1 Kings chapter 8, as Solomon assembled all the
people of Israel unto him and to the temple that he had built
for the Lord. We read further from verse 12
that Solomon spake, The Lord said that he would dwell in the
thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house
to dwell in. a settled place for thee to abide
in forever. And the king turned his face
about and blessed all the congregation of Israel and all the congregation
of Israel stood. And he said, Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father,
and half with his hand fulfilled it, saying, Since the day that
I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city
out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name
might be therein. But I chose David to be over
my people Israel. And it was in the heart of David
my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in
thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well
that it was in thine heart. Nevertheless thou shalt not build
the house, but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins,
he shall build the house unto my name. And the Lord hath performed
his word that he spake. And I am risen up in the room
of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord
promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord God
of Israel. And I have set there a place
for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with
our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Then
spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick
darkness. I have surely built thee a house
to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in forever. The Lord said that he would dwell
in the thick darkness. We read elsewhere in the scriptures
that God is light. And yet outside of God there
is but darkness. This then is the message which
we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1.5. Yes, God is light and yet we
read that he dwells in the thick darkness. We read of this in various senses
throughout the scriptures in various places. And we know that
if God, who is light, should come into this world in the person
of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, if God should have been pleased
to enter into this world to deliver fallen man from his sins, if
he should have come into this world in Christ as a man to walk
in the midst of his people, to walk in the midst of sinners,
if God should make his abode with man, then surely God who
is light would dwell in the midst of thick darkness. We read in
John's Gospel how the light shone in the darkness. How this world
outside of Christ is but darkness. And how when Christ entered this
world, light came in the midst of darkness. For man by nature
is nothing Nothing but darkness. Since we turned against God in
the garden, since we turned against his will, since sin entered into
the heart of man and mankind in Adam fell, and by sin death
entered into this world, there has been nothing but darkness
in the heart and the souls of men. This is a dark and an evil
world. It is full of thick darkness. Why can't we by nature see the
truth? Why don't men believe? Why is
it that though we can present the truth, that though we can
preach the gospel so clearly, set forth these things so plainly
before others. Why is it that by nature we simply
cannot believe? Because of the thick darkness around us and in us by nature. We are blind and we are the blind
in the dark There is no light within man, no ability to see,
no ability to comprehend, no ability to hear the word of God
even. It's but words that flow over
us. We're in thick darkness. And
yet in this darkness, God in Christ came amongst men. The light shone in the darkness. We see this pictured from the
beginning of time. When God created the world, there
was but darkness. And when he spake, and the world
came into being, we read that 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. Outside of God, there's
but darkness. And in the beginning, God spake,
Christ spake, and 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. The light that God created in
this world, the sun, to divide the night from the day and the
light from the darkness was a picture, a reflection of the light that
is in God himself. There's no true light but God. And when God says, let there
be light, he is setting forth his light, his life and his righteousness. And He sets it forth in His Gospel. And He sets it forth in His Son,
Jesus Christ. And yet outside, there's nothing
but darkness. God divided the light from the
darkness. Has He given you eyes to see?
Or are you yet in the darkness? Until God spake at the dawn of
time in creation, until he created, there was but darkness. And until he causes us to be
created anew, until he causes the dead soul to be quickened
unto life, until he brings about a new creation, a new creature,
we are nothing but darkness. Further on in the scriptures
we read again of darkness when Moses was sent to bring God's
people out of their captivity in Egypt. We've read in this
chapter in 1 Kings 8 Solomon's declaration of the darkness that
God dwelt in and the house that was built and how God had spoken
unto Israel and of his bringing people Israel out of Egypt and
he gathers them and brings them unto this day into this place
where the son Solomon built a house in which God would dwell in the
midst of his people. A house in which there was a
place for the ark wherein is the covenant of the Lord which
he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land
of Egypt. But when Moses brought the people of Israel out of Egypt,
God sent plagues upon Egypt. God spake unto Pharaoh and said,
let my people go. And Pharaoh, whose heart was
hardened, would not let his people go. Pharaoh fought and resisted. Pharaoh would not let go of that. which he had his hands upon.
This was a people captive in his land. He had the rule over
them. He did everything he could to
keep them. So God sent plagues and forced
Pharaoh's hand until in the end, Pharaoh relented and Moses led
the people forth. But in Pharaoh we see Satan's
grip upon us. Here we are in the thick darkness
of Egypt in this world, captive under his rule. And though God
should come in the person of his mediator, his son, and say
unto our adversary, let my people go. Oh, how hard he tries to
hold on to us. Oh, how much he tries to keep
us. He will not let them go. So God
sends plagues upon Satan, upon his adversary, and he brings
his people forth by his mighty power. But one of these plagues
that came upon Egypt, as we read in Exodus 10, was a thick darkness
over all the land, a picture of just what darkness this people
were in, in this world. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness
over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his
hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness in all the
land of Egypt three days. a darkness which may be felt. Can you feel the darkness? Can you feel the darkness of
this world? Can you feel the darkness of
sin? Can you feel the darkness in
your own soul by nature? Has God given you some feeling,
some understanding of where you are? If you know not Christ,
if you've not been delivered from the darkness, has he given
you some understanding? Is he awakening your soul? Can
you feel the darkness? Oh this darkness in Egypt was
so great, a thick darkness over all the land of Egypt for three
days, so dark it could be felt. Can you feel it? And God said through Moses unto
Pharaoh, let my people go. Let them go from the thick darkness
of this world and the thick darkness of their sin that keeps them
captive. Let them go. How could we go? How can we be
delivered from such darkness when the darkness is within us?
when our own sin is the cause of the darkness. It's not just
that which is outside. We don't just dwell in the midst
of an evil generation. It's not just all the sin of
others that we see. The darkness is within us. We're the sinner. We're the guilty
one. We are condemned. We are held
fast captive in bonds because of our own unbelief, our own
rebellion against God, our own sin. We are the cause. Then how can we be delivered?
How can we be let go? Only if one should come in our
stead. Only if one should come in our
room. and take the condemnation that we deserve and take our
sins and take our guilt and stand in our place and be
condemned, be slain, be judged in our place. Only if one should
come and make us and clothe us in righteousness, make us to
be the righteousness of God. Only if one should take away
all of our sin, all of our sins, all the guilt and take it away
and blot it out and clothe us in righteousness. Only if one
should be offered up as a sacrifice on our behalf. Only if one should
shed his blood. Only if one should set us free.
and give us light and life and righteousness in him. There's
only one way that we can be set free, like this people were from
Egypt, and that is if Christ should come in our stead and
suffer in our place and wash us in his blood. This darkness
was over all Egypt for three days. a pointer, a picture of
the cross, where Christ came, the mediator between God and
man, the mediator between God and sinners, the mediator between
God and his people, of whom Moses was but a picture, only if the
deliverer should come in our place. Christ came. and was nailed to
a cross for three days. And then he rose. Christ came
and entered into darkness upon the cross, a thick darkness over
all the face of the earth for three hours. And in the midst of the darkness,
the light of God shone forth, and he let his people Having been delivered out of
Egypt, we read later on in Exodus and Deuteronomy of how Moses
in the wilderness went up into the mount unto God as the people's
mediator to receive the law, the testimony, that God should
give unto them. And when he was in the mount,
mediating between God and men, receiving God's testimony, receiving
the covenant, the law of God etched upon stone, when he was
there on the people's behalf, the people stood afar off and
Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. They looked up upon this mount
and there was darkness and clouds and thunder. A picture of the
fact that though God is light, all around him is darkness. We are in the darkness. We have come from the darkness
of Egypt. That's where we dwell. But the
mediator goes up in the darkness, hidden from view to where God
is, to where the light is. Oh, what happened? when our Mediator
Christ was in the midst of the darkness upon the cross. Oh,
what a transaction there was between Father and Son. Oh, what
a testimony was made. Oh, what a covenant was fulfilled. what wonders were performed in
the thick darkness on the behalf of his people. Deuteronomy 5,
22, we read, These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly
in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and
of the thick darkness, with a great voice. And he added no more.
And he wrote them in two tables of stone and delivered them unto
me. And Moses came down from the
mount with those tablets, those tablets of the covenant of the
Lord, which were then placed in the ark, hidden from view,
as a testimony, as a declaration of the righteousness of God.
This is what we must be to be right with a holy God. This is
the righteousness that God demands, perfection. And no man can render
it, no man can bring it forth. The people, when they heard Moses
declare the Ten Commandments, said, all that the Lord has commanded
that we will do, and not one command they ever performed.
They broke the commandments. Whilst Moses was in the mount,
when he was up in the presence of God, they rose up to play,
they worshipped idols. And he came down with those tablets
and smashed the first two tablets, for they'd broken them before
they were ever delivered. Yes, here was a law which men
hear and think that they will strive to keep, and yet it condemns
us in every way and in every sense. We have never worshipped
the Lord God with all our hearts and our minds. We've never loved
our neighbor as ourselves. We haven't begun to keep this
covenant. And yet Moses, the mediator,
took those stones, took those tablets of stone upon which that
covenant was written, upon which the law was etched, and he put
them in the ark. A picture of Christ, who took
that law, and hid it within his heart. He took the condemnation
of that law, the penalty that came down upon all his people
because of their breaking of every commandment on both tablets. He took the penalty, he took
the judgment, he went into the thick darkness on their behalf. He felt the fires of God's wrath
that should come down upon them. in the darkness. And he put that
covenant, those commands, sealed within the ark, hidden away within
his heart. He took that ark within the temple,
in the holy place. He sprinkled his own blood upon
the top, upon the mercy seat. and said, righteousness has been
satisfied. Judgment has been paid. Redemption has been paid. The ransom price has been paid.
My people are delivered. And he cried out, let my people
go. It is finished. As it were, he came unto the
adversary, he stood before Pharaoh, having brought down the plagues
of God, having endured those plagues on the behalf of his
people, and he said unto Pharaoh, it is finished, let my people
go. And he led them forth out of
the darkness of Egypt, into the light of his house. His temple forevermore. When we come to the New Testament
and the entrance of Christ into this world, we see God, who is
light, coming in the midst of the darkness. taken upon himself
human flesh in the person of Christ. The light entered into
the darkness of this world. The light came into this Egypt
below. The light entered in the person
of the mediator, Christ our Moses as it were. Our mediator came
into the darkness and he shone. 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 all things were made by him and without
him was not anything made that was made in him was life and
the life was the light of men and the light shineth in darkness
and the darkness comprehended it not There was a man sent from
God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to
bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe.
He was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that
light. That was the true light which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world. He was in the world and the world
was made by him and the world knew him not. He came unto his
own and his own received him not. But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born, nor of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Yes, the light of God, Christ
himself, the very creator of the heaven and the earth, the
one who spake in the beginning, let there be light and there
was light, the light himself came into the world, into the
darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. He came into this thick
darkness, he came to dwell with men in the thick darkness. And he came, full of grace and
truth. And as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. As he come to where you are,
in the day in which John wrote, John beheld him. He knew him
as a man. But many beheld him as a man
and never knew him, they never received him. They were in darkness
and they comprehended him not, they couldn't see the light though
he stood before them. And John was the same until God
opened his eyes to see who this Jesus was, who this man was,
that this was God in the person of his son. God had to open John's eyes to
see. And God has to open our eyes
to see. Here we are in the thick darkness
and should God come with his gospel and shine the light before
us, should he set forth Christ his son the mediator before us,
we will see nothing except God opens our eyes to see. except
God reveals unto us just who this is. Can you see? Every day in this world every
day in the morning the sun rises and sets forth its light upon
the world the darkness of the night is dispelled the sun rises
and for the hours of the day there's the light Until the sun
goes down again and the darkness returns. Every day, in this,
God is reminding this world that there is a light which has shone
in the midst of the darkness. A light which shines in the midst
of the gospel. In the gospel, in the midst of
the darkness of this world, a light that declares His Son, Have you seen it? Every day the
sun is a picture, a reminder, a speech unto this world to behold
the sun of righteousness. A constant reminder of the gospel
even to those who never hear it. Here is light in the midst
of the darkness. But do we see? Can we see? Every day comes and goes and
the sun rises. Every day God is declaring righteousness
unto us. Every day he's reminding us of
his gospel. Every day he's reminding us of
the Son of God. But do we see? Can we see? No. Our hearts are full of thick
darkness. We can't see until he opens our
eyes, we're blind even though the sun shines brightly we cannot
see the sun, we're blind. This is the condemnation that
light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. And yet, the light continues
to shine in the midst of the thick darkness. Every day, God
declares his Son in his Gospel and says unto sinners like you
and I, this is my beloved Son. in whom I am well pleased. Hear
ye him. He sets him forth. He sets him
forth in creation. He sets him forth in the scriptures,
in the accounts of Moses and the deliverance of his people
from Egypt. He sets him forth in the Gospels.
He sets him forth at the cross. Every time God preaches Christ
unto us and declares what he did at the cross for sinners,
God sets forth the light in the midst of the thick darkness.
Oh, that God should open our eyes to see. Oh, that that light
should enter in to see what happened in the darkness at the cross. As we read of in Matthew 27,
now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
until the ninth hour. As Christ hung upon the cross, as the people sat and beheld,
the light of the sun was taken away. There was thick darkness
over all the land until the ninth hour. And oh, what happened in
that darkness. Oh, how the light of God in Jesus
Christ shone in the midst of that darkness. So all the world
round about, they could see nothing. But hidden in that darkness,
the glory of God radiated. It shone, hidden from the view
of man. until the ninth hour, hidden
from the view of man until Christ rose, hidden from the view of
man until the Spirit of God comes in the gospel and touches our
eyes and causes us to see, hidden from the view of man, the light
of God, the glory of God shone in the midst of that darkness.
Oh, the glory of God in Jesus Christ here. How we see the faith
of Jesus Christ shining in the darkness. He bore all his people's
sins. He was made sin, he was made
a curse. He suffered the outpouring of
God's eternal wrath upon all his people. He endured three
hours of darkness and judgment. He endured an eternity of hell,
of everlasting judgment against sin in the span of three hours. He was separated from all men. He was alone in the darkness. His father forsook him because
of what he was, what he was made to be, what he bore, bearing
the sins of his people. He endured suffering that we
cannot begin to comprehend. And yet he trusted God. He rested in his God. He believed
that God would, through this, deliver his people from their
sins, deliver them from Egypt, deliver them from the thick darkness. And as he hung there, hidden
from view, the light of God in the faith of Jesus Christ shone
in the midst of the darkness. It shone until that day, that
hour, when Christ rose from the grave and all his people rose
with him and he entered into glory in the midst of his people. gathered together the temple
had been raised to the ground but as Christ had promised in
three days I will build this temple again and there that temple
risen from the grave there that temple rebuilt entered into heaven's
glory all the people of God with Christ in glory washed of their
sins cleansed made to be the righteousness of God in him,
delivered from captivity, delivered from darkness, they enter into
the light of God's glory in Jesus Christ. They enter into his house
forevermore. They enter into his temple forevermore. And they find in that temple
a place for the ark. wherein is the covenant of God,
they find in that temple Christ their Saviour glorified forevermore. They find in that temple nothing
but the light of God. Yes, God would dwell in the thick
darkness. But His Son said, Surely I have
built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee
to abide in forever. Outside of this house there is
nothing but darkness. Outside of this temple as pictured
by Solomon's temple there's nothing but thick darkness. But in this
house there is nothing but Christ and his people. I have set there
a place for the ark. wherein is the covenant of the
Lord which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the
land of Egypt. In the midst of the people there
is the ark, there is the covenant fulfilled, there is righteousness,
there is blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat, there is their
sacrifice Christ, there is their great high priest entered into
the holy of holies for them, there is righteousness. There
is the light of God shining forth through the faith of Jesus Christ.
There is their all in all. There is the son of the king,
the son of the father, pictured by Solomon David's son. There
is their son who built the house in which God dwells. And there
they are in him. delivered from the darkness all
around, brought into eternal glory. 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. Has he shone in your heart? Has he made you to know his salvation? has he delivered you from the
darkness not just the darkness outside but the darkness within
the darkness of your unbelief the darkness of your apathy the
darkness of the depravity of yourself the darkness of the
blindness in religion Has He brought you out of the darkness
to see nothing but Jesus Christ your Saviour, nothing but Him
in His house, nothing but His temple, nothing but His glory,
nothing but His ark, nothing but His sacrifice, nothing but
His priesthood? Has He shone in your heart to
give the light to the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ? If He has, And you will know
what it is to be amongst that people, delivered out of Egypt,
brought out of the thick darkness, brought into this temple, this
house of God in Jesus Christ. You'll know what it is, as Peter
writes, to be part of that chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
and holy nation, a peculiar people. that ye should show forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvellous light, which in time past were not a people, but are
now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now
have obtained mercy. What a picture there is in this
temple that Solomon built. What a day this was when he stood
in the midst of the people of Israel, when they were assembled
under him to see the temple's glory. But what a day that will
be if God calls us out of darkness under his sun. and gathers us
with his people into this temple forevermore. What a day it will
be to stand in his courts with praise. What a day it will be
to see in our Saviour our sins washed away in his blood. What
a day it will be if we're shown that there's no righteousness
in self. no good in us but darkness, nothing
of ourselves to plead, but if we find our all in Jesus Christ,
if his blood satisfies, if his blood washes away every sin,
if his blood has brought in the righteousness of God for us,
if in Christ we see God's light forevermore. Oh may God open
our eyes, May we in Christ be filled with grace and truth. May Christ be our all. May we
know what it is to be delivered out of the thick darkness and
brought into the light in Jesus Christ alone. Amen.