THE CHURCH – A LIGHTHOUSE
This will be our final message in this series on the church.
(Mark 16:15 NKJV) And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
(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.
I have had many supporting churches, as a missionary, that the word “lighthouse” was a part of their name.
The Bible makes it very clear that we as a church body are to be a lighthouse to the world.
LIGHT SHINES
LIGHT IS REFLECTED
LIGHT ACTS AS A WARNING
· LIGHT SHINES
Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he want to call on his best girl. “Why,” he exclaimed, “when I went a-courtin, I never carried one of them things, I always went in the dark.” “Yes,” said the hired many wryly, “and look at what you got!”
Why did this guy carry a light? He wanted to be able to see in the darkness.
The job of light is to illuminate the darkness. Light is proactive. It dispels darkness. Darkness is the absence of light, but light is not the absence of darkness. Light can penetrate and dispel darkness, but darkness cannot overcome light.
(John 9:5 NKJV) "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
(Mat 5:14 NKJV) "You are the light of the world..."
The Bible makes it clear that the lost world lives in darkness. It is our job to shine into that world.
Paul said:
(Acts 13:47 NKJV) "For so the Lord has commanded us: ’I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’"
If we fail to shine, people will perish.
(2 Cor 4:3-4 NKJV) But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, {4} whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Have you ever been in a cave and seen blind salamanders or seen blind cave animals in a book?
Why are they blind? Because, they live in darkness.
If they lived in a lighted world, they wouldn’t be blind.
Now, we can’t make a blind salamander see, but we can lift the veil of blindness from a lost person with the Gospel.
Do some of you like to fish? How about fishing at night? What does that have to do with light?
(Mark 1:17 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
Why do people build a fire or set up a light when fishing at night? Light attracts fish, and we are to be fishers of men.
We all need to get involved in night fishing.
THE LIGHT THAT SHINES FARTHEST, SHINES BRIGHTEST AT HOME.
We will only be as effective as our light shines.
· LIGHT IS REFLECTED
Has anyone here seen the light of the moon? No you haven’t; you have seen the light of the sun reflected off of the moon.
That is how it works with us. Our light is essentially the light of Jesus in us.
(John 1:6-12 NKJV) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. {7} This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. {8} He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. {9} That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. {10} He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. {11} He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. {12} But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
WAS SENT FROM GOD v.6
WAS NOT THAT LIGHT v.8
WAS A WITNESS OF THAT LIGHT v.8
(2 Cor 3:18 NLT) And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.
Our witness will only be as affective as the degree to which we reflect the image of Jesus.
· LIGHT WARNS
(John 3:16-19 NKJV) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. {17} "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. {18} "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. {19} "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Condemnation: Gr. krisis, where we get the English work crisis.
If you are in darkness, you are in a crisis. If you die in that state, you are in a worse crisis.
There is no greater crisis for a person than to be lost.
There is an old old story of a lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline and who received his new supply of oil once a month to keep the light burning. Not being far from shore, he had frequent guests. One night a woman from the village begged some oil to keep her family warm. Another time a father asked for some to use in his lamp. Another needed some to lubricate a wheel. Since all the requests seemed legitimate, the lighthouse keeper tried to please everyone and granted them all.
Toward the end of the month he noticed that the supply of oil was very low. Soon, it was gone, and the beacon light went out. That night several ships were wrecked and lives were lost.
When the authorities investigated, the man was very repentant. To his excuses and pleading their reply was: “You were given the oil for one purpose – to keep that light burning.”
We as a church body are a lighthouse. All around us are lost people. Their lives are in crisis, because they are lost. We must be a light to bring them to Jesus.
Some people change their ways when they see the light; others only when they feel the heat.
