Like Living in a Cave

Part I – A Sin-Darkened World

By Jason Lovelace

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 ^“‘Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’”

– Matthew 5.13~16

 

“‘The light of the body is the eye:  If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!’”

– Matthew 6.22~23

 

“And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

– John 1.5

 

“‘And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest is deeds should be reproved.’”

– John 3.19~20

 

“Jesus answered, ‘He, it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it.’  And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.  And after the sop Satan entered into him.  Then Jesus said unto him, ‘That thou doest, do quickly.’…He then having received the sop went immediately out:  and it was night.”

– John 13.26~27, 30

 

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:  for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?  And what communion hath light with darkness?  And what concord hath Christ with Belial?  Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?”

– II Corinthians 6.14~16

 

Have you ever been in a really dark, dark place for a long time?  And after being in such a place for a long, long time, how did your eyes feel after coming back out into the light?  Could you see?  Was it easy for you to look into a well-lit room or was it very, very difficult, almost blinding?  Is there a spiritual correlation akin to physical vision and being in a dark place physically?  Are there places that are spiritually not dissimilar to caves, closets, and other like places that are without or having very little physical light?

 

Caves, Closets, Cellars, and Holes in the Ground

Possibly everyone on the face of the Earth has been in, at one time or another, a physically dark place.  Probably 99.999% of all the buildings in the world that are built have rooms, areas, or places that contain total or near total darkness.  From closets to cellars to attics to storage rooms to weather shelters, most buildings in any and every country have at least one room that is dark.  Many houses in the United States of America are built with basements and cellars both for storage and in the event of inclimate weather.  Many larger buildings are built with basements and cellars below ground as places of refuge in times of disaster.  Even in nature, there are physically dark places.  Probably the most well known places of natural darkness are caves.  While caves come in all different shapes and sizes, can be found in just about any and every type of terrain, above or below water, and can be either steam room humid or as dry as a desert, there is one thing that is common to each and every cave in the world:  at some point inside the cave, there is no light.  Whether or not the cave is large or small, one thing is certain, that somewhere inside, it is totally dark.  In this writer’s home state of Kentucky in the United States, there is a cave system known as Mammoth Cave (given such a name because Mammoth Cave is believed to contain over 300 miles of underground, cavernous passages).  Mammoth Cave National Park offers amateur and professional spelunkers several different guided tours, from a basic tour that spans only a fraction of the cave and its system and little over an hour and a half, to a tour that can last several days and includes camping and sleeping inside the cave itself.  Invariably on any of these tours and at some time or another, the lights are turned off.  When the tour guides and/or Park Rangers turn off the lights, the darkness in Mammoth Cave is total and complete; no light whatsoever may be seen.  This writer has been to Mammoth Cave and taken the basic guided tour on several occasions.  When the lights go out, not even a hand may be seen in front of one’s face.  Such is the case for other subterranean places, both natural and manmade.  Many types of rooms in possibly every type of building can also be made to have absolutely no light.  In Japan, most houses have hurricane shutters for doors and windows.  When these hurricane shutters are closed, the result is almost total darkness even in daylight hours.

 

Darkness Leads to Blindness

Invariably, anything living in the darkness eventually has physical changes come about to its senses.  The most obvious is that living in a darkened place causes people and animals to lose their sense of sight.  Anyone who has studied biology or zoology probably knows that different and various cave species of animals are totally blind, and in many cases, have no eyes altogether.  The same can be said for people who spend vast amounts of time in caves with little or no light.  One man even spent more than 400 days living in a cave, sitting a world record.  When he later emerged from his cave after such an extended period of time, his eyes were so sensitive that he was forced to wear welding goggles for several months during daylight hours until his eyesight returned.  Miners, as well, often have their eyes become sensitive to light after working deep underground for hours – and sometimes days – on end.  In such a situation when a person loses his or her sight due to darkness, the other sense tend to sharpen in order to make up for lost sight.  Hearing and touch usually become more acute when eyesight is lost, especially in darkened conditions.  Such is the case with people who live in dark or darkened areas of the world.  The eyes more and more lose their usefulness, and the person or animal in question usually goes blind in a relatively short amount of time.  Living in darkness leads to physical blindness.

 

Spiritually Dark Places?

Are there places in the world that can be called spiritually dark?  Are their areas on Earth that are akin to living in a Spiritual Cave, where there is little to no light?  Could it be that places in this post-modern, up-to-date, technologically advanced world exist where there is little to no spiritual light?  The answer to this question is a resounding “Yes!”  But first and foremost, we need to understand what, exactly, Spiritual Light is.  Actually, Spiritual Light is not necessarily a thing, but a Person, and wherever this Person is allowed to have residence and presence His Light will, as well, will shine.  The opposite is true, as well:  wherever This Person is denied and hindered there will be Spiritual Darkness.  Many countries in the world follow the latter.  This Person being spoken of here (and described in a few minutes) is often denied presence, unaccepted and deemed unacceptable, and replaced by other ideas, ideologies, and fashions of thought which are deemed more modern, less intolerant/more tolerant, more broad based, and more open-minded.  Many nations have elected or empowered governments to office whose pathway of thinking is in opposition (often diametrically so) to This Person.  A great number of societies have allowed educational goals or social programs into their lives, which deny the truth of This Person, and have, as a result, ushered in Spiritual Darkness.  Many Cultures have – despite alleged testimonies of tolerance for all ideas and philosophies – branded This Person and his Spiritual Light as unwelcome and dangerous, even going so far as to kill off those – even of their own societies and cultures – who have chosen to believe in him.  This Person being written about here is none other than Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus Christ:  The Light of the World

In our keys for today we see many verses here where Jesus Himself is speaking.  We also see and read verses in the Bible where Jesus makes some fantastic claims about himself:

 

“‘I am the light of the world.’”

– John 9.5

 

“‘For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not may see: and that they which see might be made blind.’”

 – John 9.39

 

“‘And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.’”

– John 12.32

 

“‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, “Before Abraham Was, I AM.”’”

– John 8.58

 

“‘I am the bread of life:  he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.’”

– John 6.36

 

“‘For I came down from heaven…’”

– John 6.38

 

“‘And the servant abideth not in the house forever:  but the Son abideth ever.  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’”

– John 8.35~36

 

“‘All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers…’”

– John 10.8

 

“‘I am the good shepherd…’”

– John 10.11, 14

 

“‘I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the father, but by me.’”

– John 14.6

 

“‘I am the resurrection and the life:  he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.’”

– John 1.25~26

 

For this lesson, the most incredible statements from Jesus are as follow:

 

“‘I am the light of the world:  he that followeth after me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’”

– John 8.12

 

In these statements and those like them we see Jesus clearly stating his position as not only God, but also the Light of the World – The Spiritual Light for this spiritually darkened world.  Jesus is the Light of the World.

 

If There is Light, There IS Dark

We know what light is.  What, really, is dark?  In science, there really isn’t such a thing as cold.  Cold is actually the absence of heat.  We see a similar thing with regards to color.  While white is all of the colors mixed together (especially with regards to light), black is really not a color in and of itself, but simply the absence of color.  This principle can also be applied to any number of other examples of opposites such as life and death, sound and silence, water and dryness.  In the same way, darkness is not something in and of itself; it is simply the absence of light.  All this is to ask a question:  If there is a Light of the World, is there also a “Dark” of the world?  As Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, could there also be something or someone that is the essence of spiritual darkness?  The answer to this question, again, is “Yes!”  This person is none other than Satan, also known as the Devil and Lucifer.  Colossians 1.13 mentions “the power of darkness.”   Ephesians 6.12 mentions “the rulers of the darkness of this world…” Jesus himself mentions “the power of darkness.” (Luke 22.53)  The devil – once a holy angel – threw away anything that was good and full of light in himself when he rebelled against God.  Essentially, the devil is entirely without light.  In fact, many give him quite an interesting name:  the Prince of Darkness.  This is who the devil is.  He is without the light of eternity.  Along with the names already mentioned, Jesus and the Bible give the devil a plethora of other names:

 

Roaring Lion – 1st Peter 5.8	Accuser of the Brethren – Revelation 12.10
Great Red Dragon – Revelation 12.9	Adversary – 1st Peter 5.8
Liar – John 8.44	Enemy – Matthew 13.39
Old Serpent – Revelation 12.9	Prince and Power of the air – Ephesians 2.2
Murderer – John 8.44	Prince of Devils – Matthew 9.34
Father of Lies – John 8.44	Prince of this world – John 12.31

All of these names are given him because of the glaring fact that the Devil has no light in him.

 

Angel of Light?

There is yet another name that the Bible renders to the devil: 

 

“And no marvel; for Satan is transformed into an angel of light.”

– II Corinthians 11.14 (emphasis added)

 

Paul further refines this alias for the devil in another of his Epistles:

 

“But though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached, let him be accursed.”

– Galatians 1.8 (emphasis added)

 

We know, from the names given and from descriptions of him in the Bible, that the devil is a liar, is a murderer, and is one who seeks to lead people to eternal destruction.  We know, too, from the Old Testament – particularly Isaiah and Ezekiel – that the Devil is a fallen angel, and is very powerful; far more powerful than people (so powerful that he was able to transform into a serpent in the Garden of Eden, where man’s problems with sin began).  As such, it is no stretch for the devil – or any of his followers (angelic or otherwise:  see II Corinthians 11.15) – to transform or pass himself off as a Godly, righteous angel…an angel of light.  We have to remember, though, that the “light” that the devil uses is akin to that of a Willow the Wisp (Will O’ Wisp).  A Will O’ Wisp is a type of light that, according to legend, is found in swamps and in graveyards (sometimes people mistake them for ghosts).  These Will O’ Wisps – if followed – lead people to their destruction by getting lost in a deep, dark swamp, or to some other nasty end.  Such is true of the Devil, as well, with his false light.  It is the Devil’s job to lead as many people away form the truth as possible, and in the spiritually dark cavern we know as the world today, following the devil’s false light is invitation to total destruction, both physically and eternally.

 

Ghosts, Bright Beings, Mary in the Sky

It should be no surprise that the devil can do such tricks as changing himself into a righteously appearing angel.  It should be further easy to see these tricks and recognize them for what they are.  However, throughout history – especially in recent days – people are more and more being tricked into seeing things they believe to be heavenly.  According to tradition, the Islamic Faith was founded on the teachings of an Angel to Islam’s Founder, Mohammed.  According to Muslim tradition, Mohammed received the words, which were later to become the Qu’Ran from an angel who – interestingly enough – spoke to him in a cave.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church) was founded by Joseph Smith in similar fashion.  According to Mormon tradition, Joseph Smith was approached by a heavenly looking, angelic being that gave him special glasses with which to translate “a ‘new’ Gospel of Jesus Christ” whose pages were gold-plated and allegedly found in the trunk of a tree.  Later the first angelic being was joined by another, these two beings claiming to be God the Father and God the Son, who then proceeded to “translate” and “teach” Smith the meaning of the words found in the now-disappeared gold-plated book.  Further, the Roman Catholic Church and her followers have claimed to see sky-borne visions of Mary and the baby Jesus in numerous parts of the world.  In the modern age, people, too, have seen unidentified flying objects (UFOs) – even going so far as claiming that “alien abduction” of certain people – have occurred in ever increasing number, along with sightings on more and more occasions of ghosts and spirits if the departed.  Such is the increase in these sorts of things that a special category – the “paranormal” – has been created, with many forms of media and communication being devoted to “paranormal” activity (television shows such as the dramas The Ghost Whisperer, Medium, and The Profiler and documentary types like Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings growing in ever greater popularity in the last twenty to twenty-five years).  Are all of these real and legitimate occurrences, or are they something deeper and more sinister?  Could it be that the devil is using such things as this – this transforming into an angel of light – to lead men and women of this world and this present age astray?

 

Jesus’ Warnings and The Test

Jesus warned us that in the last days, things would happen:

 

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, “I am Christ”; and shall deceive many.  And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many.  Then if any man shall say unto you, “Lo, here is Christ, or there”; believe it not.  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  Behold, I have told you before.  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, “Behold he is in the desert”; go not forth:  “behold, he is in the secret chambers”; believe it not.  So likewise ye, when ye shall see these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.  Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled…and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven’”

– Matthew 24.4~5, 11, 23~26, 33~34; Luke 21.11

 

In these verses and many others Jesus warns us about the false light of the devil, and how they are signs and dangers.  Here Jesus is warning us that the end-times are now upon us if we take what we see with regards to the “paranormal” – UFO and Ghost sightings and encounters – the rise of false religions (especially with those claiming to have “new revelations” or a “new gospel” brought by an angelic being), and visions of Mary (with or without the baby Jesus).  Friends, the end times are upon us, and the spiritual darkness of this world is only getting darker by the day.  But to help us to have a discerning spirit and mind, God gives us a way to test these false religions, paranormal encounters, and the sightings of Mary:

 

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God;  because many false prophets are gone out into the world.  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:  Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:  and this is the spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”

– I John 4.1~3

 

Friends, this above Scripture, written in John’s First Epistle General is the test.  Any of the sightings, angelic beings, visions of Mary, or paranormal stuff that happens that denies Christ is come in the flesh is of the Devil.  Any of them that confess Christ is come in the flesh is of God. It’s all just that plain and simple.

 

The Bottom Line – It’s Getting Darker By The Hour!

Friends, its pretty easy to see that the world is getting darker and darker at ever increasing speeds.  As a person goes deeper and deeper into a cave gets her/himself into darker and darker places away from light, so, too, is modern society traveling into ever darker and darker regions of immorality and sin.  Such is the darkness of the hour that even entire church denominations are starting to make accommodations with the darkness of the world.  Stats show that divorce, abortion, theft, viewing and use of pornography, homosexuality and other deviant lifestyles, and the break-up of the family are all happening at greater and greater numbers, some of them even outpacing statistics outside of the church.  If we fail to return to the light of Jesus Christ, things will only get worse, and before we know it, the Tribulation Hour will be upon all of us in the world.  The Darkness of the World, the Darkness of Sin is growing, and only Jesus Christ, clinging to him, his written Word, and leadership of the Holy Ghost can lead people to eternal salvation.

 

Conclusion – Use That Light!!!

When you find yourself in a dark place physically, what do you do?  Do you keep on moving around in the dark, hoping that all will be alright, and that no injury or accident will happen?  Do you grope around for your objects of work or play, literally seeing no difference between light and dark?  Or do you seek a light source – such as a flashlight or candle – to help you be able to see clearly?  In the same way, in this sin-darkened world, what do you do?  Do you – as many other people in the world today – make accommodation with the darkness, groping around for things that look good, hoping beyond hope that everything will turn out alright?  Do you welcome the darkness of sin into your home and into your life, allowing it to snuff out the Light of Jesus Christ, while you go about your business?  Do you let the devil, that prince of darkness, have sway in your life while you attempt to go about your merry way?  If so, do you not realize that disaster awaits at your doorstep (Genesis 4.7)?  Why not turn to the light of Jesus Christ?  Why not use the torch, the fire, the flashlight that Christ has given us in his written Word?  Why not place your hand into Jesus’ nail-scarred hands, and let him lead you through the darkness?  Why not ask the Holy Ghost to teach you, and to let his counsel bring out into glorious day?  As you would use a flashlight or candle to lead you in a blackout, or a lantern in a storm, or a torch in a cave, why not use the Bible in the same way?  Failing to do so will only lead you to destruction, eternal light, and a future without Jesus Christ.  Christ sums it up the best:

 

“‘And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.’”

– Matthew 15.14

 

“‘Can the blind lead the blind?  Shall not they both fall into the ditch?’”

– Luke 6.39

 

Prayer – Heavenly Father, lead us with your light today.  Help us, Lord Jesus, to place our hands in your nail-scarred hands, and help us, Holy Spirit, to place our trust in your leadership and guidance.  You have shown us through your Word, Father, that the world is getting darker by the day, yea, by the hour.  Will you lead us, Lord?  Will you help us to follow your light, and not be fooled by the Will O’ Wisps the devil would have us follow to our destruction?  We bless thee and we praise thee today, and we ask all of this in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen. 

 

Verse to Remember:

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.”

– Psalm 19.105~106