The Healing Power Of The Light Part 2

Raising his voice. Jesus phone number for him. Clean before God as infinitely wards including being able to run white strings. The weight of the cumulative today of first John and learn what's involved incoming light stay with us. This is when Sir helps us make it faster, looser, anyone who was done bad things, find what you're calling the healing power of the light day, the answer to your question is yes, but it cannot come without some pain. You know, being exposed to the light is very difficult because there's a lot of darkness within our souls. But it is always worth it. And to everyone who is listening. I would say this carefully. Come to God and lay everything before him. Now let me ask all those who are listening. I have a question for you. How are you feeling today anxious, depressed, happy, joyful, what's going on within your soul. Let me ask you another question. Do you always have to feel good in order to be spiritual. While these are the kinds of questions I answer in the book, managing your emotions. God's good gifts gone wrong for a gift of any amount. This book can be yours and I think it will help you to achieve some kind of balance and understanding of the role of emotions in the Christian life and by the way, this is one of the last times that this resource is going to be offered here is what you do for a gift of any amount. Go to RTW offer.com RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now let's open our hearts and minds and be exposed to God's light, we have fellowship one with another.

That can mean that we have fellowship with God, which is most assuredly truth that we have fellowship with fellow travelers.

I have fellowship with you. You have fellowship with me. It's that common bond because because we know what the light is and we know where we're going and sometimes we blow it. To be sure, but we we at least know where the light is it's in God's word, and so it tells us where we are going and we end up having fellowship with one another. Relight also reveals our destination and reveals our destination.

It's interesting that the Bible talks about those who do not know Christ as Savior, who are trying to save themselves as walking in darkness. Okay because they don't have a savior they don't see their sins clearly and they keep stumbling and not knowing why they're tripping over themselves, but it's interesting that when they die what happens. The Scripture says they are in outer darkness. I'm reminded of the man who is dying the miser who would not respond to the gospel and he said to his daughter, blow out the candle. They were in a little room and a candle was burning. He said I can die in the dark. So here's a man who lives in the dark.

He dies in the dark and he ends up in the dark.

You live in the dark here. You live in the dark their but what about believers who love the light quite indeed. We walk in the light, God is in the light and what does it say in the book of Revelation. There is no need of the light. Neither of the sun nor of the moon to shine upon it for God himself is the light thereof, and they shall walk with him in light.

The Bible speaks about God as dwelling in unapproachable light, but we will approach him, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Light reality, truth, what an experience.

What I like to do is to go to 1/3 observation or third point as we move through this. We talked about characteristics of walking in darkness. Characteristics of walking in light.

The question is what is the cost of coming to the light. How much is it going to charge you in verse nine we have a very important verse.

It says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness. Now the cost of walking in light is to confess, and the Greek word confess means to say the same thing. It means agreement so if working to walk in the light and this is for believers now were going to walk in the light, we have to just agree with God, there can be no point at which we have a disagreement with God.

If God says that something us and we call it sin of God says that this part of a life has to be yielded to him. This part of our life we yield. In other words, we are so open to God that we agree with him regarding everything and then we are walking in honesty and were walking in the light now. Sometimes it says the truth hurts and that's true but I want you to know that lies her to even more truth hurts from now on in this message for the next few moments just before we closed it is going to be a painful time as I'm going to explain to you the cost that some of you might have to pay to actually walk in the light and to agree with God, it can be very very costly. By the way you confess your sins he is faithful and just to forgive us, he pays the debt to cleanse us is to take away the stain and he does both. What a wonderful Savior. We have how much does it cost you member David committed adultery and wanted to get by with it so desperately that he killed a man in order to cover up his sin and eventually you know the story came unraveled and so forth. And word got out and he couldn't deny it anymore.

How much was he paying before those days when he came clean with God. Well, he knew what he had done. In Psalm 32 he details how difficult it was, he says, day and night by hand was heavy upon the my moisture is turned to the fever height of summer is oh God you just wouldn't let me. We could put it in contemporary terms. Every time the telephone rang. I wonder does somebody know every time a visitor comes to the door. I say, does he know every time I meet somebody in church. I say to myself, does he know your hand was heavy upon me. He knew that she even knew that was all manageable. What made it so difficult was that God no.

And that's the sticky point God knows God knows God knows God knows how much will it cost you to come to the light for some of you it is true it may cost some shame and well comment on that in just a moment as to how much it really cost for some of you it may cost thousands and thousands of dollars. I remember when the Holy Spirit was working mightily up north and the border in the early 70s and I was doing some interviews.

I met a man who said that being fully right with God cost me thousands of dollars.

I forget how much he had to go to the bank and go into debt.

Why did it cost him so much. He was a builder he was a contractor and what he had done.

Is he had cheated people by telling them that they were gonna have one kind of material in their houses, and then actually putting in an inferior and cheaper quality of of material now suddenly he wants to be right with God. He wants to be able to say Lord I want to walk in the light, no matter what it cost me.

I want your full blessing, and the Holy Spirit is saying wait a moment you've got sin in your life that you need to take care of you have chiseled other people out of their money and you had better pay back what you owe if you want to totally agree with me because you do want God's blessing, don't you say went to the bank took out thousands of dollars it cost them a lot listeners some of you here are getting money dishonestly and if you really walked in the light. I mean really walked in the light, God is going to put his finger on that and say wait a moment. You can't walk in the light and be doing that because you know that that's dishonest there. Some of you who perhaps some are going to have to break up relationships because you're in sinful relationships. You know what your partner knows it. Maybe nobody else knows it. Though you suspect everybody around you does and there's that sticky point again when you can't rationalize away.

God knows it. So it's gonna cost you some heartbreak to be fully in the light there. Some of you who are going to be in the light and Juergen have to pay the price of vulnerability. Juergen have to go to somebody and say I was wrong. Juergen have to get rid of that anger and have hostility because you have built up anger towards other Christians and maybe they know about it. Maybe they don't know about it.

Who knows what it is but you want to come to light and you want to say God I want your full blessing. And God says wait a moment way moment.

What is this that back here that you keep nursing that anger, you'd better forgive and you'd better lay it down you say Lord it costs too much guts as well. How how badly you want to walk in the light, how badly you want the light or you want to just kind of walk in the light down Sunday and then slip back to darkness Monday Tuesday Wednesday and kind of manage the situation. All I could go on as to what the cost is but the best example I have and I don't think there's anyone listening to me probably who has to pay as much as one person did his name is John Claypool back in the early 70s, 1975, a 14-year-old boy by the name of John the Claypool murdered some people, his neighbors, the husband and wife just to see what it was like to see people die. The boy was drunk and he did it. The police questioned him and and that they didn't have hard evidence and he got by. He married father, two daughters and then yet this sin, he could not get away from it and now he met some Christians whom he always disliked because he thought that they were a bunch of self-righteous, judgmental people, but he said I always considered Christians to be hypocrites, but these people were genuine in living what they profess there with us to the love of Christ created glowing spiritual hunger within me while he bought a Bible.

He read it and he accepted Christ as Savior, as I urge all of you who are listening to do if you have not done that.

But now the Holy Spirit of God is within them say because now he's a believer and he has to walk in the light. The Holy Spirit persistently said, in effect, my child, you must obey me by confessing your crime or you will never know my full blessing in your life. See that's that's the thing you can you can live with a conscience. Even with murder on your conscience and you can manage just take enough areas, things that will calm you down, that will enable you to sleep in. Didn't get by that. That's all rationalization and it may be worth it to stay out of jail but the one thing though that you can't rationalize that just stands there is this business of God. Are you going to receive his full blessing, or are you not that's the $64 question. Does he mean that much to you. You can imagine how John goes on to say that his heart absolutely pounded with fear of 20 years later, November 27, 1995 he went with his pastor and an attorney and turned himself into the authorities within video cameras. The movie cameras on him because it was national news at the moment of truth. Though I was now a prisoner of the law. I was set free before God.

For the first time in my life. I cannot describe the feeling of that burden being completely lifted the Lord now held his once disobedient child in his loving arms and true to his promise.

He did not let me full of wonderful peace came over my soul such as I have never known essays it worth it to go to prison. He's now in a maximum security prison. In fact, I continue to read. I am now confined in a maximum security prison serving time for 2nd° murder. But notice, I am more free and more at peace than any other time in my life.

He talks about the fact that what he did to that family still still bothers him because the consequences continue.

He wonders what kind of a testimony. He's going to be to his children. Now that he's in jail but he ends by saying of God can redeem the soul of one who had murdered his innocent neighbors than God can redeem anyone and he can and he can redeem you because if the truth were known there.

Some of you here have done some very terrible things. Maybe it isn't murder. Maybe it is you're saying to yourself, can God even redeem something like me, will I ever be able to say like David did in Psalm 51 restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, Lord, here I am. I've committed adultery had murdered a man, but give me your joy back and you member what else it says and that Psalm, thou desire is truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shall make me to wisdom that's what you can take all your rationalizations all your reasons for some of you and I even hate to say this and wasn't sure whether or not I should, but for some of you total honesty before God may mean that you have to go back to your country of origin because perhaps you lied. Perhaps you falsified thing and and you say well it's not worth it. I'm going to stick it out will notice what John Claypool said he said the Holy Spirit was ministering to him and saying if you really want the full blessing of God in your life. The full blessing of God. We have to walk in the light and walking in the light can be tremendously costly tremendously. Some of you have addictions and the reason that you have those addictions is because there's a part of you that just kept walking in darkness and in that hiding hiding darkness. And God wants to come and just shine a light on on everything and it's painful and I'm not saying that it doesn't hurt.

I'm not saying it won't cost I'm saying do you or do you not want God's blessing upon your life completely and totally like conclude with a few observations.

First of all what you hide hurts what you hide hurts someone is said that you are only as sick as your darkest secrets that may be an exaggeration but I think it certainly is close to the truth is I will how many people drive to confess to what you have to confess to those whom you have wronged.

If it's one person that it's one person if it's 10 people and it's 10 people leak the confession and the restoration has to be as broad as the offense that's the answer. Private sin does not have to be paraded in front of other people, though sometimes we like to hear testimonies about how God worked in people's lives so but it has to be obedience to the amount of offense.

Secondly, what you hide grieves God what you hide grieves God, I've emphasize that but that's the that's the one nonnegotiable there there in the presence of the Almighty years of rationalizations rocks of behavior that a been so carefully dug and hidden and covered suddenly all blasted away because we have God to deal with and finally light and darkness really can't coexist light and darkness can't coexist. In other words, as a result of this message. All of us, including myself. We are either going to walk more in the light and asked God even for more light or else some are going to retreat into a deeper darkness with further hardness of heart and further rationalizations somehow difficult to find that median where you say will I want part of my life in the light. Part of it and darkness. John Claypool had that experience. For a time. Part of it was in the light accepted Christ part of it in darkness. What an unhappy combination until finally he said, Lord, I give it all to you.

David said in Psalm 139 verse one. Search me oh God, he gets to the end of the chapter and he says oh God search me and know my heart. Verse 10 Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. It's a done deal. You know all about me and if the one thing I can't rationalize away goes to the end of the Japanese is now search me oh God said contradictory verse one. You have searched me. Verse 23 search me know what David is saying is I know you know all about me all that I'm asking you for now is that that you might show me what you see.

Show me what you see and do I have to tell you that unless the Holy Spirit shows you what's there. I can't. I can't. I feel very helpless preaching this message because there's some things I can do to very limited. But then there something that only the Spirit can do and that's his business that I can't even begin to encroach upon you member Robert Fulghum who wrote that book all that I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten.

He talks about the fact that in October the kids would gather together and play hide and seek and some kids. He had so well that nobody could find them. He says, as I write to the neighborhood game goes on. And there's a kid under the pile of leaves in the yard just under my window is been there a long time and everybody else's found in there about to give up on him over at the base I considered going out to the base and telling them where he was hiding and I thought about setting the leaves on fire to dry them out. Finally I just yelled just found a kid through the window and it scared him so bad he probably started crying and ran home to tell his mother's hard to know how to be helpful sometimes some of you are playing adult hide and seek your under a pile of leaves you've got things which have never been exposed to the light in God's presence and you think that you can walk in both darkness and light, but God is sees to it that our cubbyhole little cubbyhole turns into a very private hell until were willing to say Lord whatever it is, one walk in the light. This comes from me as a pastor, your pastor to you today to those of you in the balcony to those of you downstairs to those listening by whatever means get found get found because there is healing. When you come to the light. There is cleansing there is forgiveness there is a sense of freedom.

There is wholeness that is brought about to our conflicting struggles.

When we come to the light, for if we walk in the light as God is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and all of those animosities are broken down and the blood of Jesus Christ.

God son cleanses us from all the stains get found.

Let's pray a blessed Holy Spirit who can do that. I work we cannot we cry today and ask that in this moment of revelation. You shall give to your people the grace to get found give them all God the ability to say yes yes I want to walk in the light to have God's full blessing, no matter the cost. O father why don't you talk to God. Now talk to him about whatever he is. Talk to you about how many of you today say pastor Luther at all costs.

I want to get found, would you raise your hands.

Please. All throughout the auditorium all throughout the balcony. Those of you in the balcony you want to get found today matter the cost. Father, I ask today that you might grant grace to those who have raised their hands and to those who should've we pray that the teeter totter might go to the side of the light even as you pursue us and you say to us lovingly because you want to heal us and cleanse us and forgive us you say lovingly get found all father. We all know the darkness as we all know what light is and we ask today that your spirit will do a work that only you can do in Jesus name, amen. Well, my friend, this is pastor Luther and I want to extend that invitation to you get found some of you need to take some time and get alone with God and deal with issues that he is revealing to you very painful but always worth it and if you need help. I trust that you will have a counselor who is able to guide you or a pastor because God wants you to have emotional wholeness. You know, I've written a book entitled managing your emotions. God's good gifts gone wrong and this is one of the last times were going to be making this resource available now deals with all kinds of emotions, depression, love, rejection, fear, loneliness, anger, disappointment, regret, eagerness and sorrow.

I realize that whole books have been written on each of these topics.

But what I tried to do to the best of my ability is to take these emotions and then go to the Scriptures to find out what the Bible has to say about them so that we might not be controlled by our emotions, but at the same time that we might not deny them managing your emotions. God's good gifts gone wrong for a gift of any amount. This book can be yours. Here's what you do go to RTW offer.com RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. As I mentioned, this is one of the last times we are making this resource available were doing it to help you run the race of life. Go to RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 ask for managing your emotions. God's good gifts gone wrong, and thanks in advance for helping us to make a difference in the lives of thousands upon thousands of people. You can write to ask, running to when 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 so is there a way to overcome our basic nature's in our tendencies to do evil on our next broadcast minutes pastor Luther's final message in this series bad man made good real life story of dramatic transformation.

Thanks for listening.

This is Dave running to win is sponsored by the Moody church