Creflo Dollar - The Stance of a Christian vs. The State of a Christian - Part 2
Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 14 in the NLT. Wow. Ephesians 1 verses 3 through 14. "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has," past tense, "Blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places". So I've been called to every spiritual blessing. It's in, "The heavenly realm because we are united with Christ". Because I've been united with Christ. Everything about this inheritance, everything about this adoption comes because I'm united with Christ. "Even before he made the world, God loved us". He decided to love you. And if you came out crazy, he still decided to love you. "God loved us and he chose us he chose us in Christ he chose us to be holy," he chose you to be holy.
Now, you're trying to become holy. And the way you see that change in your life is if you accept that I have been born with this undeserved privilege, I am holy even though you ain't doing nothing holy, I am holy is gonna start changing what you're doing, your stance is gonna start changing your state. "God loved us and he chose us in Christ to be holy and," watch this, "And he chose us to be without fault," watch this, "In his eyes". You're still pulling up all of your faults in your day-to-day walk and God chose you to be without fault in his eyes so we got to start seeing our self like God sees us. "Yeah, but brother Dollar, you don't know what I did".
I'm telling you're in life right now, that is your state but you have a stance that's gonna change your state, glory to God. It's a journey. You're going from College Park to California, it's a journey. There are a lot of things that happen from College Park to California. You might run outta gas, the engine might overheat, you might need to pull over to get some work done, you might need to pull over and get some rest, you might get lost, hallelujah. But be assured, you're going to arrive in California. So listen, you don't need to judge me because I had to pull over. Don't send me to hell because my car overheated. Don't condemn me to hell because I got lost. And that's what Christian people do.
Why are we trying to send people to hell all the time? "Oh, I know they're going to hell. You sure enough going to hell for that. You sure enough". Honey, I'm on a journey, you understand? I am on a journey to walking worthy to this thing that God has called me to from the foundations of the world. Please reserve your judgment for yourself. I remind you, I'm on my way to California, hallelujah. I haven't arrived there yet but I will show up. Stop it. "Well, I don't know really well what he said". Stop it, stop it, stop it. I just believe you're supposed to preach what you believe. And sometimes people get way ahead of you and just 'cause you don't understand it.
See, you just left College Park. That stuff you don't understand you don't know that the bridge went out and I had to get Siri to redirect me and do what I need to do. And the Holy Ghost, hallelujah, knows how to take you around a wreck, knows how to take you around a situation. Ooh Jesus. Part of my calling before the foundation of the world is to be holy and without fault. And that's a journey I'm on my way. In my state, in my life, I'm on my way to holiness and with no fault. So have a good time right now 'cause when I fall, I shall arise. Verse 5, "So God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family".
Oh, Creflo Christ Dollar. It wasn't what I did, it wasn't what you did, he decided that every believer was going to be adopted as sons and daughters. He made a decision to do that before the foundations of the world. So why are we sweating like sinners to receive what has already been done for us. I'm a part of the family. And you have to remind the devil of that. When he comes with different strategies and attack to try to bring you down, you have to remind him, "Okay, so you do know you're messing with a royal". Just 'cause I don't have the royal attire on, you better ask somebody. Like I tell people sometimes, "I'm from College Park". You need to tell folk, "I'm from heaven I'm a citizen, I'm a citizen of heaven".
You don't know who you're messing with, I'm a royal. "Who says so"? "God decided in advance, he adopted us in his own family by bringing us to himself". How did he do it? "Through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do". He wanted to do it. I don't care how crazy it's been for you, I don't care how bad it's been for you, I don't care all of the stuff you've ever gone through, remind yourself God wanted you. Why do you want me God? Why did you want me? He said, "It gave him great pleasure," to want you before you were even born. "So we praise God". I said, we praise God. Not for the car necessarily, not for your house necessarily, not for your promotion necessarily. See, all that stuff supposed to be normal for royals, you understand? You're wasting your time, wasting your faith on stuff that just is supposed to be yours anyway, you know. What are you believing God for? A car. That's supposed to be normal is that high as you can go?
Now, "We praise God for his glorious grace that he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son". I praise him for his grace, I praise him for his unrestricted operation of his love. I'm gonna try to make it through this thing. I'm trying to get through this Hallelujah, glory to God. Hallelujah, praise him for his grace. When I was on my way to hell, didn't have no God on my side, couldn't figure out how to get rid of crazy, I praise him for his grace that reached down and saved me when I didn't deserve it, healed me when I didn't deserve it, made a way outta no way when I didn't deserve it, glory to God I praise him for his grace. Oh my goodness. I praise him for his grace. All that stuff he did before the foundations of the world, that was by his grace. That was by his grace. The wealth of his mercy. "He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins".
See, you're going around trying to get God to do what he's already done. "He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding". So before the foundation of the world, he decided that I'm gonna give you wisdom and understanding. So somewhere on the inside of you, there's an ability to know what to do when you don't know what to do. All you got to do is pause and chill, it's gonna be all right. Just tell yourself, "It's gonna be all right, God's working that thing all right". And then you start praying a little bit and the ability to know what to do when you don't know what to do, has already been given to you royals. Verse 9, "God has now revealed to us His mysterious will". His mystery, God has revealed to us his mystery, "Regarding Christ, which is to fulfill his own good plan".
We as folks that are here and joining me to minister to you, we are honored to be God's...to minister to you the mystery of God, the mysteries of God. Which is why you gotta stop coming to church to learn something you already know. Like you're scared when you hear something you ain't never heard before. You ain't supposed to know something so why you keep coming to church just to hear what you already heard? You gonna hear some stuff that's a part of the mystery. You gonna hear some stuff. Some of you ain't ready for it. If I were to tell you that God started this whole thing out with "Rhema" word, wasn't no Bible. Wasn't no Bible. There wasn't any Bible, it wasn't written down, wasn't no letters put together. They all move 'cause they heard God's Word and they all got results because they heard God's Word. And then God said, "I gotta start a process. Let me put a book together and give 'em the Word that they heard without a book. Let me record the 'Rhema word into a 'Logos form".
And so we got in the Word, but then we cut off our ear and decided, "I can't hear nothing because I got the written Word". Now the written word is a step back into "Logos". Y'all don't understand what I'm saying. Breakthrough doesn't come because you know this scripture, breakthrough came because you got ahold to the "Rhema" word behind that scripture. And it's not just by that scripture, it's by that "Rhema," and when you heard that "Rhema," it's God saying to you, "I want you to do this, and I want you to show up here, and I want you to stop doing that and start doing this".
And when God speaks a word to you, breakthrough cannot be held back. But you started calling everybody demon possessed when they told you there's a word behind this Word. "I don't know, my Bible tells me," you don't even know that Bible you're still dripping from baptism, the water baptism, and you're trying to tell somebody who trying to get, and you know what I'm talking about. I wanna hear from the law. Tell me what you want me to do. While I'm walking to the bathroom say something to me. I'm believing that while we're preaching to you, you're gonna hear God talk to you while we're talking to you. And some of those notes you write down I didn't say it, it must have been a "Rhema" that just showed up and getting ready to cause a breakthrough to come in your life.
"And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ everything in heaven and everything on the earth," is coming together under the authority of Christ. You'll no longer be a part of the fabulized gospel where they make up rumors and fables to make you go into a ooh, aah spasm shout, hallelujah, but everything is going to be under the authority of Jesus Christ, where you're not gonna be able to go nowhere without hearing his name. "Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we've received an inheritance from God," before the foundations of the world. You're trying to get God to do something. He like, "I have given you an inheritance".
And you still got him on that little cheap stuff. "Give me a car, pay my bills and help me to get along with my", are you serious? We received an inheritance from God. "For he chose us in advance, and he makes everything... he makes everything work out according to his plan," not yours. See you're trying to get God to work out your plan and Satan wants to support your plan. So through the use of mammon, which is his spirit behind money, he can seduce you into showing up at places that God's plan hadn't designed for you to show up in, but the mammon wants to get you to a place that's not called there.
And so all he gotta do is figure out how to get somebody to offer you a million dollars to go work here and you like forget about what God say, "I gotta go here". But watch out now because now you're dealing with a God who knows how to work out his plan and you'll go there for that million dollars that God didn't say nothing to you about, and then make up excuses, "Well, I can support the gospel better". You weren't supporting it where you are. And if you can't do what you do where you are, you sure ain't gonna do it if you get a promotion somewhere else, quit lying to yourself, quit lying. There's too much lying going on in the church, quit lying. Dude, I need to calm down seriously. He knows how to work out his plan.
I cannot explain to you all the things or why certain things happen, I cannot, I don't know why God allowed those three tumors to come in my body, I don't know why I got shingles, I don't know why I had two and a half years of attack on my body, I don't know why, but I know that I can trust God that no matter what happens, he knows how to work out his plan. "God's purpose was that," and he's talking to, you know, Paul's was a Jew referring to himself. "God's purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth". You Gentiles, you non-Jewish people, "You have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago". So the Holy Ghost showed up as a seal to guarantee you what he promised.