Practice What You Preach: Demonstrate God's Power

Power fills the room, but power can be stepped around, shoved aside, or moved out of the way to get comfortable. God’s power is not something to make room around. God’s power is something to receive, expect, and let demonstrate what God says He can do.

Jesus speaks in Matthew 23 to the multitude and to His disciples while the scribes and Pharisees are standing right there. Jesus acknowledges that the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Their position is real, their knowledge is real, and their religious language is real. But Jesus lays the charge bare: “They say, and do not.” In Green Pond language, they don’t practice what they preach.

The scribes knew the law. The Pharisees knew separation, tradition, and holiness language. Moses’ seat gave them authority to explain the Word. But their lives had the sign “power” on the building while the inside was dark. Their religion became false advertisement because they knew about power but did not possess power.

Jesus does not merely speak the Word. Jesus demonstrates the Word. Where Jesus goes, blind eyes open, lame legs walk, mute tongues speak, demons leave, and dead men live again. The hem of His garment carries virtue, and whatever issue touches Him meets the power of God. That is why the religious crowd hated Him. Jesus put their hypocrisy on display and called them whitewashed tombs, beautiful outside but full of dead men’s bones.

Second Timothy warns about having “a form of godliness” while denying the power thereof. A church can know the Holy Ghost language and still need a fresh infilling. A people can say God heals and still never come to an altar expecting healing. A people can say Acts 2:38 and still never lead anybody to repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, or the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost is living water. A body can survive awhile without food, but not long without water. A soul can run on empty for a little while, but sooner or later things start shutting down. Faith gets quiet. The altar gets hard to approach. Healing becomes a doctrine instead of an expectation.

Jesus draws the line between saying and doing. The call is for unbelief to be destroyed and for Pentecostal language to become Pentecostal demonstration. If God is a healer, then healing ought to be sought. If God delivers, then bondage ought to be brought to Him. If God pours out the Holy Ghost, then the church ought to pray until the power of God is not just talked about, but seen.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Power must not be stepped around God’s power can be in the room while people learn how to get comfortable around it instead of yielding to it. The danger is not always rejecting power loudly, but quietly moving it aside so life can stay manageable. Faith receives what God has, even when His power interrupts comfort, habit, and control. [26:13]
• 2. Right words are not enough Jesus gives one of the most sobering descriptions of religious people: “They say, and do not.” A mouth can declare healing, deliverance, and Holy Ghost power while actions deny every word. God is not looking for better religious vocabulary, but lives that let the Word become visible. [48:04]
• 3. Pentecostal language needs demonstration A church can explain the Holy Ghost and still need a fresh infilling. A person can believe in divine healing and still hesitate to come forward with honest need. The gap between doctrine and expectation is where unbelief hides in plain sight. [38:20]
• 4. Living water keeps faith alive The Holy Ghost is not decoration on a religious life, but living water inside the soul. Emptiness can be managed for a season, but eventually spiritual organs begin to shut down. Fresh infilling keeps faith tender, responsive, and ready to believe God again. [42:18]
• 5. Prayer needs real partnership God’s people are not meant to carry hidden needs alone while acting like nothing is wrong. Prayer partners give room for honest need, encouragement, and faith that rallies around one another. A changing church is one where people stop hiding in chairs and start believing together.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [25:21] - Power in the Room
• [26:44] - Jesus Confronts Religious Hypocrisy
• [28:38] - Matthew 23 in Context
• [30:06] - They Say and Do Not
• [31:46] - False Advertisement of Power
• [33:10] - Jesus Demonstrates the Word
• [35:19] - The Temple Must Be Life
• [36:29] - Knowing Power Without Having Power
• [38:20] - Pentecostal Language Needs Power
• [41:41] - A Form of Godliness
• [44:41] - Warning Flags at the Altar
• [47:04] - Do Pentecostals Still Believe?
• [48:47] - Destroying the Spirit of Unbelief
• [53:54] - A Testimony of Healing
• [59:03] - Finding Prayer Partners

1. In Matthew 23, who was Jesus speaking to, and what did He say about the scribes and Pharisees sitting in Moses’ seat? [30:06]
2. What were some ways the scribes and Pharisees had the right religious position and language, but failed to live out what they taught? [31:46]
3. What examples were given of Jesus not only teaching the Word, but demonstrating its power? [33:10]
4. What were some specific warning signs that people can know about God’s power and still not respond to it in a real way? [44:41]

1. Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees “say, and do not.” What does that reveal about how seriously God takes the gap between religious words and real obedience? [48:04]
2. Paul warned about having a form of godliness while denying its power. What might that look like in a church setting where people still believe the right things on paper? [41:41]
3. Paul spoke about a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. How does that challenge the idea that faith is only about correct teaching and not about lived expectation? [38:50]
4. The Holy Ghost is compared to living water. What does that picture help explain about why a person can look fine outwardly for a while, yet still be empty and weakening inwardly? [42:18]

1. Where has it become easy to step around God’s power instead of yielding to it—during prayer, at the altar, in worship, or in a personal need that has been kept hidden? [26:13]
2. If God is truly a healer, a deliverer, and a restorer, what need would be brought before Him right now instead of only talking about those things in general? [39:32]
3. Is there any place where the mouth has been making declarations that the actions have not matched? What would it look like this week for faith and action to come back together? [48:14]
4. Has spiritual life been running on empty lately? What are the signs—less expectation, less prayer, less tenderness, less willingness to respond—and what would a fresh infilling need to look like? [43:17]
5. When a moment comes to seek God openly, is there a tendency to stay seated, hold back, or wait to be pushed? What may be underneath that hesitation: fear, pride, disappointment, or unbelief? [45:02]
6. What would change if church was entered not just believing God can move, but expecting to witness and receive a demonstration of His power? [40:14]
7. Who could be invited into honest prayer this week as a prayer partner? What kind of need needs agreement, encouragement, or faithful follow-up instead of being carried alone? [59:03]