Swim-Deep

Okay, yeah, so I'm going to New York.

Yeah, so guys we've been talking about Ezekiel 47 verses 1 to 5, right?

Ezekiel 47:1–5

And so it's about that river that issues from the throne and begins to flow

and we've gone through ankle deep water, we've gone through knee deep water,

we've gone through waist deep water, and today we're going to talk about

water deep enough to swim in.

So that's what we're going to talk about today.

And if you remember what we said about the last three levels of water,

we said ankle deep, ankle deep, we started off with this idea of first love

and how first love betrays your treasure

and that if you want to cultivate first love, the most important ingredient is time.

And we talked about that when we talked about ankle deep.

Then we went to knee deep, and in knee deep we talked about how we need to be

forerunners as in the ones that go before so that they can open up the way for others.

And then last week we talked about waist deep water.

When we talked about waist deep water, we talked about the nature of the father's love

and how to be secure in it.

And if we don't get that right, we don't get anything right.

I personally think after 15 years of teaching,

that's one of the finest teachings that has affected me.

The more I read it, I mean I read it almost every day.

This morning before coming here I began to read it again

because I think that if you can grasp how ridiculous his love is

and if you can securely sit between his shoulders,

as sure of how amazing his love is, life becomes super easy.

I'd go over those notes every day if I were you.

I am.

And so today we deal with this idea of the water's gotten so deep

that you can't walk in it anymore, so it's swim deep now.

So that's what we talk about.

And we said that this river moves you from your measure to God's fullness.

That's the idea of this river.

This river that issues from the throne of God, if you step into it,

you now move from your measure, your ability, your skill, your competency

to a place where you begin to operate by the fullness of God.

That's what happens if I'm caught up in this river.

And the deeper I go into this river that issues from the throne of God,

the more I find myself not operating within the limits of who Jacob on his best day is,

but beginning to operate at a place where it's God's fullness that is flowing through me.

And so when we come to Ezekiel 47, verse 5, it says,

Ezekiel 47:5

the water was so deep it was over my head.

I could not walk in it. I had to swim.

And so the question then is, what does it take to swim in this water?

What does it mean to be caught up in this water where you no longer can walk?

At least when you walk, you have some control.

You can dictate which way you go.

But you've gotten to a place in this river that issues from the throne of God,

or you've gotten to a place in the life of God where you now are no longer in control.

You are swept by the current of God, and you go where he goes.

At least when you were ankle-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep, you could control where you went.

But now it's around you, in you, over you.

That's the place we're talking about today.

Any questions before I go on?

It'd be so helpful if you listened to the last three levels, man,

because this is a series.

And it's on the website, so you can listen to it when you want.

Any questions?

So this is a place where I no longer have the ability to control where I go,

because now, here's what we'll talk about.

Once we grasp the simple thing which we'll talk about,

you will find that God can flow through you any time, any day, as he wants, when he wants,

in any magnitude he wants to, because he's found a conductor that is so easy to flow through.

That's what we'll talk about today.

Yeah, when it talks about the river, it's talking about the life of the spirit.

So to find out what it takes to swim in this river, or this kind of water,

or this kind of life that God wants to have you involved in,

let's look at the source of the water.

So if you go to Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel 47,

Ezekiel 47, the source of the water is from the throne of God.

So the man brought me back to the, reading from verse one,

the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple,

and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple towards the east.

Now go to Isaiah 6, verse one to five, Isaiah 6, one to five,

Isaiah 6, one to five,

Here's what it says,

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted,

and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above him were seraphs, each with six wings,

with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,

with two they were flying, and they were calling out to one another,

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory.

At the sound of his voice, the doorposts and the thresholds shook,

and the temple was filled with smoke.

Wore to me, I cried, I'm ruined, for I'm a man of unclean lips,

and I live amongst the people of unclean lips,

and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand,

and he had taken with tongs from the altar.

With it he touched my mouth and said,

See, this has touched your lips, your guilt has taken away, your sin atoned for.

Go to Psalm 24, verse two to four, and then we'll connect it.

Psalm 24, verse two to four.

Psalm 24, Psalm 24, verse two to four.

Psalm 24, two to four.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord, who may stand in his holy place,

he who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol,

or swear by what is false, he will receive blessing from the Lord

and vindication from God his Savior, such is the generation of those that seek him,

who seek your face of God of Jacob.

At the end of the day, guys, if you want to swim in this kind of water

where God flows through you uninhibited,

then the one thing that we find common in where this water issues from

is this beautiful word called purity.

The answer to having God flow through you unimpeded,

the answer to swimming in water that is so deep that there is no way I can walk through it,

the answer to having the Holy Spirit operate as he pleases,

just as he did through Jesus, is wrapped up in that simple word purity.

And the very word purity frightens us, eh?

As Christians, that word doesn't hold good things for us,

because it means a whole set of things that we might have to change or do,

and yet that's the misconception we have.

When you look at the source of this river,

you find that at the end of the day it starts from this holy place, from the throne of God,

and whether it be ascending the hill of God,

whether it be the seraphs that are flying around saying, Holy, Holy, Holy,

at the end of the day, the way God begins to flow through me, through you, through us as a church,

without being impeded, is when we as Christians or me as just an individual Christian

come to perhaps this idea of purity, which is a life of holy beauty,

and we don't put these words together in normal life.

Holy beauty, a life of holy beauty.

We'll explain it further, it's not as bad as it looks.

Basically what purity means is that it's a life or a thing that is free from deceit,

free from contamination, free from being debased.

That's what purity looks like.

That's a regular English definition for purity.

Purity is something that lacks deceit.

There's a truth, there's tremendous truth in it.

There's something sincere that it has integrity in it, it doesn't have deceit in it.

Two, it is uncontaminated, unpolluted.

And three, it's not debased.

There is a sacredness about it.

There's nothing profane in it.

That's a sense of the word purity.

David somehow got it, even though he was in the Old Testament,

when he said that you desire purity or truth in the inward parts.

Psalm 51, verse 6.

Psalms 51:6

You desire truth in the inward parts.

And whenever we as Christians talk about purity,

we somehow connect it to sexual purity.

And while that plays an important role,

purity is not just confined to sexual purity.

It's purity in generosity, it's purity in relationships,

it's purity in externals, externals from modestly dressing

and knowing what is showing and what is not showing,

to purity in intent, purity in affection, purity in speech,

purity in what you grieve over and what you rejoice over.

Let me say that again.

Whenever we think of purity in churches,

we immediately think of sexual purity.

And while that is important, it is not the only thing.

Besides sexual purity, there should be purity in my generosity.

There should be purity in my intent.

There should be purity in my external conduct.

There should be purity in my speech and my thinking.

There should be purity in what I grieve over and what I rejoice over.

There should be purity in my affection.

Guys, the strange thing is,

it's only Christians that have to deal with purity at such an intense level.

You know why?

Because it is only the Christian God that came to live amongst the people.

No other God has taken up a dwelling amongst people.

Every other God was external.

It was outside, coming to the earth through vehicles,

through animals, through trees, through every other thing but themselves,

or through outsiders.

But no God actually came and dwelt amongst those people.

The day Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel,

told his people that,

build me a tabernacle, I'm going to come and live amongst you,

guess what happened?

Immediately you had to have a whole set of laws

that now define ceremonial and moral purity.

His Holiness demanded that the people he now dwelt amongst

required now to walk purely,

which is why then Israel had 613 laws.

And why did they have 613 laws?

Because the Holy God of Israel,

Yahweh, the creator of the universe,

had decided that he's going to come and dwell in their midst.

And the moment he decided to dwell in their midst,

now they had a set of rules that would render them

holy, set apart, or pure.

And all those ritual,

laws of ritual purity, of ceremonial purity, of moral purity,

came because God began to dwell amongst them.

If you were any other religion, you wouldn't have this problem.

That was in the Old Testament.

Now think of what's happened in the New Testament.

In the New Testament, he isn't even dwelling in a tabernacle

that Moses visits once in a while.

In the New Testament, he comes and dwells in you.

Only now, he doesn't have a set of laws that keep you pure.

He comes into you and says,

I have made you pure, now continue in purity.

There is a reason why we are called to purity,

and no other religion demands this kind of purity.

Every other religion has a solution for impurity,

but does not have a demand for purity.

All other religions will give you a solution for making impure pure,

but no other religion demands purity,

because their holy God,

if there are any other holy gods, which I believe there aren't,

but now that Yahweh the Holy One has decided to dwell amongst the people,

his people have to now begin to walk in purity.

So purity and holiness are different,

but purity almost tunnels the pathway into holiness.

Purity tunnels the pathway into holiness.

Purity and holiness are different.

They are two separate words.

Purity comes from a word called tahir.

Holiness comes from a word called kadosh.

And both are separate.

One is being set apart, one is being without blemish.

The thing is, my being without blemish allows me to tunnel

through any mountain into God's holiness.

And by the way, God's holiness is

See, look at what God says in 1 Peter 1, 15 and 16.

He says, Peter is speaking to people and he says,

hey, by the way, just so you know, your God is holy,

and therefore be holy because he is holy.

You know, this is the odd thing about God.

He isn't asking you to be holy because you're a Christian.

He's asking you to be holy because relational fellowship comes through holiness.

Relational fellowship comes through holiness.

God isn't asking you to be holy because you're a Christian.

God is asking you to be holy because, hey, Jacob, this is my nature.

I have now included you in my family.

If you want to take full advantage of this relationship,

then be holy because I am holy,

because you and I will be able to relate really well,

and you will experience everything that I am through this channel.

And I want to tell you that I am a Christian.

I want to experience everything that I am through this channel,

which is why any attempt that any Christian makes to be pure

without a relationship is bound to fail.

There was a movement called Puritanism that happened long ago.

Their intent was good, but it fell on its face, man.

Any questions before we go on?

The key to relational fellowship with God is holiness.

The key to relational fellowship with God is holiness

because this is something he just can't abandon.

He can't just switch off and say, ah, I'll be an unholy God for the next little while

because I really want to relate to you, Jacob.

No, ain't happening.

He is holy.

So when he says, hey, Jacob, come and walk in this way,

his intent is this way you'll be able to relate to me.

Because it's not Jacob who is the unchanging one.

It's he who is the unchanging one.

So guess who has to change?

Why?

Sorry?

I can't.

I didn't understand.

What's the third one?

Where?

Oh, debased.

Debased.

Debased.

Sorry?

Oh, okay.

Tough crowd today, huh?

Any questions, guys?

Okay.

Hey, one of the advantages of being someone who desires purity is that,

and Jesus said it himself, he says in Matthew 5, 8,

that blessed are you if you're pure.

Blessed are the pure in heart.

He doesn't say pure in external conduct.

He says blessed are the pure in heart, some place that only he sees.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Now, what is it to see God?

Well, what is basically to be able to actively engage his presence

and actively express his weight, his power,

his magnificence, his splendor,

or in other words, his glory.

So it's almost impossible to engage God actively,

engage his presence actively without purity.

Almost impossible.

It's not that God is excluding you.

It's like, I think the best way to put it is,

I get you theater tickets to one of the most amazing movies that's ever been produced,

I buy you tickets, and I buy you tickets in the VIP section where the seats move,

like when the car, have you sat in those seats?

It's quite an experience, yeah.

Every time the cars collide, your whole seat moves.

So I buy you tickets, I take you in there, it's VIP treatment,

buy you popcorn and all that stuff,

and then I bring a set of earphones and put it over your ears.

I put blindfolds on your eyes, I tie your hands to the side of the seat,

and there's popcorn, there's a movie, there's sound, there's everything,

but you don't get to be a part of it.

That's how it is when I decide to forsake purity,

because now I believe that I'm born again, I'm included,

I don't need to walk in purity.

And once I decide that, I'm in the theater,

if people ask me, did you go for that movie?

Yeah, man, I went for the movie.

Like you got tickets for the movie, yeah, man, someone gave it free.

Where did you sit? The best seats.

What was the movie about? Great movie.

What was the movie about? Great movie.

But you can't explain what happened,

because there are blindfolds on your eyes, earphones on your head,

hands are tied to the side.

Did you eat any popcorn? Lots of popcorn. Did you eat any?

Lots of popcorn.

Because you can't say you ate any because your hands are tied.

This is how it is when I decide that purity is something I can sacrifice,

because Jesus already paid the price for it.

Don't worry, this is the bad news.

It gets better.

So if I want to actively engage his presence,

if I want to actively express his glory,

then man, I need to ask God that Father,

I really want to desire purity,

because you are that kind of person.

You will not abandon your holiness or your purity.

So I'm going to begin to desire it,

and you must make it possible for me.

Because at the end of the day,

God is the author and the finisher of everything.

Every good desire I have, he begins.

Every good desire I want to sustain, he sustains.

Every good desire that I begin to accomplish, he accomplishes.

This is God's heart, eh?

Blessed as a pure in heart.

He wants this for us.

Because purity allows the unimpeded flow of the spirit.

Purity allows the unimpeded flow of the spirit.

Purity allows the unimpeded flow of the spirit.

It's almost like this mountain stream that's gushing down.

You can't see the source.

You can just see the sun occasionally catch the ice-capped mountains,

and all you know is from there,

there's this pure gushing stream of water

that gains momentum as it comes down the mountain.

It flows unimpeded when there is no debris.

It's not gifting or prophecy, but purity that shapes your usability,

that shapes your versatility in the hands of God,

and shapes your purpose.

It's not your gifting, nor is it a prophetic word that shapes your usability

or shapes your versatility as in anything God wants to use you for,

or shapes your purpose in God.

Desire it, guys.

I was listening to you guys talk about say things to God after worship,

and most of you were saying stuff where you wanted to give everything you have to him.

But at the end of the day, if I want to be used by God,

if I want the versatility of his use where he can put any cap on me and say,

go, Jacob, do this, if I want purpose to come to fruition,

then it's not my giftedness, nor is it a prophetic word spoken over me that brings it to pass.

What brings it to pass is purity.

So Jacob, where are you pulling that out from?

2 Timothy 2, 20 to 22.

2 Timothy 2, 20 to 22.

If you read it from the message, here's what it says.

2 Timothy 2, 20 to 22.

2 Timothy 2, 20 to 22.

In a well-furnished kitchen, there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters,

but waste cans and compost buckets.

Some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage.

Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.

If you read it from the NIV,

in a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but of wood and clay,

some for special purposes, some for common use.

Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for the special purposes,

made holy, useful to the master, prepared to do any good work.

Matters so much, guys, at this stage in our lives as a church.

Had we desire purity before it may,

because then it doesn't matter whether you're gifted or not gifted,

whether there's a prophetic word over you or not over you,

things begin to happen.

And please, move from just sexual purity to purity in all areas of life, including intent and everything else.

Do I need to change mics?

I'm okay with this?

Okay.

Any questions before we go on?

Hey, at this stage in my life, most of the places I go to,

given what needs to be dealt with, the only way I can deal with it is through pure hands.

Otherwise, I'll get slapped around.

And it should be the case with us.

Everything we deal with, if we do not have the ability to deal with, with hands that are clean,

should frighten us because we don't want to go into dealing with things without this enormous advantage called purity.

Any questions?

Even going to New York City now, I've told Jeevan what I'm going to do.

And it's to go to a place, deal with certain things.

That there's no evidence to show it's been dealt with except,

I remember driving earlier this week and God saying,

don't worry, Jacob, I'll keep you alive long enough for you to see the results.

So don't worry about trying to prove to everyone that you're not guilty.

You're not guilty.

You're not guilty.

You're not guilty.

So don't worry about trying to prove to anybody whether you have achieved something or not.

A generation will talk about it.

That's good enough for me.

But the point is, how can you do it without this thing called purity?

Because it is impossible to deal with things bigger than you if the hands are not clean.

I'm not talking about sexual purity only.

I'm talking about intent, generosity, thinking, speech,

that which you grieve over, that which you rejoice over.

Externals, your affections.

Everything.

Go ahead.

Yeah, sometimes you'll be surprised at how I'm rejoicing over the fact that someone threw water on you yesterday and you got wet.

I may not express it, but instead I'm thinking, he got water thrown on him.

That's rejoicing over something that may have grieved you.

So very few know the intent of the heart.

We sometimes are not pure over that which we rejoice over and that which we grieve over.

This is what Paul then later on talks about in 1 Corinthians 13,

when he says that love should not rejoice over, I'll change the mic.

Love should not rejoice over that which is evil, but should only rejoice over that which is good.

Check, check, check.

Am I good?

They're all looking at you.

We got eight guests. You have to impress them.

Which one should I take?

Sorry?

The one I was using?

This one? Okay.

Okay. Any other questions, guys?

Hey, I wish I could convince you how critically important this is to our lives.

It doesn't matter whether you preach or don't preach. It's got nothing to do with that.

It is important in whatever area you're working in.

It doesn't matter whether you're a businessman, an accountant, a mill worker, a teacher, a pastor.

It doesn't matter which area.

Just imagine God pulling out caps from his cap store and saying, I want you to be a chauffeur today.

Here, put this on. Go do this and I'll work it out.

Hey, pull out another cap. I want you to be a chef today. I want you to go do this, this, this.

It doesn't matter. He now gets to use you in all kinds of versatile situations with tremendous purpose and tremendous usability.

Why? Because the one thing that you have decided to offer to him is purity.

And a purity that is born out of a relationship of love, not a purity born out of religion.

You have it made for the rest of your life and you leave deep imprints here on earth if we can get this one thing right.

And do not begin to take on the guilt of sexual impurity. We'll deal with that at the end.

So don't think this is a guilt trip.

Because that's where all our heads go, eh? Well, then I won't qualify because I'm stuck in this or that.

No man. It's amazing how we can work these things out by creating a desire and then helping us sustain this desire.

It's only the pure that can open ancient doors. Psalm 24, verse 3 to 8, what does it say?

Psalms 24:3–8

That lift up your doors, lift up your ancient gates so that the king of glory may come in.

Who opens ancient doors and what are ancient doors?

Ancient doors are doors that are invisible or doors that have been concealed since the beginning of time that exist throughout the universe.

And at the right time, God is looking for a people who have purity of heart and clean hands to go open these doors

so that whatever he wants to come to pass on earth can come to pass on earth.

And who opens these doors? Ones who have clean hands and a pure heart, whose tongue is not given to deceit and who worship no idols.

I've given you examples of open doors. Remember 2 Kings chapter 2, Elisha has just become the new prophet.

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

He's in Jericho and they come and tell him, hey, by the way, the water in Jericho is really toxic.

People are dying, women are going barren. Could you help? And what does Elisha do?

He realizes that 400 years ago, a king called Heel had built Jericho by sacrificing his oldest son and there was a curse upon the city.

An ancient demonic door had been shut and what does Elisha come? He says, bring me a bowl, bring some salt in it, bring me the salt.

He goes and sprinkles it at the source of the lake and immediately the waters get okay. What did he do? He changed things around.

What did Peter do in Acts chapter 2? More than a thousand years ago, a guy called Joel prophesied that a day is coming when the Spirit of God will fall upon all flesh.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

What does Peter do? Opens an ancient door. How does he open an ancient door?

Today, what Joel had said then has come to pass and the Holy Spirit comes.

What does Paul do in Ephesians 3? Christ endures the hope of glory. What was he doing?

He was talking about a prophecy or an ancient door that was spoken of 3,000 years ago by a man called Abraham.

When God said to Abraham, through you, every generation on the earth will be blessed.

And along comes Paul and he says, there are Jews and there are Gentiles and I make them one and I open that ancient door.

And what happens? Cornelius' family receives the Holy Spirit. Gentiles and Jews become one new man and an ancient door has been opened.

Who does the opening? Men with, women with pure hands, clean hearts that do not have deceit on their tongues and bow down to no idol.

This is what I meant by usability, versatility and purpose.

And nobody will mark your grave as a famous person, but my God, you will leave a legacy on earth.

You know, the Lord promised that we are actually, that we have Abraham's face. He can do that.

Yep. Ezekiel 37, 5, same thing. An ancient door that would be given a glimpse of.

What is the ancient door? Hey, Ezekiel, can these bones live?

One day, I'm telling you man, that still hasn't happened.

A day is coming where there'll be hundreds and hundreds of Ezekiels in hundreds and hundreds of different cities rising up.

And suddenly you will hear, you will hear, not on, not on TVN, not on Daystar, not on all those channels.

You will hear it because you cannot avoid the coming together of bones and flesh, tendons and skeleton and muscle.

You will hear it. Where there'll be enough nobodies who will stand up in little towns and little cities and begin to say,

I will breathe on these bones and you will hear it. It's an ancient door that is yet to be opened, but will come.

Gosh man, this is something that we've got to aspire for.

This is, I mean, I heard Sheldon and Jane say something to the extent of, oh God, my entire life is yours.

And then I heard others say the same thing. Well, offer him this one extra gift of an entire life that desires purity.

And then the sky is the limit, man.

You know that it says in Job 22.30 that the, your purity will deliver the guilty. Job 22.30.

That even those that are non-innocent will be delivered because your hands are clean.

Where your purity now becomes a method of intercession, where those that aren't clean,

those that are guilty are set free because you have this intense desire for purity.

Intercession takes on a whole different level when the ones interceding desire purity more than prayer.

When the desire for purity is more than prayer.

When they desire purity more than prayer. Job 22.30.

People had to consecrate themselves before they carried the ark.

And that ark, when it went into places, would cause idols to fall and break into pieces, man.

I can't tell you, there's no greater weapon than the ark.

I can't tell you, there's no greater weapon than this amazing thing called purity.

Which is why, may I suggest to you, that Satan has done his best to warp this idea of purity,

either through religion or to diminish its value by bombarding us through media.

By bombarding us through media.

It is the greatest vehicle being used on earth to lower our standards as a kingdom people.

He uses media and religion to either diminish the value of purity as in hasn't Jesus already paid the price.

Absolutely true, aren't you included? You completely are.

But, it's like going to a theater and sitting in those seats and not knowing what the movie is.

Satan has waged war and purity through media and religion.

Because he knows that the greater my purity, the greater my authority.

The greater my purity, the greater my authority.

You know, till some years ago, a British royal could not marry a commoner.

And if you married a commoner, you had to abdicate your position.

Or you had to now say you cannot be king anymore because you had married a commoner.

The intent was, you got to maintain the purity of your royal life.

Men, I don't remember which George it was, four or five or six, who married a commoner and therefore had to surrender his throne.

But the point is that greater authority comes from greater purity. Why?

And I've said this many times before, your purity is proof of your intimacy.

And it intimidates the devil. Your purity is proof of your intimacy.

A good husband or a good wife does not need a ring to give evidence of purity.

Their intimacy is sufficient evidence of purity.

A man who loves his wife chooses to be pure not because he's married, but because he loves her.

That is antidote enough.

There's no way someone gets in between when a man loves his wife like that.

And just so we know, purity is not behavior modification.

It's an internal condition.

Imagine this happening tomorrow, eh?

The United Nations meets and they decide, from this day forth, for the next two days, none on earth shall commit adultery.

And so the entire world, eight billion of us, or seven billion, decide for two days we shall not commit adultery.

That doesn't make the world pure, because Jesus put it this way in Matthew 5.28.

You have heard it said that one should not commit adultery.

But I say to you, if you look at a woman with evil intent or lust, you have already committed adultery.

It's not an external behavior modification that makes one pure. It's an internal condition.

So stopping something externally is what we Christians have learned to do for three hours on a Sunday.

But it's the intent that is within that makes you usable, versatile, and purposeful in the kingdom.

I would suggest to you that purity is easier if you are a man who is pure.

I would suggest to you that purity is easier if you replace a living relationship with a list of rules.

It's so much easier to be pure if you give me a set of rules.

It's so much harder to be pure if you give me a relationship.

Give me a set of rules.

Jacob, when you walk into the church, do not look left, because that's where all the women sit.

Alright, Lord, I shall not look left.

And churches still do that, eh? In some churches, the men sit on the right, the women sit on the left.

And you're not supposed to look. You can only look this way.

So give me a set of rules and purity becomes easy.

Give me a relationship and purity becomes difficult.

Rule-based purity is religious.

Rule-based purity is religious.

It's motivated by fear.

It's uncertain of acceptance.

It sucks, man.

Everything that Christ wants to be is destroyed through religious purity.

It's motivated by fear.

If I'm not pure, what is God going to do?

It is always under the sword of, am I accepted now or am I not accepted?

I've been in the church for a long time.

Am I accepted now or am I not accepted?

I've been pure for two days. Is that good enough?

What is good enough in the eyes of a holy God?

So you're motivated by fear and there's the uncertainty of acceptance.

And then purity just sucks, man. Who wants to live that kind of a life?

And that's what we end up living, eh?

Our pastors preach from the pulpit, I've done this, man.

And I've suffered under it too, because then I had to live that way.

What is religious purity?

Religious purity is the act of living a holy life without believing that God actually, absolutely loves you.

Religious purity is the act of living a holy life.

Religious purity is the act of living a holy life without believing that God absolutely, actually loves you.

Hey, imagine being in a place, and I find myself in that place more and more now than ever before in my life.

Imagine being in a place where I'm absolutely confident that my father will not ignore me, not reject me,

not withdraw his love from me, not be angry with me, not turn his back on me, always be face to face,

never count my sins against me, never condemn me, never sentence me, never push me out,

always accept, always sit face to face, always expect me to come back.

Imagine living in that place.

It allows me to deal with two things.

One, it allows me to run after purity.

On the other hand, it allows me to run to him when I live impure.

It's brilliant, man.

It's called the never be afraid, pure living, which allows you then

the luxury of being pure, and it allows you the fearlessness of recovering from impurity.

George Verver, who started Operation Mobilization years ago, he's a wise old sage now, he's still alive.

He once preached in 1983, a sermon to hundreds of missionaries, and here was the title of the sermon,

how to deal not with sexual impurity, how to deal with the guilt of sexual impurity.

Because that was destroying Christians more than sexual impurity.

It wasn't sexual impurity that was hollowing out these missionaries.

It was a guilt of sexual impurity.

How do you deal with it now?

And he preached that in 1983.

And if it was then, before the internet even existed, what is it now?

I read this question somewhere.

Do you try not to lust so that Jesus will love you, or do you fight lust because he loves you?

Do you try not to lust so that Jesus will love you, or do you fight lust because he loves you?

Do you try not to lust so that Jesus will love you, or do you fight lust because he loves you?

Which then means that purity must come from an allegiance founded on love.

Purity must come from an allegiance founded on love.

Purity must come from an allegiance founded on love.

From an allegiance founded on love.

Founded on love.

Because love fuels what allegiance prioritizes.

Thanks.

Purity, purity, purity, purity, purity.

Yeah, purity must come from an allegiance that is founded on love.

So, as a believer, my allegiance is to the supreme treasure that you and I have found called Christ.

So, as a believer, my allegiance is to the supreme treasure that you and I have found called Christ.

But once I pledge my allegiance to him, my allegiance must be founded on love.

It cannot be founded on reward, it cannot be founded on anything else, but,

Hey, Jesus, the reason I do what I do is because I like you.

When allegiance is founded on love, then you'll find that purity is easy.

Just like in any marriage between a solid couple, there's an allegiance,

but that allegiance is not founded on a piece of paper that was signed.

That allegiance is founded on this beautiful thing called, I really love you,

so it's out of question, me even desiring someone else, leave alone wanting it.

Now that you have an allegiance based on love,

now that you have an allegiance based on love, you'll find that love begins to fuel what allegiance prioritizes.

If allegiance prioritizes that I go to New York tomorrow, then my love will fuel it.

It doesn't matter that I've got things to do, it doesn't matter that I might have responsibilities to take care of,

it doesn't matter that I may or may not have the money for it.

What now begins to happen is love begins to fuel what allegiance has prioritized,

because you have become supreme and what you say, my will shall obey.

And it applies to every area of life.

It's a brilliant way to live, guys. It's absolutely obtainable.

There is nothing that God is asking of us that is a mountain too high to climb.

These are not mountains. We've got to perish this thought, oh, I'm trodding up the mountain of purity.

It ain't a mountain, it's flat ground.

And purity without intimacy, some guy called Boyd, I think, said this.

I'm not sure, right? Could be Bailey.

Purity without intimacy is sterile self-effort.

Purity without intimacy is sterile self-effort.

And it's bound to fail. It's bound to fail.

So when I feel like I want to do something not pure,

I don't try to resist it. I quickly run and say to God,

hey, I'm not in love with you, I want to be in love with you so that I can walk in the way that you like.

I'm not going to resist impurity by saying, I'll take you or no.

I run and I run quickly to the one who I love and secure that I get back my mojo.

Once I get back my mojo, now I come and I know that it is no longer an issue.

Impurity ceases to be an issue when your allegiance is founded on the love for the one that you so adore.

Then it becomes easy.

Then it becomes easy. Then the best thing in life is when things that are impure are no longer attractive.

Like I've said before, you can dip broccoli in chocolate and it does nothing to me.

I'm dead to it.

That's what I'm talking about.

You can dip whatever you want in chocolate and it doesn't attract because it's broccoli.

You can dress up a cat like a dog.

I'd still know.

You could go on.

You could put a different jersey on the maple leaves.

I would still know.

You could go on, but I'll stop.

Let me conclude.

Sustain purity that God has given to you.

Hey, here's the crazy thing.

God says, hey, Jacob, by the way, you don't have to go look for purity.

Get it from somewhere.

You don't have to pay a price for it.

Why?

Because I live in you and therefore you must readjust your thoughts, Jacob.

Begin to think and understand that your reality is you are pure because I, the pure one, live in you.

When Daron and Leslie were in Bahrain, the church wrote a song called The Holy One.

The chorus of The Holy One is, Dan and Leslie?

You are holy for the holy one is, we are holy because the holy one is in us, anointed.

And then?

You've been away for a while.

You've been away for a while.

But the point was this.

I start with this thing called absolute, most excellent, tremendous purity.

That's where I'm starting from.

I'm not starting from zero.

I'm starting from 100%.

That's where I'm starting from.

So I'm not going praying, oh God, please make me pure.

I'm praying, Father, you made me pure.

I'm trying to adjust my thoughts to the fact that this is my new reality.

And having adjusted my thoughts to the fact that I am pure because you live in me now help me sustain this idea of walking in purity.

And how do I do it?

With this fruit called self-control.

It's a fruit of the spirit.

Self-control is not restraining yourself from something.

Self-control is disciplining you towards something.

Self-control is not restraining you from something.

Self-control is disciplining yourself towards something.

When an athlete decides that he's not going to eat any vegetables, that he's going to stick to meat, and that he's going to run 20 kilometers a day, what's he doing?

He's not restraining himself from something.

He's disciplining himself towards something.

Everything takes on a negative connotation in Christianity.

Self-control, oh, that means I can't do this, this, this, and this.

No. Self-control means I'm going to do this, this, and this because I have a goal to achieve.

I'll tell you self-control.

Self-control is getting up and reading through three, four chapters even though there are 48 WhatsApp messages to answer.

Self-control is sitting quietly before God for 40 minutes, 50 minutes, 60 minutes.

People don't even know that you are sitting before God.

They think you're just sleeping and you're sitting there.

Why? Because God hasn't said anything and you want to play the game with him.

He wants you to learn the experience of listening, and he will talk when he wants to talk.

Sit there for 40, 50, 60 minutes. Why?

Because you want to know what needs to happen tomorrow or needs to happen in Rachel's life or needs to happen in New York.

It doesn't matter. You've learned the discipline of it.

Self-control is walking up and down trying to find that one missing sentence that can turn a message around on its toes and completely open our heads.

That one thing that is missing that God just wants to introduce.

It's like this coding thing or whatever you do on computers where if you hit that one right stroke, everything will become okay.

If you don't hit it, you're fired.

This is self-control. Continuously disciplining yourself towards something, not restraining yourself from something.

And here's the truth, guys.

Any person that does not have discipline or self-government in their lives is guaranteed mediocrity.

Let me say that again.

There is no greatness without self-control. Absence of personal discipline guarantees mediocrity.

There is no greatness without self-control.

You know, Chad's dad, maybe I've shared this with you before.

Chad's dad is the vice president of the Assemblies of God globally.

You talk to him, any crooked bone in your body straightens out because there is a certain holiness about that man that kind of put holy fear in you.

So you won't slouch when you go before him. You won't crack your silly jokes.

Everything disappears from me.

I stand properly and I look as straight as I can when I meet him because there's something about him.

But for all that he is, and I hope he doesn't hear this mess, for all that he is, Chad traveled with him to Jerusalem last year.

After years, he and his dad hadn't traveled together for a while.

And so at 4.30 or 5 in the morning, he hears sounds and sounds like, mm-hmm.

Okay, father. Yes. All right, oh God.

Okay. And Chad thought he was dreaming and then he woke up and he saw what he had seen 20, 25 years ago when he was a kid.

His dad had woken up, was sitting by a window overlooking the city of Jerusalem at 4.30 or 4.45 in the morning.

And he's having this audible dream.

And the reason Chad told me this was he said, Jacob had seen it 25 years ago when I was a kid.

I thought now that he had grown up, as in his dad had grown up, he must have become an expert at this.

He doesn't need to, but he said 25 years later, he's still waking up at 4.30 or 5 in the morning

and having the same kind of dreams that he had when he was a kid.

Become an expert at this. He doesn't need to, but he said 25 years later, he's still waking up at 4.30 or 5 in the morning

and having the same kind of conversations that impressed me when I was a child.

There is no greatness without self-control.

And a person that lacks self-governance or discipline is guaranteed mediocrity.

Anything great in your life is not a result of your gifting.

Anything great in your life is because you took time to discipline yourself in that area.

Don't nibble at the world or feed the hibernating bear.

As in don't nibble at the world. There's this tendency when you're doing well with purity

that you once again start just nibbling at a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

And what you eat, you end up looking like...

Yeah, don't look at me.

But basically what you eat is what you end up looking like.

Don't nibble at the world once you start walking down the street.

Don't go looking for crumbs and don't feed the hibernating bear.

As in if something is dead in your life, don't wake it up.

My God, that's such a foolish idea because that bear will wake up, man.

It looks very nice when it's sleeping, you can pat it, but once it wakes up, it pats you down.

So don't go down that route.

And then begin to find time to behold his face.

Nothing transforms your mind like the word worship and a real experience or an encounter with God.

Nothing transforms your mind like word worship and a real experience with God.

And I'm telling you, two hours on a Sunday won't cut it.

Begin to engage in it, eh?

Resaturate ourselves with everything else.

I was surprised two days ago when I counted the number of hours I was looking at my phone.

That was a shame.

And after all this, what happens when I fail and I return to impurity?

Impurity of motive, impurity of intent, sexual impurity, impurity in thoughts, impurity in external conduct.

What happens if and when I fail?

Well, Hebrews 4.15.

And man, take this as your birthright.

Don't take it as a loophole.

Don't take it as some kind of charity.

Don't take it as some kind of sympathy verse that got through.

Take it as your blooming birthright.

Hebrews 4.15 says that you have a high priest who knows and has experienced your weaknesses, your frailty, your testing, your temptation.

And he experienced it all except one thing, sin.

He didn't experience it because he chose not to.

And if you have a high priest like that, come to that throne with boldness and with confidence, knowing that there is tons of grace and mercy every day for every time of need,

regardless of how many times you fall, maybe a million times, two million times, it is always there.

And that is unshuttable.

It is there for you.

It is not sympathy.

It's your birthright.

If you have this confidence, do not think that you will take the license to be impure.

You will find yourself being caught in this virtuous cycle of, oh, God, you are so different when I am pure because I can relate to you.

I want more of this.

I don't want more of that.

That's what happens, man.

That's what happens.

I read this line somewhere.

God takes the record of all your sexual failures and instead of holding them up in front of your face and using guilt, he puts them in the palm of his son's hand and nails it to the cross.

Beautiful line, eh?

Listen to it again.

God takes the record of all your sexual failures and instead of holding them up in front of your face and using guilt, he puts them in the palm of his son's hand and he nails them to the cross.

Don't be afraid, man.

Don't be afraid of failing.

Don't be afraid of being impure.

What an odd thing to say.

I want to say my name is not Jacob or something else.

You know, if I was famous, I'd get so much hate made.

But thank God I'm not famous.

I can say these things and get away with it.

So let me say this again.

Don't be afraid of being impure.

Don't be afraid of being impure.

Don't be afraid of being impure.

Steve is leaving the building.

Don't be afraid of being impure.

Remove that fear.

Remove that fear.

I am so thrilled that I'm not afraid of failing or being impure anymore.

I am so thrilled because I know how to fix it in seconds and start again.

Acts 15 verse 9 puts it this way.

Acts 15:9

Paul is talking to the Jerusalem council about the Gentiles who just received the Holy Spirit.

And he says, hey, they were purified by faith.

They were purified by faith.

And I'm saying to you, every time you fall, get up and say, I'm going to fight with faith to prevent the dimming off or the diminishing of the supreme value that I give Christ.

Stand up.

Fight out again.

Fight it, man.

I know I've said this to you before, but it sums it up for people who haven't heard this before.

When my sister scolded her son and disciplined him, he stood in the middle of the room and didn't know what to do.

And he ran to her and said, mama, do something because I am feeling bad.

He ran to the very source that he received the discipline from.

He ran to the very source that he had disobeyed and rebelled against.

He ran to the very source that he was resentful against.

He ran back to the very source and said, mama, do something because I'm feeling bad.

I don't know what to do.

You know, if you can get there, where in your heart, you know, without a shadow of a doubt that you don't have you don't need to fear being impure or bad anymore.

My God, it's easy to be good.

I have never been as free as I am in my life as I am today.

I would please ask you, go listen to last week's teaching.

It's mind blowing.

Self-promotion? Absolutely.

Any questions?

No questions?

Okay.

Got to respond. How do we respond?

I just want you to sing this one verse of the song. Just one verse.

Yeah.