In this sermon, the preacher reflects on the season of incredible grace described in Acts chapter 4, where prayers are being answered, signs and wonders are happening, and hearts are turning to God. The preacher draws parallels to the present moment, highlighting the recent experiences of a church congregation returning from Brundy, where an entire nation turned to God and reconciliation occurred. The sermon emphasizes the importance of genuine conversion and walking in truth, warning against playing games with the Holy Spirit. The preacher also shares the story of an individual who attended church but lived a lie outside of it, emphasizing the need for true surrender to Christ and the futility of a religious system without genuine transformation. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the biblical admonitions against unrighteousness, fornication, idolatry, and covetousness.

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws. This recording cannot be posted on any website, however written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timesquarechurch.org. Other recordings are available by calling 1-800-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry 1657 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. I stand here with no agenda but to be an oracle of God. I'm not here to please man. I'm here to obey you, Lord. I ask you, God Almighty, that you stretch forth your hand and do the miraculous. As these words are spoken, set the oppressed free. Give sight to the spiritually blind. Heal those that have been bruised and wounded in heart. Let crooked paths be made straight. And let a highway be made and declared where you are and where your people walk with you. I yield my body and mind, everything of myself to this, that you might be glorified in this word. Stretch me beyond my limits. Lord, take me where I can't go. Animate me, Holy Spirit. I don't even want to raise my voice unless it's you that is animating me. Let everything be done to the glory of Christ. I ask it in Jesus' name. Acts chapter 5, beginning at verse 1. But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost. And great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry thee out. Then she fell down straightway at his feet and yielded up the ghost. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. Last verse says, And great fear came upon all the church, and as many as heard these things. Now we ask ourselves this morning the question, Why? Why this lesson? Why is this in Scripture? This was the season of Pentecost. This was a time of the miraculous when God was moving in supernatural power. Why so severe a judgment? If we look at it just on the surface, here are some people who literally gave a little less than they declared that they were giving. And the Holy Spirit killed them, literally took their lives from them. An incredibly severe judgment at the beginning of what was to be what we know today the Spirit-filled church of Jesus Christ. Now the Scripture tells us in 2 Timothy 3.16 that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. So there's a reason why this is in here. There's a reason why there's a severity that really we don't find in equal measure throughout much of the rest of the New Testament. It seems that people get away with all kinds of things. In the Corinthian church, for example, here's a young man who's in an ancestral relationship with his mother. Why were they not killed in the church? If we look at it in the natural, say, Well, there's something much worse going on here than what seems to be happening here. Why does God start His church as it is on this earth with such a severe warning in the Scriptures? And what can we learn from it? What can you learn from it? What can I learn from it? What is really the lesson? Now this particular story occurs in a season of incredible grace. Acts chapter 4 and verse 30 tells us that prayer is being answered. Places are being shaken. Signs and wonders are being done in Jesus' name. I think very much similar to the moment that we're living in right now as a church congregation, just returning from Brundy, where we see an entire nation turning to God. We see the hearts of kings being moved by the Holy Spirit. We see reconciliation on a level that is impossible apart from the Spirit of God. Places are being shaken. Folks, we're not reading about the book of Acts. We're actually living in it at the moment. And many of you are experiencing these things. Pastor David's going out throughout the world, seeing complacency and despair shaken, and pastors being infused with new life of the Spirit again. A wonderful end-time move of God happening throughout the world, among the churches and among the leaders. In verse 31 tells us that places are being shaken. People are being filled with the Holy Ghost, and they're standing again and speaking the Word of God without fear. And this is what I have experienced, and I know that many are experiencing it now. There's a compassion of God that is being infused into the hearts of those who truly belong to Christ. And you're not afraid to speak the name of Christ anymore. There's nothing to apologize for. And it's not so much that you're just standing with a natural boldness, but the Scripture says that perfect love casts out fear. You care enough about people to tell them there's a heaven, a hell, there's a Savior, there's a way into eternal life. And many of you are beginning to stand now, and you're saying, God, I'm feeling this infusion of life. I'm living in this moment again, when there is a true testimony of Christ happening in this church. Verse 33 says, And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. The witness of Christ's resurrection is coming forth again with great power. And beloved, we're living at that time. The church is not on the losing end in this world and of this society. We're living at a time of great witness of the resurrection power of Christ. You heard Pastor Patrick today talking about Muslim young people coming in, gripped with the Spirit of God. Folks, it's only the beginning of what we're about to see in the days ahead of us. And grace is abounding. That means favor. That means ability. That means the goodness of God. That means the ability to escape every prison, to come out of all weakness, to leave every place of captivity, to be what God has called us to be. Great grace is abounding. This is the day that Scripture tells us in that the very nature of man was being replaced with the Spirit of God. What an incredible hour in Acts 2 to be alive with the nature of man. Think of the 120 fearful, unsure of themselves. No power to perform anything that would truly bring honor to God. Suddenly, in a moment of time, standing in the marketplace, being brought out of the weakness of humanity and into the strength of Christ. And it was evidenced by the fact that individual greed and self-concern had been replaced by a giving kindness and a compassion for all. Men were given new hearts. Women were given new hearts. Where every man was in religion at some point for themselves to see what they could gain. Now that Christ is at the center of what is happening in the church, then his heart is being manifested. And the heart of Christ, he did not come to be served. He came to serve. He came to give his life, the Scripture says, a ransom for all. And now this heart is being manifested in the church of Jesus Christ. And men and women are looking out beyond their own need. And they're looking out and concerned that every man has enough bread, has a place to live, has clothes for his back. They're concerned. They're looking beyond themselves. And thanks be to God that I have the privilege of being part of a congregation that is concerned about what's going on in the world. Concerned about children who go to bed without a decent meal at night. Concerned, thanks be to God, that it's the Holy Spirit that is forming this concern within us. It doesn't come from us naturally. You and I, we'd turn off the media. We would shut away the pictures. If left to ourselves, we couldn't care less about what's happening to children in this city or any other impoverished area in the world. But because of the Spirit of God, there's a compassion now that's come into our hearts. And we are concerned. We can't be anything but concerned because the Holy Spirit is with us. Now into this time of great light, two people formed a plan. And their plan was simple. They would lie about the depth of their commitment to what God was both speaking and doing in their midst. They would just simply lie. They would say, we're with the program. Folks, we're here. We see. We know what God is doing. And we're with it. We're with you. We're moving with you. And Peter asks a question in Acts chapter 5 and verse 9. He says, how is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? And it's an incredulous question Peter's asking. How could you have formed this thing in your mind in this kind of an environment? Miracles are flowing. Prayer is being answered. Places are being shaken. The very nature of man is changing before them. And here, these two people agree to form a lie. And Peter, it's an incredulous question. How is it possible in this kind of an environment that you could agree to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Now, the word tempt in the Greek New Testament, it means to prove by solicitation to sin. Or to prove that one has been evil or to make him evil. And in other words, how is it possible, Peter, saying that at this time and in this environment, you have thought that you could get the Holy Spirit to be partaker of a lie? You come into the presence, in this case, it was of the leaders of the church at that time. And you are laying this offerings down, which is a type, I guess, of our praise and our commitment to God. And you're now asking the Holy Spirit. It's not a truthful witness. And you're asking the Holy Spirit to bear witness to this. How did you think that the Holy Spirit would ever bear witness to a lie? How is it possible, Peter said, that you could get this kind of thinking? Now, realistically, beloved, it's only possible to do this kind of a thing when you and I have lost the sight of who God really is. It's not possible otherwise. In Genesis chapter 3, Satan succeeded in turning the focus of Adam and Eve, their people created in the image of God, their in genuine fellowship with God. He turned their focus by convincing them that God will not do what he says. He said to them, you will not surely die. I know what God has said. But you see, God doesn't really mean that. God says it, yes. But in your case, he will do another thing, or perhaps he'll do nothing at all. And in effect, Satan is saying the same thing. It was the seed of Satan in Acts chapter 5. God will bear witness to you. He will continue to bear witness to you, even though you choose to walk in half-hearted measure with him. He will endorse your lie as it is. He will do nothing. I know he's warned you, but he will not do anything about it. And how wrong they found themselves to be. Think of Adam and Eve for a moment as they have now lost the righteousness of God's covering. The scripture had said they were naked and they didn't know it. And I believe that they had the glory of this kind of glory of God was on them. It was the only clothing they needed. And now they're covered with animal skins and they're being driven out of this place that God had prepared for them. And behind them, the tree of life is locked to them now. They can't go back to the tree of life. And just think of how they must have felt as they're being driven out of eternal life as it is. And this tree of life is closed behind them. Now, through sin, indifference to God's word found its way into the very core of who we are. That's what the scripture says. We have a sin nature. When Adam and Eve sinned, that nature of believing that we could do differently than what God has spoken and somehow suffer no consequence for it was infused into our very flesh. The Bible calls it the sin nature or the flesh. You quite often hear that preached where the gospel is preached. It's through sin. It's an indifference to God. It's the strange inner blindness that convinces men and women, even in the type of environment that they're experiencing in Acts chapter 2, that somehow God doesn't mean what he says. And he will endorse my lie. I can come into his presence. I can lift my hands. I can sing the songs of Zion. I can give an impression to everyone around that I am truly with this program, being, of course, the word of God and where the spirit of God is leading. But you see, it isn't true. And I'm asking now the Holy Spirit to be a partaker of my lie. It's like a man who's been at a bar. He doesn't want his wife to know it. So he asked his best friend to lie about where he was on Monday night. And that's exactly what people who are not living right are asking the Holy Spirit to do. Asking the Holy Spirit to bear witness to what isn't true. It's a lie. It's a deception in the sight of God. And folks, we see this thread through humanity. We're living it today, a whole society now shunning the word of God, heading into judgment and not believing there's a consequence that we have to pay for all of these things that we're doing. Numbers chapter 16, we find 250 men of renown in the days of Moses. The Bible says they were princes. They were famous. Now, I believe they're made famous by grace. I believe that everything these men had, God gave to them. The abilities to be leaders, the clear thinking, the courage beyond the normative, faith to hear and move with God had allowed them to rise in this crowd of a few million. And they had become men of report. They were famous. And now we find them standing before God in a posture of prayer and worship. And at the very same moment, they're challenging the right that God has and his authority to rule over them. It's amazing, the blindness. Here they are before the tabernacle of God. And they've got their senses in their hands and they're giving up praise. But you see their lives are not in line with what God is speaking. But they're not blind to it. And they're standing before God somehow thinking that he's going to endorse this. They do believe that their worship is acceptable. And they do believe the Holy Spirit is going to endorse this. But they're unaware that they're playing with a God who is a consuming fire. They're not aware of it. And they expect this, perhaps this glory cloud to overshadow them. But that's not what happens. The fire of the Lord comes out and consumes them. And then Aaron is instructed to gather their senses together and make a plate of covering for the altar. It's a constant reminder to Israel that you don't play games with the Holy God. Jeremiah the prophet in the Old Testament, chapter 36. Jeremiah is warning the people of a coming judgment. He's trying to tell them. And he writes it down and sends his loyal servant Baruch. And he says, take this and begin to speak it in the Lord's house. And ultimately Baruch ends up and through his hands, it ends up in the palace of the king. Take this and warn them of where we're heading. And in Jeremiah's heart, it's like perhaps they'll turn. He tells his servants, perhaps they'll find the mercy of God by turning from this position of heart that they find themselves in. And so the word that God had given to Jeremiah is brought into the king. The king is sitting before a fire warming himself. His servants around him are very concerned about what is written here. And someone begins to read it to him. And in verses 23 and 24, it says, we see a king now of God's own people. He's cutting the word of God into pieces with a pen knife and casting it into the fire. Amazing. This word is not only sent to warn, it's sent to heal. But here he is completely indifferent to what God is speaking. He's a king in Israel. He's been put there by the mercy of God. He's been made into what he is by God's grace. And now he's got a pen knife and you can see him shredding the word of God, cutting it neatly into pieces, burning it arrogantly, just throwing away the word of God. All around him, verse 24 says, the people are now unafraid and nobody is rending their garments. God's warnings have come, but nobody's concerned. This lackadaisical leader is producing in the people this, ah, the word of God is not to be taken seriously situation. And so where they should be rending their garments and saying, God have mercy. Nobody's rending their garments. Everyone's heart's intact. They're now taking on the attitude of this leader. I have no doubt this callousness, this coldness to the warnings of God. I see people today in the church world dissecting God's word and casting away its warnings. It's happening all over America today. Now taking the pen as it is for Sunday morning sermons and cutting off this and cutting off that as they sit around the fires of unsurrendered passion, the fires of personal greed, the fires of religious pride, and ultimately the fires of rebellion against God. And the people under their ministries now completely unconcerned, no repentance, no rending of the garments, no taking into consideration the warnings of God. Always, always, always, always a prerequisite to the judgment of God is this callous attitude to His word and to His warnings. And beloved, we are living in this moment in history right now in this country. I say it with a broken heart, but I know it in my heart. The rise of all of these penknife prophets as it is who cut away all the warnings of God and cause the people to believe that they're going to have peace when there is no peace, cause them to believe that the only reason Christ died is so every man could be rich. Oh folks, what a justice awaits them. What a judgment. What a surprise awaits them one day when they stand before a holy God and find out they've so grossly misrepresented the cross and the Christ who died on it. They believe erroneously that they can draw God into agreement with a lie. And they're even satisfied if He stays silent. As long as God doesn't judge us, if He doesn't do anything, that means that He's consented to our actions. And that's where many people are today. They somehow know this is not right where we're going, but somehow because God's not speaking anything right now, everything must be okay. He must be consenting to what we're doing. He must be consenting to our direction. What incredible blindness, folks, to believe that silence is not consent on the part of the Holy Spirit. He sent a judgment in Acts chapter 5 to show that some men's sins go before and others will follow after, but the justice of God will be the same for all men. How is it, Peter said, that you've agreed to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? How did you get to this point? The fear of the Lord, Proverbs 9, 10 says, is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Oh, we say, oh God, all of our seminars now on wisdom, all of the seminars on understanding truth, and yet the scripture says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In other words, God does not change the things He has done in the past. He will do again. His character is not changed. He proved it in Acts chapter 5. I am still God. I'm still holy. The fear of the Lord, Proverbs 8, 13, is to hate evil, the scripture says. That's the fear of the Lord, to hate evil. To say, God, let this thing not have any part in me. Let me not ever come into your house asking you to bear witness to a lie. God, yes, we struggle. Yes, we have problems. Yes, we all go through trials. But this is not about these things. This is about willful deception. They formed a plan. It's about people living in adultery, coming into the house of God, lifting up their hands and saying, oh, isn't it wonderful to be saved? Isn't it wonderful to be a Christian? It's about people who live in greed. They will mow down the poor. They will use people to their own advantage at every opportunity and say, oh, isn't it wonderful to be a Christian? Isn't it wonderful to love God and to know God? Coming in, the whole life is a Christian lie, and asking now the Holy Spirit to bear witness to it. Oh, baptize me in the Holy Spirit. Oh, let the fire of God touch me. Let me be a witness for Christ. By the fear of the Lord, Proverbs 16, 6, the scripture says men depart from evil. By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. You talk about holy reverence all you want. The scripture is by the fear of the Lord, by an understanding that one day I'm going to stand before God. He is the God of absolute truth. There are no lies going to live there. In Revelation chapter 21, he says outside the city, outside the city will dwell everyone who loves and makes a lie. No liars are going to be there. No false pretenders are going to be there. Nobody who brings this half measure obedience to God willfully before God and says, oh, God bless me. Oh, God, touch me with the Holy Ghost is going to be there. Blather on in tongues all you want. You will not be there. The scripture makes it very clear. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Paul had had a face to face encounter with Christ. He knew the terror of God. Here's a man who's insanely enraged against anything that represents the real Christ, but he has an encounter with the real Christ. And finally, in the terror of that moment, begins to realize who it is that he's been dealing with. Arises as it is in whatever measure he's able and says, Lord, what would you have me to do? His entire religious system crumbles to the ground at that very moment because he's walked into the presence of God. He's had an Isaiah chapter 6 moment with God, realizes that without mercy, he's absolutely undone. He's finished. His religion is worthless. It's fallen short of the glory of God. First Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 to 11. Paul says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Be not deceived, folks. No fornicators, that's sex outside of marriage. The word in the Greek is porno. It also includes pornography. No fornicators. Say with me, no fornicators. No idolaters. Covetousness. Covetousness is idolatry. The love of material things more than the love of God is covetousness. It's idolatry. No adulterers. No effeminate. No abusers of themselves with mankind. No thieves. No covetous. No drunkards. No revilers. No extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Paul says, don't be deceived. Let's set the record straight as God did in Acts chapter 5. Come to church all you want. Lift your hands. Sing the songs. Enjoy yourself while you can. But you will not inherit the kingdom of God. And then Paul goes on. He says, but some were such, but such were some of you. But you are washed. You are sanctified. You are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. You were this. But Paul said, you made a choice. You turned away from it. You turned away from thievery. You turned away from immorality. And God cleansed you of your sin. And by the power of the Holy Spirit gave you the ability to be a brand new creation. Gave you the power to be a new person. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Thanks be to God. In Acts chapter 5, verse 4, Peter says, why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You've not lied to men, but unto God. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost. And great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose and wound him up and carried him out and buried him. Verse 10, then his wife, she fell down straight with his feet and yielded up the ghost. And the young men came in and found her dead and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. Verse 11 says, great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things. Now, folks, can you hear the warnings and admonitions in those early fellowships? Can you imagine the people who witnessed these things gathering together to pray? Can you hear them? Don't play games with God. I have no idea. I have no doubt, actually, what they were saying. Don't play with the Holy Spirit. Let your conversion be genuine. Walk in truth. He made a way out of sin. Take it. He made a way to live a holy life. Walk in it. All provision is given to us of God. He's doing the miraculous. Old things are passing away. Evil places are being shaken. Walk with now. Walk with God in the power of the Holy Spirit. Years ago, I knew a man who caused great havoc in the church. Very zealous, actually, in the beginning of his life in ministry. But there was undelved areas in his life. And he ended up turning and he caused great harm. But even to this man, the Holy Spirit was merciful. And I remember, it was a Christian gathering. And I walked in. This has only ever happened once that I've ever, ever given anyone a word like this. But the Holy Spirit gave me a word of knowledge. And I walked up to him and I said, you don't have long to live. Get your house in order. I said, you need to go to those that you've wronged and you need to repent. You need to make right the wrongs that you've committed in the church. And God will be merciful to you. And I'll never forget the look on his face. It's as clear as you looking at me today. The sneer that came on his face. That kind of lip raised on one side. It's like, who do you think you are? It's the king with the penknife. One more time. He died suddenly three months later of a massive heart attack. He was gone. No evidence he ever took the word of the Lord seriously up to the end of his life. I was asked one time to speak at a funeral of a person who had once attended this church. And everyone was telling me, oh, he was a wonderful person. A Christian, a great Christian, loving Christian, kind Christian. I thought, well, I'll do this. I went, I was the only one from this church who went there. I went to this funeral parlor and I walked into the funeral parlor. I'm sitting down in the third or fourth row and the place is packed. It's just absolutely packed with people. Co-workers are there. There's not even standing room. In this chapel. And as I'm sitting there, I've become aware of a very real heaviness in this place. And the Holy Spirit spoke to me. I had all my text prepared of what I'm going to say. The glory, the righteous, the hope of eternity. And the Holy Spirit said, do not honor this man. You see, God will only bear witness to those that are his. I've been to funerals, folks, where people professed Christ. And there's a strange, inexplicable heaviness in the room. I've been to funerals where people received him as Savior in the last half hour on their bed. And there's the joy of the Lord is everywhere. There's just an inexplicable joy, even if the circumstances under which he or she died was less than ideal. I found out after, so I stood at the casket and I basically said, if this man lived for God, this is where he is. And if he didn't, he's in hell. I just said it straight out. I didn't know what else to do. I just preached the gospel, encouraged the people to consider surrendering to Christ. At the end of this, I found out what kind of a man he really was. He was an X5 man. He lived a lie. His testimony was not true. He attended church, but he did not live like that outside of the house of God. And everybody he worked with knew it. They knew what kind of a man he was. And the Holy Spirit had told me in my seat, if you endorse this man, you'll confuse everybody who's in this room who doesn't know Christ as Lord and Savior. As I shared with this man years ago, that he didn't have long to live. Now here's a man who has a chance to have his sin dealt with. He has a chance to have his sin bundled up in the sacrifice of Calvary. He has a chance to have his sin carried out in the completeness of that victory. He has a chance to be buried in a place or have his sin buried in a place where God says, I will remember it no more. He has a chance to be raised to a newness of life by the power of the Holy Spirit and to have the Holy Spirit bear witness to him everywhere he goes. Amazing. Have you ever had the Holy Spirit bear witness to you? You walk in a store, you go somewhere and the Holy Spirit bears witness. You're not saying anything about yourself. You're just walking in, buying your groceries, and all of a sudden the clerk says, hey, something different about you. What is it? See, the Holy Spirit is bearing witness. It's not because you have Jesus written on your ball cap or something like that. The Holy Spirit is bearing witness to you. All folks, there's no greater place to live than to live in a place where the Spirit of God bears witness. You walk with the Spirit of God. You're not coming into the house of the Lord. No, you're not perfect. Your perfection is in Christ. But you are an honest man or woman of God. You want an honest walk with God. You don't want to live in compromise and sin. You want the courage to be abandoned fully to the will of God. And God knows this. And God is greatly merciful to us in our struggles. And the Holy Spirit will bear witness to those that truly belong to Christ. Thanks be to God. Here in Acts chapter 5, we see a man, we see his wife bundled up, carried out and buried. It should have been their sin that was carried out. It should have been their old life that was carried out. It should have been their old nature that was buried. Instead, it was them carried out and buried because they had formed this intent in their mind to live a lie and ask God to bless it. And God won't, God can't. It's against His very nature. He can't bless a lie. Now, this message is not to condemn anybody who's struggling. There's a difference between the liar and the struggler. The struggler is struggling to tell the truth. The liar is just a liar. He just wants his lie to stay intact. But the struggler wants truth. There's a difference between the struggler and the liar. Thanks be to God that God doesn't condemn those who struggle. But He will judge. Those who live a lie. Oh, folks, this has weighed on me this entire month. I can't escape it. And I wonder, is it because in Times Square Church, we're at a moment? We're at the next moment, folks. I don't know what's going to happen next week when we pray. I do believe in my heart, it'll be the spark of prayer meetings erupting throughout the city. But it's up to God to do this. All we can do is obey Him and do what He's called us to do. We are living in an Acts 2 moment. You're living in a moment when heaven is open. It doesn't always happen to people. There are people in churches all over the continent who are not living in a moment like this. Faith is not preached. They're putting away the old and putting on the new as a foreign concept. They don't know. It's all just little thematic things about God. There's nothing they can tangibly lay hold of that can change their lives. But you and I are living in a moment. We're living in a moment equal to Acts chapter 2, where the megalios of God or these anticipated outworkings of God are as real as life and breath itself. We're living in a moment where we're seeing nations change. We're seeing pastors raised. Seeing Brother Dave go into the Islamic world really and encourage the pastors who are there. And I do believe something very supernatural is going to happen there. Folks, we're seeing it. We're living it. It's not we're just reading an old text. Christ is alive in our midst. God forbid, Peter says in this environment, how could you even conceive in your mind that God would endorse a lie? And so my altar call this morning is simple. It's every person the Holy Spirit has spoken to today. And you know that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. I don't have to define it for you. You're very well aware of what I'm speaking about, but what God's given me to speak. The option is you have two options. Your sin gets carried out or you get carried out. Those are the options now. We're coming to the end, folks. We're coming to the end of time. We're coming to the end of things. It most likely will be in our generation. You don't know how many tomorrows you have. You may not have another tomorrow. You don't know what's going to happen in the streets of this city. We're coming to the end, folks. And as I stood before that man years ago, the Holy Spirit has brought that back to my mind almost repeatedly throughout the summer when I stood there and warned him and he didn't listen. 90 days later, he's in eternity, not with God. You don't know how many days you have left. We all would like to think that there's an endless number of tomorrows ahead of us, but there are no guarantees. Even if you're only 19 here today, you don't have any guarantees either. The young boy this summer is visiting the place I was with his parents playing baseball. 14, 13 years old, all of a sudden just fell down dead. His heart stopped. An inexplicable death. You don't know. None of us know. We live in this moment of incredible grace. But God forbid, don't ask the Holy Spirit to bear witness to a lie. Live in the truth. And you see, his blood will cleanse you. Scripture says if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive our sins and he will cleanse us of this unrighteousness. He will cleanse us. And you will begin to live in this supernatural power to become a new person. I'm going to open this altar this morning. And in the annex, you can stand between the screens. For those that the Holy Spirit has spoken to, we're going to worship for the next 10 or 15 minutes. Now, as we do, don't bring a lie to God. Bring hands of truth. Bring hearts of truth. Say, Lord, I hear you. God, forgive me for coming into this house today, lifting up unholy hands and asking you to bear witness to me. Forgive me, God, for this. I'm going to trust you for the change that is needed in my heart and in my life that I may be a true believer and follower of Jesus Christ. Now, Father, I have delivered your heart. I knew it. And I thank you, Lord, that you will do the miraculous today as you always do. You will open prison doors. You'll set captives free. You're going to break the spirit of pornography. You're going to break immorality. You're going to take away covetousness and idolatry, selfishness and greed. Lord, you're going to deal with these things at this altar today. God, there's going to be a people arise from their seats in this house. And they're going to leave new creations in Christ Jesus. Lord, we're not a church that dares to play games with the Holy God. We meet with you. We love you. Thank you for your mercy. But we acknowledge, Lord Jesus Christ, you are holy. You cannot be anything but what you are. We thank you for it from the depths of our hearts. In Jesus name. We're going to sing for a few moments. If the Holy Spirit is drawing you, please stand in the sanctuary. Come and meet me here. We're going to pray. And let's believe God. For freedom. Just make your way down. Join these that are coming. Praise God. For those that are at this altar today, the word of the Lord to you is that you wouldn't be here if you were a liar. You're here because truth is in you and you can recognize truth and you move towards truth. And Jesus said, you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free. You will know the truth. He is the truth. He said, I'm going to be make myself known to you. And I'm going to be intimately walking with you. And I will set you free. Now, you've got to claim that as your own today. You've got to claim it for those that are coming here today, that Jesus said it and that settles it in my heart. I'm going to be free, whatever your situation is. Now, he'll give you the power to walk away from that circumstance. Whatever it is that you're facing, he'll give you the power to walk away from it. And the Holy Spirit will bear witness to you. And you'll be able to come back into this house. Same time next week or wherever you're from, be able to visit the house of God and raise your hands. And there's no pretense now. It's not a fraud. There's truth in you. Truth is manifesting. You will know the Holy Spirit will bear witness to you in your own heart. You'll have this cry of a father that can only come from the Holy Spirit. And there'll be no trying to play games with God. There'll be an absolute clear channel to heaven. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thank you for your mercy. The scripture says that you're good and your mercy endures forever. Thank you for giving me the lesson. Of Acts chapter 5. Thank you for the knowledge that instead of carrying me out, you're carrying my sin out. You're carrying my old nature out. You're carrying everything out that tries to make a lie of my service to you. I lift my hands and I lift my heart. And I say, thank you, Father. Thank you for this new life. Thank you for forgiveness of my sin. Thank you for the power to walk a holy life. Thank you for grace when I stumbled. I've determined in my heart. Holy Spirit, I will never ask you to endorse a lie. I will come honestly before you. I will come honestly into your house. I will trust you for all the power and all the cleansing that I need to live a Christian life. Thank you, Lord. You will bear witness to me as I bear witness to you. Now, I let go of all the condemnation, all the fear, everything in the past. I let it go. And I look forward to a wonderful day ahead. I thank you, God, with all of my heart in Jesus name. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus. Now, one of the one of the first evidences of the Holy Spirit bearing witness to you is there is joy that comes into your heart that has nothing to do with your circumstance. It's a joy that only God can give. Would you take a moment and experience that joy? Would you take a moment, lift your voice in your hands, those that have lived especially under condemnation? Would you take a moment and experience that joy of the Lord?