The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light…- Isaiah 9:2

Now Christ is not only light, but great light; He reveals great things, He manifests great comforts, saves us from great sin and great wrath, and prepares us for great glory. He is, however, a Savior that must be seen…We must see the Savior with a glance of faith, then have we light. Let us consider how clearly Christ Jesus Himself is the light of every believing eye, and delivers the most troubled soul from its misery. In Him is light, and the light is the light of men. Jesus, personally, is the day-dawn and the morning without clouds…I am a sinner lost and ruined, but I rejoice, for Jesus has come to seek and to save that which was lost. My sins trouble me, but He shall save His people from their sins. Satan annoys me, but He has come to destroy the works of the devil. He is not a nominal, but a real, Savior. We know captains and colonels who have no troops, and never saw fighting, but not so the Captain of our salvation; He brings many sons unto glory. If a man is called a builder, we expect him to build; if a merchant, we expect him to trade; and as Jesus is a Savior, He will carry on His sacred business, He will save multitudes. Why, surely there is comfortable hope here. Do you not see the dawning in the name of Savior? Surely if He comes to save, and you need saving, there is a blessed suitability in you for one another. A prisoner at the bar is glad to meet one who is by profession an advocate; a ship out of its track welcomes a pilot; a traveler lost on the moors is delighted if he meets one who is by trade a guide; and so a sinner should rejoice at the bare mention of a Savior. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1010.cfm

Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. – Matthew 15:31

O sweet light, how precious art thou to blind eyes, when they are newly opened. You do not know what it is to be blind: thank God that you do not: there are some here, however, who painfully know what constant darkness is; it is a grievous privation: but when their eyes are opened, as they will be in another state, and they see that best of sights, the King in His beauty, how sweet will light be to them!

So, when the spiritual eye has long been dim, and we have mourned and wept for sin, but could not beheld a Savior, light is sweet beyond expression. And, because it is so sweet, there is a necessity within the enlightened soul to tell out the joyful news to others. When a man has deeply felt the evil of sin, and has at length obtained mercy, he cries with David, “Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.” John Bunyan’s impulse when he found the Savior was to tell the crows on the ploughed ground about it, and he lived to do better than talk to crows, for day by day, from generation to generation, his works proclaim the Friend of sinners, who leads them from the City of Destruction to the Celestial glory. Zealous saints are usually those who once were in great darkness; they see what grace has done for them, and for that very reason they feel an attachment to their dear Lord and Master, which they might never had felt if they had not once sat in the valley of the shadow of death. So, poor troubled ones, for these reasons, and fifty more I might bring if time did not fail me, there is hope for you. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1010.cfm

Come unto Me… – Matthew 11:28

…whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13

How precious is that word, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Is not that made for you, ye burdened and laboring sinners? What say you to that gracious word- “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them, I the God of Jacob will not forsake them?” Is there no light in that word of love- “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon?” Is there no music in this passage- “Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again; He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” I recollect when my soul was stayed for weeks on that one short word, “Whosoever calleth upon the Lord, shall be saved.” I knew I did call on His name, and therefore I hoped to see His salvation. Many have laid hold and rested themselves on this faithful saying, “Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.” He will receive any “him” or “her” in all the world that comes, be he or she ever so defiled. That also is a rich word, “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him (Jesus), seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” What a word was that of our Master when He commanded His disciples to preach the gospel to every creature, beginning at Jerusalem. They were to commence their labors amongst His murderers, amongst hypocritical Pharisees and proud Herodians; they were to begin where the devil reigned most supreme, and to present Christ to the worst sinners first. See you, then, that great sinners, so far from being excluded, are just those to whom the good news is to be first published. Be of good comfort, then, ye that sit in darkness: there are special promises for you. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1010.cfm

…and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. – Matthew 4:16

To souls enwrapt in gloom the gospel has come as a cheering and guiding light; and there are good reasons why it should be so. For, first, among such people the gospel has reaped very rich fruit. Among barbarous nations Christ has won great trophies. The poor Karens are wonders of grace, the cannibals of the South Sea Islands are miracles of mercy, and among the once enslaved Ethiopians there are warm and loving hearts which rejoice in Jesus’ name. In this city, I will venture to say, that no churches reflect more honor upon the Master’s name than those which have been gathered from among the destitute districts…God is glorified when the thief and the harlot are washed and cleansed and made obedient to the law of Christ. When those who are healed stand at the pastor’s side, even ribald tongues are silent, or are made to exclaim, “What hath God wrought?” The same is true of persons mentally depressed, who are despairing of themselves; many such have been converted. Some of us were brought very low before we found the Savior; lower we could not well have been: we were emptied like a dish that a man wipes and turns upside down; we had not even a drop of hope left in us; but we rejoice in Christ today, and we say to despairing souls, we are personal witnesses that Christ has saved such as you are, He has, in our case, caused light to shine on us who sat in darkness, and out of death’s cold shade into life’s full light He has brought us as prisoners of hope; and, therefore, He can do the same with you. Be of good courage, there is hope for you.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1010.cfm

The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up… – Matthew 4:15-16.

Full of love to the place where He had been brought up, our Lord had gone to Nazareth, and in the Synagogue He had preached the gladdest tidings; but, alas, the greatest of prophets and the Lord of prophets, received no honor in His own country. “He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” Expelled from the city by violence, the patient One turned His footsteps another way, yet, even when justly angry, love guided His footsteps. He must go, for the Nazarenes had proved themselves unworthy, but whither shall He go? He will go to the outcasts, to that part of His country which was most neglected, to that region where the population was mixed and degenerate so as to be called, not Galilee of the Jews, but Galilee of the Gentiles, where, because of distance from Jerusalem, little was known of the worship of the temple, where error was rampant, where men’s minds were enveloped in darkness, and their hearts in the gloom of death-shade. The loss of Nazareth shall be the gain of Galilee. Even His judgment upon a place is overruled in mercy, and even thus today there are some in this house who have often had Jesus preached to them from their very childhood, but until this hour they have refused obedience to the gospel’s command. What if He should now turn away from them; I pray He may not have done so already. Yet, in turning away from them, He will deal with others in mercy. As the casting away of the Jews was the salvation of the Gentiles, so the leaving of these privileged ones shall open a door of mercy and hope to those who have not enjoyed the privilege aforetime. To you who are not familiar with the gospel sound, to you who count yourselves more unworthy than the rest of mankind, to you desponding and despairing ones who write bitter things against yourselves, to you is the gospel sent. As aforetime, the Lord preached to Zabulon and Nephthalim, and the people who sat in darkness saw a great light, even so is He this day proclaimed among you.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1010.cfm