Welcome to Unveiled Faces, a Redeemer Presbyterian Church podcast. Please enjoy our feature presentation. John is the fourth gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. And so As the fourth gospel, it is not what is called one of the synoptic gospels. The synoptic gospels, the word synoptic means see together. And so the synoptics are seen from the same perspective. And so Matthew, Mark and Luke all present Jesus from a similar perspective. And yet John is quite unique. The book is unique. And I want to share with you some of the uniqueness of John. First, the other three all cover the birth of Christ, the baptism of Christ, his prayers in the garden prior to Gethsemane, as well as his ascension. But John devotes no time to any of those. Now, what is really interesting about John, though, and I don't know that all will have known this, is that John contains no parables. It only has history. And so you ask, is this a coincidence? And you must realize, no, in God's economy, there are no coincidences. So why did God do this? Why did he write the fourth gospel with no parables? It's given in the word as to why this is the case. Why were parables written in the first place? Christ's disciples asked him why he speaks to them in parables. And Jesus said that he speaks to them in parables such that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not hear. Jesus intentionally obscured the gospel while he lived those three years of ministry, and he did it for the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of putting the foundation in, for the sake of the fact that the apostles, it was their job to then carry that gospel message into the world. So parables were meant to obscure And that's why Matthew, Mark, and Luke share them. But John, when he wrote this gospel, it is not meant to obscure. John is simply written, and yet it is a very profound book. One commentator described John, the book of John, as a pool in which a child may wade and an elephant may swim. He also said his stories are so simple that even a child will love them. but its statements are so profound that even philosophers cannot fathom them. John tells us who Jesus is, far more than the synoptics, which in many ways tell us what Jesus did, his bona fides. The purpose of the book of John is given in the book of John, and it's in chapter 20 at verse 30, we read this. And truly, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. So twofold reason why John wrote this plainly, this simply, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. Before I go into these 18 verses to any depth, I first want to cover something that is also another unique aspect of the gospel of John. And that is what are referred to as the seven I am statements of Jesus. Chapter six, Jesus said, I am the bread of life. So now we know bread is essential to life, food is essential to life. You can't go for more than six or seven weeks without food or you die. Jesus is the bread of life. He is what we depend on to live. Chapter eight. I am the light of the world. Jesus as being light means that you must have Jesus to truly see. And so light is given here in a figurative way. Light allows you to see everything else clearly. It is light that allows you to understand. And so not knowing Jesus means that you truly don't understand why you exist, let alone what you're supposed to do. Chapter 10 has two of these I am statements and they're related. I am the good shepherd. I am the door of the sheep. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd protects the sheep from predators. That's what shepherds do. They preserve the flock. They protect the flock. And so that's Christ's role. And that's what he did in coming to earth on our behalf. He rescued us. He gave his life for us. I am the door of the sheep. And so here we see that the shepherd protects us from predators But yet the sheep also need protection from the elements. And so Christ, as the door, provides shelter from worldly dangers for his sheep. And so we are protected from Satan and the demons. And yet we are also protected from everything else that goes on in this world. Chapter 11, I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus promises a life beyond this life. In the Old Testament, there are hints at life beyond this life. Job said, in my flesh, I will see God. And yet, it was hidden enough to where people that didn't pay full credit to the Old Testament text, like the Sadducees, could say, I don't believe. that there is life after life. I don't believe that there is a resurrection and yet Christ declared clearly I am the resurrection and the life you will live again if you have faith in me chapter 14. I am the way, the truth, and the life. All of these relate to the fact that Christ is the way, the truth, the life. Jesus alone, of all people ever on earth, can promise this, that he is alone the way. Jesus alone allows us to be productive because he himself is life and we plug into him and we then have value, bring value into this world. Now, the title of this message is the light of the world. The second I am statement was Jesus saying, I am the light of the world. And so in a sense, this message is more about him saying I am the light of the world. But all seven I am statements have something similar that I'll get to in a little bit. First, I want to, again, before I get into the 18 verses specifically, I want to speak about how these 18 verses are unique, unique in the Bible and unique in history. First, when you read John 1, verse 1, in the beginning, that should strike a chord of similarity. There is another famous book in the Bible that begins with the words in the beginning, Genesis. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. John starts, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. So you see, John chapter one starts with the very same statement from Genesis 1.1, but it inserts a parenthetical statement equating God with the word. Let me read John 1,1 without that parenthetical statement. In the beginning, all things were made through him. And this is Genesis 1,1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So you can see that John is explicitly stating, I am giving you a new Genesis. This is on a parallel with what was shared in Genesis 1,1. And in this, in the beginning was the word, the word is with God, the word was God, he was in the beginning with God. He asserts the divinity of Christ. Christ is the word. Now, we're getting ahead of ourselves, but I wanted to emphasize the definitive article here that is in all these I am statements. I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the good shepherd. It's easy for us to overlook this little word, the. And yet the as the definitive article can be extremely important for us to understand. Yeah. What's interesting, too, is we can also overlook those two simple words. I am when Jesus said I am. He also is hearkening back to the Old Testament, where when Moses is before the bush and he's afraid, who am I going to tell that these Jews that tell him I am tell them I am sent you. And so God is the only self-existent one. He declares himself to be, I am. And Christ here is saying, I am. And he said it seven times in these seven statements, equating himself with the Father in heaven. So that's why we have a problem with Jehovah's Witnesses. And we don't consider them Christians. We consider them heretics. When the Jehovah's Witnesses made their own translation of the Bible, New World Translation, and it was released in 1949, this is how they interpreted John 1.1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God. They took offense at Jesus equating himself with his father. And so I have the New King James Bible. When I see personal pronouns, the right, the commentator translators will often try to put them in the proper context, uppercase, lowercase, reflecting divinity, God or man. They don't always get it right. It's a very difficult task, but I disagree with some of the specific ones, but they try to err on the side of not using uppercase if enough people are concerned about that. But when you insert a God that he was in the beginning with God, that he was the word was a God, you are undermining scripture. You're violating the grammatical Greek exposition of this text. in order to do what it is that you want to do, and that's damage the text. Now, of course, there are many other places in the Bible that you have to also then attempt to undermine the fact that Christ is God. And we won't go into all those. It's just this is enough. Jesus makes all these bold statements and the entire Gospel of John is dedicated to the proposition that Jesus is a son of God and co-equal with God. He is the unique one. Now let's get to this prologue, these 18 verses. But again, I want to cover a few concepts. There are 10 words that I'll give you that are grouped into five concepts. So I'll give you each of these concepts. All 10 of these words are in these first 18 verses. The first one is obvious, word. In verse one, it occurs a lot. In Greek, the word is logos. Logos is the Greek for word. This word already had meaning in philosophy. Greek philosophers had used this concept of logos in terms of meaning and great meaning, philosophical meaning. And so some modern commentators who likely aren't even Christians are critical of John for using this Greek word. Why would he use this in describing Christ? Doesn't he know that it could get conflated with this other word that is used by Greek philosophers? And the fact is, I believe, that John was obviously appropriating this word for a better use. It was not a word that was inadequate to the task of describing who Christ was. Christ declares himself to be the word, the word of God. Word's important. far more important than the Greeks that actually had a very high respect for words, the highest probably of the cultures of the day. So word, the Greek logos, and John used it to supplant the Greek definition and give his own. The second set are three words, life, light, and darkness. Light is synonymous with life, it's explicitly linked in verses four and five. And darkness is in culture and in the Bible linked with death. And often also in the Bible and in cultures around the world, light is linked to life and darkness is linked to death. And light is linked to good and darkness is linked to evil. So these are consistent throughout our scripture. The third concept involves two words, witness and belief. This comes in in verses six through eight with John the Baptist. And so witnesses lead to belief. They're supposed to. When in a court of law, witnesses present their evidence and they swear to tell the truth. What that is supposed to do is that's supposed to persuade the jury that at least this part of what I'm hearing is true. because this person is swearing it's true and they are facing the penalty of perjury if they're found to be lying. So it's supposed to be truth you can count on, you can bank on. And John included himself in verse 14, he says, we beheld. And so, in other words, this process of being a witness was not unique to John the Baptist. It was not unique to the apostles. It was not unique to those that saw Christ in the flesh. We become witnesses as well, because we state evidence that God has worked in our life. He has worked miracles in our lives, and we stand as witnesses to that. The fourth concept in verse 14 is glory. The glory which I had with you before the world was is how Jesus later refers to it when he's in his high priestly prayer. Jesus' glory on Earth was our good for the benefit of the people. That's what had to happen in order for God to hide his glory to not blind Moses. People would be blinded. They would be killed by God's glory. And so Jesus veiled that glory, set it aside, Hebrews says. And so that glory, it was present, but it was veiled. And yet it was returned to him. Jesus, when he said, when I return to you, he gets that glory back full glory. And then the fifth concept also uses three words, and they're all in verse 17. And they are law, grace and truth. The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus was greater than John the Baptist. And everybody knew it. And yet the Jews really had a very, very high regard for Moses and even more for Abraham. Now note in these 18 verses what happens. You have in verse one, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. So you have this concept of word introduced, equated with God, but you don't have the fact that the word was made flesh until way down in verse 14. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And so now you know that there's something really unusual going on as compared to Old Testament promises of such things or hints at such things. The role of the incarnate Christ is shown in several places prior to this. In verse five, the figuratively and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. That's obviously speaking of Jesus. Verse 10, he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own did not receive him. So this again is hinting at the fact of what's to come. Then in 14, boom, it's the word that became flesh. Then verse 17 ties it together. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God in any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father, he has declared him. Verses 1 through 18 begin at verse 1 in eternity past. They progress through John the Baptist in Christ's time on earth, and then they end in eternity future. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father. So that's why these 18 verses are very, very special, and they have been special for a long time. In verse one, we are introduced to the concepts of word and God. There is a functional aspect to the relations between these two, between word and God. And yet by the last verse, it's father and son. And so now we're beyond functional to this familial role between these two. It's the same two, but yet we see a transition from this functional role to this familial relationship. For eight centuries, the Roman Catholic Church, after every mass, recited these 18 words. 800 years. It was known as the final gospel. And so no service ended without these words being read in order to end the service. In many Christian services today, we still read these words, especially at Christmas, in some of the Protestant orders of worship are critical to celebrating at Christmas time. They convey the essence of the gospel. They convey beauty and majesty. And I think they do about as good a job as any words can do to convey God's eternality. But yet nothing, no words can convey the depths of God's eternality because God is God and he is ultimately indescribable to us. There are depths to which we cannot plumb and yet even when we go to heaven, even when we're with God in heaven, we will not know the depths of our creator God because we are finite creatures. He is an infinite being. Now we introduce these these concepts, these five concepts with these 10 words. And now in the first five verses, I want to again cover some key concepts first. Verses one and two. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. J.I. Packer writes in Concise Theology, and if you don't have that book, I recommend it highly. In the brief chapter on two natures, he described this. Jesus was a man who convinced those closest to him that he was also God. This is phenomenal when you think about it. Now, of course, Jesus could perform miracles. And yet, if you remember, right at the very beginning, when he was picking up his disciples, the one said, can anything good come out of Nazareth? It was Nathaniel, right? And so when he sees him, he says, I saw you when you were under the tree. And then he says, my Lord and my God. So he came to faith just through Christ, telling him that he knew where he had been when he was thinking those thoughts. So we know Christ had a tremendous advantage in proving those near to him that he was God. But even in the final days and even after his crucifixion and resurrection, they were still doubting why they'd seen so much. Well, Hebrews tells us that the entire Jewish set of people that came out of Egypt died in unbelief. All of the adults died in unbelief, except for Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. It's remarkable. They saw so many miracles, miracle after miracle after miracle, yet it did not lead them to faith. And so miracles alone do not guarantee belief, do not guarantee faith. Yet Christ and Christianity has grown over these 2,000 years because obviously God's spirit is backing it and God's spirit is converting people to faith on his time. Verse three describes his role as creator of everything and yet it describes Jesus as apart from it. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. Jesus is not part of creation, and yet he is the creator. He creates all things. In verse four, Jesus is life itself. In him was life, and the life was the light of all men. He is not just the creator or giver of life. He is the root, the ground, the source of life, all life. And that's why it's sad that not all Christians really fully comprehend that. Verse five, there's a dilemma introduced here. and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. And so here, obviously, darkness is personified. And so darkness is seen as this veil that exists over all of humanity at that point, refusing to see that Christ is what is needed to save the earth. There is this tremendous gulf between light and darkness. The light has declined and the darkness has then spread to such an extent that Christ has to banish that darkness with his glory. And he does, but he waits until after the crucifixion. Now, I want to return to the seven IM statements briefly to show you something that isn't entirely clear when you just read them through individually. I'll group them again. I'll group first, bread of life, resurrection and the life, way, the truth and the life. I am the bread of life. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth and the life. Note that each of those says life in it. I am the bread of life, the resurrection and the life, the way and the truth and the life. So life is explicitly stated. Now in these next two, it's derived. I am the true vine. I am the light of the world. And in verse four, life was equated with light. Life was the light of men. so again here life is not far from it it's not explicitly shared but it's implied because a vine is only alive is only a value when it's plugged into the the roots when it's living the the last two are again from chapter 10 with the shepherd i am the good shepherd i am the door of the sheep again what is the shepherd's job to protect life every one of those seven I am statements that Christ makes, and that we know God is the only self-existent one, and he told Moses to tell them, tell them, I am sent you, the only self-existent one. Life, the only one who is alive in and of himself, all seven of these I am statements relate to life. So it's just critical to understand that when we see Christ, we see more than Savior. We see the root and meaning of everything in our world. He is the reason that all of this exists. In John chapter 10, verses nine through 11, I'll read that. This is John chapter 10, starting at verse nine. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except I'm reading. Oh, yeah. The thief does not come, but to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Again, life is central to Christ's message. It's not only salvation. It's salvation unto life. But it's also life in every form that we know it in this world, in this universe. In verse four of our text, it says, in him was life. In him was life. And in verse three, we read that all things were made through him. So see, everything on this earth owes its existence and its ongoing sustenance to Jesus. And I'm not speaking just of animal life or human life. I'm speaking of the energy that's bound up in atoms. I'm speaking of the entire universe. All of that kinetic energy implies life, reflects life. And Christ is at the heart of all of it. Everything in life is intimately connected to and critically dependent upon Jesus. Intimately connected. Because everything only has meaning that has been imputed to it by Christ, our creator. Everything was created for a purpose. And it's only when it's fulfilling that purpose that it is fulfilling its meaning. And then critically dependent, critically dependent, because apart from Jesus, none of that would exist. If Jesus were not to exist, nothing would exist because he created us for his glory and we exist at his pleasure. Jesus is life. Everything is rooted in him. Everything exists in him exists in him by his power and for his glory 40 years ago. About 10 12 miles from here. I was transferred to Canada Hamilton. I came out of school and got stationed there at the time. I was a partier, but yet within six months, I was saved and as a young Christian. I was on fire for God and I wanted to evangelize everybody. I had these pens made. I ordered like a hundred of them that had a text written on them. It said him in on one. It was a pen that had six sides kind of like a pencil, but it wrote with ink and it said Jesus Christ surrounded by asterisks and then you kind of rotate it one. And it says, if you deny him, rotate, he will also deny you. This is a paraphrase from Second Timothy 212. Atheists deny the existence of God. They deny the role of Christ in our world. They don't believe God exists. And so it's understandable that atheists have no regard for anything related to God, anything of what we've said so far. Now, they do this by faith. We know this. If you've studied belief systems, you know that an atheist can't believe that there is no God except by faith. But what's really sad, though, is that many believers will allow for the possibility or even the likelihood that people can be saved and enter into heaven who have no knowledge of Christ. no awareness of the fact that a savior was even needed to gain them entry into heaven, that their sins needed to be washed away by a propitiation, a propitiatory sin, a sacrifice. Now, that denies some of what I've read and some of what I've said. John 20 verse 31, yeah, verse 31, These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. And by stating it that way, we might not say, OK, well, it's not clear that there isn't life through some other means. But yet we know that there are other scriptures. For instance, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one gets to the father, but through me, I am the mediator. There's one mediator between God and man, the man, Jesus Christ. There are some texts that just state it so explicitly. that there is no salvation apart from Christ. And yet I still read Christians and sometimes famous Christians who will not close that door. They will not say that apart from Christ, there is no possibility of salvation. They want to hold out hope to people who have died, loved ones of people who have died, who never knew the Lord. Now, God can do what he wants. And yet God has given us his word and he commands us to obey it and he declares it to be sufficient for us. And so we must take account of what God's word says. We can't just make up what we want. In Proverbs chapter eight is what is referred to as the personification of wisdom. Wisdom says this, all those who hate me love death. Now, it's debatable, but some believe, and I do believe, that this wisdom that is spoken of in Proverbs is Christ. It is Christ personified in the form of pure wisdom, pure wisdom from God. In Ecclesiastes 7, 12, we read, wisdom gives life to those who have it, implying that if you don't have wisdom, you don't have life. And so you need wisdom to be alive. You need Christ the truth of Christ to be alive. In verse seven of our text, we read of John the Baptist coming. Let me read verses six through eight. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. Now, witnesses, bring a witness, right? And so they come into the court of law, they place their hand on the Bible if they believe there is a God and that Christianity prevails in our culture. And they say, I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God. That's what a witness does. A witness gives testimony under oath such that all through him might believe. And Jesus said this of John, Jesus said this in John five, He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. He was rebuking the Jews for having abandoned belief in John the Baptist. Remember when he was challenged and he said, I'll answer your question if you answer mine. And here's my question. Who is John the Baptist? They wouldn't answer him. And we are given insight into why. Well, if we tell this man, Jesus, that John the Baptist to John's message. But if we say he wasn't from God, the people will stone us because they regard John as a prophet. You have to love how Jesus answered questions. I mean, he often answered questions with questions. He always threw the ball back into the other person's court. So John's witness was primarily to the children of Israel. And we know roughly the geography of Israel that included the northern and southern kingdom. It extended up beyond the Sea of Galilee. So it's interesting. In our text, verse 10 goes, he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. And it says, gives light to every man coming into the world. Isaiah nine, verses one through two. And I'm glad George read from Isaiah one earlier. Isaiah really has to be a favorite book for us. It's so beautiful. In Isaiah nine, verses one through two, we read this. In Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death upon them, a light has shined. Now there is something puzzling here. I mean, we are so accustomed to reading this. that it's sometimes hard to read it critically and think, well, wait a minute, wait a shake, what does this mean? In Galilee of the Gentiles. Galilee is in Israel. Why is it referred to even by Isaiah way back in like 750 BC? Why is he referring to Galilee as being of the Gentiles? The answer lies with Solomon. When King Solomon had the temple and his home built out of cedar, and he had made that deal with King Hiram up in Lebanon, he then gave, he gifted cities to Hiram. He gave him cities in Galilee. Galilee was so despised even by King Solomon, even by Israelites themselves, that he gave these cities to Hiram, a Gentile. Hiram then, we know, went to those cities, inspected them, and found them wanting. He was disappointed. He complained to Solomon that these weren't very nice cities. But so that's why we have Galilee being regarded as a Gentile area, because Solomon himself, the greatest king of Israel, thought so little of it as to give it away to Hiram. And Hiram, when he comes there, didn't even value it. But this, This is where God wanted Jesus to come from and Jesus to pull his initial disciples from. That which was despised by the King Solomon that all of the Jews highly valued. Isaiah contains references that I want to refer to here that are quoted in the New Testament extensively. These are quotes from Isaiah 42 and Isaiah 49. I already read the one verse from Isaiah 9 about the light. Upon them a light has shined. That's Isaiah 9 verses 1 and 2. And I'll read to you Isaiah 42 starting at verse 6 and Isaiah 49 starting at verse 6. This is 42 6. I the Lord have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people as a light to the Gentiles. And then 49.6, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth. These are quoted in Matthew 4. In Matthew 4, starting at verse 15. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned. This is stated at the very first event in which Jesus opens his ministry out in Galilee. quoting this from Isaiah 9 and 42 directly. And then earlier, Jesus at his presentation in the temple by Simeon, this is said of him. This is what Simeon says, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. That has excerpts from Isaiah 9, 42, 49, and 60, that which Simeon said. And then again, I'll read from Acts chapter 13. This is right after Paul has given this phenomenal sermon in Antioch. So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation had broken up, Israelites followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. These references in Isaiah were brought to bear in Christ's day during his ministry and yet also amongst the apostles afterwards when they're preaching. And so this has carried down through time. We own this. We are the Gentiles that then pick up that light and carry it forward into the next generation, the next generation. In first John chapter one, these letters were written obviously by the apostle that wrote the gospel of John He writes this, God is light and in him is no darkness at all. We know of Satan by a title, the Prince of Darkness. And yet the Prince of Darkness is not a phrase that's found in scripture. The first time it was used was in the third century There was a book written by a Christian about pilot and about his role in the crucifixion. And Satan is referred to as the prince of darkness in that book. Then we see it in Martin Luther's famous him a mighty fortress, the prince of darkness, grim. Then a century later, John Milton included the title in Paradise Lost. Darkness, Satan is the prince of darkness. Paul in Ephesians 5 writes, you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. And so light and dark contrast good and evil, contrast the good and the bad of our world. All of our actions on this earth have meaning, lasting meaning. And we as Christians have a unique opportunity, a unique situation. Our deeds can be truly good deeds. No unbeliever can commit a good deed, regardless of outwardly what it looks like. A young man might help a woman who's fallen get up. If he's not a believer, that isn't a truly good deed, because any truly good deed must be oriented towards God's glory and not our own. And all unbelievers ultimately seek their own glory alone. we as Christians have the opportunity to do good deeds. And yet the good deeds must be done in the light. And so they must be done explicitly for God's glory and not our own. And so what's sad about us as Christians is that while we have the ability to do good deeds, we also have the ability to continue to do bad deeds. This is a sad, aspect of our present reality that will no longer be the case in heaven. But now we can sin. And frankly, it's unlikely that any deed that we do on this earth can truly be entirely free from sin. But that's our responsibility in terms of sanctifying ourselves and the Holy Spirit sanctifying us. This is the one thing, we don't persist in justification, but with sanctification, yes, we're all in. We have to be committed to this. We have to see there being a goal each day, getting up to bring glory to God. And we can only do that by focusing on him and de-emphasizing the focus on us. God is light and in him is no darkness at all. But we children of God, to not walk in the light. And so I encourage all of you to take this warning seriously. We have a unique opportunity to serve our Lord on this earth, to be the light in this world. And we have the responsibility to do so, not just the opportunity, but the responsibility and the privilege. So I encourage you as you go forth from this place, as you enter into Christmas, seek out the opportunities to be the light. Don't back away for fear. Enter into them courageously, knowing that God can give you strength. He can give you the words. He can give you what you need to share with others at critical times, especially as we come into Christmas, where we'll all meet with friends and family that likely don't know the Lord. And I pray that's not the case for you, but I know that that's the case for me. So now we must not turn away from the light of God and Christ alone is life and light. We must understand that, embrace that and rebuke those Christians that don't understand it. This has been a presentation of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. For more resources and information, please stop by our website at visitredeemer.org. All material herewithin, unless otherwise noted. Copyright Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Elk Grove, California. Music furnished by Nathan Clark George. Available at nathanclarkgeorge.com.