E05 1944 © Project Winsome International, 1999

"DAWN AFTER DARKNESS"

Evangelist Johnnie Lavender

Job 23:3

My text this evening, Job 23:3 -- "Oh, that I knew where I might find him" -- is one of several old Testament scriptures Felix Mendelssohn used in his powerful oratorio - Elijah. Listen to several of them, "Ye people rend your hearts, and not your garments. For your transgressions the prophet Elijah hath sealed up the heavens by the word of God. I therefore say to you, forsake your idols and return to God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness" And then there is my text, "Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might even come before his presence." To which the Lord Himself replies in these reassuring words taken by Mendelssohn from Jeremiah 29:13 -- "If with all your heart ye truly seek me, ye shall ever surely find me."

"Oh, that I knew where I might find him." Such has been the cry of man since that day when it was first whispered along the streets of gold in heaven that man had sinned and fallen out of fellowship and communion with God. "Oh, that I knew where I might find him." This ancient cry coming from the heart of sinful man, has expressed throughout the years this Quest of the Ages for the fulfillment of the desire of man to approach God.

That desire to know God is no less prevalent today, but folks are often confused when they try to find satisfaction for this urge. There are so many psychological substitutes for God, and Satan, in his wily way, is ever pressing home his program of confusion, distortion and lies. Thus it is increasingly difficult for people to find God, to hear his message concerning them and to follow his leading.

This evening I want you to reflect a bit about some of Satan's Big Lies. I want you to examine some of the psychological substitutes for God the world would offer. I want you to think with me as we seek to discover which of the these, if any, can turn that pleading cry, "Oh, that I knew where I might find him," into a victorious shout, "I have reached my God." I want you to come with me as we seek to find a way out of the darkness into which our sin has led us, into the glorious light of God's blessed fellowship. May Jesus Christ be praised and his name be glorified as we seek to find "Dawn after Darkness."

Nature

One of the most prevalent "higher powers" to which people are clinging today is nature. And it's easy for us to understand this for on a clear night, when the sky is ablaze of brilliant diamonds against a deep blue curtain, the magnitude and grandeur of the universe may well overawe us.

When astronomers tell us that the vast panorama of our solar system is only one of many, and when they assure us that when we gaze at a particularly bright star, it is light which has taken millions of light years to reach us, our minds may well be overwhelmed by the immensity and majesty of at all.

For truly, when we open our eyes in a receptive mood, the wonders of nature come thronging like doves to their roost. They come by the hundreds. And so we see how people, captivated by the glorious beauties of the world of nature about them, find in these creations a certain satisfaction for the deepest longing of their heart, and Nature, with a capital "N," becomes their God.

But as we view these magnificent wonders, as we behold the intricate design which is to be found in the tiny snowflake and the giant Redwood, we ask ourselves, "From whence came this glorious creation?"

To hold that such design should be the product of chance is preposterous. It's like believing Webster's Dictionary resulted from an explosion in a print shop. There must have been a Creator. And, with that fact before us, the creation in and of itself is no longer sufficient to satisfy us, for now we must seek to know the Creator and until we do, we are lost.

Luther Burbank, the greatest botanist of all times, wrote on his death bed thirty minutes before he died, "I have lived in the garden, but I have failed to meet the Gardener." Lost! Because he put his hope in the creation and failed to heed the Creator.

But there is a second reason why nature cannot be our god, and that is, in the beginning God created man to have dominion over the world of nature. In the first chapter of Genesis that God said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness, and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth . . . "

We see, then, that God in his divine plan placed the world of nature below man and made man to rule and have dominion over it. How then, I ask, can something which, by its very nature, is below the level of man become man's "higher power?" And we must answer, "It cannot!" And so nature, with a capital "N, by this very fact is not sufficient to be called "my God," for I cannot place in something lower than myself, my hope for my soul's salvation.

Ethical System

As we turn away from nature and continue our quest we meet that group of people who place their hope of reaching God in some ethical system which they have set up. Is there one of us who has not heard someone say, "I live by the golden rule?"

They say, "God is loving and God is gracious. Surely, if I do the very best that is humanly possible I shall merit his consideration."

Oh the folly of such thinking. For such a system can neither satisfy the desire within man's heart of hearts, nor can it ever meet the righteous standard of God. For, hear me! The greatest philosophy of man is still a philosophy of man. Such a philosophy can but raise us to a higher state of human existence and experience. It cannot lift us above the level of man himself.

Bron Clifford, a gifted young preacher, loved to tell the humorous story of Old Mike, the village drunkard, who was staggering home one night visibly inebriated. As he went his merry way, he came to a section of the road which was being worked on by the street department. In his drunken stupor he failed to heed a red light placed there by the workmen to warn people of the danger, and Old Mike fell into an open manhole.

When he found himself in this hole, he was surprised to say the least, and felt around to see if he could find a way out. There was no ladder available and he couldn't do it.

So he began to holler, "Help me out." And the echo created by the hole repeated, "Help me out." No one responded and so he called out again, "Help me out." And again the echo repeated, "Help me out." There was no answer, so he resigned himself to spending the night in the manhole. He propped himself up against the side and went to sleep.

After a very uncomfortable night, he awakened in the morning and the sun was up. There was a little circle of light at the top of the hole and Mike started yelling again, "Help me out." And the echo replied, "Help me out." He kept calling with no success until Pat, who was on his way to work, passed by, heard a cry and stopped to listen. He heard, "Help me out." "Help me out." He listened again to be sure of what he heard, "Help me. Help me out." And he said, "Sure, and if they can't help each other out, let them say there."

But old Mike's condition is that of all mankind. Man has fallen into the sinkhole of sin, and by his good works is trying to get out of it. But listen! All an ethical system can do is help us to better walk around in the hole into which we've fallen. It can never in a million years help us get out.

Listen, beloved, God does not lower his standards to meet the standards of people. People must meet the standards of God. This we can never do, and you know it. For the purest righteousness of people, their sweetest purity and truest love, are found wanting beside the matchless perfection of God Almighty. So all hope we have placed in any ethical system of ever reaching God, must be chucked aside on the scrapheap, as worthless.

Religion

And so we move on. We add one more to the growing procession of so-called "higher powers" as a religionist steps forward and says, "I belong to a church. I read the Bible. I say my prayers every day. Surely these will save my soul?" And I must answer back, in all reverence, no they won't.

There are a growing number of folks who in the name of respectability, have joined some church. After all, no one wants to be thought of as a heathen! And, because it is "the thing to do," many people have added their names to the roll of some church. They have piously searched the scriptures and have experienced some aesthetic joy in reading the beautiful literature contained therein, and have felt that was enough.

There are others who have read the scriptures through many times, and are still lost. Most atheists, the God-deniers, know more scripture by heart then many Christians. Martineau, the man upon whose philosophy the modern-day Unitarian church was founded, read the Bible through 14 times and was still lost. Why? I'll tell you. He knew the Book, but he did not know the Author.

Listen beloved, the Bible, the church and religious rituals cannot save your soul. They are not ends in themselves. They are means to the end: Jesus Christ! And until you know Christ, the center, they have no saving grace for you.

Some time ago, in one of the great cities in this land of ours, two men stood before a huge audience. One was a humble minister of the gospel. The other was one of the theater's greatest actors. They were both asked to recite the 23rd Psalm.

The actor stepped into the spotlight first, and with perfect diction and proper emphases, flawlessly presented that beautiful Psalm. When he finished there was a tremendous ovation as the audience called him back again and again.

Finally the cheering died down. The old minister stepped quietly forward, and began. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. The leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul . . . " He continued on through that beautiful old psalm and when he had finished, there were many who wept, and there was not a sound but the sobbing to break the spell which had been cast over the audience.

After the program was over, the great actor approached the humble minister of God and said, "Do you know what made the difference between your rendition and mine tonight? I'll tell you. I knew the psalm, but you knew the Shepherd."

Yes, dear one, it is one thing to know about him, it is another thing to know him. The Bible tells you all there is to know about Christ, but it is not until you step beyond what you know about him, that you shall ever have the blessed experience of actually knowing him. Jesus said to a group of wise men many years ago, "Ye search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me." And John, concerning the scriptures, said, "But these are written that ye might know that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that, believing, ye might have life through his name."

The Bible is indestructible. Because Jesus lives, the Bible lives also. He is the pledge and guarantee of its immortality. The Bible is insuppressible. The story of the Bible as a spiritual force in the life of the world, is one of the outstanding marvels of history. The Bible abides, attracts, and conquers. But if it had not had an indestructible center, it would have disappeared long ago. But Jesus lives and gives it life. Therefore, it endures and shall endure forevermore.

Yes, the Bible is, indeed, the Book of Books, but it ever leads us off from itself to its author, and it is in him we rest and not in it. The Bible has its worth because of Christ and not Christ because of the Bible.

"Oh, that I knew where I might find him." In answer to that pathetic cry Jesus pleads, "Come. Come. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."

To those who have carried on so diligently this quest of the ages he answers, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. I and my father are one. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

To the eternal seekers of dawn after darkness he promises, "I am the light of the world. He that followeth after me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life."

Oh, beloved, thank God. With a triumphant shout we can now say with John, "Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."

View him from any angle. Examine him in the most thorough manner. Probe him to the heart. Focus the searchlights of the century upon him. And, in the end, you will declare with the Roman centurion, "Truly, this is the Son of God."

An anonymous writer has said,

"Are you an artist? He is altogether lovely.

Are you an architect? He is the chief cornerstone.

Are you an astronomer? He is the bright and morning star.

Are you a biologist? He is the life.

Are you an educator? He is the great teacher.

Are you a florist? He is the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley.

Are you a geologist? He is the rock of ages.

Are you a judge? He is the righteous judge.

Are you a newspaper man? He is the good tidings of great joy.

Are you a philosopher? He is the wisdom of God.

Are you a theologian? He is the author and finisher of our faith.

Are you a student? He is the incarnate truth.

Are you a Christian? He is the Savior, Redeemer and Lord.

Are you a sinner? He is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."

Christ is the wonder of the world, the hope of the lost, the glory of the ages, the diadem of heaven. In and through him alone the chasm between God and man is breached. Fellowship and communion are restored. The quest of the ages is ended. And there is dawn after darkness.

Dr. Biederwolf, one of the great Christian warriors of our day, writes, "I have looked, as if in a dream, through the gates of heaven. I stood, as it were, by an angel's side who was there to guard the way. And as I stood there, the spirit of a man came and tried to gain admission. He told the angel of his wealth and the vast treasures he had gathered on earth. But the angel pointed to his gold and said, 'We pave our streets with that stuff. There is not enough gold to buy even a glimpse into the celestial city.'

"And then a moral man came and told the angel who he was, told him of his morality and talked of the good works he had done. But the angel said, 'Not of works, lest any man should boast. You can't come in.'

"Then came the spirit of another man and laid before the angel his respectability, his reputation and told of the good name he had borne among his neighbors. But the angel shook his head and said, 'There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved but the name of Jesus.'

"And then another came saying, 'Nothing in my hands I bring; simply to the cross I cling. The blood of Jesus Christ hath cleansed me from sin.' And then the gates of heaven rolled back on their jeweled hinges and the angel cried, 'Enter into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.'

As the gates rolled back, I saw whole armies of redeemed drunkards, and numerous legions of those saved from the vilest sinks of sin, and whole acres of redeemed men and women who once trusted in their own morality and their own good name, but gave it all up for a righteousness not their own.

"They had crowns on their heads and palms of victory in their hands. And I saw one whose face and form I could not mistake. One like unto Jesus. And he ascended the throne, and the great throngs whom no man could number, took their crowns and cast them at his feet. And they waved their palms and cried: Wonderful. Counselor. The mighty God. The everlasting father. The prince of peace! And the heavenly choir sang,

'All hail the power of Jesus name,

Let angels prostrate fall;

Bring forth the royal diadem

And crown him Lord of all.'"

Will you crown him your Lord -- right now?

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