#S077 - “False Advertising” (Part 2) 00:00:05.27\00:00:10.54 Welcome to The Breath of Life 00:00:19.95\00:00:21.52 television miniseries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell. 00:00:21.55\00:00:25.75 in today's episode. 00:00:26.29\00:00:27.29 Pastor Snell will continue 00:00:27.32\00:00:29.12 part two of the powerful message “False Advertising”. 00:00:29.16\00:00:33.06 Now let's go deeper into the word of God. 00:00:34.00\00:00:36.33 You see, there is a difference, friends, 00:00:37.20\00:00:38.97 between the gifts of the spirit 00:00:39.00\00:00:41.50 and the fruit of the spirit. 00:00:42.17\00:00:44.11 And see, there is some in the body of Christ 00:00:45.11\00:00:47.01 that have great demonstration of the gifts of the Spirit. 00:00:48.24\00:00:50.81 There are some folk here 00:00:51.38\00:00:52.45 at Oakwood that can sing you underneath the table. 00:00:52.48\00:00:56.28 There are some that can treat you into a frenzy. 00:00:57.29\00:00:59.72 There are some that have theological knowledge 00:01:00.76\00:01:02.76 that would suggest that they know God. 00:01:03.66\00:01:05.03 There's some 00:01:05.43\00:01:06.53 that dress with a modesty that suggests true piety. 00:01:06.56\00:01:10.00 There are some 00:01:10.43\00:01:11.47 that can smile as if they got the Holy Ghost inside. 00:01:11.50\00:01:14.87 But where we get messed up is we sometimes confuse 00:01:15.97\00:01:18.97 the gifts of the spirit with the fruit of the Spirit. 00:01:19.01\00:01:23.21 And Jesus made it clear 00:01:23.78\00:01:25.31 that if you want to know the character of the tree, 00:01:25.35\00:01:28.38 don't necessarily look at what it says. 00:01:29.32\00:01:31.29 Don't look at what it demonstrates. 00:01:32.15\00:01:34.19 If you want to know what kind of tree it is, 00:01:35.12\00:01:36.62 you've got to look at the fruit that it bears. 00:01:37.59\00:01:39.49 And it's funny phrase, because there is an interesting 00:01:40.60\00:01:42.50 contradiction sometimes in church life, 00:01:42.53\00:01:45.57 because this is the crazy thing that Jesus does, is that Jesus 00:01:46.80\00:01:49.60 gives spiritual gifts sometimes to un spiritual people. 00:01:49.64\00:01:54.58 Okay, see, this is why you cannot always 00:01:55.51\00:01:58.75 access these and begin to assess it from a distance. 00:01:58.78\00:02:02.65 Because Paul literally 00:02:03.22\00:02:04.29 says, Mark, that he says, I've got to beat my body 00:02:04.32\00:02:08.02 and I've got to make it my slave. 00:02:08.79\00:02:10.66 Less after I've preached to others, 00:02:11.43\00:02:14.13 I myself become a cast away. 00:02:14.20\00:02:17.07 Because how many of us know that it is possible 00:02:18.13\00:02:20.57 for the Spirit of God to flow to you 00:02:21.44\00:02:23.44 and not live inside of you? 00:02:24.11\00:02:26.51 In other words, it is the same way 00:02:26.54\00:02:28.78 that the Bible says the Spirit of the Lord. 00:02:29.71\00:02:31.48 What come upon Sam said, and he would do great exploits 00:02:32.65\00:02:36.12 while he was still laying up with prostitutes 00:02:37.12\00:02:39.09 and being a bad buddy with Delilah. 00:02:39.95\00:02:42.22 Are you hearing me today? 00:02:42.26\00:02:43.79 The same way 00:02:43.83\00:02:45.03 that the Spirit was with David and he would still win wars 00:02:45.06\00:02:48.93 after he first began his adultery with Bathsheba? 00:02:50.00\00:02:52.93 Paul says that Satan is able 00:02:53.60\00:02:55.80 to transform himself into an angel of light, 00:02:55.84\00:02:59.94 even while Jesus calls him the prince of Darkness. 00:03:01.11\00:03:04.15 In other words, it's possible for the Spirit to flow through 00:03:05.41\00:03:07.85 you and not live in you. 00:03:07.88\00:03:09.62 In fact, let me say it this way. 00:03:09.65\00:03:11.39 For some of us, our bodies are not a spiritual house. 00:03:11.42\00:03:14.69 Our bodies are a spiritual hotel. 00:03:15.49\00:03:17.09 In other words, it 00:03:18.29\00:03:19.09 is not a place where the spirit lives. 00:03:19.13\00:03:22.10 It's just a place. 00:03:22.60\00:03:23.47 The spirit comes and it goes. 00:03:23.50\00:03:25.73 It visits while we minister, while we preach 00:03:26.74\00:03:29.14 or while we sing. 00:03:29.64\00:03:30.61 But as soon as the 00:03:30.64\00:03:31.77 benediction is gone, the Holy Ghost says goodbye. 00:03:31.81\00:03:35.31 I see friends of mine. 00:03:36.71\00:03:37.78 This is the crazy thing about Jesus. 00:03:37.81\00:03:39.85 Because Jesus doesn't repossess your gifts 00:03:39.88\00:03:43.35 when Satan possesses your character 00:03:44.19\00:03:45.99 so that everybody that can sing and saved 00:03:47.49\00:03:50.73 everybody that can preach ain't practicing it. 00:03:51.86\00:03:54.96 You can be modest and still be me. 00:03:55.80\00:03:58.13 And don't confuse the prosperity that your gifts 00:03:59.13\00:04:02.24 bring as an endorsement of the way that you are living. 00:04:02.27\00:04:06.01 Because just because it's going well doesn't 00:04:06.94\00:04:09.31 mean that it is well with your soul. 00:04:09.34\00:04:12.21 You are here in the past. So today I see. 00:04:13.18\00:04:14.88 This is what I need somebody to fundamentally embrace. 00:04:14.92\00:04:17.42 Is this is that God? 00:04:17.45\00:04:19.52 God says even when you don't serve me authentically, 00:04:19.55\00:04:23.12 I'll still let you hold on to your gifts. 00:04:24.06\00:04:25.79 And see, I'm trying to wrestle 00:04:26.90\00:04:28.03 with this thing for the Perry, cause 00:04:28.06\00:04:29.36 I'm trying to figure out how is it 00:04:29.40\00:04:30.70 that God will let us hold on to the gifts, 00:04:30.73\00:04:33.07 even when we don't use them as we should? 00:04:34.04\00:04:35.74 And the reason God lets you hold on to the gift 00:04:36.74\00:04:39.07 is because grace never gives up. 00:04:39.77\00:04:42.18 In other words, the grace of God 00:04:44.45\00:04:46.51 is able to see a day that you can't see. 00:04:46.55\00:04:49.85 The grace of God is able to see a shift coming 00:04:50.89\00:04:53.56 that we cannot perceive. 00:04:54.12\00:04:55.52 The grace of God is able to see a change 00:04:55.56\00:04:58.16 that your coworkers or friends cannot notarize. 00:04:59.19\00:05:01.16 In other words, Grace is able to see a day 00:05:02.13\00:05:04.37 when you turn your life toward him. 00:05:05.17\00:05:07.17 And so God doesn't say, I'll wait till you change 00:05:08.27\00:05:10.91 to start loading my gifts. 00:05:11.54\00:05:13.07 He says, I'm going to give you the gifts in anticipation 00:05:13.11\00:05:17.01 of the day that you turn your life around 00:05:17.05\00:05:19.95 and give your gifts to me and use them for my glory. 00:05:21.08\00:05:24.35 In other words, your gifts are a deposit. 00:05:25.32\00:05:27.69 Your gifts are the proof. 00:05:28.32\00:05:29.92 Your gifts are the evidence that he's not giving up on you. 00:05:29.96\00:05:33.90 He's leaving the light on you. 00:05:34.56\00:05:36.03 He's holding the door open for you. 00:05:36.06\00:05:38.13 And is there anybody grateful that the grace of God 00:05:39.27\00:05:42.00 is still extended to all his children? 00:05:42.90\00:05:45.11 Can anybody praise him that He has not turn the light off, 00:05:46.34\00:05:49.24 that he has not closed the door, that he has not repossessed 00:05:50.45\00:05:53.88 the gifts, 00:05:53.92\00:05:54.98 but he left them to you and said, hold on to them 00:05:55.02\00:05:58.79 until you turn them back over to me. 00:05:59.65\00:06:01.76 Are you here in the word today church? 00:06:02.66\00:06:03.73 Third thing this teaches us is that fruit 00:06:04.79\00:06:07.46 trees are not planted for decoration. 00:06:07.50\00:06:10.80 Their planet for sustenance. 00:06:11.57\00:06:13.74 Now, this is an anomaly of sorts 00:06:15.24\00:06:17.34 because notice that the Bible says 00:06:17.37\00:06:19.74 Jesus doesn't find this tree in a garden. 00:06:20.71\00:06:24.21 He finds this tree by the roadside 00:06:25.15\00:06:28.58 and understand, friends that fruit trees, 00:06:29.48\00:06:31.42 they have not random. They don't just pop 00:06:31.45\00:06:33.56 up, incidentally, fruit trees specifically. 00:06:33.59\00:06:36.59 They literally are planted with intentionality 00:06:37.63\00:06:40.20 and purpose and direction. 00:06:40.83\00:06:42.40 In fact, the Bible says that this tree is planted 00:06:43.47\00:06:45.80 by the roadside on the outskirts of the city. 00:06:46.84\00:06:49.50 And so what they would do 00:06:50.14\00:06:51.07 in ancient times is city leaders and alderman, 00:06:51.11\00:06:54.58 they would contract with the landscapers of the day. 00:06:55.64\00:06:58.08 And so when you came upon a city, 00:06:58.91\00:07:00.92 they would plant fruit trees on the entrance and on the exit. 00:07:02.12\00:07:05.29 And the reason they planted it was twofold. 00:07:06.29\00:07:08.19 They would feel the road with fruit trees on both sides, one, 00:07:09.42\00:07:12.33 because it provided a great esthetic 00:07:13.19\00:07:14.96 as you entered into the city. 00:07:15.66\00:07:17.13 But the main reason they planted trees 00:07:17.17\00:07:19.73 as you entered in is so when folk came from long journeys 00:07:20.94\00:07:24.37 and they were wearied by their travels, 00:07:25.31\00:07:26.88 or whether they were 00:07:27.41\00:07:28.54 beginning a long journey, there would be fruit or food 00:07:28.58\00:07:31.45 that would feed and replenish and nourish and strengthen 00:07:32.65\00:07:36.12 those that had come from a long journey. 00:07:36.15\00:07:39.52 In other words, friends, these trees 00:07:40.32\00:07:42.46 were not planted for decoration. 00:07:43.16\00:07:45.76 They were planted so they could feed somebody. 00:07:46.80\00:07:49.80 These trees were planted so they could help somebody. 00:07:50.93\00:07:54.94 These trees were planted so they could serve somebody. 00:07:56.10\00:07:59.94 And see, I need us to understand the reason 00:08:00.91\00:08:03.88 that Jesus is upset, that it does not bear fruit. 00:08:04.95\00:08:07.62 Is that because it has nothing to give? 00:08:08.48\00:08:10.82 Those who are supposed to be served are going to perish 00:08:11.99\00:08:15.52 because it's pretending but not putting out. 00:08:16.46\00:08:20.26 And see, one of the things I want to say to us, church. 00:08:21.40\00:08:23.06 And I want all of my students to hear me as I declare this. 00:08:24.33\00:08:26.17 I need you to be clear that you enter here to learn. 00:08:27.30\00:08:30.94 But you depart to what? 00:08:32.14\00:08:34.78 To serve. 00:08:34.81\00:08:35.84 And I need you to know that each and every one of us 00:08:35.88\00:08:38.01 was established by God to bear 00:08:38.71\00:08:41.42 fruit and say, I need us to get this truth 00:08:41.45\00:08:44.55 that God has not called us for declaration. 00:08:45.52\00:08:48.62 God has called us to serve and feed somebody else. 00:08:49.72\00:08:53.33 And see, 00:08:53.96\00:08:55.13 this is the principle that we've got to all completely embrace. 00:08:55.16\00:08:57.63 I need us to recognize this fact, friends of mine, 00:08:58.73\00:09:00.54 that your life is not just the result of biology, 00:09:01.64\00:09:04.54 but I need you to know that your life was established 00:09:05.67\00:09:08.21 by God to bring glory to Himself through a life of service. 00:09:08.24\00:09:13.65 In other words, friends, your life was supposed 00:09:14.62\00:09:16.75 to be lived as a solution to somebodies problem. 00:09:16.79\00:09:22.92 I see. The problem with too 00:09:23.59\00:09:24.73 many of us is we're focused exclusively on esthetics. 00:09:24.76\00:09:27.60 We're worried only about building an empire. 00:09:28.56\00:09:30.60 Our focus is only about getting rich. 00:09:31.43\00:09:33.17 The issue is that we are the center of our own orbit. 00:09:34.30\00:09:36.67 But God has not called or raised us up 00:09:37.57\00:09:39.47 just to be decorators of a church pew. 00:09:40.38\00:09:42.21 God has actually called us and positioned us to bear fruit 00:09:43.38\00:09:46.25 so that we can replenish the the downcast, so that we can 00:09:47.45\00:09:50.45 nourish the weary, so that we can revive the weak. 00:09:50.49\00:09:54.66 In other words, friends, you have not been called to live 00:09:55.79\00:09:58.49 as a collector. 00:09:58.53\00:10:00.10 You've been called to live as a conduit 00:10:01.03\00:10:03.63 through which the blessings of God flow to all men are. 00:10:04.83\00:10:07.60 Y'all hear me today, church? 00:10:07.64\00:10:09.50 In other words, friends of mine. 00:10:09.54\00:10:10.61 I need you to stop saying even stuff about church. 00:10:10.64\00:10:14.88 Like saying I come to church to get fed. 00:10:15.81\00:10:18.08 No, no, no, no, no. 00:10:19.81\00:10:20.75 You should have been eating all week long. 00:10:20.78\00:10:22.92 Are you hear what I'm saying? 00:10:24.32\00:10:25.99 You don't come to get fed. 00:10:26.02\00:10:27.39 You come to be equipped 00:10:27.42\00:10:29.22 so that you can leave and go feed somebody else. 00:10:29.26\00:10:32.03 I hear what I'm saying. 00:10:32.59\00:10:33.53 In other words, you don't come to get fed 00:10:33.56\00:10:35.60 because the pastor is not a nanny. 00:10:36.43\00:10:38.13 The pastor is a shepherd. 00:10:38.77\00:10:40.34 And how many of us know that shepherd 00:10:40.37\00:10:42.40 don't spoon feed the sheep. 00:10:43.07\00:10:44.44 The shepherd just lead them to grassy tables 00:10:44.47\00:10:47.44 so that the sheep are able to feed themselves. 00:10:48.48\00:10:51.25 Are y'all here with the pastor saying today? 00:10:52.25\00:10:53.92 In other words, it doesn't matter how much you eat today. 00:10:53.95\00:10:57.35 If you don't eat again 00:10:57.92\00:10:58.92 the next Sabbath, you're going to be starving. 00:10:58.95\00:11:00.76 Now y'all hear what I'm saying? 00:11:00.79\00:11:02.46 You better pick up that Bible on Tuesday. 00:11:02.49\00:11:04.99 Pick up that word on Wednesday. 00:11:05.69\00:11:07.20 You better learn how to praise God when there ain't no 00:11:08.33\00:11:11.10 praise team. 00:11:11.13\00:11:12.07 You better 00:11:13.17\00:11:14.17 learn how to worship when there ain't no organ. 00:11:14.20\00:11:16.40 You better learn how to testify when there ain't no Amos. 00:11:17.57\00:11:20.44 See, I need you to know that some of us 00:11:21.31\00:11:22.71 just know how to perform. 00:11:23.35\00:11:24.65 But we've never learned how to worship. 00:11:24.68\00:11:27.02 Because worship takes place without an audience. 00:11:28.08\00:11:30.15 Worship takes place because God is good. 00:11:31.09\00:11:33.02 Worship is the result 00:11:33.59\00:11:34.72 of reflecting upon a God who does all things well. 00:11:34.76\00:11:37.96 In other words, when you know God has been good to you, 00:11:39.16\00:11:41.26 you don't need nobody to make you say, man, 00:11:42.26\00:11:44.27 ain't nobody got to force you to shout Hallelujah. 00:11:45.37\00:11:47.27 You don't need the organ to pump you up. 00:11:48.14\00:11:50.14 You just wake up and save from the rising of the sun 00:11:50.17\00:11:53.71 to the going down of the same that the name of the Lord 00:11:54.91\00:11:57.61 is to be praised. 00:11:57.65\00:11:58.95 You don't need nobody to preach you happy 00:11:58.98\00:12:01.42 or to preach to encourage. 00:12:02.05\00:12:03.45 Do I have anybody like Dave in that can say I'll encourage 00:12:03.49\00:12:08.39 my self in the Lord? 00:12:09.36\00:12:12.03 In other words, some of us say I came to praise the Lord. 00:12:13.23\00:12:17.10 No, I don't come to praise the Lord. 00:12:17.97\00:12:19.87 I come with praise for the Lord. 00:12:20.57\00:12:22.57 No praise didn't start out 11. 00:12:23.27\00:12:25.67 Praise just overflowed when I got here and see, 00:12:26.64\00:12:29.74 I can tell those 00:12:29.78\00:12:30.98 who are still warming up cause you ain't getting done at home. 00:12:31.01\00:12:34.55 But do I have some worshipers that started early 00:12:35.62\00:12:38.42 in the morning 00:12:38.45\00:12:39.89 and you can testify that God has already been good 00:12:39.92\00:12:45.23 and you're already in the overflow. 00:12:46.06\00:12:49.83 Y'all here in the pastor today. 00:12:50.53\00:12:53.20 And see, I need us to understand this principle. 00:12:54.20\00:12:56.14 I'm going to share this quote with you from desire ages. 00:12:57.34\00:12:58.81 I'm almost done. 00:12:58.84\00:13:00.08 So I need you to see this thing 00:13:00.11\00:13:01.44 because some of us walk around is that as we talk 00:13:01.48\00:13:03.68 about how we are commandment keeping people 00:13:03.71\00:13:06.31 but we miss the basic principles of service. 00:13:07.32\00:13:08.92 This eloquent desire of 8584 says 00:13:09.75\00:13:11.99 the running of the tree is for all time 00:13:12.02\00:13:14.96 Christ's act and cursing the tree 00:13:15.76\00:13:17.79 with its width with his own power has created. 00:13:18.76\00:13:21.60 It stands as a warning to all churches 00:13:21.63\00:13:24.27 and to all Christians. 00:13:24.30\00:13:25.80 No one can live the love of God 00:13:25.83\00:13:28.40 without ministering to others. 00:13:29.10\00:13:31.11 In other words, 00:13:31.84\00:13:32.87 stop talking about how you keep the commandments 00:13:32.91\00:13:34.21 if you don't serve nobody but yourself. 00:13:34.24\00:13:36.78 But there are many 00:13:36.81\00:13:38.28 who do not live out Christ's merciful and unselfish life. 00:13:38.31\00:13:41.78 Some who think themselves excellent Christians do not 00:13:42.95\00:13:45.59 understand what constitutes service for God. 00:13:45.62\00:13:48.42 They plan and study only 00:13:48.99\00:13:51.63 to please them selves. 00:13:51.66\00:13:57.07 They act only in reference to self. 00:13:57.10\00:13:59.33 Time is a value to them only as they can gather 00:14:00.40\00:14:03.30 for themselves and all of the affairs of life. 00:14:03.34\00:14:06.24 This is their object, not for others, but for themselves. 00:14:07.41\00:14:09.54 Do they, Minister? 00:14:09.58\00:14:10.58 God created them to live in a world 00:14:10.61\00:14:12.45 where unselfish service must be performed. 00:14:12.48\00:14:15.05 He designed them to help their fellow man 00:14:15.92\00:14:18.15 in every possible way. 00:14:18.72\00:14:19.92 But self is so large 00:14:19.95\00:14:23.02 that they 00:14:24.03\00:14:24.63 cannot see anything else. 00:14:24.66\00:14:27.13 The reason some of us can't even see 00:14:28.00\00:14:30.13 Christ is that our ego is blocking the way. 00:14:30.17\00:14:33.47 And what I'm saying to somebody today 00:14:34.30\00:14:36.34 is that you've got to stop thinking that you've done 00:14:36.37\00:14:40.14 your due diligence by sitting on the front row of service. 00:14:41.38\00:14:44.35 You have not done your reasonable act of worship 00:14:45.41\00:14:47.72 until there is some Sabbath, after the sun sets 00:14:48.75\00:14:51.19 and some service in between the weekends 00:14:52.05\00:14:53.86 and some service unto your fellow man. 00:14:54.76\00:14:57.16 I don't hear in the word today church. 00:14:58.23\00:15:00.93 This is crazy day. 00:15:00.96\00:15:02.33 Because one of the things about a tree, it is a great 00:15:02.36\00:15:04.53 demonstration of nature, because every thing in a tree 00:15:05.70\00:15:08.30 is designed to bless somebody else 00:15:09.14\00:15:11.07 from the top of the tree to the roots, 00:15:11.91\00:15:13.64 so that even the leaves of the tree help cleanse the air 00:15:13.68\00:15:17.05 and provide oxygen that the fruit of the tree 00:15:18.05\00:15:20.22 literally feeds those who are hungry 00:15:21.08\00:15:22.48 and are in need of replenishment. 00:15:23.28\00:15:24.32 And even the roots of a tree give back. 00:15:24.35\00:15:26.96 Do you realize that the roots of a tree 00:15:27.89\00:15:29.06 don't just sit there and consume the nutrients from the soil. 00:15:29.09\00:15:32.99 But when the roots of a tree get strong 00:15:33.90\00:15:35.26 and they begin to grow, what the roots begin to do 00:15:36.36\00:15:38.30 is they begin to nourish the soil. 00:15:39.07\00:15:40.94 It begins to break up hard soil. 00:15:41.64\00:15:43.37 It begins to a rate the soil. 00:15:44.07\00:15:45.74 In other words, even the roots don't just take it gives back. 00:15:47.01\00:15:49.91 And if you are a good tree, 00:15:50.58\00:15:52.15 you won't live as the center of your own orbit. 00:15:53.11\00:15:55.95 You live is a blessing to a larger world and community. 00:15:57.05\00:16:02.22 I argued with the pastor saying today 00:16:03.02\00:16:04.83 and it's funny because it's a lot of the things 00:16:04.86\00:16:06.93 I'm tripping about as I'm looking at this story, 00:16:06.96\00:16:08.83 I'm trying to figure out, 00:16:08.86\00:16:10.00 all right, how is it that a tree can develop strong roots? 00:16:10.03\00:16:13.17 How is it that it can grow tall? 00:16:13.87\00:16:15.84 How is it that it can have sturdy limbs? 00:16:16.77\00:16:19.34 How is it that it can have a whole bunch of leaves 00:16:20.44\00:16:23.35 and still have no fruit? 00:16:24.01\00:16:26.31 And so as I looked at this thing, 00:16:27.12\00:16:28.28 there were just a couple of things 00:16:28.32\00:16:29.38 that were actually like seven and ten, 00:16:29.42\00:16:30.85 but I'm only going to announce a couple of them. 00:16:30.89\00:16:32.72 You see, one of the reasons a tree is able to develop leaves 00:16:32.75\00:16:36.73 and no fruit 00:16:36.76\00:16:37.89 is it can do that if that tree has never been pruned. 00:16:37.93\00:16:41.63 In other words, one of the things that can happen 00:16:43.30\00:16:45.27 sometimes is a tree can experience what they call 00:16:45.30\00:16:48.54 overgrowth, where there is such an abundance of foils 00:16:48.57\00:16:52.94 and tree limbs that can actually blockade 00:16:53.88\00:16:56.91 and begin to be a hindrance to the fruitfulness of that tree. 00:16:58.18\00:17:01.18 Sometimes a tree can have such an abundance of limbs 00:17:02.32\00:17:05.29 that sometimes the limbs can become a rotted by termites, 00:17:06.42\00:17:10.39 and they can be stricken with pestilence and disease. 00:17:11.53\00:17:13.73 And see, sometimes the husband has to come through with pruning 00:17:14.93\00:17:18.80 shears and has got to cut away the access. 00:17:18.83\00:17:22.94 Okay, you are not looking at me. 00:17:23.64\00:17:25.01 Sometimes it's got to cut away some attachments. 00:17:25.04\00:17:28.54 Sometimes it's got to separate some connections. 00:17:29.61\00:17:33.21 Because sometimes the foliage can get so aggressive 00:17:34.35\00:17:38.12 that it will steal the sap 00:17:38.75\00:17:41.26 that's designed to breed for the fruit. 00:17:42.09\00:17:44.49 And see, there are some of us 00:17:45.19\00:17:46.63 that have some connections that need to be pruned away. 00:17:46.66\00:17:50.90 There are some of us that have some friendships 00:17:51.93\00:17:53.97 that need to be cut out. 00:17:54.00\00:17:56.04 There are some of us that have some entanglements 00:17:56.07\00:17:59.94 that are 00:18:02.24\00:18:02.91 literally destroying the harvest 00:18:02.94\00:18:05.58 that God has put inside of us and ordained for us to bear. 00:18:06.82\00:18:10.05 But when I need somebody to understand today is that 00:18:11.19\00:18:13.39 though pruning is not comfortable 00:18:13.42\00:18:15.96 and the pruning is not preferred, 00:18:16.96\00:18:19.69 and the prune is not something we would request. 00:18:20.76\00:18:24.23 The only thing that can preserve the growth 00:18:25.20\00:18:28.34 and the harvest of the tree is for the good farmer 00:18:29.44\00:18:32.31 to go through and cut away every attachment 00:18:33.31\00:18:36.48 that is going to destroy the fruitfulness of that tree. 00:18:37.65\00:18:41.32 And I need to know that there are some people here. 00:18:41.35\00:18:44.19 I need you to understand that 00:18:44.22\00:18:46.39 this is not a people, a room of average people. 00:18:46.42\00:18:49.82 I believe with all of my heart 00:18:50.53\00:18:53.43 that the next great evangelist is sitting in this room. 00:18:54.56\00:18:57.27 I believe the one that will cure 00:18:58.10\00:19:00.70 cancer is sitting in this room. 00:19:00.74\00:19:03.61 I believe the next Kamala Harris 00:19:04.31\00:19:06.44 or Barack Obama is sitting in this room. 00:19:06.47\00:19:08.98 I believe the next great 00:19:09.54\00:19:10.95 software engineer and arbiter 00:19:11.88\00:19:14.22 of something like Facebook or Instagram is in this room. 00:19:14.25\00:19:17.75 I believe the next great titan of industry is in the room. 00:19:18.99\00:19:22.49 See some of your leaks out in cause 00:19:23.36\00:19:24.26 you don't realize I'm talking about you. 00:19:24.29\00:19:26.26 You don't realize 00:19:26.29\00:19:27.50 that you have great purpose, that you have great potential. 00:19:27.50\00:19:32.23 That God has an anointing on your life. 00:19:33.17\00:19:35.14 But God has to preserve it through private. 00:19:36.10\00:19:39.74 And He's got to cut away some things. 00:19:39.77\00:19:42.51 He's got to sever some ties. 00:19:43.18\00:19:44.75 See, the problem is, some of us, we've got too many social ties 00:19:44.78\00:19:49.28 and God has the play some of those things away. 00:19:51.99\00:19:54.42 Do you realize that the only person 00:19:55.29\00:19:56.86 you supposed to be permanently attached to is Jesus Christ? 00:19:56.89\00:19:59.89 Amen. Somebody. 00:20:00.80\00:20:02.60 Y'all. You a senior? 00:20:02.63\00:20:03.80 Y'all broke up freshman year, and you're still tethered 00:20:03.83\00:20:06.00 to that person and got to said, I got to play some things away 00:20:06.03\00:20:10.01 so that you can find 00:20:10.54\00:20:11.54 your freedom and your liberty in Jesus Christ. 00:20:11.57\00:20:13.64 Second reason that a tree can have leaves 00:20:14.61\00:20:17.85 but no fruit is that sometimes it can happen 00:20:18.78\00:20:20.85 when the tree is growing in the shade. 00:20:20.88\00:20:25.62 Okay, I missed it. 00:20:26.12\00:20:27.02 See, the reason some of 00:20:28.19\00:20:29.29 us can't grow is we got too much shade in our life. 00:20:29.32\00:20:32.96 Y'all made it out today in other words, 00:20:33.83\00:20:35.93 there are some of us that when we talk, we throw in shade. 00:20:35.96\00:20:40.54 Some of our friends are a little too shady. 00:20:41.47\00:20:42.54 Come on to say, man. 00:20:42.57\00:20:43.91 Some of our partners are a little bit too shady. 00:20:43.94\00:20:46.31 This stuff in your Internet 00:20:46.98\00:20:48.14 history is way to say to y'all, quiet in here today and see. 00:20:48.18\00:20:52.38 There are some of us that need to know that the shade 00:20:52.41\00:20:55.38 can't remove the sun. 00:20:55.42\00:20:57.85 But what it can do is it can block the presence of the sun 00:20:59.09\00:21:02.32 and say, 00:21:02.86\00:21:04.03 I need you to know that there is a limited amount of growth. 00:21:04.06\00:21:07.03 If you've got way too much shade in your life. 00:21:08.03\00:21:09.96 Now, let me just say this, 00:21:10.83\00:21:12.13 because there is some trees 00:21:12.17\00:21:13.70 in here that aren't living in somebody else's shade, 00:21:13.74\00:21:17.37 but some of us are so grave grimy that we causing 00:21:18.47\00:21:21.21 shade on everybody in our existence. 00:21:21.24\00:21:24.08 And got to say to somebody today 00:21:25.05\00:21:26.75 that until you cut back some of those things 00:21:26.78\00:21:30.45 that are adding shade to your life, 00:21:30.49\00:21:32.55 then you will never bear fruit until righteousness, repentance 00:21:33.79\00:21:37.09 or the purpose that God has put over your life. 00:21:38.06\00:21:40.60 And it's crazy because Jesus looks at the tree 00:21:41.96\00:21:44.73 and he says, Listen, he's so disappointed. 00:21:45.70\00:21:48.70 He's frustrated again. 00:21:48.74\00:21:50.01 It is not necessarily about the tree, 00:21:50.04\00:21:51.97 but it is a larger projection of where Israel of the day is 00:21:52.01\00:21:55.81 and where we would be here at the end of time. 00:21:55.84\00:21:58.71 And Jesus says, Let no fruit grow 00:21:59.55\00:22:02.15 on you ever again. 00:22:02.65\00:22:04.29 And it's crazy because we oftentimes say 00:22:05.49\00:22:08.29 and I said, even in this message 00:22:08.99\00:22:10.49 that we say, Jesus, curse the tree. 00:22:10.53\00:22:12.89 Did God curse the tree? 00:22:14.56\00:22:16.73 Or did he just reveal the tree? 00:22:16.77\00:22:20.77 In other words, what Jesus is doing is he is managing 00:22:21.84\00:22:24.71 any future disappointment that comes down the road. 00:22:24.74\00:22:28.14 He causes the whip, leaves to wither 00:22:29.01\00:22:31.35 so that it can no longer create a faulty expectation 00:22:32.41\00:22:35.92 or assumption that it can deliver something 00:22:36.92\00:22:39.29 that it does not have the content to be able to produce. 00:22:40.49\00:22:43.56 What he is doing is he is managing the reputation 00:22:44.66\00:22:47.86 of the farmer that planted him, because when trees 00:22:48.90\00:22:51.63 don't have fruit, 00:22:52.13\00:22:53.20 nobody begins to indict the character of the tree. 00:22:53.23\00:22:56.77 They indict the character of the one who planted it. 00:22:57.91\00:22:59.91 And when believers walk around without fruit, people 00:23:01.11\00:23:03.71 don't just indict you. 00:23:03.75\00:23:05.48 They say, Jesus ain't real because we ain't got no fruit. 00:23:05.51\00:23:09.92 And so God says that before 00:23:09.95\00:23:11.92 I come again, I'm not gonna curse my people, 00:23:11.95\00:23:15.69 but I'm going reveal those who don't. 00:23:16.56\00:23:20.40 Bad, no fruit. 00:23:20.43\00:23:21.96 And so all he did to the tree was make 00:23:22.00\00:23:24.33 the outside of the tree match what was on the inside. 00:23:24.37\00:23:27.50 In other words, what God is going 00:23:28.34\00:23:29.64 do a part of His purging or part of his preparing the church, 00:23:29.67\00:23:34.38 a part of him getting us ready 00:23:35.08\00:23:36.68 is he's going to separate the wheat from the tares. 00:23:36.71\00:23:40.35 He's going to separate the goats from the sheep. 00:23:41.35\00:23:43.52 How many of us know there's going to be a shaking 00:23:44.62\00:23:46.19 in the house of Israel? 00:23:46.76\00:23:48.06 And are some of us that say, I don't go to church 00:23:48.09\00:23:50.79 because all of the hypocrites in the church 00:23:51.79\00:23:53.43 and all the faith, folk and the church 00:23:54.23\00:23:55.80 just hang in there a little while longer. 00:23:56.73\00:23:58.80 And God says, I'm going curse all the fake trees. 00:23:58.83\00:24:02.30 I'm going to make them reveal their true character 00:24:03.41\00:24:05.64 and those who are by to the end the same 00:24:06.51\00:24:10.01 well have the character of Jesus Christ 00:24:10.05\00:24:14.08 out here in the world today. 00:24:15.35\00:24:16.32 Friends and standing us. 00:24:16.35\00:24:18.59 No friends of mine that we are in a place 00:24:18.62\00:24:20.26 come on to get ready saying something 00:24:20.29\00:24:21.92 that that God says that I love my church. 00:24:21.96\00:24:25.56 And he says, man, he loved his church 00:24:26.46\00:24:27.50 and he gave his son for it. 00:24:27.50\00:24:28.70 And the Bible says 00:24:28.73\00:24:29.60 that he's going to cleanse his church 00:24:29.63\00:24:31.30 through the washing of the water, through work, 00:24:31.33\00:24:33.74 through the word. 00:24:33.77\00:24:34.84 So God says that before I come, 00:24:35.54\00:24:38.37 I'm gonna perfect my church. 00:24:38.41\00:24:40.74 But the only way I can prevent my church is 00:24:41.71\00:24:44.78 I've got to expose all the imposters. 00:24:44.81\00:24:48.15 Cause 00:24:48.18\00:24:49.35 I'm going make sure it's clear 00:24:50.49\00:24:51.82 who the weak are and who the tears are. 00:24:51.85\00:24:54.69 That's why 00:24:55.42\00:24:56.52 he makes it very clear that when by the time he comes 00:24:56.56\00:24:58.76 that the church is going to be without spot 00:24:59.73\00:25:01.46 and without blemish and without stain. Why? 00:25:02.40\00:25:04.60 Because he's going to cleanse it and he's going to purge it. 00:25:04.63\00:25:08.44 And everybody who's sitting up in here 00:25:09.27\00:25:11.61 like we got it all together, like we ain't never done 00:25:11.64\00:25:16.51 red in a row. And again, you ain't got to be perfect. 00:25:16.54\00:25:19.41 You just need to be progressive. 00:25:19.45\00:25:20.82 You ain't got to have it all together. 00:25:22.12\00:25:23.82 You just need to be authentic, 00:25:23.85\00:25:26.99 see your witness and have to be perfect. 00:25:28.36\00:25:29.69 It just needs to be authentic. 00:25:29.72\00:25:31.33 And God is looking for those who are going to bear fruit, 00:25:31.36\00:25:35.06 who are not just going to take them earth, 00:25:36.03\00:25:37.40 but those who are literally 00:25:37.43\00:25:38.67 this is crazy, this crazy church. 00:25:38.70\00:25:41.24 You know who 00:25:41.27\00:25:43.00 the saddest, most pitiful person 00:25:43.81\00:25:47.88 in hell is going to be 00:25:47.91\00:25:50.38 is going to be like us 00:25:53.15\00:25:55.95 who have been given every possible advantage 00:25:56.89\00:26:00.06 to bear fruit, who have been raised 00:26:00.09\00:26:03.22 in Christian home, reared in church school. 00:26:04.13\00:26:06.49 Literally worship is a requirement 00:26:07.23\00:26:09.83 as a part of your curriculum to 00:26:09.86\00:26:12.30 where you sit there, appeal on top of appeal 00:26:14.24\00:26:16.67 and message on top of message. 00:26:16.71\00:26:18.61 And you sit there tweeting and texting it, 00:26:18.64\00:26:21.21 doing all other kind of things. 00:26:21.91\00:26:23.11 And it doesn't come a day where there is going to be a famine 00:26:23.14\00:26:26.65 for the Word of God. 00:26:27.18\00:26:27.95 And that's going to look a time 00:26:27.98\00:26:29.22 where you're going to be 00:26:29.25\00:26:30.09 wanting somebody to give you answers 00:26:30.12\00:26:32.05 that have been given time and time and time again. 00:26:32.09\00:26:34.46 But that opportunity will be there no longer 00:26:35.39\00:26:36.93 is going to be some 00:26:38.99\00:26:40.56 day young person 00:26:40.60\00:26:42.90 that was given every possible 00:26:44.63\00:26:46.70 opportunity and advantage to bear fruit. 00:26:46.74\00:26:49.50 And what I'm saying to somebody today 00:26:50.87\00:26:52.57 is that while the Lord is still pruning 00:26:52.61\00:26:56.14 and while the Lord is still watering, 00:26:57.01\00:26:59.51 while the Lord is still providing sunshine, 00:27:00.52\00:27:02.45 while the Lord is still providing nurturing to the soil, 00:27:03.59\00:27:05.99 we've got to allow Jesus to do a new work in us. 00:27:06.99\00:27:10.83 Are you are hearing me today? Friends? 00:27:10.86\00:27:13.19 And it's funny 00:27:13.23\00:27:14.40 because one of the things that God does is he reveals the tree 00:27:14.46\00:27:16.93 and see what he's doing is he's essentially 00:27:17.87\00:27:19.97 giving the farmer a cue 00:27:20.54\00:27:22.40 to say this one may need to be uprooted 00:27:23.61\00:27:27.88 so that the spot is not left 00:27:28.54\00:27:31.01 occupied with something that cannot bear fruit. 00:27:31.05\00:27:33.75 So he's saying, I'm going to give this spot another chance. 00:27:34.98\00:27:36.95 He's saying, I'm going to plant something else in its place. 00:27:38.15\00:27:39.69 I'm going to make this spot all over again with something 00:27:40.92\00:27:43.59 that is going to bear fruit. 00:27:43.63\00:27:45.69 And I need somebody to know that God who is longsuffering 00:27:45.73\00:27:48.50 and merciful, 00:27:48.53\00:27:49.36 that he is still wanting to produce fruit 00:27:49.40\00:27:51.53 a righteousness, fruit of repentance, 00:27:52.40\00:27:54.04 spiritual fruit in the lives of all of his children. 00:27:54.07\00:27:57.24 But we've got to let him do his work. 00:27:58.14\00:27:59.34 We've got to let him make us over. 00:27:59.37\00:28:01.21 We've got to let him start over. 00:28:01.24\00:28:03.11 How many of us need a spiritual reset in Jesus Christ? 00:28:03.14\00:28:18.16