Walk in the Light Text: Isaiah 50:10-11 Uncovering Religion/Truth, Judgment and Eternity

Introduction Never before in history has there been so many alternative belief systems from which we can live out our life. It gone that far now that we pretty much have designer religions, tailor made to suit the individual. Truth and reality in many cases is not the main point of these systems of belief, but rather whether we find happiness. In western countries, this becomes a major dilemma to the Christian: provided that a person has a good job, and a nice house to live in, and plenty of fun and entertainment, they pretty much have found heaven on earth and have no need of salvation.

Who Fears God? In our text God asks a searching question... Isaiah 50:10 “Who among you fears the LORD?” He is asking this generation that question; what a question considering that they have reinvented Him and even done away with Him all together. However, I believe He is first addressing the Church, because many churches today have no sense of what it is to fear God. The Church today is in a dreadfully sinful state and I believe this is because she does not fear God. Proverbs 16:6b “Through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.”

Who is Holy? Isaiah 50:10 “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant?” Who obeys God and walks according to His Word? This is an alarming point of misconduct in the Church: when we don’t fear God we won’t obey His word either and then we will sin and live unholy lives. Proverbs 14:2 “He whose walk is upright fears the LORD.” Psalms 25:12 “Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.”

Walk in the Light of Christ Isaiah 50:10b “Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.” We are walking in darkness down here on earth, and in this place where satan is god, we are told to trust in the name of the Lord and rely on our God. 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 1John 4:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Christ the Light John 1:4-9 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 118:27 “The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us.” Psalm 104:2 “He wraps himself in light as with a garment;”

Making Our Own Light Isaiah 50:11 “But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.” This is the Word of God to those of the human race, and even the Church who have made their own light for their path. All men walk in this dark world and we will be judged on judgment day by the kind of light with which we chose to walk in.

The Light of Darkness Matthew 6:23 “But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” This darkness is evil and satan comes to men as an angel of light, but his light is really darkness. 2Corinthians 11:14-15 “For satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

The Light Rejected John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it...” Many are those who walk in the darkness and do not understand the Light of the Glory of Christ. John 1:10-11 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” John 3:19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

Mans Flaming Torches Isaiah 50:11 “But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.” Men who walk in the light of fires which they have made are those who flock to man made belief systems. Men who provide flaming torches for themselves are those who tailor belief systems to suit themselves. The end for those who reject the Light of Christ and walk instead in the Light of their own fires is that they will lie down in torment.

Lay Down in Torment The Hebrew word used for torment is מַעֲצֵבָה maatsebah it is only used once in the Old Testament and it is taken from the word atsab and it means “a place of pain.” Jesus talked plenty about this place of pain, in fact Jesus spoke more about it than every other writer of the Bible. Most of what we know about hell is given to us very graphically by the Lord Himself, and that is because He came to die for us so that by belief in Him and walking in His Light, we would be saved from hell. John 1:12-13 “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”

In Conclusion Men are guilty of many things in life, but the greatest guilt which will condemn them for eternity is rejecting the Light of Christ. We must keep ourselves protected from gathering around the fires of men and walking by our own torches, we do this by knowing the Word of God. We must continue in fellowship with absolute commitment to studying the Word together. 1John 4:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” We must be purified of all sin through the Blood of Jesus, for by His Blood we enter into the Kingdom of God.