 We're in John chapter 8. I'm only going to take you through one verse. I was going to take you to verse 29. I'm taking you to one verse, verse 12. You'll see why in two hours. Now you'll see why in just a moment. So I'll read verse 12, John chapter 8, and we'll get into our study. John writes, then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Now as we begin here, let me give you the background once again, introduce you to the context. Jesus had been interrupted as he was teaching. He had been teaching when the religious leaders, religious authorities, had dragged a woman before him and had told Jesus, as you know, that this woman had been caught in the very act of sexual immorality. And so Jesus dealt with that situation and he had told he had told his accusers certain things because he was aware of the fact that the accusers were attempting to put a snare before him. As I've mentioned to you, he had come to be known as one who often taught concerning mercy. And this was seen very often in his ministry. It happened on one occasion that they had become aware of the fact that Jesus showed mercy to sinners and it had become something that basically had stuck within them. They really had a problem with this, but it is clearly seen when the Pharisees had seen him sitting down with certain people that they didn't approve of. They're called publicans and sinners. And when they had seen Jesus seated with him and all, they, instead of asking Jesus himself, actually asked his men a question, they said, why is your master doing such a thing? But when they spoke to and asked his disciples, it's Jesus who answered. We find that in Matthew 9, verses 12 and 13, where Matthew says, when Jesus heard that, he said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, but go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifices, sacrifice for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So they already noted that Christ would minister to even be seated with, be associated with sinners. And so it was becoming well known that Jesus was extremely merciful. And as we were looking at this last time, I was pointing that out to you, they said that this woman such they said should be stoned. Moses said that. But what do you say? Well, they were trying to test him because, as I mentioned, if he approved of her execution, they would, they would say that he's unmerciful. Also, that they could have made accusation against him to the authorities. But if he shows mercy, they're going to say he ignores the law. And, and once again, they could claim him to be a false teacher. And so as we're looking at that passage, remember the way he chose to handle it actually satisfied both aspects of that situation, because he showed mercy by giving permission to those who were sinless to cast the first stone. But he showed regard for, for the law by allowing that, that a stone could be thrown. And so saying this, he saw that their wicked plans, he saw them very clearly and he defeated them. The things that God does seem sometimes so foolish to men, but somebody said they are infinitely beyond the highest degree of human wisdom. And those works of God that appear to superficial observers to be weak surpass all the efforts of human power. And so Jesus was able to catch them in their own craftiness and turned it against them. That's what took place before. And now he resumes his teaching. And I want you to see what he does again in verse 12, how he speaks. And it says, Jesus spoke to them again saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. As we begin in the gospel of John, if you take notes, if you don't already know this, Jesus made what are called seven I am statements in the gospel of John. He made what are called seven I am statements. John 635, I am the bread of life. Chapter 10, verse seven, I am the door. Chapter 10, verse 11, I am the good shepherd. Chapter 11, verse 25, I am the resurrection and the life. Chapter 14, verse six, I am the way, the truth and the life. And then in John 15, verse seven, I am the true vine. Seven I am statements here. He says, I am the light of the world. And that's what we'll be looking at where Jesus is speaking of himself in John eight, verse 12, as the light of the world. Now there are those who are present who would have understood what he was saying. When Jesus said, I am the light of the world, they would have understood that he was referring to himself as Messiah. There were well respected rabbis who spoke of Messiah as the light of the world. They said that the Messiah would shine like the sun. They got this out of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter four, verse two. But as he says, but for you who fear my name, the son of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. The son of righteousness, they saw that as being a term that was referring to Messiah. Or Isaiah 42, verse six, where the Lord God says, I, the Lord have called you in righteousness. I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, a light for the Gentiles. And so the rabbis, there were certain rabbis during the time of Christ who had said that the light of the world was Messiah. So when Jesus is saying that in verse 12, when he's saying, I am the light of the world, there are many who would have understood that. Now, why would Jesus say that he was light of the world? Well, as I was preparing this, one of the commentators wrote something. I just, I'm going to just quote him. He said this. Why would Jesus say he's the light of the world? This comment would have been made in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles. In the middle of the feast on each of the five nights that followed, there was an illumination in the court of the temple to celebrate the rejoicing of the water drawing. Four large golden candelabra shed their light through the whole city. Then there was dancing and singing and the music of instruments, which was continued through the night until at daybreak, the procession to the pool of Siloam was formed. The Feast of Tabernacles is a memorial of the wilderness life as the water drawing was bound up with thoughts of the water given in abundance to those dying of thirst. So this illumination was bound up with thoughts of the pillar of fire, which was the guide of those who walked in darkness. So when Jesus is saying, I am the light of the world, it would remind them of what was taking place in the wilderness. Exodus 1321, the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so as to go by day and night. So when Jesus stands up and says, I am the light, that immediately would cause him to think of who he is. Again, a commentator stated that the golden candelabra were not lit on the last night as the people were missing the bright lights. Jesus declared himself to be the light. And so that's what's taking place. Now, when he says this, I'll develop it a little further and you're going to see why we're going to stage this with one verse tonight. I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life in saying that he's dividing humanity into two. First, there are those who follow him. These are the ones he refers to as walking in the light. But second, there are those who will not follow him and they are described as walking in darkness. Now, you can't walk in the light and walk in the dark simultaneously. So Jesus is saying those who do not walk in the light are actually walking in the dark even if they don't realize it. Now in the Bible, the word walk is often used to describe how someone lives his or her life. So what Jesus is speaking about here when he speaks of walking, I am the light of the world who follows me shall not walk in darkness. When he speaks concerning walking, he's speaking of how a person lives. It's their manner of life. You see, there are those who walk in darkness and when it speaks walking in darkness, it speaks of lacking spiritual illumination. Proverbs 419 says the way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know over what they stumble. They don't know what they're stumbling over. I understand it in a physical way. I've said this before, but it's true because I have night blindness. My wife to this day doesn't realize that I really, it's really a form of blindness. And you know, so if the lights all went off here right now, some of you could get up and walk out very easily because you can see in the dark, you know, you're cool cats. You can see in the dark, but me, I'll just stand here. I ain't going nowhere because I know what I'm going to, I'm going to fall off this stage. I know that because I can't see. I'm night blind. You know, it was a few years ago now, but I was walking out of the, from where my office is into the main sanctuary platform. I went through the door there. The whole sanctuary was dark and I didn't realize, I didn't remember that they were setting up the stage for children's of EBS. And I came walking and I hit my, I still remember, I hit something, a heavy prop that was there and popped my hamstring. You know, oh, that's, it's delicious. That the pain is, the pain's amazing. Yeah, I've said this. I've popped both of my hamstrings before I popped the left and the right hamstring, you know, so I have no more strings to pop. And I discovered something. You have an inner ear. I discovered that you can hear the sound of a hamstring. That's, that's, that's beans. Yeah, you can hear it. Again, it's a beautiful sound. And in the blood from the top of your head runs down to your feet for a second and bounces back up down several times. And so, but that's walking in the darkness. It, it me, you know, I can walk and I'll hit something because I can't see it. And that's a picture. Somebody who's not spiritually illuminated, somebody, and we're going to develop this, I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but somebody who hasn't been enlightened by the power of the spirit and somebody who doesn't have the word of God walks in darkness. An unregenerated man walks in darkness. And again, that's why Proverbs 419 says, the way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know over what they stumble. That's absolutely practically true. They're walking in the dark, stumbling over things they can't see. It requires the light of the Lord to awaken us to the things that will trip us up. Psalm 82 verse five says, they do not know, nor do they understand. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. In John 11, verses nine and 10, Jesus says, are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he doesn't stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. Or 1st John 1 verse six, if we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. So walking in darkness speaks of walking in sin. It speaks of walking without spiritual illumination, walking in darkness when Jesus speaks of that and says he shall not, the follower of Christ shall not walk in darkness. It's another way of saying he shall not, she shall not walk in habitual sin. Because walking in darkness describes a life that rejects God, a life that is filled with empty pursuits and stumblings. In the book of Ecclesiastes chapter two, verses 10 and 11, the writer said, I denied myself nothing my eyes desired. I refused my heart, no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work and this was a reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless. A chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun. And again remember Ecclesiastes written by Solomon, the richest man of his day, one of the richest men who ever lived. He said, I achieved all my goals. I had all that I wanted. I withheld nothing of pleasure from myself and at the end it's simply vanity. In Ephesians, Paul spoke of our lives before we came to know the Lord. It's in Ephesians two, one through three. Let me read this to you. Paul speaking of our lives before we were saved said, you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. So he describes this, this walk in the dark. First he says you were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. You may have had physical life, but spiritually there was no life in you as what he's saying. Being physically dead refers to the soul when it separates from the body, but being spiritually dead speaks of the soul being separated from God. It speaks of an absence of fellowship. So those who are spiritually dead are dead. He says in trespasses and sins trespasses and sins are two words that are used to describe unsaved people. The word trespass speaks of turning away from the right path. It speaks of failing instead of resisting. The word trespasses is used 21 times in the New Testament. The word sins, it literally means to miss the mark. It's a word that's generally used for sin, hermitia, it's used for sin in the New Testament some 250 times. So he's speaking of the life without God. You walk in trespasses, you're failing to resist, you're turning from the right path and you walk in sin, you're missing the mark of perfection. No matter how hard you try, you will never hit the bull's eye. That's the point he's making. Now those in trespasses and sins are the ones who are unworthy and obviously imperfect and yet they're also the ones that God has taken pity upon. The Bible says that we were by nature rebels. The Bible makes it clear that we are constantly at war with God. We're even hostile to him. Romans 8, 7 says it like this, the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws. It never will. If God says turn to the right, then human nature without God turns to the left. If God says go up, the human nature without God goes down. If God says this is bitter, we say it's sweet. If he says this is light, we say no, it's dark. We're in rebellion. We're in hostile opposition to him. And that's what Paul said in Romans 8, 7, the sinful nature is always hostile to God. Even though we were totally antagonistic to him though, he shows us his grace. And that's because he is aware of how weak we are. In Psalm 103, verse 14, I love this Psalm. It simply says he knows our frame and he remembers that we are dust. In the beginning, Adam was created perfect, but he fell through willful disobedience. And we receive his fallen nature. And the nature that he has that has been given to us is a nature and rebellion to God. In Romans 5, 12, Paul said sin entered the world through one man and death through sin. And in this way, death came to all men because all sinned, all sinned in him. He's referred to, Adam is referred to as the federal head of mankind. He represents us all. We receive his nature. In Romans 5, 19, it says through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners. And so you sin because by nature, that's what you do. You don't become a sinner. You actually are a sinner and you only live out that which is consistent with your own nature. So Paul is making that clear when he said in Ephesians 2, 1, we were dead in trespasses and sins. That's illustrated very well by something Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 8, 21 and 22 it says, another of the disciples said to him, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, follow me and let the dead bury their dead. Spiritually dead is what he was referring to. So life was consistently lived in trespasses, always willful and sins, not always deliberate. And that's what the Bible says, concerning our human nature. Ecclesiastes 7, 20, there is not a just man on earth who does good and doesn't sin. Psalm 51, 5, I was brought forth in iniquity and sin, my mother conceived me. And so like Paul says in Ephesians 2, verse 2, you once walked according to the course of the world. When he said we once walked, and Jesus again speaking in verse 12, saying walking in darkness, and he uses the word walk, once walked according to the course, he's saying, you meandered. The word walk there is translated meandered. You walked aimlessly. You didn't have stability. You had no direction. You had no purpose. And you had no satisfaction. You wandered. You went from one place to another from that place of satisfaction for a moment to another. You never found what you were looking for, kind of like that old song by YouTube. You never found what you were looking for. You always moved from one thing to another. You once you got tired of that, and it could be anything, guys. It could be a job, never settled in on a job, never settled in on a relationship, had a girlfriend for a long time, got a new one, had a girlfriend a long time, got a new one, had a boyfriend, whatever. You went from one thing to another, never satisfied. You wandered aimlessly. No purpose, no direction, no satisfaction. You were walking in the dark. That's what Jesus is talking about. An aimless life. An aimless life. And I think that every person who's saved in here understands that. Every person who's saved in this room would understand that. You remember what it was like to have a wandering life. Nothing satisfied. My mom, excuse me, I'm going to use the Spanish word. One of the only ones I know. My mom would do it like this, but it illustrated it to me a long time ago. She said, I have ganas for something. You know what ganas is? I have a desire for something. Ganas. I have a desire for something. Ganas. And she'd kind of smack her lips like that. She'd go, but I don't know what it is. That's what my mom would say then. And she'd tell my dad, daddy, I have ganas for something. And daddy'd say, what? I don't know what it is. And I'll never forget that. That's how my mom was. He usually was ice cream. It eventually came down to Neapolitan ice cream, as I recall. Anyway, I'll reel myself back in from that memory for a moment, but that's what it was like. So when I read the word meanderd, I actually looked into, what does the Greek say? How come? It's walking without purpose. It's aimless. You're in a direction, but you're changing direction because you don't know what you want. You're still looking for, that's what the Bible teaches. You are without Jesus Christ. That's what you are without Jesus Christ. You move from one thing to another. That's why sometimes you hear a guy who said, well, I tried Jesus for a while, but now I'm into Buddha. And then maybe later on, they'll say, you know, I tried Jesus in Buddha, but now I'm into Muhammad. They'll do that. They're tasting of this and wandering to that. But when you're really saved and you drink of the water of life, you never thirst again. When you take of Christ and you really are satisfied in Him, there's never a desire for anything else. And so Jesus is speaking about that. And Paul was illustrating that. And he was making it very, very clear. Paul was, when speaking of this walk, he said, you were aimless. You were dead. You were spiritually blind. And you actually, again in Ephesians two, you were following the course or the flow of this world, a world system directed by Satan, who is the prince of the power of the air. So sinful man can come to an agreement about what is right or what is wrong. When you do that, it actually develops what is called a common culture. When people come to agreement about these things are right and these things are wrong, that's what the fabric of our society becomes. It's called common culture. People agree. These things are right. These things are wrong. And sinful man can say it's not right to do certain things. And very often lines up with what scripture says. And so we can make laws that seem to take in an awareness that people will steal. So you're not supposed to steal or will kill. You're not supposed to kill. Where did they get the foundations or fundamentals of that where they get it from scripture without realizing it here in the United States? Our laws are actually built on, but it's called a Judeo-Christian heritage. And so our laws are built on the Bible, though some don't remember that or don't know that for whatever reason, but they are. So you're not to steal, you're not to kill, you're not to go out on your wife because they're divorce laws. I mean, that's what laws are all about. It's all from the commandments and all of that. And people can get together and people of good will can get together and agree that these are certain things that should be done and shouldn't be done and all of that. We can agree about what's right and what's wrong, but the problem is is when you're only doing that from a human standpoint, these things don't always line up with scripture. I mentioned this a moment ago, but let me quote Isaiah 5 verses 20 and 21 where it says, what sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever. And that's what happens. And so the prince of the power of the air, Satan is the one energizing people. And that is what creates those who don't know the Lord. And that's what creates the problems that we have. We once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh. Before we receive Christ, we satisfied our basic needs kind of like animals. But now in Christ, we have power to resist. And so what we do now is we live for Jesus Christ. And so that's what we're looking at. You see, one of the things about walking in the dark that some of you know, and I'll say it like this, is you can adjust to the darkness over time. You know, if you come into this room and it's dark, those of you who have good eyes and all, all you have to do is just stand there for a moment. And after, you know, a minute or two, three minutes, whatever it takes, you can start making out shades. You can do that. I can't, but you can. You'll see shades. You can walk and go around things. You can. Why? Because you can actually adjust to darkness. And there's a whole lot of people who have done that. After two or three minutes of standing in the darkness, things don't appear as dark as they once were. And what happens is that the longer you are in darkness, the more that you will adjust to the absence of light. It will appear as though things are lighter or brighter. But in reality, they are just as dark as they were to begin with. And because people are in darkness, God has people who walk in the light. As you follow the Lord, your life is going to be one that is set apart for him. And here's where I want to develop this a bit further. The quality of your life will demonstrate your relationship to God. In Deuteronomy 10 verse 12, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? But to fear the Lord your God and walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul. In 1 John 2 verse 6, he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. So believers have light and will be kept from stumbling over objects hidden in the darkness. And in verse 12, Jesus calls it the light of life, which is from God. I was reading today that no man can illuminate his own soul. All understanding must come from above. In 2 Samuel 22-29, you are my lamp, O Lord, the Lord shall enlighten my darkness. Psalm 36-9, for with you is a fountain of life. In your light we see light. So let me develop this with you. What are the earmarks of someone walking in light? Again, verse 12, I'm the light of the world, he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life. Let me give you some practical things. What earmarks a walk in the light? If you take scripture down, notes Ephesians 5 verse 8, you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, walk as children of light. Well, one, we walk in his spirit. How do children of light walk? One, we walk in his spirit because we have a constant desire to please him. In Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 through 18, Paul said it like this, so I say walk in the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit, what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other so that you do not do what you want. If you're led by the spirit, you're not under law. So an earmark of a walk in the light is we walk in his spirit. Second, we walk in his truth. In Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. In 3 John verses 3 and 4, I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, even as you walk in truth. And he went on to say, John went on to say, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. When you're walking in the light, you're walking in his spirit. When you're walking in his spirit, you're walking in his word. And so my encouragement obviously is read your Bibles regularly. A third thing about walking in the light is we walk in the way that is appropriate. Our life actually adorns the gospel of grace. In Colossians 110, Paul said, walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. So we walk worthy of the Lord. The word worthy means to walk appropriately. If the word of God teaches that we walk in a certain way that pleases him, then then we walk appropriately. So we determine to obey what we understand and we live as a faithful witness for the Lord. And we need to remember 1 Thessalonians 4, 7. God didn't call us to unclean us, but in holiness. So as you read the word, you discover what pleases him and you determine to live in that way. And there are a lot of things you don't know that he's displeased with. And then you read your Bibles. And then you start getting convicted. You know, I found out a long time ago, sometimes people don't read their Bibles because it's too convicting. Because a lot of the stuff they see there, he says, you know, I don't want you to do this is what they want to do. You know, you mean I can't do that anywhere? Oh, what a bummer. You mean I can't do that anymore? Oh, what a bummer. You know, but the bottom line is, is I just, I want to be blessed by the Lord. I want to be in the place where God can bless me. Pastor Chuck, my pastor used to say, you know, I want to be in the spout where the bless from where the blessings come out. I want to be in a place where the spirit of God can move in my life. You know, read your Bibles, guys. Pick up the word of God. You can read the book of Proverbs every month. Just read one chapter a day. You know, it's only 31 chapters. You can actually read one chapter of the book of Proverbs a day and go through it 12 times in the year. You want some wisdom? You want direction? You know what people do? I've heard it said, now the problem is, is I start, I already read that. I already know that. That means you're memorizing things. That's actually good. Instead of saying, I need some new information. No, that's what it's all about. It's giving you a backdrop. It's creating for you the filter your mind where you're able to start seeing things that are right and things are wrong and you're able to filter out the things that are wrong. That's what the word of God does. And it's, it's, it's something every believer ought to do because I'm telling you, when I first got saved, I'll just give one example. When I first got saved, I had friends of mine who were saying, because I, I was a pothead. We used to call them potheads. I don't know what to call them anymore. Maybe maybe they say victims of glaucoma now. I don't know. I was a pot, I was a pothead, you know, you know, I was a pothead and I liked it. But with that said, I had a friend of mine, you know, I had just gotten saved and a friend of mine was talking to me and he says, can't you smoke pot anymore? I said, well, no, I don't. Why not? I said, well, I, you know, I'm a brand new Christian. I just knew that all my friends were, were, we call them heads. All my friends were heads. And so I have a new life and that's not going to be part of my life, you know, brand new Christian. And he says to me, this guy says to me, well, you know, the Bible says that God created the herb. Now we used to call pot herb. That was one of its nicknames, herbs, smoking herb. He created herb. And I said, and I'm a new, I'm a month old in Christ, you know, and they're giving me these, what do I know? But I started thinking, I said, well, you know, not everything's good for you. What would you mean? Well, he also created poison ivy. But I, I don't think you use it for toilet paper. I think, I think there are proper uses for certain things. That's a true story. I didn't make that up. Yeah, there's some things you don't use. They're not good for you. I had a guy say, oh, you're a Christian. You can't drink anymore. He used the word, you can't drink anymore. You're a Christian. You can't drink anymore. I still remember this brand new Christian. You, I said, no, I can drink. Then why don't you? Because I don't want to. I said, you know what God did? God gave me new, new taste buds. He really did. You know, and a long time ago, one of the teachers I was listening to said, I've never awakened with a Holy Ghost hangover. When you drink of the new wine, you don't get hung over. You know, when you drink of the old, you do. And there's just so many practical little things there. But in the end, guys, if you want to be used by the Lord, if you want, if you want to impact people's lives, then live as if your life can, your life can impact somebody, refrain from doing things that you may have a sense of freedom to do that it doesn't stumble you to do, refrain from even those things. Why? Because your freedoms can sometimes cause those without the same freedoms to stumble. So I gave up things that I probably could have done, even to this day. And I'm going to go out on a limb and say something that nobody cares about, but I'll say it anyway, because it's true. I'm over 21 by a few decades. I could walk into, and I'll just use this as an illustration, I could walk into any liquor store and I could score a bottle of wine. I could. And I think I probably could sit down and have one glass and not get all weird and put on a lampshade over my head and dance in the front yard. I'm pretty sure. I don't know. Drink a beer. Why don't you, Pastor David? Well, I don't want to. That's the bottom line. I have no, I have no ganas. I have no desire. I have no desire. I have no desire for that. Why don't you have a desire? You know, the reason I stopped drinking at first and now I don't want, but at first I didn't want to stumble people. My freedoms were not to be exercised, Paul said it to the Corinthians, in such a way as to cause a brother and the Romans, cause a brother or sister to stumble. My freedoms should not cause you to stumble. And I know that 99% of you, maybe not 100%, 99% of my church, if my wife Marie and I were at a local place, because I run across people from my church all the time, just when I'm going just in the area. If you walked into a restaurant and you saw me with a glass of wine, you would stumble. There's no doubt in my mind, you would look and say, what are you drinking? Now, some of you would say, can I have a bottle too? But not all of you. Why did I stop drinking 40 some years ago? Wasn't good for me. God changed my desires. I didn't want to stumble people. And I'm more effective and free from the bondage of that so-called liberty. That's how I, as a brand new Christian, that's how my life changed. I began to say, these things affect people. I will stumble people. And by the way, I have been in places, other states, other states, I'll give an example. Marie and I were in, it's not Pennsylvania, in Delaware. It was in Delaware. We were in Delaware. I was doing some ministry for a Calvary ministry in Delaware. I can't even remember the name of the church. It's in Podunk, Delaware. Marie and I, and I had been teaching at a pastors conference in Maryland, and we went to Delaware because a pastor had asked me to speak there. We went to our hotel out in this, and we're sitting in a lobby. I mean, it's one of those places that there's nothing around except a small village kind of thing, and the church was in the outskirts. So there was no, there was no city anywhere. So we're just sitting in the lobby because my room wasn't ready. My sweet. No, right. My room wasn't, they were chilling my wine. My room, my room wasn't ready. Marie and I are seated. Nobody's in this room, just Marie and me. Nobody knows me in this area. Never been to Delaware in my life. And here comes a woman walking in to the room we are, in those little waiting rooms, and we maybe had some water or coffee or something. I don't remember. We're visiting. I see the woman looking in our direction, and I'm thinking, she's just checking out the place to see if there's a place to sit. I'm not thinking at all, but you can usually tell when somebody's looking at you longer than just a glance, and I thought, I wonder, she thinks I'm devastating. No, I begin to wonder, as I'm sitting there, she walks up to me. I'm telling you, we're in po-dunk land. And she says, excuse me, may I ask you a question? And I'm thinking she's going to ask a question about the hotel or whatever, right? Yeah, I'm an expert on this hotel. I've been here for 20 minutes. And she says, may I ask you a question? I said, of course, yes. Are you Pastor David? And I look at her, I say, yeah. She goes, and now I'm thinking she's going to say, I used to go to your church and I moved in this area because I was speaking at a Calvary Chapel. So my mind started connecting Calvary Chapel. She would do that kind of thing. She says, I go to your church. She goes, I go to your church. She says, I'm a business, on a business trip. I'm at such and so place. I'm staying here. And I saw you. And what was it like in the world small or something like that? We had, I couldn't get away with it if I tried. I couldn't. I couldn't. I've been on planes. I've been on planes when the stewardess has heard my voice and said, Pastor David Rosales, Marie and I were in Ontario. Another story. Marie and I were in Ontario. We were flying out. I forget to the east coast. Our flight was canceled. And so I had to stand in a line to get a new ticket. And we actually had to go to Los Angeles. We're in Ontario. And I wasn't happy because I think I got it. We got to get a ride to LA. We got to get on this plane here. And I'm standing. And Marie knows better than to say anything. Oh God, I already know that. Give me a moment. Give me a moment to deal with my carnality, please. True story. And I'm standing there and I'm, and every person in front of me, I'm getting more frustrated because that's more time than I'm waiting in line till I finally get to the front. And I'm saying, God, help me not to show how angry I am because I really, and I'm praying. I really, God, I'm so angry. And the lady looks at me, Pastor David, how I, the lady behind the counter. Pastor David, nice to see you. And I go, praise the Lord. Isn't God good? I forget what I was talking to you about. Make a determination. Make a determination to live faithfully for the Lord. Walk in the light. It's not always easy. God knows it isn't, but I want to walk worthy of him. I want to be fully pleasing to him. And yeah, you go through those moments and all, but one of the emblems of walking in the light is that you want to live in a way that is appropriate. And then I'll give you a couple more things here. Walk. You want to walk in the light? Walk in fellowship with other believers. And first, John one, seven, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, the sun cleanses us from all sin. So seek friendships with those who truly love the Lord, fellowship with them. A fifth thing is if we're walking in the light, we live a life that's known for good works. It's already been mentioned Ephesians 2 10, but we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand. We should walk in good works. A sixth thing, walk as those who are aware of the dangers and pitfalls that are before you. We put on the gospel shoes. We're aware of the traps that can cripple us in Ephesians 5 15 and 16. See then that you walk circumspectly. That means being alert or being aware because danger is all around. Don't walk as fools. Walk as wise, redeem the time. The days are evil. A seventh thing of walking in the light, walk in the love of God. In Ephesians 5 2, walk in love as Christ also loved us and has given himself for us and offering a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma. Say, God, help me to walk in your love. And again, that is one of those things you die to every day, every day, Lord. And I pray this prayer and I've been doing it for many, many years. It's not a memorized prayer, but it's in essence, it's the same. Father, help me to love. Help me to learn to love other people. It's a prayer. I've been praying it for almost 49 years. Help me to love people. Help me to learn to love other people. I want to walk in love. Walk in the love of God. Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us. I want to walk in wisdom. Colossians 4 5 and 6 says, Walk in wisdom towards those who are on the outside. Redeem the time. Let your speech always be with grace. Season with salt that you may know how you want to answer each one. You see, Jesus said that his followers have the light of life. So not only do we see the light, we also become the light to those who are in darkness. Keep that in mind. You actually become. Now you say, Ooh, that sounds like heresy to me. Well, Matthew 5 14, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5 16, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works glorify your Father in heaven. You are light. Walk as children of light. Don't walk in darkness. Guys love people. I'll close with this thought. You want to walk in the light? Love people enough to tell them truth. If every person who ever came to this church were to show up for one Bible study over the last 38 years, I would need to have a stadium that would seat over 30,000 people easily, easily a stadium that would seat over 30,000 people. We have hit so many thousands and thousands of people over the years. Some of you may not know that. You look around here and say, I don't see 30,000 people here. The fact is, is one day you may leave too and you'll go someplace else. But we impacted you for a while. I encountered somebody I was in Colorado, almost a year ago now, a guy who walks up to me in Colorado and his name is Matt. Matt says to me, Pastor, he's a pastor of a church in Colorado. I was teaching at a pastors conference and he walks up his name is Matt and he goes, Pastor, Pastor David, he said, Do you remember when you came out to Virginia years ago now and you spoke at a men's retreat? And I said, yeah, Calvary Chapel Lynchburg. Yes. He said, and Calvary Chapel Lynchburg, by the way, started in the home of one of my former children's ministers who was over the children's ministry 37 years ago. And he and his wife, Jeannie Joe and his wife, Jeannie had moved to Lynchburg, opened their house up for a Bible study. And a young man started a Bible study in his house. So somebody from my church who had been the children's minister here opened his house up where Lynchburg started. And then I went and did a teaching at a retreat. And this guy named Matt gave his heart to Christ there, who is now a pastor in Colorado. And he came up to me about a year ago. And he just wrote me and said, Can you come out and teach in Colorado at my church? I want to introduce you to our church family because you're the one who brought me to faith in Christ. You never know who you're impacting. Keep that in mind. You never know who you are impacting. You don't. You're witness. You're sharing your love. There may be some stone cold heathen watching you in your mind. You're thinking that God could never get saved. That woman could never get saved. And she's or he's watching you. I can tell you stories. It's too late. I can tell you stories. You never know. You never know. You are a light. You are the light in darkness. And you don't know it. You hate your job. But God said, go to work there because he's got someone who's going to watch you. And that person's going to go and get saved and remember your witness. Walk in the light. Walk in the light. It's worth it. In heaven, I don't know if this is true, but in heaven, maybe somebody may remember you and say it was because of your faithfulness that God brought me to heaven and never thanked you on earth. But here we are together. And you might look at him saying, I never thought you'd make it, but they did. See, I only wanted to speak on one verse today for a reason. Walk in the light.