Legalism & Religion | Dr. Mike Woods, Sr. | Radah Church (ATL) | 9-10-23

Listen, before you sit down, do me a favor. Tell somebody, God's about to do— come on, you didn't say it. Tell them, God's about to do what you thought could never be done. Come on, I need you to tell somebody else, cuz that first person was ignoring you just a little bit. But just tell them, hey, did you hear what I said? Tell them, God's about to do what you thought could never be done. And I'm telling you right now, God's about to open up the realm of impossibility to you. He's about to do things you never imagined he's able to do. He's about to do things that you wrote off your list and you said, I'm just going to accept life as normal. I'm telling you right now, even those that are watching, write it in the comments, glory to God, that God's about to do what I thought could never be done. I'm telling you, your days of impossibility have come to an end and you step into the realm of what possible. I dare you to shout, it's now possible! It's possible for you to be a millionaire. It's possible for you to have a successful business. It's a possibility for you to have a happy marriage and a happy life and to have saved children who openly and boldly praise God. I dare you to say, it is possible, and give God praise for it now in the name of Jesus. Yeah, you can see it. Glory to God. I don't know about you, but I'm living right in that realm. I'm trusting God. The things that people told me I can never ascertain, and I'll be able to ascertain them. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Wonderful Jesus. He's a mighty God. He's a kind God. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah! Wonderful Savior, wonderful Jesus. Today I'm not going to be long, but I want to plunge into something that I believe, um, I believe the body needs. Glory to God! I believe, praise God, that if we grab hold to this revelation that I'm going to share today, I think overall as as a body, not just one church, but as the body, uh, we will be better. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Just touch yourself. I want to be better. I want to be better. I'm gonna say it again. I want to be better. I want to be better. Hallelujah. Glory to God. And the Lord began to give me something actually just this morning when I woke up, that I'm actually going to deal with this all month because it's just really so important that we get it. Praise God. So today I want to talk about religion and legalism, and I want to talk about how to defeat these two enemies to relationship, these two enemies to progress. Amen. Amen. Glory to God. I want to start in Romans 4:17, if you allow me. Glory to God. Uh, let's, let's go to Romans 4:17. Praise God. Hallelujah. Y'all love the Lord today. Amen. I'm so glad to be back in Rana, Atlanta. Glory to God. We've had such an awesome, uh, weekend last week in Jackson doing the launch. Uh, God met us there, blessed us in a tremendous way, and we're grateful for that. And, uh, so we're just excited about everything God is doing everywhere. Amen. Not not just with us, but with all of his people. So go to Romans. Glory to God. And then what I said, Romans 14— no, 14, I'm sorry, 14 and 17. When you get it, signify by saying amen. Okay, well, I'm gonna do that again. If you got it, look at the Lord, which is his word. The Bible says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was God, and the word was with God. So if you got it, look at God And say amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, praise God. Hallelujah. So the Bible says this, and we're going to look at a few things today, but I want to start with this particular text, uh, because of the direction I'm flowing in today. It says, for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. All right, I'm gonna read it again because it's just all right to read the Bible. He says, for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Okay, so I want you to affirm something. We've talked about this, and I want us to be reminded really quickly of this. Touch yourself and say, I am, I am. I'm gonna say, y'all be convinced, we talking about kingdom citizenship. A lot last month. Say, I am, I am a kingdom citizen. A kingdom citizen. I didn't say you were a church member. I didn't say you were a citizen of the U.S. I said to say you're a kingdom citizen. And I want you to really begin to embrace that as your identity, because when you embrace it as your identity, you understand that there's a way of function and a way of living— hear me— that God has set up systematically, or systematically, for the kingdom citizen to live. And you choose to embrace those ways of living other than your own ways of living. So the Bible said here that the kingdom is not meat and drink. Basically what he's saying, it's not about your natural person. Meat and drink satisfies the pleasures of the flesh. So he said the kingdom ain't about what we can eat, what we can drink, what we can wear. It's not about where we live, what we drive. It's not about systems in the world. The kingdom— he tells us what it is. It's— he said, but instead of that— because guess what? Coming into God before we got saved We were used to living according to natural systems. We were used to trusting in ourselves to get things accomplished. But when you come into a kingdom, you trust in the king for his assistance and his help, for his guidance and his leadership. Say that with me. Say, I'm trusting the king. I'm trusting the king. For his assistance. For his assistance. For his help. For his help. For his guidance. For his guidance. For his leadership. For his leadership. Hallelujah. So he says, not eating and drinking, it's not embracing natural governmental ideas, natural systems. Watch this, even in the church. He said, but the kingdom is about first righteousness. Somebody say righteousness. Righteousness. That word righteousness is a Greek word, diasune. Diasune. And in a broad sense, it means the state of being like him who is righteous. So at the end of the day, so that's the first part of the definition. It means to be like him who is righteous. Well, the Bible says there's only one righteous, no, not one, Jesus Christ. So our strive as kingdom citizens is not to be religious, not to be legalistic, but to be like Jesus. Who came into the earth and disrupted— hear me— a religious system and begin to go against the grain of how the world does things. So say this, women, say, my desire, my desire, and my life's plight, and my life's plight is to be like him, is to be like him who is righteous, who is righteous. Now the second part of Dasuni is this, listen to this. It means to be taught to be like him who is righteous. So that means— watch this— I don't just become this because I got saved. Oh boy, there's a whole lot of people who are saved who are not like Jesus. And I'm not talking about just in their behavior. But I'm talking about in their ability to disrupt systems that keep them bound to conditions that only the world's way will yield. So it's not me to drink, it's righteousness. Watch this, and peace. That word peace is Irene, E-I-R-E-N-E, is where we get the English word Irene, which is a feminine woman's name. Irene. So there's a feminine nature to peace. Watch this, it means a state of tranquility. Are y'all hearing this? It's amazing that women should carry Irene automatically because the connotation is feminine. But there are some women who don't care for peace. Listen, some women are raging, glory to God, and bitter. But, but, but peace means you operate in a state of tranquility. Watch this, the word irene, so that through your skill you can be a help to the one you're called to help. Amen. So when you walk in peace, you have a state of tranquility, you always come— see, my wife is a whole lot more calmer than me. Y'all ain't got to say that, I'm just telling you right now. I'd be ready to kick, scratch, fight, cuss, all of that, but thank God for her. Amen. Because she becomes a voice to read. Okay, you need to calm down. She'll see me boiling. I said, don't say that, don't do it. Because at the end of the day, she's helping me— watch this— maintain peace. Because I can't help you if I'm confused, if I'm angry, if I'm not moving in tranquility. So even as a woman who is called to be a helpmeet, you should operate in peace so that your skill set that you have When you step to a man, you step to him in peace so he'll receive your help. A lot of times he rejects it because the woman comes wrong. Oh yeah, I got too much. But you come in peace because he is a man, so his ego is already on his shoulder and he don't want to feel like you're bossing him around. You have to learn in wisdom to move in peace to make him think he's in charge, but really you're doing the leading. In that area. Okay, all right, that's a whole nother message for another day. But he said the kingdom is about— so when we flip that to the kingdom, watch this, we gotta move in a peace, a tranquility every day so that we can help the world. We can't help the world if we ain't at peace with ourselves. We can't minister to people that need us and bring our gifts to this nation and help them see that God, hallelujah, is real, and he's not some religious entity. He's not some guy sitting in heaven angry waiting to throw everybody in hell, but he really is imminent and transcendent and wants to be involved with our life. God is imminent. God is imminent. God is transcendent. God is transcendent. He wants to be— he wants to be involved— involved with my life— with my life— and in the world— and in the world. So I must— so I must move in peace, move in peace, so I can, so I can use my skills, use my skills given to me, given to me by God, by God, to bring change, to bring change in the area, in the area I was called, I was called to dominate, to dominate, and bring change, and bring change. If you believe that, give God praise right now. Glory to God. So he said, if you want to be in great righteousness and peace, watch this, and joyfully-yam, I love that word. So the word joy here is chara in Greek, and it means literally— watch this— to exceed what you have, to live in a realm of profit. So it ain't what you think. It ain't bouncing off the walls, happily waving flags and running around churches like that. And joy is the ability to live above natural means. You really haven't experienced true joy until you tap into the realm of the spirit and able to live day to day with God, following his directions, exchanging with him the things you need, the things he needs, which is worship, so that you can be effective. And a real joy comes through the fulfillment of purpose. You, you're gonna get real joy if you marry the person oh, y'all hearing this? that you're supposed to be with. You'll be fighting every day trying to figure out why you're not happy, because you're not with the one you're supposed to be with. See, when you're in the place where you're fulfilled, joy comes. I'm gonna say it again: when you're where you're supposed to be, it brings joy. If you want a job, glory to God, that God didn't ordain you to work, and it's not connected to your purpose. You're not going to be fulfilled. You're not going to have joy. You're gonna be looking at the clock all day. I wish— I can't wait for 5 because I'm ready to get out of here. There's no joy. You wake up in the morning, come on, I got to go hit them today again. Because you're living in the realm of we're settling. Are y'all hearing this? Amen. For what the system has offered you. You say, okay, this 9 to 5 is a check, so I'm gonna just do it. God can get this check. But really, there's no real joy at the end of that because you're not being fulfilled while you're doing it. So God said the kingdom is about finding joy. We made it about jumping, shouting, speaking in tongues, spinning, blowing bubbles, rolling the floor. That ain't the kingdom. That's having church. Y'all hear me? Amen. That's not the kingdom. That's having church. And those things are designed, when we express those things, to get us strong and powerful enough to go into the world with joy and fulfill our purpose. Joyce Prophet, ask the Bishop Magnify Prophet, he's going to tell you that's what's left after the expenses have been paid and covered. Now watch what he says. He said we only have righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. So the Holy Ghost becomes a very important part of kingdom living, because when I have the Holy Ghost— and this is where I'm about to go— I cannot allow religion and legalism to enter in because he's at the forefront. And legalism and religion grieves the Spirit of God. So he backs up and says, okay, I'm gonna let you have this religious attitude. I'll come back when you're ready— hear me— to let me lead so I can give you righteousness, peace, and joy in me. So we can't conjure this righteousness up on our own. We can't conjure this peace up on our own, nor this joy. It has to come through him. He's the governor. Watch this, he's the governor that brings from heaven the righteousness, the diasune, how we're supposed to be showing up in the world. He brings the peace, the skill, the tranquility. When you've got a relationship with the Holy Spirit, he gives you peace. He brings the joy because he's leading you, so you're following him and not your mind and not your flesh. So first thing, I want you to write this down. Those you watching, those of you in this building, write this down. I'm gonna hear 8 signs, and if, if I give you something that hits you, just say ouch and keep writing. All right, glory to God. So 8 signs of a legalistic spirit. So we're gonna deal with legalism first, and then we'll talk about religion. Number 1, a lack of true joy. I just told you what true joy was. Listen, Jesus did not forgive our sins, die on the cross, where we can walk around here being sourpusses, looking like we just sucked the lemon. You ever met some Christians all the time, they look— my grandma, like, come on, don't do that. You already kind of look childish, so don't, don't do that. Don't— please don't, don't do that. I mean, don't, don't make it worse. When you get saved, the Bible say he beautified the meek with salvation. There should be an expression on your face that says, I love Jesus, I'm walking in real joy. Amen. Listen, you never call them— I'm just— I've met hundreds of Christians, I promise you, who look like they are coming to attend the funeral when they come to church. Or when they're out in public, I've seen them in public just with that sad drawl on their face. Listen, when you're in God and the Holy Spirit is driving your joy, you got something— glory to God— to be happy about. But you know what happens? Legalism— and we're gonna be working definition in a moment of what this is— it kills joy. It kills joy. Number 2, write this down. Here's another sign of a legalistic spirit, that you have no real victory over sin. Oh boy. So I say this, all kingdom citizens, all Christians, whatever you want to call yourself, struggle with temptation. But just because you're tempted doesn't mean you have to yield. Are y'all hearing me? Amen. Matter of fact, can I submit to you that temptation is not going away? Say it with me. Say, temptation, temptation, it ain't going away. It ain't going away. Oh yeah, I'll say it again. It ain't going away. There'll always be something that will test you, that will tempt you. It may not be the big sins that we like to talk about. Fornication, adultery, lying, cheating, all that. But the word sin is harmatia in Greek, and it means to come short. So maybe you're coming short of your faith, doubting. Maybe you're coming short of not building a relationship with God. Maybe you're coming short not fulfilling your purpose, moving in what God has called you to do. Maybe you don't pray like you should. Maybe you're not being a witness, and you get tempted to go into those things that make you vulnerable. And really, watch this, that you want— okay, let me say it like this: Jesus was tempted and tried on all points, yet without sin. Which means he was tested and he wanted it. He had to do that and overcome it for us, to show us that if he overcame it We also can overcome. Listen, I want you to really take an introspective right here and really think about something that you may be struggling with that you need to overcome. Hallelujah. Listen, you can't do that on your own. You need the Holy Spirit to show it to you. You didn't— because a lot of times it's hard for us to accept that we're coming short. Somewhere. One of the hardest things for people to do is look at themselves, when in reality we spend a lot of time, which is legalistic, looking at others, sizing them up, looking at their wrong and where they come short. We never can see us. And God says, listen, I need you to invite the Holy Spirit to show you you. You got to get— so victory over sin means this thing can show up, though it tempts me, and I walk away from Today I can say this, I can say this boldly. Glory to God, I can say it boldly. If I was out of town in a hotel room and Beyoncé knocked on my door with nothing, a coat on with nothing under it, I could close the door. Y'all ain't got to say that. I could close the door. I could. But there was a time I wasn't closing the door. That wasn't gonna happen. I was— I would have yielded to that temptation. Look how y'all looking like y'all just— are y'all all right? Just stop having to come to church this afternoon and there's a chariot outside parked to take you back to glory. Listen, I'm telling you right now, you— all of us are tempted with stuff. Amen. You can't— you can't put no reefer and crack, you know, and cigarettes and alcohol in front of me and think I'm gonna— they don't even tip me. Well, the devil knows what to say to tempt you, but you got to become strong enough because it ain't going away. Amen. Because anything that's not going away, you got to bring under control. That's right. Oh, that's a good one. It ain't leaving. So because it ain't leaving, you got to control it. How do you control it? Through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in you. Oh God. And you got to ask God, Holy Spirit, give me the power to live a holy life. And when you feel like you don't— watch this— have a relationship with the Holy Spirit, you can't really have a real relationship with him to talk to him like that, that's legalistic. So real victory comes when you invite him in. To help you overcome sin. Number 3, write this down: there's an unhealthy performance orientation. Unhealthy performance orientation, which means you choose to— oh my God— perform for people for attention and affirmation. I posted something yesterday to this end. I said that most leaders— but it's not just leaders, it's most humans— are addicted to approval. Lord have mercy. Most people, you know, I like to dress, but I like to dress for me because my mama did that when I was growing up. She kept me dressed. You saw pictures when I was a little boy, she had me clean all the time. She did that. So that's why I always put on clothes. I don't do it for people because I'm gonna dress how I feel. Because if I feel like putting on a t-shirt and jeans, guess what? That's what I'm gonna do. It'd be the nicest t-shirt and jeans. Yeah, yeah, you're right. But I don't do it for people, I do it for me. But there are people who are addicted to getting approval from others. That's— listen, I got a prophecy. I was teaching the conference last week, 3 days days. So I came in Friday to, uh, teach my session. My session started at 11. The preacher that was doing Morning Manna was still preaching when I got there. So I sat in the back, me and Felicia sat in the back, waiting for him to get through. And I got a prophecy, man. Called me up and prophesied all the way left. Because let me tell you something, people do that— watch this— through legalism. They'll try to put their gift on display, one, to make them feel good about their own insecurities with you. Amen. Or they'll do it because they want you to know, I'm anointed, I got this gift, thinking you may validate them in another level because they performed. But you know what I did? I lifted my hand, let him talk, and when I got the mic, I corrected it. Because at the end of the day, my job as an apostle is not to let that slide. Amen. My job is to bring order and government. So it was a teaching moment for everybody in there, because at the end of the day, you can't allow people who are moving in legalism to speak a word over you that's incorrect. Listen, he telling me— first thing came out of his mouth, God wants you to do more in the Man, I'm pastoring 3 churches at one time. What you looking at? What God is talking to you? He said, I need to pray more. I live with this woman, she knows how much I pray. Most of my day is spent with God. Come on, man. So you saying that to me, other people watching you say that, they're validating what you saying because you got the mic and saying the Lord said, right? So what I'm going to do is expose that and show them that this was a legalistic demon speaking through you. Okay, all right. That's why I get kicked out of places, don't get invited back, stuff like that. But it's okay, that's all right. I mean, that's just the nature of this job. Glory to God. So you cannot be performance-oriented where you just want to be a people pleaser. That's a legalistic demon, that word. Well, you just want to make people feel— watch this— most people that try to push people in a praise break, they're trying to be people pleasers because they know that they think that's what people want. And then they— that ain't what people want. People want to grow. People want to learn. People want to be nourished. You know, if people don't praise God, let them teach them to get happy off the word. Look, not all hype. Okay, so that's why I'll never come in here one day and perform. That's why I get up here and sing in the wrong key, everything, because it's all about God. Are y'all hearing this? Amen. Glory. Number 4, let's go. So basically, listen, just chill out, enjoy God loving you. Those who watching, let God love you completely, thoroughly, all right? And you don't have to perform. Live for the audience of one. Amen. One. Live for him. He's the only one you need to bring pleasure to. Number 4. Is that number 4? Number 4. All right, uh, number 4 is that you have a critical, unloving attitude toward others. That's a legalistic demon. Watch this. Even if you don't agree with something somebody doing, doesn't give you a right to not love them. Okay, let's, let's just deal with, uh, a lot of Christians use harsh language. Are y'all hearing me? Against Muslims, against atheists, against liberals, against gays and lesbians, against whores. We know that they're wrong, right? So we can't move in criticism thinking our criticism is going to get them in the kingdom. What gets them in the kingdom is love. He said, with love and kindness have I drawn them. So I can't— I don't need to be mean and hateful to someone because they're gay. I thank God for deliverance, because there was a season in my life that legalistic demon had me so bad. I could be up preaching, a gay person walking, I changed everything I thought, go right in the jungle. My conversion rate with homosexualities was very low because they weren't receiving And when God taught me to love and preach the love of Christ to them, amen, then I start seeing them get converted. I start getting— seeing them get delivered and maintain their deliverance. But you throwing the Bible at somebody, being critical, they're not going to receive you. That's what— and I'm teaching this because in the foundation of what we're trying to build in our churches, I don't want us to be a judgmental, critical, unloving people. I want us to stand for holiness, stand for righteousness, but I don't want us to be critical because somebody's not doing what we do. Even if it's another church that's not moving in what we move in— they don't have gifts, they don't have glory, they don't have the anointing, they're not having Baptist fits and all that stuff. Listen, let me tell you something, it's not about that. It's about being able to be loving enough to draw people into truth. That's right. You gotta love enough so they want it. Are y'all hearing this? Amen. All right, number 5, we got an obsessive focus. It is— and I know y'all don't see no obsessive focus toward dress codes and behavior. You so focused on how somebody dressed. Legalistic people would damn it. My wife, Sharia, and F you to hell today, cuz y'all got on pants. That's very legalistic. They would say you're going to hell with them pants on. Glory to God. Hallelujah. My God, astronaut just fell out the sky. God is moving. Thank you, Jesus. Glory to God. All right, so when you got people— oh, look at them pants she got on. She ain't saved. Me. Are them pants too tight? That dress too short? Uh, it may be, but you can't have obsessive focus that you have this mindset that you're gonna damn people because they gotta make up earrings, jewelry, red fingernail polish. Are y'all hearing me? Amen. You got denominations who do that crap. Amen. That's legalistic, and that's why they never really have real moves of because they stiffen the move of the Holy Spirit. And watch this, they sentence the atmosphere to death because real joy can't be manifested. Man, the astronaut trying to come to the altar and get saved. He said, listen, I've been in the air too long, I need to get some Jesus in my life. Glory to God. Hallelujah. That's why we got to get our own building in the name of Jesus. That was a birthday party or something. They don't tell them what they were doing here last night with them astronauts in the city. Glory to God. That's why we have to pray when we come in this room. Praise God. So you can't be focused so on standards of dress and behavior. You got some, some folks so bound by legalism they can't even play cards. I mean, you got some folk that won't play spades because the preacher done damned cards to hell. Yeah, I grew up in that kind of church. That's terrible. You know, legalism. Glory to the name of God. Don't play basketball, don't watch TV. Listen, I knew pastors that was saying don't watch TV and they had the biggest TV you could buy. Don't go to the movies, you go to the house, they got VCR tapes stacked up on the wall. I mean, how you telling us not to go to the movies and you got all these tapes in your house? Are y'all hearing me? Glory to God. That's not what— that would make people not want to serve our God. Let's move. Number 6. Yeah, bondage. Watch this. To religious tradition. Listen, the Pharisees, the reason they tortured Jesus and would not receive him and rejected him is because they couldn't leave the Old Covenant behind. They were bound to yesterday. They were bound to what was. Hallelujah! So I gotta leave the bondage behind. I gotta leave the bondage behind. Listen, the legalistic spirit says, this is the way we've always done it, and this is the way we're gonna always do it. Listen, I'm telling you right now, I don't ever want to be where God was. Amen. I want to be where he is. I'm telling you right now, if something's not working, we have to shift. We have to change and do what works. Some of the old stuff don't work no more. Y'all, they gotta say they just don't. Some of the things we do just do not work. And we got to find new strategies, new ways of doing things in wisdom so that people will receive what we got in our life. Number 6, oh God, the 7th— I'm sorry, we— number 6 or 7? All right, all right, all right, all right. He said, so we have a sectarian attitude— write it down— toward other believers. Believers. So to be sectarian means that you in one denomination and you separate yourself from other believers because they don't do things the way you do them. Let me give you an example. There's an organization that believes that if you're not baptized in Jesus' name, you're not saved. Some of those people in that organization have become more open to other things, which is great. But there's some that's still stuck in the dome that if you ain't been baptized this way, you ain't saved. Now, for the record, because I am an apostle, if I baptize you, I'm gonna baptize you in Jesus' name. That's how the apostles did it in Acts 2:38. But I'm not going to separate myself from someone else because they didn't go down in Jesus' name. There are people that got these sectarian attitudes. They won't fellowship with people with a church like this that has gifts, a church like this that's apostolic and authoritative. They won't come to stuff we have. They'll separate us and say, no, I don't believe in that move of the Spirit, that's— they crazy. They'll call us a cult. And then on the flip side, there are people that'll say in, in our circles, oh, I can't go over there, they too dead. Well, what we should do in our culture, instead of being separate and being sectarians We should become— oh my God— thermostats instead of thermometers. We spend so much time trying to measure the temperature of a place. That's what, that's what a thermostat does. That's what thermometer does— it measures temperature. But a thermostat changes it. So if I'm a sectarian, I can't be a thermostat and show up and change the temperature. So I, I've resolved that if God leads me to go somewhere I'm invited that ain't necessarily doing is saying what I'm doing, I'm gonna enter the place as a thermostat and change the temperature. Amen. Oh boy, hallelujah. Number 8, right now this is a big one because a lot of people moving this, they have little or no assurance of their salvation. They don't even believe they saved. 'Cause legalism makes them feel like they're not saved because they, they're so accustomed to keeping rules, they don't even feel like they're born again. They're accustomed to doing things— are y'all hearing me? Based on what the preacher stands up and tells them not to do. I mean, legalism— don't take a bath, don't brush your teeth, don't put a hat on your head. No, that's— and people don't feel like they're saved until they're keeping rules. Don't have sex, don't sleep over 8 hours. I mean, just crazy stuff. If you give some rules, you got a lot of people out there to feel, okay, I'm saved, I keep this rule, right? But you're saved by grace. Amen. And when the Spirit of God comes into your life, according to 2 Corinthians 3:17, it says, when the Spirit of the Lord comes in Christ there is liberty. So I'm not bound. We gotta learn how to be free in our salvation. Legalism says I gotta keep these rules. So many people about— hear this, and I'm almost done, y'all, for real, because I'm gonna be able to cover all this today anyway— because they're preoccupied with following rules— watch this— versus actually following God. Because they have misinterpreted following rules as following God. And some of the rules that have been laid out didn't come from God, because if it's not scriptural, it didn't come from God. Amen. I can't help— the old preacher didn't study enough to know that when the scripture says that a woman should wear things that pertain to a man, that it wasn't talking about she can't put on pants. That ain't what it was saying. It was saying— watch it. First of all, different time, men wore robes that looked like dresses. Come on now. So at the end of the day, it had nothing to do with pants. It has something to do with what was made for a man. So there have— there are women pants and there are men pants. There are women's shirts and there are men's shirts. The woman's shirt button on a different side. That's right. There are things that are made for a woman, made for a man, but you just got to study the scripture instead of taking it like you really— okay, don't take your pants off. I remember one time in one of the legalistic churches I was in, uh, the preacher was up preaching about pants, saying, don't you women in here coming in here with these pants on. There wasn't but two people in the building this night with pants on. So we know who he was talking to. Two women there, they said to me, y'all women coming up in this church with pants on, God ain't pleased. Those are man britches and you need to go home and put on a dress. And one sister just got tired. She just stood up and said, look, in the middle of the sermon, these pants— I came straight from work, pastor. These pants I got on, I have to wear them to work. And the same job I work in with these pants on is when I bring my tithes from that job. So please leave me alone about my pants. We didn't hear about pants much no more. The priest gonna get them tithes. Y'all ain't talking. He gonna try to get them tithes. I can't mess with the money, so yeah, let me stop talking about that. That's crazy. That's legalism, trying to buy— well, I heard one preacher say one time, men, stop wearing your ties because the tie got a point on the bottom, and you know what it's pointing to. I sat there and said, you know, ain't nobody sat there and thought about something crazy. You the one must be looking at it like that. I mean, who thought about a necktie that way? That's crazy. See, y'all never heard that, right? But he was looking for another rule to bind people legalistically by. You can follow all those rules. What I'm saying is that not know God. So let me bring this to a close. Look at the working definition of legalism. Legalism Listen to this. Is the tendency to regard as divine law things that God has neither required or forbidden in scripture, and the corresponding inclination to look with suspicion— listen to this— on others for their failure to conform to what you made up as a rule. That's it. I'm gonna read it again. This is, this is a working definition. Legalism is the tendency to regard as divine law, as Bible, things that God has neither required nor forbid in the word. So you make up something that ain't even about it, right? Like the skirt need to be at least 4 inches off the floor, no higher than that. That ain't in the Bible. Matter of fact, it's just as much hell with a long dress as it is a short dress if the person wearing the dress ain't saved and their heart ain't changed. It just take that one, the long dress, a little longer to bend down and pull hers up and do what she got to do. Y'all look, y'all, okay, all right. You got to be changed on the inside. That's right. In fact, coming up, I learned real quick The girls in church, a lot of them were a lot faster than the ones in the world. When I was in school, I was dating a church girl. Every time I look up, she was trying to go to bed with me. Y'all gotta talk. Glory to God. And I'm looking at her like, don't you know I'm saved? Can you please stop tempting me? I had to stop dating. I started dating a chick that went in the church. She knew I was a preacher. She wouldn't even kiss me because your lips holy. I can't mess up that. I ain't getting in trouble with God. She had respect. Y'all ain't got to talk. You got to be changed on the inside. Legalism. Because when you get changed on the inside, your outside will take care of itself. And you definitely don't have no right to judge nobody because they ain't coming up to your standard. That's your standard. It ain't Bible, it ain't God's standard. That's right. Watch this. We're saved by grace, by faith, not by works, not by what we wear. Oh my God, it's gonna be a whole lot of folk in heaven that we're gonna look at. How do you know how they get in? And your girl gonna be looking with Sister Hulabo. You're like, where's Sister? She was hulabo shy and doing something else. House. She ain't make it. But the one with the short dress, she made it because her heart was right. Are y'all hearing me? Amen. So one unmistakable sign— let's go— of a legalist spirit is the tendency to have a microscope and a magnifying glass on the life of every situation and person you enter into. Legalistic people are sin-conscious. Yes, they show up looking for stuff wrong with a white glove, trying to make sure it meets their religious standard. When the Bible said all have sinned and come short of the glory, even that would be legalistic. I hope this preacher see this video so that he could call me out. I would love to have one-on-one with this guy. Gino Jennings sits up and preaches hard against what everybody else does wrong. My question is, what will happen if we follow Gino Jennings home? Legalistic, got the women sitting on one side and the men sitting on the other side. Because too scared the men may lust at the women. Oh, y'all ain't saying much. That's, that's a problem. That's a problem. And every preacher that he thinks is too popular, he goes at the juggler and start trying to find things wrong with him and preaches against him. But you know, what if we follow you home, sir? I want you to realize you're moving in a strong spirit of legalism that's binding people to stuff that the Bible you say you stick with, it ain't even in there because you're misinterpreting most of the text you're reading. Okay, now challenge me, please. Thank you, Lord. Okay, all right, somebody said I am, because it's a mess. It causes division in the body. He's spitting out poisonous legalism in the name of holiness. They don't make a woman holy because she sits on the other side of the church from her husband. Another man. What makes her holy? She chooses to practice a holy lifestyle every day. Lord have mercy. Oh boy. Legalism is born from insecurity. Oh, it's born from people that want to feel good about themselves. It reinforces when you use gifts or your preaching voice or your managerial place to bring people in bondage. It says something about you. It says you have an inferiority complex, so you, you use rules and control. Oh my God, to reinforce that you are superior. I've seen women even operate in this spirit with children. Both of them got a child together. The child lives with the mother, but because she's insecure on how the father may influence the child, to reinforce her superiority in the child's life, she keeps the child from the father. And that's a dangerous piece because children need their daddy, especially if the daddy trying to be in the child's life. But because you're insecure and you're afraid— I never had that problem. I thank God for my children, Junior's mom. I thank God for the mothers of my children. Never had no real issue with that. But I'm saying, there are— just, just for the record, let me just speak that. But at the end of the day, there are women out there that do that. They use the child as a pawn. To try to control the narrative of how the husband, how the man would behave toward them and the child. That's a dangerous piece, man. The root of this spirit of legalism is deception. Say deception. Deception. Say I'm not deceived. I am not deceived. Say I'm not legalistic. I am not legalistic. Say, I'm free. I'm free in the name of Jesus. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, say, there is liberty. There is liberty. So I'm not deceived. So I'm not deceived. Say, I'm free to receive. I'm free to receive. I accept truth when it comes to me. When it comes to me. See, legalistic people hate truth. That's what I was— I was saying what I was saying about Gino Jennings, but the reality is It will be really a waste of time to debate him because he deceived. Deceived people think they're right. They think that what they're saying is correct, and they'll create something just to keep you in bondage. Something's wrong with that, man. Good job. Let me get out of here, man. Go to Acts 4. I'll give you two more scriptures. I'm not gonna be able to get into religion today. We'll, we're just gonna walk through this, but the Lord's taking me here right now. We're gonna go here because I want to share this one with you. Acts 4:11. Okay, let's start at 10. Acts 14 says, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel. Say, that's for everybody. That's for everybody. That's for everybody. That's for everybody. Say, including me. Including me. Hallelujah. So he says, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth Whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole. Now, if you read the verses above, you're going to see that a man was healed and delivered through the hands of the apostles. They— he was free. But there were some legalistic people that had problems. With the deliverance. See, people who are legalistic are going to always have problems with the move of God. The devil hates the move of God. But what I read the scripture to show us, that the move of God is never at the hands of people, it's always by the name of Jesus. The moment me or anybody else starts saying that what is happening in the church or in the body of Christ is because of them, that's a problem. This is by the name or the identity of Jesus Christ in alignment with our life and our submission to him. So we, we operate through him and people can be made whole. There's— there it is again. They can be helped. We operate in freedom so we can bring freedom. Yeah, watch this. Verse 11 says, this is the stone which was set at naught of your builders. Wait a minute, he said there are people that are building who have rejected Jesus. Ain't no way we can have a church without Jesus. It's his church. But you got people who started in his name, and now in some services you rarely hear his name. But I'm telling you, no matter what happens, Jesus is still King of Kings. Jesus is still Lord of Lords. He's still the resurrected Savior. And there are builders, people building things, and they're calling it church in the name of legalism and not the name of Jesus, in the name of rules that they think people need to follow. In the name of religion, and there's no power. Number 12 says, neither is there salvation. Wait a minute, no, he says, which is— he said, you said no, you, you rejected him, but he has become the head of the corner. Here's what I need us to do. I need us to make sure that in the foundation of this ministry and the churches we're establishing, that we never said Jesus had not that we always keep him the center of attention, that we build everything we do on his authority and on his character and on his name. Because— and that we never worship men, that we never give glory to gifts, but a tarantza, or a move of God. See, you could be a church that said, we having a move of God, and you can start worshiping the move. And not worshiping God. You have people that will show up in places— hear me— not for God, because they want to witness the move. And some people, watch this, are very legalistic in their approach because they try to stage a move. Oh God, help us, Father. They'll set up a move, or what looks like a move. Listen, we just gotta sit back, really let God be God, man. He's the chief. He's the chief corner. He's the chief of all apostles. Please don't— no matter how many apostles I have deployed in the earth, please don't come and call me a chief apostle because I'm not a chief. There's only one chief. His name is Jesus Christ. I correct people quickly when they say that. Well, yeah, but boss, you got other apostles under you. So I'm not chief. He's the chief. I'm just serving. At any day, he could decide, okay, well, you're not gonna serve in this capacity anymore. I want you to do something else. He couldn't decide that. So I'm a servant, he's the head. So legalism wants the rule to be the head, but let us not ever get to that place. Verse 12, it says, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. Oh God. So the only name we're saved by is Jesus. His authority, his power. So, so basically, when he's saying unnamed, he's saying there's no other identity that we can be saved in. There's no other system, there's no other plan to save us but the efficacious, vicarious, substitutionary work of Calvary. It's the blood of Jesus that saves us. Listen, watch this. Verse 13: Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled, and they took knowledge of them— here's the catch— that they had been with Jesus. They weren't Bible scholars. They didn't have more degrees behind their name. That you could call them Dr. Fahrenheit. The Bible said they were unlearned and ignorant men. Ignorance, not a bad word, mean they just didn't know what everybody else knows. Ignosis in Greek, which means that they just had not learned what everybody else had learned, what the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees had learned. It's proof that if you yield to God's way of doing things, he can teach you, he can make you great. He can cause people to marvel at what happens through you. You don't have to make something up to control people. It's more prophetic witches in the church because they prophesy to control people. I've seen people prophesy to people, tell them, you leave this church, you're gonna die. You leave this church— that's crazy, that's stupidity. God is a gentleman. If people leave, let them leave. At the end of the day, the Bible says if they had that for us, no doubt they would have stayed with us. But by virtue of the fact that they left us is proof that they were not for us. So when people walk out of your life, don't try to control them with prophecy. If my wife leave me, I'm not going to try to prophesy to her and say the Lord said you need to stay. I'm just gonna go with her. I'm just gonna— she leave, I leave. But I'm not gonna try to control her with God. People trying to say God said to control. And that's why you got to be very discerning over who says thus saith the Lord to you, because I promise you, let me tell you something, God ain't speaking as much as some of these people say. Study the Old Testament. God spoke very strategically. Watch this, he spoke selectively through prophets, and his, his word was always on a national level when he spoke through prophets. Very seldom, in instances like people like Nathan and David, where he will send a prophet to someone one-on-one. Most of the time, prophecy will be released on a national level, because it was the job of the high priest to teach the people in the temple and for them to learn the ways of God. The reality is we live in a day and time— well, because we're not teaching people to move into— oh my God— real revelation and relationship with God, we have to prophesy more. Wow. But I promise you, get to know God for yourself. It'll be less prophecy. I've been teaching this all week on evangelism. Gift's really for unbelievers. It edifies the body, but at the end of the day, it's more to show unbelievers that God is real. Oh God, we have access to God. Okay, all right, so we have to allow the Spirit to be the leader. To be out front. Let me keep reading. It said they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. This is what we want. We want people to look at us and say, 'They've been with God.' We want people to see what's working in our life, not just in here but in the world. We want people to follow us because they want to, not because we're trying to control them. with a witchcraft prophecy. Watch this. Or will I give? Or how good we can do what we do, right? We want people to follow us because they see God, they see Jesus in us. Hallelujah. Almost done. One more scripture, y'all. Just one more. Go to Amos. Amos. I know you got to fast and pray to find Amos, right? It's in the Old Testament, 9:13. Hallelujah. Amos 9:13 says this, it says, behold, which means look, While I'm reading this, somebody find this in the Message Bible because I'm gonna let you read it in the Message Bible. Hallelujah. He said, behold, the days come, said the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed, and the mountain shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt. This is the promise for those who are free. This is the promise for those of us who walk with Jesus. God said, tell you today— and I hear this, you play something because I'm done— he said, tell you that the days have come that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, which means the one sowing is going to reap a harvest greater than the one reaper. That's crazy. That you're gonna begin to reap a harvest at the same time you sow, that you move in obedience, that you spend time with God. Somebody got it in Message reading. Yeah, read it loud. Help you. Yes indeed, it won't be long now. God's decree, things are going to happen so fast. Start right there. He said, yes indeed. Listen, it won't be long now. Say that with me. Say it won't be long now. It won't be long now. God said, as we have moved into a place of freedom and liberty in our mind, and we won't allow anything legalistic to control us, God said, I have brought a spirit of acceleration to you. And God said, it won't be long. Somebody watching, somebody here, I'm telling you right now, it won't be long now. Read that first part again, LQ. Things are going to happen so fast. He said, things are going to happen so fast your head will swim. There's stuff that's going to start coming to you, blessing and breakthrough, faster than you can go. You'll be like, God, one thing on the heel of— Ricky, read, read, read, read. One thing fast on the heels of the other. You won't be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once, and everywhere you look, blessings. God says, I'm getting ready to bless you so It's gonna be one thing after another. So much— hear me— it's gonna cause your head to swim. So many blessings, you won't be able to count them. You won't be able to catch up. Y'all stand up there and say this. Say, Lord, catch me up. Put me in the overflow. Accelerate the blessing. Celebrate the blessing in my life! In my life! I decree today— I decree and declare that I'm not religious. I am not religious. I'm not legalistic. I am not legalistic. Hallelujah! Say, 'In the name of Jesus.' The name of Jesus. See? 'I receive the blessing!' I received acceleration. I've received acceleration in my finances, in my finance, in my dreams, in my dream, in my purpose, in my destiny,' shall decree and declare. I decree and declare. Come on, say it. The delay is over. The delay— come on, y'all stand for me. I'm done. Y'all stand. Come on, because I want you to get this in your spirit. Say, in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Say, legalism. Legalism is not a part of who I am. It's not a part of who I am. Say, he who the Son sets free— he who the Son sets free— is free indeed. Is free indeed. Say, where the Spirit of the Lord is— where the Spirit of the Lord is— say, there is liberty. There is liberty. Say, I have liberty. I have In the name of Jesus, I am not bound to the situations of my past, and I declare today my past cannot hinder my future. Say, I'm going somewhere, and I'm going fast. God is moving, and he's moving fast. Say, I receive the acceleration in my life in the name of Jesus. I need you to praise God. For what's happening. I'm telling you, you don't see it right now, but he's working, he's working, he's working, he's working, he's working, he's working.