Sons Of Light
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, “…if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Having no oil in their lamps, the foolish virgins have no vision, having become blinded by the darkness of unbelief that has engulfed them (John 12:37-41). The wise virgins, on the other hand, are those who have heard the midnight call to prepare their hearts and have obtained extra oil, which is the Holy Spirit, becoming what the Bible refers to as “sons of light.”
In John 12:35-36 Jesus warned the multitude to be careful how they handle His “light” within them. He said, “‘For a little while longer the light is among you. Walk while you have [which means “to possess”] the light, that darkness may not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know [“to see, perceive, notice, discern, discover”] where he goes. While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light.’ These things Jesus spoke, and He departed and hid Himself from them.”
While we “possess” Him we are to continue walking in Him lest through careless neglect darkness overtakes us (see the Bible study The Light Becoming Darkness). Today we must continue following Him (belief), remaining in Him, sitting near Him, in order to become “sons of light.” In the end, this light of Christ shining through His obedient children is what will cast the kingdom of darkness down to the earth forever. Light always overpowers the darkness (John 1:5).
On the other hand, if we do not continue in belief, obediently walking in submission to Christ, we are in grave danger of being overcome by the powers of darkness. This is why Jesus said in Luke 11:35, “watch out that the light in you may not be darkness,” and again in Matthew 6:23, “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” This sheds much light on the darkness of lies that has infiltrated the church in regards to salvation; obtaining and sustaining the life of Jesus Christ within us.
The other interesting phrase in Joel 2:2 is, “As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; there has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations.” This is a reference to those who hear the call of the Lord at the end of the age to “come up higher.” It is a place of ruling authority in Christ.
Revelation 16:12 describes the results of the sixth angel pouring out his bowl upon the Euphrates River, the “good and abounding river.” It says its water was dried up “that the way might be prepared for the kings from the east.” The word interpreted “east” is taken from two Greek words. The first, anatole, is defined as “a rising of light, i.e. dawn; a rising (of the sun and stars), the east (the direction of the sun's rising).” The other word, helios, means “the sun, the rays of the sun, the light of day.”
These “kings from the east” appear to be those upon whom a light has risen, shining like the light of dawn, whose rising leads the inhabitants of earth into a new day. Remember, the sun always rises in the east. Could these be the “sons of dawn” who have overcome, gaining their God’s glory, and then been given authority over the nations, as well as “the morning star” in Revelation 2:28? I believe they are (see the Bible study The Womb Of The Dawn).
The first place to receive the light of the sun as it rises in the dawning of a new day is the mountain peaks. Those who answer the call to come up to this higher place in Christ will become the sons of dawn that will be the first to receive the Son’s light. Their rising will cause Satan to lose his place in the heavenly realm over mankind. This mountainous hike is a steep and difficult journey where we must leave behind everything of this realm, overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil. Jesus revealed the way for us to take back what the devil deceptively gained from us in the Garden of Eden. His victory in death is ours as well if we will deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. There is no other way but to lay our lives down for His sake, following His lead.
Isaiah 60:1-3 says, “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Isaiah prophesied of the dawning of a new day as Christ, the Morning Star, arises on His people. The time for us to arise in God’s redemptive plan for mankind has come. The Holy Spirit is now leading those who hear and believe to lay aside the things of this earth and follow Him up the mountain of His choosing. It is a place of authority in Jesus Christ where we will finally gain His glory, ushering in a new day when the earth will be cleansed of His enemies.
The Fiery Cleansing Of The Earth
In his book “From Tent To Temple,” George Warnock speaks of the fiery cleansing of the earth by the Lord at the end of this age. He says on p.133-135;
“There are two kinds of cleansing mentioned in the scriptures; cleansing by water, and cleansing by fire. The earth that was cursed must undergo this twofold cleansing and purging, first by water (the Flood), and eventually by fire…
God’s people must know this purging, cleansing fire of God that when His fire begins to purge the earth there will be a people in the midst of it all, walking in union with the Son of God like the three Hebrew children in the furnace of fire that was heated seven times more than it ever had before. Seven times more. For although it has been the lot of God’s people to know affliction and tribulation from the very beginning, and Paul tells us that His people are ‘appointed to tribulation,’ in the end-time there will be a greater measure of tribulation than ever before. And with that greater measure of tribulation there will be a greater measure of the grace of God causing his people to overcome in the midst of it. And what to the world is wrath and destruction, to His people it will be a refining and a purifying…
The cleansing work of redemption is in the blood; but only the Spirit of God can apply the cleansing of the blood to the hearts and minds of His people. We must bathe in the brazen sea of His Living Word. The sea is ‘mingled with fire.’ And this fire will thoroughly cleanse and purge the inner man from all sin and defilement…
The deluge that destroyed the earth is likened in scripture to water baptism, which was an external cleansing by water (see 1 Peter 3:21). But we need another baptism, and we need it before the earth receives her baptism of fire, or I am afraid we will not be able to minister or in any way deliver a Church that is swiftly going to experience the fires of Tribulation.
John the Baptist was sent of the Lord to minister the baptism of water unto repentance. But John prophesied there would come another baptism: ‘He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” The fire of God is not intended to make a person excited, or noisy, or acrobatic. The fire of God is something that will burn deeply within, bringing repentance and godly sorrow, and that will burn up the dross so completely and thoroughly that God’s priests will be able to ‘offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.’ The baptism of fire will make us holy.”
In Revelation 21 John saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. New speaks of that which is recently made, fresh, recent, of a new kind, unprecedented. The new heaven and earth that John saw will be inhabited by the sons and daughters of a new day, a new thing. They are the sons of fresh oil in Zechariah 4:11-14, the two anointed ones that remain near their Lord. They are the sons of dawn who have gone up the mountain, and upon whom the Morning Star has arisen.
The final judgments of the Lord on earth have prepared the way for Him to come and inhabit His people. The darkness within the pond, so to speak, has been cleansed, with all of its evil inhabitants destroyed. Afterwards, in verses 3-5, John tells of a loud voice from the throne he heard which said, “‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.”
In verse 7 the Lord declared, “He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” These sons are those who have overcome. They have responded to their Lord’s summons to leave the lower regions of earth behind and come up His holy mountain. They have subdued and conquered through the Holy Spirit the enemies of Christ that desired to keep them in the stagnant ponds of fleshly desires. Again, they are the obedient sons of dawn, the bride of the Lamb upon whom the Son has risen in His morning glory.
John describes this glorious bride on God’s mountain in verses 9-11, saying, “And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.”
The Sign Of Christ’s Return
At their request, Jesus shared with His disciples in Matthew 24 the sign of His return and of the end of the age. Verses 15-22 say, “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand) then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-- and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”
On that Sunday morning in our home church, Scott said the Lord showed him that both the winter and the Sabbath refer to times when you cannot work or prepare for what is to come. You cannot grow anything in the winter if you run out of food. It’s too late. Also, it’s usually a harsher time in regards to the weather. If you enter this season unprepared and uncovered, you will suffer and die.
It was unlawful, per God’s command, to work on the Sabbath. It was a day of rest and worship which required preparation for its needs on the day before. This is the importance of preparing ahead of time, before the judgment of God comes in a day when no one will be able to work. The ones who listen and prepare, internally first and foremost, are the wise virgins in Matthew 25 who brought extra oil for their lamps. The foolish brought none. They were unprepared and in fact asked the wise virgins for some of theirs to which they replied, “No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” We must obtain our own oil, our own Spirit. You cannot depend upon another Christian’s possession in Christ to get you into the wedding feast of the Lamb.
The Enabling Of Foolish Virgins
The destructive presumption of the foolish virgins in the church has spread into our society. Our governmental welfare programs are good in the sense of helping people, but bad in that many have become dependent upon them alone for food and sustenance. They’re no longer forced, when necessary, to get up and do something. This is a reflection of what the church has been doing for years within her midst.
In many instances we’re no longer helping people, but rather enabling them. It’s easier to hand out a check than to invest our lives in helping them up. It may also be an easy way to get votes for some politicians by actually keeping these people in this place of codependency with the continued promise of help.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I understand the command of God to take care of the poor and the needy. What I am sharing with you comes from my own personal experience through the difficulties our family has experienced. After my wife’s stroke, and my leaving my job per the leading of the Lord as a tool designer, we found ourselves in the humiliating lines at all of our local government agencies looking for assistance of all kinds. It was unbelievably depressing and discouraging.
As a father and a husband who was supposed to be the provider for my family, it was very difficult. Living in a small town with children who were very active in our public schools, you get to know many people. The Lord forced me to die to my reputation before them. It has been a very humbling lesson for me personally.
He placed us in this position to feel what the poor feel. It can be an extremely helpless and hopeless place for many with seemingly no way out. Identification with those whom you minister to is very important. Christ did it with mankind when he stepped down into a fleshly body. It has also allowed me to see some areas I think we’re failing miserably in.
Giving people fish without showing them how to catch it for themselves creates a codependency. It takes great wisdom, and, believe it or not, mercy, to know when to shut off the flow. When it becomes easier to gather government checks than to look for work, we have gone too far.
Again, I understand when you have looked for work but just cannot find any. Maybe your one of many applicants hoping to obtain one available position within a company as often takes place today. It might be because a person lacks the skills necessary for employment. Thank goodness for those agencies that are out there for this specific purpose. I just think there are better, more productive ways of handling this mountainous matter than what we are presently doing.
In years past it was the church, not the government that took care of most of these issues. I don’t believe our forefathers saw the federal government as the ones who were to be exclusively handling this. Through neglect, the church has willfully placed much of this burden on their shoulders, one which they will not be able to sustain in the days ahead. The weight of this growing problem will eventually be too great for them.
Another observation is the pervasive attitude of entitlement some have in this situation. What was once a privilege of help for one generation can easily become an entitlement for the next. Within the church, many have come to expect the government to save us from our needs instead of God. Yes, they can assist, but ultimately it’s the Lord who provides, through us.
The problem is He cannot bless those who have turned away from Him. Our government was designed to be a reflection of the will of the people. It will be as righteous and just as our citizens.
As The Church Goes So Goes The World
The same thing applies to the body of Christ. Our leadership is a reflection of the people’s hearts. In declaring His judgments against His rebellious children, the Lord declared in Jeremiah 5:30-31, “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” Many of God’s people in the church love the same thing in our day. The same question applies to us as well; what will WE do at the end of this age?
The enabling of the foolish virgins who remain content as immature tadpoles in today’s church through the easily received Sunday morning handouts will annihilate many people. They’re not being forcibly warned in love where necessary to be doers of the Word in order to get out of the pond of judgment before they’re destroyed. Big heads and small hearts have become common in the church in America.
We cannot continue as we have, spoon-feeding people every Sunday morning, and expect our nation to change. Our apathy in regards to the keeping of God’s commands to be salt and light in the world enables them, and the rest of America, to wade deeper and deeper into depravity. Instead of coming out they’re unknowingly, with a false sense of security, sinking further and further into the abyss of eternal agony.
We must teach them the necessity of gaining their own oil, even confronting them as Jesus did in John 6, compelling them to commit themselves to Christ rather than a denomination or personality. There are times as a parent when out of love you must force your children to do that which they need to do in order to mature. Otherwise, they will continue to look to you as their sole provider. The church has created a whole generation of codependent tadpoles with no pressure to move out in maturity in Christ. Many live in a false sense of eternal security, having been fed lie after lie by deceived shepherds... (continued in part 3)
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