The Well-lit Path

If God’s people would take their
Bibles and turn to John chapter 12, once again, John chapter
12, where we have been for a number of weeks. We come again to that
section of scripture that is essentially the tail end of the
triumphal entry. Jesus has come in. to the great
city, and now he is interacting with those literally now hours
before what will become his crucifixion, his burial, his resurrection. And of all the visitors that
Jesus has, most surprisingly, a group of Greeks come. Gentiles converts likely to the
faith who have come to to see Jesus and Probably not unlike
you and I Who came to Christ? Ultimately, we initially sought
Christ for very different reasons sometimes there was sickness
and in our lives, perhaps there were financial challenges, relationship
difficulties. Many people initially seek out
God for one purpose or another, but then ultimately are led to
the gospel, to the good news, for which they didn’t even seek.
They’re ultimately led to salvation, which they didn’t even know they
needed. Such is the case with these Greeks in this passage.
They came and really all they wanted was an audience with Jesus.
They wanted to be in on the ground floor of this new regime. They wanted to be in good with
this new king. And they thought that maybe an
audience with Christ might help. That they wanted to get in good
with Him. And Jesus gives them the ultimate good message at
the culmination of this section. Let’s go back if you would all
the way to verse 20 as we meet these visitors. Now there were some Greeks among
those who were going up to worship at the feast. These then came
to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and began to ask him,
saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew.
Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them,
saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the
earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much
fruit. He who loves his life loses it,
and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life
eternal. If anyone serves me, he must
follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone
serves me, the Father will honor him. Now my soul has become troubled,
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?
But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Father, glorify
your name. Then a voice came out of heaven.
I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. So the
crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that
it thundered. Others were saying that an angel
had spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice has not come for my sake, but for your sakes. Now judgment
is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world will
be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men to myself. But he was saying
this to indicate the kind of death by which he was to die.
The crowd then answered him, we have heard out of the law
that the Christ is to remain forever. And how can you say
the son of man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? So Jesus said to them, for a
little while longer, the light is among you. Walk while you
have the light so that darkness will not overtake you. He who
walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you
have the light, believe in the light so that you may become
sons of light. Jesus had received the visitors. We don’t know that there was
ever a direct interaction with them. It’s not recorded that
they were sent away. It’s not recorded that Jesus
directly interacts with them, but they were likely part of
the crowd that hears this entire section that we just read. First
of all, Jesus reveals to them the Father’s plan, the plan of
redemption in verses 23 through 28. And at the end of it, Jesus
says, am I really going to ask God to let me out of this great
plan of redemption that He has conceived? No way. No way. And Jesus prays that
prayer in verse 28, Father, glorify Thy name, to which the Father
echoes. Jesus was essentially echoing
the Father’s plan of redemption, The Father, upon hearing Christ
pray, echoes back, I have both glorified it and will glorify
it again. God glorified Christ at His birth. He glorified Christ at His baptism. He glorified Christ at the transfiguration. He will glorify Him again on
His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. All, all of the
Father’s deeds are to His glory. Well, the crowd was bewildered
at this noise, sound. They didn’t know what to make
of it. Some had one theory, others had another. Jesus clarifies
and He tells them that the voice is for them. Jesus outlines the
plan of redemption for them. Jesus says the Father’s testimony
is for them. And even still, even still, they
don’t grasp the significance that the Savior is standing right
before them. They don’t even really know yet
that they need a Savior. And Jesus is about to tell them
the peril that they are already under and how desperately they
need Christ. If you would glance down at verse
33, Jesus had just told them about the voice and that if he
were only lifted up, just as the serpent was lifted up in
the wilderness by Moses, if he were only lifted up on the cross,
and it isn’t casting any doubt on the Father’s plan, it could
very well read, when, when I am lifted up, at that very moment
that I am lifted up, I will begin to draw all men to myself, not
every person ever born, that all kinds of people, no longer
is this going to be an exclusively Jewish thing. Now the salvation is open to
the Gentiles, it is open to the Greeks, who were likely standing
within earshot at this proclamation. If I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw all men to myself. And John makes it clear exactly
what he was talking about. Verse 33 says, he was saying
this to indicate the kind of death by which he was to die. Talking about crucifixion. Talking
about crucifixion followed by burial, ultimately the resurrection
and the ascension. He would be lifted up on all
of those occasions. Well, the crowd now is really
confused. They came as learners, converts. They knew a little bit about
the Jewish religion. They were in process, disciples
if you would, but they were learners. They were beginners, novices.
And so as they come to Christ, they probably have more questions
than answers and come bewildered and only grow in their confusion,
which we see yet again in verse 34. Look at verse 34. The crowd then answered, we have
heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever. How can you say that the son
of man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? Please note right from the outset
what they acknowledge. They may not know everything,
but they know a great deal. They know that Jesus has clearly
claimed already to be the Son of Man. At the outset of this,
look back at verse 20, there were some Greeks going up to
worship at the feast. Jump down to verse 23. As Jesus
begins to reply, He answered them saying, the
hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. He calls
himself the Son of Man. And so they know already that
Jesus clearly claims to be this person, the Son of Man. They know that the Christ, the
Messiah, is the same person as the Son of Man. They’re one and
the same. Because when they appeal to Jesus and they express their
bewilderment, the crowd answers him, we’ve heard out of the law
that the Christ, the Messiah, is to remain forever. How is
it that the Son of Man, you the Son of Man now, are going to
be lifted up, killed, crucified? How can that be? They know that
Jesus has claimed to be the Son of Man. They know that the Christ,
the Messiah, is the same as the Son of Man. And they know, or
so they think, that the Christ will remain forever. But Jesus has just revealed something
that doesn’t square with their understanding of the Messiah’s
mission, that He was going to die. That didn’t fit. Jesus’ favorite designation of
Himself is the Son of Man. We’ve seen it already a number
of times in John’s Gospel. This is what Jesus calls Himself. It’s a title that no one else
assigns to Him. Only Stephen uses it on one occasion,
essentially quoting what Christ had said of himself. This is Jesus’ favorite way of
revealing himself. You might even call it his self-designation. This is his self-proclamation. It is who he is in God’s plan
of redemption. It’s not just the way that He
sees Himself, but it’s the way that He wants to be seen by others. He wants to be seen and known
and received as the Son of Man. Thirty times in Matthew’s Gospel.
Twenty-five in Luke’s. Here in John’s Gospel a dozen
times Jesus refers to Himself in this way. But there’s a perceived problem
with this idea of Jesus being the Son of Man. There weren’t
a lot of Old Testament scriptures that pointed to the use of this
title. And when Jesus uses this title,
the Son of Man, it wasn’t a name that typically the Messiah was
known. The nation of Israel wanted a
king. The nation of Israel expected the Messiah to be this anointed
one, to be a king, a ruler, a conqueror. And so for Jesus to come and
identify himself as the son of man, and a new title at that, was a problem to the Jews. Not
so much to the Greeks, although as learners, they knew that there
was Somewhat of an inconsistency here. When Jesus calls himself the
Son of Man, essentially what he’s telling them is he is fully
and completely identified with humanity. Jesus Christ came and
he not only took on flesh, but soon, having been tempted in
all things just as we are, yet without sin, Jesus is about to
take on the sin of humanity. In other words, the very reason
that Jesus selected this title, the Son of Man, was because it
spoke of both His humanity and His deity at the same time. It captures the idea of His humiliation
taking on human flesh, and also that He is thereby the representative
of humanity. And so the Greeks, as they hear
this, They’ve begun to read, they’ve begun to read their Bibles,
and they say, we’ve heard out of the law, and they’re using
that term very broadly, not just the Pentateuch, not just the
first five books of Moses, but what we would call our Old Testament.
We’ve heard in the law that the Christ lives forever. And you know what? In this, they
weren’t entirely inaccurate. They wouldn’t have had to be
scholars to arrive at this position. It’s all over the Old Testament. Psalm 89, 4. Speaking of the
Messiah, I will establish your seed forever and build up your
throne to all generations. Twice more in that same psalm,
essentially the same thought. Psalm 110. Testimony to the messianic
Individual the Lord has sworn. He will not change his mind You
are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
It was going to be an everlasting throne So, how can you say that
you’re going to die? Isaiah 9 7 Ezekiel 3725, Daniel
714, Micah 4-7. All of these were very familiar
verses. Likely, if they had something
like the fundamentals of the faith, as they would walk new
believers, converts to the Jewish religion, they would probably
come across some of these verses that says, you know what? The
Messiah is coming and when He comes, He’s going to be here
forever. That’s what they believed. Micah
4.7, I will make the lame a remnant and the outcasts a strong nation
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on
forever. So they weren’t completely off
base. As they listened to Christ and they know that He has already
identified Himself as the Son of Man, and they already know
that He is also claiming to be the Messiah, How can you say
that you’re going to die? How can you say that the Son
of Man is going to be lifted up? And the people know exactly
what that means. We talked about it last week
and it took me a half an hour to explain what that means, to
be lifted up. They know exactly what it means.
He’s going to die. The Son of Man was the Messiah. They just couldn’t reconcile
these two things. A suffering servant? One who
is going to suffer all kinds of hardship and difficulty and
mistreatment? The crowd was bewildered at the
thought that the Son of Man, the Messiah, would die and to
do so in such a degrading, horrible way? Strange. Messiah. This is not the Messiah
that we had in mind. And so they ask, what kind of
son of man is this? In fact, several hundred years
later, early church father, I found this little nugget in one of
the older commentaries, early church father, Justin Martyr,
He was engaged in a famous dialogue with a Jewish rabbi named Trifo,
who criticized the very idea of a suffering servant like Jesus. Evidently Trifo, a Jewish rabbi,
had neglected to read Isaiah 53, right? So Trifo writes back,
and he’s really mocking Justin Martyr when he says this, These
scriptures indeed compel us to expect that the great and glorious
one who is as a son of man receives the eternal kingdom from the
ancient of days. And he paints this really good
picture, doesn’t he? We would expect that a great
savior who’s coming is going to receive infinite bounties
from the almighty one when he comes and does what God asks
him to do. as a son of man receives the
eternal kingdom from the ancient of days. But this so-called,
your so-called Christ became dishonored and inglorious so
that he fell under the last curse of the law of God, Deuteronomy
21, 23, for he was crucified. In other words, Trifo mocks Christ
to just and martyr by this same argument. You’re going to tell
me that the Christ, the Christ was crucified? And so it goes with Christ’s
ministry. Just as the triumphal entry will
end in His crucifixion, on one end of the week, He’s received
as a King with a King’s welcome, and at the end of the week, He’s
crucified dead and buried with only a handful at His grave. Same thing with these. In one
minute, they’re convinced by this miracle, the raising of
Lazarus, that he must be who he claims to be. And in the next
minute, as soon as they hear the full report about who Christ
is and what God’s plan is for him and his plan of redemption,
they almost want nothing more to do with him. Well, Christ
is going to clarify, and He’s going to do it in an amazing
way. He takes their question. He doesn’t
really even answer it. He doesn’t obligate himself to
answer all of their little criticisms and their doubts. He does give
them a severe warning as he had done already. Look, I’m not always
going to be here. For a little while, I’m with
you. John 7 33. We must work the works of Him
who sent me as long as it is day. Night is coming. John 9,
4. Jesus is going to take one more
attempt to explain the gospel to these Greek converts to the
Jewish religion who came to Him maybe wanting to get on the ground
floor of this kingdom And we’re going to hear the glorious gospel
of salvation at least one last time. As Christ begins to clarify,
he gives, he calls us to a well-lit path. I did my English homework. I could have called it lighted,
but English grammar gave me the freedom here to just call it
a well-lit path. It’s a call to follow Christ.
That’s what Jesus’ reply is here in verses 35 and 36. And in these
just two short verses, Jesus sets forth the particulars of
spiritual illumination. These people that have come to
him don’t even know that they’re in the dark. But Jesus is going
to paint the picture of that peril. with the utmost graphicness. He’s going to urge them, upon
them, their need of illumination, light. He’s going to present
to them their desperate need for a Savior, the very Savior
who stands before them. Look, if you would, at verse
35, where first of all, as Jesus begins to set forth the particulars
of this spiritual illumination, The first thing He tells them
is that this spiritual illumination by the Lord Jesus Christ is available,
but it’s fleeting. It’s available as He stands before
them, but it won’t always be. Look at verse 35. Jesus said
to them, for a little while longer the light is among you. Walk
while you have the light so that darkness will not overtake you. I haven’t done a lot of this.
I don’t really find myself that comfortable down inside a cave,
spelunking. But I’ve been there a couple
of times, and I don’t know why the guides always find themselves
amused at some point during the tour to turn off all of the lights. I’ve never even…I’ve never
sensed such darkness, you can almost literally feel the darkness.
And you really kind of need to, because you need to find your
face. It’s dark, really dark. And that’s what Jesus is going
to say here, and he’s going to urge why we so desperately need
the light. Spiritual light is available,
but it’s fleeting. Several times in this gospel,
Jesus has been introduced to us, presented as the light. Let me just take you on a very
brief tour. This is one of John’s favorite
themes that he wants to return to, is that Jesus Christ is the
spiritual light available to every person. Look at John chapter
one, if you would. John chapter one. You could go back and get my
notes on why I’m not going to quote verses 4 and 5 here. Essentially, I think what John
is talking about there in verses 4 and 5 of chapter 1 is a different
kind of light. It’s the light of conscience.
You can go back and hear my argument there. But in verses 7 and 6,
we’ll start in 6. There came a man sent from God
whose name was John. He came as a witness and his
testimony was simple. He came to testify about the
light. He came to tell people about
the spiritual illumination that was available to them by way
of the person of Jesus Christ. That was John’s job. He came to testify about the
light so that all might believe through Him. This was the great
means of salvation. Coming to Christ, being illuminated,
seeing your sin for what it is, seeing God’s plan of redemption,
seeing Jesus Christ, taking on the sin of the world, and that
simply by placing our faith in Christ, that is the gospel. Simply by placing our faith in
Christ, our sins are atoned for, paid for, and we receive Christ’s
righteousness. Absolutely. Who but God could
have come up with that plan? Look at the passage. He was not
the light, that is John. John was not the light, but he
came to testify about the light. And so with that, we are introduced
to Christ as The light, spiritual illumination in a dark place. Turn, if you would, to John 3. John chapter 3. And look, if you would, at verse
19. Here now he begins to talk, he’s
been talking with Nicodemus, but now here he begins to talk
about judgment, subject about which no one really wants to
hear and yet we must. This is the judgment that the
light has come into the world and men loved the darkness rather
than the light for their deeds were evil. They don’t like to
have their deeds exposed. They don’t like to have their
sin pointed out. Look at verse 20, for everyone
who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light
for fear that his deeds will be exposed. That’s why, you know,
you get a robber. Most times they’re going to come
at night to break into your vehicles or break into your home or even
rob you on the road. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
eight. And just immediately after that
spurious section of verses 1 through 11, Jesus declares, verse 12
of John chapter 8, then Jesus spoke to them again saying, I
am the light of the world, not a light. I am not a way of salvation. I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk
in the darkness. but will have the light of life.
And I take that to mean eternal life. I’m the light of the world. I
am spiritual illumination. Simply by placing your faith
in me, you no longer walk in darkness. You no longer have
to walk in darkness because you have the light of life, the light
that leads forth to eternal life. One chapter over to John chapter
nine. And here we get an idea, another
idea, that is embedded in the text that we’re considering.
That this light is fleeting. The light isn’t always going
to be there. The very concept of light at
least prefigures or presumes the existence of darkness. John
chapter 9 verse 5, Jesus says, while I am in the world, I am
the light of the world. While the opportunity is there
and present, and it won’t always be present. One last one, John
chapter 11, if you would. In John chapter 11, Jesus uses
a simple little metaphor, and this metaphor we’ll see again
anyway, Are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in
the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of
this world. But if anyone walks in the night,
he stumbles because the light is not in them. Let me explain
this to you. I’ve heard that these individuals or this person,
I think it may be just one, exists. This is the person of the female
sort who purchases a couch has the couch delivered, and when
the couch comes into the home, it finds a place and stays there
until the house is torn down or, you know, the person goes
to heaven. The couch has a place and it
stays there. That isn’t the house that I live
in. We have this need to frequently
relocate all of the elements of the house to slide them all
around so that if you do get up in the night, your left toe
will find that leg of the couch that has been sharpened extra
much at the factory and you will go limping back to your quarters. That’s the point that he’s making.
If anyone walks in the night, he stumbles. It’s a simple illustration. And
Jesus says, for a little while longer. For just a little while
longer, the spiritual light is among you. The light is only
here for a little while. Perhaps they could even picture
the flickering lantern in their cottage. And while it primarily
applies to Jesus’ presence there on earth as Jesus is talking
to these Greek visitors, these Gentile converts to the Jewish
faith who are interested in Christ, He tells them, look, you’ve got
an opportunity here. You’ve got an opportunity to
seize hold of spiritual truth, but you better do it while you
can. Because the opportunity isn’t always going to be there
Jesus knows that he has just a matter of days on earth, but
it also points to the timeless truth. This one never wears out. It’s as true even this morning. Jesus Christ was taken from the
earth in a matter of days, but the truth is still there. For
a little while, the truth, the light is among you. For the Greeks, it would literally
prove true within a few days, but the principle is true for
all. That the opportunity, the opportunity to respond to spiritual
light, to take in spiritual light, to learn, to repent of our sin,
to place our faith in Christ in the only place, the only person
who can do any good, spiritually speaking, One faithful commentator said
it this way, he only warns them. That’s all that Jesus does. He
doesn’t answer all their silly questions and doubts. He only
warns them in a very solemn manner of the danger they were in of
letting their day of grace slip away unimproved. He draws a figure
from the light of day and the acknowledged importance of walking
and journeying while we have the light. By the light he evidently means
himself. I, the light of the world, am
only going to be with you a little while longer. And so Jesus tells us two important
things. in there that spiritual illumination
is available, but it is fleeting. It is available now, and it is
perfect. It is all that anybody ever needs
to know. It is the gospel. Place your
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and your sins are forgiven, and
you are bound for eternity forever. Nothing can ever take that away.
Squander that opportunity. Put it off. and that light is
fleeting, you may never have another opportunity. Jesus is setting forth the particulars
of spiritual illumination. Not only the spiritual illumination
by the Lord Jesus Christ is available in fleeting, but secondly, spiritual
illumination by the Lord Jesus Christ is helpful. and protective. This is something. This isn’t
just something. This is everything. Look at verse
35 once again. Jesus said to them, for a little
while longer, the light is among you. Walk while you have the
light so that darkness will not overtake you. He who walks in
the darkness does not know where he goes. Now this metaphor that
he uses here, walk, it’s a very common It’s a very commonly used
word in the scriptures, not only by John, but even the Apostle
Paul frequently uses to talk about the Christian walk. It’s
our conduct. We’re supposed to walk in the
light. We’re supposed to walk, may I
say it, like Christians. We’re supposed to live differently
and talk differently and behave differently and conduct ourselves
differently. We’re supposed to conduct ourselves
and live and walk like Christ. John 8, 12. I am the light of
the world. He who follows me will not walk
in the darkness. John 11, which passage we just
read. If anyone walks in the night, he stumbles. He’s talking
about our conduct, our behavior in the world. So many people, and I would even
say the good majority of the people that I’ve met that profess
faith in Christ, they don’t live any differently. They don’t live
like they are answerable to God or to anyone. Their lifestyle,
their walk isn’t any different than anyone else. It isn’t any
different than the way they used to live. Frequently a theme in
Paul’s gospel is you were but now. You were but now. Jesus says, walk while you have
the light. Walk in a different way. Conduct yourselves differently.
Walk while you have the light. Take opportunity to appropriate
every measure, every means of grace that is given to you as
a Christian. So that darkness will not overtake
you. What a frightening thought this
is. This is for those that are dabbling, right? They’ve entertained
Christ. They’ve talked about Christ. They’ve never placed their faith
in Christ. They’ve never done all that is necessary, forsaken
all to place their faith in Christ. Here’s what that image reminds
me of. Remember 9-11, horrific images,
right? And you had people standing on
the street, staring up at these tall buildings that within minutes
were reduced to rubble. And as they fell, I’ll never
forget the image. of that dust cloud, remember?
And it started to race down the streets and you had people actually
processing this issue and realizing it’s time for me to run. And you remember him running
down the street and it was hopeless. They weren’t gonna outrun this
dust cloud. That’s the image that I hear when he says, walk
while you have the light so that darkness will not overtake you. That darkness, we know what it’s
like physically. We don’t do a lot when it’s dark
because that’s when frightening things are out there. If we’re
up in the mountains, there are creatures that come out in the
dark. There are obstacles that we can
see plainly in the day that aren’t as evident at night. There are
dangers, there are robbers, there are bad things that happen in
the night. But spiritually speaking, I would
say it’s even more frightening, more horrific. Spiritual darkness
begins to bring in the devil and all of his minions that only
want to thwart our every effort for doing anything that honors
or pleases God. Jesus says, while you have the
light, While you have this opportunity to come to Christ and to put
yourself on the path of righteousness, walk so that darkness will not
overtake you. 1 Thessalonians Paul uses the
same image. You brethren are not in darkness
that the day would overtake you. It speaks of that sudden, overwhelming,
catastrophic, blinding darkness. Paul uses it in 1 Thessalonians
in the book of Numbers, a fascinating passage. In the Septuagint, he
uses the same term here. Behold, you have sinned against
the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out. It will overtake
you. You will pay. You will be found
out. Jesus pleads with them to get
spiritually right with God while they have the light so that darkness
won’t catch up to them and overtake them and overwhelm them. As one
said that he would leave the world and return to his Father,
and they would be given over to all of these unspoken calamities,
scattering, misery, ultimately spiritual death. He who walks in the darkness
does not know where he goes. He’s just poking around, groping
about, You know, feeling here and there with his hands, with
his toes. It basically is an illustration
here that Jesus is using of somebody on a journey in a pitch black
night. And what peril, what peril he’s
in that he doesn’t even see. You talk to the average person
about their status with God, they don’t even know the dangers.
They certainly don’t want to talk about hell. They don’t want
to talk about eternity. But they also don’t want to talk
about the consequence of sin. They don’t even know. But the man in darkness, he doesn’t
even know where he’s going. He doesn’t know what will become
of him. He doesn’t know his situation,
his station. He just knows. He just knows
that it’s one more opportunity, one more day to live. As Jesus
sets forth the particulars of spiritual illumination, he comes
to a third. Not only that spiritual illumination
by the Lord Jesus Christ is available and fleeting, Spiritual illumination
by the Lord Jesus Christ is helpful and protective. It keeps us from
the dark and from the calamities that come therefrom. But thirdly,
spiritual illumination of the Lord Jesus Christ is appropriated
and life-changing. It’s appropriated and it’s life-changing. Look at verse 36. While you have
the light, believe in the light. so that you may become sons of
light. When he calls them to believe,
he doesn’t do anything any different here than he did at any other
juncture where he issued a gospel invitation. To Nicodemus, he
called him to faith. To the woman at the well, to
the Samaritans who followed immediately after, to the lame man by the
pool of Bethesda. Jesus issues forth a call to
faith, to trust in the light. And we don’t have to get all
metaphysical here. He’s talking about Himself. He is the light. Jesus Christ
is the solution to humanity’s problems and trouble in sin. And He calls These Greek believers,
so untaught, so unschooled, and yet so ripe and ready. I would
even say that they were less hindered by their early discipleship. They were ready to hear that
Jesus Christ is the light, and that simply by placing their
faith in Him, their sins would be forgiven. to trust is to trust that you won’t be
misled or taken aside by someone. It is to place our utmost confidence
in someone or something. And there are many people that
place their faith in things that are really just shams, false. Throughout this whole time, Jesus
has presented himself as the light, spiritual illumination,
And here he says that if you’re going to really enjoy this light,
if you want to walk by this light, you have to appropriate it. If you were to walk into a darkened
room, you can either take your chances on the placement of the
furniture, or you can reach over and flip on the switch. It has
to be appropriated, and the same thing is true here. They’re called to faith. They’re
called to exercise saving faith by God’s sovereign grace. They’re being invited by the
Savior himself. I’m telling you, he says, believe
in the light so that you may become sons of light. And this
is where everything changes. It becomes a life-changing thing
to become a son of light. What is that? to a first century Jew, a Jew
would have understood what this meant. This was a commonplace
Hebraism that they used. When you called someone the son
of something, it spoke of an intimate relationship
where there was a connection, where there was a derivation,
where there was a relationship, a strong and powerful relationship
that had influence. Let me give you just a few. Luke
speaks of a man of peace. He was a man who everything about
him was peace. You have those two apostles,
James and John, the sons of thunder. They were intense guys, probably
loud guys. They were the sons of thunder. Matthew 5, 9 says, blessed are
the peacemakers. They shall be called sons of
God. Well, I thought God only had
one son. They will be so influenced by
God himself. They will be so peaceable in
all that they do. The people will say, there goes
a true child of God. Well, that’s the sense in which
this is being introduced to us. this expression, to be children
of light, this Jewish phrase that was so often used, to be
the child of or the son of something, was not just a close connection,
it was like a father-son relationship. In other words, Jesus says, you place your faith, in the
Lord Jesus Christ. You believe. You exercise saving
faith. I’m going to begin a process
of transforming you. Into a child of God, I’m going
to begin the process of transforming you so that you look like me. You talk like me. You act like
me. You are Christ like. It’s life changing. You can’t
say that you placed your faith in Jesus Christ and continue
to live like you’ve always lived. Likewise, you can’t live like
you’ve always lived and then somehow claim that you placed
your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn’t work that
way. To believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ is to submit yourself to the life-changing efforts
of Almighty God. Is he capable? Absolutely. The
work that he begins, he will complete. And it may take years. It may seem to us on earth, in
our frail condition, it may seem like centuries. Though it’s only been 25 years.
We may wake up to sins that have plagued us our entire life. But
God says, little by little, Little by little, the faith is immediate,
the change is eventual. But it’s change that’s begun
and effected by God himself, isn’t it? What a truth Jesus
issued. We don’t know how many that morning
came to Christ. I would believe in my heart,
this is one of the most powerful gospel presentations ever made. Here’s Jesus now, just hours,
with these pseudo-convert Jews. They’ve recognized something
in Judaism. They’ve recognized the fact that
there’s one God. They’ve recognized that God has
this special relationship with them. And they’ve obviously recognized
Christ as someone special. And Jesus takes this one last
opportunity to proclaim the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ
to them. What a glorious opportunity.
And it’s there for us as well. Would you bow your heads? Our merciful God, we humble ourselves
at your feet in the midst of this glorious proclamation of
spiritual light. And Lord, you knew who stood
before you, you knew every heart, you knew the condition of every
person that stood before you that morning. You knew about
these so-called converts to the Jewish faith who had come to
you with great interest, many different ideas in their head,
Incomplete in most cases. And you took the greatest opportunity. To preach and proclaim. The gospel
to them salvation in Jesus Christ alone. Lord, we don’t know. We don’t
know how many that day. Yielded in faith place their
faith in Christ. But we do know that. Those truths
are still every bit as active today. That the spiritual light
is available to us, but it’s fleeting. That if we would only
lay hold of it, how helpful it is and how protective it is from
spiritual darkness. Lord God, we know that it must
be appropriated. We must receive it in faith.
We must say in our hearts and with our mouth, I believe that
Jesus Christ died for my sins. We have to believe. And Lord, if we do, in that instant,
our sins, having already been paid for, the guilt of those
is removed, you immediately begin a work of grace that will continue
until we are perfect. glorified, Christ-like. Lord, if there are any in this
room who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior,
work in their hearts. May today be the day. It’s in
Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.