December 1, 2025 • 24 mins
What truly controls your choices—stress, pride, fear, or the love of Christ? Pastor Lee opens 2 Corinthians 5:14–15 with a simple but life-altering claim: Jesus died for all, so those who live no longer live for themselves. From that anchor, we walk through what it means to let Christ’s love hold first place in our hearts and habits, shaping every response at home, at work, and in the community.
We then explore Paul’s next move: stop seeing people “according to the flesh.” If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. That shift reframes how we view others, cutting through politics, class, and status to two essential categories—saved or lost. The goal isn’t to flatten people; it’s to focus our mission. When love leads, walls fall. Conversations open. Compassion replaces contempt. Pastor Lee’s brackish water metaphor brings this home: if we blend the old life with the new, we create conditions where old sins can still swim. Purifying the stream protects health, growth, and witness.
Anchored in 1 John 4:13–21, we unpack how perfect love drives out fear and why we love even our enemies—because God first loved us. This love is not passive or naïve; it’s active, prayerful, and courageous. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us the real fight isn’t against people but against spiritual forces, which is why spiritual vision matters. See souls, not stereotypes. Minister to the root, not just the fruit. As we yield to the love of Jesus, we find daily opportunities to serve, share, and invite others into the new creation life.
If this message challenged or encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Tell us: where will you let Christ’s love take control today?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Welcome to this episode of Beyond Sunday, my
friends.
I am your host, Pastor Lee, andI have the privilege of
pastoring the people at ChristFamily Outreach Church located
here in the one and the onlyAmelia County, Virginia.
A couple of weeks ago, I sharedwith those at our midweek
(00:26):
recharge service something Paulwrote.
And right now, we're going todive deeper into it together, my
friends.
I want to ask you the followingquestion.
What is it that controls you?
With that in mind, we're goingto dive right into the word of
God.
So if you got your Bibles, openthem up to 2 Corinthians chapter
(00:49):
5, verses 14 and 15.
And this is what it says.
For the love of Christ controlsus, because we have concluded
this, that one has died for all,therefore all have died.
And he died for all, that thosewho live might no longer live
(01:11):
for themselves, but for him whofor their sake died and was
raised.
My friends, that is just packedfull of some wonderful
information.
So much so that I really didn'tget to preach on the entirety of
what that passage means in thetime frame that we had together
(01:34):
a couple of Thursdays ago.
So, as I mentioned a moment ago,we're just going to dive deeper
into it today.
The question that I want you toconsider, I've already mentioned
in the intro of this show, whatare you controlled by?
What is it that truly controlsyou?
What is it that should becontrolling your decisions every
(01:57):
single moment of every night ofevery day?
Because our reactions, myfriends, our reactions, they're
going to be based off of what iscontrolling us in the moment.
So the answer should be what wejust read together in 2
Corinthians 5.14 and 15.
So let's look at it.
Let's look at it again.
If you've got your Bibles, hereit is.
(02:18):
2 Corinthians 5.14 says, for thelove of Christ controls us.
And that is powerful, brothersand sisters.
That is powerful.
For the love of Christ, Paulwrites, for the love of Christ
controls us.
Is it the love of Christ that iscontrolling you right now in
your morning, in your afternoon,in your night, whenever it is
(02:42):
that you're listening to thisepisode, in whatever type of
storm or trial, whatever type ofmountaintop that you're going
through, maybe it's a valley,what is it that is controlling
you right now?
Have you ever considered thatthe greatest tool for your
ministry in life, your greatestform of outreach to the people
(03:05):
around you, in your home, inyour friend circle, at your job,
out in the community, yourgreatest tool for your ministry
is the literal love of JesusChrist that's found inside of
you.
Or at least as a Christian, as abeliever, as a follower of
Jesus, it's supposed to be,amen.
(03:26):
It's supposed to be found on theinside of you.
And hopefully people don't haveto move a whole lot of things to
try to find it.
Hopefully it is pouring out ofyou.
Amen.
And hopefully it's it's pouringout of my life as well.
But to be controlled by the loveof Christ means that Jesus has
(03:46):
first place.
Not second, not a close second,not a distant third.
But to be controlled by the loveof Christ means that Jesus has
first place in your heart.
And we, just like Paul, we needto see everything through the
lens of God's love.
(04:08):
Paul writes to the church and hesays that it is the love of
Christ that controls us, but buthe doesn't just leave it there.
He he explains why the love ofChrist is in control of them.
He says the love of Christcontrols us, and this is what it
says if you got your Bibles withyou.
(04:29):
He says the love of Christcontrols us because.
And I think that that wordbecause is so huge.
He he he he gives us what he'stalking about and he doesn't
just leave us hanging.
He says the love of Christcontrols us because.
Let me tell you why.
Let me tell you why.
So so I want to go through inthis episode the because.
(04:52):
I want to go through thebecause.
The reasons, the reasons behindwhy it is the love of Christ
that should be controlling us.
The reasons that Paul gives,there's two of them in this
particular passage.
The love of Christ controls us,Paul says, because, because he
(05:16):
he also says this we haveconcluded, we have concluded
this.
To conclude means to arrive at ajudgment or to come to an end.
So, in other words, I know thatthe love of Christ controls me
because X, Y, and Z.
(05:37):
And so I have concluded this.
I've come to the end of thisthought process.
I've made a final judgment.
I have arrived at my judgment onthis.
The love of Christ controls mylife even through this storm,
through this situation, throughthis circumstance, because,
period, my friends.
Period.
The love of Christ controls metoday because, period.
(06:00):
Nothing's gonna change me,nothing's gonna move me.
I'm gonna remain steadfast.
I've made the decision thattoday, when my feet hit the
floor as I get up out of thebed, the love of Christ is going
to control me because X, Y, Z.
Period.
So here we go.
We're gonna we're gonna look atthese two reasons that Paul
(06:22):
mentions.
We're controlled by the love ofChrist because we have
concluded, here it is, he says,we have concluded that Jesus
died for us.
And because he died for us, wemust no longer live for
ourselves, but live for JesusChrist.
Can somebody out there say amenright where you are?
(06:45):
Maybe you're riding in your carand you just need to say, Amen.
Just give a shout, amen.
I have concluded that the loveof Christ is going to control me
because he died for me.
And everybody said again, amen.
And maybe you're at your job andyou need to just give an amen.
Somebody in the cubicle next toyou is gonna ask, what's going
(07:07):
on over there?
Share with them, Jesus Christhas died for you.
Something very interesting takesplace in the next part of the
text.
In 2 Corinthians 5, 16 and 17,Paul writes this to the church.
He says, From now on, therefore,we regard no one according to
the flesh, even though we onceregarded Christ according to the
(07:31):
flesh, we regard him thus nolonger.
Therefore, if anyone is inChrist, he is a new creation.
The old is passed away.
Behold, the new has come.
Man, that is some good wordright there.
The old has passed away, the newhas come.
We are new creations in Christ.
(07:54):
Pulse all people in twocategories.
And I mentioned this in ourrecharge service just a couple
of weeks ago, and I want topoint it out, especially in this
episode.
Paul sees people in twocategories.
And in our lives, in ourministries, in our hearts and
our minds, we should also do thesame.
I want to share with you thesetwo categories that Paul sees
(08:17):
people in that you and I shouldbe seeing people in as well.
Here it is, just two.
Saved and lost.
When we look at people, thosetwo categories are the only two
that we should see them in.
Saved and lost.
Pastor Lee, where are you goingwith this?
Well, the 16th verse, Paul says,from now on, from now on,
(08:39):
therefore, we regard no oneaccording to the flesh.
That's so good, man.
In other words, we're no longerlooking at people the way we
used to look at people.
The waters will no longer bemuddied here.
Because what's more importantabout me making excuses for them
doing what they're doing is toactually address the issue of
(09:04):
salvation.
They are either saved or they'relost.
So if you're not looking atpeople in these two categories,
and there was a time in my lifewhere I didn't either, then that
means you're categorizing theminto many different ones.
Are they rich or are they poor?
Are they Republican or are theyDemocrat?
(09:25):
Oh, I think we're all guilty ofthat, aren't we?
Are they educated orblue-collar?
When you put people intocategories that are not
spiritual, you run the risk ofnot helping people who need help
the most.
Now, I'm gonna say that againbecause it's it's it's it's it's
noteworthy.
You need to write that down.
(09:46):
When you put people intocategories that are not
spiritual, you run the risk ofnot helping people who need help
the most.
Paul says what matters the mostis that we see people
spiritually.
Are they saved or are they lost?
The rich need salvation just asmuch as the poor need salvation.
(10:10):
Oh, now look, here's one thatpeople might have have a hard
time coming to grips with.
Republicans and Democrats needsalvation just as much as the
other one does.
The educated and the elite needsalvation just as much as the
blue-collar worker does.
Can somebody say amen out thereto that?
(10:32):
You see, we begin to break downwalls and we begin to remove
barriers when the love of JesusChrist is what's controlling us.
And I promise you, we're gonnabegin to see things differently
when it is the love of JesusChrist that is controlling us.
And not only will we see thingsdifferently, here's why we're
gonna see it differently.
Because we're going from seeingit according to the flesh and
(10:54):
worldly standards to now seeingit spiritually.
We're gonna see thingsspiritually when it is the love
of Jesus Christ that controlsus.
Now, I want you to considersomething that Paul writes in
the 17th verse.
He writes, therefore, if anyoneis in Christ, he is a new
creation.
The old is passed away.
(11:16):
Behold, the new has come.
Oh my goodness.
Just welcome the new you.
Amen.
Welcome the new you that is onlyfound in Jesus Christ as risen
Lord and Savior, our Messiah,our Redeemer.
The new you.
Here's the deal a life sold outfor Jesus Christ is a life that
(11:39):
has been completely changed.
Completely changed.
That old you has to be ruined,has to be wrecked, has to be
dead.
And it cannot, hear this,friends.
It cannot remain attached to thenew life.
That's why the new life iscalled new.
(12:01):
It's called new.
At a recharge service a coupleof weeks ago, I gave an example
of the old trying to remainattached to the new.
And the example that I gave ishow uh we have rivers that pour
into the ocean.
And there's a portion of theriver that is called brackish.
(12:24):
Brackish water is where thefreshwater meets the salt water.
And the freshwater for a ways upriver has a level of salt
concentration in it.
Although it's lower than theocean, obviously, of course, but
it is still there.
There's still some level of saltthere.
It's called brackish.
(12:45):
In some freshwater rivers nearwhere they pour into the ocean
or bays, they they've actuallyseen saltwater fish, even sharks
swimming around.
Now, those, those, thosesaltwater fish, they they can
live there, but they cannotthrive there.
They cannot be healthy there.
(13:05):
And that reminds me of old sinthat we try to take along with
us into our new life.
It cannot and it should not bethriving there, but it's still
there nonetheless, swimming andlurking somewhere that it does
not belong.
Now, listen up.
(13:25):
You can you could you couldcheck this out for yourself,
Google search it, whatever youwant to do, but I'm about to
give you some interesting facts.
Bull sharks, a very aggressivespecies, bull sharks have been
seen 1,000 miles up theMississippi River from the Gulf
of Mexico, or now as people maycall it, the Gulf of America.
(13:46):
1,000 miles.
Bull sharks.
Now, a very interesting fact: bull sharks have been spotted in (13:50):
undefined
14 different American rivers.
Again, as I just referenced,bull sharks are very aggressive,
very dangerous sharks.
And I just want to ask you, asyou're listening to this
podcast, what might be in yourlife right now, my friends?
(14:13):
What might be in your life rightnow that does not belong?
And is the only reason it canthrive in your life because we
still have some brackish areasin our lives.
We've still got places in ourheart, in our mind that are not
(14:34):
pure.
They're not holy.
We still got some old us leftinside of us somewhere that no
longer belongs.
That the old us, the oldmentality, old habits, old
pleasures.
And the only reason, the onlyreason they're surviving is
(14:54):
because the waters in our livesare brackish.
My friends, I am reminded ofwhat Jesus tells the church in
Laodicea.
You can find it in Revelationchapter 3, beginning with the
14th verse, and it says this,and to the angel of the church
in Laodicea, write, the words ofthe Amen, the faithful and true
(15:16):
witness, the beginning of God'screation.
I know your works.
You are neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either coldor hot.
So because you are lukewarm,neither hot nor cold, I will
spit you out of my mouth.
I want to take you right now toa passage in 1 John chapter 4,
(15:40):
verses 13 through 21.
Just pay close attention andlisten to what this says.
By this we know that we abide inhim and he in us, because he has
given us of his spirit.
And we have seen and testifiedthat the Father has sent his son
to be the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus isthe Son of God, God abides in
(16:04):
him, and he in God.
So we have come to know and tobelieve the love that God has
for us.
God is love.
And whoever abides in loveabides in God, and God abides in
him.
By this is love perfected withus, so that we may have
confidence for the day ofjudgment, because as he is, so
(16:26):
also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love, butperfect love cast out fear.
For fear has to do withpunishment, and whoever fears
has not been perfected in love.
We love because he first lovedus.
Amen.
If anyone says, I love God andhates his brother, he is a liar.
(16:50):
For he who does not love hisbrother, whom he has seen,
cannot love God, whom he has notseen.
And this commandment we havefrom him: whoever loves God must
also love his brother.
Oh, friends, that's so powerful.
What is controlling you today?
(17:13):
Because according to the 19thverse, we do not love people
because of who they are.
Okay?
Again, talking about not placingpeople into categories
Republican, Democrat, uh, thethe wealthy, the poor, the
elite, the blue-collar.
We're not putting people intocategories anymore.
Okay.
They're either saved or they'relost.
(17:36):
Like Paul said, I'm not, I'm notviewing people.
I'm not thinking about this.
I'm not living this life anylonger according to the flesh.
This is gonna be all spiritualfor me.
Do you know why it needs to bespiritual for you?
Because the battle, my friends,is located in the spiritual
realm.
Your enemy is in the spiritualrealm.
(17:58):
Ephesians 6.12 says, For we donot wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers,against the authorities, against
the cosmic powers over thispresent darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil, where?
In the heavenly places.
That's what Paul writes inEphesians 6.12.
(18:19):
Our battle is against thespiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly places.
This is why we can't look atthings up according to the flesh
any longer.
You've got to see it spiritual.
And if you're gonna see itspiritual, then you can only put
people into two different typesof categories.
My friends, they're either savedor they're lost.
(18:44):
Hear that.
They're either saved or they arelost.
So, so we cannot getting back,getting back to 1 John chapter
4, 13 through 21, okay?
We cannot love people because ofwho they are or what they do or
the title they have or how muchmoney they make or who they vote
(19:04):
for or or even what they standfor.
Jesus says that I'm to even loveand you are to even love our
enemies.
Let me just give you a quickrundown, just a few verses.
Proverbs 25, 21.
If your enemy is hungry, givehim food to eat.
And if he's thirsty, give himwater to drink.
Luke 6.27, but I say to you whohear, love your enemies and do
(19:29):
good to those who hate you.
Romans 12 14, bless those whopersecute you, bless and do not
curse.
Matthew 5.44, Jesus says, But Isay to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecuteyou.
So again, I say our love towardspeople cannot be based off of
(19:52):
the decisions that they make,the actions that they're doing,
what political party they lineup into, the categories that
we're looking at people this daymoving forward, my friends, my
brothers and sisters in Christ,if you're not already doing it,
the categories we've got to belooking at people in is saved or
lost.
Do you know when you do that,your whole way of thinking is
(20:14):
going to change?
I guarantee you, I promise youthat.
When you look at people in thosecategories, you you may see them
for what they're doing, it justgets on your nerves.
It gets under your skin.
You despise it, and all of asudden you begin building this
wall up against them.
And if you're not careful, somehatred starts to creep in
(20:34):
because that's what the enemyloves to work with, right?
He's he's using this tool, thisweapon called hatred.
But if you could look at it andsay, you know what, two
categories.
Pastor Lee was talking about howPaul said that we got to be
controlled by the love ofChrist.
I'm no longer looking at thisthing according to the flesh.
There's two categories here.
I'm watching this person thatnormally might get under my
(20:56):
skin, but right now I got torealize that they are not saved.
They are not saved.
And they are, they are not thereal problem here.
The real problem here is thatthey are not saved and that they
are being influenced by thepower of the evil one, which, by
the way, we want to shed lighton that.
(21:16):
We want to share that, and wewant to rescue the unsaved from
this wicked world of sin, evil,and darkness.
It is a sick, lost, dyingsociety.
And here's the good newsChristians, we've got the
answer.
We have the answer.
So again, the reason we got tolook at this thing spiritually
(21:38):
is because it is spiritual.
It is spiritual.
Again, Ephesians 6, 12, Paulsays that that we are wrestling
against spiritual forces of evilthat are located in the heavenly
places.
My friends, when we look at itin saved and lost, we've got
(22:01):
opportunity.
If you're out there listeningstill, I just want you to say
that word out loud.
Opportunity.
We have opportunity to leadpeople to Jesus when we see them
in just two categories (22:12):
saved or lost.
See, we gotta love them becauseGod first loved us.
That's right.
You gotta love those peoplebecause God first loved you.
And I gotta love those peoplebecause God first loved me.
And it's a whole lot easier tolove those types of people when
(22:33):
we can look at them in thosecategories lost or saved.
That's the kind of love thatshould be controlling our lives.
Let's pray.
Father, I thank you so much forthe opportunity to share your
word with your people.
I pray in the name in the bloodof Jesus that today's message
(22:57):
has encouraged every listenerout there.
That you have used it to refreshus, you've used it to recharge
us, you've used it to grow ustoday.
That we can begin to look atpeople in two categories.
They're either saved or they'relost, and we can begin to
understand this truth that weneed to be controlled, as Paul
(23:20):
said he was in his letter to thechurch, Father, that we need to
be controlled by the love ofJesus.
I want the love of Jesus to bewhat controls me every moment of
every day of every decision ofmy life.
For my marriage, for myrelationship with my children,
for my own sake, for myministry.
I want it to be the love ofJesus, Father.
(23:41):
I want it to be the love ofJesus that controls my entire
life.
And I pray that over everyperson that's listening right
now, that it is the love ofJesus Christ that controls them.
And we ask all this in themighty, the precious, the
washing, cleansing blood ofJesus, and all God's people
(24:02):
said.
Amen, amen, and amen.
My friends, do not miss nextweek's episode of Beyond Sunday.
There's another powerful,powerful interview coming at
you.
But this particular interview isgoing to be a little different,
my friends.
I've got a husband and a wifecoming in together to share what
(24:23):
God has done and what God iscontinuing to do in their lives.
Stay tuned.
God bless.
Welcome to this episode of Beyond Sunday, my
friends.
I am your host, Pastor Lee, andI have the privilege of
pastoring the people at ChristFamily Outreach Church located
here in the one and the onlyAmelia County, Virginia.
A couple of weeks ago, I sharedwith those at our midweek
(00:26):
recharge service something Paulwrote.
And right now, we're going todive deeper into it together, my
friends.
I want to ask you the followingquestion.
What is it that controls you?
With that in mind, we're goingto dive right into the word of
God.
So if you got your Bibles, openthem up to 2 Corinthians chapter
(00:49):
5, verses 14 and 15.
And this is what it says.
For the love of Christ controlsus, because we have concluded
this, that one has died for all,therefore all have died.
And he died for all, that thosewho live might no longer live
(01:11):
for themselves, but for him whofor their sake died and was
raised.
My friends, that is just packedfull of some wonderful
information.
So much so that I really didn'tget to preach on the entirety of
what that passage means in thetime frame that we had together
(01:34):
a couple of Thursdays ago.
So, as I mentioned a moment ago,we're just going to dive deeper
into it today.
The question that I want you toconsider, I've already mentioned
in the intro of this show, whatare you controlled by?
What is it that truly controlsyou?
What is it that should becontrolling your decisions every
(01:57):
single moment of every night ofevery day?
Because our reactions, myfriends, our reactions, they're
going to be based off of what iscontrolling us in the moment.
So the answer should be what wejust read together in 2
Corinthians 5.14 and 15.
So let's look at it.
Let's look at it again.
If you've got your Bibles, hereit is.
(02:18):
2 Corinthians 5.14 says, for thelove of Christ controls us.
And that is powerful, brothersand sisters.
That is powerful.
For the love of Christ, Paulwrites, for the love of Christ
controls us.
Is it the love of Christ that iscontrolling you right now in
your morning, in your afternoon,in your night, whenever it is
(02:42):
that you're listening to thisepisode, in whatever type of
storm or trial, whatever type ofmountaintop that you're going
through, maybe it's a valley,what is it that is controlling
you right now?
Have you ever considered thatthe greatest tool for your
ministry in life, your greatestform of outreach to the people
(03:05):
around you, in your home, inyour friend circle, at your job,
out in the community, yourgreatest tool for your ministry
is the literal love of JesusChrist that's found inside of
you.
Or at least as a Christian, as abeliever, as a follower of
Jesus, it's supposed to be,amen.
(03:26):
It's supposed to be found on theinside of you.
And hopefully people don't haveto move a whole lot of things to
try to find it.
Hopefully it is pouring out ofyou.
Amen.
And hopefully it's it's pouringout of my life as well.
But to be controlled by the loveof Christ means that Jesus has
(03:46):
first place.
Not second, not a close second,not a distant third.
But to be controlled by the loveof Christ means that Jesus has
first place in your heart.
And we, just like Paul, we needto see everything through the
lens of God's love.
(04:08):
Paul writes to the church and hesays that it is the love of
Christ that controls us, but buthe doesn't just leave it there.
He he explains why the love ofChrist is in control of them.
He says the love of Christcontrols us, and this is what it
says if you got your Bibles withyou.
(04:29):
He says the love of Christcontrols us because.
And I think that that wordbecause is so huge.
He he he he gives us what he'stalking about and he doesn't
just leave us hanging.
He says the love of Christcontrols us because.
Let me tell you why.
Let me tell you why.
So so I want to go through inthis episode the because.
(04:52):
I want to go through thebecause.
The reasons, the reasons behindwhy it is the love of Christ
that should be controlling us.
The reasons that Paul gives,there's two of them in this
particular passage.
The love of Christ controls us,Paul says, because, because he
(05:16):
he also says this we haveconcluded, we have concluded
this.
To conclude means to arrive at ajudgment or to come to an end.
So, in other words, I know thatthe love of Christ controls me
because X, Y, and Z.
(05:37):
And so I have concluded this.
I've come to the end of thisthought process.
I've made a final judgment.
I have arrived at my judgment onthis.
The love of Christ controls mylife even through this storm,
through this situation, throughthis circumstance, because,
period, my friends.
Period.
The love of Christ controls metoday because, period.
(06:00):
Nothing's gonna change me,nothing's gonna move me.
I'm gonna remain steadfast.
I've made the decision thattoday, when my feet hit the
floor as I get up out of thebed, the love of Christ is going
to control me because X, Y, Z.
Period.
So here we go.
We're gonna we're gonna look atthese two reasons that Paul
(06:22):
mentions.
We're controlled by the love ofChrist because we have
concluded, here it is, he says,we have concluded that Jesus
died for us.
And because he died for us, wemust no longer live for
ourselves, but live for JesusChrist.
Can somebody out there say amenright where you are?
(06:45):
Maybe you're riding in your carand you just need to say, Amen.
Just give a shout, amen.
I have concluded that the loveof Christ is going to control me
because he died for me.
And everybody said again, amen.
And maybe you're at your job andyou need to just give an amen.
Somebody in the cubicle next toyou is gonna ask, what's going
(07:07):
on over there?
Share with them, Jesus Christhas died for you.
Something very interesting takesplace in the next part of the
text.
In 2 Corinthians 5, 16 and 17,Paul writes this to the church.
He says, From now on, therefore,we regard no one according to
the flesh, even though we onceregarded Christ according to the
(07:31):
flesh, we regard him thus nolonger.
Therefore, if anyone is inChrist, he is a new creation.
The old is passed away.
Behold, the new has come.
Man, that is some good wordright there.
The old has passed away, the newhas come.
We are new creations in Christ.
(07:54):
Pulse all people in twocategories.
And I mentioned this in ourrecharge service just a couple
of weeks ago, and I want topoint it out, especially in this
episode.
Paul sees people in twocategories.
And in our lives, in ourministries, in our hearts and
our minds, we should also do thesame.
I want to share with you thesetwo categories that Paul sees
(08:17):
people in that you and I shouldbe seeing people in as well.
Here it is, just two.
Saved and lost.
When we look at people, thosetwo categories are the only two
that we should see them in.
Saved and lost.
Pastor Lee, where are you goingwith this?
Well, the 16th verse, Paul says,from now on, from now on,
(08:39):
therefore, we regard no oneaccording to the flesh.
That's so good, man.
In other words, we're no longerlooking at people the way we
used to look at people.
The waters will no longer bemuddied here.
Because what's more importantabout me making excuses for them
doing what they're doing is toactually address the issue of
(09:04):
salvation.
They are either saved or they'relost.
So if you're not looking atpeople in these two categories,
and there was a time in my lifewhere I didn't either, then that
means you're categorizing theminto many different ones.
Are they rich or are they poor?
Are they Republican or are theyDemocrat?
(09:25):
Oh, I think we're all guilty ofthat, aren't we?
Are they educated orblue-collar?
When you put people intocategories that are not
spiritual, you run the risk ofnot helping people who need help
the most.
Now, I'm gonna say that againbecause it's it's it's it's it's
noteworthy.
You need to write that down.
(09:46):
When you put people intocategories that are not
spiritual, you run the risk ofnot helping people who need help
the most.
Paul says what matters the mostis that we see people
spiritually.
Are they saved or are they lost?
The rich need salvation just asmuch as the poor need salvation.
(10:10):
Oh, now look, here's one thatpeople might have have a hard
time coming to grips with.
Republicans and Democrats needsalvation just as much as the
other one does.
The educated and the elite needsalvation just as much as the
blue-collar worker does.
Can somebody say amen out thereto that?
(10:32):
You see, we begin to break downwalls and we begin to remove
barriers when the love of JesusChrist is what's controlling us.
And I promise you, we're gonnabegin to see things differently
when it is the love of JesusChrist that is controlling us.
And not only will we see thingsdifferently, here's why we're
gonna see it differently.
Because we're going from seeingit according to the flesh and
(10:54):
worldly standards to now seeingit spiritually.
We're gonna see thingsspiritually when it is the love
of Jesus Christ that controlsus.
Now, I want you to considersomething that Paul writes in
the 17th verse.
He writes, therefore, if anyoneis in Christ, he is a new
creation.
The old is passed away.
(11:16):
Behold, the new has come.
Oh my goodness.
Just welcome the new you.
Amen.
Welcome the new you that is onlyfound in Jesus Christ as risen
Lord and Savior, our Messiah,our Redeemer.
The new you.
Here's the deal a life sold outfor Jesus Christ is a life that
(11:39):
has been completely changed.
Completely changed.
That old you has to be ruined,has to be wrecked, has to be
dead.
And it cannot, hear this,friends.
It cannot remain attached to thenew life.
That's why the new life iscalled new.
(12:01):
It's called new.
At a recharge service a coupleof weeks ago, I gave an example
of the old trying to remainattached to the new.
And the example that I gave ishow uh we have rivers that pour
into the ocean.
And there's a portion of theriver that is called brackish.
(12:24):
Brackish water is where thefreshwater meets the salt water.
And the freshwater for a ways upriver has a level of salt
concentration in it.
Although it's lower than theocean, obviously, of course, but
it is still there.
There's still some level of saltthere.
It's called brackish.
(12:45):
In some freshwater rivers nearwhere they pour into the ocean
or bays, they they've actuallyseen saltwater fish, even sharks
swimming around.
Now, those, those, thosesaltwater fish, they they can
live there, but they cannotthrive there.
They cannot be healthy there.
(13:05):
And that reminds me of old sinthat we try to take along with
us into our new life.
It cannot and it should not bethriving there, but it's still
there nonetheless, swimming andlurking somewhere that it does
not belong.
Now, listen up.
(13:25):
You can you could you couldcheck this out for yourself,
Google search it, whatever youwant to do, but I'm about to
give you some interesting facts.
Bull sharks, a very aggressivespecies, bull sharks have been
seen 1,000 miles up theMississippi River from the Gulf
of Mexico, or now as people maycall it, the Gulf of America.
(13:46):
1,000 miles.
Bull sharks.
Now, a very interesting fact: bull sharks have been spotted in (13:50):
undefined
14 different American rivers.
Again, as I just referenced,bull sharks are very aggressive,
very dangerous sharks.
And I just want to ask you, asyou're listening to this
podcast, what might be in yourlife right now, my friends?
(14:13):
What might be in your life rightnow that does not belong?
And is the only reason it canthrive in your life because we
still have some brackish areasin our lives.
We've still got places in ourheart, in our mind that are not
(14:34):
pure.
They're not holy.
We still got some old us leftinside of us somewhere that no
longer belongs.
That the old us, the oldmentality, old habits, old
pleasures.
And the only reason, the onlyreason they're surviving is
(14:54):
because the waters in our livesare brackish.
My friends, I am reminded ofwhat Jesus tells the church in
Laodicea.
You can find it in Revelationchapter 3, beginning with the
14th verse, and it says this,and to the angel of the church
in Laodicea, write, the words ofthe Amen, the faithful and true
(15:16):
witness, the beginning of God'screation.
I know your works.
You are neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either coldor hot.
So because you are lukewarm,neither hot nor cold, I will
spit you out of my mouth.
I want to take you right now toa passage in 1 John chapter 4,
(15:40):
verses 13 through 21.
Just pay close attention andlisten to what this says.
By this we know that we abide inhim and he in us, because he has
given us of his spirit.
And we have seen and testifiedthat the Father has sent his son
to be the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus isthe Son of God, God abides in
(16:04):
him, and he in God.
So we have come to know and tobelieve the love that God has
for us.
God is love.
And whoever abides in loveabides in God, and God abides in
him.
By this is love perfected withus, so that we may have
confidence for the day ofjudgment, because as he is, so
(16:26):
also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love, butperfect love cast out fear.
For fear has to do withpunishment, and whoever fears
has not been perfected in love.
We love because he first lovedus.
Amen.
If anyone says, I love God andhates his brother, he is a liar.
(16:50):
For he who does not love hisbrother, whom he has seen,
cannot love God, whom he has notseen.
And this commandment we havefrom him: whoever loves God must
also love his brother.
Oh, friends, that's so powerful.
What is controlling you today?
(17:13):
Because according to the 19thverse, we do not love people
because of who they are.
Okay?
Again, talking about not placingpeople into categories
Republican, Democrat, uh, thethe wealthy, the poor, the
elite, the blue-collar.
We're not putting people intocategories anymore.
Okay.
They're either saved or they'relost.
(17:36):
Like Paul said, I'm not, I'm notviewing people.
I'm not thinking about this.
I'm not living this life anylonger according to the flesh.
This is gonna be all spiritualfor me.
Do you know why it needs to bespiritual for you?
Because the battle, my friends,is located in the spiritual
realm.
Your enemy is in the spiritualrealm.
(17:58):
Ephesians 6.12 says, For we donot wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers,against the authorities, against
the cosmic powers over thispresent darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil, where?
In the heavenly places.
That's what Paul writes inEphesians 6.12.
(18:19):
Our battle is against thespiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly places.
This is why we can't look atthings up according to the flesh
any longer.
You've got to see it spiritual.
And if you're gonna see itspiritual, then you can only put
people into two different typesof categories.
My friends, they're either savedor they're lost.
(18:44):
Hear that.
They're either saved or they arelost.
So, so we cannot getting back,getting back to 1 John chapter
4, 13 through 21, okay?
We cannot love people because ofwho they are or what they do or
the title they have or how muchmoney they make or who they vote
(19:04):
for or or even what they standfor.
Jesus says that I'm to even loveand you are to even love our
enemies.
Let me just give you a quickrundown, just a few verses.
Proverbs 25, 21.
If your enemy is hungry, givehim food to eat.
And if he's thirsty, give himwater to drink.
Luke 6.27, but I say to you whohear, love your enemies and do
(19:29):
good to those who hate you.
Romans 12 14, bless those whopersecute you, bless and do not
curse.
Matthew 5.44, Jesus says, But Isay to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecuteyou.
So again, I say our love towardspeople cannot be based off of
(19:52):
the decisions that they make,the actions that they're doing,
what political party they lineup into, the categories that
we're looking at people this daymoving forward, my friends, my
brothers and sisters in Christ,if you're not already doing it,
the categories we've got to belooking at people in is saved or
lost.
Do you know when you do that,your whole way of thinking is
(20:14):
going to change?
I guarantee you, I promise youthat.
When you look at people in thosecategories, you you may see them
for what they're doing, it justgets on your nerves.
It gets under your skin.
You despise it, and all of asudden you begin building this
wall up against them.
And if you're not careful, somehatred starts to creep in
(20:34):
because that's what the enemyloves to work with, right?
He's he's using this tool, thisweapon called hatred.
But if you could look at it andsay, you know what, two
categories.
Pastor Lee was talking about howPaul said that we got to be
controlled by the love ofChrist.
I'm no longer looking at thisthing according to the flesh.
There's two categories here.
I'm watching this person thatnormally might get under my
(20:56):
skin, but right now I got torealize that they are not saved.
They are not saved.
And they are, they are not thereal problem here.
The real problem here is thatthey are not saved and that they
are being influenced by thepower of the evil one, which, by
the way, we want to shed lighton that.
(21:16):
We want to share that, and wewant to rescue the unsaved from
this wicked world of sin, evil,and darkness.
It is a sick, lost, dyingsociety.
And here's the good newsChristians, we've got the
answer.
We have the answer.
So again, the reason we got tolook at this thing spiritually
(21:38):
is because it is spiritual.
It is spiritual.
Again, Ephesians 6, 12, Paulsays that that we are wrestling
against spiritual forces of evilthat are located in the heavenly
places.
My friends, when we look at itin saved and lost, we've got
(22:01):
opportunity.
If you're out there listeningstill, I just want you to say
that word out loud.
Opportunity.
We have opportunity to leadpeople to Jesus when we see them
in just two categories (22:12):
saved or lost.
See, we gotta love them becauseGod first loved us.
That's right.
You gotta love those peoplebecause God first loved you.
And I gotta love those peoplebecause God first loved me.
And it's a whole lot easier tolove those types of people when
(22:33):
we can look at them in thosecategories lost or saved.
That's the kind of love thatshould be controlling our lives.
Let's pray.
Father, I thank you so much forthe opportunity to share your
word with your people.
I pray in the name in the bloodof Jesus that today's message
(22:57):
has encouraged every listenerout there.
That you have used it to refreshus, you've used it to recharge
us, you've used it to grow ustoday.
That we can begin to look atpeople in two categories.
They're either saved or they'relost, and we can begin to
understand this truth that weneed to be controlled, as Paul
(23:20):
said he was in his letter to thechurch, Father, that we need to
be controlled by the love ofJesus.
I want the love of Jesus to bewhat controls me every moment of
every day of every decision ofmy life.
For my marriage, for myrelationship with my children,
for my own sake, for myministry.
I want it to be the love ofJesus, Father.
(23:41):
I want it to be the love ofJesus that controls my entire
life.
And I pray that over everyperson that's listening right
now, that it is the love ofJesus Christ that controls them.
And we ask all this in themighty, the precious, the
washing, cleansing blood ofJesus, and all God's people
(24:02):
said.
Amen, amen, and amen.
My friends, do not miss nextweek's episode of Beyond Sunday.
There's another powerful,powerful interview coming at
you.
But this particular interview isgoing to be a little different,
my friends.
I've got a husband and a wifecoming in together to share what
(24:23):
God has done and what God iscontinuing to do in their lives.
Stay tuned.
God bless.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!