God hates willfull hypocrites.

Jesus speaks out against the hypocritical teachers very strongly in Matthew chapter 23. It is clear that God hates hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when our inside doesn't line up with our outside. It is when we declare what is true and right. Then we yourselves do not apply what we have declared as true and right. Even worse, we condemn what other do and think while we are no different. Hypocrites are usually proud while pretending to be humble. Hypocrites love the praise of people more than the praise of God.

There are two kinds of hypocrites. There are intentional hypocrites who know full well what they are doing and have no remorse. There is unintentional hypocrites who because of weakness do not match up inside and out.

We the church need to speak out against those who are hypocrites. Hypocrites who know full well what they are doing, but no desire to repent. Jesus says, we are not to have any fellowship or relationship with this kind of hypocrite.

Yet, those who are weak in the faith and walk with Jesus, we must gently speak to them and encourage them to turn away from their sinful way.

SEVEN STEPS TO CHANGING THE FUTURE (by Michael Cavanaugh)

I. Get the power to change.

Acts 1:7 - "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

     A. Power to believe.

Matthew 17:20 - "He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

    B. Power to live righteous lives.

James 5:16 - "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

    C. Power to defeat Satan.

Luke 10:19-20 - " I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

II. Pray God's will.

1 John 5:14-15 - "
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."

To know God's will we must know the Word of God and seek Him.
  
Matthew 7:7 - " Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Acts 17:27 - " God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."

III. Proclaim God's will.

Mark 11:23-24 - “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

IV. Plan for the future God has shown you.

Proverbs 21:5 - " The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

     A.  Invite God to give you His plans.

Proverbs 16:3 - "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."

    B. Seek Godly advice.

Proverbs 15:22 - "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."

    C. Take steps of action.

V. Persevere through short term pain.

Psalms 105:17-19 - "and he sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true."

Vision keeps leaders empowered and thorns keep leaders authentic. 

VI. Praise God for the future.

    A. Joshua and the people of Israel praised God until the walls fell down.
    B. Paul & Silas praised God, and the prison doors were opened.

In conclusion:

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, then to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much or suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat."  (Theodore Roosevelt)

 



 

WHAT HAVE YOU LOST UNAWARE

Sometimes we lose things unaware that we lost them until later. This is what happened to Samson.

Judges 15:14-15 - "As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men."

Here we see Samson empowered by the Spirit of the Lord kill 1,000 Philistines.

Judges 16:20-21 - "Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison."

Here Samson thinking that he would go out in the power of the Spirit once again to destroy the enemies of God which he had done so many times in the past. Yet, he was unaware that the Spirit of God had left him because Delilah had cut his hair while sleeping which broke the Nazirite vow he had made.

What have you might of lost unaware in your relationship with the Father?

You may have lost hope and faith. Maybe you have lost your first love and zeal for God. 

 

Revelation 2:4-5 - "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.  Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."

 

Maybe you have lost your integrity and holiness. Possibly you have lost that intimacy you once had with the Father.

We must seek those things that we have lost and reclaim them for ourselves that we may continue to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Just because God used you in the past does not mean that he will automatically use you now. 

 

Our power in Christ is dependent on us remaining in Him and He remaining in us. It is dependent on a right relationship with God.

In Numbers 14:37-45, we see the people of Isreal refused ot go into the promise land because of the negative report of the spies. Therefore, God judges the spies. Then the people recognized their sin and decided to go up and take the land of Canaan despite God forbidding them to do so. Therefore, they went up to battle without the presence of the Lord and were defeated.

 

Never take for granted that past victories will bring you future victories. Never take the Holy Spirit for granted.