The Success Test | Jabin Chavez | City Light Church

Hey, what's up to our Online City Light family. Man, I love you guys so much. We are about to jump into God's Word. I believe it's gonna be powerful. I believe it's gonna be relevant. And I really do honestly believe that God's gonna speak to you. So I just want you to open your heart and believe with us that God is gonna do something amazing through this sermon right now in your heart. If you have not liked and subscribed and done all the things, if you would do that, that would be a huge blessing to us as our media team tells me that it helps the algorithm. Whatever an algorithm is, I guess we want to be on it. So I love you. Let's jump into God's Word. Hebrews chapter 11, verse nine. And when he had reached the land, God promised him, this is Abraham going into his promised land. When he had reached the land, God promised him he'd live there by faith. For he was like a foreigner living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob who inherited the same promise. Just before we move on, he got his promise, but he didn't lose his faith. Y'all catch that? He got in the promised land, but he lived there by faith. Verse 10, Abraham confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations.

It's talking about heaven. A city designed and built by God. And I want to talk about what do you do after you win? What do you do after you get your breakthrough? What do you do after you receive your promise? I want to talk about the success test. The success test. Father, I thank you for these moments we share. And I thank you that you're going to speak to our hearts today. Thank you for this amazing, beautiful group of people that you have assembled today. Bless them, feed them, minister to them through your Word in Jesus' name, amen. And amen and amen. Elbow your neighbor and say, we're going to pass the test. Come on, tell them, we're going to pass the test. You believe that today? We're going to pass the test. 172 times in your Bible, God commands us to remember the Lord. Do not forget the Lord. Remember Him. It is a amazing discipline for the child of God, for the believer, to be able to stop every once in a while and look back on your life and say, thank you, Jesus. What will give you faith for tomorrow is gratitude for what He's already done. If you lose your gratitude, you will automatically have weak and anemic faith.

Because if you can't thank God for what He's already done, you'll never be able to expect God for what He's about to do. So God gives us a command 172 times. Don't forget me. Remember me. Look back and see my faithfulness. Look back and see my guiding hand. Look back and hear my leading voice. Look back at my protective presence and stop every once in a while and just say, thank you. Stop every once in a while and just take a deep breath and go, wow, God, you've been so good all my life. You've been faithful and all my life, you've been so, so good. In Luke chapter 17, Jesus heals 10 men with leprosy, heals 10 lepers. After He heals them, they all leave, but one of them has the sense to go, wait a minute. I forgot to say thank you. He runs back to the Lord and he begins to thank God for healing him. Jesus does not say, you're welcome. He's frustrated. He looks at the one who said thank you and he goes, where are the nine? I healed 10. Only 10% are grateful. Only one out of 10 know how to thank me and honor me. Only one out of 10 know how to say thank you.

What do I give a God who has everything? I give him the one thing that is rare in the earth, the one thing that is uncommon in the earth, the one thing that most believers have not mastered. I give him praise. I give him worship. I know I'm only five minutes into this sermon, but I think we ought to take a quick praise break. If anybody's ever been touched by the. The hand of the Lord. Can I get about 200 people to stand up on their feet and say, thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. You've been too good to me. You've been better than I deserve. Better than I am to myself. Thank you, Jesus. God loves praise so much. He loves praise so much that he said in Psalm 22, I will personally sit down in, inhabit, rest in, dwell in the praises of my people. I hear it so rarely that when I hear a church worship, I have to attend. When I hear a people praise me, I have to show up. When I hear that single mama driving away from school and she just dropped off her kids and she's overwhelmed and she's tired and she's broken, I hear her praise and I have to get in the car with her and begin to minister to her.

When I hear the praise of a person that just got a doctor's report that they weren't expecting but they lift up their hands and they give me the glory anyway, I have to show up in that scenario. When I hear the praises of somebody that finally got their breakthrough and finally made their money or finally bought their dream car, finally moved into their house and they're actually thanking me for it, I have to show up in that because it's so rare to hear praise from my bratty little children. Oh, may we always be a praising church. May we always be a shouting church and an undignified church and a radical church because God loves that kind of church. And I know that's new for a lot of you because it hasn't been seen in our city before. You're welcome. We're creating something new. It's not the church of the frozen chosen. It's a church where you can get healed, a church where you can get delivered, a church where you can praise God. It's a church where you can receive the Holy Spirit. It's a church where the fire of God can come on you and you'd never be the same. Moses is writing to his people in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is Moses' last book before he would die.

They're in the wilderness, they've been there for 45 years and he's writing them literally a beautiful love letter to the book of Deuteronomy. He's writing to these people and he's saying, guys, you're about to win. You're about to succeed. You're about to get your promise. You got out of Egypt and now you're about to leave the wilderness. You've left not enough. You're now gonna leave just enough and you're about to walk into a land of more than enough, a land full of milk and honey, but I'm worried about you. I'm worried about you because God's about to give you success but I saw what you did in the wilderness and I saw how you complained with manna and now you're about to get milk and honey and I need your attitude to shift or you will complain again because if your heart doesn't change, the wind won't change you. So he begins to write in the book of Deuteronomy and he says this, when you have eaten and are satisfied. Man, you're about to eat milk and honey. Man, it's about to be good. I'm gonna give you cities you didn't build and vineyards you didn't plant and wells you didn't dig but when you eat, praise the Lord your God. Praise him for the land that he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord

failing to observe his commands, his laws, his decrees that I'm giving you this day. Don't forget God when you get blessed. Pass the success test. Verse 17, he goes, you're gonna be tempted to say to yourself, now you wouldn't say this on Instagram and you wouldn't say this to anybody publicly and you would never say this in church but every once in a while, you start feeling yourself a little too much and you might look in the mirror and you might say to yourself, this is my power and this is my strength. This is my hands that have produced this wealth for me and God said, don't get it twisted, don't get it twisted. Remember the Lord your God, it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth. God goes, don't forget about me when you get blessed. I wanna make this so simple for you. My nine-year-old got it last night. We're at dinner last night. She goes, so you're telling me God gives us a gift and then he wants us to use that gift for his glory? I said. Girl, you got it. Let's pray for the adults tomorrow that they'll get it too, because that's it. That gift is from God. That ability is from God.

That mind is from God. That creativity is from God. That entrepreneurial spirit is from God. That faith is from God, and he gave you that as an ability to produce wealth, or to produce whatever. Any blessing that comes in your life ultimately came from God. And so it confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors on this day. God goes, please don't forget me when you win. Don't forget me when you get blessed. The faith you needed to have that baby, you're gonna need to parent that baby. The faith you needed to get that house, you're gonna need to steward that house. The faith you needed to get you through that crisis is the faith you're gonna need on the mountaintop. Please don't lose your faith. Please, please, please do not forget the Lord. Watch Hebrews 11 again. And when he had reached the land, I got my promise. Even there he lived by faith. Here's what I've learned in eight years of pastoring. Many people have the faith to get through a trial. Few people have the faith to handle a blessing. I'm gonna say that one more time. Write this one down, write this one down. Many people have the faith to get through a trial.

Few people have the faith to handle, wrote that on purpose, handle a blessing. How do I handle a blessing with open hands? Too early? Let me say that one more time. How do I handle a blessing with open hands? Do you know how many people I've seen blessed out of the house of God? Oh man, when you were going through it, you were in church every day. You were in church at the four o'clock, the six o'clock, the nine o'clock, the 1045, the 1230. You went to noontime prayer on Wednesdays. You snuck into youth though you're 43. You went to young adults. You were in 15 different small groups with your prayer request. And then God answered your prayer. And where the heavens are you? Oh, you got a boat. That's what happened. You got yourself a boat. And now you're on the boat on the weekends. I'm not against your boat. I hope you get a boat. I hope every person in that you get a boat, you get a boat, you get a boat. I feel a spirit of Oprah on me. I hope everybody gets a boat. But I hope you don't forget the Lord with your boat.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. What's up family? We're about to get right back into God's word. Just before we do, I wanted to thank so many of you who have helped us financially. Maybe you don't live in Vegas. Maybe you don't even live in America. But something in your heart has been stirred to help us reach literally one of the most unreached places on planet Earth. Las Vegas is the most unchurched city in the most unchurched state, Nevada, in all of America. We're doing everything we can to reach more people with the gospel. And so to all of you who have ever given to our ministry, thank you. To you who maybe have not, but have been impacted by this house, by the teaching and preaching from this house. I wanna ask you, would you consider helping us as we continue to bring the good news of Jesus

to our region? You can go to citylightvegas.com and find all the ways to give there. I love you so much. I appreciate you. I'm praying for you. Let's jump back into God's word. I hope you don't get blessed out of the will of God. I hope the same faith you had in the trial is the same faith you'll have in the blessing. Where'd they go? They got blessed. Where'd they go? They got a boyfriend. Where'd they go? They got a girlfriend. Where'd they go? They got a promotion at work. Is it really a promotion to get promoted out of the house of God? I don't know. I don't know. Abraham passed the success test because he never let the promise replace the God who gave it. That's my intro, y'all. We gotta get moving. Number one, how do I pass the success test? Number one, don't get comfortable. Don't get comfortable. Abraham arrived in the promised land,

but he never acted like he arrived. How do I know? This is crazy. The Bible says of Abraham, he was. Very wealthy in gold, silver, and livestock. Watch this, watch this. But the Bible tells us, but he still lived in a tent. Ooh, something to this. He stayed mobile. He stayed open. He stayed a tent dweller. I haven't been able to say that one time. I'm 3N, and I still haven't been able to say tent dweller. I've said tent dweller every time. I'm gonna get it for the 10.45, amen. He stayed a tent dweller, he stayed moving. This is not a sermon about home ownership. I want you to buy a home. That's not what this is about. This is about settling and getting comfortable, so comfortable in your blessing that you're no longer open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. He chose tents over castles. He chose a tent over a house. I'm just calling every person in our church to stay open to whatever God wants to do and say in your life. How do I handle a blessing with open hands? Now, here's what's amazing.

Abraham's nephew Lot, he got blessed too. He went down into Sodom and Gomorrah, an evil city, and when God was about to literally rain down judgment on that city, right before God does that, he delivers Lot and his family out of the city, and the Bible said in Genesis 19 that when God delivered Lot, he had to go knock on the door of Lot's house. Lot got himself a house. Lot live in large. Lot way too comfortable in a world system. So much so that the angels literally had to tear him out of his house, kicking and screaming. They're going, God's about to send down fire on this. We have to go. Let me just grab one more thing. Let me just grab one. He was too attached to the world. And again, I'm not saying, no, I own a home. I'm not against owning a home. Please don't miss this sermon. What I'm saying is even in that, I hope all of us have a spirit of faith on us that says, Lord, whatever you're doing in my life, the answer is yes. I'm a yielded vessel. I'm open. I'm ready. I'm a soldier at your command. Whatever you say, Lord, I'm gonna do it.

But Lot and his family got too comfortable, so comfortable that the scripture said that as they're leaving, God had to tell them, don't look back. This isn't looking back in gratitude. This was looking back in missing a place God never even wanted them to be in the first place. And the Bible said when Lot's wife looked back, scripture says she froze like a pillar of salt, stuck. And Jesus reminds us the second shortest verse in all of the Bible, Luke 17, 32, remember Lot's wife. And then he gives that little thought context. Next verse, whoever seeks his life loses it. Try to keep it, you're gonna lose it. But if you'll live like this, you'll keep it. You can't keep your life this way. You're not strong enough. But the moment your hands are open and surrendered to God, now whatever God wants to bring into your life, thank you, Lord. And whatever you want of this, you can have it. Are y'all catching me right now? Don't get comfortable. Faith keeps moving. I'm grateful, but I'm moving. I'm content, but I'm moving. I'm amazed at the goodness of God, but I'm moving. Revelation chapter three. These are the words of Jesus. I know your deeds.

And here's what's frustrating. You're not hot or cold. I wish you were one or the other. But because you are lukewarm, middle road, gray, beige, good. Yeah. Good, how was church? Good. How's your marriage? Good. How's everything going? Good. Just safe and cute. And don't make no moves. And you're not really hot, but you're not really cold. People can't really figure you out. "'cause you're right down the middle." And Jesus said, that gives me a stomach ache. I don't like that kind of faith. I don't like that kind of spiritual neutrality that kind of just tries to stay in the middle. He said, I wish you were one or the other. And he said, and here's what lukewarmness looks like. It looks like verse 17. You say I'm rich. I've acquired wealth. I have need of nothing. That's how you know you're lukewarm. You don't think you have needs anymore. May my dreams always be bigger than my current situation.

May my vision always be larger than my current provision. May my future always be brighter than my past. I don't want to lose my fire. I don't want to lose my edge. I don't want to lose that spirit that says God's still doing something in my life. Oh, I got needs and you got needs. And if you don't think it, that's your need. Somebody say amen. Oh, I want to stay on fire for God. I don't want to lose that anointing. I don't want to lose that touch. I want to stay radical. I don't want to lose my hunger and my thirst for Jesus. I don't want to lose that edge in my life that wakes up every morning and says, God, if you don't show up today, I'm toast. I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose my hunger for the things of the Holy Spirit. You know, just last week I was in Australia preaching and there was a mighty man of God in the service. His name is Pastor Tim Hall. He's 77. He's been in ministry 51 years and he's a radical. What he does is he goes to countries, throws on a stage and starts preaching to hundreds of thousands of people, massive healings, deliverances, salvations.

But he's a Holy Ghost wild man. So he prays for people. People fall down and it's powerful. And I'm kind of frustrated because I saw these two jackasses this week. I don't know if I should say that word. You approve of that? It's probably not a good, it means a donkey. I saw two donkeys this week making fun of people falling down. And I just thought, number one, we don't push. And number two, we don't make a doctrine of it, but every once in a while, the power of God can come upon people. You might never come back, I'm sorry. I don't know if you're offended I'm talking about falling or that I said jackass, but either way I said it. And so, I said it a second time, oh Lord, forgive me. But these guys are making fun of this. And I was just so frustrated by seeing that because I thought, you don't know nothing about God. Anyway, so Tim's praying for people and the anointing of God was in the room. And so I said to his son, David, I said, I'm gonna have your dad pray for me. And he goes, are you serious? I go, yeah, I feel the anointing of God in this room. I'm gonna have him pray for me. So he's praying for people and I just ran up. I was the preacher, so I had the liberty.

So I just ran up next to him, threw my hands up. He prayed for me, I fell down. Well, they took pictures of it. And David goes, can I post that picture? Because it's kind of like, should we? I said, of course. I'm not ashamed of the Holy Spirit. I'm not ashamed of God moving in my life. I'm not ashamed of a touch of God. I'm not ashamed of speaking in tongues. I'm not ashamed of God's healing power. I'm not ashamed of the blood of Jesus. I'm on fire for God. Post it online. I'll post it this week again. Why not? Just to frustrate somebody. Now, do we make a whole thing of it? Is that what all of our services are? Of course not. But my point is, I wanna stay on fire. See, there was something in that service that just brought me back to being 25 years old, 30 years old, 18 years old. And I'm watching this man of God minister to people. And I'm watching people get touched by the power of God. And something in me at 42 said, pray for me. I never wanna lose that. Faith moves. Can't believe I said that.

You gotta forgive me, but it is what it is. Faith moves. That faith has gotta get in your feet where you're seeking and never settling. The heroes of our Bible, they all moved. They weren't perfect, but they all were in motion. Noah multiplied, Abraham believed, Isaac sowed, Jacob wrestled, Joseph dreamed, David. fought. Solomon gave. Daniel fasted. Naaman dipped seven times. Elijah ran. Elisha dug ditches. Peter walked on the water. Matthew left corruption. Mary believed. Elizabeth rejoiced. Paul went into the desert. Everybody we celebrate in this book, they weren't perfect, but they were in motion. And if you'll keep moving, the devil can't hit a moving target. Oh, somebody shout with me. Man, I feel revival in the house today. I feel a breakthrough in the house today. Hallelujah. Number two. Still a pastor. I got to give you three points or it's not a sermon. I'm looking at the clock. Okay. Okay. Okay. Just come up here guys, or I'll never quit. Just worship team come. Teach it to your children. Abraham did it. Watch this. Watch this. Abraham did it. Verse nine. And so did Isaac and Jacob. There is something even more powerful than giving your child an inheritance. And you should do that. We should all believe to be able to give our child an inheritance, but listen, there's something greater and it's called a legacy. It's called passing down faith to the next generation. It's giving your children a story of God's goodness. It's being able to pass down to them what was on you, Abraham. It got on Isaac and it got on Jacob. And I just declare what's on you is going to get on your kids. I declare your children will serve the Lord. I declare your children are getting free from all addiction. I declare your children are getting free from all gender confusion. I declare your children are going to walk in the promises of God all the days of their life. I declare a new generation is rising up. Gen Z, Gen Alpha on fire for God. Hallelujah. Glory. It got on Abraham and he gave it to his babies. A story, a family story.

Baby, we didn't all go to church. We didn't all grow up in God's house. We didn't all grow up in a home full of peace and prayer. We didn't all grow up in a home where the Bible was read and honored. We didn't all serve in the house of the Lord. We didn't all live in integrity and honor. But baby, God did something in mama and daddy's life. And now that same faith that's on us is coming upon you in the name of Jesus. Thirdly, live for eternity. Abraham kept his eyes on a city whose builder and maker was God. He kept one foot in heaven. It's just, it's just important to remember this life isn't all there is. He kept one foot on the other side. He understood that everything in this life is temporary. Only what he would do for God would last. And I think there's just something good about remembering, you know, here's what's crazy. You know what's in heaven? Houses are in heaven. Mansions are in heaven. Hey, Lot, go get your house. I'll get my house. But right now I'm, I'm staying open to the Holy Spirit. Do you see it? Do you see that? He was just, he had one foot on the other side. It reminds me of this, this little illustration. I'm going to grab this. This thing, thank you, brother. This is eternity. You know, we believe in eternity in this church. We believe that there is a heaven and a hell. And I'm living for this because this is your life. That's all you got. Some will live 50 years, others will live 80. Maybe a new peptide will come out, we'll get to 150. But I've got this moment.

And what I do here is gonna affect all of this. So I hope that what I'm doing now makes it over. I hope I'm preaching in a way that makes it over there. I hope I'm living in a way that makes it over there. I hope everything I do, I'm thinking about, will it actually last? Is it actually making an impact in eternity? So Jesus said, don't just lay up for yourself treasure on earth or moth and rust destroy. Thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourself treasure in heaven. Are you receiving another offering? No, I'm not. I'm talking about a way to live. This is not an offering verse. It's a way to live your life. Lay up, live for heaven. Where there is no moth, no rust, no thieves. Live for what matters. I'm just asking myself that a lot right now. Is what I'm living for worth Jesus dying for? Abraham lived for heaven. And if you'll live your life thinking about this, watch, watch, you will pass the success test. And I declare in the name of Jesus, this church is gonna pass that test. If you believe it, give God a shout of praise in the house.