Hey listen, you can let them in. They can sit on the floor in the aisles. We can go old school like Sermon on the Mount.
You can let them in. They can sit in the aisles on the floor. Y'all can let them in. They don't have to be out there. They can sit in the aisles, they can sit on the floor.
We go old school sermon on the mountain. Make room for everybody out there. You get them the option. You get them the option.
If they want to come in, they can come in and let them sit on the floor. They can sit on the floor and sit in the aisles, let them sit in the back. This is what Jesus is doing.
That's right, let them all in. Let them all in. Y'all just sit on the floor. Get in the aisles. It's alright.
Sermon on the mountain. It's alright. We ain't gotta be bougie. Come on.
Somebody help me. We ain't gotta be bougie. Come on. Y'all sit right.
Come on. We ain't gotta be bougie. Let them in the room.
Let them in the room, grab a chair, sit on the floor, get comfortable, take off your shoes. Let them in, it's alright. Y'all can come right up to these stanchions and get comfortable. Somebody celebrate them as they're coming in.
Come on, celebrate them as they're coming in. Come on, this is what Jesus is doing. Celebrate them as they're coming in.
Y'all can just sit on the floor, get comfortable. Yeah, just sit on the floor. If you got a seat already, just stay in your seat.
If you got a seat, just stay in your seat. Everybody else, y'all can come in and sit on the floor. We're gonna be family. Come on, we're going to be family. Close that stanchion.
It's alright. And the word of God grew and the number of disciples rapidly increased. I'll tell all them ushers get them the option.
They don't have to stay in the lobby Frank ain't gotta stay in the lobby. They can come in sit on the floor was me. I'll be on the floor I want to be in the room. I'm getting close to the glory Families with babies they can send a ballot look I'm but it's what the Lord is doing. I don't care I don't care, it's like, I don't care.
I know, I know that, I don't care. I know, I know because of a situation beyond our control, we can't even live stream to that overflow and we got people sitting in the lobby. Listen, I know the enemy's trying to fight this church. Huh? Greater is he who is in us.
I said greater is he who is in us! Ain't nothing the devil gonna do to shut up this place! Somebody make him nervous right now! Get Jesus!
Praise in this house! Come on! Get Jesus!
Praise in this house! Praise him! Somebody praise him in this place! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah, Lord! Hey yo, everybody back there, I invited you in. I gave you a personal invitation.
Don't look for a seat, just sit on the floor. Come on, there's people on the other side of the world, they have no chance to sit in. They have no building. We're not going to be bougie today.
We're going to sit in the presence of the Lord. That's alright. It's alright.
If you got, listen, if there's men in the room and you see a sister next to you on the floor, give her your chair. You see a female standing, give her your chair. Come on brothers.
You see a woman standing, give her your chair. You sit down on the floor. and the Word of God grew and the number of disciples rapidly increased There was 183 of us in this room two years ago.
The Lord has added thousands of brothers and sisters to his family. Look at what the Lord has done. You can't watch the Lord of Scores! The Lord has done what the Lord has done He's done what the Lord has done Shut his head, his mouth is broken. Look at what the Lord has done.
Broken man is healed now. Lost soul say, shout now. Jesus Christ.
You're not finished yet, you're not finished yet, you're not finished yet Say look at what the Lord has done, look at what the Lord has done You're not, you're not, you're not, you're not finished yet Say you're not finished yet Say look at what the Lord has done You are not free You are not free Say you are not free You are not free Say you are not free You are not free So be it Painting by the throat Look at what the Lord Look at what the Son She does cry Shout, Shout, He's got his name on the chains, looking with the Lord, Jesus, looking with the Lord. Shout out over this room. If you can see what the Lord is doing, shout out over this room. This room. This has nothing to do with the man, but everything to do with God.
This is the Lord's doing! This is the Lord's doing! This is the Lord's doing! The Lord's doing! The Lord!
The Lord! The Lord! The Lord!
Celebrate Jesus in this room! Sunday, fire! Stop, stop. Listen to me. My wife just reminded me that today is Pentecost Sunday.
50 days. Penta means five. Fifty.
50 days since we celebrated the resurrection of Christ. Okay. But it was on this day in history that people were in a room. Praying and seeking God and something like cloven tongues of fire settled on all of them. Fire!
Fire! Fire! Send it on all of us! Hallelujah, Jesus!
And the scripture says something like... Cloven tongues of fire appeared over all of their head and it settled on all of them and they prayed with the spirit as the Lord gave them utterance. Now you can sit down if you want.
I believe by faith that God is about to pour out something on you right now. Somebody give him praise right now. He's pouring something out.
Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!
Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire of the Holy Ghost! Fire of the Holy Ghost!
Fire of the Holy Ghost! Healing! Fire of the Holy Ghost!
Healing! Fire of the Holy Ghost! Fire! Fire of the Holy Ghost!
Life! Water! Fire of the Holy Ghost! Miracle! Healing!
Hallelujah! Pray healing, deliverance, signs and wonders and miracles. It will hit your life and hit your house in the name of Jesus.
Cloven tongues of fire settling on everybody. We will not be lukewarm. We will be on fire for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Somebody give Him praise! Fill this house, fill this house with your glory Fill this house, fill this house with your fire Speak with me, O God. I want to give Jesus a hand clap of praise.
The celebration has just receded. Everyone who's shedding tears right now, I see so many of you wiping your face. I just want to remind you that the Lord knows, that He sees, and that He cares.
And that even when you cannot articulate what is in the depths of your soul, Those tears are like liquid prayers. Sometimes when we don't have the words to say what's on the inside, I want you to have confidence that the Lord can read those tears. That you don't have to speak for Him to know.
that he knows and i want to believe by faith in our worship and exhortation of him that he has moved in our behalf in some area of your life he's gone ahead of you and behind you and around you i believe miracles have entered the room miracles i believe that believe that before i jump into the proclamation of god's word um Y'all not in a rush, right? Two of my staffers are on their face. I want to give them a moment to get out of their system what they need to get out of their system.
You never know what a person is going through. If we can't connect with God in here, I mean, I don't know what we're supposed to do out there, like, where the saints come together. That's why I hate American Christianity.
Like, everything gotta be so boxed in, so perfect, and so timed, that we think just the sermons of men is gonna do all the work. And sometimes we just need a touch from God outside of a man. Don't nobody wanna agree with that.
Sometimes you just need a touch from God outside of a man. Sometimes you think you need a sermon and what you need is to just sit in God's presence. Sometimes a touch from the Lord would do much more than a sermon.
Some of y'all are full of sermons and still ain't nothing changed. Got books full of notes and still ain't nothing changed. That's why we want to be a house of presence and proclamation of scripture and the spirit of doctrine and dunamis. Brooke are you good?
On you good? Before I jump into the proclamation of God's word, if you're new, I normally don't do announcements before we preach. We generally worship God, we go straight into the proclamation of the word. But today, I do got to share three things with you that are very important.
I want you to hear my heart. and I share them with you, okay? If you're new to our gathering, I want you to know and understand that we have built this entire ministry on the foundation of God's word and specifically two particular passages.
Acts chapter two, verse 42 to 46. is the foundation of what we're building our church on and Matthew 28 19 the spread of the great commission and as there in acts we see the blueprint for the purest expression of the church the world has ever known in history a devotion to the word a devotion of prayer a devotion of community and small groups a devotion to outreach a devotion to gathering large and gathering small a devotion to sharing all things in common that it did not depend on the Roman government to meet their needs okay depending on each other to meet their needs my wife has a vision that we would carry out that back half of that passage in acts where we share all things in common right so it's like i have something in my home i don't need there is a sister in our church who needs that we give that away my wife and i had a bed in our garage that we did not need there was a sister a mother in our church who needed a bed for her child we gave that away i've had cars that i did not need we heard about somebody in church who had a need we've given away cars to people at need is we share all things in common that when we hear a brother or sister in the gathering as a need they don't have to depend on social services to meet that need the brothers and sisters meet the need of the brothers and sisters like there were some brothers in our church who saw a single mother take an uber or lift back and forth to church and they came together to buy her a car took her to a restaurant and gave her the keys because she did not have to go to a lot we took care of her because we share all things in common. So my wife has a vision that we would birth that into the church in culture. So in the fall of this year, we're going to give birth to an initiative called All Things in Common, where we're going to challenge people in our church to bring things that are in good condition, that you do not need, that you do not have clothes, strollers, cars, vehicles, equipment. We bring that to the house of God, and we give it away to other brothers and sisters who have need. Pulling clothes from the attic and clothes from the basement.
My baby outgrew that. This child has a need when we are swapping things to make sure everybody's need is met. From clothes to vehicles, from furniture to books.
And then we're going to do that at least twice to four times a year until it becomes culture in our house to hear that people in our church has a need and we run to meet that need as we're led by the Spirit. We will not be dependent upon the government to meet our needs. I'm trying to prepare y'all for the future. When the time is coming when the government that will be hostile towards the church and that we will have to depend on each other for our needs.
Bringing each other's groceries and taking care. I'm trying to prepare you for the future of what's coming. So that's coming in the fall.
Secondly, listen to me carefully, okay? I served this church with my whole heart 11 straight months out the year preparing oral presentations every single week of my life no matter what's happening in my life I'm leading a growing staff of full-time people and contractors we're in meetings and executive meetings and budget meetings and dealing with all of the different nuances of a growing ministry. That stuff is not easy. Leading a church is very, very complicated. It is very, very stressful.
For this reason, some 3,000 men leave the ministry every single year, and it is reported every year that pastors commit suicide. because they can't handle the weight of the ministry. I do not want to go to my grave because I love work ethic without rest or hustle culture without rest.
So every year, if you're new to our church, don't get nervous. I leave in the month of June and I take the month of June to pour back into me and let Jesus pour back into me and I spend that time with my family so that I can be replenished. Okay? And I've taught you already in the scriptures from these last couple messages that we see Jesus himself labor and resting, labor and resting. If the Lord needed rest, we too need rest.
Listen, it is not easy to, no matter what's happening in your life, to have to stand up here every week and give an oral presentation. That is very difficult. Some of you even remember when you was in college and you saw you had to do an oral presentation on the syllabus and you was gripped in your stomach leading up to that day. Try doing that every single week of your life. No matter what's happening in your life, whether you have a good week or a bad week So this is an emotional week for me.
My daughter Israel graduated from high school this week There's changes happening in my house. My son Malachi who runs our productions, he graduated last year, he's in college. Another arrow out, another arrow, so there's a lot of stuff going on in our home.
My wife and I need grace, and so we check. out in June so I'll only be here this week and next week and then we'll be gone. Now listen to me carefully.
If you're new, that's not the time for you to check out, okay? Because what I don't want is a phone call while I'm gone. People are not coming.
People are not giving. People are not serving because I'm not here. Listen, the gospel is not chained to my mouth.
If you check out while I'm not here, you make me an idol. You make me an idol. You say you can't worship Jesus if I'm not here. And you can't be faithful if I'm not here.
And you can't be generous if I'm not here. You make me an idol. And then if I'm getting calls or the people are not coming, they're not giving, they're not serving, they're not showing up, then I can't rest. So I'm asking you, watch this word, for grace.
While we're gone, to allow my family to rest. How do you do that? Just be faithful while we're gone.
Show up, serve, give, do all the things you've been doing in my absence. In my absence. Don't make me an idol that this can't happen without me.
Now because my daughter just graduated, we're going to take a few more weeks on the back side of June to pour into her. And to love on her. Because my first family is not everybody's in this room. My first family lives at my house. My first church lives at my house.
So I got to care for my first church. So I'm asking y'all for grace. Now you're not going to be left abandoned.
There will be men of God in here preaching the word to you. In the first couple weeks in June, listen to me. A son in the faith. A man of God who came out of Bible college.
Who moved here after Bible college. He did a church plant residency with us for two years. We discipled him for two years, went to Arizona for his wife to do medical school.
He's a son of the faith of mine. He will be here preaching to you the first couple weeks in June. And I want you to show up and support him.
Why? He will be the first man we know personally who came through our doors, who will be planting his own church in Virginia in another year or two. So we want to support him in that church plant. He's going to take the sermons he preached and use that content to reach people in Virginia for his church plant.
I assure you he's not a slouch. He's a serious man of God. He's going to handle this word with integrity.
You're going to be blessed. And then behind him, we're coming pastors, elders, leaders from our church. You're going to be well taken care of while I'm gone.
Somebody say amen. So you got two more weeks of my loud mouth. And then I want you to pray for my family while we're gone.
And I want to come back to a church that is stronger and healthier. And you showed the ability to do this without me. Amen, somebody. If you're new to our church, you're sitting out there in the lobby.
If you're watching this message at another time, if you're a guest, welcome to 2819. If you are a digital disciple, welcome to 2819. And if you are an unbeliever, if you're not... a follower of Jesus. You are hanging out trying to figure out the claims of Christ. We know you're in the room. We know that you're watching, that you're listening.
We are thankful that you are here. I say all the time every week, you can be long before you believe. You could jump in a small group.
You could jump in a squad. You could jump on a team. You could be amongst the brothers and sisters. You could ask questions. You could be in fellowship.
You can do all of that. As we are believing, God will invite you onto this side of the fence where you will be a son and daughter. So you are welcome to be among us.
Even if you don't believe what we believe, you can belong before you believe. We're glad that you're here. We know that you're here.
So thank you for being here. If you're not a follower of Christ, we're glad that you are here. Okay?
We are in a series called Wisdom and Faith. and wonder we are walking through the book of matthew together in this series matthew 12 through 20 okay i don't want to presume you know who matthew was he was an outcast jew who worked for the roman government in the first century a.d he was converted to christianity by the lord jesus christ he became a follower of christ an apostle of christ a martyr for christ he died for what he saw a resurrected jesus and what he believed in he wrote this book that bears his name the book of matthew that we're studying together If you are a note taker at 2819, today we'll be in Matthew chapter 15 verses 1 through 9. Matthew chapter 15 verses 1 through 9. We're going to title this message, Counterfeit Righteousness. Fake, phony, nauseating, and sickening.
A counterfeit righteousness. Would you pray for me as I pray for you? Eternal God and ever wise Father.
Lord, even right now in my weakness and my humanity, Lord, I just lean into your strength to proclaim a second time today the wonderful, glorious truths of these holy scriptures. Father, God, I pray right now, God, across this room, for anyone that will hear this message, I am asking you that you would pour out upon us a spirit of conviction, a spirit of repentance, a spirit of awakening. Father, I know that we love you.
love itching ears and we love to be coddled. But Lord, I pray this morning you would confront us right where we are, that you would challenge us right where we are. I pray, God, you would work in us as the word is proclaimed, ringing out of our hearts everything that is not like you.
I pray, Spirit of the living God, you would do a supernatural work in the hearts and the souls and the minds of the sons and daughters and maybe even the unbeliever who's listening to me right now, you would touch them in some special way. Lord, I pray you would draw us to yourself. Move us beyond a sermon, beyond this moment, beyond a service, God.
We want to hear your voice speaking to us from heaven. Let something shift in these hearts and these minds today. I pray in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
All the children of God say amen, and amen, and amen. A counterfeit righteousness. A family, my wife has a very good friend who is a pastor's wife of an awesome church in North Carolina. And her mother is a member of a quote-unquote Christian church that was founded in Korea and is led by a woman who at some point in time, so much I could get into that's wrong with some of her behavior, but at some point in time, this particular spiritual leader began to... Add to the word of God her own man-made doctrines, her own traditions, and her own heresies to her preaching to those body of people.
She would continue to exalt her doctrines even above the word of God in an attempt to kind of exert a type of control over the minds and the hearts of all of the people who became her subjects and not the members of her church. When news start to circulate about her. behavior and her doctrines, she upended her church and vacated the ministry from Korea to a small island in the Pacific. And when she got to that island, she continued to exalt her man-made doctrines even above the word of God. The tentacles of the ministry begin to spread into every fabric of society in that island.
It's happening to this day into the federal government, into the school system, to every business in the economic system. until right now that particular ministry has a stronghold on the people in that island. At one point in time, the leader of that ministry traveled out of that island to another nation, and when she was walking through the airport, she was arrested by the authorities for her corruption, and she was put in prison where she is right now.
Her son who came behind her took over the ministry. He continued her false doctrines. Now, family, listen to me very carefully. As I'm talking to you right now, this very same cancer is happening right here in the United States of America.
That as I'm talking to you right now this Sunday morning, there are two cancers amongst many that I see growing right now inside the body of Christ that are very similar to what's happening on that island. First, across this platform, through the medium of preaching and posts and podcasts and books and conferences and all these things are the words of men. and the traditions of men and the heresies of men that they are exalted even above the word of god in an attempt to create a type of righteousness outside of christ and outside of the scriptures and you have people in rooms listening to them being bound by everything they say that we have more confidence in apostles and prophets and people than we do even the word of god another cancer we see in the body of christ that this church the history of the church capital c Man, right now until this day has been replete throughout history with men and women of God, leaders who have come onto the scene and have been watched crippled by the blight of what I call incongruency. Their life does not match what they preach and they say things from the public that they do not live in private. So their preaching is full of doctrines but their life is full of righteousness, righteousness.
And so there is a fake piety by people who are poisonous on the inside, and we glorify them for what we see on platforms, but don't know that their life is very dark and private. And at the center of all of this that's happening right now in America are two powerful words that I want to draw to your attention. Listen to me. The first word is authority, and the second word is authenticity. That is, what will we submit our life to, and who will we believe are credible?
It is these two words that are the center of our text that I want to share with you this morning. Very, very important. Very, very powerful. Because what's happening in this text is happening right now in our country. Matthew writes in Matthew chapter 15 and verse 1, he says, Then, when is then?
Sometime after Jesus preached all day on the Sea of Galilee. Sometime after Jesus fed the thousands of people on the shores of Galilee. Sometime after he sent his disciples on that boat across the Sea of Galilee, all these things we've been preaching to you for the last couple weeks. Matthew said, Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.
Stop. Now, family, I want to draw your attention to some things in this text. First, Who are the Pharisees?
The Pharisees are a group of religious elite. From the first century, they came out of another tribe from before the days of Jesus. The Pharisees burst onto the scene and they became, for sorts, the pastors of the people of Israel.
They were also a religious sect and a political party that had great power and influence in Israel. They were the ones responsible for preaching to the people the Old Testament and the Word of God. Also partnered with the Pharisees was this group of people called scribes. They were responsible for copying the word of God and making these copies and translating the scriptures that the Pharisees would preach. Now I want you to see that this group, the Pharisees and the scribes, came all the way from Jerusalem to the northern shore of Galilee, watch, to confront Jesus about some doctrine dealing with his followers or his disciples.
It is like almost 90 miles from Jerusalem all the way to Galilee where Jesus is. And so these people travel on foot or horse or whatever, some 90 miles all the way to get to where the Lord is, just to bring an accusation against his followers around some doctrine. Now family, pay attention. Follow the progression of the text. The Lord is not some unknown carpenter from some small town in Nazareth.
Those days are behind him. Now the Lord is a very popular rabbi. Where we are in Matthew is about two years into the ministry of Christ. He is famous. He is well known, he has notoriety.
And what the Lord is dealing with, with the increase of influence, is that thorn that comes on the backside, controversy, that comes with the increase in influence. People who attack you who don't really know you. And so these men, watch, travel this great distance just to confront him about his disciples. And look what they say. Why do your disciples break the traditions of our elders?
What is the traditions of the elders? Listen to me. The Pharisees and the religious elite, over decades of time, created these oral laws, these traditions, these man-made rules and regulations that they passed on from generation to generation, and they used it to build a fence around the Word of God to create additional righteousness outside of the Scriptures.
By the time Jesus came onto the scene, this oral tradition that got codified in the second century into a book called the Mishnah, the Pharisees exalted their laws and exalted their traditions even above the word of God. And so now they're teaching to the people in Israel these oral laws as, watch, authoritative, and they have people following their oral authoritative traditions that they exalted even above the law of God. Now, what is their beef with the disciples of Jesus?
They said, man, we came 90 miles to tell you, how come your followers don't wash their hands when they eat? They break the commandments of our tradition. I want to draw your attention to the word break. This means something that they're doing habitually. Now, family, listen, there's nothing wrong with washing your hands before you have a meal.
But this is not that, family. This is not the washing of hands before you have a meal. No, this is go back to the Old Testament. In the laws of God, God created a law for the priests only that before they handle sacred bread in the house of God, they had to do a ceremonial washing before they handled that sacred bread.
What the Pharisees did, watch, is took a commandment God gave priests only. They exhor-they lifted it out of context, that's what people do right now, eisegesis, right? Not exegesis.
They lift scriptures out of context and then create a massive law and strap it on the backs of everybody in Israel. So now they say no one can eat food unless you wash your hands ceremonially. I mean preachers do that right now. We lift scriptures out of the Bible, out of context, and we create man-made laws. and regulations and rules that we strap to the necks of Christians that don't read so you have people always feeling guilty and burdened doing all these things your prophet said and all these things your bishop said and all these things your apostle said that are not inside the word of God so you're always wrestling with guilt from something some man of God told you or some woman of God told you at some conference so you guilty all the time for stuff the Lord didn't even tell you to do watch and all of that man we hear from this preacher man as false doctrines hiding behind the guise of god said and empty theological doctrines that cannot be supported by the word of god how many times have you heard a preacher on social media say god said and what follows is some law they put on you that's not founded in the word of god like some dude hit me up on instagram this week saying some prophet told him it's sinful to go to the gym It's sinful to go to the gym.
I said, bro, listen to me very carefully. I've spent five days a week in the gym. While I'm in there, I'm listening to the word of God in my ear.
I'm listening to worship music. I'm reading books, audible books. Man, I can't tell you how many times I told him I've had intimate encounters with God while I'm in the gym. I mean, between a set, I've heard the Holy Spirit speak to me. I'm preaching things I've gotten even from the gym.
But this man was bound, feeling guilty in his heart. Saying like, man, I'm kind of overweight and I want to go get on a treadmill, but some prophet told me if I go to the gym, I'm sinning against God. And now I don't want to hurt God, so I don't know if I should go to the gym.
Now he's wrestling with something that's not even supported by the scriptures. Some of you have been victims of that same stuff. Coming out of churches and reading books and conferences of somebody that said, God said... And made you feel guilty, strapped to you some behavior, some rule, some regulation, some practice that you can't keep up.
And then when you fall short, you feel guilty, which is a false guilt because the scriptures didn't even command you to do that. Now watch, these followers follow the progression of text. They're Jewish men, family.
It is inconceivable to think. that Jews would violate the traditions of the elders unless they saw their leader doing it first. So is there any evidence that Jesus wasn't washing his hands before he ate? Man, Luke chapter 11 and verse 37. Luke wrote this. He says, while Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to come and dine.
Come spend time in my house. So he went in and reclined at the table. Verse 38. Then the Pharisee was astonished to see that he, Jesus, did not first wash before dinner.
And the Lord said to him, now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. So Luke shows us that Jesus had a habit, watch, of breaking the traditions of the elders, i.e. Jesus had a habit of not being bound by the traditions and man-made rules of men who were immoral anyway. Jesus was bound by the rules of his father, but he refused, watch, to conform to the religion and the legalism of men who were strapping people with heavy burdens outside of the word of God.
Man, and I just wish some of us would be more like our Savior, that we would be non-conformist to regulations and rules and legalism and the false doctrines of men that keep strapping things into your Christian life. Man, some of y'all have built all these things into your Christian life that you have no scripture for because you heard something at some conference or you read something in some book. Somebody told you if you don't do this, God is going to be mad at you. And I just wish some of us would have more of the courage to break free from doctrines that are heretical and lies that men have created. Some of you don't even know you're being beguiled by men because you have no knowledge of the scriptures for yourself.
This is why I keep encouraging you, the members of 2019, to read the New Testament and read the scriptures and sit with this Bible. So when you come up for air, you scroll through social media and you see clips and you say, uh-uh, that ain't right. Nah, uh-uh, the Lord ain't say that.
Uh-uh, the Lord ain't say that. Don't you get tired of people that will say, God said, and then what flows out of them is not supported by the scriptures. He gave you a revelation at 4 a.m.
that's not supported by the Bible. Watch. So now whose authority am I submitted to? The prophet that said this is the year of. Oh, God is going to give everybody a husband this year?
It's the year for everybody to get booed up, right? But you don't know who God intends to be single for another season. So you can say that to an entire room, but can't support that with the scriptures.
I don't care. I'm trying to get some of y'all free from religious foolishness. Man, I told that brother. I said, yo, brother, about the gym, why don't you just go read Galatians and be free? You know how Paul starts that book?
You foolish people. Who has bewitched you? Who have you been listening to?
Why do you love the voices of people that never opened the Bible? Why? You trust them because of fame and status, because of social media following.
Some of y'all men, y'all are like little dogs running behind popular people and you never see them unpack the scriptures. You just believe whatever they say. You think they have some relationship with Christ that you can't have for yourself.
You think they're hearing from a God that you can't hear from for yourself. You think they have some interpretation of the scriptures that you can't get for yourself? You think because they got an accent They're God's man or woman you think they're because they're from a foreign country They're God's men and women you think because they walk slow and wear flowy pants and they can articulate Well, you think what they're saying is doctrine?
And you look at me crooked because I got on J's and a hoodie, but I'm walking you through these line by line, verse by verse. Come on, man. Y'all be caught up in the dumbest stuff. You think because they got an accent and they walk slow, you think everything coming out of their mouth had come from God. Where is the Bible for what you are saying?
I wish I would stop being impressed with oratory and start being impressed with character fruit and Bible teaching Gosh, man, I gotta move on but listen to me. I just I got a beef in my heart If I'm i'm getting tired of seeing people rape the body of christ You drop 10 stacks for a book that has no Bible in it? You drop 10 stacks for a program that is not built on God's Word?
I'm getting tired of seeing false prophets pillage the people of God because we keep running behind everybody that's famous. See, you think size means affirmed. You think crowds means affirmed. You think Instagram following feels... Some of you...
Listen. Gosh, man, I didn't... Some of us, for lack of discernment, we substitute charisma for anointing.
And you think because somebody has charisma, or because they're famous, or because everybody's asking them to come speak, you substitute that for anointing. Like a king named Saul ain't sit on a throne for 13 years when God stripped him of that anointing. It's giving last days to me. 2 Timothy chapter 3. For in the last days, men will keep up for themselves. Teachers who will keep telling people what they want to hear. These are the teachers you keep exalting in our country.
So you got all these people that make you feel good while you're headed to hell at the same time. So these Pharisees come, I know you're offended, I'm trying to get you free from nonsense. Everybody follow the text, watch.
So they come and they make an accusation against the followers of Jesus. Don't y'all notice the followers of Jesus said nothing, Rocio? They didn't even have to defend themselves. I love the fact that the Lord knows how to punch somebody in the mouth for you.
He knows how to defend you. He knows how to vindicate you. You don't got to respond to every critic, troll. You don't got to respond. The Lord knows how to defend you and how to vindicate you.
Let people keep bringing false accusations against you. Sometimes just back away from the table. And let the Lord defend you in due time.
Somebody called me a false prophet this week. I felt my flesh rise up. And humility said, leave it alone.
It's prideful to think you got to respond to every accusation. Thank you, bro. So they attack the disciples of Jesus. In verse 3, he answered them and said, Why do you? Break the commandment of God for the sake of your traditions.
So Jesus said, you come in here attacking my people for something you created. Let me ask you a question. Why do y'all break the commandments of God with your traditions? Notice the word your. Not my traditions.
Your traditions. The ones y'all created, Jesus said. Now the Lord uses an ancient rabbinical method of dealing with conflict. That is responding to a question with a question.
This is the way of backing down a fool. Well, how come y'all do that? Well, how come you do this? So they come and say, how come your men don't wash their hands?
Well, how come y'all break the command of God by not following the laws? You use your own traditions to break the command of God. And the Lord says to them in verse 4, For God commanded, this is his argument with them. Now everybody pay attention.
Honor your father and your mother. And whoever reviles father and mother must surely die. So the Lord says to them, I want to bring up to y'all a commandment from my Lord that y'all break. So what is the Lord citing here? I'm almost done, family.
He cites to them the moral law of God. The law that God gave a man named Moses on a mountain. That this Bible that was written by 40 human authors, the first scripture ever written came from God himself on two tablets of stone. So God was the first writer of the scriptures and the first thing he ever wrote was the ten commandments. The first four, the first six was to watch.
The first four commandments was to govern our relationship between him and humankind. The last six was to govern the relationship between people. It was the first thing God gave human beings as laws. Jesus cites the fifth commandment, honor your mother and father, which is the first one with a promise. Watch, that your days may be long in the land of the living.
Now I want you to see, later on in Leviticus they added a penalty for dishonoring your parents. Death. Now I want you to know that this word honor has nothing to do with feelings or criteria. It doesn't say honor your mother and father if they were good. Honor your mother and father if they never abandoned you.
Honor your mother and father if they wasn't junkies. It doesn't say that. There's no criteria for honor.
The only criteria for honor is thus says the Lord. So you may not owe a parent access. You may not have to bring them into your home, but you do, you are called to honor them. Watch. You are called to respect them.
And this word honor has more to do with just respect. This word honor in the text you're going to see in a moment means, watch, care for them if they are in need when they are elderly. Now, everybody watch this carefully. Watch. The commandment...
is honor your mother and father this is what god gave the people and take care of them when they are elderly the commandment is honor your mother and father and take care of them when they are elderly this is the commandment god gave his people who gave it god gave it now watch the next verse carefully this is the center of the text but you say that is the pharisees if anyone tells his father or his mother what would you have gained from me is given to god Oh my gosh, look! He need not honor his father or his mother. So for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. Do you see that?
So the Lord says, God gave y'all a law. Honor your mother and father. You create your own law that says you don't have to honor your mother and father.
So we see two laws at work right here. Now this is very important. Pay attention.
We see the moral law of God that came from heaven. Honor. your mother and your father. Then we see another law from the first century called the Corbin law that the Pharisees created. And what the Corbin law says, if you were wealthy or had resources, watch, you can go to the temple, dedicate your resources to the temple and use that as a tax shelter.
So if your parents had need and they came to you begging for bread, you would say, well, I can't help you mother or father. Watch, I dedicated all my resources to God. Watch. So the Pharisees, pay attention, created a man-made law, watch, to circumvent the laws of God.
Watch. It is motivated by greed and the ability to keep everything that they want to hoard for themselves. Now, they created their own law to circumvent the law of God, and then they exalted that law to authority, and they strapped that with the people.
So now, instead of being obedient to what God says, They got people being obedient to what they say and they got people violating God's word to be obedient to their word. So as a result of that, the word of God has no power in the lives of God's people because they're following a false doctrine that has no virtue in it. The same thing is happening to you right now. There's so many of us in this room right now, I'm telling you, always saying that the word don't work for me because you're following teachings that are not in the Bible.
I was under this teacher and nothing happened in my life because you're following teachings that are not in the Bible. And for as much as the Pharisees were corrupt for what they did, listen to me, I'm coming for you now. You and I are guilty of doing the same thing.
Quiet. You know what we're guilty of? We're guilty of doing this exact same thing.
Now I'm talking to you like this because I care about you. You know what we're guilty of doing? We are guilty of creating laws in our own hearts to circumvent the laws of God.
So you hear something from God's Word and because it's inconvenient for you, you create your own law in your heart to circumvent the laws of God. And what we're really doing is creating shelters for sin. and shelters for compromise. So we come across a scripture that says, be holy before you get married, but that's inconvenient for you because you love your man.
So you create your own law in your heart to circumvent the laws of God. The scripture says forgive, but because the person hurt you so bad, you create your own law in your own heart that says I can hold somebody in unforgiveness and you circumvent the laws of God. The scripture says be generous, but because it's your money, You create rationale in your own heart to circumvent the laws of God. And over and over and over all throughout this room, and I know it's in here, you and I keep hearing sermons that make you feel convicted. You read something that makes you feel convicted.
And instead of leaning in to be transformed, you create a law in your heart that says, I don't have to follow that because. And then what you do in that moment is create a shelter for your sin to live and for compromise to live. Man, I've seen a popular single pastor do this. If I called his name, you would know his name.
Man, he's single for I don't know how long. He said, he was reported as saying allegedly, oh, we got to create a different gospel for single people. We can't really expect them to shut it down until they get married. Like, that's not realistic. That's not realistic.
So we got to create another gospel. for single people. No, you're trying to create a shelter so you can preach and be in sin at the same time. It's that part right there. No, you want to be able to preach this doctrine and then bang women on the front row at the same time and feel no guilt.
That's what you want. You're trying to create another gospel to create a shelter for your sin and a shelter for your compromise. And we do the same thing all the time.
How many times have you heard something come across the platform, read something in scriptures, you felt, oh my gosh. The Lord is speaking. You feel convicted in the moment. And now you have a decision.
Lean in to be changed or create a law in your own mind that says, watch this. I know what the Bible says, but I ain't doing that. So you create your own laws. to circumvent God's laws and then you make the power of the Bible of no effect in your life.
So watch, I know, I know. So for you it's only church but not transformation. Man, I used to run with this sister and now man she's on fire for God and I'm still stuck dealing with the same stuff because the word of God has no power in your life because every time the Lord confronts you from the word you create a law against his word.
I already know your boyfriend is a law against the word. Your girlfriend is a law against the word. The sin that you love is a law against the word. All the things that God is trying to work out of you to transform you, you make laws against his word.
Oh, love your wife. No, you make a law against that. Be submitted to your husband.
You make a law against that. No, I'm not going to be submitted to my husband. I don't trust men like that.
Get healed and then be submitted to God's word. Well, love your wife as Christ loves the church. No, she don't deserve that kind of love. Neither did you, but he died on a cross.
Neither did you, but he died on a cross. Well, no, I'll love her that way when she starts doing this for me. When she starts cooking for me, I'll do when she do. No, you're creating a law to circumvent the Word of God.
Now pay attention. I know you're squirming. I know you want to get out of the room. Ain't nobody inviting me.
No way to preach this, right? Because this is not inspirational. I know what you...
You want to be inspired. You want to feel good about yourself. You want to go to church and leave on cloud nine.
You want to be inspired while you're headed to hell at the same time. I'm trying to help you. Didn't Jesus said many is going to come to me on that day. And say, Lord, Lord, did we not do all this stuff in your name?
You know where your false prophet is sending you? He's sending you for the day of judgment, where you're going to hear, depart from me. You worker of iniquity, you know what that is?
You person who loves sin. Just like that iPhone went off, I'm praying for God to sound an alarm in your heart right now. See? That was a prophetic moment right there. When it was quiet, the alarm went off.
God trying to tell somebody out from heaven, it's time to wake up now. It's time to live for real now. It's time to be holy now.
It's time to run after me with all your heart now. Now is the time to do that. Why don't you shout for holiness instead? You see, if I gave you eight promises that God was going to make you rich, you shout.
But I tell you, shout for holiness and don't nobody want to say nothing. Why don't you shout for holiness right now? You say, why am I talking to you like this?
Listen to me, man. I'm so fed up. I'm talking to you like this because I'm trying to save you from being lost forever.
I'm about to land the plane. Haven't you not read where it says neither the sexually immoral or the homosexual or the idolater or the one who practices divination, neither none of these people that do any of these things will enter into the kingdom of heaven. I'm trying to stop you from going to hell. Come on, man. And I know you don't want to hear that.
You don't want to hear that. I know you don't. Listen, I'm closing.
I know you don't want to hear that. Dang it, my foot feel like it's broken. Listen to me, man. All you want to hear is blessings, and you're awesome, and God is finning the do, and he's about to do, and finning the do.
That's all you want to hear. And you're like a bunch of dope fiends cracked up on bad doctrine. God hates sin. And every time you hear something that convicts you. is a good thing.
It lets you know your heart is still sensitive to God. And every time you read something that convicts you, it's a good thing. It tells you your heart is still sensitive to God.
And every time you feel convicted, you know what the Lord is trying to do? He's trying to woo you in just a little bit closer. He's trying to love you just a little bit more.
He's trying to watch. He wants you to, for a lot of our insecure ladies. who keep looking for love horizontally he's trying to show you a love vertically first and for this right here for this kind of preaching right here ain't nobody blowing me up to come to their conference You know who they want at their conferences?
People that's gonna make people shout and raise money. I'm telling y'all what I know from behind the scenes. They only want people on the platform who's gonna make you shout and can raise money to fix your budget. Y'all have no idea what's going on behind the scenes. I've been in rooms, man.
I'm telling you what I know. They only want people on platforms in front of American Christians who when you leave they want you to be shouting because you're inspired and then they're going to say now let's sow in this moment. I feel the Lord said there's a thousand people in here who should put a put a thousand dollars right now in this moment. Let's let's let's everybody right now quick quick quick quick get a get a thousand dollar check right now and and right now and let's let's sow into this moment right you're sowing into what gospel are you sowing into?
I'm in trouble right now, right? I'm just checking with one of the elders. I shouldn't be talking like that, right? Are you sure?
I'm just checking with the elders. Alright, let's land the plane. You know why I'm talking to you like this?
I'm talking like this because, number one, I love you with my whole heart. I do. Now listen to me carefully.
Everybody watch me. Eyes on me like Tupac. Look at me. I'm talking to you like this.
They want to leave. I feel it. Go ahead minister for me. No.
No, I feel heat in the room. Somebody contemplating not coming next week because they don't want to be assaulted by truth. This is my squirm in Luana.
I don't know if I'm coming back there next week because it was like, it was truth from the Bible and it made me feel convicted. Look at me. You know why I'm talking to you like this? I'm talking to you like this today to try to protect you from being labeled by the next two words in the text.
When Jesus turned to men who keep creating laws to circumvent the Bible. I want you to see what he called them. This is what he called people that has that kind of behavior. I'm trying to protect you from this label.
You know, I got ADD, you know, you wouldn't know what's the worst label. I'm trying to protect you from this label. This is what the Lord said about them.
Verse seven, you. You hypocrites! You fake Christians!
You fake... Preachers! You fake prophets!
You fake apostles! You fake fill-in-the-blank! God first in your profile!
Proverbs 31 woman! Man of Fooling followers, not fooling the one who sees everything. You hypocrites.
He said to those Pharisees, well, did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, this people. They honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain, that is a waste of time. Do they worship me? Teaching the doctrines.
of men as the commandments of God. You know what the Lord is saying? All of this right here, all these crowds, all these conferences, all these books, all these pockets, all this blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, noise, all that stuff God said is a waste. of time.
Y'all spending all this money flying to all these conferences, listening to all this garbage. You're spending tens of thousands of dollars in all these programs and all these books. You're coming in here, lifting up dirty hands before the Lord. You're doing all of this. And the Lord says, man, if your mouth does not match your life, all of it is a waste.
I'm trying to help you if there's no congruency between what we preach and what we live the Lord said all of it is a waste of time he calls you a hypocrite he calls me a hypocrite you phony Christian you got everybody on Facebook fooled you got everybody on Instagram fooled but I'm gonna deal with you in the end you Aren't you post that on Instagram? Make that a clip. Got all of this posting, all of this preaching, all of this singing and serving, all of this stuff. And there's no congruency between what you say, what you post, and what you live.
You're hypocrites. And then you got the nerve to say, oh, I love the Lord. Watch, He understands my heart, yeah.
He knows your heart is evil and wicked. Come on, it was Jesus who said, pay attention, if you love me. Obey my commandments that the Lord attaches love to obedience. I read, I get hurt, I wring out my heart, I say, dang it, I gotta obey this. I read, I get hurt, I feel convicted, I say, dang it, I gotta wring out this thing in my life and obey it.
So when I come to Jesus, man, if you look what a woman with lust, and I got lust in my heart, I said, dang it, man, I gotta keep wringing out this lust from my heart. He says, forgive, but man, they raped me when I was 12. But I gotta let them go, I gotta wring out that unforgiveness in my heart. heart he says be holy as i'm holy but dang my boyfriend be laying that pipe so good but i'm gonna have to shut it down and wring out that sin from my heart he said but what if he leaves me if he leaves you because he's not getting buns he wasn't with you to begin with i know why y'all in no rush to get married Because you're not feeling the pressure of holiness. There's no rush to get married.
Why? You're just going to keep living off the laws you built. There's no pressure to forgive.
Why? You're going to keep living off of the laws you built. There's no pressure to be generous with your money.
Why? You're going to keep living off of the laws you built. So you read and you reason away.
And because of that, you got all of these shelters, these areas in your life where the Word of God is not powerful there. Watch. So how could you talk to us like this because I don't I don't want the Lord to call you a Hypocrite Look right at me. Why am I being so serious about this?
Look at me. I'm look Why am I being so serious about this? You know why? Because I'm trying to help as many American Christians as possible before I die start caring about something that American Christians don't care about. You care about titles, you care about position, you care about...
status, you care about likes, you care about fame, you want people to buy your books, you want people to go to your conferences, you care about all the stuff but you know what American Christians don't care about? This one thing that's too expensive is called your witness. It's what people see, feel, and know about you. And a lot of us don't care about our witness.
You don't understand, it takes years to build your witness, and it could be ruined in a moment. You know what your witness is? Watch this word. The authenticity of your confession.
And a lot of us, listen, we do church and do sin because we don't care about our Christian witness. We... We... I want people to not say I'm a man of God because of my preaching only.
I want people to say I'm a man of God because I've been near him. I've been in his house. I've been around people who know him and I hear the same story. The stuff he preached is the stuff he lived.
Watch, you know what that That gives you credibility and makes your words more powerful. You can't have no anointing or no power in your words when there's incongruence in your life. You think I want to be up here preaching these truths and not live in them? You think I want to deal with that judgment in the end?
See, some of us, we parade sin. We see people sinning on social media and you like their posts and you are encouraging sin. You know why?
Because you don't give a darn about your witness. Meanwhile in private people are looking at you like, dang I thought she was a woman of God. Oh well.
Dang I thought he was a man of God. Oh well. And you don't even know you're losing influence because your witness is being diminished by living a life that is duplicitous. And I'm talking to you like this because I want you to care about your darn witness, man.
Man, how many people out there don't want nothing to do with God because they don't like you? And they don't like me? They take God for a joke because his people are a joke. I mean this Christianity is so soft and it's so weak. It's just we do Sunday and we float out and do what we want.
If we do Sunday and we float out and do whatever the heck we want. I want to use another word but y'all keep sending me emails. I'm so sick of this nonsense.
Come on, family. Like time is running out, right? Like the Lord died for you, right?
He shed his blood for you, right? He saved you and filled you with his spirit. You know what he went through to rescue you? From hell you couldn't do that for yourself? And for all he has done, the best we give him is hypocrisy?
How do we see what Jesus has done and not turn away from the cross and throw our whole life on this altar? Too many of us have bought into an American Christianity that is bottom shelf. It is a Christianity of compromise.
It makes you feel comfortable in sin. It makes no demand on you to be holy. And I'm telling you, there is a better version of you. A more powerful version of you.
A more anointed version of you. Gosh. A more discerning version of you. You will pray and God will answer.
Because the prayers of the righteous. So how come I be praying that he don't move? You haven't read.
He says, if you love iniquity, he will not answer your prayers. Oh, that's why I've been praying. And he's not been answering.
Yeah, because you love sin. See, see, that's Bible. Watch. It says, if you regard iniquity in your heart, that is, if you love sin, the Lord will not hear your prayers.
And you wonder why you keep crying out and he won't answer. See and now you're itching. I don't know I'm coming back there next week, but the prayers of a righteous person Has great power my marriage well he ain't listening this unsaved loved one but he ain't listening and you don't even understand there is a much better version of you a more powerful more anointed more skilled more sensitive to the holy spirit a better there's a better witness for you the lord wants better for you your hypocrisy is so whack it's so lame man i would that the Lord would baptize you in this moment with a desire for authenticity a desire to be real a desire to run after Jesus with your whole heart a desire to ring out say listen I ain't talking about perfection I'm talking about when I rise in the morning my desire is to please the Lord and when I see things in me that's not right when I hear things coming out my mouth that's not right. When I have desires that are not right, man, I'm wringing those things out.
Lord, this relationship, I'm wringing it out. Lord, I am really gossipy. I'm wringing it out.
Lord, I love to slander people. I'm wringing it out. Lord, I'm more concerned about my business than your kingdom.
I'm wringing that out. And do I have to make you shout for you to feel good at the end of the message? Or could the weight of the word just sit on you for just a moment?
Hearing Jesus said, my son, my daughter, I have a better life for you than that ratchet life you're living. the bottom shelf you are a powerful woman on the inside you are a powerful man on the inside you have no idea what i would do with you if you would just live for me for real give me authenticity give me your heart and watch what i do with your life just watch what i do I don't even know what else to say. It's laughable how many Sundays, sermons, services, and churches, doing church, all of it is a joke in the eyes of God. A joke, a laughing stock.
Nah, not my church, not 2819, not the church that I lead. We're not gonna be a laughing stock. If I gotta fight like, if I gotta fight like heck to raise up an army of men and women who say, I know I got issues.
But for what he has done for me, I'm going to live for him with my whole heart. Can I get a witness from anybody? Can I get a witness from anybody? Stand still. Father, in the name of Jesus, stand still.
This is a serious moment. Stand still. I feel something about to break right here. Stand still.
Father, in the name of Yahshua. The one who saved our souls and bought us with his blood. I pray right now in this moment, there'll be an outpouring of the spirit of conviction, a spirit of repentance, a spirit of desire for holiness and righteousness.
Lord, I pray right now there would be a breaking, a washing, a cleansing, a purging, where your people would hunger and thirst for more than a service, more than a sermon, more than just goosebumps. They would feel that time is running out. out. They would know you called them to do something in this life and they would desire the better version of themselves. The version that is wringing out sin and being submitted to your laws and loving your scriptures.
And devoting all of their heart to you. Deliver them from the voices and the influence of false prophets, false apostles, false pastors, false bishops, false influencers. Raise up an army. Of disciple making disciples who are radically set on fire for you. Running after you with their whole heart.
I pray that over them right now. Don't move. In the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior.
And Father, now I pray for the one in this room who's far away from you, that you would save them right there in their seat. They're men and women under the sound of my voice right now. They're headed for an eternal damnation.
But Lord, I just pray right there as they're listening to this gospel that they are sinners and so was I. That they're going to die in their sin and be separated from all eternity. Lord, I pray you would woo them to yourself right now. Woo them to yourself.
Before the foundation of the world, you knew they would be your son and daughter. I pray you would work in their hearts right now, regenerating them and filling them with your spirit. Save them right now.
now in this holy moment rescue them from the fires of hell like jude said lord work in that brother lord work in that sister somebody in this room wanted to throw themselves on the altar want to say lord enough is enough i give my life all to you where are you where are you that that that person that said you know what that's it today is a brand new day for me today i'm turning my life over to the lord today i'm leaving here a son and daughter today i'm gonna be committed to christ we're on Are you? You know what? I don't care. We're about to shame the devil right now.
If I'm talking to you, I want you to shame the devil. I want you to run towards me right now. I'm about to pray a special prayer over you. Everybody who says that's it.
I'm giving my life all the way to Christ. I'm going to. I want you to run towards me right now. Jesus, you change everything.
Life's healed. Oh, Jesus, you change everything. Change, fall, fear, power.
Jesus, you change everything. Lives healed. Sound here. Now change everything. Change fear.
Now hear. You change everything Love you You change it Love you Jesus, you change everything. He is lost, he is risen Oh, what a Savior! Isn't He wonderful? See, I see the reason.
Somebody sing, Oh, what a Savior! The Savior. Isn't He wonderful? Isn't He wonderful?
Caesar is here. Bow down. Behold him. He is Lord of all. He is Lord of all.
Caesar is here. Savior. Savior.
Take me on, sing hallelujah Is it He wonderful? Sing hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Sing church sing! Bow down before Him! Bow down before Him! For He is Lord of all!
For He is Lord of all! Everybody at this altar, please, your head is bowed, don't look at me. Please don't look at me. We're going to be gone in five minutes.
Don't look at me. I'm not important. Your focus right now is on the one who is working something in your life.
That is Christ. He's not on a platform. Now, Father, in the name of your Son.
I pray over all these men and women, all of these who sense that you're working something in their lives right now. I pray God according to your word you would seal them with the Holy Spirit guaranteeing their salvation for the day of redemption. I thank you Lord for this brother who's shedding tears and these sisters who are shedding tears, this woman who is shedding tears.
right now of genuine repentance. This woman who's trying out with a baby in her belly. I thank you, Lord, that she will be a righteous mother when this baby is born.
She will be a mother full of wisdom when this baby is born. I thank you. You're touching that baby in her belly even right now, God, in the name of Jesus, that that baby will be a righteous seed. That baby will live for you all the days of its life. I pray for these men and women, that you will snatch them from the world, snatch them from the fires of hell, that you will lead them down the paths of righteousness that you've created for them.
I thank you, Lord, that they are now your sons and daughters. And Lord, you said when one sinner repents, all of heaven rejoices. So Father, right now, we rejoice.
Somebody give a praise!