Perth
5/07/06
“Do you glow in the dark?”
Intro: *** My wife & I were at the Perth Zoo w/ Ps Koli Raiwalui & his wife while they were in Perth for our conference. While we were at the zoo we went through the nocturnal section. This is a section of the zoo that they keep dark for animals & wildlife that only comes out at night. While we were walking through this section I came across a glass case which had a large scorpion in it. While I was looking at this scorpion the light in the case suddenly went very dull & something very strange happened …. the scorpion began to glow in the relative darkness of the glass cabinet! At first I didn’t u/s until I read the information printed on the front of the tank where it explained that scorpions glow in the relative darkness of ultra violet light….. what has often been referred to as black light. Here’s an interesting thought, one of God’s creatures that glows in the dark!!!
How about you …… are you one of his creations that glows in the dark?
B/c as Christians that’s exactly what we have been created & called to do ……. Glow in the midst of the darkness of this world in which we live.
T.B.S. that we are to be light bearers in a sin darkened world.
(Eph 5:8 NKJV) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Basically what the Bible is saying is that if you are a Christian …. You need to be glowing in the dark!
T/n I want to preach a sermon I’ve called “Do you glow in the dark?”
Text: (Mat 5:14-16 NKJV) "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. {15} "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. {16} "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
(Mat 5:16 TLB) Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father.
# 1. The atmosphere of darkness.
A. Every believer is called to live & serve God in an atmosphere of spiritual darkness.
a. The Bible’s clear pict is the real battle in this world between light & darkness.
i. The N/T is filled w/ Scriptures regarding the ongoing struggle between light & darkness.
ii. Firstly we are told that believers have been rescued out of the darkness.
(Col 1:13 NKJV) He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
iii. And b/c of this rescue mission of deliverance from darkness the W. of G. declares …….
(1 Th 5:5 NKJV) You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
iv. Jesus himself proclaimed ……
(John 12:46 NKJV) "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
v. As a Christian you are living a life where God’s light guides you every step of the way.
(Psa 119:105 NKJV) Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
b. You are either a child of the light or you’re a child of the darkness.
i. You are either living your life as an enlightened child of God in obedience to Jesus Christ or you are living in darkness & rebellion against God.
ii. Here’s what the Bible has to say about the life of light & the life of darkness …..
1 John 1:6 - 7 (NKJV) 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
c. Like I’ve already stated Christians are involved in an ongoing struggle between light & darkness.
i. Paul describe this struggle w/ these words when he writes …
(Eph 6:12 NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, ….
ii. And so we are urged to live / walk in the light lest darkness should overtake us.
(John 12:35 NKJV) ……..Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
d. And here’s where we get down to the heart of what Jesus is saying in our text.
i. As this struggle continues you are called to shine your light into an atmosphere of darkness, Jesus clearly states our mission when he says …..
Vs 14. "You are the light of the world.
*** When I was in Samoa I visited the home of the famous author Robert Louis Stevenson who was buried on a mountain overlooking the capital of Apia. One night in Scotland where he grew up, just b/4 young Robert got into bed he was peering out through the window of his upstairs bedroom. He was watching a man out in the street who was lighting the gas street lamps for the evening. As he peered intently out through his window his mother asked him “Robert, what are you doing?” He said to his mother “I’m watching the man outside poking holes in the darkness!”
To the Young Louis Stevenson it seemed to him that the man lighting the gas lamps in the darkened streets was poking holes in the darkness.
ii. The calling of Christians in a sin darkened world is…… poking holes in the darkness!
iii. Ask yourself the question ……… are you glowing in the dark?
iv. Your mission, should you accept it, is to shine & dispel the darkness so that men might see the light of the gospel & be saved.
*** On that same trip, while in Samoa, I was sitting in Apia Airport talking to two men. The conversation swung around to churches & as I listened the regular accusations brought against churches were all tabled. I sat in silence nodding with a smile w/ one of those understanding nods. I was about to say something & then one of the men was called to his flight – bummer! But the other victim was on my flight so he couldn’t escape!!! Finally the tirade on churches wound down & the man asked me what I did for a job. I answered – I’m a preacher! The red faced man feeling somewhat foolish was now in a position where he had to afford me the opportunity of telling the other side of the story. I began by saying that I understood his ignorance but I didn’t agree w/ it. I then spent about the next 30 minutes glowing all over him as I opened his eyes to the wonderful truth of how he could have a personal relationship w/ Jesus Christ.
B. What happens to you when you are in the darkness?
a. Most of us are very adept at shining while we are in the light!
i. Sunday morning service isn’t the best place / time to check how brightly God’s people shine.
** Wm Barclay once said “Jesus did not say you are the light of the church, he said, you are the light of the world.”
ii. The real test for how well we shine in the darkness…… is when we’re in the darkness.
Vs 14-15. "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. {15} "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
iii. The trouble w/ some Christians is that instead of shining in the darkness they blend into it!!!
*** Charles Swindoll tells the story of running into one of his parishioners in a hospital corridor while the parishioner had a lighted cigarette. The man’s wife was in hospital & Chuck Swindoll was making a pastoral visit. As he was approaching the lady’s room the woman’s husband was making his exit from the room. On the way out he lit up a cigarette & then he immediately noticed Pastor Charles Swindoll walking towards him from the other end of the corridor. Swindoll smiled & waved at the man who nervously waved back. He was at a loss though as to how to hide his cigarette, so he slid his hand inside his pants pocket. Charles Swindoll tells the story. “I pretended not to notice & I engaged him in a lengthy conversation. It became hilarious. The more we talked the shorter that cigarette got in his hand & the more he looked like a chimney. There was smoke swirling out of his pants pocket & curling up behind his coat collar. Unable to restrain myself any longer I asked the man why he didn’t just go ahead & finish his cigarette. Would you believe it, he denied even having a cigarette! W/i seconds he dashed off to the elevator & fled, which is probably good. Had we have talked much longer the poor man might have b/co a living sacrifice!”
iv. What a tragedy when the lost lose there way in darkness b/c we’ve lost our glow!
(Mat 6:23 NKJV) ...If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
v. If the darkness of this age has begun to overcome you ….. you better do something about casting it off.
(Rom 13:12 NKJV) . let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
# 2. Another light source.
A. To glow in the dark you’re going to need another light source shining into your life.
a. You don’t have in yourself / of yourself what is needed to make you glow in the dark.
*** As I pointed out earlier while watching this scorpion in the glass tank, the tank went quite dark. What had happened is that the tank had been lighted up w/ an ultra violet light. Another light source had been turned on & it was this other light source that was causing the scorpion to glow in the dark. The scorpion was simply reflecting another light source! But there was something in the scorpion that caused it to respond to & reflect the light.
i. If you are going to glow in the spiritual darkness of this world you’re going to need another light source to shine into your life.
ii. T.B.S. speaks about this light source when it says in …….
(2 Cor 4:6-7 NKJV) For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. {7} But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
iii. The idea of glowing in the dark is so that we might reflect the God we represent here on earth.
B. This light only shines into your life by spending time in the presence of God.
a. Your glow depends upon how much time you spend under the light.
i. Listen to what the enemies of the disciples said about them in Acts.
Acts 4:13 (NKJV) 13Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
ii. The glow coming from these disciples was evident even to their enemies …. They couldn’t help notice that they had been in the light.
b. Think about Moses as he is in the presence of God …… something amazing happens to him.
i. He’s on Mt Sinai for 40 days …… in this time solely in the presence of God.
(Exo 34:28-29 NKJV) So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; …{29} Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai …..that the skin of his face shone…
ii. Moses, is in the presence of another light source, the light of the whole world & he himself begins to glow!
c. If you’re not a Christian, think about this ….. the things that our lives are coming into contact w/ are either brightening or darking your life!
i. Maybe you don’t know Christ & you are finding your life is b/co darker & darker.
ii. Your experience in life is that the longer you live the less light there seems to live by!
iii. If this is the case w/ you then answer is simple you need to come into the light of all the world, Jesus Christ & allow Him to be the light of your life.
d. It’s by being in the presence of God that our lives both begin & continue to glow.
i. We don’t have in ourselves what is needed to make us glow …… it’s God’s light, not yours that makes you glow in the dark!!!
*** A pastor went to visit a man who had been absent from church for some time. When the pastor arrived at the house of his wayward parishioner he found him sitting by a fire of glowing coals. The man fully expected his pastor to rebuke him for his tardy attendance at services. But instead the pastor drew up a chair alongside the fireplace where the man was sitting just peering into the fire. W/ the tongs the pastor reached into the fire & took one of the red hot glowing coals & placed it by itself out on the hearth. W/I no time at all the coal began to lose its glow until in a few minutes it was black. The man looked up into the face of his pastor who hadn’t said a word & he said “I’ll be there next Sunday.”
ii. Don’t expect to glow if you’re not spending time in the light source.
iii. It’s not a surprise when you don’t spend time w/ God that you’re having lighting problems.
# 3. Glowing in the dark.
A. God calls you to glow where you can be seen!
a. Here’s what Jesus is challenging every Christian w/ ….. are you making a difference in the darkness?
Vs 16. "Let your light so shine before men,……
i. Jesus is dealing w/ your profile in this world ….. is your light in a place where it’s shinning is making a difference to others?
ii. Are the people in your work place / neighbourhood / school / family / circle of acquaintances seeing your light?
** Someone has said “There can be no such thing as secret discipleship for either the secrecy destroys the discipleship or the discipleship destroys the secrecy.”
Vs 14. "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
iii. All your shinning does no good unless it can be seen!
Vs 15. "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
*** Paul in South Perth, went to check out a ute he had for sale & got talking about his problems. He was as rough as they come …… his vocabulary interspersed w/ liberal doses of colourful language which I had to ask him to tone down in front of my wife. He was recovering from some serious back / brain problems. As I listened to him it was tempting to hide my light under a bushel but I told him I was a preacher & gave him some testimonies of people I’d seen healed recently & asked him if he would allow me to pray w/ him. He was shocked, I’m sure, but willingly agreed to have me pray & also prayed a sinner’s prayer w/ me. I prayed for him & asked God to take away the constant pain he’d been suffering. When I finished praying for him on the street verge I asked him how he felt. He looked at me w/ wide eyes of disbelief & told me he felt great! That’s the reason why God doesn’t want us hiding our lights under a basket!
** Guy H. King once rightly stated that “The darkest places need the brightest light.”
b. Maybe you’re here as an unbeliever …… God has made his light as obvious to you as a city on top of a hill.
Vs 14. "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
i. It’s now up to you whether you accept / embrace that truth or turn away to the darkness.
ii. W/o Jesus Christ you’re lost in the dark & you can’t find your way ….. every step you take is a hopeful guess in the right direction.
(John 12:35 NKJV) ……. he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
iii. Jesus is here shinning his light into your heart & mind – embrace the light of the gospel now!
B. Is it in your nature?
a. If the light is in you …. if it’s your very nature you can’t help but glow.
*** In the garden at the front of our house I noticed a small plant one day that had started to grow. As I continued to observe it I noticed that it was a seedling that had sprung up from a maple tree that was growing in the yard of the house next to us. As the weeks rolled by our little tree, only a few inches / cms tall began to grow leaves. The leaves took the same shape, colour as the tree next door. But then winter came & w/ the advance of winter & the cold weather the leaves on the tree next door began to change colour – yellow / purple / red & then finally fell off. W/o hesitation the same thing happened on our little tree …. The leaves first turned yellow / purple / red & then fell to the ground. As I observed this it struck me that all this happened at the same time & in the same way b/c it is in the very nature of the tree to do this.
i. If heaven’s light has shone into your heart & saved you it’s your nature to shine!
C. The purpose of shinning is for God to be seen – not you!
a. Glowing in the dark is all about men seeing God!
*** Sometimes after I’ve been away for a while my wife will make a wonderful meal & set the table with candles. I’ll come out into the dinning room to find it lit up by candles .... a soft light that makes it even harder to see what I’m eating. But the reason she turns off the lights & lights the candles is to create atmosphere!!! In the same sense the reason why God has lit up our lives with His light is so that our lives will create an atmosphere where he can be seen!
Vs 16. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father in heaven.
i. And if we have any power at all it is this … that our lives reflect the God who has shone his light in us.
