November 29, 2023 • 24 mins
Are you ready to embark on a spiritual trek through the profound messianic prophecies about Jesus? I am Pastor Jason Hovde, your guide for this enlightening journey. We'll shine a light on the life and teachings of Jesus, drawing from the scriptures of Isaiah 42 to highlight the humility and gentleness of Jesus. As we approach the holiday season, we'll reflect on how Jesus, the light of the world, brings everlasting life and how we can share this light with others.
In our exploration, we'll discuss the festival of Tabernacles and the powerful imagery it offers. We'll also delve into our roles in spreading the gospel, especially during the holiday season. To warm your hearts, we'll share Christmas stories like "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Tallest Angel". Eager to spread the light of Christ? Join me on Truth Trek, and together let's illuminate the world with the teachings of Jesus. Tune in and invite others to share this enlightening journey.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jesus is the light of the world.
Take a journey with me intosome of the messianic prophecies
about Jesus in the coming monthbefore Christmas here on Truth
Trek.
Welcome to Truth Trek, where wedive deep into the Bible to
(00:34):
uncover the treasures there.
I'm Pastor Jason Hubdy and Iwill be your guide as we journey
together into Scripture, god'sHoly Word.
In each of the Wednesdayepisodes from now until
Christmas, I'm going to befocusing on some of the
messianic prophecies we find inScripture about Jesus and about
the birth of Jesus.
And also I want to remind youthat each Sunday, one or two
(00:59):
stories will be posting on theTruth Trek podcast.
These are Christmas storiesthat I've recorded for your
enjoyment, just to bless you andyour family, and I know a lot
of people like to listen tostories, and this is a way to do
it as you're driving down theroad or putting your kids to bed
or something like that.
So I hope you'll be blessed bythose, one already released on
(01:19):
November 26th, which was thefirst Sunday that I was
releasing them, and they willcome out each Sunday from now
until Christmas.
So please check those out andenjoy those and share them with
others as well.
Well, let's get right into ourlesson for this episode of Truth
Trek and we want to talk aboutthe light of the world, that
(01:39):
Jesus is the light of the world,and I guess we'll have three
main points.
One is that God is the Creatorof light, god is the giver of
life and Jesus is the light thatbrings everlasting life.
I want to start with somethingJesus said in the Gospel of John
, chapter 8, verse 12.
(02:00):
It says Jesus spoke to themsaying I am the light of the
world.
Whoever follows me will notwalk in darkness but will have
the light of life.
Jesus is the light of the world.
In the word light Jesus uses todescribe himself.
Here, the meaning brings tomind some powerful imagery.
(02:23):
The word is translated in otherparts of the Bible as the
daylight, the source of light,the luminary and lamp.
These meanings all fit thedescription Jesus gives.
Jesus said he is the light ofthe world and oh that everyone
would believe this.
And so, as we look at thispassage, we are going to see how
(02:47):
Jesus was the fulfillment ofsome prophecies, and we're going
to look at that in each of theWednesday episodes.
As I mentioned, our study todayis from Isaiah 42.
This is not one of the firstthought of Messianic prophecies
that people go to, but it's oneof my favorite ones Particularly
.
We're going to look at verses 5and 6.
(03:07):
Remember that the prophetIsaiah was giving words of
comfort to people who would needcomfort.
The first part of this passageIsaiah 42, 1-9.
Describes the humility of theSavior.
Elements of Jesus' ministryshow us his humility.
The second part of the passageshows the gentleness of Jesus.
(03:31):
Jesus is there to help those inneed and he particularly gives
hope to those who have beendowntrodden.
A bruised reed he will notbreak and a smoldering wick he
will not snuff out.
Today we look at God as thegiver of life and Jesus as the
light of the world, and nextweek we'll look at some more
(03:53):
Messianic prophecies as well.
And I also want to remind youI've been challenging my church
here at Oasis Church in Floridaand I challenge all of you who
are listening around the worldto invite people to church
during this holiday season.
This is an opportunity to bringpeople to learn about the light
(04:14):
of the world.
Jesus, and pray that God wouldgive you opportunities to invite
people and that God would opentheir hearts to receive the Word
of God and draw them to himself, convicting them of their sins
and convincing them the truth ofthe Savior.
So I challenge you to do that,so there may be someone that God
(04:35):
has put in your path to bringto church, and we want to do
that.
Connect people to the Savior,if we can.
So let's move forward now andexplore the wonder of our Savior
, who's the light of the world.
So I'm going to read thepassage from Isaiah 42.
If you have the opportunity toopen your Bible while I'm
reading, I encourage you to dothat.
(04:55):
Follow along.
Make sure that whatever I'mteaching you is the truth,
according to God's Word.
Isaiah 42, 1-9 says this Beholdmy servant, whom I uphold, my
chosen, in whom my soul delights.
I have put my spirit upon him.
He will bring forth justice tothe nations.
He will not cry aloud or liftup his voice or make it heard in
(05:19):
the street.
A bruised reed he will notbreak and a faintly burning wick
he will not quench.
He will faithfully bring forthjustice.
He will not grow faint or bediscouraged.
Till he has established justicein the earth and the coastlands
wait for his law.
Thus says God, the Lord whocreated the heavens and
(05:40):
stretched them out, who spreadout the earth and what comes
from it, who gives breath to thepeople on it and spirit to
those who walk in it?
I am the Lord.
I have called you inrighteousness.
I will take you by the hand andkeep you.
I will give you, as a covenantfor the people, a light for the
nations to open the eyes thatare blind, to bring out the
(06:03):
prisoners from the dungeon, fromthe prison, those who sit in
darkness.
I am the Lord.
That is my name.
My glory I give to no other,nor my praise to carved idols.
Behold, the former things havecome to pass, and new things I
now declare Before they springforth.
I tell you of them.
(06:23):
Thank you, all right, so I saidit a number of times.
I'm going to say it a few moretimes throughout that Jesus is
the light of the world.
That's the main thing we wantto remember From this episode of
Truth Track and those threemain points also that God is the
creator of light.
Number one and number two Godis the giver of life.
And number three Jesus is thelight that brings everlasting
(06:47):
life.
We know that in the beginning,that is when God created the
entire world, he created light.
He did this by speaking it intoexistence.
The power of God, who is spirit, is so awesome that he simply
wills something to happen.
The concept of God being lightis frequent in the entire Bible.
(07:09):
He is represented by light, asthe sun, as fire, and when the
new heaven and earth come thatthere will be no need for the
sun, since God himself will bethe light.
In fact, all three members ofthe Holy Trinity at times are
represented or perceived by menas light.
(07:29):
God appeared in the form offire to speak to Moses from the
burning bush.
He led the Israelites throughthe desert in a cloud by day and
a pillar fire by night.
Jesus was transfigured and wasfull of light, and in the
passage of John 812 that westarted with, he says he's light
of the world.
Likewise, the Holy Spirit cameupon the followers of Christ on
(07:52):
the day of Pentecost, appearinglike tongues of fire.
So we know that God, in all thepersons of the Trinity,
represents himself as light.
So not only is God the creatorof light, but also he gives us a
concept of himself thatinvolves light.
It is a description, but alsoan illustration of something
(08:13):
that we will not fullycomprehend until we are on the
other side, so to speak.
Fellowship around a campfire isan illustration for what the
fellowship of believers inChrist means.
God wants us to enjoy eachother's fellowship, but those of
us who have seen the light areto live in the light and also to
share the light.
(08:33):
Jesus is the light of the world.
Well, what is the opposite oflight?
Darkness?
Isaiah 9 to said the peoplehave walked in darkness have
seen a great light.
Those who dwell in a land ofdeep darkness.
On them has light shown.
God is promising here, throughIsaiah, that those in darkness
(08:54):
will be able to have light.
The creator of light willreveal the light, and in the
second half of this verse hecompares it to the dawn as the
Sun comes up over a dark valley.
So will his light be revealedthrough Jesus Christ.
Isaiah in chapter 42 is speakingthe words of God, who says I am
(09:16):
the one who created, I am theone who sends Jesus and I will
send him in righteousness.
So God created light and God isthe creator of life.
Here in this passage he says heis the one who gives breath to
its people, that's earth'speople, and life to all that
(09:37):
walk on it.
In Genesis we see that whileGod spoke everything else into
being.
He actually breathed life intoAdam.
He considers us to be hisspecial creation and we are put
above all the rest of creation.
In fact, the Bible tells usthat all people bear his image.
That is the reason that murderis so serious.
(09:59):
Not only as a murderer takingaway the life that only God can
give.
He is also offending the veryimage of God, because the image
of God resides within everyperson.
I believe this includes theunborn and whether defending
born or unborn, we should do allwe can to protect life.
God alone gives life and no manhas the right to take it.
(10:24):
God shows throughout the Biblehis concern for life, from the
raising up of Joseph to spareIsrael, to Esther, who has put
in a position of influence forsuch a time as this.
God always cares about life.
He says that he does not wantany to perish.
The Creator has given life toeach of us and only he is
(10:47):
authorized to take it back.
Yet when we willingly giveourselves to him, he allows us
life when we deserve death.
Jesus Christ also is the giverof life.
He is the light that giveseverlasting life, and the most
exciting point today is thatthat Jesus is the light that
(11:09):
gives everlasting life.
That humble Jesus who did notcry out on the streets but
humbly served others, Even tothe point of the cross, that
gentle Jesus who does not breakthe bruised reed or snuff out
the burning wick, would ratherbuild them up and restore and
(11:30):
give life.
He is the light that giveseverlasting life.
God said that he called Jesusin righteousness and would make
sure that Jesus would not failin his mission.
God loves Jesus and loves us aswell.
God is the one who sent Jesus,about whom Isaiah prophesied
(11:52):
when he wrote in Isaiah 9, 6,and 7,.
These well-known verses to mostbelievers because you hear them
every Christmas.
For to us a child is born, tous a son is given, and the
government shall be upon hisshoulder and his name shall be
called Wonderful Counselor,mighty God, everlasting Father,
(12:14):
prince of Peace.
Of the increase of hisgovernment and of peace there
will be no end on the throne ofDavid and over his kingdom, to
establish it and to uphold itwith justice and with
righteousness, from this timeforth and forevermore, the zeal
of the Lord of hosts will dothis.
This Jesus, who will accomplishall of these things, said I am
(12:38):
the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will neverwalk in darkness, but will have
the light of life.
Do you live in his light?
Do you have the victory ofliving in the light of Christ?
I ask you what may seem like arhetorical question, but I
assure you that it is nothing ofthe sort.
(13:00):
I really want to know Do youlive in the light?
Is Jesus the light of your life, the light who will give you
everlasting life?
Jesus is the answer to yourneed.
He is the answer for your needto find a way to escape the
eternal, conscious torment thatawaits the damned who have
(13:23):
sinned against an almighty, holyGod who has every right to and
will, in time, punish all whosin against him, apart from the
blood of Jesus Christ that weare given freely an opportunity
to substitute for our own.
He called himself the light ofthe world.
(13:45):
This is not only an affirmationof the prophecy of Isaiah, but
also should have been a shockingstatement to those who heard
him say it.
In saying it, he was making aclaim to be the promised Messiah
, the one who all the picturesof the Old Testament, those
symbols of God's salvation,pointed to.
(14:08):
These types of Christ in the OldTestament include more than we
have time to discuss in thisepisode, but I'll mention a few.
Jonah was a type of Christ inthat he went on an evangelistic
mission to turn people to God.
Elijah was a parallel of Christ, as was Elisha and to some
extent, isaiah as well.
Manna was a type of Christgiven to people as their food
(14:32):
from God.
Jesus alluded to this when hecalled himself the bread of life
In the Bronze Serpent in thedesert that people who had been
bitten by snakes only needed tolook at to be healed was a type
of Christ that showed us that hewould be our healer if we would
look to him.
And, by the way, when you seethat snake on the pole that's
(14:56):
still on a lot of hospital signsand a lot of ambulances, that's
a direct reminder to us of thatserpent that was lifted up in
the desert so that people couldlook on it.
So, literally every time yousee that, you should be thinking
of Jesus, who is the one welook to for our healing Now.
(15:27):
In Malachi 4-2 it says thisthere are too many prophecies
and types of Jesus in the OldTestament to share, even if I
had eight weeks just for thatsubject alone, but clearly, we
can find many precious resourceswhen we mine the Old Testament
for those examples that lead usultimately to Christ.
The one we look at today isthat Jesus is the light of the
(15:51):
world.
It is most likely that whenJesus said this, it was against
the backdrop of one of the manyfestivals that God had
prescribed for Israel to do inremembrance of what God had done
for them.
In this case, jesus wasprobably alluding to the
lighting of candles for thefestival of Tabernacles.
(16:11):
I quote from the following fromthe New American Commentary
quote On the first night ofTabernacles, and apparently on
each night of the feast excepton the Sabbath, the worshipers
awaited the signal of thespecial lighting of the festive
golden lamps of Tabernacles inthe court of women.
The lamps were intended toremind worshipers of God's
(16:33):
leading the people of Israelthrough the wilderness at night
by a pillar of fire.
The lighting of lamps alsosignaled Israel's recommitment
to the God of Light, and it wasaccompanied by festive music of
the Levites and special dancingby chosen men of piety.
End quote there was dancing andrejoicing.
(16:55):
This type of Christ.
The pillar of fire that showedthe way to freedom is what Jesus
clearly spoke to the peoplewhen he said I am the light of
the world.
Those who heard it could not bemistaken about the claim he was
making.
In this and in other cases,jesus was using those prophecies
(17:18):
and Old Testament pictures ofhim that the people would
clearly understand if theywanted to.
Jesus is the light of the worldand he wants us to share the
light.
He told Paul on the road toDamascus I am sending you to
them to open their eyes and turnthem from darkness to light and
(17:38):
from the power of Satan to God,so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a placeamong those who are sanctified
by faith in me.
So Jesus, who is the light thatgives everlasting life, wants
us to share in His mission andwe are given the privilege of
letting His light shine throughus.
(17:59):
The world is blinded and willremain so until the light is
revealed to them.
This God does through Hishumble servants who are willing
to allow Him to work in theirlives.
This is what Jesus does throughthose who preach and teach the
gospel.
Paul wrote to the CorinthianChurch that this was the main
(18:20):
thrust of their ministry toreveal light to those in
darkness.
Second Corinthians, 4, verses 3to 6, says and even if our
gospel is veiled, it is veiledto those who are perishing In
their case.
The God of this world hasblinded the minds of the
unbelievers to keep them fromseeing the light of the gospel
(18:41):
of the glory of Christ, who isthe image of God, for what we
proclaim is not ourselves, butJesus Christ as Lord, with
ourselves as your servants, forJesus' sake, for God, who said
Let light shine out of darkness,has shown in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge ofthe glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.
(19:02):
Jesus is the light of the world, but he asks us to carry the
light into the world.
He wants us to share His gospelwith those around us.
One may think this is only thejob of those in full-time
ministry, but that's simply notthe case.
Scripture clearly teaches thatbelievers in Jesus Christ are to
(19:23):
share their faith.
He is the light of the worldand His light must be shared.
Remember the song this littlelight of mine, I'm gonna let it
shine.
Hide it under a bushel, though.
We need to shine the light ofChrist on the world around us
while we still have theopportunity.
(19:43):
Jesus is the light of the world.
He is the light that piercesthe darkest places.
Sometimes those in the dark areafraid of the light.
We must be gentle with them andshow them that the light must
not be feared.
Some hate the light because itexposes their deeds.
We must tell those ones thattheir deeds can be forgiven if
(20:04):
they would let the light in.
Some claim to have the light,but when we look at them they
don't seem to be a conduit ofthe light.
Rather, they seem to absorb itall themselves.
These need to be encouraged tolet the light reflect off of
them and shine into the worldaround them.
Some are like they areunderwater and they have a sense
(20:25):
of the light, but like a deepwater sea creature, they have
never seen or understood thelight clearly.
What they understand of thelight is only a filtered version
, as the sea creature's view ofthe light is obscured by the
depths.
These ones have their view ofGod obscured because of their
perceptions of religion.
If they could see Christwithout the filter, they would
(20:49):
see that he truly is the lightof the world.
Jesus Christ is the light ofthe world.
He is the light that shines andexposes our ugly sin, but he is
also the light that leads usout of our life of sin.
During this holiday season, Ichallenge you to be thinking
(21:10):
about Jesus as the light of theworld, asking yourself am I
really in His light?
Am I really reflecting Hislight to others, and am I
sharing the gospel of JesusChrist so that others can come
into the light?
I've warned my congregation,you know, sharing the gospel,
(21:30):
bringing people to church sothey hear a gospel message, can
actually be a dangerous thing ina sense, because you could take
a neighbor and bring them tochurch, or you can take your
neighbor and share the gospelwith them and they could hate
you for it and never treat youthe same again, same with a
coworker, same with a familymember.
Many people have known dearfriends to leave them or even
(21:53):
family to abandon them becausethey dared to share their faith.
The gospel of Jesus Christ ishateful to some, but we must
keep sharing it because thereare many people who God has
selected ahead of time to hearhis message.
And you may very well be a partof God's plan to bring someone
(22:14):
to himself.
He uses us and gives us thatprivilege, but the work is his.
He draws people to himself andconvicts them of their sin and
convinces them of the truth, andwe have the privilege of
sharing a part of that.
So let's do that this Christmasseason.
And if you are one who is notsure what I've been talking
(22:35):
about this whole time and you'resaying what is the light of the
world, I don't understand thatthen I ask you to go and pray,
ask God to reveal himself to youand go and read some of the
gospel, the gospel of John, orother parts of the New Testament
and the Old Testament as well,because Jesus appears all
(22:56):
throughout the Old Testament andonce your eyes are opened, you
can see that as well.
Once again, I ask you to inviteothers to listen to the Truth
Track podcast, and especiallyduring this Christmas season,
there's going to be a lot ofChristmas themed things,
including those stories onSundays, and so please like,
share on your social media andgive more people an opportunity
(23:17):
to hear the Truth Track podcast.
I sure appreciate it when youdo that, and many of you have,
so thank you for that.
And this coming Sunday,december 3rd, are going to be
two special Christmas storiescoming.
One is called the Gift of theMagi by O Henry.
Many of you are very familiarwith that and that'll be coming
out, and the other one is calledthe Tallest Angel, and so I
(23:39):
encourage you to stay tuned.
You'll have two story episodeson this coming Sunday.
Enjoy.
God bless.
You have a great day.
Jesus is the light of the world.
Take a journey with me intosome of the messianic prophecies
about Jesus in the coming monthbefore Christmas here on Truth
Trek.
Welcome to Truth Trek, where wedive deep into the Bible to
(00:34):
uncover the treasures there.
I'm Pastor Jason Hubdy and Iwill be your guide as we journey
together into Scripture, god'sHoly Word.
In each of the Wednesdayepisodes from now until
Christmas, I'm going to befocusing on some of the
messianic prophecies we find inScripture about Jesus and about
the birth of Jesus.
And also I want to remind youthat each Sunday, one or two
(00:59):
stories will be posting on theTruth Trek podcast.
These are Christmas storiesthat I've recorded for your
enjoyment, just to bless you andyour family, and I know a lot
of people like to listen tostories, and this is a way to do
it as you're driving down theroad or putting your kids to bed
or something like that.
So I hope you'll be blessed bythose, one already released on
(01:19):
November 26th, which was thefirst Sunday that I was
releasing them, and they willcome out each Sunday from now
until Christmas.
So please check those out andenjoy those and share them with
others as well.
Well, let's get right into ourlesson for this episode of Truth
Trek and we want to talk aboutthe light of the world, that
(01:39):
Jesus is the light of the world,and I guess we'll have three
main points.
One is that God is the Creatorof light, god is the giver of
life and Jesus is the light thatbrings everlasting life.
I want to start with somethingJesus said in the Gospel of John
, chapter 8, verse 12.
(02:00):
It says Jesus spoke to themsaying I am the light of the
world.
Whoever follows me will notwalk in darkness but will have
the light of life.
Jesus is the light of the world.
In the word light Jesus uses todescribe himself.
Here, the meaning brings tomind some powerful imagery.
(02:23):
The word is translated in otherparts of the Bible as the
daylight, the source of light,the luminary and lamp.
These meanings all fit thedescription Jesus gives.
Jesus said he is the light ofthe world and oh that everyone
would believe this.
And so, as we look at thispassage, we are going to see how
(02:47):
Jesus was the fulfillment ofsome prophecies, and we're going
to look at that in each of theWednesday episodes.
As I mentioned, our study todayis from Isaiah 42.
This is not one of the firstthought of Messianic prophecies
that people go to, but it's oneof my favorite ones Particularly
.
We're going to look at verses 5and 6.
(03:07):
Remember that the prophetIsaiah was giving words of
comfort to people who would needcomfort.
The first part of this passageIsaiah 42, 1-9.
Describes the humility of theSavior.
Elements of Jesus' ministryshow us his humility.
The second part of the passageshows the gentleness of Jesus.
(03:31):
Jesus is there to help those inneed and he particularly gives
hope to those who have beendowntrodden.
A bruised reed he will notbreak and a smoldering wick he
will not snuff out.
Today we look at God as thegiver of life and Jesus as the
light of the world, and nextweek we'll look at some more
(03:53):
Messianic prophecies as well.
And I also want to remind youI've been challenging my church
here at Oasis Church in Floridaand I challenge all of you who
are listening around the worldto invite people to church
during this holiday season.
This is an opportunity to bringpeople to learn about the light
(04:14):
of the world.
Jesus, and pray that God wouldgive you opportunities to invite
people and that God would opentheir hearts to receive the Word
of God and draw them to himself, convicting them of their sins
and convincing them the truth ofthe Savior.
So I challenge you to do that,so there may be someone that God
(04:35):
has put in your path to bringto church, and we want to do
that.
Connect people to the Savior,if we can.
So let's move forward now andexplore the wonder of our Savior
, who's the light of the world.
So I'm going to read thepassage from Isaiah 42.
If you have the opportunity toopen your Bible while I'm
reading, I encourage you to dothat.
(04:55):
Follow along.
Make sure that whatever I'mteaching you is the truth,
according to God's Word.
Isaiah 42, 1-9 says this Beholdmy servant, whom I uphold, my
chosen, in whom my soul delights.
I have put my spirit upon him.
He will bring forth justice tothe nations.
He will not cry aloud or liftup his voice or make it heard in
(05:19):
the street.
A bruised reed he will notbreak and a faintly burning wick
he will not quench.
He will faithfully bring forthjustice.
He will not grow faint or bediscouraged.
Till he has established justicein the earth and the coastlands
wait for his law.
Thus says God, the Lord whocreated the heavens and
(05:40):
stretched them out, who spreadout the earth and what comes
from it, who gives breath to thepeople on it and spirit to
those who walk in it?
I am the Lord.
I have called you inrighteousness.
I will take you by the hand andkeep you.
I will give you, as a covenantfor the people, a light for the
nations to open the eyes thatare blind, to bring out the
(06:03):
prisoners from the dungeon, fromthe prison, those who sit in
darkness.
I am the Lord.
That is my name.
My glory I give to no other,nor my praise to carved idols.
Behold, the former things havecome to pass, and new things I
now declare Before they springforth.
I tell you of them.
(06:23):
Thank you, all right, so I saidit a number of times.
I'm going to say it a few moretimes throughout that Jesus is
the light of the world.
That's the main thing we wantto remember From this episode of
Truth Track and those threemain points also that God is the
creator of light.
Number one and number two Godis the giver of life.
And number three Jesus is thelight that brings everlasting
(06:47):
life.
We know that in the beginning,that is when God created the
entire world, he created light.
He did this by speaking it intoexistence.
The power of God, who is spirit, is so awesome that he simply
wills something to happen.
The concept of God being lightis frequent in the entire Bible.
(07:09):
He is represented by light, asthe sun, as fire, and when the
new heaven and earth come thatthere will be no need for the
sun, since God himself will bethe light.
In fact, all three members ofthe Holy Trinity at times are
represented or perceived by menas light.
(07:29):
God appeared in the form offire to speak to Moses from the
burning bush.
He led the Israelites throughthe desert in a cloud by day and
a pillar fire by night.
Jesus was transfigured and wasfull of light, and in the
passage of John 812 that westarted with, he says he's light
of the world.
Likewise, the Holy Spirit cameupon the followers of Christ on
(07:52):
the day of Pentecost, appearinglike tongues of fire.
So we know that God, in all thepersons of the Trinity,
represents himself as light.
So not only is God the creatorof light, but also he gives us a
concept of himself thatinvolves light.
It is a description, but alsoan illustration of something
(08:13):
that we will not fullycomprehend until we are on the
other side, so to speak.
Fellowship around a campfire isan illustration for what the
fellowship of believers inChrist means.
God wants us to enjoy eachother's fellowship, but those of
us who have seen the light areto live in the light and also to
share the light.
(08:33):
Jesus is the light of the world.
Well, what is the opposite oflight?
Darkness?
Isaiah 9 to said the peoplehave walked in darkness have
seen a great light.
Those who dwell in a land ofdeep darkness.
On them has light shown.
God is promising here, throughIsaiah, that those in darkness
(08:54):
will be able to have light.
The creator of light willreveal the light, and in the
second half of this verse hecompares it to the dawn as the
Sun comes up over a dark valley.
So will his light be revealedthrough Jesus Christ.
Isaiah in chapter 42 is speakingthe words of God, who says I am
(09:16):
the one who created, I am theone who sends Jesus and I will
send him in righteousness.
So God created light and God isthe creator of life.
Here in this passage he says heis the one who gives breath to
its people, that's earth'speople, and life to all that
(09:37):
walk on it.
In Genesis we see that whileGod spoke everything else into
being.
He actually breathed life intoAdam.
He considers us to be hisspecial creation and we are put
above all the rest of creation.
In fact, the Bible tells usthat all people bear his image.
That is the reason that murderis so serious.
(09:59):
Not only as a murderer takingaway the life that only God can
give.
He is also offending the veryimage of God, because the image
of God resides within everyperson.
I believe this includes theunborn and whether defending
born or unborn, we should do allwe can to protect life.
God alone gives life and no manhas the right to take it.
(10:24):
God shows throughout the Biblehis concern for life, from the
raising up of Joseph to spareIsrael, to Esther, who has put
in a position of influence forsuch a time as this.
God always cares about life.
He says that he does not wantany to perish.
The Creator has given life toeach of us and only he is
(10:47):
authorized to take it back.
Yet when we willingly giveourselves to him, he allows us
life when we deserve death.
Jesus Christ also is the giverof life.
He is the light that giveseverlasting life, and the most
exciting point today is thatthat Jesus is the light that
(11:09):
gives everlasting life.
That humble Jesus who did notcry out on the streets but
humbly served others, Even tothe point of the cross, that
gentle Jesus who does not breakthe bruised reed or snuff out
the burning wick, would ratherbuild them up and restore and
(11:30):
give life.
He is the light that giveseverlasting life.
God said that he called Jesusin righteousness and would make
sure that Jesus would not failin his mission.
God loves Jesus and loves us aswell.
God is the one who sent Jesus,about whom Isaiah prophesied
(11:52):
when he wrote in Isaiah 9, 6,and 7,.
These well-known verses to mostbelievers because you hear them
every Christmas.
For to us a child is born, tous a son is given, and the
government shall be upon hisshoulder and his name shall be
called Wonderful Counselor,mighty God, everlasting Father,
(12:14):
prince of Peace.
Of the increase of hisgovernment and of peace there
will be no end on the throne ofDavid and over his kingdom, to
establish it and to uphold itwith justice and with
righteousness, from this timeforth and forevermore, the zeal
of the Lord of hosts will dothis.
This Jesus, who will accomplishall of these things, said I am
(12:38):
the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will neverwalk in darkness, but will have
the light of life.
Do you live in his light?
Do you have the victory ofliving in the light of Christ?
I ask you what may seem like arhetorical question, but I
assure you that it is nothing ofthe sort.
(13:00):
I really want to know Do youlive in the light?
Is Jesus the light of your life, the light who will give you
everlasting life?
Jesus is the answer to yourneed.
He is the answer for your needto find a way to escape the
eternal, conscious torment thatawaits the damned who have
(13:23):
sinned against an almighty, holyGod who has every right to and
will, in time, punish all whosin against him, apart from the
blood of Jesus Christ that weare given freely an opportunity
to substitute for our own.
He called himself the light ofthe world.
(13:45):
This is not only an affirmationof the prophecy of Isaiah, but
also should have been a shockingstatement to those who heard
him say it.
In saying it, he was making aclaim to be the promised Messiah
, the one who all the picturesof the Old Testament, those
symbols of God's salvation,pointed to.
(14:08):
These types of Christ in the OldTestament include more than we
have time to discuss in thisepisode, but I'll mention a few.
Jonah was a type of Christ inthat he went on an evangelistic
mission to turn people to God.
Elijah was a parallel of Christ, as was Elisha and to some
extent, isaiah as well.
Manna was a type of Christgiven to people as their food
(14:32):
from God.
Jesus alluded to this when hecalled himself the bread of life
In the Bronze Serpent in thedesert that people who had been
bitten by snakes only needed tolook at to be healed was a type
of Christ that showed us that hewould be our healer if we would
look to him.
And, by the way, when you seethat snake on the pole that's
(14:56):
still on a lot of hospital signsand a lot of ambulances, that's
a direct reminder to us of thatserpent that was lifted up in
the desert so that people couldlook on it.
So, literally every time yousee that, you should be thinking
of Jesus, who is the one welook to for our healing Now.
(15:27):
In Malachi 4-2 it says thisthere are too many prophecies
and types of Jesus in the OldTestament to share, even if I
had eight weeks just for thatsubject alone, but clearly, we
can find many precious resourceswhen we mine the Old Testament
for those examples that lead usultimately to Christ.
The one we look at today isthat Jesus is the light of the
(15:51):
world.
It is most likely that whenJesus said this, it was against
the backdrop of one of the manyfestivals that God had
prescribed for Israel to do inremembrance of what God had done
for them.
In this case, jesus wasprobably alluding to the
lighting of candles for thefestival of Tabernacles.
(16:11):
I quote from the following fromthe New American Commentary
quote On the first night ofTabernacles, and apparently on
each night of the feast excepton the Sabbath, the worshipers
awaited the signal of thespecial lighting of the festive
golden lamps of Tabernacles inthe court of women.
The lamps were intended toremind worshipers of God's
(16:33):
leading the people of Israelthrough the wilderness at night
by a pillar of fire.
The lighting of lamps alsosignaled Israel's recommitment
to the God of Light, and it wasaccompanied by festive music of
the Levites and special dancingby chosen men of piety.
End quote there was dancing andrejoicing.
(16:55):
This type of Christ.
The pillar of fire that showedthe way to freedom is what Jesus
clearly spoke to the peoplewhen he said I am the light of
the world.
Those who heard it could not bemistaken about the claim he was
making.
In this and in other cases,jesus was using those prophecies
(17:18):
and Old Testament pictures ofhim that the people would
clearly understand if theywanted to.
Jesus is the light of the worldand he wants us to share the
light.
He told Paul on the road toDamascus I am sending you to
them to open their eyes and turnthem from darkness to light and
(17:38):
from the power of Satan to God,so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a placeamong those who are sanctified
by faith in me.
So Jesus, who is the light thatgives everlasting life, wants
us to share in His mission andwe are given the privilege of
letting His light shine throughus.
(17:59):
The world is blinded and willremain so until the light is
revealed to them.
This God does through Hishumble servants who are willing
to allow Him to work in theirlives.
This is what Jesus does throughthose who preach and teach the
gospel.
Paul wrote to the CorinthianChurch that this was the main
(18:20):
thrust of their ministry toreveal light to those in
darkness.
Second Corinthians, 4, verses 3to 6, says and even if our
gospel is veiled, it is veiledto those who are perishing In
their case.
The God of this world hasblinded the minds of the
unbelievers to keep them fromseeing the light of the gospel
(18:41):
of the glory of Christ, who isthe image of God, for what we
proclaim is not ourselves, butJesus Christ as Lord, with
ourselves as your servants, forJesus' sake, for God, who said
Let light shine out of darkness,has shown in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge ofthe glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.
(19:02):
Jesus is the light of the world, but he asks us to carry the
light into the world.
He wants us to share His gospelwith those around us.
One may think this is only thejob of those in full-time
ministry, but that's simply notthe case.
Scripture clearly teaches thatbelievers in Jesus Christ are to
(19:23):
share their faith.
He is the light of the worldand His light must be shared.
Remember the song this littlelight of mine, I'm gonna let it
shine.
Hide it under a bushel, though.
We need to shine the light ofChrist on the world around us
while we still have theopportunity.
(19:43):
Jesus is the light of the world.
He is the light that piercesthe darkest places.
Sometimes those in the dark areafraid of the light.
We must be gentle with them andshow them that the light must
not be feared.
Some hate the light because itexposes their deeds.
We must tell those ones thattheir deeds can be forgiven if
(20:04):
they would let the light in.
Some claim to have the light,but when we look at them they
don't seem to be a conduit ofthe light.
Rather, they seem to absorb itall themselves.
These need to be encouraged tolet the light reflect off of
them and shine into the worldaround them.
Some are like they areunderwater and they have a sense
(20:25):
of the light, but like a deepwater sea creature, they have
never seen or understood thelight clearly.
What they understand of thelight is only a filtered version
, as the sea creature's view ofthe light is obscured by the
depths.
These ones have their view ofGod obscured because of their
perceptions of religion.
If they could see Christwithout the filter, they would
(20:49):
see that he truly is the lightof the world.
Jesus Christ is the light ofthe world.
He is the light that shines andexposes our ugly sin, but he is
also the light that leads usout of our life of sin.
During this holiday season, Ichallenge you to be thinking
(21:10):
about Jesus as the light of theworld, asking yourself am I
really in His light?
Am I really reflecting Hislight to others, and am I
sharing the gospel of JesusChrist so that others can come
into the light?
I've warned my congregation,you know, sharing the gospel,
(21:30):
bringing people to church sothey hear a gospel message, can
actually be a dangerous thing ina sense, because you could take
a neighbor and bring them tochurch, or you can take your
neighbor and share the gospelwith them and they could hate
you for it and never treat youthe same again, same with a
coworker, same with a familymember.
Many people have known dearfriends to leave them or even
(21:53):
family to abandon them becausethey dared to share their faith.
The gospel of Jesus Christ ishateful to some, but we must
keep sharing it because thereare many people who God has
selected ahead of time to hearhis message.
And you may very well be a partof God's plan to bring someone
(22:14):
to himself.
He uses us and gives us thatprivilege, but the work is his.
He draws people to himself andconvicts them of their sin and
convinces them of the truth, andwe have the privilege of
sharing a part of that.
So let's do that this Christmasseason.
And if you are one who is notsure what I've been talking
(22:35):
about this whole time and you'resaying what is the light of the
world, I don't understand thatthen I ask you to go and pray,
ask God to reveal himself to youand go and read some of the
gospel, the gospel of John, orother parts of the New Testament
and the Old Testament as well,because Jesus appears all
(22:56):
throughout the Old Testament andonce your eyes are opened, you
can see that as well.
Once again, I ask you to inviteothers to listen to the Truth
Track podcast, and especiallyduring this Christmas season,
there's going to be a lot ofChristmas themed things,
including those stories onSundays, and so please like,
share on your social media andgive more people an opportunity
(23:17):
to hear the Truth Track podcast.
I sure appreciate it when youdo that, and many of you have,
so thank you for that.
And this coming Sunday,december 3rd, are going to be
two special Christmas storiescoming.
One is called the Gift of theMagi by O Henry.
Many of you are very familiarwith that and that'll be coming
out, and the other one is calledthe Tallest Angel, and so I
(23:39):
encourage you to stay tuned.
You'll have two story episodeson this coming Sunday.
Enjoy.
God bless.
You have a great day.
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