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The Rock Family Worship Center
Taking The Church Outside The Walls
The Rock Family Worship Center
Language That Awakens, Not Threatens
The finished work of Christ changes how we approach evangelism, shifting from threatening language to words that awaken people to their true identity in Christ.
• Moving beyond traditional evangelism as a sales pitch or spiritual blackmail
• Seeing our role as revealers of truth rather than rescuers of the lost
• Understanding that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself
• Speaking to identity rather than behavior when sharing Christ
• Recognizing that everyone is included in Christ's work even if not yet awakened
• Asking questions like Jesus did (307 questions asked, only 8 direct answers given to 183 questions)
• Changing our language from condemnation to awakening
• Being patient with the process of spiritual awakening
• Remembering that we plant and water, but God gives the increase
• Helping people see themselves as God sees them - holy, blameless, and above reproach
Remember, the finished work says you're not a recruiter or rescuer - you're a revealer of a love that already includes them.
I've always said this and I want to keep pushing this through Somebody that don't believe. Maybe what you believe on certain things is not wrong. They believe a little differently, they've been taught a little bit differently, and it's not wrong. I just always put it like this it's how much deeper does somebody want to go? It's as simple as that. It's not that it's always incorrect.
Speaker 1:Now, there's some stuff that's incorrect. I'll go ahead and say it. There's some stuff that's been taught throughout the years that the meaning, the biblical meaning, is not what they're teaching. But for the most part, it's just we teach it a different way, we got a different understanding and we sometimes get a different interpretation of it. And again I want to remind you guys that we do have the box in the back. If somebody wants to put a question in the box, if I say something that you don't understand or don't agree with or don't make sense to you, you ain't got to put your name on that. Just write a question, write a comment, and what I'm going to try to do is, as I get them out, I'm going to try to address those. I won't call nobody's name out if I know who it is, don't worry about that it's anonymous. Just put it in the box, ask the question, make the comment, whatever you feel like that you need better understanding or more teaching on, because that's the point of it. It does no good to come up here and teach a sermon and everybody walk out of here completely confused and lost Makes no sense. So we want to make sure that you're understanding. So, to tell you a little bit about what we're going to talk about today, I think the title of it sums it up Language that awakens, not threatened. Language that awakens and not threatened.
Speaker 1:Some people would look at this and say, well, I don't know anybody that gives threatening language when they're ministering to somebody, or threatening language when they're outside in the community and they're talking to somebody about church or talking to somebody about Christ. I'm going to challenge you on that, because I think there's a lot of threatening language that's given. They may not intend it that way, but it comes across and is received by people that way. Well, how do you know that? Because those people ain't in church, they don't want to come to church. It's not that they don't know God, it's not that they don't want a relationship with Christ, it's not that they don't want to go to heaven, but they don't want to be in church around a bunch of people who they feel like is going to look down on them, beat them down, tell them how bad they are for everything they've always done. So there is a lot of threatening language that is used, but what we're teaching with the finished work of Christ is we're talking about using language that actually awakens people to their true identity in Christ. It actually awakens them to the truth of what has always been there, even if they don't see it.
Speaker 1:What if evangelism and we know evangelism is going out when you're talking to people? When you're evangelizing, you're telling people about Christ. We're all called to go out and be witnesses and to talk to people, but again, I understand how difficult that is. Whenever we may be believing something or being taught something, that may be a little bit different. But just think about this what if evangelism isn't about convincing people to get saved? That changes the whole concept of evangelism, because from the very beginning, that's what evangelism has been about. You go to a tent revival. They want as many people up here in the altar on their knees as they can get, and they share those numbers the next night and say let's beat it tonight. That's what evangelism, tent revivals, evangelistic crusade, that's what that is about, we've been taught. It's about getting people saved. So I just want to challenge your thinking this morning. Say think a little bit deeper. And what if evangelism isn't about convincing people to get saved? What if it's about helping people wake up to the truth that is already theirs? Waking up to the truth that is already there, it's already present, it's already there.
Speaker 1:I want to start off in one verse, just to kind of kick us off right here, in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 19. This verse kind of puts it in a nutshell and then we're going to jump from this verse and really go into some stuff. But this verse will open some things up to you. It's very familiar, it's one that we read many times and Ronnie's going to find it in a minute. That is that God listen to this part was in Christ. We don't that right there. We can stop right there, and that will mess some people up. God was in Christ. That right there, we can stop right there, and that will mess some people up. God was in Christ. I thought God was supreme, I thought he I didn't even go there today, but God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself Again.
Speaker 1:You've got to understand what that word. Reconciling the world to Himself Again. You've got to understand what that word reconciling means Bringing back to the original, bringing back to what he created. Not just leaving you out there in your sin and in your guilt and in your depression and in your whatever, but reconciling you back to Himself. Not imputing, not dangling over, not holding against, not imputing their trespasses against them. He was calling you back home and said everything that you've done, I will not hold against you. That's in plain English how we would say it. Okay, not imputing those trespasses against them.
Speaker 1:And has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Some translations say the ministry of reconciliation. We're all ministers. We all have the obligation of going out and serving. That's what it is Serving people, teaching, ministering this verse right here. If you will get this verse in your spirit and if you don't study another verse this year, study this verse out. When I say study, I don't mean go read it, I mean study it. Listen, everybody in this room has got a telephone. Everybody in this room can type in what is the true biblical meaning of reconciliation and get an understanding of what reconciliation really means. And then go back and read this verse with that understanding. And then what does it mean? Not imputing? What does it mean? Look up the word trespasses. What does that mean? Not imputing my trespasses against me? These things are important and this is such a familiar verse we just read right over it and miss all these little key points in it. He was reconciling the world to himself. See, evangelism.
Speaker 1:Aside from what we've been taught, evangelism is not a sales pitch. We've made it into that, we've turned it into that. It's not a sales pitch because the gospel is not a product. We got to see that. It's not some product that we're trying to sell somebody and hopefully they'll buy into it. That's not what it's about.
Speaker 1:Many of us were taught to present the gospel like this right here here's what Jesus done for you, and we go through what he went through to get to the cross. If you say yes, you get heaven. You say no, you get hell. In a nutshell, this is what he done for you. Grab on to it and say yes and you're bound for heaven. Reject it and say no, and and you're bound for heaven. Reject it and say no and you're going to hell. That's pretty much it. I mean there's other things you can say in there, but in a nutshell that's it. That's what we've been taught, that's the evangelistic message, that's the gospel that we're supposed to go out and share with people to get them to come in.
Speaker 1:But that's not good news. That's not the good news. That's really more like spiritual blackmail. You really want to look at it. You're kind of blackmailing people into believing something. Why so they don't go down there and burn forever? Blackmailing people into believing something. Why so they don't go down there and burn forever? The language of it is somewhat threatened.
Speaker 1:The gospel is not something we package with a slogan. We know all the church slogans and the different things that we say in church. I mean, we say them all the time and there's nothing wrong with it. You're not going to go and burn because somebody looks at you and says how are you doing? And you say blessed and highly favored. We say that, okay, we're blessed to be stressed. All these different things, these slogans we put on bumper stickers and t-shirts and things like that.
Speaker 1:But the gospel is not something we package just with a simple little slogan because it's not for sale. The gospel is not for sale. It's the bold proclamation that Christ is all he is in all. See, when we share that, when we share the true gospel, when we share Him, we're not selling hope, we're unveiling a reality. We're not trying to talk to somebody and tell them all these things so that they will have hope. We're trying to tell them and share with them the truth of the gospel, of the good news, so it can unveil, take that junk off of them and let them realize that I don't care what you've done, I don't care what you've been through. He loves you, he died for you. He is not holding it against you, he's not imputing all that junk against you. So we're trying to reveal something.
Speaker 1:Help that person understand and see themselves in a way that maybe they haven't seen themselves before. If I see myself as condemned, as weak, as not worthy. That's why I know people say it all the time and I cringe when I hear it. Even when people pray Lord, we just thank you because we're so unworthy. No, you're worthy, but you see what I'm saying. You see they don't mean nothing negative by it. That's just another traditional thing that we say we're just so unworthy. I know where it comes from. I'm not crazy. I understand the verse that it comes from. But if we understand who we are and we understand what he did on the cross and we understand our identity in Him, then how can I call myself unworthy when he said I created you in the image and the likeness of myself? Now I know my mind takes a little far sometimes and I look and say if I call myself unworthy, I'm saying he's unworthy Because we're one. Maybe that's why I love this.
Speaker 1:I love the finished work, teaching because it brings you into it. You're not out here looking at it, you're part of it. As he is, so are we. That's the Bible. As he is, so are we in this world. What you say about yourself matters. How you look at yourself makes a difference.
Speaker 1:The finished work says this You're not bringing God to people. How many times have we heard just trying to help so and so find God, trying to help a friend find God, trying to help a family member that's lost find their way back to God? They used to love Him, they used to be in church all the time, but they backslid and I'm trying to help them find their way back to God. You're not bringing God to people, you're not offering. And if you do this, then He'll do that arrangement. That's not what we're trying to do. You're announcing what's already been accomplished. We're really making this a lot easier.
Speaker 1:It's a lot more simpler to teach people the finished work than it is to try to align with tradition. I mean it really is, because there's a lot of stuff that you have to look at when you're going by normal, traditional evangelism. Here we're just saying I'm going to tell you where you're already at and hope and help and plant seeds that I can help you wake up to that truth. That's already there. So evangelism again is not selling, it's showing. We're not trying to sell something. We are showing people, showing what. I'm trying to start answering some of these questions that I know people probably have when I say something, because I would have the same question if I was listening to somebody. So when you say that we're not selling something, we're showing, what are we showing? We're showing people that they are not separated from God.
Speaker 1:That, right there is mind-changing for a lot of people, because we've always been taught that sin separates us from God. I make a joke about this, but I'm not joking really. I'm telling the truth If he's in me and I'm in Him and we're one. How can sin separate me from Him? He even went on to say I'll never leave you nor forsake you. He didn't say I'll never leave you nor forsake you unless you do this and this and this. That's man-made rules. That's the rule book that the church handed out to you and said if you do this, this and this, then book that the church handed out to you and said if you do this, this and this, then you better come to an altar because you have been separated from the presence of God. He says I'm in you, I'm one with you, I'm entangled, I'm mixed. Your body is my house. I can't separate from you. That's hard. It's hard for some people to see that. So, showing people they are not separated from Christ, but they're included. No matter what situation they may find themselves in, they're included.
Speaker 1:But now, if I stop right there, people would say he said everybody is just naturally saved, ain't got to do nothing. Listen, I'm not saying that, I'm saying everybody. The Word said he was reconciling the world. That means everybody. He was reconciling all. He is all and he is in all. I can't change those words. That's in the Bible, that's what it said. But it's hard for us to grasp because all we think about is salvation. So naturally my mind says well, everybody can't be saved. Well, it's according to if you understand the word salvation, you go back and really study out that word. And he did that for all. All have received salvation. Now listen to me, don't run out of here with just that. Now you have to awaken to that.
Speaker 1:There's people walking around all over this community that have not awakened to the fact that God reconciled them to Himself, that he sent His Son to the cross to do what? To die for their sin, to die for everything that was wrong with them, so that they could come back to the reality of who they really are. When he did that on the cross, he did that for every single person, just like Adam sinned and every single person fell. Jesus died and rose and every single person was included with that as well. But everybody don't see it, everybody has not awakened to it. So I know there's a lot of people that will argue that. I know that I've already been accused of being a universalist and all this and everybody's saved and nothing to worry about, and you ain't got to do nothing. That is the furthest from the truth of what we're teaching. That is not what we're teaching. If anything and I've said this before if anything, when I use the word universal universal is all the only time I'll use it is to say we've been universally reconciled, because he said it. He said that the world was being reconciled. Everybody was included in that. So I believe I'm correct in saying that that's a universal reconciliation. He was fixing the stuff for everybody.
Speaker 1:Okay, we do this. How do we do this? How do we show people, how do we begin to teach them and awaken them to who they really are? We do this by speaking to identity and not behavior. When I speak to somebody's identity, I speak to who they are in Christ. I'm not speaking to the things that they're doing. What does the church do? We speak to the things that they're doing. Stop doing this, stop doing that. Thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not. That's speaking to behavior. Nothing wrong with some of that stuff.
Speaker 1:You need to be morally correct. You don't need to just go out and do whatever you want to do. There's some accountability. But when I understand my identity, the accountability starts to come and I hold myself to a certain standard. Nobody has to make me do that. Nobody has to tell me to do what I can do and can't do.
Speaker 1:That's rules, that's religion. That's why religion, that's why all these rules were created, because back in that day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they wanted to control the people. They were losing control. So they created these things and they said you can do this, but you can't do this. So the ones who did this, they were the good folks. The ones who did this, they were the bad folks. They separated them.
Speaker 1:God don't separate, religion separates. We got 57 churches. I think that's right. We counted it up one time. Maybe some more built by now, maybe some closed down, but it was close to 57 churches in Bacon County. We have one Bible, but we have what is our population? 10,000. I don't know how many go to church. Let's say 3,000 people go to church in Bacon County. Probably not that many, but I'm just going to say 3,000 people go to church in Bacon County. They are divided up 57 different ways with the same Bible. That's separation. God don't separate.
Speaker 1:So we have to someday ask ourselves the question why? Why do we have Baptists over here and we have Methodists over here and we have Church of God over here and we have non-denomination over here and we've got Catholics over here and everybody's different. And I'm telling you, this is not. I make this joke all the time and I'm going to reverse the joke too. I could not go. They would not let me go into the Baptist church and preach. If they knew, if they went online and listened to my teaching, they would not invite me to the Baptist church to preach. I'm not going to let a Baptist preacher get up here behind this pulpit. Nothing against the person, but we're teaching different. Not saying he's right or I'm right or wrong. No, we're teaching different. We're feeding our congregation differently. So we're going to be cautious about that.
Speaker 1:Okay, we've got to get right and wrong out of our mind, but are we willing to go deeper and ask some of these questions? Look at 2 Corinthians, 5 and 16. Remember I said we do this by speaking to identity, not to behavior. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one. Listen to that. Oh, this is hard for us. We regard no one according to the flesh. This is tough Because in church, when even I've been in many churches where, when people come up to get saved and I knew them and I'm like, I know that guy, I know what he's.
Speaker 1:We've all done it. Don't try to look all holy now. You've done it too, because the natural part of us looks at flesh. We look at what somebody's Because the natural part of us looks at flesh. We look at what somebody's done in the natural Because why we know them in the natural, we partied with them in the natural, we went to jail with them in the natural. So it's the natural instinct, the nature, our human nature is to look at them as we've always known them. But Paul says he was teaching here we do not any longer look at them after what they were, after their flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh. He says I knew Christ in the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh. He says I knew Christ in the flesh. Yet now we know Him thus no longer.
Speaker 1:Years ago, when this verse really hit me and I started studying this thing out and I done a whole sermon on this one verse here and it was talking about which side will you choose? And I talked about and this was years ago and I talked about that if I walk into a place and I'm coming in and all the people sitting there. I'm coming with the brine from the flesh and the brine from the Spirit. I'm carrying both of them because I am flesh, but I have a spirit that lives on the inside of me and I'm coming in with both of them. Which one are you going to receive? Are you going to receive the flesh side because you know me, or are you going to receive the spirit side in spite of what you know about me? So which are you going to choose? And that's what he was saying here we are regarding no one after the flesh. You know they're coming with both sides.
Speaker 1:It's up to me now Listen, I just took away your excuse for saying that person is so bad that I just can't receive them. No, it's up to you to say I see the whole person, but I'm receiving the spiritual side of them Because I know who they are. Now I don't care about what they've done. That's why I always say you don't have to stand up and tell me everything that you went through in your life. If you come to the altar and you say I want to find Jesus, I want to know Him, you don't have to start spilling everything that you've ever been through. I don't need to know that. Why? Because I choose to see who you are in Christ. I don't want to know that. I don't need to know that. Knowing that is not going to have a bearing on the way I view you. I'm choosing to look at you through the eyes of Christ and not through the eyes of the flesh. That's all he was saying here, speaking to identity and not to behavior.
Speaker 1:If you look up this word, we regard no one according to the flesh. You can break this verse down. You can preach on this verse for days. I pulled one word out of it Flesh. The word flesh means identity apart from Christ. That's built on law, appearance, behavior or status. So if I see somebody in the flesh, I'm looking at everything that is not of God, everything separated from Christ. Tradition says you're a sinner who needs to change. You're a sinner and you need to be saved. You're a sinner and you need to find God.
Speaker 1:The finished work says you're an image bearer who's forgotten the truth. Because the truth is there. You didn't put it there. He chose you before the foundation of the world. He chose to put that image there. He chose to create you in the image, in the likeness. You are an image bearer of Christ, not because you chose it, but because he chose you.
Speaker 1:But we walk around for years with no understanding of my identity, the truth of my identity. So what do I do if I don't know who I am? I act like something I'm not. I act like everybody else around me. I start shaping myself and molding myself into all these different cliques or whoever the people is that I surround myself with. And that's why he comes back before and says do not conform to the world, but be transformed by renewing of the mind. Don't act like everybody else. Transform your thinking, change your mindset and you'll see that that's not you. Why? Because you are an image bearer. It's already there before the foundation of the world. You didn't do anything to receive it. You didn't do anything good enough to earn it. He gave it to you, but we got to awaken to it.
Speaker 1:Some people fuss and say well, you know, they'll listen to some of the stuff I say. And they'll say well, you don't believe in hell. When you're not awake to your true identity, you're living in hell. You're living in hell Every day. Do I know if a place is real? I don't know, but I don't have to know you can live it now. It don't matter, because everything we teach about that hell anyway is so inaccurate Biblically it's just inaccurate. You're going to go down there and be with the devil. The devil ain't there. Your Bible tells you that he's not there. I don't want to get off on that, but so much that we teach on it is inaccurate.
Speaker 1:According to the Word of God, hell is not an old word that Jesus' disciples walked around using. They would look at you and turn their head and wonder what you was talking about. If you described the hell that we teach to them. They wouldn't know because they didn't teach that. It's only about 250 years old, 300 years old when it started being taught. It's only about 250 years old, 300 years old when it started being taught. That's another day and I am going to preach on that. One day.
Speaker 1:I'm going to go in detail and go in depth on that and we're going to talk about it and I've already got the sermon laid out and we're going to talk about the real hell because I want people to understand, because why, just like the title said, don't use a threatening language, you're going to burn forever. Pretty threatening to me. No way out. Anger, anger. One slip up, find yourself on the way.
Speaker 1:Think about the language we use. I mean, jesus says forgive. How many times? 70 times I'm to forgive, but my Father won't? It don't make sense to me. I'm just giving you some insight into my warped up brain of how, when I read some things and hear some things, how I get some of these messages and how I get some of this thinking that I get because I just I'm created after Him. I'm created in the image and likeness of Him. He's going to tell me to forgive that many times, but he's not going to forgive that many times Don't make sense to me.
Speaker 1:So I don't say I'm right or I'm wrong. I'm saying I'm going to question it, I'm going to research it, I'm going to study it, I want to know or study it. I want to know, I want it to make sense to me. I'm not just going to believe something because somebody said it, because somebody's been saying a lot of things wrong for years. You can't just believe everything. I don't expect you to believe anything. I say from up this pulpit, just because I said it, now do I believe it's the truth. If I say it, yes, because I've studied it out and I've got support to back up what I'm saying. But when I'm studying for a message, I understand that I'm reading and studying scripture that maybe somebody else sitting out here hasn't studied. So I can't just assume that you're going to agree because I said it. I don't expect you to. I expect you to go and look up these definitions and look up these scriptures and study it for yourself. Revelation Get revelation for yourself on it, not just believing it because I say it. So the finished work says you're an image bearer who's forgotten the truth.
Speaker 1:Evangelism is and this sort of ties in with the message we talked the other day evangelism is sort of like holding up a mirror, not a rule book. Got a rule book in one hand, I got a mirror in the other. If I'm going to teach somebody about their true identity in Christ, I'm not going to hand them a rule book in one hand. I've got a mirror in the other. If I'm going to teach somebody about their true identity in Christ, I'm not going to hand them a rule book. I'm going to hold up a mirror and say what do you see? And then when they say, well, I see this and I see that and it's all contradictory. I'm going to say no, no, no. This is who you are. This is who you are.
Speaker 1:This is what the Word of God says about you, what we're just trying to get them their true identity, trying to get them to see that they are not who they think they are. They are not who everybody has called them. They are not that image that they have of themselves. Why? Because they're looking at themselves from the flesh. That verse was not just me looking at you. I take that verse as me looking in the mirror to myself. I'm no longer going to regard myself after the flesh. I know the mistakes I've made, I know all the things I've done. So it would be easy for me to look in the mirror and say you piece of trash, you ain't worthy, you're this, you're that. It'd be easy for anybody in this room to do that, because you know yourself better than anybody else. But it's also that easy to look in the word of God and take what he says and use it as a mirror. The word is the mirror, but people aren't corrupt. You can use it as a mirror. The Word is the mirror, okay, but people aren't corrupt, bad people trying to become holy. They're sons and daughters asleep, to who they already are. I've said that so many times in here. What are we doing on Sunday mornings? We're coming in here to try to learn to be who we already are. Sounds crazy, but it's the truth. We're trying to learn to be who we already are.
Speaker 1:When talking to people, when evangelizing, when witnessing to people, we've got to use language that awakens and not threatens. I've never had anybody get closer to me when I threaten them. Threats don't bring people in. Threats push people away. So the language has to shift, the language that awakens. Think about the language we hear so often when are you going to go when you die? Do you know? Are you sure If you walked out of this door and fell over, do you know where you're going to spend eternity? Are you sure you're safe? You need to get right before it's too late. That's the language that we hear.
Speaker 1:But change that around and think about from a finished work perspective. What if he's been with you the whole time, regardless, because he's probably going to start telling you something no, no, no, no, I don't even want to know what you did. What if he's been with you the whole time, even through that, and you just didn't see it. What am I doing? I'm causing them to think what if you're not as far from God as you think you are? What if you've always been inside His love? What if forgiveness isn't something that you're going to be able to earn, but something that you have to discover? That's already there? That's not threatening at all. It can be confusing until I explain it, but it's not threatening. It's causing people to look at it a little bit different than what I did before.
Speaker 1:No one is outside the work of Christ. Keep saying that it included all, and I'm going to show you that in Acts 17 and 29. 28. Sorry, 28. Acts 17 and 28. For in Him. For in Him we live and move and have our being In Him, and he done this for all, and in Him we live and move and have our being. If he did this for all and in Him, we got to see the correlation between these verses, because we could take this verse and say in Him we live and move and have our being. But I'm only talking about for those that I know are in Him, because they're saved. But you don't know if they're saved or not, according to traditional salvation understanding. But according to my understanding. I know that when he went to the cross, he'd done it for all. I know that when he died and he went through the pain that he went through, he'd done it for all. I know that when he was crucified, when he died and he went through the pain that he went through, he'd done it for all. I know that when he was crucified, when he was buried that we were buried with Him He'd done it for all. When he rose, he'd done it for all. Well, how do you know that? Because the Bible tells me that. The Bible is very, very plain on that. So, if that's the case, and he done it for all, for in Him we who, all of us, live and move and have our being.
Speaker 1:No one is outside the work of Christ, but everybody is not awakened to it. This doesn't mean that everyone believes. This is the catch. This is where you got to understand this. What I just said does not mean that everyone believes it. It does not mean Atheists really exist. There are truly people out there that says there is no God. Agnostics really exist. There are truly people out there that say there is no God. Agnostics really exist. There's people out there that say there's a God, but I just don't know what it is or who it is. They really exist. So we're not saying, we're not using this verse to say that everyone believes. Everyone is included, but everyone is not a believer. There's a difference. But it does mean that everyone is already embraced by what the work of Christ. He did that for everybody. Everybody was included in that. So look at it like this we're not handing out tickets to heaven. That's not our goal. That's not our mission. To hand out tickets to heaven. We're waking people up to the truth that they've already been included.
Speaker 1:We need to change how we see ourselves when we're witnessing to other people. You may have taken on this on before as an identity because of the way we've always taught about evangelism, but you are not the rescuer. You're the revealer. You're not there to rescue them. You're not there to bring them back. They're about to self-destruct and go over the edge and you bring them back, which is a definition of salvation. He did that. So you're not rescuing them, you're not saving them. You're not capturing them. He's already done that. You're just revealing to them what he's already done. You're the revealer, that's it. So we need to change how we see how we talk to people about this. It really does make a difference, with you being the revealer. When you begin to see yourself in that way because I know a lot of people now that they think they're the rescuer I got 14 people saved at that tent revival you become the rescue. You don't mean to, I'm just being honest with you here. You don't mean to, but you start to take on that identity as the rescuer.
Speaker 1:That's why so many people talk about ministers so bad and how arrogant they are and how this and that because they take on an identity. Sometimes it's about them. I've been there. I've told you the story. I ain't going back into the story, but when you go overseas and you, these people worship you like a god, they I mean they really do these people when they see like an American pastor coming in.
Speaker 1:We walked into this little village and there was nobody there and I was like who are we going to preach to? And about 30 minutes before service started, these folks started coming out in the woods, literally Just walking from everywhere, and all of a sudden there was 300 or 400 people there. I don't know where they come from, but when you come, when you go up. They treat you like you're next to like you're Jesus, just walking in the building and I'm telling you, if you're not careful, it will go to your head. It really will, because we're prideful people, especially men. We take pride in that. So it will do that if you allow it to. What if we told people just simply you're seen, you're loved, you're already reconciled. Now just be awakened to that. That, instead of all this other stuff, you're loved, you're seen, you're forgiven, you're redeemed. That's it.
Speaker 1:One more verse I want you to see here Colossians 1, verse 21 and 22. I'm just doing a few verses here. You can go back online and look at Colossians 1, verse 21 and 22. I'm just throwing a few verses here. You can go back online and look at a transcript of this.
Speaker 1:And you we read this one, I think last week too and you, who were once alienated and enemies In your mind not in the natural, in your mind you were an enemy and you were alienated by wicked works. We've all been there. He's even saying all of you's been there. You were alienated, you were an enemy in your mind because of wicked works. I look at this verse a little bit different. What he's saying to them is. He said you were alienated and you were enemies, not because you was really alienated, separated and you was really an enemy, but because you seen yourself that way. So you were therefore an enemy. Why? Because when you believe it, it's true. True to you it may not be truth, but whatever you believe is truth to you. So you were alienated. You were enemies in your mind by the wicked works that you did. You looked at your works, you looked at the flesh, you looked in a mirror and said you're an enemy of God. Yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, blameless and above reproach in his sight. You were this because you've seen yourself that way, but now, not because of what you did, but because of what he did in the body of his flesh through death, he now presents you wholly blameless and above reproach. You know, study that out, above reproach. Most of us know what it means, but study it out, see what it really means.
Speaker 1:So how do we speak through the finished work land? I got three little points I want to make to you. I'm going to close it out with this, because this is where the part comes in that's practical. How can I make what we're talking about practical? How do I really go out and talk to somebody and make this work? Three little points right here. First, change your language. You've got to change your language. There's some people, when they come up and talk a certain way, I'll nod my head, say hey, and I'm going the other way Just because of the way maybe they speak. I don't know, but there are some people. They speak to you in a way that it draws you in and you just want to hang around and talk to them a few minutes. Change your language.
Speaker 1:I put down a couple of situations that I know I've been through and things I've heard people say, and I want to just show you the difference between the traditional approach and how we can approach it as a finished work. What if a person said you're talking to them and they said well, I've just made too many mistakes. Traditional approach says you need to repent. What if we said, well, maybe, but you've never been unloved, only misinformed. Different response I don't believe in God. Traditional approach you lost, you're going to burn For the finished works, that's okay. He's never stopped believing in you. Boom, now we open the door up to Him. A lot of this is just to get a response. I mean just to make them go different. Another person says how do I get saved? Traditional approach Down here we're going to pray this prayer. Nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying that's a traditional approach. The finished work approach says believe the truth, what's already been done. Now we're back that up with Scripture Believe and confess.
Speaker 1:So the second thing is ask questions that cause people to think. Ask questions that cause people to think. I've done some research on this. This is pretty amazing. Jesus asked more questions than he gave answers. Now you would think Jesus being Jesus just walking around spitting answers out everywhere, giving answers to everybody. Everybody's got questions. I got an answer. I joke about it. Sometimes Somebody says I got a question. I say I got an answer. I joke about it. Sometimes Somebody says I got a question, I say I got an answer. Jesus didn't do that. This is the part I had to study. Well, first of all, you want to ask questions to provoke thought. If I ask you a question, I'm provoking you to think, I'm challenging your assumption and I'm redirecting you back to truth. But I've done some research. So when I read that that Jesus asked more questions than he gave answers. I said, hmm, dig a little deeper on that and that research is.
Speaker 1:Jesus asked 307 questions in the Bible. 307 questions in the Bible. 307 questions. He was asked 183 questions and gave a definitive answer to eight of them. Seems pretty rude, don't it? The other 175 times he answered the question by asking a question.
Speaker 1:He asked questions why? Because he wanted people to think. He wanted people to not just believe because he said it, but to think. I want you to get this because you went back and you studied it and you researched it and something just it and you researched it and something just resonates with you. What if we ask people simple questions like have you ever wondered why you long for more? Have you ever wondered why? Maybe sometimes you just feel empty? I'll just give you some icebreaker questions, little things you can ask people just to spark them to think. Do you think it's possible that you've been closer to God than you realize? That's going to make people think. It'll make them respond.
Speaker 1:Here's the last one. What if the real you is already loved and already included? Third thing, last one Be patient with the process. Be patient. Last verse here 1 Corinthians 3 and 6. Six goes along with.
Speaker 1:Be patient with the process. Look at what this verse says I planted follows water, but god gave the increase. It's not always going to happen immediately. You're not responsible for someone's awakening. You're responsible for planting truth and just causing them to think. God's going to reveal things to them, the Holy Spirit's going to reveal things to them, and there's no pressure. See, when I ask these kind of questions, there's no pressure, there's no force, there's no pressure. See, when I ask these kind of questions, there's no pressure, there's no force, there's no manipulation.
Speaker 1:You're not trying to convert people. You're calling the truth out of them. You're just asking simple questions to what? Try to get the truth, to get them to see they are loved, in spite of God, your love, in spite of your love, in spite of what happened, he's forgiven you, in spite of this, or that you're redeemed. What is that? That's calling truth out.
Speaker 1:Evangelism is not a transaction and we've turned it into that. Give God this and He'll give you that. It's a transaction. It's a transformation process. We talk a lot about transformation. It's a transformation that begins with seeing the world through the finished work of Christ.
Speaker 1:When do I start transforming? When I begin to see myself differently, because that is a process to get away from some of the old things that I'm used to hearing and to now see it a little bit different. I'm seeing it through the eyes of the finished work, the lens of the finished work. When I start doing that, my mindset's going to have to shift, because I can't keep seeing myself the way that tradition has portrayed me An old sinner, saved by grace, trying to make it to heaven. Nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1:But I'm saying, if you see yourself that way always a victim no, I'm a victor, I have. The victory on the cross was mine too. I'm not a victim. I'm not going to see myself as victim. I'm not going to see myself as a victim. I'm not going to put myself down. I'm not going to condemn myself, which is self-condemned. The Greek word means self-punishment. I'm not going to self-punish myself, but I will if I have the wrong image of myself. But when I get the right image, how are you going to look in a mirror and say you are a child of God. You're creating the image of the likeness of Him, you are righteous, you are holy, you are without blame, and then condemn yourself? Those two don't go together. So when I begin to see the truth of my identity, condemnation goes. I no longer condemn myself. Guilt goes. All of that junk that we hold over ourselves has to go, simply because I see myself in the truth of who I really am.
Speaker 1:You are not a recruiter. You are not a rescuer. Listen, I'm talking about evangelism. I'm talking about going outside these walls. You are not a recruiter, you are not a rescuer. You are a revealer of a love that already includes them.
Speaker 1:This is hard to teach. I mean hard, not hard to teach. It's hard to understand when I'm stuck with so much traditional beliefs and then go out and try to talk with somebody. That's why I'm trying to talk about this. Make it easy. Can I just tell them they're loved? Can I just tell them quit beating yourself up. He's already forgiven you. You don't have to condemn yourself anymore. He took that and when he died on the cross, that junk that you're battling with it died with Him. That's all I got to say. I mean, it's as simple as that. But until we can see it through the eyes and through the lens of the finished work, we're not going to be able to help other people see it that way If I still see it as traditional stuff, then that's what I'm going to put out to other people.
Speaker 1:I believe when a church really starts moving forward is when the whole of the congregation begin to be in one accord. Now I'm not saying that to say I want you to believe everything that I believe. I mean I'm not saying that to say I want you to believe everything that I believe. I'm not saying that at all. But there are certain aspects of what we teach that should transcend the entire congregation. Not because I believe it, but because it's the foundation of the Bible and it's what the Word says. I'm just saying it from up and it's what the Word says. I'm just saying it from up here because that's what the Word says and it's the truth of the Word. It's in context. We're backing it up. That's why we talk about Greek and Hebrew stuff so much. You can't take a 21st century lens and try to read a 1st century text. You can, but you're going to have misinterpretation and misunderstanding Because they used a different language. Different things were going on, so you've got to understand that.