Here in John chapter 1 verses 1 through 5, here in the theme in the book of John, without light there is no life. And Jesus Christ is both life and light and he is the reason that we can have a true life now as well as in the future. In John chapter 1 verse 1 would you follow along with me as I read these first five verses. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. We find going forth here in verse six, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was a true light, which lighteth every man that cometh in the world. He was in the world, the world was made by him, the world knew him not. Here is Jesus Christ as the light of the world. I wanna tell you an interesting story, really a very sad story that occurred in World War II. It occurred in the North Atlantic. There was an aircraft carrier that was in danger from enemy submarines. And they sent out five of their finest airplanes with five of their finest pilots to scout out and see if they could spot these submarines. It was nighttime. The captain of the aircraft carrier realized he was in grave danger and gave this commandment. He said, every light on this ship is to be extinguished. There is to be a total blackout. Not one light on the entire ship was to be on. Those five pilots that had gone out to try to find those enemy submarines finally came back. And they radioed to the aircraft carrier. They said, we're coming home. Give us some light to land by. The radio operator said, I'm sorry. There's a total blackout. We cannot give you light. Another of those pilots radioed in and said, just give us some light and we'll land. Again, the order came back. It is total blackout. We cannot give you some light. In desperation, one of the pilots radioed in and said, give us just one light to help us find our way home. The radio dispatcher there aboard the aircraft carrier with a broken heart said, I can give you no light. And shut off the switch. Five brave US pilots, five of the state's best, went down to the blackness of the chilly waters of the North Atlantic and out into eternity. I want you to keep this in mind as I read to you from the Gospel of John as we looked here in verse one. Jesus is that light, the light of men. He is the truth that transcends the heavens to deliver hope. Not only is he for our eternity, but he's our light for the present in a dark and cold world. This evening would we realize the gift of Jesus Christ as the light of the world. His life was our beacon and hope and guide in a place of darkness. His life was our escape from not only present darkness, but eternal darkness. When we fathom all that Jesus' life has obtained for us, our only proper recourse is to first accept it, secondly to follow that light to safety from the dangers lurking in the dark. This is the very theme here in the book of John 20, chapter 20, verse 31. But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, he might have life through his name, excuse me. And so may the light of Christ continually be your true and honest guide as you think about that this evening. Think about that thing, five pilots, and all they needed was one little light, but no light could shine. And they would perish. How important is Jesus? Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I yield tonight to you, and God, I thank you for this opportunity to once again preach your word, the privilege to stand behind this desk. And Lord, as I preach your word, Father, I pray that you would help me to accurately, precisely, and clearly communicate what you have given. And Father, I pray in our hearts we'd realize how wonderful Jesus is, a penetrating light Lord, when there is such darkness of life, the thing we need most is the light of Jesus Christ. And Father, tonight, I pray if there should be there anyone here tonight that is not saved, God, I pray that they'd come to the light of Jesus Christ, realize they're a sinner, and accept you by faith alone. And Father, for those of us as Christians, may we realize that in a world that is so dark, in a community that is so wicked, that there is a need for the light of Jesus Christ. Father, would you help us to put aside our own trials of life and realize how important it is that we be a vessel to disperse the light of Christ to others, that people would not see us, but they would see Jesus. And so, God, I commit this evening to you. I love you. In Jesus' precious name, I pray, amen. In verses four and five here, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. There's an unbearable darkness. And darkness is an absence of light. We know this. There is no perceptible light. In verse five, in the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. What is the origin? When you think about what is light, light is the, as one Webster's Dictionary says, the agent or matter, matter, which makes objects perceptible to the sense of seeing. The particles of which are separately invisible. We can't see light. You can't see the individual particles, but you can see, as we do in this room here, we are a benefit from light. And the creation of the element of light in Genesis 1, and God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day. This is an element in a matter with which God has created. There was a creation of the lights of heaven, day four, Genesis 1-14. There will have to be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night, and it goes on from there. and let them be for signs, for seasons, for days and years. The sun was created. So on day one, the very element of light is created. On day four, we have the sun and the moon and the stars and all the things that we enjoy at night, on a clear night, when you can see them. And the very fact that we see all of this, you know, Einstein came up with the theory of relativity. You know, E equals mc squared, right? E stands for energy in ergs, m stands for mass, c stands for velocity, which is the speed of light in centimeters per second. What this means is a small amount of mass is able to produce a tremendous amount of energy, such as nuclear fission. Do you realize this, that light, the speed of light is nearly 300 million meters per second. That's a constant. That's really fast. Everything else is relative, as he says. But Jesus, in the spiritual realm, is the constant that never changes. In 1 John 1, I want you to notice with me here this very important truth that God is light. 1 John 1, 5. And you will find this throughout the scriptures of a manifestation of God comes great light. But not always is light equated with God because Satan is an angel of light. Or appears to be. And so I'll go into that further. 1 John 1, verse 5. This then is the message we have heard of him and declared to you that God is light and in him is what? No darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we what? We lie and do not the truth. So God is light, absolute purity, absolute, I mean, He is light, a light brighter than the sun. Remember when Moses came down from the mountain? He goes up to Mount Sinai, he gets the Ten Commandments, he comes down and the people have to shield their face because the radiance of God's light is upon Moses and the people can't even look at him because he's so bright. They ask him actually to put a veil over his face. And God is our light in Ezekiel chapter 1, 27 and 28. In verse 28 of Ezekiel 1, as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And Ezekiel says, and when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. Look at the Acts chapter 26. The Apostle Paul on his road to Damascus experience and his conversion, he talks about this overwhelming, blinding light, Acts 26, 13. The Apostle Paul telling his testimony of salvation. You know what it's important to tell others of how you came to know Jesus Christ? The day that you called upon him. Maybe we should do that some Sunday night or something, just give a testimony of how you came to know Jesus Christ as your Savior. But in Acts chapter 26 verse 13, at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the bricks. He says, I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun. He says, listen, there was a light that was brighter than the sun. Now, remember as a young kid, your parents say, don't stare at the sun. You'll go blind. And you start seeing spots and stuff afterwards. But here is a light infinitely more, I mean, it is unbelievably brighter than the sun. Jesus' light. You know, how is darkness defeated? Think about those five planes waiting to come in and land on the aircraft carrier. All they needed was some light. Just a little, not much, just a little. See, that light, those five men were sacrificed because those submarines, if they saw one little light, could have shot a torpedo and killed everyone on board that ship. Light is important. Now, how is Satan destroyed? Look at me at 2 Thessalonians 2.8. Why is it so important as we have this analogy and the illustration of light? 2 Thessalonians 2.8. How is Satan destroyed? 2 Thessalonians 2.8. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy, how? with the brightness of his coming. Satan's name is Lucifer. It means light bearer. But Satan turned against God. He sinned against the light. And now, no longer is he the light bearer. Lucifer, the son of the morning, has now become Satan, the father of the night. And there's a darkness, dark, devilish darkness, that is at battle with the light. We find something else. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground? We should weaken the nations. I mean, fine, son of the morning. You think normally in the morning the sun comes up, but in this case, you know, Satan's beauty was defiled. He's thought to be as God. His heart was lifted up. Satan himself has transformed into an angel of light. He wants people to believe he is the true light. And I've told this story before. I was talking with this guy who was a tow truck driver. I was in my friend's vehicle. It stalled at an intersection. And so we had to have the vehicle towed from the intersection. It was very embarrassing, but nevertheless, it happened. So here we are sitting in the tow truck with the tow truck driver, and I'm trying to witness to him, and I ask him how he knows he's on his way to heaven. He says, well, I was driving by a cemetery, and I saw this bright light. It was an angel, he said. I said, oh. Then he based his salvation and eternity on seeing some bright light in the cemetery. How sad. In darkness, what happens in the darkness? Ephesians 2.2, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. The course of this world, our world walks in darkness. Jesus would say in Luke 22 53 when I was daily with you in the temple you stretch forth no hands against me But this is your hour in the power of darkness here in the garden of Gethsemane in the power in darkness Here's the religious leaders. They come to him If evil is gonna happen many times it happens in the darkness people don't want to be discovered if you're gonna do something wrong you want to do it when you're alone or you want to do it in the darkness why because you don't want others seeing what you're doing and And Satan's fate in Revelation chapter 12 lets us know that he's going to be cast out of the earth. He's going to be cast out. The great dragon, the serpent, will be cast out. The accuser of the brethren, as Satan is called. He'll be cast to hell. Delivered into the chains of darkness. Absolute, pitch black. Have any of you ever been in a place where it's completely pitch black? I mean, as thick as, dark as blackness, absolutely no light. Have you ever been in something like that? It's scary. I mean, literally, you can have your hand in your face, in front of your face, and you only know that because it's your body, but, I mean, you cannot see your hand. It is so black. And the angels would kept not their first estate. The very angels that go with Satan in his coup against God or his seeking to do that, they were reserved in everlasting chains unto, under darkness, complete darkness. And so as Jesus is the light of the world, he's coming in complete and absolute contrast to darkness. So many people will tell you, inside my soul, I'm looking for hope. I'm looking for light. And they may not understand it, but they're looking for something to satisfy within. Why is there such emptiness within? There's a darkness that can't be satisfied with anything of the world. Darkness added to darkness is still darkness, however you want to call it. So anything from this life, which is not of God, is your dark, if you don't know Christ. You're adding darkness from this world, and you're seeking light. But it doesn't work that way. Zero plus zero equals zero. There's man's darkness, a natural darkness. In Matthew 4, verses 16 and 17, the people which sat in darkness saw a great light. And to them which sat in the region in shadow of death, light has sprung up. From that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus says, listen, people are born in darkness. The spiritual abode, the spiritual place of man on earth is darkness. Dwell in the land of the shadow of death. But upon these people, the light shines. Chapter 1, verse 11, he came unto his own and his own received him not. Jesus, who is light, came unto his own. The Jews, who were in darkness, they wouldn't receive it. I want you to look with me at Luke chapter 11, verse 34 and 35. How do you determine the amount of light in your life? How do you determine the amount of the hope and the victory and the peace in your life? John 11, 34. The light of the body is the eye, right? We receive light in our eyes. It doesn't really matter in my ears, because my ears don't have the ability to sense the light. But my eyes do, right? They're created that way. Therefore, when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light. But when thine eye is evil, Right? You want to do what you want to do. Thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. So your senses, your mind, determines the amount or level of light in your life. What you allow to come in. You know what? If we watch a whole bunch of junk from the internet, TV, social media, I watch a whole bunch of junk. No, is that light or not? That's darkness. And if you're saying, why am I feeling so dark? What are you putting in? You're putting in darkness. If you're caught in the lusts of the life, of this life, lusts of flesh, lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life, that's darkness, that's not light. And you're feeling the darkness, well, you're feeling the consequences of darkness. It's a chosen darkness. Matthew 6, 23, but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. You know what Paul would, you know, sarcastically, he would deride or he would speak down to these self-righteous Jews. They thought, man, I'm a Jew and I'm, you know, I'm a good, you know, I'm a good person before God and look at me and I know all these scriptures and da-da-da-da-da, and they go on. And in Romans 2, verse 19, look with me here, what the Apostle Paul, by inspiration of the Spirit of God, says. Romans 2, 19. And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light to them which are in darkness. You know what he calls these self-righteous Jews? The blind leading the blind. And that's exactly what false religion does. Because anything that leads people away from the light of Christ leads them to darkness every time. It always does. Is doctrine important? Is what you believe, based upon the Bible, what you believe about God, is that important? Absolutely, because it either takes you to darkness or it brings you to the light. Truth brings light, lies bring darkness. I don't care how sugar-coated, wonderful-tasting that lie is, it's still gonna bring darkness. And there's a judgment on darkness. I mean, we look in John 1, verse 12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Do you realize this in Matthew 8, verse 12? But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, I want you to think about this. Have you ever seen a flame so hot, not seen it, but there's a flame so hot, but you can't see it? I mean, it is so pure, so hot, you can't touch it, you can't get close to it, because the heat is so intense. Now, being in absolute darkness is a very scary thing. I mean, if someone puts you, locks you in a closet, closes the door, turns off the light, or maybe, you know, sometimes someone might be in a bedroom or in the washroom and they turn off the light, you're like, hey, turn the lights on, stop being so funny. But here you are in the darkness. You can't see, you have no light. Imagine those pilots in the final moments. I hope they turn those lights on. Man, my fuel's getting low. I hope they turn those lights on. Ah, come on. Please just turn the light on. And they're flying it. Man, my fuel gauge is getting low. My fuel gauge is getting low. Ah, come on. That would be awful. Now imagine with that darkness, Next comes, now imagine in that darkness someone starts punching you. And you can't see where it's coming from. Would that not be maddening? Now let me step it up a notch to what the Bible tells. Now there comes heat, fire of hell. And that is forever. for those that reject Christ. You're in complete darkness, which is already terrifying. You have pain that you can't stop, and there will never be relief. And then, in hell, there's fire, which is burning your body, but you're never consumed. One second of that would be horrendous. One day of that would be absolutely maddening. But to be forever? You see, that is a choice. And realize this in Matthew chapter seven, verses 21 through 23, that good people are in darkness. I want you to look with me at Matthew chapter seven. Matthew chapter seven, verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Matthew 7, 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils, and thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto you, Never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Good people are in darkness. Religious people are in darkness. You see, all of your actions are judged and evaluated. Luke 12.3, therefore, whatsoever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light. What you do in the dark is going to be exposed in the light of Christ. The False Prophets of June 13 talks reserve the blackness of darkness forever. If you're a false prophet and you're leading people away from the truth of this book, the Bible says there's a place reserved for you. Is it important that I'm true to this book? Absolutely. There's forthcoming and earthly judgment. Revelation 16, 10, that people would gnaw their tongues for pain. His kingdom was full of darkness. The Antichrist's kingdom was full of darkness. Sure, you can get your sins. Sure, you can have pleasure for a season. But the pleasure of sin for a season is only darkness. You might say, well, I'm going to go this path, and the Reiki, or all these sorts of things, all this New Age type of stuff. But if it's not of Christ, it's darkness. In Isaiah chapter 59, verse 9, would you look with me here in Isaiah 59? I know I'm talking much about this, but you know what? It's important for us to see the darkness, to think about it, because I think sometimes we like the flowery side, we like to understand that Jesus is compassionate and graceful, and those are all absolutely true. But if you don't have Jesus, and we as Christians take it for granted that we have the light, we live in the light of Christ, we have His presence of light with us. But if you don't have Jesus, people are grasping at anything and everything, hoping just by a chance. an infinitesimal chance that maybe, just maybe, what they're reaching for is the light to satisfy within. In Isaiah 59, verse 9, Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us. We wait for life, but behold obscurity, for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind." Have you ever been in the dark and going down a hallway, maybe at night in your house, and you're like, I don't want to turn on the light, I don't want to wake up so-and-so, and so you're walking and if you have little kids around you really got to be careful of the floor you don't kick or trip or whatever toys left on the ground you're like or stub your toe or whatever been there done that right it's not very fun but we they grope as if we had no eyes we stumble at noonday as in the night we are in desolate places of death men We roar all like bears and mourn sore like doves. We look for judgment, but there is none for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them in transgressing and lying against the Lord. What's transgression? Transgressing is if there's a sign on the road, if there's a sign on a property that says no trespassing. and you decide to go on that property, you have transgressed. You've trespassed, but you've transgressed. You've broken the law on that land. Don't come on the land. You've broken it, you've transgressed. And lying against the Lord and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. That's a bad place to be. But something happens with respect to Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus saw our condition. He sees the world's condition. And in verse 9, a blessed daybreak, that was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John chapter 8, verse 12. And Jesus spake again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. When you think of the sun, how bright the sun is, it's incredibly bright. I'm talking about the sun in the natural world. I'm reading here for you. The energy on the sun is indescribable. The sun radiates more energy in one second than man has used in the history of civilization or ever will use. Four million tons of hydrogen are destroyed every second in a nuclear explosion on the sun. Four million tons of nuclear bombs are going off every second on the sun. On the brightest moonlit night, the light of the moon is only one eight hundred thousandth as bright as an ordinary sunshiny day. To look in the face of the sun is to put your eyes out, but that's only a faint illustration of the Son of God and His brightness." End quotes, Adrian Rogers. Why do we have sun? Well, why do we have light? What does light do? Light pushes darkness away. I like light. We're thankful for light in here tonight, amen. It gives us direction. When you're driving at night, what do you need on your car? Headlights. What else do we, why do we need the sun? Because it heats the earth. It can kill bacteria under certain spectrums of light. It makes objects perceptible. And the light, and the thing goes on and on and on. I mean, the vitamin D and all the other stuff. I mean, the sunlight is very helpful. And God's glory and the brightness of the Lord's glory is so bright. Spirits, I want to ask you a question tonight. Who must win? As night follows day and day follows night, it is as clear as the light of the noonday sun. Darkness has no power against light. Now you think about it, darkness has absolutely no power against light. It is totally powerless against the light. If you're in a dark room and you want to get the darkness out, how would you get the darkness out? Could you take a vacuum cleaner and suck it out? Could you take a shovel and shovel out the darkness? Could you take a broom and sweep out the darkness? How would you get out the darkness of that room? Turn the light switch on. Now when you turn on the light, where does the darkness go? It flees. It goes into all the shadows. It goes under the bed, in the closet, cannot stay. Darkness is completely powerless against light. Satan is completely powerless against Christ. You think that's a simple thought. It is. The darkness can't put out the light. Never can darkness put out the light. And the Bible tells us what the Lord Jesus Christ, in Psalm 91 5, thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night, and the verse goes on. Luke 1, verse 79, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and the verse goes on. Light reveals truth. Light reveals what's in front of you. Sometimes you wanna see what's in front of you and sometimes not. You know if someone's wanting to go a course of life and they wanna go in a direction that is opposite of what God wants for their life, and you begin to shine the light of the word of God on their life and their situation, if they don't want light, they're not gonna stay around very long. because darkness is powerless against light. It reveals truth. It tells us to learn about the knowledge of the glory of God. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4, 6. I want you to look with me at 1 Peter 2, 9. When you think about light and dark, and I understand it's a very simple principle, a very simple thought. 1 Peter 2, verse 9. What has God called us to do? Jesus is that light. He is the light of men, the life of men. In 1 Peter 2, 9. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. You know what? Every one of us, if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're a priest with God. There are no priests. Every Christian is a priest in holy nation of peculiar people that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. The Bible says herald forth the light. What is the product of light? Going back to our main passage of scripture, my last few points before I bring this to the conclusion tonight. In verse 9 of John 1, that was a true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And then in verses 12 and 13, I read verse 12, verse 13, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We who are in darkness have no ability to turn on light on ourselves. I can't bring light from darkness. There has to be an energy greater than my darkness to give me light, and I don't have that ability. Darkness doesn't produce light. It can't. So how do I get light? How do you get light? How do you get that internal light? I'm telling you, when you see someone who's lost in sin, and the weight of the sin is on their life, they're in drugs and alcohol and immorality and all sorts of vices, pornography and you name it, whatever the case, they're weighed down by darkness, And then you see them accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Their countenance changes. There's a light that comes on. There wasn't anything inherent in themselves that you turned on. It was the Spirit of God came and indwelled them and light shines forth. There's a complete change of countenance. I mean, I remember several times there in the hospital of having people from the psych ward led to the Christ. I mean, their countenance just, it was amazing. Those have sometimes even been demonically oppressed, if not possessed, and they accept Christ, and a light comes on. Because Jesus is that light. They're born. Darkness can't give you light. It never, ever, ever, ever can. False religion, everything but the Bible will never give you light. Jesus, this one young lady said, growing things are put together with light. Photosynthesis, if you have a garden. Light causes these plants to produce chlorophyll and how the whole life chain is built upon the sunlight. If you were to take the sunlight away from this world, our world would become cold and dark and dead. It's like a man without Jesus. When Jesus came to the world, in Him was life, and the life was the light of man. That's the vitality of our life. You want your life put back together? It'll be put back together with light. There's a divine photosynthesis when the entrance of God's Word brings light, and Jesus is the light. And your cold, dark, dead, clammy world will be put back together when the glorious light of the Son of God shines into our heart. End quotes. No light in your life equals unfruitfulness. You see, if in your life you're on a path and you're saying, I'm lacking in hope. I'm lacking in peace. And what's happened is, is you've stepped away from the light. You've gotten away from Jesus. Ephesians 5 11 and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness If you want to be a friend of darkness, you can expect darkness in your life Ephesians 6 12 we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places and In the final verse, and I'll bring this to the conclusion, ye are all the children of light and the children of day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Understand this, if you're a Christian, you're a child of light. Shine forth the light. Because one of the, in conclusion, the light of Christ, number one, it brings life to those who are dead. For Luke chapter one, 78 through 80. To give light and then to sit in darkness. It brings healing. Shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings? Malachi four. It brings knowledge and purity. Daniel 12. It brings orientation. Ephesians 5, for you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light of the world. Walk as children of light. It brings deliverance. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness? What is it to be in the lack of Christ? Now, if you're a Christian, and many times, you know, we go to church, we get involved in church, we're involved in doing the things of church, and we just forget the blessing we have to know Christ. We forget what it's like to live in a culture, a society, a home, a community, maybe, some community, not necessarily a whole community, but some community of people with whom I associate that have light. We forget what it was like to be without light. Because the lack of Christ, it brings slavery, excuse me, Romans 13, 12. Let us cast off the work of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. It brings slavery, it brings bondage, 2 Corinthians 6, 14. Don't be unequally yoked. It brings blindness. He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now. If you have a grudge against someone else, you're in darkness. You're turning off the light of Jesus Christ to a world that needs it. If you are existing in a grudge against someone else. Last verse and I'm done. Hebrews 1-3. How important is Jesus Christ? He's everything. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3. What does it mean to look at Christ? Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had himself by himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. The brightness of His glory. Jesus in the glory of God. I look to Him. He upholds all things by the word of His power. He purged my sins. He took the darkness away. He shined a light in my life and in my soul, and I'm no longer dark. And nor are you if you know Jesus Christ. He's a penetrating light. And we are so many times afraid of darkness, but we're in the light. Darkness has no power against light. Stop the fear of the darkness and start embracing the light of Christ. The question this evening is, do you want freedom from whatever's enslaving you? Look to Christ. Do you want deliverance from your sin and guilt and shame? Look to Christ. Do you want victory in your life over besetting sins? Look to Christ. Jesus Christ is the light that guides, leads, delivers, rescues, and restores all who are willing to look to him. Now, don't only look to Christ for light. As a Christian, spread the light so others can find freedom in Christ. Those pilots in the opening of this sermon were desperately pleading for a little light. Will you look to the light which will not turn off for those desiring him? There are people outside the walls of this church that are looking for light. Those pilots were looking for light and they perished never getting it. As a Christian, we are light bearers. I need to be more concerned with showing the light than I do of showing myself, because if I show myself, I show darkness. So as I'm, final thought, as a Christian, how is the penetrating light of Christ emanating or broadcasting or flowing out of you? How are you doing in being a light bearer for Christ? Because there are people that are saying, I just need light. I just need hope. And we as believers, we know the hope that is Jesus. Maybe tonight you're here and you're saying, Pastor, I don't know what it's like to have light in my life. I don't know what it's like to have a hope. I've grasped the things of this world and it never provides a satisfaction, a contentment. The Bible says, for all have sinned and come show the glory of God. Number one, you must acknowledge or admit that you're a sinner, that you have broken God's law. You're not good. You're not perfect. None of us were. Number two, you must believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again for your sins and that you also deserve hell. That's God's judgment. Number three, ABC, if you think about it simply, confess your sins, ask God to forgive you and be your savior. And you know what? Jesus will not turn you away. He'll say, my child, come home. You're his. Christian, we have a penetrating light. It's easy for us to get so focused on every detail of life, excuse me, that I forget how important Jesus is. For the invitation this evening, if I could have Miss Pat come forward for the invitation period, please. I'm going to ask you to have all heads bowed and eyes closed. And you say, Pastor, why would you do this? Why are you asking me to bow my head and close my eyes? I want you to really think about what was just said. How important is Jesus? As a Christian, how are you doing in showing light to others? Many people are like the pilot looking for light. How are you doing in shining your light for Christ? I'm not asking your political position, your ethical positions, I'm asking how are you doing in shining Christ? If you don't know Christ this evening, the first thing you need to do is admit you're a sinner, believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again, and confess your sins and ask him to forgive you. And so as the music plays, I trust that you would just talk with God as His Spirit convicts you of whatever may be in your light and in your life tonight. If you need to speak further, if you don't know how to come to know Christ as your Savior, I'd love to show you after the service. I can sit down with you from the Bible and show you how to have the light of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the light and the life of men. Maybe tonight, as I was preaching, you'd be willing to say, Pastor, God was working on my heart. and I'd like you to pray for me. I won't call out your name, I won't say your pew, I won't come up to you afterwards, but I would be willing to pray for you this evening. Does everyone like it with uplifted hand? Just quickly slip up your hand real quick and put it back down. Thank you so much. Anyone else this evening? Pastor, would you pray for me? Is there anyone here tonight that said, Pastor, I don't know for sure if I'm on my way to heaven? I hope so, I think so, but I'm not sure. And I'd like you to pray for me that I could settle that, that I'd know for sure I'm on my way to heaven. My prayer, I'd be happy to pray for you. My prayer will not make you a Christian, but I'd be happy to pray that you'd settle that. Anyone like that tonight with uplifted hand? Pastor, would you pray for me? I don't know for sure. I'm on my way to heaven. In just a moment longer, as the music will come to a conclusion here shortly, I just trust that we would appreciate and praise the penetrating light of Jesus Christ. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you for this evening. I thank you, Lord, for the glorious truth from your scriptures. Father, just as John the Baptist was to bear witness of that light, so are we as Christians to bear witness of that light. Father, we are absolutely in terror without light. And I could only imagine what it'd be to go through life not knowing where I'm gonna spend eternity. I can only imagine what it'd be like to go throughout life without your spirit to lead us and guide us and your word to direct us. Father, for those of us as Christians, may we be the light of Christ to a world that's looking just as those pilots were looking for a light to come on. May we shine the hope of Jesus Christ. Father, thank you for what you've done. Thank you for each and every person that's here this evening. I pray for those that raised their hand that you'd work in their lives and God that you would just help them in any decisions made or however you spoke to their hearts. Father, for those who maybe didn't raise their hand tonight and maybe those that don't know Christ, Lord, I pray that they would settle that very decision tonight before they pillow their head. Lord, because eternity is forever. Hell is forever. And Lord, I pray that our hearts and lives would be so attuned and so desirous of the light of Christ that we'd have no desires for the darkness of man. And so God, pray as we go out that you'd keep us safe. I pray for the group that's here, that you'd give them safety in their travels home and bless them. Thank you for their service here in the north. And God, we pray that there'd be much light in the days to come. Father, thank you for your grace in Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen.