Staying With Your Purpose, In the Light of the Father

About This Message

Sunday morning, Pastor Roy Jones continued walking through John — chapter 12, the last days of Jesus's earthly ministry, the days before He prepared to go to the cross. He read verses 20–28, then dropped down to verses 34–36. Some Greeks had come up to worship at the feast and asked Philip, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Jesus's answer wasn't a meeting — it was the hour: "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified." His topic: "Staying with your purpose, in the light of the Father." And his text for it is Jesus Himself — a Savior whose soul was troubled, who would not ask the Father to save Him from the hour, because the hour was the purpose.

The Word — John 12

20Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.

21Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

22Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

23But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

24Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

John 12:20–24 (NKJV)

25He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

26If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

27“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

28Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

John 12:25–28 (NKJV)

34The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

35Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

36While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

John 12:34–36 (NKJV)

1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

5So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.”

8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah 6:1, 5, 8 (NKJV)

8Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

10Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

Job 1:8, 10 (NKJV)

1A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23:1 (NKJV)

24This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)

5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:5 (NKJV)

7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:7 (NKJV)

18No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

John 10:18 (NKJV)

The Message in a Sentence

Jesus stood at the edge of the cross with a troubled soul and would not ask the Father to save Him from the hour — "for this purpose I came to this hour." Pastor Jones's charge: the same God who never gives a purpose bigger than the person carrying it has called you out of the dark room you've been feeling your way through. In the light you're covered like Job, powered like the One who could lay His life down and take it up again, and unstoppable — because the darkness could not comprehend the light. But the way out is one word: believe, while you have the light, and become a child of it.

The Arc of the Message

Opening — The Hour Has Come

The service opened in agreement — "This is the day the Lord has made" — and Pastor Jones set the scene: Jesus in His last days, His miracle ministry ending, the cross ahead, and some Greeks asking to see Him. Jesus answers with a grain of wheat: unless it falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. Then He turns the text on Himself: "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour." That sentence carries the whole morning.

Development — The Dark Room and the Covering

His picture: walk into a room that's pitch black. You can't see your hand in front of your face. Your posture changes, your heart races, you put your hands out and feel your way with short, careful steps — one goal: don't fall. Then somebody flips the switch. Fear vanishes, your posture straightens, and you move with confidence and authority. Too many of us, he said, are still moving like we're in that dark room — in our marriages, our careers, our families, our walk with God: fearful, anxious, unsure of every step, while the Light has already called us out. From there: God never gives a purpose greater than you, and somebody's deliverance hangs on yours — if you lose your purpose, somebody gets lost. Satan admitted to God that he couldn't get to Job because Job was covered, walking in the light. You have power — dunamis power — power to shut the devil down, like Jesus, who could lay His life down and take it again. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness could not stop it: when you're in the light, you have no kryptonite.

Landing — Step Out Today

Jesus gives the how in verse 36: "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." Not believe about it — believe, and become. A child of the light takes on the full character of the family he's been adopted into; you can't be light on Sunday only. And over it all, the Father's own voice from heaven answers Jesus's prayer — not "glorify Me" for His own name's sake: "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." Glorify the Father, stay with your purpose, and walk in His light — not tomorrow, not next week. Step out today.

Key Points

Come out of the dark — and walk like it. We move through our marriages, our work, our families, even our walk with God like people in a pitch-black room: hands out, steps short, fearful of every move. But the Light has already called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. At some point you have to make up your mind: if I'm a child of God, why am I still operating in fear? Tell your neighbor: it's time to come out of the dark. It's time to walk in the light.

Your purpose is not bigger than you. God has not given you a purpose, a calling, a charge, or an assignment greater than you — He doesn't put more on you than you can bear. He only gives you what you're able to handle. And your purpose isn't only about you: somebody has to come out of darkness through you staying with yours. If you lose your purpose, somebody is going to be lost.

Stay with your purpose — especially when it's hard. Jesus's soul was troubled, and He still would not say, "Father, save Me from this hour" — because the hour was the purpose: "For this purpose I came to this hour." Following your purpose will bring hills and battles and mountains. That doesn't mean you turn back. You stay — and like Isaiah, when you know your own life ain't right and God still touches you, you say: "Send me, Lord."

In the light, you are covered. Satan wanted Job — and told God why he couldn't have him: "I wanted to get to him, but he's covered. He's walking in the light." Walk in the light and there isn't a devil in hell that can cut through the covering. God has you covered in the calling He gave you. The danger isn't the devil's strength; it's stepping out of the light.

God gave you power — use it, and shut the devil down. God has not given you a spirit of fear; He's given you power — dunamis, dynamite power, the kind that raised Jesus. Jesus said no one takes His life from Him: He had power to lay it down and power to take it again. You have that kind of authority in the light: when the devil starts running new stuff through your life — the whispers, the attacks on your family, your floor, your peace — shut it down. And know how to pick it back up when the Lord says reopen.

The light cannot be stopped. "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:5). Superman has a weakness — kryptonite. The child of the light doesn't. When the light of God is in you, you're unstoppable, because He is the light: joy is in the light, peace is in the light, life more abundant is in the light — everything you need is in the light. Even nature knows it: put a seed in good soil and let the light get on it, and it sheds its old shell and grows into new life.

Step out by believing — and become a child of the light. Jesus's way out of darkness is one word: believe. "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." And becoming means the whole character of the family you've been adopted into — no more operating under the old family's ways. Not light on Sunday only. Step out of darkness, step into the marvelous light — today.

In His Own Words

"Look at your neighbor, tell your neighbor: bounce back."

"Shut it down. The devil trying to whisper in your ear? Shut it down."

"I got the power. I got the power."

"Hello, Lord! Goodbye, darkness — see you later. I'm done with you."

Illustrations From the Message

The Dark Room

Pastor Jones asked the church to imagine walking into a room that is completely, entirely pitch black. You can't even see your hand in front of your face. Instantly your whole body language changes — your heart starts racing, you put your hands out and feel your way through, moving slowly, carefully, so you don't stumble. In the darkness you have one goal: get through it without getting hurt. Then somebody flips the light switch on. Darkness disappears. Your fear vanishes, your posture straightens, and you move with confidence — you can see every obstacle, every danger, the whole path ahead of you. You're no longer in survival mode. You're in authority mode. His charge: too many of us are still moving through life like the lights never came on.

The Bank — "Shut It Down"

He told it on himself. He went to the bank the other day about something that had been done wrong, and they told him, "We're not able to fix it." And he used his power: "Shut the account down." They looked at him — "Mr. Jones, you want me to shut the whole account down?" "Shut it down!" And afterward they told him: everything the other side tried got rejected. You did the right thing. His point: you have power, and you have to know how to use it. When the devil tries to run new stuff through your life, your family, your relationships — don't negotiate with it. Shut it down. And like Jesus with His own life, know how to pick it back up again when it's time to reopen.

SOIL — Go Deeper This Week

S — Scripture: Read John 12:27–28 slowly. Jesus's soul is troubled, and He refuses the exit. What does He ask instead — and what does the Father answer from heaven?

O — Observation: Trace the light in verses 35–36. How long is the light with them? What are they told to do while they have it? And what does Jesus say about the one who walks in darkness?

I — Interpretation: Why does believing come before becoming — "that you may become sons of light"? Think about the grain of wheat (v. 24) and the seed in the light: what has to die, or be shed, before new life grows?

L — Life application: Name one area — your marriage, your work, your family, your walk with God — where you've been moving like you're still in the dark. What's one step in the light you can take this week?

Dig a Little Deeper

1. Pastor Jones said God never gives a purpose greater than the person carrying it. Where have you been treating your assignment like it's too big for you — and what changes if you believe God sized the purpose to you, and you to the purpose?

2. "Shut it down": what is the devil currently running through your life — a whisper in your ear, a habit, an attack on your family or your peace — that you already have the power to shut down today? What's keeping you from using the power you've been given?

3. Jesus wouldn't ask the Father to save Him from the hour, because the hour was the purpose. What's the hard thing in front of you right now that might not be an obstacle to your purpose — but the purpose itself?

This Week's Challenge

Step out on purpose. Every morning this week, say it out loud before you move: "I'm staying with my purpose, in the light of the Father." Then shut down one thing the devil has been running in your life — and don't wait for tomorrow, or next week, or next month. Step out today.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for calling us out of darkness into Your marvelous light. Forgive us for feeling our way through life like we don't know You — for the fear, the hesitation, the careful little steps. Today we say it with our mouths: we're staying with our purpose, in Your light. Cover us the way You covered Job. Give us the faith to use the power You've already put in us, and to shut down everything the enemy is running. And not our glory, Father — Yours. Glorify Your name in us, and glorify it again. In Jesus's name, amen.