The Light of God.
I. Light comes from God. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all; and therefore He wishes to give light to His children. He willeth not that the least of them should be kept in darkness about any matter. Darkness is of the devil; and he who keeps any human soul in darkness, let his pretences be as reverent and as religious as they may, is doing the devil's work. True, there are errors of which we will not speak to the young, but they are not made by God; they are the works of darkness. Our duty is to teach the young what God has made, what He has done, what He has ordained, to make them freely partakers of whatsoever light God has given to us. Then, by means of that light, they will be able to reprove the works of darkness.
II. Under the influence of true science, God will no longer be looked upon, as He was in those superstitions which we call dark, as a proud, angry, capricious Being, as a stern Taskmaster, as One far removed from the sympathy of men, but as One of whom we may cheerfully say, Thy name be hallowed, for Thy name is Father; Thy kingdom come, for it is a Father's kingdom; Thy will be done, for it is a Father's will, and in doing Thy will alone men claim their true dignity of being the sons of God.
III. Our progress, alas! is not yet perfect. We still see through a glass darkly, and we are still too apt to impute to God Himself the darkness of these very hearts of ours in which He is so dimly mirrored. Let the dead bury their dead, and let us follow Christ. Believe indeed that He is the likeness of God's glory and the express image of God's person, and you will be safe from the dark dreams with which men ensnare diseased and superstitious consciences. Let them be. Light is stronger than darkness, love stronger than cruelty, perfect God stronger than fallen man, and the day shall come when all shall be light in the Lord.
C. Kingsley, Sermons for the Times,p. 160.
References: Ephesians 5:13; Ephesians 5:14. C. Kingsley, National Sermons,p. 190. Ephesians 5:14. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xii., No. 716; R. W. Church, Church of England Pulpit,vol. vii., p. 233; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xix., p. 213; Preacher's Monthly,vol. vi., p. 376; vol. viii., p. 227; C. J. Vaughan, Words of Hope,p. 137.