Thank you, Pastor Fitman. It is a great blessing to be here. You get introduced in a lot of ways. Recently, Dr. Jim Shetler was preaching at a youth conference, and so he asked me to bring a pair of my shoes and Virginia's shoes. He was going to use them as an illustration that he's not going to be here much longer. Okay, so somebody's got to fill his shoes, okay? And after the conference was over, I called Jim and said, hey, we're still using those shoes, we need them. And he said, I don't know where they are, Brother Sid. And I said, you'd better find them or you owe me some money, okay? I was in Dallas several years ago, and the theme of the conference was running the race, okay? And the pastor, when he introduced me, he made the statement, now, Brother Sisk has run his race. And I looked around and thought, if I have, I'm dead already, okay? So you haven't run the race yet. But it has been a great blessing to represent the Lord for a long, long time. And Thanksgiving night of 1954, that's a long time ago, okay? That's the night that I went forward and said to my pastor, Brother W.E. Jones, I know God has called me to preach. And Brother Jones, after he told the congregation about it and so forth, and talked to me for a while, and he prayed with me. And then he said, okay, since God's called you to preach, you can preach next Wednesday night at the prayer meeting, okay? I hadn't planned to preach that long, and I'm grateful they did not have tape recorders back in those days, okay? Because I don't have any idea what I would have said. So in reality, I have I've been preaching for a little bit over 60 years, and we were approved as missionaries to Japan with Baptist International Missions. Of course, we were sent out from our church, Calvary Baptist Church in Harvey, Illinois, but we were approved as missionaries in June of 1964. So last year, my wife and I, We got our, I think I've still got it, our 50 year pin as being missionaries with the IMI. So we've been at it a long time, but it does not matter how long you've been at something, you desperately need the prayers of God's people. And I do not know how many people already tonight has said to me, Brother Sisk, we're praying for you and Mrs. Sisk. And you will never know how much that means to me, okay? I really, when I get here to Temple Baptist Church, I just sort of feel like I'm at home, okay? And you say, well, you ought to after all of these years, okay. But you pray for me tonight and not only tonight but every night. And of course, we did do a red eye last night from California, caught the plane at 11.15 in Los Angeles and arrived here at 9.10. But fortunately, we got some sleep today. Otherwise, I might have been like the preacher that dreamed he was preaching, and he woke up, and he was, okay? So you pray that that don't happen tonight, okay? But what a joy to see the way God has used your church in the matter of world evangelization. When I saw the theme of the conference, and Brother Brandon sent that to me a few days ago, I began to look at that passage in Matthew chapter five, and you can be turning your Bibles there if you would. And so the Lord laid on my heart a message and I've been working on it. So you pray for the message tonight. Matthew chapter five, And we're going to begin reading in verse 14. Matthew chapter 5 and I'll begin reading in verse 14. Since you have been seated for a while and I have to stand up for a long time, let's all stand to honor God's Word tonight, okay? Matthew chapter 5, beginning with verse 14. Before we look at that, look if you would at verse 1. And here is where we get the name of the message that is being preached. Matthew 5, 6, and 7, we call the Sermon on the Mount, okay? And now the reason we call it that is in verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying." So in reality, Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount is training his disciples. He's preparing his disciples for the time when he will leave this earth and he will no longer be with them bodily but preparing them to do the very work that he has for them to do. And then in verse 14, he makes this statement. Ye are the light of the earth. I'm sorry, let me read it again, okay? Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Let's pray together. Dear Lord, I thank you for the wonderful passage that we have tonight. The fact that you have plainly said to each of us as disciples, ye are the light of the world. Now, Lord, I pray that you will help us to leave here with a better knowledge of what you are and what we are and how we can better serve you and how we can get this wonderful light to the whole world. That's what the mission conference is all about. So I pray you're blessed tonight. And dear Lord, as always, we'll be very, very careful when it's all over and whatever you do to give you all the glory, that's the purpose of it all. We ask this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and for his glory, amen. You may be seated. In Isaiah chapter 60, we have the statement here. Arise, shine, for the light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. God speaking to his people. Arise and shine, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. And then he makes this statement. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness, the people. So when we read the prophecies, it should not really surprise us that we are living in a dark world. The world is dark if you have turned on the television, if you have listened to the radio, if you have read the newspaper, if you've been on your iPad, your iPod, your iPhone, or your eye, anything else, you have seen over and over and over again all of the horrible things that are happening around the world. The Bible put it like this, darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people. We see racial tension. We see domestic violence. We see moral depravity. We see judicial injustices. We see natural calamities. You think about over 4,000 people have died in recent days in the earthquake in Nepal, the rights in Baltimore. And every time you pick up the newspaper, every time you turn your computer on, it is there before us. It is a dark, dark world. The sad thing about that is we spend a lot of time talking about the darkness. We spend a lot of time criticizing the darkness. But talking about the darkness and criticizing the darkness will do absolutely nothing. It will have no effect whatsoever on darkness. Can you imagine someone going into a dark room cursing the darkness, taking a broom, trying to beat the darkness out of the room. It would have no effect on the darkness whatsoever. But there is a simple solution to darkness. And that is to turn on the light. And darkness is no match for the light. for the light would dispel the darkness. So with that in mind, that the fact that we live in a dark world, then let's look at the words of our Lord to us as disciples. And by the way, this is as much for us that are here at this church tonight as it was for those early disciples when he was speaking to them on that mountain. Ye are the light of the world. So the first thing we look at is the light deposited. The light deposited. In John chapter eight and verse 12, we read these words. Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. I shall never forget many, many years ago, hearing a tape recorded message of Jesus, the light of the world by Japanese evangelist by the name of Honda Sensei. We had been visiting the home of a Shinto priest. And he was very reluctant to even speak to me, to have anything to do with me. His daughter had been saved. He was the Tindiko form of Shintoism, very, very anti-American, very anti-Christian. But little by little, we got acquainted and so forth. And miracle of miracles, He allowed me to bring the tape recorder in to his home and play the message by Honda Sensei, Jesus, the light of the world. By the way, I didn't carry my tape recorder in my shirt pocket. In 1966, tape recorders were about the size of this, okay? Real to real, okay? And so we wagged the tape recorder up to the little apartment where they lived in the big apartment complex. And I sat there and watched as this Shinto priest and his wife listened to the message of Jesus, the light of the world. And he sort of tried to act like he wasn't paying any attention and didn't matter anything to him. But a few weeks later, they began to attend Sydney, Newtown Baptist Church. And they attended for about a month, maybe six weeks every Sunday morning. And then thank God one Sunday morning, Mr. and Mrs. Yamashita walked down the aisle and said to me, we will take your Jesus as our savior. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. John 9, 5, Jesus made this statement. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Look at that again. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. But in our lesson tonight, in our passage tonight, Jesus is training his disciples for the time when he will no longer bodily be in the world. And so now he's saying to them, you are the light of the world. I will no longer be here bodily, but you are the light of the world. Many years ago, I was preaching through the book of Colossians, and I found this statement, and you've heard it perhaps many, many times, and I've used this statement in one way so many ways, but during that particular study, I saw something I'd never seen before. Listen to it, just one verse, okay? Colossians 1.27. to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles. Now here it is, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And Brother Fittman, I had time after time after time read this passage, preaching, make this statement. The only hope that you have of heaven is the fact that Christ is in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. But listen to it again. What is the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles? Gentiles are people that don't know Jesus. which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now think about it. You and you and you and you, you are the light of the world. And the only hope that a lost and dying world has of coming to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and being able to escape hell and make heaven their home is Christ in you. In other words, somebody must tell them the glorious news. The light deposited in the believers. In 2 Corinthians 4, verses three through six, it is very plainly stated here that in reality, all that we could possibly hope for as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ is that the glory of God would shine through us. And in reality, we are not lights, but we are reflector of the light. Jesus is the light, amen. And like the moon reflects the light of the sun, we as believers reflect the light of Jesus Christ. Listen to the passage. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the mind of them which believe not. lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine into them. And I love this next verse. For we preach not ourself, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourself, your servant, for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. No wonder Paul said, Christ in you, the hope of glory. No wonder Paul would say, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In other words, Paul said, the only way that I can be a blessing to anybody is that they will see Christ in me. And that's the reason he could say, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The light deposited, he has put his life in our heart. Isn't it a wonderful thing? When somebody trusts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, Jesus takes his abode in that person. The light deposited. Then notice the light despised. The light despised. We would wish that everyone would love light, but they don't, okay? John 3, 19 tells us very plainly. This is the condemnation that light is coming to the world. And men love darkness rather than light. And by the way, there's only one reason that men would love darkness rather than light. And that is because their deeds are evil. And by the way, light reveals that. And so much of the world lies in darkness tonight. And we would hope that they would be saying, oh, bring the light to us. And while that might be true in a few cases, that is not the case in most places. Men love darkness because their deeds are evil. And how many times? Have we tried to tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ and press upon them the need to trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, but because of something in their life, something in their heart, they totally reject that. You remember the demon-possessed man, when Jesus came near, oh, why, why persecute me? Why are you coming? In other words, everything that they possibly could to keep themselves from the light. Many years ago, I heard this statement. They will not come, they must be brought. They will not learn, They must be taught. They will not seek. They must be sought. You see, most of the world that lies in darkness, and by the way, you don't have to go to Africa. You don't have to go to China. You don't have to go to Japan. All you have to do is stand right here in Drainsville, right here in the Washington, D.C. area, right in our United States of America. Much of America lies in total darkness and they don't want anything else. Light, despise. There was a man by the name of Felix, governor, He heard the testimony of the Apostle Paul. He heard his trial. And by the way, like the trials of Jesus Christ, the trials of the Apostle Paul were very, very unjust trials. And after hearing and deep down in his heart, knowing that what Paul was saying was right and that he needed to do something, Felix made a statement like this. And as Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. And by the way, we need to be doing that today, do we not? Preaching righteousness, preaching temperance, and preaching the fact that judgment is to come. And what was the reaction of Felix? And Felix trembled. He trembled. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if he would have trembled and fallen on his knees. I laughed at pastor and now I'm messing up. Okay. I won't do that again, preacher. God damn it. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if he had fallen on his knees and confessed his sin and trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? But he didn't do that. What'd he do? Go thy way for now. When I have convenient season, I'll call for you. I'll never forget in our early days in Japan, a young man by the name of Ozumi committed his life to be a preacher. And he was a very, very well-learned artist. His parents had sent him to France to study art. They'd invested a lot of money in him for him to be an artist. But after he got saved, began to read the Bible, began to pray, and began to go sowing, all he wanted to do was read the Bible and pray, and he committed his life to be a preacher. And as was the case with many of those that committed their lives to be a preacher, as soon as that happened, their parents became... violently opposed to what they were going to do. And I thought, well, I'll go to his home and maybe I can talk to his parents. And I'll never forget the day visiting his home. I got into, it was a beautiful home. The family was well off. And the father had on a yukata. It was evening time and we had tea together and he was a very pleasant man. And I thought, this is going to be wonderful. And then all of a sudden his mother came down the stairs and it was a different story altogether. She had the Bible in her hand. She began to tear the Bible into pieces. And she said to me, why did you come here? We had no problem until you came. Why don't you go back to America? We don't need you. Much of the world that lies in darkness tonight They desperately need the light, but they don't know it. And by the way, even though they don't know it, our responsibility is to shine as lights among them. By the way, it is not our job to get everybody in the world saved. But it is our job to get the gospel to every man, woman, boy, and girl on the face of the earth. And while they may not want it, and while many of them may reject it, God is glorified when the gospel is preached. The light despised. Then look at the light demanded. The light demanded. Jesus said to his disciples, Ye are the light of the world. Now, look what he's saying. He didn't say you ought to be the light of the world. No, no, no. He said you are the light of the world. In other words, Every believer is a light. Every believer is a light. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20 makes this statement. What know you not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own. For you are bought with the price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." Listen to what Jesus said. Ye are the light of the world. And I believe from the depth of my heart Every born-again child of God ought to burn brightly at home. Many of you have lost loved ones. And by the way, we should do the very best we can to be all that we can to show them Jesus Christ. Christ in you, their hope of glory. We live in neighborhoods and we ought to be the best neighbors that we possibly can. And we ought to show to our neighborhood, the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, we ought to let our light shine. And by the way, aren't you glad he didn't say, make your light shine. It is not our job to make the light shine. All that we can do is to be clear, be sure that we are clean vessels so Jesus can shine brightly through us. The light demanding. Be a light to your neighbor, be a night to your family, be a light to your state, be a light to the nation we live in. But it's far bigger than that. And Jesus is saying very plainly, ye are the light of the world. The world lies in darkness. They desperately need what we have. They don't desperately need us. but they desperately need what we have, the Lord Jesus Christ. You're the light of the world. You remember the intercessory prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17? When he said, Father, I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them in from the world. For even as you have sent me into the world, so have I sent them into the world. Think about that one. Even as you have sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world. Was it necessary that Jesus come into the world and suffer and bleed and die so sinners could be saved? Absolutely necessary. And it is just as necessary that you and I go. The demand. Look at it again, verse 14. You're the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be lit. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it'd give us light unto all that are in the house. And here Jesus is saying, here's the positive side. You're the light of the world. Now here's the negative side. Don't put it under a bushel. Don't put it under a vessel of some kind. In other words, don't stuff the light out. Don't let it be in a place where it cannot be seen. The purpose of light is to help others. And if it's under a bushel and nobody can see it, it can be a help to no one. So we ought to be very careful to do everything that we can to so live for the glory of God that we'll be a light to the world. Most of you will have no idea what I'm talking about. But we did not have electricity in our house in Kentucky until I was a sophomore or junior in high school. I don't remember exactly when. And so back in those days, rather than have electric lights and so on and so forth, we had kerosene lamps. I hate to ask this, but let me ask anyway. How many of you know what a kerosene lamp is? Okay. A lot of you don't. I understand. It's okay. You know, you have the lamp, you have the wick, you have the kerosene in the bowl, and then you have a globe that you put down over the wick. And the globe would have a tendency when the wick would be particularly burning low and so forth to be studded up. And the first thing you know, you wouldn't have much light. I mean, the light would be the same, but it couldn't be seen because the globe was dirty, dingy, and so forth. And you and I should do the very best we can to stay close to the Lord and just keep a short account of sins, okay? If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourself and the truth is not in, but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And tonight I might ask the question, What bushel, what vessel is it that is keeping you from being the light that you ought to be? It may be the vessel of apathy. Sad to say, but many people hear about the fact that there's 7.3 billion people on the face of the earth and that two thirds of them have never one time heard the gospel message and it means nothing to them. Is it nothing to you, O ye that pass by? The writer of Lamentation wrote. And then the psalmist cries out, No man cared for my soul. Maybe it's the vessel of apathy. Maybe it's the vessel of selfishness. And I often think, so many times, How blessed we are in America. God has given us so much. But if we're not careful, we'll get the idea that God has given all of these blessings to us because he loves us more than he does any other people. And my dear friend, nothing could be farther from the truth. And I believe from the depth of my heart, and it runs all through the Bible, God blesses us that we might be a blessing to others. It might be the vessel of materialism that we get so involved with things that we have no time and no money to give so the world can be evangelized. It's sort of like one person said, Americans are strange people. They spend money they don't have. to buy things that they don't need in order to impress people that they don't like. Kind of dumb, amen? But if we're not careful, we'll find that's the very situation that so many of us. I'm not sure about you, but I have to guard my own heart and I have to check up on my own self every once in a while. and be sure that my light is not under a bushel, not being hid by some apathy, some indifference, some unconcern, some selfishness, some materialistic motives, and so forth. The light demanded. Then let me close on a positive note. The light demonstrated The light demonstrated. I don't have to go far, okay? Right here tonight, we see a perfect example of a light being demonstrated. Several years ago, something like 30 years ago now, something like that, I guess. Pastor will have to help me out on it. But Pastor Ms. Pittman came. to Temple Baptist Church. I asked him coming in, how many people are here that were here when you came pastor? And I think he said maybe two or three families, something of that nature. Why the rest of you here? Ah, we just decided we needed a real good church and so, no. Somebody was a light. These folks were a light. And then some people got saved and they became light. And some more people got saved and they became lights. And some more people got saved and they became lights. And perhaps when you build that new building in a few months, you know, hundreds and thousands more will become lights and others will become lights. The light demonstrated. Few years in Uganda, there were hardly any lights at all. Then maybe 20, 25 years ago, some missionaries got the idea they ought to go to Uganda. The horrible dictator was no longer there and the country was opened up to the gospel. And so missionaries began to go to Uganda. And many of you have been there. And dotted throughout Uganda now, there are church after church after church, village after village after village, city after city after city. There are radio stations, there are orphanages, there are training institutions, and God is being glorified because somebody, somebody took the vessel off of their light and said, in essence, I will shine where God wants me to shine. 1970, I went to the Philippines for the first time. It was during the time when one country after another was becoming a communist country. And missionary after missionary said to me, Brother C.S., if we're able to stay in the Philippines for another year, we'll be fortunate. That was 1970. God kept that door open. By the way, God opens doors and God closes doors. Amen. We may not understand it, but God is sovereign even in open and closed doors. And in reality, there is no closed door. One way or another, we can get in. Amen. But the missionaries stayed. and all over the Philippines today. Now listen, it's not exaggerating. Not tens, not hundreds, but literally thousands of Bible-believing churches have been established and literally hundreds of thousands of people have been saved. Because somebody, somebody said, I'll take the vessel off of my light, and I'll become a light." And they begin to preach, and souls begin to be saved, and Christians begin to be trained. And by the way, not only are they a light in the Philippines, but they're sending missionaries all over the world. It's hard to go to places now where the Philippine churches are not sending missionaries. The light demonstrated. Virginia and I went to Japan in 1965. Hardly any churches, and sad to say there's not thousands of churches in Japan now, but thank God there's 40, 50 churches that are there that are preaching the gospel because some missionaries went. And by the way, none of them had enough money to go on their own. I've often thought, Brother Pittman, Virginia and I could not have gotten out of Cook County, Illinois on our own money. We had no money. The only way we could go to Japan and be the light there that God wanted us to be, some people in America had to be a light and give and pray so we could go. I tell you, the longer I'm in it, and I think of the Ukraine we saw tonight. Brother Van Sant, was it right? Six churches now established. And eventually those churches will establish churches and so forth. The light demonstrated. Think about it in closing tonight. And by the way, I could go on with another hundred illustrations about places, okay? And you're glad I'm not going to, okay? I mean, you know, you could just go on and on and on and on and on. And when I think about all this, all I can think about, thank God it's working. Huh? It's worthwhile. It doesn't matter what the cost is. It's worthwhile. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. And that's the purpose of all of missions. Oh, souls saved. That's a wonderful thing. But even above that is the fact that God is glorified. God is glorified. What happened in all these places? Someone heard the call of God. Some churches prayed and gave so they could go. And tonight, God is being glorified in these thousands and other places. Thank God. Biblical missions still work. And aren't you and I thrilled that God has allowed us to have a part in it? Now, let's get our minds straight, okay? When we start talking about coming to church, it's not a matter of having to come to mission conference. When we start talking about praying for missionaries, it's not a matter of having to pray for missionaries. And when we start talking about giving so the missionaries can go, it's not a matter of having to do that. And when we start talking about God's call on your life, and it's not a matter of you have to go to the mission field, And we need to reprogram our thinking and just think of this wonderful verse. We are labors together with who? Once again, we are labors together with God. Think about it again, say it again. We are labors together with God. Is that wonderful or not? Hey, it's wonderful we get to work together with one another, okay? And I love that part of it, okay? But even far above that is it. We are laborers together with God, and God is saying to every one of us tonight, hey, I'm doing some big thing, and I'll let you get involved in it. Now, trust me, in the mission conference, you will decide by the grace of God. since I am the light of the world and you are." I mean, Jesus is not talking to supermen here. No, He's just talking to sinners saved by grace just like you and I, okay? And He's saying, you are the light of the world. Now, let your light so shine that men may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. What are you doing? What are you doing to bring glory to God? It's bow our heads for prayer. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. The pastor is going to come and lead us in prayer and then he'll close the service as God directs him. Lord, tonight I pray that you would cause us to catch a glimpse of working with you. Lord, what a privilege, and I know that, Lord, many times we don't think we can do much, but Lord, we can pray, we can give, we can sacrificially give. Lord, we can go, we can pray that you call our children to go, we can pray that you call us to go. Lord, of all the thousands of churches that are around, on the mission field, yet two thirds of the world still has not heard your name and your story even once. Lord, I do rejoice for all the people saved and all the churches planted, but Lord, could you call some more of us? Lord Jesus, would you soften our hearts tonight? Lord, help us to go without some things to give a little more. Lord, help our young people to say, Lord, what do you want me to do? Help our young couples that have already prepared for life, maybe to say, Lord, what do you want me to do? And Lord, maybe some older folks that say, you know, I'm about ready to retire, but Lord, what do you want me to do? Father, all of us have a light. Protect us from putting a bushel over it. Help us to let it shine. Speak to hearts tonight. In your name I pray, amen.