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The Rock Family Worship Center
Taking The Church Outside The Walls
The Rock Family Worship Center
Are You Working In Reverse?
We overthink and complicate our spiritual journey by trying to earn a relationship with God when we've already been given everything we need through Christ's finished work on the cross.
• Most believers live life in reverse by working to establish identity rather than working from their true identity in Christ
• Our old self was crucified with Christ; we don't need to fix the old you but live out the new you
• Sin isn't about behavior but about having a distorted image of who you are in Christ
• You are already loved, already accepted, already forgiven - the challenge is learning to live from this truth
• Good works flow from identity, not to establish identity
• Abiding in Christ produces fruit naturally without striving or effort
• Grace doesn't excuse sin - it transforms us from the inside out
• The Holy Spirit living within us means we have all the answers we need before problems even arise
• When we change our mindset according to God's Word, our behavior changes naturally
• Focus on the good works God prepared specifically for you, not comparing yourself to others
I believe, if we can have an expectation and every person in this room is what's great about this is every person in here is going through different things in their life. Some people's going through good things. Right now they're in a season of you know things are going good, and sometimes people may be going through a season where they're not, and I've been in those seasons where it's a season of confusion, where I really didn't know what was going on. So I'm going to just go with what we've got this morning, what I feel like God laid on my heart, and I believe it's going to speak to you. I really do. So. Let me just open up in prayer and we'll get started. This morning. I'm going to do my best to be brief. I always say that and something changes, but I really broke this down to be really short this morning, because I want it to be something that we can really look at and understand, rather than just throwing a bunch of stuff out here and it not making any sense. So let's pray, father. God, we thank you for this day. We thank you for this opportunity once again to come into your house, to come into your presence. Father, we thank you for your word that says where two or three are gathered. You're in the midst. We thank you that you said in your word that you would never leave us, you would never forsake us and, father, I pray for every person that's here right now, every person that's within the sound of my voice, that I pray for every ear to be open to hear your word this morning, every heart to be open to receive your word. Father, I pray that you'll put me in the background this morning and just speak. Whatever it is that you'll have to say to the people that's here gathered in this house today. Father, let your will be done in this place, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen, amen, well, again, it's good to see you. I am glad to be here. We went Friday night to the Braves game and they won 10-0, first win of the season. Then we left and they lost last night. If anybody wants to send us back to another Braves game, we'll be happy to go. They started out kind of slow this year If we look at most believers.
Speaker 1:I'm going to start off with kind of a weird topic this morning. If you look up here on the screen, you'll see it. Are you working in reverse? Think about that just a minute. Are you working in reverse?
Speaker 1:Many believers today, I think, live life in reverse Many people in general, but I'm going to talk about believers, because it's the believers, it's the ones who know the Word, it's the ones who confess the Word. It's the ones who confess the Word that should not be living life in reverse. If we look at people who don't know the Word of God, they don't know their identity in Christ. They don't know anything about who God is in their life. We have to look at them sometimes and say, well, they are reaping what they sow. It's easy to do that.
Speaker 1:But as a believer, as somebody, if you say I believe in the Word of God, I know who God is in my life. I'm born again. I know this and I know that we've got to set an example that's different from what other people are living. That don't mean we're better than other people. It don't mean that. All it simply means is that I understand who I am in Christ.
Speaker 1:We talk about this a lot and sometimes I make statements that some people may not agree with, and that's okay. I make them because I know who I am in Christ. I know that I'm not perfect. I know that I make dumb mistakes, and if you're around me tomorrow, I'll probably tell you about another dumb mistake I'm going to make tomorrow. We make them, we do stupid stuff sometimes. We let the world, we let those thoughts get back in sometimes and lead us in a path that God never called us to be in. But we have something that a lot of people don't have. What that is is the ability to step into my true identity in Christ.
Speaker 1:I see people all the time walking around, and what I call it is an identity crisis, because they're walking around and they really don't know who they are. They're walking around and they're trying to figure things out. They're trying to go in the right direction, they're meaning well and they're doing good, but they're just in a place where they may be lost, and it's simply. I'm not talking about lost as far as salvation. I'm talking about lost and not knowing how to get to that next place that I want to be in life in general. So when we look at people like that, the good news is this we don't have to stay there. We don't have to stay in a place where we're confused and where we're broken down and where we don't know which way to go, which way to turn, what decision to make. We do not have to stay in that place, and most of the time what we're taught in church is that if we'll get in church and we'll say the prayer, you know, come to the altar and we'll say a prayer and we'll let somebody lead us in that prayer and then we'll get baptized, and then we'll do this, and then we'll do all this.
Speaker 1:Stuff happens and then boom, god's going to start moving in your life. Can I tell you that is living life in reverse. That is living life in reverse, because that is totally contradictory to what the Word of God teaches. Now you may say well, all of that that you just said sounded awesome. Yes, it is awesome and it's correct, it's true, but something could be true and be out of order. So we want to make sure that we're on the truth, but we're also in order of the way we're doing things and the way we're looking at our life.
Speaker 1:And this will make more sense to you in just a minute, because I'm going to share some verses with you. I've got quite a few this morning, but they're very familiar verses and I just want to hit on them because I want you to see something in this Scripture this morning the finished work of Christ, which is what we talk about all the time. If anybody and I say this often if anybody was to ask you okay, what do y'all talk about at y'all's church? What's the what's the foundation of what you guys believe? I mean, our foundation is jesus christ. We know that.
Speaker 1:Okay, but the foundation of what we teach and kind of this thread kind of runs through everything that we teach is the finished work of christ, which comes back to my identity and who I am. If, if I don't know who I am, I'm always going to be out there acting like something else, I'm always going to try to blend in with what everybody else is doing until I know who I am. And that identity does not come through the world, it does not come through the friends, it does not come through education, it does not come through money. It comes through what was completed on the cross, everything that he did on the cross, everything that he went to leading up to the cross. And then he got on there he said it is finished, put his head down and he gave up his life. There was more to that. I say this often. There was more to that. I say this often there was more to that than just the forgiveness of sins, so that you can escape hell and make it into heaven.
Speaker 1:If your theology of the cross revolves around heaven and hell, you are missing it. Now that goes against what a lot of people are teaching this morning, and I'm okay with saying that. You know why? Because, like I said, I don't care as long as I'm lining up with the Word of God. I don't care if it offends somebody, I don't care if it makes somebody think that's what I want to do. I want to provoke you when you walk out of this place today, that you grab your Bible and say let me see what he said about it. I don't know if I agree with that. That's what I want you to do. I want to challenge you to grab your Bible or grab your phone and go to Google and Google something that I said and say let me see if this is right, because it ain't right because I say it. It's right because of the Word of God.
Speaker 1:But if we're reading and taking the Word of God out of context, then we're sometimes going in reverse order. We're missing some things. So the finished work says that you are already loved, you are already accepted, and the challenge now is can you live that way? You're already loved, you're already loved, you're already forgiven, you're already accepted, you're already redeemed. Can you live that way? Or are you like a lot of people and you're still trying to get there? A lot of people are working hard to try to get to a place of redemption, working hard to try to get to a place of redemption, working hard to try to get to a place of salvation, working hard to get to a place where God will accept them and love them. And what they don't realize is it said that he chose you before the foundation of the world, and I want to share some verses with you this morning that shows that you are already loved, you're already redeemed, you're already forgiven.
Speaker 1:But can you see it in yourself? That's a hard place to be at. I often say it when you're kind of like having a pile of money in the bank but you don't know it and you're living in poverty. That would be kind of a frustrating experience. Okay, it's just as frustrating to live life and go through the things that we have to go through when, in reality, we really don't have to go through. There is an answer. There can be peace, there can be that place in your life where you come to an understanding that I'm more than what I'm showing. I'm more than what people, an understanding that I'm more Than what I'm showing. I'm more than what people think I am. I'm more than this addiction. I'm more than this anxiety. I'm more than this depression. I'm more than all these different problems that we deal with. I am more than that. But here's the problem Me saying that or another pastor saying that or any of your friends patting you on the back and saying that does no good. If you can't see that in yourself, we've got to be able to see it in ourselves.
Speaker 1:I want to share a few truths with you this morning. I call them truths because it comes from Scripture. I believe that everything from the very beginning to the very end in the Word of God is Scripture. Number one, that is a book. The truth is Jesus Christ. Okay, the truth is Jesus Christ. So everything that was spoken by Him is the truth. I believe it. So I'm going to share some truth with you this morning that's Scripture-based.
Speaker 1:It may not necessarily be what you believe. It may not even necessarily be what you feel. But what do we say all the time? Feelings are liars. Feelings are not facts. You can feel one way, one second and then all of a sudden, five seconds later, you feel something else. Feelings go up and down. Feelings are so erratic. But the Word of God is settled. So we've got to get away from feelings, we've got to get away from some of this other stuff and get back to the Scripture. What does the Word of God say?
Speaker 1:It's easy to look at somebody that's going through addiction or whatever and say man, you know that's not good for you, stop it. Great advice, but is it effective? Not always. So we've got to be able to offer more. You're not an addict anymore. Let me show you your identity in Christ. You're not this anymore. Let me show you what God says about you, because you'd be surprised at the people who don't know it, those same people that come in church every Sunday and say I'm just an old sinner saved by grace. No, you're not. Keep seeing yourself as a sinner and you're going to keep living like one. Keep seeing yourself as a sinner and you're going to keep thinking like one. Keep seeing yourself as an addict and you're going to keep thinking and acting and looking like an addict. But if I change my perspective and say, yes, these are some of the things that I participated in, these are some of the things that I participated in. These are some of the things that I've done, but according to the word of God, I've been forgiven. According to the word of God, what he done on the cross was finished and he loves me. He's redeemed me, he's forgiven me and I am not that person I used to be. There's more to me than that.
Speaker 1:We got to see that Sin has got to be looked at different. I talked with somebody the other day after last week's service and we was talking about some things that come up and I believe that sin has got to be understood. I didn't plan on going back into this part, but I want to touch on this in a minute. Sin has got to be understood in the context of what the Bible actually says. Listen, sin is not behavioral. We're not talking about doing something wrong or doing something negative. You're sinning.
Speaker 1:You've got to look at the word sin all through the Bible, especially the New Testament, and when you go and you break that word down and you look it up in the Greek it means something totally different than what the traditional church is teaching. It's not about behavior, parmatia. When you look that word up, it means distorted image. Anytime I see myself away and aside from the way that god sees me, I'm in a distorted place. Anytime I'm in a distorted place and have a distorted mindset or distorted thinking. What's going to come out of that distorted behavior? So the behaviors themselves are not the sin. The messed up thinking and seeing yourself opposite of what God has called you to be is the sin. So guess what? When I mess up, get up, brian. Get up and get back to where you know you're supposed to be.
Speaker 1:What happened to the prodigal son? He got up out of the pig pen. He said I do not belong here, I belong in Daddy's house. Why? Because he knew there was security in Daddy's house. He knew there was love in Daddy's house. He knew that he had everything in Daddy's house, but the most important thing he knew, he said I'm a son, so I'm supposed to be in Daddy's house.
Speaker 1:When we understand our true identity in Christ, because of the finished work, it's a game changer for us we begin to see ourselves differently. Now remember, just because it may not be true to you right now does not change the fact that it's true of you. That's a powerful statement and I think we miss it when I read these Scriptures. They are true whether you believe them or not. Your belief does not make them true or not true. My belief does not make them true or not true. They are true because of the Word of God.
Speaker 1:Now the goal is for me to come into understanding of what it's saying and to come into agreement with the Word. And now what he said is true not just to me, but of me, or of me and to me. I want the Word of God to be true in my life and I want to see it as truth. And I can't do that if I'm always looking down on myself. I can't do that if I'm always looking back and saying I see something out there, I have hope, I have a future, I have something that I'm reaching and striving for, but all of a sudden, that past jerks me back. There comes a time where the past has got to be cut off, and I know it's just like telling an addict to stop drinking. I know that's not always easy, but there comes a time that the past has got to be cut off, and the only way I'm going to do that now is when I replace those thoughts and I replace those words with the Word of God I'm no longer this. This is what God said. I'm no longer this, but this is what God said, and I begin to repeat it.
Speaker 1:You know, when I repeat something enough, I start walking it out. You will, you'll start walking it out. You will, you'll start walking it out. You'll start acting different. You'll start carrying yourself in a different way.
Speaker 1:When I know who I am, you almost look arrogant. I've been told that many times. But listen, I understand. It's not arrogance, it's. I understand who I am and when I walk into a place that's chaos and just hell in that place, I know who lives on the inside of me and I fully have confidence not in myself, but in the God that's in me that when I walk into that chaos it will stop. I have confidence in that and we should all have confidence in that, because there's something on the inside of you that is bigger than any problem. There's something on the inside of you that will make everything else bow down to it. That's the love, that's the peace that we carry on the inside of us. But if I don't see it, then I walk in that chaotic room and I blend in with them and all of a sudden my life is chaotic too, because what I just kind of Do not be conformed to the world. Is that what the word says? That conformity means to blend in, to be like it says. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by what A renewing of the mind. We're not talking about heart right now. We're talking about the mind, by renewing of the mind, which means I've got to change my thoughts, which goes back to what we talk about with repentance.
Speaker 1:I know a lot of people who talk about repentance all the time, and all they want you to do is come to the altar and cry a little bit and say you're sorry for that dumb mistake that you made, and that's good. If you want to do that and you feel the need to do that, come on up. But repentance simply means change my mindset. Don't say you're sorry, all you want, but when you get up, something's got to shift. Something in my thinking has to change if I want my life to change. And the problem is we keep thinking the same way, and then we're dumbfounded as to why our life hasn't changed. Why? Because that's reverse order. I want my life to change but I'm not changing any thinking. That's reverse order. But I want to make sure that we're going in the right direction.
Speaker 1:The truth number one these are very short here, but I'm going to tell you the truth, the one that I put out. There's five of them. I'm going to tell them to you, I'm going to show you some scriptures that support them and I'm going to give you some context on them, because I don't care what scripture you read. If you don't read the scripture in context, it makes no sense to you. If it don't make sense to you, you won't believe it. If you don't believe it, you won't walk it out. You've got to have context in the scripture.
Speaker 1:The truth number one the work is finished. You are made new. Now, if I just stop right there and look at somebody that's going through a mess in their life and I looked at them and I said the work is finished, it was finished on the cross, you are made new and I just walked off, how much change is going to take place there? Probably very little. Why? Because that's just a statement. But when I can begin to show them this statement and say let me show you what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:Let me show you, in 2 Corinthians 5 and 17, what the Word says. And I'm not saying you have to know all these verses by heart. There's some of them I don't even know. I can just tell you what it says. It says I can't tell you where it's at, I have to look, I have to study. But then you take them to this verse and look what it says in 2 Corinthians 5 and 17. If anyone, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. That's not my words. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
Speaker 1:Old things have passed away. What old things? See, what I love about this verse is it does not say old things, that was just very minimal stuff. Now it means all the big stuff you've done too, all that stuff that you don't want to talk about to nobody, you really don't want to talk about in church. All that stuff has passed away, don't want to talk about in church. All that stuff has passed away. It's not who you are anymore. You are a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. That's one of the simplest verses in the Bible, but it's the most powerful, because it takes a little bit of mindset shift to be able to grab on to this.
Speaker 1:The next one that corresponds with this, I want to show you Colossians 2, 9 and 10. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are. Say that again. You're just about there, you're halfway there. One day, if you can get a little bit better, no, you are complete. I say it all the time and some people don't like it.
Speaker 1:The Word's telling the truth or the Word's telling a lie. If it's telling a lie, throw your Bible down and I'll never touch it again. But we know it's telling the truth. Or the Word's telling a lie. If it's telling a lie, throw your Bible down and I'll never touch it again. But we know it's telling the truth. You are complete. Here's the key in Him. I'm not complete outside of Him. You can't profess Him but then get outside of Him and start trying to go along with these verses.
Speaker 1:These verses are happening when I'm in Him. I verses are happening when I'm in Him. I'm seeing manifestations. When I'm in Him, who is the head of all principality and power, which means that I just eliminated your excuse that the devil's always on me. He's the head of all principality and power we blame so much on outside stuff. Can I ever just look at myself and say, brian, that was stupid man, that was dumb? I mean, sometimes I just got to be real with myself and say I'm in this position because I've allowed myself to get here. And you know what that does. It makes me take accountability. It makes me stand up and say I can't wait on anybody else to change it. I can't wait on this person to apologize. I can't wait on this to get lined up perfectly, because it's probably not going to. I got to take responsibility for myself and I've got to fix it. And if I realize these verses, it makes it a whole lot easier.
Speaker 1:So the context of these two verses right here, paul is writing a letter to the believers who were tempted at this time. They understood who Christ was now and they were tempted to go back to the law. The law was done away with. The law was done away with. The law was done they are now living with from old covenant to new covenant because of the finished work. And there were some of these people who were saying maybe we want to go back to what it used to be, and Paul was writing to them saying don't do that. You don't need to go back to the law or to the religious rituals that you used to do.
Speaker 1:He reminds them Christ isn't just part of their life, he is their life. He's not just a little section or a little part that we grab on to and say, god, I'm going through some trouble, can you help me here? And then all of a sudden, when everything's going, god, I'm going through some trouble, can you help me here? And then all of a sudden, when everything's going good, I put Him on a shelf, I'll get you back down when I'm going through some crap again, no See, that's when he's just a piece, but when he's part of me and really, if you're born again, he's always a part of you, because he said and really, if you're born again, he's always a part of you, because he said I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you.
Speaker 1:So even when you're doing something crazy, I used to think about this all the time Back when I was still kind of back and two on the fence and I'd go into a bar or something. I'd think man Jesus is here with me and it would convict me Because it was the truth, because I knew who I was. I wasn't living it, but I knew who I was. I told y'all a story. I sat in a bar one night, tore up prophesying to the person sitting beside me. We had church in the bar because even though I was in the condition I was in at that time, it didn't change who I was and the first thing that come out was the Word of God. You can't make who I was and the first thing that come out was the Word of God. You can't make stuff like that.
Speaker 1:God is going to use you if you are willing to be used, even if it's sitting on a bar stool, drunk in the middle of a bar. I don't advise to go try that, but I'm just saying it happened and it was real Okay. So he's going to use you if you allow yourself to be used. So he was trying to tell these people don't go back to that, stay. Stay where you are. He is your life. They are already. You are already full. You are complete in Him. There's nothing else you've got to do. You're already made new. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. You're not fixing. This is the key to it, and I believe this is very important, because I think this is where people mess up at, including myself. You are not fixing the old you. You are not. Somebody needs to hear that you are not trying to fix the old you. You're living out a new you. But before I can live out a new me, I have to see that new me, because if I don't, what do I keep going back to the old? I got to see the new, so that I don't keep referring back to that place of comfort which was that old stuff. Got to see myself different.
Speaker 1:Point number two, truth number two we are not working for identity. We work from identity. You're not doing good works to try to become identity. You're not doing good works to try to become something. You're not doing good works to try to be a good Christian. You're doing it because of who you already are, because of the finished work of Christ. I don't want to get hung up on this, but too many people are missing what we're talking about when we're saying the finished work. We're not saying that Jesus died, saying the finished work. We are not saying that Jesus died on the cross and he done everything, and all we do is just sit here and wait. No, we're to do good works. We talked about that last week. We are to do good things, but we do good things because of who I am and not to become something different.
Speaker 1:So it's a shift in the mindset. Come on, we all know those people that do good things simply because they want a pat on the back. Come on, and a lot of times it's men. Why? Because we're created that way. We need that affirmation. Men need that good job. We want that. We're created like that. How do I know that? Because even God went in the days of creation. He said there, and he said let there be light, and then this, and then he made this. He said it is good, it is good, it is good. There was nobody there with him, so he praised himself, and as men, we want and need that praise. So it's really hard for us sometimes, but you are working out of doing this because of your identity, not to gain an identity.
Speaker 1:Look at Ephesians 2, verse 8. A couple more verses right here and then we're going to move through this pretty quick Ephesians 2, verse 8 through 10. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift, that word right there. You need to catch that gift. You didn't do anything to earn it. You didn't do anything to receive it. It is a gift of God.
Speaker 1:But I went to the altar. You didn't have to. You could have sat in your car and said Lord, come into my life. We make too much of, we got too many church traditions that mess people up. Nothing wrong with coming to the altar, don't get me wrong with what I'm saying but it's not necessary. We turn it into a work, a process that has to be done. That's fine, but that's not what the Word says. Not of works, lest any man should boast, for we are His workmanship.
Speaker 1:Created in Christ Jesus for good works. We're created for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. This verse is so powerful right here. What are your good works? You might want to ask the Holy Spirit, because they were created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has prepared beforehand. You mean he's got some good works for Sherry that he don't have for somebody else, exactly Because he knows how he created her, he knows what she's gifted to do. So he's got good works that he created beforehand for her to do, and every single person in this room. There is something in you that you have the ability to do that I can to do, and every single person in this room. There is something in you that you have the ability to do that I can't do, or maybe I can't do as well. We all have certain gifts and certain things in us. He created those things.
Speaker 1:So if I tap in and I say I want to do the good works that you created and prepared beforehand for me to do, so I've got to get in touch and in line with the Holy Spirit now, because the Holy Spirit resides on the inside of me and he knows all things. How do I know that? Because he searched the mind of God. That's another sermon. But he searched the mind and then he comes and he lives and he dwells on the inside of us and when he's on the inside of me. That's why I make the comment so often that there's really nothing we don't know when you really think about it. Now I'm not talking about logic. There's nothing you could ever need that the Holy Spirit, and only the inside of you don't already know, but most of the time, what are we trying to do? I'm trying to figure it out with my own logic. I got this. I can do this when the Holy Spirit is living there. If you're born again, the Holy Spirit is on the inside of you. So the answer is always there, even before the problem comes up. The answer is there Romans 6 through 7.
Speaker 1:Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, you've got to catch this. The old man, the old me, it says old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. The old man I love this part didn't just die, it was crucified with Him. That's why we make the comment and we say that you were co-crucified, co-killed, you were co-buried.
Speaker 1:You were co -crucified, co-killed, you were co-buried, you were co-resurrected. You died with Him, you were buried with Him, you rose with Him and, according to the Word of God, you are seated where, In heavenly places. So he sat down at the right hand of the Father and you are seated with Him. So you died with Him. So you died with Him, you're buried with Him, you rose with Him and now you're seated with Him. But if I don't see that in myself and I see myself just as an old sinner saved by grace, that's the way I'm always going to look at myself and nothing is going to seem to go my way. Why? Because I'm not lining up with the Word of God. I'm lining up with what I feel, and feelings are going to lie to you every single time.
Speaker 1:But knowing this that our old man was crucified with Him and the body of sin might be done away with, the body of sin might be done away with Are you going to make a dumb decision tomorrow? Probably Well, this just said the body of sin was done away with. So how are you going to make it? It's not behavior, it's the distorted mindset of who you used to be was done away with. He died for that on the cross. He died for that. He said no longer are you that old, it's done, it's dead. But now you are a new creation. No longer are you that old, it's done, it's dead. But now you are a new creation. That we should no longer be slaves to a distorted mindset, to a distorted image. We should no longer be slaves to sin. See how these verses get so messed up.
Speaker 1:I can preach this verse and convict you before you walk out of here, if I wanted to preach it, like I've always heard it. I can convict you of every negative thing that you've ever done in your life and make you walk out of here with your head down. That ain't good news. The gospel is good news. Good news is not telling you how bad you are and you're going to burn in hell one day. That's not good news to nobody. Good news is telling you what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, for he who has died has been freed from sin. Oh, jesus has been freed from sin. Well, good, because he didn't ever have no sin anyway. So it's not talking about him. So who is it talking about? It just said you died with him, you were crucified with him. So if you were crucified with him, it means you died. And it says for the way, who has died has been freed from sin. See, we put this on jesus, but jesus didn't have no sin to be removed from, so we know it can't be talking about him. That's context.
Speaker 1:This verse has been messed up and preached wrong so many times, including by me. I've preached this thing wrong so many times. And now I go back and listen to some of my sermons or read them and I'm like what in the world was I thinking I didn't know? But we gain understanding. We gain knowledge, we get in the Word, we read in context and we change things. We have a mindset. So right here, paul's making a contrast between the old life, under the distorted image, and the new life, which is in Christ.
Speaker 1:Salvation is not behavior modification. Listen, listen when I'm born again, which is in Christ. Salvation is not behavior modification. We're not trying listen when I'm born again, my behaviors, when I change on the inside, it changes things on the outside. The reverse order that we try to do is say get yourself cleaned up, change everything out here, and then you can come and get saved. That ain't biblical. If you walk into a church that tells you to get everything cleaned up first, walk out, because that's not biblical. We change things on the inside and then everything else begins to shift what To meet, what's in there, to come to an agreement with what's on the inside of me Not in reverse order, and we do it in reverse order too. But salvation is not behavior modification, it's resurrection. We were resurrected with Him. We rose with Him. We were dead in sin and now we are alive in Christ, and from that new life we walk in good work, not to earn favor, but to express who I am and to express what he's given to me.
Speaker 1:Truth number three abiding in Christ produces fruit, not striving. We all say we want to produce good fruit. How do you know it's good? A tree produces good fruit not striving. We all say we want to produce good fruit. How do you know it's good? A tree produces good fruit? Okay, a tree is always known by its fruit. Okay, if you go out there and you see a tree that's dead all the time, not producing anything, you're probably going to cut it down. Why? Because it's not producing. Okay, you want a tree that's producing.
Speaker 1:When I look around at people's life, I want to see them producing something in their life. I want to see something coming out of what they're learning, coming out of their identity in Christ. What do I mean? Does that mean I'm always just going around handing out money to people or paying for people's groceries? Do that if that's what you want to do, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about that.
Speaker 1:When people come around you, something about you changes them. Something about what's on the inside of you and the way you handle things makes them begin to think and look at their self in a different way. Because of what's in you, not because of what you've done. It's not about your behavior. It's about who you are. I want to change people. I want to change people. I want to change people simply by walking in the room and keeping my mouth shut.
Speaker 1:There should be something about us that when we walk in, I don't even have. There was a pastor. I ain't going to take credit for it, I don't remember who it was, but he says that the biggest ministry is walking in and preaching and never opening your mouth. Never opening your mouth, never opening your mouth. Let your life demonstrate it. Now. Sometimes it's hard, very hard to do if I don't know who I am. So I have to understand identity. So Jesus was talking here about, or Paul was talking here. I'm sorry about that contrast between the old and the new. We got to be able to see that in our own life. It's one thing to read it, but we've got to be able to look at our own life and say this is the old, this is the new and I'm going to believe this new and I'm going to hang on to this new, even if I don't feel it yet, even if I don't feel it yet, even if I don't see it yet. Listen, you can. I've seen, I've been there.
Speaker 1:I prophesied prosperity over my life and I didn't have two quarters rubbed together. And I'm still saying God, you said, if I give, you'll give back. Pressed down, shaken together, runneth over, you will bring increase to my life. And I'm sitting there broke as a joke, but I continued to say it anyway. Why? Because it's the Word of God. That's what God said. He said if you can come into agreement with what I say, or to agree, anything is possible.
Speaker 1:I'm not lying to myself. I'm not trying to fool myself. I'm speaking those things that are not as if they are. I'm speaking in faith. I'm speaking of peace over my life, even though I don't feel peace in my life. I'm speaking love and joy over my life, even though I wake up some days and say I wish I wouldn't have woke up, because there's people like that every day.
Speaker 1:But can I wake up and speak peace and love over my life every single day, even when I don't feel it? It takes a commitment from us. There's the work. You want some work. I just gave you some homework. Find the scriptures that you need in your life, because everybody in here is different. What scripture do you need to start speaking?
Speaker 1:We say it all the time confess, confess, confess. I'm not saying come up here and tell me all your secrets. Confession is homo legeo in the Greek. Homo legeo in the Greek. Homo legeo, same language. When I can begin to speak the same language that he spoke, we're coming together in agreement. But if God says all this stuff that I'm reading to you now and I'm over here saying, oh, I'm just a nobody, I just think I'm just this and that, and it's going against and contradicting the Word of God, I'm not going to walk in this stuff. I'm going to keep walking through that junk that I'm always walking through.
Speaker 1:My language has got to change. My mindset shifts and it shifts my language. Both of them's got to happen. And when it shifts my language, it of them has got to happen. And when it shifts, my language Turns my heart, transforms my heart. It's a process. I know some people they may say Well, I come to the altar and, man, god just changed everything in my life. Good for them, god bless them. But that don't happen to most people. It really don't. It's a process and that's why he says we are disciples. Disciple means learned, learned one. You have to learn some things. I have to learn to shift my mindset before I start seeing it out here. So I want to be a disciple, I want to take the Word of God and learn from it. So the context of that Jesus paints that picture. Good fruit without effort.
Speaker 1:Let me read this John chapter 13, 15. I'm sorry, john 15 and 5 got so excited there I lost my thought. John 15 and 5. Just a couple more verses here. I'm getting down to the end right here. This is a powerful. I don't down to the end right here. This is a powerful one. I don't want to leave this out.
Speaker 1:I am the vine, you are the branches. Okay, he who abides in me. This is Jesus talking. He who abides in me and I in him. There's much fruit. So you're trying to bear your own fruit. That's why it's temporary. But he says you are the vine, I am the vine, you are the branches. Cut a branch off from the tree and it's not going to produce. Keep it connected. And he says it bears much fruit, for without me you can't do nothing. And then you've got to put this one up here.
Speaker 1:In Galatians 3.22 it says but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. We know the fruits of the Spirit. So what is he talking about? Right here, jesus paints a picture of producing fruit without effort. I'm not working for the fruit. A branch doesn't strive to produce fruit. A branch just abides, it stays connected and fruit is produced through it. That's what he's giving the example right here. He said you're just like that. So many of us try to force fruit. We're trying to force something to happen. I'm sure willpower, but the Spirit is the one producing it. Our job is not to achieve but to simply abide. Can I abide in Him? That's it.
Speaker 1:So fourth one here, next to the last one Grace doesn't excuse sin. I wanted to put this one in there because I want y'all to understand that we're talking about the finished work. We're talking about grace. We're not saying that we're giving people just a license to go out and live however they want to live, that it excuses sin. We're not talking about that at all. And so many people I can tell you because I've had Facebook posts and different things like that. People come on there and ask questions and say things and they think you're just giving people a license to sin. That's not the case, paul and Titus. You can write these down and look them up on your own.
Speaker 1:Titus 2, he's talking about, for the grace of God has appeared. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. And in Romans 6, for sin shall no longer be your master we read that earlier Because you are not under the law anymore, but you're under grace. So the context of that is Paul addresses the fear that grace leads to a license to sin. That is not what it does for us today. That's not what they was talking about then. It's really quite the opposite. Grace is our teacher. Grace is our teacher. It doesn't just cleanse us, it trains us, it doesn't just forgive us, it actually transforms us. So if we understand grace and what grace really is, it's not a license just to go out, and I'm telling you I've had so many people over the years say oh y'all just that greasy.
Speaker 1:Grace teaching, which means that you can live however you want to live, because you've already been given grace. That is so crazy for somebody to think that and used to, I'd get mad, I'd want to. I mean, I'd debate them, I'd want to fight them sometime. But now I just say they have no idea what they're talking about, they don't understand the Word. And I don't say that arrogantly, I'm just saying they don't understand what grace truly is. They understand what they've been taught. So now I just kind of overlook it, and it's no big deal, because we understand what grace is. And if you do, you know that there's an accountability with your life.
Speaker 1:Last one, right here you are crucified with Christ. Christ lives in you. This last verse, I want you to see this Galatians 2 and 20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. That verse is so powerful. Paul is declaring that his old life, his performance-based righteousness, the striving under the law, the working towards something, all that's dead, his new life in Christ is living through him. It's allowing Christ to live through him. That's your story too.
Speaker 1:Good works now flow from a union, a connection with Christ, an understanding of my true identity, not from my human effort. I can do some good things just with human effort. We do them some good things just from human effort. We do them all the time in church. But this is not the same. Just because it's a good work don't mean it's a God work. Okay, we got to understand. You can do something good and not even be a Christian. I mean, there's all kind of groups out there that are not godly and they do good work all the time, good work in their eyes. So it's a little bit different. So let's not be believers who do everything in reverse order.
Speaker 1:We don't do good works to be accepted. We are already accepted according to Ephesians 1. You're already accepted in Christ. We don't do good works to strive to feel worthy. We are seated with Christ. Would I be seated with Christ if I wasn't worthy? That's also in Ephesians. We don't perform to feel loved. We are empowered by grace. We're already loved. He died for us. You don't think he loves you. He put His Son on the cross. He loves you. So now we serve and we give and we love and we forgive. We do all that not to earn something, but because we've already received everything. Why? Because of the finished work of Christ.
Speaker 1:So here's a. I'm going to end with this. You can stand to your feet. I'm going to end with this right here and I apologize. We're going to call somebody in tomorrow to check on this air. I don't know why it's not cooling. I promise you I'm hotter than y'all are, but here's a call to order right here. What does this mean? This just means that this is something that you can do and this is not real. A lot of deep, deep revelation. This is going to be really simple. If you've been working really hard to establish an identity, stop, stop. That's as simple as you can say it. Stop doing that.
Speaker 1:If you've forgotten who you are in Christ, you have an opportunity to grab these verses and renew your mind. You want to see your life change. You've got to change from the inside out. You can try and you can change it. From've got to change from the inside out. You can try and you can change it from the outside, and we do it all the time. I see it in my work profession. We send people to counseling all the time and they change outwardly things, but then, if it don't change on the inside, what happens sooner or later. Go right back to the same place again. Send somebody to rehab and they can stop drinking. Why? Same place again. Send somebody to rehab and they can stop drinking. Why? Because they put them in a place where there's no alcohol. And then you think, wow, I've changed them. They're not. They haven't drank in six months because they hadn't had it. If that hadn't changed, they're going to find a bottle as soon as they get out, and I ain't saying that to be negative, that's just the fact. Change the mindset and then there's no need for that anymore. But the mindset has to shift.
Speaker 1:If you know you're a new creation, ask God to show you the good works that he prepared for you. Don't look at me and say I want to be able to do this like Pastor. No, don't do it better than me. Do what God called you to do, because whatever he has put in you, you, I want to be able to do this Like Pastor. No, don't do it better than me. Do what God called you to do, because whatever he has put in you, you're going to be able to do better than what I could do Some of you guys in here. You are called for more than what you're doing right now, especially the ones that ain't been kind of lax. You're definitely called for more being kind of lax. You're definitely called for more. We've all got something we can do. I joke about stuff like that, but we've all got stuff we can do. So it's time I think we've got to step up.
Speaker 1:We preach kingdom. That's what the finished work is about. We're not waiting. One day he says Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Listen, I don't want peace when I get to heaven, I want peace now. I don't want prosperity in heaven and it will do me no good. I want prosperity now. I want love in my life now. I want joy in my life now and, according to the Word of God, we can have that in life right now. That's why we say it heaven here, heaven now, kingdom here, kingdom now. He said thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth.
Speaker 1:If you're waiting to get all this when you go up through the pearly gates, I'm not saying you're not going to get it then, but why not take it now? Why not take advantage of the access we have to it now? Your life can be better than what it is my life's good, we're good. Let's make it great. If it's bad, let's make it good. If it's good, let's make it great. We can do that, you can do that, but it's a process and I've got to start with the right step and I've got to go in the right order. If I go in reverse order, I'm going to get the effects that I don't want and I'm going to keep Anybody ever got bogged down in a truck or a four-wheeler or something.
Speaker 1:You're just sitting there. The more you hit the gas you think I'm failing, the deeper you get. You ain't going nowhere. You know why? Because the tires ain't getting any traction. You know what the word distraction means. It means distraction without traction. There's some of you in your life. The only thing that's getting you off track is the distraction in your life because you can't get traction. The little things Get them out. There's people you need to get out of your life. There's some things that you need to get out of your life because they're distractions.
Speaker 1:Find out who you are and if you don't know, if you say I want to find out but I don't know, keep coming on Sunday, because we talk about it every Sunday.
Speaker 1:Something I say every Sunday is based on identity and there's a lot of people that initially, when they come in, they don't agree with it, and I'm okay with that. There's probably some things I said up here today you may not agree with. I said up here today you may not agree with. I'm okay with that, because that's going to force us to have communication and it's going to force you to study. There's nothing I say up here that I ain't at least studied on or looked at and made sure. I want to make sure if I say it I'm right on it according to the Word of God. And if I say my opinion, I'll tell you this is my opinion, which means I could be wrong, but if I'm stating the Word of God, I 100% believe I am absolutely correct on it. I have to, I wouldn't be preaching. So let's understand who we are and I believe you're going to see life start to change.