Anglican Morning Devotion for 25 May 2021 Anno Domini
A ministry of the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
(Psalms 119:105)
“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;” (Luke 12:35)
The road of life is dark and foreboding to those who have no light by which to travel it. But to those who know the Father of Lights, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the darkness is merely a shadow of no substance. In fact, in His Presence, there is no darkness for darkness cannot abide the Light of the World. In Him is no darkness. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Our Lord is our great “Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2) – our Day Star from on high.” “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the DAY STAR arise in your hearts:” (2 Peter 1:19)
How is our Lord the SUN of Righteousness? Because He is the Word Incarnate whose Truth is the Light of Glory. In His Word is both Justice and Mercy mingled together. His Light is self-generating in the same sense of that of the Sun of this Universe. His Light reveals truths to us unknown to the carnal-minded of the world. It serves as a two-edged sword to reveal both truth and error at the same time. Not only is the Straight and Narrow Way of our Lord clearly revealed in that Light, but also the rocks and crevices of error made certain to our eyes. The rising of the Sun represents a new day, and so does the rising of Christ in our souls represent a new and eternal day that will know no sunset.
I have written before of two seemingly contrasting verses – that of John 8:12, and that of Matthew 5:14 – “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” I recently had a heated discussion with a minister who believed these two verses stood in opposition and revealed an error in Scripture. To begin with, how can any minister believe the Bible contains error? Nonetheless, his perception was conceived in ignorance and perhaps a lack of certainty that God is Sovereign and never misspeaks. So how can our Lord AND the believer BOTH be the Light of the World? The Light of the believer is not His own – it is Christ that is the Light of the believer. We are the reflected Light of the Sun of Righteousness in the same way that the moon has only the reflected light of the sun. If any material or worldly thing comes between the moon and its light source, it becomes dark and eclipsed. The same is true of the believer who may allow some earthly desire to block the Light of Christ from his view. He grows cold and dark until, like the Prodigal Son, he regains his right mind and realizes his lapse of faith. “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.” (Luke 15:17-19)
The Lord Jesus Christ is likewise our DAYSTAR – He is not to be found in darkness because He is that self-generating Light in which no darkness can dwell. As the Incarnate Son of God, our Lord was not of any special physical appeal. “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:2-5) The Sun is not the largest star by far in our Universe, so what makes it so very bright? It is because it is the NEAREST star in our Universe. Christ is both the most massive and brightest Star in our Heaven – in fact, the ONLY Star. Because of His nearness to us, His rays bathe us in the warmth of His love continually. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:4-5) Do you have that Light that shineth in darkness?
