We've been going through the book of Romans and we're now at Romans 12. And to get the most out of passages like this. It helps for you to look at the passage in context.
So let me remind you of the context. The Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Rome. It's about 56 to 58 AD, which means in six to eight years, massive persecution is going to break out against the very people Paul's writing to. Many of them will be slaughtered. Many of them will lose their homes.
Many of them will go to jail. And so the context of this is the Apostle Paul is writing to Christians, and he's trying to answer this question. How do followers of Jesus Christ live when they are the minority. How do followers of Jesus Christ live in a culture? That is against them.
It's against their values. It goes against everything they believe. How are we supposed to live in this messed up culture? He answers this in Romans 12, 1 through 2. How do you live for Jesus when you're the only person in your class that hasn't compromised your values and compromised your morality?
How do you live for Jesus Christ when you're the only person in your family that loves the Lord and walks with the Lord? How do you live for Jesus when on the job, you're the only guy that doesn't go to the strip club after work and knock down a couple shots with the fellas? No, you're a follower of Jesus Christ and you have a different standard. How do you live like that? Paul answers that in Romans 12, 1 through 2.
Now, I'm going to use the Old King James Version because I think this might have been the first Bible verse ever memorized. And I memorized it in the Old King James Version. And so Paul says in Romans 12, 1 through 2, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. That you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy Acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good? An acceptable and perfect will of God. Look at the word beseech. It's a beautiful word. It's actually an encouraging word.
The word beseeches parakaleo. It means to come alongside somebody. In fact, it was used in the first century to describe military officers who come around their soldiers, put their arms around them, and encourage them before they go into battle. It's a very tender word. It's used in Acts chapter 4 to describe a man named Barnabas who, have you ever been around somebody like this?
Anytime people were around him, they just left feeling better. He made him feel good. His name was Barnabas, the son of Parakalao. Same word that's used here. It's a very tender, kind word.
In fact, I was listening to a preacher this past week, old man, been married for many, many years. And he said, young married couples come up to me all the time. And so what marriage advice do you have to help us to have a long, happy marriage like yours? He said, you know what I tell him? Just be nice to each other.
It's not that complex. Just be nice to each other. Paul is being nice to the body of Christ. He loves these brothers and sisters, and that's why he uses that word brothers. Beseech, it's a kind, nice word.
And here's the thing. Paul says. If you're gonna live differently in this culture. If you're going to stand up against the encroaching tides of this messed up. Perverted world.
You need to get your motivation right. Why do I live for Jesus? Why do I live differently in this messed up world? Is it because I'm afraid of God? And if I don't live like that, He's going to send me to hell.
That's not a good motivation. Is I'm going to live right because God's going to make me prosperous. I won't get sick. I'll have a lot of money. Is that your motivation?
Because you're in for a lot of disillusionment. Why live right in this messed up world? The Apostle Paul gives you your motivation right here. He says, verse 1. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.
Why live right? Because that God has been so good to me. He's been so kind to me. I should have gone to a devil's hell for all eternity, but he saved me. He washed me.
He forgave me. He adopted me. He sent a son for me. God is a good God. How could I not live for a God that is that good to me?
See, that's what he says. Also, you see that verse there, that word therefore? I've said this before. Anytime you see the word therefore in the Bible, you need to ask yourself what it is there for. And therefore means based on everything that has gone before.
Now this. Here's what Paul's saying. Based on everything I've told you in Romans 1 through 11. That Jesus died for your sins. You've been reconciled with God.
He loves you with an everlasting love. Nothing can separate you from the love of the Father. He loves you. You're the apple of his eye. He sent his son to die for you.
Based on all of that, therefore, here's how you're supposed to practically live your life. And this isn't the only place he does it. In Ephesians, he tells you all the great things Jesus has done for you, and then he shifts gears, and he says, therefore, and then he gets very practical on how to live your life. He does that in Colossians. All the great things that Jesus is and does, and based on all of that, therefore, practically, here's how you live your life.
Listen to me. Imagine a little boy he wants to hit a baseball.
So he tells his daddy, dad, I want to hit, I want to be on the baseball team and hit a baseball. I thought, son, that's great. The dad buys him a new bat. Buys him some baseballs. And every day after work, dad can't wait to get home, to go out back with his son, and for hours they practice hitting the ball.
And it's more than just hitting the ball. They start to get closer to each other. And The boy can't wait to get home from school. Because he just wants to be with his dad. The dad invests time and money and energy, and the father loves it, and the son loves it, and it comes time for the big day, the big baseball game, and the boy comes up to bat.
What is his motivation? to to hit that ball. Is it to earn his father's favor? He's already got that. Is it because if I strike this, he's going to disown me as a son and send me away?
No. He wants to hit that ball for one thing. I love my dad. We've spent so much time together. He's invested in me, and I just want to please my father.
And if he strikes out Is he afraid dad's going to come and slap him down and call him a moron? No! My dad loves me. He spent so much time, and if I strike out, I'm going to go do better next time because I just want to please my father. It's exactly what Paul is saying right here.
Your father has invested so much in you. He sent his son to die for you. He loves you. And I just want to please the Father. And those times when I don't please my Father, I'm not afraid he's going to disown me.
I want to get back on my feet and try again because I just love that God. That's your motivation right there. In fact, now I look. I'm going to give you a quote. And when I do quotes, most of the time I can see this glazed look come over your zone out every time I do a quote.
But this is a great quote. I want you to listen to me. This is a great quote from Brian Chappelle. He says this. A fool?
And complete understanding. of why we love God. Is it because we don't want him to get mad at us? We don't want him to send us to hell. No, no.
A full, complete understanding of why we love God is the most effective piece of armor in the Christian arsenal. Because the devil always begins his attack with an alienation of our affections. The devil knows if he can get you to doubt the love of the Father for you, the concern of the Father for you, the care of the Father, if the devil can alienate your affections from the Father, you are fair game. Why do I live differently? It's not that complicated.
He's just been so good to me. How could I not live for him?
So, Paul says, here's your motivation.
Now, here's a big question. This is what I want to dig into. How are we? As followers of Jesus Christ. Supposed to live for Jesus.
In an anti-god A culture that is diametrically opposed to the things of God, in a messed up culture that is getting progressively more messed up. How are we supposed to live? I'm going to give you two words right here. You ready? We are to be.
Here's the first word. Dead? Second word. Different. Dead?
And different. Look it dead. I urge you that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Living sacrifice, that term is an oxymoron. Sacrifices are dead.
Now, we don't do a lot of sacrificial stuff today unless you're a devil-worshiping cult member, unless you're that. We don't see a lot of sacrifices today. That was very common among Jews and actually Romans in those days. And they knew sacrifices are dead. You slaughter sacrifices.
Blood goes everywhere. Sacrifices are dead.
And so when the Bible uses the term living sacrifice, here's what Paul's saying: present your bodies as living sacrifice. Dead things. You are living And you're dead. You're a dead living thing. And this isn't the only place that's used.
It's used in places like Galatians 2.20. I am crucified with Christ. I'm dead. Nevertheless. I live.
But I'm living. I'm a living, dead thing. The Christian life is about, listen to me, it's about dying to yourself. Or the man, Lua I'm back. Talk about his porn addiction.
He said, porn was the one thing that made me feel alive. I had a boring job, messed up marriage, life wasn't great. But when I looked at porn, it made me feel alive. What's the solution? Then maybe instead of feeling alive, maybe you ought to die.
To porn.
So you young couples? You're going to have to Yeah. to living together. Yeah, but I like it, and it saves money on rent, and you got a test-driving car if you know if you're going to be compatible, and why pay for the cow when you get the milk for free? You're gonna have to die to living together.
We've got folks in our church. And I'm not saying this judgmentally, I'm saying it with a heart of compassion. We have men in our church who struggle with same-sex attraction. They're here. In fact, he's sitting right now, joking, but hey.
Do you know Christians can wrestle with that?
Okay, you're gonna have to you're gonna have to die to that. I know it might be a lifelong struggle, but being a Christian means you die to some things. Hey, some of you ladies. You're gonna have to die to drama. You love drama.
Anytime a lady says to me, I don't do drama, that means I do drama. And you love getting on your neighborhood Facebook page and getting in hours of fights about whose dog used the bathroom in whose yard. You're gonna have to die to drama and say, as a follower of Jesus, I'm just not called to this stuff.
Some of you are at the die to bitterness. You've been somatic him for years, it's time to let it go. You're gonna have to die to that.
Some of you have to die to gossiping, die to anger. The Christian life is about dying. And the Apostle Paul says: the first thing we have to do is die. In fact, The reason some of y'all can't stand against this godless culture, can I give you an answer right now? You ready for this?
You're so afraid of what people are gonna think if you live differently than the rest of this world. You want so badly to fit in. I just want people to like me. You're gonna have to die. Listen to me, you have to die to this desire to please people.
You go have to do that. Hey, I told you a couple weeks ago. God convicted me of that. He said, Chad, go to a cemetery, go to a random gravestone, look at the grave there, and just start chewing out that corpse. You're horrible.
You're wicked. You're a moron. Nobody likes you. What's that corpse going to do? Nothing.
Why? He's dead.
Now, go to that same corpse and say, I'm sorry, I'm wrong. I was thinking about somebody else. You're great. You're wonderful. You're terrific.
I love you. Everybody loves you. You're a winner. You're a champion. What's that corpse going to do?
Nothing. Why? Because he's dead. God spoke to me and said, Chad, I want you to be dead to criticism, and I want you to be dead to praise. You're a dead man walking.
That's the Christian life. And he says Present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable to God. That means holy means different. That means set apart.
I'm going to say it again: you're not like the rest of this world. You're holy. You're different. You're set apart. And then he says this.
Why why do this? Why be a living? Dead man. Why offer your bodies as a living sacrifice? Why live this dead, crucified life?
He says this: because this is your reasonable service.
Now, service here is the Greek word, it's a religious word. It's used to describe what priests would do in serving God at the temple.
So, a better word might not be service, a better word might be worship. Paul is saying, this is your logical act of worship. Your highest form of worship is living a life that's dead to yourself and alive to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's your highest form of worship. We're in a Pentecostal church and we love our worship, don't we?
Lifting your hands is not the highest form of worship living a crucified life is. Shala lying all day long is not your highest form of worship. living a crucified life is. People ask me. Chad, we even have this whole phenomenon we have at our church of people being slain in the Spirit, falling out in the Holy Spirit.
Look, I'm. I'm not against falling out in the spirit, and I don't seek falling out in the spirit. I just, what if it happens, it happens. I just don't seek it. I do have a problem with this.
I have a problem with Pentecostals elevating a phenomenon that's not even mentioned in the Bible. And using that as a gauge as to whether the Holy Spirit is moving or not.
So, I'm not against falling out. If you want to fall out, if that's float your boat and scratches the itch, do it. I don't care, I just don't seek it. My question is not. Do you fall out?
My question is: What kind of life do you live once you get up off the floor? That's my question right there. And um In fact, Vic and I were talking about that. Vic talked about how he was in a Pentecostal youth camp several years ago, and it's a great move of God. All these youth came down to the altar.
Spirit of God started moving. These youth started falling out. And it's one big old youth guy, he fell out and he sprawled out on the floor on his back, going, Oh, and he said, He's just there for, oh, it's just sprawled out on the floor. And then Like one of the camp leaders came in and said, We're not trying to interrupt this move of God. God's doing some great things, but we just want to everybody know if you want to stick around here, you can.
But the cafeteria is now open for those of you who want to get some lunch. And he said, guys, on the guard, ah, double. And as his friend walked by, he went. Hey then, grab me a Coke. Oh no, I got that.
So, raise your hands, speak in tongues, fall out, do all that fun stuff. But live a life of worship. Live a crucified life. Where you're dead to yourself, but alive to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, what are the two words to describe us living in a messed up anti-God culture? First word is we are dead. Second word is: we are different. Verse 2. And be not conformed to this world.
Now, when the Bible uses the word world, it can mean the planet, planet Earth. It can mean the human beings who live on planet Earth. Or it can mean An anti-God system. that sets itself up against God. Did you know?
There is an invisible satanic system at work in the world now that's trying to come against God and the things of God. That's called the world. You can't see it, but you can see its manifestations. Honestly, there are two kingdoms in this world, and it's not Democrat and Republican. It is the kingdom of God.
And the kingdom of this world, this world system. You're in one or the other. Jesus put it this way: if you're not for me, if you're not in my kingdom, you're against me. You're in this world system. And the Apostle Paul says something very interesting.
He says, Don't be conformed.
Now, listen to me, another great definition of the word world. I heard one commentator say this past week. He says, The world is attitudes and actions that leave God out. That's pretty good.
Now conformed means this. There's a pattern or a design. That the world has this anti-God system. There's a pattern. And it's trying to mold you into that pattern.
This world Has a pattern that's trying to mold you into it, and you can't be 99% molded into it. You gotta walk lock, stock, and barrel. This world says, no, no, it's okay to kill your babies.
So don't tell me you're a Christian. and think it's okay to kill your baby. Because that's worldly thinking. This world system says, no, everybody has got to act a certain way. Everybody's got to dress a certain way.
We have this pattern, and we're trying to mold you into that. In fact, imagine a little kid that's got a lump of play-doh. And this kid says, I want to make this play-doh into a bowl or something, okay? What will that kid do? He will take that Play-Doh.
And what will he use to conform that Plato into a bolf? He'll use pressure. It's exactly what the world's trying to do to you. The world's trying to take you and pressure you into conforming something that is anti-God and against God. And Paul says: you break out of that.
You don't get involved in that mess, you stand against that. Paul says, do not. conform to this world's pattern. And we're losing that church. Because we've bought into this idea.
That to win them, you got to become like them, and they got to accept you, and you got to be cool like them to win them. That is not biblical. The Bible says you don't belong to this world. Jesus said this: They hated me, they're going to hate you as well. That's this world system.
And we're seeing it all over the place. We're losing our distinctiveness. We should stand out. Let me give you an example. And the Bible talks about this multiple times.
This is not an ancillary teaching of scripture. I know it's summertime, and I know fashion trends are saying bear as much as you can bear, and hem lines are getting shorter and shorter. Ladies, the world is pressuring you to conform to this skanky mold. Just because everybody else dresses like a skank, you don't have to dress like a skank, okay? And I'm sorry I used the word skank.
Uh but all right. I'm going to keep this in my Bible every Sunday, and I'm going to have this ready. Every Sunday, I'm going to put this, and like if y'all email me about something I said from the pulpit, I'm going to copy and paste this and send you to it.
So I'm sorry I said skank, okay?
So I'm going to start. Um I sincerely regret using the word skank. during my sermon.
Okay. It was not my intent to offend, and I take full responsibility for my actions. I am committed to learning from this mistake and becoming a better person in the future.
Okay, there you go. All right. But you don't understand what I'm saying, ladies. There is an unobtainable Physical standard. The this is not fair.
An unattainable Physical standard the world has superimposed on you, ladies, and you're trying to mold to that standard. And I'm saying you don't have to conform to that standard. Let me give you another example.
Some of you have been keeping up with this. There's a high-profile scandal. in the contemporary Christian music industry. A music group that's at the top, they're at the top of the game. It's coming out that their lead singer.
Can I just tell you something? The more I'm hearing about the contemporary Christian music scene, I want us to go back to 9th-century Gregorian chant at this church because it's actually turning my stomach. The stuff that he got involved in. the stuff I'm hearing about from other contemporary Christian music leaders. It's nauseating.
And I heard one insider in the contemporary Christian music industry said this. He said, I'm not excusing this, but I've got to give you some context. I'm serious. He's what he said. I got to explain this.
See, in the contemporary Christian music scene, a lot of times they'll have these contemporary Christian music concerts with thousands of people there. And when the concert is over, the Christian group has got to go back to the hotel bar and blow off some steam and knock back some shots. And sometimes these Christian groups get a little bit tipsy, and when that happens, there's no telling what's going to happen. What he's just said is they are conforming to the pattern of this world. They're getting squeezed into this world, and it's making me nauseated.
I'm beginning to think that whole industry is full of a bunch of perverts and reprobates. And I probably shouldn't have said perverts and reprobates. Let me. I sincerely regret using the word perverts and reprobates during my sermon. It was not my intent to offend, and I take full responsibility for my actions.
I am committed to learning from this mistake and becoming a better person in the future.
Okay, there we go. All right. And in these last days. This world is coming after you. Come after your kids.
Which is why when you tell your kids at home We're followers of Jesus. Here's what we believe. Here's how we do things. They go to school. And the school says, no, let's squeeze him.
into a different mold. Where you give them 24-7, online access to TikTok. TikTok is saying, Don't listen to your fuddy-dutty parents. Here's how you ought to be thinking and dressing and living. And you got two competing kingdoms trying to squeeze your kids into this mold.
And it's not just her kids. It's you!
So let me read you a couple verses here that kind of puts things in perspective. You ready for this? James 4:4. Do you not know that friendship with the world? is enmity with God.
Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself, here's what the verse says, an enemy of God. Did you hear what I just read? This desire to fit in and be one of the boys and be like everybody else that makes you an enemy of God.
So James says. 1 John 2.15. Do not love the world. I'm talking about people in the world. We're talking about the system.
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, The love of the Father is not even in him. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That scares me. Does that mean that if you're in love with this world system and you want to be like the world and you want to be accepted by the world?
Does that say you're not even saved? I don't know. That verse scares me a little bit. And maybe I ought to scare you. That how can you love your father?
And also love the people who hate your father and want to destroy your father. I don't see how that works, church.
So Paul says, no, no, no. Don't be conformed to this world. Instead, verse two, look at this. Be different, or the way he puts it. Be transformed.
Do you see that? Stand out. Stand up. Psych. Standout.
Don't be conformed to this world. No, no, you be transformed. That word transformed is only used in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, to describe one event. When Jesus is standing on this mountaintop, you remember this? Peter, James, and John is with him?
And suddenly he's no longer looking like a peasant carpenter. light just starts bursting out of him. And his whole appearance changes, and he's glowing, and he's bright. That word, he is transformed. That's the word that's used right there.
Which means in this dark, dying, messed up world, you ought to be the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. And everywhere you go, the atmosphere begins to change because you're not conformed to this world. You are metamorphosized. That's the Greek word. You are transformed.
Our word metamorphosize, that Greek word, is also where we get the English word metamorphosis, which describes an old nasty caterpillar. Just crawling on the ground. Just trying to make ends meet. And then he spends a cocoon around himself. And a few months later, he busts out of that cocoon, no longer a nasty old-looking caterpillar, but a beautiful, soaring, gorgeous butterfly.
Same word.
Well, why crawl around the ground with the same values, the same morals, the same mess of the rest of this world? Paul says, No, no, you'd be transformed. You'd be a butterfly. You break out of this mold, and you'd be different. Does that make sense?
Do you want that? I want that. I'm not there yet. I want to be so transformed and so different than the rest of this world that everywhere I go. People look at me and they don't see me.
They see Jesus reflected in me and they're like, man, I don't want to be like that. I don't know what he's got, but I want it. That's what I want. That's that word that's being used.
So how are we transformed?
Well, here's what Paul says. You want to be transformed? You want to be different and break out of the mold and be transformed? You do it, verse 2: by the renewing of your mind. Mind here is more than intellect.
Mind means your emotions. Emotionally, you ought to be different than the rest of this world. It means attitudes. You ought to have a different attitude than the rest of this world. And mind also means intellect.
Paul, in other words, is not just talking about external behaviors. He says, no, that metamorphosis comes through an internal change. The Christian alternative to immoral behaviors is not a new list of moral behaviors. It is a transformation of our mind. And how is that renewed?
Now, don't answer.
Now, how do we renew our mind? Everybody's gonna sit on the candle and say, The Bible. You read the Bible, you memorize the Bible, you study the Bible. That's part of it. But let me remind you.
Paul's original listeners, none of them had a copy of the Bible. Did you know that? The only Bible they got was when they went to church on Sunday morning. They didn't have highlighters. They didn't have paper.
Nobody had paper back then.
So I don't think it's Paul saying to go have your daily Bible study. That's part of it. What does he mean when he says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind? This is so important. I'm gonna tell you how important this is.
We are not supposed to be molded into this world. We're to be metamorphosized and different. How do I get there? by the renewing of your mind. How's my mind renewed?
Listen to me, the Bible is the best interpreter of the Bible. And there are two words that Paul uses here that's only used once in his letter. That word renewed He only uses it one other time, and that's in Titus 3:5. And it talks about the renewal that comes by the power of the Holy Spirit. You can't renew your own mind.
This is a passive tense. The Holy Spirit has to do that renewing work. That's the first clue here. And the second word that's used here that Paul only uses one other place is transformed. He only uses that word transformed one other place, and that's in 2 Corinthians 3.18.
Where he says this. But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are being changed. transformed, metamorphosized into that same image. From glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. You put those two verses together.
This is what I keep saying, it's all about Jesus. You put those two words together. Paul says this: You want to know how you'll be transformed by the renewing of your mind? You keep your focus on Jesus. You just love Jesus.
You just worship Jesus. You just get caught up in Jesus. Don't get distracted by politics, get distracted by geopolitical stuff. You just keep your eyes on Jesus. And that 2 Corinthians passage says, you become what you behold.
That's good right there. I just made it up. There's no, I made that up. You become what you behold. And the more I behold Jesus, The more obsessed I become with Jesus.
The more I love Jesus. Holy Spirit transforms my mind. And I start thinking the thoughts of Jesus. And living the kind of life of Jesus. Does that make sense?
Paul says, you're transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Now, I'm going to give you, I told you right now. I get frustrated when I give you quotes and you zone out. Let me give you two life-changing quotes right here that back up exactly what I'm saying. J.I. Packer, great theologian, Packer says this: this Jesus-centeredness is the basic form of Christian holiness.
And it's to this that the Spirit leads us in all of his sanctifying work. And I want you to listen to this. The holiest Christians, how many of y'all want to just be holy and righteous right now? The holiest Christians are not those most concerned about holiness as such, but those whose minds and hearts and goals and purposes and love and hope are most fully focused on our Lord Jesus Christ. Hey.
The more I try to get better, the worse I get. The more I just focus on Jesus. And more like Jesus I become. John Owen. was a Puritan from the 1600s and he says the same thing when he says this.
The constant contemplation of the glory of Christ will give rest and satisfaction and complacency unto the souls of them who are troubled. Our minds are apt to be filled with a multitude of perplexed thoughts, fears, cares, dangers, distresses, passions, lusts, filling our minds with disorder, darkness, and confusion. Here's what he says. But where the soul, your mind is part of your soul, but where the soul is fixed in its thoughts and contemplations on this glorious object that is Jesus Christ. Your mind will be brought into and kept in a holy, serene, spiritual frame.
When the storms come, I focus on Jesus. When the promotion comes, I focus on Jesus. When the world seems to be falling apart, I focus on Jesus. When we're bombing Iran, I focus on Jesus. When the elections come up, I focus on Jesus.
I keep my focus on Jesus and it transforms my mind. And then Paul says this: Do you see the end of this verse? If your mind will start being transformed, Become like Jesus, he says, You will know what God's will is. for your life is. One of the biggest questions I'm asking is Pastor.
Pastor, I got this question. How do I know God's will? Am I supposed to do this? I was supposed to do that. Paul says right there.
You should keep your focus on Jesus. He's going to start changing your mind. And when it comes time to make a decision, You're going to be thinking the thoughts of Jesus, and you'll just instinctively know what you need to do. That's what he says of the universe to. Church, I'm gonna taste some.
It's a messed up world out there. I'm not saying that to bash non-Christians. I'm not saying to bash that to people, but I'm just telling you, it is a messed up world out there. And in this messed up world, Listen to me. We are living.
Dead people. Living, dead people. That world system out there, there's no living to it. They're just a bunch of dead people. And it breaks my heart, and it ought to break your heart as well.
But here's the problem. You don't reach the dead by becoming dead like them. That's not how you do it. You are living dead people. Living, dead, and different.
I don't know if this is still popular now, but remember a couple years ago when everybody's talking about zombies, everybody's into zombies. I saw somebody like driving a truck or jeep or something. It was zombie edition. There were video games like Call of Duty Zombies. TV shows like The Walking Dead.
Movies like World War Z and Zombieland, and the storyline is basically the same. The zombies. The dead people They're in the majority. The living people are in the minority. And the zombies, the dead, are constantly trying to get the living.
to become like them. And the living have to fight every single day not to become one of the dead. That's a Christian life right here. We're in the land of the dead, and they're trying to get us to be like them and adopt their values. And you and I have to fight every single day to be dead.
but living. Dead and different. You and I cannot become like them, but we need to introduce them to the Jesus that can make them like us. That's what we need to be doing. That's what our calling is: not to abandon them.
but to say, I was once dead like you. To that man came into my life and forgave me of all my sins and adopted me as a child of the most high God. And I rose up and I became living. And that same Jesus who did it for me, He can do it for you. Let me introduce you to that Jesus.
Beloved, so many times I get so tired of us not having an eternal perspective. We act like we're in the land of the living and we're going to the land of the dead. Fair enough. For a Christian We're in the land of the dead, but praise God, we're headed toward the land of the living. Amen?
All week long. I've been praying about this sermon. And add to the phrase, the renewing of your mind. And how Paul says in Titus, it's the Holy Spirit that does the renewal. I can't get away from this thing.
Um We've had bodies in this church healed. All kinds of incredible healings. Holy Ghost spoke to me last week and says, Chad, do you know your mind can be broken just like your body? And I Jehovah Ratha. who have healed bodies in your fellowship.
Today I want to heal some minds in your fellowship. I think God wants to heal some OCDs in this place today. God wants to heal some depression in this place today. He wants to heal some anxiety in this place today.
Now, I want you to listen to me. If you're on high-powered psychiatric drugs, I mean this, God touches you today. Remember what Jesus said to the lepers when they got healed? He said, go show yourself to the priest. When God touches you today, do not go home and flush your meds.
You're going to be a lot of mess because those meds do a lot of crazy things to you. Before you do that, go talk to your doctor first. I mean that. But have you believed that the same God that heals cancer. and gastrointestinal diseases.
Analogies? can heal a broken mind. Am I the only one that believes that or do you believe that? I've had all week long. Just a prophetic picture of the dove.
Remember how Jesus was baptized, the dove came down? Just the dove of the Holy Spirit just coming down and gently lighting upon your minds. It's interesting, some of our prayer warriors in the prayer room today said that they had a prophetic image of a... Of a pilot, they knew what I was preaching or not, of a python. wrapped around the minds of some people.
I think the enemy has your mind. In captivity. Jesus said, I've come. Did you know he said this? I've come to release the captives.
That python has been wrapped around some of your minds, and there's going to be a war between the dove and the python today, and the dove's going to win today.
So, I want you to listen to me very carefully. In just a moment. We're going to come to the altar. And sometimes Sometimes we got to give you a good smack around the offer. We'll smack you around, put our hands on you, dog.
You need that every now and then. Not today. Today, the Holy Spirit told me, like a dove, he wants to just gently come down. and light on your mind. We're just going to spend a few moments and a few in a few moments.
Just worshiping Jesus. Just allowing the spirit like a dove to begin settling upon minds in this place. And then after that We're going to do something that Pentecostals are more afraid of than anything else. Do you know what it is? It's not the devil.
We are more afraid of silence than anything else. Anytime there's a silence, somebody got to stand up and shall and break the silence. We ain't doing that today. We're going to be silent before the Lord as the Spirit of God. Just comes down.
Paul says in Titus, it's the Holy Spirit that brings that renewal. We're going to be silent and still before the Lord in a few moments. And the dove He's going to destroy the Python. I want you to stand with me right now. And if you need to be touched.
In the mind today, you've been dealing with anxiety. Depression. O C D's Thoughts that keep going in your brain, and you can't stop those thoughts. You've been dealing with some issues in your mind. It's nothing to be embarrassed of.
We're a family. Come right now. And as you're coming, Ron, lead us. Elders deacons, pastors. Prayer team, y'all come right now.
And in just a few moments, we're going to lay hands on brothers and sisters and just start praying for them. Ron Leaders. Love I adore.
