LIGHT
[p. 176] LIGHT
Acts 26:15 - 20; Romans 13:12; Colossians 1:12; Ephesians 5:8,9; Philippians 2:14 - 16
These passages, as you will observe, treat of light. The apostle Paul says much about light, and I wish to draw attention particularly to the qualities of the light of which he speaks. John speaks much of light also, connecting it with the Person of Christ — Son of God — the Word become flesh and dwelling amongst men, but Paul speaks of it rather in connection with the place whence it came; so that we have in the first passage read his full estimate of the light that shone round him and those who were journeying with him, as he drew near to the city of Damascus whither he was going. The Holy Spirit tells us in chapter 9:3 that it was a “light from heaven”, while the apostle himself, speaking to the Jews later (chapter 22:6), says it was “a great light” from heaven, but in speaking to king Agrippa and those with him on the occasion of which we have a record in this chapter, his heart seems moved, and it expresses itself with emphasis in the form of an exclamation. Wherever you have this in scriptural writers, you have movement of heart indicated. Exclamations mean that one is peculiarly touched by the matter in hand, so that we have here, “At midday, O king”, and again, “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision”. His heart was in it, hence he says it was “a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me”. It exceeded all known light in brightness.
Now, I make these remarks, because I intend them to be the basis of all I have to say at this time. The light that shone round about Paul and his fellow-travellers was intended to convey to him, and to us,
[p. 177] the character of the light that has come to us from Christ in heaven. It exceeds all other light, and it is what may be called ‘our’ light. Indeed, the quotation in Ephesians 5:14 refers undoubtedly to that remarkable chapter in Isaiah which speaks about Israel’s light. The apostle speaks of what is written, “Wake up, thou that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee”. In Old Testament language it is, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee” (Isaiah 60:1). That word will be spoken to Israel in a coming day; she will be called upon to arise and shine for her light has come — note, her light — “thy light is come”.
The truth written to the Ephesians corresponds, as developed in the saints, to this great light of which Paul speaks to Agrippa. Ephesians is, as developed by the Spirit in us, a light above the brightness of the sun. The heavenly city will not need the light of the sun or of the moon. God and the Lamb will be there, and they shall be the light thereof. In the interior of that city there will be immediate contact with the Father and the Son, so that the light will exceed all known light. The epistle to the Ephesians, as rightly understood by us, involves that we are already in that light that exceeds all known light — a light which he mentions shone at midday, meaning that the sun was in its zenith, shining down in its eastern power and brilliancy upon him. Yet the light which shone out of heaven was brighter than that, so that the light that shines, works out in the epistle to the Ephesians as a light for our souls.
I want to show further that when the apostle says, “When we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul”, we are reminded that we cannot stand upon our feet as natural men and women in the presence of this light. No one then living, perhaps, had more [p. 178] light according to man than Saul had, having had every possible educational advantage; advantages, too, from training and from an honourable ancestry. No one in his day, perhaps, possessed more that would qualify to stand upon his own ground, but as the light shone from heaven he says, “We were all fallen to the ground”, as if it were what is becoming. It was becoming that he and those with him should fall to the ground in the presence of that light. It is thus, indeed, that we begin to take on the light; but it appears and shines round about those who do not fall to the ground, but who stand up and seek to maintain themselves in the presence of it. John speaks of this, “And the light appears in darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not” (John 1:5).
If I am unmoved in the presence of that light, I expose myself as dark, as it says, “Ye were sometimes darkness”; it is not only that men are dark in their minds, but they are darkness. Every man that refuses to bow to this light is simply darkness. We are either radiating this light, or we are darkness; and standing up in the presence of it, whatever we may be, we are simply darkness. So that the first radiation of that light is in our humbling ourselves as in the presence of it. The Spirit of God makes a point of this, for it lies at the beginning of true progress to Ephesians. We begin by falling down in the presence of the light; all the fancied light I may have had disappears; it is darkness. The more active a man is in his mind apart from the Spirit of God, the more darkening he is. He is not only dark, but darkening. And so Paul says, “When we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul”. He is now recognised. Heaven takes note of Saul as he takes this attitude.
And then he gets his commission; not indeed yet, save in the principle of it, for he had to go through [p. 179] those five years of levitical training, as we all have to, ere he is commissioned formally and sent out in the service. But he says, “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision”. This is an entirely new thing — a man obedient to the heavenly vision. It is not simply a command, it is a vision — a vision in the light, beloved. What a scene it was! All fallen! What a spectacle for heaven! Hence a voice in the Hebrew tongue — his own mother tongue, as we may say — addressing him by his own name, “Saul. Saul”.
Where you find the name repeated twice, heaven is signifying its intense interest in the person, such as “Abraham, Abraham”, when he offered up Isaac; “Jacob, Jacob”, when he sacrificed to the God of his father Isaac; “Moses, Moses”, when he turned to see the burning bush and so “Samuel, Samuel”; and “Saul, Saul”. Heaven is intensely interested in this man. He is moving with the light, and as he moves with the light, he receives verbal communications, for the shining of the light is one thing, and verbal communications are another; and these communications had in view that he should be a vessel — an elect vessel — to bring others into this great light. And that is what the Holy Spirit is aiming at, to bring us into accord with that light. It takes us outside the range of ordinary religious light in this world. It is above and beyond it; its brilliancy eclipses it. It is scarcely a candle in the presence of the noonday sun, as compared with Ephesians, and all Ephesian light, let me say to the youngest here, is your light. Will you claim your heritage? It is our light.
But then we have to begin on the ground, as I said. And so Romans corresponds with that, and hence the apostle ere closing the epistle calls upon the Roman Christian to take up the armour of light. Armour would be well understood in that great [p. 180] military centre. Satan dwelt there; it was the home of darkness, as it is today, and the people of God in the metropolis of the world in that day needed armour. It refers particularly to young believers. Armour is for defence. The young believer is not called upon to attack; he is called upon in this epistle to confess the Lord Jesus Christ. In confessing Him you put on the Lord Jesus Christ; as he says, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh” (chapter 13:14). Young beginners are extremely apt to compromise, that is, to make some provision for the flesh, but the apostle says, “Make not provision for the flesh”, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ”.
Romans is “the word of righteousness”, and one skilled in it has his senses exercised to discern between good and evil — a most important point for young believers; but we must all begin on the ground. Romans disposes summarily of all our pretensions and it does so with authority, for it is “the word of righteousness”. “Therein is the righteousness of God revealed” (Romans 1:17). It is a question of what is right in the sight of God, and it summarily, and with authority, disposes of all human pretension as a matter of right. There is nothing arbitrary about it; it is right. It is the word of righteousness, and young believers as guided by it readily see what is right and what is wrong, and they refuse what is wrong and choose what is right.
These are things that are practical, and in the carrying of them out you put on the armour of light. It is not yet a question of spiritual stature it is more attitude of mind, for God makes allowance for the babe, for the young man, and for the father; He discriminates; so in Romans it is a question of the attitude of your mind. Darkness encircles you in this world. The epistle contemplates you in that scene. It comes to you at every moment, and the [p. 181] attitude of your mind is to be your choosing what is right and refusing what is wrong, because you have light and you are protected, for the armour is impenetrable — darkness has no power against it. You learn what is right and what is wrong, and you choose what is right; you have your armour on, and hence it says, “Let us put on the armour of light”. “The night is far spent, the day is at hand”; that is an encouragement. We are to cast off the works of darkness, but to put on in the darkness, in the night, the armour of light.
Now, when we come to Colossians, what we find is not the armour of light, but a transfer from the authority of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love. I do not need the armour of light there, and so he says, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light”. You are now brought into the circle and there you partake of the inheritance in light. Think of the brilliancy of the light that shines in the circle where Christ is supreme, the Son of the Father’s love, where there is no part dark in any one, but where all are made meet for the partaking of the inheritance of the saints in light! The apostle Paul in mentioning the appearings of Christ after He rose again says, “He appeared to above five hundred brethren at once”. What a scene of light! What brilliancy! How wonderful to be made meet for that! And who does it? The Father! The Father operates in connection with the gospel, so as to make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
In that circle I am brought into touch with heaven. Colossians develops a circle of light, a circle on earth in entire correspondence with Christ in heaven; so that Christ is everything. I connect it in my own mind with that scene where He appeared to over five hundred brethren at once. A wonderful scene!
[p. 182] They were all in correspondence with Christ. If there had been one person like Simon Magus whose heart was in the bond of iniquity, how soon it would have been discerned. The power of that light would have forced him out. They were brethren, and brethren, as so mentioned, are according to Christ. They were made fit for sharing the inheritance of the saints in light, and the greatest part of the inheritance is that Christ appears and manifests Himself in the circle of His own. Wonderful thing! That is Colossians.
Now Ephesians is an advance on Colossians. The apostle says, “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord”. We are now “in the Lord”. We apprehend Him where He is in heaven; for if you will recall in the book of Acts, the ministry of the apostle Paul at Ephesus was marked by the word of the Lord (see chapter 19). It was a question of bringing in the Lord, not simply for their subjugation, as in Romans, where it is our Lord Jesus Christ, but for the bringing down of strongholds, and of every high thing that opposes and exalts itself against the knowledge of God. That is the point of Ephesians; the saints are viewed as light in the Lord — light radiated in the saints viewed as in Ephesians — according to their position in heaven.
The Lord says, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Think of the rapidity of the fall! It refers to the power that was there to eject him, and to deal effectually with the universal lords of the darkness of this world. As apprehending the Lord in heaven I am light, I reflect that light, I see that this world is to come down, that there is power in heaven to bring it down, and that there is nothing in it able to bring me down as I have light in the Lord. Light in the Lord! What a wonderful position! He who upholds the universe is behind me. You are in Him. The article is not there in the original. It is “light in Lord”. As Lord, He is the embodiment of all authority and deals effectively with the power of darkness. People may think little of Christians, but we are light in the Lord, if we apprehend Ephesians. If we have this light in our souls, we look with scorn at the world and its boasted powers, knowing that in Christ there is power vested to bring it all down. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27). What can man do with lightning? The coming of the Son of man is in that form and the believer understands it; he is light in the Lord.
Now, in Ephesians you get the aggressive feature; so that we have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. “but rather reprove them”. It is no small matter to undertake to reprove the darkness of this world. No one can safely undertake it save the Ephesian Christian, for you must first understand the power that is for you. You may mistake the power that is against you, unless you understand the power that is for you, and you may meet with defeat. There are very few who can rebuke this world, nevertheless there is the testimony; “rather”, he says, “reprove them”. But then there is the fruit of the light which is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Whilst we are aggressive and resent the darkness, knowing there is power to deal with it, we are marked by the fruits of the light, that is, we bring in goodness and righteousness and truth.
Now you will have observed that the apostle is so concerned about light in Ephesus that he says more about it in this epistle than in any of the other epistles. It is because he is dealing with the great light. He wants all to be in it. It is the first light that came into his own soul, so he says, “Wake up, thou that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee” (Ephesians 5:14). If [p. 184] there be one here turning his back upon God, and upon Christ, and the saints, this is a word for you. “The Christ shall shine upon thee”. The greatest light in the whole universe of God shines upon you. It is all for you; it is your inheritance; you awake into it. Such is Ephesians; we have often sung: “And heavenly light makes all things bright, Seen in that blissful gaze”. (hymn).
Now Philippians has a peculiar charm, not that it exceeds Ephesians. It is addressed to the saints in Christ Jesus with the bishops and deacons. The apostle, doubtless, had in his heart his first experience amongst them, and so he speaks of them as “children of God”, blameless and harmless, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights. He would doubtless remember that his great convert, the jailor, as he was smitten and convicted called for lights — “having asked for lights”, we read (Acts 16:29). I have no doubt that he received the light of the truth in Romans; in due course he was baptised and was moved to show kindness to the apostle; and then he speedily came to the Colossian truth of the Christian circle — the Father having made him meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light, and I have no doubt he came on also into the Ephesian feature of the light. He had called for lights and he got them. He moved in the light, he moved immediately in the light. He spoke respectfully to his prisoners, calling them “sirs”, he washed their stripes and set meat before them in his house.
The Philippian company is marked by household light, the light of God reflected in the houses of the saints, and so Paul on leaving went to the house of Lydia. What light would shine in that house! for she had had her heart opened to the things spoken by Paul. All this, well known to the apostle, would be in his heart when he spoke of them as blameless [p. 185] and harmless children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. The word ‘shine’ is indeed ‘appear’, “among whom ye appear”, and thus is an advance on anything we have had. You will recall the word ‘appear’ in connection with Christ’s star that shone for the wise men of the east. Herod would know when it was appearing. It was His star — “we have seen his star” (Matthew 2:2) — and it became a guide to those men from the east. They were wise; not disobedient to the heavenly vision. They moved with heavenly light — with the star. It was His star and Herod would know when it was appearing. May I ask you as to whether we are appearing?
One can appear now without shame; one is blameless and harmless — a child of God. One can appear before men in heavenly dress as one of God’s children, appearing as a light. I call attention to that word, although ‘shine’ is a good word. I have no doubt the word ‘appear’ may be astronomical; it refers to one coming out as a light in the world, not to give out that he is some great one like Simon Magus, but to appear and shine as a blameless and harmless child of God, holding forth the word of life. It is a question of children of God here. In Ephesians we are children of light, in Thessalonians sons of light, as also in John’s gospel, but in Philippians it is children of God. “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). We are to appear in this dark world as the stars reflecting Christ, and so he says, “holding forth the word of life”, and I am sure that that is what the Lord would have us do — appearing as lights, and holding forth the word of life.