LIGHTS IN THE WORLD
[p. 163] LIGHTS IN THE WORLD
I assume that most of us would wish to be lights in the world. It is that which I wish to speak to you about tonight. I think every one ought to covet to be that. If you are going along a dark road it is a great thing to come to a light, and in the midst of this dark world it is a great thing to be a light. You not only know the way for yourself, but you can show it to others. So far as I know anything about myself, there is scarcely anything which I would covet more than to be a light in a scene of darkness, not walking in the darkness stumbling over every stone in the way. It is remarkable that a man who has light in him walks in light — a blind man does not walk in the light because there is no light in him, if he had light in him he would walk in the light. That explains the pathway of Christ. He was light, and by reason of that He walked in the light; His disciples could not understand Him, they wondered in John 11:8 that the Lord should go up to Jerusalem to be killed by the Jews. They were very obscure, had very little light: He had light and walked in light. He says, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not”, John 11:9. A blind man stumbles, the sun is no good to him as light.
I take it for granted that every right-minded person here would wish to be a light in this world. I want to show you what the nature of the light is. Properly speaking there is now no light in this world except ‘the light of life’ that is the light of this moment, the light which God has given in this world is the light of life. If you want scripture for it, I turn you to Philippians 2:15,16, “Among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life”. I do not think [p. 164] that it was quite so until Christ came into the world, then He said, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”, John 8:12.
What I say is this, that so long as Christ had not come, there might have been a testimony inferior, but once Christ has been into this world, you can have no testimony inferior to Him. Testimony for God now is the perpetuation of the testimony that was given in Christ; the testimony of the moment is ‘the word of life’. We hold forth the word of life because of His having introduced it here, and in virtue of our connection with Him by the Spirit.
In order to make the point clear to you, I will endeavour to bring before you the elements that go to make up spiritual life. Life consists not merely of one element, there are two or three elements that go to make up life; they meet in one person, but in themselves it is possible to distinguish, and Scripture does distinguish them.
I am going to make use of an illustration, though you have to bear in mind that every illustration taken from material things must be feeble; although it may serve to illustrate, it is impossible that it could express, spiritual truth; it may serve as a figure or illustration, but only as such.
Now if I take a lamp to illustrate my subject, everybody knows what a lamp is, and in every part of the world is familiar with a lamp. A lamp in this country is what a lamp is in every other country. It may be plain or artistic, may give out a poor or a better light, but a lamp is a lamp in every part of the world.
There are three distinct elements which go to make up a lamp; you cannot have a lamp without these three parts: they are the wick, the light and the oil; that is perfectly familiar to everyone here. If you have any two of these elements they will not constitute a lamp; if you apply light to the wick without oil, it would not serve you as a lamp, or if you apply light to [p. 165] the oil without wick, you will probably have an explosion; if you have oil and wick only, you will have no light; you must have all three elements in order to produce and sustain light. You have first the wick and the oil, then the light is applied from the outside; the wick and the oil would not produce the light in themselves; the light comes, must come, from outside.
I hope you will only allow this to remain in your minds as an illustration, you cannot work it literally; it is not an expression of the truth, but I think it may help to convey what I want to convey to you.
When I speak of the wick, I look at the wick as the individual, that is, myself. When I speak of the light, that is what is applied to me, and the oil is that by which the light is sustained. That is the way in which I apply all three.
Of course my illustration fails me in a moment, for in its application I must apply the light to the wick before the oil comes in, if you can conceive such a thing. This is the reverse of what you do with a material lamp. In the spiritual application the first thing is the trimming of the wick. Then the application of the light, and finally the filling up with oil. I want to make it plain to you that when you have all these elements you have a lamp. You are no longer darkness, but you are a lamp; it is not that you have a lamp, but you are a lamp, shining “as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life”, Philippians 2:15,16. You are the expression of light, and have in fact the testimony of life.
It is a fatal mistake to limit testimony to what is said. Some think that preaching is everything, that is their testimony, but I judge that it is the church which is the vessel of testimony, not preachers, and the preachers can have very little power when the vessel of testimony is obscured, and that is the reason why there is so little power now with the gospel; it is [p. 166] because the proper vessel of testimony is marred. The preachers have to preach, they have God’s word for preaching, but the vessel of testimony down here is the church. Testimony connects itself not so much with what people say, as with what they are. The Lord does not concern Himself so much with what people say, as with what they are: “Holding forth the word of life”, Philippians 2:16. That was testimony. What Paul said to the Philippians was: “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, holding forth the word of life”, Philippians 2:15,16. This was not addressed to preachers, but to the saints at Philippi. I think the apostle had great rejoicing over the Philippians, they answered to his mind, they answered to the Lord’s mind; but it was not only in what they said but in what they were, it is of all moment to remember that.
Well, now I come back to take up the detail of my illustration. The first thing is the wick. In trimming a lamp it used to be the habit to cut off all the part that was black; in the present day it is more usual to wipe the wick, but in times gone by one used to be careful to remove all that was black.
The first great fact in God’s work in the soul is new birth. I cannot tell you what new birth is. It is not that I am singular in my ignorance; you can no more tell me than I can tell you, but I can tell you of two effects of new birth.
The wick represents, as I have said, the individual; new birth refers to the individual. It is you or I personally that have to be the subject of the operation of the Spirit. A man must be born again. I do not think new birth is exactly the communication of anything, but an effect produced, not through human agency, but simply and purely by the power of God. One is born of the Spirit. It is as though a thread of another description were introduced into the texture of the wick.
I am going to mention two effects of new birth. I [p. 167] believe the first effect is an utter collapse of the man. What I mean is, that in everything which constitutes a man suitable for this world new birth produces an utter collapse. Have you ever seen a balloon? Now, if a rent were made in the silk, there would be almost immediately, an utter collapse of the balloon. Suppose I take a man of the world, he is much like a balloon; the bigger a man is in this world the more he is like a balloon inflated with gas. Man is inflated. If you ask by what? well, to begin with, he is very self-important; a man will not make his mark in the world if he be not self-important. I have seen people clever and capable, but who never made a mark in the world, because they were lacking in certain necessary qualities; there are certain qualities needful to fit a man for the world — self-confidence is one, and self-sufficiency or self-reliance; and there are other qualities necessary to make a man successful in the world. You would not have a good doctor or lawyer without these qualities in greater or less degree; he would not, as a rule, be thought much of, if he were lacking in these; and the same applies to other lines of life.
But when the work of God begins in a man, there is a collapse of the whole thing. He perhaps hardly knows it himself. It is like the case of Nicodemus, there is a complete collapse. After the collapse has taken place, a man will often try to keep up appearances, but the man has collapsed, his self-confidence, and all that which made him suited for this world is undermined; that is produced by new birth,
It may be that a man has been so far affected in conscience by the preaching of the word as to have certain exercises. Felix was made to tremble, but there was no collapse of the man, nothing of the effect produced by new birth.
If you set to work to cut away the foundation of a house, the walls will soon fall down. That is what God does, He strikes a blow at the foundation, and [p. 168] down come the walls, the walls of self-confidence, self-importance and self-sufficiency.
Now there is another effect of new birth; there is a cry, a very feeble cry, the cry of a babe. I dare say you know that the first sign of life in a babe is a cry, either of want or of pain. So it is when a man is born again; the man has collapsed though perhaps he will try to keep up appearances for a time, but there is a cry, and that cry is the measure of the man; that man is no bigger than his cry. He may have been a big man before, in his own estimation, like Nicodemus, and also in that of others, but when God begins to work, and the cry of want or pain is produced, then the man is as big as his cry, the cry is the cry of a babe, and he begins like a babe.
That is what God has produced; man cannot compass it for himself, but God can. It is a wonderful thing for God thus to work in a man, and to effect this entire collapse whatever the greatness of the man may have been. In the case of a man like Nebuchadnezzar in all his greatness, who but God could have brought down the whole superstructure of pride and self-sufficiency? Who could produce from a proud man a cry of want or pain? I think everyone would admit that none but God could do it, and it is the effect produced on the individual simply and exclusively by God. There is as yet no link formed with God, but there is a cry and that cry refers to the One who produced it. It is spirit. The Spirit of God produced that cry and it refers to God. What is born of the Spirit is spirit; evidently what is produced in that way by the sovereign power of the Spirit of God refers to God. The importance of it is this, that no one can answer that cry except God Himself just as in the case of a new-born babe, who but the mother can meet the cry of want or pain? The cry refers to the mother, and when I come to the cry of a new-born soul, it refers to God and none can answer that cry except God Himself.
[p. 169] Then the next thing is the light, the wick has to be made to burn. Of course I quite admit the feebleness of the illustration. When we have the wick ready the next thing is to apply the light; when by the power of God’s Spirit a man has been born again, the next thing is that the soul has to be enlightened; if I may use the expression, that man has to be made to burn, the light has to be applied to him.
When I come to the subject of the light, I come properly to the work of the evangelist. I can see in Scripture that the work of the evangelist is to enlighten the new-born soul. The soul of the man that is born of the Spirit has to be enlightened; the light of God has to be brought to that man’s soul; that man has to be made to burn.
Now I will tell you what the light is. I refer to a few verses in John 3:12-16. You see the character of the light, that it is a light that has come down from heaven. It is an important point for us to see. I am assured that the evangelist’s distinct work is to enlighten. He may reason and persuade, but he has to enlighten. The light is from heaven, “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven”, John 3:13. Why is it light from heaven? Because it was to make known the heart of God, and therefore no man could conceive it; it must come down from heaven.
Well, the light has come down; the Son of man has come down from heaven to bring tidings of the heart of God, and not only so, but to clear away every obstacle that stood in the way of the love of God. What was in the heart of God was a great ocean, but there were certain obstacles that had to be cleared away that that ocean of love might flow out. The first thing to be cleared away was sin; it stood in the way of the purposes of God; and there is another thing about sin, it compromised the character of God. The next thing was that the power of the enemy had to [p. 170] be broken. Then there was a third thing, the state of man had to be put aside and God glorified in the doing of it; that is the last thing and is referred to in the brazen serpent. The great point is this: all was effected in the Son of man lifted up from the earth. Properly speaking He could not have died on the earth, because He had glorified God there, and He could not be crucified in heaven. He was lifted up from the earth to be an object of faith, the One who perfectly glorified God on the earth, that One was to remove everything that stood in the way of God’s purpose, everything offensive to God. All has been effected in the Son of man lifted up. Christ has appeared once in the end of the world “to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”, Hebrews 9:26; to bruise the head of the enemy. That was done in death, and now death instead of being the power of the enemy is the witness of God’s love; but another thing also has come to pass, man’s state in the flesh has been condemned with the sin that attached to it. The state has been condemned; there is an end of it under the eye of God; all had to be closed up in such fashion as that God should be glorified in everything.
Christ glorified God on the earth. You will remember there are two parts in John 17:4: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do”. In order that He might finish the work which God gave Him to do, He glorifies Him on the earth. It is a wonderful thing that God has been glorified in this world; He had been dishonoured here, but the whole question of good and evil has been solved down here by Christ. But that was only part: Christ glorified God, but He also finished the work that the Father gave Him to do, He removed everything that stood in the way of the accomplishment of God’s purposes; He was made sin to remove it. Whatever Christ touched of evil, it was simply that it might pass away: if He touched a [p. 171] leper the leprosy departed; if made sin, it was to remove it; if He entered into death, it was to annul him that had the power of it. Sin was removed, and the head of Satan bruised in the death of Christ, and man’s state in the flesh condemned, and all that God might be glorified.
Now I ask you what remains except that all the light of these glorious things should be applied to the wick? What does it all reveal? Does it simply reveal a work completely done? That is not all, it reveals the heart of God towards man. If you were to ask me what the light is that is applied to the wick, I can only tell you that the light is the love of God. The new-born soul is to know the love of God. That soul has truly to know the righteousness of God, and the power of God, but that soul has to know what is behind it all, the love of God: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, John 3:16. Love is wonderful! I say, there may be righteousness to justify, power to raise up, but love is greater than all. With God His power is the servant of His love, His power is at the disposal of His love, and effects the purposes of His love. Why does God make known His righteousness? That I may be justified and may become the servant of righteousness. Why does He make known His power? That I may have confidence in Him. Why does He make known His love? That I may be responsive to it and make it known to others. Depend upon it, if God makes His heart known it is that you may love Him. If I make known my heart to anyone, I have an object in it, I want the return of that person’s affection. I only speak of these things to show what the light is that is communicated.
The wick is now burning. It is the work of the evangelist to enlighten; I will stop for a moment to prove it. There was once in the world a great evangelist,
[p. 172] the greatest that has ever been, and he was pleased to tell us the terms of his commission; the, terms of his commission were these: he was to go to the gentiles to “open their eyes”, Acts 26:18; he had no more to do as an evangelist. If I could open a man’s eyes, he would find that he had been making a mistake all his life, had been deluded, thought very likely, that his best friends were his enemies and that his enemies were his best friends; and when a man’s eyes are opened, he says, I have been a fool, I have been cherishing those who were my enemies and hating those who were my friends. And so with the soul that is enlightened, it says, I have been hating God and believing in Satan, and Satan is my deadliest enemy, whilst God is my best friend, because He has loved me and come out to me; He has made known to me His love, that He may have my love in return. My eyes are open now, I really see what Satan is and what God is. And the effect is that he turns from darkness to light, from Satan’s power to God. No evangelist ever converted a man; the man turns from darkness to light that he may receive the forgiveness of sins and inheritance among all them who are sanctified by faith which is in Christ. And, therefore, it is of all importance that the evangelist himself should have as much light as possible, in order that he may enlighten souls with regard to God; the more he knows of God’s righteousness and His power, and the more he knows of the heart of God, the better able he is to enlighten others.
You have now the light applied to the wick, and the wick is burning with the light applied; the light is as we have seen, the light of God.
I ask every one here, have you the light? Is the love of God the light of your heart? Are you prepared to sacrifice everything for it? Are you prepared to say, Well, if everything fails me here, there is one thing cannot possibly fail me, that is the love of God?
[p. 173] How do you know the love of God? He gave His Son, that is the proof; no one could declare it but He. He could say in this world, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father”, John 16:28; but He did not leave things as He found them. No, He left the love of God in this cold world. He could truly say, I have left the love of God where I found none. He made vessels to contain the love of God, and He left the love of God behind Him here when He went out of it. He came forth from the Father and went to the Father, but when He went to the Father He had left the love of God behind Him; when He came out from the Father He was the only One who knew anything about the love of God. The Lord says at the close of John 17:26: “I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them”.
If you ask what is my greatest glory — and a man’s glory is what his heart cherishes — I can honestly say that the glory of my heart is, that I know God in the wonderful way in which He has been pleased to reveal Himself. There is not a single attribute of God which is now a terror to me, whether it be His righteousness, or holiness, or power. It is a most wonderful thing when all fear of God is completely expelled, that is love made perfect with us: “that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world”, 1 John 4:17. And if you can say that truly, then you can say, Thank God I know that light has been applied to me. I know the love of God, my heart is burning, I am lit up with that wonderful light that has been revealed in the Son.
Now there comes in another thing, how is that light going to be sustained? I turn to John 4:13. It has often been said that if we had the putting of things, we should have said to Nicodemus what the Lord said to the woman of Samaria, and should have said [p. 174] to the woman what was said to Nicodemus. I am sure every one here tonight will be quite free to own that the Lord is wiser than we are, the Lord knew perfectly the right thing to say. Now what the Lord said to the woman indicates to me, that there was to be something in her which should make her absolutely and completely new. What I mean is this: to refer to the illustration, the wick would be there, but there would also be the Spirit’s work by which the wick would be completely renewed, nothing of the old left. It is not now a cry of want or pain — it began in that way, but it goes on, until morally there is nothing left but what is responsive to the love that has met us — unless indeed some fluff hanging about the wick.
You keep the light up in this way, if you fail to supply the wick with oil the light will not last, it is like an impression produced upon a person but which passes away. Many are impressed by the truth, but there is nothing lasting; if you are to have what is lasting you must have the wick and the oil; the latter supports the light. I believe the oil is a type, and a just one, of the Spirit of God.
I do not doubt that it is the Spirit to which the Lord refers. The woman had often enough come to Jacob’s well, it is a figure of the springs of this world to which souls go to find satisfaction and pleasure. The Lord says, “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life”, John 4:14. Just think of a well of water in you springing up to eternal life! I want to show you the connection between the well of water and the light that has been applied to the wick. The well of water is given in order that it may sustain the light. I will tell you how it works; the first thing is that the Spirit of God works in the believer to emancipate his soul from sin and legality — that is the springing up of the well in the believer. It is an undeniable fact that we are so much detained by both sin and legality, we are [p. 175] peculiarly susceptible to sin; the work of the Spirit is to emancipate you; you will never be absolutely free from the sin in this world, but you may be free from the control of sin. It is the great work of the Spirit to maintain you in liberty from the control of sin.
Another thing is to bring me into freedom, not freedom of will as man thinks of it, but into the freedom of God’s blessed love. There is a verse in Romans 8 which shows this: “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” Romans 8:2. That was the apostle speaking in regard to himself, he could say it with regard to himself, and in some little measure I can say it, only not perhaps in the absolute way in which he spoke of it.
It is very important to see that this is the effect of the springing up of this well of water; it emancipates a man from the bondage of sin and legality. I am sure you would like to taste the sweets of liberty, for liberty is a very precious thing. Nine out of ten christians are not happy because they are not free, and why not free? Because their hearts are clinging to some poor thing of this world, or in legality doing things because they ought to do them; they are not prepared to sacrifice. What the Spirit of God leads you to is happiness. It is a great thing to be happy; to taste these heavenly things is true happiness. Do you know what it is to be supremely happy? You will not be happy if you are clinging to this thing or that, if trying to keep up a certain status in this world, or if you sink down into the pleasures of a country life; but if you are here in the enjoyment of the love of God, and at the disposal of the Lord Jesus you will be supremely happy.
The Spirit of God is in the believer a well of water, and it is not the only work of the Spirit to emancipate the soul from sin and from legality. There is another most important part of the Spirit’s work, and that is to form and mould us according to the light which [p. 176] has been given us. How are people formed in this world? Take a babe that is born into this world, how is it formed? That babe is formed by the affections of which it is the object. As a babe it finds itself in the midst of a blessed system of affections: the love of the mother and father, and, it may be, of brothers and sisters, too — a blessed framework of affections. Thus the child is morally formed as it grows, and they are all intelligent affections. It is this which makes the difference between man and the beast; there are affections in the brute creation, but they are not intelligent affections. What would this world be without natural affection? It is the one redeeming feature among men, from the highest to the lowest. I thank God He has left it here, greatly debased I do not doubt, but still here. The new-born child is brought up in this framework of affections, and is thus formed.
Let me say one word more: it is a very great thing in a family to exercise affection; it is a great mistake for a father to be too austere; it is a beautiful thing to see love between brothers and sisters, and I believe, beautiful under the eye of God. There is a deficiency where this tenderness of affection is not found. What makes a household beautiful is the tenderness of affection in all the members of it. A christian household is beautiful under the eye of the Lord. That is only an illustration; when I come to the christian reality, I have the wick lighted up. And now I see the individual, like the woman, has to be formed and framed entirely anew by the relationships in which he is placed. When the light is applied and the wick made to burn, the next thing is that that person is placed in the sphere of divine affection. Do you not think you ought to be very free with a person who loves you? Thank God, I can say one is more free with Him than in the home circle here. There is no alloy there; perfectly free with God in the circle of His love, and that is how you [p. 177] are formed; that love inspires you with perfect confidence, and the greatest enjoyment is to be withdrawn from the engagements of life, and to find yourself able to retire into the sphere of God’s blessed and unchanging love. That is the effect of the love of God; the more you come into the presence of it, the more you are formed according to it, and the work of the Spirit is to form you by the relations in which the love of God has set you. It is an unspeakably happy thing to be able to say, I know what the love of God is, and what it is to be in the presence of that love.
But there is something else that comes in — the love of Christ; the love of Christ is a little different from the love of God; there is a peculiarity about the love of Christ. I could hardly say, God loved me and gave Himself for me. When I come to Christ I can.
I will refer to a third point: there are the relationships in which the new-born soul is placed among the brethren. The more you are among the brethren, the more you love them and the more you love them the more your heart will be enlarged; only one thing enlarges the heart, the knowledge of love. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren”, 1 John 3:14. In order to complete the framework of christian relationships, you must include the love of the brethren. The Lord says: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35), and in the epistle of John it is said, “everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him”, 1 John 5:1. Love casts out fear, 1 John 4:18; I can confide in God because of His power, which has been exercised on our behalf, but it is not only His power that leads me to confide in Him, it is His love that wins my confidence. You can place implicit confidence in Him. You can trust, too, the love of Christ; He has not only died for us, but He lives for us, and He is coming and we love His appearing. He is also coming to receive us to Himself. I have said that His coming [p. 178] in John 14 is not presented on our side, but on Christ’s side; you will have your own satisfaction in it, but it is His satisfaction that is the point there; what a wonderful thing for Christ to make known to us! He has His satisfaction because He loves us.
If I once more refer to the wick as representing the person, let me add that although the texture of the wick may be changed, it is the same individual wick all through. The person who now loves God is the same that was once dark and dead in regard to God. The woman of Samaria is the same person, and yet the texture has been completely changed.
Here are then three things — the wick, and the light applied to it, and the vessel charged with oil. The practical result is, you shine as lights in the world holding forth the word of life. You will produce a good impression upon others, they will see that you are supremely happy. If you ask what is a good testimony on the part of the christian, I will give you two marks. He is independent of the world, and yet he is supremely happy. A person may say, How do you get on without the pleasures and society of the world? I can give a true answer and say, I am a much happier man without them; I can do without the support of all these artificial things.
The Lord says, “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me”, John 6:57. The Lord Jesus came into this world, and people could not understand how He could be so perfectly independent of things here. The secret was, He lived on account of the Father, and we live on account of Him. It is as much as to say that you shall be as independent of everything in this world as Himself, and yet while independent, it does not mean that you are to be like a nun or a recluse, you shall be supremely happy in the midst of it all.
There is nothing like the knowledge of God. I venture to repeat it, there is nothing which profoundly [p. 179] affects man except the knowledge of God. I say it and I believe it: the love of God is the one thing which has profoundly affected me, mere doctrine never profoundly affected me, nor has it anyone else; it is the love of God that affects you and it is intended to do so. It is what God intends it to do; He intends that you shall be changed in the very texture of your being, and He not only intends it, but He works it.
Just remember the illustration. I say it is beautiful to think of the wick completely changed in its texture; to think, too, of the blessed light which God applies to it. The Lord lead us into this, and grant that the illustration we have had before us may serve to instruct and edify each one of us. May we know more about it. My desire is that we may be more like lamps in the midst of the darkness of this world.