 Are you glad to be in God's house tonight? Come on, are you glad to be in God's house tonight? Stand with us all over this sanctuary. I want you to grab your prayer and praise tonight. And as we begin this service, let's go to the Lord in prayer and let's believe God for some great things. No matter what you walked in here with tonight, no matter what you're facing, God is our help. God is our strength. And I love the scripture where it says He is a present help in the time of trouble. Anyone ever dealt with trouble in this house and you have found Him to be a present help, He's gonna be that and do that for us tonight. I want you to grab that prayer and praise, hold it in your hand and number of needs that are represented all over the sanctuary, many that are watching online that need a divine touch in their bodies, strength to be given, and we're trusting the Lord that He's gonna do that. Amen, so let's pray tonight. Father, we love you and we thank you. We thank you, Lord, for the privilege that we have to be in your presence. There's no place we would rather be than in your house tonight. And we're so grateful, Lord, for Wednesday night Bible study. We thank you, Lord, for what you've done Sunday, but we love Wednesdays because it's a power booster to help us make it through the rest of the week. Now, God, let it be that tonight. God, build us tonight. Lord, with your word, strengthen us tonight, God. May we not leave here the same way. Father, every need represented in this sanctuary, you know every single need. And we're asking that you would reach down your hand, bring strength and encouragement and healing and salvation tonight to your people. Go right to where they're at. Those that are watching online, reach down your hand and bring strength and peace, Lord, to their situations. Every name represented on this prayer and praise. Father, requests that were turned in, Lord, they didn't turn them in for no reason. They turned them in, Lord, because they believe that the body of Christ is gonna pray. And Father, we're gonna do that right now. So, Lord, as we have it in our hand, let it be just a point of contact. You know the needs by detail. And we're asking that you would reach down your hand, Lord, and let healing virtue flow, God. We thank you, Lord, that we can call upon you when you hear and you answer our prayer. Lord, what a confidence that we can have tonight. And God, we give you praise and glory for it in the mighty name of Jesus. Now, all over this sanctuary, I want you to lift those hands and I want you to begin to worship the Lord. Come on, begin to worship Him. We thank you today, God. We thank you today, God, that you're touched with the feelings of our infirmities. We thank you today that you care for us, that you love us today. We thank you so much that we are your children today. We are sons and daughters of God. We're in error, we're in joy and error with Christ and we've sit in heavenly places with you. Thank you today. And we, Lord, just claim victory tonight. We claim encouragement tonight. We claim peace of mind tonight. We claim that in this house. And we declare it tonight in the mighty name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus. Now, will you give God a great big hand clap offering of praise? Amen. I want you to cross the aisles. I want you to shake someone's hand. Let them know you're so glad to be with them in the house of God. And we wanna take this time to welcome our online family, our online campuses that are watching from all over the United States, all over the world. We're honored that you're here tonight and we pray that the word of God will be a blessing to you, will be a source of strength and be a source of help to you. You stay connected with us for the entirety of the service. And if you will, let us know where you're watching from tonight. God bless you today. Amen, amen. Don't you love the sound of fellowship? Amen, amen, amen. The Lord is good and His mercy endureth forever. How many of you believe that tonight? Amen, so good to see you in God's house. I wanna encourage you right now and those of you that are watching, those of you that are here, if you do not have a handout for tonight's Bible study, make sure that you pick up one of those. Also, if you have the app, it would be a good time to go ahead and open that up and we would greatly appreciate that. Once again, whenever you walked in, there was a flyer that was on your seat. We encourage you to take that flyer. Those of you that give online, you give through the app and those types of things. Make sure that you look at this flyer once again. Follow all the directions. Also encourage you, if you have a smartphone the easiest thing to do is turn the camera on on your phone and just hover your camera right over the QR code and that will take you directly to the link for push pay. We encourage you to do that. And also very important that you hear this tonight for those with reoccurring payments, those of you with reoccurring payments please read the email sent to you today. It will give you instructions on setting up the new payment and very important also canceling the old payment. So we want you to know that and make sure that you do make those changes. And once again, we're gonna be reiterating this every service for the remainder of this month. So these are necessary changes. They're also good changes. How many of you know there's some good change that's out there? We thank God for good changes that are out there. Don't forget this weekend is Mother's Day and it's also baby dedication. The sign up cards are in the lobby and tonight is the last opportunity for you to sign up if you have a baby that is going to be dedicated. One other announcement as our ushers are taking their position, getting ready to receive tonight's tithe and offering. Sponsors are needed for KitCon and Fearless Youth Conference. There's still a table in the foyer and we encourage those of you if you would like to invest in our youth or in our children, make sure that you go to one of those to that table and you sign up to sponsor a child, a teenager, a couple of a couple of them to make sure that they get that kind of experience. Amen, and I know it'll be a blessing to them tonight. You know, God is good, isn't he? God is faithful, never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread. And I'm glad, grateful for his goodness upon my life and my family and I know he's been that way to you. Let's pray tonight. Let's ask God to bless the tithe and the offering tonight. God, we thank you for the privilege that we have to give and we pray that you reach down your hand and you bless the gift to give her a light. Bless the tithe and the offering. Such a privilege and Lord, just for the opportunity to be able to give everything we have. Everything is because of the goodness and the faithfulness of God. Bless this tithe and offering tonight. We'll give you the praise and the glory in Jesus name and everyone says amen. God bless you tonight as you give. Also want you to remember, of course, the offering buckets are still in the back. And so just make sure that you know that as you're giving tonight. I want you to take your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Galatians chapter number three, the book of Galatians chapter number three. And I want us to look at this chapter tonight. I want you to be ready for service Sunday morning. Make sure that you are here and you bring family and friends with you. Pastor Rogers will be back in the pulpit on Sunday. And he's also got an exciting series that he's also gonna be starting next Wednesday. So you wanna make sure that you're gonna be here this weekend and also as many of you always do that it's not on your calendar, it's just part of your life. Amen, praise God. Amen. Galatians chapter number three. And I want us to look at the first six verses. So one, two, three, four, five and six. And then I want you to look down at verse number 23. I'm gonna be reading this tonight out of the ESV. I love this version of the Bible and how it translates this particular chapter. Galatians chapter number three, verse number one. And I want you to pay very close attention to some of the words that are said here. O foolish Galatians. Now that's a strong word. O foolish Galatians. Who has bewitched you? That's another strong word. It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Do you suffer so many things in vain? If indeed it was in vain. Does he who supplies the spirit to you and work miracles among you do so by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Somebody say man. Verse 23, now before faith came, we were held captive under the law. Listen to the word here. Imprisoned, I want you to catch that. Before faith came, before faith came, we were held captive under the law. Imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then the law was, this is so powerful y'all. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came. Somebody shout hallelujah. Now watch this in order, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian or the law. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith, not the law, not your performance, not your works, but through faith. I wanna speak just for a short time tonight, justified by faith alone. Father, help us tonight and anoint us and we give you the praise and the glory in Jesus' name and everyone says amen. Galatians, the Galatians felt pressured to seek salvation from the law of Moses. Let me say that again. The Galatians felt pressured to seek salvation from the law of Moses. And this passage begins with the major teaching of the book of Galatians that a man is justified by faith alone and not by good works nor by the law. When you begin to look tonight at this word justified, that a man is justified by faith alone. In other words, a man is pronounced righteous by faith alone. We are pronounced those of us in here that have accepted Christ as our Lord and our savior. We have been pronounced as righteous based upon the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ. Can you say amen? Pronounced righteous. So the summary is also this in the book of Galatians. New members came into that church and they tried to change the rules right in the middle of the game. How many of you hate when somebody begins to do that? The game is going great and maybe you're successful and you're doing good and you're winning and you're getting the advantage and you're seeing victory ahead. But all of a sudden somebody wants to come into the game and when they come into the game, they don't necessarily like how you're playing because you're gaining ground, you're gaining victory. So what do they wanna do? They wanna change the rules in the middle of the game. That's exactly what was taking place to the Galatians. They were doing great. They were living for the Lord. They were experiencing miracles. God was doing great things. However, they allowed some new members to come in and they listened to these new members that came into the church and they began to change the rules right in the middle of it. And so this though is a reality that I want you to catch tonight. That man should be good. How many of you know that? Man should be good and man should do good. Man should live a moral and a just life, just like the law says. How many of you believe that? But this is not the point. And this is not the point and not what the scripture is saying. What the scripture is saying that a person is not justified or that a person is not pronounced as righteous before God by doing good and by keeping the law. Because here's the reality for every one of us. No man can do enough good. No man can keep enough laws to become perfect and to become acceptable to God. Will you say man? Church God is perfect. And no matter how much good and how much law we keep, we do not become perfect and whole and righteous based upon our behavior because we fail. We fall short. We sin. We mess up. We are not perfected. We are not glorified yet. And good works and the law do not perfect us. They do not make us acceptable to God. Only God Himself can perfect us. Only God Himself can accept us. Only God Himself can give you and give me eternal life. And if we're to ever to inherit eternal life and if we're ever to walk in the abundant life and if we're to ever walk in true victory and in true power, we have to understand tonight that we are justified and made righteous and pronounced righteous by faith alone. Will you say man? Because here's the reality and I don't wanna get ahead of myself. There are times that our performance does not match our position in Christ. There is some of us here that we're not always performing everything that's right and holy and good. We strive to, we desire to, but we fell and fall short. I'm so glad that my walk with God is not based on a performance, but it's based on a position in Christ. And if I have admitted that I'm a sinner, I believe that Christ died. I have confessed my sins and I am living for the Lord and my friend I am positioned in Christ when you give God a great big hand. So how do we know that God will justify us? How do we know that God will accept us and give us life with him forever? Well, the answer to this question is found in these passages of scripture. As I just mentioned to you when you begin to read Galatians one, Galatians two, Galatians three even in the fourth, influential people had joined the churches of Galatia. These new members, they were not truly converted to Christ. Their understanding of the gospel was very, very confused and they began to teach and preach that faith alone was not enough to save a person or in other words that the cross was not enough. And that same type of message and that same type of mentality is still in effect today because many times we don't think the cross was enough. I need to pray more. Yeah, you do need to pray more. I need to read the word more. Yes, you do need to read the word more. I need to evangelize more. Yes, you do need to evangelize more. I need to come to church more. I need to do absolutely. We do and we should. But if you're not careful and if I'm not careful, we begin to put that as the basis of works and only if I do those things am I a child of God? We become a people where our relationship with Jesus is based completely upon our works and not come on somebody and not based upon our position in him. Now, they begin to teach that faith alone was not enough to save a person, that a person had to undergo the basic ritual of religion which they were talking circumcision and they had to focus their life upon the law in order to become acceptable to God. And Paul addressed this. The apostle Paul, his answer was direct that we are justified by faith alone and I want you to understand today there was error and deception in that church that had to be addressed. Do you understand that tonight? So I want you to look at this deception. What is deception? So here it is. Is this working? Here we go. Deception, it is the act. It is the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid. And when deception comes in, when confusion comes in and I can promise you if you're in ministry long enough, if you've pastored or been in any type of church leadership role throughout times and seasons and sometimes on a regular basis you have to confront confusion. You have to confront deception that cannot linger in the church. And I'm grateful that we have leaders that have discernment when it comes to this little thing over here or this over there or someone saying something in this person's ear or that person's ear that is not doctrinally pure or doctrinally correct. And when deception and confusion comes into the church it has to be addressed. The man of God or the woman of God, a believer, we must correct error. We must correct deception. We must correct confusion. And there's three reasons why that we've got to correct error. And here's one of the reasons. Error makes a person foolish. This is exactly what the apostle Paul was saying. You foolish Galatians, no understanding. And this is basically what the apostle Paul was saying. Have you lost your mind? Have you lost your understanding Galatians? And sometimes I get amazed at some people that have been brought up in the church. They have been taught the truth. They have been taught the word of God but they will allow someone that has no credibility, no type of credential, no type of biblical education begin to speak in their heart, to speak into their mind, to say this and to say that when an individual we should be grounded and rooted in the word of God and we allow someone's experience to change the way we believe and we will take someone's experience over what the word of God says. And I'm gonna tell you, you may have had a true and valid experience, but if it does not line up with scripture, you can have an experience, you could have had an emotion, you could have had a feeling. It doesn't matter to me. If it doesn't line up with God's word, I don't want nothing to do with it and we better be the same, amen. And pastors been talking about this because one of the attacks in the last days, listen, he's say one of the best for last, take heed that no man deceive you and leaders in the church and pastors, they gotta be the watchman on the wall and they gotta warn the people and preach the truth to people and whenever deception, confusion, come into the church, the pastor must correct it. Amen, somebody? Now, the Galatians were listening to false teaching and passively drinking it in. I'm amazed how we can, those of us that's been in church all of our lives and we've been taught the word of God and I'm grateful for my upbringing. I know you're thankful for your upbringing and you've been taught the scriptures and you just wonder why do people drink some of this junk in like Kool-Aid, like Dr. Pepper, I don't understand it. And many times we're not thinking through what is being taught and many times because we are not in the Word and in the scriptures and we're not sensitive before the Lord and not asking the Lord when we hear something that just doesn't bear witness in our spirit, we don't ask the Lord, okay, Holy Spirit, I know that you're the teacher, teach me, show me. Amen? Now, so I wanna say that error, error makes a person foolish. Here's the next thing, error deceives a person. Now, the apostle Paul says, oh, foolish Galatians. What a strong word, oh, foolish Galatians. And then he says, who has bewitched you? To, this is the definition to perform black magic, to put under a spell, to deceive with devious and crafty means, who has bewitched you? I'm gonna tell you, listen to me tonight. Just as God has divinely ordained people into our lives that speak into us, that challenge us, that correct us, that rebuke us and that help us in this Christian journey, you better know one thing, the devil has an agenda to send people into your life to do the complete opposite. And what I'm afraid of, many people are not close enough to God anymore, and I'm not talking about anyone in here, I'm just saying in general. We're not living close enough to the Lord and having the kind of relationship with the Lord and having a prayer life and in the word of God, learning his statues and learning his ways and his precepts and hearing God's voice. Many are not in that place, and we just take it in, we drink it in, and then we find ourselves deceived. And let me tell you concerning the church of Galatia, the false teachers were capable, they were very capable, they were influencers and persuasive speakers with dynamic personalities and charisma. In other words, it seemed that there was an anointing upon their life. Their teaching sounded reasonable. Their teaching sounded logical. And this is what they're saying, that a man must keep the ritual of religion, that a man must do good works and be good, that a man must keep the law in order to be acceptable to God. Let me just summarize it like this. You've got to keep doing, doing, doing, doing. And that's what the law was all about. Do, do, do, do, but what the new covenant is all about, done, done, done, Jesus paid the price. Amen, and it's done and it's complete. It all sounded reasonable and logical, especially to a person who was not thinking and comparing the teaching to the gospel of Christ, the error the apostle Paul says was bewitching and deceiving the believers. And they felt that their works, that's what made them righteous. Now, here's the third point that I want you to get. Error leads a believer away from Christ. And say, and this is what the enemy wants us to get wrapped up in. He wants us to get wrapped up in error, deception, confusion for the sole reason to lead us away from Jesus. And church, I want to encourage us, this is why Wednesday night Bible studies are crucial. This is why Sunday services are crucial. This is why making sure that the children and the youth are grounded in the children's ministry and youth ministry, because as they move on in life and if their plans are to go to a secular college, we want to see them rooted and grounded in the Word of God so that they are not blown away with every wind of false doctrine. And it's not just the kids and the youth, but it's adults as well, my friend. Rooted and grounded in the Word of God. Amen? Paul's preaching had plainly pointed out and explained the death of Christ. If you read Galatians chapter number three again, he vividly paints a picture to the Galatians. The Lord's death had been so clearly explained that it was as though the Lord Jesus had been crucified and fresh in their presence before their very eyes. That is how clear the apostle Paul explained what Jesus done on the cross. And there was no excuse for their following the false teachers. And let me just say this, there was also no excuse for them allowing false teachers. Amen? They knew what Christ had done for them, that Christ had died for them, had taken their sins upon himself and borne their punishment for them. They knew that God loved them, that God loved the entirety of the world. They knew that God's sin has only begun, they knew that Jesus had died on the cross. They knew they believed there were some eyewitnesses there that knew that Jesus rose from the dead. Did you begin to read this chapter? There is a series of questions all through the book of Galatians that the apostle Paul asked. I'm not gonna get into all of those questions but I am gonna get into a few of the questions that the apostle Paul asked. Paul is stirring the Galatians to think. This is what I believe tonight. Now this might just be my theology, you may agree with this. But I believe that when someone comes to me and I've had this many times and it happens on a regular basis, people that will ask me a theological question. If I don't know the answer, I look at them and I say, I don't know, but I'll get back with you. If I do know, I will speak slowly and clearly and I will under in my spirit, I will say, Holy Spirit, just speak through me right now because this is an important question that they're asking. Now, why am I saying this? Because Paul is stirring the Galatians to think. Everything you hear, and I love that pastor always says, hey, you take everything that I'm saying and you go back to the book. That's when you know that you have someone preaching the truth. Don't take my word for it, take what the word of God is saying. Somebody say, man. And I wanna encourage us that when someone speaks something to you, says something to you, I've had people say, hey, I got a word for you. I feel I got a word from the Lord. And I'm gonna tell you, I've had a few people in the many years that I've been serving the Lord in ministry. I can't tell you, probably maybe three times where I knew that I knew that I knew that they were hearing from God for me. And it just confirmed what God has already been speaking to me and they had a word from the Lord and that confirmed what God had already spoken to me. And I just needed that confirmation. Amen? Desirned when someone has a word to speak over you. Don't let just anybody give you a word. Now I'm not telling you to be rude and you may have to listen to it, but don't think that just because someone comes up to you and says, I got a word from the Lord for you, that that is truly a word from the Lord. Does this line up with the Bible? Does this line up with what God is already challenging me in and speaking to me about? And if it does not line up with scripture, you throw it out. If you feel that uneasiness, don't listen, ignore it. Amen? Listen, I wanna tell you today, the church of Galatia, not only did they accept the false teaching, but they allowed the false teaching. Now, Paul is stirring the Galatians to think and this is what, how did you begin your Christian life? Did you receive the Holy Spirit or the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? How many of you know faith cometh by hearing? And hearing by the word of God. You want your faith to increase? Hear the word of the Lord. You want your faith to grow? Get into the word of God. Do you want my friend, that abundant life in the Lord? Do you want to be a man or a woman of faith? Well, you gotta feed your faith then. How do you feed your faith? You feed your faith through biblical, solid, docturally pure preaching. Amen, somebody. You feed your faith by you yourself getting in to the word of God and reading it and say, Holy Spirit, there are things I don't understand. There are things that I don't know, but I want to be a Berean. I want to be a student of the word. So Lord, show me, teach me, Holy Spirit. That's why the Holy Spirit came to teach us. Amen? Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you. Come on, lift your hands right now in this St. Joe era. Holy Spirit, just ask Him. Holy Spirit, will you teach me? You are the teacher, teach me. Teach me. Reveal Jesus to me. Show me, Lord, in your word. What are you saying to me in this time, in this moment, in this season? Show me in your word. Amen, come on, give God a great big hand tonight. Now, no person earns, wins, or merits the Spirit of God. Why is that? Because man is too polluted and falls too short of God's glory to deserve the Spirit of God. Every person, somebody say every person, every person must hear and believe the report of faith. What is that report of faith? The message of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for our sins. And by believing that, by accepting that, you are saved and you have been made righteous. We just say, man. Now, a believer grows and will be perfected only by faith and not the flesh, not your works, only by faith. A believer does not become spiritually mature by focusing upon his flesh. Upon what he can do, not his efforts, not his work, not his disciplines, not his goodness, not his morality, not his just behavior, no, my friend. So, the question bids tonight. How do we grow in our knowledge of God and our relationship with Him? Here's the first point. A man begins his journey to God when he truly believes in Jesus Christ and is born again, a spiritual thing. How many of you in this sanctuary tonight, you have admitted that you're a sinner, you admit that you're a sinner. How many of you tonight believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, died on the cross, rose to third day? You believe that? Now, if you want a good word study, you look up that word believe. He that believeth on him. Do a study on that word right there because that word believe is actually, I believe to the point of death. I believe to the point of an abandonment by everything on this earth. That's how much I believe. I lay my life for it. And how many of you have confessed your sins to the Lord? Let me see your hands. Pastor, I don't remember them all. Well, that's okay. He does. Well, based upon all of you that just raised your hand, then let me tell you tonight, you are saved. You are born again. Heaven is your destination. Heaven is your home. Oh, you ought to get excited about that tonight. Heaven is where you're gonna spend all eternity. It's where you're gonna spend, you think of 10 trillion years from now, you will still be, you will still be, your soul will still be, you will be in heaven, my friend. A man begins his journey to God when he truly believes in Jesus Christ and is born again. Now, here's the next thing. A man continues his journey. Listen to this as he is daily renewed by the Holy Spirit, which is also a spiritual. Are you being daily renewed by the Holy Spirit? Are you being daily renewed by the presence of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Ghost? I wanna encourage you. If you are not experiencing those times of refreshment, those times of renewing it, I encourage you to ask the Lord, Lord, just whenever your prayer time is, Lord, will you renew me tonight today? Lord, will you refresh me? Lord, can I feel the fresh touch of heaven today? You see, the only way a believer can spiritually grow and mature is to focus his life and his mind upon Jesus Christ. We must focus our life and our mind upon the things of Christ moment by moment. And as we do, the spirit of God will draw our minds to spiritual things. The spirit of God lives within the believer. Hey, believers, children of God, the Holy Spirit lives in you. And do you know why he lives in you? He is there to work within you. He is not just in you, but he's there to work within you to help you grow and to help you mature in the Lord. And a believer experiences God's miraculous working of faith, God's miraculous working by faith and not by the works, by our works, nor by the law. And this is what the apostle Paul was trying to tell the Galatians. What were the miracles experienced by the Galatians? The Bible says, and we just read it, that these were miraculous works of healings. That's what they were experiencing because they believed at first that they were justified by faith alone. But isn't it amazing how the breakthrough stopped, the miracle stopped, the blessing stopped, the favor stops when you believe that it takes Jesus and something else? I wanna tell you again, Jesus is enough, okay? I said, Jesus is enough, will you say, man? Let me tell you the miracles that they experienced, they were not due to the Galatians, they were due to God. The Galatians did not earn, the Galatians did not win, the Galatians did not merit the miracles. They simply heard about faith, the power of faith, and they believed that God would count their faith as the miracle in their need. Oh, would we see more miracles? Would we see more deliverances? Would we see more of the manifested presence of God if we would just understand it's all by faith? By faith, by faith. It's not if I jump higher, if I run faster, if I clap louder, if I lift my hands higher, if I shout louder, it has nothing to do with that. Many times we think, man, I'm gonna get my miracle and I'm gonna get my breakthrough if I get care to church at this certain time and this early, and if Pastor Rogers will lay us hand on me or this brother, this sister lay at my breakthroughs coming, guess what, you've turned them into an idol and you're committing idolatry and we don't even realize it. Boy, we're gonna get our breakthrough if we sing this song one more time. No, my friend, it doesn't work that way. If we will just simply come before and have that childlike faith and just say, God, I just simply believe you. Lord, the only thing that I have to offer you is my faith. I just believe you today. And when God hears the heart of his children and his children just says, Lord, all I have to offer is I just believe. Oh man, it gets the attention of God. What would have happened, my friend, if we just got rid of all the fluff and we just say, Lord, I believe. I just simply believe you. I believe you today that you're gonna save my children. I believe that you can heal my body. I believe that you can send a breakthrough. Simple belief. Simple belief. Will you say, man, Matthew 21, 22 says it so perfectly and all things. Somebody say all things. Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, here's the next part. Believing ye shall receive. The apostle Paul's the Galatians to understand the foolish Galatians who has bewitched you. You've allowed people to come in here to tell you that basically Jesus Christ was not enough. What he done on the cross was not enough. How foolish a spell's been put over you. Have you lost your mind? And we've all been there. I'm telling you, we've all been there. And boy, you could go so far in this. Paul was warning his readers to understand that it is foolishness to change the rules in the middle of the game. He said, who did hinder you? You were running so well. Who hindered you? I got a question to ask you. Some of you, you've been running very well. You've been running. You're not running now because you've allowed someone, something to hinder you. What in the world has happened? Who have you allowed to speak into your life? Who have you allowed to influence you? You were running well. Who hindered you? Come on, somebody. No, they tried to change the rules in the middle of the game. That never works. Trade God's grace for a man's efforts. Let me say that again. Trade God's grace for a man's efforts. And Paul was warning his readers to understand the foolishness of trading God's grace for man's efforts. And that gets us into the performance-based life. That's what begins to take place. And let me tell you, every last one of us, no one excluded watching or in this building tonight have not lived and at times still do every one of us that performance-based life. But I've gotta remind all of us again, Jason Poole included, there is nothing for us to add to the finished work on the cross. Give God a great big hand tonight. Now, you're gonna frustrate yourself. You're gonna frustrate yourself in the performance life. And let me share with you just a few things real quick on this. Destructiveness of the performance lie. It leads us to disobedience to the truth. Verse number one says that you should not obey the truth. You know what it does? When I begin to the destructiveness of this performance lie, it erodes my belief in the power of the atonement and the work of Christ. This is what it says. When I try to live a performance-based life, it says, I no longer believe, listen to me, that the blood of Jesus is powerful enough to forgive me of all of my sins and keep me through all of my sins, mistakes and failures. I'm gonna read it to you again. What does it do? It erodes my belief in the power of the atonement and the work of Christ. It is to say, and this is what we say. We don't realize we say it, but we do by our actions. I no longer believe that the blood of Jesus is powerful enough to forgive me of all of my sins and keep me through all of my sins, mistakes and failures. And we say this without even saying it, that Christ's death was in vain. Galatians 2 and 21, oh man, what a power. Did I put this on the, I did not, man, I should have put this on the screen. I do, Galatians 2 and 21, I do not frustrate the grace of God or if righteousness can't come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If righteousness came by me doing, performing good deeds, good morality and all of those things are important. And all of those, listen to me, all of those things should be in the life of believer. The grace of God does not give us a green light to live any way we want to. Shall a man continue in sin that grace may abound, God forbid. Amen. The book of Romans is set up into two categories. The first part of the book of Romans, chapters one through eight and then the remaining, one, the first segment of the book of Romans is written to the moralist. The latter part of the book of Romans is written to the religionist. And the moralist has this mentality. Well, if I'm holy enough and if I do all of these great things, then I'm okay. And Paul said, no, you're not. And the religionist says, well, we can perform all, do this, do all these ritual deeds and keep the letter of the law and keep the Sabbath and this and that, keep the dietary laws and boy, that's enough. And Paul said, not so. Amen. Shall a man continue in sin, he speaks to the moralist. Shall a man continue in sin that grace may abound, God forbid. Then he turned around and speaks to the religionist. Shall a man continue in sin that grace may abound, God forbid. The grace of God does not give us a liberty or a green light to live any way we want to. In fact, the grace of God causes us to recognize and desire to live and serve God all the more and have a deeper love and appreciation for his goodness, understanding had it not been for the grace and the mercy of God, none of us would be here tonight. If you're grateful for his grace, shout hallelujah, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I will come on and say it with me, I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but thank God I'm free. Amen. Now, what's the next thing that it does when the destructiveness of the performance lie damages my relationship with Christ. It is to say, no long, I've been, listen, I'm guilty of this and many of you are that have been raised in the Pentecostal circle most of your life. Damages my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is to say, no longer do I view Christ as my savior, but now I view him as my task master. What else does it do? It destroys the abundance that Christ has promised us. And here's what we do church. We trade relationship for religion. We trade freedom for bondage. We trade joy for misery. We trade peace for fear. We trade peace for frustration. We trade assurance for uncertainty. We trade grace then for legalism. So how do I conquer the performance life? Well, you gotta understand the basics of salvation. Number one, salvation is not based on the performance or the works of man. Amen. It's not based our salvation. So I will say it again. Our salvation is not based on the performance or the works of man. Galatians three, 11 through 12, the law was never intended to save men from their sins. Ephesians, I'm gonna throw some scriptures at you now. Galatians two, eight, nine for by grace, are you saved for by grace? Are you saved for by grace? Are you saved for by grace? Are you saved through faith? Now listen, sorry to hurt your ego and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. It's not of works less any of us should boast or less we unless we turn into those that just brag. Titus three and five, not by works of righteousness, which we have done. But according to his mercy, he saved us. Do you get that? Not by the works of righteousness, which we have done. We can never do enough. We can never be good enough. We were born into sin. We were born into depravity. Every one of us, you'll never be good enough. You'll never be holy enough. You'll never be righteous enough. You'll never be pure enough. I'm striving every day to be more like Jesus, but I live in this flesh and the things that I wanna do, I don't do. And the things that I don't wanna do, I do them. And there's a war. But I'm so glad he that knew no sin became sin that you and I might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Will you say, man, that's the grace of God. That's the love of God. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. By the washing of regeneration, man and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Now, man is incapable due to his depravity. Let me say that again. Man is incapable, man is incapable due to his depravity. Amen? None of us know what we're capable of doing. One unguarded moment in our, do we understand this? One unguarded moment in our life that could bring turmoil. Amen? Let me give us some scripture on this. Romans three and 10. As it is written, there is none righteous or there is none good. No, not one. There is none that understand it. There is none that seeketh after God. Isaiah 64 and 6, but we are all as an unclean thing and all of our righteousness is as a filthy rags. Now, here's the beautiful part of this. Salvation is based on the performance, the works of Christ. Amen? Amen? Now, I'm gonna give you five points tonight. And we'll give these to you rather quickly cause our time is getting away from us. I've got a few sermons that I'm working on. One of the messages that I'm working on is the lost words that are in church. There were growing up, I heard it was taught to me and I heard theological terms and words that in most churches, you never hear. Lost words that are in the church that really need to be taught in our churches. And five of the words that I'm gonna give us tonight and you've heard them here. Thank God you've heard them here. But these words help us to celebrate the effects of our salvation. The first word I wanna give you is justification. Justification. My sins have been completely forgiven. Justification. Just as if I never done anything wrong. Aren't you glad that he is not holding your past against you? Now in the world we live in, we reap what we sow. That's the law in the Bible. But in line of eternity, in line of our salvation, when you have asked Jesus to forgive you and you have confessed your sins and you mean that from the bottom of your heart, I wanna tell you he throws it as far as the east is to the west. The blood of Jesus doesn't cover your sins. It washes them away. No longer to be remembered. No longer to be held against you, beloved. Give God a great big hand. Justification. Remember this word. My sins have been completely forgiven. Let's give scripture on that. Second Corinthians 521. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Here's another word that is a forgotten word in many churches and it's this word, regeneration. So I'm justified my sins have been completely forgiven but as I'm justified I've been regenerated. I've been made a new person in Christ. Amen. Second Corinthians 5 and 17. If you haven't memorized this verse this is one of the greatest verses that's in all the Bible. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, how many of you are in Christ? He is a new creature, hallelujah. All things are passed away and behold all things are become new. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal savior, you are a new creature. Live as a new creature. Walk as a new creature. Talk as a new creature. Act as a new creature. God will do his part, you do your part and watch what God does, regeneration. Here's another word. It is the word propitiation. This is a word that's not preached or talked about in a lot of churches. What does that mean? God's wrath has been completely satisfied. Let me say this. It was enough. It is finished. He doesn't have to do it again. Romans 3 and 25, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. First John 4-10, herein is love. Man, this scripture gets me. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation or to be the satisfaction for our sins. Somebody give God a shout of praise. Now, I love this next word. It is the word called reconciliation. My relationship with God has been restored. I don't know who you are tonight. Somebody needs to hear that. Maybe you're in this sanctuary right now. Maybe you're watching. You've accepted Christ. If you've wandered away from the Lord, if you've been in a backslidden condition and you have recommitted your life to the Lord, I'm gonna tell you right now your relationship with God has been restored. Second Corinthians 5 and 18. I think a lot of us look over this passage at times. And all things are of God who have reconciled to us, to himself by Jesus Christ now and have given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Now, I like to use this. My relationship with God has been restored. That's a ministry that God did for us. And I like to preach it like this too. God's also given me a ministry to be a part of reconciling men, women, boys and girls back to God. You wanna ministry? You wanna do ministry? You wanna be involved in ministry? Your ministry's in the marketplace. Your ministry's in your community. Your ministry's in the restaurant. Your ministry's in the school. Your ministry's in the college. He's given every one of us the ministry of reconciliation. Don't seek a pulpit. Seek right where you're at. Say, Lord, right in the place that I'm in, you've placed me here for this time, this moment, for this season, for such a time as this. And Holy Spirit, I come on somebody, I pray for divine appointments. I pray for divine opportunities. It's not the sick that need the doctor, but it's the sick that need the doctor, not the healthy. I better quote the scripture right. He's given us the ministry of reconciliation. Let's reconcile men and women back to God. May have backslid, who may have grew up in the church and they've drifted away. This has happened, that's happened. I don't know their story. And really, I don't even have to know their story. All I know is I gotta be the guy that operates in love, that operates in acceptance and forgiveness and just be his hand extended. Amen. I don't have to preach him a message. I can just build a relationship. I can just be a friend to God's giving us the ministry of reconciliation. Amen. Let's don't negate those times and let's speak into the lives of people. Amen. My last point, are you ready? You've been waiting for this all night long. I've had a good time tonight. So here's the fifth word, glorification. Did it come on the screen? Yes, it did. And here it is. These are the effects of salvation. One day, I will be just like Christ. Well, give me scripture. Well, I'm glad you asked. First, John three and two. Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him for, come on. Does the scripture say that? We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. My last verse, go ahead and stand with me all over this house just so you know I'm quitting. Don't leave. I gotta read this verse, then we're gonna pray. Romans chapter eight, verse 29. Everybody standing, good deal, good deal. Listen to the word of the Lord. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called and whom he called, them he also justified and whom he justified, them he also glorified. The plan of God, the plan of God, the predestined plan of God all of this time was for Jesus to come into this earth to die on the cross, third day to get up out of that grave to reconcile man back to God. That was the predestined plan for Jesus to come to this earth, that we might be saved. Amen. I want you, if you will, I want you to lift your hands all over this sanctuary. If you got anything out of this tonight, this is what I hope you got out of it. Lord, I just come to you recognizing that I'm a flawed person, I make mistakes, I'm frail, but Lord, tonight, I realize that I'm justified by faith alone and not by my works, my talents, my abilities, and all of my good works and my morality, but I'm, Lord, I'm righteous based upon what you did at the cross and by me admitting, believing, confessing. And so Lord, right now, I present to you my faith. I just, I believe. What do you believe in God for right now? Come on, what are you believing God for? What are you, what are you believing God for? Some of you need a miracle. I'm just simply gonna ask you, believe right now. Believe right now, believe right now. Just believe, just believe. Lord, I believe, I believe in the name of Jesus. Abraham believed God and it counted under him as righteousness, I believe you. I thank you for the Holy Spirit that's in this room right now, I sense it, I feel it right now. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus. Just receive from the Lord, receive it. Lord, by faith, I receive strength and encouragement today. By faith right now, I'm gonna walk out of here and by faith, Lord, I'm gonna walk with you. I'm gonna trust you and I'm gonna put my confidence in you, by faith, I'm not gonna worry, I'm not gonna fret, I'm not gonna be distracted. All of these voices that are speaking over me and speaking to me, Lord, I'm gonna listen to you. I'm gonna stay away from error, deception, confusion. God's not the author of confusion. And if anybody's speaking into your life and is bringing confusion, it's not of God. So Lord, I'm asking you God, let us understand it tonight that we are justified by faith alone by the finished work of the Cross of Calvary. I receive it, believe it, accept it because it's your word in Jesus' name. Amen, amen, come on, give God a great big hand in this house. Amen. One more time before we dismiss, please do not forget Sunday, it's Mother's Day. Don't forget a gift that's gonna be given to all the mothers. Invite someone to be in God's house with you, amen. Love you, appreciate you, see you Sunday. God bless you tonight.