This is “The Three Chairs”. When it comes to your faith, how real is God to you? In this message, Jentezen Franklin reveals that you (and your faith) are sitting in one of three chairs, and you may be surprised to learn it’s time to get up and move. Discover what seat your faith is in and where it needs to be
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if you were truthful about your
relationship with jesus christ
many i’m afraid would describe it as an
acquaintance
not as a living vital
intimate relationship
if you have your bibles i would like for
you to open them with me
to joshua chapter 24 and verse
15. and if it seems evil to you to serve
the lord
choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve whether the gods
which your father served
that were on the other side of the river
or the gods of the amorites
in whose land you dwell here’s joshua
now but as
for me and my house we
will serve the lord
obviously today there’s some props with
what i’m going to preach there are three
chairs
on the platform there are three chairs
because the three chairs represent the
three kinds of people that are listening
to me
right now at every campus and by
television
there are three kinds of people and
you’re one you’re in one of these
three chairs the first chair this
chair represents people
of commitment they’re fully committed to
jesus christ
they have completely sold out and they
live
to serve and honor the lord jesus christ
they’re committed to the church they’re
committed to the kingdom
they’re committed to the call that is
upon their personal life and upon their
family
they understand that our family has a
call
that god has a plan and purpose for the
entire family
their businesses are committed to the
glory
of god they’re people who are sold out
and because they’re sold out
and so committed at times they find
themselves
being at odds with the values
of this they’re spiritual
in nature the apostle paul said that
there are three kinds of people
in first corinthians two in first
corinthians three
he said there are people who are
spiritual they have a
spiritual nature they see everything
uh through spiritual eyes they they
they understand that there is an unseen
spiritual world that is going on out
there and when they have been awakened
and born again and filled with the holy
spirit
they have a spiritual nature that leads
them and guides them
and they have come under the authority
of that spirit
and then there’s the second chair is
people of compromise people
who who they have been born again
they have given their heart to jesus
christ they go to church
some it’s not really consistent
but they would be glad to tell you that
they’re a christian and they
are and they attend church some
but they live a distant life from the
lord jesus christ if they were to be
totally honest they would say
jesus is more of an acquaintance than he
is a relationship
that i have an acquaintance with him
once
every week or maybe once every two weeks
i’ll go to church i’ll think about him
hear about him but that’s pretty much
it that’s about all that we have the
second chair
is the chair of compromise the first
chair is the chair of commitment the
first chair
is the chair of commitment and it’s the
person in it has spiritual nature
but the second person in the second
chair the chair of compromise
has a carnal nature the apostle paul
said in first corinthians
and then lastly there’s the person in
the third chair
and it’s the seed of the conflict the
people of conflict
they are unsaved they’re unchurched
listen and they’re uninterested in god
the bible said they’re in a natural
state paul uses all three of these
to to describe people spiritual
carnal fleshly worldly and then
natural meaning they’ve only been born
once
they have never been born again they
are unchurched they are unsaved
they’re uninterested in god
they believe there’s a god somewhere out
there
their world view is one of that is
humanistic and
maybe even atheist atheist or or
you know they they don’t have any
feelings or they believe that
all religions lead to heaven and
all religions are the same and all the
gods that people worship it’s all one
and it doesn’t matter what path you take
to get there so i want you to get it now
every person
sitting in this room is sitting in one
of these chairs
the first chair is people who are
dedicated
they’re spiritual they are committed
to god they are committed to the church
the second chair is people who
have been born again and encountered god
they
know the word but they don’t necessarily
want to live the word
so they live a life of compromise
and then there’s people that i’m
preaching to today
that are hearing me that are absolutely
in conflict with the word of god
their lifestyle everything about them is
void
of god that second person
knows the bible but there’s a difference
between the first
chair and the second chair because
they’re not committed to living the
bible
the third chair does not confess to be a
christian
the person in that chair doesn’t walk in
a relationship with god
they’re in a natural state there’s a
spiritual state
a carnal state and a natural state and
you’re in one
of three of these chairs
when i think about these chairs and
every one of you that are hearing me
including myself
i couldn’t help but think of joshua
and how committed he was to the lord the
bible said that joshua
this day stood before the people and he
said i have wholly committed myself to
the lord
he said i have wholly followed after the
lord with all of my heart
i have completely i used to preach a
sermon when i was an evangelist there’s
somewhere in
joshua where he says the bible says of
joshua he left
nothing undone that god told him to do
but then you move over
and he said to the people that day you
choose
who you will follow but as for me and my
house
we’re going to serve the lord and the
next generation looked at him and gave
verbiage yes we will follow the lord
like you but when he died the bible said
they didn’t do what god told them to do
they didn’t drive the enemy out of the
land
they coexisted with the enemy they
intermarried
with the enemy thereby taking on their
gods and their idols
and suddenly they you move from the
first seat of a generation that’s
committed to god
consecrated to god to a second seat of a
generation
that is compromising mixing a little of
this
and that and suddenly you have idols the
bible actually says
that they were serving idols and feared
the lord
and then you move into judges
chapter 2 and this is all the same
family
and it says and there arose another
generation
that knew not god
nor the works of god
they were sitting in the seat of
conflict this can happen to our families
if we’re not careful that’s why it’s so
important that we
set the pace of our family and be
committed to god
and it happened to joshua
they struck a compromise they moved from
commitment to compromise they were
called
god’s people but they were not in a
relationship with him
he was an acquaintance i wonder how many
people
i’m preaching to today i’m not naive i
understand that there’s a battle for our
souls and our minds
and the enemy would love for you to just
sit in this seat the rest of your
christian
experience and compromise
more and more and more but understand
that it affects
generations you see when you understand
what i’m preaching
it will become clear to you that
if you were truthful truthful about your
relationship with jesus christ many i’m
afraid would describe it as an
acquaintance
not as a living vital
intimate relationship
and then i think about this third seed
there’s no god in the house this
describes this generation
they get up on sunday morning and it
never crosses their mind
we should even go to church do you know
how many people will get up today
and sunday is not even considered the
lord’s day
it’s considered cut the grass day or
be good to yourself day or go to the
grocery store
day or god’s nothing to them
and we have a generation that is living
and sitting in the seat
now listen to this these three chairs
speak of how each person in each chair
relates to the world the person sitting
in the first
chair of commitment has a value system
that is at odds many times with the
world
they find themselves feeling almost
different and well no doubt different
and
and and and almost outdated because
you feel at odds with the way the world
talks the filth of the songs the the
uncleanness the
there’s no modesty there’s nothing and
you find yourself
when you’re committed to god many times
at odds with the values of the world
and by the way if you don’t ever feel
this
if you fit in with that
whole nasty world out there and you
never feel at odds
something’s wrong truth and morality
matter to you if you’re in that first
seat
they’re saved they love the lord they’re
committed
the person in the second chair the chair
of compromise
they know the bible but they care their
career is more important
than their calling
and if you talk to them they never talk
about the lord
they never talk about god they talk
about their money
they talk about material things they
talk about going here and doing that
but it’s never really a heart that’s
captured and committed
it’s just compromise they love the lord
but they’re living a compromised carnal
life the person in the third chair
is at odds with god
they fit right in with a culture that
says gay marriage is
right they fit right in
with a culture that says abortion even
in the ninth
month late term abortion they cheer
and they laugh how do we get this way
in a generation and if you’re clear if
you’re scared to
clap i’ll clap for you you pitiful
little
if we can’t speak up for a baby what
have we come to
what have we come to a living
breathing baby in the ninth month
i will not be silent nor will this
church
be silent we must speak up
it’s not a political issue it is a bible
issue
and god’s word is right and i will not
be
in the seat of conflict on this issue
[Applause]
but we have a generation that is and we
have churches
that have moved from commitment to
compromise to little mousy preachers
who sit real quiet and won’t say one
thing when the bible is so clear
proverbs 6
6 things god hates he
that sheds innocent blood
is one of them clap now and i’ll keep
preaching
he loves people who’ve had an abortion
he forgives he cleanses but we must not
ever feel
something in us that can
sit without any conflict
with murder of babies
now watch this when you’re living a life
of commitment
god is your closest friend
you’re in a relationship you serve him
first
the person sitting in this seat serves
him first
and self-second but when you’re sitting
in the second chair you’re living a life
of compromise
you know god as an acquaintance
not in an intimate relationship
it’s a responsibility to go to church
almost a drudgery to go to church
that’s why you don’t do it consistently
i love y’all i dressed up in a suit so
i’d look sweet while i do this
i love you enough to get right in your
face and tell you
the only thing at stake is your family
the only thing at stake is your marriage
the only thing is and when you move into
this seat it’s a dangerous place for a
believer
if you’re sitting in the second seat
what’s going to happen to this guy
he is compromising yes he loves the lord
but
his marriage is okay i wouldn’t call it
it’s kind of like a good working
relationship
but he is susceptible to temptation and
that’s why it’s
dangerous to move from spiritual to
carnal
because all of the sudden when the enemy
comes after your home
if you’re not prayed up if you’re not
seeing through spiritual eyes
whoa whoa whoa wake up wake up i need a
revival in my soul i can’t believe
that i did that i thought that
i entertained that
that’s what’s going to happen and
something begins to bother the person
who’s had an encounter with jesus sooner
or later this person wakes up and they
realize something’s going on with my
kids
i mean the little flicker of fire is
still there it’s not like
it used to be when they were here but
there’s a little godliness in them
little discernment in them something’s
going on with my kids and i’ve noticed
that
that my my kids have more non-christian
friends
than christian friends and i’ve noticed
that i have to drag them
screaming and kicking the church now
that they’re 16 and 17. and oh
you know i i really secretly i suspect
that
that they’re becoming sexually active
that just sense it i feel funny about
that voice she’s with
something’s not right but i i want to
wink i want to look the other way
because i’m carnal and i compromise and
i don’t want to have to confront it i
just
i just let them and i know they came in
from that party and went straight to the
bedroom and i probably ought to go back
and see why their eyes are bloodshot
and get all in their business and but
you know i’m a compromising parent
sometimes you just want peace at any
cost
because i’m carnal now
oh well you know the times we’re living
in
kids will be kids
just have safe sex is this too plain
but when you’re committed
it matters
somebody almost fell out of the seat
right then on that point
just preaching the truth
then there’s that person who’s listening
to me right now
you’re sitting in that seat of conflict
you got to build your career above all
your god is your career
and if she likes her boyfriend she
doesn’t have to marry him
just move in with him what difference
does it make
marriage is just a piece of paper
what difference does it make you’re
living in conflict
with the word of god
she thinks about having children someday
but
i want intellectual kids i want popular
kids
i want cheerleading beta club
nothing wrong with those things but is
that the
highest thing that it never crosses this
person’s mind
i want my kids in church i want my
family
raised in the fear of the lord it never
crosses this person’s
mind to get up and go to church
it’s there now the question
that i want to propose to you in closing
this morning is simply this
parents of the first chair
percentage-wise we’ll have a mass
majority of children
voluntarily serve the lord
chill parents of the second chair
will almost always have a majority of
children who will not follow the lord
and of course there’s not much hope
barring a miracle of god
for the third chair parents
if you’re sitting in this seat and i
sense many are
wouldn’t you like to move from this seat
to that seat
joshua said i’m going to tell you what
to do about it
choose you this day
who you will serve
and if you’re not going to sit in that
seat for yourself
sit in it for your children sit in it
for your grandchildren
you say you love them but if you’re not
giving them jesus
all the money in the world won’t be
enough for them
you must give them jesus
[Music]
my word to you today is simple
strive for that number one chair
not just for you but for your children
and your children’s children
where are you leading your family
as i described that second chair this
morning many of you felt pricked in your
heart
because if you were to be totally honest
this morning you would say jesus is an
acquaintance
he’s not really a intimate relationship
partner of my life
i talk to him all the time
he talks to me a lot
i worship in my car
he’s in my house he’s in my life he’s
he’s he’s a part of my thought process
he’s number one
i got to get in that first chair
god’s calling us all out of the second
chair
and the third chair and those of you who
are lost and
indifferent and far from god you haven’t
gone so far
that jesus cannot reach you but you must
choose this day
who you will serve some of you young
people must choose
this day which seat you’re going to sit
in
because god’s plan for your life will
not allow you to capture it if you’re
sitting in this seat
it’s going to require total commitment
and this is the day i love what he said
choose you
this day i put it plain
because i’m preaching to dying people
who are headed for eternity
and you better know what seats you’re in
here and now
choose you this day i love what joshua
said he said
i can’t i can’t decide for you but i can
for me as
for me it starts with me i’m getting my
rear end out of this chair
and i’m moving it over the as for me
and then he makes a powerful statement
as for me and my house
we will serve the lord now this guy
hears his attitude
as for me and my house we tried
and it’s not up to god it’s up to you
choose
choose life
[Music]
we’re so honored that you decided to
join us for kingdom connection today
if you have never invited jesus to be
lord and savior of your life and you
feel him drawing you today
while you’ve been watching this program
then i want you to repeat this prayer
after me
lord jesus i thank you for the cross the
blood that you shed you
carried and nailed my sins to that old
rugged cross
and today i receive you just say those
words today i receive you lord jesus
as my savior my healer
my deliverer my eternal
god i received the salvation that you
bought for me
with your own blood in jesus name i pray
amen and amen as you may have heard
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