Guarding The Promise

The title is Guarding the Promise, part three in talking about the anointing. And as you remember, this sermon number one on the anointing came because the Wednesday service, in my opinion, was a total failure on my end. I just didn't feel anything.

It felt like bricks were coming out of my mouth. And I went home, I'm like, Lord, what's going on? Did I lose the anointing? And of course, I don't think I did. It was God's word.

And sometimes God tests us in and out of season. And from that came just pouring over scripture and my notes for the sermon actually became a message on the anointing that was 14 pages. And so I had to break it up because anytime I'm going through the word and praying with the Lord, and these aren't my opinions.

These are biblical principles. So I don't want to just remove things to get through it. And this, I think many of you can attest to this.

I'm still getting messages from people that how much they needed to hear a message on the anointing of God. What exactly? Because we use that term a lot, don't we? Especially in some circles. Oh, they are so anointed.

That worship was so anointed. That message was so anointed. Or it wasn't.

Or that person, that church. And I know what people are saying. It's great to experience God in a profound and powerful way.

But as believers, we all are anointed. We have the Holy Spirit of God. Now, there's different giftings and callings and things like that we've talked about before.

And then I'm gonna finish it up next Sunday, God willing, on part four, that some things are worth fighting for. The weapons of our warfare. So we're gonna get into, okay, practical application.

Anointed by God, called of God. How do I guard against that, practically speaking? What are the weapons of my warfare? How can I really be on the defense against Satan? Because you've seen it before. It's hard when Christian leaders fall.

Even Christians you know, we all know that have fallen. Well, they were anointed. What happened? Well, just like Samson, just like David, just like anybody, you have to guard that anointing.

Because with that anointing also comes, I don't know, should I pull it out? What do you think, John, should I wear this? Probably not. No, it doesn't match Christmas colors. You're, as a Christian, you have a target.

You have a target. Oh, I don't like that. It doesn't matter.

I don't wanna be in spiritual warfare. It doesn't matter. You already are.

Don't worry, I won't leave you here long. But this is how we live. So knowing that, aren't you gonna turn from the shooter? As he goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he can shoot and take down.

So we have to guard. It's a precious gift. And I know it can become challenging because sometimes we think, oh, you know, I'm anointed by God or I'm a believer and God's got me.

And He does, of course. But as we go throughout Scripture, you see that we have certain responsibilities as well. We're actually called to put on the armor.

Think about that. It doesn't come on automatically. You're a believer now.

You have the armor of God, but you have to put on the armor of God. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus who humbled Himself. So I've got to change my thinking.

Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That's my responsibility. And anytime in the church, you'll see, we go to extremes.

The church will try to correct itself. And in correcting itself, it sometimes goes the other extreme. And one of those extremes, if you're familiar with church history, and especially probably in the 1800s, the holiness movement, right? And sinless perfection and holiness, and women can't wear pants.

They're supposed to wear dresses, just so you know what I'm talking about here. They should wear something, of course. But just this, you know, and you can't go to the, back then it was you can't go to the cinema, or the movies, or play cards, or dance, or anything.

And there's some wisdom in some of that, right? You don't want to go. But they came so far to the extreme, it turns into legalism and rules. And you begin to beat people up, like, oh man, you can't do that.

Why'd you do that? Holiness of God, and come out from among them, be separated. And it's about, that's where you get the Bible-thumping from. You ever heard that term? Hellfire and brimstone preacher.

Bible-thumping. And a lot of what they're saying, of course, is true. But it's so far to the extreme that where's the encouragement? Don't forget about God's grace.

And they go, oh yeah, we gotta fix course. And then they go all the way over to this side. Okay, you fix way too much course here.

Now it's, what do they call that? Sloppy grace or sloppy agape. Yeah, I don't know, that just came to me. Greasy, greasy grace.

And I forget there's some kind of movement like 20 years ago that was, it's just, you know, like Paul said, just keep sinning, it's God's grace. But Paul said, oh, certainly not, don't do that. But see, trying to correct themselves, they want to give people grace.

And don't worry, brother, man. And I talk to pastors sometimes, and they're like, why didn't you talk about sin and repentance and things like that? They say, well, Matt and Shane, my job is just to love them. That's God's job to convict them.

And I know what they're saying, but do you know you're a mouthpiece to preach the Word? That's actually your job as a watchman, to encourage and strengthen, but also to convict a little bit. That's the whole point of preaching, my friend. To encourage and build up in God's grace and get them back on the right track, but also to convict the person who needs conviction.

And so that's what happens with this whole thing on putting on the armor of God and fighting and making no provision for the flesh. If you get so focused, because it's really not, those who've been walking with the Lord a while, you know, it's really not about rules. I don't look at it as, oh, I gotta follow these rules.

It's like I so desperately want to be filled with the Spirit of God that I want to nurture that relationship. And so there's actually great joy in that. Oh, turn off Amazon Prime and put on worship.

Oh, Lord, there's joy in that. And so when it becomes about rules, and this is why you will push your kids out of your home in a state of rebellion, if it's just rules. God's Word says, how dare you? You know, and it's just a story.

There's this iron fist of authority in your home. And it's hard because you don't want to go the other direction either. Do you? You want to go see Taylor Swift this week? I'll drive you.

No. Some of you are like, what's wrong with that? Well, let's talk later. Let's talk later.

And so, well, how many Eli was rebuked as a priest because he didn't restrain his sons? And again, trying to find that balance between law and grace. And it's really not law, it's obedience and holiness. But there's a lot of Scriptures.

I did a study one time, and I was pretty shocked at how the Scriptures were the Lord saying, if you do this, I'll do this. If you seek Me, you will find Me. And so this is such an important topic because we have to guard this incredible promise.

The promise of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit coming upon your life, filling you, and you have the Spirit of God indwelling in you. Wow, you might get a little excited. The Spirit... I'm so glad I don't live in the Old Testament.

Can you imagine following the law without the Spirit of God? And He could withdraw the Spirit? That's why David would pray, take not your Holy Spirit from me. We don't live in that state. So now we're guarding, we're stewarding this incredible gift that God has given us.

And it requires vigilance. It requires discipline. That's what we talked about yesterday with the young men.

Discipline is everything. It really is. Discipline is everything.

It's doing right what is right even when you don't feel like it. How many shots does Stephen Curry take? We talked about it. Practice.

Every day. You guys know how many? 500? A day? Does he miss a day? Something like that. More? Okay.

Well, that's a lot as it is. What, 2 point something million shots over his career. Practice shots to get ready to make 3,000 shots in a season or something like.

It's like unbelievable. Olympic athletes training four years for 90 seconds. How much more of the believer? See, once you understand it's not about legalism, I can't do this, and it's not about abusing God's grace.

Because actually when you live under God's grace, you actually live under a higher standard. It's this whole thing of guarding. And guys, I'm not preaching at you, I'm preaching to all of us.

Because it's difficult, it's challenging, but when you are forewarned, you're prepared. You're forearmed. And so I think as a church as a whole, we don't prepare people because the messages that sell.

You know, many of the popular guys I've mentioned before, the Michael Todd's and the Stephen Furtick's and the Andy Stanley's, and most of the popular guys, it's not hard messages. It's encouragement, and which is great sometimes, of course, but don't worry about it, it's God's grace. You can come in and be in sin, don't worry about it, it's God's grace.

Lives don't change. Because God's grace calls us out of destructive lifestyles. So let's get into the message.

How much time do I have? When we fail to guard, when we fail to guard, not only does it ruin individuals, but it decimates families and it destroys nations. That's what's happening in our nation. We haven't been guarding and stewarding this wonderful gift that God has given us.

Have you ever read, how many of you have not read the book of Lamentations? I know there's some of you, so it's okay, you didn't want to raise your hands. You don't know where to find it either. It's in the Old Testament.

It comes from the word lament. Jeremiah is lamenting. He says this beautiful city, it starts out this beautiful city that was once full of people.

Now she's a widow when she used to be the talk of the nations. The princes used to rule and now they're slaves. And he goes into the fall of Jerusalem.

I mean, I just finished it. I don't want to read it. And here's this prophet of God, this man of God lamenting because they did not steward what God had called them to do.

1 Timothy 4.7 says to train yourself to be godly. And R. Kent Hughes, the author of the main book here, he said, we'll never get anywhere spiritually without removing the things that are holding us back. We must get rid of every incumbence, association, habit, and tendency which impedes godliness.

And I know, sometimes I get the pushback, like Shane, that's impossible. God wants us to have a little bit of fun. I mean, you know, my one little vice.

Again, you're missing the point. The point is to raise that standard. The problem is that we raise the standard and we miss it, so we lower it, we hit it.

Removing things. Removing things that are keeping us away from that relationship with God. Disciplined Christians are the exception, not the rule.

Isn't that true? Disciplined Christians are the exception. It's not the rule. And this will help out.

Legalism is self-centered. Discipline is God-centered. So I've got to follow rules.

It's self-centered. Look at me. And you know the rule followers.

They'll tell you, I'll post something about Christmas. I don't celebrate Christmas. Oh, good for you.

Hey, our Easter services, don't you dare say Easter. It's from the goddess Esther. Why don't you worship on Saturday like I do? I keep the feasts.

Legal is self-righteous. They're excited to tell you how often they fast, what they don't do. I don't do that.

Do you ever talk to people? It drives me crazy. Oh, my kids don't do that. I just pray for them, because take heed lest you fall.

Do you know how many people got self-righteous and their kids walk away from the faith completely? And I want to email them and I can't? Rub it in a little bit? That's not godly. I know. Pray for me.

I struggle too. Anybody else struggle with the I told you so? I told you so. And then Acts 10, I think we have this verse to remind you kind of where we left off.

Don't worry, I'm getting into Acts. Actually, it might follow on Christmas services when we talk. I'm going to tie it in with Christmas.

Hopefully, he's still praying about that. It's how God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit. And so that's where this series came from.

And Jesus was born with the Holy Spirit, correct? He wasn't a sinner. He was sinless. But there's an empowerment that came about later on.

30 years, he's building a lot of furniture. And God says, now it's time. Now it's time.

And it appears, again, theologians don't quite know how to grapple with this because it's like, didn't Jesus have the fullness of the Spirit? Absolutely. Didn't he have the Spirit? He wasn't quenching the Spirit. What happened? Well, it's baptism.

It says the Spirit descended upon him. Again, I'm just reading Scripture, not my opinion. The Spirit descended upon him.

And that's when his ministry began. And then he opens the scroll in the temple and says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He's anointed me.

Wait a minute, you were already anointed when you were born. But there was a time. There was a time before he was revealed.

You can look at prophetic history and different things. But that anointing, the Bible talks about the believer has that same anointing, that same Spirit in our lives and in our hearts. And yes, we can quench and grieve the Spirit.

And you can stifle that anointing. And that might be what's happening in the lives of many of you who have listened to me. Maybe later, I don't know, but that fire has faded.

It's just barely burning. You know those fires in your fireplace, you see that little flame? It doesn't throw out any heat. I mean, you're right up against it.

Some of you aren't throwing off much heat. Because that flame's quenched. But you go get some gasoline.

I used to do that at campfires. But I'm like, my kids are going to do this someday. I better not do it.

But you know what, Phil, we do it. If we get some gasoline in a can, just watch out. Don't get used to it, because that fire will follow you right back.

And that fire can come back again. What is the gasoline? Repentance. Lord, I'm sorry I've drifted.

Help. Help me. I'll turn to it now.

I was writing down some notes during worship. That when Jesus said, this is a house of prayer, it's also a spirit of prayer. It's a spirit of prayer.

And worship is digging deep. Guys, that's what it is. How many of you, you like those round point shovels, the square point shovels, the digging bars, and you dig and you dig and you dig.

Did you know, because this is kind of what I used to do, digging foundations. But I would look at plans and set up my foundation. Wow, these footings have to be five foot deep.

You know, normal footings for a house aren't very. Five foot deep footings, I'd have to go get a big old three foot backhoe bucket or excavator bucket and just dig. What is going on? Because the structure is going high.

Or it's holding back big millions of tons of dirt on a mountain they call retaining walls. So the deeper you go, the stronger that foundation is. And worship is digging deep.

That's why you can't do a five minute worship set. If that's all the time you have, do it. Absolutely.

But sometimes you've got to dig deep. You've got to dig deep. I don't know about you, but it takes a good 10 minutes, 12.

Lord, dig. And then John or Mattie goes into, worthy of it all. And you say, oh, my goodness, what? Just camp out there for a while.

Lord, can we just stay there? Lord, can we just stay there? Worthy of it all. Worthy of it all. Lord, help my parenting.

Help my this. Lord, the church and these people. And you begin to dig deep, and you begin to dig deep.

And sometimes before you know it, you're into another set and another song. And you're digging deep, and you're digging deep, and repentance is coming out, and joy is coming out. And you're digging deep, digging deep into that well of worship, and that living water begins to come out in your heart.

That's what worship is. Digging deep, digging that foundation. I will tell you, a Christian is only as strong as their worship and prayer life.

What about my time in the Word? Yes. But at some point, you have to worship the one the Word points to. I'm trying to get through the first page, guys.

This might be a five-part series. I don't know. But isn't it so important? I believe there's nothing more important in the Christian church for Christians than being filled with the Spirit and guarding the anointing.

You counsel the people I counsel who go back to fentanyl, who lose their family over addiction, who are in halfway homes right now, who are on their third recovery home, whose family is decimated, whose kids are rejecting God. Guys, this is a battlefield, not a playground. Nothing more important than guarding that anointing.

Again, all believers are anointed, they are set apart, but very few are fully surrendered. They are barely full rather than overflowing with the Spirit. Alright.

You fill in the blankers. I think you can fill in the blanks there with your notes. Have your kids do the whole message and they get a dollar.

Keep them engaged. But guys, that's the anointing. That's what we're talking about.

All of you, everybody in this room, if you're a believer, you've been anointed by God, you've been set apart to do something for God. Well, I'm just a mom with five... That's the hardest job on planet Earth, I'm convinced. A mom with kids at home, you have the hardest job on planet Earth.

I know it. When I was left with the little ones, I'm like, when are you coming home? This is like, oh, a couple more hours. You know what, I'm just going to let it out.

The hardest day for me every year was Black Friday because she's gone, she's gone. When are you coming home? I don't know, later this evening. Later this evening is 7 in the morning.

Here they get up. It's 7 in the morning. Daddy, I have a dirty diaper.

Can you wait until 5 p.m.? I'm hungry. Can you wait? It's okay to fast. You don't have to eat.

You don't have to eat. It's painful. I would negotiate.

I would negotiate. Can you get home early? Can your mom help? Aubrey, she's getting older. Can you help? My goodness.

Is it not true? Very few things I was afraid of than leaving me at home all day. All day, because you freak out. Their stomach hurts and this is happening.

How did you get poop in your crib? What is this? Like, just get home. Just get home. But you're anointed to do that.

That's an anointing. What a wonderful gift from God to steward these incredible gifts. Think about that.

People need to be encouraged. People need to be encouraged. I think it's actually Tim and Amy.

We were talking with them last night and they mentioned, I think Tim, it was you, how California is trying to get both parents out of the home to work because everything is so expensive. And you see in that, right? Get the moms out of the home. There's moms here that are out of the home.

Trust me, if you're in certain situations, we support that. We understand that. We got married that way.

We had to both work to pay the bills. But a vast majority of people want to keep up with the Joneses. And we need to get back to saying, Lord, You guide me.

Lord, we want out of this at some point. Or maybe, of course, God will see you through no matter your situation. My whole point is don't listen to the world with their definition.

What is the world's definition of manhood? You know what they tell me? Don't have a Navy Seal here on January 10th. Have a drag show. Story hour.

That's real masculinity today according to the world is how feminine a man can be. That's how they define it. Do you know there's emojis now of a pregnant man? I'm going to show you sometime.

Oh, it's just funny. No, it's not funny. That's perverted.

This stuff is demonic inspired by the devil. How else do you explain that? And do these people honestly think that a man can be pregnant? Like honestly. Do you know I never thought in all my years that we would live in a nation where Supreme Court justice cannot define a woman.

Like I wanted to punch the TV. You can't define. I'm not a biologist.

Well, neither am I, but I know what a bumblebee is. I know what a little sparrow is. I can tell a female dog from a male dog.

I'm not a biologist. This is insane. And sometimes I'm like, why couldn't I be born back in the Wild West? Lord, tombstone.

Tombstone. That's... But they remember... This was supposed to be a serious sermon too. But we've been called for such a time as this.

Let that strengthen you this morning. Let that... Don't become discouraged. Why am I in Los Angeles County? Because you've been called here to be the light? At least for now? Right? God moves people on, but at least while we're here.

While we're here. Did you know you plus God is the majority? You plus God is the majority. I try to remind myself often.

I tell you guys, God took just a stupid country boy with dyslexia and chubby to be nothing but digging ditches for the rest of my life. But when that anointing comes upon you as you fully surrender, watch out what God will do. Watch out.

You plus Him is the majority. We could change the nation if we were filled with the Spirit of God more. Again, the anointing is not for our glory, but for God's glory.

Please remember this. No flesh should glory in His presence. What does that mean? Glory, again, Greek word would be helpful here because I probably would have chose the word glory.

It's self-exaltation. It's look at me. Can we adjust the lights here? Wasn't that a great sermon, John, today? Oh, man.

No flesh should glory, should magnify themselves. I mean, boy, that humbles you, doesn't it? Every gift is God. God is holding that.

Christian music industry, why are they getting all this? Why are they in speakers? Look at me. Look at my anointing. Look at my gifting.

No, no, no. That's God's. That's God's gifting.

Point people to Him, not you. No flesh will glory. And glory in His presence, I mean, we could get a little technical here, but that could, and it has to do, it could also do with a believer, right? God's presence in His house, in His temple, in His place of worship.

Nobody should elevate themselves in the holy presence of God. Duncan Campbell said, there's nothing on earth today so deadening as preaching without heaven's anointing. Refrain from preaching unless you know that the dew of heaven is on your soul.

Dead pulpits give out dead sermons. You know, I can listen to somebody and give me five minutes and I can tell. I can tell if God's hand is upon them.

Again, there's different callings. I understand that. And that's why we love to listen to people touched by God.

Anointing does not prevent being misled. Here's the point I was trying to get to at 9-10. Anointed by God.

We're anointed believers. Okay? It does not prevent you from being misled. Do you know early on in the engagement into the promised land, Joshua was severely misled? These people came from a thousand miles away.

Right? Oh, we just barely made it here. Can you have a treaty with us? Oh, sure, I'll make a treaty with you. And the Bible says something I'll never forget.

He did not seek the Lord. He makes a treaty and he finds out they're just in the next city. Can Samson be misled? Who reads that story and just you want to talk to this guy? She tried to get you a couple times already.

Where does your strength lie? Samson, oh, it lies here. Okay, well, tie him up and get him here. Philistines are coming.

Right? I'm breaking up that relationship after that one. Bye-bye, Delilah. No, just kept on it.

And she pastored him. And he showed her where his great strength lied, probably thinking he could bust out of it again. He was misled.

Was David misled? So be careful. It doesn't mean that we can't be misled. That's why we have to be teachable and humble and acquire of the Lord.

I try to do that, don't you, on big decisions? Lord, is this from You? I'll tell you one thing. It's a funny one. I didn't even acquire of the Lord.

I just said, okay, I'll do it. And did you guys ever watch that Surrounded where there's somebody sitting in the middle, two people, and they come and they run and they try to get the chair? It's Jubilee Surrounded. It's got 10 million views on videos.

So they asked me to drive to L.A. and be on it. I thought I could just go and debate this guy and I'd run to the chair. And I had all these notes.

And I got four minutes. And then they raise a flag to vote you out. As soon as enough people raise their flag to vote you out.

And I'm like, they voted me out. I've got a lot to say here. And then I come find out it's not really who gets to the chair quickest.

It's already organized kind of. And I'm like, can I go next? Can I go next? And I left and I'm like, I was just wasting my whole day down here. For four minutes.

And I didn't get to say what I really wanted to say. And there's other times where you look back and you're like, Lord, what was I thinking? Are you just rushed to things? Many kings, judges, prophets, and priests were anointed, but did not guard God's anointing. Guys, this became so practical as I studied a lot of the lives of these.

Did you know in the Bible there's some good kings and some bad kings? But many times before they were bad, they were good, kind of. And then they wouldn't guard this anointing. God called them.

Did you know God actually anointed Saul, the very first king? It wasn't God's first choice. He wanted to rule the people of judges. But He said, okay, if you're going to require this.

And He had Samuel go and anoint Saul. And Saul's anointed by God. Can you imagine? The God of the universe says, you are the first king of Israel.

I mean, talk about confidence. Your enemies will be defeated. You will have great peace as long as you obey and seek Me.

And because He didn't, the anointing was moved to a young man named David. Did this anointing immediately bring instant peace? I told you, the Old Testament's brutal. And now David's anointing, but he didn't guard that anointing.

And God said, but for My servant David's sake, I'm still going to have to judge you. I'm still going to have to do certain things to Israel. People are going to die because of this disobedience.

And then here comes Solomon. Man, what a great start. He prays and God says, because you haven't asked for fame and money and wealth, I'm going to give you wisdom to rule My people.

Nobody was as wise as this man. The amount of gold. The anointing of God.

There's peace in the land because God's anointing was on him. And what does Solomon do? Well, what most people do when they get real comfortable, he gravitated towards pagan women. What was that? A thousand wives and mistresses? What? And they begin to lead his heart away from the Lord.

And he no longer guarded that anointing. It has to be fought for until you breathe your last breath. But I have good encouragement for you this morning.

If you've fallen, you can get back up. And keep fighting. And keep fighting.

So my main goal today, my main goal of the whole message was to better understand the battle for you. And then next Sunday, go into the weapons of our warfare because some things are worth fighting for. If you understood what you're actually fighting for, parents who have little ones still or teens, you're actually fighting for your family.

Oh, they're out of the house. You're still fighting for them. Did you know that? They're looking to you.

They will look to you until the day you die. Grandparents. The welfare of our nation and different things.

Again, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Don't let down your guard. We are at war with sinful desires until we die.

It's been said that sin is not the enemy out there. It's the enemy in here. And what it does, it feeds off of our fallen human desires and weaknesses.

There's a fueling that takes place or a quenching that can take place depending on whether you feed or starve those appetites. And really, isn't that what the battle is about? Feeding the desires or crucifying the flesh? By the way, who knows if that's in the Bible too? Could He be any more clear? Could He be any more clear? Crucify the flesh. What does that mean? What pulls you away? What fleshly desire pulls you away? And the Bible talks about all kinds of drunkenness, gluttony, perversions, sexual immorality.

I just want one more hit. I want one more pill. I need one more prescription.

What is that that keeps pulling you away? Crucify it. Crucify it. Because I found out you play with that stuff, it will still take you down.

You can't coddle. This is my one little vice. Do you know how many people we have had over the years that they're in rehab now, that went back thinking they're strong enough now to whatever it is? Listen, once it's got you, it might get you again.

Guarding that anointing. 1 Corinthians 10-12, the amped up version. Therefore, let anyone who thinks he stands, who feels sure that he is steadfast and is standing firm, take heed, lest he fall.

Well, what does that really have to do with this message? A lot, because guarding the anointing begins with the right foundation of humility. When you know you can fall, you're going to... yeah. But when you're like, you know what? I've been here many times before.

I know I met you before, and I just saw a thing on him again. I just cannot believe it. Have you ever been at the bottom of Half Dome and you see somebody looking up? That guy climbs that whole thing without any ropes.

Nothing. Alex Homo or something like that, he puts his hands in. And if I'm up as high as those lights, I'm freaking out.

Take heed, because one mistake, you're dead. And that's what he's talking about. Notice where that falling is and get a little cushion there.

Don't play on the edge. Because when we play on the edge, we all know what happens. No matter how strong you are.

Paul's struggle. Paul's struggle in Romans 7. I find then that there is a law. There's a law in me that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

So Paul's saying there's something inside of me. The law has revealed how sinful I am. And I want to do good.

Amen? This is our struggle. I want to do good. And I want to, but there's something inside of me.

And he goes on to say, I'll read in a minute, he cries out basically, O wretched man that I am. I want to do good, but I don't do it sometimes. And the good I want to do, I don't always do.

O wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of sin and death? And he says, oh, thank God for Jesus Christ. But it's a real struggle that people have to go through from time to time.

But it's also a good reminder, I had a good conversation yesterday at the men's thing with a young man. We don't have to live there in defeat. We don't have to walk around, oh, I'm constantly defeated, and sin's got me again.

There is victory in Christ. You can say no to temptation. So there's an encouragement, yes, you can say no.

Did you know that? I've never thought about this. Maybe briefly, but I really thought about it yesterday. I told my wife, I think I called you too, Phil, and a couple other people.

I mean, it really made me think, could you go a whole day without sinning? I mean, because biblically, it says if you sin, not when. And also, okay, for example, I have this thought, I'm getting angry, Lord. You take that thought captive.

It's not yet sin, it's a temptation. So I'm like, hmm, I don't know, I should try that. You guys should try that one day.

Try not to sin all day, and then let me know how it goes. But be careful at the night, we go, I didn't sin all day, you just sinned. With that pride.

Watch that pride. With that pride. Watch that pride.

But the point is true, isn't it? The Bible doesn't say, oh, when you sin, you're going to sin every day. Don't worry about it. Every hour, probably.

It's like, hey, I've given you the ability in Christ, not in your own strength, walking in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So I think sometimes we forget about those. A good reminder to me, living in a state of defeat is not really wise either.

It's not biblical. I keep falling and battling every day. You don't have to.

You don't have to. Our spirit desires what is good. But there are impulses and influences and desires within that want to consume us.

Also, sometimes people are confused about this word perfect. Jesus says, therefore, you be perfect. Just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.

Well, again, I don't have time to go into it, but the word actually means complete. Lacking nothing. It doesn't mean we think, oh, I've got to live a perfect life forever until the day I die.

But the command is to walk in the Spirit. You don't have to sin. But you can be complete in Christ Jesus.

James McDonald, remember him? He said, it's as if we used to live in an apartment with an awful landlord who would burst in whenever he wanted. But now we've moved to a new apartment with a new landlord. And we have locks.

We owe the former landlord nothing. He can never get into our apartment unless we open the door. Isn't that a good example? Explained from unbelievers? Because when you're a believer, you are living in an apartment with an awful landlord.

But as a believer now, he's gone. He's gone. But what do we hear? He waits for those opportune times.

In addiction, they tell you to watch out for halt. Hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. Isn't it easy to go back to something when you're angry? Forget it then.

Forget it. Life is throwing me a curveball. I'm looking for those excuses to sin instead of excuses to glorify God.

The enemy robs you of joy by influencing you with bitterness. He robs you of peace by influencing you with fear. He robs you of a strong relationship with God by influencing you with lust and addiction.

Remember, with fear and all these things, you don't have to cave in to fear and anxiety and always worrying. But do we feed into it? Do we feed those thoughts? Or do we take those thoughts captive? Many of us need a social media fast. Do we not? You don't need to follow the scanners.

There's every break-in, every murder, every shooting. Oh my goodness. It will rob you of peace.

Because the Bible says, whatever things are pure and honest and noble and upright, meditate on these things. Meditate. So all these things, pray for my fear, pray for my anxiety, pray for this, pray for that.

And we will. It could be a demonic attack. But how often are we fueling the very things the Bible tells us to flee? And again, Paul laments, oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? The answer, I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So then, because of this, see, there's a responsibility. There's a responsibility. You can't just say, oh, praise God, Jesus.

You're going to do this incredible work in me without any type of participation on my own. It says, but with the mind then, I will make the choice to serve God. I will serve the law of God.

I will do what is right. I will make a choice in my mind to take my thoughts captive. And as a result of that, there's a security, there's a filling of the Spirit that comes upon your life.

But with the flesh, it serves the law of sin. So if I trust in my flesh, this is why I get kind of worried when I talk to people. And they say, oh, I know, Pastor, I just got to be more disciplined.

That's good. But if you're trusting in your strength, you're fighting flesh with flesh, that's why they call it white-knuckling it. Have you heard of that? I'm just going to go and I'm going to white-knuckle it.

I'm strong. And it does play a role. Certain people are more disciplined than other people.

For sure. But fighting the flesh with the flesh, that's why you say, Lord, help me. I'm going to walk in the Spirit.

I'm going to choose not to do that. And God begins to strengthen you in Him as you're walking in the Spirit. It really blows down to that.

A choice to walk in the Spirit. A choice to walk in the Spirit. Somebody makes me upset.

Does that ever happen to you? They cut me off at Trader Joe's and actually, this happened, they take my parking spot. And I happen to see them in the store. Shane wants to go, are you in a hurry? What do you mean? You cut me off in the parking lot.

Versus I see them, oh, I'm glad you got my spot. Is everything okay? Can I pray for you? I see you're in a hurry. Oh, I'm sorry about that.

And it opens up an incredible opportunity. Walk in the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit.

Alright. What's that? This is not participation. This is not a study.

Wait until afterwards. And it just happened. My son texted me.

I couldn't make it to work. My car broke down. It's on the side of the road.

We've got to push it. The hazard lights are on. I'm getting frustrated.

I don't like pushing a car when people are zooming by you on their way to school. And so my whole day, right? Now I've got to call the tow truck guy. I've got to get him to work.

Tow truck guy gets there. And he opens the door. He's listening to a sermon.

I don't know, are you here this morning? I don't know if you might not be. But he's listening to a sermon. It's a different radio station.

He said, I don't know, you've got to change it to a better one. 91.9. And then so he said, oh, thank you so much. And I could tell he's searching.

So God does these connections. So I had a choice there. And I had a choice to be rude to this guy.

Like, come on, it took you a while. I've been sitting here for 20 minutes. What's going on here? Just get this thing going.

But walk in the Spirit. It's a daily... Oh, Shane, you're so good at this. No, I'm not.

Just like everyone else, it gets challenging. But there's a choice to make. Am I going to walk in the Spirit? How many arguments could you stifle? Or getting upset at people? Oh, I'm apologizing.

I didn't mean to do that. I'm in a hurry. You walk in the Spirit, and it doesn't give opportunity for the flesh to rear its ugly head.

John Owen, two things he's famous for saying. Be killing sin or sin be killing you. Any English experts in here? Is that okay? I didn't think so, but it sounds good.

Grace changes the nature of man, but nothing changes the nature of sin. Here's the thing. God's grace, you repent.

Oh, your nature changes. But the sin in you doesn't. It's still that kryptonite.

Galatians. Oh, I knew I read it somewhere. I walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusts against it. What it means is they're fighting each other. These are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things you wish.

Again, it's not giving you permission to not do the things you wish. It's telling you that you have this battle inside, and whatever you choose to obey becomes the master. Walk humbly.

The Bible says walk humbly. Walk circumspectly. That's an interesting word.

It means careful, wisely of course, thoughtful, and closely with God. What is temptation then? And what do we do with it? That question comes up sometimes. Temptation is the thought to do what is wrong.

And right now it's a temptation. What you do with it is what tilts the scale between sin and not sin. Now there's some things when you get that thought, if you continue to feed that thought, it's still a thought for a while, but you're dwelling on that thought, focusing on that thought, thinking about that thought, how you could pull that thought off, that's becoming sin.

But just the thought, that's what it is. Did you know Jesus was tempted? The Bible says He was tempted in all points like we are, yet He was without sin. Probably tempted in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life.

But He has the ability, obviously He's perfect without sin. Temptation, move the thought out. Oh, if you're the Son of Man, you're hungry, turn these stones into bread.

Here comes the thought, oh man, that sounds good. Sourdough with melt. I could melt butter.

I could create butter right now. Don't you like the sourdough loaf out of the oven? No, you don't? Okay. Especially when you're hungry? So here comes the thought, no, my food is the Word of God.

So it's moving that out. Or you can fuel those things. Do you ever get that thought about an offense? You know, you get offended with somebody? If you've never been offended by anybody in church, just keep coming for a little while.

It's bound to happen. Anywhere, any church. And what do you do with that? Lord, I'm not going to camp out here.

I'm sure they didn't mean it that way. Boom. Or, I'm not going to text them back.

I'm not going to invite them to Christmas. I'll show them who's boss. I'm not going to get them a present.

I'm offended. Or you take that thought captive, I'm going to be the better person. One thing that's so hard for me, and it's going to be hard until the day I die, and for many of you, I don't like that we're called to be the better person.

But it's not my fault. I know, I know, I know, but go to them. That's not my fault.

Why do I have to do it? Why don't they do it? But the Bible puts it back. And you know you grow from that, don't you? The more you do it, the more you grow from it. And you realize it's a step of humility, not weakness.

God says that's the better person. He follows what Paul says, as much as it depends upon you, live with peace with all men. Do what you can do.

That's the mature believer. So next time you think you're so mature by being given tit for tat, or you're not going to talk to them, or you're going to pay them back this way, that's not spiritually mature. That's actually a carnal Christian.

That's what a Christian thinks. So I have the carnal thoughts that come in. Somebody upsets you, offends you.

Like I'm not going to talk to them again. I'm not going to return. And that never goes in a good direction, does it? It never just flies away in the wind, never to return.

It builds, and builds, and builds, and it goes really deep, and it becomes a root of bitterness. How many of you know it's hard to get out roots? Another thing I did because I had heavy equipment, people would call me sometimes to remove tree trunks, and things, stumps. I mean, those are like major.

You know, digging around at three feet and breaking water lines, and pulling this big old... Sometimes they'll say, it's funny, it's usually a little old lady or something. I knew I should have pulled that out ten years ago. Just pulled it out ten years ago.

It's gone. But by now, that thing's come out. It's expensive.

There's no gain if there is no pain. I'm sorry, there's no gain if there's no strain. Also, the other way works too.

There's no gain if there's no strain. There's no gain if there's no pain. There's always going to be that pain.

That's why it says, walk in the Spirit. It's actually to walk in the opposite direction of where the flesh wants to go. So how many of you know when you come to church, you're walking in the Spirit? Because your flesh wants to hit that snooze button.

Come on, I know when it's cold out. It's like, everything. You know, the heater hasn't been on for a while, and I'm just going to go, I'll just go Wednesday night.

Or my favorite, here we go, you ready? I'll watch online. You know how many times I've thought that? I'm like, oh, I can't, I'm speaking. And for those watching online, we'd love to do it, because I know many of you need it, but it's much better in person.

Much better in person. Walking in the Spirit isn't always euphoric and joyful. You need to know that about guarding.

Walking in the Spirit is actually the opposite. You know, I don't want to do it, but like my daughters kind of get that little boundless energy and they're skipping, whatever it's called. So, it's like, that's how you think walking in the Spirit is.

This is great, euphoric and joyful. I love walking in the Spirit. I love the Lord.

Usually it's like, come on flesh, come on. Shut up, be quiet, come on. Shut your mouth.

My goodness, let's go, let's go, let's go. It's David Goggins, right? Pulling the weight. Don't watch him, by the way, he cusses too much.

But, then the joy comes. Like Vince Lombardi, you ever hear me quote, that any man's finest hour, any man's finest hour is when he lies exhausted on the field of battle victorious. That's when the joy comes.

The Spirit-filled life is incredible, it's wonderful, it's beautiful, it's filled with joy, but it usually comes after the victory. Because if it was a victory, you wouldn't do it. That's the pull of sin.

It wants to get you back to a place that you felt good. It only lasts for a short time. Short time.

It's a battle, guys, it's warfare. It's discipline in action. I was kind of divided on this, even when I sent the notes, I put extras if we have time.

But this might be helpful, I think, for practical application. We'll just go quick. What you have to do, and I actually have the acronym STEWARD, like steward the anointing.

So number one, it's sever sin. You have to sever it. Sin fascinates before it assassinates.

Sin fascinates you before it assassinates you. And the Bible would lament, oh, how the mighty have fallen. Oh, how the mighty... Don't you hate when you see that? I'm painfully aware.

Am I falling? What that would do to people, and my own kids, and my own family. I'm painfully aware. And it's okay to be painfully aware, because you know where the edge is.

Get me away from that edge. God, there's no water in there. Sever sin.

Sever destructive relationships like with Jezebel and Delilah. Ahab might have turned out a little bit better, but Jezebel. Samson might... Oh, I spelled his name wrong, I think, didn't I? I put a P in there.

You guys have got to catch me on that. Samson. Delilah.

Because relationships that are pulling you away need to be severed. They need to be severed, cut. And then the T. Take the initiative.

We have a responsibility to pursue God. I'm waiting for God. He's waiting for you.

I'm just waiting. If He really wanted me... No, no, no. He's waiting for you.

Trust me. If you seek Me with all of your heart, He's a rewarder of those who passionately pursue Him. You've got to get off that couch and begin fighting again for your family.

Begin fighting again for your walk with the Lord. As you seek Him, you will find Him. Take the initiative.

My church! My goodness, church, get off your tush! Begin to pursue Him like never before. And then E. Elevate humility. Elevate humility.

James 4.10 in the amped up version. Humble yourself with an attitude of repentance and insignificance. And some people might stumble at that word, but I'm glad they put that word, because that's what it is.

Lord, don't elevate me. Don't elevate me. I'm insignificant.

Insignificant. I know it would be sad, but sometimes I think when I pass away, you know, the church is going to still meet. Nothing's going to... The United States is going to... Pastor James... No, no, no.

God says, okay, My chosen vessel, who's the next? Who's the next? Insignificant. Lord, thank You for using us. Humble yourself in His presence.

That's why during worship, we encourage people to come forward. You humble yourself in His presence. And He exalts you in due time.

He lifts you up. And He gives you a purpose. You want to know your purpose in this life? What is God calling me to do? Humble yourself.

Humble yourself. And say, Lord, how do you want to use me? I want you to go to the homeless ministry. Oh, no, not that one.

I want to do what John's doing. And Mattie's doing. And that's what I want to do.

Hey, we've got a young woman cutting herself. Can you mentor her? No, no, no. I'm not really called to that.

I'm called to preach. I'm called to worship lead. What? And you wonder why God's not using you? Guys, so much joy comes from that.

I just spoke to a few ladies Saturday at the Christmas market. I said, it's hard, but I love going to the hospital homes. And I get in my car and I cry sometimes.

It's like, oh, the joy of just going to people who never might not ever come out of there. I know some are watching even right now to the message. Bringing them a Christmas gift.

The pastor, I don't know, that's kind of difficult. But if you let me preach... No, I'll never let you preach without you. Also, it's not up to me, it's up to God.

You think I can close a door on your life? Well, Pastor Shane won't let me do this or that. What? God does it. But we also acknowledge and look and watch what He's doing.

By the way, that's all we do. We don't choose this elder, this deacon, this worship leader. We watch.

What is God doing? What's God doing? Ah, okay, you're doing that. Okay, you're doing that. That's our job as a leadership of the church.

But humble yourself. Welcome worship. W, welcome worship.

It fuels spiritual depth and solidifies your foundation with God. It's funny, I just wrote down that this morning. I forgot all about this point.

If you're not a worshiper, I guarantee your foundation's not very deep. You might be well-versed in the Bible. You might be well-versed in the Bible, but you don't have the fire of God in your heart.

I love what Leonard Ravenhill used to say talking about pastors with PhDs. I'm not against that. I think it's great if you can do it.

But he would say you can have 32 degrees and still be frozen. God, that hits, doesn't it? You'll get it on your way home maybe. Right? That's when water freezes, 32 degrees.

You can have many degrees and still be frozen. You have to adjust to prayer. Adjust to prayer.

Guys, I want to do a sermon sometime in the sanctuary of silence. The sanctuary of silence. Isn't it hard? I had a struggle this morning.

Praise God, I'm doing good now, but I told my wife, this is a hard morning. Finding that silence. I've got to figure out what's going on in the news.

Instagram. What's going on? Texting. People on the East Coast I know are texting me at 8 a.m. their time, 5 a.m. my time.

Finding that silence. Just waiting on God. And as I'm waiting on God, I've got a to-do list going on.

Silence is a sanctuary. Because what we do is we still our heart, still. And you wait, you listen.

I've found the busier I get, the less God speaks. Because we think He competes, like hey, I'll get your attention, I'll speak louder. I love that verse, Elisha said the Lord wasn't in the wind and in the thunder and in the fire, He was in the still, small voice.

That whisper. Seek times of silence. Guys, find those moments somehow, those times of silence.

The number one characteristic of someone who falls is that they no longer have a significant, deep, and heart-searching prayer life. They still pray, but it's now a duty, not a delight. It's not a pursuit or a passion anymore.

It's hard to fall when prayer is your passion, isn't it? When you can't wait to get up in the morning, or if you're a late nighter and go to bed, you can't wait to pray and spend time with God and hear from Him. You don't fall. You fall when He gets you away from that.

You're driving like, okay, I've got to pray today. Lord, help me today. Okay, great, give me a thank you.

And then you're just always moving, and busy, and busy, and too busy, and you're not hearing from God. The busier you're getting, you're not hearing from the Lord, the more you'll drift, and the more pride comes in and thinks, I've got this. I've been a Christian 30 years.

The enemy doesn't know what he's up against. I've been a Baptist all my life. He can't touch me.

Be certain, that guy's going down. And it's going to be painful. He'll probably get home, he'll open the door, where's everybody at? Divorce papers on the table.

That's what happens. You got it? And I want to clarify this, because people are saying, we repent when we're saved, why do you repent? Because repentance is, actually the Bible, if you look up the Greek word, it's a turning back to God. It's a refreshing of the Spirit.

So as we drift from that, that's the only way to really get back on track. A person who doesn't think they need to repent, is a person who's going to, they're going to stay stuck and stupid. Sorry, I'll be nice at the 11.

But that's what it, right? I don't need to repent. Yes, of course we do, if you understand the word. It's a refocusing back on God.

God, I've been drifting, I'm focusing again on You. I've ran off course, I'm getting back on course. And you repeat that, and you repeat that.

Listen, when you bury a strong, mature believer six feet under, and you're at that grave site service, and you see that person has got back up about a million times. They repented and got back up. They repented and got back up.

It's a refreshing word. It's a beautiful word. Because the opposite of that is pride.

And hopefully there's nobody here this morning, and I don't hear it too often, people say, I don't need to repent, I did that. Right, for salvation. I got it, I got it.

But is there anything you've kind of been... You're good? Like no sin for like a month? Nothing to repent of? How do you do it? Please. Share. It's pride.

Didn't you see it? Come on, guys. I remember, I laugh now, in my 20's I thought I was way more spiritual than I am now. Right? I'm a pretty good person.

I pray now and then. Pride. I'm good.

But then the closer you get to God, you realize I'm not that good. Guys, I'm trying to give shorter sermons, but it's hard. Deal with the drift away from the Word of God.

Who is influencing you? Who's guiding you? Who's forming and shaping you? Do you know most Christians are shaped more by Instagram? And YouTube shorts? Just turn that off for a while and get into the Word of God. We're influenced by this. Those of you who know what I'm talking about, that's great.

Those of you who don't, don't worry about it. But there's this huge, like Candace Owen in TPUSA right now, it's such a divisive thing in the body of Christ, it breaks my heart. Like, really? The enemy loves division.

And we like to feed it. Oh, the conspiracy theories. We don't know.

Come on, we don't know what we think we know. People say things like, how do you know? Well, I heard it somewhere. You've got to watch this video, man.

The earth is flat. The earth is flat? Have you seen pictures? NASA's lying. NASA's lying.

How about Amazon? Are they lying? How about the astronaut that did the highest jump out of an airplane? All these people are lying and all these pictures are fabricated? Watch out for that voice that whispers demonic things to you. Shane, that's going to upset some people. I don't care anymore.

We need to upset the demonic realm and shake people back into reality. False pulpits always quench the anointing. False pulpits, false prophets, false pastors always quench the anointing.

Be careful who you're listening to. God told Jeremiah, do not diminish a word. In other words, whatever I tell you to speak, the totality of my word, speak it.

Gene Easley said, many modern day pulpits shun speaking a word that would be considered religiously incorrect. Most of these preachers are seeking acceptance and recognition. They shun the truth lest it pierce the hearts of men and women and bring them to a place of decision and repentance.

They are afraid that the crowds will not continue to come if they preach the message with the fire and the truth of John the Baptist or a Jeremiah. We need the pulpits ablaze again. So I'll close with this, the true test of knowing Him.

The true test of knowing Christ. We're talking about knowing Him, guarding the anointing, following His way, focusing on holiness, and by this we know that we know Him. If we keep His commandments.

I want you to see this. I want you to see this. This is how you know if you're a believer.

Do you keep His commandments? Do you keep His commandments? He says, oh, I know the Lord and I keep His commandments. You're a liar if you do not keep His commandments. The truth is not in you.

Look at this Greek word keep. To guard. To guard.

Guarding the anointing. Guard. If we guard His truth, we follow His Word, we watch over it, that's genuine believers.

Because they have humility and they follow God's Word. Not out of obligation, but out of relationship. I gave the example before, like a pilot, right? Or a ship's captain.

They keep that course. So that's one way you know a true believer gets back up and they keep fighting, they keep moving in that direction with the right heart. This is Jesus saying this.

I'm sorry, this is 1 John talking about what one of the disciples, if we keep His commandments. And so many people say, I know Jesus, but they do not keep His commandments. Have you seen that before with many Christians? It's like you look at their life and you're like, what in the world? What Bible are we reading here? Again, not nitpicking in every little thing, because no matter who you follow around, you're going to find something.

If you don't think that's true, let me have access to your phone. Let me follow you around for a week and we'll be good little sin sniffers. But it's a heart that doesn't want to follow the Lord.

And that's why Paul said, I thank God through Christ Jesus, my Lord, I thank God for Him. Because in Jesus, did you know in Adam, everybody fell? Everybody fell in Adam, but in Jesus, everybody lives. Everybody lives.

Maybe you're a Christian today, you feel defeated. I want to remind you of something. I just wrote it down this morning.

I don't know exactly where I found it, but I'm sure you can find it easily. It might have been in Jeremiah. Actually, it was in Lamentations.

Jeremiah said, after all this destruction, he said, but I recall this to my mind. Through God's mercies, I will not be consumed. Your compassion will never fail me.

They are renewed every day. Great is your faithfulness. I hope in you.

The Lord is good to those who wait for them. To the soul who seeks after the Lord, He is good. Jeremiah just experienced devastation.

Jerusalem has fallen. A million Jews. The blood was running down the streets.

He would say, even women are killing their own children. Oh, this beautiful city. God's ordained people have led them to destruction.

Yet, I find my hope in this, that God is faithful in the midst of destruction. God's mercy will never fail. Every day they are renewed time and time again.

Alright, that's enough. Worship team, you guys can come up. We are going into communion.

We are going into communion. It's up front. Balcony, it's up in your area as well.

This is a time when we remember what Christ has done for us. It's for believers. If you're not a believer, all you have to do is repent.

And say, Lord, I repent. I need to believe. I'm not on the right path.

I've been listening to the wrong voices. I've been following the wrong influences. And I need to repent and trust in the one true and living God.

If you are sincere and that's your prayer, God will meet you where you are at. Amen. Amen.