Luke 11:33
No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.
A lighted lamp is set openly on a stand, not put in a hidden place or covered over or set too low, so that all who enter may see and everyone in the house receives its benefit. The saying is directly joined to the warning that a single eye fills the whole body with light while an evil eye fills it with darkness, so there is need to take heed that the inner light is not darkness, and a body with no part dark becomes wholly full of light as when a lamp gives bright illumination. It belongs to solemn rebukes and woes spoken with deep sorrow and tears over those deserving reproof near the close of Christ's mission when Jerusalem's probation was ending. It came after three years of seeking fruit from a thankless and disobedient people whom He greatly desired, labored to gather and save as the promised Messiah and only hope of Israel, yet who would not come to Him for life and did not know in their day the things belonging to their peace.
Every Christian is required to make faith openly visible and to confess it and take a decided position before the world, angels, and humanity. Hiding the God-given witness out of fear is forbidden, and believers when faith brings trial or inconvenience are called to serve earnestly and stand openly on God's side. Those who have heard the truth must not keep it to themselves or confine it to their own family, but must share what they hear, seek out perishing souls nearby to bring them in as lost sheep to the fold, and invite outsiders to hear, since time is passing into eternity and little has been done to save those who do not know the truth. Not hiding the light means not letting business or commercial interests absorb the whole mind and occupy all the time, and not making eternal interests inferior to temporal interests.
Applied to God's work, the light and importance of the work itself is to be made visible and magnified rather than concealed by narrow plans or limited ideas, with the aim of exalting the work and not the workers. Applied to spreading God's message, efforts must be broad and prominent enough for people to receive it, since narrow or inadequate efforts can deprive people of light God intends for them, so God-given help and opportunities should be valued and used and the importance of the message shown by both words and example. For the health and temperance institution at Battle Creek this means truth is to be the all-important thing shining before patrons, with God honored in word and deed, His law magnified, and the true Bible faith kept prominent. That institution is to stand distinct from every other institution in the world as a Seventh-day Adventist institution giving character to God's cause, and to serve as a refuge where believers can resort when sick.
God arranges His lamps so the light of truth is revealed to the world with unmistakable clearness and no one is left in uncertainty, with lamps set in many centers to give light to all His house and to illuminate the world even in its dark places. Hiding the light is linked with corrupt practices, while the Lord gives those in darkness opportunities to bring their light into the open and let it shine to the world. Anyone who by actions tries to prevent the lamps from giving light has lost direction and bearings and is not a bright and shining light.