September 29, 2025 • 37 mins
What did you think of today's message?
With Northgate Online, you can join us every Sunday live at 9:00a and 11:00a, and our gatherings are available on-demand starting at 7p! Join us at https://thisis.church
Subscribe to our channel to see more messages from Northgate: https://www.youtube.com/@Northgate2201
—
If you would like to give, visit https://thisis.church/give/
—
Check out our Care Ministries for prayer, food pantry, memorial services and more at https://thisis.church/care
—
You are welcome at Northgate just like you are. Life may be going great for you or you may have hurts, hang-ups, and habits. No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, you are welcome at Northgate. We value the process of journey. We believe in the transformative power of Christ. Northgate has a clear vision of transforming our homes, communities, and world by Pursuing God, Building Community, and Unleashing Compassion.
—
Follow Northgate on Instagram: https://instgram.com/ngatecf
Follow Northgate on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsNorthgate/
Follow Larry Davis: https://www.instagram.com/sirlawrencedavis
Subscribe to Northgate's Podcast (Apple): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/northgate/id1583512612
Subscribe to Northgate's Podcast (Google): https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS81ODE2ODAucnNz
Share your experience with Northgate by leaving a review: https://g.page/r/CRHE7UBydhxzEBM/review
...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
Hi, my name is Athena Turborg and I am in third
grade and I go to Eagle GeekMonastery.
Dear friends, do not believeevery spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they arefrom God, because many false
prophets have gone out into theworld.
This is how you can recognizethe spirit of God.
(00:25):
Every spirit that acknowledgesJesus Christ has come in the
flesh of the from God.
But every spirit that has notthat does not acknowledge Jesus
is from not from God.
This is the spirit ofAntichrist.
Which you have heard is comingand never and now is already in
(00:49):
the world.
You dear children are from Godand have overcome them because
they're because the one thing isin your great is greater than
the one the one who is in theworld.
They are from the world andtherefore speak from the
(01:12):
viewpoint of the world.
And the world listens to them.
We are from God, and whoeverknows God listens to us.
But whoever is not from God doesnot listen to us.
This is how we recognize thespirit of truth and the spirit
of falsehood.
This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
Y'all show Athena some love.
Show yourselves some love.
You showed up to church today.
And you look good too, and youlook good.
One last one.
Pastor Lawrence has beenpreaching the house down these
last few weeks.
Will y'all show my friend somelove real quick?
Come on.
(01:59):
If your team is currentlylosing, just stay focused on the
sermon.
Focus on higher things.
If your team is winning,somebody say amen.
All right then.
There we go.
We see who's watching the gamein the middle of service.
Hey, so so we're on this seriestalking about John, talking
about all of his writings.
In the last six weeks, PastorLawrence has been preaching on
(02:22):
this, and he started last weekwith a confession.
So I will follow suit and followwith a confession for you guys
today.
One of my guilty pleasures is ashow that I just recently they
took off like last week.
Show called um catfish.
Um, some some watchers outthere, okay.
Now, when I got introduced tothe show catfish, I thought we
(02:44):
were gonna be cooking catfish.
I thought it was like a cookingshow.
No, catfish is just peoplegetting cooked every episode.
If you don't know what catfishis, catfishing is when people
think they're in a relationshipwith somebody, and it turns out
that that person they thoughtthey were in a relationship
with, they're not in arelationship with.
I mean, somebody, one girl waslike, I'm dating Chris Brown.
(03:07):
She was dating Brown Chris.
It just, it bam, that's not him.
That was actually your cousin.
And so it got real weird.
But catfish is you know you'recatfish when the person's
profile picture doesn't looklike how they look in real life.
Have you ever met somebody inthe profile picture and how they
look?
You like, eh?
How did you do that?
(03:28):
How'd you how'd you how'd youhow'd you pull that off?
That's when you are catfished.
This whole series about John ishim trying to talk to the
believers, saying, please don'tbe catfished by the culture.
Please don't allow the cultureto catfish you.
And here's the truth, if we'rehonest, we allow the culture to
catfish us all the time intobelieving things that aren't
(03:48):
true.
Sometimes we get into weirdhabits with the culture where it
begins to drive us and it beginsto lead us through its opinions
and what shows up in front ofus.
And sometimes we can getconfused that we can think that
our success is our status.
We can confuse and be catfishedto think that lust is actually
love.
And here's another one we can beconfused and catfished to
(04:10):
actually believe that ourpossessions determines our
peace.
And you can get your life thrownoverboard the moment you believe
I have everything that I need.
I have peace.
Ask Job about that.
It doesn't turn out so well.
In 2025, we live in a worldwhere it always seems like
(04:30):
something's trying to catfishus, something's trying to get
our attention.
So we actually live in a worldwhere there's like 24 hours of
just information.
Anybody in here remember when TVused to go off?
You remember where all thepeople that remember?
Raise your hand, come on, comeon.
That's it.
Look around.
All the old people were righthere, baby.
Yeah.
You remember when TV used to gooff?
(04:50):
It would be the tonight show,and then it was just tomorrow
after that.
And so tonight's show would gooff, and then and then they
picked the worst flag sometimes.
It was just waving.
Like, and then they had the flagwaving, and then after the flag
was waving, all you would hearis this for hours, for hours it
(05:14):
was just this six hours of justnoise.
And people, you know, in mychurch, they asked me all the
time, so what what did y'all doafter TV went off?
We just did we we yeah, we wejust thought, we thought to
ourselves, you have time tothink.
You remember when you had timeto think?
(05:36):
Before it was just alwayssomebody trying to get your
attention, mom.
Remember before you had kids andyou had time to think?
That when you went to therestroom, you could think.
Now somebody like, mommy, mommy,mommy, mommy, open up.
Remember when you had time tothink?
And so John is telling them,guys, just like when TV went
off, turn off the culture andlet's reel it back in.
(05:56):
Let's reset to the foundationsof the gospel.
What is the thing we taught whenJesus was introduced to you when
you discovered the gospel?
And so, over the last six weeks,you've been hearing us preach
about this idea that thesepeople were coming in to the
church and they were trying todeceive them and try to convince
them of another way.
And here's what John is sayinghe's saying that the loudest
(06:17):
voices aren't the truest voices.
So don't be deceived, don't becondemned, and don't be
confused.
Pastor Lawrence preached a fewweeks ago a few weeks ago.
He said that now that you havebeen adopted into this family,
there should be a resemblance onyou and your family.
Have you ever seen familymembers?
They do everything alike.
You know, there should be aresemblance.
(06:38):
And here's what the resemblanceshould be: it should be that we
live holy and we love deeply.
When people come into thischurch, they'll want to know,
are you who you say you are, orare you gonna be fake?
And I can tell you somethingabout this house.
We love deeply in this house.
People love each other in thishouse.
Turn to the person beside youand say, I love you.
Ask the person on the otherside, say, Will you buy me lunch
(06:58):
after this?
Let's test this love.
Put your money up, let's testit.
I I love the fact that we havebeen diving into John because I
think John doesn't get all thecredit he deserves.
You know, people talk aboutPaul, we talk about Paul a lot,
we talk about Peter.
We even go old school, we talkabout David and Moses.
(07:19):
But John wrote quite a bit ofthe New Testament, and we don't
often talk about him.
And John to me is a little bitspecial because John he always
writes, I'm the one who Jesusloved.
And here's John, the lastliving, breathing disciple,
looking to make sure that as thetwilight is going out on his own
life, that he's ensuring, heyguys, don't get it confused.
(07:40):
They're trying to preach to youa new Jesus, but that is not the
one who died for your sins, theone you initially heard about,
the one who Paul preached about,the one who Peter represented,
the one that I have shown you,the one that I'm pastoring you
to right now.
That is the Jesus that you needto be looking for.
Don't add other stuff.
They are simply trying toconfuse you.
(08:03):
You know, it's one thing for anenemy to try to kill you, it is
diabolical when they try toconfuse you.
You are trying to now manipulatethis gospel.
You're not even trying to saythat Jesus isn't real, you're
just trying to add a lie, alittle lie, to a big truth.
Have you ever been around a realliar?
(08:24):
Oh, don't think about yourcousin.
Let me go over here.
Somebody over here, they almosttext their cousin like the
preacher's talking about youtoday.
Have you ever been around a realliar who can give you 90% truth,
but give you 10% of a lie justenough to manipulate you?
John is telling them there arethese false teachers coming in,
(08:47):
and it sounds like the gospel,it looks like the gospel, it may
even feel like there's somemiracles happening, but there's
enough lie in this to justdistort it a little bit.
My wife works in middle school.
No offense to the middleschoolers that are in the
building.
My wife says, I can get 90%truth.
I'll listen for that one littlesmall piece right there where
(09:08):
they said, Yeah, I really wentto the bathroom to use it.
No, you weren't.
You were outside talking to yourfriends.
She looks for that one littlepiece.
And John is telling them,they're giving you some truth,
but we got to deal with the linebecause there's some imitation
up in here.
I grew up in Virginia where youknow we were around seafood.
My mom was a crab picker.
My first job, I was a crabpicker.
So you can't trick me withimitation crab.
(09:31):
You cannot come to me with crabwith a K, talking about this is
crab.
No, no, no.
That's just salmon that's beenshredded up and packaged
together.
That's not crab.
Real crab doesn't have a K init.
I know imitation when I see it.
And but there's something inyour life that you can look at
it immediately and you know whatthat imitation looks like.
Let's jump into point numberone.
Point number one, here's mypoint verification check.
(09:53):
There always has to be averification check.
John is pushing them, saying,Hey Saints, what's the
verification check right here?
Is this verified or is this justviral?
Some things are viral, andbecause we don't double check
it, we just decide that's facts.
There's a verification for that.
Why?
I've seen nine of my friendspost it, it must be the Lord.
(10:14):
I've seen nine other people sayit, it must be the Lord.
I've heard four pastors say it.
I can tell you now in thishouse, I know your pastor.
He's like, even when I say it,go back and run it through the
word.
What does the gospel say aboutthis?
Oh, I just did the new update onmy phone, and I I kind of like
it, but there are some thingsthat is requiring a two-step
verification, and nothingbothers me more than a two-step
(10:39):
verification.
I want what I want right now.
Why am I having to verify ittwice?
Well, Pastor Courtney, it's foryour protection because a
one-step verification justdoesn't seem to be doing the
process anymore.
You're gonna need a two-stepverification.
They need to make sure there issome authenticity for this and
that you are verified to haveaccess.
(11:00):
And John tells them when hesays, Dear friends, do not
believe every spirit.
Don't believe every spirit.
There's more than one spirit outthere, it's not just the Holy
Spirit, there are other spirits.
There are lion spirits,manipulating uh manipulating
spirits.
There's so many other spirits.
What are the spirits that areout there?
He's saying, Don't trust everyspirit.
That means that even the onesthat make you feel the gooseies,
(11:22):
is that God's spirit?
He's saying, Dear friends, donot believe every spirit.
He said, but test the spirits tosee whether they are from God
because many false prophets havegone out into the world.
Here's a two-step verificationthat John is pushing us to run
into the word and runningthrough the spirit.
What does the word have to sayabout it?
(11:43):
What does the word have to sayabout it?
I heard an older preacher sayone time said, He said, The word
works for those who work theword.
You gotta work the word.
What does the word of God haveto say about it?
And that does not mean that youhave to know every scripture.
No, it's okay for you to run towhatever your search engine is
and then say, Is there scriptureon this?
Then go to your Bible app oropen up the pages.
(12:04):
Where are the people that boughtpages of Bibles?
Who bought a real Bible in here?
Anybody bought come on the wholefront row, okay?
And y'all, I see you.
They bought they like my turns,and we're the ones where your
Bible lights up.
It's okay, no, no shade here.
Go to your Bible.
I see you back there.
Go to your Bible and then findthat scripture and run it
through the word, and then runit through the Spirit of God.
What is the Holy Spirit sayingto you?
(12:25):
I was thinking about this word,he's telling them don't get
caught up in counterfeits.
I love watching the historychannel, and I can get lost in
it in the history channel.
And I was looking at the historychannel one day, and it it was a
document, documentary on the thethe beginning of the secret
service.
And my whole life, I've knownthe secret service as to be
(12:48):
those who uh protect thepresident and people that are in
authority.
No, no, no.
I discovered that in the 1800s,the Secret Service was
originally made because theywere chasing down counterfeit
dollars.
Here I thought this whole timethat the goal of the Secret
Service was protection.
And I discovered by watchingthis documentary that it wasn't
(13:09):
protection at all.
And they said, How did theydiscover when something was
counterfeit?
They said they never studied thecounterfeit, they studied the
real enough so that way whenthey saw something that wasn't
real, they said something's off.
And so the secret service is notthere for protection, they're
really there for detection.
They can detect that something'soff, and that's what the Holy
(13:31):
Spirit is doing on the inside ofyou.
Yes, you're here for theprotection of the gospel and for
the protection of the church.
But can you decide whatsomething is off?
I'm detecting something's notright about that thing over
there.
Five point six billion dollars.
Everybody say five point sixbillion dollars.
Bring it to this church, Lord.
5.6.
(13:51):
No, I'm joking.
5.6 billion dollars.
Somebody's like, do it, Lord.
Wait, wait a minute.
Do y'all really believe?
Say, do it, Lord.
It's a lot of faith in thishouse right here.
Almost stopped and raised theoffering right there.
5.6 billion every year,$5.6billion is lost throughout the
globe from people gettingscammed.
(14:16):
Have you ever been minding yourown business and you get a
random text of someone sayingyour iPhone storage is out?
Sign up here, send your SocialSecurity and your Amex card
number, and we will give youunlimited iPhone usage.
I bet they will.
I bet they will.
You're gonna be on the phonewith somebody else in a second,
and it won't be them.
(14:36):
They they text your phone allthe time.
Scammers are trying to get yourinformation.
And when you sign up for atwo-step verification, they
gotta go through some hoops.
So this means that you can'tjust text me out of the blue and
scare me with information, and Inow bow to it.
Let me go to you spiritually.
That means that the enemy can'tjust come and text you some
information tomorrow and get youafraid.
(14:58):
That diagnosis can't get youafraid tomorrow, that argument
can't get you afraid, thatlayoff can't get you afraid,
right?
Because you're gonna run itthrough what?
A two-step verification.
What does God have to say aboutit?
You gotta look at your life andsay, Am I willing to two-step
with this thing?
I'm not gonna do a two-step, butyou gotta be willing to two-step
(15:18):
with it for a second.
Everybody say test the word.
Say test the spirit.
That word right there, test,means to discern.
Discern.
If you can't discern, thenyou'll find yourself being
deceived.
God gave you discernment.
Here's what I wrote right here: discernment is the ability to (15:37):
undefined
notice difference.
Discernment is the ability tonotice difference.
Discernment is the ability tonotice difference.
Discernment is the ability tonotice difference.
Some of us in here are able tolook at things immediately and
(16:00):
recognize they're different.
You didn't know you wereoperating in spiritual
discernment.
The best way to build yourdiscernment is to practice on
yourself.
I use discernment on myself.
Why do I feel this way?
Why did I wake up feeling thisway?
Why did that bother me so much?
Holy Spirit, what do you want tosay say to me about this?
When I read that, why did thatdo this to me?
Why did I almost fall out withthis person?
(16:22):
You want to ask yourself and useyour spiritual discernment on
yourself.
Why am I feeling the way thatI'm feeling?
And if you listen, you run itthrough the word, and then you
ask Holy Spirit, will you revealto me why I'm feeling this way?
And he will give you an answer.
That means you're usingdiscernment on yourself.
And it's always necessary foryou to use the tools of God on
yourself before you abuse themon somebody else.
(16:45):
Because sometimes when we justtry to use it on somebody else,
our discernment is not usknowing and recognizing a
pattern that's different.
Sometimes it can becomesuspicion.
And we don't want to operate insuspicion.
So you look at this right here,discernment doesn't just listen
for words, it listens for theheart behind the words.
One day the apostle Paul isteaching, and he's going from
(17:06):
city to city, and there's a girlthat someone has been using and
abusing her to tell the futureand to tell uh about what's
happening in somebody's life.
And she's following Paul frommoment to moment, from place to
place, and Paul is preaching hisheart out, and there's a girl in
here, and she's every time Paulpreaches, she's almost saying
the right thing, but Paul beginsto find out something different
(17:28):
about her.
So Paul is preaching, and she'slike, Come on, Paul, preach it,
Paul.
You better say it, Paul.
You're looking thinner everytime you come in town, Paul.
All these things.
I mean, if I were Paul, Paul,you're you better preach it, and
all of a sudden, Paul decides,he listens to what he says, wait
a minute.
That's a distraction, that's notthe Lord.
(17:48):
And he begins to cast the devilout of her because he discerned
though it's saying the rightthing, it has the wrong heart
behind it.
You have to be able to determinethis is what John is leaning
into.
It sounds like it's the thing,but it's not actually the thing.
You're gonna have to actuallytest it.
Everybody say, test it.
When John was writing this, he'sin a place called Ephesus.
(18:12):
In Ephesus, uh Paul was there, Iwas talking about Paul.
Paul was in Ephesus a fewdecades before, and he
accidentally on purpose starteda revival.
He he he would he happen to bepreaching to Jesus and he
accidentally on purpose starteda revival.
I wonder if you are willing toallow God to accidentally on
purpose start a revival in yourown personal world.
(18:34):
I wonder if in your family youare willing to accidentally on
purpose start a revival.
Are you willing to, I'm sorry,are you willing to go into your
emotions, into your mind andtell your mind you cannot
overthrow me?
I'm willing to accidentally onpurpose start a revival.
Paul was willing to accidentallyon purpose start a revival.
And when he did, he made thiswhole city mad because they were
(18:56):
doing idol worship in Ephesus.
And you want to know who reallygot mad with them?
They called them thesilversmith, the guys who were
making all these metal objectsto other gods.
And he was they were sellingthem to the people saying, Oh,
you have a God?
I can make something in thisimage.
Here, does this look like yourGod?
Let me sell it to you.
And people stopped buying theidol worship, and Paul, on
(19:17):
purpose, started a revival.
And the next thing you know, thesilversmith were mad.
So when John is telling them,he's telling this city, test
this, he's reminding them ofwhat Paul did.
He's saying, test the metal ofthe words that you're hearing.
If what they're saying aboutJesus isn't true, how do you
test something?
How do you test metal?
You test it through the fire.
(19:38):
Is it gonna withstand the fire?
Some of you are sitting in hereand you've withstood through all
the fires of your life.
You're only standing here.
You may smell like smoke, butyou don't look burned.
You may smell like smoke, butyou don't look burned.
I'm gonna say it again.
You may smell like smoke, butyou don't look burned.
Nobody in here can recognizewhat you've gone through because
you have outlasted the fire.
(20:01):
So you have the fire.
Didn't they also test it withacid?
They dropped some acid on it.
I remember being in high school,you'd be walking through the
mall, and the little kiosk manwould say, Hey, let me test your
chain to see if it's real.
I'll be like, uh-uh, and I gotmine for$10.
Leave me alone.
I know it's real.
I did the bite test.
Remember we used to bite onsomething to see if it's real?
What were we tasting for,actually?
(20:22):
What were we tasting for?
All right, that's probably howCOVID started.
Tusting gold like that.
They will put acid on it to seeif it would eat through it.
To see, is this real gold?
Job says, I intend to come outlike gold.
And for some of us, we havesurvived acid.
That's just toxicity.
You survived a toxic scenario,and it's proof that there's some
(20:44):
gold on the inside of your life.
John is just simply trying totell them, have you survived
some acid moments?
That means that there's somegold on the inside of you.
And the third way is that theyweigh it.
Because people were making whatlooked like uh uh real silver,
but it wasn't real silver, andthey would weigh it to see if
the weight is off.
And for some of us in here, theweight is right.
(21:07):
You've been able to last throughevery scenario because when they
decided to weigh you, what wasit?
Was it was it 5'0?
What was your weight?
Was it was it 5'5?
Was it 6'7?
When they weighed you, what wasit gonna be when they weighed
you and they weighed you, and itturned out to be the right
thing.
Everybody say, get your weightup.
I mean, not physically butspiritually.
(21:29):
There you go.
Somebody's like, I intend to dothat after church when I go eat
today.
He warns them, dear friends, donot believe every spirit, but
test the spirit to see whetherthey are from God because many
false prophets have gone out ofthe world.
Let me help you really quick.
I'm gonna move fast.
Here's what prop false prophetswant to do they want to drown
you in other voices, they wantto drown you in other opinions,
(21:52):
they want to drown you inself-proclaimed thoughts about
yourself being higher than theLord.
But here's what I want to tellyou as they were preaching a
false Jesus to thatcongregation, a false Jesus to
that place.
Jesus is always about the crossand not the custom version that
they were trying to fit us for.
The devil always wants todestroy you, but he really
(22:16):
doesn't have to destroy you ifhe can just deceive you.
Jesus one day is fasting, he'sfasting, the enemy comes to him
in the middle of fasting, heoffers him enough truth with a
little bit of a lie to see ifJesus will make the exchange.
And Jesus, who's been hangingout with his father, he knows
the word, he knows the spiritbecause he's been hanging out
with his father, he's beenhanging out with the spirit.
Let me just say this (22:36):
you gotta stay close enough so that way
you can know the difference.
You gotta stay close enough sothat way you can know the
difference.
And Jesus looks at the enemy,he's like, the trade is not
worth it because you're a liar.
How do you know when the enemy'slying?
His lips are always moving.
If you ever discover his lipsmoving, he is absolutely lying.
Proverbs 14 and 15 says this thegullible believe anything
(22:57):
they're told, the prudent siftand weigh every word.
Somebody say, Weigh it.
Point number two, new Jesus, newJesus.
John is like, they're preachinga new Jesus, but I actually knew
Jesus.
John is saying this custom Jesusis much different than the
crucified Jesus that they'vebeen talking about.
(23:18):
Uh, first John 4, 2 through 3says this this is how you can
recognize the spirit of God.
Every spirit that acknowledgesthat Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is from God.
But every spirit that does notacknowledge Jesus is not from
God.
They were trying to preach agospel where they were trying to
say that Jesus wasn't a realman.
And John is like, No, no, no,you don't understand.
He was a man, he was a man andhe was God, he was fully human
(23:40):
and fully God.
He said, if you don't understandthat, then you're gonna miss a
really big piece of thisredemption story.
If you miss the fact that he isa man, you're gonna really miss
this idea of the story.
Why?
He says, I'm fighting for hishumanity here, because they were
coming in and trying to tell thebelievers he wasn't really a
man, he was like a man who likeGod like sat on for like three
(24:03):
years, and then right before thecross, like God lifted off of
him.
And John is telling them, No,that man who was a God man went
to a real cross.
And John is thinking in hisresume with God, he's thinking,
no, no, no, he was man enough tocry when Lazarus died.
He was man enough to go to thegarden and to say, God, if this
cup can pass me by, let it passme by.
(24:23):
But he was also man enough tostay on that cross when he had
every opportunity to get off ofthat cross.
Come on, let me help you out fora second.
You are serving a Jesus whodoesn't understand what you're
walking through.
He cried real tears, he bledreal blood, he had real issues.
You're serving a Jesus who fullyunderstands your story.
John is looking at this momentand he's saying, This real
(24:46):
Jesus, he was man enough to dieon a cross, but God enough to
die in my place.
He was man enough to go to thecross, but he's God enough to
die in my place and to come outand make sure that I have all
victory.
What John is saying is what I'msaying.
He said, fam, that was my cross.
That was my shame, that was mypunishment.
But Jesus decided when he lookedout into the distance, he said,
(25:09):
I know it belongs to you, butI'm gonna do it for you.
I know that that was the penaltyfor your sin, but I'm gonna do
it for you.
He's saying, if you minimize thefact that Jesus was a human, you
will not recognize that when hewent to the cross, there had to
be redemption for sin.
That means that somebody had tobleed.
God cannot bleed, but man canbleed.
So he had to be a hundredpercent man, a hundred percent
(25:29):
God.
So that way when his blood wasspilled out, it could say, Now
the whole world is set freebecause of what I did.
I needed that.
My life was a hot mess, and ifI'm not careful, it could be a
(25:51):
hot mess all over again.
And John is saying, if you'rewilling to stay and have some
staying power, you'll make surethat God does something great in
your life.
John, John's not giving atheory, John's giving testimony.
You can't remove remove thehumanity from Jesus.
John 14, 6 says this, Jesusanswered, saying, I am the way,
(26:13):
the truth, and the life.
No one comes comes to the Fatherexcept through me.
Point number three, I'm builtdifferent.
Tell the person beside you, say,I'm built different.
Or you're about to brag onyourself, tell the person on the
other side, I'm built different.
That means he's saying, You dearchildren, are from God.
You, everybody in this citysaying you are from God, and you
have overcome them.
(26:33):
Who've you overcome?
You've overcome everythingthat's out there, and there is
some victory sitting on theinside of you.
Pastor Lawrence taught this.
He said, We have been adoptedinto this beautiful family, and
because I'm in the family now,I'm just simply built different.
Holy Spirit now lives in me, andwe call that an indwelling, and
we could also call it someinfluence.
If you're like me, I agree thisthat there were moments for me
(26:57):
where I didn't realize what Godwanted to do in me was bigger
than me.
What God wants to do in you isbigger than you.
So it is absolutely true thatgreater is He that's in you than
He that is in the world, greateris He that's in you than your
Monday that's coming, greater isHe that's in you than next year,
greater is He that's in you thanany trial that you can face.
(27:18):
There's something great ruinedon the inside of you.
And the moment I recognize this,I had to stop all negotiations
with lesser voices.
I want to challenge you.
Are you willing to stop allnegotiations with lesser voices
that have been trying to stealyour destiny from you?
Are you willing to stop allnegotiations with lesser voices
(27:41):
that are trying to ruin yourrelationships?
Are you willing to stopnegotiating with lesser voices
that are trying to overthrowwhat God said about you?
Here's a definition.
You can take a picture of yourscreen if you want to, because
you know, we can do that.
Greater means unstoppable power,superior authority, and
unshakable advantage.
It's not about size, it's aboutsupremacy.
(28:03):
I don't care how long you'vebeen saved, and you may say,
Pastor Courtney, my faith issmall, but there's a supremacy
of God's presence on the insideof you.
The spirit in you doesn't justmatch the world, it overtakes
the world.
There's an overtaker on theinside of you.
You thought you walked in herenormal, but there's literally a
person who overtakes the worldon the inside of you.
Point number four it has to beloud versus what's lasting.
(28:28):
Volume isn't the same as value.
You ever seen somebody that'sloud but they had no value to
it?
They just braggadocious, butthey really didn't have anything
to be bragging about.
They just loud for no reason.
Somebody just said, You're kindof loud, Pastor.
Hey, just let me keep going.
He's saying, I know theculture's loud, but the
(28:50):
culture's not lasting.
Don't allow the voices of theculture to overthrow you of what
the gospel put on the inside ofyou.
First John 4 and 5 says, Theyare from the world and therefore
speak from the viewpoint of theworld, and the world listens to
them.
Don't trust what's trending inyour heart, what is true in your
spirit.
Number five, there has to be adivine difference.
(29:14):
We're from God, and whoeverknows God listens to us.
But whoever is not from God doesnot listen to us.
This is how we recognize thespirit of truth and the spirit
of falsehood.
You got to recognize thedifference between the spirit of
truth and the spirit offalsehood.
How do you know that?
Holy Spirit is not just here tovisit you, Holy Spirit is here
to validate you.
(29:35):
There is something different onthe inside of you.
You have the ability to stepoutside of your preference and
to say, God, what is yourpromise for me?
And with that being said, 1Corinthians 2 14, I might as
well throw this one in here.
The person without the spiritdoes not accept the things that
come from the spirit of God, butconsiders uh them foolishness
(29:56):
and cannot understand thembecause they are discerned only.
Through the spirit, you aregonna need some discernment.
You're gonna need to be able todecide what's true, what's real,
what's authentic, what's fake,what's happening, what's going
on.
You're gonna need to fully beable to decide.
(30:17):
I can fully understand why Johnis saying this, and I can
understand how John actually gothere.
John has watched all of theother disciples go on, they're
in heaven now, and John'sprobably thinking through the
rolodex of his history with God,and I can imagine he's fighting
so hard for this church tounderstand who Jesus is because
he's afraid.
If I don't give you Jesus, I'mafraid that you're gonna choose
(30:40):
this other Jesus.
And he's like, I've seen this inhistory before.
I know what this looks like whenyou choose another Jesus, I know
how this goes down when youchoose another Jesus, because
John is probably thinking back,he's probably thinking back to
the moment in Matthew 27, verse16 and 17.
And the Bible says that theauthority person bought out a
(31:00):
man who's called Jesus Barabbas,and another person named Jesus,
who we now know as Jesus Christ,and he asked the popular
opinion (31:08):
Do you want the one that's viral or the one that's
verified?
Do you want Barabbas or do youwant the Christ?
Do you want the rebel or do youwant the one who's the redeemer?
Do you want the one who's gonnaleave here?
Pick up a sword and fight onyour behalf, or do you want the
one who's willing to suffer inyour place and to say, I'm gonna
(31:30):
come out and give you all power?
Which Jesus do you really want?
John, he's fighting forsomething.
Older man, he's seen it all.
All of the people he was runningwith, they're no longer on this
earth.
And John is looking at them andhe's trying to get them to see
(31:53):
if you pick the wrong one, itleads to destruction.
But if you pick the right one,your destiny is there.
Hey church, what are you gonnado?
Which Jesus are you gonna pick?
Is it gonna be Barabbas or is itgonna be Jesus the Christ?
(32:15):
And John is fighting from aplace of saying, You got to get
this because the false onesthey're coming.
You gotta get this.
Because the false prophets areout there, you gotta get this
because they want to add somelines to the truth.
You gotta get this becauseyou're gonna go to catching that
counterfeit thing and you'regonna get nothing in return.
Here's John fighting to the endsaying, Choose Jesus the Christ?
(32:51):
You can stand on your feet withme.
I didn't land here at the lastservice.
I just want to ask you, church,today, which one are you
choosing?
Which one are you choosing?
Which one are you gonna revealto your friends on social media?
Which ones are you gonna revealto your friends at work?
(33:14):
Which ones are you gonna revealto your family?
Which one are you gonna revealto your yes?
And here's why it's important.
Because one is gonna make thegreatness on the inside of you
stand up.
That when 1 John 4 and 4 saysthis, but you belong to God.
Who belongs to God?
The person I'm looking at, youbelong to God, you belong to
(33:36):
God.
Tell the person beside you, sayyou belong to God.
Tell the person on the otherside, you belong to God.
But you belong to God, my dearchildren.
You have already won a victory.
I'm looking at a church that'salready won some victory.
I'm looking at individualpeople, you've already won some
victory.
You didn't walk in here bad off,you've won some victories.
(33:59):
You're still here, you're stillbreathing, you overcame the
moment, you won some victoriesalready.
He says, But you belong to God,my dear children.
You've already won the victoryover those people because the
spirit who lives in you isgreater than the spirit that
lives in the world.
Another translation says,Greater is he that's in me than
(34:19):
he that's what in the world.
Say it with me, greater is hethat's in me than he that's in
the world.
Tell the person beside youthere's greater in you.
Come on, tell the person on theother side there's greater in
you.
Tell one more person there'sgreater in you.
Now put your hand on your chestand say there's greater in me.
unknown (34:40):
Beauty priority.
SPEAKER_01 (34:43):
It can be so easy, fam, to look at your neighbor
and say, greater than you.
And look at your other neighborand say greater than you, but it
becomes real, real soft when wesay greater than me.
It can become tough to say thatbecause you know you, you live
with you, you see you.
(35:03):
But I'm telling you now, there'svictory on the inside of you.
There's victory in your story,there's victory in your yes,
there's victory in this moment,and John is looking at his
church and out into historysaying, Greater is in you.
Say this with me, Lord God,today I release the greatness in
(35:28):
my life.
So, Lord, whatever it takes, Ilean in.
I believe you, I believe yourson, Jesus, He's my Savior and
my Lord.
So, God, I release greatnesstoday, in Jesus' name, with all
(35:50):
you got.
Come on, somebody, give God somepraise in here all over the
building, all over the building,release the greatness.
There it is.
Hi, my name is Athena Turborg and I am in third
grade and I go to Eagle GeekMonastery.
Dear friends, do not believeevery spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they arefrom God, because many false
prophets have gone out into theworld.
This is how you can recognizethe spirit of God.
(00:25):
Every spirit that acknowledgesJesus Christ has come in the
flesh of the from God.
But every spirit that has notthat does not acknowledge Jesus
is from not from God.
This is the spirit ofAntichrist.
Which you have heard is comingand never and now is already in
(00:49):
the world.
You dear children are from Godand have overcome them because
they're because the one thing isin your great is greater than
the one the one who is in theworld.
They are from the world andtherefore speak from the
(01:12):
viewpoint of the world.
And the world listens to them.
We are from God, and whoeverknows God listens to us.
But whoever is not from God doesnot listen to us.
This is how we recognize thespirit of truth and the spirit
of falsehood.
This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
Y'all show Athena some love.
Show yourselves some love.
You showed up to church today.
And you look good too, and youlook good.
One last one.
Pastor Lawrence has beenpreaching the house down these
last few weeks.
Will y'all show my friend somelove real quick?
Come on.
(01:59):
If your team is currentlylosing, just stay focused on the
sermon.
Focus on higher things.
If your team is winning,somebody say amen.
All right then.
There we go.
We see who's watching the gamein the middle of service.
Hey, so so we're on this seriestalking about John, talking
about all of his writings.
In the last six weeks, PastorLawrence has been preaching on
(02:22):
this, and he started last weekwith a confession.
So I will follow suit and followwith a confession for you guys
today.
One of my guilty pleasures is ashow that I just recently they
took off like last week.
Show called um catfish.
Um, some some watchers outthere, okay.
Now, when I got introduced tothe show catfish, I thought we
(02:44):
were gonna be cooking catfish.
I thought it was like a cookingshow.
No, catfish is just peoplegetting cooked every episode.
If you don't know what catfishis, catfishing is when people
think they're in a relationshipwith somebody, and it turns out
that that person they thoughtthey were in a relationship
with, they're not in arelationship with.
I mean, somebody, one girl waslike, I'm dating Chris Brown.
(03:07):
She was dating Brown Chris.
It just, it bam, that's not him.
That was actually your cousin.
And so it got real weird.
But catfish is you know you'recatfish when the person's
profile picture doesn't looklike how they look in real life.
Have you ever met somebody inthe profile picture and how they
look?
You like, eh?
How did you do that?
(03:28):
How'd you how'd you how'd youhow'd you pull that off?
That's when you are catfished.
This whole series about John ishim trying to talk to the
believers, saying, please don'tbe catfished by the culture.
Please don't allow the cultureto catfish you.
And here's the truth, if we'rehonest, we allow the culture to
catfish us all the time intobelieving things that aren't
(03:48):
true.
Sometimes we get into weirdhabits with the culture where it
begins to drive us and it beginsto lead us through its opinions
and what shows up in front ofus.
And sometimes we can getconfused that we can think that
our success is our status.
We can confuse and be catfishedto think that lust is actually
love.
And here's another one we can beconfused and catfished to
(04:10):
actually believe that ourpossessions determines our
peace.
And you can get your life thrownoverboard the moment you believe
I have everything that I need.
I have peace.
Ask Job about that.
It doesn't turn out so well.
In 2025, we live in a worldwhere it always seems like
(04:30):
something's trying to catfishus, something's trying to get
our attention.
So we actually live in a worldwhere there's like 24 hours of
just information.
Anybody in here remember when TVused to go off?
You remember where all thepeople that remember?
Raise your hand, come on, comeon.
That's it.
Look around.
All the old people were righthere, baby.
Yeah.
You remember when TV used to gooff?
(04:50):
It would be the tonight show,and then it was just tomorrow
after that.
And so tonight's show would gooff, and then and then they
picked the worst flag sometimes.
It was just waving.
Like, and then they had the flagwaving, and then after the flag
was waving, all you would hearis this for hours, for hours it
(05:14):
was just this six hours of justnoise.
And people, you know, in mychurch, they asked me all the
time, so what what did y'all doafter TV went off?
We just did we we yeah, we wejust thought, we thought to
ourselves, you have time tothink.
You remember when you had timeto think?
(05:36):
Before it was just alwayssomebody trying to get your
attention, mom.
Remember before you had kids andyou had time to think?
That when you went to therestroom, you could think.
Now somebody like, mommy, mommy,mommy, mommy, open up.
Remember when you had time tothink?
And so John is telling them,guys, just like when TV went
off, turn off the culture andlet's reel it back in.
(05:56):
Let's reset to the foundationsof the gospel.
What is the thing we taught whenJesus was introduced to you when
you discovered the gospel?
And so, over the last six weeks,you've been hearing us preach
about this idea that thesepeople were coming in to the
church and they were trying todeceive them and try to convince
them of another way.
And here's what John is sayinghe's saying that the loudest
(06:17):
voices aren't the truest voices.
So don't be deceived, don't becondemned, and don't be
confused.
Pastor Lawrence preached a fewweeks ago a few weeks ago.
He said that now that you havebeen adopted into this family,
there should be a resemblance onyou and your family.
Have you ever seen familymembers?
They do everything alike.
You know, there should be aresemblance.
(06:38):
And here's what the resemblanceshould be: it should be that we
live holy and we love deeply.
When people come into thischurch, they'll want to know,
are you who you say you are, orare you gonna be fake?
And I can tell you somethingabout this house.
We love deeply in this house.
People love each other in thishouse.
Turn to the person beside youand say, I love you.
Ask the person on the otherside, say, Will you buy me lunch
(06:58):
after this?
Let's test this love.
Put your money up, let's testit.
I I love the fact that we havebeen diving into John because I
think John doesn't get all thecredit he deserves.
You know, people talk aboutPaul, we talk about Paul a lot,
we talk about Peter.
We even go old school, we talkabout David and Moses.
(07:19):
But John wrote quite a bit ofthe New Testament, and we don't
often talk about him.
And John to me is a little bitspecial because John he always
writes, I'm the one who Jesusloved.
And here's John, the lastliving, breathing disciple,
looking to make sure that as thetwilight is going out on his own
life, that he's ensuring, heyguys, don't get it confused.
(07:40):
They're trying to preach to youa new Jesus, but that is not the
one who died for your sins, theone you initially heard about,
the one who Paul preached about,the one who Peter represented,
the one that I have shown you,the one that I'm pastoring you
to right now.
That is the Jesus that you needto be looking for.
Don't add other stuff.
They are simply trying toconfuse you.
(08:03):
You know, it's one thing for anenemy to try to kill you, it is
diabolical when they try toconfuse you.
You are trying to now manipulatethis gospel.
You're not even trying to saythat Jesus isn't real, you're
just trying to add a lie, alittle lie, to a big truth.
Have you ever been around a realliar?
(08:24):
Oh, don't think about yourcousin.
Let me go over here.
Somebody over here, they almosttext their cousin like the
preacher's talking about youtoday.
Have you ever been around a realliar who can give you 90% truth,
but give you 10% of a lie justenough to manipulate you?
John is telling them there arethese false teachers coming in,
(08:47):
and it sounds like the gospel,it looks like the gospel, it may
even feel like there's somemiracles happening, but there's
enough lie in this to justdistort it a little bit.
My wife works in middle school.
No offense to the middleschoolers that are in the
building.
My wife says, I can get 90%truth.
I'll listen for that one littlesmall piece right there where
(09:08):
they said, Yeah, I really wentto the bathroom to use it.
No, you weren't.
You were outside talking to yourfriends.
She looks for that one littlepiece.
And John is telling them,they're giving you some truth,
but we got to deal with the linebecause there's some imitation
up in here.
I grew up in Virginia where youknow we were around seafood.
My mom was a crab picker.
My first job, I was a crabpicker.
So you can't trick me withimitation crab.
(09:31):
You cannot come to me with crabwith a K, talking about this is
crab.
No, no, no.
That's just salmon that's beenshredded up and packaged
together.
That's not crab.
Real crab doesn't have a K init.
I know imitation when I see it.
And but there's something inyour life that you can look at
it immediately and you know whatthat imitation looks like.
Let's jump into point numberone.
Point number one, here's mypoint verification check.
(09:53):
There always has to be averification check.
John is pushing them, saying,Hey Saints, what's the
verification check right here?
Is this verified or is this justviral?
Some things are viral, andbecause we don't double check
it, we just decide that's facts.
There's a verification for that.
Why?
I've seen nine of my friendspost it, it must be the Lord.
(10:14):
I've seen nine other people sayit, it must be the Lord.
I've heard four pastors say it.
I can tell you now in thishouse, I know your pastor.
He's like, even when I say it,go back and run it through the
word.
What does the gospel say aboutthis?
Oh, I just did the new update onmy phone, and I I kind of like
it, but there are some thingsthat is requiring a two-step
verification, and nothingbothers me more than a two-step
(10:39):
verification.
I want what I want right now.
Why am I having to verify ittwice?
Well, Pastor Courtney, it's foryour protection because a
one-step verification justdoesn't seem to be doing the
process anymore.
You're gonna need a two-stepverification.
They need to make sure there issome authenticity for this and
that you are verified to haveaccess.
(11:00):
And John tells them when hesays, Dear friends, do not
believe every spirit.
Don't believe every spirit.
There's more than one spirit outthere, it's not just the Holy
Spirit, there are other spirits.
There are lion spirits,manipulating uh manipulating
spirits.
There's so many other spirits.
What are the spirits that areout there?
He's saying, Don't trust everyspirit.
That means that even the onesthat make you feel the gooseies,
(11:22):
is that God's spirit?
He's saying, Dear friends, donot believe every spirit.
He said, but test the spirits tosee whether they are from God
because many false prophets havegone out into the world.
Here's a two-step verificationthat John is pushing us to run
into the word and runningthrough the spirit.
What does the word have to sayabout it?
(11:43):
What does the word have to sayabout it?
I heard an older preacher sayone time said, He said, The word
works for those who work theword.
You gotta work the word.
What does the word of God haveto say about it?
And that does not mean that youhave to know every scripture.
No, it's okay for you to run towhatever your search engine is
and then say, Is there scriptureon this?
Then go to your Bible app oropen up the pages.
(12:04):
Where are the people that boughtpages of Bibles?
Who bought a real Bible in here?
Anybody bought come on the wholefront row, okay?
And y'all, I see you.
They bought they like my turns,and we're the ones where your
Bible lights up.
It's okay, no, no shade here.
Go to your Bible.
I see you back there.
Go to your Bible and then findthat scripture and run it
through the word, and then runit through the Spirit of God.
What is the Holy Spirit sayingto you?
(12:25):
I was thinking about this word,he's telling them don't get
caught up in counterfeits.
I love watching the historychannel, and I can get lost in
it in the history channel.
And I was looking at the historychannel one day, and it it was a
document, documentary on the thethe beginning of the secret
service.
And my whole life, I've knownthe secret service as to be
(12:48):
those who uh protect thepresident and people that are in
authority.
No, no, no.
I discovered that in the 1800s,the Secret Service was
originally made because theywere chasing down counterfeit
dollars.
Here I thought this whole timethat the goal of the Secret
Service was protection.
And I discovered by watchingthis documentary that it wasn't
(13:09):
protection at all.
And they said, How did theydiscover when something was
counterfeit?
They said they never studied thecounterfeit, they studied the
real enough so that way whenthey saw something that wasn't
real, they said something's off.
And so the secret service is notthere for protection, they're
really there for detection.
They can detect that something'soff, and that's what the Holy
(13:31):
Spirit is doing on the inside ofyou.
Yes, you're here for theprotection of the gospel and for
the protection of the church.
But can you decide whatsomething is off?
I'm detecting something's notright about that thing over
there.
Five point six billion dollars.
Everybody say five point sixbillion dollars.
Bring it to this church, Lord.
5.6.
(13:51):
No, I'm joking.
5.6 billion dollars.
Somebody's like, do it, Lord.
Wait, wait a minute.
Do y'all really believe?
Say, do it, Lord.
It's a lot of faith in thishouse right here.
Almost stopped and raised theoffering right there.
5.6 billion every year,$5.6billion is lost throughout the
globe from people gettingscammed.
(14:16):
Have you ever been minding yourown business and you get a
random text of someone sayingyour iPhone storage is out?
Sign up here, send your SocialSecurity and your Amex card
number, and we will give youunlimited iPhone usage.
I bet they will.
I bet they will.
You're gonna be on the phonewith somebody else in a second,
and it won't be them.
(14:36):
They they text your phone allthe time.
Scammers are trying to get yourinformation.
And when you sign up for atwo-step verification, they
gotta go through some hoops.
So this means that you can'tjust text me out of the blue and
scare me with information, and Inow bow to it.
Let me go to you spiritually.
That means that the enemy can'tjust come and text you some
information tomorrow and get youafraid.
(14:58):
That diagnosis can't get youafraid tomorrow, that argument
can't get you afraid, thatlayoff can't get you afraid,
right?
Because you're gonna run itthrough what?
A two-step verification.
What does God have to say aboutit?
You gotta look at your life andsay, Am I willing to two-step
with this thing?
I'm not gonna do a two-step, butyou gotta be willing to two-step
(15:18):
with it for a second.
Everybody say test the word.
Say test the spirit.
That word right there, test,means to discern.
Discern.
If you can't discern, thenyou'll find yourself being
deceived.
God gave you discernment.
Here's what I wrote right here: discernment is the ability to (15:37):
undefined
notice difference.
Discernment is the ability tonotice difference.
Discernment is the ability tonotice difference.
Discernment is the ability tonotice difference.
Some of us in here are able tolook at things immediately and
(16:00):
recognize they're different.
You didn't know you wereoperating in spiritual
discernment.
The best way to build yourdiscernment is to practice on
yourself.
I use discernment on myself.
Why do I feel this way?
Why did I wake up feeling thisway?
Why did that bother me so much?
Holy Spirit, what do you want tosay say to me about this?
When I read that, why did thatdo this to me?
Why did I almost fall out withthis person?
(16:22):
You want to ask yourself and useyour spiritual discernment on
yourself.
Why am I feeling the way thatI'm feeling?
And if you listen, you run itthrough the word, and then you
ask Holy Spirit, will you revealto me why I'm feeling this way?
And he will give you an answer.
That means you're usingdiscernment on yourself.
And it's always necessary foryou to use the tools of God on
yourself before you abuse themon somebody else.
(16:45):
Because sometimes when we justtry to use it on somebody else,
our discernment is not usknowing and recognizing a
pattern that's different.
Sometimes it can becomesuspicion.
And we don't want to operate insuspicion.
So you look at this right here,discernment doesn't just listen
for words, it listens for theheart behind the words.
One day the apostle Paul isteaching, and he's going from
(17:06):
city to city, and there's a girlthat someone has been using and
abusing her to tell the futureand to tell uh about what's
happening in somebody's life.
And she's following Paul frommoment to moment, from place to
place, and Paul is preaching hisheart out, and there's a girl in
here, and she's every time Paulpreaches, she's almost saying
the right thing, but Paul beginsto find out something different
(17:28):
about her.
So Paul is preaching, and she'slike, Come on, Paul, preach it,
Paul.
You better say it, Paul.
You're looking thinner everytime you come in town, Paul.
All these things.
I mean, if I were Paul, Paul,you're you better preach it, and
all of a sudden, Paul decides,he listens to what he says, wait
a minute.
That's a distraction, that's notthe Lord.
(17:48):
And he begins to cast the devilout of her because he discerned
though it's saying the rightthing, it has the wrong heart
behind it.
You have to be able to determinethis is what John is leaning
into.
It sounds like it's the thing,but it's not actually the thing.
You're gonna have to actuallytest it.
Everybody say, test it.
When John was writing this, he'sin a place called Ephesus.
(18:12):
In Ephesus, uh Paul was there, Iwas talking about Paul.
Paul was in Ephesus a fewdecades before, and he
accidentally on purpose starteda revival.
He he he would he happen to bepreaching to Jesus and he
accidentally on purpose starteda revival.
I wonder if you are willing toallow God to accidentally on
purpose start a revival in yourown personal world.
(18:34):
I wonder if in your family youare willing to accidentally on
purpose start a revival.
Are you willing to, I'm sorry,are you willing to go into your
emotions, into your mind andtell your mind you cannot
overthrow me?
I'm willing to accidentally onpurpose start a revival.
Paul was willing to accidentallyon purpose start a revival.
And when he did, he made thiswhole city mad because they were
(18:56):
doing idol worship in Ephesus.
And you want to know who reallygot mad with them?
They called them thesilversmith, the guys who were
making all these metal objectsto other gods.
And he was they were sellingthem to the people saying, Oh,
you have a God?
I can make something in thisimage.
Here, does this look like yourGod?
Let me sell it to you.
And people stopped buying theidol worship, and Paul, on
(19:17):
purpose, started a revival.
And the next thing you know, thesilversmith were mad.
So when John is telling them,he's telling this city, test
this, he's reminding them ofwhat Paul did.
He's saying, test the metal ofthe words that you're hearing.
If what they're saying aboutJesus isn't true, how do you
test something?
How do you test metal?
You test it through the fire.
(19:38):
Is it gonna withstand the fire?
Some of you are sitting in hereand you've withstood through all
the fires of your life.
You're only standing here.
You may smell like smoke, butyou don't look burned.
You may smell like smoke, butyou don't look burned.
I'm gonna say it again.
You may smell like smoke, butyou don't look burned.
Nobody in here can recognizewhat you've gone through because
you have outlasted the fire.
(20:01):
So you have the fire.
Didn't they also test it withacid?
They dropped some acid on it.
I remember being in high school,you'd be walking through the
mall, and the little kiosk manwould say, Hey, let me test your
chain to see if it's real.
I'll be like, uh-uh, and I gotmine for$10.
Leave me alone.
I know it's real.
I did the bite test.
Remember we used to bite onsomething to see if it's real?
What were we tasting for,actually?
(20:22):
What were we tasting for?
All right, that's probably howCOVID started.
Tusting gold like that.
They will put acid on it to seeif it would eat through it.
To see, is this real gold?
Job says, I intend to come outlike gold.
And for some of us, we havesurvived acid.
That's just toxicity.
You survived a toxic scenario,and it's proof that there's some
(20:44):
gold on the inside of your life.
John is just simply trying totell them, have you survived
some acid moments?
That means that there's somegold on the inside of you.
And the third way is that theyweigh it.
Because people were making whatlooked like uh uh real silver,
but it wasn't real silver, andthey would weigh it to see if
the weight is off.
And for some of us in here, theweight is right.
(21:07):
You've been able to last throughevery scenario because when they
decided to weigh you, what wasit?
Was it was it 5'0?
What was your weight?
Was it was it 5'5?
Was it 6'7?
When they weighed you, what wasit gonna be when they weighed
you and they weighed you, and itturned out to be the right
thing.
Everybody say, get your weightup.
I mean, not physically butspiritually.
(21:29):
There you go.
Somebody's like, I intend to dothat after church when I go eat
today.
He warns them, dear friends, donot believe every spirit, but
test the spirit to see whetherthey are from God because many
false prophets have gone out ofthe world.
Let me help you really quick.
I'm gonna move fast.
Here's what prop false prophetswant to do they want to drown
you in other voices, they wantto drown you in other opinions,
(21:52):
they want to drown you inself-proclaimed thoughts about
yourself being higher than theLord.
But here's what I want to tellyou as they were preaching a
false Jesus to thatcongregation, a false Jesus to
that place.
Jesus is always about the crossand not the custom version that
they were trying to fit us for.
The devil always wants todestroy you, but he really
(22:16):
doesn't have to destroy you ifhe can just deceive you.
Jesus one day is fasting, he'sfasting, the enemy comes to him
in the middle of fasting, heoffers him enough truth with a
little bit of a lie to see ifJesus will make the exchange.
And Jesus, who's been hangingout with his father, he knows
the word, he knows the spiritbecause he's been hanging out
with his father, he's beenhanging out with the spirit.
Let me just say this (22:36):
you gotta stay close enough so that way
you can know the difference.
You gotta stay close enough sothat way you can know the
difference.
And Jesus looks at the enemy,he's like, the trade is not
worth it because you're a liar.
How do you know when the enemy'slying?
His lips are always moving.
If you ever discover his lipsmoving, he is absolutely lying.
Proverbs 14 and 15 says this thegullible believe anything
(22:57):
they're told, the prudent siftand weigh every word.
Somebody say, Weigh it.
Point number two, new Jesus, newJesus.
John is like, they're preachinga new Jesus, but I actually knew
Jesus.
John is saying this custom Jesusis much different than the
crucified Jesus that they'vebeen talking about.
(23:18):
Uh, first John 4, 2 through 3says this this is how you can
recognize the spirit of God.
Every spirit that acknowledgesthat Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is from God.
But every spirit that does notacknowledge Jesus is not from
God.
They were trying to preach agospel where they were trying to
say that Jesus wasn't a realman.
And John is like, No, no, no,you don't understand.
He was a man, he was a man andhe was God, he was fully human
(23:40):
and fully God.
He said, if you don't understandthat, then you're gonna miss a
really big piece of thisredemption story.
If you miss the fact that he isa man, you're gonna really miss
this idea of the story.
Why?
He says, I'm fighting for hishumanity here, because they were
coming in and trying to tell thebelievers he wasn't really a
man, he was like a man who likeGod like sat on for like three
(24:03):
years, and then right before thecross, like God lifted off of
him.
And John is telling them, No,that man who was a God man went
to a real cross.
And John is thinking in hisresume with God, he's thinking,
no, no, no, he was man enough tocry when Lazarus died.
He was man enough to go to thegarden and to say, God, if this
cup can pass me by, let it passme by.
(24:23):
But he was also man enough tostay on that cross when he had
every opportunity to get off ofthat cross.
Come on, let me help you out fora second.
You are serving a Jesus whodoesn't understand what you're
walking through.
He cried real tears, he bledreal blood, he had real issues.
You're serving a Jesus who fullyunderstands your story.
John is looking at this momentand he's saying, This real
(24:46):
Jesus, he was man enough to dieon a cross, but God enough to
die in my place.
He was man enough to go to thecross, but he's God enough to
die in my place and to come outand make sure that I have all
victory.
What John is saying is what I'msaying.
He said, fam, that was my cross.
That was my shame, that was mypunishment.
But Jesus decided when he lookedout into the distance, he said,
(25:09):
I know it belongs to you, butI'm gonna do it for you.
I know that that was the penaltyfor your sin, but I'm gonna do
it for you.
He's saying, if you minimize thefact that Jesus was a human, you
will not recognize that when hewent to the cross, there had to
be redemption for sin.
That means that somebody had tobleed.
God cannot bleed, but man canbleed.
So he had to be a hundredpercent man, a hundred percent
(25:29):
God.
So that way when his blood wasspilled out, it could say, Now
the whole world is set freebecause of what I did.
I needed that.
My life was a hot mess, and ifI'm not careful, it could be a
(25:51):
hot mess all over again.
And John is saying, if you'rewilling to stay and have some
staying power, you'll make surethat God does something great in
your life.
John, John's not giving atheory, John's giving testimony.
You can't remove remove thehumanity from Jesus.
John 14, 6 says this, Jesusanswered, saying, I am the way,
(26:13):
the truth, and the life.
No one comes comes to the Fatherexcept through me.
Point number three, I'm builtdifferent.
Tell the person beside you, say,I'm built different.
Or you're about to brag onyourself, tell the person on the
other side, I'm built different.
That means he's saying, You dearchildren, are from God.
You, everybody in this citysaying you are from God, and you
have overcome them.
(26:33):
Who've you overcome?
You've overcome everythingthat's out there, and there is
some victory sitting on theinside of you.
Pastor Lawrence taught this.
He said, We have been adoptedinto this beautiful family, and
because I'm in the family now,I'm just simply built different.
Holy Spirit now lives in me, andwe call that an indwelling, and
we could also call it someinfluence.
If you're like me, I agree thisthat there were moments for me
(26:57):
where I didn't realize what Godwanted to do in me was bigger
than me.
What God wants to do in you isbigger than you.
So it is absolutely true thatgreater is He that's in you than
He that is in the world, greateris He that's in you than your
Monday that's coming, greater isHe that's in you than next year,
greater is He that's in you thanany trial that you can face.
(27:18):
There's something great ruinedon the inside of you.
And the moment I recognize this,I had to stop all negotiations
with lesser voices.
I want to challenge you.
Are you willing to stop allnegotiations with lesser voices
that have been trying to stealyour destiny from you?
Are you willing to stop allnegotiations with lesser voices
(27:41):
that are trying to ruin yourrelationships?
Are you willing to stopnegotiating with lesser voices
that are trying to overthrowwhat God said about you?
Here's a definition.
You can take a picture of yourscreen if you want to, because
you know, we can do that.
Greater means unstoppable power,superior authority, and
unshakable advantage.
It's not about size, it's aboutsupremacy.
(28:03):
I don't care how long you'vebeen saved, and you may say,
Pastor Courtney, my faith issmall, but there's a supremacy
of God's presence on the insideof you.
The spirit in you doesn't justmatch the world, it overtakes
the world.
There's an overtaker on theinside of you.
You thought you walked in herenormal, but there's literally a
person who overtakes the worldon the inside of you.
Point number four it has to beloud versus what's lasting.
(28:28):
Volume isn't the same as value.
You ever seen somebody that'sloud but they had no value to
it?
They just braggadocious, butthey really didn't have anything
to be bragging about.
They just loud for no reason.
Somebody just said, You're kindof loud, Pastor.
Hey, just let me keep going.
He's saying, I know theculture's loud, but the
(28:50):
culture's not lasting.
Don't allow the voices of theculture to overthrow you of what
the gospel put on the inside ofyou.
First John 4 and 5 says, Theyare from the world and therefore
speak from the viewpoint of theworld, and the world listens to
them.
Don't trust what's trending inyour heart, what is true in your
spirit.
Number five, there has to be adivine difference.
(29:14):
We're from God, and whoeverknows God listens to us.
But whoever is not from God doesnot listen to us.
This is how we recognize thespirit of truth and the spirit
of falsehood.
You got to recognize thedifference between the spirit of
truth and the spirit offalsehood.
How do you know that?
Holy Spirit is not just here tovisit you, Holy Spirit is here
to validate you.
(29:35):
There is something different onthe inside of you.
You have the ability to stepoutside of your preference and
to say, God, what is yourpromise for me?
And with that being said, 1Corinthians 2 14, I might as
well throw this one in here.
The person without the spiritdoes not accept the things that
come from the spirit of God, butconsiders uh them foolishness
(29:56):
and cannot understand thembecause they are discerned only.
Through the spirit, you aregonna need some discernment.
You're gonna need to be able todecide what's true, what's real,
what's authentic, what's fake,what's happening, what's going
on.
You're gonna need to fully beable to decide.
(30:17):
I can fully understand why Johnis saying this, and I can
understand how John actually gothere.
John has watched all of theother disciples go on, they're
in heaven now, and John'sprobably thinking through the
rolodex of his history with God,and I can imagine he's fighting
so hard for this church tounderstand who Jesus is because
he's afraid.
If I don't give you Jesus, I'mafraid that you're gonna choose
(30:40):
this other Jesus.
And he's like, I've seen this inhistory before.
I know what this looks like whenyou choose another Jesus, I know
how this goes down when youchoose another Jesus, because
John is probably thinking back,he's probably thinking back to
the moment in Matthew 27, verse16 and 17.
And the Bible says that theauthority person bought out a
(31:00):
man who's called Jesus Barabbas,and another person named Jesus,
who we now know as Jesus Christ,and he asked the popular
opinion (31:08):
Do you want the one that's viral or the one that's
verified?
Do you want Barabbas or do youwant the Christ?
Do you want the rebel or do youwant the one who's the redeemer?
Do you want the one who's gonnaleave here?
Pick up a sword and fight onyour behalf, or do you want the
one who's willing to suffer inyour place and to say, I'm gonna
(31:30):
come out and give you all power?
Which Jesus do you really want?
John, he's fighting forsomething.
Older man, he's seen it all.
All of the people he was runningwith, they're no longer on this
earth.
And John is looking at them andhe's trying to get them to see
(31:53):
if you pick the wrong one, itleads to destruction.
But if you pick the right one,your destiny is there.
Hey church, what are you gonnado?
Which Jesus are you gonna pick?
Is it gonna be Barabbas or is itgonna be Jesus the Christ?
(32:15):
And John is fighting from aplace of saying, You got to get
this because the false onesthey're coming.
You gotta get this.
Because the false prophets areout there, you gotta get this
because they want to add somelines to the truth.
You gotta get this becauseyou're gonna go to catching that
counterfeit thing and you'regonna get nothing in return.
Here's John fighting to the endsaying, Choose Jesus the Christ?
(32:51):
You can stand on your feet withme.
I didn't land here at the lastservice.
I just want to ask you, church,today, which one are you
choosing?
Which one are you choosing?
Which one are you gonna revealto your friends on social media?
Which ones are you gonna revealto your friends at work?
(33:14):
Which ones are you gonna revealto your family?
Which one are you gonna revealto your yes?
And here's why it's important.
Because one is gonna make thegreatness on the inside of you
stand up.
That when 1 John 4 and 4 saysthis, but you belong to God.
Who belongs to God?
The person I'm looking at, youbelong to God, you belong to
(33:36):
God.
Tell the person beside you, sayyou belong to God.
Tell the person on the otherside, you belong to God.
But you belong to God, my dearchildren.
You have already won a victory.
I'm looking at a church that'salready won some victory.
I'm looking at individualpeople, you've already won some
victory.
You didn't walk in here bad off,you've won some victories.
(33:59):
You're still here, you're stillbreathing, you overcame the
moment, you won some victoriesalready.
He says, But you belong to God,my dear children.
You've already won the victoryover those people because the
spirit who lives in you isgreater than the spirit that
lives in the world.
Another translation says,Greater is he that's in me than
(34:19):
he that's what in the world.
Say it with me, greater is hethat's in me than he that's in
the world.
Tell the person beside youthere's greater in you.
Come on, tell the person on theother side there's greater in
you.
Tell one more person there'sgreater in you.
Now put your hand on your chestand say there's greater in me.
unknown (34:40):
Beauty priority.
SPEAKER_01 (34:43):
It can be so easy, fam, to look at your neighbor
and say, greater than you.
And look at your other neighborand say greater than you, but it
becomes real, real soft when wesay greater than me.
It can become tough to say thatbecause you know you, you live
with you, you see you.
(35:03):
But I'm telling you now, there'svictory on the inside of you.
There's victory in your story,there's victory in your yes,
there's victory in this moment,and John is looking at his
church and out into historysaying, Greater is in you.
Say this with me, Lord God,today I release the greatness in
(35:28):
my life.
So, Lord, whatever it takes, Ilean in.
I believe you, I believe yourson, Jesus, He's my Savior and
my Lord.
So, God, I release greatnesstoday, in Jesus' name, with all
(35:50):
you got.
Come on, somebody, give God somepraise in here all over the
building, all over the building,release the greatness.
There it is.
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com