The Invisible Church Blog

John 8:12 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.

Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, and in Him is no darkness. He is the only light of the world, and not only of this world but the world to come as well. What need is there of this Light? Light is the opposite of darkness, and sin is commensurate with darkness, therefore light is the opposite of sin. This light is His holiness and perfection which He shines forth to all men. Some are drawn to it, others prefer the darkness and hide from it. In this world, this Light is that which exposes who we really are, and why we really need a Saviour. In the world to come this Light forever shines forth His perfection unto all who have trusted Him.

The sins, sorrows, pressures of this world are darkness, but once let Christ shine His light upon them and they will flee. With no night and His light being ever-present in the world to come, it means that these things will never enter. What a pleasant thought, the things that trouble the Christian now will never enter the world to come. He will have left them to go to another place reserved for him, in the full light and presence of Christ.

These troubles though do not disappear, but rather are stored up for those who have rejected the Light, and preferred the darkness and all that it offers. They will have their wish, but moments into eternity, their wishes will change. They will lament the Light rejected, they will lament the darkness they preferred, yet it will be the very darkness they preferred that torments them.

It is the Light that concerns us though, for the Light is that which gives life, and that which we have cast all our hopes upon. Without this Light we would be destined to walk in darkness all of our days, but because this Light lighteth the way around us, we can see. This sight, both of the Light and the things which the Light lighteth is what gives us hope for today, but especially our hope of the tomorrow of eternity. Have you noticed this Light lighting your way? He has done so for you to recognize the difference between light and darkness, that you may prefer Him, the Light of life. Trust Him today!

I look forward to, and long for the day when the Lamb is the light of the city.

Rev 21:23, John 1:9 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.…That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

A great deal is said these days about repentance, but when we read verses like Luke 13:3 etc and see that it is so crucial, what exactly is it? It has been around since the beginning of time and is not something new, there are others before us who have dealt faithfully with this word. A perfectly fitting example is H.A. Ironside in his excellent book “Except ye Repent”

Here are a few quotes:

“Repentance is the recognition of my sinnership — the owning before God that I am as vile as He has declared me to be in His holy Word.”

“Repentance is the recognition, the avowed recognition, of God’s estimate of the hopeless character of our hearts till renewed by the Word and Spirit of God. Until one comes to this place there is no further word from heaven for any man, except the sentence of doom.”

“Repentance is the sinner’s recognition of and acknowledgment of his lost estate and, thus, of his need of grace.”

Though able to change our minds, or attitudes towards ourselves, by nature we simply do not want to. We are commanded to do something for which it is not possible for us to want to do. This is why the work of the Holy Spirit is required to bring everyone who comes, to repentance. We must have a glimpse of perfection with which to compare ourselves before we will ever look at ourselves as we ought to. It is the work of the Spirit of God to give us that glimpse such that we can see our broken and undone condition. Upon seeing that we are to proclaim with Job, “behold, I am vile”, which is the result of seeing yourself next to the perfection of God. It is not a view that I was vile as is often proclaimed, but that I am vile. It is a present sense of who you really are that is repentance.

Men would fancy that you have to do this, or turn from this or some other such thing, but in reality that is just part of the charade of painting the sepulchre. Until you recognize and fully own the fact that you are plainly without hope in yourself, there can never be hope. You see, repentance is really just the recognition of who we really are, and what strength we have in ourselves to do about it, to which the answer to both is simply “nothing”, and can only be seen when compared to one who is everything. That is why we need a glimpse of Christ. That is what the Holy Spirit gives us. That is what gives us repentance, or a change of mind about who we really are. That is when we are in position to have the salve of the blood of Christ applied to our wounds. That is what causes us to believe on Christ. That is how we are brought into saving faith. That is the repentance that leads to salvation. It is that which, if missing, is what causes us to perish eternally as stated in Luke 13:3.

If this is not present in yourself, ask the Spirit of God to give you a true sight of yourself and sight of the perfection which is found in Christ Jesus, and trust Him to impute His righteousness to you by faith. He was made to be what we are, so that we could be made to be what He is!

2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.