Have you ever been through a really hard time, where it was hard to see any way out of the mess you were in? Have you ever struggled with a burden that you felt you would never overcome? Have you experienced a time of darkness?
I don’t know if I’ve told you this story or not, but one time I experienced this as a young man was when I was living alone for a period of time, isolated from most of my family and Christian friends. I was doing a lot of work helping other people, but it was also work that left me drained and often seemed like it didn’t make much difference anyway. I’d gotten into the habit of looking at things I shouldn’t be looking at, and entertaining thoughts that I should never have entertained. I became effectively addicted to stuff that I was also ashamed of and repulsed by. It was a horrible place to be in, but an experience that is unfortunately too common.
One day I was working on my car and something wasn’t going right – I can’t remember what it was now but I wasn’t having any joy fixing it. I got real mad and swore my head off and hit stuff until after a while I just sat numbly on the front edge of the engine bay in despair.
I felt like I’d lost everything. I’d lost my love for God and His Word, I’d lost my trust in Him, I’d lost the faith that He would forgive me and accept me, I’d lost my love for those I was trying to help – everything I was and everything I stood for had gone, and I didn’t like what was left. It felt like the only thing to do was give up on the whole Christianity thing and just dive in to all the stuff that I’d been secretly toying with and gotten trapped by.
There were a lot of lessons I learned through that experience, but I wonder if you’ve ever had experiences like mine?
The nation of Israel collectively went through this. They were meant to be people that were shining the glory of God to the surrounding nations, but they had gradually turned from God and started doing all the evil stuff that those surrounding nations did. They trusted in their own abilities and in making alliances with others instead of relying on God. They sought the help of false gods and idols, even sacrificing their own children in their desperation to have their requests granted. Their rulers became corrupt and their was no justice in the land.
The situation is summed up in Isaiah 59:9
9 So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
In response God disciplines them, but He also promises deliverance.
Isaiah 60:1-3
“Arise, shine,…”
What? We are stumbling around in darkness, and You tell us to stand up and shine? How are we supposed to do that?
“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” [1]
To a people struggling in darkness God brings light that drives the darkness back, and as His light shines on them they begin to shine, and their light penetrates the surrounding darkness so that people come from everywhere in order to come into this glorious light.
Is that a picture of deliverance or what? Isn’t that what you want to see happening in your life and in our church – nations coming into the light as they see it shining through us?
It’s exactly what Jesus spoke about in…
Matthew 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Jesus is announcing the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy! I want you to realise though that this is actually the second part of that fulfilment. The first part was that these people, who were struggling in darkness, needed to receive the glory of the Lord shining upon them. You cannot be light until you have received light.
This is why before we read Jesus’ words in Matthew 5, we read of His life in
Matthew 4:12-17
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, (remember John was preparing the way for Jesus) he returned to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, along the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
So as Jesus now commences His ministry of preaching, He becomes for these people the great light – the light of the glory of God who would rescue them from darkness and make them a light to the world. God’s people are now able to shine before all men, and people will come to praise God because of what they have seen in us.
Do you feel that this is what’s happening in your life? Is the light of your life penetrating the darkness around you, inviting other people into a right relationship with God?
One of the reasons that our church is so focussed on preaching Christ is that we recognise that if we are to be the light of the world we must first receive the light of the world.
Jesus said in John 9:5
“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
The light of the world came, but then He returned to Heaven. While He was in the world, He was the light of the world, but where is that light now?
Jesus discussed this very issue with His disciples in John 14. We read from verse 15…
15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be a in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
We can still see Jesus, the light of the World, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to live within us, so that through the Holy Spirit Jesus can dwell in us and we in Him. We will be filled with His life, which will be shown in our obedience to His commands.
But what about those who don’t yet believe in Jesus – those who do not have His Spirit within them? How do they get to receive the light of the world and the life that He brings?
The disciple Judas (not Judas Iscariot, the other Judas!), asked Jesus this very question.
John 14:22
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus’ response is fascinating!
John 14:23-27
23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Jesus begins by pointing out that there should be an obvious difference between those that know and love Him and those who don’t. Those who have received the light of the knowledge of God in Christ and received life in Him will live differently to those who haven’t. There will be obedience instead of disobedience. The Holy Spirit will be reminding us of that Jesus taught, which is recorded for us in the gospels and also in the teaching passed on through the Apostles in their letters which are preserved in the New Testament. Just as the Holy Spirit prompted them to write these things down, He prompts us to recall them and live by them.
So we first receive the light of Christ, then we reflect that light to the world through our obedience to Him – doing everything He commanded, not some things or even most things, but everything.
Doing everything that Jesus commands is sometimes a very daunting thing. I spoke to someone during the week who at the moment is working hard to reconcile some relationships that have been very badly damaged. He’s taking ownership of his own part in that and apologising, and he’s not pushing for people to respond, but just trusting God with the outcome.
As I spoke with him his hearts desire for reconciliation was clear, but the interesting thing was that even more important than that for him was that he obey what God had told him to do, regardless of what the outcome might be.
Do you ever get nervous about doing what God has put on your heart to do? Do you ever make excuses for yourself that God’s commands don’t apply in your particular situation? Do you ever wait for others to make the first move?
We all know what it’s like to be afraid and for our hearts to be troubled. Jesus’ disciples were about to go through a terrible experience where it seemed like everything was taken from them – Jesus killed, their group scattered. Yet Jesus said “Don’t be troubled or afraid, I give you peace.” Our job is to be faithful in obedience. God’s job is to turn our faithfulness into fruitfulness. His job is to do in us and through us and around us those things that we cannot do on our own.
My friends, I want this church to be a city on a hill, a lamp on a stand that beams out the light of Christ into the surrounding areas so that people walking in darkness can receive life and freedom in Jesus.
There a thousands of things we could do to get people into this church. If we do them well enough we will grow numerically. That’s not what I’m about and it’s not what your leaders are about. I’m talking about God working in us in order to work through us. I’m talking about us receiving the truth of Jesus, being changed by it and as that is happening we will shine a light into the surrounding darkness. On way we do that is by teaching the whole truth of Jesus in our gatherings – being true to God’s Word in how we speak of Him. Another key way we must do that is to share that same truth with one another as we journey together as disciples.
Let me give you an example of how this works. Let’s just say that one Sunday the sermon is dealing with Ephesians 4:29
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
As we explore that together the Holy Spirit will be at work in us revealing ways that our talk has actually been unwholesome, and will be showing us how to repent from that and instead speak only in ways that build others up. Our job is to go away and do what God has just finished speaking to us about. As a result our conversation will be different. God will use the wholesome and helpful conversations that we have to help others to grow and be all that He wants them to be. People will feel loved, accepted, valued and safe with us because we don’t ever gossip, slander or ridicule. We just don’t do that. In the area of our conversation we will be a reflection of what God is like.
However not everyone will respond to the message straight away. Some habits will be too deeply entrenched. Some hearts will be too hard to receive the seed of truth from God’s Word.
Those people will need other members of our church family to help them, by being a good example and also by speaking honestly to them about specific things that are going on in their lives.
Over time, some people may forget the lesson about unwholesome talk and fall back into bad habits. They may not hear the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit, and so again they will need loving brothers and sisters in Christ to point these things out to them. These are all ways that the light of Christ is shining first on us, taking us from darkness into light.
Sometimes it’s through sermons that we all hear; sometimes it’s through a study that one of our small groups does together; sometimes it’s in an event that people attend together; sometimes it’s in someone’s own personal devotional time that God speaks to them and then they share that with others. However it happens, God has made the church to be a community of people receiving His truth which was given to us in Jesus. That’s the foundation that we spoke about a couple of weeks ago.
Where churches get unhealthy and fail in their mission, it’s because the truth of Christ has somehow been corrupted or prevented from reaching the people.
Satan attempted this with Jesus – he tried to have Jesus killed as an infant, he tried to have Jesus corrupted after he was baptised, and he tried to kill him again a few years later. Eventually, it worked, but the wisdom and power of God is greater than any scheme of the devil, and the light of the life of Christ burst forth from the grave in triumphant power.
Sometimes it seems like our light has been extinguished or corrupted also. Maybe by false teaching, maybe by continued disobedience, maybe just through tough circumstances.
Here’s a truth I want you to hold on to – there is no power than can extinguish the light and life of Christ.
Let’s go back to John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood a it.
If you’ve got a NIV translation you’ll notice a little text note that says “or, ‘the darkness has not overcome it’”.
The greek word here is really talking about mastery – the darkness could not get a handle on Jesus, could not figure Him out, could not control Him, couldn’t overcome Him.
I like how Peterson expresses this idea in “The Message”
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.
Just like the darkness couldn’t overcome Jesus it can’t overcome you!
Jesus said a city on a hill can’t be hidden! A lamp that is lit is not put under a bowl.
John 1:4
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
Jesus’ life is our light. As we receive that light we also receive His life. He is the only source of real life. People chase real life in all sorts of ways, but it’s only found in Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6).
I started off today telling you a story about a dark time in my life. I’d been flogging myself in my efforts to help others, but none of that brought me real life – real joy and peace and love. I’d been indulging secret sins, but they didn’t bring me anything good either - just a short distraction from my emptiness and pain. I was reclusive, hypocritical, angry and depressed.
It seemed that Satan had the battle won, that the darkness had snuffed out the light of my faith in God. It seemed that life had been swallowed up by death.
Real life came when I reached out for the truth of Jesus, and held on to that truth despite my doubts and fears. I confessed my sins and trusted God for forgiveness and restoration. For me the change happened gradually, as my feelings eventually followed after what my faith had decided. Jesus bit by bit healed the things that Satan had done to steal, kill and destroy. His life started to fill up my life. I began to get back the peace and joy and love and self control and all those things that seemed to be lost as I grieved the Holy Spirit by my lifestyle.
There have been times when I’ve fallen back into trying to do things on my own instead of relying on God. There have been times when I’ve fallen back into familiar sins. There are always painful consequences to that, but God has faithfully restored me and helped me to grow regardless. I am maturing to be less vulnerable to these things as God does His work in me, but I know that it’s only by the grace and power of God that I am able to stand.
That process is still going on today. I’m not there yet. I still need to receive His truth and be changed by it. I still need to reflect Him more clearly to those around me. Day by day He shows me what I need to turn away from in order to receive the light of Christ in my life.
God has shone His light on us in the person of Jesus Christ. That light has brought us out of darkness, and now shines through us to penetrate the darkness around us that others might be rescued also.
What do we need to do in response to this? Let the words of Scripture speak to you as we read together. The Apostle Paul gives the Christians of Ephesus some very practical instructions about this, and as we read it together I would invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of particular things that apply to you today - that He would bring things into the light that you need to do something about.
Ephesians 4:17-5:13
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
5 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been in darkness and suddenly been exposed to bright light – it hurt’s doesn’t it! The adjustment in moving from darkness into light is not always pleasant. But it is always worthwhile. I don’t want to stumble around in darkness. I want to live by the truth of Jesus and receive His promise of abundant life. I am prepared to experience the pain of seeing things exposed to the light and having to deal with them. I am prepared to have people speak the truth to me in love, I am prepared for the Holy Spirit to bring conviction. I will do everything I can to make that the standard attitude of our church family.
I don’t want to be darkness, I want to be light in the Lord, and I want to help you be that too.
I hope that’s you’re commitment today also. Jesus is life and light. We have life in Him and we are light in Him.
Amen.
[1]Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. a Some early manuscripts and is a Or darkness, and the darkness has not overcome
