Living by the Light of Christ

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Scripture Reading

Luke 11:33–36 NIV84
33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

Introduction

We come this morning to a very important passage that will teach us the importance of perceiving the truth of God, and allowing that truth to pervade our lives and to have control over us in terms of how we conduct ourselves in this world.
When we look at the Scriptures, we find numerous contrasts that are given in order to distinguish between that which is good and that which is evil.
One of the key pictures that the Scriptures using order to convey this is that of light and darkness. Satan is portrayed as that entity that stands for and represents darkness. God is the one that is light and life. In this passage that we have before us this morning, we find a picture of light and darkness coming into play.
At the outset this morning, I want us recognise that this passage that we’re considering this morning doesn't primarily refer to Christians being the light of the world, or the church shining in the world of darkness. Scripture does certainly speak to those issues, but that is not his main point as he addresses his audience in this passage. Rather, he is addressing individuals.
What is important for us to see over here is that individual people will either be illumined by that which is light, or they will remain in a state of perpetual darkness. As he addresses this crowd that is before him in this moment, he is issuing a warning to them that they ought to be very careful to know if they are illumined within their lives with the light of God, or if they are actually lost in darkness.
For us as Christians today, this is also a very important question to keep in our minds. We need to evaluate ourselves and our lives and ask ourselves if we are truly being illumined by Jesus Christ as we live out our lives in this world.
Of course we like to think that we are being illumined by the light of Jesus Christ. We would honestly say to ourselves and to others that Christ is the one that is eliminating us and guiding us. However we need to make a careful evaluation of ourselves in order to determine if this is truly the case.
So as we go into this study this morning, let us prayerfully consider our own lives and our own manner of life, and seek to answer the question honestly today, am I being illumined by Christ?
Background Context
As we come to this passage this morning, it's very important that we understand the context into which Luke was writing the words of Christ. Christ was speaking here to the Pharisees and religious leaders, as well as many from the crowds that were around him. The words of Christ in our present passage flow directly out of what is preceded and what we've looked at over the last two weeks. This is not a new thought or idea. Rather, Christ is speaking these words on the basis of what has just happened.
You will recall that Jesus had healed a demon possessed man. A man was mute, he couldn't speak, and this was as a consequence of demon possession. Jesus had spoken to this demon and cast the demon out of the man.
In light of that event, there were a number of different responses to Jesus. One of the responses was to accuse Jesus of driving out demons by the power of Satan. Another response came from a particular woman with in the crowd. This woman said, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth.” Jesus rightly corrected corrected her and said blessed are those rather who hear the words of Jesus and obey them. That’s a very important statement even as we consider our text this morning.
But there was another group of people that asked Jesus to show them a sign. They were convinced that Jesus had not sufficiently demonstrated and proved to them that he was the Messiah. They wanted further proof, further evidence, and refused to listen to what Jesus had told them based on the evidence at hand.
Now, keep in mind what Jesus also responded to these people as he confronted them in their unbelief. He reminded them of the sign of Jonah. In particularly, they were told that when Jonah had preached the word to them, they had repented of their rebellion and sin against God. However, Jesus said that he was greater than Jonah, and thus they ought to have been listening to him.
Similarly, Jesus reminded them about the instance of the Queen of Sheba that came to look at Solomon's wisdom. She heard the reports that were given about Solomon, and so she prepared gifts and an entire procession and came and visited Solomon in order to verify what had been told her about Solomon. When she arrived she saw and confessed that she had not even been told the half of Solomon’s great wisdom. And so she had believed. She went to go and check the facts to see if they were so, and she then perceived that they were indeed true… and she gave glory to God. And then Jesus said to the crowds, someone greater than Solomon is here. In other words, how much more so should you not be listening to me.
And that is precisely the context that sets the current discourse. Christ is addressing those who will not believe in him. Some have rejected him as a worker of Satan. Some have asked him to show them a sign in order to prove who he was.
And Christ is essentially telling them through our passage that the evidence they have is enough…
Let’s consider that together from our text. The First thing that we must see from our passage…

1. The Light Has Been Provided (v.33)

As we turn to our passage under consideration, we note that Jesus begins by speaking about the purpose of a lamp within a household.
Luke 11:33 NIV84
33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.
Jesus begins by reminding them of a very simple reality which they understood well. We have looked at this previously in Luke chapter 8. But in essence, the fact is that in the homes of the day, there was not a lot of light that would enter in. They would light up lamps, and it would be necessary to put that lamp on its stand in order that it might light up the house in which they lived. It was unthinkable that they would light such a lamp and then place it under a bowl. In other words, the very purpose of lighting the lamp is to give light by which a person may see.
Notice also however, that Jesus says here that the purpose of lighting the lamp is in order that those who come in may see the light. In other words Jesus is trying to emphasize the important point that the light is there in order to be a benefit to other people.
The question we must know ask ourselves is why he is saying this in light of the present context. Essentially what Jesus is conveying to these people is that there is a light that has come into the world, and this light has not been hidden from them. But the real question then becomes, are they going to see and understand this light.
Jesus is the Light
As Jesus speaks here, he is proclaiming to them that a light has come upon them. He refers here to this light that is himself. Christ is the one that is entered into the world as a light. He is the one that is brought light to them as they stand there right before him.
We must keep in mind the prophetic words spoken by Isaiah. In Isaiah 9:2, we read this:
Isaiah 9:1–2 NIV84
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
Within their own Scriptures, the Jews were told that a light would dawn upon them. This was even spoken in connection with Galilee… the very place where Jesus had spent most of his time ministering. The Jews should have anticipated this light coming.
Returning to our present verse, Jesus says to them in verse 33 that no one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it is hidden away. In the same way His coming to them as a light is not in some way hidden away from them that they are unable to see it. Rather he has come into the world and he has demonstrated that he is the Messiah by shining this light of God in their midst.
This truth is very well conveyed in John’s Gospel in the opening chapter.
John 1:4–5 NIV84
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
In these words we have perfectly conveyed to us what was taking place in the present scenario. This world that was full of darkness received the Messiah, the one who is the light of God. And the light was right there before this darkness. And as he performed his miracles and as He engaged in his teaching, the question was, would that darkness perceive this light that was before them?
John very clearly states in his gospel that the darkness did not comprehend it, or understand it. Just a little bit further on John writes these words,
John 1:8–10 NIV84
8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
Once again, we see this important truth that although the light was in the world and was there to provide the world with much light, the world did not know him.
Later on in the Gospel according to John, as Jesus was ministering to the people, he specifically testified to the fact that He, himself, was the light that needed to be followed.
John 8:12 NIV84
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
And later on he would say to the crowds,
John 12:35 NIV84
35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
In these various references in Scripture, we see that Jesus Christ clearly portrays himself as the light that came into the dark world. And yet despite the fact that he came as the light, the people of the world refused to believe in him.
This raises some very important lessons, even for us in our day.
One of the important lessons that we must learn from this is the extent of the darkness of the heart of man in sin. We need to see this. We need to see how spiritualy blind the natural man is.
Romans 1:20–23 NIV84
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
In that passage, the revelation given was what is referred to as General Revelation - the revelation of the power and nature of God that is seen in the created world.
What Christ refers to is Special Revelation. God’s specific Revelation to the world through His Word.
The reality is that there are those who are so blinded in their perception of Jesus Christ, that they will not see who he is.
There is another example of this in Luke's gospel that we will come to in due course, but it's worthwhile touching on even now.
The account is of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke chapter 16. In that account you will recall that there was a rich man that had everything his heart could desire in this world. And there was a beggar that lived outside of his gate that would beg for food. When they both died the rich man went into hell into eternal torment, while Lazarus went into heaven, where he was very comfortable.
Now, I don't want to deal with that passage and all the implications of it for the purpose of this study, but there is one thing worth mentioning. When the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his household in order to warn them of the torment that was to come after they died, Abraham said would be of no benefit to them to do that.
Luke 16:27–31 NIV84
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
The reality is, that some people simply do not want to believe. It is not for a lack of evidence. It is not because God has not made it plain to them. Rather, it is because they do not want to believe, and would rather choose to continue in their unbelief.
And that's what Jesus is saying here to this crowd. He is saying, particularly in verse 33, that the light has come. The light has not been hidden. It’s there, in plain sight, in order to give light to everyone, and to be of benefit and blessing to everyone.
This leads us to consider our second main point,

2. The Light Must Be Perceived (vv.34-35)

At this point, Christ goes to directly address those in the crowd who are in the presence of this light, and to point out to them what the real problem is that is involved here. In order to do this he brings across a picture of the eye, and how it is important for the eye to be functioning correctly.
Luke 11:34 NIV84
34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.
What Christ is simply saying through this verse is that the body of a person, or rather the life of a person, will only be filled with light to the extent that the eye is able to perceive the light. He says to them, your eye is the lamp of your body. In other words, your ability to perceive light is going to determine what happens within you.
One thing that I think I should point out at this stage is the fact that although Christ is using a picture of the physical person, He is conveying spiritual realities to them. Thus when he speaks here of the eye and the body, the reference is really to the spiritual eyes of the person, and then the spirit of the person within them, the eternal part of the man, that which is either dead or alive.
As Christ addresses the crowd here, he says that they must be able to perceive the light that has come into their very world. Christ himself is the light. The question is, are these people going to perceive him to be the light that he truly is, or are their eyes going to be darkened?
Thus Jesus says to them in verse thirty-five...
Luke 11:35 NIV84
35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
Now, this is a very important statement by Jesus. Remember that for the most part the people that were challenging Jesus were the religious leaders of his day. There were those who believed that they had the light. They were the ones that argued vehemently for the fact that they understood the ways of God and the purposes of God. They were the ones that believed that they were walking in the ways of God as he had showed them to walk.
The sad reality however, was the fact that they did not actually understand and perceive the light of God. While they believed that they were perfectly aligned with the truth of God, and that they were living in obedience to Him, they were in fact walking in darkness.
Earlier I quoted from John 12 about the way in which Jesus was urging the people to walk in the light while He was with them. But we see just further on in that passage how the people nonetheless failed to perceive Him as the light that he claimed to be…
John 12:37–41 NIV84
37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
As Christ was addressing the crowds in our text in Luke, this is precisely the truth that was being revealed. Hearts of man that were in opposition to the Light of God that had entered into the world.
But we do also see that this was not outside of the will of God. It was prophesied, and it came to pass just as God knew it would. But that shouldn’t detract from the fact that the heart of man truly is wicked and sinful. How blind the natural man is to the ways of God apart from His mercy and grace.
There is an important practical observation and question that we should ask ourselves in light of this. We need to carefully consider the Word of God, and be sure that we test things, that we test ourselves, to see if we are walking by the Light.
As professing Christians, we need to ask ourselves if we are worshiping this true and living God through Jesus Christ by his Holy Spirit, as He has revealed Himself to us. The Israelites of that day, particularly the Pharisees, knew the God that had revealed himself to Israel. However they did not want to follow Jesus Christ.
The question really that we need to ask ourselves is, are we following Christ? Are we following Christ as he has revealed himself to be?
In other words, are we following a Jesus of our own making, or are we following Christ as He has revealed himself to be in the Scriptures?
When I say this, there are obvious examples of error. The Mormon Church teaches about Jesus, but a very distorted, erroneous version of Jesus. Precisely the same can be said of the Jehovah's Witnesses. They will make a claim that Jesus was a great prophet. They will say that they follow the teachings of Jesus. But the version of Jesus that they believe in is far removed from the one that is revealed to us in Scripture.
This is not the extreme that we go to as those who are Christians. We don’t have a radically wrong view of Christ. But we do need to ask ourselves how well we are seeing and understanding Christ in the Scriptures.
In this regard, we must ask ourselves if we are listening to and living in obedience to the Jesus of Scripture.
This is really one of the tests that John seeks to urge his readers to carry out in their own lives as they claim to be followers of Jesus. We read this in 1 John...
1 John 1:5–7 NIV84
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
This is a very striking statement by John, even as he writes to the church. He urges them to evaluate their lives in the Light of God’s truth. And we need to do this regularly in light of the Scriptures as a whole.
Psalm 119:105 NIV84
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 19:8 NIV84
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
It is the Scriptures of God, regularly studied and meditated upon, that will lead to us receiving the light of God.
Psalm 36:9 NIV84
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

3. The Light Must Be Pervasive (v.36)

As Christ continues, He goes on to emphasize the importance of not only receiving the light that was right there before them, but also of just how important it is for that light to fully pervade every area of one's life. In other words, rather simply allowing a small glimpse of the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to shine in ones heart, Christ urges his hearers to ensure that the light received is pervasive. Notice what he says in verse 36.
Luke 11:36 NIV84
36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”
We can see from verse thirty-six that Christ's desire is that the entire body, the entire person is full of the light of Jesus Christ. He speaks of the whole body being full of light. He speaks of it being completely lighted. He says that there is no part that is dark. Very clearly the emphasis is on the light of Christ guiding and directing every part of the person.
Again, there are some very important applications of this to our lives. We must ask ourselves what it is that we allow to enter into our minds and our hearts. What is it that is guiding our thinking in this life? What is it that drives our perspectives and our opinions of that which is happening in our world around us?
We need to recognize that each one of us lives with a worldview. Everything that we see, and everything that we interact with in this world is affecting us in some way or another. We need to ask ourselves if we are being impacted fully by the revelation of God through Scripture, or if we are allowing the world around us to influence us and to direct us.
Paul writes to the Colossians…
Colossians 3:16 NIV84
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Paul emphasizes the importance of the word of Christ dwelling richly within us. He does the same in Ephesians chapter 5. The question is, is this word, which is the light of Christ, dwelling richly within our hearts as believers?
With this question in mind, I want us to consider some points of application as we close.

Application / Conclusion

The initial point of application that I want to bring is that we need to recognize that Satan is in this world seeking to deceive. In the same way in which Satan entered into the Garden of Eden and deceived Adam and Eve to lead them away from God, Satan is at work in this world seeking to deceive the world, even us as Christians. We often don't recognize the extent to which he does this, but let us be sure that he is at work.
Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:
1 Corinthians 2:12–14 NIV84
12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
In these verses, Paul draws a distinction between the wisdom of the world the wisdom of God. The wisdom of the world is at odds with the wisdom of God. That is not to say that there is nothing in the world that make sense for that is good in terms of God's revelation. But it is to say that the reasoning of the world and the conclusions that the world draws from what they witness around them is not going to be in accordance with God's ways and will.
Furthermore, the conduct that flows out of worldly thinking is going to be in a position to conduct that would to flow out of thinking that is illuminated by the light of Christ. That is why we find in Scripture these numerous calls to abandon the former manner of life, and instead to live in a new manner of life.
1 Corinthians 3:1–3 NIV84
1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
Turn to Ephesians 4...
v.17 - walk no longer as Gentiles… futility…
v.18 - darkened… ignorance… hardness of heart
v.19 - callous - sensuality (manner of life of this world)
v.20 - contrast comes in…
v.22 - lay aside the old self
v.23 - be renewed in the spirit of your mind
v.24 - created in righteousness and holiness of the truth…
etc.
I will close with a quote from D.A. Carson...
“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” ― D.A. Carson
The question that we must ask ourselves is, are we allowing the Word of Christ, the Light of Christ, to fill us and lead us?
Is our manner of life according to the darkness of the world? Or is our manner of life according to the light of Christ, and increasingly so as we live as believers?
Let us seek after the Lord. Let us seek Him in His word. Let us be filled, not with our own selfishness and the lies of Satan and the world. Let us be filled with Christ.
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