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Let there be Light!
by Chris Cumming
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This sermon is about the power of God and specifically the power of His
Word.
The purpose of this sermon is to show you the power of God and His Word
and how you are to manifest that power.
However, the Word of God has little power if the firstfruit is not
hearing it and/or doing something about it.
When it comes to the Word of God, firstfruits have three primary intakes
of that Word.
1] personal Bible study.
2] church Bible studies
3] sermons.
I am going to take sermons to make a point.
None of us is going to live forever, so the number of sermons is a
finite number.
If one is baptized at age 20 and lives to age 80, that is 61 years. He
or she will hear and have 3,782 sermons which includes all Holy Days and
the Feast.
Baptized at 25 and going to age 80 [56 years]: 3,472 sermons.
Baptized at 30 and going to age 80 [51 years]: 3,162 sermons.
Baptized at 35 and going to age 80 [46 years]: 2,852 sermons.
Baptized at 40 and going to age 80 [41 years]: 2,542 sermons.
Let us look at this a different way:
Baptized 25 years: 1,550 sermons
Baptized 20 years: 1,240 sermons.
Baptized 15 years: 930 sermons.
Baptized 10 years: 620 sermons.
Baptized 5 years: 310 sermons.
Understand that spiritual and character maturity is a Work of God and
not a number of sermons. At the same time, it can give us a base for
self-examination. In that light of self-examination, let me ask some
questions about the number of sermons you feel you have heard. Know that
these questions I am about to ask you are not about generating shame or
bringing accusation. Indeed, the answers you give for these will only be
uttered from you before the throne of God. These questions are being
asked to bring you into the light and possibly give you an epiphany and
encourage you on to Fervency, Diligence and Zeal. When I say that your
answers will bring you into the light, I am talking about you
ascertaining any weak points and doing something about them to insure
that you will be in the Kingdom of God.
Okay, based on those number of sermons I gave you, there is an
approximate number in your mind as to how many sermons you have heard
and/or have in in your possession. Here are the questions:
1] How many did you miss due to sickness?
2] How many did you miss because you were doing something else?
3] In how many did you take notes?
4] How many of these did you just hear?
5] How many of these did you review or listen to again?
6] How many of these were used in meditation and/or drove you to prayer?
7] How many of these resulted in you having a physical, mental,
emotional and/or spiritual epiphany? [An
epiphany is an experience of sudden and striking realization. It is also
the manifestation of God everywhere in our lives]
8] From how many of these did you come up with a spiritual plan?
9] How many of these resulted in you taking spiritual action in your
salvation process?
10] How many of these resulted in what you would deem a step forward in
the salvation process?
What scripture is at the basis of all these self-examination questions?
Further, if you have found or later find yourself lacking in some area,
how are you going to gloriously overcome the weak point and go with
boldness into the Kingdom of God?
Turn to James 1:17
James 1:17-25
...as you turn here, will we learn anything about the light of God?
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down
from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning.
18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be
a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow
to speak, slow to wrath:
20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness,
and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your
souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own
selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a
man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this
man shall be blessed in his deed.
Note: In many sermons, I have spoken
to Matthew 4 and specifically Matthew 4:4. I speak to the fact that
Jesus gave us the foundation of His entire ministry before even
beginning that ministry.
Matthew 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Did God do the exact same thing? I believe He did and He did it
very graphically. Again we see linkage to Romans 1:20
Romans 1:20
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
God has a plan and He is working that plan. That plan is all about
bringing 100 Billion humans out of the darkness and into the light and
then into the Kingdom of God where light is eternal. Notice Him giving
you a Romans 1:20 seen thing to verify this invisible, spiritual plan.
Turn to the front of your Bibles and Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1:1-4
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
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.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light
from the darkness.
Note: If you read the commentary on
these verses you find that the bringing of the light was not about
creating the sun that first day. It was about taking away the darkness
that was upon the face of the deep [verse 2].
In verse 4, God says the light was good and divided the light from the
darkness.
If these verses about the living, physical metaphor are pointing to the
foundational basis of His spiritual plan for us, where is the verse that
establishes this fact.
Go to 1st Thessalonians 5. I will begin in verse 1.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-8
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I
write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a
thief in the night.
Note: What do you mean that the
"day" of the Lord is coming as a thief in the "night?" He is talking
about the knowledge of it will be in darkness but He is coming in the
day.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief.
Note: As you can see, forward-moving
firstfruits will not lack this knowledge. Why? See verse 5.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are
not of the night, nor of darkness.
Note: James 1:17 says that God is
the Father of lights. Verse 5 says we are, "children of light" and are
NOT in darkness
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be
sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are
drunken in the night.
Note: Sleeping where? Drunken where?
...in darkness.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
You tell me, isn't 1 Thessalonians 5 the spiritual manifestation of the
physical metaphor given to us in Genesis 1:1-4?
Need more convincing? Follow along.
If God IS taking us out of darkness, where is He taking us?
Colossians 1:13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us
into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Psalm 27:1
A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I
fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
If I am on a path of righteousness and holiness, am I likened by God
to be in light? If so, to what end?
Proverbs 4:18
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and
more unto the perfect day.
Note: Perfect what? Ah, the perfect
"day."
Is there joy being in the light? What if one is in the light but
becomes wicked?
Proverbs 13:9
The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall
be put out.
Notice the John Gill on the "light of the righteous."
The light of joy and gladness, which is sown for them, and arises to
them; the light of spiritual knowledge and experience they have; the
light of sound doctrine; the light of good works, and a Gospel
conversation; all this, as it is delightful to themselves and others, so
it is increasing more and more to the perfect day, and it continues [Proverbs
4:18 which I just gave you.]. ~John
Gill
Notice what the John Gill says about the lamp of the wicked:
But the lamp of the wicked shall be put out; the light of the righteous
is like that of the sun, bright and pleasant; but the light of the
wicked is like that of a lamp, lesser and not so agreeable, nor will it
last. ~John Gill
Having said this, if a firstfruit is currently backsliding within the
salvation process, can he or she repent and get back into the light?
Ephesians 5:14
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light.
If God is taking us from darkness and into the light and ultimately
the Kingdom of God, what is the Word of God?
There is power in the Word of God and this power can be released,
harnessed and manifested. The more this power is manifested and used,
the greater spiritual maturity we have; the closer we are to ultimate
salvation. Notice:
Psalm 119:130
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the
simple.
Note: If we abide in the Word of
God, are we not abiding in the light God took us to?
1 John 2:10
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none
occasion of stumbling in him.
Note: What are the commandments? What is the law?
Proverbs 6:23
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of
instruction are the way of life:
Need more? How about a verse where we find God speaking about spiritual
light and explaining it by going back to the physical metaphor of
Genesis 1?
2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ.
Interestingly, God says something about those who fall from the process
about this light of the Word:
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them.
I want to go back to James 1:17 and the phrase, "Father of Lights."
The Father of lights
Among the good things, the best is light, the physical light which makes
the things of the outer world visible, the intellectual light which
enables any man to see truths and their relations, the spiritual light
which enables a man to walk as seeing Him that is invisible and the
invisible world by which He is surrounded. God is the “Father of
lights,” the source of all conceivable modes of illumination. He is the
Source of all the light of knowledge, all the light of wisdom, all the
light of faith, all the light of hope, all the light of love, all the
light of joy. If any man arise in his generation to shine as a star in
the hemisphere of human society, God kindled the splendor of his
intellect and the benign radiance of his high spiritual character, if
any woman arise to brighten a home, or send the kindly light of her
sweetness over any cheerless portion of our race, it was God who dwelt
in her heart, and smiled through her life. If on the coast of our
humanity we, mariners on life’s uncertain sea, behold lighthouses so
placed along the shore as to enable us to take bearings or shape courses
that bring us to our havens of safety, it is God who has erected each
such lighthouse and kindled each such pharos [beacon].
~Biblical Illustrator
The Father of lights
God, as the Author of all our spiritual light, receives a faint
illustration from the sun, as the source of natural light. The rays from
the sun are of three kinds, differing from one another probably only as
to the lengths of the waves of which they are composed.
1. Light rays. Nearly all the light we receive comes from the
sun. Even the moonlight is but reflected sunlight. Even when we are in
the shade, or in the house where we cannot see the sun, the light we
receive is sunlight, dispersed from the particles in the air, reflected
from all things around us; even the light of our lamps and gas-burners
is but sunlight which has been stored up in the earth. So it is that all
our spiritual light, from whatever sources it seems to come, is really
from God. Our white sunlight is really composed of thousands of colors,
shades, and tints, which fill the world with beauty. Such variety is in
the pure light from God, reflected from our manifold natures, needs, and
circumstances.
2. Heat rays. Nearly all the heat in the world comes directly or
indirectly from the sun. The fires that warm us and that are the source
of power are from the wood or coal in which the heat of the sun has been
stored. Such is God’s love to us.
3. Chemical rays, which act upon plants and cause the movements
of life. These rays are in a sense the source of life, the
instrumentality of life. So, God is the Source of our spiritual life.
Light, love, and life all come from the Father of lights.
~Biblical Illustrator
The Father of lights
The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide
world’s joy. The lonely pine on the mountain-top waves its somber boughs
and cries, “Thou art my sun”; and the little meadow violet lifts its cup
of blue, and whispers with its perfumed breath, “Thou art my sun.” And
the grain in a thousand fields rustles in the wind and makes answer,
“Thou art my sun.” So, God sits, effulgent [ih-fuhl-juh nt] [shining
forth brilliantly] in heaven, not for a favoured few, but for
the universe of life; and there is no creature so poor or so low that he
may not look up with childlike confidence and say, “My Father, Thou art
mine.” ~Biblical Illustrator
Let's end with a set of four scriptures:
1 John 1:5
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto
you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 Peter 1:16
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Anyone having an epiphany or two today?
Ephesians 1:18
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what
is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints,
1 Peter 2:9
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a
peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath
called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Stay in His marvellous light.
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