Blessed to Be Light

I wanna get rid of it.

Are there any questions?

Our faith.

Look at your neighbor and tell them our faith.

Our faith is not like any other faith.

Our faith is transparent, transcendent, and transformational.

Our faith teaches us to cross over obstacles, to shout down walls, to break through crowds, and walk on water, even in the midst of storms.

Our faith enables us to survive the fires of life, to overcome the den of lions, to silence the serpent and outwit the fox.

Our faith empowers us to see the invisible, embrace the impossible, and hope for the incredible.

Accordingly, it's not a coincidence that the first time the universe hears the uttered words of God, God's voice.

It was not to say, let there be joy, peace, or even love.

The voice of the sovereign, the divine, the glorious uttered the following Genesis 1, 3, let there be light.

Because God always begins by turning the lights on.

Life requires light.

Faith requires light.

Why?

Because we live in dark times.

Even the recent occurrences that saturate and inundate the news cycles in the past few days compel me to share this with more passion.

We do live in dark times.

Some would argue that we live in the darkest hour.

Darkened by sin, immorality, moral relativism, spiritual apathy, cultural decadence, infanticide, racism, pornography, poverty, violence, false prophets, watered down preaching, hypocrisy, unbridled consumerism, boyerism, materialism, secular tyranny, religious extremism, terror, discord, division, strife, hatred, jealousy, and unbelief.

We live in dark times.

Yet in the midst of darkness stems the following truth.

Jesus still saves.

Jesus still delivers.

Jesus, believe it or not, still heals.

And I may be a double minority, but I am one of the few that may still believe it.

But I do believe that Jesus, believe it or not, is still coming back again.

Moreover, in the midst of darkness stems a prophetic truth, a revealed truth, an everlasting truth, uttered by Jesus, our Savior, Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

You are the light of the world.

You are the light of the world, and a city on a hill cannot be hidden.

And neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bow.

Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Let me share with you in a very expedited manner, courtesy of a non-fat upside down, camera macchiato.

Blessed to be light, for when light stands next to darkness, light always wins.

Blessed to be light by who you are.

You, you, you, you are the light of the world.

And a city on a hill cannot be hidden.

So who are we?

The quintessential query stemming from the existential womb.

Who are we?

We cannot be light until we discover who we are.

We cannot be light until we repudiate identity moratorium.

What defines us?

Who are we?

Are we defined by our past?

Are we defined by our circumstances?

Are we defined by what others say about us?

Here's the great news from what took place on the cross.

Christ defines you.

Christ defines us.

Matter of fact, you and I, we're not defined by what surrounds us.

We're defined by God's Spirit inside of us.

We are not defined by our circumstances, we are defined by his covenant.

You are not even defined by the hell you may be going through, you're defined by the heaven you're going to.

You're not defined by your failures, you're defined by his forgiveness.

And to all the religious folk, you're not even defined by what you do for God, you're defined by what God already did for you.

The cross, the empty tomb, the upper room, his blood, his word, you're defined by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

You're defined by Galatians 2.20, my old self has been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

And there is an attempt right now to corporately define us.

There is an attempt to a great degree by government and institutions and culture and society to define us corporately.

This group, this gathering, who we are.

How we respond will determine whether or not if in this critical hour light overcomes darkness.

So who are we?

Who are we?

Quien somos nosotros who are we?

We must respond with clarity, conviction, and courage.

The following we are the light of the world.

We are a city on a hill.

We are people of the word.

We are salt and life.

We are prophetic and not pathetic.

We are, we are disciples, witnesses, and Christ followers.

We are prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

We are children of the cross, fruit of the empty tomb, and product of the upper room.

We are the redeem of the Lord, the sheep of his pasture.

We are forgiven, free, and favored.

We are called and chosen.

We are warriors and worshipers.

We are world changers and history makers.

Let me tell you what we are not.

We are not Google.

We are not Microsoft.

We are not Ford, and we're not even Starbucks.

We are the Church of Jesus Christ and the gates of heaven.

And to all those that are desperate, Pastor Samuel, we need to get out of here.

I get that, and I understand John's admonition and prayer in the book of Revelation on the island of Palmos.

Yes, come, Lord Jesus, come.

I believe that, but it's time to reconcile our eschatology with our missiology because Jesus is not coming back for a defeated church or a failing church or a discouraged church or a depressed church.

He's coming back for a glorious, holy, thriving church, a wonderful bride.

Be light by who you are, which means with great due deference, which means you are not first and foremost.

We are not first and foremost.

Black, white, yellow, or brown, Hispanic, charismatic, or automatic.

You we are above all born again, bloodwashed, spirit empowered, children of the living God.

Be light by who you are.

Always remembering that God does not call the perfect, he calls the willing.

He doesn't call the one that has it all, he calls upon those that are willing to surrender it all.

For when light stands next to darkness, light always wins.

We are blessed to be light by removing the obstacles.

A city on a hill cannot be hidden, and neither do people light a lamp and hide it under a bowl.

In other words, if you have it, you don't hide it, you let it shine.

Our challenge is to remove the bowl of apathy, complacency, acquiescence, and fear, and once again lay claim to the stand of righteousness so that we may shine before all men.

We cannot be like until we embrace the following.

Today's complacency is tomorrow's captivity.

Let me say that one more time for the hearing impaired.

Today's complacency is tomorrow's captivity.

There is no such thing as comfortable Christianity, and you are what you tolerate.

God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind.

So, what's trying to hide your light?

What's attempting to turn off your light?

What is the name of that proverbial bowl?

We cannot deny that there exists a spiritual battle to turn off the light.

There's a real spiritual battle taking place, and it's revealed even in the past few days, there's a real spiritual battle taking place.

And I'm not talking about Harry Potter and Hogwarts.

Via the conduit of biblical illusions, we know very well there are real spirits in the world today.

The spirit of Pharaoh is alive, holding people captive in the Egypt of bondage and fear.

The spirit of Goliath still lives, mocking and intimidating the children of God.

The spirit of Jezebel, Senor la reprenda.

Don't translate, forget about it, still makes men and women hide in caves with sexual perversions and manipulation.

The spirit of Absalom is dividing homes, churches, and relationships, while the spirit of Herod is killing the young through abortion and violence, poverty and sex trafficking, murdering infant dreams and visions.

Yet I have news for you.

Don't drink the Kool-Aid.

In spite of what you see on CNN and Fox and MSNBC, CBS, NBC, ABC, and even Univision, there is a spirit more powerful than all these spirits combined.

And give me some space to raise my voice here.

We are here to declare today the most powerful spirit alive right now, right now, right now, right now, and forevermore.

The most powerful spirit alive today is not the spirit of Pharaoh.

It's not the spirit of Saul, Absalom, Goliath, Jezebel, or Herod.

The most powerful spirit on the planet today is still the Holy Spirit of Almighty God.

It's still the spirit of God.

It's still the spirit.

That spirit is still moving.

It's still moving.

He's still moving in Texas.

He's moving in California.

He's moving in New York City.

It's moving all across America.

It's moving in Asia, Africa, South America, Latin America.

He is still moving all over the world.

For it is not by mind nor by power, but so it's my spirit.

And where that spirit is present, there is freedom, 2 Corinthians 3.17.

Where that spirit is present, there is power.

Acts 1.8.

So to every narrative and spirit that facilitates the platform of moralism, spiritual apathy, cultural decadence, and ecclesiastical lukewardeness, and other words with many syllables.

We need to stand up with courage and be like, and really be light with courage and conviction.

And understand that for every Pharaoh that stands up, there will be a Moses.

For every Goliath, there must be a David.

For every Nabuchad, there must be a Daniel.

For every Jezebel, there must be an Elijah.

For every Herod, there must be a Jesus.

And for every devil that rises up against you, there is a mightier God that will rise up for you.

It's time to remove the bowl.

It's time to shake off whatever life or hell has placed upon your light.

Always remembering that what you can't shake off, Jesus washes off.

That if life throws you rocks, build an altar.

That's the reality.

First John 2:8.

1 John 2:8

I am writing you a new command.

Its truth is seated in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of God has risen upon you.

For when light stands next to darkness, light always wins.

Blessed to be light by where you stand.

Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.

The stand represents the facilitative platform upon which we shine the light of Christ.

So where do we stand?

We stand on the undeniable and unshakable reality that Christ is the hope of glory.

We stand with uncompromised and unbridled conviction, and this is not politically correct.

But we stand on John 10, and by the way, some a few weeks ago, I did something.

I don't know.

Well, I thought it was right, but I did not think it would be controversial at all.

I did something that, well, I on my Facebook page, I did something that I guess you're not supposed to do anymore, I guess.

I I how silly of me.

I I the audacity.

And all I said was, Jesus is the only way.

Well, I never thought I was gonna get little emojis with guns and bombs and threats.

I kid you not.

And my wife said, Should we call someone?

And all I said was, Jesus with great due deference didn't mention, didn't go into other comparison.

No, just said there's only one way to be saved, and that way is Jesus.

I didn't know it was politically incorrect to say that.

You're intolerant, you're you're you're you're you're you're you're you're you're bigoted, you discriminate, you suffer from myopia, and then you're all these things.

And I mean, because all I Jesus is, well, like the camera, let me be clear.

We stand on the following.

There are not five ways to heaven, there are not four ways to heaven, there are not three ways to heaven.

I don't care if it's politically incorrect, there are not two ways to heaven.

There's only one way to heaven and one way to be saved.

There's only one way to eternal life, one way to be born again, that way has the name, it is the name above all the other names, the name to the voice, every name shop battle, every town shop to the top.

This message brought to you by Jesus is the only way.com.

We we stand on righteousness and justice.

Psalm 89, 14.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.

Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.

Luke 179, to shine on those living in darkness in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the path of peace.

Yes, we stand on righteousness and justice.

We stand on the certainty that Christ is the way, the centrality of Christ.

He he who wrote the law with one finger, gave us grace with both hands.

He is the God of both righteousness and justice.

To be light, we must understand, especially in this day and age, where everyone is looking to Uncle Sam to solve all the problems.

To be light, we must understand this with great due deference.

You have to say in a good way.

It kind of justifies it all.

We to be light, we must stand with the understanding that Uncle Sam may be our uncle, but he will never be our heavenly father.

We are blessed to be light by what we do, by what you do.

In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Jesus changed the world because of who he was, what he said and what he did, his character, his rhetoric, and his actions.

Let us do likewise.

Ephesians 5:8.

Ephesians 5:8

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

Live as children of light.

We shine when we understand that Christianity is less about promoting the perfect and more about blessing the broken.

We illuminate our surroundings when we embrace the truth that Christianity stands measured not by the level of rhetorical eloquence, but rather by the constant of loving actions.

We magnify the light, empowered by the conviction that there is no such thing as silent Christianity.

Silence is not an option.

I was invited.

I was invited to uh in the pre in the previous administration, I was invited to Pakistan.

It was sometime after 9-11 to I was invited to preach.

And the government was well aware, meaning the government of Pakistan, and they helped coordinate some things.

And the purpose was to convey a message globally from a messaging perspective that Pakistan was opening up to religious pluralism.

So I was invited to preach.

And the vast majority of the audience was of the majority faith of that nation, the Muslim faith.

I did two uh two pastors join me, Pastor John Raymer from the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, and a pastor named Israel Bermudez.

A little quick story about Israel Bermudez.

We go to Pakistan, we're going, you know, through passport control, and Israel gives him the passport.

He already had a visa, but he's going through there.

The gentleman behind the glass looks at him and says, That's not your name here.

Israel didn't get it.

His name is Israel Bermudez from Puerto Rico.

So Israel goes, That's the name my mother gave me.

And I'm right here with John.

And the guy says, No, you're that's not your name here.

Find me another name.

You're not coming in here with that name.

And Israel doesn't get it.

So he keeps on saying, What you're talking about?

That's the name my mother gave.

I'm telling you, that's the name I got.

That's my name.

And the and the guy's getting animate over there and going, No, you're not, that's not your name here.

Find another name.

Finally, he hits me.

And and John and I go, Ah, I get it.

Israel.

You Pakistan.

You can't you can't use your name here.

I get it.

They don't want you to use Israel.

So the guy says, Find another name.

So John and I are going, What do we call them?

What's name is Israel?

What do you call?

All of a sudden, we got this moment of Zen.

Your name is Jerry.

No biblical significance whatsoever.

In the Hebrew, it's Jerry, Latin, Jerry, Aramaic, Jerry.

The Greek, it's still Jerry.

From that moment on, he was called Jerry.

So we go to Pakistan and we're there.

The first night, thousands of people gathered, an amazing gathering.

Over 60% plus were of the Muslim faith.

And and and it was my turn to preach that evening.

I wish I could tell you right now that I preached the centrality of Christ and salvation through Christ alone.

I did not.

I don't even know if I mentioned Jesus.

I mentioned God, love, wind, air, God loves you.

It was the Barney version of Christianity.

And it was very ambiguous and eclectic and very non-conf.

It was just, there's a reason for that.

Seated on my left-hand side, there were a number of clerics, the senior clerics from the region that were seated, and they were seated with a security apparatus, and the app the people around them were not carrying Qurans.

And because I was a bit intimidated, oh, truth be told, I was intimidated, not just a bit.

And and so I didn't, it was in a free sort of preaching.

And we went back to the hotel, and and John and Jerry they they we had a little powwow, and we met in the hotel lobby and they said, Pastor Sam, look, we traveled thousands of miles.

We're either gonna do this or we're not.

Because in essence, We're hiding the light.

And I was hiding my light under the bow of fear and political correctness.

And we decided, you know, however, let's do this.

So I asked, I the question, the quintessential question was, have you paid up your life insurance policies?

And they responded in the affirmative.

And I continued to say, and I, well, let's look at a exit strategy.

How do we exit if we have to exit?

And when we discovered, of course, that the only exit was through the crowd.

So the next day I pick up the microphone and I start preaching.

And as a good preacher, and no, and more people, and they were there on this side, so I ignored them completely.

And I started preaching, and I started preaching, and really the anointing really to me as God just said, go ahead.

And I felt God to say, Preach.

I got you.

I have you.

So I started preaching salvation through Christ.

I didn't mention any other faith leader or I just mentioned Christ.

And only through Christ.

Jesus is the only way.

To this section.

In the middle section, not only is Jesus saved, but Jesus delivers.

And then all of a sudden I just took my arm and I pointed here.

I said, And Jesus heals, and I ran over here again.

Little drive-by heal.

And and and Jerry and Jerry and John could attest to this.

I mean, it was we were and the pastors that were there from Pakistan seated right there in a corner, and an 80-year-old man stood up the moment.

I just went Jesus healed and walked away.

He stood up and started making ruckus.

And started just making noise.

And through peripheral vision, I'm seeing it, I'm going, Oh Lord, la sangre de Cristo me limpia todo lo pecado, Señor.

Oh, Señor.

And he stood up with a younger person next to him.

And they walked right here to the front of the stage and they walked over here, and Jerry's over here.

And Jerry.

And Jerry's here.

And I'm getting I'm I'm acting as if I'm adoring them, but I'm not, because I'm going, what's going on?

And they're coming here and and they're talking to Jerry, and Jerry grabs my attention and says, Give him the mic.

And of course, I responded, looking like a baza, which means you are a wonderful person.

I bless you.

No, it no, it doesn't mean that at all.

It means you're nuts.

And and so I went, no, and he went like, no, trust me, confia me, give him the mic.

And I went like he goes, so we called him up here.

The young man grabs the microphone, and I'm interviewing him, going, what's going on?

And and he says, This is my father.

I go, okay.

He goes, No, it's not okay, but it is okay, but you don't want it's my dad.

And I went, like, okay.

He goes, No, it's not okay, but it is okay.

I go, okay, what's okay?

He goes, that's my dad, he's 80 years of age.

I go, he's 80, wonderful, God bless him.

He goes, No, you don't seem to get it.

I go, no, I don't.

And I'm looking at Jerry like, what have you done?

This is a Muslim cleric coming up on the stage, and I don't even know what's going on.

And and and he's going, You don't understand.

I go, No, I don't.

He goes, Well, this is what you don't understand, sir, Mr.

Cleric.

My dad, my dad was born 80 years ago, he was born completely blind.

And I go, Okay.

And the dad is going like this.

And then he starts touching his the son's face, and he starts crying right there.

And he starts touching his face.

And the son is still talking.

The dad grabs the mic and he looks at me and says, You I go, me, goes, you.

He goes, You, you, and your Jesus.

You you went like this, and you said your Jesus heals.

The moment you I was born blind, I've never seen one all my life I've been blind.

And the moment you said Jesus heals, my scales came off, my eyes opened up.

And at that very moment, my he goes, I can see, I was blind, but I can see I was blind, but now I see, I was blind, but now I see.

He said, Your Jesus healed me today.

I was blind, but now I see.

Then he sent us the most powerful Christ.

He said, My price, from now on, me and my family, we will serve your Jesus.

There is still power in the name of Jesus.

When we remove the bowl of fear and acquiescence and complacency, there is still power in the name of Jesus.

But it requires us to remove the bow and to remove whatever obstruction, whatever hindrance to the reality of shining the light of Christ.

And even in our nation in these precarious times, it's so polarized and divided by politics and the rhetoric of men.

And we and we need to understand, we shine the brightest when we understand that the only agenda that can save America is not the agenda of the donkey or the elephant, but exclusively the agenda of the Lamb Jesus Christ.

So let me finish when I asked, What do Christians do besides going to church on Sunday and complaining about things from Monday through Saturday?

Here's my response: We love, we forgive, we turn the other cheek, we bless our enemies, we walk in integrity, we quench the thirsty, we clothe the naked, we feed the hungry, we welcome the stranger, we take care of the orphan and the widow, we preach in and out of season, we worship in spirit and the truth, we do justice, we love mercy, we walk humbly before God.

We are light.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1 5.

1 Samuel 3 3 the lamp of God has not gone out yet.

So, gateway, be light and walk like Enoch, be light and believe like Abraham, be light and dress like Joseph, be light and stretch like Moses, be light and shout like Joshua, be light and dance like David, be light and fight like Gideon, be light and pray like Daniel, be light and build like Nehemiah, be light and preach like Peter, be light and serve like Stephen, be light and live like Jesus, be light and change the world.

For when light stands next to darkness, light will always win peace.

God bless you.