This sermon emphasizes the importance of seeking God with humility, prayer, and repentance. It challenges listeners to turn away from wicked ways and to fully surrender to God, allowing the Holy Spirit to fill their hearts. The message highlights the desensitization to sin in today's culture and the need for a revival of truth and righteousness.

I've got a few just quick announcements. The first one is I'm really excited about. Our new Monday night study starts in October. So if you like Saturday nights, you're gonna love Mondays. The first, I think there's four Mondays in October. And we're all gonna focus on this theme right here. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek and turn from their wicked ways, I will heal their land. So one Monday, we're gonna talk about humility and the perfectionism in me is coming out now and I notice we didn't have a comma after humble. Got it right on the banner, but not the PowerPoint, right? If you humble yourself and if you pray and if you seek, so each Monday, we're gonna focus on one of those themes because that's our only hope. Everybody's, what's going on in America? What's going on with this? What's going on in the church? What's going on? God said, if my people, not Hollywood, not Washington, not the media, stop worrying about ISIS and stop worrying about the heart, your heart. If my people who are called by my name, if they will humble themselves, if they will pray, if they will seek, if they will turn from their wicked ways, oh, we don't wanna talk about that anymore, but it's biblical. If my people turn, then I will hear, then I will forgive and then I will heal their land. So that's gonna be a focus on Monday nights, we're gonna worship, we're gonna have a time of prayer and we're gonna seek God and we're gonna say, Lord, help us in these areas. Because God says, if you do these things. Listen, this isn't the road to revival, that is revival. If a Christian, if you do those things, if you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God in due time, he will exalt you. But if you exalt yourself, he will base you. If you come into church with a humble attitude, what does that look like? I'll tell you what it looks like. Lord, unless you move in this place, I don't wanna go unless you move in my life, Lord, I will go nowhere. I am totally 100% dependent upon you. Every breath I take, every heartbeat that goes out, I am totally dependent upon you. I humble myself and then pray. And this isn't a five minute devotional. Five minute devotionals are not gonna cut it in these dire times. We need men and women filled with the spirit of God on their faces before God, praying, laying hold of heaven. And the old saints used to say, I'm gonna lay a hold of God and tell the answers. Well, that could take a couple hours, yeah, sure could. How bad do you want it? You give Facebook three or four hours a day, it's gonna be the out Sherman again, right? If my people humble themselves and pray, and they pray, if we spend as much time in our prayer closet as you do on the computer, you would see revival of your heart. You would see your home being transformed, your heart would be transformed. And then if my people seek, if they seek me, remember how we talked about this before, this is a type of seeking that if you lost your child in a crowded mall, how would you act? What mom in here would say, well, let me finish my shopping. Everything would change. You would be running, you would be yelling, you would be looking, doesn't matter what time, I don't even, I'm not hungry anymore, nothing matters. I've gotta seek that which was lost. And that's the word in the Hebrew language throughout the Old Testament when God say, if you seek me, you will find me. This isn't like, oh, I think he's out there, let me, oh, I don't know, well, I tried. No, this is a seek with the intent of finding. I have to find him. I have to find God, I have to lay hold of God. I don't feel like it, but flesh, you're gonna come under submission to me, and I'm gonna tell you what we're gonna do tomorrow. I told the first service, you wanna seek God, here's what it looks like. Turn off social media, put the TV out in the garage, fast all day, and then take a three-hour drive and put on worship music and seek God with all your heart and begin to repent and cry out and say, God, change me, meet me here in this place. I need to find you. Guess what? That's a prayer he'll answer. That's a prayer he'll answer. And this lukewarm, comfortable Christianity isn't gonna cut it, folks. It's not gonna cut it. The enemy's coming in like a flood. But what raises up a standard? The Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him. Not if my people are prideful, not if my people are too busy, not if my people are carnal, but if they humble, pray, and seek. And then let's not forget about the final point. Dare we say it? If they turn from their wicked ways. See, the pulpits used to be beacons of light pointing people to Christ and talking about denouncing sin on a regular basis. Now we've flipped it around. We don't wanna mention sin because I don't wanna upset you guys. I want everybody to come back next week, so I'm not gonna talk about turning from your wicked ways. But do you realize that our prayers can fall on deaf ears? You can appear to be humble, you can kind of seek God, and you can even pray, but God says, my ear's not heavy and my hand's not short that I cannot save. But your sins, your iniquities have separated you from me that I won't even hear your prayers. Is that interesting? You can pray, you can go through the motions, but God says, I can't hear your prayers. There's this sin, this besetting sin that you're not repenting of. So that's the final nail in the coffin. If my people turn from their wicked ways. It's very healthy to say, Lord, my attitude stinks. I've been judgmental, I've been prideful, I've been treating my spouse and my kids lousy. I said, Lord, I repent of that. Very healthy. Actually, it's encouraged throughout the Bible. But you're not gonna hear that on most TV channels tomorrow, are you? That's why we're not experiencing powerful moves of God. We're tickling the ears and not challenging the heart. And that's what we're gonna be talking about Monday. I wish I could just do it on Saturdays, the more I think about it. But it's gonna be a Monday series. So I hope you can make it for that. And then we're gonna get right in right now to Matthew 10. Again, if you brought your Bibles, Matthew 10. I wanna talk about the Spirit who speaks in you, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit who speaks in you. Matthew 10, verse 16. Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We talked about that last week or two weeks ago. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak, for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak. For it is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Now, a brother will deliver a brother to death and a father his child. And children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you'll be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. And that's a pretty, that's a hard text. That our very children will rise up and want parents dead. Brother will betray brother. And you don't have to go any farther than looking at the news that this is happening all over the Mideast. Midwest, you know, Iraq and Iran. I'm getting my train of thought messed up here. I actually forgot all the announcements. So I'm gonna try to make those after the service. I got all worked up on if my people. I forgot all the announcements. I wanna get to that. But I wanna just think about this while we're, you know, in that atmosphere. It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Now, this is interesting. Isn't this controversial? Jesus saying, listen, it's not you speaking. It's the Spirit of your Father, the Holy Spirit who's gonna speak through you. And we actually have to be very careful on these types of things. Have you guys, did you see CNN recently of that guy, he's a Hispanic guy in Florida, has a large church who says he's Jesus Christ now. And he's Jesus come to the earth. He's the Savior. Don't believe in sin and the Bible and all that stuff. It was Old Testament. And all his followers are getting 666 tattooed on their legs and on their arms. And they believe that this is the Messiah. And we sit there and go, oh my, who's gonna buy into that? Come on, he's got one person in his church, him and his wife. But they show it's national, international, it's in Florida, it's a large church, because he says the Spirit of God is speaking through me. Or other people say, well, God says this. I mean, how do we know? How do we know? Well, you can know. And that's what I wanna talk about tonight. But first, verse 17, let's work through this quickly. Beware of men, for they will hate you. Jesus tells us to beware of men. And really, what that means is be alert. Be alert. Be aware that people will not like you. Be wise with your money, be wise with your resources, be wise with your words, be wise with your actions. Be alert, because men will not like you. Now, be alert, and I wanna clarify this, does not mean be in fear factor mode. We see so many Christians, they're beyond alert. They're in radical, man, the world's falling, the sky's falling, the world's coming to an end, they post everything about terrorism and beheadings and the government and this, and it's just all fear factor mode, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, and fear paralyzes. So be alert, be aware, but you better be giving God more time than that, or you'll be going in the wrong direction very quickly. And as men, we can set the tone in our house. We can either scare our kids and our spouse to death, or we can set an atmosphere of the Spirit of God in our homes, because be alert does not mean be overcome with all this fear and all the things that are going on in the world. Sometimes I wanna look at posts and I go, yeah, the world's falling apart. Well, then where do you wanna start? Absolutely, that's why we need a Savior. You're not telling me anything we don't already know. So be very careful in this area. And what's happening is a message of love, and we're seeing it now in our nation, a nation that used to be welcoming to Christianity is not. I don't know if you knew that, right? Walk in my shoes for a few weeks and you'll know real quick by emails and different things that the world hates this message. They hate it. A message of love is now a message of hate. Have you ever thought about that? How can a message of love, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth shall not perish, but have everlasting life. God loved the world. Christ came, He died, He loved, He gave up Himself. How is this message of love now a message of hate? That's why the world hates us. Here's the reason. The gospel dethrones other gods and it challenges destructive lifestyles. This is what you have to remember about the Bible, the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ. He does not compete with any other gods. He is God. He is God. There's no competition there. Every other god is dethroned. Every other false god, idolatry, and they hate that. Don't even mention that name. We hate the name of Jesus Christ. Get Him out of everything. We hate that. So don't take offense by it. Light and darkness cannot dwell in the same house. What happens when you turn on your light switch? Where does the darkness go? Fleas. And when you turn off the switch, the darkness, they cannot dwell together. They cannot coexist. They are mutual enemies because of this. Sin wants to be validated and approved, but the Spirit wants to convict and to challenge. Sin does it not. Sinful lifestyles want to be validated and approved of. The world is looking for pastors who will tell you what you want to hear and not what you need to hear. Paul said there will come a time when they will not endure sound doctrine. They'll look for teachers who will tell them what they want to hear. They'll tickle their ears. They'll tell them everything they want to hear. So sin wants to be validated. Tell me that my destructive, wrong lifestyle is right. And as soon as you say that's wrong, then it upsets. That darkness does not like to be challenged. And this is interesting because this has been West Side Christian Fellowship's challenge since the day we've started the church. Many people come, but not very many stay. What do you think the number one reason is that we hear out there? Who does that guy think he is? Man, I don't want to hear that. Man, how do you guys go there and take that kind of stuff? Why, because it's challenging, it's convicting. But God uses conviction to draw us closer to Him and to fix areas in our lives because we wouldn't fix them on our own, would you? Would you? Shane, be nicer to Morgan. On my own? The flesh wants to say, mm, nope. But the spirit convicting, getting in the Bible, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Oh man, that's an amazing passage. And that conviction draws us closer. So let's look at this message real quick. The Spirit who speaks in and through you. The Holy Spirit will speak in and through you. And maybe if you're here for the first time, let me try to take a deep theological concept and encapsulate it very quickly. Once a person repents and they put their trust in Jesus Christ, they become a child of God. The Bible talks about the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit residing in the believer. And that Holy Spirit in me, and God's Holy Spirit, that's what cries out of a father. That's how the Spirit filled life. That's why I want to live for God. That's why I want to someday maybe die for God, because of the Holy Spirit within me. And that Holy Spirit is not some weird mystical, ooh. It comes in and it secures me. It seals me. It lets me know that I am saved, that I have a loving Heavenly Father. But I can quench and I can grieve the Holy Spirit within. And that's what you see in a lot of Christians. Myself included from time to time. We can grieve and quench the Holy Spirit and we act out in our flesh. And the world says, ah, see, I knew it. Hypocrite. No, struggler. I'm a struggler, not a hypocrite. Don't confuse the two. A hypocrite intentionally deceives, but a struggler is what a Christian is. I'd love to go on Larry King sometime and tell him, listen, here's the deal, that's why we don't look like Christ, because we never will on this side of eternity. It's a battle, it's a struggle. The sinful nature wants to go back to that old nature, but the Holy Spirit of God is pulling me back to God and I live in this body. I want God, don't you Christians? Don't you want more of God? Then what in the world's going on when you go the other direction? Because the sinful nature pull, it's like a magnet, a big, huge sin magnet right here pulling and you fight and say, Lord, no, that's why the Word is so important and worship and church and attendance and fellowship, because it pulls you back to the things of God. That's a Spirit-filled life. And that's kind of the topic we're on tonight. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak for, it will be given to you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father. And I want to talk about this briefly because it's in the text. Now, brother will deliver up brother to death and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And this is a very sad reality. When you have devotion to a false God, it hurts the family. Do you know there's most marriage problems, I'm not gonna say all, but a lot of marriage issues are because of one spouse is on fire for God and another's not. And guess what happens when that happens? All day, every day, a spouse. Or one is saved, one isn't. A husband is saved, the wife is not. Or the wife has saved the husband. So you have this battle. And that's what's happening in the text here, Jesus, why is a father, why is a brother gonna deliver up his own brother? Because he hates the light that is in his brother. Why is a child gonna betray his father? Because he hates the light he sees in his father. He's a child of darkness and he loves that darkness so he hates his father and he will deliver him up to death. Light and darkness are not friends, folks. They are enemies. Light and darkness, good and evil, truth and error, right and wrong are not compatible. Now we know that the light is greater than the darkness. God is greater than the devil. These are not mutually, these are not co-equals. They're not battling it out. God's already won, he's on the throne, he's high and lifted up. But the enemy comes in and brings that darkness so the struggle is happening in our lives. I truly believe that once somebody becomes a Christian, they need to turn that junk off of TV that says everything's gonna be healthy, wealthy, and you're gonna be happy now, and Jesus is gonna come make everything better. And he does, I believe he does. He can carry you through. But you go through hell before you receive heaven. Sometimes you go through a lot, and that's how you know he's your savior and he's your redeemer. You have to go through those things. He said carry your cross. Don't hire a moving company, carry your cross. Pick up your cross and follow me, die to yourself. The world's gonna hate you. How do we get these mixed up and think that Christianity is some nice, comfortable, convenient religion? When it's not, it's warfare, it's battling. So here's the whole point of this message. The spirit of your father who speaks in you. It was assumed in Jesus' time, early church writings, of course, it was assumed that disciples were spirit-filled believers. So when I go through adversity, when you go through adversity, when Jesus is saying they're going through adversity, naturally what's gonna flow out? The Holy Spirit. Things of the Spirit are gonna flow out. So as the old saying goes, when a vessel is struck, what's inside spills out. The Holy Spirit within us is what's gonna speak. And here's the interesting thing about the spirit-filled life and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through us. Many people say, but how, right? I'm saying you're losing me on this one. How do I let the Holy Spirit speak through me? Doesn't that sound weird? Well, always remember this. The Holy Spirit is not some switch you turn on. It's an overflowing of the heart. So you don't just come and turn on the Holy Spirit or get up in the morning. It's overflow of my heart. What's in my heart, out of the abundance of the heart, my mouth is gonna speak. So a person who's, what Jesus is talking about, spirit-filled believer, don't worry what you're gonna say in that hour because whatever you say, it's not you speaking. It's the Holy Spirit of God that's been in you, that's been filling up, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. You've been feeding on the Word of God. You've been going through temptation and overcoming. You've been going through trials. You've been living on the Word of God and prayer and fasting and worship, all the things we don't like to do but we love to talk about. We've been feasting on those things, so that's what's gonna come out. But guess what happens if you're not in those things? What comes out? The works of the flesh. Paul says the works of the flesh are evident, arguing, backbiting, gossiping, drunkenness, partying, everything is the lust of the flesh. The flesh is coming out and that's what comes out of many Christians. That's why the world says, look, see, they're not a believer. Look at all that stuff that's coming out. I just wanna say, yeah, that's what they've been putting in. That's what they've been putting in. What is putting in is, what you're putting in is what's coming out. So if you want the Holy Spirit of God to speak through you, this isn't something like, just open my mouth and go for it, God. It's what's already been going on in my heart. Like I often say many times, what I'm saying to you right now, what's coming out is not a byproduct of coming up here and flipping a switch. It's a byproduct of my life throughout the week. Who I am on Saturday is who I am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, what I'm filled with, then it just comes out here. It's a filling of the Holy Spirit. Same in your own personal lives. What you put in, up here especially. I mean, if you look at what we're putting into our mind, we wonder why we have no passion for God. We wonder why we, Shane, I know what you're saying, but I've never felt that before. I've never experienced that before. It's because the Holy Spirit is being quenched in grief, or you've never had that Holy Spirit, you've never repented of your sin, allowed God to cleanse your heart. Those are the only two options. There's not kind of, you know, hang right there in the middle. It's either somebody's filled with the Spirit of God. Do they struggle? Oh yeah, you better believe it. But there's a big difference between a struggle and a lifestyle, isn't there? We all struggle, but giving ourselves up to a worldly lifestyle will not fill us with the Spirit of God. So in a nutshell, what is planted in your heart will come out. This is why I'm a big, not a big fan of modern day entertainment. Because what does it do? Oh, that junk that is putting in, guess where that junk comes out? In our speech, in our marriage. Yeah, in your marriage. You wonder why so many people are prideful in their marriage and fighting all the time. It's because what's going in? Remember all those old TV shows? You think a wife that's sitting at home clicking Oprah, then desperate housewife, then swapping wives, you think she's gonna be a nice, good, Proverbs 31 woman? You got another thing coming. Or the guy who's sitting there just watching, right? Laker cheerleaders, and CNN, and ESPN, and race car, and NASCAR, and all this stuff, and all these movies where the guy's just made to, you know, just look like a loser, and then he's gonna have a passionate relationship with his wife, and he's gonna lead his family in the fear and admonition of the Lord? We've been duped. We've been desensitized. What's coming out in our churches and our families is just a byproduct of what's been going in. Think about it, we have time for all this stuff, late night with this person, and this, where I gotta catch this, I gotta watch this, I gotta watch this, and then everything's falling apart. I have no passion for God. I have no prayer life, Shane. And I always say, tell me about your devotional life. Tell me about these things, and 10 times out of 10, they're not being filled with the Spirit of God, they're being filled with the world, and they wonder, why is the world coming out? Well, because you're putting it in. You understand that, right? What you put in is gonna come out. And often when I work on these sermons, I even wrote down today, I put, we already know this, as if I'm telling God, Lord, we already know all this stuff. Nobody's gonna leave here and go, man, Shane, that was the best exegetical, expository preaching of that text I've ever heard. I've learned deep truths about the Holy Spirit that I never knew existed, and I've got a degree in pneumatology, the study of the Holy Spirit, and boy, you unpack that thing. No, no, we already know all this. But we need to hear it on an ongoing basis, because I like what D.O. Moody said. He said, what do we say all the time? We are leaky vessels. I'm filled with the Spirit of God, but I'm a leaky vessel, so I need to sit underneath the fountain of life every day. As it's leaving, it's coming in. As it's leaving, it's coming in. Do you realize if I get away from the Word of God and worship and prayer, that I would just give out dead sermons, and they'll fall on dead hearts, and we'll come and we'll do three songs and a 25-minute message, and we'll have potluck afterwards, and I'll see you next week, and here I am. It just becomes monotonous. It becomes a daily task, and no lives are changed and challenged. Why? Because what goes in comes out. Here's a good analogy, right? If I have a pitcher of water, gotta be careful so I don't spill it on the speakers. All the way full, right? You're filled with the Spirit of God, full of water. That's what pitchers are for, right? But then what happens if I throw it? Linda, you knew I was gonna get you, huh? What happened? There's nothing in here. You say, yeah, but I'm a Christian. I say, yeah, but this is a pitcher. It doesn't matter if there's nothing in it. It's empty. It's empty. Many people are going through their lives empty. I'm a Christian, I'm a pitcher, but there's nothing in it. There's not the Spirit of God. There's not the indwell power of God. You're not seeing miracles in your life. You're not seeing the Spirit of God work through you. Jealousy and envy and backbiting, bickering, everything is dominating your life because you're empty. It's not, was this created to be empty? Oh, let's talk about that for a minute. Okay. Was this at a factory, plastic, right? Let me make sure it's BPA-free. You don't know what that means, right? Bicarbon, a lot of junk and plastic that we're consuming. That's a whole nother sermon. But this, why was this created? If you have baby bottles, make sure they're BPA-free because you don't want all that plastic stuff going in. Why was this created? To go sit on our shelf? To be filled with something so it could be poured out. Filled, poured out, filled, poured out. That's the Christian life. We get so many people walking around like this and they're all depressed. They wonder, well, God's not using me. God's not working in my life. Nothing's happening. That's not, you weren't designed to be unfilled with the Spirit of God. You were designed to be filled with the Spirit of God. So the first step to be filled with the Spirit of God is to be emptied of yourself. Emptied of myself, Shane? Yeah, oh yeah. You didn't know that pride can, you can be filled with, you're proud. I don't need that stuff. I don't need all that stuff, Shane. I got it down. I'm prideful, prideful and arrogant man. Scoffer is his name, Proverbs says. He's full of himself. So you cannot be full of yourself and full of the Holy Spirit. It's impossible. That's why humility is the first step. If my people humble themselves, basically empty yourself, then I can move. Then I can move in your life. Ephesians 5.18, do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Most of us know that's true, right? But instead, be filled with the Spirit of God. In Paul's contrasting, when somebody's drunk on wine, what are they led by? That's why it's called spirits, right? They're led by that drunken stupor. This is what's controlling their speech, and they don't slur, and they're hitting, you know, they're controlled by this. So Paul says, don't be controlled by this, but be controlled, be filled by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5.8, be filled with the Holy Spirit. And it's interesting, that word filled is play a role in the Greek, play a role. What it means is to be filled to capacity, to put in as much as can be held. See, the spirit-filled life isn't, could you go grab me a teaspoon of water? We say, what are you doing? A teaspoon of water, okay, we're good. That's what most people do. Hey, Shane, you said read my Bible for five minutes. By golly, I did it, I'm good. There's your teaspoon. It's filled, it's filled to capacity. Actually, it's filled overflowing. So as I'm pouring water in, it's gonna be flowing out. So as we pour in the things of God into our life, that's what's pouring out of us. That's why there's so much contention in the church or in our homes, so much fighting and bickering and arguing, everything, because it's just flowing out. Jesus says, out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth is gonna speak. What goes in comes out, right? A famous preacher I've quoted before in Scotland, Robert Murray McShane, who died at age 29. He said, one, most of God's people, listen, this will be good for somebody. Most of God's people are content to be saved from the hell that is without. They are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is within. Most of God's people are content to be saved from the hell that is without. They are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is within. What he means is the ugliness and the darkness of our hearts. Hey, I'm saved, I'm going to heaven, but I enjoy this darkness and this sin. I'm not as anxious about getting rid of this as I am going to heaven. But you have to remember something. Either you push the hell out of you by the filling of the Holy Spirit, or the hell pushes the spirit out by quenching and grieving him. One or the other will prevail, folks. This is serious business. We play with sin, we play with darkness as if it's a choice on a menu and we'll try it out. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap. So you either push the hell that is in out of you by the Spirit of God, the filling of God. Right, turn on the light, the darkness has to flee. There's not probably, my wife can attest to this, there's probably not a week or maybe a month that goes by where kids are crying, oh, it's dark, turn on the light. So I go turn on the light, right, close the light or something. What about if I turn the light on and then turn it off and leave? Go, oh, Dad, hold on, turn the light back on. Well, I did, you told me to turn it on. Leave it on. Leave it on, leave that light on. So many people just, man, if I just get a little bit of filling with the Holy Spirit. Yeah, I did my five-minute devotional and then I go spend three hours on Facebook with all kinds of garbage. You just overrid all of that. Leave the light on. It's life as hard as it is. And please understand, I'm not talking about perfectionism. If you think I get up in the morning, do everything perfectly, talk to Morgan after the service. It's not the case. It's a struggle, talk to my kids. It's a struggle, it's a fight, but I will die trying. I will die trying to put God first and then from that relationship, everything else will flow from that, from the Spirit-filled life. This isn't some weird charismatic term. That's a biblical term. Spirit-filled believers. Actually, a carnal Christian is an oxymoron. The Bible doesn't talk highly of carnal Christians because carnality is of the devil and when we allow that in and we become so carnal that there's no Christ in us, that's a dangerous spot to be. Spiritual discernment cannot come from a polluted mind. No news there, right? Spiritual discernment cannot come from a polluted mind. Hearing the voice of God, having the Spirit of God speak through you cannot come from a polluted mind. I love the people who tell me that the Spirit of God is working through them, yet they hit their spouse, they look at porn and they don't give a dime and they treat their children like a dog and they have the audacity to tell me that the Spirit of God is speaking through them. Wow. We need a reality check. The Spirit of God flows through a humble, broken vessel. That has an unpolluted mind. Not perfectly, but a heart set towards God. First Timothy says we need to be examples of purity and decency. Philippians 4.8, the famous verse everybody loves to quote but nobody wants to obey. Fix our thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable and worthy of praise. Next time, I'm gonna do this sometimes. Somebody will post this quote and then right underneath it's the next beheading. Post this quote and then the government's buying all the ammunition, better watch out. Well, what is it? Well, it's one or the other, folks. We just put that on there to put that on there? Or do we really believe it? Finally, brethren, whenever things are pure and noble and honest and upright, now right under that there's already Muslim terrorists living here in the United States, they're coming at you. Where's all this, you see the dichotomy here? You wonder why we're drifting from God? You can't just throw out scripture like they're fortune cookies. Oh, that's nice. Here's a great saying from somebody. Scripture is eternal truth. God has given absolute eternal truth to speak to mankind to shape and to change and to challenge his life. This is life, is not the word of God living and breathing. Paul says it's living and breathing. It's like a double-edged sword. It discerns the thoughts and the intents of the heart and the soul. It cuts to the heart of things. Jesus said God's word is truth. Listen, this isn't debatable. We don't go back and forth and do this and that. Truth stands as a lighthouse warning man, listen, turn from the wrath that is to come. That's another unpopular statement, but that's what it says, turn and turn back to God. Turn to God. It's not flexible, it's not bending, it's not our opinion, it's truth given to save man from himself. We need a reality check. We have a form of microwave Christianity. Our service times are cut to just over an hour. Prayer is glanced over and worship is designed to entertain the masses. People are bored, they say, so our services need to be more appealing. Church is boring because the power of God has vanished from many pulpits and many congregations. There is a lack of desire to pursue God. And like Samson, we know not that the Spirit of the Lord has departed. The unavoidable truth, here's what I'm getting at, is that we are becoming desensitized. The Holy Spirit no longer fills our hearts with a passion for purity and holiness. The world fills our hearts and minds with the things of the world. And that's, we're reaping the whirlwind. We're reaping what we're sowing. And I told the story a few years ago, but I wanna reiterate it. It's about up in Alaska, up in the barren north, it's just, there's snow everywhere. The way the Eskimos will kill animals, like wolves and different things, is they'll take a knife and they'll dip that knife in blood and they'll let the blood freeze to the blade and then they'll put the knife in the snow, packing it with the blade sticking up. Well, then what happens when the wolf comes? It begins to lick that blade, licks that blood. And before they realize it, they're consuming their own blood because that knife is cutting their tongue and they're bleeding. They're desensitized. That cold numbed them to that. They become desensitized. The Eskimos come a few hours later and there's a dead animal. Don't you see how that parallels modern day Christianity? We've become so desensitized. Things that used to alarm us and we would never allow now amuse us. We're becoming desensitized to the things of God. People like me are written off as fanatical, extreme. Paul would probably say, you preach like we all preach in the New Testament. But we've become so desensitized so when I come out here and say these things, people are morally offended because they've been desensitized. It's like, oh, somebody's waking me up from my slumber. That's what the pulpit used to be. The pulpit used to be watchmen on the wall warning the people, loving, guiding, nurturing, everything, but also warning the watchmen. They would watch and they would warn the people. Folks, as the world gets more chaotic, I'm convinced you need to be more filled with the Spirit of God than ever before. How in the world are you gonna make smart financial decisions or raise your kids in a culture that wants to rape them and molest them and use them? How are you gonna do it? By watching this five hours a day? By listening to Oprah, see what kind of good advice she's got on there? No way. No way. We have to look again to the Word of God and be filled with the Spirit of God. That's how you're gonna get discernment because it's God's Spirit working in you. The enemy desensitizes us until we are numb to the things of God, until conviction fades. That's a scary spot to be. Have you ever been where conviction fades? Remember you used to be so convicted? Oh, so convicted and then what happens? Oh, it's no big deal, it's not that bad. And then that conviction fades. And this is why so many people enjoy ungodly entertainment that glorifies darkness. Why we continue to use and abuse. Why we pursue wrong relationships. This is why we do these things. Many Christians are desensitized to the Word of God. And if I can be honest, of course I am being honest, but that's why many people don't want to read this because it hurts this. It convicts and it challenges. Here's the thing we need to remember, I'm gonna try to close shortly. But do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that he will also reap. That's strong language, Paul saying to the church, to the Galatians, do not be deceived, God will not be mocked. And we can say that to everybody in this room. I don't care what your spiritual state is here tonight. If you don't know him, if you do know him, whatever it is, God will not be mocked. We might think we got him fooled, but he will not be mocked. Whatever we sow, whatever we plant, we will reap. That's a spiritual principle that will not bend just because we don't like it. But there is hope. Once I break down, let me build up briefly. There is hope. We can once again position ourselves to hear God. So you might be saying, Shane, I've been so lost, you just depress me even more. Or somebody might say, Shane, I don't even know God. Who in the world do you think you are? Well, let me tell you who I think I am. I'm here to give you hope and a peace and a future. That's what God says, no matter how far you've drifted, come back. The famous verse, Jeremiah 29, 13. You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart. Listen, if you seek God with all of your heart, not a little nugget, I'm gonna try it out tonight, see if Shane's right. All of your heart, say, Lord, I know you're out there. I know you're real. I drifted from you. I've allowed darkness to rule and reign in my heart. I'm turning my life, Lord, back in your direction. I'm gonna seek you with all of my heart. He says, you will find me. Isn't that it? He says, well, you might if you get lucky. It's the right day if you do it this or you do it this mode if you pray five times in this direction. If you do all these things, you might find me. You might, so you better pray hard. He says, if you do this, you will find me. If my people do these things, they will find me. If, God just says, if you do it. But isn't it interesting how if is conditional? If you do these things, if you do these things, I will meet you. But it always requires responsibility on our part. And I think sometimes we forget that. We just wanna sit on the couch and relax. And God, you do it in my heart. He says, I will, but you come to me. You find me, you follow me, you seek me, and I will fill you with my spirit. But be prepared. Then it goes on to say, and you'll be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures till the end will be saved. Isn't that interesting? You will be hated by all for my name's sake. It's no surprise I'm hated by a lot of people in this valley. Do I like it? No. But it begs the question, if the world loves the way you do church, you've got a problem. Because the world should not love what I'm saying. I go to pastor's conferences sometimes, I get so like, man, what's wrong with me, Lord? I leave there sometimes because they're so worried sometimes about pleasing the masses. How can we make our services more appealing? And I'm all for reaching out to the culture. I'm all for, what do you think I do all week? And dialoguing, counseling, I'm all, we have to. But we do not conform worship service to fit the world. The world must come in and hear the praises and the power of God before they're changed. It convicts before it hurts. They don't wanna hear it, but they have to hear it. I got permission from Linda. She said I could talk, I just met her this week. She listens, she's been listening on the radio for about a year now. And she said, man, when I first turned you on, I said, who is this guy think he is? Get him off the radio, click, turn him off. And then next week, who is this guy think he's, he's yelling at me? What's this guy's problem? Click, turn him off. But then God kept drawing and drawing and drawing and drawing and says, Lord, and she just gave me a big hug and was crying, said that I needed to hear these things. I needed to hear these things. That's how God changes the heart, by telling us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear. Think about that. We will look for teachers who will tell us what we want to hear in the last days. Paul says, Timothy, because of this, preach the word. Preach the word, be ready in and out of season, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They will not endure sound truth. They will not wanna hear the truth. They will look for the teachers who will tell them what they want to hear. So as much as you wanna get mad at the false teachers out there, it's what the people wanna hear. That's why they're finding them. Tell them to be healthy and wealthy and wise and never upset anything. Don't mention sin. I love the pastors who never talk about sin. Oh, I love them. Oh, good. You can love them on the way to hell. Because that's the truth. Sin has separated us from God. And if somebody truly loves you, they're gonna tell you the truth. What I tell you is what I tell my kids. So I hate my kids. I'll cry sometimes. Sons, daughters, there's a judgment to come. There's a God that loves you so much, but you've got to embrace his gracious gift of forgiveness. If you don't, you're separated from God. I can't even fathom that. I can't sleep at night knowing that. I love you that much to tell you that there is a judgment to come. There's a heaven, there's a hell. There's a right, there's a wrong. That's not anger, that's love. And if we want to see revival in our churches again, we need to preach the difficult truths. Because it's the difficult truths that make the prodigal son come home. It's a difficult truth that when people hear right now, they're upset. They're PO. They want to get the heck out of here. But guess what? They're gonna think about this. They're gonna think about, there's a God that loves me so much. In my depravity and in my darkness and in my sin, there's a God, Shane, that loves me that much. See, God, it's not that we preach, oh, God wants to send you to hell. God says, I loved you so much, I sent my son to die for you so you can spend eternity with me. But if you reject him, I've got to reject you because a holy, righteous God cannot dwell with sinful man. That's the whole point of Christ and the cross. That's the whole point. So why is this such a bad message? Why is it such a bad message? Why is it upset? Because the darkness in our lives does not want to hear this. The darkness does not like the light. And you'll have to fight it with every strength that you have from here on out to be filled with the Spirit of God. Let me tell you something that I hope you never forget. To be filled with the Spirit of God, there comes with a price. There's a price that has to be paid. There's a price. To preach like this, I have to be scorned, I have to be ridiculed, we don't hear from certain friends, they don't want to hang around us because we're too holy. You know, there's a price to pay. Family members don't like me. People don't like me. Is there death threats coming? Probably. There's a price to pay for the truth, for being filled with the Spirit of God. Like I said before, I would do anything else right now. I could leave here and make a lot of money and you'd never see me again. But guess what? I'd be miserable. Because His word is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones. I can't hold it back. Because that's the Spirit of God speaking through me. That outflow of what's inside. And He wants to do the same thing in each of your lives, but you've got to turn it over to Him. The first step to the Spirit-filled life is surrendering all. Surrendering your life. Saying, Lord, I'm yours. Fill me with your Spirit. And then sit down, hold on, and buckle up, because that's when life changes. That's when life is, you're sensitive to the things of God. How can people go and watch certain movies, and you kind of, oh. How can they sit there and get drunk on Facebook and post it, and you go, oh, man, you got a sign of the fish right there, too. I mean, come on. You know, how can you enjoy that darkness? How can you enjoy those things when the Spirit of God should be in you? Crying, Abba, Father, holy, holy, holy is our God. The Bible doesn't say, lukewarm, lukewarm, lukewarm is our God. Holy, holy, the angels cry, holy, holy, holy. So much that the temple shook. The very foundation of the temple shook. Holy, holy, holy. And Jeremiah said, I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips. Oh, my God, I fall down at your feet. That's a response of being in the holy presence of God. That's humility, and it begins with humility.