“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14–16, ESV)
The previous thought looked at the metaphor of salt. The second metaphor that Jesus used in explaining the purpose of the children of the kingdom is that of light.
Jesus stated, “You are the light of the world” (v14). True children of the kingdom have a marvelous light. We need to understand this light before we can let it shine before others.
This light is not an earthly light. It is not the light of the natural man. It is a divine light. John the Baptist pointed to this true light stating, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” (John 1:9, ESV) Jesus is the true light. Jesus stated that “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5, ESV)
So, what about after the ascension of Jesus back to heaven? Days after Jesus ascended to heaven, He manifested His light in every believer through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. This happened on the day of Pentecost and from this moment forward, the church has been the body of Christ through whom the glorious light is to radiate.
The darkness cannot withstand this light as it radiates and drives out the darkness. In this world, the children of the kingdom individually and corporately are to radiate Christ’s light in a spiritually dark world.
However, Jesus gave this sobering thought, people do not “light a lamp and put it under a basket” (v15). He implied that it is possible to cover His indwelling light in such a way as to impede its radiance. What impedes the shining of the light to the world around us? It is our own fleshly appetites that cloud the globes of our hearts. This type of clouding manifests itself in sin, which so easily entangles us and destroys our testimony.
This has been the problem from the time of the fall. The nation of Israel constantly struggled with this problem. Moreover, the New Testament churches struggled with this. It was a problem in the church at Corinth. We can see it in the false teachers, which tried to infiltrate the church in Galatia and Colossae. We can see it in the historical apostasy of the churches listed in Revelation. Moreover, this problem is still with us.
We can see this problem in individuals and churches today. What do we need? We need to clean out the globes of our heart, just like cleaning the globe of an old kerosene lantern. This we do through confession. It is something we need both corporately and individually so that our light will shine brightly.
We live in a world that needs to experience the light of Jesus in believers and local churches. It is this light that will drive out the darkness. It is this light in us that will produce the good works that others will see and bring glory to God.
We need to refocus on our divine purpose and consider God’s plan. We need to do some serious cleaning the globe of our hearts through confession and let our light shine brightly.
Renewing the Heart 