WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.240 If you've received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Bible says you are now changed, 2 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:12.480 your old spirit, the old you on the inside has been taken away. A brand new spirit has been put 3 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:19.360 inside of you. All of your sins past, present and yes, future have been taken out of the way. 4 00:00:19.360 --> 00:00:24.480 You have been made a new creature. Then if that wasn't enough on top of that, the Bible says you 5 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:30.080 are justified. Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today, 6 00:00:30.080 --> 00:00:34.960 as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. 7 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:41.360 If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com. 8 00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:48.320 That's citylightnyc.com. Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the 9 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:54.400 Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, 10 00:00:54.400 --> 00:00:59.120 remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace, 11 00:00:59.760 --> 00:01:02.400 and that He has a real hope and a future for you. 12 00:01:05.600 --> 00:01:13.600 The Bible says in Psalms 92 10, the Psalmist, he says, my horn, the horn is the symbol of strength. 13 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:17.200 He said, my horn will be exalted. My strength will be brought up. 14 00:01:18.080 --> 00:01:27.600 Like the horn of a wild ox, I will be anointed with fresh oil, fresh oil. 15 00:01:30.960 --> 00:01:39.280 I don't want to stay a loyal. I want fresh oil. And when God comes, He comes and He's always 16 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:44.720 the freshest. That's why we're not chasing the coolest new thing. The coolest new thing today 17 00:01:45.360 --> 00:01:50.960 changes in a month's time. But whenever the Lord shows up, He's the coolest new thing. His presence 18 00:01:50.960 --> 00:01:55.920 is the freshest thing. And I want to walk in the freshness of the Lord. I'm going to 19 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:02.560 if you've heard that saying that Christians are leaky vessels. Stay full because we're leaky vessels. 20 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:08.880 There goes some, you know, it sounds cute, but it's not really scriptural. We're not Sibs 21 00:02:08.880 --> 00:02:16.720 that walk around just dripping. But what we are is lamps that are burning. And in order to be 22 00:02:16.720 --> 00:02:22.400 burning brightly, you use up oil. So you need more oil. You don't want any kind of oil. You want 23 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:31.600 God's fresh oil. Just the other day, I'm not bragging or anything. But my wife, she made me a 24 00:02:31.600 --> 00:02:39.360 neck breakfast. I know some of you could need eggs this week. And I may be, but when I tell you 25 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:49.120 my cup run it over, I ate eggs for. And I was like, Lord, for my kids too. And my wife, 26 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:56.880 everybody's getting eggs. I think that cost us $600. But we did it. And with, she doesn't normally do 27 00:02:56.880 --> 00:03:03.760 this. She served these great sauteed potatoes. And as I said, because she normally doesn't do it, 28 00:03:04.480 --> 00:03:09.200 just psychologically, I braced for impact. Because usually if I'm having potatoes and eggs, 29 00:03:09.200 --> 00:03:16.560 it's in some greasy spoon diner. And that old oil, immediately, it not just hits your nose, 30 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:21.840 it hits the back of your head right away. And you're doing the calculations. Was this 12 hours 31 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:26.400 since they changed the last or 24 hours? In fact, this is smelling like last week's oil. You know 32 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:33.120 what I'm talking about. But hers, you could taste the little garlic nuances and the little peppers. 33 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:38.800 And because she used fresh oil, I don't want to say you're anointed with fresh oil. And we should, 34 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:45.440 because we're in this for the long haul, right? I don't want to be a musty, crusty, dusty old 35 00:03:45.440 --> 00:03:54.000 Christian. But there's no freshness. I remember when I first year in Bible school, I had a job 36 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.240 at Franklin Templeton. I was straight out of college and went to Bible school. And the 37 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:03.440 Bible school was in Tampa, Florida, but my job was in St. Petersburg. And first day on the job, 38 00:04:03.440 --> 00:04:08.160 one of the co-workers asked me, hey, you know, about my life, and I go, well, I'm in Bible school 39 00:04:08.160 --> 00:04:14.080 also at night. And I'm studying to be a pastor. Oh, I studied to be a pastor also. I think I have 40 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:21.760 a brother. First question, he asked me in this doneness. So in Genesis, when Melchizedek appeared 41 00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:27.680 to Abraham, do you believe that was a personage or theopphony? I didn't even know, 42 00:04:28.960 --> 00:04:35.040 I mean, I can answer that now. I'm like, what? And I'm looking at, I mean, like the very definition 43 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:41.920 of an egghead dead religious crypt keeper. You remember the crypt keeper from back in the day? 44 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:47.920 Any of you, what was the name of the show? Tales from the crypt and the crypt, and when he talks, 45 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.000 like bone dust comes out, there's some Christians like that. I don't want to be that way. 46 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:58.880 I want to be fresh. 2013, I was at a conference walking through the hotel, 47 00:04:59.840 --> 00:05:05.680 lobby, and there was Reinhard Bunke already advanced in his 70s. Reinhard Bunke, if you don't know, 48 00:05:06.400 --> 00:05:12.320 one of if not the greatest crusade evangelists in the history of the world. Do you guys know him? 49 00:05:13.280 --> 00:05:19.760 Africa, shall be saved. I see a bloodwashed Africa. Spoke to hundreds of thousands of people's 50 00:05:19.760 --> 00:05:25.360 later in his ministry to over a million people at one time. And I'm walking by in the lobby, 51 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:29.200 and I see him coming, and I know that he was also already advanced in years. I know he had a 52 00:05:29.200 --> 00:05:35.600 liver condition, and I see him coming. And as I walk past him, I'm not kidding you. It was like 53 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:41.840 walking past a whirlwind. And I briefly glanced at his face, and it's like his face was shimmering. 54 00:05:41.840 --> 00:05:47.760 What is that? The freshness of God. He didn't allow himself to get old and still. 55 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:53.040 I will not allow myself to get old and still, because I know what that leads to. And again, 56 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:59.120 I plan on living a very long time. And I have word for that. The Bible says, with long life, 57 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:05.760 he will satisfy you and show you his salvation. Amen. Kenneth Hagen, he would keep living, 58 00:06:05.760 --> 00:06:09.920 and then he would just say, Lord, I'm not satisfied yet. A few more years. And he went on to his 59 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:15.760 late 80s. Hallelujah. I plan on living a long time, but in order to have true quality of life, 60 00:06:15.760 --> 00:06:22.480 I got to stay fresh. So I want to teach you how to stay fresh, because most of the American church 61 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:29.840 is not designed or conducive to Christian staying fresh. You're not really taught how to be in the 62 00:06:29.840 --> 00:06:35.920 deep abiding presence of God in daily communion with the Lord. What you're really taught, 63 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:41.280 not staying in every place, but in too many places. What you're taught is how to chase the next 64 00:06:41.280 --> 00:06:48.560 shiny thing. And you're just kind of kept distracted from service to service. Next week, 65 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:54.560 we got X, NFL star, and then we have a drama production. And we got the fog. We got the lasers. 66 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:59.440 We got the LED. And then you have that. And then next, you know how I know this? I know 67 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:04.080 kids who were raised in these kind of churches who were now adults, living in Manhattan, and they've 68 00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:09.440 come here and they'll confess to me they did not know how to walk out their Christianity at all, 69 00:07:09.440 --> 00:07:18.240 apart from that system of being distracted from service to service and just chasing the next shiny 70 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:27.360 thing. It will not be so with us. Amen. We're going to walk in the freshness of God. Hallelujah. 71 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:31.280 So let me give you five things. Let me first tell you what I'm not going to talk about is like the 72 00:07:31.280 --> 00:07:37.360 basics, the very basics to staying fresh. Of course, it's praying to God. Just your prayer life, 73 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:42.320 your word life, studying the word, worship, which I mentioned when I opened the service. Very 74 00:07:42.320 --> 00:07:47.760 important to staying fresh. I want to give you maybe some nuance things you haven't thought about 75 00:07:47.760 --> 00:07:54.640 that when you do, you'll stay in the fresh place. Let's begin in second Peter, number one. 76 00:07:55.520 --> 00:08:00.560 Second Peter chapter one versus five through nine. 77 00:08:03.520 --> 00:08:14.960 Hallelujah. John Arnott, fresh, 84 years old, fresh. When you're with him, it's like 78 00:08:15.760 --> 00:08:22.160 sipping from a cool refreshing pitcher water or nice gentle cool breeze. He lives in that 79 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:29.920 fresh place. Second Peter one five. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, 80 00:08:30.880 --> 00:08:39.840 add to your faith virtue, to virtue, knowledge, to knowledge, self-control, to self-control, 81 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:46.960 perseverance, to perseverance, godliness, to godliness. He's listening these virtues, 82 00:08:47.040 --> 00:08:56.240 these wonderful Christian virtues, and to brotherly kindness, add love for these things are yours, 83 00:08:58.400 --> 00:09:04.320 and abound you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 84 00:09:06.160 --> 00:09:16.160 But he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness. Why? Somebody is not experiencing 85 00:09:16.160 --> 00:09:21.920 holiness in their life. They're not experiencing the virtues of the Holy Spirit, 86 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:28.560 which he produces inside of us when we're in communion with him. He produces from the inside out. 87 00:09:28.560 --> 00:09:32.720 Religion tells you be good, change your behavior, and you struggle real hard and never can. 88 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:37.520 The Holy Spirit does it from the inside out, but he's saying for some of you that's not happening. 89 00:09:37.520 --> 00:09:45.360 Why? You know why? He says it. You forgot. What did you forget? You forgot the essence of the gospel. 90 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:53.760 You forgot the finished work of the cross. You forgot grace. You forgot that you were cleansed from 91 00:09:53.760 --> 00:10:00.160 your old sins. This may seem like a funny or strange thing to say, especially on a Sunday morning 92 00:10:00.160 --> 00:10:08.320 where the majority of you are Christians and you are saved, but I am always amazed at how many 93 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:16.000 Christians aren't actually living in light of their own forgiveness. It's something that they 94 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:22.160 remember. It's something that may be intellectually they can maybe explain to you, but they're not living 95 00:10:22.160 --> 00:10:29.840 in light of the finished work of the cross. So let me remind some of you if you've received 96 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:36.800 Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Bible says you are now changed. Your old spirit, the old 97 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:44.160 you on the inside has been taken away. A brand new spirit has been put inside of you. All of your sins 98 00:10:44.160 --> 00:10:51.120 past, present and yes, future have been taken out of the way. You have been made a new creature. 99 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:56.720 Then if that was enough on top of that, the Bible says you are justified. That means the heavenly 100 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:03.440 gavel has come down and you've been declared not guilty. Then on top of that, you've been made 101 00:11:03.520 --> 00:11:09.280 to sit in heavenly places in Christ and the Bible says you're now the very offspring of God. 102 00:11:09.280 --> 00:11:14.080 You've been adopted into the family of God, but it's no different as the natural born. You have 103 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:21.600 all the rights of a natural born heir. That's the gospel. In fact, I felt freshness once again. 104 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:29.600 As soon as you start recounting gospel truths, you talk about the blood of Jesus, the Holy 105 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:32.080 Spirit loves that. He comes right away to see who you're talking about. 106 00:11:33.920 --> 00:11:39.760 And if what I'm saying, because there's always people, Christians forget this too. They forget. 107 00:11:39.760 --> 00:11:45.680 There's always people. Every single Sunday who aren't saved, you don't know the Lord. 108 00:11:46.400 --> 00:11:51.440 You're curious. I welcome you. I'm so glad you're here. In fact, city light exists, yes, 109 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:58.080 to build up Christians, but for you, we want to see you experience all that Jesus died for you to 110 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:05.200 have. Hallelujah. In fact, before we close the service today, you'll have an opportunity to 111 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:12.240 receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. It's by faith. It's a free gift that you appropriate 112 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:18.480 with your faith. We'll help you along in the things of God. Hallelujah. Let me just show you 113 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.080 Romans. We didn't do this in the first service, but I want you to see Romans 6.14. 114 00:12:22.800 --> 00:12:37.120 You know, I got to remember and I do almost every day. This is how I stay fresh. I remember every day 115 00:12:37.760 --> 00:12:47.120 that God owes me nothing. He owes me nothing. And that apart from Jesus, I am an absolute hellbound 116 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:54.720 wretch. I don't deserve him. I don't deserve heaven. I deserve the eternal wrath of God in hell. 117 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:02.960 That's what I deserve. That's what mankind deserves. But in Jesus, I've now been taken in. 118 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:08.000 The Bible says, you who once wore a far off have been brought close and been brought near by the 119 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:13.440 blood of Jesus. The wrath of God that used to abide on me. That's how we were before Jesus. 120 00:13:14.160 --> 00:13:18.000 Like you can tell anyone, Jesus loves you. You can go through the subways. Jesus loves you. 121 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:24.960 That's good. It's true. But there's another truth. At the same time, the wrath of God is on you. 122 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:29.520 And if you don't receive Jesus as love, you're going to die in your sins and experience His wrath 123 00:13:29.520 --> 00:13:35.680 forever. I feel the anointing saying that. You know why? Because people are stopping to say it. 124 00:13:36.800 --> 00:13:41.200 People have become so, they think they're more sensitive than Jesus. Jesus didn't shy away 125 00:13:41.280 --> 00:13:46.480 from saying this. They think they're more kind than Jesus. So when wokeism came along and political 126 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:52.720 correctness came along, people backed off of an essential gospel truth. Now I have a lot of 127 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:58.880 unsafe friends. Now that I live in Long Island. And one of the first things, but not I'm not saying 128 00:13:58.880 --> 00:14:03.280 friends, but I'm meeting a lot more people. And one of the first things I asked me, do you believe in 129 00:14:03.280 --> 00:14:11.280 hell? And I go, we believe in Jesus, who is our Lord and Savior. What do you think He saved us 130 00:14:11.280 --> 00:14:16.880 from? Like you have this whole faith of over a billion people. It's actually two billion. 131 00:14:18.560 --> 00:14:23.760 And you were asking me if I believe, well, what did he, he's my Savior. He didn't save me from 132 00:14:23.760 --> 00:14:32.800 a just a bad time on earth. He saved me from hell. He suffered an experience hell on the cross 133 00:14:32.800 --> 00:14:41.760 so that I wouldn't have to. Amen. Roman 614, just to remind you to remember grace every day as a 134 00:14:41.760 --> 00:14:48.160 side benefit, grace is an empowerment against sin. Isn't that crazy? What a flippity flip. 135 00:14:49.520 --> 00:14:55.840 Because religion tells you in order to be a good person, you got to try really hard and wags 136 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:01.280 its religious index finger at you. Don't do this. Don't do that. I'm so glad our kids weren't 137 00:15:01.280 --> 00:15:07.840 raised in that nonsense. That's how you grow up presenting God. Grace isn't don't do. It's not a 138 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:12.880 giant sign that says keep off the grass. It comes from the inside out and gives you a love for the 139 00:15:12.880 --> 00:15:21.440 sidewalk. And so when you are meditating on grace every day, you'll stay fresh, but also look 140 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:26.640 at that verse for sin shall not have dominion over you. If you're struggling with addictions, 141 00:15:26.640 --> 00:15:31.200 and when I say addictions, I'm not just talking about drugs or alcohol. Sometimes we're just addicted 142 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:37.200 to misery. We're addicted to self-sabotage and we keep tripping ourselves up. The blood of Jesus 143 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:42.240 and God's grace will break that right off of your life. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Why? 144 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:48.560 Because you're trying really hard to be a good person. No, because you are under grace. Hallelujah. 145 00:15:48.960 --> 00:16:00.160 So number one to stay fresh. Remember the gospel. Remember it every day. Think about where you would 146 00:16:00.160 --> 00:16:06.080 be without him. Think where your eternal destiny would be without him and be grateful and recount 147 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:11.680 what he's done for you and what the cross means to you. It'll keep that fresh oil on you. Number two, 148 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:19.920 pray in the spirit. I'm going to give you a lot of synonyms now because people use a lot of 149 00:16:19.920 --> 00:16:26.640 different phrases. They all mean the same thing. Pray in the spirit. Pray in the Holy Spirit. 150 00:16:27.280 --> 00:16:34.000 Pray in the Holy Ghost. Pray in your heavenly language. Pray in tongues. It all means the same 151 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:40.720 thing. And that's what I'm talking about. It's when you speak in your heavenly language in tongues 152 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:47.760 and you pray, you allow God to pray through you to him. Isn't that crazy? God the Father 153 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:50.720 and His Holy Spirit is inside of you and your 154 00:16:51.360 --> 00:17:10.320 I just prayed in tongues. Hallelujah. I didn't know what I was going to say. He just spoke 155 00:17:10.320 --> 00:17:13.840 you right through me. How many of you here baptized the Holy Spirit? Wave your hand so I see 156 00:17:13.840 --> 00:17:19.280 you. A lot of hands around. All right. And I always add another 20% for those of you who just 157 00:17:19.280 --> 00:17:26.880 now realize to ask you to raise your hands. We make it very easy to get baptized in the Holy 158 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:35.840 Spirit at city light. You can meet the ministry team after service. You can ask for pastor. I pray 159 00:17:35.840 --> 00:17:41.520 for hundreds of people one on one. You can email the office and request an appointment. I'll give 160 00:17:41.520 --> 00:17:48.720 you the white glove concierge service. You can get baptized in the Holy Spirit at a life group. 161 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:55.440 My wife, she, you know, my wife used to be a member of city light and I was preaching on faith 162 00:17:55.440 --> 00:18:00.960 and faith's confession and she looked at me and she said, I believe I received. That was all a joke. 163 00:18:03.840 --> 00:18:08.960 My gosh, the silence. That landed. That went over like a lead balloon. Anyway, she heard a message 164 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:15.920 on the Holy Spirit went to her home, her room and got baptized in the Holy Spirit. We make it easy. 165 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:21.280 I have those books out there. You know, they're there. I'll meet people at city light. They walk 166 00:18:21.280 --> 00:18:26.160 by those they never want. It's a mini book. It's like a 20 minute, 20, 10 minute read. 167 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:34.640 Grab it. Study it. Read everybody needs to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Why would you not be? 168 00:18:35.520 --> 00:18:40.640 In fact, this was so important to Jesus that the last thing he said before he was taken up was 169 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.680 you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. 170 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:54.960 It's like flying in coach and you don't know first class is available. 171 00:18:56.320 --> 00:19:01.760 And then you find out first class is available and you're like, no, I like coach. Trust me, 172 00:19:01.760 --> 00:19:06.720 first class is better. They bring out the salt and pepper shakers and little glass vials 173 00:19:07.280 --> 00:19:11.200 back in coach. They got the little paper packets get everywhere. Makes a difference. 174 00:19:13.600 --> 00:19:20.160 Fly first class when it's available. But also there's Christians, a disproportionate amount 175 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:25.600 who are baptized in the Holy Spirit, but they don't pray in tongues. They don't do it on the daily. 176 00:19:26.800 --> 00:19:34.800 And praying in tongues is like a life hack from the Lord. And some people, too many people, 177 00:19:35.360 --> 00:19:41.040 are utilizing it. So I investigated this. In fact, I've been investigating it for about 20 years 178 00:19:41.040 --> 00:19:45.040 because when I got filled with the Holy Spirit, I spoke in tongues all the time every day. 179 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:50.240 So I would ask people, hey, when was the last time you spoke in tongues? And then I know right 180 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:56.640 away it's been too long on the go, oh, let me see. Yeah, there was that revival service two years ago. 181 00:19:58.080 --> 00:20:02.800 And well, you know, you can be doing it every day. And it helps you to do it every day. 182 00:20:02.800 --> 00:20:08.000 So why aren't you doing it? I find several things. One of those things is the person never 183 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:13.360 progressed in their prayer language. Before the full prayer language comes, there is a stuttering 184 00:20:13.360 --> 00:20:20.320 and stammering face. That's scriptural. The Old Testament says, with stammering lips and another 185 00:20:20.320 --> 00:20:25.680 tongue, will he speak to this people? And they never progressed that. And somebody slapped them on 186 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:29.200 the back and said, congratulations, you're filled with the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile, all they can say 187 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:35.120 is Ricky Tickie tacky. So they go and they're like, oh, Lord, Ricky Tickie tacky, Ricky Tickie tacky, 188 00:20:35.120 --> 00:20:40.400 Ricky Tickie tacky, Abdu, Abdu, Abdu, Abdu, Abdu, Abdu, Abdu, Abdu, Abdu. And then they feel foolish. 189 00:20:41.040 --> 00:20:46.960 And they know that's not the fullest. And so they don't pray in tongues. You got to get past 190 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:52.880 Ricky Tickie tacky. And what's keeping you at Ricky Tickie tacky is that you're bound up. I love 191 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:59.840 you, but you're bound. You're not releasing. You got to get unbound. You're still playing it 192 00:20:59.840 --> 00:21:05.840 safe. You got to actually let go and let the Lord pull you up and fill you where your mouth is 193 00:21:05.840 --> 00:21:10.720 loose and released and it's a whole language and it actually will shift and change and become 194 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:18.400 other languages. It's a heavenly language and it's very, very diverse. Amen. If you've only prayed 195 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:22.480 in tongues for like up to five minutes and that's it, you've only scratching the surface. 196 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:28.640 I never recommend timing your prayers, but go ahead. In this case, set your timer on your phone 197 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:43.520 to half an hour and yield to the Holy Spirit and this is so scriptural. We get a lot of people 198 00:21:43.520 --> 00:21:49.920 who come and visit and I'm smelling this in the air right now. Solid Christians, your Christian, 199 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:53.360 but you're not heard much about this. And if you have, it was in a very, very negative light. 200 00:21:54.080 --> 00:22:01.120 Yet it's all throughout the scriptures. Jesus in Mark 16 as part of the signs of believers. He 201 00:22:01.120 --> 00:22:06.800 said they will speak in new tongues. He said all believers will speak in new tongues. Look at Romans 202 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:20.640 8 verses 26 through 28. Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses and then it identifies 203 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:26.960 that we all have this common weakness. What's the weakness? For we do not know what we should pray for 204 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:33.840 as we ought. Can't you agree with that? Like I got a big week coming up, I'm praying into it, 205 00:22:34.800 --> 00:22:39.920 but I'm limited with my understanding on how I can pray into it. So then sometimes it has to be more 206 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:45.760 generic or general. Got a big week, Lord. I thank you. You're going to be with me. I thank you. 207 00:22:45.760 --> 00:22:51.360 Give me good success. All that's good and right and appropriate and legal. But the Lord knows much more. 208 00:22:51.360 --> 00:22:56.000 The Lord knows the end from the beginning. He knows exactly where I should be. He knows who I 209 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:00.240 should be talking to, what I should be doing. So look what happens when you speak in tongues. 210 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:03.920 We don't know. Our weakness is we don't know what we should pray for as we ought, 211 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:11.840 but the Spirit Himself, the Holy Spirit inside of me, the Spirit Himself makes intercession for me, 212 00:23:11.840 --> 00:23:20.000 for you with groanings which cannot be uttered. It's talking about speaking in tongues. And then by 213 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:26.320 the way, the next verse, which is like the most quoted verse in the book of Romans, and we know, 214 00:23:26.320 --> 00:23:31.120 say it with me, and we know, oh, that messed me up. It's the verse after that. Hold on. 215 00:23:31.120 --> 00:23:37.760 Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is. That's the Holy Spirit 216 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:46.560 inside of you searching the mind of God because he makes intercession for the saints according to 217 00:23:46.560 --> 00:23:55.040 the will of God, the perfect will of God. So when you're praying in tongues, you're praying the perfect 218 00:23:55.040 --> 00:24:00.720 will of God. Why would you not want to do that every day? I don't know what this whole week 219 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:14.880 holds. Sometimes they're surprises. But when every day, I'm just talking to him in my heavenly 220 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:21.440 language, I'm praying God's perfect will over my life, over my day, over the future. 221 00:24:21.840 --> 00:24:28.720 Hallelujah. I don't think it's an exaggeration to call this first class compared to somebody 222 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:34.640 just stabbing in the dark. And then by the way is verse 28, which we all quote, but notice it's 223 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:40.160 after those first two verses. In other words, when you've yielded to the Holy Spirit and you're 224 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:46.320 allowing him to pray in tongues through you, and that's how we know that all things work together 225 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:50.880 for good to those who love God, to those who are the call according to his purpose. 226 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:58.560 Now, when I teach this, usually there's several people who come up to me after service, 227 00:24:59.280 --> 00:25:04.240 and this is what they'll say, yeah, but I'm skittish. They don't say I'm skittish, but I see 228 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:12.240 they're skittish. Just what they say, yeah, but I don't know what I'm saying. Great. First Corinthians 229 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:16.960 14, 14, you don't know what you're saying. 230 00:25:19.280 --> 00:25:27.920 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. You're not supposed 231 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:36.480 to know. You're not supposed to know. God knows. If you knew who blew your mind, it might even 232 00:25:36.560 --> 00:25:43.040 scare you. You'd cover your own mouth as you're praying the bold things that God wants to do in your 233 00:25:43.040 --> 00:25:48.720 life in a heavenly language. So don't let that keep you waiting. That's why, by the way, 234 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:55.920 why faith comes in. I have no clue what I just said. But here's something. I see fruit in my life. 235 00:25:58.320 --> 00:26:04.880 That's one thing. Also, you have to, here's the thing. You know, I just asked how many of your 236 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:09.760 baptized in Holy speaking tongues and all these people weigh their hands. I speak in tongues. 237 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:17.120 If it's not of God, then we are all mentally insane, which is an option. I'm not discounting that. 238 00:26:18.080 --> 00:26:24.000 But you just, but then just call it that. You can't tip, you can't say, oh, that's not for me. 239 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:28.640 No, if we're all mentally insane, you need to like find another church. 240 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:36.560 I never heard anyone say like this before, but I've always thought like, you know, you can't 241 00:26:36.560 --> 00:26:43.360 be middle of the road with this. Either this is God. If I'm going into my office and for an hour 242 00:26:43.360 --> 00:26:48.880 speaking in another language, I'm either demonically possessed, insane, or it's God. Hang around a 243 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:58.400 little bit longer than you tell me which one of those I am. Amen. Corinthians 14 verses 2 244 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:07.920 through 4. What a blessing and a benefit it is to pray in tongues. You should see how, like, 245 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:14.240 I have three pages of notes, but you know how much I preach outside of my notes? You know why that 246 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:21.440 is? Because I pray in tongues. And so while I'm praying in tongues, I'm praying for the service, 247 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:26.640 I'm praying for you, I'm strengthening, I'm edifying myself, and then the Lord can pull things out 248 00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:33.120 of me that maybe just one person needs, but he'll pull it out of me. By the way, that's why wherever 249 00:27:33.120 --> 00:27:37.920 Christianity is now, there's some people pulling stuff out of me. First service, you know, everybody's 250 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:45.280 like, yeah, second service. If you look, just look where Christianity is spreading. Look at Africa. 251 00:27:45.280 --> 00:27:52.400 Look at Latin America. It's all spirit-filled tongue-talking preachers that are leading the charge 252 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:59.200 over and over and over again. The biggest crusade, spirit-filled. The biggest church is spirit-filled, 253 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:06.800 speaking in tongues. Because people want the real and they want power. You think somewhere in Africa 254 00:28:06.800 --> 00:28:11.440 where it's actually your life depends on it. People are going to church for somebody. 255 00:28:11.520 --> 00:28:18.960 Dominion. No, I need healing. I need breakthrough. I need God's power. Amen. 256 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:24.400 That's some guy in a toga walking around, sending smoke signals. 257 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:37.360 Jude, oh, did we even do this? No, we didn't. Verse two of Corinthians 14, for he who speaks in a 258 00:28:37.360 --> 00:28:47.120 tongue does not speak to men, but to God. By the way, another problem people have, they're cessationists. 259 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:54.320 There might be a few here. I love you. I love you enough to tell you you're wrong. 260 00:28:55.280 --> 00:29:00.720 Here's what cessation is believed. They believe all that miracle, holy spirit stuff was for the 261 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:09.360 first century. But then, after the last apostle, it all stopped. Can you imagine? Like John was 262 00:29:09.360 --> 00:29:15.200 like the last apostle. Could you imagine he's getting old, he's dying, and people are like, we got 263 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:19.840 a few more sick folk just hang on there. Lay hands on them. Because if you die, the gift of 264 00:29:19.840 --> 00:29:27.280 healings goes with you. And here's what they say about speaking in tongues. They go, well, no, 265 00:29:27.280 --> 00:29:34.480 it's not for today. If you notice in the book of Pentecost, a book of Acts, on Pentecost, Acts 266 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:40.240 chapter two, when they spoke in tongues, other people heard them and understood them. So what you're 267 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:43.840 saying can't be that, and they're right, it's not that. It's something different. 268 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:53.520 In Acts chapter two, it was a known tongue. It was a sign. People in Jerusalem understood them. 269 00:29:53.520 --> 00:29:58.720 You don't see that happening again. So don't be surprised when you start speaking in tongues, 270 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:03.200 you're not speaking in Japanese, and a Japanese tourist on Steinway hears you and goes, you just 271 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:09.200 told me the gospel. You're not speaking to men. That's why I'm just read the verse. You are not 272 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:17.120 speaking to men. You are speaking to God. You're not speaking to men. You're speaking to God. 273 00:30:17.280 --> 00:30:25.920 In his language, in a heavenly language, for no one understands him, see some people are like, 274 00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:30.640 you just spoke in tongues. I didn't understand you. I know. You're not supposed to. No one understands 275 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:37.360 him. However, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification. 276 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:46.640 Verse three, edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue 277 00:30:47.120 --> 00:30:53.840 strengthens himself. This is why to stay fresh. And that's still, and that'd be a Christian 278 00:30:53.840 --> 00:31:04.000 crypt keeper. You speak in tongues. You edify yourself. You strengthen yourself. You build yourself up. 279 00:31:05.120 --> 00:31:11.440 And you stay fresh. But he who prophesies edifies the church. And by the way, he's not picking 280 00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:16.080 sides here. And I'm going to, you're going to dress some stuff out of me. I didn't talk about in 281 00:31:16.080 --> 00:31:20.240 the first service where people get all bent out of shape in Corinthians 14. Like Paul is saying, 282 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:24.640 don't speak in tongues. In fact, he ends the very chapter saying, don't forbid the speaking in 283 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:31.680 tongues. What he's saying here is, in the context of a church service, people need to understand 284 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:35.440 what you're saying. Like, if I got up here and my message was all in tongues, could you imagine? 285 00:31:36.080 --> 00:31:41.200 If I just kept going, and I went for 45 minutes, or Ambrose, Tocque, Sarampa, and then I went, 286 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:46.720 amen, blessed you see you next Sunday. You'd walk out of here going, huh? I didn't really get 287 00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:53.680 edified. So he's saying, when you're prophesying, by the way, another translation for that word 288 00:31:53.680 --> 00:32:00.800 prophesied, it means to bubble forth, tumble forth, or to teach. To teach under the anointing. 289 00:32:00.800 --> 00:32:06.240 You think prophesying is always telling the future. It's speaking under the anointing. I'm speaking 290 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:11.840 the common tongue, English, so you can be edified. That's why we actually don't have much speaking 291 00:32:11.840 --> 00:32:16.080 in tongues in the service. I mean, people are free to do it. Like the Bible says in Corinthians 14, 292 00:32:16.080 --> 00:32:19.840 do it to yourself. People do it under their breath. But you're not going to see hundreds of people 293 00:32:19.840 --> 00:32:24.960 speaking in tongues at the same time. That's for a believer's meeting. Do that at home. 294 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:33.680 Because someone else is going to come in and go, they're all crazy. And I'm not making that 295 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:39.840 a Paul said, don't all be speaking in tongues, because the unlearned from the outside will come in 296 00:32:39.840 --> 00:32:44.560 and will he not say you have all gotten mad? And yes, he would. And yes, they have. 297 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:51.120 I've been in services where I brought unsafe people. One lady wants it from work. I brought her 298 00:32:51.120 --> 00:32:56.880 while I was in Bible school. She ran out of the church, ran out. I don't blame her. She didn't 299 00:32:56.880 --> 00:33:00.560 know a thing about it. I was just working on Jesus died on the cross. I didn't get to that part 300 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:07.120 yet. Literally, no one's ran out of the church. I chased her into the parking lot that didn't help. 301 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:11.920 I was like, where are you going? It's like I can't. I just can't really. 302 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:19.680 Jew 20. Somebody says, it's a fair question to say, well, then how come you just spoke in tongues 303 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:28.960 faster as an example? I also wanted you to know that you can speak in tongues and it'd be 304 00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:35.840 under control. And you get to control how you speak in tongues. You can whisper in tongues. 305 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:40.880 You can sing in tongues. You can rap in tongues. 306 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:51.280 But a lot of people think the only way you can speak in tongues is at the top of your lungs, 307 00:33:52.240 --> 00:34:01.600 decibel level like a runaway freight train. And you're turned off. I'm turned off too by that. 308 00:34:02.800 --> 00:34:07.840 Doesn't have to come out that way. You get to decide. But do you know what it is? Some people, 309 00:34:07.840 --> 00:34:12.160 they wait for God. They don't speak in tongues every day. You can always tell who doesn't. 310 00:34:12.160 --> 00:34:16.320 Because they only speak in tongues when quote unquote God attacks them. When he overwhelms them. 311 00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:18.960 So they're there and the presence of God is all over them and they're like, 312 00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:24.000 and they're working, they're resisting. We're working them. And finally, they yield. And it's 313 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:32.320 like a shaken Coca-Cola bottle, you know. Maybe if you yielded better, 314 00:34:33.600 --> 00:34:36.640 chilled out and just flowed, it wouldn't come out that way. Amen. 315 00:34:39.760 --> 00:34:46.640 But you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 316 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:53.520 speaking and praying in tongues is an ingredient, a major ingredient into walking into the 317 00:34:53.520 --> 00:35:06.080 freshness of God. Amen. Number three, whisper to God, specifically there, whisper to him. 318 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:18.000 whispering it denotes intimacy, denotes friendship. These things that Jesus has called you to. 319 00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:30.000 Psalm 91 talks about the secret place of the most high. That word for secret, very interesting word 320 00:35:30.640 --> 00:35:36.640 in the Hebrew. It's where the term Masad comes from, the Israeli. 321 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:44.960 No, not Messiah, Masad, the Israeli intelligence agency. It means something clandestine, 322 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:51.360 something secretive. In another place in the Bible, it says, the secret of the Lord is with those 323 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:56.720 who fear him. What does that word secret mean? It means friendship. In Psalm 91, the secret place 324 00:35:56.720 --> 00:36:02.800 is the friendship place, the intimacy place, and whispering denotes intimacy. That's why I never see 325 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:11.040 another man whispering with my wife. Thank God for that man. My wife won't see me whispering with 326 00:36:11.040 --> 00:36:17.200 another woman, but we can whisper to each other because in intimacy, there's something powerful 327 00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:24.080 and special about whispering to God throughout the day. In fact, pouring out your complaints before 328 00:36:24.080 --> 00:36:29.040 him. There's a scripture in the Psalms. It says to pour out your complaints before him. 329 00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:37.120 It's good. It's healthy. And you'll also notice, I do that a lot, but I notice that when I start, 330 00:36:37.120 --> 00:36:41.760 and I'll start, very, Lord, here's what's overwhelming me, slashing, stressing me, 331 00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:46.000 slashing, concerning me. Here's how I'm seeing the battlefield of life right now. Here's what's 332 00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:52.800 overwhelming me, and I'll let him have it. He can take it. But I'll find usually after around 90 333 00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:59.120 seconds, I feel absolutely ridiculous and foolish because his presence has come, and I realize how 334 00:36:59.120 --> 00:37:06.560 trivial those things are, and how he is already boots on the ground in those areas. He's already 335 00:37:06.560 --> 00:37:11.440 at work in those areas. That's why so many of the Psalms they begin with complaining. You read a 336 00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:15.920 lot of the Psalms. That's why so many people like Psalms, by the way. You're like, what's it? 337 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:21.040 I've been reading the Psalms this week. Yeah, they're emotional. And you're emotional. We're all 338 00:37:21.040 --> 00:37:26.800 emotional creatures. And they usually begin with like this whiny, complaining. But do you ever notice 339 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:31.840 there's like a complete turnaround, usually a third of the way in. He's like, oh, what was me? I'm 340 00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:36.800 nothing. I'm broke. I'm hungry. My tears are my food day and night. And then whoo, all of this is 341 00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:41.280 like, oh, I will praise the Lord. Because the mommies are talking to the Lord. His anointing comes 342 00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:49.760 upon you. And he shows you the reality of the situation. Hallelujah. So whisper to the Lord. 343 00:37:50.720 --> 00:37:56.720 Share your life with him. Pour out your complaints to him. This is especially pertinent to people 344 00:37:56.720 --> 00:38:02.240 who only pray one way. I'm also trying to get you out of a rut because too many people pray 345 00:38:02.240 --> 00:38:07.520 in only one way. And by the way, Paul said praying with all manner of prayer, all kinds of prayer. 346 00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:13.360 Like some people, their favorite verse in the Bible is shout to the Lord with the voice of triumph. 347 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:21.040 Love that. And if you only pray quiet prayers, you need to shout. And if all you do is shout, 348 00:38:22.080 --> 00:38:28.800 you need to learn how to pray quiet prayers. You need to pray medium prayers. You need to pray 349 00:38:28.800 --> 00:38:32.960 on your knees, pray laying down on the floor, pray when you walk your dog, pray when you drive 350 00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:39.280 your car, pray all different ways. But whispering to God, I find when I'm talking to him, 351 00:38:40.080 --> 00:38:44.800 Lord Jesus, I know that you're with me. Lord, I ask that you continue to be with me. Go 352 00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:49.760 before me as the good shepherd. Oh, yeah, good shepherd. That reminds me of Psalm 23. Lord, 353 00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:55.280 I thank you. You're taking me to fresh tender green pastures. Lord, you bring me to still water. 354 00:38:55.280 --> 00:38:59.520 Hallelujah. You're the greatest. You're the best. You're my God. Lord, I can't fail with you. 355 00:38:59.520 --> 00:39:04.320 In fact, in the word you said, I will not fail. You promised me good success. Hallelujah. 356 00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:10.640 And whisper to the Lord and his freshness will be upon you. Hallelujah. So what's number one? 357 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:19.120 Remember grace. Remember the finished work of the cross. Number two, pray in the spirit. 358 00:39:20.560 --> 00:39:26.400 Number three, whisper to God. Here's number four. Don't go to church. 359 00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:36.960 Be the church. What's the difference? In order to stay fresh, you have to pick a side. 360 00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:44.400 And in every church, city light included, there's two kinds of Christians. There's consumers, 361 00:39:44.400 --> 00:39:55.280 and there's producers. And the consumer just takes. By the way, we all come in as consumers. 362 00:39:56.000 --> 00:40:00.480 I did not get saved and think, I can't wait. What can I do for you, Lord? I was like, what are you going 363 00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:06.560 to do for me? I need help. I messed up. And you've asked me to like forsake my whole past life. 364 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:14.960 WIFM radio. What's in it for me radio? All of us want to know. But eventually you got to come to that 365 00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:20.080 place where you have now been patched up, made whole. You know who you are in Christ. Your cup is 366 00:40:20.080 --> 00:40:28.000 overflowing. You can continue to be a giant leech that's just like feed me. And in this consumer 367 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:33.680 driven society, more and more people act like consumers in a church. And as soon as there's another 368 00:40:33.680 --> 00:40:38.480 product, a shinier product, a more popular product, they switch. Just like they change 369 00:40:38.480 --> 00:40:42.560 phone plans. They just change churches and then change it again and change it again. 370 00:40:43.040 --> 00:40:51.360 You don't just go to church. You be the church. What does that mean? It means that you have actually 371 00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:57.680 really received Jesus's commission in Matthew 28 where he says go into all the world and preach 372 00:40:57.680 --> 00:41:03.120 the gospel to every creature that wasn't just for the 12 disciples. That's for all of us. 373 00:41:04.240 --> 00:41:09.840 We're all called to be pouring out. I'm speaking about evangelism. 374 00:41:10.720 --> 00:41:15.120 Winning souls. You show me somebody who's a soul winner. I'll show you somebody who's fresh. 375 00:41:15.680 --> 00:41:23.040 I've never met a dry musty soul winner ever. But those who are engaging, engaging people and 376 00:41:23.040 --> 00:41:26.160 winning them to the Lord, they're always. Their face is like the new and day sun. 377 00:41:28.720 --> 00:41:32.960 And the frightening statistic, I think there's a lot of dead religious churches making this 378 00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:39.040 statistic extra low. But here's the statistic that only 2% of church goers are actively involved 379 00:41:39.040 --> 00:41:44.800 in any kind of evangelism. So is it any wonder why they're lukewarm, 380 00:41:45.840 --> 00:41:57.360 backslidden, dry, complaining? When you have been brought by Jesus to Him and there's people in 381 00:41:57.360 --> 00:42:03.200 your life, you're the only Jesus they may ever see. You're not responsible for the whole world. 382 00:42:03.200 --> 00:42:07.360 Get that burden off your shoulders. But you are responsible for your circle of influence 383 00:42:08.240 --> 00:42:12.880 and the people that God has placed around you. And you can begin sharing, 384 00:42:13.920 --> 00:42:21.920 begin talking and you'll get better at it. And better. And better. And remember, 385 00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:26.400 inviting someone to church is an evangelism. It's good. Invite people to church. 386 00:42:27.440 --> 00:42:31.360 But they may not hear the gospel from me. In fact, if they do, they can't ask questions, 387 00:42:31.360 --> 00:42:36.560 they can't interrupt a service. You've got to have a lot of coffees. Have a lot of branches. 388 00:42:37.520 --> 00:42:42.640 Have people over your house? I needed that. When I was first being witnessed to add a 389 00:42:42.640 --> 00:42:47.120 thousand and one question, stupid question. What about the dinosaurs? I really, that was one 390 00:42:47.120 --> 00:42:59.600 that was my big hang up when I was 16. The dinosaurs. Amen. Second Corinthians 5, 17. 391 00:43:00.400 --> 00:43:05.280 You want to stay fresh? Tell some people about Jesus. 392 00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:13.120 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, 393 00:43:13.120 --> 00:43:21.600 behold, all things have become new. And then this verse. Now, all things are of God who has 394 00:43:21.600 --> 00:43:26.880 reconciled us. What a beautiful verse. That previous verse, verse 17, one of my favorite 395 00:43:26.880 --> 00:43:31.760 verses. Because it's only one Bible verse that encapsulates the entirety of the gospel message. 396 00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:42.160 God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 397 00:43:42.160 --> 00:43:46.960 That means, in a sense, we're all called to ministry. We're all already if you're Christian 398 00:43:46.960 --> 00:43:53.360 in ministry. What's the ministry? It's the ministry of reconciliation. What does that mean? It means 399 00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:59.840 that a person who doesn't know Jesus, they don't know it, but they're fundamentally at war with God. 400 00:44:00.720 --> 00:44:07.360 This is the sad truth. It's the truth, though. Before I came to Jesus, my existence was 401 00:44:07.360 --> 00:44:14.320 diametrically opposed to everything that God stands for. I had original sin. People would look 402 00:44:14.320 --> 00:44:22.320 at me and go, what a good boy. No, I wasn't. Not according to God's standards. But Jesus died 403 00:44:22.320 --> 00:44:28.800 on the cross. And the punishment that I deserved fell upon Him. And He was punished in my place. 404 00:44:28.800 --> 00:44:36.960 That's the greatest love story I've ever told. And now, the wrath of God doesn't abide on me, 405 00:44:36.960 --> 00:44:43.040 but I need to realize that and accept that. So, Christian's job is, you know, let's just say, 406 00:44:43.840 --> 00:44:49.680 here's the Christian. I'm the Christian. This is an unbeliever. And over here is God. And I take 407 00:44:50.080 --> 00:44:54.080 them and I link their hands and I go, hey, you unbeliever, come here. God's not mad at you anymore. 408 00:44:56.080 --> 00:45:01.760 For Jesus to say, your sins have already been forgiven. You through Jesus have been reconciled to God. 409 00:45:01.760 --> 00:45:07.440 Come, come back to God. And I lead them in the things of God. That's the ministry of reconciliation. 410 00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:13.840 That's what we've all been called to. And if you practice that and never to practice that, 411 00:45:14.560 --> 00:45:21.280 as the Lord leads you, it can happen every day. Watch the freshness level. And that's when Christianity 412 00:45:21.280 --> 00:45:27.440 becomes real. If you're just a consumer and a taker, I don't know how you're not going to make it. 413 00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:33.360 I don't want to say that over you, but I'm concerned for you because you cannot be just taking 414 00:45:34.560 --> 00:45:39.120 and not pouring out, which leads into my fifth point. Really, they're kind of related. 415 00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:47.360 But four points didn't sound good. So this is a five point message. But there is a difference. 416 00:45:47.360 --> 00:45:52.080 I'm number four. I'm talking about winning souls, sharing the gospel evangelism. Point number five 417 00:45:52.080 --> 00:45:57.360 and how to live in freshness. Not be at old religious, funny, dead, he dead head. 418 00:45:57.360 --> 00:46:10.400 A dusty crypt keeper. Number five, give, say give what? Anything, yourself, your love, 419 00:46:10.400 --> 00:46:17.840 your mercy, your time, your money, something but for the love of God, give poor, 420 00:46:17.840 --> 00:46:28.400 poor into others. The Bible says, the liberal, the generous soul shall be made prosperous and he 421 00:46:28.400 --> 00:46:34.240 that waters shall be watered also himself. Do you know why the Dead Sea is called a Dead Sea? 422 00:46:35.840 --> 00:46:39.680 If you're like me and you went to a Queen's public school, you were told it's because of the 423 00:46:39.680 --> 00:46:44.560 high salt content. I'm going to be heard that. It's so salty, it's dead. But there are living fish 424 00:46:44.560 --> 00:46:53.200 in the Dead Sea, fish that have acclimated to the saltiness. So why is it called a Dead Sea? 425 00:46:53.200 --> 00:47:01.280 Because it has no outlet. And you know what? The Dead Sea is too big to be a swamp. 426 00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:05.680 But if it was smaller, you know what something? A river with no outlet becomes a swamp. 427 00:47:07.520 --> 00:47:11.520 I don't want to be a swamp. In fact, I'm very much in favor of draining the swamp. 428 00:47:12.480 --> 00:47:21.600 Drain the swamp in Jesus name and let the river of God flow. Amen. Hallelujah. Let's all say 429 00:47:21.600 --> 00:47:30.560 together. Drain I'm kidding. Thank you, Jesus. I'm determined to have fun up here no matter what. 430 00:47:30.640 --> 00:47:43.600 Okay. First King's 17, eight through six. And by the way, when you're pouring out 431 00:47:43.600 --> 00:47:51.680 and the kind of giving that may be the most important when it comes to staying fresh is 432 00:47:51.760 --> 00:47:59.680 forgiving. You got to walk in forgiveness. The people that I respect that are always fresh. 433 00:47:59.680 --> 00:48:04.240 My pastor, one of them in 2020, I was privileged to spend several days all day with him in his 434 00:48:04.240 --> 00:48:10.160 office. It was the end of 20. It was right before Christmas of 2020. And he was under tremendous 435 00:48:10.160 --> 00:48:14.080 fire. He's usually under tremendous fire from people criticizing. Look, if you're doing something 436 00:48:14.080 --> 00:48:20.480 for God, people will hate you. People will criticize you. In fact, I feel a little sad right now 437 00:48:20.480 --> 00:48:25.280 that there's not enough people who hate me. I mean, I'm just not. I need more people to hate me 438 00:48:25.280 --> 00:48:31.120 because that's how I know that I'm actually doing something of value for God. Is this thing on? Hey, 439 00:48:31.920 --> 00:48:38.880 Jesus, they crucified him because he was doing something of value for God. So I'm in his office 440 00:48:38.880 --> 00:48:44.240 and I mentioned another pastor because I know the other pastor like, hey, what about him? What's going 441 00:48:44.320 --> 00:48:48.160 on with him? Is he all right? He goes, oh, yeah, he called me a buffoon just yesterday. 442 00:48:51.280 --> 00:48:56.480 Because when he said he just chuckled. In other words, he didn't let that hurtful phrase enter his 443 00:48:56.480 --> 00:49:02.560 spirit. He didn't let it hurt him. He walked in forgiveness. You know, there's people 444 00:49:04.480 --> 00:49:10.320 that latch on to anything you say and claim offense. You got to walk around like you're an 445 00:49:10.320 --> 00:49:15.440 anxious. You can say, I hope you have a nice day and the response is, well, what kind of day should 446 00:49:15.440 --> 00:49:20.400 I have other than a nice day? You know, everything is World War Three for them. And then there's people 447 00:49:20.400 --> 00:49:26.400 who have a soft, impliable heart. And they're almost unoffendable. You know why? Because the Bible says 448 00:49:26.400 --> 00:49:31.280 don't take offense. So you know what? They don't take it. People go, I got offended. No, you didn't get, 449 00:49:31.280 --> 00:49:37.200 if you didn't hate you like an arrow out of the sky. You took offense. I'm sorry for what you 450 00:49:37.200 --> 00:49:43.600 went through. I really am. I feel you've been hurt. You're an agony. Life's been cruel. And now you're 451 00:49:43.600 --> 00:49:47.760 just mean and bitter and you've sharpened your elbows. And you're always looking for who's going 452 00:49:47.760 --> 00:49:54.560 to stab you next. You need the bomb of Gilead. Jesus. The bomb of Gilead will come on your soul 453 00:49:54.560 --> 00:50:00.640 on your heart. Heal the old hurts. Heal the pain of yesterday. So you can actually release people 454 00:50:00.640 --> 00:50:04.560 because if you're not walking in forgiveness, you're not hurting them. You're only hurting you. The 455 00:50:04.560 --> 00:50:16.240 only one who's in bondage is you yourself. Hallelujah. First King 178. But make it a point to give 456 00:50:16.240 --> 00:50:25.200 every day. The more you give, the more he then pours into you to give. Then the word of the Lord 457 00:50:25.200 --> 00:50:30.720 came to him, the prophet Elijah, saying, arise good as Arapath, which belongs to Sidon and 458 00:50:30.720 --> 00:50:38.560 well there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. So he arose and went to 459 00:50:38.560 --> 00:50:44.240 Arapath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed, a widow was there gathering sticks. 460 00:50:44.880 --> 00:50:50.080 And he called to her and said, please bring me a little water in a cup that I may drink. Now, 461 00:50:50.080 --> 00:50:56.720 it's a time of drought. So water is scarce. And it's a time of famine. So food is scarce. 462 00:50:57.680 --> 00:51:05.840 God sends the prophet Elijah to this widow. Before this, the prophet was getting fed by Ravens. 463 00:51:05.840 --> 00:51:15.120 Ravens were bringing him hamburgers. Meat and bread, the Bible says. Supernatural Uber Eats. 464 00:51:16.720 --> 00:51:23.760 Every day his delivery service came. The Lord could have kept that going. Why did he switch it now? 465 00:51:23.760 --> 00:51:29.760 It wasn't for the benefit of the prophet. It was for the benefit of the widow. This widow 466 00:51:30.640 --> 00:51:37.200 was alone, time of drought, time of famine, and she has no future. How do we know she has no future? 467 00:51:38.800 --> 00:51:44.160 When he asked her to bring him more silver bread, look what she says. As the Lord your God lives, 468 00:51:44.160 --> 00:51:49.280 I do not have bread, only a handful of flour and a bin and a little oil and a jar and sea. I'm 469 00:51:49.360 --> 00:51:56.400 gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son that we may eat 470 00:51:56.400 --> 00:52:04.800 it and die. So God sends the prophet Elijah to her house to provoke her into breakthrough, to get 471 00:52:04.800 --> 00:52:11.840 her to just put some seed in the ground, to get her to be a giver, a poor outer. I'm not just 472 00:52:11.840 --> 00:52:19.680 obsessed with myself and own problems, but I'm going to look out and I'm going to bless someone else 473 00:52:19.680 --> 00:52:28.160 and that'll activate the miracle power of God. Verse 13, and Elijah said to her, do not fear, 474 00:52:29.120 --> 00:52:36.720 go do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first and bring it to me. See God 475 00:52:37.200 --> 00:52:42.080 once you're first. By the way, he's being really pushy here, time of drought, time of famine, he asked for 476 00:52:42.080 --> 00:52:48.880 water and he asked for bread. Bring me a cake first and afterward make some for yourself and your 477 00:52:48.880 --> 00:52:56.480 son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel, this is the miracle, the bin of flour shall not be used 478 00:52:56.480 --> 00:53:05.120 up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth. So she went 479 00:53:05.120 --> 00:53:12.720 away and did according to the word of Elijah and she and her household ate for many days. You 480 00:53:12.720 --> 00:53:21.280 want to eat for many days, live in the freshness of God, be a giver, be a giver. So many different 481 00:53:21.280 --> 00:53:26.720 ways to give. Right now it's March. You know what's going to go on a crazy sale, winter coats, 482 00:53:26.720 --> 00:53:31.760 gloves. Be the kind of wacky person who just says, you know what? I'm going to go online, I'm going 483 00:53:31.760 --> 00:53:37.840 to buy 10 really warm gloves. Now and I'm going to hand them out to people that are needy in the 484 00:53:37.840 --> 00:53:42.800 subways. Something you're not going to get something you never had before until you do something you've 485 00:53:42.800 --> 00:53:49.280 never done before. So get together with God and collaborate with him on some crazy ways that you 486 00:53:49.280 --> 00:53:53.520 can be a giver and then stand back and watch what the Lord does in your life. It's going to be glorious 487 00:53:53.520 --> 00:53:59.040 to behold. Amen. Let's receive communion, worship team, come on up. What was point number one in 488 00:53:59.040 --> 00:54:02.960 staying fresh? Remember grace. What about number two? 489 00:54:05.760 --> 00:54:14.480 Pray in the spirit, speak in tongues, pray in tongues. Number three, whisper, whisper to the Lord. 490 00:54:16.800 --> 00:54:23.440 Hallelujah. Just thought as I said that, I remember that old Jason Upton song, whisper in your 491 00:54:23.440 --> 00:54:27.600 will. Oh, it was whistling your will. But there's a lot of whispering type stuff in his music. 492 00:54:31.120 --> 00:54:35.760 Sorry, Luke, I messed that. There can't all be dimes. Number four. 493 00:54:40.160 --> 00:54:46.560 Be the church. Don't just go to church. Be the church. And number five, just give, just pour. 494 00:54:46.560 --> 00:54:50.640 Don't be a Dead Sea. You can pass out communion at any time. Go for it. Thank you all. 495 00:54:51.280 --> 00:54:54.080 Hallelujah. 496 00:54:57.920 --> 00:55:02.240 Hang on to the communion elements, please. And we'll all receive communion together. 497 00:55:03.680 --> 00:55:11.920 Thank you. If you find your mind drifting as you wait for everybody to be served communion, 498 00:55:11.920 --> 00:55:18.880 I invite you to stare at the matzah. Yeah. Because in the matzah is the gospel message. You know, 499 00:55:18.880 --> 00:55:24.160 this is, this is why I insist on matzah. Somehow the Christian church is eating like, you know, 500 00:55:25.200 --> 00:55:31.920 loaves of bread or what, what is it? The little wafers. Yeah. No, Jesus had unleavened bread. Listen 501 00:55:31.920 --> 00:55:38.240 now. Jesus had unleavened bread. He had matzah. So go to a nice local Jewish daily, get real matzah. 502 00:55:39.360 --> 00:55:46.000 And if you look at this matzah, you'll see three things about it. It's pierced. It's burnt and 503 00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:53.920 it's striped because he was pierced for our transgressions. The fire of God's wrath was upon Jesus 504 00:55:53.920 --> 00:56:09.440 at the cross. He was burnt with the wrath of God pierced on the cross and striped by the Roman 505 00:56:09.440 --> 00:56:18.160 soldiers. I want to pray with everybody before we partake a communion. I want to ask you a question 506 00:56:18.160 --> 00:56:23.280 right now. If you were to die today, do you know for certain that you'd go to heaven? Do you know 507 00:56:23.280 --> 00:56:30.880 for certain? If you can't answer that with certainty, with assurance of salvation, you need to 508 00:56:30.880 --> 00:56:36.560 receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You need to come to Him and give your entire life to Him. 509 00:56:36.560 --> 00:56:41.120 You say, I don't know what will that look like. I can't really tell you. I mean, it worked great 510 00:56:41.120 --> 00:56:44.640 for me. I've seen it worked great for others. What's going to look like for you? I can tell you 511 00:56:44.640 --> 00:56:49.680 this. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be glorious. And you don't have to see the whole 512 00:56:49.680 --> 00:56:55.280 thing from start to finish, but take His hand and begin walking with Him. And I want to begin that 513 00:56:55.280 --> 00:56:59.360 journey with you by having you say this prayer with me. We're all going to say together, 514 00:57:00.160 --> 00:57:06.880 hold the elements in your hand and just say this, Lord Jesus, I believe you died on the cross 515 00:57:07.600 --> 00:57:16.560 in my place. You were burnt, you were pierced, and you were striped. You suffered so I wouldn't 516 00:57:16.560 --> 00:57:24.560 have to. Because of you, my sins are gone. Because of you, I'm a friend of God. Because of you, 517 00:57:25.360 --> 00:57:33.280 I'm heaven bound. In Jesus' name, amen. This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any 518 00:57:33.280 --> 00:57:38.400 part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in City Light 519 00:57:38.400 --> 00:57:47.680 Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person 520 00:57:47.680 --> 00:57:53.600 anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today. 521 00:57:53.600 --> 00:57:58.800 That you have been reminded how much God loves you. And that you are surrounded by grace. 522 00:57:59.520 --> 00:58:04.240 Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you 523 00:58:04.240 --> 00:58:10.160 find your favorite podcasts worldwide.