Trinity Baptist Church

I Have Seen the Light

You are the Light of the World

Matthew 5:14-16
 

We’ve spent several weeks this Christmas season thinking about the light of Jesus Christ.  Far back in prophecy, the people of God were told that one day God would send a light to those who were walking in darkness.  For centuries, they anticipated His coming.

 

Then one day, roughly 2,000 years ago he showed up.  His name was Jesus Christ.  His birth announcement was decorated with the glory of God.  Strangers from a distant land made their way to worship Him by following a star in the sky.  And John said of those who were the closest to him, they “beheld His glory”. 

 

He was God in the flesh, the light and life of men.  In him was purity, constancy, vitality, victory and glory. 

And for those who are familiar with the life and ministry of Jesus, none of that is hard to receive or difficult to comprehend. 

 

In fact, everything about all of that is absolutely consistent with what we would expect to discover about God and His Messiah.  IT is right that He would be the subject of ancient prophecy.  It is right that the glory of God would surround His birth and lead worshippers to Him. 

 

This Savior is everything that God is poured into flesh and ministering on earth.  That’s just as it ought to be. 

 

But in Matthew 5:14-16 we find an astounding statement. 

 

Matthew 5:14-16

 

Notice that very first phrase. 

 

 

Is that not an unbelievable thing to hear?  I think that is one of the most astounding statements the Lord ever made.  Here He stands among this little group of disciples and says to them, and down through the centuries says to us and the rest of the church, “You are the light of the world”.

 

There was a time back in the eons of eternity when God looked across the black vastness of nothing and as His Spirit was hovering over the darkness, God said, “Let there be light”.  And God saw the light, that it was good. 

 

Then in Deuteronomy 26, God said to His own people, the Israelites, that He would set them high above the nations. 

 

Then Jesus shows up, and not only does John the Baptist prepare the way for this Light sent from God, and John identify Him as the Light and Life of men, Jesus Himself says, in John 9:5, “I am the Light of the world.”

 

But now we see, in verse 14, that it is to His followers and disciples that Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.”

 

Now that is significant, because as we’ve already seen in this series, the world is in absolute darkness. 

 

Everyone knows and loves John 3:16.  But the impact of the 16^th verse is seen in the following verses. 

 

Listen to verse 19

 

Darkness is one thing, but intentional darkness is quite another. It is one thing to be subject to darkness; it is another thing to choose to shelter underneath it.

 

But that is the cold hard fact of this world:  This world that we live in has chosen darkness rather than light!

 

They don’t have the light of intellectual truth, moral truth or spiritual truth.  And as the song writer said, “The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin” and Christ says to you and I, “You are the light of the world.  You are the luminaries, you are the guides, you will be the help of this world; you will be the ones who will deliver this world.”

 

In fact, Jesus says of us the very same thing He says of Himself.  He calls Himself the light of the world and He calls us the light of the world. He calls His disciples by the very same name He calls Himself!

Now I thought, surely it is a different word in the Greek that is translated “light” in the English.  That’s true of a lot of words and you have to look at the original to really get the meaning.  Maybe He is referenced as the true light and we are just reflectors or something like that, but that is not the case.

Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world and you are the light of the world and it means exactly the same. So what does that mean?  The key is found in looking at the entirety of the verse in John 9:5.  Jesus not only says, I am the Light of the world, but He beings that statement by saying, “As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world”. 

 

And knowing that He wouldn’t always be here physically, He says to the church, “And after I’m gone, you will be the light of the world.”  And what He is saying is, “I want you to be like me.”

 

Now, granted that is a pretty tall order.  In fact, if Christ had not called us the light of the world, and we called ourselves that, it would be the height of arrogance.  It would be the height of presumption to think that we could say: “We are the light of the world.”

 

But here is the Lord, seated out there on the hillside talking to his little group of disciples.  All around them there are multitudes of people who are in darkness, and He says to them:  You be a light to them.”

 

How can that be?  How can, even though we are the children of God, indwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit, ever be effective as the light of the world? 

 

Listen to how Donald Gray Barnhouse explained it.  He said: 'Christ was in the world, and when He was in the world He was the shining sun that is here in the day and is gone at night.

 

 

When the sun sets, the moon comes up, and the moon is a picture of the believer or the church, because the moon reflects the light of the sun! It doesn't shine with its own light, it shines with a reflected light.”

 

That’s the key to us being the light of the world.  We are called to reflect the light of Christ in the world.  And that has always been the call and responsibility of the church. 

 

In Philippians 2, Paul said: 'In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, you are to shine as lights. You are to be my light in a darkened world!'.

 

In Ephesians 5:8 Paul said: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”

 

Now I am a simple man with simple thoughts and it seems to me that if we are the light of the world, then we ought to do what light does. Does that make sense? 

 

For instance, light reveals things as they really are. If you don’t know where you are and how to get to where you are going and you are stranded in the dark, you need a light because once the light comes on,  it shows things as they really are.

 

Light awakens.  Just listen early in the morning as the first light of day breaks.  You will hear what light does as the birds begin to sing and humans begin to stir.  Nature awakens because light does that. 

 

Light is persistent. It goes into the deepest and the smallest little crevices all over nature, into the slightest crack, light will flood into the darkest place.

 

And in all those regards, we are to be light in this dark world.  We are to show things as they really are, we are to awaken the world, and we are to be persistent in doing it. 

 

Consider just one recent event as an illustration.  Everyone is in an uproar over Phil Robertson’s comments regarding homosexuality. But he just turned on the light and the light of God’s Word revealed how things really are and awakened all the responses that are being seen.  And I am quite confident he will be persistent and consistent in his convictions.   

 

But the Lord doesn’t stop by just identifying us as the light of the world.  Notice what He says next:

 

 

It's one thing to be a light, but you've got to let that light shine.

 

Notice what Jesus says about that in verse 14.

 

There is a subtle spiritual illustration built into the Lord’s statement. 

 

The Gentiles lived down in the valley.  They were the dogs. They had no thought of God.  They didn't seek after God.  They worshipped idols and they were pagans and idolaters and filthy sinners. That was life down in the valley.

 

The Israelites lived on the plain, if you will.  They were above the Gentiles.  They lived life on a higher level.  They had the God of Israel.  They followed the Ten Commandments.  They were the chosen people of God.

 

But notice what Jesus says about His followers, the church.  This is not life in the valley or on the plain.  They are to be a people set upon a hill.  Because of their relationship with Jesus, they have been elevated.  They are one with Him, justified by His righteousness, possessed by His Spirit.

 

Gentiles live outside the blessing of God.  Israel possesses earthly blessings in earthly places, but the Christian, the disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the recipient of spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

And the requirement of having been blessed is that in our words, in our actions, in everything we do and are publicly, we are to show ourselves to be a child of God!  Jesus says, “If you want to be My child you must let your light shine, you must be like a city set on a hill, you must be like a lamp on a lampstand giving light to all of the house.”

 

Now, in the illustrations that the Lord gives that we must let our light shine, there are four things that become apparent about being the light of the wolrd.

 

The first is this:

 

 

Notice the two illustrations He gives in verses 14 and 15. First, He talks about a city set on a hill for all to see.  Then He talks about a lamp set up upon a lamp stand.

Now you know that there is no way, at all, to obscure a city on top of a hill.  I wonder if there wasn’t a city in sight as Jesus spoke the words.   

 

And the obvious point is, you can't hide it.  The lights of a city on a hill will always be visible. 

 

The same is true of a lamp in a dark house, and by the way, the houses of Palestine in the first century would have been dark at night.  They had no electricity, often they had no windows.  There was no artificial light in the city streets.  No night lights or street lights to help. 

 

Generally, all they had was a little lamp kind of like a saucer filled with oil, and a wick floating in it. Normally they put that lamp in a high place, so that it had the greatest effect in being available to all the house.  And in both cases, what the Lord is saying is the primary duty of light is to be seen. 

 

As one writer says, “There can be no such thing as secret discipleship for either the secrecy destroys the discipleship or the discipleship destroys the secrecy.”

 

But perhaps the illustration is a little more specific than that. I think He is saying to His followers that we are to shine

 

 

I think He's talking about the influence of a church in a city. I think He's talking about God's people as they gather themselves together in a church; a city that is set on a hill. A church is to be a testimony for Jesus in its community.

 

That's why Trinity Baptist Church is here. God wants us to be a light for Ardmore as a group of born-again believers. I know there are other churches in this city who are to be the light for Jesus, but I happen to be the pastor of this one. We're to be a conspicuous, continuous, consistent light for Jesus Christ right here in our city.  After all, if churches don't shine for Jesus and stand for Jesus in a city, who is going to?

 

I believe in God's people getting together collectively. There's power when God's people put their lights together. There is tremendous impact and influence when a church is a light for Jesus Christ.  That ought to be the testimony of our church in this town. We ought to be shining for Jesus all the time.

Let your light shine collectively, like a city on a hill.

And that’s the lesson to the disciples.  You have got to be visible as the church. 

 

Secondly, we are to shine

 

 

verse 15

 

Collectively, we're to shine for Jesus on the hill. Now He's saying that the light is to shine in the house. Now he’s talking about our individual responsibility to be light. Your light for Jesus is to shine right where you are.

 

The most obvious application is the home.  He talks about the light shining in the house. 

 

 

For some of you kids and teens, you may be the only believer in your home. You may have parents who have never received Jesus as their personal Savior and you are the only light for Jesus in your home. Some of you wives or husbands may be the only light for Jesus in your home.

 

What Jesus wants you to do is shine for him. Your home is where God wants you to shine!

 

It might be at work.  From time to time, I have folks who say, "Pray for me that I'll get another job." I say, "Okay, why do you want another job?" They'll say something like this, "I'm in the most Godless office you ever saw. I am the only Christian in my office. Everybody there is lost but me. I am the only child of God on my job and it's tough. It's a dark place on my job."

 

Here's what you need to remember:  "It may just be that the Lord doesn't want you to have another job. It may be that the reason the Lord has put you in such a dark place is because He wants some light to shine in the darkness of your workplace." You may be the only hope for some of those lost people in that office right there. So quit whining and start shining!

 

He says, “Be visible, both collectively and individually.”

 

Not only does light reveal the way things really are, and not only must light be visible, but light must be

 

- Light must be effective

 

Verses 14-16

Luke records it as, “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a secret place.  You put it so people can see it when they come in.”  It's got to be put in a place where it can affect other people.  And the realm of our influence, according to verse 14 is the world. 

 

Now here’s what I think we are being taught by the Lord.  As we’ve already seen there is a collective application and there is an individual application and the only way the light of a city set on a hill can’t be seen is when the individual lights that make up the city are hidden. 

 

If the individual lights are hidden, then there is no collective light to shine.  Therefore, as verse 16 instructs us, we are to let our light shine.  When we do, the city set on a hill is seen. 

 

So how is it that our individual lights are hidden?  One little girl heard a sermon on this text about letting your light shine.

Later she got in trouble for something and when she was asked about what she had done and shy her light wasn’t shining, she said, “I think I blowed myself out!”  What causes our light to not shine as it ought to?

 

Sometimes it’s because there is no light to shine. (burned out) 

 

Even though we are in church and good moral people and everything looks right, there is no light in the bulb because Jesus is not in our life.  The solution to that problem is salvation. 

 

 

 

I heard a story about a young man who became a Christian. He went off to a summer lumber camp to work. His pastor became concerned about him because he knew it would be a difficult situation where he could be a light for the Lord. After the summer was over and the boy returned, the pastor said, "Son I want you to know I knew you'd just been saved and that it would be difficult for you so I prayed for you while you were working this summer. I was praying that they wouldn't make it too hard on

you." The young man said, "Oh, no, preacher, I didn't have it hard in the lumber camp. In fact, none of them ever found out that I was a Christian."

 

God forgive us for those times when know one knows we belong to God.

 

Sometimes the thing obscuring the light is inconsistency.  (flash bulb)

 

They burned brightly for a little while, but unfortunately, their testimony is they went up like a rocket and came down like a rock.  Much like Jesus parable of the seed that sprang up quickly, then was choked by the cares of the world, this bulb flashed, then went out.  Every appearance they provided was they would burn brightly, but now they live in a world of darkness, and once again the real need is salvation.   

 

 

 

 

Sometimes we lose our effectiveness as light because of our inconsistency.  (flashing bulb)

 

 Have you ever known anyone who was inconsistent in their relationship with the Lord to have an effective witness to the world?  Their words mean nothing because their life and actions drown out the witness.  And just like this bulb, they are off and on, sometimes burning brightly, other times dark as the world.

 

They can’t be counted on to teach a Sunday School class or hold a responsibility because they are always flashing.  Their tithe can’t be counted on to support the budget because it’s sometimes given and sometimes used for something else.

 

Sometimes, it is the light is too dim.  (5 watt)

 

This is the person who only shines on Sunday morning.  They put a little offering in the plate or envelope, show up for Sunday School and maybe morning worship and that’s about it.  They’ve got a little bit of light, but it’s really just enough for them to get to heaven.  There isn’t anything to share with anyone else. 

 

 

 So how do we do it?  How do we maintain a consistent witness in the dark world?  How do we make certain we burn brightly individually so the church doesn’t lose its influence, collectively?

 

 

I heard about a man who was going on a camping trip and he had bought some matches to take on the trip so he could start a fire.  He picked this particular type of matches because the box said it glowed in the dark, making it easy to find at the campsite.  When he started looking for the matches, he couldn’t find the matchbox because it didn't glow in the dark at all. So he got his flashlight, located the matchbox, and noticed some writing on the side that said, “'If you want me to shine in the night, keep me in the light.”

 

That is great counsel for the person who wants to make sure they are letting their light shine for the Lord.  If you ever intend to shine in the night, you must stay in the light. 

 

I mentioned earlier the type of lamps they used in those early Israelite homes. They were bowl type containers with a wick and some oil. You lit the wick and the oil fueled the wick.

 

When Jesus says to put your light on a lamp stand, that’s the picture He’s giving.  You've got to have some oil in the lamp and you've got to have a wick in the lamp if your light is going to shine. There is this vital connection between us and God that is made possible through the oil of the Holy Spirit.  He is what allows us to shine for Jesus.

 

Now understand what that means.  The picture Jesus provides means light could not shine unless the oil was present and the wick was consumed.  As the wick, which pictures us was saturated with the oil, it was consumed as light was provided. 

 

There are two testimonies of John the Baptist that help us see what that means.  Jesus said of John the Baptist in John 5:35 that he was a burning and shining lamp.  And no doubt that was true.  He was a man on fire for God.  But why was that true of him.  The answer is provided in his testimony of himself.  He said, speaking of Jesus, “He must increase; I must decrease.”

 

No doubt John the Baptist was a burning and shining lamp, but it was only because the wick of his humanity was saturated with the presence and power of God. 

And in like manner, if we are going to shine for Jesus everyday of our lives, it is as we die to ourselves and are filled with the Spirit that we shine for the Lord Jesus. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world, and you must let you r light shine.”  But why?

 

What is

 

 

verse 16

 

That word “good works” means attractive things, things that don't repel people, but things that attract people to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are being good, not in a theatrical, hypocritical way, not to impress people or to win friends, but you are being good for God, it will glorify God!

 

Think about it this way:  The light that Jesus described here is utilitarian, not decorative.  A lot of Christians want to be decorative lights.  They want to shine so they can be noticed.  They like to be bragged on and recognized. 

They want people to say, “My! What a fine light that is!”  But that is never the purpose for the light of God.

 

The purpose of this light is never to draw attention to itself, but to something else.  The purpose of a Christian's life is not to call attention to ourselves but to call attention to the Heavenly Father.  Dr.  Alexander MacLaren said, “Candles are not lit to be looked at, but that something else might be seen.”

 

God placed His light in you, and designed you for good works, not because he wanted to draw attention to you for your glory, but to Him for His glory.

 

When you and I let our light shine for Jesus Christ, we do not call attention to ourselves but to the one who makes it possible to live that kind of life. It will give people a desire to know that kind of Heavenly Father.  Ultimately, it’s all about Him, not about us. 

 

Let your light shine! Be a light for Jesus and men will glorify the Heavenly Father and many of them will come to the light!

 

Several centuries ago in a mountain village in Europe, a wealthy nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. He made a good decision. He decided to build them a church. No one was permitted to see the plans or the inside of the church until it was finished. At its grand opening, the people gathered and marveled at the beauty of the new church. Everything had been thought of and included. It was a masterpiece.

 

But then someone said, "Wait a minute! Where are the lamps? It is really quite dark in here. How will the church be lighted?" The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls, and then he gave each family a lamp, which they were to bring with them each time they came to worship.

 

"Each time you are here," the nobleman said, "the place where you are seated will be lighted. Each time you are not here, that place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to come to church, some part of God's house will be dark!"

Down through the centuries, the light of God has continued to shine in a dark world.  In fact, everywhere there is something good and noble and helpful it is because God’s light has already been there. 

 

Every hospital, every humanitarian cause, every stand against evil and sin, every contribution to that which is holy and right, every sermon that points people to Jesus, every gospel witness that is shared, it’s all because someone somewhere took seriously this call to be the light of the world. May God help us to let God's light shine through us in this generation. 

 

This little light of mine.

I'm gonna let it shine.

This little light of mine.

I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Put in under a bushel?

No! I'm gonna let it shine!

 

Let it shine 'til Jesus comes.

I'm gonna let it shine!

 

Let’s pray.