Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm gonna start in Genesis chapter
one. First verse, Genesis one. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and
void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, And the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let
there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light, that it
was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. What I wanna tell you today is
this Bible It's full of light. It's full of light. Now, just
as a way of introduction, I want to give you a few attributes
of light. Light is pure. It is pure. Light is lovely. Light is free. Oh, I like that. But here's the
thing also, light is revealing, revealing. And also one more,
light is true, true. What do I mean? Here's the first
thing about light. In light, there is absolutely
no darkness, no darkness, none. None. The light illuminates the
truth of what is actually there. Understand, the light shows the
truth of the world as it really is. Here it says it's without
form and void. I'm not going into that. But,
The light reveals what's there because there is no falsehood
in the light. It said the light is true. I'm
gonna get to it later, of course, but I'm gonna say it here in
the introduction. Jesus Christ is the light. He's the life scriptures. Matter of fact, he'll say it
himself. I'll get there, but you know, anyway. There's no
question about it, the scriptures are clear, and I'm trying not
to keep you very long, but we'll see how it goes. But my title
is this, God Divided the Light. God Divided the Light. Verse
three says this, let there be light. And God said, God said,
let there be light. And God saw the law, the light,
and that it was good. And God divided the light from
the darkness. First thing, this is the first
recording we have of the voice of God saying something. Not saying there wasn't anything
else said before this, but this is the first one we know about.
This is the first one we are to be concerned about. In Genesis, it states that God
created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form, the
earth was void, and there was darkness on the face of the deep.
What's all that mean? Well, to be honest, I'm not certain.
And here's the thing, nobody knows. There's all kind of theories,
and some of them are true. I've got my own. But that's not
what I'm here to talk about. I wanna talk about the light.
I wanna talk about the light. Because I'm gonna tell you this.
The light is good. The light is good. God said,
let there be light, and there was light. You understand? That's all it takes for something
to happen, is for God to say it. That's all it takes. Walter is on TV this morning
saying God is utterly sovereign. God is completely sovereign.
He speaks and his word will not return unto him void. He says
let there be light. By golly, there's gonna be light.
Oh my. And that light is good. Now,
let's be clear. This is before the sun and the
moon ever shone. Before there were stars in the
sky shining, there was light. There was light. Oh, see, you
understand. A lot of people think about it.
God said, let there be light in the sun shone. Well, that's
true. That is true. Later. But there was light before
there was the sun, the moon, and the stars. That's what it
says. Oh, I like that, I do. Understand, God said this. Well,
God did this. God divided the light from the
darkness. And here's what I want you to
understand. That's the purpose of light. If all you know is darkness,
you don't know you're in darkness. Oh, but when you see the light
shine, when you see the light shine, you understand darkness.
You understand darkness, oh. But here's the point. God makes
the difference. That word which says God divided
the light from the darkness, it means to separate. He separates
the light and the dark. There's no mixing of the two.
There's no mixing, not with God. There's no mixing of the two.
You understand, men talk a lot now about what
they call gray areas. Have you ever heard that before?
Well, there's good, there's bad, then you got these little gray
areas where, no. With God, there's light and there's
darkness. Now, who do you think's right,
God or man? If you think it's man, I got
nothing for you. But I'm gonna tell you this,
God divided the light from the darkness. Oh my. Because here's the thing, where
there is darkness, it is because there is no light. Darkness is
absence from the light. But this is also true. and even
more glorious, where there is light, there is no darkness. There is no darkness. Oh, and
God divided. Now, very clearly, this is in
Genesis one and verse three, this is the first mention of
the light in the scripture. Every other mention of the Lord
light in the scripture, better refer back to this. Whenever he's talking about the
light, understand, understand, remember, God divided the light
from the darkness. Oh, I like that, I like that.
Well, let's go somewhere else. We're gonna jump from the Old
Testament to the New. Wait a minute here. John chapter
one. Because we're gonna go from in
the beginning in Genesis to in the beginning in the book of
John. The gospel of Jesus Christ according
to Saint John, that's what my book says. Well John was a saint,
it's true. In the beginning was the word
and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. Listen to this statement. All
things were made by him. And without him was not anything
made that was made. I'm gonna tell you something.
When God said let there be light at the beginning, that's the
voice of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the word of God. Nothing
was made without him. In him was life and the life
was the light of men, and the light shineth in darkness, and
the darkness comprehended it not. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and that Word
is Jesus Christ. He's the Word. Who is the light
who shines out of darkness? Oh, that's good stuff. But here's
the thing. With the light, there's going
to be darkness seen. It's not exactly the best way
to put it, I don't think. But you understand, when the
light shines, the darkness does not comprehend the light. Why? Because it's darkness. Because it's darkness. The darkness
cannot comprehend the light. The light always shines. That's
what light does. The light always shines. And
the darkness still cannot comprehend it. Oh my. Because the light can
do nothing else. The light's gonna shine. And
God said, let there be light. There is light. There is light. The problem is not with the light. The problem is with men. That's the thing. In him was
life and the life was the light of men and the light shineth
in darkness and the darkness Comprehended it not. Why doesn't everyone believe
Jesus Christ? They're in darkness. They're
in darkness. And they do not comprehend the
light of God. And as simple as that, and as
profound as that, The light is the light of men and the light
shines in darkness. And the darkness doesn't comprehend
it. Understand? The problem is with men. It's
always with men. Fallen man is just that. Fallen. Fallen. That's what he
is. He's fallen from the light. And without the intercession
of Christ, the light, there is only condemnation. Condemnation. Why? God divided
the light from the darkness. Let's turn over a page or two
to John chapter three, verse 19. And this is the condemnation. This is the condemnation. What
did he say? He that believeth on him is not
condemned. He that believeth not is condemned already. That's John 3.18. Because he
has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is that condemnation. That light is coming to the world
and men loved darkness. Oh my. Rather than light. Men love darkness instead of
light. Men love darkness in the place
of light. Oh my. What does it say? Because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil,
oh here we go. hates the light, hateth the light. Neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may manifest that they are wrought
in God. Oh, understand, this is the condemnation. He that believes not is condemned.
not that they shall be condemned, is condemned, and he said, already,
already. Because light came, and men loved
darkness. What did he say in John one?
The darkness comprehended it not. Men loved darkness, men
loved darkness. rather than light. Oh, I've been
there, folks. Been there. Thank God I'm not
there now. I'm not saying I always live
in the light and everything goes perfect all the time, but you
understand, I love the light. I'd love to be in the light all
the time. But I know what my flesh is. Oh, my. What did I say before? There's
nothing wrong with the light. The problem is with men. Men
love darkness rather than light. Light has come, light has come,
personally, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest
of the flesh, well beloved of the Father, walking on this earth. And men will not. hear him. Why? They love darkness rather
than light. They love darkness, oh my. And then he says it. Men hate
the light. That's pretty bad. That's pretty
bad. Men hate the light. Are you saying
men hate Jesus Christ? I'm saying yes they do. The Jesus
Christ of this book, the utterly sovereign Lord Jesus Christ,
men hate him. Men hate him. They killed him
while he was here. They tried to kill him two or
three times before they got it done. And the only reason they
got it done is by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God so that he might be the perfect, perfect sacrifice for our sin
and shed his precious blood for our redemption and our forgiveness
and our justification and our righteousness. But they tried
to kill him before that. They were happy when they did
kill him. They thought, well, this ends the whole matter. It just shows you how much darkness
men are in right there. Oh, I tell you, men hate the
light, men hate Christ. Who is the light? Because their
deeds are evil. Understand the scripture is very
clear. The plowing of the wicked is sin. Now what is wrong with plowing?
Really nothing. Good men plow too. grow crops,
feed their families. But I'm gonna tell you something,
if you're in darkness, the plowing of the wicked is sin. Oh my. There are, like I said, there
are no gray areas with God. In the light of Jesus Christ,
there is no gray areas. God does not have any gray areas. Because with God, there is only
light. Only light. And men still love
darkness today. Nothing has changed. God divided
the light from the darkness. Next one I'll go to is 2 Corinthians
4. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4. In whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, Hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Oh, I like that. The men's of
mine are blinded. The minds of men are blinded.
Excuse me, I put it in the right way. Well, John what? The darkness comprehended it
not. The darkness did not. whom the
God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel shine unto
them. Oh. Verse three tells us right
before, if our gospel be hid, it's hid to those that are lost.
And their minds are blinded. What's that mean, when you're
blind? You can't see the light. It's incapable. That's what it's
talking about, being blinded. You are incapable of seeing the
light. That's where we all were. I'm
gonna get to that next, but I gotta put it in there. The blind cannot
see. However, the believer can. That's what he tells us. Oh my,
the believer sees because God has shined in our hearts. In our hearts. Oh, I like that. He commanded the light to shine
out of darkness. Going back to Genesis 1-1. Let
there be light. And he shined in our hearts.
How? By that same word of command.
That's the comparison. He commanded the light to shine
out of darkness. And if he shined in your hearts,
it's shining your heart by the command of God. Oh, I like that. And why did he shine in our hearts?
What? To give. It's a gift. It's a gift. You didn't earn
it. You didn't want it at one time.
Cause you was just as dark as anybody else. And you didn't
comprehend the light. You didn't want the light. Matter
of fact, you probably hated the light. No, no, probably about
it. You hated the light. But he commanded
the light to shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You understand?
To see Jesus Christ is to see the Father. There's no knowing
of the Father above. without the knowledge of Christ. And he gives that knowledge. Or you won't have it. You don't
have it. Oh my, what does it say? Our natural minds, our natural
senses cannot understand or perceive the light of Jesus Christ. Again, There's nothing wrong
with the light. The problem was with us. And
the problem is with men now. The problem is the natural man
cannot discern the things of the Spirit of God. And the light
is of the Spirit of God. Oh my. But when God commands,
when God commands, and by that word, he says it. The dead, the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God. A command. And they that hear
shall listen. No, shall live. Then you listen. Understand, people have, they
have the big problem about putting the cart before the horse. Well,
you believe, come on up here, God'll give you life. No, he's
gotta give you life. before you'll ever get an inkling of the light. Oh, much less like it. Oh, and when God commands the
light to shine in our hearts, he gives us the light of his
son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, because I'm gonna tell you
something, when he shines in your heart, you got what? The day star in your heart. You have light. You have light
when he commands the light to shine upon our hearts. Oh, I
like that. Let's see this. God divided the
light from the darkness. Now just a couple of more scriptures.
I'm just gonna read these. Telling the people of God that
they are now in his light. Ephesians 5 and 8 says this.
For ye were, and that's a great word, were. sometimes darkness,
darkness. But now are ye light in the Lord. Walk, walk, but not just walk. Walk as children of the light. Oh, that's good stuff. Excuse
me. You were darkness. Let me get this perfectly clear. Unbelievers are not more depraved
than believers. We were darkness. We were darkness. Oh, but now. But now. Right now. Right now, what's
it say? Are ye light in the Lord. I'll tell you this, in his sight.
In his sight. Oh, you are light. You are light. Why? Well, he shined in your
heart. Ah, that day star in your heart
has arisen. And you understand, the light
is not going anywhere. If he gives you light, you've
got light. and he gives you light yesterday, you gonna have light
today, and tomorrow, and the next day. Oh my. Believers were darkness just
like unbelievers now, but now are ye light in the Lord, in
the Lord. And then act like it. That's
what it is, act like it. Walk as children of the light. Walk as children of the light.
because what is it here? First Peter two and nine says
this, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him,
what? Who hath called you out of, what? Darkness. Into his marvelous
light.