The Commands of
Christ
Sermon # 4
“Let Your
Light Shine”
Matthew
5:14-16
The first command to “repent”
tells us how to restore fellowship with God and become qualified to enter his kingdom. The
second command to “follow
me” calls for a total change in goals and priorities so that we can become
“fishers of men.”
The third command to “rejoice” in
persecution is the secret of becoming bright lights so that people will be able attracted
to our love and God’s truth. After passing the test of persecution, reproach and
having evil spoken of us, we will have the brightness of light to be noticeable to others.
Continuing in the Sermon on the Mount the next command is found in verse sixteen
but let’s begin reading in verse fourteen, “You are
the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do you
light a lamp and put it under a bushel, 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.”
The truth
is that the influence of the church is not being felt in our society the way that it
should be. It has been reported that as high as 25% of the population claims to be born
again, yet based on the impact we are having this can not be true.
“George Barna (the church statistician) has
shown that the average Christian in the average evangelical church is almost
indistinguishable from the rest of society. … When our teens, supposedly saved, get
pregnant and do drugs at the same rate as the general teenage population – when our
marriages end in divorce at the same rate as the rest of society – when we cheat in
business, or lie or steal, and cheat on our spouses at the same statistical level as those
who they are not Christians – something is wrong.” [J. David Hoke.
“Salt and Light” Sermon on Matthew 5:13-16. wwwhorizonsnet.org]
There are
those today who would have us to believe that our religious faith is a purely personal
thing; that is that we should keep it to ourselves. While I agree that our faith is
personal in that it requires a personal decision on our part, as to whether or not we are
going to believe in Jesus, Jesus taught that we are not to keep it to ourselves. The words
“let your light so shine” (v.16) are the translation of a single Greek verb (lampsato) which is an
imperative, meaning that it is a command. The question that we must ask ourselves is “What
must I do to let my light shine?”
1. I Must
Have A Connection To The Source Of Light.
Jesus is the light. Mankind as a whole is in darkness. Jesus is the real
light of the world. In John 1:1 we are told,
“In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning
with God.(3) All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was
made. (4) In Him was life, and the life was
the light of men. (5) And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
comprehend it…. (9) That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming
into the world.”
But the world did not welcome that light because Jesus in a specific way
exposed the nature of the darkness in a way that it had never been done previously. And
the world hated Him for it. John 3:19, “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. (20) for everyone practicing evil hates the light and
does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
Those
who follow Jesus actually become reflectors of the light. Just as the sun in the
source of light in our universe and the moon reflects the light of the sun; Jesus is the
source of light in the world and we his followers are to reflect that light.
“A Hindu
trader in India once asked a missionary, “What do you put on your face to make it
shine?” With surprise the man of God answered, “I don’t put anything on
it!” His questioner began to lose patience and said emphatically, “Yes, you
do!” All of you who believe in Jesus seem to have it. I’ve seen it in the towns
of Agra and Surat, and even in the city of Bombay.” Suddenly the Christian
understood, and his face glowed even more as he said, “Now I know what you mean, and
I will tell you the secret. It’s not something we put on from the outside but
something that comes from within. It’s the reflection of the light of God in our
hearts.” {Keith
Edwards. “This Little Light of Mine.” Sermon on Matt 5:14. www.sermoncentral.com
In Isaiah
45:7 God says, “I am the LORD and there is no other; I
form the light…” The Hebrew word translated “form” is (yatsar) and it carries the idea
of “squeezing into shape and means “to mould into a form; especially as a
potter.” So the process of becoming light involves allowing God to shape us a potter
would clay. In Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, you our
Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand.”
One can no more escape having an influence in this world than a city on a hill can
be hidden.
“You are the
light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do you light a
lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in
the house. (16) Let your light so shine before men” Notice that the verse says “let the light so shine.” Underline the word “so” in the text. In reality it is not a question of whether your
light will be seen, whether you life will have an influence, but on the manner of it.
“A young boy about nine years old went with
his parents to Europe one summer. Part of their tour was visiting the great cathedrals of
the past. As he would visit cathedral after cathedral, he saw the massive stained glass
portraits of the disciples and of other saints. He was impressed as he stood in these
great empty halls looking through the beautiful stained glass windows. Upon their return,
he was asked by his Sunday School teacher what about the Great churches of Europe he like
the most. He thought for a moment and said, ‘I loved the sense of awesomeness and the
hugeness of who God must be.’ His Sunday School teacher then asked what was his
definition of a saint. As his mind went back to those massive beautiful stained glass
windows, he said, ‘A saint is a person that the light shines through.’ [J. David Hoke.
“Salt and Light” Sermon on Matthew 5:13-16. www. Sermoncentral.com] That pretty profound,. Don’t
you think?
Are you allowing the light of
Christ to shine through you?
Paul warns the believers in his letter to
the Philippians (2:12-16) “Therefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling; (13) for it is God who works both to will and
to do His good pleasure (14) Do all things without complaining and disputing. (15) that
you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a
crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, (16) holding
fast the word of life…..”
Those that know the Lord are to
shine in the midst of the darkness.
Let me give you two things to think over in connection with the fact that our lives
are on display.
First, over the years in the ministry I have heard people make the statement, “I’m
in an work place where there are no other Christian’s, and it is rough. Things are
disgusting. Pray that I will be able to get another job.” This is what I want
you to consider! Have you ever considered that God may have put you in that position?
The greater the darkness the more difference even the weakest light will make.
Secondly,
let me give you something else to think about in connection with the fact that our lives
are on display; “Have you ever considered that people who allow others to think
that they are worse they are, are just as much a hypocrite
as those who represent themselves as better than they are?” We recognize the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who
performed their religious acts in an attempt to make others think that they really better
than they were. Yet Peter was just as guilty when in a moment of weakness denied that he
was a disciple of the Lord. He was also being a hypocrite.
We cannot live light-filled lives in our society without standing out, without having people notice us. They may not like us, and they may reject us; but they will know that we are there. If your faith does not make a difference in the way that you live your life you either need to get saved or you need to repent and allow the light of Jesus to shine through.
Do not shy away from the phrase “good works.” This phrase is used over twenty times in the New
Testament and always favorably. While it is true that “good
works” do not earn us salvation; once we are saved it is the sign of the
ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In his letter to the Ephesians (2:8-10) Paul
reminds the believers, “ For by grace you have been saved
through faith and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, (9) Not of works, lest
anyone should boast. (10) For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good
works…”
5. I Must Realize That My Works Are To Bring Glory to God
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