We're going to be in James again in chapter 1.
They're going to be back in starting in verse 19, but we're
going to, I'm going to read in Exodus starting in Exodus 17,
starting in verse 8. This is story of Joshua.
Well, this will make sense when we get towards the end of it,
but I just kind of wanted to give you guys, this is a
something to think about. The Amalekites came and fought
with Israel at Raphaem. So Moses said to Joshua, Choose
for us men and go out and fight the Amalekites.
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with a staff of God
in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses told him
and fought with the Amalekites while Moses and Aaron and her
went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his
hands, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hands,
Amalekites prevailed. But Moses hands grew weary, so
they took a stone and put it under his arm, and he sat on it,
while Aaron and her held up his hands, one-on-one side and the
other on the other. So his hands were steady until
the going down of the sun, and Joshua overwhelmed the
Amalekites and his people with the sword, or Amalek and his
people with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses,
write this in the memorial in a book and recite it in the ears
of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek
from under heaven. So Lord, I just lift up this
time. I lift up everybody here.
Lord, I just thank you that we live in a time and a place that
we get to come together, that we get to spend time in fellowship
with with your body and Lord that you would be here with us,
Lord, that you'd be speaking to us, that you would also be using
US in each other's lives. And I pray all this in Jesus
name, Amen. So we are going to be like I
said, we're going to be in in Joshua and today we're going to
be starting in verse 19. Sorry, what James did I say
James? Sorry James.
Yes, sorry, we're going to be in James chapter 1 starting in
verse 19. Know this my beloved brothers,
let every person be quick to hear and slow to speak, slow to
anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of
God. Therefore put away filthiness
and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the
implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.
But be doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving
yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the
Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his
natural face in a mirror, for he looks at himself and goes away,
and at once forgets what he was like.
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty,
and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who
acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue
but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father.
Is this to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions and
to keep oneself unstained from the world.
And we are not going to get anywhere near all of that.
But I wanted to read to the end of it because it's kind of good
to remember where we're at. So verse 19, know this, my
beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to
speak and slow to anger. Proverbs, Proverbs says when
words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever
restrains his lips is prudent. And that's think about when
you're, when you're busy and life's busy and you start
talking in groups, you can get yourself down a road you didn't
want to get just because you're, you're distracted by the amount
of words you're using. Arguments turn into that.
But to remember that our own words are not wisdom, right?
Jesus may give us words to speak and but we must never claim to
speak for him. Now there are times that Jesus
will give you words, but if you're going to say this, Jesus
told me this, you'd better be sure it came from him, right?
And the only way that's going to happen is first of all, that our
mouth is closed and our ears are open when we are when we are in
a conversation with somebody, Are we, are we listening?
There's some health self help book out there that says
listening. Hearing is like listening with
the back of your neck, which is just really listening, right?
Are you listening to hear them or are you listening to argue
with them? And when you want to respond to
somebody, the Allen Redpath, and I imagine he didn't come up with
it, but it's the first place I heard it.
He has an acronym called think, which is when you're going to
respond to somebody, think about it and and see if it's true, if
it's helpful, if it's inspiring. And the last two, is it
necessary? Do they need, do they need the
information or do they already know the information?
I and the last one is kind, but are you?
I'll use my oldest daughter and she, if she's listening, she'll
roll her eyes at me. There came a point in our
relationship when she was living at my house that she didn't get
my advice right. She could ask for it, but there
was nothing she was going to ask me that she didn't know the
answer to, right? She knew what her dad thought
there was there was there was no Gray.
I mean, I had she knew exactly when she was not doing what dad
wanted her to do. I didn't have to tell her that,
right? We would.
It was when she would come to me with a a question and I would
ask her, do you really want the answer?
No, you know, I mean, because she already knew the answer and
that was that there comes a point in a conversation that
they need to answer that question and and beating them
over the head isn't going to do that.
But listening And now that doesn't mean I'm not, I'm not as
we go through this. And that doesn't mean there
isn't times that we do need to speak up.
The, the times that I want to, as I'm kind of going to premise
my whole study in this thought process. 90% of the time we want
to respond because I don't like what you said and you're
offending me and I'm, I want to win this argument.
Now there are times that you need to stand up and speak up
for someone else. That's a different conversation,
right? That's if you're if you're
defending others, then then that's a conversation.
You may you, you need to have, you know you there's so it's
it's about why are you going to try and have that conversation?
But if we will, if we will always understand that I don't
have wisdom and Jesus does and he can tell me what to say and
when to say it. It keeps our quick responses to
a quiet whisper, right? It keeps me quiet when I
actually, you guys are are you don't get the responsibility
that I have up here, but you have that in your your families
and in your workplace. Guys, when when you come to me
and if someone comes to me for counsel, I do not ever want to
give them what Nick thinks they should do.
I want to give them what Jesus says they should do right.
And that takes being in the word and sharing what it says, not
what Nick thinks. And when I get up here on Sunday
morning, I want to share with you what the Lord has shown me
to show you, right? Not what I not, not fancy words.
It's I, when I, when I reference verses, I, I don't reference
verses because hey, that fits that spot, right?
It's, it's their, their verses the Lord has given me.
But it's also that I have, I've read the passages that they're
in and they fit where they're, where I'm using them, if that
makes sense. So they're in context.
But I don't want to just, I don't want to be a great speaker
and, and say all the right things.
I that doesn't believe it or not, that doesn't change
people's lives. What changed people's lives is
Jesus and his word. And we're going to get into
that. But it's important for us to, to
restrain our words. Proverbs 1727 says whoever
restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool
spirit is a man of understanding.
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise.
When he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
Abraham Lincoln, or yeah, it was either Abe Lincoln or Mark
Twain. I don't.
And where you look, they'll say who said it.
It's better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak out
and remove all doubt, right? And and if you think about that,
there is so much truth in that. If we can remember that Jesus is
smarter than everyone, then that changes the way we go about
listening. We can have quietness in our
appearance that will show light in our lives, right?
I don't have to get upset. I don't have to get I, I can be.
I can be angry and not sinning, right?
I can be upset that there are men swimming in girls events in
college. I could be upset not with the
guy. I mean, is he is he wrong and is
there but there's a what he's standing for, right?
I need to, I need to stand against that the, the guy needs
Jesus or in anyone, any situation of that nature.
But who I'm standing up for are the girls that have to compete
against it, right? And that's, that's wrong.
So I'm going to stand up against that men and men and men or
women in women's or men's bathrooms, depending is, is one
of those things that we stand up for, but we don't stand against
the person that's doing that. They're lost and dying.
We'll work on that. The, the, the anger that we're
going to show is at the, the, the wickedness that's in, in
that that's going to hurt people.
And so I never want to stand up here and I cause 'cause I was
going back through this and it sounds like I'm as we, as we
listen that we're also not that, Oh, he's, I'm, I'm telling you
to be docile. And that is not that is not The
thing is to be our our goal is to be useful.
And I will tell you, we'll get into it a little more, but I'll
tell you for a fact that Facebook is not where to be
useful, right? It's just not I I've years ago,
I had A at a lady that did 4H with us.
Sweet lady. She was a lesbian, lived at her,
lived with her, with her, with her partner and grew up Jewish.
She was entertaining to talk to, but we got to have
conversations. And in those conversations, she
100% knew that according to Jesus and according to the
Bible, she was in sin. And it was, she was, she was not
right with God. And it was a conversation.
And it didn't mean at any point that she didn't think that that
our family loved her as a as a human and wanted the best for
her, right, but knew that she was on the wrong side of God,
right? We had that conversation, but it
was a one-on-one conversation and it was serious.
And there were hard things said. If I'd had that same
conversation on Facebook, right? Can't be done.
And and so just that that's that the goal is for their heart.
Now, I'd love to say that that she gave her life to Jesus and
everything's wonderful that that's not the case, but it was
it. That's the heart we're supposed
to have is to go after that one, right?
And to have that conversation, not being angry with the lost
and still, still being able to listen to all they think about,
right. Because that conversation I had
with her was days longer for H. So there's lots of time.
I used to call it forced relaxation.
When you do, when you do rabbit arm stuff or or rabbit shows,
there's a there's a point where you're, you're, you're there
with your kids, but you're there for hours and hours.
So there was forced relaxation. So we got to have conversations
and I got to listen. I mean, from from her Jewish
beginning all the way through to how she got where she was.
And I got to listen to all of it.
And I didn't tell her she was wrong every time I turned
around. Now, there was lots of things
she said in that conversation that I didn't agree with, but I
didn't argue every point, right? I listened to her and I let her
her feel I mean it. And it wasn't that I was
listening to her so I could prove her wrong.
I was listening to her so I could get to know her and then
then I could share with her my life.
And, and and you won't hear lots of conversations about the time
Nick was sharing with the girl, But this was in a big public,
public place. So I I was, I was safe to have
that kind of lengthy conversation.
I'm pretty much a can ask Faye. I God put protections around me
for all of that that Faye and me have had before we got married,
we talked. How many times did we have
conversations? Two or three times.
I don't remember any of them. And that isn't because Faye is
any was any less wonderful then than she is now.
I just literally and and I love all the ladies here and don't
take this the wrong way. And it's a little different now
that I'm the the pastor, but it's a shield, right?
It's that I have been protected from that and it's great and I
love it because it would have been something as a non believer
that I struggled with talking because I always wanted to talk
to girls, right? That's the whole thing.
And so there, there's a protection there so you won't
hear a lot anyway, that was off topic, but it was that I, there
was a time where I got to just sit and listen to her give me
your whole story. And then she listened to my
story. And because of that, at no point
is she not. I mean, I'd love to like I said,
I'd love to say that in in the telling her my side of it that
she turned. She didn't turn, but she
understands that she's not good with the Lord and she may turn
one day right and she knows, she knows where she stands.
James goes on in verse 20 and says for the wrath of man does
not produce the righteousness of God.
And what does produce the righteousness of God and it's
only Jesus and his work on the cross and something that that
when we're having these conversations that we need to
remember 2nd Corinthians 521 says for for our sake, he made
him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God. So my arguing will never draw
somebody to the Lord who draws them to the Lord The Lord does
and and who does that work in their life?
Who, who will change that heart? God can change them into the
righteousness of God. And we should always be when
we're in a conversation with, with the world, even with, even
with other believers, at any point in a conversation, we
should be asking the Lord to give me, give me his eyes to
give me his ears, to give me his heart to give me his mouth,
right? I want to, I want to hear what
he hears. I want to see what he sees.
I want to, I want to speak what he wants me to speak.
And I want to feel for these people the way he wants me to
feel. And guys, I'm not Jesus.
So I don't have his eyes. I don't know what he knows.
I don't have his heart. I don't feel what he feels.
I can't I, I don't I mean they and my kids will tell you that I
I've said for years, my empathy bone is broken.
I don't have one for years they used to say that I know I have
one feeling and I leave it under the bed.
All right, I stored under there. I let it out through the
divorce. It behaved badly.
I put it back underneath the bed and my my youngest daughter,
because she knows the story used to go in the bedroom and jump up
and down on the bed because she's going to hurt my feeling.
That's but when we engage with this world, we so in this room,
do you expect the world to act like us right.
And that that's really a lot of times where where our anger is
stirred up is they're not acting like us.
And first Peter 29. I'm in the King James just
because I like the way he says it says, but ye are a chosen
generation of royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people
that you should show forth the praises of him who has called
you out of darkness into marvelous light.
You're supposed to be weird. I mean, you don't get much
weirder than peculiar. Have you ever met somebody
that's peculiar? I mean, they're that's a weird
word, right? And, and what this made me think
of is so in Uganda, and I know you guys love Uganda, you get to
hear about it all the time. As an American in Uganda, it is
really easy to get distracted by how weird they are, right?
They they drive weird. They, they do buildings weird,
they farm weird and they tell time weird when I'm in their
country. Aren't they weird?
Or am I weird? Well, I'm weird because I'm in
their country. So that that when I say, when I
say service starts at 10:00, I think we start at 10:00 and
we're not actually going to start till 11:00.
And they all know that that I think we start at 10:00 makes me
weird. Now everybody goes, yeah, but
that's when we start. And that's an American, And we
keep time. In Uganda, up until 50 years
ago, they didn't have watches, so they told time by the Sun.
So we've had some form of actual minute to minute time keeping
for thousands of years in the West.
Uganda's had it for about 50 and we expect them to keep minute to
minute time. You can see how they would think
we were weird. The way they drive is weird.
But The thing is, is that I can get angry.
I can get angry with the way they do lines.
I mean, stand out. You can ask Faye standing in
line in Uganda if, if we need to go out that door right there,
the line is going to be a wall of people headed for that hole.
Not, not a line of people, head of the a wall of people.
And then you're going to get to the, the narrow spot and
everybody's going to try to get in it.
That's how they drive. That's how they they go through
lines. It's it's and you can get
frustrated or you can accept that you're in their country and
this is how you do lines in their country.
OK, so if we're in, if we're in the world and Jesus, Jesus
hasn't hasn't come back yet and and taken over.
So the world, we're supposed to be in it, but not of it.
So we should be weird, but we don't need to be angry with the
weird. We need to be praying for the
weird right our job and might like in Uganda, my job is to
simply reflect Christ into it, into the darkness of their world
and the darkness of their world is not that they don't keep time
and it's not that they don't drive right.
And it's not that they they they need to, they need to farm
differently. It's that they don't know Jesus
and as believers, that's what's wrong with the world.
I worked at Watts construction for years and when I my pastor
said something at one point that said people should be
embarrassed to sin around you because when you come in the
room and he, he had a lot more to it.
I, I just like locked on to OK, so I should make it.
I should make it hard for people to sit around me.
So in the next, So for the next couple of years, I made fun of
them when they cussed. I, I like go for cover when they
said GD said, do you really mean that?
Because there's lightning and Thunder, you know, and and so I
made it a hassle for them to cuss when they told bad jokes.
I made it AI made it a thing all the time, right?
So then in my presence, my crew was clean, right?
They didn't cuss around me. They didn't tell dirty jokes
around me. And one day after I was feeling
pretty proud of myself. Look at that.
The Lord said good job you cleaned up a bunch of men that
are all going to hell may not be our goal, right?
I don't want the world to make me comfortable.
I want the world to come to Jesus and should should someone
should the world be uncomfortable sitting around
you? Yes, but not because you you,
you actively went out and attempted things to do that, but
because of the light you bring into the room, because you are a
Christian and you have the the Lord living inside you. 21
though starts off and says therefore, and whenever we see a
therefore, we say what is it there for?
And it's back to verse 20. It says for the wrath of man
does not produce the righteousness of God.
Therefore lay aside all filthiness, overflow of
wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word
which is able to save your souls.
Meekness just is power under control.
It's not weakness. Picture.
I got lots of lots of pictures of meekness that run around my
head. You could go with how's this
worldly, worldly 1 the Clydesdale, the Clydesdales, the
Budweiser Clydesdales, right? These guys, these things are
powerful and scary powerful if you had one wildly tromping
around. But you hook them, you hook six
of them to a wagon and they can do some amazing things, but
they're not they're they're under control.
They're power under control. Do we now?
It says that we're supposed to. Sorry, I missed the line.
So and do we use God's wisdom with meekness?
Do we use the wisdom of his word with meekness?
And do we use it as it was designed to be used?
And that is to save those who hear it right, because received
with meekness the implanted word which is able to save souls.
So is that our goal? Hebrews 412 says.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any 2
edged sword, piercing to the vision of soul and of spirit, of
joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and
intentions of the heart. So think of a sword being
recklessly swung about that is not under control.
And then and then think of a samurai using a sword that would
be under control. That would the samurai having
the sword. So having the sword and being
able to use it to, to split hairs, for instance, or, or
something amazing that they can do is using it with meekness,
right? So now think about using God's
word and, and now like I've talked about Facebook being on a
being in a Facebook battle and having zingers and 1 liners and
gotchas. And now think of Charlie Kirk or
Ray Comfort using the word, right?
Which one of those is useful? Which one of those is actually
using it the way it's supposed to be used?
And me and Matt were talking before service and we enjoy some
conversations. But when you're when you're
talking with people, right, are you looking for the one liner
that just shuts them up? Or are you looking for the
conversation that will lead them to the Lord, right, not not
prove you're right. They're going to hell.
That doesn't right? You're already, you're already
you're already going to heaven. You're already saved.
So are you using his words to guide them or are you using them
to beat them with? And that's that's that meekness
of his word. And we need to remember how we
are built. The words that come out of us
matter. This is something that you can
get into. So I think it's there's some in
speaker think it's Tony Robbins, but that he'll go into muscle
memory. And did you know that that our
words that we use become habits? And Jesus, shockingly, Jesus
knew that they they proved it was science.
But Jesus was like, by the way, I already said that Matthew 1511
says it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person,
but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.
And we need to think all the words come out of our mouth.
We need to know what we're saying.
That's I think everybody remembers Sticks and stones may
break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
Anybody ever said that as a kid or get got told to say that?
What do we know about that saying today?
It's probably wrong, right? It's completely wrong.
They those words not only hurt the person that you're saying
them to, but they hurt you because you said them.
Matthew 15, 18 to 19 says but what comes out of the mouth
proceeds from the heart and this defiles a person.
For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murders, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false witness and slander and speaking
hateful things out loud, zingers and gotchas and one line
comebacks and pop offs. It's bad practice and, and the
the easiest way I can. Have you ever blown up at work
or at home and and like started yelling at somebody The next
time when that same event happened, was it easier or
harder to start yelling again? Right.
It's, it's a practice behavior When we allow, when we allow sin
to erupt out of us like that, it's easier the next time,
right? It becomes, it becomes habit.
And so how do we, how do we, how do we go through that?
Like I said, we are, we, we are quick to hear and slow to speak.
You know, there are times in my life that the best thing to be
said is nothing. And I'm a guy that can fill a
room with air, right? I can talk since I was since I
was little and God has shown me over the years, very often the
best thing to do is nothing to be quiet and and to be still.
And when we look at Colossians 3, he gets into this a little
bit. Paul gets into this on, on how
do we defeat that? How does how is that a thing?
And you'll find that like everything, it's the only way it
can be defeated is Jesus right? Colossians 3 starting in verse
8. But now you, you must put them
all away anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talking from
your mouth. Do not lie to one another,
seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and
have put on the new self with which is being renewed in
knowledge after the image of its creator.
So what is that old self, new self?
Galatians 220 I've been crucified with Christ is no
longer I who live with Christ who lives in me in this life.
I now live in the flesh. I live by faith.
That is a that that last bit is a statement that I will I will
talk under my breath in my head this life that I now live in the
flesh. I live by faith in the Son of
God who loved me and gave himself for me.
The only way that anything I ever teach you up here works is
by faith in the Son of God who loved you, loved you and gave
himself for you. That's it.
That is the there is this is not a self help game right?
We didn't, we didn't come up with the the new and, and I
because of work and just boredom in audiobooks.
I listen to a lot of self help stuff just because it's some of
them, some of them have it's kind of fun to see the when
you're when you're listening to them, it's fun to see or
basically they just take Christian ideology and and shift
it over to the self help book and they don't actually see it.
They think they've come up with something kind of like the that
it's but it's how do you the new self, the only new self is the
one in Christ there isn't you. If I walk away from Jesus today,
I am worse than the day I gave my life to the Lord, not better
outside of Christ or outside or before Christ.
We were no different than the world, right?
So when you look at the world and you're disgusted by it, no,
you are just exactly that evil outside of Christ.
And and when we when we recognize that, when we
recognize that that what happened when I gave my life to
Christ is he came in and he gave me life.
He woke up my spirit and he turned, he gave it life and now
I am in him. And with that, I see the
darkness of the world. What we find ourselves very
often is we look at the lost and dying and tell them to find
themselves and quit dying. And does that work?
I mean, think of being lost in the woods and you, you get on
the radio and you, you, you find somebody, you know, they, they
answer you. And their answer is, well, quit
being lost. That's not going to help, right?
Or you get a hold of them and you're, you're, you're, you're
in hypothermic state and you're, well, quit dying.
I mean, just stop stupid. Why were you in the woods?
How did you get lost? None of that would be helpful,
right? So that is why it's important
for us as believers to recognize what we're here for in in all
the conversations. Romans 12/16 to 21 and Romans 12
is if you guys don't. It's a great chapter where Paul
just sums what sums up what it is to be a Christian and but
starting in verse 16, it says live in harmony with one
another. Do not be haughty, but associate
with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is
honorable in the sight of all, if possible, so far as it
depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourself, but leave.
Leave it to the wrath of the God, for it is written,
vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord.
To the contrary. If your enemy is hungry, feed
him. If he is thirsty, give him
something to drink, for by doing so you will keep burning coals
on his head. Do not overcome evil or be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
If if I have darkness and I add darkness, did I add anything
good in that? That's that you can't overcome
darkness with more darkness. Now, when it says if possible,
so far as it depends on you live peaceably with all men or with
all that is not saying to roll over and let everybody run over
us. That's saying you as a as a
person, you're to live peaceably with all people.
You're supposed to turn the other cheek.
But that doesn't mean like we'll we'll we'll be extreme.
That doesn't mean if a gunman walks in here and start shooting
that we aren't to shoot that guy because he is he is attacking
people that aren't prepared right.
You're defending others and then that's that when it's not
possible is when you are you, you are to stand for other
people, right? Last week I picked on Bob about
if if there was a middle school bully up here picking on a
three-year old and Bob walked in, that'd be the end of the
picking, right? He'd take care of that.
And that's our job, right? Bob's job at that point is not
to be peaceable with all middle school bullies, to turn him over
his knee. And and that's our job, right?
We have to, if there's discernment there, there's that,
that continuous time in prayer of having that discernment.
There is time people need to be need to be taken to the tool
shed, but not to prove you right, not to make you feel
better, but because you're protecting others, those weaker
than you and being humble and remembering to remember you have
been saved. And I talked about that whether
you, you, we gave our lives to the Lord when we were 5 or 50.
We are the same, same Sinner, right?
To be in Christ is to be in the light.
His light, his world, his spirit is what saves us, right?
Nothing, nothing I bring last week I said the only thing that
I bring to salvation is the sin that required it, right?
I didn't show up with light and say, hey, let me add, you know
this room about the more believers we get in here, the
more light we have. No, because none of us have
light. We just reflect the light that's
given to us. And John 1 and I'm sure
everybody's heard this John 1 verses one through 5 says in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things were made through Him
and without Him was nothing was not anything made that was made
in Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has
not overcome it. And that that in Him was life,
and the life was the light of men.
That's like and the sun was the light of the earth.
So the light of men is Jesus and what he does.
That's where we get our the reason that you can look at the
world and see that it's evil is because of the light that's in
you. The light that's in me is is how
I can I can look and I can see. So we are in Christ and he saved
us from death and blindness. We are in his light.
Now the picture of that that I, I saw this years ago when I was
going through Exodus and looking at the looking at all the
plagues. So I'm going to read this, but I
want you guys to picture what this looks like.
Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand.
Sorry. Exodus 10/21/20 2:23 Stretch out
your hand towards heaven, and there may be that there may be
darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.
So Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and there was
pitched darkness in all the land of Egypt.
Three days. They did not see one another,
nor did anyone rise from his place for three days.
But the people of Israel had light where they lived.
OK, so Israel lived in Goshen and Egypt was dark.
Now Goshen I can I can picture and it doesn't say it that way,
but I'm picturing there's light in Goshen, but that light that's
in Goshen, the Egyptians can see it, but they are not getting any
light from it. If that makes they so they can
see there's this this force or something that's going on in the
IT Goshen. But I, I don't, I can't I, I
hold out, you know, there's a light over there and I hold up,
but I don't got any. I can't see anything.
It's not I, I don't understand it.
And what does I think in the King James it says the darkness
couldn't comprehend it in, in John, right.
It's they didn't understand the light.
Do you ever talk to anybody that doesn't understand the light?
You know that that doesn't understand who Jesus is?
The darkness of this world blinds everybody that's not in
Christ, right? It is not a matter of having
right doctrine. And when I say that it doesn't
matter. I've got guys I work with that
are staunch Republicans. They are they are sinners and
going to hell. And we've had lots of
conversations. So I can say that up here, even
if they're listening, but they don't they they wouldn't tell
you they were a Christian. I mean, they meet, we may, we
may agree on on a platform, but that doesn't because I agree on
a platform does not mean that I'm a believer, right?
That doesn't get me in the door. What gets me in the door is what
he did on the cross period. That's something and that's
that's what we're leading people to always right is it's about
Jesus. He came to save us from our sin
period. His implanted word shines light
into our lives that only he can do.
He's he is what's required if if you believe in him, you will be
able to see in the dark. And if you can see in the dark,
you can save others, right? It's Jesus is who changes our
life, not my perfect debate skills.
You know when you look at a Ray Comfort or Charlie Kirk or a
dozen other ones, they would tell you the same thing.
How many a Ray comforter, Charlie Kirk pretty much win
every one of their debates because of the side they're on
and does everybody they debate instantly give their lives to
the Lord? My my pastor back home month ago
with Sharon. I don't remember what his I
think we were in an apologetics thing, but it was in his time of
being a pastor. It's been 30 years, 40 years,
and he said, I can count on one hand how many people then I
answered all of their questions and they gave their life to the
Lord right. And then and and he's he's lots
of people get saved in our church, but that are in an art
that that he's having that you know, you, you have problems of
coming to Jesus. And I'm going to answer those
questions and we get to the end of me answering all your
questions. And then I say, so you ready to
give your life to the Lord? Well, the only two that have are
and they're both ladies because ladies actually want they're
they're they're honest about their questions.
They're asking quite guys usually are trying to come up
with an argument. But ladies, when they get to
that point where they're asking the questions, very often they
have a softer heart and they they're really asking questions.
Guys are usually just coming up with ways they don't have to
listen. I was one of those guys for a
lot of years. But back to the Egypt thing.
Imagine an Israelite going over to an Egyptian and saying, would
you just see the light? They would never see the light.
Now, would you just believe in the God that made the light?
Because there's a whole, there's a whole set of of Egyptians in
the end that get to leave with the Israelites, the mixed
multitude. And that's because they believed
in the God they were serving. So that's the the belief in the
God. The belief in God is what saves
people, right? Matthew 21 says she will bring
forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save
his people from their sins. We are in the light because
Christ Jesus God with us has saved us into His light.
We see into the darkness because He is given our spirit life.
Now we are. We are to be light to the
darkness, not by telling the darkness it's dark, but by
sharing where the light comes from.
And that is why we are to be quick to hear, listen to them,
slow to speak, and slow to get angry with them.
Right. Because my anger 99.9% of the
time comes from my selfish desire to be right, not from my
desire for them to see the righteousness of God.
Doesn't mean that, like I said, there are times to be angry.
But 99% of the time the reason I'm angry, the reason I get
welled up, is because they're winning the argument and I know
they're wrong and I want to prove them wrong.
We don't want to be that person. We want to let God do that work.
So. So we put away all the
filthiness and rampant wickedness, which is our
selfishness and receive the word, the implanted word from
him and that is able to save souls.
And that's what we want to do, right?
That's my, my desire for, for everybody here that, that we, we
go out into our world and we are lights that are just reflecting
the sun and people come to us and come tell me about, tell me
about this light that's in you and you can share with them, but
you got to be willing to listen. So Lord, I just, I lift up
everybody here and I lift up this time and thank you.
Thank you for coming. Thank you for being, being our
light. Lord, thank you for filling us
with your light. Thank you that we are able to
surrender to you and that we can trust that you have all the
answers and that you can speak through US that if we would just
surrender our our mouth to you our our lives to you completely.
And I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.