Subject Seventy-nine

THE DAYSPRING OF MERCY

Scripture: Luke 1:76-79

1. Human living is in darkness
   1. In the Bible darkness symbolizes sins. So man living in darkness is living in sins.
   2. Sin brings in the shadow of death. Although sin is not death, it is at least the shadow of death. So men living in sins are living under the shadow of death. This is why Luke says, “them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death.”
2. God’s mercy toward men
   1. According to the condition of men living in sins, God should deal with men according to His righteousness. But God’s heart causes Him to be merciful toward men. Mercy is something within God’s heart. According to God’s procedure and His laws, God should deal with us in righteousness. But not only does God have His procedure and His laws; He also has a heart, and it is His heart that causes Him to deal with us in mercy.
   2. Mercy reaches farther than grace; mercy reaches even to the unworthy ones. Grace is freely given, but it is given only to those who are worthy. If God had only grace and not mercy, all of us who are living in sins would be unworthy of His grace. But thank God, He is also merciful. Our position before God today is like that of a beggar needing God’s mercy. To give something freely to someone who deserves it is grace; to give something to a beggar is mercy.
   3. God’s mercy causes the dayspring to shine upon us. The dayspring signifies the end of darkness, and the dawn of the day. This is to say that whoever has God’s mercy upon him has his darkness ended. So God’s mercy is not only the light, but also the sunshine of the dawn. Friends, maybe today God’s dayspring is shining upon you, to end your darkness, and to bring light into your life.
3. Christ is the sunshine of the dayspring
   1. God’s mercy is to send Christ as our Savior.
   2. We are living in darkness and under the shadow of death. Christ comes to meet our need, to cause our darkness to vanish, and to chase away the shadow of death. It is the business of the sunshine to cause darkness to vanish. Christ is the sunshine of the dayspring to us.
   3. When Christ comes upon someone, the most obvious work is to make that one bright inside. Everyone who meets Christ right away feels that he sees light. Everyone who hears the gospel of Christ instantly feels that he is bright inside. Everyone who meets Christ instantly feels that his life has come to the daylight, and that he has come out of darkness.
   4. Darkness is sins; sunshine is Christ. When a man meets Christ, he is sure to be delivered from sins, that is, from the shadow of death. The shining of Christ causes man to be delivered from sin and death.
4. The result of being enlightened by Christ
   1. The Bible says that evildoers have no rest in them. When a man sins, his conscience is troubled, and there is no peace between man and God; even there is no peace with the environment. Furthermore, there will be the eternal unrest in hell. Here you need to give some examples to illustrate how, after a person committed a certain sin, there was the unrest in his conscience and in his family.
   2. Since Christ’s enlightenment causes us to see light, it also causes us to be delivered from the causes of unrest and the elements of unrest. All the unrest comes from sins, darkness, and the shadow of death. Since Christ’s shining causes us to be delivered from these things, we are delivered from the causes of unrest and its elements.
   3. So Christ’s shining guides our feet into the way of peace. Those who are in darkness are walking in the way of sins and living a life of unrest. As soon as we receive Christ’s salvation and Christ shines upon us, we have peace in our conscience, peace with our environment, harmony with God, and are at peace constantly.
5. What should we do with Christ?
   1. Do not reject His shining. It is God’s mercy reaching to you that you are hearing this gospel message today. So friends, do not reject the shining of Christ.
   2. Humble yourself and receive Christ as your Savior.