Darkness

[0:00] to Moses, stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt. So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.

[0:17] They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, Go, serve the Lord.

[0:30] Your little ones also may go with you. Only let your flocks and your herds remain behind. But Moses said, You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

[0:46] Our livestock also must go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God. And we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.

[0:59] But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. Then Pharaoh said to them, Get away from me. Take care never to see my face again.

[1:11] For on the day you see my face, you shall die. Moses said, As you say, I will not see your face again. Let's pray together. Amen. Oh Lord, we again ask for your Spirit's help in the opening of your word, that you would work powerfully through it, through your messenger.

[1:31] Work in our hearts to make them receptive to the truth of your word. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Now remember, we've been continuing to examine God, or as it's used here, Yahweh's victory over the gods of Egypt in the Exodus.

[1:51] And today we're looking at this one plague, the ninth plague, the plague of darkness. And really I've kind of divided our message up into two points of darkness and light. And I want to start by looking at what it says here, the plague, and this idea of darkness.

[2:05] One commentator, John McKay, says, At dawn every morning, the Egyptians worshiped the sun god, Kifri-Re-Utum, in celebration of his renewed victory over the forces of darkness and chaos.

[2:20] So as we think of this idea of darkness and worshiping of gods, every morning at sunrise, they would praise and worship this god who they believe had fought a fight in the night and defeated darkness and brought the sun back up, really the sun god, who you guys may know as Ra or Re or Re, was considered the supreme god of the Egyptians.

[2:44] And so multiple names are used. McKay used the full name. But either way, if we say Re or Ra, we understand the sun god was their supreme god. And they worshiped him because he was a sun god.

[2:58] They believed he had victory over the night. And I think we've touched on this a little bit already, but Pharaoh, who was worshipped as a god, was worshipped as a god because he was considered the son of Re or of Ra or the incarnation of him, which is really interesting when we think about the understanding of the coming Messiah and what he will be, the son of God and God incarnate.

[3:27] And either way, they would see Pharaoh as this. And so this week I read a number of things like hymns that they would sing, schoolchildren would sing to Pharaoh in worship of him. And so they worshipped him as the incarnation of the sun god or as the sun, the sun of the sun god.

[3:44] And so the Egyptians would worship him. They would pray even to Pharaoh. And they attributed to Pharaoh all that belongs to God alone.

[3:55] You guys may remember the account of Nebuchadnezzar, how he looked over his kingdom and he praised himself and God struck him down. Struck him with madness for a while. And I think here we have a similar example where Pharaoh is allowing himself to be worshipped and praised and even prayed to.

[4:13] He was a blasphemous and idolatrous, false son of a god. Phil Riken says, when your god is the sun and the sun gets blotted out, you are left with only emptiness and dread.

[4:29] And hopefully that gives us a sense of what's going on in Egypt at this time. I've argued all along with these plagues it's not just about the plague. And so God's not just trying to scare Pharaoh or the Egyptians through darkness.

[4:42] It is the defeat of their god. Their supreme god now has been defeated. So we've seen this escalation as plague after plague has happened. And Pharaoh has not softened his heart.

[4:54] Even so now we come and their greatest god is the god of the sun and now darkness comes. And what is this great victory that they celebrate every morning? He defeats darkness and brings his son back.

[5:07] Well for three days that doesn't happen. This continues and they're not able to, or he's not able to win victory over the night. And so we see God defeating Ra.

[5:21] As we look at this there's really no natural explanation for what happens here. Anything we might try to explain people have said could have been an eclipse.

[5:33] Or even there were dust storms that might come through at the time. But the degree of darkness would argue for the fact that this is no common occurrence. Look at verse 21.

[5:45] At the end of the verse it says a darkness that can be felt. And so I don't know if you've experienced any kind of darkness like this. But so dark that it's pressing on you.

[5:58] It's heavy upon you. You feel how dark it is. Maybe we would say a pitch darkness. They couldn't see each other. They could not walk around.

[6:10] Verses 22 and 23. So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another nor did anyone rise from his place for three days.

[6:21] And so this is an extreme darkness. The fact that they wouldn't go out may even point to the fact that even things like candles were being overcome. The darkness was so dark that any light that they would try to produce couldn't penetrate it.

[6:34] Somehow Moses does, or Pharaoh is able to summon Moses and Moses comes. So maybe there are some candles. But for whatever reason, they're scared to leave the house that's so dark. They're afraid to go out.

[6:45] Everyone stays in the house all throughout these three days. The length of time would argue against any kind of common occurrence. Three days. No eclipse lasts for three days.

[7:00] And then further, if there's any doubt to the miraculous nature of this, we read in verse 23 that the Israelites are unaffected. All the people of Israel have light where they lived.

[7:12] So you have to imagine what's going on here. It's beyond our comprehension. It's miraculous. But you have this nation. And within this nation is one part of the land, Goshen, that has light.

[7:26] While all the rest of the country is pitch black dark. And if you were to go outside of the country, the other nations have light. This one area struck with complete, utter darkness.

[7:39] It's as if the whole nation had been shoved in a cave, except for one channel of light falling down upon one part of the land. And so without question, this is miraculous.

[7:52] And no doubt that the Egyptians understood this, realized this. Pharaoh knew that something spectacular was going on. We see again there's no warning given to them. They weren't told ahead of time that unless they repent, this will happen.

[8:06] So darkness falls on them all of a sudden. Maybe one morning they wake up and the sun just doesn't rise. Imagine how troubling that would be for you. The sun just doesn't come up.

[8:18] And it goes on for a while. They realize this isn't a normal darkness. It doesn't take long before they realize this has to be the work of Yahweh.

[8:31] We better call Moses in. Because we know who's responsible for this. Or another way of thinking of this is to say only Yahweh could defeat Ra. And so they're understanding this already.

[8:43] They're calling him there. As we think about this, this should draw our minds back to other times or similar instances. I thought of Genesis 1-2.

[8:56] We read in the beginning of creation, it says, The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. So when God made substance, God had not yet brought form to the substance.

[9:12] This is what the world was like. It was chaotic. It was without any kind of light. It was darkness. And so what our God is doing is basically a return to chaos.

[9:24] He's putting them in chaos, a place apart from his creative order. Maybe a way of thinking of this is to say God is sovereign over the world that he's made, even to the point that he can unmake it.

[9:39] He can un- or de-create. Peter ends, steps back, and he compares the pledge, all the pledge we looked at, to the creation account.

[9:54] And as we look at it this way, it may make more sense even as we look at this plug of darkness. He says, Creation is at God's command, both to deliver his people and to destroy his enemies.

[10:06] The pleads are creation reversals. Animals harm rather than serve humanity. Light ceases and darkness takes over. Waters become a source of death rather than life.

[10:20] The climax of Genesis 1 is the creation of humans on that last day, whereas the climax of the pleads is the destruction of human beings in the last plague. The pleads do not run rampant.

[10:32] However, they eventually cease, and each cessation is another display of God's created power. He once again restores order to chaos as he did in the beginning.

[10:45] The waters are restored. The pesky insects and animals retreat. Each plague is a reminder of the supreme power of God who holds chaos at bay, but who, if he chooses, will step aside and allow chaos to plague his enemies.

[11:00] I thought that was a powerful way of expressing it and seeing what he's doing here with the darkness. I thought even of Paul's words, that in him we live and move and have our being.

[11:15] What happens if God were to stop sustaining us in any moment? What does it mean for us to be dependent creatures? We are dependent upon God for our very existence. If God were to stop holding us up, we'd cease to be.

[11:29] And so God for a moment, we're so accustomed to the sun and the stars, the moon, all this system that God's put into play, without realizing at any moment God could just stop the system.

[11:43] It could cease to be. It wouldn't have to be a natural explanation. The sun doesn't have to die out as a star. God could just make darkness on part of the earth for three whole days.

[11:58] We see the sovereignty of our God, the creative power of our God, even the judgment of our God. which really brings me to the next point as we think of darkness.

[12:08] Darkness in the Bible often symbolized opposition to God, sin, rebellion, and death. For example, Proverbs 2.13 says, that the evil forsake the path of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness.

[12:26] And this is nothing new. We use darkness that way in our culture as well. We talk about people walking in darkness, or even if we want to portray things evil or bad happening, often they're going to happen at night, or you think of a scene in the movie, maybe they make the scene extra dark to symbolize evil.

[12:47] And so, the evil forsake the path of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness. John 3.19 tells us that people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

[13:00] And so, there's a judgment upon humanity. We love darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their deeds are evil. And we imagine that the darkness will allow us to hide our deeds from the all-seeing eye of God.

[13:16] Darkness is also used in the Bible in terms of spiritual blindness. People who are spiritually blind, they're walking in darkness. They do not see the light. Darkness is also used in the Bible as a sign of judgment.

[13:28] 1 Samuel 2.9. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness. Likewise, in Joel chapter 2, 31 through 32, we see another example of this.

[13:43] in that passage, it speaks of God's judgment or the end, the eschaton. It says, the sun shall be turned to darkness.

[13:55] The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And so, the idea of God's coming is, and the judgment that will come with that is tapered with the sun turning into darkness.

[14:15] Jesus even describes hell as darkness in Matthew 8.12. The sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

[14:28] 2 Peter 2.4. It says, God did not spare his angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment. And so, not only is this a triumph over Ra, the God of the sun, but I think this is also an act of judgment upon Egypt.

[14:49] Eight pleads now, and there's been no repentance. And we see this visual representation of what really is the final judgment of hell. Repent!

[15:00] Or this is what's going to happen. The judgment that will fall upon you. This gloomy darkness that's been given to the demons, that is reserved for those who will not bow the knee to Christ.

[15:11] They're getting a foretaste of what this darkness will be like. And so, we see in verse 24 that Pharaoh calls Moses. You may remember as we look to the plug of the locust, this is back in verse 11, if you wanted to look back there, that Pharaoh would only allow the men to leave.

[15:31] And so, now Pharaoh makes drastic progress, right? He says, your children can go with you. And by implication, he means the women with the children. The children aren't going apart from the women. So he's saying, all the people can go, but your animals must stay.

[15:47] And even though that sounds like a big move, that's really little changed because his agenda is still the same. I want to make sure that you don't leave for good. I want to maintain my rule over you.

[15:58] And remember, we talked about that the rule is not just who has authority, but also it's an issue of worship. I want you to serve me rather than Yahweh. The son of Ra deserves your service and worship, not the son of God.

[16:14] And so he will not let the animals leave. And really, that's very little change. The same issues at hand. They could not permanently leave to serve Yahweh or to worship him.

[16:29] Instead, they're to remain servants of Pharaoh, even if he allows them an occasional holiday to go worship their God as well. And the reality is the Lord doesn't compromise with men, does he?

[16:42] He doesn't lower his standards. You may have noticed Moses' response. Look at verse 26.

[16:56] He says, Our livestock also must go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind. And hopefully you catch that even in English, but it's very clear in the Hebrew that he's giving a command. He's not making a request.

[17:08] He's not saying, Oh, mighty Pharaoh, can we please not leave one hoof behind? He's letting Pharaoh know, here's how it's going to be. Right? He's putting Pharaoh in his place, not because Moses is great or Aaron is great, but because Yahweh rules.

[17:23] He's sovereign. He says, No, there won't be a hoof left behind when we leave. You'll know we're gone when all our animals are gone with us. And so the Lord does not compromise with men.

[17:43] And we see in verse 27 that Pharaoh's heart is again hardened by the Lord. It's a demonstration of Yahweh's authority and sovereignty over even the heart of this supposed king and God, Pharaoh.

[18:01] Pharaoh. And then because of the hardness of Pharaoh's heart, he drives Moses and Aaron away from his presence. We're going to see in chapter 11 that there is a continuing dialogue that I think happens at that same moment.

[18:17] And so it's not an instantaneous, but the end conclusion is he drives Moses and Aaron out of the presence and tells them that they're never to see his face again. Which Moses affirms, verse 29, Moses said, As you say, I will not see your face again.

[18:35] Consider that for a moment. I'm not trying to make a one-to-one relationship between your pastor and Moses. Don't misunderstand. But just imagine if you're not a Christian today, and maybe you've been coming to our church for nine Sundays in a row, and I've shared with you the gospel, and I've called you to repentance, and at the end of those nine Sundays you say, I don't ever want to see your face again.

[19:06] And God's judgment through Moses is, you won't see my face again. What does that mean? What are the implications of that for your soul?

[19:17] Or I think, in this particular case, for Pharaoh and for all Egypt. Moses coming to them was a chance for repentance. Moses is crying out to them, Let us go, that you wouldn't have to die.

[19:35] We saw even last week, it's an evangelistic call. Put your trust and faith in Yahweh, the true God. Here are demonstrations of His power. So, at this point, I think, Pharaoh driving them out and saying, I never want to see your face again.

[19:49] And for Moses to say, that's right, you won't, or we won't see your face again, it's saying there's no more hope. This is it. This was your last chance for repentance.

[20:00] There's no hope left, which is exactly what we see occurs in the Exodus. This will be the last interaction we're going to see, still in the same time frame, chapter 11, a little bit of an interaction there, a warning of what's to come.

[20:15] But this is it. Yet, the chance for repentance is gone. There remains no hope of that repentance. All that Pharaoh has seen has not humbled him.

[20:28] We looked even last week, earlier in chapter 10, it says, Egypt lay in ruins. Yet, Pharaoh will not heed the warning of Yahweh.

[20:40] He will not bow his knee to the Lord. Even though his country is wasting away. And so, truly, they remain in spiritual darkness.

[20:51] He's opting to keep his country in darkness, even though God brings back the light of the sun. Pharaoh is saying, we want to stay in spiritual darkness. Now, second part of the sermon is looking at light.

[21:08] There remains light in Goshen, the land of Israel. How is that? Well, I'm not going to explain the physical, scientific aspect of that.

[21:22] It's a mystery to me. But I think there is a spiritual reality to why this is happening. The Lord is their light. They're looking to God to be their light. 1 John 1, 5 says, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

[21:40] And so, I want to imagine, at least, the spiritual reality behind this, I think, is, how can there be darkness in their land? There's no darkness in the Lord.

[21:54] Their God permits no darkness. He's all light. And so, it's almost as if, you know, we joke sometimes about, it'd be great if we could know who God's going to save.

[22:08] Like, if a cross magically appeared, glowed on their forehead. We could just know, okay, who we're supposed to go share the gospel with today. Right? Wouldn't that be great? It's almost as if, for one moment in time, God showed, with a physical representation, what spiritually is going on in people's hearts.

[22:29] Here, you want to see what's going on? Here's light upon my people who are trusting in me. And here's the darkness that's all around in the world that seeks to worship these gods.

[22:41] And so, physical reality for a moment matches spiritual realities that we don't ever see. It's almost as if you can imagine, walking around our world today, and there being a pillar, if we can imagine that, a cone of darkness around unbelievers.

[22:57] while Christians walk around in light. Think of how powerful that would be of an image spiritually. It's true. It is reality.

[23:08] We just don't see it. But for one moment in time, God pulls back the curtain, as it were, and shows them what's going on spiritually. Isaiah 61-3 says, Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

[23:25] For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. But the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

[23:38] So again, in prophetic language, God speaks through Isaiah of something very similar. Darkness upon the world, but upon you, those who are trusting in God. Light.

[23:50] But He takes it a little further and helps us to see a bit more of the gospel, doesn't He? And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. When Christ, the light of Christ, shines upon us, it's going to draw men from the darkness, from the nations, to our God, and to the light.

[24:08] And so we see the fulfillment of that. In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus goes into Capernaum, and He tells us it's a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.

[24:18] He says, the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and those dwelling in the region of shadow and of death, on them a light has dawned. And so, Jesus coming into Capernaum is a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.

[24:34] Light coming into an area of darkness. And then we see maybe the greatest picture of all of this in Revelation 21, 23 through 25.

[24:44] And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it. For the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

[24:58] And its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. So there is coming a day when this world will be consumed in fire, and even the stars, the sun, the moon, all the heavenly bodies will be consumed.

[25:16] And there will be a new earth. And how will we have light without the sun? When the sun's blotted out, how will there be light? God himself will be our light and there will be no darkness.

[25:28] There will never be night again. And so I think we're seeing a glimpse of what's happening in eternity, even in Goshen today.

[25:40] And of course, this points us, even we've seen this in Capernaum, but it points us to the fact that Jesus is the light. I want to consider that for a moment. In John 1, verses 1-5, we read, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

[26:01] He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

[26:14] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And of course, that passage is speaking to us of Jesus. I thought as well of the darkness at the cross in Matthew 27.

[26:27] Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, Lema Sabathani. That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

[26:40] And so we see there that moment the judgment of God falling upon his son, and it brings darkness for three hours in much of the same way as we see darkness falling upon Egypt in judgment for three days.

[27:00] I think it's intentionally looking back to that. And of course, the encouragement for us is the darkness shows us that Jesus took our sin, that he was under the curse of God that we rightly deserved.

[27:15] And in John 8, 12, we read again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And in John 12, he says, Jesus said to them, the light is among you for a little while longer.

[27:32] Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light.

[27:43] I have come into the world as light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. What a glorious picture. And so I really want us to take to heart what we see here.

[27:59] I know that this is an historical event that happened in Egypt thousands of years ago. It may seem far removed for us, but I think there's a spiritual image that's being pointed to us that's carried forth throughout all the Bible.

[28:13] That those who don't know the Lord are walking in spiritual darkness. It's what Jesus says in these passages. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he's going.

[28:25] And there's a reality to that spiritually. If you're here today and you have not trust in the Lord, you don't know where you're going. You're blinded to the realities that are out there. But Jesus also presents hope to us, doesn't he?

[28:40] He says, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. He says, while you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light.

[28:51] What a beautiful picture that is. That we could become sons of light. And so I want you to see that salvation is being brought out of darkness into light. Jesus told Paul he was sending him to the Gentiles quote, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins in a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

[29:21] So, here's how Jesus describes salvation. A turning from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Think about what we see happening in Egypt.

[29:35] I argued before that these gods that they are worshipping are not just theoretical mate-believe fiction gods that they made up but most likely are demons of some form.

[29:48] And so, I believe this is tied to demonic worship, satanic worship. And so, how clear is it in Egypt that they are under the power of Satan and they are in darkness?

[30:00] But those who follow God are walking in light. Look at Goshen. And so, Jesus is saying that's true today.

[30:12] That apart from God, my guess is that there's probably no one in this room who's a Satan worshiper. Right? But, we're told that apart from God, unbelievers are following Satan.

[30:31] Unbeknownst to them. Right? Unknowingly, they're following him as they walk in darkness. Colossians 1, 13-14 tells us that he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

[30:56] A transferal from the domain of darkness. Imagine if you're in Egypt and being transferred out of that. Can't even find your way around and you're brought into Goshen where there's light. 2 Corinthians 4, 6, for God who said let light shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

[31:20] And then 1 Peter 2, 9-10 describing Christians he says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

[31:36] Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. And so all throughout God's word salvation is pointed to or spoken of in these words.

[31:53] A transferal, a removal from darkness into light. From the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God. Into his marvelous light. And so I want to encourage you today to trust in the Lord for salvation.

[32:06] Back in Isaiah chapter 50, verse 10, it says, Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

[32:23] It's really a gospel call, isn't it? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of Yahweh and rely on his God.

[32:33] That's my prayer for you today that if you have not trusted in him, if you know yourself to be walking in darkness, trust in God. Rely upon him. Put your faith in Yahweh.

[32:46] Pharaoh had these now nine chances. He's given no more. There's not another chance. And the reality is we don't know how much time will be given to us for repentance.

[33:02] Our God is abounding in steadfast love and mercy. He's a merciful God. But at some point, he pulls back that opportunity for Pharaoh. Pharaoh's going to die soon.

[33:14] There's not another chance given to him to repent. This is it. He's so hardened in his heart that God's given him over to death and to sin and to the gods that he's worshipped.

[33:26] And I think often we imagine that's not possible for us. I read one of the commentaries quoted Spurgeon from one of his sermons where he was talking to a woman in his church and she said, you know, I believe the truth of the gospel but I don't want to become a Christian yet.

[33:45] He said, okay, when do you want to do it? She goes, well, I don't really know. He said, a year from now. And she said, well, well, a lot can happen in a year.

[33:56] I might die before a year's up. He's like, you might. How about a month? She said, well, well, you know, I don't know what's going to happen this month.

[34:08] He said, you don't. How about a week? She got thinking, you know, a week's not really that long. But she said, no, I don't know what's going to happen this week. He said, well, maybe in an hour.

[34:19] She said, no, right now. And I feel like sometimes it takes that kind of reason for us to work through what is it we're actually saying? We don't live during Spurgeon's time where the lifespan would have been a lot shorter.

[34:33] Maybe we saw, maybe they saw a lot more death than we see and we tend to think, you know, we're guaranteed our, I don't know what it is now, 82, 74 years, however long it's supposed to be, our lifespan.

[34:44] We're guaranteed that long. But there's no guarantee. We may die sooner than we ever expected.

[34:57] And my prayer is that you would trust the Lord before that day comes. And I want you to understand that it's not ultimately death that puts an end to Pharaoh's opportunity for repentance. It's the hardness of his heart at the gospel, at the presentation of the gospel, at Moses and Aaron calling them over and over again, repent, bow your knee to the Lord.

[35:20] No, no, no, and then there's no more opportunity. And so my prayer is that that would not be true for you today, that you would not say no another Sunday, but that today you would put your faith and trust in our great God.

[35:37] Christians, I want to encourage you. God's word tells us we saw earlier that we've been transferred into his kingdom. We've been made sons of light.

[35:48] Well, what does that mean? Well, God's word tells us that as children, as Christians, as sons of light, we are to walk as children of the light. What are the ways that we walk in darkness?

[36:04] Well, we see that there's false gods and idols here in Egypt. We don't tend to think we have any idols, but what do we love more than God in any given moment?

[36:21] Pastor Thompson has been preaching to us through the book of Job. And I think, what is it that if God took it away from us, we might side with Job's wife at that moment, curse God, and die?

[36:35] If God took this from us, we'd be angry at our God. You remember Joe's response? The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

[36:47] There's no idol there. But what is it we love so much that there'd be bitterness at God if he were to take it away from us? Maybe we could even say, what are the things we love more than God's word?

[37:00] What would we rather communicate with? Would we rather sit in front of the television than read his word? What are the things we'd rather be doing than being here at church?

[37:12] What do we believe we cannot live without? I think oftentimes we just worship ourselves, especially in this American culture. Number one is me. What's going to serve me and my kingdom?

[37:24] Make me happy. 1 John 1, 5-7 says God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

[37:40] But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin. And so he calls us to walk in light.

[37:53] And even an indication of have we really trusted the Lord at all? Look at how you live. We're not going to reach perfection. I'm not saying be perfect.

[38:06] But if we're walking in darkness, it's an indication that we're lying to ourselves about being children of light. Ephesians 5, 8-12 At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

[38:19] Walk as children of light. For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

[38:32] For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. Now, a couple observations. One is, notice you do this because you're already children of light.

[38:45] You don't despise darkness and try to be perfect so that you can become a child of light. But your nature has changed. darkness is inconsistent with who you are in Christ Jesus.

[38:57] He has made you a child of light. And so, we don't want to be in the darkness. That's not where we want to live. That's not where we want to dwell. Rather, we want to expose the darkness.

[39:13] So, Christians, I want to encourage you. Walk as children of light in this world. We live in a world that's full of darkness. My prayer is that the church would be faithful.

[39:25] That you would be faithful as a Christian to live as a child of light. That the world might look upon you and know there's something different. Peter talks about being ready to have an answer for anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that's within you.

[39:40] And my guess is not many of you are getting asked that very often, are you? Why is it the world coming up and asking Christians, what's different about you? What's the hope that you have?

[39:52] Because I want some of that. It's because we look like we're hoping in the same stuff they're hoping in. We're loving the darkness too much.

[40:03] And my prayer is that we would live as children of light in this dark world. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, we thank you that you are light and in you there's no darkness at all.

[40:15] That we don't serve a God who is like the Egyptian gods that is darkness and is leading us into a gloomy and eternal darkness but that you are a God of light who's bringing us into your very presence where there's fullness of joy that lasts forever.

[40:33] Lord, we thank you that you are that God and we ask two things of you. One is for those who walk in darkness that you would make them children of light. draw them into yourself today.

[40:45] Save them. May they trust in you and in your son Jesus Christ. And Lord, we pray secondly for those who have trust in you. Lord, help us to walk as children of light.

[40:57] May your spirit work powerfully in us convincing us of sin and leading us in the right way that we should go. May we be students of your word that we know what it looks like to be a child of light. Lord, let us not indulge in the deeds of darkness but may we expose them as being darkness that those that are in them may be seen the light and be drawn to you for salvation.

[41:24] We ask this all in the name of our great Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.