Luke 8:16, commentary and pictures

No one who has been given light is to hide it out of sight, but to place it openly in an elevated public position so that all who come in can see it. The light is the heavenly light of God's character given through Christ, which is truth for the conversion of souls, present truth and the warning message, especially the binding claims of His law and the fourth commandment, together with the talents, means, education, instruction and experiences He entrusts. Hiding it is covering it with narrow plans, small expectations and lack of faith, and keeping faith out of sight from cowardice, worldly policy, desire for esteem and advantage, selfishness and conformity to the world. Lifting it up means taking broader views and working wisely and unitedly to place truth where all in the world can receive it, in cities and villages and among all nations and classes, high as well as low, with suitable public efforts and by writing, printing and going from house to house. Every Christian is therefore accountable to confess faith openly and let the light shine through Christlike conduct, good works, kindly home life and purity of life, using every capability to bless others and save perishing souls instead of standing aloof in criticism and faultfinding.

Symbols and Their Meaning

The light is the heavenly light of God's character given by Christ and shared by those who partake of the divine nature, to influence those around them, show His praise, and lead souls to salvation. It is truth for the conversion of souls, present truth to be made known by precept and example, by preaching and publishing, the Bread of Life, and the warning message entrusted to believers for those perishing without Christ. Especially it is the verity and binding claims of the law of God as the repository of light for the world, and the fourth commandment which is to test and prove the world. Keeping it under bed or bushel is holding the knowledge of truth to self instead of giving it to those who need it, while putting it on a candlestick is bringing it out openly with the heart in the work to represent truth so it shines to all within the house.

The light also includes the talents, capabilities, genius, means, and education God entrusts, which are to be put to the very best use to bless fellow men and lift others where Christ would lift them were He in their place. This requires becoming interested in families living in hovels in dire poverty with scant furniture, clothing, tools, or books, impressing minds with correct ideas of improvement and teaching diligent labor, wise use of vital forces and capabilities, wasting no time, improving premises, and cultivating land. It includes also the instruction, warnings, past experiences and testimonies He has given, to be put in print and given to the people to correct errors and set things in order against deceptive false theories sown as tares among the wheat that appear as light but mingle strange suppositions with truth. It includes the principles on diet received in the early days of the message, still important and to be brought out clearly so they can shine visibly rather than remain hidden.

The house with all that are in it is the world, so the light set where all in the house can see it means truth placed where people throughout the world can receive it. That means giving the warning message and entrusted message broadly in cities and villages and large cities and to all nations, tongues, and peoples, sowing beside all waters without discouragement when results are not at once seen. It means not confining offices, organization, capabilities, and powers in selfishness and worldliness, but as a channel of love and city set on a hill going forth to missionary fields, adding new territory, lifting the standard everywhere, and sending forth light in unity under Christ's yoke. Entertaining too limited ideas and planning so the work can easily be embraced in the arms hides the light, and the verse rebukes trying to embrace the whole work in one's arms and requires taking broader views.

The vessel or bushel and the bed that hide the light are narrow plans, limited ideas, small expectations, lack of faith, and self. They are cheap inferior methods that reach only the lower classes, and shutting unpopular truth up in basements and small halls where it is too low and obscure to illuminate the room, so people lose the opportunity to obtain the light God desired them to have. Hiding in this way holds God's work back by exalting men instead of magnifying the work, and confines light to a small compass instead of giving light to all in the house. Limited ideas and small plans must be put away for broader views, bringing minds up to appreciate the greatness of the cause.

Hiding the light is also keeping religion and faith and doctrines out of sight from unbelievers and putting truth in the background from cowardice, halfheartedness, and worldly policy. It is done from fear of being less esteemed and to please worldlings, to secure profit and patronage and personal convenience and financial advantage, and by indifference and neglect of souls, selfishness and worldliness, and conforming to worldly customs and principles. It forbids open, manly confession of faith and taking a decided position even when unbelievers are present, which would make each follower what God designed, a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Workers are therefore to leave places where they are comfortable or their interests are concentrated and go to cities and regions where people need help, rather than keeping missionary influence confined to one place for convenience or advantage.

Setting the light on a candlestick is lifting it up openly in an elevated, public position, with enlarged ideas, broader views, and methods of labor shaped to magnify God's work and not men. It means valuing the help God sends, refusing to give the work a narrow mould, putting away self for more of Jesus, and seizing every God-given privilege and opportunity to show by example as well as words the sacredness and importance of the warning message, so the impression left carries the work forward. It means securing suitable halls and making public efforts equal to the character and importance of the work, bringing minds up to the greatness of the cause and lifting the work to the high position it should occupy by working intelligently, wisely, unitedly, and in God's order with the Holy Spirit. It calls for devising ways to reach the higher and best classes who need the light as well as the lower, reaching the high if possible with no neglect of the lower so none are left without light, while standing as high as possible in favor with God and with the people.

Sharing the Light Broadly

The light is meant to be placed where it can be seen, not hidden or confined, and shared with the world so that all may receive it. The house is the world, and putting the light on a candlestick so it gives light to all that are in the house means taking broader views instead of entertaining too limited ideas of the work and planning it so it can easily be embraced in the arms. That rebuke of narrow plans that try to embrace the whole work in one's arms calls for sowing beside all waters without discouragement when results are not at once seen, reaching beyond a small circle to cities and villages and large cities and to all nations, tongues, and peoples. The light to be thus spread is the warning truth for this time, especially the verity and binding claims of the law of God and the fourth commandment, which is to test and prove the world, and it is the Bread of Life that must not be kept hidden but let shine to save souls perishing without Christ. Keeping it under the bed or under the bushel is holding the knowledge of the truth to self instead of giving it to those who need it, while putting it on a candlestick is bringing it out into the open with the heart in the work to represent the truth to others so that it shines to all within the house. Going forward in humility in this broad work brings God's power to it, and the same display of light requires workers not to hide it for personal convenience or financial advantage but to leave places where they are comfortable or where their interests are concentrated, to go to cities and regions where people need help, to change location where needed, and to make the light visible to all who encounter them.

The bushel and the bed that hide the light are small expectations, lack of faith, self, and narrow plans that shut unpopular truth to the compass of a bushel or leave it too low and obscure under a bed where it cannot illuminate the room, hiding it in basements and small halls and causing people to lose the opportunity to obtain the light desired for them. Setting the kindled light on the candlestick therefore means enlarged and elevated ideas, valuing the help sent by God, refusing to give the work a narrow mould, putting away self for more of Jesus, and bringing minds up to the greatness of the cause. It means securing suitable halls and making public efforts equal to the character and importance of the work, and seizing every God-given privilege and opportunity to show by example as well as words the sacredness and importance of the warning message to the world, so that the impression left on minds carries the work forward. The work must be lifted to the high and exalted position it should occupy by working intelligently, wisely, and unitedly, magnifying the Lord and not men, with true wisdom and the Holy Spirit in God's order while standing as high as possible in favor with God and with the people. That requires reform in methods, putting away cheap, inferior methods that reach only the lower classes, and devising ways to reach the higher and best classes who need the light of truth as well as the lower, reaching the high classes if possible with no neglect of the lower, so that none are left without light.

The church must not confine its offices, organization, capabilities, and powers to itself, for that would hide the light under a bushel or under a bed in selfishness and worldliness. It is to be a continuation of the gospel scheme of love, a channel for principles of love to flow to the world, and must set its light openly on a candlestick to give light to all in the house, which is the world. That open setting means unselfish work of preaching the gospel to all nations, going forth from the churches to missionary fields and adding new territory, lifting up the standard of truth everywhere, exhibiting Christ's love, propagating saving Bible truths as a city set on a hill, and sending forth light as a lamp that burneth in perfect unity under Christ's yoke. In the same way a publishing office narrows its work by cutting off outside commercial business, whereas its light is to be set where everyone in the house can see it and reach people throughout the community. Letting the light shine also includes communicating what is received from God's word for others' benefit, for the light shines when its recipient communicates it to others, including by writing instruction and encouragement for God's people. Instruction that can help many people should be made available to them rather than kept private with one person or in one place.

The light and instruction given by God must not be hid under a bushel or under a bed but must be put in print and given to the people, including a repetition of past experiences and testimonies about first labors. The light to be shared in print is warnings and messages to correct the errors that would come in and to set things in order, and publishing it is necessary because the enemy will continue to work to bring in false theories and mingle strange suppositions with the truth. Those appear as light to those who receive them but are deceptive theories sown as tares among the wheat, and the instruction given over fifty years to reject seducing theories when they arise must be repeated. Lifting up the light, which is truth for the conversion of souls, means waking up and going from house to house watching for opportunities to sow the seeds of truth. Hiding the light is standing aloof and doing nothing for souls while spending energy in faultfinding, criticism, anger at being misunderstood, words of doubt and unbelief that magnify difficulties, accusing brethren, slander, and tearing down a fellow being's reputation, which course shows weakness, weakens the hands of others, and serves Satan's cause on the enemy's side, whereas the verse requires every man to build up and not tear down.

Open Life of Witness

Every Christian is to be a light put openly on a candlestick to give light to all that are in the house, not hidden under a bushel or under a bed. This requires open, manly confession of faith and taking a decided position even when unbelievers are present. Each follower is thus to be what God designed, a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.

For teachers and students this forbids seeking to keep religion out of sight to please worldlings and forbids conforming to worldly customs and principles. It calls instead for cherishing and displaying the charity and purity that God prizes most. For those connected with institutions it forbids hiding faith and doctrines from unbelieving people and putting the truth of God in the background from cowardice or worldly policy, from fear of being less highly esteemed, and to secure profit and patronage. As long as those connected with institutions walk humbly with God, heavenly intelligences will cooperate with them, for God honors those who honor Him, and the whole universe looks with inexpressible interest to see the closing work of the great controversy between Christ and Satan.

Anyone who has light is accountable to God for his own course of action and must not place it under a bushel or a bed but let it shine forth through good works. Believers are the light of the world, to be living epistles not of a human leader but of Jesus Christ, giving His light to the world in clear, sharp rays. Every true Christian is Christlike and a doer of the Word, walking as Christ walked in all humility, purity, meekness, forbearance and Christian fidelity. This means using abilities as fully as possible, with personal influence and effort to help others know the truth and to serve in saving perishing souls. Worldly cares and love of money must not keep them from doing so, nor is the light to be hidden by cowardly, halfhearted service that fears trial and inconvenience.

Hiding the light is standing aloof and doing nothing for souls while spending energy in faultfinding, criticism, anger at being misunderstood, words of doubt and unbelief that magnify difficulties, accusing brethren, slander, and tearing down a fellow being's reputation. That course shows weakness, weakens the hands of others, and serves Satan's cause on the enemy's side. The verse requires every person to build up and not tear down. The light is truth for the conversion of souls, and lifting it up means waking up and going from house to house watching for opportunities to sow the seeds of truth.

The Christian light must not be hidden in the home but set where it can be seen. Taking the candle from under the bushel or the bed is letting its bright rays shine forth in pleasant looks and kind, loving words to children. It is praising children when they do well, giving judicious commendation, thanking and commending them for the help they give, and being kind and tenderhearted with Christian politeness instead of being cross-grained in the sanctuary of the home.

The great light shining upon the pathway is to be set high above sensuality in thought or action. Through unjust business transactions and indulgence of passion the light of the Christian burns dim, and many lights burn low and go out for want of the oil of grace. The Christian life is to shine forth in clear, steady rays that illuminate the surrounding darkness. Growing in grace requires purifying the soul by obeying the truth, and obedience to God includes obedience to physical law.

Being the light requires putting every capability, talent, genius, means and education God entrusts to the very best use to bless fellow men. Those with means, thinking ability and education must exercise their gifts to lift others just where Christ would lift were He in their place, placing them on a footing where they can help themselves. This means becoming interested in families living in hovels with scant furniture and clothing and without tools or books, and in dire poverty, and teaching them correct ideas of improvement. They are to be taught to put their energies to the best use, to labor diligently, to use their vital forces well, to waste no time, to improve their premises, and to cultivate their land, so that there is improvement and their work moves forward. God has made His people the repository of His law as light for the world, not to hide it by indifference and neglect of the souls of others but to hold it up openly, making present truth known by precept and example, by preaching and publishing, to the dying around who have never heard it, using the brief lifetime given to work out personal salvation and point others to the way.