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Let Your Light Shine
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Matt. 5:14

INTRO: This is the second in a series of messages on Matt. 5:14-16. The main thrust of these three verses is stated in Vs. 16, where we are told to "Let your Light so skine". That really ought to be the theme of each of us individually, and the theme of Berean Baptist Church. I am going to talk to you about the fact that "Ye are the light of the world", as Jesus said, in Vs. 14. I'd like for you to realize what a beautifully accurate statement that is.

I. THE WORLD OF HUMAN REASONING, AND OF THOSE WHO KNOW NOT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, IS A WORLD OF DARKNESS AND VANITY.

A. Everything man controls for a long enough period of time, he ultimately brings to ruin and Destruction

1. Men are destroying our beautiful forests, mountains, and prairies. They are killing off our wildlife, polluting our rivers, and destroying our oceans and seas. They are polluting our atmosphere, and depleting our earth of it's natural resources.

2. With humanism and evolution, and in the name of civil liberties, and individual freedoms, men are destroying education and the minds of our people.

3. With socialism and communism, man is destroying decent, legitimate government.

B. With great scholars abounding, and with advanced technology at our finger tips, plus the combined knowledge of scholars of the past three thousand years at our finger tips in books, there is still confusion, turmoil, and uncertainty everywhere.

1. The world's problems today are bigger and more far reaching than they have ever been in the history of mankind. New and terrible diseases, like cancer, heart disease, hypertension, and allergies flourish today. Every day of every year, more and more of the world's land area turns to barren desert. This world cannot feed it's multitudes of hungry people; and the population rate continues to boom at an uncontrolled pace. The event of nuclear power, and the threat of thermo nuclear war poses a threat to the world far above and beyond what we've ever known. The men of this earth have within their power the capability of blowing this earth into smithereens.

2. Truly, dear fellow Christians, the clouds of darkness and gloom hang heavier over this world today, than ever before. Truly ours is a day of deep darkness. Men simply do not have the answers to the problems of life. The philosophers have struck out. Science cannot solve the problems that face the world. Vain and false religion simply isn't filling the void in the hearts of men. Truly today we are realizing the wisdom of Solomon who said, "the way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble", Prov. 4:19.

C. Job said, "They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man", in Job 12:25:

1. Jeremiah explained why it is this way, when he said, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps", Jer. 10:23.

2. Isaiah said, "It is because there is no light in them", Isa. 8:20.

II. BUT THE WORD OF GOD SAYS THAT THE SAVED ARE "LIGHTS" IN THIS OTHERWISE DARK WORLD:

A. Phil. 2:15 says the sons of God should be blameless, "in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world. "

B. There are two major reasons why the children of God can truly be called lights:

1. First of all, we are lights because we have the light of God within us:

a. I Cor. 3:16 says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?"

b. Now the Bible says of God, that he is perfect light:

(1) I Jno. 1:5 says, "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all".
(2) Isa. 60:19 calls him, "everlasting light".
(3) Let me read for you John 1:1-5, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. "

c. We are not lights because we are any smarter or brighter than anyone else, in our own reasoning; we are lights because we ever have within us the eternal, perfect light of God in the person of the Holy Spirit. As long as he is there, how could we help but be lights?

(1) Now notice that we are not lights within ourselves; we are lights because he shines through and within us. Jesus' words in Jno. 8:12 are, "I am the light of the world". Yet, in our text, Matt. 5:14, Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world". There is a beautiful truth here. We have no light within ourselves, but when we let the light of God and his truth shine in us, we indeed become lights in this darkened world. We are to God, what the moon is to the sun. The moon has no light within itself; although the sun is a source of light. The sun actually shines on the moon, and from our perspective, we look at the moon and see the reflected light of the sun. The moon indeed is then a light to us; not because of what it is, but because of what the sun is. And, fellow saints, we are lights to the world; not because of what we are, but because of what God is. We have no light of our own to give; but when we let the light of God, who is in us, shine through us, the world sees us as lights. It is this of which Jesus speaks when he says, "Ye are the light of the world. " That's the reason he elaborated in Jno. 8:12, and said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. " The only thing that makes us any different from any lost man sitting in darkness, is the fact that we have God in us.
(2) God is the source; we are merely the reflectors. The scriptures make doubly clear this truth when they say, "Christ shall give thee light ", in Eph. 5:14.

2. Secondly, we who are saved, are lights because we have the truth, God's written word, which is a light by which men can see through the haze and darkness and confusion of this world:

a. God's word is described as an instrument of light:

(1) Of God's word, Solomon said, in Prov. 6:23, "The law is light".
(2) King David said, in Psa. 119:105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
(3) David also said, in Psa 119:130, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. "
(4) And Peter said, in IIPet. 1:19, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place."

b. As believers, we have the one sure light that never fails, which can show men where the dangers of life are, reveal to them what is good, and show them what lies ahead down the corridors of time. The histories, philosophers, and sciences of this world, cannot give answers to the real problems of life. Although, the word of our God, our Holy Bible, can. It is here, in the Bible, that we get a true picture of the past, present, and the future. Nothing is in proper perspective unless we see it through the eyes of God, which is what the Bible is. Truly, it is a book full of answers; answers that meet the needs of the human heart.

III.IT IS NO WONDER THEN, THAT JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES THAT THEY WERE LIGHTS. LISTEN TO HIS WORDS:

A. Matt. 5:14, "Ye are the light of the world".

B. Of believers, Paul said it this way in I Thess. 5:5. "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. " Col. 1:13 says, Christ "hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. "

C. The divine wisdom of king Solomon shines forth in Prov. 4:18-19, when he says, "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble."

D. I cannot help wondering about your life:

1. Has it been a life of continuous stumbling, darkness, and unhappiness, without much point and understanding to it?

2. In honesty, are you walking in darkness, searching for something, but yet unable to see it?

3. Oh, my friend, why don't you let Jesus come in? He will give you light and drive away the darkness and gloom from your life.

4. Once you believe the gospel, Isaiah the prophet said, "The eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness", Isa. 29:18. You can truly sing, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see." King David declared, "he brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder", Psa. 107.14. Truly, Jesus is come "to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. " Luke 1: 79.

5. Why don't you receive him in simple faith, and let him give light to your darkened and troubled soul?

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"