Living in the Rhythms of Grace - Creflo Dollar
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00:00:00So, I want you to go with me to the book of Matthew chapter 11
00:00:05and verse 28 and 29 in the message translation.
00:00:10And I wanna, this first lesson in this series today is gonna be
00:00:15a lot of teaching and foundation because this is literally gonna
00:00:19blow your mind.
00:00:20It's like I promise you on the inside when it clicks you'll say,
00:00:25yeah, but it's just something that we've been doing for so
00:00:30long out of, based in religion.
00:00:32You just, nobody ever just, you know,
00:00:34we just hadn't thought about it.
00:00:37All right, verse 28, he says,
00:00:40Are you tired?
00:00:42Somebody says, oh yeah.
00:00:45No, he's talking about playing church and religion.
00:00:49Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion?
00:00:54He said, come to me.
00:00:56Get away with me.
00:00:58You'll recover your life.
00:01:01I'll show you how to take a real rest.
00:01:03How many of you are ready to take a real rest?
00:01:07He said, walk with me and work with me.
00:01:12Watch how I do it.
00:01:16Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
00:01:23I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
00:01:26Now remember that he says, I'm not gonna lay anything heavy
00:01:31and ill-fitting on you.
00:01:33If you're gonna learn the rhythms of grace,
00:01:35I won't be laying anything heavy and ill-fitting on you.
00:01:39And all my life as a Christian in religion, it's all been heavy.
00:01:45He said, keep company with me and you will learn to live
00:01:52freely and lightly.
00:01:55So, I wanna start this next series and I call it
00:01:58Living in the Rhythms of Grace.
00:02:02How does that work?
00:02:03Living in the rhythms of grace.
00:02:09Now, I feel led to share this Scripture before I'm gonna tie
00:02:14what we've been talking about and where we're going.
00:02:16Go to Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20 in the King James.
00:02:21Galatians 2 and verse 20 in the King James.
00:02:24Now, this is all about us staying on the bus this morning
00:02:28and really getting a hold of what I'm saying.
00:02:31All right, Galatians chapter 2, verse 20.
00:02:36I am crucified with Christ.
00:02:39Nevertheless, I live.
00:02:42Yet not I, but Christ liveth where?
00:02:47Christ lives where?
00:02:49And the life which I now live in the flesh.
00:02:52So, right now, we are living life in this physical body.
00:02:56The life that I now live in the flesh, how do I live it?
00:03:00I live that life by the faith of the Son of God.
00:03:04All right, so I'm living my life right now as a born-again
00:03:08Christian in the flesh.
00:03:09I'm living my life right now by the faith of the Son of God.
00:03:13Whose faith is it?
00:03:15Whose faith is it?
00:03:17So, he says, I'm living my life by the faith of the Son of God.
00:03:20I'm not living my life by my own constructed faith.
00:03:23I'm living my life by the faith of the Son of God.
00:03:26Now, you have to understand that, you know, Jesus said this.
00:03:30Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
00:03:34So, Jesus is a reflection of the Father.
00:03:37We would know nothing about the Father had Jesus not come.
00:03:41Jesus is a reflection, a perfect reflection of the Father.
00:03:45If you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Father.
00:03:47So, you have to understand that the faith of the Son of God
00:03:52is just a reflection of the faith of God Almighty.
00:03:55Everybody follow me now.
00:03:58So, the faith of God was wrapped up in flesh called Jesus.
00:04:06All right?
00:04:07So, the faith of Jesus Christ is God's faith wrapped up in flesh.
00:04:14And God's faith is faith where everything is perfect, complete, and done.
00:04:21God called the end at the beginning.
00:04:24So, everything about our lives as Christians has already been finished.
00:04:29It's already been done.
00:04:31Faith has come.
00:04:33Faith lived on the earth.
00:04:35People saw faith, experienced faith.
00:04:37This cause is named Jesus.
00:04:39Then Jesus got on the cross, and here's what Jesus or faith said on the cross.
00:04:43It is finished.
00:04:45And that's what faith is saying today.
00:04:47It is finished.
00:04:48And so, God's faith is finished faith.
00:04:50God's faith is completed faith.
00:04:52God's faith is done faith and can't be undone.
00:04:55So, Jesus comes to the earth in flesh in an earth suit with God's faith
00:05:01where everything is finished.
00:05:03It is done.
00:05:04And God could do everything he did and went through everything he went through
00:05:07because it was finished.
00:05:08He could go to hell and not be afraid because his resurrection was already finished.
00:05:12Glory be to God.
00:05:14And then God declares in Romans 12 that I am going to give you the measure.
00:05:19The measure means not you get a measure and you get another measure
00:05:23and you get another measure, or he would have said I give you a measure
00:05:26and then you got degrees of measure.
00:05:28The faith that I have, I now put in Jesus, and the faith that we have,
00:05:34you now have that faith because you live by the faith that's in Jesus
00:05:39which is the faith of God finished, completed, and done.
00:05:43So, everything about God concerning you is finished, completed, and done.
00:05:49If you look at Jesus, how he talked when he was on the earth,
00:05:52he talked in the tenses of finished, completed, and done.
00:05:56He told people that one day I'm going to die, I'm going to spend three days,
00:06:01and you're going to raise it up again.
00:06:03He talked like that.
00:06:04And now we are now forgetting about the faith of Jesus, the reflection of God,
00:06:11and we are going around talking about I got my faith, and with my faith
00:06:15I'm going to try to get healed, and with my faith I'm going to try to get delivered.
00:06:19Why are you trying to use your faith to perfect something that's already been perfected?
00:06:25You're using your faith, and I don't know if we get the term,
00:06:28if your faith is not his faith, where do you get that faith from?
00:06:33Your faith should be his faith.
00:06:35See, I'm going to tell you what your faith is.
00:06:37Your faith is based on works.
00:06:39Your faith says, I got to add work to my faith in order for my faith to work.
00:06:47See, all of our life we've been living like this.
00:06:49I got to add works to my faith in order for my faith to work.
00:06:54And I say, where do you get that from?
00:06:55Well, James says that faith without works is dead.
00:06:59And so now you're still adding works to your faith to try to get your faith to work.
00:07:03But James was not saying that you have to add works to your faith to get your faith to work.
00:07:09James was saying if you really got his faith, then from your faith works are going to come.
00:07:15From your faith we'll see fruit.
00:07:17From your faith we'll see proof and evidence.
00:07:20He wasn't talking about adding works to faith so faith could work.
00:07:23God's faith already works.
00:07:25In fact, God's faith has already worked.
00:07:28E.D.
00:07:29It is the invitation to live in the realm of the finished.
00:07:43To put all that together, he says now that you realize who you are and you've accepted me and you're born again,
00:07:51now live in the realm of the finished, the completed, the done.
00:07:57And so whatever needs you see in your life, call it finished, completed, and done.
00:08:06Doctors say you're sick.
00:08:07What do you say?
00:08:08My healing's finished.
00:08:10It's done.
00:08:12You say, well, financially I don't have the money to meet this particular thing.
00:08:17So you don't live in that realm about what you don't have and what you do have.
00:08:21You see what you need and you call it finished because you live in the realm of the finished.
00:08:28You need to try this, folks.
00:08:30See, what you're doing is you're still trying to get something to happen because you hadn't realized,
00:08:36excuse my English, it done happened.
00:08:41Stop it.
00:08:43If you have a battle today, the victory is finished.
00:08:48The victory that you need for that battle is completed, finished, done, can't be undone.
00:08:58But you keep trying to come up with a religious five steps.
00:09:01Well, first of all, you need to pray for four hours, and then secondly, you might need to add a little fasting with that.
00:09:05And then thirdly, you need to say these three pages of confessions.
00:09:08And then after you say them pages of confession, you need to go love somebody that don't love you.
00:09:12Well, I can't find them.
00:09:13I don't know who they are.
00:09:14There are lots of people.
00:09:16And it just adds burdens upon burdens upon burdens, and it makes it hard, and it makes it just tough,
00:09:22and eventually you get so confused you quit.
00:09:26Now, if you're confused with what I'm saying today, you're confused from the simplicity.
00:09:31You're confused because I won't make this difficult.
00:09:33I won't give you a list of things you got to do to make it happen.
00:09:36The only thing I'm saying to you is whatever you need, it's done.
00:09:39Live.
00:09:41And you're like, I'm confused.
00:09:43What you confused for?
00:09:44Well, the doctor said I'm sick.
00:09:46Well, God says your healing is done.
00:09:48It's finished.
00:09:49It's completed.
00:09:50I don't understand.
00:09:51No, it ain't that you don't understand.
00:09:53You don't receive it because you won't realize that it is done in that realm.
00:09:59And as soon as faith reaches out for what's finished, grace will supply more of what is needed.
00:10:08It's a rhythm.
00:10:15Everybody stay on the book.
00:10:16Now, if it's your first time here, I understand you're looking like,
00:10:18what in the world did he just say?
00:10:24I am saying the day you realize and believe that Jesus is Lord
00:10:31and you accept him into your life, he's already completed
00:10:35everything you'll ever need in this life.
00:10:38He just needs you to realize it, agree with it, and live according
00:10:44to what's done and not to live trying to get it done.
00:10:51That said, it's real faith.
00:10:53The other stuff we've been doing, I'm gonna use my faith to try to
00:10:57get this done, is against what this whole thing is about.
00:11:05It's finished.
00:11:08It's done.
00:11:12Most of the things I'm gonna say to you today is gonna have to do
00:11:15with your thinking and your thought,
00:11:19and I'm gonna show you something that's just mind-boggling.
00:11:21You just, I'm getting ready to absolutely destroy religion
00:11:24in your life.
00:11:28Wait, wait, let me define religion,
00:11:31or return to bondage in the Latin.
00:11:35Religion is performance-based.
00:11:38Religion is all about what you got to do to see if you can get
00:11:41God to do something.
00:11:44Religion is I got to be good in order to get God to do
00:11:48something good.
00:11:50That's not according to the new covenant.
00:11:52That was according to the law, and according to the law,
00:11:55nobody was ever good enough.
00:12:00Yeah.
00:12:01So, this is gonna be interesting.
00:12:03I am teaching this today.
00:12:05It is going to be something that's gonna challenge you,
00:12:08and I will start off with this statement that I told Taffi this
00:12:13morning that woke me up and blew my mind.
00:12:16Heaven is not our goal.
00:12:19It's our starting point.
00:12:23God, somebody.
00:12:26Now, that's what I'm gonna be explaining to you.
00:12:29Heaven used to be my goal until I found out that I'm already
00:12:34there.
00:12:37I sit with him in, what'd you say, Rick?
00:12:42I'm seated with him in heavenly places.
00:12:48So, once you realize that you're seated with him,
00:12:51that ain't my goal.
00:12:53That's been accomplished.
00:12:55I am seated.
00:12:56Oh, see.
00:12:57Now, some of y'all are like, I ain't sitting in heaven.
00:12:59I'm sitting in church.
00:13:00Now, you don't understand.
00:13:01See, this is what faith is all about.
00:13:03Faith is receiving what God has already done and finished.
00:13:07And your goal, and the goal of most Christians,
00:13:10your goal is to get to heaven.
00:13:12And I am telling you, I am already seated in heavenly
00:13:15places.
00:13:16Heaven is not my goal.
00:13:18Heaven is my starting point.
00:13:24So, what we're getting ready to talk about today,
00:13:26we're talking about it from the starting point of where I sit.
00:13:32Because if you don't talk about it from the starting point of
00:13:36where you sit, then you can just forget about it ever being done.
00:13:39I'm going to show you these things God's asking us to do,
00:13:41and I'm going to become an enemy to it at first because he's
00:13:44telling us to, you know, to give our bodies as a living
00:13:48sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God,
00:13:50which is the reason, sir, which is completely denying
00:13:53everything and giving it to him.
00:13:55And I don't see how that's reasonable to me.
00:14:00How can you make that appeal?
00:14:02How can you ask me to do that?
00:14:06Y'all ready?
00:14:08So, before we get to that, I'm way ahead of myself.
00:14:10Go to Romans chapter 2, verse 3 through 4.
00:14:15Romans chapter 2, 3 through 4, and then I'm going to read
00:14:18Romans 2, 1 through 4 in the mirror.
00:14:20This is all foundation.
00:14:22I gotta get your mind free from religion so you can hear how it
00:14:27is, how it really is.
00:14:30Since I have been living in the realm of the finished,
00:14:33so much has changed.
00:14:34I mean, so much has changed.
00:14:38So much has changed, including the increase of the glory,
00:14:41including the increase of manifestations.
00:14:47Very interesting.
00:14:48Verse 3, he says,
00:14:49And thinkest thou this, O man, that thou judgest them which do
00:14:55such things, and thus the same, that thou shalt escape the
00:15:00judgment of God, or despisest thou the riches of his goodness?
00:15:05The riches of his what?
00:15:06The riches of his goodness, and forbearance,
00:15:09and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God
00:15:13leadeth thee to repentance.
00:15:16The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.
00:15:21Now, the word repent means it is the change of mind,
00:15:29to change the mind.
00:15:30It literally means to change the mind.
00:15:34The other Scripture says,
00:15:36Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.
00:15:38In other words, change your mind from your way you thought about
00:15:42one thing to the way you think about.
00:15:45Basically, in that verse of Scripture,
00:15:48it is literally talking about changing your mind from the law
00:15:51to the gospel of grace, because that kingdom it was talking
00:15:54about was the kingdom of this grace.
00:15:56But he says something here.
00:15:58He says God's gonna use his goodness to lead people to
00:16:02change their mind.
00:16:07And that ain't what I was told.
00:16:10I was told if you don't change your mind and act right and do
00:16:14right, God gonna get you.
00:16:16He gonna put something on you.
00:16:18He gonna take something from you.
00:16:20He gonna hurt you.
00:16:23He ain't gonna bless you.
00:16:25And what we created is a fear-based religion.
00:16:28Just back up a little bit.
00:16:30Just back up a little bit.
00:16:31You ain't gotta go back 10, 20 years ago.
00:16:33It was all based in fear.
00:16:36You know, God don't like ugly.
00:16:40If you don't give, you're gonna be cursed.
00:16:43If you get a divorce, then the blessings are gonna weaken
00:16:46in your life.
00:16:48And it was, and if you don't come to church,
00:16:51then don't expect for favor to be in there.
00:16:53That's the reason why you didn't get that job,
00:16:55because you don't come to church.
00:16:57If you come to church a little bit more,
00:16:59God's gonna do something for you.
00:17:01And you're coming to church out of fear.
00:17:03You're giving out of fear.
00:17:05And don't pray.
00:17:06Now, if you don't pray like this,
00:17:08then he ain't gonna hear your prayer.
00:17:10Well, dang, I'm just trying to talk to him.
00:17:12I ain't never met him before.
00:17:14You ain't met Jesus yet?
00:17:15Well, you know what I'm saying.
00:17:16I'm talking to somebody I can't see, I can't hear,
00:17:18and then you telling me I need to talk to him like this.
00:17:21How come I just can't talk to him and he can teach me how to?
00:17:24It's all fear-based.
00:17:25It's fear-based.
00:17:26We have been living in a fear-based religion.
00:17:31And everything about what we do,
00:17:33and every religion is fear-based.
00:17:35Look at all the religions of the world.
00:17:37They all come with an attachment of fear.
00:17:44Yeah.
00:17:45And he goes so far as saying, you know,
00:17:47if you don't shout in church, then you ain't got no spirit.
00:17:51I'd rather you not.
00:17:52I'd rather you sit down, shut up,
00:17:53and listen to what I got to say.
00:17:56But they tell you now, if you ain't shouting,
00:17:58you ain't full of the Spirit.
00:18:02It's all fear.
00:18:04And we bought it.
00:18:07We bought every bit of it.
00:18:11Women ought not wear pants.
00:18:13Well, buddy, you get up in a dress
00:18:15and try to do all the things you gotta do then.
00:18:20Women ain't supposed to be on the pulpit.
00:18:23And this is so insulting.
00:18:25God forgive us.
00:18:27You gotta stay on the floor.
00:18:30You can't come up to the pulpit.
00:18:32You gotta stay on that pulpit.
00:18:33That's for the holy men of God.
00:18:35Stand up here on the floor.
00:18:47Women couldn't do nothing.
00:18:48They couldn't wear no dress.
00:18:49They couldn't put on too much makeup.
00:18:50If you put on too much makeup, you a Jezebel.
00:18:53You can't get on the pulpit.
00:18:55You gotta preach from the floor.
00:18:57Now, it's all right for you to sing in the pulpit,
00:18:59but now, you know, it just contradicted itself
00:19:03because it's tomfoolery.
00:19:05It's a bunch of crock.
00:19:09God's not gonna change somebody's mind with that.
00:19:13He says, I'm gonna change your mind with my goodness.
00:19:17He says, I'm gonna be so good, so good,
00:19:23so overwhelmingly loving, so overwhelmingly good,
00:19:27I'm gonna bless you when you don't even deserve it.
00:19:30When you think you're least deserving,
00:19:32that's when my mercy gonna show up
00:19:34and blow your mind because you know you don't.
00:19:37You know you deserve hell.
00:19:38You know you deserve to die.
00:19:39You know you deserve to get caught.
00:19:41You know you deserve to have the disease.
00:19:43You know you deserve it all.
00:19:45But I ain't gonna let that happen.
00:19:47And when that goodness shows up, you're gonna say,
00:19:50my God, I got to change my mind about God.
00:19:53You know, bishop, that's all we knew, man.
00:20:08That's all we knew, but we promised to never stop growing.
00:20:12Just keep going.
00:20:13Just keep going.
00:20:14Just keep, and we were never afraid to get up to say,
00:20:17mm, mm, about what I said last week.
00:20:20We might need to look at that a little harder.
00:20:23And to the day, to right now, I need you to know all your
00:20:27pastors in this church, we're all digging,
00:20:31digging and digging and digging and digging and digging,
00:20:37and just continue to do it.
00:20:39I mean, what I'm talking to you about now in Romans,
00:20:41Ken brought it up in the middle of a set, wasn't it?
00:20:44We lifting weights, and he brought that up,
00:20:46and I'm like, oh, God, that's it.
00:20:48God ain't trying to change your mind about him by being bad to
00:20:53you, mean to you, pressuring you.
00:20:56He wants you to want him because you want him.
00:20:58And he says, here's what I'm gonna use to change mankind.
00:21:07Here's what I'm gonna use to change mankind, goodness.
00:21:13And you know what the church has done?
00:21:17The church has become God's opponent and said,
00:21:20no, he not gonna use goodness.
00:21:22He gonna use bad here, wicked there, curse here.
00:21:27You know, God'll still curse you.
00:21:29And I'm like, how did we buy that?
00:21:35I'm trying, I asked myself, how did I buy it?
00:21:37I didn't know no more.
00:21:39I couldn't do no better until I learned better,
00:21:41but I was determined, I'm gonna keep digging.
00:21:43And I found out that I had to get free from approval addiction
00:21:47because as long as I was searching for people's approval
00:21:50and validation, I would only go so far in serving God with what
00:21:55I taught because I didn't wanna, I didn't wanna wrinkle the
00:21:58feathers, I didn't wanna be the problem in the body.
00:22:03And then I found out that I can't grow no more if I'm still
00:22:06in bondage to people.
00:22:08If I'm gonna ever find out, I'm gonna have to break free from
00:22:11the approval, and I got to say what nobody else might not wanna
00:22:15say, and if they cancel me, and if they get rid of me,
00:22:18and if they don't be, they disfriend me,
00:22:20it's just gotta be like it is.
00:22:22I love God more than all that.
00:22:24I got to see Jesus, and I can't stand in front of Jesus and say,
00:22:27Lord, I was scared, so I just said what they said.
00:22:31I ain't know why they said it, but I just said what they said,
00:22:33and that was what my ministry was for about 20-something years,
00:22:36just said what they said.
00:22:37I don't know if I agree with it, but that's what they said.
00:22:40That's what they said, and then I finally had to ask the
00:22:42question, who is they?
00:22:45What's their name?
00:22:48And the same thing about you.
00:22:49If you're ever going to really operate in the success that God
00:22:52has wired you for, you got to be free from the people
00:22:55so you can serve God.
00:23:00Amen.
00:23:01All righty.
00:23:03I think that's good enough foundation.
00:23:05Y'all ready to get into this?
00:23:07You ready to learn the rhythms of grace?
00:23:09All right, go to Romans chapter 12.
00:23:12Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
00:23:14I didn't read this in the mirror.
00:23:16Let's read Romans 2, 1 through 4 in the mirror,
00:23:19and then we'll get started.
00:23:21Somebody said, I thought you already started.
00:23:23How many starts you gonna give?
00:23:25Well, how many starts you want God to give you?
00:23:29Well, then.
00:23:33All right, watch this.
00:23:35Therefore, O fellow human, by taking what God did in Christ
00:23:40out of the equation, if you take what God did in Christ out of
00:23:44the equation, delivered us, freed us, made us righteous,
00:23:47there remains no alternative way for you to defend your innocence.
00:23:51Your presumed knowledge of what is right or wrong does not
00:23:57qualify you to judge anyone, especially if you,
00:24:04the self-appointed judge, do exactly the same stuff
00:24:08you criticize others for.
00:24:12So he's saying most likely when you criticize others,
00:24:15you guilty yourself.
00:24:17Isn't that amazing how somebody who can be doing the same thing
00:24:20want to be critical of somebody else?
00:24:22A hit dog holler the loudest, don't he?
00:24:27Isn't that something?
00:24:30You effectively condemn yourself,
00:24:32he says, when you do that.
00:24:34But in contrast to your judging one another,
00:24:38we have clearly perceived the content
00:24:41of God's righteous judgment.
00:24:44Again, fellow human, why be so presumptuous in your reasoning
00:24:49in keeping your performance-based system alive
00:24:52in your hypocritical Jew versus Gentile judgment
00:24:58of one another?
00:25:00In the process, you are fleeing away
00:25:02from your redeemed innocence unveiled
00:25:06in the righteous judgment of God, verse 4.
00:25:09Do not underestimate God's kindness.
00:25:14Don't underestimate, and people have,
00:25:17they've underestimated God's kindness.
00:25:21That you think we gotta tell everybody
00:25:23they're going to hell all the time.
00:25:25You've underestimated God's kindness.
00:25:28You think they're gonna be judged so bad
00:25:30for that stupid thing they did?
00:25:32You underestimate God's kindness.
00:25:36You think they went to hell.
00:25:39You underestimate God's kindness.
00:25:42The wealth of his benevolence
00:25:46and his resolute refusal to let go of us,
00:25:51his refusal to let go of you.
00:25:54You old nasty, no-good-for-nothing,
00:25:56cussing, betraying thing.
00:25:59He refuses to let go of you.
00:26:02He refuses to let go of you.
00:26:04Everybody else done let you go,
00:26:06but he refuses to let go of you.
00:26:12It is because he continues to hear
00:26:14the echo of his likeness in us.
00:26:19And thus his patient passion is to shepherd over,
00:26:23is to shepherd everyone into a radical mind shift.
00:26:30His passion is to shepherd us into a radical mind shift.
00:26:40His passion is to get our minds shifted
00:26:46from all this stuff I've been talking about
00:26:49and shift it into the place
00:26:52where we can see God's love and grace and mercy
00:26:58and operation and understand clearly
00:27:02how it applies to our everyday radical living.
00:27:06But you can't live radically
00:27:09until you have a mind shift.
00:27:12So something's wrong with our thinking.
00:27:17Something needs to change in our mind
00:27:21and in our thinking about our relationship with God.
00:27:25What is it that needs to be adjusted
00:27:27about our relationship with God?
00:27:30It's just so easy to go along with the flow of religion.
00:27:36Get dressed, go to church, sing a song,
00:27:39shout, do a cartwheel, hallelujah, come home,
00:27:43and not live none of it because in all you get
00:27:46and get understanding, and I don't understand
00:27:48what that preacher was talking about.
00:27:51A radical shift in your mind.
00:27:57So you see where this series is about to go.
00:28:03Yes, it will challenge you, but every time you get it,
00:28:08a little piece here and a little piece there,
00:28:10it's gonna be a radical shift.
00:28:12And all of the work and the sweat you've put in
00:28:15to try to achieve godly conduct is gonna be sweatless
00:28:25because he's gonna be working on your heart
00:28:28and your desires to want to.
00:28:32Nobody's gotta threaten you with fear to come to church.
00:28:34You're gonna want to.
00:28:36Nobody's gotta threaten you with fear
00:28:37that you're not gonna get no results.
00:28:39If you don't pray, you're gonna want to pray.
00:28:42Ain't nobody gotta make you stand up and sing
00:28:44no praise song out of somebody.
00:28:45You don't even like that kind of music,
00:28:47but before you know it, it'll be coming out your heart.
00:28:50Ain't nobody even wrote it yet,
00:28:51and it's just flowing out your heart
00:28:53because you wanna sing about something that God has done
00:28:56and is doing in your life.
00:28:59You're listening to me.
00:29:01I have to calculate each time I teach
00:29:03because I'm like, well, Lord, you gotta bring,
00:29:08if whoever you wanted to hear, you bring them.
00:29:10I ain't got no prize for coming to church on Sunday
00:29:13and, you know, give you $50,
00:29:15whoever bring the most people.
00:29:19But I've been doing this for 43 years,
00:29:21and I'm over all that.
00:29:23I am over all that.
00:29:26Now, I'll have to admit to you,
00:29:28I had a really close friend of mine
00:29:30to go home and be with the Lord this week,
00:29:32and it bothered me.
00:29:34It hurt me.
00:29:36I weeped, and I just thought about all the times we shared
00:29:41and all of the radical attacks we launched
00:29:46against the kingdom of darkness,
00:29:50and it just seems like all these guys I preached with
00:29:55and walked with and loved and, yeah,
00:30:00because I'm human, I had a human moment, you know.
00:30:04I had a human moment when I came in here.
00:30:06I had a human moment.
00:30:08But it is his unfathomable love and this preaching
00:30:17that gives me stronger and stronger,
00:30:22and I just like, I love cooking in this kitchen.
00:30:28Love cooking in this kitchen.
00:30:34I went to another camp meeting Friday.
00:30:37I don't do many of them like I used to,
00:30:39but I went to preach, and the reason why I don't go
00:30:41to much of them because it ain't in this kitchen,
00:30:43and I'd have to start all over again,
00:30:45and nobody know what I'm saying anyway.
00:30:47And then I just repented of that, and I said,
00:30:49and God showed me what to say.
00:30:52And he took what it took me a month to teach y'all
00:30:54and did it, and voila, and I got it out in about
00:30:58an hour and 20 minutes, and it changed their whole life.
00:31:04So, y'all ready?
00:31:07Somebody said, I thought you started preaching.
00:31:09I done told you, this is my fourth start.
00:31:14I mean, are you interested in what we, this series,
00:31:18if this series doesn't do it,
00:31:20were your conduct disconcerned?
00:31:23You're always walking out of here,
00:31:25either you weren't about your conduct,
00:31:27or somebody condemning you about your conduct,
00:31:29or you think that the heavenly goal is in trouble
00:31:34because of your conduct.
00:31:36Now, am I gonna give you a license to have bad conduct?
00:31:38Well, you, listen to what you're saying.
00:31:41It's inconsistent with who you are.
00:31:45It's inconsistent with who lives in you.
00:31:49To act crazy like you think I'm telling you to act crazy
00:31:52is inconsistent with who is in you.
00:31:56So, that ought not be a question no more.
00:31:58You ought not to be asking me, is it a sin to drink wine
00:32:01and get drunk?
00:32:02Is it inconsistent with who lives on the inside of you?
00:32:06Instead of you trying to find all the loopholes,
00:32:11quit looking for the loopholes.
00:32:13Well, the Lord let David have 300 women, you know.
00:32:18I ain't asking but for one more,
00:32:20and you can't have the one you got already at home.
00:32:26Is that consistent with who lives in you?
00:32:32You see, I'm glad I have a personal relationship
00:32:34with Jesus because people going crazy.
00:32:37These folks all online, this ain't right, this ain't true.
00:32:41Throw the Bible away.
00:32:42I don't even know if there was a Jesus.
00:32:44There ain't no heaven, there ain't no hell.
00:32:46I mean, the Bible says he created hell for the devil
00:32:48and his angels, we know that at least, but dear God,
00:32:50they just all over the place.
00:32:51I mean, you got a bunch of young preachers in there
00:32:53that just, they in there and they ain't,
00:32:55they not submitted to nobody.
00:32:56They don't want to be submitted to nobody.
00:32:58Stay out of my business.
00:32:59I'm going to do it the way the Lord telling me,
00:33:01but you don't realize the Lord ain't talking to you.
00:33:03You speaking to a foreign spirit.
00:33:10I'm glad I know him.
00:33:12So, when I hear something, I'm like,
00:33:14that ain't you, is it?
00:33:15He said, no.
00:33:19Well, I mean, he told me my right address.
00:33:22Honey, you can get your address off Facebook.
00:33:28Just find out who coming in, then go to that friend,
00:33:31who follow that friend, who follow that friend,
00:33:33who you know going to be at church tonight,
00:33:35find out their address.
00:33:36He said, ooh, the Lord says 2248 Fairbairn Lane, 30125.
00:33:43Oh, he got my address!
00:33:45Ah!
00:33:46Now, you done bought into it,
00:33:47because you forgot that the Bible talks about lying wonders.
00:33:57So, you done subjected yourself to a big magic trick.
00:34:07I want him to do that stuff to me.
00:34:09I just called you.
00:34:10Yeah, that's my address, but I still don't sense God.
00:34:17So, you can say something else right.
00:34:18I still don't sense it.
00:34:20I smell a devil somewhere.
00:34:22You don't have that without a relationship with the Holy Ghost,
00:34:28because the Bible says the Holy Ghost will tell you things
00:34:32and reveal things to you.
00:34:36But if you don't have a relationship with God,
00:34:38and you just walking around, you know,
00:34:40spontificating because you want people to know
00:34:42that you have a deep knowledge of the Scripture.
00:34:46It's just like you're going around.
00:34:48You remember them Bible Scriptures we used to listen to,
00:34:50you know, in Genesis chapter 2,
00:34:52and the Lord said, and you listen,
00:34:54I know what you're listening to them for.
00:34:56You don't know what they're saying.
00:34:58Well, I just need the Spirit.
00:34:59That ain't how you get the Spirit.
00:35:01You have to have a personal relationship, right?
00:35:06Okay.
00:35:08Now, I don't mind y'all shouting now,
00:35:10just as long as you listen to what I'm saying now.
00:35:12Don't be talking while I'm talking,
00:35:14and you ain't hearing what I'm saying,
00:35:17because it'll irritate me, because I'm like,
00:35:19I'm saying something that's gonna change your life,
00:35:21and you talking while I'm talking,
00:35:22and I know you didn't hear me because you was saying
00:35:23what you was saying while I was saying what I was saying,
00:35:25and I need you to hush and listen to what I'm saying
00:35:27so it can get in you.
00:35:30Amen.
00:35:32All right now.
00:35:35I ain't called no names yet, but come on now.
00:35:37Come on.
00:35:41I ain't playing church.
00:35:42I hate playing church.
00:35:43I hate even the sense of playing church.
00:35:45It get on my nerves, because I done been there,
00:35:48and it ruined my life.
00:35:55Now, Romans 12, verse 1 and 2.
00:36:00Let's get started.
00:36:03All right now, watch this.
00:36:04Romans 12, 1 and 2.
00:36:10I beseech you, brethren.
00:36:13I beseech you, therefore.
00:36:15Therefore is huge, because you don't ever use therefore
00:36:20without considering what was said before.
00:36:25Therefore says there was something that took place
00:36:27in the previous chapters that brought you to a place
00:36:31to say, therefore.
00:36:35He says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren.
00:36:39By the mercies of God, I beseech you, brethren,
00:36:44that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
00:36:48holy, acceptable unto God, which is your what?
00:36:53Verse 2, and be not conformed to this world,
00:37:01but be transformed, notice, by the renewing of your mind
00:37:06that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
00:37:09and perfect will of God.
00:37:11Now, he asked for two things here.
00:37:14Number one, he asked for you to surrender your body to him.
00:37:22And number two, he asked for you to surrender your mind to him.
00:37:33These two Scriptures ask for a complete surrender to God.
00:37:40So, this involves the mind as well as the body.
00:37:45So, there's a plea here.
00:37:47There is a request here.
00:37:49There is, I call it an appeal.
00:37:52And that plea is that the body be made a living sacrifice.
00:37:57That's the plea.
00:37:58Now, I'm not telling you that's what you ought to do.
00:38:01I'm telling you what it's saying right here.
00:38:05And then I'm gonna become an enemy to this.
00:38:09The plea is that the body be made a living sacrifice.
00:38:13The word sacrifice signifies a change of ownership
00:38:18for the purpose of being consumed
00:38:21and that for the benefit of the new owner.
00:38:24So, the word sacrifice, all right, changing who owns it
00:38:29for the purpose of being consumed.
00:38:31So, he's asking for your body to go out of your ownership
00:38:36and put into the ownership of God,
00:38:39and God says, I want to consume it,
00:38:42and then it's gonna be the benefit of the new owner.
00:38:45So, God's saying, I want your body.
00:38:48Turn it over to me.
00:38:49I'm gonna consume it, and it'll be for the benefit
00:38:52of the new owner.
00:38:56A sacrifice is presented by man to God,
00:39:02and it is something that has real value
00:39:05to the one who offers it.
00:39:07So, it's value to me to offer what he just asked for.
00:39:12Now, if you'll remember in the Old Testament,
00:39:15that which was sacrificed to God had to be perfect.
00:39:20If you're gonna sacrifice it to God, it had to be perfect.
00:39:25We, what he asking for is we know it ain't perfect,
00:39:28but in the Old Testament, the sacrifice had to be perfect.
00:39:33Anything with a blemish or any defect whatsoever
00:39:36was not acceptable to him.
00:39:39Now, the sacrifice here in question is to be a living one
00:39:47that he's talking about.
00:39:49So, this can only mean that the sacrifice
00:39:51of the believer's body, if it's a living one,
00:39:55the sacrifices of the believer's body,
00:39:58it is to be continuous and one that brings forth results.
00:40:04So, he's talking about sacrificing your body,
00:40:06living sacrifice is gonna be continuous,
00:40:09and it's gonna bring forth results.
00:40:11It is also to be holy and acceptable under God.
00:40:16It's supposed to be holy and acceptable under God.
00:40:19Okay, so without God, it ain't holy,
00:40:22and it's not acceptable.
00:40:24But if it's going to be received right,
00:40:26it's supposed to be holy and acceptable under God.
00:40:28This is only possible when the body is pure
00:40:33and undefiled by sin.
00:40:35So, the body's gotta be pure, it's gotta be undefiled by sin
00:40:39in order for it to be holy and acceptable under God.
00:40:43Kind of similar to what he required in the Old Testament
00:40:47when they had the sacrificial offerings.
00:40:50Those sacrificial offerings had to be without blemish.
00:40:54And then he goes around and he says that this sacrifice
00:40:58in this verse of Scripture is called your reasonable service.
00:41:05It's called your reasonable service.
00:41:07Now, to give one's body entirely to God,
00:41:10to be burned out in service for him,
00:41:12to deny oneself all the things that are pleasant to man,
00:41:16to deny oneself of all the things that are pleasant to man,
00:41:20to deny oneself of all the things that are pleasant to man
00:41:23for his sakes, it seems to man a most unreasonable thing
00:41:29and yet it is called a reasonable service.
00:41:34So, why should anyone give up all that is pleasing
00:41:38in this world if God so wills and lives solely to please him?
00:41:44That should be the question of a human.
00:41:47Why should I give all this up to solely please him?
00:41:50And in addition to the sacrifice of the body,
00:41:53the entire being should be transformed
00:41:56by the renewing of the mind so as not to be conformed
00:42:01to this world but to be conformed to the good,
00:42:05the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.
00:42:08We need to figure this out.
00:42:09I know we've read the Scripture and you know what we did
00:42:11when we read the Scripture?
00:42:12By our willpower we tried to make it so.
00:42:15It never did work.
00:42:16It never did work.
00:42:17You've never been able to give your body holy
00:42:20and acceptable unto God.
00:42:21You just acted like you did.
00:42:26All right, now, you follow me now?
00:42:28Now, watch this.
00:42:29Now, the renewing of the mind has to do with the intellect.
00:42:34Man is a spirit being.
00:42:37He possesses a soul.
00:42:38He lives in a body.
00:42:40Your spirit and your soul are not the same.
00:42:44We have used them interchangeably as if
00:42:46they are the same.
00:42:47You have some people say soul and they say,
00:42:49I mean spirit and spirit.
00:42:50No, no.
00:42:51You are a spirit being.
00:42:52You possess a soul and you live in a body.
00:42:56That's the three-part being of man, spirit, soul, body.
00:43:00Your soul has your mind, your will, and your emotions.
00:43:07Your soul possesses your intellect, your feelings,
00:43:12your thinker, your filler, and your chooser is in your soul.
00:43:17When he talks here about renewing the mind,
00:43:20he is dealing with the intellect.
00:43:22It is not the emotions that are considered here.
00:43:25The intellect is more stable than the emotions or the feelings.
00:43:29So, he's referring to the intellect.
00:43:31So, what Paul urges in self-sacrifice can never be made
00:43:35to seem reasonable on the basis of any human argument,
00:43:38and yet it is called a reasonable service.
00:43:42So, what then makes it reasonable?
00:43:46The whole issue rests on the introductory words
00:43:50of Romans 12.
00:43:52What makes it reasonable?
00:43:55I beseech you, therefore, brethren, watch this,
00:44:00by the mercies of God.
00:44:03By the mercies of God.
00:44:05It is only because of the mercies of God that it is
00:44:09reasonable for those called brethren to comply
00:44:13with what he's asking.
00:44:15In fact, it's not gonna be able to happen
00:44:17without the mercies of God.
00:44:19We're used to saying, present your bodies as a living
00:44:22sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God,
00:44:24which is a reasonable service.
00:44:25And we conveniently miss out on, I beseech you, brethren,
00:44:29by the mercies of God I'm making this appeal.
00:44:33I'm asking you to do something based on my mercy.
00:44:38I'm asking you to do something based on what I've already done.
00:44:43I'm not asking you to do this because you're not gonna be
00:44:46able to do this unless you do this based on my mercy.
00:44:50Glory to God.
00:44:53All right, now, all of this being true,
00:44:57it is essential for us who are gonna make this sacrifice,
00:45:03we have to understand the mercies of God.
00:45:09Because the word, therefore, again,
00:45:11shows that Paul rests the whole argument on that which he has
00:45:16in the preceding chapters taught about the mercies of God.
00:45:20I beseech you, brethren, based on the mercies of God.
00:45:23Therefore, so we got to go back and see what he already said
00:45:29about the mercies of God so we can clarify the therefore part.
00:45:33If you understand that, say amen.
00:45:35So, as Paul pleaded on the basis of the mercies of God,
00:45:39it is perfectly clear that this appeal is without force until
00:45:44these mercies are known, understood, and accepted.
00:45:48Until we know about these mercies that he talked about
00:45:51in chapter 1 all the way up to 12,
00:45:54until we know about these mercies,
00:45:56until we understand these mercies,
00:45:58until we accept these mercies, the appeal here is never going
00:46:03to be done until we understand that.
00:46:05Now, on the other hand, if the studies of these mercies of God
00:46:08are neglected and we don't study them and we keep doing like
00:46:11we've done for so long, just take that Scripture and then
00:46:14just play with it religiously and we don't understand the
00:46:17mercies of God, then, you know, there's no reason to heed it
00:46:20in the first place.
00:46:23Now, it then becomes the next two phrases,
00:46:29you need to write them down, you need to tuck them away,
00:46:32you need to never forget them.
00:46:34It then becomes evident that neglect of the study and the
00:46:39teachings of the doctrines of grace.
00:46:42If you neglect the study and the teachings of grace,
00:46:49if you neglect the studies and the teachings of grace,
00:46:53how many people is that in the body of Christ?
00:46:55Well, it was all of us at one time, wasn't it?
00:46:58If you neglect the study and the teachings of the doctrines of
00:47:01grace, it can lead to nothing else but failure in godly living.
00:47:09Where godly living and your conduct is concerned,
00:47:13if you neglect the teachings of grace,
00:47:16you will not be successful in godly living.
00:47:21We've been successful in religion,
00:47:23but we've not been successful in godly living.
00:47:27We either go to one extreme or the other extreme,
00:47:31and then when we first mentioned grace,
00:47:33people thought, well, I can use it as a license to sin.
00:47:38Grace is not a license to sin, but on the other hand,
00:47:42there's this condemnation part that comes when you do sin,
00:47:46and we're not gonna be successful in godly living
00:47:49if we neglect the teachings of grace.
00:47:51Now, here's the next point.
00:47:52Grace, then, grace here has always,
00:47:57it's got to always be laid as the foundation for any appeal
00:48:02that God makes.
00:48:05Any appeal that God's made, that God makes,
00:48:07is going to have to be founded on what God has already done
00:48:11for the believer.
00:48:12Now, think about it.
00:48:13Every time you're reading the New Testament and he's saying,
00:48:15I want you to put somebody's knees above yours,
00:48:18I want you to walk in love,
00:48:19I want you to present your body to the man,
00:48:22all of that's got to be based on what God has already done.
00:48:26If we keep trying to do what God is asking us to do
00:48:29and it's not based on what God has already done for us,
00:48:32we're just not going to be successful.
00:48:35And then, with that as a basis,
00:48:38then he makes the appeal for conduct,
00:48:40and then that is reasonable
00:48:41only in the view of that which God has already done.
00:48:45So, if God is asking you to love one another,
00:48:48that's got to be based on his grace that says
00:48:52he loved you first.
00:48:54Or you'll try to love somebody out of your own ability
00:48:59instead of being based on what he's already done.
00:49:02We love him, 1 John 4, 19, because he, what?
00:49:09First loved us.
00:49:11And so, what happens?
00:49:12Our empowerment comes from what he has already done.
00:49:17So, when he asks me to present my body as a living sacrifice,
00:49:21I'm going to show you all of the things
00:49:23he's already done with your body,
00:49:25including having it preserved and seated in heavenly places,
00:49:29including saying he's going to raise it up,
00:49:32including says he's going to change it,
00:49:34include it, says he's going to deliver it
00:49:37and it's going to come,
00:49:38including that he's also going to glorify it.
00:49:42That would make it reasonable.
00:49:45That would make it reasonable.
00:49:48Are you listening to me now?
00:49:50Now, let's get into this now.
00:49:51Let's focus.
00:49:54So, let's do what I just said.
00:49:57Let's go and look at the mercies.
00:50:00Let's know them, let's understand them,
00:50:04and let's accept them.
00:50:06So, let's look at a brief reference of the mercies of God
00:50:09based on what Romans 12, 1 and 2 says.
00:50:13So, we start off with Romans chapter 1,
00:50:16and you can write this down.
00:50:17Romans 1 and 8, Romans chapter 1, verse 18,
00:50:20all the way to Romans 3 and 20.
00:50:23Why are you giving us this?
00:50:24Because I don't want you to just sit up here
00:50:26and trust what I say.
00:50:28I want you to go home and read it.
00:50:30Say, let me see what this man is saying.
00:50:33Romans chapter 1, verse 18 to Romans 3 and 20,
00:50:38it deals with the sinfulness of man,
00:50:41and it concludes that there is none righteous, no, not one.
00:50:47There is none that seeketh after God.
00:50:50There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
00:50:53In fact, go to Romans 3.
00:50:55Go to Romans 3, verse 10 through 19.
00:50:58Let's read this.
00:50:59This is pretty amazing here.
00:51:02Romans 10, Romans 3, verses 10 through 19.
00:51:06All right, so look at what he said about,
00:51:09this is about all human beings, all mankind.
00:51:12And he said this about the old covenant,
00:51:14and then you're gonna wonder, how do we get out of this?
00:51:17As it is written, there is none righteous.
00:51:22Now, listen to me.
00:51:23You can't say that for the day.
00:51:25This is what it was before Jesus came.
00:51:29As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
00:51:32There is none that understandeth.
00:51:34There is none that seeketh after God.
00:51:37They are all gone out of the way.
00:51:39They are altogether become unprofitable.
00:51:42There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
00:51:46Their throat is an open sepulcher.
00:51:49With their tongues they have used deceit.
00:51:52The poison of apse is under their lips.
00:51:56Whose mouth is full of cursings and bitterness?
00:52:01Their feet are swift to shed blood.
00:52:04Destruction and misery are in their ways.
00:52:09And the way of peace have they not known.
00:52:1319, 19.
00:52:17Now we know that what thing soever the law saith,
00:52:20it saith to them who are under the law,
00:52:23that every mouth may be stopped
00:52:25and all the world may become guilty before God.
00:52:29So now you can see right there that man is shown to be
00:52:33incapable of doing anything whatsoever
00:52:36that is acceptable to God.
00:52:38Before Jesus, he couldn't do nothing
00:52:40that was acceptable before God.
00:52:42And he was guilty before him, and man is subject
00:52:45to everlasting condemnation based on this.
00:52:48But if you'll keep reading the Scripture in verse 20,
00:52:51it talks about a righteousness of God.
00:52:54It talks about, but a righteousness of God
00:52:57has been made and manifested by Jesus Christ.
00:53:00And this righteousness is offered to all men,
00:53:02even to those whom it was said there is none righteous.
00:53:05Moreover, it is upon all who believe in Jesus Christ.
00:53:09In other words, he is justified.
00:53:11All of this has been made possible by the redemption
00:53:14that is in Jesus Christ because he on the cross
00:53:17sanctified or satisfied the demands of God's justice.
00:53:20And God is therefore free to count everyone righteous
00:53:23who believes in Jesus Christ.
00:53:25All of this has been accomplished by God for man
00:53:28apart from any human effort.
00:53:30Now, let's look at Romans chapter 3,
00:53:33verse 20 and 22 in the mirror translation.
00:53:36So the deal was, man, based on what we just read,
00:53:40is shown to be incapable of doing anything right,
00:53:44anything acceptable unto God.
00:53:46And then, so he couldn't do nothing that was acceptable
00:53:49unto God, so Jesus showed up and did something he couldn't do.
00:53:54Look at this, verse 20.
00:53:56The law proves all of mankind equally guilty and confirms
00:54:01that their most sincere duty-driven decisions
00:54:04and self-help programs within the confines of the flesh
00:54:09could not give them any sense of improved competence
00:54:12in their standing before God.
00:54:16We are now talking a completely different language,
00:54:20the gospel.
00:54:22The gospel unveils what God did right, not what we did wrong.
00:54:28The gospel talks about what God did right,
00:54:31not what we did wrong.
00:54:32The gospel talks about what God did right,
00:54:35not what we did wrong.
00:54:36Religion talks about what we did wrong and won't tell us
00:54:41what God did right.
00:54:46Next verse, both the law and all the prophetic writings
00:54:51writings pointed to this moment.
00:54:55It pointed to this moment where the gospel would begin to show
00:54:59us what God did right.
00:55:02We could do nothing right before the eyes of God, but Jesus
00:55:06showed up and made us righteous.
00:55:09Whew.
00:55:15Next verse 22, Jesus is what God believes about you.
00:55:19Jesus is what God believes about you.
00:55:21He looks at you and he says, whew, I see Jesus.
00:55:25Everything Jesus is, you is.
00:55:26Ha, ha, ha.
00:55:27Jesus is righteous.
00:55:28You righteous.
00:55:29Jesus is holy.
00:55:30You holy.
00:55:31Jesus is perfect.
00:55:32You're perfect.
00:55:33Jesus, Jesus is what God believes about you.
00:55:36Glory be to God.
00:55:37He doesn't believe all of that other stuff.
00:55:39He doesn't believe that you're unrighteous.
00:55:41He doesn't believe that you're just a sinner.
00:55:43He doesn't believe any of that anymore.
00:55:45Now that Jesus has come, without your help, without your bringing
00:55:49to the table, without you deserving it, without you
00:55:51earning it, you didn't do nothing.
00:55:53You didn't do nothing, nothing, nothing at all.
00:55:55And then Jesus showed up and said, I'm going to do everything
00:55:58right.
00:55:59You did everything wrong.
00:56:00I'm going to do everything right, and I'm going to invite
00:56:02you into my right.
00:56:03I'm going to let you have my right, even when you ain't do
00:56:05nothing right.
00:56:19Jesus is what God believes about me.
00:56:21Say that.
00:56:22Say it again.
00:56:25All right, let me see if you got it.
00:56:31Jesus believes you're righteous.
00:56:38Jesus believes you'll be redeemed.
00:56:40I'm redeemed.
00:56:43Jesus believes you're holy.
00:56:48Jesus believes you're delivered.
00:56:54Jesus believes you're prosperous.
00:56:58Jesus believes you're healed.
00:57:05Hey, glory to God.
00:57:07Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm trying to say.
00:57:10He's trying to move you over to the realm of the finished.
00:57:16He sent the moving trucks.
00:57:17Glory to God.
00:57:19And he's trying to get you out of all of the things
00:57:21that you could never do.
00:57:32Jesus is what God believes about me, hallelujah.
00:57:36When the devil says you're no good,
00:57:38when the devil says you're going to hell,
00:57:40when the devil says you can't ever do nothing right,
00:57:42when the devil says you ain't holy, you ain't righteous,
00:57:45you ain't heaven bound, you tell the devil,
00:57:47heaven's not my goal, it is my starting point.
00:57:51I already sit with him in heavenly places
00:57:56in Christ Jesus.
00:58:19A radical mind shift.
00:58:26A radical mind shift.
00:58:33Some people might not want to shift this way,
00:58:36but ain't nothing in living conduct going to work right
00:58:40until you shift this way,
00:58:42because you can't do nothing without him.
00:58:45You got to realize his mercy is the basis
00:58:48of your godly living.
00:58:50His mercy is the basis of your godly living.
00:58:57You keep trying to be like God without God.
00:59:07You keep, and that's religion.
00:59:10It's a big pretense.
00:59:14Your Christian religion has become your Halloween costume.
00:59:20God dog.
00:59:22Glad I'm delivered from free will.
00:59:26Glad I ain't got no approval addiction.
00:59:29Because, I see this,
00:59:33people are using their Christianity as their disguise.
00:59:46And you can tell it's a disguise,
00:59:48but you can't tell it's a disguise,
00:59:50because when it's time to love somebody, it don't come out.
00:59:53You just got the disguise on.
00:59:57When it's time to help somebody, it ain't there.
00:59:59You've just got the disguise on.
01:00:01When it's time to speak blessings to somebody,
01:00:03you're speaking some curse.
01:00:04You're just wearing a disguise,
01:00:06and you show up once or twice a month
01:00:08to add validity to your disguise,
01:00:10because you believe that people buying this.
01:00:13And the world, this is a strange thing.
01:00:15Mo' chicks people buy it, and then I'll save people.
01:00:18I'll save people to see right through your disguise.
01:00:20They see you fake and phony.
01:00:29I apologize, y'all.
01:00:30I got to preach like it's my last sermon.
01:00:34I got to preach like there's no tomorrow.
01:00:46That's why you need to learn how to act like
01:00:48your authentic self and quit trying to be fake
01:00:51and pretend like you're, what's wrong?
01:00:53I ain't like that.
01:00:55I don't be going in my wife's bedroom
01:00:58and the night my night, you know.
01:01:01Thou is taffy, sister taffy.
01:01:08Oh, hallelujah, do you feel the presence?
01:01:11I ain't going in there like that.
01:01:13I'm like, I'm going in there, put the little robes on, girl.
01:01:16Put the thing on, boy.
01:01:18Hey, you'll never find it.
01:01:20Hey, you, you, you, you sit up there trying to find
01:01:24the Scripture you're going to read for y'all.
01:01:26What is that?
01:01:34And this society today sniffs out your disguise.
01:01:39This generation smells your phony, fakeness.
01:01:51And the church has perfected phoniness.
01:01:55We'll sit in church and shout hallelujah all day
01:01:57and God tell you where you can go,
01:01:59how you can get there, and what to say when you arrive.
01:02:07I'm over it, man.
01:02:10I'm going to stand before Jesus and say,
01:02:12I left it all on the field.
01:02:14I left it all on the planet.
01:02:16I gave you everything I possibly knew I could give you
01:02:23at whatever cost.
01:02:27Well, you keep doing that,
01:02:29everybody in your church going to leave.
01:02:31I done preached to these blue seats before.
01:02:33I ain't scared.
01:02:36During the pandemic, I got plenty of practice preaching
01:02:39with nobody in here.
01:02:41And I'm not trying to be, you know, nothing.
01:02:43I'm just saying to confirm my commitment to say and to teach
01:02:50what I believe is the authentic truth of God by the inspiration
01:02:54of the Holy Spirit without being afraid
01:02:57of not getting your approval.
01:02:59I don't need your approval to teach what I'm teaching.
01:03:01Like my wife say, I'm grown.
01:03:09I'm grown.
01:03:14One of our girls asked, she said,
01:03:16how come you didn't tell us, how do y'all,
01:03:18why come y'all didn't tell us you were going out of town?
01:03:20Kathy said, what?
01:03:22I'm grown.
01:03:24I don't need your approval to go out of town.
01:03:26Oh man, my time up, y'all.
01:03:39We're going to pick up.
01:03:42We're going to pick up with this next week.
01:03:44We just take our time, go through it,
01:03:46and, you know, just digging it like we did today.
01:03:48You got what you need today.
01:03:50Go and get on it and then come back next week,
01:03:52and then we'll make a second installment
01:03:54and come on next week.
01:03:56In this series, I'm going to talk about the promptings
01:03:58of grace.
01:04:00Grace will prompt you to do something.
01:04:03And I'm going to be talking about fornication.
01:04:05A lot of y'all haven't seen it.
01:04:07I'm talking about fornication.
01:04:09A lot of y'all having sex.
01:04:11I'm prompting.
01:04:13A lot of y'all having illegal sex.
01:04:15I'm prompting.
01:04:17You're having illegal sex in the name of grace.
01:04:19I need to, the grace prompts you.
01:04:21Grace prompts you.
01:04:23You still believe in that compromise has no coincidence,
01:04:31no consequences.
01:04:34And a lot of sex going on in the church.
01:04:36You think I don't know.
01:04:38A lot of drinking and a lot of sex.
01:04:40These people getting up out of here now, boy.
01:04:42God dang it.
01:05:03So, I'll see y'all next month.
01:05:13Every head bowed, every eye closed.
01:05:15Y'all get anything out of that this morning, man?
01:05:17I don't know.
01:05:24Oh, dear God, help us to make the decision.
01:05:34To either please you or to please self.
01:05:44Oh, God, you've done it all.
01:05:48Thank you, Jesus.