The Downfall of a Double Life
by Kevin Allen
June 2, 2020 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 8:11, James 1:8, 1 Kings 3:1, Deuteronomy 17:14-17, 1 Corinthians 10, James 4:7, 2 Timothy 2:22, 2 Chronicles 8:11, Luke 16, 1 Kings 11:1-4

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--the-downfall-of-a-double-life
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Chronicles chapter 8 verse number 11 reads this way. It says, Solomon moved his wife Pharaoh's daughter from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. He said, my wife must not live in the King David's palace, for the Ark of the Lord has been there and it is holy ground. Then James chapter 1 verse number 8 says this: a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. And for just a few minutes I would like to preach on this subject: the downfall of a double life. The downfall of another life.

Jesus, you've been good to us already. You've touched our lives. You've heard our prayers. You've walked among us. Now God, I pray that you would anoint us to receive your word right now. Let us apply it in our lives, draw closer to you, that you will be done. In Jesus name and amen.

We've heard sayings in our life, things like, you can't have your cake and eat it too. But usually we want the cake not just to look at. We won't enjoy it. The implication is you can't always get everything you want. Now I think most everybody in the room has that part figured out, at least you should. Now there's some young ones in the room that haven't figured that out. You know, if you don't believe me, just hang out with a two or three-year-old. But outside of that, we have a little forgiveness, little lenience there. But once you kind of get above three, the expectation is that you begin to understand that life doesn't always work out exactly the way you want. Now we have heard it being said to us that those things don't always play out the way you want. Life has with it choices. How many people like choices? It's not a trick question. Let me, people like choices. Yeah, we like choices. Now we can have, you know, for some in the room, there there can be too many choices. Now if you're one of those kind of people, I get it. Into one of those kind of people, no, she needs two or three at the most and then we can move forward. And if you have more than that, it gets complicated. Now for me, I'm the guy that likes to all 31 flavors of baskin-robbins. I want at least have the option to refuse it. That's how I like things in my life. But but choices bring with it consequences, and that's the part you don't get to choose. You can make a choice. You can make a decision. But the consequences that lie on the other side that decision, oftentimes are out of your control. That's why it's good that you make the best choice in life, especially when it comes to things that have big implications and major decisions. Don't just go haphazardly in, but think about the choice you're making and understand that there's something on the other side of that choice, and those consequences, usually you don't get to control.

My mom has two brothers. Her oldest brother, his name is Buddy. And many years ago he went into the armed services, went into basic training. When he got out of basic training, it was kind of a celebration time, having survived the basic training. He had developed new friendships while he was there, and and it's with this new group of friends, they kind of went out for a night on the town. Now in the middle of their being on the night on the town, they left one establishment, and one of his new friends ran into a friend. So it's a friend of a friend story. And the friend of a friend was sitting there in a nice new bright shiny new car. They were all looking at the new car, and I bought a new car. Well, the friend of a friend, I, he said, hey guys, you guys want to go for a ride? So they decided, well yeah, we'd love to go for a ride. And they they get in the new car and they head out around town in the new car and then joined this new ride. And and all of a sudden they have police officer that's pulling them over. And come to find out, the car was stolen. The friend of a friend stole the car. Now the times are different. This was this was this was back in the 60s when this took place. I know for some of you always say back in the 60s, like that's that's not a big deal. But for some of us, back in the 60s was before I was born, so I'm being easy, broken some pretty easy. But back then, they they they were a little bit, a little more harsh in treatment. And my uncle, I ended up spending time in the federal penitentiary simply because he was associated with the friend of a friend. So we don't always get to determine the outcome of our choices in life. Or he was just out with his friends, made him basic training, and friend of a friends there, he's got a new car, hey let's go for a ride, and next thing you know he's spending time in the federal penitentiary because of a choice. And I bring that story up to tell you: you don't always get the option to pick the consequences on the other side of your decision.

Our opening scripture I read in you is about King Solomon. And the life of Solomon is a fascinating story to me to read in the scriptures. But in this instance was a reading about about Solomon's choice. He was moving his wife, that we know his fate Roe's daughter, away from the City of David. He's moving outside of Jerusalem. And we see in this verse that he has a built for her a new palace. I want devimon throwing that verse back up there again. In said chronicles 1811: Solomon moved his wife Pharaoh's daughter from the city David to the new palace he had built for her. All right, so everybody is so far, you're onboard with me, right? Just kind of give me a little wave, or you know, good getting out or something, that you know you're still awake in right now. That doesn't really make a whole lot of sense because you're picking up in the middle of the story. So as often as I do, I try my best to go backwards to give you context for why that verse was written. So to start was go back to the beginning of Solomon and his story with Pharaoh's daughter. His first kings chapter 3 verse number 1, it says this: now Solomon made a treaty with favor of the king of Egypt and married Pharaoh's daughter. Then he brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. Now this is very interesting to me, as someone who spent some time studying the scriptures in my life, that where this story is actually placed in Solomon's life. Now for the theologians in the room, those who have read through the scriptures many times, you'll know that in 1st Kings chapter 3 is when you see really the beginning developing story of Solomon in his life. Now if you read the whole chapter, you understand that this is when he has the encounter with God. And in for the churchy people in the room and those that listen online, you'll understand that the encounter with God was
 the moment when God was talking with Solomon in a dream, and he asked Solomon, what is it that you want of me? Now how awesome would that be? Oh come on guys, are you with me? How awesome would it be for God to say to you, what would you, David, what would you like for me? It's basically God saying, there's a blank check, what would you like? And we know that Solomon has this powerful moment, right? It's so great how he responds in this moment, because he doesn't ask for a billion dollars. He doesn't ask for be the most famous man that ever lived. Now what does he ask for, this beautiful brilliant answer? He says, God, would you please give me wisdom? Give me discernment, because you have made me to rule over your people, and such a people that it is. And we know how my father was, King David. He was King David. It was King David. It was the king. If you talk about a king is where you talk about King David. That's my dad. I have two big shoes to fill, and I don't know that I can do it right. I don't know that I have the ability. So God, if you're really going to ask me what it is that I want, my desire would be that I would be able to decide, I would have wisdom, I would have knowledge, to just govern the people. Star student Solomon. God is so moved by that answer that he says, not only will I give you that, but I'm going to make you stupid rich, and I'm going to make you famous in the whole world, because you had such a good answer. Now I don't know about you, but I want to pray that kind of prayer. But God says, that's such a great prayer that I'm going to give you extra stuff. So this is what we're dealing with now.

Now that I've explained that to you, and hopefully I've been a little bit more energetic and got you tuned into me, that all took place after the treaty. The chapter starts off, Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh. He hasn't had the good prayer yet. He hasn't had a star student moment yet. Before we get to that monumental time he has with God, we have to deal with what he did in verse 1: he made a treaty with Pharaoh of Egypt for his daughter. Now that I've got you and given you that little bit of knowledge, if you let it sink in for just a minute, the whole story about Solomon being wise and smart, why did he make this choice? You see, this is only the second time that Pharaoh's even mentioned since the book of Deuteronomy. He hasn't come back up. And for those that have been around church, you know that the book of Deuteronomy was them getting out of Egypt and God dealing with him and then setting them on track for what the promised land. Egypt was, what what was it, representative of sin and bondage and enslavement, right? They were done. Pharaoh had already been conquered. Remember, he drowned in the Red Sea, him in his army, because God is a mighty deliverer. He had heard their cry, and God had kept his word and performed things in a miraculous way. But here we are again. Mr. smartypants is making a deal with the enemy. King David, Solomon's father, had secured peace and all the kingdom. Why is Solomon feeling like he has to make a treaty? There's peace. What is Solomon thinking about in this moment? Why are you going back to where you were delivered from, Solomon? It doesn't make sense. What are you looking for? What rationale is driving this? What's what's behind the decision in your life?

To me, there was no reason to seek alliance. But could it be this: Salomon, in his way of thinking, was preparing a back-up plan in case God didn't show up, in case things didn't work out the way it had worked out with his father. Solomon trying to be proactive. Solomon trying to work things out his own way, just in case God doesn't keep his word. In case the surrounding nation attacks, maybe Solomon was thinking, I feel like it would be a good idea if I had Pharaoh and his army in my back pocket. And the best way I know I could do that is I'll enter into a treaty with him and I'll marry his daughter, because if if if his daughter's there, surely he won't turn his back on his son-in-law. We have to be very careful, because entrusting the wrong person, it's really a lack of trust in God. And what I see unfolding here in my mind, there's the downfall of Solomon's life, as he's trying to work every angle out. He's trying to remove every bit of risk that you can possibly have in life. And I want you to know, that's an impossible task. Sometimes you're just gonna have to trust that God is going to do what he said he's going to do. You're just gonna have to believe that God will show up. If he hasn't showed up yet, and you got word that he said he was going to show up, some part faith has to play an operation in your life. I do not see this is Solomon having faith that the Egyptian army can deliver a victory. I see this as a lack of faith in God's ability to provide and protect.

God is looking for you and I to trust, to trust that he's going to do what he's gonna do, and he's will come through when he is ready and when he wants to move. God made a provision in the law of Moses that no king of Israel she make any affinity with Egypt. In Deuteronomy chapter 17 verse 14 we read: when you come to the land which the Lord your God has given you, know what you, this fee Bible scholars, I feel like some of you, this may be the first time you really read this first, because about time you get this far in your Bible reading plan, you're cross-eyed. You survive leviticus, and you're just numb. I just say dumb. I said numb. And because you can miss out something very important here, because when we get into Samuel and they're crying out for a king, and we're like, what's wrong with you? Well, God already told them they were going to do that right here. Look: when you come to the land which the Lord your God has given you and possess it and dwell in it and say, I will set a king over me like the other nations around me. That wasn't new. And Samuel, they were talking about it, Deuteronomy. He shall surely set the king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. One from among your brethren you shall set us king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not of your brother. Now that will got through what's going on with the king. Now look at verse 16: but he's sho, not, everybody say not, he shall not multiply horses for himself, no cause of people to return to, we're to multiple horses, for the Lord has said that you should not return that way again. You shall not return that way again. You shall not go back to Egypt again. Neither shall he multiply Wasser himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he greatly multiply silver ago for
 himself. God knew that if they went back that way again, if you go back to the thing I've delivered you from, you're gonna struggle. You're gonna get ensnared. You're going to get a trap. Don't go back there, because if you do, it's a sign that that King does not trust God to protect Israel. The King was to have no accord with the kingdom that once enslaved them. You have to, you have been delivered of the chains of slavery. You have been set free. Why would you go back? If you have a promise from God to trust him, do not lean on your own understanding. Don't lie our flesh to operate and rule the day in your life. Some things you need to know: that the Word of God has said something about it, I don't even have to fully understand it. I'll need to learn to trust what the Word of God has said, because in the end everything else will fade away, but his word will stand the test of time. If you have a promise from God, trust him. God is not a plan A. God is the plan. There is no other options. There's no other B, C, D or E. It's just God. I'm going to trust him, because that's the plan that I can build my life on.

I know this seems like I'm talking in simple terms, but how many times in life have we've been guilty of returning the very thing that we were once bound by? How many times, how many listening to me today, are guilty of using their own strength, their own money, their own ability, their own relationships, their own way, to try to fix a problem, and they only end up making it worse? Maybe I'm the only one in the room, but I'll tell you, I'll try to do that multiple times, and it's very frustrating, aggravating and disappointing, when I should have distrusted God the whole time and allowed his word to be true. I'm I'm myself guilty of exhausting and trying to resolve problems, all the while God is standing there saying, I'm the answer. If you'll just turn around, I'm right here. So I'm tired of spending energy on plans that are simply defective, that fall apart because they don't include God in them. If God's not in it, I'm not for it. If God's not in it, I'm not for it. It's all just a fool's errand and a waste of time. If God's not in it, I want to go on record and say today that I'm really bad at being God. Any time we try to do things ourselves, that means we're only trying to be God in our life. I'm really bad at being God. Being hard-headed and determined will usually leave you frustrated, confused and disappointed. But I've learned that trusting God first works out way better than using him as a last resort. And I feel like I'm pulling this somebody today, and I'm trying to tell you: quit using God as the last resort. Let him be the only option you have in your life. And if he hasn't spoke yet, then stay at his feet until he talks to you. And if he hasn't spoken, don't move.

Solomon, he's gonna bring his new bride home. He brings you in the city of Jerusalem. Even he brings home a wife that's not a Israelite. He goes against the Word of God directly. He's told not to do that. There are some that decide that God doesn't always know what's best for them. Now there's something here, and I don't want you to overlook it. She only stayed in Jerusalem until he finished his own house in the temple. That's the information we got. That's how long she stayed there. Our God is a God of separation. He has always been that way. He always will be that way. That's his desire. God has brought Israel out of Egypt, but here we see Solomon bringing Egypt back into Israel. Egypt, that representation of sin. The Apostle Paul equated in the New Testament, salvation, 1st Corinthians chapter 10, comparing the crossing of the Red Sea as baptism. Why? Because God was delivering them. He was bringing them out of something in their life. However, we see Solomon bringing Egyptian influence back into Israel. We have to be very careful about allowing previous sin back into our lives. You better be very careful. Some of the most dangerous sins are subtle at first. And just because God delivers you from a sin, sin can easily find its way back into your life by disguising itself as something good. Do not play around with a former slave master that God has liberated you from. You can become enslaved again under a new banner and think you're in good standings, all the while you're under the yoke and the burden of sin, and it is beating you down one more time. That's why, when God has delivered you from something, don't ever go back to Egypt again.

James 4:7 says: therefore submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Now most Apple stock churches, you say that Burson, people run laps, go crazy. Because I can resist the devil, he can flee from me. I can look at him and say, in Jesus name, and he's got to do and bow down and do everything. I got, the verse says submit to God. You can't override how it's written. If you're not submitted to God, you can say in Jesus name all you won't, it doesn't work, because he knows you're not submitted to the one that the authority flows from. Now, I can get out here, and I can, I got a dark blue suburban. I didn't pick it out. It was just, it was the best buy when I was buying suburban, and I bought it. And it's this dark blue, and it's got dark tinted windows. None of that was my doing. I just bought it because it was the best deal. But it looks a whole lot like an undercover police car. It's interesting to watch how many people slam their brakes on when I Drive. It's funny, you watch them. When I get out, users, they're looking at you like, now what's funny is, a lot of times I'm wearing suits and tile, so it's even funnier watching them. When I get out, they're like, oh yeah, that's, now here's the deal. I can get out, I could put some flashy lights on that thing, and you know it, you know flashers, and probably what would be very effective, that pulling somebody over, because it all looks right. But I have no authority to do that. I have no authority whatsoever to do that. I'm not an officer. I don't haven't went into any, I don't know how many, did so we wouldn't do me any good. The same thing applies. You you can you can buy your Kirsten t-shirts and have bumper stickers. You can carry your Bible around with you, if that's what you want to do. You can memorize a verse or two in there. But if you're not submitted to God, I promise you, the moment you confront the devil, he will laugh and run all over you, because you're not operating in apostolic authority. If you're not submitted to a man of God in your life, if you're not submitted to God, it's not going to get you anywhere but frustration and heartache and pain. Because the verse reads: submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Now
 I love that. I love that verse, and I hopefully I explained that well. But there's also verses that we apostolic Sneed to understand: that sometimes it's not about resisting, sometimes you need to simply run. We all, let me preach for a minute. 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 22 says: flee also youthful lust. What did Paul not hear what James had to say? Yeah, Paul knew about James very well. But Paul also knew that there are some things that you just simply don't have the ability to resist. There are some things that you need to drop in run. Don't look back. Don't yet caught up in it. Because there are some temptations that you don't have the ability to resist in your life. He's addressing one in young Timothy's life when he says: hey, come on, tell you right now, lust shows up, boy, you better run. And I mean you better run as hard as you can run, because it'll catch you and it'll run you over. No one is strong enough to overcome some temptations. Don't even try this. Run.

Solomon is here. We see this hypocrisy that is there. Solomon is building a temple. It was his father's dream. It wasn't his. David is the one who wanted to build it. He dreamed. It was David who put up all the supplies. It was David who set things in order and was going to start the process, when the man of God come to him and said, there's no way you're going to do this, David. You can't. God won't allow it. But he'll allow your son to do it. He'll allow your heir to take care of it. With all the wisdom, Solomon brings the profane into the holy city. And the moment that temple was completed, she had to go. I find this interesting, because until Solomon was ready to sanctify the temple, he seemed to be content to be married to the profane. Let that sink in for just a minute. Until he was ready to sanctify, he was okay living with a profane. Felt like somebody I'm speaking to do in this room right now loves teetering on the edge, being just there. I want to put up the appearance that everything's okay, but don't want to be hypocritic in their approach. And I guess that somehow seems noble in your mind, to convince yourself, well, I'm not going to act all that way if I'm not really that way. Well, to me, when I want to think about that process, and I think about that logical reasoning behind why is you're doing what you do, I think you need to be very careful, because you end up being double-minded. You need to quit playing games with God. You think you have all the time in the world, but in your new, you need tell yourself within a month. But and you say, well, when I get ready to be sanctified, I'll get right with God. You have no guarantee of that. You have no guarantee things gonna work out the way you want to. In fact, if for most everybody in this room, I think you would have lived enough life at this point to understand that a couple things. Number one: God doesn't grade on the curve. There's no way you read this right here and come away with God agrees on the curve. God is an absolute. He puts it out there. Yes, he's a God of love. Yes, he's a God of mercy. Yes, he's got a gray something for all those things. But he also is a guy who imparts knowledge and wisdom, and to whom much is given, much is required. And you should be growing in your walking, in your faith, every day, that there are some things that you just simply separate yourself from, because you know there is no good that comes to me by that.

Paul addressed it when he said: all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. What was he saying? There are some things that others sort of so she wins, because there's nothing really to gain from it. Just because I can do it doesn't mean I have to do it. Doesn't mean any Goods gonna come out of it. Some of you acting like Solomon. You don't want to appear to be living for God. You don't want to be hypocrite, because you have a secret sin that you enjoy. You can see where you might think that that's noble, but I'm telling you, it's a poor excuse for me, for missing out on an abundant life that God has for you. That you playing God, you telling yourself that you know what's best for you in the moment, that God doesn't know. If you won't have God in a in your heart, because that's where he desires to bleep, don't make the mistake of holding on a secret sin. Because God only operates this way: he's all or nothing. He won't have any other God. He won't have any other thing that's gonna cause him to not fully be in where you are. You may have moments where you feel his presence, but be very careful: the devil doesn't mind if you were ever in the presence of God. He doesn't matter if you play the part. All he cares about is if you really commit. If you allow sin to hang around until you're ready to make things right, you're gonna do what Solomon did. Because he didn't get rid of Pharaoh's daughter once the temple was dedicated. He simply moved her outside the city.

Now we go back to the verse of scripture that I ready at you at the beginning, cuz ii create a second chronicles 8 and 11. Says: solomon moved his wife pharaoh's daughter from the city david to the new palace he had built for her. He said, my wife must not live in king david's palace where the ark of the lord has been there and it is holy ground. Solomon knew his marriage was wrong. Solomon ooh is profane. Solomon knew it wasn't right. He understood that he was in violation of a covenant that god had made. He knew that he was supposed to be separated. He knew that he was wrong. Marrying her and having her in the city was a disgrace and disrespectful to god, because she represented what god had delivered them from. And solomon was guilty of bringing that back into the city. So what did solomon do, in his wisdom and his knowledge, and him thinking through how everything can be beneficial for him in the moment? He knows: I can't divorce her, because if I divorce her, it's going to make my relationship with with the Pharaoh very volatile, maybe even make Egypt of the enemy instead of my, instead of an ally. And I don't want to risk that. So solomon decides to move her outside the city. He doesn't abandon her. He just built her a house outside of where God is. In his mind, he could honor God at the same time an honor Pharaoh. And in this way, it allows both worlds to be happy in his life. He can keep salvation and also keep visiting the unholy house of Pharaoh's daughter. He was keeping her conveniently tucked in the corner, out of sight. He was keeping Egypt in his heart when he went to the temple, and he was keeping God in his heart when he went to the house of Pharaoh's daughter. He was trying to serve God in sin. But Jesus Christ himself said in Luke 16: no servant
 can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he would, he'll be loyal to the one and despise the other. Now we know this first has to deal with money, but it deals with more than just money. You can worship God in this world. You will have to choose, because eventually your declarations will be made known through your actions and where you are. Solomon nurtured his relationship with God in the city, and he nurtured his unholy relationship outside the temple. He was double minded. He lived a double life. He he was halting between two opinions. He was he was not fully committed to the princess, nor was he fully committed to the King of Kings in his life. He was holed up for whatever a moment he was in. He decided then what was best for him, and he gave no place for God to move in his life.

I feel strongly that some here today have been living in similar fashion as Solomon. You love the presence of God that you feel in church. You love being in the atmosphere than just here. You love the things. You know the truth. Some of you were walking so close to the truth. God has moved in your life time and time again. But for some reason, for whatever it is, you come up with an excuse, some way that you're either disqualified, or something that you feel like it's too high a price for you to pay in order to be fully committed. In the moment, you've convinced yourself you have time. You convince yourself that you know how to pray. Even convince yourself you know how to activate the spirit in case some of the tragic happens in your life. And I'm telling you, you're on a fool's errand. I'm telling you, flirting with eternity, and it's not worth the price that you're gonna pay. I'm telling you that you cannot serve two masters. You cannot live a double life. Either you get in or you're out. We must guard our hearts. We cannot allow ourselves to compartmentalize. To do so elitist to the same in this Solomon hat.

So get ready to close today. Solomon, he thought he was smart enough to be obedient in the temple, to worship in the temple, to sacrifice in the temple. And then once he was outside the temple, he felt like he could do whatever he wanted to do. But the double life will always catch up with you. The smartest man that ever walked on this earth outside of Jesus Christ lived a double life, thinking he could get away with it, but it caught up to him. The division in his life caused him to walk away from his first love, to walk away from the one true Living God. And for all the things that he did, for all the splendor, for all the accolades, this is the legacy the Solomon left. First Kings 11 verse number 1: but King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, the ammonites, Sidonians and Hittites, from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the tune of Israel: you shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Salomon clung to these in love. And he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned him away his heart. For it was so, in Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods. And his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. He started off by marrying Pharaoh's daughter. That seemed to turn out okay. He seemed to be able to balance that all right. That decision in the moment didn't seem like it was all that big a deal. He was he was pulling it off. He built her a palace outside the city, and whenever he wanted to go visit, whenever he wanted to go delight, whenever when he wanted to go enjoy that that was profane, he could do so in the secret, and nobody really knew what was going on. But here's the problem. The secret sin, I feel the Holy Ghost wrong right now, here's the problem with secrets: and it's never satisfied with just. It'll keep coming. It'll keep taking. And you'll find that desire is something you cannot quench. Because that decision of pharaoh's daughter turned out okay, he begin to marry other foreign wives who served other gods. He may have been good at keeping his wives from God, but he was not very good at keeping himself from their influence. Because Solomon left the temple behind a visit Pharaoh's daughter, he eventually left God behind in the temple. And we find him going and sacrificing in the high places to those idols that were there. The king, the wise one, the preacher, as he refers to himself, the guy who had it all, laid a defeat. The guy who was given a blank cheque from God turns and walks away from the God who could give him everything he wanted. Why? Because he refused to sell out to God.

And for a while he was able to pull it off. For a while he was able to fool everybody. For a while it all seemed to be perfectly positioned and in his control. But eventually he walked away enough, they didn't ever went back. He never went back. And when it come time to cry out to God, he found himself in the high places, offering sacrifices to objects. He say: how in the world could that happen? Well, that's the downfall of a double life. Eventually you will declare one or the other to truly be your Lord. And I'm wondering today in this place if this might not be a little bit eye opening to someone. That if the smartest man outside of Jesus Christ that ever lived couldn't pull off a double life, what makes you think you can? What makes you think you can keep that secret sin hidden, and it eventually won't overtake you and overrun you? Because here's the deal: it will. It will. It'll catch you. And I want you to know, if I'm gonna get caught by something, I want to get called by God. He has never hurt me. He has never left me. Been, there's been times when I've wondered where he was, only to realize he never walked away. I did. And as soon as I figured out it was me that drifted, I followed my path back to where I left him, and there he was. There he was.

So as you stand with me today, God's desires to do a restoration in this place. God's desire is to do an in filling in this place. This is Pentecost Sunday. We celebrate the birthday of the New Testament church today. This is a day that the Spirit of God was poured out, that kicked off the movement that we're still in today. Today it's Pentecost Sunday, and there's no doubt in my mind that that's that fire is still falling, and it's falling for somebody in this place today. I'm gonna pray. These altars are open, and I invite anybody to come that wants to come, to get where you need to be with God. Will you pray to me? Jesus, I thank you so much for your presence is moving in this place, for the truth that is in your word. God, I know our time of Prayer early this morning
 you moved on me so strong. Your desires to do work in lives today, God, I pray that people would have a boldness right now to step out and trust, that they can believe in you, put their life in your hands, God, that you'll work things out to the end that you have for them. Lord, I pray your spirit be poured out right now in this place. In Jesus name.