The topic, as you can see, is healing,
seeker or skeptic, and we are going to
pick up in Matthew chapter 7.
I'm going to kind of bring this in,
hopefully, with this title.
But what we've been doing, if you have
your Bibles, we've been in Matthew chapter 7,
and we're ending chapter 7.
And Jesus has been talking about the narrow
road.
He's been talking about false teachers.
He's been talking about genuine fruit.
He's been talking about solid foundations.
Do you have a solid foundation, or don't
you?
Do you know what a false teacher looks
like, or don't you?
Are you on the broad road, or are
you on the narrow road?
So after all these teachings, now He's going
to do some ministry, and that's what Matthew
8 goes into detail about.
But before Matthew 7 ends, something very interesting
here I want to bring to your attention.
The Bible records Matthew 7 verse 28, And
so it was, when Jesus had ended these
sayings, that the people were absolutely astonished at
His teaching.
I threw the word absolutely in there to
bring a little more significance.
The people were astonished at His teaching, for
He taught them as one having authority, and
not as the scribes.
So what these people notice is there's something
different about that man.
He doesn't speak like the normal religious leaders
of Jesus' day, like the Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the legal, the lawyers.
Because what they would do is they would
say, well, such and such says this, and
such and such says this.
And have you considered this?
And Gamaliel, you know, says this.
And it was just this pondering, and this
thinking about, and reading a scripture, kind of,
you know, here's what Ezra...
There was nothing really distinct or different, but
then Jesus comes on the scene.
And one account in the Gospels records that
when Jesus came on the scene, they said,
why didn't you arrest Him?
They said, no man ever spoke like this
man.
And after all these sayings, the people were
standing there astonished, because He spoke with authority.
And let's look at that word right there,
authority.
Authority, here's the definition of it.
The unimpeded power to act, or to control,
or to dispose of something or somebody.
Exousia, in the Greek.
Exousia.
It's an uninterrupted...
He doesn't have to go and ask permission
of anybody.
He's got this authority.
It's uninterrupted.
Nobody can control it.
Nobody can stop Him.
He has that type of authority.
When He speaks, the Word of God goes
and it penetrates the heart.
That's really what authority is in this context.
It's speaking the Word of God with authority
so that lives are changed.
They are shattered.
They are rattled.
They are shaken to the core because of
this authority.
No man ever spoke like this man.
And this is the difference between Holy Spirit
living and carnal living.
Your life is marked by power and control,
or it's not.
This is also the difference between Spirit-empowered
preaching and preaching that entertains.
There's a difference.
There's a distinction.
There's a mark.
Listen, that guy speaks with authority.
That woman speaks with authority.
Because what are they doing?
They have the Spirit of God in them,
speaking the counsel of God, the Word of
God, that pierces the heart.
And in your bulletin there, I think this
quote is marked in the notes by Samuel
Chaddock.
He said, And of course we know that
the sign of Christianity is a cross.
But his point is it's a tongue of
fire, of a man, a woman filled with
the Spirit of God, speaking boldly, that fire
in my bosom that the prophet said, His
Word is in my heart like a burning
fire.
It's shut up in my bones.
You read the Bible.
You compare this with any other book of
religion out there.
And I spoke on that the last few
weeks.
Check out those messages if you want to
see some of the distinctions.
But the Bible has authority.
The other ones don't.
There's a distinction.
There's a mark of something.
Something that irritates.
Something that upsets.
Why?
Because it's got the authority of God on
it.
So there's something about that authority.
And it's interesting on this issue of preaching
and authority and what Christ was doing.
If you look at coast guards, what do
they see?
They see a vessel going under.
They rush to the scene.
And they rescue those people.
Or a fireman.
See a building that is burning.
They run in and grab the people.
We see this in the emergency room, those
who work in the hospital.
Somebody comes in, needs attention.
What do we do?
We jump right on it.
Then how can the pulpit sit at ease
when the world around us is damned?
There's a burning building.
There's somebody sinking.
And the only way you can rescue them
is with that spiritual authority, that God-given
authority.
As a man or woman surrenders to the
work of the Holy Spirit, then they are
filled mightily with the Spirit.
Many of you won't be doing what I'm
doing.
I'm not talking about that.
But you need God's Spirit and power in
your life for daily living.
Woe be the man or the woman who
enters into life unarmed and untrained and unprepared
for battle.
The sword of the Spirit is left at
home.
The breastplate of righteousness is nowhere to be
found.
It's warfare.
The man whose sermon is repent sets himself
against the world and will be battered mercifully
by those he challenges.
There's but one end for such a man.
Off with his head.
You'd better not try to preach repentance until
you've pledged your heart or your head to
heaven.
And that's so true because of that authority,
that God-given authority.
When you upset people, they don't like it.
And it really is spiritual authority, this word
authority.
It's not like we're thinking sometimes it's the
police or the sheriff, and although it is,
this is spiritual authority.
This shakes the spiritual realm.
That's why when you worship, and she was
saying Jesus is that name, Jesus is that
name, I guarantee you anybody possessed or oppressed
by demonic influence would run for cover at
the sound of that name.
They wouldn't enter this building.
They wouldn't even get to the front door.
Why?
It's that spiritual authority of Christ.
You name the name of Christ, people get
upset.
Demons flee.
So that's what that authority is.
And there's a great danger to preach about
the Holy Spirit without the anointing of the
Holy Spirit.
Many people are talking about the fire of
God as if they're sitting on an iceberg.
And it's that authority, that spiritual authority.
Now here's where the sermon made a complete
180.
And it's going to step on some toes,
but that's okay.
I've been good at doing that lately.
And I'm on this topic of are you
a seeker or are you a skeptic?
And I do want to tie in healing
because a lot of times we think of
healing as physical.
And of course it is, right?
When we pray God heal me or heal
this person, we think of physical.
But I want to talk about something a
little bit different tonight.
I want to talk about healing of the
heart.
How many of us have emotional wounds?
Just me?
Boy, that's embarrassing.
I know there's a lot more.
And if you read the article in today's
Antelope Valley Press, if not, go home.
On your way home, grab it in Saturday's
edition.
It's in Victorville.
It's on Facebook, the Christian Post.
But I opened up about my own confession
of aborting a child 22 years ago.
And it was the hardest article I've ever
written.
I spoke on it here before about a
year and a half ago on a sermon
I gave.
And to carry that emotional baggage around, you
can't think how old would they be.
Would it be a boy or a girl?
What would they look like?
And that emotional weight.
And then you go through a difficult God
breaking me in the 1990s and experiencing all
kinds of issues.
And this emotional baggage that we carry around.
God can heal us of that.
God can heal those emotional wounds, those emotional
scars.
The person who's been abused.
The person who's been neglected.
The person who's been you fill in the
blank.
Anything, Shane?
Anything.
Molestation.
Abortion.
Rape.
All of that.
His healing power can set you free.
And that's what I want to talk about
tonight.
And I want to ask for the usher's
attention.
I want to ask for the greeter's attention.
I want to ask for the worship team's
attention and the media and the sound.
I want everybody.
Check your phones.
We're going to focus in on this important
issue about worship and what that does to
the heart.
And are you a seeker or are you
skeptic?
In other words, say worship like this.
It's kind of emotional, right?
Are you a seeker or are you skeptical?
Well, my question is why don't you go
to the one who has the answer?
Well, I can't open myself up.
I'll be deceived.
No, you won't.
It's in your bulletin.
You cannot be deceived if you're filled with
the spirit, living in his word, and making
prayer and worship an important part of your
day, and you remain broken and humble before
him.
You cannot be led astray.
Actually, the Lord is seeking those who will
worship him, who will worship him in spirit
and in truth.
So if you came in as skeptic to
God's healing power, to heartfelt worship, I want
to challenge that skepticism tonight.
I'm going to step on some toes.
He heals our emotions, but he also awakens
our soul.
And a lot of that is done through
worship.
And I believe that worship is one of
the most neglected areas of the Christian walk.
This is where the disconnect is happening.
This is where a lot of times we
don't see healing.
We don't see deliverance.
We don't see prayers answered.
We don't see this.
Because worship, there's a disconnect in our worship
with God.
And let me remind everybody in this room
that worship heals.
Worship sets us free.
Worship releases.
It's the heart being released to worship God.
And that is a major disconnect, I believe.
People can have somewhat of a prayer life.
You can read your Bible.
But unless you have that heart of worship,
there's not going to fill that connection with
God.
So let's talk about that briefly.
And what I want to do is parallel
this with the drought that we're seeing in
California, right?
That nobody's really worried about yet.
But trust me, if it keeps going like
this, you want to talk about water rationing
and all kinds of things.
You see the parched ground.
You see everything barren.
You see the drought up in the high
Sierras.
And what's going on?
Well, to me, it parallels dead worship.
People are dying spiritually, emotionally.
They're dying.
Just like that parched ground, their hearts are
getting hard like that.
They need that living water.
But because they're not worshiping, because they have
a dead formality, a dead worship, they're staying
stagnant.
They're not growing.
Their heart's not reviving.
Remember when Jesus said, you've got all this,
but you've left your first love.
Return to me.
Do you think that might have something to
do with worship?
Just a little bit.
Everything.
That's worship.
You have all this stuff, but return to
your first love and worship me.
Let humility and brokenness reign again.
Stop judging and backbiting and bickering, complaining.
Worship me.
Spend time at the foot of the cross.
That's how you return to your first love.
You don't return to your first love.
I'm going to upset some people, but you
don't return to your first love starting here.
You return to your first love starting here.
As the heart breaks, and then the word
of God opens up, and then the prayer
life becomes dynamic and powerful.
Everything flows from that broken heart.
That's why Jesus said, you draw nigh unto
me with your lips, but your hearts are
far from me.
You know the scripture, but you don't know
the author.
Oh, my Lord.
Emotions are good and God-given.
You realize that?
Emotions are good and God-given.
I think sometimes we're embarrassed by the emotions
we see in the Bible.
You read the Psalms.
Seeking after God, or as a deer pants
after the water, I'll pan after God.
Consuming fire, I desire everything.
And it's embarrassing.
And the apostle Paul offends us because they're
too emotional.
No, they're drawing close to God.
Everybody got excited last Sunday, right?
Maybe not if your team didn't win.
Where's that emotion?
Why aren't the emotions being engaged?
We're embarrassed by Paul.
We're embarrassed by the depth of the Psalm.
Panting after God as a deer pants after
water.
Consuming.
What is this?
The reason is you've never experienced it.
Because once you experience it, you read and
say, amen.
My soul cries out for the one true
and living God.
One thing have I desired.
One thing that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord.
All the days of my life.
He's everything.
That's all I want.
You can take my money.
You can take my reputation.
But don't take God.
So when we read those things, we don't
mock them because we've experienced them.
Heartfelt worship.
Desiring.
Seeking God.
Many people, here's the problem.
I'll list two problems.
Many people worship the word and not the
author.
Uh oh.
It's stepping on toes, isn't it?
Many people worship the word.
They've got the Bible down.
They've got their pneumatology and eschatology and theology
and sotrology.
They've got it down.
But they forget the author.
Worship Him.
The next point could be this.
Or you need a mighty filling of the
Spirit.
You need a mighty filling of the Holy
Spirit.
You might say, oh, Shane, I don't know
about that.
Well, let me tell you.
The Bible talks repeatedly about being filled with
the Spirit of God.
That the Spirit of God came upon such
and such.
The Spirit of God came upon such and
such.
Peter being filled with the Spirit of God.
Paul being filled with the Spirit of God.
Jesus Himself being filled with the Spirit of
God.
After the temptation.
After the wilderness.
Being filled with the Spirit of God.
Because that's worship.
Heartfelt worship is a byproduct of somebody who's
filled with the Spirit of God.
And what happens is the walls that we
built to protect us have imprisoned us.
Right?
The walls we built to protect us have
imprisoned us.
I'm not going to get carried away like
that looney tune.
I'm not going to be that fanatical.
I'm not a Jesus freak.
That guy's out there.
What the heck does this mean?
Why are they so emotional about it?
I don't know.
We're worshiping God.
We're not lying at the DMV.
Think about that.
We're at a powerful worship service.
Not a cemetery.
And it's really not funny.
It's sad.
Right?
Listen, I gave you a fair warning 20
minutes ago.
You need to get up and leave and
understand.
I told my wife a couple weeks ago.
We joked.
I said, if I ever meet a heart
surgeon, I'm going to tell him, hey, I
do that too.
He does it physically.
I do it spiritually.
See, heart surgery is not fun.
It hurts.
But we need that.
And just think of that song.
I've heard people mock that song.
The more I seek Him, the more I
find Him.
The more I find Him, the more I
seek Him.
The more I seek Him, the more I
love Him.
They mock it.
They make fun of it.
Oh, you emotional this and that.
You emotional.
And they're Christians and they mock it.
I must have heard that song seven times
this morning.
Rewind.
Because it takes 10, 20 minutes to get
the carnality and the sin out of my
heart and to start worshiping God.
Hit the rewind button and worthy is the
Lamb.
Worthy is the Lamb.
The more I seek Him, the more I
find Him.
The more I find Him, the more I
seek Him.
Shane, that's brainwashing.
No, it's brain repairing.
It's not brainwashing.
It's brain repairing.
And our brains need to be repaired.
Sometimes, what do you think meditate on the
Word of God means?
Meditate on the Word of God.
He who meditates on the Word of God
will be like a tree planted by living
waters who will bear its fruit in season
and whose leaves will not wither.
And everything he does will prosper.
Why?
Because he meditated on the Word of God.
Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength.
Do you think it's a five-minute wait
as if you put a dish in the
microwave?
Do you think that's what that word means?
Oh, one-minute cycle.
Okay.
I'm waiting.
No, no, no, no.
No, sir.
Waiting is travail of the soul.
It's seeking God.
The more I seek Him, the more I
find Him.
That's why I can sing that song because
I've experienced it.
I've experienced Him waking me up early in
the morning and pouring His grace upon me
so that everything changes.
I come out of the prayer closet a
better husband, a better father, a better pastor,
a better leader, a better person, a better
man.
If that's bad, then bring it on.
We need more of that.
We need more of that heartfelt worship, breaking
the heart.
Emotions are good and God-given.
They're not bad.
So where is that emotional, heartfelt worship?
Show me one time in the Scriptures where
true worship was not emotional or heart-gaging.
It's a test.
Go through the whole Scripture.
Show me one time where true worship was
not emotional and heartfelt.
Oh, you'll find many times where it wasn't.
In every case, it was rebuked by God.
Jesus rebuked them because of their fake and
phony worship.
Now, please don't misunderstand.
I'm not talking about necessarily a posture.
I'm talking about a heart.
I've been around the block long enough.
I was a church sitter in those pews
just three years ago.
I know that many people are not worshiping
God.
They're worshiping the one true living God, but
it seems like they're in line at the
DMV.
Is that not true?
How quick can we get out of here?
Another song.
I wish I had two hours to show
you underground footage from the house churches in
China.
Unbelievable.
But it probably wouldn't work in respectable Christianity
when you see Chinese believers on their knees
worshiping as tears are falling down onto the
ground, worshiping God, getting more of God.
That's biblical historical Christianity.
What we have today is not.
What we have today is American version of
Christianity.
Let's get them in.
Let's get them out as quick as we
can.
Do you realize that I've been to conferences
where they tell me to get my sermons
down to 25 minutes because we live now
in an age where people's perception, their depth,
and their way to keep their attention, you
can't go past 25 minutes?
We've got to get our services down to
an hour?
I leave there thinking they know not that
the Spirit of the Lord has departed from
them.
Because when you're truly worshiping God, you can't
put a time limit on it.
I think that's the problem with many churches,
including this one from Chinatown, is we're in
a hurry.
God says, no, wait.
Wait on me.
Granted, I have the advantage.
I'm in a three-hour worship service that
starts at 4 o'clock.
And I would encourage you, if you can
make it at 4 o'clock, both services,
try to get here as we press in
and worship God.
Now, when I talk about this thing about
emotions, you have to understand that this isn't
coming from an emotional guy, some little loose
cannon crybaby.
You guys know my story, right?
When I was younger, I was bench pressing
400 pounds.
I had a name around town as a
steamroller.
And my family, my dad's side, came from
the farms of Oklahoma.
Not very emotional.
You know what my dad would say?
Boy, you don't cry.
Six years old, got hurt.
Daddy, I'm hurt.
Boy, you don't cry.
Get up.
Ten years old, 12 years old, arm surgery,
going to the hospital.
Daddy, I want to cry.
I'm a little boy.
Boys don't cry.
Men don't cry.
Man up.
They would rule their house with a rod
of iron, but they knew nothing about the
compassion of God.
And then what happens at 18?
Suppressing those emotions.
Can't be emotional.
Can't cry.
Can't do anything.
Then you become a volcano, and you erupt,
and it's not pretty.
Most anger you see in men are little
boys inside, needing to release the emotion that
was never released when they were younger, fighting
mad at their father for never telling them,
Daddy, who am I?
Who am I?
I can remember my dad saying that probably
more than anything else.
Boy, you don't cry.
Men don't cry.
So this isn't coming from some emotional loose
cannon up here.
This is coming from somebody who has met
the risen Savior, and he's radically changed my
life.
And there are mornings I can't stop weeping,
and I'm not going to apologize for it.
I'm going to praise Him, because then I
come out of there holding my wife instead
of hitting her.
You understand?
You understand the significance here of when God
radically changes a life, and we're not going
to get emotional?
Really?
You're just not emotional?
You express anger real well.
Is anger not an emotion?
I can keep stepping on some toes.
You express less than passion real well.
Are those not emotions?
I'm just not emotional is an excuse to
hide our hard, callous hearts, because we don't
know how to worship.
And it's okay.
God says, just come with a broken heart,
I'll teach you how to worship.
I have to worship Him.
Sometimes there's joy, sometimes there's tears, sometimes there's
nothing, sometimes just waiting on God to move,
and to break, and to restore, and to
rebuild.
Because when I read the Bible comes to
life, I'm not embarrassed by the Psalms.
I want to embrace the Psalms.
I'm not embarrassed by Paul, because I can
relate to Paul.
Experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit in
a person's life is powerful.
And it goes back to the whole point
of the sermon.
The Father is looking for those who will
worship Him, for God is spirit, and those
who worship Him must worship Him in spirit
and in truth.
Did you catch that?
The Father is looking, looking for those who
will worship Him.
Jesus had the discourse with this woman.
He said, listen, you don't know what you
worship.
God the Father is spirit.
He's spirit, and He's looking for those to
worship Him in spirit and in truth.
The Old Testament says, the eyes of the
Lord go to and fro throughout the whole
earth, to show themselves strong on behalf of
those whose hearts are loyal to Him.
I guarantee those hearts that are loyal to
Him are hearts that are worshiping Him.
You don't see hearts that are loyal to
God, on passion and on fire for God,
that aren't worshiping.
You don't see it.
You know what the Bible calls a passionate
heart that's not worshiping God?
Lukewarm.
And Jesus said, I wish you were caught,
hold, I'm sorry, cold nor hot, that because
you are lukewarm, I will spew you out
of my mouth.
Jesus Christ.
Yeah.
The little mild meek lamb that says, turn
the other cheek.
That Jesus Christ.
I will, the literal translation is vomit.
I will vomit you out of my mouth,
because that lukewarm, you have lukewarm tea, lukewarm
milk.
I can't stand this.
So it's a loving Father, not, it's rebuking
so that our hearts will turn.
Many people go through church year in and
year out.
Nothing changes.
They'll come one Saturday, they'll miss three.
They'll come another Saturday, they'll miss four.
It's just nothing.
There's as dead as a door now.
They're just as frigid as a Frigidaire refrigerator.
There's nothing, there's no going, there's nothing in
their heart that's hard after God.
They're searching, they're looking, they want it, but
they're bound.
It's, it's, it's the reason you don't worship
is the enemy's got you bound.
He's got you just thinking that, that's just
for women.
That's just for emotional people.
No, that's for you.
And that's for me.
Worship is the heart of God.
Worship is how you connect with the Father.
Actually, my prayer life is dead.
If I don't worship dead prayer life without
worship, but you turn the worship gauge on
and that's powerful.
That's a heart on fire for God is
when prayer and worship meet.
That's a spirit filled life.
And I noticed that worship often preceded healing.
Do you need healing?
Not just physically.
What about mentally?
Depression, anxiety, fear, all these things.
Shane, I'm about to lose it mentally.
I'm about to have a nervous breakdown.
I'm not gonna, I'm about ready to, you
fill in the blank.
What do you need?
You need more than anything.
You need God.
You need worship.
I don't know.
I can't explain it fully, but God restores
the heart.
He restores the emotions as we worship him,
as we don't let fear and all this
bondage take control of us.
Fear often precedes healing.
Come on.
There's plethora of examples in the New Testament.
The leper, he was, he was a leper.
He came to Jesus and he fell down.
He worshiped him.
He said, Lord, teacher, good teacher.
If you are willing, will you heal me?
What about this?
The synagogue official who came in and said,
Jesus, he fell down.
He worshiped him.
He said, my daughter is dead.
Good teacher.
Would you come?
Just speak a word.
My daughter is dead.
Would you come?
We fell down and worshiped him.
What about the distraught mother who said, Jesus,
she fell down and worshiped him.
My daughter is severely vexed with the devil.
That's not a good thing.
Demonic, watching a child being demonically possessed is
heart wrenching.
She didn't come and give him a lecture.
She came down and worshiped him.
She didn't come and say, why does God
do this?
And why does God do that?
And I can't worship a God who does
this.
She came and worshiped him.
He said, go woman for that very hour.
Your daughter's healed.
What about the man who was bound by
demonic, not oppression.
This is demonic.
He was, he was possessed by, by a
legion of demons.
He said, my name is Legion.
They couldn't even chain him.
He lived in the tombs.
What's the Bible say?
He came in, worship Christ.
Worship is powerful.
Worship often proceeds the blessing.
Worship, worship often proceeds the healing.
That's why the enemy wants to get our
worship.
He wants to get us out of the
line of communication with God.
Don't worship like those fanaticals.
Don't do this.
Don't raise your hands.
Everybody's going to look at you.
Don't be on your face, weeping to God.
Everybody's going to look at you.
You need to come in here as some
good conservative Christian and then leave here no
different than when you arrived.
The heart's not changing.
And I'm pretty sure I might lose about
a half dozen people after this message, but
I'm not concerned with that because God's bringing
people from the east and west and north
and south.
He's building his church.
When you proclaim his truth to help people,
he'll add to the church.
You don't have to worry about crowd appeal.
That's one thing I love about Westside Christian
Fellowship is everybody's here because they want to
hear what's being said.
I don't have to come in and answer
to a board of directors, sit and listen
to an elder board and say, don't say
this and don't say that.
We might lose our big givers.
We might lose this.
Don't want to say that.
You're going to lose half your national audience.
Don't do this.
You better not.
We just come and we preach the word
of God.
If you want it, come and be a
part of this and worship God in spirit
and in truth.
I like what David said.
One thing if I desired, one thing if
I desired, that will I seek to dwell
in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life.
And this type of message will feed the
seeker, but it's going to upset the skeptic.
This type of message is meant to offend.
Do you realize that this message will offend?
And rightly so.
Because change will not take place until I
offend you.
According to the word of God in a
loving way.
This message offended me.
I had my sermon all three point, you
know, three hole punched in this folder, ready
to go.
430 this morning.
Lord, you got to be kidding me.
So I told Morgan, I'm going to be
in there for about 10 o'clock this
morning.
I got it.
And everything's just pouring out, just writing all
these points down, right?
Just writing it down.
I don't know.
I could, you know, I could leave here
and say, I don't know if God was
in or not, but he sure, he sure
was tugging on my heart this morning.
And based by the looks on some of
your faces, I can tell he's tugging on
yours as well.
Because this is a very good thing.
This type of message is the type of
message where you get a Tyson right hook.
And you just, oh, that's what I needed.
Lord, I need that.
I need you.
I need to worship you.
If you seek me, you will find me.
If you find me, you'll see, Lord, that's
what I need.
I need to seek you.
I need to find you with all of
my heart, with all of my soul, with
all of my strength.
And that's what we're trying to do.
He's called me to revive hearts, not put
them to sleep.
You catch that.
I know he's called me to revive hearts,
not put them to sleep.
And some people don't want their hearts revived.
I've told you before, the majority of negative
emails I get, including this week, are from
Christians.
You say, what in the world?
That's what I ask myself too.
But it basically comes down to any time
you call somebody to that holy life, that
devoted life, that life for Christ, the transformed
life, the exchanged life, the fully surrendered life,
people don't want to hear it because they
don't want it.
Yeah, you don't want to change.
Don't challenge my viewing habits.
Don't challenge my dating habits.
You better not challenge my drinking habits.
And when you challenge all the habits, you
get in trouble.
And rightly so.
Do you realize that the Old Testament prophets
were not popular people a lot of times
with the kings and the leaders?
Elijah, remember I told that story a few
weeks ago, he told wicked King Ahab.
He killed all his prophets.
He prophesied against Jezebel.
She's going to die.
And all he's doing is proclaiming the truth
of God's Word.
He's calling the people back.
The same Elijah that said, how long will
you waver between two opinions?
If God is God, follow Him.
Do you know the same cry goes out
today?
Church, how long will you falter between two
opinions?
If God is God, follow Him.
There's no middle ground.
The middle ground is called the lukewarm ground.
And then what do you think the king
said?
Thank you Elijah for bringing the people back.
No, he said, oh troubler of Israel, my
wife will kill you by tomorrow.
And he fled.
And you know the rest of the story?
God spoke to him.
He wasn't in the wind.
He wasn't in the fire.
He wasn't in the earthquake.
He was in the still small voice that
followed.
Many of you never hear the still small
voice of God because you're too busy.
You're too busy doing everything but worshiping.
Should it take up all your day?
Of course not.
Unpractical.
But there should be a time where you're
worshiping God and where your heart's seeking after
Him and you're being edified, you're being built
up.
So let me get to the point.
Stop making excuses.
We need to stop making excuses for our
lack of passion.
Did you catch that?
We need to stop making excuses for our
lack of passion.
Many people say, I'm just not emotional.
We already covered that, did we not?
We express emotion real well in other areas.
We have the Word of God now.
We don't need all those emotions.
No, actually the Word of God draws me
even closer to Christ.
The bottom line is, man by nature has
a prideful, arrogant heart.
And you can't worship God when you're prideful.
I'm just shooting you straight.
You cannot truly worship God when you're prideful.
Many people come in here, all churches, and
they're judging when they walk in.
Well, those lyrics wouldn't meet the Westminster Confession
of Faith.
Why are the lights dim?
Why are they doing all this stuff?
Why are they worshiping more than four songs?
Isn't that brainwashing?
What's Chelsea doing?
Saying Jesus, Jesus.
What's wrong with her?
Nothing's wrong with her.
Something's wrong with you.
You read this and you go, something's wrong
with you.
Because fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, kindness, self-control.
The fruit of the Spirit, goodness.
So these are very good things.
Thousands will hear the Word of God this
weekend, but they will not experience God.
People will arrive hungry, and they'll leave starving.
Do you realize that?
Millions of people will go to church hungry,
and they'll come home starving to death.
What happened?
The Spirit of God was not moving.
This is a very important issue.
And the pastors will hear, Pastor, that was
a wonderful sermon.
It was grammatically correct, and historically correct.
Your humanudic and homiletic approach was second to
none.
You uncovered the Greek ambiances in the Hebrew.
Verb tense is wonderful.
But they leave starving.
Don't get me wrong, I love homiletics.
It's the study of how to prepare a
sermon.
I love those kind of books.
Hermeneutics, how to study your Bible.
Yeah, real popular on my reading list.
But too many people are worried about a
Master's degree instead of a degree from the
Master.
They're just dying on the vine, and this
is why.
Think about it.
You go and you teach theology students how
to interpret the Greek language, but you never
teach them to pray and to fast and
to fully surrender their lives.
Listen, the Pharisees knew the Hebrew, Aramaic.
They knew the language.
They had the first five books of the
Bible memorized.
Why did Christ rebuke them?
Because they didn't know the author.
This is vitally important.
But on that note, just a word to
my charismatic friends.
I love you.
But if it's odd, it's God.
It's not biblical.
What I mean by that is emotions should
not be the engine of the train.
They are the caboose.
So we don't get emotional and work God
up into a Holy Spirit pep rally.
You don't whip God up.
God brings revival down upon His people.
Fire falls on an altar.
Therefore, Paul would say to the church in
Rome, be not conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Before that, he says, I beseech you, brethren,
to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy
what is your reasonable service to God.
And then when you present your body as
a reasonable sacrifice, fire falls.
I would bet the majority of the people
in this room have never said something like
this, Lord, I surrender all of my life,
everything is Yours, my finances, my marriage, my
parenting, my leadership.
Lord, my heart, everything is Yours.
Would You fill me mightily with Your Spirit.
I want to worship You.
I want to know You in the power
of Your resurrection, the fellowship of Your suffering.
I want the Bible to come alive in
my life.
Lord, I'm giving You everything.
Tonight I submit and I surrender.
It is all Yours.
And I bet most of you have never
said that.
You see where the problem is now?
The problem is not in the message, it's
in the receiver.
And to my Reformed friends, what I call
theological friends, listen, we have the same heroes,
the Reformation, we read the same authors.
I love those guys.
But the very thing you need is the
very thing you're avoiding, the power and the
presence of the Spirit of God.
For some people, the word Holy Spirit and
filled is something they want to avoid.
Me, it's something I want to run to.
Because the Bible is all about the Spirit
-filled life.
A life guided and directed by the Spirit.
Not weirdness.
Power.
Exousia.
That Christ had.
That authority.
That when you speak, you speak by the
authority of God.
When you pray, you're praying with the authority
of God.
When you worship, that authority comes and reigns
and rules in your heart.
As a matter of fact, the Spirit-filled
believers are the most discerning people I've ever
met in my life.
The people who worship the Bible and are
so into theology have to be careful.
Because sometimes they become overly judgmental and hypercritical.
And they quench and grieve any type of
work that God's going to do in their
heart.
So we have to be careful here.
You might say, how dare you challenge me,
Shane?
I say, no, how dare you continue to
keep running from the very thing you need?
Do you realize that?
The very thing you need is the very
thing you keep running from.
I don't want to become some holy roller,
fanatical.
Would you rather be miserable?
Because I know the Christian life that's not
surrendered to God is not a very fun
life.
It's a miserable life.
Because you're trying to serve two masters.
And you can't.
You'll either be loyal to one, you'll hate
the other, or you'll despise the one and
love the other.
You cannot serve two masters.
That's why I believe many people are frustrated.
That's why I believe they're angry.
That's why I believe they deal with a
lot of emotional issues.
Because they haven't fully surrendered their life.
Is a Spirit-filled life free of dilemma
and challenges?
Oh, Lord, no.
I wish it was.
But that's really the thrust of this message.
The very thing you need is the very
thing you're mocking.
Do you realize that David's wife mocked him?
King David.
When they brought the Ark of the Covenant,
the Philistines, they took it.
And David was bringing it back in.
You might get a little bit excited about
that, you think.
I don't know.
Here comes the power and presence of God.
And his wife mocked him.
Oh, you king of Israel.
You're making a fool in front of the
people.
And in that same area, this is what
the Bible says.
This is words taken from David, I believe.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord.
Just think about this.
Listen to what I'm saying.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord.
Call upon His name.
Make known His deeds among the people.
Sing to Him.
Sing psalms to Him.
Talk of all His wondrous works.
Glory in His holy name.
Sing to the Lord all the earth.
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from
day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations.
His wonder among all peoples.
For the Lord is great and greatly to
be praised.
He is also to be feared above all
other gods.
Honor and majesty are before Him.
Strength and gladness are in His place.
Give to the Lord, oh families of the
people.
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
Give to the Lord the glory due His
name.
Bring an offering and come before Him.
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of
holiness.
So it begs the question, and I want
to leave you with this.
When was the last time you wept in
the presence of God?
You say, I'm not emotional.
Neither am I.
But when sinful fallen man encounters the one
true and living God, there should be some
type of emotion.
Joseph wept.
Men of war in the Bible wept.
David wept.
Nehemiah wept.
Kings wept.
Prophets wept.
Priests wept.
They fell down in the holy presence of
God.
When was the last time you truly worshipped
Him?
I'm not saying somebody has to weep in
God's presence.
I'm just saying, but when was the last
time you worshipped Him and the heart was
engaged, not disengaged, not worried about what we're
going to eat or how late this is
going to go.
Worshipped Him.
Let's turn the clock around.
Can we turn the clock around?
Children's ministry would say no because we need
to pick up the kids.
We'll go bring them back in here.
But that's the heart of worship.
And I'll leave you with this question.
Are you a seeker or are you a
skeptic?
Are you a seeker or are you a
skeptic?
Because that question demands an answer.
Think about that.
Either way you're giving your answer.
So I'm asking the question, are you a
seeker or are you skeptic?
And if you were a skeptic, can you
come over to our side?
It's a little bit more enjoyable.
Life being filled with the Spirit of God
worshipping Him.
It's not a bad thing.