What is the next
metaphor
Jesus uses to describe the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven? What are we
to be? What is our sphere of influence to be? (Mt 5:14)
Believers =
The Light
You and you
alone are continually the light of the world
Sphere =
the entire world
What is the purpose of light?
Shine
D. L. Moody, the great evangelist,
said it best "It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to
talk about it. We are told to let our light shine, and if it does we won't
need to tell anybody it does. The light will be its own witness.
Lighthouses don't ring bells and fire cannons to call attention to their
shining--they just shine."
How does Jesus emphasize this point (light
should shine)? (Matthew
5:14-15)
City set on a
hill cannot be hidden
That is Jesus'
point - you cannot obscure a city on the crest of a hill. There is no way
(unless of course there is a power blackout!)
Believers are
like these cities - they are visible.
A lamp in a
house is placed on a stand to give light to all in the house
A lamp is not
to be hidden under a basket
What then does Jesus command (aorist
imperative) us to do?
(Matthew
5:16)
Let our light
shine before men
Do it now! Do
it effectively!
There is
sometimes a sense of urgency in the
aorist imperative.
How do we
let our light shine before men?
(Matthew
5:16)
Our
good works
are seen by them
(Really His
good works
through us, cf John 15:5)
What is the ultimate
purpose
of our good works?
To glorify our
Father Who is in heaven
Not to draw
attention to ourselves
What does it mean to
glorify
our Father?
Men cannot see
Him but they can see us
As they watch
us, the things we do, the way we speak, the way we live... all these
things should give them a proper opinion of Who our Father is.
Like Father,
like son.
What does
1John 1:5
teach about light
and God?
God is light
In God there is no darkness at all
What does the psalmist teach about
light
in Psalm 119:105?
God's Word
is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path
How does Isaiah 8:20 describe the light
(dawn
in NAS)?
Light was
equated with the Word of God (the law and the testimony)
(Many had rejected the light of God's word for the darkness of spiritism)
God’s Word is our only
dependable light in this world’s darkness
How did David explain the relationship
between the Lord
and light
in (Psalm 27:1)?
Jehovah was His
light and salvation
He was David's
light and He is our light
We need not
fear to let His light shine forth
Spurgeon comments on Ps 27:1:
My light. Into the soul at the new birth divine light is poured as the
precursor of salvation; where there is not enough light to see our own
darkness and to long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of
salvation. Salvation finds us in the dark, but does not leave us there.
After conversion our God is in every sense our light. It is not said
merely that the Lord gives light, but that he is light; nor that he gives
salvation, but that he is salvation. He, then, who by faith has laid hold
upon God has all covenant blessings in his possession. Every light is not
the sun, but the sun is the father of all lights. The powers of darkness
are not to be feared, for the Lord, our light, destroys them; and the
damnation of hell is not to be dreaded by us, for the Lord is our
salvation. This is a very different challenge from that of boastful
Goliath, for it is based on a very different foundation. It rests on the
real power of the omnipotent I AM. (Treasury of David)
What was
Isaiah's
prophecy about light
referring to (Isaiah 49:6)?
God says that
Jesus will be His Servant
He will restore
preserved ones to Israel
He will be a
Light to the nations
Why?
So that His salvation might reach to the end of the earth
How does Matthew describe fulfillment
of OT prophecy of Messiah
in Mt 4:16 (he quotes a different OT verse, Isaiah 9:2, the idea is the
same)?
Describes Jesus
as a great light that dawned on those sitting in darkness and the shadow
of death
How did John describe the
Messiah
(John 1:4-9)?
In Jesus was
life and this life was the light of men
Jesus the Light
shined into darkness but those in darkness did not comprehend
John says that
Jesus is the true light that enlightens every man
Why if Jesus enlightens every man, does
not every man comprehend Jesus as the Light that brings salvation to all
the world? (John 3:19-21)
Men loved the
darkness
They don't come
to the light lest their deeds be exposed
What does John (3:21) teach about
citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven?
Those who
practice truth (lives righteously) do come to the light so that their
deeds will be manifested as having been wrought in God (initiated and
enabled by God as we depend on His Spirit)
What did Jesus explain about Himself in
John 8:12?
What about those who are citizens of His kingdom?
He was the
Light of the World
His
followers have the "light of life"
Jesus is the
Source.
We derive our
light from Him.
What did Jesus say to the multitudes in
Jerusalem on His last week of life about Himself? What was His invitation?
Jesus
reiterated He was the Light among them
He told them to
believe in the Light (in Him) so that they would become sons of
light (cf Mt 5:9 "sons of God")
How did Luke explain this transaction
in Acts 26:18?
The Word, the
gospel, opened our eyes
We turned from
darkness to light
From dominion
of Satan to God
What was the result?
Forgiveness of
sins
An inheritance
(What did we
see in the beatitudes? notes on
Matthew 5:5 inherit the earth, cf
Romans 8:16ff)
To whom
was the forgiveness and inheritance promised (Acts 26:18)?
Those who had
been sanctified (set apart at the moment they believed) by faith in Jesus
(at that very moment of placing their faith in Jesus, the Light, God
transferred them from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light of
His dear Son, in Whom they had redemption [price paid to release us from
the debt of our sins against God], the forgiveness of sins (cf notes
Colossians 1:12-13).
What are those now who have been
sanctified by faith
in Jesus? What were we before?
(notes
Ephesians 5:8)
We were
(past tense) formerly darkness (Not in or of darkness but
actually darkness itself!)
Now we Light in the Lord (cf John 8:12 "the light of the world")
What are we to do now that we are
light in the Lord?
(notes
Ephesians 5:8)
Walk as
children of light (command to make this our lifestyle =
present imperative)
Let your
behavior show that you are full of light from the Lord
Note: Because believers now
share Christ’s nature (notes on
2 Peter 1:4), we share in His light. Just as He is
the “light of the world” (John 8:12), His people are also “the
light of the world” (Mt
5:14). Because we are in the Lord, we who
were once children of darkness are now children of light, and it is as
such children that we should walk.
What
purpose
will we accomplish when we
walk (live) as children of the
light? (cf Matthew
5:14, 16)
Men in the
world will see our deeds (our walk, the walk of the
children of God) and they will receive a proper understanding of Who our
Father is - they will understand that He is light
Our conduct
is to continually conform to our essential character (light).
How will men in the world
respond
when they receive a proper
opinion of God as Light through
our deeds? Will they come to the Light? What is the other possible
reaction (cf Mt 5:10-12)?
They may come
but not necessarily (John 3:20)
They may
persecute us and say all kinds of evil about us falsely for they hate the
light which exposes their evil deeds. They hate the the Light of the World
Who is in us and so they will hate us.
What does
1John 1:5-9
teach about light and darkness?
We need to
beware that we can't say we have fellowship with God and continually,
habitually walk in the darkness for this is a habitual lie and we are not
practicing the truth - John's point is that if we habitually walk in
darkness we cannot let our light shine because we are not even saved.
There is no light to shine.
Note: Others
interpret this verse as referring to Christians who are walking in
darkness but that seems less tenable given the tenses of the verbs which
speak of a habitual way of life, not momentary lapses.
We need to
walk in the light (of His truth, His Word, cf Ps 119:105) and then we
have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son will
cleanse us from all sin
What are
lights in the Lord
to do when they commit sins?
(1John 1:9)
Confess them to
God - we need to identify the sins specifically and agree with God as to
their specific sinful character and then forsake them (cf Pr 28:13) - He
is faithful and righteous to forgive us and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness (this last phrase takes care of those sins you may not
even be aware of - don't worry John says when we confess our sins, God
cleanses us of ALL unrighteousness)
What is
God's promised reward
to those who have let their
light shine before men in this
present world (Daniel 12:3)?
Will shine
brightly and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like stars
forever and ever (cf Mt 13:43)
What is our inheritance as those who
are light in the Lord (Rev 21:23, 22:5, cf Isa 60:19-20)
We are part of
that Holy City, the New Jerusalem which will one day come down from heaven
from God
This city has
no need of sun or moon to shine
The glory of
God will illumine it
The Lamp of the
City is the Lamb
Jehovah = an
everlasting light (a promise to Israel)
Until that
glorious day, we as citizens of heaven, are to be like a city set on a
hill that cannot be hidden.
How are you doing as a son of light,
one who is light in the Lord?
Is your light bright and clear
or is it dim, dingy and dirty?
Let your little light shine while you
still have time...
And so we can now succinctly
summarize
Jesus' message as one of character, conflict and conduct...
THE SERMON ON THE
MOUNT
An Outline |
|
Chapter |
Subject |
|
Mt 5:3-9 |
Character |
|
Mt 5:10-12 |
Conflict |
|
Mt 5:13-7:27 |
Conduct |
Warren Wiersbe in his preface
to "Be
Holy", an exposition of
Leviticus writes...
Whatever else the professing
Christian church may be known for today—great crowds, expensive
buildings, big budgets, political clout—it’s not distinguished for its
holiness. Bible-believing evangelical Christians make up a sizable
minority in the United States, but our presence isn’t making much of an
impact on society. The salt seems to have lost its saltiness, and the
light is so well hidden that the marketplace is quite dark. (Wiersbe,
W. W. Be Holy. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books)
