December 29, 2002

A Lesson For The Lesser Lights
First Light Part 4
Speaker: Darryl Brumfield

John 1:19-35
¹⁹Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ." ²¹They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." ²²Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" ²³John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' " ²⁴Now some Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" ²⁶"I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." ²⁸This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!


The bible states that Christians are the light of the world. Often both corporately and individually Christians fail to grasp the enormous responsibility that goes with that title. Today we want to look at the ministry of John the Baptist to gain insight into our unique position in the world. I pray that we would learn what we must do to let our light shine. Moreover, I hope we see more clearly the origin and the primary purpose of our light.

We are the Light of the world, but as John stated we are not the True Light. Our light source is God and he has given us an opportunity to be his reflectors.

His light shines brightest when we:

A. Don’t have an identity crisis.
We must let scripture define us rather than allow culture and tradition to confine us.

B. Are poor in Spirit, seeing that we are rich in grace.
We are called to share the story; we are not called to share the glory.

C. Point to Christ
In the end, this is the ultimate measuring stick.