In our last episode, we learned that the tongues of fire that appeared on Pentecost Day in the upper room brought light into the church. But Do you know what a light-filled life is all about?
Well, stay with us, listen, and learn. You're listening to Until He Comes, a blend of prophetic and practical biblical studies with Dr. Greg Hinnant, author of The Second Coming of Christ, His Appearing, His Return, Our Preparation. And now, author and teacher Greg Hinnant. Welcome to the program.
Today we are going to continue our discussion of tongues of fire, specifically how those tongues of fire brought light. into the life of the church and the Christians spiritual light.
Now We want to talk about today the light-filled life. What is a light-filled life? life Friend, it's your life. Filled with the light. Or do you have moments where the light shines and then You draw back into darkness.
Hmm. This is something we should think about.
now Well, we can do something about it.
Now that we have the light of identifying God. Are we seeking to know God intimately? and walk with them closely. that we might come into a fall. Rich Not only knowledge of God, but experience of walking in the light.
He doesn't want you and I to just study the light. We're called a walk in it. That's where our life is found. We need to learn to live the light filled life. Again, let me say this very clearly.
Many Christians receive the light of the world, Jesus, in their born again experience. Thank God. Thank God. They know that the word is life.
Well, thank God for that. They know that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. He brings light. He confirms light. He confirms when messages are we've heard and books we've read.
agree with the light of the infallible word of God. That's great. But then we have to walk in this light. We have to cooperate. There's a part that we and we alone can do and must do.
If we're to be like Jesus. Jesus didn't just give. Lightfield lectures. He lived a light skin. Field.
life. And what do we mean by light? Truth. Faithfulness. Love And godliness.
He lived a light-filled Now 1 John chapter 1. Verses 5 through 10 describes The light filled life. Listen to the Apostle. Verse 5. 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.
Now think about that. God doesn't have any corner of darkness, falsehood, sin, wickedness, deceit. in him, and neither should we. But here's the way It actually happens. When we're born again, we're not transformed overnight, not by a long shot.
It takes years.
So, the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Light, is showing us where the darkness still lurks. In our living Inner thinking. In a conversation, and our hopes and aspirations. and our desires. and in our imaginations.
and in our attitudes. When He shows us there's darkness, we must respond, and confess that sin, God will cleanse it. And then he'll fill it with the light. of what the Word of God tells us we should do or think. in those circumstances.
and her life has just been changed. More darkness. has been expelled and more liked. brought in its plates. Number six.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him, that is this God that is filled with light and has no darkness in Him. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, We lie and do not the truth.
Now, he's talking about a lifestyle. If you say you're a Christian and have fellowship with the God who is filled with light, yet you're practicing darkness. Here it means sin. Dishonesty, deceit. Un-Christian, unbiblical living.
then you're lying. You're just lying. You're living a hypocritical life. You know, a hypocrite is not someone who occasionally fails. And comes short of either his ideals in the natural or the teachings of God in the Bible.
In the questions lie, No. The hypocrite The w the word that's often used in the New Testament, in fact in almost every case, is Hippocrates, and it means One who assumes a role. one who plays the part of an actor. One who is Pretending to be what he is not and never will be.
So now let's put that into the Christian life. If a person. Says as a Christian. But they're not born again.
Well, they can't be a Christian, they can't live like a Christian, so they're really living as a hypocrite. They're pretending to be someone who they are not.
Now, as Christians, born again, eaten, baptized in the Holy Spirit, if you Don't get serious about obeying the word of God, you end up forming the habit of pretense. You stand on your tiptoes, you act a certain way in church and around your religious friends, you act totally different. Among other people. You're not the same person in every circumstance of life. You change with the blowing of the wind.
You're like a spiritual chameleon, it changes its colours and different settings.
So you're pretending to be What you are not A spiritual Christian, and what you have, at the moment at least, no intention of becoming. That Is a hypocrite. It is a lifestyle, not a single act.
So he goes on to say. But if we walk in the light, that is, if we practice walking in obedience to the Word of God, as He, Jesus, is in the light. We have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. That's wonderful, isn't it? That if we walk in the light, we automatically have fellowship.
We don't have to try to have fellowship, we have it. If you're trying to have fellowship with someone, Something wrong. If we say that we have no sin, that is, no sin nature. We deceive ourselves. And the truth.
is not in us. Christian groups who down the history of the church have claimed to be freed or Purged. of their sinned nature, have invariably Falling into sin. in some cases, grievous sin. I can think of the Oneida group That was in New York in the eighteen hundreds.
They believe that their carnal nature was no more. It had been expunged. It had been eradicated, was the term they used, and therefore nothing they could do. could be considered sin.
so they ended up having free love. And it was quite a mess. and a blot on the name of Jesus. in that time and day. This just shows you how crazy.
Christian groups can get. if they deny the existence of her sin nature.
Now he says, if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What's the difference between sin and sins? Sin is the nature we were born with from Adam. inclined I would say tragically inclined to disbelieve and disobey God. All of us have that nature.
Sins Are the specific acts or words or omissions of wrong doing which spring from that sin nature? We all have the same sin. but we indulge different sins, or have done so. in the past.
So he says if we deny the sin nature, we're deceiving ourselves. If we won't con if we confess our sins, however, Christ is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then you see we're ready to walk in the light as he walks in it. And he goes on to say: if we say that we have not sinned, that is, when we have, We make him a liar, him, the Holy Spirit, who is convicting us and saying, you have sinned, something's wrong. If we won't acknowledge that, we make the Holy Spirit to be allowed.
You see, we both can't be right about this issue. If the Holy Spirit is saying, you're in sin, get it right, and we say, no, I'm fine, then we call him a liar. And his word is not in us. That is, the word, the teaching of Christ, is not finding a place in our life at the time.
So this is such an important passage. We must understand it. It is so important that we do. Let me read this to you in the Philips translation. J B Phillips I have some uh great Passages in his Hmm.
New Testament. Translation in Modern English. Verse five through ten we'll read this here. Here then is the message which we have heard from him and now proclaim to you: God is light. and no shadow of darkness can exist in him.
Consequently. if we were to say that we enjoyed fellowship with him and still went on living in darkness, We should be both telling and living a lot. Listen to that, friend. Telling and living a lie. But if we really are living in the same light in which He eternally exists, then we have true fellowship with each other.
and the blood which his son shed for us keeps us clean. from all sin. If we refuse to admit that we are sinners, Then we live in a world of illusion and truth becomes a stranger to us. But if we freely admit that we have sinned, We find God utterly reliable and straightforward. He forgives our sins and makes us thoroughly clean from all that is evil.
for if we take up the attitude we have not sinned We flatly deny God's diagnosis of our condition, and cut ourselves off. from what he has to say. to us. That is 1 John. Chapter 1, verse 5 and 10, in the Philips.
Now, the light-filled life is a life built upon humility and truth. Think about that. Humility. and truthfulness. just the opposite of pride in Falsehead.
Specifically It's built upon the habit or discipline of humble, truthful examination of one's own life. and quick truthful confession and forsaking. of all sin.
Now, to form this new habit or discipline, friend, we must break the old habits. I'm constantly judging other people. examining how we think they are wrong. and when we doing so we are examining the wrong person. We should be examining ourselves.
And also by denying sin when it occurs in our own life. Both habits are rooted in pride, and Jesus spoke directly to it in Matthew 7, verses 1. Through five. Let's read this passage and see what Jesus had to say. He said, Judge not, that you be not judged.
To judge is to render a decision. Friends, if you don't have to render a decision about another person, if you're not in a position of authority where you're required to. make some kind of uh assessment of someone's character. Don't do it. Leave them to God.
Now Jesus goes on to say, For with what judgment or standard of judgment you judge, you shall be judged. With what measure or measure of judgment you meet, it shall be measured to you again. What's he saying? He said, if I use a ruler to measure you, God's going to take that same ruler and measure me. I better be sure I measure her up.
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Now, again, Dr. Hinnant. And I better be sure that I'm not measuring you unless. I'm in a position of responsibility as a pastor, as a leader. in some capacity where I've got to make a decision about people's character, at least in general.
He says Why do you behold the moat that's in your brother's eye? But you consider not the beam that is in thine own eye. He said, Look, your brother has a little speck that is a minor fault. In his life, well, you've got a beam, you've got a log, you've got a plank, you've got a major sin. in your eye, that is your soul, Or, how will you say to your brother, Oh, brother, there, let me pull out the moat?
From your eye? And behold, a beam is in your own uh That is, you take it upon yourself to become mister or misses spiritual counselor to the poor and needy Christians around you, and you begin to try to correct them when you've not been prepared or called to the office of a counsellor. or pastor. or an elder. He says Thou hypocrite there's that word You hypocrite.
First cast the beam out of your own eye. Then you you will see clearly to cast them out. out of your brother's eye. You know, Jesus is just saying there's an order to this thing. Forget.
Assessing other people's. That is not your job. and concentrate on assessing yourself.
Now don't beat yourself up. Don't try to condemn yourself. That's false pride. Oh, I'm so disappointed that I'm not as great as I thought I was. No.
No, no, don't don't do that. You you should. First, examine yourself and confess your sin quickly, then you will have discernment. Then shalt thou see. Clearly.
To do what, Jesus? To cast the moat out of your brother's eye. You know what's ironic here? He ends the way he begins. He begins with us judging others, he ends with us judging others.
But there's a huge difference. If we're obedient, In between these two statements, verse 1 and 5, A tremendous life change has occurred. First of all, we Put off our prideful judging of others and decided that's none of my business. I'll let God take care of that. If we do see sin, and it's sin, it's plain and obvious in other Christians' life, instead of Condemning them, we pray for them.
If we have a relationship with them of any kind, yes, we can mention something to them humbly. But in no way with haughtiness. We could be encouraging them to change their ways. but not dictatorial and condemning, not at all. But If we will begin by leaving others to God and fight.
Focusing on judging ourselves. Then at the end, ironically, God will have performed eye surgery on us, and He would have gotten out the cataracts that have blinded us, and now we see clearly. I've had both my hands, Operator Lorne. The cataracts removed, clear lenses put in, and I remember coming out each time the operation was performed. They usually do it 30 days between one eye and the other.
I came out and I thought, wow, I can see clearly now. That's the way it is when you Determine to obey Christ's instruction here, and you're going to judge yourself and leave others. to the Lord.
Now, if you form this habit, again, you will be living the light-filled life.
Now, if we live this light-filled life in this world, we will live forever in the light-filled city of God, New Jerusalem. Why? Because at the judgment seat we will reap what we have sown. Jesus said in Revelation 22:12, Behold, I come quickly. and my reward is with me.
That is, I come and my reward.
So it is the general belief of evangelical Bible scholars that. The judgment seat of Christ occurs immediately after the rapture of the church in heaven. And so, what I'm saying is that the way we live now. Determines a weight. We will be rewarded, and our position in the eternal kingdom of God.
Not our salvation. That's entirely by the grace of God. but our position in the kingdom. That is determined by works. Paul said very clearly, In 2 Corinthians 5, There's ten.
That we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive. for the deeds done in their body, whether they be good or evil. Good works bring merit, Evil works bring demerits.
Now So this is important. What about the Christians who don't walk in the light? There are many they are legion. What's going to happen to them? Do they live inside the city of Jerusalem where the Father and the Son.
Shine their brilliant glory, and we don't even need the light of the sun, moon, or the stars. Will they have the privilege of living inside that city? It is a limited space, 1,400 miles square approximately, 1,500 miles, depending upon the measurement. of the stade which was used at that time.
Well, I'm going to give you my belief. I'm going to give you my opinion. You can take it or you can leave it. But I believe the way we live here. Will determine where we live then.
If we walk in the light now, I believe we'll live. in the Lightville City. If we honor God now, I believe He'll honor us. by permitting us to dwell in that city. You know, New Jerusalem when you study biblical cosmology has twelve gates.
Three on each side. And so What we're seeing there is that it is a city that's filled with constant traffic. The gates are never closed, so people are coming and going at all time. They're coming and going. It's going to be awesome.
Great time there.
Now let me read you something about outer darkness. That I've got in my Revelation notes. It's taken from the writings of Spiros. Zahiadis He says Outer darkness was an area outside of a well illuminated banquet hall. where there was darkness, but not as dense as in the area that lay farther away.
He adds that the outer darkness of Matthew 25:30, for instance, where Jesus rebukes the slothful servant, he says, Depart from me into outer darkness. He says this means it must mean a place of far less rewards for the servants who proved themselves less diligent than those who used and exercised their talents to the fullness. The expression outer darkness must, in Matthew twenty two, thirteen, for instance, refer to degrees of enjoyment of heaven rather than referring to hell.
Now for your information, the reference to Matthew 22, 13 is in Jesus' parable of the the wedding feast there. The man who prepared a great feast And he found among the guests one who did not have a wedding garment on. He said, Friend, how did you get in here? And the man was struck salad With fear. and he was expelled into outer darkness.
yet no mention. is made of hell or hell fire. Spiros Zahanti says here the expression outer darkness in that reference. Refers to degrees of enjoyment of heaven rather than referring to hell. This teaching of varied rewards.
I'll repeat that, varied rewards or different degrees, different levels of rewards for Christians in the kingdom of God is part and parcel of the inherent doctrine in the New Testament that neither heaven nor hell Is going to be of equal degree for all, because this would annul the justice of God. Entrance into heaven is through the acceptance of Christ's sacrifice for our justification, but our rewards in heaven are just. will depend upon what we have done for Christ. Regarding Matthew 25, 14 through 30, this is the parable of the talent, by the way. That is an exact an exact description.
For the damn of what the judgment seat of Christ will be like. And he says In the parable of the talents, The expression outer darkness in verse thirty refers to a state of less rewards in heaven. Clearly contrasted with the damned goat tribulation survivors who were cursed. And sent to Everlasting fire. with the devil and his angels, verse forty one.
Therefore we find the possibility of degrees of light. The further one is cast out into the periphery of the light of God. the doctor it is. Anything less than basking in the center of God's approval. is outer darkness.
Therefore the term Outer darkness is best understood alongside New Jerusalem's Inner light. That term is used in Revelation 21, 23, and 22, verse 5. Interliked exist in the city. Outer darkness or outer dimness outside it. New Jerusalem alone will enjoy the full inner light While everyone else all over the new earth's vast inhabited territories, the redeemed will experience outer dark outer dimness, which grows dimmer the farther one goes from the brilliantly illuminated God lit.
City.
Now I'll read this to you to to Provoke thought. We don't know specifically how this will go down, but here are some guiding principles. 1 Samuel 2.30, Them that honor me I will honor. Galatians 6.7, Whatever a man reaps sows, that will he also reap. And so, since we know that the judgment of Christians is according to our works, and that there are varying degrees of rewards.
Jesus showed that in the Parable of the Talents. And we know there will be varying degrees of damnation for the lost, because that's why the books are brought out, and they're judged they who are condemned already to hell because they've rejected Christ, are judged according to their works.
So, everybody gets judged by their works.
So, there's degrees of reward in heaven that are different. There are degrees of damnation in hell that are different. Friend, think about this now, and let me ask you. Are you walking in the light? The light of God's Word, the light of the truth, you have learnt.
You are responsible. For doing so. I'm responsible. For doing so. The more light we know, the more we are responsible.
To whom much is given, much shall be required. Think about it now. You can change if you're not walking in the light. You can form a new habit. You can form a new discipline.
With the help of God's Holy Spirit. the spirit of truth and light. But think about it now. While you can change your life, you can change your works. You don't have to.
Come unto the condemnation of the Lord in any sense, and what I mean by condemnation is his censure. His criticism. Not at all. When you read Revelation 2 and 3, you're getting a direct examination of what the judgment seat of Christ will be like. Read those chapters.
Study them. See what Jesus said. See how he acted in... judgment month. That's what we're going to face.
I want to encourage you. Fully trust the Lord. I want to encourage you. Follow your Bible. I want to encourage you.
Follow up. the correction of the Lord, receive it. Follow the guidance of the Lord.
Now and you will have nothing but joy and light. to look forward to in the next life.
Now, in our next lesson, we will discuss the fire of rapidly spreading. Fight. If this message has blessed you, tell your friends and please consider helping us stay on the air by sending your tax-deductible donation to Greg Hennett Ministries. Also, remember, you may download the Until He Comes podcast from your preferred podcast app. May you walk closely with Christ and trust and obey Him in your daily tests of faith and patience until He Comes.
This is the Truth Network. Mm-hmm.
