THE TRUE LIGHT
[p. 276] THE TRUE LIGHT
John 1: 4 - 8; John 8: 12 - 14; 1 John 2: 8
I have been thinking of light, the true light, which is said to lighten every man. However much is said of light in the Scriptures and however important it may be, in the divine thought men are in view. God ever worked in the light in what He did. So that at the outset the first need was that there should be light. God begins there, “Let there be light: and there was light”. The operations which followed, proceeded in the light; they were seen in relation to one another. As day after day developed, the divine thoughts became clearer, and were obviously coordinated — always in the light.
When we come to John’s gospel, we have the divine mind as to light. It had man in view; every man, not simply as a race, but each member of the race, whatever his nationality or antecedents. Every race was in the divine mind in regard to the light, that all might come unto it. God never operated in the dark, hence we find that when God laid the foundations of the earth, those present, as I may say, knew what He was doing, although God does not always give account of His matters, yet in the laying of the foundations, intelligent beings were cognisant of what was proceeding. He has not been pleased to give account of many of the things which are visible, the physical phenomena; that is kept within His prerogative. At the same time, all has been done in the light. Those present understood, so that we are told that “the morning stars sang together”, Job 38: 7. Blessed unity is seen even then. You may be sure that whatever is alluded to, they were engaged with the same thing, they sang together with understanding also. They knew something of what God was doing, and then it adds, “all the sons of God shouted for joy”, alluding surely to mature beings, persons of intelligence — they were all [p. 277] interested, and so much so that they “shouted for joy”. They understood. It was all in the light.
In the eighth chapter of Proverbs where God’s operations are enlarged on, it says wisdom was there. The morning stars and the sons of God say nothing about man. Wisdom does. Wisdom carries the thought on and speaks anticipatively of the actual realisation of the divine thought, in that it says my “delights were with the sons of men”. You see, dear brethren, what a note of intelligent jubilance runs through. Wisdom was occupied particularly with the habitable parts of the earth. It was speaking anticipatively, showing that it was in the divine mind to have intelligent beings in the habitable parts of God’s earth, and that its delights were with the sons of men.
You can see, therefore, beloved brethren, how John’s gospel fits in with all that. It is stated there that by Him who was in the beginning, all things were made that were made, and that without Him not one thing was made; all had being through the Word, and whilst that is asserted, what is in view immediately is man, and hence the statement, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men”. That is to say, the true Light. Not that the light previously referred to is not true of its kind. Physical light, of course, is true — the sun and whatever other light there may be in the physical system — but it refers here to the true or perfect light for men, that it was something that should become substantive; not merely an abstract thought, but something here within man’s range; something that men could touch, and so it says, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men”. So as to prepare our minds for the thought, we have to dismiss all earlier conceptions of light, for hitherto light had dispelled darkness, so that darkness was driven by it into its own area, and a name given to it. The light He called day, the darkness was dispelled by it.
[p. 278] Here, however, we have introduced to our minds an entirely new thought, that the true light appears in darkness and the darkness comprehends it not; that moreover witness has to be made to it, in the person of John the Baptist. No one needs to call attention to the sun as it shines in the heavens. It is there; nothing is hidden from its heat. Its light goes out throughout all the earth, and its rays negative the darkness, so that in its presence, darkness ceases. Now a new thought has to be apprehended, and we are told the light shines “in darkness”, and that the darkness does not comprehend it. Attention has been called to it. We are told immediately, “There was a man sent from God”. This is not historical, it is moral. It is a man that was with God, for he was with Him, and was sent as from “with him”. He came for a witness to the light. He was not it, the Spirit tells us, although the Lord later pays such a beautiful tribute to John in saying that he was a burning and a shining light or lamp, which is more local and limited in thought. He burned and he shone. You can see that as those Pharisees came to him to be baptised, how he burned, as he called them a generation of vipers. He would wither them up. But the light was there. They rejoiced for a season in his light, it says, but it was local and national, for after all, John was for the sons of Israel.
The apostle tells us that John the Baptist cried, “A man comes after me who takes a place before me, because he was before me”, and again there stands among you Him “whom ye know not”. You see the beautiful witness to this Light. He was in their midst. May it not be, beloved, that there is that of God, standing in our midst, whom we know not. We are always under test by reason of what is of God in our midst. The Lord here is not acting, He is not preaching, nor working; He is standing, and yet the great Creator of the universe, “whom ye know not”. What is of God amongst us, standing possibly inactive because of ourselves, becomes a test “whom ye know not”. John goes on and says, “I knew him not”. The thing is to be on the look-out for what is of God, for God is never inactive, as the Lord Himself says later, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work”. John the Baptist says, “he who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit”. That was what God said to him. But that is not all, for the same day John sees Jesus coming to him. When John saw the Lord moving — not standing, but moving towards him — he discerns Him. It was not the Lord’s preaching or miracles, it was His moving. When he saw Him coming to him he says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”.
Before the Spirit comes upon the Lord, John had eyes to see, and that is what this gospel would call attention to — the importance of being able to see the light, whatever it might be. The principle is radiation, but you have the substance first. The thing is there in a living way, the life is there; it is not a question of words or sermons or even miracles, it is the substance. I am not now speaking of the deity of our Lord, which is so emphasised in this chapter, but the life. The life was there, you see, that which was intended to be light, the light of men, and as it moves, it radiates. I cannot undertake to define it, and as the Lord moves towards John it was radiating. But then who saw it? Multitudes were there. I suppose it was one of the most extraordinary days in the history of the nation. The light of life was radiating in the simple movements of Christ to John.
Thousands were moving towards John, some of them “vipers”. They were doing what the Lord was physically, but how differently. Why did Jesus go to John? Jesus had never sinned; that holy life had been delightful under God’s eye, never a blemish in it. It was perfect. Why should He come to John? You see John had spiritual [p. 280] discernment. He had eyes to see. God alone can give that, and if you have not eyes to see this light, I would counsel you to turn to God to give you this vision. It is shining, the true light now shines. Here it is, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men”, but the epistle says, “the true light now shineth”. He is coming to John, and the anointed eye of one who had the Holy Spirit from his birth, discerns in that movement the Taker-away of the sin of the world.
Marvellous light! Never shone light like that: the light of the taking away of the sin of the world. That was what it was. The true light — how much needed. Every soul of man needs it if he is to be with God. He has to get that light, the light of the taking away of the sin of the world. John was baptising; he was administering death figuratively. Jesus comes to him and John names Him. Not a word is said as to his having light from God, but what God had said to him was that “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit”. But John discerns Him before that. The light was radiating, as I have said: the light of the taking away of the sin of the world.
Then John says, “I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God”. Now you see there is another point, and I stress it, because without it we are not prepared for a new commandment. The new commandment is the thing, the true light, that is shining now. The next day, John was standing and two of his disciples; that is to say, the two disciples were evidently under his teaching and personal control. Standing — a very suitable attitude, particularly in view of what was happening, because the light was beginning to radiate, and it is a good thing to stand and see all that emanates from this wondrous light. It is the true thing — we want to get hold of that point — that which radiates for every man. And so the Light is seen walking; we are not told where He was going, but [p. 281] it was consequent, obviously, upon the previous movement. He is walking, for it is He who is the Taker-away of the sin of the world. He is walking to be called attention to. Well, you say, I can see that. Yes, but can you? Look at those two men standing by John. One of them is Andrew, a trained man, and the other is not named. They had seen John ministering, they had been under his ministry. Surely they will see now? But do they see? No. John looks on the Lord, and he says, “Behold the Lamb of God”. He calls attention. That is the principle of it. Attention has to be called to things. But you say, why did I not see that before? Well, why did you not? It may be you have been cavilling about it. It may be you have been saying, I have been going on these lines all my life. But here is something you have never seen. Why have you not seen it? Their attention is called to the light, and then they do not quarrel about it. On the contrary they moved towards the light.
Now that movement is life, for light is not in itself power for movement. Life is that. The principle is that, as the true light shines into your soul it becomes life there; it becomes, as I may call it, substantive. So that it radiates from you. The true light shines from you. But the Lord emphasises the fact that life was there, for He turns and sees them moving and following, for that is the direction the light would move us. All is governed by one great principle. There is no room for lawlessness in this life. It is true to itself. It is true to Christ. So they move towards the Christ and they follow. While the light is ever shining, so long as you cavil or quarrel with the thing, you are in darkness in regard to it. If the thing is there to be seen, move in regard to it. The movement is life, and it will be light to others. So that Andrew, one of the two that abode with the Lord that day, goes after his brother. That is the way it works. The brethren need to be brought together. Andrew went and “brought him to Jesus”, and the Lord looks upon [p. 282] him. He gives him a name which means “a stone”. Not indeed that the name could be applied yet, it was potential. Peter would be a stone. The Lord knew that when He looked upon him. It is a question of what you are, by this light shining into your soul. It becomes life in the soul, and the light that shines from that is the true light. “The true light now shineth”.
What I would desire to say now, is that material for the assembly which Peter represents, is seen in an ability to take in new things which the Lord may call attention to. We are told in this passage, for instance, what the word “Cephas” means. We are told what the word “Rabbi” means. That is to say, the interpretation of words is given in order that we may apprehend the idea. When He gives the interpretation of it, He wants you to know the meaning or the idea. Now with the two disciples, what came out was that they had known discipleship before, but now they had transferred to another Master; they were willing to leave one for another, on account of the superiority of the other. And so it is that Peter comes in, I think, as assembly material.
In the corresponding passage in Matthew 16, the Lord says, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona”. That word “blessed” refers I apprehend to the believer as in Romans. The responsible man Simon Bar-jona is blessed. But here it is simply “Cephas”, which corresponds to the other part of the verse in Matthew, which says, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter”. That is a spiritual thing. It is connected with the nineteenth chapter of Acts, where you get the great structure which Paul reared up in a spiritual way through the twelve men there. Paul asks the men at Ephesus, “Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed?” It is a question of the Holy Spirit when you come to the assembly. They say they had not even heard of Him. And they relate what they had believed. They were [p. 283] walking up to the light they had, which is a very fine thing; but then the question is, What will they do with fresh thoughts? Are they able to take in new thoughts from God? The apostle goes on to speak to them of Jesus and the gospel of their salvation. You will notice that Paul made full allowance for the ministry of John. It was a blessed ministry, but it was not the true light. What we want is the full, the true, light, or we shall not be ready for further thoughts from God; we shall miss them. Many are missing them; unprepared to receive fresh things from God. Some say, there is nothing new now. There has been no fresh light these many years. Fancy those known to be christians thinking that; as if God had ceased working; as if the Holy Spirit had finished; as if the temple of God ceased to exist. It reminds one of what the scoffers say, “since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning”. Is there no fresh light shining? There is, thank God. The true light is now shining. The Holy Spirit is down here, operating in the saints. There is life in the saints, and the true light is shining in them. Also “the darkness is passing”. What a thing to be assured of!
These Ephesian believers gladly committed themselves to Paul, who laid his hands on them (complete identification with them) and they received the Holy Spirit; twelve men at once. Prepared assembly material, as I may call it, as being marked by readiness to receive the message, they get the Spirit who seals the great structure spoken of in the epistle as “a habitation of God in the Spirit”.
All this fits in with the passages in the gospel and the epistle of John. In following the Lord, you see how He is moving. He says, “He that follows me ... shall have the light of life”. You say, such and such an one has light. You refer to his ministry, but that is not the idea. I am not leaving that out, because ministry should be in life. John’s ministry was living — full of Christ. He said, “Behold the Lamb of God”. But what the Lord says here is not that. It is not His ministry, it is a question of life. “In him was life”. That is the idea, so that He says, “he that follows me ... shall have the light of life”, that is, light of that kind, the light coming out from the substance; that is the kind of thing, the light of life. Such “shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”. The presence of the Spirit here, and all that preceded in this gospel, is necessarily in view. The food in the sixth chapter, the coming down of the Spirit as from a glorified Christ in the seventh, these are in view if there is to be the light of life. It is what is here, you see; the constitution built up by the living bread; the bread that came down from heaven, the flesh and blood of Christ. Then the reception of the Spirit is from Him glorified.
Now that is what I understand to be the application of this passage. You are following the Lord; having moved out of the world, and in moving with Him you have “the light of life”. A living state of things exists in your soul. One has often pictured pioneers in the Western Continent. They are concerned about “the light of life” in a material way. They avoid the deserts and seek the rivers. They have colonised on the St. Lawrence, the Potomac, the St. James, and so forth, and as they went westward the question of how they should live was ever before them. So in every new country. It is a question of life. Vegetable life in this sense, I need hardly say, is of all moment to such men. So it is now. What lines am I pursuing? I do not go into the desert to live. I may be there in the government of God, to bring me down to nothing. My affections, my needs lead me to where the people of God are. How may I find them? Where the life is? Wherever the Spirit is there is life; “the Spirit is life”, we are told. You see the fruits of it there among the saints. Oh, you [p. 285] say, you are occupying us with the saints. As following the Lord, directly you are with Him and He has His own way, you find that He is thinking of the habitable parts of the earth. He is occupied with men. And He leads in a right way that you may “go to a city of habitation”. That is the idea. There are men and women living in a spiritual sense. That is what I understand by the light of life. Wherever that is true, God operates in relation to it, and souls are being brought into relation with it. It cannot be denied. The Spirit’s work is there to be observed by any. Hence it is not merely that we have the Bible rightly interpreted and understand its principles, but we are to have life.
I want to show in closing that all this is involved in the new commandment. In John’s epistle, the apostle deals with life; something very tangible, as you will observe in the beginning. It was what his hands had handled, what he had seen and heard. It was no abstract thing of which John was speaking. It was substantive; to be seen and felt in a living Person. If this Person who was the Light went and dwelt in Capernaum, what a thing it would be to live next door to Him, He was light there. John is dealing with that. Now he says, “I write no new commandment unto you, but an old”. It was lest anyone should think that the old was being discarded. The old surely was as much of God as the new; whatever ministry has been received earlier, it could not possibly be displaced by new. John’s ministry was of God. The Lord challenges the Jews as to it. It was of God, but it was not the true light. No ministry that is of God can be discarded, however ancient. It has its own value; it stands, but then it may not be everything, “I write no new commandment unto you, but an old”, so as to emphasise that the old stood. What was the old? The word which they had heard, which was from the beginning; no doubt, the ministry of Christ from the outset, the word which they had heard. It was not to [p. 286] be displaced. It was the gospel as presented to the twelve, which they had heard; the objective side — what is presented in the gospel — that stood. Do not be afraid of anything that God has presented to you, or that you have received as from God; it stands. No new commandment will displace it. It will enhance it.
Then he says in the next verse, “Again, a new commandment I write unto you”. What is this? Why! it is a new one. That is the whole point. The new commandment, it says, is true in Him and in you. Are you afraid of being occupied with that? Do not be afraid. If you have not this verse, you have not the true light. The new commandment is what is true in Him and in you, that is in Christ and in us. And then he says “because”. That word “because” is confirmatory. What he is going to say proves it, “The true light now shineth”. It was shining, and it was obvious therefore that the true light, true in Christ, had expelled the darkness by becoming true in the saints by the Spirit. Marvellous fact! Is that going to end? Not at all. That is going on. What has become true in us has come into this world, and has come to stay. The true light is shining, and the darkness is passing. This verse is simple christianity, and anyone who does not accustom himself to the new commandment, to the principle of the new commandment, must miss it.
The Holy Spirit maintains everything here, and there is never anything old with Him, so that the word addressed to the assemblies is not, he that hath an ear let him hear what the Lord says to the churches. No; for what He says is written down in every case. But “let him hear what the Spirit says”. We are not told what the Spirit says; it is characteristically something new, in the sense of something fresh. We must all face it; we must be sure that we are not quarrelling with it, because if we quarrel with that, we shall be in the dark as to it, and that will affect us generally. It is readiness [p. 287] to receive what God gives as something fresh which indicates that we are characteristically assembly material, and thus the true light can shine through us.