Skip to content Where the Light is Part 1 Jul 23 · 42 min ...more
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Benefits of Walking in God's Light 0:00 Hey, guys. Welcome to the men's global livestream. If you have a bible, I want you to hold 2 spots. 1 in John chapter 8 and another in 1st John chapter 1. I'm excited to start0:12 this new series called where the light is. And to get us thinking in the right direction, I want you to think about the last time you stepped on0:23 something or bumped into something in the dark. Right? You might have been going to bed at night like I was the other night, and I turned off the light in the closed closet. And I gotta make my0:35 way back to the bed. It's all dark. And on the ground, what I couldn't see was the curling iron plug. Right? So you're just thinking my next step0:47 is gonna be free and clear and then wham. Or I can think of many other times where I heard something or I had to get up and the house was dark and bumping into a table, bumping into0:59 the end of the bed, frustrating that you can't see these things that bring pain into your life. I think you know the direction where I'm headed. It's so much easier1:12 when you're not walking in darkness. Right? Well, Jesus said that life is gonna get dark. In fact, he said in this in this life,1:24 you'll have trouble. You'll have tribulation, but take heart. I've overcome the world. So the Christian is living in a dark world and needs help to navigate, to get1:36 to destinations presently, and ultimately, so if you have your downloaded notes, let's look at the 1st verse. This is the theme of our series. It's in the gospel of John1:47 Chapter 8 and Jesus is putting himself at the center of our journeys now and at the center of getting to our ultimate destinations later. John1:59 chapter 8 verse 12 says this, when Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never2:11 walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Alright? So think about that. What we just talked about. Bumping into stuff,2:23 frustrating pain, unforeseen things. Man, it's so much easier to get where you need to go, whether that's from the closed closet to the bed at night or2:34 to a destination of significance and purpose and meaning in life when you have lighting. Right? And so what I wanna do is just what we do every time here2:46 in the men's global livestream, just sort of unpack this theme in session 1. And Jesus, in our key verse, gives us some really great principles just to to start our thinking about what2:58 this means to be where the light is. Alright? And the 1st thing that we see is that apart from Jesus, we live in darkness. Alright? Jesus is putting himself3:10 at the center of our journey. And by default, he's saying either you're walking in light or you're walking in darkness. You know, when I was thinking about this, I thought, man, you know, boating3:23 requires kind of navigational help especially when they're in an environment of darkness. Right? Boats need lights to avoid running aground, avoid running into other3:35 boats, avoiding running into shore at night because they can't see that the ocean is black. Right? And and just as, ships let's just use that metaphor for our life.3:47 Just as a ship needs lights to ensure it's going to have a safe passage, you know, on its journey. So too, we must3:59 rely on the person of Christ, on the work of Christ, and on the presence of Christ through the illuminating Holy Spirit to get to where we need to go. So that's the 1st4:11 observation from Jesus' statement in John 8 12 is that apart from Jesus, according to Jesus, we're gonna live in darkness. He says whoever follows me will never walk in darkness. Alright.4:23 Let's just press the pause button on that. Following Jesus, never walk in darkness. He's making it very clear. Alright. What we need to do4:34 if we don't want to bump into stuff and experience the pain of being totally in the dark. Right? Now when it when it comes to living in darkness,4:46 right, there's there's physical darkness, and we understand that. And that's kind of the the metaphor. But there's more to it, and that's where we get to the 2nd part I wanna unpack. And that is that apart from Jesus, we4:57 cannot fully understand who we are. Jesus is the creator. Jesus is the maker of all things. Jesus is over creation.5:09 Jesus is god. And apart from God, you can't understand the intention for which you were created. And so how do you understand5:22 fully who you are apart from the creator of who you are. And then along these lines, 3rd, we observe apart from Jesus, we cannot5:33 accurately filter what we're seeing in the world. Again, we're made by God. We're made for God. 1 day we're going to God. God is over his5:45 creation. We are a creation of God living in creation. And Jesus is saying, hey. If you want clarity, if you want focus, if you want insight, if you want5:58 perspective rooted in the reality of eternity, his perspective, you need to follow Jesus. I want you to see that very6:09 clearly in his words. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Alright? And that's what we're after. We're6:21 after the light of life. Alright? And that means eternal life. Right? But that's not a then and there thing. Like, my heart stops, then I begin eternal life. No. If you're a follower6:33 of Christ, the 2nd you put your faith personally in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and his presence come into you, you have the light of life6:45 now. Alright? Now, I want you to listen in our 2nd verse in this session to the best of the best spiritual coaches talk about this this insight6:57 and this eternal eyesight that that the believer can have in Christ and be where the light is. It's in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 16 to 18.7:09 So Paul is coaching up, Ephesian Christians and he says this, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and7:21 revelation. Why? So that you may know him better, number 1. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which7:33 he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Right? So do you see that?7:45 Where coach Paul is coaching up these Christians. Alright? They're growing. They're maturing. And he's just going, hey, man. This is what I'm asking for God to do. You need God's wisdom. You need God's revelation.7:57 Why? So that you can know him better. And then he's saying, hey, I pray that the eyes, right, of your heart might be enlightened. Right? Illuminated. What's he talking about? Right? He's8:09 talking about clarity, focus, insight, perspective. Right? And he's making the case for being enlightened by God as we follow God.8:20 And I have some observations that I want us to just walk through to really, again, just make the case for being where the light is, following Jesus, and never walking in8:32 darkness. And the 1st observation is when I'm in the light, Paul says, I'm knowing God better. Right? When I'm in the light when I'm in the light of God's wisdom and God's revelation, as I'm8:44 I'm opening myself up and we're gonna get into this in this series, you know, where God's word says, your word is a lamp unto my feet. When I'm in God's wisdom and revelation, I'm in that light. I'm knowing God better.8:55 Secondly, I am knowing true hope. He says, I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you.9:07 Alright? Where there is this assurance, there is this hope that comes from being where the light is versus being in darkness, not having9:19 insight into myself, not having insight into life, not having that navigational presence of Christ guiding me and giving me hope. 3rd, I wanna observe that when9:31 I'm in the light, I'm knowing my truest future. You see, light is directional. Light gets us to where we're going. If you're if you're traveling alongside9:43 a trail and there's a cliff and a ditch and you don't have a lamp, if you're walking in darkness, you're in danger. And your future is threatened.9:55 But if you have light, you're gonna see where to navigate, stay on the trail, and get to where God's calling you to be. There are some of you right now, maybe10:07 you've you've fallen off. And God is is saying, hey, man. This series for you is super important because I have a destination for you, but you need to be where the light is. You need to10:18 get back in the saddle following Jesus and stop walking in darkness. Here's the 4th observation. When I'm in the light, I'm knowing true power. Wow.10:31 I mean, the Bible says here that, that our our heart the eyes of our heart are gonna be enlightened and then there's 3 outcomes. Right? That you know hope, you know the riches of your inheritance.10:43 Right? Your future. And then it says, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. So as we're in the light as we're following10:54 Jesus as we're not walking in darkness as as his wisdom and revelation is is coming at us that causes us to know God better that infuses hope into our11:06 lives. It helps us to see ahead just enough and have the navigational direction to make the next set of choices to get to that destination and man that provides11:18 power it provides confidence It provides competence. Right? And and that's power in the spiritual life. It's it's just knowing, you know, who I11:30 am, knowing God, knowing what's ahead, knowing my future. And it it's powerful to have the light showing us the way. Alright. So, there's a little perspective.11:42 I love John Piper's observation. I put the quote in the downloaded notes on this idea of following Jesus, never walking in darkness,11:54 and fully understanding who we are and filtering life and the meaning of life. He says this, the line of Christ is the brightness of God shining on the12:06 retina of the human soul. It in other words, when you are following Christ, not walking in darkness, and you have the light of life, it's it's like12:18 God gives you these special glasses. He gives you his glasses, his his glasses that allow you to see in a dark world with a lot of dark stuff12:30 going on in culture and in the world. You have these these these night vision glasses that enable you to see, and they're God's glasses.12:42 It's his light shining on the retina of the human soul. And you're knowing hope, and you're knowing power, and you're confident, and you're knowing God, and you're seeing12:54 yourself and seeing what's going on in the light of God's perspective. Alright? So that's just kinda to set the foundation of being where the light is. You13:06 wanna be where the light is? Follow Jesus. Never walk in darkness. Get the insight, the perspective, the clarity on your life and the meaning of life and how to navigate13:18 life, and you're gonna have hope and power. I need a little more of that. How about you? So now let's kinda turn a page, and let's look at what we need to13:29 rely on, focus on practically to stay in the light. Alright? And there's a as we go into this series, there's gonna be some key pillars. Right? Jesus said, follow me, and13:41 you'll never walk in darkness. You'll have the light of life. And there's some key focuses and some key resources that are just really gonna provide some guardrails13:53 that keep us on the path and keep us in the light. Alright? And the 1st 1 that we're gonna talk about in today's session, is God's character. Alright? As sortGod's Unblending Character as Anchor 14:05 of, an anchor, right, to keep us firmly in the light. Alright? Now let's look at the Bible. This is the other key passage that I ask you to hold a spot in your Bible. 1st John14:17 chapter 1 verses 5 through 7 says this, this in essence is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you. God is light,14:30 pure light. There's no trace of darkness in him. If we claim we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying14:41 through our teeth. We're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with 114:53 another. As the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's son, purges us from all sin. Right? So when we15:05 talk about being where the light is, what the scripture says is that your life in God, in the light, is directly connected to15:17 your view of God, an accurate 1, of God as light. Did you hear that? The scripture says that your life in God, right, where the light is,15:29 is a direct reflection of your view of God who is life. So this is what we wanna unpack for today's session. The Bible is an emphatic that15:41 these 2 are connected, that your life in God reflects your view of God. So we really have to nail our view of God if we're gonna live, the the best and right life in15:53 God, in the light. Alright. And there's 4 observations that I wanna make. And the 1st 1 is this, very important. Alright. God does not blend. You16:05 say, Kenny, what do you mean? Alright. Well, right there in verse 5, it says that God is light, pure light. There's not a trace16:17 of darkness in him. In other words, God doesn't elect because of his character and who he is. He doesn't elect to16:28 go, well, you know, I'm mostly light, but I wanna blend a little darkness. I'm mostly I'll be mostly truth, and I'll blend a little lies in my into my character.16:40 I'm I'm holy, but, you know, I'll I'll dabble with, you know, a a little sin. I'm good, but, you know, I'll I'll sample a little evil every now and then.16:52 God cannot do that. God will not do that. And we have to understand that he's not a blender. But you know what? Our experience is and what our temptation is and what17:04 our battle is is that as as sons of light, as children of God, as as as those who've been delivered out of the domain of darkness into his marvelous light,17:17 we kind of have the consumer sort of mentality in our relationship with God and it's a mentality that doesn't jive with his character. God's not a blender, but we're tempted17:29 and we battle. You know, hey, we're we're all about the truth, but, you know, maybe a little maybe a little dilution of that and a little fudging and a little misdirection, misrepresentation blend a little half17:40 truth in there. Or, yeah, you know, I'm I'm all for holiness. I'm all for for for righteousness. I'm all for having the family resemblance. You know, God's holy, but, you know, I got17:52 you know, he's okay with a little sin. You know, there's grace and the blood of Christ and, you know, so that's always there for me as my little, you know, sin policy,18:04 backup. And no, that's not what God is saying. Or, you know, what about when we just go, you know, yeah. I he good person. I'm gonna be good. He's a good man.18:16 You know? But there's that there's that dark side. You know? And that's the edgy side, and that's the dark side. And, you know, what we need to know, guys, is that18:28 God does not blend holiness and sin. He doesn't blend truth with lies. He doesn't blend good18:40 with evil. God does not blend. You see a man in the scriptures, his name is Isaiah, he's a man of God, he's a man just like you and I. And18:52 man, his life in God got a radical hit when he got a right view of God. And I want us to look into this vignette in Isaiah chapter 6 because19:04 it's it's relevant because he was a man living on earth who had a vision of God that impacted his life in God. Look at what it says. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne19:16 lofty and exalted with the train of his robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above him, each having 6 wings. With 2, he covered his face and with 2, he covered his19:27 feet and with 2, he flew. And 1 called out to the other and said, holy, holy, holy is the lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his19:39 glory. And the foundations of the thresholds tremble at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke and then19:51 I said, woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among the people of unclean lips20:04 For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Wow. You know, God allowed Isaiah to have this very20:16 clear 5 k vision of who he is. And when Isaiah had a clear vision of God, he had a clear vision of20:28 himself. And he responded and he reacted. He he had a clear vision of the king, the lord of hosts. He saw god in in his perfect holiness. He he was20:39 able to enter into that space. And when he saw god clearly, he saw himself clearly. And what we didn't read in the story is that Isaiah is allowed to remain in20:51 the presence of the Holy 1, and God cleanses him. An angel takes a coal from the altar, touches his lips. You know, IsaiahLifestyle and Power in the Light 21:03 said I'm a man of unclean lips. The angel takes a coal and touches his lips, and he's made clean. And the reason he has to be made clean is to be in the presence21:15 of God. Because God's not gonna blend his holiness with Isaiah's unholiness. And so there had to be a cleansing. That's21:27 why when I said earlier, we rely on the person and work and presence of Christ. He touched us and made us21:39 holy, and it's our job and it's our choice to not blend that holiness with unholiness. Here's the 2nd observation that we get from the passage21:51 in 1st John, and it's this. God cannot connect with men who blend. Just like we see, there had something had to happen for God22:03 to then interact with Isaiah. If you read Isaiah 6 and you go past verse 3, you'll see what happens. He gets cleansed, and now there's a connection. And then God says,22:15 you know, who will go for us? And Isaiah says, here I am. Send me. You know, they start this dialogue, and there's a commissioning, and God connects with him. But he couldn't connect with Isaiah before that moment22:27 where, you know, that coal was taken and he was cleansed. Same with us. Right? The person and work and presence of Christ, it it cleanses us.22:39 And but if we're blending, if we're thinking mistakenly that we can have a foothold in the presence of a habitual22:50 sin in our lives and and feel and think, that we can also, at the same time, concurrently, have a relationship with some sin in our lives and23:02 then just and have a full connection to God, then we're deluded. We are deluded because we're diluted, and God cannot relate to us in23:14 that diluted and polluted state and condition where there's there's there's unholiness, there's sin that's part of our life. I know I'm talking to hundreds of23:25 you out there, and not in judgment, just to give you clarity that don't be self deceived. You know, you're not under the blessing of23:37 God if you have habitual sin, and and you're in it, and then you're thinking that everything's cool, you know, with the Lord. Remember? God does not blend. So if you're blending,23:49 God's not connecting. Alright? Look at what it says. It describes this exact problem. In John chapter 3 verses 19 to 21, it says this, God's light came into the world,24:01 but people love the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear that their24:13 sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light, so others can see they are doing what god wants. Do you see how24:25 there's god's light comes in, and then those who are are blending, they can't connect. God can't connect. They they run. They because they're not24:37 really interested in pleasing God, you know, or they're just self deceived. Alright? And then there's those God's light comes in, and man, they go to the light. They don't run away from it. And, you know, I think24:48 that's part of the the the joy of doing this global livestream. Thousands and thousands of men. It's it's a welcoming light. It's not a light of judgment. It's a light of, hey, here's some areas.25:00 And and a lot of guys that go, okay, that's the Lord. I'm gonna come to the light, and I'm I'm gonna go ahead and let let him deal with me so that I can be in the light versus have to run25:12 away from it. And and brother, I know that there's there's both types out there. Some of you are watching this and, like, you've been off the reservation, you know. Trust me, in 30 years of doing men's ministry, I know25:24 when a dude is not where the light is because he just goes off the reservation. He is the the fleer in the John chapter 3 passage. Right? They they they don't want25:36 their their their darkness exposed, so they stay away from the light. Right? So they go off the reservation. You know, you might just be inching back into the light, and I'm just telling you, come on. I25:48 mean, it's there's forgiveness here. There's acceptance here. There's accountability as well here, but let's let God do the work. Let25:59 God let God's grace cover that, and let His light expose that, and let's repent of that darkness, and let's eliminate it. Alright? Because you want a connection with God. Alright? So, don't26:11 deceive yourself into thinking that, yeah, I'm totally cool with God and and connected to Christ while I'm blending. God says, I'm not a blender, and I can't connect with you when you're blending. Sin with holiness.26:23 Can't do it. Alright? And we're gonna talk about how to exactly restore that relationship. But what we need to know, guys, is that God cannot connect with men who blend.26:36 Right? Their life in Christ with a life of sin. 3rd observation from the 1st John passage is that God commands a lifestyle of light for his son. Do you notice in verse 7, it says, but if we walk in the light26:48 as he is in the light, we have fellowship with with 1 another and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin. Alright? See, there's an integrity,27:00 you know, there. We're we're we're our claim of being a Christian, our our integration of the person of Christ, the work of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit, it's all working together. We're27:12 cleansed. We're in the light. We don't have any unconfessed sin. That's what it means to walk in the light. It just think about that when you're walking. Alright? So we go for walks. We walk with people. We27:24 have a a metaphorical or figurative walk. What does that mean? It's just a rhythm of life. It's a lifestyle. It's it's kind of the sum of our habits and our27:35 choices in relationship with God and relationship with people that fosters, okay, walking in the light, that lifestyle that fosters our relationship27:47 and following of Jesus, that fosters our commitment to Jesus, that fosters serving others and serving the Lord, and that fosters loving God and people well.27:59 That's that's a good translation of walking in the light. It's a rhythm of life that is a lifestyle that has habits and relationships and choices28:11 that foster our relationship with God, serving God, and loving him and loving others really well. Walking in the light. And it's it's consistent,28:23 right, with this this lifestyle, this command for his sons. God God wants us to have, the family reflection. That's he's light, so his sons walk in the light.28:35 Alright? Talks about, this in 1st Peter 1 15 and 16 says this, just as he who called you is holy, that's light, be holy in all you28:46 do. For it is written, be holy because I am holy. God wants us to have the family resemblance. It's not on your notes, but write down in your notes Galatians chapter 5 verse 1.28:58 It says, be imitators of God. You know, as as his chosen people, right, as his chosen sons, God wants us to have the family resemblance. Well, what did Jesus say at the29:10 outset of our study? He said, I am light. Right? Whoever follows me doesn't walk in darkness. Again, there's that word, walk. Right? That rhythm, that lifestyle, those habits, those29:22 choices. Okay? That that choose truths, that choose holiness, that choose God commands. That's that's all walking in the light. We're gonna get into those in more depth in the sessions to come. So you're really gonna29:34 want us join us in the next, 3, 4 weeks. Okay? Let's make our last observation from the passage in 1st John, and it's this, that god floods power29:46 into men who eliminate darkness. Now we saw in verse 7, the the whole compare contrast, the the contrast of29:58 those who claim to have fellowship but walk in darkness, they lie, they don't practice the truth. Verse 7 says, but if we walk in the light, as he in the light, we have fellowship with 1 another.30:11 Alright? That means when you have fellowship, that means you are connected. Right? You have fellowship with God. And when you're connected to God's person, you're connected to his30:22 purpose, and you're connected to his power. Right? When you're walking in the light. Jesus talks about this, functionally, and he uses the the30:34 light metaphor in Luke chapter 11. Let's read that passage in your downloaded notes, verses 33 to 36. It says this, no 1 lights a lamp and then30:46 hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where the light can be seen by all who enter the house. Your eye30:58 is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is31:10 filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, listen,31:22 with no dark corners, circle that, then your whole life will be radiant as though a floodlight were filling you31:34 with light. See, it's Jesus talking about the believer, and he wants the believer to be visible. The believer is visible when31:45 he's connected to God and there are no dark corners. The believer is visible when there's no dilution, when he's not blending.31:58 Alright? And and then it says here at the end, it says, if you're filled with light with no dark corners, and this is the the key teaching here, then your whole life will be radiant. Alright? It's32:10 radiating. You're visible. Why? Because there's no dark corners. Alright? You're eliminating darkness. And it's as though a floodlight were filling you with light. You ever been in the32:21 dark and then all of a sudden, floodlights come on. Right? Powerful. Right? They're powerful, beams, you know, coming through. And that's32:33 that picture. It's that picture of being at full power. Question. Are you at full power? And I know I'm hitting a lot of you right now because you're not. And you're not32:45 because you're thinking that the light you think you have is light when it's actually darkness. You have self deceived. You said, I can accommodate this32:57 this this habit or this choice right alongside my life in Christ. And God's going, uh-uh. And, you know, the worst thing that can happen is when you think you have power33:09 and you don't have power when you need power. Right? When you got a hill to climb and there's nothing in the tank. Right? When you need light, but you go to flick the33:21 switch and the power's off. You know? And you won't know it until it's too late. And I'm here to tell you that God is speaking to hundreds and hundreds of men33:33 right now listening to this, and he's not speaking in judgment, but he is speaking in truth. Because there's forgiveness for you and cleansing, and we're gonna walk through an exercise to get you there. But33:45 you can't have a dark corner. Because remember, God's not a blender. But you can have full power. And we gotta be really diligent, guys, to to be careful to what33:57 we let in, you know, the eyes, the lamp of the body, and, you know, you you let in things through the eye, and and there's the eyes of your heart, and there's the physical eyes, and it's all letting things in.34:09 And sometimes we let things in that shouldn't stay in. Right? Sometimes we can't help thoughts that are evil or or visions that are perverted or whatever. We but they can't stay. We gotta kick them out.34:22 And so this is the call that's happening right now. It talks about this in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 9. It says this. Look at your notes. You can show others the goodness of God,34:34 for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful life. I know right now I can even see there are guys that right now, you're34:46 being called out of darkness. I don't know what your darkness is, but God is speaking into you. And some of you are sitting deep in the darkness, and God is shining the light right now. It's a light that you can walk34:57 toward. Alright? It's a light that you can go to, and you can get up, and you can leave that place. God is saying you have to leave that place. Leave that place of darkness or leave the darkness you're hanging on to. LetShow more In this video 0:00 Benefits of Walking in God's Light14:00 God's Unblending Character as Anchor21:00 Lifestyle and Power in the Light35:00 Confession Prayer and Commitment42:00 Confession Prayer and Staying in the Light56K followers
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