Matthew 5:13-16

 

Matthew 5:13-16

“ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

 

We live in a time when men will cop-out on just about anything. They will look for little loopholes in any ocnversation, any agreement, and any kind of business deal that they enter into in order to have, even if it is only in their own mind, a way of escape.

The modern religionist, is much the same. To the modern religionist, truth is just another one of those things that you can cop-out on. You can always find a way to cover yourself and defend your conduct. Anybody can claim to be a Christian, because anyone can lie. One of the most common cop-outs a few years ago was the misuse of what we are taught in Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15.

Deu 17:6 “At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.”

 

Deu 19:15 “ One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.”

 

There was an opinion being passed off that we had a guideline that we should follow in preaching which meant that we should use at least two verses of scripture to preach any message. I for one find it very difficult to preach without using several passages, most times. But for some of these individuals that I had heard with my own ears saying that we should have at least one verse from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament, that supported each other, in order to preach a message effectively, I say that is dead wrong. It is downright foolish.

When the word of God is read or preached the word itself is witness; the Holy Spirit under who’s authority it was penned and is preached, is witness; the writer of the sacred scripture is yet witness because through his work, he, being dead, yet speaketh; and the preacher himself is witness. Every passage of scripture is witness of itself. And I am not saying that this means that we do not need to study context and compare scripture with scripture. But men often miss the forest for the trees.

One verse that serves as an excellent example as one that men cop-out on is Matthew 5:16. Men falsify truth to escape the great responsibility that is placed on us by this verse of scripture.

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

 

Let us notice some things about this verse that totally destroy most of the worldly doctrines and lies that have much of the world believing that they are ok even though they are yet living in sin.

 

We see that it says to “Let your light so shine” and this clearly destroys the logic that, “it doesn’t matter how you live your life, all that matters is that you believe.” Looking at what is in the previous verses we see how Jesus speaks of a light being put where it is most effective….. “on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” With the reasoning that Jesus is teaching here we can realize some things about ourselves….

-we are His – He is the light within us;He is the light and we are the candle stick – that Light is to be on display and to give light to all around it. “Let your light so shine”.

 

John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words;”

These are the words of Christ Himself to His own. He wants us to obey His word, to live, look, and act like Christians. He says here in these verses that a man lights a candle to “that others may see, to see, and to be seen”, and not to keep that light hidden. And He pointedly says “before men”. And these two little words destroy the logic behind the most famous argument of hipocrisy, you have heard it…. “God knows my heart! He knows I want to do better!” If everyone who says this truly believed this, then they wouldn’t feel the need to say it in the first place. This cry almost always comes from a person who is defending their own sinful conduct. Another of this type’s favorite lines is this, “You can’t judge me! God knows my heart!”

The truth of the whole matter could not be more clear than what Jesus says here. “Let your light so shine before men,” And that means to live before them in such a way that the light in your heart, the light of Christ living in you, is seen. And this is Jesus talking……This is a command of God!   “Let your light so shine before men,”

And we see the reason…… “that they may see your good works,”

Oh my! What does this say about those who will say that you can’t tell someone how to live, how to act, how to talk, how to dress, etc.   So many will say that it is just what is on the inside that counts, the outside doesn’t matter. And that is a lie. Such a blatant and obvious lie. It matters a great deal what men see when they look at you. It is a cop-out to say that “you can’t see my heart” because what is inside is going to show up on the outside. Lie all you want. Jesus said to “Let your light so shine”. And that means to live in such a way that men SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS!!!   We are responsible to live right before God and men. We are to live a good testimony that may be SEEN. The popular way among men is to do what you please and dare anyone to say anything about it, after all, “you can make that bible say whatever you want it too!” And that is another lie. The bible is truth, all we have to do is read it, many just make the excuse that they have their own interpretation of scripture. There is only one interpretation, and that is in the hands of the Holy Spirit of God. He won’t teach you one thing and another person something else. The problem is that scripture, for the most part is so simple that a child can understand it, but people try and overcomplicate it, or try to rush through without study so that they can understand it.

And the reason for our letting our light shine is also a shock to the modern day religious psyche that says we can live as we please because no one has any right to “judge” us. God gives us directive, He explains that men are going to do exactly that, and we should live accordingly. “that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Yes, how you live does matter, and Jesus gave clear commandment that you are to watch what you do, where you go, who you are around, etc. We are to live like Christians if we are Christians, and it is just that simple. People are looking at you, and they CAN see what you truly are by what they see of you.

God shall be glorified in His children.