LIGHT AND WORKS

 

LIGHT AND WORKS

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

It has never occurred to some that the believers light and his works are two different things. They are not the same at all, though you often hear preachers equating them. Not infrequently does someone say, “I believe in letting my light shine.” What does he mean by this? Usually, that he tries to live a good life before others. But a good life has to do with works, not light. Let me give you an example.

A brother was driving home one night when his car began to sputter. He stopped at a gas station to have it checked out. A mechanic came with his helper to take a look at it. They looked under the hood until they found the problem. It was the fuel pump that had gone bad.

The mechanic started right away to replace the pump with a new one. As he worked on the car, his helper looked on. As the mechanic worked on the car, his helper held a flashlight so he could see as he worked. The helpers’ attention wandered and the light moved and the mechanic could not see what he was doing. The mechanic: shouted to his helper, “Hey! Shine the light on my work so I can see what I’m doing!

From this illustration we can see that there is a difference between light and works. The mechanic’s work was one thing, but the light was something else. Without the light neither the mechanic nor anyone watching could see what he was doing. The light was necessary to illuminate the work so it could be seen. 

This scripture speaks about two things, light and works, we need to see what constitutes the believers light. What is it? What does Jesus mean when He says, “Let your light shine?”

LIGHT:

Most of us have stumbled around in the dark looking, for the light switch. When we turn on the switch the light comes on and then we can see everything around us. We can see what we’re doing and where we are going. Light brings illumination.

There is another kind of illumination. It’s the kind meant by the common expression, “Shed light on the subject.” With this we mean information, intelligence or knowledge which opens up or explains an otherwise unrevealed matter. We know what the corresponding darkness is too. It is ignorance. When an obscure subject is illuminated to us with information we often say, “Oh, I see now”. That means we have just acquired insight. Physical light exposes things outside, information explains things inside. That’s why we call it insight.

It is in this sense that Jesus uses the word “light”. Just as sunlight scatters the darkness of the night, so does God’s Word dispel the inner or spiritual darkness of this world! God’s Word is His light! The Psalmist said the same thing: “The entrance of thy words giveth light (Psalm 119:130), and again, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (119:105).

God’s Word shines. It’s like a street light scattering the spiritual darkness of this world. And those who use or declare God’s Word are illuminators. They are informers who bring insight to people so they can see what ‘God is doing in their lives. They are like helpers holding the light, so that God can be seen. Now if God’s Word is His light, what is “Your light” that is to shine?

OUR LIGHT:

If God’s light is His Word, then your light is your word. Just as God’s Word shines on His works to illuminate them, so can your light shine on your works, and what will men see, God’s hand working in your life. Without this light they will not see what God is doing, no matter how startling or dramatic it may be. No matter how spectacular the working of God is in your life, people will neither see it nor credit God for it.

Take the sun for example. Here is an amazing thing God provides. It rises each morning to fill the sky with its glory. There is no place a person can go to escape its witness. But do people wonder about it? Does it occur to them how such a thing came to be? No! If people can behold such a wonder in the sky and fail to see God’s hand, they will never credit Him for a small wonder in your life, unless we say something.  

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY:

There was a brother whose wife was hospitalized with polio. For years she lay in an iron lung until she passed away. Faithfully, three times a week, year in and year out, this brother would go to the hospital to be with her. People saw his faithfulness and said what a good husband he was. Beyond that, he did a great job caring of his children by himself. People saw this and said, “He is a wonderful father”.

He was a good and faithful Christian and the people said, “What a fine man he was.” But the only thing the people saw was this brother and his devotion to his wife, family and his church. They didn’t once consider that it was Jesus who made it all possible. They only thought, “What a wonderful person, I could never do that”.

Tell me, who got the credit, who got the praise? The people saw his good works but who did they glorify” They praised the brother, but they did not give the praise to God. Why not? His light was not shining. There were no words to illuminate the working of God in his life. Nothing from him indicated the Lord was responsible. Until he opened his mouth to credit the Lord specifically, no one was about to acknowledge the goodness of the Lord.

One day his pastor went to visits him to see how he and his family were down. The pastor was aware that the brother was very well liked by his friends and neighbors. They spoke very highly of him because they saw him as a faithful husband and a loving father. The pastor told him that everyone saw his good work and praised him for all he did and was doing. But they did not see God working in his life. The pastor told him that if it had not been for God strengthen him he would not have made it through his crisis. He told him that it was important that the people know this.

After that he began to talk about what God was doing in his life. After that everyone who commented on his good works leaned from him that it was God who made it all possible. He gave God all the glory and credit for everything. Then a new stream of comment arose, “If God can do that for him, maybe He can do it for me”.

People were forced to behold the grace of God, because of the words of this brother. His words illuminated his works compelling people to credit God for them, whether they wanted to or not. Without his words, he got all the praise and credit. It is vital and critical that we separate our light from our works. When we do this, we have a mighty tool for exalting Christ and witnessing.