In Jason Dohm's sermon 'All That Glitters Is Not Gold, Part II' based on Luke 8:16-18, he elaborates on the teachings of Jesus about true spiritual understanding and the importance of living out the Word of God. Dohm emphasizes the parable of the sower, illustrating how different receptions of the Word lead to different outcomes, and highlights the metaphor of being a lighted lamp that should not be hidden. He discusses the necessity of bearing fruit as evidence of true faith, connecting it to Jesus' teachings in Matthew 5 about believers being the light of the world. The sermon warns against superficial faith, urging listeners to genuinely embrace and act upon the gospel. Dohm also touches on the concept of 'judicial hardening,' where persistent rejection of truth leads to spiritual blindness. Ultimately, the sermon calls believers to be active doers of the Word, using their spiritual knowledge for God's glory, and warns of the dangers of pretending faith or ignoring the gospel message.

The title of the message this morning is All That Glitters Is Not Gold, part two. So almost never do that. We don't do multi-part sermons. But the three verses this week, verses 16 through 18, are so closely tied to verses 4 through 15, the parable of the soils or the parable of the sower, however you like to think of it, that I wanted to keep it connected by really giving it the same title and just calling it part two. Last week when I introduced that title, All That Glitters is Not Gold, I said that that's just a common expression which simply means that not everything is what it appears on the surface to be.

If you live very long in this life you'll find that out. Not everything in this world is what it appears on the surface to be. If you live very long in this life you'll find that out. Not everything in this world is what it appears on the surface to be. It seems like it's one thing, but over time you find out it's something very, very different.

Jesus is teaching that in the parable of the sower or the parable of the soils. This week's three verses is a continuation of that. If you understand our three verses in light of that, I think the meaning of these three verses gets really clear really fast. But if you isolate them, if you just take verses 16, 17, and 18 and divorce it from this parable that Jesus taught. You get all sorts of interesting interpretations that I don't think are what Jesus was teaching at all.

By the way, I think next week's text is a continuation of the continuation, So maybe I'll call it All That Glitters Is Not Gold, part three, we'll see. But at the end of next week's text, Jesus will say, my mother and my brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it. So this starts in the parable, the Word of God being dispersed on different kinds of people and resulting in very different kinds of things. Only some are those who hear and also do. And then this week's text and next week's text.

That will be true of what Jesus says of his physiological family and his disciples. He says those who hear the Word of God and do the Word of God are actually his relatives in a more fundamental way than even his blood relatives. Isn't that amazing? So let's ask God to help us. Father, I thank you for teaching us these things.

These things help us make sense of the world. There are things that I've seen in this life that only make sense seeing them through the things that you're teaching us in this parable and these verses that come after. So thank you for wisdom from heaven. I pray that you would press these things on our hearts and that we would never forget them. That we would be helped and built up by them.

I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We only have three verses, so we'll just take them one at a time. Hopefully your Bibles are still open to Luke chapter 8, assuming they are, please follow along as I reread Luke chapter 8 verse 16. Jesus continues right on following on the heels of this parable.

No one when he has lit a lamp covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed but sets it on a lamp stand that those who enter may see the light. Here in verse 16, Jesus speaks of the purpose of lighting a lamp. Why do you light a lamp? You light a lamp so that people can see. When you light a lamp, you elevate it.

You put it up high to get the most advantage from the light of the lamp. You put it on a lamp stand so that people can see. That's the whole reason you light it. Jesus is drawing on what we know from everyday life to teach something important. So last week we had a parable and in that sense we have a parable this week too.

You know all about walking into a room and turning on a light. Why do you do that? Jesus is drawing on your knowledge of that to teach something that's important. No one lights a lamp and then covers it up or puts it out of sight. If you're going to do that, if you're going to light it and then cover it up or put it out of a site, there's no point in lighting the lamp.

Why would you even bother? That's the whole purpose of lighting the lamp is so that you can elevate it so that people can use the light of the lamp. Jesus takes this consideration of someone who would light a lamp and then cover it, put it under a container, or put it under the couch, and He says, no one does that. Nobody does that. Now what is Jesus actually teaching?

He's clearly not talking about the lighting of a physical lamp in a physical room and the physical light that comes from that and the seeing that comes from the light. He's clearly not talking about the literal things. Well, then what is he teaching? Well, let's see this through the lens of the parable of the sower, the parable that we studied last week. What is the purpose of the sower?

So a sower goes out to sow. He has all this seed and he's spreading seed. Why is he doing that? What's his purpose? The purpose is fruit.

Look back at verse 15, But the ones, the seed that fell on the good ground are those who having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with the patience. They bear fruit with patience. The first time through the parable he said they bear fruit a hundredfold. There's a hundred time harvest from the seed that was planted. That's what the sower always had in mind.

That's why he went out with the seed and spread it. He had a view to the harvest. He was looking forward to fruitfulness, a harvest of fruit. That's always what the sower was aiming at. The sower is spreading the Word of God so that there will be a harvest of fruit for God's kingdom.

Let's confirm that this is what Jesus is actually teaching here. Jesus uses almost exactly the same words, but there's more added to it in Matthew chapter 5. So turn to Matthew chapter 5. I'm almost positive this is on a very different occasion, so it's not just the same sermon one once reported in Matthew and another time reported in Luke. I think these are different sermons and in ways he's teaching different things, but in Matthew chapter 5 he uses almost the same words as we have in Luke 8-16, but there's more around it which throws light on what he's getting at here.

Look at Matthew chapter 5 verses 14 through 16. Very familiar verses. Matthew chapter 5 verses 14 through 16. Jesus says, you, believers, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house." See these are almost the same words.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." So this is a fuller teaching but also using the same words. The purpose of receiving the light is then to be light. Why is God giving you light? To make you light. He's giving the world light by giving you light and making you light.

Jesus is the light of the world. Yes, Jesus is the light of the world and He makes those who believe in Him then to be the light of the world. He says to them in this text, you are the light of the world. Don't be hidden, not for a day, not for an hour. A city on a hill is...you can't hide it and we should never put our light under a basket or under a bed.

The light that we've been given shouldn't be hidden for a day or an hour. He says, let your light so shine before men that they, everybody else in the world, others, onlookers, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." So the end of all this is that God would be honored, that people would see this transformation, this fruit bearing, this light in your life, and they would glorify your Father in heaven. It is a call to receive the implanted Word and bear fruit to the glory of God." So the Word is being spread. Receive it. Let it be planted in you and bear fruit to the glory of God.

Let your light so shine that others see it and glorify your Father in heaven." That's what being the light of the world is. That's what it means. That's what being a fruit-bearing plant is. You can see the relationship between these two things. It's really saying the same thing in different ways.

Listen to James chapter 1 verses 21 and 22. You can race there if you want to, but I might be done by the time you race there. So you can just listen to James chapter 1 verses 21 and 22. James says this, Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves." So James is giving us a plea that these gospel truths, this saving gospel, it's like, let it be planted in you.

Receive the implanted Word which is able to save your soul. If you receive this Word, your soul will be saved by it, but then he ends with a warning, but be doers of the Word and not just hearers only. Then he'll go on to talk about living faith and dead faith. That just saying the words without any transforming effect is a dead kind of faith, not a saving kind of faith at all. So he's warning against a counterfeit version that might look real, seem real, but actually it is really just self-deception.

He says, be a doer of the Word, not just a hearer of it deceiving yourselves. If you just hear it, but it never changes anything in your life, you've just been self-deceived to think that this is the work of God in your life. What's James teaching? This is a transforming word. So the people who have actually received it and it has really been implanted bear fruit.

They don't just hear, they also then do. So there's the hearing first, the saving of the soul, but when a soul has been saved that always results in a transformed life. As fast as we want, no. As complete as we want, no. But it always results in a transformed life.

So that is a lamp on a lamp stand. It receives light and then it gives light for all to see. J.C. Ryle says this, we learn firstly from these verses that spiritual knowledge ought to be diligently used. Yes, that's what Jesus is teaching.

He says, don't put a lamp under a basket. Spiritual knowledge ought to be diligently used. He continues, our Lord tells us that it is like a lighted candle utterly useless when covered with a bushel or put under a bed. Only useful when set upon a candlestick and placed where it can be made serviceable to the wants of men." Yes, that's exactly what Jesus is teaching in this verse. When we are given spiritual light, it comes with an expectation that we put it to use.

If spiritual light has come to you through various means, this is one of the means, a Sunday sermon preached on a Sunday, if it's faithful to the Bible, spiritual light being given to you. But there are many other means of the Word of God being spread, but when it has been spread to you, it comes with an expectation that we put it to use. That's what Jesus is saying. Back to Luke, verse 17. Back to Luke chapter 8, now verse 17.

Follow along as I reread it. Jesus continues, For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. In this verse, Jesus teaches the impossibility of pretending forever. Jesus is telling us it is impossible to pretend forever. Jesus says that there are secret things, but they will be revealed.

Jesus teaches us that there are hidden things. There are hidden things, but they will be known and come to light. What is translated come to light in the Greek lexicon literally means come to be plainly recognized. These things that were hidden will come in time to be plainly recognized. I don't particularly like the translation, come to light, not because it's wrong in concept, that's the right concept, but light is not the word there.

When you translate it light, it has you trying to link it back in some way to the previous verse. Linguistically, that's not what Jesus is doing. It just simply means these things that were hidden will come to be plainly recognized. It will be obvious to everyone. In the end, it'll be obvious to everyone.

What is Jesus teaching? How does this fit into the immediate context of the parable of the soils? Again, I'm trying to tie everything back to last week's parable. Think of the four soils. The first soil, The seed of the Word of God falls by the wayside and then the devil comes and steals it away before anything happens with it.

The person simply doesn't understand and there is no impact. The person is not moved at all. It's as if they never heard it at all. The devil comes and steals it away. But the second soil, the rocky ground, the person actually receives the Word of God with joy.

This is what I've been waiting to hear. Hooray for the Word of God." It's what Jesus says. Receives the Word of God with joy. They believe for a while, but in time, temptation will cause them to wither away. But that isn't immediate.

The immediate effect is receiving the Word of God with joy and believing for a while. But in time the sun will beat down on this plant and they will wither away. The third soil, the seed among thorns, it grows up among these thorns of cares and riches and pleasures of life, and those cares and riches and pleasures of life end up choking out that plant. In time these thorns will choke out that plant. The fourth soil is the good soil and it bears fruit with patience.

It bears fruit over time. It bears fruit and keeps bearing fruit and keeps bearing fruit and keeps bearing fruit, bearing fruit with patience. A hundredfold, a lot of fruit. Understand that for a period of time, for a period of time, soils 2, 3, and 4 look the same. Understand that for there is a period of time where from the outside looking in you can't tell soil two from three, three from four, because they look the same.

Temptations have not yet caused what you see to wither, and The thorns have not yet choked out what you see. The patient's in bearing fruit has not yet been displayed. They all look the same. Understand from the outside you may not be able to tell the difference at all. The truth of the matter is secret, at least from me and you, but it will be revealed.

The truth of the matter is hidden, but it will be known and plainly recognized. It will be. In each case, the soil is the soil. The soil doesn't change, But the truth of what it actually is, is revealed by time and circumstances. You can't see it all at once.

It takes time and it takes the playing out of circumstances for what the soil always was to be revealed. It takes time and circumstances for us to see what God has known all along. So are there secrets? Yes. Are they secrets from God?

Never. They are secrets to us and they will be revealed in time, but God was never fooled by these things. Are there hidden things from us? Are the things hidden from God? Never!

It takes time and circumstances for us to see what God has known all along. Paul in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 5 says this, Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart." So Paul is saying the Lord is coming and when he comes the things that were hidden in darkness will be drug out into the light. Even the counsels of the heart, the inner thoughts, things that were never uttered, never acted upon, but occupied the mind, those things will be brought out and revealed. And The motivations of the heart, why people did the things that they did, will be brought out into the light. So things that looked great were done for the wrong things, and you never knew it, but God always knew it, and now He reveals these hidden things.

Listen to Hebrews chapter 4, verses 11 through 13. In Hebrews 4, the author of Hebrews is warning the people using Israel as an example. Israel which was liberated from the bondage of cruel slavery at the hands of Pharaoh in Egypt, and they were brought out, but many of them were not actually...their souls weren't saved. Their bodies were saved from physical slavery in Egypt, but their souls were never saved. And so the author of Hebrews is saying, don't be like them who the truth wasn't mixed with faith and so it never saved them.

Listen to Hebrews 4 with that as the backdrop. Hebrews 4 verses 11 through 13. Here's the conclusion that the author of Hebrews draws. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

And there is no creature hidden from His sight. There is no creature hidden from His sight." There is no creature hidden from God's sight. "...but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." All things are naked and open to the eyes of God to whom we must give an account. All of us are going to give an account and nothing has ever been in from Him. What a terrifying thought unless you have the blood of Jesus Christ separating you from your sins, paying the debt for your sins.

The author of Hebrews is saying, let the Word of God do its work like a scalpel. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. It divides between soul and spirit, and joints and marrow. It can slice it so thin that these things that are hidden can't be spared from the surgery that the Word of God does in the heart. The seeds in the soils might be indistinguishable to us, I can't tell two from three and three from four, but all things are open and naked before the eyes of God.

There's nowhere to hide. When you're naked, there's nowhere to hide anything. It's all open to view. The author of Hebrews says, this is us before God. When will the secret things be revealed?

When will the hidden things be known and plainly recognized? I think this should be our answer. No later than the final judgment. Jesus is coming back and all the things that were secret and hidden will be brought out into the light. No later than then, But very often these things become plain long before that.

Very often. God has so many ways to bring things that we thought were secret out into the light. He knows about them and he can reveal them at any moment. We should never think we can keep these things secret. I do believe there will be surprises on the day of judgment.

I don't believe there will be too many. I think many things will be made so plain so long before then. Normally, temptations and thorns have done their work long before then and made it plain, no, this plant withers away. This plant cannot withstand heat and drought. This plant cannot live among these thorns that choke it out.

Whether or not a person has truly made use of gospel light is normally evident long before the final judgment. You have gospel light. Whether you actually make use of it will normally be known long before you're dead. There is a counterfeit version. There is a fake version of being a lamp on a lampstand, but it doesn't last.

It isn't the same as good soil bearing abundant fruit with patience. It's not the same thing. It might look like the same thing for a while, but it's not the same thing as good soil bearing abundant fruit with patience. So that is verse 17 and the impossibility of pretending forever, especially children who are here. I just want to speak to you and say there is pretending, but it is impossible to pretend forever.

There are fake versions of every good thing that you find in the Bible. There's a counterfeit version of it, but no one can pretend forever. Verse 18, this final verse. Jesus finishes this section by saying this, Therefore take heed how you hear, for whoever has to him more will be given and whoever does not have even what he seems to have will be taken from him." In this verse we have the implications of what you do with light. The Word of God is light.

What do you do with the Word of God when it comes to you? What do you do with light? There are implications, serious implications to that. Jesus is teaching this in verse 18. Jesus says, Therefore, because of all that was just said, therefore be very careful how you hear.

Because of all that was just said, be very careful with what you do when you're handed light, given light. The principle is this, when God gives you light by giving you the revelation from heaven, the Word of God, if you walk by it, He gives you more. God gives you light, this revelation of truth from heaven in His Word. If you walk by the Word that He's given to you, you get more of it. He gives you more of it.

If you ignore it and refuse to be shaped by it, He takes back even what you were already given. You despised it by ignoring it. You despised it by saying, it's not shaping me. So he says, I'll take that back, thank you very much. Jesus is teaching this here.

Remember last week verse 10, Jesus quotes Isaiah chapter 6 verse 9, seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. How can you see but not see? How can you hear but not understand? You go and you look at Isaiah 6 and you have this concept that I spoke of last week known by theologians as judicial hardening. What is that?

That means if you shut your eyes to truth because you don't want to see it, you don't want to know that truth, it's been brought to you, given to you, but you say, I don't want to see that, I can't see that, and you shut your eyes against the truth, God is just to then make you blind. You don't want to see? Now you can't see. Who will say God is unjust to do that? You shut your eyes against the truth because you don't want to see and you don't want to see and you don't want to see and you stubbornly refuse to see what God has brought to your into your view God says thank you very much I'm taking that back now you can't see you stop up your ears I can't hear that because I don't want to hear that and you stubbornly refuse the truth of God.

God is just to then make you deaf. Now you can't hear. Before you couldn't see, Now you can't see. Before you wouldn't hear, now you can't hear. What a terrifying thought.

I wouldn't see, and I wouldn't see, and I wouldn't see so now I can't see. It's God's righteous judgment against my stubborn rejection of the truth that He gave to me. Judicial hardening. This is just restating that. In Matthew 25 Jesus teaches another parable.

It's known as the parable of the talents. That naming is easily misunderstood because we think of a talent like, I'm good at science. I'm a talented scientist, so I should use my God-given giftings as a person who's good at science for His glory. That is an application of this, but that's not what's being referred to there. A talent actually is a measure of weight of something precious.

So for silver in the New Testament, a talent of silver was about a hundred pounds of silver. It was a measure of weight. It's a lot of silver. A talent of gold would be approximately 200 pounds of gold. So it's a measure of weight of something precious.

It's God putting resources into your hands. And in this parable of the talent, a master puts different levels of resources, entrusts different levels of resources to his servants. To one, he gives five talents, five measures of weight of something precious to be employed by the servant. To another servant, two, and to another servant, one, and in the parable it says, to each according to his own ability. In other words, the master wasn't looking for something outrageous.

He knew different servants have different levels of ability, so he gave them resources according to the level of ability that he knew that they had, and his expectation was according to what he had entrusted to them. So it wasn't entrusting something to someone who had one level of ability and expecting way above that. No, it was to each according to his ability. Then he comes back, the one who he gave five, entrusted five units of measure of something precious to, it had doubled, now it's ten. What does he say to that servant?

Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful with a few things. I'll make you ruler of many things. Enter into the joy of your master." To another servant, he had entrusted two units of measure of something precious to make use of, and that servant had taken the two and gotten two more that servant had had put it to use and and Doubled it also. Well, what does the master say?

Well done good and faithful servant. You've been faithful with a few things I'll make you ruler of many things enter into the joy of your Master. The one who was entrusted with one unit of measure of this precious thing didn't do anything with it, just buried it, and so he digs it up and says, here you have back what you gave me. What does the Master say to that servant? You wicked and lazy servant!

You did nothing with this. Take that from Him and give it to the one who has 10. What Jesus is teaching in this week's text is that this applies to truth given to us. God gives you truth, you do something with it, He'll give you more truth. God gives you truth and you do nothing with it, He'll take even that away from you.

Most especially gospel truth. It all starts with gospel truth. When God gives you gospel truth, the truth that can save your soul if you'll do nothing with it. He'll take even that from you. So now let's apply these things and start right there.

Number one, did you realize how dangerous receiving the Word of God is? Did you realize how dangerous receiving the Word of God is? Did you realize how dangerous receiving the Word of God is? Because it comes with an expectation. When God spreads His Word to you through whatever means, it comes with an expectation that you do something with it.

To hear sound sermon after sound sermon after sound sermon after sound sermon and to do nothing with it is to put yourself at tremendous risk according to what Jesus is teaching here. It's such a dangerous thing. You think nothing's happening. No, no, no. It's way worse than nothing happening.

You're being hardened. You're hardening yourself, and it's like a vaccine against truth. It's inoculating yourself against truth. It makes it harder and harder and harder for you to hear these things because of the dynamics in play, because God is is doing things. If he brings you truth and brings you truth and brings you truth and brings you truth and you say, I'm not doing anything with any of that, you'll lose the ability to even see and hear these things.

You wouldn't and you wouldn't and you wouldn't, so now you can't. The Word of God has not been spread to me to pass the time or to satisfy my curiosity. God isn't bringing the Word of God to me just to pass the hours and days or so that my curiosity will be satisfied. God has brought His Word to me so that my soul will be saved and so that my life will be transformed and so that I will then be a light to other people to His glory. The Word of God is brought to you today to save your soul if it's not saved, and to transform your life if it is, if your soul is saved, and to shape everything about your life.

To receive the Word of God and do nothing with it is so dangerous. We can't afford to just come here and say, oh it's just another Sunday. You can't afford that. God is bringing you His truth to transform you. Number two, if you have a nagging sense that your Christianity is just a show, don't rest until you've gotten to the bottom of that.

If you have a nagging sense, if you hear these things and you have a nagging sense that I'm one thing on the outside and people think of me this way because I've cultivated, I've cultivated that image, But I know in my heart of hearts, I have this nagging sense that all this is just show. Don't let that just pass. Get to the bottom of that. Because it doesn't have to be. And it doesn't need to be.

There is a counterfeit but there's a real too and It's the sweetest, most satisfying thing in the world. Those of us who are really born again want to say with you, with all of our hearts, don't settle for less than real. You're cheating yourself. The real version of these things, receiving the Word of God and having your soul saved and your life transformed is the most exhilarating things that we've ever experienced in our life. Don't settle for less than that.

Than that. Number three, if you've really embraced the gospel from this time forward, think of yourself as a lamp on a lampstand. That's how Jesus wants us thinking of ourselves. If the gospel has really gotten a hold of you, to Think of yourself as a lamp on a lampstand. That's how Jesus wants us thinking of ourselves, if the Gospel's really gotten a hold of you.

To think of yourself as a lamp on a lampstand. Light came to you, but you're not meant to be the termination point of that life. He wants to put you on a lamp stand and put you on display so that this world has light. Does the world need light? He's saving people so that the world will have light.

Matthew Henry says this. We'll give Matthew Henry the last word and then I'll pray. Matthew Henry says this, those that have received the gift must minister the same. People that have profited by the Word and are thereby qualified to profit others, things that have been taught to you, you are now qualified to teach to others, must look upon themselves as lighted candles. Amen.

God, I pray over all these things. I do pray for anyone who has carefully cultivated an outward reputation for being in the faith, but they have this nagging sense that their Christianities just show, oh God, use thinking about these things today to help them to see the desperate need, but also the glorious opportunity that is before them today in running to Christ for mercy. God, for those of us who can see that we really have the implanted Word, and the Gospel really has hold of us, that we would see ourselves as lighted candles, and just with expectation look forward to opportunities to Pass the things that have come to us to others. Saving things that have come to us to others. Make us like a city on a hill.

Like a lighted lamp on a lamp stand. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.