The Last Instructions of Jesus Part Four (Livestream)

So good. Kianne, are we live? >> I guess >> technical details. Well, welcome to the church.

Welcome online. Maybe if you're online, we're not sure. Um, I want to um just thank you for coming today. I'm really excited about this time and this time uh in prayer and worship and we're going to start off Gabriel and Kelsey as our team here and uh let them uh get rolling.

So, um just going to pray real quick over us. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for the beautiful weather you've blessed us with these last few weeks. Thank you for these wonderful servants here that are going to sing.

Thank you for um just giving us the opportunity to preach your word and and love on you. Lord, bless this time together. Bless everyone who's here, everyone who's listening online. We love you and praise you in Jesus name.

Amen. >> We invite you to come and join us in worship. [Music] Thousand generations thousand generations falling down in worship to sing the song of aes. [Music] All who've gone before us.

[Music] We'll sing a song of aes. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all.

Above all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions. Your name stands above them all. And the angels cry. Holy all creation cries.

Holy. You are lifted high. Holy. Holy forever.

[Music] And if you've been forgiven, if you've been redeemed, sing the song forever to Oh, and if you walk in freedom, if you bear his name, come sing the song forever. [Music] >> We'll sing the song forever and ever. The angels cry. Holy are creation cries.

Holy. You are lifted high. Holy, holy forever. And your people sing holy to the king of kings.

Holy you will always be. Holy. Holy forever. Let's sing.

Your name is the greatest. Your name is the greatest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all.

All thrones, all thrones and dominions of powers in position. Your name stands above them all. Your name, your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest.

Your name stands above them all. Above all, there's a minions. All powers and positions your name stands above them all. And the angels cry.

Holy all creation cries. Holy. [Music] You are lifted high, holy, holy forever. And your people sing holy to the king of kings.

Holy, he will always be holy. Holy forever. [Music] Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest.

Your name stands above them all. Above all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions. Your name stands above them all. Your name is the highest.

Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All thrones and dominions, all powers and position. Your name stands above them all.

And the angels cry, "Holy, all creation cries, holy, you are lifted high. Holy, holy forever." And your people sing. And your people sing.

Holy to the king of kings. >> Holy. You will always be holy. [Music] Holy forever.

[Music] We've seen what you can do. Oh God of wonders, the power has no end. [Music] The things you've done before in germ you will do again. There's no prison, no wall you can break through, no mountain you can't move.

All things are possible and there's no broken body you can't raise. No soul that you can save. All things are possible. The darkest night.

You can light it up. You can light it up. Oh God of revival and hope arise. Death is overcome.

You've already won. Oh God of revival. You rose in victory and now you're seated forever on the throne. to wash in my heart fear.

Would you defeat it? I will trust in you, Lord. There's no prison wall you can't break through. No mountain you can't move.

All things are possible. No broken body. There's no broken body you can raise. No.

Oh, that you can save all things are possible. The darkest side. You can light it up. You can light it up.

God of revival. Let hope arise. Death is over. You've already won.

Oh, God of revival. Lord, we come to you this morning. We need you. We just declare our need for you, Lord God.

We declare our utter need for you, for our nation, for our hearts, for our lives, for our families, Lord God, for our community. As we stand in the city of Lawrenville, God, we just come to you for this city, for this county, this area. We ask that you would make a difference, Lord God. That you would come and take this city.

We ask that you would awaken your people, awaken your bride, awaken the true servants of Jesus Christ, that we would love this county and the city in your name. Jesus, have your way here. Come awaken your people. Come awaken your people.

Come awaken your city. Oh God of revival, pour it out. Pour it out. >> Every stronghold will crumble.

I hear the chains hit the ground. Oh God of revival, pour it out. Pour it out. >> Come awaken your people.

Come awaken your city. Oh God of revival. Pour it out. Pour it out.

Every stronghold will crumble. I hear the chains in the ground. Oh, God of revival. Pour it out.

Pour it out. The darkest night. You can light it up. You can light it up.

God of hope arise. Death is overcome. You've already won. Oh God of right.

The darkest night. The darkest night. You can light it up. You can light it up.

God of revival. Let hope arise. Death is over. You already won.

Oh God of revive the darkest night. You can light it up. You can light it up. Oh God of revival.

Let hope arise. Death is overcome. You've already won. You're the God of revival.

God of revival. [Music] Father God, thank you for your presence here this morning [Music] and with us every day too. We ask Lord God because starts at home. It starts in our own hearts.

Your word says you deal with the church before you deal with the world. So, we're going to bow our hearts and our knees to you this morning, Lord. We need your humility. We need your love.

We don't want to argue our points. We don't want to bash the world with the Bible. We just want to love people in your name because that's what you came to do. That's what you came to do.

just love love the world and restore us all back to the father. So thank you Jesus [Music] our hearts. We bow our hearts. We bend our knees.

Oh spirit come make us humble. We turn our eyes from evil things. Oh Lord we cast down our idols. So give us clean hands.

Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another. Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts.

Let us not lift our souls to heaven. Oh God, let us be a generation that sees who seeks your face. Oh God of Jacob. Oh God, let us be a generation that sees who sees your face.

Oh God of Jacob, we bow our hearts. We bend our knees. Oh spirit, come make us humble. We turn our eyes from evil things.

Oh Lord, cast down our idols. Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another.

Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another. God, let us be a generation that seeks, who seeks your face.

Oh God, Jacob. Oh God, let us be a generation that seeks, who seeks your face. Oh God of Jacob, let's sing. We bow our hearts.

We bow our hearts. We bend our knees. Oh spirit, come make us humble. We turn our eyes from evil things.

Oh Lord, we cast down our idols. Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another.

Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another. Oh God, let us be A gener [Music] of J.

Just the beginning of the next first verse. We bow our hearts. We bend our knees. Oh, come make us home.

[Music] All right. Good job. Good job. Thank you guys.

That was beautiful. Um, I'm just gonna dive right in. You guys can have a seat. Relax.

Um 2 Timothy 2:es 23- 26 says this, "A servant of the Lord should not argue, but be kind, patient, and a good teacher. They should gently teach those who disagree with them and hope that God will change their hearts." That's what I'm going to endeavor to do today um with all my heart. I can't change a heart.

Only God can. Okay? But I can preach the word and hope that God moves. Okay?

And so I just ask that you um pray with me now and and uh ask the Lord to just use me. Um, heavenly father, I just ask that you use me. You use the words that you want to hear, that your words are my words, and uh let me let me preach your word right today, Lord. In Jesus name I pray.

Amen. It was a bad week for me. Um, it really was. Uh, you know, Charlie Kirk got um assassinated the the uh I I knew him actually.

So his story links into this church actually. So I was um at the start of the year not planning on opening a church. I just finished writing a book and or was working on getting that published which hopefully comes out in the next week or two. But um I wasn't planning on and then I get an email uh that uh inviting me to a pastor's conference out of nowhere and I just saw it as God kind of leading me that way.

So I said yes. I went to it. It was free for anyone who went to that church. At the time I was going to that church.

Well, I didn't even know who Charlie Kirk was. Well, it was a pastor's conference that his thing, Turning Point USA, was on. And so I I went there and I spent a couple days with them and and uh this young 31 year old kid is up there talking to 40, 50, 60 year old pastors and challenging them to um rise up and be bold. And they were listening to him because he had made so much impact with the youth which they had been unable to reach.

Okay. So by your fruit you'll know them. Um, so it was at that conference that I got the vision to start this church and and to preach it the way I preach it and to to do it the way I do it. So, so there is still fruit going on even in this church that can go back to to Charlie.

So, you don't know where your words and your deeds are going to end up and how God can use them in people's lives. You just have to keep sewing the seeds, right? Um, but but what disappointed me more was the reaction of many Christians to to to it and the and the bashing that I saw and the the the stuff and Christian cancelled culture is alive and well. Okay, that's all I've got to say.

I've seen him bashed Brandon Lake bash Billy Graham. I saw him get bashed the other day. Um, and and when you're doing that, you're doing the devil's work. There's there's just no way around it.

You're separating the flock and you're you're doing the devil's work. I've got a simple rule. I'm I'm now following it and I I challenge everyone in this church to follow it. It's this.

If you're going to post something online, okay, if you don't know the person, just back off. If you don't personally know Charlie Kirk, uh Mark Driscoll, Brandon Lake, don't say anything. Okay? um you're not helping the flock because you don't know what's real and what's not.

Right? We've discussed this. They take little slivers of what that person said and then twist it out of context to push a dynamic, whatever that dynamic is. Right?

You don't this is the only thing that's truth is this book right here. And so, you know, if if so, you don't even know what it is that you might be bashing them over. If you don't know them, don't say anything. If you do know them and you disagree with something, pull them aside, have a conversation.

That's fine. But, but don't sit there out on the worldwide web smashing. What does Jesus say about that? Matthew 7 uh verse 1 through five.

I'm going to read, "Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but not consider the plank in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye." And look, a plank is in your own eye. Hypocrite. It's a pretty bold word.

First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Okay, that's a that's a that's a firm word, right? Sermon on the mount. You may have heard that before.

Well, Paul talks about a time when believers will actually have to uh be in judgement. Okay, it's called the judgment seat of Christ. He talks about it in uh 2 Corinthians 5:es uh 9 and 10. And I'm going to read, "Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to him.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." So this is not the great white throne judgement. There's a judgment that happens. It this be a seat judgment.

This is also often called the beac seat judgment. It doesn't appear anywhere in revelation. So it must be after all the stuff in revelation when we're up in heaven. All believers are going to be brought in front of God and God's going to actually pull up the stuff that we've done.

The stuff that's good, we get rewarded for stuff. The stuff that's bad gets burned with hay stubble. Okay? That's the judgment seat of Christ.

So before you throw that first stone, understand something, you know. God's watching and he will see that and you will be judged someday based on how you're you're judging those other people, right? Um, remember the in John 8, the the story of the adulteress, uh, where she was brought to Jesus and they wanted to stone her because she'd been caught in adultery. And he said, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone, right?"

And then slowly, one by one, they all left because they didn't have it. And then and then he asked, "Where are all those that are condemning you?" And she said, "There's none here." And he said, "Neither do I condemn you.

Go and sin no more." The standard still no sin, but he's got grace. That was one of the perfect areas where grace and standard still held. Right?

So before you do anything, ask this, do I know that person? And then ask further, are you perfect? Because unless you're perfect, you shouldn't be throwing that stuff out there, right? Because and none of us are, myself included.

So worry about yourself, okay? And if and if you're heartbroken over what happened this week, you know, and and a part of you wants to go and and you know, fix it or whatever, I want to I want to challenge you to start where you are. Okay? Um before you can be a mighty warrior out there, you have to be a mighty warrior where God's already placed you.

Okay? If if you're out there bashing, say a denomination um on the worldwide web, but you've got a friend who's in that denomination, you're scared to talk to them about it, you're you're a hypocrite, okay? According to Jesus Christ, not Brian Pier. So, and I know you may be tempted to run out there and do something about it, but you've got to be careful not to outrun God, okay?

God knows what he's doing. He really does. Okay? And there's a purpose for everything.

He knows where he wants to place you and what he wants to do with you in his plan and his perspective. Okay? He knows exactly where where to do. So, and he says, "Apart from me, you can do nothing.

So, if you run ahead of him, you're doing nothing of value because you're probably on the wrong path anyway because he wanted you over here." And I think we talked about that last week. So, so be faithful where God has you right now. Your mission field is your friends, your family, your workplace.

God's got you there right now. Okay? You've got an opportunity right now. Focus there first.

Be faithful there first. And then God is going to expand your territory. Okay? Then you can be a mighty warrior out there once you've nailed that piece.

And ironically, that is where uh our lesson takes us today. So, so a summary review. It's kind of neat. You know, I don't tell him what I'm preaching on Gabriel, but a lot of times the songs line up with with whatever.

And that's cool. I don't know if he's like, you know, over there, but uh it's neat. We started a series called The Last Instructions of Jesus before he Comes back. Okay.

And wow, that was good. And uh we started it um about four weeks ago. So this is our fourth week. We're on the third letter.

So 60 years after he was um resurrected, Jesus came back and and spoke seven letters to the disciple John when he was on the island of Patmos and dictated seven letters to seven churches, seven types of Christians. And it's tucked into Revelation, which is why so few people ever study it because everyone's scared of Revelation. It's just some big thing that no one gets, right? But but this is actually letters to his end times church.

And so we can see in here things that apply to us. First week we were talking about um a church that didn't have love. Last week was persecuted church. Today it's the compromising church.

And before I go here, there's no judgment here. Okay? I'm not judging anybody. I'm not judging jury of the people in this room or or anyone.

Okay? Hey, brother. Um but if you get a conviction, all right? The Holy Spirit's convicting you.

Maybe you're not doing It's not me calling you out. It's the Holy Spirit working through me. Do what Jesus says to do, which is repent and turn. Okay?

And just and you're okay. You're going to be okay. So, we're in Revelation chapter 2 and verses 12-1 17. And I'm going to read.

And to the angel in the church of Pergamos, write these things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. and you hold fast to my name and did did not deny my faith even in the days in which Antipus was my faithful martyr who was killed among you where Satan dwells.

But I have a few things against you because you have there are those who hold the doctrine of Balum who taught Bao to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the niclats which thing I hate. Repent or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden mana to eat and I will give him a white stone and on the stone a new name which no one knows except him who receives it. So the doctrine of Balum and the doctrine of the niclatians were compromising doctrines. Okay. What they taught was that you could compromise your beliefs for uh money, for popularity, or for sexual uh immorality.

Okay? And it says here very clearly, which doctrine I hate. Okay? Jesus, these are Jesus's words.

So these two chapters we're reading, chapters two and three of Revelation are all red letter words and they're the last red letter words of Jesus Christ before he comes again. Okay? So, so they should be listened to because they're from Jesus himself. He says he hates compromise.

Okay? And he says he will fight against them. Fight against who? The people who keep this doc this compromising doctrine.

Okay? But he's not really fighting against you. He's really fighting for you. Okay?

Because God's purpose is not your happiness. It's your holiness. Okay? And there's a watered down gospel that I see a lot of, okay, that says, you know, God loves you.

He gets us. He He loves you just where you are. And and and um and you know, it's okay if you're sinning. It's okay if you're doing this.

God understands you are you're just that way. You can't help yourself. And that's just not what the Bible teaches. Okay?

That's a compromising doctrine. It is true. God loves you and he loves you just right where you are. But like any good parent, he loves you too much for you to stay there.

He doesn't want you staying in the pig pen. He wants to um take you out of there. And then the number one tool he uses is the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the truth of his word. Okay?

It's Bible. Um something else to note here, there's no mention of them losing their salvation in this passage here. This church losing their salvation. Okay?

in the first church that didn't have love. He said if they didn't come back to love, he might take their lampstand. And we're going to learn when we get to the dead church where he may actually blot them out of the book of life if they don't have a good relationship with him. But here there's no mention of anything like that because your sins aren't going to separate you from God.

These are these were written to believers. Okay? You were they won't separate you from heaven. Okay?

I said that wrong. They will separate you from God though. Why do you want to stay out of sin? Because every time you sin, okay, God can't be where sin is.

He's holy, so he can't be where sin is, so he can't be there. So every time you compromise, okay, you're opening up the door to lose that connection. And God is the power source for a Christian. So then you lose the power, the very power that comes into your life.

So when you compromise, you do what you kind of want to do even though you know you shouldn't do it. And you you you make excuses for it. Well, everyone's doing it or well, it's just a little bit or it's just a little that. Okay, it's really us on the throne doing what we want to do.

John 14 verse 15, Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my commandments." In fact, during John 14, he says that three different times. Okay, what are those commandments? Love God, love others.

Right? Love God is obeying God. He's saying here, "If you love me, you will obey me." All right?

And he says, you know, the great commandment, loving others. Treat them as God's precious children. Are we doing that? Have we seen that this week with people bashing everybody online, you know, we haven't really, if you're not a Christian and you're watching these everyone bash each other, you're thinking, I don't want to join this group.

They're they're dysfunctional. That's a dysfunctional family. Um, compromise. as you continue to do it, it weakens you, but it also makes you more and more like the world.

So that there's almost no difference between the world and Christians. And and we see that around us now. The same divorce rates, the same levels of stress and anxiety. And it just shouldn't be that way.

Okay. the Bara group. There's three areas where I'm going to talk about today that compromise is rampant and it's in um regarding sex, regarding time, and regarding money. Okay?

I'm going to hit some of the biggies here. And um again, I'm not judging anyone. I'm just saying if it's you, it's you and God. It's between you and God.

Okay? This is all between you and God. None of it's me. So, the Barner Group last year in November of 24 uh did a study that they published in a uh work called Beyond the Porn Phenomenon.

And here's what they found. They broke Christians into people that were practicing Christians, like people that go to church, like like you guys, and non-practising Christians. So, they broke it down. Non-practicing would be people that identify as Christians.

That word just sounds weird now, right? Um, but but they grew up in a Christian home and so they they say they're Christian. They believe in Jesus, but you don't see them in church. You don't see them wherever.

They they just, you know, they just believe in God because that's just how they grew up. Um, 54% of practicing Christians view porn and 58% of non-practising Christians. And that's bad enough, but the next number was even worse. Okay.

49% of the practicing Christians who view porn are okay with their level of porn consumption. Now listen, that's someone's daughter, man. That's my daughters are here. You that's just not right for a Christian to look at.

All right? And I know maybe your dad you started when you were young or whatever and it's it's a big fight for you. But the stronger the fight, the more you cling to the Lord and the Lord can bring you through it. But but it's not right.

The 49% that are okay with their porn consumption, that's the corrupt church. And we're going to talk about that next week because that's a group of people that that Jesus addresses in here, too. But but today I'm talking to the ones that dabble in it. They know they're wrong.

They're doing it behind the, you know, they're doing it behind closed doors, but but they know they're wrong. If Jesus was next to you, would you do it? You know, if you can't do something with your mom in front of you, you just shouldn't be doing it, right? That's a good litmus test.

Um, you know, right? So, but it's wrong. Okay. And I know it's tough to get uh to be addicted to porn, but God can give you the victory.

In Romans 6:14, he says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace." Okay, that that being under grace doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want to do, whatever sin you want to do. Okay?

Because because God's clear about that. In fact, in Romans 6, um, verses 1 through 4, Paul addresses it because he was asked by them, hey, well, if grace grows where sin is, well, then I can just keep sinning. And and and here's Paul's response to that. What shall we say then?

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. And it's an exclamation point. How shall we who died to in to to sin live any longer in it?

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, even so we should walk in newness of life. Okay? So, we're a new creation under when we've asked Jesus into our heart.

And everyone in this room, well, I don't know if everyone, but I think most people in this room have pretty much asked Jesus in their heart. All right. We're supposed to turn and walk. There's supposed to be a difference.

But faith is a muscle. Okay? It's a muscle. You have to work the faith muscle.

Okay? And every compromise weakens that muscle. But every time you don't compromise, every time you stay with integrity, every time you hold the line, okay, you're strengthening your faith and you're becoming more of a warrior. And preachers get this wrong.

We're in preparation. Okay, the tribulation period is coming. Okay, this week, next year, five years from now, but it's coming and we're not promised tomorrow. Okay, so so we need to be getting ready.

Christians need to be the ones that are strong, the ones that are in the boat helping the women and children off the boat. Okay, we need to be strong. How do you get strong? You have to grow your faith.

And that's only done by exercising it. Okay, we're called to be different, not like everyone else. So, it comes down to who's on the throne of your life, Jesus or you. When you compromise, you're doing what you want to do.

And whether you say it or not, you are on the throne. And you and if you're on the throne, Jesus can't be. Okay? If you're compromising, then Jesus can't can't be in there because he's not going to be where sin is.

And nowhere is this more prevalent. I think I think the litmus test for Christians is their time and their money. I know I'm I'm I'm going hard here. Um but I mean this is what I was led to.

So this is where we're at. Show me your checkbook and show me your day planner. How your days are planned out and I will show you what you love. Okay?

Your checkbook and your how you spend your time, where you spend your money and where you spend your time. Shows me what you love. Okay? Um the Bible talks about a tithe.

It's the first fruits are supposed to be brought into the storehouse. Okay. And it's just taught wrong. And before the cancel Christian culture that sees this video down the road uh says anything.

I don't pull a salary out of this church. My tithes and offerings actually pay all the expenses of the church. So that everyone who puts a tithe and offering in here, it goes into local ministries. So I'm not preaching my uh uh position, okay?

I'm preaching the word of God. And and this is what he says. He says that we're supposed to bring the first 10% in. That that means into the church where you're at.

Okay? So if you gave some money to the March of Dimes, that doesn't subtract from your 10%. Okay? That's an offering what you gave them.

You still should bring 10% into the church. If your church home is this place where you're watching every week, then there if Andy Stanley is what you watch every week, then you send it to him, but you're supposed to send the 10% in to there. That means if you make $500,000 a year, you're supposed to give 50,000 a year to the tithe. Okay?

That's 1,000 a week. If at the end of the year that guy who makes 500,000 gets a tithe statement, that's 4,000. He tipped God. He didn't tithe.

Okay? It's like, "Hey, God, you did good. Here's a little something something for you." You know, it's it's just not right.

Okay? It's almost blasphemous really because it's all his. Okay? and and and he's just saying 10%.

That and that's 10%'s 10%. So if you're a college kid who made $3,000 over the summer, you're supposed to give 300. Okay? Doesn't matter how much you make.

If you're unemployed, you got no money coming in, you don't have to give anything. There's nothing to give. Okay? That's fine.

Um you and and you don't tithe to get blessings. That's a that's a bogus preaching that's out there. Okay? You don't tithe.

It's not an ATM machine. Hey, if I give 10%, they'll get back 20. Okay? It's not like that.

All right? You don't tithe to get blessings. However, God does bless. I've seen him bless my my life too many times and people I know too many times in ways that can only be explained as he's just a good God.

And sometimes he just blesses your socks off and there's nothing you can do about it. It is what it is. Okay? But if you're tithing to get something from him, then your heart's on wrong.

And if your heart's on wrong, he's not going to bless you with more because you're not going to handle it right. Okay? Then people who win the lottery who are broke within five years are usually broke. Why?

They they don't understand how to handle money. So if your head's on wrong about tithing, then you've got to get it on right. Okay? So you don't tithe for blessings.

What did Jesus say? We just read it. If you love God, you'll obey my commandments. He says that we're supposed to tithe.

I hear people preach, "Oh, well, the tithe is an Old Testament thing." Follow with me to Matthew 23, verse 23. If I can get my stuff right. All right.

You can't get more New Testament than Jesus Christ. And in in Matthew 23:23, Jesus uh says this, and and these are all red letters. This is Jesus. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of a mint, anise, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith.

These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. In other words, Jesus Christ says you should tithe. And if Jesus says you should do it, then guess what? You should do it.

Okay? It's just it's just gospel, right? Um, people will say you you've got to be a cheerful giver. Paul talks about being a cheerful giver.

Okay? And this is preached wrong, too. I've heard pastors preach it this way. They'll say you uh you give you're supposed to be a cheerful giver.

So, just give God what you feel comfortable giving him and then you can build up to the to the 10%. Let me ask you something. Think back. Who's on the throne?

If that's your your stance, right? You're deciding how much you're going to obey God based on how happy you feel about obeying God. You're on the throne. So, it's in incorrect doctrine.

Okay. The truth is Paul was talking about the offerings there. Okay. The 10% tithe was the minimum for the new believers.

If you look in Acts two, they were selling properties and bringing 100% in. They were just bringing all their money into the church and they were all sharing it like that. I it for Paul, it should be your tithe is just the minimum baseline. And then you should be happy and cheerful when you're giving above and beyond it.

If God blesses you enough where you can give be above and beyond it, then you should do it. I give 50 to 60% of my money away. Okay? And I know people that do a reverse tithe, 10% they live on and they give away 90.

Okay? And so you can't tell me that you can't give 10%. All right? Now, you may sit there and say, "Look, Brian, you don't know my finances.

I can't afford it. Okay. As I'm looking at my budget and my stuff, I can't afford it. Awesome.

That is the best place to be. I remember those giddy days when I first stepped out in faith and gave that 10% tithe for the first time and watched as somehow all my bills still got paid. Okay. Somehow your your standard of living doesn't drop at all.

doesn't mean he's going to pour money in through the roof, but you give 10% of tithe, and I've taught this to thousands of people. I've seen thousands of people do it. If you step out in faith and give your 10% tithe your social living thing will not change at all. Okay?

And something could come your way like a cancer and and somehow still all your bills will get paid. Okay? God is really faithful in this regard. So if you've never tithed or you only give a couple bucks that you feel you can do, start trying it.

Try it. Okay? It's a faith. It's stepping out in faith.

It's stepping out of the boat. What a fun time to be the first time you step out of the boat onto the water trusting God with your money. Okay? Trusting God to control your money.

If you can't turn over your money to God, you can tell me you love God more than anything else, but you don't trust him. Period. By your actions, you will know them. If you're not tithing, do not come to me and say, "Well, I trust God."

No, no, not yet. But you can start. Okay? And that's a beautiful thing.

And and and it's neat, man. It's really neat when you start seeing God just come in and it all work out and and you just trust him like that. It is an amazing place to be. And as you do, God's going to be preparing you for more things.

He's building that faith muscle. And if you're faithful in the little things, he's going to give you more things. Okay? This the the money that you come in, whatever job you have, that's all God's.

God's the one who engineered that. Okay? So, if it's his, give him his 10%. be happy that you get to give him 10%.

Um, I mean that's a blessing. I I He wants me to give more. So, all right. So, not just money but time.

Okay. Time is another big area where we think we control our lives and we don't want to give it to God. And again, if show me your calendar and I'll show you what you love. Jesus modeled putting God first in giving him the first parts of the day.

In Mark 1 uh verse 35 and 38. So this is this is the beginning of his ministry in Mark. So the night before they had this unbelievable you could call it a revival. People were coming.

They were all getting healed and it was amazing. And into the night God's you know just Jesus is just healing people. Okay. And then it says the next morning.

So this is the next morning now in the morning having risen a long time while before daylight. So he got up really early. It was still dark out. I guess the stars were really bright out there because they didn't have flashlights, right?

So he went off to somewhere um you know and they didn't have the stuff we have now. So the stars everything was probably brighter at that time. But he went out and departed to a solitary place. And there he prayed.

And Simon and those who were with him searched for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone's looking for you." But he said to them, "Let us go into the next towns that I might preach there also because for this purpose I have come forth." Now, let me let me open this up for you.

The So, in Jesus, he was fully man and he was fully God, right? And so I'm sure his flesh probably was excited about the ministry that he was done. Remember he for 30 years he he was a carpenter's son and he he was waiting for his chance to go out and and start his ministry. Right?

So now he's there and it's blowing and going. Okay? And he goes out by himself to pray to God and God gives him his marching orders. And that's Jesus.

He says, "You got to go to the next town." Now the disciples come to him. They're all excited. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Come on. Let's go.

Your ministry is blowing up. They left everything to follow this guy. So, they're excited. Everything's going.

You know, it would be like if this church all of a sudden filled up. And it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, and then that morning, God said, "Nah, you gotta cancel that and go somewhere else." It'd be like, "Really?"

But Jesus just woke up, asked God what he wanted to do, and then he did it. And he said, "No, let's go to the next town." Okay. When uh I first got saved, I ended up in a Baptist church and my Sunday school teacher was a man named Bill Prince and he became a mentor for me and we actually formed the ministry biblical principles which is still the parent of this church.

So we started that. He's passed away now. But at the time he pulled me sign. He goes, "Brian, if you don't have a morning quiet time, you're not going to be all the man that God wants you to be."

Okay? And he says, "Every saint I know had a morning quiet time." And so at that time I had two kids. You were a baby and um you were like three.

Okay. So and and they were up by six. So my kids are here for those. They were up by six.

So I would get up to Zach crawling on my face or whatever. And um so for me to have morning quiet time, I'd have to wake up at 5:30, which means I had to go to bed a half hour earlier. Okay, which I started to do. I was committed to having that time.

After not even a few weeks, I'm like, "Wow, this is so great. It's so much fun. I'm going to go to bed an hour earlier and wake up an hour early." So I started getting up at 5.

And then that became so much fun. I'm like, man, you know, I had read Ben Franklin's autobiography. He used to go to bed, you know, early to bed, early to rise. He used to go to bed at 10:00 and wake up at 4.

I'm like, I could do that. That would give me two hours with the Lord, right? And so I started doing that. Now, that was years ago, and I've been doing that for 20 years.

I still do it now. I still go to bed by 10:00 and wake up at at 4 and spend that time with the Lord. Now, I own a company. I can wake up as late as I want.

Now, I can't do that for very long or else I'll start losing business, right? But but technically, there's no one telling me I have to be anywhere at any time. And yet, I wake up Why? Because it's so much fun to spend that time in the morning with the Lord.

Now, I'm preparing these messages, but you cannot tell me, okay, that you don't have 15 minutes that you can watch a few less reels, a little bit less TV, okay, and wake up a little bit earlier. A study was done by Mastermind Behavior Services and Crown Counseling, and they found that the average American spends seven hours and three minutes looking at a screen. Now, that does include TV, okay? But seven hours and three minutes looking at this.

All right? So, if you're sleeping eight and you're working eight, how are you doing that unless you're also while you're at work scrolling through this thing, right? And and ever since I read that, I've been looking around and I see it. I see it.

You pull through Panera Bread, the lady takes your order, them right back to the thing, you know, in between anything they got to do. Racetrack. I pulled up to racetrack and put something up on the counter to to buy and the lady looked up from my thing. Ching ching.

Right back to the thing while I'm paying for it. I'm like, "Wow, she couldn't like like get up at all." I was leaving my subdivision or whatever you want to call it. And there was a dad there and his two kids and he was waiting for the bus.

So, he's at the bus station, right? His two kids are there and he's just on that phone. He never took his eyes off of it. And I wanted to pull over and and say, "Bro, man, like that.

They're going to be 18 and gone. You You please get your head out of the phone, okay? And spend some time with those kids because they're going to vacate like that, man. It's they grow up so quick.

So, stop making excuses for living the way you want to live." Okay? Whether it's cheating on taxes, whether it's um cheating your employer, you're cheating. If you're on here while your employer's paying you to do work, you're literally stealing from your employer because he's paying you by the hour and you're literally stealing from your employer.

That's what Christians shouldn't be. We shouldn't be thieves. We shouldn't be doing that. Okay?

And I'm not razing on anyone. I'm just saying everyone else is doing it doesn't make it a reason to do. Okay? compromise, okay, weakens you.

It weakens the Christian. He wants us to grow more like Jesus. He wants us to be a beautiful bride. What kind of a bride would a compromising Christian be?

Someone who who you can't trust with the money. Someone who's looking at horn on the side, you know? Um that's not the type of bride or husband if you're a girl that you would want, right? Um stop making excuses.

Own your throne. All right. If you want to stay on the throne of your life, own it. Just say, "Hey, I'm not ready to," we were talking about that earlier.

"I'm not ready to to give my life to God because I still want to be on the throne." But don't be sitting there saying, "God's the most important thing in your life or God is Lord." If you're then staying on the throne and choosing not to obey him because he says, "If you love me, you will obey me." Okay?

Now, it's not easy. It may not always be easy to obey God, but to him who overcomes, that's what it says in this thing, okay? He will give grace. He will help you overcome.

It's a muscle. And each time you refuse to compromise, you build that muscle, okay? You get stronger. Um, you become more like Jesus.

You become more pleasing to the Lord. Listen, we are in World War II, okay? It's not called it because we haven't been directly attacked, okay? But It did.

They didn't call it World War II until we got attacked by Pearl Harbor, but it had started years before. And the same thing here. We are funding these things. The this the China and and America is lining up against each other.

Um, you know, stuff's happening in Israel. We are in World War II. So, and you don't have to be a rocket science to see we're almost close to a civil war in in this country, too, right? I mean, we saw this this week over this Charlie Kirk thing.

So, what does that mean? Crisis is coming. Crisis is coming. It's not going to get magically better where we're all on daffodils hugging Republicans and Democrats hugging each other all of a sudden.

Okay? That's not going to happen. All right? We crisis is coming.

You can't wake up one day buff never having exercised. Okay? The only way you get Ozmpic can't build muscle. Okay?

The only way you're going to build muscle is by working those muscles, by exercise, by strengthening. And faith is grown by by holding the line and not compromising. Okay? You've got to to do that muscle the and if you do, you become strong and then God can use you.

And as you're faithful in your area with your life, with your friends, with your work, as you're faithful there, then God will put more on you. Maybe does want you to change the world. Maybe he's calling you to change the world, but you've got to be found faithful in the world you already have before he expands your universe and has you doing more. Okay, that's how it works.

Okay? If if I die, I've done my will. If I die, okay, I've set my brother as the executive of my will. Mike, you're probably watching actually, um, but you know this already.

Um, but why? Because he's the best with money. Why would I put someone as an executive even if I love him that's not good with money? Likewise, why would God trust you with a bigger thing if you're not faithful in the little thing?

He's he's smart. He's not a he's not dumb. He's not going to give you more than you you can handle. What did he do in the in the parable of the talents?

You know, he gave five to one, three to another, one to another. The five doubled, the three doubled, the one buried it. He took the one from that person and gave it to the the guy who had 10. And he said, "Those who have more will be given."

What he's talking about isn't necessarily money. But as you're faithful here, God's going to expand your territory. So, so right now, as we get ready for this this altar call, I want you to search your heart, okay? This week, so my morning time starts with me journaling some because I am uh I've got Asberers and so I have to like journal and write down my thoughts.

Okay. Then I go to this um book. It's My Utmost for His Highest by Oswell Chambers. It's a really good devotional.

It's it was written originally in the 1920s, but um it was redone in 1992, I think, but it's it's often exactly what I did. So, Wednesday of this week, okay, the way it works for me in my preaching, Monday, I'm laying it out, Tuesday, I lay it out, and by Wednesday I pretty much have it laid out what I'm doing, and then I'm just tweaking. Okay. So that Wednesday I wake up and this is this is the thing that's there this Wednesday.

So I'm just going to read it because it's perfect. When something you read is perfect for what you're you're doing or whatever that's God speaking to you using other things to speak to you. Okay. So this is what it said there.

You may say, "I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now. Besides, my opportunity for battle hasn't come yet, but when it does, of course, I'll be ready. No, you will not. >> Be still.

Get with God. Okay, this is just between you and God. And if God's convicting you on something, if you feel like you've got to just lay it down, you can lay it down right here. Okay?

Come up and pray. Lay it down. And then you can walk up and go out and charge the the hill. Okay.

But but pray and lay it down if you're so led. And then they're gonna actually you're going to pray us out, right? Yeah. All right.

So, I give you Why'd you leave? Uh, technical difficulties here. Are you ready? This is fun.

So, every week we we do something that is kind of not exactly, you know, whatever. We're learning. This is our sixth week. We're not even two months old in this church.

So, it's kind of cool. We're learning every week. But, um, and and we've got a new star here. So, All right.

All right. Now they're ready. Go. >> You all want to stand with us in worship?

I just want to say these altars are open. If you want to come up here, if you want to make an altar where you are um just I just want to pray for us. Lord, I thank you, God, that we're here to worship you. Lord, I thank you for what you're doing in this place.

God, I thank you that Lord, the way to overcome sin isn't by looking away, not looking at it, Lord, but it's to fix our eyes on you, God. That's when sanctification happens. And Lord, so if there's anything that's in your heart that you want to lay down, I encourage you to make an altar and lay it down before the Lord. Surrender and give it to him and allow him to work in you.

Allow the Holy Spirit to work in you because you can't clean yourself. You can't change yourself. It's only by the work of the Holy Spirit, by the blood of Jesus. and everything changed.

It's getting harder to [Music] walk. I don't like IAL. [Music] Hallelu. I know it was the blood.

Could have only been the blood. Hallelu. Hallelu. [Music] I cannot explain.

But nothing's more real than this. in the presence. When my shame and my sin met the most high, I was from the inside. I was from the inside out.

Hallelu. Hallelu. It was the blood. Could have only been the blood.

Hallelu. Hallelu. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood.

Could have only been the blood of Jesus. [Music] It's never been about perfection. We're striving for acceptance. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood.

It's never been about earning. It's a gift that's freely. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be holy and rightous, purified and spotless?

Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. See, it's only by the blood. It's only by the blood. It's only by the blood.

It's only by the blood. It's only by the blood. It's only by the blood. It's only by the blood.

It's only [Music] hallelu. [Music] Hallelu. Hallelu. I know it was the blood.

Could have only been the blood. How preious. How beautiful. How preious.

How beautiful. How preious. How wonderful, how beautiful. Can we all sing this hallelu?

[Music] It was only Jesus. Your grace [Music] for us. I will inash [Music] I was Okay, I'm gonna pray us out. Gabriel's gonna come up here and uh sing a little upbeat song if you all want to come together.

Um Lord, I thank you. I thank you for this time just to be able to come to you, God, to lay things down at your feet. Lord, I thank you for every place or every soul in this place. God, you say that our steps are ordered by you and it's not an accident that every single person is in this room.

Lord, thank you for ministering to our hearts individually. God, it's amazing that we're all individual people, but somehow you have time for all of us, God. That you love us all, Lord. That if it was just us on that cross, that just us, God, you would have died on that cross for us.

Lord, you leave the 99 for the one. And I thank you, God, for saving my life. I thank you for saving all of us. Lord, I thank you that when you look at us, you don't see the sin.

You don't see, Lord, the things that we feel shame over and condemnation. God, you say that there's no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. And I thank you that when you look at us, God, you see the blood. You don't see the things that we've done, the mistakes that we've made, God, but you see the person that you've called us to be, Lord.

So, my prayer for everyone in here, God, is that Lord, that they would be open God, in malleable to the person that you've called them to be, Lord, that we would, God, that we wouldn't pass it up, Lord, God, but we would allow you to work in us, Lord, that we would be vessels that you would use us for your kingdom in Jesus name. >> Amen. >> Amen. Very good.

Great ser. All right. So, we always end these things with us get getting together and and uh hugging. If you're if you're online, are there are we still online?

>> We're still on live. So, so as far as giving, >> if you're online, you can go to our website www. thegreatawarenessurch. org and um go to the giving button and you can go in there, you can sign up, you can give.

Um and for those here, fill in your card, you can fill it in with your name, etc. Don't neglect tithe. Um, what song we do? >> I could sing of your love forever.

>> Oh, I like that one. Yeah, let's do that. That's a big All right, there we go. >> Your rivers with love for me.

And I will open up my set free. I'm happy to be in your truth. And I would daily lift my hands for I will always sing of when your love came down. And I could sing of your love forever.

I could sing of your love forever. I can sing of your love forever. I can sing of your love forever. I can sing.

And I can sing of your love forever. >> I can sing of your love forever. >> I can sing of your love forever. >> I can sing of your love forever.

[Music] >> Thank you, God. Thank you, God, for your love. >> Awesome. >> Have a blessed week, everyone.

>> Awesome day. [Music]