Out of the Darkness and Into the Light
Do you remember as a child being afraid of the dark? Maybe it’s because you saw creepy shadows or heard mysterious noises. Maybe it’s because your imagination got carried away and as you were peering into the darkness you wondered what kind of evil monster was lurking there, just waiting to pounce on you. Whatever it was, that fear was real in your mind.
Even as adults we sometimes fear the dark because it limits our ability to see what’s around us We might miss things that would be pleasant to behold and at the same time we are not able to see things that might harm or even destroy us. A lot of people have a real fear of the dark.
But today, I want to talk about another form of darkness that doesn’t really seem to bother a whole lot of people-- in fact, most people choose to abide in this darkness, unaware that this particular form of darkness is much more serious and potentially deadly. I’m talking about spiritual darkness.
In 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Satan has blinded the hearts and minds of a lot of people to Jesus who is, the Light of the World.
Light is a major theme in the Bible. The Bible says in 1 John 1:5, that “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” The very first command that God gave is in Genesis 1:3, “Let there be light” In John 12:46 Jesus says, “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” As you look at that last verse let me ask you, do you think that it is possible to believe in Jesus and still abide in darkness? Not only is it possible, but it’s actually very common.
You see many people want the benefits of being in the Son without actually “being in the Son.” They want ‘heaven without the hassle’. So it is pretty common for people to believe in Christ and yet still walk in darkness. In 2 Corinthians 11:14, “And no wonder! For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” His purpose is to deceive and to destroy -- and many are being overcome by his schemes.
In Andrew Lloyd Webbers “the Phantom of the Opera” The phantom becomes infatuated with a chorus girl. So, he poses as an angel of music, hides behind her dressing room, and gives her voice lessons. At one point he takes her under the opera house. While down there, he sings these words to her:
Close your eyes, for your eyes can only show the truth… And the truth isn’t what you want to see…
In the dark it is easy to pretend… that the truth is what you want to be . . .
Open up your mind… let your fantasies unwind… In this darkness, which you know, you cannot fight… The darkness of the music of the night…
Close your eyes and let music set you free… Only then will you belong to me… For I compose the music of the night…
So he’s singing:
“Close your eyes, don’t see the truth, let darkness overwhelm you.” Then, interestingly, he proposes that this disregard for the truth will set her free.
Posing as an angel of light Satan wants us to close our eyes to the truth as well -- so that we too will be overcome by the darkness. But God wants us to open our eyes, and to walk in His light so that we can overcome the schemes of the devil. And God has given us everything we need to do that.
So, let me share 3 keys that will help you step out of the darkness and into the light.
I. Be Strong
A. For us to be strong we must realize where are strength comes from. We can stand in His light but only through His might. Ephesians 6:10, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might”. It’s not our strength that equips us to stand; it is God’s strength invested in us when we submit to Him. That’s why James 4:7-8, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The devil doesn’t flee from our power, but from God’s power within us.
We have the promise that when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Resistance is no longer measured by our strength, but the strength of God who draws us out of temptation. To make sure we don’t miss the point, James 4:8 concludes with the instruction to “cleanse your hands you sinners; and purify your hearts you double-minded”.
To be double-minded means to have a divided interest. Those who are divided between living for Christ and living for the world will never experience the power of God in their lives.
Strength comes from God and you must abide in Christ to live in his strength. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” Our strength will only stand as long as our opposition is weak or temptation is small. But when the battle rages our strength will fail.
Let me give you 3 biblical examples: Solomon, Samson, and David:
Solomon was the wisest of all men. He also had great wealth and great power. Samson was the strongest of all men. He killed 1000 men with a donkeys jawbone and he toppled a temple with his own hands. David was gifted with devotion. He loved the Lord and sought to honor and glorify God. Just look at the Psalms and their beautiful poetry of adoration. Yet, all three fell. As strong as these men were -- they were no match for the schemes of the Devil.
Satan led Solomon to marry many foreign women and through them he fell to the temptation to serve false gods. Samson, as strong as he was, was unable to resist the persistence of a woman. Delilah hounded him into telling the secret of his strength, and through her betrayal, he fell into the hands of his enemies. David gave into the temptation of lust, then adultery, and then he committed murder in an attempt to cover up it up. They were all overcome because they were walking in their own strength.
So, we must recognize where our strength comes from. If we are filled with the Spirit of God we will have – POWER… If we attempt to face a spiritual battle without being connected to our power source it will lead to certain failure.
B. For us to be strong we must recognize who are enemy is. Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Who is our enemy? The devil - Ephesians 4:27, “Do not give the devil a foothold.” We give the devil a foothold when we choose to give in to the desires of the flesh, follow the world’s philosophies.
II. Be Prepared
“I may never march in the infantry, ride in the Calvary, shoot the artillery, I may never fly ore the enemy, but I’m in the Lords’ army.” There’s a lot of truth in that chorus -- you see the Bible is full of military analogies. Throughout the Psalms David talks of God preparing him for battle, of God going before Him in battle, of God being our leader in battle. In the New Testament, we are told to put on the armor of God so that we will be prepared for battle.
Each piece of the armor of God is a character trait that must be reflected in our daily life. They aren’t articles of Christian clothing to be leisurely put on and worn, but convictions and beliefs that are to be lived and maintained as a regular pattern of our lives.
1. The Belt of Truth - Roman soldiers wore wide, thick leather belts that held their swords and equipment. It gave them freedom of movement so they would be able to fight.
In much the same way, truth is the essential centerpiece of the Christian life. It is on truth that all our beliefs and conviction rest. God’s truth is absolutely essential for the believer in his battle against the devil’s schemes. Satan is a liar who is constantly attacking the truth in an attempt to make it appear to be relative. We must build our lives on God’s truth. At the core of truth is integrity – a man of integrity has a clear conscience and can face the enemy w/out fear.
2. The Breastplate of Righteousness – this piece of armor was made to protect the vital organs from one’s neck to their waist – in particular it guards the heart. In our struggle w/ Satan, he has determined to pierce our hearts w/ his flaming arrows of accusations, just as he attempts to sabotage the truth w/ his lies. But God calls us to protect our hearts – Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
The only thing that protects our hearts against the devil’s accusations – righteousness. I’m not talking about self-righteousness Philippians 3:8-9, “… I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” When we walk in His righteousness then the devil has no ammunition to accuse us before God.
3. Shoes of Peace - Roman soldiers wore sandals with nails in the soles to give better footing. The shoes of the Gospel bring a peace that enables us to stand under the intense scrutiny of doubt and fear within & discord and discontentment without.
One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to load us with guilt and fear that leads us to doubt the goodness of God. He whispers in our conscience that our sin is too big for God to forgive us. There are things we’ve done that God is incapable of changing or overcoming – he relentlessly strives to convince us that God is limited in His grace.
He longs to destroy the church, our families and us by creating discord and discontent. He wants us to take our eyes off of God’s mission and get us to focus on our own wants, needs, and desires. And if we bite – he will steal our peace.
But to the Christian who understands and receives God’s sufficient grace and work on the cross – God gives His amazing peace: A peace that passes all understanding, a peace that knows the forgiveness of God, a peace that understands that there is nothing too big or bad for God, a peace that understands that we are in a right relationship with God, and it is upon that peace that we can stand our ground.
Isaiah 26:3-4, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” When we are at peace with God we can be certain that we will be able to take a stand against t the devil’s attacks.
4. The Shield of Faith - This is not a reference to saving faith or to the body of Christian beliefs – rather it is a reference to living or practical faith – our daily confidence and reliance upon God for guidance, direction, and protection – a daily trust.
Our shield against the devil’s attack is our daily living faith that God will keep His promises as we trust and obey His leading. Our shield is not in living the way we want in the hope that God will bail us out when we get into trouble. It is in placing all our trust in Him.
Faith and obedience go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one w/out the other. But faith must be put in the right place – in God. 2 Samuel 22:31, “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” Psalm 119:114, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” Proverbs 30:5, “Every word of God is pure; He’s a shield to those who put their trust in Him.”
The best way to extinguish the darts of the devil is to believe and obey God. We must have complete confidence in who He is and in His power.
5. The Helmet of Salvation - The purpose of the helmet is obvious – to protect the head from injury. Satan attacks us on many levels – but his mental attacks on the validity of our faith through false teaching is crippling for many. Countless people have been swept away into cults because they didn’t understand their faith and were led astray.
I believe the helmet of salvation refers to the mind controlled by God. We need to know why we believe what we believe, because we’re in a battle for the mind. That’s why Romans 12:2, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Renewal comes by filling your mind with the things of God instead of the things of this Word.
Satan wants to fill our minds with greed, lust, envy, bitterness, and a host of other things. We are constantly bombarded with these things by the society we live in, by movies, by TV shows, By commercials, by magazines, and many other things.
That why we need to put on the helmet of salvation and let God control our thought life.
6. The Sword of the Spirit – it’s no coincidence that at the time of Jesus’ temptation that the only thing he used to combat Satan was Scripture. To overcome the darkness He used the light and light dispels the dark. Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” The word of God gives direction in life and it gives us the power to overcome temptation.
Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
That’s why so many people don’t mind walking in darkness because they know there deeds are evil and they don’t want that to be exposed. But the word of God isn’t meant to destroy us but to save us. The word of God is our greatest form of defense and it is our greatest means of defeating the enemy.
Thomas Guthrie, “The Bible is an armory of heavenly weapons, a laboratory of infallible medicines, a mine of exhaustless wealth. It is a guidebook for every road, a chart for every sea, a medicine for every malady and a balm for every wound. Rob us of our Bible and our sky has lost its sun.”
This is the armor that God has given us so that we will be prepared for the attacks that will come.
III. Be Alert
1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Remember the Phantom’s song? Close your eyes and let music set you free… Only then will you belong to me… For I compose the music of the night…
Our dark enemy wants to lull us to sleep, but we need to be sober, and vigilant, and constantly on high alert because the devil is seeking for someone to devour.
In a military setting the only way for the troops to be alert to what is going on around them is for the communication channels to be open. If there were no lines of communication between the commander and his troops, the battle would be lost because the troops would simply be blind to the enemy they were facing.
The same communications are absolutely essential for us to win the battles that we face. That’s why Ephesians 6:19 says, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
We must be in constant communication with our Commander in Chief by reading and heading His word and praying with diligence. Informing Him of our needs, hurts, concerns and so much more. And we can always be assured that He is listening and that He will come to our aid.
In Matthew 26 when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane praying just before the Roman soldiers took Him into custody, in Vs. 41 He told His disciples to, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak”
Do you remember what the disciples did? They fell asleep and after Jesus was taken into custody they dispersed. Peter followed at a distance but when a servant girl confronted him he denied even knowing Christ. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. That’s why we need to watch and pray.
The 3 keys to help us step out of the dark and into the light are:
1. Be Strong - by recognizing where our strength comes from.
2. Be prepared - by putting on the full armor of God.
3. Be alert - by keeping an open line of communication between yourself and God.
Conclusion: 2 Samuel 22:29, “You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.”
