Light of the World (Matthew 5:14-16)

The Christian Life as Infiltration, Not Isolation

Alrighty. Well, if you were with us last week, you will recall that we talked about what Jesus meant when He referred to us, believers, as the salt of the earth. And how that meant that we are a preservative, that we are meant to be here on this earth to restrain the death and decay that is all around us.

And in light of that, if you remember, we acknowledge that the Christian life is about infiltration and not domination. We are to infiltrate this world, not through the power of this world, not through might and the things that this world perceives as power and control, but the way that Jesus has prescribed, a very upside down perspective.

And so today, as we continue our study through the Sermon on the Mount, I want us to see and acknowledge that the Christian life is not about infiltration, but is actually about infiltration, not isolation.

I'm getting my slogans backwards. Infiltration, not isolation. So let's go ahead, if you have your copy of God's Word, open it up to Matthew chapter 5. We're going to be looking at verse 14, starting in verse 14 this morning, Matthew 5, 14.

Jesus the Light of the World

Jesus says, You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

This is the reading of God's Word. Let's go once again to our Father and ask that He would illuminate our hearts and minds to His truth. Lord, thank You once again for this time. And Lord, as we worship You through opening up Your Word and learning from You, God, I pray that You would open our minds and our hearts up to hear and see Your truth.

God, I pray that You would guard me from error, that I would speak only truth from Your Word, and it would be honoring to You. In Christ's name, Amen. You are the light of the world. There are a number of implications to Jesus' statement here that You are the light of the world.

Yet none that are more clear than the fact that when Jesus says this, He is saying that you and I, if we are in Christ, are the only light in an otherwise dark world. And again, as you remember last week, we spoke about the state of the world.

How because of Adam, because Adam sinned in the garden, both physical and spiritual death really has overtaken all of humanity. Spiritual death. That we are dead in our trespasses and sins. And the fact that physical death is here also.

And where there is death, there is darkness. But not only is this world in darkness because they were born in Adam, which is the result and cause of them being in the darkness in the first place. Not only are they in darkness, they are darkness because they love the darkness.

They love the darkness. We are born into it and then we grow and we love it. We love that darkness. Jesus said so Himself in John 3 in verse 19. He said, and this is the judgment. We are all under judgment because of that darkness.

The light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light. Because their works were evil. You see, they love the darkness because the world, the man left to himself, he knows that everything that he does, everything that he is, everything that he thinks and everything that he loves is complete and utter evil.

Everything.

It's pure evil. Now they would never admit that. And sometimes it doesn't seem as that's the case because people seem to do externally good deeds, don't they? It's not always complete and total chaos because of the restraint that God has on this earth that He's using the church, as we talked about last week, as infiltrating as the salt that's restraining the decay.

So there is a restraint. But no one wants to admit that they love the darkness. So how do we know it's true that they love the darkness? How can we be so sure that they love it so much? Because the law of God is written on their hearts.

And because the law of God is written on their hearts, every man stands condemned. Every man. Every man stands condemned. The atheist, the agnostic that says in his heart there is no God but he knows good and well that there is a creator, that there is one that is going to judge and he is going to answer to that.

He knows that condemnation is coming. And that's why he so adamantly opposes that God because he loves the darkness. And the law of God written on their hearts and every man is condemned. They know that they're condemned and that they know about the judgment.

And because they know this, they will do everything in their power to stay in the darkness. They will fight to stay hidden in the shadows of the darkness. They are convinced that that darkness is their friend because it keeps their conscience from coming forth and bearing weight on them that they know that their works are evil and their works deserve judgment.

They know this so they love that darkness. It's like a child with a security blanket guarding them from the holiness of God. They don't want to be exposed to the holiness that is God. Even Moses, remember when he came down from the mount after God had given him the law and he comes down.

What did they have to do? He even had to cover his face because the people of Israel didn't even want to look on his face because he glowed because the light was shining from him, the light of God. And they hate that light and they love the darkness.

Now you and I, if we are in Christ this morning, we were once in that state. Do you remember it? I was talking to one person this morning that does remember it well. I know most of us in here remember how we were drawn to that darkness.

We loved it. We were once a part of it. Paul said over in Ephesians 5 .8, he said, for at one time you were darkness. He's speaking to believers. You were darkness. Notice that Paul doesn't say in that passage, at one time you were in darkness.

He says at one time you yourself were darkness. Because not only are we born into the darkness because of the sin of Adam and not only do we love the darkness because of our ongoing sin because that being our nature and we want to hide from the very presence and glory of God, but we ourselves and humanity itself is darkness.

There is no light. And this is why the world's philosophy of look into your heart, look into yourself, find your truth, right? Find your inner peace, self, self, self. That's why this is so dangerous because you remember it.

Look back. Look back before Christ. Look at your heart. Look at yourself. Looking into yourself to try and find any peace. All you're going to find is darkness and that's what the world does. They continue because they are in darkness and they continue to think that they have some solution for the problem, but yet they never come up with a solution.

They're very good at acknowledging there's a problem. They know that they're distressed. They know they're under anxiety. They know they're under pressure. They know they're under condemnation. They know there's a problem, but they can never actually present a solution to that problem.

None of the world's philosophies do, do they? Think about it for a moment. The world never has a solution to a problem, even if they can acknowledge the problem. And so when they say look to yourself, they're telling a person to look deep within their own heart when their own heart is darkness itself.

The world is darkness. So if a man is born into darkness and loves the darkness and is himself darkness, then what hope does mankind have?

Well, we know, don't we?

Because we're gathered here this morning to look to that hope. It's that hope that the light shined into the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. That's the hope that the world has. And Jesus is telling us here on the Sermon on the Mount that we are the representation of that light.

We are the light, the only light. The only light that this world has is right here in this room this morning and in churches gathered across the world. That's it. That's all they have. And in order to understand what Jesus is saying here, I would like for us to identify four things in these three verses that hopefully help gear our minds and focus our attention into the fact that the Christian life is about infiltration and not isolation.

Because if that world is darkness, what do they need, even if they don't want it?

Light.

So let's look at the first one. I want us to see the source of the light. Look at our passage here, verse 14. Jesus says, you are the light of the world. The only light of the world. As a matter of fact, turn in your Bibles over to the gospel according to John.

John 8. We're going to start in verse 12. John 8, verse 12. I want us to see Jesus' words here in another place. Starting there in verse 12, this is Jesus speaking. He says, I am the light of the world.

Wait a second. Didn't He just say over in the Sermon on the Mount that we're the light of the world? And here He's saying that He's the light of the world. He even reaffirms this idea and actually clarifies it for us here the next chapter over in chapter 9, verse 5.

He says, as long as I am in the world, speaking of Himself, I am the light of the world. You're noticing a theme here. Jesus is continually going back to this phrase, light of the world. He speaks of Himself as light of the world.

What is He doing? What is He saying when He says that I am the light of the world? He's contrasting a dark world with who He truly is. Who He truly is in and of Himself. John actually says this over in 1 John 1 .5.

You can jot this down. He says, this is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you. This is the message that Christ has given them and He's proclaiming it. He says that God is light. And in Him is no darkness at all.

God is light. What is Jesus telling us when He says, I am the light of the world? He's telling us that He's the source of light because He is God. Because Christ is God. And He's telling these people when He says, I am the light of the world.

And they're listening to Him and these people that have seen the Old Testament, they know that God is the God of light. And they're seeing Him say, I am the light of the world. He is saying that He is God.

And then our passage there in John 8. In verse 12 He goes on. Jesus says, whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. What's Jesus saying here? He's saying for those of us that trust in Him, for those of us that follow Him.

What does it mean to follow Christ? It means to follow what He has told us. To follow what He has laid out for us. That He is the only means to the Father. And trust in Him. And so us that lay our faith, or we get faith from Him to have faith in Him, repent of our sins and we are in Him, we are indwelled by and carry the very same light that came to bring life.

God Himself. The Son. That is light. He is light. And we now carry that light within us. We who were once in darkness. We who were once darkness itself, are now light of the world. We are a conduit that carries with it the light that brings life.

Think about that for a second. That should give you great hope. Because if we are in Christ, we may be in a dark world, but it just glows out of us because He is in us. If we are in Christ, then Christ is in us.

And we are representing that light. And those particles of light are beaming from us. They are coming out of our eyes. They are coming from our skin. They are coming out of our mouth. They are emanating out of you as if you are radioactive.

And you can't help it.

It's inevitable.

If Christ is in you, He is going to shine. He is going to shine forth out of you. And so we are the light of the world. Which leads us to our next point. The position of the light. Imagine with me here for a moment that you are a weary traveler.

That you have been walking for miles, for days, for months. Maybe years. And now it's the middle of the night. It's pitch black out. You're not sure which direction that you should go because you've lost any resource, any light.

And now you've even lost the trail that you were on. And the ground is getting rocky. And it's getting difficult. And you're scared. It's pitch black. You're alone. You hear the wolves in the background in the distance howling.

And you know it's inevitable that they're eventually going to find you because you're wasting away out here lost in the wilderness. You're completely without food, without water.

Do you feel it?

That feels hopeless, right?

That would feel like a hopeless state.

You are in a hopeless place. But now all of a sudden as you're walking, as you're crawling, as you're climbing and you're cutting your hands, you're busting up your knees and you get to the top of a ridge and you look ahead and all of a sudden there's a glow up on the hilltop.

A city. Lit up.

The windows. People. Resources. Safety. You see that city. What do you think in your mind there? You think this is a symbol of hope. This is a symbol of rescue for me. I see that in the distance. Because there's so much imagery in what Jesus says next here as soon as He tells them that you are the light of the world.

Look at it there in our passage in Matthew 5. The second part of verse 14. He says, A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. The world in and of itself hates the light that's shining from that city.

They despise it. They long to destroy it. The world wants to destroy that city on a hill because it's shedding light into the darkness and they love the darkness. And they despise that light. But notice there's a lot here.

Notice that Jesus, He says, He acknowledges the position of the city. There's some imagery that we can read into this of what Jesus is saying. Notice that it's positioned on the top of a hill. What does that mean?

It's the high ground. It's an impenetrable fortified position. A city that is set up on a hill has the high ground. They can ward off other forces that come to wreak havoc on their city, to destroy their city.

But they are set up on a hill. And though the world longs to invade and to destroy that city, they will never succeed. Now it sometimes seems like they succeed, doesn't it? Because they catch the occasional wanderer outside of the city with his lantern walking out into the wilderness shedding light.

Christians get killed. Christians get destroyed. But ultimately they cannot destroy that light. They cannot destroy that city. It is a fortified position up on a hill. And their failure to succeed at destroying that light and destroying that great city up on a hill leads to those who God is drawing, that wonder that we just spoke about, that imagery, that is now seen and knowing that this darkness is leading them to death.

They no longer have the same hatred or love for the darkness that they once had because God is bringing them to the end of themselves. He is pointing out that they see nothing, that they are not capable of helping themselves.

They are not capable of providing for themselves. They can now see that this is going to end in destruction for me. And they find themselves wandering out in that darkness looking for hope when they see this beacon of light that illuminates their way up on this great hill.

And what do they do?

They run to that light.

They make their way. The path is now straight. They know exactly where to go. I've got to get to that light.

I want that light.

I long for that light. It's like a lighthouse shining in the distance to a weary sailor. Most of the world is going to hate that light. They want to run from that light. But it's on a hill. They can't seem to get away from it.

Even if they wanted to destroy it, they can't. But there are some that find themselves at the end of themselves knowing that they are destitute in that darkness and that light is hope for them. And that's what we're left here to be.

And Jesus doubled down on this imagery. Look at verse 15.

He says,.

Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Notice something about Jesus' analogy here. That this light is lit regardless. The light is lit.

Whether it's on the stand or it's under the basket, it glows. You can't help but glow. You can't help but shine the light of Christ because Christ is in you and He is stronger than anything that we are or once were.

And that light is going to glow. That light is going to shine. But the question is, whether we are going to live a life of infiltration into that room with the light that shines from us or of isolation.

There's such a propensity towards isolation in us, isn't there? To pull away.

To hide.

We see extreme examples of this. Groups like the Amish that completely detach from society. They pull away from the world. They don't care to be light in a dark world. They just want to isolate and keep away from the darkness and all that is out there.

But in lesser extreme ways, we too have a propensity towards isolation by seeking to minimize the brightness of this light that's coming forth from us. Think about it for a second. I think every one of us at certain points in our lives have carefully woven and created a very comfortable basket to wear out.

It's Jesus' analogy. Put a basket over the light. We have prepared that. We have made a basket that we have put great care into. We have formed it just right to wear it out comfortably out into the world.

One that conveniently dims the light that shines so brightly out of us. But have you noticed that even then you're not able to extinguish it completely? Even then, even when we take great care to hide that light from the world so that we can avoid persecution, we can avoid ridicule, we can avoid mockery, we can avoid the hatred that the darkness has for the light.

Even when we do that, we cannot completely extinguish it. And what do I mean by that? Well, haven't you ever been around a group of unbelievers and worn your carefully crafted basket? You still don't fit in, do you?

You don't fit in. They know you don't fit in. And they can't put their finger on it. They can't acknowledge what it is because they're just not sure. They just know that there's something completely different about you.

You don't talk like them. You don't think like them. You don't even look like them. Even when you do, it's not natural. Even when you fall into those times maybe where you're, we call it backslidden, right?

Where you are not walking with the Lord and you start to take on some of the characteristics of the world. You start to talk a little bit like the world. At least you're using a lot of the same language that the world uses.

You carry yourself the way the world does. You know what's funny? Is they know it isn't natural. You know it's not natural. You know that it's not normal. It doesn't fit for you because what's happening?

It's because the light is shining through the holes in that basket that you created. It shines forth whether you like it or not. Because what is darkness? The absence of light. It's the absence of light.

And any light that spills out is going to shine brightly into a dark room. You turn on a nightlight in a room for your kids at night and you can see in that room. It's dim, but you still have light and it shines out.

Wearing that basket out and trying to look like the world and trying to speak like the world and talk and think like the world is basically like going to Walmart and buying a wolf costume during Halloween and putting it on a lamb and sending them into the wolf's den.

It's absurd. Those wolves are going to know right away. They're not going to be fooled. They're going to tear that lamb to pieces is what they're going to do. So we can't hide this light within us. We cannot hide it no matter what we try and do.

The light of Christ is always going to start to shine through. The question is are we going to try and restrain that light and hide that light as best we can? We often do, don't we? Look at verse 15 again.

Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the room. So why do we try and hide that light? Because our position here on earth as light, as representing the light of Christ, the light that is God himself shining forth from us here on earth, our position is the top of the hill for all to see so that the weary may come and find their way.

Our position is on a stand that illuminates the darkness in the house. All the corners and crevices of shadows and darkness, we want to illuminate there on the stand. And even though the world hates the light, here's the funny part.

They still benefit from that light. They still benefit from it. That's why we're infiltrating. We're bringing the light. The light is infiltrating the room. It's taking over the darkness because the darkness is merely the absence of light.

And what happens when the light comes on? There's great benefit. Even though they don't want to see, even though they don't want to look at the light of Christ, they are still reaping benefits from that light being on.

We see it all around us. The great medical advances that the world produces, the technological advances, all of the things that seem to be externally good things, they're reaping benefits because the light.

Because you take every Christian outside of the world, you remove the word of God from the scenario, you remove the light of this world who is Christ, who is now seen through us out of this world, and I'm telling you it's pure, undefiled darkness.

And they would eat themselves. They would completely and utterly destroy themselves because of their love for that darkness. And so they benefit from this light in the room. This should give us courage and excitement to know that I don't need to hide this light under a basket.

I don't need to carefully weave this comfortable basket to wear over the light that is shining forth from me that I can't even control. I need to set it out on the stand. I need to be at the top of the hill.

I need to be a beacon for the people around me because I am benefiting them even in their own hatred towards me and their ridicule and their mockery. This is why God has left us here. Again, how do they benefit from this light?

Well, this is our third point. The purpose of the light. The purpose of the light. Look at verse 16 there in chapter 5. Jesus says, In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works.

This word good is translated from a Greek word, kalos. This word carries with it not so much quality works. It's not what Jesus is saying. Your quality works. It carries with it this understanding of attractiveness.

An attractiveness. That's what the world is seeing in us. Letting the world see the beauty of what the Lord has worked in us.

Right?

Because it's not us. We're not producing that light. We're not the one making it brighter or conjuring it up. All we're doing is not wearing a basket over it, not trying to hide it. We're just representing what Christ has done in us and it is not the good works.

It's not the works that we do. It's the attractiveness through our life because the light is shining forth from us. This is what people see and they benefit from this. John MacArthur said, To see good works by us is to see Christ in us.

One thing we have to acknowledge though is that these good works are not the light. We tend to get this backwards. We tend to think that if we do good deeds, if we do good things, then that in and of itself is going to be attractive to the world.

We think that's the light. The good deeds, the helping the poor, doing all of the things that are perceived as externally good are not the light. We are merely doing these attractive deeds, these good things that God has called us to do because of the light, not to be light.

We do them to draw to the light and we ultimately are doing them for no other purpose other than our fourth point, which is the goal of this light. If we do any good deed or any good work, anything outside of this goal,.

It is sin.

Anything. The best thing that we have to offer God is what? Filthy rags. Anything that we do outside of the goal of this light is sin. What is this goal? Look at the last part there of verse 16. It says, And give glory to the Father who is in heaven.

This is the goal of the light.

Anyone can do externally good deeds. The question is why are we doing these good deeds, these attractive deeds? Why are we to let this light, the light of life pour out of us for all to see? No matter what the cost, the persecution, the mockery, the hatred.

Why are we to do this? To glorify our Father who is in heaven. This light is shining forth from us. Christ suffered all of these things and more. He suffered far greater than anything that comes upon us in this life.

And why did He suffer? Because He is the light. The darkness hated the light. Man hates that light. And because they hated Him, what did He say? They're going to hate you. Because His light shines from us.

And we are to let that light shine. And we are to glorify God in that light. That's the goal of everything in this world. What is the purpose of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever? This is what the goal of this light shining forth from us.

This is why God has left us here and not taken us out the moment that He elected and set His love and affection upon us. No, He's leaving us here as a representation of Himself because He Himself is shining forth from us.

And we will undergo hatred from the world because He did. Because we are representing Him, but we glorify God in the midst of it, don't we? We are glorifying God. So my question for us today is that are we seeking to mask this light that shines forth from us to avoid suffering for Christ's sake?

Are we seeking to mask it? I know all of us fall prey to that, so often I do. I don't speak when I should. I don't live the way I should. Or are we seeking to infiltrate this dark world with an unadulterated light of life?

The light of Christ? That's how we're left to live. And that's what brings God glory. That's what we long to do is glorify God through that. Now I have to say, on the other hand, you may still be in darkness this morning.

I would be foolish to think that all of us are truly in Christ today. But I would say if you find yourself not really understanding what this is about and feeling the hopelessness of darkness, then praise God, because He's brought you to the city on the hill today.

The light of Christ.

The light of life.

To this place where you get to see who He is out of the darkness. Look to the light of life, Jesus. Trust in Him. Trust in the work that He accomplished at the cross. Repent of your sins. Repent of your love for the darkness.

And come to the light and receive it. It's as simple as that. Call out to Him. And then that light will shine forth from you to no longer be in darkness ever again. That light just permeates everything that you're around.

Everyone that you come in contact with that is hiding in the shadows of the darkness and loves that darkness shrieks when you come within their presence because of the light of Christ being exposed. Live that to the glory of God.

Live that to the glory of our great and merciful, kind and gracious King that could have left us in this darkness but gave us the light of life, which is Christ. It's something worthy of worship this morning, isn't it?

We should never get over this. In light of this great truth, let us prepare to go to the Lord's table together. John, over in 1 John 1 -7 said,. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If you walk in light this morning, this table is for you. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, that you have put your faith and trust in Him and Him alone and you are in good standing with your church, this table is for you because we have fellowship with Him.

And this is a representation of that fellowship. His body, His blood, the very essence of who He is,.

We are a part of.

And because of that, we share in it together, don't we? This is a together thing. We share together. So let's pray for our time. And then just as we do every week, Pastor Jeremiah, you'll be on this side, I'll be over here.

You can come up and take the elements. And once you've taken those, prayed, gone to the Lord, and worshipped in this matter together, then we will come back together and close out our service.

Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to You once again. We thank You. We thank You that Your light, the light of life, is shining forth from us. Because if we are in You, then You are in us. Lord, help us not to hide that light.

Let it shine as a beacon in the night, in the darkness, even though the persecution and the hardships may come our way because of the hatred for the light. We know that You have an elect from every tribe, nation, and tongue that have weary travelers out in the darkness seeking for hope, God.

And they are going to look and they will see that beacon, that city on a hill, Lord, let us be this. Let this church be that city on a hill, a light, a beacon of hope in the darkness that they can run to and be presented and see the very presence and the very essence of that light which is Your Son, God, which is the light of life.

Oh, God, help us.

And Lord, we pray right now as we go to the table, as You've prescribed for us, that we would continue this worship of You. God, that we would take of the wine and the bread as a representation of Your body and Your blood, that blood that was shed for us, for our sin.

And we could in this moment just get a small glimpse of an experience of being one with You and one with each other. We thank You, God. Be honored in our worship.