Letting God Shine Thru

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. 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. 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. God does not only save us to heal us and bring us into his Kingdom family. 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 childï ½s 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. Maybe you feel like you have failed God in your marriage or family. Maybe you are still suffering the consequences from a divorce. Maybe you failed to spend time with your kids and now that they are older they don t seem to have time for you. You wonder because of your mistakes if God truly loves you. Maybe Due to your lack of spiritual commitment, you wonder how God can truly care about you. 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. 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 1 st 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. Light can penetrate & dispel darkness, but darkness cannot overcome light. Jesus Said in John 9:5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 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. Did you hear that, there are people out there that are appointed by God to be saved through your shining light, 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 2 nd. 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

4 th. WHERE: EVERYWHERE YOU GO! a. You are the light of this community. b. You are the light at your family gatherings. c. You are the light at your Job d. You are the light on your campus. e. You are the light even when you don t feel like shinning. f. 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 5 th. 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. WHO: YOU 2. WHAT: A LIGHT 3. WHEN: ALL THE TIME 4. WHERE: EVERYWHERE YOU GO 5. HOW: LET IT In Closing 6 th 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. 11