The Holy Spirit has been reminding me lately about a Truth that is found in God’s Word and we are seeing come to pass all around us, and He also tells us the solution to the problem this truth brings. But sometimes in our everyday “busyness” of life, we forget about this truth, and therefore we fail to apply the solution that God gives us so that the world will be a better place in which to live. But we need to be reminded often, because we, as children of God…and especially as ministers of the Gospel…have the ONLY solution there is to this problem. The problem that we are seeing more and more as we get closer to the return of our Lord is this…its DARKNESS! I am going to talk to you about darkness for a few minutes, because I want you to understand the impact that darkness has on the lives of those we come in contact with…in fact the impact this darkness has on the world…every day!
You see…when we read scripture, darkness usually denotes something bad or evil is taking place, or it can mean a lack of the presence of God. When you read the newspapers or listen to the nightly news, you will notice that MOST crime and violence takes place at night…and there is a reason for that…it is the nature of man to try to hide his evil deeds under the cloak of darkness.
When the earth was created back in the first book of Genesis, we read in verses 1-2, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” So we see that before God made the earth into a habitable place for mankind, there was nothing but darkness there. And we all know that God created the heavens and the earth and the sun and moon and stars for light. He said, “Let there be light” and light appeared into the darkness and here’s a clue…THE DARKNESS FLED.
And then, we see on the day of the crucifixion, scripture tells us in Luke 23:44, “Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.” So it was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, but the whole earth became dark. What a terrible, horrible day it must have been that the whole earth went into utter and complete darkness.
And here is the ultimate purpose for darkness found in John 3:19-20, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Evil deeds are hidden under the shadow of darkness…darkness hides the evil deeds of men…and this scripture tells us that “men LOVED darkness rather than light…because their deeds were evil”. And we are warned that evil will get worse and worse as we come nearer to the end of the age. That is why we are seeing so much evil in the world. The world has grown darker and darker in their deeds.
But I want to tell you today that there is Hope…and it’s found in Romans chapter 5 and the last part of verse 20…it says…“But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”. Glory to God….Hallelujah! Grace…that AMAZING Grace of God!
But this is the REALLY Amazing part…Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Jesus came to shine His light on the lost and dying world…and He is STILL doing that today. He came to light our path…but not only that…He came to EXPOSE the evil in the world…He came to shine His light on the deeds of darkness…He came to DISPEL DARKNESS! Jesus IS The Light! Glory to God!
But here’s the part I want you to see today….it’s right there in Matthew chapter 5, and I am going to begin to read from verse 14…if you will turn there with me there in your Bibles please. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.”…Did you get that part…first He told us that He is the Light of the World…and now He is saying that YOU are the light of the world! He is saying that each one of us…that is YOU and me and every person who is truly walking with Him…we are His lights...our purpose is allow His light to shine through us. Let’s go on and read the rest of that scripture…“A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” If you have ever driven from the country and entered into a large city, you know that you can see the lights of that city for miles before you ever get to it. And if that city is set up on a hill…it is visible for many miles away…a city that is set upon a hill cannot be hidden…and the next verse 15 reads, “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket”…if I were to light a candle and put something over it, then that light would be of no value to anybody, because it would be hidden and you wouldn’t be able to see…but NOOOOO…Jesus said, “but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” And so…in verse 16, Jesus is giving us some very important instructions. He said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
And here’s another truth I want you to see…when Christians all come together, there is a lot of light shining in the place wherever we are…and that is a good thing….in fact, we tend to make each other shine more brightly. We reflect off of each other and if one of us has a flame that is growing dim or has gone out…the others of us are there to encourage and help that “light” to burn brightly again. We are supposed to encourage one another.
But…here is the problem that is happening dear Saints of God. The world is full of darkness ...and where God's people stay inside the confines of their church buildings, they are actually hiding the Light of Jesus and there is no light in the world to dispel the extreme gross darkness that Satan has used to blind the world. That becomes a huge problem because, while there is plenty of light INSIDE the church…there is NONE out in the world where Jesus told us to shine. We are in essence, hiding our candle under a bushel, and no one can see…except us. But when Christians begin to come out of hiding and we dare to walk out into the darkness that permeates the world...then the light that Jesus told us to be begins to shine...and people begin to see the truth of God’s Word through us...and then lives begin to change. Christians, if you are not letting your light shine so that all the world can see the Light of Jesus in you...then you must assume some responsibility for the darkness that covers the earth. It’s time for a change! We MUST make the difference that Jesus intended for us to make in the dark and sin filled world! It’s time to come out of our comfortable buildings and get out there in the world where the vile sin and horrible darkness is so that we can make a difference. If you remember, most of the ministry that Jesus did while He was on the earth was OUTSIDE where the people were. He did that as an example for us to follow.
As we seek to follow Jesus more closely and to have an impact for the Kingdom of God in this dark and sin-filled world in which we live…let us take the Light of Christ out to the people and let them see that Jesus IS the answer and the hope they are looking for. God bless you as you serve our Lord and Savior.
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