And so we're continuing this morning with the series we began a few weeks ago about
the analogies of the Bible, and if you remember last week, we looked about the fact that the
Bible was likened unto a seed, showing us that it was necessary for the new birth and
also that it represented a new beginning, and then prior to that we looked at the fact
that the Word of God was likened unto a mirror, which shows us our spiritual reflection, for
better or worse.
I won't re-preach any of that, but today we're going to be looking at the fact that the Bible
is likened unto a lamp.
That is one of the analogies for the Bible within Scripture is that it is called a lamp.
You might have caught that there in Proverbs chapter 6, and if you want to keep something
in Proverbs, we're going to be in Proverbs and Psalms several times, so probably just
keep something right in that area there, Proverbs, Psalms, and go back, if you would, to Psalms
119, Psalms 119, not very far back.
It's no wonder that the Word of God is likened unto a lamp, given the fact that it was God's
Word itself which brought light into existence.
If we remember, of course, in Genesis 1-3, it says, God said, Let there be light, and
there was light.
God's Word is light, so it only makes sense that His Word also is likened unto light.
His physical, literal Word in the Scripture is likened unto a light or a lamp in the Scripture.
If you're there in Psalm 119, go to verse 105.
God spoke light into existence, and His Word is likened unto a lamp because of the fact
that it brings illumination.
It brings illumination.
God's Word has an enlightening effect on our life.
If you look at Psalms 119, verse 105, it says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path.
What is the lamp that's unto our feet?
What is the light that is unto our path?
It is His Word.
Thy word is a lamp.
Thy word is a light.
Go over to verse 130.
The Bible says in Psalms 119, verse 130, The entrance of Thy words giveth light.
It giveth understanding to the simple.
So we can see that the way in which God's Word is likened unto, or the way in which
it illuminates us, rather, is spiritually.
It's something that's done inwardly.
It's an illumination of the inward man through the Word of God, the entrance of Thy words.
That's something that is received within.
That's what gives light.
It gives what?
Understanding.
So this illuminating, this lightning in our lives is giving us understanding, as it says
there, unto the simple.
We go through life without Christ, stumbling in the dark.
We get saved.
He gives us the light of God's Word.
We are simple, and then we grow in the wisdom and the knowledge and the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ through His Word, through Him enlightening us through His Word, through
the lamp of God's Word.
So we see that the purpose of the lamp is what?
To help us find our way, right?
He says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.
It is a light unto my path.
Talking about the way in which we're going.
We're moving through life.
We're walking through life, and we have God's Word there to act as a lamp, to act as a guide,
to act as a source of illumination in a dark world, and we are living in a very spiritually
dark world today.
So the purpose of the lamp is to help us find our way, and it does that through an inward
spiritual illumination.
If you want to go over to Proverbs chapter 2, Proverbs chapter 2, you'll see this time
and time again where he's bringing up the fact that God's Word is a lamp, that God's
Word is a light, that God's Word is, that it bringeth light, it giveth light, it does
it inwardly.
The entrance of thy words giveth light.
It is when wisdom entereth into thine heart, if you look at Proverbs chapter 2 verse 10.
When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul.
How do you receive knowledge?
You receive that inwardly, right?
Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee, deliberately from the way
of evil men, from their path, from the manna that speaketh forward things, who leave what?
The paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness.
So we can see how this illuminating effect of God's Word as a lamp inwardly in our lives
directs us, it guides us down what?
Down a path.
And that path that we're walking on, we can look at a person's life and we can see what
kind of path they're on, morally speaking, right?
We can see the way somebody's conducting themselves, somebody's living their life, we can say they
are on a good path or a bad path.
It says in verse 13, who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness.
So this inward illumination by the Word of God is going to lead us on a path, isn't it?
It's going to be a lamp unto our feet, it's going to be a light unto our path, right?
And it's going to lead us down a specific path.
It's going to lead us down a path of uprightness.
And if we notice there that there's also another path, right?
There's the path of those that walk in the ways of darkness.
They leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness.
So if we leave this path, that's where we'll be.
And I want to kind of make application this morning, I don't want to get too far ahead
of myself, but we don't want to develop this idea that just because we're saved, we're
automatically going to be on the right path.
We're automatically going to be walking in the light.
That's not the case.
It's very possible for even us as saved Christians to walk in darkness, and you'll see that as
we go on here.
But go over to Proverbs chapter 4, Proverbs chapter 4 verse 18.
The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 4 verse 18, but the path of the just is as the shining
light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
The way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not what they stumble.
So there's this idea, the path of the just is as the shining light, kind of like when
the sun comes up.
We all know living here in Arizona that certain parts of the day are brighter and hotter than
others.
When the sun's first coming up, we all look at it, if we're up that early, and we're enjoying
it and the birds begin to chirp, and we take it in and we say, wow, it's beautiful.
And then when it gets a little late in the day, we begin to curse the sun, and we begin
to shake our fist at it, and we can't wait for sunset.
And then it comes back down and we're glad that it went away.
But that's kind of what he's showing us here, that the path of the just is as the shining
light that shineth more and more unto the perfect or complete.
That's the meaning of perfect in the scripture, whole.
We'd be without nothing but perfect and complete, right?
So the path of the just, we start out, we have what light we have.
It's shining at our feet, it's showing us a path.
As we begin to walk down that path and that light, we get what?
More illumination.
Because more of the word of God is being received.
More wisdom is entering in.
His word is entering in and giving us more light inwardly.
And therefore, our walk with Christ becomes brighter and brighter unto what?
The perfect day.
So there's this idea of growing again in the knowledge and the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of walking this path, gaining more knowledge, and progressing, right?
Getting better at the Christian light.
The path of the just is not wherever they wander, though.
That's what I want to point out here this morning, is it says there, but the path of
the just.
Meaning that if you are going to live just, if we're going to live godly and upright in
Christ Jesus, if we're going to shine more and more into the perfect day, we have to
stay on the path.
We have to stay in the light.
We have to keep that lamp on.
You can't just turn it off and start wandering wherever you want to go in life and expect
to shine more and more into the perfect day.
You're not going to.
You're going to end up, like verse 19, the way of the wicked is as darkness.
If we live a wicked and sinful life, we're going to wander in darkness.
We're not going to shine.
And it says there, they know not at what they stumble.
That's the perfect illustration of people who live a sinful life, isn't it?
They have all these problems, and they can't explain why.
They know not at what they stumble.
They think, well, this is what everybody does.
This is just the way life is, you know?
You get married, you get divorced.
You go out, you sow your wild oats, and you have all these problems, and that's just the
way life is.
They develop this type of mentality, and they walk in the ways of darkness.
They know not at what they stumble.
Just like when we walk into a dark room, you know, if you don't turn the light on, we're
going to trip over something and wonder, what was that?
This is the way people live their lives today.
This is the way of the wicked.
And if we're not careful as God's people, we can wander right along with them.
And we can stumble at the same things that they stumble at.
So it's the light that determines the path we take.
We don't get to take the light that God has given us in his word and say, I'm going to
take this light, and I'm going to go walk down this path.
No, he says, here's where the light is.
You need to walk down this path.
We have to come to the light and walk down the path that he has illuminated.
So the light determines the path we take.
We don't determine where the light shines.
God shines his light and says, you need to come here.
This is the path I want you to walk down.
And as long as you walk on it, it'll get brighter and brighter.
It'll always be illuminated.
You won't have to worry about stumbling and falling and wandering in the darkness.
But there is a philosophy out there today.
There's a way of, there's people who want to have, you know, they believe in the Bible.
They believe in the supernatural, literal account of the Bible.
But then they want to have a relationship apart with God, apart from the Bible.
So I believe the Bible, and maybe they really do.
They say, I believe all the things that it says, but you know what?
I'm going to have my own relationship with God.
I'm going to determine how I have this relationship with God.
That's not how it works with the Lord.
He says, no, the light is here.
The path of the just is here.
Get on my plan.
Do things my way.
Now, we're going to see that here throughout scripture.
If you look at Proverbs six, where I had you read this morning, Proverbs chapter six, the
Bible says in verse 23, the commandment is a lamp.
So what is the lamp?
It's the word of God.
And what is the word of God full of?
Commandments, right?
Thou shalt, thou shalt not.
That's the light that we have.
That's the guiding light in our life that's going to guide us down the path of the just.
The commandments of God.
The commandment is a lamp.
The law is a light.
And so many today, they want to throw all that away, don't they?
You're going to say, oh, well, we're free in Christ.
We don't need to worry about the commandments.
But the Bible says that the commandment is the lamp and that the law is a light.
And it says there, and reproofs of instruction are the ways of life.
Sometimes we come to the light and we're reproved, aren't we?
And we say, well, I don't know if I like this.
Maybe I'll go back to the darkness.
But the way of the transgressor is hard.
So the lamp of the Bible, it shines on a very specific path.
And we have to get on that path if we're going to shine more and more unto the perfect day.
The lamp of God's word shows us our way is fixed.
We don't get to determine where, you know, like if you were to go on any hike, you know.
When we went and hiked up there up to Umat Hill this last week, it started at one spot
and ended, I mean, the whole way was paved.
There was a path, right?
I mean, yeah, I guess we could have gone our own way, but it would have been pretty tough,
don't you think?
I'm kind of glad they took the time to cut that into the side of the hill and then put
some asphalt down.
And they even put lines on it and a speed limit.
They said, speed limit, 15 miles an hour.
They said, who in the world is going that fast up this hill?
But I'm glad they did that.
I mean, we could have shown up there and said, yeah, I know that's where the path is, but
I'm going that way.
I'm going straight up, just poof.
I'm going through those cactuses and through that bush and I'm going to get gored by that,
you know, what do they call them, the javelinas, I don't know if they have tusks or not.
And everyone on the path is going to go, what's that guy doing?
The same way, God's path that he has illuminated is fixed.
He says, no, it starts here.
And you want to come on and get on my program, you can, but this is where it starts.
The lamp of God's word shows us that our path is fixed.
Go to Exodus chapter 18, Exodus chapter 18.
And what is that path?
It's the law.
It's the commandments.
It's the reproofs of life.
The Bible says in John 8, then Jesus spake, excuse me, then spake Jesus, who was what?
The word made flesh, right?
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
And the word was made flesh and we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the father
full of grace and truth.
So he is the word, right?
He is light.
He said, saying, I am the light of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have what?
The light of life.
Is it everyone that believes in Christ that has the light of life?
Now I know they're saved, but we have to follow him, right?
If we're going to not walk in darkness.
We can be saved and walk in darkness.
Christians do it all the time.
They do it all the time.
Bible says in Ephesians chapter 5, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light
in the Lord, walk as children of light.
If that were automatic, why is Paul telling the Ephesians to do it?
But now you're a light and I know that you're going to walk in light no matter what.
Praise God.
No, walk as children of light.
That's a commandment.
That's him saying, get on God's program.
Do things God's way.
Get in the light and walk in the light.
We need to look at this word lamp in the scripture and think about less of like a flashlight
or something that's mobile and more like a street lamp.
That's the illustration I want to use.
We want to treat God's word like a flashlight.
Stick it in our mouth and blow up our cheeks and make them all red.
Come on, you've all done it.
We want to shine it wherever we want.
Well, I want to go this way.
I'm just going to shine a light over here.
God says that's not the way I want you to go.
God's word is like a street lamp.
Maybe some of you can pick up a street lamp and move it.
I don't know.
I've never tried, but my guess is nobody can.
If we want the light that is provided by that lamp, we have to stay under it.
We have to go to the next one and the next one and the next one and so on and so forth.
God's word is a lamp, but it's fixed and it shines on a very specific path that we have
to get on.
God's word is a street lamp and it shows us the way.
Look at Exodus chapter 18 verse 20, and thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws.
Of course, this is Moses' father-in-law explaining to him how he should do things and he says,
and thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws and shalt show them the way wherein they must
walk and the work that they must do.
So again, the law is a lamp, right?
The law is a light.
The commandment is a lamp.
The law is light.
And he's saying here, look, the ordinances and the law are things that you have to walk
in them and there are things that you must do.
There is work that you must do.
So we cannot have a relationship with the Lord apart from his word.
We cannot wander in darkness and then say, oh, we're children of the light, even though
we might be saved.
Go to Psalms 143, Psalms 143.
Think about when the children of Israel were wandering out of Egypt.
God took them out of Egypt.
They crossed over the Red Sea.
God gave them a what?
A cloud by day, right, and then what by night?
A pillar of fire by night.
What was the purpose of that fire?
To illuminate their path.
And they had to stop when he stopped and they had to go when he would go.
And they had to go wherever he went.
And when that pillar went that way, that's the way they had to go.
Or what?
They would be in darkness.
And that's often, you know, and again, the children of Israel in the Old Testament are
a great illustration of the Christian life.
We get saved, right?
We get brought out of Egypt.
You know, we get baptized, hopefully, right?
That's the next step in the process.
And then we start what?
Walking towards victory, walking towards the victorious Christian life in the land of Canaan.
But how do you get there?
How do you get from the Red Sea through the wilderness to the land of Canaan and fight
the battles of the Lord?
You have to walk in the light.
You have to follow the lamp of God's word.
So God gives us that light.
The children of Israel, they could not determine which way they went to the Promised Land.
They can say, I know the pillar fires over there, but I'm going this way because it's
more scenic.
It looks easier over there.
There's less rocks.
There's less trees, whatever.
I like that way better for whatever reason.
God says, well, I'm not going that way.
And if you want me to light your path, if you want me to guide you there, if you want
to get there safely, if you don't want to walk in darkness and stumble, then you need
to get in my light and you have to follow the way I'm leading.
And that's why he's given us his word, because his word does that for us.
It reigns us in, at least it should, and it gets us on the path and it illuminates.
The entrance of thy word giveth light.
Are you in Psalms 143?
Did I have you go there?
In Psalms 143 verse 8, cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning, for in thee
do I trust.
Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk.
That's a good prayer.
We like to hear about the loving kindness, right?
God, just tell me how much you love me.
And God loves us.
And that is a great thing to think about.
I mean, that's what he's praying.
Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning.
It's a great thing to get up in the morning and get alone with the Lord, get in his word
and pray and know the love of God.
For in thee do I trust.
It's great to have the Lord to put your trust in.
But he goes on and says, cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, meaning this.
There is a way wherein you should walk, and there's a way wherein you should not walk.
That's what he's praying here.
Cause me to know.
We'll pray that first half, but are we willing to pray that last part there?
It says in verse 10, teach me to do thy will.
Teach me to do thy will for thou art my God.
Thy spirit is good.
Lead me into the land of uprightness.
Do we pray that?
Is that what we want for our lives?
Do we want to be taught how to do God's will or do we just want to do our own thing?
Do we want to be led of God or do we want to be the masters of our own destiny?
The captain of our own ship.
Those philosophies are out there, but that's not the prayer of the psalmist.
That's not the prayer of any child of God who's going to walk in the light as he is
in the light.
Any child of God who's going to walk the path that God has illuminated is going to pray
this prayer and say, teach me to do thy will.
Lead me into the land of uprightness.
I mean the Lord has likened unto, he's called the good shepherd, right?
That's what a shepherd does.
He leads.
He corrals, right?
And how does God corral us?
Through his commandments.
He gets his sheep together and he gets them all together through his commandments and
he gets them on that right path and says, we're going over here.
And that staff he has, that shepherd's crook, that's for maybe keeping away the enemies
but it's got a little hook on it too, right?
It's to bring you back in, maybe use the other end and don't go there.
And how does he do all that?
He does that through his word, through the lamp of God's word.
Go to John chapter eight, John chapter eight.
In John chapter eight verse 12, then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light
of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Who is it that has the light of life?
Them that follow him.
Go to Ephesians chapter five.
I know I'm repeating some of these, Ephesians chapter five.
So this is the application, right?
We need to understand first of all that yes, God's word is a lamp, yes, it illuminates,
it's there but it's fixed, it's on a certain path that we have to get on and we can understand
all that.
It's not a very hard concept to grasp but it's a tough one to put in practice quite
often.
And I want to admonish us today, this morning, to use the spiritual lamp that God has given
you by walking according to his word.
I mean, God has given us a spiritual lamp.
That's what he's liking his word unto, a lamp that we can use to do what?
To navigate us through the darkness of this world, to illuminate our path as we live this
life.
And that's a great advantage that we have over a lot of people, to have the Spirit of
God, to have the Word of God.
Look, people make mistakes in their life all the time.
Everyone does.
And people look back and they say, oh, I wish I hadn't done this, I wish I had known that,
I wish someone had shown me this from the scripture, I wish I had learned this from
the Bible, then I would have avoided this and I would have done this.
We can't do anything about what's happened but we can go forward from where we are, wherever
we're at and get on that path and God will continue to lead us if we use the lamp he
has given us.
And so many today, they want to get their own lamp.
They want to find some other way to illuminate the path.
That's not God's path.
That's not how it works.
Again, Ephesians 5, I quoted earlier, it says in verse 8, ye were sometimes darkness but
now are ye in the light in the Lord.
Walk as children of the light.
That's the alternative to walking in the light.
Because you're going to live this life, it's not, well, I'm just going to stand still.
Which is probably, you know, practically speaking, if you were stuck in a dark room, that would
be the best thing to do.
Right?
Well, I'm totally blind, I can't see where I'm going, until somebody comes and leads
me or turns the light on, I'm just going to stay right here, I don't want to get hurt.
That's not how life works though, is it?
We're always moving forward through life.
Life is always going on.
You can either walk in the light, or you can walk in the darkness.
The choice is ours, and if we want to walk in the light, then we have to use the lamp
that God has given us.
His word, his commandments, his statutes, his judgments.
When you say, well, I really don't need it, I'm pretty smart.
I'll figure it out.
I see other people, they seem to be doing okay without all these commandments and rules
and everything like that.
Yeah, you know, they might be.
Spiritually, they're probably a wreck if they're even saved.
But to have the word of God, to know it's a lamp, to have the spirit of God, to know
that the entrance of his word is going to give me light, that it's going to light my,
it's going to give me a lamp unto my feet and a light on my path, to know that, and
to say no thanks.
You know, that's as absurd as walking into a dark room and knowing where the light switch
is and just saying, oh, I got this.
I mean, I probably do that at least once a night.
You know, I find myself doing that.
Got to go put the phone down or whatever, get something.
Well, I know about where it is when I walk in this room.
I've been here enough during the day, I got to lay in the land, right?
What you forgot was is that you moved that chair and it's not in its ordinary place and
now you're waking up the whole house, you know, because you stubbed your toe, right?
It's that absurd.
Well, why don't you just reach over and turn on the light?
It's right there.
Oh, I wouldn't want to sprain a finger.
I mean, we're, it's funny.
It's because it's absurd, right, to think that, to behave that way.
Come home at night, arms full, totally dark house, don't know where everything is.
I'm just going to get everything I needed done with the lights off.
We don't even think about it.
It's instinctive to turn the light on.
But how many people are living their Christian life with no light?
They don't turn the light on.
The unsaved, they don't have a light to guide them, do they?
We do.
The question is, do we use it?
Go to a second Peter chapter one, second Peter chapter one.
Obviously using the light God has given you, his word, is the intelligent option.
Now, you're not going to go home in a dark room and turn the light on and someone's,
oh, that's very smart of you, right?
Wow, this guy's really bright, no pun intended.
What a smart move to turn the light on.
That's just common sense.
It's the only reason it's intelligent is because walking into the dark room and trying to figure
a way around is stupid.
Now apply that spiritually.
Well, you know, I'm a Christian so I read the Bible and I do what it says.
Good job.
You're so smart.
No, that's common sense.
I'm a Christian.
I have no idea what the Bible says or I disregard all of it.
That's stupid.
That's absurdity.
That's a sure way to wander in darkness unnecessarily.
And people do that in their life and they trip and they fall and they get bruised and
battered and everything else, right?
That's what life, the way of the transgressor is hard, okay?
I mean, again, going back to just, I'm going to just keep working this illustration.
If you showed up at church and had like a bandage wrapped around your head or maybe
you were in a cast, you were obviously in some physical altercation and were injured
severely to the point of needing medical attention and I were to ask you, what happened?
Did you get in a fight?
No, I just walked around the dark.
What?
Yeah, I went home and I just decided not to turn any lights on and I fell down a flight
of stairs.
That would be pretty stupid.
I would not, I wouldn't feel, I don't know that I didn't feel bad for you.
I'd have a hard time not laughing at you, right?
Because it's stupid.
But if we could look at some people spiritually, that's exactly what they're doing.
It's exactly what they're doing in their spiritual life.
They've got a light, not going to turn it on.
And again, I got to get it out.
This is the light right here.
This is it.
Oh, I got my lamp here.
Let me just leave it over here and just go try to figure this out.
Good luck with that.
It's not going to work.
You're going to show up spiritually with that bandage wrapped around your head.
Everybody else is going to be going, turn the light on.
Here's how you turn it on.
This is the on switch, right?
Use the light God has given you.
And by the way, it's not a clapper for all the 80s kids out there, right?
They want the Christian light to be like that, just boom.
Thanks, Lord.
No, you got to open it.
Look at it.
Read it.
Comprehend it.
Understand it.
Use the light God has given you.
And you wonder why people would do that.
Why would people ignore the light, the lamp that is God's word
that he has given them to illuminate their path
and to guide them through this dark world?
Why would you be so, why do people just disregard it?
Because they look at it and they go, this is a drudgery.
Because it's commandments.
Because it's statutes.
Because it's a law.
All that shows is how carnal you are.
All that shows is how much in the flesh we are.
If all we can see is look at the lamp and just go, man, I hate that thing.
It's such a burden to bear.
You know, I'd rather lug around a big giant battery
or a flashlight with a big battery on it
than slam my chin into a bunch of furniture.
You know, I'd rather put up with that mild discomfort
rather than, you know, inflicting great bodily harm upon myself
because I just didn't want to bother with the light.
We need to understand that God's words, and he says this,
his commandments are not grievous.
Why do people ignore the lamp?
Why do people put the light aside and just say, don't need it.
I'm going to figure this out.
I'm going to just wander through the darkness
and I'll just, maybe I won't move as fast as some other people are going
and I might break a few toes along the way, but I'll get there.
Because they look at God's word and they think, oh, it's so grievous.
It's so heavy.
And again, we talked about it recently.
Yes, the word of God does restrict us.
It does put constraints on the flesh for our own benefit.
The Bible says in 1 John 4,
this then is the message which we have heard of him
and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth.
How does God speak to us today?
Through his word.
What is his word?
It is a light.
How can you say, oh, I'm in the light.
I have fellowship with God when you've never opened it,
when we're not in it, when we're not obeying it.
We lie and do not the truth.
Oh, I have fellowship with God.
Oh, okay, what did he tell you today?
Oh.
That's how it works.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.
We need to learn to use the light God has given us.
We'll do that when we look at it as a privilege and not a drudgery,
when we get to see the privilege that it is because, again, the wicked,
they know not of what they stumble.
You know, that God has blinded the minds of them which believe not.
They're groping in the darkness, and they don't even realize it.
We have the light.
We have a lamp unto our feet.
When we start to see how privileged we really are,
that's when we'll begin to use it.
The Bible says in 2 Peter, if you're there, chapter 1, 2 Peter 1, verse 19,
we have also a more sure word of prophecy,
where unto you do well that you take heed.
Who does well?
We do.
Who benefits from the word of God?
Does God?
Is God benefiting when we read his word?
No.
He's given that to us for our benefit.
This sure word of prophecy, he calls it.
And he says, you do well that you take heed as unto what?
As unto a light that shineth in a dark place.
God's word is likened unto a lamp throughout scripture.
He's likening it unto a light, which is what a lamp is, a source of light.
And he says that light is a light that shines in a dark place.
And if we could see the world spiritually,
we would come to that realization very quickly.
This is a dark place that you're in, spiritually speaking.
It's a dark world today.
And it just seems like it keeps getting darker.
That's why you do well to take heed,
because it's a light that's in a dark place.
And I know I've used this illustration before, but I'm going to use it again.
If you were to all go out in the middle of the woods on a starless night with no moon,
where it's just pitch black, and I handed you a flashlight,
that light would get pretty important pretty quick, wouldn't it?
If I took you out there in the middle of the afternoon and get here,
you're going to need this.
You'd be like, no, I'm not.
I don't need it.
If it was the middle of a black night,
you'd say this is the most important thing I have,
because it's the only way you're going to find your way back.
That is the illustration that Peter is using here.
God's sure word of prophecy is a light that is shining in a dark place.
Ye would do well to take heed unto it.
Ye would do well to open it up, to turn it on, and let the light in,
let his word have entrance that it could illuminate us
and give us a spiritual path to walk on.
So God's word is a lamp, and it will need us
if we will walk the path it shines upon.
It's illuminating a path.
We need to walk that path.
His word is a lamp unto our feet.
It is a light unto our path.
And he likens it.
He's using those words, you know, feet, path,
because we have to put in effort, don't we?
God's will is not an escalator.
Is that what they call those flat ones at the airport
where you just get on and it just takes you automatically?
No, it's a light unto your feet, right?
Meaning you have to put one foot in front of the other.
One foot in front of the other.
You know, in the illustration also is that God just lights right here.
This is where he lights the path.
We want God's whole light will for our lives
just to be illuminated all the way to heaven.
That's not how it works.
It's a light unto our feet.
He lights this step.
Then he says, take that step, I'll light up the next one.
Oh, you took that step? I'll light up the next one.
Oh, you did that? Now I'll light up the next one.
We want to know everything before we're ready for it even.
God lights our path one step at a time, meaning this.
You have to walk.
You have to put one foot in front of the other.
Feet have to be moved, don't they?
Paths have to be traversed.
You have to make an effort to walk down that path.
God's got it all lit up.
You know where the light is, this is where it starts.
You are here, right?
Like the map says, you want to get here?
One step at a time.
You're going to need a light along the way.
It's this book right here.
If we haven't been turning it on,
we should probably start doing that.
Because it won't be long before we spiritually stub a toe
or whatever, or worse in our lives.
We shouldn't bother to turn on the light in our life
and decide, oh, I'm just going to wander through the darkness of life
and try to figure it out myself.
Why? Why put yourself through that?
And then people have to go through that and then they go,
oh, you know what, the preacher was right.
Oh, you know what, these other Christians were right.
Yeah, after you broke an arm.
After you fell down a flight of stairs.
Oh, I guess maybe I should do that.
Yeah, I guess you're right.
Don't wait for that. Just light it up now.
Look at the path at your feet. It's right there.
And maybe you're going to turn on the light and God's going to go,
you need to stop doing this. You need to start doing that.
You can either look at that one of two ways.
Or, oh, you know what, what a privilege
for me to know the difference between evil and good.
So use the light God has given you.
But understand that it's going to illuminate a path that He has chosen
and something you're going to have to walk one step at a time.
Let's go ahead and pray.