The Lightlings

Today, on Renewing Your Mind, R. C. Sproll reads his children's book, The Lightlings. Here's a preview.

Now after the lightlings left the garden, the king began to remove his lights from that garden. And the garden soon became cold and covered with weeds, thorns, and sticky briars. It was awful living in the dreadful darkness all the time, where the only light they ever saw was in barely lit shadows that danced in the forest. In fact, they couldn't tell the difference any more. between night and day.

Most of us know John 3:16. But do you know John 3, 19? The light has come into the world. The people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. As you'll hear today on a special edition of Renewing Your Mind, not everyone is afraid of the dark.

Some are afraid of the light. R.C. Sproll was committed to bringing the truth of Scripture to the next generation. And he had a wonderful ability to do that through his stories. The Lightlings, which you'll hear him read today, is one of my favorites.

You can request your own copy when you give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind and reaching the next generation at renewingyourmind.org. It's Ligonier's commitment to passing down the faith to our children and grandchildren that encouraged us to develop a K through fifth grade curriculum for children. I'll tell you more about that later, but you can explore this brand new resource and pre-order copies at growingingodsword.org.

Well, I encourage you to gather your family together to enjoy a tale that captures the essence of the biblical story of redemption. Here's Dr. Sprawl. One evening. In a house in a quiet neighborhood, A little boy was getting ready for bed.

The boy's name was Charlie Cobb. And as his mother was tucking him in, she covered him with blankets to make him warm and cosy. And then she knelt by his bed and prayed with him. Finally, she stood. leaned over, and kissed him on the forehead.

Charlie looked up at her and said, Mommy, please don't forget to turn on the night light before you leave my room. misses Cobb smiled at him and said Don't worry, sweetheart, I'll be sure to turn on the light. I won't leave you in the dark.

So Charlie's mother gave him one last kiss. Finished tucking him in. and then turned on the night light next to his bed. Just as she was ready to leave, Charlie said, Mommy, Why am I afraid of the dark? She said, That's a hard question to answer, Charlie.

I think we're going to have to save it for Grandpa. He's coming for dinner tomorrow, so you can ask him then. All right, mommy, Charlie said. I'll wait until tomorrow and ask Grandpa about it. The next day, just as Charlie's mother had promised.

Grandpa came for dinner. And before they moved to the table, Charlie went and sat on his knee and said, Grandpa, may I ask you a question that's really bothering me? Grandfather smiled and said, Of course, Charlie, tell me what you'd like to know. And so Charlie said, Grandpa, Why is it that I am afraid of the dark? And why do so many people I know seem to be afraid of the dark, too?

Grandpa looked at Charlie. said that's a very good question. But did you know that not only are lots of people afraid of the dark, Many people are afraid of the light. Afraid of the light? said Charlie.

Why would that be? Grandpa said to understand that. I'm afraid I'm going to have to start at the beginning. In fact, at the very beginning. Charlie loved it when Grandpa told him stories, so he curled up next to him and waited for Grandpa to begin.

Grandpa started his story the way he always did. Once upon a time, There was a great king. who was the king of light. He lived in the light. He made the light And his light was so perfect and so pure.

that he was called The king? without a shadow. This great king of light made a group of people and he made them so that they could shine brightly just as he did. He called them his little lightlings. He set the lightlings in a beautiful garden that he prepared for them.

a garden that was full of bright sunshine. And the sun bathed the garden every day and help the flowers, plants, and the fruit to grow in great abundance. The bright light of the sun helped keep everyone warm in the garden. And the Lightlings loved it when the King came to visit them. at the end of the day.

But then one day something terrible happened. The Lightlings decided to do what they wanted to do. instead of what their king had commanded them to do.

So they disobeyed the king. And they sinned against him. And the very second that they sinned, Their light became dim. And they were filled with shame. and with great embarrassment.

Uh And so they ran as fast as they could to get away from the king. They didn't want the king of light to see them. They ran out of the garden and into the woods. and hid themselves in the darkest place that they could find. From then on, They were afraid of the light.

Because they knew that wherever the light was, The king would be. And the king would see them. in their shame.

Now, after the lightlings left the garden, the king began to remove his lights from that garden. And the garden soon became cold and cut. covered with weeds and thorns and sticky briars. The Lightlings moved further and further into the woods until they lived in a place that was almost completely covered in darkness. It was so dark that they had to grope around as if they were blind, feeling their way through the forest.

Often they would trip and fall, scuffing their knees and. bruising themselves. It was awful living in the dreadful darkness all the time, where the only light they ever saw was in barely lit shadows that danced in the forest. In fact, they couldn't tell the difference any more. Between night and day.

Then one night, or perhaps it was even day, Far off in the distance, They saw a blinding light shining through the trees. They could see this light coming from miles and miles away, and they were frightened by it. They thought that the light meant that the king was coming to find them, to punish them for their sins.

So most of the lightlings began to stumble quickly away from the light. But some of the lightling children were so amazed and interested in the light that they decided to see from where it was coming.

So they set off and traveled for many miles. It took them a long time, but as they moved, they saw the light shining brighter and brighter. And finally they came to a clearing in the forest. And in the middle of the clearing, They saw a father lightling. A mother lightling?

And a little baby. who was shining like the sun. The blazing light seemed to be coming right out of the baby himself. And so the lightlings who saw it were shocked and surprised, and they asked the father lightling, Who is this baby? Where did he come from?

The Father Lightling answered, He is not my son. He is the son. of the King of Light. The king has given him to us. as a special gift.

He has been born for us. And when he grows up, He will be called. The light of the world. And there will be no darkness strong enough. to hide his light.

No darkness deep enough. to send his light away. When they heard this, the Lightling children knelt down at the baby's feet. And they began to worship him. in fear.

and reverence. When they stood up again, Their own faces were shiny. But the light that was shining in their faces was not coming from inside them. It was a reflection of the light that was coming out of the baby. The lightlings were now surrounded with the light of the child.

They had come to visit. They rushed back to their homes, their friends, and their families as fast as their feet could carry them, and when they got home, they were still shining. The other lightnings were frightened at the sight of them. They said, What happened to you?

So the Lightling children told their story. We saw a baby. who was shining with light, He is the son of the king of light. The king has given us a child. He's given us his own son.

to be the light of the world. The lightlings noticed that already there was more light in the forest.

Now they could begin to see where they were going. They could walk without falling. They could run and play without bumping into trees or rocks and getting bruised. Yet some still hid from the light. While others realized They didn't need to be afraid anymore.

They saw that living in the light was much better. than the darkness they were used to. Grandpa looked at Charlie and said, You see, Charlie, we're afraid of the dark. Because we were made to live in the light. And someday all of us who love this sun will live with him forever in heaven.

And when we go to the dwelling place of the Son, who is now the light of the world, there will be no darkness at all. Not only that, there will be no moon, there won't be any stars, or even a sun. There'll be no night lights, no lamps, no lanterns. Not even candles. Johnny said, well, how can there be light?

If there's no sun or lamps or candles, how can that be? His grandfather replied, In the place where the king's son now lives, The light that shines forever still comes from inside of him. He's the light of heaven. and all who come into his presence. We'll never be in darkness again.

Wow. Charlie said. That sure is a wonderful thing to look forward to. And Grandpa replied, Charlie, let me make a suggestion. From now on, every time that you see the sun or the moon or the stars.

where every time you light a candle, Or turn on your little night lights. Remember the story of the child that the King of Light brought. into the darkness of this world. And remember that he gave us this baby. As a present.

Charlie, as long as you remember that. You will never ever ever Have to be afraid of the dark. What a beautiful story you just heard R. C. Sproul read.

It's titled The Lightlings, and you can request your copy when you give a donation at renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800-435-4343. When we first featured R. C. Sproul reading this story on Renewing Your Mind, we invited him into the studio and our President and CEO Chris Larson sat down with him to talk more about the Lightlings. Here's that conversation now.

RC, it's clear that you delight to pack deep theological truths into these children's stories. Why is it important, from your perspective, to put good theology into children's stories? Partly, it comes out of my own experience of being a father and a grandfather, where as long as I can remember, I love to try to regale little kids with stories that I would make up right on the spot and spin off the top of my head. And out of that experience of just having fun with stories, Came this idea of using children's stories as a vehicle or a conduit to try to teach important theological truths. are kids, but not only the kids.

But I understand that most of these stories are read to their children by their parents. And so I'm hoping that their parents will understand more deeply some of the principal truths of our faith because of these ideas.

Now, I've been in teaching for over 40 years. And I used to say at the beginning of my teaching career, that it was my job as a teacher. to take difficult concepts and ideas, and communicate them in such a way that the students could understand it. Yeah. Because I said any professor could take his notes from graduate school and just recite them to the students and not worry about whether they understood it.

And so many times it seemed like the professor himself was just regurgitating information that he had taken in and now was putting it out. And he had never really digested it either. I'm saying you don't really understand a concept. until you're able to communicate it. to a six-year-old child.

Sometimes we hide behind abstract language and sophisticated verbiage to conceal our own ignorance. Yeah. Whereas the goal is always to be understood, to make the Word of God, which is already clear in itself. As clear as we possibly can when we communicate it to others. And a good Discipline to practice that is the discipline of trying to teach it to little children.

There's a very well-known passage in the New Testament where children and the crowd are coming around Jesus. And as the children are coming, the disciples turn them away. And yet Jesus rebukes them. and says, Let the children come, for such is the kingdom of God. How is what happened in that moment in the New Testament connected to what you want to do with these stories?

Well Jesus says it's the childlike mind. Yeah. that represents what the kingdom of God is like.

Now, on the one hand, we are called to become as children. On the other hand, we are rebuked by the New Testament if we have a childish understanding of the things of God.

So on the one hand, we're told not to be childish, not to be children, but to grow in our maturity, to have an adult understanding of the Word of God. But in what sense are we to be childlike? not in childlike ignorance. but in childlike innocence where we trust. those who are in authority over us.

The five year old has no reason to doubt the truth of what his mother is telling him. It's not until we become more sophisticated that we begin to be skeptical and cynical of those in authority over us, our teachers, our parents, and so on. But We are to have an attitude towards God that infants have. Towards their parents, where there's an implicit trust in what is being told them. We're to trust God.

at his word implicitly. R. C., why is this particular story important to children and their parents? I created this little story. for our children's service at our church for Christmas Eve.

It's really a Christmas story. about the coming into the world. of the light of the world. And I hope that this will help. Little children and their parents reflect.

on the deep, deep, deep meaning of what took place that night. in Bethlehem. When the light broke into the darkness. and the darkness. could not overcome it.

And that's a good reminder for each of us, but especially for our children. and our grandchildren. The Lightlings is beautifully illustrated, just like all of doctor Sproll's children's books, and it's a tale that you'll return to time and time again. You can own your own copy or get one as a gift when you visit Renewing Your Mind. org with a donation.

Or you can call us at eight hundred four three five four three four three. This is a one day offer, so go to Renewing Your Mind. org while there's still time. Before we hear from another guest, I'd like to remind you about a new resource that has been years in the making: Growing in God's Word, a 52-lesson children's curriculum designed for kindergarten through fifth grade. Since we officially announced it earlier this year at our national conference, the response has been staggering.

Thousands of Sunday school teachers, elders, parents, and grandparents have signed up at growingingodsword.org. And I'm pleased to share with you that pre-orders are open and it will begin shipping next month. Although we had Sunday school classes in mind when we designed it, it is a flexible curriculum and can be easily adapted for homeschool families, for family worship, and even for use in Christian schools. Walk your children through the major themes of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation and help pass down the faith to the next generation with Growing in God's Word. Learn more.

See samples and pre-order today at growing in God's Word.org.

Well, joining us in the studio is Stephen Nichols. He's president of Reformation Bible College and a Liginier Ministries Teaching Fellow. Dr. Nichols, what motivated Dr. Sproll to write these children's books?

Well, that would be his own grandkids. You know, he wrote his first. First children's book in 1996. It was The King Without a Shadow. And his own grandkids make appearances in that book as characters.

But even the dog made it in.

So the dog they had is a character in the books. And so that was that was the real motivation, and that was what was behind it. And of course, the audience extended far beyond his own grandkids and to others as a way to just introduce them to the rich and deep theological themes that meant so much to R. C. And the title of that first book really shows us the kind of theology, the doctrines that Dr.

Sprah was not afraid to communicate and teach even to children, right? Oh, that's a great point. It's the king without a shadow. And God, of course, is the king without a shadow. And he doesn't have a shadow because he's not like us.

So here it is in his first children's book. He's tackling the doctrine of God and the transcendence of God and the grandeur of God and ultimately the holiness of God. And this, of course, is so central to all of Dr. Sproll's teaching. It's central to our mission here at Liguetere Ministries.

And he didn't want to leave this doctrine for Christians until they were older. He wanted to introduce it to them right at the beginnings of their lives and right at the beginnings of their Christian journey.

So the very first topic he tackles is the doctrine of God in these kids' books. And that really reflects his belief that theology should be presented simply, not simplistically, but simply and clearly. Oh, absolutely. I mean, this was the hallmark of his teaching. And it really was, I think, the gift to the church.

So often, theologians. Write for themselves, talk to themselves, and we need that. We need those heavy-lifting scholarly theologians, and Dr. Sproll himself certainly benefited from their work. But we also need to translate that, as it were, not to reduce it beyond recognition, but certainly to translate it to folks so that they can grasp it and more importantly, so that they can learn to love these doctrines and even just love these doctrines from an early age.

And Dr. Sproul wrote several books: The Lightlings, which we heard today, but also there were other titles: The Donkey Who Carried a King, The Priest with Dirty Clothes, The Prince's Poison Cup. And again, these reflect the key doctrines that he wanted to convey to children, right? Yeah, absolutely. Those titles that you just mentioned, all in their own way, deal with that other crucial doctrine.

That, of course, is the doctrine of justification by faith alone, the doctrines of grace. And we all know, probably most of us. First, I heard the solas from Dr. Sproll's teaching. And of course, that central sola of sola fide, justification.

By faith alone.

So essential, so central to the gospel. And so, here too, Dr. Sprohl wants to tell these story of these doctrines in a compelling fashion with a great narrative. And of course, there's the challenge that the main character falls into, and that needs to be resolved.

So, we have these great children's stories to teach these cardinal doctrines.

Well, Dr. Nichols, thank you for being in the studio and for your role in reaching the next generation through Reformation Bible College. My pleasure. Thank you. Before we go, I do want to remind you to visit renewingyourmind.org or use the link in the podcast show notes before midnight tonight to add the hardcover edition of the Lightlings to your library.

There's a Q ⁇ A section to help you discuss the gospel and the redemptive themes of the story with your children or grandchildren.

So I encourage you to make it a family favorite, like it is in my family. And there's also a global digital edition of this offer for those who live outside of the US and Canada at renewingyourmind.org slash global. I also ask you to please pray for next month's release of Growing in God's Word. You can learn more and pre-order your own copy at growingingodsword.org. Do you know that you'll go to heaven?

Does your confidence ever fade? During this year's national conference, I interviewed Michael Reeves on this topic, and it's that conversation that we'll be featuring tomorrow here on Renewing Your Mind.