Darkness To Light
Ep 24 - Light
[music playing] Hi there. Welcome to this week's message from Darkness to Light. We hope that you enjoy the message and will join us each week for an inspiring devotional. And now here's Troy Holden with this week's message. Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from night and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years." When God created the heavens and sky, the first reason God Almighty placed the stars in the positions that they're in is so that we can see the signs. The Bible says this clearly, "Let them be for signs." Then it says, "Seasons and for days and years." With this understanding, I want you to consider that what you're about to hear today may just be one of the most clearest prophetic messages you'll hear this year. The New Scientist reports that the moon will cover the sun on April 8th for people in parts of the US, Canada, and Mexico creating an experience unlike any other. A total solar eclipse is an incredible experience, explains Patricia Reef at Rice University in Texas. The temperature suddenly drops. It gets dark, and you can see stars and planets during the day. There's all sorts of phenomena to watch out for before and after totality, too, like strange shadows and so-called diamond rings, bright flashes of light caused by the sun's rays, passing along the uneven surface of the moon. Forbes then reports the following. How often do solar eclipses occur? Well, NASA's new heat map showing the geographical distribution of total solar eclipses has revealed that any specific location on Earth experiences a total solar eclipse once every 366 years on average. Now, that makes what happens April 8th in parts of southern Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky somewhat remarkable. Now, in terms of a biblically prophetic perspective, let's just look at this. We know that part of the reason why God created the heavens was for the purpose of giving us signs. Even Jesus himself, when he warned about the coming of the Son of Man, told us in Luke chapter 21, verse 25, "There will be signs in the sun, in the moon and in the stars, and on the Earth, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring." Jesus said, "There will be." So we're talking about present future tense. He's talking into our generation. He says, "And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars." Now, when these things begin to happen, look up, lift your head, because your redemption draws near friends. And my third point is that you should not look at this in isolation. When you are looking at Bible prophecy, you must look at it in the right context, because we cannot simply say, "It's the last days, because there are signs in the heavens." But look at what the other signs were told to watch out for are. The increase in false prophets and false teachers, Jesus told us that in the last days. The number one thing you must guard against is deception. And then you look at current affairs. There are wars and rumors of wars. There are troubles and pestilences everywhere. Right now, one of the key messages from the World Health Organization has to do with disease X and identifying what the next pandemic may be and what it will look like. Furthermore, we're also seeing an apostasy, which is turning away from the faith. Prophetically speaking, there are so many things that we've been warned about in the Bible that are coming to pass. In time, biblical prophecy is unfolding right before our eyes. So here's my question. If God was speaking, do you think you would know? And if you knew, do you think you'd understand it? Yes, this day and age, we may not have a prophet like Moses who had a burning bush experience, but if God was speaking to us and telling us to watch and pray to look at the signs of the times, would you listen? From a biblical standpoint, God is not confined to a single manner of communicating with His people. In Job 38, verse 1, the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind. In Exodus 19, verse 18, God announced His presence to Moses in an extraordinary way with the Bible saying, "Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord descended on it and fired. The smoke billowed up from it, like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently." In 1 Kings 19, verse 12, Elijah encounters the Lord and the Bible says, "And after the earthquake of fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still, small voice." The point of God speaking in this still, small voice here, I believe, was to show Elijah that the work of the Lord need not always be accompanied by dramatic revelation or manifestations, but God can speak in a gentle and peaceful but assured manner. Another way that God speaks is by making an impression on our spirit. Here's two verses where you can see this happening. Acts 17, verse 16, "Now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols." Also in Acts 18, verse 5, "When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ." On both occasions, God or the Holy Spirit made an impression on Paul that provoked, compelled, and called him to action. And to put this into context, we need to understand that Romans 8, verse 16, which says, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, for the Holy Spirit speaks to us and tells our spirit that we are children of God." This gives you a small glimpse into some of the ways in which God speaks. And remember, the Lord is not limited in how He speaks. This has been your weekly message from Darkness to Light. Thanks again for joining us today. [MUSIC PLAYING] (gentle music)