This Little Light of Mine

Genesis 1:1–4 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

Lighthouses

How many of you have ever visited a lighthouse?

Or seen one in person?

Unless you are involved in the shipping industry

Or have ever lived in a coastal town

You may have never had the chance to see one up close.

But Most of us are familiar with them

Did you know there are nearly 20,000 active lighthouses worldwide?

And somewhere between 6 and 7 hundred of them on in the US.

Still functioning

Still doing their job.

Still keeping sailors safe.

The oldest active lighthouse is debated,

but it comes down to two contenders.

1 is in Spain, and dates back to the 1st Century

Someone who knew the Apostle Paul may well have seen this lighthouse on a missionary journey.

It is called the Tower of Hercules and was built by the Romans.

The second contender is in Ireland.

It is called the Hook Lighthouse

And they claim that it has been in operation for over 800 years.

Some claim it has always been lit

But there were times when the light was threathed to be extinguished by a previous owner. The last time that threat happened was in 1726

When the lease holder got into a dispute

and said he would put the light out

but he never went through with it

and so the light continued to shine into the night

It was converted to electricity in 1972

and automated in 1996.

Here are some interesting things about LightHouse that I wanted to share.

A lighthouse never moves.

If a ship is in trouble, the ship has to follow the light from the lighthouse

The lighthouse doesn’t follow the ship.

The lighthouse is planted in one place

It is constant

it is reliable

it doesn’t matter how bad the storm is

the lighthouse stands firm.

Most people want the light to come to them,

but the Bible says that God brings us OUT of darkness

INTO His marvelous light.

2. Until very recently, all lighthouses needed a keeper.

The keeper was entrusted to keep the light burning all night.

He could never slack off.

Even when there was no fog

no wind, no rain, no storms

The light had to burn all night.

The ships depended on that light to keep them safe.

It doesn’t matter if the life of a lighthouse keeper gets lonely

It doesn’t matter if no one on land appreciates his duty

It doesn’t matter how much the oil or coal or fuel costs

The light had to stay lit.

No matter the cost

No matter the circumstances

The keeper kept the light shining bright

This little light of mine.

I’m going to let is shine.

3. The lighthouse served as a warning to others.

It wasn’t just lit to give the keeper a light to read by.

It wasn’t a night light for the keeper and his family

It wasn’t so they could see to get around their backyard at night.

It wasn’t to deter thieves from breaking in at night.

The light wasn’t for the keeper so much as it was for the ships.

The keeper’s light led other people’s lives to safety

The keeper’s light gave other people direction

His light was a warning to others who were approaching a cliff.

God has put a light in each of us

And he said to let is so shine where?

To ourselves?

No.

Let your light so shine before ALL men.

4. Most lighthouses were not placed on white sandy beaches.

Instead, they are in dangerous places.

It doesn’t do much good to build a lighthouse in a safe place.

Who are you protecting there?

The lighthouses were in dangerous waters.

And despite the danger around it,

the light house was never in danger.

But all those ships in the night

Who were approaching the shallow waters

The sheer face of a cliff

The bad current near a rocky beach

Those ships were in a dangerous place

but thank God for the lighthouse

If it wasn’t for the lighthouse…

Where would this ship be?

How many of you are thankful

That when you were in the lowest part of your own life

In the rockiest part of your life

In the worst situation you could find yourself in

That is in that very place

That you saw the light?

Sometimes God has to take us to those place

In order for us to see the light

If he let us spend all day at a resort

or on a fun cruise

We may never even look for a light

We may never need the light

But, when that storm comes rolling in

When those waves start bounding over the deck

When the darkness creeps in

When the ground starts running up against us

When are facing a rock solid wall

That’s when we look up

and see the light

Maybe you remember when you first saw the light

Maybe you remember when you trust the direction of the light

Perhaps you saw it a few times

and you ignored it

and you wreaked

or you capsized

or maybe you were nearly drowned

But one day you finally followed the light to safety

and then you got your own light to keep

This little light of mine…

You know, it does no good to only let your light shine in safe places?

No one needs a lighthouse at Dollywood.

No one needs a lighthouse at Delano Park

The lighthouse is always in dangerous places.

But the lighthouse itself is never in danger.

That’s why we are called to be IN the world

But not OF the world

We can’t just shine our light in church on Sunday

But we must shine our light before all men

and they won’t even be looking for the light most times

unless they are in a dangerous place

How many times have we ignored the one with baggage

Who is going through a mess

And needs a lot of support

And prayed for God to let us shine our light on someone

Who perhaps isn’t even looking for a light to lead them?

The ships in the worst situation

Are the ships looking the hardest for the lighthouse.

This little light of mine…

In our Text, a familiar passage,

God creates the heavens and the Earth in vs 1…

Genesis 1:1 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Right after creating the earth,

notice in vs 2 what covered the earth.

Genesis 1:2 ESV

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

So the earth didn’t have any shape

There was no life there

There were no trees

No mountains

No animals

No humans

It was empty

and covered with water.

The “face of the deep”

Can also be translated as: “The surface of the water”

And what covered the surface of the water?

darkness.

So, we have this image of a world covered in water

And there is no light

Only Darkness

But even still

In the thickest darkness ever

I mean, this would have been darker than anything you’ve every experienced

There was no sun yet

No moon

No stars

And certainly no lighthouses

No one single flicker of light in the entire universe

just darkness.

It has never been that dark since

No matter how dark it has gotten

it has never been 100%

Not since the first day of creation

And in the thickest darkness the world has ever known

What does God do?

He moves.

Let me encourage someone here today

That you might be feeling like you are in a dark place right now

But you cannot be in a place as dark as Gen 1.2

That is the record for darkness

and it has never been broken

and it will never broken

Verse 2 of the Bible is the last time we ever see complete darkness

but even still

In that world record darkness

Darker than any night you’ve ever endured

Worse than any storm on any sea

God MOVED.

Let me tell you tonight… God still moves even in your darkness

He’s right there with you

hovering over your darkness

He never leaves you

Never forsakes you

He is moving even when you can’t see anything

His Spirit is moving in this place right now

Even if you can’t feel it

God doesn’t need to be seen or felt in order to move

He is moving even in your darkest moment

And you’ve got to trust that in your darkness

The light is about to shine through

but even when you can’t see the light

Know this for certain

God is moving

His lips are preparing to open

He mouth is getting ready to speak

And his light is about to cut right through your darkness.

You just gotta trust him!

Genesis 1:3 ESV

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

In the darkness, God was moving

And when God finally spoke

There was light.

Someone here is just waiting to hear His voice

And to see the light of his lighthouse

When the voice comes

The light comes

It is a single event

With his words

I have light in my darkness

You see, the light is what guides the ships in the night

And you are looking for direction

You need a guide

But all you have is darkness

If you want to find the light

Listen for his voice

Because in his words

You will find light

In his words

You will find direction

In his words

You will find the guide you need

In his words

You will find what it takes to overcome darkness

And to get safely through the storm

You want light?

Listen to his word.

His word is like the lighthouse

It doesn’t move

It doesn’t change

It won’t come to where you are

You gotta come to where it is

It has warnings about storms

Warnings about rocks

Warnings about fog

Warnings about things that bring danger to your life

It has guidance to safety

direction to the harbor

Direction away from the rocks

The key to making it through the darkness

Is the hear his word!

let there be light!

Psalm 119:105 ESV

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

At men’s conf, the preacher said something simple buy so profound about this verse.

He said, you wouldn’t need a lamp or a light

If the path was already lit up.

So often we want to have the path already lit

We want to know what is up ahead

We want to know what is around the corner

We want to know what might be lurking to our left or right side, just off the path.

But the Bible says… if you want to see where you are going…

Get in the word

His word will light your path in front of your feet

It won’t light up the entire forest you are walking through

But you’ll at least be able to see the right path.

And you will have enough light to put one foot in front of the other

Separated

The lights came on in Genesis 1.3

and in verse 4, God drew a line between light and darkness.

Genesis 1:4 ESV

And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

Love the Light

He separated the light from the darkness.

How many knows that once he brought the light to your life

there was a difference

You didn’t fit in with the darkness anymore

That’s because you were separated.

And once you are separated from the darkness

You aren’t supposed to go back.

Jesus brought us OUT of darkness

and INTO his marvelous light

And Jesus says in chapter 3 of John’s Gospel

That the only thing that would compel a person to go back into darkness.

Is if that person does not love the light.

they hate the light, Jesus Says.

Because the light exposes their works.

If you do what is true and holy

Then you love the light

You want that to be put on display

but if you do that which is evil

then you will grow to hate the light

because the light will expose your evil

God brought you to the light

And you’ve got to learn to love the light

When it exposes your evil

let it be exposed

and when it is exposed

God will take care of it

He will begin the process of separation

separating the light from the darkness

Learn to love the light.

This little light of mine.

I love this little light

amen.

The Flood

When God separated the light from the darkness

He didn’t separeate the darkness from the light.

Go back and look at Gen 1.4

It was the light that was separated FROM the darkness.

He isn’t trying to keep the darkness from the light He wants the darkness to come in contact with the light

Because the darkness cannot overcome the light

but the light can overcome darkness.

I said darkness can’t overcome the light.

John 1:5 ESV

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

It doesn’t just say that it cannot overcome the light

But it says… It HAS not overcome it

Don’t let the devil ever convince you that the darkness will win the day.

The darkness cannot overcome the light

in fact, it HAS never overcome it.

When the entire earth was full of evil

God brought a flood

In Gen chapter 1, the whole earth was covered in water

and the water was covered by complete darkness

Just 6 chapters later

The whole earth was covered with water again

but this time it was different

This time it was not 100% dark

There was one man

His name was Noah

and Noah had a light

The devil tried to put the light out

but he cannot do it

He got all the way down to one man

with one little light

and that little light shined in the darkness

and we are here today because Noah kept his little light shining

This little light of mine…

The devil tried to stamp it out in Egypt

but a little basket carried the light of Moses to safety

The devil tried to stamp it out in the wilderness

but a pillar of fire became a light for their path through the wilderness

And the light kept shining

The devil tried to snuff out the light in Bethlehem

But Mary and Joseph protected the light

and fled the sword of king Herod

The devil tried to put out the light on the cross

and for 3 days it looked like there was no light

But for 3 days the light went down to darkness

and took the keys of death and hell from out of the darkness with him

and he overcame the darkness

and rose from the dead on the 3rd day.

Darkness can’t win

Darkness can’t overcome

The light cannot be put out.

Jesus told his disciples that he would build his church

And the gates of hell would not prevail against the church

I don’t care how bad it gets in this world

The light has never gone out in God’s lighthouse

and it never will

It is shining here tonight

and each of have a little flicker or a flame

and maybe some of us have a bonfire

and some of us have a tea candle

but as long as that light is shining!

This little light mine...

I’m going to let is shine

oh, this little light of mine…

I’m going to let is shine.

Don’t Hide your Light

Jesus warned us to never hide our light.

He said don’t put it under a basket

But let it shine before all men.

We have a responsibility as keepers of the light

We can’t let it go out

we can’t cover it up

We gotta let is shine

We can’t just let is shine in God’s house

but we’ve got to let is shine out where the danger is

We need to shine our light in dangerous places

and be like the lighthouse

which changes the dangerous situation

instead of letting the danger change it

We can be in the world and not of the world.

There are people going through storms right now

Who need to see your light

They are more likely to look for it when they are in darkness

And the only thing that will bring light to their darkness

is the word of God

The unchanging

forever settled

word of God

Let there light!

God has separated us FROM darkness

And brought us OUT of darkness

and we can’t ever be tempted to go back into darkness

Let your light keep shining…

This little light of mine…

You never know when the Lord will come

I pray he comes in the day

but the Bible seems to indicate that it will be at night.

Like a thief in the night

Many people will be caught off guard Paul says.

They won’t see it coming

That won’t know what is happening when Jesus steps out on the cloud to gather us together with him

but the children of the light will be expecting it

and they will not be caught off guard

they won’t be surprised because they have the light

Only those in darkness will be surprised when Jesus comes back.

They will hear the trumpet but not know what it means

They will look for the light, but by then it will be too late

The light has come to take his children home

Jesus told a parable about 10 virgins

5 wise

5 foolish

and in this parable all 10 of them had lamps

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, the Bible says

So, all 10 of them could see the path.

If they all had lamps

And they all had light

and they all could see the path

and they all were waiting for the bridegroom

why were half of them considered foolish?

What made them different?

The 5 wise virgins didn’t just bring a lamp

They brought a flask of oil too.

Matthew 25:1–4 ESV

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

Some of us here today have lamps

have a light

and you know the path

you know Jesus is coming soon.

You are ready for him to come

But, here’s where the difference come between the wise and foolish virgins.

They were all expecting the Bridegroom to come

But some of them were ready for him to be delayed.

And some were not.

Matthew 25:5 ESV

As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.

Some people thought he would come right away

We just need to make it through this day

But the bridegroom was delayed

He didn’t come right away like the foolish virgins expected him to.

He came much later

In fact, he came in the middle of the night

Matthew 25:6 ESV

But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’

You can read the rest of the story yourselves if you don’t know it

But the moral is this…

Be ready for the delay

He may not come today

Be may not come tonight

But when he comes… make sure your light is still burning

You might need to add some oil now and then

so have extra

You might need to trim the wick now and then

You might even fall asleep some times waiting for him to return

Both the wise and foolish virgins did this

They slept while waiting

but the wise virgins lit their lamps in the middle of the night

and they were taken to meet the groom because they were ready to go

Are you ready to go?

Is your light shining?

Do you have enough oil?

have you trimmed it?

Are you prepared?

Have you kept yourself separated from the darkness

that God called you out of?

What’s the status of your light?

Could it use some extra oil to get you through the night?