Psalm 67 in your King James Bible, God be merciful unto us and bless us, Psalm 67, let's
start going to verse 1. God be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us,
that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving help among all nations. Let the people praise thee,
O God, let all the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for thou shalt judge the people righteously and govern the nations upon earth. The
nations upon earth seal us. Let the people praise thee, O God, let all the people praise thee. O let
the nations be glad and sing for joy. Then shall the earth filter increase, and God, even our own
God shall bless us, God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. Let the
people praise thee, O God, let all the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing
for joy. Great singing, but I thought we could pray for the tithes.
Okay, we are in Genesis chapter 1 this morning. Genesis chapter 1, the Bible reads,
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void,
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters, and God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that it
was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the
darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let
there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And
God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters
which were above the firmament, and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven, and the evening
and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered
together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And God called the dry land
earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he seas, and God saw that it was good. And
God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit
after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth, and it was so. And the earth brought forth
grass, and herb seed yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit whose seed was in
itself after his kind, and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the
third day. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the
night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be for lights
in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth, and it was so. And God made two great
lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars
also, and God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the
day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness, and God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters bring forth
abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open
firmament of heaven. And God created great whales in every living creature that moveth, which the
waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind. And God saw
that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the
seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing,
and beast of the earth after his kind. And it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his
kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind.
And God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness,
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he
them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every
herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the
fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth,
and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is
life, I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so. And God saw everything that he
had made, and behold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Brother Robert, could you pray for the service?
Is this mic actually on? Okay. We got TKO'd last night. All right. Well, once again,
thanks for coming this morning. And I'm preaching a kind of a different sermon,
and it is the holiday season, so I figured I'd, you know, preach something that kind of
goes with the holidays a little bit. It's not necessarily a holiday sermon, but
the title of the sermon this morning is Lights That Shine in the Darkness,
Lights That Shine in the Darkness. And we have a lot of, we have a lot of lights in the world,
and different types of light. We have man-made light, but of course, in Genesis chapter one,
we see where God created light, and then God made the sun. You know, He doesn't call it the
sun and the moon in this chapter here, but it says that He created lights to give light to the earth.
And before I get into that, I just wanted to, that I'm going to be, so the sermon I'm preaching
about is different types of light that shine in the darkness. And obviously, we have some
really important light. You know, it's light in here, and I'm glad for it.
You have Christmas lights like, and there's a lot of Christmas lights
up already, which I think is great, because if you already have snow, you might as well just
put the lights up anyway, right? So usually people wait till after Thanksgiving, but I think a lot of
people are excited about just having their lights up, and their trees, and all that kind of stuff,
so it's pretty cool. But yeah, so I just happened to see, just driving through Spokane last night,
a lot of people already have their lights up, and that's cool because, you know, lights and
the holidays kind of, you know, light is kind of a big deal because we're going into that season
where it's dark earlier, and it just seems like it's dark all the time. And so when there's light,
that shines light and gives people hope, and it makes people feel good, and so I think that's
why people like lights during the holidays and things like that. So we have three different
holidays that are the holiday season. Of course, we have Thanksgiving, which is coming up this week,
and then we have Christmas, or Christmas Eve, and then we have New Year. So those are all good
holidays, in my opinion, to kind of refocus your life, have everything die down a little bit,
so it's not such a hustle and bustle. This is my last trip of the year going anywhere, so,
but I wanted to come and see you guys one last time before I wound up my travel for the season.
So anyway, Genesis chapter number one, look at what the Bible says in verse number 14. It says,
and God said, let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day
and from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years. Let's have
a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, so much for this great church here
in Spokane, Washington, and Lord, I just pray that you bless this church. Lord, it's already
blessed with all the people that are here, and Lord, we appreciate them so much, and we don't
get to say that to them enough, and Lord, I am thankful for this church. I'm thankful for every
single person here today. Pray you just bless us today with a great day of just preaching and
fellowship and soul winning, Lord, and we'll give you the praise and honor for that in Jesus' name.
Amen. So in verse number 14, we see God creating these great lights. Of course,
we know that those lights are the sun and the moon and one to rule the night,
and they have more than just one purpose, obviously. They also teach us something about God.
They teach us, you know, many different things. It says it's to divide. The first thing was to
divide the light from the darkness, and obviously the spiritual meaning behind that was that
if you're light, if you're saved, if you're for righteousness, that you're going to divide yourself
the darkness and the things that are wicked in this world. It's a picture for us to understand
that God wants there to be a separation with us from the darkness. When we get saved, you know,
the Bible says that we're supposed to be separate, right, from the world, from the wickedness, from
the devils and all the different wicked things that are in this world, and so that's a great
picture just from the very first chapter in the Bible that God wants there to be a difference
between light and darkness, and so when someone says they're a child of light, you know,
Christian or whatever you call, you know, you call yourself, which Christian would be a good
thing to call yourself, but if you're one of those things, then when people see darkness in you
instead of light, it can affect them in a negative way, and so God wants us to be light in this world
and try to walk as best as we can, keeping his commandments and things like that, but he
physically made the sun, moon, and stars also to have them for signs, right, so it says for signs
and for seasons, so what kind of signs? Well, maybe the sign, a sign that the harvest is here.
Who saw the harvest moon when September rolled around? You know, I know scientists and
atheists and everybody that doesn't believe in God will try to explain that away, but how do
you explain that every year at the same time of year when the harvest is here that there's the
the moon turns like this crazy looking orange. It's not the blood moon. It's just, it's called
the harvest moon, and they call it that because that's the time when the harvest comes. Why is
that like that? Well, people, well, the light hits it, and then I don't care how you explain it
scientifically. God said that he made those things for signs and for seasons, so what's the season?
Well, it's the fall season, right, and so the moon will be a super moon at certain times. It'll
be a full moon. It'll be a split. You know, it helps us to count time. It helps us to see signs in
biblical terms, so you know, what did Jesus say was going to happen before he returned?
He said the sun would be darkened, and the moon would be turned to blood, so obviously that could
mean some kind of eclipse, but you know, the Bible talks about it being dark and darkness when
the time, when the wrath of God is poured out and things like that, so there's multiple, multiple
reasons why God made the heavenly bodies, and it lists all those things right there in verse number
14 for signs, for seasons, to divide the day from the night, for days, for years. It's for tracking
time, so and then if you think about what, what the sun, you know, the sun reflects its light,
and that's what reflects it off the moon, and the moon at night is a reflection of the light of the
sun, so you can see that it also would picture, you know, God's light reflecting onto the world
through other people, so and it also, you know, in the book of Genesis, it talks about how the sun,
you know, would represent the dad, the moon would represent the mom, and the stars, the children,
so that's a good picture for it too, but you know, the, the heavenly bodies are the number one,
my number one point is that lights that shine in the darkness, the first point is the heavenly
bodies, so and obviously there's multiple different things about light that I could talk,
but I don't have points this morning. The first point is the heavenly bodies are a light that
shine in the darkness, and even at night, you know, if it's pitch black outside, isn't it nice
to have a moon up in the, up in the sky that we can actually have some sort of light, and stars
give up light too. If you live in the city, you don't see that so much, but if you're out in the
country, or you're out camping or something, and you just look up at the stars, and it's a
clear night, I mean you can see just more stars than you can even count, and it's nice to see
that. It's a beautiful thing. God also made those things to show His splendor, to show His
magnificence, to show how awesome He is, because He's the one that made those things. He spoke
those things into existence, literally spoke them into existence. Turn to James chapter 1 verse 17,
Genesis 1 though, you might have a hard time finding your way back to Genesis 1, because
it's so deep into the Bible, but,
and I believe that God did this also for mankind as a gift, and also for the animals that He created,
and you know, we can, people navigate with the stars. There's just all kinds of things
that the heavenly bodies can do for us. Of course, you have the north star, where people
navigate through that, or if you're lost in the woods somewhere, you can, you know, you can find
north at night, and things like that. So, but look at James 17, it says, every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of, what's it say, heights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. So, every good gift,
and every perfect gift is from above. It's from God. Everything that you have in this life,
everything that's something that you enjoy in this life, is something that God has given
to you specifically, and it says that He's the Father of lights. He, and He is, He's,
they came to pass because God put them there for us. So, look at Genesis chapter 1 verse 15,
go back to your text in Genesis chapter 1.
So, now this isn't the first light that God created, but this is the first point,
because my next point is going to be about the other light that was made before, but
look at your verse down, Genesis 1 15, it says, let them be for lights and for the firmament of
the heaven to give light upon the earth, and it was so. And so, it's, it's not just, or, sorry,
sorry, my phone is like tweaking, anyway, sorry about that. Okay, so, let me get back my train
of thought here. So, let them be for lights and for the firmament of the heaven upon the earth,
and it was so. He made these lights for us. He gave it for light to be shining upon the earth.
Look at verse 16, and God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. So, I mean, just saying that as
an afterthought is pretty interesting, because the stars are pretty amazing, and a lot of the
things that we see up there are also planets. Obviously, you can see some of the planets that
God made, Venus and things like that. So, Mars, you can see the planets up there that God made,
and it says, and God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
and to rule the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness, and God saw
it was good. Now, obviously, there was no sin in the world at this time, but God still
obviously knows He has the foreknowledge that sin is going to be brought into the world at some
point, and so I think that His foreknowledge is the reason why He probably made it like that,
so it could be a picture for us to us so that we could understand that we need to divide
from that darkness. So, it says the evening and the morning were the fourth day, so He made all
this stuff on the fourth day. It's not the first day, it's the fourth day that He made the heavenly
bodies. Of course, then He made all the vegetation and stuff like that, and then He made the animals
after that and the humans after that. So, again, there's spiritual application in all this,
obviously. These heavenly bodies are made literally for us, literally for mankind,
literally for the earth, so that people could have light, but then the spiritual applications
are also very telling to us in 2022, and the stars and moons and planets, they help us understand
also that this world is a dark place, so at night, you know, if we didn't have the stars and the moon,
it would be really dark. We wouldn't be able to see anything. Obviously, we have man-made lights
and things like that, but it hasn't always been the case. There hasn't always been electrical
grids where, you know, you can be in a dark basement and, you know, you got lights shining
all over the place. It hasn't always been like that, but I think that the picture of the stars
is a great picture for us to understand, too, because, you know, you have all this darkness,
but then you have these bright spots all over in that darkness, and I believe that that's a
great picture of the children of God, you know, the children of God. God saves people, and they
become lights all over in the dark world that we live in, so let's turn our Bibles to John chapter 12,
John chapter number 12, and God intended for us to be light. He intended for people to be
safe. He never intended to stay here. He always intended that He was going to die for the people
and that He would go back to heaven and He'd leave light here on this earth in the darkness.
Now, Jesus, what would He represent when you think about the sun? Well, the sun rises, doesn't it?
The sun gives light unto the whole world, and so during the daytime, it's completely light. That
represents Jesus Christ. There's no doubt about that. You know, people have this flat earth
model view, and they have this view that, you know, some people believe in geocentricity,
which means that everything revolves around the earth. That doesn't make sense. Why would
it revolve around us? Don't you think everything should revolve around something that represents
the sun? It's spelled S-U-N, talking about Jesus Christ, I think, in the book of Malachi,
and so think about this. You know, Jesus Christ is that light that shines and makes it daytime,
and He rose from the dead, and when He rose from the dead, that gives light unto the whole world,
but the sun, you know, we go around the sun. Everything revolves around the sun, and that's
the way it is in the Bible, too. Everything, when you boil it down, it's all revolving around Jesus.
So, if you think about how God formed the universe, and obviously people worship the sun,
the actual star that we revolve around, but they're fools, because that's something that
God made. God didn't make Jesus. Jesus has always been and always will be. John chapter 12 verse 35
says, Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have
the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he
goeth. While you have light, believe in that light, that you may be the children of light.
These things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. So,
He's talking about how He's only going to be there for a while. While you have the light,
believe in that light. He's telling this to people, and then right after this verse,
if you're there, I don't have it in my notes, but it talks about how,
even though He did all these miracles, people wouldn't believe in Him. And so,
there's always going to be people in this world, and the majority of the people in this world will
not believe in Jesus. But again, if you think about the stars in the sky, I personally believe
that that does represent Christians in the world. That does represent the light that God has left
in the world for mankind. Turn to Daniel chapter 12 verse 2. Daniel chapter 12 verse number 2.
Daniel chapter 12 verse number 2 says, And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that
be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness
as the stars for ever and ever. See, it is a picture of people that are, you know, obviously
this is a picture here of people that go forth and get people saved. And you know, some people
are going to wake to everlasting life, some to everlasting contempt, going to hell. But He liked
us that would go out and be soul winners to those that would shine as the brightness of the
firmament. And it literally says as the stars for ever and ever. So that is a picture, the stars are
a picture of the light that's in the firmament, the light that's in the world, to light upon
all the earth. And let's turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And so
obviously, you know, we got, you know, the light and darkness, a picture of our separation from
sin in the world. And then we have, of course, the literal meaning of all the lights, the sun,
the moon, stars, and the planets. Those things are lights for the earth to actually see and
navigate and for signs and for seasons, for literal seasons, and also for maybe seasons
upon the earth. You know, at the full moon, I think that they had to blow trumpets or something
in the Old Testament. We obviously don't do that anymore. If somebody walks in here with a trumpet
on the full moon, they're going to get tossed out of here. But because we don't have to do that
anymore. You know what I mean? So that's not something we do anymore. But those things were for,
you know, counting days, counting time. And so there's a lot of reasons why God made those
things. But, you know, even in the end, those are for the signs and the seasons that Jesus is
coming. He's coming soon. Now, do we have blood moons that happen now? Yeah. So people will
probably be like, oh, yeah, we've seen that before or whatever. But, you know, when everything is
rolled back like a scroll, that when the cover is taken off, people are going to freak out.
And people are going to know that Jesus is coming. They're going to hide in the caves and the dens
of the rocks of the earth and say, fall on us and hide us from the face of the lamb.
So they are for signs and for seasons. But what is Jesus saying? The things that you see in the
heavens are a sign that I am coming. So very interesting stuff. But anyway, First Thessalonians
chapter five, verse one. And the apostle Paul is actually talking about the rapture here says,
But the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when
they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they shall not escape. There's going to be a time when they're going
to be saying peace and safety when the Antichrist is ruling everything. And then, you know,
when they say that, because and that was a slogan of the Roman Empire, by the way,
peace and safety. It's been the slogan of lots of different world powers. But once, you know,
once the baby starts to come, there's no stopping it. Right. Brother Jason and Mr. Molina know that.
So I think like Pastor Robinson had like his wife had their baby in a truck. Right. I want
to say it was right in front of the hospital. I know he told me the story, but it's been a while.
But you have a similar story. So once the baby's coming, the baby's coming, whether you want it to
or not, doesn't matter whether you're in your truck, in your car, at your house,
or wherever you're at, it's going to happen. And that's what he's saying right here is that,
you know, they're going to be saying peace and safety, but then the travail is going to come
upon them. And it says they shall not escape. So they're going to try to escape. They're going to
try to hide, but nothing is going to hide them from the wrath of God. And it says,
but ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
See, a lot of all the world is going to be fooled by all this stuff,
but we are not in darkness. We are not in darkness. God has given us the light of the
scriptures, hasn't he? And it says ye are all the children of light and the children of the day.
We are not of the night, nor of darkness. So again, there we represent, you know,
things that would not be dark. We'd be represented as light. Therefore, let us not sleep,
as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night,
and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober,
putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for in helmet the hope of salvation.
So I just want to show you that because it's talking about times and seasons. Like Paul's
saying, you know, I don't, you know, I don't need to tell you about this. You already know
that he's going to come as a thief of the night. It's going to be unsuspecting to the world,
but we're, we're going to understand what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 24 and say, hey,
no, don't go out to the desert place. You know, don't go out there. It's a trap. You know, you
can, you can just automatically assume that anything, anybody saying that they're Jesus
being out somewhere, or he's in secret chambers or anything like that. Don't believe them because
he's going to come as a thief. But when we see the sun, moon, and stars, and everything
happening in the heavenly places, we will know for sure that his redemption is drawing nigh.
So point number one, we have the heavenly bodies or a light that shines in the darkness and
represent a lot of different things that I've already mentioned. Number two, the light of Jesus,
the light of Jesus is a light that shines in a dark place. Let's turn back to our text in
Genesis chapter one. Let's look at verse number one. So the light of the world is Jesus Christ.
We sing that song. It's a great song. I've preached a whole sermon about that a couple
years ago about the light of the world being Jesus. It's clearly taught in scripture all over
from Genesis to Revelation, as it doesn't say he's the bright and morning star in the book of
Revelation. And here in Genesis 1-1 it says, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth
and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and
the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said let there be light and
there be light. And God saw the light that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness.
So where we started was Genesis chapter 1 verse 14, right? But there was a light before the sun.
There was a light before the moon. There was a light before the sun or the stars, excuse me.
There's a light before those planets that we can see sparkling everywhere and God made this light
and he said it was good and divided the light from the darkness. So in the first three verses
of Genesis we have the father represented by God in the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth and then it talks about the spirit of God in verse number two moving upon the face of the
waters and then in verse three God said let there be light and Jesus Christ is the word of God. So
all things were made by him and for him, right? And then nothing was made that was there wasn't
anything that was that wasn't made by him. So and then you think about this there was already
darkness. When Jesus came to this world what was it like unto? A light shining in a dark place.
The light coming into the world and the world comprehended it not. They didn't understand who
he was even though he looked just like a regular man. No he wasn't wearing a dress. No he was not
a hippie. No he you know didn't have long hair. He was a man. He didn't look like a queer. He
looked like a man didn't he? And let's turn to John chapter one. You see in Genesis chapter one
right from the very beginning God made this light. What is that light that he made? It doesn't really
explain that does it? And how do you explain that light was in the world but yet the sun hadn't
yet the sun had not been made yet. Well that light is Jesus. We live with Jesus in the new Jerusalem
what's it say? The light of the Lord lights that place up. There is no need for the sun and the
moon. So there was no need for the sun and the moon then. But yet that's how we discern time.
That's how we discern light. That's how we discern the day to day that sun rising up and giving us
hope that we're not going to be you know in darkness forever. So look at John 1 1. So remember
Genesis 1 1 said in the beginning right in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Look at John 1 1. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
So that word in Genesis chapter 1 verse number 3 or that light in Genesis 3 is God said let there
be light and there was light and so in the beginning was the word. The word of God was
spoke this light into existence and you know it spoke the universe and everything into existence
in the beginning. Isn't that what it says? In John 1 1 in the beginning was the word the word
with God the word was God. It's not a God. No he is God. The same was in the beginning with God.
So what does it it's clearly talking about. What is the first chapter of the Bible? Genesis 1 1
and it explains to us the beginning. Okay this is what it's talking about. This is the
context it's trying to help us to understand here. All things were made by him and without
him was not anything made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men
and the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. So in him was life.
So when he came upon the scene as a man born by the Virgin Mary or you know he wasn't a man when
he was born but he was a baby when he was born by the Virgin Mary and he grew up to be the man that
would be the messiah. The man that would be this light that was prophesied from the very beginning
and it says the light shineth in the darkness. So I mean obviously there's another picture for us
to see because obviously the sun coming up rising up represents also Jesus Christ rising from the
dead right. But if you think about the moon and the stars those are lights that are shining in
a dark place aren't they? And so if you think about also you know the the moon reflects
that light and shines it upon the world. So I mean what would that represent?
Yeah I mean it would represent us. I mean it could represent when mom's home and dad's away
then his light shines upon that moon and gives the children of the light right. I don't know
but anyway I don't want to get too deep into these different applications but I want to focus
on Jesus here for a few minutes. Look at verse number six it says there was a man sent from
God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all
men through him might believe. He was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light
that was the true light which lighteth every man and cometh into the world. So it's interesting how
you know it starts out talking about Jesus the word. Jesus is God. He was in the beginning and
then he's being called the light. It says it several times verse seven the light verse eight
the light oh that light verse nine true light and then yeah so I mean it's talking about
it's referencing us back to the beginning isn't it to that light. So it says he was in the world
and the world was made by him and the world knew him not and that being the creator of all things
you're with the the people that you create you're in the creation that you've created
you've been made in the image of a man nobody knows who you are that's that's I mean that'd
be kind of weird right but that's what it is. He came into his own and received him not talking
about the Jews would not receive him as he was the messiah but as many as received him to them
gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name. So that's how we
become the sons of God. He gives us that power to if we believe on his name he will save us and he
gives us the power to become the sons of God and again the sons of God would represent what the
stars of heaven right. So which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh so it wasn't
by what bloodline you're from it wasn't the will of the flesh it's not our works it's not the good
things that we do that make us saved nor the will of man but of God. So it's not anything so God is
the one that wills us to be saved he wants us to be saved and it says verse 14 and the word was made
flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. What is glory? The glory is a shine is shining
right he was shining and that glory is like a glistening you know shine that and Jesus glory
is so powerful that John in Revelation fell and was like like he was dead. So it says the glory
is of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth so this word of God that's
talked about in the beginning that creates all things by the power of his word he comes to dwell
among us he is that light that shines in the dark place he is the true light he is the light
of the world right turn to John chapter 3 verse 19. John chapter 3 verse 19.
I mean because what is the Christmas holiday about it's about how that light came into the world
he was born into this world and people are like oh you know
Christmas is on a different day I'll dress up tonight okay I'm not going to preach a Christmas
sermon tonight but I am going to bring up holidays so this afternoon anyway John 3 19 says and this
is the condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love what darkness rather than light
because their deeds were evil so even though the light has come into the world not all people take
comes to them do they because you know we're not a bunch of robots God created us with free will
and so if people want to love him if people want to believe in him they're going to do that but
he does give them a choice but what is the choice that they're really off they're offered they're
offered salvation everlasting life and I would probably say this that every single person that's
in hell if they could if they could go back and make a diverse decision I'm sure they would
after they've been roasting in hell all this time yeah even if you've only been there for one day
even if you've only been there for an hour I'm sure that they would say okay all right
I understand now you know because they're going through torments but you know we only have one
chance to be saved and that's in this life the life that we live in this flesh is the only life
that we have and so we have one chance to be saved which is while we're alive maybe not one chance
but we have one lifetime but you know you might not be able to speak on your deathbed you might
not be able to think on your deathbed so all these people that say oh yeah you can just get saved up
to the final breath you know I'm sure that there are people to do but I'm sure that's also a rare
thing I'm sure it's not as much as people would like to think it is but it's nice when someone
does get an assurance of their salvation or we a family member because you know we really want
our family members to go to heaven also I mean who who in their right mind wouldn't want their
mom to go to heaven who in their right mind wouldn't want their dad to go to heaven or
their uncles or their brothers or their sisters or nieces nephews all that stuff and you know
they have this one chance here but many of our family members have rejected us have rejected the
truth haven't they so but you know it's good for them to understand that light has come into this
world while they have that light they should receive that light because that light might
not be presented to them in the same way ever again for the rest of their life some people
send away their day of grace by rejecting us at the door that might have been their last chance
to hear it you know and especially when it's an elderly person and then they just shut the door
in our face those are the saddest ones to me is that that person even was brought light to their
door because aren't we just bringing light that's not our light I mean we do have our own light
because we have the holy spirit but the light that we're trying to shed abroad to them to
every single door that we knock is that light of Jesus and then when that person that's you know
in their 80s or their 70s or whatever and even if they seem remotely interested but then they
just reject you outright that's really sad because it's probably the last chance that God gave that
person it's like well you know maybe they didn't maybe they didn't get a clear presentation of the
gospel but when they won't even hear what you have to say that's that's just sad it really is
and I'm sure that you've all knocked a door that you thought maybe in a different circumstance or
or something along those lines or maybe if their dog wasn't barking in the background
and stopping them from coming out to talk to you because it was too cold or whatever
I mean people have all kinds of excuses don't they but you know some people I I guarantee are
replaying the excuse that they gave in their mind when somebody came to the door and brought
that great light to them and they refused it so it says men love men darkness rather than light
because their deeds were evil what is the choice they have get saved or stay in love with darkness
and a lot of people want to stay in love with darkness they'd rather enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season than to suffer reproach with the people of Christ Moses said you know what I'm
going away from Pharaoh I'm going away from Egypt and I'm going to go and be with God's people and
did he suffer for it yes he did suffer for it but you know what he has a greater resurrection
he's a great man of God people would say well you've made the wrong choice Moses look what
all you look at these people just whining in the wilderness for 40 years and then got you so mad
that you didn't even get to go into the promised land because you threw a temper tantrum
at the waters of mariba you know but still I'm still sure that Moses would never say well I made
the wrong choice you know what the wrong choice would have been to stay there and become tooting
Moses or whatever he was going to become and learn all this worldly you know philosophy and wisdom
he'd already learned all that stuff but see there's a time when the light comes to us and we
got to make that choice and a lot of people love darkness so much look at look what Moses
just think about what Moses had he was in the river pulled out of the river by Pharaoh's
daughter raised as a prince of Egypt learned all their wisdom had all their treasure had all kinds
of nice clothes he had it made but then he said you know what I don't care about this stuff it's
just like the apostle Paul he had a mate he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees he was of the tribe
of Benjamin you know you know circumcised the eighth day he was just like he was a perfect
Pharisee you know had it going on and then he said you know what I count that as dung and you
know what dung is right dung is not something that you want to mess around with so but that's
what he counts it as all my education dung throw it in the dung pile I don't care it's not worth
it to me look at verse 20 for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light
lest his deeds should be reproved because a lot of people want to continue you know people do
sure that people make the choice of your you know you have those people that that you get to the
end with them and then you say well if you believe all those things let's let's pray and ask and and
have me trust Christ to save you and they go no I'll do it I'll do it later or they'll say yeah
I'm just not really comfortable doing that in front of you whatever their excuse is but I
guarantee you a lot of those people they're either still they could still be mulling it over I
understand that never makes a decision the first time some stranger comes to their door and tells
them something and then throws out their whole religion based upon something some stranger told
I get that but there's also the people that probably say
I don't want this because I want to keep doing what I'm doing now and I know that if I choose
this decision that all this stuff is finished and that's a lot of the reason why people will make
that decision they would rather enjoy their sin they would they love this says they love darkness
and I love how these greek go back to the greek people love to just
say oh agape love and you know if you look at the underlying greek word in that verse in verse 19
it says men agape that word for the word for agape love or whatever is that word love darkness
and so their little greek thing falls on its head agape means love okay but men love like because
they'll say agape is a godly love or whatever the look that god has for his people it just means
it's just another greek word for love it doesn't mean anything necessarily special but it if it did
you know agape darkness rather than light that means that they love that darkness so much that
it's like god it's like there it looks like god's love for us but they love it for darkness I don't
know if that I mean I'm not saying that's what it means I'm just saying that agape the word
agape is is the underlying greek word there not going back to the greek so but anyway look at
verse 21 it says but he that doeth the truth cometh to the light that deeds may be made manifest
that they are wrought in god so there are people that are going to accept that light
but there's also going to be people that hate that light see there's a difference between
someone that love they love darkness but then there's also the the category of people that
hate light and those are the you know because it says the ones that do with evil hate the light
neither come to the light so these are people that never come to the light so what would you
call those people yeah reprobates here's the reprobate doctrine in john chapter 3 verse 20
anyway look at verse look at john 8 12 john 8 12
but some people hear the gospel but they will never come to the
that's the scary part is when someone gets to that point where they're just like you know what
I hate the light I don't want the light and then that that's what turns that person into a god
hater it's just they once they hate that light once they hate so because the light is jesus
right and so what are they hating that light they're hating that light they're hating god
so then they become something that they probably wish they'd never become john 8 12 says then
spake jesus again unto them saying i am the light of the world he that followeth me shall not walk
in darkness but shall have the light of life so he is he proclaims himself to be the light of the
world again referring back to genesis chapter one isn't he i am the light of the world he that
follow with me shall not walk in darkness so what's he what's he's saying when we follow
jesus where our pathways are going to be bright we're going to walk not walk in darkness we're
not going to stumble and trip over stuff because we're going to have hit if we're following him
i always tell people this that say they want to follow me in a car i say follow me like you'd
follow jesus that means close and usually when i tell someone that they're like eight miles behind
me in the slow lane i was just like that's not following is that how you that is how you follow
jesus no i'm just joking but the point is is that i'm telling people to stick with me otherwise
you're going to get lost so and it's the same thing with us if we don't stick close to jesus
if we don't follow close to jesus we're going to lose our way and he says he that follow with
me he didn't say he who saved won't walk in darkness it says he that follow with me
see because getting saves the easy part following is the hard part and if you're going to follow
jesus you know don't be like peter and it says peter followed him from afar because he was a
reproach of some little girl that was saying you're a galilean and all that stuff obviously
got his act together and did well but that verse in john where he says peter followed him afar off
he warmed himself by the world's fire by the world's light think about that we want to follow
jesus closely and when we follow him closely we're going to have the light of life we're not
going to walk in darkness all of our steps are going to be the steps of a good man are ordered
by god aren't they so number three this afternoon or this morning or whatever time it is the light
of the church the light of the church so obviously jesus died for the church jesus died so we could
be here today gathered together spirit-filled believers we are the church here right now
we are the church and we're spirit-filled believers okay turn to colossians chapter 1
verse 26. colossians chapter 1 verse 26 so jesus is the light of the world we also have
lights that god made to help us literally have light and to give us wisdom and pictures
of spiritual things obviously jesus is a picture of the light that was created on day one there
and then we have the light of the church so once jesus left he left us here to fulfill his great
commission which is to go into all the world and preach the gospel and teach people the bible
baptize people so that's the job of the church right colossians 1 26 says even the mystery
which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest to his saints so what
does that mean it's shown to them right there was a time when jesus in the old testament was
not he was not clearly shown in the old testament was so you know how the bible says dark saint that
jesus you know talked to them in dark scenes and in proverbs it's so that people that can't
understand that light couldn't understand the things that he was saying they're dark
things are things that are hard to understand they're pictures that he was trying to give
that unless you have the spirit of god you're not really going to understand those things
and he spoke constantly in parables when he was preaching to people and even his own disciples
were like what is he talking about you know because there are things that are spiritually
discerned now obviously when we we read the gospels there will be times when jesus interprets
those things for us or you know the spirit of god that dwells inside each believer and will help us
to understand the scriptures but it says in verse 27 so he made manifest to the saints it had been
hid from ages and generations so what does that mean it's hid well it wasn't enlightened to people
it's hid it's in it was kind of in darkness not being able to be understood until it was manifest
when things are manifest they're shown you hide something you can't see it right so it's blindness
in a certain way right so it says in 20 verse 27 to whom god would make known what is the riches
of the glory of this ministry or excuse me mystery among the gentiles which is christ in you
the hope of glory the hope of glory remember glory is like intense shining right so the riches of
the glory of the mystery among the gentiles so he's made known to us these things and what is
what is the mystery christ in you the hope of glory so christ once you believe on in jesus
christ the spirit of god comes and dwells with inside you it seals you with that spirit of
promise and you can never be separated from god nothing can separate you from god you can't lose
your salvation the spirit of god is going to dwell in you for all eternity and it says christ in you
the hope of glory whom we preach warn every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may
present every man perfect in christ jesus so you know what are we supposed to preach well we're
supposed to warn people aren't we and so that's what we're doing when we're going out and preaching
the gospel we're warning you know sometimes people won't get saved you know a lot of times people
get saved depending on where you're at you know Belize was apparently pretty receptive
but you know you probably have put well way more hours in the soul winning here and and
i was reading there's like a hundred and something salvations right which doesn't seem like a lot but
if you're in a dark place it does seem like a lot you know and obviously Belize is very receptive
and i'm very thankful for all the people that got saved down there and it's great news but we still
have a job to do here if you want to go to someplace receptive you're probably going to have to go
on a missions trip to a place where it's a lot more receptive but not everybody can do that you
know so save up if you want to do that and um you know obviously we're doing a detroit soloing trip
and that was very receptive last year so that's going to be in april um if anybody wants to go
just see me after the service for details but anyway um so we're supposed to preach
warning every man so when you know pastor menes says this a lot that we're your soul warning
so even if you're warning people you're still doing the job that god sent you to do we're
supposed to warn people to to what to flee from the wrath that's coming to them the wrath of god
abides on all who will not believe right that's a they're just walking dead they're on a death
sentence they're on a death warrant right now and unless they change and believe the gospel
and decide you know what darkness isn't worth it i'd rather have the light i'd rather be separated
from this darkness and take that light in me that's the job of us that's the job of every
person in here is to warn every man teaching every man in all wisdom see we have an advantage
that a lot of people didn't have before we have everybody here probably should have a king james
bible that they can trust and that they can read every chapter of the bible that's nothing missing
you're not having to unroll some scroll and you know stretch it around the room so everybody can
read the book of isaiah i mean we got it made right now we have all the wisdom in the palm
of our hand we have wisdom you can have all the wisdom right here in a little super computer that
you carry around in your in your pocket all day i mean we have a lot of advantages so we can teach
them all wisdom and present every man perfect in christ jesus because we have the advantage
we have the roman's road you know paul you know there's people getting the book of acts but paul
hadn't written the roman's road down yet had he but obviously there's other verses in the bible
before that we're able to get people saved and still are but i'm saying that it's easier with
the roman's road isn't it and just like it was easier for people to commerce in the old world
of the romans because they had all these different various roads that are still visible and still
intact in very many places which is really crazy because they're over 2 000 years old
they had a pretty good infrastructure but we have the infrastructure of the bible in our hand where
we can just walk up to someone and go here let me show you this verse and you know we have all
wisdom right here at our hands every question that people ask at the door oh yeah you want to
know about what happens if you kill yourself or what how you know do you have eternal security
well yeah i got like 15 verses on that or whatever we have all the wisdom that we can present every
man perfect in christ jesus because when they get to church they can learn the bible they can learn
how to become that perfect man i'm not saying walking on water okay i'm talking about just
being the complete package of a complete christian turn to matthew chapter five matthew chapter number
five
look at verse 10 the bible says blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you
and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake rejoice and be exceeding glad
for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you hey don't don't get all upset when people start reviling you and persecuting you and saying
all kinds of mean things about you you know saying mean things about jason because he preached
against margery green taylor or whatever and taylor green or whatever who cares that's what's
going to happen you know if people aren't getting persecuted that's the problem it's like well what
aren't you doing why are you not getting persecuted and you know so don't be ashamed of the fact that
you're getting persecuted for saying what the bible teaches because i watched those videos that
were the rebuttal videos and i was just like you have no understanding whatsoever do you
they're like that's you know the bible doesn't teach any of that or whatever it's just like
hold on a second the bible says that women are supposed to obey their husbands what are you
talking that's what jason said wasn't it that they got everybody all even even you know republicans
are mad at him you know it's just like even another so-called christians mad at them who
doesn't teach the eternal security by the way yeah so you know don't be upset when things get
preached your husband gets up here and preaches a sermon and then people are throwing them
under the bus on twitter or whatever and making videos who cares that's what the bible says it's
gonna happen you're like well what does this have to do with light well let's look down to verse 13
it says year the salt of the earth and you know what salt does it irritates doesn't it
if you sweat profusely and and sweat goes into your eyeballs what do it stings doesn't it it
stings and so a lot of people wear headbands or you know whatever or they wipe their head a lot
or whatever they do but you want to try to keep that sweat out of your eyes because it stings
why because of the salt if you ever go swimming in salt water and you have sensitive skin
that salt will sting your skin and like i don't like my wife has to instantly take like a shower
to wash all that salt water off because it irritates your skin that's what salt does but
what else does it do it preserves doesn't it people tan hides or whatever do people that do
taxidermy and they'll skin they'll take those skins and they'll put that salt on there to tan
the hide but because what it preserves that skin doesn't it and so salt is used as a preservative
for lots of different things and it's also used for good taste for savory taste so you know if
you ever had a two dollar steak you're gonna need a lot of salt and a tenderizer but salt is good
on food isn't it look what it says you're the salt of the earth but if the salt has lost
his savior what am i talking about if the salt has lost its savor excuse me
then is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men
so we're supposed to be the salt aren't we we're supposed to be you know we're not here just to
irritate we're here to preserve and preserving is a picture of what the the fact that we're
preserved forever by jesus christ so we're we preach the word and to some people it's really
irritating to some people it stings but to some people that preserves their life for for everlasting
right you're like well what does that have to do with light well let's go down to another verse in
verse 14 it says you're the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid neither
do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all
that are in the house let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works
and glorify your father which is in heaven so jesus starts out by talking about how we're
blessed because we're being persecuted that's a blessing when men revile you when they cast out
your name is evil when they when they say you're you're in a hate you're in a hate preaching cult
or whatever and they won't give you a job or you lose your job because of that let me tell you
something your reward is great and they're going to be punished that's right they're going to
they're going to get destroyed you know the bible talks about jesus talks about how those that fall
upon the rock you know and then it talks about the rock crushing them so you can either fall on that
rock for mercy or you can be ground into powder by it so and you can either accept that light
or be burned by that fiery light that's going to come for you at some point but we're supposed to
be the light of the world because jesus isn't here anymore so the light of the world is jesus but now
it funnels through his children the children of light he says ye are the light of the world
let's talk about you so let's talk about the church let's talk about people that are saved
and so it says we don't a city that's set on the hill can't be hid you can try to hide the fact
that you're a christian all you want but people are going to find out people are going to know
and if you're thinking different if you're talking different if they they can catch on
that people can pick christians apart at workplaces really easily oh you want to come
have a beer with us no why not what are you a mormon or something no i'm a baptist you know
it's just like they're going to be able to know oh how many kids do you have eight
oh you must be a catholic no i'm a baptist but you know what i'm saying like people you can't
hide the fact that you're a christian you know so why even try a city that's you know it's
comparing you as the light of the world to a city that's set on a hill if you put a city on a hill
you know in the old times before you know there was all this electricity and stuff if a city was
on a hill that would people could see that for miles around and they would go to that place right
so the city that's set on a hill it can't be hid you can't hide your light so why not just let it
shine why not let it shine so it says neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel
so when you light a candle what's the purpose of lighting the candle it's to give light right it
giveth light until all that are in the house when you put it on the candlestick what is the
candlestick represented in revelation chapter one church yeah revelation chapter two the
candlesticks are rep are the the seven golden candlesticks are the seven churches that he's
writing to so when you light that candlestick if you light that candle then it is you know so
saying you know he's going to give light to the church and that light is the light is you because
this building here is not the church the people that are inside it are the church
christ in you the hope of glory so it says let your light so shine before men that they may see
your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven so that's why there's the separation
between the light and the darkness because if people can't see the difference in you then it's
going to be a confusing message to them isn't it but what are we we are supposed to have good
works we're supposed to be careful to maintain good works you know this church does not have
a problem with that you guys are out soloing every single week and you're here you know faithful to
church services and i really appreciate that there's a lot of things i appreciate about this
church but the fact that you know you guys are out soloing every week even though it's not the
most receptive place in the world maybe you guys are just knocking on receptive areas but
i mean it's not the most receptive place in the world you know so when you get people saved it's
even more joyous isn't it but here's the thing so all the church plants that we have are in areas
that are pretty much dark spiritually we're not in the bible belt we're not in places where
you know there's every a baptist church on every corner and it what was it in georgia there was
literally we're out in the country and there's baptist churches on every corner i'm not even
kidding but how many of those baptist churches do you think are worth something probably not a lot
probably not a lot you know baptist a lot of times means southern baptist you know how far
off the edge they've jumped so i'm never going to give up the name baptist i think everybody else
should just take baptists off their name that's good if they're going to not be baptists and not
you know get up and preach the bible like it should be preached and they're not going to be
soul winning and they're not going to you know teach separation from the world and uh you know
i think that they should take their name off i'm not going to give up the name baptist i like the
name baptist there's a there's a guy named john the baptist he was a pretty good guy and he
baptized jesus so you know and that's what we're supposed to do go out and baptize believers that
are saved right so we're baptists because we follow after that pattern that's the biblical
pattern right and we believe the bible right so we have all these church plants that are in dark
spiritual areas so vancouver washington is not super receptive to the gospel anymore it it was
more receptive but it's not as receptive now in portland yeah i mean your uh chances for
confrontation in the inner city when you knock those doors you know we haven't even begun to
knock the inner city doors there but you know they got rainbow flags hanging off of most of
their houses and their churches and they they're it's pretty bad over there and i'm not saying
people can't get saved there i'm i'm sure they can be it's just that's going to be a a step up
in the war zone right but of course we got surrey bc and you know but people still get saved every
week at our church people still get saved every week in surrey people still get saved here in
spokane and you know in the united kingdom who knew that was going to be as receptive as it is
but it's very receptive they've gotten you know almost a thousand salvations this year so
they had over a thousand the year before so i mean it's been very receptive there and now we
have the new church plant in winnipeg manitoba canada and that place you know it's cold in the
winter time they say it's like minus 30 or 40 sometimes so talk about polar soul winning and
they still go they still go so i'm you know i like you do invite people have people invite you in or
let me in right now i'm gonna give you the gospel i mean that's what i would be like
it's an emergency let me in okay i just want to tell you you're gonna die and go to hell
once you believe this but but our churches are not exactly in the bible belt are they
so but here's the thing that's that's that's neat about our churches and where they're at
is that in a place that's so dark that's where our brightness can shine brighter than in other
places if you're in a place where there's a church on every corner it it's not special to people
anymore is it but when you're in a church like this in a town like this where it's it's i mean
are there a lot of christians here i'm sure there are a lot of christians here i'm sure there's a
lot of people that are probably saved here but there's a lot of darkness here too i mean
apparently you gotta have a lock on everything everywhere i mean it's it's like that in portland
too you know it's getting that way in vancouver but our light can shine brighter because if you're in
a dark place and you are that light it is going to shine brighter than most places now are people
always going to be trying to constantly put the candle out yeah they are but you know what jesus
christ said i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it that's not
going to happen so as long as we're still continuing to do what we do and you know maybe
and if this church has stayed the same size and everybody here stayed spiritual and everybody here
went sowing every week i'd be happy i'm happy i mean the church hasn't really grown but you know
you guys were in a hard spot you guys have been in a tough spot this year and it hasn't been easy
you know you lost your leader from before and you know things just it got ugly we lost our building
but now we're back you know and things were probably bleak and dark but one thing i really
appreciate and i'm thankful about for this church is that i never heard one person whine about it
you guys just continue to go people and brother paul and miss victoria and brother jason and
brother daniel and miss marina and miss malina i really appreciate the fact that you opened your
home up so that people could come and still go to church because not a lot of people will do that
it's a very rare breed and you guys did it for what four months or something like that or was
it more what may to what that's four months bro anyway it seemed like six it seemed like 666
so yeah and if you keep preaching hard then you might be back to jason's house
but you know i i do i'm thankful for this church and i'm thankful that you guys stuck it out and
gutted it out and i know that those weren't easy times those weren't easy situations but i do i
am thankful for everything that you guys do here and i don't think there's a person here that
doesn't do something and that's another thing that i really am thankful for in this church
everybody does something everybody contributes and i appreciate that i'm thankful for you guys
thankful for this church being it's a spiritual church it is a light shining in a dark place
turn to uh isaiah chapter actually turn to second peter 119 second peter 119
second peter 119 says
we have a more sure word of prophecy where unto you do well that you take heed as unto a light
that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart so
he says to take heed to this you know we have a more sure word of prophecy we have the bible
that shines that light and you know we're the people that god has chosen to to shine that light
on others we are the children of light we are the light of the world you know people say well that's
blasphemy to say that's what jesus said didn't he say it he said ye are the light of the world
you're the salt of the world you know and and so you guys are doing exactly what you need to be
doing you know if people are if your sermons are going on uh news week and stuff like that you're
doing something right because nobody else is preaching against margery green taylor or taylor
green or whatever her name is i don't even know who she is really i just know that she
you know jason didn't realize that they were divorced you know i mean he's it's not like
he's keeping up on every single step of politics who cares that's right the point is and you know
the point is still true she still should be at home if maybe if she would have stayed home
and listened to her husband and let him run for office maybe they'd still be married that's right
and their kids wouldn't be in a divorced home amen how about that
and it's like you know people just get so upset about this stuff men and women are different like
women need to just quit trying to be men and men need to quit trying to be women that's right
this world is upside down and topsy-turvy turn to isaiah chapter 9 verse 2 chapter 9 verse 2
and when jesus came into this world it was obviously prophesied you know back in the
old testament isaiah chapter 9 verse 2 it says the people that walked in darkness have seen
a great light they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them had the light
shined turn to matthew chapter 4 verse 13 matthew chapter 4 verse 13 so we know that this is a
prophecy that is talking specifically about jesus because it actually says it in matthew chapter 4
matthew chapter 4 verse 13 says and leaving nazareth he came and dwelt in capernaum
which is upon the sea coast in the borders of zebulun and neftalim that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by isaias the prophet saying the land of zebulun and the land of neftalim by
the way of the sea beyond jordan gallily of the of the gentiles the people sat in darkness saw
a great light and to them in which sat in the region of the of the and shadow of death light
is sprung up for that time jesus began to preach and say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand a great light what we're talking about is talking about jesus the light the great light
that they saw was jesus and again we are now that light psalm chapter one uh go ahead second
corinthians 4 3 i'm going to read psalm 119 104 it says through thy precepts i get understanding
therefore i hate every false way thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path
kind of goes along with the following jesus thing and if you look if you're following jesus one of
the things you're doing is reading this book because if you're not reading this then how are
you saying you're following jesus because his words are in this book how do you know how to
follow jesus well he tells you he tells you what to do he tells you how to follow him so instead
of getting directions from google in a car trying to follow me around you know think about following
jesus you got to read the directions in this book right here and he's going to show you the way
of of the way there right he's going to show you the way to follow him so second
corinthians chapter 4 verse 13 says but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost
in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the what's
it say the light of the glorious gospel of christ who is the image of god should shine onto them
and what are we trying to do we're trying to wake people up we're trying to snap them out of the
spell that they're under that spell is satan taking people captive at his will he has blinded
people's minds and given them all their dreams to come true and all this look people live vain
lives in this world like oh i want to be an astronaut when i grow up daddy or whatever and
you know you you live your life with this certain goal that you want to do some people are like well
i know what i wanted to do with my life from the time that i you know was five years old or
whatever well not everybody feels that way but those lives are vanity if they don't have christ
in them that's right you could do all this stuff and you could retire with this nice house with
the white picket fence around it the two dogs the two and a half dogs the two and a half kids
and they all went to college and you can go and brag to your friends how your children went to
college and they're ivy league you know professors or whatever whatever your you want to do is your
vanity in life but when you die and you're buried under the dirt what does all that matter if you
die and go straight to hell that means nothing everything you did meant nothing your yard that
was immaculate and perfect means nothing it's going to be sold and the kids are going to fight
over everything that was in the house and they're going to divide the dog in half now and
they'll probably have custody battles over the dogs because people worship their dogs there
literally is custody battles for dogs i mean anyway i'm not preaching about that look what
it says in verse five for we preach not ourselves but christ jesus the lord and ourselves your
servants for jesus sake for god who commanded the light shine out of the darkness has shined in our
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ what is
our job well he lays it out pretty simply for us and we're not going to preach ourselves don't go
out today and preach your testimony brother but go out and preach that there's a light that is
shined out of the darkness you know and it shined in my heart let me show you how it can shine in
yours so there's many different lights in this world i just covered three basic you know points
today but i just want us to remember the mission as we move forward into the holidays even though
according to daniel thanksgiving is already today but thanksgiving christmas and new year
let's focus let's refocus and remember that the main thing that we're here to do is we're to
reflect the light of jesus christ in our lives and in our church to a lost and dying world
and that's what it's all about is jesus we revolve around that great light and we get our light
that we shine back onto other people from him so it's the light of jesus so let's pray heavenly
father we thank you lord so much for this great church lord i'm so thankful for each and every
person here just continue to bless this church lord and i pray that lord that this will be a
light that shines in a dark place for many many years to come and i just pray that lord you
that's the thing that's done keep us safe today we go out and i just pray that you would give
a sweet fellowship and you