LIGHT
AND LIFE TO ALL HE BRINGS
BREAD
1 In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the
beginning. 3 Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life
was the light of men. 5 The
light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. John 1:1-5 (NIV)
6 There
came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to
testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light;
he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was
coming into the world. John 1:6-9 (NIV)
19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men
loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone
who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that
his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth
comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has
been done through God.” John
3:19-21 (NIV)
12 When
Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the
light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will
have the light of life.” John
8:12 (NIV)
44 Then
Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does
not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 When
he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46 I have
come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay
in darkness.” John 12:44-46 (NIV)
14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be
hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they
may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
6 Jesus
answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you
really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him
and have seen him.” John 14:6-7
(NIV)
35 Then
Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes
to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not
believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever
comes to me I will never drive away.” John
6:35-37 (NIV)
47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
48 I am the bread of life. John 6:47-48 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Deception is clothed
in darkness, truth in light.” BHY
“The hero is one
who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark
streets of life for men to see by.” Felix Adler
“Immortal,
invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most
blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Thy great
name we praise. Unresting, unhasting and
silent as light, Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might; Thy justice
like mountains high soaring above Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness
and love.” Walter C. Smith
“The true Christian cannot be hid, he
cannot escape notice. A man truly living
and functioning as a Christian will stand out.
He will be like salt; he will be like a city set on a hill, a candle set
upon a candlestick. But we can also add this further word. The true Christian
does not even desire to hide his light.
He sees how ridiculous it is to claim to be a Christian and yet
deliberately to try to hide the fact. A
man who truly realizes what it means to be a Christian, who realizes all that
the grace of God has meant to him and done for him, and understands that,
ultimately, God has done this in order that he may influence others, is a man
who cannot conceal it. Not only that; he
does not desire to conceal it, because he argues thus, ‘Ultimately the object
and purpose of it all is that I might be functioning in this way’.” Martin
Lloyd-Jones
“A holy life will
produce the deepest impression.
Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine.” D.L. Moody
“Hast
thou, O my soul, felt the weight of thy own guilt and misery, and been enabled,
in reality and truth, to lay hold by faith of the blood of Christ for thy
redemption, and faithfully to devote thyself to him in heart and life? Then hast thou a sure foundation to go upon: let it be thy constant care firmly to depend
upon these and such like blessed declarations; for every blessing thou standest
in need of. Has Christ brought life and
immortality to light? Then look unto him
and live. Is there redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins?
Then throw all thy guilt upon his atonement. Has he blotted out the hand-writing of
ordinances that was against thee? Then
shake off self-righteous dependences, and legal fears also. Did he die for thy sins? Then let his goodness and love lead thee to
unfeigned repentance; let the sense of thy sins break thine heart, but
encourage thy hope in the gospel.”
K.H. Von Bogatzky
“Darkness is my
point of view, my right to myself; light is God’s point of view.” Oswald
Chambers
“Almighty God,
give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the
armor of light.” Book of Common Prayer
“Our Light shines forth
in order to point others to Christ – the Source of our Light – and never to
self – most often the source of our darkness.”
BHY
“There are many
who stumble in the noon-day, not for want of light, but for want of eyes" John Newton
“I keep trying to
find a life, on my own apart from You. I
am the king of excuses, I’ve got one for every selfish thing I do. What’s going on inside of me? I despise my own behavior. This only serves to confirm my suspicions
that I’m still a man in need of a Savior...O Lord be my Light and my
Salvation. The disease of the self runs
through my blood, like cancer fatal to the soul. Every attempt on my behalf has failed, to
keep the sickness under control…Lord be my Light and be my salvation.” Charlie
Peacock
“It is light that enables us to see the differences between
things; and it is Christ who gives us light.”
Augustus Hare
“Did the Law ever
love me? Did the Law ever sacrifice
itself for me? Did the Law ever die for
me? On the contrary, it accuses me, it
frightens me, it drives me crazy.
Somebody else saved me from the Law, from sin and death unto eternal
life. That Somebody is the Son of God
(Who loved me and gave Himself for me).
Hence, Christ is no Moses, no tyrant, no lawgiver, but the Giver of
grace, the Savior, full of mercy….. Visualize Christ in these His true
colors. I do not say that it is
easy. Even in the present diffusion of
the Gospel light, I have much trouble to see Christ as Paul portrays Him. So deeply has the diseased opinion that
Christ is a lawgiver sunk into my bones.
You younger men are a good deal better off than we who are old. You have never become infected with the
nefarious errors on which I suckled all my youth, until at the mention of the
name of Christ I shivered with fear.
You, I say, who are young may learn to know Christ in all His
sweetness. For Christ is Joy and
Sweetness to a broken heart. Christ is a
Lover of poor sinners and such a Lover that He gave Himself for us. Now if this is true, and it is true, then are
we never justified by our own righteousness.”
Martin Luther
“If you’re turned the wrong way, you can’t see the light at
the end of the tunnel.” Ann Voskamp
“Jesus
came to lead people out of Satan's kingdom of darkness into God's kingdom of love and light…
Just as natural light shows up what is
otherwise unseen, so Christ the Light exposes people's deeds as ‘evil.’ … Unbelievers have no ultimate
meaning of life, no worthy motivation, no adequate goal, and a destiny of doom.
Yet everyone who does evil hates the light
(as well as loves darkness). He fears that if he comes to the light his
deeds will be seen as worthless, and
he would need to turn from them.” Bible
Knowledge Commentary
HEART
SAVOR
- · Jesus came into the world as a Light to all men pointing them to the Truth.
- · Light always exposes the darkness and points others to Christ.
- · The light of the Lord in every believer is to point to the Savior not to the self. We are merely the vessels of His glorious light – cracked clay pots filled with His great treasure. The donkey upon which Christ rode into Jerusalem did not think for a minute the people were spreading the palm leaves or singing Hosanna for him – how ludicrous the thought - and neither should we. Every gifting, every glorious thing we have is to point to the Giver. The One that gives the power gets the glory – always!
