FROM NO LIGHT
TO NO NIGHT
MF Blume
Sunday,
March 8, 1998 AM
Prov 4:18-19 But the path of the just
[is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
The way of the wicked [is] as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
The Bible refers to a life of
righteousness and godliness as a life of LIGHT.
- Bright days always represented
godly people.
- The darkness represented
the wicked of the world.
- In Isaiah's Chapter of
Fasting, Ch. 58, we read about light again.
Isai 58:8 Then shall thy light
break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily:
and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be
thy rereward.
Isai 58:10 And [if] thou draw out
thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light
rise in obscurity, and thy darkness [be] as the noonday:
- In the discussion of the
blessings experienced through fasting and prayer, Isaiah was told by God
to write how that the light of such a soul will break forth as the morning.
- The darkest part of one's
life would be like the noonday.
- That is a perfect day.
Nothing compares to a bright
sunny day.
- The Bible begins with a
very interesting picture and ends with quite an opposite one.
Gene 1:1-3 In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness
[was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the
face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
- The world was covered with
water.
- Darkness was covering the
water.
WATERS
- The Bible often uses things
of the world to represent something, like waters to represent people.
- The Bible is so poetic
that we will miss the message unless we become familiar with the symbols.
Reve 17:1 And there came one of
the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto
me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that
sitteth upon many waters:
Reve 17:15 And he saith unto me,
The waters
which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth,
are peoples,
and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
- So we find that waters represent
peoples.
- Genesis 1:2 shows the waters
covered in darkness.
- We already saw that darkness
represents the wicked.
- So we see a picture of
humanity in sin at the beginning of the Bible when we see the world covered
with waters under darkness.
But then God came along and said,
"Let there be light!"
And by the end of the Bible account
we see quite a different picture from that at the beginning.
Reve 21:23-25 And the city had no need
of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and
the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates
of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
- A city with no night as
opposed to a world with no light.
- From No light to No Night.
- What a difference!
- What made the difference?
- It all began when God said "Let there be light".
- God's Word.
- By the preaching of the
Word, God chose to save people (1 Cor 1:21).
Another contrast about the world
at the beginning and at the finish is the state of the waters.
- In Genesis the world is
covered by saline waters -- salt.
- Seas.
- The water that covered
the earth before the dry land appeared in the third day, was saline.
Gene 1:10 And God called the dry
[land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called
he Seas:
and God saw that [it was] good.
- Salt water was always looked
upon as bitterness.
- The Rhyme of the Ancient
Mariner speaks of salt water surrounding thirsty souls, but not conducive
to drinking, since salt would dehydrate the body making one more thirsty than
ever.
- "Water water everywhere,
and all the boards did shrink. Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink"
Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.
- Regions given to salt, in
the Bible, were indicative of cursed regions and lifeless.
Ezek 47:9-11 And it shall come to
pass, [that] every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers
shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish,
because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every
thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, [that]
the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall
be a [place] to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their
kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof
and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
- Nothing grows in a salted
land.
- Lot's wife was turned into
a pillar of salt.
- With this in mind, look
at the end of the world after God has made all new.
Reve 21:1 And I saw a new heaven
and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;
and there
was no more sea.
- No more sea.
- No more salt water.
- At the beginning, before
God said "Let there be light," all that existed was saline waters, people
of wickedness. Salt water.
- But notice that Fresh water
came into existence after the light was spoken forth.
Gene 1:6-8 And God said, Let there
be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters
from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which
[were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so. And
God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the
second day.
- Waters separated, and there
are two divisions. Above and below.
- What made the difference?
-- HEAVEN -- the firmament.
- There are two kinds of people
in the world.
- Not racial, nor ethnic.
- Only two.
- Christians and non-Christians
- Fresh and salt water.
- God's Word of faith concerning
"Heaven" makes the difference.
- Some will believe and some
will not.
More examples of salt as indicative
of bitterness.
Deut 29:23 [And that] the whole
land thereof [is] brimstone, and salt, [and] burning, [that]
it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow
of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his
anger, and in his wrath:
Judg 9:45 And Abimelech fought
against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that
[was] therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.
Jere 17:6 For he shall be like
the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit
the parched places in the wilderness, [in] a salt land and not inhabited.
- Salt was put into a city
after it was conquered, and that would leave the place uninhabitable afterwards,
since the salt would ruin the chances for crops to grow in the land.
- But in the end ...
Reve 21:1 And I saw a new heaven
and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;
and there
was no more sea.
- All that will be left to
remain forever will be the Christian people of God.
- Waters represent peoples.
- No more saline waters.
- No more Seas.
- No more sinners.
A world covered with salt water
will be replaced with a world covered with nothing but fresh waters.
Reve 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water
of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God
and of the Lamb.
- Nothing but crystal clear
water issuing forth from the throne.
- What a contrast!
- From a dark world of salt
water to a world with no night and only fresh, crystal clear water!
What is keeping people away from
the life of Light?
- This life can only exist
through one means.
- God SPOKE light into the
World.
- John said this about that
light...
John 1:1-5 In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in
the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not
any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the
light of men. And the light shineth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.
- The WORD created all things.
- And here we see that the
WORD is Jesus Christ.
- And that WORD was the light
of all men.
- You must come to Jesus,
for He is the WORD of God saying, "Let there be light."
- When God said, "Let there
be light" He was saying, "Let there be a Saviour, called Jesus Christ."
- And He shone in darkness.
- After He shone, It was
as if he said "Let there be fresh water". Since waters, or people, were
separated.
- Some waters were removed
from the saline water and raised up to become fresh water.
- With their Hearts, people
believe (Rom. 10:10).
2Cor 3:15 But even unto this day,
when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. [darkness upon the face
of the deep]
2Cor 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the
Lord, the vail shall be taken away. [Let there be light]
2Cor 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where
the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. [Spirit moved upon the
face of the deep]
2Cor 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from
glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord. [So God created man in
his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created
he them. ]
- There is a veil over our
hearts leaving us in darkness.
- The only way to see that
veil removed is to turn our hearts towards Jesus.
- The veil is removed, and
we are freed in liberty.
- And we begin to see a sight
our hearts never saw before.
- We behold the glory of
the Lord after our hearts are turned to Jesus.
- And a miracle happens.
- Bit by bit, we are changed
into the same image that we are looking at -- the Son of God.
- The blast of His light
is what our spirits longed for and we never knew it.
- It burns away all the darkness...
it DRIVES away the darkness.
- In prayer, you are turning
into His image.
- In worship to Him, your
heart is directed in His direction, and therefore you are beholding His glory
and are also being changed in those times.
The waters are said to have a
face.
Gene 1:2 And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters.
- God's Spirit is moving before
the faces of your hearts.
- Paul said, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
[even] as by the Spirit of the Lord."
- Open up your Heart, by
turning to Him.
- All you have to do is turn
to Him.
- And then the work begins.
- When you hear the Word
preached, you will experience a change from then on.
- Though you heard the Bible
taught time and time again, it only changes you when your heart is turned
towards it.
- Turn is noted in the Bible
also by the term "REPENT"
- A turn around.
- The First thing Peter told
people to do to be saved was "Repent."
Enjoy a spiritual world covered
with living water, clear as crystal.
Reve 4:6 And before the throne
[there was] a sea of glass like unto crystal: