The Lord says to a bunch of ragtag
fishermen, you are the light of the world. Now I want you
to think about that. And he says this to every believer. You put your name in here. This
is said of every believer. He says to every single individual
believer, you, you, are the light of the world." Now that's an
awesome thing to think about, isn't it? I pray that the Lord
Himself will press this upon our hearts. You are the light
of the world. This world is a dark place. The darkness that's brought on
by sin. And what is darkness, but the
absence of light. Where there's no light, there
is darkness. In Colossians 1.13, we're said
to be delivered from the power of darkness. Now, darkness prevents
a man from seeing. If I'm in the dark, I don't see
any beauty in Christ. If I'm in the dark, I don't see
the glory of His grace. It doesn't ring my bell. If I'm
in the dark, I don't see the wisdom and the glory of God in
His way of saving sinners. I can't see. I'm blind. The natural
man is blind. He's in the dark. He cannot see. You think even in your own experiences,
believers, two believers hear the same message, people who
have been saved. One finds light in it. The other
doesn't hear. We're so dependent upon him to
give us light, the light of the gospel. The natural man cannot
see God. He cannot see himself. He is
in darkness and he loves being in darkness. Turn to John chapter
three, verse 19. And this is the condemnation. This is why men are condemned
that light is come into the world. That's the light of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the light of how he saves
sinners by his grace. He is the light of God. Light
is coming. Now here's the condemnation.
Light is coming to the world and men loved darkness. They love darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil for everyone that doeth
evil, hateth the light. Neither cometh to the light lest
his deed should be reproved or exposed. That's what light does. If I have light, my deeds are
exposed for what they are. Whatsoever makes manifest is
light, the light of the gospel. Verse 21, but he that doeth truth,
he comes to the light. He loves to the light. He comes
to the light quickly that his deeds may be made manifest that
they're wrought in God. Now, if you do truth, you know
this, any deed you have was worked by God. Any faith you have was
caused by Him. Any love you have was caused
by Him. And you're not afraid to bring what He's done to the
light. You're not afraid of the light
because you're bringing what He has done, that which He has
worked. Now let's go to the first mention
of light and darkness in Genesis chapter 1, very first chapter
in the Bible. Light is used to tell us something
about the gospel here. Verse one, in the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth and the earth was without form and
void. Now, did God create the earth
without form and void? Is that the way he created the
earth? Well, this word and the earth was without form and void. Look in Genesis chapter two,
verse seven. And the Lord God for man of the
dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils, the breath
of life and man became a living soul. Now that word became is
the exact same word translated was, and you could fairly translate
this verse of scripture. The earth became without form
and void. Now, what does that mean? Well,
I think it has something to do with God created the earth and
something happened. I think it has something to do
with the fall of Satan. Something catastrophic took place
because the scripture speaks of him falling from heaven and
going to the earth. And what happened at that time?
Who knows, but I know this, the earth became without form and
void. Now what does that picture, but
what happened when our first father fell? He became without
form and void. Darkness covered the face of
the deep. Just like darkness covered the
face of the deep, darkness covers the soul of the fallen man so
that we can't see. We can't see God. We can't see
his way of salvation. We can't see the glory of Christ.
We can't see our need of Christ. We can't see we're in darkness. And we read, And the Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the waters, like the Spirit of God
moves on a ruined, dead sinner. We see the gospel here, don't
we? I mean, the gospel is in the opening verses of Genesis. In the beginning, God. There's the gospel right there.
In the beginning, God. Now look in verse three. And
God said, Let there be light. And there was light. Now, interestingly,
the sun was created on the fourth day, and the moon was created
on the fourth day. It doesn't say this light was
created. It says, light be. And light
was. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the light of life. He said, I am the light of the
world. And we're going to consider what
that means in just a moment. But God said, let there be light.
What's the first thing that took place in the old creation light. What's the first thing that takes
place in the new creation light. He gives light. All of a sudden,
I see. If I'm in the dark, I can't see.
But when the light shines, I see. I see who I am. I see who He
is. The Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. Verse four, and God saw the light,
that it was good. This light, oh, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he's good. He is the goodness of God. And as soon as there was light,
there was a division. God divided the light from the
darkness. Now, oh, the power of light.
When the light shines, darkness flees away, doesn't it? God who
commanded the light to shine out of the darkness has shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the light of the gospel. And
as soon as that light shined, all of a sudden there was a division. Now the power of this light Darkness
could not stand before it. The work of God, instantaneous,
irresistible, light. I love to think of that light
shining. What happened to the darkness? It's gone. But a division
takes place. Darkness was not eradicated.
There was light and there was darkness. And the believer knows
both. Don't you know what it means
to cry out, I believe? Help thou mine unbelief. There's never been a time in
my experience when I've been able to cry, I believe and don't
have any unbelief. No, I always have an old nature
that is darkness, darkness itself. Verse five, and God called the
light day and the darkness he called night and the evening
and the morning were the first day. Now, after the fall of our
first parents, they went into darkness. Now, what does darkness
do? Darkness covers. What did they
do? They went to hide themselves
from the presence of God so that he would not see them. Now, of
course he did. The light and darkness are both
alike to him. But what they wanted to do is
hide themselves and cover. And they made themselves coverings. And ever since then, this world
has been a dark place The darkness of sin. Oh, the darkness of this
world that now they want to get away from God. Wherever God was,
they didn't want to be there. They wanted to get away from
him and hide themselves from his presence. What darkness there
is in sin. Would you turn to 1 John? 1 John. chapter 1, verse 5. This then is the message which
we've heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. I love the way that light is
used as a metaphor to describe God. Now how dependent are we
on light? What kind of life would we have
without light? We wouldn't have life, period.
We're dependent upon the light of the sun for warmth, the way
it hits the atmosphere. We're dependent upon light to
be able to see. If we don't have light, we can't
see anything. We're dependent upon light to eat. The process
of photosynthesis all begins with light. There wouldn't be
anything for us to eat. We'd freeze to death. We're utterly
dependent upon light. God is light. Light is clear and transparent. Light is the naked truth. There's
no shadows to obscure the reality. It's the truth concerning God's
character. His holiness. In Him is no darkness
at all. And one of the glorious things
about light, think about this, it can contact without contracting. It can come into contact with
filth and touch that filth and yet it doesn't contract any of
the filthiness. Isn't that glorious? The Lord can come down as the
light and touch me and speak to me and do something for me
and not contract any of my filth. Isn't that wonderful? God is
light and in him is no darkness at all. And it's only by his
light that we see the darkness of this world. You know, a blind
man can't understand seeing, can he? It's only that one who
is given light, the light of the gospel, that he can see. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the light of this dark world. Would you turn with me to John
chapter 1? Verse 1. In the beginning was
the Word, And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was, eternally 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 life. I love this. The life. The Lord
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. The life was the
light of men and the light shineth in darkness and the darkness
comprehended it not. It understood it not. Now turn
to John chapter eight. This is one of my favorite passages
in the Bible. I think the gospel is taught
so clearly and simply in this passage of scripture, verse 12.
Then spake Jesus again to them saying, I am the light of the
world. Now the Lord tells us that he
himself is the light of the world. Now, what led up to that statement? Look in verse 1 of John chapter
8. Jesus went unto the Mount of
Olives, and early in the morning he came again into the temple,
and all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught
them. Oh, I pray that that's what he's
doing right now. He sat down and taught them. And an interruption took place,
verse three, and the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him
a woman taken in adultery. Now this woman was caught in
the act. Had she been set up? I don't
know, but she was caught in the act. Now, the question that comes
to my mind is where was the man? Where was the man? Why didn't
he brought? They bring this woman. The man
was supposed to be stoned also, not just the woman, but somehow
he got let off and they just bring this woman. And the scribes and Pharisees
brought him a woman taken in adultery. Now I want you to think
of what a great evil the sin of adultery is. I want you to
think about what it's done to our society. What a great evil. You think of the homes that have
been broken up, the people that have suffered, the children that
have suffered. What a great evil this sin is. It's caused so many problems.
It's caused so many perversions. It's caused so many crimes. Oh,
the sin of adultery. It is a great, great sin. And this woman was caught. taken
in the very act. And when they had set her in
the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery
in the very act. Their eyewitnesses to this, they
said in hearsay, she is guilty. She was caught in the very act. You know, These guys were evil. That's all you can say about
them. They were evil. Let's go on reading. Verse five. Now Moses in the law commanded
us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? Now it's
true. An adulterer deserves to be stoned. With God, the punishment fits
the crime. Amen. Whatever God says is right
and holy. Now these fellas, they think
we've got the Lord entrapped in a way that he cannot win. If he says, let her go, we can
say, where is your respect for the law of God? Because the law
says she should be stoned and you have no respect for the word
of God. If he says stoner, We can say,
you're a hypocrite. You're an actor. Everything you
say is just talk because you talk about being the friend of
sinners. And now you're telling us to stoner. You talk about
forgiveness and cleansing and mercy and grace. And you tell
us to stoner. They thought we've got him in
an impossible situation. He can't win. And I think it's
almost funny that these Sinful, evil, ignorant men thought they
could entrap omniscience. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
they're speaking to. And they thought, we've got him trapped.
And look at the way he responds. Verse six. This they said, tempting
him that they might have to accuse him. We've got an accusation
against him now. There's no way he can get out
of this. What sayest thou? But Jesus stooped
down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard
them not. I love to think about this. Are
you listening to this? Nope. Nope. He stooped on the ground and
wrote as though he heard them not. Now there's two times in
the Bible that God is said to write. The finger of God writing. And I know this is speculation,
but I feel quite sure this is what he was writing. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. Thou! God's word deals with me. Doesn't deal with somebody else.
God's word deals with you. It doesn't deal with somebody
else. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Remember it was the finger of
God who wrote the law. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Verse seven. So when they continued
asking him, he lifted up himself and what a reply. He that's without
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And I have
no doubt that he was talking about that particular sin. And if you haven't committed
it physically, if you have any honesty at all, you know you've
committed it in your heart. And did not the Lord say, whosoever
looketh upon a woman to lust after in his heart, he hath committed
adultery already with her. That's what the Lord says. And
he said, fellas, first one here that has no sin,
throw the first rock. And the point he says they did,
Verse eight, and again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Now, God is said to write with
his finger twice in the scriptures. First time, the Ten Commandments,
thou shalt not commit adultery. You know he wrote the second
time? It was with regard to Belshazzar. He said, thou art weighed in
the balances, and found wanting." I believe perhaps that's what
he was writing. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou art weighed in the balances
and found wanting. Verse nine, and they which heard
it being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one. Now, let me say this. If your
conviction is only your own conscience, it's not going to bring you to
Christ. You're going to leave him just like these fellas did.
Oh, but if God the Holy Spirit's convicting you, you're going
to come to Him for mercy. It won't drive you from Him.
It'll drive you to Him. Your sin won't keep you from
Him. Your sin will cause you to come to Him for mercy and
for grace. But these fellas, they were convicted
by their own conscience. Not the Holy Spirit, but their
own conscience. And they went out one by one,
beginning at the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone and
the woman standing in the midst. Oh, the best place I could ever
be is alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. There are the two of
them alone. Oh, I want to be alone with him. Don't you? Now let's go on reading.
When Jesus had lifted up himself, Now, this is important. He stoops
twice, doesn't he? Twice he stoops down and rides
on the ground. Twice he lifts him up himself. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ had
two stoops. First, when God became a man. What a stoop that was. When the
infinite God dwelt in a house of clay. What
a stoop. But the second stoop was even
greater when he stooped to be made sin. with that stoop on
the cross when all the sins of God's elect became his sin. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. His holy soul was made to bear
our sin and our iniquity. What a stoop that was. That's why he cried out, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He knew why. He wouldn't
call it saying that for information. He knew he'd been made. seeing
what a stoop that was. And when he was raised from that,
he's speaking to this woman after that second stoop, and he's now
speaking to her on resurrection ground. You see, there's something
the Lord can say on resurrection ground. Let's go on reading.
Verse 10. When Jesus had lifted up himself
and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, Where are those unaccusers? You
remember that crowd that had been around her? They're all
gone now. Not a one of them. Hath no man
condemned thee? She said, no man, Lord. And Jesus
said unto her, neither do I condemn thee. I don't judge you. I don't condemn
you. You know why? There's nothing
there to condemn. That's why the Lord didn't condemn
her. You see, when he's speaking to her on resurrection round,
there's nothing there to condemn. You see, he put away that sin. He is the light as to how God
can look at me and say, there's nothing to condemn him for. The
only light there is, is the Lord Jesus Christ, as to have God
can look at you, as sinful, as defiled as you are, and a holy
God can look at you and say, I don't condemn you, because
there's nothing to condemn you for. That's what the Lord accomplished
on the cross. He put away, He washed away the
sin of all of His people. And Christ Jesus is the light
as to how that can be. I, you, I don't condemn you. Go and sin no more. I am the
light of the world. And the Lord Jesus Who is the lamb, that's the light
thereof. That's what the book of Revelation calls him. He says,
the city has no need of the sun or the moon. The lamb is the
light thereof. The lamb is the light as to how
God can accept me. The lamb is the light as to how
God can love me. The lamb is the light as to how
God can embrace me. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the light of the world. Isn't he light? Do you have light
as to how God could love you? through the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the light of the world. Now let's go back to our original
text in Matthew chapter five. You know that song people used
to sing, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.
It has nothing to do with this. Uh, you probably better off darkening
that light. We don't want to, we don't want
to, that light doesn't put out light. It puts out darkness.
Now, the Lord says to his people in verse 14 of Matthew chapter
5, you, you. Now God is light. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the light of the world. And he says to every one of his
people, you are the light of the world. Any light this dark world has,
it will be through us. You, are the light of the world. You know, wherever you go tomorrow,
you're the light in that place. You are the light of the world. If men will see, it will be by
the light imparted to them through us. And here is our purpose for
being here. It's to be the light of this
world. It's not to be successful. It's
not to raise a family. Oh, we're thankful for those
things. But my purpose for being here is to be the light of this
world. That's why God kept us here. That's why it didn't just bring
us into glory. It's to be the light of the world. Turn to Philippians chapter two,
hold your finger there and turn to Philippians chapter two. Verse 12, wherefore my beloved, as you've always obeyed, not
as in my presence only, but now much more in mine absence, work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. When you work
out something, what do you do? You give attention to something
that needs to be worked out. I'll work it out. There's some
kind of problem. I'll work it out. He says, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling. Don't be presumptuous about this.
Don't be apathetic about this. You work it out. And here is
our confidence for it is God which worketh in you both to
will and to do of his good pleasure. Isn't that a wonderful verse
of scripture? It's God. You work out what God's worked
in. You see, He works in you, both to will and to do His good
pleasure. Now, you do all things. without
murmurings and disputings or inward reasonings and questionings,
that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without
rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom
you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life,
that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run
in vain, neither labored in vain. Now, you are the light of the
world. Now, my first concern is me,
as far as salvation goes. I mean, it is. I want to be saved. I've said this before. Is this
selfish? I don't know. Maybe it is. But
if I had access to the Lamb's Book of Life, what's the first
name I'd look up? I know who I'd look up. I'd look
up my own name. I'd look up you after that. But
my first concern would be my own name. Now, we're concerned
about our... I want to be saved. I want to
have the light of His countenance. I want to be somebody who says,
Thy face, O Lord, will I seek. I want to be somebody who believes
on Christ. But our second concern is our neighbors. We want them
to have the light of life. We want them to have the light
of the gospel. We want them to know how God
saves sinners for Christ's sake. We want to be light to them.
Now, we're not to isolate ourselves from the world, but lighten it. Yes, we are separate from the
world and its religion. We don't want to have anything
to do with that. But we also want to be in the world The light
that shines the light of the Lord Jesus Christ, His gospel. You are the light of the world. We're not fatalists. Somebody
says, well, the elect will be saved whether we shine our lights
or not. What an evil attitude. What an
abuse of the holy doctrine of election. We're not fatalists.
Paul said, I endure all things for the elect's sake. that they
may also obtain the salvation that's in Christ Jesus. You are
the light of the world. You are the light to tell folks
just like you, the light of how a holy God can accept a sinful
man. You are the light of the world. Turn back to Matthew chapter
five, verse 14. Verse 15. Now you are the light
of the world, a city that sat on a hill, cannot be hid. We're not to hide this light. Neither do men light a candle
and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick and it giveth
light unto all that are in the house. Our light is to be seen,
not to be covered, but to be seen. So don't, may God give
me grace to do this. Don't cover your light with silence.
Preach the gospel as the Lord opens the door. Preach the gospel. Be looking for an opportunity
to preach the gospel. You're the light of the world.
Don't cover it in silence. And don't cover the light with
a life that makes people not even take seriously what you're
saying. Now, what do I mean by that? Lot. I love Lot. Lot was a believer. But Lot had
pitched his tent towards Sodom. And he moved into Sodom, and
he lived in Sodom, and he lingered in Sodom when the angels wanted
to bring him out. He lingered, Lot. When Lot warned
his sons about the coming destruction, you know what the scripture says?
It says, he seemed to them as one that mocked. They didn't
even take serious what he said because of who said it. You know,
it does matter who says something, doesn't it? Lot, through his
life, when he warned, when he gave them light, they didn't
pay any attention to what he said. And look what the Lord
says in verse 16, let your light So shine, this is very important,
so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify
your father which is in heaven. Now you let your light so shine
before men and this word so is important. Don't let your light
shine in such a way that they glorify you. If that's what you're
doing, you've got your reward and you haven't glorified your
father and that's life is not life at all. Let your light so
shine before men that they may see your good works, works of
mercy, works of grace, works of preaching the gospel in whatever
way, works of generosity, whatever. Let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works and glorify your father. not yourself, glorify your father,
which is in heaven. You know, we are to be zealous
of good works for his glory, the work of bringing the light
of the gospel of Christ into this dark world in whatever way
God opens a door for us to do it. You are the light of the world. This is said to every believer.
May the Lord enable us to obey this command. Let your light,
the light you have as to how God can accept you and save you
and love you and keep you and preserve you. The light as to
how God can be just and justify the ungodly. Let your light so
shine before men that they see your good works and they glorify
your father. which is in heaven. I hope we
will all be zealous this week, the rest of our lives, as the
Lord enables us to shine the light of the gospel before men. Let's pray.