← Rogue Christian
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So, Father in heaven, Lord, I thank you and praise you for what you're doing here in this program, Father, that you are setting people free, that you are filling them with your spirit, and that you are bringing about true and lasting transformation. Now, Father, we are so grateful for just the work that you're going to do today and this morning. Lord, we pray that you would be glorified in this time, Lord, that you would use me as your. Your vessel to speak. Father. And Lord, let all my own ideas, my own thoughts, Lord, be set aside. Lord, I just want to be used by you, Lord, as these men I know desire to be used by you, Lord, as they continue to move forward in their walks with you. Lord, we just thank you for all that you're doing. We just want to ask for more. Lord, would you guide, direct and move today and let your will be done in Jesus name, Amen. Luke 11, 24, 26. How many of you have ever read this and heard this before? Okay, most of you have heard this before. Good. This should be a great conversation. And maybe we'll only go the half hour this time. All right, so Starting at verse 24, when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and not finding any. It says, I will return to my house from which I came. Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more. Oh, wait a minute, finds. And when it comes, it finds, it swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So why this? Why this passage? What do you think? To be weary and make sure you replace what Christ has to replace when you give him whatever's burning you or holding you captive and all that. If you don't fill it with what Christ has, the spirits will come back with something more evil and wicked and wreck your life real bad. Okay, that's what I was going to say. Like right now we're cleaning house and when we take off the old man, we have to put on the new man. If we don't put on the new man, we'll probably go back to the old man, right? I mean, but it's kind of a. I mean, when you read the whole passage, right, the whole passage is about the. A, a demon possessed man that Jesus is casting out this demon. And the demon is mute and won't allow the man to speak. You know, so he's not able to actually talk or cry out okay, Mute, there can be deaf or mute or lame of tongue, unable to speak. This instance, he is not able to speak, okay? But then Jesus gets accused of casting out demons by the prince of demons because Beelzebub, okay? Or the Lord of Dung or the Lord of Flies. That's kind of what. What that stood for. So he's being accused of this and he's going, what? That's just not okay. That's not something that would happen. Because then you have a kingdom divided, right? If there's division, how does it stand? It can't, right? And then he goes on and he says that, you know, if a strong man is in the house, he is trying to protect the house. But the stronger man comes, right? And in that strong man is the devil who is fully armed and trying to hold on to what he has. And the stronger man is Jesus, Whoops on Satan, takes all this stuff and distributes it to others. Okay, so then you come into this, right? He's saying that. He's said that if I cast out demons by God, the kingdom of God is upon me. He's saying, I am that kingdom. Jesus is the king, right? He says, the kingdom is upon me. I am the kingdom. I'm the one who brings it to you. I'm the reason you can enter into it. Thank you. So then he comes to this and he says, if there is an unclean spirit and it gets cast out, right? This is exorcism. You know, whatever. However it happened. Whatever happened, okay, but then you've just cleaned out the house, right? You cleared. You cleared. Cleared out and cleaned up, and then nothing. Then nothing, right? This is. This is the human striving, right? This is the human. I did it myself. I can overcome on my own. I don't need anybody else. I got this. That's what this is, right? Because the house is the person we're talking about, a person. Us. So he's saying that, yeah, sure, all this. All this evil and all this crud is now out of you. But what makes that different? What makes that that better, right? Just. Here's. Here's a note that I wrote down just yesterday. Says, just cleaning up is not enough. Behavioral modification does not lend to new life, right? Your behavioral modification is not leading you to your life, okay? It's not leading you to. To a better life because it's human striving. You've done it on your own and you're bound to fail. But it is. It could lead to new practices, right? You might practice things differently and do Stuff in different ways, but that doesn't mean you life. But what does brain change Jesus. Okay, Sanctification is part of the process, right? Choosing something different. Choosing something different every day. Okay? Every day. Yeah. Right. But then there is also what transformation we're going to talk about, Right? Surrender. Surrender or Craig's favorite word, yielding. Okay? The same thing. When we talk about those things, we're talking about the same stuff. Okay? So surrendering or yielding to Christ as the Savior is what lends and leads to new life and lasting transposition. Right? So if we're just cleaning up and clearing out, have we really done anything of work? Have we really done anything that God has actually called us to do? Or are we just trying to manage on our own? Just trying to manage on our own, huh? Right. So we need to be filled with something else. There needs to be a different take. Now, you could also even parallel this with the. The story of, of the. The houses built on the rock in the sand. Right. If you build your house on the sand, what are you going to have to do? Constantly rebuild it out, clean it out. You have to clean it out all the time. Right. You're constantly going to be trying to get the sand out of the nooks and crannies. Did you know when they talked about the house built on the sand, where it was actually built right near the beach. Right. So we're talking about the Juneteen wilderness, right. Is a desert mountainous land. Okay. It's hills, it's mountains, it's desert. Okay. In the desert. What's the number one killer in the desert? Floods are actually the greatest killer in the desert. It's flash floods. Right. Because rains happen on the mountain peaks and the water comes down and it starts taking all this stuff with it, gaining momentum. Well, where do you think these houses could go in the sand? These houses were built in what is known as bodies which are dried up. Yeah. Riverbeds or creeks or water gloves. Okay. So it's going to be sandy, it's going to be flat. It's going to have all this stuff that you're like, man, this would be a great place to build a house because it's flat. Right? Right. And there's. There's all this. There's this little stuff here and there. It seems like it's a great place. Little did you know, you just built your house where it is about to be destroyed at any moment. Because flash floods. That's the reason they're called flash floods. Right. Because it can just happen. You don't know when it's going to happen. You might hear it and then all of a sudden there it is. Right. You know, so the storms are a whole lot worse in that time than you might think. Right. Because it's causing this flash blood to come house. And so now the flash blood has got all this rock, all this wood, all this junk with it. It's going to take out your house real fast. Right. So when the storm does come, you're going to not be able to stand. Right. It's the same with clearing out, out the house. Right. Getting rid of evil and no longer, no longer putting in, you know, evil stuff, cleaning it out, but then you leave it empty. Right. That is, it's ineffective. Behavioral modification is ineffective. Sure, you'll look good and you'll, you'll seem like you're doing all the right things, but is that what matters? Proof it's not approved? It appears when it's rotten inside. Right. I mean, but this is kind of a chilling story, especially if you're not a believer. Yeah, right. If you're not in Christ, this is kind of a scary thing and it almost feels like man, there's no, there's no hope in that. But you're missing the fact that there's still hope. Right. The unbeliever doesn't look for, for what they can fill the house with. But the person who knows Jesus and is being is a follower of Jesus. They know what can take residence in that house right here. What kind of freaks me out about this verse when I look at it, it says it does leave, but it says I will return to. With seven evil. More evil. Well now, now it's, now it says that more evil it goes against more because hey, then it's been cleaned out. There's more room. Yeah, there's more room. Scary. It is scary. I like what Gary said to my house because it, it's. Yes, they look at it, they put a claim. Yeah. You're my property. I owe you. Yeah. But if that unclean spirit shows up and the Holy Spirit standing there, he ain't going back and he ain't getting seven more that are more evil than him and making it worse. Right. How many of you, you've experienced the worst, right? Every time you've gotten clean and then you relapsed and it got worse again. And it's almost like each time you gave back into the, the habit of substance use, it got worse each time. Yeah, way worse. They teach that 12 step relapse, going back, It's quick Too. Like, I mean, but it's true. I mean, and you see it biblically, right? Right. It gets worse and worse and worse until you either come to the point of surrender or to the point of, you know, chances are over because you don't want to breathe. Right? And that's what's great about guys that have shown up here. Right? We've all come to that place of, all right, let's get building the right stuff. Now, if you're one of those that's just here to check boxes and get through the program and get a piece of paper that says, I completed this, and look, then you're here for the wrong reason, right? And you're here just sweeping out the house. You're not leaning into the grace that God has given us. You're not learning from the mercy that God has given. You are not being filled with the Holy Spirit, Right? And that's a scary thought that people have done that. I've watched it. I've watched a sermon. And unfortunately, there was one guy, he made it through the entire program, never came to the Lord reading the Bible. Then after he graduated, I continued to work with him, and I could see that he had been given over to the next month. I mean, just dark. But on the outside, he looked great, but it was dark on the inside. He had no hope. Some few years later, he still had no hope. He was just going day by day. Right? And that's not the desire that we want to have for people. Right. The desire that comes from God in us is to see people saved and transformed and filled by the Holy Spirit and then used for God's purposes, not to fight against it, not to just go do whatever it is they want to do, you know, and keep sweeping out the house every day, Right? Yes. We are supposed to be living rightly in of getting things out. Right. We're not supposed to be bringing in evil things and thinking, well, I'm saved just so it's okay because I'm forgiven already. We know that's not how grace is supposed to work. Bible's very clear about that. Right. You're supposed to be moving away from sin and convicted of it. Right. And no longer lean into it. That's why at the end of this, after a woman praises Jesus's mother, right. He says, on the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Right. So they hear God's word and now they are leaning into it, and their motivations are changing. The Spirit is praying in this new life, and it's changing you from within, right? The inner man is getting healed, getting better. I haven't even looked at these notes, so you might just have those, Okay, I might look at him here in a second. But the thing that I see is that, look, Jesus is calling everyone to greater things, right? And the greater thing is to be filled by the Holy Spirit and live your life for what God wants you to live it for, right? Not to go and think, well, now I'm saved, I'm set free and go do what you want, right? Because it's not about you. It's about God, his will. It's about what God wants to do in and through you, right? And some of you, you already are starting to see the purpose that God is building for you. You're starting to see that he has filled you the house, right? And he has taken. He has put you in the house that's built on a solid foundation, right? He has driven in to you that you're gonna do something with him that is absolutely wonderful and it's going to touch people's lives and help bring them to a place of transformation and life. I don't sense that any of you are purposed for just watching people clean out the house, but you are here to proclaim the gospel and learn how to do so. Even now, I've heard the conversations that some of you have had with other people. You're like sharing the Gospel by sharing parts of your testimony and you are leaning into what the Lord is doing. You, at one point were this person you cleaned out and then God got a hold of you, right? Right? Everyone here, God got a hold of you at some point. He is doing something absolutely amazing, right? We're not. If you keep going, you're not going to be like the Pharisees and lawyers and scribes who are just trying to make themselves look good, right? We're whitewashing the tomb or cleaning the outside of the cup, but everything else is just nasty and dirty. But if that is you, I would encourage you to lean into God's grace and mercy and be justified by him and filled by him, right? Because reformation is not the only thing that that matters. We need to move into the regeneration. Jesus, the needs to regenerate you, right? Just cleaning up isn't going to be enough, right? Regeneration. He must make you something new and different, right? That's why the old man is put to death and the new man is brought to life. It's why we do baptism, to identify with that, that we are being put to to death. And being raised to new life. It's the whole point behind it. That's why Jesus wants us to follow after him in that. He doesn't want us to just clean up and clear out. Any of you feel like that's. That's you. That you're just cleaning up and clearing out instead of allowing transformation? All right, Jesus. Jesus Parable is. Is a call for us to ensure that our hearts are not just empty and evil, but full of God. Right? Full of the Spirit. The Spirit of God. The Christian life is not defined by what we avoid, but by who we welcome and abide. That's an amazing statement. Right? Right. We don't need to be known by what we're avoiding. Right? Because if we're avoiding it, people are just going to notice that and they're going to wonder what's different about these people? Why are they avoiding these things? Why do they not go into these things? Why are they not partying anymore? Why are they not doing this type of job or that type of thing? Why are they not going into this? Because they have new life and they are filled with the Spirit and they are living and abiding in Christ. Right? By God's grace and his grace and love, man. Because we can never live that life. We can make ourselves look good, but we do not transform life. The Ephesians 5:19 commands us. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation. But we filled or be being filled with the Spirit. Okay? This feeling is a continuous action. A daily surrender to the Holy Spirit's guidance and power. Right? Daily surrendering, daily building, daily giving into the Holy Spirit. Right? None of this is possible. Without that. I couldn't come up here. Do. Do what we pray. Couldn't, Jerry. Couldn't. We were not filled with spirit because this would make absolutely no sense. Would make absolutely no sense. We weren't filled and living and abiding by Christ. Right. Preaching God's grace. And that's why we abide. Right. We have five. Because we've been given the grace of God, because we've been saved and set free. Romans 8, 9 confirms the change in ownership. However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. So you don't got the Spirit. You're the honest part of the family of God. Right? You have not been adopted. Okay? So live into what the Spirit is doing. Okay? Now fill the void with God's word and discipline. The way we remain filled and keep the house occupied is through spiritual disciplines. 1. Okay, that's not here is the surrender. Surrender, because your surrender will lead you to prayer, worship, meditating upon scripture, dwelling upon Christ, looking to him for everything and just living in him. Right? Realizing that the grace you've been given makes everything different. Makes you different, makes lean different, makes crave different. Without that grace, we would not ever, ever have cared to be here doing the things that God has us doing. Colossians 3:16 offers the antidote to emptiness. So if you feel empty today, let's lean into this. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and scriptures, spiritual songs, singing with gratefulness in your hearts to God. Okay? The riches of Christ's word leaves no room for the enemy. Be being filled. Make no room. Don't give the devil a foothold. God bless you. Don't give the devil room. You find yourself angry, ticked off, constantly upset, constantly, you know, just wanting to be alone and isolated. Do you think you're being filled? No. You're leaning into something else and you're just trying to clean up and clear out. And God's grace didn't call you to sit alone all the time and just do the things you wanted to do. It didn't call you and set you free. Free so you could just clean out the house and be filled with the wrong things. God's grace made it so you can have your house with yourself, filled by the Holy Spirit and have new life. Amen. Amen. The Lord is setting you free. The Lord has set you free and he is sanctifying you. He is transforming you. You do have new life life. Now live into that by abiding in Christ and letting the Spirit bear fruit through and in you. Amen. Amen. All right, who wants to pray? Father God, we bow our head. Lord, thank you for today. Lord, invite you Holy Spirit into our lives. Guidance for love, reassurance, Lord, and all the things you lack. Thank Just continue to sacrifile. Help standify each other and always pushing each other up and forward towards you. We thank you for this new start. Thank you this new life. Thank you for this time. Just rejuvenate and come back to you.