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00:00:00 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:00:04 Father, we thank You for this an opportunity to minister to
00:00:10 these, Your precious sheep.
00:00:13 Thank You, Lord, that revelation and knowledge will flow freely,
00:00:18 uninterrupted and unhindered by any satanic or demonic force.
00:00:21 And Father, I pray that You speak through my vocal cords,
00:00:27 think through my vocal cords, speak through my vocal cords,
00:00:32 think through my mind, and then let what You think
00:00:37 come out of my mouth.
00:00:39 We give You praise for this day.
00:00:44 We totally depend on You for what we hear and what's being
00:00:50 said, in Jesus' name.
00:00:55 Everybody say it, amen.
00:00:58 All right, let's rock and roll.
00:01:00 Let's get into this thing.
00:01:02 I think our teen ministry is with us this morning.
00:01:08 Scream at me if you're a teenager somewhere.
00:01:10 All right, then.
00:01:15 I kinda thought you were gonna be out of here.
00:01:18 I didn't know you were to my left.
00:01:20 I wanna say this about our teens.
00:01:25 They are so special that if you were to ever visit,
00:01:30 to see teenagers sit and listen to the Word being taught
00:01:39 is a miracle, and it is something that makes me so
00:01:47 blessed, and Pastor Anthony and Constance,
00:01:51 we honor you today, and we thank you wherever you are.
00:01:55 We thank you for treading the ground out regardless of
00:02:00 whatever, and finally we got a set of teens that they wanna
00:02:06 hear God's Word, and they wanna understand.
00:02:10 And sometimes, unlike adults where we can just kinda blow
00:02:12 smoke in your ear sometimes, they'll ask questions,
00:02:14 "Well, why is that?"
00:02:17 And I am so grateful and thankful today.
00:02:20 I was looking over this series that we're in,
00:02:24 and I'm thinking we're gonna finish it today,
00:02:26 but it's bigger than what I thought.
00:02:29 It's big.
00:02:31 It's so big that I think on Wednesday night I'm gonna do a
00:02:36 line-by-line study on Ephesians chapter 4 because it's just
00:02:41 bigger than what I ever thought.
00:02:48 It is time for us to engage the supernatural.
00:02:51 But that won't happen until we first realize who we are and
00:02:56 what Jesus has said about us.
00:03:04 So, I wanna begin in the book of Ephesians chapter 4 and verse
00:03:09 1 as we continue to talk about the worthy walk.
00:03:15 Ephesians 4 and verse 1, the worthy walk.
00:03:19 Verse 1 says, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
00:03:24 beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation," or the
00:03:33 calling, "wherewith you are called.
00:03:38 And when you do it, do it with all lowliness and meekness,
00:03:43 with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love,
00:03:47 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
00:03:50 peace."
00:03:52 Now, let's go back and read that in the NLT.
00:03:56 The NLT.
00:03:59 "Therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord,
00:04:04 beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling.
00:04:09 For you have been called by God.
00:04:13 Always be humble and gentle, be patient with each other,
00:04:17 making allowances for each other's faults because of your
00:04:22 love."
00:04:24 Now, the first word that gets me is the second word in this
00:04:29 verse where he says, "Therefore."
00:04:31 He said, "I, therefore, a prisoner of the Lord,
00:04:34 beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were
00:04:37 called."
00:04:40 And so, "therefore," "therefore," I mean,
00:04:44 in other words, he had to go to the previous Scriptures in order
00:04:47 to arrive at chapter 4, verse 1, where he says, "Therefore."
00:04:52 So, I kind of want to know what was he dealing with?
00:04:54 See, Paul spent three chapters spelling out in glorious detail
00:04:59 all that God did for us freely by His grace.
00:05:04 By the grace of God, he called us to be his sons and
00:05:09 daughters before the foundations of the world.
00:05:12 He gave us an inheritance before the foundation of the world,
00:05:18 provided forgiveness before the foundations of the world,
00:05:21 determined that he was not going to find any fault in you.
00:05:28 That's a big one, before the foundations of the world.
00:05:30 See, we love finding fault in people, but God says,
00:05:32 "Before the foundations of the world,
00:05:34 I determined that when I see you,
00:05:36 I will call you Paul before the foundations of the world."
00:05:40 I have an inheritance, and I've been baptized into Jesus before
00:05:47 the foundations of the world.
00:05:49 Now, all I got to do is receive it.
00:05:53 Lord, I receive that.
00:05:55 And so, what these three chapters did,
00:05:57 he spent three chapters spelling out in glorious detail all that
00:06:03 God did for us, and everything he did was done free by grace.
00:06:08 So, right now, I'm able to get born again because of his grace.
00:06:11 I am able to be righteous because of his grace.
00:06:14 I have the wisdom of God because of his grace.
00:06:16 I am perfect because of his grace.
00:06:19 I am holy because of his grace.
00:06:23 You didn't bring anything to the table.
00:06:25 I didn't bring anything to the table,
00:06:27 but because of his grace, I have all of these wonderful things
00:06:30 that came by the work of his grace.
00:06:32 I already have it.
00:06:34 I'm already the righteousness of God.
00:06:37 I already have wisdom.
00:06:39 I know this blows your mind.
00:06:40 I'm already perfect.
00:06:43 Now, my living may not look like that,
00:06:47 but my stance in God looks exactly like that.
00:06:52 All right?
00:06:53 My stance is what God has said and done for me, okay?
00:06:58 My state or my living is where I am right now.
00:07:01 I haven't reached this yet.
00:07:03 I am perfecting it with his help right now,
00:07:06 but if something were to happen to you right now today,
00:07:08 it won't change your stance in God,
00:07:11 but your stance is working on your state right now.
00:07:13 Your stance is working on your living right now.
00:07:16 Every day, you're getting better and better.
00:07:17 You're getting closer and closer.
00:07:18 You're matching the stance.
00:07:23 You're matching what he has done by grace.
00:07:27 Now, he brings a call to live right,
00:07:33 but only after explaining what God did for us.
00:07:37 There's a calling here, and that calling is a calling
00:07:41 to live right.
00:07:43 He says in verse 1, "Walk worthy of the calling
00:07:48 with which you were called."
00:07:51 And so, we've been called to be the sons and daughters of God.
00:07:55 We've been called to be righteous.
00:07:57 We've been called to be without fault.
00:07:58 We have been called into this royalty.
00:08:01 You're born into it.
00:08:03 You don't work to do it just like the royals over in England.
00:08:06 They didn't work to become royals.
00:08:08 They were born into it.
00:08:09 You and I have been born into it.
00:08:11 You have been born a royal.
00:08:13 You have been born with these undeserved privileges.
00:08:19 Now, church today tells you you got to work for all of these
00:08:21 privileges, but these scriptures and these chapters talk about
00:08:26 these privileges we have, you don't deserve them,
00:08:31 but you receive them because you recognize I'm a royal,
00:08:35 so I might as well go ahead and act like one.
00:08:39 Say this out loud, "I'm a royal."
00:08:43 Let's say this, I really want you to score them.
00:08:45 Say, "I'm perfect."
00:08:47 You know what you did last night.
00:08:48 Say, "I'm perfect."
00:08:49 Say, "I'm without fault."
00:08:54 Can you say that?
00:08:56 You just did, right?
00:08:58 Because you're saying what he has already done for you, amen?
00:09:02 And you receive it by faith.
00:09:04 So, he says, "Worthy of that calling."
00:09:06 A calling to be a part of the family,
00:09:09 a calling to have this inheritance,
00:09:12 and a calling to receive everything that grace has done
00:09:16 for you, that's your calling.
00:09:18 Now, when we really understand how much God did for us,
00:09:25 we will naturally want to serve and obey him out of gratitude.
00:09:32 I understand what God has done for me.
00:09:34 It blows my mind that he did this for me before I was
00:09:38 even born.
00:09:39 It blows my mind that he loved me before the foundations
00:09:43 of the world made his mind up that he was going to adopt me
00:09:46 into his family before he could see how I was going to act.
00:09:48 Before he saw my crazy, he already decided,
00:09:55 "You're going to be a part of my family if you'll accept my son,
00:09:58 Jesus Christ," because we've been baptized into Jesus,
00:10:01 which means that once you're baptized into Jesus,
00:10:05 whatever goes on with Jesus goes on with you.
00:10:08 You were raised with him.
00:10:09 You were buried with him because you're baptized into Jesus.
00:10:13 That can't be just some wonderful thing that tickles
00:10:16 your ear.
00:10:17 That's got to be something that one day you say,
00:10:19 "I believe this.
00:10:22 I believe this.
00:10:23 I am the righteousness of God," because if you don't do this,
00:10:27 the devil will play with your mind and mess with you and cause
00:10:31 so much fear to come into your life,
00:10:33 and you'll find a struggle every day trying to become something
00:10:37 that you already are.
00:10:39 He freaks out.
00:10:44 I wish you could understand the attacks Taffi and I have on a
00:10:46 weekly basis just to try to get us to shut up.
00:10:53 And then when I get closer and closer to come to the pulpit,
00:10:56 I just remind him, "We are going to cause you pain today."
00:10:59 Understanding that who we are is the foundation of this worthy
00:11:04 walk.
00:11:13 The idea is very clear here.
00:11:16 We don't walk worthy so that God will love us,
00:11:20 but because he does love us is the motivation of us being able
00:11:25 to want to live right because he loves me.
00:11:27 I'm not doing right to try to get God to do something for me.
00:11:34 He's already done for me.
00:11:36 And because of what he's already done for me,
00:11:38 I am now motivated to live right.
00:11:42 I want to live right because who does this?
00:11:45 Who dies for somebody that's not even alive yet?
00:11:49 Who goes to hell for somebody?
00:11:51 Who gets on a cross and bears your sins?
00:11:54 Who takes away your pain and your sickness?
00:11:58 Who does this?
00:11:59 And so, I look at everything that he's already done and he is
00:12:03 saying to me, "You're not doing this to try to get me to do
00:12:06 something for you.
00:12:08 I've already done for you."
00:12:10 Now what you going to do?
00:12:12 What you going to do now?
00:12:15 Because of what I've already done,
00:12:17 what he is saying is, "At least now you could consider what I'm
00:12:23 asking you to do."
00:12:26 Because of what I've already done,
00:12:28 can you consider not lying?
00:12:30 Because of what I've already done,
00:12:34 could you consider, you know, staying out of the bed with
00:12:39 everybody?
00:12:41 Could you consider dedicating your body to me?
00:12:45 You see, but what the church says is,
00:12:47 "Now if you don't, God going to get you."
00:12:49 God says, "No, no, I decided not to get you before the
00:12:52 foundations of the world.
00:12:53 I could have already got you, but getting you is not going to
00:12:56 motivate you to walking worthy before me.
00:12:59 So, what I decided to do is do everything that pertains to life
00:13:02 and godliness before you ever arrive and did it by my grace
00:13:07 and hopefully that will motivate you to want to walk worthy."
00:13:11 Are you following me now?
00:13:14 But there's still something in our head,
00:13:17 still something in our head that keeps saying,
00:13:19 and it comes in the moment where you're not doing what you're
00:13:22 supposed to do, and all of a sudden now the guilt and the
00:13:25 shame is getting you to go back to what you used to think,
00:13:29 and now you think, "God doesn't love me,"
00:13:31 and now you come up with a plan to do ten things to see if you
00:13:34 can regain your status.
00:13:37 So, what are you trying to do?
00:13:38 You're trying to earn what grace has already done for you,
00:13:42 and you can't earn it.
00:13:44 You can't earn it.
00:13:46 Somebody says, "Well, if we do what you're talking about,
00:13:49 we don't ever live right."
00:13:50 No, no, no, no.
00:13:51 When you realize who you are and what God has already done for
00:13:54 you, it's going to change you in such a drastic way,
00:13:58 you're going to go back and look at yourself and say,
00:14:00 "How did I get from there to here?"
00:14:02 And the first thing you're going to think is,
00:14:05 "Because I want to."
00:14:07 Why do I want to?
00:14:08 Because God has worked on the inside of me to remove burdens
00:14:13 and destroy yokes in my life, and he's given me a new desire.
00:14:16 I didn't even know he was giving me a new desire.
00:14:18 He's given me a new desire.
00:14:19 The things I used to do, I don't want to do no more.
00:14:24 Listen to me.
00:14:25 Let me ask you this question.
00:14:26 Can I get a witness?
00:14:27 Can I get a witness in here from somebody that says,
00:14:29 "God has been changing me on the inside"?
00:14:32 [congregation cheering]
00:14:38 Wow.
00:14:40 Understanding who I am, we don't walk worthy so that God will
00:14:48 love us, but because he does love us.
00:14:51 We walk worthy because he does love us.
00:14:55 We've been taught to walk a certain way so we can get him to
00:14:58 love us.
00:15:00 He already does love you.
00:15:06 "No, but I got to do X, Y, and Z to get him to love me."
00:15:11 He decided to love you before you were born.
00:15:16 "No, you don't understand.
00:15:20 I love God.
00:15:21 I love God," and then you try to spend days convincing yourself
00:15:23 you love God, and God's like, "Okay, dude,
00:15:25 you can't even love me if you, first of all,
00:15:29 don't believe that I love you."
00:15:33 You see how backwards religion has taken you?
00:15:37 Totally backwards.
00:15:38 You're trying to earn something he's already given you as a
00:15:40 gift.
00:15:42 Loving you is a gift from God.
00:15:47 So now, what is it to stop you from living worthy?
00:15:52 A guy who's born in a royal family knows he don't act just
00:15:59 like the general population because he finally accepts
00:16:04 who he is.
00:16:06 "I have been made righteous by God's grace and God's love,
00:16:10 and I receive that, and stuff starts changing.
00:16:14 Things start changing in my life."
00:16:16 That's what happened to me.
00:16:20 Three times Satan had a shot at snatching my life away.
00:16:27 Three times I made my mind up.
00:16:32 He healed me before the foundations of the world.
00:16:34 That's powerful, 'cause if he done healed me,
00:16:41 then I am, and so I had to learn how to do something that was so
00:16:45 powerful.
00:16:46 I had to learn how to rest in the finished works of Jesus.
00:16:52 Rest doesn't mean, you know, go somewhere and be lazy.
00:16:56 It just means sit in the confidence of knowing that it's
00:17:00 already done.
00:17:02 You'd be surprised the amount of things that we deal with between
00:17:07 you and the devil is all up here in your head.
00:17:11 If the devil can start working and talking to you and saying
00:17:14 stuff to you and getting you to listen to stuff and getting you
00:17:17 to focus in on stuff and getting you to major on stuff,
00:17:20 he might have a chance at deceiving you all the way to
00:17:23 killing you, 'cause really that's all he wants is to kill
00:17:25 you.
00:17:28 But if you'll learn how to fight this battle and he come and
00:17:31 saying one thing and you open your mouth up and say,
00:17:33 "No, that's not the truth."
00:17:35 What you mean, you don't know the truth?
00:17:38 Yes, I do.
00:17:39 I don't have to earn God's love.
00:17:40 He wanted to give it to me, so he did it before the foundations
00:17:43 of the world.
00:17:45 Well, why you trying to walk right?
00:17:47 Because it's the right thing to do for somebody like me who has
00:17:51 already been made righteous.
00:17:53 I want to walk right because I'm a royal.
00:17:57 Like I said before, I'm tired of waving at people like this.
00:18:03 One day you're going to get so tired you're going to hurt your
00:18:07 wrist and you're going to...
00:18:09 Are you listening to me now?
00:18:17 So, it is motivated out of gratitude,
00:18:22 not out of a desire to earn merit.
00:18:25 Walking worthy before the Lord is motivated out of gratitude.
00:18:32 Thank you, Lord, that by your grace I'm saved.
00:18:40 Thank you, Lord, by your grace I'm righteous.
00:18:45 Oh, my goodness, you become so grateful.
00:18:48 When I first got in to start teaching the gospel of grace,
00:18:52 God broke me down to a place.
00:18:58 There were just days just with just cry because I couldn't
00:19:01 believe what I was reading was true.
00:19:03 It was like I was blind and my eyes were open,
00:19:05 and I started seeing the same Scriptures that I've seen all
00:19:08 these years, and I saw them in the light of God's grace,
00:19:12 and I was blown away.
00:19:15 I have never known a love like this,
00:19:19 and the more and more I read it, the more and more I saw it.
00:19:23 And then when I went through three years of those situations
00:19:25 and I just knew in my heart, I kept hearing this one thing,
00:19:29 "I got you."
00:19:31 And the doctor would say something else, he says,
00:19:34 "I got you."
00:19:35 And then sometimes I'd hear a special emphasis on it,
00:19:39 "I got you."
00:19:42 And it was simple.
00:19:43 I just started saying, "Okay, I believe you."
00:19:46 And step by step, wisdom was provided.
00:19:53 Things were provided because I was no longer in a fantasy
00:19:58 bubble playing church with Scriptures.
00:20:03 This was now real.
00:20:07 It was a real relationship with a God who's talking to me,
00:20:11 leading me, and telling me, "I got you."
00:20:15 And so things begin to change.
00:20:20 And right now, one of the things I remind myself of every time I
00:20:25 get up to preach now is I wonder,
00:20:27 the one thing I'm concerned about is if there's a handkerchief
00:20:31 on the podium.
00:20:33 I was never concerned about that before until the first few times
00:20:36 preaching, tears just flowing out of my eyes,
00:20:39 and I'm thinking, "Oh, my God, I'm getting ready to break,"
00:20:42 and because I know him.
00:20:44 We sing songs, and when those words are true about him,
00:20:47 something's going on with me, and I'm like, "He is faithful."
00:20:50 It's like I know that faithfulness.
00:20:52 This is the kind of relationship I'm talking to y'all about.
00:20:55 No more, "How many Scriptures do you know?
00:20:58 How many times did you come to church last month?"
00:21:01 No more of that.
00:21:03 No more, "How?"
00:21:04 "Can you quote the Bible from Genesis to Revelation?"
00:21:10 No, I can't.
00:21:11 You can't either.
00:21:11 No.
00:21:13 But I know just enough to know him, just enough to know him,
00:21:20 just to know that he's a healer, just to know that he's a
00:21:28 deliverer, just to know that he'll pay my bills when I don't
00:21:32 know where the money gonna come from.
00:21:33 Just to know that he can take stress away.
00:21:36 Just to know that when I can't sleep at night, he can put me to
00:21:39 sleep, just to know that he can wake me up in the morning,
00:21:42 just to know that.
00:21:45 You ought to be tired of playing church.
00:21:47 It's time to get to know who Jesus is and have faith in him
00:21:52 as a living person.
00:21:58 Amen.
00:22:01 So, if God asks us to do something like, "Lie not,
00:22:06 don't be bitter, forgive," he won't do it without, first of
00:22:12 all, talking about his work of grace.
00:22:16 And if you ignore his work of grace, if you ignore his work of
00:22:20 mercy, then those things he asks you to do, they don't have any
00:22:25 appeal.
00:22:25 So, that's what's happened all of these 30, 40, 50, 60 years of
00:22:28 your life.
00:22:30 You're trying to wonder, "Why is it seem so hard for me to just
00:22:33 do what God tells me to do?"
00:22:36 It's because you're doing it out of a sense of, "This is what you
00:22:40 got to do to earn what he's already done," instead of doing
00:22:45 it out of a sense of gratitude that says, "Thank you, Lord.
00:22:50 By your grace and mercy, you've already done it, so now I'm
00:22:52 motivated to want to do what you want me to do."
00:22:56 We're so busy looking at the things we don't do so we can
00:22:58 condemn ourselves or allow others to condemn us to hell.
00:23:02 When heaven has already been settled, it is a done deal.
00:23:06 You say, "Lord, I believe you got saved by his grace that day."
00:23:09 Heaven is already a settled issue.
00:23:11 You're on a journey now.
00:23:13 He's perfecting you to get better.
00:23:14 There is no reason for you to ever question whether or not
00:23:17 you're going to heaven or not.
00:23:18 That's a done deal.
00:23:20 It's done, done, done.
00:23:22 You do not go to hell because, you know, your behavior.
00:23:26 You go to hell because you rejected Jesus and what he has
00:23:29 done.
00:23:32 You want to get to hell real quick?
00:23:33 Reject Jesus and reject everything he's done for you,
00:23:38 and then you can go to hell.
00:23:40 If you want to, you can go to hell.
00:23:44 And then when you get there, don't blame it on Jesus.
00:23:46 Don't you dare say, "Jesus sent me to hell."
00:23:51 Jesus said, "I was everything you needed to never go there,
00:23:56 but you wouldn't receive me.
00:23:57 You wouldn't receive my blood.
00:23:59 You wouldn't receive my offering.
00:24:01 You wouldn't receive nothing.
00:24:02 I was your way out, but you wouldn't receive me."
00:24:06 You were more satisfied in trying to be religious and
00:24:09 sweating and working real hard to try to get something I had
00:24:12 already given you, and you didn't believe me because you
00:24:15 would not accept the gift.
00:24:17 Everything you got is a gift.
00:24:19 Salvation is a gift.
00:24:21 Answered prayer is a gift.
00:24:22 Your spouse is a gift.
00:24:23 Your job is a gift.
00:24:25 Everything you got is a gift.
00:24:27 To reject him is to reject every gift.
00:24:30 Somehow we still have these wonderful religious gatherings
00:24:38 where we gather together and talk about how we need to sweat
00:24:41 in order to get God to do something,
00:24:44 how we sweat to need to get God to move.
00:24:46 I don't--I'm not sweating to get God to move.
00:24:49 There's an anointing on me to do something this morning that I
00:24:52 don't have to sweat to get it.
00:24:54 It's just there.
00:24:56 Glory to God.
00:25:01 And without a lot of noise being made,
00:25:03 I don't know if you just caught it,
00:25:05 but there's just--it was an influx of anointing.
00:25:07 It just hit this atmosphere just for--it just came in here right
00:25:10 now 'cause I'm talking to your believer.
00:25:14 And everything in you, the new man,
00:25:16 the new creation in you is--everything I'm saying,
00:25:19 the new creation is leaping like,
00:25:21 "Yes, finally somebody gets this."
00:25:24 [applause]
00:25:29 Well, a few of you get it.
00:25:31 The rest of you are like, "Well, that ain't what my Bible say."
00:25:33 It is what your Bible say.
00:25:35 You just don't know how to read it.
00:25:37 So, I think that's what we've been stopping.
00:25:47 So, now let's see if we can bring it home a little bit.
00:25:56 So, we're talking about five ways,
00:26:00 five conditions of a worthy walk,
00:26:05 five conditions of a worthy walk.
00:26:08 The first one is not expressed in action nor deed,
00:26:16 but it's expressed in character and in a state of mind.
00:26:20 Ephesians 4, verse 2 through 3.
00:26:23 Notice what he says here.
00:26:24 Ephesians 4, verses 2 through 3, he says,
00:26:28 "Always be humble and gentle."
00:26:31 Always be humble and gentle.
00:26:35 Another translation says, "Be lowly and gentle."
00:26:40 Be lowly and gentle.
00:26:41 Now, what is lowliness?
00:26:44 What is lowliness?
00:26:46 It means that we can be happy and content when we're not in
00:26:49 control.
00:26:51 It means we can be happy and content when we're not steering
00:26:56 things our way.
00:26:58 Lowliness is something I decided to define because I don't think
00:27:05 a lot of Christians realize what it is.
00:27:06 We just think lowly and then we kind of stop.
00:27:08 Well, what does that mean?
00:27:09 Well, humble, what does that mean?
00:27:10 It really means that we can be happy and we can be content when
00:27:16 we're not in control.
00:27:17 When things are going on in our lives that we cannot control and
00:27:19 I can still be happy and content when I'm not doing the driving,
00:27:24 when I'm not steering things my way,
00:27:26 I can be happy and content.
00:27:28 I don't know why that's going on.
00:27:29 I don't know why that's happening.
00:27:30 I don't know who doing this or why they doing that,
00:27:32 but lowliness is a person that can be happy and content when he
00:27:37 is not in control or when he's not steering things his way.
00:27:42 And then he talks about with lowliness and meekness,
00:27:45 he says also with long-suffering.
00:27:49 Long-suffering bearing one another in love.
00:27:53 So, we need this so that the inevitable wrongs that occur
00:27:57 between people in God's family will not work against God's
00:28:01 purpose or bringing all things together.
00:28:03 So, God's trying to bring everything together and he's
00:28:05 saying, "I need you to be long-suffering enough to not
00:28:08 allow the wrongs of other people to short-circuit what I'm
00:28:12 trying to do."
00:28:14 He wants you to be long-suffering and this is in
00:28:16 content, in context.
00:28:18 I want you to be long-suffering enough to--notice it goes
00:28:21 together with long-suffering bearing one another in love.
00:28:24 I want you to be long-suffering enough so that the wrongs you
00:28:28 receive from another brother and sister won't stop the plan of
00:28:34 God from coming to pass and as far as the plan of bringing us
00:28:39 together, don't be long-suffering enough to allow
00:28:42 things to happen that it doesn't interfere with what God's trying
00:28:47 to do in bringing us together as one.
00:28:49 And that's one of the things we got to work on in the body of
00:28:52 Christ, we got too many issues with other people.
00:28:55 Stop it.
00:29:00 He said, "We need some long-suffering.
00:29:03 We need some long-suffering so that the wrongs that occur
00:29:08 between people," that's what he means when he says,
00:29:10 "making faults, making room for the faults of other people."
00:29:15 Make room for the faults of other people.
00:29:18 Don't get yourself up to such a point where, you know, you get
00:29:23 this high expectation of, you know, where you're supposed to
00:29:26 do this, you're supposed to do that, you're supposed to do that
00:29:28 and then when there's a fault that occurs, you ain't got no
00:29:32 room for it.
00:29:34 The Bible says, "Touch not the unclean."
00:29:35 Well, you unclean too.
00:29:37 That's not--you're not making room for anybody.
00:29:41 I'm going to stay there for a minute.
00:29:46 I need to hang there a little bit because some of y'all, you
00:29:48 act like you just want me to hurry up and get off there.
00:29:50 We all know people.
00:29:58 I'm not talking about unsaved people, guys.
00:30:00 I'm talking about we all know saved tongue-talking people,
00:30:05 all right, who have faults.
00:30:08 Okay, let me say it like this.
00:30:10 We all have faults.
00:30:13 Let's start there.
00:30:14 We all have faults.
00:30:17 And all of us with faults get to encounter other people
00:30:21 with faults.
00:30:24 So, if you've made room for your own fault, you ain't stop
00:30:28 speaking to yourself.
00:30:30 You don't walk by you and don't speak to you.
00:30:32 He says, "Make room, be long-suffering with faults of
00:30:41 other people."
00:30:43 Why?
00:30:44 Because the stuff that you will allow to come between you and
00:30:48 your brother or sister is hindering the plan of what God's
00:30:51 trying to do with bringing us together.
00:30:54 Some stuff you just gotta--it'll be all right.
00:30:59 [speaking in tongues]
00:31:01 Somebody said, "What was that?"
00:31:02 I just prayed for my brother, sister, and myself.
00:31:04 They'll be all right, and I'll be all right.
00:31:06 You know, Taff has been working with me.
00:31:11 Okay, so I'm like, "I want my mouth to just bless every
00:31:15 minister, everybody, say nothing bad.
00:31:18 I don't care what they're doing.
00:31:20 Support them with my mouth."
00:31:22 But then in general, she's working with me like I pick the
00:31:25 telephone up, somebody answers the phone from an establishment,
00:31:29 and I'm trying to get some information.
00:31:31 I hang the phone up.
00:31:32 "Oh, dumb person."
00:31:33 She said, "Don't say that."
00:31:34 I said, "I, I, I, yeah, that's just--"
00:31:38 He said, "You don't know their name, but you still cursing them.
00:31:40 You don't know 'em."
00:31:42 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:31:46 And then I want to get back with her sometimes.
00:31:48 "What--no, I'm not that so dumb.
00:31:50 I don't know what you're talking about.
00:31:52 Don't pick the phone up."
00:31:54 Saved folks need to keep helping saved folks to be long suffering
00:32:03 with saved folks.
00:32:05 And now that I see it clearly in my own life,
00:32:11 it really irritates me when Christian folks got problems
00:32:15 with Christian folks, and everybody got problems,
00:32:17 and the only thing that at least you could do is confront.
00:32:22 Confrontation doesn't have to be negative.
00:32:24 "Well, it just bothers me."
00:32:27 Well, go have a talk so you can learn how to talk about false,
00:32:30 and while you're at it, talk about yours.
00:32:32 Don't show up at a destination like you ain't got no issue.
00:32:38 You probably can relate with what you got a problem with,
00:32:41 which is the reason why you have a problem with it,
00:32:43 because it used to be your problem.
00:32:46 [congregation agreeing]
00:32:48 People treat people how they treat themselves.
00:32:54 [congregation agreeing]
00:32:56 And Jesus is saying here, "Since I have done what I have done
00:33:03 for you, since I have made you royal,
00:33:09 since I have blessed you, here's what I'd like from you.
00:33:14 I want you to make room for the faults of others so that we
00:33:19 won't work against God's purpose of bringing us--
00:33:22 bringing all things together in Jesus."
00:33:24 He wants to bring all things together in Jesus.
00:33:28 That's the master plan, to bring all things together in Jesus.
00:33:31 Is the Spirit--this long-suffering,
00:33:37 this long-suffering is the Spirit that has the power to
00:33:42 take revenge, but it never does.
00:33:46 Long-suffering has the power to take revenge,
00:33:50 but it never does.
00:33:52 It never does.
00:33:54 And you may think, "Well, I don't want to look like a punk
00:33:57 in front of such-and-such, such-and-such."
00:33:59 Long-suffering has the power to take revenge.
00:34:02 If I wanted to, I could do--I could get you back if I wanted
00:34:06 to.
00:34:09 It has the power to do it, but it doesn't.
00:34:12 It doesn't.
00:34:14 I could make you mad if I had the opportunity to just tell you
00:34:21 all the stuff that's ever been done to me.
00:34:23 Are you kidding?
00:34:26 That's the brick and mortar that God's been using to mature me
00:34:31 and to make me better.
00:34:33 Maybe I could understand it if you were like that with me.
00:34:38 Maybe I could understand it if you were like that with somebody
00:34:40 who wasn't saved.
00:34:43 But then he brings in--oh, and while you're at it,
00:34:45 pray for your enemies.
00:34:47 None of this stuff you have to do, but he says,
00:34:53 "Since I did all of this for you, could you might consider--could
00:34:58 you kind of consider doing this out of the love you see and the
00:35:07 long-suffering you see?"
00:35:11 You talking about somebody got the power to get revenge.
00:35:15 What if God took that attitude out on all of us that we want to
00:35:19 take out on somebody else?
00:35:21 I'm not preaching to you this because I am saying,
00:35:28 "If you don't do this, then God ain't gonna bless you.
00:35:31 If you don't do this, God ain't gonna love you,
00:35:32 and if you don't do this, you're gonna go to hell."
00:35:34 No, they ain't saying that.
00:35:35 They ain't saying that.
00:35:36 Take care.
00:35:39 I'm saying all this to say, since he has done what he has
00:35:44 done for us, could you consider cooperating with the plan so that
00:35:49 God can put everything in Christ Jesus?
00:35:57 Could you consider, and could you just keep looking at what
00:36:03 God has done for you, and what God has done for you?
00:36:08 And I'm not preaching to you this because I am saying,
00:36:18 "If you don't do this, then God ain't gonna bless you."
00:36:29 Now, Kumbaya warned us.
00:36:31 Let's catch hands in Kumbaya.
00:36:33 He's talking about us being all one where the plan of Jesus is
00:36:38 concerned.
00:36:40 It's a spiritual unity that he is talking about,
00:36:43 and that becomes difficult when we don't pay attention to the
00:36:47 fact of who we are and how God has made us.
00:36:51 And so, he goes on here in verse 3.
00:36:55 He says this, "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in
00:37:00 the bond of peace."
00:37:02 "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
00:37:07 peace, this humble, forgiving attitude towards each other
00:37:12 naturally fulfills this gift of the unity of the peace."
00:37:17 Humble, forgiving attitude.
00:37:22 So, we must endeavor to keep this unity.
00:37:24 We cannot create this unity.
00:37:26 God never commands us to create unity amongst believers.
00:37:30 He has already by his Spirit created unity.
00:37:36 It's unity of the Spirit.
00:37:38 This is a spiritual unity, not a--not necessarily a structural
00:37:43 or a denominational unity.
00:37:45 It's a spiritual unity that he's talking about here,
00:37:49 unifying in the plan of God and what God wants to do for us.
00:37:54 So, I'm confident that this unity is found in Jesus Christ.
00:37:58 This unity is found by the Spirit of God.
00:38:02 It's this unity that we have in Jesus Christ,
00:38:04 unifying by all getting in him, unifying by all of what we
00:38:10 believe in Jesus Christ.
00:38:12 We want unity in the truth of God through the Spirit of God.
00:38:16 And so, this lets us seek after.
00:38:17 This lets us live near to Christ.
00:38:20 It lets us come together, recognizing that I believe
00:38:26 in Jesus, you believe in Jesus.
00:38:28 We receive what Jesus has done, and we have unity
00:38:31 where that is concerned.
00:38:33 You can see how big of an issue we have going on in the church
00:38:36 today just in this one area.
00:38:39 And one of the problems is because people had to decide
00:38:43 I'm gonna do this and survive all the threats that the
00:38:48 pulpit tells them if they don't do it.
00:38:52 And the Scripture is saying, "No, no threats.
00:38:55 Remember, I don't want anything from you that you don't want me
00:38:58 to have.
00:39:00 I want you to be motivated to do it out of a cheerful heart.
00:39:05 I want you to be motivated to live worthy because you want to."
00:39:12 Think of that.
00:39:14 I want you to start not cussing people out when you get mad or
00:39:19 losing control because you look at me and you love me.
00:39:22 I want it 'cause you want me to do it.
00:39:26 See, this morning I'm trying to take away all of those things,
00:39:29 all those traps that we put on ourselves through religion,
00:39:34 and I'll get you back to a place where you say,
00:39:38 "I want to serve you.
00:39:41 I want to pray.
00:39:43 I don't want to lie.
00:39:46 I don't want to carry bitterness.
00:39:48 I mean, y'all ain't got to be BFFs,
00:39:51 but it's like I'm tired of going to bed,
00:39:55 having bad thoughts about you.
00:39:58 I don't want to do that."
00:40:00 Mm-hmm.
00:40:01 Somebody said, "What are you preaching on this morning?"
00:40:03 "Real Christian stuff."
00:40:04 [laughter]
00:40:05 Y'all want to hear about the third degree of faith?
00:40:11 You ain't getting no third degree of
00:40:12 intercessory prayer.
00:40:13 We ain't talking about that.
00:40:14 You ain't getting no third degree.
00:40:16 You ain't got to the first one yet.
00:40:18 The first--I love how y'all--some of y'all looking at
00:40:22 me like--it's going to be over with in a minute.
00:40:28 No, I'm thinking about taking it three more weeks, baby.
00:40:32 We got to get into this, man.
00:40:38 These are not characteristics of the natural man,
00:40:41 but of the life that is worthy of the high calling in Christ,
00:40:46 to cause a believer to see with Paul that by grace of God,
00:40:49 I am what I am.
00:40:52 And that glorious calling that God has given me has this--on
00:40:57 this high level, this thing that we're talking about.
00:41:03 I'm not expecting for you to do this on your own,
00:41:04 'cause you can't.
00:41:05 You keep failing.
00:41:06 You've tried to.
00:41:08 I'm not expecting you to do this depending on God.
00:41:10 I'm asking you to now go before God and say,
00:41:11 "Father, help me to be lowly in spirit.
00:41:16 Help me to be long-suffering.
00:41:19 I've done this before, God.
00:41:20 I have failed royally."
00:41:22 It is something to help us to move into a place where we're
00:41:24 depending on God every day.
00:41:27 And if we learn how to depend on God just in this worthy walk,
00:41:30 we're not--God's not asking you, "Well,
00:41:32 since I did all of this stuff, you owe me."
00:41:34 God's not in debt to you.
00:41:36 He's saying, "Now, now, since I did all of this stuff,
00:41:39 then give me the opportunity to help you to walk worthy."
00:41:45 You can't walk worthy without God.
00:41:47 I hope that--I hope that's not what you think I'm saying.
00:41:49 You can't walk worthy without God.
00:41:53 You serious?
00:41:54 You need God.
00:41:55 You need him every day, every hour,
00:41:57 every second you need him when you go to bed,
00:41:58 while you're sleeping, and when you get up.
00:42:00 He's not asking you to do this on your own 'cause you can't.
00:42:04 You can't do this on your own.
00:42:08 I don't know how to do--how do I love the guy that killed my
00:42:11 relative?
00:42:13 I can't do that.
00:42:16 Only Jesus can help me do that.
00:42:18 All I got to do is be willing to submit to the plan.
00:42:21 I don't want to love the guy that killed my relative.
00:42:23 I want to kill the guy who killed my relative.
00:42:25 So I need him.
00:42:31 If you think you can do any of this in your own natural
00:42:35 ability, you have been sadly mistaken,
00:42:37 and you have completely misunderstood me.
00:42:40 It always goes to depending on God with everything,
00:42:44 but are you willing to depend on him?
00:42:46 All right, enough of that.
00:42:51 Number two, we got to number two.
00:43:00 Here's a condition of the life worthy of the high calling
00:43:03 of God.
00:43:05 Here's another condition of the life of a--worthy of the high
00:43:08 calling of God, growth and development.
00:43:11 Christians growing and developing,
00:43:16 you are not going to walk worthy of this high calling if you
00:43:21 don't grow and develop.
00:43:24 You cannot stay a baby all your life.
00:43:26 I say, "I say you can't stay a baby all your life."
00:43:30 And one of the problems in the church is that there is no
00:43:34 growth and development.
00:43:35 We come to church to hear what we already know,
00:43:38 and we preaching what we already know,
00:43:40 and nobody's spending enough time to get in the Spirit of God
00:43:42 and getting deep in the Word so we can find out something
00:43:44 so we can grow.
00:43:47 And as a result of it, we're just kind of walking away from
00:43:51 all the things he gave us so we can grow.
00:43:53 Let me show you, Ephesians 4, verse 7.
00:43:55 Ephesians 4, verse 7.
00:43:59 "Unto every one of us is given grace."
00:44:02 Stop right there.
00:44:04 "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure
00:44:09 of the gift of Christ."
00:44:13 Verse 11.
00:44:17 Look at this in the NLT.
00:44:18 Let's read this out of NLT.
00:44:20 Ephesians 4, 11, and I'll go 11 through 14 there.
00:44:27 "These are the gifts Christ gave to the church, the apostles,
00:44:32 the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers."
00:44:38 Now, I always thought it was fivefold ministry.
00:44:42 It's only four.
00:44:45 Pastor and teacher are the same, and I'll show you that in the
00:44:49 ministry in just a moment.
00:44:51 And see, that just messed up some of your doctrine now.
00:44:52 "No, it's fivefold ministry."
00:44:54 No, it's just four.
00:44:57 Fourfold.
00:44:59 See what I'm saying?
00:45:02 Now, that immaturity, just concerning that, you consider it
00:45:05 I ain't coming back to that church no more because that's
00:45:08 heresy, and I'm telling you, you don't know how to read.
00:45:10 "And, and is a conjunction that allows one side of the 'and' to
00:45:16 be connected to the other side of the 'and,'" and he lists it
00:45:21 by saying, "apostles, the prophet, the evangelist, and
00:45:25 pastor and teacher."
00:45:27 "Crumbler always trying to change the Bible."
00:45:40 Like Bishop McClendon said, "I can read."
00:45:45 All right, now watch this.
00:45:50 Verse 12, "Their responsibility is to equip people to do his
00:46:04 work and to build up the church, the body of Christ."
00:46:13 You see what I'm saying?
00:46:15 "This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith
00:46:21 and knowledge of God's Son, and that we will be mature--"
00:46:31 Look over there.
00:46:32 "--that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full
00:46:37 and complete standard of Christ."
00:46:39 Verse 14, "Then we will no longer be immature like
00:46:44 children.
00:46:49 We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new
00:46:54 teaching.
00:46:56 We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies
00:47:00 so clever they sound like the truth."
00:47:06 He said, "Here's a condition of walking worthy before the Lord."
00:47:12 And then he says, "The condition is maturity and growth."
00:47:16 And then he says, "So now, by grace, I'm going to give you,
00:47:19 by grace, some tools to help you accomplish this."
00:47:23 The apostle, these are those who have special--these are special
00:47:28 ambassadors of God's work.
00:47:34 They're not in the same authority as the sense of the
00:47:37 first apostle, so the apostles today are not in the same
00:47:41 authority that the first apostles,
00:47:43 Jesus' apostles were.
00:47:45 Those first century apostles were used to provide a
00:47:47 foundation as described in Ephesians chapter 2 and 20.
00:47:52 The apostles today still exist.
00:47:55 You're not an apostle 'cause you got more than one church.
00:48:01 The apostleship--okay, I'll do this.
00:48:05 Here is--here your boy--here your boy--which one?
00:48:09 Paul.
00:48:10 Here your boy, Paul, minding his own business.
00:48:12 He's religious.
00:48:12 He's a Pharisee.
00:48:14 He's going to--he's going to persecute somebody else because
00:48:18 that's what you was supposed to do when you were not keeping the
00:48:21 law.
00:48:22 He was zealous about the law, and he was persecuting people,
00:48:25 and people were dying.
00:48:28 And Jesus interrupts Paul supernaturally and tells Paul,
00:48:34 "This is what I want you to do.
00:48:38 I'm going to show you how to do this.
00:48:40 I'm going to strike you blind for a minute,
00:48:43 but revelation on me, on Jesus.
00:48:47 You're going to have something that none of the other apostles
00:48:50 have."
00:48:53 An apostle is somebody who's been called by God to bring a
00:48:59 very uncomfortable adjustment and message to the body of
00:49:06 Christ, and they are going to be persecuted for it.
00:49:11 They're going to be dogged out for it.
00:49:12 They're going to be rejected for it.
00:49:14 That's what it is.
00:49:20 Somebody that flows with a revelation for what's about to
00:49:24 come with something, an abundance of revelation on it.
00:49:30 We still don't--and I'll talk more about it.
00:49:35 I got too much to deal with today, but we--man,
00:49:38 how people go and do titles.
00:49:42 Everybody want a title.
00:49:49 "What's your title?"
00:49:50 The title's a man that's been sent.
00:49:52 So, "Who are you, sir?"
00:49:53 I said, "I'm Creflo."
00:49:55 He said, "What's your title?"
00:49:59 "No, my name Creflo.
00:50:00 My mama named me Creflo.
00:50:01 My mama didn't name me pastor.
00:50:02 She named me Creflo."
00:50:04 That title is probably what you do.
00:50:10 Your name is who you are.
00:50:12 But we confuse it.
00:50:16 Everybody want a name, and then people trying to give
00:50:19 you a name.
00:50:20 "I don't need no name."
00:50:21 See, you can call yourself a car all day long, but until you get
00:50:24 an engine and four tires, you ain't never going to be no car.
00:50:27 I don't care what you say.
00:50:28 "Why you want a title?"
00:50:30 Because there's a bit of pride that still says we wants
00:50:41 to be impotent.
00:50:43 [congregation laughing]
00:50:45 The next gift, prophets.
00:50:52 Prophets who speak forth words from God in complete
00:50:55 consistency with the foundation of the Old and the New Testament.
00:50:58 Sometimes they speak in a predictive sense,
00:51:01 but not necessarily so, and they are always subject to the
00:51:04 discernment and judgment of the church leadership.
00:51:10 And with the apostles, modern prophets do not speak in same
00:51:15 authority as the first century prophets brought God's
00:51:19 foundation of words spoke.
00:51:20 So, we got to be careful.
00:51:22 You trying to say you a prophet or an apostle like them.
00:51:26 No, ain't nobody like them.
00:51:27 They gone.
00:51:28 They through.
00:51:29 Them 12, you're never going to find nobody like the 12.
00:51:32 It's like the Justice League, the Super Friend.
00:51:34 Ain't nobody going to be like Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman,
00:51:36 Aquaman, the Flying Hawkman, and that's them.
00:51:42 Now, all them other folks that come in the Justice League,
00:51:44 we don't know nothing about them.
00:51:45 They just spitting fire and green people.
00:51:46 Nobody know nothing about them.
00:51:48 Number three, the evangelist.
00:51:59 Evangelists who are specifically gifted to preach the good news
00:52:03 of salvation in Jesus Christ.
00:52:06 Evangelists preaching Jesus, man,
00:52:07 and people getting saved.
00:52:10 And then number four, pastors and teachers,
00:52:14 or pastors or teachers.
00:52:17 Now, pastors, pastors--I like to put pastors, dads, teacher.
00:52:23 The ancient Greek clearly describes one office with two
00:52:27 distinctive titles, who shepherds the flock of God
00:52:33 primarily, though not exclusively,
00:52:36 through teaching the Word of God.
00:52:39 Teaching is an essential part of the pastoral ministry.
00:52:43 It is appropriate, therefore, that the two terms,
00:52:46 pastor, teachers, should be joined together to denote one
00:52:50 order of ministry.
00:52:53 So, these gifts are given at the discretion of Jesus,
00:52:56 but through the Holy Spirit.
00:53:00 And so, the importance of having all four in operation in any
00:53:04 church body is up to Jesus who appoints the offices.
00:53:09 So, the job of responsible church leadership is not to
00:53:13 hinder or prevent such ministries that Jesus appoints.
00:53:17 So, Jesus starts a church and he decides,
00:53:20 "Here at this church, I need a pastor teacher."
00:53:23 And I remember I'm crippled now.
00:53:28 I'm a pastor teacher, and then God got on me.
00:53:32 He says, "Let me determine who you gonna be."
00:53:36 He said, "Right now, that's what you are right now.
00:53:41 You're a pastor, and you're using teaching primarily to
00:53:47 pastor the church."
00:53:52 Now, I may use prophecy as a part of pastoring the church,
00:53:58 or I might use apostleship as a part of pastoring the church,
00:54:04 but I'm the one to determine what's needed in the church.
00:54:09 Yeah.
00:54:15 Y'all gonna be all right.
00:54:19 I got six minutes to go.
00:54:20 Six.
00:54:21 Some of y'all are like--
00:54:23 You know, you try to look deep.
00:54:35 You know you sleep, but you try to look deep with it.
00:54:38 I love it when you're like that.
00:54:39 You say--
00:54:41 Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
00:54:48 You better go to bed on Saturday night.
00:54:53 You do for your job.
00:54:55 'Cause you know if you fall asleep,
00:55:03 you get caught, it might be--
00:55:05 I had a guy working me one time.
00:55:06 I went in his office.
00:55:08 Boy, he would knock that.
00:55:10 I just stood there.
00:55:17 I looked at him.
00:55:18 I thought, "Man, he looks so peaceful."
00:55:20 I walked around just to see if he can sense my presence
00:55:25 in the room.
00:55:27 And he had enough nerve.
00:55:29 When I walked around in front, he said, "Ah."
00:55:31 "As the doorknob turns, so does the slothful man turn over
00:55:39 in his bed while his blessings go over his head."
00:55:42 What'd she say?
00:55:44 I don't remember it, but I just--
00:55:56 See, that's one of the things when you're talking and being
00:56:03 led by the Spirit of God, you don't keep up with,
00:56:06 "I'll listen to you.
00:56:06 Go listen to the tape," and then you realize, "I said that?"
00:56:12 Let's deal a little bit more now.
00:56:14 So, because of this provision for spiritual growth and
00:56:20 development, to remain immature and lacking in the knowledge of
00:56:24 the things of Christ is to walk unworthy of the calling.
00:56:28 To remain immature is to walk unworthy of the calling.
00:56:33 There are lots of people that decided to remain immature,
00:56:38 and you allowed your teaching to be funneled to you from
00:56:43 streaming platforms and not from the brook that God called you to.
00:56:51 And church was no longer about coming to get fed so that you
00:56:56 can grow, it was about coming to be entertained so you can get an
00:57:01 emotional high.
00:57:03 And so, the most--the part about your emotions,
00:57:07 when your emotions have not been trained in God's grace,
00:57:11 they start moving.
00:57:13 And emotions can move you into places that can hurt you.
00:57:19 Good emotions can move you into the right places,
00:57:21 but bad emotions--if you don't recognize when your emotions are
00:57:26 moving you in a negative place, you'll find yourself at a place
00:57:29 and say, "How did I get there?"
00:57:31 You can find yourself in jail, and your emotions played a big
00:57:34 part in getting you to that place.
00:57:38 And so, people of God, since I have done all this for you,
00:57:44 could you grow?
00:57:45 Would you be willing to mature and grow?
00:57:49 Because I am limited in what I can do with you because you're a
00:57:55 spiritual babe.
00:57:57 You're still getting offended every other week.
00:58:03 I'm limited in how much I can do with you.
00:58:08 You still don't recognize the temptations that come to
00:58:13 destroy you.
00:58:14 I'm limited.
00:58:17 You still think it's cool.
00:58:19 This is my life.
00:58:21 I can do what I want to do with it.
00:58:22 I can sleep with whoever I want to sleep with.
00:58:24 Ain't nothing wrong with having--that's immaturity.
00:58:26 He says, "I'm limited.
00:58:27 I can only go so far with you."
00:58:32 There's some area of immaturity in your life that may be
00:58:37 hindering the plan of God for your life.
00:58:40 Oh, God.
00:58:43 See, what grieves the Holy Spirit sometimes is when all of
00:58:47 your relationship with God happens to be just about
00:58:51 materialism.
00:58:53 All your prayers are about material.
00:58:56 All your motivations is about material.
00:59:00 How do I get rich?
00:59:05 How do I get some more money?
00:59:07 God, give me a new car.
00:59:09 God, give me a house.
00:59:10 And Jesus is sitting there and saying, "Is that the plan?"
00:59:13 All those things can be available to you, but priority
00:59:18 comes before all of that.
00:59:21 But immature people skip the priority stuff, and they want to
00:59:25 go to the treasure because they don't know that Jesus is the
00:59:29 treasure.
00:59:31 Another thing that grieves the Holy Spirit is how we treat one
00:59:41 another.
00:59:42 We back to that again.
00:59:44 That's immature.
00:59:46 So, what has to happen to mature you so that you can be used?
00:59:52 It's not like God doesn't want to use you.
00:59:56 He want to use everybody he called.
00:59:58 He want to use everybody, but everybody, they just--some
01:00:01 people just don't want to grow up.
01:00:03 I don't want to see Jesus knowing that I could have did
01:00:13 this, but I didn't want to 'cause I only could see me and
01:00:18 not him.
01:00:22 I'm training myself to be okay with people's satisfaction of
01:00:28 their maturity level.
01:00:30 I'm tired of wanting it more than somebody else want it.
01:00:34 If you're not willing to invest in yourself, why should I be
01:00:41 willing to invest in you?
01:00:43 [applause]
01:00:45 ♪ Ham bone, ham bone, have you heard? ♪
01:00:57 [laughter]
01:00:59 We got to grow up, and that's just not one of the things
01:01:08 we want to do.
01:01:09 We come to church with an attitude sometimes is,
01:01:12 "I'm too old to learn that."
01:01:14 "Whoop, I got to hurry up and go 'cause I got to get out of
01:01:20 this traffic.
01:01:21 I ain't got time for all this."
01:01:23 It's the truth, and we reach so far, and then we start listening
01:01:30 to the world as they talk us out of our position.
01:01:33 And all of a sudden, we develop new relationships on Sunday other
01:01:42 than Jesus.
01:01:44 We go to the first church of golf Sunday.
01:01:48 We go to the second church of picnic, the third church of
01:01:56 bike riding, softball, basketball.
01:02:02 Sports now is getting more attendance than the body of
01:02:09 Christ.
01:02:12 They decided to take our day, and now the biggest event on
01:02:17 Sunday is no longer worship to God.
01:02:22 It's football, and I love football, and I tease with y'all
01:02:26 all the time, but it's got to be this first, not football.
01:02:29 Football don't take the priority.
01:02:33 Ken and I do what we can do.
01:02:37 We get there when we get there.
01:02:39 Some days when it's 5 o'clock, we can see a kickoff.
01:02:43 Other than that, we got the radio.
01:02:45 We do what we do, but we--this is--that's not gonna come before
01:02:47 that.
01:02:48 If an anointing break out, you think, "Well, I got to hurry up
01:02:50 and go 'cause of the anointing."
01:02:51 No, the anointing, the thing I live for, the thing that I want.
01:02:54 And then we make excuses up.
01:03:00 "That guy crook, that guy crook, he a crook, they a crook.
01:03:02 They all crooks, so I'm just done with the whole thing."
01:03:04 You're just--you're looking for an excuse to remain immature.
01:03:10 You're not even mature enough to make that decision.
01:03:12 You better be glad my time up.
01:03:17 I felt like I was getting ready to go somewhere, boy.
01:03:25 Anyway, we did get point two.
01:03:28 We got three more to go, and we're gonna be fine.
01:03:31 Did y'all do okay with that today?
01:03:33 You all right?
01:03:35 You okay?
01:03:39 You don't hate me, do you?
01:03:40 'Cause I love you.
01:03:41 I'm gonna love you anyway.
01:03:42 I'm gonna love you.
01:03:43 You might not even come to church no more, but I'm gonna meet you
01:03:44 in the street somewhere and I'm gonna say, "How come you ain't
01:03:46 getting mature?"
01:03:47 "Oh, Pastor, you know, I know you are."
01:03:48 Quit lying, just got to stop lying.
01:03:50 Now, listen to me.
01:03:58 Giving is a part of our worship.
01:04:03 It is not, "All right, let's get to the next part, giving."
01:04:06 What you heard today is a motivation for my giving.
01:04:13 I'm motivated to give to such a point that I make my offering
01:04:19 out before I get to church.
01:04:21 If you need an offering envelope, raise your hands.
01:04:26 Ushers, get it into their hands.
01:04:29 I want you to sow, to give, because you want to, not
01:04:36 because you're afraid you're going to be cursed with a curse
01:04:42 if you don't, but I want you to do it in reverence to a God who
01:04:47 has done so much for you that I give unto the Lord.
01:04:54 Glory due to his name.
01:04:57 I bring an offering and I worship him in the beauty of his
01:05:01 holiness, and the fact that he would even receive my offering
01:05:06 is a great wonder.
01:05:10 It's a great wonder that God would receive my gift.
01:05:15 Wow.
01:05:18 And so, this is a part of our--this is a part of our
01:05:21 worship.
01:05:21 I give to God not out of pressure.
01:05:25 I give to God not out of compulsion.
01:05:28 I give to God not out of fear, but I know it pleases him for me
01:05:33 to take everything he's given me the grace to do to get this and
01:05:42 to return it back to him out of love and appreciation.
01:05:48 Dude, it ain't nothing like it.
01:05:50 It ain't nothing like it.
01:05:54 And I'll continue to do this, Taff and I'll keep doing this
01:05:56 for the rest of our lives.
01:05:58 That we give unto the Lord.
01:06:01 Glory.
01:06:04 And we worship him.
01:06:07 How did it happen?
01:06:08 "Father, speak to me.
01:06:10 Will you--how do you want to use me?"
01:06:12 Worship is about, "God, do with me and through me what you want
01:06:16 to do."
01:06:16 That's what it's about.
01:06:17 "Lord, do with me and through me what you want me to do."
01:06:19 And watch him.
01:06:24 Watch him.
01:06:27 I'm gonna do something today I hadn't done probably in three
01:06:33 years.
01:06:35 It's strong on me this morning when I got up.
01:06:37 There's some people who the doctor had diagnosed with some
01:06:44 crazy stuff, and you need a miracle.
01:06:48 And I believe miracles are gonna be given out today.
01:06:52 And, you know, I got my hands washed.
01:06:58 I ain't sick.
01:07:00 I ain't got no stuff on me.
01:07:02 But I would like, if you would, to lay hands on you to be healed
01:07:07 today, and I don't know if you're feeling funny about that.
01:07:14 Then that's between--you gotta deal with that.
01:07:16 I have an anointing this morning to see healing, and I want to
01:07:21 administer that anointing to those who need it.
01:07:27 Now, I ain't talking about no cough.
01:07:31 You might have cornbread stuck in your throat.
01:07:33 I'm talking about--you understand what I'm saying?
01:07:40 Father, I'm sowing this seed, and I'm thanking you for the
01:07:45 Holy Ghost, supernatural intervention of the power of
01:07:52 God, in Jesus' name.
01:07:57 Let's just go ahead and receive the offering right now.
01:08:00 Go ahead and receive the offering right now.
01:08:07 Now, some of you may have never experienced some of the things
01:08:12 you're about to see here.
01:08:14 I want you to participate and pray for people who come up.
01:08:19 And right now, if you're the person I was talking about,
01:08:26 would you come on and stand in front of me right now?
01:08:30 And, you know, if you're not ready to have hands laid on you,
01:08:33 don't worry about it.
01:08:34 I'm good.
01:08:37 I want to teach you how to receive healing.
01:08:39 Okay, make sure they don't get on top of each other.
01:08:44 Now, have just a little space in between.
01:08:56 If you guys could step up just a little bit, right.
01:09:00 That's good.
01:09:02 That's good.
01:09:06 Oh, my God, I forgot this wasn't Pine and Grove Church with
01:09:09 300 folks.
01:09:11 This--is this many people?
01:09:16 The devil is a liar, isn't he?
01:09:21 I said, "The devil's a liar, isn't he?"
01:09:25 All right, guys, I need some help in that middle aisle.
01:09:34 You can't have people behind each other now.
01:09:36 So, you gotta remember, you gotta go where you used to go
01:09:39 now.
01:09:40 Now, when everybody gets settled,
01:09:43 I'm gonna show you how to receive your healing.
01:09:46 All right?
01:09:50 Receiving your healing is all about knowing how to receive it.
01:09:55 Okay?
01:09:56 Don't get too close to the steps, guys.
01:09:58 Come on.
01:09:59 All right, you know you can't have nobody behind them.
01:10:01 Come on, gentlemen, help them.
01:10:02 Let's go.
01:10:03 Let's get 'em where they need to be.
01:10:04 Come on.
01:10:06 Come on, come on, come on, guys, come on.
01:10:10 Now, now listen to me now.
01:10:20 I'm gonna wait 'til everybody gets set.
01:10:22 I don't wanna get folks out there.
01:10:25 Just take 'em all the way around.
01:10:27 If I have to walk around the dome, that'll be fine.
01:10:30 All the way around.
01:10:31 Just don't get in front of anybody.
01:10:33 Nobody behind anybody.
01:10:36 Nobody in front of anybody.
01:10:38 That's all right.
01:10:40 We haven't done this in a minute.
01:10:41 You're good.
01:10:43 Thank you for the privilege of allowing me to lay hands on you.
01:10:49 [speaking in tongues]
01:10:58 I am so angry with the devil.
01:11:03 For everything he tried to do to me,
01:11:13 we gonna let go on him right now this morning.
01:11:16 [speaking in tongues]
01:11:25 Now, when you receive your healing, go tell somebody.
01:11:31 Yeah, soak it in.
01:11:36 Let that devil know.
01:11:38 I'm telling everybody.
01:11:39 I'm trying to tell everybody.
01:11:40 I'm trying to testify to everybody, boy.
01:11:42 All right, now listen to me carefully.
01:11:46 This is how you receive your healing.
01:11:48 Power is released at a point of contact.
01:11:54 Healing's already been done.
01:11:56 We're not trying to get God to heal you.
01:11:58 Healing has already been made available.
01:12:01 Healing is finished in this dimension other than where we
01:12:06 are right now.
01:12:07 It may not have arrived.
01:12:08 It's in this dimension, and we're receiving it from that
01:12:11 dimension to this one, okay?
01:12:16 Now, to do that, it requires you receiving what you believe is
01:12:22 already done, and the most of the time,
01:12:28 devil just play with your mind, and he says,
01:12:30 "You don't feel it, do you?
01:12:33 So then it ain't there."
01:12:35 Well, we are summoning it from one dimension to this one.
01:12:40 Glory to God.
01:12:45 Now, when will that be true?
01:12:49 At a point of contact.
01:12:51 My laying hands on you, not pushing you,
01:12:56 not slapping you, not doing something to bring about
01:13:00 entertainment to anybody, but at a point of contact,
01:13:04 you will feel my hands gently coming on your forehead,
01:13:08 and as soon as you feel that touch, receive it.
01:13:13 That's the point of contact where you receive it and release
01:13:18 it, receive it.
01:13:20 Now, some of you will have instant manifestations,
01:13:25 and you feel like you can do something you couldn't do
01:13:28 before.
01:13:29 Well, do it.
01:13:30 Don't wait on me to tell you to do it.
01:13:32 If you feel like you want to do something you couldn't do
01:13:34 before, do it.
01:13:37 If something wouldn't move, move it.
01:13:38 See if it moves now.
01:13:41 You receive it, so now you're expecting in this dimension to
01:13:45 be a dream manifestation.
01:13:48 Ladies and gentlemen, I still believe in a God who can heal.
01:13:51 [congregation applauding]
01:13:53 Amen.
01:14:01 You get it?
01:14:01 The point of contact, the point of contact,
01:14:03 the point of contact.
01:14:05 Soon as you feel my hands touch your forehead,
01:14:09 point of contact, release your faith.
01:14:12 Receive it.
01:14:14 Isn't that amazing?
01:14:17 All these people the devil had under that?
01:14:19 No, no, no.
01:14:20 He gonna learn today.
01:14:22 What he gonna learn?
01:14:26 "Greater is he that is in you."
01:14:29 [congregation applauding]
01:14:33 [speaking in foreign language]
01:14:35 [laughing]
01:14:37 I'm already rejoicing.
01:14:39 Rock, you remember those days we used to have miracle and healing
01:14:45 services every Saturday all over this country?
01:14:52 And the power of God would come and supernaturally get on the
01:14:58 bodies of people.
01:14:59 I feel an anointing in this place.
01:15:01 Glory be to God.
01:15:05 Hallelujah.
01:15:10 Y'all ready?
01:15:12 Ooh-wee.
01:15:14 I feel an anointing in this place.
01:15:18 [congregation applauding]
01:15:20 I feel something in this place I ain't felt in a long time.
01:15:26 What y'all standing up for?
01:15:32 Y'all expecting too, ain't you?
01:15:34 Y'all got people back here in agreement with you.
01:15:38 Something good is about to happen to you.
01:15:40 [speaking in foreign language]
01:15:42 [congregation applauding]
01:15:44 Whoo!
01:15:46 Whoo!
01:15:48 Whoo!
01:15:50 Now, now, now, now, now, now, some of y'all gonna get--
01:15:54 [speaking in foreign language]
01:15:56 Some of y'all gonna receive the manifestation
01:15:58 before I can get to you.
01:15:59 Some of y'all--something happening to some of y'all
01:16:02 right now.
01:16:03 [speaking in foreign language]
01:16:05 Something happening right now.
01:16:07 [speaking in foreign language]
01:16:09 Glory be to God.
01:16:11 [speaking in foreign language]
01:16:13 [laughing]
01:16:15 Oh, glory to God.
01:16:17 Oh, glory to God.
01:16:19 Oh, glory to God.
01:16:21 Oh, glory to God.
01:16:23 Oh, glory to God.
01:16:25 Oh, glory to God.
01:16:27 Hallelujah.
01:16:29 [congregation applauding]
01:16:31 Not by might.
01:16:33 Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.
01:16:40 All right, get ready to feel what you've not ever felt before
01:16:55 and get ready to see what you've never seen before.
01:16:57 [speaking in foreign language]
01:16:59 Mm.
01:17:00 Mm.
01:17:02 Point of contact, release your faith.
01:17:04 There it goes right there.
01:17:07 In the name of Jesus.
01:17:09 There it go right there.
01:17:11 In Jesus' name.
01:17:13 Right there.
01:17:15 Be healed in Jesus' name.
01:17:17 Right there.
01:17:18 Be healed in Jesus' name.
01:17:20 Right there.
01:17:21 Be healed in Jesus' name.
01:17:23 Right there.
01:17:24 Be healed in Jesus' name.
01:17:26 Tell them they gotta keep their eyes open, man.
01:17:29 [speaking in foreign language]
01:17:31 Thank you, Jesus.
01:17:33 I receive it.
01:17:34 Thank you, thank you, thank you.
01:17:36 Jesus' name.
01:17:37 Thank you, Jesus.
01:17:38 Jesus' name.
01:17:39 Glory be to God.
01:17:41 Thank you, Jesus.
01:17:42 Jesus' name.
01:17:43 Glory be to God.
01:17:45 Right there.
01:17:46 Glory to God.
01:17:48 Yeah, right, right, right, right, right.