Practicing Righteousness, or Practicing Sin?

1:15 Man, that's intense. You see what the Bible says? He says, if God's seed abides in you, you cannot keep sinning. See, just like when the Holy Spirit comes into you, you have this affection for Jesus. Like, inside of you, you don't need someone to talk you into prayer. Please, please, just pray for two minutes a day. Just try it. Just read the Bible for three minutes a day. Come on, just do it. You don't need that inside of you. You're screaming, Abba Father, I've got to have more of you. I've got to have more of you. This is the one thing I want is just to be with you. And in the same way, He says if the seed abides in you, you can't keep sinning. Like you don't have to, someone doesn't have to beg you, please, please, End that sexual relationship.

2:08 Stop that pornography. Why? Because God's Spirit is already saying that to you. And he says it so clearly. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. Man, I share this because I've been a pastor for like 30 years now. And I feel like so much of what we do in ministry is beg. Like, please, please pray to him. Please walk away from your sin. And we're trying to coerce or talk people into this. And I was thinking, man, when I became a Christian, when the Holy Spirit entered into me, no one had to beg me to get rid of my sin. Like the Bible says, I couldn't.

3:01 God was living in me. He was dwelling in me. I couldn't keep on sinning. In fact, he says, you know, you can't, I can't, I can't hate people. Man, like the Bible says, if you don't love your brother, he says, God's spirit must not be in you. Man, I have some people do some crazy things to me. Say some crazy things about me. And yes, I get a little angry at first, but I can't stay angry. because something happened inside of me. And I feel like if I'm a pastor, my job should not be that difficult if God's seed abides in you. Right? Because you'll listen to his voice. You want him anyways. You're sick of the sin in your life anyways.

3:54 And you may be going, wait, so what are you saying? What are you saying? Are you saying that if I practice sin right now, then I'm of the devil? Francis, are you saying that if I hate my brother, then you're saying I'm a child of the devil? Of course I'm not saying that. But the Bible is.

4:20 I mean, did you read that? I swear I did not write 1 John. It says, look, no one born of God keeps on sinning. You can't. It can't happen. You can't. If you hate me, man, you can't be of God. That's what it says. I mean, read it yourself. Because something happens inside. Man, is it happening to you? You know, a lot of you guys know Acts 1, verse 8, When Jesus says, look, when the Holy Spirit comes, you're going to receive power to be my witnesses. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, today's the earth. You guys, when the Spirit entered into me, I wanted to make disciples. Like, it drives me crazy if I'm having no impact on people.

5:18 Because the Spirit in me is like, man, you were made for this. Man, I can't just play all day. That drives me crazy. Again, it's the Holy Spirit entering into us. Man, the Bible says that if you really have the Spirit in you, then the Bible says that you have a gift from God. In fact, it says a manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the common good. that's why when i became a christian no one had to beg me to serve in the church i read this passage i go man are you telling me the holy spirit will possess my body and i will have a gift that will actually bless other people give it to me i want this and nowadays i'm hearing people just beg please serve you know 10 minutes a week be a greeter you know work in the parking lot you You know, clean a toilet or something.

6:19 You know, shake people's hands. You know, fold the bulletins. It's like, really? We're begging you to manifest the Holy Spirit of God? Man, think about this. What if right now? You guys have heard of demon possession? What if right now? Don't get excited about it.

6:44 What if right now? a demon took over my body. And I started talking. And he was controlling my actions. That would freak you out, right? You would remember my talk more than anyone else's, right? As you go, I saw Francis possessed by a demon. You guys, so when the Holy Spirit possesses us, shouldn't it be equally as shocking? Like, when I'm going right now, I go, God, can you have your Holy Spirit manifest through me? Like where I talk, and it gets into the core of your being, into your heart, And it somehow changes you because it's not another person giving a bunch of words, but it's a spirit of God manifesting through me for the common good.

7:48 And the Bible says that's possible for all of us. And the church is going to be lame, literally lame, weak and crippled if you don't manifest the Holy Spirit for the common good. man, why are pastors begging you to serve in the church? Why are they begging you to get rid of the sin in your life? Why are they begging you to get along with God? Why are they begging you to make disciples? If the Spirit is in you, this should be your very desire. I can't live without this. I have to have this. for years in the church we've lowered the expectations we make it easier and easier and easier for you to show up and call yourself a christian to to where it gets to the point where there's nothing you do that requires the holy spirit of god think about it did you need the holy spirit of god to come here today and to sing I'm talking about where's the miracle in it where's the faith you know when I was praying like two days ago I was praying about this gathering I was praying for you and I was on my face I'm saying God what do you want me to say to this sea of people in Dallas and this image came to my mind I pictured all of you or you guys say all y'all like in a giant, I picture thousands and thousands of people, like suppose this speedway was a giant swimming pool. This is the image I got, all of us in this giant swimming pool right now, and everyone had a life jacket on, a life preserver, and we're all just bobbing around in the water. And so as I looked out of the crowd, I could not tell who could swim

10:00 because everyone had their life jacket. This is the way I feel like the church is often, where we keep everything so safe, where we attach ourselves and we're almost kept afloat superficially by the people around us and by these clever messages and great songs and everything else. Nothing wrong with that. I mean, that's what I do. But my question is, if you take the life jacket off, can you swim?

10:34 Is there something inside of you where you're like, I don't need all of these external things. Just take it off. I'm going to swim. Watch this. Watch this. Watch this. man when you're away from everything else and you're alone with god do you cry out for him is that in you when no one else is around are you just saying god i want to be holy i want all the sin out of my life when you're alone you go god i know i have power to be his witnesses and i'm not talking about just saying hey will you come to this event for me Come to this event with me. Man, for years we've dumbed everything down to where Christians nowadays don't even know how to look another human being in the eye and tell them the greatest thing about their lives. You know?

11:30 It's like, hey, why don't you come to my church and hear my pastor talk about something? Rather than, what happened? You see, Satan loves that. because Satan knows if you actually believed in the power within you that you have the power to look another human being in the eyes your friends, your family and tell them the greatest thing that's happened to you and forgiveness in Jesus Christ and you believe you can be his witnesses he says then you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth but as long as you keep believing no I need someone else I need a life jacket give me my John Piper life jacket give me my Hillsong life jacket give me that Robbie Zacharias one with all the smart things on it give me this and we're kept afloat by all these other things and you don't realize you can swim like you can make you can be his witnesses see Satan knows that when we really become the church and we can start looking at our brothers and sisters and like Philippians 1, let me just read real quick.

12:46 Philippians 1, verse 27. says this, Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel and not frightened in anything by your opponents. this is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. He says it's when the church, when we start believing in our own power, we're no longer afraid. Like I can be his witness. I'm not going to fall into sin. I'm not going to keep on sinning.

13:39 His spirit is in me. And we start striving side by side, unafraid. He says that's when the world is going to believe in their destruction. In our salvation and that from God. Don't you realize this is what Jesus prayed. When you can be perfectly one. When we can get all the hatred out and all this other craziness out. Become one. He says the world's going to believe. And that's why Satan's going to do everything he can to keep this from happening. Everyone just staring at their phones in their own. He goes, no, when you guys become perfectly one, the world's going to believe. That's why Satan wants you isolated. He doesn't want you in close proximity with your brothers and sisters. He doesn't want you loving them as much as Jesus loved you. Because Satan knows when they do that, the gates of hell aren't going to stop them.

14:34 So let me keep them divided. Let me keep them thinking that they can't be his witnesses. Let me keep them thinking they need this life jacket. because if they figure out they can swim, man, look out. Man, I just, I've been praying for this because I...

14:54 I really want to challenge you something, and it can't happen right now. It cannot happen right now because this is just not going to work. Okay? You can be artificially kept afloat by all the hype and energy around you. I want to challenge you to get alone. tonight, tomorrow morning, tomorrow night, whenever, and take your life jacket on. Take your life jacket off. Okay? It's just you and God. You and God. And I want to ask you, does anything inside of you come out where you just start crying out for Him?

15:46 Like, is it in you? I challenge you. When you're alone, does all the sin come up to where you go, God, I'm so sorry. I got to get this out of my life. Because the Spirit of God says, if you can continue in your sin, the Spirit's not in you. You can't keep sinning. I want to challenge you, when that life jacket's off and you're by yourself,

16:11 man, do you believe you have power to be His witness, to manifest the Holy Spirit to His church? I do believe this are you longing for him man some of you you may discover that you can't swim that you've just been propped up by your Christian family kept afloat by a Christian school kept afloat by a Christian church but when you're alone you can't swim the Holy Spirit's not really in you where there's others of you that go, drop me off in the middle of a jungle and wherever, and everything in me is going to cry out for Jesus. You know, that's just who I am. It's on his side. Please, please.

17:05 Man, you may discover you cannot swim, and it's better to figure that out now and have someone teach you. Say, I don't want to go back to the life preserver or whatever else has been keeping me afloat. I, from the core of my being, want to cry out to God and experience this power. Even right now. There was an old song. I was like 20 years old. And it says, when the music fades and all is stripped away and I simply come. It's just me, God. Everything else is away. It's just me. I simply come.

17:52 Wanting just I, from the core of my being, I just want to bring you something that's of worth. Something that will bless your heart. I'm not asking, like, I want to bless Almighty God. He says, I'll give you, God, more than a song. Because a song in itself, that's not what you require. You search so much deeper within than the way things appear. You're looking into my heart. Like is there any part of you when you're alone, you alone in your room are just going, I'm coming back to the heart of worship. And it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made. But it's all about you.

18:50 It's all about you. Is that going on in your heart? Is that happening? Does your soul long to sing? Or do you need a band?

19:13 Do you need something artificial to motivate you into his presence? Or is this really about him? picture of him in heaven right now in all of his glory we are before Yahweh the creator of almighty God is your soul just long right now you from the very depths of your soul do you just long to bless you A king of endless work No one could express How much you deserve And though I'm weak and poor, all I have is yours, every single breath.

20:33 And I'll bring you more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required. You search much deeper within through the brave things of you. You're looking into my heart. And I'm coming back to the heart of worship And it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus And I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I made it But it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus