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| Sermon #56 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto 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, MAT 5:15-16. In this message we will direct special attention to our walk of life as a light before the world. V:16 of our text says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." The Father is glorified only by our reflecting the image of God through submission and subjection to His will. The Father set Adam as the jewel of His creation so Adam might serve Him with perfected subjection and submission. The purpose of His creation was not accomplished in Adam because Adam fell. The Lord Jesus Christ has come to bring the purpose of His creation into fruition by the perfection of His obedience. In JOH 17 we read the intercessory prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was prepared to go upon the cross to pay perfect obedience to His Father's command. He had to lay down His life for His people as an act of obedience. V:4-5 says, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." Wherein had He glorified the Father? Jesus fulfilled the purpose of His creation. JOH 15:8 says, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." This is speaking of the fruit of repentance. True repentance is remorse over having sinned against the goodness of God. V:10 says, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." Christ is showing how the Father is glorified by the keeping of His revealed will. Our text says, "...that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." In other words, they may see that we are walking with a heart tender for the will of God; they may see that the Father is being glorified by a Godly, holy, reverential fear. This is not a slavish fear, but it is doing His pleasure out of love through respect for the will of God. The Jews gave the title "beacons" or "lighthouses" to certain of their leading Rabbis. The Jews saw these Rabbis as those who had taught and kept the law with perfection. They saw these Rabbis as lighthouses and beacons. Many people in our day look to certain theologians, or old fathers, as the beacons or lighthouses of their souls. So many people look to theologians as their authority instead of the Word of God. The Lord is jealous of this. He wants His Word to be the highest authority. We are not to look to theologians as our lighthouse, or the light of our soul, because the Lord Jesus Christ is the light of our soul. We are not to follow Moses, Abraham, Calvin, or Luther. We are to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. It sounded most strange to the scribes and Pharisees to hear the title of beacon, or lighthouse,given to the disciples who were unlearned peasants and fisherman. The Lord Jesus is teaching us that the title of lighthouse is given to the individual Christian who is walking in the revealed will of God. It is not given to a selected few; this title is given to His disciples, i.e., those who follow him. Education or human authority is not the light. The true light is walking in the Spirit of the law as set forth throughout the Word of God. The light of the world is not the excellent education we have obtained through human reasoning. The light we have received must be recognized by a walk of life in pure, undefiled humility with Godly fear and love. It is not one's knowledge, but one's character based upon Biblical principles, that makes him the light of the world. The man that was born blind pleaded his ignorance. Look what a light he was to the world. In pleading his ignorance, he was pleading the simplicity of the gospel. He had a heart that was tender for the Lord. JOH 9:25 says, "He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." The light of Biblical principles shone in spite of his ignorance. He didn't have theological training, and he wasn't a religious authority like the Pharisee. This was not why the blind man was a light to the world. He became the light of the world through his character, through his walk of life, and through the way he walked according to the Word of God. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." They glorify God because of what they see, not because of what they hear, even though the speaker may claim to be an authority. The blind man said to the Pharisees in JOH 9:31, "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth." The Pharisees thought they were the beacons and the lighthouses; they had the education, and they thought they were the light. The blind man in his ignorance taught these men of education. He said, "...if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth." The light is reflected by the one who worships God and does His will. V:34, "They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out." He was an offense to their authority because of the solid Godly principle he revealed. He was being the light of the world by a simple, Godly fear not because he was an authority.
FOR OUR FIRST POINT , we will consider lighting the candle which is the beginning of the new creation.FOR OUR SECOND POINT , let's consider that we must shine that light. "Let your light so shine."FOR OUR THIRD POINT, let's consider how that light glorifies the Father "that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
FIRST, let's look at lighting the candle. Light is the beginning of the new creation. The creation began with, "Let there be light: and there was light." This same command is the beginning of the work of grace in the soul which is the new creation. By reason of man's fallen nature, the understanding is darkened. We need the light of the new creation to shine in our heart by the work of grace if we are to become the light of the world. EPH 4:18 describes the heart of man by nature, "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." The condition of man by nature is a blindness in the heart. The understandings have been darkened and alienated from the light of God as a result of the fall. The light must be lit in the soul by the work of grace. The work of the Spirit sets the light shining in the heart. Lighting this light is a divine work in the new creation as it was in the first creation. We read of the first creation in GEN 1:2-3. "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," V:2. This describes the soul by nature. This is the condition of the soul outside of the new creation. It is void of any form or substance; it has no spiritual light. When the Spirit of God moves upon the soul, the light begins to shine. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light," V:3. When the Spirit of God moves upon the soul, when He works regeneration in the heart, He says, "Let there be light." Then the mind and heart become enlightened to see that we have sinned against God. In proportion to the light we have received, we see how sinful sin really is. Our hearts are enlightened then to see the wrath of God upon sin. The first thing God works in the heart is light; creating light is the first work of the new creation. In PSA 119:130 we read, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." This is beautiful. When the heart has been regenerated, the Word of God giveth light as it enters the heart. When the Lord says, "Let there be light," the words of God enter the soul and give light; this light is what "giveth understanding unto the simple." Through the light of Jesus Christ, Paul saw his sins. Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus with a commission to put the church of Christ in jail. The light opened Saul's eyes to see what he was doing. ACT 26:13-14 says, "At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" When the light came, the Word entered his heart. When the light enters the soul, we first see what we are doing against the Word of God. We learn to see that we are sinning against the Lord, and we see His wrath upon sin. We learn to see the sinfulness of sin. Paul could understand the words of David in PSA 27:1. "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" When the light enters the soul, we see the sinfulness of sin. The fruit of being the light of the world and of having the light shining in our soul is that we change our walk of life. We no longer pursue sin. This change of life becomes the light of the world. The world sees that change in our life. The light not only shines upon the heart but from the heart. When the light of God shines into the soul, we become the light of the world because that light shines forth from the heart. EPH 5:8 says, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light." When the light shines in and we see the sinfulness of sin, the immediate effect is a change of walk of life. The new walk of a Godly life is the light of the world. Our text says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." The walk of a Godly life reflects the light before the world. The change of attitude, the change of heart, the merciful spirit, and the loving character are the result of seeing the light. We see what we are and what condition our fallen heart is in by nature. We reflect this and, "walk as children of light." We become a complete new creature because light has shone in our soul. Christ formed in us becomes the light which is reflected. When the Spirit of Christ has filled our soul, it will flow out unto our fellow man. JOH 7:38 says, "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." This river of living water is the Spirit of Christ which has been formed in us; it will flow forth. The Spirit of Christ reflected by the church shall become a light unto the world; they will see it in our walk of life, in our attitude and in the words we speak. We will have gentleness, love, and tenderness toward our fellow man. We become a completely different person. We don't wound our fellow man; we don't speak harsh words. We have a gentle spirit of patience. We can be like the man who was born blind when he spoke to the critical scribes and Pharisees. He spoke to them with a loving tone, and he was cast out for the name of Christ. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." This means out of the innermost chambers of the believer's heart flows forth the Spirit of Christ. No man will ever have light within himself. As light entered the world in creation by the authority of God's Word, so it enters the heart of man. Light only enters the heart by the authority of God's Word. The Lord said, "Let there be light...there was light." By nature we are in darkness and under the dominion of Satan and the kingdom of darkness. It isn't until the Lord speaks with the power of His Word, and the Word enters the heart, that we see the light enter the soul. In 2CO 4:6 it says, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The Lord takes His Word and makes the light shine out of darkness. Isn't it beautiful how He shines the light of His Word out of darkness. He created light in the creation to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. The last half of the verse shows where the light is found. It is in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ; Christ is the light. When the blessed Word of God conveys Christ into the soul, the light shines forth "in the face of Jesus Christ" to give the knowledge of the glory of God. The knowledge of the glory of God is that God is glorified only in subjection, righteousness, and holiness. Giving the light of the glory of God is giving understanding of the perfection of Christ in His perfect obedience. The Father was glorified by such obedience. When we understand what it is for the Father to be so glorified by the obedience of Christ, then we understand that Christ wants repentance in our soul. We shun sin, and sin becomes truly sinful. The true light separates the children of light from those who dwell in darkness. Light and darkness cannot dwell together. 2CO 6:14 says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" The Lord is saying that we cannot fellowship with those who walk in darkness. We must separate ourselves if we are truly going to be the light. We will stand upon Christian principles, and they will hate us. They will cast us out of their company for His name's sake. Light and darkness cannot dwell together. God separates the children of light from those who dwell in darkness. GEN 1:4 says, "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." God divides the children of light from the children of darkness. They cannot dwell together. JOH 3:19 says, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." They don't want to come to the light of the Word of God because their deeds will be revealed. "For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God," V:20-21. We can see this principle when Joseph and his brothers were young. He brought the evil report of his brothers to their father. Joseph's brothers couldn't stand him because he reproved their evil. The light was very condemning against their sin; it revealed what they were doing. They hated him to the extent that they would have murdered him. Instead, to make money, they sold him as a slave. They never wanted to see him again, but God's ways were higher than theirs.
FOR OUR SECOND POINT , let's consider that we must shine that light. "Let your light so shine."Before any person will ever become the light of the world, he must first be delivered from Satan's gospel of human reasoning and become translated into the Kingdom and service of Christ. You cannot serve two masters: God and the world. In COL 1:13 we read, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." When the light of the gospel shines into the soul, it is reflected by our walk of life. We have been separated from the kingdom of darkness and are no longer able to walk in the things of this world. The only person who can become the light of the world is the man who has been transformed by the gospel of Christ. We are as an unclean creature by nature; we must be transformed into a sheep, as a follower of Christ. Until this transformation takes place, we will never be the light of the world. 1PE 2:9 says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." The Lord works regeneration in the soul. When He commands, "Let there be light," the darkness is dispelled, and we become a completely new creature. We can no longer walk in the things of darkness if we are called out of darkness by God's Word. In the case of the Apostle Paul this happened instantly, but in most cases it is a progressive work of the Spirit. Our conversation becomes such a light unto the world; it is more than just the words that flow through our mouths. Our conversation is that which traffics our mind. We can be by ourselves all day long without speaking a word to anyone, yet there is always something which traffics our mind. These thoughts are the conversation of our heart. This conversation affects our walk. When everything in our heart reflects the things of the Lord, when it is tender to the will of God, our walk will correspond to it. Our conversation is revealed by our walk of life. Our conversation flows from our inner heart. PRO 23:7 says, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee." The thoughts which traffic our heart and mind affect our very actions. In 1PE 2:12 we read, "Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." This shows the connection between conversation and good works. That which traffics the mind affects every move we make and every response we give. "...they may by your good works, which they shall behold...." The Gentiles behold what we are thinking. They don't have to hear it because they can see it by our walk. Every thought that goes through our heart affects our walk of life. The Apostle Paul was so grieved by the conversation of those who professed Christianity. We have to understand that so many profess Christianity, but their conversation reveals what is in their heart; their walk gives them away. We read in PHI 3:18, "(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. [He was speaking to those who professed Christianity, but by their walk, attitude, and conversation, they proved to be enemies to the cross of Christ. Watch how he describes them in V:19.] "Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)" The object of their worship was that which was in their heart. They were worshipping the things of this world. The Apostle Paul could see that these professed believers were minding earthly things by their conversation. He could behold their conversation. They were not being the light of the world. Paul's exhortation in PHI 3:20-21 was that we identify ourselves with our conversation. As soon as Paul had pointed out who these professed believers were, he traced out the distinction. "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." The conversation of the heart, the traffic of the mind, and the desire of the soul was that God would change their "vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." They wanted the corruption of their hearts taken away. 1PE 3:1-2 says, "...if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear." The woman is the type of the church. The world beholds her conversation. This word behold is taken from the Greek word epopteuo which means: "to inspect, i.e., to watch, to look at, to behold." That word behold means the world watches, looks at or beholds the attitude of Christ's bride. The world is beholding or inspecting the conversation of those who profess to be the church. The world inspects the church's walk of life and looks upon it very critically. This is the responsibility of those who profess Christianity. By their walk, by their conversation, by the Christian light they shine, the world that is walking contrary to the Word of God will behold them. It is by beholding the chaste conversation coupled with fear that the world is won over. It is our duty as Christians to bring those who are walking against the Word of God to see the beauty in Christ through our walk of life and the Spirit of Christ that dwells within us. We become the light of the world when they behold our conversation and see the beautiful harmony and peace of mind in walking according to the will of God. It brings blasphemy upon the name of God when those who profess Christianity do evil works. If we have truly become the light of the world, the world will see our good works. Our text says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." If we are going to profess Christianity, it is so important that the world sees our good works. Then they will glorify our Father which is in heaven. They behold the good work and see that the Spirit of Christ is formed in us. In MAT 5:14 we read, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." You cannot hide that light. If you are truly being the light of the world, your conversation will betray you as it did the Apostle Peter. When Peter denied that he knew his Lord, his conversation still betrayed him. Peter still wasn't using their vulgar language. He spoke the language of a Christian. They could still see the light, and they told him, "...Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee," MAT 26:73. To erase that, Peter began to curse and to swear. He wanted to deny any identity with Christ. He allowed his speech to become the speech of the world. Until Peter used the conversation of the world, the light of his conversation was still betraying him. I was taught in the military that the light of a single match on a dark night can be seen from miles away. The men were not allowed to smoke cigarettes because the light on the end of the cigarette could be seen from miles away. It would betray the location of our camp if we were in an enemy territory. Light travels at the rate of 186,000 miles a second. Can you picture how far our light shines when we are the light of the world. The world can see the glimmer of a match miles and miles away. We must be as the light of a city that is built on a hill. Those who are truly the light of the world are sometimes only one out of four hundred professing believers. In the days of the kings of Israel, King Ahab had four hundred prophets. 1KI 22:6-8 says, "Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so." King Ahab saw that Micaiah was a different prophet. Ahab hated him with a passion because Micaiah reproved him of sin. His other prophets prophesied, "Peace, peace." but there was no peace. All these prophets of the king were supposed to be the prophets of the Lord, but only one out of four hundred was of the Lord. You can see how the light shined because Micaiah reproved them of their sin. You don't always have to say a word while reproving a person of their sin. When you are with a person who is using vulgar language, and you are using Christian language, that becomes such a reproof to them. When they are breaking the Sabbath Day, and you refuse to join them because you will not break the Sabbath, you become a reproof to them. They behold your walk of life. Even though you didn't say one word against them, the fact that you refused to follow them in sin becomes a reproof to them. Elijah was a light unto the world. His history teaches us that the world will count us as an enemy when we reprove them for taking God's name in vain, breaking the Sabbath and serving the world. In 1KI 21:20 we read, "And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD." Look at what a light Elijah was when he said this to the king of Israel. Ahab called Elijah an enemy. Elijah was cast out for His name's sake. Don't ever undersell what our Saviour calls blessed. If our light is shining, we will experience the blessedness spoken of by our Saviour in LUK 6:22-23. "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets." How many people consider being hated a blessing? How many people can leap for joy when they are put out of everyone's company? This idea comes against human reasoning. Being the light of the world is when we can rejoice to be criticized, mocked, and put out for His name's sake. LUK 6:26 says, "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." What did they do to the prophets? They cut them with saws; they murdered them and stoned them. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. If we are truly being the light of the world, it cannot be hid. If people don't know we are a Christian, we are not a Christian. If people cannot see this by our conversation and by our walk of life, we are not a Christian. MAR 8:38 says, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." If we are ashamed to step forth, to be seen, and to have our light shine before this world, if we are ashamed to be identified with the scoffed few, the Lord will be ashamed of us. The Word of God teaches how Christ's people rejected Him because they were ashamed of Him. JOH 1:11 says, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." They were ashamed of Him. He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He was not sitting on the kingly throne of Israel where they thought He should be. In V:11 the word receive was taken from the Greek word lambano which means: "to get hold of, to accept or receive." They refused to receive or accept Him. They would not identify with Him because they were ashamed of Him. In V:12 the word receive is taken from the Greek word parlambano, which means: "to receive near, i.e. associate with oneself in any familiar or intimate act of relationship." They were not willing to identify with Him in an intimate relationship with themselves. That was the problem. JOH 1:12 says, "But as many as received him...." These are those who came into an intimate relationship with Him. They joined Him as in a marriage union and identified with Him publicly. When you publicly proclaim in the state of Montana before two or more people that this woman is your wife, you are as legally bound by common law as though you were joined in a formal marriage union. You have identified yourself as her husband and you are as legally bound in the eyes of the law as any married man. This is the intimate relationship Christ was speaking of in JOH 1:12. "But as many as received him, [i.e., as many as publicly identified with Him,] to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." The Apostle Paul longed for an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. We read in PHI 3:10, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." The Apostle Paul longed for that intimate relationship; he wanted to know the Lord. He wanted to be brought into the intimate relationship and raised above the power of sin. Paul wanted to identify with Him, and he was willing to be scoffed at and mocked with Him. "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God," ROM 6:10. To become conformable unto His death means to die unto sin. Those who are unregenerate, those who have never been apprehended by Christ Jesus, do not see any beauty in Him, and therefore, will not identify with Him. If we are not able to identify with Him before the world, we are strangers of Him. If we have never seen the beauty in Him, and we have never been arrested by the Lord Jesus Christ, we have never seen the beauty of His love. "...he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him," ISA 53:2. This is the condition of the unregenerate soul. The unregenerate don't see any beauty in Him, and they don't identify with Him. They are not the light of the world because they see nothing in Him. They see no reason to identify with Him.
FOR OUR THIRD POINT , let's consider how that light glorifies the Father "that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."Let's ponder for a moment what glorifies the Father. The Father can only be glorified with righteousness; the true light is Christ. When the perfect righteousness of Christ shall enlighten the heavens, the glory of God and the Lamb are the light thereof. The glory of God is the perfect righteousness of Christ. Righteousness, conformity of life to the divine law of love, walking in ways of the Lord, i.e.,reflecting the true character of God in our human nature, is the only way the Lord can be glorified. PSA 97:2 says, "Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne." The darkness and dominion of Satan fills the world, but wherein is the Father glorified? God is glorified through the perfect righteousness of Christ. He is glorified in that light. The righteousness of Christ was the Glory of the Father that enlightened the heavens. REV 21:23 says, "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." The perfect obedience of the Son, His finished work of redemption, the laying down His life as an act of obedience is wherein the Father was glorified. PHI 2:8-11 says, "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore [See that connecting word! God was so pleased with such obedience that] God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." REV 5:11 says, "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." That is how the Father has glorified the Son; the church shall lay prostrate at His feet. The Father glorified the Son because the Father was so glorified in the perfect righteousness of Christ. It was through the obedience of Christ that this righteousness was obtained. ROM 5:19 says, "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." We shall have this righteousness as our vesture and robe for eternity. This robe of perfect righteousness is the perfect obedience of Christ. When we are conformed to this perfect obedience, the imparted righteousness of Christ became our "...fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints," REV 19:8b. This righteousness shall enlighten the heavens for eternity. The Father was so glorified by the obedience of Christ that He gave Christ a name above every name. God the Father has so exalted the Son that at the name of Jesus,"every knee shall bow." It is only through the shining forth of that Spirit of Christ that we can glorify the Father with the imparted righteousness of His Dear Son. This is the perfect righteousness of Christ imparted in us. ROM 8:9-10 says, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness,[i.e., the Spirit is life because of conformity of life to the Divine law of love.]" These are those good works wherewith the Father of heaven and earth will be glorified. Our good works, spoken of in our text wherewith the Father is glorified, are identified as the fruit of submission and/or obedience. He says in JOH 15:8-10, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." The Lord Jesus Christ runs a parallel between His perfect obedience to the Father and the obedience that He demands of His church. This perfect obedience of Christ being brought into the soul by His Spirit causes us to become the light of the world. The demand to shine our light must become personal. We need a personal religion. MAT 3:7-8 says, "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance." They couldn't go in with the multitude. The Lord was not accepting the multitude as a body. Each individual must come forth with the fruits worthy of repentance. Each person needed repentance on a personal basis. MAT 3:9 says, "And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." He didn't want them to pretend that the covenant of circumcision gave them a license to baptism. They were to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance. They could not enter into baptism or into the blood of Christ without repentance, i.e., a true remorse over sin. The Lord will not spare the fruitless trees. We read in LUK 13:7, "Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" That tree was a symbol of one in His church who was not bearing the fruit of repentance. He said to cut it down. V:8-9 says, "And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." In other words, "Let me cultivate and fertilize them with the gospel. Then if they still don't bear fruit, we will cut them down." They see the image of Christ formed in us by the light our examples reflect. We let our light shine by showing mercy. In JAM 2:14-16 we read, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" What does it profit us if we claim to be a Christian and do not walk as one? If our walk of life does not correspond with the obedience of faith, if it doesn't correspond with the Word of God, how can we claim faith? The mere proclamation of faith isn't faith. The actions and the walk of life are the exercise of saving faith. Our example is a very strong preaching of our doctrine. We can say that we have doctrine, but our walk of life must correspond with our doctrine. Our walk of life reflects our thinking and our conversation. We read in TIT 2:7, "In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity." It is the pattern of good works in doctrine. We can have a doctrine that corresponds with JAM 2:14-16 and not have the works to correspond with it. When we walk with a heart that is tender for the Lord, we must show the gravity and sincerity of the love in our hearts for Christ by our love for our neighbour. We show through a good conversation that we love God; by these good works, the Father is glorified. By showing this uncorruptness, we show the true doctrine of our hearts. In HEB 10:24 we read, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works." This is so important. All of us offend others; everyone of us have come short of the glory of God. If we see that our fellow man has offended or wounded someone, we must provoke unto love. We do this through our loving beseeching, our loving helping, and our loving kindness. V:25, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." The provoking unto love and good works takes place when we can be together. If we are not assembling ourselves together, we are not provoking each other unto good works. "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend," PRO 27:17. If we do not assemble ourselves together, then we cannot be provoked unto love. Our heart is cold, as we have departed from assembling ourselves together. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." The older we get, the more we see that the day is approaching when we must depart from this life. We see how trifling the things of this world are. The Lord says that He will call us to an account of what we have done, whether it be good or evil. The more we see this day approaching, the more we realize the emptiness of this life. We should provoke each other. We know our children don't see the seriousness of life that we do. Our grandchildren don't understand that life is so short. They look forward to when they will grow up, not realizing how soon life fades away. If our heart gets overcharged with surviving this world, then in the assembling of ourselves together, we provoke unto love. This is unto the love of God, unto the love of Christ, and unto the love of the church. We must never forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Letting our light shine glorifies God. 1CO 6:19-20 says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." We are to let our light shine to glorify God by our good works. It says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. Our bodies are not our own; this idea goes against human reasoning. We may not use our bodies to serve this world and to serve our own heart. We are to use them to serve the Lord for His glory. If we are bought with the price of the blood of Christ, we are to use our bodies for the service of God. We are to walk in the ways that are pleasing to God. ROM 15:6 says, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." This is so important in the assembling of ourselves together. We must with one mind, with one mouth, glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. |
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