Supernatural Power & Spiritual Danger | Power Today - #15 | James River Church

[Music] title of the message is supernatural power and spiritual danger supernatural power and spiritual danger i'll just say at the outset of the message if you're new today this is a bit of a different kind of message we're in a series on the book of acts and we come to acts chapter 5. today's message is a startling message if this text is correctly understood it will be unsettling for a number of people because this text is a warning we live in a day where god is not taken seriously you can tell when god is not taken seriously because sin is not taken seriously and when you don't take sin seriously then you're not taking god seriously and this passage reminds us of who god is and the reverence that he deserves especially as it relates to our personal relationship with him so let's jump in let's look at it acts chapter 5 verse 1 but a man named ananias now when you see that word at the start of a chapter then you know it's taking you back it's connecting you to what you've just read in the previous chapter and that's the case with acts chapter 5. it's connected to what we read in acts chapter 4 and verse 36 joseph a levite from cyprus whom the apostles called barnabas which means son of encouragement sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet so what you have is you have a contrast between what happens at the end of acts 4 and what happens at the start of acts chapter 5. on the one end you have joseph a levite which means he's one of from one of the 12 tribes of israel the priestly tribe he doesn't live in national israel he lives on the island of cyprus he's come to jerusalem and as he's been there in jerusalem no doubt got relation there and relatives there and as he's there he has swept up in what is happening since the day of pentecost he is now part of the church and as he watches what is happening in the church he sees the needs of people his heart is touched he realizes he has a feel back in cyprus that he is not using that he can do without he sells the field he takes the money gives it to the apostles and the result is that the church is incredibly blessed and in fact even today we're blessed by a story i mean he's instantly well known he didn't do it for the notoriety but it was a big deal here's a guy selling a field giving it to the church and now all of a sudden people know him and not only know him but the apostles are so wowed and awed by what he's done that they give him a nickname they call him barnabas which means the son of encouragement and on the heels of that we meet a husband and wife their names are ananias and sapphira and they too sold a piece of property it's interesting their names ananias means yahweh is gracious and sapphira is a first century name that is used almost exclusively among the jewish nobility so here's what we know we know that she is from a wealthy family she marries into a wealthy family we know that she has wealth because her interaction in this story it's not going to be in that day typically the husband would be the one who would make the financial decisions but here you have her very much a part which tells us that probably the field they're selling was part of her dowry what her family gave to her husband as they got married so she has this dowry this field and she is involved in the decision to sell the field all that to say she's not an innocent bystander so as you watch this she and ananias are doing what they do together probably as well and i mean there's just some things implied in the passage nobody knows what the the price was that they got for the field which tells us it's probably not a field in the vicinity of jerusalem otherwise people could say when they sold the field they could say well that's not what you got because i knew so and so who said you he paid such and such for the field so probably very much like joseph or barnabas it's a field that is in another geographic location a distance away and so they have this field and they're going to sell the inference as well there are many things implied in the passage this is why don't ever read the bible too quickly because you read it too quickly then you don't think about it you don't understand it you don't get as much out of it but if you stop and think well now why would they do that what's happening here what's happening is they saw barnabas get this recognition all of a sudden the twelve apostles know his name he's a foreigner but they know him he's given this gift and everybody's like oh that's amazing even today we say wow that's really amazing barnabas through the ages is celebrated and they're watching this go down and they're thinking we'd like to be honored too we'd like to be known by the apostles too we like people to think that we're as spiritual as barnabas because we really are people just don't know it so we're going to do what barnabas did all of which is to say it's a spiritually dangerous thing when people want others to know about and to applaud their acts of service and generosity we don't serve because of what others will think if we do or don't and we don't give because of what others will think or not think if we don't and we're not trying to in a church create some kind of position for ourself or compete with people in our giving or in our service but ananias and sapphira were look at it and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles feet so they sell the property and he doesn't give all of it to the church which is not a problem he doesn't have to give all of it to the church the problem is they've cooked up a scheme they've said we want everybody to think we're like barnabas we just don't want to do what barnabas did so it would be like you having a piece of property it's worth a hundred thousand dollars you sell it and you want everybody to think you're really you're really you know just fully in and on and and so you come and and you say listen i'm i'm giving you all the proceeds to a field we just sold to meet needs in the church only instead of giving a hundred thousand you give seventy thousand and you keep thirty thousand for yourself you could have kept the thirty thousand for yourself and said we sold a piece property and we wanted to give a portion of the proceeds to the church i'd been great but that's not what they did because what they were doing was they were trying to do it to create an impression that was different than the reality actually was in this case it's ananias and sapphira goes along with him which there's a lesson in there ladies if your husband is not going to serve the lord and he's wanting you to do things that are dishonoring to the lord that it's in your best interest not to go along with him the bible doesn't say wives submit to your husbands and everything it says submit as unto the lord so if your husband is going the wrong way don't go with him because love has its limits let me just say this you're dating somebody you're seeing somebody and they're not honoring the lord or they're wanting you to do things that dishonor the lord they're wanting you to sleep with them outside of marriage then the right thing to do is to say i'm honoring the lord i'm not following you and you will go there by yourself i'm not going to be a part of that so here is ananias and sapphira they cook this up they come to peter they give him the money but peter said you say how does peter know the holy spirit told him you know there's times the holy spirit lets you know what you couldn't know on your own this is the value of walking with the lord that when you're walking with the lord the lord is going to drop things in your heart he's going to tell you things you could not have known any other way and in this case he is told the lord has told peter exactly what has gone on peter said ananias why has satan filled your heart to lie to the holy spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land so in contrast to barnabas spirit-filled giving you have ananias and sapphiras satan filled giving the word filled there satan's filled your heart uh it's the greek word plea rahu we could translate it satan has controlled your heart satan has dominated your heart satan has driven your heart satan has directed your heart you say are they christians we don't know it seems within the context of it that they are and yet here here you have christians who have given the devil a foothold in their heart and it has been disastrous for them listen it's very very important and i think as a side note is that we by our actions as followers of christ we would understand it would not surprise us if they were an unbeliever that satan has filled their heart the shock is that as a believer can that happen in the answers yes that as followers of jesus if we're not careful if we don't guard our heart this is why the writer of proverbs says above all else i mean put this at the top of your list guard your heart with all diligence for from it flow the issues of life what happens in the heart what happens in here will come out out here you got to guard your heart you can open your heart to the enemy you can give the devil a foothold you can give him a base of operations you can you can open your heart in such a way that over time his influence grows i think as a pastor there are three areas through the years where i would say people three areas that i think trip people up maybe more than any other or three areas where specifically you really see the enemy get a foothold in somebody's life the first one is the whole area of resentment and bitterness in ephesians chapter 4 and i want to just talk about this because it's very very critical that as followers of christ we're guarding our heart look at this in your anger do not sin do not let the sun go down while you're still angry and watch this and do not give the devil a foothold when it talks about not letting the sun go down on your anger it's saying don't nurse a grudge don't nurse a hurt don't nurse a resentment don't sit there and talk about it all the time don't let it fester if your anger was wrong repent quickly and if you're angry at someone forgive them quickly because anger left unchecked leads to bitterness and it gives the devil a foothold in a person's life this is what happened to ananias and sapphira go to james chapter 3 and verse 14. james says this but if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying for jealousy and selfishness are not god's kind of wisdom such things are earthly unspiritual and demonic do you realize there's a demonic wisdom i mean you talk to people and i'm not in any way diminishing the hurt or the experience that you had their are experiences that people have in life that are absolutely devastating but we have to be careful how we respond to those things because what can happen is i talk to bitter people all the time who have a great reason for it well the reason why i'm bitter is because of this this this and this do you realize that's demonic wisdom like somehow you're justified to hang on to the hurt to hang on to the bitterness to hang on to the resentment and the enemy loves it it's demonic and it not only is demonic reasoning which satan's supplies but it gives the enemy a foothold in your heart forever there is jealousy and selfish ambition i want you to think about ananias since the fire they're jealous of barnabas and they want what barnabas has they want to be known by the apostles they want to be they want to be celebrated in the church they want to be known as one of the important people and james says wherever there's jealousy and selfish ambition there you will find disorder and every kind of evil i think there's a second way that people can give the devil a foothold in their life and that's through what i would call repeated sexual sin by that it could be engaging in sex outside of marriage so you're not married but you're having sex maybe with one person maybe with many people pornography prostitution strip clubs what i mean it all kind of goes together and sexual sin here's what's important it's different than other kinds of sin the apostle paul puts it this way in first corinthians 6 and i'm reading from the message because i think it gives some real clarity there's more to sex than mere skin on skin sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact the way god has designed sex there is a spiritual component and all sex has spiritual ramifications as a result of that as it's written in scripture the two become one since we want to become spiritually one with the master we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy in other words you're not one with jesus if you're sleeping around you know at times i have people say well i'm good with jesus well you may think that but it's not true just because you think it doesn't make it so and paul is saying that when people engage in sexual relationships apart from marriage it damages their walk with god we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy leaving us more lonely than ever the kind of sex that can never become one you say well we're we're still one because we're having sex no you're not not in the way that god intended and not in the way that spiritually unites you and not in the way where the two become one you're physically connected but in any relationship there's more than the physical connection the most important part is the spiritual connection this is why you should never marry somebody who's unsaved because spiritual connection is virtually impossible and that is the thing that especially over time becomes more and more valuable in a marriage and in a relationship and over time for those who don't have that becomes one of the more heartbreaking aspects of the relationship they love the person but they cannot share the thing that matters most to them which is their walk with god there is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others in sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies these bodies were made for god given and god modeled love for becoming one with one another or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place the place of the holy spirit don't you see that you can't live however you please squandering what god paid such a high price for the physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you god owns the whole works and here's what happens when you engage in sexual sin it does something to your personhood and it invites the enemy into your life because instead of achieving a oneness with the lord what you've done is you have for whatever reason or any number of reasons you have embraced this as a repeated lifestyle which has allowed the enemy to come into your life it's a very spiritually dangerous thing and it makes walking with the lord very very difficult if not impossible it's a third area just briefly and we'll call this the area of substance abuse in the new testament the word for sorcery is the word pharmaca we get our word pharmacy from it because the pagans understood in in paul's day in the first century um that you would go to the temple you would take either alcohol you would use that or you could use other substances that would alter your state of consciousness the purpose of which was so that you could commune with the gods which are demons we have to understand is that god has wired us and created us with a consciousness that is designed to protect us from undue spiritual influence when a person through substance abuse lowers that or removes that instantly demonic beings have their way with that person this is why we have to be careful because our life we guard our heart we we guard it because it determines what happens to us in life and as you go back to ananias and sapphira they're involved in this demonic wisdom they're involved in this selfish ambition they did not guard their heart and it's going to cost them dearly acts chapter 5 verse 3. but peter said ananias why has satan filled your heart to lie to the holy spirit who did he lie to he didn't lie to peter and he didn't lie to the church he was lying to the holy spirit see the fact of the matter is the holy spirit knows every detail of my life and yours he knows our thoughts he knows our words he knows our actions he knows our intentions he knows and you may fool him or fool others but you can't fool him acts chapter 5 and verse 4 the story continues the property was yours to sell or not sell as you wish and after selling it the money was also yours to give away in other words he could have kept part of it and said listen i'm keeping part but i'm giving this much to the church to help people praise god but he said i sold a piece of property and i just want to give the proceeds to the church making them think that he gave it all why because he wanted the applause of people he wanted the recognition of the apostles he wanted people to think he and sapphira were something and peter says how could you do a thing like this you weren't lying to us but to god as soon as ananias heard these words he fell to the floor and died in other words he dropped dead instantly you say but wait a minute i mean this is the new testament this is the age of grace god doesn't he did those things in the old testament but we are in grace he doesn't do those things can i just say if that's where you're at that's poor theology the god of the old testament is the god of the new testament and in the new testament god has a deep concern for the purity of his church and the holiness of his people in first corinthians chapter 11 and this just gives you an idea that that passage is not alone in in giving us an example of severe discipline or judgment paul's writing about the communion service and he says anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death is that the kind of remembrance you want to be a part of examine your motives test your heart come to this meal and holy off listen we take communion every wednesday evening at the prayer meeting and we take it sometimes on sunday but we have to be careful that in the informality of passing the bread in the cup and we're in worship and we're partaking that we don't let that breed a familiarity that causes us to have lost our awe and reverence for god and for that moment in all that moment implies if you give no thought or worse don't care about the broken body of the master when you eat and drink you're running the risk of serious consequences you say like what that's why so many of you even now are listless and sick and others have gone to an early grave they've died in other words god is is so to be reverenced that when people don't reverence him they risk incurring discipline that they might learn to reverence him would you notice so many of you that's that's an amazing phrase in there so many are listless you say what what does that mean just don't feel good just you're just restless you just don't feel good you're sick some have died gone to an early grave when a christian behaves in an irreverent way or a careless way toward god there are consequences that's true in the new testament era of grace jesus said when you pray say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name holy you're you're high you're lifted up you're exalted you're unlike anyone or anything else you are separate you're uniquely wonderful and awesome and powerful and and majestic and we air if we forget that or if a christian willfully and in a premeditated way continues to sin there can be discipline and sometimes that discipline is severe whom the lord loves he disciplines and and what you have in these verses is a disciplining not a these people aren't going to hell but they are experiencing a discipline that they might learn to reverence god because god cares about the way people view him and respond to him this is an important word for the church because what happens is in our day it's very easy for christians to become soft on sin and i'm not talking about sin out there in the world i'm talking about sin in your life and to somehow think it doesn't matter or to somehow think it's okay or to somehow think it's not that big a deal and this passage reminds us that it is a big deal acts chapter 5 verse 7 about three hours later his wife came in not knowing what had happened peter asked her was this the price you and your husband received for your land yes she replied that was the price and peter said how could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the spirit of the lord like this the young men who buried your husband are just outside the door and they will carry out you out too instantly she fell to the floor and died when the young men came in and saw that she was dead they carried her out and buried her beside her husband she followed ananias in life she follows him in death and i want you to notice something here they dropped dead in church and they dropped dead giving an offering you say why because worship done in hypocrisy is dangerous worship listen this is the wrong place to play games this is the wrong place to try to impress people this is the wrong place to attend just so you can build your business listen you may build your business but if that's what you're about you're playing games with god it won't go well with you you said well john this is i mean this is so harsh i mean doesn't it seem like an overreaction on god's part i mean isn't it kind of like using a shotgun to kill a mosquito i mean if people drop dead every time they lie i mean next sunday the place is half full you know because honestly now seriously we tend to view lying as wrong but as a lesser sin so how is it that god strikes people down for lying i mean this isn't the old testimony if in the old testament we say well that that makes perfect sense i mean a lot of things happen just boom on the spot so this is the new testament what what is happening here and i would suggest to you a more relevant question is why aren't people struck down for lying today to answer that question you have to understand the context i believe of the passage because this passage is framed by some verses that give us the context of the church acts chapter 4 verse 31 remember and when they had prayed the place in which they gathered together was shaken i mean it was like they're in this place whatever it is whatever house and it is like an earthquake is shaking the place why because god is there god is so close we're going to look at it in a moment but like when he comes down on mount sinai the whole mountain shakes when god shows up things move when god shows up his power the closer he gets the more visible the demonstration of his power is place is shaking they're all filled with the holy spirit and continue to speak the word of god with boldness and then we read in acts chapter 4 and verse 33 with great power you know what that is that's that word dunamis it means mighty power miraculous power supernatural power put mega in front of it with mega supernatural power with mega miraculous power with mega mighty power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the lord jesus and mega grace you say what does that mean mega grace well the word charisma the gifts of the spirit in first corinthians chapter 12. so you got you got the gifts of healing working of miracles words of knowledge words of wisdom all those are are charismata they're acts of charisma so what you have is much grace you've got charisma you've got power you've got gifts of god functioning and was upon all of them god was near them and then you go to acts chapter 5 and verse 12 now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people would you notice it starts out with one man healed at the temple and now all of a sudden what's happening is the miracles are multiplying there's more and more and more and it's regularly and i want to suggest to you that from acts chapter 3 to the time you get to acts chapter 5 you have a you have a span of time where god is working increasingly in power they're done by the hands of the people and you get to verse 16 we read this the people also gathered from the towns around jerusalem bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits and they were all healed i mean this is unbelievable everybody's healed amazing god's grace his presence his power were on display all over the place with such an unusual intensity to his presence was thick you could feel it you could see it it it's not just business as usual there were supernatural phenomena i mean that would be like the place shaking and we don't know all that happened but there were miracles there were healings everyone was filled with the spirit which in itself i mean imagine if just in this auditorium or all our auditoriums everybody's instantly filled with the holy spirit that's that's an unusual thing that's azusa street that's which was a one of the greatest revivals in the history of the world in 1906 in l.a listen when god's glory and presence is increasingly revealed in more obvious ways that means god is drawing close means he's close and when his glory is close sin is more instantly judged that's how it works the closer he gets the more dangerous it is in the words of one person he is not some cosmic teddy bear he's the lion of the tribe of judah he's our friend he's our brother but he's he's our king and he's our lord he's both and when god comes near you see this with moses moses says god i want to see your face i want to see your glory and god says if you see my face it'll kill you if i get that close to you you can't survive it you're you're sinful you can't survive it isaiah is caught up in the throne room and he sees jesus in his in his glory before he came to earth and when he sees him you know his glory fills this temple and there's angels and they're singing back and forth holy holy holy is the lord god who was and is and is to come do you know what his response is i'm damned that's what woe means i'm eternally ruined what's he say for i am a man with a dirty mouth and i dwell among people who have a dirty mouth i believe isaiah might have had a problem with profanity instantly in that moment god draws close he's aware of his sinfulness what's he going to do he cries out to god listen when when god comes close you know you go to exodus chapter 19 we're going to look at it here god says listen i need you to get the people ready because i'm going to come down on the mountain and it's going to be the only time in the history of mankind the 2 million people simultaneously heard the audible voice of god you say well i really love to been there and seen that well maybe not because the people went to moses afterwards and they said please tell him go back up on the mountain and tell him don't ever do that again scared the daylights out of us we'll die if that happens again they're like no more know how don't want but god said i need you to consecrate yourselves i need you to get rid of your idols i need to get i need you to get rid of the things that have become too important to you maybe more important than god i need you to i need you to clean up your act because i'm going to get close and if you don't do it it won't go well for you do you follow what i'm saying watch this in exodus 19 be sure they're ready on the third day for on that day the lord will come down on mount sinai as the people watch mark off a boundary around all the mountain warn the people be careful do not go up on the mountain or even touch the boundaries anyone who touches the mountain will certainly be put to death moses led them out from the camp to meet with god they stood at the foot of the mountain all of mount sinai was covered with smoke because the lord had descended on it in the form of a fire so now the mountain is blazing with fire black smoke is billowing up there's lightning there's thunder the mountain shakes violently and i mean the people are all watching this and then there's the blast of trumpets the rams horns grows louder and louder moses speaks and god thundered his reply the lord came down on top of mount sinai and called moses to the top of the mountain so moses climbed the mountain then the lord said go back down warn the people not to break through the boundaries to see the lord and they'll die if they get too close and they're not ready it won't go well for them that's the idea the reason why judgment is so radical is because the power of god in their midst was so great you say okay so all of that thank you for the history lesson the theology why don't we see people struck down in church today well because typically god's glory isn't that close so there's less of god moving so there are fewer answered prayers fewer people saved fewer people filled with the spirit fewer people healed because god's glory isn't that close unless he decides to come visit a place and then he gets close we are the recipients of a visitation of god what you're seeing is something that has not happened in 30 years at james river what you're saying is something i'm not saying it's the only place i'm praying and believing and encouraged that there are other places i know there are i'm just saying this is god has come close to the church in a unique way in a way i've never seen so that now instead of every now and then hearing about a healing as i told you i can pull out my phone i can give you a day by day account of the miracles from that day or miracles reported that day god has come near so that we have record numbers of people getting saved god has come near so that we have people getting filled with the holy spirit even on an online service night god has come near so that we have people getting healed even on an online service night god has this is not normal this is not business as usual for whatever reason and i think reasons that are beyond our ability to comprehend god is visiting james river at every single campus in a very unique way he's coming close and when he comes close sin is disciplined that's why this is a warning the issue really is where are you in your consecration i mean that's that's really the upshot of this is where are you in your service of god where are you in your walk with god what is happening in your life how are you and do you realize that when god comes close that automatically brings some things into play like you have an ananias and sapphira that don't normally happen you say john you're you're scaring me well that's pretty much what happened in the book of acts look at it acts chapter five verse five then when ananias heard these words he fell down and breathed his last and a great fear that's mega megas phobos megaphobia came upon all who heard it everybody was like terrified the nlt says the message says that put the fear of god into everyone who heard it when god comes close he's close and when he's close he judges sin he disciplines people and he cares about holiness it's just i don't serve you well if i don't tell you this and i mean honestly scholars will say this is the hardest passage in the book of acts to preach for two weeks i've i've probably rewritten the sermon five times but it is what it is it's it's a warning to a church that god has come down on and it's a calling to people to get serious listen i let me let me say this you understand rematch i'm not saying you're not some of you are very serious about the lord some of you are kind of serious and some of you aren't serious at all so the holy spirit is saying listen i want to visit the church i am visiting the church i've given you proof i've given you evidence that i'm here and there's more that's going to happen but if you're going to experience what i want you're going to have to be holy and that's not a dirty word that's a good thing a lack of holiness can keep any of us from receiving from god what he would want to do the idea of fear again in acts 5 11 a great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard the things the niv says great fear sees them it gripped them the nlp says it gripped them the message puts it this way by this time the whole church and in fact everyone who heard of these things had a healthy respect for god they knew god was not to be trifled with that's it listen we're in a place and this is a good sunday morning message it's it's not the message hey listen i'd rather i'd rather have you all shouting and happy and high-fiving and all that stuff i mean that's way more fun to preach but this is more necessary because god is moving he's moving in this place and his glory is very very close i mean i could sit there and read you the list and the testimony i thought of doing it but you know you know let me leave you with just some things to think about number one god is working in this place and he delights to draw close to people and do good listen i'm not going to tell you and i think sometimes it's a difficult thing because some of you have come from backgrounds where you were constantly told god's got it out for you and he's out to get you and he's angry at you and and the answer to poor teaching is not more poor teaching that tells you you don't have to be have any fear of god listen jesus said this [Music] luke chapter 12 verse 4 i will tell you whom you should fear fear him who after destroying the body has the power to cast your soul into hell verse 5 yes i tell you fear him jesus knew the father well and jesus said there's a place for healthy fear some people don't want to hear that but i'm going to tell you it's sound theology and we understand it in life listen i have a healthy fear of putting my hand on a gas burner that's on high i have a healthy fear i don't want to get burned i don't want to lose my skin it's a healthy fear i'm afraid of doing that i'm not going to do it i have a healthy fear of taking and driving a car 100 miles an hour down a canyon road i've never been on in the dark i have a healthy fear of that i'm not going to do that some things there's a place for a healthy fear if you cut a healthy fear out of your christian life then what happens is people do not deal with sin in their life they tolerate it instead of repenting and turning from it and they experience less of god [Music] there are some here today and i don't think there's a lot but there are some here today and here's what you're doing in your walk with god you're saying well i'm just going to do this now and then i'll repent some other time what you don't understand in that statement is that repentance is a gift not a guarantee [Music] repentance is initiated by the holy spirit in the heart of people to draw them to christ but you're not guaranteed he's going to continue to initiate that in your heart if you willfully keep saying i'm going to do my own thing and then i'll repent later when i've when when i feel like it or when i'm done living my wild life because i mean the bible says god said my spirit will not always strive with men there comes a point when god says listen i i'm done calling you to repentance and i would say this to you today some of you are convicted and god is working in your heart the gift of repentance and you should respond accordingly because it's a gift second a lack of holiness in your life could keep you from saying god work in your life you know honestly we're going to do this 10-day fast later in in the month of march and i'm really excited about it but for me i'm i'm thinking i believe god's going to work i want to get ready long before the 10 day fast i mean i'm thinking i'm thinking what do i need to do to draw close to god you know there's something about consecrating ourselves joshua said consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the lord will do good things there's something about laying aside letting go getting rid of the things that that entangle us that encumber us in the words of hebrews the sin that so easily besets some of you have sinned that beset you it's constantly a challenge for you need to get rid of it and do you realize that without holiness you're not going to see god some people live with less of god than they would have and it comes down to one thing it's a lack of holiness on their part and i'm not advocating legalism i'm just advocating consecration and a love for god that says i want to i want to walk as close to him as i can and i don't want to get any i don't want anything to get in the way that's what i'm talking about hebrews 12 14 make every effort every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy without holiness no one will see the lord number three it's a dangerous thing spiritually to live a double life [Music] let me just tell you you could fool me all day long i'm not that hard to fool honestly i give everybody spiritually i give people a big benefit of the doubt i i think through the years i've noticed my common view is to give people more spiritual credibility than maybe i come to find out later they deserved i just believe people want to love god because i want to love god you know what i'm saying you just kind of like hey why would you not want to and i know there's people that don't but people in the church is what i'm talking about you could fool me i would not be hard you maybe can fool everybody around you you may be able to fool your family you may be able to fool your friends [Music] but you can't fool god he knows and that means some of you need to repent of your sin you just do just need to say i'm done with [Music] this what's up everybody thank you so much for joining james river church on our youtube channel our prayer is that you were encouraged and your faith was strengthened today and we want to let you know that we want to connect with you on our online family you can just click the link next to me to connect with us as well we would love if you subscribe to the youtube channel today and press that bell for notifications you will be so glad you did because we're always putting out great sermons new worship content that helps you stay up to date with everything that's happening at james river church we hope you have a great day today and we'd love for you to join our live sunday services every sunday and wednesday thank you again for watching god bless

Channel: James River Church

Views: 20,399

Keywords: james river church, john lindell, power today, power, james river church sermons, church online, pastor john lindell, prayer, sermons on prayer, pray, church, online church, holy spirit, christianity, bible, sermon, sermons, john lindell sermons, god, jesus, holy, spirit, christian, theology, promise, god's promises, powerful, christian life, how to live as a christian, james river, encouragement, praying, god speaking, lord, acts of the apostles, empower, Acts 4, supernatural power, spiritual

Id: X21293JYN6Y

Length: 52min 15sec (3135 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 01 2022