Why We Can't Always Be Nice | Pastor Shane Idleman

The title this morning, Why We Can't Always Be Nice. Now, I'm going to have to give an intro real quick. I'm talking to the critical hard hearts right now. If you got excited about this title, that's a good indication you need humility and gentleness. Because I see that a lot as a pastor. You know, people, I can't wait till you just tell them off and you preach that and you, blah, blah, blah. They need an excuse for their anger and they'll use a title like that, or their critical heart. And so that title, does that title excite you or does it humble you? Big difference. And we find ourselves in Acts 13, Acts 13, verse four. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus and when they arrived in Samalis, they preached the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. So let's stop there for a minute. Being sent doesn't always mean having exact directions. That's one thing that's hard for me with the Lord, to be honest with you. Anybody want exact directions? Like anybody else go on GPS and I zero in, I look at exactly what street I'm turning on, how far this is in, how many streets. I need to know. I'm going to LAX this week, I'm going the 14 to the five,

briefly to the 405 on X in Century Boulevard, I'm taking the left lane, I'm going to the lower parking lot. I need exact, and I would go on where is southwest, terminal one or 14, so I know how far I'm, right, and I want that from the Lord, but you know what, that doesn't always happen. That does not, for example, the situation I just told you about, there's a flat tire and I couldn't get it fixed, and so I finally, I'm like, Lord, you must be doing something here, because nothing's working, and so I take it to the tire store, and because of that, I'm able to walk down the 50th and go and minister to this other guy, and this other, try to go into the other place, and you can see God is just moving in those situations, and often we don't know. I think if we did know, we might not do it. Now, the question is, how did they know the Holy Spirit was sending them out? And I'll talk about that in a minute, but when God sends you out, you have to go. You have to move. You know, if you just wait and watch a Netflix for some letter to come in the mail to tell you what to do or something up in the sky, it doesn't happen. Usually, there's a passion or a desire, or it's serving others, right?

We have the hospital homes that many of you need to get signed up for. You talk to Paula. She'll meet you there, and you just go in. And you say, hey, can I pray with you? Do you need anything? And from that, then sometimes other doors will open. You might meet somebody that might want, or you'll start, and God begins to open doors as you move. It's hard to steer something that's not moving. But you don't go out in your own faith and flesh. You step out and say, okay, Lord, what do you want me to do? Even in our imperfections, He will use us. But check this out. They preached the Word of God in the synagogues. That's pretty dangerous. But they also had John as their assistant. So preaching was a priority, and it was controversial in the synagogues. Trust me, this message did not go over well in those synagogues. But I want to talk about this for a minute. He's to discern being sent by God. So is what you're going to pursue, is it selfless? Is it selfless? Does it help others? Does it build your relationship with the Lord? Many are not led because they think

the ministry's about them and not others. This is going to be a little convicting today, guys. I prayed on a lot of this stuff, because sometimes I don't know if it's me or God. But a lot of people that I've seen over the years have no problem. We could fill up a list. We're looking for Bible teachers. We're looking for these positions of leadership in the church. Oh, it'd be full. But back to the hospital homes. Back to ministering to shut-ins. Guys, that's where ministry starts. You've got to start there. Oh, if they could get me up there, I'd belt out amazing grace. Let God promote you, not yourself. You might not sound as good as you think. Be nice to these guys. But isn't that true? Isn't that true? I even think I sing better than I sound. So many are not led because they think the ministry is about them and not others. So many people want to start a study, want to grow this, want to grow that. But ministry starts with you helping others. And then from there, amazing things begin to happen when you just go out to help others.

And without even thinking of it, that's where my first book came from, What Works When Diets Don't. I just wanted to help people, right? Avoid disease and things like that. And a guy asked me to speak at a church and he said, just why don't you preach instead of speak on this topic? And I did. And then a pastor was there. And then he wanted me to speak at his Sunday service. And then that message, Promise Keepers in Canada duplicated 10,000 copies for all their guys and it went out. And then I began to speak. So God did that. I was ministering to the homeless at Grace Resource, teaching them hygiene and health and stuff back then. Had no clue what God was going to do. I'm digging ditches. They'll say, oh, Shane, you're such a great example of that. No, I'm not. Pride comes in too, just like everybody else. Pride comes too, just like everybody else. Jealousy. You ever get jealous? Covet. I texted a friend of mine yesterday, Mike Singarelli. Like, yeah, you're down at the Coliseum? Yeah, I'm getting ready to go preach.

I'm like, I'd love to preach at the Coliseum too. So we all, and that's actually not a bad thing. If you sort through that, like I would love to do that just to honor God too and to bring people to repentance. So it's hard to go through your desires and the Lord's desires, because some of those things can be really good and they line up, as long as the heart's right. God will open incredible doors. Also, when you step out and being sent, is it according to God's Word? Did you consider wisdom and seeking godly counsel? Let me tell you, wisdom will save you from a lot of problems. I've seen it. People just come back and they go, Pastor, man, I thought, I thought. And they realize they stepped out in presumption. God likes us to use wisdom. God likes us to use wisdom. Not just presume things. For example, I called or found out that piece of property next to the Highland Church, that big piece of land. I'm like, how about if we build one there and give a little competition? Just kidding, I'm just kidding. Like 1.5 million just for the land. And then do you know, because I did that, I know exactly what it involves to bring in utilities. And you got another million in sidewalk

and bringing water mains in. You know, it's like, but God wants to do this. Let's just step out in faith, church. Whew, that could end in disaster. Wisdom, wisdom is the principal thing. If God ever does that and opens a larger church, He'll open that door and it'll make it obvious. And that's what we're waiting on. Maybe He won't. Wisdom, is it wise? Is wise. Now, sometimes I know God tells you to do things that's not wise according to the world. You'll hear people say, oh, I don't know about that. I don't know about that. That's different. I'm talking about, don't ask your hairdresser for wisdom about God's word that doesn't even know the Lord. Go to godly people who have no skin in the game. They will shoot you straight. Seek godly counsel, godly counsel. Is there a stirring and a passion? God often does that. There's a stirring in your heart. There's a stirring in your heart. And God often gives you that stirring because that's the direction He's wanting you to go. There are so many different ministries that are in Christian community, aren't there?

From, I mean, Missions and Care Net and Homeless. I mean, I can keep going. And Greece Share, we started out with this and all these different things. But I'm not stirred in all of them. I'm stirred in bringing the nation to repentance. I'm stirred in preaching. But then people say, but you should be doing this, Shane. Well, it's kind of hard to juggle all these plates. And so you line up with that stirring that God is calling you to, and that usually is lead of the Spirit, because there's a stirring there. Now sometimes you don't want to do what you're supposed to do. That's a little different. That's called fighting the flesh. But there should be a stirring there and a passion to do it. And maybe you don't know it yet, but as you step out, I've seen people, my daughter, I don't know if she's at this service, she went one time right to serve at Care Net, and then she's like, oh dad, can I do this every week? I'm like, and she loves it. And stuff she's telling, like at 19, telling moms how to keep the baby and about God, I'm like, this girl's bold, bolder than me. And it's like, so see there's a stirring there, and God gives us each different things to pursue. Many of you, I bet, if I were just a betting man, you're not following that stirring, that leading. You're sitting idle. You're coming in being fed, but you're not giving out. Trust me, it's the giving out is where the Spirit comes upon you and fills you. He doesn't fill you to just sit there and worship God all day and not go do anything for others. That's called selfishness. You get filled to go out. Also, just I'm throwing it out there to just be careful, not every open door is a God door. I see people get in a lot of trouble, but pastor, it's an open door. Hold on, the devil knows how to open doors too. He knows how to bring the right person at the right time, and that would be a whole nother sermon, but take it to the Lord. Have Him show you just be just an open door is not always an open door from God. Many are not led because

they are not being fed. It's hard to be led of the Spirit if you're influenced by the world. Did you get that? Many are not led by the Spirit because they're not being fed by the Spirit. That's how you get led. The more of God in you is how you're going to have clearer direction on what you need to be doing. Not perfect direction, but isn't it much clearer? You guys know, you remember when you're not walking really with the Lord, it's so hard to discern His will. You start to do bad things, and you think, well, maybe this, I'm not sure. You compromise, compromise, because you're led of the world, and the world is influencing you. And so that's the best way to be led, is to be filled with the Spirit of God. Get rid of a lot of the influence, or at least minimize it, because we're not as strong as we think. A lot of people think, I can fill myself with the world, and all the secular stuff. I can come to church on Sunday, and I'm good. No, you're not good. Try eating once a week. See how long you last? Not very long. You will die of malnutrition. And then Acts continues. Now when they had gone through the island of Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer. Okay, so they found a certain sorcerer. He was a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus. I thought of something funny this morning. Everybody that doesn't like us naming names, the Bible did. Why didn't the Bible just say, just say some sorcerer? Now seven billion people who've read the Bible know who this guy is. Bar-Jesus. So this sorcerer, this false prophet, for those... false prophet, gosh, that'd be another sermon. In this case, they're very evident. A false prophet is somebody who thinks they're speaking for God, but they're actually turning people away from the truth. So that is the biblical definition of a false prophet. If you get time, read Jeremiah 23, the whole chapter. God says, I didn't send these guys. I didn't talk to them. Yet they run, and they tell people what they want to hear. That's a false prophet, usually. And somebody recently told me that false prophet always denies Jesus. Not necessarily. Sometimes they're sneaky. Sometimes they'll use Christian language to deceive. They themselves are deceived. They think they're doing God a service, and they're not. And that's a

false prophet. But be very careful with that term. Just because you don't agree with somebody, doesn't mean they're a false prophet. Calvinists call Armenians false prophets, and Armenians call Calvinists false prophets, and that's not. You don't call people false prophets on their non-essentials. Or if they're a little wonky, they're a little weird, you know, that's not necessarily a false prophet. We need to be careful with that language, don't we? So here's his name, Bar-Jesus, interesting name, Bar-Jesus, showing different than Jesus. So he's with the pro-council. A pro-council would be like the mayor of that town. His name is Sergius Paulus. Very intelligent man. So, a couple of things to glean. Keep walking and be sensitive to God's leading. So they went to the island, they kept traveling, they kept moving to see where God was, and that's often how he leads. Just walking out in faith. Sometimes, often God's will is not a destination, it's the journey. And we think it's a destination. And it's not, it's the whole journey. And you might reach a destination, but it's the journey. So keep walking and be sensitive to God's leading. Instead of running, they waited. Because some people, as soon as they run into a sorcerer, or a false prophet, or demonic, or witches, they run the other way. But you need to see the bottom.

We don't run from evil, evil runs from us. Hello people! Hello people! You can walk! You can walk into a palm reader's place and say, I've been praying for years. I just want to talk to you about your future. You can say that! Why are we so scared? Why are we so scared? We're often scared because we're not filled. And we lack the boldness. This man called for Barnabas and Saul. So the pro-council, the intelligent man, wanted to know more, so he called for Barnabas and Saul. He wanted to hear them. He wanted to hear the Word of God. But, here we go, this is his actual name translated. Boy, their name and this guy, Elimus, Elimus the sorcerer. The Bible named this guy. And that's how his name is translated. So he tried to withstand them seeking to turn the pro-council away from the faith. So what a dialogue. They're telling, hey, Jesus rose from the dead. Jerusalem, we just came from. No, no, no, we heard of that guy. His body was stolen. And they try, wait, hold on, let me finish my conversation. And he's disrupting them.

That's what darkness tries to do. They try to disrupt you. It tries to withstand you. He wanted to take the governor away from the faith, not to it. Darkness hates light. It hates light. Being disruptive is one of their number one tactics in addition to trying to silence you. They want to disrupt things. They want to disrupt things. That's what they do. Especially the more bold you are in preaching, the more disruptive people want to be, the darkness. Because the bolder you get, the bolder they get. If you're not being attacked by the enemy, you can fill in the blank. But he tried to withstand them. I don't think it was violence yet. But this is interesting. Words. Words carry weight. They were preaching the Gospel. I don't know why, I don't know how, but there's life in words. There's death in words. Most kids that are broken kids right now are because of the words spoken to them by their parents and others. Words are powerful.

They were turning. They were shaping. They were shaping the mindset of this governor. And so he tried to withstand them with words as well. Words as well. It's funny, it happened to me on that day. I told you about it when I was 50. There's this guy, I told him I was just diagnosed with this. No, it's OK. Here's what God's doing in my heart. And I came back to the Lord, this prodigal son, and he changes his topic. And I said, wait, hold on, let me go back to the prodigal son story. And they changed the topic again. Like, hold on, hold on. Hold on, we're going to finish this topic. God brought me to deep repentance. I fully surrendered my life to Christ. And you can tell. This is not how I withstand this. Because your light is stronger than the darkness. Your light is stronger than the darkness. That's how you defeat darkness. You shine the light. Man, I got darkness in my home. My kids are listening to this. Then shine the light. Get yourself out of bed early, and get your face on the floor before Almighty God.

And begin to worship Him, and begin to seek Him like never before. Bring the light of the Lord. Gospel in your house, go in this, this is my house, not the enemy's, and you begin to pray. Husbands, lead the ways. Stop relying on your wives. Why are the women at this altar? Why are the women in the prayer room? Come on, guys, wake up! I'm bolder now, too, by the way. I don't have time to play games. If we can't shoot straight, why shoot at all? When silence doesn't work, they turn to violence. I mentioned Mike earlier, Mike Cingarelli, he wore a bulletproof vest for Easter weekend in Times Square this last weekend. And we see what's happening in Nigeria and different places, they have to, and radical groups in America, if silence doesn't work, it's violence. It's violence. Why are some of the shooters, a lot of them lately transgender? Have you thought about that? Or with that agenda, why is that? I have to shut up that voice. Why is my issue here? Charlie Kirk, here.

A well-known pastor, probably many of you know, at a large church in San Diego, I talked to him. He's getting treatment for the same thing here. God wants to take out the enemy, but the enemy wants to take out the voices. And we've got to be bold for the truth and trust in God. We can't always be nice because darkness demands exposure. If you haven't seen it yet, I'm sorry, but I have to tell you my favorite line from the new Great Awakening movie that's gone now, so you have to wait till it comes out. So a little background, George Whitefield, who I love of his journals, Wesley, they're circuit riders, and my mom has always told me that my family has a history of being with the Methodist circuit riders. So I'm like, that's pretty cool, I guess. I mean, I couldn't probably trace it. But once George Whitefield was really converted, and when you're really converted, you're on fire for God. A lot of the churches, Anglican, were just dead and dry, going through the motions. No conversions, nothing. And so he had the opportunity to preach at one of these churches. And the couple pastors that were lukewarm, probably not saved, let's be honest with you. And I've seen this, I've had people treat me this way too, so I know exactly what happened. They told Whitefield, I guess,

probably back then it was church state, so they allowed him to speak, but these pastors didn't want him there. So they said, we are so sorry to see you here. Whitefield responded, so is the devil. We don't want the truth here. We don't want the boldness here. We don't wanna be challenged. We love our darkness, it's comfortable. So he was a sorcerer. What is that? Magic, divination, spell casting. Guys, let me tell you this, it is real. Don't play with those, don't even, you got a Ouija board, go find a fireplace. Outside, burn it. Tarot cards. Dream catcher thing, whatever. If it doesn't glorify God, it should not be part of your life. I don't wanna open a door. But that's what it is. It really, here's what sorcery is. It's demonic enablement. What you do is you open yourself up. Instead of being guided by God's Spirit, now you're being influenced and guided by the enemy. Demonic. And I believe the demon can show people stuff. And they'll, oh, but they knew something about me.

Yeah, the demons have been around a long time. They know things. But do not fear. Here's why you do not fear the demonic, because the demonic fears God. And the Spirit of the living God is within you as a believer. Now, now, now, if you're not a believer and you're playing church, be very afraid. Repent. Repent immediately and say, God, I need you. I love you. I want you to save me. Many don't practice sorcery, but they are entertained by it. Woo-hoo-hoo. Oh, goodness. Oh my, I'm gonna get in trouble today. I better skip to the next one. It hasn't happened in a while, so praise God. And if you watch this at... It's between you and the Lord. But I couldn't, me and my wife, like 10 years, I couldn't believe how many people came against me when I said, hey, I probably wouldn't watch Twilight and Vampires and The Occult and Harry Potter, and I wouldn't expose my, you know, like, well, I'm a pastor, that's getting legalistic. Why does that entertain you? And then this lady got all upset at me,

a friend of ours, we ended our relationship because of this. Because when you're on fire for God, maybe aren't, and they don't like how you live. Have you even seen it yet? No, I don't need to see it. So I go to this red box, remember those things? On 30th West and L, pull out Harry Potter, I don't know what it was, I put it in there, and there's this guy levitating, and this snake going in their mouth, I'm like, that's, I'm good. I'm good, I don't, I don't need to watch it, what are you, crazy? See, because they're not filled with the spirit of the living God, they're filled with carnality, and lukewarmness in the world. That's the truth, church. It's what you don't want to hear, but you need to hear. That's the truth. How can a child of the living God, filled with the spirit of God, be entertained by darkness? You tell me that. You can't. Stop playing games. Stop calling me legalistic because you're lukewarm. I prayed over this, guys. You know, I just told somebody, the more time I spend with God, the bolder I become.

I'm like, people have a problem with me, you should read Isaiah. Turn to Jeremiah. Go to the minor prophets. Holy smokes. Go to Jesus. You whitewash tombs? You're playing games with God. You draw nigh to me with your lips, but you're far from me. You're dead inside. Jesus, mild, meek, mannered, little Jesus. That's why we can't always be nice. Now, let me define it. Our goal is to be nice, but if you look up the Webster's definition of nice, it has to do with appeasement. And appeasement means I'm not going to say anything because it could hurt your feelings. So I need to be nice. Now, on Thanksgiving, we got family around, it's good to not, you know, don't go into politics and religion and be nice if you want to. It's hard for me, but if you want to. You're quick to listen. You let them speak. But you can challenge things. God has given us the power of the Word. Many fail to confront immorality, witchcraft, sorcery, and sexual perversion,

but instead they find it entertaining. As a result, the church is a mile wide, but her foundation is only an inch deep. So when a person is not connected to God, they will be drawn to evil. That's what's happening. We can't always be neutral because evil is not neutral. I cross mine out and put nice. We can't always be nice because evil is not neutral. Or we could say evil is not nice. I still have a good bullet point for the second verse. Isn't that true though? We can't always be nice because evil's not nice. Evil's trying to take down your children and your grandchildren and your marriage, hello. And your walk with the Lord. That's evil's job. It does not slumber. It does not sleep. It does not sleep. He goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He's finding many of you sleeping. You might want to wake up, church. Wake up and get filled with the spirit of God again. That is our only hope. Then Acts continues. Then Saul, who is also called, this is amazing. Look what comes out of Paul's mouth

after he is filled with the Holy Spirit. Wait a minute, I thought Paul has the Holy Spirit. He does. But the Bible refers to subsequent feelings of the Holy Spirit. Or would I actually put a better word for you since I often use that word. Repetitive feelings. So yes, a person has the Holy Spirit. But you can quench and grieve the Spirit by your life. And so you're not walking around full of the Spirit. You're walking around quenching and grieving the Spirit. That's why God seems dead. The Bible seems distant. That's why you get to church 1.5 times a month. Because there's no passion, there's no desire. You're quenching and grieving the Spirit. even just living sometimes you're you're not quenching spirit you're just living and you're going through life but then there comes a time where you need to confront evil and you feel how many you can relate some of you feel that oh here we go I you fill that I fill in preaching sometimes I don't like okay Lord help me out here today but then as you start preaching and the word comes alive and you could say and Paul being filled and Peter being filled and shame being filled the spirit begin to pour out and you being filled the spirit begin to pour out that's what it is it's a filling to be bold not a filling to be quiet here we go you know what most pastors would say I better be nice I'll just say most people hey can you keep it down I'm trying to talk to my friend okay well let's let's sit down have a conversation let's talk about this okay let me hear your side I just want to be loving I want to be nice

got good points I'll listen to you for a while I'm gonna see where you're coming from what right no Paul no no he's had enough of this enough of this stuff what's he say Oh full of all deceit and fraud my goodness Paul you're making enemies here you son of a devil guys come on let's be honest let's be honest you enemy of all righteousness will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord you can see it's like somebody's trying to be you can see you can call that you son of Satan you better repent I'm not putting up with your your your your misleading information I don't think that's a go-to every time but there is a time to call things out it's hard to as a pastor because a lot of times we want to love people we want to help them but there there is a time and I'll publicly admit that that many times I don't maybe say everything that needs to be said because we don't want to upset but there does come a time that you have to be filled the spirit and call out things whether it's taking a strong stance of love or confronting being filled always equates to boldness so I don't want you to think being filled like I'm gonna be walk around being bold like pastor Shane said no no no sometimes being filled as being loving and gracious and quick to listen go to the hospital home you pray with people you said you filled the spirit your words are loving they encourage that's also the filling there's no there's no the wind blows where it wants when it comes to the Holy Spirit we can't always be nice because being filled also means being bold being nice and being bold it's different isn't it being nice and being bold two different things it's hard to do both I should tell this story it's kind of funny my wife wasn't gonna tell me yesterday but my two daughters came and said dad this guy said some bad things to us at the mall mom went and filed a complaint I'm like what what what store is this I'm gonna go take a drive I'll be back in a little bit just what can I get more information them at home I think okay this pastor gets in a fight before preaching Sunday sermon not gonna be good but I couldn't I couldn't be nice and be bold how much more how much more when it comes to heavenly things four facts

about a fresh feeling of the Spirit which I'm assuming many hearing my voice today or later on need many people need a fresh feeling of the Spirit do you know that many and many in other countries that are being persecuted don't need a fresh feeling but we in America because complacency leads to apathy leads to quenching the Spirit and that's why I said earlier I think I thank God for the wake-up call I really do because it ignited a passion that I haven't felt in 26 years when I first came back to Lord four facts you need to know there are repetitive feelings feelings I should say So it is something, I believe, something to be sought. Lord, I want to be filled with your Spirit. And the very thing people need is the very thing they run from. Do you know how many Christians would mock, they're usually conservative churches, that song, Fill Me Up, Lord, that's not biblical, we already have the Holy Spirit. Yeah, we do, but He sure quenched and grieved in your heart. You critical Kerry and judgmental Jerry. Not you, Kerry, different one. But isn't that true? I don't want to sing bad theology. All of our elders look at, we know. But how is that bad theology? Fill me up, God, fill me up. You're not saying, give me back the Holy Spirit. You're saying, fill me up, fill me afresh. Oh God, fill me afresh. Oh God, I just looked in the Psalms yesterday. Oh God, restore us. Oh God, hear my cry. Oh God, you are my God.

Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you like my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land. Oh God, rend the heavens, come down and visit your people again. Fill us up, God. Fill us up with more of you. I'd say you're anti-biblical if you are afraid of that. You don't want to pursue God because it involves emotional engagement. It involves humbling yourself and being desperate for more of God. And of course, we could get into Paul saying, be being filled. The Greek breakdown of that word is a process of be being filled. Don't be drunk with wine, which is the wrong spirit, but be filled. Wait a minute. That's an active verb demonstrating my involvement in something. It's not passive. I choose to be filled. And here's the second key. Desire and pursuit are key. Desire and pursuit are key. You're about as filled as you want to be. Do you truly desire it? And I know, especially men, if somebody told me that in my 20s, I'm like, nope. You guys are weird, Jesus. That's a weird spirit. But I have no problem going out and getting a Mickey's Big Mouth 40 ounce and acting like the fool, not even knowing what I did that night. How'd I get home? But that's cool. Give me a break. You have to desire it and say God.

Who wouldn't want more of God? Talk about demonic deception. If you're not wanting more of God, that's demonic deception. It absolutely is. The wrong fiery darts, you're listening to those fiery darts. Repent of that this morning. Desire and pursuit. Did you know you have to pursue God? How many of you did not know you have to pursue God? Okay, good. We're on the right page. It's a pursuit. Is God going to fill you if you're like, no, I'm good. I'm good. No, I'm not questioning God's sovereignty. Sometimes He does whatever He wants to. Jeremiah, I'm going to take this DNA, the ribonucleic acid, and I'm going to take this and I'm going to make Jeremiah. You're a prophet. Not much choice there. John the Baptist, filled with his spirit in his mother's womb. Not much chance. I love God's sovereignty. It doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother me at all. But there's a pursuit in the Bible. I'm not going to rehash all the Scriptures because you know my heart, but some of my favorites, if you seek me. Guys, the living God, like I'm going to try to settle down.

Anybody have any magnesium or melatonin for the second service? The living God says if you seek me, you will find me. Unbelievable. The living God says if you seek me, you will find me. Why doesn't that hit us hard? Church, why doesn't it? Why doesn't it hit us and drop us to our knees? Why? If you seek me, you will find me. If you turn to me with all of your heart. God, we need you. Amen. Do you see how profound that is? If you seek me, you will find me. Why aren't we telling our kids that? And our nation that? And then pray and prepare. You'll get a fresh feeling if you pray and prepare. I still can't get over the fact God says, seek me, you'll find me. Because you're not going to get through life without the Spirit of God indwelling in your heart. How are you going to handle bad news? If you're not full of the Spirit? How are you going to handle that, folks? There are things money can't fix. As you get older, things break even more. Four facts about a fresh feeling. Number three, they prayed and they prepared. I told God not to do this.

They prayed and prepared. Did you know that they fasted before they were sent out? Did you know that? Fasting was preparation. It filled them. It's hard to defeat darkness if we can't even defeat King's stomach. You know how many people I upset when I say things like this, but I don't care. That's the truth. That's the truth, and it really is. And I have a King's stomach, so I'm on your side. I shut his mouth though recently for a while, that's for sure. But he loves to rise again. You have to defeat King's stomach and bring in seasons of prayer and fasting. But Shane, I don't know. Jesus said it. Do you guys know Jesus said it? Not me. When you pray, when you give. When you fast. And that doesn't mean wait till January 1st. I truly believe, here's the other side though. You don't want to get weird and legalistic and rigid. And even George Whitefield had a great point when he was trying to find God, do all this fasting, and you don't want to turn in that. But there should be a type of discipline.

I would say weekly, where I'm gonna silence your voice on Friday. And you watch the demonic opposition. You watch how loud. That's between you and the Lord what that looks like. But there should be seasons. Why? Because you have to regulate. The flesh gets out of control. You say, hey, stop it. I'm gonna trip you. And it falls and you get submission again. I discipline my body and I bring it under subjection. Unless when I preach to others, I myself should become disqualified, Paul said. So it's a discipline. You know what, no, I'm not gonna go there. I'm not gonna go there. Maybe it's just harder for me. Can anybody else relate? You gotta silence that voice. I'm still fighting it right now. I peeked in the usher room. Who brought the donuts this morning, you guys? Why can't I get that out of my mind? King's stomach. King's stomach. Spiritual pressure must be maintained before there is breakthrough in heavenly warfare. That's what fasting is.

Arthur Wallace wrote an incredible book. I think it's called God's Chosen Fast. Spiritual pressure must be maintained before there is a breakthrough in heavenly warfare. Realize that about the demonic. It does not leave easy. It does not submit easy. It's a fight. It's a fight and sometimes you have to keep breaking it down, breaking it down one brick at a time. For example, fighting disease. It doesn't always just, oh, it's gone. Sometimes you're fighting and fighting, changing diet, adding these things, doing these things, and trusting God, and it's a fight. And here's one I'm sure many need to hear. All listening at the sound of my voice, whether it's now or later, need to hear this one. Repentance will refill you. Repentance will refill you. Guys, two months ago when I found out, I spent a lot of time with the Lord saying, God, I'm so sorry. Just going through the motions. Growing cold. Growing callous. Everything's good. No major things, but apathetic.

Thank You for the fresh fire. And I had a choice to make that week I did. Bitter and anger versus surrender. And I believe that's where the fresh fillings come from. That repentance. Because see, now with repentance, you clean out what's preventing a mighty moving of God in your spirit. That's what it does. That's what repentance does. It cleans out all the junk that's preventing. Preventing. It reminds me, because I did this, I put in a lot of storm drains in the Yellow Valley. And they call us out sometimes when they weren't working. And you usually had to go in and have equipment and remove all the debris that was building up slowly. And once that debris was removed, poosh! Out to Edwards Air Force Base. Dry lake bed. It would go. Same thing happens in our hearts. Repentance restores that relationship. That's why many aren't applying that verse, if you seek Me, you will find Me.

They need to repent of apathy. The final fact. I guess there were five facts. I must have added that later. Not afraid to speak the truth and live it out. This will lead to a fresh feeling. And I know I've been there. There are times when I know God is going to, instead of obeying, I want to be nice. It just kills the boldness. It kills the feeling of the Spirit. What happens is the Spirit usually comes upon the boldness. I have a decision on Sundays. Am I going to say that or not say that? I say, Lord, I need to say that. There's a boldness that comes from it. Can you imagine if I came up here and said, no, I'm not going to say that about Harry Potter. I'm not going to say that about that. I'm not going to be nice. I'm not going to challenge. Lord, let me just get out of here nice and neat. There would have been no feeling. Sure, I can give a good talk. That's what I was.

I was a motivational speaker for the first couple of years. Morgan remembers, I would go to conferences and they would fill out forms. How was our speaker today? Was he nice? Was he to the point? Did you learn something? And then they'd rate you on what you all thought. Gosh, if we did that here, I'd be in trouble. My goodness. There's only one person that I care what thinks of what I say. And that's God. Now, that doesn't mean you run around like a loose cannon. Actually, after second service today, we have an elders meeting. And I often say, hey guys, if I'm too political, let me know. And a lot of times, we're on the same page. Because this is what we need to hear. So when you're not afraid to speak the truth and live it out, that boldness will come upon you. And you don't have to be like Paul did here. I love that actually, but you don't have to be like that. You don't have to be like that.

You're not afraid to speak the truth and live it out. And when you decide to make that decision, even though here's what happens to you, it's going to take some courage. And you step it out, the feeling follows. Sometimes the filling doesn't come first. God honors when you step up to that platform and will begin to exalt what you say. When we compromise the Gospel, we quench and grieve the Spirit. Our culture is looking for authenticity, isn't it? Our culture is looking for authenticity. Even it understands that a compromised life sends a compromised message. A.W. Tozer said this, where does Christianity destroy itself in a given generation? Where does Christianity destroy itself in a given generation where we're living right now? He says, it destroys itself by not living in the light, by professing a truth it does not obey. Like the Old Testament prophet, the same plea goes out today. How long will you waver between two opinions? If God is God, follow Him. Isn't that so true? Acts continues. And now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you.

So Paul, Paul didn't even give him a chance to talk. He just, he told them off. And they said, now God's gonna show you, you little sneaky devil. And you shall be blind and not see the, I wish we could do this nowadays. And maybe you can if you're filled with God and God directs you to, I mean, maybe more so, maybe we're not filled as much as these guys and that's sometimes what I think the problem is. And immediately a dark mist fell on him and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. And then the pro-council believed, I bet he did. The governor saw the sorcerer in darkness and he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. And a type of darkness still falls today when true preaching takes place. When true preaching, there's a conviction of the Spirit or the darkness will come over them and try to prevent them from hearing the light of the gospel. There's either a conviction and what they do with that conviction is up to them. William Still said this about preaching. Many, many people who for the first time come under the sound of Holy Ghost preaching, they are mortally offended because they've never been exposed to the white light of the Spirit. That's what happens when somebody's filled

with the Spirit of God and there's boldness. Many people are like, what is that? I'm not used to that. I don't want to hear that. Tickle my ears, don't challenge my heart. Who does that person think he is? God, he's judgmental. They're like, whoa, they just got hit with the gospel. Here's why, the white light exposes sin. It calls for repentance. It seeks holiness. It desires purity. And there's a hunger for righteousness when you want the white light of the Spirit, when you want the totality of God's Word. But I want to give you a warning. Boldness stirs conflict. Let me tell you, you guys think, oh, this church is so nice and quiet, no conflict. You have no clue. It hates it. It tries to stop it. And don't you see that? You see all the woke pastors and leaders. And then you see these guys that are being highlighted on Instagram. You know, like Andrew Martin Sedra. I think him and his wife Millicent is coming out in June and then Anthony Mitchell, the black pastor from Georgia.

Dang, whoa. My son listened to him all the time. Like, turn that up. Dang, that's exactly why. You don't think there's conflict going on? Destroy those voices. Shut down those voices. There's a, it stirs conflict. There's just no way around it. It may be health issues. It may be demonic oppression. It might be people coming against you. It might be all of them. Hello. I live in that world. Every weapon known to mankind, demonically, is thrown at us. That's why I love the Bible verse, having done all, just stand. Just stand. Lord, I can't fight this. I'm going to stand. I don't know if I even told you this. I might not have. But I don't know, was it a year ago YouTube shut us down? So 15 years of church sermons. Everything, all kinds of stuff gone. Thousands of videos gone. What?

and Then Luke was up loading something goes. Hey, oh, by the way, they reinstated our channel. I'm like, oh, well, there you go Isn't that nice? like 28,000 subscribers and all the channels like What is that? No, they don't just recent. We don't just redo that a year later You know God's doing something. I've been praying for it Because it's changed. I mean millions upon millions of views change lives There's opposition in social media. There's up. I talked to our pastors. They don't have heart They don't have one fraction of the problems we have with sound And It's not the sound team at all Kevin John. They're doing they do amazing jobs. They come in here dedicate their time. It's amazing It's stuff we can't figure out like it was fine on Thursday for practice now all hell's breaking loose on Sunday Livestream feeds Attitudes attacks personal attacks health issue. I mean you just boom That's what I was gonna do the guy at the mall, so I'm glad I didn't go No, I had I go hey tough guy you said something to my daughters earlier today You want to say it now? See that's old-school coming out. I can't have that. I can't have that For all I know he's studying MMA and I would have been embarrassed at the AV mall So, let me close with this statement then the pro council believed That's the most important thing God often uses miracles and things to get us to belief then the pro council believed And here's the final point we can't always be nice because conviction converts Guys, here's it. Here's probably the most important key of today When we're always nice that won't convert I Have these talks just like you well, I believe always lead to God and all religions. I'm okay. Well, that's cool Yeah, you found your inner self. All right, man, cool Just want to be nice just want to be nice Their soul is going to hell and I want to be nice now, you don't go off like Paul did

But you say hey, have you thought about that all religions can't be right? What do you mean? And then you got you know, you got a there's and then the Spirit will bring have you ever done that? Have you ever talked to be when you're like, where did that come from? That happens all the time in the sermons, by the way, second service might gonna be a lot different so you might want to watch that one, but there's there's just there's when you honor God and you begin to say to God And the work you remember that scripture and you begin to quote things that people like, oh you gave me a lot to think about Lot to think about and you have to you have to can you have to be bold and I haven't told the story in a while. So it's okay, but me and Morgan were in Palm Springs Remember that and this guy's checking me out so So if I what are you looking at dude and I just haven't seen you in this area before Because I'm jogging to meet her for lunch and she's like, where are you? It's work. I go come over to John So I'm tell this guy and I shot him straight. I said and I said, you know He's homosexual and I said, do you know what the Bible says in Romans 1 and and I like and just loved him Like I truly did. I just loved this this little guy. He's just you know, he's not that way But and I shot him straight. I shot him straight. I shot him straight But and I shot him straight I shot him straight and you tell his head's down And he said I I've never had anybody. Tell me that I almost invited a lunch But I don't think that would've been a good idea with more But see that's what it's not always loud in your face Sometimes it's learning and listening see but if you thought because they're broken they're dying They're looking they're looking for what you have Open your mouth and lead them to the cross church Open your mouth and lead them to the cross Paula just had me visit somebody remember Paula And I walked up to the fourth floor of the AV hospital. I didn't know there it was the oncologist unit. Holy smokes Next time warn me I said It's like there's just so much brokenness And just talking hey, I know I can relate let me give you the hope Just be used of God be bold in that way

Watch what God does with boldness and humility But church it isn't we aren't designed to come here. Just be fed. We have to burn the fuel the spiritual fuel that comes in We can't always be nice because conviction converts Closing verse x16 sirs. We're gonna get to this in the in the weeks to come and says to him, "'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' Paul gets thrown in jail because of his boldness, and he leads the jailer to the Lord. He hears Him singing in the midst of suffering. And he says, "'What must I do to be saved?' And they said, "'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.'" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Now look what else it says. I guarantee this does not mean a supernatural umbrella that saves everybody. Paul's saying, you'll be saved, and you'll lead your family to the Lord. That's the key. Men, women, get filled with the Spirit of God. Lead your family to the Lord. If that's you, you need to repent and believe. If you're listening, you don't have that relationship. Sure, you've been coming to church. Sure.

I was going to church, sitting there unconverted. Don't play games with me. Going through the motions. I went to a Christian school. My parents were Christian. What have you done with the cross? What have you done with Christ? Nobody's going to be standing next to you on the day of judgment. Nobody. Teenager, you can't call on your mom. You will stand before Almighty God with eyes like flames of fire, and you will give an account. Do you know Christ? There's nothing more precious on planet Earth than this relationship. And as believers, I want to encourage you as well. Fully surrender this morning. Fully surrender. Say, God, I need a fresh feeling. I love that song we sang on Wednesday. Not for a minute was I forsaken. Not for a minute was I forsaken. The Lord is in this place. The Lord is in this place. There's a verse I added. We don't have the slide. Just, I think, yesterday.

It says, therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight the path of your feet. It's basically saying, get up. Strengthen those feeble feet. Stop that wavering between two opinions. Get rid of that critical heart, that arrogant heart. Humble yourself before Almighty God. Strengthen yourself in the Lord and watch what He does.