Alright, so just because it is Christmas time, I just thought I'd better start with a Christmas
passage and I think we can build from there.
But Matthew chapter 2, Matthew chapter 2 verses 1 to 3.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold there
came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king of the
Jews?
For we have seen his star in the east.
Now notice that.
They saw this star, these wise men saw this star in the east and had come to worship him.
And when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
So these wise men have come from the east, right, they've been following this star.
Then to verse 7, Then Herod, when he had previously called the wise men, inquired of them diligently
what time the star appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child.
And when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
And when they had heard the king, they departed.
Once they talked to King Herod, they departed, and lo, the star which they saw in the east
went before them.
So this star, you know, some people try to say, well this star was Jupiter, I don't think.
I actually think this was a supernatural star, because it seems to be moving and guiding
them along the path.
Whether that was an angel or what have you, we don't know.
But we see that star again, they see that star again, which they saw in the east, went
before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
So the message today is the light of the world.
Following the star, following the light.
The first thing that we need to do as Christians, if we want to be wise men, these people were
wise men, we want to be wise, as Calum's preached before, hey, you know, hear that winter solos
is wise, right?
That's one way to be wise, is to be a soul winner.
But the wise men followed the light, right?
The wise men followed the light that had been presented to them, right?
The same thing as us, if we want to be wise in our life, we want to be wise men, wise
women, wise children, we also need to follow the light that God gives us.
The first thing we need to do is receive the light, okay?
Receive the light.
John chapter 3 verse 18 says, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.
And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world.
Who's this light?
The light is Jesus Christ, right?
This light is come into the world, it's Jesus Christ.
And men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved.
Okay, what does that mean to have your deeds reproved?
It's like, it's the concept of being in darkness and having light shine upon you.
When we go and preach the gospel, what do we do?
We tell people that they're sinners, right?
One of the first things they tell us is how good they are.
They go into heaven based on how good they are.
They think they're in the light, but they're in the dark, we need to shine that light and
show them that they're in darkness, right?
We need to reprove that darkness, so that way they can see, wow, I come short, I don't
have the light, I need to come to the light who is Jesus Christ.
They need to have their sins reproved, they have to realize they're a sinner and that
they're unrighteous before God.
Come to the light, receive the light, how do you receive it?
Believe in on his name.
When you believe on Jesus Christ, you receive the light of Christ.
The next thing that we need to do, if you've already received Christ as your light, as
your savior, the next thing we need to do is preach the light, okay?
We preach the light.
John chapter one verse four to five says, in him, talking about Jesus, in him was life
and the life was a light of men.
Eternal life is referred to as the light of men and the light shineth in darkness and
the darkness comprehended it not.
Now the darkness doesn't comprehend the light.
A lot of people know about Jesus Christ, right?
They've heard of Christ, they've heard of the crucifixion, now during Christmas they've
heard of his birth, but it says they can't comprehend it.
They cannot understand it, right?
They know about him, they know about Christ, they know about the light, but they can't
understand the light.
Why can they not comprehend it and what is our job to make sure they can comprehend it?
Verses six to seven says, straight after this, it says there was a man's sense for the light
from God whose name was John, the same came for a witness and to bear witness of the light
that all men through him might believe.
So even though people know about the light, they cannot comprehend it, they cannot understand
it.
So what did God do?
He sent John the Baptist.
He sent John the Baptist to explain who the light was, right?
And that's why we need to not just receive the light, but preach the light.
We need people to understand and comprehend the light of Jesus Christ.
They need to understand salvation, okay?
They can only understand it if there's a witness and that's our job.
We are to preach the light.
The third thing we need to understand with the light is that we need to understand our
position in the light, understand our position as saved believers, as Christians that have
received the light, we need to understand our position.
Colossians chapter one verse 12 to 13 says, give thanks unto the father which have made
us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who have delivered
us from the power of darkness and have translated us into the kingdom of his dear son.
So the Bible says, look, we have been delivered from the power of darkness.
We have inherited with the saints the light so we don't have to be in darkness, right?
That is our position as Christians that we have received the light, our position before
God is that we're no longer in darkness, we no longer have the power of darkness covering
us so we've been delivered from that power, okay?
We need to understand that position.
Why?
Because in Romans 13 verse 12 says, the night is far spent, okay?
The night is almost over.
The day is at hand.
Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light, okay?
As Christians, we need to make sure that our lives are lives of light, not lives that are
in darkness because our position before God is being taken out of that darkness.
We're in light as far as God is concerned.
Verse 13 says, let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness.
So the Bible says, hey, walk honestly, walk truthfully as in the day, not in the darkness.
Why?
Because it's in the darkness.
It's at the nighttime that people get up to no good.
It's in the darkness when people commit fornication.
It's in darkness when people do the wrong things.
It's in darkness when people break into your house.
It's in darkness when people get drunk, okay?
People like to do these things in darkness but that shouldn't be us.
We should be children of the light.
We should be people of the day.
Verse 13 says, let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not
in chambering and wantonness.
That chambering is sleeping around.
That should not be us.
Not in strife and envying but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for
the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.
Okay?
So we need to understand our position before God.
He's taken us from that power of darkness.
You may have been addicted to some of those things in your past, struggling to get over
those things but now that you're in the light, God gives you the power to overcome the darkness
so we can overcome sin in our life.
Whatever sin you're struggling with, God has given you the ability through His light to
be able to overcome that sin because we're not under anymore that power of darkness.
Next thing I want you to notice is to be led.
Please be led by the light.
Be led by the light.
What does that mean?
Psalm 119 verse 105 says, thy word is a lamp unto my feet.
Thy word.
What's the word of God?
Do you guys know what the word of God is?
The Bible.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Not just a light to your feet where you stand but your pathway, where you're going to walk.
Be led by the light.
God will lighten your path in your life.
You might not know, I don't know what God's plan is for me.
Hey, read the Bible.
The answer's in the Bible.
The Bible will show you through God's word, God will show you what steps you need to take
as a Christian.
You need to be led by the light.
It's the Bible that is a lamp that will direct your steps.
Now, if you've just been saved not long, you might live to your 70, 80, 90, 100 years old.
We don't know.
We might not know what God has planned for us 20, 30 years from now.
We don't know that.
We don't know what God's plan is for the rest of our life.
But the instruction is take one step at a time.
Read your Bible.
Learn what we need to be doing as Christians, how we need to be growing, how we need to
fulfill the will of God in our lives, and then take the step when the light shines forth.
You know, my example, I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I'd be on the Sunshine
Coast at the church.
Never.
You know?
But what do I do?
Just, there's a bit of light.
You take a step in that light in faith.
You can't see further than that.
You can only see the light that God shines in your path one step at a time.
Then once you take that step, God will shine further light in your path.
You take that next step, and so on and so forth.
And that ought to be our Christian life.
We should never get to a point where, you know, yes, I can see the light, but it's the
rest of it's dark.
You know what?
I'm just going to stop here.
Then you're going to be a stagnant Christian.
You're not going to change.
As a Christian, we ought to be growing and leading and following that light.
The worst thing to do is actually go backwards, look back and go, hold on.
I liked it back there, but it was dark, you know, and head back that way.
That's a backslide.
And then you're going to be struggling as a Christian big time if that's you, okay?
So it's not good to stay stagnant, but it's even worse to go back, okay?
Take each step along the way as God shines light, and don't over burn yourself.
The Bible is a big book, a lot of instructions, a lot of commandments.
You might look at that and go, man, I'm so far from that.
Just relax, okay?
Don't try to do everything at once.
Take one step at a time in your Christian life as the Bible shines your path.
The next thing is to shine your light, okay?
We're children of light.
We're children of the day.
Shine your light.
John 8, 12 says, then speak Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world.
Who's the light of the world?
Jesus, right?
Jesus says, I am the light of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.
Okay?
If we can be saved, we can be saved in Christ, but then we might not follow him, right?
But he says, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.
So if we keep the commandments of God, we follow after his footsteps, then we're not
going to be in darkness.
We're going to be in light.
Of course, because Jesus Christ never had any darkness in him.
So if we follow after the footsteps of Jesus Christ, we will never be in darkness who will
have the light of Christ.
He says, he that shall have the light of life, okay?
So he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
So that Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world, says if we follow after his steps,
we will have his life in our life, okay?
Which is important for the next bit in Matthew 5, 14.
Once Jesus leaves, Matthew 5, 14, it says this, Jesus says to his disciples, ye are
the light of the world.
So who was the light of the world before?
Jesus Christ.
But if we follow after Christ, guess what?
We are the light of the world, ye are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put it under
a bushel, but on a candlestick, and to give a flight unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven.
So how do we shine our light?
It's our good works, the good things that we do, the commandments of the Lord that we
keep.
Loving our neighbour, serving the Lord, being a model Christian if you will, living a life
that people look at you and can see Christ in you, can see the light in you, glorifying
you.
People ought to look at you and go, man you're a bit weird, you're a bit different.
They ought to see, because why?
Because Jesus was weird.
Jesus was different.
Some people, he was so weird and different that some people hated him and killed him.
We ought to be similar in that way, we ought to be different and not like the world.
People ought to look at our lives and say, there's light in this person, they're different.
They shine in the darkness, and in fact those that are in darkness, those that are in sin,
should be a little bit uncomfortable when we cross their paths.
We ought to be able to demonstrate, hey we're not that way, we're different to the world.
So don't hide your Christian life and let man see your good works.
Don't hide your good works, do good to please God, but don't hide it from man, because that's
in a good example, that's showing the light in this world that we have of Christ.
The last thing I want to talk about is manifest darkness by the light.
What do I mean by that?
Manifest darkness by the light.
So not only should we overcome the darkness in our life, overcoming sin in our life, but
manifest the darkness of the world.
Especially myself as a pastor, as a preacher, it is my job to manifest, to make known the
sins of this world, to manifest the darkness.
Ephesians chapter 5 verse 8 to 16 says this,
For ye were sometimes darkness, before ye were sometimes darkness.
But now, now that we're saved, now that we're following Christ, now are ye the light in
the Lord.
Walk, walk, the instruction is walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in
all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord,
important part verse 11, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.
Don't associate yourself with friends that are full of darkness, friends that are full
of sin.
Don't have fellowship with those people, but rather reprove them, make their sins known.
Again, I said it's very important for me as a preacher to preach behind the pulpit
even things that might be uncomfortable in our lives, might be uncomfortable in my own
personal life.
None of us are without sin, but I've still got to openly preach against that, openly
reprove that, make known the sins of this world.
The world doesn't want their sins reproved, but that's not just the job of the preacher,
that's the job of every Christian, to make known, hey, this is not acceptable.
Gay marriage is not acceptable, homosexual marriage is not, these things are wrong, these
things are anti-God, these things are not biblical, hey, we're the light of the world.
The politicians aren't going to be the light of the world, the celebrities aren't going
to be the light of the world, Christians, us, the very few that we are amongst the world,
we are the light of the world, it's our job to reprove the darkness.
Verse 12, for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in
secret, but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever
done for making manifest is light.
So who's going to fix this world, if this world's going to improve slightly?
I know it, where am I down in the spiral, I know the end times aren't far away, but
who's going to be the ones that, you know, improves things slightly, it's going to be
the believers, right?
Again, it's not the politicians, not the celebrities, not the people in power and control, it's
the Christians that have the light of the world, that have the light of Christ.
Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
give thee light.
Because as Christians we could be sleeping, as Christians we can be in the darkness, and
well, you know, that's just the way the world is, you know, what can we do about it, no.
We can, we have power over that, because we have the light of Christ.
Verse 15, see, then that year walked circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, but as wise, the
wise men, they followed the light, okay.
If you are in the light, if you reprove the works of darkness, the Bible calls you wise,
redeeming the time because the days are evil, redeeming the time, what does that mean?
We've only got limited time in our life.
We've only got limited time for us to be in the light, limited time to shine the light,
limited time to make known the light who is Jesus Christ to this world, hey, make use
of your time, make use of the time, shine the light brightly, don't be in darkness,
and let's be like the wise man, following that star, following the light in our life.
Okay, thanks guys.
Calvin, do you mind praying?
I do.