Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith Message podcast
from St. Augustine, FL.
Now enjoy this message. Well, it's so good to be here
with you. You know, last week we talked
about Repent, about getting a change of thinking and it's
moving me over into a thought process today that's really
important for us. Because the world needs us to
live righteous. Amen.
We were made to display. I said we were made to display.
And so turn over to Matthew. Chapter 633 is your turn In
there. I want to remind you a very
familiar verse that I use often here.
It's in Matthew 15, three where Jesus Christ himself said, why
do you forsake the commandments of God?
For the sake of your traditions? And, you know, there's a lot of
traditions out there that even try to use scripture.
And it takes things out of context.
And, you know, I've been around people who honestly just want to
do right. But they have some of the most
frustrated lives because there's nothing more frustrating than
trying to do right and still feel like you ain't right.
That on the inside, that action did not achieve the goal of
personal peace. It hasn't brought you to the
place that you're all that you're trying to do to do right.
Couldn't get you there. In fact, Paul himself said this.
He said, you know, everything I was trying to do and not do.
I found myself doing what I wasn't wanting to do, no matter
how much I tried, he said. The things I didn't want to do,
I found myself actually doing them.
And then he just acknowledged man.
I'm, I'm just in sin. I can't get out, he said.
Who's going to help me? He said thanks be to God.
He said thanks be to God that he causes us to triumph in Christ
Jesus. Amen.
So again, you know, obviously as a church we have people that
come into from other churches, from other backgrounds, all
kinds of things. And that's why we say, you know,
there may be a tradition that you've heard, and when we go
through scripture, you may have to abandon that tradition.
So that you follow the plan of God #2.
We also say this, you don't need to believe anything.
I'm saying just cause I'm saying it.
But if you'll search the scripture for yourself, then you
know the Holy Ghost is going to teach you and guide you in the
right direction. Are you hearing me?
Amen. I think to myself, especially
when we do our confession over our offering, I'm thinking, you
know, first time guests could think, wow, these people are
just like, you know, reciting things.
Well, you know, when I go to a game, there's cheers that take
place. And everybody's reciting
something together now. We all, nobody even talks about
that, right? But that don't bring any change.
I would love to believe that the cheerleaders actually change the
game. That's why when they lose, I
always blame the cheerleader. I'm gonna say it's your fault
because I mean, you're cheering. Supposed to inspire the team
now. I do believe that there is.
A place where the emotions and the energy that is in the
stadium will affect the players. I do believe that absolutely.
But at the end of the day, they win because they actually
achieve the plan. So their focus may get a little
more focused because they realize this win would mean a
lot more. To win just for me, but
everybody in the stands and at the end of the day you still
have to be focused to carry out the game plan.
Are you hearing me? You know, we were made to
display some things because God wants us to carry out a plan.
Are you hearing me? And in Matthew 633 he's very
clear, he says. But seek first his Kingdom and.
His righteousness. So it's not just his Kingdom.
Because here's the thing, you can't seek his Kingdom and get
separated from His righteousness because the Kingdom is going to
let us know what's the right way of doing it.
The King's way, who is by all right life and love.
He is the author of creation. This is why we've said often,
you know, when it all comes down to it, it comes down to who are
you going to let define the words you're thinking?
Who are you going to let give you the definition of that?
If we're going to actually take the time of why we are doing
what we do based upon what we've heard, well then let's go back
to the author of words for the Scripture says in the beginning.
I said in the beginning, before there was a heaven and earth.
In the beginning, God. In the beginning was God, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
So God is the author of words, so he has the right to define
them. Amen.
And anyone else defining God's words is going to fail.
And even when you try to define it to be right, it will be
wrong. Now, what do I mean by that?
The Bible says is there's a way that seems right to a man, but
what happens in the end is death.
Now, death is not ceasing to exist.
Death just means to be separated, to be separated.
And you understand there's a way that you can try to do things
and still be separated from God, and that is a very frustrating
existence. Because in all rights, based
upon all that you're trying to do, you really just don't want
to be at odds with the Creator, correct?
I mean, we don't want to be at all, in fact, the whole
humanity. I mean, there are very few
people that literally want to be against God, but at the end of
the day, they're still worshipping something, right?
You know, if you get into Satanic worship, you know which
is against God. Well, he's a God anyway to you.
And for whatever reason, you think he'll win, but he's
already been defeated, and that's unfortunate, All right.
For the ones that say I don't even believe in a God, that's
not true. Because the reality is there's
something you're always believing in, and anything you
put in front of God becomes a God.
So no one can say I don't believe in God, because then
anything you pursue is your God, period.
In fact Jesus himself did not acknowledge the gods of the
world that man has made, but he did acknowledge 1.
Not because it's an actual God, but it functions like God is was
to function in your life and that was mammon because here in
Matthew 6 he says you can't serve both God and mammon or
wealth. Now he didn't say you can't have
wealth, he just said you can't serve both.
Because you'll love one and hate the other.
In essence, he says, money has a way to get inside you and and
govern how you live. Many people have said, well, I
can't afford, well, who said you can't afford your wallet?
Or God, because there's many things I've done without it
being in my wallet. But before I got to the place
that it was necessary to have some kind of finance, God was
able to get it to me. Either get it to me directly or
get it through someone to me or God just let someone say don't
worry about paying. At the end of the day, I did
what I was to do because God said do it, not because my
wallet did Hallelujah. So my car doesn't define me.
Are you hearing me? So whether I'm driving something
that people would not consider luxurious, or whether I am
because the car itself doesn't, my house does not define me.
Notice how we put definitions? I'm a millionaire.
Well, no, you're not. You're a child of God that
happens to have $1,000,000 and that's a different perspective.
So what we identify ourselves with actually becomes our God.
And anyone who is doing this is still trying to live a right
life. I get it, I get it.
But in order for us to actually live a right life, we have to
actually seek His righteousness. It says this, but seek first His
Kingdom and his righteousness. Now, if you'll just do those two
things, what will occur? All the things, all these things
will be added to you. Now if you want to know what
these things are, you have to actually go back up a few
verses. And he says don't worry about
what you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, what
you're going to wear. And that's he said don't worry
about the necessity of life. Don't worry about what's going
to come to you in things when life, because I can get that to
you, no problem. And man, I can be a living
testimony of God getting it to me no problem.
No problem. Because if I just do the first
two, I'm guaranteed the rest. And what happens is I actually
get what everybody else is worrying.
To get what everybody's in anxious to have, what
everybody's in turmoil, to possess God, just hand it to us
because we seek His Kingdom and His righteousness.
Righteousness is not a religious word, and neither is Kingdom,
because Kingdom is a government. And God came to reestablish a
government on the earth. So this may be a little shocking
to any guests here because you're like, oh, I thought this
was separation of church and state.
Well, you understand that's something in the United States.
But God never expected the state to be separated from the church
as far as he's concerned, because we are his government in
the earth. We are in his Kingdom.
We reign with him. And that government is tangible,
but it's not limited to natural territory. the United States has
a, you know, a boundary that has been described through some
process that says this line of dirt is legally the US, not
Mexico, or it's legally the US and not Canada.
I mean, you can just literally do this.
I've been up there to New York when we went over to Niagara
Falls and I literally if this is Speakers Canada and this the
United States stood like this. One foot is legally in the US,
the other foot is legally in Canada.
Well how do I know this? Cause the words telling me OKA
word is telling me this. Well you understand God's not
limited in territory with his Kingdom.
He owns the planet. So His Kingdom can function
everywhere and does function everywhere if we are functioning
in it according to His righteousness.
Because righteousness is not a religious word.
It means right standing with the governing authority.
It's in essence, Lord, what do you say?
And when you do that, then you're righteous.
Now how's this effect in the natural well?
We see this in multiple stages. We see this concerning driving.
Can you be a righteous driver? Can you be an unrighteous
driver? Yes, Yes you can.
You can run a red light and that makes you unrighteous.
You can go 20 miles over the speed suggestion.
I mean, we all interpreted that way.
You know you do. 55 is the speed suggestion.
But when the police officer pulls you over doing 85 and a
55, what seems to be the problem?
Officer and I love what did you know?
Did you know you were speeding? Right.
Did you know? Really, I didn't know.
And then some would try to cry to get out of it.
And what are you doing? You're trying to find mercy.
Because again, is it not true that the majority of everybody,
even in this room right now, when you're driving down the
road and you see a police officer, you put take your foot
off the gas? Why do we have this habit?
Inevitably, we're like we must be unrighteous.
We'll pull it off and start to break.
Amen. That is the easiest way for me
to describe righteousness and unrighteousness.
So we talking about righteousness with God.
It's the same thing because God has ways that his Kingdom
functions, and when we are violating that, there's a sense
of guilt that can show up. Right now, that doesn't mean
God's not merciful and give you a warning.
Many of you have speed. You know that you deserve the
ticket. You should have to pay the fine.
You should have to go through the class.
But that officer was merciful, gave you a warning.
And a warning gets typed into their computer so that if you
get picked up 100 miles later, they'd be like then we just
warned you 100 miles ago. Apparently we're going to have
to go ahead and let you feel the brunt of your choice.
Amen. All right, so righteousness is
right, standing with the governing authority, and God
wants us to seek His righteousness first.
John chapter 3, verse four says this.
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin
is lawlessness. Now I like this because again,
it really just equates what sin is.
So if righteousness is doing it God's way, unrighteousness would
not be doing it's God's way. Then righteousness is according
to God's. In one sense we could say law.
And when I say that, I'm not trying to say anything that, you
know, gets people into legalism. I'm not saying that.
I'm just saying he's king. He speaks and that's.
And there is a law in the new covenants called the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus. And I am under that law, thank
God, because the minute I got under that law, I got freed from
another law. And that's the law of sin and
death. And that law legally bound me to
the devil and to a way of living that was contrary to God.
But Jesus redeemed me. I said he redeemed me.
He paid the price. Now I had to pay the debt.
But I couldn't pay it. But he could pay it, and he paid
it. So then sin is lawlessness.
Or sin, Simply put, is not doing it God's way?
Come on. So he goes on.
Say everyone who practices, say, practice.
Say practice. Now practice is someone who just
does it. This is what they do.
So anyone who's not in Christ, this is what they do.
And the church has really done a terrible job.
The religious church has done a terrible job of trying to make
lost people right without the way they should be right.
I can't believe you're doing that.
How can you not believe they're doing that?
They are separated. They can't help but sin.
What we should be is like so how's this life treating you?
Would you like a better life? Are you going to tell me I can't
do? You're going to do and I am.
I'm not going to tell you you can't because you are.
You're going to do it. And no matter how much you try
to stop, you're just going to substitute it somewhere else.
I'm just asking, do you want something different?
Because that's going to be different.
Amen. So, you know, we don't be
surprised. When things are happening,
people so surprised. What's going on in our own
nation? Why are you surprised?
The Bible tells us it's going to happen.
Amen. So he goes on and says, for you
know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him
there is no sin, no one who abides in him Abides, abides,
say abide abides in him, sins, and no one who sin has seen him
or knows him. So the minute you abide in him,
then sin is not your problem. All right.
Little children, make sure no one deceives you.
The one who practices righteousness they practice is
righteous, just as he is righteous.
The one who practices sins they practice is of the devil, for
the devil has sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose.
What, to destroy the works of the devil?
No one who was born of God practices sins.
They practice. Because his seed abides in him
and he cannot say cannot. So you cannot.
If you're a child of God, say I'm just a sorry Sinner saved by
grace. You can say I was a Sinner.
That's just what I did. I was separated from God.
I wasn't doing it his way. I was trying to do away.
I was trying to do things right, but it always felt empty, no
matter what. There was these high moments and
low moments. High moments and low moments are
like whoo. But then all of a sudden I'm
still confronted with myself and I'm deficient and life's
frustrating and I just want to be set free from that and Jesus
comes along. And the message of Jesus and the
price he paid of Jesus comes along.
And we believe in that. We receive it by faith, through
grace. Or by grace through faith.
Then we become born again. We'll see about it here in a
minute. And now we become believers.
And believers cannot in their spirit sin.
It's not their nature anymore. I said it's not their nature
anymore. Are you hearing me?
So we need to identify with our new nature cause we were made to
display, we were made to display.
Now I know what the problem is and it's founded first John.
I mean first Thessalonia is 5/23.
He says now that our spirit, soul and body is to remain
blameless. The problem is the majority of
churches are teaching one-dimensional man, and man is
not one-dimensional. Man is spirit, soul and body.
Now here's the thing. Man before Christ, his spirit is
dead. So in essence, man only operates
through 2 dimensions. His soul, his emotions, his
mind, his thinking. It's where he connects, his will
of choice of what he wants to do.
And he's always siding with how he feels.
And what's happened to him and what took place?
Because the things that he sees pushes his narrative.
And then by how he feels, how he feels.
And so he goes, if it makes me feel good, I do it.
Even though after you do it, you find out that you don't feel so
great. And there's this vicious cycle
of feeling great in your body and then feeling horrible
inside. But God, I said, But God.
But God then when he he makes our spirit alive and he does
something to that spirit that changes everything.
But now that spirit in us has to get our soul together now and
tell our body. You ain't telling me what to do
no more. And it get puts in you such a
strong spirit that it there's no excuse for it not to affect the
other two parts of your life. Are you hearing me?
So he goes on and says this. No one who was born of God
practices the sin because his seat abides him, and he cannot
sin because he is born of God. By this the children of God and
the children of devil, of the devil.
Or what? What are they?
Come on, What are they? It's obvious.
So when you look out on humanity, you cannot look out on
humanity by how they look. How tall they are, how short
they are, how much weight they have, how little weight they
have, what gender they are, what gender they are are not.
You can't look at the color of their skin because there's only
two types of people, those in the family of God and those in
the family of the devil. Only two.
And the devil has in his family every tongue, tribe and nation,
every gender he has, every economic status.
He has, every color of skin. He has it all.
But guess what? In the Kingdom, so does the
Lord. So does the Lord Highland.
And those are the only types of people on planet Earth today.
It's the only ones. And he says that these two are
obvious. Which tells us then if I because
of the finished work of Jesus and made righteous, then I was
made to display I should be obvious that the devil is not my
daddy. It should be obvious.
Obvious by this the children of God and the children of devil
are obvious. Anyone who does not practice
righteousness is not of God nor the one who does not love his
brother. Now why is this even in play?
Why does Jesus even have to come to destroy the works of the
devil? Well Genesis chapter one.
In Genesis chapter one we know that the Bible tells us in verse
26 God said. Then God said, let us make man
in our image according to our likeness, and let them rule or
have dominion over the fish, to see birds of the sky, over all
the cattle, over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth,
over all the earth. And so man was to have dominion,
both male and female. They were to have dominion.
They were created in the image of God.
In essence, that word means they were a carbon copy.
They are not God, them themselves, but they are in the
image of God. They had the DNA of the Creator.
And he is life, he is love, he is righteousness, he is light.
And in him as no darkness so there's no sin associated with
him. He is perfection.
And so he creates both male and female and he breathes into
them, breathes into this one skin suit the breath of life.
He becomes a man. We know him as Adam out of Adam
From his rib side he creates woman.
Her name is Eve and they both together Co labor together to
dominate the earth like God. In essence they've been made
righteous. There's no sin, none.
Yet God needs to see their righteousness on display, needs
to see it. How is he going to see his their
righteous. And I mean, they're made
righteous. They're rights that God comes
down the cool of the day. I mean, he talks with them,
fellowships with them. There's no issue.
They run to him. I said they run to him.
Now, you know, somebody's got challenges with God if they
can't run to church because Jesus is the head of the church.
We're the body of Christ. Now you may have problems going
to some because they're not. It's not the church Jesus is
building. I get it.
But the church Jesus is building is in the planet.
I can tell you there's one right here in Saint Augustine, and you
can run to it and be safe. Hallelujah.
But they would run to him. They would hear him.
They would talk with him. I mean, when the Lord came and
said Adam, why don't you name the animals?
You know what? He did not find Adam behind a
tree hiding. Okay.
I'm gonna say that again when he came and said, Adam, listen,
this is how I want you to take care of the garden.
You're going to tend here. You're going to multiply here.
You're going to do this. He's giving him instruction,
right? Is Adam, like, scared?
Is he afraid because he's righteous?
He has no problem talking with the Lord.
The Lord said name these things, name these animals.
And he keeps bringing them by 1 by 1.
No problem. But then in Genesis chapter 3,
verse seven, after they eat the fruit.
For the Lord says you can eat from any tree of the garden.
But if the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat from the day you eat, you will, surely you'll die.
And we've said before, if Adam had never eaten the fruit, where
would he be today? So he wasn't looking to go to
heaven because heaven came here. Are you hearing me?
So he's righteous, yet God says display it.
How do you display it? Through obeying.
And he's perfect. I mean he it's not like he's got
to take a class. He's not having to renew his
mind. His mind's wide open.
More wide open than our minds even.
I mean, he knows all in the context of his mind is not
impeded with sin at all. Wow.
And God says display your righteousness.
Show me you love me. Keep my word.
Now, this is important because there's a false statement about
God that runs in the planet today, and that is, God is in
control. Well, let me tell you, if God
was in control, Adam never would ate that fruit.
Because don't you think God couldn't come down and snatch
that apple out of his hand? Don't you think God could have,
when he went to reach for, put a force field around it, had an
Angel appear? What are you doing, bro?
Then Dad, say don't touch the stuff.
Oh yeah, you're right. Go on.
Now the reason why this such a damaging statement is because
when we give God control of everything, then the devil makes
God look bad. Well, if there's a God in the
world, why is there war in Israel right now?
Well, because somebody else is in the world.
Because somebody else came to the garden.
I said somebody else came to the garden because what God told
Adam was keep my word. You keep my word, you maintain
rights. And he says, Son keep the garden
so he's in heaven. And there's anointed chair by
the name of Lucifer who tries to rebel against God's Kingdom
realm. And Jesus said, I saw Satan fall
like lightning from heaven. God expelled him, kicked him
out, his rebellion against the Kingdom forced him out.
And everyone who sided with his party he he kicked out of the
heavens realm and put him down in the earth.
So now a serpent shows up, which is the Satan of old, the
deceiver. God didn't have to come down and
say Son because he's already given his son all authority.
We are not forced to be with God.
So this is what I like to say. God will let you do whatever you
want to do. He does not control your life,
but he will hold you accountable with whatever you do.
Because ultimately the day will come that everything is
according to the standard of life.
And the choices I make when I follow God is because of life.
It doesn't stop me. It's life.
How many ever touched a hot oven when you were a child?
Yep. Should listen to your parents
because you know they told you, right?
Did they want to control your life?
No, they didn't want you to get hurt.
I mean, what parent is going to let a child go across US1 at 3
three years old and just say, well, it's your choice.
I don't want to control your life.
They'll figure it out. And if the Lord wants them
alive, they'll stay alive. Who does that?
No one does that in their right mind, right?
I mean, nobody does that unless they're demon possessed.
Honestly, because the demon possessed person is of the
operation of the devil, which is to kill, steal and destroy they
they would do that. So when you say no, don't go
across the road, you're not controlling them, you're
offering them life. And that's what God's
righteousness is for us. It's offering life, not
controlling me. He's offering me life, he said.
I just want to give you life because at the end of the day,
I'm going to choose. I can choose and say I ain't
going to do what you say. And then I get the opposite of
life. And opposite of life is death.
That means separation from something, Separation.
God's not stopping me from having sex.
Hey, stopping me. I can sleep with anybody I want
to, but I'll have what's associated with that kind of
lifestyle. Cause God says now if you want
life and sex, then you got to do it in marriage according to my
design and it'll be awesome, be fruitful.
But if you do it a different way, it brings death again.
I can lie anytime I want to, but what does it bring?
The results of death. It separates things.
My wife doesn't control me. I don't control my wife.
I choose to be with her every day and she's better than silver
and gold. My my mom.
It's awesome. Because her righteous life and
my righteous life makes our marriage a righteous.
You better watch out now. I don't want to.
I had to. I had to say let's let's pray
now. Glory, dear God, I'm telling if
you, if you are a believer, you better have sex way more than
the world. I'm just being honest.
I wouldn't let some person out in the world telling me about
all the all the times they're having.
I'll be like, bro, you ain't got Jack on me and my wife.
Nothing. All right.
God gave that for us. The devil's killing people and
then they wake up with stuff on their bodies, then they got
stuff in their wombs and there's all kind of stuff that takes
place. And God's like, I never designed
that like that. Y'all doing all right.
OK Everybody wants you to be real till you start preaching
real. Just be real, pastor.
Just be real, OK? I'm being real, right?
I mean the you. There should not be more dancing
on Saturday night in the club than there is in the church.
Shouldn't be. Shouldn't be more shouting in
the stadium than in the church, right?
I mean, come on, what are we doing here?
I don't know about you, but he saved me.
He filled me. He delivered me.
He gave me life, man, and life more abundantly.
And I'll honor him and worship him because he has set me free.
My God. He has set me free.
Whoo. Oh my gosh, man, you know, I I
look at some people's lives. I'm like, praise God, I have
been redeemed. And that's not because I have
pity for them, not because I'm looking down.
I'm just like, there's a better life.
You don't even know where you're at now.
You've been puking your guts out because you are partying.
Really. No, I get drunk in the spirit
right here and get stronger by it and get revelation by it.
And get what wisdom by it and have wealth by it.
Oh, praise the Lord. So the devil deceives Eve.
She eats the fruit, gives it to her husband.
He eats and it says both of their eyes, Genesis 3, seven
were open and they knew they were naked.
They sewed some fig leaves together, made themselves loin
coverings, and they heard the the sound of the Lord God
walking in the garden of the cool of the day.
And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of
the Lord. Never done that before.
Because when you're righteous you don't hide.
Never done that before. I said they've never done that
before because when you're righteous you don't hide.
Amen. Lot of good excuses by
believers. Well, pastor, you know when I
was working. No.
You hiding Because if you're letting your work dominate you
so much that you can't be in fellowship with the Lord, we got
to miss priority. It's called seek, not your job.
You need to get control of your life.
Say, Lord, help me get control of my life.
That my job doesn't keep me out. Hallelujah.
So they hid themselves from the
presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden.
The Lord called man and said, where are you?
He's still asking that question today.
Because it's not because he stinks at hide and go seek.
It means what position are you in now?
And This is why we want to be right, is because we really want
our position back. We want dominion.
And he said, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because
I was naked. So I hid myself.
And he said, Who told you you were naked?
Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to
eat? I told you, don't eat it.
You'll die. I'm not controlling you.
I just want you to live. And you chose death.
You know that same thing is here.
Joshua said it so clearly I sat before you.
Life and death. But then he actually has to give
you the answer to the test question.
Choose life. And you know what?
They did not. Still didn't do it.
What does this mean? It means being born righteous
and living righteous are two separate things.
Because Adam was made righteous, but he had to now live it.
I said he had to live it. And a lot of people in the
church today get born again so that they can be made right.
But then they don't. They don't live it.
And it's unacceptable for God's kids to not live it.
Now I'll give you I, I, I granted some of them a lot of
big disadvantage because they've been sold something that's just
not entirely truth. Now when I say that, I mean
there's a layer of truth to it, but it's not how we were
supposed to live. And that is ask Jesus into your
heart and save you so when you die, you go to heaven.
We are not accepting Jesus for death like after we leave so we
can be in heaven. Yes, if you die, you'll be
present with the Lord, if you've made Jesus the Lord of your
life. But it's not about where you're
going, It's about him coming. I said it's about him coming
because when you get born again, that means you become a new
creature in Christ and the Holy Spirit himself comes and lives
on the inside of you. That means God comes and makes
his abode with you. God not wait for you to get to
heaven to be with you. He wants to be with you now.
And he wants to change you now. And he wants to give you
dominion now. And he wants to change
everything about the circumstance in your life now.
Because he wants to deliver you now.
He wants to save you now. He wants to heal you now.
He wants to prosper you now. He don't want to wait till you
get up there. He wants to you to display
already put in you. So once he does in the Spirit
what you could never do, now it's your responsibility to do
in the soul and in the body what you can do because he's put the
greater one on the inside of you.
So if you're not seeing all the benefits of the righteous coming
out, it's not because you haven't been made righteous.
It's because you're not practicing your righteousness
and you are made to display. And there's a lot of people that
are out in the world that honestly, justifiably so because
even the Bible says that the world slanders God because of
his own kids. It's because they going to run
and go to the club, talk like them, act like them, have
relationships like them, pursuits like them.
And they going to tell them, yeah, but I have.
She's in my heart and he saved me and I'm going to go to
heaven. But you're not.
And they're like, OK, I mean, it doesn't do you a whole lot of
good here. And you're going to tell me
you're you're in a better place with God and you act just like
me just because you believed in your heart that Jesus died on
the cross and rose from the grave.
That's just very difficult to believe.
And if that is true, then I'll wait, so then we scare them.
But you don't know when you're going to die.
What? Have you died today when we were
drinking together? At least we can go to heaven
together as drunks. Hallelujah.
No? But when you start living, some
people like how do you do that? I mean you are peculiar people.
You should stand out. That doesn't mean you won't be
persecuted. But let me tell you, Jesus is
righteous, but he also had to choose to live righteous.
Look what it says, the first Peter chapter 2, verse 21 to 22.
It says for you have been called for this purpose since Christ
also suffered for you leaving you an example for you to follow
in his steps who committed no sin.
That's pretty powerful statement.
Jesus left you an example to follow his his steps who
committed no sin nor was any deceit found in his mouth.
He's like that's an example for us.
Now you can say, well I could never do that on Jesus.
Well, are you in Christ? If you know who you are, then
you'll know sin doesn't on you anymore.
You've been redeemed from the law Senate.
Sin don't. Sin can't tell you what to do
anymore. You got a new daddy.
Your old daddy can't come up to talk to you anymore and tell you
you know good. You sorry.
You ain't never gonna mount to nothing.
You never mounted nothing. He's hollering at you over a
great abyss. You're like, shut up.
You're not my dad no more. I got a new name.
I got a new name written in glory.
Yeah, it's been written. My name's in the Lands Book a
lot. I got a whole new life.
Now I'm beyond a witness protection program.
I mean, I'm a totally different person.
I don't even know who you're talking about because that
person's dead. So he goes on and says, and
while being revived, he did not revive in return.
While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting
himself to God who judges righteously and he himself who
bore our sins. Come on, look at this in his
body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to we
might what? Die to sin.
Live to righteousness. I'm not a sorry Sinner, say by
grace. I'm not stuck having to sin.
I don't have to sin anymore. I've been redeemed from that.
I've been changed. I've been made brand new.
I get to live to righteousness. I get to live to actually do
what God says. And I want to do it, and I can
do it. And I've been empowered to do
it. And I do it by faith.
And I'll have life in everything I touch, for we were continually
straying like she. But now you have returned to the
shepherd and guardians of your soul.
He's renewing my mind saying Corinthians 517 to 21 says
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature.
Say new. This is not a remodel.
Your spirit's not getting to remodel.
Your mind's getting to remodel. But your spirit's not.
Your spirit's not. I mean, most of you were running
with a 4 cylinder that was running on one.
I had a minister come who bought a Tesla this weekend and he's
not happy. He's like they said I could go
300 miles. And I traveled up here and it
took us a lot longer. I could not.
I was stopping all the time to have to charge the car.
So he called. He said, man, you sold me this
vehicle under false pretenses. You told me I get 300 miles.
He says now you can get 300 miles, but you cannot go over 70
miles an hour nor turn on the air condition.
So if you don't go over 70, you don't run the A/C, you'll be
able to do 300. Now see, that's in the fine
print, people. So you're watching the
commercial, We're saving the planet and you're going to get
all these miles, but don't turn that A/C home.
This is why I struggle with Priuses, because all you little
Prius drivers except my daughter, you got the little
green gauge in there telling you you're maximizing your battery
life and you're on A1A and the speed limit is 55 and you go on
35 to maximize your battery. Well, you need to get you need
to get one of those electric bikes and get on the sidewalk so
that us that like to do the speed limit and determine
whether or not it's suggestions or not can keep going.
You know I hate having to go 85 to get around.
You hate having to get there 35 and it take I had to get up to
85 to pass that whole string of electric cars.
So by the time I get home, I've averaged 55 miles an hour.
So it's like taking your 4 cylinder that's on one, pulling
it out and they put a jet engine in there.
I mean this whole new power because really, honestly, you
just got to understand this. You didn't even get a 4 cylinder
on one cylinder. You had a engine that was locked
up. You were going, in essence you
were Flint stoning it. You had an engine that was
locked and you were having to push your car everywhere because
your engine not even running. It's dead.
But God snatches that thing out, puts you in a jet engine.
You got more power. You don't even know how to
handle all the power, although he'll train you how to handle
the power. And we're pushing our jet engine
cars because we're not displaying our righteousness.
Oh, Hallelujah. He goes on to say he's a new
creature. The old things passed away, but
whole new things have come now. All things, these things are
from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave
us the Ministry of Reconciliation.
Ladies, listen, Y'all's games go a little bit longer than an
hour, so I'm conditioning them to be able to handle your game.
You know, those things get a little long, right?
And then people can't be like, I got to go, this is more than an
hour. I'm going to have to leave.
No, we stay to the end, people. We stay to the end of the game.
So you'll be able to handle their games.
It won't matter if it goes 2 hours, you'll be able to handle
it. All right, so let's go on.
Namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to
himself, not counting their trespass against them.
And He committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
making an appeal through us, and we beg on behalf of Christ be
reconciled to God. Verse 22 He made him who knew no
sin to be sin on our behalf because what we could not do,
Jesus did so that we might become what the righteousness of
God in him. Say I'm righteous.
You've been made righteous.
Your spirit man is alive. When you call on the name of the
Lord, your spirit man is alive. It comes alive.
It's what the whole world wants. Life with God.
They want life. They want why they're here.
They want why they were created. They want to know why they're
breathing. And you'll find it when your
life with God and he'll make you righteous.
He will not go through a checklist of all you've done
wrong. He's already paid that price.
He's like my God. I don't have time to sit here
and talk to you about everything you did.
I paid the price for that. It's taken care of.
It's under the blood. I just need you to make me Lord
so I can put a new spirit in you.
Put my own spirit in you, and then you can change the way you
think and hold control. Your body was playing like
righteous life because the Bible tells us at first in Romans 116
and 17, he says. But I'm not ashamed of the
gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone
who believes, to the Jew 1st and also to the Greek.
For it is the righteousness of God.
For in it the righteous of God is revealed from faith to faith,
as it is written, but the righteous man shall what live.
By faith. What will righteous man do?
Live by faith. How does faith come?
Faith comes by hearing and hearing from the word of God.
It's the word of the king. What's the king saying?
How's his way of doing it? What's he want to do?
How's he wants you to handle that situation?
How does he wants you to respond right now?
And then he gives. Us fruits that come with His
spirit. That means when we want to be
mad and punch somebody out, we can actually have selfcontrol.
When somebody keeps, you know, aggravating us, we can walk in
long-suffering because now we say no, no, no, no.
You don't get to do what you want to do.
Emotions. You don't get to talk like you
want to. You don't get to act like you
want to anymore. I got somebody on the inside and
me, I'm different. And you don't control me
anymore. No, my spirit controls.
Everything else is going on out here.
Hallelujah, because I can do it. God's way I've been made
equipped. Proverbs 2022 says So you will
walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the
righteous. You got to keep to the path.
Now I'll just tell you. Can you stray?
Yes. What do you do?
Repent. You confess.
The Bible tells us at first. John 19.
It's to believers, not lost people, that if you sin, right,
if you're unrighteous, because that sin unrighteousness, if we
confess our sin, he'll cleanse us from our unrighteousness,
right? So he'll do that.
Because why you'll actually know when you're fixing to go wrong.
Because now someone's in you that can talk to your spirit
that's alive to God and can hear from God and say, hold on a
minute. Now before you say that, hold on
a minute Now before you throw that punch, hold on it, which
he'd be talking way before the punch is coming.
You know, that's because some of y'all just got muscle memory.
Hold on now, before you act that way.
But then if you act that way, he'll say, why'd you act that
way? And then if you like, Lord, I
shouldn't acted that way, forgive me.
He says, OK, I forgive you. Now let's keep training on how
to respond righteously, because you were made to display this.
So in order to display righteousness, here's the thing.
God's not going to do it for you.
God has made your spirit man alive, so you now can.
But you still control it. I say you control it.
You control it. You know, a lot of times in
universities, they like to pick on God because again, they have
the false premise. God's in control, right?
Well, if God's in control, then he can stop this bottle from
breaking. You know, you've heard that and
then it bounced and it didn't break.
That doesn't prove that there's God, cause God doesn't have to
prove to you that he is God. He is God and he's already
proven it through creation. So you're without excuse anyway.
In fact, if you're trying to pick up, I mean, if you don't
even think he exists, why are you bringing up in the classroom
anyway? Have you ever noticed that?
I mean if if he doesn't exist, what does it matter if someone
believes? I mean, it's really like a waste
of your talking point to try to prove something that doesn't
exist. But with that being said, God is
in control of His word, and He's giving you.
Now power, because he made you righteous, so you have to put it
on, you have to put it on in your mind and you have to put it
on concerning your body, and he says.
This and Ephesians 424 and put on the new self, which is in the
likeness of God, has been created in righteousness and
holiness of truth. So I put it on I make a choice
every day that I'm going to live the life that God saved me to.
I'm going to live for him. I'm going to live for my
Heavenly Father. I'm going to live to serve him
because he's live. I'm going to choose to obey what
he says because again, it's life.
He's keeping me from running out in the road.
He's keeping me from touching something hot.
He's keeping me so that I can always be in a perpetual place
of life. And I'm just going to follow
that. That's awesome.
How great is that? So if he says, say do this, then
I put on and I do because it brings life.
As you know, I've given this testimony before that one time I
was in the National Guard and that I was having a conversation
with some people and a person of a higher rank than me came up
here at our conversation. I happen to be talking about the
Lord and they didn't like it. And again, why does God bother
you so much? If you don't believe him, why
does he bother you so much? What's it matter if we're
talking about it? Well, it's because there is one.
And that's why. And you're trying to find a
reason not to believe. When you already know there is
and you know that you're going to have.
To lay it all down for him. But what are you laying down?
Death. That's the thing you're laying
down death to take up life. We were talking and I don't know
what. Happened, but all the next thing
you know, my cheek was burning. He slapped me in the face.
In front of all these people. Well, I happen to.
Be wearing a leather necklace back in the day.
Don't wear that today because I don't need it on the outside to
let me know what I am on the inside.
I'm not saying you can't wear them, I'm just saying I don't.
Which was WWJD. What would Jesus do?
It just happened to work that day.
He pulled it up out of my shirt. He said, What's that stand for?
I said, well, that's WWJD, What would Jesus do?
So I'm going to turn my other cheek and let you slap me there.
And I said that, well, he was a little embarrassed by that, but
that was just what the Lord told me to do.
You understand? Most people don't want to suffer
natural embarrassment, but if you'll actually do, God, it
opens up bigger things. So let me tell you the end of
the story. The person who slapped me on the
face paid mine and my wife's second year of Bible college.
Yeah, the second year, he slapped.
Me because of my God conversation, but ultimately
paid for our way to continue to learn about the God we were
talking about and. Because I did it God's way, It
gave me life to money that paid for the tuition because I did
it. His way.
And it was a year and a half later before that showed up.
The righteous life is an awesome way to live.
It may not have an immediate reward for everyone else to see,
but it definitely has an immediate war with you, with
you. Because, you know, I did what
God said, and it's going to produce life.
Again at Colossians 310, says and put on the new self who is
being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image
of the one created him. What's sad is so many believers
ask Jesus in their heart and save them.
They're they can't. They are righteous in their
spirit, but they never save their soul.
They're never putting it on, especially if they don't attend
where they can be discipled. And at the end of the day, you
know, they never live up there full potential because they're
not putting on and releasing all the power that's within them.
It goes on and says. Any Ephesians 611 put on, say
put on, you have to put it on. You've been made to display, you
have to put it on, put on the full armor of God so that you
will be able to stand against firm against the schemes of the
devil. So who's in charge of beating
the devil down now? You are, Lord, I wish you'd do.
Something about the devil. He's like, I Did you do
something? I did.
I have stripped him of his power and authority over your life.
You are no longer in his Kingdom.
You are in my. He doesn't own you.
He's been. His works have been destroyed in
your life. Now just go ahead and stand up
and put on what I made you so no believer should be saying.
The devil. No, you made you do it.
You made you do it. You chose to do it.
And God wasn't in control of that choice.
Hallelujah, Praise the Lord, I said.
Praise the Lord. If he's in 614, stand firm.
Therefore, having gird your loins with truth and having put
on, say, put on the breastplate of righteous, you got to put it
on, you have to put it on. You have to put on now what
you've been made. Now let me tell you some
benefits that happen because you're righteous.
We going to close with this in Psalms 11.
It says this for the Lord is righteous, He loves
righteousness. The upright will behold his
face. There's never an issue to come
before the Lord when you are in right standing with the
governing authority. Never.
And even if you miss mistake, make a mistake.
You know that he loves you so much He just wants you to.
Come on, come back, Let's have a conversation.
And you're like. Man, Gosh, Lord, you just told
me that I shouldn't. Done.
Thank you. I love you.
Forgive me of that. He's like done forgiven.
Is that like you Never happen. But let's just release who you
are. That's how he is.
He's awesome. He's loving.
He's awesome.
He goes on and says this Cast your burden on the upon the Lord
and he will sustain you. He will never say, never allow
the righteous to be shaken. Never say never.
Let the righteous be shaken. There's nothing that can happen
in this planet that sends me to shaking.
Because, he said. As long as I.
Am displaying my righteousness. I'm living right.
I'm doing everything. That I'm doing.
Heart, soul, mind, strength. Serving him.
He'll never let me be shaken. Bad news don't shake me.
Because he's going to deliver me, I said.
He's going to. I can't be shaken because of the
deliverance that I get for being righteous.
Look what it says here in Psalms 3419.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers
him out of them. Come on, say it again.
Out of how many? How many?
All of them. That that doesn't mean that
you're not going to have trials and tribulations.
And it definitely does mean that the world that's not righteous
is going to afflict you. They going to talk about you.
They going to laugh at you. They going to scorn you.
They going to say that you're no good.
They going to say you're God's nothing.
They going to try to tempt you. As I told you, when I was going
to Bible college, I had a guy that at work and they when we
got off work, you know, we did a third shift and they went to a
strip club. I'm married.
I'm in Bible. College.
And Tommy says, why don't you come to the club?
I'm like, no, I'm not coming to the club, Tommy, come on, man.
You know you want to go to the club with us.
I said, Tommy, I am married, number one, number two.
That would be a sin against my God, just not doing it, bro.
In fact, you're looking at somebody you can't touch.
I can look and touch as much as I want to.
Tommy's like before. You graduate and leave, I'm
going to get you in the strip club, I said.
Tommy, it is more real that I'll get you born into the Kingdom of
God before you'll ever see me in a strip club.
So the last night I'm leaving at. 5:00 AM, Not seven when it's
quitting time, but 5:00 AM because I'm going to get in my
vehicle and head to Atlanta, where my wife and children
already are because we they've been there a month before we've
graduated from rain. I just stayed back a month later
and received a little more finance and I'm leaving and
everybody on shift knows. And at 4:30, Tommy says, Hey,
Earl, come here. So we went around to the back of
the warehouse, drove around there with our forklifts, cherry
pickers. I said, what's up, man?
He says. You know, you've been a real
good friend to me, he says. I want to get things right with
God. And I prayed with him to be born
again. I never made it to the strip
club. Why?
Not because it's not tempting, Not because I couldn't have.
Not because the enemy was definitely trying, But it's
because I put on righteousness. I said that man's dead.
I don't have to do that anymore. I'm not going to do.
And that's death. That it kill my mayors, That
kills everything. That kills the anointed, kills
the plan of God for my life. And I'm not going to do that.
And God delivers. Me out of all my trouble on all
of it. See, that's the good thing about
being righteous. You know, you got to deliver all
the time. You want justice, then get
righteous. Because when you're righteous,
the righteous judge, we'll judge.
And I've already said this to our congregation.
There's nothing going on in planet Earth that the king
you're not going to deal with ain't nothing you can't die and
God don't know about it and going to vindicate it's going to
happen. He goes on and Psalms 3725, he
said. I've been young and now I'm old,
yet I have not seen. I have not seen the righteous.
Forsaken or his descendants begging bread.
Oh, it's good to be righteous. I said it's good to be
righteous. He goes on and says great
wealth. Look at this in Proverbs.
Great wealth is in the House of the righteous.
But trouble. Is in the income of the wicked,
now that the wicked can have a lot of income, but there's great
wealth. In the House of the righteous,
you just stay with God. Every penny you need you going
to have, you going to have it because the world can't take.
In fact, there are people right now that aren't following God
saving money for you because the Bible says the wealth of the
wicked is laid up for the. More.
Aren't you glad you're righteous?
So go ahead and make billions, because the day's coming, It's
transferring and it's not when I go to heaven.
Because Heaven don't need it. Heaven paves their seats with
their. Streets with it.
Are you hearing me? And brings it to the earth?
I go talk about that, OK? Psalms 3730 to 31.
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue
speaks. If you're not righteous, you
don't. Speak justice, because only the
righteous can speak. Justice, the law of his God, is
in his heart. His steps do not slip.
And then the thing that's probably the most frustrating.
In most people's lives, I conclude with James.
Because we are to display, we were made to display our
righteousness. God caused us to be born of God
so that we can then display it in our behavior, in our actions,
controlling our flesh so that we're not subject to the things
of the world anymore. We have control now and he says,
therefore confess your sins to 1.
Another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.
The effective prayer of a righteous man.
You know, the world prays. And there's been many that have.
Prayed to God. They don't know him, so the
world prays and people are frustrated because they pray to
God expecting an answer under false pretenses.
He's in control. Why don't he do what I want?
I asked him to do this. Surely what I'm asking is the
right thing without ever asking him.
Lord, you know what I'm in. What do you want me to do?
Most people's prayers are demanding God to do it their
way. Children crying out Lord, don't.
Let Mom and Daddy get a divorce. God can't control mom and dad
not getting. A divorce, Just like he couldn't
control Adam. From eating the fruit and then
we blame God. The mom and dad ain't married or
I didn't have a dad when I was growing up.
Or this happened to me by my uncle.
God didn't control that, but the devil sure was in play.
In all these people's lives, bring in death and tell them
it's right. You know how many parents are
divorced and thinking it's right and it's better for the kids
when what's right is for them to repent, forgive each other, love
God with all their heart, act like it's never happened, and
should be godly parents for their children.
There's many things I could say, but the Bible says the prayer of
a righteous man. Now that prayer is always
answered because a righteous man will go to the.
Lord, and say, How do I pray about this one?
Lord, how do I pray? Because I'm right with you, let
me go this I can go as far as. To say this, you don't even need
to know God, but if you'll ask him, he can answer you.
Yeah, there's a man by the name of Cornelius.
He's loving God the best he can, but he ain't right with God.
He's not born again. And God sent an Angel to that
man's house and says you need to send for Peter.
You need Peter to come to your house because what he will tell
you will change your. Life and the Angel doesn't tell
him and Cornelius. Separated from God, sent for
Peter and Peter showed up and. Began to talk about the king and
the remission of sin, and repenting and being filled with
the Holy Ghost and the promise of the Father and while he was
still preaching, Cornida says. I believe in.
His heart. And he got born again and filled
with the Holy Ghost and all of a sudden Peter's like, well, they
got it. Not even give an altar call.
Church we were made to display. Saint Augustine needs us to show
them who we are in Christ. We got to put it on every day.
That way when they look at us, they'll know, man, I tried to do
what you're doing and the live the way you're living, and I
can't. What's different?
And you'll say his name's Jesus. He did it all.
And he started the process of me.
Thank you so much for listening to this.
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