Light.

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In the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Revelation the statement is made that the servants of God and of the Lamb will be given light by the Lord God, and they will reign for ever and ever. The two ideas are associated. The servants will reign by virtue of the light they have been given. It will be impossible to govern in the future apart from Divine light.

(7/1/2007) The following passage is difficult to understand. At least it has been for me:

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)

What kind of light will they be given? It must be some kind of physical illumination, for there will be no need for the sun or a lamp.

Are we speaking of understanding—the light of understanding? Perhaps in part.

Are we speaking of righteous behaviour? Perhaps in part?

Are we speaking of the Glory of God? Probably?

But what kind of light will come from Divine Glory? Will it be illumination, such that one could read a book by the light of it? Probably.

Will the light that comes from the Divine Glory give an understanding of God and His ways? Probably.

Will the light that comes from the Divine Glory be revealed in righteous behaviour? Probably.

Will the light that comes from the Divine Glory enforce and enable righteous behaviour? Probably, because the servants of God and of the Lamb will govern by means of that light..

When Jesus said, "I am the Light of the World, precisely what did He mean?

When Jesus said we are the light of the world, what did He mean?

In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis we read that there were an evening and a morning for three days before there was a sun. How can this be? It is apparent that the original state of the creation was darkness, and then God commanded some kind of light, and God separated the light from the darkness—not the darkness from the light, as we would suppose, but the light from the darkness. This is significant.

What God is doing today in the believers that are cooperating with the Spirit of God is dividing between the light and the darkness in us. The Spirit is bringing us into many challenging, sometimes distressing, experiences. The purpose of these experiences is to reveal the darkness that is in us.

When we find ourselves upset, we are not—absolutely not!—to become angry with the tools that God uses to frustrate, irritate, or upset us. We are to go to the Lord and ask Him why we are angry and upset. Almost invariably we will discover some area of darkness that is causing us to fret.

Then we are to confess that darkness clearly to God, asking His forgiveness and cleansing. This God will do faithfully. While God may not remove the sin that dwells in us, He will take the life out of it so we can overcome it in the future.

I cannot possibly overemphasize the importance of cooperating with the Holy Spirit as He separates us from the darkness of sin and rebellion. Such is the move of God that follows the Pentecostal experience. If we have been forgiven through the blood and filled with the Spirit of God, the next move in the program of redemption is to separate our personality from the darkness of indwelling sin; from the darkness of our self-will; and from the darkness that surrounds us in America.

God is light, and anyone who claims to love God and to abide in God absolutely must be separated from the darkness of sin and disobedience. The grace of forgiveness is not light. The grace of forgiveness is God’s forbearance while the Spirit is working to separate us from all sin and rebellion.

Often the statement is made that as long as we are in the world we are compelled to sin. This is a lie. It has no scriptural support whatever. It is true that there is sin in us. But when the Spirit reveals the problem area to us we are to confess and forsake it, by the wisdom and power that Christ gives.

Can we follow the program of redemption until there is no darkness in us? Of course. Can it happen in this present life? Of course. Can it take place in the spirit world after we die? Of course. Else how could there ever be a Church without blemish, a new Jerusalem that is the eternal dwelling place of God and that will govern the people who are members of the saved nations of the new earth?

I do not mean to imply by this that, as is commonly taught, that we are to wait until we die in order for God to separate us from the darkness of sin and rebellion. The program of redemption occurs in steps, and is independent of whether we are alive on the earth or with Jesus in the spirit world. The point is this: when the Spirit is dealing with us, whether here or there, we must be obedient. If we do not cooperate with the Spirit of God we will be dealt with as a wicked, lazy servant, whether we are on the earth at the time or in the spirit world. Our Christian mythology certainly is filled with unscriptural ideas concerning sin, and concerning what will happen to us when we die!

The spirit world is a great school in which we will learn the ways of Heaven. But if we do not obey the Spirit of God now, we will not obey the Spirit of God then. The day of salvation always is today.

The previous century was the Pentecostal century. Now, as might be expected, God is moving forward in His program of the redemption of the created world. The present move, the present truth, has to do with the Divine judgment of God’s people. The Spirit is ready to point out the darkness that is in the personalities of the saints and which prevents us from ruling with the Lord Jesus. We must cooperate with the Spirit by confessing the darkness that is in us and turning away from it.

If our eye is single, always looking upward toward our treasures which we have placed in Heaven, and which will be returned to us in the Day of Christ, then our whole body will be filled with light. But if we are not always looking upward, have not placed our treasures in Heaven, but are emphasizing our pleasure in the present world, our whole body will be filled with darkness; and that darkness, as the Lord warned, will be great!

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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