Transformation and Recover - Southgate Baptist Church (Transcript)

Rob Jackson: [00:00:00] Yesterday, some of us gathered for a seminar on Christian recovery, and today I want to continue some of those thoughts with you, and I have to tell you, I want us to have a, a heart to heart conversation about Christian recovery. There's a lot out there that you hear that is not really going to be faithful.

To the gospel message of Jesus Christ. It burdens me to see people further encumbered by things that are not going to set them free. Sometimes that's in the language we use. Sometimes that's in the programming. Sometimes a diagnosis seems to just put a person further and further bondage, and Jesus Christ.

Is [00:01:00] our recovery. There is none other. And so this morning, in spite of the tears, I share with you with great joy who this man Jesus Christ is

now. Now let's see if we can get all this technology going here. Okay. In Romans 12, one. And two, it reads, I appeal to you, therefore brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God.

What is good. And acceptable and perfect. [00:02:00] When I began to think about Christian recovery and what I wanted to share with you this morning, these were the passages that kept coming back and when I was with you last, we looked predominantly at Romans seven and eight. You remember in seven 15, Paul makes that declaration.

I don't understand what I'm doing. In fact, I hate what I'm doing. Can I get an amen? Amen. That's my scripture folks. You can borrow it, but it's mine. It, it belongs to me. And then when we get into Romans eight, we see a transition. He's not just talking about himself. He begins to talk more about the Holy Spirit.

And then in the conclusion of the matter, he says in Romans eight, one, there's no condemnation. In Romans eight, three, he says, God, the Father has given me a savior. His name is Jesus. In Romans eight 11, he says, and God, the Father has gone on to give me the Holy Spirit, the [00:03:00] comforter who indwells me and gives me new life.

Now in this mortal body. And then he leaves us in Romans eight 13. With this reality, there is still a choice. There's no condemnation. You have a savior, you have a spirit in dwelling you, but there is still a choice when it comes to sin, and that choice is will you call on the Holy Spirit. In Romans eight 13, it says, if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your body, you will live.

Folks, we have a choice now in Christ. In Christ, we have a choice. And so what I want to do is to take the passages in Romans 12, one through two, and look at each expression and think out loud with you about how this gospel [00:04:00] relates to what we call Christian recovery. I don't wanna be candid with you. We need to have a heart to heart conversation this morning.

A heart to heart communication about what's going on in the body of Christ. 'cause I'll tell you, it's not all pretty and you know that, but all across the country we see a Christian Church in trouble. And so we wanna talk about that and put it in a context where we can find help and hope and healing. So when we think about Paul's appeal, I appeal to you brothers here, his kindness.

He is an apostle of Jesus Christ. He has experienced the Lord's kindness firsthand. Earlier in Romans two, four, he writes, it's God's [00:05:00] kindness that leads to what? Repentance folks, Christian coy is a response to God's kindness and it includes our repentance and not just as a singular act, but an ongoing life of repentance.

I would warn you as it as he did in Romans two, four through 11, we're not gonna cover those scriptures. But Paul, in that same passage, gives a warning, Christian, don't just keep on sinning. Don't just keep on sinning. Allow the kindness of God to restore you. So Paul is making a passionate appeal. He addresses them as brothers.

The distinction is clear. This is not a message to the lost, Romans 12, one and two, but I would implore you [00:06:00] if you do not yet know Jesus Christ. Keep listening, keep searching, keep returning. Open your heart. Open your mind. Give your life to Jesus. Paul not only makes his appeal, I wanna make an appeal to you.

If you're living in a secret sin or some kind of besetting sin, you know, maybe you're a Christian and you're pretty solid, but you got one thing that just keeps on dogging you. It's that thing you can't let go of. Well, then I beg you to play. Pay close attention to the scriptures this morning, and I pray for the spirit to illuminate all of our understanding.

But let me just give you some statistics very briefly to, to, to get you in context. When we think about addictions, the use of tobacco, alcohol, and [00:07:00] illicit drugs cost our nation 740 billion annually. What could we do for people? If we weren't having to spend money on this

STDs every year increasing in number, and so we're spending nearly 16 billion annually and get this, and, and here the, the sorrow, half of the nearly 20 million new STD cases reported annually or among 15 to 24 year olds.

Guys, you're, you could be my children. My kids are 19 and 24, 22, and I, I want to assure you, I, I have a father's heart about this. It's not coming to you [00:08:00] with some kind of. Criticism and moralism like Bobby referred to earlier. I wanna plead with you, this is crucial that we understand what's going on, and maybe you don't relate to, to these statistics that I'm sharing, but two thirds of the men in this congregation may relate to this one.

According to covenant eyes, two thirds of the men in church today, uh, viewed pornography. This week,

and there are women who do the same. And I'm coming to you to beg you to hear the message of the gospel. There is a choice, a clear, clear choice, and I would point out, even if you're not one of those touched by an addiction. [00:09:00] Or if you don't consider yourself to have a condition and you think maybe I don't need recovery, well, let me wake you up gently.

Every one of us needs recovery. Do you understand that? We must be recovered from our rebellion against God. Do you understand? You and I cannot recover ourselves. But there is one who can. And it starts with the love of the Father who gives us the son Jesus Christ, to redeem our sins and not just to wash away our sins, but to save us from the wrath of God, which we deserve.

And it's not just that He gives us a savior, he gives us the Holy Spirit to indwell and to comfort. I hope what you're hearing this morning is going to be comfort. We've lived with [00:10:00] criticism in the Christian Church. We know what it's like for some to feel like if I come out, you are going to shoot me, you're gonna shoot, we're gonna shoot the wounded.

If you just knew what I was doing. Well, no. Let's be careful. Let's be very careful as we move on. We've got a, therefore, in this first verse, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, the book of Romans. Don't you love it? It is my favorite and I'm not gonna take the time to, to, to go from Romans one to Romans 11 to get to the therefore in Romans 12.

One. But yeah, really I am, I'm gonna take you through each chapter with one or two sentences. I just gotta, you've gotta see where we're going to, if we're gonna make our lives a living sacrifice to Jesus, we [00:11:00] have to understand what the there is for. So, bear with me. Romans one. The unrighteous deserve God's wrath, but the righteous shall live by faith.

We need recovery. We need to be made righteous only Jesus makes us righteous, not our efforts to quit this and to stop that and start something else. Romans two, moralism and hypocrisy won't cut it. The Holy Spirit must transform your heart. Do you realize you cannot transform your heart? Are we clear on that?

Is there any doubt? It's gotta be a work of the Holy Spirit. We are dependent on God. Number three, Romans three. No one is righteous for all, have sinned and falls short of the glory of God. None of us are exempt from sins curse, but we can be redeemed in Jesus Christ. [00:12:00] Romans four, like Abraham, we're justified by faith alone and the promises of God are our inheritance.

Faith. Faith alone, we do not work ourselves. Into salvation, and we're gonna have to be very careful when we stop to think about, well, how does all this relate to Christian recovery? Aren't there some works that I have to do? Well, yeah, we're gonna need to talk about that, but the first work is always on God's part.

The first order is always God working in you. And then out of obedience, there's a second part of us responding and working in him to his glory. Romans five. We have peace with God the Father, through faith in Christ. We have peace with God the Father, because the indwelling comforter knows our sorrows and needs.

People who are addicted are medicating sorrows. Sure, it might start off [00:13:00] recreationally when we're younger maybe. But listen, a lot of the mental health crisis today. It is being experienced by middle schoolers and high schoolers who are under a weight of stress. People have not known at that life station before.

There's a lot of medication going on and, and we need to understand that God is our comforter. He will help in Romans six for sin, will have no dominion over you since you're not under the law. But under grace, we're no longer slaves to our sin natures. We are free in Christ to enjoy God. But if you don't understand that, Christian, you can revert to your sin.

Sin can become a habit then a compulsion, then an addiction. Roman seven. The Christian life can still be confusing because of indwelling sin. Our bodies still crave sin even though our inner man is alive and [00:14:00] well in the spirit. It can feel maddening again. Paul, why do I do what I don't want to do? I know the law of God.

It is good. I am a wretch who will save me from this body of death. And I might add, he's not saying it's gonna be a recovery group or it's gonna be a counselor. It is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, Romans eight, no longer condemned, born again in Christ, empowered by the Spirit. We still have to mortify or kill our sins.

And the good news is God is for us. He is. When you are at your worst. When you are at your lowest. Do you know? Do you know in the marrow of your bone that God is for you and no one or think can separate you from the love of Christ? We'll move on [00:15:00] Romans nine. God didn't have to love us into salvation, but he granted us his favor.

He said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. All of this is leading up folks to present yourself as a living sacrifice. Such compassion demands a response. Romans 10, salvation made available to all. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.

Will be saved. We need to understand that no one gets so low that we cannot offer that individual the gift of Jesus Christ. The gospel message is plain. You do not clean yourself up in order to be saved. You are not gonna work yourself into a salvation with Jesus Christ. Come as you are. Come when you feel like you are at your worst.[00:16:00] 

11, only a remnant chosen by grace will be saved. It's a sober thought, a remnant in the new covenant. We are chosen and grafted into the family of God for all eternity. So all of this is what we've looked at because of the word. Therefore, he says, I appeal to you therefore brothers. So now you know kind of the backdrop.

And he appeals by the mercies of God. I'm here to testify of God's mercies. I was a slave to moralism until about 35 years of age. I'm now 56. You can do the math. It. It's not been that long that I have sensed God's freedom. I know the futility. I know the powerlessness of trying to be good and to be good enough.[00:17:00] 

I know what it's like to be in need of recovery spiritually, mentally, and physically. My wife and I, we have known what it is like for a marriage to be in need of recovery, and our parents could, or our, our, our children could testify to that they've seen an imperfect marriage that has needed more recovery that would also benefit them.

But now at 56 I, I've seen God at work in my life. I've been free of panic disorder for over 35 years. Last night I went out to dinner with some of you and had a great time. I could not have done that 36 years ago. I was just caught up in panic disorder. I've been married almost 30 years. Our children are grown.

They're following heart after God. And I'm learning that God is most glorified when I'm enjoying him. And no, [00:18:00] that's not original. That's the Westminster Catechism. It's been made a little bit more user-friendly by John Piper enjoying God or glorifying God by enjoying. But I know that he is ever merciful and like many of you, I'm learning to return his kindness one day at a time.

So I'm appealing to you as Paul by the mercies of God. Let's go on. He says, for us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Okay. This expression, let's talk about it to, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. I wanna point out the obvious. You're presenting all that you are to God.

See, God gave himself to you through Jesus, and now you are returning your life to him now that God has saved you. This giving of your [00:19:00] life in return is as practical as what you do with your life. Don't let anyone make Christian recovery Too complicated. Yes, it's hard the way of the cross. But let's not make it complicated.

It's what we're doing, presenting our bodies. And I wanna show you just very quickly, you know, a concept of my iceberg model. Just to say that by the time you were presenting your body, you have already learned to surrender your spirit and your mind. You can see that your body and its behaviors are just the, just the tip of the iceberg.

Beneath what you do are the drivers with an actual iceberg. We're looking at about 85% under the waterline [00:20:00] folks, what we do, it's a symptom of who we are, and there needs to be healing in the deepest, the deepest parts of us. And Paul talked about this, you know, in, in Romans seven, as I alluded to. He addresses this struggle between the flesh and then the inner man or the inner woman.

And so I would suggest to you that the inner man or woman in this model is, is made up of spirit and mind. And then he talks about in Romans eight 11, how the spirit indwells us to give life to what these mortal bodies. I know that Christ will raise bodies from the grave when he returns, thank God. But this verse also relates to how he's giving life to your mortal body.

Now, what is that looking like to have the supernatural power of [00:21:00] the Holy Spirit cosing through your actions? But see, you and I are not gonna. Really present our bodies as living sacrifices until we have learned down here at the base of the iceberg to guard our hearts. The King James words it this way.

Above all else, guard your heart. If you hope to present your body a living sacrifice, you must first start at the level of the heart. How are you guarding it? There's also an implication that you have begun to renew your mind in Christ. What are you doing with your thought life? What's happening in your emotions?

Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to work at that integral level? Do you see how empty it is just to try to do the right [00:22:00] thing? Oh, you know how it goes. I've done something bad over here, so I need to go do something better over there. I've got a, an ugly thought. I need to have a prettier thought. My emotions are not so great.

I need to have healthier emotions. Oh, my desires are corrupt over here. Let me have a better desire. We're trying to do all this substitution. We're filling our heads with information. Uh, we're ever learning and not changing, and so we're looking for transformation that only can come by the renewal of Jesus Christ.

By guarding your heart and renewing your mind, you are empowered to imitate Christ in your body, so you can't be that living sacrifice if you're not imitating Jesus. And you [00:23:00] can't imitate Jesus if you're not guarding your heart and renewing your mind. It's a whole person that God is transforming.

Let's move on.

We wanna talk about spiritual worship. The slide's not quite correct there, but we'll live with it. I'm having to learn with imperfections in recovery. Let's look at John four. There's a beautiful passage here that is so specific to our needs when we talk about what is Christian recovery. You know the story.

Jesus and his disciples are traveling through some area. They're kind of on the wrong side of the tracks. Christ is [00:24:00] tired. The disciples have gone into the town to buy food. It tells us something about Jesus and his humanity, that he's tired. In chapter four of John, it says in verse six, so Jesus weed, as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.

It was about the sixth hour. Jesus was weary. Can this redeemer empathize with you? Absolutely. He was simply tired from the walk. Uh, you've been tired. Are you tired spiritually? Are you tired psychologically? Are you tired? Behaviorally? Are you weary relationally? And it says, A woman from Samaria came to draw water.

Now this is the sixth hour. This is like noon. This is in the heat of the day. Why would she come in the heat of the day? Women typically would do this in the first [00:25:00] part of the morning. The family and the household needed the water early in the day, and it was also cooler. She comes at noon. I'm gonna suggest to you she knows what it is to be ashamed for her lifestyle.

We're gonna read more about that in a minute. She is learning. Maybe I don't fit in. I don't belong. And Jesus said to her, give me a drink. What a paradox for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew asked for a drink from me, A woman of Samaria.

He's breaking all the codes here, all of the racial stuff, the cultural stuff, the gender stuff. But Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would've asked him and he would've freely given you living water [00:26:00] if you knew the gift of God.

Let's hang on to that for just a moment. If you knew the gift of God, he would've given you living water. Now this really get gets to intriguing the woman. And she said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? She's focused on the physical, focused on the material, focused on the here and now he's talking spiritual water.

You understand that? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock, and Jesus said to her. Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of well water welling up to eternal life. And the woman said to him, sir, give me this water [00:27:00] so that I will not be thirsty or have to come to draw water. We understand that.

Don't you find yourself wanting the gifts sometimes more than the giver? Don't you find yourself more preoccupied with the here and now than the eternal? Aren't you sometimes pressed to try to draw your own water just to survive?

Jesus changes the subject. He said to her in 16, go call your husband and come here. And the woman answered him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, you are right in saying I have no husband for you have five husbands and the one you're you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true. Why is the woman coming to the well at [00:28:00] noon?

She's an outcast. Today, we might diagnose her with things like maybe love addiction. She's had five husbands and she's got another guy. Now, we might diagnose her as a sexual addict. We don't really know. But yeah, today we could make the arguments for those kinds of diagnoses. Today she might've. Had children outside of these relationships might've had abortions.

There's a lot of shame in this story for this woman, and I want to ask you very practically, how about you? Are you familiar with shame?

The biggest challenge I have in Christian recovery, whether I'm sitting in the office or whether I'm having a privilege of speaking to a group like you. It is to ask us to all take our mask [00:29:00] off.

Who are you really?

What are you thinking about? What are you feeling

when it's just you? What are you desiring? What are you planning? What are your secrets?

How are we to get real?

I know. You know what I'm talking about. Yesterday when we had the meeting, different ones were saying some of the same things. Concerned. For Christians everywhere concerned for what's happening and not happening in our churches. [00:30:00] Concerned about the toll is taking on our marriages and families.

Are you aware we all need to be in recovery? We need to make the church the safest place on the planet to take the mask off. And to be who we are in the presence of Christ and other brothers and sisters, and I'll just have to say, God, help us. Because it is so very unnatural to do such a thing. It's the hardest thing in the world.

Jesus, in James four, four. Uh. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle James, the the brother of Jesus said, you adulterous people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is [00:31:00] enmity with God. Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. We're gonna have to make some choices.

There are some real lines. The world would have you to believe that the lines are very blurred, very gray. You can call on the name of Jesus, but you don't really have to change your lifestyle.

But see, here's the thing that we've gotta be careful with. You're not changing your lifestyle and your power. It's the spirit of God within you who's making the change, and he's giving you the desire to be a part of that transformation. It is not the legislation or the moralization of behaviors. We have been taught for years that, you know, you don't drink, cursed and run with those who do and all kinds of little Baptist things, and [00:32:00] I'm not supporting and suggesting those behaviors, but the emphasis has been on behavior.

It has not been on the heart. We've got a long way to go. If we get back to the scriptures that we're looking at in Romans, the new part we're picking up is we're not to be conformed to this world, but we're to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. Let me ask you, do you feel conformed? Do you feel any stress to be conformed to the world?

Thomas Merton called it social compulsions. Do you have a social compulsion to check Facebook? Now, don't be afraid. Facebook is amoral. I'm not preaching against Facebook, but think about all the social [00:33:00] media stuff. How much time are you there? How much time are you in front of a screen of any size?

Recently, a family of four counted for me. They have 20 different screens available to them and their family. Ranging from the small to the quite large. That in and of itself is not a moral issue. But the more we sit in front of these, the more we're likely to be conformed. The world is trying to press you into its mold.

Old who rules this world, Satan. Yesterday we talked about how in the modern time that we're living, Satan and the world system is bombarding us with sensory experience, after experience, after experience, sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. There's never been a time when a person's brain has been more on [00:34:00] fire for stimulation.

And part of the challenge in Christian recovery is learning that you're gonna have to say no to your brain. Your mind renewed in Christ is gonna have to parent the brain that functions like a 2-year-old tantruming all day long. And I would remind you that your brain somewhat like a pancreas or whatever, it doesn't have its own thoughts.

It reacts. It simply reacts to data. It's your mind renewed and has thoughts and emotions and begins to attach value to this and that, and to say yes to this and not to that the battle is for your mind. So you're gonna have to be very cautious here about being pressed into the world's mold, but to be [00:35:00] transformed.

Now, let me speak to transformation briefly. We have settled for information instead of transformation in the Christian culture.

We have more Christian this, that, and something else than people have ever had. I'm not knocking it, but we've got. Bibles on every shelf. We've got Bibles and digital formats. We've got Christian books written by the best authors. We can be very picky about the pastors that we listen to online and we can critique their sermons.

We've got music, we've got entertainers, we have t-shirts, we have bumper stickers, we've got mugs, we've got it all. And there's never been a time that I'm aware of, at least in our nation's history, where we've seen such. Powerless Christianity.

If however you drink from the living water, [00:36:00] Jesus Christ, you can become a living sacrifice. You're not gonna become a living sacrifice dedicating your life to a 12 step program or to a nine step program that I have. Or to a group or to an accountability person. There may be places for these kinds of things as tools and helps, but folks, Christian recovery is about drinking the living water of Jesus Christ.

And then sanctification is about presenting yourself, all that you are heart, mind, and body as that. Living sacrifice. This renewal of the mind. It occurs with the scripture. The scripture is what the Holy Spirit uses to [00:37:00] accomplish the renewal. That's why it's not just mere information, but transformation.

The person of the Holy Spirit brings a relational quality to this information. I had a man who told me once addicted to pornography, he said, in my fight against pornography, I have memorized over half the New Testament. And he said, I don't understand why I keep looking at this stuff. I mean, wouldn't that much of the Bible in me changed my desires and so on and so forth.

I reminded him gently. 'cause I mean. You know, this is, this man's being vulnerable. It's not the time to beat up on him. I reminded him gently. Satan knows the word

he discovered over time. Instead of being more of a Trinitarian worshiping [00:38:00] father, son, and spirit, he was more of a binarian. He saw the father and the son. He thought of himself as having accepted Jesus. And somehow that moment of being born again was gonna be enough for the rest of his life being born again.

He thought I'm good enough now. I've made the cut. I'm supposed to be able to overcome anything. Him, he had not heard. No. This, this overcoming sin, this, this occurs by the Holy Spirit. When you're wanting to present yourself a living sacrifice to Jesus Christ, it is in Christ and by or through the Holy Spirit in Christ is that position that is secure.

He has purchased it. No [00:39:00] one can take away from you your position in Christ, but the practice we have through the spirit. It becomes a part of our responsibility when Jesus says, if you love me, obey me. We might hear that with ears of moralism. There it is again, obey. When you hear that through the spirit who wrote that word, you know, you might hear Jesus saying, you know, I love you.

I've given you my life, the father. He loved you before you know you ever existed, and I want you to live like I do and you're not gonna get it perfect all the time. You know, we're not wesleyan's believing that we're gonna be perfect in this life, but this sanctification is gonna become increasingly your [00:40:00] reality.

It's incremental. It is baby steps. It is falling down. It's getting up. It's beginning again. It's day after day, but it's this transformation by the renewal of your mind that is principally anchored in the word of God. If you're not in the Bible, I don't say this to criticize you, but you're not gonna be able to present yourself a living sacrifice.

Because the Holy Spirit is gonna have to be the one who helps you. And he is the one having written the word, who's gonna use the word to make this become alive in you. And so we come to the completion of Romans 12, one and two. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

Holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your [00:41:00] mind, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. When you read The Dead guys, those guys who are writing 150 plus years ago, they talked about an experiential relationship with Jesus Christ.

An experiential one, having experiences with a real person. You really can't have experiences with a belief system

if Christianity has been reduced. If it has been truncated to a belief system that focuses predominantly on behaviorism, folks, you're not gonna have a very good experience with that. But you can have an experiential relationship with Jesus Christ and then you can begin to test, is this really what he wants for me?

Would he prefer that [00:42:00] now is no longer such a battle of the the heart. We're increasingly wanting what God wants for us. We're testing and God is the one who determines what is good and acceptable and perfect. We are still consumers. So much of the time in the Christian community, we are consumers. We're wanting it this way and not that way.

We have strong opinions about things, but if you're gonna submit yourself as a living sacrifice, you have to let God be God, and that's gonna be the most precious moment because then he is going to take you where you are and if you're not yet in Christ. The spirit can quicken your spirit to receive our Lord.

You can drink the living water and know that you'll become the living sacrifice, and you may have some recovery issues to work through. You know, one pastor in Colorado [00:43:00] Springs said it this way, the day before I got saved, I was bad in math the day after I got saved. Guess what? Still bad in math. That's my story.

You may have some addictions before and you may have some after. God may decide to deliver you in a moment from some of those addictions if you're not yet in Christ, or he may choose that something remains as a thorn in your flesh. For some reason that is known only to him, and that thorn may be removed later.

It may be removed in an instant. It may be removed progressively. Or it may not be removed until you see Jesus. But folks, the gospel message is our recovery. So let me just conclude it this way. Christian recovery is for all of God's children. Christ is your recovery.