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Please take up your copies of 
the written word of God and turn with me to the book of Ephesians, 
Ephesians chapter five. Now as you're turning there, 
if I say 500 years ago, then many of you will draw to mind 
details about the Protestant Reformation. namely that those 
who were seeking to reform the church were protesting against 
the errors of Rome. And as such, the consequences 
which they faced included being exiled, being imprisoned, and 
being put to death. Perhaps you've read about the 
Tower of London where Protestants were being locked up to await 
their being put to death. And what was going on, what they 
were doing, which incurred such hostility, was their unwillingness 
to waver or to compromise on the biblical doctrine of justification 
by faith alone in Christ, which was an act of God's free grace. 
It was a time of much darkness, darkness of heresy and darkness 
of immorality. And the motto of the Reformation, 
or the rally cry of the Reformation, was Post Tenebris Lux, which 
means after darkness, light. In the book of Ephesians, it 
could be summarized in two sections, the first section being the first 
half, chapters one to three, which would be on orthodoxy, 
or right knowledge, what you ought to believe. In the second 
half, namely chapters four to six, orthopraxy, right practice, 
what you ought to do. And as the Apostle Paul transitions 
from what you ought to believe to what you ought to do, he begins 
in chapter 4 by saying, walk worthy. And this theme of walking, 
this walk worthy, is later picked up in chapter 5. In chapter 5 
from verses 1 to 7, it's on walk in love. And then verses 8 to 
14 are walk in light. And then verses 15 to 21 are 
walk in wisdom. Now that middle section on verses 
8 to 14, walk in light, the last two verses of that section speak 
about how light prevails over darkness. And that will be our 
text this morning. specifically verses 13 and 14, 
but we'll read starting in verse 1. So, Ephesians chapter 5, verse 
1. Therefore, be imitators of God 
as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved 
us and given himself for us. an offering and a sacrifice to 
God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness 
or covetousness Let it not even be named among you, as is fitting 
for saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse 
jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous 
man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom 
of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty 
words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons 
of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers 
with them. For you were once darkness, but 
now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for 
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, 
and truth. Finding out what is acceptable 
to the Lord, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of 
darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak 
of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things 
that are exposed are made manifest by the light. For whatever makes 
manifest is light. Therefore, he says, awake you 
who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. 
Our great God, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for 
this day that You have given us life and breath, that You 
have given us this Lord's Day set apart to commune with You, 
to worship You, and for the means of grace. And we pray that indeed, 
Lord, by Your Spirit, You would illuminate Your Word, make it 
effectual to the hearers, for the edification of the saints, 
the advancement of Your kingdom, and the glory of Your name. I 
pray, Lord, that the hearers of Your Word would would see 
you high and lifted up, and it would indeed see your majesty, 
your glory, and your worthiness, and I pray that you would bring 
us under your word in a posture of worship and a response of 
worship to you. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Now as I said, our text is verses 
13 to 14, and what's going on in this passage, what's going 
on in our text, is that the light of Christ exposes darkness and 
calls sinners to life in Christ. So as such, we'll examine the 
contrast, namely the contextual contrast of spiritual darkness. 
We'll examine the components, the components of light prevailing 
over darkness. And we'll examine the call. So 
first of all, the contrast. The light of Christ exposing 
darkness is set in the contextual contrast of spiritual darkness. Now, we like to look at before 
and after pictures of a renovation project or a restoration that 
takes place. If you renovate your house or restore an antique 
piece of furniture, when the finished product looks good, 
It's nice to look at the finished product and see how good it looks, 
but when you compare it next with a picture, next to the condition 
or the state that was in before it was restored, then it makes 
the finished product look that much more stunning in comparison 
to the contrast of its condition prior. And that's what's going 
on in the context of our text here. The condition of Christians 
is described by way of contrast. Now you see back in chapter 2 
in verse 1 it says, And you he made alive who were dead in trespasses 
and sin, walking according to the course of the world, according 
to the prince of the power of the air. And it goes on in description 
in 5 verse 8 saying, For you were once darkness, but now you 
are light in the Lord. And then in 5 verse 11 it says, 
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. So a contrast is being made here, 
a contextual contrast between light and darkness. So what is 
this darkness? What is the darkness which it 
is speaking about? Darkness is being spiritually 
blind, dead, and undiscerning. Now, we all know what it's like 
to be in darkness. Let's say you're in your house. 
The power goes out in the middle of the night. For whatever reason, 
you have to get up and cross your house, but there's no power. 
There's no nightlights, there's not even that illumination of 
the little digital clocks that give you a bit of a light. It's 
overcast outside, so there's absolutely no light in the house. 
How are you going to navigate your house? Are you going to 
sprint across your house? Well, not if you don't want to 
stub your toe, at least not again. So you're going to walk very, 
very carefully. Why do you walk carefully? Well, 
because you can't see. Why can't you see? Because you 
don't have sight. Spiritual darkness is being blinded 
by ignorance and error. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 
8, it says, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from 
the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because 
of the blindness of their heart. Blindness, ignorance, and darkness. So spiritual darkness is heresy 
and immorality. Darkness is a state of sin, ignorance, 
and unbelief. The spiritual blindness is being 
deprived of the light of Christ, and it is a state of misery, 
blinded by sin, and unperceptive of divine judgment like one who 
is asleep. The state of darkness is spiritual 
death and misery. The course of this world is darkness. 
Fallen mankind lives in dark thoughts, dark deeds, and dark 
speech. And subsequently, the works of 
darkness, which our previous context lists fornication, impurity, 
and covetousness. The works of darkness are indulging 
in the passions of the flesh. Now, this is something we don't 
typically use as language in our regular conversations, the 
passions of the flesh. What does that mean? passions 
are the motion of the soul. It is movement to or from what 
is perceived to be good or evil. So an illustration for the kids. Let's say you're about to go 
on a large hike with your family. It's going to be all day. It's 
going to be a difficult hike. It's a hot day. The sun is out 
and you know that you're going to become dehydrated at some 
point, so you need to bring a nice refreshing beverage. So you open 
the fridge and you see there nice cold milk. So you grab the 
milk, you throw it in your backpack. You go on the hike. It's a hot 
day. It's a grueling hike. The sun's beating down. You're 
sweating. You've been sweating so much 
that your skin is now sticky. You've got dry mouth. Your legs are getting sore. Your 
lungs are heaving. And you're parched. And you think, 
I need to drink. You feel like if I don't have 
anything to drink, I'm going to die. And then you realize that you 
came prepared for this very moment. So you reach into your backpack, 
which the sun has been beaming down all day long, and you pull 
out the milk. Now, without going into too much 
detail, There is a movement which occurs in what you once perceived 
to be good to what you no longer perceive to be good, namely the 
current state of the milk after it's been out in the sun all 
day and you're parched and dehydrated and in need of hydration. So a movement has occurred, and 
the passions of the flesh, the passions are a movement of the 
soul, movement to or from what is perceived to be good or evil. And the works that are done according 
to the passions of the flesh are the responses of a darkened, 
corrupt will choosing evil because it is perceived to be good. It is deemed to be good. The 
will is deceived. Now, in Dryden, we have a lot 
of lakes, and in those lakes are a lot of fish, and it's quite 
common that we go fishing. And when you go fishing, Well, 
you simply just take a hook, you tie it to a string, you throw 
that in the lake, you pull it out, and there's a fish on it. 
It doesn't quite work that way, does it? You have to put a bait 
on the hook. You have to convince the fish 
that the hook is good for it. You have to convince the fish 
that it wants to take it, it wants to eat it. And when it 
comes to sin, or the unfruitful works of darkness, Satan presents 
the bait and hides the hook. The bait looks good, while the 
evil is hidden. and man's fallen will chooses 
evil because it is perceived to be good. The forces of darkness 
deceives and attracts the soul to sin. Man doesn't see the hook. We don't see the evil because, 
well, because of darkness, because of blindness. 2 Corinthians 4 
verse 4 says, whose minds the God of this age has blinded. Furthermore, the world, which 
loves darkness, makes what is righteous appear odd, and what 
is wicked appear right. That old treble hook is just 
a modern accessory, and you're criticized if you don't wear 
it, let alone swallow it, just like everybody else. Matthew 
Henry wrote that sinful works are works of darkness. They come 
from the darkness of ignorance. They seek the darkness of concealment. 
and they lead to the darkness of hell. Hell is the place of 
merciless darkness, outer darkness, blackness of darkness forever, 
separation from God and a deprivation of light. Now the contrast that's occurring 
here is between darkness and light. So before we change our 
focus to light, a quick distinction to be made between the light 
of nature and the light of faith. Now keep your finger here in 
Ephesians 5, it's the text we're working out of and we're going 
to return to it, but if you'll quickly turn to Romans chapter 1, specifically 
verse 18. Romans 1 verse 18, we see here 
the light of nature, or the light of reason. And we'll notice that 
by nature, truth about God is revealed. Some truth about God 
is revealed, is understood, and is known, and as a result is 
suppressed. Pay attention. For the wrath 
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 
of men who suppress the truth. Suppress the truth in unrighteousness 
because what may be known of God is manifest to them. For God has shown it to them. 
For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes 
are clearly seen, having understood by the things that are made, 
even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. 
So there is truth about God that is revealed by way of nature, 
and this is the light of nature. But God has given us these created 
things, to point to God. Truth is revealed by God through 
nature. It is to point us to God in order to love God. God has given us created things 
as signs, signs which signify, which point to God, the creator, 
to love God. the purpose of using them to 
enjoy God, but instead we use God to enjoy the created thing. Our idle manufacturing hearts 
make a created thing as the highest good or as the chief end. So 
the light of nature is insufficient to overcome darkness. So the 
light of faith. Now in that text, if you'll just 
look back a little bit Before that, in verses 16 to 17, we 
see here the distinction of the light of faith. Notice in 16, 
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power 
of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first 
and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of 
God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the 
just shall live by faith. The will of God for our salvation 
is made known not by natural light but by supernatural light. 
So back to our text, Ephesians chapter 5 in verse 13 says that 
the effect of this light is that it exposes and makes manifest, 
showing the error evil and danger of sin, shows the deception of 
the bait and the reality of the hook, to awake by the light of 
Christ, repent of sin and darkness, and embrace the gospel. So in 
other words, showing that the bait is deceptive, exposing the 
hook, and unveiling the rescue. Our text in 13, it says, all 
things are exposed when revealed by light, or it might say, all 
things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. for 
whatever makes manifest is light. Now you can get curtains for 
your windows. Some of them are light filtering and some of them 
are light blocking. For those who work shift work 
and need to sleep during the day, you can get light blocking 
curtains for your windows so that obviously it blocks the 
light and no light comes in. So I want you to do an experiment 
with you. If you have these light blocking curtains, go home, shut the curtains, 
shut the door, turn off the lights in the middle of the day so that 
there's no light in the room. You could say that the space 
of that room has been overwhelmed by darkness. Now, here's the 
test that I want you to do. Go up to those curtains and throw 
the curtains wide open, and here's the test. Check to see if darkness 
holds its ground and prevents the light from coming in, or 
does light prevail and overcome darkness and darkness flees? 
We can do this test 10 times and find out out of 10 times 
how many times darkness prevails, how many times light prevails. 
We don't have to go home and do the test. I'm sure you can 
tell me right now that 10 out of 10 times light prevails and 
darkness flees. When light is absent, there is 
darkness. And when light is present, there 
is no competition. Darkness flees. Darkness is merely 
the absence of light. John Owen wrote, Let the sun 
arise in the firmament, and there is no need of witness to prove 
and confirm unto a seeing man that it is day. Scripture, the 
word of God, or supernatural revelation, is light, and it 
shines with the majesty of its author. God addresses the church 
through scripture as the instrumental means of slaying and making alive. 
So that brings us to our next point then, which is the light 
of Christ shines in darkness by his word and spirit. So secondly, we have the components, 
the components of light that prevails over darkness. I'll 
draw your attention to verse 14, and verse 14 starts by saying, 
therefore he says, Now, when Paul says, therefore he says, 
he's not directly quoting, but he's summarizing Old Testament 
texts that point to the light of Christ. Take, for example, 
in Isaiah chapter nine, verse two, it says, 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. This promised light is fulfilled 
in Christ, who is the light of the world. The light of the world 
came into the world. And the almighty power of God, 
in the beginning, by the word of God, shone forth light out 
of darkness so that his subsequent works may be clearly seen. And a greater light was promised. 
A light calling to life out of death and darkness into marvelous 
light. I referenced 2 Corinthians 4, 
6, that whole verse says, For it is the God who commanded light 
to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give 
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face 
of Jesus Christ. So in our text, in verse 14, 
it continues to say, Arise, you who sleep, arise from the dead, 
and Christ shall give you light. Now, in this text, there is something 
implicit that is very important that we don't want to miss, and 
that is the presence of Christ. The presence of Christ executing 
the office of prophet. You might be thinking, well, 
didn't Christ, after his death, burial, and resurrection, did 
he not ascend on high where he is seated at the right hand of 
the Father until he returns to judge? the living and the dead. And without going on a rabbit 
trail into too much detail about the hypostatic union and the 
word beyond the flesh, let it suffice to say that God is present 
in the presence of the spiritual presence of Christ, exercising 
dominion through his word. Christ is not dead, but living. And in his church, he is both 
living and spiritually present as the stream of life in the 
historic Christian community, which is the church. Just as 
much as the spiritual presence of Christ is in the church today, 
so it was a year ago, so it was 100 years ago, so it was 300 
years ago, 500 years ago, or 1,000 years ago, the spiritual presence of Christ has been in the church up to today, and will, and to 
the end. Christ is not absent from the 
Church. Consider the Great Commission, 
where Christ promises to his apostles, I am with you always 
to the end of the age, but yet the apostles don't live to the 
end of the age. So how is Christ with you? How is Christ present 
to the end of the age? Well, it's through the teaching 
ministry of the Church. the doctrine, the teaching of 
the apostles. And then in Revelation 1, we see imagery, the image 
of Christ walking, sorry, Christ in the midst of the church, of 
the churches. Christ is spiritually present 
with the church through his word and spirit, communicating, speaking. And historic orthodoxy is the 
product of Christ's presence in the church through the ages. 
So what causes this light to shine? What causes sight by the 
light of faith? Christ as our Redeemer executes 
the office of a prophet in revealing to us by his word and spirit 
the will of God for our salvation. So two components that we're 
going to examine. Two components are involved in 
order to see something. There's the visible object, the 
visible material object, which is the thing itself, and then 
there's the corresponding power of sight. So take this pulpit, 
for example. Here before me is a visible material 
object that's made of wood, but yet you can see it. So in your 
mind, there is this pulpit. The pulpit is up here in front 
of me, but the pulpit is also in your mind. There's obviously 
not a material wooden pulpit in your mind, but should the 
lights go out and there be darkness, you would know that there's a 
pulpit up here because in your mind you can see that there is 
a pulpit. There's the material object itself, 
and there's the corresponding power of sight. Power of sight is the manner 
in which the thing itself is apprehended in the mind. In the 
case of the pulpit, of course, is light imprinting the object 
on your mind. But the components from our text 
that we're looking at, the first component, the material component, 
is the thing itself that is to believed, like the physical material 
wooden pulpit. The material component is what 
God reveals to mankind, needing to believe. God himself, and 
all that pertains to God, as he comes to us in Christ, who 
is the image of the invisible God. This material component 
is scripture, or supernatural revelation, or the word of truth. 
Namely, the gospel promise of Christ, the mediator. The word 
of truth, unlike this pulpit, the word of truth, is not something 
that is seen by the eye. Its object is invisible. An apprehension of it requires 
a supra-sensible sight. It requires a spiritual power 
of sight. So the second component, the 
second component of this light which prevails over darkness, 
is the power of sight, or we could call it the formal component. 
Now as light is the formal component of seeing this pulpit, it's what 
brings it about to the mind, the spirit of truth confronts 
and informs our minds or illuminates what needs to be believed of 
God and all that pertains to God. The light of faith is supernatural 
sight by the gift of faith. By faith we come to know and 
possess God through Christ. With knowledge, assent and trust, 
or confidence in God's trustworthiness, embracing what is revealed in 
God's word, receiving it with confidence and making it one's 
own. By the light of faith, taking 
hold of and embracing Christ, his merits and mediation as revealed 
in the word. awake you who sleep, arise from 
the dead, and Christ will give you light." Which brings us to 
our next point, that the light of Christ overcomes darkness 
and effectually calls sinners to life in Christ. So thirdly, 
the call. The call or the duty within our 
text is awake, arise, The gospel calls men to arise from darkness 
and death of sin by faith and repentance. This is a call to 
repentance and faith. What does that mean? What is 
repentance and faith? What is it faith of? Well, man 
being fallen and lost in sin is under the condemnation of 
God and unable to be reconciled to God on our own works, on our 
own merit. The word of God Second Person 
of the Trinity, the Son of God, took to himself a body, assumed 
our nature, was born under the law, perfected obedience, accomplished 
a positive righteousness, suffered and died in our place, shed his 
blood and poured out his life in our place to pay the ransom 
price of the elect, that we might have forgiveness of sins. He 
was buried on the third day. He rose from the dead. He ascended 
on high, exalted, seated at the right hand of the Father, where 
he is seated with all power, all authority, and will return 
to judge the living and the dead. But now is the time to repent 
and to turn to Christ, to look to Christ, to believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Faith comes from hearing, 
and this call by the external means of the Word and the internal 
means of the Spirit is an effectual call, and included in our text, 
included in that call, is a promise. Christ shall give you light. Now in Hebrews 1.3 it says, Christ 
is the brightness of God's glory. Christ giving you light means 
being savingly enlightened by the word and spirit. Christ the spirit convinces us 
of our sin and misery and enlightens our minds in the knowledge of 
Christ, renews our will and persuades and enables us to embrace Jesus 
Christ freely offered to us in the gospel. So if you're an unbeliever, if 
you have not yet turned to Christ, you might be thinking, okay, 
so the light of Christ shines in darkness. We see that objectively, 
but what about subjectively? How do I lay hold of this personally? If you remember the illustration 
to begin with about the Reformation, and their unwavering commitment 
to the doctrine of the justification by faith alone. This doctrine 
is crucial to our understanding. What is justification? Justification 
is an act of God's free grace where He pardons us, all our 
sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only by the righteousness 
of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. And the Second London Confession 
of Faith in Chapter 11, Paragraph 2 says, Faith thus receiving 
and resting on Christ and His righteousness is the alone instrument 
of justification. So it's very important to get 
this right. What place does faith have in our justification? What 
place does our faith have in our forgiveness of sins and Christ's 
righteousness accredited or imputed to our account? What is the place 
of faith? So as the Confession says, it is the alone instrument 
of justification. Now, when my family and I drove 
to the airport to fly out here, and we still had our winter tires 
on because while there's still snow, hopefully by the time we 
fly back, that snow will be melted, at which point I will have to 
switch over to the summer tires. Not sure if you have that task 
out here. So let's just say you have a 
flat tire. You have to change your flat tire. Then you take 
your tire iron or your torque wrench, and it is the instrument 
in which you use to apply the torque or the force to the wheel, 
to the lug nut. I guess I should point out that 
my purpose or my intent in using this illustration is not to call 
us a bunch of lug nuts. The purpose of the illustration 
is the instrument. The instrument itself. The instrument by which the power 
is applied to the recipient. And our faith as an instrument. 
The faith is the means or instrument by which we receive and rest 
on Christ, his promises, his forgiveness, his righteousness, 
and eternal life. It is by which believers lay 
hold of Christ and apply individually or personally or to make them 
one's own. And the source of power is God, 
as we see in Ephesians chapter 1. Redemption purposed by the 
Father, redemption accomplished by the Son, and redemption applied 
by the Spirit. The Leiden Synopsis of Pure Theology articulates very well says we 
are justified by the father as judge seated on a throne of grace 
and in christ who has made satisfaction and acts as our advocate and 
we are justified through the holy spirit who grants faith 
and seals grace in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel 
the preaching of the gospel being the first component of supernatural 
light the external and material component and the work of the 
Holy Spirit internally being the second component of supernatural 
light, the internal or formal component. The light of Christ 
is his revealing to us by his word and spirit the will of God 
for our salvation. So we saw here use for the unbeliever. Further is the use for the backslidden 
or the sleepy believer, those whom the indicative is true, 
those whom, as the text says, and you he made alive, those 
who have been renewed, restored and reoriented, but remaining 
corruption has drawn you away, walking in works of darkness. 
Awake, you who sleep. Arise from the dead and Christ 
will give you light. Remember, you were once darkness, 
but now children of light. So walk in light. Do not be partakers 
with the works of darkness. Remember, it is Christ who gives 
you light. It is not look deep within yourself. It is not self-help protocols. It is Christ. Look to Christ. Furthermore, use for the believer. 
I'm going to draw on three particular uses for the believer. The first 
one is walk as children in light. As the greater context of our 
passage says, walk as children of light in all goodness, righteousness, 
and truth. That is in thought, word, and 
speech. Sorry, thought, word, and deed. Now, what about the 
current context in our day? Is there a current context of 
darkness in our day? Yes, there is. Indeed, there's 
even next month is a month which is set apart for the parading 
and for the celebrating and the approving of darkness, a whole 
month. We are in a current context of 
darkness and the light of the gospel for the salvation of lost 
souls is needed in our current context of darkness in our communities 
and our surrounding communities. Second use for the believer is 
to marvel in doxology. Have you ever found yourself 
perhaps tired or distracted and you sat down to pray and nothing 
seems to immediately come to mind of what you can pray about? 
Well, here we have something to marvel in doxology and prayer 
about is that you were once darkness and you he made alive. Not only 
that, but We have communion with the Most High God. We have access 
to the throne of grace. We live, as it were, Coram Deo 
in the presence of God. Furthermore, have you ever heard 
the argument where somebody says it's not about theology or it's 
not about doctrine, it's about your relationship with God? Well, 
how can you have a relationship with somebody that you don't 
know? How can you have a relationship with a God who is Trinity and 
unity and unity and Trinity if you do not know God? Or how can 
you be in a reconciled relationship without knowing how to be reconciled 
to the Triune God? Fellowship with God is not blind 
fellowship in ignorance and darkness. In fact, to behold God is the 
foundation of blessedness. To see more clearly is to apprehend 
more fully. Furthermore, the Church is a 
glimpse of glory, where God, in the spiritual presence of 
Christ, is in the midst of His people, feeding and nourishing 
His people who respond in worship to Him. Third use for the believer, the 
light of faith will give way to the light of glory. Our living 
hope of resurrection morning, and beholding the face of God 
by the light of glory. Revelation 21-23 says, The city 
had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for 
the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light, and 
the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light. 
light of glory, faith will give way to sight, the beatific vision 
by the light of glory, to see God's glory spiritually and intellectually 
without being blinded by it. Glorified saints, in the fullness 
of joy, with perfected souls, perfected body, with the sight 
of the soul, seeing God, who is our portion, and enjoying 
Him from faith to fruition in a state of glory and indefectible 
blessedness. So, some concluding remarks. 
The Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator, our final and perfect Prophet, 
by the external means of the written Word of God and the internal 
means of His Spirit, illuminating the Word, opens the understanding 
of the hearer of the word. Now, one last illustration for 
the kids. Have you ever had it where your 
mom asks you to go to the freezer and to pull out, let's say, the 
prime rib roast for dinner? And so you go to the freezer, 
you open it up, you survey its contents and you don't see a 
prime rib roast. You come back to your mom and 
you give a report and you say, there's no prime rib roast. So 
she says, no, it's there. Go back and look again. So you 
go back, you open the freezer, you survey its contents. Nope, 
there's no roast in there. So you come back and you report 
back to your mom, there's no roast in the freezer. So she 
takes you by the hand, she leads you over to the freezer, opens 
it up. What does she pull out? Prime rib roast. And you think, 
where were my eyes? Where was my sight that I didn't 
see it before? And when the saving light of Christ shines by the 
Holy Spirit, it is a new sight, as though to say, where were 
my eyes, that I never saw before the beauty of the glory of Christ 
and the wretchedness of sin. Now here's the marrow of the 
matter, where the rubber meets the road. God created man with 
an innate sense of the divine and a capacity and a longing 
to know God as the highest good and the chief end of beholding 
the fullness of his glory. However, God dwells in inapproachable 
light, and fallen mankind cannot behold the fullness of the glory 
of God and live. God effectually shines light 
in darkness so that the rational creature may know God, and in 
knowing God, glorify him, and in glorifying him, enjoy him 
as the highest good. The goal of God's shining light 
is communion with God by knowing and loving him with experiential 
knowledge and rightly ordered affections, living blessedly 
in this life and forever. Divine illumination is an internal 
intellectual understanding by the light of faith a knowing 
of divine truth and a believing of divine truth. Such a knowledge 
affects and moves the soul to know and love that which he is 
made for and longs for, now in part by the light of faith, but 
in glory it will culminate in unmediated, blessed intellectual 
vision of the soul beholding the glory of God, and in so knowing 
God, a consummated act of loving him, and in loving him, a consummation 
of blessed happiness and the fullness of joy. Fullness of 
joy without end, unfading, undefiled, incorruptible, indefectible, 
eternal blessedness in the presence and glory of God. If you are 
still in darkness, know that there is no darkness where the 
light of Christ cannot prevail. Turn to Christ Awake, you who 
sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. Let's 
pray. Our great God, Lord, we praise 
you that you who are eternal and infinite and almighty, that 
salvation belongs to you and that there is no darkness, there 
is no sin, there is no creation that can overcome you or overpower 
you. We thank you for the ways in 
which you draw our understanding to behold your majesty and your 
glory. through your Word and through your Spirit. I pray, 
Lord, that as we consider the things of your Word, you would 
attend it by your Spirit and cause us to reflect on your Word, 
and that you would illuminate your Word to our understanding. 
And Lord, that the hearers of your Word might behold your beauty, 
your majesty, your glory, and worship you, for you are worthy. 
We pray, Lord, that through the preaching of your Word, the saints 
would be edified sinners would turn to Christ, your kingdom 
would be advanced, and your name would be lifted high and glorified. 
I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.