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.
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 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.