“Do the things of Earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace?”  (An Old Hymn)

 

Reader, The last three (3) articles have been dedicated to one’s love for God and one’s love for the world, and this article, (DV), shall be dedicated to the “light of His glory and grace.” This is the third (3rd) and final(?) part of our series on loving Christ or loving the world and how to tell which you love.

The Psalmist wrote, “In His light, we shall see light.”  Christ said of Himself, “I am the [L]ight of the world.”  In John first (1st) epistle he says, that Christ is the Light and if we walk in that Light we will not fall or stumble.  He tells us further that the Light will expose sin in ourselves and others.

Reader, are you walking in the Light, that is Christ?  Have you once walked in that Light, but now walk in darkness?  Reader, has the Light of Christ grown dim because of the brightness you behold in the world? Or has the light from the world grown dim due to the brightness of His great Light?  Have you been blinded to the things in the world and of the world as Saul of Tarsus once was?  Once Saul of Tarsus saw the Light of Christ, he was blinded for three (3) days.

Saul of Tarsus would attest that during these three (3) days of blindness, he finally saw the Light.  He finally saw the Greatness of God’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Reader, must you too be blinded?  Reader, I say unto you, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus and Look full into His wondrous Face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”  Or Reader, He shall turn you and you shall be blinded by His great and glorious wrath that is promised to all that love this world and the things in this wicked world.  Turn or you will be turned.

The King, during Jeremiah’s time of prophecying would not turn to the LORD as Jeremiah called upon him to do and more importantly as God, through Jeremiah, told him to do.  The king of Babylon was coming to war against Israel.  Jeremiah, after being abused and tortured and imprisoned, was called upon by the king.  The king was FINALLY ready to listen to the prophet’s God given Word.  The king said to Jeremiah, tell us what to do and we will do it, whatever it is.  Jeremiah, told the king to submit to the king of Babylon and all will be well, as this is God’s will for Israel at this time.

Of course, the king of Israel would not heed and he sought to escape through a secret tunnel with his sons. However, they were caught by the king of Babylon.  The Babylonian king, Nebuchaddnezzar, said the last thing the king of Israel would see is the death of his sons.  They sons were then killed by their throats being cut and as the king of Israel  screamed and cried out, the king of Babylon put out both his eyes and took him into captivity.

David, in his sixty-ninth (69th) Psalm, called upon God to blot out the eyes of his enemies.

Reader, a juxtaposition is two (2) things being put together but have opposite effects. I define this word because we will now juxtapose the above with what we are about to write.

In the above we wrote much about blindness and being blinded, in the spiritual and physical sense.  We will, (DV), now speak about being given sight.  The Lord Jesus gave sight to many, many persons, more than those listed in Scripture, to be sure. In fact, He is still giving sight to sinners through the light of His glorious Gospel. By giving sight to the blind was one (1) way persons would recognize Him as the Christ or the Messiah.  When John Baptist was imprisoned, he sent two (2) to ask the Lord Jesus is really and truly the Christ.  Christ told the two (2) to tell John what they have seen and to tell John that He is giving sight to the blind.  By this John Baptist was greatly comforted and prepared to die a martyrs death, in the Name of the Messiah…the most honourable of death and the greatest show of one’s love.

The Lord gave sight to the blind in both the physical and the spiritual senses. However, do not think that all those that were given physical sight were automatically saved as some ditwits do.  Remember the ten (10) lepers? Christ healed ten (10) lepers but only one (1) gave thanks.  I infer from that one (1) thankful person that he was the only one saved and the only one (1) to receive spiritual sight.  Reader, You must not base your eternal salvation upon the light of mere knowledge.

Many will burn in hell for all eternity, even those who knew much about Christ and the Word of God.  Reader, the devils believe and tremble.  Do you tremble at the awefulness (full of awe) of God’s glory and grace?  Do you tremble in the fear of the LORD? Are you working out your own salvation through fear and trembling? Do you have great confidence because of Who God is to you?  Do you walk in the Light, in understanding, in knowledge, in wisdom, in prudence? or do you stumble, fumble and fall in the darkness of confusion and your lost-ness? are you confounded by the darkness in which you find yourself?

Reader, Look…Look… “Look into His Wonderful face and the things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

Reader, “In His Light you shall see light.”  In His Light ye shall be light.

Reader, When the unsaved look at you, do they see the Light of Christ or do they see the world, do they see someone like them in the world and of the world?   “I don’t know,” you might answer, we will tell you how you may know, (DV).  Are unsaved persons comfortable around you?  I’m not talking about family, even though there can be an awkwardness between family members when Christ is honoured as Lord by one (1) and not the other.

Christ did warn us that He would cause division between family members. He also said, we MUST love Him MORE than family members, in fact, we must hate them when they get or try to get between you and your Lord. He even said if we do not do this we are notworthy of Him.  Christ does mean what He says, did you know that?

Back to our question, “Are lost persons comfortable around you?  I remember, men apologizing to me when they would curse. I do not ask if you are comfortable around lost persons…yet.  Are they?  Are unsaved person comfortable around you?  This is not a good sign. This does not speak well to your testimony or your witness to Christ. Now we will ask the other question, “Are you comfortable around lost persons?”  Reader, who do you think effects the other more?  Does the Christ-ian influence the lost more or does the lost influence the Christ-ian more? The lost influences the Christ-ian more, think gravity.  It is easier to pull someone down than it is to pull someone up.

Remember when Judas whined about the woman using her perfume on the Lord Jesus?  Remember how the other disciples were influenced by Judas to think the same, this ointment should have been sold and it’s profits given to the poor. The disciples all agreed. Look at Solomon, did he bring his many wives to Jehovah or did they cause him to allow others gods? The answer is the latter, beloved.

Let us examine Samson. Did Samson bring his women to Jehovah or did the women lead Samson away from Jehovah and the vows imposed upon him by Sovereignty?  Did Adam keep Eve from the fruit or did Eve bring Adam and all mankind down with the fruit? The Proverbs charges us, “If a sinner entice thee, consent thou not.”

The truth is obvious, the unsaved will pull you down before you pull him or her up. The well read Bible student will now ask, “What about Christ eating with the sinners?”  We would respond with, Christ did eat and drink with sinners, but Christ was not defiled by sinners, sin, or sins. Can the same be said of you? Can you spend time with sinners and be not defiled or do take part in defilement?

A newly saved Christ-ian should not hang around old sinner friends at first. The newly born again child of God is a new target for the old devil. The Newly born is not wise to the devil’s machinations or tricks.  It is true, I believe, that God does protect the newly born until s/he matures, but the devil will seek permission and may be given permission to play with the newly born.  The devil and his tricks are part of the saint’s education.

The new born must spend time (NOT SOUL WINNING OR TESTIFYING AND CERTAINLY NOT TEACHING OR PREACHING) in the Word of God. The new born must spend time with God in Prayer and meditations. The new born must spend time with veteran Christ-ians that know the importance of being still and know God is God.  The worst thing one does to a new born is throw them into service. The new born must be trained in the ways of the Lord before s/he can witness to others.

My counsel to pastors and youth pastors, regarding new converts, is HANDS OFF!!! Let God be their Father and Christ their Elder Brother, and the Spirit, their dearest Companion before YOU put them to service. Remember, pastors what Christ said to Mary upon His resurrection and reviving, “Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to [M]y Father.”  In other words, Pastors, touch not the new born until s/he has had time to behold the Godhead and the Godhead has had time to cuddle and clothe the new born in His Grace. Allow the new born to bask in their new found salvation.  Allow them to read and study the Bible before YOU begin TELLING them WHAT they should believe, let the Spirit do that. Let them look upon the things of God as the jews looked upon the brazen serpent and were healed.