You Are the Light: Living Set Apart

Glad you're here tonight., I wanted to build a little bit on last week. It's what I typically do and I had a plan for that and then that got a little bit hijacked because I feel like I needed to insert something in between. So, we'll pick up from last week, maybe next week or at least build on it., but I had something I felt impressed to want to share with you tonight. And I want to reinforce to you before we discuss things like how we interact with people, before we discuss things about how we practice the disciplines of following Jesus, before we talk about the responsibilities that we have, it's very important that you understand who you are. If you don't understand who you are, or you don't understand what's available to you, then it's really hard to do it in your flesh. The reality is in and of yourself, you're never going to come in alignment with the Spirit of God leading you. The Bible says that the carnality of your flesh is enmity with God. It's constantly resisting. God says go, your body's going, "Nah, I'm good. " God says stay, you're like, "But I really want to go. " And it's always going to be the opposite. It's always going to have this fleshly response. There's enmity with God. So before we begin to try to deny our flesh, then I better understand who is available and what's available on the inside of me and who I am in Christ. And so I want to give you a little bit of context first before we get into it. This is going to be very cool. And part of it well I won't say that but it just came alive all week long through our academy. I have the privilege to do we have a memory verse for the kids every week and then doing chapel every morning and it just builds and that's what really I thought gosh this is this is I got to share this with people Sunday night.

So here we go. But before we get into what I talked about this week, we got to recognize who God is. We got to understand that God gave us his name. I have been saying this to you lately that there's a person to God. He's not ethereal. He's not just some higher power. He's not just some deity that's out there. We don't we don't say, this is the agnostic approach of like, I believe in higher power, but there's no relationship there. There's no intimacy. There's no character. There's no person of God. And so they say, well, it could be that light pole. It could be this. It's like, that's the stupidest thing ever because I that doesn't help me at all. I can't trust it. I don't have a relationship with it. There's no character. I can't take him at his Word. There's nothing there when we say that. And so, there's got to be a person or a character of God.

But, but God gave us his name. God introduced himself to us. We talked about this recently that the first commandment says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. " Okay? There are other gods. There are other spiritual forces. There are other Heavenly realms that want to influence your life. But there's only one Spirit that is Holy. There is only one God who is Holy. We sing it on a regular basis. Man, Holy forever. You are Holy. God is Holy. He's a Holy God. He is He is uniquely set apart. There is nobody like him. He is the Creator of all things. And I want to show you a few verses that aren't going to be on the screen tonight. There's other verses. I got a bunch of them for later.

But Isaiah 45:18 says, "For this is what the Lord says, the one who created the sky. He is the true God. The one who formed the earth and made it. He established it. He did not create it without order. He formed it to be inhabited. " And he says, "I am the Lord. I have no peer. " God nobody competes with God. God is not an option for us. God is and everything else exists because of it. And we have to understand and recognize his authority. Understand his power, his presence. Let me give you a little more context. Jeremiah 32:27 says, "I am the Lord, the God of all humankind. There is indeed nothing too difficult for me. " Isaiah 43:13, "From eternity to eternity, I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I've done. " Psalm 147:4, he counts the number of the stars.

He numbers the stars and he calls them by name. I've said this to many of you before. That doesn't mean God knows how many stars there are. It means that God knows which star is which. There's billions of stars. And he knows that star right there is number 1 billion437,367,331. He knows that. And if it's got a name, which I guess they do because science people keep telling us the names of these things. So I guess they got names. He already knows the names of them. He already knows your name. He knows the names of the stars. He numbered the stars. He numbered the hairs on your head. He formed you in your mother's womb. He knows you. He picked you. And this is something you hear every about every week from me. But God, who is the Creator of heavens and earth, knows you. He formed you.

He numbers the hairs. He numbers the stars. Hebrews 12:26, the earth shook at his voice. There's a power to him. The demons in hell, James says, believe and they tremble. There's a fear of God. There's a reverence for his power, for his authority, a recognition of who he is. Isaiah 55, his thoughts and his ways are higher. The Bible says that his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. This is why it gets so goofy when we want to start trying to control and manage God. Like we know better. I mean, that's like that's like little Kina there trying to tell his mom and dad how to budget the account for this month. It's goofy. He's not he's sucking his thumb right now and crawling around somewhere. And that's what it'd be like us trying to tell God what to do with things sometimes because like we know better. We don't know better. We just have our preferences. We have our pride and our preferences and we want God to do it our way how we think God should do it. And we've got to be able to back up and say, "God, I trust you that you're doing something greater than I can even see happening. " I love this verse in Job 38.

And if the story of Job, everybody likes to kind of camp out on the idea of Job, but Job, Job was a man after God's heart. Job loved God. He was a faithful man. And then and then what happened to Job? The Devil did to him. You say, "Well, God allowed it. " Yeah, God allowed it. God is sovereign. He knows everything. He allows everything to happen, but it's only for good. And so the de what happened to Job? The Devil did. What God did for Job is he multiplied twice as much back to him in the end. But in chapter 38, the Bible goes through the whole story of Job. And Job never cursed God. He never he never threw his middle finger to God. He never said, "I'm out on this. This is dumb. This is this is ridiculous. All my life I've served you and then this happens and I'm out.

" He never did that. In fact, his friends wanted him to. His friends wanted him to curse God and die. Just be done with it. And his wife wanted him to. I mean, there was some there was a lot of hardships. He's already in pain and misery. And then he's got people telling him to turn your back on God. Be done with it. There's obviously sin in your life. They're accusing him of things, man. Accusing him of all the things going on. It's like, man, it was rough. And in Psalm or Job 38, he comes to God and he never he never cursed God, but he asked why. He had that's a that's a in my opinion, that's a fair question, but not really. when you're talking to the Creator of all things because you're coming with some kind of arrogance and pride that you deserve an answer. God, you need to explain this to me. God doesn't have to do anything for you. God can flick you like a booger and be done with you forever. That's the reality.

God can be done with all of us if he wants to be. But he's not. He's chosen you. He loves you. He's pursued you. He's chased you. But Job comes to him with a little bit of arrogance, want to know why. And he stands and he responds with this in verse one. He says to Job, he says, 'Who is this that darkens my counsel with such words without knowledge? He says to brace yourself like a man. I have some questions for you. And the first question he asked him is, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? You're going to go to God with your why and explain to me, God, explain to me something. He's going to go, I don't who is who are you that darkens my counsel with such ignorance and foolishness? Where were you when I formed the earth and the heavens? Where were you? Who are you? Were you part of that? No, no, no. You're part of the created being.

You're part of You're part of his creation. And so when you go to God with that kind of response, let me just tell you, you're probably not going to find what you're looking for. And what he got was two chapters of God asking him questions that he couldn't answer. And then he kind of was like, "Oh, I've said too much. Tears his clothes, slows ashes, all the cultural things they did. " And then God proceeded with two more chapters of questions he couldn't answer. And the bottom line is, and the reason I say that is there's a massive distinction between that. Now, let me pivot forward to how that pertains to you and why you ought to leave this place with your wig split and your hair on fire, just excited and thrilled because of who you are and what God's doing in your life. Okay? God is supernaturally awesome, wonderful, powerful, huge, big God, Creator of Heaven and earth. Okay? In the beginning, this one's on the screen. Genesis chapter 1, we're going to start there. the God who created the heavens and earth. It says this that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Next verse says the earth was formless and void and darkness covered the deep waters. Make note of a couple things here and we may or may not come back to singing that part about the night is holding on to me. And you're going to understand why as I go through this message. Okay. Verse two says, "The earth was formless and empty and darkness covered the deep waters.

" Darkness covered the deep waters and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Darkness covered it, but God was hovering over that is what's cool about what you sing in that part of it tonight. It's like sometimes it feels like the night's got a hold of me. Sometimes it feels like the darkness and I'm going to expound on this in the next few minutes. Why? This is going to be cool. And you're going to understand that God's still holding on to you. God hasn't abandoned you. God hasn't forsaken you. God hasn't forgotten you. Let's keep reading here. Verse three. Then God said, "Let there be light. " And there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness night. And the evening passed and morning came, marking the first day. I want you to make note that he called the morning the he called the light day and he called the darkness night. Okay?

On day three, he created the sun, the moon, the stars. And he did that for the sake of order and timekeeping. But on day one, he said, "Let there be light. " And if you've been in Church here very long, that Word light translates to the same Word we use for Messiah, for Christ, for the anointing, for God's presence. And so what God did, the first thing he did is he ushered his presence in, his light in. And he separated light from darkness. Okay? He separated the light from the darkness. And he called the light day. Make note of this because you're going to see it again coming up. Genesis 1:26 going down the same chapter. Then God said, "Let us make man or human beings in our image to be like us. " Make note of that. He's saying like us. It's plural. The Word for Elohim, for in the beginning, God is Elohim. I'm teaching a class called the names of God. And that you that Hebrew term was Elohim. It's plural. Singular would just be L, but Elohim is plural.

Why is it plural? Because it's the trinity. It's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And so he's saying, "Let us make man make man like us in our image. They will reign and govern over the fish, the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals, and all the small animals that scurry along the land. " Listen, when we were created, we were created to live in the light. We were created to live in the light. when he separated the light from the darkness and his presence, his anointing, he created his creation and you were part of that on day six that we see in Scripture to live in that light. In other words, you were designed and created to live in the presence of God to live with him to walk with him. That's why the Bible would say that God would come and walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. He would walk with him and talk with him. They had an intimacy. They had a relationship. There was a there was a an opportunity that the way it was designed to live in the light. But then of course how that story goes. Adam and Eve sin and there's a separation. There's a breach in that relationship. So let's fast forward now to John chapter 1 beginning in verse four. It says it says in verse one of John that's not on the screen. In the beginning was the Word.

The Word was with God. The Word was God. We know that part. Verse 14 later says the Word became flesh. It says that everything was created by his Word. Look at verse four. the Word which is Jesus which is God which is him which is his name. It's all the same. Listen, a Word is only as credible as the person that's given it. The name is only as credible as the character of the one who carries the name. It's all the same. When we see God's Word in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. Now when verse four, it says that the Word gave life. Who gave life? God. Jesus, the Spirit of God, the Creator of all things, Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim, the God. Big G, okay? The King of all kings, the God of all creation, the one who has no rival, has no equal, has no peer.

Okay? The Word gave life to everything that was created. And his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it. What does verse 14? We're going to come right back to this. What does verse 14 say? It says the Word became flesh. Jesus who is God is the light. John chapter or Colossians chapter 1, I've referenced a lot. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. And it says everything was made through him and everything was made by him and for him. And Christ is supreme. Okay. The Word is life. God is life, the essence of life, and he's light. His presence, his anointing, everything that he is lifegiving. Okay? Jesus comes in the likeness of creation that we just read in Genesis 1. Jesus, who is God, and the likeness of his creation, God came and he was the light and he was the light and he was the life.

And the darkness can never extinguish it. The darkness can never extinguish who God is. is it can it can never listen Jesus can never be overcome. God can never be overcome. His Word can never be deflated. His Word can never be undercut. God can never can never lose. I love my one of my favorite verses. I think it's Galatians 6:7 says, "Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked and will not be mocked. What a man sws he's going to reap. " In other words, I love the first part. Don't be deceived. God will never lose. God's not going to be mocked. You can think you got the upper hand on him. It's like, I don't need God. In the end, vindication and vengeance will always be his. He will not lose. Verse six, God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.

John the Baptist spoke of God, spoke of Jehovah, spoke of the light, spoke of his anointing, spoke of his presence, spoke of his character, spoke of the one who was coming would be the Messiah to tell about the light so everyone might believe because of his testimony. Verse eight, John himself was not the light. He was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who is the anointed one, who is the Christ who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. When God said, "Let there be light," it was him. When God came in the likes of mankind, it was Jesus. It was him. When he was coming to bring light to you and me, what was he bringing? He was bringing him to you because that's what he designed it to be. That's how it was in the beginning. But we breached it. So what did he do when he could have wiped it away? He came to resolve it so that we could have the light back. So that we could live in his presence. So that we could hear his voice. So that we could walk with him. So that we could walk and have peace with the one who created us. So that your life could have purpose. So that things could make have order. That it wouldn't be crazy and empty and void.

So then here's what's beautiful. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. This was our memory verse. I won't put anybody on the spot, but I'm sure they could do it. And it says, "For God who said, "Let there be light in the darkness has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus. " I'm putting together this timeline for you the best that I can. I hope it. It's pretty cool. God said, "Let there be light. " He's the light. We break it. He creates man to live in the light. We break it. So he comes in the likeness of man is the light. And so he repairs the breach. When you put your faith in Christ and the finished work of Jesus and you recognize the resurrection of Jesus, the victory over death, which is the wages of our sin that separates us from God, that's what gives you peace with God. And now what shines in your heart is the very anointing or presence or life of God. You're a big deal. And it's essential that you understand this because before we start talking about how to interact with one another and we start talking about forgiveness for one another and forgiveness from things in our past and holding your tongue and all the stuff that we talk about practicing because it does matter. They got to have a reason for why does it matter?

It matters because God rescued you and saved you and you have the light of the life of God on the inside of you to lead you in it. See, your heart is shifting and changing. You have a new song that comes out of your mouth. God, you're good. It's not like this day sucks. God, YOU'RE GOOD. God, YOU'RE FAITHFUL. God, you're patient with me. God, you've BLESSED MY LIFE. God, YOU'RE you're orchestrating EVERYTHING FOR GOOD. God, YOU'RE WIDENING THE PATH BENEATH MY FEET. God, I thank you for the salvation and the hope of glory. It says it's I said this while ago, it's Christ in me, the hope of glory. Guess what that means? You never have to be hopeless or depressed in your life. Well, I mean, I mean, you can't just say, "I can't be depressed. " I don't know. The hope of glory means the hope of what's to come. Nobody can take Christ from you. Nobody can deflate him.

Nobody can impact him. Christ in me. The hope of glory. What is glory? It's what to come. I am constantly full of expectation, hope for the future because I have the hope of glory in front of me in me. Right? I have his light on the inside of me. Why did he make this light shine in us? So that you could know the glory of God. What is the glory of God? It's the wow factor. It's the It's the greatness of God. It's the awesomeness of God. It's the I stand in awe of your magnificence. It's that moment when you're on the riverbank or at the mountains or wherever you're at and you just you just know God is that awe in your heart that goes, "Who am I that managed to that God would even be mindful of me? " You look up at the stars and you go, "How do all these stars? Who am I? How do me? Why do you care about me?

" It's that moment that you go, "Wow. " It's so that you could know God is real. It's so that you could have a relationship with him. You could know the glory of God that we see where in the face of Jesus. Again, I can't say it enough times because it's so powerful. It's the visible image of the invisible God. When we see Jesus, I see God's heart. When I see Jesus, I see the devotion of a loving God. I see the person of God. I see his commitment to me. I see his devotion to me. I see his sacrifice for me. I see his resolve. I see his passion. I see everything. It's like, oh my gosh, you love me. I'm that valuable. Some of you need to hear that you're that loved and you're that valuable today, right now. That while you were still a sinner, Christ the light came and died for you. It tasted the darkness because darkness fell on the earth.

Am I not mis am I not? Yes. Whatever I'm trying to say, I'm right about it. Okay. When he died on the cross, darkness fell because light died so that the light could shine in your heart. So that you could be reconnected to the Father. So that you could wake up and have a new song in your mouth. So that when you're going through a trial and tribulation, you could be of great cheer because the light of the life of God is on the inside of you and you've already overcome the world. It says this has made his light shine in our heart so that we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus. Check this out. First Thessalonians 5:5. What does that make you man? The light that created everything on day one was his presence. And Jesus came. He was the light and then he made this light shine in you. Now you are all children of the light and of the day. And we don't belong to darkness or night. Can you go back to Genesis 1 verse three or four? Whatever it is, he separated the light from the darkness. He called the light day and he called the darkness night.

This had nothing to do with the sun and the moon. So when it says Paul writes in first Thessalonians, you are now children of the light and children of the day. We don't belong to darkness and night anymore. We're not of the God of this world. We're not of that Spirit anymore. What we were born into with this broken system, that's not my God. That's not my life. That's not my endgame. That doesn't have the final say. Why? Because God redeemed me and he has caused this light to shine in my hearts. Why? I know the glory of God. I can know it. And I can live every day knowing the glory of God in my life. If it's if we don't know, I MEAN, WOO! LISTEN TO ME. OTHERWISE, WE'RE JUST ATTENDING SERVICES. I don't want to do that. I'VE SAID IT A THOUSAND TIMES.

I DON'T WANT TO ATTEND SERVICES, but I do want to rally with you. SO, WHAT DO I DO AFTER EVERY SECOND SONG? HEY, EVERYBODY, LIFT YOUR HANDS. CLOSE YOUR EYES. GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE. WHY? BECAUSE Jesus DIED FOR YOU. BECAUSE THE LIGHT OF God IS ON THE INSIDE OF YOU. BECAUSE YOU GET TO LIVE IN THE LIGHT OF God. BECAUSE YOU'RE CHILDREN OF THE DAY NOW. BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT WAS SEPARATED FROM God IS NO LONGER SEPARATED FROM HIM. YOU'RE ALIVE UNDER God. YOU GET TO LIVE WITH HIM AND WALK WITH HIM AND TALK WITH HIM AND LEARN FROM HIM. You get to be redeemed. You get TO LIVE HIS PROMISE. YOU GET TO LIVE HIS Word. HOW DO IT'S GOING TO PREVAIL? WHY IS IT CALLED A PROMISE? CUZ HE CAN'T LIE. SO IF HE SAID IT, IT'S YOURS.

AND I'm screaming at you BECAUSE YOU NEED TO GET IT. IT CHANGES EVERYTHING. NOW IT'S LIKE, WELL, IS THIS A HARD DAY? SURE. IS God GOOD? YES. YES. SO, WHAT AM I GONNA SING? HIGHWAY TO HELL. NO, I'm going to sing You Are Good. Good. You say, "But Jeremy, you can't sing. " Well, you would say that, wouldn't you? You would. And I'm gonna sing it anyway. I'm roll my windows down in the Jeep and I'm going to sing it because why? I'm children of the day now. We don't belong to darkness. It doesn't matter what season you're in. It doesn't matter what your finances are.

Doesn't matter what's happened in your past. You are now the light of God to the rest of the world. That the rest of the world could be known or that God could be known to them. 1 Peter chapter 2:9. But you are, listen to who you are. You are not like that. For you are a chosen people. Anybody plays play recess? Re the best part of school, right? You go out there and anybody ever get picked last? Any last pickers? People. Yeah. I mean, anybody at the end of being picked on the team, right? Listen, God picked you. You're not the last pick anymore. God picked you to be on his team. God picked you to be in his family. God chose you. When he could have wiped it away and been done, he came to repair it because he picks you, chooses you, wants you to be with him.

He wants you to enjoy his light on the inside of you. He wants you to have the hope of glory today and the glory that is coming to enjoy. He wants you to have it. It's what he wants for you. He chose you. You are a chosen people. You are royal priesthood. You are royalty. You are you are kingdom people now. You're you're children of the king. You're children of the day. You're children of God. You're children of the light. Your daddy is the Creator of heavens and earth. That's kind of a big deal. And if you understand that, it changes your mindset. It changes your posture. It changes your position. what Paul wrote, I think it's Philippians, he said, "Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but humbled himself and took the form of man or the likeness of man, and humbled himself to the point of dying a criminal's death, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God. " Let this mind be in you.

You saying I'm God? No. I'm saying the light of God is in you. And now it is Christ in you. You and of yourself are the creation. But now the Creator lives big on the inside of you. That makes you a new creation. You have a new heart. You have a new song. You have a new life. You have a new hope. Everything's changed for you. And now you can have this mindset who like Christ Jesus. Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. What does it say in 2 Corinthians 2? Whatever it's not up there that I have the mind of Christ. Romans 12:2 that I be transformed by the renewing of my mind. Listen, you got to know who you are so you can think who you are. You can think like who you are. You can talk like who you are.

You're you're children of the day. You're let this mind be you that was also in Christ Jesus. I have the mind of Christ. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. My my Father owns a cattle on a thousand hills is one reference that David wrote. It's unlimited supply. Hold on. Listen. God is for you. He's for you. IF God IS FOR YOU, DOES IT MATTER who's against you? In other words, if God wants you to win and everybody in here wants you to lose, are you going to win? Yes. So to you guys, right? Because God's FOR ME. IF God IS FOR ME, who can be against me? Because they're not against me. THEY'RE AGAINST God. AND GUESS WHO LOSES?

THEY DO. IF God WANTS me to succeed and God wants me to win, and God wants me in Heaven, and God wants me in right state with him, and God wants me living in peace with him, GUESS WHAT? YOU CAN'T STOP IT. THE ONLY PERSON THAT'S going to stop it for you is you. Because you've been invited. You've been redeemed. He has made this light shine in your hearts. IT'S ALL THERE, BABY. A Holy nation. You are God's very own possession. As a result, watch. You can show others the goodness of God. For he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. You now are the hands and feet. You now are the mirror for people. You now are the standard. You now are the lifegiver. You say, "Well, I'm not really qualified. I'm just, duty do whatever, do my thing. " No, NO, NO.

EVERYWHERE YOU GO, you're a child of the day. Everywhere you go, the light is shining in your heart. And out of your heart comes the issues of life. Out of your heart comes out of your mouth. That's why there's a new song because there's a new light, his presence. Are you all following me? So now you're a chosen people and you can show others the GOODNESS OF God. HOW? WELL, a big part of it is the words coming out of your mouth now are going, "You are good. Good. " And people go, "What are you singing? " I'm singing God's good. And what do they see? God's goodness. That's one way they hear it at least, right? They see that you're not rattled by the things, same things that they're rattled by in the world. Listen, you ain't got to go far to get rattled what's going on in the world. In fact, some of you need to scale back on the world intake. Now, I'm not in your kitchen. I'm just throwing it out there for whoever wants it.

Okay? Scale back on the news intake. Scale back on the social media influencers. scale back on everybody's opinions. You guys know about opinions, right? I don't have to go there. I got a verse for next week about opinions. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Look at Galatians chapter 2 verse 20. My old self has been crucified with Christ. Okay, pause. The light that John the Baptist spoke about came into the world. The light is the anointed one. It's the Christ. It's the presence of God that was on this man that was this man. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. The Word spoke life. The life brought light.

And the darkness cannot stop it. Jesus cannot be stopped. If he wanted to go back to Heaven, he could have gone back. If he wanted to call down leg allegiance of angels, he could have called down a legion of angels. If he didn't want to do it, he didn't have to do it. But he continued in it for you. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross. God came and died for you. and your old self that was the darkness that was apart from God that was separated from God died with him so that the light could shine in your heart so that Christ could live in you. Your old self that's the victim, your old self that was broken, your old self that was a failure and a mess up and a screw up and all the stuff that person gonzo that person we crucified. So, it's no longer what lives. That's not who I am anymore. And I know that it's like, well, this is all fun talk, but tomorrow it just feels like a normal day. I know. That's why I'm emphasizing that you have to understand who you are because when you get up tomorrow, you're going to have morning breath and you're going to feel sore in your back and and your hair is not going to do right, ladies. Not much of an issue for me in tone. what I'm saying? But things are going to things are going to be there. Somebody's going to be late for work tomorrow. All the business owners like if it if I if you work for me, don't be late tomorrow.

Don't be late. Something's going to happen this week. Listen, listen, listen. Something's going to happen this week. And you can go, "Well, guess I'm not really the light. Guess I'm not really the day anymore. Whoa, whoa, is me. This is just my lot in life. I knew nothing really be any different. No, no, no, no. Watch. Things are going to happen to you this week. And you're going to be the light when they happen to you. Whatever happens to you, it happens to the light in you. You're going to respond to it with the light in you. You're going to respond to that thing with God's presence in you, leading you. That's who you are now. Your old self is gone. your old way of thinking, your old the old man that couldn't hear from God, the old the old man that that was in darkness that was separated from God, he's gone. You hear God's voice now.

You're led by God's Spirit now. that little conviction thing you feel in your heart to do or not do something? Ding, ding, ding. Holy Spirit. That's what God's doing in your life. He's trying to lead you now because the light shines in your heart. If you've put your faith in the finished work of Jesus, then you have been made Holy, which means God can dwell there now because only he's the only one that's Holy. He's the only Holy God and he's made you Holy. He's set you apart now. He's made you Holy. He is your sanctification, which is a covenant name of God. He is that. And so now that he's in my heart, he he begins to wash and refine me. And it's for your good. Listen to me. It's not to fit the worldly picture of good behavior. It's to glorify God with victory in your life. It's not about your worldly success. Although it will capture the attention of other people in the natural for you to then share and communicate the life and the light of God because you now are a chosen people. You now get to show the goodness of God in your life.

It is not about behavior modification to fit the bill. Listen to me. There are a lot of good people, a lot of people that are good stewards in earthly matters and have no relationship with God because they don't have the atonement of Jesus Christ in their life. There are a lot of people unfortunately that have the atonement of Jesus Christ and have are poor stewards of things. We want to be good stewards. We want to manage things well. But listen to me. It's not just to prove to you that I'm good and disciplined. It's so that I have capacity so you can see the glory of God. So you can see the victory in my life. I want to grow and think and operate in the life in alignment with God. Why? Because we're building his kingdom. Okay, now it gets weird again, right? You thought it was about your bank account. You thought it was about your marriage. They matter. especially your family and your marriage. I'm just simply saying I'm not telling you to do it just for those things. I'm saying everything that you're growing in, those things will benefit, but it's for the kingdom of God.

It's to bring glory to God. It's to expand his kingdom. And I'm going to finish with that verse in just a minute that hopefully brings some sobriety to this topic. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I, the old Jeremy who lives, but Christ lives in me. Look at this. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I love that verbiage. Makes it weird again for our natural mind. But so now I live in this earthly body. John chapter 4, God is Spirit, light, the light of God, the Spirit of God, the presence of God. That's who I am. Remember verse 26, let us make man in our image and in our likeness. You have the authority and the the dominion to govern over things on the earth. And so now I live in this earthly body. no longer apart from God, but trusting God, relationship with God, trusting his way, trusting his Word, trusting in his salvation and his hope, trusting in his character and his goodness. I'm alive unto God. I'm going to finish with these last thoughts. I don't have the references. I think it's Matthew chapter 8 and Matthew chapter 22 or something like that.

And Jesus is telling a couple of parables, but he uses this verbiage and he says in both parables he says it's a beware parable and he says the to the wicked servant will be cast out into outer darkness where there'll be weeping and nashing of teeth. And let me help you with something. And if you're here for the first time, I'm not a hellfire brimstone preacher and this might be the first time you'll hear it like this, but there is an outer darkness. You say, "Well, what do you mean? " Well, if God is the light and we have the hope of Heaven, then if I'm not in Heaven with him, then I'm in the darkness. And let me tell you something, that darkness is not just dark. It's the absence. Listen to me. It's the absence of God's presence. And you've never known that. And the reason it says there'll be weeping and nashing of teeth. And I got to be honest, every time I ever heard nashing of teeth, I think of all the movie clips and things I've ever seen. And I'm picturing fangs and slobber and wolves and whatever. what I mean? And the nashing of teeth is in my own little research, I'm going pay it forward to you if you can do what you want with it, but the nashing of teeth is the gritting of teeth. When do you grit your teeth? When you're nashing your teeth together, when you're gritting your teeth, it says it like this. It's referred to as the act of grinding or clenching your teeth together. It often conveys a sense of anger, frustration, or distress. It's used in literary context to describe intense emotions.

It's associated with physical pain or discomfort. And it was used in mythological stories as a sign of torment. All of those things. Listen to me. Listen to me very clearly. I'm not telling you that as a threat. I'm offering you an invitation to the light. See, see right now we live in a broken system and we can feel the ramifications of darkness. A lot of us were born into environments that was the results of the darkness your parents lived in. And let me say it differently because darkness is not a thing. It's the absence of light. Because your parents didn't have the presence of God and the wisdom of God and the Truth of God and the healing of God and the light of God in their heart. They just taught you what they knew from the place of darkness that they lived in. But you've never known life without God's grace, with without the opportunity to repent, without the opportunity to walk in forgiveness, without the opportunity to say, "Yo, I I want more of the light in my life. " This whole Gospel message is not a threat of outer darkness. It's an invitation to the light. And I did everything I could do to try to present that picture to you today. Starting from the beginning when God said, "Let there be light. " And the same God who said, "Let there be light in the darkness has made this light shine in your hearts. " When Jesus came, who was the light, and so now you get to be a vessel of light to those who are in the darkness.

This is who we are. And if we're just attending services, then we're not going to be very effective at sharing the light with people. People aren't going to get to experience the healing, aren't going to experience the hope, aren't going to experience the restoration that's available for them now. and the hope of glory in the future and the rescue from outer darkness. I'm telling you, the Bible says in Jude that says some saves with fear. There has to be a reverence and a fear for God. And there has to be a reverence and seeing his goodness of being the light coming in the likeness of man to bring the light to us. Put the light in your heart so that you can be a vessel of light to those and be patient. The Bible says that God is not slow about his promise, but he's patient so that none would perish. God is being patient so that nobody will perish without our darkness. That's what he's doing. Because you say, why is he waiting so long? Because he's waiting for us to be the light that he's put in our hearts for the people who walk in darkness. There is a day coming. There's a day coming. It's called the second coming. It's called the return of Christ. And that means time is out. And this is not a ploy. If you got religious stuff in your heart, this is not a ploy.

I'm just reading the Scripture to you. I'm just laying it out. If you can believe that Jesus died on the cross for you, then you can believe there's an outer darkness. And if you don't want anything to do with it, to each their own. But I'm going to give you an opportunity because you're in the room and I've done everything I can do to tee it up. And now listen to me. It's your response to God. That's it. I can't do anything else but what I've done. Now it's your response. Either you recognize God as the light and you put your faith in the finished work of Jesus, realizing that light now becomes alive in you so that you can be a light for people. That's why the disciplines come in. That's why the practices come in. But you're never going to want to do that until you understand that God has rescued you and saved you and loves you. You're not going to Who cares if you forgive people if the light's not real? Who cares if you cuss or don't cuss? If the light's not real, who cares if you struggle with addiction if the light's not there? Who cares if you if you hang on and your marriage is restored? If go if the light's not there, who cares? Who cares to be patient and hang on and endure?

Who cares to humble yourself? Who car? Nobody wants to do that unless the light's real. And let me tell you, take my Word for it if you want. The light's real. If you're in here tonight, you've never made Jesus the Lord of your life. It's very simple. You believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. That's acknowledging the wages of sin. That's acknowledging that the light came and died on the cross, tasted darkness for you, and then conquered it. In other words, God is your victory. I believe in my heart that God is my victory. That he conquered my darkness. He conquered my sin. And then with that, I'm going to confess and acknowledge that Jesus is the light. That Jesus is Lord. That Jesus is Jehovah. That Jesus is God. That Jesus was the Word that was there in the beginning that said, "Let there be light in the darkness. " That was Jesus.

I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. And listen, by my belief and my confession, he makes you Holy and the light pierces your heart and it shines on the inside of you. Everything changes because now the veil that was blinding you comes off your eyes and you can see. There's light. You can see. But it's only if you believe that and then confess that is the resolve, the commitment to it. Real quickly before we finish with this course, you want to bow your head, close your eyes. If you want to open your eyes and lift your head, I don't care. Just repeat after me. Everybody in the room, repeat after me. God, I believe in my heart that you sent Jesus yourself, the light to pay the price for my sin and for my darkness. I believe that you raised me from the dead, that you conquered my sin, and I have new life. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is God. That Jesus is the light. That Jesus lives in me. It's no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me. Now God, I thank you for the new hope, the new vision, the new outlook, the new song that fills my heart in Jesus name. Amen.