"We Can Walk in Darkness" - Paul Washer
Great folly being committed in Israel demands an outcry! When the pulse of true religion begins to flatline in the souls of men because celebrity preachers are privately introducing damnable heresies, true believers must stand up and speak out in protest against it! Biblically speaking, what Paul Washer says about Spiritual Darkness is consequential enough to warrant an open rebuke.
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“If I do something out of just sheer obedience, but I don’t feel anything – I’m not moved by love, I’m not moved by any sense of affection toward God, I’m just doing it because it’s obedience. Should I do it? And I said, Absolutely. We are called to obey God…regardless of our disposition, regardless of what we are feeling, we are called to walk in obedience.” – Paul Washer
“keep walking” – Paul Washer “…it’s just darkness everywhere, and yet I walk in obedience” – Paul Washer “…so when we know that from the study of the Scriptures, then we can walk in darkness, we can walk when there is no light, when there is no feeling, and we can be pleasing and honoring to God.” – Paul Washer |
While preaching to the beleaguered Christians of this adulterous generation, Paul Washer is promoting a “walk of obedience” that is “pleasing” to God even while men “walk in darkness”. Has he never read that “God is Light” (1 Jn. 1:5)? In other words, Washer is preaching an “obedience” that is “not moved by love” or “any sense of affection toward God”, and he promises that this is an “obedience” that is “pleasing” to God. Has he never read that “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:16)? Or, has he never read that our most noble acts of religious obedience WITHOUT LOVE are regarded as “nothing” in the sight of God (1 Cor. 13:1-3)? Namely, because the only profitable thing of true religion is “faith which worketh by love” (Gal. 5:6). Amazingly, Washer teaches that we can be certain about what he is saying because of “who God is” according to the Bible and “what God has promised”. Then he goes on to glorify the “obedience” that is not “moved by love” more than the “obedience” that is moved by love, without ever clarifying that an “obedience” without love is actually disobedience in the sight of God!
Who is God?
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“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is Light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” - 1 John 1:5-7
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Who is God? According to Scripture, “God is Light” (1 Jn. 1:5), and “IF WE SAY that we have fellowship with Him, and WALK IN DARKNESS”, or in this case: IF PAUL SAYS that we can have fellowship with God and walk in darkness, according to 1 John 1:6 he is lying! Such an affirmation is so destructive and satanic it is explicitly warned against in Scripture, implying that popular men will indeed say such things.
On the contrary, the Bible teaches that “Light” is the moral and spiritual essence of God (1 Jn. 1:4-5, Rom. 8:10), while “darkness” is the moral and spiritual essence of evil in both Sinners (Jn. 3:19, Eph. 4:17-18, 5:11) and fallen Angels, those who are respectively the citizens and principalities of the Kingdom of Hell (Lk. 22:53, Acts 26:18, Col. 1:13, Eph. 2:1-3, 6:12). Therefore, when a Sinner is truly saved - the conversion experience is described to be a passing from darkness to light (Acts. 26:18, Col. 1:12-13). A New Birth makes these men “the Children of Light” (Jn. 12:36, 1 Thess. 5:5, Eph. 5:8-11, 2 Pet. 1:4). Therefore, light is the essence of true Sainthood (Col. 1:12-13) and the royalty of the Ecclesia (1 Pet. 2:9), while darkness is the essence of spiritually dead Sinners (Eph. 5:14, 1 Jn. 2:9-11, 3:14-15, Rom. 8:6, Rev. 3:1) and the plight of the condemned generations of mankind throughout all ages (Isa. 29:9-10, Rom. 11:7-10, Matt. 25:1-13, Rom. 13:11-14, Mark 13:34-37, Lk. 12:35-40). Overcomers triumph in the battle by “the amour of light” (Rom. 13:12, 1 Thess. 5:4-8) and hereby they prove to be true followers of Christ (Jn. 8:12, 1 Jn. 2:9-11), while the rest are a disgrace to the blood of Jesus (1 Jn. 1:7) through their unbelief in the Light (Jn. 3:19-21, 8:12, 12:46).
All this makes one wonder how Paul came up with this doctrine: namely, that true Christians can “walk in darkness” and still be in “obedience” that is “pleasing” to God. Do you think this teaching is based more upon his own experience than Scripture? Do you think his own backsliding has corrupted his understanding and caused him to wrest the Scriptures on this vital doctrine of salvation?
On the contrary, the Bible teaches that “Light” is the moral and spiritual essence of God (1 Jn. 1:4-5, Rom. 8:10), while “darkness” is the moral and spiritual essence of evil in both Sinners (Jn. 3:19, Eph. 4:17-18, 5:11) and fallen Angels, those who are respectively the citizens and principalities of the Kingdom of Hell (Lk. 22:53, Acts 26:18, Col. 1:13, Eph. 2:1-3, 6:12). Therefore, when a Sinner is truly saved - the conversion experience is described to be a passing from darkness to light (Acts. 26:18, Col. 1:12-13). A New Birth makes these men “the Children of Light” (Jn. 12:36, 1 Thess. 5:5, Eph. 5:8-11, 2 Pet. 1:4). Therefore, light is the essence of true Sainthood (Col. 1:12-13) and the royalty of the Ecclesia (1 Pet. 2:9), while darkness is the essence of spiritually dead Sinners (Eph. 5:14, 1 Jn. 2:9-11, 3:14-15, Rom. 8:6, Rev. 3:1) and the plight of the condemned generations of mankind throughout all ages (Isa. 29:9-10, Rom. 11:7-10, Matt. 25:1-13, Rom. 13:11-14, Mark 13:34-37, Lk. 12:35-40). Overcomers triumph in the battle by “the amour of light” (Rom. 13:12, 1 Thess. 5:4-8) and hereby they prove to be true followers of Christ (Jn. 8:12, 1 Jn. 2:9-11), while the rest are a disgrace to the blood of Jesus (1 Jn. 1:7) through their unbelief in the Light (Jn. 3:19-21, 8:12, 12:46).
All this makes one wonder how Paul came up with this doctrine: namely, that true Christians can “walk in darkness” and still be in “obedience” that is “pleasing” to God. Do you think this teaching is based more upon his own experience than Scripture? Do you think his own backsliding has corrupted his understanding and caused him to wrest the Scriptures on this vital doctrine of salvation?
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“If I do something out of just sheer obedience, but I don’t feel anything – I’m not moved by love, I’m not moved by any sense of affection toward God, I’m just doing it because it’s obedience. Should I do it? And I said, Absolutely. We are called to obey God…regardless of our disposition, regardless of what we are feeling, we are called to walk in obedience.” – Paul Washer
“Now having said that, someone asked me, they said, well brother Paul is there ever times when you don't feel like anything and you obey and I said yes. As a matter of fact, it's quite frequent.” – Paul Washer “After not 10 years or 20 years but more than 30 years of doing the same thing and sometimes I don't feel like anything. I get out of bed sometimes there's no sense, consciousness of the presence of God. Sometimes I get out of bed and you're just tired but you get out of bed.” – Paul Washer “It's in those times I believe when I feel like nothing -- there's just darkness everywhere – and yet I walk in obedience. I feel like in those times I'm glorifying God more than in those mountain top experiences because what I'm doing I'm doing purely by faith, by faith in how trustworthy He is.” – Paul Washer “He's not seeing anything. He's not feeling anything.” – Paul Washer “You see, when you know God, you don't have to feel anything. You don't have to feel anything from above and you don't have to feel anything from within. All those feelings will come. There will be times of great affection. There will be senses of His love for you and all those marvelous and wonderful and I wouldn't take away from them at all.” – Paul Washer “So when we know that from the study of the Scriptures then we can walk in darkness. We can walk when there is no light, when there is no feeling. And we can be pleasing and honoring to God.” – Paul Washer |
Using himself as an example, Paul Washer openly confesses that Christians frequently “don’t feel like anything”, insomuch that they aren’t moved by “love” for God, and by this he also means that “there’s no sense, consciousness of the presence of God” – therefore, Christians feel physically and spiritually “tired” of obedience, and “there’s just darkness everywhere” to wit they aren’t “seeing anything”. Nevertheless, Washer insists that such Christians are presently putting their faith in God and therefore they should be confident that they know God, even despite the fact that they aren’t “seeing anything”. Meanwhile, the Word of God says:
Should a blinding force of impurity in the hearts of backslidden Christians be dismissed as something totally inconsequential by Paul Washer’s disciples? Moses’s faith didn’t leave him blind, visionless, and without feeling. It was written of him, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.” (Heb. 11:27, 2 Cor. 4:18). This begs the question: What kind of faith is Paul Washer preaching?
While the Bible promotes a faith that sees the invisible and hereby produces the “substance” and “evidence” of the unseen powers of the Kingdom of God (Heb. 11:1), Paul Washer is just telling fallen Christians to “get up” and “study” the Bible and “obey” the Scriptures, which in other words means that they should just “keep walking” – while Paul Washer personally assures them based upon his own testimony that when he is in “darkness”, he is nevertheless resolved to continue to “walk in obedience” despite the darkness.
While the Bible promotes a faith that sees the invisible and hereby produces the “substance” and “evidence” of the unseen powers of the Kingdom of God (Heb. 11:1), Paul Washer is just telling fallen Christians to “get up” and “study” the Bible and “obey” the Scriptures, which in other words means that they should just “keep walking” – while Paul Washer personally assures them based upon his own testimony that when he is in “darkness”, he is nevertheless resolved to continue to “walk in obedience” despite the darkness.
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“It's not feeling. It's what you know.” – Paul Washer
“I feel like in those times I'm glorifying God more than in those mountain top experiences because what I'm doing I'm doing purely by faith, by faith in how trustworthy He is.” – Paul Washer “You see, when you know God, you don't have to feel anything. You don't have to feel anything from above and you don't have to feel anything from within.” – Paul Washer “There are some people who are just not content in faith in the Word of God and sometimes walking in darkness with no feeling and no sense of light. Now they can't function that way so they have to have something.” – Paul Washer |
Fearfully, Paul is preaching mere DECISIONISM to fallen and backslidden Christians. Remarkably, upon “pleasing and honoring” God through “obedience”, as Paul suggests, the Christian is not certainly liberated from spiritual darkness. Even despite the darkness, Paul argues that Christians should “walk in obedience”, while contradicting the biblical fact that walking in obedience is “walking in the light” and walking in disobedience is “walking in darkness”. Essentially, Paul is preaching a “faith” that leaves Christian men in darkness! – a faith that is essentially an empty decision of religious obedience without the power and supply of the Spirit of God! Can you detect anything grossly unbiblical about that proposition? Granted, Paul Washer does say that “all those feelings will come”, but he does not affirm that their absence is due to ongoing sin being committed, nor does he affirm that their presence is due to the experience of righteousness in Christ.
Paul thinks that darkness is just something that Christians have to accept and persevere through in hopes that it will subside. Why? Because for Paul this darkness is just a seasonal thing that is under the providence of divine sovereignty. Without coincidence, modern teachers speak the same way about Revival, as if it comes and goes every 50 years and there’s nothing that we can do about it because it’s a sovereign work of God that He chooses to give or withhold from the Church. However, what’s even worse is that Paul wants people to be “content” with “walking in darkness” (as it happens from time to time) while warning the people who “can’t function that way” as if they are on the path of destruction! Specifically speaking, Paul goes on to say that these discontent people (who are unable to function in darkness) resort to faking a light or creating an artificial fire of some kind, as if that’s the only path available “to have something”.
Paul thinks that darkness is just something that Christians have to accept and persevere through in hopes that it will subside. Why? Because for Paul this darkness is just a seasonal thing that is under the providence of divine sovereignty. Without coincidence, modern teachers speak the same way about Revival, as if it comes and goes every 50 years and there’s nothing that we can do about it because it’s a sovereign work of God that He chooses to give or withhold from the Church. However, what’s even worse is that Paul wants people to be “content” with “walking in darkness” (as it happens from time to time) while warning the people who “can’t function that way” as if they are on the path of destruction! Specifically speaking, Paul goes on to say that these discontent people (who are unable to function in darkness) resort to faking a light or creating an artificial fire of some kind, as if that’s the only path available “to have something”.
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“Instead live your life studying the Word of God. Live your life in prayer. Live your life seeking out not merely principles from the Word of God but the God of the Word. Get to know who He is and then you'll be able to walk. And yes, yes, there will be times of great emotion, of great awareness of God's presence. There will be those times and they're wonderful. And you should obey God in the midst of those times. But there are also going to be times of testing where everything is pulled back and it seems like you're left all alone. And those times you can glorify God more than in any Mountain Top experience.” – Paul Washer
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Sadly, Paul Washer preaches a purity of faith that leaves men at the base of Zion, unable to ascend the Mountain, while the word of God preaches a purity of faith that causes men to ascend Zion in a mountain-top experience of rapturous love and glory (Ps. 15, 24; Ps. 84:10). Honestly, I wish I could say that Washer is preaching against false prophets here, because they get men fired up in Church services or conference meetings and their preaching is contrary to the truth of the Word of God. However, upon a closer evaluation of Paul Washer’s burden these days, exactly what he is speaking against is clarified. How? Paul uses the same language to speak against his own emotional experiences of the past, calling it “fleshly emotion”, while glorifying the strength he derives from his wife and company as the real source of his progress in “Christianity”, only second to the grace of God.
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“...MY LOVE (is like this), it’s not stable, and sometimes when it does seem to just flame out of control, when I look back at that fire, I see so much of it that’s just - even that fleshly emotion.” - Paul Washer
“I have many sleepless nights and dark moments...” - Paul Washer |
One can only wonder how the most famous Cessationist school and congregation of America, Grace Community Church, is interpreting what Paul is preaching against, as he denounces his own “fleshly emotion” as a fire that seemed to burn out of control in the past. Nevertheless, it sounds like Paul and the Cessationists are in agreement on the matter now.
Indeed, “God is Love” (1 Jn. 4:16)! But what about the fact that “God is Light” (1 Jn. 1:5)? Speaking of “A CLEARER PICTURE OF CHRIST”, what about how “His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” when John saw Him on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:16). What about how Jesus Christ fights against backslidden Churches with “the sword of [His] mouth” in accordance with the vision that John saw, because “out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword” (Rev. 1:16, 2:16)? Surely, the fact that Jesus’ face shines with brightness like the sun, or the fact that “God is Light” (1 Jn. 1:5), has salvific implications in the faith and practice of true Christianity. These are the Pictorial Attributes of Jesus Christ! Therefore, inasmuch as God cannot cease to be Love, He also cannot cease to be Light! Nevertheless, apparently, as a Preacher of the Word of God, Paul Washer would have men to be content and fully functional without fire in the blackness of darkness.
Paul may be famous for peaching against an understanding of “faith” and “repentance” that amounts to decisionism in unconverted men, but he certainly preaches a “faith” and “repentance” of mere decisionism to those whom he deems to be truly converted. Paul has been subverted by the prayerless Cessationist Calvinists who have redefined faith to be void of feeling and overly intellectual – a mere decisionism that doesn’t feel anything from above or from within. After openly declaring that a Christian can, does, and will walk in darkness, he then concludes his speech by commending young believers to a life of “walking with God” in “communion”, even though he just glorified the “faith” of those who are “walking in darkness”. All men everywhere should reject this backwards doctrine! For, the inglorious little affection of backsliders isn’t more glorious than the great affection of overcomers. The inglorious “obedience” of those who aren’t sensibly aware of the presence of God or moved by love aren’t glorifying the LORD more than those who “obey” while being aware of the presence of God and moved by love.
Indeed, “God is Love” (1 Jn. 4:16)! But what about the fact that “God is Light” (1 Jn. 1:5)? Speaking of “A CLEARER PICTURE OF CHRIST”, what about how “His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” when John saw Him on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:16). What about how Jesus Christ fights against backslidden Churches with “the sword of [His] mouth” in accordance with the vision that John saw, because “out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword” (Rev. 1:16, 2:16)? Surely, the fact that Jesus’ face shines with brightness like the sun, or the fact that “God is Light” (1 Jn. 1:5), has salvific implications in the faith and practice of true Christianity. These are the Pictorial Attributes of Jesus Christ! Therefore, inasmuch as God cannot cease to be Love, He also cannot cease to be Light! Nevertheless, apparently, as a Preacher of the Word of God, Paul Washer would have men to be content and fully functional without fire in the blackness of darkness.
Paul may be famous for peaching against an understanding of “faith” and “repentance” that amounts to decisionism in unconverted men, but he certainly preaches a “faith” and “repentance” of mere decisionism to those whom he deems to be truly converted. Paul has been subverted by the prayerless Cessationist Calvinists who have redefined faith to be void of feeling and overly intellectual – a mere decisionism that doesn’t feel anything from above or from within. After openly declaring that a Christian can, does, and will walk in darkness, he then concludes his speech by commending young believers to a life of “walking with God” in “communion”, even though he just glorified the “faith” of those who are “walking in darkness”. All men everywhere should reject this backwards doctrine! For, the inglorious little affection of backsliders isn’t more glorious than the great affection of overcomers. The inglorious “obedience” of those who aren’t sensibly aware of the presence of God or moved by love aren’t glorifying the LORD more than those who “obey” while being aware of the presence of God and moved by love.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” - Isaiah 5:20
Instead of promising life to many thousands of souls that are blackened by sin and walking in darkness, Paul Washer should deal carefully with the consciences of backslidden redeemed men by teaching them how to have and keep “the answer of a good conscience toward God” (1 Pet. 3:21, Acts 23:1, 24:16). Instead of directing attention to himself, Washer should direct the attention of the people to how the men of God in Biblical Church History responded to the invasion of spiritual darkness in their own lives. We can be sure that they didn’t just get up and content themselves with decisionism while they felt abandoned by God (Ps. 7:6-7, Isa. 51:9), forgotten (Ps. 10:12, 13:1, 74:19, 31:12, 42:9), or cast down in their souls (Ps. 42:5)! It’s not that simple.
Men of God in Biblical Church History attributed these feelings to the spiritual darkness that comes as a result of God turning away or hiding the LIGHT of HIS FACE from them. Therefore, they proceeded to pray and ask God not to hide HIS FACE from them (Ps. 27:8-9, 69:17, 102:2, 143:7), or they would seek to recover from the spiritual darkness by asking God to shine HIS FACE upon them (Ps. 31:9-10, 16; Ps. 67:1, 80:1-3, 7, 19; Ps. 119:135, Num. 6:25, Ps. 4:6). Meanwhile, they would seek to repent of any and all sin that could be causing God to turn away the light of HIS COUNTENANCE, because they knew that God would only turn away HIS FACE from redeemed souls as a result of unforgiven sin in their lives. Or, in other words, they knew that God doesn’t hide HIS FACE from the righteous, nor does He shine HIS FACE upon the wicked (Ps. 11:7), and when He does turn away HIS FACE from truly converted people who are backslidden it is a divine chastisement that is intended to drive them back to the bosom of Christ. John & Charles Wesley described this very thing with profound detail, while authoring hymns and publishing them under categories like: “I. Praying for Repentance”, “II. For Mourners convinced of Sin”, “III. For Persons convinced of Backsliding”, & “IV. For Backsliders recovered”.
Men of God in Biblical Church History attributed these feelings to the spiritual darkness that comes as a result of God turning away or hiding the LIGHT of HIS FACE from them. Therefore, they proceeded to pray and ask God not to hide HIS FACE from them (Ps. 27:8-9, 69:17, 102:2, 143:7), or they would seek to recover from the spiritual darkness by asking God to shine HIS FACE upon them (Ps. 31:9-10, 16; Ps. 67:1, 80:1-3, 7, 19; Ps. 119:135, Num. 6:25, Ps. 4:6). Meanwhile, they would seek to repent of any and all sin that could be causing God to turn away the light of HIS COUNTENANCE, because they knew that God would only turn away HIS FACE from redeemed souls as a result of unforgiven sin in their lives. Or, in other words, they knew that God doesn’t hide HIS FACE from the righteous, nor does He shine HIS FACE upon the wicked (Ps. 11:7), and when He does turn away HIS FACE from truly converted people who are backslidden it is a divine chastisement that is intended to drive them back to the bosom of Christ. John & Charles Wesley described this very thing with profound detail, while authoring hymns and publishing them under categories like: “I. Praying for Repentance”, “II. For Mourners convinced of Sin”, “III. For Persons convinced of Backsliding”, & “IV. For Backsliders recovered”.
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“O wouldst Thou break the fatal snare
Of carnal self-security, And let them feel the wrath they bear, And let them groan their want of Thee, Robb'd of their false pernicious peace, Stripp'd of their fancied righteousness.” “Long as the guilt of sin shall last, Them in its misery detain; Hold their licentious spirits fast, Bind them with their own nature's chain, Nor ever let the wanderers rest, Till lodged again in Jesus' breast.” |
Unforgiven sin in the lives of backsliders must be dealt with using precision and gravity. Not even David resorted to mere decisionism when he was backslidden and in need of forgiveness and cleansing from the guilt of unforgiven sin, according to Psalm 51. David sought an inward cleansing that was performed by the LORD through the Spirit of God, one that is harmonious with the shining LIGHT of the FACE OF GOD.
Of course, this is why the experience of salvation in the New Testament (where the wicked are suddenly & miraculously made righteous!) is administered to lost souls by a real time and personal revelation of the shining FACE of JESUS CHRIST, while the LIGHT that shines therefrom is declared to be the illuminating truth of the glorious GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST (2 Cor. 3:17-4:6)!
Of course, this is why the experience of salvation in the New Testament (where the wicked are suddenly & miraculously made righteous!) is administered to lost souls by a real time and personal revelation of the shining FACE of JESUS CHRIST, while the LIGHT that shines therefrom is declared to be the illuminating truth of the glorious GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST (2 Cor. 3:17-4:6)!
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“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the LIGHT of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the LIGHT of the knowledge of the glory of God in the FACE of Jesus Christ.” - 2 Corinthians 3:17-4:6
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Apparently, from the vantage point of the Old Testament or the New Testament, the operation of salvation is experienced in the same way and described in the same terms (Ps. 44:3, Ezek. 39:29; 2 Cor. 3:17-4:6; 1 Pet. 3:10-12, Ps. 34:12-16). The ministry of the Spirit reveals the FACE OF GOD to the souls of men (2 Cor. 3:17-4:6), even as God said in Genesis: “…Let there be light: and there was light…and God divided the light from the darkness.” (Gen. 1:3-4). Evidently, the power of God in Natural Creation is harmonious with the power of God in the New Creation (Gen. 1:4, 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, 1 Pet. 2:9, Eph. 5:11). Therefore, Christians should pay attention to the spiritual rules of light and darkness that are universally experienced by all true Christians.
According to the Bible, when Christians have no sense or consciousness of the presence of God, they are sensing or consciously perceiving the presence of sin. Contrastingly, when Christians sense or consciously experience the presence of God, they are not sensing or consciously perceiving the presence of sin. Even so, when Christians don’t feel godly or full of the Holy Spirit, they are feeling ungodly and full of themselves; and when Christians do feel godly or full of the Holy Spirit, they aren’t feeling ungodly and full of themselves. So, when Paul openly confesses how Christians frequently “don’t feel like anything”, it would have been more honest to portray the situation as it is in truth: that when Christians aren’t feeling godly affections within their souls, it is because they are experiencing ungodly affections that need to be dealt with by faith and repentance in Christ. Everyone is feeling something. Nobody feels nothing! That is the nature of being a spiritual person.
While it is true that the Gates of Hell cannot ever prevail against the Church universally (Matt. 16:18), let each and every Church Member of your local area look to JESUS CHRIST and give Him all the glory (Jer. 13:16), lest He extinguish the Light of your local Church by removing its Heavenly Candlestick, and consequentially the land is darkened (Rev. 2:1-7, Matt. 5:13-16). Of course, this does not indicate the reprobation of every individual saint in Ephesus personally, but rather the eradication of a unique manifestation of light corporately as it exists in true Biblical Churches when the government of the Messiah is intact (Eph. 4:7-13). In other words, the threat delivered in Revelation 2:5, if acted upon, is a corporate judgment of wrath accomplished by the Messiah that effectively dissolves the essence of a Biblical Church in a local area (“repent…or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy Candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” – Rev. 2:5). Hereby, it is reduced to a mere shell of what it used to be, even if the people continue to pretentiously congregate and erroneously claim to be a true Church in the sight of God (Matt. 18:18-20).
However, in such circumstances, if there are any right-standing individual saints who fear God and obey His voice in truth, it could be said of them that they are walking in darkness corporately (seeing that the Candlestick has been removed) even though they are walking in the light individually. At last, this brings us to Isaiah 50:10. This understanding of light and darkness, as it exists corporately, in distinction from what exists individually and personally, allows for a correct interpretation of Isaiah 50:10. All things considered, there must be an interpretation of Isaiah 50:10 that is consistent with the Scriptures cited heretofore and harmonious with the Doctrine of Spiritual Light & Darkness as it is comprehensively revealed in the Bible. Right?
According to the Bible, when Christians have no sense or consciousness of the presence of God, they are sensing or consciously perceiving the presence of sin. Contrastingly, when Christians sense or consciously experience the presence of God, they are not sensing or consciously perceiving the presence of sin. Even so, when Christians don’t feel godly or full of the Holy Spirit, they are feeling ungodly and full of themselves; and when Christians do feel godly or full of the Holy Spirit, they aren’t feeling ungodly and full of themselves. So, when Paul openly confesses how Christians frequently “don’t feel like anything”, it would have been more honest to portray the situation as it is in truth: that when Christians aren’t feeling godly affections within their souls, it is because they are experiencing ungodly affections that need to be dealt with by faith and repentance in Christ. Everyone is feeling something. Nobody feels nothing! That is the nature of being a spiritual person.
While it is true that the Gates of Hell cannot ever prevail against the Church universally (Matt. 16:18), let each and every Church Member of your local area look to JESUS CHRIST and give Him all the glory (Jer. 13:16), lest He extinguish the Light of your local Church by removing its Heavenly Candlestick, and consequentially the land is darkened (Rev. 2:1-7, Matt. 5:13-16). Of course, this does not indicate the reprobation of every individual saint in Ephesus personally, but rather the eradication of a unique manifestation of light corporately as it exists in true Biblical Churches when the government of the Messiah is intact (Eph. 4:7-13). In other words, the threat delivered in Revelation 2:5, if acted upon, is a corporate judgment of wrath accomplished by the Messiah that effectively dissolves the essence of a Biblical Church in a local area (“repent…or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy Candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” – Rev. 2:5). Hereby, it is reduced to a mere shell of what it used to be, even if the people continue to pretentiously congregate and erroneously claim to be a true Church in the sight of God (Matt. 18:18-20).
However, in such circumstances, if there are any right-standing individual saints who fear God and obey His voice in truth, it could be said of them that they are walking in darkness corporately (seeing that the Candlestick has been removed) even though they are walking in the light individually. At last, this brings us to Isaiah 50:10. This understanding of light and darkness, as it exists corporately, in distinction from what exists individually and personally, allows for a correct interpretation of Isaiah 50:10. All things considered, there must be an interpretation of Isaiah 50:10 that is consistent with the Scriptures cited heretofore and harmonious with the Doctrine of Spiritual Light & Darkness as it is comprehensively revealed in the Bible. Right?
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“Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.” - Isaiah 50:10
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Given the eschatological context of Isaiah in general, and especially Chapters 40 through 66, an interpreter who ignores eschatology will certainly wrest the meaning of the text. However, if you know your way around Isaiah, a brief survey of the immediate context would reveal that these people are newly converted captive Jews of the dispersion before the fall of Babylon, as they are waiting for judgment in a corporate manifestation that would liberate them from Babylon in the subduction of the Empire through the Worldwide Battle that is calendared to take place at the End of the World. As you can see, their identity is clarified in Isaiah 51:1, 7, & 21. Therefore, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture, we can see that the darkness being spoken about, or the light that these newly converted Jews are waiting for, is the salvific manifestation of Law & Judgment corporately spoken about in Isaiah 51:4-5.
Of course, this is consistent with the Doctrine of Salvation in the Gospel of Isaiah. Take, for example, Isaiah 60:1-3, which speaks of the restoration & glorification of the Jews corporately in Zion, in the City of Jerusalem (Isa. 51:3), where the light is contextual to the corporate eschatological events described in the whole chapter. As true converts who feared God and obeyed the voice of the Messiah (Isa. 50:10), who also followed after righteousness and sought the LORD in truth (Isa. 51:1) with the Law of God in their hearts (Isa. 51:7), they were walking in the light personally while darkness prevailed corporately until the appointed time.
Of course, this is consistent with the Doctrine of Salvation in the Gospel of Isaiah. Take, for example, Isaiah 60:1-3, which speaks of the restoration & glorification of the Jews corporately in Zion, in the City of Jerusalem (Isa. 51:3), where the light is contextual to the corporate eschatological events described in the whole chapter. As true converts who feared God and obeyed the voice of the Messiah (Isa. 50:10), who also followed after righteousness and sought the LORD in truth (Isa. 51:1) with the Law of God in their hearts (Isa. 51:7), they were walking in the light personally while darkness prevailed corporately until the appointed time.
