Light your world this morning from Matthew chapter 5 verse 14 through verse number 16. Aren't you glad you're saved? Aren't you glad that you can light your world? I got thinking about that subject matter, light your world, and I got to thinking about we actually celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ every day here at Harvest Baptist Temple. We actually do. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ every single day. here at the Harvest Baptist Temple, but especially on Sundays, as we gather together, we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, there's one day a year that we make a big deal about it, and that's Easter Sunday. And I really think that Easter Sunday is especially exciting, because that day is the day that everybody can know that He is risen. And we can talk about He is risen. I read a little story one time some years ago about a Sunday school teacher telling the Easter story to her Sunday school class. And as she talked about the crucifixion, the burial, the children's eyes gapped open. Boy, they were so excited to hear this story about Easter. And then she told them that Easter Sunday morning, how that the stone was rolled away, you know, and how that Jesus came out of the tomb. And she asked, Who knows what Jesus said when he came out of that tomb? And boy, right away, a little girl by the name of Ashley, her hand was going like this. You know how they want people to notice them and calling them, they shake it and wave it. And she was going with both hands like this as she knew the answer. She said, Ashley, all righty, you think you know the answer? Go ahead, tell us what Jesus said. As soon as he stepped out of the tomb, little Ashley stood to her feet and went like this, ta-da! Well, you know, Easter is a ta-da. Come on, amen. And she may not have the exact words that Jesus said, I'm not positive about that, but Easter is a great time of year, just around the corner. And I love that story of Easter, don't you? Easter Sunday is a great Sunday. But every Sunday, every Sunday here at the Harvest Baptist Temple, we open God's word to read it and to study it. That's an important truth. God gave us, you see, this book to teach us how we can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You know, there are so many people who never opened this book. And they never teach their people that Jesus Christ wants to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us. It is not a religion. It is a personal relationship with Christ. Oh, how we need to understand that. Newsweek Magazine, somewhere back in 2009, had an article called The Decline and the Fall of Christian America. Newsweek had this on the publication and the very front page of their magazine. They had this title, The Decline and the Fall of Christian America. Recent surveys, you see, reveal a larger percentage of Americans have no interest in religion. Well, you know, if they'd asked me that question, if I was interested in religion, I honestly would have to say no. I'd say no as well because religion divides and religion kills. Religion is why thousands of people, even today, are being slaughtered in third world countries. Religion. Instead of religion, We embrace a personal relationship with God. What a wonderful truth that everybody this morning in this house can have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a religion, not a set of rules and regulations, but a personal relationship with Christ. So many years We have priests, and so many have thought about their church and their religions and their belief standards, and we have always prompted, well, I'm a Lutheran, or I'm a Methodist, or I'm a Baptist, or I'm this, or I'm that. And we set up and we teach those things all the time, and we failed many times for the John to teach the blessed Word of God. But here in this place, I believe one of my jobs is not to say what I am, I am a believer. born again, child of God, who loves God and has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And that's what you ought to have. And I want to get that across to everybody as I preach. This is not a religion. This is not a special church. This is not the only church. But here in this church, you can learn to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. In 1980s, there was a financial crisis. And some of you may remember this crisis. It was called the S&L crisis, as many savings and loans failed because of bad loans. Well, we're facing, I believe, another S&L crisis today, but I'm not talking about the savings and loans. I'm talking about the salt and light crisis. Jesus has called us to be salt and light. Not long ago, I preached the whole message on salt and salty Christians. Today, in this message, we're gonna examine what Jesus said about the light, and when he declared, we are the light of the world. Well, let's look at that setting one more time in Matthew chapter five, verse 14, 15, and 16, please. I'll read it for clarity purpose. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a 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." I want you to notice something Jesus did not say. Jesus didn't say, you try to be the light. He didn't say you strive to be the light. Jesus said you are the light of the world. Now, being who you are in Christ, listen to this statement closely, I think is more important than doing something for God. Being something in Christ is so much more important than doing something for God. Just be who you are. Brendan Manning quotes an old preacher from Georgia, who once told him, and you gotta have this Georgia accent. Here's what he said, you gotta be who you is. Because if you ain't who you is, then you is who you ain't. Boy, that's good stuff right there, amen? There's a lot of truth in that statement, amen? So what does it mean for us to be the light of the world? I'm going to give you three spiritual principles that will help you become, if you're not already, the light of the world. Jesus was a master teacher, wasn't he? What a wonderful teacher Jesus was. He used ordinary concepts like salt and light and birds and flowers to teach us about God. We all understand about light and darkness. We understand all of that. Alongside the literal truth of light and darkness, there is a spiritual truth as well. In the Bible, light is designed and designated by God as truth. and goodness, and darkness is used to characterize evil and deception. Hell, for example, is described as a place of outer darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the devil is called, listen to me, the devil is called the prince of darkness. On the other hand, the Bible says God is light. And in Him, in God, there is no darkness at all. So there's a difference between light and darkness. Light, one is good, one is powerful, one is rich. And darkness, one is ugly, dark, detrimental, bad. Now you're gonna go to one of those two places, either the place where there's light or the place where there's darkness. There's always been spiritual darkness, by the way. I don't think that we can say there's not. But it seems to me, I don't know about you, but it seems to me, could I be wrong here? It seems like to me that darkness is increasing. Now, would you agree that we have always had darkness? There's always been evil. Come on, help me out. There's always been evil. But does it seem like to you, like it does to me, that evil and darkness is increasing? I don't think I'm just having that as a figment of my imagination. I really believe that darkness and evil are growing stronger and stronger all the time. I really believe that. People have always been violent, but have you noticed the incidence of random violence seems to be becoming more common? You know, in 1966, Charles Whitman, you might remember this, climbed to the top of the tower of the University of Texas in Austin and started shooting, ultimately killing 14 people. That kind of random violence was very rare back in 1966. But today, hardly a week goes by without someone going on a shooting rampage in this country. We are in a time of darkness. We live in a dark world. And I believe it's even getting darker. Go with me to Matthew chapter four and verse number 16, as we talk about what Jesus said. And I say it again, that I believe we live in a world of darkness. And I believe with all of my heart, it's getting darker and darker. And that's what Jesus said in Matthew chapter four, verse number 16. He said these words, the people which sat in darkness saw a great light. And to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. One of the tragedies of living in an increasingly darker world is that so many Christians are gradually becoming used to the darkness. That's what's tragic. And I can see it in our church world all over the place. Have you ever gone to a restaurant Maybe you went from a bright, shiny, sunny day into a restaurant that's dimly lit. When you first walk in that restaurant, you remember how you felt? You can hardly see. The waiter or waitress comes up to you to seat you at your table, and it's a little dark, and you say, ooh, boy, it's dark in here. But as you sit a while at your table, you become used to the darkness. And they didn't turn any lights on. But suddenly you say, it's not so dark in here. Because you have gotten now used to the darkness. Here's the tragedy, I think, as Christians, as the world gets darker, and I honestly believe, without trying to make a big bone about this, I think it's getting darker and darker in our society. But what I think we're doing is Christians are just getting used to the darkness. Ben Shabner, one of the greatest men I've ever read after, this is one of his books, Why Not Just Be Christians? Vance Habner is a tremendous writer, and I've read every single book he's ever written. This book is not very big, but chapter three says, getting used to the dark. He writes about getting used to the dark and how Christians used to be such a standard against that which is sin, a standard against that which is darkness. But now we're infiltrated by the darkness, and we don't think it's as bad. And what we used to think was bad years ago as Christians, today we don't think is as bad. And we would say, well, I used to feel that strong about it. but not so today. I think I have a better light on things. Ladies and gentlemen, what was wrong 50 years ago is still wrong today. And what was sin, according to God's Word, 50 years ago is still sin today. It makes no difference who changes the idea. It makes no difference of who thinks it's not so bad. Brethren, if the Word of God says it's sin, it's still sin. And we're not here to try to get good friends and just get people to join our church and so take it easy on everybody. No, that's not the reason we have church. The reason we have church is to draw people to the light. Jesus is the light. He said, I am the light of the world. We're never going to accomplish anything by getting used to the dark and say, well, these things aren't as bad as they used to be. No, they're just as bad as they used to be. We are seeing not an ordinary moral corruption, but I think we're seeing evil double distilled in our day, compounded in a weird, uncanny, demonic kind of combinations and concoctions of iniquity that a generation never even heard of before. We're not only living in the dark, we're getting used to it. There's a slow, subtle brainwashing process going on. And by it, we are gradually being desensitized to evil. There was a time when sin shocked us. Today, sin doesn't shock us much. There was a day we were shocked by sin. There was a day that it shook the church when somebody fell into sin or walked away from God. Today, it doesn't seem to bother us as bad. But as the brainwashing process continues, what once amazed us today amuses us. Our world is getting darker. But I'm pessimistic. I'm not pessimistic, I mean. I almost said that wrong. Because sometimes I could be pessimistic. Amen? But I'm not pessimistic. I'm not. It just simply means if the world is getting darker, and I believe it is, it simply means that there is a greater need for light. Come on, amen? We are the children of light. Now think about this, folks, in a dark world, and there has never been a greater need for our message of love and hope than today. If this world is as dark as everybody says it's getting, and I believe it's getting that, then we are the only hope. The light of the world is the only hope. Did you hear about the shoe salesman who was sent to a foreign country for his company? After a few months, he contacted his home office and said, hey, bring me home. Please, bring me home. These people over here don't even wear shoes. Why am I over here? Bring me home. A week or so later, two weeks later, three weeks later, the company sent another fellow over to the same country. And about a month later, that fellow wrote home and said, hey, listen, send me all the shoes you've got. You cannot believe I have tons of prospects. See the difference? I have tons of prospects. Nobody here is wearing shoes. You see, I'm not discouraged by the report that fewer people are declaring interest in God. That just simply means there's a greater opportunity for our church or churches like us who offer a personal relationship instead of a dead religion to grow and prosper. Listen, you can have a dead religion if you want. That's not what's going to be here. We're not gonna have a dead religion. We're gonna do the same thing every service and then do it the same way. Sometimes we'll stop the whole service and have prayer for somebody. Sometimes we'll stop the service and see somebody come and kneel and get saved. We're not gonna have a dead religion where we tell you, you don't have to read this Bible. We're gonna tell you, you have to read this Bible. We're gonna tell you, you have to pray. You have to seek God and you have to have a personal relationship with God yourself. Everybody must have that relationship and there'll be a time in the house of God, it's not going to be dead, that we'll sing a little fast. In fact, almost always we sing a little fast. In fact, I watch some of you new people come in and you think, woo-wee, I can't sing that song that fast. Well, after you hear a while, you can. It's good. But we're going to sing uplifted songs. We're going to sing happy songs. We're going to have folks go, whoa, amen. You have some folks raising their hands once in a while during the song service, during the preaching service. You have somebody raising their hands saying, amen, preacher, preach on. Hey, that's all right. It's not a dead religion. It's a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Everybody in this room needs to teach their children. Let's have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Let's come to a Sunday morning Bible study. Let's get in those classes. Let's learn the word of God. Let's not play church. Let's not just come for an hour on Sunday morning and count that that's all we need. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. What a God. What a Savior. I said, number one, as our world grows darker, the need for light increases. That's Roman numeral one. As our world grows darker, the need for light increases. Roman numeral number two, only going to three. Jesus radiates light so I can reflect his light to others. Jesus radiates light so I can reflect his light to others. When Jesus said, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. I stood there, my wife and I went to the Holy Land back in 1973, and we stood where he said those words. And you can still look to the Northwest as you stand there and see the white limestone buildings of a nearby city that sits on a hill. In fact, the next hill over, and you can't hide that city as the white building reflects the light of the sun. Jesus Christ was exactly right. Jesus said then, the light of a lamp is wasted when it's placed under a bushel. When he said that, homes were illuminated by clay lamps filled with olive oil. Each lamp contained a cloth wick soaked in the oil which burned. Fire was valuable in those days, but it wasn't easy to ignite a fire. They didn't have matches or lighters, obviously. They had to get their fire from another fire that was already burning or strike a piece of flint together. At night, a family might take a lamp and place it on the floor and put a clay pot over it. A little air would feed the flame from underneath the uneven base of the bowl or the bushel, and this way the lamp would not burn out, but neither would it be so bright that they couldn't sleep. Jesus pointed out that a lamp under a bushel is worthless. Instead, when light was needed, the lamp was placed on the ledge somewhere in the house, or put on a stick, so it illuminated the whole house. So everybody could see. The good news for us is that we don't have to ignite our own light either. I don't ignite my own light. You don't ignite your own light. And we don't have to. We just have to keep it lit and refrain from hiding it. In other words, go with me to John chapter 8 and verse number 12. We do not have to generate our own light. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the source. of our light. Then spake Jesus again unto them, John 8, 12, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. So which one is it? Is he the light of the world? Or am I the light of the world? Well, here's a simple way to understand, I think, that concept. Jesus is like the sun, and we're like the moon. We say the moon shines, but did you know the moon doesn't shine? The moon doesn't shine. Actually, the moon is just a dead rock. The moon is just a dead rock that orbits the earth. Sometimes the moon doesn't shine brightly because the world gets between it and the sun. But at times when the angle is right, the moon is full, And it shines brightly. And sometimes you can even see your own shadow from the moon. But it only reflects, get this, it only reflects the light from the sun. The sun does all the radiating, the moon does the reflecting. Like the moon, we only reflect the light of Jesus Christ. He's the light. It's our job to stay close to Him, oriented to Him, so the world doesn't get in our way of reflecting His light. If the world gets in your way of reflecting your light between you and Jesus, you will not reflect his radiance. You see, Jesus Christ is the sun. He's the one who radiates. What does he radiate, pastor? He radiates joy. He radiates love. He radiates peace. He radiates patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faithfulness, self-control. He radiates it all. We radiate nothing. We just reflect what He radiates. I'm a reflection of my Savior. I reflect the greatness of my God. What a Savior. I can't produce that kind of light. I cannot produce love, joy, peace, and so on. I can't. But if I stay close to God, close to the Lord Jesus, He is the Son He radiates and I reflect. You see, people come into my office and they're disturbed and they're having problems and I say oftentimes to them, you're not close to the sun. Because I can see right now, your life looks terrible. On your visage, your face looks awful. You're so sad, so forlorn. Why? If you were close to the sun, you'd be radiating the sun's presence of joy. and love, and peace, and faithfulness, and you'd reflect self-control. But look at you. You look terrible. Pastor, I'm having a difficult time. Well, get close to the sun. I can't help you. But there is one who can. His name is Jesus. Just get close to the sun. And the closer you get to the sun, the more radiant you'll be throwing out. not your own radiance, but His, as you reflect His radiance and His joy, His love, His peace. Romans 3, I light my world by acts of kindness that put the spotlight on God. I light my world by acts of kindness that put the spotlight on God. In verse 16, Jesus explained how we light our world. He said let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and Glorify your father which is in heaven Do you see that some people say be kind for kindness sake or be good for goodness sake? But Jesus said you should be kind and good for the sake of glorifying God. I Guess it's easy To say I suppose I love people. Now, honestly, it's easy, I guess, for you to say, I love God. But the Bible says if you say that and hate your brother, you're a liar. I love God. I can't stand some of those people in that church. Something's wrong there. Come on, amen? I love the Lord. I don't want to be around here. I don't want to be around them. If you hate your brother, can't stand to be around your brother. Don't know if you really know God. I love people, but unless I prove it by my performance of kindness to them, I'm adding to the darkness. Go to 1 John. Now we're looking at 1 John 2 9-10. 1 John 2 9, he that saith he is in the light, Oh, there it is, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He says, I'm in the light, but I hate my brother, is in darkness even until now, verse number 10. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light. And there is none occasion of stumbling in Him. We light our world. Here's the title of my message, Light Your World. We're supposed to be lighting our world as we perform acts of kindness to others. But notice Jesus didn't say we should perform random acts of kindness or acts of kindness that bring attention to ourselves. He clearly said we are lighting our world when our acts of kindness place a spotlight directly on God. In other words, in order to do this, we must let people know that we are showing kindness to them because God has first shown kindness to us even though we don't deserve it. Last night, I understand, Janice just told me this story, that there was a fellow who came to the church because somebody said he needed some help and he didn't have any money and he had lost everything and he didn't have any food. Well, at the Harvest Baptist Temple, you can find some food. There's a food pantry down there. Well, not only do we have food pantry, we have food all the time around here. That's why everybody's getting stockier and stockier all the time. Seriously, I weigh more today than I've weighed for 10 years. You guys gotta quit eating around here. He'd drive me to fat. Anyway, the guy came. I don't know what time he came, but he came in the later afternoon and told the story. Marvin and Maria had a little birthday party for their son, Justin, in the gymnasium, and they were still there. I understand. Is that correct? You guys were all still there? They came in, and the food pantry was locked, and there was nobody here to unlock the food pantry. So we couldn't help them, and they didn't know who to call. to get that done, and so Marvin and Maria gave him all their food. Just wrapped it all up and gave it all to him. Just take it. Now that's the act of kindness. That's saying, okay, you came and you want some help? Well, can't get in the church, but we'll just give you everything that's left here. Here you go. Isn't that good? Now we do that all the time here. We have a big food pantry, help people all the time, and we ask them to come to church, be a part of church, but they don't. And so some of the fellows in the church say, well, we ought not feed them. I'm not giving them any food. You're never going to win people to Christ by doing that stuff. You have to show acts of kindness, even though they don't appreciate it and they talk bad about you and all that stuff, you still have to do acts of kindness. Come on, amen? You still have to. You're the light of the world. We're a city that sat on a hill, cannot be hid. Now, let me give you another thing. I want to give you a specific way you can show kindness to others. Now, you heard me last week preach about our radio station being started in Coshocton. I think this church needs to sit back and start thinking, what can you give to the Coshocton radio station? You talk about showing kindness to other folks who don't have the privilege to having what we have. We can help get this radio station started down in Coshocton. And there will be 200 to 300,000 people who do not get to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, but all of a sudden have the privilege to start getting the gospel of Jesus Christ. But we've got to raise about $140,000 to $160,000 to get that thing on down there. And we have about a year and a half to do it. Now we can do it. If you want to show an act of kindness, here's a great way to do it. We've already got a station in Clyde. We already have a station that covers Finley. But now we want another station down in Coshocton, Ohio, where 200,000 people plus will be able to hear the gospel. Here's another way I can show an act of kindness. Say, preacher, but I don't have any cash. Maybe you have other means of funds that you could give to the church to use for a while, to help get this radio station going. We've got to have a radio station in Kshatryk. God's burdened our hearts with that, and I know that God is able to do that for us, and you could help us. It's just another way. I was thinking, as I was getting ready for this message, I had a fellow who wrote me an email from Albania. said, Pastor, great sermon. Thank you for the word of God. How in the world would he have ever heard a sermon from Pastor James Lewis in little old Clyde, Ohio, all the way over in Albania, except for the radio station? He tuned in on the computer and found our station. Another fellow from Wyoming. I've not even been to Wyoming. I know no one who lives in Wyoming. And yet the fellow said, great reminders of great message. Wow, preacher, thanks for the word of God. How do you listen to that? Through the radio station, by the way of the internet. Ladies and gentlemen, all over the world, listen, 80 different nations have tuned into our sermons and to our radio station to hear Christian radio. 80 different nations, and of our United States, between 37 and 45 million people. States have tuned in one time or another to hear our services right here at the Harvest Baptist Temple. There are folks tuned in right now to our radio station listening to this service. Listen to you say amen. Listen to me preach the word of God. They're excited and wanting to hear what God is going to say. And we get emails all the time from everywhere. Preacher, keep up the good work. Keep preaching. Tell that church we're praying for them. Keep it going. Keep it going. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to keep it going. But there's a God in heaven who wants us to keep it going. God would never open these doors if he did not want us to be the light. But he's calling us to be the light. Now down in Kashak, here's my question. Will you light your world? Don't worry about lighting the whole planet. Just allow your light to shine forth in your world. Where is your world? Maybe it's your family. Let your light shine. Maybe it's at your workplace, let your light shine. Maybe it's in the classroom, let your light shine. Maybe it's in your little neighborhood, let your light shine. Back in the 80s, I know there was a poem, it might have been a song, but I found it the other day and I thought, boy, this is really good, and this helps to understand that, the Shockton radio station, I wrote it down. Two doors down, One rocking chair is rocking. She sits there all alone, her husband dead and gone. The best years of her life they spent together. He was always strong, but now she's on her own. And the telephone, well, it never rings. No one laughs, no one sings. It is quiet there. Does anybody care? That's where the Kashocton radio station could come in. You tell that little lady, listen, there's a radio station, a preacher up in Clyde who loves you. There's a whole church up there who loves you. They play conservative Christian music and there's good, solid Bible preaching all day long. Turn your radio station to WHBY. Tune it in. Now listen to the rest of it. A knocking at her door. breaks the silence. She looks out to see a little boy from down the street. She cracks the door, surprised that he came over. Flowers in his hand like a little gentleman. He said, I picked these just for you. I hope you like the color blue. Could I stay a while? I'd love to see you smile. Light your world. Let the love of God shine through in the little things you do. Light your world. And though your light may be reaching only two or three, light your world." Hey, folks, this morning, would you start to think about what you could do to light your world even more so than we've ever done before? One of the songs I learned as a kid was, This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Remember that second line? Hide it under a bushel, no. I'm gonna let it, and the teacher said, put your little finger up. I'm gonna let it shine. Hide it under a bushel, no. You got it right. That's how it was. Hide it under a bushel, no. You know what else we used to do when we sang that song? Does anybody know what you did with the word no? Didn't we always shout it out? Didn't we? Didn't we always shout it out? Hide it under a bushel, no! All those little kids, no! You can just see it, you know, no! They got into that song right there. ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ Help me sing it. ♪ This little light of mine ♪ Come on. ♪ I'm gonna let ♪ Don't be embarrassed, come on. ♪ This little light of mine ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ Hold it, there's some folks that really learned when they were kids, because they're going like this. Yeah, I got it, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. Hide it under a bushel, no! I'm gonna let it shine. Hide it under a bushel, no! I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. This little light of mine, hey, ladies and gentlemen this morning, let your light shine! You are the light of the world! Let it shine. In what way could you let it shine this morning? If you're here and you've never been saved, and you don't even know what we're talking about, but you would say, Preacher, I'd like to be saved. How do you do that? Well, you can come to Jesus Christ this morning. Put your faith and confidence and hope in Him. Ask Him to forgive you of all of your sin. And in one moment of time, He'll forgive you. He'll make you a child of God. And then you can walk out of this place saying, you know what, that day on February 21st, 2010, I trusted the Lord of Jesus Christ and he came into my life and my light began to shine. Then you can sing it with us. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Stay with us, please, everybody. Heads are bowed.