Sunday Class @ 9am; Worship @ 10am & 5pm
Articles
Lights in a World Black with Sin
From what I read in the Bible, things have not changed all that much. Sin has always been the number one enemy of the soul. In every generation men have loved darkness rather than light. It was so in the days of Noah (Gen 6). It was true in the days of the judges. Shortly after coming into the Promised Land we find this sad state of affairs: “...and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). In this state of mind the Bible says, “In those days...every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).
The same was true in the first century. “...They exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever...For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (Rom 1:25-28). Things were no better in Corinth. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:9-11).
And we need not think that things are going to get any better. The apostle Paul warns us that “evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim 3:13). We must accept the fact that the world around us is an evil world!
So what is our place in these evil surroundings? We are not to love it or the things in it (1 John 2:15-17). We are not to become like it, but to separate ourselves from the evils of it (2 Cor 6:14-17). As Christians we are to recognize that “the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” (Rom 13:12). We are to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph 5:11).
Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 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 in heaven” (Matt 5:14-16). It seems our place in this evil world is to shine as brightly as we can by becoming more like Jesus each day. As God’s own possession we are to “show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9). This we do, “that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain” (Phil 2:15-16).
Yes, as in generations past, our generation is an evil one, too. But it seems that the Father’s choice to offset the terrible influence of wickedness in the world is for Christians to “put on the armor of light” and show others the better and lasting way. We are not to second-guess God. He knew just how evil the world would be in our generation as He did in times past. He has always wanted His children to be a shining example of Himself and of His Son to try and offset the evil influences of men. Does your life and mine lend any help in this direction?
Remember, the darker the world about us, the brighter our lights will shine. The purer our lives, the brighter our lights will shine. Sin makes the world a place of darkness. Let us, by our godly lives, make it a generation of light.
