All right, I want you to turn your Bibles to the book of Matthew tonight Matthew chapter number five And we will read with verse 14 And as I mentioned to you this morning, I asked you to bring a flashlight How many you brought a flashlight with you? Some of you got flashlight apps. I Do you have a flashlight? Flashlight with you? Oh, she gave you. I was gonna say, you just came and then just showed up with a flashlight. Of course, we've been through enough to know that we need flashlights. Amen, we need light. And so I wanna preach on, you are the light of the world. Understand that Jesus said he was the light of the world, but he also passed along that and deferred that, that that is a ministry that we would have once we receive his light as believers. We are to be the light of the world. So verse 14, Matthew chapter five, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick. And it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. So let's go to the Lord in prayer. Now, you're going to keep your flashlights. We'll use them toward the end of the service. It is not dark outside, but it will be darker in here. Yeah, you can cut them on now if you want to, but we're definitely going to use it as an example of something. I hope it'll kind of be an object lesson for us, but I do want you to use them. I know a few of you brought them and showed them to me tonight, so I appreciate you paying attention to what I announced this morning. That makes me feel good that you're listening. Well, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank you for the service. We pray, Lord, that you'll take all things done tonight and use them for your glory and honor. And I pray, Lord, that you'll help us as we look into these scriptures tonight to preach this message, that we will take this in, Lord, and understand our responsibility as being the light of the world. And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to take that responsibility seriously. And Lord, as it says, let your light shine. Help us allow that, Lord. Help us to stay close to you, Lord. Let us be filled with the fullness of God. And Lord, let us be an example in the darkness of this world. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. All right. In Matthew chapter five there, we wanna look at a couple of things and we'll use some other scripture references as well. But I wanna look at the reality of what it means to be the light. We all have experienced something this week where we had to gather candles together, we had to find batteries, we had to, now I prepared, I thought I prepared pretty well Thursday night. I charged up all my Dewalt batteries. I got all my fancy light kits out. I had all my Ryobi lights together. We had candles. I knew where they were. I knew where all my batteries were. I had my grill in the house, my propane tank. I was ready, but I wasn't ready. When all that went out, that power kept going on for days and days, and I began to lose my food, and I had to almost kill people. I mean, excuse me, I almost had to fight people. Meet me back up one more time. You know, I had to pray for ice. It was a struggle just to get basic things. And I wasn't prepared as I thought that I was. And as the night grew on and outside had no streetlights and no outdoor lights and nobody else had much light shining. And even then I didn't hear too many generators yet. I started hearing them as the week went on. It was a very, very oppressive darkness. It was almost a cool, powerful silence at night. You can see the stars in the sky and begin to see that the light that was placed up by the Lord, the moon, the stars, how much power they have. And we understand that the sun is the major light and the moon is the lesser light. And there's a beautiful imagery there that the moon is a reflection of the sun's light. And you and I are believers. We are the lesser light. He is the light of the world, but we are the lesser light. We're like the moon. We're like that reflection of his light. Yet we can penetrate the darkness. with that light. And as I think about what it means to take upon this responsibility, the reality is God knows that we're supposed to be light. Satan knows we're supposed to be light. We also know we're supposed to be light, but are we being that kind of light? I think a lot of you took advantage of some things this week. You didn't abuse it, but you used it. You tried to minister as a believer. You walked for God. You wanted to love people, love your neighbor, and you showed forth that light. And we are to be that light. We are to illuminate. Amen? We are to penetrate the darkness and shine. The Bible says in Ephesians 5, verse 8, and this is a powerful thought. It says, For ye were sometimes darkness. Which means that there was a time in your life you were in darkness. And you were part of that darkness. But now that you're saved it says, but now are ye light in the world. Walk as children of light. So as I was part of that darkness and I was in that darkness, now I have light in me and I'm part of that light. Amen. And I'm supposed to light up this world. The darker it gets, it should be easier for us to shine. We should not hide that. Amen. There's a reality of it. We know that this world needs light and we are called to be that light. And it was interesting to see. I've got a pretty cool light that I actually, I think the church gave me a birthday gift one year and I blew it. I blew the money. I'll just share that with you. I blew it. I did not save it. I did not invest it in anything. I went to Lowe's and I bought the biggest, coolest flashlight thing I've ever seen in my life. It's a big Dewalt light. It stands up on a tripod. And when I lit that thing up, it lit the whole house up in that living room. I mean, I got light. I thought about bringing it tonight, but I didn't want to overdo it. I wanted to emphasize the importance of necessarily just being what you are, being the simple light that you are. But that light, I tell you, it was good to have it, but it drained so much power on the high setting. I went through my batteries pretty quick and I had to charge them up and you couldn't just plug them in the wall because the power was out. So I realized I had to manage that light. I had to be careful with it, and it was limited. And then I had to find other things to use. And think about, we're not limited with our light because we're reflecting the light of the gospel. We're reflecting the light of God Almighty, the glorious message of Jesus saves, reflecting out of our life of what he's done in our life. That speaks of the radiance of that light in the scripture here. It cannot be hid, as the scripture says. He says here, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Amen. And God has saved us and he's put us in this world. He has changed our life. And if you're coming out of darkness into his marvelous light, you cannot hide that. Neither should you want to hide it. You say, well, I'm not perfect, preacher. None of us are. And preacher, I'm ashamed of this. Well, we all have things in our life. But you let God work in your life, change your life, and you let it. You don't have to force that life. Let it shine. Amen? Let it flow out of you and I. Let that radiated power. It's wrong to hide it. It's unnatural to hide it. What odd thought of a candle. We all know what a candle is. How many of you had to use candles also? Most everybody. To have a candle on a candlestick and then take a bushel or a basket or some kind of bucket or item and just cover it up. That's unnatural. It doesn't make any sense. Why would it be lit and then you cover it up? You might as well just extinguish it. I don't want God to extinguish me. Amen? I'm here and I want to know what my purpose is and one of the simple basics of that, you may not be a missionary, you may not be a pastor, you may not do this or you may not do that, but you are supposed to be light and it is natural to let that light shine. Don't hide it. You shouldn't hide it. It should be your nature to allow it to shine. It needs to be a beacon. I think about the little, the bioluminescent, that's a big word by the way, the bioluminescent bug called the lightning bug. I called them lightning bugs when I grew up. What else they called? Anybody know? Firefly. Thank you. That's a different name. But I grew up in the south and they were lightning bugs. Always was enamored and amazed by how that be so dark around you, and then you can see that little bitty lightning bug. Oh, he's insignificant. He doesn't matter. He can't light up the whole world. He can't light up the whole room. But he let his light shine, and I'd always be drawn to them. And I didn't put all of them in jars, by the way. I had some I just put in my hand. I'd love to hold them in my hand, and I'd just let them fly away, and I'd love to chase them around. I loved following that light. That little bitty bug radiated its light. It pierced the darkness and even provided direction sometimes to me as I just followed him around. And that's what light is supposed to do. That little bug was created with bioluminescent chemicals, natural chemicals in its little bug end. Amen? I don't know what else to call that. I got to be careful there. Put all that chemical in there, a chemical reaction with nothing plugged in, no man-made stuff. It just lights and does what God created it to do. And in doing that, it brings glory to God. Those little bugs are so amazing. I love it. That's my favorite. Besides the bombard beetle that shoots out acid, I don't know if y'all have ever seen that one. Besides that one, my lightning bug's right on the top five, amen? There's some cool creation out there. There are bioluminescent creatures that God has made in the sea, in the depths, the darkness of the ocean and out there in the depths of that sea. They let their light shine. They use that and it creates a beauty in the universe of that ocean if you've ever seen those pictures. God wants you and I to let our light shine. in the depths and the darkness of this world and penetrate that darkness, provide direction in that darkness. We need to be a light at work, be a light in your family, be a light in your neighborhood and let your light shine around you at school and all those places because you need to be light because there's enough darkness out there. You need to let your light, as the scripture says, let it so shine. Verse number 15 and 16 said, it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Are you being a light where God puts you? Are you lighting up your house? Or are you trying to put that light out? Are you trying to cover and put it under a bushel? Does your wife try the light in the house and when you come home from work, you bring darkness? Or does it the opposite? Or you as a child, when you come home from school, do you bring darkness in? Are you collectively letting your light shine? Is your whole life and your whole purpose about allowing light to be shown? Because the Bible says, let your light shine, so shine, excuse me, before men that they may see. Amen, that they may see your good works. Now, we're not saved by good works, and you know better. I never have preached that or taught that. But the Bible does teach that when you are saved, you will walk, and you will serve, and you will perform good works. You will be blessed in your deed. There will be deeds that you will perform, and the action, the compassion that you and I have, the things you may have done for neighbors this week, it should glorify the Lord. It should be a part of your life. shining in this darkness. God allowed us to go dark these last 10 days so that we could go light. Y'all getting a hold of that? I hope you went light. I hope you did something. Hope you didn't just sit there with your little candle complaining and murmuring about everything. Now, I know we all had our moments of complaint. If you didn't, you're very super holy, spiritual. We all probably had our moments of complaint, but God set us back to realize what was important. There's some basic things. Ice became important, didn't it? Try to keep things from spoiling. Water became very important. You had a well with no electricity, well water, you needed water. Water became very important. And it wasn't long, you were all hoping and longing that lights would come back on. I got so used to not having light, I quit flipping on the light switches. Did y'all do that the first couple of days? Every room as dark as it could be, click, nothing, click, nothing. I was even doing things, because it was dark and no power, and getting ready to do it, but cut the light on so I could see how to do it. That's mental. That's something I'm not right with that. Joanna laughed at me a few times. It's like, why am I doing this and bringing it over here in the light so I could do it? We don't have light. And it began to get frustrating. And then in a couple of days, I'd walk in the room, I was used to the darkness, I didn't flip the switch on, I just went with what I had or if I didn't have any light, I just operated in the darkness. And it's sad that Christians, churches in this world are getting used to the darkness. They're just allowing it to surround them, they're getting used to not living with it or not wanting it. I don't want to ever have that be, amen? There is a purpose, a reason for that light that they may see, that those who are in darkness may see. They could see good works flowing out of our life and that would glorify, as the Bible says, glorify your Father which is in heaven. Are you doing that? If you're not doing that, maybe we should just be extinguished. Maybe we should just be put out. Maybe He should just take us home. Or are we going to be willing to let our light shine in the darkness of this world? Another thought that comes with light is a word called rejection. Light is rejected by darkness. Light and darkness do not mix. Light will penetrate the darkness, but darkness is very oppressive and powerful. And the scripture tells us this in John chapter 3, 19 and 20 there that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. And the Bible goes on to say that all those deeds are made manifest by that light. And those that were in darkness, the Bible says that that light shineth in darkness. Jesus being the light that came into the world, John chapter number one. And the darkness comprehended it not. It did not digest it. It did not embrace it. It did not comprehend it. And it did not want to. There are many in the world today, they don't want this church here in this community. They don't want the gospel to go out. They don't want any ministry to share the light of the gospel, that it might change people's lives and bring them to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan hates that light, and there are many in this world that hate that light, and many that reject it. But don't get discouraged by that. If you feel that rejection and that attack of your Christian faith, then I'd encourage you that you must be shining in that darkness. Because I'll tell you this, Some light, especially if you've been in the darkness a while, it can irritate your eyes. It can irritate you. I had that big light I cut on, and several times I'm messing around trying to turn it on, and I had the wrong end face towards my face. And I pushed that first button, which is the most powerful one, boom, right in the retina. I mean, boom. And you can't see for a while. It irritated it. It bothered me. I wasn't used to that much light. And light and darkness are against each other. And darkness rejects it. There may be people in your school, when you really try to walk for God and live for God, they're not going to like it. They may oppress you, make fun of you. They may attack you at work. Because darkness does not like light. But you keep on letting your light shine. You keep on being who you need to be. You keep on glorifying the Lord. You let your light shine. They need to see your good works. And that one day, hopefully, then the Lord Jesus Christ, they'll see who your Heavenly Father is. It will draw them to that saving knowledge. I've seen that many times. Just keep on living for God. Keep on being the witness. It may be they'll come to you one day. And I know many of you shared stories like this. Brother Donnie has well shared about one of his co-workers. They come and I've had it happen to me. Ask you to pray for them when they had nothing to do with prayer. They had no time for God. They did not want that light you represented. But all of a sudden now they want you to pray for them. That means your light is having an effect. Don't give up. Don't quit praying. Please don't stop. Allow your light to shine. It will be rejected, but that's what darkness does to light. So don't quit. The light reveals some things. I noticed when the natural light of the sun comes in through the window, I mean, it's really penetrating. You ever see the little dust particles flying around in the air? And I'm looking around, I think, man, I'm breathing in a lot of dust here. He said, you got a dirty house. Well, I thought it was pretty clean. But you get to walking around and stirring around a little bit, you see how much dust and dirt is flowing in the air. Well, what's that about? Well, when there wasn't a lot of light shining and revealing, I thought that now there wasn't much dirt around. Boy, light will reveal dirt. It will reveal dust. It will show that there is impurities. It will show how unclean things are. That's why people reject it. That's why people don't want to read your Bible. Amen? You get backslidden, distant from God? That's the first book you don't want nothing to do with because there's light that reveals the sin in your life. It shows that there are impurities or unrighteousness in your life. Deeds are made manifest by light, as John 3, 21 says. That light reveals the truth. It reveals that there is darkness or there's dirt or there's something in there that is not clean. When you let more light in, you can see that. I had to get light, extra light, even though I already had some light to be able to clean. We had to do a lot of cleaning this week. Maybe you had to do the same. I'll clean this freezer down here at the church and the other freezer because some of the stuff melted. Some of the food slop, I don't know how to explain that, just to give you a good image. Then the power came on at the church and guess what froze in the freezer? The food slop. So I had to unplug the freezer and let it melt and clean the food slop out. And that was fun. That's a fun job. And I needed extra light to see because I want to make sure I got all the mold and all that junk out of there. Sometimes you need light to reveal how truly, deeply dirty things really are. I invite light into my life when I really want to get closer to God. I reject that light when I'm not about that life. I don't want to walk for God. I want to stay in that darkness. I want that certain pet sin in my life. I don't want, I'm not going to read that right now. I'm not going to go to church. You know, I'm backing off a little bit. But when you really desire to walk for God, it won't offend you when someone preaches about those things. You'll accept it. You'll receive that light. And when it reveals sin in your life, that you're not walking right with God or there's something in your life, you will react to that light and say, OK, I see that now. I see that. You ever go to the doctor and they, now when I go, the light comes out the other side. We go to the doctor and they're looking in your ear hole and your nose hole and all up in your mouth and all that. They use light to get into some places that are uncomfortable. Sometimes the darkness and the light they get uncomfortable with each other But you need light even when people have had surgeries internal surgeries where they go inside your body Those little cameras have lights on them because they need to see the cancer. They need to cut out They need to see the blockage that needs to be penetrated light has so many purposes We need that kind of light because it reveals the things that are wrong. It reveals things that need to be corrected It helps us recognize where there is darkness or impurities that need to be removed. So you need to thank God for that light. If you've had somebody in your life that walked for God like that, that influenced you to Christ, I think it's Donnie, maybe he mentioned how Tonda led him to the Lord. Even after many years, he thought he was saved. And I've heard multiple stories like that. There's been many people God put a light in your life, put a certain person in your life, and they just, they let their light shine and they were a beacon in your life. And you saw Christ in them and it made you desire to want Jesus in your life as well. The scripture gives us emphasis at times where light had been requested. The Philippian jailer, when Paul and Silas were singing at midnight, the Philippian jailer was there and the earthquake came and it just about destroyed the prison house. He sprang for a light. He called for a light. He wanted light brought to that situation. What a blessing it is when someone will not do that. And then they come and he comes to Paul and Silas and says, sirs, what must I do to be saved? What a blessing. Wouldn't that excite you that someone would want your life in their life and they want to know what it is to be saved. Maybe they can see how you endured this affliction these last few weeks. and how you endured that hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You endured and went through it with patience and grace. And even though you might have murmured 5% of the time, you got your act together and you started walking for God the next 95%. You're not going to witness anybody there. Amen. I tried to do that. You know, I prepared for this doomsday. I thought I was ready. I was not ready to not have cool food. I'm not cool. I'm talking about not spoiled. Amen. I wasn't expecting not to have ice and things like that. Well, that light became such an important part of going that time frame, but going to the gas station, not fussing and cussing and murmuring and complaining, trying to take loads off of people who are trying to help people with their loads, to be a lot of witness and have the compassion and the characteristics of Christ so important. And what an idea it would be that someone would see something real in you and I. They'd see that light, and they'd want to be a part of it. They'd want to be close to it. They'd want to be around it. They'd get past that point of rejection. They'd get to a point of reception and receiving that light. I hope you and I could be that. Be in that position. Amen? Be available. Be usable. Be pliable. Let your light shine. Let God put, sometimes God may put you in dark places like he put Paul and Silas in that jail. So they could be a light at the right time. Many times we want to get, oh I want the will of God and he puts you in some hardship and darkness and adversity and the first thing we want to do is fix it and get out of it. Maybe God put you there to be a light. I believe God did some of those things these last 10 days. I reached out to my neighbors and I know many of you did as well. I took water to our neighbors and I took food to some of our neighbors and I tried to reach out to them and connect to them and try to help take some loads off of them. And in doing that, God blessed me in my deed, just like he probably did you as well. It's a pleasure, it's a joy, something to rejoice over, to be part of that light. As the Bible talks about John the Baptist, and it talked about him being a burning and shining light, and he was there, and even Jesus said, you were willing for a season to see that light that John the Baptist had brought. They rejoiced in that light for a little bit of time. It seems to be a limited amount of time that people want light in their life. It seems like storms like we just went through. People open up. They let you in. They'll talk to you. They accept that help. They accept that track. They accept that invitation much different because there was so much adversity. I'm going to tell you, we wouldn't have chose what we just went through. We won't choose the next storm. But storms have great purpose because in most every storm, light is so needed and necessary in the midst of that darkness. You may not have a flashlight, but you are the light of the world. The Bible teaches us. That sometimes light is removed. And when it's removed. You notice that it's gone. Sometimes light is removed in the application. This is a spiritual application now. Some of you have saved family members, Christian family members that the Lord took from you and their light that they brought is now gone. And I have that. We've had many church members that have gone on. You have family members that the Lord went ahead and took their home now. And when they left, the Bible says precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, Psalm 116 verse 15. And they're precious to you and what a blessing to be a part of our lives and the light that they brought. My pastor was a great light and influence to me, Preacher Gravely, Junior Gravely. And the Lord took him. He's been gone now way over about a year and a half, almost two years now. He witnessed to my mom and invited her to the church and she got saved because of his light. And then the Lord saved my grandpa, my grandma, saved my dad and saved my sister, my brother-in-law and my cousin. And he saved me because of that light shining. And then he died, like I said, and I've noticed that that light is gone. And I miss that light. You may have some light in your life, that is here right now, but one day it may be gone. And I encourage you not to take that person for granted. And you can give thanks to the Lord for them, but you ought to tell them once in a while how important they are to you, how much light they have brought to your life, how they've influenced you, and how they have helped you in the darkness of this world. I want to now do a little object lesson. Brother Bob back there, would you cut all the lights off for us and you guys get your flashlights on? It's not pitch black, but it's dark enough. Cut them all off. Cut this spotlight off. Get this, we got that. Brother Matt, you go back and kill that projector. For the sake of sake, we just cut all the lights off we can, as much as we can. Jordan, you are very bright. Your light's shining over here. Shine it on your face, your own self. There you go. You're blinding the preacher. Cut that light off back in that room. All right, we got a few lights in here. That's good. Now, it's not really dark in here, but it's dark enough to understand that it's not completely well lit. Yeah, I just closed the laptop. There you go. And I can do this. Power off. All right, we've still got the baptism. Well, it's getting darker and darker and darker in here. All right, everybody kill your flashlights. Cut them off. All right, there you go. All right. Or hide them under a bushel for a second, amen. All right, now we can see a little bit more penetration of the darkness here. Now let's light them up. Everybody got a light to some degree or sit with somebody that's got a light. Even Miss Maury's got a phone app over there. Look at her over there, techie. Amen. One of these days, Miss Maury, why don't you cut your light off? She's going to be gone. Y'all paying attention? Brother Carl, you got a light with you? One of these days, Brother Carl's going to be gone. Cut your light off. It's getting darker, isn't it? Brother Wade, you got a light back there? He's gonna get it out on me. He said, all these older folks, you're taking them out first. Well, what? Preacher Brian, he's gone. Wow, he was so young. I know y'all wouldn't necessarily say that. I'd be gone. I want Joanna to cut your light off there. There's a couple more people. Ms. Suzie, go ahead. Don't get mad at me because we took you out. I went with you. Amen. You see how it's getting darker and there's not been any new light added to it? The Bible teaches us this. In First Thessalonians chapter number four, there's going to come a day we call in the church as the rapture of the church. The dead in Christ are going to be caught up. We who are alive and remain are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. It's going to come like a day of a thief in the night the scripture talks about. The Bible said it's going to come in a moment in a twinkling of an eye and every believer that's here will be raptured up out of the darkness of this world. I want all of you to cut your lights off. Can you imagine being left behind? with nothing but darkness. And you say, oh, I can get saved in the tribulation. I can show you some scripture where the Bible says that God's going to send strong delusion during the time of the tribulation period. And all of those that heard the truth and rejected that truth and rejected that lie, they will be sent strong delusion and they will believe a lie. That's what the Bible says. So your time to receive light is right now. And there's going to come a day that every believer, that light is going to be raptured up and gone. And this world is going to be left in complete, total, utter oppressive darkness. And we're going to miss the light that is in this world. The Bible says we are lights in this world and we are supposed to shine as lights in this world. I know it's not oppressively dark in this building tonight, but there's going to come a day if you're not saved and you're not ready to meet the Lord, you're going to be left without any light. to guide you, any godly person to point you to Christ. And you're going to be left here with the time of the tribulation period where total darkness and satanic influence is going to overwhelm this world. And they're going to look to Satan, and he's going to appear as an angel of light. But it will not be the true light that is in Christ Jesus. Brother Bob, you can cut the lights back on for us. Woo. The darkness in that light is penetrating, that's irritating. There's going to be a time when the light's going to be removed. No wonder, are you ready when that time comes? And I wonder if you and I that are believers realize the importance of that scripture, the reality of it. Ye are the light of the world. You are some of you are the only light that some of your family will ever, ever know. You are some of the only light that some of your friends and neighbors, co-workers, you are the only light. How many of you would say that most of the people you work with at your job, that the majority of them are lost? Would you raise your hand? Every job I've ever worked at, the majority of the people that I worked with, warehouse, office, all those things, the majority of them were not saved. They were not believers. And I realized that there was just very few, one or two, or sometimes maybe a few, that were true light shining in that darkness. And I wonder, if you're hiding your light under a bushel, who's going to be the light to them? Who's going to shine to them? Who's going to show forth good works to them that they can see God in us? That they can see the Lord Jesus Christ shining, radiating in our life? The Bible says, let your loins be girded about and your lights be burning. We have so many commandments in the scriptures that teach us that the night cometh when no man can work. So what are we supposed to be working and doing? Letting our light shine. How can you do that? To let something happen is just to allow it, to allow the natural process of it. If God's put a light inside your soul when you got saved, it's unnatural for you to hide it and hold it back. It's natural for you to let it shine. It's natural for you to sing praises unto God. It's natural for you to have compassion on other people. It's natural for you to forgive your enemies and to love your enemies. It's natural for you to walk like Jesus did when he was in this darkness. Because he said, I'm the light of the world. And later he says, passing the torch, passing the baton, ye are the light of the world. We have one of the greatest opportunities and jobs and responsibilities in all this world to let our light so shine before men that they may see your good works. And it says, and glorify your father, which is in heaven. The Bible says we are the light of the world. I guess the question tonight is, can you say that in your heart? Yes, I have been lighting up this world. I have illuminated, I have lit up the school I go to. I've lit up my home the best I can to the glory of God. I've lit up the workplace. I've tried to light up my neighborhood. I've tried to let my light so shine. When I went out late several nights to walk my dog, I wish I could've just give her a flashlight, let her walk herself, but it didn't work that way. I look around at different houses. And no street light, no pole lights there, nothing. And especially late at night, there was nothing. There was no nightlight. She didn't plug in the nightlight. Very few people would leave a candle lit all night. I mean, there was just so much darkness around. And every once in a while, I'd see some little light flickering in a window pane at somebody's house. And even in that little bitty amount of light, I could still see it in the darkness. And if I wanted to go to their home, I wanted to come to where they were. I could follow through the darkness, follow that light and get to where they are. That's why it's so important. You may be the only light that could ever lead them out of the darkness where they are. I hope that you can embrace this. I know there's some simple thoughts here. and some I might not have revealed as important as others, but you should not hide anymore. You should not cover up your light. You should not put it under a bushel. You need to allow God to help you give light in the house, give light in your home where you are, and let it shine so shine before all men, all people. The Lord's gonna put you in some dark situations so that you can shine. Please don't squirm out of them. Please don't fight against God. He may put you in some storms of health, financial storms. He may put you again in some physical storms. You know, I think about what happened here just this week. It reminded me a lot of what happened with the COVID virus when it came through. When so much shut down, businesses shut down, everything kind of stopped. Listen, we know it didn't stop over there in Missouri and in California, but it stopped around here where we lived. You couldn't just drive down the road. There were trees everywhere. There were blockages, roadblocks. You had to just stay right where you were and do what that little song says, brighten the corner where you are. God allowed us to see the need and importance of that. And you probably begin, as you got yourself figured out and figured out how to get your own life kind of stable, you went forward. What a beautiful picture. When you get saved, your life becomes stable. You get peace. You get things kind of in order, figured out. And then it's natural. They'll go forward after that, Brother Matt, and send that light to other places that are in darkness. Share that love. Try to help other people. Some of you, when you used to be on fire for God and you used to be so excited about living for God, but now you put that light under a bushel. It's time to take the bushel off. It's time to let that light shine again. Accept the lesson of light that we have learned these last 10 days or so, how important that it is to have light. I've had little candles that were the only thing. One night, I couldn't sleep good, and I got up. Everybody else was asleep. And I found the light. And I took that light to find a lighter. And I took that to help find the candle. And I lit the candle, cut the flashlight off to save the battery power. And I just sat around that little bitty light. I just began to reflect on the things of God and what God was teaching me. Light has so many things it can teach us. There's so many things that God wants to work in our life. God will bring darkness to us so that light can shine even more brightly. And I'll encourage you to let your light so shine before all the men in this world that they may see because they're blinded right now and they need to see the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Sister Tonda, I want you to come play something for us. Now with every head bowed and every eye closed, I want you to ask yourself this question to yourself to the Lord. Are you being the light that you should be in your family? Are you being the light at work? Are you being the light you should be in your neighborhood? Your school? Well, sometimes we let the kids out. Oh, it's hard to be a light in school. Yeah, it is. But it's also easy to be light in the midst of complete darkness. I remember a young man I grew up with over at my home church. He got saved when he was a teenager at Wren High School. He played football. He got saved, man. He got in there. He got on fire for God. He took his Bible to school with him and then put it in his locker. He helped win friends on the football team. And he became such a powerful light in that school and that witness. And he was not ashamed of the gospel. Boy, you carry a Bible to school, it's almost like carrying a bomb somewhere. It's because you're bringing light to the darkness. I want to encourage you. Sell out for God. Be that light. Separate yourself from the darkness of this world and walk in the light as He is the light. Is there somebody in your life that you know that is in real deep darkness? messing around with satanic things, messing around with drugs. They're just so far away from the light. Anybody like that in your family? Anybody got somebody? Some of you do. I know some of you do. You need to keep being that light, be that beacon. And you need to pray for them that God would draw them to the light and away from that darkness. God will remove those things that are bringing more darkness to their life. He would break those chains that are putting them in the dungeon of darkness. And you need to get a burden for them and pray for them that God would bring them out of that darkness and bring them out what the Bible calls a marvelous light. To pray for them. Maybe God wants you to be a light to somebody else's family member where you are. And maybe God will send someone else to light and send light to your family member where they are. Maybe that's what God's waiting on. Let your light so shine. Anybody who said preach or pray for me, I know that I'm saved, but I have failed to be that light God's called me to be. People around me at work think I'm this when I'm really that. People at church think I'm one way, but over here I'm another way. At church I pretend to be light, but over there at school and work and my neighborhood, I'm walking in the darkness. Now won't you get that thing right tonight? Come out of that darkness. You shouldn't have fellowship with that darkness. You should come out of that and walk in the light. Ask God to help you restore you. Our days are limited. Church, as you saw the illustration, when God starts taking people out and there's not a lot of people being replaced in that light, there's going to be less and less light to light up this world. And one day the rapture takes place and all that light will be gone. and there'll be no hope for those left behind. So please take up that responsibility and understand how it's important for you to be the light God called you to be. That scripture also talks about salt in the previous verse. Be that salt, be that light that God called you and created you to be when he saved you. Maybe someone will get saved. and live a life that one day when you die, you can say, I tried to serve the Lord. I tried to please him. I want to hear him say, well done. So you can be able to say, I did my best. I laid down my life for the Lord. Father, I pray you help our people. Help them, Lord, to get a hold of these concepts tonight. Lord, where I've failed and struggled, Lord, I pray that you'll put it together. Turn the light on in their mind and let them see it. And let us take up this task, this call to be the light of the world. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Brother, if you've got a prayer card and things, you maybe go back there and you can meet and greet the people as they go out.