When the Power of Darkness Turns To The Light In The Father By Joel Joseph Researched by Pastor Gary K. Boyd Conclusion by Pastor Boyd
Introduction:
I love this subject. It’s full of rich allegory, fantastic imaginations, and fiery insights into truth. Darkness and light are biblical references to spiritual or social conditions, not physical. Job 10:22 (Amp) “There is a land of sunless gloom, as dark as darkness itself, it is as the shadow of death, without any order, where even the light is as thick darkness.” “The entrance of Your words gives light.” “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”(Psalm 119:105, 130, John 8:12) The path of darkness: The course of this world is into ever increasing, thick darkness. (Ephesians 2:1-3) Satan operates through gradualism. He keeps repeating the same thing, until it is accepted, then gradually moves his evil further downhill. He uses suggestion to question the authority of the truth, and sow seeds of doubt. Then once he has established his foothold, he uses full-force to come against God’s word and people.
Pure and true doctrine is Satan’s great enemy. Anti-true doctrine prepares the way for false doctrine and false thinking and believing. As a true born-again believer, you must be moving from darkness to light. The world-system and its host of unbelievers are moving ever deeper into darkness. We are called out of it. We are to come out and be separate. (2 Corinthians 6:17) Did you know that the word “holiness” means apartheid! The opposite of being apart and separate is being together as one. That is one-world globalism. This is why the world hates holiness! We are not to mix truth and error. When you mix light and dark you get shades of muddy grey, which are all unacceptable to God. Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness...Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes.” 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with darkness?” Spiritual darkness is synonymous with spiritual blindness. Its root is the unredeemed, sin-ridden blood of Adam.
There is a personal darkness which we can and must do something about and there is a universal darkness which we can do nothing about, except come out and be separate. The principles are the same in both. We must be aware of the devil’s devices. Prophetically, terrible deep darkness is coming soon. The good news is that we may escape it and even escape the effects of the forerunners to it, in the rapture. Isaiah 60:2 “Behold, darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you (Israel) and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” The verse below is shocking, staggering and wonderful: 1 Samuel 2:9 (Amp) “The Lord will guard and protect the steps of His saints. The wicked shall be silent and perish in darkness. By (human) strength no man shall prevail.” Amazingly, it is God who forces the wicked onto the path of darkness and the reason is because they are wicked in heart. They are not redeemed, not born-again. Job 18:18 “The wicked are driven from light into darkness and are chased out of the world.”
Again, amazingly, those in the dark do not know that they are, otherwise they would get into the light. They are blind to their blindness!
Psalm 82:5 “They do not know, nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are unstable.” Proverbs 4:18-19 “The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter towards the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness, they do not know what makes then stumble.” How many times have you heard someone say: “I don’t see it that way?” Clear, pure, holy and true sight is vitally important to your entire life. Spirit-led and cross-cleansed truth produces good eyesight! Far too many people think, in their pride, that the way they see things is true and right while it comes from the pit of hell.
Do you know that your life can be full of dark light? Luke 11:33-35 “No one when he has lit a lamp puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on the lamp-stand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when you eye is good your whole body is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light that is in you is not really darkness.” People today, especially the youth, thanks largely to their parents, are unthankful, unforgiving and unholy. (2 Timothy 3:12) They may know about God, but they will not glorify Him, because they glorify themselves and the god of this world. They will not repent. Their thoughts are then “darkened” by God. They profess to be wise, but are true fools. By the way, “unthankful, unforgiving and unholy” are real steps downhill. They are always found in conjunction with each other. The opposite is just as true: Holy, forgiving and thankful.
Nations of darkness: There are entire nations of darkness with socio-political systems entrenched in godless practice, all cursed of God. (Deuteronomy 28) We are the “light of the world” Matthew 5:14-16 It is the duty of the Christian to be a light in the dark world. Don’t get the idea that you are doing God any favors by letting your light shine in the dark. It is your basic, expected duty. You a light!
Be aware that the political systems can change from darkness to light in days! Do not underestimate your own influence by prayer in this regard. The world and its nations are doomed, but a new world is coming soon. It will have all that produced the doom of the former world destroyed! It will be a thousand-year Millennium of world peace. Afterwards something more magnificent is coming, which we can’t even imagine!
By contrast, those who rejected our Lords salvation offer in this life will sit on their toilet-seat throne of darkness forever. Why is it that so few ministers of the gospel speak, preach or teach on Satan and hell? Some of them can’t even say the words or name! Hell is spoken of more in the Bible than heaven! It is Satan himself who conceals himself and the abode of hell. Hiding or obscuring hell is as serious as murder. Think about that – it’s true! Is it because Satan comes as an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14) and ministers are blinded in this regard. Or is it because they don’t want rock the cradle of a sleepy church and cause alarm?
There is great comfort in embracing and applying the wisdom of God’s word, and great terror, whether you see it coming or not, in embracing and applying the wisdom of the world. The world will put you in a compromised, comfort -zone, but be careful; there are many spooks within that comfort. A comfort-zone on fire will not be very comfortable! The tragedy is that people love the darkness because their lives are full of evil! (John 3:20)
So , you love the darkness do you! Micah 3:6-7 (Amp) “Thus says the Lord...You shall have night without prophetic vision and you shall have darkness without divining wisdom. The sun shall go down on the prophets and the day shall be dark for them...There is no answer from God.� What a horrific situation - to be going into these end-times with no prophetic vision and only darkness for your friend.
So, you think you can hide in the dark? Sorry, there is no place to hide from God – ultimately! Job 34:22 “There is no darkness, nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” The light is getting dim fast: When the light goes out, you can’t see. You are lost. The Bible indicates that the light will go out! It is doing so now thanks to the dark shepherds, and wolves in too many pulpits! Much of this will be in the tribulation period, but we are seeing forerunners now: John 12:35-36 “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light...” John 9:4 “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” Trapped in darkness: One of the meanings of the word darkness in the Bible is to cover and blind the mind with ignorance and wickedness. A mind “covered” in darkness is essentially trapped.
There is a powerful force behind spiritual darkness. It is not to be underestimated. Consider the following verses and note what I have made bold:
Colossians 1:13 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” Ephesians 6:12 “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.” Acts 26:18 “You (Paul) will open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God...”
When spiritual darkness has come of age in an individual or a nation, it becomes a fully-fledged curse and is much more difficult to break. Here is one of many examples of a curse at work: Deuteronomy 28:29 “You shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways. You shall be oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.�
The Dark Ages, Reformation and Renaissance: The Roman Catholic Church produced a deadly twilight and then the Dark Ages. The Spirit of God brought an end to the darkness and the truth began to shine through. This produced the Reformation and the accompanying Renaissance. The former was spiritual and the latter was social, economic, cultural and the like. The Dark Ages was a terrible time of mass murder by the Catholic popes. It was also a time of universal poverty and despair amongst the people. It was also the time of the blackdeath plague. It was the home of evil deceptions like the flatearth theory. Enshrined stupidity, and ignorance of the masses was the order of the day! It was a time when the Bible was banned!
Interestingly, the spiritual darkness was so dense, it covered and killed the expressions of culture, art, music, science, technology and all that was revived in what became the renaissance. The evil spirits of the darkness tried to imprison humans who were made and created free! An evil spirit seldom affects one area only. It is multi-pronged and multi-facetted, with far reaching consequences as we saw in all things created by the Catholic church. The spiritual reformation, a break-away from Catholicism, produced the renaissance and the accompanying industrial revolution. The word “renaissance” means “rebirth” The day dawned. First light produced hope. The golden aurora of new-life spread worldwide like wildfire. Liberty and freedom were produced in the break from darkness, and the Bible was again restored and elevated in society. Liberty is a wonderful thing, but must always be restrained with a godly cap on it! If not, liberty loses its light and descends in a spiral. It goes from liberty to complacency to bondage and tyranny. Then the cycle begins again, because mankind does not learn from history!
When liberty loses its light, it becomes a dark tool of the devil! We have seen that in so many people and situations of late. We saw that with Obama. We are seeing it now with much of Europe. It’s not so much that the West is in decline, but that liberty has lost its light. In many cases that is the fault of the church. It has lost its saltiness and is hiding its light! Darkness produces division. Light produces unity because in the light we can see the truth.
The Catholic Church removed the Bible from the laity (masses) and produced the dark ages. Light streamed into the darkness, the Bible was brought back and the spiritual reformation began. Darkness turned to light with the Bible in its rightful place. But because the reformers rejected the fullness of the Spirit, this move of God was incomplete and produced divisions instead of unity! Jude 1:19 “These are sensual (Lit= soulish) people, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” Repent, believe, know, see and understand, is the path to glory. Here comes the light: Once you decide to repent of your sin and all your humanbased good, God begins to shine His light into your darkness. Suddenly you see, sometimes with great shock, how dark you are! It’s like a veil has been pulled aside.
The light of God seeps into every dark corner in the dark rooms of your life. Repentance clears the gloom out of the air for God’s light to shine. Have you been to the optometrist, ophthalmologist, or optician lately? Can you see clearly? Spiritual eye doctors are: Repentance, believing, seeing and following! Miracles begin: Darkness is replaced with light, and truth replaces error. Curses turn to blessing. Captivity turns to freedom. Bondage turns to liberty. Torment turns to peace. Failure turns to victory. Oh, the glories of knowing and loving the King of kings, Lord of lords and great God of the universe.
When the darkness of the night ends things begin to take on a beautiful golden glow, with a gold tinge around everything. Then the fullness of the light shines brightly. I can tell you from much experience that the attention and excitement is seen in this golden phase. I have slept under the stars many times in the orange dunes of the deserts of Southern Africa. Sunrise is a truly thrilling, exciting experience of sound and sight! ►Seeing a person repent and believe, or a prodigal backslider return, is like this golden time. Darkness to light for Israel: Acts 28:26-27 “Go to this people and say: Hearing you shall hear and not understand; and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them.” In the verse above, which applies to Israel, we see the futility of trying to be righteous and right with God without going His way. This is the way without repentance.
But now, in our day, we see the dawning of the light. We are just at that exciting crack of golden dawn as the Jews begin to repent. Micah 7:18-19 “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage (Israel)? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue (destroy) our iniquities.” Isaiah 29:18 “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book and the eyes of the blind shall see out of the obscurity of darkness.” Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” The Bible also speaks to the Christian believer in relation to Israel’s coming salvation and all things related to eschatology: 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 “You, brethren are not in the darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night or darkness.” ►Please be aware that as darkness turns to light for Israel, so light will turn to deep darkness for the church that opposes God’s new work with His people! It’s already happening!
We need the word of Bible prophecy to shed light on our path in these dark days! 2 Peter1:19 "We have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your heart."
Finally So, we have looked at how darkness turned to light for the church of the Middle Ages. We’ve looked at how darkness will turn to light for Israel and we’ve looked at how darkness turns to light for an individual believer. There are many consistencies and principles which apply to all areas. Our Lord is seated on His throne of glory. He has all power, and ultimate authority. One day soon, our Lord will elevate our
humility. We will rule and reign with Him in the entire universe. We will in fact share His throne of ruler ship. That’s a thrilling and frightening thought! (Revelation 20:6) 1 Peter2:9 “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” Psalm 18:28 “You will light my lamp; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” What a truly wonderful privilege we have to be in God’s light so that we can see. How glorious spiritual sight is, and much more is still coming. Conclusion Darkness is once again coming to the world, like it did in Hitler’s time, like it did during the dark ages of the Catholic Church and the inquisition when so many innocent lives were lost. In a world inundated with so much information because of so many lies and deception the world knows not what to believe. Without God it is sinking into the deep dark gloom of unbelief where the devil has taken them. Satan will soon corrupt the whole world when the man of lawlessness raises his ugly head leading it into wars of death and destruction just like so many times before, but this will be on an even grander scale.
Believers it is time to stand up and put on the full armor of God to defend against the wiles of the devil whose fiery darts sets one against the other. Come into the light of the new day, pray for our Lord’s return, give his peace a chance to work for his light will soon encompass the world as we move to be forever young in the belief that we will forever be with our Lord. May God bless those that read this, amen.