Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Living in Liberty Pt.4

Continuing our study on "Living In Liberty", aren't you thankful for the liberty the Lord's given us to be liberated from the power of sin, liberated from the authority of Satan, liberated from all of the fears that are in natural man? We've not received the spirit of fear (amen?), for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. We haven't received the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind, the Scripture says. So much of the world is in bondage today, fearful of death--we just went through a funeral last week--people are fearful of death. There is no fear of death and there is no victory [by Satan] because Jesus is risen, amen? So we are a people that don't fear death, we are a people that welcome it; we say that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, praise God! We are a people that realize there's a blessedness in the death of God's saints and we get to go home and be with Him, praise God! So we are living lives of preparation, that one of these days we are going to see Him, and the Scripture says in John's epistle, "When we see Him, we're going to be like Him"; aren't you looking forward to that day? Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. We're looking forward to the Lord's return, but until He comes, the Scripture says we've got a job to do. "Occupy until I come," the Scripture says, so here we are occupying the land, keeping that that which the Lord has taken for Himself. The Kingdom of God is infiltrating the kingdom of darkness and captives are being set free--not the majority by any means, but there is a remnant that's being saved. What do we do to preserve that remnant? How do we protect them? You know, none of us are assured yet, we haven't made it; the Apostle Paul said, "I know that I finished the course, I finished the race, and henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, not just for me, but to all of those," he said, "that are believers, that love His appearing."

So we are talking about walking in the liberty that sets us free from the power of the world's system, from the power of sin in our members, and how we live in that [liberty] daily. All of our lives are up and down to different degrees, some of us have greater vacillation, swing; some of us stay up longer than others, but there's not a person in this room whose life has been on a constant incline of spiritual growth. So what do we do to assist one another in this life in the spirit, in this liberty from the flesh? One of the keys to walking victoriously is understanding that very principle, the assisting of one another, the edifying of the body of Christ; we all need help beloved, we all need our hands lifted up, we all need to be built up. If you're going to live in the spirit, the first thing you have to realize is you're going to live in the community; you're going to live among people who love you, who are going to strengthen you, who are going to bring to you reproof and instruction. You're not liberated ever to live as an independent being, for the Scripture says, "No man lives to himself and no man dies to himself". We are part of the body of Christ; to not be a part of the body of Christ is to be the branch that was cut off and cast away, and the Bible says you will wither, they will gather you up and cast you into damnation. So I'm just encouraging us to look tonight, as we get ready to go into Romans again, to realize the solace for us, the help for us, is to run together and be strengthened as we lift up one another's hands, as we pray for one another, as we love one another, as there becomes enough of a vulnerability among us to be able to confess our sins one to another that we might be healed, that we might be saved. We're all there, man; we're all living in it, we all need help, and no one can help you if you know it all. No one can help you if you want to be an independent, and the fact of the matter is the spirit of independence is the epitome of the carnal mind, and it's death. You make a lousy god.

So we look into the Scriptures, and let's pick up where we were in the last session and talk a little about that. You remember we went back to the original sin and we spent quite a bit of time there. How many of you have noticed over the last year or so one of the things the Lord's been having us do is to constantly point back to the original sin? Why? Because in Adam (say it) all die. In Adam all die. By one man, Adam, sin entered into the world; so what Adam did, and we spent a number of weeks a few years ago teaching on this, but what Adam did affected all of humanity. You talk about genetics, the power of genetics; we are all just like our father, Adam. What it was that took place in Adam, of course, was the choice to live independent from God. Adam made a different choice than Eve did--sin originated in the woman. There's a big movement today, and that's why there's so much perversion today in our society and with women, the matriarchal societies that are dominating the world. We don't look at America as much as a matriarchal society because it's done in a very stealthy way. But stop and think for just a moment, through the women's lib movement and such, who is sitting on a lot of our city councils today, and who is sitting on our judicial benches today, and what is the process? Everybody talking about the glass ceilings that must be broken, and all of this move, and in the natural mind of man, if you go out and talk to the average natural person, their thought process is "equal rights." I see it differently; I do not see equal rights, I see broken order, and we think differently if we're living in the Kingdom of Light and in the Kingdom of God.

The Bible specifically says--and there's a reason why we're going down this route tonight--the Bible specifically says, the woman was made for the man, not the man for the woman. Now we don't have to take a lot of time to clarify these statements because we've taught on it for so many hours here, and everyone here knows we are not saying females are inferior to males. We are not talking about worth of individuals; we are talking about responsibility of individuals. We are not talking about worth, but the diversity of purpose and function, and how the original sin was broken order. When Satan went to the woman and seduced her and said, "Come out from under your husband and become a god, a person with rights, a person who is independent, a free thinker, illuminated; no one should tell you what to do. You will be free, your eyes will be opened, you will be as gods." Woman says, "It sounds good to me." She partakes, eyes are opened, and immediately what did she do? She went to seduce her husband, immediately finding her independence; she wanted somebody to be with her in her independence. "I am free from God, come and join me. I am free to rule over you." Can only one person be free on the planet, isn't that where it leads? Are you God; are you why all else exists? Why yes, I'm glad you finally came to that conclusion.

So the seduction of Adam takes place, Eve chose Eve, Adam chose Eve; but Adam chose Eve because he was choosing Adam, and we find that it's still happening today. Have you ever thought what would have happened, really what would have happened if Adam said, "are you kidding"? She comes up and bats her eyes and says, "hey big boy, just me and you." If Adam said, "hey man, hit the road Jack, and don't you come back no more." And then he sang his next favorite song, "Got Along Without You Before I Met You, Gonna Get Along Without You Now." What would have happened, I wonder, really? You see, so many of us are trying to protect ourselves and trying to fill that void because none of us want to be alone, and we all need--God said it wasn't good for man to be alone. I am convinced--now this is all you know, we're probably wasting our time even thinking about it, but there's no doubt in my mind-- if Adam had chosen God, God would have made him another woman. Why, how do I know that? Because God said it's not good for man to be alone, that Word can't be broken, God's promises are yea and amen. Why do we keep trying to help God with His promises? We can't trust Him to care for us, to provide for us, that we have to take care of ourselves, independent spirits! That's the seduction that's taking place in every one of our lives on a continual basis. That's the sin that's in every one of our members: live independent, take care of yourself; God's trying to keep you down. That's where natural man is; everybody's always keeping him down, everybody's a victim. So all the black people tell each other, "The man is trying to keep us down." All the women say, "The men are trying to keep us down." All the poor people say, "The elite are trying to keep us down." Everybody sees himself as a victim; the reality is, and this is what's tragic, "they're bad, they're trying to keep us down"! That's the guy on the bottom of the pile talking. The guy on the top of the pile says, "let's keep them down"! So do you want to be a sinner on the bottom of the pile or top of the pile? Top of the pile! You're no better off on the top than you are on the bottom; you're no worse off on the bottom than you are on the top. To be separate from God is death, to live independent is death, to live for self is death, to spend your time complaining that people are oppressing you is death, to spend your life oppressing people is death. There's nothing to gain. The rich man died and he lifted up his eyes in hell and said, "Send poor Lazarus here to give me some water!" And God said, "You had your time."

There is no justice in life, it's not fair, it's not going to be fixed. The race is not to the swift, so I would encourage you to walk in the spirit, to change worlds, to get into a world, into a life, where justice and truth prevail. Regardless of the immediate consequences, there is eternal benefit, reward, and justice; do not be seduced by your natural mind.

Sidetrack, let's get back, I've got to get back to this. The carnal mind is enmity with God What is the carnal mind? This is what I want to talk about. We can get off track on all of these socio-economic causes and injustices, we can talk about drugs, mass murderers, the X-rated movies, whatever you want; that's not carnality, none of that is the problem, independence! "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." There's the problem! All of that which we just said, all of that activity is the fruit of lawlessness, independence, individuals thinking they are the exception. James says when you become guilty of one, you are guilty of all. The moment you choose to live independent, you are all of those other things, guilty of every one of them. Carnal-mindedness is not just lasciviousness, expression in the flesh; it is a choice to live separate from the law of God. What I want to do in this session is to make the law big and good in your eyes again. So many of us seem to think, "Well, the law just holds you down, the law holds you down." The law sets you free, praise God; the law is what reminds you that you're Adam's son, the law is what sets the boundaries so that you can't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, so you don't get this false image of yourself; the law is this mirror that you hold up so you don't forget what manner of man you are, the Scripture says.

So what is walking in the spirit? Obeying the law. I want to show it to you, get it in your notes, write it down. Walking in the spirit is obeying the law, and this is what He's going to say to us in the sixth chapter of Romans, so let's go ahead and turn there and look at a couple of principles this evening. Chapter 6, verse 6, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." The old man is crucified with Christ. When you and I get saved, when we're born again, when we ask Jesus to become Lord of our lives, when we believe our righteousness is as filthy rags, that by one man, Adam, sin entered into the world, but by one man Jesus, we were purchased, the appeasement of God took place, His blood satisfied the justice of God. By one man's righteousness we've all been made righteous, or many have been made righteous; by one man all sinned, by one man many, not all, are made righteous. So I'm righteous with Jesus' righteousness; I'm righteous because He obeyed perfectly the law of God, so therefore I am righteous as I continue to believe that His blood was sufficient. But what about now when I choose to say His blood isn't sufficient, I won't be content until I've taken of this, tasted of this? His blood is sufficient, but not "to run my business" sufficient. His blood is sufficient, but not to provide for whom my spouse is going to be. His blood is sufficient, but I have to provide for my family. I'm saying all those things to say that we're going to have to make decisions. His blood, His lordship, His Word is sufficient until I'm put into a situation where I have to break the commandments of God to meet a secular, temporal need: physical, emotional, domestic.

So we come to the place, tragically, like one of us ran into yesterday. He sat down for three hours yesterday with a pastor. He asked the pastor to help him interpret the Scriptures. Let me just show you, turn over there for just a second to Ephesians, and I'd like to see how long it takes us. It's a difficult thing, but you might be able to help us. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Okay, turn over to verse 24, "Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be [in subjection, in submission] to their own husbands [say with me the next three words, if you would] in every thing." Okay, now let's spend three hours and interpret what that means. Anybody here think they can interpret that in less than three hours? How many of you know what the Greek word for everything means? Anybody think they can interpret that in less than three hours? Anybody here know what the Greek word for everything means? Okay, now we've done it in grammar. How about context? Now here's the Word, and I'm saying all this to show you carnal-mindedness. We think carnal-mindedness is drugs, sex, rock and roll. I want to show you that carnal-mindedness is rejecting the Word of God based upon human wisdom. We choose the carnal, we choose the natural, we choose the temporal over the eternal. What would cause us to do that? What is the motive here?

So anyway, here you go and I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this but it breaks my heart; I know the Pastor personally, it breaks your heart. Listen to what this man said, this guy's been preaching for over 20 years. Our question to him was, "Does the Scripture say 'in everything'--and I know it doesn't mean sin, it's obvious 'as unto the Lord'"? In other words, obey your husband in everything that the Lord tells him to require of you, that's another way to say that. Or the Word requires of you in performing your role, so it doesn't mean in everything. It doesn't mean you tell your wife, "Okay, tonight we're going down and we're knocking over the bank." You think nobody would be that crazy. Yes, they are. There was a charismatic group, when I first got saved back in the '60s, that truly believed everything meant everything, and so they believed that when they wanted to have a wife-swapping thing, that their wife should submit to that. Now it's the wife's turn to say, "Hit the road, Jack, and don't you come back no more." In the Lord, unto the Lord, we all know that, I shouldn't even take time to qualify that, but I'll say it just to help out that "everything" means everything Scriptural, everything that edifies the body of Christ, everything that Jesus would ask us to do. Now here's the response, that was all clarified, breaks my heart. "Now brother, I agree with you in principle, but the problem is you've become disconnected with this person." That's one of the new psychology terms. "You've become disconnected with this person and, because of that, they're not able to hear the truth of what you are saying to them, and so you need to connect with them on the natural and re-establish relationship and confidence so they can hear the truth of this Scripture." Well the only problem is this person is disconnected with everybody that's quoted this Scripture to them. And the other problem is what's disconnected them is will, rebellion, pride, bitterness. Now what am I saying? What is the carnal mind? The carnal mind is when you can read something that clearly and try to find another interpretation, when you willfully become disconnected. Now even my peanut brain can figure out that what disconnected them was that they didn't submit.

Back to Romans 6, and let me show you something here, this is going to help you out some, because many of us who are looking for this independence, looking for this liberty, how far am I allowed to trust in myself, is death. Every question you should be asking is: "What can I do to become more dependent upon God?" "What can I do to become freer from the world?" "What can I do to loose myself from all of those appetites of the world that are, as the Apostle said, the weights and the sins that do so easily beset us?" "How can I change the treasures of my heart?" By thinking upon these things, Paul said in Philippians; you need to reprogram your mind. You want to know why you're asking all those questions about what's lawful and what liberty you have? Because you've been feeding your mind with all the garbage of the secular, of the world. You need to think on these things, Paul said. You want to know why you're so fearful? Because you're thinking of all the things that could go wrong instead of thinking "greater is He that is in you [me] than he that is in the world," instead of being able to stand and quote, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." "I am more than a conqueror in Jesus Christ." "No weapon formed against me will prosper." Whatever it is, "He's given His angels charge over me." "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at my right hand, but it shall not come nigh me." What are you thinking on, what is dominating your heart, who are you trusting in today to satisfy you? You know I'm talking about even in the pleasure zone.

We've got a guy trying to hack into our computer right now; they're chasing him. He calls himself the Calvary Hedonist. I said, "If you ever get on there where you can talk to the guy, tell him he needs to change his name, because I can name him a couple of people here who are more hedonistic than he is; he doesn't hold the record." We talked about it the other night, what turns you on, what gets you excited? Is it that you haven't tasted the goodness of God? What are you thinking on? Think on these things, the Apostle says. Look how he says it in this seventh verse of the sixth chapter, "For he that is dead [in Christ, crucified with Him, he that is become a new creature, he that has tasted the goodness of God, he that has eaten His flesh and drunk His blood, He that is dead, crucified] is freed from sin." The real issue here tonight, beloved, is not how close to the world can I get and still be right with God; the real question should be if I'm gravitating to the world, am I right with God? "The world is to be crucified to us and us to the world", the Apostle said. What in the world is appealing to you? I was telling the guys in staff meeting yesterday, I said, "Anybody that's kind of moving that way a little bit, you want to know one of the things you ought to do, regardless of what it is--wherever you are, if there's somebody you admire in the business world, and they are a shaker or a mover, these guys are sharp. Or there's some intellectual that kind of, "wow, that dude's pretty sharp," or whatever. If there's somebody that you think is one of the pretty people, and you like their fashion, and you like somebody's boat, you like somebody's house, and you like somebody's car, or whatever it is. Go over and begin to share the gospel with them, watch them turn on and hate Jesus Christ, profane His name, despise His Word, and then step back for a minute and say, "Do I really want to be like that? What is it about them that attracts me?" You see the problem is most of us aren't looking deep enough to understand what all this smoke screen is that's trying to attract us. "For all that is in the world [John says], the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John 2:16. What is it really that's drawing me over there? Why do I need to hear from them, "You're bad, dog"? Bad dog, bad dog! What are we looking for? Why do we need to take on their jargon? This is a real issue in our midst here, beloved; we're being vexed by the Sodom that we live in. God said that Lot was a righteous man, vexed. You know when God calls him righteous, I look at Lot sometimes and I go, "Whew, man, praise God. You know I'm messed up, and maybe God will even be able to call me righteous. If He can call Lot righteous, He might even be able to call me righteous." He was a messed up dude. Now, how did he get there? Thank God, at crunch time, he did a couple of things right, and God's grace enabled him, not because he wanted to be what they were, but because he exposed himself to what they were. If you're not opposing it, if you can just live in the midst of it and say, "Well, you know, I'm not really doing everything they are doing." What are you doing to stand against it, what are you doing to save one soul and pluck one brand from the fire? Who is your hero, really?

We've made mention to the young adults sometimes, and to our youth, and I've got a question, it really grieves me. Who's your hero, who are your heroes, really? Is it some movie star, is it some athlete, is it Donald Trump? I think it's cool, right in the middle of his big program, and he's the big Trump, and his casinos are going bankrupt. That's hard at ratings, probably. Who do you want to dress like? I know this is going to freak out some of you, but just hang with me; it's going to be a shock to your system, but hang in there. We've got young people, who's your hero, do you want to dress like, Snoop Dog or Pastor Miller? I got the name right, didn't I, Snoop Dog? I wonder if he lays on a doghouse? I'll bet that dude's got a butler named Charlie Brown, I'll bet you. Now some of you almost rose up screaming and ran out the back door with the thought of dressing like Pastor Miller, some of our young people. I'm picking on him because he's in Children's Church right now, he'll get the tape later. Now here's the deal, stop and think about it; many of us, most of us, are going to associate with somebody. We're talking about being free from the power of sin, walking in the spirit so we don't fulfill the lust of the flesh, seeking the things that are above where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father, being in the world, but not of the world; we're talking about the world being crucified to us, and us to the world, and I've got a question for you. Who is your hero? Who are you trying to be like? Who are you trying to please? Who do you want to say to you, "Well done"? Because, you see, if we're crucified with Christ, if we're dead to sin, if we're dead to the world, if we're dead to the passage that we were talking about in Luke, of wanting to be highly esteemed of men, highly esteemed of the world, which makes us an abomination to God, then what is it out there--we say we want to be dead to it, we say we are dead to it, we say we are not carnal. Some of us, beloved, will get ourselves in a lot better position and be safer if we just admit we're carnal, "I'm carnal, I want it all, and I want you to help me to reckon myself dead and be crucified with Christ daily." Because the fact of the matter is this, beloved: if you say you don't want it, you're lying to yourself, because it's in every one of our members.

Yachts, planes, diamonds, and furs, it can be the solace of a recluse spirit that I don't need anybody, and I can sit over here and boast in my thoughts, in my intellectual prowess and ability to philosophize and live free from reality. You can take it any way you want, but we're dealing with the elevation of independence, self-will, pride. Now, the degree that you derive pleasure from that is the degree that you are giving power to it.

I was sharing with Richard this afternoon as we were sitting in his office and he was asking some questions along these lines. I was watching him and I said, "When I grow up I want to be like Richard." As we were fellowshipping together and he was asking some questions along these lines, I was sharing with him it's the extent you give yourself to something that determines its power over you and the amount it's worth. So when we begin to talk about the degree that we are intent upon certain things--turn over to Romans 8 for just a second, look at chapter eight, a passage we shared with you again, I'm going to spend more time on it. "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh...," The mind, we said, it means to be intent upon, to have your mind set upon, to give yourself to it. I was sharing with him that we need to be careful that we don't draw this false conclusion, "I can't go to work, because if I'm at work for eight hours and I have to concentrate on what I'm doing..." Especially if you're working with power tools. [Circular saw sound] Oops? If you're reading your Bible. We sure don't want you working at the deli. If we get the misunderstanding that what this means is that we as Christians have to always a hundred percent of the time have our minds on Jesus and be praying and reading the Bible, you've missed it. We know we can pray in the spirit constantly, we know that we pray without ceasing; it's an attitude of heart. Praying without ceasing, we've said, is actually exercising and realizing that we practice the presence of God, we're aware of God's presence, while our minds can be involved in the menial task. So it's not the amount of time that I'm doing something. I don't have to offset eight hours of secular menial work with eight hours of prayer and Bible study to stay afloat, to walk in the spirit.

I pull out a "Sports Illustrated" magazine, flip through it, read it, look at it; spend thirty minutes thumbing through this thing, wasting thirty minutes. That's all it is, so I wasted thirty minutes kind of just looking through. Another guy picks it up, thirty minutes, memorizing it, knows everybody's stats, shoe size, shoe odor, everything about these guys, just eating this stuff up, just lives it. We both spend thirty minutes in there; I wasted thirty minutes, he worshipped for thirty minutes. We now go to our Bible, thirty minutes: God's speaking to me, I love His Word! The other guy (flipping pages) the way you look through the "Sports Illustrated." What are we intent upon? It's not the amount of time, it's how important it is to you, it's how much credibility you give it. Now watch, down time, eight hours, waste eight hours. This time it's not secular work, this time I'm watching a "Three Stooges" marathon. We know that you're probably in a vegetable state when someone came in and found you, but let's just say there you are, okay? Now I know there's some that really like the Three Stooges, and after service you're going to come up and do that to me (Three Stooges gesture). Now if I watch eight hours of the Three Stooges, do you think I'm going to have to pray for eight hours to get them out? Probably not. I wasted my time, it wasn't that edifying, I don't totally give my life to that, it just kind of we did this, and so now I'm going to go and I'm that guy that spent the thirty minutes. This is probably a poor illustration, but I think it may probably get across to some of us: What if I watched eight hours of pornography?

You see, it's not just time. When it talks about being intent upon or to what you give yourself, it's not just an exchange of time, it's the value that you place. It's also, whether what we're dealing with is amoral or immoral, the degree that it affects us. We are not saying that amoral things are not dangerous; because an amoral thing that I have placed improper value on, that has power over me, is just as dangerous as something immoral because all things are lawful, but they do not all edify, and I will not be under the power of any of them. What are you under, what power are you under, who do you have to impress, who do you have to look like, whose favor are you seeking? This is what Paul's trying to get across to us, this is what the Lord's trying to say here. So when he goes back here again to Romans 8 and he's talking to you and me, he says, "...I want to encourage you with something here: they that are after the flesh put improper worth upon the things of the world; it dominates their thoughts, it controls their thoughts, it's what they are seeking for, it's what they are making provision for, and they that are after the Spirit put the same value on the Spirit..." So I've got a question for you. Do you look forward to prayer night with the same fervency you look forward to movie night? Do you look forward to hanging out with God in prayer to the same degree you want to hang out with your buddies? Are you satisfied with five minutes with God, but do you get bummed out when your parents call you home from eight hours with your friends? Because where your treasure is, that's where your heart is also; we can't deny that.

So Paul says, "Listen, the things you are after and do mind, the things your mind is intent upon and you've set value upon, if they are of the flesh then you are dominated by the flesh, but if you're after the Spirit, then you're alive in the Spirit." For you to be carnally minded is death; you may not be dead yet, but you are dying. What do I do? Become spiritually-minded. How do I become spiritually-minded? Simple. Back to Romans 8, simple, this thing is a piece of cake. How do I become spiritually-minded? I'm dying, I'm being seduced by the world, I'm in love with a basketball player and I'm a man? Verse 13, "yield yourselves unto God," choose a new hero, make it God, make it Jesus. If you can't--Pastor Miller, will you settle for Jesus? "Let not sin [verse 12] therefore reign [rule, control your natural life] in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." This is nothing that's unique to you. This thing is not unique; every man experiences the same thing of their life, so why can't you choose to be free? There aren't any excuses. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it....Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness [carnal-mindedness, worldliness, world fashion, world goals, world ideology] unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from [the world, freed from the world, delivered from the powers of darkness] the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin [it says it again] shall not have dominion over you...." If sin can't have dominion over you, you're choosing to do it, it's your choice, it's what you want to do. "I don't want to do it but I just...." Yes you do! "No, I mean it's just so strong, I can't resist it!" Why can't you resist it? It's because you keep choosing it. There is a power in you of choice, of decision, momentarily, right when I'm speaking to you, you can be freed by saying, "I'm not doing it anymore, I choose life, I choose Jesus over me, I choose a life to honor God."

I was speaking to one of our young men today and I said, "Why don't you become the one that just steps up and says, 'Bless God, I'm not going that way; I'm choosing God, I'm going to make Jesus my hero?'" Interesting they were talking about the basketball players, you see, look how perverted things are going, and among basketball players. They were saying this guy is a great player, but this guy has whatever, I can't even remember what the term they used, street credibility or something. Well how do you get street credibility? He has all these tattoos and all this kind of stuff. He has street credibility. Well you show me somebody on the street driving a Rolls, he isn't from the 'hood anymore! He's taking everybody's money from the 'hood buying tickets to live in his penthouse. It's like Charles Barkley that time I saw him on an interview and they were talking to him, and somebody said, "Charles, we don't understand why you are a Republican. You're a black man; Republican is for the rich people." He said, "I'm rich." At least the guy isn't living a lie, at least the dude will tell you what he's thinking. You may not agree with it, but I respect the guy for at least telling the truth. He wasn't just blowing off needs and social needs; in fact, he was trying to help out in different ways, but the dude's not spinning some kind of a lie. I wonder if some of us as Christians can become that real in identifying who we are in our new personality. We are not of the world anymore; we are Christians, "I don't identify with that," and the world won't understand us.

You see especially when we go to Africa and we try to help out, and everybody is involved in the social thing, and it blows their mind when they ask us questions and we say, "I'm not concerned with the social problem." "But aren't you concerned with poverty"? "I am not concerned with poverty; poverty doesn't concern me." The statement I make, I know, will be extreme and misunderstood by some and it's not really what I want to happen, but it will make a point, okay? Is that enough of a disclaimer? Everybody's worried about poverty. I'm worried about getting people saved; I don't care if they starve to death. To die is...? Who wants to go to hell fat? What's the real problem here? What should we be emphasizing? Well, you know, if you feed them, and you put them in a house, and you put a suit on them, and you educate them, they'll choose God. Yeah, right! You know what the Bible says? The Bible says they'll forget God, they'll say, "Look what I've done, look what I've done with my own hands, look what our education system has done. Look what man's humanity for man has done." The world is at enmity with God; it cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness to them.

All I'm trying to get you to see here as we close this one down for this evening is this, that even the little foxes, even the little choices--I may have even touched a few nerves tonight as I was talking about economics, or race, or whatever; some of you went oops. That's the world, it will kill you. What's that got to do with anything that's eternal? I don't care which group it is, they've all got to come to one mindset, and if that's whatever I do, I'm to do as unto the Lord; for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. If that's not their agenda, that's not their goal, if that's not their God, I don't have anything to do with these folks. I'm not talking about evangelism, I'm not talking about loving people, I'm talking about what kingdom you're living in. See, those things don't seduce me, I'm not moved. People look at me sometimes like you're callous or you're evil because I'm not moved with human empathy. The state of the masses does not move me because I know the cause. It's sin. I know the solution, it's redemption, I've got the answer; I can solve your problem, repent! There's only one name under heaven whereby men may be saved.

People were all caught up in Roosevelt and they sell their lives for the New Deal, and it turned out to be a raw deal and Let's Make A Deal, and all of the.... Thou fool, tomorrow your soul's going to be required of you and then whose shall all of this be? Every person in here has to answer this question: where, really, is my treasure? How do I know? Where are the things that you mind? It's not how much time you give it; it's how much worth you give it. Now time can be a factor, because we know time's valuable, and yet I've seen a lot of people who've given a lot of time to studying the Scripture, but when it comes time to choose it, they can't do it because it's not in them. I found other people who don't study, they're not the people who can quote you all of the chapters and verses, but the worth of this book and the worth of their relationship with Jesus, you couldn't move them off of His lordship or the truth of His Word; every choice was made to the honor and the glory of God. Who are you trying to impress tonight? From whom do you want to hear "well done," whose seal of approval, whose label do you want on your clothes? If you sell for anything less than the robe of righteousness, you've sold out cheaply.

Father, we ask You to help us tonight. Give us ears to hear what the Spirit's saying to the church. Cause us as we leave here tonight to hear this one principle loud and clear: we have a choice. The greatest power present to change the course of our lives at this moment is our free will, our choice, because Jesus, what You're going to do, You've done. What the devil's going to do, he's done. Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves slaves by obeying their principles, by pursuing their treasures, by seeking their approval, by identifying with their philosophy, his slaves you are whom you obey. His slaves you are whom you obey. His slaves you are whom you pursue. His slaves you are to what you value. His slaves you are to what you value. His slaves you are by who's your hero. His slaves you are by who you want to imitate. His slaves you are by seeking independence to death or obedience to righteousness. Make it real, we ask, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Turn to somebody and say, "Choose life." Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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