Heat And Light

HEAT AND LIGHT

By Pastor Jim May

Scriptures used: Mark 8:22-25; Matthew 4:16; Luke 1:79; 1 Peter 2:9; John 3:19-21; Ephesians 5:13; 1 John 1:7

Some years ago I spent a little time as a motivational speaker in the world of business. On a number of occasions I was also a part of a stage crew for other motivational speakers. One of the hardest things to get used to in those situations, besides standing before some large audiences, is the fact that you can only see a few people in the crowd because of the bright lights that are glaring in your eyes.

If you have ever been involved in stage productions of any kind you will know what I mean. The focus of the whole arena or auditorium must be centered upon the stage area in general and on the speakers or performers specifically so that everyone in the crowd will be drawn to that point. The larger the stage, the more light that is needed, and the more light that is directed at the stage, the more heat they will generate.

If you’ve ever been in a situation where the auditorium is warm, just remember that it’s always much warmer on the stage. And that counts for the platform in the church as well.

God has foreordained that whatever produced light would also produce heat. Why? To give you a very simplified answer, reactions that produce heat will cause a release of energy that is often transformed into a light. Brighter intensity also means more heat!

To give you a few examples:

Pick up a string of 7 volt Christmas lights and hold them in your hand while they are burning. While they may be hot, or at least warm, you can usually hold them for a few minutes before they will burn too much. But, if you pick up a 100 watt bulb that is burning, you won’t hold it but a split second before it will leave a mark. There are some projector bulbs that will burn as high as 800 degrees and more. Of course, the ultimate source of natural light, the sun, burns at a temperature that has been estimated at 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface and 27,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit near its center.

Now, what does all this have to do this sermon? The fact is, that what God has ordained for natural light, also applies for spiritual light.

When we are first born again by the Spirit of God and the Blood of Jesus, we suddenly begin to understand the things of God just a little more. As time goes on, the Word of God – “that lamp unto our feet and light unto our path” – begins to reveal more and more of who God is, what God is, and what God expects of us if we are to serve him as profitable servants in the Kingdom of God.

At first we only know that we are saved and that God has somehow, miraculously, washed our sin away and given us a new heart that desires to serve Him. The old man has passed away and all things are brand new – we have a new lease on life. But as we mature in our walk with Christ and we learn more about Him, we begin to realize more and more, the shortcomings that are evident in our own life.

In other words, as we are given more and more light, more and more revelation, of who Jesus is and what His Word has to say to us, then we can also sense the intensity of the heat of conviction that the Holy Ghost puts upon us to help us conform and be transformed into the image of Christ that we see in His Word.

I am convinced that a large part of the Christian world today has ceased to see more of the “light of the gospel”. It’s as though they have seen all they want to see and they don’t care to know any more than they know right now.

I am reminded of the scripture in Mark 8:22-25 where Jesus touches the blind man, "And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly."

The blind man received some “light” in his eyes that were only filled with darkness before. I’m sure that the blind man was excited and happy about just being able to see light and to see that there was a world out there, but he needed much more than just a blurred vision. He needed to see clearly, and that required a second touch from the hand of the Lord. That second touch gave him more light so that he could see clearly.