← ArchiveAdvent 2016Sunday, December 4, 2016DateDecember 4, 2016Speaker—TextIsaiah 9Passages in this sermonIsaiah 92:11Isaiah 9:12:55Psalms 10715:58John 819:59John 921:04Luke 2323:00Revelation 2128:53Genesis 131:35Psalms 2733:42Ephesians 535:33John 1:436:25Matthew 5:1436:37TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Fall on your knees Oh hear the angel voices Oh life divine0:19Oh life when Christ was born So welcome to Advent. Advent is a Latin word meaning the coming or the arrival. And I just want to remind you this, that for believers, Christmas is not just about a birth.0:49You say, what are you talking about, Pastor? I thought Christmas was only about the birth. No, Christmas is so much more than a birth. Christmas is about the arrival of the King, the Messiah. You will call his name Jesus. Why? Not because he will be a little baby. You will call his name Jesus because he will save the people from their sins. Iesus, our God saves.1:18Joshua, the Hebrew equivalence, our God saves. So Advent is the arrival of the one who is going to save us from our sins. Do not miss that. Christmas is so much more than a birth. Because we live in a world where they celebrate the birth and we need to come alongside and say, let me tell you about the baby. Let me tell you about the man he grew up into. Let me tell you about the cross he died on. Let me tell you about the cross he was born into a world that said, hey, we don't have room for God.1:46Go to the stables. Go with the cows, the ox, the sheep. Go to the cave. We don't have room. But God said, oh, in your darkness I will send my son. So let's look at Isaiah chapter 9. This month and actually up until January, this Advent season, we will be looking at who Jesus is.2:14The character and the nature of this Christ child in Isaiah. So go ahead and mark your Bibles in Isaiah chapter 9. We will be looking at he is dot, dot, dot. Today we will be looking at the light of Christ. He is our light. Church, he is our light. We see he is so much more than that. He is our joy. He is peace.2:43He is wonderful. He is counselor. He is mighty God. He is everlasting father. He is prince of peace. Isaiah chapter 9, verse 1, if you would follow along with me in your Bibles. And we begin with a verse that is not so much Christmassy. Verse 1, chapter 9 of Isaiah, nevertheless, the gloom, the New King James says, will not be upon her who is distressed.3:08So we begin our Advent series on gloom. And when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali and afterward more heavily oppressed her by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.3:38Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shines. You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy of harvest. As men rejoice when they divide the spoil, you have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor as in the day of Midian.4:01For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle. Now let me repeat this verse. Because often we think of Christmas and we think of this cute God child that came into a manger. And the little Lord Jesus, no crying he made, come on, he's a baby.4:27Every baby I've been around cries. And for some reason they normally cry when I hold them. We had a child born last week in our church and I was able to go see this little child and the third boy in his family. And as soon as I held him, he started crying. I said, okay, here you go, mom. Listen about, listen to this verse. We think of this cute child, but listen to the Savior that we worship.4:56As in every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle. And garments rolled in blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire. Then it says, for unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The government will be upon his shoulders and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.5:20Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.5:45By the way, Lord of hosts is the battle name of God. Our Savior was born on Christmas to fight a battle we cannot fight. Let's pray, Father God. Lord, if we have got caught up in the Christmas spirit of lights and candles and gifts and commercialism.6:10Lord, if some of us have fought on Black Friday to get a gift for our family. Lord, if we have said ugly things. Oh, Lord, if the Christmas season brings difficulty for those that do not have family nearby. Father, if we think of anything other than your son, would I pray that you would forgive us of that.6:34And Lord, for many of us, if Christmas is a dark time, remind us today that in darkness, a new light has dawned. And his name is Jesus Christ. Lord, still our hearts today that we may hear from heaven. That you may heal our land, that you may heal our hearts. Lord, let us know that you are not a source of light, but you are the light. Lord, let us know that when we are in our darkness, a light has shone upon us.7:04And Father, for those of us who believe, may we live out the light of Christ in our life. Lord, rain down upon us tonight, today, and the rest of this week. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, we live around this time in the land of lights. Many of you have a Christmas tree up. Who already has their tree up? Okay.7:36Okay. Who has, who has not, who does not have their tree up? You say, I'm not going to put a tree up. Okay. Well, I'm sure you will. So, husbands, if you're looking and your wife does not have her tree up yet, get ready. It'll probably be up this afternoon. But we put, we put lights up. We have our trees already up with lights. Many of you have candles in our lighting, the advent candles. Many of you have wreaths. We have a nativity set in our front porch that has lights in it. Hey, now we can even be lazy.8:05You can go to the store and get these little LED projectors to put in your yard. And it lights up your whole house. I'm so tempted. We don't have one yet. I'm so tempted. Because I am your lazy man's decorator. But we, we see lights everywhere. This is the time of lights. And isn't it interesting that we put up lights around Christmas time? Because Christmas the 25th follows one of the darkest days of the year, the 21st. I have a lady that I love very dearly that her birthday is celebrated on the darkest day of the year.8:36I don't think there's any symbolism there. But Christmas follows that shortly after. I don't think it's any accident that we celebrate Christmas around the darkest day of the year. I don't think it's any accident that we put up our lights at this time of year. Some of you, your electricity bill doubles this time of year. Some of you, your neighbors don't like you because they can't go to sleep.9:04Because you can land a helicopter in your yard because you put up so many lights. And for you, because you're not my neighbor, I say God bless them. I love lights. We drive around in our house and we'll go look at those of you who really decorate well. Because this is the time of lights. Do not miss the symbolism there. Why do we put up these lights? Some of you just say, well, we've always done that. Oh, but there's so much more. Because Jesus Christ is our light.9:34He is our light. Look at verse 2. We're going to camp out and unfold this verse this morning. The people who have walked in darkness have seen a light. Now, that's not what God's Word says. It says, the people who have walked in darkness have seen a, Hebrews, Godol, a great light. I would even say the great light. And those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.10:01We're going to celebrate today that Jesus Christ is our light. He is our Redeemer. He is our friend and he is our Savior. So first, we see this in God's Word, that Jesus is the light that breaks into our darkness. Jesus Christ is the light that breaks into our darkness. Verse 2. The people who walked in darkness have what?10:29Have seen a great light. No, it doesn't say that God's light came upon those who were in the darkness. It says that those who walked in darkness have seen a great light. And this is what we see over and over in Scripture, that God recognizes the darkness that we walk in. And you say, well, what are you talking about? God recognizes the darkness that you walk in.10:56Because we all walk into some type of darkness. Many of you are walking difficult days right now in your life. Weakness, difficulty, family drama, relationship issues, bank account issues. And for some, this is a very dark time of year. Literally, physically, this is a dark time of year. I don't like this time of year physically because the darkness comes about 5 o'clock at night.11:26And so my body tells me, hey, when it's dark, you go to bed. So we just have the temptation to eat at 5 and go to bed at 5.30. Some of you are thinking, amen, God bless that. Well, you tell my kids that they can go to bed at 5.30. But we live in a darkness. We live in a place where there are wars and rumors of war.11:54We live in a place where it can rain five inches today, but the last two months we haven't had rain. And so we've been in a drought and it's the world crying out, look, there's darkness here. This is not the way we're created. We need to be fixed. And God says, I have seen your darkness. You might be here today and you say, well, I'm actually living in a good time. I have my bank accounts full. I'm healthy.12:25I'm healthy. There are gifts under the tree. Things could not be better. But this is where God's word pushes deeper than our superficial existence. Because God's word now then says, well, look at your heart. So the world's lit. You went and you bought that little thing that projects upon your house. You have all these different color lights and it's beautiful. Your house is in order. But look at your heart. That's not an easy picture, is it?12:54Because there's often in our lives, even the good things that we do has selfish motivations. Well, let me serve this person. Let me give at Christmas. That way they will see me give. Or because I'm just supposed to give. So our actions say we are giving light. But our heart says, Josh, you're selfish. You're prideful. You're not motivated correctly. Your heart is darker and darker and darker. And God says, don't worry, I've seen your darkness.13:22That is why my light has come. We live in a dark place. The reality is that we are dark. And God says, we have sinned. The wages of your sin is death and my sin is death. We live in darkness. But behold, a new light has shown. I was reminded of this darkness several weeks ago. I had to get up in the middle of the night because I had a coughing fit. And I was coughing so much that I couldn't sleep.13:51And I really was concerned for my dear precious bride. I said, well, I'm going to wake her up. So I just got up and I went and got a, not a peppermint. I got a cough drop and said, Lord, if I go to sleep and I choke to death, I'm in your hands. But I'm just not going to cough. So it worked. But on the way back to, from the bathroom to get the cough drop back to the bed, we have this bed that doesn't have posts. It has sharp corners on it. Yeah, some of you know where this is going.14:20So I'm walking in the darkness to get a cough drop. And then as I come back, I hit right on my thigh, that corner. And I couldn't scream because I didn't want to wake my wife up. And I didn't want to cough because I didn't want to wake her up. I didn't want to turn the lights on. And I asked her that morning, I said, did you, did I wake you up? She said, what are you talking about? I'm like, well, I didn't, you had to get out of bed. And then several days ago, I looked down at my leg and I still had a yellow bruise14:45from the impact of me walking in darkness. You see, that's the physical darkness that we live in. But how much darker is our sin? That if we do it on our own, we're prone to hit things. We're prone to wander. And God is saying, I sent my son to be a light because you live in darkness. See that reality because God sees it.15:14Not only do we walk in darkness, but God sees the depth of our darkness. Look at verse 2 again. Those that are walking in darkness, a great light has shone. Those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death. This is the strongest word in Hebrew for darkness. It is salamut, which means it's the same word used in Job for their eyelids that are tired because they're crying. It's the same word for a thick darkness of someone who has fallen into a mine shaft.15:44It's the same word used for the darkness of the abode of the dead. And it's the same word used to darkness prior to creation. Emotionally, it describes the internal anguish of the one who has rebelled against God in Psalm 107. You see, God doesn't just see your darkness. He sees the depth of your darkness. He says, even if you walk in the shadow of the valley of death,16:11that's not talking about you're about to die, make a decision for Christ. That is, we in our sin constantly walk in the valley of the shadow of death because our sin brings death. It destroys our relationship. And it began that way in creation. God created Adam and Eve to dwell with him in the garden. And their sin did what? Not only booted them out of the garden, but it destroyed that relationship.16:36And we have suffered the consequences ever since. That's what our sin does. See, we're not born into a relationship with God. We're born into a broken relationship because of our sin. And God says, I see you walking in the valley of the shadow of death. Don't worry. I have provided a light. His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus, the light, breaks through our darkness.17:03And you say, you don't understand how deep my dark pit or my dark heart. You don't understand the addiction I have today. You don't understand the difficulty today. I don't. But he does. And he sent his son, the light of the world, to shine on our dark hearts and give us another way, to give us eternal life. Jesus breaks through your darkness.17:33And so I ask you this morning, are you ready to see a great light? Are you ready to see a great light? Oftentimes in my life, I don't see things because I have my eyes closed. We're constantly reminded that we have a four-year-old son. And he went upstairs Thursday as we came to school to get his shoes. And I said, Eli, go upstairs. Your shoes are in your closet. Go get them.18:03So he runs upstairs and he runs back down. Daddy, I don't see them. Are you kidding me? Now, my wife's going to tell you he is a chip off the old block. So I walk into the closet and what's the very first thing I see? The shoes. They were there where I told him. And how often does God look at us and say, I've given you the light of Christ. I've given you a great light that your darkness might not be.18:28Open your eyes. It is here today. Will you receive that light? It is freely offered. Are you ready to see a great light? I also ask you this morning, are you ready to be led by that light? This is what God offers us. Are you ready for God to shine upon you? Because he is the light that breaks our darkness. But not only does he break our darkness, God wants us to know this morning that he is not just a source of light.18:54He is the source of light. God is not a buffet where we can come and say, well, this is Jesus. When I need Jesus, I'm going to get that. Or this is faith. When I need faith, I'm going to get that. Or when I really get into the dark place, then I'm going to go and get some light. And when I need him, I will seek him. But when I don't need him, I won't seek him. That's not what God's word says. Scripture is otherwise.19:24Scripture says he is not a source of light. He is the source of light. We can't go any other place to find eternal light in our life. That's important for us to understand. Because sometimes we search for other things. We seek light that is not eternal. It is temporary. So let's look at the life of Jesus Christ and how he shows that he is the light. I want us to look at three specific instances in Jesus' life. He is not a source of light.19:55He is the source of light. In John chapter 8, I will read it. Jesus says this in verse 12. Jesus spoke to them again and said, I am the light of the worlds. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So in case we miss it, and sometimes we struggle because if you're like I am, I am hard-headed and hard-hearted, that we need Christ just to spell it out.20:21Right? We see in Isaiah that a great light has shone, and we see that those that walk through the valley of the darkness, that a light has shined upon them. And we say, well, who is that light? Where do we find that light? Where do we find that light? Well, in John 8, Jesus very clearly shows us. He says, I am the light. Do we need another explanation? Not only does he say, I am the light, he says this.20:51Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. He says in John 9, verse 5, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the worlds. And you begin to process that, and we think, well, but God, I know I'm going to walk in dark times. How, if I follow Christ, am I not going to walk in darkness?21:20Is Jesus saying that we will now have health and wealth and good times from here on out? Some of you who know Christ, and are following him and seeking him, know that he says, We know that he says, don't worry about what you say when they bring you before the government and chastise you and judge you.21:50Because in that moment of trial, the Holy Spirit will give you what you need, the utterances to say. We know that James says, count it all joy, brothers, when you face various trials. Try to live that out, by the way. That when you walk in darkness, you say, this is joy, because I know where my light is. Jesus Christ says that he is the light.22:19His word doesn't say that he was the light, or that he will be the light. Jesus in John 8 says what? I am the light. To use incorrect English again, he says, I is the light. I was the light. I am the light. And I will be the light. Jesus Christ is our light. May we live with that expectation that for followers, we will never walk in darkness.22:44We see another instance in Jesus' life where he is light. And it's the instance near the death of Jesus Christ. Our Savior says that he is the light, but when he died on the cross, in Luke 23, verse 45, something very peculiar happens. When Jesus died on the cross, the sun went black.23:10Now, some have tried to find records, ancient records, and find if there was an eclipse or not. Some have tried to determine that scripture is false because they have not seen any phenomenon before or since. I would say, I would say, I agree. We have not seen anything before or since. Actually, God's word in Luke 23, 45 says, not the sun went dark, but it failed. I begin to think about that.23:41Why would the sun fail when Jesus Christ gave up his spirit? I think for several reasons. I think, one, the sun was trying to tell us, hey, the true light has died. I give up trying to be a cheap imitation. I believe that. I believe the sun was pointing us to a deeper truth that when Christ died, the sun was saying, my light doesn't compare to the light that is Jesus Christ. So I'm going to take a step back. I'm going to fail to point you to the Savior.24:08What a great picture that is. There is no greater source of light that we see with our eyes than the sun. And the sun fails. To say that Jesus is our light. I think the sun also fell for another reason. Because when Jesus died, I believe the sun lost his purpose. Because the purpose of creation is to glorify the creator. But when the creator died, the sun said, I don't have a purpose.24:37Which reminds me, if I do not have Christ, for I'm not living for Christ, I will not have purpose in my life. So if you're grappling with that, especially our young people, you're trying to figure out, well, where am I going to go? When am I going to study? What's my purpose? If you have Christ, your purpose is to glorify him. But this is not a young adolescent. If you're an adult, past the gray hair stage, you don't have Christ.25:04You don't have your purpose. And if you have Christ, you have found your purpose. I often counsel those that are in the hospital or in the nursing home. And often I hear this. I can't get out of bed and I don't know what my purpose is. Well, your purpose is to glorify God. And whether I am walking around or whether I'm stuck in my room,25:31my purpose is to glorify God. The sun failed when our Savior died. I think the sun failed also for this reason, to show us that judgment had come. When the light of the world was snuffed out temporarily, the world was saying judgment has come. And we should not fool ourselves into thinking that Christmas is all about lights and joy and peace. Because what does verse 5 of Isaiah 9 say?26:00Those that are in battle, those whose robes are dipped in blood. Oh, by the way, until us, a child is given. That judgment is found in Christ. He does not say that he has come to condemn the world, but that in our sin we are condemned already. And you say, well, I don't want to hear that. Well, you don't because that's what pride does in our life. That's what sin does. Sin says, don't judge me. Sin says, who are you? And I say, I'm not judging you.26:31I judge myself, and that's not a pretty picture. My sin holds me accountable. But Christ died as the light of the world to shine light on my dark heart, to give peace in the midst of judgment, to say I am made right before God if I accept his sacrifice. He is our source of light. Jesus said he is the light of the world. The sun echoed that when it gave up when he died. But that's not all.27:01We look now at the end of his life. After the resurrection, we see this in Revelation. It's such a beautiful picture about Jesus, our light. We see a picture of the new heavens and the new earth. That's something very peculiar is in the new heavens and new earth. So some of you are wondering, what is heaven going to look like when Jesus returns? Heaven is not going to be there when Christ returns. Heaven is going to be here. Because heaven was always intended to be here. Where was the Garden of Eden? Here.27:32Here. So the Garden of Eden was a prototype of creation. If we wouldn't have messed it up, things would not have changed. That's what sin does. So Jesus redeems our lands. There's something very peculiar about the new heavens and new earth. One, there will be no temple. Because Jesus Christ is the temple. Because the temple housed the dwelling place, the presence of God. And when Christ returns, his presence will be here abundantly in all its glory.28:00But there's something else that's missing in a new heaven and new earth. Some of you know where I'm going with this. There is no temple and there is no sun. Now why would God recreate a new world without a sun? Why would there be no moon? We need the sun for light. We need the sun for warmth. We need sun for happiness. You can't go to the beach without the sun.28:30You can't play football outdoors without the sun. We can't live and we can't breathe and we can't move without the sun. Why would God create a new world in his sun without the sun? Revelation gives us that picture. Revelation 21, 22. John said, I do not see a sanctuary in it because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary.28:58The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it because God's glory. Listen to this. God's glory illuminates it. That God's glory illuminates it and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk in its light and the kings of earth will bring their glory into it.29:24Each day its gates will never close because it will never be night there. What a picture of the glory of our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus says he is not a light, he is the light. He says, I am the light of the world. The sun, when Jesus died, said, I give up. I am a cheap imitation. And one day soon, when the new heavens and new earth are here, there will be no need for the sun and for the moon.29:53I just picture us, if you believe in Christ and you're in the new earth, I picture you looking up at the sun and trying to figure out, what is that thing? It used to give off something, but I don't remember. Oh, that's right. Oh, that's right. It's called the sun, but it's not glowing. It's not giving light because the true light has dawned. Jesus, the light breaks through our darkness.30:21Jesus is not a light. He is the light. So then how do we live out that truth in our life? If Jesus Christ is what he says he is, and I believe he is. I believe everything in scripture. I believe everything that Jesus said. That's why I'm here. I'm not playing games because God has impacted my heart. I believe when he said he is the son of God, when he said that his sacrifice died to cleanse me of my unrighteousness, I believe it.30:49When God says, pastor, your heart is dark, I believe it because I live it. And when he says he is the light, I believe it because I know when I was walking in darkness, I saw a great, light. So what is that light and how do we live in light of the sun? Just quickly this morning. If Jesus Christ is your light, live knowing that God separates darkness from light.31:20If Jesus is your light, know that God can separate light from darkness. You say, well, how do you know that? I don't see that in Isaiah. It's in Genesis 1-3. Before there was light, darkness covered everything. You say, well, I can't conceive of that. I can't either. Just trust him. And in verse 3, God said, let there be light. And there was light.31:50And God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness. I'm reminded of this. If God can separate light from darkness in creation, he can separate darkness from light in my life. If God looked at nothing and called forth light, he can easily look into our hearts and say, darkness, go away. Praise God for that. Sometimes we get so worked up because there's darkness in our life.32:18And we live in a way as if this is the first darkness that God has ever seen. And we pray, God, if there's darkness in my heart, there's darkness in my life, God, you don't understand what I'm going through. And God says, don't you realize that there's no darkness I can't separate? If Jesus is our light, we should live in a way with confidence, knowing that he separates light and darkness.32:43Now, I would also pause and say this. Sometimes we want to hold on to that darkness. We pray prayers on Sunday. God, there's darkness in my life. Take it away. And when he starts taking it away, we want to hold on to that. If he's going to separate it, let the darkness go. Because God's word promises us, I am the light of the world and those who follow me will never walk in darkness.33:09Leave the darkness alone. And Christ separates us. That's the beauty of following him. If he separates light from darkness in creation, he can separate it in your life. I also see this in scripture. If he is our light, we should live knowing that light drives out fear. We should live knowing that light drives out fear.33:37Psalm 27 verse 1, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom should I fear? Some of us today are fearing people. Maybe it's a boss at work. Maybe it's a crazy co-worker. Maybe it's a crazy church member you're sitting by today. Crazy neighbor. Maybe you are that crazy person. Right? Sometimes the one we should fear most is the one that we see in the mirror.34:06Because we struggle with that person and we fear what we're going to do. We fear our thoughts. We fear our hearts. We fear our motivations. We fear our actions. And we need to pray, Lord, you are my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Because if he is my light, he does not call us to be scaredy cat believers. He calls us to be those who stand upon the promises of his word and say, fear be gone. Because he has not given me a spirit of fear or timidity, but a power of love and sound mind.34:37If he is our light, he drives out fear in our life. We also see this in scripture. If he is our light, if he is your light, live knowing that he calls you by name and calls you his. You know, we get called a lot of things in this world. Some of you have nicknames. Some of you get called boss.35:07Some of you get called friends. Some of you are called things that we can't repeat on this side of heaven. Because of ugliness in the world that we live in. And sometimes the things that we are called by others leaves a permanent scar in our life. Listen to this verse. Verse 8 of Ephesians 5. For you were once in darkness.35:35Sound familiar? And so if the world calls you a scoundrel, you can say, but you don't understand, I am his scoundrel now. I am his child. You can call me what you want to call me. But he calls me a child of light. And I will live knowing that he calls me.36:05If he is your light, know that he calls you his. He calls you a child of light. Lastly, if he is your light, shine your light. If he is your light, shine. Shine bright. John 1.4. Life was in him and life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome.36:30Matthew 5.14. Jesus says in his words, You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand. And it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.36:53If Jesus Christ is your light, shine bright. That's what we are called to do. Because Jesus breaks through our darkness. He is the light that breaks through. He is the only light that can break through, the Bible says. And he calls us to shine in a mighty way.37:21Christmas is not about a birth. It's about a coming. The light has come into the world. So I ask you this morning, is he your light? We've seen how we live if he is your light. But I ask you, is he your light? You say, well, I'm at church. Of course he's my light. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Because there's a lot of darkness that comes in churches.37:49But there's a greater light than any darkness that could grace these doors. And his name is Jesus Christ. And he's the light that promises to break your sin. But before he can break your sin, he has to break your heart over your sin. And so has Jesus shone upon your life? Well, you say, well, my heart's so dark that not even God could shine. He does.38:19He does. He did. But if you trust him, if you accept his sacrifice, you will have forgiveness. God's word always says this, that where repentance is, forgiveness always follows. And where repentance follows, a light has shone. I love what God's word says, that for those walking in darkness, have seen a great light. If you're here this morning and you are in darkness, I pray that you would open up your eyes and see the light of the world.38:44He died for you. He died in a world that had no room for him. He died on a cross that became dark because the world says we do not desire salvation. And he said, I'm going to die anyway, that you might believe. And I'm cognizant of the fact that there are people here this morning that probably do not believe. That's why I don't believe in Christ.39:13I don't believe that God's word is entirely accurate. Yeah, I'm going to go to the buffet of religion and find what I need. I pray that you will not one day live in darkness and see judgment and be sadly mistaken. Because Jesus Christ came to give you a life more abundant in him. He came to illuminate our hearts. And that gift is freely offered. So I'm going to ask you today, if you have not put your trust in Christ, I'm going to ask you to do that.39:40Not for my sake, not for your parents' sake, not for anyone that's here. But that you might truly have eternal life in him. Maybe you're here today and you're a believer. And you are walking in darkness. You've forgotten what Jesus said. He said, I am the light of the world and anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness. And so you came here today and you feel like the darkness in your life is darker than the light of Christ.40:09And maybe you just needed that reminder of God saying, don't worry about the darkness. I can separate it. Don't worry, I can create light from dark and I can send my son to illuminate anything that you're going through. But maybe you need to spend some time this morning in the invitation just celebrating that he is your light. To know that I am called by him and he is mine, I am his.40:37That he is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Let's pray together. Father.41:00Father.41:30Thank you.Next in Advent 2016 →Sunday, December 18, 2016More sermons on Isaiah →
