Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, not mine. Null is the judgment of the world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I'm lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, We have heard from the Lord that the Christ remains forever. How come you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is the Son of Man? So Jesus said to them, The light is among you for a little while. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. We continue in our study through the Gospel of John, and this morning we'll focus on verse 35 and verse 36. And in these words that we've read, we actually see the last words of the Lord Jesus Christ in public. In chapter 12, you begin to see John recording for us the last public words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he spoke these words just before his crucifixion. And before He was put to the cross, or before He was put to death, the Lord Jesus Christ lovingly appealed to His hearers and also appealing to us. to turn to the light. And John wants us to pay particular attention to these words because these are the non-recorded last words of our Lord Jesus Christ. From this point onwards, you see the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to His disciples in closed confinement or in spaces. And as we know, that all over the world we do cherish the last words of a great man or a respected man or a great figure. But this is not just any other person, it is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, publicly calling His hearers to turn to the light and to believe in the light. And as I've said, after these words, as we read in verse 37 there, we see, in fact, the last part of verse 6, when Jesus had said these words, he departed and hid himself from them. From that point onwards, verse 15 all the way to the end of chapter 13, all the way to the end of the book of John, you actually see that there are no non-recorded public words of the Lord Jesus Christ or the words that Christ had spoken to the masses. These were the last ones. And His appeal was that they turned to Him in repentance. And these words of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see a solemn warning, but also a gracious appeal. to repentance, a gracious appeal for repentance. And I'll open up those few verses, those two verses, and we'll draw lessons for ourselves this morning. The first thing I'd like to point out to you is the reminder that the Lord Jesus Christ gives. And the reminder that He gives them is that He is the light. And this is what we see in the first part of verse 35. So Jesus said to them, The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The light is among you for a little while longer. And you see, John records for us there that the Lord Jesus Christ is reminding His audience that He is the light. And what is interesting is that the words in verse 35, the Lord Jesus Christ is not answering the question that He was asked in verse 34. In verse 34 they ask, who is the Son of Man? And the Lord Jesus Christ does not give a direct answer to that question because He knows that the identity and the mission of the Son of Man had been clearly taught to the masses. They had been taught who the Son of Man is, but also the prophets long ago had said who the Son of Man was going to be, rather the work and the mission of the Son of Man. And so when they asked the question, who is the Son of Man? The Lord Jesus Christ knows that at the root of this question, It's not the problem of information or the problem of knowledge. At the root of this question is the problem of sin because they know who the Son of Man is. and what his mission was. And so instead of answering the question directly, he draws their attention to the light, to the image of light, to this picture that he gives them. And he reminds them that he is the true light. He himself, he is the light. And this is important. When you read this verse in the original, you actually see that it is very distinct what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying. Four out of the five times the word light appears in those two verses, the four times it is preceded by the article they. And when you look at this in the original, you see that it's clearly a distinction and a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see in verse 35, so Jesus said to them, the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light. less darkness overtake you. Again you see the next, the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he's going. You have the light. Believe in the light. But then you see the last part in verse 36, in reference to men and women, John records for us that you may become sons of light. And so when you look at that, the way it is recorded, You clearly see the definite article before light is a clear reference to the Lord Jesus Christ and then he says those who believe in Christ, they don't become the light but they simply become sons of light. And here, John records for us that even on this occasion, before Christ was hung on the cross, he still reminds them that he is the light of the world. And this is important because this is the teaching throughout the Gospel of John. When you go in John chapter 1, the first descriptive term given to the Lord Jesus Christ. So the first term that John uses for the Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 1 is the fact that Jesus is the logos. He is the Word. And then the second term that John uses of the Lord Jesus Christ is life. And then the third description you see in chapter 1, in the first verses is that Jesus is the light. Let me quickly turn your attention to chapter 1 of John and you see that. John chapter 1, the famous chapter, I presume. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. Verse 4, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. Right there in the beginning of the Gospel, the third clear descriptive term or name given to the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John is that He is the Light. And then from verse 4 through to verse 9 of chapter 1, you see John repeats that description. Verse 5, the Light shines in the darkness. Verse seven, he came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all men might believe through him. Verse eight, he was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. In chapter three, of the gospel of John, verse 19 through to verse 21. Again, you see what John records for us there, chapter 3. And this is the judgment. 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 hurts the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. And so you see that even from chapter one, chapter three, and when you get again to chapter eight, And chapter 9, chapter 8 verse 12, chapter 9 verse 5, the Lord Jesus Christ clearly says, I am the light of the world. And here we see that His last public ministry, His last appearance to the public as He was teaching them, He shows them and reminds them that He is the light of the world. In fact, the last word recorded for us in verse 46 of chapter 12, John says, I have come, it's recorded for us in John chapter 12 and verse 46, I have come into the world as light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. And so we see here, the Lord Jesus Christ, gives this remarkable claim about Himself. He is the light. And this claim to any Jew or any Bible student will know that this claim identifies Jesus with God the Father. And if it identifies Jesus with God the Father, it also means that Jesus is the preexistent one. He is the eternal one. He is God. The Bible shows us, when you read the Bible, light is an ancient description or image used for God in the Scriptures. In Psalm 27 verse 1, Psalm 27 verse 1, David the Psalmist writes, the Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is my light and my salvation. In Psalm 36 and verse 9, Psalm 36 and verse 9, For with you is the fountain of life. In your light do we see light. For with you is the fountain of life. In your light do we see And again, just from the Psalms there, we see that God is being referred to as light. And here the Lord Jesus Christ is reminding all of us and His audience that He is the light. And those of us who are mathematicians or who enjoy mathematics know that in mathematics there is a saying, that things equal to the same thing are equal to each other. Things equal to the same thing are equal to each other. I can see your faces are drooping. I'm not going to begin to teach maths. But the point here, the logic in maths can also be used in what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying here. If Jesus, rather if God is light, and Jesus is saying He is the light, therefore, Jesus Christ is light and He is God. Using that mathematics analogy, things equal to the same things are equal to each other. And this is what we're seeing here, this is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying here, that he's reminding his audience that he is the light of the world. He's come in person and he's come that the world that lives in darkness, the world that walks in darkness might come to know light. And this light is the life of the world. And so here Jesus Christ reveals Himself as the fountainhead, the fountainhead of true and revealed light. In Christ, we see the beauty of life. In Him, we see the love of God. In Him, we see how sinful we are. In Him, in Christ, dwells the fullness of God. And the fullness of the spiritual life dwells in Christ. The full essence of God is in Christ. And therefore, Jesus himself is saying, He is God. He is the God who's come to show light to this world. And he reminds us that he is the light of the world. That's a reminder he gives. But secondly, he gives them the warning. We see a warning that is given. Verse 35 and the last part of it. So Jesus said to them, the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. Lest darkness overtake you. That's the warning that the Lord Jesus Christ is giving. He's saying that if you do not walk in light, Darkness will overtake you. There is this crunching darkness, the darkness of sin, that will overshadow you and overtake you, and you begin to see the agency and the seriousness and the need to respond to the light. And the Lord Jesus Christ, He knows He's about to go to the cross, and He says to them, Walk in the light, lest the darkness overtake you. The agency of the need to believe in Christ is intensified by Jesus' word, that if you don't do this, darkness will overtake you. This is a serious warning that the Lord Jesus Christ gives. He is teaching us that if one does not follow Christ, does not believe in Christ, he remains in his sin and therefore remains in total darkness. And this darkness, this darkness of sin will simply continue to intensify. who leads a life without God walks in darkness and with no vision of the purpose and the goal of life on earth. A life lived in sin gradually blinds people to see what is good and eventually ruins them. Those of you who've been in a cave or in a tunnel, or if you've ever had an experience to go underground, When you are in this dark cave or tunnel and you see a ray of light ahead of you or in front of you, the existence of that light invites freedom. You want to make your way to that light so that you come out of this dark cave or this dark dungeon. And if you are trapped in a cave or in a tunnel, it will be foolishness of anyone who sees the ray of light or who sees light far. at the end of the tunnel, to begin to say, I will remain in my darkness. To say that is not to be aware of the danger in which you are in. You are in a cave, in a tunnel. You can't see what is around you. And the ray of light is an invitation of freedom, that if I go to where that light is coming from, I might find myself out of this dark cave. and to remain and retreat in that dark cave is foolishness. Yet this is how sinners live their lives. This is how most of you live your lives. You try to find freedom. in wrong things. You try to find happiness in wrong things. You try to find joy in wrong things. Yet the true joy, the true light is saying to you, come. Come. Our newspapers, our social medias, our radios, every day we hear some sad news. Or sometimes we listen to what events around us and we're asking ourselves, but how could anyone in their mind think like that? How many times have you heard of very important, very educated individuals when they are faced with a problem, the first thing they do is to try and find the nearest witch doctor within the vicinity so that they can find freedom from what is bothering them. It was just this week when I heard of a man who His pajaro was stolen by a witch doctor. And the reason was, he has a son who has a problem and decided to seek help from the witch doctor. But since he didn't have money to pay, the witch doctor says, your car will be a surety. But you must also bring the white book. Now immediately you must be able to say, no Sammy, that's not right. First of all, this man doesn't have a proper address. How am I going to trace him? But the man did that. And the next day when they're supposed to go, treatment was supposed to begin for the son, only to find the witch doctor was not there. And it's been reported to the police. So they're hunting down this witch doctor and it's all over the news. Walking in darkness, trying to find solution to your problem from darkness. And this is the world we live in. Trying to find freedom in wrong things. continuing to walk in darkness, corrupting yourselves and further growing in your sinfulness. And when people around us, those who do not know God, when they look at those who know God, they begin to think that there's something wrong with these people. Yet when they examine The very people they are condemning, they begin to see that there's something about their lives which is not true of them. Many freely desire the joy that comes with a Christian faith and do not want to surrender to the author of that joy. Many around us are convinced and convicted by the light that is in those who are Christians. You can see that there's something about them and yet you remain in your sins. And the problem is not a lack of knowledge. It's not a lack of evidence. You can see it around you. God's amazing work in your siblings, in your neighbors, in your guardians, in your parents, in your friends. You can see it around you, how the light of the gospel is shining. So it's not an issue of lack of evidence. The problem is that you love darkness. And here the Lord Jesus Christ is warning us that come to the light, at least you further drift away in your sins and become hard-hearted in your sins and begin to convince yourself that there's no real danger here, there's no need for Christ. And friends, the madness of loving darkness is just too obvious around us. broken homes, addiction to drugs, all kinds of negative vices around us, crime. Here the Lord Jesus Christ is warning that if you don't come to the light, the darkness around you will simply intensify. You begin to grow. You begin to become comfortable with your sins. And therefore, you begin to move from one degree of sinfulness to another. You begin to have no problems of little things. You begin to have no problems with sins around you. And before long, you yourself are participating in those acts. The Lord Jesus Christ is the light of the world. And he gives this warning because he knows the human heart. And the warning is that if you do not walk in light, darkness will overtake you. Darkness will overtake you. And in the third place, let's consider the gracious appeal for repentance. The gracious appeal for repentance, verse 36, While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. And here we see this gracious appeal from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this gracious appeal for repentance is accompanied by a promise. And the promise is that if you believe in the light, walk in the light, you will become sons of the light, sons of light. And what the Lord Jesus Christ is really saying to us is that while you have the light, believe. While you have the light, believe in the light. And there we see the Lord Jesus Christ is saying a time may come when you may not have the opportunity to believe in Him. A time may come when this call to repentance will no longer be as serious as it once upon used to be in your hearing. A time will come when you would have become stubborn in your sins. And everyone who's calling you to repent will be like making noise. And the Lord Jesus Christ is graciously appealing to you. before that time comes, before the opportunity to repentance goes, believe in the light. True life is in Christ, the light of the world. True life is walking in the light, believing in Christ. True life is knowing that your sins have been forgiven by the light of the world. Faith in Christ Jesus is the fountain of life. It's finding life. and life in its abundance, having everlasting love, everlasting joy. And this joy comes when you leave the darkness and walk in the light, when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the true light of the world. The world around us tries to tell us that to live a sinful life and to live in immorality is where real freedom and joy lies. But true freedom, true life, true joy is in Jesus Christ. And those of you who are thinking, that true joy is in the world there. Go to the graveyards and see how many, probably some of them would be your peers, went that route. And I know more. And if you had an opportunity to ask the dead, they would tell you it's chasing after the wind. Sin does not pay. Sin will never satisfy. It will demand for more and more. until the best of you is no more. Or ask those around you. Some of them are even Christians. And now that they're in the prime of their lives, and they look back at their lives, their youthful days, And some of them can tell you with tears in their eyes. If God was to give them an opportunity to rewrite history, they would want to blot that part of their lives from their history. They look back, yes, they've been saved from their sins. They are heading to heaven, no doubt. but they can look back and they see scars left by their sinful past. But thank God they are saved. And dear young ones, a life of sin does not pay. It will destroy you. Heed the gracious appeal of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in the light. Believe in Christ. Turn away from sin. Now is the time. You have the opportunity. Accept this appeal with the agency, the soberness, and the seriousness it needs. Now is the time to turn away from sin. Now that you hear the gospel, turn away from sin and come to the light of the world. Jesus Christ is true life. And He, and He alone, can save you from your sin. Walk not in darkness. Jesus is the light of the world. And in the midst of the darkness, He is shining. And the testimonies of believers continue to spread the light of Christ. And the light of God's children is but a tiny reflection of the brilliance of the glory of the Son of God. And Christians are those tiny lights all over the world to point you to the true light, the Lord Jesus Christ. And a day is coming when the skies will shine with the glory of the Son of God, when the true light will be revealed that day. When you call all of us to appear before Him on the day of judgment, everyone will see that Jesus is the light of the world. And as you stand before Him, something will happen. You will be brought to your knees and you will be made to acknowledge that truly Jesus is the light of the world, but also simultaneously you will be ushered into the lake of fire with the full confession that Jesus is the light of the world. And you spend eternity confessing that Jesus is the light of the world, but in torment Now is the time to heed this gracious appeal. And as we heed this gracious appeal, that you too may become sons of the light. That your light will be part of the tiny lights all over the world, calling attention not to ourselves, but to the true light. Jesus Christ. Now is the time to heed this gracious appeal. Here is Jesus, knowing that in the next few days, he will be hung on the cross. But he's a loving God. He reminds his audience that he is a true light. But he also gives a warning. Then he ends on a gracious appeal. And that appeal has a promise. If you believe in him, you become sons of light. What love. What amazing love. And I plead that as we sing that hymn in closing, look and live. My brother, my sister, look to Jesus now and live. It is recorded in his word that if you only look and live, you will be saved. Amen.