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Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Creflo Dollar » Creflo Dollar - The Spirit of Grace - Part 4

Creflo Dollar - The Spirit of Grace - Part 4


Creflo Dollar - The Spirit of Grace - Part 4
TOPICS: Grace

So if you're no longer being tutored and cared for by the law or schooled by the law, what's the replacement? Kind of, but let's look at Galatians 5:18. Who's the giver of grace? Galatians 5:18, let's read verse 18, out loud together. Ready? Read. "But if you be led of the... you are not under the"... See, we used to be led by the... But we're righteous now, and we're in Christ now, and we're saved now, so we're no longer led by the law. We are now led by... So if we're led by the Spirit, then we're no longer under the... So who's leading you? No, no, no, I'm not askin', don't give me the answer to the question. I'm askin', in your life personally, who's leading you? Because I know a lot of people who are still being led by the letter of the law, and they're not being led by the Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost wants to take you deeper, baby. The Holy Ghost, listen, the law will just show you what's wrong in your relationships, but the Holy Ghost will tell you what to do.

See, you've gone to the deeper now. The law will show you what's wrong concerning your addictive behaviors, but the Holy Spirit will get right there with you in your addiction and walk you out of your addiction into your freedom. And this is a hospital, and there are no perfect people hear this mornin', but there's a perfect God here, and there's a perfect Savior here, and there's a flawless Holy Ghost here, and he's ready to show you how to reach levels in your life that you could've never reached on your own if you will submit yourself to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. So let's check this Holy Spirit out, John 16:7-14. Everybody with me?

John 16:7-14. A'ight, now, we're goin' somewhere, and it'll bring about freedom. Church people, we just got to figure out how to sit still and receive understanding of God's Word so we'll know how to live. This is not a game where everybody and their mama can tell you what's goin' on with the Bible. God said in his Word, "I gave you apostles and prophets, evangelists and teachers and pastors for the perfecting of the church". And you can't hardly tell folks nothin' 'cause they think they know more than you, and they don't spend an ounce of time with the Holy Ghost. They don't spend an ounce of time studyin', and they wanna come to church 'cause they've been goin' to church for 50-some-odd years, and for 50 years, you ain't learned nothin' past "Jesus wept". 'Cause I'll ask you, "Well, why did he weep"? "No, I never thought about that. You know, I'm just so", listen to us, man. We're tryin' to help ya.

God is not happy when you're suffering. God's not throwin' a party when you're broken. God is not ready to punish you in the midst of your addiction. God has not left you. God is not like a Santa Claus to hum, "You better watch out. You better not cry", no, I forgot the other, "I'm tellin' you why". "He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake" I told you about that story my mama told me. She said, "You better be sleepin' when Santa Claus come, 'cause he gon' bring a monkey, and if you ain't asleep, he gon' scratch your eyes out". I was in fear. Then I felt like that monkey was at the foot of my bed, and I'm breakin' out in a sweat, a little kid, "Oh, Jesus, I'm asleep. I'm asleep". "He knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness' sake".

And you think God's the same way. You look at God as the punisher for your misbehavin', and he's not. You think he's mad at ya, and he's not. He's not even in a bad mood where you're concerned, and we have so misrepresented God in churches, people don't know what to think. "God gon' getcha". Honey, if God wanted to get you, you'd have been got. Now, watch this now: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away". Jesus said, "For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you". Verse 8, "And when he is come, he will reprove, rebuke the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment", three things he'll do. "He's gonna rebuke and reprove you of sin, because you believe not on him". So he's saying here Holy Spirit was sent to reprove you of not believing on him, not believing on your relationship with him, not believing that there's somethin' awesome that happens when you have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

And so most of your sinning comes as a result of unbelief. Your sin action is a reaction of unbelief. A man who steals, steals because he doesn't believe that God will provide all of his needs according to his riches and glory. It's unbelief. Fix your unbelief problem? You'll fix your sinning problem. Verse 10, he says, "Of righteousness because I go to my Father, and you see me no more". What he says is "You are the righteousness of God. I've made you righteous because I've gone to my Father, and in me, you are righteous, and if you believe it, you will rule and reign in this life". Verse 11, "Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged," which means he no longer has the authority. The authority now has been given to you.

Verse 12, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now". I wonder what it was he had to say to them, but he couldn't say it to 'em because they wouldn't have been able to bear it because the Holy Ghost wasn't there? I don't know about you, but if he's got some stuff to say to me, I wanna know what he got to say. But he tells you, "You're not gonna be able to get it because you're gonna need the Holy Ghost to be able to receive what he wants to say". Turn your neighbor and say, "God wants to say somethin' to you". Turn to the other side and say, "God has a secret he wants you to know". Man, y'all gettin' ready to go up. Y'all leavin' that cheaper into the deeper now, amen? See, prayin' in English is the cheaper. It's all right, but prayin' in tongues is the deeper.

See, praisin' the Lord is the cheaper, but worship is the deeper. It's time for church folks to move from the cheaper to the deeper. Turn to your neighbor and say, "I'm goin' deep". Now watch this, verse 13: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all grace", oh, "truth". Oh, "grace", "for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come". So he says he'll not only show you knowledge, but he's gon' show you foreknowledge. He says, "I got some secrets to tell ya, and then I wanna show you somethin' about what hadn't happened yet".

The Holy Ghost will show you about a bad partnership you're getting ready to enter in with somebody, but you don't know it because they had you fooled all these years, and the Holy Ghost will have you to pause and say, "Hmm, somethin' don't feel right". And that's when you need to walk away from it and say, "I need to leave for a moment. I need to go and talk to my partner," because there somethin' ain't right, and he'll let you know. But without the Holy Ghost, you'll just enter into things 'cause it appears to be okay. See, God's gettin' ready to take us to another level, and the world's gon' be lookin' at us, tryin' to figure out, "What has happened to these people"? "We are now under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. You can't fool us no more". You're gettin ready to get married to somebody, and, I mean, this boy, I mean, half-curled, I mean, he has fooled everybody.

And then the Holy Ghost start talkin' to several people like, "Mm-mm, I know he nice, I know he right, but mm-mm, somethin' ain't right". You ever had an aunt like that? "Somethin' ain't right. Somethin' ain't right". The Holy Ghost will show you foreknowledge. Get ready. He's about to show you somethin' about your future. He gon' talk to you about a path you're on, and he's gon' try to convince you, "Get off that path. You don't wanna get to the end of this path. Move". Don't sit up there, talkin' about, "Well, somethin' tried to tell me", this "somethin'" is called the Holy Ghost. The devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy, so he not gon' try to be tellin' you to move off a path that's gonna end up in destruction. Pay attention. Somebody says, "Well, I can't hear his words real good". Well, you know what he did? Until you can grow more mature to hear his Word, he says, "Let your peace be your umpire". And if you start goin' to a certain place, and your peace ain't there, back up.

Somebody say, "What I do then"? Stand still and start sniffin' out where peace is. Wherever peace is, that's where you need to be. But if you're goin' somewhere, and it's a struggle, and there ain't no peace there, and you just don't know why this thing ain't workin', back up. You're not supposed to be there. "Let peace rule in your heart as a umpire". You know, you can want somethin' to happen real bad, but just 'cause you want it and desire it doesn't necessarily mean the peace of God's on that. At the end of the day, you always want what the peace of God endorses, not what you want. Don't let your eyes and the lust of your flesh and all of that draw you into somethin' that's gon' hurt you. You know, you got that big, ole house, and the bank promise you, "It's all right for you to get the house," "We'll take care of it," "We can make it happen," but you ain't got no peace.

I mean, you just got out of a 500-square-foot apartment, and you're gettin' ready to get somethin' 12,000 feet? And you know your grass got to be cut, and paint, you just ain't got no peace. And I wouldn't live in a house that costs me my peace. I wouldn't drive a car that costs me my peace. I'd rather drive a Pinto than to drive a car that'll rob my peace every time I get, 'cause the car ain't gon' be fun, you know, except the first week when the newness, you get used to the newness. You can't believe you're payin' seven, eight hundred dollar for a car, and you could use that towards a living arrangement, and your peace wasn't there in the first place.

So a lot of the mess you find yourself in, you violated your peace. Don't be talkin' about, "Well, God, why you let me", he's like, "What? 'Why I let you'? You know how many times I was shakin' you, 'No, no, no'? But you want what you want because you're too in bondage to people, and you're still tryin' to impress somebody that don't care, by tryin' to get something you can't afford. Got a cell phone, and you can't even afford to get gas to get to work. You better go Google 'beeper,' and put it on the side of your belt until you can afford to do better. Wastin' my time". Am I wastin' my time? And now watch this. All right, here we go now. So what did the Holy Spirit come to reveal to us? What did he come to reveal to us?

Here's my question. Go to Hebrews chapter 9:28. I'mma move pretty quick now. Hebrews 9:28. Here's where we left off last week: Is sin the central issue of life? Is sinning, is sin the central issue of life? 'Cause church and Christian people alike have made sin a central issue. Being saved, and once you become a Christian, it seems like it's all the focus. All the focus is on sinning, and you wonder why people can't get free from it. All the focus is on sinning. Everything's on sinning. What you wear is on sinning. Where you go is on sinning. What you listen to is on sinning. You're supposed to move into liberty and freedom, not to sin but to be free to live holy as God has called you to live holy, but "holy" seems like it's the bad word, the struggle, but the Holy Spirit came to reveal some things to you, and I'm gonna show you right now. You're dealing with sin, and you make sin the central issue, and it is not so with God.

Sin is a nonissue with God. Why? 'Cause Jesus has already dealt with it, and you are demonstrating that you don't believe that Jesus has already dealt with your sin because you keep makin' sin the central focus and issue of your life, and it is not. I want you to see this Scripture in the New Living Translation, if you guys have it, and put it on all the screens, the New Living Translation, Hebrews chapter 9, in 28. It may be shocking to you, but, again, I'm not makin' stuff up when I say it. That's why I have to show you these Scriptures. I have to spend most of my time, when I'm preachin' the Gospel, showing people Scriptures because they've been so inundated with wrong information through movies and church and preachers who don't know what they're talkin' about because we don't read the Bible that we say we believe.

So watch this: "So also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people". How many of you believe that Jesus was offered as a sacrifice to take away your sins? Do you believe he was successful? So he was successful in doin' what? Has he taken it? Well, why you keep takin' it? Has he taken away your sins? Your past sins? Your present sins? Your future sins? "He will come again". How many of you believe Jesus is comin' again? And you know, you've heard the stories: "When Jesus come, he gon' get you for what you did". "When Jesus come, oh, the judgment day is comin'. Judgment day is comin'. Judgment day is comin', boy. I'll tell ya one thing, yeah, 'cause he gon' getcha. Better watch out. Better not cry 'cause Jesus comin' back soon". But watch this: "He will come again, not to deal with our sins". What that mean? "He's comin' back again, but not to deal with your sin".

When did Jesus deal with our sin? When he died. When did Jesus deal with our righteousness? When he was resurrected. Dealt with sins when he died. He says, so, he is not comin' back again to deal with our sins, "but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him". There's still part of the promise you don't have yet. You don't have your glorified body yet. There's still some stuff to come, and when he comes back, he's gonna come back to complete the salvation package if you are born again and if you make Jesus Lord of your life. Now, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not condoning sin. I am sayin', if you believe that Jesus has already dealt with your sins, belief in that is going to cause the grace of God to come in your life, and the more grace you have operating in your life, the less you're gon' sin. You don't sin more because of grace. You sin less because of grace.

All right, now, watch carefully now. I'm gonna read this statement and try to add some... just finish it, but it's a bold statement. If you were here last week, you already know where I'm goin'. "As far as true righteousness is concerned, whether an action or thought is sin is completely besides the point. God does not determine whether he is okay with me based on whether or not I am healthy, gluttonous. He does not determine whether he's okay with me whether I smoke, drink, chew, hang out with those who do, gay, or straight". All my life, I heard that God evaluates you based on what you do, and if you don't do good, then God evaluates you as not good because you don't do good. That's a lie. Church missed it. I'mma show you why. Just hold on a minute. Now, it sounds like I'm givin' you license to sin. No, I'm not. First you were sinnin' before you got licensed. You were sinnin' before you came up in here this morning. You don't need no license to sin. And the shocking part was I said, "drunk or not drunk, gay or straight," 'cause we love to put people in positions where we just absolutely condemn them to hell.

So what makes me okay with God? Is it what I do? No. What makes me okay with God is my belief in him. Listen to what I'm sayin'. I'm gettin' ready to prove somethin'. What makes me okay with God? How does God evaluate me? God evaluates me based on my belief in him. God evaluates me based on me believing it. He took all my sins away, and I believe it, so I'm okay. He's okay with me because of Jesus. He took all my sins away. And what makes me okay with him? And I believe it. Now, what happens when you start believing what he did? He starts now escorting you out of what you do. When you're stuck in sin, it's a reaction of your unbelief in what he did. "I believe that I'm delivered from sin". You know what? One day, when that dawns on you, you'll say, "Wait a minute. I am. I'm delivered". It'll dawn on you, "I don't have to do this anymore".

What's the problem? We keep focusin' on sin as the major issue and not on the solution, Jesus Christ. Go to Romans chapter 4:25. This is radical. And I mean to tell you, when this thing goes on the air and certain preachers hear it, they're gon' be just, "Heresy, heresy". You little self-righteous, judgmental, shut your mouth. I'm right, and I can prove it. I begin right now. Romans chapter 4, verse 25, let's look at the Living Bible. If you have a Living Bible, look at this, John chapter 4, verse 25, now, watch this now, excuse me, Romans chapter 4. Romans 4:25, the Living Bible: "He was handed over to die", why?

So you know I'm not condoning sin because that's what Jesus died for. Why would you condone somethin' that he died for? "He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God". How many of you believe Jesus was raised? Why? To make us right with God. We could not be right with God in all the works that we do. You can go to church a thousand times a day, and it won't make you right with God without Jesus. You can be flawless, spotless, and not do nothin', don't drink no coffee, don't smoke no weed, don't even look at your naked body when you get out of the shower. You can do all of that, and it still won't make you right with God.
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