Have
you ever been in a place completely void of light? Can you imagine
groping around desperately searching for a wall, hoping for a light
switch? Can you imagine being bound in that place completely void of
light, unable to reach for a light switch? Can you imagine being
bound in that place completely void of light and you sense someone
or something there with you? Can you imagine the horror? Would you
be afraid? Would you scream?
In Psalms 16:11 it says of the Lord,
Psalms
16:11
“You
will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness
of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 91 also says the Lord is our Protection.
Psalm
91
“He who
dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He
is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
3
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His
wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield
and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by
night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6
nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor
of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7
A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right
hand; but it shall not come near you. 8 Only with
your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my
refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10
no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your
dwelling; 11 for He shall give His angels charge over
you, to keep you in all your ways. 12 In their
hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a
stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will
deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I
will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My
salvation.”
Isaiah
60:20
states, “the LORD will be your
everlasting light.”
And 1 John 1:5 tells us,
1 John
1:5
“This
is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”
But
What if…
But
what if you refuse, deny, or hide from the Light. The Lord does not
condemn you, you condemn yourself. You have chosen darkness.
John
3:16-21
says,
“For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who
does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this
is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does
not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21
But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds
may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Note –
How can you do the truth?
Jesus
said the Word of God is truth.
John 17:17
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is
truth.
John 14:23-24
“Jesus
answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;
and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our
home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep
My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s
who sent Me.
John
6:63
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The
words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
John
14:10
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority;
but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
Jesus
said He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
1
Peter 2:21-25
For to
this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
22 “ Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
23
who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He
suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him
who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in
His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live
for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 25
For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the
Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
A
Warning to the Believer
Hebrews
10:26-38
“For if
we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a
certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which
will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected
Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or
three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you
suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God
underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was
sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30
For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”
says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.
32 But recall the former days in which, after you were
illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33
partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and
tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who
were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on me in my
chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing
that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in
heaven. 35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence,
which has great reward. 36 For you have need of
endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may
receive the promise:
37 “ For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not
tarry.
38 Now the just shall
live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”
Weeping
& Gnashing of Teeth
According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the
Bible:
Weeping
(2805)
κλαυθμός,—
klowth-mos’;
from
(2799)
(κλαίω);
lamentation:
— (Translated in King James
version as)
wailing, weeping, x wept.
(2799)
κλαίω,
—
klah’-yo;
of uncertain affinity; to
sob,
i.e.
wail
aloud — (Translated in King
James version as)
bewail, weep.
Gnashing
(1030)
βρυγμός,—
broog-mos’;
from
(1031)
(βρύχω);
a
grating
(of
the teeth): — (Translated in
King James version as)
gnashing.
(1031)
βρύχω,
—
broo’-kho;
a primary verb; to
grate
the teeth (in pain or rage): — (Translated
in King James version as)
gnash.
To the
UNBELIEVER & SINNER –
Matthew
13:36-43
“Then
Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His
disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the
tares of the field.”
37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good
seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the
good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons
of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is
the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are
the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out
of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice
lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of
fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
But to
the BELIEVER (CHRISTIAN) –
Matthew
8:5-12
“Now
when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading
with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying
at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy
that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my
servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under
authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one,
‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my
servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to
those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such
great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that
many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons
of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13
Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have
believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was
healed that same hour.
Why would Jesus say this regarding the sons of the
kingdom.
Matthew
22:1-14
“And
Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2
“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a
marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call
those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to
come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell
those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and
fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.
Come to the wedding.”’ 5 But they made light of it and
went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.
6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them
spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king
heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies,
destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8
Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who
were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go into the
highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10
So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together
all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall
was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a
man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he
said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding
garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to
the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and
cast him into outer darkness; there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew
24:45-51
“Who
then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over
his household, to give them food in due season? 46
Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will
find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will
make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil
servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’
49 and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of
that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him
and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and will cut
him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Luke
13:22-29
“And He
went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying
toward Jerusalem. 23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are
there few who are saved?”
And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the
narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not
be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen
up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at
the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and
say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26
then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and
You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell
you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you
workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and
all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.
29 They will come from the east and the west, from the
north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.
This reminds me of the parable of the ten virgins.
Matthew 25:1-13
“Then
the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their
lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of
them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who
were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all
slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the
bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7
Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8
And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered,
saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you;
but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were
ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord,
Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said,
‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the
hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Matthew
25:14-30
“For
the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country,
who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and
to another one, to each according to his own ability; and
immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had
received the five talents went and traded with them, and made
another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had
received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had
received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and
settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought
five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents;
look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant;
you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many
things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who
had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me
two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’
23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and
faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will
make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and
said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not
sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25
And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look,
there you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked
and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and
gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought
to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I
would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take
the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he
will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he
has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable
servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.’
Jude
1:5-13
“But I want to remind you, though you once knew this,
that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt,
afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the
angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own
abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the
judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given
themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh,
are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal
fire.
8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject
authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 9 Yet
Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he
disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a
reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10
But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they
know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt
themselves. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way
of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and
perished in the rebellion of Korah.
12
These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you
without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds
without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without
fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging
waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for
whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
2 Peter
2
“But
there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will
be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on
themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow
their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be
blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with
deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle,
and their destruction does not slumber.
4
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them
down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the
ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a
preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the
ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them
an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7
and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy
conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man,
dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to
day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9
then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of
temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day
of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according
to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.
They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak
evil of dignitaries, 11 whereas angels, who are greater
in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them
before the Lord.
12
But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and
destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will
utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and
will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count
it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and
blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with
you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot
cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart
trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.
15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray,
following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his
iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the
madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds carried by a
tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
18
For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they
allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones
who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of
corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is
brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome,
the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21
For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to
them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own
vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the
mire.”
Today, a number of people, including many Christians,
would say we were “judging” if we spoke these words. Obviously that
was not considered the case 2,000 years ago. Today many “Christians”
prefer, in the name of love, tolerance, compromise, and political
correctness.
Jesus said in Matthew 24
Matthew
24:12-13
“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow
cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Many may say the following words apply only to
Israel; but look around you and see if you find any similarities
with what is going on today. All of which proceeds the outer
darkness.
Deuteronomy 28:15-29
“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the
LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His
statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come
upon you and overtake you:
16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and
cursed shall you be in the country.
17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading
bowl.
18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the
produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring
of your flocks.
19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in,
and cursed shall you be when you go out.
20 “The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and
rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed
and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your
doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21 The LORD will
make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land
which you are going to possess. 22 The LORD will strike
you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe
burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they
shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heavens
which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which
is under you shall be iron. 24 The LORD will
change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it
shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your
enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways
before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of
the earth. 26 Your carcasses shall be food for all the
birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall
frighten them away. 27 The LORD will strike you
with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the
itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD will
strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart.
29 And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in
darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only
oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save
you.
Examples of Darkness
The Ninth Plague against the Egyptians: Darkness
Exodus
10:21-23
Then
the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that
there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which
may even be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand
toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt
three days. 23 They did not see one another; nor did
anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of
Israel had light in their dwellings.
The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
Matthew
27:45-46
“Now
from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all
the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out
with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Isaiah
53:7
said of Jesus,
“He was
oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was
led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers
is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
Jesus withstood humiliation. He was tortured for us
and never said a word. But when He became Sin for us, the Father
left Him.
Most of us consider the physical torture and
crucifixion of Christ Jesus’ body for us the ultimate sacrifice. But
when the Presence of God left Him, darkness came and Jesus cried
out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?” It is my personal belief that at that
moment, after an eternity in the Presence of God, His torment went
far beyond anything we can comprehend. I believe that severance was
His supreme sacrifice for us.
.
In Revelation 1:13 Jesus said He walks in the midst
of the seven churches. Which means His presence is always with us. A
lamp stand is not the light, but the bearer of the light. To the
Church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-5) He said unless they returned to their
first love He’d remove their lamp stand. Without the light of His
presence there is darkness.
“If therefore the light that is in you is darkness,
how great is that darkness!”
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