The Call To Greatness | Pastor Michael Cooke

Revival fire is on the horizon and we, as the Body of Christ, need to be ready. In this sermon, Pastor Michael Cooke teaches what it means to walk in the goodness of God and how to receive the blessings the new covenant in Christ says you can have!

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Transcript

God bless you. Thank you for joining us on this powerful Sunday morning. We're going to continue where we left off from last Sunday, talking about the newness of God, the newness of our life, the newness of our walk in God and how 2022 can be so impactful for you and your life. Thank you again for joining us I'm Pastor Michael, along with the entire Cooke Revivals family.

Let's jump into Romans chapter 12, verses one through two. I appeal to you, therefore brothers by the mercies of God. To present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. That by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

You know, I was sitting there and I was meditating on the things of God and the Holy Spirit dropped into my spirit so strongly, you know, about this year and where we're headed as a body. And I asked God, I stopped and I said, "Lord, I don't understand. You know, I've been doing ministry for 30 years and never before in my entire life have I seen the house of God, the body of Christ in such turmoil the way that it is today. And I don't, I don't understand why. And I asked God, I said, I don't want to understand. Well, last year, the, you know, last decade, last century, it was nothing like it is this time. And I said, God, what is happening? What is changing?

What is so significant? And the holy spirit dropped in my spirit, this scripture, Romans 12. And he says again, To present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Holy acceptable to God. And I mean, it hit me. I said, man, I get it. I understand now. The problem is not that God has changed. I am the Lord thy God, I change not. God doesn't change.

What changes is our perception of the gospel and our perception of our walk with him. God didn't change. We changed. We've been asking God for newness. God, give me newness, give me newness. God change things around, make things different for me. And what God is saying is, is I've got an entire treasure trove of treasures waiting up in heaven to be released down upon the earth for your life and your descendants lives.

Just like we talked about last week, God gave Abraham a promise and God gave you the same promise when he engrafted you into the same vine. Through the blood of Jesus Christ. You came into that same promise, that same state. Oh, of blessing. But we're still going day by day, sitting here saying, you know, where's my blessing.

God, where's my promise. And God, the whole time is saying, I'm waiting on you to be renewed and have a newness in you because, oh man, how could you pour new wine and old wine skins? List the old war on skin burst. And there lies our stumbling Bach as the bar is the body of Christ. We no longer have renewed our mind.

We have no longer renewed our spirit. Instead of what has happened is we're relying on the things of. To bring in the new revival in our life. And we can't do that. What'll happen is, is that we will get so overwhelmed. How many have been overwhelmed over the past couple of years is not that God has changed is that we haven't spent time at his word anymore.

What will happen is, is that how many of us have gone through, let me take what you know, and you go through your house and you got a Bible over here that we haven't touched. You got a Bible over here that you could literally take your finger and rub the dust off of it and put your name in it. If you want.

Because we have not gotten back into the word of God. We have so relied upon another man or woman to speak into our lives that we have forgotten to allow God himself to speak it to us. Come on. We have so allowed some OBS somebody else to come along and say, this is what you need to do. And this is where it's going.

Listen, there is a time and a place and a season for everything under the hip. There is a Tom and a place and a season for you to get back in the gospel and the word of God, a prophetic word. Let me teach you something again. I've been doing ministry for 30 years and in those 30 years I've learned a nugget or two.

Let me teach you one of those nuggets today. A prophetic word will help unlock. The blessings in your life, a prophetic word will help unlock that miracle. Prophetic word will help break open the heavens so that God can start pouring now because God said my word proceeded to come on. But Eve when God released a word to Daniel, Daniel had to wage war in the heavenlies because.

He had to pray and fast that we're down to the earth because the enemy was there. Waging warfare with angels in the heavens to stop the word of God from coming forth. And the only one. You 

can 

wage war in the heavens today is for us to get back on our face in prayer, to get back on our face and worship for us to be able to get back into the word of God.

Like we used to, to be able to proclaim the say at the Lord for my own mouths. Oh, come on. Somebody I'm preaching better than you guys are talking. Come on. The problem is this. We have gotten so accustomed and I'm gonna use this word. Bear with me. Now, we as ministers of the gospel, we as men and women of the gospel, we as children of God in this day and age, and I've preached this so many times, but never before have I seen it, this rampant as it has been lately, we become such a microwave generation.

We are so much relying on other. Instead of relying on the say at the board and his word, we have become so reliant upon somebody else bringing me out or somebody else speak it into my life. We have become so reliant that we will now go out and become seekers of the. We will go out and we will seek and seek and seek somebody some way or some way to come speak into my life because it is simpler and easier for me to have somebody lay hands on me than it is for me to sit down for half an hour and open the Bible and get into the word.

And the problem has become that we have become so reliant on other people that we have not become reliant on God. Come on, somebody. We're waiting on God to speak back life into us, but God's waiting on us to speak life back into it ourselves. We're not sitting there. We're still waiting. I come home well waiting for God, but God's waiting on us.

And all we have to do is get back to our first love. Oh man, that's a whole nother myth.

Verse two says, and this is one thing I'm gonna touch. I'm going to sit here for just a minute. Verse two says, let me read this again. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your nod. And this is the one gift. Let me tell you something. We teach at lodger training center and during the Elijah tracer into school, the profits would go through and we expound on all the gifts of the.

We go through all nine gifts, we're teach profit Tracy and I will teach all non gifts of the spirit. And while we're teaching these gifts, I have said this at every single class. And I'll say it to you right now that are watching the one gift that is missing in the body of Christ today that we need back more than ever is the gift of discernment.

Come on. We are so lacking in the gift of discernment today. That we are literally following after a strange fire and not even knowing that it's not of God, come on. Somebody we're following a strange fire. I often questioned, you know, what would happen today? If a witch was to walk into the house of God, what happened?

If a, which was the walking to the house of God and start saying does stay at the door. Oh, that can't happen. Yes. Okay. Remember. Silas we're walking down the streets and the girl followed him for three days saying, come see, these are the most hot. Most men are the most high God. These are men of the most high God.

They are doing mighty powerful things. And they followed Paul for three days. And finally, Paul got so vexed in his spirit that his sermon kicks in and he says, you are not of God, but shoe or a. Don't tell me it can't happen. It happened with the apostle Paul, what would happen today? If we're sitting in service and he, which comes out and stands up and starts speaking, would we sit there and admonish God, would we praise the Lord?

Or would somebody in that service have enough discernment to stand up and say, this is not. Come on somebody. If you want to move forward in the renewal of your mind and you want to move forward in the things of God, I admonish you today more than anything, please seek the gift of discernment. Move forward in the gift of discernment and ask God, Lord, what is of you?

Where would you have me go? What would you have me do? What is your perfect wheel? God, because again, in Romans chapter 12, verse two, it says that by testing. You may discern what is the will of God? Come on. Some of us right now are sitting in a place that we think is the will of God, but God never called us there.

Good Lord. I am preaching burden. Some of y'all shouting right now, some of us are sitting in a place right now that we thought was the will of God, because one, we have either followed man's advice and not. Too. We have allowed our emotions to get wrapped up within the midst of it or three, we have refused to find out God on ourself and relied on other people.

Some of us right now, we're sitting in a place that God never called us to be in. And you were going through trouble and struggles and strife, and you don't know why. And God's saying all you got to do is get in my wheel and out of your own wheel. And then the road will smooth out. But it's easy. It's easy to do our own thing and it's even easier to do our own thing.

And then turn it around and saying, this is where God wants me. I've seen it so many times. I've seen so many men and women of God fall by the wayside, simply doing what they thought was God's will versus what was actually God's. Come on somebody, the term will of God. And this is dealing with newness.

We're talking about newness. Now. We're going back to the newness 2022, the term, the will of God has at least two biblical meanings. Check this out now first there's the sovereign will of God. Say sovereign will of God. The sovereign will of God is the will of God. That will always come to pass without fail.

Doesn't matter. It doesn't matter where you are, what you're going through. What's taking place when God said it. Boom. There it is not one single word of saying to the sovereign will of God will take place without fail. Second, there is the revealed will of God in the Bible. Watch this now. There is the revealed will of God in the Bible, such things as do not steal, do not lie, do not kill, do not covet, et cetera, et cetera.

This is the will of God that often does not come to pass. It's the will of God, that these things don't take place. It's the will of God that we walk in purity and holiness. It's the will of God that we walk upright in all his ways and set a standard of godliness in our life, according to what he has ordained for us.

But that will have God doesn't always take place because a lot of the times we'll jump in the way we'll sit in there and start coveting. We'll start lying. We'll start stealing, and God is still sitting back saying, all you have to do is push aside these worldly things that get your mind renewed

third, and there is a third is the path of wisdom and spontaneous godliness watch. Watch this wisdom is where we consciously apply the word of God with our renewed minds to moral circumstance. Watch this now

what'll happen is we'll have a renewal of the mind. Right. And when that happens, we'll start consciously applying the word of God that we have put within our spirit to apply towards a moral circumstance that we face daily in life. Come on somebody, but you can't do that. If you don't have the word of God in your mind.

And they're in last a problem. A lot of times we'll face warfare as such tumultuous, you know, problems, existential crisises, and we'll say, God, what is.

You have taken your armor and you have taken your weapons of war and you have laid them down at the altar. You have pled replaced your weapons of warfare for alternative means. And instead of using the word of God to fight your battles, you are trying to find every other alternative to fight that battle for.

You can't fight a battle and speak thus sayeth the Lord. If you don't have the word within you, you can't fight a battle and speak Matthew 18, 19, where we touch and agree that things will be done on earth as it in heaven. If you do not have that word bubbling up with this. The holy spirit is there to lead you, to guide you, to teach you in all things in the word of God is there to be your weapon of warfare dividing, rightly dividing by the word of truth.

But we can't do that. If within our lives, we find ourselves too busy to have a prayer life and a study life come home. And that's where we found our sick. Warning newness, warning of renewal, the mind warning of renewal of the spirit and find ourselves in. Depression, struggling, trying to figure out where we're headed, what's happening next.

And all God is saying the same thing that he has been saying for millennia. And that is get, am my word, get in prayer, let my spirit renew your mind. So that way you can wage war against the devil he has given you all the tools you need. It's just a matter of whether you're going to pick those tools up and use them to wage war.

Come on, somebody.

Romans 12, two says by the renewal of your mind, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. You want a transformation today. God gave you the recipe right there in Romans 12, how to have a complete and total transformation. The problem is is that we want the transformation that we wanted.

We want the transformation that God called us to have, and there is a difference. A lot of times we'll say, well, I'm going to transform into what I want to be, but God called you to be that transformation. Or did he call you to be like ham? And that's where we run into an issue. We are perfectly useless as Christ exalting Christians.

If all we do is conform conform to the world around you. And unfortunately I've seen that so many times what'll happen is, is that we'll get out and we'll give a Shabbat, we'll give a praise, we'll give it to healer. We'll get out. And we'll snap from the nose and we'll cry. And then we'll go back home and the same struggles and the same drama that we were because outside of the church, we have steel country.

To the worldliness around us instead of conforming to be like heal. And that's what will take place. The problem is not that you can't transform. The problem is, is that we won't transform because the transformation that God's calling us to is not the transformation that we won't promote.

If all we do is confirm or conform to the world around us, that we are perfectly useless. As Christ exalting Christians, you can't be in, you can be in the world, but not over the world. So there's a difference. But the problem is today, he is, we've gotten in the world and of the world and all the world.

And we're wondering why revival hasn't broke out. You can't have revival without holiness. You can't have, I'm going to say it again. You cannot have revival, spirit burning and blazing through the churches without holiness, because all you have then is just an emotional experience. Good Lord. Come on somebody, if you want.

True transforming revise. It has to be mixed with the word of God. It has to be mixed with prayer and it has to be mixed with holiness. Otherwise, the service that you are in that you think is breaking out and revival is nothing more than an emotional exclusion of yourself. You're literally finding USA because I promise you, you know, how you can tell when you go home and nothing's changed when you go home.

And the godliness own you from that service has not rubbed off onto your family. Come on. I remember doing services ProfiTrace and knob would come back from a service and I'll check this out. We'd come back from. And in the midst of doing that service, the power of God feels so strong. People were at the odor, laid out on the floor, weeping and crying people getting delivered, lift, and right people coming to Christ left and right.

Miracles signs and wonders taking place, true revival. And we would go home. And literally when we'd walked through the door, that atmosphere of the house would change. We would walk through the door sometimes and family members would just start crying for no reason at all, because the spirit of God lipped off of our spirit and touch their spirit, we have, wouldn't been revivals so many times to where the power of God was so strong.

Yeah, we were to walk into houses and people would start being delivered 70 from our spirit leaping into this spirit. That's the spirit of revival. That's not emotionalism. That's the power of God coming to transform his body, but we are no longer there because we'd rather feel good. Then go through the transformation process.

And that's why as the body of Christ, we are suffering today, we are all longing for revival. We're asking God, come back to us, let your fire God rained down again on us, but he is not going to do that. As long as you still have old Weinstein. You cannot put new wine into old wineskins and expect to hold the spirit of revival that God wants to do.

When these last days it will not happen. If we won't revival today, if we're longing for the power of God to rain back down upon us, it is a necessity that we've put away our sails and wholly give everything back over to. So that he can renew our mind, transform our spirit and then usher us into the third great awakening.

Come on. Somebody breach embedded in you shouting right now, come home. The problem lies in the version of transformation and that's the issue. We won't newness without renewing, huh? Man. Come on. We won't newness in our life without renewing. What's already in our.

Let me tell you about the word transformation that's used in the new Testament. And this is powerful. And, and John Piper said this best. He gave the Greek definition of this word transformation. And I absolutely, I, I, I've never seen it like this before, but the word transformation as using the Romans is the same word.

Metamorphopsia and it was meant it was only spoken one other time in the entire new Testament translation and the Greek version. And that's when Jesus was on the Mount of transfiguration nor the mountain of transformation. That's the only other times you'll see that word used. And in the Mount of transfiguration y'all know, y'all know the story.

You've read it a thousand times.

He was transfigured before them and his face shone like the sun and his clothes became. As light, he was literally transformed into the spirit of revival. And that's what we've been crying out for. That's what we've been longing for. That's what we've been praying for as the spirit revival to come back upon us again.

But again, our problem, our stumbling block is not God. Our stumbling block is us because we're not willing to go to that Mount of transfiguration. Our problem is not God. The problem is that God has set aside a place for us. To be able to go and be transformed and transfigured, but we're not willing to do that.

I'd rather sit in a pew and let somebody tell me what I need to do. Then get into the word of God and do what I need to do. I'm telling you right now, if you want to see revival is going to be at the elders of the church with our faces back down into the carpet with us changing our. With us changing our hearts with us, changing our lifestyle.

Because if we don't change our lifestyle, then do none expect God to change newness back into your life. Come on, God will not bring newness. As long as we are still living like filthy pigs down in the mud pit. Come on, you cannot expect a spirit of revival that changes nations, that changes communities that changes families.

If within that same searching of that spirit of revival, we have yet to change us. How could you change a family member? If you ain't changed yourself? Come on.

You're not, what's going to happen. Is this, and I've seen it so many times and it's so sad and it burdens my heart so much is you'll go to church. Every chance you get. And you'll start, you know, giving your Shabaka little two-step praise and you'll come home and you act like the devil and your family will see that your family will see you kick it up and screaming.

Your family will say you cussing people out. They'll see you get an angry. They'll see you sending us to, you're doing all these things. And you know, what's going to happen is that blood is going to be held accountable on your. The reason he has to, because you're not drawing him to Christ. You will pushing them so far down the road away from God, because they're saying to themselves, if this is what God is about, that I can go to church on a Sunday and praise, but I can come home on a Monday and raise hail and cussing, screaming at the children that I don't want nothing to do with God.

And what is going to happen is, is not only is the spirit of Bible, not want to be birthed, but you want to push these people so far away from God. That if they don't make it right, you'll be held accountable for those people. That blood will be on your hands simply because you are praising God as a Saint on a Sunday, but acting as a devil on a Monday, come on.

Somebody. I heard somebody say one time when they were preached, I said, it's tight. It's time that we get back to the fundamentals of the gospel, the things that we have laid down at the side, because we don't want to offend somebody. Oh, come on. The gospel in and of itself is a fixed it because it makes you question who you are in him, so you can transform it to who he wants you to be in here.

The gospel was written to be offensive. So it would make you and shake you. The gospel was written to be offensive so that where you could come to him with a new understanding that I can no longer live in this pig style. I can no longer stay in the mud. My father has a house waiting for me. Why am I listening?

Sitting by like the prodigal son in this mud pit? When I have an entire inheritance waiting for me. But instead we think we can do it better. We think that we can make things happen on our own, right. And we don't have to wait, darling. There is a time and season to where you will go through that desert place.

There is a Thomas season for you. We'll go through that valley and there is no amount of pray prayer, and there's no amount of fasting that's going to change it. There was something within our character during these times and seasons that God has to work out of our. There are some type of thing that's going in our life that God said, okay, I see this.

And you're saying that you want me to have a renewal of your mind and a transformation in your life. Then I need to take you through this process because you can ignite the fires of a new wanting in your life while this thing still sits in your car. And that's why we go through testing. That's why we go through trials.

You want to get through a test and a trial real fast, seek God's face, ask him what does he want removed out of your life and walk home that because when you come out of that, you'll come out of your trial and you will come out with fire and power and the glory and the anointing of heaven. That's how we make changes.

That's how we make transformation. That's how we move into. Through those methods, come on. Somebody transformation is not switching from the to-do list of the flesh, to the to-do list of the law and stay of what it is. Transformation is switching to the fruits of the spirit, Galatians five 19 through 22.

But the fruit of the spirit, he is come home so many times we try to operate and work and flow in the gifts of the spirit without the fruits of the spirit. So many times we have watched God move and work and do wonder. And we'll say, I want that gift. I want to flow on that gift darlin. I'm going to tell you right now, man, of God, woman of God, if you're watching me today, I'm going to tell you, do not attempt to try to go and flow in any gift of the spirit without first having the fruit of the spirit.

Because if you do you'll cause more harm and damage to an individual than what it would be like, had you not had the fruit of the spirit for the spirit is of compassion. Pace sounds. By what we were done instead is we've replaced all these things because we have got into a Mimi centered gospel, put the spotlight on me, God, let me be seen God.

I want to do what and w and what a scars it, and it, it frustrates me so time times, because what we'll do is we'll say would a scars, the me gospel by saying, I'm just here to do the will of the Lord. I just want to do what God called me to do, but the whole time you're sitting in a service and you're on that camera or you're on that man of God or that woman of God.

And you're saying, I could have said that better. I could have done that better Lord, if you just give me a chance in front of that camera so I can have thousands. It isn't about thousands. It isn't about the crowd. I don't care. 35,000 people show up at your service, 3,500 people or show up at your service.

35 people show up your service. I don't care if it's you. And one other person that shows up at that service where two or three are gathered in my name. There am I in the midst? It's not about the crowds is not about the numbers is not about anything other than us coming together and worshiping and magnifying Christ for whom he is.

That's what it's about. It's not about numbers. It's about. But we have gotten away from him and put us in place of him when we figure out how to put us out of the way again and put him first and foremost in the center. That's when we will see revival break out. That's when we'll see change. That's when we'll see families come back together,

you have the freedom in your life to make all the choices and decisions upon whatever you want to do or whatever God wants you to do. But I ask you today before you make any more choices or decisions, take time out, get on your face and seek God, get in his word again. Find out what he has for you in his word again.

You want to see revival? God knows I do. I miss it, man. I miss it. I remember what it was like coming home two o'clock in the morning. So drunk in the spirit. To where it's like, oh my God, the power of God feels so strong plea. And I long for those days, again, I don't want an emotional service anymore. I've seen enough of them.

I've been in enough emotional services. And so have you, I'm pretty sure right now, listen to this. You can think of a few to where you went to service and it seemed like things were breaking, but when you got home, Nothing had changed the true power and the true spirit of revival lies not only in the walls of the building, the true spirit of revival will take place.

The moment you leave that building and it affects others around you. That's when you know you've been in revival. Revival is not just the transformation within the full walls of a building. Revival is a transformation of people in the neighborhood, the community, the world. When you can walk out of that building and you come in contact with another individual and the presence of God leaps upon them, and they start weeping and crying and wanting to give their life over to him because of what they're experiencing through your spirit.

Then Donald you've been in revival. That's what I want to see. Come back. That's what I want to see happen again. And it can, and it will. By the renewing of our mind by the renewing of our spirit, by shutting off the things of old shitting off our wants and our desires and replacing them for his wants and his desires.

That is what will birth revival. I want to thank every one of you for joining me right now. There is coming up on the screen, a way to give I'm not going to ask you what God wanted to give or tell you what to give. I'm going to ask you to take a minute, seek God's face. Ask God about becoming a partner of cook revivals ministers, ask God about what he would have you give today.

If this message has been a blessing to you, if you're ready to see revival break forth, if you're ready to see the goodness of God spread throughout the entirety of the word, if you're ready to see revival flames, once again, lap up the den of sin and distorted the enemy's power in the works of the devil.

If you would lift your hands father in the name of Jesus Christ, God I have delivered your word.

According to the way you have laid it. In my spirit, I asked to God for revival to take place in this nation. Again, God, I asked for every single person there to be watching on camera. God, I'm asking you to renew their mind, renew their spirit to God. I pray to God, a little hunger, be birth in their womb.

Once again to God too long after you let a hunger be birth in their wound. Once again to God to chase after. I pray to God, let today more the beginning of a change in their life, a change in their mindsets, God, a break every month set that the enemy has placed in their life. A break, every chain in bondage that is upon their life right now that is telling them they can not do this thing, that they are not good enough, that they will never see this take place.

The devil is a liar and I'm telling you today. That God's word will come to pass over your life. I'm telling you today that change will take place in your family. I'm telling you today, a change will take place in your household and your finances as you move in the spirit of God. And as you start changing your mindsets and working on your heart to move into transfiguration with.

Changes will start taking place. I thank you to God for hearing our cries. I thank you God, for hearing our cries of revival in the land. I thank you God for moving mightily. Now when your spirit and blessing every single one that is watching now, we will give you all the glory honor and praise to God for you, a worthy and deserving of all of the glory honor and praise.

We thank you. And we love you. Amen.