We live in
a world that is turned upside down, where right is wrong and wrong is right, where faith in Jesus is to hate human rights,
and where commitment to God is a part-time self-serving aspiration. It would seem that the darkened minds of dogma and the
closed hearts that worship God and turn away from evil have lost their battle and a new world order has taken over! If you
believe this you are wrong. This is absolutely a false perception! We must remember that “Jesus is the same yesterday,
today and forever” and that his light will break through and overcome even if the world has some other plan, a plan
that will ultimately fail! Just because Jesus is not the fashion of today does that mean that we can turn aside from his precepts?
Absolutely not!
Romans 6:1
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound?”
Often it is thought that God allows
us to continue in our sinful ways with little reaction to us except affording us the grace to continue. On the contrary, God
is very grieved by our sin and he never expects that we continue to do it! What he expects is that we walk in a newness of
life. Not continuing to sin, but turning away from our old ways of sin to walk in a new way. Sure he is a God of grace and
that grace allows us the opportunity to repent and be forgiven of our sins, but it never says that we are to remain in this
activity expecting God to overlook it and keep giving while we take! This sin is called darkness and God want us to walk in
the light so we don't stumble and fall. This week we will study about his light and how we can walk in it and not walk
in darkness.
John 1:1-5
1. “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was
God.
2. The same was in the beginning with God.
3. All things were made by him; and without him
was not anything made.
4. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5. And the light shineth
in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
After reading these verses what questions do you have?
Answer the following questions:
In the beginning what existed?
Where was the word?
Who
made all things?
What
was the light?
Before we can overcome darkness (sin) we must learn who and what is light. We cannot think that we
are able to overcome the darkness (sin) of the world by ourselves and out of our own self-will or will power! Time and time
again man is guilty of leaning upon his own understanding and standing upon his own power, as it is written “There’s
a way that seems right to man, but leads to destruction.”
John 1:6-14
6. “There was a man sent from God whose name
was John.
7. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe.
8. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.
9. That was the true light,
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10. He was in the world, and the world was made by him,
and the world knew him not.
11. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
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.
13. Which were born, not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man.
14. And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
After reading these verses
what questions do you have?
Answer the following questions:
What came into the world?
What power
was given to those who believe?
What was the word full of?
Let’s face it, whether or not
you are a believer in Christ we are looking for answers to today’s problems. That’s because we can see many problems
in our world, just watch the news or stand in a line somewhere and listen to the people talk. We are really good at pointing
out problems and really good at offering solutions that don’t work! The world has been full of problems since the time
of Adam and Eve and these problems in their various forms have existed always, but so has the only answer! Jesus Christ, the
light of the world!
John 8:12-23
12. “Then spake Jesus 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.
13. The
Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearist record of thyself; thy record is not true.
14. Jesus answered and
said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and where I go; but ye cannot
tell whence I come and when I go.
15. Ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man.
16. And yet if I judge,
my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
17. It is also written in your
law that the testimony of two men is true.
18. I am one that beareth witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness
of me.
19. They said unto him, where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if
ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.
20. These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught
in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; his hour was not yet come.
21. Then said Jesus again unto them,
I go my way and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: where I go ye cannot come.
22. Then said the Jews; Will he kill
himself? because he hath said, whither I go, ye cannot come.
23. And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath;
I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”
After reading these verses what questions do you have?
Jesus is what to the world?
If you follow Jesus you will not what?
If
you continue in his word then you are what?
How
can we know the truth and be set free?
I don’t know about you, but always my first reaction to darkness (sin) is, can someone please turn
on the lights?!! The problem is I can’t see in the dark and if I try to walk in the dark I stumble on something, maybe
a chair, or something that is in the way. That’s exactly how it is in life, when you can’t see where you are going
then you are sure to stumble into sin! That’s why Jesus came, he is the light of the world, and we can’t see things
right and clear until we put Jesus and his word into our life. So, if Jesus is the light and the one that
brings us out of darkness then who or what is the one that we are calling darkness?
The thief…
John
10:1-10
1. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2. But he that entereth in
by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3. To him the porter openeth and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out.
4. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow
him: for they know his voice.
5. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the
voice of strangers.
6. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were
which he spake unto them.
7. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you I am the door of
the sheep.
8. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
9. I am
the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.
10. The
thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly.”
After reading these verses what questions
do you have?
Answer the following questions:
What is the way to heaven?
Who is the
door of the sheep?
What is a person that tries to enter another
way?
What does the thief come to do?
And Jesus what did he come to do?
Jesus came into the world to open
the spiritual eyes of all of us, he has brought light into an otherwise darkened world, and his competition the devil desires
to sift us and destroy our lives by keeping us in the dark about his schemes. To do battle with the troubles of the world
is to recognize that the battle is the Lord’s and we must go to him so that we
can see the traps that are waiting to catch us and destroy us, if
we choose to not seek the Lord then we walk in darkness to all the enemy’s tricks, and the enemy is very subtle.
Genesis
3:1-6
1. “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field,
which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea hath God said; Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2. And
the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden,
3. But of the fruit of
the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God, hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye
die.
4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5. For God doth know that
in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6. And
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
After reading these verses what questions do you have?
Answer the following questions:
What question did the serpent ask the
woman?
Which tree of the garden was forbidden
to eat from and why?
Would they die or would their eyes be
opened?
Knowing good and evil does it make us as God?
What does the serpent do here that is found in John 10:10?
Hey! Did you catch
that? Wow! The serpent said that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened! Wait a
minute. Isn’t that what Jesus came to do? Open our eyes! Absolutely, he is the light of the world,
but the trick is to go to Jesus for that light, not to the serpent that tricks us into believing that if we listen to his
voice we will know good and evil. Eve was tricked, everything that God told her was turned upside down, after the devil spoke
to her what God said was not true and what the serpent said was. She listened to another voice! Jesus said “my sheep
heareth my voice and a stranger will they not follow.” Yes, Jesus came to open our eyes, and he wants all of us to be
like him, to be Sons of God, not to be gods to ourselves, and not to be deceived by the trickster!
Can you think of some ways that
the world is being deceived today by the trickster?
In these last passages we see the battle between darkness and light, the serpent or thief
rages against the light. Jesus is the truth; Jesus is the light that openeth the eyes of all men to the ways of the devil.
