For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
With God is the fountain of life, and in His light light is seen, belonging with His steadfast love and faithfulness and the refuge of those who trust under the shadow of His wings to drink of the river of His pleasures. God is the source of all life and the life of every living thing, sustained moment by moment, and created life lives in its proper sphere only in harmony with Him and His physical, mental and moral laws. Christ is that Fountain of life to the world, His life original, unborrowed and underived while human life is only derived from Him, voluntarily laid down to give life and bring immortality to light. True sight comes only in His own light, for sin darkens the mind and dims perception, but as sin is purged the light gives ever clearer vision of the glory of God seen in Jesus Christ until heart and soul are transformed into His holiness. Those who come helplessly, abide in Christ and drink deeply are refreshed from the fountain, made fruitful and overflowing to others, while stubbornness, selfishness and pride shut out the light and leave the soul unrenewed.
Words and Context
With God is the fountain of life, and in His light light is seen, joined to His excellent loving-kindness and to His steadfast love and faithfulness and care and protection for those who trust in Him. The children of men take refuge under the shadow of His wings, and He causes them to drink of the river of His pleasures and to be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of His house. God has prepared mercies and blessings for all who put their trust in Him.
That promise assures all poor, defenseless, dependent ones who come to Christ and put their trust under the shadow of His wings that they are abundantly satisfied and preserved and made to drink of the river of His pleasures. It pictures Christ's watchful mediatorial care and His longing to gather Israel, even as a hen spreads her protecting wings over her brood, forgets herself, and gives her life to defend them. Trusting under His wings brings power by miracle-working power to become sons of God, with transformation of character proving the efficacy of His blood as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Grace attends the faith which works by love to purify the soul from all defilement, while binding up with worldlings in secret societies is manifest distrust of God like inquiring of and depending on the gods of Ekron.
The fountain is life-giving grace portrayed as a river of delight, with Christ as the rock and living water supplying what human beings need. With Him is the only refuge for the helpless soul, with trust stayed on Him and all help brought from Him, and under the shadow of His wing the defenseless are covered and supported and comforted. With Him is plenteous grace to pardon all sins, and His healing streams abound to make and keep pure within. That life is to be taken freely and personally, springing up within the heart and rising to all eternity.
God the Fountain of Life
God is the source of all life and the life of every living thing, and human beings receive that life from Him moment by moment through sunshine, pure air, and food that builds and sustains the body. Apart from the corruption brought by sin, His gifts lead to life and health and joy. All life proceeds from Him and is sustained only by receiving life from Him, and created life finds its proper sphere only in harmony with Him and His will. To break His physical, mental, or moral laws is to bring discord and ruin.
He is not the author of sickness and death, and He does not willingly afflict or grieve. He desires people to live, and He calls them to obey the laws of life and health so that they may live. All life and sustenance come from Him, and for that reason He is always to be honored and glorified. He can easily change the wilderness into a fruitful field to sustain His people, giving sunshine and shower that cause vegetation to flourish and giving life to the seed placed in the earth so that it springs up and bears fruit.
He calls His people in every place to put their faculties to use, promising to give wisdom that enables them to produce wholesome foods, and the knowledge for this work is not confined to any one company of men. For those who keep His commandments He can make a wilderness fruitful, bringing glory to His name. That work gives His people reason for praise and thanksgiving and joy and gladness.
He is the overflowing fountain of life, and His servants receive its overflowing abundance. By trusting in Him they enjoy this life, and it strengthens them to be more than conquerors and to be victorious over all opposition. He is the fountain of life and the strength of Israel, able to do for parents what they need to form right characters in their children and to keep their homes. Yet merely being pointed to Him and hearing of Him does no good unless faith takes hold of Him with loving faith that practices what is heard.
Wearied and thirsting after seeking the highest good in earthly things and turning to heathen gods, Solomon returned to God as the fountain of life to find rest and satisfaction of soul. Those who come to Him receive the refreshing comfort of the gospel and lasting consolation.
Christ the Fountain of Life
Christ is the fountain of life, and life in Him is original, unborrowed and underived, while human life is only derived from Him as a streamlet from a fountain, received from the Giver and taken back again by Him. Those whose life is hidden with Christ in God will appear with Him in glory when He appears, and while in this world they are to give back to God in sanctified service all the capabilities and abilities He has given them. As God He is the Fountain of Life to the world, and though mortal in human nature He could have resisted death, yet He voluntarily laid down His life to give life and bring immortality to light. His divine nature brought life-giving power to His human nature, supplying the life that human beings need and may receive.
He is the fountain of life and the only security for salvation, as well as the great source of immortality, for human beings have no merit of their own to present and character cannot be perfected without heaven's help. He has opened a fountain of life for all the world and for God's people, from which come principles of a new and heavenly order to govern their spirit and actions. His words and acts of mercy to the ignorant opened that fountain of life to them, bringing spiritual truth, health and happiness through teaching, mercy and healing. The blessings He gave in this way were rich, abundant and continuous, the eternal treasures given to humanity in Him.
He is the fountain of life and source of power and grace by which Christians can pursue moral and spiritual perfection without despair, His living power sustaining them at every step. Life comes from God as from a fountain and Jesus is the Christian's source, and faith reaches beneath what is seen to draw from Him like the rootlets of a desert palm reaching deep beneath the sand to hidden water. So the believer stays fresh, vigorous, upright, pure and uncontaminated amid strangers to God, scoffing, ridicule and moral pollution, with Jesus dwelling within as a well of water springing up into everlasting life. That indwelling life gives strength and grace to walk with God like Enoch and to stand like Daniel in Babylon, sustains the Christian amid the world's corruption and makes his influence a blessing to others.
He is the well-spring of life and the living Fountain, and coming to Him cures maladies of the soul that are greater than diseases of the body, ending weariness, loneliness and dissatisfaction. He gives satisfying joys that bring vigor to the mind and health and vital energy to the body, while His righteousness gives life to the soul and abiding in Him brings forgiveness, healing from spiritual disease and redemption. A round of exciting amusements must not be put in the place the living Fountain should occupy, for the hungry thirsty soul keeps hungering and thirsting while feeding on frivolous, sensual, exciting pleasures. Those who drink the living water thirst no more for such amusements, since religion's ennobling principles strengthen the mental powers and destroy the taste for those gratifications. From Him life is freely and personally received to spring up eternally within the heart, as water drawn from salvation's wells and answered with praise.
Seeing Light in God's Light
True sight comes only in God's own light, for sin darkens the mind and dims perception, and as sin is purged from the heart that light gives ever clearer vision. That light is the knowledge of the glory of God seen in Jesus Christ, shining through His word and reflected from nature, declaring Him ever more fully merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. This growing knowledge transforms mind and heart and soul into the image of His holiness. When the Saviour abides in the heart His light shines into the mind and enables people to see light. Jesus is the light of the world and the light in which true light is seen, and those who receive Him as personal Saviour and follow Him receive the light of life and eternal life. His light shines into their hearts as when God commanded light to shine out of darkness, giving clearer vision to behold eternal realities and reflecting through their lives the knowledge of Christ. Seeing light in His light means becoming sons of God born again as His spiritual children, renewed in righteousness and true holiness, adopted into God's family, conformed to His likeness and changed by His Spirit from glory to glory, turning from supreme love for self to supreme love for God and for Christ. Those who refuse Him stay in darkness and can never come to the light or have eternal life, for holiness is not inherited by birth or given by any human being but is the gift of God through Christ.
God's light enables the mind to see and grasp spiritual truth, with the Holy Spirit shining that light upon Scripture so its meaning can be understood. Those who commune with God, walk in the light of the Sun of Righteousness at one with Christ, take up the cross and follow Jesus, see light by God's light. To them the Word is of surpassing beauty and loveliness, its importance is seen, truth is unfolded, the doctrine of the incarnation is invested with soft radiance, and Scripture becomes the key that unlocks all mysteries and solves all difficulties. Those unwilling to receive the light and walk in the light cannot understand the mystery of godliness. In His light people see their defects as they truly are, and through His strength they can remedy them. His light shines into mind and soul enabling people to see spiritual truth and recognize how they should live, leading them to stop trampling His commandments.
Seeing light in God's light will belong to the redeemed welcomed into the heavenly courts to tread the streets of gold in the city of God where real wealth is found, where earthly gain and human genius will no longer be exalted. When God sweeps back every mist and cloud of darkness and lets in the sunlight of His glory and baptizes believers with the Holy Spirit, they discern truth and rejoice in truth. Then they lay hold daily on the merits of the precious Redeemer and make a covenant with God by sacrifice to have part in the life that measures with the life of God. They labor together with God to spread the knowledge of truth and save perishing souls, and at last win heaven, receive the crown of glory, strike the harp of gold, and remain crowned in the kingdom of glory never again to go out into a sin-cursed world.
Receiving Light and Life
To see light in God's light the root of bitterness must be destroyed by thorough confession with repentance and restitution, for without that thorough work the soul is never cleared, judgment stays poisoned, perceptions perverted, and understanding blinded toward the message and the messengers, while old prejudices keep springing up to bear unholy fruit. That clearing requires studying the word of God and the Testimonies honestly with a purpose not to confirm one's own ideas but to bring them to be trimmed, condemned or approved as in harmony or not with Scripture, keeping the Bible as a constant companion instead of picking out sentences to strengthen assertions while disregarding plain correction. His light and life are gifts of mercy to those who come helplessly seeking God rather than relying on their own righteousness. To have light in His light is to live near Him wholly consecrated and sanctified through truth, abiding in Christ as the living Vine with Jesus dwelling within and receiving strength and nourishment from Him, and then He sheds increasing light and strength. Stubbornness, selfishness, pride and self-esteem bar the Spirit, shut out light, and leave the soul unrenewed without a new heart created.
Remaining on watch keeps believers in that light, while every unwatched moment leaves them liable to be beset and overcome by darkness until heaven's light fades and besetting sins cannot be discovered and they are more easily ensnared. Seeing light comes by placing oneself under the Holy Spirit's influence, learning from those who teach and obey truth, staying in the circle of His light where it is cherished so it shines before men, receiving guidance and walking with single aim to glorify Him. It is received through earnest humble prayer telling everything to Jesus when faint-hearted and desponding, closing the lips to men, reaching up in weakness to lay hold of infinite strength and asking for humility, wisdom, courage and increased faith, bringing rejoicing in His love and truth. When people lay hold of His promises by holy living faith in Jesus that works through love and purifies the soul, they see light in His light and rejoice in truth.
In needy dependence for Christ's sake, heaven's light comes into mind and heart to shine continually with every cloud and power of darkness swept back and with baptism of the Holy Spirit. In that light believers know God's infinite, immeasurable love, behold Christ stretched on Calvary's cross suffering cruel death to rescue them from the sorrows of the lost, trust His shed blood to cleanse from sin and atone, carry out every pledge by living faith with angels strengthening them so Satan's power cannot discourage, know angels are present, and go forth from worship to their homes to reveal God's glory. God's light is to be asked for in present-day prayer as His presence, grace, blessing, pardon, and Spirit impressing every mind with Christ and angels near. Seeing clearly means every mist and cloud swept from the mind, consecration and humbling with transgressions confessed and pardoned, holding faith to bring needs to God, seeking diligently in the last days under temptation, then carrying that light from above to those in darkness.
Realizing personal weakness brings at times divine illumination with light and assurance in Christ for resisting Satan's temptations and fighting the good fight of faith, making His sufficiency personal confidence by uniting human weakness with His strength and human ignorance with His efficiency, giving reason to take courage and enjoy peace of mind united with God and heavenly angels. When God's life through the Spirit is within, answering the heart's longing for peace and happiness, the heart responds to Him and sees light in His light. When His light shines into mind and soul people see light in Him and share His joy as sinners turn to Him wholeheartedly, with joy, peace, mercy and love in Christ. Even in sleeplessness, pain and suffering, longing for more of Jesus and praying to be uplifted into purer, holier air and for relief, believers are comforted that Jesus knows and helps, and will see light in His light with thanks for relief already given and praise and rejoicing in His great mercies, since He does not leave nor forsake in affliction but encourages in it.
Seeing light means thorough consecration in every position and sphere, hidden with Christ in God to become instruments for developing Christian virtues, refusing to fold hands and make self a center or weave selfishness into the work, refusing to sit Sabbath after Sabbath hearing the Word without communicating it, but cooperating with God in Christ's work and proclaiming truth as a lamp that burns. Drinking at the fountain means laying hold of God's strength and receiving the power He is willing to bestow through broken-hearted earnest prayer humbled before Him to hear every word He has. Those who ought to stand in the forefront most need this drinking, and neglecting precious morning opportunity day after day leaves without power, with results to be told in the future, at peril of being passed by. Drinking deeply from the fountain by coming into nearness with God gives what is needed to reflect Jesus more fully.
Drinking deeply gives saving influence in teaching the truth, steadies the restless mind, keeps harmony with brethren, and gives ability to understand the message God sends in spoken testimony or written instruction. Without it one cannot understand spoken or written instruction and may mistake a new phase or form of error for new light, and has a work to do in preparing to be ready for the messages that come.
Life Transformed and Shared
Those who find joy in reading God's word and in the hour of prayer are continually refreshed from the fountain, for without that inner supply there is no power to be happy. With it comes a height of moral excellence and breadth of thought others cannot conceive, with good thoughts, noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth, higher aims and lofty purposes of action, clearer knowledge of God and of eternity. Communion with God brings joy and connects the soul with Him so He acknowledges them as His sons and daughters, and they keep reaching higher and still higher into clearer views of God and of eternity until He makes them channels of light and wisdom to the world. Those who drink find rest, peace, and happiness in Jesus by coming to Him daily and laying perplexities and burdens at His feet, finding contentment and even joy in the path of obedience and duty rather than the worldling's restless longing for change and pleasure. Their deportment and character show that contentment and joy, and they exert a saving influence over others that lasts into eternity.
The soul must derive support and nourishment from the Fountain to be a fruitful tree in harmony with the Creator. The living spring flows through the soul and then flows out to others in good deeds and earnest, unselfish effort for their salvation. In watering others the soul itself is watered, so spiritual life is not dwarfed and the heart does not become sere and unfeeling, but glows with the divine image in close sympathy with God, flowing out in cheerful readiness in love and sympathy for humanity with self forgotten. God imparts His life when the will is surrendered to Him in communion, and this life enables hidden sins to be overcome, while clinging to sin and refusing His will is a choice of death, because His presence consumes sin. Communion with Christ through prayer and study of the truths in His word feeds the spiritually hungry and refreshes the thirsty at the fountain.
Prayer brings the heart into immediate contact with the source and strengthens spiritual life, while neglecting prayer weakens spiritual vitality and leaves religious experience without health or vigor. Those who drink receive transforming grace and become grateful and praising, leading others to the living waters. To drink from the Fountain is to receive life from God, enabling a worker to give the water of life to the thirsty and feed hungry souls with pure truth. The gospel speaker must himself drink and take Christ into the soul before helping others, and this personal drinking matters more than thorough education, eloquent expressions, beautiful imagery, correct grammar, or proper pronunciation. When it is present the speaker's defects will be forgiven and forgotten by hearers who thank God for the message of grace. A person must drink personally in order to lead others to the fountain.
Sinners should be drawn to the Lord as the Fountain, to Christ Himself more valuable than all earthly treasure, to find peace and rest of soul. The Christian's example, conduct, and words should awaken in them desire to come to Him. Those who seek the Lord with the whole heart learn meekness and lowliness from Him, open their hearts to His light as the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and serve cheerfully and joyfully. Those who think soberly and live righteously breathe the atmosphere of heaven and exert good influence over associates. As sinners and debtors to God who are not to bless themselves only, they work out their own salvation with fear and trembling while helping others to be saved, doing all they can to remove iniquity from themselves, maintaining a living experience with Christ, and from love to God speaking of Him to lead others to the fountain for salvation. People must be led to God as the source of life.
Those who work for others are to represent Christ the fountain of life, light, and love and the only hope of souls, pointing souls simply and directly to Him in meekness and lowliness. They are to dwell on His merits and love, His simplicity of faith, and His practical godliness rather than seeking to do large things, and life, light, and love from Him are the three great elements of a true, healthy, influential Christianity. Christ is the Fountain and Source of all power from whom the living stream of salvation flows from the living God. Prisoners of hope are to turn to the Lord, seek strength from Him, and show unwavering, humble faith in His power and willingness to save, taking hold of His strength by faith. He will wonderfully change the most hopeless, discouraging outlook for the glory of His name, and His faithful ones are to talk courage to the unbelieving and hopeless and prove Him by living faith. Sinners see true light only in His light, and He takes responsibility for success in saving the lost, so that as long as followers obey His word and work in connection with Him they cannot fail. He is present with them even unto the end, teaching, guiding, comforting, strengthening them and giving success to their self-denial and sacrifice, Himself moving upon hearts convicting of sin and turning people from darkness to light and from disobedience to righteousness, keeping this promise unchanged despite Satanic opposition for those who trust Him. Words of Scripture pondered in the heart become streams flowing from that fountain from which life flows.
With God is the fountain of life, and in His light light is seen, belonging with His steadfast love and faithfulness and the refuge of those who trust under the shadow of His wings to drink of the river of His pleasures. God is the source of all life and the life of every living thing, sustained moment by moment, and created life lives in its proper sphere only in harmony with Him and His physical, mental and moral laws. Christ is that Fountain of life to the world, His life original, unborrowed and underived while human life is only derived from Him, voluntarily laid down to give life and bring immortality to light. True sight comes only in His own light, for sin darkens the mind and dims perception, but as sin is purged the light gives ever clearer vision of the glory of God seen in Jesus Christ until heart and soul are transformed into His holiness. Those who come helplessly, abide in Christ and drink deeply are refreshed from the fountain, made fruitful and overflowing to others, while stubbornness, selfishness and pride shut out the light and leave the soul unrenewed.
Words and Context
With God is the fountain of life, and in His light light is seen, joined to His excellent loving-kindness and to His steadfast love and faithfulness and care and protection for those who trust in Him. The children of men take refuge under the shadow of His wings, and He causes them to drink of the river of His pleasures and to be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of His house. God has prepared mercies and blessings for all who put their trust in Him.
That promise assures all poor, defenseless, dependent ones who come to Christ and put their trust under the shadow of His wings that they are abundantly satisfied and preserved and made to drink of the river of His pleasures. It pictures Christ's watchful mediatorial care and His longing to gather Israel, even as a hen spreads her protecting wings over her brood, forgets herself, and gives her life to defend them. Trusting under His wings brings power by miracle-working power to become sons of God, with transformation of character proving the efficacy of His blood as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Grace attends the faith which works by love to purify the soul from all defilement, while binding up with worldlings in secret societies is manifest distrust of God like inquiring of and depending on the gods of Ekron.
The fountain is life-giving grace portrayed as a river of delight, with Christ as the rock and living water supplying what human beings need. With Him is the only refuge for the helpless soul, with trust stayed on Him and all help brought from Him, and under the shadow of His wing the defenseless are covered and supported and comforted. With Him is plenteous grace to pardon all sins, and His healing streams abound to make and keep pure within. That life is to be taken freely and personally, springing up within the heart and rising to all eternity.
God the Fountain of Life
God is the source of all life and the life of every living thing, and human beings receive that life from Him moment by moment through sunshine, pure air, and food that builds and sustains the body. Apart from the corruption brought by sin, His gifts lead to life and health and joy. All life proceeds from Him and is sustained only by receiving life from Him, and created life finds its proper sphere only in harmony with Him and His will. To break His physical, mental, or moral laws is to bring discord and ruin.
He is not the author of sickness and death, and He does not willingly afflict or grieve. He desires people to live, and He calls them to obey the laws of life and health so that they may live. All life and sustenance come from Him, and for that reason He is always to be honored and glorified. He can easily change the wilderness into a fruitful field to sustain His people, giving sunshine and shower that cause vegetation to flourish and giving life to the seed placed in the earth so that it springs up and bears fruit.
He calls His people in every place to put their faculties to use, promising to give wisdom that enables them to produce wholesome foods, and the knowledge for this work is not confined to any one company of men. For those who keep His commandments He can make a wilderness fruitful, bringing glory to His name. That work gives His people reason for praise and thanksgiving and joy and gladness.
He is the overflowing fountain of life, and His servants receive its overflowing abundance. By trusting in Him they enjoy this life, and it strengthens them to be more than conquerors and to be victorious over all opposition. He is the fountain of life and the strength of Israel, able to do for parents what they need to form right characters in their children and to keep their homes. Yet merely being pointed to Him and hearing of Him does no good unless faith takes hold of Him with loving faith that practices what is heard.
Wearied and thirsting after seeking the highest good in earthly things and turning to heathen gods, Solomon returned to God as the fountain of life to find rest and satisfaction of soul. Those who come to Him receive the refreshing comfort of the gospel and lasting consolation.
Christ the Fountain of Life
Christ is the fountain of life, and life in Him is original, unborrowed and underived, while human life is only derived from Him as a streamlet from a fountain, received from the Giver and taken back again by Him. Those whose life is hidden with Christ in God will appear with Him in glory when He appears, and while in this world they are to give back to God in sanctified service all the capabilities and abilities He has given them. As God He is the Fountain of Life to the world, and though mortal in human nature He could have resisted death, yet He voluntarily laid down His life to give life and bring immortality to light. His divine nature brought life-giving power to His human nature, supplying the life that human beings need and may receive.
He is the fountain of life and the only security for salvation, as well as the great source of immortality, for human beings have no merit of their own to present and character cannot be perfected without heaven's help. He has opened a fountain of life for all the world and for God's people, from which come principles of a new and heavenly order to govern their spirit and actions. His words and acts of mercy to the ignorant opened that fountain of life to them, bringing spiritual truth, health and happiness through teaching, mercy and healing. The blessings He gave in this way were rich, abundant and continuous, the eternal treasures given to humanity in Him.
He is the fountain of life and source of power and grace by which Christians can pursue moral and spiritual perfection without despair, His living power sustaining them at every step. Life comes from God as from a fountain and Jesus is the Christian's source, and faith reaches beneath what is seen to draw from Him like the rootlets of a desert palm reaching deep beneath the sand to hidden water. So the believer stays fresh, vigorous, upright, pure and uncontaminated amid strangers to God, scoffing, ridicule and moral pollution, with Jesus dwelling within as a well of water springing up into everlasting life. That indwelling life gives strength and grace to walk with God like Enoch and to stand like Daniel in Babylon, sustains the Christian amid the world's corruption and makes his influence a blessing to others.
He is the well-spring of life and the living Fountain, and coming to Him cures maladies of the soul that are greater than diseases of the body, ending weariness, loneliness and dissatisfaction. He gives satisfying joys that bring vigor to the mind and health and vital energy to the body, while His righteousness gives life to the soul and abiding in Him brings forgiveness, healing from spiritual disease and redemption. A round of exciting amusements must not be put in the place the living Fountain should occupy, for the hungry thirsty soul keeps hungering and thirsting while feeding on frivolous, sensual, exciting pleasures. Those who drink the living water thirst no more for such amusements, since religion's ennobling principles strengthen the mental powers and destroy the taste for those gratifications. From Him life is freely and personally received to spring up eternally within the heart, as water drawn from salvation's wells and answered with praise.
Seeing Light in God's Light
True sight comes only in God's own light, for sin darkens the mind and dims perception, and as sin is purged from the heart that light gives ever clearer vision. That light is the knowledge of the glory of God seen in Jesus Christ, shining through His word and reflected from nature, declaring Him ever more fully merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. This growing knowledge transforms mind and heart and soul into the image of His holiness. When the Saviour abides in the heart His light shines into the mind and enables people to see light. Jesus is the light of the world and the light in which true light is seen, and those who receive Him as personal Saviour and follow Him receive the light of life and eternal life. His light shines into their hearts as when God commanded light to shine out of darkness, giving clearer vision to behold eternal realities and reflecting through their lives the knowledge of Christ. Seeing light in His light means becoming sons of God born again as His spiritual children, renewed in righteousness and true holiness, adopted into God's family, conformed to His likeness and changed by His Spirit from glory to glory, turning from supreme love for self to supreme love for God and for Christ. Those who refuse Him stay in darkness and can never come to the light or have eternal life, for holiness is not inherited by birth or given by any human being but is the gift of God through Christ.
God's light enables the mind to see and grasp spiritual truth, with the Holy Spirit shining that light upon Scripture so its meaning can be understood. Those who commune with God, walk in the light of the Sun of Righteousness at one with Christ, take up the cross and follow Jesus, see light by God's light. To them the Word is of surpassing beauty and loveliness, its importance is seen, truth is unfolded, the doctrine of the incarnation is invested with soft radiance, and Scripture becomes the key that unlocks all mysteries and solves all difficulties. Those unwilling to receive the light and walk in the light cannot understand the mystery of godliness. In His light people see their defects as they truly are, and through His strength they can remedy them. His light shines into mind and soul enabling people to see spiritual truth and recognize how they should live, leading them to stop trampling His commandments.
Seeing light in God's light will belong to the redeemed welcomed into the heavenly courts to tread the streets of gold in the city of God where real wealth is found, where earthly gain and human genius will no longer be exalted. When God sweeps back every mist and cloud of darkness and lets in the sunlight of His glory and baptizes believers with the Holy Spirit, they discern truth and rejoice in truth. Then they lay hold daily on the merits of the precious Redeemer and make a covenant with God by sacrifice to have part in the life that measures with the life of God. They labor together with God to spread the knowledge of truth and save perishing souls, and at last win heaven, receive the crown of glory, strike the harp of gold, and remain crowned in the kingdom of glory never again to go out into a sin-cursed world.
Receiving Light and Life
To see light in God's light the root of bitterness must be destroyed by thorough confession with repentance and restitution, for without that thorough work the soul is never cleared, judgment stays poisoned, perceptions perverted, and understanding blinded toward the message and the messengers, while old prejudices keep springing up to bear unholy fruit. That clearing requires studying the word of God and the Testimonies honestly with a purpose not to confirm one's own ideas but to bring them to be trimmed, condemned or approved as in harmony or not with Scripture, keeping the Bible as a constant companion instead of picking out sentences to strengthen assertions while disregarding plain correction. His light and life are gifts of mercy to those who come helplessly seeking God rather than relying on their own righteousness. To have light in His light is to live near Him wholly consecrated and sanctified through truth, abiding in Christ as the living Vine with Jesus dwelling within and receiving strength and nourishment from Him, and then He sheds increasing light and strength. Stubbornness, selfishness, pride and self-esteem bar the Spirit, shut out light, and leave the soul unrenewed without a new heart created.
Remaining on watch keeps believers in that light, while every unwatched moment leaves them liable to be beset and overcome by darkness until heaven's light fades and besetting sins cannot be discovered and they are more easily ensnared. Seeing light comes by placing oneself under the Holy Spirit's influence, learning from those who teach and obey truth, staying in the circle of His light where it is cherished so it shines before men, receiving guidance and walking with single aim to glorify Him. It is received through earnest humble prayer telling everything to Jesus when faint-hearted and desponding, closing the lips to men, reaching up in weakness to lay hold of infinite strength and asking for humility, wisdom, courage and increased faith, bringing rejoicing in His love and truth. When people lay hold of His promises by holy living faith in Jesus that works through love and purifies the soul, they see light in His light and rejoice in truth.
In needy dependence for Christ's sake, heaven's light comes into mind and heart to shine continually with every cloud and power of darkness swept back and with baptism of the Holy Spirit. In that light believers know God's infinite, immeasurable love, behold Christ stretched on Calvary's cross suffering cruel death to rescue them from the sorrows of the lost, trust His shed blood to cleanse from sin and atone, carry out every pledge by living faith with angels strengthening them so Satan's power cannot discourage, know angels are present, and go forth from worship to their homes to reveal God's glory. God's light is to be asked for in present-day prayer as His presence, grace, blessing, pardon, and Spirit impressing every mind with Christ and angels near. Seeing clearly means every mist and cloud swept from the mind, consecration and humbling with transgressions confessed and pardoned, holding faith to bring needs to God, seeking diligently in the last days under temptation, then carrying that light from above to those in darkness.
Realizing personal weakness brings at times divine illumination with light and assurance in Christ for resisting Satan's temptations and fighting the good fight of faith, making His sufficiency personal confidence by uniting human weakness with His strength and human ignorance with His efficiency, giving reason to take courage and enjoy peace of mind united with God and heavenly angels. When God's life through the Spirit is within, answering the heart's longing for peace and happiness, the heart responds to Him and sees light in His light. When His light shines into mind and soul people see light in Him and share His joy as sinners turn to Him wholeheartedly, with joy, peace, mercy and love in Christ. Even in sleeplessness, pain and suffering, longing for more of Jesus and praying to be uplifted into purer, holier air and for relief, believers are comforted that Jesus knows and helps, and will see light in His light with thanks for relief already given and praise and rejoicing in His great mercies, since He does not leave nor forsake in affliction but encourages in it.
Seeing light means thorough consecration in every position and sphere, hidden with Christ in God to become instruments for developing Christian virtues, refusing to fold hands and make self a center or weave selfishness into the work, refusing to sit Sabbath after Sabbath hearing the Word without communicating it, but cooperating with God in Christ's work and proclaiming truth as a lamp that burns. Drinking at the fountain means laying hold of God's strength and receiving the power He is willing to bestow through broken-hearted earnest prayer humbled before Him to hear every word He has. Those who ought to stand in the forefront most need this drinking, and neglecting precious morning opportunity day after day leaves without power, with results to be told in the future, at peril of being passed by. Drinking deeply from the fountain by coming into nearness with God gives what is needed to reflect Jesus more fully.
Drinking deeply gives saving influence in teaching the truth, steadies the restless mind, keeps harmony with brethren, and gives ability to understand the message God sends in spoken testimony or written instruction. Without it one cannot understand spoken or written instruction and may mistake a new phase or form of error for new light, and has a work to do in preparing to be ready for the messages that come.
Life Transformed and Shared
Those who find joy in reading God's word and in the hour of prayer are continually refreshed from the fountain, for without that inner supply there is no power to be happy. With it comes a height of moral excellence and breadth of thought others cannot conceive, with good thoughts, noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth, higher aims and lofty purposes of action, clearer knowledge of God and of eternity. Communion with God brings joy and connects the soul with Him so He acknowledges them as His sons and daughters, and they keep reaching higher and still higher into clearer views of God and of eternity until He makes them channels of light and wisdom to the world. Those who drink find rest, peace, and happiness in Jesus by coming to Him daily and laying perplexities and burdens at His feet, finding contentment and even joy in the path of obedience and duty rather than the worldling's restless longing for change and pleasure. Their deportment and character show that contentment and joy, and they exert a saving influence over others that lasts into eternity.
The soul must derive support and nourishment from the Fountain to be a fruitful tree in harmony with the Creator. The living spring flows through the soul and then flows out to others in good deeds and earnest, unselfish effort for their salvation. In watering others the soul itself is watered, so spiritual life is not dwarfed and the heart does not become sere and unfeeling, but glows with the divine image in close sympathy with God, flowing out in cheerful readiness in love and sympathy for humanity with self forgotten. God imparts His life when the will is surrendered to Him in communion, and this life enables hidden sins to be overcome, while clinging to sin and refusing His will is a choice of death, because His presence consumes sin. Communion with Christ through prayer and study of the truths in His word feeds the spiritually hungry and refreshes the thirsty at the fountain.
Prayer brings the heart into immediate contact with the source and strengthens spiritual life, while neglecting prayer weakens spiritual vitality and leaves religious experience without health or vigor. Those who drink receive transforming grace and become grateful and praising, leading others to the living waters. To drink from the Fountain is to receive life from God, enabling a worker to give the water of life to the thirsty and feed hungry souls with pure truth. The gospel speaker must himself drink and take Christ into the soul before helping others, and this personal drinking matters more than thorough education, eloquent expressions, beautiful imagery, correct grammar, or proper pronunciation. When it is present the speaker's defects will be forgiven and forgotten by hearers who thank God for the message of grace. A person must drink personally in order to lead others to the fountain.
Sinners should be drawn to the Lord as the Fountain, to Christ Himself more valuable than all earthly treasure, to find peace and rest of soul. The Christian's example, conduct, and words should awaken in them desire to come to Him. Those who seek the Lord with the whole heart learn meekness and lowliness from Him, open their hearts to His light as the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and serve cheerfully and joyfully. Those who think soberly and live righteously breathe the atmosphere of heaven and exert good influence over associates. As sinners and debtors to God who are not to bless themselves only, they work out their own salvation with fear and trembling while helping others to be saved, doing all they can to remove iniquity from themselves, maintaining a living experience with Christ, and from love to God speaking of Him to lead others to the fountain for salvation. People must be led to God as the source of life.
Those who work for others are to represent Christ the fountain of life, light, and love and the only hope of souls, pointing souls simply and directly to Him in meekness and lowliness. They are to dwell on His merits and love, His simplicity of faith, and His practical godliness rather than seeking to do large things, and life, light, and love from Him are the three great elements of a true, healthy, influential Christianity. Christ is the Fountain and Source of all power from whom the living stream of salvation flows from the living God. Prisoners of hope are to turn to the Lord, seek strength from Him, and show unwavering, humble faith in His power and willingness to save, taking hold of His strength by faith. He will wonderfully change the most hopeless, discouraging outlook for the glory of His name, and His faithful ones are to talk courage to the unbelieving and hopeless and prove Him by living faith. Sinners see true light only in His light, and He takes responsibility for success in saving the lost, so that as long as followers obey His word and work in connection with Him they cannot fail. He is present with them even unto the end, teaching, guiding, comforting, strengthening them and giving success to their self-denial and sacrifice, Himself moving upon hearts convicting of sin and turning people from darkness to light and from disobedience to righteousness, keeping this promise unchanged despite Satanic opposition for those who trust Him. Words of Scripture pondered in the heart become streams flowing from that fountain from which life flows.