Sermon Notes of Pastor Mark Downey
Continued from: "The Shining Light of Glory, Part 2"
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As you may have noticed, we are looking at biblical light. We first started in Genesis and are going straight through the scriptures to expand our understanding of this subject as it dovetails with the concept of baptism. I do not mean the denominational ritual of full body immersion in water that corresponds to the practices of ancient pagan cults. I do mean the baptism or full mentality of immersing ourselves in the Word of God as it relates to the shining light of glory.
In recent years, bottled water with fancy names has become very popular because of apprehensions about tap water. I was watching this gag on TV where they devised all these exotic names of bottled water and filled these exotic bottles with water from a garden hose, and asked people in a restaurant for their opinions. The results were hilarious; going from one fake label of water to the next. I mention this anecdote because, by the same token, the church doctrine of a type of dunking baptism goes way beyond what the Bible teaches about water and baptism.
The Bible indeed speaks of water baptism, quoting John the Baptist, "I baptize you with water unto repentance" (Mt. 3:11). John was baptizing with water, but the baptism by water was a baptism of repentance ... not water. It was for the remission of sins, not getting completely wet. Water is symbolic of God's Word, as we read in Eph. 5:26, "the washing of water by the Word." It is used to clean the spots and wrinkles that defile our lives. The priestcraft would have you believe that the word baptize means to immerse. But do we immerse ourselves in water or the Word of God? If it is the Word, then we can proceed to repent, which means to change our lives from sin to righteousness. It is the effect of turning to God and acknowledging our need to move from darkness into His marvelous light. We need not be made to feel guilty for not going through the rituals of man. When we open our eyes and ears to the shining light of glory, we have declared and confessed our need to be washed clean; a new creature in Christ. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of wet Christians who are still in the dark.
Today, we'll be going through the poetic books of Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. God reveals His truth, not abstractly, but in terms of experience. Life is a process of which way to go. Light helps us to decide on the direction. These circumstances are such as to constitute an anticipation of an analogy of Jesus Christ and the remnant of Israel as to what shall come to pass prophetically of our sufferings and victories. Through it all, we are either drawn closer to God or distance ourselves from Him and His Glory.
What do I mean by glory? Well, the common, generic, judeo interpretation of glory is just a nondescript impersonal form of praise or honor (i.e. lip service). But to the White Christian, glory is an exclusive and comprehensive appraisal, or good report of one's reputation, giving credit to whom it is due. We know God's reputation or glory, by the shining light of His Word, as a real and living document that no other writing can ever replace or duplicate its divine inspiration and guidance.
As a race, God has bestowed upon us to be the custodians of His Word and to defend His reputation. Psalms 147:19-20 says He gave the Bible to the White race and He doesn't deal with the other races; they don't know His judgments. "You only have I known of all the families (or races) of the earth" (Amos 3:2). We Israelites not only bring glory to God, but also are to to God's glory. Isaiah 49:3, "Thou art my servant ... in whom I will be glorified"; Isaiah 46:13, "I will place salvation in Zion (America) for Israel my glory"; Isaiah 60:1-3, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness (Baal priests) shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall rise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee (Israel). And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."
God exalts Himself in splendor, an extraordinary superiority over and above everything, and we are His messengers representing the only government that can bring order to this planet. We are ambassadors with portfolio. We have the gift to diplomatically outshine any adversary on the scene. Those who make themselves our enemies will be destroyed. Our God has that reputation that the small g gods don't. Glory is not only strength, but aesthetic; a superior beauty. Strong's Concordance uses the words comely and fair (#8597), meaning attractive because of a good and pleasant look. Job's daughters were not only fair skinned, but were the height of quality. God blesses His chosen race with beauty. Can you really look at Henry Kissinger or Sammy Davis Jr. and call them our equals? You know, they say imitation is the best form of flattery. But what's going on with so many Negroes dyeing their hair blonde these days? It is mockery. God is not mocked and neither are we. Blonde Negroes do not glorify God, nor are they God's glory. They are dark and we are light, and that's the way God made things. It is much more than skin color. It has to do with behavior and demeanor, godliness and holiness. If you try to baptize a jew, all you've got is a wet jew. It is confusion; the way of Babylon, for the children of darkness to assume the identity of the children of light, and vice versa.
Turn to Psalms 4:2, where it says, "oh ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity, and seek after falsehood?" Do you think a multicultural democracy would fit into that category? And in verse 3: "but know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself". Sounds like the Lord discriminates. Verse 6 continues: "there be many that say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." Many people today are wondering if there's any good news with so much wickedness; so much mixing up rather than setting apart. That would certainly be a factor in one's countenance or facial expression or mental composure. With God's help we can change the way we look, going from despair to hope. Verse 7: "Thou (God) has put gladness in my heart (attitude)".
What is the light of your countenance? It's discovering who you are! How long will our adversaries, these human devils, dishonor us with false accusations and refer to us with the misnomer of anti-Semitic gentiles? As long as our people remain in the dark. Can we do it by ourselves? Psalms 18:28 "for thou wilt light my candle, the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness." Psalms 27:1 "the Lord is my light and my salvation" How so? Psalms 84:11 "for the Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord will give grace and glory."
As I mentioned in Part 2, light and dark are related to life and death. Psalms 36:9, "For with thee is the fountain of life, in thy light shall we see light." What do we get out of it? Psalms 37:6 states, "he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light" In Psalms 43:3, David prays, "Send out thy light" which he associates with God's truth, to lead him, for direction. And verse 5 tells us to have hope in God, "who is the health of my countenance"
In Psalms 44, God's covenant people are being ridiculed. David and his fellow worshippers don't know why God has permitted all these things to happen. And so, the warrior king laments about the good ol' days when the Israelite fathers were faithful in telling their children how God drove the heathens out of Canaan and established Israel in the land. As it says in verse 3, they did not possess the land by their own sword, but by God's mighty power and the light of His countenance, because He selected this race for His own purposes. Because of the tragedy of Israel's experiences, David reflects in Psalms 49 about all that his kinsman enjoy, yet have things in their lives that are missing. Verse 19 suggests he shall go to the race of his fathers and they shall never see the light. And verse 20 continues that they may be honorable men, but they don't have any understanding or common sense, like beasts that perish. David is saying in effect to those with prestige, 'you can't take it with you ... into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth'. In other words, you can't transfer the darkness of your countenance into 'the way, the truth, and the life'. And Jesus confirmed this by saying, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). And in verse 12, Jesus suggests that when we believe, or receive the light of His countenance, that the works that He does, we shall do also; in fact we will do greater works.
Most of our people don't have a clue as to the supernatural power of deliverance. Psalms 56:12-13, "Thy vows are upon me, O God. For you have rescued my life from death, that I may walk before God in the light of the living." Jesus proclaimed in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world, those following Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Psalms 89:15 "Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound, they shall walk in the light of your splendor O Lord." And guess what? I don't think that's talking about rap hip-hop music.
In Part 2, we discussed wisdom and understanding being 'the fear of the Lord' and 'to depart from evil' in Job 28:28. In Psalms 90, Israel's deviations from God's will and the secret sins of the heart are all revealed in the searching light of God's presence, and, in verse 8, our iniquities before the scrutiny of His face. As verse 11 asks us ... who knows the power of His anger and wrath, even according to our fear and reverence? Most men don't take the judgments of God seriously enough. So teach us, Lord, to number our days (v. 12), i.e. make each day count, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. We're only here for so long, so let's use our time wisely. In the Ferrar Fenton Bible, Psalms 112:1 tells us how he who fears the Lord will succeed and whoever delights in His law; (v. 2) his race shall be strong in the land; his family blessed; (v. 4) for the righteous, light bursts from the dark, by being gentle, kind and good. (The KJV uses the terms gracious and full of compassion in verse 4); (v. 5) by justice he measures his acts (KJV: he will guide his affairs with discretion); (v. 7 KJV) he shall not be afraid of evil tidings, his heart is fixed on trusting the Lord. The light of prosperity and joy follows the darkness of trouble and sorrow in the lives of the upright. God is the source of such light because He is gracious and merciful.
If we are God fearing, then our character should reflect the character of God being gracious, implying courtesy and kindliness; a compassion towards the 'sympathy of other's distress and a desire to alleviate it. Proverbs 4:16 describes the Talmudic jew who can't sleep until he has caused some mischief and betrayed someone to fall. Verse 18, on the other hand, describes the Christian walk as "the path of the just as the shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day. Verse 19 continues "the way of the wicked is as darkness and they don't know when they are going to stumble and fall". Verse 26 says "ponder the path of your feet and establish direction." How do we know which way to go? "The commandments of God are as a lamp and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life" (Prov. 6:23). This is good advice to avoid tripping over our words. "Only by pride comes argumentation, but with the well advised is wisdom" Proverbs 13:10. "The light of the righteous rejoice, but the lamp of the wicked (the satanic angels of light) shall be put out" Proverbs 13:9.
When we get to the book of Ecclesiastes, we reach a deep philosophical question that all religions attempt to answer, and that is, 'What is the ultimate meaning and purpose of life'? The recurrent phrases throughout this book is 'under the sun' and 'I perceive'. While the writer likens life to a game, he says you play it because you enjoy it for its own sake. Ecc. 2:10 FF says "My heart rejoiced in all my endeavors and that was my reward." The comparison is made between wisdom and foolishness, as to how we live our lives. Both eventually go to the grave. But the legacy we leave to our posterity is as different as night and day. Ecc. 2:13 says "Then I saw that wisdom excelleth (or surpasses) folly as far as light excels the darkness."
Our comfort in the riddles of life rest not in the transient efforts of each person, but rather in the covenants of Israel with God. Understanding the limitations of man gives us the shining light of glory as Jesus said in Mt. 28:18 "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth". Where there's smoke, there's fire and where there's fire, there's light. Next, I'll rekindle the campfire and we'll warm up to the light of the prophets.
Continued in: The Shining Light of Glory Part 4
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