A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
Isaiah 42:16
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: APPRECIATE YOUR LOYALTY
1. A little old lady got into an argument with her pastor. It got rather abrasive. The pastor thought he would never see her again, however she showed up for the next service.
2. “I thought you’d be gone for good!” said the pastor to her. “Pastor,” she said, “I’m going to be loyal to my church…[he nodded approval]…“even if the devil is in the pulpit!”
B. THESIS & TITLE
1. Our country, and indeed, our world is experiencing a time of darkness. There are wars, protests, riots, plagues, conflicts, lawlessness, and even the threat of revolution by some ideological factions.
2. A confidential friend told me that many of the policemen in the big cities are relocating their families out into the countryside until after the election. They fear the antifa factions may attack their homes.
3. People are fearful of what might happen; they’re discouraged and depressed with all the turmoil. There’s a cloud of apprehension that seems to be hanging over us.
4. It seems like the words of Isaiah 60:2 speak to us; “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people….” Our day is a time when people “call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness” Isa. 5:20.
5. Into this cloud of darkness, I want to bring the light of hope tonight! I want to give you 3 causes for hope: a. It’s NOT as dark as you think; b. the Light of the world is with us; and c. the Light will triumph in the end!
6. The title of this message is “A Light in the Darkness.”
I. IT’S NOT AS DARK AS YOU THINK
A. PREVIOUS DARK TIMES
1. There have been many dark times in history. The Romans attempted all-out extermination of the Christians for 3 centuries. Almost 4 million are buried in the catacombs (underground caverns around Rome) because they had to flee underground to escape.
2. The civilized world was almost overrun by the hordes of Genghis Khan, by the Goths, by the Muslims under Saladin. There was the black plague that killed 75-200 million people. There were the “Dark Ages” when the Scriptures were inaccessible except to the (mostly) unsaved clergy who spoke Latin.
3. There was the terrible U.S. Civil War in which the states took up arms against each other (600,000 men died). Then two world wars wracked the world, killing hundreds of millions of people. We nearly had a nuclear war with the USSR in 1962 that could’ve wiped out all life. These times were certainly darker times than we’re facing today, yet God brought us through them!
B. PERSPECTIVE ON BAD TIMES
1. Troubles always need perspective – comparison. When you think of other people with worse troubles, it usually makes you brighten up because yours aren’t that bad.
2. ILLUS. I’ve often told the story of the college student who had to take a job working night at a ski resort. He would gripe and complain to the older man who worked with him about how many troubles he had: delaying college, working nights, missing social life, etc.
3. At last the older man got enough and said, “You don’t know what problems are! You don’t have any real problems; all you have are inconveniences!” The man pulled up his sleeve and showed him a tattooed number. “All my family died in concentration camps. Compared to that problem, yours are just inconveniences!” True!
4. My parents always quoted the proverb, “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet.”
II. THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD IS COME
A. GOOD NEWS: LIGHT HAS DAWNED!
1. Isaiah 9:2 announces the Good News, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”
2. Aren’t you glad the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12) has come! The Lord is with us; He will never lead us or forsake us; He will guide us out. Isaiah 42:16, “I will bring the blind by a way they did not know…I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.” Praise God!
3. God has given us His Word to light our path; to hide it within our hearts, that we might not sin against God. It shows us where to go, how to live, and how to please God.
B. 4 THINGS THE LIGHT REPRESENTS
1. KNOWLEDGE, INSTEAD OF IGNORANCE
The Psalmist says, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple (119:130). “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (119:105). Before we knew Jesus we walked in spiritual darkness. We didn’t know about our terrible spiritual needs. We didn’t have the right priorities or direction for our lives. But Jesus threw light on all these things so we could establish our steps!
ILLUS. Dr. Alexander of Princeton found that glowworms take such extremely small steps that they can hardly be measured. But when they cross a field at midnight, there’s just enough glow to light their next step. They are never in the dark! [Paul Tan, Ency. Of 7,700 Illus., #1930]. Either are we! God lights just enough for us to make the next step!
2. LIGHT ILLUMINATES OUR BLINDNESS
Christians are called “children of Light” (John 12:36; 1 Thess. 5:5) and are told to “walk” as children of Light (Eph. 5:8). This is juxtaposed to those whose “foolish hearts [are] darkened” (Rom. 1:21) or “understanding darkened” (Eph. 4:18). When the Sadducees asked the blind man in John 5 how Jesus healed him, he replied, “I was blind, but now I see!”
3. RIGHTEOUSNESS VS. WICKEDNESS
The Light acts as a dividing/ judging principle: when people encounter the Light, they are forced to make a decision to accept it or reject it (with its implications). “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light…” John 3:19-21. Light exposes what we are. Will we resist being exposed? Or have courage and step into God’s light? Don’t be afraid; He’s a merciful God. He can change you!
4. LIGHT = LIFE
a. To accept the Light is to accept the Life of God; in fact, in the Light there is life: they are almost synonymous. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men” John 1:4. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" John 8:12.
b. The process of photosynthesis is an illustration of this; whereby the light of the sun is transformed into biological life. When Jesus’ light illuminates us, we receive spiritual life!
III. THE VICTORY OF THE LIGHT
A. THE LIGHT WILL OVERCOME
1. John 1:5 says, referring to the Light, that “the darkness comprehended it not.” Three alternate translations of that phrase include:
a. The darkness has not overcome the Light.
b. The darkness cannot put out the Light.
c. The darkness can never extinguish the Light.
2. Satan can’t overcome and can’t extinguish the Light! No weapon formed against you shall prosper! You are victorious in Christ!
B. THE END OF THE DARKNESS
1. Throughout history, there has been a battle between darkness and light. In Gen. 1:3 the chaos of darkness was pierced and overcome by the Light shining from Jesus. This happened again when Christ was born in Bethlehem. It will happen again at the end of the Great Tribulation period when Christ returns and defeats the Prince of Darkness for the last time.
2. The Psalmist said, “[I will not be afraid of] the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday” Ps. 91:6. Thank God we don’t have to be afraid of the power of darkness! Darkness has no power against the Light. Rev. 21:25 & 22:5 speak of a time when there will be “no [more] night” – no devil, no sin, no trouble, no tears, no sadness, no death! The darkness will be vanquished and in Christ’s light there will be only light.
3. ILLUS. It’s wonderful that LED lighting is now making lights that will burn for 10 years without replacing. But that’s nothing compared to the Centennial Lightbulb (incandescent) that’s been burning non-stop for 117 years in Livermore, California. It’s actually a famous tourist stop!
4. But the Book of Revelations tells us about New Jerusalem where “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 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” Rev. 22:3-5. How wonderful that God Himself will be our eternal Light!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Eugene Fields, a nationwide newspaper columnist, once told of a dark hour in his life. After a series of difficulties, he walked into his chief editor’s office and said, “There won’t be a column this morning; I’m quitting!”
2. After a moment his editor said, “Gene, I’ve got a print specialist downstairs who 3 months ago lost his wife and this morning he has three children sick at home with scarlet fever – and he’s not quitting.”
3. A tear of compassion trickled out of Gene’s eye for the man. He realized that his problems weren’t as bad as that. He stayed on the job. [Paul Tan, Ency. Of 7,700 Illus., #6855].
B. THE CALL
1. Are there some of you who’ve had a rough time and you’ve felt like quitting? Maybe quitting your job, quitting you marriage, or quitting your walk with God?
2. God wants you to know there’s a light in the darkness! The Light of the world has come! Everything is going to be all right. Things are going to somehow work out.
3. Let’s pray and ask God for His help together.
