Psalm 119, verse 105. Psalm 119, verse 105. Everybody there? Alright, let's read. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much Quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word, except I beseech thee the freewill offerings of my mouth. O LORD, and teach me thy judgments. My soul is continually in my hand, yet do I not forget thy law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I err not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end. May the Lord bless the reading of His Word this morning. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank Thee that Thou has allowed us to be in this place this morning. Thank You, Father, for bringing us together one more time And Lord, thank you for sending Christ Jesus into the world to save us sinners. For we are the chief, we are wretches, yet by his atoning work on Calvary of this day, we are now the children of the Most High God. Thank you, Lord, for giving us your Word, your Son. And thank you, Lord, that for those who trust in Him, you give eternal life as well. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. I want to concentrate more than anything this morning on the 105th verse here. I was sitting at my desk thinking about how I could tie this into the season we're in, and I went back and forth for a long time, and then illumination hit, and I was so glad it did, because I really wanted to, as much as I possibly could, preach Christ from every one of these stanzas. There's 22 of them. And it's been a real, real challenge not to find him so much, but to put together sermons from each one of these stanzas. I hate to tell you that probably there's going to be about 59 sermons out of this stanza, stanza 14. There's so much to unpack in this glorious psalm. I look back at Psalm 18, verse 28, first of all, when this illumination came. And one of the things that I found back there at Psalm 18, 28, is that David said that God would light his candle. He said, The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. And I went back then to verse 105, and I looked at those words. Thy word, thy word is a lamp unto my feet. and a light unto my path. And I thought about that for a moment and it began to come together. Those words, Thy Word, certainly is meant by David to be all the scriptures that he knew thus far, to his day and age, which included the five books of the Pentateuch. It included Joshua, and Judges, and Ruth, and so on, and so on. When you get up there to 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, he is in a lot of that narrative. He is one of the subjects in those particular books. But as far as what he had, thy word was what this meant, the law. The law was a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path. But thy word rang a bell for me. God's Word is not only this Word that you hold in your hand, but thy Word that is God's Word is God's only begotten Son. sent forth into the world, made of a woman, made of the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5. John 1, 1, if you'll turn there, tells us that Thy Word, Thy Word, which is known by many as all the scriptures, but is in fact His Son, Starts in verse 1 by us finding here that Word. In beginning was the Word, verse 1 says, and the Word was with God. And notice the last clause, and the Word was what everybody? God. So that Word from verse 105 is the Word that we find in verse 1, John 1. Verse 2 says in John 1, the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and everybody read this out loud if you're at verse 4, John 1 with me. And the life was the light of men. Notice verse 5, Jesus comes in the world, and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. But for all who believe in Him and trust in Him, this Word is a lamp unto our feet. So in verse 105, Psalm 119, that Word is Jesus. Amen to that. David said in 2 Samuel 22, verse 29, For thou art my lamp, O Lord, Way back in the Old Testament. For thou art my lamp, O Lord, and the Lord will lighten my darkness. I believe that coincides with verse 105, don't you? Psalm 119. And this light unto my path that we read in the second clause of Psalm 119 happens to be found as such in verse 6 of John 1. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. John was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. And John doesn't want to leave anything undone. Verse 9, John 1, that was the true light, the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And by the way, if you look at verse 14 of John 1, John puts this all together in this statement, and the Word, God's Word, His only begotten Son, was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten Father, full of grace and truth. Oh, thank the Lord! Our Savior is full of grace and truth, and in that grace and truth, He came into the world to save sinners, of which we all are chief. If you'll flip back to Luke chapter 1, And if you'll look at verses 76 through 79, you'll see the reason why the Lord came. Luke 1, verse 77, He came to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins. That's an amen statement, everybody. Verse 78, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby He, that is the Dayspring from on high has visited us. Oh, thank you, Lord, for visiting us. Verse 79 now, "...to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." I believe this is the Christ of Psalm 119, verse 105. Don't you? I can't help but believe that. And praise God, this was not only to the Jews, but to us Gentiles as well. Look at Luke chapter 2, verse 32. It tells us there that Christ is a light that will lighten the Gentiles as well. Amazing what the Lord has done for us and showed us in wonderful words from Psalm 119, 105, These Things of Himself. By the way, if you'll flip back to John chapter 8, Jesus Himself says of Himself, John 8 verse 12, that He was the light of the world. Might I say that He is the light of the world? And He said, He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Isn't that wonderful? Go to John 12. Look at verse 46. Again, he says of himself, I am come O light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. The darkness of sin, the darkness of corruption, the darkness that overshadows all men running toward hell. Boy, I'm glad he was a lamp unto my path and a light unto my feet, or vice versa, however you do it. You know, all the time, I quote that verse, and I can't remember which comes first, the lamp or the light. It really doesn't matter. It's one and the same. Back in the book of Isaiah, you don't have to turn there, but Isaiah chapter 9, verse 2, we're told by the prophet Isaiah, the people that walk in darkness have seen a great light. If you're saved today, you've seen that great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Over in Acts 22, you should be able to get there pretty quick. Acts 22 and verse 6. There we read, and it came to pass, that Paul says, "...as I made my journey and was come down to Damascus about noontime. Suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me." Wonder what that great light was. Better yet, who was that great light? Well, it was Christ Jesus. And for us today, if you'll turn to 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter writes in verse 9 and 10, that these whom the light has shined upon and in two are a chosen generation, verse 9, they are a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, and that doesn't mean odd, folks, though every one of you are odd. Peculiar means his special treasure. We are trophies of grace in the hallowed halls of God's house in heaven. But we are a peculiar people that we should show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into what? His marvelous light. He's called us into Jesus. That marvelous light is Jesus. Verse 10, here Peter says, in time past, we were not a people. We were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel. We were not a part of that election. Oh, but God, who is rich in mercy, wherewith he loved us, included us, us that were not a people, are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy, because God was gracious to us and granted us, gave us that mercy. I'm surprised you all end up running around the room shouting. What a wonderful thing that we have been granted this mercy! Matthew chapter 4 verse 16, again Jesus speaking, "...the people which sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region of the shadow of death, light is sprung up." Forgive me. Imagine that. The light has sprung up. It's cold, dead sinners. You couldn't see. You couldn't see the heavenly game. And it's doubtful that you saw the hell you were going to gain. Though your clothes smell like smoke even. All sinners are hanging over hell by a half-rotten thread. We are to attempt as best we can to try to bring them back from the edge and show them Christ Jesus, help them to see the light. These that sit in darkness are going to go to hell, and the light that's in us ought to be brilliant enough that all men can see it. That doesn't mean all men will believe us when we give them the Gospel. They probably won't. But those for whom the Father has chosen to include in His life book, they certainly will. That's why I preach the Word to all men indiscreetly. I don't have a clue to whom God is going to save. But I know whomever He shines the light of the Gospel on, He will save. No question about it. Now let me tell you something else. In Heaven, Jesus will still be our Light. First of all, in Isaiah 60 verse 19 and 20, "...the sun shall be no more the light by day," it says, "...neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee. But in heaven the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." I want to tell Isaiah something. He's that to me now. But in Heaven, there'll be no need for a sun or moon. There's no day or night there, because Christ is the lamp, the light. Verse 20 of Isaiah 60, Isaiah writes, Thy sun shall no more go down. It'll always be light. Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself. It'll always be light. For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. To which I say, Come quickly, Lord Jesus. There is coming a day there'll be no more blackness and darkness of sin. The light that is Jesus will do away with that. And I want to tell you, Revelation 21-23 just verifies what Isaiah wrote. Revelation 21 verse 23, And the city, talking about heaven, the celestial city, had no need of the sun, neither the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Oh my stars! I guess Psalm 119 verse 105 is right. Thy Word, Thy Son, our Lord Christ Jesus is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Now we've talked about these things from both the Old and New Testament. Let's come up to today. Psalm 4 verse 6 says, that there will be many that will say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. The regenerate sinner, that is the one whom the light has begun to penetrate, will more than likely say that, but in different words. Lord, say me, will be what they will say, or at least should say. And to the sinner, I would say to you this morning, sinner friend, hear the word of the Lord. Jesus is saying to you, let a little while is the light with you. And I adjure you, as Jesus was saying to the folks in John 12, that they should walk, run, while you have the light of Christ. Lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not where he goes. So if you're listening to this today by Facebook, if you're reading my post on Facebook, and for any of you that have friends and loved ones that are lost, tell them that soon this church age that we're in, this age of grace, is going to be over. And today is the day of salvation. You're going to hell unless you repent and believe in the Word, that is the gospel, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. While you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light. In Him alone is life. And it is His life that is the light of men. That light is now shining in the darkness. Lift up your head. For heaven's sakes, your redemption is drawing nigh. Someday, He's going to turn the lights off. And there will be no more second chances. There will be no more of the preaching that you're hearing now. It will stop. Someday, This old dark world that rejects the light is going to be absolutely destroyed and all that's in it. The light that is Christ Jesus is in the world today. Don't be like those that love darkness rather than light, that reject Christ Jesus, that hate what He stands for. Their deeds are evil and they are fast approaching hell with no abatement to the speed. Oh, I look around me today and I'll read my newspaper. I'll watch television. I don't get to see much television because not much of it's fit to watch, but I do watch some news channels. I do get on YouTube and look at things, and invariably on YouTube somebody will be talking about what's going on in the world, and we'll have video to prove it out. My goodness, this cancel culture that we're in, this woke society that's infiltrating our schools and our government, our churches, for heaven's sakes, is a vile and vicious bunch that hate Christ. There is a guy, I can't think of his name right now, who just recently went to Israel and went up on Mount Zion, and he had two tablets that he said was the Ten Commandments, and they were over. And he threw them down and broke them into pieces. He says, there's a new set of commandments. And oh, what filthy, vile things they were. God, right now, is winking at their foolishness. He holds them all in derision. He's mocking them, for indeed, He is absolutely sovereign, and He is the one that gives them their life and breath. And if He so desires, in a flash, He can snuff them out. Judgment has come into this world. The church, is preaching that judgment, if it's preaching the true Jesus. They which see not, can see, if they'll look and see, open their ears to the gospel. And they which refuse to see, will remain blind in their arrogance and ignorance, and die in their sins. The psalmist declares that Christ, in Psalm 36 9, is the fountain of life. And we're talking about not just life today, but eternal life. And the abundance of it even now while we're living. As a matter of fact, for all you that are saved today, the day that you were saved, your eternal life began. I actually, if I was primitive Baptist, could take you all the way back to before the foundation of the world and say your eternal life began the day that God wrote your name in His life book. And we wouldn't be far off, but we weren't saved in eternity past. We were elected unto salvation now in the present. Whatever generation His people live in, they were saved. The psalmist also tells us that not only is He this lamp and He's the light, He's the Word that brings us to Himself, the Gospel. Ephesians 5, 14, Paul said, Wherefore Christ saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Saint or friend, there's no question today, if you call upon the name of the Lord, trusting in Him, believe in Him for salvation, trusting that He's satisfied God's wrath against you, thou shalt be saved. In Malachi 4, verse 2, we're told, You that fear His name has had the Son of righteousness rise up within you with healing in His wings. And that's what's happened to everyone who's trusting in Christ. They've been healed of their sins. They have been healed of their diseases of sin, their sickness, their corruption, their condemnation, all of it removed from them. In Matthew 4, 16, all of us that once sat in darkness, we've had this light spring up in us, and now we're saved. He that is from the beginning, He that we have heard by the preached Word, He that we have seen with faith's eyes, which faith has enabled us to look upon Him, the Word of Life, has granted us fellowship with the Father and with Him, whereby we will live forever in the hallowed halls of Heaven. That is an Amen statement. First John 2.8, the darkness has passed. And the true light now shineth. First John 2, 9, He has opened our blind eyes and brought us out from the devil's prison, yea, out of the darkness of the prison house of sin. Aren't you thankful? We were dead in trespasses and sin. We were at the bottom of the dungeon. I've used this illustration many times in the past and you've heard me here at this church so many times talk about it. How that I used to work for a radio station and our midday preacher would get on and he would preach about how the fact that one day that he was in a river and he was drowning and he yelled out and Jesus came to the shore and threw him a life ring and hauled him back in. Well, somewhere along the line, while I was there at that station, that preacher's message changed. He used the same illustration, but the wording had changed. He said, There I was, drowned, dead at the bottom of the river. I could not save myself. Jesus dove in. Rescued me. Resuscitated me. I'll get it out. Resuscitated me. and brought me back to life. I will tell you today, you there lost, that have not Christ, that have rejected Christ, that believe not in Christ, you're dead at the bottom of the river. And your only hope is that Christ dive in and rescue you, and resuscitate you, and give you life. This morning, you heard us sing, The Light of the World is Jesus. You may not know much about that song, but I did a little research on it. And I found that it was written by a fellow by the name of Philip Paul Bliss, P.P. Bliss, who was, by all accounts, the second most famous Christian songwriter in history. And I want to thank Ed Rees for his research in this bio about Bliss. Bliss's contributions to hymns and thousands of hymn books included such hymns as Almost Persuaded, Hallelujah, What a Savior, Jesus Loves Even Me, Let the Lower Lights Be Burning, Once for All, and the one that I think is one of his best, The Light of the World is Jesus. And that's just a smattering of what he has written. He also wrote the music for Horatio Spafford's song, It Is Well With My Soul. He also did the music for I Gave My Life For Thee. Bliss married Lucy Young in 1859. They had two children. And they moved to Chicago from Pennsylvania where they met. And Bliss began to conduct musical institutes and direct the choir at the First Congregational Church in Chicago. Then about a year or so later, even longer than that, in 1873, Bliss would meet Dwight L. Moody, the famous evangelist for whom the Moody Bible Institute is named for. And he asked Bliss to be one of his music directors for some meetings in England. But Bliss just didn't think he could leave all that he was doing, leave his wife and family. So D.L. Moody took Ira Sankey instead, and Ira Sankey became world famous for his hymn writing and singing, sang in all these great crusades. But God has a way of getting what He wants. And one night in a prayer meeting, Bliss was moved to surrender to the Lord, lock, stock, and barrel, whereupon he joined another evangelist, one of his friends, Major Whittle. And they began in Waukegan, Illinois, first to conduct music and some meetings. One night, while Bliss was singing, almost persuaded, and it seemed like the Holy Spirit just moved into the room on him, and sinners began crying out to be saved. And many were saved that night. Well, the very next evening as they prayed before the service started, praying for the service, Bliss couldn't take it. And right there on the floor on his knees, he surrendered himself to full-time evangelism and gave it all up to go on the evangelism trail and be a part of the Whittle evangelistic team doing all the music. For two and a half years, Whittle and Bliss labored together in places in Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. During that time, D.L. Moody, who really, really liked Bliss, wanted Bliss to Come help him in Louisville, Kentucky at a meeting where thousands of preachers were, and there in that meeting is when he introduced that new song, It Is Well With My Soul. Well, you know what that song does to us, right? Can you imagine what did that thousand preachers that were in attendance? Shortly after that meeting, Bliss and his little family traveled to Rome, Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with his mama. His mama hadn't got to see the grandkids much because they were living in Chicago. And you've got to remember now, this is in the 1800s, and it ain't like you can take a three-hour drive across the interstate to get to mama's house. And they had planned to stay not only through Christmas, but into January. However, D.L. Moody had scheduled some meetings for the Sunday right after Christmas, and he really wanted Bliss to come sing those songs. So he sent him a telegram and asked him to come back early. Well, Bliss gave in and said, okay, I will. And he sent a wire back to Moody and said that he had purchased his tickets for Chicago and that he had sent his bags on through that very day and would take the train in a couple days and would be there on Friday. And Bliss signed that telegram as he did a lot of his correspondence with these words, God bless you all forever. God bless you all forever." What? What an ending to anything. I mean that's great. You want to say that. But Bliss did not realize the providence in what he had written. Bliss and his wife decided to leave their two little children with his mother, giving the grandmother time to get to know her grandchildren. They would come back later in January, spend some more time with Mama, and then get the kids and head back to Chicago. They boarded their train and took off. However, en route to Chicago on December 29, 1876, their train was laboring hard through a near blizzard. creeping through huge drifts near Ashtabula, Ohio, the train of two engines and 11 cars began to make its way over a river bridge that was weakened by the floodwaters rushing beneath it. As the first engine rolled out of the trestle on the ground, the rest of the train broke loose on the bridge and collapsed under the weight, collapsed the bridge under the weight and plunged 75 feet down into the river below. A fire broke out in the broken wooden cars, and the winds of that near blizzard whipped them up that much more. Bliss was able to free himself and could have jumped to safety, but he wasn't going to leave his wife behind. She was trapped in some iron under one of the seats, and he worked feverishly trying to free her. But the flames bore in on them, and they perished in those flames, along with 92 other people. The record of disaster says that there was nothing to recover, just a melted heap of iron, steel, and ash. Ironically, or might I say providentially, Bliss's trunk that he had sent for a day or two earlier on a different train arrived in Chicago. When it was opened, it was found that the last song that he had ever set to music before his death was on the top of all the papers that he had in there. And that first line of that first song written by Mary G. Brainerd was this, He knows. He knows. Which simply says that God knows everything. Even the occasion of this terrible disaster, God knew. Though bliss is dead, still, what He has penned Himself, what He has set to music, is still being sung today. At least in churches where they still do hymns anyway. That's why I asked Brian this morning to lead us in, The Light of the World is Jesus. Let me remind you a few words and then we'll go to the house. First one says, The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin, but the light of the world is Jesus. Like sunshine at noonday in Bethlehem one day, His glory shone in, and the light of the world is Jesus. Verse 2 says, You dwellers in darkness with sin-blinded eyes, the light of the world is Jesus. Go wash at His bidding, and light will arise. The light of the world is Jesus. No darkness have we who in Jesus abide, because the light of the world for us is Jesus. We walk in the light when we follow our guide. The light of the world is Jesus. And then this last verse. No need of the sunlight in heaven, we're told. The light of the world is Jesus. The Lamb is a light in that city of gold. For the light of the world is Jesus. Then the refrain. Come to the light, it's shining for thee. Sweetly the light has dawned upon me. Sing with me. Once I was blind, but now I can see the light of the world is Jesus. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I bet you thought he can't find Jesus in Psalm 119 in that 14th stanza. Well, there he is, folks. There he is. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We were a little intimidated by this camera up in our face this morning, but I believe what Your Word says, that Your Word will not return void. It will accomplish that for which it's intended. And my prayer is that in spite of my delivery, that folks who are watching by Facebook, those that will hear us on sermon audio, if they're lost and undone without Jesus, will come to the light. Oh God, have mercy on these who are running so fast toward hell. Lord, stop them! Inject them with your light. Save their souls, if you would. Yay, even this hour. Thank you, Lord, for letting us have this ministry. We hope that we're doing right by it, that we're a blessing to you with it. Help us, Lord, to do it correctly and faithfully for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen.