Christ in You - Pastor Sandra Roach

In this powerful episode, explore the life-changing truth of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Discover the fullness of what Jesus accomplished through the finished work of the cross and what it means to live as the dwelling place of God. 

This message breaks the grip of religious striving and reveals your true identity in Christ, free, redeemed, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Learn how renewing your mind unlocks the reality of victory, inheritance, and transformation that already belongs to you. 

It’s time to stop striving and start living from the truth of who you are in Him.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Summit Church Podcast. Thank you for joining us as we share weekly sermons and teachings from Summit Church in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Our prayer is that today's message encourages your faith and helps you grow in your relationship with Jesus. Check out our website at summitchurchtn.com. Thanks for listening, and we pray this message encourages you today.

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So the title of my sermon today is Christ in You. And I am excited about Christ in You, the finished work of the cross, what he accomplished, and what he is doing now in you and through you. Amen. Hallelujah. We thank you, Lord. So Colossians 1, 26 and 27 says, the mystery which has been hidden for ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints. To them God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now the wonder of this word hope means this strong expectation. Do you have an expectation of his glory in you? Hallelujah. This glorious mystery when the gospel light lit up your heart and we received it. Hallelujah. Oh, what a wonder. We received the new creation. Our bodies became the temple of the Holy Spirit, and now we have Christ in us. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Did you hear that? Christ in us. That's such good news. We ought to be shouting. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 16. Oh, I'm telling you what, I've been feasting on this for about two weeks now. And I'm telling you, it's gotten as deep in me as uh uh Galatians, Ephesians 1 and 4. So I'm gonna read this to you and I want it to get in your heart. Do you not know? That's the first question. Do you not know that you are the temple, the naos of God, and that his spirit and the spirit of God dwells in you? Sons and daughters in Christ, you are the temple, the naos, the holy place, the sanctuary of God, and the spirit of God is dwelling in you if you are a son or a daughter of God. Amen. Look with me at Ephesians 2. Now, you may be disturbed at the quantity of the word, but it's the word that transforms us. We got to understand that some people they like, I had a pastor tell me one time, I like to quote one scripture and then preach from that one scripture and not use any other scripture. Well, I'm the opposite of him. Because, see, what I'm looking for is transformed minds. And we will be transformed by the word of God. Ephesians 2, 4 through 10. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together in Christ. Hallelujah! By grace you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ. Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself. What we we didn't have to do anything. Wait a minute. I thought we had to do something. We didn't do anything, he did it all. Well, see, that's not what my church is telling me. He did it all. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared us beforehand, that we should walk in them. Beloved, I want you to think about this for a minute. He paid the price for your salvation. I'm not gonna stand up here and say this. Now, there are some of you in here. Y'all are in trouble. You need to be a little more like me. No, I'm not gonna say that. Because this said it wasn't anything I did that accomplished what he did for me. For me, do you all for you and for me? Hallelujah. Beloved, this is the it is finished of the cross. Oh, hallelujah! What works do I need to do to receive this mystery, this treasure? What do I need to do? Nothing, just receive the gift. Hallelujah. So, what is this gift we have to receive? Let's break it down and see what we have to receive. The first thing is the blessing of the Lord. Ephesians 1 and 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. We have been chosen as his, adopted as sons and daughters. Oh, come on, someone help me here. We have received his power, we have communion with God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, living in him forever, for eternity, without end. Oh, hallelujah. And we have received redemption. Ephesians 1 and 7 says, In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of his grace. You see, we're released from slavery. We're released from slavery. What are we in slavery to? Sin. We've been released from slavery to sin and brought into freedom of forgiveness and right standing with God. Now, I want to say this. Don't let religion choke this out of you, okay? Don't let religion throw this out the window for you. I am no longer a slave to sin. Not by anything I've done, but what he did. I'm free. I am free. Listen, he gave us an inheritance. Ephesians 1 and 11 says, furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. You see, an inheritance is not something you earn, it's given to you. Hallelujah. It's bestowed upon you. We have inherited the kingdom of God and all of God's wonderful promises and blessings with it. Amen. And he has sealed us what does that mean? He has sealed us with his signet ring. He has sealed us with the Holy Spirit. Oh, come on. Ephesians 1:13 says, and you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, when you believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. We've been marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in us. The Holy Spirit is the seal or the pledge of our glorious inheritance in Christ Jesus. I'll tell you what, life is looking good right now. Come on. What I'm believing the church is going to look like in the very near future is we're free. Not, Pastor, you don't know how bad it's been. Devil's been beating me up all week. It's just awful. It's just been terrible. And I don't know if I can make it much longer. Honey, I want to tell you something. If you think that way, you don't know who you are in Christ. You have no idea who you are in Christ, but I'm telling you today, I don't want you to leave here wondering. I want you knowing who you are in Christ. So we are now the temple, the inner sanctuary of God. Oh my goodness, the most sacred dwelling space is in us here in the earth. We have we were created for this. Do you hear me? We were created to be the dwelling. We were created to be that holy place. Oh, somebody needs to get this today. Yeah, Pastor, I've heard that before. I want to tell you something. When you start walking in freedom, people are going to want to know what you have because they're going to want it. Listen, when we go around, honey, I know it's bad. Somebody will say it's bad. You know what our answer should be? When someone says it's bad, oh, you've come to the right place. Oh, come on, you've come to the right place. For I've got news for you. In Christ Jesus, everything, everything is paid for. You're free. You're healed. You're restored. You're no longer a slave to sin. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. You see, this was God's plan from the very beginning. We're God's communicators of his life and love to the world. We are the demonstration and advancement of his kingdom. Hallelujah. Beloved, the Bible says he lives in us. Now I want them to put up on the screen Ephesians 2.20. And we're all going to read it out loud together, okay? I am crucified. Is anybody reading with me? Oh no, that's Ephesians 2.20.

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Galatians 2.20 is I'm crucified.

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Yeah. Oh, it's Galatians. You're right. You're so thank you, dear. Can you jump over to Galatians 2 and 20? I got too excited. What? Oh, hang on. I'm hanging. I've hung myself. Hallelujah. Don't you love the family of God? They'll make fun of you anytime they can. Thank you, dear. Hallelujah. Galatians 2 20. Are we close? King James Version. No. No. King James Version. My Lord, I'll read a little and you can repeat after me. Ah, here we are. Praise the Lord. Now I want us all to read it together, okay? I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on, let's, hallelujah. You see, you see, I wanted this translation, and I'll tell you, it's the only one who says this. It says, I live by the faith of the Son of God. I'm not striving to live by the faith in the Son of God. I am living by his faith. By his faith, I can see anything happen. Come on. By his faith, mountains can be moved. By his faith, dead bodies can be raised to life. By his faith, healing comes in the mighty name of Jesus. Oh my goodness. You see, you're no longer an outsider looking in and longing to be part of the family. Oh my goodness. And you know, so many in the church think this. I've got to work harder at being a Christian. Anybody ever felt that way? Come on, raise your hand. Have you ever felt like I gotta work hard at being a Christian? Oh my goodness. Find out who you are in Christ. And find out that it's your life. It's who we are now. That old man is dead, the one that tried to be good, the one that tried to quit sinning, the one that tried to get off drugs, the one that tried to be to have a sound mind, the one that tried to quit looking at the opposite sex and never could accomplish anything. The one who kept being drawn into that, beloved, I want you to know this. God is transforming your mind to know that that man or that woman is dead. We're crucified when he died. We died with him. Hallelujah. Do you know how many sons and daughters of God are longing to be accepted in Christ when they already are? Why? Because religion keeps you away from your inheritances, sons. I know this isn't the first time I've preached it, but uh the Lord keeps circling around, and I'll tell you why. Because he wants a church that's going to believe it. Not just hear it preached occasionally, not just get with a group of people and say, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that. I know that. But you're dying inside. You see, death is over. I'm living now. I'm living now. I'm living my best life now in Christ because I'm headed to a place that'll be the very best. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Religion reminds us of our sinful nature. You must work hard at being a Christian. If we didn't work to get saved, why is God requiring us to work so hard at acting and staying saved? Let me say that again because I don't think you all grasp it. One person did. I want everybody. I'm gonna start over here and it's gonna be like a wave. You know, you ever been to a football game? Listen. They get excited. Anybody gone to the University of Tennessee football game? Why, listen, when they're reporting on how we act at those ball games, it's almost as if they're indecent. The way they jump up and they do those waves and they shout and they scream because they believe their team is winning. I want to tell you something. Team Jesus has already won. Every battle, every giant, he's already won. He already has the victory. The church just doesn't know it. Oh, come on. Every day. Every day we we get up and we think, okay, I gotta, I gotta again crucify that old man that Jesus crucified. I gotta crucify that old man again. And some of you are gonna throw scripture at me. That's okay. Go ahead. Because I can throw them back. Hallelujah. Listen, church, he's coming for a bride that knows who she is. He's not coming back for listen, we'll be hiding behind the couch in the living room at home when things heat up. Things are already heating up. The problem with the church in America, we think that uh he thinks we're so good that no bad stuff is gonna come near us. But if you ever watch the news, you will know we've done past that time. It's way gone. And the Lord said to me during the pandemic, He said, Don't be one of those that say when we get back to normal life, I want to tell you this. The Lord said, You'll never go back to that part of your life again. But what I'm going to cause to come about is going to be a glorious church. Come on. Hallelujah. Well, I don't see it happening, Pastor. Then grab hold of who you are. Hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. So if we're struggling every day to live in freedom that was already paid for, is it actually finished? Did Jesus get up on the cross? And and he said, It is finished, knowing that it wasn't. I had a one one time I had a woman come to me and she said, The Lord told me that in four weeks I'm gonna be dead. I said, not to argue with her, okay. Well, you're dying of. She said, Well, it doesn't matter. The Lord said, I'm going in four weeks. I said, Okay. Listen, I'm not gonna argue with you if you want to die. I don't want you to. And I'll fight if you'll come and say, fight with me. Okay? So she said, I'm dying. Well, four weeks came and went, and she wasn't dead. She had told people and they wept. Oh, they were so heartbroken. They wept, have you heard? The Lord told her, Four weeks she's gone. I said, Yeah, I heard it. Well, what are you doing? Not doing anything. She wants to go. And so four weeks came and went. She had a meeting with me. She said, Pastor, why did God not take me in four weeks? I sat there a minute and I knew what the Lord had dropped in my spirit. And some of you are gonna go, Oh, you didn't say that. I said, Is he a liar? She said, Of course not. God never lies. I said, Then something's wrong here. You keep telling me you heard what he said, and he's not a liar. See, this is what we do. We get high on all of these emotions, and we say that God says all this stuff when it goes away from the scripture, away from the finished work of the cross. And here I am up here trying to convince you, have all of these guest speakers, have wonderful preachers in this house, and we're trying to tell you this is who you are, and you keep telling us, no, no, that it can't be that easy. It is when someone pays a price for you. Someone comes to Pastor Steve and says, you know, Brother Steve, uh, the Lord told me to pay off your house. Steve would not say, no, no, no. Oh no. No, no, no. I I could Steve's looking at me like she's crazy. I I couldn't, I couldn't let you do that. I I absolutely cannot let you do that. And I'm in the background saying, Yes, we can! Yes, we can. But he wouldn't, okay? See, it's like this. We say that to God all the time. He said, It's finished. I paid the price, and you go, No, no, no, no, no. I've got to work at this. You know what that is? That's being raised, that's being drenched and baptized in religion. Come on, hallelujah. How can we live as though it was finished? Transformation. Hallelujah. Listen to this. Romans 12 and 2 says, Don't copy the behavior of and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. When you will learn to know, then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. God wants to transform the way you think. The apostle Paul said it in Romans 12, too. You see, I've read only a few scriptures about who you are because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. But you see, the Bible is full of scriptures that tell us of our great and precious identity in Christ Jesus. The Bible is full of it. Oh, when we renew our mind, it changes the way we think and we see ourselves in Him. Pick up your Bible and get a little renewal going on. People say, Oh, we need renewal. We need renewal of the Spirit. No, honey, you need your mind renewed. You're waiting for a shot of the Holy Ghost when the Lord is saying, I've given you that every day. Oh, come on. We go to special services because we want to experience a fresh wave of the Holy Spirit. Beloved, you live in that. You live in that river, you live in that flow. He paid the price. He gave you the Holy Spirit to live in that flow, not for you to go from place to place wanting to experience you should live in it. When people are around you, they ought to get, whoa, what just happened here? Let the revelation of redemption shape your thoughts. Come on. So let's talk about the work of the Holy Spirit in you. Romans 8, 3 and 4 says this. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God. So God did what the law could not do.

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He did not do.

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And in that body, God declares an end to sin's control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for our sins. Are you hearing this? This is glorious. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the spirit. But, Pastor, that's not my experience. Well, I'm giving it to you today, so it will be. I'm cleaning out the cobwebs. They're in the corners of your mind. I'm getting ready to bring a broom in. No, no, no. Steve has this thing he he blows leaves with. And he gets up on our deck. Yeah, I'm gonna do that if I have to today, okay? Romans says, For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. When I find myself thinking about being discouraged, or having feelings of disappointment, or even failure as a Christian, or sinful thoughts, I remind myself these thoughts are not from God. And I realize I'm not thinking in the spirit. So I tell myself, you need to get back over in the spirit. And he said, and when I do that, the thoughts leave. Okay. It can't, I mean, that's ridiculous. It can't be that easy. I watched that thing like five times, over and over and over again. I said, that's too easy. Just tell yourself to get back. Just tell yourself, Sandra, get back in the spirit. It just happens. But let me tell you something. On Wednesday, after I left prayer, I had some errands to run, some things to do. Steve calls me, or maybe I called him. Anyway, and I said, I'm feeling sort of weird. I'm feeling down and discouraged. I don't know what it is. Can someone say with me test? Oh, come on, Eva had a test. It's test time. So I'm telling him, he says, well, and so Steve being Steve is trying to, well, it could be. Or then it could be. Maybe it's this. So I'm going, well, yeah, I you know, I don't know. And the Lord said, Are those thoughts from me? All of a sudden I was standing sitting there watching that video over and over again. Are those thoughts from me? I said, No, they are not from you. Those feelings. Listen, thoughts can turn to feelings. Have you noticed that? You start talking about it, you start running around in your mind, and it goes from here to all over. And then you're down and discouraged. I don't know what's going on. Something must be wrong. Maybe I'm picking up something. Oh Lord. I gotta take an intermission here before I go on. I used to have a lady in my life, and she would call me two or three times a week, and she would say, Listen, I'm picking up something. I'd say, Well, don't. She would say, I'm picking up this. She said, I've got a wheezing on my chest, I'm picking it up. Something, somebody, somebody in the church may have pneumonia. I said, Have you gone to the doctor? Oh no, I know it's not me. I've examined myself. It's not me. Well, this went on for three stinking weeks. Every time she'd tell me, Pastor, somebody's carrying this. I'm afraid they're gonna have a heart attack or something like that. I said, do me a favor. Just say, I'm coming in to the doctor. I'm here because my pastor insisted. I know I'm picking up something. And uh she went in, he said, You got walking pneumonia. See, that's how far off we get. I'm picking up something, and I'll tell you what you're picking up. You're picking up your mind is not being renewed. So I said, I'm stepping back over in the spirit, and that thing lifted, and I just begin to rejoice in the Lord. It lifted. Y'all are thinking it can't be that easy. I'm telling you, it's a test. So, since Wednesday, today is Sunday. Do you know how many times the devil will come to you with thoughts or feelings or emotions that aren't from God? Every time I will immediately catch it and say, nope, that's not from God. I'm getting back in the spirit. Do you know what we do? We listen. We listen. It's okay to listen as long as it's a trigger to get back in the spirit. So the Lord said that to me yesterday. I I had a I had a thought which led to another, which led to another. Y'all know what I'm talking about. And I remembered, wait, those aren't from God. I stood up and said, I'm stepping back over in the spirit. And when I did, the joy of the Lord hit me. I'm telling you, I was rejoicing in the Lord. I was feeling this bubbling up inside of me. Lord, Lord, is this what it's like? Some of you are still saying, can't be that easy. So what are you gonna do? I was impressed, and I still am impressed by the power God has over my mind if I will give it to Him. Oh, come on. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Beloved, this is what it means to live a life in the Spirit. We're living the life we are given an open door to live the life He paid for us to have. I'm telling you, you're going to begin to hear all across the church throughout the United States and throughout the world, you're gonna start hearing this more and more. Christ is coming to get his church back from religion. You all aren't excited about this. Thank you, Cindy. Praise the Lord. Cindy is excited. She's a sick of religion, she can't stand it. She's saying, I'm not doing it, I'm not doing it. I'm taking what he has. Come on, come on. Beloved, it's Palm Sunday. I'm rejoicing when they waved those palm branches as Jesus came through, rode that donkey colt through Jerusalem, and they waved the palm branches. The Spirit of God was blowing. Oh, the Spirit of God was blowing. And they began to say, Hosanna! Hosanna to the highest! Come on. That's what happened. And the love of God came and redeemed sons and daughters back to his purpose for us as a dwelling place of God. The holy sanctuary. The holy space. God created you to walk in. And so you ever had somebody say to you, I don't know what it is. Something's different about you. No one said that? Oh my goodness. We got some work to do, boys and girls. The test is coming soon. When was the last time someone noticed the fragrance of Jesus on you? The power of God emanating out of you. And said, What's going on? Hallelujah. See, that's our goal. We are sent. We are sent by God as carriers of this sacred space that grabs people's hearts and they say, There's more. I don't have to live this way. I don't have to live this way. Hallelujah.