebrated. He is the one that provided. He is the one that loves his people. He is the one that's not going to leave you where you are. Jesus professes to be the inexhaustible source of what every single one of us need. Jesus is the I am. The I am the light of the world. John 8:12. I am the light of the world. Without lights, plants don't grow. Without Jesus, you cannot grow in the knowledge of who God is. Natural light brings many benefits.

Natural light brings health life. You speak to some sources. Light will give you vitamin D which builds your immunity which makes you stronger, builds up your bone density. Light is good for you. Then you speak to someone else and light is dangerous for you. It'll burn you. It'll give you cancer. It'll make you tired. So, so can we just acknowledge for just a moment light can either be beneficial or dangerous because before 150 years ago, what did they use to get light? Come on. Fire. That was the only source for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. You either light a candle, you light oil, or you burn wood.

And although it's helpful to have that light that comes from the fire, the last time I checked, fire is pretty dangerous. If not contained, it can cause havoc. In the 1800s, it was a cow, a cow that knocked over a lamp because the light bulb had yet to be invented. Knocked over a lamp and it caused more than a 100,000 people to be homeless in Chicago. You could look this up, Google it. Hundreds of people died because the lamp was dangerous. Now, we get our source of light during the day from a ball of fire that's up in the sky we call the sun. Now, the sun is not the brightest star in our universe.

There's actually a star that's much brighter, but it's further away. So, we don't see the power. The star is called Sirius, like Sirius XM. Uh, it's spelled the same way. It's also called the dog star. Uh, it's it's 25 times brighter than the sun. Now, the sun is awesome because it shows up every day. When it leaves, it just it paints a beautiful picture with the sunset, but you can be assured it's coming back. But we're told that you cannot look directly at the sun or else it will do damage to your eyes. Could you imagine looking at the Sirius star what would happen to your eyeballs?

They would literally just melt. The sun is less than a 100 million miles away from us. The Sirius star is some nine billion light years away. I don't know. I made that part up, but it's really far. Uh, it is light years. Somebody can Google it. and light years is a lot further than a million miles. So my point is this, and I need you to see this about God, because too many times we make little of God, he's dangerous. And if you just treat this flippantly, like, oh, how cute. This is this is a cute metaphor. He's the light of the world. No. If you look at him wrong, you will die.

So what happens when you are exposed to this light? We saw earlier in this chapter with a woman caught in adultery. He's a god of grace. He doesn't annihilate you and you don't melt in the presence of a light that's infinitely greater than the sun's light because one day we're not even going to need the sun anymore because God himself is just going to illuminate the world that we get to live in. But you don't die, you get the gift of grace. So Jesus lets us know I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me, that word follows is the word that we understand disciplehip. It's a Greek word that means it means to come next. It means to follow someone in front of you. I it's it's to be behind and to do what the person in front of you is doing. That's what the word follow means in the ancient Greek. When they had disciples, the disciple would

follow the rabbi and become just like them. So, however the teacher or the rabbi walked, the disciple would walk behind them and learn to walk just like them. However, the teacher taught, the rabb or the disciple would teach like them. They would follow in their footsteps. If I could put it another way, they would imitate the teacher. So Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. Imitate me. Follow me. Do what I do. Go where I go. Say what I would say. Follow me." He says, "Follow me. I am the light of the world. Follow me and you will not walk in darkness.

It's impossible with Jesus to be in darkness. You've invited the light of the world into your life. Follow me. You will not walk in darkness, but you will have the light of life. This is the same light that God speaks into existence in Genesis chapter 1. This is the same light that came out of a bush that was burning but not being consumed and spoke to Moses in the wilderness. This is the light that is greater than any star. It's the one that created the stars in the very last chapter of Revelation chapter 22. This is what Jesus says of himself. He is the bright morning star. I am the light of the world. And when Jesus is debating the religious, he says in verse 17, 18, and 19, in your law, it's written that the testimony of two

people is true. I'm the one who bears witness about myself, and the father who sent me bears witness about me. They said to him, therefore, where is your father? Jesus answered, "You know neither my father, because if you knew me, you would know my father also." Their eyes have yet to be open. They're still in the dark. See, here's the thing. Light lets you see that which is already there. So you could be in depression, but hope is right there. It just hasn't been illuminated yet. You could be in poverty. That prosperity is yours. It just hasn't been illuminated yet. You could be stuck in sin and I'm here to tell you that grace and forgiveness is yours. It just hasn't been illuminated yet.

And we live in a world of darkness today. And Jesus says, "If you would just follow me, it is your way out of the darkness. It is a way out of that which you can't see is right in front of you." And I just ask the question to you, have you let Jesus illuminate your life? Some of you have been following him a long time, but you still got some dark places. Jesus offers you a light that will never ever ever ever run out. And the great thing about this invitation from Jesus today that I am the light of the world. Whoever. Someone shout whoever. Whoever. The whoever means whoever. You're never too young. You're never too old. You're never too smart. You're never too divorced too many times. You never sin so greatly. You've never done so many drugs that God's like, "No, no, no. The light's not for you.

You're never too poor. You're never too rich. You're never too American. to say, "I have a need for Jesus. I no longer want to think I have it figured out. I no longer want to be confused in the darkness. I need Jesus. I want Jesus. I'm called out of the darkness into his light. And I realize that even when I thought I had it figured out, it's just cuz I couldn't see it yet." Here's the cool thing about Jesus. I've been following him for 31 years. And the more I follow Jesus, the more I realize there's more to know about Jesus. It just hasn't been illuminated yet. So I ask you today, what truth needs to be illuminated in your life? Some of you have been following Jesus a long time, but you need to know desperately today that he loves you. Let the light come into your life and say he loves you.

Some of you came into church today and you're not quite sure who Jesus is today for the first time. Let him illuminate your life and let him tell you he saves you. He saves you from your sins. My friends, here's the good news about this light. He'll keep taking you from glory to glory to glory. And you realize this light has no end. It's greater. And so Jesus challenges us. And this is what I challenge you today, church. Matthew 5:14-16. Check out this revelation. You are the light of the world. Jesus said this, "You are the light of the world." Well, how can you be the light of the world unless you have the light of the world? Jesus says, "If you have me, you now are the light of the world." We don't cast this to someday, another day,

or a better day. Today is the day you're the light of the world. You don't get to wake up and say, "I don't feel like being the light today. I'm grumpy. I'm going to live the way I want to live. Jesus says, "Uh-uh. I'm going to come and illuminate that. I'm going to get those lies of the devil out of your head. I want to let you know who you are. You're a child of God. Start living like it. Act like it. My mercies are new this morning. Who you were yesterday is not who you are right now. You are who God says you are. You are the light of the world." And then get this. Jesus says, "A city on a hill." Jerusalem is a city on a hill and the temple is at the highest peak of the hill. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. You know what he had in mind when he said this?

When the temple is illuminated, everyone can see it. When you're celebrating the light, everyone can see it. It's natural. People don't light a lamp, he says, and put it under a basket. They put it on a stand so everybody can see. It gives light to the whole house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven. See what happens after Jesus died on the cross. He was buried and it was dark until the third day by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus rose from the grave. He will never die again. He is glorified. And he promised the same power that rose him from the grave is the same power you receive by believing.

And when he poured out his spirit on the church for the first time of all the images God could give us, the church to the power that we receive, it tells us that that day on top of every single head on Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 were tongues of fire. That out of your life, the world will see fire. And I want to warn you right now, church, this gets a little dangerous. [Music] If you don't take care of this, it's going to be misunderstood. And have people abused this fire? Absolutely. Have people shrunk back from using this fire because it can be a little wild? Absolutely. But your light is meant to shine. You're meant to be bold and courageous and pray for people. You're

meant to take God at his word. You're meant to be generous financially. You're meant to serve other people. You're meant to live like Jesus. But you can't love like Jesus till you've been loved by Jesus. But when you do, go be imitators. You're a child of God. That's who you are. I'm so grateful for the three people that are giving me a golf clap right now cuz it's already ministering to my soul. I will tell you, [Music] I needed this word more than anyone else today. Uh, I will only give to you what I need to receive as well. Today, before we end our time, I want to encourage you that if you've never believed in Jesus, today is your day. Not another day or a better day. Today's your day. If you

stumbled in here for any reason, you're not quite sure why someone invited you or you came because you took the risk, I want to say, "Well done. You did it." The hardest part is getting through these doors. But now you've got to believe. That's the easy part. God does not make it difficult to receive his grace, his love, and his forgiveness. No one can force you to follow Jesus. You're not born into the right family. You don't attend the right church. You believe in the right one. That's Jesus Christ. And today, if you've never done that, today is your day. I'm going to follow up with that by saying once you do, you need to continue to follow Jesus. And one of the things that Jesus requires and asks of us is that we would be obedient to what he says. And he says, "If you're going to follow me," that's a disciple.

He says, "You get baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." The word baptism means to be immersed under water. It means you will get wet. But here's what that means. From this day forward, you're never the same. You've been covered by the blood of Jesus. You're set free from your sins. You are righteous. You're redeemed. You're a child of God. Baptism is simply saying before God and others, I am committed to this. And today, if you've not been baptized, it's your day. And if you say, "Well, what's going to happen to my mascara running down my face?" Praise be to God. For his glory is not about the outward appearance. It's about the heart. And God is just looking for the people whose hearts are in the right place to say yes to Jesus. And you do not need to get baptized over and over again, but

you do need to keep coming back to Jesus over and over again. You could lay a stake in the ground that it was this day, June 29th, 2025, I got baptized. That's the day I said, I'm taking Jesus serious. So, I want to start with just by praying. If you close your eyes, if you're here today and you want to pray and receive Jesus as your savior, would you just slip your hand up and wave to me saying, "Yeah, that's me. I want to say yes to Jesus." Praise God. God, I see your hand over there. Yes. Praise God. He loves you so much. Oh, the joy of the Lord is your strength from this day forward. Anyone else today? Just raise your hand and wave it at me. I want to see who else is making that decision. Keep your hand up so I can see you. Anyone else you want to Praise God.

You're forgiven. You're loved. His mercy is in your life. Praise God. I see you. And I see the young people right there, too. Praise God. He loves you. God is so proud of you. This is the beginning of a great adventure called faith. Anyone else saying, "Yes, I I want to believe in Jesus. I want to be forgiven today. I want to be righteous today. I want to receive the power of God, the Holy Spirit in my life today." Anyone else just raise your hand. Might be someone watching online as well. So, if that's you today, you can follow Jesus wherever you are. I want to pray with you. And for those who have believed in Jesus, would you just repeat this prayer after me out loud? You got to believe in your heart, but now you start living it out loud with your lips as well. Say, "Lord Jesus, I believe in you. Forgive me of my sins. I receive the Holy Spirit. I receive your light in my life. I am yours.

And you are mine. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Now, just in the moment of prayer, let me just pray with you right now. If that's you that wants to get baptized, it's going to require courage. It's going to require boldness. But your courage might just encourage somebody else. So Lord, would you bless anyone here today that's not been baptized that we would be a church of obedience that takes you at your word? You are the light of the world. And we want to follow you. We want to live like you. We want to be imitators of you just like you were baptized, Jesus. We want to get baptized. We want to let the world know that we are no longer the same. We have an allegiance with you. Just as you were buried and you rose from the grave, I've been risen with you, Lord. I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but it's you who lives in me. So, we celebrate you and

thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Well, if that's you today, I want to just encourage you. We're just about done with the service. It will only last a couple minutes. So, please don't rush out of here. Would you just come right over here to your right? We've got some pastors at the steps that will greet you and then you'll come up right here on the stage. But you got to be bold and courageous to just stand up right where you are. Come on down to these steps and let's celebrate today that you've decided to follow Jesus. At any point, feel free to get up, come on over to these stairs right over here to the right, and we will celebrate baptism. When someone goes under the water and they come up, we're going to celebrate together. We're going to sing over them the praise song of who God is, but we're going to celebrate together what God has done. The devil has lost this one and the Lord has won. He is the light of the world. Let's celebrate this together.

[Music] [Music] light of the world. You stood down into darkness.

Open my eyes. Let me see beauty that made this heart adore you above spend with you. Light of the world, you step down into darkness. Open my eyes. Let me see. Beauty that made this heart adore you.

Hope of a life sp. So here I am to worship. Here I am to bow. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're all together lovely. All together worthy. All together wonder for to me. [Music] Light of the world. You step down into darkness.

Open my eyes. Let me see. Beauty that made this heart of hope of a life spend with you. So here I am to worship. Here I am to bow out. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're all together. You're all together worthy.

All together wonderful to me. I'll never know how much it cost to see myself upon that cross. I'll never know how much it costs to see my sin upon that cross.

I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin. So here I am to worship. Here I am to bow. Here I am to say you're my God. You're all together. All together. All together.

[Music] [Music] [Music]

Light of the world. You step down into dark. Open my eyes. Let me see [Music] beauty that this heart adore you of a life spend with you. [Music] I'll never know how much it cost

to see my s upon that cross. I'll never know how much it cost. I'll never know. Come on, let's stand up and sing this together. cost.