Taking the Ground of the New Man — Keith Malcomson

Praise God. Please turn with me in your Bibles. We're going to Ephesians chapter four and Colossians chapter three this morning. Welcome to School of Christ this morning. If you haven't been with us this week, you've missed a great blessing.

We've already gone through a week of the School of Christ. We've got two weeks still to come. It's been a powerful, very blessed week of prayer, meeting together, being together, just sitting under the Word of God, series after series, message after message.

And we thank God for just working in our hearts, people from different nations, different cultures, different colors. I love it. But there's only one people born again by the grace and the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise God. It's a wonderful thing when God works in your heart. This morning, early this morning, we dealt with part three of our series on sanctification concerning putting on the new man in Christ Jesus.

Taking the Ground of the New Man

I want to go to our fourth and our last lesson in the sanctification series. My title is Taking the Ground of the New Man. Taking the Ground of the New Man. Reading from Colossians chapter three and verse one.

It says, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections above, not on things on the earth, for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members, which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiness, covetousness, which is idolatry, for which things say, the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience, and to which ye also walked sometime when ye lived in them.

But listen, the saints of God, but now ye also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, scythian, bond or free, but Christ is all and in all.

Then read on as well from Ephesians chapter four, very briefly, Ephesians chapter four and verse 13, it says, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

And then Ephesians chapter four, 24 lastly, and it says, and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Let's pray here together. Father, we do thank you, God, for the new man in Christ Jesus.

Lord God, help us to put off the old, the old Adamic nature, the old man, the old life, both individually and as a church gathered together. And Lord God, that we might put on the new man, the Lord Jesus Christ and everything that he means, his character, his nature, his way of thinking, his way of working.

Father, I pray, oh God, grant us grace this morning. Lord God, as an act of holiness that we put on Christ, that we put on this new man. Lord God, not molded by this world, but Lord God, according to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We love you and ask for your blessing on the word of God. Touch every heart, stir us to holiness, to see that even our sanctification is in Christ, by Christ, through Christ, and for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

My God, let it be by faith today that even as we hear the word of God, we will reach out and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, that you might be glorified in our lives. In Jesus' mighty name. Our message taken, the ground of the new man.

The New Man Is the Person of Christ

We've already seen this morning about putting on the new man, which is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there is one particular application of this truth that I wanna stress to you this morning.

Taking the ground of the new man, or what we're calling the heavenly man. There is an entire lifestyle, an entire character, an entire way of thinking, and it's the person of Christ. In him, you have the new man.

You are commanded in Ephesians and Colossians, put on the new man. What is this new man? Who is this new man? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether you consider the new man personally, for you and your salvation experience, or collectively as the whole new local church, putting on the new man.

The word of God is very clear here about the absolute necessity of moving onto the ground of the new man. God will never deal with you on that old ground or anything outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has nothing to say to you.

He will not work with you. You've got nothing to say to God in your own self. It is only in this new man that you've got access to God. You can pray, and the God will deal with you only in the new man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no word from God for you. There is no prayer from you that can be answered unless it is upon this ground. If you're not standing upon the ground of the heavenly man, the new man, the person of Christ, you're not in the right position to receive or even to function in the church.

You see, God's attitude towards this is very simple. If you want him to speak to you, you have to leave the old ground of Adam, of the flesh, of the old nature, and move onto the new man. You've got to stand there, and being in that position, God speaks to you in this position of the new man.

All sin and unbelief are products of that old man. You cannot be fleshly, carnal, living your own life, and yet God have a deal with you. Christ is the only ground of God's dwelling with man. God will only dwell with you through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ on this ground.

Christ as the Heavenly Ground of Sanctification

First, as we look at this, we see that the father has set forth his son, Jesus Christ, to be that ground. It is heavenly ground. That's what we're calling it. He is the heavenly man. This is the ground you must stand on if God the father is gonna have a deal with you.

Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God, and that is God's ground alone. God will not recognize any other ground. He won't anoint you on any other basis. He will not speak to you on any other basis. If you wish to have anything to do with God, or if you wish God to have anything to do with you, it must be in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so we see in this subject of sanctification, being made holy, what is it really? It is being conformed to the image of Christ. What is holiness? Just becoming more like Jesus. It's his life being revealed in us and through us to the glory of God.

That is sanctification, being conformed to the image of Jesus, but it's only upon the ground of Jesus. He is set forth, he is sealed, he is anointed of the Holy Ghost. And it is only in this position of the son of God that there's an open heaven.

Do you want an open heaven above you? Do you want the Holy Spirit to come down on you? Do you want God's hand to rest upon you? Then just get on the heavenly ground, get out of the flesh, move away from your old life, move away from Adam and stand on that ground and look above you for an open heaven and for the Holy Spirit to come down.

That is the place of blessing. That is the place of God's provision. That's the place where God will always speak to you when you need it. Just stand in that position of Christ. I'm talking about the new man.

Jacob's Ladder and Christ as the Open Heaven

This is the new man, whether individually or us as an entire church. How wonderful that Jesus Christ is everything that we ever needed. This is so beautifully portrayed in Genesis chapter 28. We know about Jacob's vision when he had the dream in the night as he lay sleeping.

He saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven and angels were ascending and descending upon that ladder. Do you know what he called the place when he woke up? He said, this is Bethel, meaning the house of God.

He said this place where the ladder comes down and angels ascend and descend, this place is God's house, where this ladder descends onto. In the Bible, unless it's a person's house, when it talks about the house of God, it talks of Jesus Christ being that house.

He is a picture of God's house and we can dwell in that house. If you find God's house, I'm in Christ, you will find the presence of God, the provision of God, the angels of God. They ascend only around the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you know over in the New Testament, we read about Jesus talking to Nathanael in John chapter one. Listen to what he said. Ye shall see heaven open. Do you wanna open heaven this morning? Then it's on a certain type of ground.

And he said to Nathanael, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. This is a direct quote from Genesis 28. In Genesis 28, we see a ladder with the angels ascending and descending.

But in John chapter one, it is Jesus who is the ladder. We no longer see the ladder. We see the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. You see, many are trying to get things in the kingdom of God, but they ignore the Lord Jesus Christ.

They don't stand in the position of Christ. And they wonder why nothing happens. Why is God not speaking to me? Maybe you're not in the right position. Maybe he's not in the place that he told you to stand in.

The Two Races: Adam and the New Man in Christ

The meaning of the divine appointment of the Son. God has appointed a son. He'll never deal with you apart from his son. Unless you seek for him by way of the son, you're gonna miss it all. It's all in the son.

Only in the son. Only through the son. And using the term heavenly man, we are doing something more than just referring to a divine person called the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen carefully. When we talk about the heavenly man or the new man, we are talking about a whole new order of mankind.

I mean a whole new racial order. There's only two races in our world. There aren't many races. There's many nations, many colors, many tongues, many languages. But there's only two races. Either you're of Adam or you're of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, when Christ came, he didn't only come as an individual man. He now represents an entire new race. I mean a new culture. I mean a new racial group. And that racial group that are in Christ that belong to the family of Christ, they have a certain way of acting, of thinking, of talking, of believing.

Do you know what it is? When you look at Christ, you see heavenly life. It is life from heaven. He is the son of man. In other words, when you look at Christ, you see what Christ expects a man to be in a born again condition.

Whenever you deal with that term, the heavenly man, you see a whole entire heavenly order. Our life is to be in heaven. Do you realize that? We don't live our lifetime here. As a Christian, I live my life.

I have my conversation in heaven with Jesus Christ. Every word, every conversation, every relationship, we live it as if we are dwelling in the very presence of God. I'm talking about a whole new culture here.

You know, in this new world order, they're trying to bring in a whole new civilization, a whole new culture, mixing all the world into one new culture. I wanna promise you, it's not an original thought.

With the Lord Jesus Christ, here came a whole new civilization that wasn't gonna be like this world. We are different saints. We are part of an entire culture, an entire civilization that comes out of heaven.

When we speak about the heavenly man, we're talking about a lifestyle. When he walked in this earth, he walked both as God and man, but I'm not talking about him in his divinity as God. I'm talking about Christ as the heavenly man who came as a man to live upon the earth.

What he is, how he lived on the earth is what God is changing us into. In him, we see the kind of man that God actually wants us to be, what he is changing us into. God can only deal with that kind of man.

So we must leave the ground of Adam, the old racial order. You know what Adam looks like. All of us know what Adam looks like. I meet Adam on the corner of the street. I go, you're Adam. If ever I met Adam, you are part of that racial order.

I can go to any country in this world, any city, any town. I meet a man or woman and I go, you're part of a different race. You're part of this new man in Christ Jesus. I'm listening to you. Five minutes I'm with them, and I'm saying, you're my brother.

You're my sister. Bone of bone, flesh of flesh. You think in a certain way. You believe in a certain way. You walk in a certain way. Do you realize you're a family member? It wasn't long after Rory walked in the door just over a year and a half ago, I said, I think I'm dealing with a family member here.

You don't know when they walk in the door, but watch how he responds to the word. I believe in the authority of scripture. Oh, this is looking good. He believes in the authority of this book. I love Jesus Christ.

Man, this is getting better. You see, I'm dealing with a racial order. I'm dealing with a person that is not born after Adam. I know what Adam's like. I know what Adam's race is like. I know how they think, how they manipulate, how they lie, how they maneuver things.

But I also know what a Christian looks like. Oh, even in its weakest state, I can identify what that new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ is. You see, it is only when a man believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That term belief, we've destroyed it in our generation. Everyone says, I believe in Christ, but you don't see the new creature, the new civilization, the new man in Christ. Anyone could say, I have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but there's no change within their life.

That's just a mental thing of their own mind, but it's not an absolute committal of their life to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a moving off the ground of Adam onto the ground of the Lord Jesus Christ, from the old man into the new man.

I've met a lot of people in the church. They have put on the old man. They live in the old man. They function in the old man. When they speak, I hear the old man. When they give opinions, I go, that's the old man.

But there is another type of person in the church. When they give their opinion, I go, that's heavenly opinions. When I see their actions and their conversation, I go, their lifestyle has come from heaven.

It's not of this world. It is the absolute committal of ourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what makes a Christian a Christian. Failure to make this real. What we just heard, you must be born again.

You must be born again. There is no other way. We think that's a simple decision. No, it's a radical change of order. You've been taken out of a racial culture and civilization. It is bad things, and you've been brought into the Lord Jesus Christ.

New Birth and Spiritual Education

Do you realize I'm talking about sanctification here? If you're in the new man, this is everything I wanna be. Lord Jesus changed me. This is what I wanna be. What Christ was in the scriptures, that's what I'm being changed into.

This is what we need to get back to in the church of our day. In our churches today, we give all of our money to prepare buildings for a bunch of tares. We bring them in, say a little sinner's prayer.

Do you wanna go to hell? No, I don't wanna go to hell. Do you wanna go to heaven? Yes, I wanna go to heaven. Do you believe God is real? Yes, then say this prayer after me. There, you're a born again Christian.

Now we'll baptize you, we'll pray for you in an altar, and we'll say welcome to the body of Christ. You've said a little prayer. Saints, we need to know that to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ means you've moved onto a new ground, into a new civilization, into a new way of acting.

You don't have rights to live out of Adam any longer. For this to be our nature, we must move position. Saints, it's time that the church again learns what true spiritual education is. It's not mental education.

It's not information. It's not storing up more sermons. The word of God, if it doesn't affect you this morning, there's something terribly bad with you. If you say amen and walk out and it has no effect, saints, you need to get on your knees and repent again.

You've become a hearer of the word, but not a doer of the word. That's a dangerous position when the word of God has no impact anymore, no sanctifying power. Do you know what's wrong with you? You're not in that position of the new man.

If you were on the ground of the Lord Jesus Christ, when you heard the word of God, you'd say, oh God, change me. Oh God, move on me. Oh God, work in this heart. But when you move off that ground and you're on the ground of Adam, you know what, you're casual.

You can shout amen and go out and care less. That is not the ground of the new man. What is true spiritual education? It is growth in the spirit. If you're not changing, if you're not growing, then you're not maturing.

If all you do is gain years, gain knowledge, but never move in your spiritual life, you're not growing. You see, true spiritual growth and education means there is a maturing within the life. You're overcoming sin, you're overcoming obstacles.

Maturity, Hebrews, and the Process of Growth

There's too many in the church, like in the book of Hebrews, it said there was a day when you were a teacher, you could have taught everyone. Now you've become a baby. Do you know you can lose maturity in the body of Christ?

You could be a two year saved, you could be a mature Christian. And by the time you get 30 years down the road, you're a babe that needs to be fed milk again. There was a day when you ate meat, you sat down to a big steak.

You went, man, I can't wait to eat this steak. Now you say, just give me a little bit of a bottle of milk. You know what's happened? You lost your maturity. It happened to the Hebrews. It happened in Bible days.

Paul had a deal with it in the church. What happened to you? I should, you should be teaching others. And yet now I'm having to feed you like you're a little babe in my arms. You know, the church of our generation has moved off the ground of this new civilization.

They think God blesses you when you live in Adam. You can be out there in the flesh, in carnality. You don't obey the word of God. You don't live it out. You don't speak it. You don't think it. Oh God bless me.

Oh God fill me. Why isn't he answering? Because you're not standing on the right ground for God to answer. Now there's some things that die instantly when you get born again. When someone gets born again, you're gonna stop getting drunk.

You're gonna stop sleeping with your girlfriend. Those things instantly stop. You don't need someone to beg you. You're gonna desire to be at the house of God. Someone who says they're born again and it can't get them to church.

There's something wrong. There's something terribly wrong. They need to deal with an issue in that heart. But you know what? There are things that change instantly, but I've got an entire life to be changed.

There's an entire civilization I've come into. I'm a newborn Christian. I'm a babe in Christ. This is all new to me. I love it. I desire it. This is my new home. But do you know what? There's so much of this ground I haven't been to.

When Hannah first came into Ireland, flew in, oh, the cows, the green fields, how I love Ireland. But there's a lot of ground she hasn't seen. She's here and she loves it, but she's seen very little of the ground.

Spoken to very few people apart from Farmer Jo. She hasn't seen all the hills, all the valleys, all the mountains. But do you know what? She's embarking on a whole new culture in life. She found herself an Irishman.

All the time, she's becoming more and more Irish. I think I even hear her speaking a bit Irish. I start going, she's conforming. One of these days, you'll have someone come in here and say, you must be a real Irish lass and girl.

You've so conformed to the whole culture. You speak like it, you think like it, you act like it. I hope not in every way, Hannah. But all of this, there's a conforming where you can't tell the difference.

Do you realize when you're born again, there's a lot of ground to cover? There's a lot of changes to endure. It's only a beginning, but since you're in a whole new culture, there is one act in the beginning of this journey, one step away from the old man.

That ground was your entire life. That way of speaking, thinking, acting, doing, that was your entire life. You couldn't go beyond that. You couldn't think beyond it. Now you move on to the new ground in Jesus Christ.

You know what this is? This is spiritual education. This is growth in the spirit. This is sanctification. This is becoming more like Jesus Christ. I'm talking about taking the new ground. Go in and possess this ground.

Oh, well, I'm just waiting around here. I hope God brings it to me. You better start putting feet to your legs. You better start walking and saying, I want the ground. I want to go forward. Now this truth is illustrated in the case of Nicodemus in the New Testament in John chapter three.

Nicodemus and the Necessity of the New Birth

Nicodemus, a religious man, a good man as far as this world goes, a man who knew the Old Testament scriptures. He knew the truth, the morality, the ethics. I believe he was a very moral man, a very good man, a very well-taught man, a man of earnest sincerity.

He comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what he says. Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher sent from God. He addressed him as a teacher, one who could teach him. I'm coming to you as a teacher.

I want to learn. I want education. I have heard of the miracles that you're doing. I believe you've got something in part. I want to learn something. I want educated. I want to learn this new information.

Do you know what Christ says to him? You've got it. Ye must be born again. Twice in John chapter three we read, you must be born again. Can you imagine this mature man, this man of years with great respect, reputation, enormous learning, years of study, and you say, you come to me to be taught?

Do you know what? You can't be taught. I can't teach you what you need to learn. You know what? Until you are born again, you need a radical new birth to bring you onto this new ground. As soon as you're born again, you're in a position to be taught.

Christ can't teach you anything. We could teach you the entire Bible, and yet it has no effect on your life. You must be born again. This is the great necessity, and this is where the church of our generation has gone wrong.

Oh, born again, that's old hat. That's simple. How many times have we heard someone say, it's simple to get someone born again? That's a lie from the pit of hell. It's easy to get them to say your prayer, easy to get them to think the way you think, but I assure you to be born of God and to come onto the new man, the new ground, the heavenly ground, that takes a miracle.

No man can come unless God draws him. You can't even desire God unless God drew you supernaturally. It is an act of his grace, an act of his mercy. Follow the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, and you find you must be born again.

You know what he was saying to Nicodemus? You don't fit here. You don't get in the door here. You don't have access here. You can't even begin to open up what is held within me. All knowledge is held in Christ, and you have no access.

You have to become like a child. You must be born again. You know what he said? You need to die and be raised again. You need to die to that old ground. You need to die to that old lifestyle. You need an experience of coming to the end of yourself and then to cross over and have a resurrection where in that supernatural resurrection, you become a new creature, a new person, and you begin an entire new lifestyle.

The Greeks Seek Jesus and the Way of Death

Now teach me. Teach me how to grow. I've seen it all through the years, people who thought they were theologians. The word isn't in the Bible. They have desired to listen to YouTube videos without number.

I've met them. They've never been a member of a church. They've never walked right. They've never tithed. They've never given to God. They've never been to a prayer meeting, but they have watched every YouTube video that you can possibly imagine.

They know more than you could ever learn in a lifetime. YouTube has educated them, but you meet them and say, where's your local church? Oh, I don't need a church. Where are you given? Oh, I do with my money what I want to do.

You hear all of this. You know what they're saying? You haven't been born again. There's something wrong because if you're born again, you desire to listen. This truth is set forth in the inquiry of the Greeks that came seeking for Jesus.

In John chapter 12, certain Greeks came to the feast in Jerusalem. They find Philip, one of the disciples of Jesus. And they said to Philip, knowing that Philip is a disciple, someone close to Jesus. They said to him, Sir, we would see Jesus.

All these Greek Gentiles come up to the feast. We want to see him. We have a desire. We have a longing. We know there's something we haven't seen. Isn't it wonderful when you meet a sinner and they say, I'm seeking for something I've never experienced.

I know there's something more. There's always hope for that person. When Jesus was told about the inquiring Greeks, he said, listen his answer. We want to see Jesus. What's he going to answer? In John 12, 23 and 24, Jesus says the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone. But if it die, it beareth much fruit. Can you imagine these people saying, I want to see Jesus.

I want to see his miracles. I want to see his glory. I want to see the one that I've heard about, the greatest teacher, the greatest miracle worker, the new man, the heavenly man. I want to see him. I want to hear him.

I want an experience with him. What does Jesus say? Unless the corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies and then bears fruit, you've got to die and come alive. You want to see me. You want to see Christ.

You want to hear the voice of Christ. You cannot as you are. You're going to have to die and come alive again. You need a supernatural experience. That's what Jesus is saying here. If the Greeks are to see him, they must come on his ground, no other ground.

You don't decide how you come to God. Well, haven't we seen hundreds, hundreds, literally hundreds come through this church. They come in. They say, I've been looking for this church. This is my church.

Paul and Soph over the years, we've looked at a watch and go, how long do you think they'll be here? Saints, I'm not making fun. I'm not making light. But there's lots of people who think they're looking for Jesus.

But when they find out it means a death and a resurrection, do you realize to know Christ, to believe what's being taught here will mean your death? It'll mean the demise of your ambitions, of your dreams, of your visions.

You'll have to become that corn of wheat that falls into the ground. Oh no, I don't want that. I just want the excitement. I want to be a part of this. It means your death. Those Greeks could not come in and see Christ without hearing it'll mean your death.

You will have to fall into the ground and die. Do you want to suffer? Do you want your name to be mocked? Do you want to lose friends? Do you want people to mock you or ridicule you? Do you want your heart broken in two?

Don't you realize death does bring you to resurrection, but very few actually want to go the way of death. When they come, they must come on that ground. You must be born again. You Greeks must be born again.

Nicodemus, you must be born again. Only as you stand on this new ground, you get eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to receive. How do I know a Christian when I meet them? They've got ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to receive and understand.

I meet someone, their ears are closed. Haven't we met them? You'll tell them what Jesus said and they'll call you a Pharisee. They'll say, you're as black as my boots. We had a guy come in here, a ex-guard, a police officer.

He sat there at the back. I went, man, he fell asleep during the whole message. And then just before the end, he exploded. He was listening all the time. He wasn't sleeping on me, I want to assure you.

He exploded. He got up and come for me. Paul and Sue stood up. When they seen the height of him, they sat back down again. Sorry, guys. That man come up, starts saying, you're as black as my boot. You know that guy?

He wasn't paying his tax on his car, his insurance on that car. He said, I'm under grace. I don't need to pay those things. I'm free from the law of the land. I can do anything I want. And in that message that I preached, I stood all over his toes.

He's an angry man. And he's saying, you're a legalist. You're as black as my boot. You're deceiving this people. No, I'm a Christian. You see, that man never got in on this ground. He had never been born again.

Forsaking Natural Ground and Religious Division

All natural ground must be forsaken. In the dispensation of God, it is not meeting Jew or Gentiles as Jew and Gentiles. It's not about Jews and Gentiles. All that ground has to be forsaken. I don't care if you're a Jew.

I don't care what your family background is. It matters nothing here. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, a Greek or a Hindu. It doesn't matter whether you're a religious or an atheist. You're not a special person because you backslid 10 times.

We're not going to treat you like a hero. You're treasonable in the house of God. Since there's only one racial family means anything, not Jew or Gentile, but the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the reason why I don't have a lot of time for this messianic Jewish stuff that goes through the church.

Messianic churches, why are they not joining with us Gentiles? Why do they want us to conform? Prayer shawls, skull caps, all of this ritual. Since when did a Gentile have to conform to that? I want my Jesus roots, not my Jewish roots.

Oh, do you know that we're full Jews? We're the most perfect Christians. You actually aren't a best Christian unless you've come through Judaism. What a load of tripe. Saints of God, there's only true racial orders.

Either you're in Adam or you're in the Lord Jesus Christ. I could care less what your background is, your color, your country, your citizenship. Are you born again? That's the only thing that matters.

You don't bring all of these isms into the church, divide in the church. I think we need a youth church that meets separately. Really, really. I think we need an African church that has a different style of worship.

I think we need a Hebrew speaking church since we're one body of Christ. That's the beauty of this. All the different countries, we come together in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not gonna meet you as a Jew or a Greek, a male or a female.

He's not gonna meet you on the basis of being black or white, none of these things. Are you standing on heavenly ground? Have you come onto his ground? Are you standing on that old ground? You know what?

I think this church should be like this. I think the preaching should be like this. I think the prayer should be like this. I think we should do this in the city. I think we should have a feeding program.

Well, you already know what I think of all that. The Lord will not meet us on that old ground. Come onto the new man. He tells you what to do. You're gonna conform. This is what the church is. This is what a preacher is.

This is what preaching and ministry is. This is what evangelism is. Oh no, I wanna bring my isms in here. I wanna bring my program. Sorry, not in here. This is a church. This is a new civilization. This is a new man in Christ Jesus.

You don't bring all of your ideas in with you. Well, I think it's okay to get tattoos as a Christian. You're on the wrong ground. I believe we can have the music of this world look like them, act like them.