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LOJ #127: ‘Brought Into the Light’

Andover Baptist Church-December 4th, 2011

Opening

A. Text for today is Luke 11:33=36 and our sermon is titled

‘Brought Into the Light’

B. Scripture NET:

“33 No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore see to it that the light in you is not darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark, it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

C. Children’s Sermon [HAVE LIGHTS SHUT OFF] (SLIDE)

1. Take a candle and light it

2. Hide a candle under a basket or bowl

  3. Why can't I see it?

  4. Did you know some people say we can’t know God?

5. Do you think God hides from us?

6. Why no! We have all of the world to show us that He is

here and we have His Word

7. And even greater than that His Son to make Him known

D. Introduction

1. We live in a world that does not like to examine itself

2. As a culture we have a nationwide sedative in our

entertainment industry

 

3. Why think about who we are as people? Why come into

the light? Why discover the truth?

4. Why? Because our culture would rather be entertained

on its way to hell then to hear the truth and escape it

  5. Last night I was watching parts of a debate online

between William Lane Craig (a renowned Christian

apologist) and Christopher Hitchens (a well known

Atheist apologist)

  6. In it Hitchens was soundly defeated by Craig

 

7. Having heard about him some, but not knowing much

about him, I did a search on Hitchens and found out that

he has stage 4 oesophageal cancer

 

8. About the notion of God he has stated, 'redemption and

supernatural deliverance appears even more hollow and

artificial to me than it did before'

9. Even in the face of death he refuses to come into the

light

 

10. This is the world we live in, the same one Christ came

too

 

11. A world of darkness

12. But also a world that has the privilege of coming into

the light

13. The light that is so overwhelming revealed that it

would be easier to deny the sun than the fact that God

exists

 

14. But mankind would rather wither in the darkness of

their own sin, then to come clean in the light of Christ

 

15. When the day comes the choices we make regarding

that will determine our eternal destiny, and it will be

of our own God given freewill, some to everlasting

light and some to everlasting darkness

 

16. As Jesus tells us today, the Light of God has never

been hidden

Sermon

READ: Luke 11:33 (Scripture slide)

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light.”

A. In this text lighting or light is mentioned 7x (must have

significance)

B. Lamps were of significant importance to the lives of those in

Jesus day (slide)

 

1. Without them life would have been even more of a

struggle in the darkness

2. They were made of clay

3. For fuel they relied on olive oil that had a wick that

went down into it and was lit

4. Since they put out only a small amount of light they

were usually put in the middle of a table or elevated to a

lampstand so that their light would permeate the home

more (FIND THE CHURCH LAMP STANDS)

C. Jesus points out an obviously foolish move to do with a lamp

1. That is to put it in a ‘hidden place’ or ‘under a basket’

2. As we have said before, unless you were wealthy,

Galilean home generally only had one room

 

3. Matthew 5:15 states, ‘People do not light a lamp and

put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives

light to all in the house.’  

4. In order for a lamp to do its job it has to be able to

shine out in the open

5. Now to extinguish a lamp one could put it under a

basket so that the smoke would not fill the room

6. The word basket here is for a container that could hold

up to two gallons (basket, box, bowl, etc) 

7. Jesus point: to have a lamp hidden would be senseless

 

8. Why would you put a light in a place that it would help

you see?

 

D. What is the point that Jesus is trying to make?

1. God has lit the lamp of revelation of Himself

2. Jesus provides absolute illumination of the Father  

3. Nothing about Jesus, nor that which He has said and

done, have been hidden 

4. The light is His life, message and future missionary

work of the Church 

5. Jesus ministry is light which was not hidden but made

available to all

 

6. Jesus message is like a light when one enters a house at

night lights them up (like a lighthouse)

 

7. And Jesus is saying come into the light and have

knowledge of the truth

READ: Luke 11:34 (Scripture slide)

“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased, your body is full of darkness.”

A. This verse is polar opposite to Mt 6:23

Matthew 6:23 (NET) “But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

 

B. What is Jesus meaning by mentioning eyes?

1. The eyes let light into the body

2. The ancients saw the eyes as lamps that light the mind

and being

3. In this case the body would be your personality, who

you are as a person

4. So then Jesus starts talking about diseased eyes

a. Eyes that don’t let in light properly

b. Either they are shut or they can’t process light as

they should 

c. This darkens everything around you, including in

the ancient sense your mind

5. Jesus’ point is not to give an Optometry 101 lesson but a

moral lesson linked to this mini parable 

a. Good Eyes = a person is morally sincere and

healthy

 

b. Bad Eyes = a person is morally insincere and

unhealthy

c. If someone is sincerely seeking the truth they will

be receptive of Christ and His message 

d. If someone is spiritually diseased when they

refuse to receive the Gospel (don't want to be

accountable)

  e. So personally this applies to you as well: if you

love the sinful life you live no light will enter into

your life, if you realize your need for a Savior

and come to Jesus you will receive illumination

f. How you respond to Jesus shows your spiritual

condition

 

C. Jesus’ Main Point: If you don't see the light it has nothing to

do with the light but you!

 

Isaiah 60:1 (NET) “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!

The splendor of the Lord shines on you!”

 

READ: Luke 11:35 (Scripture slide)

“Therefore see to it that the light in you is not darkness”

A. 'see to it' = to look out , to consider, EXAMINE!

 

B. Jesus is talking about self-examination,

 

1. Even the pagan philosopher Socrates claimed: 'The

unexamined life is not worth living'

2. How much more should we examine our lives in light of

the knowledge of the truth of God

 

Philippians 2:4 (NET) “Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.”

 

Galatians 6:1 (NET) “Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.”

 

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NET) “because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.”

 

3. The philosophy of life / world view you subscribe to

now will be what you are accountable for in the future,

so make sure your light is truly the truth

 

C. My crisis of faith when I was a teenager, explain

 

D. 1 Peter 3:15, “But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess” (slide)

 

1. Speak about the Apologia Class: Knowing, Sharing and

Defending Your Faith (slide)

 

2. Outline of the Class

a. Our Mind and Our Faith

b. Doctrine: Knowing Our Faith

c. Building on the Past: Overview of Biblical

History

d. Battle Tactics: The Art of Defending and

Advancing Our Faith

e. Road Blocks to Christ: Philosophical Objections

to Christianity Answered

f. Ethics, Culture and the Christian

g. Worldviews Under the Microscope: Why Christ

is the Only Answer

 

3. How much do you know about your faith? Are you able

to give a reason for the hope that you have?

.

READ: Luke 11:36 (Scripture slide)

“If then your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark, it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

A. There is no need to have a sign because any other sign cannot

compare to Jesus Himself

 

B. If someone is receptive and wants to hear the truth he lets the

light of the Gospel into them and it completely changes them

 

1. Those who respond to Jesus are illuminated

 

2. Jesus' teaching illuminates and removes all ignorance

and darkness

 

Romans 6:17 (NET) “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to”

 

3. There is a light giving quality of those who have come

to faith in Christ

 

Philippians 3:17 (NET) “Be imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example.”

Application (slide)

A. Has your life been illuminated by Jesus?

B. Or our you still sitting in the darkness when you could come

into the light?

C. As a believer do you light up the world that you are in or do

you hide that light of your?

Invitation

Let us sing our last song # ,

[pic]

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