I Can See The Light - Week 1

We're gonna be starting a brand new series today. I can see the light.

I can see the light. If you got a Bible, go to

John chapter nine, John chapter nine. We're gonna start well, we're only

gonna read verse five to start with John chapter nine, verse five. If

there say amen, If you're not, oh my, all right, oh

mis, read along on the screens. John chapter nine, verse five.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the

world. It's good part. It's a good place to pray. Let's pray.

Father. I thank you for your word. It's the only change agent

on the face of the planet. And I pray that this very moment,

that you open our spirits, the very fabric of our being, and you

allow these seas to be planted deep down at the place where miracles have and

that those seeds bring forth a harvest of life that we've never experienced. Lord,

we love you, and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.

So Jesus is he's talking to his ministry team, his disciples, and he

looks at me and he says, listen, as long as I'm in the

world, I am the light of the world. Now, because we know

the whole story. We understand that Jesus is laying the foundation for something here.

He's teaching them something. He's teaching them one of those transference principles,

one of those things that I'm about to transfer to you guys. Now,

they didn't know this at the time, but he says, listen, I

am the light of the world. I am. I am the singular light

in a very dark place. The only reason I need to come, the

only reason I needed to be born in that manger in Bethlehem of the Virgin

Birth. The only reason I needed to be born was because the world is

a dark place. It's a spiritually dark place. And today the world is

still a spiritually dark place. And he says, I am the singular light,

and as long as I'm here, I am the light of the world.

But Jesus wasn't speaking about his presence. He was speaking about his carnate

flesh. He was talking about him, the man Jesus clothed in flesh,

one place at one time, I am the light of the world. And

he begins to speak, and he begins to teach his disciples that ministry team

what real ministry to humanity looked like. And then we jump over to Matthew

chapter five, starting in verse fourteen, and he changes his wording, and

look at what he says. He says, you are the light of the

world. First, he says, listen, as long as I'm in the

world, i am the singular light. But then he changes what he's saying.

Listen. He hasn't changed his mind. He hadn't forgotten what he said.

He was laying a foundation and now he's building on top of it.

Just like when we do these series, we layer things on top of one

another. Amen. And you may not realize it, but if you will

go back and you'll start in January and you'll start listening to sermon series,

you'll see that, even month to month, we're layering things on top of

each other. Jesus did the same thing for his ministry team that he was

building them with a designed outcome in mind, because he knew he was about

to hand off the responsibility for building the kingdom. And he says, you

were the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill

cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a

basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who

are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they

may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. I want to,

I want to just I want to read just a couple of things again

here verse fourteen, You are the light of the world. Verse sixteen.

Let your lights so shine before men that they may see your good works and

glorify your Father in heaven. Now, I want to I want to clarify

something before I jump into the rest of this message, because I'm not talking

about being justified by works. The only way to be saved. That's salvation,

a free gift of God. There's nothing you can do to earn it.

Now, see, okay, somebody should have shouted right there. I

mean say, somebody should have got, you know, a little stirred up

because you know there's nothing you can do to earn it. And some of

us are lucky because some of us are very limited in our skills. Amen,

listen, if God had not called me to preach, I would have

probably starved to death because all I can do is talk. That's it.

I was set up as a child to preach. I said my first word,

and I haven't stopped since. He says, listen, it's about the

worst. But I want you to understand that these works do not earn your

salvation. You're justified by your faith. You're saved by grace through faith.

Just that little mustard steed yes and bam it happens. And then after you're

saved, say after, after you're saved, the free gift of God,

all of those gifts that He invested in you, those things that He encoded

at the DNA level. While you're a little better at certain things than other

people and things come now, all of those things that make up my giftedness.

He expects a return on investment from those things. And he says,

listen, you're the light of the world, and I want you to let

your light shine, and you let your light shine through those good works.

So there's something that we do. We don't do to earn heaven. We

have heaven. And as a result, it implores us to work. And

he says, the light will be seen when we're busy doing the things that

God has called us to do, discovering our purpose and living with purpose.

Does that sound familiar to anybody? Number four right, Number four experienced God,

Walk in freedom, find our place so that we can live with purpose.

Everything we do leads to living with purpose, and purpose gives life.

And he says, this is the responsibility of every believer, is to let

their light shine. And I want to look at a particular passage of scripture

where we see people go above and beyond in order to position the lost,

in order to have a grace collision with Jesus. In Mark chapter two,

starting in verse one, it says, and again that means he had been

there before. You know, I think sometimes we think that that we miss

our opportunity, that Jesus will move and we have an opportunity to do something,

or or he opens a door, and maybe through fear, maybe through

doubt, maybe through circumstance, happenstance, whatever you want to call it,

that that we miss the bus, and the bus never comes around again,

but repeatedly in scripture we see Jesus coming around again. As a matter of

fact, the Bible says that the call of God, that purpose that's on

the inside of you, goes without repentance. In other words, there's there's

always a call of God on your life. And you may not have been

busy about it yet, but it's still there. You may I've missed some

opportunities, but it's still there. You. You may have neglected some things,

but the call of God, the purpose of God is still there.

And it says that he entered Copernaum again and it was heard that he was

in the house. I wonder how they heard. I wonder how people heard

he was in the house. Probably some people talking about it. When you

think, I don't think Jesus took out a billboard. I don't even think

they had billboards back then. I mean, we know it wasn't a social

media blast, right, But they heard that he was in the house,

so somebody was talking. Now. I don't know about you, but I

talk about a lot of things. I love talking about college football, especially

this year because we're doing pretty good. Some years, I don't like to

talk about it. This year, I do. There's lots of that.

I like to talk about deer hunt. I like to talk about raising animals,

I like to talk about garden and I like to talk about all those

things. But I tell you, I love to talk about what Jesus is

doing in your life. I love to talk about what Jesus is doing in

your life and in my life because what Jesus does is attractive to everyone.

There is no antidote or defense for love. Let me say that one more

time. Somebody needs to tweet that Facebook, at Instagram, at whatever you

want to do. There is no defense or antidote for love. Love conquers

all scripture says, and your purpose, your destiny will be bathed in the

love of Jesus. And you can go to the most hated person and extend,

extend an opportunity, extend a selfless act of love, and they may

reject it, but it will make an impact. It was heard that he

was in the house. Just talk about the fact that he's here. Raise

your hand if the Lord has touched you and done some type of miracle in

your life. Okay, okay, No, we need to stop right here.

You leave your hands up. I need everybody to look around. Oh

my goodness, oh my God said that actually blows me away. That blows

me away. I mean, that's like ninety five percent. And the other

people just didn't want to raise their hand because maybe they're waiting on God to

heal their shoulder. I don't know. We got something to talk about because

the King is in the house. Immediately you know I would say that over

by almost thirty years in ministry I have attended. We'll just call it a

plethora, a plethora of church growth seminars, but not in the Bible.

Just make it seem easy, how the kingdom grows. Tell people he's in

the house and immediately people show up. Immediately many gathered together, so that

there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.

That means the back row was full too. Come on, somebody, not

even near the door. And he preached the word to them, and they

came to him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And

when they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the

roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down

the bed on which the paralytic was lying. Like that song, we just

say, they tore the roof off the place. They couldn't get through the

door because of the crowds, so they climbed up. I don't know who

was engineering that plan. I don't know who. I don't know why.

I excuse me. It didn't work. Come on, somebody, but they

said, listen, this is not an option. This man has to get

to Jesus. So they climbed up on the roof and they started tearing the

roof off of the house, and when they had cleared a hole in the

house, they lowered the man down. You know, there was noah electrical

lighting in that day. Homes were dimly lit, and with that many people

in the room, it was probably very low life. But as they began

to do as they began to do a good work, and they started tearing

the roof off, the light began to pour through into that home, and

they could begin to see the details of faces that they couldn't see the details

of. They began to be able to see things about that place that they

had never seen before. Because when the light comes, it exposes the details

of our life. And the light was in the house, but they didn't

see the light until somebody started doing a work and they tore the roof off

of the place so that they could get a man down. Because our efforts

that bring miracles to others exposes the world to the light. Signs and wonders

are for the lost. Uh oh, let me say that one more time.

Signs and wonders are for the lost. Now I'm gonna make some of

you mad, That's okay. Send your emails to Clay at seastone dot TV

and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Healing, its

main intention is for the world, not for the church. Help is for

the church. Let me say that again. Healing is a sign and a

wonder. Now does God still he'll go his Yes he does, but he

had rather us live in health now and listen. I'm preaching to me too

when I get to these moments. I don't like preaching these things because you

know, it discovers those areas where I don't have it all together either.

Come on, somebody, But you know, when we start talking about help,

God has laid out a plan. He's given us some instructions on how

we live in health. You know a lot of times, Oh, will

God bless God. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna believe God. I'm just

gonna believe God. I'm just gonna believe God, and then we end up

believing God for a healing. Amen. But the Bible says, hey,

if you're really a person of faith, show me your faith by your works.

In other words, if you have faith for divine help, live in

such a way that your works are in alignment with help. So stop drinking

mountain dew by the case. Yeah, that hurts so bad, I'm just

gonna have to dismiss. Amen. We'll pick up here next week, you

know, bump up against a treadmill every once in a while, I want

somebody. But our work needs to line up with our faith. If we

believe God wants divine health, stop tempting him and testing him by doing everything

negative and start doing positive things so that our work lines up with our faith,

because that's the word of God. Amen. Now, can I sit

there and knock back the mountain dews and just believe God? Yeah? I

can. I'm exhausted. My faith is exhausted every time I drink them out.

And do God take the calories out? Or I could drink water,

Amen, and apply my faith to the things that matter, like tearing off

the roof and lowering down those that are far from Jesus because they desperately need

him, says Listen. They they can't. They bring a paralytic who was

carried by four men. They could not come near the house. They uncovered

the roof, they let him down. When Jesus saw their faith, when

Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic man. No, it's not what it

says. We're we're about to realize that the paralytic man wasn't even in a

spiritual state to have faith, because the physical healing was only to make room

for the spiritual healing that was about to happen. Says that they saw the

faith of the light bearers. They saw the faith of the ones who tore

off the roof and let the man down. Jesus was moved by their faith,

not by the sick man's faith. Come on, so word of God,

not the word of Steve says that he was moved by their faith.

Son, your sins are forgiven you. And some of the scribes were sitting

there and reasoning in their hearts. Why does this man speak blasphemies like this?

Who can forgive sins? But God alone? Let me just tell you

a little story right now. See, that's not the way, that's not

the way it sounds in the world now right It's not who has the authority

to who has the authority forgive sin? See? That was that was the

explanation, that was the defense, that was the devil's roadblock in that day.

In today's day, the language has changed. It's still a roadblock,

it still means the same thing, but the aguage is changed. And now

it's not who can forgive sins? Because they were in a culture where they

wanted their sins forgiven. But now we live in a culture that positions us

just in the same dangerous place. But now it is who is anybody to

say that's even a sin? Who were those people in that little aphrame building

to even say that that is a sin? I don't call it a sin.

God does. And here's the reality. If you want to live in

sin, I'm okay with that. Go live in your sin. But I

am responsible to tell you the truth. Light bearers, you are responsible to

tell the truth and live in the truth. Find a ladder and get on

a roof. And just y'all got me stirred up. Now, have enough

common sense to listen to the conversations that are going on around you. And

when somebody says, boy, I tell you what, my wife just nags

and complains all the time. I don't get a minute of rest. She's

not a good cook. I mean, I just I'm fed up. I'm

about to trade her in. Have enough common sense to listen and to speak

into that situation and say, hey, you know what our pastor does some

amazing teaching. Now listen, listen how you phrase it, some amazing teaching

on the family and this Sunday. Bet if you come, he'll be able

to tell your wife a thing or two. Bait and switch, just telling

you leverage. But understand what's going on in people's lives and make an invitation

best based on what's going on in their life. And now listen. They

tore the roof off of the house that Jesus was in, first of all,

because he was sitting still and it was easier to hit a target that

wasn't moving. They didn't chase him around Capernaum with a stretcher. They knew

where Jesus was gonna be, so they went there to meet him. Guess

where Jesus is gonna be next week. Now, he says, we you

too, Yeah, he is. Some of you just don't quite hadn't quite

got the boldness to say it. Yet. It's a lot easier to say

come to church than go to Hell. I've lived my life to say it.

And they brought this man, and as a result of their faith,

the attention of Jesus was fixated on this man. He said, your sins

are forgiven. The devil said, who are you to forgive sins? Why

do you even call that sin? The anointing will convict people of their sins.

But immediately when Jesus perceived in the spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves,

he said to them, why do you reason about these things in your

heart? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven

you, or to say a rise, take up your bed and walk,

But that you may know that the son of Man has power on earth to

forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, He forgave the man of his

sins. And then, as an evidence to all of the unbelieving people that

were still there and had questions, Jesus cares more about your soul than he

does your body. I know we don't like to hear that. I know

we don't like to believe that, But that is the reality, because there

is going to be a day, and I believe that day is coming very

very soon. I've shifted the way I've thought about some things. I took

a very standoff wade and see approach to what was happening in the Middle East,

and I said, listen, I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know if this is one of those wars. I don't know if

this is Psalm ninety a, if it's Saw ninety three or ps Ezekiel thirty

nine. I don't know if it's those words. But now I'm leaning towards

the fact that yet probably is. May not be, but I'm leaning towards

yet probably is. I think we're getting close, and there's coming a time

where we will live in a place apart from pain and sickness and sorrow and

all of those things. There's coming that moment, in that day where those

things will be a reality, not just for you, but for every single

believer. But Jesus will heal you, and he will heal you so that

you go and tell the misses. So we said to the paralytic, I

say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your

house. He said to this man that was afflicted and couldn't move, get

up, get your bed because I need the space, and go to your

house. The light bearer, allowing people to see it, says, immediately

he arose took up the bed and went out in the presence of them all,

so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw

anything like this. How many people do you know, oh, that have

never seen anything like this. They've never seen a miracle, They've never seen

somebody come in this Sunday diagnosed with cancer, come back in next Sunday with

the report that says the doctor can't find it. And listen, we hear

that time after time after time, miracle after miracle after miracle. I won't

ever forget Angie and I we we were still young, and I mean we're

still young, but we were like really young men. And you know,

I uh, I was actually pastoring a church plant and my bring home pay

was just over two hundred and eighty dollars a week. And that wasn't back

when two hundred and eighty dollars was a lot of money either. It was

really just two hundred eighty bucks, you know, when we got to the

point where you know, we were getting to the end of the money before

we got to the end of the month. Now, I remember standing there

and our very first house had these really dark stained and really dark stained trim

and I was sitting there and Angie was in the nursery changing Madison, and

I was standing there and I was picking. It's just so's picking that.

And I said, we're out of money and she said I know. She

said the house payments do? I said I know. She said, what

are we gonna do? I said, I don't know. So we're just

gonna believe God like we always have. We're standing in my phone rang,

not even kidding, phone rang, and I answered it and the person said,

is this Steve Stewart? Now, first of all, we broke come

on somebody, so probably somebody wanted money. I did and a half and

I almost lied and said no because it was one of those voices come on,

and I said, yes it is. He said do you live and

he gave this address in Hushton. I said no, and he said,

well, have you ever lived there? I said I don't know. I

said I lived in Hushton. I lived on that road, but I don't

know if that was the address? Said how old are you? Told him

how old old? He said, I have been looking for you and I

said, oh no. He said, I'm so and so with insurance company.

And it looks like Somebody probably took out an insurance policy on you when

you were first born, and it came to maturity several years ago. We

haven't been able to find anybody to give this to. So would you be

willing to take it? I said yeah. He says, okay, where

do you want me to mail it? I said, where are you at?

I'll come get it. And I remember walking to the car. I

was so excited and stopping and saying, you were a right on time.

God, you're very rarely early, but you're never ever late. No,

listen, I tell you that story and it encourages you. But listen,

what if what if you had invited someone here today? This broke busted,

disgusted and lost and they don't know where to turn and they don't know what

to do. And that story is life. Open your mouth and tell your

story to the multitudes, and tear the roof off of the place so the

light can come in. And they'll say, I've never seen anything like this

before. I've never seen anything like that before. And you're saying, that's

not a miracle. Somebody bought that insurance policy. It's not a miracle.

What the miracle is is that all those people he called before me didn't take

it. That's the miracle that had called you, my money would have been

gone. Yes, I'm Steve Stewart. What's your social Security number? I

can't divulge that information. Did you ever live at that address? Yes,

that was my domicile Acts, Chapter two, verse seventeen. The band can

come and get ready, and it shall come to pass in the last days,

that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and

your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, your old men

shall dream dreams. And on my maid servants, on my men servants,

and on my maid servants, I'll pour out my spirit in those days,

and they shall all prophesy. Do you notice it does not say one time

that in the last days that the people of God, the servants of God,

will be sitting at home on the couch watching sixty minutes. It doesn't

say that they'll be posting memes of cats. It says they're going to be

doing spiritual things. They're going to be actively using the gifts on the inside

of them. And that is what God pouring out his spirit looks like.

Is that the light bearers are lit on fire. I will show wonders in

heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath blood and fire and vapor of

smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood.

Before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the Lord. There's going

to be signs and wonders. There's going to be things to point unbelievers too.

And I want you to know that that is happening right now, in

this moment, that miracles are happening every single week, if not every single

day, not somewhere else, but right here in this body of believers.

You don't have to listen. It's hard to find a church where miracles are

not happened. Really is hard to find a church where miracles are not having

If you found one, I'm sorry, pray a little harder for you.

But listen to what it Listen to the purpose of it all, and it

shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be

saved. You've already seen the light. Allow the world around you to see

the light. Be the light bearer, you say me or a city on

a hill. You are a navigational beacon for people to navigate their life by

the Jesus in you is the only Jesus that they may see. So be

a city on a hill. Don't take that light and put it in a

box, a box bottom and sides in a top. Don't let this be

the most spiritual place you ever are. This is a box. Get out

of the box and light the world on fire. Light the world on fire.

Be the change and the difference maker that God has called you to be.

Now is the time to move with an urgency unlike you've ever moved.

Right now is the time for you to tell your story again and again and

again and again, and if they don't believe it, say it again and

say it a little louder. And if they don't believe it, say it

again and say it a little louder. Because that's what the world does to

you. They keep telling you a lie, and if you don't believe it,

they tell it to you again, and then they say it louder,

and then they say it louder until you believe it. Just keep saying it

loud until somebody will meet you at the foot of the cross. Because that's

all that matters. Church, the moment we're in, it's all that matters.

Let's get about his business so that everybody can see the light. Everybody's

staying with me all over the building. Lord jeez Us, this place is

filled with the greatest people. I know. What I could I could call

the people with the greatest capacity to love that I know by name, And

they're here in this building. People with exceeding integrity, and they're here in

this building. People that are so moved and sensitive to compassion. They're here

in this building. And I pray that you motivate and mobilize us all to

be the brokers of light in a dark and hurting world. What I love

you, and I thank you in Jesus' name. Amen, Amen, and

amen quickly right now, how many of you know somebody in your life that

desperately needs Jesus. Put your hand in the air right now, target that

person in prayer, and then open your mouth and begin to share the truth.

Make the invitation, Make the invitation to church, make the invitation to

get saved, make the invitation to group, make the invitation to watch online.

Just make the invitation. Father, have your way right now, have

your way right now. Listen. If you're here today and you've heard this

and you're like, I don't know what that man is talking about. I

just came because somebody invited me, and I just I came because I found

you on the internet. I didn't come looking for Jesus. I just hoping

i'd make a friend. I want to tell you that the best friends you

could ever make is Jesus. He's one that'll stick closer than a brother.

And right now, in your moment of loneliness and your moment of hurt,

Jesus positioned you at a place to have an experience with his grace, to

have your sins forgiven, your shame washed away. If you don't know what

he did for you, he gave his life for you. He was beaten

brutally, he was made to carry the instrument of his own death upon his

back. He walked up a hill overlooking the old city of Jerusalem, and

there he stretched out his arms on a cross and put nails through his hands

and his feet, and they swung him suspended between earth and Heaven. And

he looked into this room and he said, Father, forgive them, because

they don't know what they do, and asked his blood pulled at the foot

of that cross, to be made it possible for your sins to be washed

away and you to be made a brand new creation manner. So if you're

here in this place today and you've never asked Jesus, never ask him to

be your lord, You've never repented of your sins and asked for forgiveness.

But today you want to do that. Today you want to have a life

changing encounter with Jesus. With every head looking around and every I open,

just slip up your head and say that's me, Pastor. I want to

ask Jesus to to save me. I want them to forgive me. It

doesn't matter how old you are. Today is your day. Just slip up

your hand and let's say that's me, Pastor, that's me, Pastor.

I want to give my life to Jesus. I know there's one listen.

I can make eye contact with you right now. I'm not going to,

but I could. I could stare you down right now. The Lord's already

shown you to me. Don't leave here, don't leave here without surrendering your

life to Jesus. Give it all to him. Give it all to him,

Pastor, player already church, that's worship