WEBVTT 00:00:07.700 --> 00:00:10.160 Thank you for listening to this message from 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:18.079 Lifehouse Church. Thank you for being here. Thank 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.600 you for coming to worship the Lord alongside 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:23.120 of one another. The word of God tells us not 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:24.960 to forsake the gathering together, right? We 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:27.219 come together. We come to lift up the name of 00:00:27.219 --> 00:00:29.739 the Lord. And if you're in a house today, thank 00:00:29.739 --> 00:00:31.339 you for being here. If you're listening online, 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:33.939 thank you for joining us online. Some can't get 00:00:33.939 --> 00:00:35.859 here. I know a lot of people join us online on 00:00:35.859 --> 00:00:39.159 Sundays and many, many more join us through podcasts 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:41.960 and electronically throughout the week. So it's 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:45.399 amazing where all the gospel goes just out of 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:47.850 this place right here. But I want to throw a 00:00:47.850 --> 00:00:50.310 quick plug in before I start into the message 00:00:50.310 --> 00:00:53.090 this morning. Next week is Membership Sunday. 00:00:53.509 --> 00:00:55.789 And a lot of times people are like, well, what's 00:00:55.789 --> 00:00:57.950 membership all about? You know, how can I get 00:00:57.950 --> 00:01:01.170 involved in that? We want to let you know what 00:01:01.170 --> 00:01:04.549 membership's all about here at LHC. And the opportunity 00:01:04.549 --> 00:01:06.730 is next week. You can still sign up. You can 00:01:06.730 --> 00:01:09.390 still register for that. And the only requirement 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:11.650 to come to the membership is we want you to go 00:01:11.650 --> 00:01:13.609 to Welcome to Church or actually the Connection 00:01:13.609 --> 00:01:15.959 Lunch. First, if you're new with us, we have 00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:18.439 a connection lunch. Talk to me about that. We'd 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:20.680 love to take that time. That helps get you introduced 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:23.920 to who LifeHouse is, what we're all about, the 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:25.859 mission, the vision. And then if you've been 00:01:25.859 --> 00:01:28.140 at LifeHouse a little while and you know a little 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:29.620 bit about LifeHouse and you want to find out 00:01:29.620 --> 00:01:32.390 about membership, next week's the week. We get 00:01:32.390 --> 00:01:35.189 together. We involve food in everything we do, 00:01:35.250 --> 00:01:38.390 by the way, so just saying. But we'll get a little 00:01:38.390 --> 00:01:40.109 something there to eat, and we'll spend a little 00:01:40.109 --> 00:01:42.530 bit of time, and we'll talk about what membership's 00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:45.290 all about here at Lifehouse and what that actually 00:01:45.290 --> 00:01:47.010 means and why you might want to get involved 00:01:47.010 --> 00:01:49.859 in that way. Well, thank you. Thanks for letting 00:01:49.859 --> 00:01:51.859 me give that little commercial break. We do those 00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:54.620 from time to time here at LifeHouse, and I want 00:01:54.620 --> 00:01:56.700 to give you opportunity. I believe it's important, 00:01:56.859 --> 00:01:59.459 and I'll explain that all next week if you come 00:01:59.459 --> 00:02:02.200 and join in. Well, let's just go ahead. Can I 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:03.700 get you to do something? Can I get you to stand? 00:02:04.099 --> 00:02:06.000 We're going to pray over the gathering. I want 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.980 you to pray over your ears, over your heart to 00:02:07.980 --> 00:02:09.620 receive. But I also want you to stretch your 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:12.180 hands this way. We pray over these invitations. 00:02:12.259 --> 00:02:15.159 We take this seriously. These balls all represent 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:17.740 invitations that have gone out for somebody that 00:02:17.740 --> 00:02:20.360 might not be near Jesus to come near Jesus. And 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:22.460 that might be an invitation to come to Christ. 00:02:22.500 --> 00:02:23.960 It might be an invitation to come to church. 00:02:25.379 --> 00:02:28.340 We're the ones. We got to go out and give those 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:30.539 invitations out. We want to pray over those because 00:02:30.539 --> 00:02:33.080 we're hoping whoever this is, praying, believing, 00:02:33.259 --> 00:02:36.650 whoever these people represent. that one day 00:02:36.650 --> 00:02:38.930 they'll know Christ as Lord and Savior. So if 00:02:38.930 --> 00:02:40.909 you would, just extend your hand this way. Father, 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:42.750 we come to you. We thank you, God. We're grateful 00:02:42.750 --> 00:02:44.689 for the opportunity to come and break bread. 00:02:44.930 --> 00:02:47.069 God, to open the word of God. Lord, we thank 00:02:47.069 --> 00:02:51.050 you. The bread of life. Lord Jesus, you are the 00:02:51.050 --> 00:02:53.310 word. So Lord, we just pray, God, that you move 00:02:53.310 --> 00:02:55.469 in our hearts and our ears as we prepare ourselves, 00:02:55.710 --> 00:02:58.490 Lord, to hear the word. And Lord God, let a process, 00:02:58.650 --> 00:03:01.090 Holy Spirit, move in us and speak to us. But 00:03:01.090 --> 00:03:04.150 as we pray for that, we pray for these invitations. 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:06.819 We pray, Lord, that the people that these invitations 00:03:06.819 --> 00:03:08.680 represent, God, that you'll move on their hearts 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:11.599 and lives, that they'll draw close to you. And 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:13.139 God, if they don't know you as Lord and Savior, 00:03:13.259 --> 00:03:15.560 that will take place. They'll come into the kingdom 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:18.300 and know you as Lord and Savior because that'll 00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:20.000 change everything in their lives. We give you 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:23.199 praise and glory and honor today. In Jesus' name, 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:25.960 everybody said together. Amen, amen. You may 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.379 be seated this morning. Again, it is good to 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:32.340 have you here at LifeHouse. Well, late in the 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:36.520 day. Last Monday, just a week, not this past 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.719 week, a Monday, Dixie and I were working upstairs. 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:42.120 We have an office upstairs. It's our home office. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:44.659 And all of a sudden, while we were in the office, 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:48.360 we heard click. Not boom or bang, but click. 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:52.500 And the lights went out. The lights went out, 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:55.460 the computer monitors all went out, you know, 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:58.080 and we were looking around at each other and 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.840 we knew what happened. The power went out. Now, 00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:02.639 I don't know where you live and what it's like 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:04.620 in your neighborhood, but that's a pretty regular 00:04:04.620 --> 00:04:07.039 occurrence where we live. I'm not sure exactly 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:09.580 the reasons for that, but it's pretty common 00:04:09.580 --> 00:04:11.500 in our neighborhood for the power to go out. 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:13.139 And honestly, we kind of even didn't even break 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:14.680 stride. We looked over at each other like, ah, 00:04:14.780 --> 00:04:17.300 power's out. And we just lit our computers over 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:19.360 and went on battery power for a little bit. But 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:21.029 it didn't take long for me to figure out. Like 00:04:21.029 --> 00:04:23.110 this isn't kicking back on, right? This isn't 00:04:23.110 --> 00:04:25.750 one of those 10 second power outages. This is 00:04:25.750 --> 00:04:28.490 probably gonna be hours and hours. And if you're 00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:31.009 in our neighborhood, when that takes place, it's 00:04:31.009 --> 00:04:32.649 such a common occurrence. If you go outside, 00:04:33.029 --> 00:04:36.410 it's like you hear all the generators in our 00:04:36.410 --> 00:04:38.449 neighborhood start up at one time. It's like 00:04:38.449 --> 00:04:41.610 a chorus of generators just begin. People have 00:04:41.610 --> 00:04:44.870 automatic generators and it starts. And once 00:04:44.870 --> 00:04:46.990 I realized this, I realized I just need to go 00:04:46.990 --> 00:04:49.790 downstairs and I don't have one that kicks on 00:04:49.790 --> 00:04:52.629 automatically. I got a portable generator. So 00:04:52.629 --> 00:04:55.029 I got to go down and do a whole series of flipping 00:04:55.029 --> 00:04:57.430 breakers on and off and a procedure that I got 00:04:57.430 --> 00:04:59.910 to go through. And I ran down the steps and it 00:04:59.910 --> 00:05:03.089 was just about evening time. Sun was just starting 00:05:03.089 --> 00:05:06.149 to go down and I headed downstairs. And while 00:05:06.149 --> 00:05:07.949 there was enough light in the house upstairs, 00:05:08.089 --> 00:05:10.250 when I got to the bottom of the basement steps, 00:05:10.329 --> 00:05:14.220 I realized, hey, it's dark down here. And what 00:05:14.220 --> 00:05:16.060 do you do first, right? You grab a light switch 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:18.360 and flip it on. The power's out, right? You flip 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:20.459 the light switch on like nothing. So, you know, 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:23.740 this is 2026, right? The 21st century. What do 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:26.300 you do when the lights go out in the 21st century? 00:05:26.459 --> 00:05:29.360 What do you grab for? Cell phone, right? Go and 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.220 grab your cell phone. Get it out right now. Just 00:05:31.220 --> 00:05:33.240 some of you are like, I'm already on social media, 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:36.040 man. But like, pull it out. Go ahead and flip 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:38.180 your light on, right? What do we do? We swipe. 00:05:38.889 --> 00:05:40.529 There we go. Thank you. Come on, we're going 00:05:40.529 --> 00:05:42.910 to do a concert. You don't want me to sing. You 00:05:42.910 --> 00:05:46.089 don't want me to sing. We swipe, and we find 00:05:46.089 --> 00:05:48.029 the little flashlight icon, and we click it on. 00:05:48.350 --> 00:05:51.029 It's the first thing we grab for so we can light 00:05:51.029 --> 00:05:54.949 up the dark. It is our response in the 21st century 00:05:54.949 --> 00:05:58.470 to the darkness surrounding us. We grab our phones, 00:05:58.569 --> 00:06:01.509 we swipe, we look for that little icon, and we 00:06:01.509 --> 00:06:04.550 click. That's how we respond to the darkness. 00:06:05.490 --> 00:06:10.089 In 2026. And as I thought about getting this 00:06:10.089 --> 00:06:13.269 out, you know, I thought, I was waiting for a 00:06:13.269 --> 00:06:15.189 different answer. Actually, from the 21st century, 00:06:15.250 --> 00:06:17.449 I'm like, if you're 50 and older, you're like, 00:06:17.509 --> 00:06:19.029 the first thought is not your cell phone. You're 00:06:19.029 --> 00:06:21.430 like, where's the flashlight, right? Where's 00:06:21.430 --> 00:06:25.290 the lantern? I got to get the lantern out. But 00:06:25.290 --> 00:06:28.009 I didn't hear any of that. Even some of us that 00:06:28.009 --> 00:06:29.970 have a little more age to us, right? Get the 00:06:29.970 --> 00:06:32.649 cell phone out. It's our response. And it's intuitive. 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:35.279 It kind of happens automatically. We just grab 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:38.660 for our pocket. It's our response. It's an intuitive 00:06:38.660 --> 00:06:42.199 thing. But it is not near as easy and it's not 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:46.060 near as intuitive spiritually to understand how 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:48.540 I'm going to respond to the darkness that I experience 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:52.699 around me. It's not as simple as a swipe and 00:06:52.699 --> 00:06:54.699 a click, right? When the darkness, spiritual 00:06:54.699 --> 00:06:57.480 darkness begins to surround me and when I start 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:00.600 to look around and I watch the news and I see 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:03.240 the moral depravity that's taking place, it's 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:05.860 not as simple as a swipe and a click. It's not 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:07.720 near as intuitive. As a matter of fact, a lot 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:11.379 of times we just freeze up as we see the diabolical 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:14.860 plans of the enemy and the viciousness of the 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:17.040 schemes of the enemy. You know, I don't know 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:19.389 if you saw this in the news, but yesterday, I 00:07:19.389 --> 00:07:21.689 saw for the first time that in Erie, Pennsylvania, 00:07:21.949 --> 00:07:24.449 right, eight people died, actually nine total, 00:07:24.670 --> 00:07:28.670 in one household. One household. You know, and 00:07:28.670 --> 00:07:32.750 there's darkness. How do I respond to the darkness 00:07:32.750 --> 00:07:37.180 while I'm living on the rock? Christ Jesus. What 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:39.740 do I do with the evil? What do I do in the middle 00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:42.939 of the depravity? What do I do to handle the 00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:46.319 world who is in a hot pursuit after sin, honestly? 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:49.319 How do I respond to the wicked plans and the 00:07:49.319 --> 00:07:52.990 schemes and the attacks of the enemy? Well, if 00:07:52.990 --> 00:07:54.389 you got your Bibles this morning, I want you 00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:57.959 to turn to Matthew 5, verse 1. We're gonna begin 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:00.980 with verse one. And as you go and turn to that 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:02.720 spot, I'm gonna give you a little explanation 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:04.420 because what we're gonna do is we're gonna read, 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:06.740 we're gonna dig into these first set of scriptures. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:09.300 And the first set of scriptures I'm gonna read 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:10.959 down through are really just gonna set the stage 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:13.540 for the last three scriptures that we're really 00:08:13.540 --> 00:08:16.589 gonna dig into today. Matthew 5 .1 says this. 00:08:16.649 --> 00:08:35.860 Jesus says this. for they shall inherit the earth. 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:38.340 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:41.259 for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the 00:08:41.259 --> 00:08:43.960 merciful, for they shall receive mercy. And blessed 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:45.940 are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:48.580 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be 00:08:48.580 --> 00:08:51.200 called the sons of God. Blessed are those who 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:53.879 are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:56.799 is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.879 others revile you and persecute you and utter 00:08:59.879 --> 00:09:03.320 all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:11.929 These scriptures are set in a stage for I want 00:09:11.929 --> 00:09:14.769 to go. Now, I don't know about you, but sometimes 00:09:14.769 --> 00:09:17.029 when we sing, we actually sang about this morning, 00:09:17.149 --> 00:09:19.409 you know, when we're blessed. How many are thinking 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:22.480 of these things, by the way? Right? How many 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:24.799 of us are like, oh, yeah, I'm blessed if I'm 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:27.759 poor in spirit, right? If I'm mourning, if I'm 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.360 hunger, if I'm hungering and thirsting for righteousness, 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:33.450 when I'm getting persecuted. How many are going 00:09:33.450 --> 00:09:38.090 like, I'm blessed? Nobody, right? But this is 00:09:38.090 --> 00:09:41.320 what Jesus said. You're blessed. When you're 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:44.059 suffering for Christ, when you're walking through 00:09:44.059 --> 00:09:47.379 the difficulty, when it's hard, right, you're 00:09:47.379 --> 00:09:50.460 blessed. It doesn't fit our definition sometimes. 00:09:50.779 --> 00:09:54.299 Everybody do this, just go, hmm. Yeah, that's 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:57.200 a hmm moment right there, right? Verse 13 says 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:00.690 this. You are salt of the earth, but if the salt 00:10:00.690 --> 00:10:03.629 has lost its taste, how shall saltiness be restored? 00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:05.769 It is no longer good for anything except to be 00:10:05.769 --> 00:10:07.870 thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 00:10:07.950 --> 00:10:10.029 Here's where we're really going this morning. 00:10:10.429 --> 00:10:14.309 Matthew 5, 14 through 16. You are the light of 00:10:14.309 --> 00:10:17.470 the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, 00:10:17.590 --> 00:10:20.110 nor do people light a lamp and put it under a 00:10:20.110 --> 00:10:23.100 basket. but on a lampstand. And it gives light 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:26.299 to all in the house. In the same way, let your 00:10:26.299 --> 00:10:28.840 light shine before others so that they may see 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:31.899 your good works and give glory to your Father 00:10:31.899 --> 00:10:37.840 who is in heaven. How do I respond to the darkness 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:42.269 all around me? I become light. I become light. 00:10:42.830 --> 00:10:46.570 What do I do about the evil that I see unfolding 00:10:46.570 --> 00:10:50.309 in the news that's reported on the daily? I become 00:10:50.309 --> 00:10:53.899 light. What do I do about a society that insists 00:10:53.899 --> 00:10:58.159 on labeling evil as good and good as evil? Calling 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:03.700 righteousness sin and sin righteousness. What 00:11:03.700 --> 00:11:06.740 do I do about all that? I become light. What 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:09.320 do I do about the moral slide and those that 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:12.159 are in hot pursuit of the diabolical schemes 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:15.620 of the enemy and of sin? What do I do in response 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:20.389 to the darkness that's all around me? Jesus said... 00:11:21.629 --> 00:11:26.399 Simple. You become light. Let me reread it. You 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:29.740 are the light of the world. A city set on a hill 00:11:29.740 --> 00:11:32.059 cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp 00:11:32.059 --> 00:11:34.659 and put it under a basket, but on a stand. And 00:11:34.659 --> 00:11:37.500 it gives light to all who are in the house. In 00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:40.909 the same way, let your light, say light, shine 00:11:40.909 --> 00:11:42.889 before others so that they may see your good 00:11:42.889 --> 00:11:46.110 works and give glory to your Father who is in 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:51.080 heaven. We respond to the very... very dark world 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:54.720 that is around us on the daily by lighting it 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:59.659 up. Every morning you get up to pray, Lord, make 00:11:59.659 --> 00:12:03.320 me light in a dark world that surrounds me every 00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:06.919 day. Every morning, Lord, somehow, some way, 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:10.179 can you shine the light of God through me and 00:12:10.179 --> 00:12:13.950 out of me and in me? and behind me and beside 00:12:13.950 --> 00:12:17.429 me and above me. Every morning, right, your kingdom 00:12:17.429 --> 00:12:20.110 come, your will be done on earth as it is in 00:12:20.110 --> 00:12:23.429 heaven. God, help me to be light. Help me to 00:12:23.429 --> 00:12:26.350 be light. Help me to light it up wherever I'm 00:12:26.350 --> 00:12:28.830 gonna go, wherever my feet are gonna go today, 00:12:29.070 --> 00:12:31.870 whatever environment I'm gonna walk in, whatever 00:12:31.870 --> 00:12:36.649 space that I step in, wherever that is, help 00:12:36.649 --> 00:12:40.070 me to be light. Jesus said, don't just look. 00:12:40.490 --> 00:12:42.669 For heavenly light, right? Don't wait for some 00:12:42.669 --> 00:12:47.269 apparition to magically appear in the sky and 00:12:47.269 --> 00:12:49.370 wait for the dawn to break through the darkness. 00:12:49.549 --> 00:12:52.950 You are the light of the world. If you're following 00:12:52.950 --> 00:12:56.870 Jesus Christ, you're it. You're the one. Don't 00:12:56.870 --> 00:13:00.149 wait on anything else. Just shine. Turn to your 00:13:00.149 --> 00:13:02.870 neighbor right now. Tell them you're it. You're 00:13:02.870 --> 00:13:04.870 it. Just like tag, man. You can hit them. Tell 00:13:04.870 --> 00:13:07.149 them you're it. You're supposed to be light. 00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:13.259 You are the response. This is the response to 00:13:13.259 --> 00:13:15.539 the darkness that surrounds us. And listen, if 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:17.820 we're going to dig a little bit deeper into this, 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:20.039 if we're really going to understand what Jesus 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.899 is saying, and it's what seems like very short 00:13:22.899 --> 00:13:26.620 passage, we got to lose a concept or two. Because 00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:30.679 you live in 2026, because I live in 2026, because 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:32.679 of all the modern conveniences that we get to 00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:36.179 be a part of, we got to lose the idea of a swipe 00:13:36.179 --> 00:13:38.570 and click. right? When we think about light, 00:13:38.690 --> 00:13:40.950 we think about swipe and click. When we think 00:13:40.950 --> 00:13:42.730 about light, we think about let's go in the living 00:13:42.730 --> 00:13:45.070 room, right? Flip on the switch. Some of you 00:13:45.070 --> 00:13:47.070 are like, I got smart bulbs, man. I just get 00:13:47.070 --> 00:13:50.080 on my phone again, right? Swipe and click. In 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.440 our modern concept of plugging it in, sliding 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:56.159 it in, sticking a battery in it, and flipping 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:58.440 a switch, we're going to miss a lot of depth 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.519 of what Jesus was speaking in here. Our modern 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:05.019 concept will cause us to miss what Christ is 00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:08.519 saying in depth in this spot about you and I 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:11.929 as followers of Jesus, as rock life people. being 00:14:11.929 --> 00:14:16.169 light. You know, most of us, we do know the switch. 00:14:16.309 --> 00:14:18.629 We do know the battery. Most of us don't know 00:14:18.629 --> 00:14:20.370 anything about electricity. Amen. Raise your 00:14:20.370 --> 00:14:21.450 hand if you don't know anything about electricity, 00:14:21.629 --> 00:14:23.690 right? That's why most of us don't work on wiring. 00:14:23.850 --> 00:14:25.929 A lot of you don't work on wiring because you 00:14:25.929 --> 00:14:27.769 should be scared, right? What you don't know 00:14:27.769 --> 00:14:31.879 can't hurt you. But in Jesus' day and the crowd 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:34.559 that he was speaking to that day, the Jewish 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:36.580 crowd that came out on the hillside to listen, 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:39.600 they would have had a very different take on 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:42.740 what Jesus was saying. When Jesus was speaking 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:44.860 to this Jewish crowd, they wouldn't have been 00:14:44.860 --> 00:14:46.940 thinking cell phone. They wouldn't have been 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:48.700 thinking about the lamp in their living room. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:50.320 They wouldn't have been thinking about coming 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:52.320 in and flipping the lights on here. They would 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:55.039 have been thinking about holy light in a completely 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:58.240 different way. That crowd was not thinking about 00:14:58.240 --> 00:14:59.980 cell phones because cell phones weren't a thing 00:14:59.980 --> 00:15:01.720 yet, right? They wouldn't have been waving them 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:03.919 in the air to Jesus, right? Having a Jesus concert. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:05.820 They wouldn't have had that. They would have 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:09.639 had a very different mental picture of God's 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:14.179 light. holy light, righteous light, and not a 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:17.139 flashlight icon, right? Their mental picture 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:19.539 would have had deep Jewish roots. It would have 00:15:19.539 --> 00:15:22.019 had deep Jewish history. And to help us get a 00:15:22.019 --> 00:15:25.259 handle on the depths of this, Jesus was saying, 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.120 you need to respond, right? I respond to the 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:31.740 dark world like a lampstand and not a cell phone, 00:15:31.899 --> 00:15:34.740 all right? We respond to the darkness like a 00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:37.980 lampstand and not a cell phone. The mental image 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:39.980 of light that they would have had would have 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:43.720 been a menorah. Say a menorah, not a cell phone. 00:15:44.029 --> 00:15:46.470 They're going to put a picture up of a menorah. 00:15:47.049 --> 00:15:49.710 And the menorah back then had seven branches 00:15:49.710 --> 00:15:52.470 on it. It was a candelabra used in Jewish worship. 00:15:52.789 --> 00:15:55.690 And we got to go old school this morning. We 00:15:55.690 --> 00:15:57.610 got to go back to the Old Testament if we're 00:15:57.610 --> 00:15:59.230 really going to truly understand what's happening 00:15:59.230 --> 00:16:01.750 in the New Testament. The Old Testament, in the 00:16:01.750 --> 00:16:04.250 word of God, the Old Testament is a shadow. The 00:16:04.250 --> 00:16:06.950 Old Testament is an imagery. The Old Testament, 00:16:07.029 --> 00:16:08.850 what took place in the Old Testament in Jewish 00:16:08.850 --> 00:16:11.730 culture and in Jewish worship is a picture and 00:16:11.730 --> 00:16:14.620 reflection of Jesus Christ. really is. And we 00:16:14.620 --> 00:16:16.600 can read about that in Hebrews and in Colossians 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:18.820 states that very thing, that it's going to be 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:21.000 an image. It's going to be a foreshadowing. It's 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:22.639 going to be a reflection. It's going to be a 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:26.759 shadow of Jesus. And the menorah was a physical 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:29.460 article of furniture in the Old Testament. It 00:16:29.460 --> 00:16:33.399 was in the temple. And that image is what they 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:35.220 would have seen in their eyes. Just leave that 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:37.519 menorah up there for a little bit. That temple 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:41.340 menorah was forged out of one piece of solid 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:45.009 gold. It was crafted out of a piece of solid 00:16:45.009 --> 00:16:48.250 gold. Exodus 25, 31 tells us that. And it featured 00:16:48.250 --> 00:16:50.830 a central shaft. You see that heavy central shaft? 00:16:51.090 --> 00:16:53.529 And it extended outward with six branches and 00:16:53.529 --> 00:16:56.769 one in the center, totaling seven lamps. And 00:16:56.769 --> 00:16:59.610 the branches were completely dependent on that 00:16:59.610 --> 00:17:03.049 main station, right? That main piece in the middle 00:17:03.049 --> 00:17:05.789 was the structural integrity. And it was also 00:17:05.789 --> 00:17:07.710 hollow. And what they would do is they would 00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:10.170 put olive oil. It was pure pressed olive oil 00:17:10.170 --> 00:17:14.710 in that lamp. would feed up through those branches. 00:17:15.150 --> 00:17:18.789 It was pure olive oil. Leviticus chapter 24 lets 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:21.549 us know this if you want to go back and read 00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:25.509 it. And in scripture, the oil constantly and 00:17:25.509 --> 00:17:30.569 consistently symbolizes Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. 00:17:30.609 --> 00:17:31.849 You starting to get a little different look at 00:17:31.849 --> 00:17:34.730 the light now? This is what Jesus was talking 00:17:34.730 --> 00:17:36.930 about. This is what the Jewish people would have 00:17:36.930 --> 00:17:39.509 understand. This is what the illustration was. 00:17:39.670 --> 00:17:42.130 This was the shadow and the imagery that Jesus 00:17:42.130 --> 00:17:46.099 was giving them, right? You can go to John 15 00:17:46.099 --> 00:17:48.980 and the word of God, Jesus said, I am the vine 00:17:48.980 --> 00:17:52.099 and you are the branches. That's what John 15 00:17:52.099 --> 00:17:55.680 is all about. Jesus is the vine. He is the stem 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:59.160 and we are the branches. I want you to get a 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:01.960 picture of this, right? The oil of the Spirit 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:06.519 working through us and in us and empowering us 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:10.400 to flame up. It's the pure oil of the Holy Spirit 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:13.680 pressed through our lives that pushes up through 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.619 those branches. We're the branch. He's the vine, 00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:19.720 right? Acts 1a says you'll receive power when 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:21.539 the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall 00:18:21.539 --> 00:18:23.799 be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:27.759 Samaria and to the ends of the earth. This Jewish 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:31.220 crowd that Jesus was speaking to that day instantly 00:18:31.220 --> 00:18:34.740 understood. They instantly had a right mental 00:18:34.740 --> 00:18:38.390 picture. The only mental blip that would have 00:18:38.390 --> 00:18:40.650 been different for the listeners that day as 00:18:40.650 --> 00:18:43.650 they stood on the hillside, the only shift in 00:18:43.650 --> 00:18:45.670 what was taking place, they would have had a 00:18:45.670 --> 00:18:47.190 picture. Well, I had to give you the picture 00:18:47.190 --> 00:18:49.369 this morning. But for them, there would have 00:18:49.369 --> 00:18:52.089 been a shift because what they knew about the 00:18:52.089 --> 00:18:55.150 menorah was is that the menorah only was in one 00:18:55.150 --> 00:18:58.809 location. It was in the temple. It was in the 00:18:58.809 --> 00:19:01.529 holy place. And the temple that was in the middle 00:19:01.529 --> 00:19:03.809 of the community back then was really, there 00:19:03.809 --> 00:19:06.329 was an outer court. It was shaped like a rectangle. 00:19:06.549 --> 00:19:09.710 And outside there was a brazen altar. Outside 00:19:09.710 --> 00:19:12.029 there, there was a laver where the priests used 00:19:12.029 --> 00:19:15.890 to wash before they would go in. And it was kind 00:19:15.890 --> 00:19:17.890 of laid out like a rectangle in the outer court 00:19:17.890 --> 00:19:19.910 that was outside where the sacrifice was done. 00:19:20.430 --> 00:19:23.309 And then if you went inside to that court, there 00:19:23.309 --> 00:19:25.150 was a smaller area. There was actually kind of 00:19:25.150 --> 00:19:28.210 a tent area that was two compartments in there, 00:19:28.269 --> 00:19:30.410 or maybe two rooms might be a better, or a room 00:19:30.410 --> 00:19:32.269 within a room would be a better way to say it. 00:19:32.569 --> 00:19:35.069 And one was the holy place, and that's where 00:19:35.069 --> 00:19:37.029 this menorah would have been. It would have been 00:19:37.029 --> 00:19:38.730 in there with a table of shoe bread. It would 00:19:38.730 --> 00:19:40.710 have been there with the altar of incense. And 00:19:40.710 --> 00:19:42.950 when the priests would come in, they would do 00:19:42.950 --> 00:19:44.730 the sacrifice, and they would go into the holy 00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:47.269 place. That was called, say, the holy place. 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:50.769 That's where the menorah was. And inside of that 00:19:50.769 --> 00:19:53.269 was another area that was called the Holy of 00:19:53.269 --> 00:19:55.150 Holies, and that's where the Ark of the Covenant 00:19:55.150 --> 00:19:57.210 was. That's where the Ark of God was. That's 00:19:57.210 --> 00:19:59.670 where the presence of God rested and stayed. 00:20:00.250 --> 00:20:03.210 And the priests would come in morning and evening 00:20:03.210 --> 00:20:08.170 and fill that lamp up with fresh oil, fresh pressed 00:20:08.170 --> 00:20:11.130 olive oil every single day, and that thing would 00:20:11.130 --> 00:20:16.349 burn 24 -7. But here's the thing. Only the priests 00:20:16.349 --> 00:20:21.089 saw the menorah. inside of that place. And Jesus 00:20:21.089 --> 00:20:24.670 now standing on a hillside, he flips the script 00:20:24.670 --> 00:20:26.990 while he's talking to these Jewish believers. 00:20:27.109 --> 00:20:30.750 And he says, you are the light of the world. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:34.799 No longer is it just in the temple, right? Because 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:36.799 of me and because of my sacrifice, and I don't 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.700 think they fully even understood it yet, what 00:20:38.700 --> 00:20:40.640 he was saying, but they would later. Because 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:42.920 of the sacrifice, because of the righteousness 00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:46.059 that I'm going to extend to you, because of my 00:20:46.059 --> 00:20:48.599 sacrifice, because of the Holy Spirit that is 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:51.119 going to fall one day at Pentecost, because I 00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:53.359 am the way, the truth, and the life, you will 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.299 be the light in a dark world. He flipped the 00:20:56.299 --> 00:20:59.200 script on these Jewish believers, these Jewish 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:03.640 followers. And he said, you're it. You're the 00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:07.140 light. You're the light in the world. Can I read 00:21:07.140 --> 00:21:09.960 it to you again? You are the light of the world. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:13.880 A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do 00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:16.119 people light a lamp and put it under a basket, 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:19.319 but on a stand. And it gives light to all around 00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:22.180 the house. And in the same way, let your light 00:21:22.180 --> 00:21:25.279 shine before others so that you may see, so they 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:28.440 may see your good works and give glory to your 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:32.470 Father in heaven. Are you seeing something different? 00:21:33.299 --> 00:21:38.019 My response to the dark around me, to the darkness, 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:43.980 is to interrupt with light. Light interrupts 00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:48.839 the darkness. It does. Light dispels darkness. 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:52.160 Light pierces. Through the darkness. If you get 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:54.380 in a dark enough place, just the smallest of 00:21:54.380 --> 00:21:56.940 light pierces through the darkness and it begins 00:21:56.940 --> 00:21:59.019 to change the whole atmosphere. Jesus was telling 00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:02.140 this Jewish crowd, you are the interruption to 00:22:02.140 --> 00:22:04.059 the darkness in the world around you. You are. 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:09.440 The one thing they see should be your light, 00:22:09.539 --> 00:22:12.539 right? My light shining through you. And it should 00:22:12.539 --> 00:22:15.960 interrupt darkness that is in you in the world 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:19.390 around where you're at. Up until this time, right? 00:22:19.450 --> 00:22:21.410 I said it once, up until this time, the Jewish 00:22:21.410 --> 00:22:24.269 people, they only saw light in the temple, right? 00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:27.369 They just saw God's light, the menorah lighting 00:22:27.369 --> 00:22:30.569 up in the temple, the representation of God in 00:22:30.569 --> 00:22:32.990 the temple. And they've observed it at different 00:22:32.990 --> 00:22:35.950 times. They saw it at different times. They saw 00:22:35.950 --> 00:22:37.910 it when they were out in the wilderness and got 00:22:37.910 --> 00:22:41.230 a pillar of fire, led them by night. They saw 00:22:41.230 --> 00:22:43.289 and observed it, right? And they saw it in the 00:22:43.289 --> 00:22:46.089 temple articles. They saw, they observed the 00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:50.509 light. But now Jesus is saying, you are the light. 00:22:51.150 --> 00:22:52.970 It's a little bit like going to the fireworks. 00:22:53.109 --> 00:22:54.529 How many of you went to the fireworks in the 00:22:54.529 --> 00:22:57.289 last five years? Raise your hand. Saw fireworks 00:22:57.289 --> 00:22:59.569 somewhere along the way, right? It's a little 00:22:59.569 --> 00:23:01.650 bit like going to the fireworks. You go to the 00:23:01.650 --> 00:23:05.250 fireworks and what do you do? You go, ooh, ah, 00:23:05.589 --> 00:23:10.509 right? Wow. That was a good one, right? You know, 00:23:10.509 --> 00:23:12.609 and you talk about the colors. It wasn't that 00:23:12.609 --> 00:23:15.029 amazing. And you talk about the shape, and you're 00:23:15.029 --> 00:23:19.190 observing the light. And then you go home, turn 00:23:19.190 --> 00:23:21.210 on your TV, and eat a snack when it's all over, 00:23:21.309 --> 00:23:26.900 right? That's kind of what happened pre -Jesus. 00:23:27.319 --> 00:23:30.119 They saw God's light. They saw their ooh and 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:33.720 an ah, and they're like, that's amazing. And 00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.710 Jesus says, you don't understand. Now you're 00:23:36.710 --> 00:23:41.289 the firework. You're the firework. No more ooh 00:23:41.289 --> 00:23:44.589 and an ah. You're the power of God in a dark 00:23:44.589 --> 00:23:49.289 world. You are the light. You are the one who's 00:23:49.289 --> 00:23:51.150 supposed to go out there and pierce the darkness. 00:23:51.410 --> 00:23:54.410 You're the one that's going to interrupt darkness 00:23:54.410 --> 00:23:58.289 and be the light. You're the one that needs to 00:23:58.289 --> 00:24:02.130 fill up daily with oil in the morning and in 00:24:02.130 --> 00:24:04.609 the evening. Come on, there's some example to 00:24:04.609 --> 00:24:06.880 follow here, right? You're the one that's gotta 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:09.579 keep it burning all the time. You're the one 00:24:09.579 --> 00:24:12.299 that's gonna be my power on display in the middle 00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:14.279 of the darkness. You're the one that has to be 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:16.759 the holy vessel that carries my righteousness. 00:24:17.769 --> 00:24:21.069 He blows the minds of these Jewish followers 00:24:21.069 --> 00:24:26.250 standing on a hillside. No longer is it just 00:24:26.250 --> 00:24:31.849 watch and see and ooh and ah. You're the interruption 00:24:31.849 --> 00:24:36.019 to the darkness. All darkness needs to prevail. 00:24:36.849 --> 00:24:39.549 It's for the holy light of God to only shine 00:24:39.549 --> 00:24:44.339 in the temple. Amen? That's all it needs. All 00:24:44.339 --> 00:24:47.079 darkness needs to prevail is the holy light of 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:51.859 God to only shine inside of the temple. Nothing 00:24:51.859 --> 00:24:54.599 outside the temple. Nothing out in the darkness. 00:24:55.299 --> 00:24:59.339 You are the light of the world. Say it. I am 00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:01.650 the light. I am the light. I want you to get 00:25:01.650 --> 00:25:04.289 it in your spirit. You are the light in a dark 00:25:04.289 --> 00:25:07.650 house. You're the light on a dark hill. and you're 00:25:07.650 --> 00:25:09.710 a light in a dark world. That's what the word 00:25:09.710 --> 00:25:11.890 of God says here in Matthew 5, 14. I'm gonna 00:25:11.890 --> 00:25:13.490 read it again. I'm gonna keep reading this scripture 00:25:13.490 --> 00:25:15.650 to you. It's just in your spirit. You're the 00:25:15.650 --> 00:25:17.869 light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot 00:25:17.869 --> 00:25:20.430 be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put 00:25:20.430 --> 00:25:22.349 it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives 00:25:22.349 --> 00:25:24.769 light to all around the house. In the same way, 00:25:24.769 --> 00:25:27.009 let your light shine before others so that they 00:25:27.009 --> 00:25:30.650 may see your good works and give glory to your 00:25:30.650 --> 00:25:33.960 Father who is in heaven. Jesus told this mind 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:36.710 -blown Jewish crowd, You're going to be the light 00:25:36.710 --> 00:25:38.750 in a dark house, right? You're going to be on 00:25:38.750 --> 00:25:41.170 a lampstand. You're going to be the city on a 00:25:41.170 --> 00:25:43.470 hill. You're going to be lit up on the hillside, 00:25:43.569 --> 00:25:45.250 right? You're going to light up that dark hill, 00:25:45.329 --> 00:25:47.190 and you're going to be the light in a dark world. 00:25:47.250 --> 00:25:51.299 He started off with that. In another portion 00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:55.569 of Scripture, Jesus begins to unfold. Scripture 00:25:55.569 --> 00:25:57.589 always backs up Scripture. We just talked about 00:25:57.589 --> 00:26:00.029 this the other night in one of the life groups. 00:26:00.210 --> 00:26:02.029 Scripture always backs up Scripture. Scripture 00:26:02.029 --> 00:26:04.549 always gives you a fuller understanding of the 00:26:04.549 --> 00:26:06.410 Scripture that you may be ready to get the fullness 00:26:06.410 --> 00:26:09.410 or the understanding in. And Jesus speaks in 00:26:09.410 --> 00:26:13.009 Luke 10, 25, and he begins to tell us exactly 00:26:13.009 --> 00:26:17.380 what that light in the darkness looks like. How 00:26:17.380 --> 00:26:20.200 does this play out? If I'm to pierce the darkness, 00:26:20.339 --> 00:26:22.799 if my life is supposed to be a reflection of 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:24.559 Jesus Christ and the power of God working in 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:27.539 me, how does this flesh out? What's it look like 00:26:27.539 --> 00:26:29.859 in a practical way in the world around me? What's 00:26:29.859 --> 00:26:32.779 it look like? Luke 10, 25 says this, and behold, 00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:35.000 a certain lawyer stood up and tested him saying, 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:38.279 teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:40.420 And he said to him, what is written in the law? 00:26:40.579 --> 00:26:43.190 What is your reading of it? So he answered and 00:26:43.190 --> 00:26:44.849 said, you shall love the Lord your God with all 00:26:44.849 --> 00:26:46.730 your heart, with all your soul, with all your 00:26:46.730 --> 00:26:48.849 strength, with all your mind, and your neighbor 00:26:48.849 --> 00:26:51.690 as yourself. And Jesus said to him, right, you 00:26:51.690 --> 00:26:54.390 have answered rightly, do this and you will live. 00:26:54.730 --> 00:26:57.650 But he wanting to justify himself said to Jesus, 00:26:57.789 --> 00:27:00.490 well, who's my neighbor, right? Who then is my 00:27:00.490 --> 00:27:03.490 neighbor? Then Jesus answered and said, he tells 00:27:03.490 --> 00:27:06.160 a story. Jesus tells a story. He said, a certain 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:08.319 man went down to Jerusalem to Jericho, and he 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:10.359 fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing, 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:13.180 wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 00:27:13.859 --> 00:27:16.440 Now, by chance, a certain priest came down that 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.640 road, and when he saw him, he passed on the other 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:21.660 side. Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at 00:27:21.660 --> 00:27:23.779 the place, came and looked and passed by the 00:27:23.779 --> 00:27:27.380 other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, 00:27:27.380 --> 00:27:30.099 came to where he was, and when he saw him, he 00:27:30.099 --> 00:27:33.579 had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:37.839 his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And he set 00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:40.400 him on his own animal, brought him to an inn 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:42.700 to take care of him. And on the next day when 00:27:42.700 --> 00:27:45.220 he departed, he took out two denarii, which is 00:27:45.220 --> 00:27:47.759 about two days wages, gave them to the innkeeper 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:49.980 and said to him, take care of him and whatever 00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:53.059 more you spend, when I come again, I will repay 00:27:53.059 --> 00:27:57.440 you. So which one of these do you think was neighbor 00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:59.839 to him who fell among the thieves? Jesus is questioning 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.400 the lawyer. And he said, he who showed mercy 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:06.140 on him. And Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. 00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:12.700 What is dark? What does light look like in the 00:28:12.700 --> 00:28:14.900 darkness? Well, I can tell you where it starts 00:28:14.900 --> 00:28:18.160 out. It starts out with compassion for those 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.720 who are in the darkness. It starts off with a 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:26.099 heart that is... You can have plenty of passion 00:28:26.099 --> 00:28:28.579 in what you do in life. You can have lots of 00:28:28.579 --> 00:28:31.279 zeal. You can have lots of knowledge. You can 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:33.740 have accomplishment. You can have personal success. 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:37.839 You can even have condemnation for the darkness. 00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:40.319 But the Word of God says that Jesus said you 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.660 need to have compassion for those who are suffering 00:28:42.660 --> 00:28:44.920 in the darkness. You want to bring light into 00:28:44.920 --> 00:28:46.440 the darkness? You want to pierce the darkness? 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:49.019 You want to be the one who dispels darkness? 00:28:49.710 --> 00:28:51.650 He says, gonna start off with compassion for 00:28:51.650 --> 00:28:53.809 those who are in the dark. And he goes on, right? 00:28:53.890 --> 00:28:55.910 Light in a dark world will also be us willing 00:28:55.910 --> 00:28:59.119 to go and bandage up a wound. It's us going and 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:01.720 ministering to someone. It's ministering to their 00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:04.000 wound. You wanna light up a dark place? Start 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.819 with ministering to someone who is wounded from 00:29:06.819 --> 00:29:10.160 the darkness. Light in a dark world means I will 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:12.960 pour oil on their wound. That's what it says. 00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:15.700 Jesus said the good Samaritan poured oil and 00:29:15.700 --> 00:29:19.750 wine on the wound and bandaged him. Got to understand 00:29:19.750 --> 00:29:22.569 something about back then. Oil was considered 00:29:22.569 --> 00:29:25.569 a healing agent to a physical wound. Who was 00:29:25.569 --> 00:29:30.170 the oil? Yeah, Holy Spirit, right? Pour it on. 00:29:30.250 --> 00:29:33.150 This is where they see God in the darkness. If 00:29:33.150 --> 00:29:34.529 you want to know how to approach the darkness, 00:29:34.690 --> 00:29:37.269 they don't need to see me, right? Me coming and 00:29:37.269 --> 00:29:39.250 helping somebody, that's a great thing. That's 00:29:39.250 --> 00:29:41.130 an honorable thing to go do. The Word of God 00:29:41.130 --> 00:29:42.990 tells them to do that. But if I don't ever bring 00:29:42.990 --> 00:29:44.650 the Holy Spirit with me, if I don't ever bring 00:29:44.650 --> 00:29:46.650 God with me, if I don't ever say, hey, can I 00:29:46.650 --> 00:29:48.009 pray for you? Because the only reason I'm doing 00:29:48.009 --> 00:29:50.049 this is because God's awesome. He's been awesome 00:29:50.049 --> 00:29:52.890 to me, and I want to help you. If I forget that, 00:29:52.990 --> 00:29:55.569 I'm not bringing light. I'm just bringing me. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.299 Right? And that's going to last about 10 seconds 00:29:58.299 --> 00:30:01.039 after I leave. They're going to say, ooh, nice 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:05.240 guy. Right? That's it. We bring the oil. We pour 00:30:05.240 --> 00:30:08.660 the oil on when we come to minister. We pour 00:30:08.660 --> 00:30:11.319 the oil on when we come into the darkness to 00:30:11.319 --> 00:30:13.240 minister to those who have been wounded by the 00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:16.299 darkness. They'll miss God. They'll miss God 00:30:16.299 --> 00:30:20.019 if we just walk in and just try to help out. 00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:23.940 Right? We got to take Jesus with us. Light in 00:30:23.940 --> 00:30:26.380 the darkness. Light in the dark world means I 00:30:26.380 --> 00:30:29.099 pour wine on the wound. Wine was a representation 00:30:29.099 --> 00:30:31.960 of increase. It was provision. It was blessing. 00:30:32.059 --> 00:30:33.859 A little more like we like to think of it, right? 00:30:34.059 --> 00:30:37.420 And here's the reason they poured wine on a wound. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:40.599 It cleaned the wound. It made an environment 00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:44.579 for healing. One of the ways we go and pierce 00:30:44.579 --> 00:30:47.920 the darkness is we go make an environment for 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:50.740 somebody to heal. One of the reasons we go to 00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:53.099 Guatemala to put a roof on, we're trying to make 00:30:53.099 --> 00:30:55.460 an environment for these children who have been 00:30:55.460 --> 00:30:58.700 abused and injured and harmed. We're going to 00:30:58.700 --> 00:31:01.700 create an environment where they can heal, where 00:31:01.700 --> 00:31:03.700 they can come into a place of healing. This is 00:31:03.700 --> 00:31:06.099 how you pierce the darkness. This is how you 00:31:06.099 --> 00:31:10.279 go in. And Jesus rescues, right? We pour the 00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:15.000 wine on. We bandage them. That's what it said. 00:31:15.059 --> 00:31:17.279 So he went to them, and he bandaged his wounds. 00:31:18.170 --> 00:31:21.440 pouring on oil and wine. You with me? Amen? Light 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:24.440 is going to them. It's going to them. It's hard 00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:26.019 when you're wounded to come to somebody else, 00:31:26.059 --> 00:31:29.200 isn't it? It's us going to them. Light in the 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:32.099 dark world is setting someone on my own animal. 00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:34.640 It says he set him on his own animal, brought 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:38.829 him to an inn to take care of him. I cannot interrupt 00:31:38.829 --> 00:31:41.829 the darkness and not get personally involved. 00:31:43.220 --> 00:31:45.740 God did not call us to be the light of the world 00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:48.880 from a thousand feet in the air and, right, sending 00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:52.140 just down a cosmic ray of Jesus out of us to 00:31:52.140 --> 00:31:55.180 somebody a thousand feet away. He put them on 00:31:55.180 --> 00:31:58.079 his own animal. Light in the darkened world is 00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:00.500 me taking care of someone. He brought him. He 00:32:00.500 --> 00:32:03.480 took him to the inn, providing shelter and healing 00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:05.740 for the long haul. He was in for the long haul 00:32:05.740 --> 00:32:08.259 with someone. He was there. He didn't do a pass 00:32:08.259 --> 00:32:10.579 by. He didn't do a little first aid. Sign RSC. 00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:12.619 I hope it all works out. God bless. Let me say 00:32:12.619 --> 00:32:14.380 a quick prayer. Amen. I'm on my way. I got to 00:32:14.380 --> 00:32:18.019 get to Walmart. Right? Target's going to close 00:32:18.019 --> 00:32:21.599 soon. Got to get there. He's in for the long 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:26.319 haul. It's light. Worship team, if you'd come. 00:32:27.150 --> 00:32:30.049 Number seven, light in a dark world means that 00:32:30.049 --> 00:32:34.009 I financially invest in their healing. It said 00:32:34.009 --> 00:32:35.789 on the next day when he departed, he took out 00:32:35.789 --> 00:32:38.430 two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper and said 00:32:38.430 --> 00:32:40.210 to him, take care of him. And whatever more you 00:32:40.210 --> 00:32:45.299 spend, when I come again, I will repay you. Being 00:32:45.299 --> 00:32:49.220 light, being light in the darkness will cost 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:53.440 you. Let me say it again. I don't want any delusion 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:57.450 in this. It will cost you. To carry the cross 00:32:57.450 --> 00:33:00.730 of Christ in this life, You will die to yourself 00:33:00.730 --> 00:33:03.369 and it will cost you. There is a burden to bear. 00:33:03.509 --> 00:33:06.490 There is a cost to taking light into the darkness. 00:33:06.690 --> 00:33:09.609 It will cost you personally. You will get involved 00:33:09.609 --> 00:33:12.329 personally. It will take your time. It will be 00:33:12.329 --> 00:33:16.700 inconvenient. How many would raise their hand 00:33:16.700 --> 00:33:18.819 and say it costs money to put the lights on in 00:33:18.819 --> 00:33:22.869 your house? How many teenagers this is a revelation 00:33:22.869 --> 00:33:29.400 all of a sudden? What? You pay for lights? Yeah. 00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:36.440 Right? It costs. It costs. I don't know if you 00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:39.849 caught it in this portion of scripture. Seven 00:33:39.849 --> 00:33:43.329 ways Jesus said you would light up the darkness. 00:33:43.430 --> 00:33:48.099 The menorah had seven lights. He said, you're 00:33:48.099 --> 00:33:50.680 the light of the world. You're the light of the 00:33:50.680 --> 00:33:56.539 world. You're the light of the world. My heart 00:33:56.599 --> 00:33:59.519 this morning is for you to walk out of this place 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:04.150 with one declaration on your lips. One declaration, 00:34:04.430 --> 00:34:11.070 maybe two. the darkness. We will interrupt the 00:34:11.070 --> 00:34:18.809 darkness. We will be light. Rock life, you cannot 00:34:18.809 --> 00:34:22.130 just observe the light. Jesus said you will be 00:34:22.130 --> 00:34:29.789 the light if you'd stand this morning. The only 00:34:29.789 --> 00:34:34.389 way we do this, the only way we do this, it starts 00:34:34.389 --> 00:34:37.010 off with compassion for those who are wounded 00:34:37.010 --> 00:34:42.369 in the dark. It takes a heart that, go ahead 00:34:42.369 --> 00:34:45.389 and just begin to play softly. It takes a heart 00:34:45.389 --> 00:34:47.789 that's willing to bandage up somebody that's 00:34:47.789 --> 00:34:50.500 wounded. You gotta be willing to pour on the 00:34:50.500 --> 00:34:53.360 oil. You gotta tell them about Jesus and what 00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:55.519 Jesus has done for you because we were the ones 00:34:55.519 --> 00:34:58.909 in the dark. We were the ones who were wounded 00:34:58.909 --> 00:35:01.750 in the darkness. We gotta pour on the oil. We 00:35:01.750 --> 00:35:04.010 gotta set an environment. We gotta make environments 00:35:04.010 --> 00:35:06.389 where people can heal. We gotta shelter them. 00:35:06.469 --> 00:35:08.710 We gotta get in for the long haul. We gotta pay 00:35:08.710 --> 00:35:12.110 the price. This is why Jesus left us. This is 00:35:12.110 --> 00:35:14.090 why Jesus saved us and left us here. He said, 00:35:14.150 --> 00:35:17.230 just stay and be light. I need you to be light. 00:35:17.369 --> 00:35:20.449 Till I return, till I come again, till you draw 00:35:20.449 --> 00:35:27.420 your last breath, be light. Be light. Amen? But 00:35:27.420 --> 00:35:28.900 you got to declare it. You got to believe it. 00:35:30.150 --> 00:35:34.090 And don't get this false humility thing. Well, 00:35:34.289 --> 00:35:37.730 I'm not really light. Nah, it's not you. It's 00:35:37.730 --> 00:35:41.530 him in you. It's the Holy Spirit working through 00:35:41.530 --> 00:35:48.480 you. Seven different ways. Be lights. I want 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:54.900 you to bow your heads. Lord, I pray every person 00:35:54.900 --> 00:35:57.800 in this house, every person listening within 00:35:57.800 --> 00:36:00.340 the sound of my voice, online, in the house, 00:36:00.440 --> 00:36:02.739 out of the house. God, they're going to be listening 00:36:02.739 --> 00:36:05.900 later this week. Some of them, I pray, Lord, 00:36:05.980 --> 00:36:11.010 that they'll be followers of Jesus who interrupt 00:36:11.010 --> 00:36:16.670 the darkness. Followers of Jesus who will be. 00:36:17.940 --> 00:36:20.889 God, I pray you'd open our hearts up of compassion. 00:36:21.510 --> 00:36:23.989 God, I pray you'd guide us in our local community 00:36:23.989 --> 00:36:27.590 that we'd not try to be that light from a thousand 00:36:27.590 --> 00:36:30.010 feet in the air. We're not gonna just observe 00:36:30.010 --> 00:36:32.610 light. We're not just gonna ooh and ah at what 00:36:32.610 --> 00:36:35.130 you do in somebody else's life or what you've 00:36:35.130 --> 00:36:38.230 done down the street or across the country, but 00:36:38.230 --> 00:36:41.139 we're gonna be light right where we're at. I 00:36:41.139 --> 00:36:43.710 pray your power and your presence. I pray, God, 00:36:43.769 --> 00:36:46.429 for a deep reliance on the Holy Spirit. I pray, 00:36:46.530 --> 00:36:48.670 Lord, that in the morning and the evening, God, 00:36:48.710 --> 00:36:50.690 that we fill up with the oil of the Holy Spirit, 00:36:50.789 --> 00:36:54.030 that we seek you, that we listen for you. God, 00:36:54.130 --> 00:36:57.969 that we search you out and know. And God, that 00:36:57.969 --> 00:36:59.969 I not walk through out of this place and then 00:36:59.969 --> 00:37:03.860 just walk like I've always walked, but that I 00:37:03.860 --> 00:37:08.460 light it up. It is dark out there. It is dark. 00:37:10.250 --> 00:37:14.610 Lord, I pray, use me. Let the declaration be 00:37:14.610 --> 00:37:18.630 spoke. in hearts and lives. And amen and amen. 00:37:22.380 --> 00:37:25.079 If you're here this morning and you're in the 00:37:25.079 --> 00:37:28.820 dark, I want eyes wide open. A lot of times we 00:37:28.820 --> 00:37:30.780 do this with head bows, but I don't know, feeling 00:37:30.780 --> 00:37:34.110 different this morning. If you're here, if you're 00:37:34.110 --> 00:37:37.690 listening online and you're in the dark, you 00:37:37.690 --> 00:37:39.250 know you're in the dark. You're without Jesus. 00:37:39.329 --> 00:37:42.670 You're far from God. He came. He died on a cross. 00:37:42.949 --> 00:37:46.329 He paid every bit of the penalty of sin for you. 00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:49.599 So that you could have life and that you not 00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:51.519 only could have life, but you would be light 00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:55.840 as well. The light that he is. The word of God 00:37:55.840 --> 00:37:57.639 says that all you have to do is believe in your 00:37:57.639 --> 00:37:59.980 heart and confess with your mouth. And the word 00:37:59.980 --> 00:38:01.820 of God says you should be saved. What do I believe? 00:38:01.940 --> 00:38:04.239 I believe that Jesus is the son of God. I believe 00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:07.300 that he is Lord of all things. And I confess 00:38:07.300 --> 00:38:09.679 that out loud to him. And then I confess it to 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:11.780 other people. I tell other people about the light. 00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:14.099 And the Word of God says you'll be saved. And 00:38:14.099 --> 00:38:15.960 why is it that simple? Why is that easy? Because 00:38:15.960 --> 00:38:18.579 He paid everything to do that. You got nothing 00:38:18.579 --> 00:38:20.679 to bring to the table. I got nothing to bring 00:38:20.679 --> 00:38:24.699 to the table. He just paid it all. You just got 00:38:24.699 --> 00:38:27.880 to receive the gift. That's it. You just got 00:38:27.880 --> 00:38:31.219 to take it and commit to follow Him. So if that's 00:38:31.219 --> 00:38:33.039 you in the house, if you're listening online, 00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:37.980 it's a belief thing. Pray. Absolutely pray a 00:38:37.980 --> 00:38:41.300 prayer of faith to Him. Do that. You can do it 00:38:41.300 --> 00:38:43.400 in your own words, but it is a belief thing. 00:38:43.480 --> 00:38:46.699 It is something that we live out. We live, breathe, 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:49.619 and walk. It's our identity. It is our priority. 00:38:49.880 --> 00:38:53.099 It is our understanding of all things Jesus. 00:38:53.539 --> 00:38:57.889 Amen? How many are ready to be the light? All 00:38:59.650 --> 00:39:04.300 right. I want you to say it. I will be light. 00:39:04.380 --> 00:39:09.059 Ready? I will be light. Say it again. I will 00:39:09.059 --> 00:39:16.789 be light. Raise your hand. I will be light. That's 00:39:16.789 --> 00:39:19.610 a declaration. Get up tomorrow morning and say, 00:39:19.730 --> 00:39:24.260 I will be light. I will be light. I will be light. 00:39:51.840 --> 00:39:53.880 lifehousecog .com.