God Is Light
Speaker: Igor
Take hold of God's mercy and present your bodies a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). God sought for a man to stand in the gap and found none (Ezek 22:30), because everyone seeks his own. Christ suffers in "the least of these": the hungry, the naked, those in prison (Matt 25:42–45). As long as our own life and our "advantages" are precious to us, we live in captivity and do nothing good for the Kingdom. Go forth to Him "without the camp, bearing his reproach" (Heb 13:13): if the blood of bulls purified the flesh, how much more does Christ's blood let Him live in us (Heb 9:13–14).
Speaker: Mikhail
God pours out as much as a person is ready to receive: the oil flowed as long as there were vessels (2 Kgs 4:1–7). "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?" (Lam 3:39). We look for someone to blame, while the devil, "the father of lies", deceives so skillfully that everyone around sees a person's trouble except the person himself.
"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5–7). Whoever says he is in God while his deeds are not in the light is lying. Verse 8 ("if we say that we have no sin") is often quoted as proof that no one can live without sin. But in context it is about those who think they don't need Christ's blood: someone the blood has cleansed can say at that moment that there is no sin in him.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Many say a general "forgive me everything" but never name their sins. Confession is not words said once, but time in which God's Spirit ripens a person until fruits of repentance appear. No intermediaries are needed.
The second half of the verse, cleansing from unrighteousness, is almost forgotten. Unrighteousness is the devil's main weapon; he feeds on it. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hos 4:6): a person cannot see himself, and our righteousnesses are "as filthy rags" (Isa 64:6). "They know not what they do" (Luke 23:34): even today one can trample the blood of the covenant without understanding it (Heb 10:29). God forgives, but He does not want "the sow that was washed" to go back to the mire (2 Pet 2:22).
Whoever sees himself in God's light will cry day and night, "Deliver me from myself", as Paul did: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom 7:22–24). Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid (Rom 6:1–2).
To go on to perfection we must leave "the principles of the doctrine" of repentance from dead works (Heb 6:1): with an infant God forgives at once, but later He begins to judge. The rich young man had kept everything from his youth, and Christ looked at him with respect, but human righteousness is not enough: you must leave everything and take up the cross (Matt 19:16–21).
Whoever has seen himself immediately stops judging others: I don't know my neighbor's motives, but I know my own very well. He once saw in the spiritual world how people "devour" each other's nerves (Gal 5:15) while the devil stands by, pleased, and feeds on it.
"Let him refrain his tongue from evil… and see good days" (1 Pet 3:10). Pray for the peace of the city (Jer 29:7) and for those in authority (1 Tim 2:1–2): every power is from God (Rom 13:1). Obey the laws of the state except what goes against the Gospel (Acts 5:29). Churches suffer when they get into politics.
The New Covenant: "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts" (Heb 8:10). The cup of blessing (1 Cor 10:16) carries this covenant. Many will say "Lord, Lord" and hear "depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matt 7:22–23): not only deceivers, but also those who never sought the light.
Redeemed not with silver and gold from the vain way of life received from the fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:18–19). This treasure is worth more than any precious stone. The blood was shed "for the remission of sins" (Matt 26:26–28): it brings the spirit into the light. During communion, ask: "Help me forget about everyone else and see myself."
Speaker: Edik
"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness" (John 8:12). Men loved darkness because their deeds were evil (John 3:19). He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21). "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Pet 1:16).
A prisoner who comes to believe in Jesus still serves out his sentence; in the same way, we cannot do the good we want. But "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom 8:2).
As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (1 Cor 15:49); He will change our body to be like His glorious body (Phil 3:21). "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal 2:20). "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thess 5:23–24): to live the rest of our time no longer to the lusts of men, but to the will of God (1 Pet 4:2).
Speaker
A prayer for Edik and his wife Alena, and for Viktor and Tatyana, who are going through a hard time. "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak" (Rom 15:1). In his suffering Job could not find God forward or backward, but said: "He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:8–12). God does not give everyone the honor of going through such trials, and in the end He turns the life into gold. "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes" (Ps 119:71).