LIGHT

^[p. 149] LIGHT

Isaiah 60: 1 - 3; Acts 9:3; Acts 22:6; Acts 26: 13; Ephesians 1: 3 - 6

You will understand from these passages that my thought is to say a word about Light; and I wish specially to enlarge upon what may be regarded as our light. The passage in Isaiah speaks of a special light. The chapter is addressed, as you will readily perceive, to Israel; and she is called upon to “Arise, shine, for thy light is come” — her light. That is to say, there was a special light which has reference to that nation. You will remember how Simeon took the little Child into his arms in the temple, as recorded by Luke, and he refers to the Lord in this way “A light for the revelation of the Gentiles”. There he alludes to the Gentile’s light. Christ would be a light to the Gentiles; whereas, Isaiah refers to Him as Israel’s light.

Now, I want to make clear that there is a special light for us. Light is referred to in Scripture perhaps as extensively as any other subject. It is primarily referred to as a necessity. You will find, I think, as a principle, that whatever God commands is an absolute necessity. He is said to have commanded light; He is said to have commanded life; and He is said to have commanded repentance. These things are necessities on account of conditions here. The necessity for the command that there should be light was obvious, because darkness prevailed. Darkness, we are told, was on the face of the deep; hence God commanded what was a necessity; He commanded light, and there was light. On the first day in Genesis 1, light is commanded, without saying whence it came, or what was its origin. We have the simple fact stated that God commanded light, and that there was light.

^[p. 150] Now, when you come to the fourth day you find a great luminary in the heavens. There is the source of light, and its position. The fourth day may be said to be Christianity. The third day is resurrection. If you look at the passage you will see what I mean. On the third day “the earth brought forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind”. On the third day the dry land appears; and on the fourth day the light, is set in the heavens, alluding to Christ as having gone up into heaven.

Now, that is the point that I desire to lead to; that the Light is in heaven now. First of all, Christ had to become Light upon earth. “The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man”; it does not say here coming from heaven. That is John’s presentation of it. A divine Person in the world is Light, and He sheds His light on every man. Man was in view. Man was in total darkness; and Christ coming into the world is light.

It is like the first day. God commanded the light. It is not there a question of whence it comes, or where it is, but that it is a necessity for every man. It sheds its beams on every man; not necessarily that every man’s soul is illuminated, but the light is there for all. Not simply that it was Israel’s light; it was man’s light; it was universal; He shed His light on every man.

What perfect light was in the life of Jesus! “In him was life, and the life was the light of men”. That holy, separate, devoted life was the light of men in this world. The life was the light, the life of that Man! Would that we could ponder that; “in him was life, and the life was the light of men”; not of angels, but of men. It was universal. John Baptist was not that light. Jesus was that light. He was here absolutely for God’s will. His life in that way was light. Well, now, that was universal;

^[p. 151] it was not special. You can understand if God is revealed there are no preferences; He is no respecter of persons. Men viewed as they are, as men in this world, come under the notice of God for blessing, but He is no respecter of persons in that way. The gospel is a testimony to what the light was. “God said, Let there be light, and there was light”. The Lord said, according to John’s record in chapter 12, “While ye have the light believe in the light, that ye may become sons of light”. He said that, and immediately He went and hid Himself; the Light disappeared. It was there, and it shone universally, and He appeals to those to whom it shone. He says while ye have it, believe in it. Let that be an appeal to our hearts; as believers in it you become sons of the light; and then the Lord goes and hides Himself. The Light was about to disappear. The light that shone in Israel was about to disappear, the holy life of Jesus. “The people which sat in darkness”, the prophet says, “saw great light”.

Well, now, that is the first thing in the first chapter of the book of Genesis; but on the fourth day, as I have said, the great light is set in heaven. The light is transferred to heaven. I wish to dwell upon that; and what I would say to you is that our light is particularly Paul’s light. I know of no subject, in a way, that is more interesting than that. We want to understand what our light is. There is Israel’s light; there is universal light; there is the Gentiles’ special light; there is the light for the assembly. Now, it is for us to discover what that is. I think Paul comes forward as the special vessel of the assembly’s light, and therefore I read those three passages in which we have the account of his conversion. In each of the passages you will find that it is formally stated that the light came from heaven. In the first passage it is simply stated that a light was there from heaven. In the second passage it is said that a great light was ^[p. 152] there, but still from heaven. In the third passage it is a light above the brightness of the sun from heaven. You will observe, therefore, that the Spirit of God gives increase of appreciation of the light. I need not say it was the same light that is referred to in chapter 9 as in chapter 22, and as in chapter 26. It is the same light, but the speaker has increased appreciation of it. The first speaker is doubtless Luke; the second speaker is Paul himself. Luke gives the simple statement that a light from heaven shone; he is careful to say that it came from heaven. If you are in a dark room it matters little whether there is a gas light or electric light, or some other light; you want light, but in the passages I am referring to, the kind of light that is shining is in view, the source of it, it is from heaven.

I refer to the tabernacle for a moment. You will recall that there was a candlestick there. The light from it was not to shine in the court of the tabernacle; it was not light for the wilderness outside. What was the object in the candlestick with its seven lamps? It shed its light upon what was within. It is not to expose the darkness outside; it is not to expose the dark crevices in our hearts. The light in the sanctuary is to bring into evidence the beauties of Christ; it is to bring into evidence the things connected with Christ; the “things above”. The angels are there entirely subject to God’s will; hence the Lord says, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Why, then, the necessity for light in heaven? The Lord Jesus Christ entering into heaven shed His beams upon all that is there. The heavens are open to us, as you see in Stephen’s case; he looked up stedfastly into heaven; he could look in there; there was light there; he saw the face of a Man whom he knew. He saw “the glory of God, and Jesus”. It is a wonderful thing to look in there. A light was to be in the tabernacle perpetually.

^[p. 153] Aaron was to take care that it was there. As a priest enters, what does he see? He sees all the beauties of Christ; and the things above are in full view; what a thing it is to look in there.

Do you know what gives us a true estimate of the things in this world? No one has a true estimate of the things in this world until he goes into the sanctuary. Asaph says, “Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end”. Now, what do you see in the sanctuary of God? You see Christ; you get a view of Christ. You come out, and you see that the man that is outside cannot remain; he is entirely different to the Man that is inside; and the Man that is inside is in God’s favour; He is accepted of God for ever; He is the accepted Man. The man here is rejected; hence Asaph saw that God would make an end of them; they may flourish like a green bay tree, but God will make an end of them. God will not go on with two men; He will go on with one Man. The Man that is accepted inside is the Man that is to continue, and to prevail; and if you see Him inside, when you come outside, you make up your mind that the man that is outside must go. He says, “then understood I their end”. Let us draw near; you see all that is there in heavenly light; and, as the hymn puts it,

“Heavenly light makes all things bright,
Seen in that blissful gaze”. (12:3)

There is not only the exposure of the darkness here, but the light of Christ brings everything that is in the mind of God, in heaven, into evidence; you can well understand the apostle Paul saying, “have your mind on the things that are above”. That really means entering into the sanctuary of God, “where Christ sitteth”, the accepted One; He is undisturbed. He is not simply standing there now, He is sitting; He is at rest there; He had not where to lay his Head when here; but He is sitting ^[p. 154] there. The book of Revelation shows us Christ coming out; and so the encouragement in Colossians is to “have your mind on the things that are above, not on things that are on the earth; for ye have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God. When the Christ is manifested who is our life, then shall ye also be manifested with him in glory”. It is a wonderful thing to go into the sanctuary. As I said a moment ago, you never have a true estimate of things here, until you enter the sanctuary of God. You not only see the Man that is there, but your heart is drawn to Him; you delight in Him. But more, you see the power by which God will remove the man that is here, and all his works; every trace of him is to be removed; “then understood I their end”, Asaph said. What a great thing it is to “understand”.

Well, now, you can see in these three passages in the Acts, how the Spirit lays emphasis on the thought of light in heaven; it comes out of that sphere; and it is a principle that those who are illuminated by any given light, make their way to the source of it; hence if you are illuminated by any light out of heaven, the answer to it is that you seek heaven. The light from heaven gives character to Paul’s ministry; it was to be a heavenly ministry. The apostle Paul never gives up this line until he sets the assembly in heaven. That is the great end of his ministry. You will recall that in Genesis 22, when the resurrection of Christ is foreshadowed in Isaac, the Spirit of God immediately proceeds to give us the genealogy of Rebekah; in chapter 23 Sarah dies, and is buried; and in chapter 24 Rebekah is brought to Isaac.

In the Old Testament Isaac answers to Paul’s ministry; he is the heavenly man. Israel appears as a type of Christ, as the heavenly Man. Directly he is risen, typically Rebekah’s genealogy is presented ^[p. 155] to us. The Spirit of God has the assembly in mind directly you have the figure of Christ risen. Then Sarah dies, and she is buried. She is the first person in Scripture mentioned as being buried. She is buried in the light of resurrection. In chapter 24 we have Rebekah brought to Isaac, presented to Isaac to be his companion; typifying the assembly brought to Christ as in heaven. That is brought about by Paul’s ministry; and what I would seek to bring home to our hearts is, that we should be in that light. It is our light. One of the greatest defects amongst us is that we do not appreciate our peculiar light. It has come directly out of heaven. The day is approaching when Israel’s light will shine again; it is not shining now; a greater light is shining now, and that light is our light; and I would appeal to you as to whether you are in it. It should be the boast of our hearts that we are come into the greatest possible light, and we can call it our light.

Now, I read in Ephesians because that epistle presents this light to us. It is the suited presentation of the light to the assembly; perhaps the epistle least understood by us. Many prefer Israel’s light to our light; and therefore I appeal to you. Look at how the apostle addresses these Gentile believers in Christ; he says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings (now note, where) in heavenly places in Christ”. The point is, not exactly the blessings, but, where they are. Where are they? In the heavenlies. We are not blessed on earth; Israel shall be blessed from heaven upon, earth. You will remember in Leviticus 9, that Moses and Aaron “came out”, and they blessed the congregation. That is future. Leviticus 8 is our chapter; we come in there; and so in Ephesians. Israel will be blessed on earth. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing,

^[p. 156] not one omitted, but where? In the heavenlies, in Christ. Now, think of that!

The Philippian epistle is the reflection of this in us; so that the apostle presses upon them that they are to be lights in the world. What kind of lights? Heavenly luminaries. As I said before, we belong to the fourth day. The fourth day speaks of lights in the heavens. “God said let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth; and God made two great lights;” and then you have the stars. The Philippian epistle, I believe, presents the stars to us, the heavenly luminaries. We shine as lights in the world; we are children of God; and we shine; and so the apostle enlarges upon it. Our citizenship is in heaven; our blessings are there, and our treasures are there; our names are registered there.

Then the apostle goes on to show in Ephesians 1, that it is all for the satisfaction of the heart of God; that is what it is for. You see the light in the heavens; you look in there, and what do you find? You see the glory; there is the shining out of the Father’s affections; His heart is fully satisfied; He has the Beloved there, and the apostle says He has made us accepted in Him. If you were going to heaven tonight, and the word Beloved were uttered, to whom would you turn? To Jesus. Paul does not say who the Beloved is here. He leaves it for us to know. I have often thought, that in that vast throng we shall have no difficulty in discerning the Lord. We know His features. You remember how the bride, the feminine speaker in the Canticles, recognised His hand, without seeing any other part of His body; and she described His face and every part of Him; she could describe Him; and so,

^[p. 157] beloved friends, in heaven we shall recognise the Lord, as the Beloved; and look! God has made us accepted in Him. Think of all the infinite affection that rests upon the Beloved, and we are accepted in Him there. Think of the presentation; we are to be presented faultless in the presence of the glory, with exultation! That is what God has in His mind for us. And it is to the praise of the glory of God’s grace!

Now, I think you will understand how these few verses in Ephesians present to us what is specially our light. Would that we might ponder in our souls these wonderful statements of the Spirit of God in regard to ourselves, which are presented to us in this first chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians.

May the Lord bless the word to each of us.