Why Haven’t Our Lives Changed?

[podcast]http://www.revkwon.com/podcast/changing.mp3[/podcast] Why is it when I go to a revival or a retreat or a lock-in, and pray my brains out and pour out my heart to God, I only change for about an hour and after that, I’m the same. Nothing changes inside me. There is no revival in me. I’m doing the same stupid things that I was doing before church that during church I said I was going to stop doing. Do you have that same feeling? Maybe, you make the same mistake over and over and over again. It’s always the same way, just a different day, different place. Let me give you some examples how I just don’t change sometimes. I go into a store, telling myself I won’t buy anything, or I’m going to buy something very specific. You want to know what happens? You know what happens, that’s right, I make the same mistake the last time I was there—I spend more money than I have for junk I don’t need. Like toilet paper, why do I always insist on buying 12 rolls of toilet paper when I have 24 rolls sitting at my house already? I don’t even use one roll of toilet paper in any given quarter of the year. Probably not the same type of non-change that you’re thinking of. You may be thinking about not ever changing from your lying ways. You constantly lie about situations and things to your friends and family, but you always tell the same lie, knowing that telling that lie will get you into trouble because it got you into trouble before, you could’ve been honest, but no, you lie over and over again, it’s not like a horrible lie, like you’re covering up a murder you committed, but it’s a lie you told for a reason beyond me and you. Guess what happens, that’s right, that lie bites you in the butt and you are in for more than you wanted. Maybe it’s not those things, maybe it’s the peer pressure and what happens when you fall into that peer pressure and start hitting the bottle or ‘em drugs hard and fast with your peers. You tell yourself never again, you’re going to change, you say. But you know what, you’re back after church, hitting it and making the same mistakes you made with your idiot friends. You do this going through groundings, detention, court, hospitals and jail. Why don’t things change? What do you believe when God says, “things will change” and they don’t? Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 4. I know I have chapter 3 to 4 on there, but I want to read this passage backwards because I think it’s easier for all of us to read the conclusion and then read the explanation. I’m going about this passage this way because I believe that “changing” hinges on the ideas of power and glory, and without understanding those two ideas from the perspective Paul is describing, “changing” whether it’s changing your clothes or your style, is impossible. 2 Corinthians 4:5-7, let’s go. ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. ⁷ We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. Our power is from God. Anything and everything that we can do is from God. Once we understand that, then we will understand what our worth is. Some of us think we can change with the power within us. But honestly, that’s a stupid assumption that none of us should make. You do not have enough power to change lest for God giving it to you. I’m going to get more into this later on in the sermon. But I want you to recognize it in your lives. You don’t’ change with your own power because your own power sucks. You don’t achieve anything on your own power because your power is insufficient. I know that sounds defeatist, but it’s true. The sooner we accept that, the better. Our power is from God. That is the beginning of all power. Second thing about power: Our heart contains the power of God. Look at verse seven, that power from God, it’s in our hearts. We need to accept this. Power is not going to gym. Power isn’t about the size of your car or your wallet. Power is about where God’s light is being held. For all of us, for believers, that power, that light is held in our hearts. That’s where God puts it. Let’s go back two verses to verse 3 in chapter four. ³ If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. If you want to experience true power, then let your heart shine forth God’s power. A lot of us don’t allow the world to see what’s in our hearts. But shine that heart forward in your life. Our heart is about God who saved us from death through the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no reason to hide that. We cannot hide it. If we hide it, then we are no better than the devil. Do you want to know why Jesus always wins? It’s because in Jesus, God’s power is glorified. The Good News is God’s power glorified. The Book of Revelations ends with, all of Jesus’ enemies are trampled underneath the feet of Jesus’ throne. God reigns over all because it was this good news, that Jesus is resurrected from the dead that glorifies the power of God over death and sin. Man, somebody say Amen. Now that we’ve covered the idea of power, in brief. I want to talk about glory. Because the good news is God’s power glorified, that is to say that God’s power elevated and enhanced and honored; we must understand the glory of God and how power is exemplifies God’s glory. Let’s go to chapter 3, verse 7. ^3:7 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. ⁸ Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? ⁹ If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! ¹⁰ In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. ¹¹ So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! I want you to write this down, because this is complicated: The law (old way) always condemns. The gospel (new way) always saves. Paul is talking about the ten commandments. He is saying that nobody is innocent of keeping all ten commandments. He said that when Moses read the ten commandments, even though because nobody could keep them, Moses’ face started to glory. If receiving the law of God that condemns you to death can make a man glow with the glory of God, just think about what happens when people would receive salvation through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Have you heard this before? I’m sure you have. The question is, if you heard this, why aren’t you glowing with the glory of God? Why am I not glowing with the glory of God? That’s what we’re trying to figure and ask what do I believe about this. Faith is MORE glorious than motions alone. All we have to do is believe that the Holy Spirit gives us the belief to receive Jesus’ death and resurrection and be made right with God, so why in the world wouldn’t we glow with God’s glory? I want you to understand that doing the law of God is fantastic, but at the end of the day, we’re still condemned to death. No question about it. But when we receive Jesus as our savior, there is no amount of doing that will outshine what we’re believing. Let’s keep reading— verse 12. ¹² Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. ¹⁴ But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. ¹⁵ Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. Write this down: Glory is bold and unceasing. When we have God’s power that comes from receiving the glory of God, who is Jesus Christ, we are bold and unceasing. Every ounce of who we are pours out and overflows from our heart Jesus’ being. It means, who we were, what we did, what we’re doing, our stupidity, our mistakes, our faults, no matter asinine they are, are gone. It means change is on the horizon. Let’s go to verse 16. ^3:16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. ^4:1 Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. ² We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. I want you to know that wanting to change and changing are different. You will always be the same stupid person that makes the same stupid mistakes. You will always have the same disappointments when you only WANT to change. Look at verse 16, we have to turn to God. What that means, is not flipping our heads toward God like we do on Sundays, nodding our heads up and down. It actually means that we get on our face and say to God and say to ourselves, “I have nothing else but to submit to God.” The veil that Paul is talking about, it’s our inability to change. Write this down: Change can ONLY occur when submitting fully to God. Now, let’s say you did all those things. You knew all about power and glory and changing. Here’s my last point about change. Don’t give up when change is not happening. [Read underlined 4:1-2]. Change may not look like it’s happening fast enough, but when you submit to God every day and every moment, we are being renewed. Let’s go to our memory verse for this week: So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16) I want to pray this morning, I want to spend some time in prayer about why if we truly believe what the Bible says about God’s love, what Jesus did for us, and who we are in Him – why then so often do our lives not reflect that? We believe our salvation is secure, but what is keeping us from experiencing the life-changing sanctification that God has called us to? Let’s pray.