Sheryl Brady - What Are You Going to Do When He Lights You Up

I just want to read from Luke chapter 18 today. Bless your bishop. Luke chapter 18 is a very, very familiar text. I have preached from it many, many times, but sometimes when we preach from a text a lot, it becomes dull in our hearing. So every now and then, you just have to ask God to touch your ears to hear, touch your eyes to see, and touch your spirit to receive something fresh from the pages of this book. Luke 18, if you have it, say amen. We’re going to begin reading in the… I normally would preach from this text starting at verse 35, but I want you to back up. Look at somebody and say, «Come back up just for a minute.» We’re going to go to verse 34, and the Bible says, «And they understood none of these things, and their saying was hid from them; neither knew they the things which were spoken.» And it came to pass that as He drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging. Notice what he did—he sat by the wayside begging, and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked, «What does this mean?» They told him that Jesus of Nazareth passes by, and he cried out saying, «Jesus!» What I want you to notice right here is how much time elapsed between verses 37 and 38. They told him Jesus of Nazareth passes by, and he cried… Look at somebody and tell them, «Don’t leave a big gap! If you hear Jesus is near, open your mouth!» He didn’t ask anyone another question; he didn’t try to speculate; he just heard Jesus was passing by, and he cried. What did he cry? «Jesus, Thou Son of David, I know who You are. I know that You can have mercy on me. I know You can heal me!» Of course, as he cried, the people around him began to rebuke him and told him to be quiet. But here’s what he said about that: «He cried so much the more, 'Thou Son of David, have mercy on me! '» And Jesus stood and commanded him to be brought unto Him. When he came near, He asked him, saying, «What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?» And he said, «Lord, that I may receive my sight.» Jesus said unto him, «Receive thy sight; thy faith has saved thee.» In other words, you could have done this a long time ago; it wasn’t about Me coming here; it was about your faith. Your faith is what made you whole. And immediately, somebody say «immediately,» he received his sight and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. He immediately received his sight. He sat in darkness, but when Jesus came by, he received his sight. Everything changed! Is anybody ready for just a radical, ridiculous God change in your life? I mean, if it’s going to change, I want it to be God. If that’s what He has ordered for my life, then let it happen! He sat in darkness one minute; the next minute he was in light. Look at someone on your right and say, «Neighbor, what are you going to do with the light?» I know you’re used to being in darkness, but what I want to know is, what are you going to do when He turns on the light? Look at someone on your other side and say, «Neighbor, what are you going to do with the light?» Something is getting ready to change in your life; I sense it. Somebody is about to experience a radical change! Who is it? What will you do with it when it hits you? The Spirit of God, I honor You today, and I thank You for Your word. I love Your word; it’s a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. I live by this word, and I thank You for sending Your anointing into this room. Speak what You want to speak; do what You want to do. You are God, and we humbly yield ourselves to You. Speak in this place; seize this moment, God. Say what You want to say, and we’ll give You thanks in Jesus' name, amen and amen. On your way down, hit somebody on both sides and say, «What are you going to do with the light? What are you going to do with it?» Last Sunday, Pastor Travis came in here preaching and giving us the word. He talked about disruptive faith. Y’all remember that? He blessed this house last week. That’s right; let’s thank God! We don’t want to ever take anything for granted. While he was preaching to us about disruptive faith, God was disrupting his entire life, turning it upside down. But that’s where the best sermons come from! I said, that’s where the best sermons come from! We don’t always like to go through stuff, but you can’t preach faith if you’ve never had to use it. Hello? You came to preach faith; you can’t talk about a faith that you’ve never had to use and expect it to bless someone else’s life. Matter of fact, if you’ve never had to use your faith, I don’t even want to hear you talk about faith. Amen, because you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about! But he talked to us about the disruption of faith and how, in our world, there are things that…