DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: When Jesus was upon the earth, He said of Himself, "I am the light of the world." Now, I desire to-day to illustrate to you something of the truth which Jesus had in mind when He uttered these words.
The Sun and Moon.
We are told in the Bible, that when God created the world, on the fourth day He created the sun and the moon to give light upon the earth, the sun to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night.
I suppose you all know that the earth is round, and that while the sun is shining on our side of the earth, and making it day here, on the other side of the earth it is night and is all dark. Now, I want to tell you that the sun is the source of all light upon the earth. The sun shines and dispels the darkness, and makes it light. And do you know that the moon does not shine by its own light, but it simply throws back again, as we say, reflects, the light of the sun, just the same as when a boy takes a small piece or looking-glass and throws the light across the street? There is no light in the looking-glass itself, but it simply takes the rays of light which fall upon it from the sun and bends them, or turns them, so that the boy can throw the rays of light across the street, or upon anything that he desires that is in range of him. So the light of the sun falls upon the moon, and is turned again or reflected back upon the earth. God has so placed the moon in the heavens that it reflects the light of the sun upon those portions of the earth which are in darkness. Or, in other words, as He says in the Bible, the moon has been "made to rule the night." So you see that even the moon does not shine by its own light.
Jesus Christ is the Sun of Righteousness. All the good there is in the world, all the righteousness, all that is holy and pure, come from Jesus Christ. The Church is also a source of purity, of holiness, of religion, and of Christianity. But the church does not shine of itself. It does not have these influences within itself. All its light is derived from the Sun of Righteousness. All influences which tend for goodness and holiness and purity are derived from the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of all that is good, and only in so far as the Church reflects the life of Jesus, and the truth which is revealed in His Word, and in the teachings of Jesus, does it become the source of saving power in the world.
Candle, Coal and Wood.
Now, here I have a piece of coal, and a piece of wood, and a candle, and a piece of carbon from an electric light. You might ask me whether the light that comes from the coal when it burns, or the wood when it burns, and the candle when it is lighted, and the electric light when it illuminates the street so brightly, whether they are not shining by their own light? No; they are not shining by their own light. All the light that there is in the wood, or in the coal, or in the candle, or in anything else that makes a light at all, derives its source and origin from the sun. The light that comes from the burning of this wood is simply the releasing of the light that has been accumulated from the rays of light shining from the sun upon the tree while it was growing, year after year, in the field or forest. And now, when it is burning, it simply releases or throws out that light which it received from the sun, and which was stored up in the wood of the tree while it was growing.
This coal is simply a portion of a tree which grew many, many hundreds or thousands of years ago, and which, in some great convulsion of nature, was buried deep under the surface of the earth in what we now call coal mines. The coal has undergone some chemical changes, but, nevertheless, all the light there is in the coal is simply that buried sunshine, which was stored up centuries and centuries ago, in the form of vegetables and trees. Now, when it burns in the grate or in the furnace it simply releases that heat and warmth and light, which was stored up in these trees many, many centuries ago. It is simply buried sunshine which God has stored up for our use. The same is true of the light of the candle; if it were not for the light of the sun there would be no light giving power in any oil or tallow, or in this carbon, which is used in the electric light; they all derive their light from the sun itself.