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Family, we're in a series called "Wisdom and Wonder," walking through the Book of Matthew together—Matthew chapters 12 through 20. Today we're looking at Matthew chapter 15, verses 1 through 9.
I'm going to title this message: Counterfeit Righteousness—fake, phony, nauseating, and sickening.
Matthew writes: "Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 'Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.'"
Let me draw your attention to something important. The Pharisees were a group of religious elite from the first century. They came out before Jesus's time and became the pastors of Israel. They were a religious sect and a political party with great power and influence. The scribes partnered with them—they were responsible for copying and translating the scriptures that the Pharisees would preach.
Notice this: these men traveled nearly 90 miles from Jerusalem all the way to Galilee on foot or horseback just to confront Jesus about a doctrine dealing with his followers. By this point in Matthew's account—about two years into Christ's ministry—Jesus was famous, well-known, with great notoriety. The thorn that comes with increased influence is controversy, and people attacked him who didn't really know him.
What are "the traditions of the elders"? Over decades of time, the Pharisees and religious elite created oral laws, traditions, and man-made rules and regulations that they passed down from generation to generation. They used these to build an offense around God's word and to create additional righteousness outside of scripture.
By Jesus's time, this oral tradition had become codified into what would later be called the Mishnah. The Pharisees had exalted their laws and traditions even above the word of God. They taught these oral laws as authoritative, and people followed them. But here's the issue: they were breaking God's actual commandments to keep their own.
Now, there's nothing wrong with washing your hands before a meal. But this isn't that. The Pharisees took a ceremonial law that God gave to the priests alone—a washing before they handled sacred bread in God's house—and they lifted it out of context. They created a massive law and strapped it on the backs of everybody in Israel.
Preachers do this right now. We lift scriptures out of context and create man-made laws and regulations that we strap to the necks of Christians. So you have people always feeling guilty and burdened, doing all these things some "prophet" said, some "bishop" said, some "Apostle" said—things that aren't even in God's word.
You're always wrestling with guilt from something some man of God told you or some woman of God told you at some conference. So you're guilty all the time for stuff the Lord didn't even tell you to do.
I've seen this happening right now in America. There are false doctrines hiding behind the guise of "God said"—empty theological doctrines that cannot be supported by God's word.
How many times have you heard a preacher on social media say "God said," and what follows is some law they put on you that's not founded in Scripture? Someone hit me up this week saying some prophet told him it's sinful to go to the gym. I told him: brother, I spend five days a week in the gym. I listen to God's word while I'm there. I listen to worship music. I've had intimate encounters with God at the gym.
But this man was bound, feeling guilty, because someone made a man-made law and strapped it to his conscience. Some of you have been victims of this same thing—coming out of churches, reading books, going to conferences where somebody said "God said" and made you feel guilty about some behavior, rule, regulation, or practice you can't keep up with.
When you fall short, you feel guilty—but it's false guilt, because Scripture didn't even command it.
Now watch what happens. The disciples of Jesus—Jewish men—said nothing in response to this accusation. Why? Because they were following their leader, and their leader wasn't washing his hands either.
Luke tells us that while Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to come dine. When Jesus sat down, "the Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner." Luke shows us that Jesus had a habit of breaking the traditions of the elders. Jesus refused to be bound by the traditions and man-made rules of men who were immoral anyway.
I wish some of us would be more like our Savior—non-conformist to regulations, rules, legalism, and false doctrines of men that keep strapping burdens onto Christian life.
Some of you have built all these things into your Christian life that you have no Scripture for because you heard something at some conference or read something in some book. Someone told you if you don't do this, God is going to be mad at you. I just wish some of us would have the courage to break free from doctrines that are heretical and lies that men have created.
This is why I keep encouraging you to read the New Testament. Sit with this Bible so when you come across clips on social media, you can say, "Uh-uh, that ain't right. The Lord didn't say that."
Don't you get tired of people saying "God said" when what follows is not supported by Scripture? Someone gave him a revelation at 4 a.m. that's not supported by the Bible.
So whose authority am I submitted to? The prophet who says "This is the year God is going to give everybody a husband"? But you don't know who God intends to be single for another season. You can say that to an entire room, but can you support it with Scripture?
I'm trying to get some of you free from religious foolishness. Why don't you just go read Galatians and be free? Paul starts that book: "You foolish people! Who has bewitched you? Who have you been listening to?"
Why do you trust voices of people that never open the Bible? Is it because of fame and status? Because of a social media following? Some of you are like little dogs running behind popular people, and you never see them unpack Scripture. You just believe whatever they say.
You think they have some relationship with Christ that you can't have. You think they're hearing from God in a way you can't. You think they have some interpretation of Scripture that you can't get. You think because they have an accent, they're God's person. Because they're from a foreign country, they're God's person. Because they walk slow and wear flowy pants and speak well, you think what they're saying is doctrine.
But I come at you wearing Jordan's and a hoodie, walking you through the text line by line, verse by verse. Stop being impressed with oratory. Start being impressed with character, fruit, and Bible teaching.
I'm getting tired of seeing false prophets pillage the people of God. You drop ten thousand dollars for a book that has no Bible in it. You drop ten thousand dollars for a program that is not built on God's word. You think size means affirmed. You think crowds mean confirmed. You think Instagram followers mean something.
For lack of discernment, we substitute charisma for anointing. You think because somebody has charisma, or they're famous, or everybody is asking them to speak, that means they're anointed. But a king named Saul sat on a throne for thirteen years. When God stripped him of his anointing, he was still king—but he had no anointing.
Second Timothy chapter 3 says: "In the last days men will keep up for themselves teachers who will keep telling people what they want to hear." These are the teachers you keep exalting in our country. You have all these people that make you feel good while you're headed to hell at the same time.
So Jesus responds to the Pharisees in verse three: "Why do you break the Commandment of God for the sake of your traditions?"
Jesus uses an ancient rabbinic method of dealing with conflict: responding to a question with a question. The Pharisees asked, "How come your disciples don't wash their hands?" Jesus answers, "How come you break God's commandment with your traditions?"
In verse four, Jesus cites a commandment from His law: "God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.'"
This is the moral law of God that came from His hand to Moses on a mountain. This was the first thing God ever wrote—the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone. The first six governed our relationship with God; the last six governed relationships between people. Jesus cites the fifth commandment: "Honor your mother and father," which is the first commandment with a promise—"that your days may be long in the land."
Now, this word "honor" has nothing to do with feelings or criteria. It doesn't say, "Honor your mother and father if they were good," or "if they never abandoned you," or "if they weren't junkies." The only criteria for honor is "thus says the Lord."
You may not owe a parent access. You may not have to bring them into your home. But you are called to honor them, to respect them. This word "honor" means to care for them when they are elderly.
But now look at verse 5: "But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, 'What you would have gained from me is given to God,' he need not honor his father or his mother."
Oh my. Here's where it gets clear. The Pharisees created what's called the Corbin law. If you were wealthy or had resources, you could go to the temple and dedicate your resources to God and use that as a tax shelter.
So if your parents came to you begging for bread, you would say: "I can't help you, Mother or Father. I dedicated all my resources to God." The Pharisees created a man-made law to circumvent God's law. It was motivated by greed—the ability to keep everything they wanted to hoard for themselves.
They created their own law to circumvent God's law. They exalted that law to authority and strapped it to the people. Instead of being obedient to what God says, people became obedient to what the Pharisees said. They were violating God's word to be obedient to man's word.
As a result, the word of God had no power in the lives of God's people because they were following a false doctrine that had no virtue in it.
But here's what I need to tell you: the same thing is happening to you right now.
Many of us say that the word doesn't work for us because we're following teachings that are not in the Bible. We're guilty of doing the exact same thing.
We are guilty of creating laws in our own hearts to circumvent the laws of God. You hear something from God's word, and because it's inconvenient for you, you create your own law in your heart to circumvent God's laws. What we're really doing is creating shelters for sin and shelters for compromise.
You come across Scripture that says "Be holy before you get married," but that's inconvenient because you love your man. So you create your own law in your heart to circumvent God's laws.
Scripture says "Forgive." But because the person hurt you so badly, you create your own law that says you can hold someone in unforgiveness.
Scripture says "Be generous." But because it's your money, you create rationale in your heart to circumvent God's laws.
Over and over, throughout this room, you and I keep hearing sermons that make us feel convicted. You read something that makes you feel convicted. And instead of leaning in to be transformed, you create a law in your heart that says "I don't have to follow that because..." Then you create a shelter for your sin to live and for compromise to thrive.
I know a popular single pastor. If I called his name, you would know it. He said, allegedly, that we have to create a different gospel for single people because we can't really expect them to be holy until they get married. That's not realistic.
No. You're trying to create a shelter so you can preach doctrine and be in sin at the same time. You want to be able to preach holiness and then have relations with women on the front row at the same time and feel no guilt. You're trying to create another gospel to shelter your sin and your compromise.
We do the same thing all the time. How many times have you heard something from a platform, read something in Scripture, felt convicted—"Oh my gosh, the Lord is speaking"—and then made a decision: lean in to be changed by God, or create a law in your own mind that says "I know what the Bible says, but I ain't doing that"?
You create your own laws to circumvent God's laws, and then you make the power of the Bible of no effect in your life.
For you, it's only church but not transformation. You're stuck dealing with the same stuff because the word of God has no power in your life. Every time the Lord confronts you from the word, you create a law against His word.
Your boyfriend is a law against the word. Your girlfriend is a law against the word. The sin that you love is a law against the word. All the things God is trying to work out of you to transform you—you make laws against His word.
"Love your wife"? No, you make a law against that. "Be submitted to your husband"? You make a law against that. "Forgive"? You make a law against that. "Be generous"? You make a law against that.
I know you're squirming. I know you want to get out of the room. Isn't anybody inviting me anywhere to preach this way, because this is not inspirational. I know what you want. You want to be inspired. You want to feel good about yourself. You want to go to church and leave on cloud nine. You want to be inspired while you're headed to hell at the same time.
But Jesus said: "Many will come to me on that day and say, 'Lord, Lord, did we not do all these things in your name?' And I will tell them, 'Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.'"
You know where your false prophet is sending you? To the day of judgment, where you're going to hear: "Depart from me. I never knew you."
Every time you read and feel convicted, that's a good thing. It means your heart is still sensitive to God. Every time you feel convicted, know what the Lord is doing? He's trying to pull you in just a little bit closer. He's trying to love you just a little bit more.
For many of us with insecure ladies who keep looking for love horizontally, He's trying to show you love vertically first.
If there's no congruency between what we preach and what we live, the Lord said all of it is a waste of time. You're a hypocrite.
You've got everyone on Facebook fooled. You've got everyone on Instagram fooled. But I'm going to deal with you in the end, says God. You post that on Instagram, make it a clip. You got all this posting, all this preaching, all this singing and serving. And there's no congruency between what you say, what you post, and what you live. You're a hypocrite.
Jesus said: "If you love me, obey my commandments." The Lord attaches love to obedience.
When I read Scripture and I feel hurt, I ring up my heart and say, "Dang it, I've got to obey this." When I feel convicted, I say, "Dang it, I've got to ring out this thing in my life and obey it."
When Jesus says, "If you look at a woman with lust, you've committed adultery in your heart," and I've got lust in my heart, I say: "Dang it, man. I've got to keep ringing out this lust from my heart."
He says, "Forgive." Even if they raped you when you were twelve, you've got to let them go. You've got to ring out that unforgiveness.
He says, "Be holy as I'm holy." But my boyfriend is laying that pipe so good. But I'm going to have to shut it down and ring out that sin from my heart.
"But what if he leaves me?" If he leaves you because you're not giving him sex, he wasn't with you to begin with.
You're in no rush to get married because you're not feeling the pressure of holiness. There's no rush to forgive because you're not feeling the pressure of obeying God. There's no pressure to be generous with your money because you're not feeling the pressure of Scripture.
So you read and you reason away. Because of that, you've got all these shelters—these areas in your life where the word of God is not powerful.
Do you know why I'm talking to you like this? Because I don't want the Lord to call you a hypocrite.
Why am I being so serious about this? Because I'm trying to help as many American Christians as possible before I die start caring about something that American Christians don't care about.
You care about titles. You care about position. You care about status. You care about likes. You care about fame. You want people to buy your books. You want people to go to your conferences.
But you know what American Christians don't care about? Your witness.
It's what people see, feel, and know about you. A lot of us don't care about our witness. It takes years to build your witness, and it can be ruined in a moment.
Your witness is the authenticity of your confession. A lot of us do church and do sin because we don't care about our Christian witness.
I want people to not say, "He's a man of God because of his preaching only." I want people to say, "He's a man of God because I've been near him, I've been in his house, I've been around people who know him. And I hear the same story: the stuff he preaches is the stuff he lives."
That gives you credibility. It makes your words more powerful. You can't have anointing or power in your words when there's incongruence in your life.
You think I want to be up here preaching these truths and not living them? You think I want to deal with that judgment in the end?
Some of us parade sin. We see people sinning on social media, and you like their post and encourage it. You know why? Because you don't give a darn about your witness. Meanwhile, in private, people are looking at you saying, "I thought she was a woman of God. I thought he was a man of God." And you don't even know you're losing influence because your witness is being diminished by living a duplicitous life.
How many people out there don't want anything to do with God because they don't like you and they don't like me? They take God for a joke because His people are a joke.
This Christianity is so soft and so weak. We do Sunday, we float out, and do whatever we want. I want to say another word, but you all keep sending me emails.
Listen. The Lord died for you. He shed His blood for you. He saved you and filled you with His Spirit. Do you know what He went through to rescue you from hell? You couldn't do that for yourself.
For all He has done, the best we give Him is hypocrisy? How do we see what Jesus has done and not turn away from the cross and throw our whole life on this altar?
Too many of us have bought into an American Christianity that is bottom shelf—a Christianity of compromise that makes you feel comfortable in sin. It makes no demand on you to be holy.
I'm telling you: there is a better version of you. A more powerful version. A more anointed version. A more discerning version.
When you pray, God will answer—because the prayers of the righteous have great power. But you might say, "I've been praying and He doesn't move." You haven't read that He says if you love iniquity, He will not answer your prayers.
That's why you've been praying and He won't answer. Because you love sin.
There is a much better version of you. There's a better witness for you. The Lord wants better for you.
Hypocrisy is so whack. It's so lame. I would that the Lord would baptize you in this moment with a desire for authenticity—a desire to be real, a desire to run after Jesus with your whole heart.
I'm not talking about perfection. I'm talking about when you rise in the morning, your desire is to please the Lord. When you see things in you that aren't right, when you hear things coming out of your mouth that aren't right, when you have desires that aren't right—you're ringing those things out.
"Lord, this relationship—I'm ringing it out. Lord, I'm gossipy—I'm ringing that out. Lord, I love to slander people—I'm bringing that out. Lord, I'm more concerned about my business than your kingdom—I'm ringing that out."
Do I have to make you shout for you to feel good at the end of the message? Or can the weight of the word just sit on you for a moment? Can you hear Jesus saying: "My son, my daughter, I have a better life for you than that ratchet life you're living on the bottom shelf. You are a powerful woman on the inside. You are a powerful man on the inside. You have no idea what I would do with you if you would just live for me for real. Give me authenticity. Give me your heart. And watch what I do with your life. Just watch."
This is what the Lord called people who keep creating laws to circumvent the Bible. In verse seven, Jesus said to the Pharisees: "You hypocrites. You fake Christians. You fake preachers. You fake prophets. You fake Apostles."
God said all of this—all the crowds, all the conferences, all the books, all the podcasts—is a waste of time. You're spending tens of thousands of dollars on programs and books. You're coming before the Lord with dirty hands.
The Lord said: "If your mouth does not match your life, all of it is a waste. I will call you a hypocrite. You've got everybody on Facebook fooled. You've got everybody on Instagram fooled. But I'm going to deal with you in the end."
It's laughable how many Sundays, sermons, services, and churches are doing church—all of it is a joke in the eyes of God. A laughing stock.
Not my church. Not 2819. Not a church that I lead. We're not going to be a laughing stock. If I have to fight like heck to raise up an army of men and women who say, "I know I've got issues, but for what He has done for me, I'm going to live for Him with my whole heart"—that's what we're going to be.
Time is running out. The Lord died for you. He rescued you from hell. He saved you and filled you with His Spirit. Give Him authenticity. Give Him your heart. Run after Him with everything you've got. That's what He deserves. That's what the blood demands. That's what the cross requires.
Will you give your whole heart to Christ?
Family, we're in a series called "Wisdom and Wonder," walking through the Book of Matthew together—Matthew chapters 12 through 20. Today we're looking at Matthew chapter 15, verses 1 through 9.
I'm going to title this message: Counterfeit Righteousness—fake, phony, nauseating, and sickening.
Matthew writes: "Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 'Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.'"
Let me draw your attention to something important. The Pharisees were a group of religious elite from the first century. They came out before Jesus's time and became the pastors of Israel. They were a religious sect and a political party with great power and influence. The scribes partnered with them—they were responsible for copying and translating the scriptures that the Pharisees would preach.
Notice this: these men traveled nearly 90 miles from Jerusalem all the way to Galilee on foot or horseback just to confront Jesus about a doctrine dealing with his followers. By this point in Matthew's account—about two years into Christ's ministry—Jesus was famous, well-known, with great notoriety. The thorn that comes with increased influence is controversy, and people attacked him who didn't really know him.
What are "the traditions of the elders"? Over decades of time, the Pharisees and religious elite created oral laws, traditions, and man-made rules and regulations that they passed down from generation to generation. They used these to build an offense around God's word and to create additional righteousness outside of scripture.
By Jesus's time, this oral tradition had become codified into what would later be called the Mishnah. The Pharisees had exalted their laws and traditions even above the word of God. They taught these oral laws as authoritative, and people followed them. But here's the issue: they were breaking God's actual commandments to keep their own.
Now, there's nothing wrong with washing your hands before a meal. But this isn't that. The Pharisees took a ceremonial law that God gave to the priests alone—a washing before they handled sacred bread in God's house—and they lifted it out of context. They created a massive law and strapped it on the backs of everybody in Israel.
Preachers do this right now. We lift scriptures out of context and create man-made laws and regulations that we strap to the necks of Christians. So you have people always feeling guilty and burdened, doing all these things some "prophet" said, some "bishop" said, some "Apostle" said—things that aren't even in God's word.
You're always wrestling with guilt from something some man of God told you or some woman of God told you at some conference. So you're guilty all the time for stuff the Lord didn't even tell you to do.
I've seen this happening right now in America. There are false doctrines hiding behind the guise of "God said"—empty theological doctrines that cannot be supported by God's word.
How many times have you heard a preacher on social media say "God said," and what follows is some law they put on you that's not founded in Scripture? Someone hit me up this week saying some prophet told him it's sinful to go to the gym. I told him: brother, I spend five days a week in the gym. I listen to God's word while I'm there. I listen to worship music. I've had intimate encounters with God at the gym.
But this man was bound, feeling guilty, because someone made a man-made law and strapped it to his conscience. Some of you have been victims of this same thing—coming out of churches, reading books, going to conferences where somebody said "God said" and made you feel guilty about some behavior, rule, regulation, or practice you can't keep up with.
When you fall short, you feel guilty—but it's false guilt, because Scripture didn't even command it.
Now watch what happens. The disciples of Jesus—Jewish men—said nothing in response to this accusation. Why? Because they were following their leader, and their leader wasn't washing his hands either.
Luke tells us that while Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to come dine. When Jesus sat down, "the Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner." Luke shows us that Jesus had a habit of breaking the traditions of the elders. Jesus refused to be bound by the traditions and man-made rules of men who were immoral anyway.
I wish some of us would be more like our Savior—non-conformist to regulations, rules, legalism, and false doctrines of men that keep strapping burdens onto Christian life.
Some of you have built all these things into your Christian life that you have no Scripture for because you heard something at some conference or read something in some book. Someone told you if you don't do this, God is going to be mad at you. I just wish some of us would have the courage to break free from doctrines that are heretical and lies that men have created.
This is why I keep encouraging you to read the New Testament. Sit with this Bible so when you come across clips on social media, you can say, "Uh-uh, that ain't right. The Lord didn't say that."
Don't you get tired of people saying "God said" when what follows is not supported by Scripture? Someone gave him a revelation at 4 a.m. that's not supported by the Bible.
So whose authority am I submitted to? The prophet who says "This is the year God is going to give everybody a husband"? But you don't know who God intends to be single for another season. You can say that to an entire room, but can you support it with Scripture?
I'm trying to get some of you free from religious foolishness. Why don't you just go read Galatians and be free? Paul starts that book: "You foolish people! Who has bewitched you? Who have you been listening to?"
Why do you trust voices of people that never open the Bible? Is it because of fame and status? Because of a social media following? Some of you are like little dogs running behind popular people, and you never see them unpack Scripture. You just believe whatever they say.
You think they have some relationship with Christ that you can't have. You think they're hearing from God in a way you can't. You think they have some interpretation of Scripture that you can't get. You think because they have an accent, they're God's person. Because they're from a foreign country, they're God's person. Because they walk slow and wear flowy pants and speak well, you think what they're saying is doctrine.
But I come at you wearing Jordan's and a hoodie, walking you through the text line by line, verse by verse. Stop being impressed with oratory. Start being impressed with character, fruit, and Bible teaching.
I'm getting tired of seeing false prophets pillage the people of God. You drop ten thousand dollars for a book that has no Bible in it. You drop ten thousand dollars for a program that is not built on God's word. You think size means affirmed. You think crowds mean confirmed. You think Instagram followers mean something.
For lack of discernment, we substitute charisma for anointing. You think because somebody has charisma, or they're famous, or everybody is asking them to speak, that means they're anointed. But a king named Saul sat on a throne for thirteen years. When God stripped him of his anointing, he was still king—but he had no anointing.
Second Timothy chapter 3 says: "In the last days men will keep up for themselves teachers who will keep telling people what they want to hear." These are the teachers you keep exalting in our country. You have all these people that make you feel good while you're headed to hell at the same time.
So Jesus responds to the Pharisees in verse three: "Why do you break the Commandment of God for the sake of your traditions?"
Jesus uses an ancient rabbinic method of dealing with conflict: responding to a question with a question. The Pharisees asked, "How come your disciples don't wash their hands?" Jesus answers, "How come you break God's commandment with your traditions?"
In verse four, Jesus cites a commandment from His law: "God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.'"
This is the moral law of God that came from His hand to Moses on a mountain. This was the first thing God ever wrote—the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone. The first six governed our relationship with God; the last six governed relationships between people. Jesus cites the fifth commandment: "Honor your mother and father," which is the first commandment with a promise—"that your days may be long in the land."
Now, this word "honor" has nothing to do with feelings or criteria. It doesn't say, "Honor your mother and father if they were good," or "if they never abandoned you," or "if they weren't junkies." The only criteria for honor is "thus says the Lord."
You may not owe a parent access. You may not have to bring them into your home. But you are called to honor them, to respect them. This word "honor" means to care for them when they are elderly.
But now look at verse 5: "But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, 'What you would have gained from me is given to God,' he need not honor his father or his mother."
Oh my. Here's where it gets clear. The Pharisees created what's called the Corbin law. If you were wealthy or had resources, you could go to the temple and dedicate your resources to God and use that as a tax shelter.
So if your parents came to you begging for bread, you would say: "I can't help you, Mother or Father. I dedicated all my resources to God." The Pharisees created a man-made law to circumvent God's law. It was motivated by greed—the ability to keep everything they wanted to hoard for themselves.
They created their own law to circumvent God's law. They exalted that law to authority and strapped it to the people. Instead of being obedient to what God says, people became obedient to what the Pharisees said. They were violating God's word to be obedient to man's word.
As a result, the word of God had no power in the lives of God's people because they were following a false doctrine that had no virtue in it.
But here's what I need to tell you: the same thing is happening to you right now.
Many of us say that the word doesn't work for us because we're following teachings that are not in the Bible. We're guilty of doing the exact same thing.
We are guilty of creating laws in our own hearts to circumvent the laws of God. You hear something from God's word, and because it's inconvenient for you, you create your own law in your heart to circumvent God's laws. What we're really doing is creating shelters for sin and shelters for compromise.
You come across Scripture that says "Be holy before you get married," but that's inconvenient because you love your man. So you create your own law in your heart to circumvent God's laws.
Scripture says "Forgive." But because the person hurt you so badly, you create your own law that says you can hold someone in unforgiveness.
Scripture says "Be generous." But because it's your money, you create rationale in your heart to circumvent God's laws.
Over and over, throughout this room, you and I keep hearing sermons that make us feel convicted. You read something that makes you feel convicted. And instead of leaning in to be transformed, you create a law in your heart that says "I don't have to follow that because..." Then you create a shelter for your sin to live and for compromise to thrive.
I know a popular single pastor. If I called his name, you would know it. He said, allegedly, that we have to create a different gospel for single people because we can't really expect them to be holy until they get married. That's not realistic.
No. You're trying to create a shelter so you can preach doctrine and be in sin at the same time. You want to be able to preach holiness and then have relations with women on the front row at the same time and feel no guilt. You're trying to create another gospel to shelter your sin and your compromise.
We do the same thing all the time. How many times have you heard something from a platform, read something in Scripture, felt convicted—"Oh my gosh, the Lord is speaking"—and then made a decision: lean in to be changed by God, or create a law in your own mind that says "I know what the Bible says, but I ain't doing that"?
You create your own laws to circumvent God's laws, and then you make the power of the Bible of no effect in your life.
For you, it's only church but not transformation. You're stuck dealing with the same stuff because the word of God has no power in your life. Every time the Lord confronts you from the word, you create a law against His word.
Your boyfriend is a law against the word. Your girlfriend is a law against the word. The sin that you love is a law against the word. All the things God is trying to work out of you to transform you—you make laws against His word.
"Love your wife"? No, you make a law against that. "Be submitted to your husband"? You make a law against that. "Forgive"? You make a law against that. "Be generous"? You make a law against that.
I know you're squirming. I know you want to get out of the room. Isn't anybody inviting me anywhere to preach this way, because this is not inspirational. I know what you want. You want to be inspired. You want to feel good about yourself. You want to go to church and leave on cloud nine. You want to be inspired while you're headed to hell at the same time.
But Jesus said: "Many will come to me on that day and say, 'Lord, Lord, did we not do all these things in your name?' And I will tell them, 'Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.'"
You know where your false prophet is sending you? To the day of judgment, where you're going to hear: "Depart from me. I never knew you."
Every time you read and feel convicted, that's a good thing. It means your heart is still sensitive to God. Every time you feel convicted, know what the Lord is doing? He's trying to pull you in just a little bit closer. He's trying to love you just a little bit more.
For many of us with insecure ladies who keep looking for love horizontally, He's trying to show you love vertically first.
If there's no congruency between what we preach and what we live, the Lord said all of it is a waste of time. You're a hypocrite.
You've got everyone on Facebook fooled. You've got everyone on Instagram fooled. But I'm going to deal with you in the end, says God. You post that on Instagram, make it a clip. You got all this posting, all this preaching, all this singing and serving. And there's no congruency between what you say, what you post, and what you live. You're a hypocrite.
Jesus said: "If you love me, obey my commandments." The Lord attaches love to obedience.
When I read Scripture and I feel hurt, I ring up my heart and say, "Dang it, I've got to obey this." When I feel convicted, I say, "Dang it, I've got to ring out this thing in my life and obey it."
When Jesus says, "If you look at a woman with lust, you've committed adultery in your heart," and I've got lust in my heart, I say: "Dang it, man. I've got to keep ringing out this lust from my heart."
He says, "Forgive." Even if they raped you when you were twelve, you've got to let them go. You've got to ring out that unforgiveness.
He says, "Be holy as I'm holy." But my boyfriend is laying that pipe so good. But I'm going to have to shut it down and ring out that sin from my heart.
"But what if he leaves me?" If he leaves you because you're not giving him sex, he wasn't with you to begin with.
You're in no rush to get married because you're not feeling the pressure of holiness. There's no rush to forgive because you're not feeling the pressure of obeying God. There's no pressure to be generous with your money because you're not feeling the pressure of Scripture.
So you read and you reason away. Because of that, you've got all these shelters—these areas in your life where the word of God is not powerful.
Do you know why I'm talking to you like this? Because I don't want the Lord to call you a hypocrite.
Why am I being so serious about this? Because I'm trying to help as many American Christians as possible before I die start caring about something that American Christians don't care about.
You care about titles. You care about position. You care about status. You care about likes. You care about fame. You want people to buy your books. You want people to go to your conferences.
But you know what American Christians don't care about? Your witness.
It's what people see, feel, and know about you. A lot of us don't care about our witness. It takes years to build your witness, and it can be ruined in a moment.
Your witness is the authenticity of your confession. A lot of us do church and do sin because we don't care about our Christian witness.
I want people to not say, "He's a man of God because of his preaching only." I want people to say, "He's a man of God because I've been near him, I've been in his house, I've been around people who know him. And I hear the same story: the stuff he preaches is the stuff he lives."
That gives you credibility. It makes your words more powerful. You can't have anointing or power in your words when there's incongruence in your life.
You think I want to be up here preaching these truths and not living them? You think I want to deal with that judgment in the end?
Some of us parade sin. We see people sinning on social media, and you like their post and encourage it. You know why? Because you don't give a darn about your witness. Meanwhile, in private, people are looking at you saying, "I thought she was a woman of God. I thought he was a man of God." And you don't even know you're losing influence because your witness is being diminished by living a duplicitous life.
How many people out there don't want anything to do with God because they don't like you and they don't like me? They take God for a joke because His people are a joke.
This Christianity is so soft and so weak. We do Sunday, we float out, and do whatever we want. I want to say another word, but you all keep sending me emails.
Listen. The Lord died for you. He shed His blood for you. He saved you and filled you with His Spirit. Do you know what He went through to rescue you from hell? You couldn't do that for yourself.
For all He has done, the best we give Him is hypocrisy? How do we see what Jesus has done and not turn away from the cross and throw our whole life on this altar?
Too many of us have bought into an American Christianity that is bottom shelf—a Christianity of compromise that makes you feel comfortable in sin. It makes no demand on you to be holy.
I'm telling you: there is a better version of you. A more powerful version. A more anointed version. A more discerning version.
When you pray, God will answer—because the prayers of the righteous have great power. But you might say, "I've been praying and He doesn't move." You haven't read that He says if you love iniquity, He will not answer your prayers.
That's why you've been praying and He won't answer. Because you love sin.
There is a much better version of you. There's a better witness for you. The Lord wants better for you.
Hypocrisy is so whack. It's so lame. I would that the Lord would baptize you in this moment with a desire for authenticity—a desire to be real, a desire to run after Jesus with your whole heart.
I'm not talking about perfection. I'm talking about when you rise in the morning, your desire is to please the Lord. When you see things in you that aren't right, when you hear things coming out of your mouth that aren't right, when you have desires that aren't right—you're ringing those things out.
"Lord, this relationship—I'm ringing it out. Lord, I'm gossipy—I'm ringing that out. Lord, I love to slander people—I'm bringing that out. Lord, I'm more concerned about my business than your kingdom—I'm ringing that out."
Do I have to make you shout for you to feel good at the end of the message? Or can the weight of the word just sit on you for a moment? Can you hear Jesus saying: "My son, my daughter, I have a better life for you than that ratchet life you're living on the bottom shelf. You are a powerful woman on the inside. You are a powerful man on the inside. You have no idea what I would do with you if you would just live for me for real. Give me authenticity. Give me your heart. And watch what I do with your life. Just watch."
This is what the Lord called people who keep creating laws to circumvent the Bible. In verse seven, Jesus said to the Pharisees: "You hypocrites. You fake Christians. You fake preachers. You fake prophets. You fake Apostles."
God said all of this—all the crowds, all the conferences, all the books, all the podcasts—is a waste of time. You're spending tens of thousands of dollars on programs and books. You're coming before the Lord with dirty hands.
The Lord said: "If your mouth does not match your life, all of it is a waste. I will call you a hypocrite. You've got everybody on Facebook fooled. You've got everybody on Instagram fooled. But I'm going to deal with you in the end."
It's laughable how many Sundays, sermons, services, and churches are doing church—all of it is a joke in the eyes of God. A laughing stock.
Not my church. Not 2819. Not a church that I lead. We're not going to be a laughing stock. If I have to fight like heck to raise up an army of men and women who say, "I know I've got issues, but for what He has done for me, I'm going to live for Him with my whole heart"—that's what we're going to be.
Time is running out. The Lord died for you. He rescued you from hell. He saved you and filled you with His Spirit. Give Him authenticity. Give Him your heart. Run after Him with everything you've got. That's what He deserves. That's what the blood demands. That's what the cross requires.
Will you give your whole heart to Christ?
