Episode Notes:
Episode Transcript:
the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is my life and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Whom shall I fear? The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I feel? Whom shall I fear? The Bible begins with God bringing light into the darkness.
And it ends with all the darkness being ultimately defeated and driven, driven away. But in the middle in the middle. One of the key plot points. One of the key plot tensions of the Bible is that our life is a battle between the light and the darkness.
And the Bible tells us that we are in darkness and there is a darkness that is in us, but the glory of salvation and the gospel is that the Lord is our light. But what does the darkness do if we want to learn about the darkness? One of the best places we can go to is Ernest Shackleton.
He was on the first explorers to cross the Antarctic and had a remarkable story of survival and struggle and shipwreck, and in the book called Endurance. And he talks about how the most difficult deprivation that they experienced was not their lack of food.
It was not the bitter frostbite, but it was the polar night, the three months of total darkness. And he said what it did is it did three things to them that almost led to 1/4. But the three things that the darkness did was it disoriented them.
It distorted the world, and it depressed them. And if they let it, it ultimately would destroy. And that's what darkness does. It disorients you. You can't see forward, you have no direction. You feel lost.
You feel aimless, and that's what physical darkness does. But that's what spiritual darkness does. You have no purpose, no direction. You're aimless. You don't know where you're going. You're disoriented, but it also distorts it.
Blinds. You can't see yourself. You can't see others you can't see forward. See, it is in the darkness that coat hangers become monsters, and it's in the darkness that the sound of the air conditioner turning on becomes in your mind the sound of intruders breaking in.
You can't sea lice distorted and you read through the Gospels. One of the tragic themes is how all throughout the Gospels, those who are closest to Jesus. They miss him. They don't understand the disciples.
Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the religious leaders all throughout the gospel of John. They they miss him. It's distorted. They can't see. And then ultimately the darkness or thirdly, it depress is, you know, seasonal affection.
ALS disorder is a real thing, especially for all you Floridians who have lived most of your light in the beauty of the sunshine. When you get into darkness, it depress is you and one thing's Shackleton says that the darkness first it disorients, it distorts it.
Depress is, and ultimately it will destroy. So what are we to do? The Lord is my light in my salvation, his light is more powerful than a nuclear power plant more enduring than than the sun, and the light destroys the darkness.
See, Jesus died in the darkness so that we could live in the light when you read the crucifixion accounts. Have you ever noticed how all of the gospel writers go out of their way to show you that all of the major events happened in the darkness? It all happens at night.
The betrayal, the trial, even the death. There's even death. There's midnight at mid day because from 12 noon to three o'clock, there is a total supernatural darkness as the light of the world is being snuffed out.
And there's no natural explanation for that darkness. Three only explanation is Amos, 89 In that day, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
And there on the cross, Jesus is being plunged into the darkness. He's being immersed into total darkness. Then it seems like for two days that the darkness has one. In early Sunday morning, bursting forth in glorious day up from the grave, he rose again, and now he stands in victory and sin.
The darkness has lost its power in me. The first act of creation is light, driving out the darkness. Let there be light, and the first act of new creation is light, driving out the darkness. That's why Sunday has become the Lord's Day.
It's the day of the sun rising. The light has dawned. The darkness has been defeated. The Lord is my light and my salvation. So what does that mean? How can you live in the light today means two things for you, for others.
For you. What this can do is it can orient you. It can give you meaning. Give you like give you direction. It can clarify things for you. Life can no longer be distorted. Now you can see and it can strengthen you with joy and hope and peace as it drives out depression.
See, we right now more than ever. Need to know this as you live in the darkness and the darkness is trying to live in you Whether you're three years old, 33 years old, 93 years old, you need to know this.
But then this is also a way to serve and help others. You need to know this for others. Jesus is the light of the world. He's the son. But we also are the light. And we're like the moon where we can reflect his light.
Anxiety is contagious, but so is peace. Now every two year old, he's afraid of the darkness knows that a two watt light bulb will change everything. And in the midst of total darkness, two watts can change everything.
So how can the Lord be our light and our salvation. Do you have to? Watson, you Can you be a two watt light bulb? Business Times of darkness and difficulty to watts of joy to watts of peace to lots of hope.
No complaining, no scowling, no critical criticizing, Being grateful. That's of being a two watt light bulb, smiling the two watt light bulb encouraging to watt light bulb Anxiety is contagious. So is peace.
Jesus died in the dark so that we could live in the light. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise him. All creatures here be low. Praise him above E heaven the hope Praise Father, son and holy the go, um