[This sermon is one of a series entitled "Sermon on the Mount, Concentrating on the Beatitudes," which is being preached on Sunday mornings by Pastor Tim Senter.]
When last we met we discovered how distinctively different Christians should be as opposed to the world. We discussed the saltiness that they should present, the testimony of the believer that prepares the way for the gospel, much as John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord. Just as John the Baptist did, the believer too simply testifies of Him in their lives, in their deeds, and with their communications. We talked about the Christian who does not present a distinctive difference because they try to blend into or mold to the world in an attempt to be accepted. There is a worse attitude that is presented at times – one of forced acceptance. Some Christians believe they can look like the world, act like the world, and still be Christians; but when they are called out for their lack of testimony in appearance and attitude, they demand we accept them as they are. They demand they can be and appear as anything they want, as long as they are okay on the inside. I submit to you that their pride demands that others see something that does not appear to exist. Man sees what is on the outside, only God can see the heart. These people are demanding the impossible. This is a haughty and prideful attitude that has nothing to do with submission to God. These Christians have lost, and actually have no saltiness–they are bland, banal, and empty of flavor. Their testimony to the world is of the world. The world has no capability to see inside man, that is the reason pop-culture believes “everyone is essentially good.” Therefore, man judges by the outside (by what he sees) because he has no other form of discernment.
The believer, on the other hand, knows the truth that is inside each person – a depraved, selfish and self-serving sin-filled heart. Christians operate in a world of sin as beings of sin that strive toward purity through Christ Jesus. This makes them different, gives them flavor, and makes them the salt of the earth that is poured into the wound of man’s sin. This aggravates and makes stinging real pain for man, unless the Christian is without flavor. Then God will have that Christian trampled under foot such that they cannot destroy or negatively affect the Christian who is living a life for Christ.
Matthew 5:14-16 is our text for today. We get to discuss one of my favorite subjects today – the Christian light. There is much to discuss concerning this subject and I anticipate taking two Sundays to get through this material. Read with me please about the light of the Christian as a beacon on a hill. Though we will concentrate on verse 14 today, we will do a Tim’s translation for all of these great testimonial verses. Follow along with me please,
“You are the light of the world. No one is able to hide a city placed on a hill; nor does one kindle a lamp and put it under a basket, instead it is put on the lamp stand to shine through the whole house. Shine your light in this way before men in order that they might see the beauty in your works which will glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Did you know that the word “light” is used 357 times in scripture? The first usage is in Genesis with the creation of light. Light is used to describe many things in scripture. We see light and the differing hues of color that radiate from it. Light describes what serves as knowledge – enlightenment. Light gives visibility to salvation in the enlightened soul. The word of God is light. God is Light in Himself. Jesus is the Light of the world. Light is compelling and fearsome at the same time. We are compelled to go to the Light of God. Yet, when it is very strong, we are afraid of this light. In our passage today, light introduces us to salvation in our verse here.
When I look up the word “light” in my big three-inch thick World Book dictionary, I find there are three distinct forms of the word listed. To properly define light, it takes almost an entire page – about two solid columns out of three. Under the first “light” are 17 distinct uses with the 17th being the power of light for vision, which also has a multitude of sub-connotations. Under the second definition, there are no less than 20 different connotations. Under the third, which begins with lighting upon the ground, there are only three. The point is that our word light, just as the word is used in both the Old and New Testament scriptures, is a very complex word that contains multitudes of connotations and meanings. The term “light” is very versatile.
I was in telecommunications for a number of years and studied fiber optics. If you do not know what fiber optics is, let me briefly explain. It is a mode of telecommunications that involves sending light down a piece of glass the diameter of a hair. Because of the very high frequencies used by light, it can transmit a huge quantity of information very quickly. All this to say I have studied light and it’s communication characteristics at a very functional and elemental level. Light as we know it has finite characteristics, it has specific capabilities, and it has a number of aptitudes that are still beyond our understanding. To understand what it means for us to be “the light of the world” we should first endeavor to understand a little about light as God created it, then how this applies to the Christian. We will take this knowledge and apply it to God so that we can gather a picture of Him compared to the light He created for us. I believe you will find this illuminating (pun intended).
Just as God’s light, the true light will not be hidden; true Christian light cannot be ignored. The truth is that “it is our sin that dulls that light of Christ within us, not the lack of His provision thereof.”
We should begin by asking some basic questions such as, What is light? Then we will answer, What is God’s light?
I. Man’s Light
Though the label on this section says “Man’s Light,” I must begin with a caveat. This is not light owned by man; it is light, as man knows it. It actually is light owned by God; after all, He created it. It is this created light that is the focus of this opening discussion.
Today, man knows many complex things about light. However, for a long time we could only see by light provided from a flame, and plants thrived from the sun’s light alone. It was Albert Einstein who theorized that light was part of an electromagnetic spectrum, and then discovered a particle in light. When we were able to make light artificially, we began exploring what produced it, and it’s properties more in-depth. As we explored light, we found it was constituted– its actual sum is number of different hues or colors. I do not know if you realize it or not, but the colors you see with your eyes are not truly inherent in the things you see. The color actually comes from light. What you see is the light beam of that specific color as reflected by the material. Things that you see as blue reflect blue light, while other things reflect red light. In the light spectrum, the number of colors displayed depends upon a certain perspective. For instance, there are seven colors in the rainbow, but there are 11 colors by shade. Outside of this man has named a number of combined colors that were created either in computers or by simply mixing different colors together to make different shades. There are literally millions of combinations for colors.
Light as we know it is a frequency, a very fast moving frequency, but a frequency just the same. In the wide range of frequencies there is everything from the sense of touch through sound, and up into light. How do you know a heavy vehicle is approaching? You feel the ground shaking. This is a very low frequency or vibration of energy. How do you know light is present? A very high frequency exists that generates light. The light spectrum ranges from red through the yellow and green through blue and up to purple, which is at the very top. Infrared light is below this spectrum, and X-rays are above it. Gamma rays are at the upper end of the spectrum above X-rays.
You might ask, why do I need to know about all this? The answer is that not only is it God’s creation, it is what scripture uses to describe God and Jesus. I am telling you that scripture speaks of God operating in a comparative way. God, in His infinite wisdom, has given us examples of Himself in all of His creation. Then the Holy Spirit in His infinite wisdom has pointed out those exact examples in scripture. Light is just one of those examples.
If we look, then, at the spectrum of frequency waves, we find that God is represented throughout. For example, we cannot see into our bodies without either opening them up (a rather messy prospect) or with X-rays to see bones and hard materials, or other forms of energy such as ultra sound, (which is on the opposite end of the spectrum) to see the soft tissues. God, too, can see both the hard parts of us internally and can see the softest parts of us, our soul, internally. In a way He is represented in the light spectrum we understand. Equally, God can display His greatness visually in the normal light spectrum. Think about the wonderful beauty of the flowers in front of our church that He created to display His beauty. Do not go thinking your pastor is some kind of polytheist. I am not advocating that God is in all these things, but these things do display His beauty in the light spectrum– the true beauty of His creation and His creative abilities.
We find other comparisons in the light spectrum. Just as man’s finite existence and imperfection limit his ability to achieve any type of godhood or truly be self-sufficient, the light that man can see and it’s properties are finite. The light that God is and His properties are infinite. Man’s use of light here on earth is limited first to his understanding. Granted, this grows continually, but it will always be less than perfect or complete. In the same way, man’s understanding of God is limited and although it can grow continually, God has to show man light before understanding can even begin. Man’s understanding will also continually grow, but it will equally always be less than perfect or complete.
Man’s visual perceptivity is limited by his physical development. Some people have full color vision; others do not. God gave each person strengths and weaknesses. Many of you know I am physically impaired with a lack of color vision in certain hues. This however does not translate into any limitation to God; in fact, it shows another way in which I am unable to compare with His great perfection. God is perfect and created all of light to show His complete vastness. We should marvel at this and not complain when we are limited in some way. God can see all the hues of light, and the entire spectrum He created from the vibrations that move the ground around us, to those that penetrate our bodies without our knowing, such as Gamma rays.
Just as God gives life to everything in His creation, so too light is essential for most of God’s creation. Once again, we find that light that man sees is limited in scope compared to God, but it still represents an aspect of God in its operation.
God enlightens us to all things. He provides us all knowledge and understanding and can give us any knowledge that He desires. Light, too, provides for our ability to gain knowledge through our eyesight, or even in the fingers of a Braille reader as they feel the bumps on the paper.
We are created with a variety of sensors to collect a variety of vibrations. Our ears collect signals that are a little higher than the ones we feel. Our eyes collect the highest frequencies of all our senses. Even the electricity of your house travels at a certain frequency. God created these things with the electrical pulsations that operate your fingers, toes, and hands in your nervous system.
Light, or the frequencies that produce light, are all around us, operate the entire universe in which we live, and in fact are produced by our Sun every second. The great power and complexity of God is visible in the understanding of the light spectrum alone. Now that we have a little better understanding of the light that God has given man, what of the light of God?
II. God’s light
We go back to Genesis 1:3 where we find that God created light. He created it as an image of His great vastness ad complexity. He uses this light, and what we see in it to display many things in the scriptures, about His creation, and therefore about himself. The Holy Spirit describes light as opposed to darkness in many cases to describe the believer as opposed to the unbeliever, or the things of God as opposed to the things of the world. We find light describing life in the scriptures as opposed to darkness being associated with and affiliated with eternal death. We find light described as a positive purpose in the word and darkness describing sin and depravity. We find light described as the Word, as opposed to the world of darkness, which is dominated by Satan. Let us look closer at some more specifics of God’s testimony and the many hues of light the Christian sheds on the world. As we do, we will find that although man’s light is finite, God’s light is infinitely greater.
We find the Light of God displayed here in this passage as we look through the beatitudes. We find the light of the poor spirit, which shines on all those who are haughty and arrogant. The light of those who mourn pours out of the believer to illuminate the empty spiritual condition of the world around them. The tender gentleness of the meek shines the light on the self-serving of the world and shows their false deprecation. This shows the true origin of happiness in man, serving others not self. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness seek to shine the light of purity wherever they go, and shun the darkness that would attempt to invade. The merciful believer shows wonderful Godly forgiveness, which reveals the evils of animosity, resentment, bitterness, and jealousy. The pure in heart shine the light of God over all the darkness that permeates this world and exposes the works of Satan. Finally, the peacemaker showing the love of God through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ dispels the notion that man is self-determinant.
God’s light is described as knowledge. In 2 Corinthians 4:6 we find that God gave us His light for knowledge of His glory. The light of God described here in this verse is the gospel of God given to believers to shine out of the darkness that is the world and its decrepit state. The light of God shines in our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom is in the believer. This light gives us knowledge and enlightens us in the things of God.
We are enlightened or given wisdom through the light of God. In Job 33:30 Elihu, mistakenly in this instance, points out a very raw truth to Job when he says that God sometimes puts men through difficult trials to bring back their soul from damnation. In this way, man is enlightened with the light of the living God. Wisdom is on the mind of the Psalmist in Psalm 19:8 where he writes that the laws of the Lord are right and His commandments enlighten the eyes. Wisdom, folks, is enlightenment, given by the light of God to a dark soul. In Ecclesiastes 2:13 we are told that just as wisdom dispels folly, so to light dispels darkness.
In Ephesians 1:18 we find that our eyes are enlightened to the hope of the gospel and the riches of heaven for the believer. This gospel light of God and the great gift of His salvation that provides life-giving light to our souls. We also see in Hebrews 6:4 that this light for the true believer is permanent. The light of the indwelling Holy Spirit in the believer will not be extinguished – it will never die therefore if it disappears, it was a false light.
Light is described as God’s salvation and power to the weak. The salvation depicted in Psalm 44:3 where the psalmist is recounting a great military victory of the inexperienced and mostly incapable Israelites whom were just freed from Egypt. They did not win the engagements they were in by the sword, even the ones fought with the sword. They won them because of the great light of the countenance of God and because God showed them great favor. This is the light of salvation from the Lord.
We find the law of God, which convicts our souls as the light. Proverbs 6:23 tells us that the very word of God, the scriptures, the Laws of God illuminate our sins and show us the need for another way to eternal life. The commandments themselves are the lamps that generate the light, but the law that is behind these commandments truly illuminates the sins of man, convicts his soul, and shows us the holy way of life.
God’s purity and His justice are described as light. Those who follow God and project His purity are also known as lights on earth in Proverbs 4:18. Isaiah invites the Israelites to walk with God in His house and in His light. Isaiah wants Israel to turn from their wickedness and come back to the Light that is the purity of God. This good and evil representation of light and darkness permeates scripture. We find in Isaiah 5:20 that those who call good evil and evil good, those who would say the darkness is a way to light, and the light is simply darkness, are fools and will be cursed. When we studied 1 John, we also noted this comparative frequently with light and darkness, good and bad, God and Satan.
The great power of God to sustain His creation is described as light that provides for life eternal. Psalm 36:9 talks of the Light of God and that we will see the fountain of life. We find that we will only be able to see this fountain of life if we are in His light, which is in heaven. We find descriptions of the light of the living in scripture as well such as in Psalm 56:13. This indicates the life in heaven where heavenly light of life for all eternity emanates from God to all His children. It is this light that describes Him and His provision for eternal life.
In Ephesians 4, we find a different hue of light that is shown upon other believers. In verse one simply walking in a manner that is worthy of the calling of the Lord. In verse two, humility to others shines the light of meekness that is called for in the Beatitudes. This beacon of testimony is colored by the gentleness and patience showing tolerance for one another in love. We are called to diligence in fellowship and to maintain unity in the Spirit of God where we are bound in His peace.
There are the differing hues of light displayed in the varied gifts of the church. There is the color of prophecy that has a different shade than that of service. The gift of teaching reflects a different color of God than exhortation. Exhortation has a different color than giving. Giving displays different colors than administration. All of these gifts display differing colors on the world, and all of these colors are part of the entire light of God that is in the Christian. Just as I am color blind, so too are certain people only given specific gifts. As one who is color blind, I would not be the one to pick out shades of brown that match because I would also include shades of green. The gifts, therefore, are also not immediately interchangeable, and the colors of God’s light are not interchangeable. Nothing, no work or service therefore, replaces the color of the salvific work of the Savior on the cross.
There are the hues that depict the fruits of the spirit. When we look at the light that is displayed as the fruits of the saved spirit in Christ, again we find wondrously different pictures of the great vastness of our God as He lives in us. Just as we learned a few weeks ago concerning freedom, Paul tells us that we are called to exhibit freely the fruits of the spirit. We are free to do so selflessly, where we were not until His salvation. As you see light here before you, around you, amongst you today. As this light has the ability to shine and brighten even the darkest of corners, so too we should find the fruits of the spirit exhibited by the believer. As light pushes back darkness to the fullest extent of it’s power, so too the testimony of the fruits of spiritual salvation should push back the darkness of Satan’s blindfold on the world. The bright yellow of golden love coupled with the reds that depict joy. As the peace of the deep blues give us comfort in the face of darkness, because it is mixed with the violet of patience and kindness, and soft purples of gentleness it pushes black pain behind us. As the bright white light of goodness, faithfulness, and self-control shine on the black that is evil, deceptiveness, and relativism. These, folks are the shining colors of Gods great rainbow in our lives.
The Christian, then has many hues of light that they display. There are distortions though (picture at left). In the light from the sun, there are often extra oxygen, hydrogen, or other molecules introduced into the light stream. These distortions, deformations, or impurities create black dots in the light spectrum. These impurities were found by a scientist named Fraunhofer. However, folks just as the Fraunhofer lines deform the light from the Sun, these colors are affected by the black tones just as your testimony is affected by the sin that runs through your life. Where we might seek to find the pure bright red of the Blood of Christ in our lives, we might find this testimony tainted with your personal desires, and your compromises. Why, Christian, with these perfect bright brilliant colors might you consider polluting them with flakes of black sin such that they become distorted. This, truly, is our problem and it presents itself to the world as God’s problem. Every time we compromise our light to permit a fleck or two of black sin to enter, it becomes more gray. The bright white light of purity and righteousness is speckled, therefore, with the sin that permeates our lives. We need to be on guard for our testimony. Do people see the light of Christ in all of your life folks? Is the light of Christ in your home, on your person, in your behavior, and displayed in your attitude? Do you display these blazing bright colors as your attributes?
Another question should be asked, are these challenges to you to look at your testimony and your way of life disconcerting. Are you squirming in your seat a little because you know that the colors in your rainbow that is your Christian life are dulled by your compromise and your unwillingness to change for Christ? If you are uncomfortable with someone challenging your testimony, I submit to you that your testimony, not the challenger, needs to be questioned. If you are a city on the hill, your light is dimming and others are not able to find you. The city on a hill should be like the lighthouse beacon, beckoning everyone to safety behind it’s walls. It should also shine a light that guides others past the dangers leading to the safe harbor. If your testimony is being challenged and you don’t like it, it is because your light is not doing it’s job. Your light is not shining brightly enough because it is tainted with specks of sin. Christian, one of the most dangerous and sly forms of sin involves compromise to the point of deception. This is why the Lord tramples salt that is tainted as we discussed last week, so it cannot effect living souls negatively. If your light, equally, is being hidden because of sin, you are in great peril. Not from the world or Satan, but from the Lord who will do what needs to be done to bring your beacon back on His planned course.
Just as the light in the home is supposed to be put on a lamp stand for all to see, so to the Christian in their home here in the church are too maintain their light in a fashion for all to enjoy. The light from your home will display in this fellowship. If your light is hidden at home, your light will be dulled here in this fellowship. You may even choose to extinguish it here because there is call for it to be brighter, yet you are not willing to hold it up on the lamp stand the way the scriptures call for it to be mounted. This, folks, is how we practice shining our light before men. We first must shine it in our homes. There will be more on this next week as we study the second part of the Christian’s light.
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