Luke 8:16-18 ESV
“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”
Another word for lamp is light, and a lamp shines forth the light, and the light biblically represents Jesus Christ, the truth, the gospel, and our salvation and his righteousness. So, if we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, via dying with him to sin and living to him and to his righteousness – via being crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness – then that truth and righteousness, and the holiness of God, should be shining forth from our lives.
So, what I believe this is saying is that, if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine faith, and truly we have received the true Light, we shouldn’t be people who then bury that light and hide it so that no one can see it. We shouldn’t be ashamed of Jesus and of his gospel in word or in deed. Our lights should be shining forth the truth of God’s holy word, but not in word only, but in our actions and behaviors and way of thinking and attitudes, etc. It should be obvious that our lives are committed to Jesus Christ and to his Word.
But another way in which people hide the light which they claim to profess is through secretive, deliberate, and habitual sins. They are those who plot evil on their beds and who willfully and premeditatedly plot out how they are going to sin against God and even how they are going to get away with it or excuse it away. Now, if this is how they live, they obviously are not in possession of the true light, or if they were at one time, they have definitely shoved it under the bed so that they can sin without conscience.
But the point of this, I believe, is to say that if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine believing faith then it should show, not just by our words, but by our actions, by our practices, by our lifestyles, by our decisions we make, by our attitudes, and by our behaviors. It should be obvious that we are not the same people we once were. Something has changed. And it doesn’t mean we become mature overnight, but it doesn’t mean we can continue living in sin claiming that change takes time, either.
So, if you are someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, but you are also someone who is hiding that light, perhaps because you don’t want to be rejected by others or thought an odd ball or crazy or whatever, the truth of it all is eventually going to come out. And if you are someone who is making an outward profession of faith in Jesus Christ, who may even be giving lip service to God, but who is living in sin, making sin your habit, and so you are hiding that light under your bed, all this is eventually going to come out into the light and all will be revealed. It is what the Bible says.
And even those who are shining their lights brightly but who are now being mocked and rejected and marginalized and thought crazy or self-righteous or whatever, the truth of who they are is going to eventually rise to the surface, and those who mocked and rejected them will see clearly that what they were telling them was indeed the truth, the truth that comes from God. And that reminded me of this verse:
“Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you” (Revelation 3:9).
So, they may reject us now, and they may mock us and regard us as not worthy of their time or attention, and they may treat us as though we have little value or no value at all, and so they may totally ignore anything we say as though anything we might say is not worthy of their consideration, but one day everything is going to be revealed for what it is. And those of us who have earnestly served our Lord will one day be exonerated. For when the truth is all revealed it will be evident that we are the loved of God.
So, when this says to “take care then how you hear,” I believe this must include how we treat others who are sharing the truth of God’s Word with us. Do we listen to them? Do we show them respect? Do we then test what they say against the Scriptures? Or do we just write them off because what they are saying is just not in our comfort zone, or because we really don’t want to hear it, or because we don’t regard them as worthy of our time or attention, or because what they are saying goes against our own theologies?
Now, I am not saying that we should entertain what is obviously false, but many people are entertaining what is obviously false while they are rejecting what is obviously the truth of God’s word. And we would know that if we read God’s Word in context and if we listen to the Lord, and if we are willing to even have our theologies adjusted, if necessary, when it is shown us that what we have been believing is false because it is opposed to what Jesus and his NT apostles taught.
So, if we choose to snuff out the light we are shown and to reject those who are walking in the light, and who are shining that light brightly, so that we can mark out our own paths to walk in, then we must understand here that we are going to be judged of God by what we do and by the decisions that we make in this life. We will be held accountable for refusing the light given to us and for following a false light, instead, because we decided that is the easier way to go.
For the ones who have been given the light who have not hidden the light, but who have let their lights shine brightly, more will be given to them. But the ones who have been given the light but who chose to reject it and to hide it, instead, what they have been given will be taken away from them. For if we walk in sin and not in righteousness and holiness, and not in obedience to the Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God. But those who are obeying the Lord in righteous living have eternal life with God.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Pray, Pray, Pray
An Original Work / September 6, 2012
Based off Various Scriptures
Pray that eyes may enlightened be,
So they may know Christ.
Pray that they may Him better know,
Strengthened by His pow’r.
Pray that they may grasp
How wide and long
And high and deep
Is Christ’s love.
Pray that they may be filled
To the fullness of God’s love.
Pray with thanksgiving.
Pray for an open door for me,
So I may share Christ.
Pray when the gospel is proclaimed –
Shared with clarity.
Pray words are given me so
I declare the gospel fearlessly.
I pray for you to be active
Sharing your faith, too.
Pray continually.
We oft not know for what to pray,
So we ask for help.
The Spirit intercedes for us –
Words cannot express.
Just keep on praying for the saints
With all kinds of requests to God.
Pray they may have faith to
Please their God in ev’ry way.
Pray with joyfulness.
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