WEBINAR 355 - New Years Revelation

it is good to be back and to be here with the  word of the lord and i i want you to look at   romans chapter six it's a sort of a  jump off verse and going to speak um   beyond the verse but this tends to be  at the center of it so romans chapter 6   well we might as well read from the beginning  what a novel idea um and then we'll get it what   should we say then are we to continue in sin  so that grace may increase may it never be   how shall we who died to sin still live in it  or do you not know that all of us who have been   baptized into christ jesus have been baptized  into his death therefore we have been buried   with him through baptism into death so that  as christ was raised from the dead through   the glory of the father so we too might walk in  newness of life for if we become united with him   in the likeness of his death certainly we shall  also be in the likeness of his resurrection   i i know that ends with a comma but we  could keep on reading i'll finish there   and the word or phrase that grips me this time  is in verse four that we might walk in newness   of life newness of life um i don't want to appear  sort of corny here but for the last days we've   heard it said over and over and over again you  know a happy new year and we speak of new year   but i i don't know if you know what that  really means and i'm not being picune here   this comes to the very center of our  faith new year what does it really mean   there are words in in the greek language  for new and the one we're talking about here   when we say new year in most people's minds anyway  new year is the greek word neos n-e-o-s neos   and let me carefully tell you what that means  this is not a curiosity this is the foundation   of our faith neos it means something that  has recently arrived or has recently been   given to us and in that sense it means  fresh and new in that sense it's fresh   but it is not in any way in contrast to what has  gone before and so when you say new well it is new   but we've been here before and so  it's only a fresh a new a recent   repeat of what's been going on before that's very  important to understand that it's not a newness   that stands in opposition to what has been it's  not saying well that is was but now with this new   it so was we don't want it anymore we discard it  it's of no use this no neos means there's nothing   wrong with the past we're just gonna repeat it  and we're being in second chance to try again   to make it better than it was it's a new  fresh start to fulfill an old way um i guess   something we can understand very quickly um  i i know to look at me you might not think it   but my first car was slightly after the model  t ford and i didn't buy it as an antique car   it was um actually on a second-hand parking lot  and um i thought i got me a bargain um well that   car uh let me put it this way when i started  it in the morning i did it from the outside   because we had a big handle that we put into the  engine and turned it and turned the engine over   and that's how it began or otherwise you rolled  it down a hill and put it into gear and hopefully   sputtered to life and i see some of you on zuma  nodding you remember those days well um since then   cars have greatly improved notice the  word improved i remember when they   we had the first turn signal while we played with  that for hours you didn't have to put your hand   out of the window to tell people where you're  going you could actually press something inside   the car and it gave a light to  tell you people that was amazing   and we pressed it and people run outside to see  that he's blinking his blanket this is amazing   and then do you remember we we had radios in  the car what a novel idea a radio in the car   and then of course when tapes came along  we had cassette players oh yeah and then and then well i look at my car today and  although it's very different from that first car   i had it's not it is basically a gas engine  the same as that was we've just improved it   and there's been moments along the  decades when it's a big improvement   others improved and then faded away because  they were not what we thought they would be   and so we call it a new model it's a new car  that means the car that we had last year is now   old but it's still a car we can still use it this  is simply an improvement this is simply going   with cars where we might not have gone before  but it's not new we do not discard everything   between here in the 1920s and say we don't want  that anymore no it's all there is in fact some   people go back to those ancient days and buy them  at an exorbitant price uh more than i paid and um   that's this word you see when you go past the  car lot and it says new models you know 2021   models are here it means it's the same old thing  same gas engine but it's been improved on that's   the meaning of this word neos and so with the new  year we all get into that mode well not maybe all   of us but that that's the it comes over all of the  media that's the meaning of new it means january   it means this is a chance to reboot we can start  all over again we can have a fresh a new start   we can close the door on december and we begin  anew and the beginning we begin with resolutions   because we're going to tell ourselves this is what  is going to be like as new this is where we're   going this year and we make promises to ourselves  and we make promises to loved ones and sometimes   to the whole jolly world we are going to change  i know i know i've been this i've been that but   this is going to be different i promise you we're  going to reset our sights we've got a goal in view   we're going to become what we should be and  ought to be and really sort of we want to be   but we're going to do it it shall be because  in so doing we face our failures all over again   we look at ourselves in the mirror and  face our failures we know our weaknesses   but january brings on fresh hope for some reason  this time it's going to change you understand   it's it's january so so it's a new it's a neoss  i know it's it's me i'm still the human i was   but it's going to be different because that's new  and we have a almost a reckless faith in ourselves   we announce it this is what we're going to do  this is what's going to happen and we believe   we've got a super effort strength within us  to do it everything's going to be different   because new means one more chance to do it right  and of course this time we mean it we're going to   be proud of ourselves we're not going to go around  loathing ourselves through our weaknesses so the   lists appear this is what i'm going to do this  is what i'm never going to do again promise you   all the new rules i give myself to follow  memberships at the gym soar into the thousands   we make written statements of habit i i was  reading something the other day it was written   in 1600 by some great spiritual pastor who said  of all that he's going to do and his prayer is   this and he's going to this day shall be the  beginning of understanding the scriptures on   and on and on resolutions promises it's  all going to happen because it's january   and that's what we do in january we're going to  change our sleep schedules we're going to get up   early we're going to change our eating habits  we're going to live with discipline it's new i'm gonna emerge in february and march  as an improved a better model of myself   i'll be cleaned and polished and hopefully thinner  it's january you see that's what it means it's new   and we've done it every january since our  youth and we repeat it every new year shouldn't   that tell you something it doesn't sound like  it's working but before i believe it religion   takes the first place in this they they are more  adept at this than even gym memberships religion   lives religion is established in neos that's  the key word to understanding what we mean   when we say religion only they don't have it  as a membership in a gym they call it revival   but it's the same thing other times they say  rededicate same thing you see you've got to become   the godly person you know you should be makes  sense doesn't it you you should you ought you must   anybody with any sense knows and so we sign up it bombards my gmail account they come all these  programs they've chosen me i think to think i   need it that you're going to read through the  bible in a year and here's the perfect program   you're going to start praying as you  want to do and we'll send you the helps   well it's a sign up for it this is this is january  it's time to get up before sunrise and pray   attend every service get involved in witnessing  it's january you say this sort of thing yes it's   going to be done i rededicate my life i'm going  to be the christian i'm always supposed to be   in fact i'll join a group you know those groups  in churches what do they call them accountability   groups and i'm going to confess my secret sins  i'm going to expose myself to my brothers who   will now descend upon me with further to make sure  that i keep my promises and i never do that again because this time we're gonna do it we promise  we answer the appeal we go forward we say this   prayer after the pastor we mean it i'm not  that's not a caricature i was raised with that   that that's how it works that's religion  that's church at least in america   and i i think in the western world new resolutions  new rededications that the bread and butter   of church what would the church do  if he couldn't have rededications   i'm very serious here what would the church do  if it couldn't continually call you to renew   your resolutions that's what it's about that's  why every sunday it's the bread and butter   it's all about improving i'm i'm not the christian  i should be i'm not where i ought to be in god and   so i'm gonna improve and we move with agonizing  slowness five steps forward 10 steps backward   and what's the goal what is we keep on  resolving is is this vague goal of somehow   repeating the life of jesus by our own willpower  what would jesus do i don't have a clue that only brings anxiety into a a miserable  situation anyway what would jesus do try and   be like jesus i don't have a clue what he would  do here do you understand me and i say again i'm   not giving a caricature this is what religion is  jesus is seen as the perfect he's the unreachable   person and he's remote because he's  back there somewhere back in history   he's the new law so we don't live by the  law of moses at least we're not supposed to   but we do live by the new law the christian  law which is jesus who stands there as remote   as the ten commandments try and be like him and  of course the church has something that the gym   doesn't have that's what makes it so  powerful much more powerful than the gym i mean the gym can give you a  bit of guilt if you don't show up   but the church can threaten you with damnation if  you don't do this and that that's pretty powerful   and then they give us the formulas to spur  us on so it's a life now of shame and fear   if i don't do it trying to be bolstered  up by faith in my own ability to change   and i say they call it revival but revival  really is further new year resolutions   that's all it is and so i've had invitations  from churches come and preach our spring revival   i couldn't do that i i'd blow it out of the water  it was a spring river because then they say well   can you come to the fall revival i guess we've  all fallen off the wagon somewhere in the summer   um the revival no that just means keep  on piling on the resolutions and saying   god i'm going to try again i've got a  fresh start it's near us it's the newness and and revival then has to make us feel  bad about ourselves if we're miserable so   we'll go forward and say the prayer again  make all the resolutions and start all over   neos must have resolutions to make the system work   flesh needs it i've got to repair myself i've  got to clean myself up i've got to achieve these   impossible goals before i could ever think of  being close to god i mean that's where it is   and i say that's a caricature that is the whole  system is a caricature of what life in christ   is about it's worse than the caricature because  you never arrive really where where in religious   system do you arrive it's always when you if  you resolutions again you see it's neon we'll   have another go at this that's all we do is have  another go at being a christian we never get there   what would it be like if the  pastor says well we've all arrived   the church would be out of business  you've got to keep people under shame   you've got to keep them guilty  because that's what religion is about and if you make a resolution you've got to  keep on making resolutions to stay there   but did you notice the i've spoken about neos  but neos is the same as new year resolutions   or religion it doesn't make any difference  which is is interesting you could be an   atheist making new year resolutions which  is exactly the same as a person in church   making resolutions to be more like jesus  same basis it's neos that's the word   you do say nothing about my past my past yes i  just failed a bit but we're going to try again   same model of improvement and same  sparing you on with guilt same thing   and both of them in the gym membership and  in the church it's great for a few weeks   flurry of excitement everybody looks like what  the church says a christian should look like   but then of course after a few weeks  enough is enough and we return to normal   and with returning to normal comes guilt  big time worse if you're in church shame   worse if you're in church you're shamed  and frustration with your own self   because this is all based on me doing my  best neos is based on me having a fresh start   do you know what i mean when i say we loathe and  i use that term advisedly it's a horrible word but   we loathe ourselves we're disgusted with  ourselves weak poor self you couldn't even   do it you couldn't get up before dawn and  pray what what what about some of you you   cower in shame before yourself because you  failed one more time just like last year not enough willpower not enough  inner strength i mean that's   you couldn't pull it off your  faith in your own faith didn't work do you follow me that's all the work the bible   calls it the work of the flesh it doesn't  matter where you find it it's the same thing it's an expectation in yourself  it's an expectation of your faith   and if you should happen to keep the resolutions  well then that leads to christian pride when we're   going to give testimony to yeah to what we've done  but of course if we fail it brings about the shame   i assume the identity that i am not enough that's  my identity i proved it i'm a failure i proved it   and god he's disgusted with me because he's the  ultimate standard that i've been trying to reach and anyway if you kept all your resolutions  to the lord what would you be just an improved   person over last year's model that's about  it so much not much difference between   you and any other religion who's got a moral code  just improved i'll tell you what you would be all   so tragically you would have moved an extra  mile away from what christianity is all about did you hear me when we keep our religious  resolutions we are actually moving away   from the gospel into a i don't know what  to call it but supposing we're all wrong   maybe that's the good news the good  news is everything you believed is wrong   isn't that fabulous that's the goodest news  i've ever heard because it means i don't have   to improve what i've been doing i need to flush it  down the toilet it was wrong yeah because the new   that i find in the new testament has absolutely  nothing to do with a self-improvement program   it has nothing to do with any resolution the  words are not even known in the new testament   they were all invented by religion as  christianity began to forget what it was   in fact there's another word  used in the new testament   so neos i've spent a lot of time talking about  it because i want you to really get it neos   but in the new testament there's another word for  new and for your interest it's chaos k-a-i-n-o-s it means new ah but just a minute it's  different chaos means new in in sense that   it's never existed before but that's was true  of neos too but this has never existed before   but it stands as a radical contrast to everything  that's gone before so radical is that difference   that it takes the place of what has  gone before do you get that yeah   neon says well it's new but it's not a new  that's going to be uh confronting the old   it simply says we we're going to try  further but chaos is new but it is so new   it is so totally other it is so radical  that what we've been doing before now it's   we throw it away we discard it it doesn't count  anymore kanos means a new that is actually   standing in condemnation if you like of what we've  been doing and saying no that's not the way this   is a new that takes place of everything we've been  doing so it is and so everything we've been doing   now suddenly looks old and we look at each other  and say how could we have done that how could   we have thought that was the way to live the old  has become worn out and it's ready to be trashed what is coming chaos is now ready to take its  place do you see the difference between these   two words and we in the west anyway  when we say new year we're thinking   neos we're thinking for a fresh start a new  beginning but it's same old human doing it do you realize i don't know i said this  to somebody the other day and they were   absolutely shocked i was taught it in school do  you remember the days i have to say that because i   haven't seen it recently but back in the whenever  do you remember you would write the date 21 a.d   okay god bless your nod is there another  do you remember 1900 a.d you don't okay   well we did we did yeah in england i guess um  i think i've seen it on monuments over here   um a.d do you know what it well obviously not you  don't know what it means it's latin for ano domini   and ano domini means the year of our lord  do you realize the calendar that we go by begins with jesus you realize that i  mean we say it's a secular calendar   well of course there is no such thing as  secular but it yes it is atheists use it   even other religions use it that  we say it's 2021. well who said so   the world has been here a lot longer than  2021 yet we date from a mere 2021 years ago   a.d the year of our lord we have said  i don't know if this is affecting you   this to me is massive it says to governments and  to peoples whoever you are businesses we date life   from the coming of jesus this is the year of our  lord and everything before that we said bc which   we before christ because that's changed around the  world but um it means that in the coming of jesus   there was such a radical change   so radical they said we've got to change  the calendar what jesus did who he was   brought like an axe down in the middle of  history and suddenly everything before that was well it was before that bc but now we've  come to something we can never connect the two   we can never say this is by just a continuation  and in the middle of history he came and   no we stop history and we say from here  on out we date everything from his birth   wouldn't that suggest that the years 2021  wouldn't it suggest anyway that it's canos   that new year means this is part of something so  new we had to change the calendar that's fact it's   utterly jesus brought something so utterly utterly  different other that even governments have to   recognize and say we changed the calendar this  is so unlike anything that has ever gone before oh that's new see that's chaos that that's  not saying well jesus gave us a fresh start   oh no in fact he took the human race as it  was and in himself carried it to death he   said there's nothing we can do with it bring it  to death and then rise again as a new humanity and actually you're saying that every  time you give a date you're saying that and as to resolutions it brings us face  to face with the fact that we don't make   resolutions now i know if if you are a religious  person and and you are very welcome here i'm not   i i include you totally but a religious person  would be very upset with that because religion   hinges on decision it's big word in evangelical  christianity made your decision for christ decision magazine it's a big word   but you see this the first step of understanding  the newness of this is there are no resolutions and i almost have to apologize because that leaves  people with a sinking feeling almost a free fall   well what do we do then if there's no decisions  well let me introduce you to where the decision is   the newness is that we are living  by the decision the resolution   that father and son and holy spirit made  about us did you follow that it's not   that i made a decision for christ it  is that he made a decision about me and that before time before creation the decision  of god which is documented all through the new   testament the decision of god was that you would  be placed into vital dynamic union with christ   so that you would live yet not you  it would be christ living in you   god determined that your your what we call  decision for christ which is okay i i really know   what you're getting at but i'm just saying it's  not in the scripture what we're really doing we   are accepting our already acceptance do you follow  me he's already accepted us before we were born   he created us he gave us existence in order  to become part of this incredible newness   and our what we call decision for christ is  really saying yes to i accept my acceptance   i finally yield to the fact i am loved i  am responding to that which is not to make   something happen it already is the decision  of the holy trinity to include you me us the   human race to include us inside their circle of  love and they decided that before we were born and so the new is not something that begins  with me all new year resolutions begin with me   i look in the mirror i don't like what i see i  look in the bible and i don't like me what i see   there and i don't like me i don't like me and so  now i i am going to determine that i am going to   be different you know i'll ask jesus for help  well i forgot that yeah yeah you better ask him   for help but it's you it's you working whereas the  new says relax you are accepted you are beloved   and christ himself dwells within you he's  not merely an historical figure he is not   simply the person who lived the wondrous  life he actually through the holy spirit   lives inside of you that's a turning  of the whole thing on its head   it's not me here making resolutions i'm gonna be  like him over there it's him over there not being   over there but being in here what would jesus  do i don't know but i can say what are you doing   he's in me he's my life that's the newness it's  the newness and so the newness is that i awaken i   wake as if from a great darkness a great sleep of  death indeed and i wake up and i realize it is so   i don't have to do something to make it  happen i wake up to realize it's happening   the dance is already in progress and i  find my waking up in the middle of the   dance floor get with it it's it's here it's  now i don't have to do something to get there   i'm awakened to realize i'm there i was put there  before i was born now that sounds like good news   gospel because the gospel i was under neos  is the gospel well it isn't good news at all   it says you're no good i'm ashamed of you  but if you do this you might make it and if   you don't you'll be damned in hell oh great  that's made me excited yeah that's not good   news the good news is that god initiated this he  started it and he started it because he loved us   and jesus in his incarnation is coming becoming  one of us in order to put his arms around us and   carry us into his death and then  raises with his resurrection and we're   when you and as i say we wake up to that i i've been around i've been around church i've  been preaching in church for almost 70 years   i know a thing or two this i you know i didn't  read this in a book what we call the gospel appeal and of course many of us and probably most of us  this is how we came in and see the holy spirit   father son and holy spirit love us so much  if we came in through a back window it's okay   he still takes us and puts us down in  the plush sofa and says now let's talk   it we came in in many different ways so don't  get condemned and don't get upset i'm just   showing you what the scripture says that  many times if not always the gospel appeal   is put to us the same way as a new year's  resolution and if it isn't put to us that   way 90 of the people who go forward to say the  sinner's prayer that's how they're thinking of it   that now i'm going to get rid of this  now i'm going to be free from that   it's sort of a chance and a new tribe but  now you're sponsored by jesus christ you   know it's gonna work um know the gospel is the  announcement of what god has intended and what   god has done in jesus christ and what he's doing  through the holy spirit and he's he initiated he   did it and he's doing it without our permission  fabulous i don't have to get god's attention   now that's new every other religion every movement  of religion is to get god's attention to tell him   how bad we are tell him how rotten to the call we  are and that somehow pleases him and no in this   no i don't i don't he's got to get my attention  i'm not getting his he's the one by my bed of   life who's shaking me gently to say wake up wake  up you you'll never dream what i've got for you   i don't have to get god's attention i  wake up to see the the wonder of this new but okay think about this there is only really  think about this there's only one new chaos man think about that there's only one the father son one one son so if i'm going to become new then  i must be united to the only one who is new   it is not something that arises from me it  is that i am united with the one who is new and i participate in him i partake  of him and for me to live is him oh i just a minute didn't i tell you you  were placed in him before you were born   so this isn't something you've got to do and again speaking from my decades of  being around this i have sat with pastors   pastors and we have debated for hours on how do  you get into christ how do you get into christ   i remember one long discussion  about john 15 the vine and the   branches and they said we understand  the vine but how do i become a branch have you noticed jesus never bothers to talk about  that he says i am the vine you are the branches oh   how do i get there well you're there man  you're there how did you get into christ   1 corinthians 1 says that the father  put you in christ before you were born   again i say we wake up to that and realized that  there i've been living all my life with my eyes   closed to the source of life the newness within  me and now he opens my eyes and i realize   i have been beloved i've been accepted  i have been in christ since birth now again that that sounds like good news it's  taking again there's no ought is this i don't   sit there and say well you should you must  i come back and say have you heard the news   that sounds more like good news news is the  report on something that has happened and   currently is that's news the news is not a  list of suggestions to make something happen   they call that propaganda no the news is  have you heard the news something's happened   something's happened and you didn't know about  it well let me tell you have you heard the news and then i believe the news because the  news itself gives me the faith to believe it   i would never have had faith to believe it  until i heard it and when i heard it it came   with such power that i i realized that i'm  trusting this it's a gift that comes with it you heard the news you are in christ have you  heard the news the holy spirit is in the process   of waking you up to realize that have you heard  the news you have been loved since before you were   born have you heard the news he knew your name  before you were born you're special you're unique   this isn't neos we're not a blind person in the  darkness who's struggling to try and please god   because they haven't heard the news no  that's neos we try again kano says relax this   is newness as you've never dreamt it and  it all comes through this one new man um   see let me expand on that  there's only one agape one love so i will never love unless i'm united with that  love there's only one piece there's only one joy   there's only one wisdom there's only one strength  there's only one purity it's not something i've   got to do over here and compare it with that over  there try and be like that no it is god says i put   you inside of that and now christ love joy peace  dwells within you and you dwell there wake up but to wake up to that you've got to trash  and i mean that word as strongly as i said it   trash and i say again something strong the filthy  religion that keeps you coming back every week   to try again with a new year's resolution and  there's no there's no middle ground here you see   some pastors come and say well i like what  you're saying i'm going to take a bit of   what you're saying and add to what i'm saying  i said you can't do that the house that you're   building is already condemned you can't put on  a new roof yes condemn the jolly thing and start   again from a new foundation that god is love  that is not against us he's not hard to get   he's not some remote faceless thing that  you've got to try and get his attention   but he has come to us in jesus  christ joined himself to us   and now lives inside of us through  the holy spirit this is good news and so the chaos year the new year  does not begin with resolution uh and i mean yeah you could resolve to go to  the gym but don't get too excited about that   you can resolve a lot of those  little things if you want to   but really the whole tenor of life begins  to change when you realize what i'm saying   the chaos the new year says it is  done it is finished you are there   so open your eyes and rest rest rest into the  fact there's nothing more to be done there's   no more resolutions there's no more promises  there's no more gold to achieve you're there   it isn't i'm trying to get to  the house on top of the mountain   wake up you're in the house look out the window  and see the mountains down not up you're there   you've arrived how did i get it through the  one person the only person who can get there   that was jesus the one new man and  you in him he took you with him you wake up to realize it so then what is the new we just sit here like  blobs and say listen to no it's going to take you   every month of this year to wake up and  wake up and wake up and wake up you didn't   know how deep asleep you were wake up or  the word that dominates the new testament   revelation revelation is seeing with eyes  inside you being opened by the holy spirit   to see truth to see reality  and that really never ends in the old testament which of course was  completely neos they were always every year   the day of atonement every year they're trying  to start all over again um and isaiah the prophet   came along and said do you know what's coming  he says you don't have a clue where we're going   and he said in isaiah what is it 60  or something he says eye has not seen   ear has not hurt it has never  been understood by your senses   you you've never imagined this in your  wildest dreams what god has prepared and there it hung and when jesus came and  the holy spirit of jesus came to dwell within   us paul wrote 1 corinthians and in 1 corinthians  2 he quotes isaiah and he says it is written i has   not seen ear has not heard it's never entered  into your imagination what god has prepared   only he adds then to what isaiah said  he said but that might have been true   i not seen ear not heard never entered into  your mouth that might have been true for   isaiah and everybody that followed him but  now you read it 1 corinthians 2 he says but   now the holy spirit has revealed it to us our  eyes have seen our ears have hurt we're there that that's the good news you see of course  that i suppose you could say new in this sense   new year if you want to take it there doesn't  call for new resolutions this is the ultimate   metanoia you know that's the word we use  for repentance metanoia means that radical   mind change that overturns everything you've been  thinking for a new there it goes again a new mind   a new way of looking at things  and so it's a repentance in if you   want to use that word it is that i say  everything i used to believe about beginnings   and trying and rededication and i  promise you god i'll never do that   and i mean i'm i'm feeling kind of further in  this moment you got to get it this is not just   uh you know stroke the lion's head no this  is to recognize the new that came in jesus   cut history into and said  everything before is before him and   it was it was struggling it  was looking it was searching   and it was always trying to do it better trying to  do it better when jesus came it's so new we don't   have to struggle to do it better we've arrived we  don't make a resolution to get somewhere we stand   back and say we're there but it's gonna take me  all year to discover the new that i've arrived in   and it it'd be the same as if you were dumped  into the middle of the garden of eden how long   would it take you to find out what you'd been let  loose in we've been let loose in new then our life   becomes now not a struggle to get somewhere but  a discovery of where we are that's new and um   and so jesus became one of us in order to show us  what we were created to be did you hear me on that   god became human in order to show us what human  was always meant to be it takes god to be human for having shown us he himself  becomes the true man inside of us and so he has he's okay the  gospel is not a moral makeover   you don't come to some religious beauty  shop and get your face and hair done and which of course will fall off anyway but it's not a makeover it is a  relationship in which two become one without ever   losing themselves in each other and so jesus has  become malcolm jesus has become jennifer become it   but he didn't lose himself inside  me i have become impact christ   in me christ is my life but i didn't lose  myself i'm still malcolm with all my quirks and   malcolm but malcolm now united with christ christ  united with malcolm that is who i am not trying to   be i am we've arrived that's the way it is it's  not an improvement it's a radical relationship   in which he takes all that i am  and gives me all that i all he is this is so new that's why we call it the old  testament please i i don't know how you look at   the old testament the way i hear especially some  things that have been said in the last couple of   months that the old testament is is where we  live no do you realize that that just shocks   you we don't live in the old testament it's  more than interesting it is what god was doing   in preparing the world for where we are right  now but it's old jesus said something i don't   think we've ever fathomed what he said in matthew  11 he said hear me carefully jesus said no one   that's a big phrase no one knows the father except  the son and no one knows the son except the father   did you hear what i said or what he said  that's i i mean he has simply in one sentence   said that everything from genesis to malachi  they didn't know the father do you hear me yes wow he was saying moses didn't know me   he knew about me he knew more about me probably  than anybody but he said no one no one was   inside the father to know his thoughts in his  heart and no one was inside of me to know me oh but i didn't finish it he said no  one knows the father except the son   and those that he will show the father to so he  said i am bringing the knowledge of the father   that is i am out from god jesus didn't come from  alongside of god the father he is god from god   all the father is jesus is  he came to us out from god so he's the only one that can tell us what  the heart of god looks like who god really is and he said i i've come but i haven't just come  to tell you about it and then say goodbye hope   you enjoyed the lecture no he said i've come not  only to reveal who the father is but i have come   to share that with you so that  you will know in your experience   who god the father really is and who i really am it's gonna no wonder he said  elijah didn't know me like that   isaiah didn't know me like that it says in peter  that the prophets they had what they had but   they looked at and wondered what  on earth it was talking about you read that have you ever read in hebrews 1  where it says the prophets of the old testament   they had words words that were just bits and  pieces of the revelation and they didn't know   how to fit it together but jesus didn't come  with words he is the word he said i'm the   one they're all trying to talk about he says  luke 24 the entire old testament is about me you get the newness of this so you don't  go back and grovel in the old testament i i   i get what do you call them daily devotionals  i get them just to see what people are saying   i never like to think what they're  saying i want to be able to quote them   and there's this one and i've had it now for  12 months you know they've never gone into   the new testament yet their entire daily  devotional is out of the old testament   why i'm not against the old testament as long as  you begin with the new testament and carry what   you've discovered in the new testament back there  into the old and realize now it all fits together   but you can't you can't quote verses in the  old testament without realizing you know   i want to say to some people who are i want  to say have you ever heard jesus has come you   ever heard that what a novel idea these are well  the ten commandments said ten commandments look   uh have you noticed have you noticed how many  times the new word appears in the new testament   the new chaos you know this new that makes  everything else suddenly old decrepit new covenant do you mean new creation well  that covers the old testament   it goes back to genesis creation goes back to the  law the covenant of moses and said this is new   and in hebrews it says the old is now ready  to be torn up and thrown away it's new mankind   well in jail revelation says the new they  sang a new song a song that had never been   sung before because they'd never seen the heart  of god they'd never danced in the love of god   this is a new song it says you've got a new name  a new identity it speaks of a new temple of course boy but that's upsetting i mean that means  the temple in jerusalem is finished over we   don't need a temple anymore temples are where  they put gods well your party is the temple   of the holy spirit what a thought and then it  says you'll have a new heart and a new spirit it says there'll never be a  remembrance of sin anymore and my religious friends don't know what to  do with that so they say well that's in the   millennium oh lord help us is that the best you  can do to cancel out the finished work of christ   now there's no more sacrifices never will  be if there are sacrifices ever again in   jerusalem it will be the greatest act  of blasphemy committed on the planet it says we have we have we have come to the   new jerusalem and the blood of jesus christ  is the final sacrifice of the new covenant i i hope you get the idea this you  didn't sign up for a religious club   your eyes have begun to be opened to a totally new  creation a new world a new human race new new you so we are in a world which has no temple sorry i  mean this is not this where we're sitting now is   not the house of god that's old testament  that when they had a house to put god in   this is not their house of god you guys are the  house of god for now the spirit dwells in us   you guys are the the temple of god that's new so  where we meet doesn't really matter any old place   will do you can be on zoom in your kitchen or we  can be here we are the temple of the living god well i could talk a lot about this but um let me just put this because i know i know some people are  thinking what what do you do   now let's i'm i'm almost done i'm landing my  claim but we're giving you a parachute anyway but what do you do and i'm i know i i'm  looking at your faces especially   um most of you guys here have been with me long  enough to know the answer to the question but   i know there are people who are looking  at their behavior and in looking at their   behavior they are in despair when  you hear me say what i've just said   that if christ is in you if there's  no goal to reach because you're there   then what about my behavior look at the  way i'm living you call that christ in you   that is where the thinking comes i've  got to do something to get into christ   when hopefully all this behavior will stop and and i couldn't finish this  how how does this chaos work   we know how neos works but how does chaos work number one boy i'm gonna give i'm not gonna give  a formula god help us um no i'm not gonna give a   formula i'm to give you pointers the number one  you've got to settle into the fundamental basic   fact of the gospel which is that you were included  into jesus christ before you were born there is no   human being that is not united with christ  i i could if we had another half an hour   i i could say that jesus let's go back just  one quick step back jesus is the creator   and there's if you doubt that colossians  chapter 1 um hebrews chapter 1 and what john chapter 1. they all speak of jesus  without him there was not anything made that was   made he's the creator can we agree on that  he is your creator you're not here by chance   you're not the product of luck you are here by  the the intentional act of god who created you   in your mother's womb you were created well it  says and this is what many people don't read   but he didn't only create us but he's the glue who  holds us together or as he says colossians 1 15   that he in him all things consist or hold together  well that means that quite apart from anything   we've been talking about just basically you as  a creature you as one that god brought forth   you are the miraculous person you are because he  continues to hold you together that's why you are   a trillion steps beyond the highest ape that's  why well i don't i don't want to get off on this   i think what we got to realize creation was poof  you're here now let's get on with something else   no when he said you're here he came and  joined himself so you'd keep on being here   and and he he holds us together but that means  then every one of us comes into this world   in a very vital relationship to jesus  we wouldn't be here apart from him   to get that so to take that one step further  that it was determined before you were born   that those that he created and those that he's in   he would come and actually become one of us  so that in ness was carried to its ultimate can i really i wish i could look  you in the eye this is so important   it's basic you can't move beyond this christ  is in you and you are in christ that's basic   you are beloved of the father you  don't do anything to achieve it   which means that when god  the son christ became flesh he embraced you and your history is that you  included in his death you were included in   his burial you were included when he rose again to  the father and he carried us with him that's basic   and when he did that he gave us the holy spirit  and he said he poured out his spirit upon all   flesh now i was raised to believe he only  poured out his spirit not only on believers then   no you've got to be better than that you had to be  these super christians who were totally dedicated   before the spirit would even show up the bible  says he poured out his spirit on all of us i'm talking fact i'm not talking your feelings i'm  talking fact you were included so then all these   thoughts that we have that are un love thoughts  self for myself thoughts all those actions   those habits that are anything but a reflection  of christ where do they come from they come   from the darkness that came upon us through the  great lie that satan infused into the human race   but it's a darkness that means i can't  see myself i can't see god i don't know   who god is therefore i don't know who i am and  i live by the rules of the darkness and in that   darkness we picked up habits that are still  clinging to our flesh and we picked up a way   of life that now is it's in itself a habit this is  the way we do it but it hasn't changed who we are look jesus said luke 15 that the a sheep  goes astray and the shepherd listen to me   this is jesus speaking he said in that parable  the shepherd said i will find my my last sheep   my sheep my sheep my sheep my just me no no  no it can't be your sheep it went to stray   and once it goes astray well it's got a free  will hasn't it it's saying goodbye to you   doesn't want you anymore so it goes astray no the  shepherd says i don't care what the sheep says   sheep might say i'm leaving shepherd says you're  mine mine when that shepherd went out he wasn't   going to look for a wild sheep he was not a hunter  he was a seeker he was seeking that which was   his and he found it and says you're my sheep  i have found my sheep which was lost you can't   get rid of god just by believing you don't  believe in him i mean that's ridiculous   the woman loses the coin what did she  say my coin and she gonna search for   my coin rejoice with me i found my  my coin never stopped being her coin it's no longer in the currency of her  life oh but just a minute it's still worth   what it was when it got lost you ever thought  about that if you lose a hundred dollar bill it   doesn't certainly become a piece of paper it's a  hundred dollars that you lost and are looking for   just because darkness is upon a person lies  have blinded them the ideas of satan dominate   their head it doesn't mean they've stopped being  beloved of god what kind of god do you worship   i'm serious when your child does something  wrong do you stop loving the child god pursued us because he loves us and he  loves us when we're doing the worst we could do   because he says you don't know what you're doing  jesus said that you don't know what your ignorance   says the many scriptures because you're blind  you're in the dark you are still the person   god created you're still the good one that he  loves and will never let you go and pursue you   that that's basic when the sun's in that series  of parables the sun's you know where the sun   goes into the far country well i've just said  it at night the sun went into the far country   huh he didn't stop being his father's son he's  acting like an idiot but he doesn't and when he   comes home in his twisted mind he is no longer the  son he said i'm no longer worthy because your son   because he saw being the son attached  to behavior and the father says don't   be daft and he reaches out crushes him  in a bear hug and says you are my son   well god isn't supposed to do that according to  my evangelical friends he's supposed to say you're   damned in hell unless you say this prayer after  me no god says shut up kid shut up you're my son   you were dead for sure but you're alive again you  lost but you're down now let's get to the party is that the gospel you've been  told it's one jesus preached   so can we get that straight that's who you are you  are not who you are by your behavior you are who   you are because god has placed you in christ  i couldn't be more serious that's who you are   christ is your life and you live by  his faith fellowship with the father so when you look at your  life do not own it as yours you are not the foolish person  you say you are stop saying that   stop giving yourself a false identity  it's not that i yes you said it   i know you said it you did it i know you  did it but it's not your essential self christ is your wisdom christ is  your love christ is your purity   now start telling yourself the truth that is  your name your name is beloved your name is   lover your name is pure your name is  wise your name is strong that's who i am   as surely as a toddler falls over they get  up because falling over is not where they   live that's not who they are they're humans  who walk on two legs and we pick them up and   we brush them off we don't condemn them for  it we just say you're learning you're learning   and all i can tell you because i've gone  hopelessly over time now that as you confess   concerning yourself who god says you are that you  are christ in you that is the truth and therefore   what i've done i've done it it contradicts my  essential self that i did something that isn't me and you will find the truth will set you free you find see you're speaking truth this isn't  positive thinking hoping you'll get there   no you're saying this is where i am and that  is reality and what i just did essentially   is unreality i know i did it but it's  not it's not who i am and it will fade   out of your life and increasingly be replaced  with the love that christ in you truly is so forgive me for going over time  again but i had to say that lest   any of you should be left in despair father  we thank you for the reality of these words   holy spirit thank you that you have spoken  in our hearts and opened our eyes even as   these words have been proclaimed and so  to that end i declare the blessing of god   father son and holy spirit that our eyes  shall continue to be opened and our walk   shall rise to be newness of life in christ  jesus so i bless you and that is the way it is amen you

Channel: MalcolmSmithWebinars

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Length: 75min 42sec (4542 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 11 2021