Navigating the New Covenant and the Impact of Prayer

For we are His workmanship, His own masterwork, a work of art created in Christ Jesus, reborn

from above spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used for good works, which God

prepared for us beforehand, taking paths which He set, so that we would walk in them

living the good life.

Welcome to the CityLight Church Podcast, thanks for joining us today, as we look into God's

Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us.

If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com,

that citylightnyc.com.

Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already

working in our hearts and minds.

As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you

are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you.

Welcome to CityLight Auto Repair Shop.

We're offering a special on oil changes this morning.

And so expect fresh oil and expect the Lord to speak to you and to move on your life,

which is what's supposed to happen when we get together every Sunday, whenever we gather

bodily, and that's what that word corporately means.

Whenever we gather bodily, it's so that we could receive in another way from the Lord,

and the Bible, it gives space to us individually pursue the Lord, and the Lord can meet us

when we're at home alone.

And there's things you can get alone at home that I feel sometimes you can't get in

a corporate setting.

There's private, sweet, very intimate times you can have alone with the Lord, that you

can't get in a corporate setting.

But conversely, there's things that you can get in a bodily or corporate setting that

you can't get alone at home.

That's the way the Lord is, and that's how He built His church.

The wine is in the cluster of grapes.

The very word church means the assembled ones.

That's where the assemblies of God gets its name from.

A classia are the called out and assembled ones, that means you're actually assembling.

You know, people try to have church without assembling.

That didn't work.

We're all different parts of the body, and we're celebrating the head, Jesus.

And that didn't work, and doesn't work over Zoom.

Doesn't.

Those of you joining us online, I love you.

But you know, I'm not telling you this for the first time, you know already.

There's a limit to what you can get online, which is why many of our online folk, they

can.

They're physically far from us, and they drop in as often as they can.

But there is something the Lord wants to get to you, corporately.

And that's how church should be.

Just know that.

Too way.

I love that verse in Galatians where the Apostle Paul says, now He who works miracles

among you.

That's the Holy Spirit's job.

When we're gathered together, move up and down these aisles, I feel the anointing to move

and work miracles among you.

My life changed.

An interruption.

You're going one way, all of a sudden He speaks to you, you make the necessary adjustments

on the inside, the anointing touches you and you come out, you're different.

Your spiritual back was all out of alignment and out of whack.

You came hobbling and you didn't know it.

You thought you had it all together.

But then the anointing came upon you, and God did business with you in an environment

where He's welcome to do so.

And He sets us straight that way.

You know how many times I'd come into church one way and walked out another?

That's why the Psalmist said, my foot had almost slipped.

I had almost gone astray.

But then I stepped into the house of the Lord, something happened in the house of the Lord.

What happened?

Came in contact with the presence, came in contact with the anointing.

What a scary worst.

My foot, because we've all been there, I've been there.

My foot had almost slipped, I had almost gone astray.

You know when you're teeter-tattering and you feel the world raging and Satan raging

and it wants you back, but then I stepped into the house of the Lord.

And first I was reminded where the real party was, oh yeah, it's here.

And all those deceptions that were clouding my perception, they just, you know a deception

can seem so powerful and so intricate.

And you come into the house of the Lord and one drop of God's anointing to truth.

You're like, oh, I was hypnotized for a few days there, wasn't I?

I was believing a lie has nothing to do with what's good for me, what's real from the

Lord.

It was just going to take me, where every lie takes me, where sin takes me, much further

than I wanted to go and much longer than I wanted to stay.

But no, when we gather together, it's to experience the Lord.

Amen.

And if you're used to just going to church, that might be strange to you.

Which we're getting guessed all the time and don't get nervous, but I can tell some

people are just used to going to church because they look at you like you're on TV.

I can look right at them and they're just like kind of a hundred yards there looking

right through you.

They're used to just being non-participatory.

But no, this is for you to be engaged, don't you don't have to engage me.

Engage the Lord because he wants to get you something.

But if you're not expecting in your clothes, you'll miss out on him.

I was speaking to some older gentleman from my new neighborhood of Rosalind, New York,

a very Jewish neighborhood and they were all Jewish and they fascinated by me being a

minister.

They have all these questions about what I do and what is their church like and what

is it that I share?

What is it that I speak?

And I shared with them some of our ministry philosophy, if you will.

They were absolutely blown away and in so many words, this is what one of them said,

said, you know, the temples and the gatherings at the temples are really waning.

We can't get a hold of the younger generation.

And I've said this, we've all said this for decades now, but as we're talking, he's

realizing he's going, you know, it's a lot of work to get up on a Saturday and gather

your whole family and go to temple to hear somebody speak for 30 minutes to 45 minutes and

really just speak and share something from a historical perspective, something from

a theological perspective, salt and peppered with little dash of, this is how you can

apply for your life today.

Like what he's really trying to say is I can get this on YouTube and it becomes very

old and very dull every Saturday doing all that work to come to a place, to hear someone,

just share with you what they were reading Monday through Friday.

And that's why churches are in decline because if you're coming just to be a consumer and

see what the preachers selling, that can't last, that's unsustainable.

There's some people that's sustainable because they have a very high threshold of boredom.

But for me, that's not sustainable.

If I'm not receiving from the Lord, you know, after just a few times of that, I'm like,

who am I and what am I doing with my life and my time, you know?

Which is what makes the true Christian church different because you're not coming.

You're not, I hope you're not to hear my deep thoughts.

You're coming to experience the Lord.

And the Lord, the Lord is free to move when his people are hungry, when they come with

expectation and when the pastor is good at getting out of his way.

And so some pastors are so married to their message that they got to get it to you.

And then the Holy Spirit wants to move on God's people, but they're on point 14b.

So I want you to raise your expectation level there is something that the Lord wants to

get.

You say, what's something?

Well, it depends on where you're at.

Maybe you just need some of his love.

You just need a revelation of his love because you're your own worst enemy and you're struggling

under guilt and shame and condemnation and you need a fresh revelation of the blood of

Jesus and what this new covenant of grace is all about.

Maybe you're going one way and you think you have it all figured out, but actually that

path leads to suffering and that path leads to pain.

And he wants to speak to you right now and just get you to adjust a few things.

Now I'm not even talking about a huge 180, although that can happen, but just tweak you

a little bit so that you get into all that he has for you, which I assure you is far, far

better than anything you can dream up for yourself.

He is a loving God, a generous God and he's got your best intentions in his heart.

Hallelujah.

So we're going to be good sponges and good drinkers today and just once you just say that

Lord, whatever you want to do, do it in my heart, do it in my life, I give you permission

Jesus, whatever you want.

Amen.

That's a great, great opening prayer.

He said, do I really have to give the Lord permission?

Yeah.

I mean, if you didn't have to give him permission, he forced you to get saved.

He didn't do that, did he?

He made himself pretty irresistible, but it was still something of you involved there,

not that you can take credit for it, but I mean, if he could violate my will all the time,

he would.

I wouldn't have made the messes I made if he could violate my will.

I mean, he seems like he tried.

He was screaming in my spirit and in my head, stop, what are you doing?

You're being dumb.

I love you, but you don't, it doesn't start off that way.

You know, it starts off with a, no, not that way.

Come on Lord, don't go on that the right, you're, oh, it's Lord, I'm good.

And you get a little bit more weight and it's like, no, I said, don't go that way.

And you keep, son, daughter, I'm telling you that pain seems, that path, it seems right

in your own eyes.

There's much suffering on that path.

Lord, I'm good.

Until you're finally too far, God, and he's, what did I tell you?

Come back to me now.

You're too far, God.

Come back quickly.

Hallelujah.

Some of you if you're hearing the loud voice of the Lord and now is the time to about face.

Because guess what?

It doesn't get louder.

After that it just stops.

When the Bible says the spirit of the Lord will not strive, will not wrestle with man

forever.

It's talking about something particular happening under the old covenant.

But it still applies to how he deals with us today.

Because he'll talk and he'll speak and he'll try.

But if you're so stubborn that eventually you go this way, he stops speaking.

And that's when people go, yeah, I knew it all along.

The Lord has no problem with me living my own life.

I don't even, I don't even get convicted.

This is great.

No, it's not that it's right now, it's wrong.

You just have what the Bible calls a seared conscience.

You've resisted his voice so long that now your conscience is like with a hot iron.

It's seared.

It's no longer tender and susceptible.

Now God himself could appear next to you in bodily form beating two tambourines on a

baste drum right in your ear and you still won't hear.

Because of the seared conscience, you'll go, yeah, I knew it.

I could do whatever I want when I want.

The Lord doesn't even speak to me anymore about it.

Because he's just because I'm different for others.

The rules apply.

Me and the Lord got a thing we worked out.

I'm special.

Thunder and lightning for everyone else for me is just a wink, because I got you.

You're good.

I know your heart.

Hallelujah.

So it's city light church.

By the way, when I begin a sentence that way, I'm appealing to those who don't know

what our church is about.

Because I felt funny, felt like a commercial.

Here at city light church.

But at city light church, we stand strongly in the new covenant of God's grace.

That is so vital.

It is so important.

There are two covenants that we read, note that.

There is an old covenant, which in the old it said it was going to expire.

And then the new, it reiterates that the old not only said it was going to expire, but

it's now expired.

And then there is the new.

Both we need to know, but you can only live under one.

And you cannot mix the two.

And way too many Christians are trying to live under both covenants.

No wonder they're so confused.

No wonder they're so frustrated when it's like a tossed bowl of mixed nuts in their doctrine.

And they're old covenant one day, new covenant the next.

Then something bad happens and they get old covenant.

Then they're mid covenant and they just mix the covenants.

So we're doing this whole series on Galatians.

The best book in the entire New Testament for us to get understanding of the difference

of the covenants and why we should live under the new.

And over and over again, Paul, he shows Jesus Christ and him crucified and all of our sins

placed upon him, Jesus and all of our sins, all of your sins, thoroughly and completely

punished in Jesus.

So there is complete forgiveness for us.

And we have been justified by faith, justified means not guilty.

We're pronounced not guilty.

And we're given this gift called righteousness, which means right standing with God.

That means that we can come to God anytime we want.

See, when you really get righteousness, your prayer life takes on a whole other dimension.

And you're empowered to pray.

We all know in our head we can pray anywhere at any time, but many of us don't believe it

in our heart.

But when you really understand that you don't even, you know, we have this language, you

come in.

Let me come in to the presence of a Lord, you're there.

You're seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus right now.

You don't need to, you don't need to pre-work out warm up.

Let me get in to the presence of the Lord, show far, check, flags, check, golden dust.

I got in that conference back in 2014 and a little Ziploc bag in my Bible check.

You're there and you know he's always a breath away and you don't have to, some people feel

they have to spend time, repenting and asking for forgiveness and slowly, you know, because

you've had so many fights in your life and always with those fights, it's never the

same afterwards you guys got warm up period, right?

You got to get along for several weeks or a few months first and then you let that person

in again, right?

Right?

No, you guys just forgive each other and I'm not talking about your spouse right now.

And so we think the Lord is that way.

We think with the Lord, he kind of forgives us 40% and then he's keeping an eye on us

where I'm probation and he's saying, if we really, really mean it, but guess what?

He's not that way.

The moment you turn your face to him, he's like this and he's saying, I never left you,

I never turned away from you, I'm right here.

He's just so much bigger than us and his heart larger and grander than ours, it's difficult

for us to relate to him sometimes because we put all these human attributes on him, like

he needs a cooling off period and you've got to work your way back in, play nice because

you've got some points against you, no, he loves you.

And so we're beginning the series on Galatians, which is important because it is like the

signature message, it is who we are, as a church, it is our DNA, we are a new covenant

church that yields to the Holy Spirit and that sees lives transformed.

And that's our vision.

See, what is the vision of city light church?

I remember whenever, my first seven, eight years saved, whenever any pastor I knew or even

visited a church, whenever they were going to talk about vision, they always brought out

a table, a little larger than this right up to the altar and there was something on the

table that was covered with like a cloth and the pastor was going to talk about vision

and then he would, and guess what was underneath the cloth, right, an architectural rendering

of a building because the vision was always a building.

Is this just me and the churches I went two years ago must be, not feeling the resonance

of the first service.

What I'm saying is the vision was always brick and mortar and while a building is a good

vision, it's not really the vision, it's a means and tools to attain the vision.

The vision is to see God's people, blessed, whole, overflowing that they've been made

disciples and now they're disciple making disciples.

That's the vision.

See this six week series on Galatians, I want you so rooted and grounded and you

covenant realities that you could be sent up in an airplane, parachute attached to your

back and you could get dropped off anywhere in the world and you're so full of God's truth

that you could begin preaching whether they be total heathen or the other way in their

Christian but bound by religion and tradition but you can come and bring the word of Jesus

that will set them free, the depth of what he did on the cross, the new covenant and total

forgiveness of sins that it just if you're poked it leaks out of you and that's our vision.

To see a bunch of cups that overflow, hallelujah, hallelujah and in order for us to get to that

place there's a person you can't leave out and that's the Holy Spirit.

You can't leave them out.

To try to do church, to try to see any kind of change apart from the Holy Spirit is nothing

but frustration that eventually leads to some type of death and it's honestly, it smells

rotten just talking about it, just imagining it smells to go through the motions and try

to have the church of God without the presence of the Lord, the anointing which is why we're

the middle of this series, the anointed one and his anointing because in order to be a

new covenant church and really taking fresh ground in New York City what's been called

a preacher's graveyard, we're not here trying to survive, we are thriving and we want

to take new ground and the reality is is when you go after new ground Satan doesn't just

step out of the way and go right this way sir, oh please come on in, I've had this place

for centuries but oh you seem rather nice, here's some of my land, no, he fights and he

fights hard and so how do you overcome the spirit of Satan which is the anti-Christ, the

anti anointing spirit, you overcome any spirit by responding in the opposite spirit so you come

in with the Christ, with the Christos, with the anointing, that's why God's people need to know who

they are in hell and how to be good drinkers, how to receive daily from the anointing, the anointing

is what gets the job done, it gets the job done, hallelujah, there is nothing that you're going

through right now that one drop of his heavenly oil cannot fix, cannot heal, cannot undo, hallelujah

and so in today's service there's no pressure, I just ask you to open up your heart and put a

demand on him, place a demand that he would meet you, I would give the example last week I have

to do it again just of my chiropractor and now in 2010 and 11 I started visiting this chiropractor

at four herniated discs and he explained to me his philosophy of chiropractic and I said what I

believe is that your body has an innate ability to heal itself, I said I've heard that back when I

still lived in Yugoslavia as a kid, the peasants understood that, the peasants knew that, they were

in tune with the harmony of their body, how God created it and there's things you can do to

frustrate, it's own natural self healing ability, things you can do to frustrate it and things you

can do to promote it and he said you know good chiropractic is your body is not an alignment and we

get your body in alignment so that it can self heal so we're not just talking about the back, you

could have a liver problem but we fix your body and get it into alignment and your body will

self heal the liver and that immediately resonated with me because frankly that's exactly how the

Lord works, the Lord loves you, the Lord is generous, the Lord is an ever flowing font of blessings,

many of us we remain frustrated however because we're misaligned and we're not receiving all that

Jesus died for us to have and what a travesty that is, you know in the book of Revelation it says

that they all cried for about half an hour and then there was no more tears, he wipes it but I

was wondering why did they cry for the half an hour, is it because is it because they were in

heaven and they saw all that was available to them all along and they missed out and then they

wept, they can speculate, we know at that point women weren't in heaven yet because in the same

part it says there was silence for the space of half an hour in heaven

Hallelujah come on that was a good one babe that was a good one no

it was so funny in my mind

in my mind she was going to be roaring and stitches high-tening me

but hallelujah

yeah

trying to remember where we were oh the crackers and cheese story we're talking about you know

why they were crying and but it's the crackers and cheese story

there was a young boy he needed to make a transatlantic journey via ship

couldn't afford it somebody paid for his way all he had was a bag of his gold clothes and a bunch

of stale crackers and moldy cheese and every day he would go by around the dinner hour and

look peak into the dining room and he would see all of the other passengers just fairing some

shissly crack in the lobster eating the steak and he would look inside deeply and go back into

his little cot and eat stale crackers and moldy cheese and he did this the entirety of his journey

until the final day the captain himself knocked on his door and he said sir just wondering if we

have offended you in any way and he goes no why do you ask he said we just noticed you weren't

ever in our dining room why didn't you ever come to the main dining hall

he said oh no no no that's not for me and that's for the others I just have these crackers and

this old cheese and the captain stood there a guest and he said but sir all of that was included

in your ticket and that's my concern the too many Christians are going to end up in heaven

and realize what they could have had and go Lord why look the picture of that is the older brother

when the younger brother comes back to the father the father kills the father calf throws a big party

older brothers all upset and he goes to the father with his attitude and the father says hey all

that I have is fine nobody told you you didn't get the text all that I have is that all this is

available for you and was available for you at any time but you're too busy being legalistic

religious older brother you never made it withdrawal that's the ps in the prodigal son story

that that older brother could have had the fat of Kathy could have had all that but he was just

being a professional Pharisee so he missed out and too many Christians are going to go to heaven

and realize I had all that you mean the 20 years that I suffered and I kept telling myself it's

God that it actually wasn't it was Satan whom I could have resisted and bound and rendered

powerless and I could oh well I'm in heaven now so I guess it doesn't bother for about half an hour

and then he wipes every tear away so that's what these meetings are about so you can taste his glory

see his face definitely I believe the Lord will be speaking to you outside of the words that I'm

speaking to you outside of the preaching that you're going to hear that is going to whisper to you

adjust you confirm things and empower you I believe you will walk out of here with a greater increase

of the power and presence of the Lord hallelujah he's doing something in our church it's wonderful

I welcome it wholeheartedly and I know that he's doing something again corporately together with us

in general as a body marvelous to see but whenever he does that I had several waves like that come in

21 years he always touches people on an individual level I feel this freshness on me listen my wife

and I we just experienced the complete life over all he just invaded our lives

I went to bed last night and we're on the second floor and I'm seeing tree branches swaying

in the wind and I sat there and I went babe I didn't even know how stressful it was that last year

in that underground basement which then when I do the math because you know I lived in a basement

before I bought that condo and Williamsburg in the church basement and I bought a two-story condo

which is awesome but half of it was underground so really since 2002 I've been like a hobbit sleeping

underground in one manner or another and now I'm up there and I'm going babe I didn't even really

this is the Lord has upgraded our life in every way and actually blew my mind overwhelmed me

but whenever I turned to him to say thank you whenever I go it's the same thing he's making an

example out of me for your benefit it's not for me to he's saying as the head turns so goes the

body I'm doing this in your life and there will be something if you don't enter in through this

then that door will stay closed if you enter in through this then the door opens up

Paul wrote the Philippians he said you are partakers of my grace you are if you're if I'm your past

if I'm your preacher that's a whole other story I know you got a lot of girlfriends you got a lot

of preachers but if I'm your pastor if you actually have come to that place of maturity where you

have a pastor and that's how you can tell right away for Christian is serious or not because you

meet Christians throughout the city just ask them who's your not what church do you go to because

they're just going to tell you the last one they visited on their list of 20 churches they're busy

church hopping around ask them who's your pastor just just like I thought well you know I go

where the fire burns no you're unsubmitted you're rebellious and you don't play well with others

so you can't stay too long in any one spot that's a whole another sermon for another time

different people drawing different things in this service

where how did I land there

what was I talking about yeah if I'm your pastor thank you

not your preacher then you are partakers of my grace

hallelujah so that's why it's also important who you submit yourself under when it comes to

finding a pastor that is an important decision I mean you will always have the flavor of your

pastor that imprint that the Lord put on him that spiritual DNA that runs through his spiritual

veins that'll be on you the longer you're with him that'll be on you so if you have a pastor

who really embraces poverty and believes that the gifts of the Holy Spirit stopped two thousand

years ago and that it's God's will to torture you here so he can get the best out of you later on

then that's gonna be on you amen hallelujah so we're clearing blockages

we're seeing alignment happens so you can better receive Ephesians let's go to that verse in Ephesians

let's read it out of the amplified Ephesians 210

for we are his workmanship his own masterwork a work of art created in Christ Jesus

reborn from above spiritually transformed renewed ready to be used for good works

which God prepared for us beforehand taking paths which he said you know there's set paths God has

you don't have to go down those paths you can take a secondary path you can take a tertiary path

you are a free agent have you ever taken a secondary path or tertiary path I have

just long enough to find out that God's number one path is better

the further you move away from his will the more painful it is

don't tell listen the Bible says the way of a transgressor is hard and full of sorrow so don't

tell me that's the the better path it's hard and full of sorrow God took these paths he pre-set them

he laid them out for you our time with him our time and as anointing is really so we can decipher

what path to take so that we would walk in them living the good life somehow Christianity got

associated with living the bad life but he's praying that they would understand

and walk in the paths that God for ordained for them living the good life which he pre-arranged

and made ready for us I don't know how you viewed Christianity maybe like my wife you were born

into a Christian home I was not I was born into a Christian home and name only went to church

probably five six times my whole life before I got saved at age 16 but my experience with the way

the world presented Christianity to me was always not one not only one that was negative but also

one that was a defeated faith for weak people who needed just a little bit of medicine it wasn't

going to help them in any practical way but just a little bit of medicine to help them put one

foot in front of the other and go on with their mundane lives because when I would see Christianity

presented in the media first one of the first ways was some priest holding a crucifix rebuking

the devil out of a little child whose head was spinning around and that's like that's oh this

is Christianity or a vampire or a funeral scene whenever I'd see priest it was some 80-year-old

looking priest looking like the crypt keeper at some sad funeral oh depressed ashes to ashes dust

to dust you know then you read about or hear about monks and they're living up in the mountains

and they've like surrendered all their worldly passions they don't they believe in poverty

the way the potato sack and sandals and somehow Christianity got associated with defeat and

poverty when Christianity is a faith of victory for Jesus died on the cross suffered a temporary

defeat on our behalf to give us the ultimate victory and God's way is the good life

yes trying seasons will come I have gone through them I have endeavored throughout the years to

transparently share them with you is it always a mountain type experience seems to be not always

but you know what whenever I'm there I endeavor by faith to stay there as long as possible

amen and even if you suffer guess what you can suffer good there's a good way to suffer and usually

when you suffer good the suffering isn't that long it's when you suffer bad and you're not in faith

and you're whining and complaining and belly aching and there's no spark and you haven't come into

contact with the anointing and forever but then you just now you're living on a rut now you've

made your home in a rut and you wonder why change is so hard why don't you to seize that God

for or danger to live the good life in Christ Jesus can you see that and what needs to happen in

order to enter in and let him take you from glory to glory to glory is we need to get realigned

we need to get the blockages that are blocking us the hindrance is blown out of our system

and allow the anointing to come upon us hallelujah thank you Jesus let's read Isaiah 55 the great

invitation to partake of the anointing hallelujah thank you so much Pastor James I didn't

necessarily need it but I'd be looking at it all sermon long this is how you know

that Isaiah was an American west coast charismatic you see how he starts in the original Hebrew they

left out the words show up whoa but it's there in the original Hebrew you have no clue what I'm

talking about you and consider yourself blessed that you do not know consider yourself blessed

oh you know what I'm talking about that's also how you know Isaiah was white

it's a very white you never see a black person oh but good any state where there's a lot of

whites of bourbon nights show whoa oh consequently you never see a white person begin to dance like

this but like I just feel the anointing on this when a white person gets touched it might be

oh show but a black person doesn't get touched they get quickened cool quickened

Erica am I right don't don't you get quickened you get quickened you don't get touched this is

I get touched he quickened me oh oh everyone who thirsts come to the waters

and you who have no money come by and eat because the anointing is free for all yes come by wine

and milk without money and without price why do you spend money for what is not bread you're

concerned you're obsessed you're trying to buy something that'll never ever truly scratch that

itch that's inside of you that itch that only God can satisfy and your wages you spread for

what does not satisfy listen carefully to me and eat what is good and let your soul delight

itself in abundance incline your year and come to me here and your soul shall live and I will

make an everlasting covenant with you that flows in the channel of the sure mercies of David

what is Isaiah talking about he's talking about the anointing the presence of God

and different people will respond to the anointing in different ways however there will be a

response and the more you come into contact daily with the anointing the more you will be

open to receive from heaven the gifts that he gets you whatever it may look like on the outside

it always starts with you on the inside he went that's why I want to put a divine deposit in you

this is why I preach the cross why I preach the blood because you're not even going to think

that you're worthy enough if you don't know the blood if you don't know the cross you always have

a spiritual insecurity at least we get that out of the way and now you can get to that place of

maturity where you go you know what I am God's child I am totally forgiven and even though I'm

still a work in progress I deserve not enough myself but in Jesus I deserve to receive all that he

died for me to have that's not being arrogant that's being healthy that's not heretical that is

the spiritual confidence that his death burial and resurrection affords you now yes a spiritual

conference you now expect good things legally they're yours hallelujah then now we're getting excited

how legally they're mine how's God going to get me these things by the anointing he'll always do

a work in you somebody got a brand new shift in their careers and now they're making twice

such money but even more importantly they're more fulfilled and I'll interview how did that happen

and tell me oh first he got you didn't he touched you and you have that time with him and

he put it in you that's why it's important for God's people to be intimately acquainted with

his anointing but yes different people they respond in different ways I did not know in 1994 I

was saved in 92 I did not know I could have never imagined in 1994 that he was going to begin

visiting me in my dorm room in my college and at nine out of ten times I would respond in what

seemed to be uncontrollable after I didn't know that that surprised me I wouldn't have picked that

I didn't even know that was available whenever he like touched me here and there before I'd cry

was you know to really try to suck it in because I still hear my dad's voice real men don't cry

and that's when you start ugly crying right you hear dad's voice saying don't cry the Lord is saying

they're there do cry she's like oh

obviously if you know me today you know I've gotten past my natural dad's voice hey man

hallelujah but all of a sudden he touched me and I just started laughing and laughing and laughing

and when I say seemingly uncontrollably of course you can most of the time at least control it

but who would want to who wants to put a cap on joy the only time I would control it is I would

go into these churches they were tight in the city no move put it you know there's a move of the

Holy Spirit but you can tell and the Holy Spirit will respect there's very strict channels and

parameters of how he's allowed to move so all to call he can move praise and worship he can move

but no shakes no cries no you know there's the whole list our shores are keeping an eye out

seriously I've been a church like that and then hit some song that would set off my spirit and

I start feeling anointing and I start laughing but you got to respect the house that you're in

so I would duck and between the chairs and I'd be I'd be like but enough about me let's talk

about you I didn't expect that I would respond to the Lord that way there are those who respond

in other ways all sorts of ways you know I'm using the word respond because the word manifestation

it's too much for some people but yes we're talking about the manifestation of the Holy Spirit

but already they're scared so manifestation now it's you're safe you're safe the Holy Spirit

would never hurt you but when he touches you there is a response you look throughout the

scriptures whether it was Jesus of course bodily ministering or after he ascended when the Holy

Spirit was given there was always a response now that response might be a quiet warmth in your spirit

lean into that that response might be a peace that response might be weeping that response

might be a silence and you sense his love and finally you have clarity of mind but receive that

don't allow the enemy to rob you of an experiential Christianity and he robs people of that because

there's great power connected to that because a Christian with a real experience is never at the

mercy of someone else with just a theory there's stuff you there's you know people try to it's

funny to me even people who know what I do they they try to stump me with questions that they think

are gonna like dismantle my Christianity like we'll have you ever thought about evolution and

what about carbon dating no I never considered that stop right now you're making my whole life

to be alive please quit uncle mercy no more don't bring up the dinosaurs no

so they try to they try to evangelize me to unfaith me

and it's hilarious to me not just because the intellectual argument is hilarious and

preposterous but it's like you coming to me too late you've got me too late I've had too many

experiences you can gibber jab but you're too late you got to find an obvious to work on with

the level you're operating at but I'm too far gone not not and not with doctrine not with teaching

with experience and Paul Paul prayed he said I pray that you would have an experience and

experientially know the love of Christ which he cannot he said he cannot be known intellectually

it cannot you can hear poems about it you can see great artists renderings that move you

and you can hear the descriptions of the love of God but I love looking at the faces of people

who get touched for the first time and it's always the same look that's that look because when

he touches you it's like no one else exists it's just you and him you become the center of his

universe this is also why by the way one of the dangers of getting touched by the Lord is arrogance

and pride this is a pitfall you often find that prevalent in churches with the Holy Spirit moves

because when he touches you it's like no one else exists and you actually your God's favorite

which is true you feel correctly you're his favorite somehow because he's God is able to have

a billion of those amen but you you're overwhelmed you're overcome and you feel like

the center of his world and that's an experience I see that look oh that's an experience

that'll mark you I was just shared with my wife I said now I understand why Kenneth Hagen

he said something that really confused me early on he said everything I did in my ministry

is a result of 1948 and I thought I got that because I have a different relationship with the

Lord and I was coming to me in a different way changes it moved there's obviously things that

never change but there's different seasons but in the early and mid-90s when I was 18 19 20 21 22

he was coming to me and back then I didn't understand he kept showing me pictures of the church visions

of the church molding me shaping me I didn't understand you know I thought am I just going to

graduate college and start the church no he's just showing you sometimes we get excited but what

is shown is we think it's tomorrow no but he's impregnating you and he's putting in you now what you

need ten years down the road why am I saying this because some of you are being invited into an

intimate relationship with the anointing with the presence of God you need this you need a

season three months six months where you can do a deep work in you and when the deep work is done

in you that'll manifest in your outward life you know how you know when it'll get manifest in your

outward life great great barometer I found for gauging when because that's the ultimate you know

when is my life right now gonna get better when am I gonna

when you don't care when you'd actually stop caring yours now so enthralled with him

and his person and being with him that you still care but not like you did before you like Lord

I know you got that you're gonna fix that you're gonna and you're going to him on the daily because

you actually enjoy spending time with him not because he's your mechanic that's gonna fix your

busted up car called your life you actually like spending time with him and you forget and the

moment you forget that you realized oh you weren't really joking when you said to make you my great

quest and then all these other things would be added unto me do you meant that it was real

is this hitting anyone are you catching what I'm serving up this morning amen

so you hear that invitation to get into the anointing he says oh you got to say that first word

right less to be misunderstood the people take sound bites and make you say all sorts of things

these days oh is anyone thirsty is anyone hungry because we got to get to be good drinkers good

eaters of his word and good drinkers of the Holy Spirit but there is a receiving problem

we got to get to be better receivers better drinkers

and so I your friendly neighborhood pastoral bartender I'm here to help you become a better

lush for Jesus a better drinker

oh you're just walking around like this you haven't even taken a sip and forever

the Bible is saying taste taste and see that the Lord is good

I go no I've been reading about it it's very nice looks very nice we've been looking into it

mmm lovely have a sip mmm I will later and no sipping no you got to get to be a drinker

heavy drinker of the Holy Spirit of God's new wine that's what'll fix you up on the inside get

you healed up on the inside get you empowered and get you living the good life which he prearranged

for you to have but it's always connected to a work of the Holy Spirit in his anointing

and so there's reasons why people aren't good drinkers they have these hindrances to good drinking

one one reason that used to come up especially amongst those with an experience in Christianity

is the whole decently and in order because you know the apostle Paul said let all things be done

decently and in order so they feel they can't have any and nobody should have any kind of response

to the Holy Spirit if they do that's all emotional sentimentality worked up hype and emotions

and there's no fruit to it even though whoever touched Jesus whoever he touched

they immediately had a response they weren't just healed they wouldn't you ever notice nobody got

healed passively and was like oh cheerio good Messiah kind thanks for that divine healing who

no there was always like ah they went walking and leaping and praising God

they cried out the woman at the well he told her all her business you know how you know

you know listen if I came and I just told you're all your business he'd be like pastor thanks

but keep that down and we don't know really but there was so much anointing in Jesus' ministry

that when he told that woman all her business she was excited he totally exposed her sin she runs

back into town and goes hey come meet a man who told me everything I ever did this guy's awesome

I've been married five times now I'm living with this guy he busted me on it he's awesome

that's when the anointing is there you're like yeah I got busted lord do even more reveal all the

secret parts of my heart to me and whoever else it doesn't matter lord I'm securing you

hallelujah so decently and in order to some people it means that they cannot have a response

and really what they're saying is controlled decently and in order means the Holy Spirit

can never interrupt which should be his own service where preacher has to get through all his points

and hit every note and there can't even be a 30 second space for the Holy Spirit to move that's

not decently and in order decently and in order decently and in order with God's order

you picture the demoniac being set free right his name was legion you know what a legionist

it's a Roman garrison of three to five thousand troops that's a lot of demons that legion had

and they were released into her to swine that when screeching and screaming and flying off of a

hillside into the water imagine seeing that hearing that the whole town was in an uproar you could hear

that stampede does that look decently and in order to you but it's decently and in order with

Jesus's order isn't it what about when the paralytic couldn't get in his friends can bring him in

because it was such a crowd around Jesus and the house he was ministering in that they then spider

man did up the side of the house ripped open the roof just to get to Jesus and the Bible says I

can just see the smile on his face is this and when he saw their faith not when he rebuked them for

ripping that nice man's roof off when he saw their faith is that decently in an order no

but it is with God hallelujah so really what we're talking about here is control

people want to stay in control you're afraid I get that

this is also by the way I said this in the first service I wondered if I'd say it in a second because

it's being videotaped and people can just take what you say read into it in different ways but I've

just found I've seen because I was involved in in new age not very heavily I'll put myself at

the level of a dabbler but I was doing some enchantments doing some weird nonsense occultic and

heavily demonic I'm not downplaying it but I've noticed people who come out of that world

when they repent and they convert to Jesus it's much easier for them to get in the spirit realm

they're much more open to spiritual things that fear of crossing over is taken away

not suggesting you dabble to open yourself up after

but the Lord is calling you to cross over say how do I cross over no that that switches on the inside

here is that switch that's gonna lower the gate of your heart so the Lord can come fully in

and you're hanging on you want to be in control of your relationship with the Lord guess what it's

not your relationship with the Lord it's his relationship with you he's come to you he's reached

out to you and we need to submit to the king hallelujah I'm really just wanting to make you better

receivers better this is a how to be a better drinker Sunday morning at city light church

because if you can get good at drinking some of you you'll stop drinking if you know what I mean

hallelujah you gotta be a good drinker

listen some of you won't receive because your harsh your critical your judgmental

so somebody's getting touched by the Lord in the surface and your first thought is what manner

what manner of spirituality is this you need to not just read the Bible you need to read the

Bible like pause and imagine how it actually went down on the death panakost

and no movie can cover it accurately you know we got the passion of the Christ and we were like

all finally the crucifixion covered accurately because before the passion of the Christ that show

like three little whip marks one drop of blood like a tear drop tattoo but in blood and they never

really right that's when made the passion it was like no he's really he got medical experts to

recreate the resurrection the crucifixion and but nobody has done the death panakost I would

should be done the Bible way they always make it all clinical and sterile and basically they cast

right the death panakost the death panakost imagine right there in the middle east

hot sticky they've been waiting we know they've been waiting at least 10 days because Jesus was

taken up 40 days after his resurrection and the death panakost is 50 days after Passover so

somewhere they can wait around a week 120 of them in an upper room mashed in they're pretty good

shfitzing hot waiting not really knowing remember not really knowing what they're waiting for

then there's the God and God but the concept of the Holy Spirit living in them that was too

mind-blowing they couldn't wrap their brain around that they couldn't wrap their brain that this would

forever end the old covenant and launch the new covenant of his grace and that would be the day

that the church was birth and then suddenly they came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind

I love the amplified Bible because it says a violent a violent tempest blast we want a sterile

clinical church no he'll sometimes break the door down and come in violently and flex a violent

tempest blast clothing tongues like as a fire appeared on each one of them they were all filled with

the Holy Spirit of God and began to speak in other tongues in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave

the moderates and then and they definitely don't show this in the Jesus movies they were so overwhelmed

this is in the Bible in Acts chapter 2 they were so overwhelmed no one even had a discussion nobody

Acts 2 · chapter mention

even said you know we should take this good news and let's go outside and share with the Lord

no they just ran out of there you know why because they got touched by the Lord today getting

touched by the Lord is this controlled hallelujah oh he really touched me oh that was nice that

was a nice service you know I really I don't want nice when I've been touched guess what you

can't even say what's happening day of Pentecost God feels mankind for the first time that's like

oh that's the killer

run right out the room 120 of them now going around Jerusalem and

something about them warranted the Jerusalem people saying they are drunk

why would the Jerusalemites say they're drunk 120 of them freshly filled with the Holy Spirit called

drunk that's in your Bible and to anyone who was raising an eyebrows you heard laughter

earlier this is especially for you what kind of a church is this and people laughing some people

crying some clutching their pearls so to speak oh oh you know what you always hear in the

spirit once they do that uh who is here I've never seen this and like I've never seen this

so every way that God can move you've already seen so if it's outside of you've never seen this

it never crosses their mind that maybe this is the Lord and it's different than how I have seen

him my whole life oh what they're really oh this doesn't fit into my grid of preconceived ideas

and notions the only way that God's allowed to move so they get out of the upper room and they're

all called drunk this isn't that but you know who was in that group because it specifically

names her and I'm so glad Mary the physical mother of Jesus I love that she was a part of that group

I just picture her Jesus was 33 so she was anywhere from 45 to 53

imagine her getting filled with the Holy Spirit she was the chosen vessel to give birth to Jesus

but still totally human and totally not a virgin after she gave birth to Jesus just throwing that

out again there's something about the gift of offense that moves in this ministry time

why is that so hard for people will fight you on no she is the virgin married no she she was

we all agree she was when she gave her but why does she you know be no way I don't like that because

somewhere in there no she stayed a virgin is that like sex within the confines of marriage will defile

you that's the message that no she had to have stayed a virgin first of all the bible says Jesus

had brothers and sisters all right and God is not so cruel to put Joseph with Mary and just

have him watch for the next 56 years whatever he had to do Jesus had brothers Jesus had sisters

and I don't like the message that she had to know we know because we don't worship Mary we

venerate her and in order to venerate her properly she had to have stayed a virgin

no after Jesus was born it specifically says he did not know her until they were wed and then after

they were wed he got out his bluetooth and put the sweet jams on the sonos

I just he got that first century Barry Manelow out

he was like you are the only one for me

my baby my baby I love you

I am what's my point my point is that Mary was in that crowd Mary the mother of Jesus

with the hundred and twenty in the middle of Jerusalem and everybody saying you all are drunk now

why were they saying you're drunk why why everybody will then so it's because they were speaking

another languages have you heard that why have you heard why they drunk why you know what I'm

down my right extra after two they go out why do you think they were called drunk

say loud they believe they were mad yes no I speak British I know what you mean when you say

I didn't think they were they were mad they were mad

they thought they were crazy why do they think they were crazy

yeah listen usually you'll hear it's because they were all speaking another languages

but we live in Queens 161 nations in Queens you go down Steinway you're going to hear other languages

you never think what a bunch of drunken fools walking around Steinway all speaking another

that means there was something about their behavior they had just come out of literally

the first church service ever that's when the church was birthed on the death penalty cost

the first church service ever they come out everybody says you are old

out of your mind and drunk why there was something about their demeanor there was something about

they had a total loss of inhibition they had a joy they had an exuberance yes I believe there

was laughter there yes like how drunken people laugh yes they were laughing with joy unspeakable

and full of glory hallelujah and Peter then with the cherry on top gets up and says this is a good

time for sermons since they're asking why we're all drunk he starts off by saying friends he

bruised countrymen lend me your ears these men are not drunk as you suppose it didn't just say

they're not drunk he said they're not drunk like you think but they are drunk just on the divine

new wine the good stuff hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah we're going to surrender control

lord can do whatever he wants to do hallelujah you know again my job is to make you good receivers

but what people love is to do lists

did you know and we're going to get this into Galatians the apostle Paul calls the system of the

law that he calls it the elementary principles if you look in the Greek what elementary

principles is it's a term it's a long multisolabic Greek word which if I don't have my notes I'm

going to mispronounce and it means listen I got the definition still memorized it means the ABCs

of the universe he's saying that the law is what people are most familiar with it's how we were

raised it's what we innately know as human beings do good get good do bad get bad it's what makes

sense to us it's the ABCs of the universe it's what man always gravitates to so what makes sense to

us is a bunch of rules and regulations Christianity comes in and says yes there are rules and we will

have them in writing but the Holy Spirit will live in your heart and he will cause you to walk in

the written statutes he will cause you from the inside of that now causes people's mind to go

because what they really want are rules and regulations but God has called them to a heart

relationship and so when it comes to receiving the anointing I'm not going to tap into that sick

desire for to-do list it's a sick desire that's why so many churches this morning the pastor

has structured the whole thing to be around wait your breakthrough is coming but first you need

the eighth key see you only got seven keys because you only made it to the first seven Sundays I'm

going to finish my eight week series on the eight keys the eight keys that'll bring you to the

ten doors what's behind the ten doors the twelve different highways to greater increase and abundance

and prosperity in God and you're just to do to do no this is to receive to receive you know people

like rules we learned that in 2020 didn't we the people love people love what I what I knew that

already what I didn't know was how some people if properly lied to and then properly empowered

people in our own church who are sweet and loving the Lord overnight were turned into

must not what what what what what what what what what what you want to come into the city light

you must wear in the mask and see

you

don't repeat a bit

that happened look at them uncomfortable after no I don't want to pretend like that didn't happen

that happened because they're trying to do something else again and that won't happen again

I actually I'm not going to memory hold this I actually lived through what appeared to be normal

healthy well-adjusted people get terrified terrified of what we knew was a virus we're 99% of the

people survived but fine you're terrified the media is non-stop pushing it so you got terrified

but then you heard if there's someone not wearing a mask tell them report them do point them out point

the grandma killers out and all of a sudden a bunch of what's we're seemingly sweet

harmless people got empowered to be little eight-offs

what's this what's this what's this

sprainsy COVID

look if you got duped yeah by the way look now now here we are and some people can

chuckle about it but here we are over halfway done with 2023 and at least now we can say you know

that was crazy wasn't it I mean they try to do what's never been done in all of human history which

is mitigating an airborne respiratory virus with little cloth surgical masks and telling you to

stay six feet apart well people died pastor I know people died people died what they should have

been told is not to wear a mask that's gonna do you know good and stay six feet apart what those

people who died should have been told was hey I'll get to the gym lose some weight stir up your

immune system go get some vitamin D go get some sunlight in fact we were told the exact opposite

stay indoors stay away from sunlight can't work out go order grub hub get fat get even weaker

but wear a surgical mask because that's what's gonna help you and then hop if people died yeah

a little derailment

somehow we went from the anointing to an eight-off impersonation

but let's let's let's bask in this because it's a very real world issue right now

and let's just come to terms with some things yeah

that we as humans are this is a fact we're easily programmable

you's not me yeah you maybe a little not as easy but there's people who know how to program you by

the way your phone knows you better than you know you all I had to do when we got that new house

what's all I had to do was look at two not even three two places that sell furniture my whole

Instagram changed every ad change all of a sudden I'm buying things I didn't even know I needed

because my phone now knew me it knew it knew the moving things that I needed better than me

and that phone studies you it knows you it knows if you've been good it knows if you've been naughty

it no no it knows what you like it knows what'll trigger you it wants to keep you triggered because

that's how it keeps you a consumer and a customer plugged in can you believe it doing this now

and we are easily programmable as people and we need to stay rooted and worded and God's word

in his truth and not allow media hype media manipulation along with politicians from all sides

of the spectrum with their fake smiles looking at you lying to you fly above that thunderstorm

come up hither come up higher come up with its 2020 vision from heaven with Jesus and his word

and make a decision I will not be made a fool again amen hallelujah yes he is yes he is

thank you Lord Lord you are good you are an ever-flowing fountain of goodness we receive from

your worship team come on up thank you Lord retas de la levanta na na maqueta la la resenta go

ahead right now just begin to drink begin to drink you're not pouring out you're letting him pour

in receive in Jesus name receive the Bible says there is a stream there is a stream

that makes glad the city of God the old King James says there is a river the streams where

off shall make glad the city of our God hallelujah there is a river the streams where off shall make

glad the city of our God do you know who the city of our God is who is Jerusalem it's you you are

Jerusalem you are Zion and the river is the Holy Ghost and the Bible says there is a river

the streams where off shall make glad the city of our God may your heart be filled with gladness

the devil's plans rendered useless and broken over you

be blessed be blessed

today that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace

thank you for listening make sure that you subscribe to city light church podcast wherever

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