Notice the songs, as many are in our hymn book. They are praises, exaltations, and worship of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is one of the foundational truths that center in our theology, and that is Christ in Christ alone. We got a privilege of going through John the gospel, to see the glory of Christ, and I encourage you to continue reading along with us. We do have several Bible studies going on right now that are focusing on this very book, both ladies and men. If you want to be a part of that, let me know and we'll help match you up with the times and the folks that are leading those, or if you You might want to consider in your own personal devotional life, or small group, or family to study this gospel along with us. It's worthwhile. It may help you to get a fuller understanding of the text of Scripture. We looked at John 3.16 the last two weeks and There's much more to say. I'd like to continue on, but we're going to move on to verses 18 through 21 this morning. There's much more to be said, so I hope you do meditate, think about this text of Scripture along the way. The section that follows 3.16, beginning really at verse 18, is a section which reflects really on humanity, or the world, as I'd argue. The condition, the conduct, and really the change that is wrought. And I really want to focus on that change that's wrought about by God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord. That really did change the world. It reminded me when I thought of a title for this message, The World Changer, it reminded me of a group, a ministry group, good group, called The World Changers. When I first came here to this church, this is a ministry from the SBC. They gathered together some youth from various churches and have a few adults to supervise them, sometimes not so well. But their intent is good. They want to change the world in the sense of helping others that have particular needs both in a community and for small churches. They helped us with put on a roof. We paid for the materials and they provided the labor. They also helped us in the early days with painting the interior. Unfortunately, they also painted the carpet. But we were able to get new carpet afterwards. They didn't pay for it, but they helped prompt the need for it. But in any case, they did good things in helping serve the community and we appreciated that for sure. But their title really was a little bit overstated. They didn't really change the world. They might have helped, and they continue to do so, and that's good, but I want to point you to someone who actually did and does change the world. It isn't an overstatement to say that Jesus changed the world. The redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ changed the world both now and forever. It is an expression of the love of God that is beyond any other category that we can ever think of. It truly changed the course of humanity. It wasn't by accident. It was by the intentional decree and design of God. In 316, if you happen to be looking at that and the text that's closely adjoined, verse 17, John chapter 3, note the word world that came up in one of the Bible studies and we discussed it further. But note it here in this text, for God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." World is mentioned a number of times. I think as I mentioned, I think two weeks ago, that You'd be hard-pressed to make this world that God loved here by sending his son exclusively to the elect. It is certainly not stating a universal salvation, so there are degrees in God's love, in his expressions of it. But note the text here, there are those who were condemned who are now being saved from condemnation. Not everybody who says, Lord, Lord, will be saved. There will be those that are condemned and those who will be uncondemned. In context here, it seems to be the first use of this word, world, Beauty has a provisional general sense to all of humanity. The giving of the Son, to be an atonement for sin, that is the idea of God sending or giving. It is sending or giving, not just to show up in human flesh, but actually to be a sacrifice for sin. For the sin of all of those who would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, He is sending the Son here to all of humanity. It is to be an atonement for sin that will benefit mankind in some sense. Redemptive with eternal blessings for the elect. but it's also a merciful postponement of certain judgment and also temporal blessings of life that are given to all humanity and mankind. The world, and this is something you must understand, the world right now stands condemned in judgment. Immediate judgment is deserved, just like immediate judgment was meted out to angels who rebelled against God. That judgment was certain and set upon them, with no possible redemption. But God, in his decree, in his plan, in his design, was to redeem a people for his name, and therefore judgment right now, today, is postponed. And the reason people can breathe a breath of life today and enjoy some sort of temporal blessing. They can go about and do whatever they want to do within their ability to do so. All of that is because of God's redemptive work in redeeming the people for his name. Judgment is being postponed until the fullness of all the elect are drawn in. At that point, judgment will certainly come. We're reading about some of that judgment that is to come to the world that is described in the book of Revelation. God's love, that is His mercy, and His grace, mercy not giving people what they deserve, grace in giving them an unmerited gift, does extend to all humanity, even this day, but not in an equal sense. There are distinctions in His mercy and His grace. There are distinctions in God's love. Theologians call this distinction common. That is, there's common grace or mercy that are given to the world. You can find that in Psalm 145.9 or Matthew 5.45, for example. And there's also saving grace that is given only to the elect. In 316 here, this first statement concerning God's love to humanity, that is sending the Son to be a propitiation for sin, that there are eternal benefits that are accrued to those that are the believing ones. Both Jew and Gentile is another aspect of this idea of the world. It isn't for just the Jews only that he would come, but for the Jews and Gentiles. This would have been a bit startling for Nicodemus. In his mind, he's thinking about judgment for the Gentiles and salvation for the Jews. And Jesus' response to Nicodemus is, if you're not born again, you're not a part of this at all. It needs to be a supernatural work of God's grace. The Messiah will come and save the world of Jew and Gentile, those who are the believing ones, those that have faith from every tribe, every nation, and every tongue. And you'll see that communicated also in the book of Revelation as those who are around the throne of God from all nations. This Use of the word world, look at verse 9 of chapter 1. Here, this word, as he begins this to make sure we understand what's going on, Jesus comes, he's called the true light, and he gives light to whom? Everyone who is coming into the world. That is, all humanity. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. So there's a problem. The light comes. It shines in the world, but the world doesn't know him. In fact, for the most part, the world will reject him. It is Jesus who comes and he's announced, though, by John the Baptist in verse 29. And he says, behold this Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He will take away sin from both Jew and Gentile, the elect of all nations. In verse 17, He comes into the world to be the sending of the sun. Think of it in the sacrifice of the sun. He comes into the world to what? He comes into the world to condemn the world, not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Again, he's not talking about every single person is going to be saved because many will be condemned. We've already said that. But his purpose is to come to redeem from that sea of humanity that is part of the condemned, that is the condemned. He will rescue some. that he would say, both Jew and Gentile. And then verse 19, which will be part of the text, we'll read this morning. Judgment is mentioned, and what is that judgment? This light, I'm looking at 3.19, that light that was mentioned in 1.29, I'm sorry, 1.9, that light that comes into the world And people love darkness rather than light because their works were evil. The sending of the Son changes the world. Let's look at verse 18 through 21. We'll read it in context. Whoever believes in Him, that is Jesus Christ, is not condemned. But whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the Son of God. And this is the judgment. The light is coming to the world and the people love darkness rather than light because their works are evil. Everyone who does wicked things hates the light and doesn't come to the light lest his work should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. Let us pray. Father, I do pray that you will illuminate the hearts of your people to see and savor Jesus Christ. For anyone whose mind has been blinded by Satan, I pray that you will speak light into their heart that they may see the glory of Jesus Christ. I pray this in his name and his name alone. Amen. In this text here, just for organizational purposes, I'm going to talk about the condition of the world. I'm going to use this term in world and in the sense of all humanity. The condition, the conduct, and of course the specific change that this Christ does. Notice verse 18, the condition of the world humanity, its state right now, it says in the second phrase here, whoever doesn't believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. The human condition can be divided into two, that is, those that are condemned and those that are not condemned. That's it. There is no neutral ground, and that's important to understand. If you were to take a survey, ask people, record information, I would think that most people really wouldn't agree with what I just said. I said there's two categories of people, condemned and not condemned, and that's it. Most of humanity, at least may not express it this way, but at least have this idea that, well, there's a neutral starting point and it just depends how things flow out from there. The scripture is very clear, there isn't. There's a negative starting point and if something doesn't change in your world, you're condemned already. By a neutral position, what I mean is, and I'll explain this, you ask people about their status in life and their relationship with God, or discuss this with most religious groups, most people and religious groups will teach this idea. that there will be a day in which you will stand before God in judgment and if your good works outweigh your bad works that God will look on that and declare you uncondemned. Scripture doesn't indicate that at all. This is the view of the Muslims They think Allah will arbitrarily in the end save them. They'll look at the righteous deeds that they've done throughout their life and therefore they may merit. Mormons teach this. Jehovah's Witness teach this. Seventh-day Adventists teach this. Roman Catholics teach this as well. They just think if you happen to be a part of their church, you'll go to purgatory to where you can work out your goodness and then stand uncondemned. That's the made-up idea. Scripture doesn't speak of that at all. But the mind of man has all kinds of ideas, but I think it's really driven by, and even non-religious people, is that I'm not all that bad because I can think of plenty of people that are worse than me. We all can. We all can. Scripture doesn't talk about it in that way. That there will be some sort of accounting and that God will make some sort of future verdict. Can I tell you simply this? The short of it? The verdict's already in. You're guilty. You're condemned. Popular opinion. is sometimes wrong. If you happen to be in the scientific community or the medical community like our friend here, they have to update and revise the research and the textbooks and the treatments and the things that they do. Because they're doing the best they can with what they know. They learn more, they change. But this statement that I just read to you about the condition of the world condemned already has not been changed ever since the Garden. It's just been repeated, and here's the text, a couple thousand years old in front of you. No update needed. Same truth. A thousand years from now, should the Lord tarry, you can proclaim the same truth. It's true. Paul would give a compilation, if you will, of the Old Testament teaching on this very concept in Romans chapter 3. I'll read it for you because it's straightforward. He would say in verse 10 of chapter 3, there is none righteous. No, not one No one understands and seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one. When one of these antagonists came against Jesus, they said, well, you're a good man. And Jesus challenges them. Are you calling me God? because there is only one good and that is God. We think that somehow our goodness then would outweigh our badness and therefore we would be okay before God. I'm sorry, there's none good. No, not one. You don't even do good in the sense of perfect. righteous, holy, unstained good. We measure our goodness and it's fine to say that this is a good person in that sense, in a human sense, or that they did something good, for sure. I'm not going to be that strict on it, but it isn't perfect. Everything that we do is stained with sin. It's as if I tried to wipe my hands off with a dirty cloth And I kept wiping it off. It didn't matter how much I wiped. My cloth's dirty, so it's still stained. And I can't get it out. What must be communicated to the sea of humanity that is out there is that there is nothing you can do to merit perfection before God. The verdict is already in, it's guilty, and the sentence has already been proclaimed, it's death. God doesn't have to condemn the world, it is condemned already. But there's good news, do you see it in verse 17 of chapter 3? I promise we'll get to 18 eventually, but do you see it? The good news is what I'm saying is this world changer that God didn't send it to condemn the world. What's why? It's condemned already. But in order that the world might be saved through Him. That's the good news. Why is the world condemned already? I'll give you three reasons. One, they inherited the nature from Adam. Paul would state in his treatise on sin and salvation, the book of Romans, it's a good read. I encourage you to do so. But in chapter 5, I'll just give you an excerpt. Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all have sin. Romans 5, 12. This is one of the arguments of fairness. Some will say, well, won't God just give everybody a fair choice? In other words, do we start from a neutral position and then you either do good or evil? And I'm sorry, that's how many people think about it, but it isn't reality. The reality is God created man who represented all mankind And all that are in Adam, that come from Adam, inherit the guilt of Adam. That is why all men die. Even without actually doing anything. This is why we have death. And why we have disease. Because death spread to all men because all have sinned in Adam. Adam had the choice to either sin or not sin. He had absolute free choice to do that. That was his nature. He did choose to sin and then all inherited that sin and there is not a single lovely little child that's born that will live his life in a neutral state and not commit sin. And I see some mothers shaking their head. Yes, they figured that out real early. You don't teach these little ones evil. You don't teach them rebellion. You don't teach them pride, self-pride. No. They have it all on their own. It's part of their nature. You have to fight against it and give them the gospel. Give them the word. Sow the seeds of truth in their heart and hopefully it, by God's grace, it will grow up. convict them of their sin, the power of the Spirit, and regenerate their heart. A change needs to happen. A world change to Christ. And that was my second point, that really this theoretical, if you will, and that idea of inherited sin, it demonstrates itself in a practical way. Ultimately, it is the rebellion against God. And that is the most egregious sin that's committed on a daily basis, our rebellion against Him. John would say in one of his epistles, 1 John 1 8, Beloved, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. However, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You know where it begins? It begins with a recognition that you're a sinner! That you constantly rebel against God. And I've walked with Him for many years and have fought against the flesh many days. But I will not stand here and say I am a man free of sin, ever. It's the flesh that I bear with me, and I fight against it. I must fight, but I fight with the power of the Spirit of God. and the recognition that he is always faithful to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me of all unrighteousness. The distinction between the condemned and the uncondemned isn't the fact that The condemned do more wicked acts than the uncondemned, and I think this is hard to understand. Surely we should be growing in our practical righteousness and maturity in Christ, that's for sure. But you know what, beloved? Right now, today, I couldn't count on my hand how many people are more righteous in their acts, actions, and affections, and whatever else you want to measure than me. I'm not all that great of a guy. Now, if you compare me to some wicked person, certainly I'm better than they are. But I can think of many, many, many more people that act more righteous than me. So what's the difference? And this is where people jump, oh, well, you're just a hypocrite as a Christian because you think you're better than everybody else. No, I don't. I think I'm in the same boat. And the only difference is that I've been rescued by Christ. And when that sin is revealed, I go to Him in confession and faith. Confession that I admit that I am wrong. And that takes the work of the Spirit to shed the light and to convict the sin. And then I confess. And then I rely on the fact that He will actually forgive me of my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. That's the most unbelievable thing. He changed my world. And he doesn't keep count. Because every single one of them has been paid by the sending of a son who made a propitiation for my sin. All of them. That's an unbelievable state to be in. Uncondemned. And not guilty. Because Christ paid for them all. People are condemned Not just because they inherit sin and manifest personal sin in their life, for sure, but they don't have faith, belief, trust, confidence in the only one who can forgive them of their sins, that is, Jesus Christ. Beloved, if you do anything without faith, it is sin. Your righteous acts are filthy rags in that sense. there to be discarded when measured against God's perfect holiness. Faith in Christ. And it isn't just faith in faith, it's faith in a person that is in particular in Jesus Christ. That text says you must believe in that one, in the only one, Jesus Christ. Jesus would say in John 14 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. It is Christ and Christ alone. It's the ones that are believing, verse 18. who are not condemned. I'm at 318. Something changed about this group. They were part of the condemned, and now they're part of the uncondemned, and what's the distinguishing factor that's pointed out here? They believe in Him. This Greek word ais is the preposition there. It is believing into Him. This is not a superficial faith. This is not just something that is superstitious. This is something that is supernatural. Something happens in the heart of man into where he is, through supernatural impartation, he is said to be born again. Born anew. Born from above. Something has changed the world And because of that, they exhibit absolute trust and faith in the person of Jesus Christ. This faith transforms that person at every level. It is expressed in faith and belief and trust. It is a better apprehension of who Jesus Christ actually is, Your affections towards Him change. I can hear the groaning of it as we talk about it and you think about Christ and what He's done for you. It not only affects your mind in knowing these facts, but also there's an emotional connection to it. It changes your affections towards God and Christ in particular, and it will absolutely overflow into how you behave. your actions. That's what you can do in examining yourself to see if you're into Christ, into Him. Has it changed your knowledge of who He actually is? Do you know? Do you have affections for Christ? Does it change your behavior? And one way you can tell for sure is in how you treat one another. Jesus Christ is going to change the world. He has changed the world. The Apostle Paul is perhaps one of the most dramatic illustrations to remember. Here he was, an antagonist against the church, very religious man, a Pharisee, like Nicodemus, achieved much had great notoriety and would have been thought of as a good man. But after meeting Christ, he calls himself a wretched man. Romans 7, O wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death? It is Jesus Christ who gives us this victory. It changed Paul's entire world. It set him in an opposite direction. Jesus came into this world, the sea of humanity, to change it. Indeed, he has. Notice the second point, verse 19 of chapter 3. How did he change the world? And this is the judgment that light has come into the world, verse 19. And people love darkness rather than light because their works are evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and doesn't come to the light lest his work should be exposed. Notice the word judgment there in verse 19. Didn't verse 17 say He didn't come to condemn the world? That sounds like not bringing judgment. And then here you have judgment has arrived in verse 19. What's going on here? Judgment wasn't the purpose of the sending of the Son or the giving of the Son. The sending or the giving, remember, points to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Incarnation Life, death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ. World is already condemned. Doesn't need to send the Son to bring about judgment. But judgment does come. Salvation is the purpose of the sending of the Son. Redemption is His purpose. But the Incarnation changes everything that is in the world. Jesus is described, if you remember, as light coming into the world. Are you still in John? Look at chapter 1. And again, this is why I encourage you to read through these passages so these things are connected because I know we have to isolate in time to explain, but look at it within its own context. John chapter 1, verse 4. Speaking of Jesus, in him was life and the life was the light of men. This is a nice metaphor to help us think about it. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. Now look at verse 9. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. Now you got the imagery here of verse 19 in chapter 3, the light has come into the world. That coming into the world, that sending of the sun, actually brings additional judgment, if you will. I think the best way to illustrate it is simply this, illustrate light coming into darkness. The darkness is dispelled, isn't it? There's a completely dark room, turn on a flashlight, it's gone. But the purpose wasn't that, the purpose was salvation, but when light comes, darkness is expelled. When truth comes, error is exposed. It is the necessary consequence. In that sense, it's passive. In that sense, it just comes. Look at verse 14 of chapter 1. When the Word becomes flesh, that is, He comes, that's speaking of the Incarnation, we've seen His glory, the glory He's only begotten Son, how? Full of grace and truth. Truth comes, error is exposed. This is judgment, the sending of the Son. Because now light has come, truth has come, and to reject that increases judgment. Look at, if you want to see it, I'll read a text for you, Matthew 11, 20. first Gospel of the Bible, Matthew 11 20. Here's Jesus, the light of the world, coming into the world, not for the purpose to bring judgment. He will come for judgment, but not now. He's coming for salvation, but yet there is a judgment that comes because of the rejection of this light. And he describes it here. He began to denounce the cities, verse 20 of Matthew 11, where most of his mighty works have been done. Why? Because they did not repent. These mighty works would have been miracles. Jesus was, in that sense, a miracle worker. He couldn't help it. He was God. And you read in the Gospels, it's quite explosive what he was doing. I mean, everybody was getting healed. Instantly, there was no parlor tricks, no shenanigans. This really happened. He's just spoken, things happened. They're hungry, let there be food. Walked on water. Told the winds and waves to stop. I mean, things that people can't do. Look what he says here. They didn't repent. Woe to you, Chorizon! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." Tyre and Sidon were judged for the rebellion against God. But Chorizon and Bethsaida saw Christ. doing these miraculous works, and they rebelled. They had more light. You get it? More truth. It came. And it increases the judgment. And that's what he says, is be more bearable, verse 22, in the day of judgment for tyrants siding them for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom. It would have remained until this day." That's an amazing statement. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. There'll be a greater severity of judgment because light has come. There's a greater severity for you, beloved, because you have heard the light. Teach it to your children well. Maybe a little fear of God might be helpful. Real fear. They've been given the light. Greater judgment will come to those that have been given the light for rejecting. Could I say this? We have something before us right now that's greater than the mighty works of Jesus. That sounds blasphemous, doesn't it? But Peter said that. We saw him on the holy mountain. We heard a voice from heaven saying, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. But we have a more sure word of prophecy. All scripture is given by the very breath of God. What you have in front of you, beloved, is the breath of God. You have it in written form so that you won't make a mistake. You won't be misguided. You won't misremember what you saw and what you thought you heard. You have it right before you. And we have the completed record today. The people reject this. And sadly, I don't think maybe Christians don't hold it up high enough. The psalmist said, you've exalted your word above your name. This is the very breath of God that you have before you. But why would anyone reject this? Why would you reject it? Back to 3 and verse 19, the second part of the phrase in John 3.19, because they're lovers of darkness. People love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. This is another rejection of the idea that people start in a neutral state, as I mentioned there at the very beginning. Not only are they unredeemed in darkness, that is, it says they love the darkness. They don't want to come into the light. This is a affirmation of the will of man who constantly rejects the light of the Gospel. You say, here it is, even think about Jesus' day when these mighty works were done. I mean, it's very clear that these things that were be done, they were impossible for man to do, they were not tricks. the real world events, they saw what was going on and yet they reject Him. Why would they reject the most obvious evidence? You say, well, if I saw Jesus do these things or Jesus came down from heaven and did these things, then the whole world would be converted. No, they wouldn't. You understand what they did to Jesus Christ who performed all these miracles and was confirmed all that He did? They put Him on a cross and crucified Him. Why would people be so foolish to do such a thing? Why would people be so irrational to reject this very Word of God? Why would they do that? It's because they love darkness, that's why. They hate the light. Jesus would say in John 7, 7, the world cannot hate you. but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil." The world is really not hating me when I make these kinds of statements. You know who they hate? They hate Jesus Christ. It's not about me and my statements, it's about Jesus Christ. It hates Christ. It hates Christ the light. It hates Christ the truth. because they love darkness. This darkness that they love is talking about moral depravity. You want to argue evolution and creation? It isn't a matter of factual information. It's a matter of moral depravity. You want to argue about the sanctity of life? And today, there should be no argument with the medical technology that we have. But you know, it's getting worse, and our various state governments now, they're even talking about, well, if we have a botched abortion, we're trying to kill a child, but it comes out alive, we'll just give it some time, talk about it, and then kill it? How insane is that? And then we sit there and argue facts about it. Okay, go ahead and argue for all the facts you want. But you're not going to convince people because they hate the light. They hate Jesus Christ. They're morally depraved. They don't want to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. They don't want to listen to Him and do what He says. Paul would tell Titus' protege that to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure. but both their minds and their consciousness are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They're detestable and disobedient, unfit for any good work. Why do the wicked despise Christ? That is, run from the light, run from the truth, It's because they're morally depraved. Verse 20 of chapter 3. They don't want to be told they're wrong. They don't want to be told they're immoral. They don't want to be told that they're wicked. So they redefine wickedness into something else. They use a different term to even lighten whatever is being done so that it may not sound so criminal. They don't want their works exposed. They don't want to listen to it. So, what should we do? That is, preach the gospel. preach Christ and him crucified. The call to change the world isn't just to give them a different purpose in life. It isn't to give them four or five ways they can fix a bad relationship or accomplish something else that is noteworthy. That's fine if you want to do all of that, but none of that will shed light on their wickedness. preach Christ at him crucifying. Jesus Christ will change the world and he changed the hearts of believers one at a time. 321, whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out by God. In John's Gospel, truth is characterized by light. It's contrasted with error and darkness. Jesus would say in John 8, 12, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. That's the imagery fits really well in the Gospel of John. condition of the world can be said to be in darkness. Humanity in darkness. Light of Christ breaks into the world and those that have faith, believe in Him, now are no longer walking, that is, living in darkness. They're walking then into the light. In chapter 12, He will submit it this way in verse 35 of John. The light is among you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtakes you. The one who walks in darkness does not know where he's going. What a great illustration. Imagine a dark road, you have no light, you don't know where you're going. Follow Christ, that's the call. those that are truly following Him, believing in Him, trusting Him, no longer walk in darkness and no longer remain in darkness. He'll say in verse 46 of the same chapter, I have come into the world as a light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. Stark contrast, isn't it? And the only reason they're not going to walk in the light is because they love darkness. Paul would summarize this theology that Jesus taught to his church at Colossae. I'll read the text for you, 1-13. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin." I can't say it any better than that. Would you like to hear it one more time? Think through what I just said. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin. Those who have been transferred then out of this domain of darkness, this condemned already, and have been transferred into the kingdom of His beloved Son through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, then they come to the light. That's a distinguishing factor. They want to have their works exposed by the light. Verse 21 of John 3, that second phrase, so that they may be clearly seen that the works have been carried out in God. If you've done something well, you've done something excellent, you want to show it off. You paint a beautiful picture, you put a light by that picture, don't you? So people could see it. For the Christian here, they come to God, they come to the light, to have their works exposed, to see if there's any wicked way in me to remove it. And to the degree that this has been submitted to Him and it glorifies Him, it isn't me relying on my own workmanship, but on His. and it glorifies Him. If anybody serves, let him serve by the strength which God provides. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. So, you run to the light. You examine yourself. and your own works. Are they done in God? Are they done to glorify God? Am I missing something here? I'm not going to run away from the truth. I'm going to run to the light. I'm going to measure all that I do, all my affections, all my actions, all my attitudes, all my understanding by the light that He has given to me in His Word. So that they will be consistent with who He is and glorify Him. so that it can be seen that this is carried out not by my flesh, but by His Spirit. The believer loves to have the light of God's truth shine on their path because it exposes error and they don't want to walk in error. That error can be dealt with and that darkness can be dealt with by repentance and faith. The believer loves to be with God's people to radiate the glory of Christ in a darkened world. And I'll conclude with that. Christ is changing the world one believer at a time. And he caused Christ's followers, believers, to gather together and to continue to light the world with the truth. In doing so, it doesn't mean you'll win a popularity contest. In fact, you may get crucified. And Jesus said that. You want to follow me? He says, pick up your cross and come on. That's what it costs. Yet, we'll come to the light and share the light to radiate the glory of Christ to a very dark and depraved world. Jesus would express it this way to those that would follow Him. In Matthew 5.14, you are the light of the world, A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do the people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but they put it on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Let us pray. Father, we desire to follow Christ. and fulfill the commission that you have called us to. You granted to us the light of the glory of Christ. I pray that it would not be hidden. Give us strength, Lord, to have compassion to whom those who love darkness, who will run when the light shines, may we be courageous and still shine. Maybe be compassionate and call them out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light of your dear son. I pray that through your spirit you will make your truth shine ever brightly to glorify your name. I pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Beloved, take a moment where you're at to think on these things.