We read together Matthew chapter 5, verses 14 to 16, as we continue in our study of the Word of God. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
What is the Lord Jesus saying to us? When you look at the Word of God, can you see the spiritual riches in it? There is a depth in the riches of God's word that to the casual eye they never see, and to the spiritually blind they never see even so much as one beam of its light. And it is light that we are talking about today.
The Lord Jesus says that we have an enormous function as Christians. In this world we are the light of the world. I wonder what that means to you. Look at the church today and ask yourself, does that look like the light of the world? What has happened to the church? What has gone wrong with the church? Not only in Montreal but in too many places. The Lord Jesus said, "You" — that is, all of you who are disciples, who call yourselves Christians — "you are the light." Not only of the church, you are the light of the world. "I have given you a task to do. I have given you a tremendous mission to accomplish. Let God's light shine out into the world." What a glorious mission. What a responsibility has been entrusted to us.
The Lord Jesus didn't say there are many lights in the world. He says, "You are the light." Singular. One light. If one light does not shine, where is the world going to get its light from? If the light does not come from you, from us as a church, where is the light going to come from? How are people going to know God?
Now, we had in England many power cuts. It's become a sort of reputation in our part of England to have power cuts. So you are going along and suddenly all the lights go out, and you are sitting in the darkness groping for a candle. And I hear that here in Montreal there seem to be power cuts too from time to time. So it's not limited to England. Think about it. How do you have light? Power. Power cuts. I think spiritually the church has suffered an enormous power cut. The light doesn't work, and the world sits in darkness.
And I tell you this, brothers and sisters, God is going to hold the church responsible. He is going to say on that day, "I sent you out as light into the world, and the world sits in darkness." I think it's going to be more terrible in the judgment for the church than for the unbelievers. Because the unbelievers, they didn't have the light to see. They still have an excuse of some sort. What kind of excuse has the church to present? If you are in the church of God and you are not giving forth light, you better not turn up at the judgment. But I don't know how you are going to do the trick by not turning up in the judgment. Because God is going to require their blood at your hands. God said to Ezekiel, "If you don't warn these people and they perish, I'm going to require their blood at your hands. If you warn them and they perish, your responsibility is finished." But the church has been darkness rather than light. And it's time for us to weep that God may make us to be light.
Jesus said, "You are the light of the world." But to shine — this is our task in the world. The church is to shine in the world. He didn't say there are many, many lights in the world, many, many lamps. He says, "You" — you, the church, are the light of the world. If you do not shine, the world sits in darkness, does it not? It is like a house where the lamp is broken. Then the people sitting in that house are all in darkness. Our task is to send forth the gospel so that they may receive the light of life. But the church has not fulfilled its task.
This phenomenon of having no light — we experienced it often in England. Just as I heard it also exists in Canada. Often the power plant has some problem, and then there is a power crash. No light. No electricity means no light. Electricity is power. No power, no light. Today's church has no spiritual power, therefore no light. But whose responsibility is it that the church has no spiritual power? Is it God's responsibility? Is there a power cut at God's end, so that we cannot shine this light? Is God's power insufficient, so that on the day of judgment we can say, "God, you didn't give me the light. You didn't give me power. How could I shine?" So I say, Christians, do not stand before God on that day to be judged. I believe the judgment that the church will receive is probably more terrifying than the judgment for the unbelievers in the world. The Bible says, "To whom much is given, much is required." Much has been given to the church. Dare you deny it? How great is the grace God has given us, and what have we given Him in return?
What the church needs today is not a word of comfort. What they need is a word of judgment. A church that has become weak, corrupt, sinful, rotten to the core in too many places, and they say, "Give us a word of comfort." I am not a prophet of peace, as in the Old Testament it says, these prophets come and say, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace. They say, "Why is your message so severe? Why are these prophets of the Old Testament so severe?" They rebuked Israel day and night until they hated them. They took Jeremiah and threw him down in the pit and hoped he would die there because they didn't like his message. They rebuked them day and night, but his word was truth. "Why don't you give us a word of comfort?" Get right with God first, and the comfort will be yours.
But then, if I don't warn you, you stand on that day in the judgment before God. I wouldn't like to be there on that day when God's wrath will turn upon those people who call themselves Christians. "Did you dare to represent my name? You dare to call yourself Christian? You took my name in vain." Oh brothers, it frightens me when Revelation says these people call upon the rocks to hide them. Most translators, most interpreters say that's the non-Christian. Oh yes, you may say non-Christians. But I tell you, those who call for the rocks to hide them — a great proportion of them will be Christians on that day. So-called Christians. That's why day after day and week after week I preach about being a total Christian.
And you know, people have never heard such a message. I preached at this last conference what it means to be a total Christian. People were amazed, astonished. "What is this total Christian?" As though this was something they never heard of before. I told them, there is only one kind of Christian, and that is a total Christian. The Bible doesn't know any other kind of Christian.
You see, light is total. Have you ever seen a light? Look at a light. Is there a patch of blackness there? Light is either light or it's darkness. You cannot have a half light. You try and cut a candle in half and see if it can produce half a candle. A quarter of a candle. Take a bulb and see if you can produce half a bulb. Chop it in half and see if it'll work. A light is either whole or it is nothing. It's either shining or it doesn't shine. There is no way to be a bit here and a bit there. This thing we must really get clear.
A Christian, unless he is a complete Christian, is not a Christian at all. This is the teaching of the Bible. Look at a light, a lamp, a candle. Can you take a candle and cut the light in half? We are not talking about whether a candle can be cut in half. You are not a candle; you are the light. Can this light be cut in half? Can there be some darkness within the light? Are you light or are you not light? See clearly for yourself. Otherwise, on that day of judgment, the Lord will say, "You bore my name upon you. You called yourself a Christian. What light did you shine forth in the world? What did your life show people?" You must know that light stands out completely in the darkness. It is totally different from the darkness.
But the life of Christians today — how is it different from the life of non-Christians? Where is the difference? I want to ask you. A non-Christian and a Christian together — people can't even tell whether that person is a Christian. In your school, in your office, have you shone forth? Have people noticed that this person is different, that this person's life is different? When I speak of a complete Christian, I am not talking about whether you are someone who serves the Lord, whether you are a preacher. I am not even discussing that question. Why? Because you can be a preacher, you can be involved in all kinds of Christian activities, but that doesn't prove you are a complete Christian. There are many pastors who are not complete Christians — false pastors. There are many preachers — false preachers. Many Christians are very active in the church, but they are not complete Christians. Complete means one hundred percent — nothing held back, nothing kept for yourself.
God did not force your dedication from you. He didn't say, "If you don't give it to me, I will take it by force." You must voluntarily dedicate your life to the Lord. But when you dedicate yourself to the Lord, don't give Him something that is not one hundred percent. He won't accept it. If God is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. God does nothing by halves. It's all or nothing. That's the way it is. You look at your Bible and try to show me somewhere where it is different.
Let us look at Ephesians chapter 5. What do we read here in Ephesians chapter 5? Paul says this: "For once you were darkness, but now you are light." Once you were darkness — he is saying to the Ephesian Christians — but now you are light. He didn't say, "You have become a little brighter than before. You have become a little bit more ethical, a little bit more moral. You have become a bit more pleasant. You have become more polite." He is not talking about this external behavior. He is talking about what's inside of the person. He said, "Once inside of you, you were darkness. Your whole character was darkness. But now you are light in the Lord."
Well, let's read this entire passage so that we get the context. Chapter 5, verse 1, says this: "Therefore be imitators of God." Very relevant to our verse, because God is light and we are called to be light. 1 John, chapter 1, verse 5, says, "God is light; in him is no darkness at all." And Jesus says, "You are light." You see, when we have become new creatures, when we have been born again, we become like Him. Like Father, like Son. And so we are to be imitators of God. "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
But notice: "But immorality and impurity or covetousness, love of money, must not even be named among you, as is fitting among saints." I hear that these things are being named among Christians, that these things do happen among Christians. Paul says this kind of thing must not even be named among you. It should never ever have the slightest possibility of happening. Verse 4: "Let there be no filthiness nor silly talk nor levity." Levity is behaving in a light and foolish manner, not solemn, not sober, "which are not fitting, but instead let there be thanksgiving."
Be sure of this, verse 5. I want you to drive this point of Paul's words. If you say salvation is not of works, okay, but you be sure that your works are the works of light, because the works will prove what you are. Don't think that because salvation is not of works it doesn't matter if you sin, if you commit adultery or fornication, if you steal, you rob, you cheat, you lie, and you're going to be saved because you believe in Jesus. Never. You commit sin and you are out, unless you repent quickly of it and see that it doesn't ever happen again, and be prepared to take the punishment, the chastisement of the Lord upon you. God will forgive, but he will also chastise. Believe me, don't think you dare to sin lightly in the church. The church is to be light in the world.
So read this: "Be sure of this, verse 5, that no immoral or impure man, or one who is covetous, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Verse 6: "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." Let nobody deceive you and tell you, "It doesn't matter as a Christian if you sin, because it is not of works. We are saved by grace through faith, so it doesn't matter if you commit fornication or adultery or steal or rob or anything else. It doesn't matter. We are saved by grace." Don't let anybody deceive you with false and empty words. We are dealing with the living God, who is a consuming fire, the writer to the Hebrews tells us. Don't play around with the living God. If you want to play around, play around somewhere else, but not with God. He is a consuming fire. You are not going to be saved by faith through grace if you are going to be immoral. Paul says there is no such person that is going to find any place in the kingdom of God.
Verse 7: "Therefore do not even associate with such people." These people who are immoral, impure — he says if they call themselves Christians, don't have anything to do with them. We are fighting to establish the light in the world, the reputation of Christ, the reputation of the gospel. Don't have anything to do with such people.
Verse 8: "For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." The Chinese translation is not ideal here, because they used adjectives where the original uses nouns. Paul says, "You were darkness" — not "you were dark" — "but now you are light." The force of Paul's original words is partly diminished by the adjective translation, but the meaning is still visible. Formerly you were darkness, but today you are light. This is what the original says.
Now from chapter 5, verse 1, we see: "Therefore be imitators of God." This is directly connected to our passage. We are to be light in the world because God is light. 1 John 1:5 says God is light. The Lord Jesus says in John 8:12 that He is the light of the world. We are to imitate God — as He is light, so we also are light in the world. To imitate also means we have our own responsibility. On the one hand, we submit to God; on the other hand, we imitate God. The power comes from Him, but we have our part to do.
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But as for immorality and all impurity or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor silly talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving."
Please note verse 5. Why is it that in this age the church so often fails to shine? It is because we say we are saved by faith, not by our own works, not by our own effort, so even if we sin, even if we are greedy, even if we are immoral, it doesn't matter — we are saved by faith, not by our deeds. This kind of talk completely contradicts God's word. We are indeed saved by faith. But you must understand faith according to the Bible. It does not mean, "Since I'm not saved by works, it doesn't matter if I sin." Look at verse 5: "For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous — that is, an idolater — has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Such a person has no share. The immoral, the greedy — all have no part in the kingdom of God.
Verse 6: "Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." So when we spoke of wrath, He is speaking to Christians in the church. There are also disobedient people in the church — those who, no matter what God's word says, just do their own thing. That is called disobedience. "Therefore do not associate with them." With those who call themselves Christians but practice immorality, deceit, and greed, we should have nothing to do. Otherwise, the name of God is disgraced, and the reputation of the church is destroyed.
Then we come to verse 8: "For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light."
Now as we go into the riches of this passage, I have so many pages of notes, and the riches of God's word — it's a problem to know how to get through all this, but just to share some of the main points. Another thing we need to notice: we have seen that light stands out from the darkness. We have seen also that light exposes the darkness, as the prophets exposed the sins of Israel, and they get hated. True Christians are never too well loved by those whose sins are exposed. I told you last time that there are some people in this world who would gladly poison me, shoot me, kill me by any means they can think of, because their sins have been exposed. And I have been, through the years, by the grace of God — I am not a vote catcher. I don't go out to win anybody's votes. I am not here to please men but to please God. And as a result of this, those who love their sins more than God have too often hated me to the core. And I don't desire their friendship either, or their love. I desire their salvation.
But thirdly, we notice this: that the darkness is overcome by the light. Darkness cannot win. You switch on the light, the darkness fades. The darkness cannot resist the light and stand up against the light. The light penetrates whether the darkness likes it or not. It penetrates into the darkness. So the Christian life and witness must penetrate and overcome. The Christian must stand out like light in such a way that the darkness really takes notice.
I mentioned also last week that today the world doesn't need to take notice of the church. There's nothing to notice. The church is so mediocre. It's so weak. It has so little light, if any light, that the world doesn't have to take any notice, let alone let the church overcome the world. We've got to stand out in this generation as something different. If people live with you, notice that something is different about you. If not, then there is something wrong about my life. They must notice that you stand out, different from other men.
And you don't have to stand out just by your belief in Jesus and hammer it away at everybody. Everybody can talk. When it says we are the light of the world, Jesus isn't talking about talking. Everybody knows how to talk, including the false pastor, the false prophet, the false teacher, the false Christian worker. They all know how to talk. That's how they got their position. It is the life that counts. We are light. The Lord Jesus says, "So let your light shine, that people may see your good works" — the quality of your life.
Paul again and again appealed to the quality of his life, as he says, "Now, before all the congregation of Israel," and what did Israel say? "No, you have proved yourself righteous, a servant of God." Our lives must stand out as light, not talking. Many people think they have proved themselves true Christians because they've talked. They've gone somewhere, held the Bible, said, "I believe in Jesus." It's very good to witness, but please don't witness until your life can back it up. Next time when they see you doing something, they say, "That guy was the fellow who opened the Bible and was talking. He's got a big mouth. I don't know about the size of his heart."
You must stand up. And when we say that our lives stand up to examination, we are not boasting, because we can't live that kind of life except by the power we just talked about. Light does not shine by itself, saying, "Look how wonderful I am, light." You just cut the power and the light goes out. We have this light because God's power operates in us. That's why we must stand out as distinct. If God's power is in you, whether you like it or not, you are going to be different.
I was on the ship coming over from Hong Kong many years ago, when I went to Europe. One of the most evil men I have ever met in my life was one of the passengers. He was all of these things we saw just now. He was a fornicator, an adulterer, a deceiver, and a swearer. He could not say two sentences without cursing and swearing. He could not say a sentence without swearing. He was vile and vicious and proud of it. He used to boast to me of his sins, and I just looked at him straight into his eyes. I didn't preach to him. I didn't lecture to him. I said absolutely nothing except that when he was taking the name of Jesus and swearing in the name of God, I said, "My friend, do you mind? It happens to hurt me when you talk like this."
We sat at the same table, you see. This fellow was a doctor and a winebibber if there ever was one. I mean, his central diameter — I think he could put six of me around there in the middle. His enormous circumference was there, and the language that went between him and his wife was enough to burst your eardrums right there at table. His wife would say to him, "When we get to Vienna, you buy me a sports car, won't you?" His wife was old enough to be his granddaughter. She was about 19 or 20. He was in his 60s, and well, this latest wife — I don't know how many others he had before that. And naturally she married him just for his money. He had plenty of money. That's why he was saying these things. And she would often say to him at table — one can't say he was the picture of beauty, but one doesn't expect the wife to say that to her husband at table. And he turned around quite casually and said, with a lot of swearing words in between, he said, "Well, you didn't marry me for my face. You married me for my money, didn't you?" And this sort of conversation would go through the mealtime.
And somehow I made him feel very uncomfortable just by being at the same table with him. I could not help being what I am, because by the grace of God I have been lit up. The Holy Spirit has come into my life, that I shine. I can't help it. It is no glory to me. It is His power. He was darkness. He disliked the light. It hurt him, and yet he admired it in a way. He admired the light enormously. And I remember one day I was standing on the flag bridge of the ship — you know, the flag bridge, the highest bridge of the ship — and I was watching the ship plowing through the sea. And he came up beside me and talked with me, and he asked me many questions about God. And then after that he said to me, he said, "Eric, I don't know what it is about you, but there's something about you that amazes me." I said, "Really?" He said, "Yeah, it really amazes me." I said, "Well, that's not me. It's God working in me. If you want to find the answer, you better get to God." And he began to — the light was beginning to overcome the darkness. He was beginning to get fascinated by the light. And he came to my cabin one day and said, "You want to talk to me some more?" And I offered him a John's gospel. He gladly received it.
Not because we are good, but God's power must operate. If you are a Christian, don't have any false humility. Stop being humble in a false way. Paul pointed to his life and says, "Look at me. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." Where is the Christian who dares to talk like that today? Why does Paul dare to talk like that? Because the power is not of me, it's of Him. "If you see the light in me, you follow me as I follow Christ." What is false humility? What we want today is let the light shine out. There is the light. See it. Look at it. That's what God has done in my life. That's what God can do in your life. We are to be light in the world that challenges and that overcomes the darkness. That is how people come to Christ.
Let me tell you something. If you are a wishy-washy sort of Christian, the only thing you can produce is the same thing like yourself. Total Christians produce total Christians. That is what we need today. Why is the church so full of wishy-washy Christians? Because they were brought in by other wishy-washy Christians. They are all the same thing. If the church were full of total Christians, the others who come in will also be total Christians. Light kindles light. That's what we need. It sets fire to the others.
So in this age, we must be like light, not only grasping the radiance but seeing that this radiance can overcome the darkness, so that people see there is something different about you. We can all preach and talk. Being a pastor or a preacher does not mean one is a complete Christian. You can go to Bible school for two or three years and learn to quote Scripture here and there. Anyone can do that. You don't need to be a complete Christian to do that. But our lives — the Lord Jesus says, "You are the light of the world." It's not about whether your words sound nice, but whether your life can shine forth. This light must make you stand out in the world.
If you are a student, people at your school should be able to see that this person is different. But I want to ask — do your classmates see you as different? If they say, "This person is no different from anyone else. He's quite nice, quite polite," but non-Christians can also be quite nice and polite. Where is the difference? If you are no different from them, how can you be light? How can you overcome the darkness?
So we see that in this world, we need our lives, by God's power, to shine forth, so that people can see. No false humility needed. When people see the radiance in you, they don't praise you — they praise God. If they praise you, then there is something wrong with your light. It may not be God's light. If it is God's light, their eyes will naturally be drawn to God. If it is my own goodness, then people will praise me, saying, "Not bad, not bad." I don't want to hear that. I didn't come into this world for that, nor do I need to preach for that. But when the light is from God, then from your life people see God's light. They don't say, "This person is pretty good." They say, "God is great. This is the God I need." This is how we are to shine in the world.
So I gave the example just now. When I traveled from Hong Kong to Europe by ship, there was a man on board just like the kind of person described in Ephesians — he was darkness. This man committed adultery, every kind of sin, and boasted to me about it. He thought his sins were great achievements — how he had deceived people. He was a doctor. He would say that when people needed medical evidence for a lawsuit, he would withhold it. "Give me twenty or thirty thousand dollars and I'll give you the evidence. Otherwise, no evidence." The person had no choice, because he needed the evidence for his case, otherwise he would go to prison. So he would find a way to get the money to him. And he was boasting to me about how clever this was, how smart he was to cheat people, thinking himself quite something. This man was greedy, adulterous, everything. But in my life, he saw something that made him uncomfortable, and yet also fascinated him. On the one hand, uncomfortable; on the other hand, very interested. The light was drawing him. But was this my light? No. Where do I have light? It is the light God gives. It is the light that shines by God's power.
So one day, after many weeks, as we were approaching Egypt, I was on the deck of the ship watching the wake in the sea. He came up beside me and asked me some questions about faith. Did I constantly preach the gospel to him? I didn't even talk to him much. I just let my life shine. If he couldn't see the light, there would be no point in talking. He asked me, and then he said to me, "I feel that you are someone very special." I said, "What's special?" He said, "I see your life is very special." I said, "This light comes from God. I'm nothing special." And why special? Light in the darkness is always special, isn't it?
# You Are the Light of the World (Part 2) — Matthew 5:14
This is about salt. It's not what salt does — that is part of the question, but that is not the most important part. The key is: how does salt function? And that is the part that nobody has ever thought of asking, for some strange reason or another. And we saw that salt functions by its dying, by its being dissolved, by its giving itself away. We saw that salt cannot do anything without giving itself away, without its dying.
Now, how does light function? Think about it. How does light function? In the same way. In exactly the same way. This is the self-giving principle of the Word of God. It functions in exactly... think of the light. In those days the light was an oil lamp. There is a wick there. The oil is usually olive oil. And olive oil in the Bible represents the Holy Spirit. And the wick is inside the olive oil. And the light, when it is lit, burns up what? It burns up the wick. And it burns up the oil.
Now the Lord Jesus did not say, "You are the lamp of the world," did he? A lamp may not have any light. You have a lamp and it doesn't do anything until it is lit. "You are the light of the world." Now light must mean fire — the fire which burns the wick and consumes the oil. Now notice the spiritual lesson here. Jesus sent us to be the light of the world. The power is His. The oil is His. The Holy Spirit comes from Him. But there is one humble element that is needed in the light. The humble element is the wick. The wick.
And what happens to the wick in order to give forth light? Do you see what happens to it? Burnt up. Consumed. Burnt away. Slowly by slowly, the wick burns down, down, down. The wick dies to give forth light. Do you know why there is so little light in the church today? Because there are so few self-giving, self-dying Christians. If the wick does not die, there will be no light.
Now you look at the electric bulb. The same principle. The electric bulb will not burn without power. So replace the oil of the oil lamp by the power, the electricity. Replace the wick by that element inside the bulb. And do you know that that element in the bulb is burning away? It is dying as that light is shining. It is dying, and the day comes until it's burnt out. One day you look at it and you see that it's black. It's burnt out. It's broken. Finished. All these lights are designed to burn maybe for 500 hours, maybe for a thousand hours. Some bulbs today you can buy are called long-life bulbs. They last a bit longer. But they also burn out eventually. The inside, the element, burns out.
So in the same way, the Christian, unless he is prepared to burn out for Christ, there's not going to be light. No, no, there's not going to be light. This is the important element. Why does your light not give forth light? It is because you are not willing to burn out. You don't want to burn. No, you don't want to burn. And if you don't burn out, if you are not prepared to die in the process of witnessing, there will never be light. Do you understand this principle, brothers and sisters? This is the vital principle, the preciousness of the Lord's teaching. We only live by dying. As the seed dies, it brings forth life. As we die, we bring forth light. That is to say, we are being burnt out.
Somebody called John Sung a flame for God. Right. Well said. And he burnt out. You all know. He burnt out for God. This wick, this me, this body is being burnt out day by day. I think I've burnt out quite a bit already, to judge by my present condition. And if you have ever served the Lord day after day for anything like a few days, the sheer exhaustion of it is incredible. And you know, I have taught. I have taught in school. I have been a teacher. And I can teach several hours a day and it doesn't affect me. But preaching the gospel is nothing like teaching. When you teach, you don't burn. When I preach the gospel, I burn up. The energy that is drained out of me is astonishing. You feel yourself burnt, exhausted, worn physically at the end of it.
Are you willing to pay the price of being burnt out financially? Burnt out in terms of your time? Burnt out in terms of your health? Burnt out in terms of everything you have to offer? Then you will be light. The Lord Jesus sends us out into the world to burn. To be the light of the world. No fire, no light.
The Lord Jesus says clearly: "You are the light of the world." Think about the light. "You are the light of the world." Nobody lights a lamp and hides it under a bushel, the Lord Jesus says, but He sets it up on a table, on a lampstand, so everybody can see.
We are like this lamp. In those days it was an oil lamp. The oil used was olive oil. Olive oil in the Bible represents the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is represented by olive oil. But for a lamp to work, it needs not only the vessel and not only the oil filling it, but also the wick inside. How does this wick give forth light? How does it shine? Of course it needs fire — God's fire. There is fire, God's fire. But how does it shine? This wick slowly, slowly burns away. This is exactly the same principle we talked about last week, isn't it? The principle we discussed. Salt must give itself away in order to function. This lamp can shine. This lamp can give light only by being burned up. It is in the burning up that the light comes forth.
It is like John Sung. Someone wrote a book calling him "The Flame of the Far East." He truly was a flame. He was completely burnt up — burnt up. By the time he was only about forty years old, his body was burnt up. His wealth had long been burnt up. His worldly reputation — he wanted none of it. No money, nothing — completely burnt up. Only then did he shine as a light in the Far East, becoming the light of the Far East.
The church is sent by the Lord Jesus into the world to shine. But if you are not willing to burn, if you are not willing to be burnt up, where will the light come from? You say, what about electric lights? It's the same principle. Today we don't use oil. We use electricity. The principle is the same. The power is still needed. That filament inside the bulb is constantly burning, slowly, slowly burning away. That's why when your bulb breaks, you look inside and the filament is black — burnt up. Every bulb on average can last maybe 500 hours, or some 800 hours. Some long-life bulbs can go to 1000 hours, 1200 hours, but they are gradually being burnt up.
Are you willing to be burnt up? When the Lord Jesus sends us into the world, He says you must take up your cross to be my disciple. What does that mean? If you are not willing to be burnt up, where will the light come from? So brothers and sisters, you want to preserve your life, your comfort. Today in the Christian church we see people who want to preserve their own lives. "God, bless me. Bless my family. Bless my grandfather, bless my grandmother. Everyone, come and be blessed. God is there to give me things." This kind of God I cannot find in the Bible. God wants to bless you. He wants to give great power. But His blessing is not for you to enjoy for yourself. We have a mission in this world. This mission is to go out and shine. If your God is just a grandparent handing out treats, just giving you the good life, this kind of God does not exist.
If the light is covered, do you think God covered the light? God didn't cover any light. It is we who cover the light. Why do you cover a light, you know? What would you ever do to cover a light for? What will happen if you cover a light? You know what happens to it? Have an oil lamp there and you cover the light, put a bowl on top of it. What happens to the oil lamp? Well, you don't have to be a genius to know that. You don't have to study advanced physics to know that. When the oxygen is burnt out under there, what happens to the lamp? It goes out. The light will be quenched.
That's why Paul warns the Christians, "Don't quench the Spirit." And don't congratulate yourself for the moment that your light is shining. "Hooray! I am good. My light is shining." Yes, but keep on shining. Don't let any sin or disobedience or evil or temptation, whatever it may be, cover the light. You cover the light and in due time it will go out, and you will be in the darkness. Be very careful, brothers and sisters.
But our time is gone. I pray that God will enable you to see the richness of His word and His message, and let His word challenge you into the depth of your heart, and ask yourself, "Am I a Christian?" You say you always make us feel uncomfortable. I go back, I don't know whether I'm a Christian or not by the time I hear you preaching. Every time I don't know whether I'm a Christian or not. I don't want to make life difficult for you. My task is simply to tell you what the Bible says, what the Lord Jesus taught. You decide in the light of His teaching.
First, whether what I have said is God's word. Discern for yourself. You don't have to believe my words just like that. Compare the Scriptures. Search the word. And decide what He said. Is that the word of God? That's the first step. And secondly, when you're seeing that it's the word of God, then say, "What am I going to do? Do I match up to the teaching? Am I a real Christian? Does my life match up to it?"
It's not what you do, it's what you are that we are talking about. So don't try and escape the issue by saying, "Well, I go and preach the gospel now." That's not the point we are getting at. There are many people who preach the gospel for wrong reasons. They are not total Christians. It's not what you do, it's what you are that we are talking about. You first become a total Christian. And then what God wants you to do, He will show you. That's what we are talking about. Let God's word speak to our every heart.
Let us be quiet before God. "Lord, we thank you, because your word searches our hearts and minds. It lays bare everything we think before you. You know what kind of people we are. What others think we are is one thing. But you know the thoughts and intentions of every one of us. Lord, we pray that you would make us authentic before you. No hypocrisy, no falsehood. Before you, let every one of us become real and true. Lord, by your grace, make each one of us your light. Let your fire burn within our hearts. Make us willing to be burnt up by the Holy Spirit, to shine forth your radiance. Lord, hear our words — our thanksgiving, our praise, our petitions — in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
We'll sing one last hymn, the one we sang earlier. Now, we saw that there are different kinds of light. Some light is brighter than other light. Some bulbs are only 50 watts, some are 100 watts, some are 150 watts, some are 500 watts. There are differences even among lights. So even if today, having heard God's word, you say, "Lord, I am willing to be light. I am willing to be light" — thank the Lord. Now then, how do you progress and continue to grow in the light, to shine with even more radiance? How? By looking to the Lord Jesus. Fix your eyes on the Lord Jesus. This we see in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. There we see that as we behold the glory of the Lord Jesus, we are step by step transformed into His own image, that glorious image.
By your grace, by your saving power, by your transforming power, make me a light. May God make you a light and make you increase in light. How do we increase in light? There are bulbs which are 50 watts, 100 watts, 150 watts, 500 watts. There are different levels of light. May God increase our light. Don't congratulate yourself and say, "Yeah, I'm a light, I'm okay now." That light can increase. It must grow. We must never be content to stay where we are.
But how do we increase? By looking to Jesus. So we read there in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. And what does Paul say there? He says this: "We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another." You are 50 watts, you are going to improve to 100 watts, you are going to improve to 150 watts. Your power is increasing. Praise God. That's in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 18, which you can look at for yourself. So we've got to fix our eyes on Jesus, and so we will be changed into His image.