Moreover, when you act as the light of the world, as Jesus said we are, you will also find that the light of Christ will lead you on in love, grace, and righteousness and will keep you from falling as you move along the dark and treacherous paths of this world.
Do men see Jesus Christ in you? They will not find him in the world—in the world's literature, culture, or pastimes. They will only find him as you look to Jesus, as you spend time with him, and thereby allow some of his light to be reflected from your life to those about you.
As I have studied this theme throughout the Bible I have been impressed by the fact that most of the images used to convey it make this point clearly. For instance, in the verses from the Sermon on the Mount that we are studying the Christian is described as a lamp or a candle. He gives forth light. But he does so only because he has first been kindled by Jesus Christ. In the same way, in John's Gospel John the Baptist is described as “a burning and a shining lamp” by Jesus. Again, the point is that John's light is secondary to that of Christ; John's is a kindled light and exists only because of him.
Now it was the particular achievement of Jesus Christ that he exposed the nature of the darkness in a way that had never been done previously. And of course, men hated him for it.
When the Lord Jesus Christ described the proper function of his disciples in this world in the Sermon on the Mount, he made use of two sublime illustrations. The first was salt, as he said, "Ye are the salt of the earth." We looked at that illustration last week. The second illustration was light, to which we come now.
