I don’t know about you, but I have never liked the darkness that penetrates the earth after the sun goes down. Darkness prohibits seeing what is in the dark. In the Bible, darkness represents the realm of Satan and his demons. This darkness is a place no one wants to go, yet multitudes plug into it every day. Hell is a place where there will be flames, but no light. All the senses of the body will be keenly intact, but darkness will penetrate increasing the fear of that place. Those who are left in darkness on this earth will experience this horrible place.
Matthew 8:12 “But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”
The phrase “left in the dark” is used when someone is left in ignorance of a matter. This is where many live all around us. The light may be shining, but their knowledge and understanding of the Light of this world is absent or wrong.
In the Bible darkness also represents sin. John tells us men love darkness rather than light. In the darkness, they feel they can hide their sin. However, God sees through the darkness into their hearts. There is no hiding from him.
John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Job 34:22 “There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.”
As long as Jesus was walking the earth, He was the light of the world. But when He left, He gave us a command to be the light of the world. We do this by allowing Him to shine through us into the darkness of this world. Light is of no value when the sun is shining bright and the day is clear, but in the dark, it is not only good, it is crucial to leading the way through the darkness and into the bigger light. We are called to be the light of the world to shine so brightly that we draw others to Him. God does not save us to go to Heaven and take our little world around us with us. He calls us to shine into the darkness for those where no one has shined before. He calls us to those who are deceived, thinking they are in the light when really they live in the dark. He calls us to become brighter each day as we seek Him and grow closer to the real Light, Jesus Christ.
John 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Luke 1:79 “To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Matthew 5:14-16 “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
On judgment day, there will be millions upon millions who will stand before Christ guilty and condemned to Hell. Some will be there because they refused the Light. Others will be there because they saw the Light, accepted the Light, but then ran back to the darkness.
Proverbs 2:13 “Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;”
Some will be condemned because they were deceived by those who proclaim they know the truth but are in darkness themselves. It is our duty to expose the deception by living and sharing the truth. Isaiah pronounces a judgment for those who deceive others, but their judgment does not change the destiny of those they have deceived.
Isaiah 5:20 “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
Yet, there is another group that will be condemned that was never exposed to the Light. Their darkness is like a prison, they feel trapped because no one has shown them the way out. They will be judged guilty, and we will be partially responsible because we did not go and tell, we did not see the need for missionaries, and we did not pray for the knowledge of Jesus Christ to be brought to them. We did not care enough to strive to find a way for them to know.
Isaiah 42:7 “To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”
Where do you fit in this command to be the light? Are you satisfied to live the Christian life hoping your daily walk will expose those around you to the light and change their path? Do you feel the urgency to pray and expose the light to those who are dropping into Hell every second of the day? Do you look around and see people as souls that will spend eternity somewhere, or do you see people as personalities, lifestyles, likable, and unlikable?
Jesus came to “seek and to save that which was lost.” That is all of us! It is not enough to just live the life of going to church, being a good neighbor, or saying a word here and there for the Lord. It is not enough to go on an outreach of the church once a week, it is not enough to pray for those in unreached lands, it is not enough to give our money to missionaries, it is not enough to witness at work. It takes all the above to reach those who are lost, and our efforts need to expand to do all of this. Many Christians feel if they have done one or two of these, they have fulfilled the great commission, but we are commanded to do all. God wants no one left in the darkness! We will stand before God one day and give an account of how we have lived our life as a child of God. All we can do will still not be enough, but we need to be striving to do all we can. Examine yourself today, who are you leaving in the darkness?
