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This evening we a short devotional based on four scriptures. We begin with Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Verse 130 adds – “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Proverbs 6:23 says – “The commandment is a lamp; and the law is light….” And finally II Peter 1:19 says – “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”

With these scriptures the Lord is painting a picture for us. Just as the Magi traveled hundreds of miles guided by a star, so is the Word of God guiding us. Just as the woman who lost the coin, lit a candle to help her find what she lost, so is the Word of God in our confusion. Just as the jailor called for a light before springing down into the crumbled cell of Paul and Silas, so the Word of God dispels our doubts and difficulties. Just as Gideon broke open the pitchers revealing the torches, the Word of God exposes our hearts.

The entrance of God’s Word giveth light, chasing away the distress of our circumstances. It gives light in the midst of adversity, trouble and temptation. It illuminates the dark valley of the shadow of death. It is the light in God’s sanctuary, God’s family and the prayer closet. Let’s consider five things about light this evening.

First, every light has a source.

For our little planet the light of the day is the sun, and the light of the night – the moon – is still the sun. My desk lamp, the ceiling light, the night-light and the florescent all are powered by electricity. The neon sign is made of electrically charged vaporized gas. And that might be the best illustration. The color of the sign is determined by the gas which is on the inside. The red flashing light that flashes “vacancy” outside the motel isn’t just an ordinary light painted red. It is filled with the gas neon and electricity fires it up and makes it burn. Mercury burns blue green when it is charged with electricity. Phosphorous burns white. Some of these are fairly expensive as lights, but at times they are worth the cost. The source of the light determines its color.

And the source of the light of God’s Word is the Lord Himself. Do you remember the reasons that Paul wrote his letters to the church in Thessalonica? Earlier, someone else had written to the church calling himself “Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles.” I Thessalonians was written in part to correct that lie. And essentially, Paul said, “You can determine that I wasn’t the author of those letters by examining the doctrine. I will never contradict the truth that I have already taught you.” On a much greater scale, Jehovah has had to deal with the same sort of problem. A man named Joseph Smith has been spreading lies and heresy about God, calling his letters scriptures and equal to the Bible. A woman named Mary Baker Eddy wrote a book called “A Key to the Scriptures,” but it was actually a perversion of the Scriptures. Another woman named Ellen White wrote her books. And with them there have been hundreds, if not thousands of others. And usually all that it takes is a look to see that their scriptures are not scriptures at all.

With the Bible there is no question that God is its author. Speaking of the Lord Jesus, John wrote: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” If God is light, then we aren’t the least bit surprised to find that His word is light as well. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” Because the Bible is authored by the Lord, it bears the characteristics of Him. God is holy, and so is His Word. God is spirit, and we find that God’s Word is not learned through mere intellect. God is true and faithful, and so is His Word. The Bible exposes sin, because God hates sin. The Bible is comforting because the Lord is the God of all comfort. And not only these, but the light of God’s Word is indestructible just as is the Lord Himself.In other words, because the source of the Bible is the Lord, it is entirely sufficient in itself.

Ever since the pen of John fell silently to the floor, Christians have been fighting to pick it back up. There have been hundreds of thousands of books written by Christian people. And I praise the Lord for many of them. Throughout my fifty years as a Christian I have been blessed by many hundreds of them. But not one of the them has added an inch to the Bible. None of them have added an ounce to its weight or a pint to its volume. The Word of God is sufficient in itself – it is complete. If you never read another Christian book beyond the Bible, you will not be the poorer for it. The Bible is the tool that the Holy Spirit uses to convict us of our poverty before God. He doesn’t need any other book. Although human authors can help, the Bible is the key to faith. It has to be the text book for our Sunday School classes and our sermons. It is the Baptist’s only guide for faith and practice.

Keep your logic to yourself, if it contradicts the Word of the Lord. You don’t need my counsels, the professor’s edicts, or the pope’s bulls. You need the Word of the Lord. No, it is not necessary to have modern day prophets altering and adulterating the written Word. God’s Word is truth – and true – from the beginning. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but God’s word shall never pass away. And “I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” God’s word is sufficient as millions down through history can testify.

And since it is sufficient, it must also be superior.

Unless something is perfect it is not the best possible; it falls short. I am not ashamed to tell you that the Bible is perfect. The King James Bible is “The Word of God.”

There are lots of other religious lights which claim to illuminate and help people to see. Yet the Word of the Lord outshines them all so clearly that the difference is blinding. I read of a fella named Williams, who spent his life studying the sacred books of the East. He could quote the Vedas, the Koran, the Tripitala, the Avesta and dozens of others. Towards the end of his life he testified that they all began with flashes of light, but they ended up in utter darkness. There is a gulf between the Bible and all other so-called sacred books. And that gulf cannot be bridged, so vast is the difference between them.

The Bible is superior to all of its professed competitors, even those outside of religion. It is the world’s best-selling book and more satisfying than anything else in print. And when wise men compare the Bible to its critics the situation becomes almost laughable. How can some immoral professor cast aspersions upon the Holy Bible? How can a mere double PhD criticize the perfections of the Creator? Satan has been trying to destroy the Bible for two, three, four thousand years but hasn’t even come close.

But now we come to a challenge.

Our solar sun has been sending out light and heat for centuries. And at this moment it is sending its energy out in every direction. Science tells us that if we could have collected some of the wasted energy sent out over time, or if we could even begin today to catch the energy, the light and the heat which is being sent away from us, imagination couldn’t begin to grasp what good it would provide us. The light is there, the energy is there, but utilizing it is a different matter. And the fact is, we’re still not sure how to go about using what we have.

I wonder if the same is true with the Word of God. Have ye yet harnessed the power of the written word? Has there yet been any human so adroit in the Spirit of God to harness the Word of God? Are we letting precious commodity of spiritual energy slip through our hearts unstopped and unused?

How can we better utilize the light of the Lord? As it is with any powerful substance, it has to be approached properly. It has to be approached with our hearts insulated from prejudice and preconceived ideas. Are we sinful if we are looking for proof texts. Let God speak instead constantly speaking to God. I read of man who read the Bible in Hebrew seventeen times and announce that he never found atonement. No, and he never will, because he has chosen not to find it. We must approach the Bible in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to be our teacher. That is why the great characters in the Bible studied the word. David said, “Teach me thy way, O Lord, lead me in plain paths,” and also give us a heart prepared to obey. Only in these ways can we harness the light of the Lord.

And once reached, then it becomes impossible to stop speaking of that light.

Jesus used an illustration in a different context which still applies. “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.” Let the light speak for itself. If it had a voice it would say, “Let me be free.” If God’s Word was sent to a psychiatrist that psychoanalyst would say that it was “claustrophobic.” Take a candle into a dark room and it would do its best to light the room. Take a flashlight into the darkness and it will do it best to shine past the moon until its energy was spent.

It is against nature to confine the light, but men do their best – or their worst – to do exactly that. Yet to confine the word of the Lord is sin. It demands to be published. Let your light so shine before men. Share what you know of the Lord and His Word. “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”