This morning we look together at both Old and New Testament passage. The Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 9. We'll begin there. Isaiah chapter 9, verses 1 through 7. And then Matthew 4, 12 through 17. People of God, hear the glorious good news of the revelation of the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the gospel revealed in God's holy, infallible Word. Isaiah chapter 9, beginning with verse 1. Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her by way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, increased its joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For you have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle and garments rolled in blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. and the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. And then in Matthew chapter 4, which really relates not to the birth of Christ, which we oftentimes think of in verse 6, although verse 6 is a description of the work of Christ, assuming the birth of Christ, But Matthew chapter 4, which is really the revelation of the beginning, the very beginning of the work, the public ministry of Christ as it is revealed to us in the book of Matthew and prophesied in Isaiah 9 verse 1 and 2. So we turn to Matthew chapter 4 beginning with verse 12. This is immediately following the temptation by Satan in the various places in which Satan tempted Jesus. And then verse 12, Matthew 4, 12, we read these words. Now, when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned. And from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. People of God, this word from God's word. There is no doubt that many people have recognized the darkness that we live in in the present age in a very limited fashion and the true darkness in which they live. The truth that is set before us today is that all are living in darkness. We have a very specific example of a specific time about those who are living in darkness, but the reality is, is that all live in darkness. And so this text, this passage, this word, this good news from God's word certainly ought to speak to us if we think that we are living in an age of darkness and we ask ourselves, what can we do? Because the Word of God will make it very clear what we, particularly those who know the light, have seen the light, experienced the light, are the light, are to do. And we certainly ought not to cower in a corner in fear and dread of the reality of the darkness that surrounds us. And we ought to take great comfort and we ought to be highly motivated, and we ought to rejoice in the glorious good news that is set before us in this passage of Scripture, particularly as we look at Matthew. In this passage, we are at a critical moment in the history of God's redeeming work. It's a critical moment. That moment is described differently in the four Gospels. There are different emphases in the four Gospels. But this is a critical moment because this is the moment that Christ's public ministry begins in Matthew, where it truly begins. It begins following the temptation by the devil, and then it begins with this particular note, and now when Jesus heard John had been put in prison, he departed to Galilee. We're not exactly sure how long it was between the temptation of the devil and departing for Galilee. We're not even sure where Jesus was. If he was in Jerusalem, or around Jerusalem, to depart for Galilee, and Nazareth in particular, would be about 90 miles away. And we say, oh, that's not so far. That would be like traveling between here and Montana at the present moment. It would be a three-day journey plus. It's not that minor matter. We saw the same thing with Paul going to Tarsus, which was 600 miles from Jerusalem. These are long distances. 90 miles is not, oh, we're going to hop in the car and be there in an hour and a half. He departed and he went there. And then between Nazareth and Capernaum is another, is 30 miles. Again, a two-day journey, day and a half. It wasn't like it's a go down the block or take 20 minutes to get there. There were some distances here, but it's not the distances that are what is significant before us, it's the places. And the places that are significant are not readily apparent. But think about them for a moment. Because they are critical. They are critical. Jesus Christ is the one who is coming. Jesus Christ is at this critical moment in history. a moment when the last prophet of the Old Testament is put in prison. That prophet who Jesus declared in Matthew chapter 11, saying to those who are reflecting on John the Baptist and John, Jesus declares these words, assuredly I say to you among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. We don't often think of him that way, but he's a great man of God in the context of redemptive history. He's the last Old Testament prophet. And then Jesus says that he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Every single one here who is part of the kingdom of heaven which began where Jesus proclaimed that kingdom, repent and believe for the kingdom of heaven is at hand in the inauguration of his own public ministry as John's public ministry ended. That's why Hebrews would declare, and now the greatest of those who are great in the kingdom of heaven, of course, is Jesus Christ. And Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, describes Christ's greatness this way. Hebrews chapter 1. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things. through whom he made the worlds, and being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of majesty on high. This glorious Christ in these last days has spoken to us, and Matthew is declaring to us the beginning of his speaking to us. And so there's a transition in the text between John and Jesus. But there is also a geographical emphasis that is striking. It is absolutely striking. What is set before us is the historical reality of the moment that Jesus begins his public ministry in the context of God's absolute judgment against the sin of Israel. What is the historic reality? Isaiah chapter 9. Isaiah chapter 9, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and Naphtali and afterward more heavily oppressed her by way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles. How did God oppress Zebulun and Naphtali? How did God judge them? How did the darkness of the judgment of God descend upon them? 2 Kings chapter 15 verse 29. 2 Kings chapter 15 verse 29. This is the heavy hand of God upon them. We read these words. In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, came and took Ijon, Abel, Beth, Maacah, and Jehnoah, Kiddush, Hazar, Gilead, and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. The first number of cities included Galilee, which is of the region of Zebulun, and Capernaum is in the region of Naphtali. And Naphtali and Zebulun were the first two tribes of Israel to be totally destroyed, wiped out, and no more. as the ten tribes were put into absolute exile that never ended. There is no Naphtali and Zebulun as an ethnic Jewish God representing people in that region. There are some Jews that live there. There were some Jews that lived in Nazareth, Joseph and Mary, but it's fundamentally the land of Naphtali and Zebulun under the judgment of God for the sins of Israel. 600 years in non-existence. There is no historic Jewish group with any kind of continuity as opposed to Judah and Jerusalem and Bethlehem. This is the, at best, mixed race group. Think of Samaritan region. Think of Roman occupation. Think of Gentiles, no longer identified as the people of God, living under the absolute judgment of God. And that would include all the Gentiles in the region now. Whoever may be there, Roman, Jew, mixed ethnic, This is a region filled with Roman religion. This is not the pinnacle of God's holy people living in a land that is bringing glory to God. Not at all. This is a people, whether Jew or Gentile, living in darkness. In the New Testament, The book of Luke is oftentimes considered the book that has an emphasis in the word of God coming to the Gentiles. Matthew has an emphasis of the word of God coming to the Jews. And in Matthew, that theme of the word coming to Gentiles is not absent. In fact, it is emphasized as the very first aspect of Christ's public ministry. Now, undoubtedly, he went to the synagogues, but he's going to synagogues that are in the context of the Gentiles, and the text that is used emphasizes that it's the Gentiles to whom he goes. Already he is beginning to teach, and even Matthew begins to teach, that the kingdom of heaven is not only for the Jews, but it is going to emphasize that which Luke emphasizes even more in his gospel and then which is carried on in the book of Acts. And so Matthew to Acts or Luke to Acts have that same theme and that is that the world is filled with darkness and the power of the gospel goes out to the world. As God would declare in Acts chapter 1, 6 through 8, which is that summary. of how the gospel goes forth to every tribe and nation and people and tongue, Acts 1 verse 6. ends of the earth, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth, and Jesus is already in the Samaria. He's already outside of Judah, outside of Jerusalem, being a light that shines in the darkness, a darkness that is described here as darkness and death a darkness that's experienced as the curse of God against sin. It's our second point in our sermon, right? Is that living in darkness is experience. Living in darkness is a reality of all mankind, from the beginning of time to the end of time. All mankind, no matter what geographical region, no matter what ethnic group, All are living in darkness, apart from the light of God shining. They experience that darkness as the curse of God itself, living in the shadow of death. And what is death? Well, this is talking about a living death. They live in the shadow of death. And that is a illustration that is You can have a whole sermon on just living in the shadow of death, but without doubt it would reference the fact that we live in the shadow of death. We live with physical death all around us. And we know that death is that which God has declared first and foremost as His judgment against sin. Death of loved ones, death of parents, sad death, tragic death. We live in a reality of death. Our culture has come to suddenly fear death. Be terrified of it because they don't think they can control it in the last year and a half because of a pandemic. Would that they would fear all death the same way. They shouldn't just fear the pandemic of a COVID virus. They should fear death in every single instance, unless they have the light of Christ. They live in death. They live in the shadow of death, which is the judgment of God. Death, disease, tragic accident. People of God, there's an element to the judgment of God in every single one of those instances apart from the grace and mercy of God and the light of God. Then, we as His people would experience even death differently, and we no longer experience the judgment of God. But fundamentally, the basic fabric of this world is the curse of God against sin and living in the shadow of that curse every day. Death as the misery of sin. Darkness, death, misery. Sin caused darkness. Misery of sin. Whether it be a dead religion, which was all around Jesus in Capernaum, and it was all around Jesus in Jerusalem in dead orthodoxy. It's one example. And the misery of Hinduism. when Gandhi, supposedly a great leader and humanitarian, declared that the lower caste of the untouchables were the children of God, what he really meant when he said that was not Oh, we're all one. No, what he meant was they're part of the Hindu system and they are worthless, despicable people because that's their place. That's their karma. That's where they are now. That's just what they are. They're basically dead. They're miserable people. That's what they should be. They should be miserable. That's what he meant by that. Everybody thinks, what a nice guy. He was rejoicing in the death and the misery of countless millions without knowing he was just as dead, just as miserable, just as cursed by God. The misery of sexual immorality. the misery of political turmoil. It all existed at the time of Jesus. Religious leaders who were supposed to be faithful and true were dead. The woman at the well was dead. Demonic activity was rampant. There was deadness. Roman debauchery, sexual immorality, depravity, brutality, living in darkness. A world of darkness. A world of deadness. And then there was the deadness of their own sin. They were dead in sin and trespasses. They lived in darkness. They themselves were darkness. That's what Jesus is trying to get at in Matthew chapter 6, 22 and 23. Because the darkness isn't only the environment, the darkness is within us. Apart from God's grace. Matthew 6, 22 and 23. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. That if the eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? Apart from redemption, apart from regeneration, there is only darkness, depravity, misery within the human heart itself. John 3.19 would describe it this way, John 3.19, and this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. They themselves were darkness. They fit in darkness. But people of God, living in darkness is overcome by the light. Living in darkness is overcome. Light overcomes the darkness. Darkness doesn't overcome the darkness. Light. And first of all, that light is Jesus Christ. That light that the Old Testament would be looking forward to. That light that Isaiah longed for. That light that was promised to Adam. That light that overcomes the darkness that was shining was Jesus Christ in the flesh. Luke talks about how he brought a message in a synagogue in Nazareth. Matthew simply describes the entirety of that first period of time in Galilee and Nazareth and Capernaum. And he says that the light is shining and that light overcomes. The people who sat in darkness, verse 16, have seen a great light. Those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned. It has dawned. This was the dawning of the light. This is the beginning of the shining of the light. Jesus, because Jesus himself is the light of the world. In John chapter 1, John chapter 1, in the gospel of John at chapter 1, You have this same theme about Jesus being light. It's the introduction of John to the life and ministry of Jesus. Only he goes all the way back to the beginning of creation. Matthew is saying, light has dawned. The morning star has arisen. Jesus is in Galilee. Jesus is in Capernaum. Jesus is in Naphtali. Jesus is in Zebulun. And the word, the light is going forth. And John 1 describes, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him. Without Him, nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. But who comprehends it? Jesus declared in John chapter 8, I am that great Ego Amy, that great declaration of the Old Testament that reflects the name of Yahweh. I am who I am. And Jesus says, I am the light of the world. I am. that light. I am the opposite of death. I am the life. I am the one who bears the darkness in every way for my people. I am the propitiation. I am the darkness taker for my people. But I am the life and light giver. Jesus is the light. And His Word, the Word of God, is the light. We sang that in response to the law of God, and we said, the light of the Word. We rejoiced in that psalm, and we know thy Word is a light unto my path. A light to my feet is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, Psalm 119, 105. Paul describing the ministry of the preaching of the word in 2 Timothy chapter 1, 2 Timothy chapter 1 verses 8 through 11. 2 Timothy 1, 8 through 11. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purposes and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. He brings life and immortality to light. We can see it, we can experience it because of Christ, because He is the light. His Word is that which is a light upon our path. And when we testify, we bear testimony and we then shine the light. But we also have the light because of the light of regeneration itself. And so, there's no longer the eye that is blackened and all that there is is darkness within, but now there's light. We have eyes to see and ears to hear. We have the light of regeneration. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 3 through 6. There are some of you who have heard this passage before from this pastor, right? You've heard this passage before. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, that original created event, who has shown in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And that miracle is far greater than light shining in darkness. The creation of light. The creation of light. And the bringing into existence light. is nothing compared to the light that God produces in us and shines in us and makes to shine within us because of regeneration. It is God who commanded for light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And we have this treasure in earthen vessels, clay pots, that the glory, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not us. That description of the church of Jesus Christ by Peter in 1 Peter 2, 9 and 10. You are a chosen generation. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people. that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Your children know this song. Sometimes you may sing it. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. That's the light of Jesus at work in us. That's the light of the Word of God that must shine. That's the light. that God gives to every one of His children by grace and mercy that then shines within us or becomes that well of living water that never ends. We have sin cursed darkness. We have sin caused darkness. We have darkness producing sin. But people of God, the light of God is greater than the darkness of the sin of man. And it reveals the glories of God's grace even more than His judgment. The curse of darkness has been overcome by the light of the world, Jesus Christ Himself, who bore that curse. The sin-causing darkness of misery has been overcome by the light of the world. We have new life in Christ. He came that our joy may be full. and our misery may subside. The darkness of sin production in our life has been overcome by the power of regeneration so that we are no longer dead in our darkness and our sin, but we are alive to God, living in Christ. People of God, the darkness today is no greater than the time of Jesus Christ. The darkness today is of the same kind, it's of the same ilk, it's of the same nature. But God's power, God's grace, God's light is greater than the darkness. It's greater than the darkness of even God's judgment against sin because he sent his son to die for it. It's greater than the darkness of the world because Jesus is the light of the world. It is greater than the darkness of our own hearts because God and his power through the Holy Spirit regenerates, renews, gives us light and life from within. People of God, 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, then declares how then we ought to live. 2 Corinthians 6, beginning with verse 14. Because of all this, we could say, therefore, do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Amen. Gracious God and Heavenly Father, O Lord God, for each one who is your true child, who is one who has experienced the blessing of the one who is the light, Jesus, who glories in the light of your word, who knows the power of the light of regeneration. Father, may we bear testimony in this dark world. And may we not be afraid to go forth even as Jesus went forth. May we bear testimony to Him as the light of the world. May we rejoice knowing that He has come, that our joy may be full. And may we bear testimony and witness to all that He has done. O Lord God, we give You all the praise and honor and glory. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.