Sunday Morning Worship Service

why don't you look at somebody and say I'm glad to see you in the house of the Lord this morning amen what an incredible crowd here today as we were driving from the hotel to the church uh I'm from Indiana We're from Indiana where it's flat and ice is bad enough where it's flat but I was watching as we were driving here neighborhoods that went up like this solid sheets of ice and I thought I don't know how anybody is getting out of their driveways today and to see such a great crowd here this morning is such a testament to your passion and desire for the will of God to be done in your lives and in this great church could we just lift our hands a moment lift our voices why don't you lift your voice as you lift your hands and just Worship the Lord with me we we've done a lot to get here we've endured we've pressed through a lot just to get here this morning and I want to just take a moment and lift our voices in our hands to the Lord and worship him thank him for his presence that I felt from the very first moment we stepped into this room we could feel his presence here today I thank you Jesus for your spirit I thank you Jesus that you are in this place Lord I thank you God for what you're going to do in this in this room this morning in Jesus name in Jesus name that's all right just let your voice out a little bit and just Worship the Lord I feel his presence in this room today thank you Jesus thank you Jesus as brother Chester said why don't you let your voice out and out of your belly let a river of living water flow out right now of worship and praise to him hallelujah hallelujah we exalt you Jesus we magnify you Jesus give you glory and honor today you are worthy of Praise we open our voice lift our voice to you oh God you are deserving of honor and praise and glory Hallelujah such a PR privilege to feel the presence of the Lord here today to be at First Apostolic Church of Knoxville we have so much history here and so many things over the years uh have impacted our lives through the ministry of this church and the leadership of this church and uh Bishop mcul you will always be a pastor to me amen we love and appreciate bishop and sister mcul and Mark and Jamie mol and the Whitley and Anthony and Kelly and this entire leadership team you're so blessed to have great leaders here at First Apostolic church amen a't that great let's give our leadership a great hand this morning the Bible calls them a gift to the body of Christ and they are indeed a gift thank you so much for your hospitality I just want to apologize in advance for my for my voice I've been fighting something but I'm glad to be here today and if you'd excuse this terrible sounding terrible sounding preacher I hope you can get past the sound of the preacher's voice and just hear what the word of God or what God would speak to us today we're going to turn our Bibles to the Book of Matthew chapter 23 Matthew chapter 23 you'll um be blessed this evening sister Jamie's going to share uh just a greeting with you this evening I know she is thrilled to be here home at First Apostolic Church Matthew chapter 23 amen verse number 25 woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter but within they are full of extortion and excess Thou blind Pharisee cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also cleanse first that which is within everyone say inside focus on first cleaning the inside of the cup and so if the inside of the cup is clean then the outside shall be also I just want to preach to this beautiful crowd this morning the inside of the cup the inside of the cup let's pray one more time Lord I Thank You for Your Presence here this morning as we open up this book lord we say to ourselves here and now God is about to speak to us every time we open this holy book we open our hearts to hear what you would say speak to us this morning we receive Lord God your word today give us ears to hear what you would speak to us today in Jesus name in Jesus name why don't you look at your neighbor and say check on the inside of the cup and God bless you thank you for standing so long you may be seated Jesus re re reserved his harshest rebuke not for Sinners but for the Jewish religious establishment to the scribes and to the Pharisees to the Sadducees Jesus laid the axe at the root of the tree how many times as we read the gospels do we hear Jesus saying woe unto you woe unto you SC scribes woe unto you Pharisees in fact in this chapter alone in Matthew 23 we see we see it8 times just in this single chapter verse number 13 but woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men for ye neither go in yourselves neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in in the next verse woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for you devour for a Widow's houses and for a pretense make long prayers therefore ye shall receive greater damnation and then again in the next verse woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites he holds No harsh criticism back in this verse when he tells the Pharisees you Compass sea and land to make one proelite and when he is made you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves in verse 23 woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for you pay tithe of Min and Anis and cumin but you have omit omitted the weightier matters of the law judgment mercy and Faith verse number 33 he says you serpents you Generation of Vipers how can you escape the damnation of hell and then when Jesus taught the multitudes when he spoke his Parables to the people he never really hid how he felt about the Pharisees to the people in fact he would warn them about the Pharisees he would say things like this hey yall don't don't be like them when you pray don't be like the Pharisees are when they pray for when they pray they pray just to be heard of men and Jesus said I say unto you they have have their reward meaning the only reward they might get is some simple-minded person might hear them praying and think oh wow what a spiritual person listen to how these Pharisees pray but Jesus said they will receive no reward from God when he taught the people he would tell them don't be like them don't be like the Pharisees don't be like them when you fast because when they fast fast they have long faces and when they fast they don't wash their face they appear unto men to be fasting in hopes that someone would say wow isn't that a spiritual person look how much that Pharisee is fasting Jesus problem really with the religious establishment of the day with the Pharisees and scribes could be summed up really in this one verse which is our key verse this morning Jesus said woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter but within they are full of extortion and excess Thou blind Pharisee cleans first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also here is your problem brother Pharisee Jesus was saying what you appear to be and what you really are they really don't match up on the outside you seem to be one thing but on the inside you are completely different Jesus often is as he spoke in Parables used analogies and symbols and objects that people could very easily relate to and he said you are you are like this cup and if you were to look at this cup on the outside you would see how beautiful beautiful this cup is and thank you sister Ashley for bringing this cup today it's got a gold rim around it and it's beautiful white porcelain Jesus said Pharisees you are like a cup that on the outside of the cup it is so beautiful and on the outside of the cup it is so clean but if you would look on the inside of the cup the inside of the cup does not match the outside of the the cup on the inside of the cup on the outside it may be beautiful and impressive and clean but on the inside of the cup You've Got dirt and you've got Grime you've got mud and you've got filth that's what Jesus was saying about the Pharisees and the scribes the outside of the cup is very impressive but the inside of the cup is full of excess and full of EX extortion it's sort of like what Jesus said in the next verse verse 27 woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for you are like unto Whited sepulchers which indeed appear beautiful on the outside but are within full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness why did seers means whitewashed tombs you see it was a Jewish custom once a year in the month before Passover uh undoubtedly because they anticipated a lot of people traveling to Jerusalem for the Passover they would take a white powder and they would find all of the tombs in the area and they would apply a white powder they would use this white powder to wash the tombs because in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus if you were to accidentally step upon a tomb or a grave you would be considered unclean because you would come into contact with a grave and so they thought a lot of people will be journeying to Jerusalem and we want to make all the graves and all of the tombs very conspicuous and so in the month before Passover it was very common to whitewash all of the tombs to make them clean and to make them white Jesus used an analogy and a parable that everyone in that day could immediately picture in their minds he said to them you all know what a whitewashed tomb looks like it is bright it is clean it is washed it is shiny but he asked them what is on the inside of that tomb on the outside of the Tomb it might be shiny and white but on the inside of the Tomb you all know it's full of dead men's bones it's full of Rotting Flesh that's what you are he pulled no punches with them that's what you are Pharisees you are like a Whited suppiler on the outside you look all shiny and clean but on the inside you are full of dead men's bones Jesus problem with the Pharisees was this they appeared to be one thing but if you ever pulled back the veil if you ever pulled back the curtain if somehow you could look on the inside you would discover that they are something very different Al together they appeared to be righteous and holy and good but in reality they were full of envy and pride and arrogance and hatred he told them you don't practice what You Preach you don't live what you Proclaim you are one thing in public but something allog together different behind closed doors there is a mismatch between your Public Image and your true person the outside of your cup of your life is beautiful but there's a problem with the inside of the cup it's not clean it's not pure it's not holy Jesus was comparing their lives to a cup the cup represented their lives a life that appeared one way on the outside but was dirty on the inside the cup represents my life the cup represents me Jesus statement here to the Pharisees his Parable his teaching really is a call to purity and it is a call to Integrity it is a call to Matthew ball Matthew ball I want your life to be the same on the inside that it is on the outside this is a call and if I'm not preaching to anyone else here today I'm preaching to this guy right here the Lord through this Parable is saying Matthew your life is a cup and I don't want it just to look good on the outside I want it to be right on the inside I want what is in your heart to match what you appear to be on the outside to men this Parable is a call for us to truly be what we profess to practice what we preach I want to live my life in a way that matches what I claim to be God helped me to be a person of honorable character and honor able Integrity Integrity has to do with a consistency in staying true to a set of morals or a set of values integrity means that I am what I say that I am integrity means there is a consistency between what I profess and what I actually do integrity means that what you see on the outside of the cup is the same as what you see on the inside of the cup for me to have integrity means that what I am in private is what I am in public and what I am in public I am in private what I am on Monday and Tuesday and Thursday is the same as what I appear to be in here on Wednesday or on Sunday I'm talking about the inside of the Cup being clean just like the out outside of the cup in church and on the job I'm true and I'm consistent when I'm around other Christians and when I'm all by myself I'm the same when I'm at home or when I'm out of town I am true through and through that is integrity anybody share my sentiment today God I want to be true God I want what people see on the outside to be the same as what is on the inside I want the inside of the cup to be clean as well I want to have the inside of the Cup match the outside of the cup Jesus is preaching about purity of heart that's the inside of the cup Jesus is preaching about purity of the mind that is the inside of the cup he's talking about purity in what I think that is the ins side of the cup Jesus is talking about purity in my motives all those things are really the inside of the cup I want to be pure on the inside remember what Jesus said about purity he began the greatest sermon ever preached The Sermon on the Mount with what we call the Beatitudes blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are they which mourn blessed are the meek blessed are they brother cheser which do hunger and thirst after righteousness blessed are the merciful you know them blessed are the peacemakers but that fifth beatitude has gripped my heart of late blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God blessed are the pure in heart blessed are those whose hearts are pure blessed are those whose inside of the Cup matches the outside of the cup oh how we need Purity Purity is a rare commodity in this world that we're in to be pure in heart to be pure In this passage in the Beatitudes it means clean it means unsoiled a heart that is unsoiled by the dirt and the corruption that is around us how many know we are in an immoral and an impure world and my prayer is God help me to have a pure heart in an impure World help me to have pure motives in a world where folks motives are not pure give me a purity in my heart Paul said to the Philippians finally Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure this word pure means means freedom from defilements chased modest holy innocent pure blameless blessed are the pure in heart you are blessed when the outside of the cup and the inside of the cup are the same oh God give us a pure heart this parable of Jesus and his comments to the Pharisees is a call to each and every one of us to examine the inside of the cup I want God to be pleased with what he sees and I need not remind you God sees all men men can only see the outside of the cup there are some things that man will never see but God sees the inside of the cup and so my prayer is God I want what you see to be pleasing to you men see what is obvious to the human eyes men have trouble however seeing the inside some parts of the inside of the cup man will never know but God sees both the inside and the outside perhaps that's why Jesus was most harsh with the scribes and the Pharisees eses because Jesus could see the inside of the cup he could see that behind the white was Stone entrance of the Tomb he could see that the inside of the cup was full of dead men's bones man could not see the inside man might have looked at the Pharisee and said wow what a great man what a spiritual man look at how he prays look at how he fast look at how he gives arms to the poor but Jesus and Jesus only could see the inside of the cup the things that God only sees that's what I want him especially to be pleased with our heart everyone say my heart would you take your right hand boy I wish I had a voice to preach why don't you take your right hand just kind of tap it like that and say God give me Purity come on say it with me God give me Purity in my heart God sees the heart man can't see the heart remember what God told Samuel he said don't look on the outside of the cup you anoint who I tell you to anoint because I see the heart you see a ruddy Shepherd boy but I see a king I see a man who the inside of his cup is pure man can't see the heart but God does oh God let my heart be pure say it with me one more time let my heart be pure I want the inside of the cup to be pure I want my motives to be pure you know that's something that really only God sees everybody saw the Pharisees how they prayed and they were impressed with their long eloquent prayers but Jesus could see what the men could not see Jesus could see the inside of the cup Jesus could see their motives and Jesus knew that they were not praying really to get a hold of of God they were praying their motive was to bring glory to themselves God is the one who sees our motives people see our actions people see the outside of the cup but God sees the inside God sees our motives the outside of the cup can look so beautiful all of the good things that we all do we give praise God and we sacrifice and we should and we pray and oh we should and oh I'm praying with you this week for your Prayer Revival that's coming up starting tomorrow night those first of the year prayer revivals can be some of the most impacting times that a church ever has and I'll be praying with you this week as you gather here these next few days to pray and seek The Lord At the beginning of this new year but we pray and we fast F and we give and we sacrifice and we should do those good deeds but still that is the outside of the cup but our motives why we do what we do that's the inside of the cup we can do all the right things but our motives be impure that was often the case with the Pharisees they pray that's good right yeah but why did they pray to be seen in men that was about self that's the inside and it wasn't pretty what's on the inside of the cup God let my motives be pure you know what I'm so glad that you can't see my thoughts now right now in this moment it'd be all right if you could see my thoughts because I walk in the place like this and I think how thankful I am for First Apostolic Church of Knoxville how much I love this church and how much I love bishop mcol and the mol family and how much this church has impacted my life I love this place you have an amazing church so my my thoughts are okay now but but you know I'll just be frank with you there there are times when I'm glad you can't see what I'm thinking all right all right you can't see it because that's the inside of the cup you can see the outside of the cup but our thoughts are the inside of the cup God I want I want my thoughts I want my mind I want what's going on up here to be pleasing to you I don't want to just be pretty on the outside I want I want what's going on up here for you to see because God sees it God does you may not know what I'm thinking but God always knows what I'm thinking I I want my thoughts to be pure I want my thoughts to be pleasing to God aren't you glad that the thoughts are the inside of the cup amen no one else knows our thoughts but God he does and I want my thoughts to be pure let me ask you this question if your thoughts suddenly became visible on the outside of the cup wow what if what you think about and what you imagine and what you daydream about became a reality would that be a good thing or no would that be honorable or no I'm talking about the inside of the cup God let my heart be pure let my mind be pure let my motives be pure now some people have taken this passage to mean that the outside of the cup doesn't matter at all have you ever heard that sure doesn't matter what we do on the outside as long as my heart's pure doesn't matter what people see I've heard that my whole life doesn't matter my lifestyle doesn't matter my holy living doesn't matter how I act or how I dress or how I conduct myself those are all the outside and God only cares about the inside well that is never what Jesus said Jesus never said that he never undermined the importance of the outside of the Cup being clean he never said that God didn't care about the outside he never said even that the Pharisees were wrong in having a clean Cup on the outside the problem with the Pharisees was they clean the outside but they were still hiding the filth that was on the inside he condemned them not because the outside was clean he condemned them because the outside and the inside did not match in fact he said in verse 26 oh blind Pharisee cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside may be clean also remember the earlier verse when he said woe unto you scribes and Pharisees you pay your tithes you're you're so diligent about returning your tithe that you pay tithes on spices you pay tithes on mint you pay Ties on cumin you pay Ties on Anis you pay Ties on everything he said you should do that that's the right thing to do my beef with you is not that you look good on the outside my beef with you is there is an inconsistency between what you are on the outside and what you are on the inside God wants to sanctify us holy wh l l y first Thessalonians and the Very God of Peace sanctify you holy I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be Sanctified be preserved blameless un the coming of the Lord the Lord wants to clean the whole cup inside and out why what I'm preaching about today is the inside because that's that's the hardest thing to to deal with I mean I'm a pastor I know if people aren't returning their tith that's easy enough to know I know if somebody's not acting right if they're not demonstrating a lifestyle that's pleasing to God that's obvious what's not always obious is my heart and my motives and my thoughts my attitude God I want the inside and the outside to be clean lift your hands with me just a moment Lord we're praying today for Purity for purity of heart for purity of mind for Purity within God I want the inside of my cup to be holy I want the inside what men don't see but you always see may that be pleasing oh God to you now now the cup the cup represents represents your life but not only that what else does does the cup represent remember in John in Mark 10 James and John the sons of zebede they came to Jesus they said Master we want you to do something for us and Jesus said well what what do you want me to do I'm sorry I keep leaning this side there seems like more people over here and feel like I'm doing this number right here Jesus said what do you want me to do for you and James and John said well I want we're asking that you know we be Chief in your kingdom that uh you put one of us on one side and one on the other of you in your kingdom and Jesus asked them the question or he makes first a comment to them he said I'm not sure you fellas really really know what you're asking and he said I'm not sure really that's what you want and and uh if you knew what that entailed you might not be so um inquiring of this position uh he said he asked them the question he said are are you able to drink the cup that I drink from are you able to drink of the cup are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with in Luke chapter 22 the Bible said when the hour was come he sat down and the TW Apostles with him you all are going to be celebrating this on Wednesday night and he said unto them with desire I've have desired to eat this Passover with you you before I suffer verse 17 and he took what he took the cup and he passed the cup to them and he said take and drink this this cup is representative of my blood that will be shed for you remember when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and he said ABA father all things are POS possible unto thee and I'm praying I'm so sorry I'm coughing so bad and he said I'm God I know that all things are possible with you and but if if there's any way that what you know the scripture if there's any way that that what that this cup could pass from if there's any way we could get around me drinking of this cup then let this cup pass from me nevertheless what not my will but your will be done what did David write in his most famous Psalm thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies thou annest my head with oil my what what does the cup do my cup runs over certainly the cup represents your life certainly Jesus is saying you want to make sure that the inside of the cup and the outside of the Cup match but I think if we dug a little deeper we would see perhaps the reason why Jesus said make sure that the inside of the cup is clean what does that cup represent our lives certainly but more than that the cup rep represents What flows out of our Lives the cup represents what pours out of us it represents Ministry it represents purpose it represents death Destiny Jesus said let this cup pass from me what's he talking about he's talking about the cross he's talking about his Destiny the sacrifice that he had come to give his purpose his reason for coming that was his cup and it was difficult the cross was not going to be easy so in his flesh he said if it be possible let this cup let this ministry let what I must do if there's any way I can avoid doing what I must do let it pass nevertheless not my will but your will be done at Passover at the Last Supper remember this on Wednesday night when he took the cup and he divided amongst them and said drink what was he saying to those disciples I want you to partake of my kingdom I want you to partake of my Ministry I have a purpose for your life I have a calling for you that there is something that must flow out of your life to this world are you able yes James and John are you able to drink the cup are you able to do the work of the Kingdom even if it brings adversity and suffering your cup brother your cup sister is Your Vessel your life the purpose of God that flows out of your life the cup represents Ministry and your cup runs over right runs over we're not we're we're not just a we're not just a pretty cup to be set on a shelf God wants to use our lives yes you know I I I preach this at home and it was still on my heart and that's why I came and preached it here and at home I I went to the china cabinet in our in our dining room and I I pulled out Bishop one of granny's uh old coffee cups beautiful that Jamie got from her grandmother and beautiful cup just with just with uh gold um leaves and stuff engraved in it and it was so beautiful but when I took it out of that out of that cabinet I I had to dust it off because it had been sitting in there oh my I think it had been sitting in there since Jamie got it from her grand right 15 years ago not once was it used listen God God didn't save us just to make us look pretty to sit on a shelf God wants something to pour out of us God we're a cup not just to be looking nice sitting on a shelf somewhere occupying a seat in a beautiful congregation God says no that's not what the cup is the cup is Ministry and there's something that's supposed to flow out of your lives to this world when you get the Holy Ghost it's a Well it's not just to fill you up but it's a Well springing up out of your belly shall flow rivers of Living Water because out of your cup is Flowing life and out of your cup is Flowing Ministry and God God wants to use your life as a conduit of his glory and his grace and his purpose you you weren't you weren't saved just to get all cleaned up and look nice to sit on a shelf he said your Life's a cup Ministry is supposed to pour out of that cup to the world around you are you may want some coffee all right what if I fill this up what if I filled this up with coffee right now would you like a drink would you want to drink out of this now I know if you've ever traveled to the Middle East right if you ever had Turkish coffee uh it it pretty much looks like that there's they just they have they grinded it really thin real really fine and they put it in the water and they boil it and so you just drink the top of it bishop and when you're done there's a paste in the bottom of it just a sludge of of finely ground coffee grounds and you talk about setting you on fire with a caffeine jolt if you ever drink Turkish coffee oh my goodness but but but that we're not talking about coffee grounds in the bottom of your cup of coffee I'm talking about mud in the bottom talking about filth in the bottom who would want to drink out of that nobody want to drink out of a cup that's got all kinds of junk in it if my life is a cup that serves others that pours out to others then I want the inside of my cup to be clean because you know the cup is able to impart an aroma or a flavor of what is in it and now let me be really careful here I don't want for one moment to imply that God only uses Perfect People in fact the exact opposite is true the only people God uses are imperfect people because that's all that God has to work with so I'm not implying that we have to be perfect before God can use us but what I am saying is if my life is a cup and God pours out through me if my life is a cup to offer a cool drink of water to the world around me then God may I do my very best to make sure the inside of my cup is free of dirt and sludge and grime and junk because what is inside the cup can affect the aroma and the flavor it contains what is flowing through that cup our church got me a a green egg for for pastor appreciation 25 years and it's a really nice setup and I don't know if you if you know what a green egg is but it's something that really you can really smoke some great meat on that green egg and I've been practicing smoking pork butts pulled pork and uh I I made some really really good P pork but I I I was I was smoking some pork a couple weeks ago and and uh I thought I'm going to make this just a little more Smokey and uh so I had some big chunks of apple wood and I and I threw brother Paris I I threw two or three big pieces of apple wood in that smoker and and that white smoke was pouring out and I thought I'm I'm I'm just going to take it up another notch and so so I threw a few more big chunks of apple wood in in that smoker and man I'm telling you the smoke coming out of that thing was was white and it just kept billowing out there and the whole neighborhood smelled like Applewood and I smoked that thing about 12 hours and and uh opened up that smoker and man nice bark it looked great and I sliced into that and when I tasted that I felt like I was licking the inside of a gas grill it was so awful so bad I couldn't even eat so I thought to myself I'm gonna let this thing cool down and I'm gonna trim all that stuff because I I I don't want to throw a big huge Port by the way so I'm going to trim all the all the outside off but it had permeated even to the inside of that and and I I made this big mistake I got one of my wife's really nice very nice cookie sheets and I put that pork butt on that cookie sheet so I want to cool it down before I cut it up before I trim it because when it's hot you just pull it but but I got to cool it down so I can trim that all off so I wrapped it in aluminum foil and I put it in the refrigerator on her really really nice high quality cookie sheet and it was there a couple days and so finally I I trimmed some off and ate some of that pork and it was it was awful I had to throw the whole thing at and I threw the cookie sheet in the sink and washed it and few days later we were having some company and my wife makes the absolute best chocolate chip cookies and uh she made up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and she I was sitting on the couch and she brought over a cookie she said hey uh uh taste this make sure this tastes okay and uh I took one one bite of that chocolate chip cookie and I knew I thought to myself that is that that is a smoked pork chocolate chip cookie she said what's wrong with this I said nothing honey it's the greatest really good and I wasn't purposely lying you know I was just trying to be I I was just thinking this is just in my imagination this is just my mind this is this can't be it can't be that that that that nasty pork roast permeated the flavor did did you know that she has washed that thing four or five times and finally has had to throw it away because every time she cooks cookies on that it tastes like it tastes like an over smoked pork bite what am I telling you what I'm telling you is is my life my life is a cup and I'm serving I'm serving this world the spirit of God is is pouring out of me and I want my I want the inside of the cup to be clean I want the inside of the cup so that the ministry that flows from me will be unspoiled and untainted I want it to be as God desires it you see if I'm full of bitterness if the ins side of the cup is bitter then the ministry that flows through me it's going to be tainted with that bitterness if my cup is full of doubt and fear and anger or Pride or condemnation then when I offer the cup of water to one in need what they're going to drink from that cup will be affected one of the most damaging things to Ministry is when the inside of the cup is dirty the cup that we offer to the Thirsty when someone professes one thing but come to find out there's filth on the inside that hypocrisy leaves a bad taste in the mouth of those who have drunk from the cup I'm not implying that we have to be perfect God knows none of us are perfect but I want to live my life in a way I want to live my life uh with a constant prayer search me oh God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and Lead Me clean create in me a clean heart create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right Spirit within me have you ever read down a couple verses then then then will I teach transgressors thy ways Lord before Ministry pours out of me to transgressors to the Lost of this world clean the inside of my cup so that as as much as is possible the Cool Drink of your spirit to the Thirsty is not fouled by dirt that's inside of my cup by bad attitudes by a dirty heart by impure thoughts by dishonorable motives God let those things be cleansed out from me stand with me right now would you lift your hands and say the prayer would you pray the prayer that David prayed God created me a clean heart I know we're human I know we make mistakes please don't don't think that I'm saying that if if we ever make a mistake God can't use us I don't believe that God only uses imperfect people people and God can take people like David who made huge mistakes David prayed God create in me a clean heart and renew a right Spirit Within Me Lord we all fall short of your grace we all miss the mark Lord I just pray every day God help me keep my heart clean help me keep my mind would you pray with me wherever you're standing just you you know this is the kind of this is the kind of sermon where you you probably shouldn't stay at your seat why you why you come on just everyone in this room if you would we got plenty of room today we got plenty of room today this this blizzard this Isis rightly kept some folks out can't get here we got plenty of room around this Altar for everyone I wonder if everyone in this room would Press Your Way in towards this front and when you get here just lift your hands and say oh God create in me a clean heart and renew a right Spirit Within Me Lord I want my heart to be pure Lord I want my mind to be pure I want I I I want the Holiness the Holiness that we is Apostolic strive for and should strive for on the outside I want that same Spirit of Holiness on the inside I want that same Spirit of Consecration and dedication I want it to be on the inside that same desire to please you I don't want to just please you with the outside of my cup I want to please you with the inside of my cup I want the inside of my life to be pure and holy make us Men of Integrity that's it that's it that's it cry out to him Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah renew a right Spirit In Me create in me a clean heart oh [Music] God use my life I give [Music] myself Jesus yes Lord I Surrender I give myself to you I [Music] myself Jesus name I want you to close your eyes just a minute cuz I don't want you I don't want you thinking focusing on anybody else yet just you and the Lord just you and the Lord close your eyes don't be looking around other people right now this is just you and the Lord I want you to ask God right now is there anything in my life that is negatively affecting what pours out of me to others I want you to ask him that is there anything within my heart that is that is defiling the oil the wine the water that pours out of my cup to others I want you to ask God that if you're a preacher if you're a Sunday school teacher if you're a small group leader just a father to your household a mother in your home wherever you serve whatever your service to the kingdom is would you pray and say God the ministry that flows out of me I I want you to show me if there's if there's some attitude if there's some if there's some bitterness or some anger or something in my heart that is affecting the flavor of what pours out of my life then I ask you today to cleanse my heart I ask you today to make the inside of the cup clean that pure pure water flow from my life I give myself to you my [Music] life [Music] my life is not my own you I Bel I give myself I give myself to you come on lift your hands and sing it out loud my life I surrender to you Lord my life be pleasing to you Jesus my life be pleasing myself life is not my own my life is not my own to you I I myself I myself life is not my own life is not my own oh to you I I give myself I give myself to you could I uh I just want I just want to speak something to this church God has laid on my on on my heart God is going to use this church greatly in the end times I don't know exactly what that means but I believe that this church is going to be a an instrument key instrument in what God is doing in the last days in this entire area and I think what God is doing is he's preparing us and getting us ready there's going to be a lot of ministry that's going to flow out this church a lot of ministry is going to flow out First Apostolic church it's going to reach a lot of people and it's going to have great influence in a lot of places God th this church is going to be a a key to end time Revival in this I believe that in this whole region and I think what God's doing is he's saying let's let's let's make sure let's let's get the inside of the cup right CU there's going to be a lot of stuff flowing out there's going to be a lot of ministry pouring out and I think what God's doing I felt it at home felt it in our church I felt like God was saying I'm I'm going to I'm going to use Faith Apostolic church for some great things but but before all that pours out I want to make sure we get the cup clean I want to make sure we're not multiplying bitterness I want to make sure you're not multiplying anger I want to make sure that what's pouring out of Faith Apostolic and caramel I want to make sure that what's pouring out of that that it's not tainted so so I think God is just getting us ready for the great things he has in store you believe it his great things in store for this church let's pray let's pray every day every day this week in your Prayer Revival I'm asking you this week in your Prayer Revival Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday during your communion celebrating the Lord's Supper night I want you to pray God let the inside of my cup be clean so that what pours out of my life will satisfy the thirst of a world that needs you let's sing it again my life is not my own to you I Bel I give myself I give myself to you hallelujah oh my life is not my own to you I I give myself to you I life is not my is my [Applause] you myself myself give myself [Applause] away I give myself away so you can you I give myself [Applause] [Music] away I give myself away so you can use me oh my life is not my own to you could you lift up your hands and let this part be your prayer I give myself I give myself oh my life is not my own life is not my own oh to you I belong I give myself come on one more time would you lift up your hands and lift up your voice and say my life is not my own life is not my own oh to you I belong I give myself [Music] let's pray father Lord we you received your word today Lord let it be a mirror into our hearts a mirror into the inside of us God that only you can see but Lord let your word God re reveal in us what we must clean out Lord we pray right now that the inside would match the outside Lord let us not be inconsistent with the things that we say and do be inconsistent with what we are in the the inside but Lord I pray right now that the word God would also reflect what you are on the inside of us that your spirit God is power and Glory but God let that come out into our actions and into our speech and who we are as we go out today the rest of this week Lord that we can pour forth who we are that you have worked in us let it be a testimony let it be a testimony to who you are and what you're doing within us God we're not perfect we're flaw were broken but God I pray that that would be a reflection of who you are and what you're doing within us in jesus' name we pray