last Saturday afternoon in Dudley
after the worship services, we had dinner together. And then
several of us were sitting outside on a bench outside the church
building and some questions came up and we had a, just a very
helpful time of discussion with some men and a couple of women
standing there. And one of the men made the statement
He said, that's got to be the best sermon I ever heard. Somebody
next day referred to it as a sermon on the bench. I'd like to preach
like that tonight. I'd like for us to just sit down
together. I wish I could sit down just
beside each of you and open our Bibles to Isaiah chapter two,
and I want to talk to you. I want to talk to you from the
word of God and from my heart and I think, I believe from the
Spirit of God. Isaiah chapter two, verse five
will be my text. Let's begin reading at verse
one. The word that Isaiah the son
of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come
to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be
exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. God says, I'm going to establish
my church, and my elect out of every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue will come into it. And many people shall go and
say, come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to
the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways. And we will walk in his paths. Oh God, teach us your ways. Give
us grace to walk in your paths. For out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. God will send
his word out of Zion to his people. And he shall judge among the
nations and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war anymore. O house of Jacob, come ye, and
let us walk in the light of the Lord. Let us walk. in the light of the Lord. That's
the title of my message tonight. Throughout the scriptures, we
are repeatedly called upon by God the Holy Ghost to walk in
the light of the Lord. Let's look at a few passages
very familiar to you. Matthew chapter eight, or chapter
five. Matthew the fifth chapter. Our
Lord is speaking in the Sermon on the Mount. and he's speaking
to his disciples, to you and I who are his, to you and I who
are redeemed by his blood, washed in his blood, born again by his
spirit, who live by faith in him. He says, you are the light
of the world. You, the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hid. He's established his church in
this world, and he says that you alone are the light of the
world. There's no other light in this
world to show men the way of life with Jesus Christ the Lord,
but you who know him. You are the light of the world. 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. Now the Savior says, let
your light so shine before men that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. What on earth is
he saying to us in that passage of scripture? What's he saying? Is he saying to you and me, see
to it that you live in such a good, righteous, godly manner, in such
a spiritual-minded frame of life, that men may behold you and say,
my, he's a good man. She's a good woman. Surely, if
there's anybody who knows God, these are the people. Certainly,
he is not saying that. He is not saying that. There
is much talk by religious people about having a good testimony
in the world. And by that they mean, that you
should live in such a way that men would look at you and say,
boy, he's godly. She's godly. These people know
the Lord. Our Lord Jesus didn't teach us
to be Pharisees. Now, understand me clearly. Don't misunderstand what I'm
saying. And for other folks who hear this message, don't misrepresent
what I'm saying. I seek and I want to live in
this world as one who believes God and worships God. I want to live right before men
and before God. I want to live in such a way,
to behave in such a way, to talk in such a way, to dress in such
a way, that that woman is never ashamed to be my wife. You're
never ashamed for me to be your pastor. My children are never
ashamed for me to be their father. I want to live honorably before
men. But I have no thought that men
and women who don't know God can see God in me. I have no
thought that men and women who have no clue what righteousness
is can see righteousness in me. There was one occasion when our
Lord spoke about a woman who had wrought a good work on him.
Now, if the thought is that you should live in such a way, perform
such good works that men would see your good works and glorify
God because of the works they've seen, then that woman surely,
surely everybody would have said, my, what a good work. And Merlin
was just the opposite. Everybody who saw it, following
the lead of Judas Iscariot, even the Lord's disciples said, what
a waste. What a shameful thing this woman
has done. And our Lord called her sacrifice a good work. A good work which should be told
wherever the gospel is preached. So what does he mean when he
says, let your light so shine before men that they may see
your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven? Perhaps
these are the meanings of his words. You live in such a way
that your brethren, other men and women in this world who know
God, may see your good works and glorify your father which
is in heaven. Perhaps, he is saying, let your light so shine
before men. That is, you take the light of
the gospel I've given you and proclaim it unto men, that men
and women may see your good works and glorify your Father which
is in heaven, believing themselves the message you preach. Or perhaps,
he is suggesting to us, that we live in this world rightly. So that in the last day, when
all things are set in their true light, men will glorify our God
in the pronouncement of their own condemnation and saying amen
to the everlasting salvation of God's elect. Look in John
chapter eight, John chapter eight, verse 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them
saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He's
saying then, follow me and you walk in the light. Follow me
and you'll not walk in darkness. All right, look at Ephesians
chapter five, Ephesians five, verse eight. Paul is writing to Gentile believers
at Ephesus. And he says, you were sometimes
darkness, but now are you light in the Lord. Walk as children
of light. Walk as children of light. You
who have raised children, how often have you said to them when
they were growing up, just act like you've got good sense. Just
act like you've got good sense. When you do something, think
beyond the end of your nose. Walk like somebody who knows
what they're doing. Our Lord Jesus is saying, you now are
light in the Lord, so walk like it. Walk as men and women who
believe God. Walk as men and women in this
world whose lives are surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ. Walk
as children of the light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in
all goodness and righteousness and truth. The fruit of the Spirit,
the gift of God in you, the work of God in you, this gift of light
and life in Christ is altogether that which has to do with goodness
and righteousness and truth. Proving, that is as you walk
in the light of the Lord, you're proving what is acceptable unto
the Lord. Continually offering to God that
which God has given, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them. have no fellowship with that
which is contrary to the Gospel of God's grace. Now please understand
what Paul is telling us here. He is not suggesting that we
should treat unbelieving folks harshly or meanly or cruelly
no matter how wicked they are. I've got to answer a letter,
just I'm sitting on it and want to answer it exactly right, asking
about how to deal with Muslims. If they're God's enemies, our
enemies, how do we deal with them? They may be God's chosen,
deal with them mercifully. as you would everybody else.
Sodomites, fornicators, adulterers, drunks, don't engage in their
activities, but deal with them mercifully. But by all means,
it is our business to have no fellowship with false religion
and those things that false religion promote, the unfruitful works
of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even
to speak of those things which are done of them in secret, whether
you're talking about the religious activities of unbelieving people
or whether you're talking about their private activities. But
all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light,
by the light of the gospel that we carry into this world. For
whatsoever doth make manifest is light, wherefore he saith. Awake thou that sleepest, and
arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Now Bobby's
talking to you. He's talking to me. Children of the light who sleep
as children of the night. Awake, thou the sleepest. Arise
from this death in which we are constantly giving ourselves,
and Christ will give you light. Read on. See then that you walk
circumspectly. See that you walk circumspectly. Walk as children of the light,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time. Now, let me give you
a very good paraphrase of that. Buying up the opportunity. Buying
up the opportunity. Well, Dave, you've been sick
for a long time now. And I have no question, because
I've been there. You look back over things and,
my, what I've wasted. Am I right? Buy up the opportunity. Buy up the opportunity God's
given you. You don't have much opportunity
left. Buy up the opportunity to walk in the light and make
men see the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face
of Christ because the days are evil. All right, look at one
more text in this regard before we go back to our text in Isaiah
two. First John chapter what? First John chapter one, verse
five. I'll give you a minute to get
there, 1 John 1 verse 5. This then is the message we've
heard of God and declare unto you that God is light and in
him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. If we say we have fellowship
with God and we deny that Jesus is the Christ, we lie and do
not the truth. If we say that we have fellowship
with God and walk in darkness, we lie to ourselves, lie to one
another, lie to God, and do not the truth. But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all
sin. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, Then we're walking in the light. He's faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
light of the world and all who live by faith in him walk in
the light. Christ is the light of the world,
and all who live by faith in him walk in the light. The wise man Solomon, writing
by divine inspiration, tells us, the path of the just is as
the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect
day. The path of the just is as a
shining light that shineth more and more under the perfect day. What does that say? What does
Solomon tell us with that? Christ is the path of the just. And when first we begin to walk
in that path, We have a lot of questions and a lot of questions
just, and we don't see very clearly and we stumble and fall and we
make lots of mistakes. But the longer we walk in this
path, Christ the Lord, Christ our Redeemer, Christ our righteousness,
Christ our wisdom, Christ our sanctification, the clearer the
path is. I've got more questions today
than I've ever had, but I got more answers too. And I see the
path shining more brightly now than ever I have seen it. Walk
in the light of this bright shining path. Now, let's look at Isaiah
chapter two, verse five. May God the Holy Ghost be our
teacher as I try to show you the meaning of these words and
the message they contain. Oh, house of Jacob, Come ye and
let us walk in the light of the Lord. Now, let me give you five
questions and answer them briefly for you with utter simplicity. Number one, to whom are these
words spoken? Oh, house of Jacob, come ye. Now, I remind you again because
it must be something that we constantly remind ourselves of.
Our Lord is not here addressing by his prophet the Jewish nation,
the physical seed of Abraham. The house of Jacob is the house
of God's elect, the Israel of God, God's church, those who
are the people of God, the house of God. These words are addressed
to all who at least by profession are the sons of Jacob. So the
text speaks to you and me. It is a call issued to God's
church and to every individual in the church of God in this
world at any time in this world. In this dark, dark world, we
who are the children of light are called upon as the sons of
Jacob to walk in the light of the Lord. The sons of Jacob,
they are meaning women of God's peculiar distinguishing love
and electing grace. Jacob have I loved. That itself ought to be sufficient
to cause you and I to be inspired constantly to walk in the light
of the Lord who loved us and chose us as his own. Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Lindsay read it to us in the
office in Malachi chapter one when God describes the result
of that hatred he had for Esau. It's their everlasting destruction.
But here is the result of God's love for Jacob. We're the sons
and daughters of God Almighty. Let us then walk in the light
of the Lord. The sons of Jacob are those people
in this world who've come to know the Lord Jesus Christ by
special revelation. In Genesis 32, the angel of the
Lord, the Lord Jesus, wrestled Jacob to the ground and squeezed
a confession from him. What is your name? What is your
name? My name's Jacob. Tricky, deceiving,
cunning, sinful. My name's Jacob, that's who I
am. Not anymore, since you've acknowledged who you are, your
name's Israel, for you're a prince with God, and you have prevailed. And Jacob said, I have now seen
God. The house of Jacob is a nomadic
people. afflicted, a suffering household,
all the while they live in this world. Read the life of Jacob. All the days of his life, it
was a struggle, a trial, trouble, one after the other, trouble,
trouble, trouble. Whole life of Jacob was the time
of Jacob's trouble. And all our life in this world,
is a nomadic sojourn through this world like Jacob, full of
trial, tribulation, and trouble. And all the house of Jacob have
a distinct feature. All of them walk with a limp
because God smote him in the hollow of his thigh and he limped
through the world the rest of his days. God's people in this
world walk with him. They walk in the light of the
Lord. but we walk with a limp. It's
called flesh. It's called sin. It's called
corruption. It's called depravity. It's called
unbelief. We walk with this limp by God's
wise appointment. ever to make us aware of our
own depravity, our need of our Redeemer, our need of a substitute,
ever to wean us of the world and make us long for heavenly
glory and to make us sympathetic, kind and gracious to one another. The house of Jacob, the whole
house of Jacob is kept and preserved by God's almighty grace. I am
the Lord, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. So this word is a word from God
addressed to you and me personally. Come ye. It's a word that goes
out to all the house of Jacob, all the church of God, but it's
personal. Hear me now, I'm talking to you
and I'm talking to me. To you who will hear me, I'm
talking to you. Oh God help you to hear him,
to hear him. I try to preach the gospel to
you and try to preach it to men and women wherever I go and I'm
constantly aware of this fact. Nobody will hear me except God
speak by me and God calls you to hear. If you're God's, he
gives you hearing ears and he would have you to hear his word.
If you're part of this blessed house of Jacob, I'm talking to
you. All right. The question then
is addressed to God's church, to his elect. Here's the second
thing. Who issues this call? Who is
it that calls us to walk in the light of the Lord? This is a
call from God's prophet to God's people. It's a call from God's
prophet to God's people. God's servants, faithful men,
never say to his people, go ye and walk in the light of the
Lord. God's servants take you by the hand and say, come, let
us walk in the light of the Lord. In other words, God's servants. Faithful men lead the way. They lead the way. Oh, God, make
me that kind of man. They lead the way. They don't
call you to do what they don't do. They don't ask you to make
sacrifices they don't make. They don't call upon you to make
commitments they don't make. They say, come, let us walk in
the light of the Lord. This is a call from men who were
once hardened in their hearts against the call that we now
issue. That makes it a sympathetic call.
I call on you to walk in the light of the Lord, and I fully sympathize with everything
that opposes it in you and around you. I fully sympathize. I know what it is to harden my
heart against God's call. We often speak of our young people,
our sons and daughters, now our grandchildren, and say, boy,
they live in such a terrible world. Sammy, we don't do them
any favor by making an excuse for them. They live in the same
world you lived in. They have the same temptations
you had, the same trials you had. They go through the same
troubles you go through. So you can speak to them about
their present circumstances and say, I understand. I understand
what you face. I understand what you deal with.
I've been there. The call is sympathetic and it's
an urgent, passionate call. This is a call I hear God speak
to me constantly. a call I issue to you relentlessly. Oh, sons and daughters of God
Almighty, let us give ourselves in greater devotion, in greater
consecration, in greater commitment to Christ our Redeemer than ever
we have. And it's personal. I'm talking just to you. just to you. Every now and then
I'll get done preaching a sermon and somebody will meet me at
the door and say, preacher, you were talking just to me. And
my response is always, that's what I plan to do. That was my
intention. I meant to get right in your
heart and talk specifically to you. This is a call from young
converts with burning zeal for the glory of God to older believers
who become less fervent and zealous. I wrote that down and looked
at it a little while early this morning. And I recall when God
first saved Brother Frank Hall, and he was so full of zeal and
questions. And I've told him this, he won't
mind hearing it again, I'm sure he will. I got a little bit upset
with him. Because I would get questions
from him all the time. And the questions usually came
when I was getting ready to preach. That's not the best time to ask
me stuff. And I got just a little bit upset and Shelby sensed it.
She said, he kind of reminds me of another young man I used
to know. You see, younger members of the
family in Jacob's house need and want their brethren older
brethren to lead the way. But you and I who are older members
of the family, oh how we need the urging and prodding of the
younger. This is a call from the sons
of Jacob to one another. It's the mutual call of God's
people. Here are brethren, sisters, calling
to brothers and sisters in Christ, come let us walk in the light
of the Lord. Oh God give us grace to have
such influence on one another. I want never, never, never to
say or do anything that would cause you to be disinclined to walking in
the light of the Lord or to behave contrary to this. Rather, I want
every word spoken to incline you to walk in the light of the
Lord. Number three, what is this light? What is the light of the Lord?
Without question, all men by nature have the light of conscience
and of creation for which they're responsible. You can read about
it in Romans chapters one and two, but that's not the light
he's talking about here. This is the light of special
grace given to the house of Jacob in regeneration and conversion,
in our continual walk with our God. The light of the Lord is
Christ himself, the light of the world. The light of the Lord
is the gospel of God's free grace in Christ. Let's walk in the
light of our Redeemer, his example, his behavior in this world, in
the light of the gospel of the grace of God shown forth in him. The light of the Lord is this
book. His word is a lamp under my feet
and a light under my pathway. You often will come to me, most
of you have at one time or another, wanting to know how to find God's
will about something. Here it is. Here it is. This is a lamp to your feet. This is a light to your pathway.
Not modern psychology. modern philosophy, not the trends
of society, not your own understanding of things, this book, this book,
The Light of the Lord is the Revealed Will of God. And I am
fully confident this is so. If you want to know God's will
in any issue, you know His will. I don't have any question that's
so. Our difficulty is never really knowing what his will is. Our
difficulty is obedience to his will. Our difficulty is surrender
to his will. And we will do everything in
our power to adjust our thinking to get God's will molded to our
will if he leaves us to ourselves. The Lord God directs his children
in his will, by his spirit, through his word, in his providence,
and he says, this is the way, walk ye in it. So that we walk
in the light of the Lord, as we trust in the Lord, in all
our ways, and lean not unto our own understanding, but in all
our ways acknowledge him, and he directs our paths. This is
the light God's given us. It's our responsibility and our
great privilege to walk in it. Christ is the son of righteousness. The light of the world, his gospel,
his word, his will, his spirit, his example are all beams of
light from the sun. Now understand this, they never
contradict one another and they never shine apart from one another. His spirit, His word, His person,
His example, all tend in the same direction. They never contradict
one another, and they never shine apart from one another. All right,
here's the fourth question. How? How can I walk in the light of
the Lord? What does it mean to walk in the light of the Lord?
How can I do it? I know this, and I'll tell you
only what I know. If I would walk in the light
of the Lord, I must own and acknowledge that Christ is my Lord. If I would walk in the light
of the Lord today, Merle, I must today own and acknowledge he's
the Lord. My life is not mine, it's his.
My property is not mine, it's his. My family is not mine, it's
his. He is the Lord, let him do what
seemeth him good. And I must believe the light
he gives, so as he opens the word to me and shines in my heart
with the word of life, I believe what he gives. And I must obey
him, following the direction of the lights, doing his will. I have on occasion, in these 49 years had to make
decisions that I could not explain to anybody. I could not really explain to
anybody except to say, I'm certain this is God's will. I'm certain
this is God's will. I'll give you an example. Shelby
and I were engaged in my last year of high school. And we decided
to wait until she graduated from college another year to get married. And long about mid-summer, I'd
already gone to, after I graduated, I'd already gone to Piedmont
and taken summer school, took 12 hours in summer school, got
started in college, and I finished that up. And I heard about a
college out in Springfield, Missouri. And there wasn't anything there.
But there wasn't one thing there to attract me to the school.
Not one thing. And from the, I'm talking about
from the first time I opened my mouth on that campus until
nine months later, it was constant fights with professors and students. I had one great privilege. In
an overcrowded school, I had a dormitory room by myself. Nobody
would stay in the same room with me. That was the one advantage
I had. It was constant fight. And she
asked me, why am I going to Springfield and thus be separated that entire
year? And I had to say, I don't know.
I just know this is what God has for me. This is God's will. This is God's will. And I'm more
fully convinced now than I ever have been as God's will. It was
the very best thing I could do. Most profitable to my soul. If
I would walk in the light of the Lord, I must imitate the
example of my master. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you, and walk in love, imitating God. Our Savior said,
I've given you an example. You go wash one another's feet.
You go wash one another's feet. What does that mean? Well, once
a year we'll have high holy communion and everybody will get down and
wash each other's feet. No, that's not what it's talking
about. Serve one another's needs as you have opportunity. If your
brother's tired and his feet are dirty, wash his feet. Refresh him, strengthen him,
help him. If we would walk in the light
of the Lord, this we must do to the end of our days. They
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall
mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. All right, here's the fifth question.
I'll wrap this up. Why? Why must we walk in the
light of the Lord? Let me give you several reasons.
Oh, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord, because
in the light of the Lord, our minds find certainty. Rebellion and disobedience will
always make you uncertain and uncomfortable, always. Much like rebellion and disobedience
in a son makes that child unsteady. He knows eventually he's gonna
have to pay. He knows eventually he's gonna
get caught. He's always looking over his
shoulder. Walking in the light of the Lord, believing Christ,
seeking his honor, trusting him, gives certainty to your life.
gives certainty to your life so that you don't just live in
spasms and unstable superstitions of religion. You don't live by
feelings that are come and go. But in the light of the Lord,
you have absolute, certain, infallible, unalterable stability. Walk in
the light of the Lord because in the light of the Lord, our
hearts find rest. Are you as aggravated and disgusted
and angry at the whole of the political world in which we live
and this political process we're going through now as I am? I find some rest in God's good
providence. He's in charge of this thing.
He's gonna take care of things. I find rest for my soul in the
blood of my Redeemer and in His righteousness. And I'm gonna
be honest with you, I don't find this kind of rest anywhere else. Not rest for my soul. Take my
yoke upon you and learn of me. For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light and you shall find rest for your soul. In the light of
the Lord, we find direction and judgment. We walk according to
his will, the word of God, the spirit of God, the example of
Christ, faith in Christ. And he that is spiritual judgeth
all things. That is, he forms a right judgment,
a right discernment of all things. The believer sees things in their
true light. believer sees things in the light
of the Lord. Perishing things of clay, born
but for one brief day, pass from my heart away, Jesus is mine
and nothing else much matters. Let us walk in the light of the
Lord because in the light of the Lord our souls find satisfaction. Satisfaction in the purpose of
God. Satisfaction in the providence
of God. Satisfaction in the hope of life.
Finding all fullness and completion in Christ the Lord. And one more
thing, turn to 1 John again, 1 John chapter one. Let us walk in the light of the
Lord because in the light of the Lord We have fellowship with
God and with one another. Oh, look at this. That which
we have, which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon in our hands
have handled of the word of life. For the life was manifested and
we've seen it bear witness and show unto you that eternal life,
which was with the father and was manifested unto us. That
which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that you
also may have fellowship with us. And truly, our fellowship
is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. Let us walk in the light of the
Lord, we'll have fellowship with one another, and with the Father,
and with the Son. This then is the message, which
we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, God is light, and in
Him is no darkness at all. If we say, we have fellowship
with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another. And this blessed, blessed boon
of heaven, the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us
from all sin. So this is my message to you.
O house of Jacob, come ye. Let us walk in the light of the
Lord. This is my message to you who
have walked in darkness for so long. Come to the light. Walk in the light, Christ Jesus.
This is my message to you who find yourselves languishing and
fainting by the way, and you think the battle is just too
long and too weary, too hard. Come, let us walk in the light
of the Lord. This is my message to you who
are going through dark storms of life. In these dark, dark
times, let us walk in the light of the Lord. To you who are young,
oh my soul, to you who are young, walk in the light of the Lord. Walk in the light of the Lord,
his gospel, his word, his son. Walk in the light of the Lord.
To you who are older and strong, walk in the light of the Lord,
not in your own strength. To you who know that you're near
the grave, and to you who near the grave and don't know it,
come ye, let us walk. What a sweet, peaceful word,
let us walk. walk with patient confidence
in the light of the Lord, in Christ who is our light. Amen.