1. The word “light” is used in many ways in the Bible.  Oftentimes, it refers to the Word of God.  “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).
2. “The entrance of thy words giveth light” (Ps. 119:130).
3. In the Bible, light represents the state of the believer after he leaves Satan’s kingdom of darkness (cf. Acts 26:18).
4. “Walking in the light” means to walk in godliness and holiness.  “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7).
5. The songwriter put it this way:

Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Trying to follow our Savior and King;
Shaping our lives by His blessèd example,
Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.
 
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Stepping in the light, stepping in the light,
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Led in paths of light. —— Eli­za Ed­munds Hewitt

6. In John 8:12, our Lord said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
7. Walter Wilson said, “In some strange way the entrance of Christ into the life and heart enables the mind to become intelligent and intellectual.  Only where Christ Jesus is loved and His Word is preached do we find minds active for the blessing of others, and alert in inventing that which will be a blessing to mankind.”
8. This morning we will look at the lesson of the lighted candle (Luke 11:33-36).

I. AN IMPORTANT LESSON.

1. There is so much wisdom in these few verses, that perhaps I should say – “important lessons.”
2. First of all, we are reminded that a candle is lighted in order to be displayed (11:33).
3. A candle is useless if it is hidden in a “secret place,” or placed “under a bushel” (11:33).
4. Our Lord said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
5. So if our light is shining, God is glorified.  When our light is hidden, or obscured, God is not glorified. 
6. But a lit candle will do no good if the man entering the room is blind.  The Jews in Jesus’ day had the light but nevertheless they stumbled about in darkness – they were spiritually blind.
7. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
8. When our Lord was arrested, He said to the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, “When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53).
9. Those who walk in the light have eternal life, and will spend eternity in heaven.  Revelation 22:5 says, “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
10. PP Bliss put it this way:
    No need of the sunlight
    In Heaven we’re told;
    The Light of the world is Jesus!
    The Lamb is the Light
    In the city of gold,
    The Light of the world is Jesus!
11. But those who love darkness rather than light will spend eternity in hell, described by our Lord as a place of “outer darkness” where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 22:13).
12. I read a disturbing article the other day about a young man named Richard McCroskey, who calls himself a “horrorcore” rapper.
13. He performed under the name of Syko Sam, and his songs are all about murder, mutilation, and mayhem – backed by a devilish and brain-numbing backbeat.
14. In a song called “My Dark Side,” McCroskey sang, “You’re not the first, just to let you know. I’ve killed many people and I kill them real slow. It’s the best feeling, watching their last breath. Stabbing and stabbing till there’s nothing left.”
15. This rapper is charged with killing Mark Niederbrock, a pastor at Walker’s Presbyterian Church in Virginia, and authorities said he will probably be charged with the murder of three other people, including two children.
16. One of the girls murdered by this horrible rapper called herself “Ms Free Abortions.”  The other girl called herself “Ragdoll.”
17. Ragdoll’s father was the pastor who was murdered by Syko Sam.  Her parents are separated.  Her mother is an associate professor of sociology and criminal justice.  Believe it or not, her mother actually brought her to the rap concert, where she met this rapper Syko Sam.  She actually invited this demonic rapper back to her home where he killed her.
18. Horrorcore rap music is influenced by devilish Hollywood movies such as “Child’s Play” and “Halloween.”  This type of rap is all about Satanism, cannibalism, murder, suicide, and rape. A 2004 BBC documentary entitled “Underground USA” said horrorcore rap “has a massive following across the US.”
19. David Cloud wrote, “Horrorcore promoters have the audacity to claim that it is innocent. Andres Shrim, owner of Serial Killin Records, said that people ‘shouldn’t judge McCroskey by what they see on his website or hear in his music’ (“US Rapper Charged,” AP, Sept. 21, 2009)…The ‘entertainment’ industry will be held accountable by Almighty God for its vile influence on society. The genres of science fiction and horror carry the individual into fictitious worlds without God, and this is very dangerous. The mind is the great spiritual battleground. The devil is called ‘the prince of the power of the air’ (Eph. 2:2) and the ruler ‘of the darkness of this world’ (Eph. 6:12). He is walking about seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8).”
20. Andres Shrim, owner of Serial Killin Records, said that McCroskey (“Syko Sam”) was a “great kid.”
21. On his webpage, McCroskey posted videos and pictures of a grave of a Marine, where a cross and miniature American flags had been turned upside down. “We defiled the grave, and then lightning struck seconds ago. I think we were being warned,” he says in the video, laughing.
22. God did warn him, and that is nothing to laugh about (Luke 11:34b, 35).
23. Beloved, this world is in great spiritual darkness.  Our young people are being seduced by Satan.  Many young people are obsessed with vampires and witches and devils.
24. We need to reach them for Christ before the devil gets them. It is a great privilege to proclaim the Gospel.
25. “It is a great privilege that the light of the gospel is put on a candlestick, so that all that come in may see it, and may see by it where they are and whither they are going, and what is the true, and sure, and only way to happiness” (Matthew Henry).
26. “The light of the body is the eye” (11:34), which receives the light of the candle when it is brought into the room.
27. The light of the soul is understanding and judgment, and the power to discern between good and evil, truth and falsehood.
28. At times it may seem difficult for one to discern God’s will.  But if your eye is “single,” the Lord will direct your steps. The “single eye” is fixed on Christ and Christ alone, and our Lord said then the body will be filled with light (11:34).
29. Proverbs 3:5 is very clear – “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
30. If we are trusting in Christ and depending upon Him, and relying on Him and only Him – he shall direct our path (Pro. 3:5, 6).
31. This is what it means to have a “single eye.”
32. This is what it means to “full of light” (Luke 11:33).

II. AN IMPORTANT WARNING.

1. The Lord said in Luke 11:35, “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.”
2. The Jews in our Lord’s day were blinded by the traditions of the rabbis. Today multitudes are blinded by false religion.
3. People are blinded by drugs, alcohol, and immorality.
4. Young people are blinded by horrible rock and rap music.
5. If the eye of the body be evil — if man’s judgment is distorted and confused by the corrupt dispositions of his mind, or by the love of the world and sensual pleasures — if his understanding is prejudiced against the truth of God’s Word – then the whole body will be full of darkness (11:34).
6. How can man receive instruction, information, guidance, or comfort, from the gospel, if he wilfully closes his eyes against it?
7. Our Lord says, “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness” (11:35).
8. Take heed that the eye be not blinded by pride, and worldliness, and false doctrine.
9. Matthew Henry said, “Be sincere in your enquiries after truth, and ready to receive it in the light, and love, and power of it; and not as the men of this generation to whom Christ preached, who never sincerely desired to know God’s will, nor designed to do it, and therefore no wonder that they walked on in darkness, wandered endlessly, and perished eternally.”
10. Our Lord offers light – “when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light” (11:34).

III. AN IMPORTANT BLESSING (11:36).

1. If we receive the Gospel in its full light, it fills us body and soul.  And if the body is filled with the light of the gospel, “having no part dark,” – if all its powers and faculties be subjected to the power and influence of the gospel – then the whole soul shall be full of light, and full of holiness and comfort.
2. It was full of darkness, but now there is a glorious, shining light, as when the bright shining of a candle gives light (11:36).
3. This is what the apostle Paul means in Ephesians 5:8, when he says, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.”
4. Now, if this blessing is available to all Christians, why are there so many Christians who struggle with darkness and doubt?
5. CH Mackintosh said, “Now, if my body is full of light, can my mind be full of perplexity? Impossible. The two things are wholly incompatible; and hence, when one is plunged ‘in dark uncertainty,’ it is very plain his eye is not single. He may seem very sincere, he may be very anxious to be guided aright; but he may rest assured there is the lack of a single eye – that indispensable prerequisite to divine guidance. The Word is plain – ‘If thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light.’”
6. God delights in guiding the humble, obedient believer as he walks in the light. But on the other hand, if we do not walk according to the light we have been given, we shall stumble into darkness.
7. That is why our Lord warned in Matthew 6:23, “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!”
8. Light not acted upon becomes darkness, and it is extremely dangerous to tamper and to trifle with the light which God gives.
9. It will eventually lead to the most disastrous consequences. “Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness” (Luke 11:35).
10. This warning is given all throughout the Word of God (cf. Jeremiah 13:15-16).
11. William Bell Riley was a great preacher. He was saved at the age of 18 in a revival meeting.  There were several other fellows his age that got saved at these revival meetings, but one boy – though he was under great conviction – would not repent and turn to Christ.
12. Interestingly, this particular young man was related to the preacher. After the revival meetings ended, the young man went back to his worldly ways of sin and dissipation.
13. Years later, Pastor Riley heard the man was dying of cancer.  One of his old schoolmates who was saved at that revival meeting was able to go and visit him.  His face was filled with misery and despair.  His dying words were, “I know that I am going; and oh, it is so dark!”  (Cf. Luke 11:35)
14. Again, I will quote CH Mackintosh, “This is deeply solemn. What a contrast between a man having a single eye, and a man not acting on the light which God has given him! The one has his body full of light; the other has his body full of darkness. The one has no part dark; the other is plunged in gross darkness. The one is a light-bearer for others; the other is a stumbling block in the way. We know nothing more solemn than the judicial acting of God, in actually turning our light into darkness, because we have refused to act on the light which He has been pleased to impart.”

CONCLUSION:

1. We need to ask ourselves; “Are we acting up to the light that God has given us?”
2. Has the Lord shown us something that is wrong that must be dealt with?
3. Has God shined the light on something that is dishonoring to Him?
4. Something that is displeasing to Him?
5. If so, we must act upon the light.  We are not to hesitate. We are to obey the Word of thy Lord in every detail.
6. Over the years I have heard some sad stories about people who deliberately rejected God’s light and defiantly walked in darkness.
7. Evangelist Ron Comfort had a pastor friend who told him about a rebellious teenage girl who attended his Christian school.
8. She and her mother went to see this pastor, and the young lady said she wanted to leave the school and transfer to the public school.  She said she was sick of all the rules and regulations.
9. The preacher asked the mother if she was in agreement with her daughter, and she said she was.  As they were leaving his office, the rebellious girl turned to the pastor and said, “Sir, from this day forward, I want you and God to know…God, leave me alone!”
10. The girl started attending public school and soon started dating a drug pusher.  Soon she was hooked on drugs herself.  Eventually she married the drug pusher and had three abortions.
11. Eventually she wound up in prison for armed robbery and murder. When the sheriff took the report to his secretary to type, she fainted.
12. The secretary was the mother of that rebellious young woman.
13. The pastor went to see the young lady in prison, and she said to him, “For five years, my life has been like hell on earth.  Do you know when it all began?  It began five years ago in your office when I told God to leave me alone and He did!”
14. Actually, I believe it probably started earlier than that.  It started when that worldly, rebellious teenage girl started turning away from the light God had so graciously given her (Luke 11:35, 36).