1 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,960 Hi and welcome to the We Are Zion Sermon podcast. 2 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,000 We are a local church based here in Chennai, India. 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,240 We are so glad you are with us and hope that this will 4 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:20,280 encourage, inspire and instill fresh faith in you. 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,080 We have started a series called The Kingdom Life based on the 6 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:27,920 life and teachings of Jesus from the Gospel according to Mark. 7 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,800 We look at how we must live our lives on this earth as followers 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,680 of Jesus in a way that is countercultural yet powerfully 9 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,160 impactful. As you listen in, our hope is 10 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:44,080 that you will be motivated to live, love, lead and serve just 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,960 like Jesus. Hi, George. 12 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,680 What a pleasure it is to share the word with you. 13 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,040 Today we're looking at the Kingdom Life Part 3. 14 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,160 We looked last week at how we undergo this crushing in order 15 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,640 to produce new wine. And this new life entails the 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,560 new wine, the anointing that is fresh for this season. 17 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,080 And today we're going to be going into discord. 18 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,600 The difference when the outside and the inside don't match up. 19 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:11,240 That's what I've titled today's sermon. 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,200 You know, a lot of times we we speak a lot of Christianese. 21 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:19,280 We do the things that people at church would recommend or do or 22 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,120 live by, but deeper then there's a dissonance. 23 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:24,880 There's something that's keeping us from actually living out what 24 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:26,920 we believe or living out what we proclaim. 25 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:30,560 And I believe that's what Jesus was talking about when he spoke 26 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:32,760 in Mark Chapter 7. So that's the base verse for 27 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,840 this week as we get into that passage. 28 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:42,200 I just read this story about a zookeeper and he had a full zoo 29 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,840 and one day the gorilla unfortunately died because it 30 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,560 was a peak summer that year and the gorilla didn't make it. 31 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,840 So he decided he can't afford to have the gorilla cage empty 32 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,720 because that was a huge source of entertainment for the little 33 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:56,640 kids who came during their summer holidays. 34 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,280 So what he did was he got a huge gorilla costume, and he hired a 35 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,920 guy to wear it and sit in the particular enclosure, which was 36 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,760 meant for the gorillas. And so on the first day, this 37 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,720 guy who's been hired, he has no clue how to act like a gorilla, 38 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,600 wears the costume and goes and sits in the cage. 39 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,080 And the zookeeper told him, you know, do some antiques, keep the 40 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,000 kids entertained and stuff. So he was trying his best, 41 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,760 jumping around in that costume and trying to do funny things 42 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,040 just for the viewing public when he tripped over a low wall and 43 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,600 fell into the lion enclosure. And once he realized where he 44 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,360 was at, he started freaking out, screaming and saying, Oh my God, 45 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:37,520 help me, Help me, I'm gonna die. And it was funny because the 46 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:42,120 lion came close to him and bent down to his ear and said, dude, 47 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:44,680 stop it. We're both going to lose our 48 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:50,160 jobs if you don't stop it. And too many of us are like 49 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:51,960 these two men hidden in costumes. 50 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,720 Too many of us believers are living this double life. 51 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,360 We look like one thing, we say another thing, We pretend to be 52 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:00,120 practicing something. But our private lives are 53 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,760 completely different. And I believe God is calling the 54 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,960 hypocrites home. God is calling all of us who are 55 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,400 having a mask or a costume to cover up what really lies 56 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:11,520 beneath. And as I was preparing, this was 57 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,240 such a convicting time for me because all of us, without 58 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,400 exception, have those facets of our life which are very 59 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:19,800 hypocritical. And those of us who have 60 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,120 children, our kids expose it very fast. 61 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,160 You know, they say, but you said that then why you're not doing 62 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,880 that now? And God is calling us to a place 63 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:31,480 of deep honesty, of dropping the mask, dropping the costume, and 64 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,400 coming as we are to him, because only God can set us free. 65 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,800 It is not by power, not by might, but by my Holy Spirit, 66 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:40,800 says the Lord. This is not something by 67 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,840 willpower or by just, you know, just being very conscious. 68 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,160 We're going to change it. These are deeply inbred 69 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,800 attitudes and motives and agendas that only the Spirit of 70 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:53,680 God can reveal and the blood of Jesus can heal. 71 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,520 And so as we get into this word, I just pray that you will be 72 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:58,680 able to resonate with what Jesus is talking about. 73 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,040 Mark Chapter 7 verses one to seven. 74 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,640 It says the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who 75 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,360 had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his 76 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,680 disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is 77 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,080 unwashed. The Pharisees and all the Jews 78 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,079 do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing 79 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:19,640 holding to the tradition of the elders when they come from the 80 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:21,399 marketplace. They do not eat unless they 81 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:24,560 wash, and they observe many other traditions such as the 82 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:26,520 washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. 83 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,600 So the Pharisees and teachers in law asked Jesus, why don't your 84 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,240 disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead 85 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:35,920 of eating their food with defiled hands? 86 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,920 He replied, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you 87 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,680 hypocrites as it is written. These people honour me with 88 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,040 their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 89 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:50,360 They worship me in vain. Their teachings are merely human 90 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,200 rules. What is Jesus talking about? 91 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,720 Is he anti hygiene? No, that's not what Jesus is 92 00:04:57,720 --> 00:04:59,680 talking about. It really boils down to what the 93 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,080 Pharisees thought they were accomplishing every time they 94 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:04,400 wash their hands. We've just come out of a huge 95 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,600 pandemic and we know that all healthcare providers told us 96 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,880 that we need to wash our hands because the the virus most often 97 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,680 transmits throughout the bacteria on our hands. 98 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,000 And what happened as a result was people wash their hands too 99 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,960 much that the good bacteria from the hands disappeared as well. 100 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,600 What Jesus is talking about is not about saying, you know, 101 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:24,320 avoid hygiene. That's not what he's saying. 102 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,760 These Pharisees thought that if they ate with unwashed hands 103 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:29,760 that they were contaminating their inner being. 104 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:32,840 They thought that by washing it, they were purifying their 105 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:35,280 hearts. They were purifying their minds. 106 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:37,720 They thought that they were standing pure before their 107 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,200 Yahweh God. But here Jesus is coming and 108 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,320 saying, I don't care about the outward cleanliness. 109 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:47,160 I care about what's inside. And they were actually 110 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:51,360 addressing Jesus disciples behaviour where they just came 111 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:54,040 and sat and started eating. He said this is not important. 112 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,240 And then he talks about what Isaiah wrote about them. 113 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,840 Isaiah wrote about the people of Israel being so stubborn and 114 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:05,080 hard, hard hearted and and and strong willed about drawing 115 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,640 close to God. He said these people honour me 116 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:10,800 with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 117 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,760 Can I ask you this question when you stand to worship at Church 118 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,320 Oregon, when you're worshiping alone with your headphones, 119 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,160 you're walking outside, you're in the gym, is your heart far 120 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,160 from God or is it in touch with God? 121 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,240 Because the truth is, too many of us have created this, this 122 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,080 very curated form of our belief system. 123 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,040 We know what to say, when to say it, how to say it. 124 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:35,640 We know how to address our pastor, and then we know how to 125 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:37,000 address the person on the street. 126 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,080 We know how to behave on the outside. 127 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,360 But privately, no one knows. But you know, and God is saying, 128 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:48,160 I'm coming back here with this proposition, instead of wiping 129 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,480 and washing your hands to exhaustion, why not just come to 130 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:53,600 me? Draw near to me, and I will draw 131 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,840 near to you. Jesus was the fulfillment of 132 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:00,640 that. And Mark 7 verse 15 is pivotal 133 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:02,440 to understanding what this whole theme was. 134 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,160 Jesus is then asked by his disciples. 135 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:06,640 Disciples are, like I said, a bit slow. 136 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:08,640 So they come to the room with him and they ask him, what did 137 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,280 you mean that what we consume doesn't defile us? 138 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:14,560 Because these were people who followed kosher what they ate. 139 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,080 They had a series of animals they shouldn't eat and a couple 140 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:18,920 that they could. So he's saying they're asking 141 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,800 him, what do you mean? And this is what Jesus says, 142 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,480 verse 15. Nothing outside a person can 143 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,560 defile them by going into them. Rather it is what comes out of a 144 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:33,240 person that defiles them. So often we as Christians have 145 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,560 told in our youth groups, you know, careful what you consume, 146 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:37,840 careful what you put in. And it doesn't change that 147 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,240 because the the apostle Paul writes everything is 148 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:43,240 permissible, but not everything is beneficial. 149 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:45,400 So we need to put a guardrail right there. 150 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,040 But suppose you don't put a guardrail because you just feel, 151 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:49,720 I don't want to be so legalistic about it. 152 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,160 I think I have the freedom. Say you have that mindset. 153 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,760 That's also OK. But what you allow in changes to 154 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:59,840 something that starts coming out of you starts to exude from you. 155 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,240 And what it what comes out of you is what matters is what 156 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,200 Jesus is saying. Because out of the depths of the 157 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:10,520 heart, the mouth speaks. What is in our heart comes out 158 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,240 in our speech, in our attitude, in our demeanor, all of it. 159 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,720 And so it's so important to understand that it is not what 160 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,360 we consume that defiles us. It is what we produce. 161 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,920 A good tree produces good fruit. A bad tree produces bad fruit. 162 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,160 Is that simple, according to people today? 163 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,520 We have so much research on microplastics, on how they're 164 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,960 harming us, because for years we've been using plastics at 165 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,559 home and everybody says that we probably have a lot of plastic 166 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:42,600 accumulated in our bodies, eating from aluminum vessels 167 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:45,160 probably have also contaminated us. 168 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,640 There's probably metals, heavy metals that have been in 169 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:50,560 different products we've had over the years. 170 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,120 But Jesus is saying while those things are different, what you 171 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,320 have consumed, saying, you know, this is precious, this is pure, 172 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,320 I will wash this, this in this way and this tradition and this 173 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:03,640 ritual. He says following all of that is 174 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:05,720 no use if your heart is far from me. 175 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:08,720 It is no use if you don't control what comes out of your 176 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:12,120 being. And so the problem is too many 177 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,800 of us today are very content with washing the superficial. 178 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:19,240 You see a photographer now, when they take a picture of us, what 179 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:20,800 do they do? The first thing they do is touch 180 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:22,960 us up. They change our complexion, they 181 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,000 remove all the flaws. They they alter things. 182 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,040 Recently, one of our photographer friends was saying 183 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,680 that a person who came for a shoot didn't have shoes on. 184 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,240 She just was, you know, just flip flop. 185 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:34,600 So he needed shoes for the shoot. 186 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:36,640 So he made her remove her footwear and he just 187 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,640 photoshopped shoes on. He used AI and he just 188 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,480 photoshopped it. This is the world we live in. 189 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,840 We are so capable of altering what is on the outside. 190 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:52,120 The number of botched facial cosmetic surgeries have 191 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,400 increased because ordinary people, people with practically 192 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,320 normal, there's been no accident, none of that. 193 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:00,840 But they walked into a surgery thinking they need to look 194 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,640 better and it went downhill. But God is saying, I don't care 195 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:06,720 about the superficial. I care about the heart. 196 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,920 I care for from it issues the deeper things of life. 197 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,920 And so today we, I want to ask you before we actually get into 198 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,160 the crux of what it looks like to be a walking, talking 199 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,480 hypocrite, we're first going to look at 2 two things that we do 200 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,840 as ordinary people when we talk about cleansing ourselves, We 201 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,280 may not do what the Pharisees did, washing ourselves 202 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:29,640 thoroughly, but we do two other things. 203 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:31,480 One is we water down the scriptures. 204 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:37,240 I see this increasingly in, in, in our, in today's times where 205 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:39,440 people look at the scripture and say, Oh, well, I don't want the 206 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:41,560 Old Testament. That doesn't help me. 207 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:43,640 I'll just read this. If I'm going to read from the 208 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:45,520 Old Testament, I'll just read Psalms and Proverbs. 209 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,600 The 66 books of the Canon are so powerful because they were 210 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,280 written by so many different authors, and yet they just fit. 211 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,440 They're in line. And the story of Jesus is is 212 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:57,000 literally the thread that carries it all. 213 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:01,400 The gospel is held in all 66 books, and it's so important 214 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:02,680 that we don't water down the scriptures. 215 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:05,600 The problem is when we water down the Scripture, we tame the 216 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,880 Scripture for my benefit. We we make it applicable for 217 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:12,520 myself. And So what I do is I diminish 218 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:14,720 my sinfulness. I increase someone else's 219 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:16,560 sinfulness. Where does grace go? 220 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,960 The beauty of the Scripture is it reveals my hidden flaws. 221 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,600 It reveals my blind set spots. I cannot read it and say I'm 222 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:27,240 going to read it today and find a verse that causes me to 223 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:29,240 believe that my husband is a bigger Sinner than me. 224 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:31,520 That's not what the Scripture is. 225 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:36,280 I cannot water down the Scriptures to satisfy my needs. 226 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:40,000 That's one of the things we do. We may not wash our hands 200 227 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,120 times a day, but we may be watering down the scripture to 228 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,880 meet our personal selfish needs. If you notice the Pharisees, 229 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,800 they were not actually teaching the Torah per SE. 230 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:54,120 They had a a book where in which were written all the traditions 231 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,560 of the elders, traditions that were marked on thousands of 232 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:59,160 years that leaders had actually written down. 233 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,280 And these guys were taking that and teaching it to the people 234 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,040 like it was the word of God and it wasn't. 235 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:05,880 It was just traditions, it was rituals. 236 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:09,840 And a lot of times we may not do that, but we might turn a 237 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,640 scripture a little bit to meet our fancy. 238 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:15,960 We may look at a particular scripture and say, well, that 239 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,320 doesn't apply to me. My situation is different. 240 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,400 And I would urge you that you stop watering down the 241 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,200 scriptures. We cannot change the meaning of 242 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,600 the original scripture. Let God reveal it to you as is 243 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,240 because it's powerful as a it's the Rhema word. 244 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:36,360 It's the revealed word. It is so powerful to our very 245 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:39,240 being. Second thing that we often do is 246 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,960 we eye wash. We do an eye wash of it. 247 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:44,520 What does that look like? What is eye wash? 248 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,360 You know, when something goes into your eye, you don't rush to 249 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:49,920 the hospital immediately, OK? What you do is, and this is 250 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:52,400 something an eye doctor once taught me, she said you just 251 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,840 take, you know, a little bit of water in the palm of your hand, 252 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:59,640 put it in and you blink into it. Now, is this bath level quality 253 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,480 of washing? No, but that is all it needs to 254 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:04,560 cleanse the eye, the outer surface of the eye. 255 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,080 And I've tried it many times and it's worked. 256 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,120 But the problem is a lot of us think that when I do an eye 257 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,680 wash, kind of cleansing, a very superficial thing, then I'm 258 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:16,600 sorted. A lot of us say sorry to people 259 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,200 on social media. They're the very people we tone 260 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,480 down on social media. Then we try to do it, just do 261 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,720 the cover up by apologizing on a status. 262 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,840 Some of us have broken up on a message and done with it. 263 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:30,280 We think, you know what? I'm clear. 264 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:34,120 My conscience is clear. Have you gone deeper? 265 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:37,520 Did you go before God, sit with Him and repent? 266 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,160 What has happened to us that we think we can bypass personal 267 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:46,400 confession and repentance to God before we actually access our 268 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:50,880 promises or our blessings? God is calling us to a deeper 269 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:52,600 wash. He's asking for a wash. 270 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,320 In the spirit realm, the eye wash is not enough. 271 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,640 It's not enough. Too many of us are relying on 272 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:05,320 our own capacity to be articulate, to just say the 273 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:06,880 right thing at the right time, and I'm done. 274 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,280 Maybe you've just been singing a song or two in worship. 275 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:12,560 You lift your hands and you see God. 276 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:14,760 I'm clean with you. But have you gone deeper? 277 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:18,120 Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to Washington? 278 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:21,760 You deeper? Only His blood can cleanse us 279 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:26,320 from all unrighteousness. Not our well placed words, not 280 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,560 our understanding of the Bible, but a heart that is penitent. 281 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,400 I love Psalm 51 because David had to go deep. 282 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,680 He had committed a grave sin and he didn't do an eye wash of it, 283 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,600 of just saying publicly, you know what? 284 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:41,400 This is what I've done, I'm so sorry. 285 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,320 Here's recompense for Bathsheba, you know, and say sorry to Joab 286 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,280 for what happened to Uriah. He went deep with God. 287 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,800 So today I'm asking you, did you go deep with God when you needed 288 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,480 to come clean about something? Or was it just eye wash? 289 00:14:54,720 --> 00:15:00,080 Was it just superficial? The the Pharisees had this 290 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,040 understanding that they washed the vessels, the pictures in 291 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,600 certain translations, it actually talked about cleaning 292 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:07,680 the dining couch, the one that they reclined on. 293 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:13,600 Look at the depths of, of ritualistic stuff that they were 294 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:15,320 up to. They needed to do this to feel 295 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,600 pure before they sat down for the next meal. 296 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:20,920 And when you think about it, sometimes we all we care in 297 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,520 terms of settling something with God even is just keeping it at 298 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,640 the surface level. And we also sometimes explain it 299 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:29,600 away to God a lot. But you know how they are. 300 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:32,280 I've done this, but you know how they are. 301 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:33,840 There's no point of this conversation. 302 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,200 And God is saying, you come clean with me first. 303 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,520 Stop doing this. I wash, tell it to me like it is 304 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:44,280 the problem that when we resort to doing this is we minimize our 305 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,960 sin. We dismiss our need for God's 306 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,720 help because without God's help sanctify, sanctification is not 307 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:52,080 going to happen, not going to be purified. 308 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:57,680 I need God's help on a daily basis to sanctify me and also to 309 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,440 show grace to others in their missteps. 310 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,080 What happens is when I minimize my sin, I maximize theirs. 311 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:10,960 And God is calling us today into a deeper place of authenticity, 312 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,160 of dropping the fizzard. He's saying what you are behind 313 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,400 closed doors and what you are outside need to match for the 314 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,360 Christian to have authority in the things we speak, for the 315 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,280 Christian to have impact in the real world. 316 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,800 We cannot afford to have this huge gap between private and 317 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,040 public. So I want to ask you, have you 318 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,880 been covering up the deeper sense of your life by just 319 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:36,880 fixating on the superficial? Jesus always went deeper. 320 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,800 He was never content with a superficial, so why should we 321 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,160 mark 17? Verses 17 to 23 says this. 322 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,200 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples 323 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,000 asked him about this parable. Are you so dull? 324 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,240 He asked. Don't you see that nothing that 325 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,880 enters a person from the outside can defile them, for it doesn't 326 00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,200 go into their heart, but into their stomach and then out of 327 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,600 the body? In saying this, Jesus declared 328 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,560 all foods clean. He went on. 329 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,280 What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 330 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,640 For it is from within, out of a person's heart that evil 331 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,839 thoughts come. Sexual immorality, theft, 332 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:22,079 murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, 333 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,800 arrogance, and form. All these evils come from inside 334 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,880 and defile a person. The Apostle Paul, you know, he, 335 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:35,360 he kind of expands on this. He talks about how one person 336 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:37,880 eats a food and then that becomes a stumbling block to 337 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:41,160 someone else. So he concludes from Romans 14 338 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,120 verse 17, saying the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating 339 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:45,960 and drinking, but of righteousness. 340 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:51,080 Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit continues because anyone who 341 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:55,160 serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives 342 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:59,160 human approval. Wow, what does this mean? 343 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,640 So Jesus says it's not what goes in that corrupts you. 344 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,000 So food is all clean. He said there's no longer this 345 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,400 kosher, non kosher. He says all of it I have 346 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,800 cleansed by my blood. But now he's saying the stuff 347 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,240 that comes out of us, that is what defines us. 348 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:15,200 And what are the different things? 349 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:16,280 He mentions these. I want us. 350 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:20,000 We will look at them closer later, but he mentions about 10 351 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,960 different things that corrupt everyone of us. 352 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:27,320 So all of us on some level are defiled, not just by the 353 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,840 microplastics and the non organic food you're consuming. 354 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,800 You are actually defiled. I am actually defiled by these 355 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:36,840 things that dwell deep inside me. 356 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,640 And I thank God for the Holy Spirit who works on a daily 357 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,320 basis till I will reach eternity to clean me up. 358 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,320 It's not a one day thing. It's not a one month thing, it's 359 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,160 not a one year thing. It's lifelong. 360 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:54,360 But Paul expands to tell us, those who want to serve Christ 361 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:56,880 in this way that is actually pursuing righteousness, love, 362 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:01,160 peace, and joy, they are pleasing to God and receive 363 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,240 human approval. Now, I want us to just look at 364 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,560 this, receive human approval. What is this? 365 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:08,280 We're not meant to be people pleasers. 366 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:10,560 We're not meant to make others happy. 367 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,160 We're made to revel in our relationship with God and also 368 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,960 to bless others, am I right? What does this mean? 369 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:19,160 What is he actually talking about? 370 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:23,640 And I believe Paul is talking to the Roman church and he's saying 371 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:28,160 that when you are fixated on what you're eating or drinking, 372 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,400 the superficial stuff that feeds our flesh, you, you are not 373 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,520 feeding the Spirit. But the Kingdom of God is all 374 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:36,760 about the Spirit. And that is where you have this 375 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,080 right standing with God, you exhibit a shallow peace. 376 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,600 You have joy beyond your circumstances. 377 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,600 Those are the things which please God and doesn't end 378 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:47,680 there. It gets the approval of man. 379 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:49,680 What are we talking about when we talk about approval? 380 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,880 I believe it basically means we are not a stench in the in the 381 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:57,320 lives of people around us. Hypocrisy is a single biggest 382 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:02,000 reason why many people either leave Christendom or because of 383 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,320 which people avoid us. Or she says one thing but she 384 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,480 does another. Or she claims to stand for this 385 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:11,000 but her private life doesn't seem that way. 386 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:12,960 I've seen how he leaves his home. 387 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:16,680 There's something different about someone who actually looks 388 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:18,200 after their family and someone like him. 389 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,960 Something doesn't add up. Christians everywhere, we need 390 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,960 to understand that the biggest stench causes is hypocrisy. 391 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,920 The biggest stench causes in our lives is hypocrisy. 392 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:32,440 We say one thing, we do another. We project ourselves in a 393 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:35,520 certain way but are very different in reality. 394 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,440 We use verses on our social media status, but our lives 395 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,320 don't live out the gospel. What is the point if we want to 396 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:47,040 receive human approval, which is not people pleasing, which is 397 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:51,080 not playing to the band, but rather living in such a way that 398 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,080 we are a magnet for Jesus, Living in such a way that we are 399 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,640 truly the salt and the light. If the salt is spoiled, the food 400 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,120 is messed up. If there is no light in the 401 00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:02,040 different parts of the world that we are all placed in, 402 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:06,280 darkness prevails. We are the light and the reason 403 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:08,760 number one reason our light is dimmed is because of our 404 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,920 hypocrisy. The reason number one reason our 405 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:14,000 saltiness is put down is because of our hypocrisy. 406 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:19,040 Luke Chapter 11 verses 39 to 52. I'm just going to go verse by 407 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,880 verse in this to understand in in, you know, it's literally 408 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:24,520 live action. What is hypocrisy today? 409 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,680 It's exactly what Jesus described back in the day and it 410 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,560 matches with who we are today. So we're going to read couple of 411 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,360 verses together and then I'm just going to expound it a bit, 412 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:36,920 OK, Luke 11 starting from verse 39, it says then the Lord said 413 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,920 to him, Now then you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and 414 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,560 dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 415 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,920 You foolish people did not the one who made the outside made 416 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,160 the inside also. Now As for what is inside you, 417 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,480 be generous to the poor and everything will be clean for 418 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,440 you. So the first mark of hypocrisy 419 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,080 is where you are holy for the show of it. 420 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,680 You're all about, you know, how you carry yourself, but inwardly 421 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:04,680 you're not actually living in a way that pleases God. 422 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,880 You pretend to be generous, but you withhold from those who need 423 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,200 it the most. And so Jesus is very clear. 424 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,920 He tells them you just be generous, then you're cleansed. 425 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,040 For how many of us? We pretend to live a life that 426 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,320 is for others, but we're deeply clenching our fists. 427 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:21,600 We are misers. We don't want to give off what 428 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,040 we have. We say we worked hard for it. 429 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,320 This is mine. God is calling that out today. 430 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:28,440 Verse 42. This is what it says. 431 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,160 Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your 432 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:35,160 mint, Roux, and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect 433 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,800 justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the 434 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,800 latter without leaving the former undone. 435 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:45,160 It's interesting because Jesus is addressing this problem that 436 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,480 a lot of us have where we pick and choose the scriptures we 437 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,760 want to live by. We abandoned the controversial 438 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,920 or the hard to follow stuff. We miss the heart behind the 439 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:57,680 scripture and we choose to look at it legalistically. 440 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,760 I will tithe 10%. But when we come to the New 441 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,200 Testament in One Corinthians Chapter 9, what does it says 442 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,800 that everything you have is? Is gods give generously those 443 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,680 who so generously reap generous. There's no mention of 10% in the 444 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,240 New Testament. You see what I'm saying? 445 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,400 We can become so picky and choosy about what we buy into 446 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,400 from the Scripture and what we reject. 447 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,000 What is God asking of you today? He says maybe you're giving it 448 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,400 very, you know, axiomatically you just give month on month. 449 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:28,920 But I noticed that you don't give up your time. 450 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,680 I noticed that you don't spend time with your family. 451 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:36,000 Or maybe you're so caught up in self-care that you're not 452 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:37,840 worried about the other things I'm calling you into. 453 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:42,400 What is God calling you into? Third part, verse 43? 454 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,400 What are you Pharisees? Because you love the most 455 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,160 important seeds in the synagogues and respectful 456 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,600 greetings in the marketplaces. Another form of our hypocrisy is 457 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,040 pretending to be humble. Oh, I don't need that prominent 458 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,680 space. I don't need that mention. 459 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:57,840 Oh yeah, I did help in that video. 460 00:23:58,040 --> 00:23:59,280 It's fine. I don't need the mention. 461 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,760 But you go all around town saying how you didn't get 462 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,480 mentioned. It's a false humility. 463 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,880 You need appreciation and validation from people. 464 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,760 Remember what Jesus said? He said he never entrusted it 465 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:13,440 Says Jesus never entrusted himself to people for he knew 466 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,720 what they were made of. He only looked to God his Father 467 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:22,240 for glory. And yet the hypocrisy in US 468 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,280 causes us to act humble when we're desperate for elevation, 469 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:31,360 we're desperate for validation. Verse 4244, it says woe to you 470 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:35,000 because you are like unmarked graves which people walk over 471 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,600 without knowing it. When you read it in the message 472 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,440 version, it's just such a disturbing verse. 473 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,880 It says they walk over you not knowing that there is decay of 474 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:48,120 old bones beneath the surface. And what is this talking about? 475 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,600 You know, a lot of, lot of us as Christians can paint this 476 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,840 picture of perfection, of purity, of holiness. 477 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:58,360 But deep inside us, there's the skeleton. 478 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:01,600 And it's, it's not just a skeleton because we all have a 479 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,240 skeleton. But this is like a, a cupboard 480 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,080 full of skeletons, skeletons in our closet galore. 481 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,000 And the beauty is, you know, the, the fact is we have a God 482 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,960 who knows about our skeletons. And the quicker we come to this 483 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,200 realisation of opening that skeleton closet and saying, 484 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,000 Lord, cleanse this off me, he does it. 485 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:21,360 But too many of us are so ashamed of it. 486 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,960 We know that if it gets dug up, it's going to harm our identity, 487 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,600 our, our reputation. We keep it hidden. 488 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,840 And unfortunately, we're influencing others, maybe 489 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,240 through social media, through personal relationship, through 490 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,240 being their superior work or whatever they are 491 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:43,000 unintentionally engaging with someone who's fully decayed from 492 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,680 the inside. It's like a rotten apple at the 493 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:47,760 core. The outside looks perfect, but 494 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:51,280 the deeper you go, you see that such darkness exists that it's 495 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:53,680 scary. How many of us can fit into that 496 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,600 Verse 45, one of the experts in the law answered him. 497 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,440 Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also. 498 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,600 Jesus replied. And you experts in the law vote 499 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,800 you because you load people down with burdens they can hardly 500 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,200 carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help 501 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,160 them. Are you a teacher? 502 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,320 Are you a Bible study leader? Are you a pastor? 503 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,200 Are you an evangelist? Are you someone who is 504 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,920 prophetic? What load have you put on 505 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,600 someone else in the name of your authority? 506 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,120 In the name of them needing to submit to authority, what have 507 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,600 you put on them? Have you told them they can't do 508 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:30,960 this, this, this, when Jesus is all about freedom? 509 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:32,520 Jesus says I'll bring the conviction. 510 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,000 You just lead them by example. I love what Paul writes to 511 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,360 Timothy. He says you lead by example, 512 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:41,440 Timothy, with your speech, your love, your purity. 513 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:45,400 And a lot of times I'm finding it's tempting to put a double 514 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,000 standard to our leadership. I'll do this, but you can't do 515 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,200 this. I can do this because I'm 516 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,680 mature, but you being immature, you can't do this. 517 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:54,640 And I believe God is calling that out. 518 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:58,080 He's saying when you impose that rule, walk with them, pray with 519 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,080 them, invest in them. Otherwise don't lay that burden 520 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,080 on them. You encouraging someone to live 521 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,080 a celibate life, have you thought that through? 522 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:09,840 Have you understood what it requires of you to journey with 523 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:11,280 them? Because it'll be a very lonely 524 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,600 Rd. It's a very lonely Rd. 525 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,520 Will we do with others? Will we spend time with them? 526 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,120 Will we give off ourselves, especially when we're in a 527 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:23,160 position of leadership to walk with them, to encourage them to 528 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,400 take the phone anytime and say, I know you're struggling, I'm 529 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:30,520 with you, I'm praying for you. Too many times we've put a load 530 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:34,400 on a person that has been mentored by us or being led by 531 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,400 us and we've said, do this, it's good for you. 532 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:37,600 It's what I feel you should have. 533 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,520 God told me to do it. We bring all that in and we 534 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,400 don't step in to journey with them. 535 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:49,280 God's calling us out. Verse 47 vote you because you 536 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:52,280 built tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who 537 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,280 killed them. So you testify that you approve 538 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,200 of what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets and you 539 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,840 built their tombs. Because of this, God in his 540 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,480 wisdom said, I will send them prophets and apostles, some of 541 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,720 whom they will kill and others they will persecute. 542 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:09,040 Therefore, this generation will be held responsible for the 543 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:11,680 blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the 544 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,640 beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of 545 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,560 Zechariah who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. 546 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,480 Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it 547 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:23,280 all. Now we have to understand that 548 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,160 new covenant, all generation curses are broken. 549 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,520 We are not going to be punished for what our ancestors did. 550 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:34,120 But the fine print there is, if we are repeating the sins of the 551 00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:37,000 ancestors, we will be held responsible for that. 552 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,320 Each generation is responsible for what they do. 553 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,560 And here he's talking about how these guys were building tombs 554 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:48,400 for the people, the the ancestors that the the prophets 555 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:50,600 and priests that their ancestors killed. 556 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:52,960 So he's saying basically you're admitting that you killed them 557 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:55,160 and you're doing some sort of penance for it. 558 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:56,960 And he says, therefore, I blame you. 559 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,600 I believe God is calling the hypocrisy out of our own lives 560 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:03,960 at this moment. And he's saying there are some 561 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,440 sins of your ancestors which reek up to high heavens and it 562 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,680 stops with you. It has to stop with you. 563 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:13,160 You are continuing it, saying this is who I am, I'm 564 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,240 genetically predisposed to alcoholism. 565 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:17,560 You have a bunch of different ideas. 566 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,440 Oh, this is how my ancestors were. 567 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,400 This is what they did. They ran a quarry. 568 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,320 They did stuff that was unjust with with their workers. 569 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,080 So why not? It worked for them. 570 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,560 God is saying it ends with you. If you know me, if you know my 571 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:34,760 word, it lend with you. You will repent and turn and go 572 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:36,280 the direction I'm telling you to go in. 573 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:41,160 It's on us as to what we choose to repeat of our ancestors. 574 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,440 If there's good things from your ancestors, please, please. 575 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,200 Like we talked about digging old wells. 576 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:50,120 If it's prayer, if it's fasting, if it's giving of yourself to 577 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:52,040 the poor, whatever it is, do that. 578 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:57,640 But what in your genealogy, what in your family line needs to 579 00:29:57,640 --> 00:29:59,040 end? You need to identify it. 580 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:01,360 What are you repeating unconsciously or consciously? 581 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:03,840 Oh, my father hit me, therefore I can hit my kid. 582 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,720 It has to end somewhere for the sake of generations to come. 583 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:12,400 It ends with you. Oh my, My parents were 584 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:13,960 unfaithful to each other, so it's OK. 585 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:15,400 How I live, it doesn't matter anyway. 586 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,160 This is what's going to happen. This is my lot. 587 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,440 I beg to differ. Our lot in Jesus is different. 588 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,720 We live under the new covenant. We live by His grace everyday. 589 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,000 He will give us that which we need for life and godliness. 590 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:32,800 So what is our excuse? Finally, verse 52, vote you 591 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,320 experts in the law because you have taken away the key to 592 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,680 knowledge. You yourselves have not entered 593 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:39,800 and have hindered those who are entering. 594 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,880 Many times the rules we set for ourselves and for others are 595 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,240 stumbling blocks. You know, I can be a stumbling 596 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,080 block, not just to myself, to my children, to my spouse, to those 597 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,840 who are in my life. And here he's saying these 598 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:56,120 experts, they had the key. They knew what they must do. 599 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,440 They were not doing it. And because they were not doing 600 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,680 it, all their followers were also not doing it. 601 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,560 So they didn't allow themselves to experience the joys of 602 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:06,600 eternal life by believing in Jesus. 603 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:10,080 And they set back an entire group because of their 604 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:12,800 stubbornness. And I want to ask us today, have 605 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,440 you been doing the same thing? We know the good we must do, but 606 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:17,760 we don't do it. And that's a sin in the eyes of 607 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,920 God. We know the good we are supposed 608 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:23,560 to do. We're stepping away from it, 609 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:26,600 saying it's too hard and because you have modelled that life, 610 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:28,720 generations after you are going to do the same thing. 611 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:33,200 And God is saying the hypocritical Christian is a 612 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,200 surefire way of preventing others from entering the Kingdom 613 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,160 of God, preventing others from knowing Jesus. 614 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,680 The simplest example was what Mahatma Gandhi said when he saw 615 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:50,480 apartheid so close up, when he saw the the gaps between the 616 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,680 white Christians and the African Christians. 617 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:59,200 He said, I love the songs that Christians sing, but I don't 618 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:03,320 think I'll ever become one just because of the people I've seen. 619 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:06,720 In all probability, he loved Jesus as well. 620 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:10,080 But it's hard to enter the Kingdom of God when you see 621 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,840 fellow followers of Jesus behaving the way they like. 622 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,440 Behaving in such a detrimental way to the gospel, behaving in 623 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:19,680 such a way where there's no limits on their life to the bad 624 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:21,920 they will do. Behaving in a way where there's 625 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:25,840 no discipline, where there is no possibility for course 626 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:27,480 correction because they're so far off. 627 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,800 Who are you preventing from entering the Kingdom of God? 628 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,480 Who are you dissuading because of your behaviour? 629 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:36,960 Because of the kind of leadership skills you are 630 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,240 displaying? Because of the way you behave 631 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:41,520 with Co workers? How many people are turning away 632 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:43,920 from Jesus because of the way you and I behave? 633 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:46,400 This is a call out for all of us. 634 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,720 So what does this Kingdom life require us to do? 635 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,800 It requires us to mean what we say and say what we mean. 636 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:58,320 Stop talking in riddles. Stop saying stuff like I can get 637 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:00,600 this done, you know, anytime in the next within the next 638 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:02,560 fortnight, give a date. Stick to the date. 639 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,720 Tell that person you're pursuing what your intentions are. 640 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:09,600 Don't be in the grey. Don't keep them guessing. 641 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:12,800 Mean what you say and say what you mean. 642 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:16,200 Keep to your word. Jesus said let your yes be yes 643 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:18,920 and your no be no meaning that should carry so much weightage 644 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,200 for the follower of Jesus. When I say yes, I'll be there, 645 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:23,160 it means I'll be there. Yes, I will do it. 646 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,040 It means I will do it. I don't have to say I swear on 647 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,920 this and that I should be so credible as a witness in the 648 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:32,040 marketplace that they will say when Christine says it. 649 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:34,640 When Christine says it, Christine will do it. 650 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:39,640 You need to walk the talk. You can be talking all the live 651 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:41,520 long day about Jesus, about his word. 652 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:43,840 You can share the worst of the day on your WhatsApp story. 653 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:48,280 But if you are living however you like, with absolutely no 654 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:53,000 guardrails, behaving in any old way, texting whatever you like 655 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,360 you are, you fall under the category of the hypocrite. 656 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:59,560 You will be a deterrent to people knowing Christ. 657 00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:03,200 You have to lead yourself as you lead others. 658 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,960 Especially for those of us who are in leadership positions for 659 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,760 mentors who are parents. If we don't lead ourselves 660 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,360 wisely, we don't need to learn. We need to learn to regulate 661 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,360 ourselves before we expect regulation from others. 662 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,920 We need to pursue excellence and diligence before we expect it of 663 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:21,040 others. We need to go deeper with 664 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:25,000 ourselves so that we can see our own sinfulness before we point 665 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,400 out someone else's. I personally love marriage just 666 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,000 for that because you know, when we're thinking of what someone 667 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,480 else has done to us, it just needs one word from our spouse 668 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,280 to bring us back into track and say, but we're not any better. 669 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,320 We say the same things, we have the same prejudice and it's 670 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:41,960 quick. It brings us back in shape. 671 00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:44,040 It alerts us to our own hypocrisy. 672 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,840 Go deeper with yourself. Find out what that plank is in 673 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:53,400 your life and identify it and pull it out because it doesn't 674 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,679 help when we only look at others sinfulness and not ours. 675 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:01,040 And I love that Jesus was very clear about how he felt about 676 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,520 the Pharisees. These were men created in his 677 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:06,360 image, and yet he was very tough on them. 678 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:08,480 This is what he said in Matthew 1233. 679 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:11,120 He said make a tree good and it's fruit will be good, or make 680 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,600 a tree bad and it's fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized 681 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,720 by its fruit. You brood of wipers. 682 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,680 How can you who are evil say anything good? 683 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,280 For the the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 684 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:28,360 A good man brings good things or the good stored up in him, and 685 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:32,240 an evil man brings evil things or the evil stored up in him. 686 00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:37,040 It's interesting because the Pharisees didn't know how much 687 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,040 they needed Jesus purely because they denied who they were. 688 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,640 They put up a big show. They walked in such in in such 689 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:46,480 authority and influence. They thought they were sorted 690 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:47,840 with God. They thought that their heart 691 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,520 was in a good place. They had no clue how far away 692 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,920 they were. They had no clue that the source 693 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,840 of salvation was in front of them, but they were still doing 694 00:35:55,840 --> 00:36:02,480 things to achieve salvation. And so this denial of who they 695 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:04,920 were and how much they actually needed him was the cause of all 696 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:09,360 of this hypocrisy. And Jesus hate how hated how the 697 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,920 Pharisees behaved when they would come there just to needle 698 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,680 him the way they spoke. He would say, I know what you're 699 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:17,200 thinking. Why are you thinking such evil 700 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:19,840 thoughts? He knew everything before they 701 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,000 opened their mouth, and yet he would allow them to talk. 702 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:25,720 I think for our benefit, for us to understand this is where I 703 00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:28,680 see myself, Lord, this is who I am. 704 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:33,880 How many of us can honestly say, Lord, I'm sick and I'm in need 705 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:38,160 of the Great Physician? How many of us can say, Lord, my 706 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:41,680 mind is twisted, I need you to uncoil it. 707 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:45,680 Lord, my spirit is broken because of what I have walked 708 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:48,560 through and I'm starting to break others because of it. 709 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:53,600 Can you fix me? Jesus said this in Luke 5 verse 710 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:55,680 31. He said, and Jesus replied to 711 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:58,720 them, It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, 712 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,600 but only those who are sick. I did not come to call the 713 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,840 self-proclaimed righteous who see no need to repent, but 714 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,800 sinners to repentance, to change their old way of thinking, to 715 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:13,160 turn from sin, and to seek God and His righteousness. 716 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:17,000 As I was preparing this, I realized that it's one thing to 717 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:21,640 say Lord, I'm a hypocrite, but it's another to repent and say 718 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,800 I'm so sorry Lord, because I have put loads on people that I 719 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,520 should not have put. I turned away people when they 720 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:30,680 displayed sin that was mirrored in me. 721 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:34,520 When we come clean with God, it just radically changes the 722 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:39,800 equation because Jesus sees the deepest parts of our hearts. 723 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:42,000 You and I can whitewash our speech. 724 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,640 We can, you know, cover our behaviour for a while. 725 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,800 But sorry to say, before long everything gets exposed. 726 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:49,880 Our genuine nature comes to the surface. 727 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:54,960 Our inner junk will come out if we don't let it all out. 728 00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:59,040 Before the Master, before our Maker, before our Saviour, 729 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:01,280 before our Redeemer, before our Restorer. 730 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:03,480 He is the one who makes all things right. 731 00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:09,000 He makes all things new. Too many of us have been living 732 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:12,200 double lives. You're wondering why your 733 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:15,280 breakthrough isn't coming, but God is saying, look at the 734 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:18,960 double life that you are living. I cannot bless someone who has a 735 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,680 blatant double life, even if it's a very hidden double life. 736 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:24,800 He cannot. It's more like what happened at 737 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,000 the Battle of Jericho. After the the big victory, 738 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:30,520 they're so confident and they decide to go and conquer this 739 00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:34,160 little town called AI, and they just decide to take a few guys. 740 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,600 But because there was sin in the camp after Jericho, they 741 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:40,440 couldn't win that small little battle they had to get into. 742 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:43,120 Too many of us are facing so many battles. 743 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:47,160 We know we like to call it the devils attacking us, but what if 744 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:51,800 you're so discordant that you can't even detect anymore that 745 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:54,120 you're not just fighting demons, you're fighting demons of your 746 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:57,880 own making. Your double life is blocking 747 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,000 your blessing. Maybe you're a spouse and you 748 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:04,200 look and sound perfect. You look in church put together, 749 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:06,600 you put your arm around your spouse. 750 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:11,160 Everything looks fine and dandy. But privately, only God sees the 751 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:15,360 abuse you met out to them and he's saying his time's running 752 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:18,320 out. The hypocrites need to come 753 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,040 home. Their father waits. 754 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:24,280 He is willing if you repent, to embrace you and start you on a 755 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:25,920 new journey. But it's on you. 756 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:32,160 Some of you come to church. You talk to everyone, but you 757 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,040 have private habits that are yet you're grappling with. 758 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:36,680 You're not coming clean to God about. 759 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:41,560 Some of you have already broken your marital vows or you're on 760 00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:44,440 the verge of it and God is reaching out. 761 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:47,680 He's saying enough, you're tired from the double life, come to 762 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:51,800 me. Some of you say you love people, 763 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,760 you care for them, but actually deep inside you're cold hearted. 764 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:58,800 You don't care for anyone. Some of you claim to love 765 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,400 serving, but you'll only serve for your benefit. 766 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:05,040 You will only serve if your agenda is met. 767 00:40:05,720 --> 00:40:07,080 And God is saying that's not true. 768 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:12,240 Come clean, come clean. You claim that you don't have 769 00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:14,360 prejudice. You love all like Jesus says. 770 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:16,680 You know Jesus loves the little children of the whole world. 771 00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:19,880 You say you know what, you love everybody, but you have dark 772 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:24,080 prejudices deep within you and you know it. 773 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:30,400 You quote scripture like a boss. You know the word inside. 774 00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:32,560 Or because you've been in Sunday school from, you know, the 775 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:36,200 beginner stage, but your private life is a mess because you have 776 00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:38,520 not drawn near to God with your heart. 777 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,640 Your mouth worships him. You may be in the worship team. 778 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,560 You may be a music musician. You may be a worship leader. 779 00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:48,760 You may even be a leader. But you know, you have private 780 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,280 strongholds that you're battling day in, day out. 781 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:52,960 Some of them you've even given in to. 782 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:54,760 You said, this is how I am. I can't change. 783 00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,160 But God is saying, don't defile the anointing that is in you. 784 00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:02,520 Come clean so that I can take you to the next level and use 785 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:05,040 you to bless more. But you need to come clean. 786 00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:08,760 God's calling the hypocrites home. 787 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:12,720 He understands the struggle, but he's now offering grace to us. 788 00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:15,680 The condition, condition is this. 789 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:19,680 Washing hands won't do it. I need to wash my heart, my 790 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,160 heart. I need to rend my heart. 791 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:22,320 That's what the psalmist would say. 792 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:25,960 Rending is just shedding, shredding it, pulling it apart 793 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,520 and saying, God, this is the most broken part of me. 794 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:32,680 I can explain away the sin to people, but I can't explain it 795 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:35,560 away to you. God, I abused because I was 796 00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:37,800 abused. I molest because I was molested. 797 00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:39,720 But God is saying enough for the excuses. 798 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:43,120 Drop the costume, drop the fizzard. 799 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:47,880 You have to allow the Holy Spirit to turn you inside out 800 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:51,760 and cleanse you. So as we close, this is what I 801 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,120 want to do with you. I'm going to go back to that 802 00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,160 passage. We were reading Luke Chapter 7 803 00:41:56,160 --> 00:42:00,200 and I'm going to be reading 21 and 22, the verses 21 and 22, 804 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:04,000 and I'm going to read those words with very slow intention, 805 00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:07,080 with the intention to actually bring our attention to each of 806 00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:09,040 these sins that Jesus himself mentioned. 807 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:11,480 These are not, these are not mentioned by me. 808 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:15,960 I didn't add these in. And as I give you these 809 00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:18,920 different sins, you're going to add a hook to it. 810 00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:20,200 You're going to say, God, that's me. 811 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:25,400 I need cleansing from this because it's pewing out of me. 812 00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:28,280 Some people who are like pressure cookers keep everything 813 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:30,520 stuffed, but it's not yet spewed out, but it's eating you up. 814 00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:32,800 And God is saying I want to deliver you today. 815 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:36,800 I want to cleanse you so that you will be a magnet for me in 816 00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:39,800 the nations. So that when you speak the words 817 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:42,360 go out with authority and power and don't fall to the ground. 818 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:45,760 So that when you pray for people genuinely with a heart of love, 819 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:49,280 things change in their life. So that you will walk in favour, 820 00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:52,000 So that you will actually experience signs, wonders and 821 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:53,760 miracles. But if you are going to be so 822 00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:56,600 fake, if you're going to be so pent up with all of this rage 823 00:42:56,680 --> 00:43:00,320 when the outside is just looking all bright and shiny, I can't do 824 00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:02,680 much with you. That is a broken vessel. 825 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:08,280 God wants to cleanse us today. So as I read this, can you just 826 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:10,440 attach yourself to one and say, God, that's me. 827 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:12,920 Could be multiple ones. That's OK. 828 00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:15,720 You don't need to do this publicly before people. 829 00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:17,760 You can do it privately with your saviour. 830 00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:21,120 And I believe our Redeemer is going to turn things around. 831 00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:26,520 God cleanse us of these deep sins in all our lives. 832 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:37,520 Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, 833 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:46,640 deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. 834 00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:49,680 Father, we just bring these to you. 835 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,600 Even as we have tagged our name to a couple of these. 836 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:55,120 We lift our hands and hearts to you. 837 00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:59,760 God, will you forgive us? We repent of every 838 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:04,800 unrighteousness, repent of every sin by Commission and omission. 839 00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:07,600 We repent for the things we have done out of ignorance. 840 00:44:07,600 --> 00:44:10,240 We are repenting for the things we did with full knowledge. 841 00:44:11,680 --> 00:44:15,800 Forgive us God, turn us around, change the direction that we are 842 00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:19,040 headed in. Heal our hearts, heal our minds, 843 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:24,280 heal our bodies. God, we pray that we will be 844 00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:28,160 good trees that beg good fruit. We pray, O God, that you will 845 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:32,160 work deep inside us so that generations will be changed. 846 00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:38,920 Help us, hold us, heal us God, in Jesus name, Amen. 847 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:41,880 Amen. As we get into this week, I want 848 00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,280 you to take this with joy. This, it may have been a heavy 849 00:44:44,280 --> 00:44:48,400 sermon, but we need to take this into the world that I'm healed 850 00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:50,360 so that I can bring God's healing to others. 851 00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:54,120 Not so that we would get the glory or the praise so that he 852 00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:55,840 would be glorified, so He would be honoured. 853 00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:59,240 Because our God is mighty. He is on the move on the earth 854 00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:01,480 right now, and He wants to start with us, His body. 855 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:06,960 So as we allow God to work in US, exchange of hypocrisy for 856 00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:12,560 God's righteousness, exchange the whole duality for justice 857 00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:16,920 being one heart, one mind, one soul, worshipping Him, we need 858 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:20,120 to unite the broken parts of our lives and bring it all before 859 00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:22,600 God. And I pray that as we do this, 860 00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:25,800 it's a life long process that we would keep remembering that He 861 00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:28,760 doesn't dismiss the hypocrites, He gives us grace that we would 862 00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:30,640 keep coming back. Every time you sense that 863 00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:33,280 hypocrisy, you would come back to God and say I'm sorry, 864 00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:36,960 forgive me, and you would resist the temptation to fall into it 865 00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:38,760 again and again. God bless you. 866 00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:41,840 Have an amazing week. Thanks for listening to this 867 00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:44,920 message. We hope you were blessed to hear 868 00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:48,680 more messages like this. Make sure to subscribe and check 869 00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:51,320 out our podcast channel for past episodes. 870 00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:55,080 If you like what you are hearing, consider rating us, 871 00:45:55,240 --> 00:45:58,240 subscribing and even sharing it with friends. 872 00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:02,920 That would really help us. For more content from Via Zion 873 00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:07,440 and to connect with us, go to viazion.in. 874 00:46:08,040 --> 00:46:11,560 Remember, whoever finds Jesus finds life.