Some of you have read about the history of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. It was one of the most severe earthquakes that there has ever been recorded in North America. The only earthquake that we have had in my lifetime which is even comparable to it, but was not as great, was the one in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1964. And when you study what happens when these earthquakes hit these large cities, one of the most awful things that happens is that fires break out all over town. And in San Francisco, of course, the fire engines were going all over; and they are trying to put water on these fires. And why are there fires all over town? The reason there are fires all over town is because when the earthquake comes, the gas pipes break; and so you have this natural gas spewing up out of the ground all over town so that fires start, and then the people start trying to spray water on the fire. Have you ever tried to stop a fire and the gas is just pouring out and just keeps going and going and going? And what is the answer to that kind of a problem? Should we get more fire engines so we can put the fire out? You know, that is what we do as Christians a lot of times. Has the devil started any fires in your life? any troubles? And so it just seems like you could just spend your whole time trying to solve all these problems in your life.

That happens in churches, too. And it happens in ministries and families. It even happens in nations. And we think if we can get enough fire engines and if we can get enough people pouring water on the fire, that we can solve the problem. But, friend, the solution to the problem is to turn off the gas. That is the solution to the problem. Turn off the gas. And I want to look at a subject with you today that will solve, it will solve more problems than you can imagine. But people do not think so because we are used to just looking at the problem and trying to pour some kind of solution on the problem. And the solution to those gas fires is not to keep pouring water on it. The solution is to go where the gas is coming from and turn the gas off.

It is the same when people are in the dark. Have you ever been stumbling around a building or a house at night because the electricity went off or you had no lights, so you are stumbling around? Have you ever bumped your shins or stubbed your toe or fallen over the furniture? What is the solution to a problem like that? The solution is to get the light turned on, and that automatically solves all the problems just right away. And Jesus talks about this very thing in the Bible. Let's look at a few Bible texts. We are going to have a Bible study this morning. We are going to ask six questions.

First of all, let's read from Revelation 1. Revelation is a book of prophecy. Revelation 1:20: "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches." Why is the church of Christ likened to a light? Why is that? Notice what Jesus said to the church in Matthew 5, the first book in the New Testament. Matthew 5:16. Jesus starts talking about this in verse 14; and He says to the church, "You are the light of the world." The church is to be the light of the world. And notice what He says in verse 16 about this light. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

In Matthew 25, we have the story here in verses 1-13, the familiar story that Jesus told about the ten virgins. Five of these virgins, He said they were foolish; and five of the virgins were wise. What was the difference between the wise virgins and the foolish virgins? You could give two answers: both of them would be right. Okay, the wise had oil in their vessels. As a result of the oil in their vessels, what was it that you could see that the others did not have? These had light. And the others, their light had gone out. Jesus says, "You are the light of the world." And if that light goes out, the parable of the ten virgins teaches that you will lose your soul. You have to have light. In fact, all the way through the New Testament we find that Jesus and the apostles were constantly talking to Christians. They said, "You are the light of the world." Paul said, "You are the children of the light." So here is the first question that we want to ask. What is this light? What is this light? You have to have light. The parable of the ten virgins teaches that you must have light if you are going to be saved. Your light has to be burning. It has to be giving light to other people. What is this light? Let's look at several Bible texts.

Look in the gospel of John. Let's look at the first chapter first. He starts talking about this right away as soon as he starts writing. John 1:4. Who is he talking about here? He is talking about Jesus. And he says in John 1:4, "In Him was life, and the life was [what?] the light of men." What is this light? It is the life of Jesus. If you study His life and understand what He is like, you can have light in your soul. Look what it says in verse 9, talking again about Jesus. "That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world." That was the true light, and the disciples beheld this light. This same writer, the apostle John, toward the end of his life, when he was writing a letter (it is called 1 John), the same author as the gospel of John, toward the end of your Bible just before Jude and Revelation. In 1 John 1, it says, remember in John 1:4 it says. . . that in "Him was life and the life was the light of men." Jesus' life is the light of men. Notice what it says here in 1 John 1:5-7. "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." Notice, the light has to do with the truth. "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

So, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we will have fellowship with each other. By the way, do you need any fellowship? I find today, friends, that there are many Christians who do not have much fellowship. But if you need fellowship, it says here that if you are walking in the light, you are going to have fellowship. You are going to have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son will cleanse you from all sin. So, Jesus is the light, that is, His life. If you study His life, you will receive light, that is, spiritual light.

Now Jesus' face is filled with light. In fact, let's read just a couple of verses on that. Do you remember the story of the apostle Paul when he was on his way to Damascus and Jesus appeared to him? This is Acts 9:3. It says, "And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven." And what was that light? It was the glory of Jesus. When it says that He is light, it is not just a figure of speech. Look at what happened when the apostle John saw Him when he was on the Isle of Patmos. This is right in the first chapter of Revelation. Look at Revelation 1:16, a very fascinating verse. It is talking about Jesus. John the revelator was looking at Him; and it says in verse 16, "He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like [what]? the sun. . ." His countenance is so bright. It says in 2 Thessalonians 2 that when Jesus comes again, the wicked will be destroyed from the brightness of His coming. So it includes physical light. But when Jesus came to this world, if He had come like that, with the glory He had with the Father before the world began, if He had come with all of that glory, we could not have looked at it. And so that physical light was veiled, covered up, so that you could not see it. The physical light was covered up so that you could see the spiritual light. And when you study His life, you find out what this spiritual light is. When you become a Christian, the way you become a Christian is when you see what this spiritual light is and you are attracted to it.

Now let's see what the apostle Paul said about this light that is shining from the face of Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 4:3-6, it says, "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Paul said, the God Who commanded light to shine out of darkness, that was at the creation of the world, this same God has shown, He has put light inside of our hearts, in our minds, so that we should give to other people the light that shines in the face of Jesus.

I want to ask you a second question. The first question is What is the light? Jesus' life is the light. He is the light. And we are to receive that light from Him. But we want to ask a more specific question now. We want to get much more specific. The second question is this: What is this light that is in Jesus' face, and it beams out from His face? What is that light? Paul says that there is light that shines out from the face of Jesus. Now there is literal, physical light; but when He came to this world He veiled, He covered, that literal, physical light up. It would kill us if we looked on His glory, face to face; we could not stand it. So He covered the physical light up so we could see the spiritual light. And what is the spiritual light that shines in the face of Jesus? By the way, you can tell, there are books that are written about body language, have you heard about that or read about that? Let me tell you something. The most important part of a person's body, as far as body language, is the face. And the most important part of the face is the eyes. You can tell more about what is in a person's mind by looking at their face than any other part of their body, and you can tell the most by looking in their eyes. And this light shines forth from Jesus' face. It shines forth from His face and what we want to know is, What is this spiritual light that shines forth from Jesus' face?

Let's look at a few texts and see if we can figure it out. Look at John 5. Here is the man by the Pool of Bethesda who has been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus is walking by, and there are all these sick people around. And as He looks around, He sees one who is the worst case of all. It is this man right here. He has been sick for thirty-eight years, and he is paralyzed. He cannot get into the pool. Jesus comes, and He looks at this man. Here is what He says in verse 6. "When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?'" When that man looked in the face of Jesus, what did he see? He saw Somebody who wanted to help him. He saw somebody who wanted to help him.

Why did He want to help him? One of the clearest verses that I have ever studied in the gospels, that explains what this light is in Jesus' face, explains why He wanted to help him, is in Matthew 14:14. This is the time, shortly after John the Baptist had been killed, it was about a year before the crucifixion, and great multitudes were coming to Jesus. It says, "And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick."

What does it mean to be moved with compassion? What does that mean? Oh, friend, Jesus had love in His heart for that paralyzed man by the Pool of Bethesda. And when this multitude came to Him, He looked. Jesus could read people's thoughts, and He knew which people had which troubles. Some of them were physically sick, some were mentally sick: some of them had financial difficulties, some had troubles at home: some of them were bereaved. They had all kinds of troubles just like people have today. And Jesus looked over this multitude of people. He saw what problems people had; and His heart was moved with compassion, so much so, it says that He healed their sick.

So what is this light that is in the face of Jesus? What is it? It is love for people; especially people who are in trouble. You study the life of Jesus. He spent the bulk of His life helping people who were in trouble because He was moved with compassion at the sight of a human being who was in trouble. That is why He worked miracles. Study the miracles that Jesus worked. Every one of those miracles was a revelation of that spiritual light. Notice what John the apostle says about this in John 12:35-37. It says, "Then Jesus said to them, 'A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of the light.' These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. But although He had done so many signs [that is miracles] before them, they did not believe in Him." Because of these signs, these miracles, that He worked, they should have been able to figure out they were seeing the light; but their eyes were blinded. He goes on to say that here in verse 40. Their eyes were blinded; they could not see. And then notice what it says in verse 46. Jesus is speaking. He says, "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness."

So, what is the light that is in the face of Jesus? It is love for people, especially for people who are lost and are in trouble. That is what it is. That is what the light is that shines from the face of Jesus. Now Paul says this light has shown into our hearts. What does that mean? If the light from Jesus shines into my heart, what does that mean? I am to reflect that same light. What would it mean to reflect that same light? Remember, Jesus said, "You are the light of the world." That is the third question. What does it mean to be the light of the world? Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." But He also said to His followers, "You are the light of the world." Matthew 5:14. What does it mean to be the light of the world? Well, if we are going to be the light of the world, we must treat sinners the same way Jesus treated them. We must love people the same way Jesus loved people.

Now look at an example of this in John 8:11, 12. This is the woman who was taken in adultery. And it says in verse 11, "She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'" Jesus did not condemn, He gave her a pardon and then He said, "Go and sin no more." Notice what He says immediately next, "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'" What is the light? Well, He just demonstrated what it was. It is when you say, "I don't condemn you for what you've done wrong, but go and live a different life. Go and sin no more." And immediately, then, He said to His followers, "I am the light of the world." This is what the light is. He was the light of the world to that woman. She was saved. She had been in the dark, but now she was in the light because the light of the world had passed by. And if that light shines into your heart and into my heart, as we pass through this world, in our families, in our work, wherever we are, as we pass by, people are going to see light. They are going to become enlightened because we were there. When Jesus passed by, people were enlightened. They saw light.

Let's look at some aspects of that light so we can understand what it means to be the light of the world. Let's look at Proverbs 6. Proverbs is right after the book of Psalms. Proverbs 6:23, it says, "For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life." The law is what? Is the law dark or light? Which is it? It is light. The law is light. Now if Jesus is light, you would expect that His life would be a perfect example of keeping God's law. Was that the case? You remember Jesus said, "I have kept My Father's commandments." You will find that in John 15. Jesus said, "I have kept My Father's commandments." Another time, in John 8, He challenged the Jews and said, "Which of you convicts Me concerning sin?" Now sin is breaking God's law, 1 John 3:4. And Jesus said, "Which of you convicts Me concerning sin?"

Do you know what they said? They had nothing to say because He kept God's law, and they knew it. Jesus' life was a perfect example of law-keeping because the law is light; and Jesus kept the law, not just legalistically, but He kept it from His heart. He kept it from His heart. Jesus revealed the principles upon which the law is based.

You remember when the lawyer came and asked Jesus which was the great commandment in the law, this is recorded in Matthew 22:37-40, and Jesus said that the first great commandment was that, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. . . And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" And then Jesus made this significant statement. He says, "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." What is the principle on which the whole Law and the Prophets are based? What does it all sit on? What are the two principles? You love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and you love your neighbor as yourself. See, the law is based on loving God supremely and loving your neighbor as yourself. That is why love for other people is what they saw in the face of Jesus. That is what they saw. He veiled His physical glory so that you could see the reality of His character. One of the greatest mysteries of all the ages is how He did all that. But His physical glory and light was veiled so that you could see the spiritual reality of His character and that the bottom line, the foundation, of all religion is to love God supremely and to love your neighbor as yourself. That is what the law is based on. If you really love God supremely, you will keep the first four commandments. The first four commandments define our relationship to God. If you love your neighbor as yourself, you will keep the last six commandments. They describe our relationship to our fellow man.

So, what does it mean to be the light of the world? The world needs to know that the law is not darkness; it is light. And as we study the life of Christ, we see that if you want to be in the light, your life must be in harmony with God's law. Let's look at something else that is light. Second Peter 1:19 says, "We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." So Peter says we have something, and it is like a light in a dark place. This world today is described in the Bible as a place that is dark. It says that "darkness will cover the earth and gross darkness the people." That is what Isaiah said. But he said, "To you, light is sprung up." What is this light? It is the light of prophecy. Bible prophecy is a light. That is why we are having this prophecy seminar right now. When you study Bible prophecy, you are understanding spiritual light; you understand the meaning of the times in which you live. And what are the times in which we live? Friends, we are living in what the Bible calls the time of the end. The end of this world as we know it is very, very near. And there are people all over this city who do not know that. They are in the dark.

If you know the light of Bible prophecy, we studied this last night in our prophecy seminar, we are very close to the end of time, very close to the end of this world as we know it. We have that light from Bible prophecy. Was Jesus a prophet? Oh, yes. Jesus was the greatest of all prophets. He is the light of the world. All prophecy comes from Him. In fact, the very first verse in Revelation says that prophecy came through Jesus. God gave it to Him, He gave it to His angel, and the angel gave it to the servant John. It comes directly from Jesus: He is the light of the world. Prophecy is part of this light.

So first, the law is light. Jesus' life was a perfect example of law-keeping. But second, prophecy is light. And if you understand Bible prophecy, then you are in the light. You understand the light; you understand why we are here, what we are doing, where we are in the stream of time, and what is just about to happen. And if I know something and you do not know it and I am to be the light of the world, what is my responsibility or obligation? I need to some way communicate it to you, because if I do not communicate the light to you, what could happen to you? Well, you could be lost. Have you ever heard of people having accidents because they were in the dark? Happens all the time.

When I was a young preacher, I was working with an evangelist. He told me of an experience that he had one time. This happened, I believe, in the midwestern United States; but it was not flat country like Kansas. He was driving a car, I believe pulling a trailer, and it was night. Something went wrong with the electrical system; and all of a sudden, all the lights went out. There he was going down the road at 50 or 60 miles an hour. He had no lights, it was pitch dark, and he could not see where he was going. It is time to pray then, by the way. Well, he prayed. The Lord helped him to get his car stopped before he ran down off into a ditch. But, friends, there are people all around us, people who you know, and they are in the dark. They do not know that the world is just about to end. They are not ready for the end of the world.

In our prophecy seminar, in the book of Revelation, we have been studying what has to happen for people to be ready for the end of the world. Do you remember what it says in Revelation 14:12 and Revelation 22:14? The people in the last days who are ready for the end of the world are people who are walking in the light, who have the light. How are they living? They are living in harmony with God's law. They are in the light. The law is light, remember? Jesus kept it. And there are people all around us. We are not criticizing them, we are just recognizing the fact that they are in the dark and if they do not get into the light and live according to the light, they are going to lose their soul; they are going to lose eternal life. We have an obligation. If we are the light of the world, we have an obligation to let them see the light. Now whether or not they want to walk in the light, that is up to them. That is up to them. But we have an obligation to see to it that they see the light.

Now Noah let his light shine. We studied about that last night. Not very many people decided to walk in the light, but Noah saved his own soul and the souls of his family. And look what it says here in Ezekial 3. The Lord spoke to His prophet; and it says here in Ezekial 3:17, 18, "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 'When I say to the wicked, "You shall surely die," and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.'" Oh, friend, what are you doing and what am I doing to let our light shine? Are we really the light of the world or have we taken the light and put a bushel basket over it so that people cannot see? The end is near. The end of the world is near. We must allow the world to know and to hear what is about to happen.

When you became a Christian, if you chose to follow Christ and committed your life to Him, you promised when you became a Christian that you would follow Him, that He would be your only Lord and Master. And He also made promises to you. What does the Lord promise to people who choose to follow Him? Well, first of all, He promises to be with you. Remember, Jesus said before He left, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Not only that, He promised to bless you. And not only that, He promised to refresh with His light and to give you His peace and to make your heart joyful in His service.