Believers—Lights in the World

Spurgeon opens by insisting that the gospel's moral standards have never been softened for easier times — if anything, he argues, Paul's first converts came fresh from the filth of paganism and were still called to the highest holiness, which makes the excuse of "a different age" entirely unacceptable — and he works through the text's requirements one by one: doing all things without murmuring (against providence, against fellow believers, against even the ungodly world), without disputing (illustrated by Calvin's gracious refusal to retaliate against Luther's insults), blamelessly (compelling even enemies to lie before they can rebuke you, as they were forced to do with Daniel), and harmlessly (like a creature without fangs or poison, carrying only the sword of the Spirit). He then dwells at length on what it means for believers to shine as lights in the world — arguing that this requires a genuine degree of public commitment: baptism and open confession of faith, constant association with the visible church, daily living that makes surrounding people more Christlike simply by proximity, open verbal testimony, and bold decision in the crisis moments when silence is cowardice — while carefully distinguishing this from Pharisaical display, insisting the greatest Christians give so much light that observers look through them at the Truth rather than at them. He closes with a personal and pastoral appeal — since many in the congregation were themselves converted through his preaching, their idleness or unholy living would make his entire ministry a failure in the day of Christ's accounting — and ends with a practical report of the explosive growth of gospel work from London outward into surrounding villages, appealing for support for a new chapel at Wandsworth and urging every believer to remember that light hoarded breeds corruption, while light freely given multiplies without limit.A sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on September 28, 1862.