Back To The Basics (Part 3 ): Make Disciples

I don't know, I'm feeling pretty wound up.

It could get Pentecostal in here, I'm not sure, but I believe in God for awesome things.

Every song that we sang had a direct message, the intricacy of how things interlink.

What were we singing? Let my whole life be for your glory. Let it be for the honor of your name.

We're living in a time right now, and I just believe that things are happening. How many know

there's a surest stirring in our country? There's surest stirring right here in our

own community. I mean, so many things that have developed, and Pastor Lori touched on the loss

of the officers' lives, and Charlie Kirk, and that service is going to happen this afternoon,

and there's so many things that are going on in the world around us.

And I honestly believe that it's a clarion call, and that call is,

how are you responding to what God wants to do in your life? And I honestly believe, man,

I've been praying and just asking God, God, what are you doing on planet Earth? How can we join you?

And I was even thinking about this morning, I was up through the night, there was a barking dog.

Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark. And it was enough that I had to Google it,

how many times can a dog bark? And it said, a dog can bark 500 times in a night,

but that was a rough estimate. All right, I'm just going to go ahead and preach then.

But I've been thinking about, does our walk with God reflect Jesus to a world that needs

to know what He's really like? Does my life lived lead people to want to know God,

or does my life lived look like somebody who doesn't know God? Because your life lived

is much more important than the words you speak, because you can preach one message,

but if you're living another, there's a word for that. It's hypocrisy. And if you read

in your Bible, when Jesus talks about scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, and you see the word

if you really read that out and studied that out in the Greek, the word for hypocrite

is one who wears a mask, right? Literally, that's what that means. That's the literal

translation of that. And I'm asking ourselves the question is, man, the message I want to

preach is called love God with all your heart. But how many of you know if you love God

with all your heart, then that means there's not room for other stuff. If I love God with

all my heart, then you know what? That means then there's not room for me to just love

all the things of the world. John speaks to us, 1 John chapter 2, and he talks about

love of the world, the lust of the flesh, the pride of the eyes, the love of the world.

It's enmity with God. That means it's an enemy of God's. And so I'm asking myself the

question is, what does it look like to be all in? What does it look like to be completely

sold out? If I'm sold out, then I'm not for sale. And I don't want to be for sale to the

things of the world. I don't want to give myself to the things of the world and lose

what Jesus paid for. So I began thinking about this and there's some things that are on my

mind and I'm just going to kind of go into some things. We'll see where God leads us.

The year was 1993. And in 1993, my father got diagnosed with oat cell carcinoma.

And it was very far advanced in his life. And oat cell carcinoma is a small cell cancer.

My dad smoked four packs of cigarettes a day and it was a self-inflicted lung cancer.

Does everybody understand when I say that? And because of that, it was very aggressive

and it was overtaking his body. And I can remember sitting with him in the hospital

thinking this thought, I hate cancer. My dad dies in a couple of months from that cancer.

You know what it did? It caused me to hate cancer even more. Anybody hate cancer? I hear

about people getting cancer. I'm like, I hate cancer. Just friends of mine have got

diagnosis with cancer. I hate cancer. And I thought about that because some of you might

be here today and some of your family may have succumbed to COVID. And you're like,

I hate COVID. Yeah, I hate COVID. There's people that I know and love that are dealing

with heart disease. And you know what? I hate heart disease. I hate it. I hate that

it even exists. And I hate heart disease. And why you say all that? Well, I'm saying that

because I'm 66 years old. You know what I'm doing? I'm doing things in my life. I'm

trying to take precautionary measures to make sure that these kinds of things don't

have an opportunity to grip my life. Everybody follow what I'm saying? And I'll do

whatever means that are reasonable to take the precaution to avoid having these

issues. Listen, I hate pain. So I'm not going to stick my hand in the door and

slam the door to see if it hurts. Why? Because I would avoid pain if I could,

right? Because why? Because I hate pain, right? It would be silly to do things

that cause pain if you really hate pain. Everybody follow what I'm saying? Why

are you saying all that? Because if you hate something, you don't want it

around you. If you hate something, you don't want the thing that you hate. You're

not wishing for the thing you hate. If you could wipe it off the face of the

earth, if you hate it and you could wipe it off the face of the earth,

you'd wipe it. Listen, I hate cancer. If I could wipe cancer off the face

of the earth, I'd get rid of cancer. Come on. Why? Because you hate that

thing. Why is that so important to you, Pastor, right now? Go to Hebrews

chapter 1. Let me show you why I'm trying to say something.

In Hebrews chapter 1, we're going to look at verses 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.

But listen to what it says. Can I help us to understand Hebrews, okay?

Like the first four chapters of Hebrews, the whole theme of this subsection

of Hebrews, the first four chapters, is Jesus is better, okay? If you

really read it, it's going to start out, Jesus is better than the angels.

He's going to talk about Jesus is better than Moses. He's going to talk

about Jesus is better than the law. He's going to talk about the new

covenants better than the old covenant, right? Jesus is better.

That's really what he's leading us to. And in this section where Jesus

is better than the angels, he says this, for to which of the angels

did he ever say, you are my son, today I've begotten you, right?

None. He didn't say that to the angels, right? And again, I will be

to him a father, and he shall be to me a son, right? Who's he

saying that? He only says that to Jesus, not to any of the angels.

Jesus is better. Everybody got that? But when he again brings the

firstborn into the world, he's the firstborn among many brethren,

right? The only begotten son of the father. Everybody got that?

Then he says, let all the angels of God worship him, and of the

angels, he says, who makes his angels spirits and his ministers

a flame of fire. But to the son, watch, to the son, he says,

your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness

is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and

hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness more than your companions. Everybody

see it? This is what led me to all that preface stuff.

Watch what happens. He says to the son, he says, your scepter

is forever, your throne is established. And what's he say?

Because you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

Everybody see it? Because I think in the church, we've done

really well at loving righteousness. I think we love

righteousness. We want to be righteous. We preach we are

the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and rightfully so.

And we love righteousness. The question is, do we hate sin?

Come on. Lawlessness. The word for lawlessness there is

sin. Come on. You can call it whatever you want to. It's

one thing to love righteousness. It's another thing to hate

sin. And he's saying, because you loved righteousness and

hated sin, hated lawlessness. And I asked myself the

question, do I really hate sin? Can we talk for a minute?

Let's just talk about it. Because remember that I said,

I hate cancer. I don't want cancer around me. I don't

entertain cancer. I don't want to embrace any form of

cancer. I hate cancer. If I hated sin the way I hated

cancer, I'd never entertain it on my television set in my

living room. Oh, I just preach the message. You guys with

me? Come on. If I hate sin, right, I wouldn't stand

around in the office telling off-color jokes and laughing

with the people telling them. If I hate sin. Do you

understand what I just said? It's one thing to love

righteousness. It's another thing to hate sin. Do we

really hate sin? I'm not talking about, listen, because

sometimes in our life we think about a sin and we start to

entertain, oh, Jesus doesn't allow me to do that. That's

not hating sin. That's trying to avoid it. Do you

understand what I just said? When I hate it, I'm not even

entertaining it in my mind. I'm not going to glorify it.

Come on, because sometimes we'll watch television shows

that glorify the very things we've been delivered

from. And that's not okay. What's it look like to not

love righteousness but actually hate sin? Where we're

not giving it any room in our home. We're not giving it,

come on, we're not giving it a seat at our table, a bed

in our house. Come on, we're not giving it a voice

in our head. We're saying no. No to sin and yes to

God. I'm embracing righteousness and I'm detesting

sin. I hate it. To the place where we've put it out

from our life and we don't even give it any room

whatsoever. Now you're standing in a room and guys

start telling off-color jokes and you walk out of

the room. Not because you're a prude, but because

you hate sin. I don't want to identify with it in

any way, shape, or form. Come on. If they're doing

a test at the hospital and they're saying, hey, we

want to test a few people to see how they respond

with cancer. How many of you are volunteering?

Come on, you're not going to let them inject

cancer into your body. Why? Because you hate

cancer. You don't want nothing to do with that.

That's the way we ought to be with sin. I'm

not giving it any room. I'm not giving it

any place. Watch what happens. He said, he's

anointed him. Why? Because you've embraced

righteousness, you've loved righteousness, and

you've hated lawlessness. Look at the next word.

What's the next word say? Therefore. Anytime

you read the word therefore, you've got to

ask the question, come on, what's it therefore?

That's the question you've got to ask. Why

does he say that? He's saying therefore,

God, your God has anointed you. Wait a

minute, why? Because you've loved righteousness

and hated lawlessness. Not just because you

loved righteousness, because you loved

righteousness and you hated lawlessness.

Therefore, why? Because the two of them came

together and now you're in a place where

what? God has anointed you with the oil

of gladness more than your companions. How

many of you want anointed with the oil

of gladness? Come on, that sounds like

good oil. Some of you squeak a little. You

need some more. Never mind. Okay. But

here's the deal. I want the oil of

gladness on my life. I want the oil of

gladness. So what's the oil of gladness

look like? Watch what he just said. Because

you've loved righteousness and you've

hated lawlessness. Now there's an oil of

gladness on your life. Here's what I

can tell you. The happiest people I

know are all in for Jesus. They're all

in. They're not part in. They're not

mostly in. They're not predominantly

in. They're completely all in for Jesus.

And because they're all in for Jesus,

they're like, man, I'm just enjoying

life. And they know who they are. They

got their identity down and they are

walking this thing out. They got a

smile on their face and a hitch in their

get along and they're doing okay with

life. You know who else is happy? I'll

tell you who else is happy. People

who don't believe in any kind of

afterlife whatsoever. They're living

what's called a hedonistic

lifestyle. Does anybody know that word?

What it means? Completely selfish.

Why? Because here's what's gonna

happen. We're gonna die and turn to

dust. They believe in science. They

don't believe in God. They believe

that when you're dead, you're done

and that's it. And they're just living

for themselves with no care, no

thought, no concern about the

afterlife because they don't even

believe there is one. And they're just

living life and they're like, hey,

eat, drink and be merry because we're

gonna die tomorrow. And they seem to

be pretty content. You know who's

miserable? People trying to live with

one foot in both worlds. Come on.

You've embraced. Come on. You've loved

righteousness but you haven't hated

lawlessness. You still dabble in it

a little. You want to still play

with it a little bit. You wonder how

close can I get to the line?

How much can I get away with and

still get to heaven? And then you're

living with guilt, shame, and

condemnation. You're living with fear

and you're living with the

challenges in your heart, conviction

all the time. And it's like, man,

I don't want to live that way. No

gladness because your mind's messed

up. Why? Because you continue to wake

up sin conscious rather than sun

conscious. Oh, I'm preaching right

now. I didn't preach like this in the

first service but it's good. And

there's something about understanding.

Come on, who's with me? It's

understanding that, wait, there's a

place where we got to draw a line in

the sand. Can I tell you that what

I'm seeing in the world right now,

God's raising up a people.

What I'm seeing right now is that

God's raising up a people that are

saying, you know what, I'm drawing a

line and there's no turning back,

no looking back, and no thinking any

other way. If you've been with me

very long, somewhere around eight

years ago, the Lord really spoke to

me very clearly. And you know what he

said? The dividing line is becoming

more and more defined. You're either

for me or you're against me. You're

either gathering to me or you're

gathering from me. I have said that

a thousand times because I know I

heard that really clear from God.

And then about three or four, maybe

five years ago, the Lord spoke very

plain. What did he say? The sheep

are getting sheepier and the goats

are getting goatier. And I knew

that was God because I didn't even

know those were words. So I

thought, this got to be God,

right? And I realized that's not

even outside the church, that's

inside the church. And what was he

saying? He was saying there's a

place where you got to decide, you

got to make up your mind. You know

what? Here's what I'm hearing from

the Lord right now. It's not just

about loving righteousness. It's

about hating sin. It's about saying,

I don't want room for it. I don't

want a place for it. I'm not giving

it any room in my house. I'm not

going to put it on my TV. I'm not

going to have it in my home. I

won't have. Come on, if we hate

sin, why does that language come

out of our mouth? If I hate sin,

why? Listen, I've read

Ephesians 4 and 26, let no

corrupt communication proceed from

your mouth. That's 4 and 29. I'm

sorry. It's 4 and 29. Let no

corrupt communication become

forth from your mouth. But that

which is edifying, that it might

be a place of grace to the

hearer. And I'm thinking, what

about our lives lived? Do our

lives lived declare the

message that I've loved

righteousness and I've hated

lawlessness? Do we live in that

place? Because, man, that's

really strong in my heart. And

I'm thinking about that when you

hate something, you don't want it

around. Do we really want nothing

to do with it? Or do we

entertain it in our mind? I

don't want to give that a place.

I'm not looking back and laughing

about the good old days when we

used to. Come on, man. I hate

sin. Sin separates. Sin divides.

Sin destroys. We've got several

funerals coming up in our own

community. We don't have a gun

problem. People say, oh, we got

a gun problem. No, we don't.

We have a sin problem. It's not

a gun problem. It's a sin

problem. And it needs dealt

with. And there's only one

thing that can deal with it.

That's the blood of Jesus. And

nothing else will deal with

that. We don't have a drug

problem. We don't have an

alcohol problem. We have a

sin problem. And we need to

see sin destroyed. Sin is

darkness. How do you get rid

of darkness? Light has to

shine. Come on, if we really

understood science, darkness

doesn't even exist. Darkness

in itself does not exist

scientifically. Darkness is

described as the absence of

light. We need light. I got

the answer. Light. He says,

because you loved righteousness

and you hated lawlessness, I've

anointed you with the oil of

gladness. Romans 12, verse 9.

Look at this word. It's

strong. I'm going to talk

about it. He says, let love

be without hypocrisy. Hypocrisy.

Talked about a little bit

ago. Comes from the word

hypocrite. What's it mean?

What's he really saying? He's

saying, let your love be

genuine. You ever have anybody

tell you they love you and

you thought, no, you don't.

Why? Because their words

were saying it, but their

actions sure weren't. Come

on. They hug you. I love

you. And you're thinking,

pants are on fire.

Come on. Why? Because you

know when you're really

loved and when you're not,

you know, come on, it's

just a real deal. In the

midst of that, he's

saying, our love has to

be without hypocrisy. It's

got to be genuine. It's

got to be real. It's got

to be authentic. Why? We're

living in a time right

now where young people,

especially, can smell

authenticity. They know

whether it's real or not. He

said, make sure your love's

real. How do you do that?

Abort what is evil and

cling to what's good. And

I thought, man, that

word abort, that sounds

like pretty strong. So I

looked it up in my Bible

dictionary and the word

abort, it actually means

this. Look at what it

says. To regard with

disgust and hatred. Do

we look upon sin? Do we

look upon evil with

disgust and hatred? Now,

listen, when he says

abort that which is evil,

he didn't say those. Why?

Because your battle's

never with people. Can I

say something? People

aren't evil. Spirits are.

He said, we're not

wrestling against flesh and

blood. We're wrestling

against principalities and

spirits and spiritual

wickedness in high places.

Come on. What's he

saying? Your battle's

never with people. So

he's not saying, but

what he is saying is,

we've got to see that

spirit and actually come

against that. Why? Because

we're in a spirit war. How

many know you're in a

battle? It's a battle

right from the very

beginning when Adam and

Eve fell in the garden

and God spoke to the

serpent. What'd he say?

I'll put enmity between

you and the woman,

between your seed and

her seed. And we

entered into a seed war.

Why? Because every seed

wants to reproduce after

its own kind. And the

devil is trying to

reproduce himself on

the earth. And Jesus

wants to reproduce

himself on the earth. And

both of them want to

reproduce in you. And

you get to decide what

side of this thing you're

going to be on. And I

got to tell you

something. You can't be

on both sides at the

same time. Well, Sunday

I'm going to go to

church. Well, so's the

devil. Going to church

doesn't make you a

Christian. We'll talk

about it. But here's the

reality, man. He's

saying if you really

want to be genuine,

you're going to have to

hate what's evil and

cling to what's good. To

regard with disgust is

a strong word. See,

here's the deal. Jesus

didn't come to play with

sin. He came to

destroy it. 1 John 3

and 8. Can we talk for

a minute? Come on. 1

John chapter 3 verse 8.

You know what it says?

Come on, man. He who

sins is of the

devil. For the devil

has sinned from the

beginning. The devil

sinned from the

beginning. For this

purpose, what purpose?

The Son of God was

manifest. What purpose?

That he might destroy

the works of the

devil. Do you know the

word manifest there

actually means reveal

what's he saying? For

this purpose, Jesus was

revealed to do what?

To destroy the works of

hell. Can I say

something? That doesn't

mean 2000 years ago

Jesus was revealed to

destroy the works of

hell. That means

yesterday in Leah,

Jesus was revealed to

destroy darkness. That

means that this morning

in Pastor Dave, Jesus

was manifested to

destroy the works of

the devil. That means

no matter where you're

at in your office,

this coming week, you

know what? Jesus wants

to manifest through you

why? Because when light

manifests, darkness

has to flee. Come

on. Come on. When

you walk into a dark

room, it ain't dark

anymore. Somebody

said, Oh, it's

getting dark out

there. Not where I

live. Come on. Why?

Because I am the

light and you are

the light. Jesus said

you're the light of

the world in a city

that said on a hill

can't be hidden. You

are not going to. Do

you understand? We got

curtains in our bedroom.

What are they called?

Blackout curtains. Yeah.

And you can shut them

curtains and shut all

the doors. And it's

pretty dark in there.

You know what happens?

There's a switch on

my wall. It's awesome.

You go like this. Boom

light. It just happens.

You flip out. I

don't even know how

that works. It just

goes out and it's

there. And there's

all kinds of light.

Lord got all kind of

light bulb. It's

everywhere. And you

flip out a little

switch and boom,

lights are on

everywhere. It's awesome.

And you know what I

found? It's never a

battle. The darkness

can't overtake the

light at night time

when all the lights

are on. You know what?

We're getting into

bed. Lori doesn't

say, Oh, it's too

light in here. Turn

on the dark. You

don't turn on the

there's not a switch

to turn on the

dark. The only

reason it ever

gets dark is because

somebody turned

off the if it's

dark in your school,

if it's dark in

your office, if it's

dark in your factory,

that's a good place

for you to shine

because somebody

somebody's got to

be the light. And

this is what he's

telling me. What I'm

hearing over and over

is the place that

we're living right

now is we can't

handle. We can't hide

our light under a

bushel basket. We

can't hide our

light. Come on. We

got to get it up

there on the

candlestick that all

the room might see.

And we've got to be

able to be bold and

proclaim Jesus is

King and I'm going to

live my life for the

King of glory. And

then come on, you're

the only one thing

I need. You're the

only one thing. I

don't want anyone

else. I don't need

anything else. You

are my one thing.

We sang it. Let's

go out and actually

live like we're

singing. I'm preaching

now. I don't care.

Me and Leo have

church. Come on.

But it's the

reality, man. We're

at a place right

now where the

world is watching

the church. I

promise you, listen to

me. Millions upon

millions will hear

the gospel message

this afternoon. When

that funeral takes

place in Arrowhead

Stadium, the gospel

will be preached

and millions upon

millions, not just

in the United States

worldwide will be

tuned in. And I'm

going to tell you

Jesus, his name is

going to be lifted

high. A corn or wheat

has fallen to the

ground and died, but

it will not abide

alone. There is

something being

unleashed on

planet earth right now,

and God is on the

move and the

Holy Spirit's

breathing on it. And

you got to ask

yourself, what's my

role? What's my

place? I'm going to

tell you where it

starts. Love

righteousness, hate

lawlessness. Don't

just love

righteousness. Make

sure you hate

sin. Sin separates,

sin divides, sin

destroys, sin

destructs. We don't

have room for

that or time for

that, man. I'm telling

you God's up to

something and I

feel like this is a

big time. See,

Paul wrote to us

in 2 Corinthians 6,

and what did he say?

Come ye out from

among them and be

ye separate. Say

it the Lord, I'll

receive you. I'll

be your God. You'll

be my kids. Come

on. That's like

verse 17, 2 Corinthians

6, 17, I think. And

I start to think

about these kind of

things, and this

kind of stuff

speaks volumes to

me, man. Like

there's a place

where Jesus is

saying, come on,

it's time to

live this. It's

time to walk this. It's

time to actually

be more than

just a church

attender. Come

on, let's go to

Hebrews 13. I'm

pretty sure 13 and

12. I got to

look. 13, yeah,

13, 12, go there.

Hebrews 13, 12. You

guys with me? We

all right? Come

on, I'm all right.

I'm going to have

church. I love

this. Therefore also,

right, that he

might sanctify the

people with his

own blood, suffered

without the gate.

How many of us

talking about Jesus

dying outside the

city? Everybody

got this? He

suffers outside the

city. I'm going to

help us with

something I didn't

plan. How many

of you know Jesus

dies not in the

city, but outside

the city? Why? Because

inside the city,

they consider that

clean, so he's

going to die. Dead

body has to be

outside. Can't be

inside the

fort, inside the

walled city, has

to be outside. So

they're going to

crucify him not

inside the city. They're

going to a public

place outside the

city. What was the

place called? Who

knows? I'm sorry?

Golgotha. I'm

going to help us.

It's called

Golgotha, and if

you read it, I think

it's John chapter 19.

It's going to

actually say it's

called Golgotha

because it's the

place of the...

Take you back a

thousand years

before Jesus dies.

You got a

young guy, David,

shows up on a

battlefield and

there's a giant. How

many know there's

a giant? Right?

Everybody knows

the giant's name,

Goliath. Right?

Anybody know

where Goliath

was from? He's

a Philistine giant.

You know what the

town he's from?

Goliath of

Gath. Right?

Goliath of

Gath, who comes

to intimidate the

people of God to

cause fear and

trepidation inside

of them, right,

comes to

destroy them, comes

to make them

slaves to his

people. And

Goliath of

Gath shows up and

David with a

rock in his

pocket, come on,

he says to

them, come on,

what did he

say? You come to

me with a

shield and a

sword, but I come

to you in the

name of the

God. And this day,

I'm going to take

your head from you,

that all the

world might know

there's a God in

Israel. How

many know

that's true?

David winds

that deal up,

lets that baby

fly and

whacked him right

smack dab in the

head. He fell

to the ground.

But if you read

it, I want you

to understand,

this will be 1

Samuel 17. When

you get to the

end of the

chapter, you know

what you're

going to find?

David stands on

top of Goliath,

this behemoth

giant is

laying on the

ground. David

doesn't have a

sword, but

Goliath had

one. He took

Goliath's own

sword out of

its sheath and

he cut

Goliath's head

off with it. He

cut his head

off. That's

awesome. Now,

here's what we

don't know.

Okay, what we

need to

understand is

this, right? And

this is what

you got to

follow is David

now is going

to follow

protocol. You

know what the

protocol is? They're

going to take

the head of

that slain

giant, right? They're

going to put it

on a pole,

a post, right? And

they're going to

actually walk

back. He took

the head of

Goliath back

to Jerusalem. We

know that that's

the end of the

chapter. What we

don't know is how

we have to

understand history. This

is what would

happen if two

kings go to

war, right? Scott's

sitting right

there. Scott has

an army and I

have an army and

we're going to

fight with it. My

army is going to

fight against

his army. His

army is going to

fight against

my army. If

my army

prevails over

him, I cut

his head off. I

put it on a

post. I

lift it up. My

army is going to

follow me back

to my

hometown. Those

watchers on

the wall. How

many know every

city's got a

wall? And every

wall's got watchers

on the wall. They

see an army

coming. You know

what they don't

know? Is that our

army or our

enemy? Right? When

they see that

that's our army

coming, right? Because

they're watching. Oh,

they got our flags.

This is our guy. If

my army beats

Scott's army, Scott's

head's on that

post and I'm

carrying it in and

they see that. What

did he say? God

has delivered the

head of our enemy

into our hands. All

the town's going

to run out. They're

going to meet us

on that way. And

it's going to be a

parade and they're

going to be like a

ticker taping. They're

throwing confetti and

tossing babies in

the air and they're

excited. Why? Because

God delivered our

enemy into our hand.

So David's on his

way back to

Jerusalem. You guys

with me? He's on

his way back to

Jerusalem and he's

got Goliath's head

on a stick. How

many know if you're

nine foot nine, you

got a big old

head. David's a

little guy, 17

years old roughly. I'm

picturing them like

this. We got this. We

got this. Right? Because

you got about a

head that big. If

you're nine foot nine,

you got a big old

head. I don't care

who you are. It's

going to be

proportionate. And

he's coming back

into the town. They're

going to have a

parade. They're going

to have a party. It's

going to be pretty

awesome. You know

at the end of that

thing, you know

what they got? They're

Jews. That head's

unclean. It's a

dead thing. You got

to get it in the

ground. You got to

bury it. Can you

bury it inside the

city? No, because

it's unclean. You got

to bury it outside

the city. Right?

I believe that right

outside that city, they

buried the head of

Goliath of Gath,

Golgatha, the place

of the skull. Goliath

represented everything

that hell could throw

at the children of

God. Goliath

represented everything

that hell could throw

at you as a

Christian, as a

child of God. A

thousand years later,

there's one called

the Son of David. Come

on. Who's going to

watch shed that

redeeming blood? He's

going to shed that

powerful blood. He's

going to shed that

miraculous blood. It's

going to cover

everything that hell

could possibly ever

throw at you so that

you could live and

walk in a life

filled with victory,

that you could walk

holy and pure before

the Lord your God.

Listen, I'm telling

you that you've got

everything you need to

live and walk in

victory and put

Jesus on display for

a world that needs

to know what he's

really like.

Golgatha is the

place of the skull,

the blood of Jesus.

He suffered without

the gate that he

might sanctify the

people. What does

sanctify mean? I wrote

it down. It's in your

paper to separate from

profane things and

dedicate to God. You

can live separated

from profane things

dedicated to God. You

can live pure. You

can live holy. Why?

The blood of Jesus.

When we invite Jesus,

we're going to give

our life to Christ.

You know what happened?

Jesus said, I'm coming

to make my home in you.

You understand that

that house has been

empty for a long time.

Who's ever walked

into a house that's

been empty for four,

five, six years?

First thing you do

when you walk in,

you know what happens?

Cobwebs everywhere.

Who's ever walked

into a bunch of

cobwebs? You didn't

know cobwebs were

there and you walked

everywhere and you

had a charismatic dance.

You're dancing like

an old Pentecostal.

Ow! Cobwebs everywhere.

You invite Jesus in,

you know what it's doing?

It's like taking a broom

and getting all

of them cobwebs.

Getting rid of all

of them cobwebs.

You're cleaning this place.

He's cleaning the house.

John Wesley was a

powerful man of God.

He taught what's known

as Wesleyan sanctification.

He talked about,

when he talked about

Wesleyan sanctification,

he said Wesleyan

sanctification is like

they took the sword

and thrust it through

the old man,

clean to the hilt.

That was the phrase

that Wesley used.

What was he talking about?

When you walked

into that house,

you got rid of all

them cobwebs.

And here's the deal,

that house is clean.

But how many know?

Three, four,

five weeks later,

what are you seeing

in the corners?

Little dabs here,

little dabs there.

What are you seeing?

Little cobwebs

starting to form again.

Why?

Well, sanctification

kills the spider.

It was the source

of all those webs.

If you don't get rid

of the source

of all those webs,

they'll find their way back.

Song of Solomon 2.15,

take us to foxes,

the little foxes

that spoil the vines

because our vines

have tender grapes.

We've got to get rid

of the things

that are trying

to make their way in.

They're trying to inch

their way back

into your mind.

What's happening?

We've got to renew

this thing, man.

We've got to keep

this thing renewed

by the washing of the water,

by the word.

Romans 12 verses 1 and 2.

You can turn there.

Watch what he says.

He said,

I beseech you therefore,

brethren,

by the mercies of God,

that you present your body

a living sacrifice,

holy, acceptable unto God.

It's just your reasonable service.

It's not like we're doing

some extraordinary thing.

God gave us life.

We ought to give it back to him.

That's literally what he's saying.

It's your reasonable service.

Present your body to God

as a living sacrifice, right?

And then what's he say?

Don't be conformed

to this world.

What's he saying?

Don't allow the world to form you.

Don't allow the world's ideology

to conform you.

Don't allow the world's theology

to conform you.

Don't allow the world to say,

well, this is OK,

and that's OK.

And it's all right.

And we all got to sin

a little bit every day

because that stuff's all out there.

But that's the world theology.

That's not your Bible.

I'm preaching right now.

Don't be conformed to this world.

What's he saying?

Don't let the world form you.

Don't let their thoughts,

their opinions,

and their ideas

you've got the living word of God.

The word of God is alive and powerful.

Come on.

It'll transform you.

What's he say?

Don't be conformed to this world,

but be transformed.

How do you get transformed?

By the renewing of your mind.

I'm going to say this.

You'll never have a transformed life

if you don't have a renewed mind.

I'm going to say it again.

You'll never have a transformed life

if you don't have a renewed mind.

You've got to think differently

if you're going to respond

to life differently.

And the only way that can happen,

you're going to have to see different.

If you see different,

you'll think different.

If you think different,

you'll respond different.

You've got to have a biblical world view.

You've got to have a lens from heaven

that you're seeing through.

Be not conformed to this world,

but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind.

Come on, man.

You're in Christ.

And if you're in Christ,

you're what?

You're 2 Corinthians 5, 17.

If any man be in Christ,

he's a new creation.

Old things are passed away.

How many understand?

Passed away means they're not alive anymore.

Come on, when grandpa passed away,

that meant he was dead

and we had to bury him.

If those old things are dead and buried,

why do we keep resurrecting them?

Come on, we don't have room for that.

That stuff's got to go.

We've got to draw a line in the sand.

No turning back, no looking back.

That's where we're at right now.

This is what God is speaking to me about.

America, not just America,

but even the world right now.

As the world is watching,

is the church going to actually rise up

and become everything God wants her to be?

Come on, that we might be a bride

without spot wrinkle or any such thing,

but holy and without blemish

because that's Ephesians 5, 27 stuff.

But here's what I'm telling you.

God's calling us as a people

to rise up and actually be

who he created us to be.

It's time.

I'm telling you, man,

I probably sound like a wild man.

I feel like a wild man.

This is more passionate in me right now

than I am.

I'm older now,

but I'm more passionate

than I've ever been about it.

This thing's real.

And it's time.

And the church needs to actually be.

And I'm saying,

God, help us to draw a line

and say, look, man, we got this thing.

Because here's my word,

you can do it.

This isn't like, this is,

this should be encouraging.

He's given us everything we need

to pertain to life and godliness.

We can do this.

We just have to have the desire.

Be not conformed to this word,

but be transformed.

If any man being Christ,

he's a new creature.

Old things are passed away.

Behold, all things are what?

Become new.

He didn't come to fix your old life.

He came to give you a brand new one.

Come on.

He didn't come to fix.

He actually came to kill you

and then raise you up

in a brand new life.

That's what baptism is.

Buried with him in baptism.

The old man's dead.

The new man's alive.

Who understands that?

That's powerful, man.

That's what God's calling us to.

That's the place we're at.

And we have to ask ourselves the question,

what does it look like for us?

Who knows the picture of that?

When you see 2 Corinthians 5.17,

you know what it's talking about?

It's talking about like the butterfly.

You know what I mean?

Who's seeing the caterpillar, right?

And the caterpillar,

here's a little girl sitting at the table

and the caterpillar comes inching over.

It's inching over toward her

and she looks and sees that thing.

What happens?

Ew, a bug.

Ew, ew, ew, a bug.

Ew, ew, ow, a bug.

Because she's scared of the bug

and she's running away from the bug

because she don't want to be around the bug.

But the bug climbs up into the tree,

weaves into a cocoon

and in the cocoon,

a metamorphosis has taken place.

Crystallis is happening

and that cocoon breaks out

and out flies the beautiful butterfly.

And the same little girl

that was scared of the caterpillar

is chasing the butterfly.

Oh, look, it's a butterfly.

I want the butterfly.

I'm going to put it in a jar

and some sticks and some grass

and give it a natural habitat.

It's super excited about a butterfly.

How many understand?

It was the same creature

that just had a transformation.

It's speaking about the Christian life.

It's about you and I.

I was one thing, now I'm another.

Come on, I was a caterpillar

but now I'm a butterfly.

Come on, why?

Because of a metamorphosis that happened.

A transformation.

I wasn't conformed to this world.

I was transformed, how?

By the renewing of my mind.

How did my mind get renewed?

By the washing of the water, by the word.

Faith comes by

and hearing by the word of God.

Come on, man.

You guys with me?

I'm preaching really good

in case you were wondering.

Just make a note.

He's doing really good.

Okay, cool.

So here's where we're at

because I want you to think with me for a second.

What does our life lived look like?

We have this incredible opportunity

to put Jesus on display to a world

that needs to know what he's really like.

We have that opportunity right now.

And I'd ask you, man,

are we taking advantage of that?

Because to me,

it's everything.

Hebrews 4, let's go.

I'm going to kind of land this plane.

Verses 15 and 16.

Yeah, let's start with 14.

That's good.

Let's go to 14.

Because 14's really powerful.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest

who has passed through the heavens.

Jesus, the son of God.

Listen, who's he writing to?

What's this book called?

So who's he writing to?

The Jews.

Come on, if you read it at the very beginning,

to the 12 tribes scattered abroad,

he's writing to a Jewish people.

They understand the nature of the high priest.

They understand what the role of the high priest

to the Jewish people was.

And Paul, if it's Paul that's writing,

we're going to call it Paul for now.

There's a lot of debate on who actually wrote Hebrews,

but let's call it Paul for now.

Paul's actually saying we got a great high.

We don't just have a high priest.

We have a great high priest

who's passed through to the heavens, right?

Come on, Jesus, the son of God.

Because of that,

because he is our great high priest,

what's he saying?

Let's hold fast our confession.

What's he saying?

Let's hold fast our confession.

What's he mean by that?

What he means is don't shrink back.

Come on, when the pressure's on,

when the world's coming against you,

when you hear over and over

whether it's church families

or whether it's all kinds...

I mean, there's just a lot of pressure right now.

Words about tolerance,

words about inclusion

and all kinds of things.

But there's a place where we still have to hold

to a biblical truth

and a biblical standard.

We've got to hold fast our confession.

We can't yield.

We can't give back.

We can't shrink back.

There's no turning back

or shrinking back

or thinking any other way.

He's saying hold fast our confession

for we don't have a high priest

who can't sympathize with our weaknesses.

That's verse 15.

Watch what he says.

Who can't sympathize with our weakness

but was in all points tempted as we are

yet without sin.

Holy smoke.

Wait a minute.

Jesus was tempted the same way we are?

How many understand we're in the year 2025 right now.

We're coming to the close of the year.

It's amazing how fast this year's going.

Yet here we are.

And in the middle of that,

what do we have?

Jesus was tempted in all points like we are.

But we got so many new ways of temptation.

Jesus didn't have the internet on a cell phone.

So how could he be tempted like we are?

How many know Matthew 4 and Luke 4

both talk about Jesus

being led by the Spirit into the wilderness

for what purpose?

Does it say that?

To be tempted of the devil.

He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

to be tempted of the devil.

Literally says that in both Luke 4 and Matthew 4.

It's right after his baptism.

And he's led by the Spirit into the wilderness

to be tempted.

And we read about how many times was he tempted?

Three times, right?

At the end, three times.

But for 40 days he's tempted of the devil.

Tempted in all points like we are

yet without sin.

So we have a high priest who knows

what you're going through.

So that when you're tempted,

he's like, yep, been there, done that.

But we beat the devil.

Come on, we can do this.

Come on.

That no matter what you're going through.

Can I tell you what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians?

I'm going to say 10 and 13.

I think that's probably right.

There has no temptation taken you.

But such is his common demand.

But God is faithful.

Who will not suffer you to be tempted

above that which you are able.

But will with every temptation

make a way of escape?

Come on.

That you might be able to bear it.

You know what Paul just said?

You don't have to fail.

You don't have to fall.

You don't have to give in.

You don't have to sin.

You don't have to yield.

Come on.

There's a place where you and I get to stand

and put Jesus on display

and say this is what it's really like

to walk with God.

The happiest people on the planet

are the ones that are all in.

We have a high priest who's touched,

who understands our weaknesses,

sympathizes with us,

understands what we're going through.

Yet he was without sin.

If he was without sin, you can be too.

Pastor, we all have to sin.

1 John 2 and 6 says if we abide in him,

we ought to be able to walk even as he walked.

If you say that you abide in him,

you also ought to walk even as he walked.

That's 1 John 2 and 6.

1 John chapter 2, you know how he starts out?

My little children,

I write unto you that you sin not.

He wouldn't tell us sin not if we had to sin.

Then he says something,

but if you sin.

He didn't say when.

He said if.

Why?

Because you don't have to.

But if you do,

you've got an advocate with a father.

It ain't the end of the world.

Just come to him.

Come on.

If you fall down, get back up.

God, I'm sorry.

That wasn't it.

That is so not who I am.

I'm not going to allow that to identify me.

I'm not going to allow that to mark me.

That does not describe who I am.

I'm a son.

What if we lived that way every day?

Come on.

What if we really purposed in our heart, man?

This is the time for the bride of Christ.

To shine like never before.

What if everything that's going on in the world around us

was marked for such a time as this?

Like Esther who came into the kingdom.

Come on.

Can I tell you something?

Ecclesiastics, I think it's chapter 3.

There's a time to be born.

And God said this is your time.

You are not on the earth by accident.

You are not on the earth by chance.

You're not on the earth by coincidence.

You were designed for such a time as this.

And you're designed to be a habitation of God.

You're created to let God inhabit you

and shine forth in a world

that needs to know what he's really like.

He said, Pastor, you're preaching really strong.

I know it.

And I don't always do this.

But man, I can't not.

It would violate my heart to soften this message at all.

It's time for the bride of Christ to rise up

and actually be who God called us to be.

To let the world see this is.

This is the church of Jesus Christ.

This is what he paid for.

He paid an amazing price, not so you could live cheap.

He's calling us.

Watch what he says in the next verse.

Let us therefore come boldly.

I'm pretty sure that's what it says.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of judgment.

He didn't say the throne of judgment, did he?

He said, let us come boldly to the throne of grace

that we might obtain mercy and find grace

to help in a time of need.

Obtain mercy and find grace.

He said, when we come to the throne of grace,

we obtain mercy.

Look, can I say this?

You don't need mercy when you're right.

You need justice when you're right.

You need mercy when you were wrong.

And when we were wrong, we came to a throne of grace

and we found mercy and mercy.

We obtained mercy.

Mercy says, you're not gonna get what you deserve.

You're gonna get what he paid for

rather than what you got.

Everybody with me?

Come on, you don't need mercy when you're right.

You don't ask the judge for mercy when you were right.

You ask the judge for justice when you're right.

But you ask the judge for mercy when you were wrong.

And when we got it wrong, we obtained mercy.

And then we find grace.

What's grace?

Grace is the empowerment to live in the mercy

that we had so we don't have to go back

and keep getting mercy over and over

because grace has empowered us to live in righteousness

and to love righteousness and hate lawlessness.

Good preaching, brother.

Okay, so this is where we're at

in the body of Christ in this hour.

God is challenging us.

Pastor Matt put a thing out the other day.

Social media.

And it was the country of the United States.

But inside the outline was 2 Chronicles 7-14,

if my people, which are called by my name.

Would humble themselves and pray and seek my face

and turn from their wicked ways.

Then, if he said then, that means not until then.

But he said then when that happens,

I'll hear from heaven, forgive their sin

and heal their land.

I promise you that today, today, this afternoon,

millions upon millions of people

are gonna hear a gospel message.

I will tell you that churches are overflowing today

in capacity.

I will tell you that there are things

that are happening right now.

In this last two weeks,

things that are happening on planet Earth,

we're seeing an unprecedented move of God.

People are going back to church

who haven't been to church in a long time.

If you're new here today, I want you to know

you are welcome here.

You are welcome here, not just today, but any day.

And we welcome you and we say, man,

thank you for allowing us

to be part of your spiritual journey.

We can do this together.

We can actually do this.

And God is empowering his bride

to actually walk out the truth of the gospel

and be what Jesus paid for us to be.

If my people, come on, man.

So I'm gonna invite you to think with me for a minute.

He said, let us therefore come boldly

to the throne of grace

that we might obtain mercy

and find grace to help us in a time of need.

If there's ever been a time where we need mercy,

we need grace since right now.

It's a pretty big deal.

And I'd ask you, man, are you ready?

Are you ready to embrace righteousness,

to love righteousness and hate lawlessness

and actually be who God called us to?

Stand with me all over the place.

If you're part of the prayer team,

I'm gonna invite you to come forward right now.

I feel Jesus in the room.

I know we don't have as many on the prayer team

in the second service, but we've got some folks here

that are gonna help us pray.

God's gonna move.

We're drawing a line in the sand, church.

God's calling us.

Man, God's calling us.

He didn't say, if the unrighteous.

He said, if my people.

He didn't say, if the lawless called by the devil.

He said, if my people who are called by my name.

The first thing was humility.

Sometimes humility says, man, I gotta do better.

I'm not saying you're not doing it right.

I'm saying, can you do it better?

Have I not only loved righteousness,

have I hated lawlessness?

Am I at a point in my life where I actually hate lawlessness?

Everything you need to live and walk in victory

is already yours paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.

I would ask you, man, are you ready?

There's a revival sweeping across the land.

I'm telling you, man, over and over this week,

I kept hearing, arise, shine for your light has come

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Darkness is trying to press in

and the only way to get rid of darkness,

shine your light.

There's a lot of darkness trying to press in on the land.

You know what we're called to do?

Shine and be a bright and shining light.

Whew.

Jesus said, you're a city set on a hill that can't be hidden.

There's something about you and I just desiring right now in our life,

I'm gonna shine, I'm gonna do this thing.

I'm shaking off anything that's trying to hold me back.

I'm getting rid of old mindsets.

I'm not even thinking like a caterpillar.

Come on, you never see a butterfly.

Once that butterfly comes out of the cocoon,

you'll never see a butterfly trying to inch its way up a tree.

Butterflies don't inch their way up a tree.

Why? They spread their wings and fly.

Why? It's impossible for a butterfly to think like a caterpillar

and we gotta get rid of that caterpillar mentality.

You are not who you used to be.

You're a new creation in Christ Jesus.

It's time to spread your wings and fly.

There's something about you and I

walking into a renewed mind so we can have a transformed life.

I ask you, man,

are you ready to make that decision to draw the line in the sand?

No turning back, no thinking back, no shrinking back,

no thinking any other way.

I'm drawing a line in the sand.

I'm done.

I'm done.

Can I say this?

I'm done playing around.

I'm done with cultural Christianity.

Cultural Christianity looks like this.

Mom and dad have a crisis in their life.

They get the family together and say,

that's it, we're done, we're going to church now.

And they start going to church and they take the kids to church.

And every week, week after week, they take the kids to church

and they go to church on Sunday.

But they live the same Monday to Saturday.

And there's no transforming of the life.

And the kids grow up and you know what they think?

Christianity means you go to church.

Christianity doesn't mean you go to church.

Yes, you go to church.

We need that.

We need the assembly.

Don't ever forsake the assembly.

But it's so much more.

It's living a transformed life on Monday.

It's walking with Jesus on Tuesday.

It's living in the reality of the gospel every day

and not even thinking any other way.

It's loving righteousness and hating lawlessness

and determining in your heart, I hate sin.

I hate sin the same way I hate cancer.

I hate sin the same way I hate heart disease.

We have a sin problem.

I'm going to say it.

We've got a sin problem in the church.

It's time to get rid of it.

It's time to determine right now.

I'm done.

I'm done living with stinking thinking.

I'm not a caterpillar.

I'm a butterfly.

And I'm not thinking like a caterpillar anymore.

I'm done living with righteousness in one hand

but dabbling in sin in the other.

I can't live that way any longer.

Jesus didn't come to dabble in sin.

He came to destroy it.

He's manifested to destroy the works of the devil.

I would ask you, man, are you ready to make up your mind,

draw a line in the sand?

No turning back.

No looking back.

No thinking any other way.

Bow your head and close your eyes.

Man, I feel Jesus.

It's time.

It's time to determine, man.

I'm done.

I'm drawing the line.

I'm drawing the line.

I can't even think any other way.

I'm drawing the line in the sand

and there's no turning back.

I'm drawing a line in the sand and I'm saying,

you know what?

I am all in.

I'm not just going to love righteousness.

I'm going to hate sin.

And I'm going after this thing

with everything in me.

My light is going to shine.

My neighbors are going to see a difference.

My family is going to see a difference.

My coworkers are going to see a difference.

The people around me are going to see

what Jesus really looks like

because I'm determined to put him on display

and I'm going to walk this thing

and I'm going to do it as pure as I can.

If I fall down, I'm getting back up.

I am not staying there.

I'm not saying it is what it is.

I am going to live the gospel.

I'm going to live for truth.

I'm going to live this life.

I'm making a purpose in my heart.

Right now I'm determining I'm going to do this.

If you're here right now

God is speaking to your heart

and you're saying that's me.

I'm drawing a line.

I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand.

I'm going to ask you to take a step.

I'm going to ask you to make your way

to one of these people.

I'm going to ask you to join hands with them

and we're going to pray.

You know what's going to happen

when they join hands with you

and pray with you?

Something's going to shift.

Something's going to change.

I just know that God is speaking to me

really clear.

This is the time.

Thank you, man.

Thank you.

Anybody else who will come?

Who will come and say I'm done.

I'm done living halfway in halfway out.

I'm done living with one foot in one world

and one foot in the other.

I'm coming after this thing

and I'm going to do it.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming.

Thank you for making a decision.

Thank you for saying yes to the gospel.

Thank you for saying yes to Jesus.

Thank you for saying I want this thing.

I am done living halfway.

I am done living part way.

I am after this thing.

I am all in.

I'm not going to be part in.

I'm not going to be mostly in.

I'm not going to be some in.

I am gonna be all in.

I am making a decision for Jesus.

I'm making a decision for the gospel.

They're gonna pray with you right now.

I'm ready to believe God.

Does anybody else?

Let's just give God praise

for what's happening in the room right now.

I don't know about you, but I'm happy about it.

Why?

Because people are saying, I'm done living halfway.

I'm going after this thing and Jesus is king.

I believe that he's the king of kings

and the Lord of lords.

They're praying all over this place.

If you're close to somebody, grab them by the hand

because I wanna pray right now with you.

Find somebody, grab their hand if you can.

Why, there's something about uniting together in prayer

and just believing God together.

Father, in Jesus' name, I just declare the goodness of God,

the grace of God and the mercy of God.

I thank you that we can come boldly

to the throne of grace where we can obtain mercy

and find grace to help us in a time of need.

I thank you that Jesus is king, Jesus is Lord

and we declare the goodness of God

in the land of the living.

God, we declare your grace and your mercy,

your grace is sufficient.

In our weakness, your strength is made perfect

and we declare your goodness is resting upon us

and so is the people today, Lord.

We draw a line in the sand.

We are marking this day.

This is a marked day on the calendar

and we declare that today is the day of salvation,

that today is the day, Lord.

What we're saying, no more, no more are we dabbling,

no more are we playing, no more are we in and out,

in and out, up and down, round and about.

We are determining right now.

We're gonna live pure, we're gonna live holy,

we're gonna live righteous.

If we fall down, we're getting back up.

We are not gonna allow it to identify us.

We are not the sum total of our past mistakes.

We are who you say we are

and we have what you say we have

and we declare the goodness of God,

the grace of God and the mercy of God

that we will live a victorious life,

that we will walk out the gospel in purity,

that we will walk out the gospel as champions of truth

and we'll declare the word of the Lord

in the land of the living.

God, you are a good God

and you are raising up a people right now

that are saying yes, yes to you, Jesus,

yes to Jesus, no to the world

and we're going forward for the gospel's sake.

Give us a fresh determination and a renewed zeal

that we can actually become everything you created us

to be because that's what you paid for.

So Jesus, we thank you, we love you

and we bless you.

In Jesus' name, in the church, shout it, amen.

Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, bless the Lord.

Listen, as these are still praying,

we're gonna let these guys pray for a minute

but if you'd like special prayer,

anything going on in your body,

anything going on in your life, your family,

you need prayer for anything at all.

These folks are trained and ready to pray with you.

I invite you to come forward.

Other than that, hug five, six, 10, 27 people

and you can be dismissed, amen.

Thanks for being with us.

Thanks for listening to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast.

We hope this message encouraged you

and drew you closer to Jesus.

To stay connected, visit us at harvestchapelpa.com

or follow us on social media at Harvest Chapel PA.

We can't wait to be with you again next week.