Let me turn in our Bible to Genesis chapter one. Genesis chapter one. And verse fourteen. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night. Let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years. Let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. And it was so. God made two great lights. You'll notice that word made. It's not created of this time. He calls to appear two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. The evening and the morning were the fourth day. We've been taking up the work days of God, and so... continuous Lord willing next week. We took up the first day, as those of you here today, two weeks ago, and we spoke on the day of conversion. And that's what happened on that first day. You see the chaos and the emptiness, and then God speaks, and he says, let there be light, and there was light. He didn't say let there be a fog. He says, Let there be a light, and light descended. An amazing thing is that that's not the light of the sun, for the sun didn't appear until the fourth day. It was a light. God, in his mighty power, called the light the dawn upon the earth. God is not dependent upon the sun for light. We may be. Over the book of Revelation we read, they have no need of the sun or the moon or the stars in the new heavens and the new earth, for the Lamb is the light thereof. And so God does away with those heavenly luminaries in eternity. Christ is going to flood the new heavens and the new earth. Though we don't see Christ visibly, as you can see your Son, of every day, but we have a light in our hearts. And that's the light that dawned when we received Jesus Christ as our Savior. Christ is the light of the Word. The day will come when we will see Christ bitterly. But no, not till then. But until then we do have a light, and what a wonderful light it is. He quoted a text last week, how the God of this age has blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should sign unto them and they should be saved, and also the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. What wonderful knowledge this is. And the moment you receive Jesus Christ, and he is the light of the world, you receive knowledge. You see, the knowledge of His wonderful peace, a peace you never had before, a peace that joys for the rest of your journey on this earth. Not only do you have the wonderful knowledge of peace, but also you have the wonderful knowledge of all your sins forgiven. You have the knowledge of everlasting life. The knowledge I never perish. The knowledge I'll never be lost. What a lot of knowledge. And that's yours, the moment you accept Jesus Christ at your confession. That was the first day. Not only so, there was a division on that first day. God put a light different between the night and the day, the light and the darkness. And that's what happens on the first day when a person gets saved. Not only do they have a light of the knowledge of the things I've mentioned, but also God has separated his people from the unconverted. There is a division, those who walked in the light and those who walked in the darkness. When the plague, the judgments fell upon Egypt, and they were severe, judgment upon judgment fell upon the Egyptians. But God said to Pharaoh, I will put a division between thy people and my people. And what a wonderful division it was. Not one of those plagues fell upon one of the Israelites. They were saved. God put a division. They had the plague of flies. And there wasn't one fly in the home of an Israelite. when the plague of darkness descended upon the land, it says, And the children of Israel had light in their dwelling. And as that awful darkness descended upon Egypt, it must have been to the envy of the Egyptians when they saw those lighted windows. There's a time of God there is an Israelite. God says, I'll put a division between my people And thy people, isn't it nice in this world that's getting darker it seems by the hour to know we've got life, not only in our hearts, but in our dwellings. I will tell God there are more Christian families, all saved by the grace of God under that roof, all bowing to this blessed roof. I'm seeking to live it and practice it. That's the only remedy for this nation. More homes where there's light, the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, the light of the knowledge of God in that home. I wonder if there's a light in your dwelling. All under your roots saved by the grace of God. Or is there a division in your family? One in the dark, the others in the light. One on the way to hell, the other on the way to heaven. What a sad, sad division. Then the second day we have separation where we have that permanent, that bent of atmosphere that was around this earth of ours. I made a little slip last week. I said it was four hundred miles, or I had four, four hundred miles, or forty days I think it was, four hundred days, I said last week, but about two minutes later, I corrected that and said it's four hundred miles. And so this atmospheric depth goes out four hundred miles. The density of the first part, nearest the earth for about seven years, that's where the vapor is. The further out you go, the thinner it gets. God says, I have put a division between those on the waters, on those between the waters on the earth and the waters in the firmament. And there is that belt. What protection we have? What a separation between God's people and children of the wicked one. And there had to be that atmosphere in order for men to live, animals to live, and birds to fly. They must have. We couldn't live on this planet if we didn't have the atmospheric doubt around this world. So God has made a real division in verse one or day one. Now we have separation. And God wants us to be separate. Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. God has put a boundary between us and the things of this world. Then again we came to the third day. Third day is resurrection. The land, the dry land appeared. Jesus Christ rose again on the third day. And so the continents appeared. You know, it's amazing for God to tell us the dry land. Now, those islands, those continents had been underwater. All of a sudden they appeared dry. You'd expected them to be drenched and mud after being submerged with the lost. No, God said, let us go up one day, and they were dry. dry land. It's that solid ground. Then when you get to know Jesus Christ and His resurrected life, you're not standing in a swamp or in a mud puddle. You're on dry ground. It's solid. How wonderful to be on solid ground. I think I referred to it last week. How Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly. just like the Son of Man, would be three days and three nights on the heart of the earth. And God told the whale to vomit out Jonah on to dry ground. Yes, I love that dry ground. It speaks of solidarity. How solid, how safe, how sure the child of God is. There you have the resurrection. And on that day the grass appeared. The herbs appeared, the trees appeared, and the fruit appeared. Blood. But now we come to the fourth day that we've read about. Here you have witnessing. The sun, the moon, the star. You know what's amazing when you think of your Bible? The first three days, God is bringing order out of chaos. with terrible chaos. Then God goes to work and he says, let there be light and then also he causes them to have the dry land and also the atmosphere. The first three days, he's putting order out of chaos. The last three days, the days four, five and six, he's putting fullness into voidness. For in verse one, The earth is without form and void. It was out of order and it was empty. So God first puts things in order in the first three days and he fills up the void the next three days. God is a God of order. He orders things that are done right. God is not the author of the Jews. When things are in order, God can let you experience the fullness. And that's what took place on the fourth, fifth, and sixth days. And it's very significant too. The first day you have light, but in the fourth day you have lights in the cloud. And in the second day you have water. And in the fifth day you have the water's full. And in the third day you have earth. And in the sixth day you have the earth filled with animals and humans. Here is the God of order and fulfillment. Now I want to think of these three lights, the sun. How wonderful the sun is to rule the day. Here is this unchangeable luminary. The sun never changes. It's exactly the same today as it was when God put it there. And there's one at God's right hand. He's that unchanging luminary, the same yesterday, the day, and will be forever. He never changed. Not like we humans. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And the sun is the source of all blessings. We couldn't live without the sun. We need it light. We need it for life. We need it for its warmth, for its energy, for its beauty. Did you ever see any more beautiful when the sunset? And also, not only for all these things, but its power. Oh, to think of the strength and power of the Son. And God in His word, not only does He give us these things to deal with the literal heavens, He wants them to be but picture of the S-O-N. And if that Son gives us all these things, does the Lord Jesus not give us these things to? He gives us the blessing of life, the blessing of life, the blessing of the want of his fellowship, and the energy. Do I need energy? I certainly do. I get it through Jesus Christ. Why any beauty? It's found in him. All that you get from this sun in the heaven, you get spiritually in Jesus Christ. And the sun is the center of our solar system. All revolves around the sun. Jesus Christ is the center of God's spiritual system. Of the age of twelve, he was in the midst. of the doctors and of the lawyers. Here we can ask him a question. On the cross, on either side, one, and G's in the midst. Matthew, twelve, eighteen, and twenty, where truth here gathered together in my name, Jeremiah in the midst. Revelation two and three, he's in the midst of the churches. And on the phone, he's in the midst of the phone. He's in the midst. Everything revolves around Jesus Christ, just like everything revolves around our Son. I wonder if all your life revolves around Jesus Christ. Or are you away from Jesus Christ? Departed from the tug of the Son of God, or does everything revolve around him? Not only so, the sun drives away the mist. All the mists. How wonderful to have one who can drive away the mists of disappointment. You know this amazing verse in your Bible that's over in Psalm nineteen. It does say the heaven declared the glory of God, but it says something else. He says the sun is as the bridegroom. coming out of his chambers, rejoicing as a strong man to run a race. That's what God says about the Son. It's hidden now, we'd like to have a little more of it. But that's true of the Lord Jesus. He is as a bridegroom. the bridegroom of the church that comes out of his chambers, out of the council chambers of eternity, Jesus Christ came. He did. The bridegroom is love. Rejoicing of a strong man is joy. And a strong man to run a race is challenge. When a man is running a race, he challenges. And then the Lord Jesus has thrown down a challenge to you. I wish you'd accept it. It will be unto you if you challenge him because of his mighty power there'd be no contest. The sun is three hundred thousand times bigger than our earth. So there's no issue of poor, feeble human challenging him. the Lord Jesus Christ, how wonderful he is. You know, all depends upon the Lord Jesus. Man is defenseless. If he were to let loose all his reins, man is defenseless. And we ask for you to come to terms with this one. We'll have to meet him in his wrath if you don't meet him in grace. You start to think of the sun. It shines upon the just and the unjust alike. And that's true. Two farmers are working together. One's a born-again child of God. The other one is an atheist. He doesn't believe in God. but that same sun shines down upon that wicked farmer. The rains fall upon his land. He has the same material blessings as to agriculture, as his neighbor who is a Christian. Yes, he gets benefits. God, he does. He is the God of the just and the undisturbed. in the sense that the unjust received benefits. Look at the benefits you receive, you're not a Christian. This is what stumbled David. David saw the rich men. He saw them like a green tree spreading out with all their wealth. And he almost stumbled, David. How could God bless the unjust? How can he bless the wicked? sometimes more materially than the Christian. Then David says, when I went into the sanctuary, I understood the event, the end of the wicked. For the end of the wicked, God says he has set their feet in slippery paths. The wicked are going to slip up in a day to come. They have benefited. Are they using those benefits to glorify the one who gives those benefits? Maybe God has blessed you with remarkable health and strength. For the benefit, the very free air you breathe, you get it out of His hand. All the blessings you've got materially, even if you're a sinner, God is giving you those benefits. But He would like to give you spiritual benefits. For these other benefits don't last, but spiritual benefits do. You know Solomon says something remarkable over in Ecclesiastes eleven seven. He says, what a pleasant thing it is to behold the Son. Now transfer that to the Lord Jesus. If it's a pleasant thing to behold the S-U-N, I'd like to see it when I get out of this building. What a pleasant thing it is to behold the Son. More pleasant it is to behold the S-O-N. And Solomon also says this. There's a prophet to them who behold the Son. And he's referring to the Son. What a prophet there is to who are sinners when he beholds the Son of God. What shall a prophet demand if he dame the whole world and lose his own soul? Oh, what profit there is to know the Son of God. You know, men today are interested in astronomy. God is the great astronomer. What people today, along with, they write books about the stars and so on, and even the Russians, they're interested in outer space? Yes, they're interested in God's creation. and they're investigating, trying to learn all they can about space. They're not interested in the creator of that space. It's sad, isn't it? I'll tell you, friend, the day is coming. Then they'll know something about this God who has placed all these wonderful things in the heaven. And as one Russian astronaut said sarcastically, when they went out into space, he said, I didn't see any God. He will see them. And so the child of God has a wonderful figure, just like the sun. We've only touched on a few of the things paralleling our Lord Jesus Christ. And we mentioned about the first day. And then the fourth day, I'm not going into that, the different lights. But this is a different light, the sun. And then the moon. What about the moon? Well, these have to do with tides. Time. That's what they're for. Time and time. And they're necessary for the livelihood of the human race on Earth. The sun is to rule the day. And the Lord Jesus is going to rule the day. He's not ruling it now. Men are trying to rule this world. And what a mess they're making of it. The times coming when that one was hidden beyond the clouds. And a lot of nations are investigating this territory. out in space the planets, the constellations, then someday they're going to meet us. He's going to rule the day, the Bible says so. And what a wonderful day that will be when the sun shall rule the day. But don't forget that the church is seen here in the moon. What about the moon? The moon has no light of its own. It has no light of its own. We set men out there. They didn't see any light. The moon doesn't have a spotted light. It borrows all its light from the sun and reflects it on the earth. And all the light that the church has, it borrows it from Jesus Christ the sun. And the duty and responsibility of the church... is to get that light from Christ and reflect it on the earth. That's the responsibility of the church. And the brighter the moon, the brighter the earth. Yes, last night I happened to notice that we had almost a full moon. How beautiful it is. The church in her history has known a full moon on earth. certain occasion, the church was flourishing. The church was bathed in the light of the sun, reflecting that light and power and warmth upon the community, in some cases almost a nation. But sometimes it's only a crescent. And when it's a crescent, there's very little light. Remember this. depend upon the moon's relationship with the sun as to how much light she's shedding upon the earth. If the moon is in her proper position, in a relation to the sun, she's either flooding the earth and the community with that light and love she receives in the sun, or that community is dark. Only she a little. It's a sad thing when the world comes between the sun and the earth. Yes, that can happen. And you know, the moon has been eclipsed because the world got in a way. And sometimes the church has been eclipsed because the big old world got in its way. and the moon has its responsibility. The sun rules the day, but the moon rules the night. This is the age of night. Yes, then this is the age when it's up to the moon to shine during the darkness. And the moon gets all her light from the sun. How wonderful to know that we have a responsibility as an assembly, as a church. We can't bear the responsibility of all the other Christians and other churches and throughout the world. Someday all the church will be united. You know, the moon travels east. When the moon meets the rising sun, of that day. The church is traveling east in the direction of the rising sun, and when they meet, this earth will have a happy day. What a day that will be. How wonderful to know I'm in the church, and just as the whole effects of tithe does I wonder how much this assembly is affecting the tides of humanity that surround this chapel we can if we know something of this living in the blaze of that Sun we can affect the tides of human hearts and of the community that's your responsibility That's why. Now we come to the star. And if the moon speaks of the church in her totality, and how she wanes with time, because of her getting away from the light of the sun, for the individual, the star. He made the star also. There are books almost libraries written about the star. and there are trillions of stars. You may say something more about that next week. Trillions of stars. That's something in them. They are writing books about the stars. But God sums up all the stars in all the universe. One has said that there are as many stars as there are sands on the seashore. And God said he took this sun and the moon, and they made the stars also. He sums them all up in five words. God can tell a lot of territory, can't it? A few words. Men write books and almost libraries about the stars. This star, that star, the other star. God sums them all up in five words. He made the stars open. Beyond his workmanship and under the moon streaks of the testimony of the church. Here you've got individual responsibility. God has a lot to say about the stars. And now you can see yourself as a star in God's firmament of grace. How wonderful. Stars of individuals. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness and will star forever and ever. There is the reward of the Christian, the soul winner. He that willeth souls is wise. And one star differeth from another star in glory. There are some pink and stars, and there are some bright ones. It will depend on how you shine here. how you shine there. One star is going to differ from another star in glory. Oh, there are going to be some wonderful Christians in heaven. Wonderful stars. And some of the brightest stars in glory are going to be some who never stood on a pulpit behind the pulpit or platform. Down in that little home was a crippled, twisted body, where hour after hour and day after day, week after week, the child of God is suffering. But anyone goes to see that child of God gets a word from the book. There's going to be a star that will shine bright there, because she shone bright here. Unnoticed, it may be. It's not the great creatures, the orators, that are going to shine the most up in heaven. No, friend. Those quiet, unnoticed, unheralded saints of God who are living Christ. One star differs from another star in growth. I wonder how you're going to shine in that coming day. As a star. Sweet. And I can mention this. We may go to it next week. He called them all by their name. Now that will stagger you. He knoweth the stars. He called them all by their name. Wednesday night we have quite a list of six saints. Some come to chapel, some go. And after they're all in. You don't know where to begin or end. But how wonderful to know the Lord knows every one of them. He knows their name. The Lord Jesus says, I know my sheep. I call them by name. In the night, you may think yourself forgotten obscure, but if you belong to Christ, he knows you, and he knows your name. And when you think of the trillions of stars out in space, and our mighty God and our lovely Lord knows every one, he knows them all by their name. that you're not forgotten. He knows the very city you live in. He said, I have much people in Corinth. He said, he knows the very streets you live on. Ananias was told to go down the street, call straight to see the apostle who had been blinded by a light from heaven. He knew where he lived. The street calls street. He knows the house you live in and your employment. Over in Acts ten. You know how Cornelius sent this man down to a house of one called Simon the Tanner. He knew his house. He knew his employment. He was a Tanner. He dealt in skins and leather. Then God knows all about you. He knows the stars, he calls them all by their names. There are fixed stars. Every time you go out to see them. It's nice to see Christians and they're fixed. They're stable. Every time the door is open, they're there. There are some and they're shooting stars. You know, you see the go across to heaven, maybe a leader. a little flash in their gulf. I like in the month of firecrackers. The stars, even the smallest, was made by God. But men can make firecrackers. Mine, they go up in the bang. And they come down black. Man-made conglomerate. Here they are, today, they're drawn from all. Get the little flash. Nice to see a Christian, a fixed star. There they twinkle, twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder where you are and what you are. Yes, and nice to be fixed. Not only you find wandering stars over in Jews, wandering stars who got out of orbit. No longer in the path that God put them in, they're away from the tug of the sun. And Jude speaks to these apostates of wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. There are those who have rejected God's way of salvation. They've got out of his orbit. That God had planned. They're not in it. and they're plunging on into everlasting darkness, into ever-deepening doom, wandering stars whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Are you a true star, saved by the grace of God? There you are a witness, a veiling witness like the stars in the moon. Our eyes have turned up for it on the fourth day. The sun, the moon, and the star. Christ says, ye are my witnesses. Are you a witness to the sun? The ESO day. Or are you a poor wandering star? You're not going home. You're a wandering star. Those stars up there, you are going home, every one of them. It's impossible for us with the natural eye to see all the stars. The day is coming and every Christian will see every child of God in heaven. Would that be wonderful when you see all the stars? Everybody. I wrote this down. I didn't write another book. I was just sitting last night thinking about this. And this is what I wrote down. The heavens indeed declare His glory, the glory of His created power, the glory of His greatness and His wisdom and His might, but not His love. God's creation does not reveal His love. It creates His workmanship. An artist may be able to paint a wonderful scene with a brush. He could be a wicked man at home. His handiwork doesn't reveal His character. God's creation does not reveal God's true character. If you want to see God's love, you've got to look at Calvary. If you see His creation, you see His wisdom and His power and His might as His orderliness. All the constellations in the universe, all the animals which ever live, all the flowers and fruit that ever grew, all the fishes that ever swam, all the gold and the silver that grew, gills and jinn that would ever mine, all the men in the world with all their wisdom, love, skill, as well as their power, to save a lost soul. In other words, all God's creation, can not wash away one sin, nor save one soul. Only one love, of only one man, who accomplished only one work, capable of washing away all sin, and saving all souls, that man was the Lord Jesus Christ, That work was accomplished at Calvary, and it takes deism to save souls. God was made flesh and brought them on. Deity became humanity, that humanity may become eternal, like the deist. What are you going to do with this one? For God sold out the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For our preachers standing in posts today, great orators talking about God's wonderful creation, they're not saying one thing, but of our God's Son, under precious blood, he said. I thought of him as in our book, Lisa singing a lot up in Canada, and he came in my mind last night. I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood. He fixed his languor eyes on me as near his cross, I stood. Sure never till my latest breath, and I forget that look. It seemed to charge me with his death, though not a word he spoke. My conscience felt... and owed my guilt and plunge me in despair. I saw my sins his blood had spilled and helped to nail him there. Alas, I do not know what I did, but now my tears are vain. Where shall my trembling soul be hid? For I the Lord have slayed. A second looked he gave, which said, I freely all forgive. This blood is for thy ransom paid. I die. But thou mayest live. This is the story of God's creation. Do you know the one who dwelt those stars, the moon, the sun, the sun of the living God? You have approached the sun in the heavens For a few thousand miles you've shrivel up. Lord Jesus Christ, with all that possible potential of fury at you, and fight with the land of poetry, we've come right up to you. We want to save you. We want to save you this morning. He has the power he's willing, he's ready. What about you? Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend for thy presence. We thank thee for our wonderful Savior, the Lord Jesus. And we trust that the Son this morning, who has yet known now, will come to him, to leave this place with light in their heart, an inner dwelling, and enjoying the work of the rage of the Son of God, who died of candor. Say so today that we ask in Jesus' name, Amen. Shall we sing in closing, three hundred and seventy-three, just as I am without one plea, for death thy blood was shed for me, that thou didst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. I said, don't sing, alas, Shemir. You say it, O Lamb of God, I come, and you both, you're singing alive in the presence of God. If you want to come, put your faith into your feet, I'll come up and tell us I've accepted Christ. more. Thank you.