[SPEAKER_01]: Second Timothy chapter three, we're going to read verses one through five, it'll be on the screen if you want to follow that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: Second Timothy chapter three, verses one through five.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says this, but know this difficult times will come in the last days.
[SPEAKER_01]: For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable slanders,
[SPEAKER_01]: Traders, reckless, conceded, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of Godliness, but denying its power.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it says, avoid these people.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're taking notes this morning, the title of today's message is, we need the power.
[SPEAKER_01]: We need the power.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word this morning.
[SPEAKER_01]: We thank you for the truth and the revelation of your word.
[SPEAKER_01]: Being unfolded before us today, God.
[SPEAKER_01]: Lord, we not only wanna learn something new, but Father, we wanna receive from you today.
[SPEAKER_01]: We wanna hear from you.
[SPEAKER_01]: We want to leave here forever marked and changed by your power today.
[SPEAKER_01]: We love you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: These are the days.
[SPEAKER_01]: Church, I believe that these are the days for outpouring.
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe these are the days for revival.
[SPEAKER_01]: These are the days for awakening.
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe that we're going to begin to see things that we haven't sold in a long time.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to begin to experience a move of God unlike anything we've ever experienced yet.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe that so strongly.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe that God is doing a new thing, a fresh thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I just want to be a part of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: So this morning, I want to highlight to you really what I believe is the most important part of Second Timothy chapter three in the specifically in the first five verses that we read.
[SPEAKER_01]: If we look at verse five again, just alone on its own, it says this and put it on the screen there.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says holding to the form of guidance,
[SPEAKER_01]: So that goes to tell me that you can have a form of God, but not have a form of God with his power.
[SPEAKER_01]: People have a form of God, but maybe they don't have the power of God with it.
[SPEAKER_01]: That they will have a form of godliness, but deny its power.
[SPEAKER_01]: Notice how the scripture does not say it would be a form of wickedness after all of those wicked things that it listed.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says that there would be a form of godliness, and it would be a form of godliness that denies its power.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the reason why this is so significant is because it doesn't say that they would doubt the power.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's beyond that.
[SPEAKER_01]: As a matter of fact, it's a little worse than that.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's worse than doubting the power.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's full on denying the power, denying the power.
[SPEAKER_01]: Listen, it's one thing to doubt, because at times we all we all come into that.
[SPEAKER_01]: We all come into times where we doubt.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're doubtful about things, we're not so sure, and doubting, you know, as a real thing that sometimes we go through, you know, and we can be in a season of doubt, and we can say, God, I'm not sure if you're there, and it's just a little bit doubtful in that time, and a doubting season.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you all a doubting season is, a doubting season is just you wrestling with God.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's it.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's you wrestling with God, it's an uncertainty, and it's a wrestling that's taking place between, between what you know and what you believe with God and what he knows and what he believes for you.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's okay at times to wrestle with God.
[SPEAKER_01]: Encourage the scripture like that, that's happened several times.
[SPEAKER_01]: You see Jacob wrestle with God, you know, you see several people that wrestled or had the conversation or a dialogue with God, there was a wrestling that took place and so often times in life we get into a situation or a season and we find ourselves doubting and that's okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: You need to know today that if you've been in a doubting season, that's okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: But there's a difference between doubting and there's a difference between denying.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because someone that is doubting, well, God will eventually break through and they'll realize the truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the doubt is broken.
[SPEAKER_01]: But someone that is a denier says, God, I don't want what you want.
[SPEAKER_01]: So he says that there would be a form of godliness in the days that are to come, but they would deny its power.
[SPEAKER_01]: In other words, they say, God, I want you, but I won't want anything else that you have to offer.
[SPEAKER_01]: God, I want to say that I know you, that I love you, God, I want to say that I go to church, but I want nothing to do with your power.
[SPEAKER_01]: The power that convicts me.
[SPEAKER_01]: The power that will humble me and bring me to my knees, the power that will destroy and annihilate things in my life that I've allowed.
[SPEAKER_01]: God, I want you, but I don't want your power.
[SPEAKER_01]: He says that is what we would begin to see.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a kind of a verbage and the kind of people that say, well, I don't mind the worship, but I don't mind the preaching, I don't mind the fellowship, but when you start getting into all the holy ghost stuff, I'm out.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when I say, well, pastor, I get, you know, I just get really nervous when you start talking about the Holy Spirit and you start talking about speaking in tongues and all those kind of things, I just get really nervous.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, let me tell you something.
[SPEAKER_01]: You won't be nervous about it if you get a bad report.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hello, can I be real this morning?
[SPEAKER_01]: You won't be nervous about the Holy Spirit when something hits your house.
[SPEAKER_01]: and all hell begins to break loose.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, it's not always quiet, sweet, flowers, and candy type of Christianity.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not, there's something about the holy power of God that can outright knock the rebellion out of the rebellious.
[SPEAKER_01]: That can knock the alcohol right out of the alcoholic.
[SPEAKER_01]: That will eliminate disease right out of your body.
[SPEAKER_01]: It will literally give life to those who believe in the power of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so I don't want to just have a form of Godliness, but I want to have a form of Godliness and it's power.
[SPEAKER_01]: God forbid, we ever get to a point of time where we deny his power.
[SPEAKER_01]: And my concern is much like pulse that we are living in a time where some might say, I have a form of godliness, but I deny it's power.
[SPEAKER_01]: And this word power, it's not a feeling.
[SPEAKER_01]: The power of God is not in emotion.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you what else the power of God, the power of God is not goosebumps on your
[SPEAKER_01]: It's far beyond that.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's far beyond emotions or feelings or whatever you may think the power of God is.
[SPEAKER_01]: This power that I'm talking about, it's tangible.
[SPEAKER_01]: The power of God is undeniable.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's unrevocable power that comes from God Himself.
[SPEAKER_01]: But if we're not careful in today's world, we will buy into an idea of God that kind
[SPEAKER_01]: That's four out there and kind of out of reach.
[SPEAKER_01]: But that is not the God that we serve.
[SPEAKER_01]: That is not the God of the Bible.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, somebody.
[SPEAKER_01]: The God of the Bible, the God that we serve, is not on his way to help you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you, he's right there to help you.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not on his way to come meet your need.
[SPEAKER_01]: He is right there to meet your need.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: And in his power, it's the power of God that makes way and makes access for everything that God wants to do in and through your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: By the way, something happened to me this week, and I don't know what happened, but I'm just going with it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And part of it is, when I went to get my message together, I've been writing sermons for 15 years plus.
[SPEAKER_01]: I do it the same way every single time.
[SPEAKER_01]: I've got my own outline.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I just, I plug in everything, you know, and I just build it that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: The Lord completely messed me up.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't got no outline today.
[SPEAKER_01]: What?
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, somebody.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, Lord, what is it?
[SPEAKER_01]: Y'all are waiting for a 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, let me tell you.
[SPEAKER_01]: There ain't no points today, baby.
[SPEAKER_01]: I said, okay, Lord, whatever you want to do.
[SPEAKER_01]: But let me tell you something, though.
[SPEAKER_01]: I always have two pages of notes.
[SPEAKER_01]: The Lord got a hold of me this week, and I got four pages, baby, so you better buckle up because we ain't nowhere near getting done here, okay?
[SPEAKER_01]: So this denying of the power of God will literally land the church in a place where we wander away from the reality of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: where we reject the altar of God and his intentions of what he wants to do in our lives.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I wanna say this to you today, you might think that I'm sounding like a preacher from the 50s or the 60s or the 40s or something like an old school.
[SPEAKER_01]: Listen, yes I am.
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like an old school Pentecostal Holy Ghost preacher this morning, and I feel that kind of annoying thing being released in this house today, Amen?
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, you know, like, oh, I just want the, you know, the nice sweet soft stuff today, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: When we ain't getting it today, all right?
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not, it's not what's happening.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Here
[SPEAKER_01]: is becoming more about preference in our lives rather than genuine desire in our lives.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like if I feel good enough to experience what God has for me today, then I'll receive it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because about preference, if I actually want to wake up and be in his presence today, then maybe God, you can do something in my life.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, no, that's not what I'm trying to get, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe that there is a new passion that's hitting believers.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like a new passion that people will no longer have excuses.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, like we carry so many excuses.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have excuses for everything.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have more excuses about church than we do, go on to work.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's like all of these things, but I believe now.
[SPEAKER_01]: The slate is clean.
[SPEAKER_01]: All of that's behind us.
[SPEAKER_01]: We start over fresh.
[SPEAKER_01]: We say, Lord, there is a new passion that you are putting upon your people.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I want to be a part of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to be such a passionate lover of you, a lover of the church, a lover of your presence, that before I decide to do anything else in life, I'm going to be with you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and if we can get there, man, can you imagine what would begin to take place?
[SPEAKER_01]: So we've got to come out of the out of the place of preference and have a genuine desire for the power of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, because I believe we tend to treat like church specifically, and the power of God like ice cream flavors at an ice cream shop.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, today I'll try that flavor, and if I don't like it, next time I'll try something else.
[SPEAKER_01]: or think about like a restaurant.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you don't like your food, the manager will come and they'll say, can I get anything else for you?
[SPEAKER_01]: And say, yeah, let's switch it out to this or whatever.
[SPEAKER_01]: But when you're at home and you cook something, you don't got an opportunity to switch it out.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, we tell our kids all the time, like what we made is what you get.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you don't eat, that's on you.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I cook in two meals because you don't want something.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're getting what you got.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have this saying in our house, and you can adopt this two parents.
[SPEAKER_01]: You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you don't like the food, sorry, Bucco.
[SPEAKER_01]: Gabriel did that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Gabriel did that two night last night.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I don't know when it was last night of the night before.
[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't want what we made.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we're like, OK, well, we're not making you anything else, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we all eat.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then an hour or so later, I'm hungry.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, the food's still there.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want that.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's true.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're not hungry enough.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the boy went to bed and I don't, you know, don't come, you know, coming at me for this one now, okay?
[SPEAKER_01]: And went to bed hungry.
[SPEAKER_01]: So good thing for him.
[SPEAKER_01]: But he learned.
[SPEAKER_01]: He learned a lesson.
[SPEAKER_01]: If I don't like it, I need to figure out something, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe I just need to do this number, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: Get it down, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we treat church that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: We treat the power of God that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, if I don't feel like it, I don't like the flavor of that place.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't like the flavor of that worship.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't like the flavor of that preacher.
[SPEAKER_01]: That white chubby guy up there that, you know, I don't like him.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, you don't have to like me.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we treat all this stuff like ice cream.
[SPEAKER_01]: Ice cream flavors, like toppings, like optional toppings.
[SPEAKER_01]: And God's like, where's the passion?
[SPEAKER_01]: Where's the desire to just be in my presence?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, and that's all it's about, amen?
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, people say things well, like, you know, when it comes to like preaching on the Holy Spirit and all that kind of stuff, preaching on the power God like I'm doing this morning, people will say, well, I don't wanna hear all of that stuff.
[SPEAKER_01]: I just wanna hear about the word.
[SPEAKER_01]: I wanna hear the principles of the word.
[SPEAKER_01]: I wanna apply the principles of the word in my life, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, listen here, you can be so principle-filled that if we're not careful, we forsake the place that the Lord wants to take us.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if we're not careful, we'll be more filled with knowledge than we'll be filled with revelation of the power of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe before we get knowledge, he wants to get us into revelation.
[SPEAKER_01]: And knowledge will come.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we need the revelation of the Word of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: We need the revelation of God himself and the fire of the Holy Ghost and the real raw power of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what we need more than anything else.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so hear me, if we're not careful,
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, no more, but we won't be able to manifest a thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll have a bunch of knowledge, but we won't be able to manifest a thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: In other words, we'll know all the scriptures, but we won't be able to lay our hands on the sick to see them recover.
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll have all of the knowledge, but we won't be there to cast a demon out of an individual that is bound.
[SPEAKER_01]: God forget for a bit we get to that place where we know all of these things, but then the power of God shows up and we don't know how to act to respond.
[SPEAKER_01]: I know all these scriptures, pastor, I know all of them, God, I can do it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I know the scriptures and then the power of God shows up and you're like, whoa, pastor, what
[SPEAKER_01]: It's getting us into the revelation of the power of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying you can't know the word.
[SPEAKER_01]: Please hear my heart.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, what I'm saying today.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm saying, don't be so knowledge-filled that it gets you nowhere.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, let me tell you something.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you encounter an attic on the street today, they don't need to know the knowledge you got.
[SPEAKER_01]: They need to know the power you have.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not interested in how many scriptures you can quote.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not interested in how many sermons you've preached.
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't care about all of that.
[SPEAKER_01]: What they need is they need deliverance.
[SPEAKER_01]: They need freedom.
[SPEAKER_01]: They need to be set free.
[SPEAKER_01]: And all you gotta do is let your hands on them and proclaim the power of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm telling you, you will see that person set free.
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you let all the knowledge get in the way, it's a form of godliness, but it's a denying of its power.
[SPEAKER_01]: When hell begins to break loose that, we don't go hiding behind principles and while we're hiding behind principles, we're starving for revelation.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because principles will lead you to the brain of man, but revelation will lead you to the heart of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: We can get principles all day long.
[SPEAKER_01]: We can be taught.
[SPEAKER_01]: You can go study all day long, but it's the revelation of the power of God that will lead you to his heart.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, what does it mean when God's power wants to break in, but people deny it?
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you exactly what it means.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you deny the power of God in our personal lives, and in our church, we will slip into what I believe is a fraudulent form of Christianity.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not the real version.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not the real thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a form of Christianity.
[SPEAKER_01]: but it's a form that has no fire.
[SPEAKER_01]: And listen, if you deny the power of God, you'll begin to believe everything you hear.
[SPEAKER_01]: You'll start standing and agreement with demons and not even realize it.
[SPEAKER_01]: You won't recognize Jezebel.
[SPEAKER_01]: You'll put up with wickedness.
[SPEAKER_01]: You'll be okay with A-hab.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you'll compromise biblical convictions.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's exactly what will happen if you deny the power of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, pastor, not me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Not me, pastor, I love Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: I come to church every week.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a form of godliness, but denies its power.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to just be known as someone who shows up, because we can show up to anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: And ain't about all that kind of stuff.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's about the power God, the revelation of the power of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: And when the church has a form that denies the power of God, they'll find themselves, I believe, as a den of thieves.
[SPEAKER_01]: They'll become complacent, they'll agree with the agenda of the enemy, and they'll play with unrighteous and unrighteous laws.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I am sick of Christians who have no backbone because we're trying to not get involved in things.
[SPEAKER_01]: Forget that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Forget that form of Christianity.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hear me this morning.
[SPEAKER_01]: This preacher is totally against being OK with demonic and genders that have been released and exposed upon the earth.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm totally against it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And all of these things are happening in the world around us, and we've allowed all of these things to unfold before our eyes.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you what's happened, which is in Warlocks, are having a hay day.
[SPEAKER_01]: because they're watching believe or stay silent and we allow the demonic activity to continue.
[SPEAKER_01]: All because I didn't want to offend somebody.
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't want to say anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't want to get involved in that.
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't want to touch that subject.
[SPEAKER_01]: And because we responded that way, we've got what we've got today.
[SPEAKER_01]: So now we have to go and we have to cry out 100,000s of people in the heart of the nation to repent and say, we're no longer going to do that any longer.
[SPEAKER_01]: God put a fresh fire in a fresh passion and desire for your word and your truth within us because we don't want to live with no voice that he longer.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we want to stand up for truth and declare the righteousness and the power of Jesus upon the earth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Listen to me, church, you don't have to agree with me, but if we don't keep this moment something that is happening right now in the spiritual realm, where God is really moving, if we don't keep this moment going right now and continue to pray and continue to make our voices heard, your children and your grandchildren, they won't have much of a church
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna take it whole step further.
[SPEAKER_01]: My grandpa used to preach this way, and I didn't like it, but now I get it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sorry.
[SPEAKER_01]: You all have much of a country for them to grow up in.
[SPEAKER_01]: Not much of a nation for them to grow up in.
[SPEAKER_01]: My pastor with Jesus, we have freedom and we're safe and we're protected with him.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's exactly right.
[SPEAKER_01]: But when you come to Jesus, you lost your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: I said, when you came to Jesus, you lost your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: Your preferences, in your opinions, they don't matter anymore.
[SPEAKER_01]: And ain't about you anymore, I'm sorry.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if that's the kind of Christianity and that's the kind of Jesus you were looking for, you went the wrong place.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because when Jesus says, you deny yourself and you pick up the cross.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you carry me now.
[SPEAKER_01]: You carry Jesus now, and ain't about you.
[SPEAKER_01]: When you came to Jesus, you laid down your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: You laid down your personal agendas.
[SPEAKER_01]: You laid down your selfish desires.
[SPEAKER_01]: You picked up the cross and you said, Jesus, from this day forward, I will live for you.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're a human.
[SPEAKER_01]: Ha ha, come on, how many are grateful for your salvation this morning?
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was so messed up, I was so bound, I was all of these things, but Jesus, you said yes to me.
[SPEAKER_01]: When I said yes to you and you rescued me, you set me free, come on somebody, who am I talking about this morning?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm no longer the person that I used to be.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm somebody different now.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think the same way, I don't talk the same way.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't even look the same way.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you knew the way I smelled back then, I smelled a whole lot different now.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, somebody, because everything about me has changed.
[SPEAKER_01]: Glory to God.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Paul says, there's a day coming.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they'll have a form, but that form will have no power.
[SPEAKER_01]: All because the denial of the power.
[SPEAKER_01]: And let me say this in the kindest way possible now.
[SPEAKER_01]: When you deny his power, you automatically give permission to the devil to attack your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: You automatically give permission
[SPEAKER_01]: to the enemy, to attack your household, to attack your money, your finances, your resource, whatever, you name it, you automatically give him permission to do so.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's not the kind of God we serve.
[SPEAKER_01]: He is the righteous judge.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's the righteous judge.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not trying to be extreme this morning.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just trying to be real.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, can I just be real?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not trying to be extreme, but I have seen people shut the power of God off in their homes.
[SPEAKER_01]: Only to find themselves right in the middle of the devil's playground.
[SPEAKER_01]: Shut off the power of God, and then all of a sudden everything begins to fall apart.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's real!
[SPEAKER_01]: It's real.
[SPEAKER_01]: You cannot have a form of godliness and denial and power.
[SPEAKER_01]: It does not work.
[SPEAKER_01]: So hear me, the presence of God in His power cannot be optional.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you may say, well, Pastor, I thought you didn't need the Holy Spirit to get to heaven.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, you're right.
[SPEAKER_01]: certainly a great added benefit, you don't need it to get to heaven, but I can tell you right now that in the days that we're living in, you need the power of the Holy Spirit just to go grocery shopping.
[SPEAKER_01]: You need the power of the Holy Spirit just to get in and out of the drive through at some places.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because the demonic warfare is so real and so evident and so out there right there in your face you need the power and the revelation of the Holy Spirit just to watch television these days.
[SPEAKER_01]: A past that's extreme.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's not extreme.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's real.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's so sickening to me how many times I have to mute the TV or change the channel because of a commercial.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's disgusting like they allow everything now like full blown everything and it's it's unreal It's unreal But we need the power of God We need him to break in Listen sometimes the power of God wants to show up and we have to be okay if he wants to move beyond the time that we're supposed to dismiss I used to get so frustrated
[SPEAKER_01]: when I was younger in church and we'd sit there in service and bless my grandfather but he would preach and preach and preach and preach and just when you thought he was wrapping up, he'd preach and preach.
[SPEAKER_01]: And when I was little, I didn't understand it.
[SPEAKER_01]: So here my heart, this is not, you know, I'm not shooting, you know, shots here.
[SPEAKER_01]: What I'm saying is, when I was younger, sitting in church, listening to all that, I just thought, when am I gonna get out of here?
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's back in the days when furs was opened.
[SPEAKER_01]: Can I get an amen for furs?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll sit there thinking, man, if I can just be right now, walking through that line at first, giving my macaroni and cheese and some jello, and all of the things, ain't nobody eat jello, unless they go to loobies or furs.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, can I get an amen?
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, that was it.
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, so I remember being a kid and wondering, when in the heck is this thing going to end?
[SPEAKER_01]: When are they going to stop preaching?
[SPEAKER_01]: How many times are we going to pray for people at the altar?
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, did anybody else think that way when they were little come on?
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's just be honest a little bit.
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, a few of you did.
[SPEAKER_01]: All the other ones are just so sanctified.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're so holy.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, anyways.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I never understood it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I never did.
[SPEAKER_01]: But you know what, we don't need a generation who has satisfied with the cute version of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't need a generation where we lift our hands and just to lift it for the sake of lifting it and going to church just so we can see our bestie at church and not experience the revelation of the power of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: because I bet you when your favorite sports team is on and it goes into overtime and it's past your bedtime but because it's your favorite sports team you'll say you know what?
[SPEAKER_01]: I know it's past my bedtime but I wanna see them win so even in overtime I will stay up a little bit later even though I know I gotta go to work tomorrow morning because I wanna see my cowboy's win I had to add the cowboys in there and you stay up and you watch it
[SPEAKER_01]: But then when it comes to church, we start getting squirming.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we start getting flustered when the preacher keeps on preaching.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the worship goes a little bit longer than normal.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they sing another song and we get a little agitated wondering, when is this thing going to stop?
[SPEAKER_01]: When is it going to end?
[SPEAKER_01]: When am I going to be able to go home?
[SPEAKER_01]: When am I going to be able to eat lunch?
[SPEAKER_01]: When am I going to be able to do all these things?
[SPEAKER_01]: and listen church we need the power we need the power I had to repent because I used to be the preacher that if the cowboys were coming on at 12 I made sure we ended service a little bit earlier that day so we can get home and watch the cowboys what an idiot I was
[SPEAKER_01]: And now I say, my God, if they're playing right now and the power of God is moving, I don't give a rip.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're not talking about them right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just giving an example.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm telling you everybody heard me on the plane, when I got so mad when they lost, when they shouldn't have.
[SPEAKER_01]: I got so mad, everybody in that plane heard me.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I was set for nothing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, all right.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I don't care really about the watch on your hand anymore.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care about the time and the back of the room.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because, you know, we've got to get to the point where we don't care about all that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Where we just say, I just want more of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: I just want more of the Pagot.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if the power of God wants to continue to roll on an hour past the normal time, then glory to God, let's just keep on going, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's where God, I believe, is wanting to get us as where we're so hungry.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're so passionate, we're so just willing.
[SPEAKER_01]: And listen, if you're hungry, let me tell you, the best food is right here anyways.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's right here.
[SPEAKER_01]: He says, a feast upon my word.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, that's the best food that you can get.
[SPEAKER_01]: People said, well pastor, I gotta get out of here
[SPEAKER_01]: barely rolled out a bed this morning and I miss breakfast, so I'm hungry.
[SPEAKER_01]: Listen, if that's the reason for you to skip out on the power of God and you know, it's real simple.
[SPEAKER_01]: Not only is there a spiritual problem there, but I think we can fix it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I can come over to your house and I can set the alarm a little bit earlier and see two of that you don't roll out of bed, put your hair like this and throw your clothes on and get in the car.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there's an easy way to fix that.
[SPEAKER_01]: But this is how we treat the power of God, but we won't do it Monday morning at work.
[SPEAKER_01]: There are souls on the line.
[SPEAKER_01]: There are people hungry for the real raw power of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: There are people dying all around us that don't know Jesus yet.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so listen to me and listen to me loud and clear.
[SPEAKER_01]: I will not stop.
[SPEAKER_01]: I will not hold back.
[SPEAKER_01]: I will not wait until you're ready or you feel like it's the right time.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you church, it is the time.
[SPEAKER_01]: It is the season, this is the hour for a great outpouring of the power and revelation of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe that with all my heart and I believe that we will see the glory of God
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, taste and see, that the Lord is good.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, taste and see.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me wrap this up.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a power of the Holy Spirit.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was put in a hotel room with a young man who
[SPEAKER_01]: leads worship.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's a worship leader, lives in Arkansas, precious sweet in man.
[SPEAKER_01]: You can just wait just a second Josh.
[SPEAKER_01]: Precious young man and we talked and all that kind of thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we got into a, gotten to the hotel room and got settled in all that and we would get to the,
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, just barely getting to the room and this young man, he lives in Arkansas and he lives on a farm in Arkansas and they have a whole bunch of land and animals and all of the things.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we got ready to go to sleep and you know, when you go into a hotel room, sometimes,
[SPEAKER_01]: in the room and sometimes it's just silent.
[SPEAKER_01]: At home, we have the fan going in the ceiling, and then we have like a fan over on one end of the room that makes that good loud oscillating fan humming noise and I love it, I love it, we love it.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so good to sleep in.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I lay down and I'm like, dang, it is quiet in this room.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not used to that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I have this handy dandy app on my phone that one time we went to a hotel and we had the same situation.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Melissa's like, it's way too quiet in here.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I found this app.
[SPEAKER_01]: and it's such an amazing app because what I have at home I can have right here.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I'm laying there in the silence and I remember, oh I've got this app and it's got this box fan on it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if I can just play this box fan noise all night, I'll be good.
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't close your eyes, that's so good, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: That just reminds you of Mr. and Mrs.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sheets right now, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Man, so I put this thing on.
[SPEAKER_01]: I turn on this box fan, turn it on, put my phone down on the nightstand,
[SPEAKER_01]: And he leans up, he says, what are you doing?
[SPEAKER_01]: I said, what?
[SPEAKER_01]: He said, what is that noise?
[SPEAKER_01]: I said it's an app.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just playing a fan.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he was like, turn that off.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, why?
[SPEAKER_01]: And he was like, bro, don't you sleep in silence?
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, nobody sleeps in silence.
[SPEAKER_01]: What are you talking about?
[SPEAKER_01]: And he was like, bro, like, I live on a farm.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, windows open, no electronics going, we don't got no fans blowing in the room.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love sleeping to silence.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I say, well, you're in the room with the wrong person.
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't sleep in silence.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then he was like, OK, maybe tonight.
[SPEAKER_01]: But just turn it way down.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, well, that's the whole point.
[SPEAKER_01]: I have it way up.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I can go to sleep.
[SPEAKER_01]: But if I turn it way down, I'm just going to lay here.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's like, well, that's just the best.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, there's nothing better than just laying on the bed.
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's no noise.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you could just fall asleep.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, bro, I hear my heart be.
[SPEAKER_01]: I hear my own brain, like, talking, like, I'm already thinking about tomorrow and I can hear myself.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I can't do the whole silence thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so he was gracious enough to let me do it, to let me have the fans.
[SPEAKER_01]: But this is the revelation.
[SPEAKER_01]: I say, well, what was all that I've been about?
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't worry, I got you.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just like the church, there's a difference between the app and the real thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: I knew I didn't have the real thing, so I had to find something that sounded like it.
[SPEAKER_01]: But let me tell you, it's not exactly the same.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing I like getting into my bedroom turning on that fan and crawling into bed and hearing that certain sound and no, I'm going to rest good tonight.
[SPEAKER_01]: An app has the form and it sounds like the fan.
[SPEAKER_01]: But listen, you want to know the difference between the app and the fan?
[SPEAKER_01]: The app has no wind.
[SPEAKER_01]: The app has no wind, the real fan in the room makes the sound and you can feel the wind blowing.
[SPEAKER_01]: But when you turn this thing on, only thing that you can know is that you hear something but you don't feel nothing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Glory to God, come on somebody.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we've got a lot of church folk and a lot of churches who are satisfied with the sound of the fan, but they're ain't no wind in the room.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I came to ask you this morning, if you are hungry, if you are desperate for him, Josh, you can come now.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you are ready and you are longing for Jesus and longing for more of the power of God, and more of the revelation of the power, if you are hungry enough for him, can you let him fill you with his power today?
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's message.
[SPEAKER_00]: We pray you were inspired, challenged, and marked by the word you heard.
[SPEAKER_00]: If this message blessed you today, we encourage you to subscribe to the Church of the City Podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: There you can find more faith-filled messages to uplift you and help you on your journey of faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: For more information about Church of the City, head on over to www.cotcdfw.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, remember this, the best is yet to come.