Week 11 Of Truth, Light, and Darkness
1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart,
2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.
6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
2 Corinthians 4:1-7 (NASB)
"heart bible" by honorbound is marked with CC BY-ND 2.0.
Background
Quote- Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, and opposing the liberal and pragmatic theological tendencies in the Church of his day.
Spurgeon authored sermons, an autobiography, commentaries, books on prayer, devotionals, magazines, poetry, and hymns. Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime. He is said to have produced powerful sermons of penetrating thought and precise exposition. His oratory skills are said to have held his listeners spellbound in the Metropolitan Tabernacle and many Christians hold his writings in exceptionally high regard among devotional literature.
Passage-2ndCorinthians is a Pauline Epistle (letter from Paul). The Apostle Paul wrote it about 56 A.D. The key personalities of this book are the Apostle Paul, Timothy, and Titus. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth to defend and protect his Apostleship, and to teach and warn against false teachers who were spreading heresy. In chapters 1-7, Paul describes the characteristics of an Apostle. Paul’s ministry was to preach Jesus Christ alone and not himself.
Lesson Notes
Opening Statement
A lamp is light and the flame providing the light can burn brightly or be snuffed out. The one carrying the light is tasked with ensuring it remains lit, shines brightly, and where it shines.
Ask: What is the light?
Point: First Reading (Genesis 1:3-5 (KJV)
Ask: Is the light good or bad?
Point: Second Reading (Ecclesiastes 11:7 (NASB)
Ask: If God created the light, pronounced it good, and it is good to see this light, what does that say about our relationship with God?
Point: The light reveals all things, not just the good but the bad as well. We as Christians need to discern right from wrong knowing God is only Good.
Third Reading (Ephesians 5:6-10 (NASB)
Ask: What does it mean to be “…formerly of darkness…?”
Point: We are all sinners falling short of God’s measuring stick, God’s glory and as such we need to remember that before we begin to point our the sins of someone else.
Ask: What does it mean to be “…Light in the Lord: walk as children of Light…” and why is Light capitalized in this passage?
Point: Words that are names, pronouns, or references to the God or Jesus are always capitalized in scripture. Making believers “children of Light” makes us children of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Ask: What implications does this have for how we should live our lives if we recognized and accept that we are children of Jesus Christ?
Point: Fourth Reading (Ephesians 5:14-17 (NASB)
Ask: So then the “…days are evil…” so we should “…understand what the will of the Lord is.” How do we do this?
Point: Fifth Reading (Luke 11:33-36 (NASB)
Ask: How are our eyes the lamp for our body either filling us with light or darkness?
Point: The things we choose to watch, read, participate in, and allow once we know about them are things that lighten or darken the lamp of our eyes and fill us with either more or less light or darkness.
Ask: How does understanding that what we consume through our eyes etc. reveal to us “…what the will of the Lord is?”
Point: Re-read verses 9 & 10 from the Third Reading
Ask: “…what is pleasing to the Lord.” So, what is “…pleasing to the Lord.” for each of us?
Point: We just read it as verse 9 from the Third reading. All goodness, righteousness, and truth.
Ask: What then are the fruits of the light?
Point: Sixth Reading (Galatians 5:22-25 (NASB)
Closing Statement
If we live by the Spirit, then let us also walk by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the guiding force sent from God to help Christians along His path. It is this Spirit that guides us, as long as we listen. How do we listen? We learn to listen by first recognizing that God is goodness and His light is the way to all goodness, truth, and life through faith in Jesus. When we start from the position that the light of God is everything good in life we have as clear a delineation of right and wrong as the edge of darkness from the illumination of the light. Once this distinction has been explained, our excuses are gone, just like the darkness once the light is shone into our lives. We once again have a choice of whom we shall follow this day, the light or the darkness? God is light. Good is truth. God is good, and we are each part of that good as long as the lamp of our eye is filled with His light, and not the darkness of the adversary.
Questions for the Week
What fills the lamp of your eye, light or darkness?
Is it 100% light?
Contemplate and identify things that dim the light burning in the lamp of your eyes.
Contemplate how to reduce or remove one or more things affecting the light filling you through the lamp of your eyes.
Scripture
First Reading
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:3-5 (KJV)
Second Reading
7 The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.
Ecclesiastes 11:7 (NASB)
Third Reading
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;
8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:6-10 (NASB)
Fourth Reading
14 For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you."
15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,
16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5:14-17 (NASB)
Fifth Reading
33 "No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.
34 "The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.
35 "Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness.
36 "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays."
Luke 11:33-36 (NASB)
Sixth Reading
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-25 (NASB)
Definitions
Light
Greek Strong's Number: 5457
Greek Word: φῶς
Transliteration: phōs
Phonetic Pronunciation:foce
Root: from an obsolete phao (to shine or make manifest, especially by rays, cf <G5316>, <G5346>)
Cross Reference: TDNT - 9:310,1293
Part of Speech: n n
Vine's Words: Light (bring to; give), Lighten
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
light 68
fire 2
[Total Count: 70]
from an obsolete phao (to shine or make manifest, especially by rays; compare <G5316> (phaino), <G5346> (phemi)); luminousness (in the widest application, natural or artificial, abstract or concrete, literal or figurative) :- fire light.
James Strong, Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary, (Austin, TX: WORDsearch Corp., 2007), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "5457".
Appear
Greek Strong's Number: 5316
Greek Word: φαίνω
Transliteration: phainō
Phonetic Pronunciation:fah'ee-no
Root: prolongation for the base of <G5457>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 9:1,1244
Part of Speech: v
Vine's Words: Appear, Appearing, See, Seeing, Shine, Shining, Think
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
appear 17
shine 10
be seen 2
seem 1
think 1
[Total Count: 31]
prolonged for the base of <G5457> (phos); to lighten (shine), i.e. show (transitive or intransitive, literal or figurative) :- appear, seem, be seen, shine, × think.
James Strong, Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary, (Austin, TX: WORDsearch Corp., 2007), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "5316".
Affirm
Greek Strong's Number: 5346
Greek Word: φημί
Transliteration: phēmi
Phonetic Pronunciation:fay-mee'
Root: properly, the same as the base of <G5457> and <G5316>
Cross Reference:
Part of Speech: v
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
say 57
affirm 1
[Total Count: 58]
properly the same as the base of <G5457> (phos) and <G5316> (phaino); to show or make known one's thoughts, i.e. speak or say :- affirm, say. Compare <G3004> (lego).