Personal Holiness | Pastor Jentezen Franklin

amen Nene if you have your Bibles you can open them with me I feel like preaching now you can open them with me to Ezekiel chapter 44 it always amazes me when people think that music is just for them I didn't play for you I don't care if you liked it or not I was not playing for you I was playing for him I was ushering myself in they lose my spirit because I need him and I love him amen and he loves me Ezekiel chapter 44 if you were gonna shout you should have did it then cuz you ain't gon shine while I preach you missed it it's what's you know that's good news I got good news this morning Ezekiel 44 the Levites who went far from me verse 10 when Israel went astray who strayed away from me after their idols they shall bear their iniquity yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary as gatekeepers of my house and ministers of the house they shall slay the burnt offerings and do the work of the ministries what he's saying assured and seeing preach and teach they'll do all of this and they shall stand before them to minister to them speaking of the people verse 13 they shall not come near me to minister to me as priests nor come near any of my holy things nor the most holy place but they shall bear their shame and abomination which they have committed nevertheless I will I will make them keep charge of the temple they'll work in the kingdom for all its work and all that has been done in it but the priests the Levites the sons of Zadok this a different group who kept charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me they shall come near to me and they shall stand before me to offer me the fat in the blood says the Lord God they shall enter my sanctuary they shall come near my table to minister to me and they shall keep my charge listen to this it shall be that whoever enters into the gates of the inner court they shall put on linen garments no wool shall be upon them while they minister in the gates they shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers you can get a detailed listing of length of these trousers in the book of Exodus the 28th chapter it talks about they would the trousers would be from the waist to the thigh which some translations even say linen underwear linen underwear they shall not clothe themselves with anything that calls a sweat and some of you are wondering what in the world is he gonna preach today we'll see but I do want to talk to you about something that I think is a fresh word from the Lord and I'll give you the title when I figure it out eli was the high priest and he had forgotten what it was to be in the priesthood he had forgotten what the priesthood was all about the bible said that he was very heavy obese and anytime it lists details that's given you a spiritual type it's not there by accident it's given a spiritual type he has to become consumed with flesh the Bible said that he was lazy that he had become undisciplined he was blind we're told that also he had lost his vision had been in ministry so long that he's fleshly he's undisciplined he's lazy he has no vision and he would not discipline his sons they were totally immoral and he would not straighten them out and call them out and deal with them they were sleeping with women in the church Eli was a mess spiritually and he was in the priesthood his family was a mess too he was doing Church stuff while all kinds of immorality was going on I've got good news so just relax but I gotta give you the bad news and then the good news personal sin according to this text does not stop personal sin does not stop ministry in a person this has been a mystery to many of us who set back for years and years and years and watched people who could minister in amazing gifts that God had given them and even under an anointing and yet privately they were living in sin it puzzled me for years Romans 12 said the gifts and the calling of God is without repentance Romans 11:29 the gift and the calling of God when God gives a gift he does not take it back he does not say no longer with this gift work things can go on bad sin can be happening and for a season God will allow that person to continue to function as normal and you may say well that's a good sermon for ministers but I'm not a minister this is a sermon to priests and the Bible said in Revelation that you're a priest under your God under the New Covenant it's the priesthood of the believers it's not an elite group of preachers it's the priesthood of the believers any of us who are believers are priests unto our God according to Revelation Ecclesiastes said because judgment is delayed men think they get away with it when your attitude as as a believer becomes it's easier to get forgiveness than permission you're in trouble when your attitude becomes I want to do it and I'm not asking I'm going to do it sometimes we look at people with great anointing and great blessing and say outwardly we see success outwardly we see great things God is doing and using them and if we're not careful we think that we can judge by the outward and the truth is they may seem like a wonderful man of God but you might need to ask their wife you might need to ask their children in this text God was saying I see that there is there are two priesthoods that are in my house in my temple one is the priesthood of Eli and they are all and there they're wrong and they're not living right and they're ministering and he said I'm still gonna use them for a period I'm still going to let them have ministry in my house and notices wording they will minister to them but they will not come near to me because I love my people so much if they can sing I'll let them get up and sing I'll let them play instruments I'll let them teach I'll let them preach I'll let them use their gift and I'll give them time to get right I'll deal with them I'll convict them and I'll just let them minister to them because if somebody can sing and somebody can play or somebody can preach they can minister to them the word won't return void what they're singing can be about Jesus and it can transcend their personal life and how they're living God's gift is without repentance he doesn't take it back and they can still do it and it can minister to them because God loves his people so much he'll use a donkey he loves his people so much he'll use a whale he'll use a worm he'll use anything he did all of that in the Bible if you don't know what I'm talking about he used these these a jackass a donkey to preach to Balaam he loves people so much that he will use anybody because because here's what you've got to understand there is the priesthood of Eli and it's one that's impure it's one that compromises this one that says I can live like I want to live and my gift still works judgment doesn't immediately come but listen God can be blessing your socks off businessperson your gift may be making money and God can be blessing your socks off in in and sometimes and many times he doesn't in spite a personal sin he's so gracious he's so kind he's so long-suffering and patient with us now in Ezekiel 44 and 11 he said they shall minister in my sanctuary they will stand before them but they shall not come near to me these priests are sinning ministry will continue to flow through them to the people but they will not minister to me God said they will not have intimacy with me they will not come into the holy place they will not come near me and I don't know maybe you've seen this I read that for the first time not too long ago and it just hit me my god that's one of the scariest scriptures I can ever imagine that my ministry is all about outward performance and I'm ministering to them through the gift I can preach God if I got drunk last night I could walk in here and grab a microphone and preach and the gift would work it would give God would give me grace for a season I didn't so just relax I don't so just relax I can see you it's all right just breathe I know where I'm going my point is this my point is this you can minister to people but you don't touch God you don't come near God and what kind of priesthood do you want to be do you want a wall that looks religious outwardly and everybody thinks one thing but personally you're unclean my gift will work for a season no matter how what I'm doing but I'll never get near God I want to be the person that has fun that lives life that enjoys life and has success but I want to be pure I want to be clean I want to be holy like Jesus I want to be sanctified and set apart I want you to turn to your neighbor and I'm gonna let you preach the title of my sermon to your neighbor turn to your neighbor and say are you nasty I can't tell by how successful you are I can't tell by how you sing I can't tell by how good you play I can't tell by how religious you look uh Cherie the issue is in God's eyes when he looks beyond the surface does he see the linen underwear meaning personal holiness in areas of your life that people cannot see that's the issue he said the Levites on the other hand there's the Eloi priesthood and they're corrupt and unclean but then there is the priesthood in verse in verse 15 he says the Levites that have kept my charge when the rest of them went to select when it went astray they shall come near to me they shall minister unto me they shall be clothed with linen underwear the curse of man and then he said because I don't want him to sweat the curse of man was the sweat of the brow when Adam failed to sin God said the curse will be you'll have to produce everything by the sweat of your brow he said I don't want you sweating I want you to come into my presence and it's not your ability and your talent is your relationship with me that's more important and and you'll minister to them more effectively because you minister to meet first with the life that you live a personal holiness nobody knows what you have owned up under the priestly garment nobody knows what color your underwear are we're not gonna check nobody knows if you have own underwear only God and you know and that is exactly what he was saying in my text that's why he talked about then only God and you know personally if you're living the life you remember I didn't say this the first service I probably shouldn't in this but I had it in my notes you remember when they used to say we've grown up mom we were going somewhere fancy or something mom would say put on you good underwear I don't know why I don't know what if you might be in a regular member that you might be in a wreck what difference does that make underwear doesn't show external only you and God know for sure if you have it on or not God in this text is talking about personal holiness it's private it's personal it's internal and he says you can have one of two relationships with me both have a relationship both want a relationship with God or they wouldn't be in the house and there's only two kinds of people that I'm preaching to those who have outer Court relationship with God they've been saved they've been born-again but they refuse to clean their internal world up and God says I'll use you and your gift and it'll be surface and you can minister to them but you will not come near me but there are others that will say God anything that you want to purge me and cleanse me and sanctify me off take it out of my life I freely give it up take up my cross and follow you and God's this come on in come on in and when you understand that man looks on the outward God looks at the heart man looks on the external God looks on the interior god knows what's on the inside and if the priests tried to minister this is in your Bible in the book of Exodus 20:8 if he ministered without underwear or personal holiness God killed him on the spot thank God we're under mercy and grace and that's why I say that people that we've seen in national names and ministries fall and they function for months and weeks and even years and outwardly it looks so holy and so anointed but inwardly bad things were going on in God in his and this is not a judgment message this is the message of how gracious God is it's his mercy it's his grace that we're not consumed but he just keeps saying I'll give you another chance I'll give you another chance I'll give you another chance I still love you you're still my child but you won't come in near to me something will be missing I can't tell by how big your ministry is how successful you are I can't tell by how much success you have as a business person how who you really are because it's possible according to this text to be functioning in your gift and doing remarkable things but not the intimate with God and everybody looking at you saying oh look at how holy look how great and and the truth is the truth is God says both are in my house everywhere good results are happening doesn't necessarily mean that it's clean it's pure and it's acceptable to God I don't want to just minister to them I want a ministry that ministers to him right now there are two priesthood both are serving the Lord at free chapel they're ministering to the people there assuring they're keeping the children there parking the cars they're singing in the praise team they're playing the instruments they're preaching and teaching they're pastoring and visiting the flock they're taking leading small groups two kinds of priesthood both are serving the Lord both are ministering to the people but one gets intimacy with God and one does it one is accepted and one is held at arm's length and it's not God's decision it's yours the difference is linen underwear that which cannot be seen it's not what's going on in a person's public life it's what's going on in their private life that really matters and here's the thing I really felt God's getting ready to change the priesthood on some people if they don't get it right Saul had no idea his replacement David was growing up in his house and when he was playing the heart he had no idea that that was his replacement because God was long-suffering but he said I've given you long enough Moses had no idea or I should say Pharaoh had no idea when Moses was sitting at his table a little baby eating cornflakes just eating and looking up he had no idea he was so powerful everything outwardly looked like it was wonderful in Egypt but he didn't know that Moses was being raised up to replace him the Pharisees looked so holy in their black robes and their garbs and they walked around praying and fasting in public and everybody said holy holy holy and they had no idea that they were being replaced by a tall lean humble Galilean by the name of Jesus who said I'm moving that ministry and I'm replacing it with pure real ministry you're either of the priesthood of Eli or the priesthood of which can come near unto me God said Eli's ministry God's not in a hurry he's long-suffering he lets you go on and on and blesses you and blesses you and blesses you and people think that's God winking at you he's not winking at you ministry Eli's just ministering corrupt and immoral and dishonest his boys looking at mass on the internet and sleeping with women in the church unclean impure doing drugs getting high smoking cigarettes I shouldn't have said that I got a bunch of you mad at me but might as well go for broke this morning just get it all out somebody say you think I'll go to hell if I smoke cigarettes no no you're not gonna go to hell you gonna get to heaven quicker than I am that's that's that that's the issue vaping don't you just get rid of all that stuff it's not doing you any good it's not doing any good God wants you to smoke here to put a chimney on your head I take one I'd rather have somebody who who smokes and somebody who talks about people and I'd rather have somebody do maybe it's not as strong in some area but they got a good heart and you know what the difference is they want to do right they may fall they may stumble they may mess up they may really really really and but they want to do right and God knows the difference between people who are faking one thing and projecting one thing but in their heart they don't want to do right and the person who stumbles and falls and they want to do right God's grace where every time will come and say come on get up get up get up I can deal with you I can't deal with that outward stuff but I can deal with somebody in their heart who just wants to do better I'm not perfect don't get it wrong not at all but I want to be want to be like Jesus every day that's why I have to say I'm sorry sometimes and that's why I have to repent a lot and that's why I have to pray a lot and that's why I have to read this book a lot because I want to be like Jesus to be guess what I'm trying to say is this to be used by God it's a precious thing treasure it guard it don't play with the anointing don't play with giftings don't play with talent don't play with God's favor and success because I'm not talking about God's gonna good not gonna save you and you're not gonna go to heaven but what I'm talking about is you can lose his favor you can lose the touch of God you can lose the precious anointing and there is a difference between an eli priesthood and a Zadok those who have been with me there are two priesthoods they're singers who minister to people but God said they not they won't minister to me their song Minister to me their music won't minister to me their preaching won't minister to me their business that they're so successful at it won't minister to me it'll it'll minister to people but it won't minister to me but then there's those there's two kinds of musicians and music that which ministers the people in that which ministers to God and he said if you're gonna minister to me if you don't want to be rejected by God not talking about salvation I'm talking about being used mightily by God in whatever gifting he's given you in life God is saying in Timothy a powerful verse 2nd Timothy 2 and 20 but in a great house everybody say this is a great house this is a great church let's get happy we could be in podunk too but we got a great church we're taking that for granted we've got a great church and in a great house they're not only listen to this there are not only vessels of gold and silver wood and clay that there's still vessels and they're in the house and they're saved and they're going to heaven some are for honor some vessels of honor some vessels of dishonor listen to the next farm therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the ladder he will be a vessel of honor sanctified the King James says meek for the Masters use so when you understand that when you understand that there's vessels of honor and dishonor he's demoting some he's promoting some we're in an hour in a transition 2nd Timothy 2 and 19 said don't practice sin depart from iniquity let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from sin personal holiness he said in verse 21 if you'll judge yourself I won't judge you sit yourself down and stop it and get on your knees and repent and God says I'll I'll keep blessing you I'll keep raising you I'll keep promoting you but if you ever get to the place that you're playing the game with Christiana then you've got a season to make a change there ought to be agonizing over sin anybody who wants to do right God will help you Zadok or Eli vessel of Honor vessel of dishonor you want God's favor you want God's blessing say purge me just like that takes a purge me If any man notice it's not up to God to do he said if any man discerns I'm a vessel of dishonor and some areas of my life and all of us are but if a man will purge himself of those things just come humbly and honestly before God and say Lord purge me get this out of me I ask you today to cleanse me and never were you empty out that God won't pour in never were you what-what-what-what mother puts milk in a dirty bottle she's gonna clean the bottle and then she's gonna put fresh milk in and if you want God to use you purge yourself and God will pour it in it will be a real ministry not a ministry of perfect people ha what a joke there are no perfect people none but a ministry that is a people who are after God who are not happy with anything in our lives that's not like God I know this is strong and heavy but you know what this is the kind of preaching that'll get you to heaven this is the kind of preaching that'll make you do an inspection on your soul this is the kind of warning from the Lord in gentle nudges of love that I believe the Lord would say you know the difference between grace and mercy is grace is God's giving you what you don't deserve but mercy is God holding back what you do deserve and you don't know how he's held stuff back just like he hailed the Red Sea back on both sides and they props some of those kids probably didn't even know they were in danger grave danger but God's unseen hand was holding step back now feel a little warning to say let's purge ourselves this morning love to see some teenagers and college students and moms dads businesspeople do a gut check say you know a my vessel of honor and dishonor am i low for the priesthood I'm in the house I'm safe I'm going to heaven but am I really drawing near to God do I ever get in this presence or is it just out words religion on Sunday a seal on or you can have they done draw near to me I love that's why I do ministry I don't do it to perform for you I do it because I love it because in such a special way so now I praise you I just lift you up oh I magnify you Jesus that's why my heart is filled with brain [Music] sing it with me to see the lubricants to stand easy throw your hands up forget about everybody for me when I didn't deserve you held some things so I just hit you I just might [Music] yes one with free I want some faithful people to lose your hands [Music] lord few days [Music] I can see took care everything stopped sois gonna spend the rest of my life sitting [Music] time take off your religious Arvin go Oh yes [Music] see [Music] [Music] Jiji [Music] his orbs wives say [Music] [Music] [Music] every head bowed every eye closed their backsliders under the sound of my voice at every campus people in the roads and ondestroy Ethier no hobbies throwing you near you haven't felt what you're feeling in a long time and it's God saying I'm touching you again I'm touching the coldness of your heart you've grown cold but I want to draw near then there's backsliders that need to run home tonight there's people that need to fall at the feet of Jesus and repent that's all just be honest can change the direction of your future if you give Jesus everything Esther I know I'm not right with God and I want to get right please pray for me please pray for me I got some things in life that I really need to purge and I would love today to draw nearer to Jesus than I've ever been before you're here and you don't know you're right with God you want to get right with God boldly raise your hand right where you're standing at every campus let me see his hands I love that see this is the sound of revival when people say every person who raise your hand at every campus and pastors are coming to get out of your seat if you raise your hand and come down here you can bring a friend you can ask someone to go with you or you can come by yourself but this is revival this is what God requires of us this is repentance repentance sets us free repentance breaks shame repentance cleanses us repentance purges us of all the dishonor it just says that's enough of that that's enough of that you're better than that that's not who you are that's not what you were created to be and do with your life so just come on down and repent this morning there's no shame in it there's victory in it there's no embarrassment in it there's freedom in it come on come on come on [Music] today come on beep aah [Music] there are others that just need to make your way to the front out of the shame break out of a pity [Music] walk down that aisle Jesus concludes you can forgive you restored today [Music] you just carry [Music] [Music] [Music] can we just let our hands with an explosion of praise for God's mercy and God's grace how maybe you received this word today [Music] all right everybody down front everybody wherever you are peering this in this room let's just lift our hands to heaven one final time hey let's pray this prayer Lord Jesus I love you I thank you for dying on the cross shedding your blood to free me to forgive me to cleanse me to purge me I needed I come honestly just as I am I don't have any justification I don't have any plea that I can make that makes me worthy so I fall at your feet and I receive your grace I receive your mercy and I am forgiven and I am cleansed and I purge myself right now I just purge myself of dishonor anything that I'm doing or have done that has brought dishonor I asked for your help and your strength in that area I need you I need your love I need your grace you don't condemn me you don't cast me away you're not angry at me about it you you asked me to come nearer to you the key is to draw near to you and you said you won't stop if I come so just say Lord I draw near I draw near to your strength your grace I am forgiven in Jesus name give a mighty praise to the king of kings the Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world Wow Wow Wow praise the Lord you are forgiven you are wash you are cleanse your name is written in the book of life there's people all around you they've got a free gift they're gonna give you there's a booth back there before you're called next steps go by and get signed up and just say you know I need to get baptized in water cuz we'll go all the way with God and look anything that I preached today that you may be struggling with it's nothing new we've all struggled with it there's no judgment I named some things but you know what that doesn't make God love you any less not one bit not one bit you just keep coming to him with this key you don't it'll stay away in your time and eat you come in the time of need say help help help I'd like to quit this and God's grace would be there it's in his presence he loves you we love you we were forgiven and accepted and all the church sitting and now may the Lord bless you and keep you make his face shine on you be gracious unto you lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace we love you so much be blessed everybody have a great week we'll see you Wednesday night divine 20/20 you can get the greatest price on next year's conference that you will ever be able to get in the next 24 hours so check it out and be blessed compilations before you leave here today just a reminder for all the ladies out there as you've heard pastors say divine Women's Conference 2020 is going to be absolutely fantastic all the information you need regarding speakers dates timeframes all of that information is available if you get a divine conference dot o-r-g you register today in fact if you're on the west coast we're getting ready to have the exact same conference that we hit we did here in Georgia they're out in Orange County California starting this Thursday night so it's not too late to register go ahead get your ticket or honestly you can even get a ticket for somebody else in fact I would encourage you to leverage your influence whether it be through social media Facebook YouTube it doesn't matter spread the word about divine Women's Conference because it's going to be absolutely fantastic but we hope that you would join us this coming weekend at our Orange County campus but then finally if there's anything we can pray with you about specifically let us know submit your prayer request or you can post a comment there on Facebook live or YouTube live let us know how we can pray for you and see God continue to move in your life but we do love you so much thanks again for joining us here today at free Chapel and we'll see you next Sunday morning [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Free Chapel

Views: 174,922

Rating: 4.8565178 out of 5

Keywords: Spiritual Growth, Faith, God, Free Chapel, Jentezen Franklin

Id: NS4a3HNonXU

Length: 43min 59sec (2639 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 24 2019