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Part 5 of the Series:
“search the scriptures” John 5:39
‘Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life’, John 8. 12; cp. 9. 5.
‘God is light, and in him is no darkness at all’, 1 John 1. 5. The positive and negative statements together reveal what is the very essence of God. David wrote, ‘Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment’, Ps. 104. 2. Paul states, ‘Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen’, 1 Tim. 6. 16.
Thomas Binney directs us to those realms of light above:1
‘Eternal Light! Eternal Light! How pure the soul must be When, placed within Thy searching sight, It shrinks not, but with calm delight Can live, and look on Thee.
There is a way for man to rise To that sublime abode; An offering and a sacrifice, A Holy Spirit’s energies, An Advocate with God’.
Thomas Binney (1798-1874)
His first spoken words in creation were ‘Let there be light: and there was light’, Gen. 1. 3. This was on the first day. On the fourth day, the sun, the moon and the stars were created. The reason for their creation is given. The lights in the firmament of the heavens were:
The One who is the Light of the world fulfils all three, cp. John 11. 9; 12. 46.
Light was created on the first day, yet the sources of light were created on the fourth day. We are reminded of the words of scripture, ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible’, Matt. 19. 26.
‘We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place’. It was written by Matthew, ‘Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light’, 4. 15, 16; cp. Isa. 9. 2. It was spoken by Simeon, ‘A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel’, Luke 2. 32.
The Lord Jesus came into the world to reveal all that God is. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, Col. 1. 15. He could say, ‘He that hath seen me hath seen the Father’, John 14. 9. We note the connection between life and light. In John chapter 1 verse 4, ‘In him was life; and the life was the light of men’. By His very presence and ministry in this world the light of God was manifested.
What an indictment of the human family is found in John chapter 3 verse 19. ‘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’ NKJV. ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’, 1. 5 NIV. Light will dispel darkness but never the reverse; darkness cannot overcome light. Just as insects will flee from the sunlight shining in when a stone is upturned, sadly many have an aversion to the light of the gospel. ‘The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man’, 1. 9 JND. The true light is the Lord Jesus. John came to bear witness of Him. He came to bring light within the reach of all men.
At conversion the light of salvation dawns upon the soul. ‘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’, 2 Cor. 4. 6.
When he spoke of his experience of conversion, Paul seemed to have a growing appreciation of the wonder of what happened that day on the road to Damascus. Luke’s account records, ‘suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven’, Acts 9. 3. Paul’s testimony in Caesarea was, ‘there shone from heaven a great light round about me’, 22. 6. Paul’s witness before King Agrippa was, ‘I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun’, 26. 13.
Peter speaks of a marvellous light. Believers are, ‘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’, 1 Pet. 2. 9.
The One who said, ‘As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world’, John 9. 5, said prior to leaving His disciples, ‘Ye are the light of the world’, Matt. 5. 14. ‘For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light’, Eph. 5. 8. God’s desire for His people is, ‘That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world’, Phil. 2. 15.
The plague of darkness, the penultimate plague which covered all the land of Egypt, was described as darkness which could be felt, Exod. 10. 21. It was palpable. The Egyptians could not leave their houses for three days, ‘but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings’, Exod. 10. 23. The homes of God’s people differed from the homes of the Egyptians in that they each enjoyed light in their dwellings.
The Lord spoke of light for ‘all that are in the house’, Matt. 5. 15, and light for those that enter into the house, Luke 8. 16.
The Christian’s home should be a place where the light of the gospel is clearly seen both by those who live in the home and by those who visit. The Lord spoke of two places that no one would think of placing a lighted candle: under a bushel or under a bed. Either position would greatly inhibit the outshining of the light and cause a serious danger of fire. The bushel was used as a measuring vessel for dry products, such as grain or flour, which were being sold in the market. It represents commerce, the busyness of life. The lesson may be that the believer can be too busy, even with the legitimate things of life, and thereby their light of testimony for Christ is diminished. In Luke chapter 8, the bed may indicate indolence, a person who is not busy enough, and they become lethargic as to their responsibility to serve the Lord; they fail to respond to the command of the Lord. ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven’, Matt. 5. 16.
When a person is born again, the light of salvation comes into their home. The Lord said to Zacchaeus as He entered his home, ‘This day is salvation come to this house’, Luke 19. 9.
The Christian home should be a beacon of light in a dark world. God’s people of old were commanded ‘lay up these my words in your heart . . . And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house’, Deut. 11. 18, 19.
There were three sources of light in the tabernacle in the wilderness. The outer court was lighted by the sun and the moon by day and by night. The holy place where the priests carried out their daily duties was lit by the seven lamps of the menorah. The lamps were supplied with pure olive oil from the olive trees which the Lord caused to grow in the wilderness, Isa. 41. 19. The holiest of all was illuminated by the shekinah glory of God.
Concerning the holy city, Revelation chapter 21, we read, ‘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’, v. 23. Equally, chapter 22 verse 5, ‘And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle [artificial light], neither light of the sun [natural light]; for the Lord God giveth them light’.
One of the most delightful titles of Christ in scripture is, ‘the bright and morning star’, Rev. 22. 16. The appearance of the Lord Jesus as the morning star will herald the dawning of an endless, cloudless and fadeless day.
‘A morning without clouds’ was included in the last words of David, ‘And he shall be as the light of the morning, like the rising of the sun, a morning without clouds’, 2 Sam. 23. 4 JND. There were many clouds that crossed the sky of David’s life. Some because of the relentless pursuit of him by Saul, who sought to kill him; some the result of his own failings; some because of the rebellion led by his son, Absalom. Now, at the end of life, he anticipates ‘a morning without clouds’.
A morning without tears. ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning’, Ps. 30. 5. In Luke chapter 7 verse 13, the Lord said, ‘Weep not’ to the widow of Nain. He was able to remove the cause of her tears by raising her son to life. In Luke chapter 8 verse 52, He said to Jairus, whose daughter had died, ‘weep not’. He was able to remove the reason for his tears by raising his daughter from the dead. Revelation chapter 21 verse 4 explains for us why there will be no tears in heaven, ‘And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall not exist any more, nor grief, nor cry’ JND.
A daybreak without shadows. ‘Until the day break, and the shadows flee away’, S. of S. 2. 17. These words are engraved on the headstone over the grave of many a dear saint who awaits the summoning shout of the Lord at His coming. The shadows speak of the onward march of time, as indicated by the moving shadow on the sun dial. It is known as the ‘shadow of turning’, Jas. 1. 17.
In Isaiah chapter 21 verse 11, the question is asked, ‘Watchman, what of the night?’ His reply was, ‘The morning cometh’, v. 12.
In Romans chapter 13 verses 11 and 12, Paul, speaking of this present age, writes, ‘now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light’. Solomon wrote, ‘the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day’, Prov. 4. 18.
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