WEBVTT 00:00:03.367 --> 00:00:09.362 It may be the single most important technological discovery in the history of the world. 00:00:09.362 --> 00:00:12.374 I would vote for the electric light bulb. 00:00:12.374 --> 00:00:18.960 Think of this critical medical procedures no longer needed to wait for the sun of the morning. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:23.647 Factories could now create goods 24 hours a day. 00:00:23.647 --> 00:00:32.329 People could walk streets illuminated 24 hours a day and then think of the security of brightly lit homes. 00:00:32.329 --> 00:00:35.366 The light bulb is a pretty big deal. 00:00:35.366 --> 00:00:38.268 Light is not just sort of important, it's huge. 00:00:38.268 --> 00:00:43.765 But I do have to pause right here and ask do you have our note page? 00:00:43.765 --> 00:00:46.146 It's going to be really important. 00:00:46.146 --> 00:00:51.573 It's the only way that you can enter to win our thousand dollar Amazon gift card after the service. 00:00:51.573 --> 00:00:53.825 You do want the note page, trust me. 00:00:53.825 --> 00:00:56.679 All right, we have an assignment at the end and you want to do it. 00:00:56.679 --> 00:01:02.493 Our all-star usher team, even now, is circulating offering this golden ticket to you. 00:01:05.801 --> 00:01:13.352 It is incumbent on me, having brought up the idea of the light bulb, that I ask how many chiropractors does it take to change a light bulb? 00:01:13.352 --> 00:01:17.049 One, but it will take six visits. 00:01:17.049 --> 00:01:25.771 How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb One, but that light bulb has to really want to change. 00:01:25.771 --> 00:01:30.206 How many optometrists does it take to change a light bulb? 00:01:30.206 --> 00:01:32.269 One or two? 00:01:32.269 --> 00:01:34.774 One or two. 00:01:34.774 --> 00:01:39.447 How many televangelists does it take to change a light bulb? 00:01:39.447 --> 00:01:40.149 One. 00:01:40.149 --> 00:01:45.771 But for the message to continue, would you please send in your generous credit card gift right now. 00:01:45.771 --> 00:01:51.932 All right, last one how many campfire worship leaders does it take to change a light bulb? 00:01:51.932 --> 00:01:59.371 Just one, but soon all those around can warm up to its glowing, it's true. 00:02:00.393 --> 00:02:02.963 Well, this morning I'm asking a slightly different question. 00:02:02.963 --> 00:02:11.126 How many people does it take to make your light, your testimony, your passion for Jesus go dim? 00:02:11.126 --> 00:02:14.390 How many One? 00:02:14.390 --> 00:02:18.036 Just one, you. 00:02:18.036 --> 00:02:25.123 This is important because even after coming to know Jesus, the light of the world, we've been singing about it. 00:02:25.123 --> 00:02:32.402 We struggle with darkness and unless we are proactive, you and I can actually hide the light of Christ. 00:02:32.402 --> 00:02:36.491 Jesus lays it out for us in a passage in Luke, chapter 11. 00:02:36.491 --> 00:02:41.783 And because you brought your Bible, would you open it please to Luke chapter 11? 00:02:41.783 --> 00:02:44.045 And if you're comfortable, open it please to Luke chapter 11. 00:02:44.045 --> 00:02:48.830 And if you're comfortable, would you join me please as we read the scripture together out loud? 00:02:48.830 --> 00:02:55.296 We're going to look at Luke, chapter 11, verses 34, or, excuse me, 33 through 36. 00:02:55.296 --> 00:02:59.858 Would you mind standing, if you can, out of respect for the word of God. 00:02:59.858 --> 00:03:01.125 It's a great thing to do. 00:03:01.125 --> 00:03:04.580 Let's stand together and read together, starting at verse 33. 00:03:05.122 --> 00:03:18.112 No one lights a lamp and puts it away in a cellar, nor under a basket, but on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. 00:03:18.112 --> 00:03:21.717 Your eye is the lamp of your body. 00:03:21.717 --> 00:03:34.408 When your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light, but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 00:03:34.408 --> 00:03:39.962 So watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 00:03:39.962 --> 00:03:54.693 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light without any dark part, it will be wholly illuminated, as when the lamp illuminates you with its light. 00:03:54.693 --> 00:03:57.949 Thanks for that reading, and would you be comfortably seated? 00:03:59.181 --> 00:04:11.229 You know, when I have read this passage in the past, I always envision some sort of a giant Aladdin's lamp Brass shiny thing, you know, at least the size of a football or bigger. 00:04:11.229 --> 00:04:13.942 But you want to know what Jesus had in mind. 00:04:13.942 --> 00:04:27.002 He had in mind this this is the lamp that Jesus would have referred to, that his disciples that the readers of the original first copies of the New Testament would have had in mind. 00:04:27.002 --> 00:04:29.026 Not terribly impressive, is it? 00:04:29.026 --> 00:04:34.545 But you know, you put this little reservoir some oil and it'll last like four to six hours. 00:04:34.545 --> 00:04:46.250 I originally intended to light it for you this morning, but after reading online reviews of this particular lamp no kidding several people indicated that when they lit it the whole thing went on fire. 00:04:46.250 --> 00:04:50.004 I didn't presume we needed that kind of drama this morning, did we? 00:04:50.004 --> 00:04:50.365 Dennis? 00:04:50.365 --> 00:04:51.870 I don't think so. 00:04:51.870 --> 00:04:53.163 We've got roof issues. 00:04:53.163 --> 00:04:54.548 We don't need carpet issues. 00:04:54.548 --> 00:04:59.247 But this is the lamp that Jesus had in mind. 00:04:59.247 --> 00:05:08.846 And when we say the word lampstand, it's not a brass shiny thing in a wedding ceremony with floral decor on it, it's a niche in a wall. 00:05:08.846 --> 00:05:11.627 I mean, you can see how big this thing isn't. 00:05:11.627 --> 00:05:14.408 Didn't take much of a niche for that lampstand. 00:05:14.408 --> 00:05:18.449 But much more important than the lamp is what Jesus is telling us here. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:23.331 In this passage, christ shares three insights that we must not miss. 00:05:23.331 --> 00:05:26.309 Number one it's possible to be full of light. 00:05:26.309 --> 00:05:32.483 Bible has a lot to say about light and if you're taking notes, that's right there it's possible to be full of light. 00:05:32.483 --> 00:05:34.651 This is the message we have heard from him. 00:05:34.651 --> 00:05:41.949 We read in first John one five, and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. 00:05:41.949 --> 00:05:43.812 John eight 12. 00:05:43.812 --> 00:05:47.548 Again, jesus spoke to them saying I am the light of the world. 00:05:47.548 --> 00:05:51.706 Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. 00:05:51.706 --> 00:06:01.651 Again, in John 12, 46, jesus says I have come into the world as light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 00:06:01.651 --> 00:06:03.966 And James 1, 17. 00:06:03.966 --> 00:06:13.492 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 00:06:13.492 --> 00:06:15.463 That's well and good. 00:06:15.523 --> 00:06:21.944 But what does Jesus really mean in Luke 11.34, where he says your eye is the lamp of your body. 00:06:21.944 --> 00:06:26.072 When your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light. 00:06:26.072 --> 00:06:28.124 Well, matthew Henry helps us here. 00:06:28.124 --> 00:06:33.004 He says the light of the body is the eye which receives the light of the candle when it's brought into the room. 00:06:33.004 --> 00:06:44.548 So the light of the soul don't miss this now is the understanding and judgment and its power of discerning between good and evil, truth and falsehood. 00:06:44.548 --> 00:06:55.543 Boy, don't we need that in today's confused culture, the power to discern between good and evil, between truth and falsehood. 00:06:55.543 --> 00:06:58.831 Good news it's possible to be full of light. 00:06:58.831 --> 00:07:01.543 Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. 00:07:01.543 --> 00:07:08.122 Christ tells us when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light. 00:07:08.122 --> 00:07:11.267 Now, jesus is the light of the world and he is. 00:07:11.267 --> 00:07:24.584 That means the more you have of Jesus, the more time spent talking with Jesus, the more time spent reading his word, the more your eye will be clear and your whole body full of light. 00:07:24.584 --> 00:07:26.648 The math is just that simple. 00:07:26.648 --> 00:07:37.353 To the extent that Jesus controls our thoughts, our words, our agenda, we will be full of light. 00:07:37.353 --> 00:07:39.819 How much of Jesus do you have? 00:07:39.819 --> 00:07:41.024 How much? 00:07:41.024 --> 00:07:43.252 How much of him is on display in your soul? 00:07:43.252 --> 00:07:48.392 If you were to have a conversation with him today, what would he say about you? 00:07:50.026 --> 00:07:57.031 You know, for nearly 20 years I've worked in a freelance relationship on a radio program with some attorneys, with a guy named Steve. 00:07:57.031 --> 00:08:00.495 Steve manages the radio program and I produce it. 00:08:00.495 --> 00:08:03.673 And in 20 years I've made some goof-ups. 00:08:03.673 --> 00:08:05.612 I've missed a deadline here and there. 00:08:05.612 --> 00:08:09.254 Do you know, when we record with the attorneys as good as they are, they make mistakes. 00:08:09.254 --> 00:08:10.237 I'm supposed to cut them out. 00:08:10.237 --> 00:08:14.095 Once in a while I forget to cut them out, not good. 00:08:15.845 --> 00:08:23.627 Well, steve has never been anything other than gracious, always kind, never condemning, never putting me on a guilt trip. 00:08:23.627 --> 00:08:31.630 Not only that, but when you're with Steve, he's the ultimate gentleman Others, first self-deprecating, always pointing to Christ. 00:08:31.630 --> 00:08:35.975 He is full of light because he's full of Christ. 00:08:35.975 --> 00:08:40.331 It oozes from his pores, just always quoting scripture. 00:08:40.331 --> 00:08:49.328 And when we're filled up with Christ, others will see that light in us, just like I see it in Steve 1, john 1, 7 promises. 00:08:49.328 --> 00:08:57.918 But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 00:08:57.918 --> 00:09:06.155 It's possible to be full of light, but there's a second insight it's possible to be full of darkness. 00:09:06.155 --> 00:09:11.087 But there's a second insight it's possible to be full of darkness. 00:09:11.107 --> 00:09:12.631 In luke 11, 34, jesus warns your eye is the lamp of your body. 00:09:12.631 --> 00:09:15.238 When your eye is clear, your whole body is also full of light. 00:09:15.238 --> 00:09:20.297 But when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 00:09:20.297 --> 00:09:23.484 Let me be very clear here. 00:09:23.484 --> 00:09:26.333 This passage is not teaching that you can lose your salvation. 00:09:26.333 --> 00:09:29.474 Some might say no, nowhere is that taught in Scripture. 00:09:29.474 --> 00:09:35.077 Instead, jesus is telling us that this light business is serious, it's a struggle. 00:09:35.077 --> 00:09:40.856 He's warning us that darkness is always encroaching, always our enemy. 00:09:40.856 --> 00:09:44.355 Darkness is our default, sorry to say it. 00:09:44.355 --> 00:09:47.914 Why else would Jesus tell us in Matthew 5, 16,. 00:09:47.914 --> 00:09:49.187 In the same way. 00:09:49.187 --> 00:09:55.884 Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 00:09:55.884 --> 00:10:03.110 Listen, if this came naturally he wouldn't have to command it, but he did, because it isn't natural. 00:10:03.110 --> 00:10:04.951 It takes focus and effort. 00:10:04.951 --> 00:10:10.568 Hey question how can you know when the lamp of your body is going bad? 00:10:10.568 --> 00:10:16.639 Easy the less you have of Jesus, the less you have of the light. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:23.349 Less time in the word, less time in prayer, less time with friends who know Jesus, more time with friends who don't. 00:10:23.349 --> 00:10:26.375 And the dimming process starts slowly. 00:10:26.375 --> 00:10:29.327 It really does so slowly. 00:10:29.327 --> 00:10:31.114 We don't even know it's happening. 00:10:31.114 --> 00:10:34.071 That's why it's so deceptive. 00:10:34.071 --> 00:10:38.313 I have a light problem in my office at home. 00:10:38.313 --> 00:10:41.472 I've got a light fixture attached to a ceiling fan. 00:10:41.472 --> 00:10:44.019 For whatever reason, it was never bright. 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:52.052 That bright it was adequate, but over time it has gotten dimmer and dimmer and dimmer. 00:10:52.052 --> 00:10:54.177 Here's how dim it is. 00:10:54.177 --> 00:10:55.639 Ask me, how dim is it? 00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:59.530 Thank you, I had the light switch on. 00:10:59.530 --> 00:11:04.648 Five-year-old Emma walked into my office, presuming it was off. 00:11:04.648 --> 00:11:08.277 She flicked it on, which meant she turned it off. 00:11:08.277 --> 00:11:11.693 She goes oh, I thought it was off. 00:11:11.693 --> 00:11:14.211 That's how dim it is. 00:11:14.211 --> 00:11:15.812 A five-year-old could perceive it. 00:11:15.812 --> 00:11:17.610 I got to fix that thing. 00:11:17.610 --> 00:11:21.734 Is that a picture of you or me? 00:11:21.734 --> 00:11:27.238 We know Jesus, but our light has grown dim. 00:11:27.238 --> 00:11:32.010 In Luke 11, 34, jesus warns your eye is the lamp of your body. 00:11:32.010 --> 00:11:40.037 When your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light, but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 00:11:40.037 --> 00:11:43.714 What does full of darkness look like? 00:11:43.714 --> 00:11:52.317 Well, on October 7th last year, hamas initiated a brutal massacre of 1,400 Israeli citizens. 00:11:52.317 --> 00:12:00.255 I'm going to invite any parents here who might want to shield their children from a gruesome description to place their hands over their child's ears. 00:12:00.255 --> 00:12:14.153 This attack included shootings at point-blank range, mass rape, tortures, burning toddlers, babies alive, beheadings, mutilation. 00:12:14.153 --> 00:12:32.616 Footage of almost all of this is readily available, courtesy of the gleeful terrorists who shot at themselves on body cameras, on dash cams and the devices of the very victims they burned or beheaded or raped. 00:12:32.616 --> 00:12:35.192 They then sent the footage to their loved ones. 00:12:35.192 --> 00:12:39.894 This isn't the Israeli puff piece. 00:12:39.894 --> 00:12:41.669 This happened. 00:12:42.225 --> 00:12:45.711 That, ladies and gentlemen, is a picture of the phrase full of darkness. 00:12:45.711 --> 00:12:47.033 You say, hey, man, I might. 00:12:47.033 --> 00:12:48.154 A picture of the phrase full of darkness. 00:12:48.154 --> 00:12:50.679 You say, hey, man, I might be playing with a little bit of darkness once in a while. 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:56.642 Well, that doesn't make me a terrorist Agreed. 00:12:56.642 --> 00:13:00.028 But that doesn't make the danger of darkness any less dangerous. 00:13:00.028 --> 00:13:05.318 If the eye of your soul is taking in more darkness than light, you should be concerned. 00:13:05.318 --> 00:13:09.394 Nobody wakes up in the morning and says I think I'll be a murderer. 00:13:09.394 --> 00:13:12.630 Today Doesn't work that way. 00:13:12.630 --> 00:13:16.133 It's a temper you fail to control. 00:13:16.133 --> 00:13:19.232 It's a habit you fail to starve. 00:13:19.232 --> 00:13:28.407 It's a video game that feeds on violence and darkness and consumes you, numbs you to it. 00:13:28.427 --> 00:13:32.115 Jesus summed it up in John 3, 19-21, and this is the judgment. 00:13:32.115 --> 00:13:46.057 The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his work should be exposed. 00:13:46.057 --> 00:13:47.403 But whoever does what is true comes to the light and does not come to the light lest his work should be exposed. 00:13:47.403 --> 00:13:53.225 But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in god. 00:13:53.225 --> 00:13:57.833 Spiritual darkness is the very reason jesus came. 00:13:57.833 --> 00:14:11.798 He says so in acts 26, 18, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. 00:14:13.142 --> 00:14:22.366 Colossians 1.13 spells it out for he rescued us from the domain or kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. 00:14:22.366 --> 00:14:28.619 Have you ever asked Jesus to rescue you from the domain of darkness? 00:14:28.619 --> 00:14:33.013 Have you Ever asked him to be your savior? 00:14:33.013 --> 00:14:33.695 It's a Bible word. 00:14:33.695 --> 00:14:36.626 It means in charge of you, the light of your life. 00:14:36.626 --> 00:14:38.451 Today's the day to do that. 00:14:38.451 --> 00:14:42.628 Just say Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my wrongdoing. 00:14:42.628 --> 00:14:43.590 I've messed up. 00:14:43.590 --> 00:14:46.738 Would you be in charge of me from this day forward? 00:14:46.738 --> 00:14:48.607 Help me to turn away from this darkness. 00:14:48.607 --> 00:14:50.731 That's your first step. 00:14:52.535 --> 00:14:54.907 Jesus has a third insight for us in this text. 00:14:54.907 --> 00:14:57.937 We must constantly watch out. 00:14:57.937 --> 00:15:02.625 Watch out Luke 11.35,. 00:15:02.625 --> 00:15:05.386 So watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 00:15:05.386 --> 00:15:07.371 Isn't that an interesting phrase? 00:15:07.371 --> 00:15:11.792 Watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 00:15:11.792 --> 00:15:15.669 You see how insidious, tricky, deceiving this is. 00:15:15.669 --> 00:15:20.610 Darkness is determined to dim your spiritual vision. 00:15:20.610 --> 00:15:25.269 Darkness is determined to dim your spiritual vision why? 00:15:25.269 --> 00:15:26.883 Because dark is our default. 00:15:26.883 --> 00:15:29.789 Even after we're saved, we tend toward darkness. 00:15:30.471 --> 00:15:39.485 In Romans 7.15, paul himself admitted for I do not understand what I'm doing, for I'm not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 00:15:39.485 --> 00:15:44.566 Yes, as believers, we have the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit of God, indwelling us. 00:15:44.566 --> 00:15:50.633 Yes, we've been delivered from the penalty and power of sin, but the battle with darkness is a daily thing. 00:15:50.633 --> 00:15:53.381 What does it mean, though? 00:15:53.381 --> 00:15:54.083 To watch out? 00:15:54.083 --> 00:15:56.447 Let's get practical here. 00:15:56.447 --> 00:15:58.052 It means analyze. 00:15:58.052 --> 00:16:04.231 Don't just consume stuff, turn off autopilot and actively look around. 00:16:04.231 --> 00:16:08.711 Compare what you're taking in with what the scripture says. 00:16:08.711 --> 00:16:14.952 Ask is this leading me toward godliness or worldliness? 00:16:14.952 --> 00:16:17.988 You know, this is trickier than it seems. 00:16:17.988 --> 00:16:21.705 Some cases it's pretty obvious, but it's tricky. 00:16:21.705 --> 00:16:22.047 Why? 00:16:22.047 --> 00:16:30.708 Because Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light 2 Corinthians 11, 13 and 14. 00:16:30.708 --> 00:16:36.120 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:42.173 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 00:16:42.173 --> 00:16:45.508 What an example of Satan disguising himself as an angel of light. 00:16:45.508 --> 00:16:47.299 What an example of Satan disguising himself as an angel of light. 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:57.513 Listen to what Hitler wrote in his infamous book Mein Kampf by warding off the Jews I am fighting for the Lord's work, really. 00:16:57.513 --> 00:17:02.169 But people initially thought Hitler was almost an angel of light. 00:17:02.169 --> 00:17:12.986 I interviewed a 91-year-old lady recently who remembers as a little girl watching Hitler's motorcade drive right down her street and she cheered. 00:17:12.986 --> 00:17:17.391 She was thrilled this great leader had finally come. 00:17:17.391 --> 00:17:22.290 And it was just months later when she learned the truth. 00:17:22.290 --> 00:17:26.209 Hitler was filled with the darkest of darkness. 00:17:26.209 --> 00:17:30.169 Boy, you and I thought fake news was bad enough. 00:17:30.169 --> 00:17:33.365 Now we've got to deal with fake light. 00:17:34.288 --> 00:17:52.067 Yep, for nearly a year I've had the tremendous privilege, the joy of going on a semi-monthly basis to the Kovach Eye Institute here in Elmhurst, where they plunge a needle into my right eyeball Kaboom. 00:17:52.067 --> 00:17:56.374 You cannot imagine how pleasurable this is. 00:17:56.374 --> 00:18:07.387 Every single waiting room or examination room they put you in, though, I've noticed, has extremely dim lighting. 00:18:07.387 --> 00:18:10.095 It's almost dark in some cases. 00:18:10.095 --> 00:18:10.415 Why? 00:18:10.415 --> 00:18:31.951 Well, as part of the process, they dilate your eyes, then they put medicines in there, then they numb your eyeball, then they numb it again, then the doctor is an hour late and they numb it three more times, all of which leaves you rather sensitive light wise, and finally he plunges the needle in. 00:18:31.951 --> 00:18:34.921 I would show pictures, but I wouldn't want anyone to get sick. 00:18:34.921 --> 00:18:40.313 But when you leave that office, you had better have a couple of pairs of sunglasses on. 00:18:40.313 --> 00:18:42.383 A couple of pairs of sunglasses on. 00:18:42.383 --> 00:19:09.275 I mean, it's not that the light got brighter, but your eyes were more comfortable in the dark, but the lights were low and it makes me wonder how many of us, perhaps unwittingly, turn down the lights, how many of us darken the rooms of our souls through choices we make in what we stream, read, watch. 00:19:09.275 --> 00:19:13.047 Let me get in your face a minute if I could. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:19.252 When was the last time you stopped reading a book because it contained darkness? 00:19:19.252 --> 00:19:21.865 Now, I love my action novels. 00:19:21.865 --> 00:19:23.390 I really do. 00:19:23.390 --> 00:19:26.461 I like action novels. 00:19:26.461 --> 00:19:28.943 Came into one recently, was reading it. 00:19:28.943 --> 00:19:32.949 The language was just inappropriate, along with some other things. 00:19:32.949 --> 00:19:35.632 I had to stop, got rid of it. 00:19:35.632 --> 00:19:39.115 It's not leading me to light, it's leading me to darkness. 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:45.454 When was the last time you stopped watching your favorite TV program because it veered into darkness Diane? 00:19:45.454 --> 00:19:50.826 And the last time you stopped watching your favorite TV program Because it veered into darkness Diane? 00:19:50.826 --> 00:19:52.112 And I have a favorite detective show we like to watch. 00:19:52.112 --> 00:19:55.501 It's usually pretty good, but occasionally I'm going to dip into things oh, here's a seance, sorry, not watching that one. 00:19:55.501 --> 00:19:58.007 Or here's this or that Not watching it. 00:19:58.007 --> 00:20:05.632 I mean, we're sitting down in Florida watching the Olympics as I'm eating breakfast with Diane in the hotel lobby. 00:20:05.632 --> 00:20:08.108 What's the sport that they're playing on the screen? 00:20:08.108 --> 00:20:10.528 It's beach volleyball for the women. 00:20:10.528 --> 00:20:12.906 And what are their uniforms? 00:20:12.906 --> 00:20:14.782 Nothing but bikinis. 00:20:14.782 --> 00:20:18.071 No offense, no offense. 00:20:18.071 --> 00:20:19.807 That's not appropriate for a guy to watch. 00:20:19.807 --> 00:20:23.303 It just isn't. 00:20:23.303 --> 00:20:24.868 It's not leading me toward light. 00:20:24.868 --> 00:20:27.244 I had to not look. 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:31.542 You ever got up and walked out of a movie that you went to. 00:20:31.542 --> 00:20:33.910 You might need to. 00:20:33.910 --> 00:20:40.113 Jesus says watch out, watch out, watch out. 00:20:40.113 --> 00:20:43.846 It's not a light thing, a small thing. 00:20:43.846 --> 00:20:51.183 Got an assignment for you right now and then a story, and then we're done. 00:20:51.183 --> 00:20:52.869 Here's the assignment. 00:20:52.920 --> 00:21:00.690 Get off that note page now that you were dutifully folding into a paper airplane that you were going to write. 00:21:00.690 --> 00:21:04.465 Now, take two minutes for a quick inventory of your life. 00:21:04.465 --> 00:21:12.601 Ask God, I dare you, sitting where you are, to point out one thing that you've allowed into your life. 00:21:12.601 --> 00:21:14.924 That is actually darkness. 00:21:14.924 --> 00:21:21.442 One thing Maybe it's a favorite TV show, I don't know what, it is a novelist. 00:21:21.442 --> 00:21:24.171 Write that one thing down on the blank. 00:21:24.171 --> 00:21:26.226 There's a frame, a square, there in the note page. 00:21:26.226 --> 00:21:36.429 If you didn't get a note page, this is your one and only time where it's legal and encouraged to steal the blue prayer card, you can write on that and no one will penalize you. 00:21:36.429 --> 00:21:39.488 But write it down that one thing. 00:21:39.488 --> 00:21:41.981 I'll give you 10 seconds to write it down. 00:21:41.981 --> 00:21:59.606 And as you're writing, why don't you confess it quietly to God? 00:21:59.606 --> 00:22:01.279 Call it what it is Darkness. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:05.955 I dare you to add this sentence. 00:22:05.955 --> 00:22:06.798 Call it what it is darkness. 00:22:06.798 --> 00:22:14.460 I dare you to add this sentence I commit to removing this darkness from my life. 00:22:14.460 --> 00:22:20.559 I commit to removing this darkness from my life. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:23.606 Do it today. 00:22:23.626 --> 00:22:31.035 I want to share with you a tale of two Franks, not hot dogs, but two guys named Frank Frank. 00:22:31.035 --> 00:22:34.204 Number one First, the photo of Francis Schaeffer. 00:22:34.204 --> 00:22:34.965 Is he on the screen? 00:22:34.965 --> 00:22:36.509 There's Francis Schaeffer. 00:22:36.509 --> 00:22:40.946 He was the 20th century's greatest theologian Quite a guy. 00:22:40.946 --> 00:22:42.510 And he had a son named Frank. 00:22:42.510 --> 00:22:43.673 Let's see Frank. 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:51.923 There's Frank Frank, a brilliant, bright, intellectual guy, strong believer, wrote a number of powerful Christian books. 00:22:51.923 --> 00:22:57.263 He helped evangelical Christians learn to speak out against the godless elements in culture. 00:22:57.263 --> 00:23:00.950 He helped launch the moral majority, other Christian voices. 00:23:00.950 --> 00:23:02.491 He was on the Moody campus. 00:23:02.491 --> 00:23:03.814 I interviewed him a couple of times. 00:23:03.814 --> 00:23:10.759 A great guy, just a brilliant mind. 00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:15.104 But over time Frank's faith began to shift away from his father's and then dim. 00:23:15.104 --> 00:23:17.849 He drifted slowly away from evangelical truth. 00:23:17.849 --> 00:23:24.380 Biblical truth, notice, nobody ever drifts toward biblical theology. 00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:26.625 They drift away. 00:23:26.625 --> 00:23:36.749 He drifted so far that in one of his latest books, frank Schaeffer writes, quote what I fear today isn't God's theoretical wrath but my family's palpable sorrow when I hurt them. 00:23:36.749 --> 00:23:40.824 That is hell in the here and now, the only hell there is. 00:23:40.824 --> 00:23:47.474 Really Sorry, frank, that's not what scripture teaches. 00:23:49.099 --> 00:24:03.970 Frank has also written maybe saying evolution teaches or God says is more or less the same thing, Just another way of summing up what we know about ourselves from our collective human primate experience of what works. 00:24:03.970 --> 00:24:08.644 Wow, but how did this shift happen, you ask? 00:24:08.644 --> 00:24:10.451 A little at a time. 00:24:10.451 --> 00:24:12.766 One light at a time. 00:24:12.766 --> 00:24:22.039 Lights that were turned down or turned off at a time. 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:23.622 Lights that were turned down or turned off. 00:24:23.622 --> 00:24:25.423 Jesus warns watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 00:24:25.423 --> 00:24:30.411 How many believers does it take to make a light go dim or dark? 00:24:30.411 --> 00:24:34.816 One, just one, you. 00:24:34.816 --> 00:24:38.546 There's a second Frank whose story you need to hear. 00:24:38.546 --> 00:24:50.788 This Frank also grew up in a godly home, but as he became a teenager, this Frank began to sow his oats Wild living, godless choices, loud motorcycles, and I'll spare you the moral details. 00:24:50.788 --> 00:24:54.545 But then he started letting the light of scripture back into his life. 00:24:54.545 --> 00:25:01.009 You know him today as Franklin Graham and of course you know all the great things his ministry is doing. 00:25:01.009 --> 00:25:04.769 He takes over Samaritan's Purse. 00:25:04.769 --> 00:25:07.146 But here's what you might not know. 00:25:08.681 --> 00:25:17.509 When Hamas attacked Israel October the 7th, they destroyed 14 Israeli ambulances and murdered all 14 drivers. 00:25:17.509 --> 00:25:21.186 This was a significant hit for them. 00:25:21.186 --> 00:25:29.150 Franklin visited Israel not long after that attack, learned of this loss and he told the Israeli authorities in a meeting that he wanted to help. 00:25:29.150 --> 00:25:32.568 You want to help us replace an ambulance? 00:25:32.568 --> 00:25:35.386 Franklin says we'd like to do more. 00:25:35.386 --> 00:25:38.565 You want to buy two ambulances. 00:25:38.565 --> 00:25:41.051 We'd like to do more. 00:25:41.051 --> 00:25:44.403 Three ambulances that's incredible. 00:25:44.403 --> 00:25:49.289 More, how many more? 00:25:49.289 --> 00:25:53.016 We'd like to replace all 14. 00:25:53.016 --> 00:25:57.386 Do you have any idea how much money you're talking about? 00:25:57.386 --> 00:26:00.313 This is $130,000 each. 00:26:00.313 --> 00:26:04.685 We'll replace all 14, said Franklin. 00:26:04.685 --> 00:26:08.253 And we're going to buy some armored ambulances as well. 00:26:08.253 --> 00:26:11.182 That's incredible. 00:26:11.182 --> 00:26:16.134 Listen, we'll put the name of Samaritan's Purse on every door of those ambulances. 00:26:16.134 --> 00:26:18.307 Franklin said you'll do no such thing. 00:26:18.307 --> 00:26:27.931 You will honor the life and legacy of every one of those slain ambulance drivers by putting their name on the door of the ambulance. 00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:32.048 That is a life filled with light. 00:26:32.048 --> 00:26:39.306 How many believers does it take to make a light turn? 00:26:39.306 --> 00:26:44.353 Bright one, just one. 00:26:44.353 --> 00:26:46.236 You. 00:26:46.236 --> 00:26:58.074 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, without any dark part, it will be wholly illuminated, as when the lamp illuminates you with its life. 00:26:58.074 --> 00:27:05.371 Let's pray, lord, god, would you help us take an honest assessment of our lives. 00:27:05.371 --> 00:27:08.748 What darkness have we let creep in? 00:27:08.748 --> 00:27:13.990 What darkness have we allowed in that we don't even see as darkness? 00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:27.710 We invite your Holy Spirit to put his finger on it, to make us uncomfortable about it till we confess it and destroy it. 00:27:27.710 --> 00:27:31.169 We want to be people of the light, not of darkness. 00:27:31.169 --> 00:27:35.816 Thank you for this word that we can be full of the light as we draw near to you, jesus, thank you. 00:27:35.816 --> 00:27:36.375 Thank you for this warning. 00:27:36.375 --> 00:27:36.813 Thank you for this passage. 00:27:36.813 --> 00:27:37.861 Thank you for this word that we can be full of the light as we draw near to you, jesus, thank you. 00:27:37.861 --> 00:27:39.060 Thank you for this warning. 00:27:39.060 --> 00:27:40.663 Thank you for this passage. 00:27:40.663 --> 00:27:43.468 Thank you for your word In Jesus' name, amen.