✝️ Dan Mohler - How to put on Christ and put off the flesh

Awesome, how's everybody this morning? Y'all good? Thanks for coming out Saturday morning. It probably shouldn't, but it always impresses me that people come on a Saturday morning together, especially when they know they might be able to come in the evening. They come in the morning. I'm, I'm just impressed with that. So, thanks for being here. We're gonna have a good time, I promise.

That song, "Who You Say I Am," pretty good song, huh? When I was growing up, that that song probably wasn't able to be written because nobody was thinking it was okay to talk like that or sing like that. Like, growing up, people seemed like they felt like they had to talk us down so much as to lift God up. But He wants to change us and seed us in heavenly places in Christ. In us, the hope of glory. Wants to make us right and acceptable and approved through His Son. And it seemed like growing up, that that that concept was never grasped by people. It, it seemed like we always had to talk this falsely humility language, like to to think like we were staying humble, but we weren't saying the truth. And and you look in, you look in Colossians 1. Colossians 1 says that you and I were enemies and alienated from God by the way our minds worked in wicked manner. That's verse 20, I'm pretty sure that's 20. They, if it's not, it's 19, but I think it's 20. And 21 says, but He made us through the body of His death, He made us holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight.

So I went from being wicked in my mind, thinking for myself, thinking contrary to the kingdom. He reconciled me, made me a friend through His death to present me, to present me, tada, pull off the laver, to present me holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight. In between wicked works and mind, an enemy, an alienated, and records hell because I've done nothing. In between there, I did it. I did nothing. He did everything. All I did was believe that He forgives me, removes it, and sees me clean. Between enemy and alienated by wicked works in my mind, records out through His death, holy, blameless, above her. I've done nothing to change. Sorry, but that excites my heart that God is willing to bring out the best in me by showing the truth about what I can be in Him and what He can be in me. And when I was a child, growing up, that truth was suppressed in the church at large. The message of righteousness was suppressed. Pastors didn't feel like they could preach this because they felt like people would say, "Oh, well, I'll do whatever. God's gotta love me anyway." He, preachers felt like this would give us a permission to sin. This message, it's the total opposite. You see God for the beauty and the love and the goodness of who He is, and it changes everything. And it brings the best out in you. It, it taps into your potential. It causes you to trust and love and live in Him all the more. It's the goodness of God, not the reprimand of God. The goodness of God leads men to change. So that's the God I preach, 'cause that's the God I read in the Bible. It says, "He so loved me that He gave His Son." It doesn't say, "God was so frustrated and at wit's end with humanity, He finally sent His Son." That's a different thought. Forgotten is so frustrated and exasperated. For God so loved. And what's that look like? It looks like this: On your darkest day, grace is abounding even greater, not to empower sin, but to save you from it. Grace is coming even greater on your darkest day. On your most willful adventure, love is pursuing you, saying, "Son, you're so much more than that. I know who you are from the beginning. I know what I intended you to be. I, what you can be. And I know what you'll be if you'll surrender." Love never fails, never changes its mind. Come on, be real with me. We've changed our mind on each other a thousand times over. We've changed our mind on ourselves. And love has never failed. We've left our hearts go up and down. God's the same. I love that about Him. He's, He never changes. He's no turning, no shifting, or shadow. I have confidence to be in His presence. Why? 'Cause through the blood, He sees me every day, holy, blameless, and above reproach.

I was getting to a point, the song, "You Say Who I Am," that's the song that I had blaring on my phone when I'd went into the bathroom to get my shower and clean up for this morning. I, I've spent time in the Lord this morning, and I had another little song playing, "The Goodness of God," in the bedroom. A little, but when I went into shower, I started my day, just getting that the fresh shower and get ready with "You Say I Am," or "This Is Who You Say I Am." So I'm singing that song in my heart, and I'm like, "Oh my goodness, this is so good. I just can live every day and it never gets old in the reality of what You accomplished and who You see me to be and who You say I am." We're called believers, aren't we? Are we believers? So at what point do we believe we're clean, forgiven, free, righteous, holy, pure, blameless, above reproach? At what point do you just say, "I'm accepted in the beloved"? Rather than, "Well, you know, I'm trying, brother. I'm hoping. I'm getting there." Stop. Be there. Be there. 'Cause 'cause you went from alienated, an enemy, by the way your mind worked, and it didn't say you even changed your mind in between the sentence. You didn't change your mind. He's changing your mind through His goodness. Yeah, all of a sudden, I know I didn't deserve a thing, and it's the Father's good pleasure to give me the kingdom. All of a sudden, I know I did wilful things. I did things against my conscience. I knew better and did it anyway. And I know all that, and God comes and judges me as if I never did any of that. Why? 'Cause it doesn't solve a thing to stay there. It doesn't cause a change, a thing to talk about it. So God is so wise. He says, "Let's just remove it, and I'll show you I'm willing to see you for today and your destiny 'cause I know you can be more when I'm in you than you've been outside of me." You just think with me for a little on this. Don't get in a hurry. And I think we all know this because you can know it, but man, you can know it. I mean, God sent His Son. It just, it freaks me out to this day that God became a man. That the Lord who was with God from the beginning, who always was, that nothing was made that wasn't made through Him. I can't even imagine what that day must have looked like. He, can you imagine the bomb boys, you know, in heaven, in His holy spirits there, and He's like, "You ready?" "Yeah, I'm ready." "You're gonna take me?" "Yeah, see your Father." But He goes to go put in a woman. He gets put in the will of a woman. God goes into the womb of a woman. Don't get familiar with that. Don't turn that into a Christmas story. It's deeper than a Christmas story. Baby in a manger. It's God in the flesh. God chose to sit in Mary's womb and come as a man. And not take a shortcut. He didn't pop in the wilderness, thirty years down the road, thirty years old, buffed and ready and empowered by the Spirit of God. Who is this man? Where'd he come from? No, he started like we started, in the womb of a woman. He came through the woman. He came as a man. Why? So God could could could fulfill through a man what a man failed. So he could defeat the devil through a man. So he could fulfill the law of righteousness through a man. And then take a man's blood and put it on the mercy seat in the holy place and speak on behalf of all men in righteousness. Don't get familiar with that. That is not a Christmas story. That is a reality of heaven coming to earth and sending things straight. Why? Because He wants to redeem. Why we're here. This thing isn't about going there someday. It's about redeeming why we're here now. That we're here, He must think a lot of who He is in our lives and who He can be and who our lives can be in Him to pay the price He paid. Come on, nobody taught me this growing up. Nobody told me that the cross was redeeming my value. They always said He was just, you know, He's pointing out my sin. The cross was always about my sin. No preacher ever told me the cross was about my value, purpose, and potential. So all I was was conscious of sin growing up. All I did was feel bad about Jesus down on the cross because I felt powerless to change and I had bad things in my heart. Not felt bad about myself all the time. I needed you to like me because I didn't like me. And if you liked me, I felt like at least maybe I was possibly likable. So I lived like a lot of us lived, insecure and not sure. And as good as the moment provided, that all changed. I promise. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed to say that He believes my life lived in Him is worth the blood of His Son. That is not presumption. That's not arrogance. It's not blasphemy. It's not heresy. It's the truth of the gospel. He hung on that cross to restore what He made man to be. To get the lie of me, to adorn me in the truth, to get that old wicked thing off of me, get His life back inside of me. He is not waiting to take me to heaven someday. He came to live on the inside of me. You know, this thing is not impersonal. And someday my name's gonna get called. He moved back home. Sin evicted Him from His home a long time ago. So He dealt with the problem and moved back in. And He didn't renovate the house. He made it new on the inside. I promise you, nobody ever taught me this gospel growing up. And I went to a lot of churches. And I'm not mad at people. I'm telling you, we didn't have a revelation like we have nowadays. Because the thing that I was taught back then made me self-conscious, sin conscious. And at best, I was hopefully a forgiving sinner. At best. Same attitude, same anger, same fantasies, same flesh-driven desires, same secrets, same busted up conscience, same judgments, same animosities, same jealousies, same pride. At best, hopefully a forgiving sinner. And when I read my Bible, I'm supposed to be changed. I'm supposed to be walking in a manner worthy of Him without getting trapped in works. Why? 'Cause I'm not trying to perform. I've become brand new. I'm not trying to be okay. He made me okay. It came on the inside and changed me. I'm trying to stay as calm as I can for you. I'm popping out of my skin right now. And I've been believing this thing for 23 years, and it feels like yesterday. I like yesterday, or this morning, like my brother came up emotional. It's like the lights just came on. See, it's not my fault. I'm the Energizer Bunny. I believe the gospel, and it's good tidings of great joy. And the joy is unspeakable. See, I read all that stuff in my Bible and never knew what it meant. Now I have a pretty good idea. If it's good tidings of great joy, then understanding the good tidings is the automatic expression of joy without you trying to catch a spirit of joy, hands laid on for joy, a moment of joy. It's an understanding that breeds and produces joy without you trying. You see it, and you become, you go, "Yay!" Like my life was unlovely. And He said, "But that's not you. I know who you are. I know your capacities, your abilities in me. I know what your life will look like if I'm inside of you and you're surrendered." That is so worth paying for. I'm gonna hang and die on this cross and put my blood on the mercy seat to redeem and restore your life. Not just to forgive your sins and take you to heaven. And what America calls "saved." Saved means He'll deliver, protect, and preserve, made whole and kept safe and sound. Saved is an all-inclusive word that has more to do with my life lived in my life coming. We say, "Hey, you saved?" "Yeah, you saved?" "Yeah, I'm saved." "You say." And all we're saying is, "Did you pray that prayer that gets you in?" That's all we're asking. Did you pray that prayer that gets you in? Come on. What does it benefit us to come to this church for the next 50 years and never miss a Sunday and drop something in the basket every time it goes by and actually serve and help keep this thing going for for the next 50 years, but get thrown into crisis and respond like the man that never went to church? Get treated wrong and act treated wrong? Get betrayed, and all we can do is ask for prayer because we live from of the place of betrayal? Get hurt like the man that doesn't even believe in Jesus, but we haven't missed a service, but we look like a person that never knew God? I'll bet you it's a little deeper than that. I'll betcha He intended much more than that. So He tells you not to take account of wrongdoings, to love not your own life unto death. That's how we overcome. We say, "You ever come through the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony." Whoo! Yeah. And they loved not their own lives unto death. That's the key that makes the first two so powerful and effective in your life. As powerful as the blood is, as powerful as the word of the testimony is, it's ineffective when there's a love for yourself in the equation. There's got to be a no love for your own life. This thing isn't about whether you live or die. It's about whether you shine. The thing is about living or dying. It's about shining. It's about making the most in the moment and imparting seed into men's lives and souls. It's about being effective within your sphere of influence because you got this one little shot called life on the earth in a body. And you want to live it in His name. You don't want to live it frustrated. You don't want to live it complaining. You don't want to live it sad. You don't want to live it in the flesh. You want to live it in Him. And one day, we'll be so glad we believed. 'Cause the just live by. So you get all caught up in your feelings. You get all caught up in your friends' advice who would hurt like you're hurting. It's probably not cool. Do you never do you ever notice how people are hurting and they surround themselves with people that understand their pain? You'll never be helped. You'll never be healed. You'll just be accommodated to stay the same. That'll be your support system to justify your feelings that are never producing life. The last thing you need to surround yourself by the people that understand your pain and call it sensitivity. If my pain is quenching Christ in my life and causing me not to see why I'm alive today, I probably need different friends and advice. I probably don't need pampered and sympathized with. I probably need somebody to talk to me straight and say, "Listen, I'm not sure why you this crush you so bad. I realize what they did, but how's that changed you? Your life? Your destiny? Your purpose and your calling?" No matter what they've done to you, no matter what they've said, no matter how they've surprised you and caught you off guard, you're no less anointed, no less called. You have purpose today. Don't let it get swallowed up by looking back over your shoulder because you're not Lot's wife. You're His bride. Now go ahead and shine. Come on. I've seen it. 23 years. That's not that long. I'm not saved that long. I've only been a Christian 23 years. I've seen countless people lay down the baton, stop, take a long break, say, "Well, I'm just taking time to heal." Why do we have such a grid for being hurt and broken in unforgiveness? People said, "Well, back off and give me time. It takes time to forgive." Brother, what do you mean? Wonder if you had no grid for unforgiveness. The only reason you have an unforgiveness grid is because you're thinking for yourself and in natural wisdom. You're in a court of law in your mind with natural facts. It's a talk show. It's victim, villain. It's natural wisdom. It gives you the right to be where you were never created for or never woke up to be. Wonder if you weren't caught off guard. Could you imagine Jesus breaking bread at the Last Supper and all of a sudden His bottom lip trembles and He falls apart? You see how silly that is? That's supposed to be silly. So that if that happens to you, it's silly because as He is, so are you in this world. You follow Him. The things He did, you'll do. If you believe, as the Father sent Me, I send you. It's no difference. You can't say, "That's Jesus." You have to say, "That's love." See, when you make Him a special man, you can't follow that. When, when you make Him love, He called you to that. But if you say, "Well, that was Jesus," you make Him unattainable. And He said, "Follow Me." In Christ in you is the hope of glory. That is not blasphemy. That's the Word of God. We get so tricked into following ourselves. Why? We're singing, we're following Him, and we make our own human experiences our own reality. And now we can't even talk spiritual without being accused of denial. But wonder if grace is greater? Wonder if I can live different? Wonder if my past resume isn't the truth about my created value? And wonder if Christ in me looks different than I used to? Wonder if I don't have to always stop, look, and listen, retrace, regroup? Wonder if I don't live in a crossroads Christianity, which way do I go? Wonder if I just live in the way? What if I just live by the Spirit? Don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. Just say, "If you think it's possible, it has to be, or He'd never have said, 'Follow Me.' He never said, 'The things I do, you can do if you believe.'" You see, you see what the target is? What you believe is what's on the chopping block. That's the enemy's assault and attack and pinpoint. He knows the Word. He's going after what we believe. So if you believe your own abilities more than His grace, if you believe your own track record more than your calling, if you, Lord, men's experience over life change, you probably won't walk in what He paid for. I've had people in my short life say, "Well, yeah, but probably gotta be careful. I mean, I know so-and-so, and he was such a man of God, and just as he stopped telling your horror stories, you're trapped following men." What does that have anything to do with what I'm talking about? Just because brother so-and-so was preach to preach it and he fell, why does that become gospel? Of course, you can glean and learn from it, but don't let it take the place of truth. Truth is found in Him. So if I'm following something other than Him, I'm being deceived. Paul said, "Only follow me as you see me following Him." Paul said, "I am what I am by the grace of God." Very humble statement. He's understanding no man has a thing unless it's been granted and given. So Paul doesn't want you to see him as a super Christian, just a believer. Yeah, wonderfully stand before God. And all we're guilty of is believing. Yay! It's gonna be the best day ever. I judge and charge you, damned Moeller, as a believer in me. Why? Because everything else will fall in place then. The signs follow a believer. These things to them to believe. It's all to the believer. So the thing that's on the chopping block is what do you really believe? And what you believe about yourself and what you believe about Him towards you is vital to you walking out your life in God. Let's thing I preached last night. You can't possibly live that on your own. You need Holy Spirit to be in your life living your life for you. You can't just listen to last night's message and say, "Okay, I'm gonna do that." No, you become that. Let's talk about it a little this morning. You become that through prayer, through putting on songs like "I Am Who You Say I Am," and you're starting your day in the bathroom, and you stop in the middle of brushing your teeth and you start actually believing, "Wow, I'm righteous. I'm holy. I'm blameless." And everything you paid for, my goodness, I have confidence in Your presence because You are my Father. That's a fun morning. That sure beats just praying to catch a break. Whoo-hoo. Have grace today, God. I got a lot on my plate. Work's gonna be tough. I got that job I had read, and I got to work with Cybil, and you know, Billy's a challenge. In fact, God, I'm questioning where Your love is because I've had to work with Billy three times in the last four days. Just for what it's worth, I'd like to work with Johnny now and then. Come on. And all of a sudden, our whole prayer revolves around our day going better in the way we hope it goes. And then the end of the day, you're assessing your spirituality and your access and authority because none of your prayers are coming true. Now you wonder what I'm missing, and you're reading books on faith. I'm not so far off. And you got your fridge plastered with promises, and it's all about blessing and not transformation. So when something goes outside of what you're believing for, you're shook. You're not shining. Come on. I've been around us long enough to know these things. And it's not that we woke up to miss God. I think sometimes we've been misinformed or uninformed. But I think in all our getting, we will get understanding and we'll go with it. When we hear a lot, told you last night, I'm not talking to a room of hypocrites. I'm talking to His kids. So I talk boldly. And there's nothing I'm preaching that I haven't lived and walked in and experienced. He gave me that mandate a long time ago. You know, the Lord told me a long time ago, He said, "You're going to speak in front of many of my people." And I said, "Really?" He said, "Yeah." Because I wasn't even in my heart. I never asked for this. In fact, I was talking pastor. It's funny how I was sure I'd never do this itinerant ministry because as a pastor, I didn't have a good view of itinerant ministry. To me, as a pastor, almost all the itinerant ministers were trying to push in the door, fill their schedule, and one honorariums. So I felt like people using their calling to earn a living and tying it to Scripture. Well, you don't muzzle an ox. Wise tread now at the grain. And labor's worth is higher. And I'm like, "You didn't hire me." Stop misquoting all this scripture. We don't have. I didn't give him a contract. But I've learned that some people do do contracts. I'm here because I want to be. I'm not here for an offering. I'd be in a bigger church. I'm here because I want to be. I told this man, either I'm not even thinking honorarium, I got my own plane ticket. I said, "No, nobody gets my plane ticket. I get my own plane tickets. Jesus will get me there." Why? 'Cause I believe what I'm preaching, and I believe it can land in your heart and bring fruit. That's payday to me. He told me a long time ago, "I don't ever want you to read your Bible to preach a sermon." You see, the Lord told me, "I don't ever want you to read your Bible to preach a sermon. You should only read your Bible to know Me. And only ever speak out of who I am in your life, and that will carry weight and authority." You see why I'm so crazy passionate? You see why I can't calm down? Because I'm not teaching my doctrine or belief in statement. I'm not here theologically. I'm not doing a Bible teaching. I'm sharing us and pouring out my heart and crying out and inviting you in because when you're in, my life has changed. Our spheres of influence are impacted. When you go to the job with the right attitude, Jesus starts to be revealed. When you go to a job complaining, calling it prayer, "God, how long you gonna let me work here? Why do you have to? Why do I have to endure my boss, God? He is so ruthless and so unjust. God, why don't You knock him off his eye?" And if you were really listening and not just complaining, you hear God saying, "Why don't you see him like I do? Why don't you laugh? Why don't you shine? Follow My Son. Stop letting where he's not decide where you are." [Music] If you were really listening, you'd probably hear that. Not just, "Oh God, help. God, my life. Please, God." Come on. That's normal Christianity, folks. Alarm clock. Man, man. 6 o'clock. 6 o'clock already. Oh God, I need grace. Hank, this total flesh getting out of back-talking spirit. You think, "Oh God, oh no. That's right. I got, oh man, I got that at 9 today. That's gonna be so." God, if I don't have Your grace, I ain't making it. God, I need Your help. And please don't let my supervisor have that same nasty attitude. I don't know what's wrong with that man. I wish he knew you. Always getting serious right now. I mean, I invited him to church. I don't know why he never comes. Unbeliever. He's probably, the goal isn't inviting him to church. Probably go as you being the church. 'Cause why would he want what you say if he can't see it in your life? You have to understand your life has a sphere of influence. So does mine. Number of faces I'm looking at covers more ground than we can comprehend. Just this small room. The impact, the sphere of influence we've been granted by the grace of God and living by the Spirit is beyond measure. The impact. People, people mention my buddy Todd, and they love Todd. And Todd's out there. He's a media guy. He's everything. He's just done everything. He's just out there and God's using him tremendously. When he walks in the church, the day he's suicidal, if I'm not living in Jesus, I don't have my heart groomed in God's through waking up the morning. I am Who I can counsel him. I can give him Bible doctrine, but I don't know if I can really impact him like he needs impact if I'm distracted. If I'm having a fallout with my wife. So I'm trying to do the pastor thing, and I'm barely holding it together 'cause I got my own issues. And now I got to deal with everybody else's issue. I don't even want to know how to think that way. I just want to wake up and be in Him. It's a whole lot freer. But when he walks in that door, guess what? You got something to give that young man because you got something inside of him. And it ain't your doctrine. It's your life. And one of the main things he, he, he says when he shares testimony with tears, he said, "I actually saw Jesus in a man." And that's how he tells the story. And he says, "It's, he went to band practice at night, and they're smoking pot." That's an nun. And he's like, "Hey guys, I'm gonna start doing Jesus. I'm just letting y'all know. I'm going to start doing Jesus." And they're smoking pot. Pastor, I said, "What dude? What were you smoking? Give us the good stuff." "What? They ain't no Jesus." He said, "No, there's a Jesus. There ain't Jesus, man." Here's what his band was telling him. "Come on, man. What are you kidding? No Jesus? Are you kidding me? People make him up. They can't deal with life. Weak-willed, weak-old people create him. They lean on him 'cause they can't do life. Ain't no Jesus." He said, "Oh no, there's a Jesus. I, I saw him today." And they're like, "You saw Jesus, dude? What were you smoking?" They want the good stuff. He said, "No, I saw him." They said, "You saw Jesus?" He said, "Yeah." "He was in a man." That's what he told his band. He said, "And if he was in that man, I believe he can be a name. And I'm going after Jesus." You know, he's so humble. He comes telling pastor Tim, he calls me every once in a while. It just calls me out of the blue. It's to say, "Buddy." I says, "Hey, man." And he just starts crying. And I'm like, "Are you okay? What's going on?" "Everything good?" "No, I'm just thankful. Just thank you, man." I said, "What are you talking about?" Like, "Thank you. You've done this 500 times. You say, 'Thank you for the gospel.' Just thank you for giving me what you gave me. Teach me what you taught me. Thank you for being there, being ready, being in there, man. Like, my privilege." You just never know the influence God's giving you in that moment. And it sure would be good to not have some other attitude when you're in your moment. 'Cause let me be straight, every person you encounter is that same moment. Because the kingdom of God is if a man scatters seed, that scatters strife, scatters seed. Do I wouldn't see the things I see when I'm traveling? I wouldn't be sensitive to the things I'm sensitive to if I was caught up in all this life stuff. Says, "Don't seek the things on the earth. Seek the things that are above in heaven where Christ is seated, where you're seated with Him." Says, "Don't seek the things on earth." Why? Because you died. You did not pray a prayer to go to heaven. You died, and your life is now hidden in Christ in God. So set your mind on things above. He writes to Timothy, Timothy, no one enlisted in the army of God ever again entangles himself in the affairs of this life. He says, "Endure hardship as a good soldier." I didn't grow up with any of that preaching. I grew up with, "You better come to church. He paid this price to forgive you. You better appreciate it by coming to church. Make sure you stay in church too. You better be in church when He comes." And I used to always be like, I was freaked out by that, man. I was like, "Man, He's gonna come and I won't be in church." I used to think as a kid, "Wonder if He comes and we ain't having service? Am I supposed to run to a church quick?" What is so religious? And all the people that were doing their best to try to help, that were teaching what they were taught, and had sincere hearts, were just as hurt, just as busted up, yelling at their spouse like everybody else, and it's screaming at their kids like everybody else. And they didn't understand they could live changed. Yeah. So how do we get changed? Sing that song every morning and believe it. "I Am Who You Say I Am." Go ahead and just sing that song. Try that one for a little bit. And just be personal. No, suddenly turn the music down and open you up your heart and stand right in the bathroom. Father, it's amazing how You love me. Not boy, I sure hope You love me well. It's amazing how You washed me clean and You caused me to stand before You as if I've never sinned. And You've judged me in righteousness. Thank You for making me Your son. That should be spraying for your boss to do better. Because when you get to work, you're gonna have such a good view of your boss, no matter what he's doing and saying. And you start talking like this: "Father, I thank You today. No one owes me a thing. What an honor to live my life in You." Man, I see it now. Life is a gift. I used to complain and think life was a grind. How deceived was I? Life is a gift. I got today. You woke me up today. Mercy gave me another day to be more like You and to shine into the hearts of men. Thank You that I can invest in the men without trying so hard. Love is evangelistic. Thank You for changing my life. Can you start believing that way? You start talking that way? You're one of two things: You're out of your mind and you ought to get a hobby, or what you're saying is true and God's gonna meet you there and paid for and grace is gonna start coming upon your life and changing you in that place of relationship. Let's just get this straight. What I preached last night, you'll never live without relationship and intimacy with Jesus. You'll never just get convicted by the Word and go do the Word. You become the Word, and you become the Word through intimacy with Jesus. You do this great exchange. It's something I teach all the time. Why don't you look in Colossians 3 with me? And we'll just do that, and that'll be our little morning, yay, and it'll just be good. And there's a little teaching, encouraging time. Remember how I said there's a great marriage, coming and going? Pastor said that stood out to him. I believe that. As a pastor, I'll only local pastored for 8 and a half years. I've been traveling since. There's a great marriage between coming and going. The whole reason we come and don't forsake the assembling of ourselves is in order that we stir ourselves in love and good works. Now, you look how far we could be running the risk of being removed from that truth when we church shop, when we look for a place that we like, when we just love the personality of the pastor, or the worship is great. That is not a solid reason for going where you're going. Because then you don't handle change, and then you blow around and move like the wind, and you stay in the church shopping market, and you're trying to find a place that appeases you and entertains you, and you're serving your preferences more than Him. Because if that's your reason for being there, you're not looking to be stirred in love and good works. People say, "Well, I don't go to that church anymore. I wasn't getting fed." My goodness, get up and eat breakfast in the Lord. What do you mean I'm not being fed? Holy Spirit will teach you. Don't go to church to be fed. Go to church to walk in love and encourage people. And you know, people go to a church, see why he never going back there? "It wasn't a loving place at all." It should have been. You were there. Do you see how we're always thinking for ourselves and getting tricked? How many people have you heard go test an atmosphere? They go visit a place to see if it's spiritual, see if it's lovely, see if it's loving, and then they leave. And you suppose, "So, what did you think?" "What was that way?" "I don't know if I would go back there, man. It just, I don't know. I said over in the corner. Nobody really came. They just didn't feel like I was real welcome. That wasn't too loved there." If you go with that screen on your eye to test atmosphere, you, you'll come up with assessments all the time that aren't cool. If you're looking at men to see them for what they're not, you never judge with outward appearance. You judge with righteous judgment. You never read a book by the cover. That's why you never get to the inner chapters that are amazing because you already put the book to the side. And the Bible says, "Don't ever live that way." And is it amazing that's how we grew up living? It's not an accident that we grew up living that way. And we're never created to live that way. It's because there's perversity. It's called the fall of man, isn't it? Amazing that all the things that we said growing up, you read your Bible and it's the opposite. Did you ever notice that stuff that we were trained by lie, that when you open the Bible, the things that it says are the opposite of the language we were taught? You know, "Well, brother, you made your bed, you got to sleep in it." "Well, if I were you, that'd be great, but I wouldn't get my hopes up." "Well, what you see is what you get, man." None of those things are in the Bible. It's the total opposite. You know, "God helps those who help themselves." What? "No, God works in mysterious ways." That's not a scripture. People think that's scripture. People say, "What do you know any scripture?" "Well, God works in mysterious ways." I've heard that my whole life. It's not a scripture. The Bible says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." Then hope, Hebrews 6, is the anchor of your soul, passing through the veil into His presence. The Bible saying, "Get thorough Bob." We're saying, "I wouldn't get my hopes up." Why? Self-preservation. Self-serving preservation. I'd hate to see you get your hope up and then get hurt. I'd hate to see you get all and then let down. You said, "We have a brother front of my Bible, a deferred, defer your hope, it makes your heart sick." Defer hope makes your heart sick. So why do you let your hope be deferred? So our answer is self-protection. Just don't get your hopes up. That's already in a sick place because faith is the substance of things hoped for. When you live without hope, you can't live in faith. It's impossible to please Him without it because you're in a central world that you have to live by the Spirit. Now you're in big trouble. I hope I'm making sense to you. You're just kind of looking at me this morning. I don't know if it's good or bad 'cause you all look the same. You're all just looking like that idea. It's funny. I just looked and thought, "Everybody looks the same." I'll just trust it's okay. It's just what you see is what you get. Everybody's heard that phrase in their life. The Bible says, "Don't ever live by what you see." It's subject to change. And the things unseen are eternal. And we grow up, "What you see is what you get." We try to get spirits and say, "Well, brother, you made your bed, you sleep in it." "You reap what you sow." Well, I reap what I sow when there's no repentance. But once I repent, I begin to reap what He sowed. It's called redemption in the Lord. So He made a brand new bed with clean sheets. Probably ought to get in it. Come on. Are we really reaping what we sowed? You can, there's a time you have to pay a debt to society. Somebody might have to do a prison term or whatnot. But where God's concerned, once you repent, you stand before Him as if that thing never happened. You might have to eat some natural fruit of your thing, but you stand before God as if you've never sinned. And you can walk in righteousness, be empowered by the Spirit. You can have words and knowledge and flow and living grace, even though you have this history. Why? Because you're not reaping what you served. You're reaping what He sowed. And it's great. Yeah. I just asked this question this morning: How do I handle the condemnation of what I've done to my family in all those years of ignorance? How do I handle what I did to my child when I was parenting them in fear or frustration or anger? And now that I'm saved and I see what I've done to my child who's in their 20s, and every time they fall, I know if I'd parented different, they wouldn't be that. I believe, which you have no guarantee of that. But I understand what you're trying to say. What I'm saying is, at what point you fall on the mercy of God and say, "Thank You, Father. If You don't judge me for where I've been, then where I've been, I don't want to see judge my child anymore. And I thank You, Your grace is sufficient and swallows up in redemption. Your redemption is greater than my failure 15 years ago, God. I thank You. You're doing a work across the board in my family, and You're cleaning up things. God, thank You for who You are. But I'm all-in. I'm living this thing now. And what I was, and what I am, and what I did isn't gonna be what it is. I thank You for changing things, even where my children are concerned." Yeah. You're weeping in your bedroom and you're saying, "God, if I knew what I knew now, I wouldn't parent it like I did then." God, thank You for not letting my child eat the fruit of my ignorance in that day. But God, even though I see them going in this vein, and that me, thank You, Your grace is greater. You're tracking them down. You're wound them in their sleep. You're putting people in front of their life. And God, I refuse to be afraid. My countenance is gonna shine. I'm not a condemned parent. I'm not a judged parent. I'm a filled with the Spirit parent. I declare victory over my children. And I thank You, God. And then you go to work. And you ain't we're in that thing. Why? Because you're in faith, not denial. You believe. You're not ignoring the situation. You've addressed it. See, the biggest thing Christians fighting faith nowadays, calling every time they see faith calling it denial. And you got to get real, brother. That's a dangerous, dangerous, twisted assessment of preaching faith. You say, "Well, people just, well, yeah, but who knows? Physical loss is real. Who knows? There's no way to deny it." But who knows? The Bible says you should never be overtaken by it or swallowed up by it or live in it as if you're an unbeliever and have no hope. So is there a way to encounter physical loss and still shine and fulfill all the work of the Lord? Is there a way to have severe, serious physical loss, unexpected physical loss that's real, that can't be denied, and still flourish in Christ and leave a testimony? But when people live like they're free, good-hearted, and well-meaning Christians are tumbling, you got to walk these, brother. You need a season of grieving. And you can't. There's no way you can be okay. Wonderful. Okay, by what you believe. What if you wonder if you're okay because you believe? And all of a sudden, you're calling belief denial. Because we're lording our own human expressions above the possibilities of grace. And we're comparing ourselves among ourselves, and it ain't wise. You with me? Wonder if you could be more like Him in that moment? Wonder if you could actually follow Jesus in that moment? Wonder if you actually live in thankfulness with zero complaining in that moment? Do you know why thankfulness is all through your Bible? Why it's attached to the end of a lot of scriptures? "And with Thanksgiving, and always with thanks, and in Thanksgiving, and in everything." You think you know what Thanksgiving is? Attached to a lot of scripture. Because when you fail to be thankful, you've turned inward, and you've took that thing personally. You're thinking for yourself. When thankfulness slips away, you're thinking about you. When you remain thankful, you're seeing in the light of truth, and you see in the bigger picture than how you feel and what just happened. Thankfulness takes you past self-centeredness. Self-centeredness will eat your thankfulness alive. The moment you start to believe it's okay to feel sorry for yourself, you're in great danger. Because you love not your own life unto death, and you denied yourself. How can you feel sorry for what you gave away? When you preach like that, there's people that have trouble with that, and they say, "Brother, that's, that's, that's denial right there. You've." Show me one person that ever felt sorry for herself and produced the kingdom of God and shined in light. You show me one person that ever was sitting feeling sorry for their self and manifested the kingdom. How can you feel sorry for what you surrender? Could you picture Jesus feeling sorry for Himself? "They just can't believe they don't love me. I mean, my heart's pure, God. What am I missing? Like, I'm really, really sincere. Check my heart. You know, all things, Father. Like, I mean, if I'm ministering You, Your love, why can't they see it? Why don't they like me? I hear their thoughts. I wish You wouldn't let me hear them. They're hard to deal with. Like, they think I'm a demon-possessed Samaritan. They think I work on behalf of the lie. I mean, I'm life. I'm standing. You saw that Lazarus to life, standing right in front. And then all they could do is worship death. They couldn't even see." I don't know. Sometimes I just feel. I don't know. Come on. I give those illustrations hoping they

sound ridiculous when you put them in the mouth of Jesus. So that you start thinking, "Wait a minute, I'm made for His image, and I'm following Him. And as He is, so I'm in this world." So they should be ridiculous. If they're in my mouth, those comments should be just as ridiculous in our mouths because we're the body of Christ. So if He would never say it, He would never think it, let alone say it, we probably shouldn't say it. If you can't find it in Imogen being us, so how are we going to deal with that? Colossians 3. Oh, help you get along when nobody's looking and have relationship with Jesus. Don't let your church attendance take the place of knowing Him. Don't let your service and ministry take the place of knowing Him. Now, let your gifting and calling take the place of knowing Him. Knowing Him transforms your life, and there's a lot of place of communion in relationship. Yeah, it is possible in today's Christian culture to wear, no offense, if you have a Lululemon shirt on, to wear a Lululemon shirt, watch a Christian video, and play Christian music, and have a Christian bumper sticker, and never commune with God and make contact with the Living God from your heart. And let all the things you do in His name take the place of knowing Him. Doing Christian things is not what makes you Christian. Christ's likeness is Christianity. And the only way you become Christ-like is not biting your lip trying. It's becoming when you're with Him. It's putting off, putting on, exchanging the way I'm preaching. You take some of those convictions to the prayer closet. "Father, I thank You that the only way I ever see my children from this day on is through the truth of what You created them to be. I thank You, my children owe me nothing. I am not demanding their honor. You told them to honor me. I am not demanding it. I am honored to love them right where they're at. And I thank You for giving me wisdom to live like You would live if You were in my shoes." You start talking like that to the Lord, and watch how you start conducting yourself within your family. And all of a sudden, your children don't have the ability to get on your nerves and frustrate you because you got new nerves in prayer. And all of a sudden, it ain't about where they're not, what they're doing. And that boy, and that sound, I kidding. I fed that boy. That boy, nurse. I've nursed that boy. And then you want to talk to me like that? Boy, I raised you. I'm your mother. Don't go there, mama. Don't go there. It'll never produce the righteousness of God. You're demanding his respect. Don't go there.

Who in this room ever just had God come and manifest with His hands on His hip and tear you up and shout you down, and you showed up in church quick because He scolded you? Ain't happened to one of us. Well, we've done it to each other, haven't we? A stats man, will he stay quiet sometimes for a while? But when we, when we talk, okay, boy, I had enough. Now, you listen to me good. You show me one time that ever produced the righteousness of God. You show me one time two people were in a skirmish and it ever produced life. You show me one time where people had animosity and it ever produced anything good. Paul writes admonishments to us in the Bible. He says, "Be careful, there's no evil unbelieving heart found among you." A harder, evil heart of unbelief among you. Nowadays, you share a testimony and the church says, "Do you have any documentation?" We boasted our unbelief because unbelief, evil, evil. Watch, either for me or against me. Either gathered to me, scatter. You know what we think on the surface? That's somebody that's saved or not saved. Somebody that came to church, didn't go to church. Somebody that's prayed a prayer, didn't pray a prayer. No, you can actually see your need for Savior. You can be serving in ministry in this church and live with a daily mindset that works against the grain of everything God's wanting to do. You can say self-centered and actually be scattering and not gathering. You can have a self-centered mindset and be a part of a congregation and actually work against the grain of everything grace is trying to accomplish and sincerely see your need for a savior and one forgiving and not live in the flow of His wisdom. He's not talking about a person that's degenerated unbelief. He's not talking about a pagan. He's talking about somebody that's giving their heart to things counterproductive to what He's accomplishing. You say stuff like, "We ain't nobody ever going to treat me like that. When you know where you'll make me a doormat." You be careful with all that stuff because if you got lines, somebody's crossing. So why don't you just get, get rid of the lines instead of believe nobody'll cross? I want to just get rid of the lines. Yeah. You know, if people say, "Well, we need to pray for him because, you know, how he is." Yeah, well, let's just keep praying for him to God change you. You know, sometimes he just gets on my nerves. We need to keep right. I don't even think he knows how he is sometimes. I think we just keep him in prayer. Let's agree. Let's pray for three weeks to see if he changes. That is self-righteous. You ought to stop praying. You're praying because he gets on your nerves. What about you getting new nerves? Could you picture God and the Father sitting up there and Jesus the Son, and they're talking? Said, "Look at Barney down here, man. Don't you plug you sometimes?" "I'm glad you said that, Father, because I was starting to feel convicted in my own self, in person, and who I am, because I'm thinking, nobody bugs me. I love, but Barney tears me up sometimes. I don't, sometimes I wonder why I even died for him. I don't think that man cares at all sometimes." "You say one thing to another, and I don't know, Lord, I just..." "Yeah, I know. I've been thinking he's not for us. He's got to be against the sea and gather, and he's probably scattering." "Yeah, that's a, that's a good word, Lord. That's a good word. Yeah, yeah. Barney just bothers me." That's something. You can't picture that conversation. You can't picture God and the Son talking like that, looking down at your like, "Oh, nope, there she goes again. Now there she goes again. Now, you know, she knows better." "Oh, I know she knows better because I said Holy Spirit and told him to tell her this, and he did yesterday, and she heard it because I saw her stutter right in her motion. She just started as he stared because she heard it. Holy Spirit was on it, man. He convicted her, and there she is doing it anyway. That says where she stands. I'll tell you, I just forget her if I were you. That's what I'm doing." You, and yeah, that's forgetting. Isn't it amazing the illustrations I'm giving? Sounds so hilarious when you put it in heaven, but we've become familiar, and it's normal on earth, and expected. And if you don't live that way, you're in denial. Oh, I'm bringing it, but thank you for the encouragement. Are you with me?

So watch this. Did He ever, ever one time teach us these things? Then where'd we learn? Shame on you, parents. Where'd we get this mentality? I can understand from our parents, but where'd they get it? They'll fall. Oh, man. It's called the fall of man. It's called the wisdom of the world. It's called the way that seemeth right. And see, that's the problem. It seems right, and it's hard to locate sometimes because it seemeth right, but it's way always pasture leadeth unto death and destruction. Jesus never one time taught us these attitudes. So where'd we learn them from? The fall of man. Every one of us. Romans 5. We're born into Adam. And you must be born, and we turned born-again into a prayer. We pray to go to heaven instead of a life we live because of Him. Born again is brand new life. It's not positional. It's not dispositional. Well, I know we're here on the earth, and it's tough, and life is rough, but praise God, at least we're seated and with Him in heavenly places positionally. What Christ in you is the hope of glory. Paul said, "I work and labor tirelessly, the grace of God upon me to accomplish this one thing: to Christ be formed in you." So Christ be formed in you. See the marriage between coming and going? Man, heaven forbid that we come and just try to do better church and have a great hoedown service, and then those people go tell their friends because it's fun to come here. Make sure you know we got the room full of people, and it just looks like we're having a great time. But if we're not being formed in Christ and going out and living our life in the light, man, I've pastored a church, and all of a sudden, the way I preach, I preach like this, and found out people still sleeping together in the church that weren't hooked up and married. She's come. I've been in supernatural schools, some big-name schools, and they cry their eyes out when you confront sexuality because the students have slept together at times. For a man, do they do worship? Man, do they wave em flags? And can they ever dance? Now, I'm not getting legalistic and all that stuff. What I'm saying is, our lives can be changed, and it shows that we're taking on the form of something without the reality of that thing becoming who we are. Because I promise you, with intimacy and fellowship with God, you can't live certain things that you've lived. When you have fellowship with God, when you're in intimacy with Holy Spirit and communion with the Lord, it's a protective place. You can't do two things at once like that. Are you a thing? I'm just bold about that. He shout me down all you want. You can write whatever you want. There ain't no pastor in the world that ever slept with some woman in his congregation that was having intimacy with the Holy Spirit. And then we say, "Well, you know, it's amazing God loves us. The tendencies of people, because he is a man of God. We just have our weak moments. You just got to try to guard against weak moments. He probably needs a better accountability support system because we just fall into trouble so quick, brother. You don't fall into the bed of a woman. You think about it, and you have 25 chances to not get in. Hello. It's top soft-pedal in this thing, and somebody needs to get real. If you're in communion with God, and you're seeking first the kingdom of God, you're not even thinking about being in the bed, let alone having the capacity to get in. You know, even thinking about getting in, let alone the capacity to get in. Why? Because He's Lord in your life, and you've communed with Him, and you've met with Him in the morning, and you walk with Him through the day. Wouldn't it be amazing if us men would get this and grow in this? And some lady would even, insecure and vulnerable, would come on to some man in some setting, and you'd say, "Honey, man, do you know Jesus? He's my best friend." Yeah. I tell the story all the time. The prostitute. I tried to find a lady that was specs laden in drugs. She was in a crack house somewhere, and I was trying to find her. And it's funny how you know where the crack houses are, but they're still there. So you can't find her. And now you think there's a crack house over here on Duke and Pine or Princess and you're looking for, but you're not sure which one it is. So you're looking because you know you can find it soon because there's traffic. It's a crack house. There's just traffic. So I'm looking. It's either this one or this one, and I'm gonna figure it out here in a minute. Now, go in the one that it is, and I'll see if I can find this lady. You going in there? What she's in there? Jesus would go in there. One of they shoot you now, be with Jesus forever. Kids, a win-win. Yeah, but you got to use wisdom. Who's your fear? Or my heart for the lady. God shows up fourth man in the furnace when you're not afraid of anything, and you won't compromise. He doesn't always put out the fire. He just makes sure He's there, and you're not bound in that place that's burning hot. And when you come out of it, nobody can tell you were there except the increased passion in your life because there's no singeing, no smell of smoke, and nothing's burned. I'll stick with the gospel. So leave me alone. I'm going in there. So why I'm waiting to figure out which one's it. This precious lady peeks in my window and says, "Hey, honey, what are you doing in this part of town?" She's soliciting me so she can stay. "Hi, I should care about that people. I shouldn't be tempted by that. I should care about that. I'm here to help set her free, not be accommodated by her." A little quick sexual favor for 20 bucks or something in that day and move on. Are you kidding me? She's in desperate, dire need. She shouldn't even be a remote temptation to me. Even if she says, "Tonight's free." Nothing's free. Your conscience pays a price, and so does your ultimate life-and-death day. Ain't nothing free. Everything has a cost. So what do you do? You snatch her by the wrist, and she don't even know what you did. And you know she's either packing her, has a blade. There ain't no way she doesn't at least have a knife. She's a city girl. She's a prostitute. She's in the city. I grew up there. I guarantee you she had something on her person that could hurt me if she chose to. But she snatched her by the wrist, and you don't let her go. And she's cursing you and telling you to let her go, and she's calling you very bad names. And you're crying profusely, and you're telling her, "Honey, you're asking me the wrong question. What am I doing here? The real question is, what are you doing here? Because if you had any idea who you were, you wouldn't be doing what you're doing tonight." "Get off him. You don't even know me." "I said, I know you. I never met you. I know you. You don't know me." And I told her she was born before time, she was seen, there was a time to be born, she was born by the will of God, she has a destiny, predestined to be adopted as His daughter. The fact that you're standing here reveals to me your life is the will of God. I said, "I'm gonna let you go. Please don't run. I need your help." I let her go, and she didn't run. So I told her what I needed. I said, "Don't play me. I know you know her. You girls know each other. I have to find her." "Why do I need? Why do you need to find her?" "Because I love her. Not domestic love. Jesus has left the same love I have for you. I've gotta find her." I'm crying. "I know. You know." She said, "I know." "I said, then you gotta take me to her." She gets in my car, and we drive off. Now, what does that look like to you? Do you know where the Bible says to avoid the appearance of evil? It's not because the thing's evil, it's just the appearance. But why do we avoid the appearance of evil? Because men think evil. God's so humble and so amazing. He tells you, "I'll tell you what, just avoid the appearance of evil." So we don't stumble weak-minded people. Guess what love doesn't do? Love thinks no evil. So guess what? We're not perfected in love because we think evil. What's the average Christian, without judging you personally, which the average Christian think when they see Pastor Dan's truck pull away in a town where people know me, Pastor Dan's truck pull away, and the prostitute just got in and we drove away? What's the first thing that goes through their mind? Most of them cry, call a friend. They don't tell anybody. We need to pray. And by morning, 12 people are crying. Brian, nobody tracked me down. Nobody asked me what was going on. Nobody looked and said, "I don't know what their girls think of, but she just got in Pastor's truck. She is in for Jesus." Hey, nobody said that. They're just wondering what I'm up to because men do things in secret, and everybody's got their stuff. And I knew that, man. He was so sincere. I thought he was for real, man. She is zero threat to me, people. If I'd have thought twice about it, I didn't ever put her in my truck. I didn't think about it till the next morning. I was laying on my bed, and I went, "This lady is my truck." And drove right on the corner where they pick them up. My friend in my vehicle, she took me to my girl. Long story short, after getting the whole thing. But ain't it something that we live in a day where you can't even do that in the law of love? Because we have to make so many other rules because so many people have done so many inappropriate things, and people will judge it and think evil and stumble. Jesus didn't put nobody in His car and drive off. He just hung around them and was getting persecuted horribly by the church just because he was around them. Could you imagine if somebody saw what happened when I drove up? Nobody. God just, He's good. Why? Because love doesn't have all those rules. When it's love, pure in heart, shall see God. Jesus is totally cool with me doing what I did. He just made sure nobody stumbled by. So we're driving, she shows me my girl. You know what my girl's doing? She's standing in an alleyway. She's got two dealers out here. They're making exchanges from the road, from their pockets to cars, and nobody's busting them. It's obvious what's going on. There's two dealers. They're making exchanges from the curb. And then when they're making the exchanges, they're leaning innocent, "Hey, you want any action?" And they're pointing to the, to the alleyway. My girl's in there. She's going to slide out. They're going to see. "Yeah, man. Yeah." And then they motion, and she goes in, gets in the car, and drives off. Does a little sexual favor, comes back, and stays high. And you think that ink will make me cry? You think that's a remote temptation? We always come down on the girls that are stuck in this thing. We always call them names, and their this, and their that. And I grew up derogatory mentality towards prostitutes, and I'm thinking, what makes the men picking them up any remotely better? The men picking them up are just as lost, twisted, and demented. The men that are facilitating it are just as out of order. They're on the earth to give them truth and give them Jesus, not take advantage of their demise. Why we always come down on the girls and call them cheap and easy? Loosen. Why aren't you guys just as bad? They need Jesus desperately. If you wouldn't have the guys in the arena, the girls would have nowhere to work. The guys are just as it fall. You know what they'll stand before God on? If there's no change of repentance for not being there and the avenue they were created for, not helping a woman in need, but obliging her, twist facilitating it instead of giving her Jesus. Well, I got her in my car. That's a good thing. No matter what you think at this point, I promise you, it's a good thing. And she don't want me to drop her off on the corner because I'll go back and find my girl, and she'll know they'll know that she led me to her because they'll see her get in my car, and then they'll say, "That guy wasn't doing no trick with her. He's using her to find her." So she said, "You got it. You can't drop me off here. You gotta take me down." So she's used to living in the shadows. She's used to living in the dark. And and so, so guess where she tells me to take her. I said, "Well, where do you want me to drop you, honey?" She said, "Pull me into that alley. There ain't no lights." Well, how she know that alley? That's where she takes everybody. So I ain't afraid of that alley. Let's go. We got in that alley. I said, "Hey, before you get out of my car, I want to talk to you a little. I want you to tell me why you do what you do." She cries. She says, "My babies. I gotta feed my babies. I gotta take care of my babies." I said, "Honey, you could work at Walmart and take care of your babies. You have an addiction. You need help." And that's, "I just want to pray with you. Can I please?" Produce it. Shh. I'm talking. Freaked out. I'm talking back against my truck. Spazzing. Freaking. "Why do you care? Why do you care so much about me?" I'm talking dramatic beyond what you can probably picture. Freaking out. "Why? First time in her entire life she's ever been valued and loved. She's always been used for what she could give a man. I always felt rundown as a little child. Zero esteem." Or she wouldn't be addicted. Addiction is always rooted in low esteem. Always. I know that sounds psychological, but it is. Addictive behavior is always connected to a low value and self-image. So people live up to the low level in which they see themselves. Are you with me? So she's freaked out. "Why do you care? Why don't you?" "I said, because I know who you are." "You keep saying, let's go through it again, honey. I know you." And I told her who she was in Him. As I'm telling her, she falls on me like my own daughter and wraps around me and sobbing on my shoulder. And I am so not afraid to hold her. I just hold her in my truck. She's just crying all over me. She's soaking wet, sweated. It's hot. It's summer. You don't know what's in her blood, in her body. You don't know where she's been. But you know where she's been. And you just kissing her on the forehead, one after the other, as you pray. And you hit one that afraid of that situation because you understand the love of God. Loosely, dude, that's crazy. Wonder she'd stop. Get to know Jesus a little more. He dominates their situations. I promise you. And you hug her, and you give her a phone number, and you give her a helpline, and you give her some direction, and you say, "Listen, please respond and move forward. That's of tonight because your life is so much more than this." And you reach out, and you kiss her right there. You let her walk down that alley, sobbing and crying. She ain't never had a pickup like that before. So don't tell me, man, that we can't live clean and free and be pure. The more you value yourself, the more you live in Him, the more you see the value of your life in Jesus, the more you won't give yourself to the things that were so far off. Any man that's born, found in pornography, I promise you this. Any man that's secretly bound in pornography has no clue who he is, or he wouldn't be entertained. He doesn't know who he is. And once he starts seeing the value of his life, calling, and destiny, this thing will have a different appearance, and it will lose its luster, and he will have a whole different take on it, and a whole different heartbeat towards it when he knows who he is. Are you with me? So how does that take place? I gotta quit. Oh my goodness, it's that late already. What you guys do worship like an hour or something? Adam, you know, it's a woman you gave me. So worship team, right now. Let me read this real quick, and then I try to make a point here. Your life will never transform outside of relationship and into music. Jesus. I said it. Oh, how many times. I'm saying it again because it's vital. Without this, you won't have a clean expression. This way, you've got to have this to have this. Loving God with all your heart, your soul, and your strength, and your mind. And the second commandment is like it. And you can hang all the law and the prophets on it. And love fulfills the law because it does no harm to a neighbor. You love your neighbor as yourself. So it's very, very important to see the love of God and begin to love God through His first love, and then get a healthy view of yourself by seeing yourself the way He does. It's not vanity. It's not boastful. It's not proud. It's a healthy view of you through Him. It's how He sees you through His Son. That's who you say I am. Now, you have a good, healthy view. And for the first time, maybe in your whole life, you actually begin to love yourself and value yourself without it being weird and vanity. And all of a sudden, you look through those new eyes, and all of a sudden, what you see in you, you realize is the same truth concerning everyone. And all of a sudden, you love your neighbor as yourself because you understand the gospel. And you go, "Wow, I finally see the value of people. They don't bother me anymore. My days of crying because of man is over. I'll begin to cry for men because if they knew who they were, they wouldn't live what they're living. My heart has found a place of mercy." Why? Because the truth, and it made me free. All of a sudden, I see people. It's why I do what I do. It's why I flew here because I wanted to. I just wanted to. I got to be a lot of places. I got invites that could be anywhere, but I'm here because I want to be. I never asked you, how many people did I? I never asked you for finances. I didn't know where I was coming. I just knew I wanted to be here somehow. I knew you'd be here. You are. We've been so jaded by life. There's a catch to everything. Everybody got string attached. What's in it for you? Wonder if the gospel is pure. Wonder if none of that has to be. Even if it's out there in church land, even if it's in itinerant ministry, don't you decide whether it is or not. You just live upright before Jesus and don't let what men don't see decide what you do see. Don't be hurt by stuff. Don't let a bad impression mark your heart. If anything, learn from it. Yeah, I had someone in my life when I first got saved. I actually gleaned and learned from a person that that that was more of a teaching me what never to do than teach me what to do. So rather than get hurt by it, I gleaned from it and said, "Okay, I'm going to flip this thing, and this is teaching me what to never be." My dad drank as an alcoholic, drank terribly. You know what I decided that as a young man in my heart? I see the hell and pain it's bringing to my family. I see how it's trashing his own life, and now he's no capacity to give one ounce of love, and he's caught in this thing. I determined I'm never drinking. I'm not gonna be. Well, then people's way. I just smoke pot because my parents smoke pot. Probably a good reason not to. Well, I just grew up with it, man. I just grew up around. I just drink because everybody drank at home. Mass. That's why I drink. Probably a good reason to say, "Why would I? Why do we always just sell so quick and so cheap?" We learn from this stuff. I'm trying to do this. I don't think I'm gonna be alright to do this. I'm going to try to do this quick. Let me read it. Debbie, just read it. Colossians 3. Use this, please. Use this little section of scripture as a barometer in your life. You can use it as even a trigger point, an invite into more intimacy and fellowship, into a putting off, putting on kind of prayer. You can find the same language in Ephesians. Put off, put on. When He says put off, put on, He's not talking about works. He's not talking about knock it off. You start about put it off in prayer. You didn't. The only way you can do it is put it off in prayer because you are what you are by the grace of God. It's not about, "Okay, you shouldn't do this, you should do that. You shouldn't do this, you should do that." Who knows? Christianity is not a, just a bunch of set of rules. One of the reasons young people run away from church at a young age is because it's just another set of rules. One reason I believe there's so many young people gravitating to the kingdom right now and coming to the gospel is because their understanding it's not a set of rules. It's a relationship. It's an identity they receive. It's a life they can become. They have actually have a lot of inspiration in this thing now because they can become something and live something that's real and viable, inspired by the person of Holy Spirit. And a lot of young people are pushing into the gospel because they're seeing it finally for what it really is more than I've ever seen before. Young adults, college-age, teenagers. I have parents email me and say, "My teenagers asked us to put you on at night. We say, 'Hey, you want to have movie night?' What do you want to watch?" They said, "Put on Dan Mohler." I get that email more than I can remember. Parents testifying that their teenagers want to hear these messages because they're going, "Wow, Christianity isn't what I thought." Ain't that cool? So if you were, if I were raised in Christ, that means since we were raised in Christ, seek those things which are above. Colossians 3, verse 1. Where Christ is. What are we seeking? The things above where Christ is at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not the things of the earth. So He knows our minds are gonna want to go here and there. He's telling us, "Listen, you've got to fix your mind here, man. You've got to keep your mind in the things that are above." And He explains it. Watch. "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life and my life, appears, then you will appear with Him in glory." Therefore, because this is true, put to death. He didn't say moderate, control, and find a healthy balance. He said, "Kill life in this arena." As you, it didn't. Put to death is different than managed. Come on. We've been lulled to sleep if we're not careful. Everything we grew up being, we think is normal. It's all perversion. We've studied a fallen man and say, "This is me." We're to be looking to Jesus. There's a new me. The thing that I was growing up is not who I was ever intended to be. And I can be changed by the Spirit of God and the working of grace. We just, we just, we just weave right around this thing and talk around this thing too much. The Bible says, "Put to death your members which are on the earth." Put it to death. Kill it. As you know it, fornication. It's amazing. The first thing on every list is always sexuality. Why? Because self-centeredness is at the root of all of our sexual functions from the time we can remember. It's always about me. Emotions trying to find value for the women, acceptance for the guys. It's so selfish. Without Jesus, it can be selfish. With Jesus, unfortunately, it's, it's just. He said, "Put to death your members which are on the earth." Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire. It's all, and covetousness. It's all idolatry. It's making something matter more than what matters most. And because these things are on the earth, the wrath of God is coming to the sons of disobedience. That means those who keep living this way without regard. In which you all were. That's why you're not proud and self-righteous. We were all in this boat. We all lived in this arena at some level. When we lived that way, we were counted that way. But now we're different. That's what He's trying to say. But now, but now, now you yourselves. It's not an article. It's not a prayer line. You yourselves are to put off these things: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Why? How do I put to death that list and put off that list without running the risk of getting into works and failing? I have to do it through truth, and it's in prayer. I have to put away self-centeredness. All those things on that list function through a self-centered motive. Did you ever think about this? The emotions grew up with are not what God made you to be. Did you have murders? Ever have somebody say, "Well, God gave us emotions, brother." Not the ones you grew up with. He didn't. Don't give Him credit for them. Come on. God did not give you the emotions you grew up with. Adam gave you those. And all your emotions were hinged on a self-centered wellspring. It was you think of for you that created your emotions. Nobody had to teach you to be angry. It came by instinct. He's telling you to put it off because it wasn't from the beginning. Nobody taught you to be jealous. It came naturally. You didn't have to study to be disappointed. You didn't have to take a class to learn insecurity. We were all in this thing from the time we can remember. We needed stability, acceptance. We needed honor. We needed love. We needed appreciate it. And a lot of us didn't get a lot of those things. So at a very young age, you were nothing more than how you responded to how it went down, and that became your identity. And it's time to get born again and put off the old and put on them. Now, you can't be saved and keep saying, "Well, you don't know what it was like when I was growing up." Well, brother, that's fine for you to say, and that works for you. But I had a rough upbringing. What's your upbringing have anything to do with your life now that Jesus has come? Separate the two. Don't even let it make sense to your mind. I asked the Lord a long time ago. I said, "Lord, please help me with this because because I'm seeing it everywhere I'm going. Why do people cling to their past? Their story? Why so many people writing books? That's my story. And there's no real, real good redemptive punchline. It's just all I've been through." Why are people's so grip on their past? Why? Why do they always talk about then instead of now? He said, "Because it's the only place they've ever found a sense of identity, whether good or bad. And they cling to it because it's where they find who they believe they are." But when you get in, you get brand new. You get a whole new identity. You're fulfilled in Him. You know the love of Christ. You're filled with all the fullness of God. All of a sudden, that doesn't matter if you've been touched strong. It doesn't matter if your dad never loved you. It doesn't matter if your mom was mean and using drugs. It doesn't matter if she put you up for adoption. None of that matters. What matters is there's a time to be born, and here you stand, and God saw you from the beginning, and He has great destiny and purpose for your life. And you can't let where a person's living decide the value of your life. You got to let who God is decide the value of your life. You can't let a dark season in a woman's life called biological mother rob you of value for the rest of your life because she was lost. Hello. And we let this stuff make sense, and we sympathize with it, and we talk around it. Why don't we go dead on at it and smash it and get it out of our language? You with me? So you're gonna put it off. You're gonna put it off. What's put off these things look like? You get alone and God. "Father, I just thank You my life is in You, and You're in me. Father, I just thank You for the way You love me, the way You see me, the way You've washed me clean. Father, I thank You that anger, frustration, and strife has no permission, no platform in my life anymore. Thank You for teaching me, Holy Spirit, working in me to love not my own life unto death. Man, I thank You that things I don't take person who accept the gospel, things people say, expressions, looks, man, I rejoice in the freedom that no one owes me a thing today. I am privileged to walk in this day and just shine and be whatever You would look like in that moment. Help me, empower me, and keep me in this wisdom, God, because my life is Yours." You start talking like that when nobody's looking. You start getting a chapter like this and verses and and and sit on your bed and read them and then start praying through them and you start putting off that list. "Father, I just put off anger and I just give up the right to be angry at anyone. Father, sometimes I feel like my my own kids do something and I get riled up. Somebody else's kids, you could do the same thing and I don't even blink. But if it's my kids, I get frustrated. Father, You didn't create that for me. That's not in You. That shouldn't be in me. I renounce that. I put that aside. And You're making the wiser and sharper man. My children owe me nothing. What an honor to be a dad in You, God. I thank You for teaching me love." All of a sudden, your kids do something. Next thing you know, you find out you're not even reacting anymore. Now your heart gets touched because you're not biting your lip trying not to. She's just not there. Why? Grace is changing you. Why? Because you're putting off and putting on. You with thee. I'll send you love him a little more, and you're inspired a little more, and you see the work of Holy Spirit just a little more, and He's a little more real than He was before. And knowing Him, His eternal life. You get it. You try to serve doctrine all you want. Knowing Him is what changes you. Don't lie to one another. Why? Because you put off the old man. Well, I thought I just prayed a prayer to go to heaven in case I hit a tree on the way home from church. That's what the preacher told me. No, no. You put off the old man and his deeds, and you've put on the new man. Who's the new man? He's renewed in knowledge according to or in agreement with the very image of the one who created you. Do you see what the gospel is? Or restoration back to the image of God in men. The person, the nature, and the motive of the Lord living through men. The pure in heart shall see God. Yea, we can all live this where it would be in your Bible. So we're gonna put off the old man in his deeds. The Lord taught me how to do this alone in my room. I would go into seasons of fasting. I would renounce everything that would be considered flesh. And on that list, and as I would do, I'd be kneeling down like this, and I'd say, "Father, I just thank You that no longer was stress and strife in God. Nobody owes me a thing. But I just renounce the selfish tendencies of selfish deceptions and desires of life and God." And I would go down, and I'll get prostrate in my bedroom, and I would just, I worship You and honor You, and I give You my life. Gotta thank You. I pray in the spirit. Pray in tongues a little. I just lay there. And then I'd start coming back up like this. And Father, I just thank You for who You are on the inside of me. And God, when I look through my eyes, I see what You behold. And Father, the motives of my heart are found inside of Your heart. And God, I thank You. Hiding that whole time, I'm standing up. I'm putting Him on. Oh, it's so powerful. So when I walk out of the bedroom, guess what? I knew. I know who I am in Him because I've been with Him. You know, I'll pass by the full-length mirror and say, "Are you kidding me? I look right in my eyeballs, dude. You are filled with the Spirit of God." Oh my goodness. I get real close. I can see. You understand righteousness. You believe God lives in you. That's incredible, man. I can see a sincere confidence, not a proud, a hard thing. It's just knowing God in your life. I have to see that in you, man. And if you ever fist bump yourself in the mirror, he'll never play you like it'll always be a solid, good fist bump. You just, you just get right there, and you just say, "Dude, you got to go, man. And get out there. People need what I see in you." In fact, you know what, man? Your day is gonna be amazing. Now, how am I gonna live that way and walk outside that way and then get caught up in he said, she said, and feelings and hurt? And that hurt me? Be a little cynical. They're not at anybody's expense. Just that hurt. My question isn't, "Well, what they do?" My question is, "Why are you so hurt?" "You mean, why am I hurt?" "How would you feel if they did that to me?" "Well, why don't you ask Jesus that question? Because He's the one you're following." "Well, that really hurt." "Well, you can't tell me if somebody that wouldn't hurt you because that hurt. Maybe you ought to try to run that by Jesus, see if you could sell that to Him. Because if you can't sell that to Him, why are you buying it when He's in you?" Oh, come on. That's a straight talk. Proves you in faith. We're exposes unbelief. So we're gonna put on the image of God. Look at verse 12. We're gonna put on what? So here you are, the elect of God, holy and beloved. That's you. You got to start where He finished. You'll never run well if you don't start where He finished. Do you get that? You gotta start where He finished, holy, blameless, above reproach. If you don't start there, you'll never run well. You got to become what He paid for to live that way. So you put on. What do you put on? You're laying on your face. You get up in God. You put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, watch bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone, anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, already forgiven. Even as Christ forgave you, you also forgive. But above all these things, guess what you're going to do? You're going to put on love. Why? It's the bond of perfection. If you say, "Well, nobody's perfect." Why don't you stop deciding that? Once you just become love and see what your life starts to look like. Maybe we're not talking about perfection. Maybe we're talking about purity. Maybe completeness is found in that place. Are you with me? We just so quickly see when nobody's perfect. Put on love. It's the bond of perfection. Is He telling you to pursue something that's impossible? Or is it something you can have? Would He tell you to follow Him if you couldn't? Would He call you to believe if you couldn't? Come on. Challenge yourself today and say, "You know what? It doesn't matter right now to me as far as what choice I'm making, where anybody around me is and what they're going after. I got answer what I'm going to do with Jesus. And I can live in Him like this. And I'm going after God." Because one day I'm gonna stand before Him, and that day's everyday closer. I'm way closer to that day than I was. And He will make every day count in that place. So that one day I stand before Him and look into His fiery eyes of love, and whatever that's gonna be like, and you're just gonna be glad that you believed, that she didn't take account of suffer roms, that you didn't have issues, that you weren't forlorn and hurt by an individual, that you didn't let one person decide your life unless it was Jesus. Everybody in this room has that privilege. The truth is, will you wrap faith around that privilege and will you go through that thing and carry your cross? Yeah. If you're willing to live that way, just stand where you're at right now. And don't stand because you need to stand because it looks good. If you're willing to live that way, stand to your feet, please. If you're saying, "I want to live this way," I'm going to stand to my feet. I'm not having an auto car. Just once, you just stand. And if you're saying, "I don't know, brother," even if you stand, you say so. It's okay. What I'm saying is, I want sincerity to stand up in this room and say, "Pastor, I hear what you're preaching. I believe we can live this way, and I'm giving my heart to this thing, and I'm asking for grace." Your hearts before God. He knows you can't play games with God. So why would you play games with your own soul? Father, I just ask with heart standing before You, the great grace would come and seal this message inside of us. That You would give great grace to walk this thing out. That there would be a desire to pursue You and a desire for intimacy like we've never known. That Lord, You Yourself would woo us into the secret place of knowing You. That knowing You would be the strength of everyone's life that's standing. Not their doctrinal sharpness, not their study time, but that actually knowing You would be the strength of every person's life. And in knowing You, we'd all be inspired to do all the things that we're called to do. I ask for unshakable, unwavering conviction, God, in every person. And I pray that not one other factor in our lives would be able to dictate what we set our hearts to. That You would always grant us grace and give us wisdom in every moment, every challenge, to stand the straight and narrow of truth and love the whole time. I pray that love would be perfected in us. If you want to just, if you want to just lift your hands with me as a sign of yielding to God, I won't pray something about becoming love. Paul said, "I have no right, no need to write to you Thessalonians concerning the love of God, for God is teaching you Himself." He's taught you Himself. Had a lot. I want that in my life. So with hands raised, God, we just say, "Holy Spirit, would You continue to come and teach us how to love? Because we want to become love. We don't want selfishness in our life. We don't want to be reactionary. We don't want to read a book by the cover. We want to see men through Your eyes. We want to see people for value, destiny, the way You saw our lives when we were lost. We want to see men's lives, no matter what. And we're asking You to perfect us in love and form loving us and let grace abound on this behalf, God, that we would be fashioned in the heart of God. The people would know You because they've known us. The people would get a good look at You because they've got a good look at our lives, and our lives have been changed. Lord, if there's been discouragement in this room, I pray You swallow it up today. That You call things even and You call things brand-new. I pray that You unlock in every soul, in every mind, that that key, God, that would move us forward and get us out of that place where we feel like we've been trapped. God, I thank You. There's no reason today that we can't run well in You. In Jesus name, I pray this grace and believe it with all my heart. Amen and amen. I'm done. Sorry for so long, guys. No, no apologies." [Applause]