Chris Hodges - New Freedom
All right, it’s so good to see everybody here today. How’s everybody doing today? Y’all doing all right? How’s everybody doing today? Good to see you, big hello to all of our locations. We are one church that meets in 26 locations all across Alabama and Georgia. What a blessing that is. Let me say hello to the men and women in the Alabama Department of Corrections. Pray for you every day, love you so much, and let me remind you, you’re not a project to us, you are our church family, and we love you guys so, so very much. And then also let me say hi to those that are just streaming this somewhere around the country or the world and those that are watching it later, maybe on demand.
How about it, Grants Mill? Put your hands together and say a big old hello to everybody! God bless you guys. And let me remind you that also that we are in the final week of 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. If you’re new to our church, this is an effort that we do every year to start the year by giving God the first of our year. That includes pushing the plate away or pushing away something that connects us to the world. If you need some fasting teaching, I did that in week one of the series that we’re in, but you can go back and watch that. But I want to encourage you guys, even if you weren’t with us the first couple of weeks, go ahead and join us for this final week. This includes prayer at 6 a.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday. We’ll be right back here in the morning seeking God. There’s been thousands, in fact, I think we’ve had record attendance this year.
Thank you for that, by the way, you’re an amazing church to lead. But we’re seeking God with all of our heart. In this final week, we’re going to really step into some intercession, and pray for revival in our country, and pray for people to be saved, and pray for our families and for students, and it’s going to be an amazing, amazing week of intercession. Then on Saturday, we have what I call the grand finale, and it’s, honestly, I think it’s the most dynamic prayer service you may have ever attended, and I would love for you to come. It’s at 9 a.m., I’d love for you to join us, and for all of those, if you can’t make it in person, sure hope you can, but if you can’t, we are actually streaming those live while they’re happening, and then we also make them available on demand.
We are in week number three of a four-part series called «All Things New». We felt like the Lord led us to a theme this year of «it’s the year of new beginnings,» which is honestly something that God is always willing to do for you. He doesn’t do it just at the beginning of the year. It’s a good time for us to be reminded of it because of a new year, but God’s the God of a do-over. God’s, he is a fresh start, give you a clean slate, and he doesn’t just make you work on it. The Bible says if you come and just confess your sins to him, he not only forgives you, but he cleanses you. He just washes it. It’s kind of like that Etch A Sketch on if you ever did one of those. He just shakes it up, come on, everybody, and nothing’s there. He always gives you that fresh start. You want to clap and thank God right there how good, how he treats us? I do, yeah. I read this verse in the week number one, and I just wanna read it again.
The Bible says that when you get to places like this, «Forget the former things,» and I know that’s easier said than done. I’m gonna show you some ways that you can do that today, by the way. «Forget the former things; and do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing»! And the Bible says this is a now kind of a thing. This can happen for some of you today. You can now, «Now it springs up,» and then it says this line, like, «Don’t you see it»? Come on, I want you to see it. And I feel that as I’m communicating, I just want everybody to see it the way the Bible sees it, the way I see it, «That I’m making a way in the wilderness,» that means every place where you feel lost, he’ll help you find your way, and then he puts «streams in your wasteland». Every place where you feel dry, he’ll put some fresh things in your life there.
So in week number one, we talked about a new faith. What would it look like if our Christianity and our spiritual journey looked different in 2025 than it has in the years before, and what would it take for you to go to that place? And I tried to just bait you into the fact that, you know, that God has more than you’re currently experiencing, and I would just love for you to consider saying, «You know what? I’m gonna have a new faith. I love God, I have loved God, but it’s gonna look a little differently this year, because I’m gonna, I’m gonna go all in, I’m really gonna give God my best». And again, if you missed that, go watch that message. Last week we talked about new fitness. A lot of us start the new year with some fitness goals, getting in the gym and things like that, and the Bible says that physical training is important. It has some value, but there’s another way you can actually be fit and get your body, and your mind, and your emotions, and your habits, and all that in order so you can be fit for the Master’s use.
And so, last week we talked about vessels of honor, and so, again, if you missed it, go check out that message. Today I wanna talk about freedom. I’m calling this message «New Freedom,» and when I say new freedom, I’m gonna make the assumption that most of us that love God have experienced levels of freedom. In other words, you said, «God, would you take this»? And I promise you, the moment that you said, «God, would you take this habit? Would you take this sin? Would you take this mistake»? In a moment, you experience this freedom, and then if you’re like most of us, including the one that you’re listening to right now, we find ourselves right back in that thing again. Like, it, so it’s a very short-lived freedom, and I wanna talk about how to keep your freedom today. What would it, what would it look like if your 2025 had a new type of freedom?
And I want to teach you some things that probably may be some of the most powerful things that you can use so that your year looks completely different from some of your previous ones. 'Cause, like, most people start off the year with resolutions, right? And they say that most of the resolutions never make it out of the month of January, right? Like, I was reading some funny resolutions, I didn’t bring them for you, but I remember reading this one, this guy said, «My goal this year is to, is to pay off this loan». And then the next year, he says, «My goal this year is to pay off my loans». And then the next year, says, «And now my goal this year is just to get out of the country before they find me,» right? You know what I’m saying? It’s just like they have this way to almost diminishing. And maybe you’re even one of those people that says, «Chris, like, I tried this last year, I offered that to God last year. I just haven’t really experienced it».
And some of you have actually learned how to live with some of the things that you don’t like too much, like your debt, and your habits, and even the hurts, and your wounds, and your sins, and the things that have just kind of, they come with you for the journey. I want you to see this verse that Jesus said in John chapter 8. He says, «To the Jews who had believed,» so these are believers, these are people who believe in Jesus as Lord. Jesus said, «If you hold to my teaching, you are my disciples,» so you’re a Christian. And everything I’m saying to you about freedom, I’m not talking about your salvation, going to heaven, I’m talking about how, how much of your quality of life here on earth. He says, «If you hold to my teaching, you are my disciples,» but notice that salvation doesn’t start at the point of just believing in Jesus. He says, after you’re saved, «Then you will know truth, and the truth will set you free».
And they answered, «We’re Abraham’s descendants and we’ve never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we need to be set free»? And even some Christians say that. They say, «I don’t need this. I mean, I’m a Christian, I’ve got, I’ve got all that I need». And Jesus said, «Very truly I tell you,» but if you’re still sinning, you’re a Christian, but you’re still trapped in some things that actually grieves God, and honestly, not just grieves God, you don’t like it. I’m talking about not just the part that God sees in your life that he wishes wasn’t in your life. I’m talking about the part you have in your life that you don’t like in your life. He says, «Everyone who sins has become a slave to it,» and a slave, the problem with slavery, even though you’re going to heaven, you have no permanent place in family things.
Basically, that means that you can’t get all that God has for you if you’re still battling those things. «So, if the Son sets you free, you will be,» say it out loud, «you will be free indeed». And that’s what I wanna talk about today, how to get free, stay free, and realize that freedom is this journey. It’s not just this one time moment in time. In fact, I wanna show you a quite discouraging verse, and I just have to give this to you so we know our theology on this topic. In Luke chapter 11, it says, «When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest».
So whenever you say, you know, «I take authority over you, devil, in Jesus’s name, to get your hands off my mind, and off the things that have happened to me in the past, and over some of my habits,» it has to leave in Jesus’s name. «And it goes looking for rest. But when it finds no place to rest, it says, 'I will return.'» And this is a teaching that Jesus gave us to understand spiritual warfare dynamics. He says, «'I’ll return to the person I came from.' And when it returns, it finds that the former home,» or that person, «has their house all swept clean». They went to part one, two, and three of all things new and realized, «My goodness, I have a new beginning, I’m made brand-new». «But then the spirit,» unfortunately, «finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse than it was before».
So Jesus is basically describing a cycle that every one of you in this room that are listening to me and at the other locations and online are very familiar with, and that is sometimes the freedom that we experience can be quite short-lived. And by the way, that’s not even just true of spiritual dynamics. There is this cycle that takes place. You can see it in countries. Honestly, I think America’s in it right now. And we have to decide what we’re going to do in this cycle where you experience freedom. We have this date we celebrate in July, this day of independence. We pop fireworks. We celebrate the fact that we’ve been freed from, you know, this country’s rule and taxation, and, «Oh my goodness, freedom, we’re gonna to live, we’re gonna live as free people,» you know.
We’ve all seen the movies, and we’ve read the history. And every time you experience freedom, every time you experience prosperity, because on the heels of freedom is you’re gonna be blessed, your life’s gonna work out. When you don’t have debt, and hurt, and wounds, and sins, and habits, and pains, and all those things, what happens is your life begins to prosper. But here’s the problem, when your life begins to prosper and you think, man I’m doing so well, you have a tendency to ignore God. In fact, you can see it, I see it in church attendance. Every time, honestly, things go bad in the world, the room fills up, and every time the, the world’s quiet and everything’s good, you know, people have a hard time making church a commitment. I always say, «In wartime, people go to church. At peacetime, they go to the lake house».
Come on, somebody, right? And you’ll see that. I’ll never forget the first year of our church, we were brand-new, we were meeting over at Mountain Brook High School, and September 11 happened in our first year as a church. And that was the very first time that auditorium was completely filled from top to bottom, a thousand people, and it’s because everybody was so desperate for God. And I always tell people, you have to learn how to live with prosperity without getting prideful or complacent, because when you’re prideful, complacent, and you forget God, it leads you right back into this bondage. And every one of you in this room can, you can talk to me about the cycles that, that we’ve been through, which is the reason, again, why resolutions don’t stick.
So that’s why I’m teaching you not just, hey freedom, come on, let’s have a prayer, you’re gonna experience it, do you believe it, amen. And I promise you, when that happens, it really happens. But then there’s those of you thought, «But yeah, but that’s, it didn’t stay with me». Watch this verse in Galatians chapter 5. It says, «It is for freedom that Christ has set us free». And we would love for there just to be a period right there, «Move on, praise God, sing a song,» but then it says, «Stand firm».
Now, if God set me free, why do I need to stand firm? He says, «Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by that yoke of slavery». And that’s what I wanna help us do today. I’m gonna teach you some spiritual warfare truths and some truths about who you are so that you can have a new freedom, not the kind that where you have moments and freedom that is very short-lived. I’m talking about freedom where you actually, once and for all, settle that habit, settle that hurt, settle that problem, settle that thing that keeps coming along for the ride with you so that we can be free indeed. Can I hear a good «amen,» everybody? And I wanna do it in the, in the framework of one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It is, I think, the most popular of the parables, or the stories, that Jesus told, and that’s the parable of the prodigal son.
I do a lot of different teachings based off of this, this beautiful parable. Let’s read it together. It goes like this. «There was a man who had two sons. And the younger son said to his father, 'I wish you were dead, because I want my inheritance now, and unfortunately, I have to wait till you’re dead, '» and which is one of the most rude things this young son could have said. He wanted all this pleasure, and he wanted something that he was intended to get later, he wanted it now. He said, «Father, give me my share of this estate,» so the father just obliged him. And the Bible says that «he divided his property,» but he didn’t just give it to the younger son who, who asked for it. He went ahead and gave the older son his inheritance then, now, even though he didn’t ask for it.
And I want you to remember that, because we’re gonna come back to it. It says, «Not long after that, the younger son got together all the things that he has now, and he set off for a distant country and there he squandered his wealth in wild living». So, he experiences the freedom of no longer being in the house with all the money he wants and couldn’t handle his prosperity. And here he is, he squanders his wealth in wild living, «And after he had spent everything,» now this is that cycle I was talking about. Wouldn’t you know it, «There was a severe famine in the land,» so not only did he spend everything, but now circumstantially, things were starting to go wrong at the same time, which, by the way, I think God allows that to shake us up and get our attention.
And some of you might even be in that moment right now, and I’m just here to help you recognize it so you know what to do. «But there was a severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went out and hired himself out to a citizen,» so that’s an important little detail that I’ve highlighted in the story, because what he should have done is repented to God and gone back home to his daddy, but he didn’t. He looked for a worldly solution. He went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, and for a lot of us, we’ve done that. We said, «Well, God, you can’t fix this, and I don’t know if I trust you to do it, and I’m too embarrassed actually to come to you at again,» and we start going to worldly solutions, which actually put us deeper into that same problem.
«And they sent him into the fields to feed pigs. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods,» so pig food, so he’s in there in slop. Can you imagine the dilemma that is even for a Jewish person? «He’s feeding pigs who were eating, and no one gave him anything». And then I love this phrase, and this is gonna be what our first point, and that is, «When he came to his senses,» which is the first step of you finding real freedom. Because God’s looking for somebody who wants to enter 2025 and say, «That’s enough, I’m not going through this another year. I’m not bringing that habit. Those pills aren’t coming with me in 2025. This alcohol that I have to have to put me to sleep every night, that’s not happening.
This marriage that everybody thinks is fine because we know how to smile in the room, I’m not keeping, I’m miserable and its time, I’ve had enough». And it’s looking for somebody just to say, «This can’t happen anymore». He says, «How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death»! If you’re taking notes, write this down. You have to admit that I need help. And it’s the first step of real freedom when you come to the place and you say, «I can’t handle this on my own any longer, I need some help, enough»! And it’s this beautiful concept that the Bible teaches that you have to know in order to be successful in your freedom, and that is saying, «I’ve gotta let God know, I can’t do this any longer. 2025 is gonna be my year, it’s gonna be a new freedom».
King David finally got to that place. He tried to hide his sin, and poor King David, he had some issues with adultery, and murder, and all these types of things. And he says, «And when I refused to,» when I just said, «Look, I’m just going to try to work this out myself,» which is, for a lot of you, that is your strategy, and it’s not working. He said, «My body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. And day and night your hand of discipline was heavy upon me. And my strength evaporated like the water in the summer heat,» I love all the descriptives of how he felt.
And I just wonder if there’s anybody listening to me today where that’s what it feels like already in the third week of a brand-new year. It’s like, «Man, I’m just tired, I just, I just can’t keep going through the same thing, the same way, same thing, same way». He said, «Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and I stopped trying to hide my guilt. And I said to myself, 'I will confess my rebellion to God.' And you forgave me! And all my guilt is gone». And God gave him a brand-new beginning, but it was only when he got to the place where he said, «Enough, enough, this is my year, it’s time». And I wanna just encourage somebody who’s just, like, you’re on that line, and you have some things that are happening in your own heart and your own mind. You have some secret things, you have some secret, I don’t know what it is, but you know what it, you know that area of your life that if it wasn’t in your life, your life would be so much better. Why not this year?
Let’s continue the story. In Luke chapter 15, he says, «And I will set out and go back to my father and I will say to him: Father,» now this is an important detail I want you to see in the text, «I have sinned against heaven,» that’s God, «and I’ve sinned against you,» talking about his dad. Write this down if you’re taking notes, and that is the second step of real freedom, the freedom that lasts, is humbly repenting both to God and to others. So this is one of the mistakes that a lot of us make as we’re trying to, you know, to deal with our resolutions or we’re trying to, you know, change some part of our life is that our resolutions are way too personal, so we’re just trying to handle them on your own.
I have this resolution every year, it kinda drives me crazy. I’m sure you guys are just watching it 'cause I’m on stage every, every week, and you just watch it, and that is, I just sure wish I could lose more weight. I wish I could get myself in a little bit better shape. I have this incredible intent to, to go to the gym, y’all, I really do. In fact, the other day, I thought, «You know what? I need to work out». And I took a nap, and praise God, that feeling left. Are y’all following me, everybody? But I have noticed, I have just noticed that if I tell somebody, or better yet, I get a workout partner, every time I have had success in the gym, it’s whenever I have somebody that meets me there. 'Cause I can talk myself out of it. I mean, I don’t even do it for spiritual things, you know?
I’ve got that message coming up this Sunday. I’m gonna go, I’m gonna go spend time in the presence of God, and devour the Word of the Lord, and get ready and y’all, y’all, I’ve got the best excuses in the world. Come on, somebody, right? But every time, I don’t just say, «God, I want this to change,» but I’d let somebody else know I need this to change. The secret is in the accountability. The secret is in the fact that the truth of this Scripture that you’ve heard me teach before, but let me dig a little bit deeper on it today, that you «confess our sins». One translation says, «Confess your faults,» not just to God, but also «to each other and pray for each other, you will be healed».
Why is that? Because when you go to God and say, «God, would you forgive me for this and help me through this»? And in a moment, he cleanses you, washes you, forgives you, and forgets what you did. But watch this, but it doesn’t ensure you’re never gonna do it again. And some of you have wondered, if God is so powerful or my prayers were that powerful to him, why am I still battling the same thing? Because you forgot the second part of the equation, that is God’s system for you to experience real freedom, and that is not just confessing to God, but confessing to each other. You have to have that built in accountability partner, «And pray for each other so that you can be healed».
And that’s why we’re a church of groups. I’m so excited in a couple of weeks that we’re gonna start, start groups. I mean, it gives us a chance to have all these variety of reasons why we gather. And I’ll just go ahead and tell you plainly, thank God for the topics, thank God for the activities, thank God for volleyball and studying Jesus the high road Leader, but that is not really why we have you gather. The whole purpose is for you to meet somebody and get close enough to them where you have confidence to share with them something personal about what you’re going through. So praise God for the whatever it is, we’re gonna get out of debt with Dave Ramsey, praise God, whatever that is. You have the topic, that’s why you kind of think you’re there. That’s might, might be why you got there in the first place, but the real reason is to meet so-and-so, so-and-so and get close enough to them maybe three or four or five weeks in where you can say, «Can I tell you something that no one knows»? And some of you are thinking, «I don’t even know if I can do that in a group of ten people that I trust».
Then go find two people in your group. Come on, guys, find two people that look like they got more problems than you do, all right, everybody? Bring them out in the front yard and just say, «Dude, every weekend when I go on this trip, man, I just, it’s not good. Bro, can you call me about 8 o’clock on Friday night? I mean, I’m traveling again this weekend, and I just have to have somebody who’s got my back». And for some of you, and I’m being very serious about this, some of you, your life’s really never gonna change even coming to Highlands 52 Sundays a year, and giving all your problems to God, and asking God to help you. You’re gonna have to involve somebody.
You go to God for forgiveness, but you’re gonna have to go to God’s people for healing. Is anybody listening to me out there today? And I’m just trying to keep it real today, because we have some things that some of you are getting very frustrated about that you keep bringing into every brand-new year. In fact, one of the hallmark types of groups that we have here at Highlands, you’ve heard about it, they’re called Freedom Groups, and Freedom Groups is the curriculum that is specifically designed to do the very thing that I’m talking about. It’s just more intensive. Layer by layer, it gets into our past, it gets into our habits, it gets layer upon layer. And honestly, of all the Small Groups that we have, you don’t have to do it this coming semester, but at some point in your Highlands journey, you ought to consider attending one of the Freedom Groups.
In fact, anybody in this room who has been a part of Freedom and it has changed your life, clap and just praise God, anybody? There you go, all right. Let’s continue the story. «So he got up and went to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion with him». Now, I included this part of the story because I think people still have a wrong view of who God is and they think, «If I let God in on the fact that I’m really still struggling with this and isn’t he frustrated with me by now»? And I want you to see that when the son went back to the father, the father saw him «a long way off». Now that can only be true if the father was waiting on the front porch for his son to come back home. The only way he can see him afar off, I mean, I guess you could say the father just so happened to be passing by the front porch at the very second his son was coming home, but I don’t believe that.
I think every, every day the father went out there saying, «Is this gonna be the day»? And he’s just waiting. And I want you to know, your heavenly Father is on the front porch of your life saying, «Is this going to be the day»? And it’s there with this eager hope in his heart. And then when he sees you, he doesn’t wait for you to grovel and crawl all the way back to him, «The father saw him. And while he was a long way off, saw him, was filled with compassion for him; and he ran to his son,» he met him halfway, «and threw his arms around him and kissed him».
Now I want you to see the next detail for the last two points of the story that most… they don’t get taught in this story. Usually that’s where most, most sermons end on the story of the prodigal son. But it says, «But meanwhile, the older son,» who had never left home, «was in the field. And when he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked them what’s going on». And the servant said, «'Your brother’s back home, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' And the older brother became angry and refused to go into the party. So his father went out and pleaded with him,» watch this, He answered his father, «'Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you, '» parents, when your kids say stuff like that, like, like, «Look at all I did for you,» like, my kids, I barely asked them to do any chores at all around the house, and I’m like, «Hey guys, we had a little storm last night. Y’all come out for ten minutes and help me pick out sticks».
«Man, what do you think we are, slaves»? I mean, like, come on, man, what is going on? Feed you all day long, Lord Jesus, okay, about to slap you into the next door, anyway, all right. And that’s what he does, he’s basically saying, «I’ve slaved,» like, «Look what I’ve done for you, Dad. I’ve slaved for you and I’ve,» look at this language, «I’ve never disobeyed you». The King James says, «I have never broken a single one of your commandments. Yet you,» again, look at the extremism of this lie that he says, «you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends,» but when your rebellious old son comes home, «who squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fatted calf for him»! And every bit of that was a big lie.
And there are some of you, you’re gonna have to learn how to deal with the enemy’s lies that he’s speaking over your life. So, like, part of the reason why you keep bringing stuff into every year and you never experience «freedom indeed» is because you’re still listening to the old lies that the devil constantly tells you. And listen to me, all bondage begins with a lie, every bit of it. Now, my favorite lie bondage story is a story that’s very familiar to our house, but maybe not for those of you that are new to our house, and I love telling it, because it is so powerful. My wife’s dad, Billy Hornsby, was my best friend. In fact, I jokingly say, and it was somewhat quite true, that, you know, Billy, I didn’t even know Tammy, I knew her dad first. He actually pursued me. He took me out on a date one day and asked me to take his daughter out.
So I always say, «Billy proposed to me». Come on, somebody, right? But I loved him dearly. He went to heaven way too soon at 61 years old, and we miss him, talk about him every single day, but he used to tell this story how in eighth grade, he was, of course, we’re from Baton Rouge, he went to Baton Rouge High School, and in eighth grade he was sitting in a math class, and the teacher had gone to the chalkboard, and put a problem on the board, drew the line, and said, «Hey, Hornsby, come do this problem on the chalkboard». So he got up, and he was brilliant, brilliant, brilliant mind, very, very, very smart, and the second he stood up, he did all the math in his head, solved it, got the answer, walked up, and just, and just put the answer on the chalkboard, and returned to his seat. And the teacher said, «Hornsby, that’s wrong». He said, «No, that’s right». She goes, «Yeah, the answer’s right, but it’s wrong because you didn’t show your work».
Remember how they used to make you do that? I hated that part. Anyway, «You didn’t show your work». And he said, way too sassy, he said, «Yeah, it doesn’t matter though, I got the answer right». And it made the teacher so mad that the teacher looked at him, pointed his finger in Billy’s face, and said, «Hornsby, you’re never gonna amount to anything,» and cursed him, really cursed him, a curse that, for some, could roll off like water on a duck’s back, but for Billy that day he believed it, and it got written on his heart. And, and he tells the story how, he said, «Chris, I went back to school, but I didn’t, I never in my mind or my heart ever went back».
And so he’s checked out at eighth grade. He’s basically only at an eighth grade education. At 15 years old, he’s, he’s sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night to go play country music in bars at 15. At 17 years old, he gets his girlfriend pregnant, and the baby is my wife, and so they have to get married, 17 years old. A few years later, he’s got two more girls, no money, no education. And in Louisiana, if you want a job and you don’t have a job, you probably go try at one of the chemical refineries there along the Mississippi River. About 1/3 of the workforce of Baton Rouge works in one of those refineries on the river. And so he went to Exxon to try to get a job. He was qualified for nothing. I mean, remember, he checked out of school since eighth grade, got three little girls, doesn’t know what to do. And so they made him take this exam to see, you know, what his proficiencies were, and they said, «We’ll call you back tomorrow».
And they called back the next day, and they said, «Mr. Hornsby, we want you to come in. We wanna talk to you about this, this test that you took». And he says, «Don’t make me come in just to tell me I failed, just tell me I failed». And they said, «Sir, please, if you don’t mind, come in, we wanna talk to you about it». So he went in, and they said, «Mr. Hornsby, no one has ever scored higher on this test in the history of Exxon. You’re the highest score ever». And the examiner said, «And if you’ll put your mind to it, you’ll really amount to something someday,» literally said the opposite of what the teacher said and reversed the curse.
And Billy believed it and became incredibly successful, gives his life to Jesus. He ends up becoming a state trooper, went to three FBI hand-to-hand combat schools, bodyguard for the governor, I mean, plants a church in North Louisiana, becomes the pastor, starts a Christian school, moves to Europe and plants churches all over Europe, comes back home in the '90s and leads thousands of churches, teaching them what small groups are all about. He was literally the first, one of the pioneers of the small group movement in America, ends up, you know, when he was in Europe is where I met him, and we became close friends, and of course, I met and married Tammy, and then, then we started this church planting organization that has planted thousands of churches all across America.
In fact, four more churches today are being planted across America today because of the movement. Can we give God praise, everybody? And some of you are still living according to a lie, and the curse needs to be reversed in order for you to be free. We have to reject the lies of the devil. And the next verse says this, it says, «My son,» the truth is, «you are always with me, and all that I have is yours». Remember the father gave him his full inheritance the same time he did his brother’s. And that’s why daily, I don’t know if this is in who you are or what you do, but you might be back here with the same thing next year if you don’t learn how to daily choose to believe God’s truth about you, and I want to close and tell you what those truths are, and if you’ll have a heart that receives this, I’m going to speak it over you as a father. And I’m going to say this to you, and I want you to believe it, and I’ll show you where I’m getting it from.
«The father said to his servant, 'Quick! '» Bring me 3 things, «Bring me a robe, bring me a ring, and bring me some sandals. I want to put on you today, a robe, ring, and sandals». I’m getting ready to put it on you. «'And we’re gonna have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive; was lost and is now found.' And then began to celebrate». The robe is a robe of righteousness. All throughout Scripture, robes represented how you see yourself. Do you see yourself as royalty or do you see yourself as a Christian who’s just a big mess-up? And you’re gonna have to see yourself the right way. The Bible says, I’m speaking this over you right now, «You are the righteousness of God in Christ,» which means, sir, you’re a man of God.
Sir, you’re a man of God. Ma’am, you’re a woman of God, and you’ve gotta see yourself how God sees you, because the more you see yourself as righteous, the more you’re gonna behave righteously. But if you see yourself as a Christian who still has got a lot of issues, then you’re gonna be a Christian with a whole lot of issues. But when you begin to declare, «I am the righteousness of God in Christ», I have the most amazing grandkids and I love, every time I see them, especially my little, my little granddaughters, «Are you the most beautiful girl in the whole world? Papa thinks you’re the most beautiful girl in the whole world. You’re so beautiful». «Thank you, Papa».
Now the day one of my granddaughters, when they come to our house, they go up to this playroom that has so many toys in it. I can only spend about a minute up there because it just, I need counseling after I’m up there, it’s too many toys. And it’s just, I like order so much I can’t handle it. So they’re up there playing, I endure as much as I can. I went back downstairs, and I, I was just catching up on some news or something, and one, my little granddaughter, Charlotte, made her way down by herself. I don’t even know if everybody up there even knew she left. But she came down, and when she saw me watching the news, she came in, she goes, «I don’t want to watch that»! And I said, «Is that how a little lady talks»? «Papa, may we watch some cartoons, please»?
She just needed to be reminded who she is. By the way, we were sitting there watching cartoons, and she goes, «And Papa, I’m not a little lady, I’m a little girl». And I was like, «Okay, well, I stand corrected». And some of you in this room, you need to be reminded, you’re a child of God, you’re royalty. There’s a robe of righteousness on you, and you need to start seeing yourself and waking up, saying, «I am the righteousness of God in Christ». Then he put a ring. The ring always represents authority. Some of you guys need to know that you have power over the devil, and you need to start using it. «Boy, if I could just get Pastor Chris to pray for me».
In fact, when people come up to me and say, «Pastor Chris, could you pray for me»? I said, «I’ll agree with you, but you have as much authority as I do». My prayers aren’t counting any more than yours, because you carry the signet ring, the credit card, so to speak, the name, and the authority of the Son of God on your finger, and you need to start using it. And if you really want to be free, you got to wake up and say, «Devil, you can’t have my family, and I take authority over my mind today, and I’m not walking in all that bondage anymore, because I am free indeed, and I take authority over you in the name of Jesus»! To which one lady said, «But Pastor Chris, every time I do, he doesn’t leave»! I said, «Oh yes, he does! You just don’t think. He’ll tell you he’s not leaving, but he has to leave».
So when you say, «In the mighty name of Jesus, I take authority over you in Jesus’s name,» the devil says, «Well, I’m not leaving! I can’t leave, and I’m not gonna leave, and you’re still gonna deal with that, because I am not leaving. In fact, I’m not even really gone». And he really is, everybody, because he has to flee in Jesus’s name. Come on, somebody, put your hands together if you believe it. And then on your old, crusty, dry feet, which represents how you feel about your life, got pig stuff between it, represents everything where your life has been, God washes it, puts a sandal on it, and gives you his peace. It belongs to you. You just have to believe it, because it’s the truth.
And so, Father, I pray for this amazing church, who I know want to be free indeed. But God, I’m asking you to give them the courage, and the wisdom, and the grace to accept your truth and live it out every day, God. And may we never be the same, in the name of Jesus.
Keep your heads bowed, your eyes closed. If you feel drawn to God right now, you want to surrender your life to him. You’re ready to give Jesus your all. Maybe you’re under conviction right now. You feel your sin, your shame. You’re carrying right now guilt, and you want to be close to God. The Bible says if you call on his name, you’re saved. Can I lead you in a prayer right there where you are, for those who want to make a commitment to Jesus? For some of you, it’s time for you to come back home, it’s time. Pray this prayer, say:
Jesus, I need you, and I am so sorry that I’ve been living my life without you. Today, I turn my life around, and I repent. Forgive me, change me, be the Lord of my life. Be my Lord, because I truly believe you are the Son of God, who died on the cross for all my sin, who rose from the dead, and today I give you my life. In your name, I pray, amen.