Transcription
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[Music]
It's awesome. We're out here on a Friday night. I'm glad to be here. Uh, I pretty much travel every weekend. People say thank you a lot and stuff. I say, man, I'm not even sure what you're thinking. Before I'm having the time of my life. Like, I don't know that I'm doing anything that's sacrificial. People say, well, yeah, but you left your home, your way. Well, I'm only out of my bed two nights a week, and I get to have the time of my life. And I'll be back home Sunday night, God willing. And it's just fun. So I appreciate your hunger. This worship, I, I come back here. I've been here a lot. All of a sudden, like, boom, boom, boom. That's not even normal for me. But I love you guys. This worship just flips me out. I just love this worship. I love the people back there and they're singing. And I'm like, are they gonna have people back there? He said, I don't know about tonight. We walked in, I said, hey, they're there. I don't know. I just get an amazing blessing out of being here and just seeing the life and the worship and the love for Jesus. So thanks for letting me come. Amen. And be a friend of the house.
So I got a lot on my heart. Uh, usually, uh, let's pray. We better pray. A lot on my heart. Let's pray and make sure we're right tonight. I could say 100 things and it would be an amen, but we want to say what He's saying to this room. Amen. So why don't we just, uh, turn our hearts to Him? You came, you took the time to be here. Let's ask Him to speak to us. What He would say if Matt would have handed the Lord to Mike tonight. He knows what He'd say. And let's believe that that would be the only words that we hear tonight. Father, we just ask that in Jesus' name. We open our heart to You. We ask You to come and father us. We ask You to come and lead us and guide us in truth. Empower us. Solidify some folks. Put them on solid ground, unshakable places. God, where they see and understand. Heal and restore tonight. Encourage, strengthen. Father, would You say what You want to say? We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
All right. So I caught what Pastor Matt was saying. He was, he was, he wasn't helping, man. You weren't helping me any when you got up here and shared because everything he's saying, you could preach like three different sermons out of the little bit he said there. I'm like, oh, and already had a couple things in my heart. So I don't know if I'll say any of them. But I want to touch one thing where he was at, talking, and he said about some of us have been, all the things we have been through have led us to this place, et cetera, et cetera. I want to clarify something about what we go through. It's not that he said anything wrong. Everything he said was, I totally agreed with. Who knows we go through challenges? Who knows we go through circumstances? Who knows that things happen and stuff goes on in our lives? Somehow we got the idea a long time back, ever since I can remember, since I've been on the earth, I don't know when it started, but somewhere along the line, Christians started to believe that God was just here to get us through. That God was just here to make sure things went better for us. And our prayer lives began to be just praying for circumstantial blessing, for smooth seas, for no trouble, for stuff to go the way we hope. Is that fair? Are you following what I'm saying? And the general mentality of a Christian was praying to God for God to help them get through life. Y'all with me? And some of you in here might think, yeah, I don't know because I'm about that. None of that has anything to do with why we're a Christian. Like, none of it. Like, like He never promised us that everything would go the way we hope. He promised to always be in us, with us, never leave us, and never forsake us. And, and what, here's what the Lord wants. He wants a people. Bear with me tonight and get this. Let's get this tonight. God wants a people that reveal Him in the midst of life. That live by His Spirit. That walk out His way in the middle of whatever it is you're facing. He, He wants you to make Him seen and known. That word is called manifest. Who's ever heard the word manifest? So manifest means to, to be, to be revealed, to see, to know, to understand, to make Him known, right? To manifest Him. So, so God wants to live in us and in the midst of life, He wants us to look like He would if He was in the middle of that. Does that make sense? That's the Christ in you. That's the Christ in you. The Christ in you is the hope of glory. The hope of glory means the, the realization of God. Like the, the hope of glory that God's glory is any manifest attribute of God, anything seen and realized about God is the glory of God revealed. Like who God is manifested is the glory of God. You get it? So the Christ in you is the hope of God being seen and known. Does that make sense? That's why we love not our own lives unto death. Because if you love your life, you're going to be moved by situations. You're just going to pray because you're in trouble. And all your prayer life is going to be from, from trouble, from problems. It's going to be problem-driven. You're not going to be actually declaring more of Him, a greater expression of Him, His wisdom in the moment, what Christ looks like in this situation. You're going to be more like, "Help God, why me? What's going on?" Ah. And when you have those questions and that response, there's no manifestation of Christ. In fact, you get reduced into the expression of the people that don't even go to church or know the Lord. Then, well, the thing that only makes us different is, hey, we say we know Him, and we're forgiven, and we're going to go to heaven. See, the goal is in heaven someday. The goal is heaven now. The goal is heaven now. Your will be done on earth, that is, is in heaven. Go preach saying, "The kingdom of God is here." Where is it? You're looking at it. It's in me. It's in you. I'm looking at the body of Christ. I'm looking at the roster of heaven. I'm looking at the best expression of Him that He's got. Yeah. And He paid for you. And He put the same Spirit in you that raised Christ from the dead. He forgave you. He washed you of everything you've ever done. He's marked you clean, right? And, and marked you holy, blameless, and above reproach. Colossians 1. I could show you that. It's our job to believe that. Wake up that way. I love what you said. You said, "In the last couple years, I lived holier by accident than I ever did trying." And I thought, that's the grace of God. See, the grace of God empowers you. If He changes your perspective, it'll change your life. The grace of God is in the mercy of God. The grace of God is the empowerment of God. They are two different things. Mercy of God gives you a chance when you deserve none. Grace empowers you now that you got the chance. Are you with me? The grace of God, it's God's working power. It's God's ability on your behalf when you didn't earn it or deserve it. Paul said, "I am what I am by the grace of God." Paul was getting beat. Paul was getting stoned. Paul was getting whipped and whipped with rods. Paul just kept on trucking and preaching. Didn't count his own life dear. You read the list of sufferings of Paul. Just one thing on the list is enough to shipwreck most Christians in the mentality that we tend to have if we're not careful. Are you with me? That's not a correction. I'm cheering us on. Look, we're all going to have trials and troubles and things. There's things that are going to try to catch us off guard. There's actually schemes and wiles of the devil that are even set up and designed to stumble us. And we're just not unaware of his device. And we give him no place, right? So we're fully surrendered. We love not our own life unto death. We've denied ourself. We pick up our cross and we're following Jesus. So no longer do we have the same vocabulary, the same mentality, the same perspective. No longer do we let sin against us give us the right to have sin in us. We don't retaliate. We overcome evil with good. Why? Because we're Christians. We're Christians. We're little Christ-like ones. Yeah. And the Christ in us is the hope. Catch this. As the value of your life. People say, "Well, what's my life?" I'll tell you what your life is about and what it's worth. The Christ in you is the hope of making God seen and known through your life. He paid for that. He redeemed you and called you out of darkness and brought you into the light so you can walk in the light as He's in the light. You get it? He said, "Let your light shine before men so they see your life." Come on. This thing isn't some desperate cry, "God, help me get by." It's, "Thank You. Thank You for giving me life. Thank You for giving me the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. Thanks for giving me something new." So I'm putting off the old. I'm putting on the new. Not conformed to the world, but transformed because I'm thinking different than I've ever thought before. I'm not thinking the way I was trained to think. I'm thinking the way He's taught me to think. Yeah. I'm loving not my own life. We've got to remember that. Come on. Satan's accusing day and night. A day and night he's accusing. He's attacking faith. He doesn't believe we're sincere. Come on. He's not impressed with our gathering tonight. He's impressed with the manifestation of Christ. He's not impressed with how long we sing, how loud we sing. He's impressed that we walk in love. That when we're done wrong, we don't live done wrong. Yeah. He's impressed when we overcome evil with good. When we tone down our harsh word with a kind word. When we're not moved by our circumstances because we've already been moved by God. That's what'll give us attention. You read in your Bible, He doesn't even believe men love God. He just believes men need God. He says in the book of Job, straight out to God, "Man will do anything to save his own life." And the whole thing of the gospel has given up your own life. And is that so much to give? Preacher will say, "This will cost you everything. Everything you were never created to be." Why is it so easy to hold on onto a lie at the cost of truth? Why not activate faith and let go of the lie and test out truth? And you'll be wondering why you didn't die a long time ago because living without that is like being dead already. Self-centeredness is a wretched lie, people, because it's a lonely world, man. Self-centeredness. If a seed doesn't die and fall to the ground, it abides alone. And the whole goal of the gospel is bearing fruit, and your fruit remaining. The whole goal of the gospel isn't getting to heaven when the bell rings. The goal of the gospel is manifesting Christ all along the way and bearing fruit. And people know you by your fruit, not your church attendance. Your fruit. And if the seed doesn't die and fall to the ground, it abides alone. So you live your whole life and manifest nothing. Just live to survive, live to get by, live for you. And when the bell rings, all you've done is live for you. It's a zero. It abides alone. I think that's something. Self-centeredness is a wretched lie. But we were all born into it because we were all born into Adam. So you must be born again. Unfortunately, we made the goal go to heaven instead of live selfless. And some people get to the extreme and actually make their Christianity all about themselves, blessing, provision, protection. And they're reading all their promise books to see how they can get even more from God, instead of become more from God so they can give more of God. Are you guys with me? Come on. Cheering you on. The whole reason we gather and don't forsake the assembling is so we can stir each other in love and good works. Why? So we don't get self-centered. So we don't get tricked into feeling sorry for ourselves. So we don't just get tricked into, "Woe is me, and you don't know what I've been through." And never really consider what He's been through to give us His life. Come on. He didn't say sing to me and pray to me. He said, "Follow me." That's a big deal. And a lot of our prayer life is a desperation cry. It's things that we feel like we need Him to do for us to be okay. And if that doesn't change, we even identify with what we're going through and who we are and how we're doing is defined by how it's going, instead of who He is. And why I hope that makes sense to you. Come on. That's just clean. That's just a recipe for absolute encouragement. Like that way, I get up every day and my life's not my own. I don't have to think about it, man. I've surrendered to something called Christ. Yeah. And I want to look like He looks in every situation in my life. I want to talk like He talks. I want to think like He thinks. I don't want to, "He said, she said, tit for tat." "Well, I feel." "Well, they shouldn't." "How come?" "Will that hurt?" I don't see that in Jesus' life. So if I don't ever see that in His life, then I know I didn't learn it from Him. But if that's become normal to me, where'd I learn it? Surely not Him. So that's what it means to put old things off. Put off the old man and his deeds. You got to die to some things so you can live to some things. Does that make sense? This is so important. Why do I talk like this all the time? Man, every time I turn on mic, this is stuff that just, it's just there. It's just there. I just feel like it's a heart cry from God. It's like, I feel like He's saying, "This is what I paid for. I don't just want your song. I want your life so I can live mine through you. So people see who I am through you. Not just here to meet your needs. I'm here to manifest Myself through you." That's what I feel like He's crying out all the time. Do you realize that everybody I'm looking at and everybody I'll ever see on the earth, the same price was paid for their redemption? You go into Walmart and tell me if the same price tags on every product. You tear off the, you tear off the, the price tag on the deodorant stick, put it on the big screen TV and see if it works. Probably ain't working. But when I look into the store of humanity, I see the same price on every head. Now, we weren't raised that way. There's hot shots, there's low life, there's significant, insignificant, there's low esteem, there's pride, there's people that feel like there's all different levels. And there's not all different levels. If the same price was paid for every head, then what's that mean? That means to God, every person possesses the same exact value. No wonder there's such a lie of low esteem and, "I don't fit in," and, "I'm such," and, "I'm an outcast," and, "I'm a loser," and, "I'm a low life," and, "I don't belong." See, because the devil, he just perverts everything. And that's why when people hear the good news, they're convinced there's nothing good about it because they've already assessed themselves through themselves. Come on. Get real with me. Where's our faith tonight? If Jesus paid the same price, His blood, and God purchased us by the same price all across the board, we must all have the same value. It doesn't mean we don't have different callings, different grace on our life, different talents and gifts. But watch this. We can all walk in love. We can all manifest His image. We can all live by the Spirit. We can all make peace. We can all show mercy. We can all shine as a light. We can all wake up to make His name known. And He knows that. And He wants us to get that. Because if I make it, I'm going to make a narrow statement in your house. If we make it about anything else, we're going to miss the point. I've preached this for most of my Christian life. Once I really understood it, if we fail to grow up into Him in all things and become love, we'll miss the whole reason why He died on that cross. He died on that cross to restore us, not just back to His love, but becoming His love. Ephesians 5:1 says, "You walk in love just as Jesus loved." Come on. That ain't attitudes. That ain't nitpicking. That ain't backbiting. That's even suffering for doing wrong and no deceit found in your mouth. First Peter chapter two. You have Him as your example, and you should follow Him. For to this you were called. It says, "Everybody wants to know their calling." There's your calling. Suffer for doing good and take it patiently. Yay. Why? Because your life's not your own. Come on. See, when you take account of suffer wrongs, you keep them alive. When you live in unforgiveness, you keep the offense alive. When you walk in forgiveness, you render it as if it never happened. That's why the love of God is so beautiful. That's why the blood of Jesus is so amazing. That's why we're so attracted by it. But it's only beautiful if we become it in the world. It's not enough to receive it. It's enough to become it. The goal of our instruction is love. Not to receive love, to become love. You have to receive it to become it. But let's not just get stuck on receiving the love of God. Let's understand He wants that love to become our life. Walk in love just as Jesus loved and gave Himself up. There's the goal. There's the key. Yeah. What did Jesus say? "If any man come after Me, let him pray a prayer." At least he died without praying the prayer. Isn't that what we push? He said, "If any man come after Me, let him first deny himself." See, every man was made for God's image. Every man was made to be one with God, to live in God, to live by His Spirit, to live in the fullness of who He is. You know God's our Father? Do you know the word Father? It means to come forth from, to, to be sired by. Yeah. He's our Father. We came forth from Him. "Call no man on earth your father. You have one Father. He's in heaven." Yeah. So we're His idea. That's amazing. He said, "There's a time to be born." And here you sit. You can't talk me out of it. You might have been trying to talk yourself out of it. You can't talk me out of it. Growing up, people might have tried to talk you out of your value. But I found it in this book. You're worth the blood of Jesus Christ to God the Father. He saw your day and saw it fit. He knew you before you were known and predestined to you be adopted in as a son or a daughter. Yeah. He's the author and the giver of life. I'll say it this way, and I'm not trying to be funny, I'm being real. There was about 500 million sperm cells racing to your mother's egg, and it was you. That's pretty intense. Don't be shocked that I said that in church. It's real. There was 500, about 500 million of them racing to one egg, one destiny. Only one wins. You got one winner. Don't say you never won nothing. You won the most important race of your life. And there was millions and millions of contestants, and they were instinctively swimming hard to get to one goal. But it was you, hand-picked by the Father before the foundation of the world. You might as well just backstroked up mama's canal because you're getting there. They get there first, you're getting in it. Don't matter. It was me before the foundation of the world. Ain't an accident. I ain't a misfit. I'm right on time. Willow God. Yeah. You better think with me. The same price was paid for every head. Must be the same value. Must be the same value. Come here, man. I need your help real quick. Yeah. Come on. Just spin around. Let them see your handsome face. Look, if you got to know us, and we both came to this house on a regular basis, would you ever mix us up and confuse us and call him me and me him? Man, I always get you two mixed up. Would you do it? You wouldn't do it. Why? We don't look anything alike. But guess what? We can both look just like Him. Amen. Amen. Now that's the unity of faith. That's the goal. That's why we have one mind and one Spirit. We're on this journey, guys, to look like our Father. That when you see us, you see Him. Jesus said, "When you see Me, you've already seen the Father." And then Jesus said, "Follow Me." He said, "When they become one like We're one, then the world will know." What's He saying? When this man surrenders and gives his life and yields the Holy Spirit to where Holy Spirit begins to love through him like Christ loves, forgive like Christ forgives, speak life and proclaim and decree a thing in faith by the Spirit, and I'm doing the same, and we're both looking like Him, and we don't look nothing alike. Boy, we both got the same value to God. Why? We can both walk in love. We can both shine as a light. That's what makes us an army. That's what makes us one. Thank you. Amen. You see the diversity and yet the true unity. But see, the diversity's become a weak thing if we don't understand the true unity. Because all of a sudden, we're comparing ourselves among ourselves, and he's this, and she's that, and he's not, and she ain't. And first impressions and judgments and, yeah, mocking each other, laughing. You're in grade school. People laugh at something you wore. You never forgot it, and it hurt you. And it either made you a fighter or an introvert. And I think you ain't either one of them. Know how you responded? Ain't you just survival? And then this great gospel comes. It says, "Let me tell you who you really are." And I ain't never laughed at you. I died for you. And in your darkest moment, I didn't fail to see you clear and see who you were and what you were worth. That's the cross. That's what the cross is saying. On your darkest day, the love of God is amazing. He never lost sight of who He created us to be. Amen. Well, I've run too far not to run out of destiny and purpose. Not to run out of His love. Well, I've done too much wrong now. The blood speaks way better things. It's just about repentance and surrender and saying, "Man, I've been believing a lie. I've judged myself by myself. I've judged myself by others. I haven't judged myself through Christ." You only find the truth about you through Him. Because nothing was made that wasn't made through Him. You can only find the truth about your life through Jesus Christ. Are you following me? I want you to look at this quick in Colossians and let me show you this because it feels important right now to my heart. Verse 6, Colossians 2, verse 6. "As you've received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." Not for Him, in Him. That means you find your identity in Him. You're living through Him, by Him, right? Yeah. Doesn't through Him and by Him all things exist? Doesn't He hold all things together by the word of His power? You find yourself in Him. The way you've received Him by simple faith, now you walk it out in Him, right? Watch this next verse. "Rooted and built up." Here it goes again. In my Bible, the way it's printed, they're right underneath each other. It might as well just be quotations. "You build it, build up and root it and build up in Him." Where are you rooted? In Him. What builds you up? Your circumstances? The kind word your friend said to you? Come on. That's just, that's just flat-level encouragement. That's just somebody cheering you on. But what builds me up? What edifies me? Seeing my life in Him. Understanding that I have purpose, I have destiny, I have a reason for being. Listen, we could do this Christian thing in this purpose real easy. We're not called to do church. We're called to be church. The reason we assemble is to celebrate a truth we're all living by and grow strong in it and manifest it. So the community sees who Christ is in our lives. That's really the bottom line. This is never was designed to be a sanctuary, a safe haven, a hospital. It's a place to get sharpened and edified and encouraged and built up in Him. It's like a football huddle, really. And you call one play, Christ, and you hand everybody the ball, and you break, and you go out onto the field and you live Christ. And you better believe your relationships matter. Your jobs matter. Your stores matter. Your parking lots matter. Your attitude matters. What you represent matters. It's amazing how quick we can pray for God to do a bunch of things for us, and we haven't thought much about living in His name. How somebody does it wrong, and we're in a bedroom crying for us, wondering why God let it happen. And instead of crying for them, because, "Forgive them, Father, they don't know who they are and what they're doing." And if they knew who they were, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing. Man, that breaks my heart. They're, they're confused. God, why would I be hurt by blindness? Come on. Jesus wasn't hurt. He didn't drop the cross and give up. He didn't say, "These bunch of idiots hit me. How dare them? All I've ever done is good. Who do they think they are?" He didn't fuss. God. He didn't fuss men. He didn't say, "Barabbas? Are you kidding me? That hurts my feelings. He killed a man. I raise the dead, and they want to kill me. That sounds whacked. I'm thinking about this, and I don't know that I'm that motivated to go to the cross anymore. These people are idiots. Like, if they didn't change by now, they ain't going to change. How many sick did I heal? How many miracles do I do? And they think I got demons that want to kill me? God, if they didn't change by now, they ain't changing." And I'll be doggone. That's the best, as vulgar as I can get, I'll be doggone if I'm gonna die on the cross for these bunch of idiots. Come on. We'd understand that language the way we grew up. If somebody went through what He went through, he's a victim, and everybody that did it to him is a villain. And everybody's stereotyped and labeled, and nobody can change. And pour you and shame on you. And that's where it left. That's where it stands. But in Jesus' world, it's different, man. He's hanging on the cross, and He ain't thinking like we were taught to think. He ain't thinking at all like we were taught to think. He's been done so wrong, it's indescribable. He's the purest that ever was. He's the most perfect that ever was. He has never done an iota of wrong. Everything He does is squeaky clean and beautiful. And it's getting judged and, and, and debated and falsely accused non-stop. And then they kill him. Biggest injustice. You can't even weigh it. It's so wow. And the best love can do, not because it's weak, because it's love, the best love can do is say, "Forgive them, Father, they don't know what they're doing." Man, when I look, it looks like they knew what they were doing. They loved their kingdom over His. Some believed and wouldn't even acknowledge to believe because they didn't want to be persecuted or kicked out of the synagogue. They were selling Him out for 30 pieces of silver behind the scenes. When He raised from the dead, they paid the guards to say the disciples stole Him at night. So that word would spread. And said, "We'll make sure you're covered by your boss." Yeah. Come on. Sounds like they knew. Sounds like a lot of men were being willful. And there's love. "Forgive them, Father, they don't know what they're doing." What's He saying? If they really saw, if they really understood, if they really tasted and saw how good I was, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing. Would you have mercy on these men? The men that killed Him. Come on. We're in this country. We want him to get at least life, if not the death sentence. Be real with me. I don't know about you guys. I'm going to follow Jesus. I'm going to cheer you on and encourage you to follow with me. Will you? Let's follow Jesus. Let's guard our heart because out of our heart flows the issues of life. Don't let your heart get hurt. Don't let your heart get hard. Don't let your heart get whatever and not care. You got one go-around. It's called this life. And here it is. You're in your race now. That's run it worthy of a prize. You got one little shot at this thing. It's one little window. I turned 60 in December. I don't know where time goes. I don't know where time goes. I don't even, I can't even relate to 60. I'm telling stories at 35, 40 years old. I'm like, and it feels like yesterday. And I'm like, wait a minute, that story is like 34 years old. Who knows what I'm talking about? It's hilarious because when you're a teenager, when you're, when you're, when you're grade school, you want to be a teenager. And you hang around, you're eight and you win, you hang around somebody 13, you're thinking 13. And you're thinking, "I'll never be 13." But next thing you know, you're 15. And then you're like, "Well, I'm gonna drive soon." And then you're like, "Man, when I'm 18, I'll be an adult." So there's goals. People, when you're little, you want to be a teenager, you want to be 16, you want to be 18. A lot of people are pushing for 21 for the wrong reasons. But then once you get to 21, there's no more goals. So now you're 22, and you're like, 25 soon, 30. Ah, you're looking in the mirror. There's no goals. But it never stopped. Who learned his? Who found out it don't stop? Who found out that one day you were like, if you're this age, one day you're like 40, 45. Now, I've never been a big, like, I'd forget my birthday if it wasn't for my family. But when I think about my birthday and I think about my age, it confounds me. Who knows what I'm talking about? Who has a hard time relating to their age? Like, where did time go? That just tells you it's flying, man. It's quick. It's a wisp. The Bible is real. The Bible's real. It's a wisp and a vapor. I remember when I first started working, they said 2025 would be my retirement age. And I thought it sounded like a space-age movie. No, no, seriously. It was like 1980. I got this job in a warehouse and, and they, they sat me down with my, and they did all this, and they said, "Your retirement age." I looked at the date. It was like some sci-fi movie. 2025. It's like, that day is never coming. You see how old to sleep you can get just with that? And, and yet here we are. 2022. Boom. Where'd it go?
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Guys, we got this one little shot. We got one life. It's a gift, not a dread. And it's not a grind. If it's a grind, you're just living it outside of while you're here. And there's no grace on your life. No. I'm not talking about circumstances. I'm talking about emotions. If it's, if life's just too much, you're seeing it wrong. He's more than enough. And you'll be going through a whole lot of stuff. And some of you that listen to me on YouTube and people post me and stuff, you've heard a lot. I get personal. I tell a lot of stories. I talk about family. I talk about walking through real things. And if you're seeking your own and thinking for yourself, you ain't making it through much. But if you're living to reveal His great name, to walk in love, and to make the most of this one little window called life, you're going to have so much grace on your life. You're not going to be tired. You're not going to be confused. I don't even know how to explain this and stay fair. It's so much joy living Christ. It's so much joy living selfless. It's so much freedom walking in purpose, no matter what's going on around you. And if what's going on around you has anything to do with how you are and who you are, you are going to be deceived and make mistakes. If the enemy ever learns that, he'll just poke and prod and cause as much chaos as he possibly can. Like when you squeeze an orange, you get orange juice. It'd be pretty weird if it was grape juice. If you cut that orange in half and you did the little, can you open that little thing to let the pulp slide through, grape juice? You'd spit in the cup because you just did an orange. What you'd call a friend, try to tell them to say, "Well, where are you drinking, man?" Because it would be weird. Why isn't it weird when you squeeze a Christian and get everything but Christ, man? That should be weird. Because you know them by their fruit. What's on the inside comes out on the outside, even in your speech. Your heart speaks through your lips, all the abundance of your heart. You know them by their. So you can see what a man believes or understands by his life. And the enemy, he's seeking like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour. This thing is real. It's a demon war against the kingdom of God. It's not a demon war against you and your well-being. It's a demon war against the kingdom of God. But if you take adversity personal, you're going to make a great mistake. And you're gonna say, "What's all this happening to me? Why is everything going wrong for me? What am I doing wrong? Why is God allowing it? What did I do wrong to deserve this? Why is the enemy keeping? Why doesn't God stop him?" Do you ever hear anybody get confused in that language? It's just all about me. How can you understand and love not your own life unto death and deny yourself and have that language? Well, it's all about Him. If I'm here to survive, I'm not going to do well. If I'm a Christian for my sake, there's no way I have the joy of the gospel in my life. I'm just talking plain. If I'm a Christian for my sake, every challenge is a challenge. If I'm a Christian for His great name's sake, every challenge is an opportunity to shine. It changes everything. Was Jesus' life every day a challenge or an opportunity to manifest the Father? The more He was done wrong, the more He manifested right. And you just couldn't change the man, could you? By the time He got to the cross, He's the same. Love's the same. Love hasn't failed. He doesn't change His mind. He doesn't back out. He doesn't get cold feet. Love never. I've heard preachers say Jesus proved His love by not coming off the cross. That He could have come down if He wanted. There's no way He could come down. Love doesn't change its mind. He's not coming off the cross. It's not even a thought. He's not hanging there thinking, "Okay, I better stay here. This is really what I came for."
[Laughter]
Come on, guys. If He said, "Follow Me," is it possible to live this way? "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We always think that's the power of God. We say, "No cancer on earth, so there shouldn't be any cancer on earth, as there is in heaven." So we pray for the sick. It gives us faith to pray, and it's true. It's a good, it's a good way to see scripture. But why is it always the power of God? Why, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? Why does it always have to do with stuff that pertains to our well-being, like sickness, poverty? Why isn't it the heart of God? No animosity, no offense, no judgment in heaven. No bickering, no nitpicking, no self-centeredness, no unresolved conflicts in heaven. No tension, no arguments, no strife. Your will be done on. So what do you think He's calling us to? A confession of eternal life when the bell rings, or a life lived in Christ now? That's what He's calling us to. I want you to see something real quick here. I had to turn to here. I guess I can finish this quick. "Rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you have been taught." You know, you can go to church your whole life and not be taught this. It could just be all about your needs, God meeting your needs, your sinful tendencies and how He's merciful to forgive you daily, and, and just keep you kind of like expecting to fail and mysteriously loved, instead of purpose-motivated by purpose, made free by truth. See, when I was, when I was a youngster in church, Mom took me to church. I want to make sure I was in church. I'd act like I was sleeping on Sunday. Every day of the week, I was up before the sun come up, man. I was out running around. I was an outdoors guy. You couldn't keep me in bed. I was just that way when I was young. And, and, uh, Sunday, I'd be laying in bed like I'm sleeping. She says, she'd just walk in and say, "Oh, don't even pull that, boy. Just get up and get dressed because we're going." And I'd be like, "Man, I can't even fake sleep good here because she knew I wasn't sleeping." I would just act like I was sleeping. I'd be rolling around in bed. I'd be sitting there reading, messing around, looking at a magazine. I'd hear her feet coming up. She'd say, "Hey, get up." I wouldn't say nothing. "Hey, don't even try it. I know you're not sleeping." I wouldn't even move. All I know is in five minutes, you better be out of that bed, have your shoes on, get your clothes on, and have your shoes on, be over that bath and clean up because we're leaving. You better be out of that bed." And she'd walk out the door and be like, "Man, I'd get up because I knew she knew I wasn't sleeping." But I never understood when I was at church because all I ever heard was, "Jesus died on the cross to forgive me of my sins." And they made it very clear that I was a sinner. And they felt like it was their job to make it sure that I knew I was a sinner. So I see some of that now. So I could repent. But what happens when I repent and the Lamb takes away the sin of the world? So it never redeemed me. It just made sure the message, made sure it knew I was a sinner, hopefully forgiven, and make sure you stay in church because He's coming back someday, and you better be in church. Does anybody grow up with a theology like that? And then you're like, "Well, why is He loving me so much? Why is He caring if I'm such a loser? Like, why does He even want to be with me forever? Like, and I don't even know Him. Now, what are we going to do forever?" Like, it just seems weird. Who was ever like the same as me? Or was it just me confused with all those questions? I'm glad to see a bunch of hands out there because I was always like, "Was I just that slow? Or was the message not correct?" See, see, we've always made the Ephesians, and since I've been on the earth, since I've been on the earth, all I've been aware of is most messages, churches, and people's belief. Bear with me. I'm not being presumptuous and judging. This is just 60 years of being on the earth experience. This is my assessment. The message has always had a beneficial self-centered twist to it. And it was always, "What I could get from Him instead of what I could become because of Him." And when you start talking about what you can become because of Him, all these claws rise up in the so-called body of Christ. Yeah, but we're always, "And you'll never." What are you saying? You're perfect? No, I'm just saying He sees me complete. He washed me clean. I'm free from sin. Read Romans, 1 Peter 2. I die to sin so I can live for righteousness. Romans 6. I reckon myself dead to sin and alive unto God. How can I reckon myself dead and keep boasting in a false humility and my ability to commit it? As a man thinketh, so he is. So as soon as Pastor starts thinking righteous, he starts living more holy by accident than when he tried. Makes sense. Why? Because God changed his eye. And if the eye is single, the whole body is flooded with light. So if I wake up and try to be forgiven through my life, I'm going to wonder if I'm not judged because I'm on eggshells and I'm not empowered to live different. But if I wake up and believe I'm forgiven, and believe I'm clean, and believe I'm righteous, all of a sudden I'm empowered to live my life in a different light. And I run to Him, and I don't hide from Him. And all of a sudden grace is empowering me to live different. And the Bible says righteousness produces its fruit to holiness. Ain't that something? So He says, "As you've been taught." A lot of us go to church our whole life and never be taught this. Watch what He throws on the back end of verse 7. "Abounding in it with thanksgiving." Why is He add that on? A lot of scriptures, and with thanksgiving, and giving thanks, and in all things giving thanks. Why? Because when you lose your thanksgiving, it's a sign that you've turned inward and you've taken life personal. There's a lot of people that have so much to be thankful for where the cross is concerned, the forgiveness of sins, the revelation of of of unfailing love and everlasting life. And all of a sudden, it's just all about getting through life instead of living life in Him. And you lose your thankfulness. Who knows what I'm talking about? He says, "Abounding in it with thanksgiving." Does He know there's going to be challenges in her life? Does He know there's going to be trials? And He tells you to abound in your life in what? Thanksgiving. And watch this. "Beware, lest anyone," this is amazing language, "be where at least any man cheat you through philosophy, empty diseases, human reasoning, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world." Watch this. "And not according to Christ." Ain't that something? He said, "You better be careful to the language you're listening to and believing." And don't let anybody talk you out of this single-eyed, narrow truth. You build up in Him. You're walking in Him. And you're complete in Him. And don't believe anything else. You'll be cheated. And that what He's saying? Haven't we find our identity through a million other things? Haven't we found our identity through each other? Having some of our relationships just been needs-driven? And the right people come into our life at the right time and give us what we need? Come on. And we call it love. We call it friendship. Did you ever notice how hurting people gravitate to people that understand their pain? And they call that support. Support what? To make sure you're always hurting? You don't need somebody to understand your pain. That's not compassion. You need somebody to be bold and straight with you and still understand that you went through a hard time and maybe even weep with you and let, let you know that, "Hey, I understand this was tough." But listen, why are you letting this decide who you are and how you are? And why has this become your identity? Why is this your story? Why are you wearing this like a garment when you have new clothes to put on? See, that's a friend. Look, I know what he did to you. I
Know what they said. I know what she did, and I wish you wouldn't have did it. I wish he wouldn't have made that choice. But listen, you can't let one person decide your life, your destiny, and your disposition, if it ain't the Lord Jesus Christ.
So don't let this be your story. Don't let it be your soap opera. Don't become a sitcom or a weekly story. Like, like, come on, let's go to the next phase of life and then step out of the darkness into the light.
Because did you ever notice how people talk about the most traumatic things they've experienced since the first things when you meet them? They tell you what they've been through. You ask a Christian how they're doing, they tell you the two biggest trials in their life and say, "Keep me in prayer." Come on, it's a giveaway that we're identifying our lives by life instead of the Giver of it. And we've listened to way too many messages that benefit us without changing us.
I don't know about you, but I want transformation and change. And don't be afraid of that. You ought to rejoice in that. Change is good. Self-centeredness, I'm telling you, if we could ever pastor, I pray that we would just have a revelation of how wretched self-centeredness is.
This is what I want to show you. I, I want to close this. I got to go to one more scripture, and then we're going to pray. And we're actually going to pray for the sick tonight. Is that okay? It's going to be fun tonight. Wait till you see how many people get healed in this room tonight. Why? Because I'm so gifted and anointed? No, no. Because Jesus is Lord, and He's compassionate, and He's loving, and Father is amazing, and He loves people. And faith is simple. It's not works. It's not our prayer that heals the sick. It's His finished work. Yeah. You think I'm popping off? You wait and see how many people are healed here in a minute. See, I don't, I don't have to produce that. I just have to believe that. Oh my goodness, yeah.
Let me finish this because I'm getting excited already. Don't you be cheated through thinking outside of Him. That's really what this is saying. For in Him, in Him, in Him, remember, in Him, build up in Him, walk in Him. You build up in Him. Who's in Him? In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Him is the full expression of the Godhead. Isn't that something?
Now watch this. And you, you, talking to you, don't just make that your neighbor, that's you. And you are complete in Him. There's another "in Him." Who are you complete in? You just think how hard in our lives we've tried to get noticed, appreciated, and valued because we didn't believe we had value. We needed somebody. There were times in my life I so didn't like who I was. I needed you to like me, to believe I was likeable. And I would live to try to get your attention. And at the same time, run the risk of you not wanting to give it to me, and me being shattered by that, and becoming more insecure, and being driven by insecurity. Yeah. And the whole time, I didn't realize I'm complete in Him. I'm trying to be complete this way.
We think if people change, people treat us better. If we could just be, if we get the right person in our life. Oh my goodness, if I could just marry them. Oh, if they would ever like me. Whoa. Probably wouldn't be cool because it'll meet a temporal need until it really is exposed. See, when you live that way, you think those things can make you. But at the same time, you're on the thinnest slice of your life because they can break you.
Do you ever see people say, "I love you," and then in a short time after, two or three children, they don't even want to mention each other's name? It wasn't love. It can't be love. Love, you don't fall out of love. Love never fails. It was need. People change. And the world calls it falling in and out of love. And all of a sudden, people don't need what they needed before, so it doesn't have the same value.
The other, could you ever see this scenario? Two people get together, sloppy, messy, eating off each other's plate, strawberry eating it out of the mouth, so good, just sloppy, messy, right? You ever see it? They just can't live without each other. And all of a sudden, the, the one, one of the people, whether it's the man or the lady, one of them just seemingly coldly, just all of a sudden seems to not care and can just walk off into the sunset as if they were never in a relationship. And the other person can hardly function. You ever see it? What happened? They both got together based on needs, and somebody's needs changed, and they didn't see the value in the person they were with anymore. So they could easily just move on. And the other person still needed them because they were finding themselves through them. So they're shattered and they can't function. It was never, ever love. It's idolatry. It's making something matter more than what matters most.
You'll never find who you are through a person. You'll only find who you are through Him. And only then can you have a healthy relationship with a person that's not needy or tainted with self-centeredness. You all okay? Come on. I, I would hope that would, in a healthy way, challenge every marriage. Not question how you came together. Well, we maybe shouldn't even be together. No, no. Get surrendered. Get your heart submitted. Get filled with Christ, and let your motives change by the Spirit of God and grace. Amen.
Yeah. Now let me show you this. I'm going to close with this. It's funny how we'll close with this and then pray for the sick. This is funny. Lord, are you serious? We can't do this. Can we? I guess we can. We'll see. Look at James chapter three. I've taught this scripture in weddings. I don't do weddings anymore. I don't have the grace to do weddings because I don't have the time to pour into the couples. It's a lot of accountability.
If you're a pastor at a wedding, don't just do weddings. I've never taken a penny for weddings. I've never taken a penny for funerals. Don't do, don't be a weekend pastor and just do weddings to make money. You gotta, you gotta invest covenant understanding and what love and relationship is into the couple. If you stand there, you're saying you believe it's the will of God and they're ready. And you gotta have faith in everything you do.
I only ever counseled one couple that wasn't born again. I was so fascinated by the young man. When I was mentioning Adam and Eve in my first counseling session, he stopped me and said, "You mentioned Adam and Eve now three times. Like, am I supposed to know? Like, are these people you know?" Like he had no idea. 20-year-old kid had no idea who Adam and Eve was. We just assume everybody has to know. He never heard him in a joke. He never heard, he didn't have absolutely no idea they were the first man and woman in the Bible. And I was using him as an example. And he had to stop me because he was confused. He's like, "Why are you keep mentioning this Adam and Eve? Am I supposed to like know them? Are they like a real couple you're using nowadays? Are they people? Who are they?" And I said, "You don't know who Adam and Eve is?" And I was like, "Oh my goodness."
So I did my counseling and I knew they weren't obviously weren't born again. But people call you when you're a pastor because they're looking for somebody to marry them. And they call you. You're the last detail. And I'm not saying that because you get offended. It's just the last thing people are thinking is the spiritual side of marriage. They got their bridesmaids, their groomsmen, they got their place rented, they got their banquet feast ready, they got their everything planned out from the dance to the everything music. And they say, "Oh, we gotta find somebody to marry us." So they call you and they want you to marry them. Like in a month. "Hey, we're trying to find a pastor. We got this amazing wedding schedule. We need a pastor to do our wedding. When do you get married?" "Two weeks." I'm like, "Sorry, you have to keep calling." That's why there's rent-a-pastors out there. [Laughter] And they make a few bucks on a wedding. Don't do that, please. If you're listening to this, don't be offended by me. Don't be around a pastor. There's no such thing.
See, I had a policy in my heart that I wouldn't marry people unless they were born again. Because if you're not born again, you can't love like God loves. You can only need, need like men need. And at best, you can experience emotional what we call love arrows, filet, or whatever forms of love are out there in your Bible. But it wouldn't be agape. And I wouldn't marry people if they weren't born again.
So how do you tell two kids? "Look, I like you guys, but, you know, I can't marry you unless you get born again." So go ahead and get born again so I can marry you. And they go through the motions and say, "Okay, what do we need to do?" "Well, I'll do this, do that." I mean, you could really trust God and trust God's grace. But it's a tough one. You don't, you don't want them to just go through the motions and miss the glory of a true salvation experience, you know what I'm saying?
So I was in a cooker, man, and I was like, "What do I do with these kids?" I love these kids. And the Lord said, "Talk to him about his daily marijuana use to keep himself calm and kind of nonchalant." And I brought it up to him. And he looked at me and said, "How you know I smoke marijuana every day? And you even said why I do it. That's exactly why I do it. Even told her it just keeps me calm because she's, she's not happy that I do it every day. But I told her, look, I just keeps me calm." And they're both like, "How do you know that?" And I said, "He's the Lord. And you know what? He lives in me. And then you can mess with him." You say, "And He knows everything." [Applause] You can just freak people out, man. You're sitting on a plane and you get a word. Like that's happened to me so many times. I've so many people cry beside me on a plane. It's ridiculous. I'll say, "Hey, you've been on this medicine for 20-some years. I said, I don't even know if this is the right name for medicine, but I'm hearing this." And they're like, "Oh my God, what? How do you know? Are you psychic?" "No, kinda. But no, no." And you just tell them about Jesus. You tell them it's the Lord. He knows everything. And they're like, "Everything? Everything?" Just mess with.
He got so touched. I prayed with him, and they actually wept. He didn't even know who Adam and Eve was. So the Lord, when, when I was doing all that, he said, "Hey, I want you to scrap your rule and I want you to marry these two. Go through the whole process, whether they're born again or not, just marry him." And I'm like, "Really?" And I knew it was God. I was like, "Listen, guys, I had this rule and born again, and I explained it. I said, it's really a beautiful thing, but it's pretty hard to say you got to do that when it's a thing of the heart. And you need a pastor." So I counseled them for six weeks, probably six-plus hours. And on my last counseling, right before their wedding, they said, "Pastor, we want to get born again." And I was like, "What?" They said, "We really do. We've learned so much, and we just, it's amazing what you've done for our hearts in these last couple weeks sharing the Word of God." And so they got water baptized, and I went and did their wedding. And there was no one saved. Like it was amazing. Like there was no one safe. Like there, there got Frank Sinatra jamming out loud on the speakers, which is cool. I'm not against Frank. They're all drinking, they're already tipsy. The wedding ain't even started. Under the tent, it was a smoke fog. It looked like they had fog machines. It was just people partying, smoking, drinking. They come up to me, "Hey, man, you the preacher?" "Yeah." They said, "Well, look, here's a cooler. Don't tell me you don't drink. Like, you don't drink because you're a preacher, right? Like, you'd still drink, right?" They're pulling drinks. I said, "No, actually." I said, "Actually, no, I don't drink. I've never drank. I said, and, and I didn't drink before I was a preacher, even. I said, actually, my dad was a terrible alcoholic. I saw what it did to him and our family in our lives. And I thought, why would I ever drink?" And they were like, "Oh, oh, okay." They accept the cooler. And the guy said, "So, like, did they hire you for the weekend? Did they like, did they just like, so you take making a couple bucks doing the wedding? I mean, or do you have a speech? Or do you like, do you take him? Do you take her? Bam, and get your money?" And he's laughing. And I'm like, "What in the world?" And I said, "Uh, no. I have some things to say. I said, I'm glad you're here. I think you'll get a lot out of it."
The reason I'm telling you this story, I preached this, I preached this in quite a few weddings because to me, it's so important. And it's James 3. I preached all this. It was so powerful. They were weeping. And I shared about our six weeks of counseling with all the family, what's happening in their hearts, and how God is anointing and blessing and honoring this union. How in a minute, they're exchanging vows, and Holy Spirit's going to tie them together and join them as one. I was so spiritual and awesome. It's a shame I don't do weddings anymore. I do like the best wedding in the whole world. Sorry. I get invited to do a lot of weddings. Be like, "Can you please marry us? Your messages have done so much for our relationship. It would be such an honor." And I'm like, "No." I get a lot of emails to do weddings. It's so funny. But I just don't do them.
I lifted my voice and I prayed over them at the end. Halfway through, I looked and realized there wasn't. I'm not joking. It's not because I preach, "Don't drink, don't smoke, don't look at another man's wife." I didn't preach none of that. There was no cigarette. There wasn't a cigarette lit. People forgot they had drinks. They were sitting like this. It was, it was an intense wedding. I preached James 3. It rocked the whole tent, man. When I left, I hugged them. They were crying. I, you know, hey, I'm gonna run. Stayed for not long. A little, not long. But when I was leaving, I had a whole crowd following me to my vehicle. Some were weeping, they were thanking me and said they never heard anything so moving. And I turned and I preached Jesus and talked about getting born again and had them all lift their voice and pray and just believe they were being sincere and surrendering their lives to Christ. And, and I gave them information to come to church or to get connected somewhere. But it was a pretty neat experience.
Why did I tell you that story? Because of what I'm about to read. This is what I shared in their wedding. It was one of what I shared. I shared a few scriptures. Verse 13, James 3. Are you ready? Watch this. This is incredible. So convicting. "Who is wise and understanding among you?" Question mark. In other words, who really knows what they're talking about? It basically says, I'm going to read it, but it basically says, "Let them prove by the way they live whose wise and understanding among you. Let them show by the good conduct of their works that they're done in the meekness of wisdom."
Watch this. "But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your heart, don't boast and lie against the truth. For this wisdom does not come from above. It is earthly, sensual, and demonic." Talk about self-centeredness. "For where envy and self-seeking are present, confusion and every evil thing exists there." You could be a Christian praying for your relationship in a self-centered way, inviting confusion and every evil thing in the middle of your prayer and wondering why it's chaotic in your soul. Ain't that something? Where there's envy and self-seeking, you can just be crying because you're hurt by somebody. You're not hurt for them, you're hurt because of them. And you're praying, you're inviting never even work. And there's confusion in the arena. You got three friends that agree with your pain because they'd feel the same way if they were in your shoes. But it ain't helping. And it's inviting the confusion. Are you with me?
But the wisdom that's from above, it's first pure, it's then peaceable, it's gentle, it's willing to yield, and it's full of mercy. Come on. If there's one thing we've lacked in our lives is mercy. We judge books by a cover. And if somebody's proved themselves to us, we'll always see them that way. Well, oh yeah, I remember Billy. Oh, I know Billy. Oh, yeah, I had to run in with Billy. And you haven't seen Billy for five years, but you think you know Billy because of your memory of five years ago. And you got him labeled for what he did. And you don't even know who he is today. And you don't realize he's more forgiving. Father knows not what He does. You don't realize the Spirit of God can do a work in him. And if you go to your bedroom and pray because you're hurting for him, instead of hurt because of him, Holy Spirit might actually move. That's convicting, isn't it? It's mercy. It's good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Who's the Prince of Peace? Who was here to make peace? Jesus Christ. Remember I talked about those troubles? I'll close with this. Good. Then we'll pray for the sick. This is better than closing on James 3, anyway. You want to look at Romans 5 real quick? I love this. And I might preach more. I got some time this weekend. You'll give me time. You'll let me preach again. All right, tomorrow night, we're preaching tomorrow night, tomorrow morning, tomorrow night, and Sunday morning. I got a few sessions. If you can come back, come back because we're going to talk about something else having to do with tonight that's going to really, I believe, help you. Unconvince you. And it's just in my heart. I think we're going to cover it. But I want you to see this.
Remember how I talked about not just getting caught up in your circumstances changing, but making sure you're changed? Look, you don't need anything to change to walk in the light. You don't need one person to do you right for you to manifest Jesus. Amen.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego got thrown into a fire by Nebuchadnezzar. That wasn't defeat because they never changed who the Lord was in their mind and their heart. They didn't make it about the fire. They didn't make it about Nebuchadnezzar. They made it about the honor of who they believe is worthy of bowing to. Amen. And they were not going to worship what was in him. They weren't going to worship fear for their own life. They weren't going to worship Nebuchadnezzar. And they sure weren't going to worship the fire. And the fact that they were getting thrown in wasn't a sign of defeat. They said, "Whether He delivers us from your fire or not doesn't change a thing." In fact, they first said, "He threatened them with fire." They said, "We have no need to answer you in this matter, O king." In other words, "King, this ain't even about the fire. This is about who we bow to." Amen. At the cost of their, what, maybe lives?
So here's the coolest thing to me about that story. When they got thrown in the fire, a fourth man showed up. Who do you think that was? Now, let me ask you this. Did He put out the fire? You better catch this stuff. Why didn't He put out the fire? Because the fire never was the problem. And if He puts out the fire, then maybe our problem is a problem. And until it changes, maybe we're not okay. But when He lets the fire rage and He just makes His children free in the middle of it, and then when they come out, it's like they were never in it. Then maybe it's not about your circumstance at all. Maybe it's about your faith and trust in Him and never bowing to what's not Lord. [Music] Maybe it's about never compromising true faith. Maybe it's about never becoming a product of what you're going through because you stand as a living product of what He's been through. Maybe Jesus really is Lord. Maybe He's worthy of our surrender. Maybe He's worthy of our lives.
Watch what it says in Romans 5. This is one of the most beautiful things. He says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith." Because in the end of Romans, he's talking about, he's talking about Abraham and faith and the father of our faith and that it's imputed to, to us who believe. And he's talking about faith. And he says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith." That means, just as if you've never sinned. You believe that you've been justified by faith. And now we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Sound pretty good to you? Justified by faith, peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Sound like a good day? Okay. Sound like a pretty good first gear. And then he shifts it into second and says, "And not only that." He says, "Through whom we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." So, okay, what do we have here? We got peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ because we've been justified, seen as if we've never sinned, and we believe that. So now we have peace with God. Now we have access through that peace into this empowerment, this grace of God, in which we stand. And then he says, "And not only that." As if it's a better thing. Like he's adding this one to the list of two already amazing things. "And not only that, we glory in our tribulation." Oh my goodness, church, where'd we miss that along the way? Guys, you've got peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. You're justified by faith. And now you have access into this grace where you're being transformed, molded, and shaped, and growing up into Him in all things. And not only that, you glory when everything's all messed up. We're supposed to get this. When we love not our own life unto death, we get this. You can never make this about you. It's always about His great name. That's how the fourth man shows up in the fire. When a Christian comes out of the fire, there should be no smell of smoke, no singeing, no burning. You look at him and you wouldn't even believe he's been through what he was through, except for the zeal and the passion that you see in his heart. Because what he said he believed is real. Are you with me? You see passion in me. When you see me, you know where it comes from. Of course, He's good. This passion you see in me when I tell these things is because of the fire. It's because I have my own Shadrach stories. And He is Lord. And He teaches you the fire is never the problem. It's getting your eyes off the truth, the purpose, and the motive of your life that's the problem. And when you get reduced to just making it about you, what you're going through, and how you feel, you will never manifest Him. I've never seen an offended man shine as a light. I've never seen a discouraged man shine as a light. I've never seen a man in unforgiveness shine as a light. I've never seen a man get betrayed and believe he was betrayed and live betrayed shine as a light. "Ye are the lights of the world." Would you let your light so shine before men that they see your light through your life and give Him glory? You see why we're Christians? You know what Christian means, don't you? They were first called Christians in Antioch because they were like Him. They called them Christians because they were like Him. What a compliment. Today, you've got ministries don't even want to be called Christians. They, they giant followers of Jesus, disciple, because the name Christian has been so widespread and marred. The word Christian means little Christ-like wines. You know why we glory in tribulation? Because it produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope won't disappoint because His love's been shed abroad in your heart by Holy Spirit. Sound good to you? Sure sounds good to me. Guys, we can live this way. I got a lot of sessions. I'm looking at the clock. Is that the real time? 8:41. Man, I must have got up here early. And I must be, I feel done already. And I'm never done at 8:41. Wow. You guys are catching a break tonight.