From Darkness to Light

You'll just flip your Bible back to Genesis 1. That's where we'll begin. But before we can start there in this sermon, I need to take us all to the basement. I need us all to hop in the big elevator and head down about 40 feet into the basement that has no windows, because we have to start there. Now, some of you kids especially are going to have to help me with this because there is no basement in this building and there are no elevators. But we still have to start in the basement.

So we have to imagine the elevators, and we have to imagine the basement. So you're ready? Push the down button and here we go. Down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down, far from those windows, into the big, open basement. Now how do you like it down here in the basement? It's four times bigger than that room we are in upstairs. It's very tall and wide, so It's very brightly lit with lots of light.

And look at all the stuff that's here in the basement. This is where you come in. Fill it out. See the animals and the birds? You weren't expecting those down here, were you? Some waterfalls and pools and there's a water slide. Some of you kids are playing on already. There's some music and those pretty butterflies. Little tables where people are starting to sit down and have a little bite to eat.

Listen to some music. It's beautiful down here. Look as far as you can see around this giant room. All the beauty, all the excitement. Are you with me? Okay. Poof. Power failure. That's why we had to come to the basement. The lights are out. And nobody imagined any backup lighting. So it's black. Now, let's read Genesis 1 and verse 2. While we're here in this black basement, I think we can get the feeling of what it must have been like. When the earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep.

There's nothing to see. You can't see a thing. And yet here we are on the earth and it's black. You can't see anywhere. It's an amazing thing that there can be something and yet you can't see it. Like down there in the basement when the lights went out. All that amazing stuff suddenly you can't see it. You've got an earth but it's not visible because it's dark. Okay, let's zip over to Egypt real quick. Okay, modern Egypt. We'll zip over there, hop in your plane, however you want to get there. Welcome to Egypt.

Here we are along the Nile River. It's a beautiful river. Palm trees on the side. Got dates dropping. You can have some dates. It's cool. You can splash in the water. Oh, check out those pyramids. Let's go to Exodus chapter 10, verses 22 and 23. Here in the beautiful land of Egypt with all of the Pharaoh's development and the great works that exist, even today that are just so amazing to look at.

As people looked around, it says in Exodus 10, verse 22, Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven and there was thick darkness over the land of Egypt for three days. Verse 23, and they did not see one another, nor did anyone arise from his place for three days. Darkness just closed in around them, like down in the basement. Remember how that was a while ago? And now in Egypt, they can't even see the people next to them. There's no reason to get out of bed because you can't see anything.

There's no depth. There's no space. And so it feels like it's all closed around them. No sense of the environment that's around. You can't see a thing. Imagine riding your bicycle really, really, really fast through the streets of Egypt when you can't see a thing. How long would it be until you wonk?

Imagine driving your car really fast, high speed, through the city and you can't see a thing. And so they all stayed in their beds. They didn't even get up. The sight is an amazing detail. It's an amazing thing that you and I have. It broadens what we have when our eyes are closed. It opens it up, stretches it out. It shows us what can be and what is and the potential, the possibilities. It shows us this environment and we start developing plans. I think I'll go over there.

I think I'll eat that. I think I'll talk to that person. But if you take the sight away, all of those possibilities evaporate. Sight. What single thing permits you and I to see, to have sight? To know that you're home and what's in your home. To look at, say, things like food, friends, landscapes, the creation around us, the trees, the plants, the animals, the sky.

You can see quite far. Or television. What is it that permits us to have sight? What single element? Well, the answer, of course, is light. We are leaving soon what is called the Age of Satan, an age of darkness. And we are going, as a human race, towards light. This Age of Satan, as the God of the world, is terminating soon. And ahead is what the Feast of Trumpets is all about, the alarm of war, the changing of rulership. A major change, though, is coming that nobody is expecting. Nobody really on earth, maybe you, me, sometimes, we probably don't think about it much, a big change is going to happen that even you and I probably don't expect.

Jesus Christ is coming to a very dark place as the day star. And He is coming on what is called the Day of the Lord. He is about light. Today I'd like to examine aspects of the physical realm and also a little bit of the spirit realm with the perspective of darkness and light in the sermon entitled, From Darkness to Light. Now, light is everywhere, it seems. If it's not light enough, what do we do? We turn up the lights.

We turn on the lights. We step outside. We're just used to light. Today we have light. And it doesn't really end, if you think about it. Light in your life never ends.

Even when it's night outside, there's lots of lights. Your cars have lights, your house has lights. If there are no lights, you get a flashlight or you make a torch. There's always starlight if there's no moonlight in the absence of sunlight. If you go into a dark room, you still have your little LEDs glowing. Something's plugged in, something's turned on. Even if it's not turned on, there's a light glowing somewhere to show that it's ready to be turned on. It's very hard to go somewhere that's completely dark.

That's why we had to start in the basement. But you and I aren't worried about light because light is everywhere. We take temporary light for granted in our electrified world. But one thing that you and I might note from the Bible is the source of permanent light, not these bulbs that burn out, not the luminaries in the heavens that even science says one day are going to extinguish.

The source of permanent light is God. Let's go to the very beginning of time. Let's go back to chapter 1 and verse 1. The very beginning, chapter 1 and verse 1. Of John, of course. You were going to John, right? Because Genesis only starts with a physical creation. John here talks about, in the beginning was the Logos, the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, the very beginning of time of which there was no beginning. But for us earthlings, this shows that they have always existed. Now looking here, we find that in verse 3, all things were made through the One who became Jesus Christ, this Logos.

And without Him nothing was made that was made. Don't ever get in your mind that Satan never made everything, or Satan recreated things, or the angels created things, or made things. It says right here very clearly, nothing was made that was made without Him. In Him, notice, was life, and the life was the light of men. It was through Him that things became. There's no evolution. You can't have life beginning from non-life, only from life. And He was the life, and He also was the light of men. And the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Now we've gone to the beginning.

Let's go a little bit further forward and go back to Genesis 1. By this time it had been Satan's realm for a while. Satan and the demons had been cast down to earth. They were away from God when they were here. I guess we assume that. We're talking about a physical creation and spirit beings. Not sure how all that works together. But here we see, in the beginning here God creates the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the earth.

Here was a place where the light was not, God was not. I would say, the realm of the dark forces of Satan and the demons. And when God comes to earth, He's about to come here and do some creating, things are dark. And then verse 3, God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

This is interesting. There's no light until God shows up, the light of men. When we think about light, again, we take it for granted that this is light, but there wasn't light. There was no luminary here, evidently. There was no sun, moon, and stars actually illuminated. The darkness was on the face of the deep until God came. And the first thing He says is, Let there be light. Now, the question about this, and you can debate Genesis 1, which was probably written by Ezra, some people feel, as an introduction to Moses's work. But when you try to extrapolate from this science and you try to figure out what was exactly going on, I'm not sure that we can.

But is He saying, by chance, I just asked the question, that God's appearance here was the light when He said, Let there be light? Because you have to go down to verse 4, the next verse, and God saw the light that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. You see, it could be here. If we look at not the physical creation, but the arrival of God separating Himself from Satan and the darkness of the world, plus the arrival of Him is actually lighting things.

And He says, Wow, it's good that I'm here, it's good that it's light, and I'm separating the light from the darkness. Could that be the key to what is being written here on day one? I only asked that question because you have to go down a ways to verse 16 before you get any other luminary showing up. Let's go to verse 16, all the way down to day number 4, the fourth day.

First, we see God shows up, and it's dark, and He says, Let there be light. Sometime later, He says, Let these lights in the heavens give light on the earth, as if He were going to leave and go back to heaven, and leave light sources, leave temporary luminaries in a temporary world.

I just put this out because without temporary luminaries, there would have been darkness again. As soon as God left, there would have been no light. We don't stop to think about total darkness. We just assume that light is. So, it's not a big deal. It wasn't that way in Egypt, though. All of a sudden, their sun god was gone. For three days and three nights, they couldn't see a thing. God is light. Let's go over to Ezekiel 1, verses 27 and 28.

Here we'll see a vision that Ezekiel had. Here, in chapter 4, he sees aspects of God, of the one, evidently, this Jesus Christ, of leaving the right hand of God, perhaps, and going on a portable throne that's transported by seraphim, that's full of fire and wheels within wheels. But one little descriptor here at the end of chapter 1, verse 27. And also, from the appearance of his waist upward, I saw, as it were, the color of amber, with the appearance of fire all around it. They didn't have colored lights back then, so often they'll use stones, clear stones, to show the color of bright lights.

And so, he looked like the appearance of amber with fire all around. He's bright, you see. From the appearance of his waist downward, I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. This is often referred to throughout Scripture as God's glory. When we talk about the glory of God, it's often referring, actually, to the bright light of God. When Jesus said, give me the glory that I had, this is Him being described. Verse 28, like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around, colorful light.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. He is a source of bright light. And whenever you see God described in Scripture, you tend to see Him as blazing, white light, lightning, light so bright that if man looked on Him, He would die, etc., etc. God is light. The first time Moses saw God, he saw Him as a burning bush. It was fire. It was something that was bright, on a bright day, probably. The next time God was seen, He was a pillar of fire, bright, lighting up the whole darkness. There was never a darkness for the Israelites. God was their light. When the Ten Commandments were given on Mount Sinai, what did we see?

We saw brightness up in the clouds, masked by the clouds, but great brightness, so bright that when Moses went up and saw the back of God and came down, His face shone. That's another thing we see in the Bible. Those righteous people who come to the light tend to develop a glow. They tend to develop light themselves. They tend to give off light for a while.

Just like Moses' face would gradually dim and go out, once people go away from God, away from the source, they also tend to go back into a non-lit state, as it were. When you see the Transfiguration, we find Jesus Christ goes up in the vision with Peter and John, and He is transfigured in front of them into something that's very bright.

The source of light is God. He is the source of physical light that we can see. He is also the source of spiritual light. It's easy to take for granted that, just like there's physical light, there's also spiritual light. We know the truth. You know the truth, I know the truth, we've got the truth, we've been in the church. We take for granted spiritual light, don't we? I know that. A lot of people once had spiritual light that you and I knew, and they drifted away from the source of light, and their lights went out. They took for granted that it was something that was there, it was always going to be there, and yet it wasn't always there, was it?

We're not careful. We'll take for granted that God is Spirit light, the understanding, the spiritual light that God gives to some in this present evil age of darkness. It's actually a miracle, and something to treasure. Let's look over in Job 12. We'll begin in verse 22.

Job 12, beginning in verse 22. Again, the world doesn't understand, society doesn't understand. The only reason why you and I understand, even what this day means today, is because some light has shown on us, some spiritual light. Job 12, verse 22 says, He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and He brings the shadow of death to light. That is what's happened to you and me. Jesus said, their eyes have not been opened, so that they can see, but your eyes have been opened. The light has shown you can see. He has uncovered some deep things out of darkness for you and me. Things that, as we heard in the morning sermon, you know, how can you understand, for instance, that trumpets is about the return of Jesus Christ? Well, it's actually a deep thing. It has to be mined from the Scripture with God's Holy Spirit, leading you the way to see the plan of God represented by the Holy Days, and see where this day fits within future prophecy. God uncovers these things for some. But God allows Satan to prevent his light from reaching into the minds of others, and so they are wandering around in the dark. Continuing on in verse 24, He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the peoples of the earth, and He makes them to wander in a pathless wilderness. They grope in the dark without light, and He makes them stagger like drunken men. This present evil age does not want the light of God to shine to them. They don't want to walk in the light of God's way. In Job 24, verse 13, a few pages over, Job 24, verse 13, it says, There are those who rebel against the light. Do you rebel against the light? Think about this. Some of you young people think about this. You're here because your parents have strongly encouraged you to be here. But where are you really? Where are you mentally? Where do you want to be? Are you rebelling against the light? Are you ready to bolt? Are you ready to leave? There are those who rebel against the light. Others of you are saying, you know what? This isn't my parents' faith. This is my faith. This is my God. This is my way of life. And this is my home and His Church. These do not rebel against the light. I've found historically it's about maybe one in ten that do not rebel against the light. Over a long period of time, 90% don't want the light. 90% aren't here. It's a good thing to know where you stand and what you stand for because it says here, there are those who rebel against the light. They do not know its ways nor abide. They don't continue. They don't live in its paths. They may have stopped in the path once. They have gone down it a ways. This is kind of nice, but I'm not living here. This isn't for me. And so, verse 14, the murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and the needy. And in the night he is like a thief. The eye of the adulterer waits for the dusk, saying, In the dark, no eye will see me. And he disguises his faith. Verse 16, In the dark they break into houses, which they have marked for themselves in the daytime. They do not know the light. God calls some of us to know Him. And we know Him when we keep His commandments. And others, when we walk the path. When we let Jesus Christ, the light, shine and light our way. We know Him if we do that.

Jesus said, Blessed are your eyes, for they can see because you can see the path. You can see the way. You can walk in it. And therefore, you, if you don't realize this already, are different than the world. You children are different than your school friends. They cannot see the path. Whether or not you like the path or you love the path, they have no option. They cannot see the path. Try telling one of your friends or relatives or workmates. Tell somebody at school or college all about the path. Can't grasp it. Can't see it. They don't have the light. God brought darkness on Egypt. But the next phrase there in Exodus says, But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Isn't that interesting? Three days and three nights, the Egyptians didn't even get out of bed. There's no point. It says they couldn't even see their own spouse, their own family. But the Israelites at the very same time had light in all their dwellings. They could see just fine. They were with God, and God gave them light. We need to realize a big difference between the saints and society, between God's children and the children that currently are swayed by this devil. Saints see. They know. They have the opportunity to go a different direction. We need to realize that our status is actually to be highly treasured. That angel is jumping up and down in Revelation 20, verses 4 and 6. Oh, blessed are those who have a chance at the first resurrection. Oh, how supremely blessed! Blessed, Jesus said in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5, over and over. Blessed are you. Blessed are these. Blessed are those. Blessed are these. The Greek word in Timit is intimating, exciting, blessedness. Oh, how supremely blessed, we might say in the vernacular. Oh, how lucky you are! So we need to realize this opportunity, this status, is the difference between light and darkness. It says in 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, with people who can't see, people who aren't on the path. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness, and what communion has light with darkness, and what accord has Christ with Satan? See the status that you have? Do you treasure that? Do you relish it? Do you recognize it? Do you appreciate it? Do you treasure it?

God is the only source of light. He's the only permanent source of even physical life, as we will see. And whenever God is represented, He's represented with light. Do you know what the constant feature was in front of the mercy seat? In front of the ark? Between the angelic or the seraphim that were on the ark and the holy of holies? Kind of think of it dark in there, don't you? It's kind of back there behind a curtain. No one ever went in there once a year. The feature was, let me read it to you from Numbers 8, verse 1, When the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps, number of completeness, Shall give light in front of the lampstand. Right there in the holy of holies. Right there. One of the features representing God in the tabernacle. You and I need God's light. Jesus Christ is the light of men. He has life for us. And we need God's light. I'm sure you remember Psalm 19, verse 105. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Without the lamp of the light of the Logos, the word of God, you and I can't see where to go.

The entrance of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. Proverbs says, For the commandment is a lamp and the law a light. We need God's light. We can't go without it. Let's go back to 2 Peter 1, verse 19. Here Peter tells us something about God. If we're not really focusing on light and darkness, and needing to come out of darkness into light, we might miss some of the special features, as it were, that our Lord and our Master has. 2 Peter 1, verse 19 says, And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place. We need this word. It shines in a dark world, a dark age, an age of darkness. Going on. Until the day dawns and the morning star, which is a mistranslation, the Greek word is phosphoros, it cannot mean morning, and it cannot mean star, it can only mean light-bringer. Until Jesus Christ returns, the day of the Lord dawns and the light-bringer rises in your hearts. He is the light-bringer. He is our source of light, especially spiritually now. He's left us with these temporary luminaries, but ultimately He will be our light, even physically. In chapter 2, verse 9, it says, But you are a chosen generation, different than those who are in the dark. A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him, who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. He is light. He is about light. Satan, in this age, is about darkness. And without God, you and I can't see where to go. We can't see the path. We don't have light. And we are called as a special people to be children of the light. Now, today, God's light is very rare. If you divide the number of church members that God has called into the number of people that exist on the earth today, you'll probably come up somewhere around a little less than half a million. One and half a million are called at this time. That's how rare we are. And yet we find even among those that at the end time there will be a great falling away, Peter talks about, the great tribulation begins. So that number could get reduced. It could be one in a million, literally, easily.

It's a rare thing to have God's light. Do we tend to treat it, kind of take it for granted, treat it casually, mix a little light with darkness, mix a little righteousness with a little sin? We've had a long Holy Day today. Let's go live it up tonight, or let's go watch some dark entertainment. You know how we are as humans? We have both of these spirits in us, the spirit of man and the Holy Spirit.

We need to really realize what we're playing with, because light is only with those who have God's Holy Spirit. Not necessarily baptized, and with God's Spirit fully living in them, but even the children of the baptized are sanctified, and that spirit is opening their minds. It's allowing them to see if they want to, and for as long as they want to.

Remember the Ten Virgins? What was that all about? It's about the Church. Let's go back to Matthew 25 in the first verse. Ten Virgins was about lamps. Virgins representing the Church who lived in a world of darkness.

Their whole existence here in this parable is at night. Jesus uses this as an analogy of true believers who cling to the light versus those who mix it up with the darkness. In verse 1 of Matthew 25 begins, Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, these virgins are virgins because they're not polluted with the other religious concepts of the world. They don't have other false gods. They're waiting on the One. They're betrothed to the One, Jesus Christ. They're betrothed to Him to marry symbolically at His return. So they all are focused on Him. They took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom in the dark. Now, how are you going to get to where the bridegroom is? Well, you've got to have a lamp. So they grabbed their lamp. Because He came at midnight. It was pitch black. Verse 5, But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. Well, He hasn't shown up yet. So back to sleep. In an environment that's an age of darkness, none knows the timing of the Second Coming. In verse 6, at midnight a cry was heard. Ah! Pitch black! Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet Him. How are we going to get there? Well, grab those lamps again. Light those things up. Trim them. Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. You know, you kind of make the wick a little bit taller. Pull that wick out a little bit. More oil. Brighten it up. Because it kind of burned out there while you were sleeping. It burned down to just a little nub. Make it a little brighter. Trim it up. Get it just right. Not too much. Just right. Off we go. The foolish said to the wise, there's a problem with our lamp. I can't see where to go. You know, I'm trimming it here, but all I've got is this little kind of a glow. And maybe it's even going out here if I'm not careful. Quick, quick, quick! Give me some oil so I can have a flame. They're not really children of the light, are they? They're associated with it. They're not really able to see the path. They can't see where to go to be with Jesus Christ. Remember, Jesus said, narrow is the gate and difficult is the way. You've got to have a light. And there are few who find it. Without the Holy Spirit, without the light, it's impossible. And so in verse 9, the wise answered said, whoa, if we give you our oil, then we won't have enough light either.

But go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. Get some light to see your way. You've got to get some light. Dig down deep. Start becoming close to God. Get that relationship. Become the light of the world that you're supposed to have been living and being. It takes time. You can't just say, oh, let there be light. Verse 10, And when they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready noticed, they went in. They had to go somewhere. They had to have lights to see. And they went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut.

Coming in the future, there's going to be an event that's going to surprise everyone. It will probably catch us by surprise, even though we know it's coming. Light in the world, in the universe, as far as humans can perceive, will be extinguished. There will be no light. Remember how it was in the basement? Remember how it was in Egypt? It's going to be that way, everywhere on earth. All the lights are going to go out, and it's going to be black. For three reasons, I would think. Maybe four. One, God is one of the seven last plagues after the seventh trumpet blows, after he begins to step in, will show who rules light, and who is light. And without any light at all, it will be very obvious that Jesus Christ rules light. Second, it's going to expose the myth of the God of this world, one of the gods of this world, at least one of the main gods, which is the sun. The sun and the moon, actually, are two major, mystical, religious figures in almost all religions. And those gods, small g, are going to be exposed. They don't exist. Third, it's going to show that this is an age of darkness, as the people live in their own age. Here we are, and it's black. It is dark. This one that had been showing himself with brightness and everything, declaring that he was God, false signs, even bringing lightning down from heaven, you know, brightness, fake light. It's all going to be dark.

And I would say fourth, to show who has power over Satan. There's nothing that's going to happen. No one's going to change it back to light, unless God does it. So total darkness is coming to the earth, and it's coming soon, we might say. It's coming on people who disrespect God, people who discount the true God, people who do not want God's way, do not want His commandments. Let's go to Isaiah 13, verses 9-11, and read about this. Isaiah 13, beginning in verse 9.

Behold, the day of the Lord comes. Notice it's not the night of the Lord. Wherever God goes, it's not night. It is always bright. It's lit. It's day. And this time of the Lord is called a day. I know it's symbolic of a day as a thousand years. But the day of the Lord comes, cruel with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and He will destroy its sinners from it. Verse 10.

That which God came and created as temporary luminaries, He's going to turn off in some way, at least from the perspective of humans. If we go to Ezekiel 37, verses 7-9, actually Ezekiel 32, verses 7-9.

Here's what God says about this time. Ezekiel 32, verses 7. When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens and make the stars dark. I will cover the sun with the cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. So it appears that rather than actually extinguishing them at that time, He will simply obliterate their visibility and their light rays. Going on.

As far as the timing of this, this refers to Revelation 16, which states that when the fifth angel pours out its bowl on the throne of the beast, and His kingdom will become full of darkness. Just dark. We don't know how dark it will be. Well, we do know how long the darkness will be here, because it doesn't give a time frame. But imagine being like the people in Egypt, and suddenly you can't see. And the lights don't work. And the power sources don't work.

The kingdom will become full of darkness. Now, within this darkness, if you think about the darkness here, within this darkness, after the Israelites were in Egypt, when Egypt was in pitch blackness, God came as a pillar of fire and they had light. After the earth and Satan and the demons were here in the darkness, God came and there was light. After Jesus Christ died, for three days and three nights, there was spiritual darkness on the earth. To our knowledge, none of God's Holy Spirit, no light, no spiritual light was here until He was resurrected and came back and showed Himself. And He told them to wait, and suddenly the Holy Spirit came light like fire, representing those individuals who were associated with God on the day of Pentecost.

And so here we find a kingdom becoming full of darkness. But Jesus Christ is coming right then, right after then, to bring light. Jesus Himself describes His second coming with some of these terms. Lightning, flashes, great glory. Remember how glory and light go together? Brightness and glory? Countenance of God? When Peter speaks of the brightness of His coming? When we think about the Feast of Trumpets, we should be thinking light and brightness. Jesus Christ said, you know, don't believe when I say He's here, He's there, because when I come back, it's going to be like lightning flashing from the east and the west. Lightning is brighter than the sun, many times over. That's how bright lightning is. Isaiah 9 and verse 2 say, 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. This is the Second Coming of Christ being talked about in these terms. In Isaiah chapter 60, in the first three verses, Isaiah is talking to future Israelites, the future tribes who are repatriated back to the Holy Land. And this remnant now is described like this. Arise, shine, for your light has come. And the glory of the Lord, the glory, remember, His brightness is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness shall cover the people. But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. His light will be seen upon you. You will reflect His light, as it were.

Like the church, God's glory is on you and me. Jesus is the light of the world. He now tells us to be the light of the world. We are to reflect that glory. Verse 3 of Isaiah 16, The Gentiles shall come to your light. You see what the intention is? It's not just for God to be the only source of righteousness, the only source of light, the only illuminator of the path, but we should help others, just as they will help the Gentiles come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 2, verses 3 through 5, Many people shall come and say, Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord. He will teach us of His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. They will be able to see when Christ returns, and under His kingdom of brightness, everybody will be able to see the path, the godly way. And we shall walk in His paths, because out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord. Remember? Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. Verse 5, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. That's what people will say when Christ is ruling the world. The result is a thousand years of light, the age of light, we might call this the age of darkness. We could call that the age of light. What we're going to celebrate at the Feast of Tabernacles is an age, a thousand years of light, of people knowing and seeing and doing that which is right and good.

This is in Isaiah 42, to open the blind eyes, to bring prisoners out of the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. God's going to liberate humanity from the darkness that Satan has had them in, what we might call it spiritual darkness. You know, there's an interesting parallel in the spirit realm.

We don't really know the spirit realm. God doesn't tell us a lot about the spirit realm. But in just looking through scriptures in the Bible and assessing what little is said about it, it looks as though, and I think it's absolute, God is the source of light in the spirit world. Now, at times you will see other beings come around God, and they will go away lit for a while.

Remember Moses' face that was lit for a while? People in the church are supposed to be lights to the world, and they are for a while. We have to renew that, don't we? And so it seems that there are beings, for instance, the ones that travel on that portable throne, as it were in Ezekiel the fourth chapter and the first chapter.

We see them radiating a certain amount of light, and maybe even taking that with them. But we don't see them mentioned as sources of light. There's an argument, wasn't Lucifer the light-bringer? Well, actually, there is no name Lucifer in the Bible. Lucifer actually was put there in about 400 AD by a Catholic named Jerome, who translated the Latin Vulgate. The Pope at the time said there were too many versions of the Latin Bible that the church was trying to use.

And so he commissioned Jerome to make one version. And so when Jerome got over there into Isaiah, what he did was he came to the word helael. H-E-Y-L-E-L. Helael. It's the only time it's ever used in Scripture. And the Tanakh, the modern King James Version, and there's a lot of tradition that says that word means day star. But when he came to that word, what he did was he changed it to Lucifer. And it's not a name. It's never a name in Scripture.

A name doesn't fit there. There's no capitalized. It's just the word day star. And so he wrote Lucifer. So my point is here, you can't say that, well, look at the devil. When he was a good angel, he was a light-bringer because that's not in the Scripture. He just was referring to the King of Babylon. What a star! He was like the rising star. He's the day star. And he kind of used the term day star as it went by. There are other root words like the root of helael as halal.

H-A-L-A-L. And it means jealous one, madman, things like that. So the root of that word doesn't mean anything about light whatsoever. So it's hard to know if even day star is a correct translation. My point isn't to get into that. You can look and the Jews argue about it and everybody else argues about it. The whole thing is you can't look and say, okay, well, an angel is a light-bringer because Lucifer had this name. Well, he never did. It was just an invention by a Catholic and I reserve the right to have a different opinion. So Satan has nothing to do with bringing light today.

This fallen star, it says how you are fallen from heaven. It has nothing to do. In Isaiah 14, 12, and 13, it has nothing to do with bringing light. His fallen angels produce no light. I think we can prove that from Jude. Let's go back to Jude 1 and verse 6. Jude, right before Revelation, there's only one chapter. We'll look at verse 6.

And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, Jude 6, but left their own abode, as we know, they were cast down from heaven to the earth. Remember what the earth was like? It was dark, wasn't it? At that time. He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness. They don't have any light. They don't produce light. He would have them in chains under lightness. But they're in chains under darkness. Verse 13 of Jude, wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

You see, without God, there is no light. It seems here that Satan and his demons will simply be in a realm or a region of the spirit world at that time where God is not. Where God's presence isn't. Where God's vis...the visible aspects of God aren't there. He calls it in the deepness of darkness, reserved the blackness of darkness forever. They are located far from the family of God. The New Testament does declare the coming of the real light-bringer. There actually is a term in the Bible that refers to Jesus Christ as the light-bringer. Let's go to 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 17 through 19. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 17. We think of the one who is coming.

Here is a prophecy about this day, about the one. And what does it talk...what are the terms by which he is described? 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 17. For he received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory. Remember, glory, that brightness, both the Father and the Son here are being talked about in their bright glory.

And he said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice. This is that transfiguration. We heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place. Until the day of the Lord and the phosphorous, the light-bringer, rises in your hearts.

There's the source of light. And there is the light-bringer, actually. Phosphorous can only be translated light-bringer. It cannot be translated anything else. The point of all this is light apparently comes only from God, from the Father and from the Son, at least at this point. Satan is a counterfeit star. As we see, that doesn't net him anything when he's in the blackness of darkness forever. Jesus Christ is coming to remove Satan's darkness that was on this earth initially, that's remained on this earth for the last 6,000 years or so.

He's coming to replace the darkness with light. And then he and his Father will be the light. Let's notice Isaiah 60 and verse 19. As we look forward beyond the Feast of Tabernacles time, beyond the Second Resurrection, as we look forward to the time of new heavens and new earth, what do you think lights the universe then? The Bible gives us some indication.

Here in Isaiah 60 verses 19 and 20, it says, Imagine that. In the heavenly future, the spirit-world kingdom of God, the Son shall no longer be your light. Remember one of the first things John says, I saw new heavens and new earth, or the first heavens and the first earth had passed away.

Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you, but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light. That's the light, the permanent light. And your God will be your glory, your light. Your sun shall no longer go down.

Nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord has replaced those things. He will be your everlasting light. This light is a wonderful thing. Physically now, we have some temporary luminaries. We have some electric bulbs that help us through. But we have spirit light, in which to see metaphorically the way to God and the way to being part of the resurrection at His return.

However, ultimately, God becomes the sole source of light for all eternity, the everlasting life. We see this fulfilled if we go back to Revelation 21 and verse 5. Here John actually takes a look and sees this happening. Let's go there and see how this will work. Revelation 21 and verse 5 says, Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. How many things was he going to make new?

Five? All things new. Will we have the old sun and the old moon? All things new. Will we have a new earth? Everything's new. All things. I make all things new. What if we disagree with him and say, No, you won't? We're going to keep a bunch of stuff we have and you can bring in some new stuff. What if we want to argue with him on that? Well, he says right here, and he said to me, Right, for these things are true and faithful.

In other words, you can depend on it. This is change you can believe in. Because this is going to happen. Everything is going to be new. What's going to be new? What's it going to be like? Well, this gets interesting. Verse 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.

Now, what's the glory of God? Remember? It's the brightness of God. Why is the city lit? Because it's got God in it. It's New Jerusalem. It has the throne of God. It has the Father. It has the Son. It has the glory of God. Remember, God's glory lights things up around it.

Having the glory of God, her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal in that color. Wow. It's about light, isn't it? It's about brightness. Verse 23. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it. They won't be there. They won't be there. For the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. That's where the light comes from. It's God. And the Lamb illuminates it. It's pretty exciting. Chapter 22, verse 5. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun. For the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. And verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star. And in those two words, the Greek does mean morning and star, as opposed to over in Peter, where it should have been light-bringer. So God is about light, and He's coming as light. He is coming as the bright and the morning star. And He is the true source of light. As we conclude the sermon today, God created temporary sources of light for us to have here in the temporary physical realm. But we cannot rely on their permanence. All the physical luminaries will eventually terminate, and as we see forward in time, they will not even exist. The only source of light, both physically and spiritually, will be God, God Himself. You and I were called to walk in this light, in this true light, now and forever, and to always be in the light of God. Let's go to 1 John 2, verses 8-11, 1 John 2, and let's see a responsibility that you and I have towards being in this light. We cannot just say, oh great, God is light, I appreciate it, I am in it. We actually have something we must do. 1 John 2, verses 8, again a new commandment. Ah, there is law that is the lamp to our feet. A new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you? Because the darkness is passing away. We are talking today about darkness into light. The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. He who says He is in the light, do you say you are in the light? And loves his brother less than himself, is in darkness until now. He doesn't realize it. But if you and I don't love each other with agape love, we are actually in the dark, even though we say we are in the light. We are not going to remain on the path, are we? We are going to wander around and we are going to miss the return of Jesus Christ. We are not going to be there to meet the Lamb, to meet the bridegroom. We will think we will, but we won't be there.

Verse 10, He who loves with agape, God's love, loves his brother, lives or abides in the light. Remember, God is love. It says right here in 1 John, God is light. God is love and light. The two are inexorably intertwined. You can't have one without the other. So if we don't love, we are not in the light. But He says He who loves his brother, lives or abides in the light. And notice, there is no cause for stumbling in Him. Not going to trip over something. Not going to fall down. Not going to hurt yourself. Not going to go off and fall off a cliff. The way is clearly lit if you are loving your neighbor. But He who hates or loves less his brother, is in darkness and walks in darkness. And He doesn't know where He is going because the darkness has blinded His eyes. Let's conclude with words from Jesus Christ Himself about our need to grow in this light. Matthew 5, verses 14-16. Matthew 5, beginning in verse 14. He says, you are the light of the world. It's a dark age. It's an age of darkness. You are the spiritual light of the world. He left, you see. He shone on us. He shines on us. He lives in us. His light is in us. He says, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, just as New Jerusalem will have the bright glory of God in it. It cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all those who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, your agape love, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.

You are called to God's light. You are called now to reflect His true light on your white wedding garment that others can see, and that reflection can help them find the path. As we all observe God's festivals, let's be repenting of darkness and growing in light.