”How to Go Where You’ve Never Been” | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Sun AM | Joshua 3

When we get to the book of Joshua,

we have the nation of Israel gathering

themselves together on the eastward bank

of the Jordan River. They're preparing

themselves to go into what we call the

promised land or the land of Canaan. The

promised land uh is not I don't believe

it is a picture of heaven. I believe

that the promised land is a picture of

the victorious Christian life and that

it is a picture of what is possible for

you and I in Christ. Joshua is an Old

Testament picture. It points to the

person of Jesus. And as Joshua now leads

the nation of Israel into battle. Uh it

is a it reminds us and points us to what

Christ does for us as he leads us into

battle as his children. And when we are

following Christ, we can have great

victories. And so the nation of Israel

is gathered here on the eastern bank.

They're getting ready to cross the

Jordan River, which is overflowing its

banks. They will do that in chapter 3 uh

later. We won't get to that this

morning, but next week we'll observe

them crossing the Jordan River. But

they're preparing themselves to do this,

to go into the land that God has

promised them, which for you and I is a

picture of the victorious Christian life

and living in victory in Jesus Christ.

Listen, I am sick and tired of defeated,

discouraged Christians. I'm tired of

dead churches that are full of people

who are good people and have good

hearts, but they're just beat up. The

devil has beat them up and discouraged

them and defeated them, whether through

circumstances or through sin or or

relationships or whatever it might be.

They're just defeated. And I think that

we need churches to be full of

Christians who can rise up to the

challenge and and come to Jesus and say,

"Lord, if you will help me, I'm going to

fight this. Lord, if you will fight with

me, I'm going to win the victory. I'm

not going to be defeated to the sin. I'm

not going to let this discourage me." We

are going to move forward for the cause

of Jesus Christ. I think that's what we

need in our churches. I think that's

what the nation of Israel gives us a

great example of. Yes, there are

challenges. Yes, there are battles when

they get into the promised land. And in

fact, in just a chapter or two, we're

going to find them going around the city

of Jericho in their first conflict that

they come to once they get on the other

side of the Jordan. But God has great

victory for them. However, they have

never been where they are getting ready

to go. They have never been in the It

has been 40 years of wandering in the

wilderness for this nation. And prior to

those 40 years, there were 400 years of

them being captives in Egypt. They were

in Egyptian bondage. And God brought

Moses along, delivered them from

Egyptian bondage. They went out of

Egypt. He partied the Red Sea. They

crossed on dry ground. They wandered

around there uh south of Israel on the

Sinai Peninsula for 40 years. And now

they have made their way north past the

the sea and up beside the Jordan River.

and they're now situated there on the

eastern side preparing themselves to go

across. This is the setting. This is the

context. Now look at the Bible chapter 3

and let's jump into the story. Verse

number one.

And Joshua rose early in the morning and

they removed from Chim

and came to Jordan. Now that that place

where they're at can be Chhatim. You you

can call that some Bible versions even

translate that as Acia Grove.

It's a it was a place where there were

acacia trees growing. And so this is

where that's what that word satim means.

And so that's where they have camped.

And that's important. Maybe not so

important as it is interesting because

we're going to see acacia wood being

used here in just a few moments in this

text.

So Israel is lodged here in Shatim. They

came to Jordan. They're on this eastward

bank of the Jordan River. He and all the

children of Israel and they lodged there

before they passed over. They're

preparing to go over. Verse two. And it

came to pass after 3 days that the

officers went through the host, and they

commanded the people, saying, "When you

see the ark of the covenant of the Lord

your God, and the priests and the

Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove

from your place and go after it. Yet

there shall be a space between you and

it, about 2,000 cubits by measure. Come

not near unto it, that ye may know the

way by which ye must go." Now, this is

not the message today, but I'm going to

interject just a little application here

that is straight from the text. He said,

"You have to follow the ark of the

covenant so that you will know which way

to go." The ark of the covenant, we're

going to talk about it here in a moment.

It was a picture of the presence of God.

And the same is true in our lives today.

People ask all the time, "Pastor John,

how do I know what the will of God is?"

Okay, here's how you know what the will

of God is. You want to go the way God

wants you to go. Follow God. Just do

what he's told you to do. Follow his

presence. Go where God is. Go where God

is going. And then you'll know the way

that you're supposed to go. So, how does

that work practically? Well, I don't

want to spend too much time here, but

very, very simply put, you want to know

how go how to do God's will? Wake up in

the morning and do one thing you know

you're supposed to do. Pray. Then do

another thing you know you're supposed

to do. Get your Bible out and spend time

with the Lord. Then do something else

you know you're supposed to do. be kind

to your neighbors,

then then go help somebody. You see, we

already know what God's will is for us.

We know what God wants for us. The

problem is not knowing where God wants

us to go. The problem is doing what God

wants us to do. But if you will just

follow and make a commitment that I'm

going to follow God in my life, then

he'll take you where he wants you to go.

That was not part of the message, but it

was right here. So, I had to stop and

say it. Continue in verse four. He said,

"That ye may know the way by which you

must go." Now, notice the last phrase in

verse four.

for you have not passed this way hereto

for

and Joshua said unto the people sanctify

yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do

wonders

among you I've underline underlined in

my Bible that last phrase in verse

number four for you have not passed this

way hereto for and for this morning I

want to preach for just a few minutes on

this thought how to go where you have

never been

How to go where you have never been.

I'm sure this morning we could pass a

microphone around this room and we could

ask for stories that would probably be

somewhat embarrassing and a lot funny of

times when you tried to go somewhere

that you had never been before and you

tried to do it without a map or without

a GPS and you got lost. Let's just be

honest this morning. We're all human.

Have you ever been there? I went

somewhere I had never been before and I

ended up lost. We've all been there. And

if you're I don't know if ladies are

this way, but I know us guys are usually

this way when we begin going somewhere

that we've never been before. For some

reason, we think that we can do it

without the GPS. And we have to prove

that until we are beyond all hope.

Right? You want me to look it up, honey?

Do not use the GPS. I know where I'm at.

I know where I'm going. We're going to

be just fine. and then it is not fine

and you end up using guys are we honest

this morning we there okay I'm not alone

in that when we're moving from place to

place geographically

uh we often times can get lost but this

morning I don't want you to think so

much about moving to somewhere you've

never been geographically

but I want you to think about moving to

somewhere you have never been

spiritually

this is a spiritual moment for the

nation of Israel yes they are moving

geographically yes they are going pack

up camp. They're going to go across the

Jordan River. They're going to move into

the promised land geographically. But it

is a spiritual movement for them because

they are following almighty God. They

are following the presence of God in

this movement. So it is more than just

geographical. It is spiritual and

especially for you and I by application

this morning because the nation of

Israel is picturing for us a Christian

who is moving into that victorious

Christian life through the power of

Jesus Christ in our life. So, it is most

certainly spiritual this morning for you

and I. So, what do you mean by moving

somewhere I've never been spiritually? I

mean, once you're saved, you're all

saved. That's correct. You get saved,

you're all the way saved, and you can't

lose that salvation. When God saves you,

he saves you all the way. You're

completely saved, 100% saved. You can't

do anything about it. You couldn't lose

it if you want to. Uh I I hear preachers

sometimes say, "I couldn't go to hell if

I wanted to." And that's true. I

couldn't. And if I made up my mind, I

decided I wanted to, I couldn't go. It's

not possible because I am in Christ. And

who Christ saves, he does not let go of.

He will not let you go. He will take you

to heaven. The book of Philippians says

that he which hath begun a good work in

you will perform it until the day of

Jesus Christ. It will come to pass. You

will one day be glorified in heaven. If

you are saved, you are all the way

saved, completely saved. And you can't

get rid of that salvation. And that's

glorious. Amen. That's wonderful that we

are forever saved. So what do I mean

about going somewhere spiritually that

I've never been before? Well, salvation

once you're saved, you get saved. You

get all saved. You can't get unsaved.

But there is another component that we

talk about in our Christian life

and that is sanctification.

Salvation is on a moment and it's done.

In fact, in heaven, it is as if you are

already there according to God. When God

looks at you, he sees you not in this

mortal sinful flesh. He sees you in

heaven because he's outside of time. We

we don't have to get into all that

theolog theological debate, but you're

already there in God's mind.

That's salvation. But there is another

part called sanctification. And

sanctification is for you and I while we

are on this earth. And it is not in a

moment. You do not completely get

sanctified. You get completely saved.

But sanctification is a process by which

we become more like Christ. Every day of

my life, I wake up and I want to do

things. I want to go God's way. I want

to do God's will. I want to seek the

presence of God because I want to become

more like Christ. Meaning that the sins

in my life, they have to be eliminated.

Meaning that the relationships in my

that are broken in my life, I want them

to be restored. Meaning that I want to

be closer to God today than I was

yesterday. I want to experience his

presence. I want to be more sensitive to

his leading today than I was yesterday.

If there are things in my life that I

should not have in my life, I want them

to be cleansed and purged and

eliminated. I want to grow in my

relationship with Almighty God. That's

called sanctification.

So, if you're saved this morning, you're

all saved. We're not talking about that.

We will give the gospel in a moment. And

if you're not saved, I invite you to get

saved today. But the the gist of the

message this morning is about

sanctification.

Going somewhere spiritually that you

have never been before.

Moving into the victory that God has

promised you, but you may not have ever

experienced. Moving into the place that

God wants you to be, that God is leading

you to be. But for some reason, you have

uh acted like the nation of Israel for

the last 40 years. and you've just kind

of been wandering in a circle

spiritually and you're not really

growing. You're not really doing you you

read your Bible, you know, once every

couple months and you pray when you eat

your food and you try to go to church

and be a good person, but you just kind

you don't have no fire. You don't have

no zeal. Uh sin is okay in your life. If

if it don't bother anybody else, it

ain't no big deal. And you just kind of

go through the motions and you're just

wandering spiritually. This morning, the

message is for you. It's time that we

cross over the Jordan River and it is

time that we embrace the promises and

the victories that we can have in Jesus

Christ. You can live a victorious

Christian life. It is possible not in

your strength but through his strength

working in you. So I want to show you

three things from our text. Three items

that you have to possess

if you want to go somewhere you have

never been before. Can I give them to

you straight from the text? Number one,

how do I go somewhere I've never been

before? Number one, write this down. You

need the presence of God.

You must have the presence of God. Look

at verse two. And it came to pass after

three days that the officers went

through the host. They go through the

camp and they command the people saying,

"When you see the ark of the covenant of

the Lord your God and the priest and the

Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove

from your place and go after it." Then

in verse four, he gives us that little

bit of uh of instruction about how

they're supposed to follow it and the

distance that they're supposed to be

from it. They're not supposed to go in

front of it. So, I want to talk to you

for just a minute. I'm going to teach.

All right? All good preaching includes

teaching. So, I want to teach for just a

few minutes. You got to zoom in, lean

in, listen very carefully because I'm

going to give you some nuggets here and

then we're going to preach here in just

about three minutes. All right, you

ready? The ark of the covenant. Let me

tell you about it. It was a phenomenal

piece of furniture that they was made uh

in the Old Testament. It was formed when

Moses was on Mount Si getting the Ten

Commandments. God told Moses to build

this ark of the covenant. It was an ark.

It was about it was just under 4t long.

It was 2 and 1/2 ft wide, 2 and 1/2 ft

deep. And it had these poles that would

go that had golden grommets on the sides

and they would stick a pole through. Now

the ark of the covenant was made out of

acacia wood. Remember we talked about

that a moment ago. It was formed out of

acacia wood and then it was plated all

over with gold. It had these gold

grommets on the side. The staff that

they would put through those grommets to

carry it with was also made out of

acacia wood and was wrapped in gold. The

lid of it was not made out of acacia

wood. The lid was made completely

solidly out of pure gold. And on top of

the lid of the ark of the covenant were

these two angels. They're called

cherubams. A cherubam is a type of

angel. And so on the lid of it, you have

the two cherubams. And what the lid is

called between the two cherubams was

known as the mercy seat of God. It was

the place where uh in the Old Testament,

it was the place where the presence of

God was to dwell. And you remember when

they're wandering in the wilderness, let

me remind you of what took place while

they were wandering in the wilderness

for those 40 years. They built a

tabernacle. It wasn't a a structure like

we have. Uh it was just a tent and they

would have a wall on the outside and

then they on the inside of that wall

they would set up this tent and this

structure and it was divided and the ark

of the covenant would go all the way to

the very back of the tent and there was

a veil that would separate the ark of

the covenant from the rest of the

tabernacle area. And one time a year,

God instituted it this way. God did

this. It was his design because it was a

picture of what was to come. One day a

year known as the day of atonement, and

if you look at Israel's culture, even

still today, it's an important day in

their culture. One day a year on the day

of atonement, the high priest would take

uh and make a sacrifice for himself. He

would take the blood from that sacrifice

then and he would go into the

tabernacle. And later Solomon's temple

accomplished the same role. He would

take the blood and he would take it into

the tabernacle. He would take it all the

way to the very back to that veil. And

history tells us, the Bible doesn't say

this, but history tells us that they

would tie bells around the hymn of his

robe. Because if anyone was to enter

into where the ark of the covenant was,

if they were to enter into the presence

of the God with sin in their life, with

anything that had not been sacrificed

for, they would instantly die because

sin cannot be in the presence of God. So

if the high priest went in and and he

died, no one was allowed to go in and

get him. So they would tie a rope around

their ankle and put bells on the hem of

their robe. And if they went in with sin

and they died, they would just pull them

out with the rope because nobody could

go in to get them. And so the the high

priest would make the sacrifice in the

courtyard. Then he would take the blood

of that sacrifice which was going to

atone for the sins of the nation. He

would take that sin. He would walk in

through that veil. Having sacrificed for

himself, he would then sprinkle the

blood on what was called the mercy seat.

He would sprinkle the blood of that

sacrifice between those two cherubams

and sprinkle it on the lid of the ark of

the covenant which was the presence of

God. And what this did is it provided

atonement, temporary atonement for the

sins of the nation for the year. Now,

Israel had to do daily sacrifices.

There's much more to the sacrificial

system. But the next year on the day of

atonement, another high priest would

have to repeat the process. And they had

to do this every year because it was

just a temporary covering of the sins of

the nation. Well, why is that so

important to us? Well, it's extremely

important that we understand this. And

this is why uh Jews, a lot of Jews still

celebrate the day of atonement is

because they miss this part. They they

know all that, but they miss the Jesus

part. When Jesus came, he was born in a

as a baby in a manger. He lived his

life. He at 30 years of age, he began

his ministry. He served people. He did

miracles. He he worked and did great and

mighty things in the presence of people.

He taught the scriptures. He discipled

people. It was a wonderful ministry for

three and a half years until they took

Jesus and they killed him on the day of

atonement. And Jesus's sacrifice on that

day when Jesus died, he took his own

blood. It was not the blood of a

sacrifice. It was not the blood of a

lamb. It was the blood of the lamb, the

lamb of God. He took his own blood. And

I don't know how this all works, but I'm

just going to tell you how I think it

happened. and and when we get to heaven,

if it was the details aren't quite

right, you can forgive me for that. But

we know the truth behind it. So Jesus

takes the blood, his own blood, he goes

into heaven, and in heaven, there is a

heavenly temple, which I'm going to

assume, we don't have a description of

it, but I'm going to assume it resembles

Solomon's temple in some way. So in the

heavenly temple, there is the presence

of God where God dwells. He sits on the

mercy seat in the heavenly temple. what

the Old Testament did, what the

Israelites did in the Old Testament was

a picture of God's heavenly design. So

when Jesus died on the cross, stay with

me. I'mma go in somewhere. It's going to

be real good if when we get there. All

right. When Jesus died on the cross, he

takes his blood. He takes it into the

heavenly temple. And as our high priest

on that blessed day of atonement, he

sprinkles his own blood on the mercy

seat between the cherubams in the

heavenly temple. And he did not just

cover our sin, but he paid for our sin.

For God so loved the world that he sent

his only begotten son that whosoever

believeth in him should not perish, but

have everlasting life. So here's what

happened in that moment. Jesus takes his

blood. God commends his love toward us

in that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us. He takes his blood.

He sprinkles his perfect spotless blood

on the mercy seat and he pays for the

sin of the whole world.

In that moment, something happened in

the temple in Jerusalem.

Now, the ark of the covenant, we don't

know what happened to it. Uh history

history doesn't tell us, the Bible

doesn't mention it after the Babylonian

captivity. We're not sure. It could have

been in Jerusalem. Uh it it may have

been destroyed, but Jerusalem had in in

the in the temple, Herod's temple, they

still had maintain the divisions of the

temple. And when you got to the very

back, that great veil was still there.

And inside that veil is where they still

made on the day of atonement. They still

would sacrifice for the sins of the

people. When Jesus died on the cross,

something happened to that veil that

separated mankind from the presence of

God. At the moment that Jesus died and

he took his own perfect blood and he

sprinkled it on the mercy seat in the

heavenly temple, the veil in the earthly

temple was ripped from top to bottom and

it separated and nobody ripped it. Jesus

ripped it. It ripped into and separated,

no longer concealing God's presence from

sinful humanity. So now you did not need

a high priest to go in one day a year.

But you and I who are believers in the

sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who go

through the blood of Jesus Christ, we

can enter into the presence of God

whenever we want because we go through

the blood of Jesus Christ which has

atoned for our sin. Now this is the

truth. This is what I've been building

for the last three minutes. Was it three

minutes? Maybe a little more. But it's

good. Jesus Christ sacrificed his own

blood, sprinkled it on the mercy seat.

So you don't need a high priest. You

don't have to go into a holy of holies

place. Your car can be a holy of holies.

Your your bedroom can be a holy of

holies. Your office can be a holy of

holies. You can worship God. You can

pray to God. You can experience God. You

can have the presence of God wherever

you are. If and only if you are in Jesus

Christ. If you are saved this morning,

if you are a Christian this morning,

then the blood of Christ has been

applied to you. You have called on the

name of the Lord. The Bible is very

clear. Whosoever shall call on the name

of the Lord shall be saved. So you have

called on Christ. You have asked him to

save your soul from sin. His blood has

then been applied to your account. And

when a thrice holy God looks at your

sinfulness, he does not see your sin. He

does not see your mistakes. He does not

see your mess ups. He does not see your

failures. All he sees is the perfect

spotless blood of his blessed son who

has atoned and paid in full for your sin

debt. So that gives you the right, the

liberty to come boldly, as the book of

Hebrews puts it, come boldly before the

throne of grace into the very presence

of an almighty God and say, "God,

I need you today.

I don't want to go through this day by

myself.

Lord, I have got this problem and I have

got that issue and I have got this

anxiety and we've got this thing that's

coming up and and Lord, I feel really

bombarded today. And if I'm being

honest, God, I feel discouraged today.

And I know I'm just a sinner and I don't

have nothing to offer you, but Jesus

paid the price for me to be here right

now. And so, as humbly as I know how,

I'm asking for your help and your

presence today.

That is what you and I have available to

us through the person of Jesus Christ.

The nation of Israel as they go to cross

Jordan, they are going to go into a

place that they have never been before.

If you want to go someplace in your

life, spiritually speaking, that you

have never been before. What you must do

is spend every morning of your life

asking God for his presence to go with

you.

I want to dwell in the presence of God.

I know the Holy Spirit is with us.

You're saved. You get the Holy Spirit.

You get all the Holy Spirit.

He dwells on the inside of you. He leads

you and he guides you. But you know this

is true. I know this is true. The Bible

tells us that we can do a couple of

things to the Holy Spirit. We can't get

him out of us. We've got him. We got all

of them. Y'all with me still? Are we

okay? Y'all look a little sleepy. Y'all

okay? We've got all the Holy Spirit

inside of us. But the Bible tells us we

can grieve him and we can quench him. We

grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not

obey. Holy Spirit leads us and guides

us, touches our heart and says, "Hey,

you ought to do this in your Christian

life and we say no or we say not today."

And we grieve the Holy Spirit inside of

us. We can also quench the Holy Spirit.

The New Testament talks about this. We

quench the Holy Spirit by doing

something we know we're not supposed to

do. Well, the Holy Spirit has told me to

stop doing something and I think that

it's okay, so I'm not going to worry

about it. We quench the Holy Spirit in

our life. And if we continuously grieve

and quench the Holy Spirit, then we will

never be able to progress because the

presence of God, though we'll have the

Holy Spirit inside of us, we won't be

able to sense it. First John even talks

about the fact that you can do this so

much that you don't even feel like

you're saved anymore. You don't even

know if you're a Christian or not

because you have so quenched and grieved

the Holy Spirit of God. Now, we know and

we've already talked about once you're

saved, you're always saved. But you can

confuse yourself with sin and with

disobedience

and the presence of God can at least

seem like it has departed from your

life.

So what we need if we're going to go

somewhere and I've taken way too much

time on this point but it's really

important if we're going to go where we

have never been before spiritually then

we have to do it with the presence of

God. And the presence of God is

accessible to anybody. You can go there

on your way home. I hope and I pray

every Sunday when we gather corporately

that the presence of God is in this

place. Oh, I want to sense him. I want

to be sensitive to him. I want to feel

his leading and his guiding. I want to

know that the Holy Spirit is moving me

and and working in our midst every week.

So, number one, the presence of God.

Write down number two.

We must, if we're going to go somewhere

spiritually that we've never been

before, we must have purity

before God. So, we must have the

presence of God. Now, we must have

number two, purity before God. Look at

the text. This comes right out of verse

5.

And Joshua said unto the people,

"Sanctify

yourselves." Do you see those words?

Sanctify

yourselves.

Here's what it means. That word sanctify

literally means to be holy.

Well, I thought God was only holy. God

is holy. But the Bible tells us in 1

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Peter chapter 1 verse1 15, "But as he

which hath called you is holy, so be you

holy in all manner of conversation."

Because it is written, "Be ye holy as he

is holy." How about Hebrews chapter 12

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

and verse 14? Follow peace with all men

and holiness

without which no man shall see the Lord.

You and I are called in our Christian

life to sanctify ourselves to be

purified of sin. Being pure, listen to

this, being pure is a prerequisite to

seeing God's power in your life. You

will never experience the miracle until

you have committed yourself to being

pure in Jesus Christ. Here's what I mean

by that. You have got to make a

commitment each and every day that today

I am going to do my very best not to

commit willful sin. Paul said it this

way when he was writing in the New

Testament to the New Testament church.

Paul said, "I die daily." Did Paul mean

that he physically died every day of his

life? Well, no. That's not possible. But

Paul is saying spiritually I am dying to

my flesh every day. I am not going to

serve my sinful flesh today. I am going

to serve my heavenly father today. And

when we can make that commitment every

day and say today to the best of my

ability, I'm going to walk in the

spirit. I'm going to eliminate sin. I

want to be pure. You may not be perfect,

but you can do your very best. There is

coming a day we'll get to heaven and we

will be glorified. That means that we

will be perfected. Sin won't be a

problem anymore when we get to heaven.

But while we are we are on this earth,

we have this sinful flesh. We have

sinful desires. We have sinful passions

that we have to fight against every day.

You can't win that battle on your own.

But you can have victory over sin in

your life through the person of Jesus

Christ. But it's going to take a

commitment on your part saying, "God, I

need your presence and I need your help

to help me stay pure today."

I don't believe that what we're talking

about here in purity is perfection. But

if you want a simple definition of how

to be pure while on this earth, here it

is. Hate sin with all of your heart.

Love God with all of your heart.

It's that simple. Now, I admit from

experience that is easier said than

done. Hate sin with all your And by the

way, let's just put this introjection

here. Y'all just stay with me. I told

you I was fired up this morning.

You can hate sin without hating sinners.

God hates sin, but he loves sinners. I

am a sinner, and I'm glad God loves me.

I'm glad he loves me this morning. So,

we hate sin. We don't hate sinners. We

hate the sin that is in our life. We

hate our fleshly desires and we do

everything in our power to eliminate sin

from our midst. I think, now this is my

opinion, but I think that if a church

like ours would make a commitment that

we are going to purify ourselves, we are

going to sanctify ourselves, then I

believe that is the first step in true

revival. If we want to see God revive

our country, we want to see God revive

our church, we want to see God revive

our community, we want to see God revive

our families, it starts when you and I

as Christians, as God's people say, I

have had enough of being defeated by

this sin. I've had enough of living like

like I'm discouraged and like I'm not

saved. I'm I've had enough of quenching

the Holy Spirit. It is time that I get

the sin out and I let the Holy Spirit

start leading me like he wants to. If

you want to go somewhere spiritually

that you have never been, if you want to

have victory, if you want to move

forward in the in Jesus Christ in your

Christian life, you must eliminate sin.

Now, this morning, I am not going to go

into start naming sins, but come back in

a couple weeks because we've got a

passage coming up that I will and we're

going to go down a list and we're going

to start naming things that God calls

sin. And we're going to call it sin.

This morning, I want you to ask the Holy

Spirit and say, "Lord, what is it in my

life that is sin? What is it in my life

that is holding me back from moving

forward for you? What is it in my life

right now that is in the way of the Holy

Spirit? I want to get rid of it. I want

to eliminate the sin in my life." Write

down number three and we'll be finished.

We must have the presence of God. We

must be pure before God. Number three,

we must desire the power of God.

Look at the end of verse five.

He said, "Sanctify yourselves." Why?

For tomorrow the Lord will do wonders

among you. You remember I told you that

being pure is a prerequisite to seeing

God's power.

If you want to see God do miracles, if

you want to see God be powerful in your

life and in your church and in your

family and in your children, then it

will start with you being pure. But then

you have to pursue and have a desire to

see God's power. Have you prayed for

that? Have you asked God for personal

revival? We just came through a week of

revival meetings. We had excellent

preaching, good singing. God was in the

place and some people left and were just

as discouraged when they left than when

they came. And the problem is they did

not spend time saying, "God, revive me."

before they came. They wasted their

time. And every Sunday that you come

into a church service just to check a

box or just to go through motions or

just to accomplish something to make you

feel better, make you feel like a good

Christian, you are, I don't mean this

mean, but frankly, you are wasting your

time. You would be just as good to stay

home and not worry about it. Just do

something else on Sunday mornings. Mow

your grass or weed eat or whatever you

want to do. go fishing if you want to.

You'd be just as good to do that where

versus come to church and come to church

with an attitude of I'm not looking for

anything. I'm not trying to go anywhere.

I'm just trying to stay where I'm at. Be

comfortable in my Christianity. Check my

little box. Go through my little

motions. God, if he gets too personal,

if he starts preaching too hard, we'll

see if I ever come back next week. God,

if it's if it's too convicting, if your

spirit touches my heart in some kind of

way, well, then I'm out. I won't come

back. I'm not looking. Listen, this is

why the contemporary church movement is

so big. I know some good contemporary

church pastors and I know some very good

contemporary churches and they preach

the gospel. They preach the Bible and

God is using them. But as a whole, the

contemporary church movement is built on

a seeker-friendly environment where

people can come into a service, they can

sit through a service and be comfortable

the entire time. No conviction, no

calling out sin, no telling us how to

move forward in our Christian life. you

just come check your box, go through the

service and and you'll be okay. And

that's why churches are are exploding in

numbers because people don't want the

truth. They want to be comfortable. But

I'm not interested in comfort this

morning. And I hope you aren't either. I

make you sit on a wooden pew, you better

know I ain't interested in comfort when

you come to church. You know what I'm

interested in when we come to church?

I'm interested in the power of almighty

God settling on our hearts. I want to go

somewhere for Jesus. I'm not content

staying where I've been. I'm not content

living like I've always lived. I want to

do more for the cause of Christ. I want

to see people get saved in church on

Sunday. I want to see people get

baptized in church on Sundays. I want to

see people discipled on Sundays. I want

to see people committing themselves to

the cause of Christ on Sundays. I want

to see families praying together on

Sundays. I want to hear about children

getting saved downstairs in Bethl kids.

I want to see the power of God on this

place every single time we come

together. I'm not interested in making

you comfortable. I'm not interested in

making you happy. Listen, people come in

and people leave. And I have had so many

people tell me, "Well, you shouldn't do

that and you shouldn't say that and you

shouldn't act like that." And I tell

them, "I really don't care what you

think. I care what he thinks. I'm doing

this for Almighty God. I'm here to

preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and

that alone. And if his power will settle

on this place, everything's going to be

all right. And what we have to do in our

lives is shift our mentality just a

little bit. And say, God, church is not

about me.

Church is about you. When I come to

church, I come to church to worship you.

I come to church to experience you. I

come to church to to to move myself

toward you. So I come in a spirit of

revival asking God to change my life.

And if you will do that, the power of

God will settle on this place and he'll

help you. He'll help you go somewhere

that you have never been before

spiritually.

That sin,

you can come. That's it. We're done.

That sin that has held you bondage for

years and years and years.

You can have victory over it. Finally,

be pure. I'm going to get rid of it.

Eliminate it. I'm done with it. You can

have victory. You can have victory this

morning. Would you just call out and

say, "God, I need your power. I want

your presence in my life. I want your

power in my life." You can have the

victory over sin. Hey, the situation

that that you're praying about, the

miracle that you need, the relationship

that needs to be restored, God's power

is enough. Have I told you about Jesus

recently?

He is still the alpha and the omega. He

is still the beginning and the end. He

is still most holy. He is still most

high. He is still exalted. He is still

mighty, marvelous, wonderful. He is

still the lily of the valley. He is

still the bright and morning star. He is

still the rose of Sharon. He's still the

fairest of 10,000. He's still the

creator of the universe. He still made

the sun come up and he'll make the sun

go down. He's still the one who gave

himself on Calvary for your sin. He's

still the one who is big enough to pay

for the sins of the entire world. He is

still the one who put the stars in space

and the moon in the sky. He is still the

one who gives you the breath of life

every single day that you're alive. He

is still the one that has been doing

miracles for all of all of uh creation,

all of the history of the world. He's

still the one who made the blind man see

and the lame man walk. He's still the

same one who who can calm the storm in

the middle of a raging ste. He's still

the one that gave Peter the ability to

walk on water. He is still God today.

And just cuz he has done all those

things in the past does not limit his

ability to do them in your life today.

That's the God we serve. That's the

power of the God we serve. And the

reason we don't see God's power in

churches is because we have not asked

for it. So this morning, I wonder if our

church, fresh off of revival meetings,

would say, "God,

this morning, I care most of all about

your presence, about being pure, and

about seeing your power." That's what I

want. That's true revival.

I want this place to go somewhere it's

never been spiritually.

I want to see this church be a church

that it has never been spiritually

speaking.

Oh, I want to see your life. Listen, I

walk in this auditorium and I walk these

pews and I pray often and as I pass your

seat, I will name you and pray for you.

And you know what? I pray for each and

every one of you almost on a daily

basis.

is that God would show his power in your

life.

That you would see miracles of God take

place.

Different needs and different things and

things that I know about that are going

on in your life. Oh God, would you show

your power? Would you do a miracle in

their life?

I can pray and pray and pray, but until

we decide as a church, I can preach and

preach and preach, but until we decide

as a church that God, what we want more

than anything is the power of your Holy

Spirit to dwell in this place, we're

just going to be wandering in the

wilderness,

just going in circles,

wasting our spiritual ability.

God has gifted us. God has blessed us.

God has a purpose for us.

We we can't even comprehend all that God

wants to do. I believe with all my

heart, maybe this is too much

information, but that's just a step of

faith. I believe with all my heart that

God is going to revive Carroll County,

Virginia in an unprecedented way in the

in the next few years.

I I think we're going to see this

building completely full. I've already

got plans about what we're going to do

when the building fills up.

The only way that happens though is if

we get passionate about the power of God

in our lives. Holy Spirit, show me where

I've messed up.

Show me my sin. I'm going to get rid of

it. The moment I feel conviction, I

obey. I get it out.

I want nothing to hinder the power of

God.

I may not be perfect, but I'm going to

fight with everything in me to keep

myself pure so that God's power can have

free course in my life.

And I'm going to invite you this morning

as your pastor.

Would you join me in that prayer?

Let's stand to our feet all over the

building. You can come pray this morning

at an oldfashioned altar. Bow a knee.

Respond to what God has told you to do.

Maybe there's a sin in your life and you

got to get it right. Right now is a good

time. Why don't you come and bow a knee

and say, "God, I have messed up." Hey,

he already knows, but just call it out.

God, I've messed up. Would you forgive

me? I have hindered your power in my

life. Why don't you come and just bow a

knee? Maybe you're here and you're not

saved this morning. You don't know 100%

sure that you're on your way to heaven.

Why don't you come right now and get

saved? Just bow a knee. Maybe you're a

Christian and you say, "I don't have no

besetting sin. God has been good to me.

I've been blessed and and I'm living

this Christian life, but but this

morning I realize that I can have more

that there are more victories that there

is more power available and I want to be

used in a greater way. Would you come?

Just come right now and pray. Bow a knee

and say, "God, I want to be used. I want

you to use me." You can make an altar

there in your seat. You can come. I'm

down front. I would love to take a just

take your hand, wrap my arm around you,

and pray with you this morning. Maybe

you have something going on in your life

and you need a miracle from God. Now is

a good time. Just take a little time

right now and pray and say, "God, I need

a miracle. This relationship, this

situation, this thing that's happening,

I need a miracle from God. I need to see

your power in my family, in my home, in

my life." Would you pray right now and

just ask him, "God, let me see your

power."

And if you've got nothing else to pray

for,

you're a superch Christian.

Then I beg and plead, would you join

this pastor in praying for this church

that God's power would pour down on this

place

that God would show himself mighty,

mightier than he's ever been able to

show himself.

So we submit and follow him.

She's going to play.

We're right here. God is here. Don't

miss this moment. You come.

It's mine and the Lord.