LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE Matthew 5:13-16 I JOHN 1:5 – 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. INTRODUCTION: A. What is light? 1. Can create artificial light 2. We know it is the absence of darkness 3. But really – What is light? Even scientists can’t tell you what light is B. Yet, God expects us to shine for Him 1. Matthew 5:14 – You are the light of the world 2. Matthew 5:16 – Let your light so shine before men 3. We are to reflect the glory of God in our lives C. Going back to the beginning 1. Genesis 1:1-3 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 2. On the very first day – God created light 3. If plants were to grow – They needed light 4. In looking at the food chain – All life depends on light – Animal and vegetable D. Light is necessary for Physical life – It is also necessary for our Spiritual Life 1. Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path 2. Psalm 119:130 – The entrance of Your words gives light E. The Word of God – What we call the Bible 1. Is the Spiritual Light that directs our way through this world that is in darkness because of sin 2. This LIGHT is offered to all who are groping around in spiritual darkness 3. This LIGHT points the way back to a closer walk with God 4. Just like the sun lights our path in the physical sense – God’s word lights our path in the spiritual sense BODY: I. GOD IS THE TRUE SOURCE OF LIGHT A. All light comes from God 1. The world was in darkness until God spoke light into existence 2. And when we talk of the spiritual world 3. 1 John 1:5 – 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. B. What if God had not spoken light into existence? 1. Cave – Total darkness 2. Always stumbling / groping / wandering aimlessly 3. But God lives in the radiance of light which He created 4. 1 Timothy 6:15-16 – He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light… C. God is light and dwells in unapproachable light 1. As Christians as we submit to His will 2. We are enlightened by the Light of His Word 3. Hebrews 10:32 - But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings… 4. We should glow from the Light of God’s Word – For God is Light II. WHO IS THE PERFECT REFLECTION OF THE LIGHT OF GOD? A. Jesus Christ – The Son of God – For Jesus too is Light 1. John 1:4 – In Him was life and the life was the light of men 2. John 1:9 – That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 3. Jesus Himself confirmed John’s statements in John 8:12 – I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. B. Jesus so perfectly reflected God that in John 14:9 – He who has seen Me has seen the Father C. The mission of Jesus was to lead us from darkness into the light of fellowship with God 1. John 12:46 – I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 2. Jesus as God in the flesh – Reflects the spiritual light from God 3. We should follow His example and reflect the light of God in our lives because we are children of God 4. Galatians 3:26-27 – For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ D. When we are baptized into Christ 1. We are clothed with Christ 2. Therefore the Light is not our – But God’s light through us E. Jesus revealed He was the Light of the World – Yet people rejected Him 1. John 3:19-21 – 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. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. 2. We need to come out of the darkness – Into the light – So our deeds may be done for the glory of God F. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:10 – our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel… G. Jesus IS the Light of the World H. And if we are to follow His example – As Christians, bearing His name III. SCRIPTURE TELLS US – YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD A. Matthew 5:16 tells us – Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven B. We are to Shine before men 1. But the light we shine is not our light 2. It is the light of God 3. Notice how Paul describes it – 2 Cor. 4:6 – 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. C. It is the light of God 1. In our hearts that shines in our lives as we live for Christ 2. That is why we are called by the gospel – 1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. D. As Christians we are to be different from the world 1. Because we reflect the light of Christ we are no longer walking in darkness 2. Colossians 1:13 – He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love 3. 1 John 1:5-7 – 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. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. E. As Christians we receive blessings from being in The Light IV. WE ALSO HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES FROM OUR LIFE IN THE LIGHT A. We are called to walk as children of Light 1. Ephesians 5:8 – For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light… 2. We are called to be different from the world – Philippians 2:14-16 – Do all things without complaining and disputing, 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. B. We are to Shine the Light of the Gospel to a world darkened from sin 1. Acts 13:47 – For so the Lord has commanded us: I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth. 2. One of the reasons for the resurrection of Christ – Acts 26:23 – That the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. C. As the world looks as us – as Christians 1. The world needs to see the Light of God reflected in our lives 2. T-Shirt – Be the moon – Reflect the Son D. We are the Light of the World – Let our Light so Shine
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 05:39:13 +0000
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