1 00:00:15,170 --> 00:00:16,274 Hello, sandals church. 2 00:00:16,322 --> 00:00:19,094 I want you to know what an honor and a privilege it's to be here. 3 00:00:19,132 --> 00:00:22,642 I already know about you guys because I know and I love your pastors. 4 00:00:22,706 --> 00:00:26,150 Pastor Matt and tammy are some of Lisa's and my closest friends. 5 00:00:26,220 --> 00:00:27,878 I mean, lisa is a best friend. 6 00:00:27,964 --> 00:00:33,782 I invited Tammy to come to Lisa's 60th birthday party right in the middle of COVID And I 7 00:00:33,836 --> 00:00:37,526 snuck her number off my wife's phone and actually asked her. 8 00:00:37,548 --> 00:00:38,754 It was a surprise party. 9 00:00:38,802 --> 00:00:39,950 But I want to say this. 10 00:00:39,980 --> 00:00:43,530 This about your leaders, and I feel like this is my responsibility. 11 00:00:43,610 --> 00:00:46,122 You have some of the greatest leaders in this church. 12 00:00:46,266 --> 00:00:51,338 And the thing I love so much about Pastor Matt is he absolutely loves truth, but yet he's 13 00:00:51,354 --> 00:00:51,882 hilarious. 14 00:00:51,946 --> 00:00:53,386 He has so much joy. 15 00:00:53,498 --> 00:00:56,946 Okay, you save Matt Brown and you start laughing, right? 16 00:00:57,048 --> 00:01:01,790 But yet the man has a heart after God, a heart for truth. 17 00:01:01,870 --> 00:01:04,798 And that's what drew me to him right from the very beginning. 18 00:01:04,894 --> 00:01:06,766 And so I want to say you are blessed. 19 00:01:06,798 --> 00:01:10,418 And if there's nothing more that I say to you that helps you today, but I believe the Holy 20 00:01:10,434 --> 00:01:13,154 Spirit will do it, is that you are in a great church. 21 00:01:13,202 --> 00:01:17,462 And please stay planted in this church, because this leads into. 22 00:01:17,516 --> 00:01:17,782 Right. 23 00:01:17,836 --> 00:01:20,794 What I want to talk to you about today, and that is this. 24 00:01:20,912 --> 00:01:26,314 A couple of years ago, I was doing some research on the state of the church in America, and 25 00:01:26,352 --> 00:01:33,406 I discovered some devastating things in basically, Barna had done some in depth research. 26 00:01:33,588 --> 00:01:43,078 But I want to say this, from the year 2010 to the year 2020, over 45 million americans 27 00:01:43,194 --> 00:01:44,606 stopped praying. 28 00:01:44,798 --> 00:01:53,854 Okay, now that's crazy when you think about it, 45 million, that is 20% of America stopped 29 00:01:53,902 --> 00:01:54,718 praying. 30 00:01:54,894 --> 00:01:56,286 It goes even further. 31 00:01:56,398 --> 00:02:00,150 And that's why I was so excited when Matt asked me to be a part of this prayer series. 32 00:02:00,970 --> 00:02:06,902 The other stat that riveted me was the fact that over 30 million americans from the year 33 00:02:06,956 --> 00:02:10,214 2000 till today have walked away from the faith. 34 00:02:10,262 --> 00:02:13,686 They've basically gone from practicing christians to non practicing christians. 35 00:02:13,798 --> 00:02:17,994 And by non practicing Christian, we're talking about atheists, agnostics, and 36 00:02:18,032 --> 00:02:18,982 spiritualists. 37 00:02:19,126 --> 00:02:22,042 So here's the thing that we've got to ask. 38 00:02:22,176 --> 00:02:23,974 Why are so many people stop praying? 39 00:02:24,022 --> 00:02:27,306 And by the way, Jesus said, men ought to always pray and not to faint. 40 00:02:27,338 --> 00:02:28,686 Luke 18, verse one. 41 00:02:28,788 --> 00:02:29,806 So what's happening? 42 00:02:29,908 --> 00:02:31,002 The people are fainting. 43 00:02:31,066 --> 00:02:32,730 They're walking away from the faith. 44 00:02:32,810 --> 00:02:35,582 I mean, I have a pastor friend who has three son. 45 00:02:35,636 --> 00:02:37,298 He had a couple come up to them. 46 00:02:37,384 --> 00:02:41,394 They had three sons called to ministry, they went to universities, and they came back as 47 00:02:41,432 --> 00:02:43,106 agnostics, all three of them. 48 00:02:43,208 --> 00:02:44,770 All right, so what's going on? 49 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:45,634 What's happening? 50 00:02:45,752 --> 00:02:50,966 This caused me to go into a really deep dive and I wrote this book called the awe of God. 51 00:02:51,068 --> 00:02:55,622 I believe this is the focus of why we are losing so many people. 52 00:02:55,756 --> 00:03:00,054 Why so many people are not praying is we've lost the healthy fear of God. 53 00:03:00,092 --> 00:03:00,946 And I'm going to say this. 54 00:03:00,988 --> 00:03:03,834 I know I'm speaking to 14 campuses this morning. 55 00:03:03,952 --> 00:03:06,102 Look, you can get this on Amazon. 56 00:03:06,166 --> 00:03:09,530 And in fact, Amazon's got it for a big sale right now. 57 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:10,730 You're all prime members. 58 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:12,234 You'll get it in two days. 59 00:03:12,352 --> 00:03:12,826 Okay? 60 00:03:12,928 --> 00:03:15,970 So just go to Amazon. 61 00:03:16,070 --> 00:03:18,942 We've actually got a QR code that will show you at the end of the service. 62 00:03:18,996 --> 00:03:20,238 You can put your phone up. 63 00:03:20,324 --> 00:03:23,838 But I wrote 42 chapters, short chapters, because people don't read today. 64 00:03:23,924 --> 00:03:25,742 And you can read the chapter in seven minutes. 65 00:03:25,796 --> 00:03:27,330 And if you're slow, nine minutes. 66 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:32,318 Because I really want to get this into you because I want to see a stop to people walking 67 00:03:32,334 --> 00:03:33,262 away from the faith. 68 00:03:33,326 --> 00:03:35,940 So this is the question I had to ask. 69 00:03:36,470 --> 00:03:38,642 Why are so many people stopping to pray? 70 00:03:38,706 --> 00:03:41,346 Why are so many people walking away from the faith? 71 00:03:41,458 --> 00:03:42,582 I believe it's this. 72 00:03:42,636 --> 00:03:46,054 It's the absence of the presence of God. 73 00:03:46,172 --> 00:03:48,422 Now, I want to say this church, listen to me carefully. 74 00:03:48,486 --> 00:03:53,206 The presence of God is a very real aspect of Christianity. 75 00:03:53,318 --> 00:03:55,846 Jesus made a statement in John, chapter 14. 76 00:03:55,958 --> 00:04:03,742 He said, I will love him or her and manifest myself to him or her. 77 00:04:03,796 --> 00:04:05,630 Now, the word manifest is amazing. 78 00:04:05,780 --> 00:04:09,790 It means to reveal clearly, to bring to light. 79 00:04:09,860 --> 00:04:11,418 It means to disclose. 80 00:04:11,514 --> 00:04:15,982 It's when God reveals himself to our physical senses. 81 00:04:16,046 --> 00:04:18,722 It's the tangible presence of God. 82 00:04:18,776 --> 00:04:20,082 Now why is it important? 83 00:04:20,216 --> 00:04:23,586 Because Moses made a statement that I believe is still true today. 84 00:04:23,688 --> 00:04:31,206 He said, your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people that 85 00:04:31,228 --> 00:04:32,098 are on the earth. 86 00:04:32,194 --> 00:04:40,082 If you look at psalm one or 16, verse eleven, it says, in your presence is fullness of joy. 87 00:04:40,146 --> 00:04:40,970 Now think about it. 88 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,850 The joy of the Lord is our strength, right? 89 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,726 What is causing people to walk away from the faith? 90 00:04:46,838 --> 00:04:48,262 It's the lack of strength. 91 00:04:48,326 --> 00:04:54,842 They've lost that joy because joy, true joy, is found in the presence of the Lord. 92 00:04:54,906 --> 00:04:57,086 So now comes the big question. 93 00:04:57,268 --> 00:04:58,942 Why are christians today? 94 00:04:58,996 --> 00:05:01,342 When Jesus says, I will manifest myself to you? 95 00:05:01,396 --> 00:05:06,274 Why are christians today not experiencing the tangible presence of God? 96 00:05:06,392 --> 00:05:07,810 All right, here's the answer. 97 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,246 Because of a lack of holiness. 98 00:05:11,438 --> 00:05:17,846 Now, right there, I know a lot of people are going to start getting nervous, okay? 99 00:05:17,948 --> 00:05:20,774 You say the word holiness and people shut down. 100 00:05:20,892 --> 00:05:23,526 And there's actually a pretty good reason for it. 101 00:05:23,628 --> 00:05:29,690 And that is because in the past we have had mean spirited preachers, okay? 102 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,986 I'm talking about pastors, preachers that don't even like people. 103 00:05:33,088 --> 00:05:34,380 Can I say something? 104 00:05:35,310 --> 00:05:36,060 Okay. 105 00:05:37,630 --> 00:05:40,830 If you don't like people, you got no business teaching the Bible. 106 00:05:41,330 --> 00:05:45,600 You should be teaching organic chemistry or physics, okay? 107 00:05:46,130 --> 00:05:48,090 Should not be teaching the Bible. 108 00:05:48,250 --> 00:05:53,154 But these mean spirited preachers made holiness into a bunch of rules and regulations to 109 00:05:53,192 --> 00:05:56,674 govern people's behavior into what they thought was correct. 110 00:05:56,792 --> 00:06:00,366 And that is nothing to do with holiness. 111 00:06:00,558 --> 00:06:06,082 So other people get nervous when they hear the word holiness because they see it as being 112 00:06:06,136 --> 00:06:07,294 dull and boring. 113 00:06:07,422 --> 00:06:08,454 But I love what C. 114 00:06:08,492 --> 00:06:08,646 S. 115 00:06:08,668 --> 00:06:09,526 Lewis says. 116 00:06:09,628 --> 00:06:09,894 C. 117 00:06:09,932 --> 00:06:10,086 S. 118 00:06:10,108 --> 00:06:11,234 Lewis made the statement. 119 00:06:11,282 --> 00:06:15,586 He said how little people know who think that holiness is dull. 120 00:06:15,778 --> 00:06:21,382 When one meets the real thing, it's irresistible. 121 00:06:21,526 --> 00:06:26,070 And so what I want to talk to you about today is the irresistible. 122 00:06:26,150 --> 00:06:26,950 Amen. 123 00:06:27,110 --> 00:06:31,142 Now what happened when people got nervous about holiness? 124 00:06:31,286 --> 00:06:35,386 We had a bunch of pastors and teachers and they were clever and they said, wait a minute, 125 00:06:35,418 --> 00:06:37,162 we can't ignore this subject. 126 00:06:37,306 --> 00:06:39,386 I mean, it's all over the Bible. 127 00:06:39,578 --> 00:06:43,866 If you look at the predominant characteristic of God in the Bible and the angels are crying 128 00:06:43,898 --> 00:06:45,850 out before the throne, holy, holy, holy. 129 00:06:45,930 --> 00:06:47,460 They're not crying love. 130 00:06:48,150 --> 00:06:49,394 I mean, God is love. 131 00:06:49,432 --> 00:06:50,882 He doesn't even have love. 132 00:06:51,016 --> 00:06:52,098 He is love. 133 00:06:52,184 --> 00:06:52,926 They're not crying. 134 00:06:52,958 --> 00:06:54,014 Faithful, faithful, faithful. 135 00:06:54,062 --> 00:06:54,910 God is faithful. 136 00:06:54,990 --> 00:06:59,094 The attribute of God that stands above all others as you read through scripture is 137 00:06:59,132 --> 00:06:59,970 holiness. 138 00:07:00,130 --> 00:07:04,646 If you look at the only description of the church that Jesus is coming back for, it's a 139 00:07:04,668 --> 00:07:05,538 holy church. 140 00:07:05,634 --> 00:07:06,866 It's not a leadership church. 141 00:07:06,898 --> 00:07:07,746 I believe in leadership. 142 00:07:07,778 --> 00:07:08,754 It's not a community church. 143 00:07:08,802 --> 00:07:09,846 I believe in community. 144 00:07:09,948 --> 00:07:10,694 God does too. 145 00:07:10,732 --> 00:07:12,486 He says it's not good that man's alone. 146 00:07:12,598 --> 00:07:13,846 It's not a relevant church. 147 00:07:13,878 --> 00:07:16,794 We're never going to read the lost if we're not relevant, right? 148 00:07:16,912 --> 00:07:18,854 It's a holy church. 149 00:07:18,982 --> 00:07:21,898 So these teachers said, what do we do about this? 150 00:07:22,064 --> 00:07:24,122 Holiness is all over the Bible. 151 00:07:24,266 --> 00:07:30,106 So they came up with a teaching and they said to all of us, don't worry about holiness. 152 00:07:30,218 --> 00:07:33,786 Don't worry at all about it because Jesus is our holiness. 153 00:07:33,898 --> 00:07:36,306 Now here's the problem with what happened. 154 00:07:36,488 --> 00:07:41,714 What they're saying is true, but it's not the full story because what they did basically is 155 00:07:41,752 --> 00:07:47,890 they lumped all holiness into one bucket, when in reality the New Testament shows there's 156 00:07:47,970 --> 00:07:49,634 two buckets of holiness. 157 00:07:49,682 --> 00:07:54,162 All right, the first one is called positional holiness. 158 00:07:54,306 --> 00:07:57,106 What do I mean by positional holiness? 159 00:07:57,218 --> 00:08:02,266 Ephesians one four makes the statement, he chose us in him before the foundation of the 160 00:08:02,288 --> 00:08:07,994 world, that we should be holy and without blame, before him in love. 161 00:08:08,112 --> 00:08:10,186 Now, notice he did that. 162 00:08:10,368 --> 00:08:13,814 He chose us in him, that we should be holy. 163 00:08:13,942 --> 00:08:16,330 So here's what happened before the foundations of the world. 164 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,378 God the Father and the Son had a meeting. 165 00:08:18,474 --> 00:08:21,514 And God says, we're going to create man, but we know the end from the beginning. 166 00:08:21,562 --> 00:08:22,958 We know they're going to mess up. 167 00:08:23,124 --> 00:08:25,118 Would you be willing to go die for them? 168 00:08:25,204 --> 00:08:28,450 And the Son said, yes, of course I would, because I love them all so much. 169 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:29,090 Right? 170 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:35,406 So God says, the Father says, when they receive you as their lord, we will declare them 171 00:08:35,448 --> 00:08:36,838 holy at that point. 172 00:08:37,004 --> 00:08:37,720 Okay? 173 00:08:38,090 --> 00:08:40,498 That is positional holiness. 174 00:08:40,594 --> 00:08:44,786 The moment you receive Jesus, you were declared by God to be holy. 175 00:08:44,898 --> 00:08:45,478 All right? 176 00:08:45,564 --> 00:08:50,226 Now, if you look at the apostle Paul, he says, a man leaves his father and mothers joined 177 00:08:50,258 --> 00:08:50,786 to his wife. 178 00:08:50,818 --> 00:08:52,058 The two shall become one. 179 00:08:52,144 --> 00:08:56,458 He said, but this is actually an illustration of the way the church and Jesus are one. 180 00:08:56,624 --> 00:09:01,326 So if you want to really understand how to have an authentic relationship with God, you 181 00:09:01,348 --> 00:09:02,570 look at a marriage. 182 00:09:02,730 --> 00:09:11,610 Now, Lisa and I, 42 years ago this October 2, okay, 42 years ago, she walked down the aisle 183 00:09:11,690 --> 00:09:14,890 of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lafayette, Indiana. 184 00:09:15,050 --> 00:09:19,170 And on that very day, October 2, 1982, she became my wife. 185 00:09:19,510 --> 00:09:26,674 I got news for you today, in 2024, she is not more my wife today positionally than the day 186 00:09:26,712 --> 00:09:27,858 I married her. 187 00:09:28,024 --> 00:09:31,346 And 40 years from now, she is not going to be more my wife. 188 00:09:31,458 --> 00:09:35,014 Well, it's the same thing with our walk with God. 189 00:09:35,132 --> 00:09:38,050 The moment we got saved, he declared us holy. 190 00:09:38,130 --> 00:09:42,506 And 20 million years from today, we're not going to be more holy than we were the day we 191 00:09:42,528 --> 00:09:44,822 were saved, because that's what God declared. 192 00:09:44,886 --> 00:09:45,786 Are you seeing this? 193 00:09:45,888 --> 00:09:47,498 But now, let me say this. 194 00:09:47,664 --> 00:09:50,486 When Lisa and I got married, something kind of changed. 195 00:09:50,518 --> 00:09:54,782 Because when we were single, Lisa used to flirt with guys. 196 00:09:54,916 --> 00:09:55,262 Okay? 197 00:09:55,316 --> 00:09:56,430 Believe it or not, she did. 198 00:09:56,500 --> 00:09:56,974 Okay. 199 00:09:57,092 --> 00:09:59,226 She would go out with other guys on dates. 200 00:09:59,258 --> 00:10:01,150 She would give guys her phone numbers. 201 00:10:01,300 --> 00:10:04,914 But after we got married, Lisa stopped flirting with guys. 202 00:10:05,032 --> 00:10:07,138 She stopped giving her phone number out. 203 00:10:07,224 --> 00:10:09,570 She stopped going out on dates with other guys. 204 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:10,546 What happened? 205 00:10:10,648 --> 00:10:14,580 She developed a behavior that matched her position. 206 00:10:15,270 --> 00:10:16,626 Are you getting this? 207 00:10:16,808 --> 00:10:20,530 All right, so now that's called behavioral holiness. 208 00:10:20,610 --> 00:10:25,686 And if you look at what Peter writes in one, Peter 114 and 15, he says, live as children of 209 00:10:25,708 --> 00:10:26,934 obedience to God. 210 00:10:27,052 --> 00:10:31,574 Do not conform yourselves to the evil desires that governed you in your former ignorance 211 00:10:31,622 --> 00:10:34,406 when you did not know the requirements of the gospel. 212 00:10:34,518 --> 00:10:45,070 But as the one who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and 213 00:10:45,140 --> 00:10:46,334 manner of living. 214 00:10:46,452 --> 00:10:48,990 Now he's talking about a behavior. 215 00:10:49,810 --> 00:10:52,630 This is behavior holiness. 216 00:10:52,730 --> 00:11:00,914 Now this is important because holiness, without it, you're not going to get the presence of 217 00:11:00,952 --> 00:11:01,490 God. 218 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:02,146 Okay? 219 00:11:02,248 --> 00:11:04,834 This is the big, big question of the day. 220 00:11:05,032 --> 00:11:07,334 What does holiness have to do with the presence of God? 221 00:11:07,372 --> 00:11:11,830 See, what the legalistic holiness teachers did is they made holiness an end to itself. 222 00:11:11,900 --> 00:11:18,502 They almost made it like a club, when in reality the behavioral holiness is a doorway into 223 00:11:18,556 --> 00:11:23,706 something, and it's the doorway into what every true believer cries out for. 224 00:11:23,808 --> 00:11:25,820 And that's what I want to talk to you about. 225 00:11:26,430 --> 00:11:30,890 What does Holiness have to do with God's presence? 226 00:11:31,050 --> 00:11:33,034 Look at Hebrews, chapter twelve, verse 14. 227 00:11:33,082 --> 00:11:34,554 This is amazing scripture. 228 00:11:34,682 --> 00:11:36,590 It says, pursue Holiness. 229 00:11:37,490 --> 00:11:39,390 Did you hear the word pursue? 230 00:11:39,890 --> 00:11:44,550 Pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 231 00:11:44,730 --> 00:11:46,562 Okay, now let's talk about this. 232 00:11:46,616 --> 00:11:49,010 First of all, what does the word pursue mean? 233 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:55,814 In the original language, it is defined as this, to chase after with the intent to 234 00:11:55,852 --> 00:11:56,710 apprehend. 235 00:11:57,530 --> 00:11:58,946 Listen to that carefully. 236 00:11:59,058 --> 00:12:03,778 The word pursue means to chase after with the intent to apprehend. 237 00:12:03,954 --> 00:12:07,190 It speaks of urgency and intensity. 238 00:12:07,790 --> 00:12:10,140 Now let's ask a question here. 239 00:12:12,030 --> 00:12:15,990 Chase after with the intent to apprehend holiness. 240 00:12:16,070 --> 00:12:19,446 Is he talking about positional holiness or behavioral holiness? 241 00:12:19,638 --> 00:12:21,594 Okay, let's just do another example. 242 00:12:21,712 --> 00:12:24,638 Lisa has a Bible study that she goes to on Wednesday mornings, right? 243 00:12:24,724 --> 00:12:26,382 Can you imagine her going to the Bible study? 244 00:12:26,436 --> 00:12:27,946 And they're all doing prayers. 245 00:12:28,138 --> 00:12:31,978 And Lisa looks at the ladies and says, guys, I need you to pray. 246 00:12:32,154 --> 00:12:35,274 I am chasing after with the intent to apprehend. 247 00:12:35,322 --> 00:12:40,146 Being John Bevere's wife, they'd all laugh at her and say, you became his wife 42 years 248 00:12:40,168 --> 00:12:40,402 ago. 249 00:12:40,456 --> 00:12:41,700 What are you talking about? 250 00:12:42,710 --> 00:12:44,002 That wouldn't make any sense. 251 00:12:44,056 --> 00:12:47,066 But if she looked at her girlfriends and she said, hey, girls, pray. 252 00:12:47,198 --> 00:12:52,294 I'm chasing after with the intent to apprehend a behavior that is more befitting John 253 00:12:52,332 --> 00:12:54,790 Bever's wife, they would understand that. 254 00:12:54,940 --> 00:12:57,874 So we know immediately he's not talking about positional holiness. 255 00:12:57,922 --> 00:12:59,526 He's talking about behavioral holiness. 256 00:12:59,638 --> 00:13:00,138 All right? 257 00:13:00,224 --> 00:13:01,414 Now look at this scripture. 258 00:13:01,462 --> 00:13:05,862 Pursue Holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 259 00:13:05,926 --> 00:13:06,886 Now, whoa, whoa, whoa. 260 00:13:06,918 --> 00:13:07,638 Wait a minute. 261 00:13:07,734 --> 00:13:11,310 Everybody is going to see the Lord. 262 00:13:12,050 --> 00:13:19,262 Revelations one, verse seven, says, behold, he comes in the clouds, and every eye will 263 00:13:19,316 --> 00:13:26,274 behold him, even those who pierced him, even those who drove the nails into his hands and 264 00:13:26,312 --> 00:13:31,138 feet at the judgment seat, every eye is going to see him. 265 00:13:31,304 --> 00:13:33,986 So what in the world is he talking about? 266 00:13:34,008 --> 00:13:38,390 In Hebrews 1214, pursue or chase after holiness? 267 00:13:38,890 --> 00:13:42,306 Because without it, no one's going to see the Lord. 268 00:13:42,498 --> 00:13:44,600 What does the word see mean? 269 00:13:45,130 --> 00:13:47,478 All right, let me give you an example here. 270 00:13:47,644 --> 00:13:52,300 I've been a United States citizen now for 65 years. 271 00:13:53,550 --> 00:13:58,550 In that 65 year time period, I think I've been under 13 United States presidents. 272 00:13:58,710 --> 00:14:00,482 I'm under their rulership. 273 00:14:00,646 --> 00:14:02,734 Their decisions affect my life. 274 00:14:02,852 --> 00:14:08,560 I am submitted to their leadership, but I've never seen one of them. 275 00:14:09,010 --> 00:14:14,000 I've never been in the presence of a United States president. 276 00:14:14,850 --> 00:14:17,090 Now they have friends they work with. 277 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:19,358 They see them on a daily basis. 278 00:14:19,534 --> 00:14:20,834 They work with them. 279 00:14:20,952 --> 00:14:25,302 But I have never been in the presence or seen a United States president. 280 00:14:25,356 --> 00:14:26,230 Well, let me say this. 281 00:14:26,300 --> 00:14:27,506 There are christians. 282 00:14:27,618 --> 00:14:29,826 They're under the lordship of Jesus. 283 00:14:30,018 --> 00:14:32,040 His decisions affect their lives. 284 00:14:32,730 --> 00:14:34,310 But they're not seeing him. 285 00:14:34,380 --> 00:14:36,230 They're not in his presence. 286 00:14:37,610 --> 00:14:40,914 So what he's talking about here is without holiness. 287 00:14:40,962 --> 00:14:43,114 No one's going to enter into the presence of the Lord. 288 00:14:43,152 --> 00:14:46,326 Remember I said holiness is a doorway into something bigger. 289 00:14:46,438 --> 00:14:49,818 It's a doorway into intimacy and enjoying the presence of God. 290 00:14:49,904 --> 00:14:52,320 And this is what every one of us cry out for. 291 00:14:53,730 --> 00:14:55,566 Now let me say this. 292 00:14:55,668 --> 00:14:57,150 I'm going to prove it to you. 293 00:14:57,300 --> 00:15:01,578 Jesus looks at his disciples before he leaves and he makes this statement. 294 00:15:01,674 --> 00:15:02,942 John 1421. 295 00:15:02,996 --> 00:15:04,178 This is really important. 296 00:15:04,344 --> 00:15:08,558 The person who has my commands hear the word commands. 297 00:15:08,734 --> 00:15:11,150 Now people get nervous with commands. 298 00:15:11,310 --> 00:15:14,558 Did you know there's over 500 commands in the New Testament? 299 00:15:14,734 --> 00:15:16,440 Okay, now let me say this. 300 00:15:17,370 --> 00:15:21,510 Commands in the Old Testament were given to earn a relationship with God. 301 00:15:21,660 --> 00:15:28,230 We proved we can never ever keep the commands of God and earn a relationship with him. 302 00:15:28,300 --> 00:15:32,070 That's why Jesus had to die and give us the free gift of salvation. 303 00:15:32,230 --> 00:15:32,940 Correct. 304 00:15:33,310 --> 00:15:36,262 So what are commands for in the New Testament? 305 00:15:36,406 --> 00:15:38,860 They are given to enhance our relationship. 306 00:15:39,550 --> 00:15:41,498 Okay, now I'm going to prove it to you. 307 00:15:41,584 --> 00:15:43,662 The person, I mean, just think about it. 308 00:15:43,716 --> 00:15:45,610 What is Jesus'last words on the Earth? 309 00:15:45,690 --> 00:15:48,666 He said, go into the world and make disciples of all nations. 310 00:15:48,778 --> 00:15:49,246 Right? 311 00:15:49,348 --> 00:15:51,466 Teaching them to observe everything I've commanded. 312 00:15:51,498 --> 00:15:57,538 You remember Jesus said in John 1514, the person who has my commands and keeps them is the 313 00:15:57,544 --> 00:15:58,946 one who really loves me. 314 00:15:59,048 --> 00:15:59,698 Okay. 315 00:15:59,864 --> 00:16:00,402 All right. 316 00:16:00,456 --> 00:16:04,386 So the person who has my commands is John 1421. 317 00:16:04,488 --> 00:16:09,670 And keeps them is the one who really loves me, and I will love him and will show. 318 00:16:09,740 --> 00:16:10,518 Now look at this. 319 00:16:10,604 --> 00:16:14,566 Reveal or manifest myself to him. 320 00:16:14,668 --> 00:16:24,166 I will let myself be clearly seen, pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 321 00:16:24,278 --> 00:16:28,700 I will let myself be clearly seen by him and make myself real to him. 322 00:16:29,150 --> 00:16:31,742 Okay, let me say this. 323 00:16:31,876 --> 00:16:33,550 Let's go back to the marriage. 324 00:16:36,050 --> 00:16:39,082 I am legally married to Lisa Bevere. 325 00:16:39,146 --> 00:16:44,078 I have, actually, a marriage certificate that shows I'm married to Lisa Bevere. 326 00:16:44,094 --> 00:16:46,846 I got it 42 years ago in Indiana. 327 00:16:46,958 --> 00:16:47,586 All right? 328 00:16:47,688 --> 00:16:55,250 Now, I could technically hold that marriage license up and say, babe, we're married. 329 00:16:55,910 --> 00:17:00,840 But if I'm in jumping in bed with other women, I'm going to lose something. 330 00:17:01,770 --> 00:17:03,202 What am I going to lose? 331 00:17:03,346 --> 00:17:08,130 I'm going to lose those moments in which our heads are on the pillow, and she looks at me 332 00:17:08,220 --> 00:17:12,906 and she says something to me from the deepest places of her heart that she wouldn't say to 333 00:17:12,928 --> 00:17:13,900 anybody else. 334 00:17:15,390 --> 00:17:17,980 I guarantee you, I will lose that. 335 00:17:18,910 --> 00:17:25,326 What people lose when they don't chase after holiness is when God whispers those things to 336 00:17:25,348 --> 00:17:30,000 our heart that we've never known before, that people are hungry for. 337 00:17:30,610 --> 00:17:32,750 This is what we lose. 338 00:17:33,490 --> 00:17:36,030 I've written 24 books. 339 00:17:36,370 --> 00:17:37,650 Let me just say it like this. 340 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,374 There's a reason I don't commit adultery against my wife. 341 00:17:41,502 --> 00:17:45,038 And it's not because I know she'll take me out, because she is a sharpshooter, she's a 342 00:17:45,064 --> 00:17:45,830 sniper. 343 00:17:46,490 --> 00:17:49,190 It's because I don't want to lose that intimacy. 344 00:17:49,930 --> 00:17:52,834 Now, there's a reason I don't commit adultery against Jesus. 345 00:17:52,882 --> 00:17:54,790 You say commit adultery? 346 00:17:55,130 --> 00:17:57,374 James makes a pretty clear statement. 347 00:17:57,522 --> 00:17:59,980 James, chapter four. 348 00:18:00,350 --> 00:18:04,780 He says, my brethren, 15 times in this book. 349 00:18:05,790 --> 00:18:09,580 He says, my brethren, you seek a relationship with the world. 350 00:18:09,950 --> 00:18:11,890 You are an adulter. 351 00:18:12,070 --> 00:18:14,190 Who are you committing adultery against? 352 00:18:14,340 --> 00:18:15,178 Jesus. 353 00:18:15,354 --> 00:18:21,918 When we seek to flirt with, date, give our phone number to the very things that drove the 354 00:18:21,924 --> 00:18:27,614 nails into his hands and feet, we're committing adultery against him, and what do we lose? 355 00:18:27,662 --> 00:18:30,654 Yeah, we can technically say, I prayed the sinner's prayer. 356 00:18:30,702 --> 00:18:38,930 Jesus, I got it right here that if I confess you as my lord and savior, I'm a Christian. 357 00:18:39,090 --> 00:18:43,686 But I guarantee you what you're going to lose is when he whispers those secrets in your 358 00:18:43,708 --> 00:18:46,614 heart that you've never known before. 359 00:18:46,812 --> 00:18:50,434 People ask me all the time, they say, how in the world have you written 24 books? 360 00:18:50,482 --> 00:18:53,340 Where do you get all that revelation from? 361 00:18:53,710 --> 00:18:55,866 I am preaching about it right now. 362 00:18:56,048 --> 00:18:59,914 The reason I don't want to commit adultery with the world is I don't want to miss the times 363 00:18:59,952 --> 00:19:03,726 when he whispers those things in my heart that I've never known, never seen before. 364 00:19:03,908 --> 00:19:08,480 The things that will change my life first and change other lives second. 365 00:19:09,250 --> 00:19:11,214 I don't ever want to lose that. 366 00:19:11,252 --> 00:19:17,970 And that, because I've tasted it, is more valuable to me than anything you can offer me 367 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,340 that this world craves and goes after. 368 00:19:20,950 --> 00:19:22,654 So you see the holy. 369 00:19:22,782 --> 00:19:23,122 Yeah. 370 00:19:23,176 --> 00:19:24,174 It's a good place to clap. 371 00:19:24,222 --> 00:19:25,380 I'm okay with that. 372 00:19:29,210 --> 00:19:36,790 So the holiness legalistic teachers, what they did is they removed the beauty of holiness. 373 00:19:37,310 --> 00:19:42,380 Holiness is a doorway that enters into a place of deep intimacy with God. 374 00:19:42,750 --> 00:19:50,086 Jesus said, that person that is chasing after with the intent to apprehend my commands is 375 00:19:50,128 --> 00:19:53,600 the person that I'm going to make myself really known to. 376 00:19:54,130 --> 00:20:01,886 Now, what's interesting is it doesn't say the person who arrives at holiness will be the 377 00:20:01,908 --> 00:20:03,280 one who sees God. 378 00:20:03,810 --> 00:20:04,782 What does that mean? 379 00:20:04,836 --> 00:20:09,454 That means all my life I'm going to be chasing after with the intent to apprehend holiness. 380 00:20:09,582 --> 00:20:14,930 And to be very honest with you, the person who's really doing that actually doesn't become 381 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:15,882 more proud. 382 00:20:15,966 --> 00:20:17,830 They actually become more humble. 383 00:20:18,330 --> 00:20:24,166 Some of the most godly people that I've been around are the people that are more aware of 384 00:20:24,188 --> 00:20:27,766 their flaws than others that I've met. 385 00:20:27,948 --> 00:20:34,186 Because when you really come to know him, you walk in a deeper humility, because Jesus is 386 00:20:34,208 --> 00:20:37,046 the most humble human being that's ever walked this earth. 387 00:20:37,158 --> 00:20:40,262 He humbled himself to the point of obedience to the father. 388 00:20:40,406 --> 00:20:44,798 He was so dependent that he said, I can't do anything except I see my father do it. 389 00:20:44,884 --> 00:20:48,590 Why did he see his father doing what his father was doing? 390 00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:51,294 Why did he hear what his father was saying and say? 391 00:20:51,332 --> 00:20:58,126 I could only say, what my father was saying is because he walked in a holiness in behavior, 392 00:20:58,238 --> 00:21:05,054 because he is the holy one, and he's called us to be conformed into his image. 393 00:21:05,182 --> 00:21:10,322 And so Paul writes the scripture in two corinthians, chapter six, that I quite frankly 394 00:21:10,386 --> 00:21:12,726 think, why have we ignored this? 395 00:21:12,908 --> 00:21:17,414 But Paul makes a statement, as God says, I will live in them. 396 00:21:17,452 --> 00:21:18,582 I want you to listen to these words. 397 00:21:18,636 --> 00:21:22,490 I will live in them and I will walk among them. 398 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,106 Now, I want us to step back and think about who's talking here. 399 00:21:26,208 --> 00:21:31,558 We're not talking about a Hollywood actor, a great notable athlete. 400 00:21:31,654 --> 00:21:35,594 We're not talking about the president of the United States or somebody else you admire. 401 00:21:35,722 --> 00:21:38,282 We're talking about the one who created the heavens and the earth. 402 00:21:38,426 --> 00:21:42,446 He said, I'm going to live in you and I'm going to walk among you. 403 00:21:42,628 --> 00:21:47,210 Okay, now, you have to understand, we got to remember who this is. 404 00:21:47,300 --> 00:21:51,794 This is the one who put the stars in the universe with his fingers and called everyone by 405 00:21:51,832 --> 00:21:52,226 name. 406 00:21:52,328 --> 00:21:56,082 This is the one who measured the length of the universe with the span of his hand. 407 00:21:56,136 --> 00:21:59,862 This is the one that weighed every drop of water on the planet in the palm of his hand. 408 00:21:59,916 --> 00:22:03,782 This is the one that weighed all the mountains around here that you see all around here. 409 00:22:03,836 --> 00:22:06,070 Okay, in a scales. 410 00:22:06,490 --> 00:22:11,450 This is the one, Isaiah, who was the most godly man in Israel. 411 00:22:11,870 --> 00:22:16,310 God brings him out of his body in Isaiah six, plops him right in front of the throne. 412 00:22:16,390 --> 00:22:22,522 The angels are crying holy, shaking an arena that is seats over a billion beings. 413 00:22:22,666 --> 00:22:26,122 They're crying holy so loud, they're shaking that arena to its foundations. 414 00:22:26,186 --> 00:22:32,606 In heaven, Isaiah sees the Lord and doesn't go, dude, check it out. 415 00:22:32,628 --> 00:22:33,950 There's the man upstairs. 416 00:22:35,250 --> 00:22:39,566 He's on his face, this most godly man in his whole generation, on his face, groveling. 417 00:22:39,598 --> 00:22:40,994 And he cries out, woe is me. 418 00:22:41,032 --> 00:22:42,174 I am completely undone. 419 00:22:42,222 --> 00:22:44,782 Undone means I'm coming apart at the seams. 420 00:22:44,926 --> 00:22:49,346 Because for the first time in his life, he realizes who it is he's really serving. 421 00:22:49,378 --> 00:22:53,880 And the first time in his life, he realizes who he is before this holy God. 422 00:22:54,970 --> 00:22:57,222 You know, I love what Oswald Chambers says. 423 00:22:57,276 --> 00:23:00,986 Oswald Chambers says, when we preach the love of God, there is a danger of forgetting that 424 00:23:01,008 --> 00:23:06,634 the Bible reveals not first the love of God, but the intense, blazing holiness of God with 425 00:23:06,672 --> 00:23:09,450 his love at the center of that holiness. 426 00:23:09,790 --> 00:23:12,342 Okay, so here's Isaiah. 427 00:23:12,406 --> 00:23:15,618 He's crying out, woe to those who call evil good and good evil. 428 00:23:15,654 --> 00:23:16,426 Woe to the drunkard. 429 00:23:16,458 --> 00:23:18,494 Woe to the proud in Isaiah five. 430 00:23:18,532 --> 00:23:21,658 But Isaiah 60 has one glimpse of God, and it's no longer woe to the sinner. 431 00:23:21,674 --> 00:23:22,880 It's woe is me. 432 00:23:23,490 --> 00:23:28,850 If you look at job, God himself said, job is the most godly man on the planet. 433 00:23:29,430 --> 00:23:34,034 Job gets one glimpse of God and he says, I've heard you by the hearing of the ear. 434 00:23:34,072 --> 00:23:34,606 I went to church. 435 00:23:34,638 --> 00:23:36,422 I heard my pastor talking about you. 436 00:23:36,556 --> 00:23:38,406 But now my eye sees you. 437 00:23:38,508 --> 00:23:41,000 I utterly abhor myself. 438 00:23:42,250 --> 00:23:48,870 If you look at Moses, the closest man to God in his generation, he has one glimpse of God 439 00:23:48,940 --> 00:23:51,002 in his glory, and he cries out. 440 00:23:51,136 --> 00:23:53,014 So terrifying is the sight. 441 00:23:53,142 --> 00:23:55,130 He said, I trembled with fear. 442 00:23:55,470 --> 00:23:58,742 If you look at John the apostle, he was the closest one to Jesus. 443 00:23:58,806 --> 00:24:05,614 He had one glimpse of Jesus on the deserted island of Patmos in his glory, and he fell down 444 00:24:05,652 --> 00:24:08,000 like a dead man when he saw him. 445 00:24:08,610 --> 00:24:14,382 I remember when my boys, boy, they were like twelve years old down to four years old. 446 00:24:14,436 --> 00:24:19,278 And this is back when a certain NBA player who I still think is the best NBA player that's 447 00:24:19,294 --> 00:24:21,298 ever played, but he was huge. 448 00:24:21,384 --> 00:24:23,694 He was winning his six world championships. 449 00:24:23,822 --> 00:24:26,126 There were posters of him in the boys rooms. 450 00:24:26,158 --> 00:24:27,554 Their friends would come all over. 451 00:24:27,592 --> 00:24:29,954 All they're talking about is Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael. 452 00:24:30,002 --> 00:24:30,600 Right? 453 00:24:30,970 --> 00:24:34,200 And I got fed up with hearing about Michael, okay? 454 00:24:35,130 --> 00:24:36,146 And I'm an athlete. 455 00:24:36,178 --> 00:24:37,874 I played college at D one athletics. 456 00:24:37,922 --> 00:24:40,166 I mean, I love athletics, okay? 457 00:24:40,268 --> 00:24:42,738 But I was just fed up with hearing about Michael. 458 00:24:42,914 --> 00:24:46,726 And I remember we were on the Atlantic Ocean and I was preaching for a church there in the 459 00:24:46,748 --> 00:24:47,810 Atlantic Ocean. 460 00:24:47,970 --> 00:24:50,778 And they put me up in a hotel tell right on the beach. 461 00:24:50,794 --> 00:24:52,510 And I had Lisa and the four boys with me. 462 00:24:52,580 --> 00:24:55,246 And I remember the Atlantic was stirred up that day. 463 00:24:55,268 --> 00:24:57,146 They were trying to body surf and they were getting slammed. 464 00:24:57,178 --> 00:24:59,034 They were getting sand in their mouth in their suits. 465 00:24:59,082 --> 00:25:00,094 It was great, right? 466 00:25:00,212 --> 00:25:01,966 So I thought, this is my chance. 467 00:25:02,068 --> 00:25:03,854 So we walked up to the hotel room. 468 00:25:03,972 --> 00:25:08,110 I, on purpose, opened the sliding door so they could hear the pounding ocean. 469 00:25:08,450 --> 00:25:09,966 They're all wrapped in their towels. 470 00:25:09,998 --> 00:25:12,354 And I said, guys, I want to have a little dad talk with you. 471 00:25:12,472 --> 00:25:14,786 I said, that's a pretty powerful ocean out there, isn't it? 472 00:25:14,808 --> 00:25:15,966 They went, whoa. 473 00:25:16,158 --> 00:25:17,534 Yeah, whoa. 474 00:25:17,582 --> 00:25:18,254 It's powerful. 475 00:25:18,302 --> 00:25:20,898 I said, it's pretty big ocean, isn't it, guys? 476 00:25:20,984 --> 00:25:22,118 To go, yeah. 477 00:25:22,284 --> 00:25:24,742 I said, you know, you can only see 1 mile out. 478 00:25:24,796 --> 00:25:26,434 It goes another 4000 miles. 479 00:25:26,482 --> 00:25:28,562 And there's another one on the other side, it's a bigger. 480 00:25:28,626 --> 00:25:30,358 And there's two others beside that. 481 00:25:30,444 --> 00:25:31,330 They go, whoa. 482 00:25:31,410 --> 00:25:36,346 And I said, do you know God weighed every drop of that water in the palm of his hands? 483 00:25:36,528 --> 00:25:42,286 And I said, you're enamored with this guy that can jump from a 15 foot line and put a 484 00:25:42,308 --> 00:25:43,950 little ball through a hole. 485 00:25:46,370 --> 00:25:48,654 He went, dad, we got it. 486 00:25:48,692 --> 00:25:49,966 We got it, right? 487 00:25:50,148 --> 00:25:52,160 So you know what happened after that day? 488 00:25:52,690 --> 00:25:54,830 Michael got back into perspective. 489 00:25:56,070 --> 00:26:00,466 See, Isaiah 40 515 says, you are a God who hides yourself. 490 00:26:00,648 --> 00:26:05,826 He hides his glory from us to see if we're going to be enamored with the movie stars, with 491 00:26:05,848 --> 00:26:10,594 the incredible guru businessmen, with the athletes, or if we're going to see his glory 492 00:26:10,642 --> 00:26:12,950 because he's revealed his glory in our hearts. 493 00:26:13,690 --> 00:26:15,842 That's where we see his glory. 494 00:26:15,986 --> 00:26:20,570 He has revealed the glory of God in our hearts in the face of Christ Jesus. 495 00:26:21,790 --> 00:26:27,258 So my boys, what happened is their focus went from that to that. 496 00:26:27,424 --> 00:26:29,702 And all four of them are walking with Jesus. 497 00:26:29,766 --> 00:26:32,750 And all four of them have worked with us in ministry. 498 00:26:35,650 --> 00:26:41,134 So God says, I will watch this in two corinthians six, I will live in them. 499 00:26:41,172 --> 00:26:43,982 Here's promise number one, I'll walk among them. 500 00:26:44,036 --> 00:26:45,742 Promise number two, I'll be their God. 501 00:26:45,796 --> 00:26:47,650 Promise number three, and they'll be my people. 502 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:49,822 Promise number four, and I will be your father. 503 00:26:49,886 --> 00:26:52,494 Promise five, you will be my sons and daughters. 504 00:26:52,542 --> 00:26:56,882 Promises six and seven, now watch the very next verse, because we have these seven 505 00:26:56,936 --> 00:26:57,354 promises. 506 00:26:57,422 --> 00:26:59,960 I'm putting the number seven in here to make it clear. 507 00:27:00,730 --> 00:27:05,602 Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. 508 00:27:05,666 --> 00:27:06,866 Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. 509 00:27:06,978 --> 00:27:08,870 Let us cleanse ourselves. 510 00:27:09,930 --> 00:27:13,210 Do you notice he doesn't say the blood of Jesus is going to cleanse us? 511 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:15,142 Whoa, Matt. 512 00:27:15,206 --> 00:27:18,714 Pastor Matt, I can't believe you just had this guy in here. 513 00:27:18,752 --> 00:27:19,226 Wait a minute. 514 00:27:19,248 --> 00:27:20,074 Wait a. 515 00:27:20,272 --> 00:27:22,914 Whoa, whoa, whoa. 516 00:27:22,982 --> 00:27:26,062 I am not saying the blood of Jesus does not cleanse us. 517 00:27:26,116 --> 00:27:29,310 Believe me, it cleanses us from all filthiness. 518 00:27:29,650 --> 00:27:35,520 But what I am saying is don't confuse the work of justification with the work of. 519 00:27:37,970 --> 00:27:39,122 Whoa, whoa, wait. 520 00:27:39,176 --> 00:27:40,002 That's a big word. 521 00:27:40,056 --> 00:27:41,138 Those are big words. 522 00:27:41,304 --> 00:27:42,478 The work of justification. 523 00:27:42,574 --> 00:27:47,026 The moment you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord God cleanses you from all sin in the 524 00:27:47,048 --> 00:27:51,158 spirit, you are declared holy and spotless and blameless before God. 525 00:27:51,244 --> 00:27:54,066 But at that very moment, the work of sanctification begins. 526 00:27:54,098 --> 00:27:57,522 That's when what's done on the inside of me is worked out to the outside. 527 00:27:57,676 --> 00:27:59,126 That is called sanctification. 528 00:27:59,238 --> 00:28:05,770 And that we have to cooperate with the grace and the holy fear of God to accomplish. 529 00:28:06,270 --> 00:28:13,626 Notice Paul says that we cleanse ourselves from all, not 99%, but all filthiness of the 530 00:28:13,648 --> 00:28:14,650 flesh and spirit. 531 00:28:14,730 --> 00:28:18,234 Now, let's just talk about this filthiness of the flesh. 532 00:28:18,362 --> 00:28:18,990 Yes. 533 00:28:19,140 --> 00:28:20,874 Let me just show you a couple of scriptures. 534 00:28:20,922 --> 00:28:23,098 I don't know why we don't talk about this anymore. 535 00:28:23,194 --> 00:28:25,920 Because we're hurting people by not talking about it. 536 00:28:26,290 --> 00:28:30,114 If I want to keep you from the presence of God, I'm going to avoid talking about these 537 00:28:30,152 --> 00:28:30,546 things. 538 00:28:30,648 --> 00:28:32,034 Look, at first Thessalonians four. 539 00:28:32,072 --> 00:28:38,370 It says, God's will for you is to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. 540 00:28:38,450 --> 00:28:39,222 Can I say something? 541 00:28:39,276 --> 00:28:40,470 It amazes me. 542 00:28:40,620 --> 00:28:44,598 It literally amazes me how many times people will come up to me. 543 00:28:44,684 --> 00:28:46,498 I'm traveling, I'm in a hotel. 544 00:28:46,674 --> 00:28:48,226 They recognize me as an author. 545 00:28:48,258 --> 00:28:52,810 They come up, they talk, oh, yeah, we're living together until we get married next year. 546 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:54,966 We're just making sure we're financially secure. 547 00:28:54,998 --> 00:28:57,500 And I'm like, you're living together? 548 00:28:58,270 --> 00:29:01,230 And you just said that, like, without even blushing. 549 00:29:02,930 --> 00:29:03,662 Look at this. 550 00:29:03,716 --> 00:29:07,120 He who rejects this does not reject man, but God. 551 00:29:07,730 --> 00:29:13,066 I'm like, have you not read in Hebrews, chapter 13, verse four, marriage is honorable among 552 00:29:13,098 --> 00:29:16,302 all, and the bed undefiled but fornication. 553 00:29:16,366 --> 00:29:20,126 Those who have sex before marriage and adulterers, God will judge. 554 00:29:20,318 --> 00:29:22,100 I mean, have you not read this? 555 00:29:22,630 --> 00:29:27,218 You'd be amazed that 67% of the men right now in churches in America are bound to 556 00:29:27,224 --> 00:29:27,774 pornography. 557 00:29:27,822 --> 00:29:28,866 I was bound to pornography. 558 00:29:28,898 --> 00:29:29,938 I'm not throwing stones. 559 00:29:30,034 --> 00:29:35,942 I got addicted at eleven and I got free May 6, 1985, and I'm still free to this day, thank 560 00:29:35,996 --> 00:29:36,600 God. 561 00:29:37,930 --> 00:29:43,034 And what I'm talking to you about this morning, the awe of God, the holy fear of God is 562 00:29:43,072 --> 00:29:46,250 what set me free and I'm still free to this day. 563 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:52,234 So men, there is hope, but you know, we know the psalmist said, I will put nothing, I will 564 00:29:52,272 --> 00:29:54,286 be careful to live a blameless life. 565 00:29:54,388 --> 00:29:57,198 I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. 566 00:29:57,284 --> 00:30:00,378 I will refuse to look at anything worthless or wicked. 567 00:30:00,474 --> 00:30:03,818 I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil. 568 00:30:03,914 --> 00:30:05,682 This was David's heart. 569 00:30:05,816 --> 00:30:06,354 Okay? 570 00:30:06,472 --> 00:30:08,930 Did he walk it out 1000%? 571 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:09,454 Perfectly? 572 00:30:09,502 --> 00:30:10,958 We all know he didn't. 573 00:30:11,134 --> 00:30:13,218 But he was chasing after it. 574 00:30:13,384 --> 00:30:14,802 Do you see what the difference? 575 00:30:14,936 --> 00:30:19,254 There's a difference when somebody goes, hey, I'm just a guy with needs, come on. 576 00:30:19,292 --> 00:30:20,280 You know what? 577 00:30:21,290 --> 00:30:23,874 My marriage bed's not stimulating me anymore. 578 00:30:23,922 --> 00:30:26,470 I need some pornography to kind of get me in the mood. 579 00:30:27,930 --> 00:30:28,680 Really? 580 00:30:29,370 --> 00:30:32,874 Now I understand somebody that goes, I fell into something and I'm trying to get through 581 00:30:32,912 --> 00:30:33,450 it, right? 582 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,370 I understand somebody battling it. 583 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,534 I was battling it for six years after becoming a Christian. 584 00:30:38,662 --> 00:30:42,940 But when we sit there and go, it's okay, we're just human beings, we have needs. 585 00:30:43,250 --> 00:30:48,698 We're actually denying people the privilege of walking into the presence of God and hearing 586 00:30:48,714 --> 00:30:49,134 that word. 587 00:30:49,172 --> 00:30:50,362 That gives me the strength. 588 00:30:50,426 --> 00:30:55,214 So I'm not a statistic of 45 million that stopped praying and 30 million that walked away 589 00:30:55,252 --> 00:30:55,898 from the faith. 590 00:30:55,994 --> 00:30:58,242 Do you understand why I'm saying this? 591 00:30:58,296 --> 00:31:02,110 I'm not saying this to beat you up and say, get into a holiness club. 592 00:31:02,190 --> 00:31:07,778 I'm saying this because I know you're craving to walk with God and to hear his word. 593 00:31:07,864 --> 00:31:09,222 And I have news for you. 594 00:31:09,356 --> 00:31:11,350 Listen, here's the thing. 595 00:31:11,420 --> 00:31:15,750 I'm on a radio program one time and the guy's like, what about the guy that's got problems 596 00:31:15,820 --> 00:31:16,754 with pornography? 597 00:31:16,802 --> 00:31:18,770 And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. 598 00:31:18,850 --> 00:31:23,866 I had problems with pornography and the Lord set me free and I'm still free today. 599 00:31:24,048 --> 00:31:26,234 Let me just make sure I understand what you're saying. 600 00:31:26,272 --> 00:31:31,786 Are you saying on this live radio broadcast that the blood of Jesus is powerful enough to 601 00:31:31,808 --> 00:31:36,206 get me free from the penalty of sin, but it's just not powerful enough to get me free from 602 00:31:36,228 --> 00:31:37,114 the bondage of sin? 603 00:31:37,162 --> 00:31:38,526 Is that what you're saying? 604 00:31:38,708 --> 00:31:43,390 And the guy went, he realized the foolishness of what he was saying. 605 00:31:43,460 --> 00:31:44,558 And I said, do you understand? 606 00:31:44,644 --> 00:31:46,770 You're keeping people from God's presence. 607 00:31:47,110 --> 00:31:49,140 You're actually encouraging people. 608 00:31:49,670 --> 00:31:51,058 I don't want to do that. 609 00:31:51,144 --> 00:31:55,778 I know what has kept me in the faith, and it's the fact of having intimacy with God, and I 610 00:31:55,784 --> 00:31:58,854 want everybody to have that and enjoy that. 611 00:31:59,052 --> 00:32:00,822 That's what he's called us to. 612 00:32:00,956 --> 00:32:02,850 He's called us to intimacy. 613 00:32:03,010 --> 00:32:06,082 And so, filthiness of the spirit. 614 00:32:06,146 --> 00:32:07,046 Oh, that's another one. 615 00:32:07,068 --> 00:32:08,150 I don't have time for it. 616 00:32:08,220 --> 00:32:11,394 You can see it in the book, because I spent a whole section in the book. 617 00:32:11,532 --> 00:32:14,534 Filthiness of the spirit basically means your motives and intentions. 618 00:32:14,582 --> 00:32:19,078 If you look at Ananias and Sapphira, their acts were just fine as far as their actions. 619 00:32:19,254 --> 00:32:20,326 They gave an offering. 620 00:32:20,358 --> 00:32:21,626 There's nothing wrong with that. 621 00:32:21,728 --> 00:32:23,946 But what caused them to lie about that offering? 622 00:32:23,978 --> 00:32:25,646 They wanted to project themselves. 623 00:32:25,828 --> 00:32:26,606 Project. 624 00:32:26,788 --> 00:32:27,520 Hello. 625 00:32:27,890 --> 00:32:29,930 As being the biggest givers in the church. 626 00:32:30,010 --> 00:32:33,726 So they kept that part of the property, but they wanted to be seen as giving all their 627 00:32:33,748 --> 00:32:34,126 property. 628 00:32:34,228 --> 00:32:37,182 And in acts chapter five, that couple fell over dead. 629 00:32:37,326 --> 00:32:38,914 I mean, that's crazy. 630 00:32:39,032 --> 00:32:39,362 Why? 631 00:32:39,416 --> 00:32:43,650 Because when you lie in the presence of the glory of God, there's going to be a reaction. 632 00:32:43,990 --> 00:32:47,198 Okay, this is what we've got to realize. 633 00:32:47,294 --> 00:32:49,486 God came to liberate us. 634 00:32:49,528 --> 00:32:51,234 We were bound to sin. 635 00:32:51,282 --> 00:32:55,494 We had a nature that sinned, and he liberated us by freeing us. 636 00:32:55,532 --> 00:32:56,866 But now he's given us a choice. 637 00:32:56,898 --> 00:32:59,590 Are we going to listen to our flesh or we're going to listen to our spirit? 638 00:32:59,670 --> 00:33:01,594 Because here's the greatest news of all. 639 00:33:01,632 --> 00:33:08,380 Let's go back to one corinthians six or two corinthians six, and I've got to get there 640 00:33:08,910 --> 00:33:10,470 because we have these promises. 641 00:33:10,550 --> 00:33:15,034 Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting 642 00:33:15,162 --> 00:33:18,000 holiness in the fear of God. 643 00:33:19,330 --> 00:33:21,040 Here's the thing I want to say. 644 00:33:21,490 --> 00:33:25,066 You're probably sitting there going, John, I've tried to walk in holiness and I've failed. 645 00:33:25,098 --> 00:33:27,326 I've tried to walk in holiness, and I've failed. 646 00:33:27,518 --> 00:33:28,546 I got news for you. 647 00:33:28,568 --> 00:33:33,730 God's given us a way to walk, to have the power to walk a godly life. 648 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:35,662 And that's called the fear of the Lord. 649 00:33:35,726 --> 00:33:37,970 You say the fear of the Lord. 650 00:33:38,130 --> 00:33:39,154 Wait a minute. 651 00:33:39,282 --> 00:33:40,726 Being scared of God? 652 00:33:40,828 --> 00:33:46,566 No, the fear of the Lord has nothing to do with being afraid of God. 653 00:33:46,748 --> 00:33:51,020 Let me say this before I give you the definition of what the fear of God is. 654 00:33:51,950 --> 00:33:57,130 We are told in Isaiah 33, verse six that the fear of the Lord is God's treasure. 655 00:33:57,550 --> 00:34:03,870 We are told in Isaiah eleven three that the fear of the Lord is Jesus's delight. 656 00:34:04,450 --> 00:34:05,774 Now, there's something to this. 657 00:34:05,812 --> 00:34:09,998 When we're talking about God's treasure and Jesus'delight, we gotta talk about this. 658 00:34:10,164 --> 00:34:11,310 Are you with me? 659 00:34:11,460 --> 00:34:12,160 Okay. 660 00:34:12,530 --> 00:34:13,962 What is the fear of the Lord? 661 00:34:14,026 --> 00:34:15,662 It's not to be scared of God. 662 00:34:15,796 --> 00:34:18,514 It's to be scared of being away from him. 663 00:34:18,712 --> 00:34:23,486 When Moses brought Israel to the mountain and God came down on the mountain, the people ran 664 00:34:23,518 --> 00:34:23,714 away. 665 00:34:23,752 --> 00:34:29,154 And Moses made a statement in Exodus 2020, he said, hey, do not fear because God's come to 666 00:34:29,192 --> 00:34:33,202 test you to see if his fear is in you so that you may not sin. 667 00:34:33,346 --> 00:34:34,130 Wait a minute. 668 00:34:34,210 --> 00:34:38,040 Do not fear because God's come to see if his fear is in you. 669 00:34:38,490 --> 00:34:40,546 Sounds like he's talking out of both sides of his mouth. 670 00:34:40,578 --> 00:34:41,850 No, he's talking about the. 671 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:46,614 He's differentiating between being scared of God and the fear of the Lord. 672 00:34:46,742 --> 00:34:47,450 There's a difference. 673 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:49,766 The person who's scared of God is something to hide. 674 00:34:49,878 --> 00:34:51,990 What does Adam do when he sins against the Lord? 675 00:34:52,070 --> 00:34:54,022 He hides from the presence of the Lord. 676 00:34:54,166 --> 00:34:55,994 Person who fears God is nothing to hide. 677 00:34:56,042 --> 00:34:58,350 That person's actually terrified of being away from God. 678 00:34:58,420 --> 00:35:03,006 So if you want your first definition of the holy fear of God, it's to be terrified of being 679 00:35:03,028 --> 00:35:03,886 away from him. 680 00:35:03,988 --> 00:35:05,834 Why are people walking away from God? 681 00:35:05,892 --> 00:35:07,506 Because they lack the fear of God. 682 00:35:07,608 --> 00:35:12,402 Psalm 19 tells us that the fear of the Lord is what gives us the ability to walk with God 683 00:35:12,456 --> 00:35:13,250 forever. 684 00:35:13,750 --> 00:35:16,274 Lucifer led worship right before that throne. 685 00:35:16,322 --> 00:35:17,958 He was anointed to do so. 686 00:35:18,124 --> 00:35:19,398 He didn't fear God. 687 00:35:19,484 --> 00:35:21,590 He didn't endure it in heaven forever. 688 00:35:23,130 --> 00:35:25,910 A third of the angels surrounded God's throne. 689 00:35:26,570 --> 00:35:28,120 They didn't fear God. 690 00:35:28,570 --> 00:35:30,450 They didn't endure forever. 691 00:35:30,610 --> 00:35:33,286 Adam and Eve walked in the presence of God's glory. 692 00:35:33,398 --> 00:35:34,442 They didn't fear God. 693 00:35:34,496 --> 00:35:35,862 They didn't endure forever. 694 00:35:36,006 --> 00:35:37,994 So what is the holy fear of God? 695 00:35:38,112 --> 00:35:40,300 It is when we stand in awe of him. 696 00:35:40,690 --> 00:35:47,562 It's what happened when those boys realized, wow, he held that water in his hand, and we're 697 00:35:47,626 --> 00:35:51,470 all enamored by a guy who can hold a basketball. 698 00:35:51,970 --> 00:35:52,720 Wow. 699 00:35:53,970 --> 00:36:00,258 When you really see him and this is what you'll do in your heart, this is what the fear of 700 00:36:00,264 --> 00:36:00,706 God does. 701 00:36:00,728 --> 00:36:04,386 It opens up your heart so you can behold his glory in your heart. 702 00:36:04,568 --> 00:36:09,510 All of a sudden, the things of this world begin to fade compared to him. 703 00:36:09,660 --> 00:36:13,526 When you don't have him, the things of this world will enamour you. 704 00:36:13,708 --> 00:36:16,354 They will literally cause you to be in awe. 705 00:36:16,482 --> 00:36:22,326 But when you see him, it puts everything in the world back into perspective. 706 00:36:22,518 --> 00:36:28,634 So we fear God by reverencing and honoring him and valuing him above everything and 707 00:36:28,672 --> 00:36:29,626 everyone else. 708 00:36:29,808 --> 00:36:31,900 And here's the really good news. 709 00:36:32,270 --> 00:36:36,270 Fear of the Lord is actually a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. 710 00:36:36,770 --> 00:36:42,334 This is what Jesus delighted in and we can ask God to fill us with that fear, and he does 711 00:36:42,372 --> 00:36:42,862 it. 712 00:36:42,996 --> 00:36:46,906 And all of a sudden now things come into perspective. 713 00:36:47,098 --> 00:36:48,450 That's what I hope happens. 714 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:52,686 As you go through the awe of God book, I'm really believing that you're going to encounter 715 00:36:52,718 --> 00:36:54,014 the presence of the Lord. 716 00:36:54,142 --> 00:36:57,150 We have had so many testimonies of people that have been changed. 717 00:36:57,230 --> 00:37:01,922 They said, john, I encountered the presence of God and my life is so changed. 718 00:37:02,066 --> 00:37:04,022 This is what we're believing for. 719 00:37:04,156 --> 00:37:07,234 Because I don't want to see any more people walking away from the faith. 720 00:37:07,282 --> 00:37:09,820 I want to encourage you to do Bible studies with it. 721 00:37:10,190 --> 00:37:12,246 We have workbooks. 722 00:37:12,438 --> 00:37:15,900 I'm believing, and God showed me this and I'm going to close. 723 00:37:16,830 --> 00:37:22,170 The final move of his spirit before Jesus returns is going to be a move of the fear of God. 724 00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:25,694 If you look at the Jesus revolution, we found out our daddy loved us. 725 00:37:25,812 --> 00:37:30,074 The love of God keeps us from legalism, but the fear of God keeps us from lawlessness. 726 00:37:30,202 --> 00:37:33,434 And the church that Jesus come back for is a holy church. 727 00:37:33,562 --> 00:37:39,906 I believe this move of the holy awe of God will create the church that Jesus is going to 728 00:37:39,928 --> 00:37:40,690 come back for. 729 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,086 A holy bride without spot or wrinkle. 730 00:37:43,118 --> 00:37:45,154 I hope you got something out of this today. 731 00:37:45,272 --> 00:37:49,846 I love you so much and I want every head bowed, I want every eye closed in all of our 732 00:37:49,868 --> 00:37:50,790 campuses. 733 00:37:53,210 --> 00:37:59,714 The first step to having intimacy with God is to have an authentic, genuine relationship 734 00:37:59,852 --> 00:38:00,700 with him. 735 00:38:02,590 --> 00:38:07,226 When you look at a bride and she puts on a white dress and she walks down an aisle of a 736 00:38:07,248 --> 00:38:10,438 church, she's actually saying something pretty significant. 737 00:38:10,614 --> 00:38:14,560 She's saying goodbye to about 3.9 billion guys. 738 00:38:14,930 --> 00:38:19,534 She's saying, this is the one and only man I'm giving the rest of my life to. 739 00:38:19,732 --> 00:38:21,562 That doesn't make her the perfect bride. 740 00:38:21,626 --> 00:38:26,500 The first week, the first year, the first 50 years, it just means she's given her entire 741 00:38:26,870 --> 00:38:28,878 heart to that groom. 742 00:38:29,054 --> 00:38:30,622 Jesus is called the groom. 743 00:38:30,686 --> 00:38:32,210 We are called the bride. 744 00:38:33,030 --> 00:38:40,066 I know that you could never imagine a young man proposing to a girl and saying, would you 745 00:38:40,088 --> 00:38:40,674 be my wife? 746 00:38:40,722 --> 00:38:44,614 And she squeals with excitement, says, I am so excited to be married to you. 747 00:38:44,732 --> 00:38:48,774 But I did date Jim for two years and I'd like two nights a year in bed with him. 748 00:38:48,812 --> 00:38:50,038 I'll love you more. 749 00:38:50,204 --> 00:38:51,590 You will be my favorite. 750 00:38:51,670 --> 00:38:53,820 But I want two nights with Jim a year. 751 00:38:54,590 --> 00:38:56,314 No bride has ever done that. 752 00:38:56,352 --> 00:38:58,250 And no groom would ever accept that. 753 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:02,698 Jesus gave himself fully for you so that you could become a child of God. 754 00:39:02,864 --> 00:39:05,886 All he asks for you to do is to do what that bride does. 755 00:39:05,988 --> 00:39:09,726 He doesn't ask any more than what a spouse asks for. 756 00:39:09,908 --> 00:39:13,054 He asks you for your entire heart. 757 00:39:13,172 --> 00:39:18,402 So if you're ready to give your heart to him today and you say, john, I want to give my 758 00:39:18,456 --> 00:39:20,942 life to the lordship of Jesus. 759 00:39:21,086 --> 00:39:23,986 I want you to stand wherever you are. 760 00:39:24,088 --> 00:39:25,074 I just want you to stand. 761 00:39:25,112 --> 00:39:29,070 And the reason I'm asking you to stand right now is because no bride's ever been ashamed of 762 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:29,874 her groom. 763 00:39:30,002 --> 00:39:32,262 Let me tell you, Jesus gave his life. 764 00:39:32,316 --> 00:39:33,090 He died. 765 00:39:33,170 --> 00:39:34,006 He created you. 766 00:39:34,028 --> 00:39:39,426 But yet he chose to come and be spit on, to be beat, to be so tortured that he wouldn't 767 00:39:39,458 --> 00:39:42,258 even look like a human being by the time he got to that cross. 768 00:39:42,354 --> 00:39:45,130 He did it because he gave his life fully for you. 769 00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:46,662 No bride is ashamed. 770 00:39:46,726 --> 00:39:47,990 Just stand to your feet. 771 00:39:48,070 --> 00:39:51,660 And what I'm going to do is ask now the campus pastors to come forward. 772 00:39:52,030 --> 00:39:56,190 And after I'm done praying, I want them to continue to minister to you. 773 00:39:56,340 --> 00:40:00,270 Heavenly Father, I thank you for every single person that's standing. 774 00:40:00,770 --> 00:40:04,660 Lord, I thank you for every single person that's sitting as well. 775 00:40:05,670 --> 00:40:10,690 I'm asking, Lord, that as the campus pastors lead these men and women that are standing, 776 00:40:11,270 --> 00:40:16,406 that, Jesus, you will fill their heart with your spirit and they will enter into a life of 777 00:40:16,428 --> 00:40:17,894 intimacy with you. 778 00:40:18,092 --> 00:40:24,374 I also pray for every person under the sound of my voice that the spirit of holy fear would 779 00:40:24,412 --> 00:40:25,654 come upon them. 780 00:40:25,852 --> 00:40:30,642 Jesus, you delighted in the fear of the Lord, that manifestation of your spirit. 781 00:40:30,786 --> 00:40:35,986 I pray that every single person under the sound of my voice would delight in the holy awe 782 00:40:36,018 --> 00:40:36,934 of God. 783 00:40:37,132 --> 00:40:39,800 I ask this in Jesus mighty name. 784 00:40:40,370 --> 00:40:41,310 Amen. 785 00:40:43,010 --> 00:40:47,130 Sandals church, thank you so much for joining us for today's sermon with our special guest, 786 00:40:47,210 --> 00:40:48,234 John Brever. 787 00:40:48,362 --> 00:40:51,102 I hope this message was a blessing to you today. 788 00:40:51,156 --> 00:40:54,894 If you would like to partner in the work that Sandals church is doing, you could do so at 789 00:40:54,932 --> 00:40:56,062 give SC. 790 00:40:56,196 --> 00:40:56,846 I love you. 791 00:40:56,868 --> 00:40:57,580 We'll see you next week.