Sermon On The Mount - Light Series

I. Introduction

A. 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 went 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,” the hired man said wryly,” and look at what you got!”

1. Lets turn to 1 John 1:5

B. We are talking about light

1. Now consider that Scripture says that God is light

1 John 1:5 (NKJV)

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.

a. Turn to John 8:12

2. Jesus Christ said, 1 am the light of the world"

John 8:12 (NKJV)

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

a. Ake Daun, a professor of ethnology at Stockholm University, says that people are like plants. They are phototropic, blooming in the sunlight. He says people feel stronger psychologically and are happier in summer, and that seasonal changes in light and dark affect psychological health. Jesus is the Light of the world. When we "walk in the light," we are spiritually healthy and strong

b. Turn to Matthew 5:14

3. Scripture tells us that God is light

a. Jesus says that He is the light of the world

b. And here Jesus says, "Ye are the light of the world."

Matthew 5:14 (NKJV)

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

c. What an enormous compliment! God is light, Christ is light, and the believer is said to be "the light of the world."

(1) Charles Spurgeon wrote, So traceable are the lives of really gracious men and women. They are not solicitous to be observed, but the gracious "signs following" are sure to reveal them. Like their Master they cannot be hid --

(2) The believer is what God and Christ are: light. No greater compliment could be paid the believer

(3) But note: to be identified with God is an enormous responsibility as well as a compliment

(4) Whatever light is and does, the believer is to be and do

C. Four things are said about the believer as the light of the world

1. The disciples' character: light (v.14)

2. The disciples' place to shine: the world (v.14)

3. The disciples' unavoidable witness (v.15)

4. The disciples' purpose (v.16)

a. Lets remain in Matthew 5:14

II. Body

A. The first point, light, the Christian’s character

Matthew 5:14 (NKJV)

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

1. Remember Christ said, "I am the Light of the world"

a. Turn to 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 2 Corinthians 4:6-7

b. Here Jesus says that we are to be like Him, “the light of the world."

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 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.

(1) The disciple is to undergo a radical transformation: he is to become like Christ more and more and to reflect the light of Christ

(a) Turn to Ephesians 5:8-9

2. Light is and does several things.

a. Light is clear and pure

(1) It is clean, that is, good, right, true.

Ephesians 5:8-9 (NKJV)

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light {9} (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),

b. Light penetrates

(1) Luci Swindoll wrote in Today's Christian Woman. “A friend of mine was caught in an elevator during a power failure. At first, there was momentary panic as all seven strangers talked at once. Then my friend remembered the tiny flashlight he had in his pocket. When he turned it on, the fear dissipated. During the 45 minutes they were stuck together they told jokes, laughed, and even sang. Ephesians 5:8 says we are that flashlight. Just as the flashlight draws power from its batteries, we draw power from Jesus. As light, we dissipate fear, bring relief, and lift spirits. We don't even have to be big to be effective. We just have to be "on."