Address—D. Nicolet
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Him #71 in the back of the book. Hymn #71 in the back of the book.
I'm going to read verse 3.
God is love. I surely know.
In the Savior's depth of woe, in the sinless, in God's sight, sin is justly.
Brought to light, I'd like to sing the 1St 3 verses.
Of hymn #71 in the back of the book.
Oh, my savior.
Sav.
Thy near thy cross would.
Hire by.
Gazing.
With.
Adoring.
Ah, my God.
Help me.
Jesus.
Frozen.
Cold to shame.
Tells the glory.
Of God's name.
Holy judgment.
That I found praised their horses in aloud.
God is.
Love my life, surely.
Outside.
Just.
We brought.
To life.
Ask God's blessing what I have on my heart, beloved brethren, is to.
Take up.
6 words.
Very, very well known. We could easily quote them, but we'll turn to them.
In first John.
Read those verses to begin with.
First John chapter one.
And verse.
5.
In the middle of the verse.
First John one verse 5, the middle of the verse.
God is light.
And you already, I'm sure, know the other one first. John, Chapter 4.
Verse 8 The end of the verse.
God is.
Love.
What I have on my heart is that our brother.
Beginning these meetings talked to us about the day in which we live, and brought to us the Book of Jude, characterizing the spirit of the day and the wonderful resources that we have available in a day of darkness and confusion, a day, just moments, no doubt, before the return of the Lord Jesus for us.
And I would like to close with the Lord's help by these simple reminders that we have, beloved brethren, these two things to guide and preserve us and encourage us.
In this world through which we pass, young and old, until he calls us home, that is an ever changing God. Who is light and who is love. We're currently, as we all know, going through a time perhaps that this country has never seen before of confusion. It's a vaunted and much admired political process.
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Worn down and ground down to almost endless confusion.
And yet we find that in that very process of which man is so proud, and I would say, before I go any further, that I thank God that he has allowed us to live in a land where we can enjoy the relative blessings and liberty and peace that we have in this land. Nothing of what I'm saying is meant to criticize, but to simply deal with the facts. And those facts are that this very vaunted political process.
Of which men are so proud has clearly exhibited that man knows neither light.
Nor love. Nor does he practice. Or does he have a system that can practice light, true light, and true love. Depending on which particular side of the issue someone may find themselves, a list of reasons why that particular candidate is unjustly being held out of office is given as the truth, the light.
And then if you listen to the other side, you'll find that they have an equally long list of equally just reasons why their candidate should be the one who would justly be in office. There is no true light in the process. It depends on the relative position and thoughts and desires and intents of those that may be backing a particular individual.
And I think we have seen something that certainly we would not question.
But we've seen it played out very plainly. There is certainly not in this political process.
The word love. In existence there is bitterness, acrimony, anger, hatred, unhappiness, love. No man knows nothing in his political ways, in his social structure and fabric. Man knows nothing of light, and he knows nothing of love and the world morally beloved brethren, that you and I are walking in today.
Is a world that knows nothing more of light or love.
You and I have the wonderful privilege, and I would seek to bring it before us as a reminder that we might leave with real confidence today, should the Lord leave us here that long. To recognize that we, by the matchless sovereign grace of God, have access into and our recipients of the only true light and the only true love that has ever existed and ever will exist, the God that we know that we call ABBA Father.
Who sent his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this world in a desire to have you and to have me forever with him in glory?
That God that we call Father is a God who is light and a God who is love.
And I say again what was mentioned the other day, it's been something my heart has been reveling in recently, and I want to be very careful and speak very carefully, but I think it's very, very precious, beloved brethren.
That God in his perfection did not say first that God is love. That's the standard by which the world today judges the worth of most anything. Is it love? Are you showing love? Is this a loving thing to do? It knows absolutely nothing about love. It's very concept of love is defiled and corrupt.
And yet it judges everything by that defiled and corrupt standard of love.
And were it to have said God is love in the first chapter and then in the 4th chapter were to have said God is life.
I say again.
That you and I would have been very, very happy with the first chapter and I believe very concerned by the time we got to the 4th chapter.
To say, could a God who says he loves me and I say this reverently, could a God who says he loves me after he knows all there is seeing he knows all there is to know about me?
He is a God of light. Could he still love me? But isn't it precious that it starts with the basis that the God that you and I know as our Savior, God as our Father? The basis starts with his being light, a light that is fully shown into our souls. Not one thing hidden. He knows all about us beloved young people. There's one thing one desire.
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One burden, one care, one thought. One thing you have ever done, or I.
That is not fully known in the holy light of God.
And yet, knowing all that, I just revel in this. I wish I had words to somehow describe what it means to one's heart, knowing that he loves me.
Knowing that about you, he loves you.
And so you can't go beyond that, because if God loves me, it's the God who knew all about me.
Who loves me? And not only does he love me, he wants me to walk.
In this scene, until he calls us home, encouraged with our eyes, my eyes lifted up and I submit that I find it individually, often a very discouraging and fearful path. And I would have to say I would be one of the first ones to get a down and discouraged and fretful about all that's going on.
But the God of light?
Who is my God of love and your God of love?
That love not only has picked up this worthless Sinner and made me a child of God.
Fit for the glory of heaven, one that's a son of God in all the dignity and blessing and glory and wonder of that position.
But he is infinitely interested in everything that touches my heart and life as I walk through this world. That's the kind of love and the kind of God. Beloved brethren, we have to walk through this day when the Spirit of apostasy is flooding and we see things that are so horrible and painful in this land so blessed by God that it makes 1 shudder.
To see that which is going on and allowed and promoted and protected by the government.
But the God of light?
Is a God who so loves that there is not one thing about you that he already knows that he is not interested in.
And cares about.
You know, if you were to go down to Texas.
I guess it's Austin or where is it Nashville? I think those are the two headquarters of these political parties. And you were to go there and you were to try to confront the two men who are each hoping to become named the next president of the United States. And you were to tell them that you had a concern that you wanted to talk to them about.
The chances would be pretty close to nil that you'd ever get a hearing.
Right now, sitting where you are, beloved young person, do you have something on your heart? Do you have a concern?
You have free access if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior right now. You have free access into the God who created this universe, who already knows, because it's His. According to His plan, who will be named the what is it? The 43rd President of the United States.
He already knows that. He's already determined that.
And you have immediate right now access into His presence to take that thing that you think no one else is very interested in, that doesn't seem to be all that important, and take it right into His presence and know that a God of love is infinitely and intensely interested in what interests you. What concerns you, Beloved brethren, do we really walk with that sense in our hearts that those burdens and cares, some of them very heavy?
Those.
Desires some of them we might be rather.
I I don't say ashamed, but rather hesitant to mention to others thinking this isn't really a a very important thing. I even even my husband or my wife. Perhaps sometimes we might hesitate to share some little thing that we would like to do or to get even with good friends. We think, well they're a very good friend, but I suppose if I told them some of the things that I really would like to see happen, some of the things that I would.
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Like for myself to find happen in my life, I'm not sure they would think so much of me as a friend anymore. They might wonder about me. Not so with God. Not so with God. A God who loved you enough to give his own beloved Son who loved me enough to.
Think of it.
To view that one.
Hanging on that cross.
His eternal, well beloved Son. And to look down into this world and see him there, mock people sitting around being entertained by his agony.
I submit to you that the God who did that, who gave that?
Is a God who is intensely interested in every detail of your life. God is light and God is love.
And we can walk with courage.
And I say that to myself first, because I suspect I'd be just about the least courageous of anyone in this room. But we can brethren in this day when we wonder what the Morrow holds, rightfully so, should we be left here?
We are beginning to wonder, even in this well ordered land that we have enjoyed for so long.
We are rightly beginning to wonder, what does the Morrow hold?
I submit to you that because we have a God of light and a God of love.
We can in confidence, face tomorrow.
You know, there's a song written not by those gathered. It's more of a modern song and I think it's fairly popular song. I really enjoy it. I don't know that it's it. Certainly it doesn't carry all the spiritual depth of some of the hymns that we enjoy singing. But it says because he lives, because he lives, I can face tomorrow. I love that song and it's true because the God of love.
The God of light and the God of love.
Cares about me because Christ is alive at the right hand of God. We have every reason to say we can face tomorrow should tomorrow come. And I say again what I enjoyed, Brother Tom Roach mentioned.
Forgive me, I'm sure others have heard this, but.
Some sister, evidently somewhere up in the Maritimes, dear sister in Christ, an elderly sister that he used to visit. I suppose she's gone home now to be with the Lord. But he said he would go there and they would talk about the Lord's coming. And you know how we speak about the Lord's coming? Perhaps he's coming today. We could expect him today. It might be today. And he always would say that she so encouraged him because she would say the Lord is coming. Probably today, probably today. Isn't that nice? So because he lives, I can face tomorrow, but the Lord's coming, probably today.
And so there may not be a tomorrow.
But if there is the same God of light and the same God of love.
That has ever existed, that in past eternity knew about you and knew about me, that chose us, That desires that we might live this life in full, happy blessing and joy that has.
Purposed that we might forever be with him in glory, that God unchanging will be there and unchanging in light and unchanging in love. Well, for just a few minutes, brethren, we won't go very long, but I would like to follow this theme because.
It was very much I feel before us in the 4th chapter of John, and it's something, as I said, I've been reveling in this thought of the God of light and a God of love.
And I have been enjoying following that through the Gospel of John, the way the God of light works and the way the God of love reveals himself. And I wouldn't even begin to suggest that I've even seen the slightest fraction of all of those beautiful instances that are presented there. But I would like you to come with me for a while, and let's take a little walk through the Gospel of John and let's look at the God of light and the God of love, and let's be encouraged. And when we look at this brethren, my exercise is to seek to apply these things.
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Just simply to what we are facing today.
What we deal with today, and you will see many, many more. And as I say, I don't even begin to suggest that this is an inclusive thought. But let's start in the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
The Gospel of John, Chapter One.
These verses are so well known that.
We read them over and over again, but the preciousness of the Word of God is that when the darkness and the coldness gets wiped away from my heart, there's something fresh in those verses I've heard so many times.
John chapter one, verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus coming on to him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away.
The Sin of the World, verse 34.
All right, I'm sorry. Verse 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. I would suggest in the application that I'm making this afternoon that the first verse might bring a little bit more before us. God, the God of Light that is here, was the one scent of God that's going to bear away the sin of the world. And it's the God of Light who knows every one of those sins.
And the exact, I say carefully, the not only exact, but the infinite cost of those sins, who is going to deal with them. And he sends that one, the Lamb of God, who is to bear away the sin of the world. It's the God of light. And we have him introduced, and here he comes into this scene in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to bear away the sin of the world. But then the next time we read that, and I know these are thoughts that have often been mentioned.
But it says in looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith Behold the Lamb of God. I wasn't looking at him now.
As to what he was going to do about sin, but he was looking at him as an object of worship and adoration to say, look at him walking through this world. Have you and I, beloved brethren, taken time to not only think of the Lord Jesus, the God of light, if I may say it that way? Who has answered fully and taken care of fully and forever the question of sin? Who knows all about sin has dealt with it.
Has finished that work to God's eternal glory and satisfaction.
But.
Have we seen the God of love as he walked in this world? Have we spent time beholding him in his walk?
May I ask beloved young people, will you find something, someone in this world?
Some object in this world, whether it's in, as our brothers have brought out, the music or the entertainment or the sports or the.
The technological world, whatever it is, pick the world that exists today that you will and tell me if you'll find in that world.
One who's walked through this world deserves to even be thought about.
When we consider the walk of the Lamb of God, what a God of love and perfection, how he walked so perfectly. We're going to see that in a moment again, the God of light, those principles, light and love in action. But here it was light in action, and the sin is dealt with. That's taken up.
And then you and I can sit with joy and look at him and feed on him as he walks through this world. I submit to you, beloved young people. This is as real.
As the man who, from Saint Louis a couple years ago, hit seventy home runs.
This is as real as the wealthiest movie star in Hollywood. This is as real as Mr. Gates, Microsoft and all that he's done. And you go on and you name all the giants of the world that exist today, and I tell you as men, look at them and behold them and are in awe of them.
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Here's one who infinitely outshines them. Are you beholding him today, beloved young people? Is he an object that really is something you want to behold? Behold the Lamb of God, the love, the perfection through which he walked through this world. May I share with you just one little? I consider this one of those sparkling When I say little, I don't want to ascribe anything little to the Lord Jesus, but it's one of those.
For one of the better word, little sparkling gems that flood the pages of this precious book. Just to show you the God of light and the God of love walking. And to challenge my heart and your heart. To follow him daily in our thoughts, in our readings, in our fellowship in those characters as we go through this very, very dark scene Let's turn over.
To the next chapter, I think it is.
Yeah, Chapter 2. John, Chapter 2.
And verse 13.
And the Jews? Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and changers of money, sitting What a darkness. Beloved brethren had descended upon that place, so blessed that place that God would so desire to show his blessing, His Majesty, his power. What a scene of darkness. It wasn't the Lord's Passover anymore. It was the Jews Passover. It wasn't anything that was that was bringing satisfaction or joy, I say to the heart of God.
But it was simply a religious ceremony that the Jews were going through, empty and hollow, and that place, that was the dwelling place that God would dwell among his people in the midst of his people, his beloved earthly people had been turned, as the Lord Jesus says, in another place, into a House of merchandise, animals in there, men's valuation of wealth, money in there.
No room.
For the God of light in that place.
And so it says, This is, as I say now, the God of light.
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove the mall out of the temple.
And the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers money, and overthrew the tables. This is the God of light, the light that cannot abide such wickedness and sin and defilement. And he cleanses it. But notice this.
And he said unto them, that sold doves take these things hence.
Now what would have happened to those little birds that he created had he overthrown the tables those cages were set on? What would have happened to those little birds if he would have driven them out of that place like he drove the animals? He would have died the God of love in every detail of his life. He drives the cattle out, he overthrows the money changers table. But when it comes to those little helpless birds in those cages, he says to those that brought him take those cages out of here.
And that beautiful. And you see that over and over the perfection.
Of this God of light, and yet a God of love in every detail of His way. I say that to encourage your heart's beloved young people. I say again, there is not a detail of your life that He will not and does not want to handle in absolute perfection with the tenderest care and concern.
Sometimes we who are older. I say this for myself first. I don't want to offend anyone, but I fear at times we who are older sometimes forget.
How to communicate effectively with those who are young in the kind of a world we live in?
But the God of love knows how to communicate with you. He knows beloved young people, everything that you face every day of your life. And while you may find at times your brethren who do love you, and even your parents who do love you, sometimes seem to not be tender as to the things that exercise and concern your hearts don't seem to be able to understand and enter into them like you wish they could. He does.
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Jesus does, and you can trust him implicitly.
Not only as a God of Light who knows tenderly cares for every detail, every thought of your life, and he wants to bring the richest, fullest blessing into your life.
Let's go over to Chapter 3.
There came to Jesus in verse two. Well, we read verse one. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Here's somebody who should have known. Here's somebody who was responsible to know he was a Pharisee. They took the place of being the most religious, most zealously religious of the people of God. And he was a ruler of the Jews. So he was in a very responsible position. He should have known and been able to put to use.
Effectively, the knowledge that went with the position, he took a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews.
And it was night.
He came to the God of light at night.
And we won't go through it, but you find in this chapter how.
The God of Light begins to shine that light on this man, who something, by the grace of God, was stirring and at work in his soul.
And he says to him, as it were, Nicodemus, all that you have and all that you are isn't enough.
You need to be born again.
And I want to just apply it in that way, beloved brethren, for those of us the wonderful privilege and the joy we have of in the by the sovereign grace of God being gathered to the Lord's precious name. What a privilege.
But let's be careful, brethren, that it doesn't become just a position.
Because the God of Light shines into our hearts, and he knows if we're looking at what it means to be gathered to his precious name as a place.
Of pride.
Or as a position that's right when everybody else is wrong. Oh, beloved brethren, let's be careful of that.
The God of light shone into this man, and at first shown a man who knew, or at least took the position of knowing.
And then it showed that he was very responsible, and then it showed that he didn't know anything.
And then the God of love.
Having shown him what his position was, having shown him what he his condition was, I should say, Then the God of love comes, and you know those verses as well as I. Then the God of love reveals himself, and we find that that God of love so works in his heart that finally, by the end of the Gospel of John, we have it in other gospels. By the end, when the Lord Jesus was crucified, you find Nicodemus is willing to not any longer be identified with the Lord in the night.
But he's there with Joseph of Arimathea in the day in the light. Well, I want to go on for the sake of time, and leave that with you to ponder. But, oh, beloved brethren, as we walk through this world, I say again, let's recognize that the love of God has been so kindly and graciously shown to draw us, to gather us through His precious name. But let's remember as gathered to his precious name.
As there we have a God of Light, the God of Light, who looks and sees and evaluates perfectly what we are as to our condition and our state of soul, even as was done there with those assemblies in Revelation.
And I don't say that to discourage.
To criticize, but to encourage our hearts that we walk by His grace in the most privileged of physicians. But with that comes responsibility. And may I suggest, before we go on, that the greatest responsibility of all, I believe, is the responsibility of humility.
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Of being very humble as to what our God has brought us into, and to embrace it, to love it, to be faithful to it, but to be ever so humble about what it is to be gathered to the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go on to Chapter 4 just for one comment. We made it yesterday. I believe it was. I'll just say again, the Lord Jesus deals with this dear woman.
And he says to her, go call thy husband and come hit her.
I say again, this is the light, the God of light, shining, revealing everything, she says.
She says to him, I have no husband. And then the light shines even brighter and she recognizes. She recognizes that here's a man who evidently knows everything there is that can be known about her. And then the God of love, I say down in verse 29, she says by testimony, Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Well, I want to apply it this way.
Beloved brethren and I want to especially speak to the beloved young people here. We live in days that are very dangerous days. It's very easy to end the path through this world, to make a misstep. If we get away from the Lord, if we get away from the reading of the word of God, we get out of communion and fellowship. What am I saying? Young people can be in communion and fellowship with the Lord, of course.
He didn't set an age limit when he said, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and Sup with him and he with me. He's not setting an age limit. He's saying to every single born again, Christian, everyone washed by his precious blood from their sins, that he desires fellowship with you. We're not talking about the level or the kind, the extent of the fellowship. We're talking about a wonderful and sweet fact, the God of this universe, the God of light and a God of love.
Every single day of your life wants to have fellowship beloved young people with you individually.
And with me and with each one of us here now.
If we get away from that, if that doesn't mean much to us and we belong to Him, we will find that the paths in this world can be very slippery and we will find that we can easily fall into those things that really displease the Lord and can cause some hurtful scars.
Is it all over beloved young people if there's been a fall and there's been scars?
The God of light that I know is my father in Genesis, one said.
Over a scene that was an absolute ruin and confusion.
For some reason that he's not seen fit to tell us, a beautiful, perfect creation had been ruined.
Why didn't he just throw it away?
And say it's not worth working with, It's been ruined.
The God of light shone into that dark, abysmal creation.
Let there be light.
And the God of love, I say reverently, went to work and rebuild it. Imperfection. And it was beautiful.
That's the God I know. That's the God you know and that you have.
I'm not telling anyone here that it's OK to fail.
That's a dishonor to the one who hung on the cross and agonized for hours in horrible suffering.
When we fail.
He feels it far more than we do when we sin. But I'm suggesting to you.
That you may be very much, and I may be in our lives in some way, very much like this woman, unfaithful, trying one thing and another.
One star after another building up in our lives and there is a God of light and a God of love who comes and says, I know all about you and I love you.
And then the joy is to go tell someone.
Come see this one who knows everything there is to know about me, I say again, brother, if there was one person in this room sitting here who knew everything there was to know about me, you'd be the last person I'd want to introduce anybody to. But not to my Lord Jesus. He knows everything there is to know about me.
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And I would love for you.
And love for myself to have a closer fellowship and relationship with him.
Come see a man, a God of love that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Let's close with just one more.
I will leave it to you to follow these out.
You know there are so many. There's the the woman in chapter 8. There's the blind man in Chapter 9. There's the Lazarus in Chapter 11. But I want to finish with the one.
The ones in need of light in chapter 21. The ones in need of light in chapter 21.
Simon Peter, verse 3 saith unto them, I go fishing, they say, that is those mentioned earlier, we also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately and that night.
Caught nothing. And when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, and that precious they gave up, you might say, in a way they gave up on the Lord the following Peter's lead, I don't say in its depth, but there was discouragement, and they were saying this, this path. So they went back to what they were doing. He didn't give up on them. There he was in the morning, standing on the shore, and he says, children.
Have any meat? And they answered him no.
They worked all night long. They labored. There was a lot of them. They were trained fishermen, they were professionals, and they probably were in the fishing grounds that would have normally been expected to produce a fairly good catch. And I doubt that in those three years or so that they'd walked with the blessed Lord Jesus, that they had lost totally their fishing skills.
And so they go out at night.
And what do they produce? Not one thing.
How do we know that? Because the God of Light shone into that scene.
And he said to them.
Whether it's been discouragement, whether it's been offense, whether it's been ignorantly following someone you shouldn't have been following, you haven't been fishing doing the work I've given you to do. So what have you got to show for it?
That's pretty bright light, isn't it? We get away from the Lord, cold in our souls. We take off on a path.
And we think it's happened to me many times, I fear to say.
Get kind of cold and discouraged. And so one goes off and takes off on a path, and when it's all over, the Lord quietly comes in His loving way and says So what good did that do you?
What have you got to show for it?
And I have to say nothing, Lord.
That's the God of light, he's saying. Without me, you can't do anything.
You can't go a step in this scene without me.
And I want you to learn that I don't want you to go back out into the night and spend all your energies out there. I want you to stay with me.
But then what does he do after he shines in light? Have you any meat? No, don't have any meat, he says.
To them, I'm going to find the verse. There's a particular phrase verse 12.
Come and die.
Not only gives them a catch for their boat, that starts to say, it starts to sink the boat.
Maybe not here. Oh, they couldn't draw it for the multitude of the fishes.
That's pretty heavy. That's pretty heavy catch with several fairly young, experienced fishermen, physically active, physically capable, and they're having trouble pulling the net in with all the fish that the Lord gave them. That's a God of love. You know, as a parent, if someone you know as a parent, I often too often said when one of the boys did something I didn't want them to do. Well, what did you get out of it that was worthwhile? Well, nothing. And then I think, well, And now you've learned your lesson.
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And that's not the God of love.
He says, what did you get for fishing all night? Nothing. Well, here's a whole net full of fishes. Now that's the God of love. And then he says, now come and dine. And he says, as it were, to Peter. Peter, I'm going to give you a fire that you never found in the world. You were having trouble just trying to keep yourself warm. I'm going to give you warmth and I'm going to give you food. I've got a much better fire than the world does. Oh, what a God of love we have, Beloved brethren. These are dark days. These are very confusing days. These are very solemn days. Beloved young people.
Your brethren, in all of our failures, fear for you. Naturally speaking. It's not a world that we are enjoying seeing our beloved young people walk into.
But it's a world that we have a measure of comfort, and the more we know him, the more the comfort is knowing that you walk into that world if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior with the God of Light and the God of love.
Oh, may you walk closely with him and beloved brethren, all of us in this dark scene that we're walking through to be encouraged. There isn't a facet, there isn't a thing in our life that we meet, that we're going to meet with that doesn't answer, doesn't have its full answer in our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, the God of Light and the God of Love.
Let's pray, Father, we thank you for this time together.