“Letting God Shine Thru”
Intro: Good morning and welcome to restoration life church. I’m
stoked to be back after a week of enjoying God’s creation while
camping up in the mountains.
Its good to be home. 2 weeks ago I started us on a journey through a
sermon series I entitled “PRISM”.
A PRISM is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces
that have the ability to refract, bend or redirect Light.
a. Our Lives have a “PRISM like” effect to it.
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We have been created to allow God's light shine through us. We
have been designed to shine.
1. God wants to do a work in you.
Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
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So first he want to do a work in you... And 2ndly...
2. God wants to do a work through you.
Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
“You are the light of the world. A town built 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 others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify
your Father in heaven.
1 •
There is a purpose for your life and that purpose is only realized
by having an encounter with Jesus and a revelation of His will for
your life.
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God does not only save us to heal us and bring us into his
Kingdom family.
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In addition to that he trains us through the local body he calls
his bride//the church and disciples here at restoration life to be
released into our God given destiny.
Illustration: At the last session on the last morning of a two week
seminar on Greek culture the professor turned and made the ritual
gesture: "Are there any questions?"
He was greeted with silence. These two weeks had generated enough
questions for a lifetime, but for now, there was only silence.
"No questions?" The professor swept the room with his eyes. Alas from
the back row, "Professor, what is the meaning of life?"
The usual laughter followed, and people stirred to go.
The professor held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at the
gentleman who asked the question for a long period of time, asking
with his eyes if indeed the question was serious or in jest.
"I will answer your question."
Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into the leather
billfold and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a
quarter. And what he said went something like this:
"When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we
lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found broken pieces
of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.
"I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not
possible, so I kept only the largest piece; This one.
And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with
it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light
into dark places where the sun would never shine in deep holes and
crevices and dark closets.
2 It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places
I could find.
"I kept the little mirror, and as I went through life, I would take it out
in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game.
As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a
child�s game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I
came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light.
"I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not
know.
Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places
of this world into black places in the hearts of men and change some
things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise.
This is what I am about. This is the meaning of life." (my life)
And then he took his small mirror and, holding it carefully, caught the
bright rays of daylight streaming through the window and slowly
reflected them onto all that were in the room.
(Q) My question to you this morning is “Are you allowing the light of
Christ to shine through you?
Have you ever failed to recognize something valuable?
Story: As Stan Caffy prepared for married life, he cleaned out his
garage and donated many of his possessions to the Goodwill. One of
the items he donated was a tattered copy of the Declaration of
Independence that had been hanging in his garage for a decade.
Stan’s trash turned out to be another man’s treasure. This particular
version of the Declaration of Independence was a rare copy made in
1823. A man named Michael Sparks spotted it and purchased the
document for $2.48.
Sparks later auctioned it for almost a half–a–million. Not a bad profit.
Life Application: Just like this tattered copy of the Declaration of
3 Independence, you and I are worth more than we think.
Today, however, you may not feel like you are valuable.
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Maybe you feel like you have failed God in your marriage or
family.
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Maybe you are still suffering the consequences from a divorce.
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Maybe you failed to spend time with your kids and now that they
are older they don’t seem to have time for you.
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You wonder because of your mistakes if God truly loves you.
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Maybe Due to your lack of spiritual commitment, you wonder
how God can truly care about you.
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Maybe you’ve wasted away your schooling or career. You had so
much potential but you never lived up to it. Now it seems like
you are just aimlessly going through the motions.
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You wonder how God could ever use you.
My Declaration: I’m here to tell you that regardless of how you feel
today, God’s Love for you is outrageous. God considered you incredibly
valuable that he willingly laid down his life so that you can have an
amazing new life, a restored life in him.
John 12:35-36
Jesus said, "For a brief time still, the light is among you. Walk by the
light you have so darkness doesn't destroy you. If you walk in
darkness, you don't know where you're going.
As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within
you, and shining through your lives. You'll be children of light."
He loves you and longs for you to live out who you are as you
allow him to live in you and thru you.
Text: Matthew 5:14-16 "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
4 men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in
heaven.
As we get into our text, I want to leave you a few thoughts from
Matthew’s Gospel that I think would help us as people that love God to
understand that we have been designed to shine.
In our text, Jesus is giving what is known as the Sermon on the
Mount.
The 1st thing that we need to look at is that LIGHT SHINES
• The job of light is to illuminate the darkness. Light is proactive.
It dispels darkness. Darkness is the absence of light, but light is
not the absence of darkness.
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Light can penetrate & dispel darkness, but darkness cannot
overcome light.
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Jesus Said in John 9:5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world."
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The Bible makes it clear that our society or people that are lost
in sin are living in darkness & it is our call to shine understating
of salvation into their world.
Paul said: Acts 13:47-48 47 For this is what the Lord has
commanded us: "'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you
may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'" 48 When the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all
who were appointed for eternal life believed.
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Did you hear that, there are people out there that are appointed
by God to be saved through your shining light,
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Families, children, grandparents, addicts, the loved and the
unloved that have a divine appointment with salvation but will
not see or hear without someone shedding some light in their
lives.
1 Peter 2:12 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of
him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
5 Friends, if we fail in allowing Jesus shining thru, if we fail,
people will perish.
2 Corinthians 4:3-6And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to
those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds
of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach
ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for
Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"
made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
So in an effort to help us understand all this ... I think that it
would be good when reading the scriptures to ask ourselves: who,
what, when, where, how and why
I love to do this in order to get a better understanding and to
UNCOVER the truths that lie within.
2. Well ... in keeping with that let us look at the (who) of this
particular text
a. Notice that in (v.14) that Jesus said ... “You are the light of the
world.” Well, I think that it is important for us to understand that
Jesus was not talking to just anybody.
b. Don’t get it twisted; although He didn’t call out any particular
names, He is however talking to a particular group of people.
(Jesus said you)...
Matthew 5:1-2 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a
mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began
to teach them, saying: NIV
Application: So the who is you. Look at someone and tell them,
Gods talking to me!
So we understand the WHO in our text...
We discovered that Jesus was not talking to just anybody, although
there were as the Bible records multitudes are around ... He was
primarily talking to His disciples and now we get to the what…
2nd. The WHAT.
6 Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world.
HE is saying, in this cold, dark Godforsaken world -- if there
was only one light ... let that light radiate from you.
a. Don’t worry about the multitudes. Don’t worry about your
surroundings. YOU ... I’m talking to YOU. Let Your Light Shine.
Philippians 2:14-16 Do everything without complaining or arguing,
15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God
without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine
like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life —
b. The Light is The Love of God in You.
Eph 5:8-12 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.
1. So we’ve addressed the WHO is YOU
2. We’ve addressed that the WHAT is a LIGHT and now we get to…
3. WHEN: When are we supposed to be shining?
a. Tell somebody ALL THE TIME.
(v.14) “...A city that is set on a hill (watch this) cannot be hid.”
Application: That simply means to me that we are required to
shine all the time. We are required to yield our selfishness, our
ambitions, our fears and even our pride ... in order to be used by
GOD to transmit HIS Glory, His loving Light through us to this dying
world.
1. WHO: YOU
2. WHAT: A LIGHT (What Light? The LOVE OF GOD.)
3. WHEN: ALL THE TIME!
(v.14) Notice that Jesus uses a metaphor to describe us as a city
that “cannot be hid.”
WHO: YOU, WHAT: A LIGHT, WHEN: ALL THE TIME
7 4th. WHERE: EVERYWHERE YOU GO!
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
You are the light of this community.
You are the light at your family gatherings.
You are the light at your Job
You are the light on your campus.
You are the light even when you don’t feel like shinning.
You are the light when you’re at the mall or when you’re at
home watching TV or our hanging around with our friends!
Matthew 5:15 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.
Application: Jesus in His sermon on the mount is simply telling us
that we (HIS DISCIPLES) need to be visible all the time and
everywhere we go.
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be
ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the
hope that is in you, NKJV
2 Timothy 4:1-5 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but
according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they
will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears
away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be
watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist,
fulfill your ministry. NKJV
g. In (v.15) of our text, Not only are we supposed to be “visible all
times” and “everywhere we go” we are also required to (transmit).
Transmit ... simply means to
(1) Send something;
(2) to pass something on;
(3) or cause something to spread from one person, thing, or place
to another.
Application: I’m simply saying that the metaphors of a city on a hill
and lamp on a lamp stand ... Jesus is telling us that we are designed
to transmit, that we are designed shine.
8 Why ... well Paul help us with that in Romans 2:19 where it says that
we are “...a guide of the bind, a light of them which are in darkness.”
WHO: YOU, WHAT: A LIGHT, WHEN: ALL THE TIME
WHERE: EVERYWHERE YOU GO
5th. Let’s look at the How.
a. Look at someone and tell them: LET Him Shine!!!!
b. (v.16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.
Application; You see ... Christ is the true and original light.
John 8:12 Jesus said “...I am the light of the world: he that follows
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall (WATCH THIS) have the light
of life.”
(Q) What are you saying Pastor?
(A) What I’m saying is that God is the source of your LIGHT ... all you
got to do is LET HIM SHINE. LET HIM RADIATE. ALLOW HIM TO
TRANSMIT HIS GLORY THROUGH YOUR LIFE.
Well ... I don’t know about you but shining is one thing but LET IT -- is
another.
(Q) Why ... because LET IT requires some action on my part.
LET IT requires that I do some denying of myself. You see ... let
it means:
- not to prevent something.
- not to hinder something from happening
- give somebody permission to do something
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
WHO: YOU
WHAT: A LIGHT
WHEN: ALL THE TIME
WHERE: EVERYWHERE YOU GO
HOW: LET IT
In Closing…6th the Why:
9 6. WHY? TO GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN
(v.16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.
Altar Call
2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT And all of us have had that veil removed so
that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And
as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more
like him and reflect his glory even more.
Our witness will only be as affective as the degree to which we
reflect the image of Christ.
Our Light WARNS those hat are heading for destruction!
Illustration:
There is an old story of a lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky
stretch of coastline and who received his new supply of oil once a
month to keep the light burning. Not being far from shore, he had
frequent guests. One night a woman from the village begged some oil
to keep her family warm.
Another time a father asked for some to use in his lamp. Another
needed some to lubricate a wheel. Since all the requests seemed
legitimate, the lighthouse keeper tried to please everyone and granted
them all.
Toward the end of the month he noticed that the supply of oil was very
low. Soon, it was gone, and the beacon light went out. That night
several ships were wrecked and lives were lost. When the authorities
investigated, the man was very repentant. To his excuses and pleading
their reply was: “You were given the oil for one purpose – to keep that
light burning.”
Expound:
We as a church body are a lighthouse. All around us are lost people.
Their lives are in crisis, because they are lost. We must be a light to
bring them to Jesus.
Some people change their ways when they see the light; others
only when they feel the heat.
John 3:16-19 NKJV
10 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
{17} "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the
world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
{18} "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. {19} "And this is the
condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
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