Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: As believers, we are light in this world. And light has already been within us. The Holy Spirit cleaned up our whole inside of our hearts, our conscience, which is so cool. We have a conscience because whenever we deviate from the truth, our conscience won't leave us alone—at least my conscience won't leave me alone—because the light has been poured into our lives.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Today, we're launching our new series centered on the freedom and responsibilities of life as Christ's followers. Today, Raul will encourage us to be spiritual lights in the world's darkness, pointing others to Jesus through our daily witness. Keep listening today to see that you can establish a credible testimony when you consistently walk in faith and obedience, fully confident of God's saving love. The title of today's study is "We Are the Light of the World." Here's Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: Would you turn to the book of Matthew, chapter 5, verses 14 through 16? When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, it was not to the multitudes, it was to the disciples. And what really blesses me is when He gave the Sermon on the Mount, the way He spoke to them with authority. And it was things about the kingdom of God, the way that we should live: behavior.

And when you think about the way the world is heading, especially the church—when you look at the church around the world today, you can see that a lot of the churches today do not believe in truth. They're changing, and they're compromising. So they're not really living up to the Sermon on the Mount, which is not a bunch of rules and regulations. It's the Word of God.

This is why Jesus, you'll see in the Sermon on the Mount, He says, "It was said to do this, but verily I say unto you." He's changing it from the law to the grace of God. And I hope that as we go through the whole Sermon on the Mount, it will change our attitudes and our hearts so that we can become better citizens of the kingdom of God. It's His church, we are His people, and if the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back again soon, then we need to be salt and we need to be light.

Let's read chapter 5, verses 14 through 16. He says, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Now Jesus is speaking to His disciples. There are certain qualifications to become a disciple of Christ. Now we know there's a lot of people that are church members. The qualification and the requirements for someone to become a child of light is to be born again of the Holy Spirit as a person realizes that he has sinned against God and that he needs a Savior in his personal life.

And then by coming to Christ, repentance, and then accepting Him by faith and then beginning to read the Bible, beginning to grow, to develop and becoming not only mature in the Lord, but then God has also a work for you to fulfill. It's called the calling of God. It doesn't always mean a pastor, but to share through your life that you truly have been born again of the Holy Spirit. And that you're there not to preach to people to turn them off from Christ.

One of the things that I talk to people about is that if you're working or going to college, wherever you are, and you call yourself a Christian, but they don't see your life as a Christian, then what you're doing is you're pushing people away from Christ. And this morning Jesus is going to speak to us about a very important topic. He says in verse 14 through 16, He says we are the light of the world.

When you think about light, you can take a beam of light in one second you can hit the moon because it travels at 186,000 miles per second. That's pretty fast. But think about how important the light is to this world—the sun reflects on the moon. I mean, I don't know if you have ever walked into a real dark place without like a cave. Not even a flashlight or a lighter or whatever it is, and you can't even see the front of your hand.

And at the same time, think of the people today when you walk out of this church and even though the sun's shining. The Bible says that any person that doesn't know Christ, he's walking in the darkness. In the worst darkness you could ever have, a darkness that will lead you to hell. And in hell, it will be pitch dark. And the Bible says there will be screaming, yelling, and there'll be cursing, there'll be everything else, but those people will never ever see the light ever again.

And yet for the Christian, it's awesome because not only do we have the sun shining here today, and when you die and you take your last breath and you step into eternity, immediately you're going to be in the presence of the light—the everlasting light. I always wondered when I go to hospitals and see people pass away, especially Christians, what it must be like to be sitting there waiting for death to come and then all of a sudden the Bible says the angels come to take you into the presence of God or into hell.

As soon as you close your eyes, you take your last breath, here you are in eternity. And then I thought, I wonder if you can see your body. We really don't know. But to a lot of people death is very frightening. It should not be to the Christian because Christians don't really die. We actually make a transfer. We're going to be with the Lord forever and ever and ever, and we're going to be in the presence of the light forever—no darkness at all.

Look what Jesus says as He's talking to His disciples in verses 14 through 16. He says, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Wow, that's pretty intense there. He's talking about He's the light of the world, but we also are to be lights in this world. We are light of the world. We reflect Christ. So here in the Sermon on the Mount, He's making use of two sublime illustrations. Number one: salt. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how then shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and to be trampled under the foot of men.

What a shame it is when Christians bring a bad name to Christianity. But now becoming the light, the light that people should be able to see in our own personal lives. That's the second thing that He gives to us here. Light attracts bats, gnats—think about it. And at the same time, light gives us life. You walk into a dark room and people say, "Well, how can you come to the light?" If you're in a dark room and you're looking for the switch to the light, once you find the switch, you turn it on, what happens to the darkness? It's gone.

And the Scripture speaks a lot about the light that Jesus Christ not only has given to each one of us individually, but we need to be careful that we don't stumble people by saying that we are in the light and yet they see us walking in the darkness. Listen to what Jesus said in John 8:12. He said, "Jesus spoke to them again and said, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.'" I mean, how much clearer do we want from Jesus to say that to us? Walking in the light.

And then the first point that I want to speak to you this morning is how the church is a light. The church, the Ecclesia, the ones called out—that's us. And every religion believes that they have the right way. They believe that in their own way, they're going to a place where they're going to be transformed, whatever they're going to become. But there's only truly one way to heaven, and that's through Jesus Christ. People say, "Well, you're too prejudiced or you're too narrow-minded." Well, I didn't say that. That's what the Bible says. Jesus said that.

And that's why for me, it's important that my children, my grandchildren, and that anybody I come in contact with, I want them to know that there is a light eternally. We don't preach to people, we live in front of people so they can see the light. The world's so full of darkness that they're looking for hope. And if the church can't give them hope, then what can we give to them and bring shame to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as we not only reject His love and grace and mercies through disobedience in becoming light.

You see, the light has several things. Number one, the light is clear and pure. Clear and pure. Ephesians 5:8 Paul says, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Holy Spirit is all goodness, righteousness, and truth." So Paul the Apostle is exhorting the Christian, letting us know that in the past at one time, we were walking in darkness. Then my question is, why are you still walking in darkness? If it was from the past, why in the present? We need to be careful. There's a lot of people that are perishing in this world, including our families.

Secondly, the light penetrates. It penetrates. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 Paul says, "You are all sons of light, sons of the day. We are not of night nor of darkness." Notice He makes a distinction. Then thirdly, light enlightens. Jesus said, "A little while longer the light is with you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going." Fourthly, light reveals. I love this. John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Notice what He's saying. A lot of people are trying to come to the Father. No one can come to the Father unless you come through Jesus Christ. There's no mediator between God and man, but the man Christ Jesus. That's 1 Timothy 2:5. That means God's over here, we're here, and Jesus is the bridge builder. Everybody's trying to come this way and this way—you can't do it.

Because God has called each one of us when we have the light in our lives, that when we actually come to Jesus Christ, we find not only peace in our lives, but the love of God is in us and through a work in our lives. And remember, the light also guides our footsteps. He says in John 12:46, "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in the darkness." Should not abide. God wants to save people. God wants to touch people, especially the church.

Sixth, light strips away the darkness. John 3:19: "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light." Notice what He says: everyone practicing—notice again—practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. And how are they exposed? By the light. It brings you to repentance, to have faith in Jesus Christ and no longer to be in bondage to sin, no longer being condemned to hell, but coming into the Lord Jesus Christ and expecting to go to heaven. I love that.

And then He goes on to the second point. He says this, and the second point is pretty interesting because He's trying to share with us exactly what Jesus Christ desires from each one of us individually. He says the purpose of the church. So what is the purpose of the church? Paul the Apostle in Ephesians chapter 4:11 through 16, He gives you the purpose of the church: not only to be saved, but it's for the teaching of the Word of God. Preaching is for the non-believer in what: to get people to get saved.

But teaching is once you accept Christ, you've got to sit down, you've got to study God's Word because you have to develop spiritually to maturity. And the problem with so many in the church is that they become born again of the Holy Spirit, but like Paul said, they're constantly sucking on milk and you don't grow. You don't grow in Christ Jesus.

But when a child of God wants to be obedient and wants God's blessings upon him, then he's going to discipline his life. He's going to take up his cross and follow Jesus Christ. How do we do that? Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me. That's the real walk of a child of God. Because in verse 15, He said what: "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house."

Anywhere you go in Israel, if you're in the Sea of Galilee at night and it's an amazing place. And when you're on your hotel window, you're looking out—many years ago back in the '70s when I went to Israel for my first time, I was in the Sea of Galilee in a hotel and you barely saw a couple of lights in Capernaum—just a couple of lights. Today you go, after some thirty, forty years, and Capernaum is a huge city, as also the Gadarenes and then Canaan also and Tiberias.

So imagine the power of light. And God has given us and has called each one of us to be light in this world that is passing away. Remember again what He said in John 8:12: "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me is not to walk in darkness but to have the light of life." And then Jesus wants us to have good works.

Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 3:11 through 16: that one day we're going to stand before the Lord. He's going to take our works, He's going to put them into the fire to value what: gold, silver, wood, hay, or stubble—five things. And whatever the substance of your works are, that's going to be your reward, what comes out of the fire. And if everything burns in the fire, you will be saved by the grace of God, but you'll have nothing to show.

And I think it's really important that whatever we do in our testifying—I mean witnessing and our giving to God, reading our Bibles, praying, teaching our children—that all those things are spiritual things that one day are going to count tremendously. Everything we have in this world that is temporal, it's all going to burn. You can't take it with you.

And then it is lit to be seen, not only to give light but also to affect people's lives. When we stand before them, because again, it's not what I say when people see the light in my life—they're going to say what in your life? They're going to have questions and say, "How can I come to know Christ?" And there's a lot of people in need, my friends, a lot of people in need today.

Third point: the exhortation to the church. This is pretty heavy. Look at verse 16. He says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they"—men—"may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Are people glorifying God or are they glorifying you? They should always glorify God the Father for the life that we're living in.

Because as believers, we are light in this world. And light has already been within us. The Holy Spirit cleaned up our whole inside of our hearts, our conscience, which is so cool. We have a conscience because whenever we deviate from the truth, our conscience won't leave us alone—at least my conscience won't leave me alone—because the light has been poured into our lives.

Light is so amazing. When He said, "Let your light so shine," it means that no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing, people have to see not only the light, but they have to see the works of the light. The works of the light—this is really important. Because there are two purposes for letting your light shine.

Number one: we are to let our light shine in order to show forth good works. A Christian has to be fruitful, not unfruitful. Remember what Jesus said in John 15? He's the vine, we are the branches. He says and when a farmer goes out to trim his branch, he looks number one to see the good branches that are there, the ones that are alive, and then he sees those that are dying. So in order to bring forth more fruit next year, what does he do? He trims it. But when he comes to the dry branches, what does he do? Does he trim it? No, he cuts it off. And they're only good to be thrown into the fire.

We as believers are being pruned. So that we can bring forth fruit. How are we being pruned? Through our trials, through all the things that we face as children of the Lord. God is testing us: either we pass the test or we flunk the test. And if you flunk the test, guess what? You've got to retake the test till you pass it. God has His purposes and the reason for that is because He wants you and myself to bring what: to bring ourselves to submission to the cross of Jesus Christ.

To submission. Listen to James 3:13. He says, "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by good conduct"—by good manner of life—"that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom." People have to see your works, not condemn your works. Secondly, we are to let our light shine in order to steer men to glorify God, not yourselves. To steer up men to glorify the Father. To glorify Jesus Christ.

The glory of God is to be a primary aim for all believers, even those that are here today. Listen, 1 Peter 4:11: "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever, amen." And then 1 Peter chapter 5:11 says, "To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen."

So God gets the glory through our lives. When people have nothing to say against us, God gets the glory. But when people have something to say about us, about each one of us individually, and we're drawing people away from Jesus Christ, then God doesn't get the glory. God gets put down because of our lives.

He says, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give it to you" because of obedience. And then He says this, 1 Corinthians 6:20: "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

1 Peter 4:11: "If anyone speaks, let him speak the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ."

Guest (Male): As we've heard today, God doesn't expect perfection of us, and He will redeem our mistakes when we repent, but He does want us to make every effort to represent Christ accurately to those around us. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's study was titled "We Are the Light of the World."

If you'd like to get a complete copy with much more teaching, we'll be happy to send one to you for a donation of five dollars or more. Simply call us at 800-634-9165. And as you think about how you can shine more brightly for Christ, we'd like to tell you about Raul's four-part Liberty series. Every lesson underscores the wonderful freedom God's salvation gives us, while also challenging us to honor Him with lives that draw others to His love. You'll also see how obedient surrender paves the way for rich eternal blessings.

Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's four-message study, "Celebrating Our Liberty in Jesus Christ." We'll send you the CD set for eighteen dollars, or if you prefer, the thumb drive for just ten dollars. The phone number once again is 800-634-9165. And you can also order by writing to us at Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California, 91765.

Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries is fully listener supported. We are thankful for your partnership. Every contribution enables us to keep sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world. Tune in again next time as we continue this Liberty series with a call to intercede for those who don't yet know Jesus, recognizing that the spiritual health of our nation is determined by individuals walking in faith and obedience. Here's Raul once again with a closing comment.

Raul Ries: Maybe today you're here and you're struggling. Maybe you're struggling with your family, maybe individually, and Satan has been condemning you—fully condemning you—which means you can't experience the peace of God. But yet Paul says in Romans chapter 8:1, "There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus"—listen—"who walk not after the flesh, but after the Holy Spirit." When you align yourself with the purposes and the will of God, the condemnation and the guilt will depart. It won't be there anymore. You know why? Because you're going to be obedient to the Word of God. May God today help us to be light in a world that is getting so black, so dark.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.