"Piercing The Darkness With The Light"
by Pastor Jeff Ledbetter
We live in a dark generation. The spiritual darkness of our day rivals that of the days of Noah and Lot. Sin is promoted on nearly every other commercial and billboard calling for all to join the kingdom of darkness. It seems the darkness prevails in these last days as the world continually tries to push any and all spiritual light out of the picture.
The only hope for this dilemma of darkness is for the children of God to be what we have been saved to be - LIGHT! Jesus referenced His disciples as light early on in His earthly ministry in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matt. 5:14) Here we are clearly called by our Lord to be "the light of the world". We were saved by the glorious light of the Gospel. We have a Savior Who bears the Name "the Light of the world". As God's children we walk in light and have the light of God's Word for our path in life.
The relationship of men in darkness to the light is a sad and awful state. Jesus said to Nicodemus "men love darkness rather than light" and that they will not "come to the light lest their deed should be reproved"! Furthermore, according to the Apostle Paul, Satan does all He can to keep men in spiritual darkness by blinding them to the light.
What then is the answer? Jesus commands His church "Let your light so shine before men"! (Matt.5:16) We are saved to be light and Jesus reminds us "a city that is set on a hill can not be hid" and that men do not light candles and then hide them under a bushel of darkness! (Matt. 5:14,15) This light speaks of the churches witness, testimony, and influence in the darkness of the world. As light we must be piercing the darkness!
The theme for all the ministries and meetings for Calvary Baptist Tabernacle in 2016 is "Piercing the Darkness with the Light!" By this we mean to have a powerful witness, testimony, and influence upon our families, friends, and community in Newport and surrounding Cocke County. There is much darkness in our part of the country. These last days will be the darkest days but one thing is true, light always shines the brightest in the darkest hours! To our church family, I challenge you to shine on! Be what you have been saved to be! Don't fizzle and fade! Let's let our church be the city set on a hill and shine the Gospel witness that would glorify God and point men to the Lord Jesus Christ! Let's pierce the darkness with the light, not sit in the 4 walls of our church complaining of how dark things are! Who have you witnessed to this week? Who has watched your life from a distance and seen the testimony of the grace of God and His holiness? Where is your life having an influence and making a difference? Piercing the darkness with the light is going to require us being active and on the offensive. We don't just have the light, WE ARE THE LIGHT! We are the light piercing the darkness everywhere we go in everything we do! May the light of our lives fall upon some dark soul along the way!
