The Light of the World — Don McClure

The Beatitudes and the Light of the World

Turn with me if you will this evening to Matthew chapter 5. Where we've been going regularly. And as you get there Just for the fun of it, why don't you stand and we're gonna do this together just to kind of it will see how well we're how much we're kind of getting the flow of the Sermon on the Mount and.

And all kind of started and then. If you need to look at it look at it. But as particularly when we get into the Beatitudes the Blessed see. Just give your mind a little maybe stretch and see how much of it.

Maybe you have grasped. This is one of those type of messages that I think is so worthy of us to really Do all we can to commit all of it. We can to memory. But here we have it says see the multitudes.

That there that Jesus he went up unto a mountain and when he was set his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth. And he taught them saying Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are ye hunger thirst. Don't mess with me. All right, hold it. I'm gonna give you one more chance here before you.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure at heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you. Rejoice be exceeding the great Heaven. For soul persecuted.

Would you quit for it? Okay I'll just get you. Yeah, the salt of the earth that the salt has lost its savor. Wherewith shall it be salted. This henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of men.

Jesus Calls His Disciples the Light of the World

Ye are the light of the world. Simply the set upon a hill cannot be hid. Neither two men light a candle and put it under a bushel. But on a candlestick and he giveth light to all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father. Which is in heaven? Father we do. Thank you for this message. We asked Lord that You would make this so familiar with us.

The great truths of this. How important Jesus this message is to you? That we understand it and the long to live it. Long to see this message written within our hearts within our lives. Feed us with it father.

We ask it in Jesus name. Amen, you may be seated. Well here as we pick it up this evening I won't go through them again. Hopefully you're familiar with them and by now pretty well, but anybody that has really experienced the beatitudes Within their life that is those that are poor in spirit Mourn over their sin have a meekness before God.

Hunger and thirst after righteousness are filled with God then as God fills them remember they become merciful pure and heart a Peacemaker and then though as these things happen though Then the world may not like it may not receive it in ease, but Jesus said don't worry about it.

They didn't love me either. They just as a servant is not greater than his master. They hated me. They'll ate you. So bless her you've meant to revile you. Persecute you say all men are evil against you falsely for my sake that's how that's what they did to the prophets before rejoice and be exceedingly glad and Then now he looks at this person and as we were in last week He said you are the salt of the earth.

The salt is lost its savor. It stands forth good for nothing. Be here wherewith shall it be salted, but it's good for nothing. But now to be cast out and trodden into the foot of men now he looks and he says to me one of the most amazing sorts of a statement here when you look at this as He turns now and he looks at his the disciples there to pass on but he said you are the light of the world.

What an amazing thing to look at somebody and actually tell them they're the light of the world. Awesome. I think when you stop to think of it. It is he's not looking here when you look at Jesus taking this little group of men.

These guys that the rest of the world will look at is not much Kind of a conglomeration of fishermen and tax collector and guys that have been in all sorts of experiences of life. Labors common people by every anybody's evaluation.

But is he looking them now to look at them and to say you're the light of the world as he's looking at the world. He's looking at the whole planet in a sense and he's not looking at somebody now. That's a great politician some great financier somebody, you know huge you be a military genius.

Somebody there that has great power great authority great dominion in the world. He's looking at these common people and he says you are the light of the world. What an amazing sort of a thing when you stop and think of this is is as he looks at them.

He says you are it at this point is he looks at these people that have been poor that they're poor in spirit. They've mourned over their sin. There's a meekness before God. There's a new hunger Within for God within their heart within their life.

They want to be filled with him and as they're being filled and the processes happen. There's a merciful spirit. There's a purity of heart. There is a peacemaker happening within them and he's looking at them and he says and now when you can take these ingredients that have been happening within you.

Within your heart or within your life. He looks and he says you're the light of the world. What you know the truths that you know the life that you have experienced. You are not you might be or you could be or maybe someday you will be he looks at them right now.

You're it you're the hope of the world. You're the light of the world. You and what you know what you've experienced. You don't have to pretend it to be a light. You don't have to act it. You don't have to be some sort of a faker about it.

You are the light of the world. What you now know what you now experience is the greatest truth in all the world. You know more about God. More about his love more about redemption. More about why God created the world.

More about what happened to man when he fell more about how God restores a man conforms a man. Does his grace in his work within a man, you know more about the purposes of God the plan of God than anybody.

You're the light of the world. You're the hope of the world. And on one hand we may look at our lives and feel, you know, I don't feel like a light of the world. I don't know how many of you feel like boy when you walk in your ideas.

Look, you know, hey, I'm the light of the world. What do you think folks? Most of us, you know our own process. We don't sit around and think that way. It doesn't happen. We're looking at our own life and we're struggling our own walk with the Lord.

We're looking to maybe at our own marriage our own home. We're looking at our struggles of paying the bills. Keeping a walk with God trying to know his word trying to build a relationship with him. Trying to be some sort of a witness for the most part from our own perspective feeling we don't do that good of a job at it.

Feeling there is so much undone. Feeling like a little if anything, I'm a hypocrite. And to have God have him actually look at me and say you're it. You're the light of the world. You're the hope of the world and you know the amazing thing here even though with all of our struggles and all of our weaknesses and all of our failures and all of our Humanity to stop and think that they're Jesus and even you know with with people like the apostles the disciples then and you and I today.

It's like he takes the keys of the kingdom puts him in our hand and he says now you're it. You're the hope of the world. You're the light of the world. You possess more light than Socrates then Plato then Aristotle.

Then Sartre then Kierkegaard all of them put together, you know more truth, you know more about existence why you exist. How man can deal with his issues in his life and his problems while we're always Struggling with these things to stop and realize that a person that knows this he looks at us and he says you're it.

And though I may find I'll tell you one of the things about me. I mean, I don't know how often I feel like a terrible failure. Feel tremendous inadequacies feel like what I feel that God would desire and expect of me constantly.

Fall short. In fact, I don't know that ever. When I ever I've looked at the end of the day and said Lord Boy, we really did it today, didn't we? I Think he'd look and say well you did but don't include me in it, you know or something.

A lot of time, you know, but and and what we did wasn't really close to the plan. But in my mercy and grace, yeah, we got a little done maybe. But always feeling so insufficient so inadequate and I'm so grateful.

That on one hand the Lord when he looks at me one of the thing I do know. I know I love him. I know I fail. I know I let him down, but I know that the deepest truth. I have ever known. The greatest accomplishment that I've ever had in my life the most wonderful awesome thing I've ever known as I've come into a knowledge of Jesus Christ of his love of his mercy and his Grace, and I know I appreciate him.

I know I love him with all my heart. I failed him. I let him down. I'm always inadequate. Never good enough in the sense of what I ought to be. But I also know that he has looked at me and he loves me for it.

He looks at me and he says that they're all by itself. Makes you the light of the world. You have the greatest truths you have the message of hope you have the message that the world Needs and so often, you know, we look at our lives and win and even what we you know Think is so important, you know I want to be that great athlete or that great musician or that great politician or that great other person that I think would be light.

That I think would be so important so valuable to the planet. Realize who is more valuable than somebody that can look at another person and introduce them to the love of God. They can introduce them to God's mercy and God's grace and on these terms of the Beatitudes to be able to look at them and say You know, have you failed?

Yeah. Well, you know I have to. Do you mourn over it? Is there any it is it produced a meekness before God you have the Formula and I'm not to reduce the Bible down to a formula. But you have the truths the fundamentals are the greatest things in all of the world.

And when we begin to comprehend that we begin to understand that to realize here Jesus. And by the way, when he says this he says you are the light of the world. It's emphasized there actually in the Greek.

It is something to say ye and ye alone are the light of the world. The person that has these things they are the only lights in the world. There is no other light in the world. I Mean the world is a very dark place obviously.

And when you look at it to realize there the Lord looks at all of this darkness and the message that the Christian has that Is experienced the Beatitudes at all within their life that knows poverty of spirit that knows any mourning over their sin that knows a meekness Before God that has a hunger and a thirst for them.

They have the greatest truth the greatest life the greatest hope of all. They again know who made the world why he made the world what went wrong with the world what he did to fix it. How I come to him how he works within us and when we stop to realize I mean on one hand It's it's it's no small thing in a sense.

It's an awesome thing and it fits when Jesus says I am the light of the world. That fits but now when I become a follower of his and he's going to heaven and now he turns to you and now he turns to me and he says You're the light of the world.

It ought to be something that now we begin to realize this is why we exist. This is the real reason for which we exist to know him and to make him known to share his life. Oh, we have other things we do.

But those should not be the things that were wrapped up in. We've got our you know, we got whatever it is, you know nets to mend we've got careers to have we've got fields to plow. We've got responsibilities, but in the process of that all the way through it God.

I want to be a light wherever I go whatever it is that I'm up to and here essentially what has happened is that through the Beatitudes a person is becoming a transmitter of the light we come into a union and a fellowship.

What is actually happening here wonderfully through the The Beatitudes the whole reason for which we live to stop and realize that Jesus looks at every one of us is you're the light of the world. Maybe you came in here and I wonder why I'm alive.

Well, if you know the anything of the Beatitudes, you know, the greatest reason of all to live more than any Buddy else is accomplishing politically militarily financially. Whatever pieces of the planet they have ever taken over and they own they control, you know more.

You have a greater reason to live. You will one day be able to look back on your life. More than somebody who maybe came along and was the richest man in the world. I think of somebody and you listen to some of these testimonies of you know, some of the great and wealthy people that have ever lived and Then you look at their lives and at the end of it.

What did they ever really do? What light did they shed into the world? What blessings did they bring into it? And oftentimes they have absolutely nothing. They look at the end of their life and says is this it?

They accomplished nothing. But the person who knows anything of the Beatitudes at all within their life. They know why they're here. And then Jesus looks at them now, you know as he says you are the light of the world.

He then goes on and he says a city that is set on a hill cannot be hit. He now looks at somebody now. Jesus says not only are you the light of the world? But they're little to the disciples know that in the next few, you know weeks thereafter Jesus's resurrection and then his ascension and then the outpouring of the Spirit he would wanted to take their lives and set their life on a hill and Make it something that the world would have to take notice of.

He was gonna put them in all sorts of Experiences in life and he was gonna they were gonna he was gonna make of them a city essentially that would be set upon a hill. And here if anybody on one hand, I think somebody that when we would stop to realize again with maybe the disciples I don't think they thought that their lives were important that they were strategic to the world.

They probably wondered just like anybody else why they existed in many ways. Particularly the person that's poor in spirit mourns about it has a meekness within them a brokenness in their own heart in their own life.

They tend to look around and wonder they don't think much of themself. But yet at the same time Jesus also said whosoever exalts himself will be a base. But whosoever humbles himself will be exalted. He said you watch what I'll do with there's somebody that is poor in spirit.

They mourn over it. That produces a meekness. They begin to hung after me says I will take their life and that humility and that brokenness. And I will take it. I'll use them. I'll put them in the most amazing places.

I'll use them in the most amazing ways. Even though Paul one time as he commented to those in Corinth in 1st Corinthians 125 Paul He says, you know, the foolishness of God Is wiser than men the weakness of God is stronger than men for you see your calling brethren.

How that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world that can found the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world it can found the things which are mighty the base things of the world and the things that are despised hath God chosen yea the Things which are not to bring to not the things that are that no flesh should go glory in his presence.

Paul one day looked Around and he looked at the people that God was using to revolutionize the world. He looked at the people that were going off to work mending their nets, you know living their life before God.

Growing in him and basically says not many rich not many noble not many famous not many great people. And he says but the amazing thing is that God takes the weak things of the world the foolish things of the world.

The things that are not to bring to not the things that are. And remember one time years ago a fellow came up to me. He says you believe the Bible. I said, yes, I believe the Bible. And he says do you believe God uses the foolish things the world.

I said, yes. Do you believe he uses the weak things the world. I said, yes. Do you believe he used the things or not to bring to not the things that are said? Yes. He says does God use you and I slugged him.

But anyway, but but when we stop and and and and realize God just uses. Anybody that looks there and says God I long to be used. All I know is is I have I am now a vessel in which have been invested the greatest truths of all the world.

The love of God has become real to me. The hope of eternal life has become real to me the mercy of God the forgiveness of God the goodness of God. I have experienced it. It has come into my life. I don't know how good I am at it.

But I know I love it and I know it's part of me and when we find ourselves there. You know wanting to move out of the old life and therefore God. All right here I am. I offer myself to you and however you want to use it.

You go right on ahead and you use it. God he takes people essentially theologically in the world. There's four positions that people find themselves in condemnation. Justification sanctification and glorification we all come into the world in condemnation.

We're all condemned. We're all lost in it in our in our trespasses and sins. We're all dead. But then when we come to Christ and he forgives us it we're now Justified before God then as we offer our lives to him.

He then sanctifies that he sets it apart for God for his service. And then when he takes us home, he'll conform us to his image and we'll be glorified in him. But the wonderful thing is is that a person that has experienced the beatitudes.

That is that's poor in spirit. They're mourn over their sin. There's a meekness in their heart. They hunger and thirst. Those are essentially this processes through which a person moves from justification.

Consecrated for Service Rather Than Hidden

Or in the sanctification where the life becomes usable to God and when I'm looking saying God, I want you to use my life. This is what Jesus is looking at and wanting us to respond to it. He then goes on after he wouldn't when he says I want to set your life upon a hill.

He says neither to been light a candle and put it on a bushel. Under a bushel pardon me, but on a candlestick and it give it light to all that are in the house here. Jesus now looks and he says why would I light this candle?

He's looking at there at our lives. He said I want to use you. I want to use you wherever you go and he says why in the world would I ever think of taking a candle? Lighting it and then putting a bushel of putting it under something.

And he said why would I do that? Why would anybody do that? Nobody does that and he says when I take you and I am touching your life I'm filling you with my hope and my mercy and my love and my forgiveness.

It's that I might take your life and set it upon a hill. Not that it would just be shoved away useless hidden having no effect. But rather than that that just the same thing that you and I do with the light that it would be something that's important to Us it's almost like he's looking at says why light a light and then just hide it not use it.

You ever walk into your house or you go into a closet and when you come in there you find out for the last week. You left a light on that closet and you're realizing that lights been on all week. Nobody's been in there and you're mad at the light.

You know almost it's kind of like why did I paid for this light to be on all week long and it's been hidden the door. Has been shut what a waste. It's not just like you just look at it and and oh, well, who cares big deal.

I don't know about you or but it's just because I'm a Scotsman or something. But it's something there that I mean, I like to have an air conditioner. I like to have a heater. But if I leave for a few days and I forget to turn it off and I come back in the house is warm and I Realize it's been warm for three days for nobody.

I'm mad at my eater. I Want to what a waste of a eater? And I think here we look at the Lord and we realize he looks at us he says listen I'll take your life and I'll love you and I'll forgive you and I'll atone I'll draw you to myself.

I'll give you a hunger for me. But I want you to realize the potential of your own life the importance of your life this Strategy of your life you and you alone are the light of the world. I don't have other lights.

I don't have plan B. I have the body of Christ. I had those that I love those that I have forgiven those that I have regenerated. Those that have come to me that I poured my life and my love and my power and my mercy and my grace and my goodness.

Into you're it. I don't have another way. I'm gonna do it. I want to use you and. Then he takes us and he puts us out. And so often I imagine, you know many of you you live in an area. That's very dark maybe you maybe some of you work at a job and you're the only Christian around and Maybe some of you live in an apartment complex that you seem like you're the only Christian around.

And you're in all sorts of environments and you realize I'm the God. I need Christians get me around Christians. I mean I need it. I want it. He says no I'll draw you together here. We you know, but I mean and and we'll feed you and we'll get you around and we'll have you you'll have fellowship here.

But then I'm gonna take you and I'm gonna send you out. Where the dark places of the world are and I want to use you there. Tell me if you were for the city of Costa Mesa or Santa Ana or in some city if you were in charge as city lights.

Would you go get all the lights of the city? And just say hey, let's just put them all in one parking lot. So they can all have fellowship and they can all just look around there and where they're you know, sunglasses.

Whoa. It's just bright. Or wouldn't you take the lights and you would put him in the darkest hairpin? Corner to where two accidents tend to happen and where people they go and they do they easily get lost.

Lose their directions and you'd find him and want to put a dark place here in a dark place here. And then you would look at that light and you would place it in a place that if that light didn't shine.

Accidents could happen tragedies could happen and here when Jesus said ye and ye alone are the lights of the world and He says I don't want to just light a candle and put it under a bushel. I want you to begin to see the potential of your life and long to see that potential experience and Discovered and to enter into and I think one of the saddest things to me that I ever see is sometimes I see people literally Going around with their life as a Christian.

They've been born again. They've been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. They have been forgiven. They've been atoned for the highest price ever paid for anything in the entire existence of the planet.

Was paid for their redemption. Jesus Christ died in the cross for them and yet they're walking around wondering why am I here? What am I doing here? See, what do you mean? What are you doing here? You've got the greatest job in the world.

You're the light of it. You're the light of it and maybe you're a light that's over here in a dark place in your light. It's over here but when you sit there and realize God I don't think I'm gonna figure out a lot of the other reasons I'm here until I come up with the obvious one the greatest one.

I Am yours. Some of you when you leave here, you may go home to a family that's divided. You may you'll find yourself going to work tomorrow and there'll be struggles and tensions and heartaches and all sorts of problems around and you May wonder why am I here?

I think the Lord would like to say why are you there? There are people dying around you and you have You you know how to heal them. You have the message of redemption of forgiveness. You're the light of the world and when that begins to settle in I think that when we begin to realize and a light begins to go on within us that we look there and you God you Want to use me in my home?

Yes. You want me to share with people in the neighborhood? Yes. You could actually use my life to bring other people in the kingdom precisely I think when that begins to settle into somebody and Realize whatever else that they may want to be or wish they could be that isn't why we exist.

That isn't why we're you know, why we're here why we're around. I remember as a kid one of the I love sports and Once in a while, I'd feel like you know, I could do this. I want to do this. I want to make a career this till somebody hit me and I really know I don't want to do that one anymore or Something else would happen.

There's somebody too big for me or whatever else. But then one time I picked up golf some out another I decided I want to be a golfer. That's why I want to be on this planet. I want to be a golfer. I played every day every day for years.

Because I want and then I got actually got pretty good. Not great. Just pretty good. I won some tournaments did a few things like that. But then I really thought I'm gonna be a professional golfer. That's why I'm gonna be here and then I didn't get much better and then I realized, you know something I'm not that bad but at the same time there's at least a million guys that play this good at least a million and There's about a hundred that make a living.

I don't think I'm gonna do this. And I was so disappointed because I realized that there was something that I thought I really truly wanted to do and I wouldn't be able to succeed at it. And I oftentimes when I have football I wanted to be a great football player.

And the coaches never agreed they said well you can you know, well you can fill a hole and if you'll just hold your ground. You can do that pretty good. You're all right dad, but nobody's ever gonna pay you to fill the hole.

You know sort of a thing and I everything I tried to do. I don't know how good I ever could have been at it or not. But to stop and realize the greatest existence far greater than playing a stupid game.

Knocking when I look there and realize people actually they spend their entire life Knocking this little white ball around the place and say this is why I'm alive. Isn't this great and they pay me and they say no you just sold out for a stupid game.

Your existence for what you could have been. You missed it. I'm not saying that they're not a place for a wonderful Christian golfer. Yeah, I'm just saying though that with people that's all they're alive for.

It is not the reason we exist. I Remember I then I quit and I didn't play for years and then actually when I was in Redlands One of my elders loved to play golf and he one time he tried to get me playing size.

Okay, we'll try it and he took me out one time to play golf and He I hadn't been on this course. He'd played a lot and we get to the 18th hole and I'd done. All right for That I beat him, but anyway, but Anyway, he was we came down to the 18th hole and it's this long par -5 dogleg, right?

I didn't know how where to hit it and what the plan was it never played the course. But he tells me says all right what you want to do you hit it straight out here as far as you possibly can then You're gonna hit it and lay up there and then that the dogleg is way at the end and then you're gonna Go into the green.

I said, okay, and I got up and I hit that thing and I really tagged it. I had I man I thought maybe I should go back to this game. It was one of you know. Every time you play golf you get one shot that makes you want to think you ought to do it again.

The other 99 shots, you know, you forget all those but this one. It was just a shot and this guy walked and he said I've never this is this is the best drive. This is a phenomenal drive from here. You can go for the green.

You ought to go for the green from here. You can hit the green in there. He says we'll see that hill over there see that telephone pole up there on the top. The green is right below that thing and I said, how far is it and he tells me the club I can't know what it is.

And he said you just got to go for it to have a drive like this and not go for it. Okay. So I where am I so he ain't tells me where to go. And so I hit the ball and I got two in a row. Perfect. It went exactly where he told me says you're on the green.

I can't believe it I've never seen anybody actually do that here. I've heard of guys. I just haven't seen it. And so I said, okay I'm on the green. I'm on the green I guess and I'll never we walk up there.

Well, I he's going off and getting his ball and I walk up to the green and I didn't see any green. And I'm walking around and so when I were why and this is on the 18th hole when I and when I walk up there I walk by the cup and just for the fun of it because I'm this type of guy.

But I walked by and he's off doing something and I took a ball out of my pocket and I dropped it in the hole. And then I walk on like I and then I got off the green and I and and I'm looking around in the rough I couldn't find my ball anywhere either.

But then he gets up there and he says you're not on the green. I said nah and. And he's man. I thought I thought you were on it for sure. I said no, I guess not I thought I hit it. Okay, too. But you told me what to do and and so I just dropped one I said here I'll hit one on and so by then he hits his ball up and he goes over to tend to pin and as he gets The pin he looks and he sees this bono.

And he reaches down he put and he says what are you hitting? I said it was a title is to it's what I dropped in the hole he said what and I. And I said a title is to and then he goes crazy he says you got a double eagle.

I've never seen a double eagle. It's never he says a two on a par five. That's greater than a hole in one on a par three. That's a double eagle. He's and he's screaming I said Next day, I know there's guys over there in the putting green and there's people up at the 18th hole there they got a little cafe they come out of the the pro shop there and the starters out there and he's.

And I'm there saying really Forget it. This whole thing backfires. I'm terrible on me. All these people are coming out the pros saying hey. We'll send it title us. They'll give you a bunch of golf balls.

What club did you hear? We'll will tell the club maker. They'll do stuff for you. That's double eagle. You got it. Well, it's nothing really. And this guy I mean the whole place I'm sitting there watching.

How do you get out of here? I just and they thought I was the humblest guy. We leave and I go on home Next Sunday. You got the message I was in Romans whether the judgment of Christ will be the you know, they'd be revelation of secrets.

I Had the perfect illustration. So I told the story what happened this guy is sitting there. This elder who'd he he had called his father. He'd called people all the country. He had done everybody. But I think it I'm sitting there I only knew for sure that what everybody thought I did I didn't do.