Life in the Light
by Darrell W. Johns
August 31, 2022 · Atlanta West Pentecostal Church (Lithia Springs, GA)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Proverbs 4:18-19, Matthew 7:13-14, Proverbs 16:2, Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 16:25, Psalms 1, Proverbs 2:1-6, Proverbs 4:10-13, Proverbs 4:14-15, Proverbs 1:10-15, Proverbs 2:10-15, Matthew 4, Luke 4, Hebrews 12:2, Hebrews 11:25-26, Proverbs 9:16-18, Proverbs 4:16-17, Revelation 21:22-25, Revelation 22:5, John 1:5

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/darrell-w-johns--life-in-the-light
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

------------------------------------------------------------
proverbs 4 18 but the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day the way of the wicked is as darkness they know not at what they stumble i'm praying that we don't have special effects tonight unless they're spiritual but at the risk of that i'd like to speak to you on the subject life in the light god bless you please be seated if you were here a couple wednesday nights ago you know what i'm talking about amen on sunday august 14th i preached on the theme let there be light on wednesday the infamous lighting show wednesday night i taught you are the light of the world last wednesday night i spoke on defeating the darkness and tonight from this passage and other scriptures i want to speak about life in the light the premise of this message and of this proverb these two proverbs is that there are only two paths in life there's the path that leads to death in the darkness and there is a path that leads to life in the light you can live in the light or you can die in the darkness you can travel down the path of the just or you can stumble down the path of sinners this reality runs counter to the philosophies of our world that promise a plethora of alternate lifestyles they would say that in this age of alleged tolerance that there's many ways to get to god that's what they say i say that alleged because there's a lot of tolerance for everything but an intolerance to unrighteousness that comes from the people that live in the light there's no tolerance for obedience to the word of god among many people in our world i believe it's because of what the bible said that light convicts and condemns the darkness people do not come to the light because their deeds are evil now the view that there are divergent paths that converge in eternal life is simply not true you can't go down any road and get to the right destination of eternal life that view is not consistent with the bible if you embrace a biblical worldview there are only two paths of life there is the path of darkness there is a path of light there is a way that leads to death in the darkness and there is a way that leads to life in the light jesus made this abundantly clear in matthew chapter 7 verse 13 enter in at the straight gate for wide is the gate and broad is a way that lead it to destruction and many there be that go in there at there's a lot of people that are going in the wide gate broad way it's easy to go there you don't have to think about it you can go with the flow give in to temptation it's easy to go that way it's popular culture to go that way but the bible said these are the words of jesus and his conclusion in the sermon on the mount chapter 7 of matthew this way leads to destruction but then he tells us why because straight is a gate s-t-r-a-i-t it means narrow the greek is stenosis like the narrowing of an artery in your body because straight as a gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it now in revelation we know that this few turns into a great multitude that no man can number but in comparison of all those who just flow into that wide gate the broad way and go to hell jesus said you've got to find this way and it's through a skinny gate it's a narrow way it doesn't have many lanes it's just got one lane and you have to stay on that path to make it to heaven so i want you to see from the bible the stark contrast between these two very different ways to live we need to see life from god's point of view now the bible says that the ways of man are right in his own eyes but just because those ways are right in your own eyes i preached sunday about the book of judges every man did that which was right in his own eyes but proverbs 16 and 2 said the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes but the lord weighs the spirit every man is right in his own eyes but the lord ponders the hearts there is a way proverbs 14 12 says that seems right to a man but the end thereof are the ways of death it's repeated in proverbs 16 25. now here is the truth from the word of god that what you think is the right way to live does not matter what i believe is the right way to live does not matter at all what matters is what is true and what is right the objective realities of the word of god god does not grade on a curve god does not judge on the subjective perception of people god judges on the objective reality of his word that reveals his holy nature what matters is that our ways please the lord what matters is that we get on the path of the just that is like a shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day psalm 1 gives us a true picture of the contrast of the life of the just and the unjust psalm 1 the entire short chapter blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the lord and in his law that he meditate day and night he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper the ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the lord knoweth the way the path of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish this word wage means just what it sounds like a way a path a road that you go down in life and there is a difference in where you end up in eternity depending on which path you choose in life so i want to focus tonight on the book of proverbs chapter 4 especially verses 14 through 19 but i'll give you a little background before there there is a right path of life i think you already know that and that path is one of increasing spiritual light we need to stay on that path get on that path stay on that path until we realize our eternal reward in the city where the lamb is the light and there is no night at all so let me give you a little overview of the amazing book of proverbs you know most of these proverbs were a collection of sayings by solomon he wrote many many proverbs it's a handbook on life and wisdom the new testament writer james told us that if you lack wisdom you should ask of god and he gives to all men liberally and he upgradeth not but james said if you ask ask in faith nothing wavering don't be uncertain or ambivalent about what you're asking for if you want the wisdom of god in your life then you need to choose wisely when you make decisions and when you choose the path of life let him ask in faith not throwing away nothing wavering for he that wavereth in his faith and asking for wisdom is like a wave of the sea driven of the wind and tossed it's not like a normal wave it's a wave that's been disrupted by the wind and you can see that wave exploding into the sky with the wind and to the foam everywhere if you've ever seen that it's pretty cool but you don't want your life to be like that for let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the lord so you can ask for wisdom but you need to be committed to living a wife life of wisdom let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the lord a double mind a man is unstable in all his ways you can't want one thing today and another thing tomorrow james said you need to ask in faith and be committed to a life of wisdom but getting wisdom is not just a prayer request that god answers one day now it seems like god gave wisdom to solomon because he did not ask for riches or the death of his enemies god gave and a dimension of wisdom to solomon but according to the bible wisdom is accumulated if you search for it proverbs 2 1 my son if thou will receive my words and hide my commandments with thee so that thou incline thine ear into wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice after understanding if thou seekest her as silver and search for her as for hid treasures then thou shalt understand the fear of the lord and find the knowledge of god for the lord gives wisdom out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding so wisdom is something you must pursue you ask for it you dig for it you apply it to your life and this wise life that is depicted in the book of proverbs describes in many places these two ways the way of wisdom proverbs 4 speaks about this solomon says my child listen to me and do as i say and you will have a long good life i will teach you wisdom's ways and lead you in straight paths when you walk you won't be held back when you run you won't stumble take hold of my instruction don't let them go guard them for they are your life now in proverbs 4 solomon gives a contrast of the way of the wicked and the way of the just the path of the just is one of increasing light the path of the wicked is one of descending darkness so let's look at proverbs chapter 4 verses 14 and 15. solomon is very emphatic to his son about avoiding avoiding the path of the wicked he basically says don't go there proverbs 4 14 enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men avoid it pass not by it turn from it and pass away six times in two verses he's repetitive in saying don't go there four times in verse 15 alone in proverbs 1 and i won't take the time to turn there just highlight a few phrases but in proverbs 1 verses 10 through 15 the writer solomon talks about this path he said be careful when anybody invites you come with us we're going to lay weight we're going to rob a person he said these people he said i'm telling you my son do not walk in the way with them and refrain your foot from their path you've got to not walk in that darkness in proverbs 2 verses 10 through 15 solomon warns his son again about wisdom entering his heart and knowledge being pleasant and discretion preserving him and he said it will deliver you from the way of the evil man who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness they rejoice in evil they delight in the frowardness of the wicked frower means to turn aside whose ways are crooked and their paths you know and forward in their paths so solomon says there's a there's a wrong road to go down don't go there don't go near there don't look down that road he's pretty redundant in the way he does this he repeats these words over and over again proverbs 4 14 15. enter not into the path of the wicked go not in the way of the evil man avoid it passed out by it turn from it pass away so let's look at three particular things he says and again he's kind of driving this point home he says enter not into the path of the wicked don't even get started down that way the bible said that we should be wise concerning good and simple concerning evil so we should not really even go down this road at all the greatest testimony that a person can have is that they did not even start down that path of darkness of the wicked the greatest deliverance in your life is not that god brought you back from that path but that god kept you from that path i know many of you have a testimony that you had gone down the wrong road in your life and the lord brought you back and we celebrate that testimony but how much better how many fewer scars are there if you never go there so solomon is saying don't go there at all amen in other words he says don't even peek down that path then he says go not in the way of evil men again i told you it's redundant on purpose but it's the bible so if the bible's redundant i guess i should be too if i'm going to teach through this passage so he says if you're foolish enough to stand at the entrance to the way of the wicked if you're curious enough to peek down the path stop right there don't go down that path avoid it and then go don't go there hit the brakes back up back out put your life in reverse do and about face don't go down that path verse 15 when there are four of these repetitive phrases avoid it anybody getting this idea the new living translation says don't even think about it don't go that way turn away keep moving so solomon says this is the best practice and six times in two verses and four times in verse 15 he tells you to not go down the wrong road avoid it pass by it turn from it pass away or keep on moving at all costs avoid going near the path of the wicked and if you get near it here's what you'll find there's all kind of enticing advertisements for you to come on in come on down this road there'll be signs that say things like shortcut to success try this the road to pleasure try this a shortcut to success is what satan offered jesus in his temptations in matthew 4 luke 4 the devil took jesus to a high mountain he showed them all the kingdoms of the world and he said all these things i will give you all you've got to do is bow down and worship me i'll give them all to you you don't have to go to the cross you don't have to experience that pain but jesus knew that one day the kingdoms of this world would become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ and he would reign forever and ever and jesus according to hebrews 12 and 2 endured the cross despised the shame satan's bait offered jesus a way to to bypass the cross a shortcut to success and often that is satan's advertisement to go down this road this is the easy path remember jesus said it's a really big gate easy to find it's a really broad way you can choose the fast lane or the slow lane but there's no no resistance to going that way just go that was what satan offered jesus christ tempting him for a shortcut to success for moses satan offered him we don't know the details but the pleasures of sin staying in egypt perhaps being a pharaoh or a prince in egypt staying there but the bible said in hebrews 11 that moses chose rather the affliction to suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season that's how long the pleasures of sin last and then you become a captive a slave to sin and cannot walk away moses had respect for to the recompense the payoff of the reward so this this path of darkness this path of the unjust has an invitation that this is a shortcut it's a paved road it's not a difficult way to live it's a shortcut it's easy and all you have to do is come on in and come on down this living for god road is painted by satan to be long and winding and rough and difficult and challenging amen to people who are single satan says why should you maintain your virginity into marriage you can enjoy the pleasures of physical union now to marry people satan says that stolen waters are sweet solomon wrote about this in proverbs 9. that a wicked woman would say to the simple turn in here stolen waters are sweet bread eaten in secret is pleasant but solomon said the man who fell for this himself that the dead are there and her guests are in the depths of hell if you go down that way it leads to death every time to business people satan might say cheat a little here cook the books there other companies do it inflate the prices cut corners on quality pad the labor charges lie just a little compromise light you get the picture right calling life in the darkness the path of the wicked sounds a little harsh but it is not just an alternate lifestyle they are just two paths and we're on one or the other life in the light is one of diminishing darkness and increasing light solomon describes life on this path proverbs 4 16. excuse me he describes life on the path of darkness i'm getting to my verse 18 but i want to go here first pardon me he talks about these wicked people for they sleep not except they have done mischief and their sleep is taken away unless they cause someone to fall for they eat the bread of wickedness and they drink the wine of violence verse 19 i'm skipping this path of the just verse verse 19 the way of the wicked is as darkness they know not at what they stumble you've done it before in the night you didn't remember that chair was there it was just dark it wasn't intentional you just stumbled there but then the path of the just this life in the light proverbs 4 18 but the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more into the perfect day now this is an amazing verse of scripture because solomon paints a very vivid picture of something we've all seen and will never forget and every time we see it it's a miracle and it's beautiful solomon is painting a word picture it is that the path of the just is like the rising of the sun the sun is below the horizon it's a faint orange glow barely visible i want to show you a series of pictures i think they'll be on the screen behind me i took them on the georgia coastal march marsh at kilkenny marina richmond hill in december of 2007. their list a little bit grainy but if you'll go back let me see i think we're already in the light there go back back back sorry thank you so this was amazing to me but this is the imagery of this verse that when you first come to god it is like the sun that is peaking up over the horizon so you can just kind of go through those pictures and see at first the righteous life may not seem vastly different from the path of the wicked but more quickly than you can imagine the sun begins to burst over the horizon and the darkness begins to give way to the dawn light you know how it does it begins to chase away the shadows some of you know i'm an outdoorsman and and it's amazing to see when the sun is coming up and you're sitting in the woods in the dark or if you're there in the evening and the sun is going down how things quickly change and in the morning things that you're not sure about begin to appear and as the light shines on them you realize what it really is just as it happens in the opposite at night objects that are obscure in the dark take shape and color and have depth i remember early one morning i knew exactly where i was supposed to go i thought but i just made a little slight turn onto the wrong ridge yes i did and it's different in the dark the image of the sunrise is what solomon sees in this verse that the the life the path of a godly person the path of the just is like a shining light but he says about this life in verse 18 that it shines more and more not less and less living for the lord gets better not worse this path is a shining light and it shines more and more it makes more and more sense the longer you serve the lord the light shines it says unto a perfect day and this is an imagery a picture that solomon is painting of the sun at its apex at high noon that it is bright as it's going to get amen living in the light and walking down the path of the just will eventually bring us to the fullness of day this is life in the light it is a shining light now you could say if you're reading this verse i want you to think about this for a minute why would the bible say the path of the just is a shining light i thought all light shined right but if you if you read it in the original this is the new living translation on the screen the way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn remember that picture you saw first that at first and it's amazing compared to darkness but then it shines more and more brighter and brighter unto the perfect day let me ask you a question have you ever been disappointed in something that got worse and worse instead of better and better don't nudge your spouse right now that's a choice you know maybe you got a new car or newer car new to you and you know how it is at first you're so excited and this is new and you're so careful but then you get a door ding and windshield crack from a piece of gravel flying off i-75 and after a while the new wears off of whatever that is and it brings you less and less joy that is the nature of just about everything in this life amen think about how many things in this life get better and better there are some things but not many things but solomon is telling his son that the path of the just is like a shining light at first your life may not seem that much different from the person in the world but as you live for god this light gets brighter and brighter and your life gets better and better i have observed that people who walk in the light are blessed of god in more ways than they can count amen he loads us down with benefits amen god begins to bless you as you walk in the light and as you walk in the light is he is in the lightest it's brighter and better as you walk with the lord i remember a really old song it was old when i was a kid talking about the lord that it is sweeter as the days go by pardon me you know i was raised in the church but filled with the holy ghost when i was eight baptized when i was eight years old so i'm a church kid right but i look back on my life and i've often contrasted the life of my dad's kids in the life of my uncle's kids who were raised by a father who let all the hurts of their family drive him to bitterness to be an atheist to walk away from god multiple failed relationships and the main difference is that not that my dad was better certainly not smarter and more inventive than my uncle but but he got in the church that's all he did he just got on a different path and if you go all the way back to the beginning maybe their lives didn't seem that they were in such sharp contrast but one life descended into more and more darkness and the other life was more and more light it shines more and more into the perfect day praise god jesus said to while the light is with you walk in this light amen lest the darkness come upon you and it walks in darkness doesn't even know where he's going oh you have the light believe in the light that you may be the children of light amen so life in the light it shines more and more into a perfect day it drives away the darkness of ungodliness in our lives and this process you can call it sanctification you become holy as he is holy now when you repented of your sins were baptized in water in the name of the lord jesus christ for the remission of sins when you received the gift of the holy ghost and consummated the process of new birth god declared you righteous he justified you he made you just as if you'd never sinned but at that point in your life it was sort of like the sun peeking over the horizon there was light but there's probably still a lot of darkness in your life habits and words that came to your mind and out of your mouth and attitudes that needed to change and habits that needed to be broken but as you walk in the light it shines more and more and darkness cannot stop the light so i'm saying that if you will walk with the lord and walk in this light down this path of the just the lord will work in your life to deal with sin and cleanse it out of your life and make you like jesus christ hang in there don't get discouraged and fall off this path and take the divergent path stay in this path this is life in the light this process of actually becoming holy as he is holy amen so i just want to reiterate that you cannot live in the light and perpetually practice darkness i've heard people in my life say you know i've come to the place of spiritual maturity but i can do this and this and this and it doesn't bother me at all to the pure all things are pure well that's actually called delusion believing a lie to be damned things that you laid down to be saved now you've picked up in your holiness what are you thinking a little sip of this and a little indulgent in that risque behavior a little flirtatious discussion and some inappropriate media that's not on the path of the just the path of the just is as a shining light this shineth more and more on the screens proverbs 4 18. i just want to highlight the last phrase but we'll read the verse again but the path of the just is as a shining light so when you see that shining light think of the first rays of sunlight at dawn but it shineth more and more until noon or its full apex of the day perfect day how many of you had a perfect day today can i see your hands it was just a perfect day god bless you one perfect day yeah there's another one perfect day man this day was perfect now you have to be a perfectionist to know what that really means but remember this what this what is the word picture that solomon is drawing sunrise the sun is risen right peaked over the horizon shine more and more to the perfect day now the sun is at its zenith the apex and it's as good as it's going to get shadows are gone the sun has illuminated everything under its influence now here's what i know about us about me you and i are not perfect but it's the path itself that banishes the darkness in our lives it's not because we're so good but it's because he is good and his light is shining in our life making us more like him amen this is daily obedience daily small choices daily time with god and prayer in his word the discipline of fasting this path is a process the pentecostals are accused of being emotionally oriented it's all about the experience how you feel some people enjoy what they feel when they come to church here and i thank god they feel something but this is not about a touchy-feely life it is about a relationship that has the blessing of power and joy amen that is unspeakable we enjoy that experience but along this path it's a process it's daily but as you're walking in the light as he's in the light this this path of the just it shines more and more amen turns our sin darkened souls transforms us into children of light and when that full day has come to us the bible said jesus said that the righteous will shine forth like the son in the kingdom of their father now on a typical day once the sun reaches its zenith its highs is going to get right apex what begins to happen a 24-hour day approximate 24-hour day the sun begins to decline right climbing toward evening shadows darkness the cycle is repeated over again but this is where the metaphor ends and the kingdom truth stands because in solomon's description of this light that shineth more and more to the perfect day when it gets to the perfect day it does not decline there are no evening shadows there is no darkness there's no twilight no sun down no night it's what the bible describes in revelation 21 and 22 and i saw no temple therein for the lord god almighty and the lamb are the temple of it and the city had no need of the sun neither of the moon to shine in it for the glory of god did lighten it and the lamb is the light thereof and the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night there revelation 22 and 5 and there shall be no night there they need no candle neither light of the sun for the lord god giveth them light and they shall reign forever and ever the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more into the perfect day your life may end at death here but if you have eternal life the sun never sets the shadows never come this light shines more and more to the perfect day that god has promised us in eternity so this proverb describes two vastly different paths the path of the sinner and the path of the saint are not the same path and you can't walk down both paths simultaneously you're either on the path of the wicked or the path of the just you're either descending into the darkness of sin or you're walking into the light of righteousness and eternity these two paths lead to two vastly different eternal destinations the path of the wicked leads to destruction and the path of the just to eternal life and along this path there is really no rest stop now i know you may rest i'm not talking about sabbath or rest but there's no place along this life that you can kind of feel like you've arrived because it's a continual life of serving god as long as you're here so there is really no place for the christian who thinks they've reached full maturity to set their posterior on a park bench and quit plodding down the path of the just so i just want to ask you are you are you on this path and if you are are you walking in the light are you stepping toward your eternal destiny the path of the just is the shining light now the bible is clear in first john 5 and 7 that god is light the last phrase of this verse and in him is no darkness at all and that if we walk in the light verse 7 as he is in the light from last week i spoke about this we have fellowship with one another and his blood cleanses us from all sin you're going to see a time lapse on the screen i'd like for you to stand when jesus found you there's no telling how much darkness was in your life i told you i was a church kid and i was but i am saved by the same grace of god that saved the deepest darkest sinner watching online or standing in the house we were blinded our minds were blinded to the glorious gospel of jesus christ but then there was this light john 1 5 and the light shined in the darkness and the darkness could not stop it paul wrote that god who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ as you walk in the light the light of god's word shines and gives you an opportunity to cleanse the dark areas of your soul the holy spirit convicts of sin right the bible said that jesus said that if you don't keep walking in the light i've learned that old darkness will creep back into your soul so my admonition that's a bible word christian word right my challenge to you today encouragement is to just stay on the path of the just and live this life of light it doesn't get darker it shines more and more to the perfect day