You Are the Light of the World

Are we ready? Good. Well, it is. I've been waiting to come here for the last few weeks, or even a month. My wife and I were assigned to be in Tampa, St. Pete, as Ms. Brown knows. She knows that we were there, and then things got changed as I found a place there. And we just found what we knew was the perfect place. And so we left that day saying, well, we're going to call back from our home and tell them we're ready to go.

And when I did, they said, well, guess what? Things have changed. Now, if you found the perfect place, we want you to find the perfect place farther south. So we said, okay. So my wife, Mary, is not here. She will be here in about three weeks. She's taking care of the loose ends that we have. We have a house somewhere else that she is having to completely take care of, because we had both planned on being there this time.

So we spend a couple of weeks, as we do every year, cleaning the place, making sure everything's fine. Well, now that's where she's at for the next two or three weeks. And it is my privilege to be here. Hopefully I can serve you to the best of my ability. My wife is a very giving person, giving, caring person. She will want to know you on a personal level, as I do. I'm not a very standoffish person. I like to get to know everybody, and I'm here to serve you.

I think you will be surprised. She is the brains of this outfit. She is very smart, is very beautiful, and she's as beautiful inside as she is outside. And she is so looking forward to serving you, as we all are. I see this hall is very large. We've got a job with God to fill it, don't we? I'm looking forward to that challenge. I have been serving in, we've been serving in sermons for the last 15 years in the Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Kentucky, Alabama area. My wife and I do not have any kids.

We intended to, but we wondered when we first got married, we couldn't get our dog to obey us. So we thought that might be a sign, perhaps. And then we just were not blessed in that area, but we have been blessed in so many others. And we have been serving in the Caribbean for the last 10 to 12 years. We have been there for almost every feast, every spring holy day, sometimes Pentecost. And we have been doing that to serve God in that way. So I am very attached, very close to our churches in the Caribbean, as I know them somewhat very personally.

I have a betting today for my Trinidad and Tobago brethren that I talk to them every week. I talked to them last night, my lead guy there, and they are having the first service after a year. Because a year ago, last week, I was there to pick up the pieces, and we had nine people left. Today we have around 27, and we have grown threefold.

That has happened in other areas. As we are expanding, I have had public Bible lectures since last February, so the next week is not anything new to me. I just did them before I even knew the church was going to have something like that because I wanted the churches to grow. And we have gone from in the Caribbean from nine people a year ago to over 125 today. And I expect that number to double during the next year. That is my goal.

If God blesses it, we expect it to double. So I hope that will happen. And if it is will, it will. It won't be because I didn't try and you didn't try. Because I will want your help, your input, on any way you can help us to grow down in the Caribbean. You have input, I'm here to listen. Do I have all the answers? No. Does anybody have all the answers? Maybe. If they do, run from them. Okay? Run from them. If anyone says they know the Bible inside, now run. Okay? I've been studying this book for, been baptized for over 30 years and I've been studying it.

It is my passion for the last 12 to 15 years. And every day I find out I know less and less. And that's the power of the living Word. So I am not like your typical pastor. Okay? You will find that out. Hopefully I will not offend you if I do. Please come to me. I believe in Matthew 18. I live by Matthew 18. I preach Matthew 18. And that goes for me. And I believe in the servant leadership. So I want to, if there's something to do, I want to be first to serve you.

I want to lead by serving. But I have been called sometimes too energetic. I've been called too passionate. I'm not called that in the Caribbean as they would like to see more. But I have been and so I will try to temper everything with what I say. But I love this Word. This Word is passionate to me. This way of life is my passion and my desire. And I hope I can instill that in you. I hope you can instill your passion in me. Because I do not believe God made this church to just sit still, stand still, and let things happen.

So with that, I won't go too much further. I hope to meet every one of you after services today. I know some of you. I've heard about some of you. But my wife and I, everybody here has a clean slate. Hopefully we have a clean slate with you. And we start out fresh and new. And we're going to grow this church. I would like to tell you that I am changing my phone numbers.

I have my numbers here. As soon as we find a place, I'll get Barbara to put it, print it for everyone so they'll have it. The Internet, I'll get you our internet site. I'll get you the telephones. Well, I have so many because I sold it. I've been in the construction business for over 20 years, owning my own company. Fourteen years before that, I managed another company. And so I have been trying to release myself from that for the last year as it was becoming more and more a part of my life, a bigger part.

And I wanted God to be a bigger part of my life. So I have sold my corporation. I have sold my commercial building. I still have my home in Tennessee, which is on my father's farm. And I will keep that and rent that out. And we have another house in another state. So I am trying to get relocated here. If you will have some patience with me, I will try to get everything to you. I'm just flying by the seat of our pants.

I have real estate people I am hooked up with tomorrow to look at some places up and down the coast where it might be the best place. I plan on flying out Monday, having to take care of some business Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, flying back here on Friday, at which point I will be here for at least three to four weeks before I leave. And if I leave, it will just be full of during the week.

So I will try to be at your service. I will try to help you all I can. I'm just being located. My official start date, if the home office is correct, is February 1st, but that doesn't mean anything. I work for God. So whenever I'm here 24-7. So with that, I guess I will thank Strauss.

I like to say, Derek, I'm Chuck, not Mr. Smith, to my family. If you want to be part of my family, and my family calls me Chuck, not Mr. Smith. If I have to use that phrase during next week's public Bible lecture, we will. But I am Chuck. So Derek, thank you very much. You taught me some things I did not know. I didn't know there was an authority on urine.

No, just kidding. I'm not here to offend you about that. I'm impressed because I have heard many sermonettes over the years where I have spoken in about 15 or 20 different churches all over United States, plus the Caribbean. And I love it when somebody teaches me something that I did not know. And so hopefully all of you, you know so much I don't know, teach me, as I will strive to teach you, because that's how we share things. All right, then let's go with the sermon. I was taught, mentored by two or three people. But one was been my mentor for over 20 years as a minister by the name of Fred Kellers. Did anybody know Fred Kellers? Oh, you do! He was a pastor at one time here in Miami. So I talked to him about this place. And I said, what suggestion do you give? He said, just make sure that people know that you can come to them and that you love and you care for them. That's the most important thing. So hopefully you will see that and understand that. But I have been taught that the perfect sermon is 58 minutes long. I will shoot for that every time. So I will try not to go. When my wife is here, she helps me. She helps to coach me even after 15 years of sermons. And the hundreds that I have given, you can tell. If you know I am going too long, just look at my wife and she will have her hand out like this, looking at her watch. So you will see her do this movement. Move on. You are telling a story. Move on. So she is my help. So she said, how are you going to get along without me? I said, I am going to try.

We have a responsibility next week. Barbara asked me, and we want to make sure that we have at least 39 people signed up to come to the Kingdom of God seminar. Thirty-nine. We were in the top ten the last time I looked. We may move up that scale. There are quite a few, which is a responsibility, but it also tells me, perhaps God says, we need some growth here. And we have the people, the manpower, and the capabilities, and the facilities, and His blessing to bring those people to God. So next week we will have that. We have been asked to bring plenty of food, because as I found out in the Kingdom of God seminars, also my seminars, biblical seminars down in the Caribbean, we would have so many people call. Some of those didn't come, but many came who didn't call. So we would have a very full room. So hopefully we can fill all these empty chairs, and perhaps all that eventually. But our job, I hope you will be excited about it. I will be. I hope we can make a home for people. The most important thing here is, if God is calling them, we need to build a relationship between them and God. The most important thing I will ever teach you is not to have the relationship with the Church, but to have a relationship with God. That is important. That is what is so important to me, is my relationship with God. And that's what we want to draw them, because it all starts with having a relationship with God. So with that, I don't have any... I'm used to sometimes people handing me announcements. I guess we can talk about that later. Yes, no, you don't have any other than just get on, shut up, and go with the sermon. Okay. Well, let's get to the sermon then.

I have been for years intrigued with a certain set of Scriptures. And those Scriptures, you've got a camera on me, so I'm going to have to stay pretty close here. You gave me a mic to walk, and now I can't walk. You'll see I have a habit. I'm used to it in the Caribbean, where you don't have things I can just walk. I can just do, like, you know, because I get excited. I get invigorated. And so I will try to stay in front of the camera as much as I can. One of the most important parts of Scripture is the part in Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount. I said if I had to be on a deserted island, I wanted to be there. And if I could only have a few chapters of the Bible, it would be Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever given. And in that message, I have probably put together 40 or 50 different sermons, put together 12 or 15 just from the B attitudes alone. It is a powerful group of Scriptures that Jesus Christ gave us. I want to delve into that in light of our next week's messages, our next week's, can I say, responsibility that we all have?

And that is in Matthew 5, if you will turn there.

You have water. Thank you very much. I drink a lot of water. Matthew 5, the beginning of the sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5 starts out with the B attitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And they're called the B attitudes because that's the attitude that we should be or have. But there's a unique situation after the B attitudes as we go down to chapter 5. And we come to verse 13, and it says, blessed are the salt of the earth.

And then it says down in verse 14, you are the light of the world. So in two different scriptures, he's no longer in the Bs, he's in the Rs. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Powerful, powerful scriptures. Now at a later time, I want to go into salt. But today, because of our responsibility, because of the privilege that we have next week, with people I want to go into. And then verse 14.

Because brethren, the title of the sermon, you are the light of the world. You are the light of the world. I love those scriptures. You are the light of the world. A city set upon a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light so shine before men that they may see their good works and... What? Glorify. Who? Your father.

That's powerful. And I like that R. And I want to be that R.

Now it's interesting here, as I was driving this morning, as I'm learning your roads, this is going to be a challenge, isn't it? I didn't know I had to have money to get through a road. I was going, what?

So I'm learning.

But I noticed there was a casino, and I go, how do they have casinos? And then I saw Seminoles. I realized, because of the Indians, I guess, you can have casinos, or maybe you have your own laws here. I don't know. But it's interesting, because I don't know that much about the Seminole tribes that I would want to learn.

But I do know, because I grew up in Tennessee, spent 45 years. I live in the country. And when I have a garden, we have a garden there. And when I chill up the garden every year, I plow up the garden. I would have arrowheads, because we have the Cherokee, Buran, Rampin in Tennessee. Cherokee Indians.

So I know a lot about Indians. My wife's great-great-grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian.

But there's one thing that Indians were good at, and I'm sure Seminoles were also, but Cherokee were very good at tracking. They could track for hundreds of miles. They could track game. They could track man. They could track about anything. And the one thing that they could do was an art that they taught the white man when they came here, was they taught how to read tracks, how to read the impressions left upon the ground by whatever they were tracking.

Brethren, next week, and today, and tomorrow, and the year after, you will leave an impression on people. And hopefully, you are that light so that you, they can track you. And by you, they track God. So I want to get across here today is you are making an impression, wherever you go, just like those leaves on the ground that they track. So it says you are the light. I mean, He calls us a light, and then He compares us to a city, a city on a hill.

You know, I like the New English Bible translated, translates it. You are the light, the light for all the world, which means of all the people in this world, we are the ones to be looked to for God's Word to be personified.

His Word in His ways. People need to be able to look at us and say, there's something different about that person.

Well, it is so important. And why? If you remember nothing else from a sermon, just one sentence. You, you are the only Bible some people will ever read. You are the only Bible some people will ever read. Then they never open their Bibles. But if they get a chance to see you, they need to see His Word personified. Christ is telling each one of us we have a responsibility in this society. Like it or not, if you're His, you're going to be a light. You have the chance of being a good light or a bad light. We've all seen that in the church over the years, haven't we?

We can't be like the sixties and seventies, hippies that said, man, it's not my world, I'm just passing through it. But brethren, we are just passing through it. But we have to make an impression. We're here to make an impression. We're here to be a light, an example that we can exhibit God's righteousness in our marriages, to our friends, at our jobs, to strangers, and to enemies. There wasn't a Christ that said, you know, in Matthew later on in the sermon on the Mount, verse 44, He said, you shall love your enemies.

And that was different. And sometimes enemies are hard to love. We can't be like Winston Churchill, which the famous leader from Britain, anyone who was a wonderful leader, historian, author. I mean, he's done everything. I've read a couple of books about him. It's so funny because he was liked by, loved by many and hated by many. He was a polarizing figure. Some strong leaders were and still are. But I like how a woman came up to him at a party and said, Mr. Churchill, if I was your wife, I'd put poison in your teeth. And he said, woman, if you were my wife, I'd drink it.

Well, we have to learn to be a better light than that.

We have to leave a bigger, better footprint than that. Ephesians 5, verse 8, if you will turn there. It says, for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light. Are we the light in the Lord? The NIV has it. Live as children of light. It is light that makes everything visible. Hmm. You know, so we are not lights to make ourselves visible, to make God and us visible. Christ said, when He came, He was on His earth, He said, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. And He said, I came to reveal the Father. Reveal the Father. Because He didn't understand. He was a God of love. The Pharisees and the scribes and the teachers of the day, they were teaching, He was this harsh God.

Christ came to personify Him.

And they chastised Him for it.

So what kind of light are you? And you know it's important to have a light if you go into night, into your house, into a room. You flip a light switch on. Why? You can see it makes things more visible, doesn't it? And that's why He says, you are the light of the world, His followers, His people. So that people can see that this is what I can be. I can do this. I can't do perfection.

Because some people think, oh, you have to be perfect to go to church. You have to be perfect if you follow God. We're all imperfect creatures who are working towards perfection.

But that's what's important. They get to see us. And say, you know, I may not agree with everything about that person, but they believe it. They set a good example for laying something down. They're not going to steal it. They're not going to lie about me to the boss.

They care about people.

That's a dimmer light.

So what kind of light are you? What kind of you want to be? How about a match? You ever strike a match? That's about a minute, doesn't it? Then your finger burns. Right? God doesn't want you to be that kind of light. Right? He wants you to last a long time. It may not be a bright light. I have a little light, depending on here. That's a little light. But it's still a light, isn't it? It's still a light. He wants us to shine that light. No matter how small it may be. But people can see it. And there may be a time when they need to turn to you. They need to turn to me. Because if you think 9-11 is the last trauma this nation is going to have, you've got a lot to learn.

You are a light of the world. The city set up on a hill cannot be hidden. He enjoys being a light. Maybe if you're just a little pen light. You're a light. You're a light.

In the story, one stormy night, an elderly couple entered the lobby. In a small hotel, asked for a room. The clerk said they were thrilled, as were all the hotels in the town. He said, but I can't send a nice old couple like you out into the rain. Would you be willing to sleep in my room? I have a little bitty room here. A little bitty bed. And I'll give you my room. Well, the couple hesitated, but the clerk insisted. The next morning, the man paid his bill. He said, oh, you give us a room I want to pay.

And he looked at the caretaker, the manager of that little small inn, that little hotel, and said, you know, you're the kind of man who should be managing the best hotel in the United States. Someday, I'll build you one. The clerk smiled politely at this modestly dressed couple.

A few years later, that clerk received a letter from the elderly man, recalling that night that he had shown that kindness to them, and put a round-trip ticket to New York, enclosed. Upon his arrival at the magnificent new building, that old man said, this is a hotel I have built for you to manage. That man was William Waldo Aster. The hotel, the original Waldo Astoria. And that clerk was the very first clerk, George C. Bult. There was a light that shined.

It does not go unnoticed. I'd like you to turn to John, if you will. John 8.

And you may find something different with me. Hopefully it does not bug you. But I do not use a great deal, and I use numerous scriptures.

Because there's so much in each one that is so powerful, I would rather for you to get six or seven scriptures, and make the impact than twenty that just go in and out your ears.

Because I have spent, as I did on the Beatitudes, with the Beatitudes, I spent three months reading nothing but the Beatitudes alone, every single day for three months. Taking them apart, looking at every translation, going through the Greek, I wanted because I knew they were given by a God.

I thought, I really need to know those words.

In John 8, verse 12, Christ said, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

A city set upon a hill cannot be hidden. Christ is saying we are to be seen by the world.

You drive at night as you're driving down the interstate, you can look and see. You can see some lights from far off over here and over here, and you know there's a city there.

As you come down the interstate and you get near Miami, it's blue lights, big town.

And you can see smaller lights. See, as people look and see, there's a city over here because I can tell the lights. We need to personify some lights so that they say, there's God over here. There's something of God over here. These people follow the true God.

I don't always agree with them, but they're... They believe it. I live my house back in Tennessee. It's 12 miles from a town that has 100,000 people, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. And at night from my house, you can see some lights there. But they're not near as bright because if you turn over here, you can see Nashville, which is about 50 miles from my house. And the lights are even brighter because it's a bigger town.

Do people see a light when they see you? If not, nothing to be discouraged about. It's time to recharge those batteries, brother. It's time to put in those batteries. It's time to get them charged. You know, in this world of spiritual darkness, we are God's light.

I'd like you to do something today you probably have not done before. And I won't do this every week. I won't have something that you're like. Boy, that guy is different.

I'd like you to close your eyes. Close your eyes. And you see darkness, don't you? You see darkness. You know, some people are scared of the dark, aren't they?

Kids are scared of the dark. When you close your eyes, I want you to picture if you can, because you can only do it by closing your eyes. I'd like you to think about God, those millions and billions and billions of miles away, sitting on His throne back in the last heaven.

And picture if you're there at His throne, if you can. And now He asks you to look down through all the light years of space. And He looks and He sees the planet earth. Except He looks with the Spirit. He looks upon the heart, which is so wonderful that God looks upon His lights, not just what He sees from the outside, but He can see that heart and He knows that light.

And when He looks at this earth, what does He see? As a whole, it's very dark, isn't it? See, the earth is basically what's said. They don't need God. They don't want Him here. They don't need Him. And He's got to be very depressing. Just like some of your kids. Some of us, some people have been alienated from parts of their family because they didn't want anything to do with you or didn't want anything to do. And that hurts. And it hurts God.

Open your eyes.

Because you see, God, through that darkness, looks at this earth and He sees His lights. He sees these little lights, and they've been scattered all over the world. And they may not be the brightest light in the world, but they're still lights, and He sees them. And He knows there's hope.

And He wants us to continue to shine that light.

Motel 6 has a commercial. It says, we'll leave the light on for you.

Do we leave the light on for God? You know, people are visual. Most people are visual. They see things very clearly. They look at things and judge things by what they see.

Well, I guess I remember stories told of the Grand Canyon. Has anybody here seen the Grand Canyon? I have not seen it. So, Bill has. Anybody else been out to see the Grand Canyon? No, you see people. Oh, you have? Okay. I've never seen it. I've seen pictures of it. It looks beautiful. But it shows how different people look at things because there were three people standing on the ridge up there. One was an artist, one was a minister, and one was a cowboy.

And the artist looked at this vast place and he says, what a beautiful scene to paint. Can't wait. Paint this. The minister said, what a wonderful example of God's handiwork and all the beauty and the power and the majesty of God. And the cowboy looks out and says, what a terrible place to lose a cow.

So, some people are not going to appreciate your light. Some people are going to be offended by your light. You've still got to be a light. God's had his lamps and his lights through these 6,000 years. I'd like you to turn to 1 Kings, if you will.

1 Kings 11.

Verse 35. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hands and give it to you, 10 tribes. And to his son I will give one tribe, that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there.

And he had, Josiah has a... Jehoshaphat.

So, God's talking about us, talking about followers of him being lamps, lights. I'd like you to turn to 2 Samuel.

2 Samuel 21.

Here's the story of David getting old. By this time, he's about my age, 53 today, as a matter of fact.

He's 50 to 52 years old when this incident takes place. They don't know for sure, time-wise, but they think so. And so here it is, 2 Samuel 21 verse 15. He said, When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants went with him down and fought against the Philistines, and David grew faint. Then Ishmael B'nab, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was 300 shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David but Abishai. The son of Zaryuiah came to his aid and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel. They recognized David as a lamp.

We also see in 2 Samuel 12 verse 14, we see the example here, of where God told David because of what David had done with B'shima, with Uriah, with his lies.

Everything that he did, he says, You, David, have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme God. So David was a lamp, both good and bad. Thankfully, he was a brighter lamp for the good than he was the bad, even though it did show the bad. And so many of us, just like David, we all stumble and fall at times. But God looks upon the heart like he did David, man after God's own heart. That's why we have to have that heart, take away that stony heart.

Because that's God's heart. We show love. Is that a responsibility? You bet. More than you can handle? Probably so. Probably so. But without God in his word, we cannot do it. We cannot be that light. Oh, many have tried, just like this light, a flashlight. Your flashlight doesn't have any batteries in it. And no matter how many times I turn this on, it ain't going to work. There's no light coming out of there. We've had people in the past that thought they could be his light without prayer and Bible study. Not going to happen without his Holy Spirit stirring up his Holy Spirit. You're going to be like this flashlight with no batteries. Philippians 2. You will? Philippians 2 is powerful. But I want to go to verse 12 because it talks to us. Philippians 2, verse 12.

Fear and trembling. Good.

And perverse generation.

What about those people? Can you think about, no matter how long you've been in the church, can you think about those people that you can say, well, they were a light over the years in the church? We've all seen them, haven't we? We've all seen good lights. We've all seen bad. I've seen some pathetic lights. Some of them are not necessarily here. I was in the Caribbean in the year 2000. I've got to watch what I say now that it's filmed and so forth. I was in the Caribbean in the year 2000, and there happened to be going to Jamaica for the feast, and we had that hour and a half, two-hour bus ride in case you haven't been there. Okay, and the bus gets there. The hotel loads everybody up in the airport. You sit and wait, and then, okay, here you all go together, and there's people in the church and people not in the church staying at the hotel, so they all get on this bus. So here I get on the bus, and there's church people. I can see them, know them. Then there's this guy that gets on the bus, and the bus is about to take off. He's, oh, oh, oh, oh! He was from Texas. Big guy. He goes, wait a minute, wait a minute. He made the bus driver stop, and he ran off, and he got out of the way right back. So he had to run, and there was a guy selling beer just outside of the airport, so he had to have a beer. He couldn't wait an hour and a half, two hours. He had to have one. So they brought him two beers on board, and he was just laughing and carrying on, drinking and cussing and everything else. We just kind of, you know, people in the church were talking, you know, about a wonderful feast. And so I made counting to my wife, boy, I'm glad he's not coming to the feast. Until the night that first service, and I'm at the door, and sure enough, there's Texas man right there.

Hung over, I'm drinking all afternoon. I remember the year I got engaged with my wife, it was in Biloxi, Mississippi, at a feast. And I was on parking detail, and we had about 6,000,000 people there. And so I was parking way out front. And so we had a special place for the handicap, as they did back then, when they used to. So the handicap could come right up here. And it was closer, and so I had to direct people when they came in. Not to park down there, but to park over here is a little further to walk. This guy comes up, and he's flying up here, and it's early. He says, I need to go over here. I said, well, you don't have a handicap sticker. I need you to park over here, if you can. He said, I'm with the choir. I'm with the choir, and I need to get up there. I'm late. I'm late. I need to park close. I said, I'm sorry. I just can't do that. That's why we got for the handicap and the elderly to park there. If you'll just pull right down here, you can get pretty close. He just rolled up his window. Spreecious tires just a little bit. He went maybe 30 foot, rolled down his window, and saluted me with one finger.

Quite a light. Quite a light. Made an impression on a 24, 5-year-old guy.

We used to have a minister, a church I attended, and I had season basketball tickets to our Middle Tennessee State University that I used to go to many years ago, and whenever I couldn't use the tickets, I would leave him some at the door. We had a minister there, and so I left him at the door, and then I went back and didn't see him. And all of a sudden, I saw him. He wasn't sitting up by us. He was sitting down on the ground level floor. I was up in the cheap seats. He was down. Wow! I saw him later. Saw him in the next two or three games. I said, well, you didn't need my tickets. How did you get down there? Did you buy? He says, no. I found a way in. He said, you handicapped down there, and if I push one of their wheelchairs, I could get in for free.

What an example! What a light! And he's a minister, and you have to realize that ministers and teachers are told in Scripture, you're judged more harshly. Right, Derek? Right, Steve? Right, Bill?

So we have to.

You know, we've had ministers in the past.

They've never said they sinned. You would think they were perfect. They never said they sinned, but boy, did they hammer on the congregation!

Now, that's what I like about Paul.

First, Timothy 1. He will turn now. First, Timothy 1. Verse 15. Brethren, I want you to know I'm a flawed man.

And if you find that hard to believe, just wait till my wife gets here and asks her. Okay? We all have flaws. But I'm working on it. Driving, just like you. But I like Paul as a minister because in 1 Timothy 1 and verse 15, he said, this is a faithful saying and worthy of acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

You could follow a man like that. I couldn't. I could follow a man that didn't think he was perfect.

We are not the light because of us. We are the light because we reflect God in us, brethren. Sinners, yes, but overcomers, you bet. That's what we're working at.

I'd like you to turn to 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2. But I want you to think as you turn there, it's interesting that every valuable or precious stone, if you have a diamond, like when I bought my wife's diamond ring or engagement ring, I went there and when I went in to buy it, they had the loop, but you can look at it and see the clarity, the cut, and all these things about it. But they didn't take me in the dark room and show me that diamond. Why? It took you out while there was plenty of light so you can see the brilliance of it.

1 Peter 2 and verse 9. It says, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light.

See, it's all about God, not us. When we reflect anything that's good that you see from me during the next three to five years, wherever time I'm here, that's from the Holy Spirit. That's from God. Okay. That's what's important. See, it's all about God, not us.

In Hollywood, it's about the stars, isn't it? You know California, even in Nashville, Tennessee, where we have country music, and I had the privilege... well, let's take that one back. I had the opportunity and challenges to work for different country music stars and singers in my business.

But in Hollywood, where we see all the time on TV, radio, you hear on radio, you see movies and everything, it's all about the stars. In this world, it's all about glorifying yourself. That's why you see all the billboards. You see the movies. How many times has God and Christ, who made everything look down from their throne and saw at an award show, say it was for music?

Some person getting up and saying, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for helping me to win this award for the trashiest, filthiest song on the radio.

I want to thank the Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior, my everything, for helping me to become naked so I could get this Academy Award movie.

All he has cringed and looked down because one of his lights, Chuck Smith, said something that was embarrassing.

Or did something embarrassing.

John 12, we go over there, as I begin to wrap this up. My boss, Chuck Zimmerman, said, you have an hour and a half service. So I guess I better not upset my boss the first day, should I?

Well, technically, I'm not paid yet, so I guess I'm... This is a freebie. You know, it goes next week, so... Now, cut that out of the tape if you have that. I don't want Chuck calling me. What did you say?

John 12. John 12, verse 42.

Whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.

So let's go back, if we can, to Matthew 5, and finish this up.

You are a light of the world.

A city set upon a hill cannot be hidden.

Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, it gives light to all who are in the house. We're to shine, right? We're to shine. This is metaphors. Light, lamp, city. If you're in jeopardy, they'd say, things that illuminate for 500, Alex. Because it's that clear. It's that clear. That's what we're to be. Webster's Dictionary calls light. It says it, the definition, that by which objects are rendered visible.

See, that's what we need to do. Be their light, so that God is visible. Means to enlighten, to brighten. Us? No! The church? No! God? Yes! Yes! That is what it's about.

And you want to eliminate problems in the church? Let's just get it about God, instead of me. I've dealt with man in the last 18 months, 2 years. It's all about men, not about God. And now, I've got leaders up there that says, first it's about God, and then it's about the brother. It's not about me. It's about God, and it's about this church.

Christ is saying, I didn't give you my light, verse 15, for you to go hide in a closet. Now, we all have phobias. We all have imperfections. We all have things. It's about God. It's about God.

God said, my light is out there for the world to see. Not to crawl in a hole. Not to live like a hermit. And then verse 16, Christ's strongest in your face proclamation, let your light so shine before men that they may see everything you do and glorify your Father, glorify God. My God. He said, you are. You are the light of the world.

He says, we can't turn back. Where do we go? He says, puts his hand to the plow and looks back. That's not fit for the kingdom. I don't know whether many of you have raised on a farm or grew a garden. But guess what? You ever had a plow or a tiller, and you try to do that and look back? Guess what? You're taking out everything in front of you. You ever try to ride a bicycle and look backwards? That's what he's talking about. If you're going to look back at the world, because I just remember one vivid, one thing everybody could see. One example of this was lost life. She looked back. And she literally became a salt of the earth, but not in a good way.

These aren't my words. Brethren, you have to be a light. I have to be a light. I don't have any other choice. I'm committed to God. If I turned up now, the only thing I'm going to have are reservations for a vacation spot called the Lake of Fire. And nobody wants to go there.

I don't. I know how important this is. But I don't want to turn back. And I don't even have those thoughts unless I get away from the book. When I get away from the book, that's when I look into the world, and the world pulls me. What is that? Set your mind on love and not on the earth. I solve so many of my problems.

And it will help solve yours. See, Christ came to reveal the Father. Right? He says, I came to reveal the Father. Well, guess what? Your job is to what? Glorify the Father. When something good happens in your life, don't forget who it was that gave you that. Don't forget where it came from.

It's the Father. And every time we say it, we glorify the Father. Every time we show it, we glorify the Father.

Contemporary English version said, Make your light shine so that others will see the good you do and praise your Father in heaven.

I could go on and on, but my time is getting at an end, and we'll continue this because I love reading Christ's words. I love to make them real, if I can, to you. Those people, maybe you've thought of those people that you've known in the church over the years, the good lights and the bad lights. Those examples, what did you see? You see maybe a pimple on the forehead, spinach in the teeth? No. Those good lights, what did you see? A loving, caring person who personified the kind of nature, godly nature that you wanted and that you wanted to be around. It only comes from God. But, brethren, if I can say again, it must be. It must be from God. It must be about God. And as I've said many times, because I grew up on a farm, there was one place we kept things. I was going to get anything done, and that was a tool shed. Had to make sure you locked up the tool shed. My father believed in corporal punishment, you know? That's a good thing he did, because boys in Tennessee get in trouble. And then he'd be straightened out. My father, he happens to be in Fort Myers today. I think he's given a sermonette over there. Hopefully we'll meet him. He'll come over here. Him and my mother. They taught me will. They taught me about God. Even when I refused to listen, I could come back and I saw their lives, their lives, their examples. But there's one thing about a tool shed. It had everything you needed for the work you needed to do. Brethren, God's tool shed. Everything you need is in here. That's the tool shed. That's the tool shed. Grab the tools that are inside of here, and your life will be forever changed. You can accomplish anything you want. And brethren, you will be the light of the world.