IS THE LIGHT FROM OUR CHURCHES DISPELLING THE DARKNESS?

By

Pastor Robert Bruce Record

It is the mission and function of the church to proclaim the light and truth of God and His Word to those sitting in darkness.  In Matthew 5:13-16, as our Lord was giving His Sermon on the Mount, He addresses those who believe in Him with these words:

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick:  and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

This world in which we live is a place of darkness - - spiritual darkness, that is.  It is in need of the light and truth found in God’s Word.  Sadly enough altogether too many Christians confine their preaching and ministry to the personal message of the Bible and leave untouched that seventy percent of the Bible that deals with Civil and National affairs.

Now to reach those people sitting in darkness, God would need servants and witnesses, and the Bible declares that God chose Israel for this service, and He emphasizes this fact in Acts 1:7-8. The disciples had just asked the Lord if He was this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel (a literal kingdom by the way), and His reply was that it was not for them know the times and seasons.  “But ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And of what were they to bear witness? Of the kingdom planned of God from the foundation of the world. Yet how many Christians ever see this?  What kingdom they have in mind is a spiritual something, which they identify as the church, or something in your heart.  Is it any wonder that our people continue to sit in darkness when they get so little light to dispel it?

In the second and third chapters of Revelation, John describes 7 churches that have held sway during this Christian era.  Our interest and concern is with the 7^th church, or the church of Laodicia that describes our day and time.  Is it a church aglow with the light of God, or not?  In verses 15 and 16, we find God saying: “ I know your works: you are neither cold or hot.  I would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold or hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” Does this sound like a church that had the effect of salt on society so as to preserve it? Is it shedding light to dispel darkness?  In verse 20 of this same chapter God depicts Himself as standing at the door of this church seeking admittance. He says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and eat with him, and he with me.” If but one person would open the door, He would come in and fellowship with him.  Would you say that this was a church you would want to join?

For further light on the church which was to prevail in these last days let us turn to Matt.24:37-39, and see what Christ has to say about it.  Here we read,

“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Now this all sounds like a perfectly normal activity until we turn to Gen. 6:5 where we find God’s version of this time, and here we read: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

This was God’s description of the moral and spiritual condition of the people of Christiandom when He returns. That the people of Christendom should be thus characterized, is to our shame.  The antediluvians did not have the light and truth that we have to guide and enlighten their pathway.

How then, shall we account for this radical departure from the faith on the part of God’s people in our day?  There are several reasons that I think that have contributed to the plight of the Church and the people of Christiandom.

The first reason is that the people of Christiandom have supplanted the Israel of God with the Jew, a religious sect classed with Protestants and Catholics.  Instead of serving as God’s witnesses, the Jews have been antichrist at every turn.  They have not developed nationally as God said Israel would, nor are they in the process of doing so.  There Bible is not the Old Testament of our Bible, but the Talmud which has nothing in common with our Bible, nor do they worship the God of the Bible.  “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.” (1 John 2:23). And again, “I and My Father are one.” (John 10:30)  Yet the Clergy have been aiding and abetting this people without censor, thinking they are doing God service. May God help them!

A second reason for the Church loosing its salt and light is, that they have been disowning this world as their home, and thus have been having as little to do with it as possible. “Their citizenship is in heaven.”  Is it any wonder that the church of our day has assumed a “hands-off” policy with respect to the moral and spiritual issues in our country!  Politics to them is a dirty word, and they want as little to do with it as possible.  They ignore the fact that government is as much an institution of God as is the church.

A third reason why the Church has failed in its mission is, they have failed to “preach the Word,” as Paul exhorted Tmothy. Paul did not say “Preach the Gospel,” but this is the interpretation most churches place on it.  They have ignored the Scriptures from which Paul preached, and bypassed that 70 percent of the Bible which is National, and which deals with civil and national affairs.  And having equated a religious sect with National Israel, they are thus left without a people to whom they might preach the kingdom and national message of the Bible. * But instead of recognizing that they had erred in equating the Jew with Israel, they proceeded to compound their error by saying that the National seed promised to Abraham was a spiritual one which they have sought in vain to identify with a Gentile church --- to whom no such promises were made!  Like the Pharisees of old, the have supplanted the Word of God with their traditions making the Word of God of no effect.

Now it should be obvious that when the church, whether wittingly or unwittingly, supplants the Word of God with tradition and mistaken theological interpretations of Scripture, then it ceases to function as salt, and there is little light coming from it to dispel the darkness.

* The most prevalent and obvious example is found in today’s false interpretation that insists on Church and State separation; that the Church cannot speak to or express concerns about civil, political or national issues.

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Originally published in The National Message.

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