Creflo Dollar - Living in the Rhythms of Grace
Go with me to the book of Matthew, chapter 11, and verse 28 and 29 in the Message translation, and I wanna, this first lesson in this series today is gonna be a lot of teaching and foundation because this is literally gonna blow your mind. It’s like, I promise you, on the inside, when it clicks, you’ll say, «Yeah,» but it’s just something that we’ve been doing for so long out of… based in religion, just nobody ever just, you know, we just hadn’t thought about it. All right, verse 28. He says, «'Are you tired? '» And somebody said, «Sure, yeah». No, he’s talking about playing church and religion. «'Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? '» He said, «'Come to me. Get away with me. You’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.'»
How many of you ready to take a real rest? He said, «'Walk with me and work with me: watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.'» Now remember that, he says, «I’m not gonna lay anything heavy and ill-fitting on you». If you’re gonna learn the rhythms of grace, I won’t be laying anything heavy and ill-fitting on you. In all my life as a Christian, in religion, it’s all been heavy. He said, «'Keep company with me and you will learn to live freely and lightly.'» So I want to start this next series, and I call it, «Living in the Rhythms of Grace». How does that work? «Living in the Rhythms of Grace». Now, I feel glad to share this scripture before, I’m gonna tie what we’ve been talking about and where we’re going.
Go to Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20 in the King James. Galatians 2 and verse 20 in the King James. Now, this is all about us staying on the bus this morning and really getting a hold of what I’m saying. All right, Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. «I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth,» where? Christ lives where? «And the life which I now live in the flesh,» so right now we are living life in this physical body. The life that I now live in the flesh, how do I live it? I live that life «by the faith of the Son of God». All right, so I’m living my life right now as a born again Christian, in the flesh, I’m living my life right now by the faith of the Son of God. Whose faith is it? Whose faith is it? So he says, «I’m living my life by the faith of the Son of God. I’m not living my life by my own constructed faith. I’m living my life by the faith of the Son of God».
Now, you have to understand that, you know, Jesus said this. Jesus said, «If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father». So Jesus is a reflection of the Father. We would know nothing about the Father had Jesus not come. Jesus is a reflection, a perfect reflection of the Father. If you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father. So you have to understand that the faith of the Son of God is just a reflection of the faith of God Almighty. Everybody follow me now? So the faith of God was wrapped up in flesh called Jesus, all right. So the faith of Jesus Christ is God’s faith wrapped up in flesh, mhm, and God’s faith is faith where everything is perfect, complete, and done. God called the end at the beginning.
So everything about our lives as Christians has already been finished. It’s already been done. Faith has come, faith lived on the earth, people saw faith, experienced faith, that’s called his name Jesus. Then Jesus got on the cross, and here’s what Jesus, or faith, said on the cross, «It is finished». And that’s what faith is saying today, «It is finished,» and so God’s faith is finished faith. God’s faith is completed faith. God’s faith is done faith and can’t be undone. So Jesus comes to the earth in flesh, in an earth suit, with God’s faith, where everything is finished, it is done. That’s why he could do everything he did, and went through everything he went through, 'cause it was finished. He could go to a hell and not be afraid because his resurrection was already finished. Glory be to God.
And then God declares in Romans 12 that, «I am gonna give you the measure». «The measure» means not, you get a measure and you get another measure and you get another measure, or he would have said, «I give you a measure,» and then you got degrees of measure. He says, «The faith that I have, I now put in Jesus,» and the faith that we have, you now have that faith because you live by the faith that’s in Jesus, which is the faith of God, finished, completed, and done. So everything about God concerning you is finished, completed, and done. If you look at Jesus, how he talked when he was on earth, he talked in the tenses of finished, completed, and done. He told people that, «One day I’m gonna die, I’m gonna spend three days, and you’re gonna raise it up again».
He talked like that, and now, we are now forgetting about the faith of Jesus, the reflection of God, and we are going around talking about, «I got my faith, and with my faith I’m gonna try to get healed, and with my faith I’m gonna try to get delivered». Why are you trying to use your faith to perfect something that’s already been perfected? You’re using your faith, and I don’t know where we get the term. If your faith is not his faith, where you get that faith from? Your faith should be his faith. See, I’m gonna tell you what your faith is. Your faith is based on works. Your faith says, «I got to add work to my faith in order for my faith to work». See, all of our life, we’ve been living like this, «I gotta add works to my faith in order for my faith to work,» and I said, «Where you get that from»? «Well, James says that faith without works is dead,» and so now you’re still adding works to your faith to try to get your faith to work.
But James was not saying that you have to add works to your faith to get your faith to work. James was saying, «If you really got his faith, then from your faith works are gonna come. From your faith we’ll see fruit. From your faith we’ll see evidence». He wasn’t talking about adding works to faith so faith could work. God’s faith already works. In fact, God’s faith has already worked, E-D. It is the invitation to live in the realm of the finished. To put all that together, he says, «Now that you realize who you are, and you’ve accepted me and you’re born again, now live in the realm of the finished, the completed, the done,» and so whatever needs you see in your life, call it finished, completed, and done. Doctors say, «You sick». What do you say? «My healing is finished. It’s done». You say, «Well, financially, I don’t have the money to meet this particular thing».
So you, so you don’t live in that realm about what you don’t have and what you do have. You see what you need and you call it finished, 'cause you live in the realm of the finished. You need to try this, folks. See, what you’re doing is you’re still trying to get something to happen, 'cause you hadn’t realized, excuse my English, it done happened. Stop it. If you have a battle today, the victory is finished. The victory that you need for that battle is completed, finished, done, can’t be undone. But you keep trying to come up with a religious five steps. «Well, first of all, you need to pray for four hours, and then secondly, you might need to add a little fasting with that, and then thirdly, you need to say these three pages of confessions, and then after you say them pages of confession, you need to go love somebody that don’t love you». «Well, I can’t find them. I don’t know who they are. There are lots of people».
And it just adds burdens upon burdens upon burdens, and it makes it hard and it makes it just tough, and eventually you get so confused you quit. Now, if you confuse what I’m saying today, you’re confused from the simplicity. You’re confused cause I won’t make this difficult. I won’t give you a list of things you got to do to make it happen. Only thing I’m saying to you is, «Whatever you need, it’s done, live,» and you’re like, «I’m confused». What you confused for? «Well, the doctor said I’m sick».
Well, God says your healing is done. It’s finished, it’s completed. «I don’t understand». No, it ain’t that you don’t understand. You don’t receive it, because you won’t realize that it is done in that realm, and as soon as faith reaches out for what’s finished, grace will supply more of what is needed. It’s a rhythm. Everybody still on the book? Now, if this is your first time here, I understand you’re looking like, «What in the world did he just say»? I am saying the day you realize and believe that Jesus is Lord, and you accept him into your life, he’s already completed everything you’ll ever need in this life. He just needs you to realize it, agree with it, and live according to what’s done, and not to live trying to get it done, 'cause what I just said is real faith. The other stuff we’ve been doing, «I’m gonna use my faith to try to get this done,» is against what this whole thing is about. It’s finished. It’s done.
Most of the things I’m gonna say to you today is gonna have to do with your thinking and your thoughts, 'cause I’m getting ready to show you something that’s just mind boggling, you just… I’m getting ready to absolutely destroy religion in your life. Wait, let me define religion. A return to bondage, in the Latin. Religion is performance based. Religion is all about what you got to do to see if you can get God to do something. Religion is, I got to be good in order to get God to do something good. That’s not according to the New Covenant. That was according to the law, and according to the law, nobody was ever good enough. Yeah, so this is gonna be interesting. I am teaching this today. It is going to be something that’s gonna challenge you, and I will start off with this statement that I told Taffi this morning that woke me up and blew my mind, «Heaven is not our goal, it’s our starting point».
Now that’s what I’m gonna be explaining to you. Heaven used to be my goal, until I found out that I’m already there. Yeah, I sit with him in… what what did you say, Rick? I am seated with him in heavenly places. So once you realize that you’re seated with him, that ain’t my goal, that’s been accomplished. I am seat, oh, see, now some of y’all like, «I ain’t sitting in heaven, I’m sitting in church». No, you don’t understand. See, you, this is what faith is all about. Faith is receiving what God has already done and finished, and your goal, and the goal of most Christians, the goal is to get to heaven, and I’m telling you I am already seated in heavenly places. Heaven is not my goal. Heaven is my starting point.
So what we’re getting ready to talk about today, we’re talking about it from the starting point of where I sit, 'cause if you don’t talk about it from the starting point of where you sit, then you can just forget about it ever being done. I’m gonna show you these things God’s asking us to do, and I’m gonna become an enemy to it at first because he’s telling us to, you know, to give our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is the reasonable service, which is completely denying everything and giving it to him, and I don’t see how that’s reasonable to me. How can you make that appeal? How can you ask me to do that? Y’all ready?
So, before we get to that, I’m a way ahead of myself, go to Romans chapter 2, verse 3 through 4. Romans chapter 2:3 through 4, and then I’m gonna read Romans 2:1 through 4 in the Mirror. This is all foundation. I got to get your mind free from religion so you can hear how it is, how it really is. Since I have been living in the realm of the thinnest, I so much has changed. I mean, so much has changed. So much has… including the increase of the glory, including the increase of manifestations. Very interesting. Verse 3, he says, «And thinkest thou this, O man, that thou judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness,» the riches of his what? «The riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance»?
The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Now the word repent means… it is the change of mind, to change the mind. It literally means, to change the mind. The other scripture says, «Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand». In other words, change your mind from your way you thought about one thing to where you think about, basically, in that verse of scripture, it is literally talking about changing your mind from the law to the Gospel of grace, 'cause that kingdom it was talking about was the kingdom of this grace. But he says something here. He says, «God’s going to use his goodness to lead people to change their mind,» and that ain’t what I was told.
I was told, «If you don’t change your mind and and act right and do right, God gonna get you. He gonna put somethin' on you. He’s gonna take something from you. He gonna hurt you. He ain’t gonna bless you». And what we created is a fear-based religion. Just back up a little bit. You ain’t got to… go back, go back 10, 20 years ago. It was all based in fear. You know, God don’t like ugly. «If you don’t give, you’re gonna be cursed». «If you get a divorce, then the blessings are gonna weaken in your life». And it was, it was, and «if you don’t come to church, then don’t expect for favor to be in there. That’s the reason why you didn’t get that job, 'cause you don’t come to church. If you come to church a little bit more, then maybe God will be able to do something for you,» and you’re coming to church out of fear. You’re giving out of fear. And, dog, praying.
«Now, if you don’t pray like this, then he not gonna hear your prayer». «What, dang, I’m just trying to talk to him. I ain’t never met him before». «You ain’t met Jesus yet»? «Well, you know what I’m saying. I’m talking to somebody I can’t see, I can’t hear, and then you’re telling me I need to talk to him like this. How come I just can’t talk to him and he can teach me how to», it’s all fear based. It’s fear based. We have been living in a fear-based religion, and everything about what we do, and every religion is fear-based. Look at all the religions of the world. They all come with an attachment of fear. Yeah, and they go so far, saying, you know, «If you don’t, if you don’t shout in church, then you ain’t got no Spirit». I’d rather you’re not. I’d rather just sit down and shut up, and listen to what I got to say. But they tell you, «Now if you ain’t, if you ain’t shouting, you ain’t full of the Spirit».
It’s all fear, and we bought it. We bought every bit of it. «Women ought not wear pants». Well, buddy, you get up in a dress and try to do all the things you got to do then. «Women ain’t supposed to be on the pulpit,» and then you, and this is so insulting, God forgive us. «You gotta stay on the floor. You can’t come up to the pulpit. You gotta stay on that. Pulpit, that’s for the holy men of God. Stand up here on the floor». Women couldn’t do nothing. They couldn’t wear no dress. They couldn’t put on too much makeup. If you put on too much makeup, you’re a Jezebel. You can’t get on the pulpit, you got to preach from the floor. Now it’s all right for you to sing in the pulpit, but now, you know. It just contradicted itself because it’s tomfoolery, it’s a bunch of crock. God’s not gonna change somebody’s mind with that. He says, «I’m gonna change your mind with my goodness».
He says: I’m gonna be so good, so good, so overwhelmingly loving, so overwhelmingly good, I’m gonna bless you when you don’t even deserve it. When you think you’re least deserving, that’s when my mercy gonna show up and blow your mind, because you know you deserve hell, you know you deserve to die. You know you deserve to get caught. You know you deserve to have the disease. You know you deserve it all, but I ain’t gonna let that happen. And when that goodness shows up, you’re gonna say, «My God, I got to change my mind about God». You know Bishop Hayne, that’s all we know, man. That’s all we knew, but we promised to never stop growing. Just keep going, just keep going.
Just keep, and we were never afraid to get up to say, «Hmm, about what I said last week, we might need to look at that a little harder». And to the day, to right now, I need you to know, all your pastors in this church, we’re all digging. Digging and digging and digging and digging and digging. And just continue to do it. I mean, what I’m talking to you about now in Romans, Ken brought it up in the middle of a set. One minute we lifting weights, and he brought it up, and I was like, «Oh, God, that’s it». God ain’t trying to change your mind about him by being bad to you, mean to you, pressuring you. He wants you to want him 'cause you want him. And he says, «Here’s what I’m gonna use to change mankind, goodness». And you know what the church has done? The church has become God’s opponent, and said, «No, he not gonna use goodness. He gonna use bad here, wicked there, a curse here. You know, God’ll still curse you». And I’m like, «How did we buy that»?