The Benefits of Holiness Pt. 3

This is Ronald Hopkins, and thank you for joining the Life Center Church.

We've been talking about the last three weeks on the subject of the benefits of holiness.

Now, before we get going in this, let me just kind of see.

Are you all looking at the blog that goes out every week?

Let me see if you've looked at the blog.

Okay, at the end of service, Tina, let's make sure we were able to show, if we're able to, how to get on the blog.

Very quickly.

Because the blog will really keep you connected.

Even if we have to pull up the website, we'll you, I'm sure you all have figured that out.

Okay, so this is part three of the benefits of holiness.

And so the subtitle of today's message would be Stop Letting Sin Win.

Stop letting sin win.

I'm gonna say that one more time.

Stop letting sin win.

I think you all are catching it.

Let's repeat that.

Say stop letting sin win.

Now, let's jump back into this.

First Peter chapter one.

I'm gonna read it from the New Living Translation.

It says, but now you must be holy in everything you do.

Just as God who chose you is holy, as the scripture said, you must be holy because I am holy.

And so there's a commandment that the Lord has given us to live a certain lifestyle, and that is the lifestyle of being holy, and everything that we say, everything that we do, and the people that hang around us, and everything that we participate in, the Bible says we should be holy.

Now, let's put that definition of sin back up because sin is any thought, attitude, or action that misses God's standard, breaks his law, or rejects what's right flowing from a heart that chooses its own way over God's.

So you and I must be intentional about defeating something that's actually already been defeated.

Go to Romans chapter six.

And before I give you the first point, I'm gonna show you this.

You must be intentional about your words.

You must be intentional about thinking the right kind of thought.

You must be intentional before you start acting a certain way.

That's going against the standard of God's word.

You have to make a decision that you will not allow certain things to come out of your mouth that will grieve the Spirit of God.

You have to be intentional about how you are going to live your life so that your life will honor God.

Even the clothes that you wear should bring honor to God.

Even the stuff that you wear on your chest, it should honor God.

You have to be intentional because sin really shouldn't dominate your life.

You should dominate sin.

Now Romans chapter 6, verse number 6 says, knowing this.

Romans 6 · chapter mention

So there are things you should know.

He says, knowing this, that the old man.

Well the old man.

How you used to live.

When you accepted Jesus as your Lord, master, and savior, regardless of if you did it last year, last month, ten years ago, that old person that used to be alive should be dead.

If he saved you, you should act like you're saved.

If he delivered you, there is no reason why believers at this point should still be cursing.

That is the old man.

There is no reason why, if you're born again and you used to sleep with individuals who were not your spouse, there is no reason why you should be still living that way.

It's the old man.

And that old man has to stay crucified.

If not, he or she will try to come back alive.

You shouldn't think the wrong thoughts like you used to think when you were not saved.

It's the old man.

Notice what he said.

The old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed.

That henceforth you should no longer serve, notice, serve sin.

That's what it says.

The New Living Translation says it this way.

We know that the old sinful, old sinful cells were crucified with Christ so that we might lose its power.

So if you submit to wrong thinking, if you submit to wrong actions, sin now has power over your life.

You might think that you're in control, but sin is controlling and sin is running your life.

It says we are no longer slaves to sin.

So sin is destructive.

Sin is a spiritual disease.

Want that to set in because we are playing around thinking that we can just say any old thing.

Thinking that we could just live any old kind of way that it won't have any effect in our lives.

Sin's responsibility is to destroy your life.

Sin's responsibility is to kill you.

Sin's responsibility is to separate you from God so that you can live like you're enjoying life.

A person who's sinning is not enjoying life, you're destroying your life.

Righteousness is freedom.

So living a holy life can set you up and it'll set you apart that you, okay, I hear that.

If you make a decision to live a righteous life, you will be a distribution center for the kingdom of God.

If you make a decision to live a holy, set apart life, God's power will begin to flow through you.

I heard that as clear as day.

Now, point number one.

There is no excuse for not working out.

Oh yeah.

You don't have an excuse.

We just we just read a scripture that says sin no longer has any dominion over you.

Now, if you're not working out in the natural, more than likely you're not working out in the spirit.

Things are first spiritual, then they're natural.

Things are first spiritual, and then they're natural.

Things are first spiritual and then they're natural.

If you're not doing the natural, then more than likely you're not doing the spiritual.

So there is no excuse for us as believers, those who don't serve sin, to be doing spiritual exercises.

Because the spiritual exercise will cause your spirit to get bigger.

The reason why believers fall to sin is because you're not exercising.

And because you're not exercising, sin now has dominion over your mouth.

It's dominating your body.

So when you say no, your body is saying yes.

Because you haven't disciplined yourself spiritually.

And it's easy to fall because you have no spiritual disciplines.

Let's get into this today.

I can tell I got some help today.

First Timothy chapter four.

First Timothy chapter four.

Verse number seven.

Do not waste your time arguing over godless ideas and over wise details.

Instead, train yourself to be godly.

Train yourself.

You gotta train yourself.

This is not automatic.

You gotta put in the work.

If you don't put in the work, you don't get the results.

You must train yourself to grow and to develop spiritually.

You think it's just gonna happen.

Do the work, and nothing is happening in your life because you refuse to train.

Do the work.

Watch this.

Physical training is good.

We've got some trainers in here.

Shar was telling me about this, this, this high, what is it called?

High rocks.

And she was telling me that this training was the training of her life.

And she said all she needed to go was one time.

That was it.

Because it put her body through things that her body was screaming, don't do it.

It challenged her body to limits beyond what she was doing on a day-to-day basis.

That was physical training.

What about spiritual training?

Isn't it interesting that Jesus, at his most vulnerable moment, took the people that were closest to him when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane at Matthew chapter 26, and Jesus says, My spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, and yet he gave them instructions and he told them, Could you not pray with me?

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

We're talking about putting the work in.

He says, Could you not pray with me one hour?

How much time have you been giving God?

Could you not pray with me one hour?

And he went away, and the Bible says that when Jesus prayed to the Father, he came back to the disciples, and the Bible says they were asleep.

He says, watch and pray.

Be spiritually alert.

And yet we don't put one hour in with God, but we'll put one hour in on the phone.

Remember, that was one hour.

Then he went away.

So he put in two hours.

Then he came back again.

And they were still sleep.

So Jesus said, what we should be doing is we should be praying three hours.

And yet we don't become spiritually sensitive and spiritually alert because the attacks are coming.

Whether or not you walk in victory is based upon your spiritual discipline.

Three hours.

Three hours.

Yet we barely get one hour in.

Got all kind of excuses.

We got time for everything and everybody else.

But we don't spend time with him.

Oh, absolutely, because he is that we use him as an emergency.

But what he was trying to get them to understand that I'll show you what to do so that you're never in an emergency.

So that you already know what to do before it happens.

Could you not pray with me one hour?

One hour.

We spend time at our job more than that.

So believe it or not, whether you want to admit it or not, I'll admit it for you.

Your job is your God.

Because you're willing to trust those resources instead of trusting the one who has all the resources.

See, whatever you give your time to the most, that is who you trust.

One hour.

You're gonna have to boost up your tongue time.

See, what happens when you pray in tongues, your spirit expands.

And you begin to leave the comforts of this physical body, and you have a visitation and a demonstration and a relationship with God who begins to dump load everything and the plan of God into your spirit so that you learn how to live from in here and not out here.

It expands you, it causes you, the real you, to grow, to get bigger, to get stronger, to get wiser, to see things.

See, the reason why you're not able to do certain things is because you can't see it.

So because you can't see it, you're not able to accomplish it.

How you're able to do the super abundantly is you gotta see it in here first.

The vision for your life is not on the outside, the vision for your life comes from on the inside, and how that vision becomes bigger and bigger and bigger is you roshta, rekenesaranda.

Why?

Because he's downloading the plan that he has for your life, and you begin to see it on the inside so that when you see it on the inside, there's nothing on the outside that can stop you.

Could you not pray one hour?

One hour, one hour, one hour, one hour.

That's part of this holiness lifestyle.

This part of you growing up in him, staying sensitive to him.

This is how you keep words that will destroy people because you haven't yielded your tongue to the Holy Ghost.

Many of God's people are defeated because they don't have spiritual disciplines.

You have to learn how to exercise kindness coming out of your mouth.

See, sin survives when there's no discipline.

The reason why it's existing in your life right now, because you have no spiritual discipline.

It cannot exist when you are a true disciple, not a Christian.

You got plenty of Christians, kernel-minded Christians.

You love God, but your mind isn't renewed, so therefore you still smoking.

You still drinking.

You still lying, you still getting involved in gossip, you still doing all the things that worldly people do, even though you love God, because your mind isn't renewed.

No spiritual discipline.

So therefore, even though sin has been destroyed, you it's easy for you to submit to it.

Nothing happens in your life, listen, without you giving it permission.

So there are things that have happened and things that are happening in your life that you've given it permission.

Whatever you will allow, God will allow it to happen in your life.

If your flesh is weak, your flesh will dominate your life.

You must learn how to prioritize God over pleasure.

Now, exercise number one.

Let me give you some tools.

Engage your will.

Engaging your will.

Now that may not mean anything to you, but I'm gonna break it down because this is the first exercise that you must engage the right way.

Engaging your will.

Now, let's go to Psalm number 110.

Before you go on to these three, can I interject something really quickly?

Yeah.

So I I have a feeling this is more for somebody online because you all are here and you all know the series that we're on.

But I'm just gonna say this the way I believe I heard on the inside.

Uh, because for some of you all, this might be a little bit tough on your flesh, these types of messages.

This isn't hate speech, this is a warning.

And let me tell you why.

When you talk about sin, when you lift up the standard, what happens is there's a realm that's very active that you cannot see.

And its entire goal is to entice you into sin.

Because in Romans chapter six, it says sin has a paycheck, and that paycheck is death.

But also what happens is when you find yourselves in these areas of sin, they're open doors to the wicked one to come and actually demonize you, pull you off into areas that are beyond your understanding and that will mortify you, open up doors to generational curses in your life, also open up doors for other people to be functioning in word curses, soul ties, and all of those things.

We have to talk about these things because this is a tool that the enemy is using to take control over your life, your future, your destiny, and also to get into your bloodline.

So even if you don't experience it, then you wonder why sexual perversion is in your children and your children's children.

It's because of this thing called standards.

So this isn't just all we're gonna take this just as a high standard.

No, this is the largest of the most high standard status.

And take over your children's children with sin, death, and destruction.

These are open doors and these are windows for demons, disembodied spirits to come in.

And they exist, and we deal with them every week here, every Sunday after service.

Every week.

And what happens is that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the most part, has refused to deal with these issues.

So God's people have been comfortable in living and not recognizing that they're not living by themselves.

You got company in you and don't even realize how to get it out of you.

And these things are very wicked.

Very wicked family.

We see this every they are very wicked and they do not have your best intention.

Doors.

When you go back and you look from Genesis to Revelation, you will see a pattern about how God has called his people to live this standard of holiness.

I'll just give you this reference and you can go back and read it.

Exodus chapter 19, you will see that when the children of Israel got cleaned up, it says that God did wondrous acts among his people.

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

So whenever they made a decision to get cleaned up, because they made a lot of mistakes.

When they made a decision to get right with God, to live a certain way, God began to move in their lives.

The reason why God is not moving the way we desire for Him to move in our lives is because we have skipped the preparation stage.

If you don't prepare, God will not move.

There's a process in this.

You have to prepare, and God begins to move.

When you prepare your body, your temple, your mouth, your actions, your will, then you'll see that God will begin to move on your behalf like ways that you've never seen him move before.

Now watch this.

Psalm number 110, stanza number three says, Thy people shall, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beautiness of holiness, from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth.

This word will is so important.

First definition.

It's a God-given force for man's freedom.

So God has given you a will that He will never override.

But it's for your freedom.

But if you submit your will not to God and submit your will to the will of the enemy or to your flesh, it can lead to destruction.

Number two, it's voluntary surrender.

God leaves your will up to you.

And number three, it's a heart that chooses to give itself to God.

So you and I have to make a determination if you're going to give your heart to God or you're going to give your heart to somebody else.

Now let me show you some principles here and some laws.

Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse number 19.

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

It says, Today.

Today, I've given you the choice between life and death.

Every single day, you and I have been given the choice to live or to die.

Every single day you can walk in the blessing or you can walk in the curse.

He says, now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice that you make.

So he's saying, I'm calling heaven and the earth to recognize the choice that you're making every single day.

Then he says, Oh, oh, that you would choose life.

So how you live your life and the decisions that you make today don't just affect you.

It affects your children.

It affects their children.

It affects their children.

It affects generations simply because your will want you to understand how important your will is.

Not your mother, not your father, not your siblings.

You made that choice.

So how you're living today, right now, is based off of what you chose.

You can blame your spouse all you want to.

We have counseling sessions every single week.

And it is so interesting to hear that one spouse will blame the other.

No, you chose him.

You chose not to allow him to develop.

And now you said I do, and you choose not to pray.

But you complain.

Choices are before you every single day.

You determine your outcome.

The will of man is supreme in the contest with sin.

Your will, listen to me.

Your will is the force of your freedom.

You can be free in any area of your life based off of your will.

See, you don't really understand how important your will is.

Because we end up being bound by certain things, and we don't have to be.

You are choosing to be bound up.

Yet you can be free when you make a decision.

Listen to this.

Your will is able to determine your habits.

Come on.

We hear this all the time.

8 30 is too early.

You said 8 30 was too early, so you chose not to come to church.

Your desire is your wish.

Your decision is your choice.

Go to Matthew chapter 16.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Your will is vitally important.

So you have to exercise your will.

Matthew chapter 16, verse number 25, Jesus said it this way: For whosoever will save his life shall lose it.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Notice he did not say, let him pray.

And until you will, he won't.

See, it's your will that will determine his way in your life.

A closed will stop and open heaven.

See, God can be moving in your life and moving all around you, and you don't even see it because your will isn't engaged with his will.

Because he's always moving, he's always talking, he's always revealing, he's always trying to show more of himself to his people.

But if your will isn't engaged, then you cannot see.

Let me give you another one.

James chapter 4.

James 4 · chapter mention

Just showing you these spiritual exercises of learning how to submit your will to the plan of God.

Good teaching.

James chapter 4, verse number 8.

James 4 · chapter mention

Very familiar scripture.

Draw nigh to God.

And he will.

So you have to choose holiness.

Sir.

You have to choose to live a pure life.

See, what I'm beginning to understand is when you live like this, there is no demon that will have access in your life.

And your will is strong enough to handle any attack that may come against you.

Amen.

Your will.

They're coming against me, Pastor.

Well, you done submitted your will to what they said.

So you wheel your will over to them instead of wheeling your will over to God.

Because when you submit to God, the scripture is true.

He'll draw nigh to you.

Let me give you another one.

Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Let me show you how this exists.

The issue is you're not willing to die.

And I'll take a sip on that.

Colossians chapter three.

Verse number three says, For you are dead.

You still alive.

Scripture says you must die.

And the life that you now live, your life is supposed to be hid in, in Christ realities.

In Christ, in God.

See, when you learn how to die to yourself, the easy, the natural progression is I'm surrendering to him.

It's a progression.

When I die to myself, I'm surrendering to him.

I'm dying to what I think, I'm dying to what I feel, and I'm living according to what he says is already mine.

Because you are dead, listen, your will is in force.

And legally, you can do anything according to the will.

So demons have a legal right to remain when you don't submit your life to God.

Legally.

Because we don't understand that God is a very legal being.

He won't validate or he won't break any law at all.

He will allow you to step over into areas that he told you not to.

Why?

Because he won't stop your wheel.

Now he'll caution you.

He'll remind you.

He will encourage you.

Don't do it.

It's up to you whether or not you will submit or surrender.

Hands up.

Heart given to God.

I'm surrendering to what you want me to do.

Thank you, Jesus.

It's your will.

Thank you, Lord.

So God is actually waiting on you.

Thank you, Lord.

Help us grow.

Help us grow.

You think that you're waiting on God.

Not so, not so.

Not so, not so.

So you're just you're just waiting.

You're just sitting there and not doing anything.

And then time is just passing you by.

And you're wondering why things aren't happening.

He put the ball in your corner.

He like, now what you gonna do?

It's your will.

You have to exercise your will.

You have to give your will over to him.

And when you give your will over to him, that's when he says, okay, now I'm in the game.

Put me in the game.

See, it's your will that will determine your freedom.

Listen to this.

Your decision will compel your determination.

And your determination will determine your destination.

And your determination will determine your destination.

So Deborah said one more time.

See, your decisions will compel your determination.

Right, right.

And your determination will determine your destination.

So you have to will against distractions.

I think you found out that if you said you were going to do something, something or someone else showed up to distract you from doing what you said you were going to do.

So you have to wheast these distractions.

You have to wheest, thank you, Lord, gossiping.

Because people will say, have you heard this?

And you can find yourself entertaining devils without even realizing it.

You have to will against not being truthful.

Let me give you the second one.

Listen to your conscience.

This is another exercise that we don't do.

Listen to your conscience.

You have to practice this.

Romans chapter two.

Listen to your conscience.

Romans chapter two, verse number fourteen, it says, even Gentiles who do not have God's written law show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.

They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts.

For their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are right.

So people know on the inside what's right or what's wrong.

They know if they gossip.

They know if they're lying.

They know it.

You ain't gotta tell them.

You don't have to beat them over the head.

They already know right from wrong.

And this is the message that I proclaim.

That the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, ooh, will judge everyone's secret.

The day is going to come when the stuff you've been hiding.

Come on.

That's what it says right there.

Better stop playing.

We're playing with this thing.

We don't realize that that everything that you do is being recorded.

Right now.

See, we think we're getting away with something.

No, God is like this.

Oh, I saw that.

I'm paying attention to the motive that's in your heart that's not right.

I got that.

Dear God.

The stuff that you've been saying in secret, or the stuff you didn't say, God's like, oh, I got that.

Well, if that don't make you straighten up.

There's a key word here.

Your conscience.

It's an internal, God-given faculty that judges thoughts, actions, and motives against a moral, I probably should have put biblical standard.

It's an inner witness, and it's the place where God convicts.

So your conscience works alongside with Holy Ghost.

It's almost like it's a monitor that goes off on the inside of you that you have a knowing about something is just not right.

You probably couldn't.

See, what's happening is God's people are looking for natural, tangible things to tell them what's right.

And you have been overriding your conscience on the inside.

And that's how you miss it.

Because you're looking for something on the outside.

Instead of you listening to your conscience on the inside, it's the monitor that goes off.

Something's not right.

But then you feel a certain way, so you override that.

And you go with the feeling, then you end up getting trapped because you made a mistake.

Because you overrode your conscience.

See, your conscience will tell you that's wrong.

Now watch what happens.

It'll first warn you.

It'll give you a warning first.

Then when you don't listen to the warning, it'll convict you.

Then when you don't make an adjustment for that conviction, it'll confirm that you're wrong.

I'll show you this.

Go to 1 Timothy chapter 4.

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

Ooh.

See, you lose your sensitivity by sinning.

So true.

You want to know that the quickest way to lose hearing from God?

Don't obey God.

Because he'll warn you about stuff.

He'll warn you about stuff.

And all of a sudden, when you do it, it'll be conviction in your heart.

Don't do that again.

And then most of the time, he'll bring somebody else across your path that'll speak on your situation.

And then what happened is that when you don't repent, it's almost as though you don't hear from him any longer.

It's not as though he's not talking.

It's sin's voice has become bigger and greater and stronger than his.

Doctrines of devils.

Where is that in chapter and verse?

Didn't Jesus submit?

Doesn't Holy Spirit submit?

Then why would we not submit?

Doctrines of devils.

And it's easy for people to get off when they're not in the Word.

There's a progression of this, folks, that's happening in the body of Christ.

Because what happens is that when this begins to happen in a person's life, the sin in the beginning bothers them.

Because they know on the inside it's not right.

Then the next time that they do it, it doesn't bother them as much.

And eventually the wrongdoing or the doctrine of devils becomes normal.

And they're functioning abnormally, thinking that they're normal.

Listen, every time you ignore the conviction of your conscience, you downgrade your ability to discern.

And whatever you ignore today will become comfortable tomorrow.

You got to remember, if Jesus is the example, he never violated his conscience.

Never.

He said, I only do those things that please the Father.

I'm submitting my will to the will of my father.

He did not violate his conscience.

She said, Being led by God isn't difficult.

It's being sensitive.

Not according to your feelings.

Now, I'm going to give this to you, but I want to also encourage you to go back and look at the blog.

Because the blog comes every Wednesday morning at 6 a.m.

to your phone, to your email, and it'll keep you connected.

So the third, you mentioned it earlier, the third exercise is becoming one with the word.

Now I'll give you one scripture, then we'll close here.

First or John chapter 15, verse number 3.

John 15 · chapter mention

It says, now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Let me make the statement and we'll be done for today.

Many of God's people are stuck because you don't have the word specifically in that area.

You don't know what the word has to say about your life and your circumstances in that particular area.

You must know God's word.

This is why people have a difficult time forgiving.

Your will is I don't feel like they deserve it.

Well, you don't have enough word on the subject of forgiveness because forgiveness is not about them.

It's for you.

And because you don't have enough word on that situation, you submitted your will against the will of God.

And instead of God coming in and healing you and allowing your heart to be whole, you still submit to the doctrine of devils.

So good.

So you must have the word specifically in that area.

You want to know the reason why you don't have money?

It's not because you're not working hard.

Because you don't know what the word says about money.

And then you blame everybody else because you're still making$12.50 an hour.

Not knowing that Jesus died so that you can be rich.

Not understanding that you are blessed to be a blessing.

That your seed is an opportunity for you to grow spiritually and financially.

But yet you're still giving God that same old dollar.

Because guess what he's doing?

He's watching.

Because you're gonna go to the mall and get you some clothes.

Or you're gonna keep that hair done, you're gonna keep them nails done, but you're robbing God.

So you stay living in poverty.

So in every area of your life, you must know the specific word so that you can be whole.

You exercise spiritually, you grow spiritually, you get big spiritually, and you get to a place where your insides become bigger than the outside.

And when you get to that place when you become bigger on the inside, there's nothing that God will withhold from the person who's exercising every single day.

We just gotta close here.

We didn't talk about praying in tongues.

Do that next time.

Do that next time.

Your prayer life.

Alright, we just gotta close here.

That's why we gotta have our own spot.

That's why we black well.

That's why we gotta have our own spot.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Every head is bowed and every eye is closed.

Let's be intentional.

If you're not born again, let's not play around with this.

God already knows.

But you know it too.

If you're not born again, let's get that right today.

Go ahead and lift your hand in the air.

You're out of fellowship.

You're living in sin.

And as I showed you before, the wages of sin is separation from God.

So there's a possibility you could even be in here and not realize you're far from God because you've made a decision.

Your choice.

Not the will of God.

Your choice.

If that's you, let's get that right today.

If that's you, go ahead and lift your hand in the air, we'll pray with and for you today.

And my last invitation is you're in here and you're born again.

God's spirit lives on the inside of you, but the Bible evidence, Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 10, Acts chapter 19, the Bible evidence is that you pray in other tongues.

Acts 2 · chapter mention Acts 10 · chapter mention Acts 19 · chapter mention

Remember, Jesus says these signs should follow them that believe, praying in other tongues.

The apostle Paul says, I thank God I pray in tongues more than you all.

So that is the will of God.

It's a free gift.

It's not a heaven or hell issue at all.