Removing the Bushel 1984

Many of us in this flock, perhaps all of us, seem to be wrestling with a dilemma. The dilemma is this. We believe that Jesus is Lord.

We believe that the Bible is to be taken seriously. We believe that prayer is essential. And we believe that we've been called to a life of radical faith and service.

But we also have to survive in this world. We've got to pay our bills, take care of families in many cases. Some of us have jobs or businesses that require very hard decisions.

And some of us who are unemployed have to make some hard decisions. What do you do when you're offered a job that pays $4.50 an hour? Do you go off general assistance and take that job with no benefits and put food on the table and cover your kids with some kind of hospitalization, medical bills? How are you going to do this? Our dilemma is that the radical call of the kingdom of God, which we know to be on our lives, is being challenged by the pressures of everyday living. Now, if an angel were to appear to us in the middle of the night and put airline tickets on the dresser and say, March 21st, you're going to Hong Kong.

One-way ticket. Take your family. Here's the address where you're going to stay.

From now on, you're a missionary. The problem will be solved. Or if five families in this group were suddenly all very clear that the Lord was telling them to drop everything, quit their jobs, and open a soup kitchen on Verna Highway as a venture of faith, the problem would be solved.

But these kinds of revelations don't seem to be coming that often. And so we try to solve this tension between the call, the radical call of the kingdom of God, and the pressures of our daily life by settling down into what could be called the typical American evangelical lifestyle, which is you spend some time with scriptures and prayer. You spend some time in fellowship with brothers and sisters.

And you spend some time reaching out to people with needs of body or soul. But beneath these activities, which are relatively untaxing, the lives that we live every day are indistinguishable from the Babylonians around us. We're discontented.

We're dissatisfied. We know that God is calling us to something far more glorious, far more demanding, and far more impacting on the world around us than this. The solution is not an angel sending us to Hong Kong.

That could happen, but that's not where it starts. The solution is not a revelation to open up a soup kitchen. That could happen, but that's not where it starts.

Granted, there is a need for a radical change. But it's not a change of situation. It's not a change of ministry.

It's a radical interchange. Reading from Matthew 5, verse 14. You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hid, nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Notice he doesn't say, try to be the light of the world.

If you really work on it, you can be the light of the world. He doesn't say that. He says, you are the light of the world.

I've covered your sins with my blood. I've given you my spirit. You're my disciple.

Now shine. Get out from under that bushel and shine. You are already the new Jerusalem.

The light of the new Jerusalem needs to be coming forth from you. Now we see again and again Jesus calling himself the light of the world. I am the light of the world.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. We must work the works of him who sent me while in this day. The night comes when no one can work.

Meaning, I am the light of the world in the sense that people looking at me can see the Father. Want to know what God is like? Look at me. Then he turns around and says to us, you are the light of the world.

People looking at you should be able to see the Father. I've covered you with my blood. I've given you my spirit.

And I expect you to shine as the light coming forth from the new Jerusalem, which is already on this earth. Reading from Revelation chapter 21 verse 22. I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God, the almighty in the land.

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it. For the glory of God is its light and its lamp is the land. By its light shall the nations walk and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it.

What a glorious thing. Now that the light of God is to be coming forth from people like ourselves. We're going to be shining with the light of God that men can see, really see what God is like.

Isaiah 60, the entire chapter, really is a description of the city of God. The new Jerusalem, which is the body of Christ on earth at this moment. But reading just the first three verses.

Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the people. But the Lord shall arise upon you and his glory shall be seen upon you.

And nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. At a time when terrible darkness begins to engulf the world. The people of God, the men and women, the sons and daughters of God are to rise up and shine with his glory.

Your light has come. The glory of the Lord has risen upon you. So get out from underneath that bushel, get up on that stand and shine.

This is the call of God to us at this hour. And this is the this is the solution, really, to this dilemma. This tension between the call of the spirit of the kingdom on the one hand and the pressures of everyday life on the other.

Forget about Hong Kong. Somebody from here may be sent to Hong Kong. Don't worry about the soup kitchen.

There may be people here who are going to open a soup kitchen. Don't worry about a new ministry of some kind. That's going to happen to no doubt.

But the beginning, the place where we start. Is that there has to be. A shining forth.

There has to somehow be a way in which the light God puts in us comes out. We have to get out from under the bushel, get up on that stand and shine. You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill. The new Jerusalem can't be here. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory not to you, but to your father who is in heaven. So the light's in here. But somehow it's having an awful time getting out.

It's there, but it's being clouded and it's being hindered by our old nature. Call it that. Call it our flesh.

Somehow or other, the light that God has put in us is not coming forth freely. And what needs to happen is that we must clear a way for the light to come out. And we have to open up a path for the light to begin to shine forth from within.

The light that he's put in us has to come out. And if you look at the Sermon on the Mount carefully. From Matthew 5, 16, this passage about the light of the world, the end of that passage through to the end of Chapter 7, the end of the Sermon on the Mount.

The entire Sermon on the Mount is a description by our Lord of exactly what needs to be done for the light to shine. Now, back in January, some of us spent a week reading the Sermon on the Mount every day. And as we read it, we were concerned with compromise and dealing with compromise.

I think it would be appropriate for those who want to do this to take another week, read that same passage, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. But this time with the question, Lord, show me precisely what I need to do for the light to come forth so that it's no longer frustrated by my flesh. Example. For the light of God to come forth from us and shine, first thing we have to do is clean up our relationships with people we have wronged.

You can talk about all kinds of spiritual things all your life, but if you're walking around knowing that there's somebody that you've wronged and you've made no attempt to make it right, that light is not going to come out. And so we read, and I'm not going to give the verses because you'll find it as you read through. You have heard that it was said to the men of old, you shall not kill, and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council. And whoever says you fool shall be liable to the hell of fire.

So, if you are offering a gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother. Then come and offer your gift.

There's no way the light of God is going to come forth from us if we're aware of things in our relationships with people, places where we have wronged people and haven't even tried to make it right. Write the letter, make the phone call, go see the person. Do what is within your power to make it right.

If you get no forgiveness from their side, that's up to them, but at least we have to do something from our side. Make friends quickly with your accuser while you're going with him to court. Lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.

Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. If we want to really allow the light of God that he has put within us to shine out, the second thing we have to do is clean up our eye and our imagination. We're living in Babylon, and the atmosphere of Babylon is adultery.

I don't care whether we're male or female, whether we're 15, 21, or 79, or 103. The atmosphere is there. We're accustomed to seeing this.

And so much a part of it, we don't even think about it. Jesus says, you have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

And if the light of the glory of God is going to shine, male or female, we have to take this thing and root it out. There will be no light shining forth from us as long as we allow ourselves the roving eyeball, the wandering memory, the fantasy that goes all over the place. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away, he says to us.

It is better to lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

If the light of God is going to come forth and really shine, the next thing we have to do is clean up our speech. The language of Babylon is the language of a lie, exaggeration. In the days of the New Testament, people were a little bit more polite about it.

They would at least swear. So help me God, they would say. Today you don't even bother to do that.

You just twist it around. Say it any way you want. And we're accustomed to it.

We don't expect to read the truth in the newspapers. We don't expect to really hear the truth in a commercial. And we really hardly expect to hear the truth.

We weigh everything people say to us, you know, separating out what we think is truth from lie because we're accustomed to living that way. Jesus says, Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.

Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say simply be yes or no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one, the father of lies.

Next, if we're going to let the light shine forth from us and really be seen by the world, we have to clean up our attitude to people who have wronged us. Many of us are walking around poisoned by bitterness for things that have been done to us ten years ago. It's not over yet.

We are holding on to this. It's almost a matter of our integrity. We think of it as something sinful to let go of that, but the Lord says, You've got to do that.

You have to let go of this. Get rid of that poison. You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven, for he makes his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. If you love those who love you, what reward have you? Don't even the tax collectors do the same? If you salute only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Don't even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect. Say, yeah, but I can't help it.

I got this grudge. You know, if you realize what he or she did to me, you'd understand. And the Lord says, first thing you have to do is pray for this person.

Even if you have to start up by saying, Lord, I can't even bring myself to wish anything good. Help me, Lord. Help me.

Help me. And he will. Knowing that as long as we walk around with that grudge, there's no way the light of God can come forth.

Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Next thing we have to do if we want to let the light of God come forth is clean up our walk with the Lord.

Clean up our walk with God. Our walk with God is to be done before his eye alone. But what happens is, instead of this, we have one eye on God and the other eye on the audience.

People are watching us, you know? And as long as I have one eye over here on the audience and over here on God, I can't be walking with God. To walk with God, I have to have my eye only on him. Now, Jesus breaks it down to three things that are involved in our walk with God.

They may seem strange to us, but there they are. Giving alms, prayer, fasting. Each of these things is to be done, first of all, primarily before the eye of God.

Be aware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them. Then you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men.

Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your alms may be in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Very important, what we give.

To give. But the giving is done before the eye of God. And we have to keep it there.

Then is prayer. Now, again, in prayer, naturally, it's perfectly appropriate for us to pray together as a body and for people to pray during a service or a meeting. They did it in the book of Acts.

Jesus himself prayed in front of his disciples many times. But for every 30 seconds of prayer in front of... Now, don't hold me to this. But for every 30 seconds of prayer... What I mean is, I'm not trying to give a mechanical illustration that we pray in front of the body.

There should be 30 minutes of prayer alone before God. Maybe 30 hours, I don't know. But, you know, there is no place for prayer corporately if we're not praying privately before God.

The place where we really do it is alone before God. And the work of prayer before God is wonderful because it brings no ego satisfaction at all. Nobody sees what you're doing but the Father.

And he sees right through us. Why put on a show? When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Essential.

Essential. No way we can live without that kind of prayer. Fasting.

Many people, many more people than you may think in this gathering right here, fast. Many more will be fasting. The value and purpose of fasting is that it's a way of putting ourselves in a bind with God.

So you go without a couple meals in order to demonstrate to the Lord that you're really serious in seeking His face or in this person you're praying for. And in some cases, it's helpful to have a discipline to do this on a regular basis. But this too, even while it's true, four or five believers may get together and agree to fast and pray about a certain thing and it's perfectly appropriate.

The major amount of fasting that's done by believers is done in secret before the eye of God. And the minute you make a production out of it, you've lost it. When you fast, do not look dismal like the hypocrites for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men.

Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Next.

If the light that is in us is going to come forth and really shine, we have to clean up our faith. The problem with our faith is that part of it is on God and the other part is on this. Really.

You know, we say, you know, we look to God but all too often it's really money. You know, and to clean up our faith is we have to clear that up and make sure it's on God. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume, where thieves break in and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consumes, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the air.

They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying we shouldn't touch money.

We have to touch money. We have to handle money. And it's extremely important to the Father how we handle money.

If you have not been found faithful in the unrighteous manner, who will entrust to you the true riches? The sign of the way we are, our responsibility, our faithfulness to God is what we do with money. But when money begins to get us, when we begin to really put our confidence there, and who of us can deny that that happens? I mean, it happens to us all. When this begins to happen, then we have to start cutting.

And this is what the Lord is getting at. Watch it. Watch it.

Get rid of it. Push it away. Do whatever you have to do, but make sure your faith is on the Father.

Lord, help us. Finally, for the light of God to shine forth, what we need to do is clear a path so that God's mercy can run out of us. It's in here.

It has to flow out. And so the entire seventh chapter of Matthew is on just that. What we have to do is, first of all, have mercy thoughts.

And then there have to be mercy deeds. And then the light becomes visible. How in the world can the light of God shine forth from us when we're walking around, as we so often are, critical, hard, judgy, especially us believers? You know, we're measuring everybody.

We're suspicious. We're paranoid. And so Jesus says, Judge not that you be not judged.

For with what judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And the measure you give will be the measure you get back. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite.

First take the log out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. And the log that has to come out is this critical spirit.

It has to go. There can't be a flow of light coming forth from us until we repent of this. And if we have to repent of it 50 times a day, let's do it.

Mercy thoughts. And finally, mercy deeds. The remainder of the 7th chapter of Matthew is on deeds, deeds, deeds.

Starting out with the false prophets. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but are inwardly ravenous wolves. You'll know them by their proofs, their deeds.

They have a great message. Does the light match the message? If you're watching or listening to a man or woman who has all kinds of spiritual truth, but whose deeds don't match up, you are watching and listening to a false prophet. And while on the one hand we're told not to judge, we are also told very carefully by Jesus to beware.

Then it comes down to us, of course. Not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father which is in heaven. On that day many will come to me and say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you evildoers. But what about these things we did? Weren't they good? If they lack the spirit of mercy, and if they are not involved in a life that is mercy, they are not good. And they are not motivated by the spirit of the living God or the Lord.

I was hungry, you gave me no food. Thirsty, you gave me no drink. I was a stranger, you didn't welcome me.

Naked, you didn't clothe me. I was sick, you didn't visit me. I was in prison, you didn't come to me.

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall because it was founded on the rock. Deeds of mercy.

So we have to decide whether we're going to settle down into a comfortable, safe, boring, Christian lifestyle, American evangelical lifestyle, or whether we're going to submit ourselves into the hands of Jesus, take off the bushel, and shine. This is a prophecy, and it's aimed at the body of Christ all over the earth, February 26th, 1984. Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth. Thick darkness, the people, it's happening now. But the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising, if you take off the bushel and shine. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven. All right, let's take some time in silence and let the Lord speak to our hearts.