Fall 1993

A Beckoning Light
An Important Present Word
(El-Bethel 1930"s)

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that
shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of
the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they
stumble" Proverbs 4:18-19.

To us has been given "the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ." This glorious light has shined out of darkness, not only upon our path, but deep within our being, making known to us "the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" II Cor 4:4,6.

This blessed light is being shed within our hearts, from which are the issues of life. This ineffable divine glory gathers brilliancy at each step of our onward course as we more fully yield our life into His life.

Why is it we fail to reflect more of this increasing light? Perhaps because we have failed to walk in the light which He has already given us. Once, were joiced in the light as it shined upon us in such gracious rays, for it was new and clear. But have we allowed it to grow within us?

In our sojourn, the mountains loom before us, impassable. But suddenly, the reappears a break, and through this opening bursts upon our vision a distant glimpse of valleys and landscapes, so different from the grim, towering, impassable mountains that hem us in on every side. Only for a moment this distant scene appears, then the mountains hide it again. When compared with the shadows of the forbidding mountains that darken our path, it is a place of light and beauty that stirs within us hope and encouragement to press onward.

To glimpse that which the Lord has for us, or to view the future clearly from time to time, is not proof of possession. There is a path that we must travel before we are able to live in that reality. These fleeting glimpses are given to encourage us to continue pressing onward. The searching power of the Holy Spirit will reveal whether we possess the land, or whether we simply have viewed it from afar.

The Lord does not allow this light come at once in all its fullness. He gives only that which we can endure. Consequently, He tests us to see whether we will walk in the light He has already given that we might receive more. It begins as the rays of the early dawn, which are clear enough to reveal the path which God is calling us to enter, but does not make clear each object about us.

"The path of the righteous is as the dawning light." The day does not begin with the noon-day sun in its greatest brilliancy, but with dim rays from the east, which imperceptibly increase. The dawning of the new day that is before us is as this divine light.

How could eyes which have seen only darkness bear the full light of the sun(Son)? Or, how do spiritual eyes which have not previously seen one ray of heavenly light, bear the full light which God increasingly gives to the spiritually mature? These would become blind and be worse off than before the light had come.

God first brings to us the revelation of Jesus, the light of the world, as our Saviour and Redeemer. This is glorious and bright to the one who first sees it and starts to walk in it. But it is only the beginning, the first rays o dawn, which must increase to the full knowledge and possession of all God has given us in Christ and His redemptive work within us.

As we enter the path which is revealed by this light and begin to press forward, the light gradually increases, though so imperceptibly at times that it requires diligence to follow. As we progress, many things which we had not discerned in the dimness of dawn, begin to become clearer, for the light becomes brighter as it moves toward the "day" that is before us.

The word "path" has a most significant meaning. It does not mean exclusively a route mapped out, but includes the one who is traveling on it. This is made stronger by the words "of the righteous," which distinguish it from all other paths. It is "the path of the righteous."

With eager feet, these travelers hasten to grasp a greater revelation of Jesus Christ and a clearer knowledge of His will. Their hunger for His Presence causes them to cling to the path they have found.

But what of our weakness? As we hasten on with God, our life becomes a well-trodden road in His light. He will lift us from our carnality and glorify Himself through us. He will fashion anew the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the Body of His Glory, according to that inward working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself.

The path with its traveler brightens, going from glory to glory toward the light that emanates from the Throne of God and the Lamb. It may not be seen by others, nor recognized by ourselves; but the Father is well pleased as He sees reflecting through us, the image of His Son.

As we go forward, humbly treading the path, ever facing the light, this glory increases step by step, and brightens moment by moment, until we pass from life and earth into the eternal Light of Heaven and Glorification.