"Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light." (Genesis 1:2-3) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1:1,4-5) "That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world." (John 1:9) "And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. ... And Jesus said, As long as I am in the world, l am the Light of the world. When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent)." He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing. ... And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes." (John 9:1,5-7,14) "The Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal Life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us." (1 John 1:2) "With You is the Fountain of Life; in your light we shall see light." (Psalm 36:9) "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannotbe hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that 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." (Matthew 5:14-16) "Arise, shine, for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising." (Isaiah 60:1-3) "I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you should be my salvation unto the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6) "All things that are reproved are made manifest by the light; for whatsoever makes manifest is light." (Ephesians 5:13) "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." (John 3:19-21) "This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That you may approve things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ." (Philippians 1:9-10)
Light comes only from the Word of God, as in the beginning.
Apart from the Word of God, there is no light. There is no light in the world except the light that comes from God's Word. Therefore those who reject the Word of the Lord are walking in darkness, and if they persist in that rejection, there is nothing for them in the future but "the blackness of darkness for ever." (Jude 1:13)
The Word of the Lord is Spirit and life. "It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63)
So, as we have seen, the light that shines upon the earth is light from the Spirit of God. There is therefore no need for anybody's being in ignorance of the Spirit.
The word which gives light is the Word of life. The Word is life, and "the life [is] the light of men." (John 1:4)
The light by which men walk in this world, is the life of Christ. The condemnation is that the life has been manifested, and all men have seen it, and yet few will recognize it.
The life of Christ,--the true light,--lights every man that comes into the world. "That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world." (John 1:9)
There is not a man in the world who can plead ignorance of the life of Christ. It will be no excuse to plead that we did not know that the light was the life. The Bible has told us. Even if we did not have the Bible, we know that light is life, not only for man but for the lower animals and plants. That light gives life is apparent to everybody.
And as to the source of light, we know at least that we did not make it. It was here before we were. It is a free gift to us, as free to the poor as to the rich. This of itself is enough to show that it is not from man; for nothing that man makes is "without money and without price." (Isaiah 55:1)
But every free gift is worth thanks. The least and the only return that we can make for so wonderful a blessing as light, is to give thanks for it, not once, merely, but as often as we receive it, which is all the time.
Now if we look about to see whom we are to thank for the light, we shall at once discover that, like every good and perfect gift, it is "from above, and comes down from the Father of lights." (James 1:17)
So by continually giving thanks to the Giver of the light, we should be kept in the right way; for the promise is: "In all your ways acknowledge Him, end He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6)
The life of Christ is given to the world as freely as the light, for the light is His life. No one need fear that there is not enough to supply everybody to all eternity. When people say that they cannot think it possible that the Lord can save them, they virtually say that they do not think that the Lord has life enough for everybody.
But this doubt has been answered before it could be made, for the light is inexhaustible. If there were a thousand times as many people in the world as there are now, not a soul would have any the less light. By using the light, we do not deprive anybody else of it. A thousand candles may be lighted from a single candle without diminishing its light in the least. So the life of Christ is inexhaustible. He can give the whole of it to everyone in the world, and still have it all left.
Proof that Christ is literally the light of the world, is given in the case of the healing of the man that was born blind. There was a man who had never seen the light. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world," (John 8:12) and to demonstrate the reality of the saying, He made the man see. (John chapter 9) This shows us that the light of day is the light that comes from Christ, and that by it we may receive salvation, if we receive it in faith. It shows us also that the Lord has not only life enough for everybody, but that He can give the light of life to those who have not the power to see.
With the Lord is the Fountain of Life: "For with You is the fountain of life: in your light we shall see light." (Psalm 36:9)
If we drink from that fountain, receiving the life by faith, we shall also be light. As Christ is the light of the world, so He says to His disciples, "You are the light of the world." (Matthew 5:14)
We have no light, however, except that which comes from the Word. We can shine only by the light of the glory of God. This is given to us, as we have already learned, by the Word which commanded the light to shine out of darkness. We do not make the light. We can "Arise and shine, [only because] our light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon us." (Isaiah 60:1)
The Lord gives us light, not merely that we may enjoy it, but that we may be light and salvation to others. "This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That you may approve things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ." (Philippians 1:9-10)
We are exhorted to be sincere. The word "sincere" means literally "without wax." It is derived from the terms used in ancient times in the preparation of honey. When it was perfectly pure, without any wax in it, it would stand the test of the light; if held up to the light, no foreign matter could be seen in it. The light would pass through it. The honey was then sincere, that is, pure, without wax. "Whatsoever makes manifest is light." (Ephesians 5:13)
If we allow the life of Christ to dwell in us and control us, then on coming to the light it will be manifest that our works are wrought in God. "But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." (John 3:21)
There is nothing that is not manifest to the light of the Word: "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. ... The Word of God...is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:13,12)
The Lord has not left us without practical demonstration of this truth also. The so-called "x-rays," enable us to see through material that is ordinarily opaque, as wood or iron. Human flesh offers no obstruction whatever to these rays of light. And yet the rays themselves are invisible.
Nobody can ever understand the secret of it, because nobody can ever fathom the mystery of the life of God; but God has allowed us to have this additional demonstration of the fact that nothing can hide away from the light of His countenance. His light, and the sight of His eyes, can pierce even to the depths of the earth.
"Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." (Jeremiah 23:2)
This should move us to ready confession of our sins, since they cannot possibly be hid from Him. It is also most encouraging to us, because, since it is the life of Christ that saves, and the life is the light, we may know that we cannot possibly have sunk so low that the life cannot reach us. "You have set our iniquities before yourself; our secret sins in the light of your countenance." (Psalm 90:8)
Thank the Lord for that, instead of cringing at the thought, and vainly trying to hide the sins from the light of His countenance. Why? Because in His glance the sin will be driven away and consumed. Evil shall not dwell with Him: "For You are not a God that has pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with You." (Psalm 5:4)
Ah, then if we do not shrink from His presence, the sins must flee. It is the work of light not only to reveal corruption, but also to remove it. Disease germs are destroyed by light. Thus God would show us how the light of His countenance cleanses from iniquity. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)--Present Truth, August 11, 1898