If you would, turn in your Bibles with me tonight to the book of Luke chapter nine. Hallelujah. Luke chapter nine, verse one through verse six. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word. When you have it, say amen.

1. Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power . . .

Somebody say, “Gave them power.”

1. . . . and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

2. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

3. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.

4. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart.

5. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.

6. And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.

Let us pray.

Most holy and gracious heavenly Father, we thank You tonight. We give You glory, we give You honor, and we give You praise. Father, none of me, but all of You. I decrease right now, that You would increase. And Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. I thank You that You’ve anointed me, God, to preach the Gospel. And it’s not about me; it’s about You getting the glory. In Jesus’ Name.

And all that agree with this prayer said, “Amen.” Give God a handclap of praise. Hallelujah.

Tonight we’re talking about accountability. I will be teaching this word tonight about accountability. Here we are in the book of Luke chapter nine. If you don’t have your Word tonight, please get next someone that has their Word, that you would not be at a loss for the Word of God tonight. Luke chapter nine. In verse one he said:

1. Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

When we look at what accountability is, it means to be accountable for your actions. And whenever God gives you power, He’s looking for you to be accountable for the power that He has given you. Because a key factor in key management, because it is a cornerstone of empowerment and personal growth, is that we have accountability.

And when we look at what empowerment is, it is legal authority. And what God was doing with the disciples at this time, He was giving them legal authority in the spirit realm. You see, in order to be able to operate in the things of God, you’ve got to be legal in the things of God. There are a lot of people that are out there that are counterfeiting power, because their power does not come from God.

God is in the process of empowering His people and bringing them to the next level. The only way God is going to bring you to the next level is that you have been accountable at the level that you were already on. Come on, somebody. I cannot expect God to take me to the next level if I have no accountability in my life. Every one needs to be accountable to someone.

When we look at the disciples that became apostles, they were accountable to God. Not only were they accountable to God, but they were accountable to one another. And in these last days we cannot afford to continue in the body of Christ to be disconnected from one another. I need you and you need me, because the Bible says that we are what? One body in Christ. All this power that we have is supposed to be surged together, that we may overcome the power of the enemy. Come on, somebody. The Bible never said He sent them out one by one, but He sent them out what? Two by two. Because two heads are better than one. One will put a thousand to flight, but two will put what? Ten thousand to flight.

Accountability is what we’re talking about tonight. Go with me to the book of Luke chapter twelve. Just turn over a couple of chapters with me. Luke chapter twelve. Look at verse forty-seven and verse forty-eight. When you have it say amen.

47. And that servant, which knew his lord's will . . .

Wait a minute. In order to operate in accountability you’ve got to know the Lord’s will for your life. Too many of us are off course, and we’re out of position, because we’re feeling around. That’s why we have apostles and prophets, because we are able to activate you into your destiny. It’s not a pastor that what? Activates you. It is those that operate in the realm of the apostle and the prophets. Because the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And therefore, what we do is try to guide you into that place that God has for your life. In order for you walk in that area, that arena, that realm of accountability to God, you and I have got to know the will of God. Look at your neighbor and say, “You need to know the will of God.”

 1. . . .that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, (okay) neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

Wait a minute. If I don’t know the Lord’s will, and I’m out here doing things that God has not called me to do, or I’m doing things that (glory to God), I’m not doing anything, I’m not what? Answering the call and fulfilling the call of God. Then God is going to what? Judge me according to what I have or have not done. Come on, somebody. I’m talking to some saints tonight.

We as the body of Christ have got to understand that we cannot afford to get to that last day and get before God and not be a good steward. Somebody’s saying to themselves, “Well, I’m going through a situation.” Don’t you know that in your situation (and I’ve preached this) that God still expects you to function? He allowed you to go through the situation that you may be tried by the fire, because when something is tried by the fire, that’s when it is purified and perfected. It what? Loses all of the dross. It loses all the impurities that it may what? Be able to shine. God is looking to cause the saints of God to shine with the Glory of God. Somebody say, “He’s talking to me.”

Look at verse forty-eight.

48. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes . . .

Somebody say, “His mercy endureth forever.”

I don’t want to be in that category either. I want to be in the category where I operate in the perfect will of God. I don’t know where people get the idea that there is a permissive will, because there’s no such thing as a permissive will of God. There’s only the perfect will of God. We have to what? Do all things that are what? Good and acceptable and perfect. The will of God for your life is perfect. Come on, somebody.

We try to fly under the radar. We try to stay in a place where we get something done. But sometimes we never reach that place that God wants us. He’s calling us to accountability tonight. We pick up something, and then we drop it and let it go if we don’t like it.

Wait a minute. When I got saved and I began to work for God, it was never on my terms. It was always on His terms. Anything you do for God is on His terms. Because why? He is our Creator. He is our Creator. You see, if no one is accountable for a project, then no one gets to grow through the experience of that project. You see, any time God gives you an assignment, it’s for you to grow. But somebody has got to be accountable to make sure the assignment is completed. That requires commitment. Somebody say, “I need another level of commitment.” He’s talking to us.

Go to Genesis chapter three. Accountability is what He’s calling us to. In Genesis chapter three, verse eleven through verse thirteen . . . When you have it, give me a real amen. Thank you.

11. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Accountability has nothing to do with blaming. I might need to say that again. Accountability has nothing to do with us blaming someone else, that we would not be the one that God is holding responsible.

God put that man and that woman in the garden, but God put that man in position that he would be the leader. Now, if God is putting you in position of a leader, even in the body of Christ, when He says that He has given us the ministry of reconciliation, you are a leader in your own right; therefore, whatever assignment you have, God is expecting it to be completed. And if it is not completed, He’s not looking for you to blame somebody else for why it’s not completed.

We blame our situation. We blame our circumstances. We blame people. We blame not having the resources. God told me a long time ago when I didn’t have the money to pay my bills, He said, “Pay them with the Word.”

And I said, “Wait a minute. How am I going to pay my bills with the Word?”

God began to speak to me that my word would not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish everything that I sent it forth to accomplish, so I need to be accountable for the word that I speak. Instead of saying that I don’t have enough, I need to start saying I have more than enough. Come on. I am a saint of God, aren’t I?

We look at our situation as if it’s permanent. No negative situation is permanent as long as you have the Word of God. Hello.

We look at our relationships. And when we go through in our relationships, we act as if the situation is terminal. We act as if the situation cannot be fixed. Sometimes all we have to do is humble ourselves and take accountability and responsibility. He’s speaking to us tonight. Because we want to go somewhere, but we’ve got to be accountable for where we are now.

Now, where are we, is the question. Do you know where you are in your life right now? You’ve got to find out where you are in your life. What season are you in, in your life? Don’t just go aimlessly through your life, because years are going to wind up passing you by, and you’re going to wonder where all the years went. Am I just talking to myself?

I’ve got to be accountable for my days. My days are not long here on the earth. My days are like a blade of grass. They wither away after a while. So I need to even give accountability for my days. Somebody say, “I will be accountable.” He’s talking to us. He’s talking to us.

It has been everything. Accountability has everything to do with that individual, and even the growth of us corporately. I’m accountable for myself, and I’m accountable for you. Why? Because I am my brother’s keeper.

Have you been accountable for anyone else lately? Have you made sure lately that somebody else was taken care of? I’m not just talking about your children or your husband. You’re going to make sure they’re taken care of. But I’m talking about somebody else. Have you taken anyone under your wing? Are we full of the Word?

I was talking last night in Atlanta how fat we become. We’re so fat with the Word. Lot of times we even go from meeting to meeting to get another word. But we haven’t even been accountable for the words that we’ve received already. Hello. I’m talking about us. I do the same thing sometimes. I’m talking about us. Why? Because the ear is not satisfied with hearing. I want to hear more and more. I want to hear something deeper, deeper, deeper. He’s talking to us tonight. He’s talking to us.

Let me give you an example. When a patient goes to see the doctor and the doctor tells them that the illness that they have could possibly be terminal, and he gives them options . . . A lot of times he may give them like at least two options. “You can either have surgery, or you can see if it’ll heal itself.” And when the doctor gives us the option, a lot of times the first thing we say is, “Well, what should I do?”

You see, we don’t want to be accountable for anything. We want somebody else to be accountable for us. Do you hear what I’m saying tonight? A lot of times if he knew which one would be better for you, most of the time he probably would have went ahead and told you. So now he’s placed the ball in your court. And now you’re faced with a decision. Nobody likes to have to make a decision.

A lot of us are lousy decision makers, because if the consequences of our decisions are negative, we don’t want to have to flow with saying, “It’s my fault.” But accountability requires me to have to take risks sometimes, and make decisions, not just a regular decision, but I’m talking about Godly decisions. I’m talking about making it in a Godly manner. Are you hearing me tonight? I know I’m normally in a preaching mode, but God wants me to teach this tonight. Amen. Amen.

Here we are. What accountability will do, it will allow me to write my own success story. It will. Because a lot of times when someone has helped us make it, we don’t want to acknowledge that they’ve helped us. A lot of times we want to pretend like we got there ourselves. It’s human nature to want to touch the glory and get the glory for ourselves. That’s why God said, “Touch not My Glory.” He said, “I will not give My Glory to another.” It’s human nature to want somebody to look at you and if you really are somebody.

Somebody say, “Accountability.” This is where we are in the body of Christ. Even words that we give as prophets and prophetesses and people that just have the gift of prophecy, we’ve got to start learning how to be accountable for the words that we give. We can’t just open up our mouths and say, “The Lord said.” “God is showing me.” Eventually we’re going to have a track record, aren’t we? And then if we’re confronted about a word, we shouldn’t try to make up excuses as to why that word didn’t come to pass.

Now, some words . . . Listen. Some words require our participation. But some words don’t require for us to participate at all. Because if God tells me that I’m going to be a great apostle, and then all of a sudden I start living unholy, unclean, and I lose my anointing, then the someone that gave me the word doesn’t mean that the word wasn’t true. It means that I didn’t participate right. Oh, I feel the Anointing of God. Some words require participation.

Accountability. Somebody say, “Accountability.” We’re just about there, because I’m not going to keep you long tonight. Because I want this to just sink in. I want it to really get into our spirit. Because a lot of us want to take on things that are too big for us. And the reason why they’re too big for us is because God never intended for us to do them in the first place.

God is always going to give you something that is too big for you. I’ve taught you that before. However, He’s going to make sure that you give Him the glory, that you spend time with him, that you recognize it’s going to take Him to bring it to pass. Hallelujah. Somebody say, “Hallelujah.”

Listen. We walk by feelings so much. And especially being in the position of a pastor. A pastor is supposed to lead the flock, but he’s supposed to rebuke and reprove with all long suffering. Amen. But what we get caught up in a lot of times, we don’t want to hurt your feelings. But thank God that I’m a prophet and a pastor. Because a prophet will get you straight.

Moses was a prophet, but he was also a pastor, because he led the flock. But he allowed the pastor side of him to take over too much. That’s why he wasn’t able to see the promised land. That’s why he allowed the people to frustrate him to go against and to disobey God’s orders. Hello, somebody. Accountability.

I’m obliged to be accountable for my own actions. I’ve come to the point where I’m man enough to own up to what I’ve done. And it’s not an arrogant place. It’s not an arrogant place, because, if you put arrogance in that place, if you make mistakes, God can’t move in your arrogance. But it’s a place of humility. It’s a place of humility. Owning up to the things that you may have done, the things you may have made mistakes in, is a place of humility. Being accountable is a place of humility.

Being able to go through the persecution of being accountable for something is a place of maturity. That’s why the Bible says don’t put a novice in position, because if you put a novice in position, after while they’re going to fall under the condemnation of the devil.

I was talking to a brother today, and it really, really blessed me. Because yesterday in Atlanta I was sitting in the car, and I was meditating. And I was before the Lord and consecrated myself. And he came, and he started talking to me. And after while he said, “What’s going on?”

I said, “I’m meditating.”

He said, “Oh, okay, okay. Okay.” And then he talked to me today, and he said, “You know what, pastor? Any time that you’re in consecration or meditation, don’t worry. You’re not going to hurt my feelings. Just tell me to shoo. Just tell me to go away.” That’s a place of maturity. Because if you do most folk like that, they’re going to, “Oh, pastor’s tripping. I’m leaving the church.” Let the whole church say amen. Glory.

Accountability. Accountability. He’s bringing us to that place. I thank Him for it. I thank Him for it.

A lot of you was thinking that because we started the ministry in Atlanta that you know . . . The way it’s looking it’s going to really grow quickly. However, you know, a lot of you are thinking that probably I would leave this church and, you know, if that one just got big, you know, I was just going to stay up there. God told me, “No, no, no, no.” That’s not what He’s called me. He told me that this is His church and that is His church. I’m accountable for both. Yeah. Yeah.

Sometimes in accountability God is not telling you to leave something and then start something else. Sometimes He wants you to handle all of it. I’m talking to some folk, because God has put some stuff on your plate, and He’s saying, “Now, eat it. Handle it.” Oh, yeah. There’s some stuff on your plate, you say, “God I don’t like this.” And God said, “You better eat every bit.” Somebody say, “Accountability.”

Accountability in our lives (and I’m just about finished) has got to be worn and honored as if we are wearing it like a garment. I’ve got to get to the place where I wear accountability like a garment. I put it on. I’m always at the point (glory to God) where I can say, “Yeah, I’m responsible for this.” I need to start wearing it. I need to start putting it on in the morning.

Is there anybody in here on their jobs that wouldn’t rather have a higher position? Is there anybody? No, no, no. Let me ask that again. You didn’t hear me. I said, is there anybody in here that would not like to be raised up? Because if you’re raised up, you’re going to make more money. Is there anybody that doesn’t want that? You don’t want it? If you don’t want it, be bold; raise your hand. That’s okay. You probably ready to get out of there; you’re tired of that. Tired of that company. And nothing they could offer you could make you stay.

But for most of us the idea of moving higher agrees with us. Amen? Because no one wants to stay where they are. Everybody wants to move higher. And even if you’re tired of that company, you don’t want to move to another company and go lower or stay where you are. You desire to go higher. And therefore, with going higher is another level of accountability.

Now . . . Wait a minute. If I want the position, then I have to be able to want everything that goes along with the position. I’m going to say that again. Because even so in the natural, so also in the Spirit. A lot of us want certain positions, but we don’t want the warfare that goes along with the position. We don’t want to be accountable.

We want a lot of times to just even rely on a gift that we have. Don’t you know you can’t rely on your gift to get you through? You’re dealing with real people in a real world. And sometimes folks ain’t studying your gift. Oh, you’re so wonderful. After a while you’ll be wonderful with that gift and don’t have no personality to go along with it. They going to say, “Forget you and your gift.” Accountability. There’s where He’s bringing us, and that’s where He’s taking us. That’s where He’s taking us.

We allow or rely on too much, a lot of times, to in our charisma. We rely a lot of times on, you know, these things that are not going to harvest a gift of destiny. We rely a lot of times on, for a lack of better words, you know . . . You know the initials that I want to say. I don’t want to say it. We want to B. S. Our way through. Oh, if that’s too raw for you, come on now. It ain’t that raw. That’s real. That’s real. We pretend . . .

Now, I done heard Bishop Eddy Long say a lot worse than that now, and we be jumping and shouting at the conference. “Oh, Glory.”

And we try to get our way through like that. We try to fool folks, and we have no accountability for anything. Sometimes we try to pretend like we’ve done something, and we really haven’t. Because it’s the grace and the mercy of God, especially in the house, when you stand up, and you know you ain’t done nothing, you know, and then God move and show out. And then we want to try to touch His Glory. And when people are patting us all on the back, we say, “Well, praise God.” Next time you better go in that prayer closet and say, “God, you know, I didn’t do it this time, but I thank You.”

Accountability in the body of Christ is going to get us to the destiny that He has for us. It’s going to get us to that place that he has for us. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I say . . . And I’m glad I say it. I say, “Lord, this just can’t be all of it.” And that keeps me driving on more in God. I’m not talking about material things, but I’m talking about even spiritual things. I said, “God, just getting up prophesying to folk and watching it come to pass, you know, and folks saying, ‘Glory to God. That working . . .’” “Lord, it’s got to be more. I need more, God. Show me another sign. I’ve got to have more. I’m hungry. I’m hungry. I’m hungry.

Sometimes I look at the television. I’ve been saying now for years, I look at the television and sometimes I just turn it off. I’m talking about Christian station. I just turn it off. Am I the only one in here sometimes? I’m tired of folks just swindling folks. Just swindling folks, pretending.

Because any time you have God’s people in a place, the Anointing is going to show up. Even if it’s not for that person that, you know, is standing before you, God’s going to show up with His Anointing for His people. That’s why people can live dirty and still a lot of times get before you, and they don’t have no Anointing; you the one that got the Anointing on you. Oh, you ain’t heard that one. I’m keeping that real with you.

God is moving not because of that person, but He’s moving because of you, because He loves you with a love that you could never understand or comprehend. He’s going to make sure that you receive what heaven is doing in this season, in this hour. He’s going to make sure He gets to you what He’s saying to you, and what He wants to do with you, through you. He’s going to make sure.

You’ve got to be accountable. I have to be more accountable. I have to be. I know I do. We have to be. Don’t just be accountable for your personal stuff. Be accountable for the house of God. Be more accountable to God. Put God first. I’m going to say that one again. Put God first. I know it’s hard to do sometimes. But we have a lot going on. But God is still saying, “Put Me first.” God is still saying, “I won’t play second.” But we want to play second, third, and fourth, and still want Him to bless us. But He wants us to get out of that place.

Accountability is where we are.