From Darkness into Light: Christ's Liberation of the Captive Soul

Isaiah 49:9 declares: "That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth." When Jesus Christ comes to the soul, He delivers us from the direst of all bondages—the slavery of the spirit, the captivity of the heart. To those imprisoned both in darkness and in chains, the Lord Jesus speaks: "Show yourselves; rise, and come out of the darkness; hide away no longer, come forth into the light, and enjoy it."

Consider the characters mentioned in this text: "them that are in darkness." They were not always thus confined. A bright young spirit once knew joy; a youth seemed everything that mirth could make. But suddenly a cloud descended. Perhaps death visited the family, or sickness came. The mind grew strangely quiet; a stillness fell upon the spirit; gloom settled over the whole being. The awakened conscience cried: "I have not lived as I ought. God made me, yet I have never truly served Him. He is my mother's God, but I have forgotten Him." The soul felt plastic as wax toward evil, yet hard as cast-iron toward anything good.

This darkness carries four marks: a sense of sin has settled upon you; conviction deepens the gloom; you possess no hope; you fear future and eternal night. It is precisely to people in such a state that the Gospel of Christ is sent. The exhortation rings clear: "Show yourselves." Cease running from Divine justice. You are not hidden—Elohim sees you wherever you are. Your wisest course is to submit yourself to God and step into His liberating light.