What We Do in the Dark // Dark Night - Bright Light, Part 6
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
Release Date: 03/17/2025
A Different Perspective Official Podcast
Life without hope for tomorrow is sad and dark and lonely. If God is God, if He really loves us, then surely, He’d want us to have hope for the future. Wouldn’t He? Have you ever been in a place where you’ve lost all hope? Hope as it turns out is a precious, precious commodity. We all need things in our lives to look forward to; to hope in – the deep sense that we have a future; we know where we are going. When there’s no future, it’s tragic; when you lose all hope, well, it feels like life’s over. And that’s the problem with death, we all die at some point. Some die young,...
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If Jesus really rose from the dead all that time ago, if it really happened….well, what does it mean to us today? What’s the relevance? What’s the point? This week on the program we are taking a bit of a look at this whole "resurrection" thing, because on the one hand it’s so central to everything that Jesus talked about, and everything that Christians believe. But on the other hand, well, it can be hard to relate to that. I mean, how does it fit into real life today? I’m not sure where you are in terms of believing in Jesus and in particular in His resurrection. But let’s assume...
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There’s not a serious historian alive today who doesn’t acknowledge the life and death of Jesus Christ. But the resurrection…..well that’s another thing entirely. Did it really happen? Over this week on the program, we are looking at and exploring the whole question of Jesus’ resurrection. It can seem fanciful and even irrelevant, something that may or may not have happened a couple of thousand years ago and let’s face it – Jesus was crucified and then they said He’s alive. I mean, it’s pretty hard to believe, you know. What’s the proof, what’s the evidence? I mean, if we...
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It turns out that coming to grips with the resurrection of Jesus wasn’t easy for the disciples. And to tell you the truth, it can be difficult to come to grips with it here and now as well. They say that there are two absolute certainties in life – death and taxes. Well, let’s leave taxes for another day – that leaves death. One day, you and I will breathe our last breath on this planet, that’s pretty much certain, despite all the hopes and dreams and plans that we have for next week and next year and the next decade, most of us simply don’t know when that moment will come, when we...
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So what was it like that first Easter morning? He’s alive. Is He? I don’t know. The others say they’ve seen Him. Hmm. What do you think? Let me paint you a picture. Just the other day, someone that you loved passed away. You really admired and trusted this person. I mean, you'd seen him in operation and now they're gone! It's a shock! It shouldn't have happened! They're so young and so full of promise ... had a future. And now, that person is gone. Take some time to come to grasp to that – the shock and the sadness, and the deep sense of loss and even anger. We go through so many...
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People talk about “the real meaning of Easter”. OK. So for some people, Easter’s more than chocolates, eggs, bunnies and a long weekend. But – well, how do you react to the real meaning of Easter? This week we've been looking at Easter which is not surprising since it’s Good Friday today. Jesus, in his last week, spent a good amount of his time encouraging his disciples, here was a man under an enormous pressure, heading to a gruesome death and yet His main concern was on encouraging those twelve men, one of whom would betray Him. But of course on what we now...
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You see people wearing gold crosses on chains all the time. Even earrings. But on that first Easter – what really happened on that cross. I mean, what did Jesus actually go through? It's almost Easter and this week on the program we've been taking a bit of a look at the goings on in the week leading up to the first Easter. There's been nothing about chocolate or eggs or bunnies. Nothing’s wrong with any of those things, they just don't fit into any of the events that first Easter. Today I thought it would be interesting just to have a look at the real physical suffering of Jesus....
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When you see the way someone reacts in difficult circumstances, under pressure, when they’re betrayed and rejected – then you discover what they’re really like. So how did Jesus react? One of the hardest things in life is when we're betrayed and rejected. Basically, we all want relationships of trust, and basically, we all want to be liked, okay some more than others but it's a pretty natural thing, isn't it? What we'd really like is for our life to cruise along with great relationships, people we can depend on, people who like us. But it's not always like that, so often there's...
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That week leading up to the very first Easter was a torrid time for Jesus. Imagine the stress and the pressure. So it’s interesting to see how He spent those few days. Let me paint a scenario for a moment. You're dying and you know it and the time is drawing near, you only have a few days, perhaps just a few final hours with the people who mean the most to you. You know something; you know that when you're gone they're going to go through some really tough times, trials, fears, persecution. In those final days and hours what would you talk to them about? I mean, you have a short...
info_outlineA Different Perspective Official Podcast
That week leading up to the very first Easter was a torrid time for Jesus. Imagine the stress and the pressure. So it’s interesting to see how He spent those few days. Easter means different things to different people. Chocolate, of course there's chocolate, eggs, bunny's, a long weekend, a chance for a bit of a breather and that’s great. We have a funny way though of reinventing holidays, there's something so amazing about Easter, Gods Easter and since we're right now in the week leading up to Easter I thought why don't we have a look at that week leading up to that very first...
info_outlineSometimes we travel through dark patches in life – and in those difficult times, it’s tempting to let that darkness smear how we think, what we say and what we do. And yet how we behave on those dark days – is so very important.
It's great to be with you again this week. I'm not sure if you were able to join me last week but we began a new series called, "Dark Night, Bright Light" and it's one that we're continuing on again this week on the program. We all travel through dark times in life, times of loss or loneliness or sickness or sadness or depression, the list goes on. Now I'm not suggesting that we're all a bunch of losers, I don't mean that, it's just one of the realities of life that dark times are something that we all have to travel through.
Jacqui, my wife, was talking to a long time friend of hers, her children are growing up and there's lots of challenges and problems and she's exhausted. A dear friend of mine whose son committed suicide, he and his wife are still reeling from that and another friend who's been retrenched, well he's in his fifties and it's hard for him to find a job.
This stuff happens; dark times are difficult because it's dark and so often we can't see where we are or where we're going. I've had them, you've had them, that's life and that's why we're talking about these dark times again this week on the program.
And it's not just about the darkness but also the bright light that shines in those dark places. Jesus said these amazing words:
I am the light of the world.
And one of the things we saw last week is that He is in the 'light' business and that’s good news for anyone going through a dark patch. The very first thing that God created, Genesis chapter 1, was light, a trillion, trillion stars at least. That tells us something about Him; God is definitely in the "light" business, hallelujah don't you think?
Last week we spent some time with King David in Psalm 34 and we're going there again today. This man David had more than his fair share of dark, difficult and lonely and scary times. That's why what he has to say is so useful; his wisdom comes from what he learned about God. So this psalm is kind of a retrospective with a benefit of hindsight, he's looking back on the dark times, on his fear and when God showed up. Let’s read the first part of that psalm again right now; this is what he says:
I will bless the Lord all the time; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let all those who are afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let’s exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered in shame.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him; He saved him from all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
See, David's saying God is a god who shows up in the dark times and delivers us. Now David isn't telling us that off the top of his head, it's from his experience. He spent such a long time, so many years on the run from Saul who was trying to kill him. In dark caves, in lonely places. David had fought so many battles where he was hard pressed and he should have been killed but God was there for him and one of the things that we touched on last week was fear; bad fear and good fear.
Bad fear is the fear that David talks about in verse 4 of this psalm:
I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.
But he also goes on to talk about good fear in verse 7:
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He delivers them.
Fear of the Lord is something we're going to have a look at some more today because it's what this next part of Psalm 34 is all about. I want you to come with me now as we read just the next 5 verses of this psalm, verses 9 to 14 which is where we're going to spend a bit of time together today. He writes:
Fear the Lord, you His holy ones for those who will fear Him will have no want. The lions may grow weak and hungry but those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing. Come my children, listen to me; I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days; keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
This is a really important part of the psalm. The first part told us all about God and what He's like, it's fantastic, we looked at that last week. This second part though; it's about the part that we have to play during those dark times.
I want to tell you something about darkness; people will do things in the dark that they won't do in the light. Think about it, we're much more careful about where we walk and what we do out there in the dark, in the night time, than we are in the day time. Robberies, muggings, murder; they're all more likely to occur under the cover of darkness. And the same is true in our lives. Dark times, well they're the times we're far more likely to do things that we know are wrong.
Let me just give you a few practical examples. A husband and wife, they're going through some tough times in their marriage and their eyes start to wander, they start looking around. That's how adultery begins, instead of holding on to each other, holding close and working through the issues.
Or perhaps there's conflict at work; someone’s just not treating us well and we're feeling under pressure, it's really getting to us, you know. The boss is just being horrible so we take that as an excuse to justify being lazy or stealing something or gossiping behind their back or not servicing a customer properly so that the company will lose some money.
Or perhaps money's really tight, we're under real financial pressure and we're tempted to lie and cheat on our tax return or when that shop attendant gives us too much change and makes a mistake; ah we just slip it into our pockets. Do you see how easy this stuff is?
In the dark times, in those hidden places the temptation to do wrong is far greater than when times are good. No-one notices it, after all times are tough, I have to look after number one, I have to look after me. I have to justify myself or protect myself or provide for myself and that’s how we rationalise this stuff. Do you notice the central theme running through all that? Me, myself and I.
Darkness is a time when we're afraid and in those times we can end up being tempted to turn away from what we know is right because no-one will notice and besides we just have to. The devil loves it, he's so delighted by this. Have a listen to what the apostle John says:
This is the message we've heard from Him and declare to you. God is light; in Him there's no darkness at all. If we claim to be walking with Him and yet we walk in the darkness, we lie and don't live in the truth.
And so over this week we're going to look at the wisdom that comes from David’s own experience in those dark times. What he learned about what to do when temptation comes in the darkness. You know how we rationalise this? I have to sin to save my skin; when I'm afraid I just think I have to do whatever it takes, no matter what the consequences are, to save my own skin.