Mat 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Mat 5:15 Nor do men light a lamp and put it under the grain-measure, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.
It’s very easy when we live in such a dark world to sometimes forget that we are the light. We forget that as God’s people we have been set aside. We have a great gift in that by accepting Jesus the living Christ as our saviour we no longer walk in darkness but we walk as light. It’s by our light, that others see, in us, the glory of God.
Jesus calls us the lights of the world, he tells us to shine. How else is the world to realise the love that God has for them if it is not through us. We are the fruits of Jesus’s sacrifice. How are those in darkness going to discover the joy, happiness and peace that can be found in Jesus if they do not see it in us.
By becoming lights in a dark world we become noticeable, conspicuous. Our love for others in a world full of hate, our peace in a hectic and confused world, our selflessness in a world stricken with selfish ambition. Our joy and happiness in a world full of hurt and aggression. These things shine out as a light. And like the city set on a hill, it can not be hidden. Because light shines out in darkness, others look to us, some with admiration, commendation and joy, they start to seek what we have, they start to crave the light that has been given to us. They want to imitate what we have in our lives and they too come to salvation. Others will look on us, some with hate and loathing, some will envy us and some will watch us in order to bring us down.
It’s our light that ensures that Jesus remains alive today. We are His body, his love, His people. If we do not shine, if people see in us the same darkness that they see in others, then we are failing in our responsibilities as Christians. We are also failing to grow, to become more like the Light of God. We, as Christians, need to strive to change, to always have our eye on how Jesus would want us to live. We will on occasions fail, but Jesus will always be there to pick us up and relight the light in us. But we must always be striving, willing to change to become more like the person we are destined to be.
Can we go to 1 John...
1Jo 1:5 And this is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
1Jo 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
1Jo 1:7 But 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.
It’s easy to be light in church on a Sunday, there’s no darkness to quench our flame. But God does not look to those who can be light amongst lights. God looks to those who become lights in darkness. He looks for those who can take the light in the world that has lost it’s way, He looks for those who can become beacons for his lost sheep. God is looking for those who will step out and make a difference to those without hope, without revelation, He is looking for those who can reflect His grace, mercy and love in their own lives to others.
Too often as Christians we bring the darkness into light, we bring the world into the church. We bring into church, pride, selfishness, jealousy, when we should be bringing in love, tolerance and joy. We should take light out into darkness, we need to take the church out into the world.
When we come to people with troubles, when we come to people with needs, when we come to people who are looking for answers, the answer should not be come to church. The answer should be the church is here, it stands before you. It is you, followers of Christ that are the church. It is not the building that we meet in. When someone comes to you with a problem, they are coming to the church; they are being attracted to the light that you are. Stop hiding your blessings, stop clinging on to them. You have been blessed by the one living God, now start to bless others so that the light may shine.
When we were created, God breathed life into Adam, He breathed into him the breath of life. It was only in man that He breathed the breath of life. As He breathed in us, He set us apart from the other animals that He created. He created us to be in His image. He created us to be light in the world and He breathed that light into us.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.
Joh 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
And again in proverbs we read
Pro 20:27 The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
The life that was breathed into us at creation made us light. But that light that shone brightly in us, the light of God - in whose image we were created, has faded due to sin, evil and darkness. It now shines so dimly it can no longer be seen in many people. We need to be able to shine brightly again. We need to be able to step into darkness without fear, without doubt.
God saw that this light within us was fading. He saw that darkness was overtaking the world that He had created. Through the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ, He has relit the light within us. He has washed away the sins that were stopping us from shining. We have again been brought back into fellowship with our creator. Through the sacrifice of His Son, we once more are able to illuminate our own hearts with the love, peace and joy that comes from knowing the Saviour, but more than this we are able to illuminate the hearts of others.
If we go to Ephesians
Eph 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light
Eph 5:9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
Eph 5:10 proving what is acceptable to the Lord.
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Eph 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
Eph 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
Eph 5:14 Therefore he says, "Awake, sleeping ones! And arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light."
You become a light as soon as you accept Jesus in your life. Jesus died so you do not have to. He died to give you eternal life, free from sin. Because He has made you free from sin you are free from death. And as the scriptures say; as you rise up from this death, caused by sin, you become light. And as light we need to overcome darkness. We have all come out of darkness, we have all been darkness. We may have issues that go all the way back to our childhood that have held us back, there may be issues in our own personalities, anger, frustration, addictions, that need to be approached in the light rather than with a spirit of darkness. There are going to be times when the spirit of darkness will try and smother the light within us as it grows brighter.
But God understands I have this addiction, he knows I cannot beat it...
But God understands I’m short tempered, it’s the way I am...
But God understands I have no time to pray or study at home...
Yes God understands. He understands that you have put darkness before light, he understands that you have put evil before good, he understands that you have put death before life.
God gave you the holy spirit to overcome the darkness, he made you lights so that darkness fades before you. You need to stand firm in Jesus, stand firm in the spirit and overcome all things of darkness.
Col 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
Col 1:13 For He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son;
and if we go onto romans 13
Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand; therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13 Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in carousings and drinking; not in co-habitation and lustful acts; not in strife and envy.
Rom 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not take thought beforehand for the lusts of the flesh.
But the spirit of darkness will not just come from within, it will be carried by others into your life. It will try to pull you away from the source of your light. As you grow in Christ, becoming brighter lights, nearer to becoming the pure lights that god destined you to be, others will step in your way. They will call you too religious, they will mock you for your beliefs, they will say you are trying to escape from the pressures of the world, they will call you weak, you will be persecuted at work, at home, amongst friends.
There will be times when, as others approach you, you will feel an unease, spiritually you will feel uncomfortable, you know there’s something not quite right but you don’t know what it is, there’s a heaviness in the air, you don’t know what it is but you feel something.
When you accept Jesus into your life, you receive the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. One of those gifts is the discernment of spirits. If you feel within your spirit uncomfortable about someone or something then you need to start looking to the fruits of that person. Does that person produce good or bad fruits. If it is the bad fruit of darkness then we need to go back to Ephesians
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
We’ve all come across unfruitful works of darkness.
You get a new job and tell a friend, they have a comment to bring you down.... you need to give thanks to god and reprove that comment. Have nothing to do with that word. Don’t let it diminish your light. Be for ever thankful to the Lord.
May be you buy a new house and again a comment is made... well it’s not very big... again have nothing to do with that remark, give thanks to God for the blessing you have received.
It’s easy to be dragged down by vain, empty hurtful words. But as Christians we must be forever careful not to fall into a war of words. As the words come to us as Christians they become reproved by light. They become seen for what they are, words of envy, jealousy and misery. They are words of darkness. As Christians we are called to love all, and that includes those who seek to bring us down or want to spread their misery on us. And we do need to be in their presence, because it’s through us, they find that a life in Jesus is a much better place to be. But there comes a time when their constant attacks on us start to wear us down, start to produce dark clouds in our lives. Sometimes there comes a time to love from afar. There comes a time when you’ve got to say to them, I’ve got a destiny, I’ve got a place to be. If you want to come with me that’s fine, shed your cloak of darkness and come along, but there’s a distance that’s growing between us, that can no longer be bridged. I’ll keep on loving you, I’ll keep on praying for you but it’s time to move on. It’s time to break the chains that’s holding me down. I’ve got a destiny to be with God and nobody’s going to hold me back.
Even within church there will be those who will deny you your light. There will be those who will question your anointing, they will fail to rejoice in your blessings and gifts. They will try to smother your light with jealousy and bitterness. Don’t let their bitterness ruin the good fruit that you produce by being in light.
Nobody knows except for the Father, what darkness you have had to come out of to become the light that you are now. Nobody knows, except the Father, the pain and suffering that you have had to endure, nobody knows how far you have had to come to receive the blessings and the anointing that you are receiving now. Don’t let anyone take away the light that you were destined to become through the saving grace of the Lord and the blood of Jesus Christ. Don’t let anyone belittle the sacrifice that was made on the cross to set you free and to bring you out of darkness. Don’t let anyone belittle or ignore the distance you have already come along the path that leads to the Fathers kingdom.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;
One of the great commentators on the Bible, Gill, wrote a wonderful piece about being lights in a dark world. This description of being lights was based on the following scriptures in Phillipians 2
Phi 2:13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Phi 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings,
Phi 2:15 so that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Among these you shine as lights in the world,
Phi 2:16 holding forth the Word of Life, so that I may rejoice with you in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain nor laboured in vain.
The lights of the world referred to in verse 15 are described by Gill as follows;
This world is, in a moral sense, what the original chaos was in a natural sense, covered with darkness; the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, of impiety and superstition, has spread itself over the far greater part of the world; the men of it are children of the night, and of darkness; their works are works of darkness, and they are going on in darkness, not knowing where they are going. The saints are the lights of the world, they were once darkness itself, but are made light in and by the Lord; they are called into marvellous light, and are filled with light spiritual and evangelical; they are like the moon and stars, that give light to the world in the night; and as they receive their light from the sun, and communicate it to the world, so do the saints receive theirs from Christ, the sun of righteousness, and show it forth to others, both by doctrine and practice
Some nights we can go outside and see the full brightness of the moon shining down on us. Other nights we can go out and not see the moonlight, we know the moon is still there, shining and reflecting the light of the sun, but there are clouds that hide the light. Don’t let other peoples thoughts and gossip and actions produce clouds of fear or anger hide your light.. The world is dark enough without yet another light being dimmed.
The real you does not manifest itself when you come here to church, it does not manifest itself when things are going well and you are full of joy. The real you manifests itself when you are at work, when you are at home, the real you manifests itself when you get cut up while you are driving, do you bless or do you curse. The real you shows itself during times of stress and difficulty. During times of difficulty, does your light get smothered by the darkness or does the darkness fall away in front of you because your light shines so bright?
So what are the signs that you are walking as light. What do people see when they look at you as a Christian. Do they see someone who is walking in the teachings of Christ and living in a biblical way or do they see someone who goes to church on a Sunday morning?
Is your life radically different from those around you. Have you changed your ways since becoming a Christian? You can be sure that if the only difference in your life before becoming a Christian and after becoming one is that you have less time on a Sunday, then you need to start to closely examine what Jesus means to you. He calls out for you to change. The reason why He placed himself on the cross was to give you a second chance, to allow you to be reborn, washed clean of all the sins of your previous life. He did not go to the cross so you could come here every Sunday, sing a few songs, be prayed over and forgiven and then for you to go do exactly the same things again on Monday.
I look back on my own life as a growing Christian. If people who I knew 6 years ago, before I became a Christian saw me and recognised me, not physically recognise but spiritually recognise me, then I would be deeply upset and concerned. I would like to think that some of what I have learnt and studied had translated into the way I live my life. If people who knew me only 12 months ago could see no changes in the way I live my life, I would be concerned. It is not good enough to read or learn about the Christian life, it does no good until you start to live it. Just as a surgeon studies for many years to gain knowledge, that knowledge is useless and of no value until he starts to put it into practise. But once that knowledge starts to be used, it saves and improves lives. We need to start to be a surgeon, we need to start to put the knowledge that we have into practise and start to cut away the bad in our lives. I would like to think that the hours of study and prayer, seeking the will of God has made a difference to my life, my attitudes and the way others view me. There can no plateau when you grow in God.
If we go back to our opening scriptures and look at Mat 5:16
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.
Our light shines in our words and in our actions. How we live our life must be a reflection of the Light that comes from God through his Son Jesus. How bright our light shines is determined not by how much we love God or how much we love Jesus but it is determined by the amount of love that we have for each other. One of the examples that Jesus set for us as He ministered was love for others, particularly love for those that were despised in the society in which He lived. He would associate with tax collectors, Samaritans, prostitutes, roman commanders. He would talk to all that listened He and would be with them without judgement.
I want us to go to proverbs 6:23
Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life;
Here we see that the law is light, the commandment is the lamp through which the light of law shines. But what is the commandment that gives this light? What was the commandment that Jesus gave us?
Joh 13:34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. As I have loved you, you should also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this all shall know that you are My disciples, if you have love toward one another.
Later in John 15:10 again Jesus says...
Joh 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
Joh 15:11 I have spoken these things to you so that My joy might remain in you and your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13 No one has greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Paul writes in his letter to the churches in Galatia
Gal 5:14 For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself."
By following this one commandment, to love one another, we do the good works that Jesus refers to in Matthew 5:16 and those works then become a testimony to God and through the works that we do, we lift up the name of God and glorify Him.
Understand that doing good works do not earn us a place in heaven, that is given to us by grace, we can not work off our sins, that has already been paid for by God, and it’s given to us freely. What our good works do is reflect our love for God, it allows the light of God to shine out through us; it attracts others towards the kingdom.
But we need to realise that it’s not the love for our family and friends that will bring glory to God. It’s the love for those who seek to hurt us. Its only in this way that light can overcome darkness.
Mat 5:43 You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy."
Mat 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you,
Mat 5:45 so that you may become sons of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same?
Mat 5:47 And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax-collectors do so?
Mat 5:48 Therefore be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.
We are not perfect, as man we can never hope to be a reflection of that glorious perfect light. But we can and must continually strive to get brighter and brighter. And we need to shine on others.
We all came out of darkness, we all know how lonely and miserable that place was. We know that it is a cold and empty place. I remember what it was like not to be a Christian. I was always looking for the next fix, the next bit of excitement to liven my life up. But I also remember the times when others came into my life who had the inner joy that came from Jesus. They had peace and love, they had an understanding, a patience and a warmth that is not found in the world. They were lights in my darkness and I still remember them. In my early days as a Christian others, further along the path, shone out as beacons showing the way through times of trouble and storms. I still have far to travel in my walk with Jesus and I look out for those who can light my path.
We must never think because we have found Jesus that we have reached the end. The exciting times of joy and happiness are just beginning and He will take us as far as we want to go. If we strive to follow Jesus, to become perfect as your Father is perfect in Heaven, then He will give us opportunities to shine brightly. At the time these opportunities may seem like times of trouble or people may come to attack us but we stand firm in the word of God, we love and bless those who seek to destroy and then we shine, then darkness fades and then God gets glorified.
It’s never easy to do these thing but this is the way Jesus tells us to live, without judgment, without anger, without unforgiveness. These are the fruits of darkness together with envy, hatred and jealousy. The fruits of darkness are sins. They are chains that will bind you down and drag you back down to worldly issues. They will cause you stress and sickness, they will open the door of your heart to greater darkness and sins. Like yeast in bread if you allow the fruits of darkness into your heart it will grow and consume you.
So put on the armour of light, remain firmly rooted in Jesus, take on the strength given to us by the Holy Spirit and step out as light into darkness and let God’s love touch all who see you.
