Trumpets - Bringing the Shadow of Death to Light

I'd like you to open your Bibles to Genesis 1. That's where we're going to begin here today. But before we start there, I'd like to relate a little bit of a story to you. This goes back a few years because I was still in college at the time back in Big Sandy, Texas, and I had an opportunity to work for the bookstore there for several years, actually.

And this took place during my sophomore year. There was another student by the name of Chuck, Chuck Redrickson. I don't know if any of you know him, but he also worked in that department as well. And so we worked together on certain projects at certain times. And our boss said, okay, gentlemen, you've got about three days to take this annual inventory. You've got three days to take this inventory. We had a bathhouse out in the piney woods.

Some of you maybe have been to the Big Sandy feast site in the piney woods, maybe over the years, and there's bathhouses there. And one of the bathhouses that we used for our extra inventory, the things that we stored, we had all kinds of things that were in there. And so, you know, we kind of procrastinated. Sometimes students tend to do that. Although, really, when you think about it, we were pretty busy back then. And so we picked the third day by default, and it was late in the day. In fact, it was late into the night.

Sometimes midnight comes early when you're really busy. And so here we were. It was probably close to midnight. On this third day, we're supposed to take this inventory. It's late December. So we drive out in the van, out into the woods, and by this time, you know, the trees have grown pretty tall. And we park. You can't get real close to this particular bathhouse, so you have to walk the ways.

But, you know, we pulled up and, you know, we shut off the motor, and we started to make our way, trudging our way, you know, up into the hill a little bit, up to the bathhouse. Probably we were about halfway there. And then, you know how the van lights can go off. You know, they're on for a while, but they turned themselves off automatically. Suddenly, they went off. But we weren't to the bathhouse yet. We were probably, you know, about halfway, like I say.

And it was dark. It was really dark. In fact, there was a thick cloud cover. There was... you couldn't see the stars. You couldn't see the moon. And, you know, maybe you've been in a situation where it's been so dark, you can pass your hand in front of your open eyes, and you can't see a thing.

You know, I remember one time, as a family, maybe you've done this too. You've gone to the bottom of a cave. They've got these Niagara Caves in various places, you know, at home, around Harmony. And they take you down there, you know, they've got all these lights, and suddenly the lights go off. They do it on purpose. And it is a thick darkness. And they're kind of glad when they turn the lights back on, because you can't see anything.

Well, that's the situation we were in. In fact, you know, you have certain times in your life, and you don't forget, and this was one of them, we thought, well, what do we do? Do we go forward? Do we go back? We're about halfway. Do we go back and turn the lights on, so we can find our way to the door, or we can feel our way to the door, or whatever.

So we decided to continue on to the bathhouse. So, you know, you're moving really slow, because you don't know where the next tree trunk is going to hit you, or you're going to hit it. And we finally found the building, and then we kind of felt our way around the corner, and we found the door, and then we found the knob, and you felt where the hole of the key went, and you felt the key tong side up, and you moved it in there, turned it, opened the door, and right near inside the door, you flicked down the light.

And all of a sudden, there's brilliant light. Brilliant light everywhere. I mean, you know, those bathhouses are pretty well-lived. And so, we were able to start taking our inventory, all kinds of things. You know, we had t-shirts, we had casual shirts, we had sweaters, we had sundry items, toothpaste, and shaving cream, and cologne, and perfumes, and all of these types of things. There's some food items, there's soda pop, we had inventory, there were candy bars, etc., etc. And so we started taking this inventory.

We're already a little, you know, leery about our experience that we've had, but we're fine now, the light is shining. And I suppose we're in about 15 minutes, and all of a sudden the lights go off. Power outage, we think. And I'm saying, Chuck, you know, did you turn them off? No. Did Dave, did you turn them off? No, I didn't turn them off. And neither one of us are close to the switch. And it's just a thick darkness that just surrounds you. You don't have any depth of perception. It's totally dark. And what was easy to find out where you're going to walk, now you don't know where to go, before you're going to bump into something.

Well, they weren't off for long. It seemed like a long time, but I bet they weren't off for any more than about 20 seconds. And they came back on again. We looked at each other, and neither one of us were close to the switch, you know. But we found ourselves in total darkness, and maybe you can imagine that scene. Well, let's turn to Genesis 1 and 2, and we're going to read here.

And maybe you can imagine being in this type of dark environment, or maybe you've been there yourself. Maybe you can get a feeling of maybe what this was like. It says there in Genesis 1 and 2, as we go back to the beginning here of creation, recreation, it says, the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. You know, if you were on the earth, there wasn't anything to see. You couldn't see anything. It was black. And it's amazing that, you know, you could have maybe been there on the earth, and there's all these things that were there, but you couldn't see any of them.

You can't see it, like being in that bathhouse in the piney woods when the electricity went off. You've got an earth, but it's not visible because it's dark. Well, let's go over to Exodus 10, verse 22. Exodus 10 and verse 22. You know, the stage here of what's happening is that, you know, the Egyptian nation is strong. It's thriving, and mostly from the backs of Israelite slaves. They built cities. You know, there's the Nile River. There's been this delta of moisture that comes in, where they have all these agricultural crops, and they built these wonderful cities, these incredible buildings, and some of the pyramids that are still even there today.

And as the people looked around, it says in verse 22 of Exodus, chapters 10, so Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and there was thick darkness over all of the land of Egypt for three days.

Verse 23, it says, they did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. You know, the darkness just closed in on them, as you can imagine. It just closed in. It was like a darkness that you could feel. It's like the story we talked about. And now, they couldn't even see the person that was next to them. You know, when it comes to darkness, you know, it changes everything. There's no depth.

There's no space. You don't have an understanding of how close you are to anything or how far away you are to anything. You can't see anything in this type of an environment. And can you imagine a darkness that was so intense that the Egyptians said, we are not even going to leave our homes. We're just staying put. You know, if they were to go out, who knows what they'd bump into?

What building they'd bump into? It was dangerous. It was foreboding. They just stayed in their houses, if you can imagine that. Let's talk about sight for a moment. You know, really, sight is an amazing thing when you think about it. You know, you've got this depth of perception. You've got this environment that you can see. You know, you can make plans. You can say, well, I'm going to go over and talk to that person, and then maybe I'm going to come back. I'm going to do those types of things. It's an environment where we can start making plans, things that we can do.

But if we take sight away, all of those possibilities begin to become extinguished. Sight. What single thing permits you and I to be able to see, to have sight, to know that we're home and what's inside of our home, or to know about what's outside, the creation, the plants, the cars, the sky, the birds, the plants, everything that's there. What is it that permits us to have sight? What single element helps us to do that? Well, the answer is, of course, it's light.

It's light. Without light, we can't see. Even if our eyes are open, we can't see a thing without light. Brother, we're going to be leaving soon what is called the Age of Satan, the Age of Darkness. And we're going, as a human race, onto light. You know, the Age of Satan, as the God of this world, is going to terminate pretty soon. And what is ahead of us is what the Feast of Trumpets is all about. An alarm, a changing of the guard, a changing of rulership. You know, it's no coincidence that the Feast of Trumpets, maybe if any of you looked out last night, you didn't see a moon, did you?

The New Moon. It's no coincidence that the Feast of Trumpets happens on a new moon, when there is no light at all. You know, with the new moon, it's about ready. There's going to be a new moon. There's going to be soon a very slight crescent of light. As we begin to move on to a full moon at the Feast of Tabernacles, which pictures God's kingdom being on the earth in its fullness with Jesus Christ at the helm. But today, this day, is pictured by a new moon.

It's no coincidence that a new moon, or total darkness, symbolizes a very dark time in human history. Probably a time that's darker than no other time. You may have heard the saying, it's an old saying, that it's always darkest just before dawn. And a dramatic event is about to take place. Jesus Christ is going to come to a very dark place as the day star. As a morning star, He's coming on what's called the Day of the Lord, and He is about bringing light.

This feast day today depicts a very significant pivotal point of time. This is a significant turning point in the plan of God. When God intervenes in a time of darkness, and He brings light. You know, a big change is going to happen. But even you and I probably don't comprehend. I mean, we do see through a glass dark, don't we? But even a change is coming that maybe even you and I don't comprehend of how big a change is coming.

It's written that eye hasn't seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love Him. Today, in the time that I've got left, I'd like to examine aspects of the physical realm and the spiritual realm with perspective of darkness and light. In this message today, which I've entitled, Trumpets. Bringing the shadow of death to light. Bringing the shadow of death to light.

Let's talk about light for a little while. Light is everywhere it seems. You know, if you're in a dark place, we just turn on the lights. Or if the light isn't big enough or bright enough, we turn up the lights. We do those types of things. You know, it's everywhere, it seems. If we don't have light, you grab a flashlight. And if there's often starlight, if there's no moonlight.

And even if you're inside or step outside, there's lots of light. Cars have lights, streets have lights, signs have lights. And so, it's everywhere. In fact, it's actually hard today to go to a place where there is no light. Sometimes you want to see the stars, but there's these lights of the city, or these lights, you know, maybe from your house you got to turn off to get a good view of the stars. It's actually hard to go somewhere where it's completely dark. Further, we take temporary light for granted in our electrified world.

We really do. We usually aren't worried about it, because it's everywhere. But this light is not permanent. It's temporary. We take temporary life for granted. But one thing that we might know from the Bible is the source of permanent light. Not these bulbs here that are going to burn out, or not even the illuminaries up in the heavens, like the moon, or the stars, or the sun, which even scientists admit eventually they're going to burn out.

We're going to talk about permanent light a little bit today. And the source of permanent light is God. Let's go to the very beginning of time. Let's go back to, not Genesis 1, but let's go to John 1 and verse 1. John 1 and verse 1, it's the very beginning. Genesis starts with the physical creation, but John 1 goes back even further.

John 1 and verse 1. It says there, in the beginning was the Word, the Greek word logos. It was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We know this Word eventually became Jesus Christ. It came in the flesh, verse 14. But He was in the beginning with God. He was at the beginning of time when there was no creation, before the heavens and the earth were created. And as for us, as created beings, this shows that they have always existed.

And now looking here, we find down in verse number 3, that all things were made through Him, through this Word, through this logos, the One who became Christ. And without Him, nothing was made that was made. Verse 4, in Him, notice, was life, and the life was the light of men. It's through Him that things became. There's no evolution. You can't have life from non-life. It says, He also was the life, and He was the light of men. Verse 5, and that light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. So we've gone back to the beginning. Now, let's go a little forward in history, and let's go back to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 2. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 2.

We've covered this already, but we're going to go on as we go. Now, at this point in time, the earth has been Satan's realm for a while. He's rebelled. He and the demons have been cast back down to the earth. God's about ready to recreate. Verse number 2 of Genesis chapter 1, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. So there was darkness on the face of the earth. Here was a place that light was not. Here was a place until God came that God was not. And it says, when God comes to the earth, He's about to come here and do some creating. What does He do? When He comes, it says things are dark. And God says the first thing He does in verse 3, God said, Let there be light, and there was light. You know, this is interesting. There was no light until God showed up. And we take light for granted, but where does it come from? It comes from God. There was no light until God shows up. Until this light of men shows up. When we think about light, again, we take it for granted, but at this time, there wasn't any light. There wasn't anything illuminating anything. No moon, no stars, no sun. It says, darkness was on the face of the deep. Until God comes. And the first thing He says is, let there be light. Now, there is a question that's been debated in Genesis 1 by biblical scholars. And the question is, what is the source of this light on day one of creation? Because later on, on day four, He talks about the luminaries, the moon, the sun. So what's the source of light here on day one? We'll read here in verses 14 and 16 in just a moment. But the question is, what is the source of light on day one, and can we know the answer? Well, I'm not sure that we can. But is He saying by chance, and I just asked the question here, that God's appearance was the source of light. For Him to come was the source of light, when He said, let there be light. And then we go on as we continue on with verse number four. And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. Possibly it could be here, instead of the lights of the firmament of the sun, the moon, the stars, it's the arrival of God to the earth. The mist Satan and the darkness of the world. The arrival of God is actually lighting things. Could that be the answer? No, possibly. Well, let's go down to verse number 14 here as we go further. We see there are other luminaries showing up. Let's go to verse 14, and this is on day four of creation. It says, then God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens, to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, for seasons, for days, and for years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens, to give light on the earth. So God creates these things to give light on the earth. First we see that God comes, and it's dark. He says, let there be light. And then later on, He says that there's going to be lights in the heavens that are going to give light on the earth. It's almost like He's saying, I'm going to leave, I'm going to go back to heaven, but I've provided these luminaries, a temporary light, if you will, for a temporary world. And without these suns and stars, without these temporary luminaries, we'd be in the dark now.

You know, we don't stop and think about total darkness because we just always had light. We don't stop and think about it. It's not a big thing for us. But in a way, it was a big deal for the Egyptians when suddenly they were without light for three days and three nights. It was a big deal for them because all of a sudden their sun god was gone. He was gone. And they couldn't see a thing.

The Scriptures tell us that God is light. Let's notice that over in Ezekiel. There's many Scriptures, but let's cover a few. Ezekiel 1 and verse 27. Ezekiel 1 and verse 27. Now, I can't see that clock over there. It's right around the corner. Alright, Mrs. Ewell, you're going to have to give me a hint or two now. Alright. Ezekiel 1 and verse 27. We're going to see a vision that Ezekiel had. And he sees aspects of God on a portable throne. And he sees this throne being transported by some seraphim. And he sees a lot of things that are full of fire and wheels within wheels. And let's see how he describes the scene here in verse 27.

Ezekiel 1 and verse 27.

He says, also from the appearance of His waist and upward. So he's describing what He sees. The person, the image that's on this portable throne. And he describes what he sees from the waist upward. And he says, I saw as it were the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around it. Can you imagine the scene? So he looked like the appearance of amber with fire all around it. It was bright. And then he goes on to say, And from the appearance of His waist and downward, he said, I saw as it were the appearance of fire with brightness all around it.

You know, when it comes to this brightness, when it comes to this light, we're really talking about the glory of God. Other Scriptures refer to it also as God's glory. We talk about the glory of God, it's often actually referring to the bright light of God. God is light. Jesus said to the Father, you'll remember, Father, give me the glory that I had with you before the world was. We talk about the glory of God, it's actually referring to the bright light of God. Verse 28, notice, Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it.

And it was not only bright, but it was like colorful brightness, colorful light. And notice, this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. We're talking about His glory. He is a source of light, a bright light. And whenever you see God described in Scripture, we tend to see Him as blazing brightness, blazing fire of light. You know, the first time Moses saw God, he saw Him as a fire in a burning bush.

He was fired, and it was able to see that fire in the light of day. And then later on, when the Ten Commandments were given, Moses went up to receive the Ten Commandments.

Remember, it came down, His face, it said, had changed. It shone. It's like the glory of God had shined on His face, and there was a brightness to the face of Moses. Eventually, over time, that disappeared. But it was there. He was near the source of light. Now, it's another thing we see in the Bible. When people come to the light, they tend to develop a glow.

They tend to give off light for a while. Like Moses' face would gradually dim and go out, there's a connection there that maybe once people go away from God, away from the source of light, that they also tend to go back to a nonlit state. You can write down in your notes, I'm just going to refer to Matthew 17 in verse 2, where the transfiguration described how Jesus Christ looked. It says, His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light.

So the source of light is God. He's the source of physical light that we can certainly see. And importantly, He is also the source of spiritual light. He's the source of spiritual light. How do we know that? Well, let's look at John 8 and verse 12. John 8 and verse 12, Jesus talks in this context about spiritual light. John 8 and verse 12. Then Jesus spoke to them again, and He said, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not dwell in darkness. But He shall have the light of life. Wow, there's a lot that's in that one little verse there. He's talking about spiritual light, isn't he?

He said, I am the light of the world, and if you take up your cross, so to speak, and follow Me, if you're with Me, since I am the source of light, and you follow Me, that means you're with Me. He says that you're not going to dwell in darkness. But you shall have the light of life. That's kind of a hard concept to wrap our minds around. Brethren, I think this is true. I think you probably believe it too. I think it's easy to take for granted. Not only physical light, but I think it's easy to take for granted spiritual light as well.

You know the truth, I know the truth, we're part of the truth, we come to church, been in the church, and yet we can take spiritual life for granted. Can't we? I know a lot of people, and maybe you do too, that once had spiritual light, people that we knew, and they drifted away from the source of light, and their lights went out.

They took it for granted, just like physical light, that it was always going to be there. But it doesn't work that way. It isn't always there, is it? If we're not careful, we'll take for granted God's spiritual light and the understanding that He's given to us. The spiritual light that God has given to you and me in this present evil age of darkness is actually a miracle. It's actually a miracle, and it's something to treasure.

Let's notice Job 12 and verse 22. Job 12 and verse 22. You know, the world doesn't understand. They don't see. They don't understand. Society doesn't understand. And you know, the only reason that you and I understand is because some of this light has shown on us, the spiritual light. Job 12, and we'll pick it up in verse number 22. It says, He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and He brings the shadow of death to light. You know, that's the title of the sermon.

Part of the meaning of this day is that God begins to bring us and the world out of the shadow of death, and He brings them to light. Jesus said, their eyes haven't been opened, so they can't see. But your eyes have been opened, so you can see. You can see. The light has shown on you. He's uncovered some deep things out of darkness from you and from me.

How could we even understand that part of the meaning of the days of trumpets has to do with the return of Jesus Christ? You know, it's actually a deep thing. We often take it for granted, and yet it has to be searched out. It has to be mined, if you will, with God's Holy Spirit leading us so we can begin to understand the plan of God, because His light shines on us. God uncovers things for some. But God allows Satan to prevent his light from reaching the minds of others. At least for now. And so they're wandering around in the dark.

Let's continue on in verse 24 here of Job 12. He takes away the understanding of the chief of the peoples of the earth, people that have leadership positions, that have powerful positions. He takes away the understanding. And He makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. They grope in the dark without light. And He makes them stagger like a drunken man. You know, this present evil age doesn't want the light of God.

They don't want to see His paths. They don't want to see His ways. Jesus put it this way. I'm just going to refer to John chapter 3 in verse 19. This is how Jesus put it. He says, the light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

People don't want light, because they want to live the way they want to live. Their deeds were evil. Let's jump over a few pages to Job chapter 24 in verse number 13. Job chapter 24 in verse 13. It's amazing how many Scriptures I had a lot more Scriptures than I could put into the sermon about light and darkness.

Job chapter 24 in verse 13, it says, there are those who rebel against the light. Do you or I rebel against the light? Think about that. Some of you young people out there, do you rebel against the light? You know, you're here probably because your parents have strongly encouraged you to be here.

But where are you really? Where are you mentally? Where are you emotionally? Where do you want to be? You know, are you rebelling against the light? Are you ready to bolt? Are you ready to leave? You know, I think we as adults have to ask ourselves those same questions. There are those who rebel against the light. Others of you young people are saying, you know what?

This is not my parents' faith. This is my faith. This is the church that I believe is the church of God and Jesus Christ. And I want to be here. This is my home in His church. And they don't rebel against the light. And again, we as adults maybe make those same statements as well. You know, maybe you've noticed this too.

I've noticed historically in the church that it's really the minority that don't rebel against the light. Now, we've got the parable of the ten virgins and it seems to indicate that half. But you know, historically, it seems like it's almost more than half that have rebelled against the light. It's good to know where we stand, brethren.

You know, over a long period of time, it seems most don't want the light. Think about some of the people that you've known over the years. Most of them aren't here. There are those who rebel against the light and they do not know its ways nor abide. They don't continue. They don't live in its paths. They have stopped in the path maybe for a while. Or they've gone down the path for a while. But eventually they say, oh, maybe there are some good things here, but this isn't for me.

This is not where I'm going to stay. This isn't where I'm going to live. This isn't for me. And so in verse number 14, Job 24, it says, Notice when we walk in the path that Jesus Christ is walking in. We follow Him. He is the light. He shines and lights our path and lights our way. We know Him if we do that. Jesus said, blessed are your eyes, for they see.

Because you can see the path. Because you can see the perception. Because you have death of the perception spiritually. You can see the path, the areas of danger. He said, blessed are your eyes. You can see the way. You can walk in it. And therefore, if we don't realize it already, we're different than the world because they can't see.

Your children are different than your school friends. You know, they can't not walk in the path. They can't see it. Whether you like the path or whether you don't or whether you love the path or whether you don't, they can't even see the path. Their eyes are not open at this time to see. They have no option. They cannot see.

If you tried telling one of your friends or one of your relatives or one of your classmates at school or college about the path, they can't grasp it. They can't see it. They don't have the light. God brought darkness on Egypt. But the next phrase that we read in Exodus 10, verse 23, we didn't finish that verse.

He brought darkness to Egypt. But the next phrase was that the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. They had light. Isn't that interesting? Three days and three nights, the Egyptians couldn't even leave their house. They couldn't see their spouses. They couldn't see their children. They couldn't see anything. And yet, the children of Israel could see just fine. Because God was with them and they were with God and God was their light. And as long as they were with God, God was their light.

Then there's a parallel, a lesson that we can learn from what they went through. Do we see a big difference between God's saints and society today? Do we see a big difference? Between God's children and the children that are currently swayed by the devil and a dark age? Saints see.

They know. They know. They have the opportunity to go in a different direction. Do we realize that our status is actually, as one of the angels put in Revelation 20, verses 4 and 6, Oh, how blessed are you to be a part of the first resurrection? How blessed are you to be a part of that? And that Greek word means, how supremely blessed. We might say in the modern vernacular, how lucky that you are. Let's go over to 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 14. 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 14. God wants us to understand the opportunity and the status that we have of being able to see because of God's light. There's a difference between light and darkness, between day and night. It says here in 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 14, Don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Don't be yoked together with the people who can't see at this time. People who aren't on that path right now because they can't see it. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness and what communion has light with darkness? It goes on to say, and what accord has Christ with Belial? Referring to Satan the devil. Boy, do we see the status that we have? Just like the Israelites could see when the Egyptians were in the midst of darkness, do we see that this is a miracle that God has given to us to spiritually see? Do we relish and understand what He's done for us? God is the only source of light. Not only the only source of temporary light, but the only source of spiritual light. Whenever God is represented, He is represented by light. Notice Numbers 8 and verse 1. Numbers 8 and verse 1.

Do you know what one of the constant features was in front of the mercy seat, in front of the ark, between the angelic or the seraphim that were on the ark? There were lampstands that Aaron and his sons would have to light at twilight. Every evening at twilight they would light these lamps, on these lampstands. Numbers chapter 8 and verse 1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and said, Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps, it's a number of completeness, isn't it? Full light, in other words, shall give light in front of the lampstand. So right here, one of the features in front of the tabernacle, in front of the mercy seat, which is to show God, He sits on that seat, He sits on that throne. And there's these seven lampstands that produce light, so that when twilight came, they would light these lamps, showing that the light was always with God's people.

You and I need God's light. Jesus Christ is the light of men and life for us. I'll just refer to Psalm 119, verse 105. You may remember this one, Psalm 119, verse 105. Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. My path, you see, without the light, without the lamp of the word, without the lamp of the logos, we wouldn't be able to see where to go. We would not be able to see. I'll also refer to Proverbs 6, verse 23. Proverbs 6, verse 23. This is an important verse too. It says there, For the commandment is a lamp. God's commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Or there's a big movement even in Christianity, isn't it? To overthrow the law. The light. The commandments of God are a lamp, and the law is a light. It's probably no surprise that that's been trying to be stamped out by our enemy of the dark age. We need God's light. We need His commandments. We need His laws. 1 Peter 2, verse 9. Go back to the New Testament now.

1 Peter 2, verse 9. Again, another scripture that you probably heard before, but it ties in with the topic today. It says, You are a chosen generation. You're different than those who are in the dark. God has let His light in a sense shine on you. You're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people. Why? For a reason. That we may proclaim the praises of Him, who has called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. He's light. He's about light. Satan in this age is about darkness, and without God in His light, you and I could not see where to go. Just like if we were in Egyptian and Egypt, we wouldn't know where to go. We couldn't see the path. We wouldn't have the light. But He says we're a special people, and we are to be children of the light. That's in Ephesians 5, verse 8. There were so many scriptures on light that I have to refer to some of these. We're to be children of light. You know, today God's light is very rare. Very rare, maybe more rare than we realize. If we were to divide up the number of church members in the world, and divide that by the population of the earth, about 7.1 billion presently, and still growing. We were to divide the church members, divide that by the number of people in the world. We'd be about one and a half million. One and a half million of people. That's how rare that you are. And yet, we find even among those at the end time, there's going to be a great falling away, so there may be even rarer. That number could even be reduced. It could be one in a million. It's rare to have God's light.

Do we tend to treat it casually?

Do we tend to take it for granted? You know, I'll mix a little bit of light with a little bit of darkness, or I'll mix a little bit of righteousness with a little bit of unrighteousness or sin.

Do we tend to think of it sometimes that way? Or, you know, it'll be a long day today, and maybe tonight I'll have a little bit of dark entertainment. You know how it is. We have this battle going on in us. We've got the Spirit of man, and we've got the Spirit of God that kind of goes and we wrestle with.

We need to think about that sometimes. We need to keep that in our minds. We have these spirits in us. We need to realize that we need to have God's Spirit. We need to be following the lead of His Spirit. We need to realize what we're dealing with. Because light is only with those who have the Spirit and are following Jesus Christ. Those with God's Spirit living in them. Even children of the baptized are sanctified. That means their Spirit is working with their minds. Maybe not in them, but working with them.

And they are allowed to see if they want to, for however long they want to or wish to. Remember the ten virgins? Let's go over to Matthew 25 and verse 1. Matthew 25 and verse 1.

What was that parable about? Well, it's about the church. This parable includes lamps, virgins, and the virgins represent the church. We'll see that they lived in a world of darkness. In fact, their whole experience in this parable takes place in the dark. Jesus used this as an analogy of true believers who cling to the light versus those who may mix it up with darkness. Matthew 25 and verse 1. It says, The kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who take their lamps, and they went out to meet the bridegroom. So these are virgins because they're not polluted with other religious concepts. They're trying to worship the true God. They're looking for the return of the groom.

The one, the betrothed one, that they are betrothed to Jesus Christ and looking forward to marrying Him sibilically at His return. So they're focused on Him. And they take out their lamps and they go out to meet the bridegroom in the dark. And they need a lamp because it's dark. They have to travel a certain distance, so they need to grab that lamp and they need to take it to be able to meet the bridegroom, or they won't be able to find their way. That's why they needed the light. So they're focused on Him. And as we read the story, it happens at midnight, so it's really dark. Probably the darkest time of the night. Verse 5, that while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. So He hasn't shown up yet, so they all sleep. Verse 6, at midnight, a cry is heard. It happens at midnight, it's the darkest part of the night. Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go to meet Him.

Well, how do we get there? Well, we need to grab our lamp to be able to meet Him. So we light the lamps up, we trim them. Verse 7, then all the virgins rose, they trimmed their lamps, and the foolish said to the wise, there's a problem. There's a problem with our lamps. I don't know if we have enough oil. Please give me some of your oil, because I don't know if my flame is going to have enough light for me to find and meet at the meeting place the groom. I'm trimming my lamp. It's got a little bit of a glow, but I'm not sure if I have enough oil.

But they're not really the children of light, are they? Oh, they're associated with it. But they don't have enough light to be able to see the path, to the meeting place. Jesus Christ, remember what He said, a couple of things. He said, narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way. You have to have light, and able to find the path, and few there are that find it.

He also said, in Luke 11 and verse 35, I'll just refer to that, He said, Take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. You know, we think it's light, but it's not. It's darkness. He said, Take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.

And so, back to Matthew chapter 25 and verse 9, the wise answered, they said, Well, no, we give you our oil, and there won't be enough light for us and for you, but you go to those that sell and buy for yourselves. In other words, get some light to see your way. You're going to have to go and get some oil in order to have light. Well, there's a lot of lessons to Matthew chapter 25, but a few I think that we can derive here. God tells us that we need to dig down deep. We need to have a relationship with God, because He's the source of light so that we can see. Get that relationship because the light of the world is something that we need. We need God. But it takes time. It doesn't happen just like that. It takes preparation. You can't just, all of a sudden, when we need the light, just snap our fingers and say, Oh, there's light. It doesn't work that way. Verse 10, so they went to buy, and the bright room came, and those who were ready noticed they went in. They had to go somewhere. They had to have light to be able to meet and to go in. They went in with Him to the wedding, and the door was shut.

Some lessons there for all of us. God wants us to learn. That's why it's there. He tells us ahead of time, so we can be forewarned and forearmed and prepared. You know, coming in the future, there's going to be an event that's going to come that's going to surprise everyone. Probably even us, as well. It's going to catch us probably by surprise, as well. What's going to happen? Well, light in the universe, as far as humans can perceive, is going to be extinguished. It's going to disappear. There's going to be no light. Remember how it was in Egypt when the darkness came? It's going to be that same way everywhere on the face of the earth in the future. Why is God going to do that? We're going to read a few scriptures on that in a moment. All the lights are going to go out, and it's going to be dark. Blackest night. Probably for several reasons. Here's a few. God is involved with one of the seven last plagues that are after the seventh trumpet. He's involved, and he begins to step in. He's going to begin to show who rules the light. Because without any light at all, it's going to be very obvious that Jesus Christ rules the light. It's going to expose some myths and false gods. The sun god is not going to be anywhere to be seen. There's been a lot of people that have looked to the sun god, or looked to the sun or the moon, in various religious affiliations, with a lot of religious affiliations, and false gods are going to be exposed. They're false, and they don't exist. And it's going to be clear that this is an age of darkness. And this is where it leads. God's going to come to change the darkness and to show that he has power over Satan. Unless God comes, no light is going to happen. In fact, everything would cease to exist as far as the creation. Unless God comes, it's going to be a time so great, so dark, that there would be no flesh saved alive. So total darkness is coming to the earth. Let's notice Ezekiel 32, verse 7. Ezekiel 32, verse 7.

God tells us ahead of time what is going to happen. Ezekiel 32, verse 7.

A lot of things are brought out in the Old Testament prophets, what they have to do with the future. God writes to Ezekiel, when I put out your light, I'm going to cover the heavens and I'm going to make its stars dark. I'm going to cover the sun with a cloud and the moon is not going to give her light. So it appears, maybe rather than extinguishing those temporary luminaries at that time, he's going to cover them with thick darkness so that they don't have the light has not had a chance to get through. Verse 8.

Sounds like a similar situation in Egypt, doesn't it? But this is going to be worldwide. Now, as far as the timing of this, we don't have time to go back to Revelation 16, but it ties into the fifth angel that pours out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and the kingdom of the beast at that time becomes full of darkness. It's just dark. We don't know how long that darkness will be here because it doesn't tell us in Scripture. But imagine being like the people in Egypt and suddenly you can't see anything.

Just like it was for them. The kingdom will become full of darkness. So here we find a kingdom becoming full of darkness, but Jesus Christ is about to come on the scene and bring light.

You know, Jesus even describes Himself as His second coming in terms of light, doesn't He? He talks about lightning flashes. You know, that you'll see it from the east to the west. You know, don't believe anyone that says, you know, I think Christ is in the inner room. He says, don't believe it. He says there's going to be a brightness. You are going to see the glory. He's going to come in glory. He's going to come with a brightness, a countenance that Peter talks about in the Transfiguration. You know, when we think about the Feast of Trumpets, we should be thinking about light and brightness. Jesus Christ said that that's how He's going to come. Every eye will see the brightness of His coming. Let's notice Isaiah chapter 60. Isaiah chapter 60 and under one of God's prophets. And in this context here, in the first three verses we're going to see, He's talking about the future Israelites, the future tribes that are going to come back and settle in the area of Palestine and the Holy Land during the Millennium. And this remnant now is described in this way. Isaiah chapter 60 and verse 1. Isaiah chapter 60 and verse 1.

He says, arise, shine, for your light has come. You know, God's light is going to shine on people. And the glory of the Lord, we talked about that, that that's the brightness, remember we read about that? The glory of the Lord is risen upon you. Verse 2, 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. Wow, His light is going to be seen upon them.

They're going to reflect His light, as it were. You know, like the church today, there's some parallels here, isn't there, brethren? God's glory is on you and me. Jesus is the light of the world, and now He tells us to be the light of the world. We're to reflect that glory that He has. Let's continue on with verse number 3. It says, 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 and be the only source of light, ultimately, the only illuminator of the path. He says, the Gentiles shall come to your light, and we should help others to do the same today.

Just as they will help the Gentiles come to the light and bring kings to the brightness of His rising.

Let's go to Acts chapter 26 and verse 18. That says we do have a responsibility to be a reflector of that light, to be lights to the world. See what He told Paul here in Acts chapter 26 and verse 18, and I think all of us as an extension. Acts chapter 26 and verse number 18. He's calling Paul out of the darkness, and he's got a job for him and for us as we read. Let's pick it up here in verse number 17 for the context of Acts 26. He said, Paul, to Paul, he says, I want to deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you. Why? Verse number 18, to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. That's part of the responsibility that we have as well. Fascinating to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light. We should be helping others today. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 3. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse number 3.

Isaiah chapter 3.

It says, many people shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He's going to teach us His ways. We're going to walk in His path. We're going to be able to see. We're going to be able to understand when Christ returns. Under His kingdom there will be a brightness. Everyone will be able to see the path, the godly way. For out of Zion shall go forth the law. There it is again. God's law continues, doesn't it? In order to shed light for people to see. Shall go forth the law and the Word of the Lord. Remember, your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Verse number 5.

That's what people are going to say when Christ is ruling the world. The result is a thousand years of an age of light. Now, we could say right now we're in the age of darkness. But the age of light is coming. We're going to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles as an age. A thousand years of light. The people knowing, of people seeing, of people having the ability to see, to make choices and have perception, spiritual perception, to make choices, to do what's right, to do what's good.

Jesus Christ is going to remove Satan's darkness that was on this earth initially and has been for about six thousand years or so. And He's going to replace darkness with light. Notice Isaiah chapter 60. We're in Isaiah, let's turn back to chapter 60 in verse number 19. Isaiah chapter 60 and verse number 19. As we begin to look at the plan of God beyond the Feast of Tabernacles, beyond the Second Resurrection, we look forward to the time of a new heavens and a new earth.

And what do you think the lights of the universe will be then? What do you think lights the universe? Well, the Bible tells us here, Isaiah chapter 60 verse 19. The sun shall no longer be your light by day. Imagine that in the future, the spirit kingdom of God, the sun is no longer going to be providing our light. Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you. But the Lord will be to you an everlasting permanent, in other words, light.

God is going to be our permanent light. He'll be your glory. He'll be your light. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself. For the Lord, in other words, He's replaced those things. He's going to be your everlasting light. You know, this light is a wonderful thing. Physical luminaries are only temporary, aren't they?

You know, we have these electric bulbs, but they're eventually going to go out. But we have spirit life, which metaphorically is the way of God. It helps us to understand the paths to walk. It's the light we need in order to be part of the resurrection and His return. You know, we've talked about ultimately, God becomes the sole source of light. We see another Scripture that addresses that in Revelation 21, verse 5. And back to Revelation, chapter 21, verse 5.

John has seen all of this in vision, so he's writing. And this is how he describes how this is going to work. Revelation 21, verse 5 says, Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. When we touched on a new heavens and a new earth, he says, All things, just a few things? No. Several things? No, all things. Will we have a new earth? Yeah. Everything's new. I make all things new, and he said, Right, for these words are true and faithful.

These things are going to come to pass. It's going to happen. Everything's going to be new. Well, what's this newness going to be like? Let's jump to verse number 10, because this gets interesting. He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me the great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

Having the glory of God, we touched on that already, it's His brightness. And why is this city lit? Because it's got God in it. It's the new Jerusalem. It says, The throne of God, it has the Father, it has the Son, it has God's glory, and it lights things. Having the glory of God, heard light was like a precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

It's about light, isn't it? It's about brightness. Let's jump to verse number 23. The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, for the Lamb is its light. That's where the light comes from.

It's God, and the Lamb illuminates it. Now, I don't know what that's like, but I think that's going to be pretty exciting. Let's turn to Revelation 22, a few more pages over in verse 5. Revelation 22, verse 5, it says, There shall be no night there. There's going to be no darkness. They need no lamp, nor light of the sun, for the Lord gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.

I, Jesus, I 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. He's bright, and He's a morning star. God is about light. He comes as light, as a bright morning star. He's the true source of light.

You know, God created temporary sources of light for us in a temporary physical realm, but we can't rely on its permanence. You know, all the physical luminaries are going to terminate. There will come a time when they will cease to exist, and the only source of light at that time, whether physically or spiritually, will be God, God Himself.

Let's go to 1 John 2 and verse 8. 1 John 2 and verse 8. You and I were called to walk in this light, now and forever, and to always be a true light of God. Let's see, we have some responsibilities. We've touched on it already, but let's see some more. Let's go to 1 John 2 and we'll pick it up in verse 8. We do have responsibilities. We can't just say, oh, you know, God is great, and I'm going to bask in His might. That's not necessarily how it works. There's something we actually have to do.

1 John 2 and verse 8. Again, a new commandment. Oh, there's a lamp. There's a law that guides our feet here. It's a 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, and the true light is already shining. He who says He is in the light, do you and I say that we are in the light? And He hates His brother, is in darkness until now.

He says He doesn't realize it, but if He hates His brother, He doesn't have that agape love that God talks about in Scripture, we're actually in the dark. Even though we say we're in the light, we won't remain on the path, though, will we? We won't be able to see the path. We may not be able to find our way to the meeting place. And Jesus Christ returns. We won't be there. Verse number 10. He who loves, and again, talking about this Greek word agape, He who loves His brother abides in the light.

You know, it says that we don't have time to turn there. 1 John 4, verse 8, still in this book, but a different chapter, it says, God is light, and God is love and light. And these two things, love and light, are intertwined. They're intertwined. They're inexorably intertwined. You can't have one without the other.

So if we don't love, we're not in the light. But He says, He who loves His brother abides in the light. And notice, and there is no cause of stumbling in Him. We'll be able to see. We won't trip over something. The way is clear. It's clearly lit if we love our brother. But He who hates us in darkness and walks in darkness, doesn't know where He's going. Let's notice words from Christ Himself about our need to grow in the light.

Matthew 5, verse 14. Matthew 5, verse 14. Jesus says this Himself. He says, You are the light of the world. You know, in other places, He said, I am the light of the world. And now He's saying to you and me, you are the light of the world. You know, He's gone. He left. And He says, there still needs to be a spiritual light to the world. And now He says, when I was here, I was the light of the world. Now you are the light of the world. It's a dark age. It's an age of darkness. You are the spiritual light. He left and His light is shining on us.

It's shone on us. He lives in us. His light is in us. It shines on 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 and cannot be hidden, He says, you and I should not be hidden, for the light of the world. Verse 15, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Further, this feast day depicts a significant turning point in the plan of God. Maybe more significant than what we thought. When God intervenes in a time of darkness and He begins to bring light.

One final scripture, Romans 13, Romans 13, verse 12. You know, some of us have been around a long time. Maybe we're becoming weary. Maybe we're coming tired. God encourages us to endure, to the end, to be a light to the end. Romans 13, verse 12. God is trying to inspire us where we are in the plan of things, in His plan. He says, the night is far spent. You know, we've been in the age of darkness for a long time.

He says, but you know, the night is far spent and the day is at hand. Oh yes, I know it's going to get darker before it gets light. He's trying to tell us. Light is at hand. The day is at hand. Therefore, understanding that, let us cast off the works of darkness and it's time to put on the armor of light. We've been talking about armor, haven't we? God wants us to be prepared. It's time to put on the armor of light.

For them, let's trim our lamps. Let's prepare. Let's get closer to God, because He is the source of that light. It reflects off of Him to us. So that we can be participants with Him when the world changes from the age of darkness to the age of light.