# Jesus the Light of the World

Key Passage: 2 Chronicles 7:14
Date: June 7, 2024

Turn your Bibles, if you would, to a very familiar passage: Second Chronicles, Chapter 7, and verse number 14. Second Chronicles 7 and verse number 14. Many of you probably know it by heart.

How many got your Christmas tree up at your house yet? Oh, maybe three quarters. How many of you did this: You turn off all the lights in the house, and then you just have those Christmas lights on, and you just see them so pretty? You may I do that? You got to try it if you haven’t did it yet. It’s great.

My wife went out yesterday and bought extra lights, and she kind of reworked the Christmas tree. She did a great job with it. I had all the lights out, just the Christmas lights on, and she’s got 4,375 lights on our tree now. She doesn’t have that many. I love it. She did a great job, but she’s got a lot of lights on there.

It’s amazing how it just lights up the house. At nighttime, everything’s dark, and the lights are out, and it’s awesome. Now, I want you to do that, and I want you to make it a practice. Every time you see those lights, just thank Jesus for being the light of the world. That’s what Christmas is all about—Jesus coming in and being born in this world.

Just thank him. He came to be the light. He is the light of the world. Get in the habit of it. Every time you see a Christmas tree with Christmas lights on, thank Jesus for being the light of the world.

Can you imagine what the world would be like without Jesus? Oh, my goodness. You talk about hatred, murder, no compassion, no love, and filth and vile disease. It’d be awful. Even the lost world has been changed by Jesus, and He is the light of the world.

I’m getting off the subject, but it’s interesting. John 1:9 says it’s the light of the heart of every man. That’s why even the dirty rock—sorry, sinners, if you will—which all of us are somewhat, but you get to work with them. Every once in a while, you’ll see them maybe help a kitty cat. You’re like, “Whoa, what? The mean old guy helped a cat,” or do some kind act. My philosophy is because Jesus has worked a little bit in even their lives. Check it out, John 1, not right now, all right? Check it out later on. That was sermon number one. That one was free. This next one you’ve got to pay for, all right? You say, “I’m leaving. I don’t want to pay for it.” I’m leaving right there. Please stay.

And Second Chronicle, chapter number seven, verse number 14. How about you know it by heart? You know it by heart? Would you raise your hand? A lot of you do. Or if you know it by heart, would you stand and say it by yourselves without looking at the Bible? No, would you please stand, all of us, out of respect to the Word of God? Second [Chronicles] and verse number 14. On God’s word, Second Chronicle 7, verse number 14. The Bible says:

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

This passage here really is not for when things are going good. It’s not a passage God gave us for when things are wonderful. If you look at the context, what do you look at? Verse number 12. We’ll just start there. Verse number 12: This is the Lord speaking to Solomon. Verse number 12: “And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said, ‘I’ve heard that prayer, and I’ve chosen this place’—that’s the temple of God—‘this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.’”

Notice verse number 13: “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain.” Now, let me just stop for a second. God had already warned the children of Israel if they disobeyed Him, if they lived in sin, that one of the judgments, plagues, would be: God said, “I’ll stop the rain.”

In our day and time, that’s no big deal. We have irrigation and whatnot. But in that day and time, if there’s no rain, there are no crops. And if there are no crops, there’s no food. And no food ain’t no good for you or me either, amen. But it’s the promise of God’s judgment. God had already told them that in Deuteronomy. So Solomon was talking about a sinful time. I’m not saying that.

Verse number 13: He said, “Look, if I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land.” That was another judgment that would come when they were living in sinful times. In fact, He did that in the book of Joel. He sent locusts in there. One of the plagues over there in Egypt, they sent locusts in there. What do they do? Eat up all the crops. Their economy would tank. They’d have no food.

So he’s not talking about when everything’s wonderful. He’s talking about, look, if things get really bad and I have to bring my judgment on the nation of Israel. Is that what it’s talking about or not? That’s the context. That’s what God… I’m not twisting scripture here. That’s what the Bible is speaking of here. And things just get so bad, I must bring judgment on the land.

Let’s finish out the verse: “Or if I send pestilence among my people.” Now, that’s interesting, pestilence. In my mind, it covers so much more, but my mind goes to COVID-19. Would that fit or not? Sure. Many other things than just that. But if I send pestilence among my people—my people there is speaking of Israel, God’s people—I’m paralleling that with our country, America, okay? But it’s telling Solomon, look, if things get so bad that I must bring judgment on my land, that’s the context of the verse we just read.

So it’s not when everything’s wonderful. It’s at this point—it is wonderful; they just dedicated the temple—but he said, “Look, Solomon, things get so bad, and I’ve got to take Israel out to the woodshed and whip them real good, this is what you do.” That’s what the context is.

Now, let’s get to verse number 14, our text first. Then he says, “If the world gets everything right.” Is that what it says? No. Look at that verse number 14: “If CNN gets straightened out.” Well, that would be a good thing for sure, amen. That’s called the millennial reign, all right? That’s what that’s called. No, I didn’t say that.

He says, “If my people.” It’s God’s people. If my people shall call by my name, folks, you are the key. It is very interesting. Isaiah 1:9, He uses this phrase in God’s word: “the very small remnant.”

He said, “Well, preacher, we’re so small in comparison to the nation, everything going on. What can we do?” Well, God talks about the very… If it wasn’t for the very small remnant, Isaiah says, you’d be like Sodom anymore. We won’t go over there because we want to get done and go eat sometime along the line. Amen. How many of you have ham for Christmas? Anybody have a ham for Christmas? I got something. How many are already hungry for ham? I’m with you. Ham beats turkey any day of the week. Amen? I don’t smoke turkey, though; turkey is pretty good.

But anyway, we got to get back to preaching. We’re on food too much today, you know. But “if my people”—that’s what he’s speaking. Now, that’s not unusual for God to deal with nations and people like this. You check it out in Scripture. Now, He does look at the world, okay, but then once He looks at the world, it’s almost always He goes back to His people to decide whether He’s going to bring destruction or not.

Remember Abraham over there? And God said, “Now, Abraham, Abraham, I’m going to bring destruction down there on Sodom and Gomorrah.” He had seen the filth, the sodomy—that’s homosexuality. He had seen the sodomy of the land. God said, “I can’t help it; they just won’t get right. They were determined to go that way. God said, ‘I had to get the old-fashioned belt out,’ and actually, it was fire and brimstone.”

And so He tells one of His people, Abraham there, “Remember, they had that prayer meeting?” What was the conclusion of the prayer meeting? If there are ten righteous people. Now, that’s pretty small—just ten. It’s very interesting. We don’t have time to get this one either, but actually, if Lot would have just reached his family, that would have been ten. There’s actually Lot and his wife, he had two daughters. We know there were more daughters, plural. He mentions sons, plural, in law. Well, if they got sons-in-law, they’ve got to have daughters, so that’s four more at least, maybe more. And then he mentions sons in another place, plural. That’s ten, folks. There are at least ten if he’d reached his family.

But my point is, if just one family, just ten—if they could have found ten righteous people—that’s very typical of God before He brings judgment on a nation. He looks at His people. Ezekiel chapter 22, God’s about to bring judgment on Israel. And He gives this in verses, verse number 30: “And I sought for a man among them to make up the hedge, just standing the gap before me before the land, but I found none.” And His wrath was poured out.

Now, I’m simply saying, you check it out. In the New Testament, judgment must begin at the house of God. Begin at the house of God. God always looks to His people. Yes, He looks at the world. Oh, it’s awful. It’s awful to the Bible time. By the way, America is very sinful right now, but I’ll be honest with you, and I’m just being dead honest with you, I don’t think it is quite as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah. I mean, Lot offered his clean, chased daughters, and they said, “No, we don’t want those angels.” They were that stuck, addicted to sodomy, that they didn’t even want the average people in the street. I don’t know that America’s that bad. I’m just being honest with you. I know I kind of go against the typical thing a lot of preachers say, but I’m just seeing the Bible for what an old country here will see before. Amen. It’s awful, it’s awful. But I’m saying in that situation, God said, “If I find ten righteous.” That’s the Bible, or not, folks.

And I say this to say, hey, you’ve got a lot of power. It’s a good day for God’s people to realize how much power you have through Christ. You’re the key. You’re the kingpin. You’re the one. God knows the world’s going to be the world. He knows that, but He looks at His people. This is my pastor apology. My fault. The reason why God does that is because God uses His people as a tool. And as long as God has His people, God can work through people to influence the nation and influence people. But if His tool is messed up that He uses…

You realize God uses people. Oh, He’s God. He can write the gospel in the clouds. Man, you wake up. Look at there. There’s John 3:16 this morning. That’s pretty good. Yesterday was flipping four, four. God can do that. He’s God, you know. I mean, He could have the cows instead of moo, you know, they can say, “For God so loved the world, that He gave us all His only Son.” Yeah, He could do it. He’s God. Your preacher’s a little crazy, isn’t he? That’s why you fit in the church so well, you know.

God uses people. That’s why He told us—He told us, “Hey, why don’t you get the gospel out to every creature?” He asked the apostles, the church, you and I. So look, but if that small remnant is not right, there’s probably…

Not only does He say, “If my people”—would you look back at that verse? He adds a little other part. Verse number 14: “If my people,” then He goes on, He says, “which are called by my name.”

How many ever work somewhere, and you start letting it be known? Maybe you start witnessing, and you witness to someone. Now, you’ve heard this fellow over here; he’s told about 20 dirty jokes in five minutes on the first shift of the day, you know. And you said, “Man, I hate cursing so much and everything.” And you start witnessing and let him know you’re a Christian. And he comes over and says, “Hey, man, put it there. I didn’t know you’re a Christian. I go to such and such church.” And you’re like, “You do?”

They’re called undercover Christians. How many have ever met undercover Christians? You know, they’re all over the place. In school, you go to school and say, “I’m a Christian,” you’ll start meeting undercover Christians. “Wow, I’m a Christian.” “Wow, you are? Really?” You know, seeing your Facebook account doesn’t look like it, you know, but okay, whatever. Undercover Christians everywhere. That’s just a sad state. That’s where it’s at, though, you know.

But He’s not talking about undercover Christians here. He’s talking about “my people, which are called by His name.” He’s even narrowing it a little bit more—the people that are willing to be called Christians. That’s the people that… You’ve got a lot of power. You’ve got a lot of authority. God looks at that crowd. That’s the crowd He’s speaking about. If the people that are God’s, but they’re called by God’s name… You ever think about it? Christ—Christians. We’re supposed to be little Christs.

But that crowd… You say, “Preacher, we’re so little.” And I understand those feelings. I feel like that sometimes. And I can’t do much. What can we do and all the rest of that? Look, friend, it’s not a matter of the bat. Our men had softball practice yesterday. You’ll notice those men today because they’re walking very slowly. You’ll see them around here. When we stand up, they’ll stand up very slow, and they’ll kind of groan as they stand up, you know. You’ll see them around here today. Here’s the thing: Those guys, it’s not really… Yeah, the bat matters, but it’s not that big of a deal.

Look, you take a bat and put it in my hands; you ain’t got much going for you, friend. Who’s a good home run hitter in our day and time? Just say his name. Who’s maybe the best known hitter right now? Somebody help me out here. Who? Albert Pujols. We’re just going to call him Albert. How about that?

You put a bat in Pastor Paul’s hand, you ain’t got much going. You put a bat in Albert’s hands? Oh, you got something going. And that’s the thing. You take God’s very small remnant that are called by His name—we’re not much of anything—but you put us in God’s hands? Oh, look out. And, friend, you must realize God… God is the one overseeing everything.

You take an old, no-good-for-nothing bat, but you put it in Albert’s hands, you’ve got something going. And you take a group of Christians—we’re not much of anything—but you put them in God’s hands, you’ve got something going for Him. If God’s people were to call by His name, those are the key.

Now God says if those people do four things, let’s look at the four things very quickly here. Back over there in Second Chronicle 7:14, four things. Pretty simple, not that hard. Four things. Number one: “My people that are called by my name.” What’s the first saying? Help me out. What are two words? “Humble themselves.”

Now, it’s not even saying that God humbles us, though He will. You say, “Well, you know, pride goeth before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Yes, that’s biblical. But that’s not what God’s talking about there. It’s not what He says. He says, “Shall humble what?” Humble themselves. Talk about us humbling ourselves. The Bible speaks of that in other places: humbling ourselves in the mighty hand of God. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord.

I went to a conference years ago—many of you heard me tell this story, but there’s always someone reminded me of it. It convicted me, to be honest with you. I went to a conference years ago. We used to have R.U. and we went to a conference training on that. I went to a classroom about how to start a chapter of R.U. It’s supposed to be a classroom, but that guy, he wasn’t teaching; he was preaching at us. The goal of that guy was to preach to preachers. What about him, you know? That’s preacher’s disease, by the way. And it got done in the classroom, nonetheless. It was a little chapel, though.

And he had an invitation. He wasn’t teaching; he was preaching. And as one of those messages, honestly, you know, one of those that hit everything—I mean, you know, did God speak to your heart? Well, I mean, you know, you hit on everything so everybody could raise their hand if you’re honest about it, you know. But he didn’t really put his finger on anything and say, “Hey, that’s it.”

And so he said this: “Now the Lord spoke to your heart, would you come down at an altar?” And he prayed that invitation. I didn’t come forward. It’s kind of one of those times where you kind of… Well, I could go forward, but, you know, God didn’t say, “That’s the thing right there.” So I’m like, “Eh, what should I sit?” Everybody ever there? Yeah. And then that sorry rat of a guy made this statement, is what he said: “Never miss an opportunity to humble yourself.” Oh, man. He said, “You win.” This old boy came down, and I got… And that stuck with me all these years. Never miss an opportunity to humble yourself.

He starts off four things we’ve got to do: God’s people called by His name. Number one, humble ourselves. All the rest will not really work. It starts off with us humbling ourselves. Don’t go over trying to humble somebody. Let me make the preacher humble. That’s not what God’s talking about. Probably pretty much pride in what you’re doing right there, by the way. Or if I do the vice versa. Now, we humble ourselves.

God’s people, that very small remnant called by His name. It starts off, we humble ourselves. Let’s keep going. First thing we do, humble ourselves. What’s the next thing? Two words: “And pray.” Prayer is always part of the formula. D.L. Moody used to say you can trace back every revival to someone on their knees. Prayer is always, always part of the formula. Prayer. Humble themselves and pray.

Hey, there’s a story we read not too long ago in Exodus 32. God is going to bring His judgment on Israel. Remember Moses? He went up on Mount Sinai. He’s up there on Mount Sinai with God for 40 days, and God gave him the Ten Commandments. Remember that? While he’s up there meeting with God, God giving him the Ten Commandments, Aaron and the people down there, they’re backsliding. They’re making the golden calves and all those just, you know, they’re having a rock and roll concert, all the rest of that’s going on. They’re making these earrings and all the different things going on. And Moses comes down there, man, just backslid, and God’s not happy about this whole deal. Moses gets mad at one point, too. But all this is going on, and at one point, it’s very interesting, at one point of all this scenario, God says, “Moses, leave me alone. Don’t bother me. I’m going to take care of those children of Israel.”

And how… what happens after that? Moses… Actually, let me read it for you. I’ll get it mixed up. Exodus 32:11: “And Moses besought the Lord his God.” He had an old-fashioned prayer: “Oh, Lord, please! Please don’t do it, Lord.” We read the verses a couple weeks ago. I think it’s three verses of Moses’ prayer the Bible gives us. An amazing thing: just a couple of verses later, God says this, “And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto this people.” God said, “I won’t do it because of prayer.”

I don’t know. You’re going to hear all kinds of different numbers—probably two million, three and a half million—you’re going to probably hear somewhere in there that’s how many people, children there were. You hear all different numbers in there. Listen, friend, one man prayed—Moses—and God said, “All right, those millions of people, I won’t bring destruction on them.” Prayer, prayer. Prayer is key.

In Ezekiel 22, God’s going to bring judgment over in Ezekiel 22, and He said, “I sought for a man among them to make up the hedge, just standing the gap before me before the land.” On my prayer, I’m just behind a man that stands in the gap and prays. Prayer is always part of God’s formula.

Man, it was such a blessing before the election. We had that prayer meeting. I just felt something special about seeing God’s people pray. Prayer meeting sometimes, and when we have a lot of people, when it’s spread out all across the auditorium, just seeing people pray, it’s always special seeing God’s people pray. But that 24-hour prayer, that was special. We came in starting up Monday morning. We came in Monday at 7 for the prayer meeting, and there were some ladies down front over here praying, and I kind of had to wait to start because they were down there praying. I could just see people pray.

And then I came in—I don’t know, I want to say 3:30 that morning, I don’t know, the middle of the night—and three, somewhere along there, I’m not sure, maybe four, I don’t know. But we came in here, and there was a man right over here when I came in. Milvan, I came in. There’s a man already down there praying. In the middle of the night, I left four, four-thirty, whatever time, an hour later, whatever it was. And another man was here to pray. We prayed together before we left.

Tuesday morning, I was over in the office. I mean, everybody thought I was over in the office working. I was over there sleeping, man. I was up at 3:30 in the morning. In between snores, I look out the window, and that morning there were still some ladies, I think, people here praying. It’s awesome.

Someone said the church of God travels the fastest and the farthest on their knees. Man, just when you get God’s people praying, now you’ve got something going for Him. There’s power there. Prayer. This very small remnant—it doesn’t have to be a whole lot, just the few that are willing to be… Oh, Christians, you get them down humble. They humble themselves. Nobody’s humbling them; they’re humbling themselves. And now you’re praying. Well, something’s going on. Half of the formula is done.

Look at the next thing. Four things you’ve got to do. Look at the next thing: “And pray.” What’s the next thing here? Let me make sure I get the wording right. What are the next four words? We kind of preached on that last Sunday: “seeking God.”

I told Belle, our little bit of Yorkie, I told her this morning, “I’m going to talk about you in church this morning.” You know what she told me? She told me, “Dad, you can talk about all you want, you can talk about as long as you give me food.” She likes food.

But here’s the thing about Belle: when I’m eating, or Tammy—and probably me, because I give in a little bit more, I think. Tammy’s over here shaking her head, yes. She said amen to that. She will get in position. She’s begging for food now, but she’ll get in position where she can see my face. We’ve done it many times. I’ll move where she can’t see me; she’ll move around. She’ll shift around. And I’ll kind of get over here, and she’ll go all over there on the table just so she can… you know, she’s going… she’s seeking my face because she loves me so much, folks. It has nothing to do with her liking me; everything to do with her liking food. But she’s going to find my face.

A lot of times in the morning time, I eat breakfast. Praise the Lord, my wife usually makes breakfast. She has for 27 years, you know. But she’ll make it, and a lot of times I’ll take it to the kitchen while I’m getting ready. It takes a while to try to fix this face, all right, folks. I work out. I try, at least, you know. And believe it or not, I do brush my teeth once a week, whether or not—I just do it, you know.

And Belle will be down there. She always comes in there. And I’m telling you, there’s two sinks. I’m at this sink over here. The doorway is here. And she’ll be in the doorway looking up that way so if I lean over this way a little bit, our eyes will meet. She’s always working on that. But I turn over here to get something, you know. She’ll be over there. She’s just always… And that’s what you’re seeking His face. You’re changing, you’re shifting, you’re looking, you’re always seeking God’s face.

If God’s people that are willing to be called Christian—I’m not talking about the undercover Christian—God’s people that are willing to be called Christian, they humble themselves, they pray, and they’re always like, “Lord, I’ve got to have You. I want to see You. Can I get closer to get to know You?” They seek His face. They are always seeking the Blesser.

Okay, now the last thing that we must do. What’s the last thing? Let’s look at it real quickly here. Last thing, verse number 14. Let’s see it. Oh, I don’t know how many words—it’s one, two, three, four, five, six—six words. Would you read them out loud starting with “and turn”?

Yeah. Here’s the thing. Often us Christians, we mention that one first. But can to be honest, God didn’t mention that one last. I believe there are several reasons for that. Number one: You will not have the strength to do that number four unless you’ve done number three. Another reason: because by the time you’ve humbled yourself, you’ve prayed, and you’ve sought His face, many things you did not think were wicked, then you think are wicked. Before that, it’s kind of almost like a superficial, outward cleaning up. But after that, oh, no, it’s real cleaning. It’s like a major overhaul. Hey, it’s no longer, “Look at everybody else.” After that, “Whoa, whoa, it’s me.” Isaiah said over there, Isaiah 6: “It’s a different attitude.” It’s not a proud, “I got everything right. If everybody else gets everything right, it would be all right.” No, it’s like, “Hey, boy, I got so much to work on.” After you’ve humbled yourself, prayed, and sought His face…

Now, can I say this? Give some hope for all of us. It doesn’t say you’re perfect. It says, “turn from their wicked ways.” A little girl got saved. She was in one of these churches where they had to go before a little committee to see if they’re going to get baptized or not. And so she went there, and they said, “Did you get saved?” She said, “Yes, I did.” And they said, “Well, did you sin before you got saved?” She said, “Yes.” They said, “Do you still sin now?” She said, “Yes, I do.” And they said, “Well, it’s changed.” And she said, “Before I got saved, I was running to sin. Now I’m saved, I’m running from sin. But it still catches me sometimes.” And that’s what He said: “And turn from their wicked ways.”

By the way, we all notice that possession—their wicked ways. We all have wicked ways, friends. And after I’ve humbled myself, prayed, and sought His face, that’s when I see my wicked ways. I see everybody else’s wicked ways. It doesn’t mean you’re perfect. It doesn’t mean you win every time because nobody besides Jesus Christ does. But you turn.

Now, if God’s people do those four things, here’s the wonderful thing about this passage. God says, “That’s what I’ll do.” It’s amazing. The world could be as wicked as the world is, but just God’s people are called by… do those four things. It’s what God says. Let’s look at it. It’s awesome. Awesome. It’s what God will do.

Just think with me for a second here. I know… So look at the verse. Look at the verse. Yes, yes. But do this too, if you would, please. How many want what you can do or what God can do? Oh, yeah. That’s what we ought to be after right there. Sometimes we’re all about what we can do, but, friend, I’m telling you, the big thing is what God can do. Sometimes I get so sick and fed up with what Paul can do. Ain’t much. Nothing without the Lord, really. But you get what God can do? Oh, you’ve got something going right there. You get what God can do. There’s power there, friend. That’s what God will do.

Look at it. Verse number 14: “Then”—that’s a very key word—“will I hear from heaven.” That’s interesting. He says He’ll hear from heaven.

Let me tell you a secret here. Of course, not in heaven and all that, but I sit a little higher than the typical person in church. And sometimes I see when people are writing notes—you didn’t think I knew that, did you?—or when they have the phone sitting beside them, you know, on their chair right beside them. That’s why I’m not knocking you right now. But I got a bit… a little better view. Or when you’re texting in church, or when you’re supposed to be looking up things in the Bible. Oh, Pastor, I just used my Bible on the phone. Well, that’s funny. We’re not reading the Bible, but you’re on your phone. Isn’t that funny, you know?

I say all that to say, I can’t see, and I miss a whole lot. I really do. But if I’m up high, you know, I got a little better viewpoint. God’s in heaven. He’ll hear from heaven. He sees it all. The vast majority of you think there was cheating. Somebody don’t think there was. God’s seen it, whether it was or not. God’s seen every single bit of it. He’ll hear from heaven. He sees it all.

There’s no way we could ever see revival or a thing change. You don’t know what all goes out in the world or in the world. God sees it all. He hears from heaven. I like when God hears. You have her dealt with a situation, and you think, “Oh my goodness, if so-and-so gets in there to talk to so-and-so, she will persuade them to do whatever. She’s a persuasive person. And though if they hear her, we’re in trouble,” you know. Look, God says, “I’ll hear you.” I like it. God says, “I’ll hear.”

First thing God says: “I’ll hear from heaven.” What about all the millions, millions of Christians praying worldwide? God says, “I’ll hear.” “The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is His ear heavy that He cannot hear.” Now, Isaiah 59. What’s the problem? Their iniquities are sins.

First thing, God says, “I’ll hear.” Number two, number two, what God says. Number one, He says, “I’ll hear from heaven.” Next thing: And would you read it out loud? That’s the next phrase. Here we go: “And will…” That’s amazing. I don’t deserve His forgiveness. I’ve failed Him about a million plus times when He says He’ll forgive their sins. I actually just talk about a nation here—America. Oh, my goodness, what about all the 60, 61 million babies murdered? What about Hollywood, how it pumps filth out around the world?

Some of our missionaries say we really don’t like to go into our areas of the world and call ourselves Christians because they associate that with Western Christianity, and they think Western Christianity is sinful. They like to call themselves other terms like “Christ followers” and things like that because American Christianity so often is just associated with, can to be honest, immodesty and filth and drinking and loose living. You go to some Muslim countries. You talk about drinking, friend, that’s a big sin for them. I’m not just being honest with you.

Yet in all this filth of our land, God still says if you do those four things, that small remnant does those four things, “I will forgive their sin.” It’s amazing. That’s just… “I’ll forgive.” I’ll hear from heaven. I forgive their sins. Forgiveness will do something to you, by the way. Wonderful thing.

God, number one, He says, “I’ll hear from heaven.” Number two, that’s what God will do: He says, “I’ll forgive their sin.” Look at the last saying there, would you please? Would you read that with me? The last little phrase of verse number 14: “And will…” That’s awesome.

Have you ever been maybe in a hospital room, and maybe they have an open wound, and they want to show it to you? Man, used to go to her church; he’s a good man. He recently had an accident in his woodworking shop; got his jacket caught, and it pulled him in, and it cut really the whole half of his hand off, and he sent me pictures of it right after it happened. Man, it’s just gruesome. I’m like, “Oh my goodness.” Are you going out of the hospital room and the nursing home? You know, they want to show it to you, and they… They pull back the bed sheet or something, you know, and look at my leg or whatever, you know. You’re like, “Oh, okay.” Pretty awful wounds out there, isn’t there?

If we could somehow kind of apply America to that, I believe it’s like, “Oh, wow, healing.” How divided and hateful and fighting, bickering. Yet God says, “I’ll heal.” It’s amazing. Heal. I’m not going to be healing if I just give in to sin. But if I follow God’s formula, last sin, God says, God Almighty says, “I’ll heal.”

By the way, nobody’s ever been healed apart from God. You can go to the doctor, and the doctor can sew you up with stitches and all that, but he can’t make that thing healed. Nobody’s ever healed anybody besides God. Some guy might not brush his teeth for a month and hit somebody with the forehead and said he healed him, you know, when they fall back because there’s bad breath. Nobody heals; only God. And God says, “I’ll heal their land.” It’s amazing. “I’ll hear from heaven. I’ll forgive their sin, and I’ll heal their land.” Pretty awesome.

God’s not a respecter of persons. If He made that promise for Solomon and the children of Israel, I believe He meant it for you and I today. Four things.

Can I say this? Don’t lose your faith that God can heal our land. Mark 6:5, talking about Jesus when He went to Nazareth, His own little town there, says that He could there do no mighty work. It’s amazing. King James Bible: “He could there do no mighty work.” Say that. He laid hands upon a few sick folk and healed them, just a few. Why was that? Why does the Bible say that God in flesh could there do no mighty work? Next verse says, “because of their un…” He marveled because of their unbelief. If I lose my faith, God won’t be able to do a whole lot. The book of Psalms talking about the children of Israel, they limited the Holy One of Israel. How about their lack of faith? He says, “Open your mouth wide, and I’ll fill it.” Over in the book of Psalms again.

Now, look, I’m just saying, don’t lose your faith that God can work in America. That’s what Satan loves. Four things God’s people called by His name: Humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn. It’s four. And God says, “I’ll hear, forgive, and heal.”

I can’t say this: It all starts with being one of God’s people. How does that happen? You’re not one of God’s people unless you’re saved. If you’re not a born-again Christian, if you’re not born into the family of God—adopted or saved into the family of God—you’re not one of His children. You’re one of His creation, but not as children. Somebody said, “Well, we’re all God’s people.” No, you’re His creation, but you’re not His child. You’re born into His family through Jesus Christ. There must be… At times Jesus said, “You must be born again.” You’re not saved; you’re not one of His own. And you can’t practice that formula. It all starts with being saved.

If you’re not a born-again Christian today, it’d be a great day to get saved. God would make you one of His people. You could be a part of that very small remnant, but it all starts with getting saved. That’s when I meant, “I’m a sinner. I can’t save myself. I humble myself, and I say, ‘Hey, Jesus, You’re my only way,’ and I put my faith in Jesus to pay my sin debt.”

I don’t know about this. You see it in the movies and everything. I don’t know if they really do it or not. I’ve never seen it in real life. But you ever see it at least in a movie or something, you know, or somebody’s up in this apartment building, and it’s on fire, and the fireman down there with that trampoline, and they’re all holding on to it? Anybody ever see that? Has anybody ever seen that in real life? I haven’t either. I don’t know if they really do it or not. I’m not sure. You can check it out and find out later on.

Well, look, that person, man, they’re staying in that window, and they’re like, “Whoa, I don’t know,” you know. “I weigh 600 pounds. I don’t know if they can catch me or not,” you know. And somewhere along the line, they have to kind of commit themselves, and they jump out of that window. They’re putting their faith in that trampoline and those firemen to hold it. And when you say, “I’m going to give up on me saving myself. I can’t save myself. I’m a sinner. I’m going to trust fully in You, Jesus. You’re my only way.” When they put their faith in Christ, that’s when you’re saved. Then you’re part of His people.

Those three words—can I just challenge you? I’m done. Can I challenge you? I did this a couple of years ago; it was so good for me. Can I challenge you? Let’s… Would you do this for three days? We start today. It’ll be Sunday about 2:00 p.m. when we get done, so you start then. No, I’m joking with you. But Sunday about noon, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday—you do this: Would you just say these three words often inside your heart and your mind?

“Hear, forgive, and heal.” Hear, forgive, and heal. Hear, forgive, and heal. Just those three words. It helped me so much when I just for a while just went around and saying, “Hear, forgive, and heal.” I challenge me, “Lord, I’d like to be a part of the people called by Your name. I’d like to practice those four things because I know what You’ll do.” God’s word is always true: Hear, forgive, and heal.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please?

Maybe you hear this morning you say, “Preacher, I’m not saved myself. I don’t have a time where I look at… so that’s what I trusted fully in Christ. I asked You. I jumped out of the window, if you will. I trusted Jesus and Jesus alone to save me. I’m not saved, preacher. I’m not on the way to heaven. I’m not one of God’s people.” If that’s you this morning, heads bowed and eyes closed, if that’s you, would you just lift your hand? “Preacher, I’m not saved. I’m not a born-again Christian. I’m not on my way to heaven. I’m not one of God’s people.” Anybody like that, I want to pray for you. I’d love to pray for you. I’d love to be a help until you get saved.

I don’t see any hands. Hey, all right. God’s people, you say, “I need to be associated. I need to be called. I don’t want to be ashamed of Christ. I want everybody to know I’m a Christian. I’d like to be in that kind of… not just of His, that I’m saved, but I’m called by His name.” God spoke to my heart. I want to be associated with Christ more. God spoke to my heart. God spoke to my heart. God spoke to my heart. God spoke to my heart. God spoke to my heart. I want to be associated more with Christ.

Maybe here this morning you say, “Preacher, I need to be participating more on those four things: Humble myself, pray, seek the Lord, and turn.” God spoke to my heart somewhere along the line about those four things. Now, He spoke to my heart about those. If that’s you this morning, let me have your hand up. “Preacher, God spoke to my heart about those things right there.”

Maybe one more person, God spoke to my heart about one of those things.

Maybe you here this morning you say, “Preacher, I feel like I’m that man. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. I’m going to say those three words over and over again, asking God to give me faith: Hear, forgive, heal. I believe, but I lack faith. I believe, help my unbelief.” Maybe that’s you, and I’ll say those three words. If you’ll take that challenge, I’m going to take that challenge. Would you lift your head and pray, “I’ll take that challenge”? Just hear, forgive, heal.

Let me say a word about faith. Faith is not necessarily the absence of other feelings. Often faith, it requires more faith to stand and do what God’s led you to do in the presence of worry and fear. But you act on the faith. You act on the belief God’s given you. And faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. Let’s stand in faith. Would you do so? We’ll sing one more verse. We need to come. Would you come? Amen. So glad you’re in God’s house this morning. And go home, get your good meal, take your good nap, and be back tonight. Amen. At 6 o’clock, looking forward to being back in the house of the Lord. Thank you so much for being in God’s house this morning. He is very pleased with that, and we’re thrilled to see you here also. What a blessing. Brother Steve Page over here, one of our newest members. Would you dismiss us with a word of prayer, please, brother?

Original File: JESUS the light of the world - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday Morning1262020