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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000634S
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00:00 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B634 - It's Time to Shine 00:20 PB: Matthew chapter 5, verse number 13. If you have it, let me hear you say Amen. [Congregation: Amen.] 00:25 The word says, Ye are the salts of the what? [Congregation: The earth.] 00:29 "But if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, 00:34 but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. 00:39 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, 00:46 but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 00:51 Let your light so shine before men, 00:55 that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." 01:04 Today I just want to take a little time to speak on the subject “it's time to shine.” 01:09 It's time to shine. Father God, bless us now. 01:13 Speak for your service here, at the appeal time, Lord, do your thing. 01:17 We promise we'll give you the praise and the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. 01:25 It is no secret that the world we're living in is becoming more and more godless. 01:34 God and God's Word are being pushed out of systems, structures in our world. 01:43 If you don't believe me, watch the news. If you don't believe me, go to the Internet. 01:53 If you don't believe me, walk up and down the street. 01:57 Most people today couldn't care less about living according to godly standards and godly values. 02:08 The world was once a beautiful place when God created this world, 02:13 but the choice of our foreparents, Adam and Eve, had brought sin into the world, 02:21 and the world has been going down in a dark downward spiral ever since. 02:28 We're now living in the 21st century and we're probably living in the most godless society ever. 02:37 But not only is the world becoming a godless society, 02:41 the world is also becoming a hostile place for people of faith. 02:48 I don't care today if you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Buddhist. The world is no longer a safe place. 03:00 We can look at the horrific massacre that took place yesterday at that New Zealand mosque 03:08 where 49 lives were claimed, and we can look and see the hostile world we live in. 03:15 And let me remind you, don't just think it's an attack on Muslims. 03:21 Do some digging and there are some white nationalists involved in all this. 03:27 So, if it's a Muslim mosque today, it can be an Adventist Church tomorrow, 03:36 it can be a Baptist Church tomorrow, a Methodist Church tomorrow. 03:42 It's becoming increasingly difficult to live godly lives in a world that is hostile to God, 03:50 God's Word and God's people. 03:52 Now, we know when I get an evangelism in revival time, 03:56 the best comes up out of me because this is what I so enjoy doing. 04:01 So, can I get real today? [Congregation: Yes.] 04:04 I said, can I get real? [Congregation: Yes.] 04:06 Alright. We've got bigger issues than drums, keyboards, and guitars. Can I get real? [Congregation: Yes.] 04:17 We've got bigger issues than who's singing. Bigger issues than who's preaching. 04:25 Bigger issues than "should we clap in church?" 04:30 We got bigger issues than what is going to happen at Alumni Weekend. I wish I had a witness in his place. 04:38 Yes, these things have their place, but we've got to get back to what really matters. 04:46 We've got to get back to the main thing. We have totally forgotten the mission of the church, 04:55 which is to seek and to save the lost. That's us. 05:01 That's our children, our grandchildren, our neighbors, and our friends. 05:06 We have totally forgotten that the message of the church is rooted in Revelation 14. 05:15 There used to be a time that when we talked about revival, everybody got excited. 05:21 There used to be a time that when we talked about revival, we didn't have to hire Bible workers 05:28 because the whole church were Bible workers. We didn't need Bible workers back in the day. 05:36 People would invite other people to the revival. People brought people to the meetings. 05:43 There was joy when somebody came down at awe, giving their lives to Jesus Christ. 05:50 There was joy when people would witness others giving up habits, giving up addictions, 05:56 and chains were being broken in the name of Jesus. 06:00 There was a joy when people went down into that watery grave of baptism 06:06 when they said “yes' to Jesus and “no” to the devil. 06:11 But what has happened? We sweat the small stuff. 06:18 We major in minors. We worry about stuff that has nothing to do with our soul salvation. 06:26 What are we starting to do, not just here, but everywhere? We minister to ourselves. 06:32 We preach what we want. We teach what we want. We sing what we want. 06:40 You've heard me say it once, I am going to say it again. We sing to ourselves. 06:44 We preach to ourselves. We teach to ourselves. We're insolated. We're isolated. 06:50 We're incestual, and the fruit of incest is always something retarded. 06:56 So we've got retarded churches, retarded members because we care more about ourselves 07:05 than the Gospel Commission of Jesus Christ and doing what matters most. 07:10 Let me tell you something. Everybody listen, everybody watching Oakwood. Let me tell you something. 07:14 Unless people hear the Gospel message between now and the second coming of Jesus, they're going to be lost. 07:27 You know that my other thing is-- we got to seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness 07:31 and all these things shall be added-- but listen to me good, 07:33 all those that are here, all those that are watching. 07:36 Unless we get serious as a church about evangelism again, the church is going to die. 07:45 Oh, you all not ready for this today. 07:49 If it were not for immigration and migration in North America, the church would be dead. 08:01 You all not ready for this today, but in the name of Jesus, it's time to shine. 08:10 Despite the darkness in the world, it's time to shine. 08:16 Despite the chaos, the confusion, the commotion, the calamity of this Christ-less culture, 08:25 we're still God's lights and it's time to shine. That's our purpose in the world, 08:32 to go and light our world because God has called us to be His lights. 08:39 God has endowed us with something that makes us different than the world in which we live. 08:46 You see, before we found Jesus, before we knew who we were in Jesus, trouble used to trouble us. 08:53 But now that we know who we are and whose we are, we know how to trouble our troubles, 09:02 we know how to frustrate our frustrations, we have a different posture in our pain, 09:08 we all have a different stance in our situations. 09:12 As a matter of fact, the way you can tell the difference between a child of God 09:15 and somebody who doesn't know God is to put us under the microscope of trial and tribulation. 09:21 You see, when the world sees the sour, we see the sweet. 09:26 When the world sees the ugly, we should see the pretty. When the world sees the glass half-empty, 09:32 we should see the glass half-full. When the world holds their heads down, 09:37 we ought to look up to the hills from whence cometh our help. 09:41 When we cry all night long, the world does. We ought to say weeping may endure for a night, 09:47 but joy comes in the morning because we're God's lights in this dark world. 09:53 Matthew chapter 5, Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount. 09:57 He begins with the Beatitudes and verses 1 through 12, 10:00 but then he shifts and uses two powerful metaphors in verses 13 through 16. 10:06 He calls the first metaphor salt. Everybody say salt. [Congregation: Salt.] 10:10 Come on. Say it like you mean it, say salt. [Congregation: Salt.] 10:12 In verse 13 he says, "You are the salt of the earth." Which means then, as salts, 10:20 we have purpose in our world. In other words, we are not here to adopt the world 10:25 but we're supposed to be change agents in the world. 10:29 People ought to get curious when they see us coming here on Sabbath mornings. 10:35 People ought to know that something is happening when we come in this place. 10:40 The only reason this world hasn't fully collapsed is because we're salts, 10:46 and salt retards the decaying process. 10:49 Now, remember, salt penetrates things, purifies things, and preserves things. 10:56 If you put salt on your meat, your meat will last longer and still be good for a while. 11:03 Does anybody know what I'm talking about? That's why veggie meat has so much salts, 11:08 that's why veggie meat lasts so long, because all that salts penetrates, purifies, and preserves. 11:19 Are you hearing what I'm saying? Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth. 11:24 have called you to penetrate. I have called you to purify and preserve the world." 11:32 You see, the reality is salt does no good sitting on your table in a salt shaker. 11:38 Salt has to get out the salt shaker, get on your food to season your food, to make your food taste better. 11:48 In the same way, we don't do any good sitting up in church, ministering to ourselves. 11:57 But you got to get up out of your salt shaker, get up out of your seats, get up out of your comfort zone 12:06 and go into the world to influence and seize the world because if you don't get out of the salt shaker, 12:13 it might mean you're not real salt. 12:17 Because they do have a thing called salt substitutes where they look like salt, tastes like salt, 12:25 smell like salt, but it's not salt. We've got a lot of church folk that look like disciples, 12:33 smell like disciples, talk like disciples, they can even pray like disciples, 12:41 but they're not true disciples because the true test of a disciple is 12:45 if you're salty then people around you ought to get thirsty. 12:50 Everybody likes to feel useful. 12:54 Being useful is almost the same thing as being needed or wanted. 12:58 But salt that doesn't get out of the salt shaker or salt that loses its saltiness is useless. 13:08 When we lose our saltiness, when we forget our purpose, we become useless. 13:19 Let me share one more thing about salt. Salt influences whatever it touches. 13:25 So if you are salt and you want to influence others, 13:28 you've got to make a decision on the type of influence you are going to be, 13:32 because you can be a good influence or a bad influence. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 13:36 Have you ever noticed that it's easy to be good when you're around certain people, 13:40 and it's easy to be bad when you're around other people? 13:43 There are some things you can say to some people in certain company 13:46 that you won't say to other people in other company. 13:48 There's some places you can go with some folks that you can't go to with other folks. 13:52 There are some things you can watch with some people but you can't watch what other people. 13:55 My question this morning is what kind of salt are you? 13:59 Are you an influence that promotes decay and rot, or are you an influence that prevents decay and rot? 14:07 Jesus said you're the salt of the earth, but Jesus doesn't stop there. 14:13 He goes on to verse 14, and I'm moving quickly, he says in verse number 14, 14:16 "Not only you are salt, but you are the light." You are the what, everybody? [Congregation: Light.] 14:21 "Light of the world." Now, when Jesus makes this statement, don't misunderstand what Jesus is saying. 14:25 Jesus is not saying we're the light, but Jesus is saying we're light leading to light. 14:31 We're the light in the world. Jesus is the light but we're just light leading to the light. 14:36 My favorite writer said that we are the lesser light leading to the greater light, 14:41 which means, then, light didn't start with you. 14:45 Light didn't begin with you. Light didn't originate with you. 14:51 The Bible says in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 14:57 And the earth was without form and void. Darkness was upon the face of the deep, 15:01 and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 15:04 And God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light, and the evening and the morning were the first day." 15:12 So light didn't start with you. Light didn't begin with you. Light doesn't originate with 15:19 Light begins with God. So, in your shininess, don't get the big head. 15:28 We're not light in and of itself. We are simply luminaries, reflectors of God's light, 15:34 which means just as the moon reflects its source of light from the Sun, the S-U-N, 15:40 we too are only reflections of the one true light, God's son, the S-O-N Jesus Christ. 15:49 In case some of you get caught up in your own shininess and you start admiring how shiny you are, 15:57 let me give you a humility check and remind you that you aren't doing the shining, 16:04 but it's God shining for you. A light does not exist to call attention to itself. 16:14 A light exists to draw attention to the thing it illuminates. 16:19 Our light shines not to call attention to us, but to call attention to the light Jesus Christ that we serve. 16:30 Our witness doesn't magnify what we've done. Our testimony is not about ourselves. 16:37 Our purpose is not about to say to people, "Look, he is a great Christian." 16:44 But our purpose is for them to look at us and say, "He must serve a great God." 16:51 I serve a risen Savior. He's in the world today. Jesus is the light that shineth in me. 16:59 But not only that, another point I want to make on this text. Jesus says you're the light of the world. 17:04 When he says that, He's conferring favor on us. 17:08 He's saying that He's the light and He favors us by allowing us to participate in His light. 17:15 The fact is, God made our hands without our hands. 17:20 It's just God's mercy to be allowed the hands He's made to bless others. God doesn't need us. 17:29 God can do what he wants without us, but God allows us to be His hands, His lights in the world. 17:41 And because we're God's hands, because we're God's lights, 17:44 because we got favor, we are able to light up dark places. 17:50 You see, when you show up in the midst of darkness, your presence alone should light up the place. 17:59 When folk are in a hospital room crying and doubting, "I'm going to lose my loved one. 18:05 I'm going to lose my friend." When you walk in the room, 18:09 the room should light up because you're bringing light to darkness. 18:15 When folk are down to their last dime and they're worrying, 18:19 "Where is my next meal coming from?" and you walk into the room, they should stop. 18:26 Why? You're bringing light to darkness and you got to let them know, "What's wrong with you? 18:33 Don't you know we are more than conquerors? Don't you know He is Jehovah-Rapha? He's a healer. 18:41 Don't you know that the earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof, all they that dwell therein, 18:49 that I once was young but now I'm old, 18:51 but I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor His seed begging bread?" 18:56 When you show up, your situation should lighten up. 19:01 Let me tell you this --- throw this in quickly. 19:05 The way you came in the church may not be the way I came in. 19:08 The way I've come in the church may not be the way my daughter is coming to church 19:11 and my grandchildren are coming to church. We got to be relevant, 19:14 but you can't be relevant if you're handcuffed by tradition. 19:17 Not all tradition is bad but whenever tradition does not surrender to the Word of God, we got a problem. 19:23 You see, there are some traditions that remain even if they're ineffective. 19:27 This is the kind of tradition that you got to be afraid of because it says, 19:30 "I'm going to do the same things and I'm going to expect a different result," but that is lunacy. 19:34 Understand that that does not make sense. 19:38 There are a lot of people I see across this world who work in the church 19:42 and they're busy around the church, but I'm not sure they're doing the Lord's work the Lord's way. 19:47 We got a lot of motion but no movement. So you got to ask yourselves, "Is what I'm doing effective? 19:56 Is what I'm doing building the kingdom of God?" 19:59 Jesus continues in verse number 14, "You are the light of the world," but he also says, 20:03 "A city that is set on a hill can't be hid.” Now, remember, a hill is higher than ground level. 20:09 A hill is not at ground level, it's higher than ground level. 20:11 So, a city set on a hill is on a high place. 20:15 So then if I'm on a hill there, I'm in a city, it means that I've been elevated and I can't then be hidden. 20:21 People can see my light if I'm on a hill in a city because there's 20:26 ─and because they can see my light, there's greater accountability and responsibility 20:32 that comes along with the knowledge that I have. I'm on a hill. I'm elevated. 20:41 I'm a pastor, but there's greater accountability. You're elders, but there's greater accountability. 20:51 You're church officers, but there's a greater accountability. 20:55 You're church members, but there's a greater accountability. 21:01 God will place us in specific positions where we can be more visible 21:04 because He's trying to spread more light in the world; 21:07 and that's why he has some of us among our family, because he's trying to spread light. 21:13 That's why some of us, we don't understand it, but we're on the same job, and we really want out. 21:17 But God has us on a job to spread light. That's why some of us are still in the same city. 21:23 You really want out of Huntsville but God still has you here because he's trying to spread light. 21:27 But I've learned in my ministry and I've learned in my life, 21:30 when you are set on that hill, the more your visibility the more your vulnerability. 21:36 That the higher the level the higher the devil. 21:39 Because when God gives you visibility, you become a target for the devil. 21:43 I've learned in my ministry, dogs don't bark at parked cars, dogs bark at moving cars. 21:49 Because of this, there are some of us that God is not bringing to our greater visibility 21:54 and earthly elevation because some of us can't handle it. 21:58 Some of us couldn't handle being set on a hill. So be careful. 22:01 Young people, listen. I hear "I want to be the Breath of Life. 22:04 I want to be the pastor of the church one day." 22:05 You better be careful what you pray for, you just might get it. 22:09 Because the greater the visibility you have the greater the responsibility that you have, 22:13 and people will start watching you differently. 22:16 You see, when I was down and so-so, no one cared what I thought, no one cared what I said. 22:21 But now that I'm here, people always, "Well, what did he say? What does he think?" 22:25 They may not have anything to say to you but they're watching you. 22:28 Jesus continues, I wish I had time, he continues in verse 15. 22:31 He says, "Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel 22:34 but on a candlestick and it giveth the light to all that are in the house." 22:37 In other words, God hasn't blessed you with this wonderful gospel. 22:41 God hasn't blessed us with this wonderful Advent message. 22:45 God hasn't blessed you with your wonderful family, your good health, your job, 22:49 your position, your promotion or with your career for you to lose focus and hide. 22:55 Your purpose is not served when it's under a bushel. 23:00 God has called you to be a light and He has called you to be bold for Him. 23:06 It's interesting to me, it's so amazing how before you got the job, before you got the promotion, 23:16 before you got the degree, before you got the husband, before you got the wife, 23:21 before you got the car, before you got the house, you would say, "I love the Lord. 23:25 He heard my cry and pitied every groan. I thank God. I praise God. I worship God. 23:32 Hallelujah, God is good." But the moment you get a raise, 23:37 the moment you get a new car with air-conditioning, young people, 23:43 the moment you pass your tests, you were in prayer meeting when you were trying to get financially cleared, 23:52 the moment the cancer goes into remission, what happens to the light? 23:58 Now you got the nice car, now you got the nice house, now you got some education, now you have a job, 24:06 now you've been financially cleared, now you've got a good bank account, 24:11 now you are sitting back in church talking about, "It doesn't take all that. 24:17 I don't know why they have to do all that praise and worship. 24:20 I don't know why he preaches so loud and stomps that foot. 24:24 I don't know why we have to sing so long and loud. I don't know why church is so long, 24:29 all that singing, all that shouting, all that praising. It doesn't take all that." 24:35 But when you were broke, when you didn't have a dollar to your name, 24:43 all you did was call on the name of the Lord. When you were on your sick bed of affliction, 24:51 all you did was cry out to the Lord. 24:54 Don't you know that if you talked about Him when you didn't have a thing, 25:00 it now means that you do now have something? 25:04 You ought to tell somebody that when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all He's done for me, 25:13 my soul cries out, "Hallelujah. Thank God, thank God for saving me." 25:24 Church, it's time to shine. You've got your health, it's time to shine. 25:32 You're in school, they can't put you out now, it's time to shine. 25:40 You pass the tests, but nobody knows you love Jesus. 25:45 Your cancer has gone in remission, but nobody knows you serve Jesus. 25:50 But it's time to shine, y'all. I said it's time to shine. 25:54 The very fact that we are in this church right now and somebody has not come in here and opened fire, 25:58 it's time to shine. It's time to shine. We take stuff for granted. 26:03 The fact that I'm here in my right mind, it's time to shine. 26:09 You've been in the valley long enough, you've been in trouble long enough, 26:14 you've been in mess long enough, you've been sick long enough, you've had drama long enough, 26:22 you've been quiet long enough, but it's time to shine. 26:28 Jesus closes and says, "Let your light so shine that others may see your good works 26:33 and glorify your Father which is in heaven." It's time to shine. I said it's time to shine. 26:43 The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear. It's time to shine. 26:50 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It's time to shine. 26:57 The world is perishing, but it's time to shine. Mosques are being blown up, but it's time to shine. 27:04 The enemies of God are rising up, but it's time to shine. 27:08 Souls are perishing, but it's time to shine. People are going to Christ-less graves, 27:14 but it's time to shine. You may have been wallowing in sin, you may have been soaking in sin, 27:21 you may have had a habit, an addiction, you may have been depressed, but it's time to shine. 27:31 We used to sing it in Sabbath school, hide it under a bushel, no. I'm going to let it shine. 27:42 Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm going to let it shine. Jesus gave it to me, I'm going to let it shine. 27:56 Let it shine till Jesus comes, I'm going to let it shine. 28:07 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 28:11 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 28:16 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 28:18 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 28:24 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 28:30 [End] |
Revised 2021-10-28