Commissioned: Following the Commands of Jesus
February 5, 2023. Rolando Rivera
Let the Light (Jesus) cleanse you so the light you shine is Pure Light
It’s winter. It’s freezing cold so you’re quite literally running inside as the gusts of wind are trying to freeze you in your tracks. I’m sure some of you might have done this this past Friday. You finally get inside get your stuff down and notice the sun is shining brightly through the window. You walk up to it and look up. That beautiful sunlight is toasty and warm through the window taking away the chills that were once down your spine. Pure Light. It’s funny how much the Sun in our sky really testifies to the true light that our God has given to us.
14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Matthew 5:14-16
The scripture begins with “you are the light of the world”. Is this true? Do you believe this? Does your life show this to be true? What would someone outside the church say about you? What do your kids think? What do they say to their friends? Your coworkers? Would God Himself back you up? Just like it should be the case day to day in our walk with Christ, we are all going to have to examine ourselves. Don’t immediately look around, don’t think of anyone else and how they can improve. First and foremost, look at yourself.
11 For the Scriptures say,
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bend to me,
and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.[b]’
Romans 14:11
12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13 So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.
Romans 14:12-13
Today we are going to look at 3 things: What is the light? How do I receive the light? And how do I let the light shine for all to see for God’s glory and not my own?
- What is the light?
“The Word gave life to everything that was created,[a]and his life brought light to everyone.5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.[b]6 God sent a man, John the Baptist,[c] 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
John 1:9
Jesus is the light and by Him alone can we be given the light. Jesus is the only true light. There is nothing that can compare to Him and no other thing or person can give light the way He can.
- How do I receive the Light?
- Do what is right, Do what God wants
19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 *All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.[h]”*John 3:20
People will avoid Jesus and His teachings for FEAR their sins will be exposed. People love their sin. But God doesn’t want us to continue in sin and He has done everything to empower us to overcome it.
He wants us to use the power of His Spirit and the freedom Jesus has brought us to conquer sin and do what is right. He wants us to deny our sinful desires and passions and instead live of life of righteousness.
We can do this because of what Jesus has done for us and we see what He has done here in Romans:
Romans 6:6-7
6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
We receive the light by coming to Jesus, confessing and repenting. Then we let the light shine by living a life led by the Spirit and not the flesh.
Don’t settle for “I’m just a sinner” “I am who I am” “I have no control over that” “that’s how God made me” These are all lies that the enemy wants you to continue to believe in so that you set the lamp that Jesus has given you under a basket.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live;[a] do not give in to sinful desires.13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!
Romans 6:12-15
Don’t put yourself back into bondage after Christ has set you free! Let God’s word define who you are and build you up into a new creation!
Now here is a basic list of things God does not want us to do:
Galatians 5:19-21 says:
19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
If we claim to be born again Christians and we are regularly bearing these kinds of fruits. You need to examine your heart and confess to God that you need His mercy and grace. Coming to the light may be painful, to willingly have your sins exposed is not always an easy thing, but it is the thing we must do if we truly want to be conformed into the image of the true light, Jesus. It’s something we must do if we want pure light to shine forth from our lives so that in the same way, all men may see our good deeds and praise our Father in Heaven.
Immediately after this list of the works of the flesh we have the fruits that the Holy Spirit produces; and the Holy Spirit ALONE produces:
Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control.
These fruits, in my opinion are exclusive to God’s Holy Spirit. The world can only experience a counterfeit of these fruits. But walking in the light of Christ brings these fruits in a supernatural sense. In a way that others in many situations cannot seem to understand.
We need to learn to submit ourselves, not to our sinful nature. We cannot make excuses or downplay the gravity of our actions to commit sin. It reaps death in our lives and I know that none of us want to have death in our lives. We want life and life abundantly, we want these fruits of God’s Spirit, we want the peace that surpasses all understanding. If that’s what we truly want, we must humble ourselves, receive the light that exposes and extinguishes the desires of our sinful nature and then let the love of Christ control us.
When Christ’s love controls you, this is the mindset you adopt:
11 Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others…
13 If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. 14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us.[c] Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.[d] 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
2 Corinthians 5: 11, 13-15
When you humble yourself before God and allow the Light that is Jesus Christ illuminate every area of who you are, you will grow in your own testimony of God’s love and mercy. And when you receive a deep understanding and revelation of this, doing good deeds and showing people Christ’s love is no longer a daunting task. His love really begins to CONTROL you.
We all love to talk about ourselves. We love sharing fun and cool stories of where we went for vacation, or the new job, the promotion, what our son did on the football team or in any sport; how our child now has a child of their own. We are so proud of so many things in our lives, that God HIMSELF has given to us. When you fully, deeply experience the Light, it becomes the same. You are proud to share all the good things that God has done, is doing and will do in your life and all the other people lives that make the body of Christ.
Now listen to what Jesus says in this passage. He is teaching us a simple yet profound lesson in doing good deeds
31 “But when the Son of Man[d] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations[e] will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[f] you were doing it to me!’
Matthew 25:31-40 (For this scripture maybe I’ll just read it instead of putting it on the screen)
Titus 3:14 says
14 Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.
Titus 3:14
This is the other way that we let our deeds be seen by all men. We don’t do it in a boastful, puffed up, proud way, telling anyone and everyone that we are doing good deeds. But by truly loving all people from our hearts people will see, people will hear, without you even trying to broadcast it. And above all God will see it. Our Lord Jesus counts it as you meeting these urgent needs of others as if you met His very own needs.
14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
Titus 2:14
Let this ring true in your life! Don’t be a bench warming Christian. Don’t let your love grow cold. Don’t become indifferent to the sufferings of those around you, believer or not! Have compassion and show mercy. Go the extra mile. Make yourself uncomfortable in the things you are willing to do for those around you. Lay your life down. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ that lives within me. I strive for this scripture to be my reality and I urge you to do the same. Use the individual gifts and talents God has given you to be an active blessing in peoples lives, even those people who may be your enemies.
Go to your Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus Christ. If you do this your light will not be tampered, it will not be dimmed, it will not be deemed as uncredible, but it will shine brighter and brighter as we approach that great day of Christ’s return.
Step into engage, serve in the tech booth, as an usher, a greeter, in the nursery, as a youth leader, in the men’s ministry, the women’s bible studies, café, Royal Rangers, Mpact, buy a quilt, give financially. Start here among your brothers and sisters!