Better Living: Consecration

If you have your Bibles, go to Romans, chapter 12. Romans, chapter 12. Go ahead and turn there. And I'm going to be reading from there in just a moment. I do want to take just a moment and give you a little teaser.

We're getting ready to start Better Men and Better Women back up in the month of September. We'll have more about that next week. The next two weeks, we'll start announcing that. But just get ready. It's the second part.

During the spring season, we did better men, better women, and we're going to be doing it during the fall season as well, from September all the way through November, where we gather and we try to build better men and better women according to the word of the Lord and just with community and sharing our hearts with one another, building each other up. So make sure as those announcements come out, you'd be looking for that. And I just want to say this because I'm so proud of him. Amanda and I, our family left Friday midday with Ms. Riley, and we took our oldest son, Evan, seven and a half hours away to Mount Olive University to start his sophomore year of college. And he's on a track scholarship there.

He's going to be running track, doing 10 events. He did decathlete, so he does sprints. He does a couple long distance. He does throws. He does jumps.

He does pole vault. He does it all. He does 10 events in two days at those meets. And I just want to say, if you're watching or if you see this, Evan, I love you and I'm incredibly proud of you. So I left there.

Now I'm starting to get emotional.

Got it. I almost pulled O'Reilly. She was shedding tears yesterday when we left him. But I'm just proud of him. And I just want to encourage men.

I want to encourage you just for a moment. This has nothing to do with my sermon, but I feel led to encouraging. Encourage your wives, encourage your children. If you're proud of them, tell them, don't. Don't assume that they know that.

Let them hear that from your mouth. Let them hear you say, I love you. Let them hear you say, I'm proud of you. Let them hear you say, you're doing a good job. This may not have turned out the way you want it, but you're doing a good job.

Just let them know that. Alright, There's a nugget before the sermon. Amen. All right, all right. If you got.

Go to Romans 12. I'll read from there in just a second, but we're going to continue pick back up in our series today that we have titled Better Living. And if you've been here for any of these sermons, you know this, but this is a series that is talking about and it's dealing with the topic of holiness in our lives. Okay? And I know a lot of people get a little fidgety when you start talking, talking about holiness in church.

A lot of preachers nowadays, many churches, seem to even try to shy away from it. They become afraid to talk about and deal with the topic of holiness because a lot of them may be afraid of being labeled legalistic or pharisaical or sadducee ical. And really, there's probably some good reasons behind that, because many churches and preachers actually turn holiness into something legalistic. But holiness should not be some taboo word in our churches or in our sermons. Amen.

Holiness should not be a taboo word in our lives. Yet holiness is a command that is given to us from God's word. Right? So it's something that God desires in us and from us. And we know this because his Word tells us so.

First, Peter. Peter, chapter one, verses 15 and 16 says, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. What does that mean? That means in the way that we live. In all your conduct.

The way we talk, the way we act and the way we do things and how you live. Because it is written, be holy, for I am holy. Okay? So let me tell you what our biggest problem with holiness is. Y' all ready to hear it?

This is people's biggest problem with holiness, especially in the church. Oh, holiness is legalistic. They'll start spewing all that stuff out. No, it's not. It's the word.

But let me tell you why people have a big problem with it. You ready because it makes them uncomfortable and it makes them uncomfortable with things they probably become comfortable with.

I'll say it again again. Holiness has become taboo a lot of times because it makes people uncomfortable with things that they have become comfortable with. And so for the longest time, we have looked at or we have taught holiness from a legalistic stance. Really a lot of people do it as a list of do's and don'ts. You can do this, you can't do that, you can do this, you can't do that, you can do this, you can't do that, do that.

And listen, that never really works. We've talked about that in previous weeks. But as I've said for weeks now, I want us to look at holiness and start to see it in a light and in a revelation through God's Word that causes us to know why we do what we do or why we live the way we live in accordance to God's Word. So it's not just a list of do's and don'ts, but it's an understanding of the truth of, of God's word that actually makes us free. Free.

How many likes free?

Y' all like to pay? I bet 10% of the people raise their hand. How many likes free stuff? Okay, now we're in one mind and one accord. I like free stuff.

Salvation was free. I'm glad I didn't have to pay for my salvation. Right? Jesus went to the cross and literally was tortured and hung there gasping for breath for you and for me. I'm glad I didn't.

He paid a debt he did not owe and he paid our debt. And salvation is free. I like free stuff. I like my salvation. Anybody else like your salvation?

Say praise the Lord. Alright, so holiness is really freedom, right? It's an understanding of the truth that makes us free. Jesus said this in John, chapter 8, verses 31 and 32. He said, if you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed.

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Okay? So when we know the truth or we have knowledge of the truth, it makes us free. And the truth is always present and available to us through Jesus Christ and through God Word. But when we actually personally and individually begin to connect with it, that's when you become free.

When His Word has a place in us, we're his disciples and we know the truth, and the truth makes us free. Somebody say, I am free man. That feels good, right? So holiness is freedom. And what is it freedom from?

It's freedom from sin. So I told you to go to Romans 12. Let's move into what God has for us today. Romans 12. I'm going to read the first two verses, verses one and two.

Paul writes to the Romans and he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. What does that mean? That means that you are going to have to die to yourself in some areas.

You're going to have to die to yourself in some. Some things that your flesh wants to do. You're going to have to crucify. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. We'll get to that probably towards the end.

Your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now, I want to recall and remind you of a scripture from two weeks ago. It's Second Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 17, where it says, come out from among them and be ye separate. Be separate, separated.

And really, two weeks ago, we focused on how there should be and how we should see a difference in God's people and then those who belong to the world, okay? When those in the world look our direction, those who profess Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of their life, those who are part of the church. The church, the Bride of Christ. Right? When those in the world look direct our direction, they should be able to say and see, hey, there's something different about them.

There's something different in the way they walk. I can't explain it. There's something different in the way that they talk. When I talk with them, it feels different. It just seems seasoned with salt.

There's something gracious and loving about them. There's something different in them. The way they act, the way they treat people. I've noticed how they treat people, and it just seems different to me. There's something different in the way that they react when things are going crazy in the world.

They're reacting in a way that most people don't react to those types of situations. There is something different there in the way that they live their lives. And so that should be apparent to the world that we belong to God. We are in the world, but not of it. But let me tell you something.

If there's not a difference that the world can see, and if there's not a difference that we Ourselves can see and know. Then we might need to start doing some heart checks. Can I get an amen? Amen. All right, so one of the definitions of the word holy is consecration.

Consecration. Consecration. So this is going to be my first point today. Number one is holiness is consecration. Holiness is consecration.

And so let me give you the definition of the word consecration. Consecration means dedicated or separated, particularly for divine or holy use to be set apart. You're gonna hear this a lot, and you already heard it a lot throughout this series. To be set apart. To be separated.

Okay. So consecration means dedicated or separated, particularly for divine or holy use to be set apart. So in our sermon two weeks ago, we looked at the example of Joseph's family as they were brought from Canaan to Egypt in the middle of a famine. Anybody remember that? Praise God.

Three people remember the sermon from two weeks ago. If I can get. If I can get more, we might be in revival. Praise the Lord.

Go back and watch it. If you forgot from two weeks ago, we talked about. Talked about Joseph's family coming from Canaan being spared, their lives being spared. And they were brought to Egypt in the middle of a terrible famine. And what we saw is how God began to spare their lives.

But he was using everything that the enemy had meant for evil in Joseph's life. And God was turning it for their good and his glory. And so when they got to evil Egypt, we saw how God was establishing the fact that he still wants his people to be separate. And so they came in and they stood before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh says, hey, I want y'.

All. You know what, Joseph? Take your family and let them go live in the best land in Egypt. Talk about favor, right? We just come out of Canaan, we're in a famine.

It's like, you know what? We got plenty of food. And you know what? Take them to the best land. Take them to the land of Goshen.

And what we learned and what we talked about and became, you know, begin to understand was that Goshen was in Egypt. It was covered by the territorial bounds of Egypt, yet it was separate. It was off to itself. It was up above the actual city of Egypt. And it was near the.

The Nile delta where it runs into the meditate Mediterranean Sea. And it was a very lush and fertile area. And so they were thriving there. They multiplied and grew exceedingly there. It was a really good land.

So it was all to itself, but it was still in Egypt. And so we see that God's chosen people, the descendants of Abraham, this family that are in Egypt. They're there, but yet they're separate and they are set apart. And so what we begin to see is that God is consecrating this family that one day will become the nation of Israel. And he's separating them for a divine use.

Because we know in time and through history that's given to us as we read God's word in Scripture, right, that these people were actually delivered, delivered from slavery in Egypt. As they began to exceed and multiply, another Pharaoh, hundreds, you know, Pharaoh comes along and says, wait, we got to do something. These people are going to take us over. And he puts them into slavery. So now they're in slavery and they're in bondage in Egypt.

But then we know that God comes in and he delivers them. He sets them free from that bondage and that slavery, right? And really, in the awesomeness of his power, God miraculously led these people, the Israelite. Israelites, out of Egypt with what we call is the great Exodus. You know where to find that in your Bible?

The book of Exodus. That's what it's called. It tells that story, right? Okay. So we read about that in Exodus, but we know if we read that account, that through these plagues and through the crossing of the Red Sea, God split the Red Sea so his people could walk over on dry ground.

After that happened, the fame of the Lord went throughout the world at that time, right? And it was testifying. This is what it was testifying, that these people, this Hebrew nation, they. They belong, they were serving the living God. That's what it was testifying.

And I just want to let you know something here this morning that the whole purpose of your life right now is that God can use your separation. God can use your dedication to him, your consecrated life, if you allow to bring glory to himself. God wants to use everything about you to bring to light the fact that he still is the living God. He has not changed. He's the same yesterday, today, and he will be forever more.

Which is why we can know Paul means what he says about God when he says in Romans 8:28, he will work all things. He'll work all things together for good to them that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. God wants to use every trial you've been through. He wants to use every hardship and every tribulation that you are going through or have gone through. And he wants to show those around you that he still is the living God.

There is a God who is in heaven, and he still works in miraculous, powerful ways that's why James can say when he wrote, he said, hey, count it all Joy when you enter into many temptations, into many trials. Why? Because God's just setting you up. And he's not setting you up for failure. He's going to use what you're going through or gone through or what you've grown through.

How many have gone through, Some things that stretched you and caused you to grow. Right. Things you've grown through. And he's going to use that to turn for good and to bring glory to his name. And when you begin to praise him in the dark times, like Paul and Silas did at the men hour, they've been arrested for preaching the gospel, been beaten.

They were put on a cold, dirty, nasty floor, chained up. And in the midnight hour, the darkest time of the night, they began to sing, praises God when we can, praise him in the dark times when we can still put a smile on our face even though we're having some rough days, when we're able to lift our hands and say, thank you, Jesus, when all hell's breaking loose in your. What you are actually saying is, hey, I see all this is going on, but this is what I know. I'm separated and I'm consecrated for a divine use. And I know that God can take and work all things together for good and for his glory.

So I know right now, if it's not good, it's not the end of my story. And I've been consecrated to God. And even when I don't see it, this is what I know. He's still working on my behalf. Can somebody pray?

Praise the Lord.

And so what we see is that God indeed was setting them up. He was working on their behalf. He was preparing them to be his people. He was getting them ready for his purposes. He was consecrating them, setting them apart for divine use.

And we really got to take notice of everything that was happening to them and for them. God spared them from a famine by moving them to Egypt. Then when they get to Egypt, he puts them in the best land. Praise God. Right?

And as I began to read and study over this, there was something that kind of stood out to me. And one thing I noticed is that through all of that that was leading up to that, that was happening in that moment, they were still not yet under the blood covering, okay? Because we see it's not until the last plague in Egypt, which was the death of the firstborn. That's when they instituted Passover, where they spread the lamb's blood over the doorposts or the window sills. Right?

That was the blood covering. It was at the last plague. Okay, but this is what we can see and we can can read that through the plagues, they were still protected. It affected Egypt's cattle, but not Joseph's family's cattle. It messed up Egypt's homes, but not for those who lived in Goshen.

And the only thing we can see that may have kept them and protected them and covered them through all of this was a promise that God made to their forefather, Abram. Abraham, I'm about to make this personal for us today. How does that apply to us? What am I getting at? What am I trying to say?

Do you realize that it was while you were yet a sinner that Christ died for you? Romans 5:8 says, While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Let me read you Romans 8, 29 through 31. It says, for whom he foreknew, Let me tell you this. He knew before you were knowable.

For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called, whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be a against us?

That's what else to praise the Lord about, right?

But this is what we really need to get. When we've been marked by God and you've been marked by God, hell does not stand a chance. What a powerful thought that that is. That the God of the universe looked through all time and space and matter and he marked you and he put a cost and a purpose upon your life. You've got to know that you've been marked and you've been set apart by God and you have a purpose in this life.

That's why the devil comes and fights so hard against so many in the battlefield of your mind, saying, oh, life isn't worth living and all these things. The devil sees the potential that you have in Christ and he doesn't want you to know that you've been marked and you got a purpose and God will work it all together for. For good. And he doesn't want you to be used in that great of a capacity.

You've got a call, you've got a purpose. You've been marked. When I first got saved, I was raised in church. But when I really got saved, I was 16 years old. I submitted my life and my heart really to Christ.

I said, I believe in you. I'll give you everything I am. You are the Lord of my life. I submitted my life to him, right? And I grabbed a hold of a scripture when I was 16 years old.

And I've not let it go to this day. It's still my life scripture because it gave me a sense of purpose. It's Jeremiah, chapter 1, verse 5. It says, Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you.

Before I ever formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you. You got to know this morning that before you ever came, came into this earth, he already knew you. He marked you. And it goes on to say, and I sanctified you. That means I set you apart.

Every single person in this room, from the front to the back, from the youngest to the oldest, from the prettiest to the ugliest. I don't think any of you is ugly. I'm just saying it's all inclusive. Every single one of you. You.

You've been marked. You got a call and you got a purpose, even through the pain. A lot of us have been through some painful situations, but God can even use the pain. He didn't cause it, but he can turn it. That's why Paul said he can turn all things together for good.

He can turn the pain. Pain into a purposeful meaning. And I've seen him do it time and time again for many people. Many people in this room can testify that. But first and foremost, you got to know.

Before you were knowable, before you were formed in your mother's womb, he knew you. He set you apart. He marked you. No matter how long or how short our lives may be, it all has purpose. And it can bring glory to God.

God, if we allow it. So this brings me to my second point. Your prayers have power.

Your prayers have power. Let me talk to the mamas and the daddies and the nanas and the pawpaws and the Mimi's and the paws, whatever you may be called, it is important to have discussions and to pray to God about our children and our grandchildren, our nieces and our nephews and so forth. God made a promise to Abraham about his future generations. And Abraham prayed and talked to God about that. And that promise kept them.

It kept them. I want to encourage you to pray to God about your children and your grandchildren. I don't care how lost or how bad they may be. Right now, at this moment, I want you to begin to pray. And declare, I don't care where they're at, God, you know, you mark them, they're going to serve you.

God. Begin to declare that by faith, God, they are marked by your hand. And they're going to fulfill the calls and the purposes that you've placed upon them their lives. Here's why you need to do that, because your prayers have power. This is what I know, that somewhere down through the line of the generation of heights, there were some mamas and there was some daddies.

My mama was a praying mama. Daddy called Wayne and Kathy Jones at 2am one morning and said, I don't know what to do. My wife's in the bed just shaking, praying, praying in the spirit and all kinds of stuff. And he's like, I don't know what to do, Wayne. Kathy came down and they just fell in the floor in there and started praying too.

If I thought I'd threw that picture up about how long me and Wayne's known each other. Me and Wayne's known each other long enough that we both had hair.

He sent me a picture this week. I was leaned up on him up in Pigeon Forge at the Choo Choo train. He's like a second father to me. I love you, Wayne Jones. But I just know somewhere through the generations I know my mama was a praying mama.

But I know from those that come before me, I know through the generations we had some praying maw maws and some praying paw paws. I've been told the stories right, and this is what I know. Those prayers didn't fall on deaf ears. And we still got some that need to come in in the hype family. I'll go ahead and tell you.

But I declare by faith, they're coming in at Jesus name.

But I can tell you this, there were those in the Height family that were headed down the wrong path. They were headed the wrong direction and God turned that thing around. I cannot tell you how many stories I've heard about my dad before he got saved, right? I'm talking about crazy stuff from people that I've known and people I had no idea, idea how you know. I remember some things from before he got saved.

I remember the day he got saved. I was young, I was five years old, but I remember the day he got saved. I'm telling you, church matters to your children.

It matters to your children. We give them the word in there, we have fun with them and stuff, but we give them the word and we pray for them. They pray for one another. And if they don't go in there. They still soaking in what's here.

I didn't go to a kid's church that day, but I remember the day he took me and Pastor Jack Bailey. He gave an altar call and my dad went like somebody punched him in the gut. He picked me up and set me in a woman's lap who I did not know. And he ran to the altar. And all I know is he came back a different man.

Our house changed. Everything changed.

But I do remember before. I also remember being a young man and him having me at the home horseshoe pits and him pass out drunk. I remember him selling drugs from hiding. Hiding weed in the rafter of our house and people coming by and him selling them. Selling them drugs.

I got stories. My brother. My brother and I, we worked in the car industry for. I did for 15 years. He's still in it, but we worked for Honda Honda Corporation for a while.

And a truck driver came by one day. I'm just telling stories on my dad. I think a few told this story before, but it's worth telling again. Truck driver came by and delivered some things to the parks department. And my brother signed his name Alex Hot.

And the truck driver looked at it and said, hot? Are you kidding? Petey Hot? This random truck driver. And he's like, yeah, that's my daddy.

He's like, I gotta tell you a story. He said, man, I went to a birthday party one time. It was a kids birthday party and there were some guys there. So my dad, my dad was a golden glove boxer and he wrestled Georgia championship wrestling. Okay.

Not a lot of people know that, but he loves when I tell stories about him, though. I guarantee if he sees this, he is grinning from ear to ear. He look at mana. She knows he loves to be the center of attention. He literally jumped in a pool at our gender reveal for Elisha.

He jumped in a pool fully clothed just to get the attention.

But he's a boxer and he was a wrestler. And so when in his wildlife before Jesus on the side, he used to do street fights. They would go to gazebos outside quality finishers, Calhoun and a couple different other places that go to Alabama, they would set up in gazebos and they do boxing matches, bare fist boxing matches. Right. And he had an uncle and a cousin that would set him up with these fights and they would make all kind of money.

He's southpaw. Well, he had a little reputation of being able to box and fight and stuff. And so he went to this birthday party and this truck driver said, I Was at this birthday party, man, and they found out who your dad was. And one of the guys, I think it was the kid's dad that was having the birthday party was like, hey, let's go out here and let's just mess around. Let's box a little bit.

I heard you pretty, pretty good. And he said your dad was like. He said he was real humble. He was like, no, no, no, no, we're not going to do that. This is your kid's birthday party.

We're not going to do that. And he said, the guy just kept on, kept on. And he said, you, dad finally said, we all went in the backyard and he said, they set up. He said, it was about two seconds, your daddy knocked that cat out. And he said, here come his brother running, and he was going to defend his brother.

That guy's brother come running, your daddy, pow, knocked him out. And they just. Two guys. He looked and said, I gotta go, and left the party.

I've heard all kind of stories. They used to. Him and Bud Gullidge used to ride the streets with dares on horses, drunk and high as a kite, drunk as a skunk before they met Jesus. But there was a change. There was a change because there was some mamas and some daddies who were praying right.

There were some grandfathers and some grandmothers who beckoned and called out to the Lord for the heights. From one generation to the next. God, let the heights know. Let every single height that I know and that I don't know in future generations, Let them know that you've marked them, that you've called them. They got a plan and a purpose.

And I know that I'm standing here today because I had a praying mama and I had praying, praying grandmothers and I had praying grandfathers, People that prayed on our behalf from one generation to the next that we would be the men and that we would be the women of God that God's destined us to be. So I'm telling you and I'm encouraging you this morning. Pray for your family and declare by faith, my kids and my grandkids, my future generations, they are consecrated to God, unto God, Call them second, separate in the spirit, pray over them and declare and encourage them. Speak the word of God over them. And then know that your prayers have power.

They're not falling on deaf ears. But you get to boldly approach the throne of grace and let your petitions be made known. Your prayers have power. Here's my third point. Consecration equals separation.

Consecration equals separation, separation. So we see that God ordained that the Israelites would be a people who were separated to himself. God himself said in Exodus 8:23, and I will put a division between my people and your people tomorrow shall this sign be okay? And this is what I really want us to get this today. God said, said, this is going to be the sign.

There will be a separation between my people and your people. And I feel like all this time we've kind of focused more on the plagues, right? And don't get me wrong, those were signs and wonders within themselves for sure. But God said the real sign would be this, the separation. Now, if we believe that in our lives, that even while we were yet sinners, we were consecrated to God and God had set us apart, right before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

And we know, especially now that we know who God is and we come to relationship with him through Jesus Christ and the finished work of the cross, by faith, right through grace. Right by grace, through faith. Now that we know Him, I want you to ask yourself this question genuinely, truly, how is my life set apart for his service?

How? Make it perfect, personal. How is my life set apart for his service? All that I am, all that I have, how is it consecrated unto God? First Corinthians 6:19 20 says, or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God.

And you are not your own. You're not your own. For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's, they belong to him. If you confessed him, you've made him the Lord of your life.

You're not your own. You've been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body, which is not your own. It's God's. This is how God can command us.

In First Peter, chapter 1, verse 16, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Because you're not your own, You've been bought with a price.

You've been consecrated unto God. You've been set apart. You've been dedicated to him through the sacrifice of Calvary's spotless lamb, Jesus.

And that pulls us all the way back to Romans 12, which is what I started with, that we present ourselves, our bodies as well. What? A living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. Why is it our reasonable service? Because we've been bought with a price.

And we are not our own.

We're to be a living sacrifice. Now I want you to think about the sacrifice in the old covenant for a moment. Okay, how they had to bring it says they had to bring a sacrifice without spot or blemish, which means it had to be well taken care of. If it didn't have a spot or blemish, that means that sacrifice was well taken care of. The most amazing thing to me about the sacrifice is that no matter how much work or effort went into taking care and preparing the sacrifice, when they brought it to God, they had to release it.

They gave him that sacrifice, knowing that it was not going to ever return.

They had no more control over it.

They had no more say. They freely gave it and it was his.

Here's the point I want to make. It seems, though, as today, that many want the blessings of being consecrated, but we don't want to be separate.

We like to say we've given ourselves to Christ and that he is the Lord of our lives, but we still want to be in control and not Him. I want to do what I want to do. I want to live the way I want to live, and not how His Word tells me to live, to be holy, for he is holy. We want God to supply all our needs, but when it comes to the principle of sowing and reaping, we tip God worse than we do the waitress at the restaurant down the street. Now we getting quiet.

Listen, there's so much more to separation than just salvation. There should be a separation in every area of our lives. And I'm going to give you an easy tip for recognizing. Is your life separate or is it still under your control? Let me ask you two questions.

Do you consult God with your decisions, or do you make decisions and then expect God to bless the decisions you already made?

Think about it. Now I'm gonna ask you again. This is question number one. I got another one, too. Buckle up.

Cover your toes. Hide it under the chair. I'm coming.

Do you consult God with your decisions, or do you make decisions without him and expect God to bless the decisions you make and then get mad because he doesn't? Because you did it your way and not his way?

Let me ask you another question. Do you schedule your life around God, or do you schedule God around your life?

Meaning, do you just give God the time you have left over after you've worked all week, after you've accomplished your chores, after you finish shopping, after you finish watching your favorite movie or tv TV shows, after the ball games, and after friends and family? After all this, is he after or is he first you see the switch that takes place in our lives when we are born again is supposed to be this. The old things pass away and all things become new. What does that mean? That means in the old life, things came before God.

In the new life, God comes before things. There's a switch. In the old life, you didn't have time for church. Now in the new life, oh, you made time for his house and you love every second of it. In the old life, you scheduled time to do this and do that, watch your shows, whatever it is, to get all that done.

And now in the the new life, you schedule everything around your time with God. First, why? Because we love him with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind, all of our strength. That's the first and the great commandment. And let me tell you something.

Holiness is birthed out of love for God, not law. We will never achieve holiness in life. You may do good for a little while trying to live by the law. And the list of do's and don'ts. Well, I can't do.

I'm a believer now. I can't do this. But I can do this and I can do this and I can't do that. And that will get so overbearing and so heavy. You will get burnt out and you'll say, what am I doing?

And you'll give up because you're trying to do it under your own will, under your own strength, under your own power. And the only thing motivating you is you. But if you will love God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind, your whole strength, I promise you, love is the greatest motivator. It's not I can't do this or I don't do this. It says, oh, I have no desire for anything that is not of him, and I want everything that he has to offer me.

Love will always be the greatest motivator. That's why he said it's the first and it's the great commandment. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Second, slack itself. Love your neighbor as yourself.

I talked about that in week one, but I just felt like getting it out again. Amanda, you can come. I'm getting ready to close.

If we're ever going to see God do what God wants to do in our lives, there must be a separation that takes place. A separation that takes place not only on the inside, but on the outside of things as well. Look, salvation. The blood takes care of things on the inside. We, with the help and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Spirit, we take Care of the outside stuff. We can't do that on our own either. It takes the Holy Spirit. We got to have the paracletos. The one who comes alongside of us and helps us and gives us the power and then produces the fruit of his spirit in our life.

Y' all hearing me? We must allow the Holy Spirit to help take care of the outside space stuff. We must allow the Spirit that God's placed on the inside of us to flow to the outside of who we are. Matthew, chapter 5, verse 16.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your work. Father, who is in heaven.

Is there a difference? Is there a separation in you? If there is, the world will see it.

And that separation will point them to God. That separation in your life will point them to Jesus, who he is and what he's done. Matthew 5, 13, 15.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill that cannot be hidden.

Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. If he is going to be seen by the world, then you must be seen through you and through me. Let your light shine. I want everybody to stand to your feet.

There's an old song.

We probably all know it.

We're going to sing it together. Before. Before I even give an altar call. We're going to sing this song together.

I don't know if you can play it or not. You know what I'm talking about. This little light of mine.

If he's going to. If the world's going to see him. They're going to see him through us.

They're going to see him through us.

I'll start it, but you're gonna have to pick this up. Cause it'll be terrible. People will be running out of here.

This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine this little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine this little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel I'm gonna let it shine Hide it under a bushel oh, no I'm gonna let it shine Hide it under a bushel no, I'm gonna let it shine Let it shine, let it shine One more, one more Won't Let Satan blow it out Won't let Satan blow it out Out I'm going to let it shine Won't let Satan blow it out I'm going to let it shine Won't let Satan blow it out I'm going to let it shine Let it shine.

Somebody praise the Lord.

That's a simple song, but it's powerful if you listen to the words. This little light of mine I'm going to let it shine this dark world is going to see a difference in me. This dark world is going to see a difference not because of who I am, but because of who he is I'm not going to be. Paul said it best. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of it. It's the power of God and salvation. That's the gospel. That's the good news.

I'm not going to hide it. I'm not ashamed of it. People's going to see the difference. I'm not going to hide it. And I'm not going to allow the things of this world that the devil tries to bring against me to take out that light.

A lot of times things come our way and we start dealing with these things and we lose our difference. We lose our separation because we just start acting like the world.

Don't let Satan blow it out don't hide it under a bushel. Let it shine. Let it shine. I want you to bow your heads, close your eyes.

I'm just going to ask you a simple question.

Have you given your life to Jesus Christ?

Have you given your life to Jesus Christ today? Let me ask you this. Is there a change that has taken place on the inside of you where you've confessed with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord of your life and you've believed in your heart that God has raised him from the dead?

Have you submitted your life to Christ?

If you hear this word you say. Pastor Andrew, I'm not 100%.

I don't know that I've truly ever submitted my life and my heart, heart to Christ. And I want to do that today. You know, we, we. We tend to complicate it in the church world. This, this is what Romans 10:9 says, and it's a life scripture of mine as well.

In this church, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, you believe in your heart God raised him from the dead. You shall be saved, man. It's a confession of faith. And it's. And it's a true belief in your Heart, a true belief.

Have you done that? If you're not 100% sure, you can be today. You can confess and you can believe. That's you. And you want to do that, Just throw your hand up, put it right back down.

I want to confess. I want to believe. Yeah, maybe you're here this morning and you say, pastor Andrew, I'm struggling with some outside stuff. I've been saved. I know, but I got some struggles, and I'm dealing with that in my life.

And I want the Holy Spirit to help me, and I want to give him complete control today to give me authority over those things and give me victory over those things. And you say, hey, I just need some help with some outside stuff. That should throw your hand up, put it right back down. I see him.

Maybe you're here today and you say, I just want to let my light shine.

I want it to shine bright. And I want God to help me do that. Because I want the world to see a difference. And I want the world to see a separation in my life.

I'm tired of being ashamed. I want to be bold for the gospel. I want to be bold for Christ. I want to let my light shine. If that's you, just throw your hand up, put it right back down.

Y' all look at Pastor Andrew.

I got my hands raised right, man. I want my light to shine in every possible way. Way that I can allow him to use me. And let my light shine. I want to let my light shine.

Have I been perfect in that? Absolutely not. Not even close.

Not even close. But I tell you this. I pray every day, Holy Spirit, come and help me. I can't do it. I need your help.

We're all in this together, and he's in it with us. And with his help, we can be more than conquerors. This is what they're going to do. They're going to begin to sing. If you raised your hand for any reason, maybe you should have but didn't.

I want you to come. We're just going to let the Lord and the Holy Spirit minister to us. Would you come?