Walk in the Light  II

Go To Meeting

Eduardo Elizondo—February 10. 2023

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Last time we were studying the Light in the Word of God and talking a lot about Who is the Light. We know that Jesus Christ is the Light, and God is Light, all of that and what that entails. We studied how God enlightens everyone that comes into the world. We talked a little bit, as well, about not only the physical aspects of enlightening everyone who comes into the world and enlightening mankind in general, but also what is the spiritual aspect of our calling, and what this has to do with the Light.

We're going continue that study in 1-John 1 to study the most of the rest of this chapter today, because this is part of walk in the Light.

• we saw the physical aspect of light in the physical creation.
• we saw the spiritual aspect of God being Light and enlightening our way and Who God is

Today we're going to have a little bit of a different perspective. We'll continue with walking in the Light and all this entails and means. I will be a little bit of a different message, a difficult message in a sense, but also it's good for us to study these things. There are sections of Scripture that might be a little bit challenging for us, but very good to meditate and think on these things.

We were talking about challenges, and we have had our challenges this week, and every week as we continue. For some it is physical, for some it's emotional and for some it's spiritual, and for some it's a combination of those things. Some are financial. There are many challenges that we're always up against, but it's good, as is this topic of walking in the Light, to realize what those challenges are. They are also part of ourselves that we may not be aware of.

When I speak about these things I'm also talking to myself. I'm the first one! As the Bible says, for those who teach others have to teach themselves. This applies to me and I've done a lot of thinking and meditation on these things. This is something very important for us to read and take to heart. Meditate and just for us to reflect as we study these things together in the Word of God.

We're going to continue in 1-John 1 where we started in part one. We read the first five verses and studied about the Light and talked about Jesus Christ and His nature and everything that He does.

1-John 1:6: "If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness, we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth."

Today we're going look at some Scriptures that talk about walking in the Light, but also walking in darkness! What does that mean? Not only that, but:

• What does it mean to walk in the Light?
• How can we do that?

There's a very stern warning here. If we are walking in darkness and say that we have fellowship with Christ, but walking in darkness, we are lying to ourselves. As we know that's the worst kind of deception there is, when we're lying to ourselves and thinking that we're okay, we're good. Read that in the message to the Church of Laodicea.

We think that wherever Laodicea is, they think they're rich, then they think that all these things are good, they're rich and have need of nothing. Jesus tells them that they're 'poor, miserable and naked, and you need to buy ointment from Me to anoint your eyes to see.'

So, we're going to read some Scriptures about this, because we want to make sure that we're aware, that we're not walking in darkness, that we're not lying to ourselves. We're going to find out that at times we walk a little bit in darkness, or toward the darkness instead of toward the Light. That is our nature, our human nature goes in that direction automatically.

But we're going to see with the Word of God that we have to be constantly coming to the Word of God and for God to enlighten us and for Him to light our path. For us to follow the Lamb wherever He goes, to follow that Light.

In the discussion after the last message, we talked a little bit about this, because this is really explaining how it is that our inclination is to go walk in darkness.

After John 3:16, that famous verse that encompasses so much about the Plan of God, but it's more of an explanation about why God sent His only begotten Son to the world.

John 3:17: "For God sent not His Son into the world that He might judge the world…"

That should give us a bigger perspective, that this not the period of judgment for the entire world. Yes, for those who are called it is a period of judgment, but it's not for everybody else, yet!

"…but that the world might be saved through Him" (v 17).

Because, as we know, He came to give His life for everyone who accepts Him, for anyone who receives and believes Him.

Verse 18: "The one who believes in Him is not judged, but the one who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

It's in this theme of what the Apostle John writes about the nature of Jesus Christ and what He came to do.

"The one who believes in Him is not judged, but the one who does not believe has already been judged…"

Then He's going to explain to us what that judgment is:

Verse 19: "And this is the judgment: that the Light has come into the world…"

We already studied Who is that Light and what He came to do.

"…but men loved darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil" (v 19).

This tells us a lot of why people love darkness and choose darkness. If our works are evil it brings so many things with it:

• shame
• sorrow
• sadness

All of those things we saw right away with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. That's the very first thing they did.

• they saw that they were naked
• they were ashamed
• they covered themselves with leaves
• they hid themselves because they had sinned

Sin brings all of these things! Sin brings:

• shame
• sorrow
• sadness

That's why it says that men love darkness rather than the Light, because their works were evil!

• we don't want to be exposed
• we don't want our evil deeds to be proclaimed in front of other people

That is human nature; that is for every human being, whether they're called or not! It doesn't matter, this is our nature, to hide ourselves and be ashamed and not wanting to come. That happens to us when we do something bad, it's natural. Is our first thought to go and pray? To go ask for forgiveness immediately? It's hard sometimes. Sometimes we don't do that immediately.

Why, because our nature tells us to go to that darkness, because our works are evil. Sometimes when we do that… That doesn't mean that what we practice and that's what we are and what we're becoming. I'm not talking about that at all.

"…but men loved darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil" (v 19). That's the reason why men love darkness!

That's why they say, 'Oh, this is religion and God and all of these things.' It says in Ecclesiastes that God has put eternity in our hearts. It's true and we're made by our Creator to have a connection with Him. But if our works are evil, we really don't want to search that Light. That happens to all of us.

Verse 20: "For everyone who practices… [that's the difference] …evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light…"

This is another level. It's not that we don't come to the Light. It says that they hate the Light! That's anti-God. That's why there are so many people who are atheists. They're completely anti-God or worse, they even worship Satan. They hate the Light, and we know that Satan is the prince of darkness!

Verse 20: "For everyone who practices evil… [as a way of being] …hates the Light, and does not come to the Light so that his works may not be exposed." Then he makes a differentiation:

Verse 21: "But the one who practices the Truth…"

This is how the Apostle John always explains practice: when you practice, you're doing it often. If we're practicing the Truth, if we're practicing what it says in the Word of God, we come to the Light.

"…comes to the Light so that his works may be manifested, that they have been accomplished by the power of God" (v 21).

Why? Because then we start coming to the Light and understand that there's nothing good in our life in and of ourselves! There is nothing good in us! The only good things that we have in us are the things of God, that God has placed there: His Holy Spirit and the gifts that He has given; they come from Him!

This is very important to distinguish between practicing evil, hating the Light and practicing Truth and coming to the Light. That's the differentiation between those who are coming to God and those who are not coming to God. If you don't want to come to God it's because we have shame or something; this happens to all of us! We're not practicing evil, but we still do sin from time-to-time. When we do that we have to come to the Light, come back in repentance so that God may forgive us.

IF we do that and continue to come to the Light THEN we're practicing the Truth more and more every day. That's how we walk in the Light. It says that the reason we come to the Light is not for ourselves. It's not to pat ourselves on the back and how good we are, or anything like that. We know that in the past that maybe we've done that in the larger Churches of God. But that's not what God wants.

Those who practice the Truth and really come to the Light "…so that his works may be manifested, that they have been accomplished by the power of God" (v 21).

The most important thing 'at the end of the day' is giving glory to God. It is His workmanship; we are His workmanship. That's all that matters. 'At the end of the day' God is going to be all in all. He deserves:

• all the credit
• all the power
• all the honor

That's the reason why we have to strive to continue to practice the Truth. To do the things that are right before God so that we can come and give the glory to God, with the knowledge that everything that has been done by His power.

Instead of the hating the Light and going into darkness a little bit. We understand that those who are not called tend to have the pull, and they obey that pull because they don't know any better at this point.

It's not their fault, we have to be wise and understanding in not comparing ourselves to them. Not that we're better than them, just that God had mercy on us. At the same time, there is this aspect of us, within us:

• still having sin, the law of sin and death
• still being subject to temptation
• still being subject to falling into sin

But we do not walk in darkness; we continue to come to the Light in repentance! That is also a work, that repentance and cleansing that takes place is also by the power of God!

We know that God knows and sees everything. Job 34 tells us a little bit more about this. Let's read some Scriptures as to why we think this and why we think that God can know what we're thinking and doing all the time.

Job 34:21: "For His eyes… [talking about God] …are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps."

We're going to read some Scripture to know and understand—as a reminder—that God sees everything that we do. That there is nothing that we can hide from God! But there is a decision to make:

• Are we going to come to the Light?
• Are we going to walk in the Light?

or

• Are we going to go in darkness?
• Are we going to shy away from the Light a little bit?

That is a decision that we have to make, because God is brining these things to us, bringing these things to our understanding right now as we study these things together.

We're going to see how it is, or one of the ways that God sees everything that we do, and paying attention in which we do it. This is on one of the means and an explanation:

Proverbs 20:27: "The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly."

We heard in the messages about The Biblical Heart that it's everything that we are. It's everything! The inward parts of the belly, a lot of our emotions and lot of what we are really comes from there. That's what this is.

He gave us that spirit in us and knows exactly what is going on. He can understand the things that are going on in our mind and heart and in the deepest places of our being. Here in the same chapter we just go up a few verses and there's a question. This is a question that I really want us to think about, to meditate:

Verse 9: "Who can say, 'I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin'?"

That is a very good question for all of us to ask ourselves as we talk about walking in the Light! The very first thing is that we have to acknowledge this: we cannot say that we have made our heart clean and that we are pure from our sin.

The reason that we say that is because even the good works, the cleansing is by the power of God! (John 3). That's why we have to come to the Light so that would it be manifested, the works that God is doing in us, through us and for us! They're made by the power of God! That's why:

• we can't say that we have made our heart clean
• we cannot say that we are pure from our sin
• unless we repent and go back to God and He cleanses us

The Word of God talks about that!

Upon repentance, true repentance from the heart—and God can see the heart as we just saw—then God can cleanse us from all iniquities. He does, but it's just interesting to read these verses and to acknowledge and meditate that we cannot say that we have made our heart clean! And by ourselves we cannot say that we are pure from our sins! It has to be coming to the Light. This is how this ties together.

There are a lot of Scriptures in the Bible that talk about walking in the Light and talk about self-reflection, this self-reflection and acknowledgement of what we really are. This message is not to make us depressed or sad or bring us down. No! The purpose of this message is to see the Truth in the Word of God, to acknowledge things! That's actually liberating. When we're honest with ourselves we acknowledge:

• what we really are
• who we really are
• how much we still have to overcome
• how much God is still working in us and through us

He wants to use every single one of us, but He has to prepare us. He has to continue to cleanse us, to change us, but we have to acknowledge that we're still subject to our inclinations, to the law of sin and death. There's still sin and that's what the Apostle John was talking about in 1-John.

Psalm 90:8 this is a prayer of Moses: "You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your face."

It's interesting to think about that. To ask ourselves that question. What are our secret sins? In this prayer, God has done that! "…our secret sins in the light of Your face"—because God is Light as we saw last time!

Part of this acknowledgement is that we're not perfect, yet. We are being perfected, we're not perfect! We're still in this way, we're still on the walk, but the very first thing is to acknowledge. Once we acknowledge that, then we can really ask God the things that we really need to ask Him in prayer every day. and what we need to do every day!

Psa. 19—this is the very thing that David prayed to God, that He would show him that. But we have to stop and think about it, and then we have to come to the Light. This is a perfect example of coming to the Light so that:

• He may cleanse us
• He may forgive us
• He may continue to walk with us
• everything would be manifest that is being done by the power of God

It's not by our own doing! In Psa. 19 David prayed the following:

Psalm 19:12: "Who can understand his errors?….

David asked himself that question, but he didn't stay there. It's like the Proverb, Who can say, 'I've made my heart clean?'

"…Oh, cleanse me from my secret faults" (v 12).

Why? Because David knew that God could see them. He knew that he couldn't see his secret faults, but He ask God to cleanse him already of those secret faults.

It's important for us to acknowledge them and that we ask God this. We have to pray this, but we have to be careful because if we pray this we better be ready to not only be forgiven and be cleansed, but probably first to be shown them! To be shown the areas where we have lacked, and see the things that are in the depths of our heart! The things that we may not even be aware of! Or we certainly don't want to admit, because we all have certain things.

• think about the worst things that you have done
• think about the worst things that maybe you continue to do, the strongholds that you still battle

Whatever they may be! This is just an encouragement for all of us to analyze ourselves, but not in our light, but in the Light of the Word of God! In prayer coming before God and asking Him to show that; that we are sincere with ourselves. God is not going to force us to do anything. He's not going force us to see anything.

• if we really do want to be changed
• if we really want to break those strongholds
• if we really want to break through and go to the next level

We definitely have to ask Him for this! But be prepared to be shown your secret faults, as ugly as they may be, but that's fine, there's nothing that God cannot cleanse, nothing!

Verse 13: "And keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; do not let them rule over me…"

So many times some of the biggest sins that we have are presumptuous sins! Those are the ones of arrogance, and pride. How many times have we heard back in our other organization that 'it's us, we're the best and the world is that,' and just self-exaltation that has nothing to do with the ways of God. It had nothing to do with the attitude that God wants us to have toward the rest of the world. IF we're to be the Light of the world, we have to get rid of the presumptuous attitude, this presumptuous sin.

Now that we're approaching the Passover, to ask for this; to ask God to cleanse us from those secret faults and keep us from presumptuous sin, because they rule over us. Before we know it we say something, and even though we don't mean it that way, it comes out of our pride. It does! It's in our nature! We have to keep coming back to God so that He can continue to cleanse us from that.

"…then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression" (v 13).

It's true that was the great transgression. If you want to point to one thing, the very first sin by Satan, that was it—pride! Until pride was found in Satan, he was perfect! He was fulfilling his purpose to the max; wonderfully made, fulfilling all of these things. He was serving and perfect in beauty until iniquity was found. That iniquity was pride, a presumptuous sin! That's what he was!

We have to ask God to cleanse us from those secret faults! That He makes us aware of those secret faults. Sometimes we're not aware of that. This is one of the things that Jesus said in Luke 11. Very interesting, because the things that He said—and Jesus Christ declared it, 'the words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they are Life'! These are not just words; they have meaning, power and depth!

What we're talking about what He says here in Luke 11 is very meaningful, because these are the words of Life from Life Himself, from the Light Himself. He said this:

Luke 11:33: "Now, no one who lights a lamp sets it in a secret place or under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who are entering may see the light. The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is without guile, your whole body is light…" (vs 33-34).

What is guile? Deceit! It's that self-deception that we saw in 1-John, where its says that 'if we say that we have no sin we're deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us.' That's guile! So, IFour eye is without guile THEN our whole body is light!

"…but when your eye is evil, your body also is dark" (v 34).

How it is when we cannot see, and have the blinders on! Then the warning:

Verse 35: "Therefore, beware that the light that is in you is not darkness."

This is exactly what happens with the Church of Laodicea, the Church at the end-time when we look at it as eras. That's this cooling of the Church; not only that, it's thinking that they're good. That is deceit! "…beware that the light that is in you is not darkness."

How many times has it been said to us, from the pulpit, that we're good and the world is not? The world is this and that, and we're so great! No! We have to be aware of who we really are, and not have that guile! Not be Laodicean thinking that we're all bad, but to really ask God to show us our secret faults, to cleanse us from those presumptuous sins.

• that's what we have to do
• that's what how we be aware of the Light that is in us is not darkness

Think back on our Worldwide days. How many people left the Truth, stopped walking after the True Light?

• because of this guile
• because of this darkness
• because of the light that they thought they had

It's just the realization that this can happen to any of us at any time. We have to be aware where that light is in us is not darkness. We have to be aware of that!

Verse 36: "Now then, if your whole body is light, not having any part dark, it shall be full of light, as when a lamp shining brightly gives you light."

That's what we are to be! We're to be light, but we know we don't have any good within ourselves. We know that it has to be God Himself working in us. It's also, closer to reflection.

Mark 4 is another verse that God is telling us that we have to be very careful with ourselves. We have to watch ourselves and come to the Light, because only He can show us who we really are. It's amazing because God doesn't reveal all our faults at once, because if He did we would probably give up, we'd be so discouraged.

But He does little by little as He's working with us. It's like He's putting the next stepping-stone, and sometimes we don't know where we're going to go. That's why we walk by faith and not by sight. That's why He's not showing us everything of who we are, and everything He still has to work with us on. If He did, it would be too much, we probably couldn't handle it.

Sometimes—and I'm sure you've experienced this—you feel that awful trial or quality or trait that you're still fighting against. You feel that and there's this heaviness and it's almost like you can't shake it off. Then God shows you that and He shows you that He wants to work on that. Let's focus on this, work together on this, and God says:

I'm going to cleanse you, forgive you and change you. But you've got to cooperate and put effort into this.

We shouldn't be deceiving ourselves. That's what the Apostle John said, and Jesus Himself said. 'be aware of that light that is in you.'

Mark 4:21: "And He said to them, 'Is a lamp lit to be put under a bushel basket or under a bed? Is it not rather lit to be put on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden that shall not be made manifest; nor has any secret thing taken place, but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear'" (vs 21-23).

He also said, 'whatever shall be said in secret shall be shouted from the rooftops.' That's what it is! Everything will be made manifest. You can view this from one of two perspectives:

• If we all had a our dirty laundry aired right before everybody, before the congregation, if everybody was going to know all of our secret sins, faults and shortcomings it would be a terrible thing. In a sense that's what He's saying.
• if you bring it to God and you have repented and He has forgiven you, and you continue to walk in the Light and seek after God, there's no shame in that, because everybody else has the same.

Maybe it's not the same sins, but in other things they're just as awful! That's the reality of our human nature and who we are.

That's what Paul is saying here, that there's nothing hidden that shall not be manifest so that we all come to repentance! So that we all come before Him and confess! That's the key!

It's not to put us down or bring us down; on the other hand, it's to really cleanse us! To really be purified like Jesus was telling the Pharisees! 'You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you're full of evil things.' We should not be like that.

That doesn't mean that we don't produce some of the same things inside of us. It's just that we have to come and He will cleanse the inside of the dish and cup and then the outside will be clean. That's what He said to do.

Verse 22: "For there is nothing hidden that shall not be made manifest; nor has any secret thing taken place, but that it should come to light."

Christ is the Light, and when we're all before the Throne of Jesus Christ there's going to be nothing else hidden. At that point everything will be out in the open, but it will be forgiven, it will be in the past. We'll look back on our human lives and say, 'WOW! We really had to come a long way! We really had no idea of who and what we were!'

Sometimes that's why we go through these great trials and they seem immense before us, but just wait and you'll see and Christ will say, 'I'll show you what I was doing and show you the full picture. You don't quite get it, yet, but you will.'

Paul explains the same thing; again, this is not bring us down, not to put any of us down or make us depressed, but actually just to be aware that God knows all things and that He loves us. So, we better come to Him now and:

• be sincere with Him in our prayers
• be sincere with our issues
• be open with Him
• have no secrets with God the Father and Jesus Christ

Not only because They know, but because They want for us to come and acknowledge all of that, so that They have our cooperation and cleansing that, in changing that from the inside.

1-Corinthians 4:5: "Therefore, do not judge anything before the time; wait until the Lord comes, Who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the motives of all hearts; and then shall each one receive praise from God."

This is something very amazing, because we've been looking at it from our perspective, but it applies to everybody.

If you've been wrong, "…do not judge anything before the time; wait until the Lord comes…"—He will make it evident!

You may be in the right, but that's okay. If you were unjustly suffering—that's what He said to the Apostle Peter—that's okay because that is acceptable before God. Because if you suffer what you did, what good is it? You deserved it! But Paul says, 'No! Just wait! He "…will bring to light all the hidden things of darkness…"—the sins; the most wretched things of human nature in all of us!

He "…will make manifest the motives of all hearts…"—and we will be surprised!

Sometimes people whom we thought had willingly wronged us, we learn that their motives were not as bad as we thought. Maybe we were judging things before the time, and we would be surprised in other ways. Sometimes things that we thought were good and from good intentions and a good heart, they were not! Maybe they were not, but God will make it all manifest. Those motives will be manifest, because all of us in the entire world—not at the same time, we understand that—there's a first resurrection and then there's a second resurrection.

But He will make it all manifest for everybody; there is nothing hidden that shall not be manifest. But if we confess before God He forgives! He's working on those things and there's nothing to be ashamed of, because that's who we are. We have to own it; we have to own that part and let God show us that so that He can cleanse us. We cannot cleanse ourselves, but this is important to know and understand. It's all going to be judged by God.

We read through 1-John 1:6 that we're not to lie to ourselves and we're to practice the Truth. We have to walk in the Light and not be walking in darkness. Here is the counterpart:

1-John 1:7: "However, if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another… [then it's talking about God the Father]: …and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin."

That's an amazing thing! This is what we're talking about, there is no sin that cannot be forgiven except the one that is not repented of. That's why we have to come to God, so He may show us all those secret faults, all those presumptuous sins, all those things.

We want to walk in the Light because if we're walking in the Light we're being sincere, we're being open with ourselves. If we're open with God and confess before God, and do these things, then we're going to really have fellowship with one another, because we are:

• honest
• sincere
• there is nothing to hide
• there is no ulterior motive

This all about really having fellowship with one another and then in that sincerity, that's how the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sins, but we have to repent, we have to come to Him.

What are the things that we need to do in order to walk in the Light? We've seen that these are important steps to acknowledge and understand all of these, but let's read about some of the things that we need to do to be walking in the Light!

• Desire It

This is the very first thing; we have to:

• desire to be walking in that Light
• see the Light
• come to the Light
• desire it

That's what we read in John 3, that men love darkness rather than Light, because their works were evil! But if you love the Light, you're going to come to the Light! Not to glory in yourself, but give the glory to God.

Psalm 43:3: "Oh, send out Your Light and Your Truth… [this is the desire] …let them lead me…"

Pray this to God, and let the Word enlighten us every day with the things that we read in it.

 "…let them bring me to Your Holy mountain and to Your tabernacles" (v 3). That is our future and purpose!

We're to be forever with God in New Jerusalem! That is, but we have to crave for that, desire that Light and Truth, let that Light:

• lead us
• guide us
• bring us ultimately to His Holy mountain and tabernacle

Verse 4: "Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy…"

Why? Because we're cleansed, free, finally changed! This transformation—at least this first phase from human to spirit is complete. That's the exceeding joy!

"…yea, upon the lyre I will praise You, O God, my God" (v 4).

• that's what we are
• that's our future
• that's why we want that Light

• Seek Out His Will

What is the will of God? It's not a guessing game, God will reveal it to us, but we have to come to Him. That's why in John 3 those who are practicing the Truth come to the Light, and we have to come to the Light every day. He shows us His will, it's not a guessing game. God is not a distant God out there detached from all humanity like many people in religions paint Him.

No, God wants to dwell in our heart and mind. He promised that He would if we have His commandments and are keeping them. That's what we read in John 14. That's a promise and we can count on that! He is a near God! Near unto us! Near unto His people! But we have to seek what that will is by coming to Him! This is written down so that we know that it will happen:

Psalm 18:28: "For You will light my lamp; the LORD my God will make my darkness Light."

He will come, and with that spirit of man, that Lamb that searches it all, with the Holy Spirit He's going to show us all. He's going to show those dark places within our heart and mind, show it all. He will make that darkness Light!

• it's not to make us ashamed
• it's not to make us sick from it
• it's not to make us disgusted

No! It's so that we may repent! So, that He may cleanse it!We know that the Light purifies. There's light that's so strong it can kill bacteria, viruses, everything! That's what it is!

"…the LORD my God will make my darkness Light." He will do it! That's His will! That's what we have to do.

Verse 30: "As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of the LORD is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in Him."

That's what we have to do, come to Him! He will perfect us, but how is it that God does this? Once we desire it and we're seeking His will:

• How does it actually take place?
• How can we walk in the Light?

These are tools, so to speak, there are so many more tools to even do it justice, but this is what He does:

Psalm 19:8: "[#1]The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; [#2]the commandments of the LORD are pure, enlightening the eyes."

These four things are the actual works of the Law.

Verse 7: "[#3]The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; [#4]the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple."

The Law restores the soul. Don't anybody tell you that the works of Law are trying to earn your salvation. That's not what it means. That's a complete misunderstanding. The works of the Law are:

• restoring the soul
• making wise the simple
• rejoicing the heart
• enlightening the eyes

That's how we can be enlightened by the commandments of the Lord! They are pure, absolutely pure! We don't keep them perfectly because there's still some darkness in it, but the good news is that we cane come to God and ask Him:

• to show us that
• to cleanse us
• to send His Light and His Truth

So that

• He can lead us
• He can guide us

With that Light, with that Truth to enlighten our eyes! These are the tools; this is what God uses to cleanse us and change us. There are many others, you can find them if you look for them. These are amazing things that God uses and He explains to us what they are and what they do. It's truly a wonderful thing!

Proverbs 6:20: "My son, keep your father's commandments, and do not forsake the instruction of your mother; bind them continually upon your heart; tie them around your neck…. [then He tells us how this works, what th operation is]: …When you go, they shall lead you; when you sleep, they shall keep you; and when you awake, they shall talk with you…. [Why?]: …For the commandment is a lamp… [very clear how we can walk in the Light] …and the Law is Light…" (vs 20-23).

Jesus Christ Himself is the Light, because His Laws are His nature; that's the reason He gave us His Law:

• to understand Him
• to know Him
• to understand His nature
  • how He thinks
  • how He processes things

That's what we need to know, that the commandment is a lamp and the Law is Light.

"…and reproofs of instruction are the way of life" (v 23). These are tools:

• the commandments
• the statutes
• the judgments

It's an active relationship! You see it right here, v 22: "When you go, they shall lead you…"

That's exactly what we saw in the Psalm, 'Let them lead me, send out your Light and Truth, let them lead me.

Verse 22: "When you go, they shall lead you, when you sleep, they shall keep you… [protect you, you shall not be afraid] …and when you awake, they shall talk with you"—because they're wonderful! The commandments of God are amazing, the best thing that can happen to any human being!

Obviously, besides the resurrection and the calling of God and operation of the Spirit, but it comes with; they are inseparable!  The commandments and laws of God are inseparable from His purpose, calling and our relationship with God. It's God Himself:

• Who is leading you
• Who is protecting you
• Who is talking with you

Through His Word and commandments! These are Scriptures that talk about the tools. This is how we can walk in the Light!

Psalm 119:105: "Your Word is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path."

It's the Word! We saw the commandments, the statutes and judgments. We saw all these things, but it's the entire Word of God. It's not only the Laws, but the application of those Laws. It's the purpose and plan of God, His ordinances, all His commandments and the entire Sermon on the Mount is commandments in the Spirit of the Law. There's more commandments, and commandments that the apostles also gave, because they received them from Jesus.

They're part of His Law because it's all of His Word! That's why we are to keep the entire Word of God, not just the New Testament, as some 'Christians' do, or not just like the Old Testament like some Jews do. Again, it's not to put them down, it's just the realization that it's the entire Word of God, which is the lamp to our feet and a Light to our path! That's so we can walk in the Light! That's how we do it!

Now we can put it together with some of the things that Jesus was saying. This is amazing when we start putting together what the Word of God says in this way, to understand how we walk in the Light, and then what Jesus was warning about and saying.

This is when He was going to resurrect Lazarus; John 11:7: "And after this, He said to the disciples, 'Let us go into Judea again.' The disciples said to Him, 'Master, the Jews were just seeking to stone You, and You are going there again?' Jesus answered, 'Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of the world'" (vs 7-9).

You can see what He was talking about in the physical sense: the sun is 12 hours in the day, and you're walking in the day. You don't stumble because you see that light. But Who said, 'I am the Light of the world'? Himself! He says that He doesn't not stumble because He sees the Light of the world; He was the Light of the world!

We know that because, v 10: "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him."

He changes from the light of the world in the day in the physical to the spiritual. "…if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the Light is not in him."

It's the Light of the world outside that's showing us where to go; it's God the Father and Jesus Christ dwelling in us! That's what it's really talking about here. That's why He says "…he stumbles because the Light is not in him."

Walking in the night equals walking in darkness, go into the darkness. As we talked about in the beginning, we all do from time-to-time; we all stray away for periods of time. But we have to come back to the Light, and purpose to never ever leave God. To always come back and always ask for forgiveness and always repent from the heart. Ask God that He would show us those secret faults, that He would really do that standing with His Light to kill all the bad stuff in us! That we would repent and He would cleanse us through the blood of the Lamb!

That's what we have to do, because this is about a relationship. That's why it says, because the Light was not in him! This is a relationship, this dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit! That's what it is.

There are so many things in the Word of God, but David really got it; he really knew all of these things and much more. He was inspired to write all of these things for a reason. David understood who God was:

Psalm 36:9: "For with You is the fountain of life; in Your Light we shall see Light."

If we're not with You, we're going in darkness, go astray! We don't even know what we do. That happened to David with Bathsheba. He didn't even know until Nathan came to him and started telling him that he did this and that. David had no idea he was walking in darkness for a period of time.

But David is one of the great examples, because he can go astray and all the evil that he did, but he came to God with all his heart, back to the Light as soon as it was pointed out to him. He repented with everything within him.

Psa. 37 is more about walking in the Light, what we need to do to walk in the Light!

Psalm 37:3: "[#1]Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and cherish faithfulness. [#2]Delight yourself in the LORD… [that's another step, not just trusting, but delighting yourself in the Lord] …and He shall give you the desires of your heart" (vs 3-4).

If you really delight yourself in the Lord, His will is going to be your will, and it will come to pass that those desires of your heart are to do the will of God. So, it will absolutely come to pass when we subject ourselves to Him.

Verse 5: "[#3]Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass…. [come back to the Light] …And He shall bring forth your righteousness like the light, and your judgment like the noonday" (vs 5-6).

Why? Because that's the Light of Himself being there:

• IF we're trusting in the Lord
• IF we're delighting ourselves in the Lord
• IF we're committing our ways to the Lord

That is what He wants us to do!

Verse 7: "[#4]Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret yourself because of him who prospers in his way…"

We saw that everything will be brought to light, everything in it's time; God will judge everyone and everything! All the motives and intentions of every person.

"…do not fret yourself because of him who prospers in his way because of him who carries out wicked schemes" (v 7).

Verse 8: [#5]"Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret yourself, it leads only to evil" (vs 7-8). Don't be mad, out it in God's hands!

The very first thing we have to put in God's hands is ourselves, our own faults! That's what we have to do! This is how we walk in the Light:

• trust in the Lord
• delight in the Lord
• commit our way to Him
• rest in Him
• cease from anger

Those five things to do; very important!

1-John 1 takes on new meaning after reading all of these Scriptures, when we understand what this is really talking about.

1-John 1:8: "If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us."

This is proof that we still have the law of sin and death in us and we still do sin. We do!

• IF we say that we have no sin, we're just deceiving ourselves
• IF we think that we are rich and have need of nothing, we are deceiving ourselves

We're lukewarm and about to be spewed out from God's mouth, and we do not want that!

That's why we have to be aware! This is what Jesus was warning about and the things that we need to be careful of. That's why John really points them out very straight forwardly in his epistle.

Matthew 6:22: "The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, if your eye be sound, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. Therefore, if the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (vs 22-23).

Imagine that if we think we're okay, but we're really not, because we're not being honest with ourselves—trying to deceive ourselves—because we don't want to acknowledge some things and keep them in the corner of our heart where we think that God doesn't see, or He doesn't know. We just don't want anybody to know because it's so shameful to see, then we have some part of darkness!

We don't want to fall into that trap! We don't want to fall into the trap of believing that because we're in the Church of God and we have been given so many Truths from His Word, and the Sabbath, Holy Days and His Plan and all of these things. We cannot be deceiving ourselves. God really wants to get to every single crevice in our heart. He does!

Don't be thinking because of all of these exterior things that we're okay. We cannot be blind or have some darkness, because if this light we think we have is darkness, imagine how great is that darkness!

1-John 1:9 is the antidote; this is what we've been talking about, really how we walk in the Light! Along with all the other things that we studied today.

1-John 1:9: "If we confess our own sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

But we have to confess, and that's the key: to confess, to acknowledge. Sometimes we don't know, we don't see it. David couldn't see it! But God will bring it to light, because He loves us and when that happens, don't be discouraged. Sometimes when God brings something to your attention, He needs to repent of:

• it's not to shame you
• it's not to put you down
• it's not to do any of those things

It's just to bring it before God so He can cleanse us that! It's a very good thing. It's not pleasant, it's not nice, but it is good! It's definitely really good, because He wants to go to the root of all these problems! That's what He wants us to do!

Eph. 5—this is what we are to do. In other words, study a little bit more of how to walk in the Light!

Ephesians 5:8: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of Light, (because the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and Truth)" (vs 8-9).

That's the fruit of the Spirit, if we're walking as children of Light, if we're coming to our Father every day, every morning, every night. Coming to Him and confessing our sins. If we don't recall any sins, just ask and He will bring them to light. He will be compassionate and bring them little by little so that we can actually digest them, process them, and repent sincerely of them, so that He can be tearing down all that pride and arrogance, all those presumptuous sins. He will do that.

• this is the God Whom we serve
• this is the God of Light
• this is the God of Truth
• this is the God of purity

That's Whom we serve! That's what He wants for every single one of us. That is what we will do.

Psalm 27:1: "The LORD is my Light and my salvation… [he gets comforted and reaffirmed in it] …whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

We're not to be afraid! We're not to be afraid of anyone or anything!

• God is our Light!
• He is our salvation!

• He wants us to come to Him!
• He wants us to ask Him to show us the path!

We have to do our part and dwelling in His Word, in His commandments and His law, and all the things that He has in His Word.

His entire Word is a lamp unto our feet! A light to our path!

Let us all strive to walk in the Light everyday, with everything in us! The Lord is our Light and our salvation!

Scriptural References:

• 1 John 1:6
• John 3:17-21
• Job 34:21
• Proverbs 20:27, 9
• Psalm 90:8
• Psalm 19:12-13
• Luke 11:33-36
• Mark 4:21-23, 22
• 1 Corinthians 4:5
• 1 John 1:7
• Psalm 43:3-4
• Psalm 18:28, 30
• Psalm 19:8, 7
• Proverbs 6:20-23, 22
• Psalm 119:105
• John 11:7-10
• Psalm 36:9
• Psalm 37:3-8
• 1 John 1:8
• Matthew 6:22-23
• 1 John 1:9
• Ephesians 5:8-9
• Psalm 27:1

Scripture reference, not quoted: John 3:16

Also referenced: Messages:
The Biblical Heart by Michael Heiss

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Transcribed: 3/5/23

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