Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to the World Changers Church Gold Coast Podcast. Join us as we listen to today's message.
[00:00:06] Hallelujah.
[00:00:07] Alright.
[00:00:09] Good morning everybody.
How are you doing this morning?
Did you enjoy worship this morning?
Okay. Amen.
Well, Simon, did I always do.
Guys, this morning I want to talk to you about a couple of things.
Last week we started our series on foundation.
And was it Sunday last? Was it last week? And we talked about righteousness.
Out of that I got heaps of text messages and inquiries online about, I understand that I'm right with God because of Jesus, but why am I still sinning?
Why am I still falling short? Why am I still struggling?
And today I want to take you to a righteousness masterclass. Okay? Because the Bible says for you to be skilled in righteousness. Okay?
And I'm not saying that because I am the officient or perfecto counselor of righteousness. It's because I understand the righteousness that was put upon me by Jesus. Because my righteousness is as filthy racks.
There is nothing I can do to be righteous.
Righteousness was placed on me.
So the more effort I put into being holy, the less holy I am.
Does that make sense now?
[00:01:45] Well, what does that mean?
[00:01:46] What am I supposed to do? Well, we're gonna talk about that. Because surrender is the key element to righteousness.
[00:01:54] If you surrender to God and walk
[00:01:57] in the spirit, you walk a righteous life.
If you surrender to the flesh and what you think and how you feel, you walk a carnal life.
[00:02:09] And a lot of that can happen in church. You can actually be self righteous, self proclaimed righteousness.
[00:02:16] Well, I prayed an hour today.
I was before the Lord and all of his angels. I felt the Holy Spirit.
[00:02:24] You can shamarama and all that boogalooga and you are still not holy because of your physical expression.
[00:02:34] You are holy and righteous because of Jesus.
[00:02:37] Amen.
[00:02:39] I'm glad we all agree.
[00:02:41] So you are made right through God by Christ.
And as my mind is renewed to who I am in him, grace teaches
[00:02:52] me to live free.
We have an epidemic in the body of Christ.
We have the soulish realm that still thinks, still feels, still has a will and still has an emotion.
[00:03:08] And we think that just because we have thought that we are now unholy.
You are to take every thought captive by the renewing of your mind.
And the only way you can renew your mind is to get in the Word and to get before the presence of God, who then being in his
[00:03:27] presence, begins to shape how you think.
[00:03:31] Amen. Does that make sense?
What does presence look like?
[00:03:36] Is it incense?
[00:03:38] Is it Nordic music in the background?
What does the presence of God look like?
Literally, it is stillness and being present. To hear the raindrop in the storm, to lean in and to focus on him so much, whether it be in word or in worship or in prayer, that the noise of your mind begins to get still.
And the thinking of what you got to do. And Lord, I got to do the Martha and Mary moments begins to get quiet.
[00:04:14] And you begin to receive before you give.
[00:04:18] Amen.
[00:04:19] All right, so today I want to speak to you about something.
Am I really right with God?
[00:04:30] I want to speak to you about the reality that.
[00:04:33] Let's begin here. That. Have you ever had those weeks where you love God, you worship and you're feeling your best, and you just say amen to everything and God is good. Amen.
[00:04:46] Right?
[00:04:46] But then you have those weeks where you didn't say amen to everything. You said, oh, man, to everything.
The traffic's gotten worse today.
I couldn't get to church on time because of the triathlon. Those healthy people praise God for their vanity. No, I'm kidding.
Actually, one of my friends is in it today, so I'm gonna have to repent of that. Forgive me, brother, if you listen to this.
[00:05:15] So why am I still struggling?
Why do I have those weeks that are good? Why do I have those weeks that are bad? Why do I have those moments? Why am I still tempted?
I'm still struggling? Am I really right with God?
And if I am right with God, how does that truth teach me and change the way I live?
Because if I know I'm right with
[00:05:37] God, does that mean I can just go sin freely?
Who said that?
[00:05:42] Absolutely not.
But if I am right with God, how does that truth change the way I live?
Well,
[00:05:53] let me ask you a question. This is gonna be disgusting.
Would you eat dog food if it was offered to you?
Cause you know it's dog food, right?
Kibbles and Bits doesn't attract you, right?
[00:06:05] Cat food especially, that stinks.
[00:06:08] You cat people need Jesus.
Amen.
[00:06:11] That cat food, when you open it up, I know your house.
Amen.
So if you wouldn't eat those things. Cause you're not a dog or a cat, why do you sin?
[00:06:21] You know it stinks. You know it smells, but you're hungry.
[00:06:27] It has instant gratification, but instant regret.
As a homeless person when I was 16 to 18, I ate things.
[00:06:35] And I won't say that I ate dog food, but I ate things that I wouldn't normally eat because I was hungry. And I had instant regret because I was homeless.
[00:06:43] I did what I had to do. And sometimes that's how sin was presents itself.
[00:06:48] I just need relief. I just need gratification. It will give instant gratification but lead
[00:06:54] to destruction as a believer in Christ. And righteousness presents to you that if you keep doing that willfully, you know that you're sinning.
You're no longer bound by sin. You can no longer say, the devil made me do it.
Amen.
You have to actually choose to sin.
[00:07:15] All right. Am I talking to the choir this morning?
[00:07:19] For many of us believers, the real battle is not where they think it is.
[00:07:26] The first battle is not always behavior. It is identity.
You're not a dog.
[00:07:33] You don't eat dog food.
[00:07:34] You're not a cat, you don't eat cat food.
[00:07:36] If you keep speaking from your past, you will eat of the things of your past.
If you keep saying you're an alcoholic, you'll drink alcohol. If you keep saying you're an addict, you'll do drugs. If you keep saying you're a womanizer, you'll keep looking.
Your identity and the way you think of yourself shapes your actions. And if you know you're in Christ, you will not do things that are out of Christ.
Amen.
Well, I just believe in sex before marriage because you got to do a test drive. You need to get saved, get saved.
Praise Jesus. Get saved, get saved, get saved, get saved. That type of thinking is not in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
[00:08:26] Can't believe I said that.
[00:08:31] Paul said some pretty tough stuff, and so did Peter.
[00:08:34] So maybe I fit in their category. I don't know.
[00:08:37] Many believers think their greatest problem is their behavior. They ask, how do I stop doing this? How do I stop falling into this? How do I stop repeating this pattern?
[00:08:47] And while those honest questions are there, there is always a deeper question.
Because beneath behavior is belief.
And beneath and beneath belief call causes patterns, which comes from identity.
Very often, a real battle is not what you're doing. It's what you're believing about yourself.
And that's the why you do it. Because you cannot consistently live beyond the identity you still secretly agree with.
I struggle with alcohol.
[00:09:26] You living as an identity, as an alcoholic.
I just can't stop watching porn. You probably still are struggling with sexuality, and it's somewhere in your identity that you have to say, and girls, you don't have to start dressing like a
[00:09:42] potato sack to stop this stuff.
[00:09:45] You can still be pretty men. You can still be handsome. You do not have to be ugly.
You do not have to become unattractive. To stop this in your life, you have to say no.
And you have to cut that out of your life.
Amen.
[00:10:03] Am I speaking too truthful this morning?
Yes.
Stop it.
Stop it.
[00:10:13] And that's why the enemy listen to this. That's why the enemy does. He works overtime to keep believers in sin.
[00:10:21] Consciousness instead of Christ. Consciousness failure Consciousness instead of righteousness. Consciousness. Amen.
[00:10:31] If I think of my past, most of you think I look like an IT guy.
[00:10:35] And think if I came to your
[00:10:36] house today, I'm there to fix your computer.
Amen.
You would not know that I was a former drug runner, gang member, fighter. Why? Because my identity is changed so much, I no longer look like I used to.
Amen. I don't talk like I used to. I don't walk like I used to. I don't think like I used to. Why? Because I have accepted my identity. Key word here in Christ.
[00:11:07] All right.
This is why Scripture does not only tell us to change our behavior. It tells us. It does not tell us to change our behavior. It tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.
Amen.
[00:11:27] And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove
[00:11:33] what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Renew your mind by what?
The Word.
[00:11:41] So the Word tells you who you
[00:11:42] are and you are transformed, not conformed.
[00:11:47] A lot of Christians today are conformed
[00:11:49] to religion, not transformed by Jesus.
[00:11:53] You do not need a checklist of behavioral management.
You need to be transformed in your identity. You are not Susie.
[00:12:01] Oh, I can't say that, Lord.
[00:12:04] You are not Susie the club goer. Amen.
You.
I can't. No.
You are not that person anymore.
Amen.
You are not do. Do it all.
You ain't that guy no more.
You ain't mister. You are not that guy.
Amen.
Some of you are just not that guy, period.
Stop relating to your past.
Amen.
[00:12:44] Ephesians. I'm trying to make y' all laugh because I got a hard message for you today.
[00:12:48] So if I can make you feel
[00:12:49] good while I'm cutting your flesh, I
[00:12:51] mean, faithful are the wounds of a friend. Amen.
[00:12:56] Now, I could get up here.
I used to be in a three piece suit when I preached and I could get up here and I'd be like, Ephesians in the Word of God says chapter four, verses 22 through 24. I can't do that. I am comfortable with the Word.
I am confident with the Word. But do not take my charisma and my jokes as lack of reverence.
So let's look at this.
[00:13:26] That you put off concerning your formal
[00:13:28] conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according to deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
[00:13:37] Yeah.
And that you put on the new man, which was created according to God
[00:13:43] in true righteousness and holiness.
[00:13:46] Put on the new man.
Your responsibility is to believe that you're new.
Righteousness masterclass point one. Believe you are new.
You are not your 1970 self. Your 1980 self. And for those of you that are young Here, your 2005 self. Amen.
[00:14:05] No. Some of you were born then, so you're definitely not babies anymore. Your 2010 self.
[00:14:11] Amen.
You're not that person anymore. Amen.
You're just not that person. But if we go to Colossians, it also says this. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds. And this right here needs to be talked about.
How are you doing?
I'm fine. Clicking like a chicken.
52 flavors of favor. Liar.
Tell me what's going on in your life. Let's come together in prayer. Let's agree. Let one send a thousand a flight. Let two send ten thousand a flight. But if you're constantly telling me that you're fine, how am I to actually know what you're battling?
[00:14:53] Cause we are all in.
[00:14:55] In a battle. I don't want to hear you vent. That's for your partner. I don't want to hear you complain. That's for Tina. I don't.
[00:15:03] Amen.
[00:15:06] Hey, she's the heart person. I'm the logic person.
[00:15:11] Amen.
[00:15:13] What I want to hear to you is I'm fighting my biggest battle right now. Will you pray with me? And I will say, let's go to war in Jesus name.
Amen.
Notice that the language here is very simple.
And I have put on a new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him.
Knowledge, folks.
Knowing Him, The Bible is not telling you to become a new man by your effort. It's telling you that in Christ you already have a new identity. And now your mind must be renewed to what God has already made you.
Amen.
I am not.
I am not that chinko. I mean, I used to wear these things that were like bell bottoms that were like 3 foot in diameter that somehow came back into whatever it is.
I'm not that person. So the issue is not the old man's.
[00:16:19] How do I say this?
[00:16:21] The Issue is not that the old man is still your identity.
[00:16:24] The issue is that many believers still
[00:16:26] think from the old script.
That's why you shouldn't watch certain things,
[00:16:34] because it feeds the old script.
Amen.
[00:16:40] They're born again, but they're still defining self, defining from the past.
You're accepted, but you're still thinking with rejected thoughts.
[00:16:52] You gotta.
[00:16:54] Who are you? I am the righteousness of God, child of God. I'm equipped with the armor of the word. Praise the Lord.
Amen.
If you keep doing these things, you are the righteousness in Christ. Still introducing yourself by your old labels.
You know, I can't stand this one. I'm just a sinner saved by grace.
Sinner saved by grace. Sinner saved by grace.
[00:17:24] Not even going there.
[00:17:26] Sinner saved by. I am not a sinner.
I was a sinner before Christ because I was bound in sin. I am a saint that is tempted to sin.
[00:17:38] And.
[00:17:38] And if I forget who I am, I will sin.
But then I have an advocate with the Father.
If I mess up, go to him. Repent. Feel some remorse.
Stop doing it. Oh, Lord, it's me again. When you have a sinner saved by grace, you have an identity that gives
[00:17:58] you a loophole to continue to sin.
[00:18:02] Get the loophole out.
Stop it.
Amen.
If you keep doing this, if you keep identifying those old labels, you'll end up building your identity around the struggle
[00:18:16] instead of around your Savior, man.
[00:18:19] Here's another one. Jules, Tina, here's another one.
Well, how you been? Well, the devil's been on my back all week. You are identifying with the struggle.
[00:18:34] We all fight devils, we all fight humans in the sense of, like that, human interaction and our own human right. But we don't war against flesh and blood.
But if we keep identifying with the struggle, we can't see the Savior.
And it's where the Savior is, is
[00:18:53] where my identity is. It's where the Savior is, where my aim is.
Following him, not my struggle. I'm not surviving.
[00:19:00] I'm thriving.
[00:19:01] Even in my struggle, I'm thriving.
[00:19:03] Amen.
Oh, come on, Somebody is this good?
[00:19:11] So hear this clearly. Salvation changes your nature, but renewal changes your patterns.
If you're stuck in trauma, find a way out.
[00:19:22] Get. Get some counseling.
[00:19:25] If you are stuck with addictions, they might be something in your emotions that needs to change, that needs to be redeemed in Christ.
But get it worked out. Get it renewed with the word. Get it renewed with somebody, and then see the pattern change.
[00:19:43] Amen.
[00:19:44] Does that make sense?
Is this good? Somebody look at your neighbor and say, my patterns are changing.
[00:19:52] My patterns are changing.
[00:19:56] So.
All right, don't go crazy now.
[00:19:59] Don't go crazy now.
[00:20:01] The more your mind comes into agreement with who you are in Christ, the
[00:20:05] more your life begins to reflect what heaven has already declared on you.
Heaven has declared you righteous because of Jesus.
And the more you align with Jesus, the more your life looks righteous. But it's got nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with your surrender to the Spirit, your surrender to Jesus. Amen.
[00:20:31] Say that again.
It matters that you surrender to Jesus.
[00:20:36] Amen. Cause without your surrender, you cannot have his righteousness because it is his righteousness that you walk in.
Don't be holy because you are holy.
Be holy because he is holy, because you've surrendered to his holiness. You've surrendered to his purity. You've surrendered to his righteousness.
[00:20:54] And this is why identity matters so much.
[00:20:57] Because if we do not know how God sees us, we will keep trying to earn what Jesus already gave.
Amen.
The next thing we have to look
[00:21:07] at, You are right with God because
[00:21:14] of Jesus, not your performance.
[00:21:17] A lot of people think now you
[00:21:18] need to keep coming to church because community is where change happens.
[00:21:22] But coming to church actually on a Sunday is just a taste of what you should be doing all week long.
This 40 minutes to an hour and a half is not enough.
So let me be abundantly clear. You are not right with God because you had a good week. You are right with God because you are not right with God because of
[00:21:41] your prayer and how strong it was.
[00:21:43] You are not right with God because
[00:21:45] you read so many chapters and you finished your degree, because you resisted temptation.
[00:21:50] You're not right with God because you've been consistent enough or you'd be like the rich man. You are right with God because of Jesus.
And because of Jesus.
[00:22:00] And living for him in him is
[00:22:02] the reason my life is the way it is.
So what do I do with sin, Jesus? What do we do with sin? Should I go to the club tonight?
[00:22:10] What you think Jesus is gonna say?
[00:22:13] What you really think Jesus is gonna say? Well, I advise against it.
Should I have sex before marriage? Jesus? I think so.
Well, there is a way. No, there's no loopholes.
He just says no.
He just says no. But because you go to friends, your momma and them in your own mind, and you find the loopholes in the word, you continue in sin because you found to give an excuse. Let me tell you something. There's no loopholes in righteousness. There is surrender to him and walk in it.
Amen.
This is not a WWJD moment. What would Jesus do as my new bracelet? No, this is relationship with Jesus.
I tell men all the time when
[00:22:59] it comes to marriage, if you wouldn't
[00:23:01] watch it without your wife, you shouldn't be watching it, period.
And if you wouldn't watch it with your pastor, you shouldn't be watching it.
Hey, hey, now. Hey. I found a way. I found a way.
You shouldn't be watching it.
[00:23:22] Amen.
[00:23:23] And if you make your pastor watch something you shouldn't watch, repent.
No, I'm just saying.
Yeah, I love you, too. But the reality is this. If you wouldn't watch it with your mama there, so if you wouldn't watch it with those natural people and you wouldn't do it with those natural people there, why in the world you inviting Jesus, your captive audience on the inside?
Stop it.
Can I tell you something God told me to tell a man one time?
He's like, I'm struggling with pornography.
[00:24:04] I said, it's okay. Jesus is right there watching it with you.
And he was like, no, he's not. Oh, yeah.
[00:24:10] He sees everything.
Oh, he doesn't just roll down the blind because you're doing.
Y' all laughing because you're uncomfortable.
You mean Jesus saw me do that? He sure did.
[00:24:33] Repent.
[00:24:35] Repent.
What's going. Did I tell you I'd preach a
[00:24:41] hard message, but I'd be comedic?
Because laughter brings joy.
God loves you.
He's not going to beat you up about your sin, but he is going to convict you. He stopped condemning you because of Jesus, but he is going to convict you.
[00:24:58] And if laughter brings you to think
[00:24:59] about it later and it causes you to change, that's what we need.
But let's not be too funny about what we're saying.
He does see everything.
[00:25:13] So many.
[00:25:14] So that means your righteousness is not
[00:25:16] fragile, it's not temporary, and it's not
[00:25:18] dependent on your latest spiritual report card.
Amen. Your righteousness is grounded in a person called Jesus Christ.
My goodness.
Romans 5:17 says this.
For if by one man's offense, death reigned through the one, much more. Those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in their life through the one Jesus.
Righteousness is a gift, and it is important because a gift is not earned. The moment you must earn it, it stops being a gift.
Okay, so if righteousness is a gift, then you do not sweat to achieve it. You receive it by faith.
[00:26:08] Everything that you sacrifice or obey to
[00:26:11] do, God is not to earn a thing. It's because you love Him.
If I am working hours upon hours upon hours for my family, it's not
[00:26:21] because I'm trying to earn their love.
[00:26:23] It's because I love them.
[00:26:25] So if I choose to serve in
[00:26:27] church seven days a week, it's not because I'm trying to earn God's love. It's because I've decided that that's how I'm going to serve him. That's how I'm going to worship Him. Amen.
So that grace that we read about here, this gift brings rest because you begin to realize you're standing with God as a gift through Jesus. Amen.
So if we look at this, Another verse, Hebrews 10:14, brings even more clarity. It tells us that by one offering, Jesus has perfected forever those who have been sanctified.
I wanna stick here for a moment because this is where we get into the masterclass. Cause it's like, sanctified, set apart, holy, great, sweet.
[00:27:08] And we all have a little idea
[00:27:09] about what that looks like.
Listen to me for the next five minutes.
[00:27:14] What does that mean?
[00:27:16] It means that in one sacrifice, Jesus completely settled your standing before God even while he continues to work in your life day by day.
Next thing I want to say to you, so your position is secure even while your growth is ongoing,
[00:27:35] your standing
[00:27:36] is settled even while your walk is still being shaped.
When God said this to me yesterday, I had to sit down.
I had to sit down when God said this to me yesterday. That's why I can say this with confidence. I am not right with God because I got everything right.
I'm right with God because Jesus made me right. That's the gospel.
Amen.
But where people continue to struggle. Yeah, but I mean, I'm gonna tell you what. There's still the yeah, but sin. The yeah, but sin, Right?
[00:28:13] And I thought of you when I
[00:28:15] thought about the yeah, but sin, because I used to think the same way.
And that brings me to this point.
Your struggle does not cancel your standing.
[00:28:26] And I need you to hang with me.
[00:28:28] I know you got some tough stuff
[00:28:31] going on in your mind.
[00:28:33] And you got some doctrine, you got some old stuff, some new stuff, and I want to help you right now. So let's maybe for a moment dig in, in this point, okay?
This is where so many believers need belief, because there is relief. Because this is where the enemy loves to attack. I've messed up again. He comes to the believer who is still struggling and still growing, still facing a battle and whispers, see if you were really saved. You would not still be dealing with
[00:29:03] this if you were really changed. You would not still feel this tension. If you were really righteous, you would
[00:29:08] not still have this fight. And that's the whispers of the enemy.
[00:29:13] Amen. And sometimes other dogmatic Christians.
[00:29:17] Amen.
[00:29:18] And because many believers do not know how to separate their standing from their
[00:29:22] condition, they begin to believe the lie they're standing from their current condition.
[00:29:30] Do you know you're not going to be the person you are today, five days from now, that God is growing you every day, day?
So you can't even compare yourself to last Sunday?
You've grown since then.
And the language of condition goes, well, you know, I struggle with.
[00:29:50] No, I currently struggle with.
Not I struggle with. I currently struggle with.
[00:29:56] Because I struggle with means.
[00:29:58] I own that struggle, but I currently
[00:30:02] struggle with means I'm leaving and growing
[00:30:05] out of this struggle.
[00:30:07] Amen.
Your standing, listen to this is who you are in Christ,
[00:30:14] accepted, loved, righteous, forgiven and secure. Your condition is your daily walk still
[00:30:23] being renewed, matured, and brought in alignment
[00:30:27] with what is already true in your spirit.
[00:30:30] You're standing. Cause one, let me put it to you real clear. The Bible says that one day you'll
[00:30:34] take off this incorruptible seed and no, this corruptible seed and put on the incorruptible seed.
[00:30:40] That means we're going to lay down
[00:30:41] this flesh that likes donuts at midnight
[00:30:45] and we're going to pick up a body that doesn't even think about those temptations.
The reason you struggled is you're still robed in this stuff.
[00:30:55] Amen.
[00:30:56] The reason you struggled is your mind, your soul did not get saved.
[00:31:03] Your spirit was renewed and born again.
[00:31:07] So there are memories of what happened to you as a child. There are memories of what you did last summer. There are memories of what you did last night. There are temptations in the way you think. And until you change the way you think by who you are, because as a man thinks, so is he. You have to stop identifying with your past and start identifying with who you are in Christ to get away from
[00:31:30] the conditioned struggle and to step into the standing consciousness.
[00:31:35] Amen. Is this making sense?
So if you confuse those two things, if you confuse those two things,
[00:31:45] then
[00:31:46] every bad day becomes a crisis of identity.
Standing with Christ, who I am in
[00:31:53] Christ, my real identity versus my current struggle, my condition.
[00:31:59] If I put these two together and say, oh, I messed up, I am just a failure.
[00:32:06] I am just this and I am just that, and you label yourself with those old conditions that are still a
[00:32:12] part of your identity in sin.
If you confuse those two things, every failure becomes a crisis of identity.
[00:32:22] And that's where the enemy is still getting you.
Because you are sin conscious, failure conscious instead of righteous conscious.
Amen.
[00:32:31] Does this make sense to everyone?
[00:32:33] Are you enjoying this?
[00:32:35] The gospel does not teach us to live that way.
[00:32:41] That every temptation makes us question our righteousness. That every wrong day is an identity crisis. That every failure makes us question our place with God. The Gospel teaches us that our standing
[00:32:52] is established in Christ.
[00:32:54] And from that place our security grace begins to transform our walk.
[00:33:00] Do you spend money when you're broke?
No.
[00:33:05] Some say yeah.
Cause you have a credit card, that's
[00:33:09] why I don't have one.
Amen. But when you got very little money, you got very little money. You stop doing certain things because you're not confident that you got enough.
But when you're rich, when you got enough money, you're frugal, you're smart, but you're okay with spending here and there. You're pretty comfortable with it, right?
[00:33:34] Okay.
[00:33:34] I'm not talking about sin, I'm talking about identity. When you're not where you, where you don't really understand who you are with God, every little moment is like, I'm not sure if God's with me. I'm not sure if I should take this step. And I need to go to this conference and have this person lay hands on me. I need to read that book and I need to do this thing and checklist, checklist, checklist. Because you have not accepted that you are enough in Christ.
And you still need somebody else on this earth to lay their hands on you, to get you to understand what God's called you to do.
So you are you in Christ.
I can help guide you. That's what minister means. But it is not my job to tell you.
There is no ministry gift in the Bible that's supposed to tell you what to do. They're supposed to lay a path in front of you and say if you do this, these things, da da da da.
But they are not God. They cannot tell you what to do.
It is between you and God to know these things.
And that comes from confidence in your identity and acceptance in Christ that will transform your walk.
Man. For, oh dude, first three years of my life I was in church seven days a week and I'm talking about church, I'm talking about like I never went to them snake handling churches. As I told the boys last night,
[00:34:53] like they were, they like. And the Bible Says, you shall pick up snakes and they shall not harm you.
[00:34:56] There's people out there that handle snakes to prove their faith. Thank God I never went to one of those. But I got close because I was just trying to find the truth anywhere and everywhere, seven days a week. Amen.
And sometimes you're searching so hard that you don't realize your answers are right there in. In you. In the Spirit.
Amen.
[00:35:20] All right, I'm getting a little bit off, but praise the Lord. It's the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 says, I say, then walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
[00:35:30] You want to stop sinning?
[00:35:33] There it is.
[00:35:35] It is the lust and deceitfulness of the flesh that leads all men away.
[00:35:40] Listen, I make jokes, but I love food. Me and food have a love hate relationship, especially me and cupcakes don't make cupcakes. I'm gonna eat the whole thing, and nobody else is gonna be able to have any.
Amen.
[00:35:57] So walk in the Spirit, and you
[00:35:59] shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
First, let's look at this.
Yes, the flesh is still something we must yield to. Second, there is a way to live that is greater than the pool of the flesh and the way of the life and the spirit. Man, I probably got about another 10 minutes, bro. Yeah, give me about 10 more minutes. I love you. That's my son. I could talk to him that way.
[00:36:23] Y' all hang out with me for about. Until about 11, 15.
[00:36:25] Would that be all right? Let me finish this message.
[00:36:27] Y' all want me to finish this message?
[00:36:29] All right. All right.
[00:36:31] Now.
[00:36:31] They being mean to you? Alex, I love you, man.
I love my sons.
[00:36:37] Second, there is a way to live
[00:36:39] that is greater than the pull of the flesh. And the way is a life in the Spirit. You cannot.
[00:36:44] There is a way to not yield
[00:36:46] to the flesh, and there is a way to walk in the Spirit.
[00:36:48] So if you're still in the battle, you're building your theology around the battle.
[00:36:56] Now, that needs to sink in.
[00:36:59] If you're still in the battle, no matter form it is, whether you're sinning
[00:37:02] or life is hard or your family
[00:37:04] or this or that. Listen, it's because you're building your theology around the fight. The only fight we have is the fight of faith.
Jesus took the battle on the cross. He won.
God doesn't need you to fight demons. He needs you to believe. You have the authority to speak on his behalf on this earth and declare his word that moves them.
[00:37:26] Amen.
[00:37:27] You're Building your theology around the battle.
That's why people think Christians can be possessed.
How can. How is God not enough to fill this vessel?
If I am truly, truly, truly, truly, truly born again and God. This is the house of God. How can anything else get in here?
It can oppress me and depress me, but the only thing that possesses me is the Holy Spirit.
[00:37:59] I just had to throw that one in there because there's some garbage out there, man.
[00:38:04] You're building your theology around the battle.
[00:38:07] Build it around Jesus. Because the present struggle is not proof
[00:38:12] that God has left you.
[00:38:14] Often the proof that the spirit of
[00:38:16] God is actively working in you, dealing with you, convicting you, teaching you, and
[00:38:21] leading you into greater freedom.
[00:38:24] So don't call yourself by the name of your struggle.
I am a failure.
[00:38:32] No, you're not. You are the righteousness of God and everything. I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. I'm an overcomer and a conqueror. In this current moment, I'm not progressing
[00:38:43] like I want to.
[00:38:44] But praise God. We will get there.
[00:38:47] Amen.
[00:38:48] Praise the Lord.
[00:38:52] Don't let your tempt. Oh, this is a good one.
Don't let your temptation rename you.
[00:38:58] Oh, he's just a womanizer.
[00:39:01] No, you're somebody that struggles looking a
[00:39:05] little bit, and you need to get
[00:39:07] your eyes back in them sockets.
[00:39:09] Amen.
[00:39:10] But you ain't a womanizer no more. If you know Jesus, you currently struggle with lust, and you need to get yourself off of Google
[00:39:18] and Instagram and Facebook.
[00:39:20] Probably stop watching some movies of today because you currently struggling with that.
[00:39:24] Let me tell you something. Everything in these movies got it in there.
[00:39:28] You need to get your head back in your sockets.
If you're struggling with lust, you're struggling with looking around. Don't go to the Gold coast beaches, don't go to public pools, because them women don't know you struggling.
It ain't their fault.
And I swear to Jesus, someone else comes in. Them women need to dress better in church. If you are liking the look of a kneecap and an armpit and a collarbone, them the ugliest things on. And feet. Come on, what you like about feet?
Y' all need Jesus.
I hope you hear this on the
[00:40:09] podcast and get saved.
[00:40:13] Amen.
And if you want people to dress better, you need to think better.
[00:40:23] There's something wrong with me today. I don't know.
I don't know.
The wrong with me is right with Jesus, because it looks like foolishness to the world.
[00:40:35] Condemnation pushes you to look at yourself,
[00:40:38] your Weakness, your struggle, your inconsistency.
But Jesus points right back and says, yes, there may still be a need for growth in your walk, but your standing is secure because of Him.
Amen.
The fight is real, but my righteousness is settled. So how do I live from what Christ has already done?
If you're still asking me questions about sin, how do I live? This is where we bring this home. How do I live from what Christ has already done?
How do I live from this truth?
Amen.
I had about 20 scriptures. If you want my notes, I'll give them to you.
How do I stop letting my condition speak louder than my standing?
How do I stop falling back into the old ways of thinking?
How do I walk in freedom Jesus has already purchased from me? Now, these are all questions I've been texted, not just from this congregation, from all over, people that have heard the message.
I've had people from America saying, that's right. But how?
This is where the Christian life becomes both deeply spiritual and deeply practical.
Because the answer is not that we try harder in the flesh. The answer is not that we sit back passively and do nothing.
The answer is that when we begin to live from who we already are in Christ, we renew our mind in what is already true. We let grace supply what we need and respond by faith.
And it's when we fill our inner life with truth until a daily condition becomes a reflect becomes, but comes to a place that reflects Jesus and what he's already done.
You know why you're struggling? You're just doom scrolling on Instagram.
You're filling your head with trash.
You want to know why you're struggling and why you're mad at the world
[00:42:33] and all of its politics.
[00:42:35] You've given it a gateway into your life.
[00:42:39] You want to know why you're struggling? You're still going out and hanging at the bars and clubs trying to find you a man or a woman there.
[00:42:44] They ain't there.
[00:42:45] God doesn't have you somebody sitting at the bar. That's the wrong well.
[00:42:51] Amen.
God has some for you that when you're running for him, you turn around and they're right there. Or you look to the left and they're right there and they run into. Amen.
Amen.
[00:43:09] The answer is that we begin to
[00:43:10] live our life from who we already are in Christ.
Romans 6 just got a few more scriptures. I know the kids are ramping up there. That's all right. I love them. They're good.
I don't know if I put this scripture in There, and that's okay. But Romans 6, 11, 14, write it down. Tells us to reckon ourselves dead, indeed to sin, but also to God in Christ Jesus. That means we begin to agree with God. We stop arguing with our new identity.
[00:43:40] I can't do that.
[00:43:41] You're arguing with your new identity.
[00:43:43] I don't see how I'm going to do that. God.
[00:43:45] You're arguing with your new identity.
Amen.
[00:43:48] We stop introducing ourselves
[00:43:52] as our former past.
We stop thinking that every moment needs a testimony of what we've been through to get here.
Well, I was a former alcoholic fighter, gunrunner, thug, and you know, I'm now married with three kids. Praise Jesus. You just gave so much glory to the devil, we stopped thinking that every
[00:44:13] moment needs you to tell your past story.
People are seeing you right there. Tell them why your life is good and tell your testimony when it's necessary.
[00:44:23] On Tuesday nights with Jeremy.
Amen. Amen.
[00:44:28] Colossians
[00:44:30] 3:1. I'm going to go. 3:1 2 tells us that if we have been raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand.
Set your mind on things above, not on things of this earth. Why are you still sinning? Because you're thinking about sin.
You think about it so much that you fail at it.
You give power to what you focus on.
And this is where grace and faith works together so beautifully.
Amen. Titus tells us that grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust and to live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age. Amen.
Philippians 2:13 tells us that it is God who works in us to both the will and to do his good pleasure.
Galatians 5:16 tells us to walk in the Spirit, and we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. God is not asking me to do this alone and to have it with faith trying to earn it.
Philippians 4:8 tells us what to think on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely and good report.
[00:45:39] What you're thinking on is shaping your direction. So why are you still sinning?
[00:45:44] What you thinking about?
John 8 and 32 reminds us that we shall know the truth, and the truth shall make us free.
[00:45:51] That means what you fill your minds with will shape your freedom.
What are you filling your mind with?
If you keep feeding shame, fear, failure,
[00:46:04] old labels and condemnation, then you shouldn't
[00:46:08] be surprised when your soul feels trapped.
[00:46:13] Amen.
[00:46:16] So I don't get free by making
[00:46:18] sin the center of my Christianity.
I get free by making Christ the center of my Christianity.
It's just that simple.
I don't stop by.
I don't stop living like a sinner in my mind by obsessing over my weakness.
I stop living like a son or daughter of God.
I forget what if I.
[00:46:43] If I forget what he says is true about me?
[00:46:47] I will return to my old nature.
A dog returns to its vomit, and a pig returns to the mire.
Amen.
[00:46:55] Are you a dog? No.
[00:46:58] You are jewels.
You are sons and daughters of the most high.
So this is how I live from what Christ has already done. I renew my mind.
I respond by faith, and I fill my inner life with truth until my walk begins to reflect my standing.
[00:47:13] Ask my family. You start talking negative around my house,
[00:47:16] I'm like, uh, go talk to Jesus if you want to talk. And we hear the negative and we pray it out, cool. But if you want to just vent and vile, be upset and you want
[00:47:29] to talk bad about people, not at my house.
[00:47:32] I won't hear that stuff.
[00:47:34] You ain't going to talk bad about. You ain't going to talk bad about
[00:47:37] Paddy or Claire in my house.
[00:47:38] I ain't gonna let you.
[00:47:39] I don't care who you are.
[00:47:40] Why? Because they're children of God.
You ain't gonna talk bad about Simon in my house.
[00:47:47] He's a child of God.
[00:47:48] I'm not gonna let you do that because I'm not gonna let you fill my mind with what the enemy thinks
[00:47:53] about them instead of what God thinks about them.
[00:47:57] And I may not be a perfect pastor, and I may not do everything right, and I may cancel every once in a while, and I may sometimes do things that just really make you angry.
But I'm still called.
[00:48:07] I'm still appointed to this seat.
[00:48:10] And you tearing me down behind closed doors ain't helping me. If anything, you're giving the enemy darts to throw at me.
So sin is what you focus on.
[00:48:23] It's not because I never struggle.
[00:48:26] It's not because I never fail.
[00:48:28] It's not because my condition is always perfect, because I know who I am in Christ.
Amen.
It's because I know who I am in Christ.
And you know, I've spent about 72 hours writing this sermon, and you know, when God told me to write one down, we haven't wrote it. Me and the Lord haven't wrote a sermon in probably six to seven months. He's just been. I've been showing up and preaching from the heart posture because we've had a lot of heart matters.
But today I had to Teach. Because we have a lot of brain. We have a lot of things in the soulless realm that needs to change.
So I want to ask you a question.
What have you been thinking about lately?
Because that may mean why your righteousness is a little skewed, not because God has removed it.
And what pressure have you put on yourself to get things done? You know, you ever had that urgency. Can I give you a little phrase that you need to keep in your pocket?
The devil drives.
God guides.
If you're feeling pushed, like you just gotta do it, that's something of the flesh.
[00:49:50] I don't care how much you say it's God. I don't care. You're building your theology around the struggle. You're building your thinking around the moment.
[00:49:58] And I gotta do something. We gotta pray.
[00:50:01] Do you think that God is surprised by your situation?
Do you really think he's gonna. Oh, no. Do you see what's going down there? In Eli's life we never expected.
Do you think he didn't already provide provision for that moment?
No, he did. In His Word.
It's whether you decided to read His Word before you got in that situation or not. Amen.
You're right. Standing with God, your urgency doesn't change the situation.
[00:50:32] Your urgency causes you to make mistakes.
Trust God.
Don't stay in the place of doubt.
Don't leave today in shame.
Don't leave in uncertainty.
Stand again in the finished works of Jesus.
So if you would stand to your feet, every head bowed and every eye closed, I've done my best in this vessel to give you the tools to sharpen your skills and righteousness.
Father, we just thank you this morning.
We thank you for your abundant grace.
We thank you for your righteousness.
We thank you for every good gift you've given us.
You know, as we continue to pray and you pray for your neighbor,
[00:51:35] realize
[00:51:36] this holy moment that you're standing in, What is the beauty that God is releasing from you versus the beauty that you see?
And it's so good to see you this morning.
It's good to see some of you back in church.
I've missed some of you. I'm not going to highlight you. I'm not highlighting you. I just happened to look at you. I'm sorry, but I've missed a lot of you.
I've enjoyed dinner with some of you.
But the greatest communion we can have is past this moment. It's past tables. It's in prayer. It's in the Word, and it's in belief. And knowing that God loves me.
Amen.
May you walk in confidence.
May you walk in victory.
And as they're still praying. I'm just blessed.
I am just blessed.
Did we answer this question today?
Am I really right with God?
Yeah. Can you give the Lord a hand clap of praise if you believe that?
[00:53:04] Thank you for tuning in to today's message. To connect or find out more, you can reach us online at worldchangers.life. Remember to subscribe for more uplifting messages from our pastoral team. And may you continue to walk in faith and transformation until we meet again.
