Nelson Mandela once said;
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us . . . And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”
What a powerful statement this is. See most Christians aren’t afraid of the dark but they ARE afraid of the light. We don’t want to stand out or be noticed but God made you to be noticed. By letting your light shine, you give permission to those around you to let their light shine.
Over the next few weeks I want to look at four things that I believe describe the believer as being the light of the world.
1. v14 The Believer’s character is light.
Christ said in John 8: 12"& in 9: 5 “I am the Light of the world" Jesus declared Himself to be The Light.
Here in verse 14 of Matthew 5, He says every believer is to be like Him by being the light of the world.
Again we see the word “Ye are "the light of the world" in the KJV.
And we remember from last week that this means “You ALL” or “all of you”
Every believer is to undergo a radical transformation. We are to become like Christ more and more.
And we are to reflect the light of Christ to a world lost in darkness.
2Cr 3:18 NIV - 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2Cr 4:6-7 NIV - 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Look at verse 7 from the NLT
7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. (When most people want store a great treasure, where do they keep it? In a bank vault or a safe… But Paul says that this great treasure that we have been given is stored in these fragile containers that we call our bodies. He goes on to say…) This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
The treasure, that is the light of Jesus Christ, is in this fragile body and this is all the proof needed to show the power, in me/you, comes from God and not from ourselves…
Light is and does several things.
1. Light is clear and pure. In other words light is clean, it’s right, it’s true.
We have a small diamond shaped window in our front door. During the winter months the sun shines through the glass in the evening. If you set back and look through the beam of light that comes through the glass you will see all sorts of dust swirling around. Is the light, coming through the glass dirty? No, the light is pure… it’s clean but it reveals the dust and dirt that can’t be seen by the naked eye…
Eph 5:8-9 NIV - 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)"
2. Light penetrates: It cuts through and eliminates darkness.
What happens when you turn the lights on in a dark room? The darkness goes away because the light penetrates and eliminates the darkness… When you receive Jesus Christ as Lord of your life He sends His Spirit to fill you and He is the Spirit of Light. When the Holy Spirit enters your life He illuminates the darkness that once filled you. He cuts through the darkness to reveal the dust and the dirt that needs to be eliminated from your life.
1Th 5:5 NIV - 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you have no need of the darkness. There is nothing for you in darkness anymore and it’s time to step out of the dark and begin walking in the Light.
3. Light enlarges a person's vision and knowledge of an area.
The more light you pour into the darkness the more you are able to see.
When Suzanne and I had the shop on Church St. there was an old street light mounted on the front of the building. My dad was afraid that I would robbed or worse because that old light only lit up a very small area. We had the power company install a new light on the pole, at the street. That light not only light up the front of the shop but the adjoining properties on both sides. I could actually see around the corners of the build, that was originally pitch black.
John 12:35 NIV - 35 Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going.
4. Light reveals. It opens up a whole new world, and it clears the way to the truth and the life.
John 14:6 NIV - 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
A world filled with darkness cannot see the Truth and the Life. It’s only when the Light penetrates the darkness can He be revealed. How will they see unless we shine the light?
5. Light guides. It leads you along the right path.
Psa 18:28 NLT - 28 You light a lamp for me. The LORD, my God, lights up my darkness.
Psa 27:1 NLT - 1 A psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation--so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?
**When you take a group of small children camping, there’s a monster behind every tree. But the monsters seem to disappear when you shine the light on the trees…
Psa 36:9 NLT - 9 For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.
Psa 119:105 NLT - 105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
The lamp isn’t designed to light the world, just the path. It reveal the next footstep…
John 12:46 NIV - 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. KEY WORD “STAY” If you believe in Jesus… if you’ve surrendered to His Lordship STOP LIVING IN THE DARK…
6. Light strips away the darkness.
John 3:19-20 NIV - 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed…
7. Light overpowers the chaos of a defeated world.
Phl 2:15 NIV - 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky"
When you learn to live in the light and to be the light… THEN you will shine among your friends and loved ones like stars in the night…
8. Light discriminates between the right way and the wrong way
When the Light of the world penetrates the darkness of your soul He will guide you and help you understand the right way from the wrong. It’s up to us to go the way He shows. Jesus said in;
John 8:12 NIV - 12 …"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
9. Light warns of dangers ahead that block a person's path.
Try walking through the woods, on a dark night, down a path you’ve never been on before. You can’t see the holes or the other dangers unless you shine a light on the path.
Eph 5:11-14 NIV - 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible--and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said: "Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
10. Light protects a person from stumbling, falling, and injuring himself.
Rom 13:12 NIV - 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Jesus said, "As long as He was in the world, He would be the light of the world"
Jesus is no longer in the world, bodily. His light is now IN the lives of believers. We are to be reflections of Him.
Your light, my light is only a reflective light. We have no light of our own to shine but we simply reflect the light of the Jesus.
The character of light is pure so the believer is to walk in purity.
Phl 2:15 NIV - 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky"
