All Things Are Possible

Dr. Bernie Miller: You know you watch the bottom line. You know you don't write a check if you don't have the money in the bank. Well, if you watch the bottom line in your bank, why don't you watch the bottom line in your spiritual life? You ought to be ready for Christ's coming. That ought to be just as important to you as the bottom line in your bank.

Guest (Male): New Covenant Fellowship Church. In-person worship Sunday mornings at 10:30, 1326 North Moore Road in Chattanooga. New Covenant Fellowship Church, a place for every race. Now from New Covenant Fellowship Church, All Things Are Possible. At New Covenant, we show and grow people in Christ and glorify God.

It's what we believe. To say it another way, if you're looking to worship in a place without having to worry about what to wear or a plate being passed for money, come to New Covenant. Every Sunday morning at 10:30, you'll enjoy great music and solid teaching from the Bible. You'll find us on North Moore Road in Chattanooga with directions right to our door at NCF.church. New Covenant Fellowship Church, we are a place for every race. And here's Pastor Bernie Miller.

Dr. Bernie Miller: How many of you know people who will believe anything about themselves if they hear it over and over and over again? I mean, when some of you were growing up, you heard, "You'll never. You will never. You're probably. You're just like. You're not..." I mean, you heard all of these negative things when you were growing up.

I took this little survey. Have you ever taken one of those online quizzes: Which Bible character are you? I took one. It said I was Jonah. I thought, "That can't be true. I can't even swim." And I love sushi. I wouldn't have come out; I'd have still been in there eating. Then, "What kind of bread are you?" It said I was sourdough. I was really confused about that one. Am I running from God or just a little bitter?

I didn't understand that. But some of us live our whole lives like that, letting our mistakes, our family, or our friends define us and label us. People say some of the weirdest things. Someone said that they stopped going to church because the church has a bunch of hypocrites. And I said, "Okay, so where do you go? Because I want to know wherever you go now and there are no hypocrites in there, let me know so I can stop by and figure out what they're doing that we need to be doing here."

Because I'm a hypocrite and a lot of y'all are too if you just say the truth about it. We all at some point have been hypocrites. But what amazes me is that even doctors can be hypocrites. Now, I know they take this Hippocratic oath and they're not supposed to share anything with anyone, but do you know they have to share our information with other people?

"Wait a minute, I thought you took an oath?" But then they shared our information with another specialist, another doctor, a nurse, or whatever. But that's a different kind of Hippocratic. That's something different there. But I've learned something since I gave my life to Christ. You don't know who you are by looking at yourself. You know who you are by looking at Christ.

It's in Him, the Bible says in Acts, that we live and move and have our being. If you let the world define you, you'll believe you're deformed. But if you let Christ define you, you'll be transformed. Now, some of y'all need to shout on that one because y'all are walking around like deformed people. Your ego's deformed and everything else because you believed a lie that somebody told you when you were really small and it still stuck with you.

They told you you'd never amount to nothing. So even though you've got a good job, even though you've been promoted, even though you've got all those things going on in your life, you still have that little thing in the back of your mind, "But I'm not supposed to be like this. I am supposed to be like my granny said, or like my mama said, or like my daddy said, or like my cousin said." No, you're not like they said. You are who God says you are.

You have been transformed by the renewing of your mind, the Bible says. And I've been renewed, and even people that have been renewed still make mistakes. Our spiritual lives are rooted in Christ. Everything we are is because of the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross. Today, we're going to look at who we think we are versus who we really are.

Who are we in Christ? We are chosen. We are adopted. We have been accepted. But there's something else that I'm going to look at. I'm going to start out with that one and it really will hopefully open your eyes to a couple of things. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all, every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ."

Think about that for a moment. The first thing you need to know about yourself is that you are blessed. But there are two, three "blessed" in there. God is blessed, we are blessed, and we are blessed doubly. We're blessed with every spiritual blessing right now and we are blessed with things in heavenly places. I mean, when you need something, God will bless you.

So what does that "blessed" mean? Well, when it refers to God, it means to praise Him because He is worthy of praise. And we are blessed because God has blessed us, and the verb tense means it's already done. You don't have to pray for Him to bless you; it's already done. It's a completed action. God has already blessed you.

All you need to do is ask God, "God, today can you release those spiritual blessings in heavenly places to me in this situation?" Because you're already blessed with all of those things that you need. We're not waiting to be blessed; we already are blessed because of our position that's in Christ Jesus. It's like having $1 million in your bank account, but you still live like you're broke.

A friend of mine who passed away was very wealthy, and he rode around in this broken-down car. And his friends finally said to him, "You know, you need to get a new car. It really looks bad. You ride around in this thing, it breaks out most of the time, and you've got people trying to get you to your house. You've got enough money to buy a new car. Why don't you just go out and buy a new car?"

And he just didn't feel like he needed to. And then they said, "Look, people look at you and think that God hasn't blessed you." Well, that got to him. He went and bought himself a car, another one to replace the one that kept breaking down. But some of us live as if we are paupers. When we don't know our spiritual balance, we pray prayers like, "Lord, I sure need you to come through now."

And heaven's teller says, "Will you check your heavenly account balance? You already have more than you need in Christ Jesus." God has given us everything we need for life and for godliness. So why do we live like spiritual paupers when we have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus? Well, let me explain what the word spiritual means.

It means to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit. So if you're still living like a pauper, it's because you have not been sufficiently enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and you are not enjoying the blessings and the graces and the gifts that God has already given you in Christ Jesus. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are permanent, they are continuous. Blessing means favor bestowed upon us.

It's a gift that would be beneficial to us. When we are blessed, it was a gift from God. And so let's look at the first thing: We are chosen. Verse 4 says, "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world..." Whoa, wait a minute. I wasn't even born yet. The world hadn't been made yet. But God in His infinite wisdom had chosen to bless me.

Now, if God blesses you and He chooses to bless you, can anybody rob you of His blessing? They don't even know how to get to Him. "Where is God?" He's right here. "Well, how do I know?" The world is still turning. As long as we have sunshine, as long as we have oxygen and air in this environment, we know God is still with us. He is still alive. He is still doing all the things that He chose to do.

But He chose us. The word "chose" means selected with purpose, not randomly picked. God didn't pick us after we got cleaned up. He picked us up when we were messed up. How many of y'all were messed up when God found you? I mean, there was nothing that you could do to get rid of whatever it was that was in you that kept you from believing that God was who He said He was.

And finally, one day God picked you up, all messed up. I remember kids... they don't realize when they're little and they can't change themselves what all parents have done for them. We're used to cleaning up their messes. My wife and I, when Zach was growing up, I know he thinks that he grew up and that's just the way it was. No, we had to clean you. And anybody else that's got parents, no, that was a stinky job.

And God keeps cleaning us because it's a messy job and He chose us when we were messed up. And we still mess up sometimes. And it's amazing. God didn't pick us after we had cleaned ourselves up. Babies can't clean themselves up. They need someone to clean them up. And so you are in Christ Jesus, and when you came to Him, He had to clean your mess up.

And He's been cleaning you up day after day because some of us are still babes in Christ, and we still need to be cleaned up. I'm not going any further; I just want to stop while I'm ahead. Have you ever ordered something online that looked absolutely amazing on the screen and you go, "That's it, that's what I want," and then you order it?

But when it shows up, you're like, "Huh? This isn't what I thought I chose." God never says that about us. He knows how messed up we were and how messed up we can get. God chose us when we were dead in our sins and trespasses. How many of you remember being picked for teams in school? Some of you got picked first, some of you like me got picked over.

You got picked eventually after the teacher said, "Come on now, will somebody pick him?" Some singles are still living life waiting to be chosen, not realizing that you were chosen before the foundation of the world. If nobody chooses you in this life, you walk in victory because God chose you before you were even born. You've got a Savior, you've got a God who loves you with an everlasting love.

So if nobody else recognizes how valuable you are, you know God knows how valuable you are, and you let that stick with you. "Well, I'm getting old." Everybody gets old. Is that surprising to you? "Yeah, but I don't have anybody." You've got God. And if you need anything else, ask for wisdom. Solomon asked for wisdom.

You know what God gave him? He gave him wisdom. And then He gave him a whole bunch of other stuff that he didn't ask for. But if you just ask God for wisdom to choose the right person, that person will walk right into your life before you even know it. They're probably right next to you all the time, but you never even notice them because God doesn't want you to notice them yet until you focus on Him and realize that He is your lover.

He is your covering. He is your Savior. He is your Lord. You are amazing to Him. There's nothing about you that He doesn't like, because He formed you while you were in your mama's womb. He is a holy, righteous God who loves us with an everlasting love. But some of us... well, we just feel left out because we see couples going to different places.

If you only knew how some of these couples walk into the restaurant. They argued half the way through. I mean, they got in there and you think, "Oh, it's really nice being married and having somebody," and then some of the couples don't even talk while they eat. Sitting down there on their phone. I'm thinking, "You need to come to the restaurant to be on your phone? I mean, you're on your phone at home."

So you can about tell what the spouse is saying: "Get off that phone." Look, God treats you like the blessing you are. There are three identity misunderstandings that I want to lay to you: The "try harder" Christian. If you're in that bag, you're the one that says, "I just need to do more. I need to serve more. I need to pray more. I need to sweat more. Then maybe God will like me."

First of all, God loves you with an everlasting love. He doesn't like; He loves. You don't want God to like you; you want Him to keep loving you. People, when they like you, they get all fickle, and then one day they don't like you. That's not Christianity. That's gym membership. Then there's the comparison Christian. God loves us, but we act like a clearance-rack believer.

Have you ever bought something on a clearance rack and thought, "Why was this so cheap?" That's how some of you feel spiritually. In Corinthians chapter 10 and 12, it says don't compare yourselves with yourselves and don't compare yourselves with other people. It says it's foolish, and it robs us of our joy when we compare ourselves with ourselves and when we compare ourselves with other people.

Then there is the conditional Christian. Many believers struggle with doubt. They feel assured of salvation on Sunday at church, but then by Tuesday, they pray for God to redo their salvation. But the Bible doesn't say try harder and maybe you'll become a Christian. Paul says we were adopted into the family of God. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 5: "He predestined, predetermined us to adoption as sons through Christ Jesus."

He was the agency to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. Adoption means full legal sonship with rights and an inheritance before the world began. So do you understand? You had certain legal privileges before the world was even formed. It's like being drafted to a championship sports team before you ever play a game for that team.

Can you imagine how some of these college kids feel right now, knowing that they're going to be drafted to a championship team? But some of them don't want to be the first to be drafted because they know they're going to a sorry team. I want to be at the end. I would play as bad as I could the last season so you wouldn't pick me first. But God chose us for His team before we were even born.

It was a legal adoption. But Jesus says not everyone who says to Him "Lord, Lord" will enter heaven's team. If you go back and read Matthew 7... that was my Bible study today as I was preparing my mind to preach, and I've got to tell you, my heart broke. And my wife... as we were talking, I literally just started weeping. I was weeping because there are many who call Him "Lord, Lord" but they don't know Him.

And it bothers me today. I just got broken up about it because there are some people maybe sitting in here, you say He's "Lord, Lord," and Jesus is going to say, "But I never knew you." You sing songs about "Lord," you sing praise songs, and you think because you sing those songs, you come to church, you tithe, you work, you do this, you volunteer, that you are born again, you are saved.

You're not saved by your working. You're saved by the work that Christ did on the cross. And some of us have got it twisted. Jesus said, "I know you've been casting out demons, I know you've been doing some miracles, but you don't know me and I don't know you. You call me Lord, Lord, but I don't know who you are." And some people call Him "Lord" in here and don't know a thing about Him.

The word "know" means an intimate relationship with Christ. Do you know the Christ of the Bible? I used to read the Bible all the time. I told my wife the other day, I remember when I was in Texas and I was going to church all the time because they had some cute girls in there. And they knew I wasn't saved. They wouldn't give me the time of day.

Those women were spiritual. They knew that dude ain't saved. They asked me to pray one time and they gave me a lot of trouble because I didn't know nothing about God. I was trying to pray and, man, they knew that dude ain't saved. He don't even have a relationship with God. He has nothing to offer you but trouble. And I went home with my tail between my legs, and I opened up the Bible.

I started reading Acts, and it didn't make any sense to me. And I was wondering, what does all this mean? It didn't mean anything to me. I was reading these different little sayings. "What does that mean?" Probably because I had the King James Version, that probably was what it was. And I got to this one word, "concupiscence." And I was saying, "con-what?"

And you know, I just closed the book. I said, "This is just too heavy for me. I don't even know what concupiscence is. And I guess if I don't know what concupiscence is, then I'm probably not saved." But concupiscence means evil desires, just for the sake of the uninitiated. And I finally figured that out when I got me a NASB version and an NIV version and every kind of version I could find till I could find out what that concupiscence thing meant.

But Jesus said not everyone who says to me "Lord, Lord" will be on heaven's team. They trusted what they did, but Jesus will say, "I never knew you." Confessing He's Lord of your life but not living like He is is a contradiction and hypocrisy. If you say He's Lord of your life, then live like it. But today, God has called me to help you with three words that will heal your heart: blessed, chosen, and adopted.

God made a decision about us before we were ever born. God made a decision about us before we ever made a mistake. Just imagine your life as a mailbox. The world stuffs it with all kinds of stuff: past-due bills, threats, junk mail, and credit-denied letters. Then the postman of heaven brings a different envelope. Inside are your adoption papers.

A new name, a new standing, a new story. The ink is written in blood. The stamp is the Holy Spirit's seal. It's addressed in Jesus. Would you live differently if that truth moved from your mind and sunk into your heart and spirit? Well, if you're not living differently because of that, then maybe you never got the Spirit. Romans 8:15, let me show you what it says: "For you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba, Daddy," in other words, "Father."

So now, if you are born again, you're not a slave to fear. You have the spirit of adoption. Spiritual bondage means spiritual slavery, servitude, and living under control. It's a life dominated by fear, performance, and pressure. This is not just external slavery; it's internal anxiety. We're always wondering, "Am I good enough?" Always thinking those old thoughts about yourself.

"Did I mess up too badly this time? Is God mad at me again?" Have you ever noticed how some people treat God like a divine boss instead of a good father? "Lord, I clocked in with prayer this morning. Did you see me reading my Bible? Did you see me praying, God? I read two chapters today, Lord. I deserve overtime blessings."

Some folks act like heaven runs on a spiritual attendance sheet. But God's like, "You're not an employee. You're family. You're in my family." God didn't hire us; He adopted us. What changes would you make when you wake up tomorrow knowing you are already blessed, chosen, adopted, and accepted in the beloved? What changes would you make knowing that God loves you with an everlasting love?

And His love is there regardless of how bad you think you are and how bad you think you've done. You don't have to clock in with God because you've never clocked out. God is always in, and He's never going to leave you. You are accepted in the beloved. Let's go back to Ephesians chapter 1: "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the beloved."

Who's the beloved? The beloved is Christ. Have you ever been added to a group chat and you know you don't belong in it? Nobody responds to your ideas. Some people think heaven is like that. But God didn't add us to a group chat. He chose, adopted us, and accepted us as a family member, His family member. Some people who enter today know you're saved, you're loved by God, but you're afraid of Him in the wrong way.

You pray like a servant. God says, "Talk to me like I'm your daddy. You're in my family. Why are you talking to me like a stranger?" The Spirit inside us is shouting, "Don't be afraid. He's Abba, Father, Daddy." You've been released from bondage. You've been accepted because of Christ and His performance. You don't have to perform to please God.

Christ already performed everything necessary so that we could walk into His presence and continuously be in His presence. You may have been discounted by people, but know this: you'll never be devalued by God. You are valuable to Him. Value is not determined by condition; it's determined by what someone is willing to pay.

Jesus was willing to pay with His life and blood for you and me. I went to a thrift store. My wife ran into somebody who said, "I saw your husband at a thrift store. I didn't know the pastor goes to a thrift store." I'm thinking, "You think I'm going to blow my money at some place with the high price on those tags? No way." One person's trash is another person's treasure in my book.

I ain't too proud to go into a thrift store. Really? Yeah. I went into a thrift store, found something I liked too, and bought it. Went to the store, found out it was three times what I paid for it, and it was still in good condition. So I got over. Talk about me all you want to; it's all right. And I saw something about that thrift store.

It looked like it had been through many breakups and a hurricane ran through there. I thought, "Who would buy this stuff?" And then I did. We weren't cheap to God. We weren't clearance to God. We were valuable to God. You are not who you were. You are not what people say you are. You are not what you did. You are what God says you are.

You are blessed. You are chosen. You are adopted. And you are accepted in the beloved. That means in Christ. You may have been discounted by people, but you will never be devalued by God. The enemy says, "Remember what you did?" and I cast down those imaginations and I cast them down immediately. God says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

So I repeat that to myself. All my sins and all of my failures are thrown into the sea of forgetfulness. You are not on probation like some people feel in relationships. You are not on parole like some couples who've had an argument. We have been pardoned and set free by the Lord Jesus Christ. Then walk in freedom and stop living like you're locked up.

You're not locked up; you're free to roam freely. God has given you freedom in Christ Jesus. God doesn't keep a record of our wrongs. Why? Because if you've ever read Corinthians, it says love keeps no record of wrongs. Talking about believers. Well, if believers are not supposed to keep records of wrongs done, you know God doesn't keep a record of wrongs done because He loves us.

We know what Ephesians says about those who are in Christ. But does Christ know who you are? When you go to the altar to pray, when you go on your knees to pray, are you praying to someone you have a relationship with, or are you just going through the motions? Folks, let me tell you something. There's some people in here that have never, ever, ever truly repented and given their life to Christ.

And to think about that this morning just broke my heart because I'm thinking, "You know, I've been preaching for almost 30 years to these people, some of them, and they still haven't come to you, Lord." And they will say, "Didn't I usher, didn't I sing in the praise team, didn't I do this for the women's ministry, didn't I do this for the men's ministry?" And then He'll say, "I never knew you."

Do you know God? If you don't know Him as your daddy, He never knew you. You were born, He knew you were born, He formed you in your mama's womb, but beyond that, you have no relationship with Him. Oh yeah, you pray these little prayers, "Lord, lay me down to sleep." You do not have a relationship with Jesus if you don't talk to your daddy like He is your daddy.

I talk to God and I tell Him, "God, I'm heartbroken over those people who don't know you, because I know it's going to be a sad day when they stand before you." And they say, "God, look at my resume." And He'll say, "Look at my resurrection! I died for you and you come to me with a resume? And I gave you grace and you said no, I gave you mercy and you said no, I gave you my love and you said no, I gave you my Son and you rejected me."

And God is saying, "Wake up! Because there's going to be a day when you are going to stand before Him, and He's going to say I never knew you." I don't want anybody in here or online to ever stand before God knowing that I've preached to you and you hear, "I never knew you." Man, I'll be heartbroken. And I want anybody in here today who's hearing me for the first time spiritually, please, give your life to Christ.

Guest (Male): All things are possible from New Covenant Fellowship Church. Connect with us anytime at NCF.church/connect or on social media at NCF Chattanooga. Worship with us every Sunday morning at 10:30, in-person at 1326 North Moore Road in Chattanooga or online at NCF.church/messages. New Covenant Fellowship Church, a place for every race. Hate the sin, but don't let the hatred for the sin carry over to the sinner. They can be forgiven of that sin because that's why Jesus came and you just need to take care of your own house. New Covenant Fellowship Church, in-person worship Sunday mornings at 10:30, 1326 North Moore Road in Chattanooga. New Covenant Fellowship Church, a place for every race.