Outline
Ⅳ
The believers are the light of the world, those who let their light shine before men to dispel the world's darkness—Matt. 5:14-16; Eph. 5:8:
A
Light is the presence of God; because we have been born of God, we are now light in the Lord and must walk as children of light—1 John 1:5; Eph. 5:8-9.
B
The way to be saved from obsession, self-deception, is to live in the light, be open to God's shining, and not generate our own light—Psa. 36:8-9; 80:17-19; 139:23-24; 1 John 1:5, 7, 9; Isa. 2:5; 50:10-11:
１
The symptom of a person who is obsessed is that what he thinks and does are totally wrong, yet he thinks and believes that he is totally right—Matt. 6:22-23; Isa. 5:20.
２
To have sinned is a matter of defilement; to sin, yet believing that one has not sinned and justifying it, is a matter of darkness—1 John 1:8, 10.
３
The reasons for obsession, self-deception, are loving the darkness rather than the light (John 3:19-20), pride (Obad. 3), not receiving the love of the truth (2 Thes. 2:10-11; Prov. 23:23), and not seeking the glory that is from the only God (John 5:44).
C
Life comes from the shining of light, light is in the word of God, and light is the inner sense of life—2 Cor. 4:6; Psa. 119:105, 130; Isa. 66:2; John 8:12; Rom. 8:6, 14.
D
"The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is single, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is dark. Watch out therefore that the light which is in you is not darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light and does not have any dark part, the whole will be full of light as when the lamp with its rays illuminates you"—Luke 11:34-36.
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and place it under the bushel, but on the lampstand; and it shines to all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in the heavens.In nature the kingdom people are the healing salt [Matt. 5:13], and in behavior they are the shining light [v. 14].
In Matthew 5:13 the Lord Jesus spoke of the earth and in verse 14, of the world. For the earth there is the need of salt, but for the world there is the need of light. The darkness is not upon the earth; rather, it is in the world, which denotes human society, a system of Satan. The world, Satan’s system, the dark human society, needs light. The light of the world in verse 14 is the shining of a lamp to enlighten those in darkness. To the darkened world, the people of the kingdom of the heavens are such a light effacing its darkness. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1158-1159)
Today’s Reading
When a person is possessed, he falls directly into Satan’s hand and is controlled and bound by Satan. When a person is obsessed, he is deceived by himself. First John 1:8 says that those who say that they have not sinned are deceiving themselves; they are obsessed. Lying is different from being obsessed. Those who lie are condemned in their conscience, but those who are obsessed are very confident in themselves. They are convinced that they are not lying when they really are…A man who is obsessed takes his perception of reality as reality and considers his reality to be absolutely right. Second Thessalonians 2:10-12 speaks of the perishing ones who do not receive a love of the truth but instead believe lies. This is very sad. When a Christian overestimates himself, he follows the lies of his mind. Unless these lies are removed, he will fall into obsession sooner or later.The way to be delivered from obsession is found in Psalm 36:9: “In Your light we see light.” “Your light” refers to God’s light, and “we see light” refers to our seeing the true nature of things through the shining of God’s light. Many people like to judge according to their mind, ideas, imagination, and conjecture. Such views are often contrary to facts. The most pitiful men are those who presume that they are right, who are very confident of themselves, and who are good at arguing with others…We should come before the Lord in fear and trembling and come under His shining. If we do this, we will not become obsessed in the Lord’s service and will not act like Paul before his conversion.
One principle of enlightenment is that light shines through an opening. The Lord said that the light is in us in Matthew 6:23. This inner light is the enlightening of the Holy Spirit within. Yet there can be hindrances to this inner enlightening…John 3:19-20 indicates that a man will not receive light once he is prejudiced and has preconceived ideas. Hence, the first hindrance to light is prejudice and a refusal to come to the light. The deeper a person is in the truth, the less assurance he should have of himself. A person who is prejudiced and who does not want to come under the light is dangerous. The second hindrance to receiving light from the Lord is one’s desire to receive glory from men. There are certain conditions one has to clearly fulfill before he can receive light. The first condition is having a heart that seeks after God’s will. If one seeks after God’s will, he will know the true nature of things (John 7:17). However, even such a heart cannot always guarantee that we will not be deceived. Therefore, we have to ask the Lord for mercy so that He would put in us a heart that genuinely seeks after His will…Lies do not involve any price; they are cheap. If we want the truth, we have to pay a price [cf. Prov. 23:23]. This is the second condition for receiving light. May the Lord be merciful to us so that we will have a heart that seeks after God’s will and will pay the price to gain the truth. (CWWN, vol. 44, pp. 901-903)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 44, chs. 117—119