Sermon by Rev. Louis O. Ball
This sermon was by my pastor who was so instrumental in my life.
He is now enjoying heaven and all its joys.
" Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God,
without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
holding forth the word of life." (Phil. 2:14-16)
"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
(Matthew 5:16)
These verses are for people who have been born again; people who have been made new creatures in Christ Jesus.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the light of the world.
John 8:2 says, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life."
In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus implied that all who would follow Him
and become His disciples should reflect His light.
He said, "Ye are the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hid."
When He uttered those words, he was saying that we should be little lights or His satellites.
There are 260 chapters in the New Testament, and 234 times the Bible warns of eternal punishment
and the awful doom of those who reject the Lord Jesus as their own personal Saviour.
I would like to make a supposition.
Suppose the highway of life is 260 miles long.
There are 234 signs along this highway warning men to come to God,
to flee from the wrath to come and take the Lord Jesus as their Saviour.
The great mass of humanity is traveling this downward road.
You who are saved are God's sign boards.
As you let your light shine, you are God's torch.
Let me ask you this question:
Do you know that the Bible says that you and I who are saved are living epistles, known and read of all men?
Sinners read your life; they read my life.
They seldom read the Word of God, but they look to you and to me to see
if there is a reality in what we profess when we say that we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul said, "For to me to live is Christ."
With equal truth he could have said, "For me to shine is Christ."
He shined so much for the Lord that he could say, "Be ye followers of me, even as I am also of Christ."
How many who claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus could say those words and then back them up with their lives?
Many would say, "Don't do as I do, but do as I tell you to do."
The apostle Paul, by his good, godly, consecrated life and the way he lived every day, giving his testimony,
could truthfully say, "Be ye followers of me, even as I am also of Christ."
When the saints of God, those who are born again, stop witnessing for Christ and stop letting their light shine
in this dark world, then that one without Christ can truthfully say, "The lights have gone out on the road to hell."
The city of Buffalo is lit with power that comes from Niagara Falls.
Every light in that city blazes away and seems to say, "For me to shine is Niagara."
Apart from the power of Christ in your life, you cannot shine.
John 1:12 says,
"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name."
That is where you get your power to shine.
It is in Him.
Did you know that diamonds and carbon are made out of exactly the same kind of stuff,
but one of them will reflect the light and the other absorbs it.
Don't be the kind of Christian that will absorb everything and never give off anything.
Be a diamond Christian!
When you think about shining for the Lord and think about being a Christian, you do one of two things.
You either reflect His light, or you are a reflection to Him.
Christ has a purpose in our salvation that reaches far beyond ourselves.
No man, woman, boy or girl is saved simply and solely for themselves.
You are saved so that you may have part in the sharing of the gospel.
You are saved from sin through Christ; you are saved from sin and the dominion and love of sin;
you are saved for heaven; you are saved from an eternal, burning hell; you are saved for service while you yet live.
God wants you to go out into your world.
He wants you to leave the comfort of the walls of this building and tell others of Jesus.
He has commanded all of us to go.
We are to keep doing this until He comes for us!
The Bible says that none of us liveth unto himself and no man dieth unto himself.
But with all the people dying without Christ and going out into eternity without God and without hope,
it is the business of every Christian to lead souls to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Millions of people are dying every hour in our world without Christ.
Today or tomorrow it may be one of your loved ones or one of your friend who will die without Christ.
If we have not warned them of their fate and shared with them how they can know Jesus,
we have failed to do what we should be doing as believers.
This is a sin before God.
No light is ever lit just for its own benefit, but it is lit that it may give light.
It should be a natural thing for a Christian to shine for Christ.
We must let our lights shine for Christ and point others to the cross of Jesus
that they might come to know Him and believe in Him.
We must do it today!
We must do it tomorrow!
We must do it every day while we have opportunity!
If you have been doing this, that is wonderful!
If you haven't, now is the time to start.
It should be just a natural and easy thing for us to do.
We should be able to talk about Jesus just as easily as we talk about our work,
our family, our sports, or anything that is meaningful to us.
It should be natural for us to let our light shine everyday.
We are saved to serve while we live each day.
There was a very talented, gifted, and fascinating young man being mobbed and stoned to death
because of his zeal as a youth for Christ.
The stones flew thick and fast, but they could not banish the light shining upon his face.
Do you think that Stephen tried to make his face shine?
No!
It was the relationship that Stephen had with the Lord Jesus that made his face shine.
If you and I would spend more time in communion and prayer with the Lord Jesus, our face would also shine.
We would come away from such an encounter with a shining face and a holy boldness ready to face a world
and tell everyone about our Saviour.
We would not be timid or ashamed.
Talk is cheap, but getting the job done will take a determined commitment.
Who are the wise?
The Bible states: "They that winneth souls is wise."
Daniel 12:3 says: "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;
and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."
It is so easy to invite someone to come to church to hear the preacher or the music.
We should be doing that.
God wants us to do more than that.
He wants us to be His witnesses.
He wants us to tell our family members about Christ.
He wants us to tell our friends about Christ.
There is no question that this is our main responsibility as Christians.
Christ has commanded us to be His witnesses.
We cannot excuse ourselves!
There is no excuse for not telling others of Jesus and His love.
If we are not doing this as God's Holy Spirit leads us, we are failing God and this is sinful!
This is the business of every Christian!
The Christian who is not telling others of Jesus is guilty of a horrible sin!
This sin before God grieves the Holy Spirit, blocks revival, and deadens churches.
We must have a revival in our churches!
We must have a revival in America! Civilization has come to the crossroads -- probably farther than that.
We are on the brink of destruction!
We have had war after war, and still have wars going on all over our world,
but we haven't had a worldwide revival.
There is a generation now living that knows nothing about a great spiritual awakening.
That is why I say we are farther than the crossroads.
Civilization is at the jumping-off place!
Countries around the world have enough bombs, that if ever exploded, would make
all our rivers and lakes run red with blood.
It could very well be that we must turn or burn!
Are you letting your light shine?
If your light is not shining, then those you love can say, "The lights are going out on my road to hell!"
Days are passing!
Opportunities are diminishing!
Do you care that your loved ones are without Jesus?
Do you care that they are dying in their sins?
Does it matter to you that they could spend an eternity in hell forever?
We must let our lights shine for Jesus!
Keep your light shining for those who are in darkness!
This sermon was one that Rev. Louis O. Ball preached many times in revivals.
I thank God for his tremendous influence on my life and the lives of so many throughout his ministry.
He was a consistent witness for the Lord. I learned by just being with him.
I know that when he arrived in heaven, there were hundreds who will welcome him
because he told them about Jesus!
Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White