I Can See The Light - Week 3

If you got a Bible, go to Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five.

We're gonna continue in our series. I can see the light Matthew chapter

five. And we've been talking about this from a little bit different perspective.

Let's read that passage of scripture together. It says you are the light of

the world. Jesus opens with this whole concept of the light of the world

by by saying I am the light of the world. And then he turns

to the church and he says, you are the light of the world.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. You know,

I think that that so many times we we we miss some of the subtle

things that Jesus teaches. There's no doubt that when he's teaching that he's looking

at a city on a hill. Come on, somebody, now, Jesus

was probably the greatest illustrated sermon preacher ever because the things he taught he was

normally pointing at, and they were looking at those things because he taught natural

examples of spiritual principles. And when we realized that Jesus was teaching these object

lessons, he was giving us a model of behavior, and he says the

most important thing. He says, Hey, you were the light of the

world. You're going to be the one that illuminates the darkness my presence through

you. And he compares it to a city set on a hill. The

reason he compares it to a city set on a hill because those elevated cities

were the navigational beacons that people were able to set their path by. As

you would leave one city, you would set your eyes on the light of

the next city on a hill, and you could navigate your path by the

light coming from those cities. Cities are stationary objects. They don't move,

they're not shaken, they're there. If you don't make the journey in a

twenty four hour period of time, that city is in the exact same place

it was the night before. Come on, somebody, and he says,

I want you to be like a city set on a hill. I want

you to be this constant, immovable object that people see light in you and

they can navigate their lives by what they see in you. The apostle Paul

says it this way. He says, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

He says, there is an example in my life, and if you see

that example and follow that example. It will lead you in the right place

until you can guide your life by the same thing that I'm guiding my life

by. Do you know that there are different stages of spiritual growth? And

in this room today we have a broad spectrum of people in their spiritual journey

and levels of spiritual maturity. Amen, we have babies and we got that's

gonna say the way I said old folks. Amen, y'all might say the

elderly, I say, old folks. We have young folks. We got

old folks right and all in between, and those ages of spiritual maturity as

well. And you're you're your chronological age doesn't determine your spiritual maturity. I

think that sometimes we look at somebody and because they're older, we think they're

more spiritually mature. But spiritual maturity doesn't happen the same way age happens.

Unfortunately, when I wake up tomorrow, I'm going to be older than I

was today. Right. As a matter of fact, I woke up this

morning and I was like twenty years older than I was yesterday. Police.

That's the way it feels sometimes, right, But with spiritual maturity, you

actually have to take the steps to move down the timeline. I hear people

say, oh, well, I've been saved twenty years, but that doesn't

mean that you're twenty years mature. You may be. You may be twenty

times the same year's worth of spiritual maturity. Amen, because you have to

walk and accept the challenges that are set before you and allow those challenges increase

your faith levels so that new people that are are are down journey somewhere can

see that city and be guided by the light in you when we talk about

that. Now, listen, I want you to understand. Everybody look at

me, I want you to understand what I'm preaching today is easier for me

to preach than it is for you to do. Most often, the things

that I preach are easier to preach than they are to do. But the

reality is, if our goal is to become more like Christ, then we

must become a city set on a hill, because part of what Christ is

calling us to is to have people navigate their lives by the solidness, the

instability, the instability, the stability, and a lot of people are following

our instability. I want to switch that follow our stability. So let's go

over to Let's go over to James chapter one. James is one of my

favorite books because there is so much wisdom in the Book of James. He

says so many things that are just earth moving. In James chapter one,

starting in verse two, it says, my brethren, that means if you

have asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you've repented of those sins.

You've made him your lord. He's talking to you. He's talking to

you. Stop comparing yourself to people who are not inside the kingdom and thinking

that you are better than you are because of how bad they are. Come

on, somebody, he says, brethren, he's talking about people in the

family of God. He's talking about the Kingdom of God. He says,

my brethren, Now listen, I struggle with this one. What I'm about

to read you is hard. Count it all joy when you fall into various

trials. This I woke up this morning. I felt I felt good when

I woke up this morning. Then the process of getting from the bed to

the church. Come on, somebody, Life happens in those spaces sometimes right

this pain hit me somewhere right below my neck. In between there's nothing there.

I mean, it's like I've tried to figure out how to stretch it.

It can't be stretched. I tried to figure out what I did.

I went I replayed every arm movement I made yesterday to see how I pulled

that muscle. And I got in the truck and I was on the way

here, and it started hurting worse and worse and worse. And then my

head got heavier and heavier, and it was like, how my body cannot

hold my head up today. I mean, I know it's a large head,

but it's mostly brains too. I want to assure you of that.

And I started hurting worse and worse, and I came through the door,

and this is the first thing I thought, Man, I wonder if Clay

could preach this morning or Gary could preach this morning, because my shoulder's hurting

and I've already decided somebody else has to preach. Come on, now.

I wasn't counting that joy. I was counting it pain and discomfort almost.

I don't know that I've ever experienced misery, but I was close, right.

I don't know that I've ever never gotten to in my whole life,

I've never gotten a misery. But I might have bumped against it today and

I wasn't counting at all joy. But Scribisure says, brethren, listen,

count it joy when these little things come because the reality is now, maybe

I have a little more sympathy when I lay hands on you today. Maybe

I'm positioned a little bit better to hear the Lord. As a matter of

fact, I experienced something today that I don't know that I've ever experienced before.

And I don't even remember who I was praying for, but I laid

hands on somebody and I prayed for somebody else and I felt God's healing touch

me. It was remarkable. So maybe that was my thing today and I

can count that joy. Let's do a show of hands transparency. Remember number

one core value. How many of you would like to have a miracle in

your life. You'd like to see a miracle. Raise your hand. You

know. To get a miracle, something's got to be wrong. You got

to need one to get one. So we say things like that, oh

God bless me, well, that means you have to be a place of

non blessing. She got to go through the thing to get the thing.

The problem is that we can't normally sit in the thing before we get the

thing, he says, count it all joy when you fall into various trials

knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience fool the spiritual discipline that no

one wants to talk about, the spiritual discipline of patience. You know that

there's two, the two most untaught and the most unpracticed spiritual disciplines in my

opinion, or the spiritual discipline of patience and meditation. Patience and meditation.

Now listen, when I said meditation, something went offen you. Probably you

probably saw a picture of somebody sitting Indian style right with their figure. That

might be meditation. That's not what scripture's talking about. It's talking about patiently,

over the course of time, allowing Scripture and his presence and your prayers

to be processed through the soulish part of who you are. It's slowing down

and spending time. But we've been trained to go, go, go,

go go. You know it was for some of you when we got to

that moment this morning in worshiping God just does the things that God's going to

do. We didn't plan that, But when we got to that place where

nobody was singing, and we were all just kind of looking at each other

like, what do we do now? You know, we have those moments

where we think, what are you? What do we do now? We

can't do it better than God does it. But people start getting uncomfortable when

nobody's talking, start getting uncomfortable when you know Ali's just up here playing the

keyboard makes it look so easiest like, and we start going mm hmm,

do I need to go to the bathroom? Oh, candy is what I

need? Because we're not used to just sitting in God's presence and waiting for

him to do the thing. Now, remember, as we read this,

he says, I want you to be as a city set on a hill,

a navigational beacon that remains in the same place so that people can get

he says, and where they are to that place. And he says,

listen, count it all joy knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

But let patients have its perfect work. So once you've reached the point

where you say I'm being patient, just stay right there. I say,

all the time I have been patient. I sit in the car, I

wait on my kids. Listen, my kids are basically grown but they're the

slowest two people on the face of the planet. I hope they're walking.

I hope they're watching from home. Today Lexi had her wisdom teeth taken out,

hurting pretty bad today, but she's still slow. Her older sister is

the chief of slow. And I sit in the car. I said,

I'll meet you in the car. That means come old. I sit in

the car and I wait. I crank the car, I adjust the temperature,

take out my phone, check my text messages, open the internet,

check the Florida State message board. And there's nobody coming down the walkway.

So nobody coming down the driveway. Hop hong, I get different tones out

of my horn, you know. And then finally they come, and this

is what they say, Daddy, it's ten twenty nine, and you said

we were leaving at ten thirty, but everybody knows that really means ten twenty.

And I'll say, why can't you just be patient? And in my

mind, I think I have been patient. I have been patient. I've

reached the end of patient, and now we're into inconsiderate. But the Bible

says, hey be patient. When you've reached the end of patient, continue

to be patient, continue to be in the place that you're supposed to be

and not try to make things happen before it's supposed to happen. And when

you have been patient of being patient, your faith has then produced the gift

that it is supposed to produce. Let me read it to you again,

just so you don't I'm telling the truth. But let patience have its perfect

workpe Nope, let me back up, as you fall into various trials knowing

that the testing of your faith produces patience. But see, this is what

we this is what we learn on TV a lot of times, is that

faith makes something happen right now. Oh well, when you say it,

it happens. Faith makes it instant. But the Bible says faith produces patience

because they're seed time, harvest, seed time, harvest, seed time,

harvest. Now watch, faith plants the seed, God brings the harvest.

Patience matures us in between the two things. It's the in between where we

grow. It's the in between where we learn a little bit more about who

we are and a little bit more about who God is. It's in that

space. Now does God ever collapse those spaces? Yes, absolutely he does.

Most often he collapsed those spaces when we have reached this level of spiritual

maturity and we're asking for a miracle on this level or this level, and

we've already learned those things come on somebody. God does things, but he

says, hey, faith produces patience, and but let patience have its perfect

work. That you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing that's that's big,

that's like, that's like other worldly God things, that's like perfect and

complete, lacking nothing. When I learn to operate in patience, and I

learned to be like a city set on a hill, sharing my life with

the people around me. Not a selfish believer, but I'm a generous believer,

sharing what God is doing in my life. People begin to see that

city, They begin to navigate, and they begin to see the way that

I operate in things. And the scripture is actually teaching us that in the

midst of that waiting, that we realize things are not as bad as we

thought they were. But in the midst of that waiting, suddenly God begins

to move in new and unexpected ways that we didn't anticipate. And we can't

quite put our finger on but we know the situation has changed. But the

situation looks the same, the report has been the same, the bank accounts

the same. She still cusses me out every time I come home from work.

But something is changing. Thing is something is moving because patience changes us.

We want the situation to change, but God wants us to change.

We think that that when the situation changes, We think when that happens,

that that's what people look at. But people don't look at that because most

people don't think they're worthy of that. Most people don't think they actually deserve

a miracle, that they can get a miracle, that they can have a

miracle, that they've done too many bad things. Most people live in that

place. But when they see you operate through those difficult times that they're also

living in, that's what they're drawn to. They're drawn to your patience and

your peace, and you're growing in the Lord and understanding him a little more.

And they say, Hey, that city, I can move towards that

city. I can, I can navigate towards I can. I can wait

with the best of them. But we're always wanting to move faster and do

more and do it yesterday rather than today. But we've got to learn that

to be the light of the world. We have to endure sometimes and sit

and rest in patience. I might not have come to preach to everybody today,

but I do believe I came to preach to somebody. If any of

you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally

without reproach, and it will be given to him. Wisdom the application of

knowledge. The things that we learn we apply. The reason we don't grow,

the reason we don't mature, is that God does something, but we

don't learn it and apply it. This time, I made it through praciate.

If you ever made it through something, you know that's the promise of

scripture, right, that God delivers me through everything. We want him to

deliver us out, but he delivers us through. So if we've made it

through something, why are we struggling with what we're going through now, because

we already know He's going to deliver us through it. Apply what we learn

then and collapse the time frame and the parameters of what I'm experiencing now by

taking a step in spiritual maturity. If any of him lacks wisdom, let

him ask of God, God, what do you want me to? What

do you want me to take away from what I've gone through. I ask

that question all the time. If I sit down with you, I have

a conversation with you, I leave, I say, God, what do

I need to take away from that conversation? I read a book? God,

what do I need to take away from this book? Watch a video?

God? What do I need to take away from this video? What

is that? What is that key point? What's that thing that's gonna maximize

my spiritual growth? What's that thing that's gonna help me help others that?

What's that key thing that's how we grow spiritually? Sometime? I'm not shouting

the house down today, but if you'll do this, you're gonna take a

lot bigger step than if we just shout about everything. But let him ask

in faith with no doubting. For he who doubts as like a wave of

the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let no man suppose

that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double minded man,

unstable in all his ways. He says, listen, when you come

to the Lord, believe and don't doubt. Clay, you guys can get

ready believe and don't doubt. Come to it, Sit in it and don't

doubt it. Sit and allow that faith that brought you here, that faith

that has positioned you for a miracle, Allow it to start the work and

patience begin so that when I get to the end of it, I'm not

the same person that I was at the beginning of it. And I'm gonna

hold on and I'm gonna trust, and I'm gonna sit in the middle of

it, and I'm not going to start doubting. That's the hardest part of

everything that I've reached today, when I sit there and nothing changes, when

I'm just I'm just there right and I and the situations in the circumstances look

exactly the same. It's kind of like when Jesus put his disciples in a

boat. He said, listen, I want you. I'm gonna go up

on the mountain and I'm gonna pray you guys, paddle to the other side

your destiny tonight. It's the other side of the lake. And they get

in and they start rowing, just rowing, and they get halfway across and

a storm blows up, and as hard as they row, they're just stuck,

not making progress. Jesus knows they're there, So Jesus walks down.

He doesn't see another boat, so he just walks across the water because Jesus

can do that. Jesus walks across the thing we're stuck in, and he

gets out there and they see Jesus. Now watch, They've never seen this

before, they've never seen anybody walking on the water before. It's a new

experience. Do you realize that there will be new experiences in your spiritual walk?

You're going to see God do things or ask things of you that you've

never ever experienced before. This is your moment of growth. So they're rowing,

they see Jesus. They're terrified, and Peter says, hey, if

that's you, ask me to get out of this boat and come to you.

And Jesus said come. And scripture is very dignified, you know,

it's a come. I think Jesus more like me. I think he was

Southern Israeli. He said, come on. You know in scripture, every

time, every single time God speaks to an individual, he calls them by

name every time. So Peter said, hey, bid me because jesusaid come.

So Peter gets up a little bit heat boat starts rocking. There's nothing

to do with this message. Want to make this quote because this is tweetable.

You'll never be a water walker if you don't first become a boat rocker.

And Peter stepped out of the boat. Now the invitation was come.

He didn't specifically speak to Peter, or he would have said, Simon,

Peter, come. The invitation was to everybody. But Peter changed his position.

He stood up. He was patiently waiting until the moment the invitation was

given. When does patience end? When do we know we've had enough patience?

When Jesus calls us out, you sit and you row until Jesus says,

now, how do I know? He'll you'll know. And Peter steps

out of the boat. And when his foot hit the water, it didn't

sink. And for the first time in history, a man that wasn't the

son of God stood on water for the first time. Jesus has the first

time for you, this morning, your position, and today maybe the day

where he says, come and watch the spiritual journey. He jumps out of

the boat. He starts walking on the water. He takes his eyes off

Jesus. He starts looking at the storm, the winds and the waves and

the lightning and the thunder and all the stuff, and he begins to sink.

Do you know most people stay because they're afraid of sinking. And he

began to sink, And the Bible says that he began to sink, and

he turned around and he called the side of the boat, and he almost

turned the boat over, and he climbed in. The Bible says when he

began to sink, Jesus reached out his hand and he grabbed him. So

that means when he began to sink, Peter was closer to the answer than

he was the problem because faith doesn't have to get me to the bank.

It just has to get me closer to Jesus that moment where he says,

come, I just have to get a little closer to him, because he's

already leaning in to catch me. And from that moment on he could look

at everybody and say I've walked on water. Now we don't have this in

scripture, but I bet that conversation when they got to the bank with something

like this, Peter, what were you thinking, man? You could have

drowned, You almost killed us. What were you thinking? City sat on

a hill, Peter looked at him and said, see, you don't understand

cause you've never been where I've been. You've never done what I just did.

But you need to because what I experienced with God, it's better than

anything I've ever experienced in my life. That in that moment. Yeah,

I know I sunk, but boy, when he caught me and he pulled

me up close, it was better than walking on water. Now, the

walking on water was pretty good too, But you wouldn't be having the conversation

about Jesus catching me if I didn't walk on water. The testimony said,

he just kind of snuggled me into his chest. He smelled just like roses

his skin. It's like he got to be using some kind of softener.

He just he just set me back down in the boat, and then we

were here. Now I can't explain it. Listen to your testimony. I

can't explain it. I don't think I deserved it. I just know what

happened. I just know I was there, and now I'm here. We

were in the boat, we were rowing. Now I'm here, I'm on

the beach, and I know what Jesus smells like, and everything is going

to be okay. I don't know what boat you're in. I don't know

what lake you're rowing across. I don't know what the storm looks like.

But I know that if you'll just keep rowing until Jesus gets there and calls

you out of the boat, that you're going to be a different person than

you were when you got in the boat. That is spiritual maturity, That

is growing up in the Lord. Let patience have its work, and you'll

know it's time for patience to end when you see Jesus coming, and it

will probably terrify you. But when he gets there. In Hebrews chapter thirteen,

verse eight, it says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and

forever. He is the ultimate city on a hill. He doesn't move,

and he's not shaken. And I don't know what your struggle is today.

Maybe you've never asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, maybe you've never

trusted him as your lord. But he is the same yesterday, today,

and forever. Your life may be a roller coaster, but Jesus is constant

and steady, and he's waiting on you today right here with open arms.

So if you would stand with me all over the building, if you're here

today and you're planning on getting baptized. If you're getting baptized today, I

want you to go ahead and slide out. Where's Miss Diana. Miss Diana

is gonna take you to a place where you can change and get ready,

So follow her. She's headed to the back right now. So if you're

getting ready to be baptized, go with her, and she's going to explain

everything and have you ready to go. So follow Miss Diana right there.

For the rest of you, God's got something special for you. I know

you're worn out, I know you feel broken. I know you don't feel

like you can take one more thing. But Jesus has got something for you

today. So if you're here and you say I've got I feel like I'm

thinking I'm ready for Jesus to catch me. I'm afraid to get in the

boat. It doesn't matter what stage you're in. But if you just know

there's more and you're ready for it. On the count of three, I

want you to step out and move. If you're here and you've never asked

Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you've never asked him to be your

lord, let me just quickly tell you what that means. If you've never

done that, you can't make heaven. The only way to get to heaven

is to ask Jesus forgive you of your sins and be your lord. That's

the only way you can make heaven. It's to make him your lord.

There's no other way, zero ways. Don't accept Jesus, zero chance.

So, if you're here and you want to ask Jesus forgive you of your

sins, be the Lord of your life, I want you to move when

I count to three. Also, you need to touch from God. You

want to ask Jesus to save you. Move when I count three. Don't

look around to see if anybody else is moving. You need to go.

Go go one, two, three, step out and move right now.

Come on, where are you? I want to ask Jesus to be my

savior. I need a touch from the Lord. I gotta be closer to

Him today. I gotta grow up a little bit today. I've got to

I've got to experience Him in a new way. Come on, come on,

come on, come on, amen, amen, come on, come

on, come on. There's others. Come on, come on, come

on, where are you? Move? Get rid of the fear, get

rid of the fear. Don't stay in about come on, come on,

there's two or three more, Ashley, What are we singing? Same God?

What? Same God? It's a good one. It's a good one.

They're gonna start singing, and the Holy Fish is gonna keep drawing.

You're gonna reach a place where where you're uncomfortable sitting where you are. When

you reach that place, you need to step out and you need to make

your way to the front because today is your day for your miracle. Let's

go past me h.