Three weeks ago, during the Sunday evening service, we had a time of quietness as the Lord’s presence filled the sanctuary. I want to share a vision that the Lord gave to me during that time. When I got home, I wrote it down and let it sit for a day or two. When I went back to it, the Lord explained it to me.
“I saw a man who appeared to be standing on a path that was brightly lit as if a flashlight was underneath it. The man seemed to be covered, but not completely, in what appeared to be mud. In between the mud, I could see light, and the light was coming from the man himself. As I looked at the brightly lit path, it seemed like the path became brighter as you looked down it and away from the man. The end of the path seemed to be engulfed in what I can only describe as pure, radiant light.
“As the man began to walk along the path, the mud, which now appeared as pieces, began to slowly fall away from his body, one by one, and more of the light coming from within the man could be seen. On the sides of the path, I could see pieces of mud in the shadows waiting to attach itself to the man as he walked along the path. But the mud had to shrink back into the shadows each time because of the brightness of the path.”
How the Lord help me understand what I saw
The man represented the Church, the body of Christ. The mud that covers him was the filth of the world and the world’s ways of thinking that the man had allowed to infiltrate his life. (That’s very important: “that the man had allowed to infiltrate his life.”) And because the process is slow and undetectable, the man did not realize that his light was becoming dim. The filth had begun to cover the light of his born again spirit because the man was not choosing to walk the brightly lit path that was before him. The Lord said this describes most Christians today.
The brightly lit path was God’s truth, His righteousness and His holiness. The moment the man began to walk the brightly lit path of God’s truth, righteousness and holiness, the filth was exposed and lost its influence in his life. The purity of the light within the man began to shine more brightly as he walked the brightly lit path of God’s truth, righteousness and holiness.
However, more filth lurked in the shadows along the brightly lit path. If the man stayed on the path and kept his eyes focused on the radiant light before him, which was Jesus, the filth would not be able to attach itself to him. But whenever he took his eyes off Jesus, the filth would slowly infiltrate his life and cover him again.
Later, as I thought about the vision and its meaning Matthew 5:16 came to mind. Jesus is talking to the multitudes and says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
The reason our light is supposed to be shining is because we’re doing the good works that our Father wants us to do .
Now, what is the light that Jesus is referring to in this verse? Let’s go back to verse 14. “Ye are the light of the world …” Each one of you is the light of the world.
The next question we need to ask is “How did we become light?” We learn the answer in First John chapter one. Let’s begin with verse one.
(1) That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
(2) (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
(3) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, (Why are we declaring it to you?) that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
(4) And these things right we unto you, that your joy may be full. (Why would our joy be full? Because we have fellowship with the Father and with His Son.)
(5) This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
Verse five tells us that God is light and that He is the source of all light. The word no is ou in the Greek and means “absolutely not.” There is another Greek word for not, me, a “not that is based on a condition.” Here in this verse, the not is unconditional. It is an absolute negation
Think about this for a moment, ladies and gentlemen. If God is light and there is absolutely no darkness in Him, how can we attribute the bad things that happen in this world to Him? Help me understand this. How can we do this when the Bible says God is not the reason why they happen because He is light and there is no darkness in Him.
Why are there so many in the Church who believe God does bad things or allows bad things to happen in our lives? And that’s another thing: if there is no darkness in God, how can He allow darkness into our lives? Help me understand that?
The Bible is very clear: God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all.
Now turn to Romans 10:9-10. We’re going to look at how we became light. These are not new verses, ladies and gentlemen.
(9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
What are the two requirements for salvation that we see in this verse. We have to confess with our mouth and then we have to believe in our hearts what we have confessed.
(10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Now let’s read the results that doing Romans 10:9-10 produces. First John 4:4 says, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
The result of our doing Romans 10:9-10 makes us children of God. The word of is ek in the Greek and means “source of origin.” When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive God’s life and nature and become His sons and daughters. Our source of origin is no longer our earthly parents. Our source of origin is now spiritual. This is how we became light. And as light in a world of darkness, we are to live like our Father would live if He were here. How are we to live, you ask?
I am going to read First Peter 1:14-16 from the Amplified Bible. You can read along in your bibles.
(14) [Live] as children of obedience [to God],
(What does this tell me ladies and gentlemen? We don’t have to be obedient. We have to make a decision to be obedient.)
[Live] as children of obedience [to Go], do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance (a reference to your life before you were born again):
(15) But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living.
(16) For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:14-16, Amplified Bible)
Back to the vision.
The light of the man in the vision was becoming dim because he had allowed the filth of the world and its way of thinking to infiltrate and govern how he lived. God’s Word no longer determined for him what was acceptable and what was not acceptable. This applies to so many in the Church today, ladies and gentlemen.
This leads to a very subtle truth. Follow me closely.
In Matthew 5:16, the first thing we must grasp is this: it is our light. Remember the verse says “Let your light so shine…”
We can choose to let our light shine, or we can choose not to let our light shine. Verses 14 and 15 in Matthew chapter five compare not allowing our light to shine to a city on hill that you cannot miss and lighting a candle and putting it under a bushel. It makes no sense – naturally or spiritually.
Let me put the message of Matthew 5:16 another way: God does not determine what we do with our light. Are you following me, ladies and gentlemen? The man in the vision is covered with mud, he’s covered with filth because he had allowed the filth into his life. God did not have a say so.
God does not determine what we do with our light. Relationship We can live holy and in complete agreement with God and His Word, but it’s a choice that we must make, and we see this in Let, the first word of verse 16, “Let your light so shine before men…”
Let is a transitive verb – a verb that is relationship oriented. It needs a direct object for its actions. We can choose to agree with God and His Word, or we can choose not to agree with God and His Word, and in essence, agree with the world and its way of thinking.
And this leads me back to the point about let being relationship-oriented and needing a direct object for its actions. Now, follow me closely.
“Let” is a word that says the person is willing to “yield.”
When we let, we yield and that’s why it is a relationship word that needs a direct object. The object we are in relationship with when we let, or yield will be God and His Word or the filth of this world.
When it comes to letting, it's always going to be either to God and His Word or to the world. There is no gray area. It's either or. There is not an in between. The Bible is clear. You are either letting God determine how you live your life, or you are not!
Turn to Proverbs chapter three is the first time the word “let” jumped on the page to me. Look at verse one.
(1) My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
The son had a choice. He could keep his father’s commandment, or he could decide not to keep his father's commandment. But, ladies and gentlemen, verse two says there is a benefit for keeping the commandment.
(2) for length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
I am 150% in favor of length of days, long life and peace! And the long life is talking about a life absence of constant sickness and disease.
A number of years ago I was reading this verse, and it seemed as if the word let was illuminated. As I began to pray in tongues and read and reread the verse, the Lord explained to me why He brought let to my attention.
“Let is a little word that carries a lot of weight in the realm of the spirit. It will determine how much of My desires get fulfilled in your life. More important, it will determine where you spend eternity. How much you let Me also determine your rewards in heaven. The more you let My desires, My heart, become your desires, your heart, the more I will be able to flow through you and accomplish My will in your life.
“But when your let becomes a “no” to Me, it closes the door to everything I desire for you and everything I have for you. When your let becomes a “no” to me, at that moment, you forfeit your Kingdom authority.”
Romans 6 is an example of this. We’re going to see how important “let” is in your life. We’re going to read verses six through 12.
(6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
(7) For he that is dead is freed from sin.
(8) Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him:
(9) knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
(10) For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.
(11) Likewise reckon (make a decision)
(How can we make a decision to be dead to sin? We can make it because we have light living on the inside of us because our Father is light and there is no darkness in Him at all [1 John 1:5] and our source of origin is now spiritual [1 John 4:4])
Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
When a person lets sin reign in his life, sin will reign. But, when the person does not let sin reign in his life, guess what? Sin will not reign.
The man in the vision, who was covered with the filth of the world, let this happen by repeatedly yielding to the world and its ways of thinking. But most Christians don’t see this as yielding. There is another word that drives this home for me personally. It’s the word humility.
Far too many Christians humble themselves – bow the knee – to the world and its ways of thinking and resist the holy standards of God’s Word. Why would they do that? It makes it easier for them to get along with the darkness of this world.
This lack of humility is the reason why the lights of many Christians are dim and getting dimmer. A person’s humility is the first character trait that Jesus talks about in Matthew 5:1-3.
(1) And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto him:
(2) And He opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
(3) blessed are the poor (humble) in spirit: for their’s is the Kingdom of heaven.
In the vision, as the man walked the brightly lit path, on the sides of the path, filth lurked in the shadows for an opportunity to attach itself to him. But the filth had to shrink back into the shadows each time because the path was becoming brighter and brighter and do did the man.
The Lord said that if the man stays on the path and keeps his eyes focused on the radiant light before him, which is Jesus, the filth lurking in the shadows will not be able to attach itself to him. But, if he takes his eyes off Jesus and stops walking, the filth will slowly cover him again.
How do we reduce the opportunities for filth to dim our lights?
We will live lives of yieldedness and humbleness before God.
Romans 6:11-13.
(11) Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof.
(13) Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of of righteousness unto God.
That word “yield” means “to present yourself available.” What he is saying in verse 13 is don't make yourself available to. We are the ones who determine whether or not we are going to make ourselves available to God, or we are going to make ourselves available to of the world.
Let me give you an example. A person who is a former alcoholic join some of the guys from work at a bar. The first time he goes, he has a club soda. The next time he goes, he has a Sprite. If he keeps going back to the bar, at some point, he is going to have a drink. By repeatedly going back to the bar, he has made himself available to the alcohol.
That is what it means to yield. And God is saying make yourself available to me over and over and over again and see what I can do in your life when you do. We are not to make ourselves available to sin ladies and gentlemen.
Matthew 18:4 – “Whosoever shall humble himself as a little child as this little child, the same is greatest in the king of heaven.”
When we humble ourselves, we are reducing the opportunities for filth to infiltrate our lives.
James 4:10 – “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” He will lift you up above any field that is trying to infiltrate your life.
1 Peter 5:6 – “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” That He may exalt you over what? Again, the filth of the world infiltrating your life.
John 5:19 – “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”
I have a question. Jesus says the son can do nothing of himself. Why would Jesus say that? He had free will just like we do. He chose to let His Father's will be His will. Jesus of yieldedness to His Father, and we see this in verse 30.
John 5:30 – “I can of My own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is just; because I seek not My own will, but the will of the Father which has sent Me.”
Ladies and gentlemen, if we are going to avoid the filth of the world, if we are going to make sure that our light continues to shine and shines brighter and brighter, then we need to live a life of yieldedness to Jesus.
