You Are - The Light of the World

I really thought that last song was very worshipful. That's one we have done here throughout the years, the footprints of Jesus. I'll point out one little phrase that we sung there in the chorus that make the pathway glow. We are gonna see this morning that it is Christ that makes our pathway glow. I think that fits right where we are. But like I said earlier in our scripture reading, everything that we've sung really just fits with where we are in Matthew chapter five, verses 13 to 16. And it just prepares us for what the Lord is going to say and do in us this morning. I enjoyed that worship spiritually, enjoyed it.

We'll turn back to Matthew chapter five, where we were earlier this morning, Matthew chapter five. We will be in verses 14 to 15 this morning in our message. Now we will examine verse 16 next week and with verse 16, we will conclude this second portion in the Sermon on the Mount. I will do just like I did with the first section, verses three to 12. We're gonna look back into these verses with verse 16. And we're gonna contrast this teaching with all the people that were there on that faithful day, the Jews, the disciples. Of course, that background is Judaism and I'll make application for us in our day.

But this morning we will be dividing verses 14 to 15. Now, as I have already said, we have transitioned into the second portion of the Sermon on the Mount. Of course, that first section is verses three to 12. And that is where Jesus explains for us what the true Christian looks like. Jesus explains who, and I use that word purposely, who the true Christian is. He deals with the inside of the man. And now here in verses 13 to 16, we're in this second section in the Sermon, Jesus is explaining for us what the true Christian does. Jesus is explaining how, and I use that word how purposely as well, how the true Christian lives in the world.

He reveals the external behavior of the man. Who the Christian is comes first. We know that Christ's order was perfect because he was God. And then how the Christian lives comes second. That's always the case, the proper order. Now, I wanna give you a very important reminder. I really showed us last week how very important it is to keep all of these verses tied together. Verses 13 to 16 must stay connected to verses three to 12. How we live must come out of who we are. We do not need to revisit all that I shared about keeping all of this connected.

If you did not hear what I shared about keeping these verses connected, you really need to get that material because that is vitally important. Keeping these verses connected keeps us in balance. And I use that word balance on purpose. It keeps us in balance and it keeps us from venturing in the air to the left or to the right. I love how the Bible commentator D.A. Carson explains the need for this connection. I ran across this a couple of weeks ago and I think it's very fitting with where we are this morning.

And I'm quoting, "We must recognize that it is impossible "to follow the norms of the kingdom in a purely private way." Now, where are the norms of the kingdom? That's verses three to 12. And I'm quoting, "The righteousness of the life you live "will attract attention, even if that attention "regularly takes the form of opposition." In other words, the Christian is not poor in spirit, mournful over sin, meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, all in splendid isolation." What is he saying? You can't have this work of God in isolation.

And I'm quoting, "These kingdom norms diligently "practiced in a sinful world constitute a major aspect "of Christian witness." And this witness gives rise to what? Persecution. What am I showing you? All of these verses are connected. And I'm sure I will mention this connection more as we work through our verses this morning. Now, here in verse 13, we saw the first expectation that Jesus had for his disciples. Isn't that what we saw? This was an expectation. Jesus expected them to go out into the sinful world and to be as salt. They were to go into the world and do what salt would do.

We learned that salt was used for many things in their day. We saw that it was used for preserving foods from spoiling. Salt was used to flavor foods as well. Salt also created thirst within the people, just like it would in our day. And there were many other uses that we did not get into very much. Salt was also used to kill unwanted vegetation along the roads and the paths in their day. We mentioned that. Now, one resource that I studied this week mentioned how salt was used for medicinal purposes. The Old Testament tells us that Israelites rubbed their newborn babies down with salt after their birth. This was for medicinal reasons.

So salt was used for many reasons in their day. Now, here's where my imagination comes in again. Remember this picture that I keep bringing up before you? I have a picture in my mind. We see Jesus, he's on that hillside. And what is he doing? He's teaching the great crowds. Oh, the crowds that were full of Jews. There were a few Gentiles there. And then there on the front row, there are the chosen disciples. He has already destroyed their religion of works. We covered that thoroughly. He has gone completely around their external religion. And he started within the heart of the man.

Now Jesus adds a second shockwave by showing them how they are to live in the world. Now, truthfully, you have no idea how much this was a shock to them. And in my mind, I think I know how they reacted. I think when Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth," I believe those 12 disciples were baffled. I believe their confusion moves on to shock as Jesus continues. And we're gonna look at this shock a little more next week when we cover verse 16. Now think about what Jesus was saying to them. This comes from what we studied last Sunday morning.

To be a true disciple, they had to go into the world and they had to seek to preserve the sinful world. Not that they can stop all of humanity's sin and rebellion against God. They could never do that. But they could preserve some with the gospel and the standard of God's word. As true disciples, they had to be the flavor of Christ in the world. Now for some, this would draw them to Christ. We know that. But for others, they would reject them. They would reject their flavor of Christ as true disciples. They were to destroy sin with God's word and to create a thirst in the lives of sinners, even to be medicine for those who are hurting.

They were to be as salt in the world. Now here with our verses this morning, verses 14 to 16, we see what I'm calling the next layer in the teaching. I think that's obvious. Now we see a second illustration. We see a second teaching tool. That's what salt was. Jesus is still showing the disciples how they are to live in the sinful world. Let's go back to our verses again, starting with verse 13. The first teaching tool, you are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything. In other words, it's useless.

It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. Verse 14, the second illustration, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill, it cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Now, before we get into the specifics that I want us to cover in the verses, we need to see that Jesus is using some language here that was very, very familiar to the Jews.

It would have gotten their attention. When Jesus used this phrase, light of the world, the Jews would have perked up. They would have listened up. Why? Because they knew this phrase. See, the Jews saw themselves as the light of the world. The nation of Israel, they saw themselves as a light to the Gentiles. The Jewish people possessed the knowledge and the message of the one true God. Now, this was part of God's original plan and intention for the nation. Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah, chapter 49, verse six, talks about their purpose. And let me read the verse.

It is to light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will make you, he's talking to Israel. I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. That speaks of the purpose of Israel, the purpose of the Jews, to be the light of the world. We even see this in the New Testament. When Paul and Barnabas were on their first missionary journey and they are preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, Paul quotes this verse. And how do the Gentiles react? They rejoice because they are receiving the message of the one true God.

See, in Jesus' day, all of the other peoples were pagans. These Gentile peoples did not worship the one true God, the God of Israel. God had intended the nation of Israel to be a light to those pagan nations and carry to them the message of the one true God. Of course, they were total failures. They were only a few bright spots in their history. Instead of possessing a heart of love for the Gentiles, the Jews possess hearts that were full of pride. Instead of going into the nations with a great evangelistic zeal, oh, the Jews, they looked down. They looked down their noses at all non-Jewish people.

The Jews despised and they disdained Gentile people, especially the Samaritans. Why? Because they were the half-breeds. They were half-Jew and half-Gentile. So simplistically, Israel had failed. The Jews had failed God here, but they still knew that term. Now, last week I explained to you that here in verses 13 to 16, we have an assumption. There is an assumption. Jesus presupposes that those who were listening and those reading understood the sinful condition of the world. It wouldn't make sense otherwise. The world is corrupted by sin.

Well, here this morning, we do not have another assumption, but starting in verse 14, we have an implication. We have an implication. With this teaching on life, Jesus is implying that the world is in darkness. Jesus is implying that the world is corrupted by sin, therefore it is in darkness. Look back at the verses. Look at verse 13, the beginning of verse 13. You are the salt of the earth. So the world is corrupted by sin and it is in need of salty Christians. But then look at the beginning of verse 14. You are the light of the world. So the world is in darkness and it is in need of light bearers, those who would be the light for the world.

So we have this rotting, this decaying, this putrefying world that is sick with sin and it is in darkness. Now this is not a darkness that we experience, no. This is not a darkness that we experience at night in our backyards or maybe when we are going out to our car at night to get something imported. No, this is a darkness that is a darkness from sin. This is a darkness that comes from a rebellion against God in God's ways. But we need to be more specific. Contained in this darkness is people. I need to say that again. Contained in this darkness is people. People and people, groups and tribes and nations.

And listen, if you are outside of Christ this morning, you are in darkness. I need to say that again. If you are without Christ this morning, you are in darkness. And listen, these within this darkness, what do they need? They need light. And so no matter if you were in darkness this morning or if someone is in darkness around the world in a place where they've never even heard of Jesus, all lost people need light. Now before we get into the verses, we must see what this light does in the darkness. Again, this all prepares us for the purpose of what Jesus is saying here.

Before we get into the verses, we need to see what light does in the darkness. Now, all of the resources that I read and study, I'll explain this light in different ways. But I want us to look at two things about this light. Two things, and this will be rather short. First of all, light is seen, and then second, light shines. Two easy words for you to write down. They both start with an S. Light is seen, and then light shines. Light is seen by those who are in darkness, and light shines out into the darkness to those who are in darkness. Now let's examine this culturally. First of all, light is seen by those in darkness.

Now light was a big need in the days of the disciples, in the days of Jesus. Unlike our day, light was harder to come by. Adequate light could be a matter of life and death. You might not realize that. In that day, light could be a matter of life and death. So when Jesus spoke on light, many things would have come to their mind, both spiritual and physical. We've already mentioned the spiritual. Now I will mention some practical things concerning light. Again, this pertains to their day. Now in their day, the common man's house was really a very dark place.

In that day, most of the homes really only had one window that would have been a small source of natural light. Homes were given light by a lamp. And these lamps are mentioned all throughout the scriptures. And these were common. Now the lamps of their day were really like a little small bowl and they were filled with oil and they had this little small floating wick that they would light. In most circumstances within the home, the lamp was put up on a small stand within the home. And under most circumstances, the home would have one lamp that would give the light inside the home.

When they wanted to put that lamp out, they would cover it up with a bushel, which was meant to put out the lamp. Now a bushel was like a basket and it was very common in that day. So this is an obvious statement. The lamp was put into the home and it was put into the home to be seen. The lamp gave out light, which was to be seen by all of those in the home. This is simple, but it needs to be mentioned. The light from the lamp was meant to be what? Seen, and this was a common picture of the day. This was part of everyday life. But not only were the houses dark, but outside was really dark.

Outside of the home was really dark, especially outside of a city. In Jesus' day, cities were built up on a hill. This was common practice. This reminds me of my days of seminary training. I remember learning these types of things. I remember one class in particular, which dealt with the geography of the land and it dealt with the culture of the land and the people and the surrounding cultures. And we learned how the villages and the cities were usually set up on a hill. And this was for various reasons. One of the biggest reasons was protection or for defensive purposes.

An invading army could be seen coming from a distance if the city was on a hill. It was harder for an invading army to attack going uphill. But another practical reason was because of temperature. It was cooler up on a hill. Most of Israel was hot. So a city up on a hill would be breezy and really more livable, more comfortable. But third, a city up on a hill could be seen. Many times people would travel at night because of the heat. And a city up on a hill could be seen at a great, great distance, even with a small amount of light. So light was needed outside of the home, outside of the city, in the darkness.

A city would be set up on a hill so that it could be seen in the surrounding darkness. So a city itself was also meant to be seen by others. But then second, light shines out into the darkness, into those who were in the darkness. Now after what I have just shared, you might say something like, "Pastor, I think that's obvious." And it should be. Light shines out into the darkness, but the next logical step needs to be seen. The light shines out, out into those people, those people who were in the darkness.

Now think about just the two simple ways we've looked at darkness within their culture, both in their simple common home of the day, and then even in the outside world. In the home of Jesus' day, light would shine into the darkness to those who were in the darkness of the home. Outside in their day, a city situated on the hill, no matter how small, it could be a beacon to those who are out into the night. A small city on a hill could be seen for miles. And light in the home made the home livable. Light on the hill was a welcome sight to those who were out into the night. So with those two basic observations, what have we seen? Very quickly.

Light is seen by those in darkness, and light shines out to those who were in darkness. Very basic and very easy to understand. Again, you probably thought to yourself, pastor, that's kind of a no-brainer. Well, that is just to get our minds going in the right direction. That's what Jesus is doing for all of those in that day. We need to see what Jesus is teaching. Now, let's look back at the verses. Let's look back at our verses. You are the salt of the earth, and then verse 14, you are the light of the world.

A city on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Now, at this point, a couple of questions come to my mind. What does Jesus mean when he tells these disciples that they were the light of the world? Look back at the text. You are the light of the world. What does Jesus mean when he tells these disciples that they were the light of the world? I have an even greater question. How in the world could these men be the light of the world? Think about who they were.

They were a ragtag group of common individuals, uneducated by the world's standards, newly called in their following of Jesus Christ, being newly formed in their faith. How in the world could these men be this? Go back to the verse. You are the light of the world. Simply, we start answering those questions by remembering what we learned back in our study of John. In John chapter 18 verse 12, Jesus gave one of his famous I Am statements in John 8.12. He said, "I am the light of the world." Remember that? I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Now a question here.

If Jesus is the light of the world, then how can these disciples be the light of the world? Jesus is talking about the fact that he would be taken out of the world. He knew that after his death and resurrection from the dead, he would ascend back to heaven. He knew that he would come to live within these men through the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. After his work on earth was done, we learn of this reality back in our study in John chapter 14, 15 and 16. Jesus was speaking about their future. I ran across something that the Bible commentator William Barclay says, and it really just resonated. It's real simple.

He says this was a great compliment. It was. Think about who they were. Again, uneducated, common folk, they would have been overlooked by the religious establishment of the day. And what does he say? You are the light of the world. What a great compliment. And he goes on to say, and I'm quoting, when Jesus commanded his followers to be the lights of the world, he demanded nothing less that they should be like himself. That's what he's saying. You're going to go out and be like me. I ran across a good illustration that helps us here. Again, this is from another Bible commentator. When I borrow these things, it just helps us, I believe.

His name's Donald Gray Barnhouse. And he gives us an illustration that helps us understand what's taking place here. He writes that when Christ was in the world physically, he, thus Jesus, was like the sun, S-U-N. The sun is here in the day, and then it is gone at night. We know that fact. But when the sun goes down, what happens? The moon comes up. And the moon reflects the sun. The moon shines, but it does not give its own light. The moon reflects the light, the light from the sun. Now think about that. That is a good illustration of these disciples.

Because Christ came to live in them through the person and the work of the spirit, they can reflect the true light, which was Christ himself. They could never be the light, no. But they could reflect that light, which was Jesus living within them. So in summary, we see how, how the disciples were going to be the light of the world. Christ himself would be shining in them and through them. Christ, the sun, S-O-N, and the sun, S-U-N. These disciples were to be moons of reflections of Christ. And look at what they ultimately did, 'cause we know the rest of the story.

The 12 disciples and the other followers in their day were glorious reflections of Christ all over the known world. They were the light of their world. Simply their light was seen by those who were in the darkness of the world. The light that they reflected shined out into the dark world and onto those people who were living in darkness. Now one more detail. We need to remember, this personal pronoun is in the emphatic, you are the light of the world. That means this verse literally means you and you only are the light of the world. And I'm not exaggerating when I say this, Jesus is saying, you are my plan A and I do not have a plan B.

Doesn't exist. Now I wanna look at verse 14 and verse 15. This second part of verse 15, 14, excuse me. What does he say? You are the light of the world. And here we go. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. And then verse 15, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all who are in the house. Now I am paraphrasing what Jesus is saying. I'm putting it in my words. What is he saying? You cannot hide a city that is set up on a hill. It's impossible. You don't hide a lamp. You don't put it up under a basket.

No, what the disciples and the Jews would have said in that day, they would have said, no, that's absurd. He's saying you light a lamp and you put it on a stand for all in the house to see. You put a city on a hill for those who are in darkness to see. And Jesus is saying to these men, you, you, yes, you sitting there, you are my lights to go into the darkness of this world. He's saying, you can't hide. He's saying, you can't cover the light, which reflects me. He is saying, you must let your light shine to all. This is who I am calling you to be. Get that? You see that? He's saying, this is who I'm calling you to be.

This is what I'm calling you to do. Now, just like when we examine verse 13, I wanna move from the verse into our application of what is taught here. I think many of you already see the implications for us. Application here should be fairly easy for the true Christian. But we must see that as Christians, we are to be seen and we are to shine. Let me say that again. We as true Christians, we are to be seen and we are to shine. We are to be seen as a reflection of Christ by those around us. We are also meant to go one step further. We must shine out into the darkness, a reflection of Christ for those who are living in darkness.

We are to be seen and we are to shine. Now, question. What are you reflecting? You're all reflecting something. Oh, we all reflect something. What are you reflecting? And we need the Holy Spirit of God to open up our eyes and our understanding so that we can see what we are reflecting. Think about with me a few areas of life. I will mention five. Your family life, your work life, your network of friends, your church life, and oh, the world that you live in and you move in throughout the week. Let me mention that again because I want us to think about these five areas of life in our application.

Think about your family life and then your work life and then your network of friends and then your church life and then the world that you live in. What are you reflecting in your family life? See, we need to examine what we are reflecting in our family life. Are you reflecting the image of Christ and the person of Christ and the character of Christ? Are you reflecting in your home verses three on down to verse 12? I think of a story that I came across quite a few years ago. I'm sad to say this is a negative story, a story of a minister. I heard the story of a minister who passed away.

Of course, they had a funeral to honor the man who had passed and lots of minister friends got up and talked about the minister and talked about him in all kinds of ways. And then I had a friend that happened to be there and after that funeral, one in the family perked up and said, "You know, I didn't know that man." What was he reflecting in the home? And so my question for you is this. What are you reflecting in your family life when the door is closed and you were there with your husband or your wife and you're there with your children? What are you reflecting in your family life? But what are you reflecting in your work life?

Most of you know here that I spent 10 years in full-time ministry and then I went into bi-vocational ministry for quite some time. And I remember when I got a job as a bi-vocational minister, I worked with a contractor who built homes and really and surely he built a million and $2 million homes, kind of how the other half lives. And I'll never forget as I worked on a crew with a bunch of men and some of them were younger and some of them were older, I always worked hard to be a witness and to witness. Now, I wasn't there to witness, I was there to work, so I had to be careful.

I had to be a witness and I had to verbally witness and I worked hard to do that. And every now and then, I just got the idea that I was doing something right. I remember one time we were working on the roof, two or three guys from our crew, we were working on the roof with some roofers and one of the roofers called in the conversation that I was a pastor, I was a preacher. And he began to say, "Oh, I know what kind of preacher you are. I know what kind of preacher he is.

You let him get in the wrong situation and he'll say all kinds of words." And he kept going on and on and on and I didn't say a word but one of the young men that I worked with spoke up and said, "No, I've known him. He doesn't talk like that." And right then I knew that I had been reflecting something right in those men's lives, in that area of my life, my work life. And not only had that young man not seen me talk ugly, he had heard me witness. I had purposely witnessed him, I like Christ and the new birth. And so my question for you is, is this, what are you reflecting in your work life?

But also what are you reflecting in your network of friends? I'll never forget the time that I saw a deacon in the church walk up with a friend of mine. Now this friend of mine happened to be an unconverted man. And when the deacon in the church walked up and talked and then he left, I noticed that he used some pretty choice language. But you know my unconverted friend made the comment about how that deacon could cuss a blue streak right there in front of all the good old boys. But yet when the pastor walked up, he could turn it off. See, he acted one way with the pastor and one way at church, but one way with his network of friends.

What do you reflect with your network of friends? What do you reflect in your church life? Do you reflect Christianity? Do you reflect religion? Do you reflect the externals? Or do you reflect a changed life, a changed heart, and a changed mind? And I think back to many of the men and the women that I've known throughout my years in the life of the church. When you have someone who's truly born of God, what do they reflect? They reflect Christ even in the life of the church. But I also ask you, what do you reflect in the world? When you go to a restaurant and the waiter doesn't get your order right.

When you're in traffic and things just don't go like you think they should. Or maybe when you're in the courthouse and something's going awry with your taxes. Or maybe when you're sitting down with your CPA and you have the opportunity to fudge the numbers just a bit. Or maybe when you're in Walmart and the line is long and patience are stretched thin. See, wherever you are in the world, what are you reflecting? Now I go through all of those areas of life because we need to ask this question, what are we reflecting in our lives? Now I wanna move towards the conclusion of the message by asking two simple questions.

The question of how and the question of what. Truthfully I've been good at asking a lot of questions this morning. The question of how and the question of what. And the question of how goes like this. How can this be? How can we? How can we be the light of the world? How can we reflect Christ in every area of our life? Yes, with our friends, with our family. Yes, in the life of the church and in the world and at the fish camp and at the deer camp, no matter where we are, how can we reflect Christ in our lives? Now listen, if you knew me before I was converted, I never could reflect Christ. I reflected sin. I reflected self.

I reflected one way in front of my parents and one way in front of family and one way if I was around church folks and one way when I was at work. See, I reflected different things. Why? Because I was a lost man. As a matter of fact, I went to my 10 year high school reunion mostly just to tell everybody that I went to high school with that I'd gotten saved and I was able to reflect Christ in that arena. And so how can this be? Must be seen by the fact that you can only do this if you've been born of God. And listen, the answer to that question is found in verses three to 12. This is not vital connection.

We experience this work of Christ within us when He changes us from the inside out. It starts in verse three. It starts with being poor in spirit. That starts with being connected to the new birth. When we are born of God, when we come into our relationship with Christ, we come to Christ a poor crippled beggar. We're at the bottom of the bottom and we can't look down anymore because there's nowhere to look but up. And that's how we can be this reflection of Christ. And then that continues with our sanctification. And we see the sanctifying work of the spirit within our life starting in verse three all the way down to verse 12.

So we see the new birth and then this sanctifying work of Christ within us in verses three to 12. That's how it starts. That's how we can be this reflection. I wanna introduce you to a term and the term is self-evident. Self-evident. Did you know that there are certain things about people that are self-evident? I've used this before. My wife has an uncle that's rather older, lives in Connecticut. I'd heard all about her uncle through the years that he was a very large man. Matter of fact, he is a legitimate 6'8". And the first time I met him when he walked in my in-laws door, it was self-evident that he was a big man.

He did not have to tell you that he was 6'8" and he filled up the doorway. Why? It was just self-evident, it was right there. I never forget years ago, I went to church with a man who was a physician. And I hate to say it, but he was nothing but prideful and arrogant. He was self-evident. What am I trying to show you? There are certain things about people all around us that are self-evident. They're self-evident. They don't have to tell you. And look, this inner work from verses 3 to 12, it is self-evident. If you have to tell somebody that this has happened in your life, then something is awry.

So the question, how can this be, is answered from verses 3 to 12. That's the vital connection. But then this question of what? What are we reflecting? What is this light? It is simplistically Christ's likeness. It is Christ himself within us, Christ shining in us and through us. God uses the word of God and the work of the church and other believers and life experiences and time and the work of sanctification and trials, all of this to form us into the person that Christ wants us to be. He uses things that we can't even get our minds around why. He is working himself out in us.

It is Christ's likeness that we reflect. ( ( Video ends ) I have a good example of that from this particular week. Somebody in the life of our church that's been going through a difficult trial, I've been counseling with them as well as some others in the life of the church. One of the things that we've been careful to say is, you're living out your Christian witness through your trial, not just in the life of the church, but in your workplace wherever you are. And just this week, a former coworker let her know what. I have been seeing Christ within you. And what am I showing you?

Listen, the how in this person's life began at verse 3 when she was converted of Christ. And then as she's been walking with God, there's been Christ's likeness being formed within her life. And it's been shining around the lost people all around her when she didn't even know it. I don't know why, but this came to my mind even this morning and last night as I was finishing up, you know with our children and young people, we asked the question, what do you want to be when you grow up? That's a good question. Really we should alter that or change it. It should be, what does the Lord want you to be when you grow up?

But you know, a more important subject is this. This is who you are to be when you are born again. You see what I'm saying? We automatically look at our young people and we say, you know, what do you want to be when you grow up? But we should look right at people after they're born again and say, this is who you are to be. And this is what you are to do. As soon as you are converted to Christ, this is who you are to be. And this is what you are to do. What does he say? Remember the context. Remember the background. There are the Jews. There are those Gentiles. There are those early believers, those disciples.

And he talks about who they were to be on the inside. And then he automatically says, this is what you are to do. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. And that leads me to the title of the message. It mirrors what we looked at last week. I cannot help but emphasize the beginning part of the verse. You are. What is he saying? You are the light of the world. This is all about who and what Christ wants us to be and do in the world. Let's pray. And then we'll close with a song, and then we'll dismiss.