Light Is a Person: You Are the Light of the World

0:00:00 – (Steve Gray): Well, you know, the Bible says you are the light of the world. Where’s that light come from? Guess what, light is a person. It’s not the sun, the moon, or the stars. I’ll explain it all to you on the next More Faith, More Life podcast. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another More Faith, More Life podcast. Your voice of revival. And we talk about revival here. And boy, last week did we get some discussion going.

0:00:23 – (Steve Gray): Woo. Yeah, you know, I’m trying to keep things spiritual. My department, I’m in the spiritual department. But it was funny, I talked about when government becomes God or when the state becomes God. And of course, when you do that, you’ve got to explain, why would I say such a thing? What’s happening that I would say that. You know, a lot of people, they look at our government as almost a savior. It’s almost the savior of them. This is what’s going to save me.

0:00:52 – (Steve Gray): And yet the Bible is full of scriptures that tell us, turn to the Lord, trust in the Lord, believe. Let him be God. Let him be your supply. Let him be all the things that you need, everything for life. And you know, all this is in here. And you know, he says he’s come to give us life to the fullest measure. But there is a thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy. Well, it’s my job to reveal those things to you and keep it in the spiritual realm because I don’t want to be political, I want to be spiritual.

0:01:26 – (Steve Gray): But the two collide. Okay, so we did talk about socialism. We talked about communism. We were talking. I was talking to someone recently about it. And we come up with all the isms, Maoism, Communism, Fascism, Nazism, socialism. Did I say communism? Yeah, all those things, they are not politics at the root. They are spiritual and. And they affect the spirit. They are after spiritual things. In Christianity, it’s a spiritual war named in political names and political movements.

0:02:02 – (Steve Gray): All right, so if it’s easy, most people can figure it out. If they take Nazi ism, Nazism to figure out, you know, the root of that was spiritual. They were into terrible darkness things and satanic things and all that. And it was spiritual. And they began to. The government became the ruler of the people and became God and decide who lives and who dies and supplies everything. Supplies everything. And so then we can see it. But when we come to socialism and maybe even communism, it seems that people think it’s softer than that, but it’s not. It’s the same. Communism did the same thing when we had the Bolshevik Revolution.

0:02:43 – (Steve Gray): And at first it Said, we’re going to supply bread and land and have peace. But Lenin took over. And then all of a sudden, it began. The government became God. And me growing up under the Soviet Union, not I wasn’t in the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union was there when I grew up. We heard a lot about how it didn’t work. We watched it grow and go and take away the rights of people. And everybody was supposed to be everything’s equal, but there was still a ruler. Anytime you have this say, we’re just going to make it equal and fair for everybody. Watch out, somebody’s going to rise up and begin to rule. That’s the way it works because it’s spiritual and people want to rule. People want to be in control.

0:03:29 – (Steve Gray): So it’s not what it appears. So anyway, I wanted to just clarify that. And I get it, because some people commented as soon as I began to talk about communism or socialism, they began to turn into Democrat or Republican. And I didn’t do that. I don’t think I even named either one of them. But people do it because they immediately think, oh, that’s a political thing. No, it dresses. It’s a sheep in wolf’s clothing, right?

0:03:59 – (Steve Gray): Or is it wolf in sheep’s clothing? I said it backwards. It’s a wolf. I’ve only been doing this how many years? It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s deceptive, okay? And that’s my job. And our job is to help you see deception and stay away from it and not fall for it. So anyway, that’s that part I want to mention real quick, and I may mention again in a minute that the book Revival or Ruin: The Choice Before America. Is this good to hold it right here?

0:04:24 – (Steve Gray): Okay. Is out. And we’re putting it on stevegrayministries.com when you go there. I’m not. We’re just now figuring out how we get it to you and all that. So it’ll be on there right away. But it’s a good book. It says a lot of the things that you’re already thinking and it says a lot of things that we’ve been teaching on the podcast. So it’s out. It’ll be. This is a hardcover one, but it’ll be in soft cover and we’ll have it right away.

0:04:49 – (Steve Gray): Very, very important book. It’s. I can’t say names, but I can tell you there’s a lineup of politicians that I’m going to meet with and get this book to them and talk kind of like I’m talking right now, just Open their eyes to. We must approach this as spiritual and what we need. We need the political. We need it, but we need the spiritual. We need to put the spiritual and political together. And that’s what needs to happen. And it’s not happening.

0:05:18 – (Steve Gray): You know, that people think separation of church and state, crazy teaching. But anyway, we need to put the two together. And the spiritual needs to be influencing the political. And that’s how it was in our country when the Constitution was written and all that they had. They were. They were. They had God conversations and the church’s values and Christian values were affecting their political values as. Rather than the other way around. Okay, so we want to talk about this today from Matthew chapter five.

0:05:50 – (Steve Gray): You are the salt of the earth. And I’m saying that because that’s why I say what I say, because I see this around me and I know the division between politics and political parties is really, really divided. And it’s not pretty picture, I know that. But this is different, because when Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth, he doesn’t say, try to be the salt of the earth or hope to be or pray to be. He says, you are. And salt, then, in their culture is very important.

0:06:19 – (Steve Gray): It was a preservative. It preserved fish and meat, and it did salt their food too. But it’s the way they had it. And so it was a very, very important commodity that preserved what they needed to have. So when he says, you’re the salt of the earth to them, he’s saying, you guys and gals, you need to preserve what I’m doing and what I’m saying. This would be before even they knew the word Christianity, but it was a revival of Judaism, God’s way, Jesus way. Because right before that, he was talking about the Beatitudes. Blessed this. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn. You know, all the blessed stuff. And he talked about that and he said, now take that and preserve these teachings, Preserve these teachings of the Word of God and be the salt of the earth.

0:07:11 – (Steve Gray): And then he says, but if salt loses its flavor, then it’s good for nothing. And it’s just to be tossed out and people to trot it underfoot. Well, we have a little problem with that because today’s salt doesn’t really lose its saltiness. You know, sodium chloride stays salty pretty much. But their salt didn’t. They got their salt mostly from the Dead Sea, and. And it wasn’t pure salt. It had other things in it. And so over time, it would lose its Saltiness. And they’d have to.

0:07:41 – (Steve Gray): They just toss it out. And he says it was basically good for nothing and to be trod under foot. Well, I guess it became good for something because they used it in their roads. They used it in. We would call our potholes. We got potholes in every city, you know, and you hit that pothole. Well, they would fill their. The dips in the road with salt that had lost its saltiness. And people actually did literally walk over them, and it was underfoot. So it’s a great picture for them of understanding what they were supposed to be. As salt of the earth. You need to preserve the values.

0:08:18 – (Steve Gray): We need to preserve Christian values. We need to preserve the word of God. We need to preserve our way of thinking and way of life and all those things. We. Rather than let it be stolen by some other movement that becomes God to the nation. And so, like I said, I’m not being political. Anytime something is coming to lower God or to steal the God figure and to become the God, that’s my department, and that’s your department. We’re spiritual people first, right?

0:08:48 – (Steve Gray): We’re spiritual people. We are the salt of the earth. And we need to preserve when what God has given us and even what God wants to do in the future. All right, now it continues on. The next one is a lot of fun. Cause it says, you are the light of the world. And most of us know that if you grew up in church. You sang this Little Light of Mine one time. I preached on that, and I mentioned it in a sermon somewhere.

0:09:15 – (Steve Gray): And I ruined that song because I said, why are we teaching this little light of mine? I said, this is a great big light. So I said, what if we could sing this Great Big Light of Mine? I’m going to let it shine. Well, it ruined the song because then when they sing it, they didn’t know whether to sing little light or big light. And it would really cause confusion. But you get the point anyway. You are the light of the world. And again, it doesn’t say you need to become the light. You need to try to be the light. It says, you are the light. And we need to understand how that works. Okay, but before we get to that, let’s talk about the part we know where it says nobody lights a light or lights a candle or lights a light and then hides it, but they light the lamp and they don’t hide it under a bowl. Or when I grew up, we sang Hide it under a bushel. No bushel basket. No.

0:10:04 – (Steve Gray): You know that. So you don’t light something to hide it, right? But you put it in that, and then there’s a city all lit up. And a city on the hill can’t be hid because it’s all lit up. And it gives light to everyone in the house. So then Jesus says so in the same way, let your light see. He says, you are light, therefore you have a light. Let your light shine. And people can see the good deeds and glorify God.

0:10:34 – (Steve Gray): So it doesn’t say, you need to be the light. Try to be the light. It says, you are the light, so let your light shine. Okay? This is really important as we look at it, okay? So let’s back up for a minute. Back up, and let’s study light. Cause he said, you are the light of the world. What does that mean? Well, let me tell you what I saw growing up, and even now as an adult, up to when I’m teaching this.

0:11:00 – (Steve Gray): It says, you are the light of the world. And we think of a lamp, right? Or a candle or whatever, and it’s sitting on the table. And we’re way back in times before electricity, and we got several in the house, and the neighbors have it, too. So now the city’s lit up with candles and lamps and lampstands and all those kinds of things. And I’d see it, and then it’s over here and it’s lit. And then it says, don’t hide it. Don’t put a bowl over it. Nobody puts a bowl or a bushel basket over it. But I see the light over there.

0:11:29 – (Steve Gray): I’m watching. I’m thinking of candles and lamps. I’m not thinking to myself, like, I’m not thinking that, hey, get that bowl off your head. You are the light of the world. Why do you wear a bushel basket on your head? Okay, so anyway, let’s find out what kind of light we’re talking about. All right, so let’s back up to. We don’t even have to open our Bible, because we already know this. We know Genesis, chapter one, what God said. What did he say about light?

0:11:55 – (Steve Gray): All of a sudden, there was darkness. And he said, let there be light. And there was light. Now here’s the question we need to ask. Did God invent light? Did God create light? In other words, there was no light. The earth was dark. And so God created heaven and the earth, right? Did he create light? Well, my opinion is no, because I think he was the light. Let there be light was him, okay? And his light lit up the universe, lit up the earth, lit up the universe. Okay, so now there’s already light.

0:12:34 – (Steve Gray): And we read all the other stuff he did, and we get down to the fourth day. First day, there’s light. The fourth day, there’s already light. The fourth day. He says, now let there be sun and moon and stars. To be like lamps and lights. And all of a sudden, like, well, wait a minute. I mean, we think that the light comes from the sun, but there was already light before the sun and the moon and the stars.

0:13:02 – (Steve Gray): So that means there’s another kind of light here. There’s another kind of light. And the sun, the moon and the stars represent the light. Kind of like they’re lighting a lamp. They are not the light, but they’re a lamp that’s lit. But there already was light. Is this confusing you or getting that? So there was already light for four days. And then on the fourth day, he says, let’s create the sun, the moon and the stars which are guiding. And they tell us when it’s day and night. And you know all that. And they reflect. The moon is reflective light.

0:13:36 – (Steve Gray): And so he says, let there be light. And on the fourth day, there was. All right, so now we go back to this and say, oh, you are the light of the world. Well, I’m not the sun, the moon and the stars. All right, now if we continue on with this Genesis, chapter one, right? Says, let there be light. And there was light. Then he created the sun, the moon and the stars. Now you have to. That’s the first chapter of Genesis.

0:14:05 – (Steve Gray): Interesting, isn’t it? Now we go to the very last chapter of Revelation, chapter, what is it, 22. And the new heaven, the new earth. All these things are happening at the very end. And all of a sudden he says, there will. At that time, there will be no need for the sun, the moon or the stars, for there will already be light. Ah, what light are we talking about? Well, that’s the same light that when he said, let there be light, became light.

0:14:42 – (Steve Gray): This is my personal opinion that in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve were clothed, I think they were clothed in light or clothed in glory. You know, we talk about God and his train, his glory train. It fills the temple, you see the glory of God. And I think they were clothed. This is me. I think they were clothed in the glory of God. Because when he made them in image, he didn’t make them to look like God.

0:15:08 – (Steve Gray): He made them to be carrying what God carried. The image was the glory of God and the presence of God that was with them. So what Happened when they sinned. How come they saw then they were naked? Because they were clothed in the glory of God and sin robbed them of the glory, right? And all of a sudden the glory left. And that’s when they knew they were naked, Right. Cause otherwise, the Bible gives us all its kids too. We think like, oh, they were walking around naked. They just didn’t know they were naked until they sinned. Now they.

0:15:43 – (Steve Gray): Now they’re. I don’t think so. I think they were clothed in. That’s me. Clothed in the glory of God. And in other words, they were at that time the light of the world. I mean, God is the light of the world, right? Jesus the light of the world and light that light. But they were a light. And so Jesus comes back now and says, you are the light of the world. It’s a reflection of. Yeah, this is what the intention was, that humanity would carry the light, the world.

0:16:13 – (Steve Gray): All right? So anyway, we get back to Genesis, the last book, and all of a sudden the sun, the moon, and the stars disappear. Don’t need them anymore, don’t have them anymore. But the light doesn’t go out. There’s another kind of light, the glory and the light. And it lights the way. The glory of God is the light. Now, that goes. Now imagine Jesus coming along with when these Jewish people knew all about light.

0:16:42 – (Steve Gray): They knew, let there be light. They knew their Bibles better than we do and do today. And they knew scriptures, they had heritage. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Jesus pops in and says, I am the light of the world. Now, did he mean he was the sun and the moon and the stars? Of course not. Of course not. He meant, I am the light of the world, that I carry that light. When God said, let there be light, that was me.

0:17:15 – (Steve Gray): That was the person. That’s a person. And when God created him, like I said, my opinion, Adam and Eve, they were to carry as a person in God’s image the light into the world. Cause he said, go out, pursue, right? Pursue the world. Take command over it, right? And go out and be fruitful and multiply and take control of this world and drive out the darkness and drive out corruption and drive out all the things that are that, and establish my kingdom outside of the garden.

0:17:50 – (Steve Gray): But, you know, they sinned and lost that light, like I said, in my opinion. And now they’ve kind of come over to the dark side, so to speak. You Star wars fans, you would understand that they came over to the dark side. And now this is what humanity is carrying Now Jesus comes along and imagine what it felt like to them when he says, hey, I am the light of the world. You mean what? What do you mean?

0:18:17 – (Steve Gray): That kind of light is a person. It’s a person carrying it like Adam and Eve. Now, Jesus, who is called the last Adam, the last one, he’s now carrying this light. It’s a different kind of light. It lights up and shouldn’t be hidden, and it lights up in a new way. It lights up a life, right? The grandest life. And it’s the light of the world bringing light back into the world, the dark world. And so we’re good with that until we get to this.

0:18:52 – (Steve Gray): Now all of a sudden, what happens? Jesus says to them, hey, by the way, you are the light of the world. And that doesn’t mean you’re a candlestick, doesn’t mean you’re a lamp or a lantern. No, it means you are the light of the world. The light of the world has now become another person. You. You are that person. God’s light is a person. It’s not the sun or the moon and the stars. It’s not what you light, a candle or whatever, a flashlight.

0:19:24 – (Steve Gray): It’s not the porch light, right? You are a person. And so you are to carry light into the world. You’re to salt the earth, preserve it from corruption and all the things that go on, and preserve what God’s doing, who God is, what God is, all those truths, you preserve that. But you also light up the world to revelation, how great God is and keeping that lit up into the world. So when you go out, you don’t want to think of it as there’s a lamp on the. You know, next to the couch at home or whatever.

0:19:59 – (Steve Gray): No, you are the light of the world. The light of the world is now a person. It was Jesus. It’s still Jesus. But through Jesus, you are now the light of the world. So I want you to start thinking that as when you go out of your house or around your house or to your family, you have a job to do, you are to light up the world with that other kind of light. You know, not a flashlight, not a match, but the light that was there before the sun and the moon and the stars is you that lit up the universe. And it’s the light that will be at the end of the age, that there’ll be no need for that.

0:20:37 – (Steve Gray): Because God’s light, which is you, him, it’s God. It’s Jesus, and it’s you. We’re all in this together to light up. And we don’t want to put a bushel basket on our head and walk out of the house and go to work or a bowl on our head and hide the light. No, it’s meant to be seen and to reveal things. Salt preserves light is to be seen, visible. And that’s why we need it today so badly that churches become the light of the world rather than like the world.

0:21:12 – (Steve Gray): So many churches have become like the world. We have programs, we’re building up our, you know, our soul life, our mind, our will, our emotions. We’re trying to keep us satisfied and feel good about ourselves, validate people, trying to help you get over your hurt feelings and your offenses at everybody and blaming, you know, all that stuff. It’s humanism, but it’s not the light of the world. It may be kindness to hurting people, but it’s not the light of the world.

0:21:41 – (Steve Gray): Kindness is good, love is good, but we need to light the world. That’s our job, is to be the light of the world and to show a different kind of life, a different kind of thing. So we need to light the world rather than become like the world with programs and entertainment and all the things that churches do to keep people interested today. And like I’ve said before, like, you can get them to show up to a spaghetti dinner, but you can’t get them to show up to a prayer meeting.

0:22:09 – (Steve Gray): Nobody’s interested. I shouldn’t say nobody. But that’s not the general push of churches today. It’s not prayer and presence and glory and experiencing the light of the world to be what we’re supposed to be. So anyway, that’s my talk today. We’re salt and light. And that light is a person. And now that person is you. All right. So anyway, you can go to stevegrayministries.com, check out if the book’s there, how you get it, the other books too, and more of this information of things that I’m trying to help people see new things. And this book will help you see new things, of what’s really happening in our country from the spiritual point of view, which is to influence the political point of view. That’s where I’m at. All right. I hope that helps you, like, tell us people about this.

0:22:59 – (Steve Gray): Subscribe like and until next time, bye-bye.