Men, so the title of sermon tonight is A New You in 2022. A New You in 2022. Now I know I've already
kind of preached several kind of, you know, year-end, New Year's Eve sermons, but you're
gonna get another one because I think this is something that's really important. It's always
important for us to have goals and, you know, to be thinking about the future, what lies ahead,
always trying to be improving because, you know, the Christian life, I'm kind of getting my head
up already, is not something that we kind of plateau in. It's not something we become
stagnant in. You know, we're always pointed either up or down when it comes to the Christian life.
We're never kind of doing this. You know, we might be doing this or we might be doing this,
but we're never just flatlining. You know, either way we might be angled a little bit one way or
another, but there is some degree of either incline or decline in the Christian life.
There's never just this level we reach where we just stop growing and we aren't gonna,
we've never arrived. Okay, so I think it's an important subject, and the first thing I want
to point out there in Ephesians chapter 4, as it says in verse 22, that you put off concerning the
former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind. So this is something that we should be doing, being renewed in our minds.
You know, this is something, this is an ongoing state, this renewing of your mind. Okay,
and then you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. So
the new man is already created. You know, we already have a heavenly body that we're going
to inherit. You know, when we go to heaven, when we see him, we shall be as he is. You know,
that new man has already been created, but while we're still in this flesh and still in this body
here on earth, you know, there still is this process of having to renew day by day that
inward man. So I think this is a really, you know, appropriate passage to look at here for
a new year's eve sermon, because what's new year's all about? It's about the new year. It's about,
you know, restarting afresh, you know, wiping the slate clean and starting over. You know,
it's just renewing, you know, and the Bible is telling us here that we should be renewed in the
spirit of our mind, that we should put on the new man. That's something we have to do every single
day. Just like you have to get up in the morning and put on clothes and walk out the door and
start your day, you know, part of that process should be putting on the new man. You know,
getting up and getting in the word of God and getting in prayer and putting on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Now, if you would, go over to
Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter number 12. When you get to Romans, put a bookmark there,
because we're going to look at a couple passages here in Romans.
But there's this concept in scripture of us being renewed, despite the fact that the new man is
already created. We already are a new creature in Christ. The Bible says in Colossians 3 to 10,
it says, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him
that created him. You know, we are already renewed in the knowledge after the image of him that
created him. We have already been created. This new man already exists, but yet we still have to
go through this process here of continually renewing. Going back to that thought I opened
up with, that there's never this just homeostasis in the Christian life. It's always, you know,
we always have to disrupt that. There's always a disruption. We're either getting better or we're
getting worse. We're never static in the Christian life. We have to be transformed into that image
that's already been created. This is a process, okay, and that's why this is such a great topic
for this time of year because, you know, we can sit down this time of year and think about, okay,
how am I going to be a better Christian in 2022? What's going to be the new you in 2022? Now look,
there is going to be a new you in 2022. There is going to be one. He's either going to be a better
Christian than you are this last year or I think he's going to be a worse Christian than you are
this last year. But no doubt about it, there is going to be a new you in 2022. Look there in
Romans chapter 12 verse 2. He said, be not conformed to this world but be transformed
by what? By the renewing of your mind. So it's this transforming that takes place when our mind
is renewed. This is a process. This isn't something that we just do once and that's it. This is
something that we have to do continually. There is this process of being transformed by the renewing
of mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So again,
we're destined to be conformed to the image of Christ. We understand that. If you go back to
Romans chapter 8, keep something Romans 12, go back to Romans chapter 8. That new man is already
there but we see here again that there's this process by which we need to be transformed
and it's in the mind. We're not going to transform the flesh. Now in 2022, a lot of us might try to
transform the flesh a little bit. We might say, hey I'm going to lose that weight or put on that
muscle or whatever. That's an important thing to do. That's something that we should do if we need
to do that but more important than that is the transforming of our mind, the putting on of a new
man, of becoming a better spiritual person. Now if you're there in Romans 8, look at verse 29.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he
may be the firstborn among many brothers. So we are already predestinated, not in the sense that
Calvinists like to teach that God picked us for salvation before the world began.
God's always known who's going to be saved. It doesn't mean he picked some people to be saved
and some people to go to hell. Okay, we understand that but what is it saying here? What is the
predestination that's mentioned here? Those that get saved are predestined to be what? Conformed
to the image of his son. That's our destiny. We can't avoid that. You can't get to heaven and
turn down the new body. The old corruptible has to put on incorruption. There's just no way about
it. That's just the way it's going to be. That's our destiny here. But in the meantime, we should
be working at that transformation, that renewing of our mind here on earth. Now look, if we don't
ever do that, if we just remain stagnant in the Christian life, we come backslidden, we get out
of church and we're just the worst Christians ever, we're still going to end up with that new
body. We're still going to end up that new man in heaven. But since that's our destiny, since that's
what we're going to end up being anyway, we should go ahead and start doing that renewing now.
Should we start working on that process? That's why we should be reading our Bibles and
knowing the doctrines of the word of God because we're going to rule and reign in the
millennium with Christ. What's going to be our guidebook? We're not going to turn to the
Constitution. We're not going to go through the halls of Congress and let them determine
it's this book that's going to be how we judge and rule. It just seems fitting that those that
know it best, those that are most familiar with it are probably going to be the ones that are given
that responsibility. So in the same way as we should study to know the word of God because
it's our destiny to use the word of God, it's going to be eternal because we're going to be
transformed because we're predestined to be conformed in the image of His Son, we might as
well go ahead and start that process now and not just say, well I'll get to that later. That's
something that we should be doing now. And you say, well I don't like that idea. If I could
just coast and just go through it and go back to Romans 12, go back to Romans 12, if that's
my destiny, what's the point of putting in all that hard work? I'm going to end up conformed
anyway. I'm going to be transformed in a moment, a twinkling of eye anyway. What does it matter?
Well, this isn't the rest of the sermon, but we will receive rewards for our works here.
That's one aspect. But a lot of people might object and say, well I don't want to do that
because it's too hard. And look, it is hard. We talk about resolutions like it's just,
okay, it's New Year's, just make some resolutions and go ahead and do that. Look,
it's going to take hard work. You're going to have to put some effort into achieving those things.
You know, we like to use New Year's as a way to kind of get us motivated,
right? We use New Year's to kind of motivate and get into it. But you know, motivation is
something that weighs, doesn't it? Motivation comes and goes, right? What's really going to
carry you through? What's going to get you through 2022 to where do you get to the end of that one?
You're facing 2023 and said, I accomplished this goal in 2022. I accomplished this goal in 2022.
What's going to make that possible? It's not motivation. It's discipline. And discipline
is hard. Discipline is not easy, right? To be self-disciplined is not an easy thing. To be
motivated, you know, that's, you know, you could go on YouTube and watch some motivational video
about whatever topic and get all inspired and get goosebumps and get excited for, you know,
a few days. But look, it's discipline. It's the hard work that's going to actually make the changes
in the Christian life. So as we're making these resolutions this year, and hopefully we are,
you know, we have to remember that it's hard work. It's hard work for us to start
being transformed in the renewing of our mind now, to start trying to conform ourselves to the image
of his son. And obviously we're never going to completely accomplish that here in this life.
That's why it's something that we have to be predestinated onto. It's something that God has to
finish for us, you know, but if we are going to go ahead and start that process now, like we should,
it's going to be hard work. It's not easy. And, you know, I'll draw our attention there to Romans
chapter 12 in light of that fact that it isn't easy. And point us at verse one, it says,
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. So, you know,
we started out with verse two, where he said, be not conformed in this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. How are you going to accomplish that? By presenting your body a
living sacrifice. By saying, you know what, I'm not going to fulfill the lust of the flesh.
I'm going to walk in the spirit. You know, I'm going to do the things that please God
and not myself. That's going to take, that's hard work. That's why it's called
a sacrifice. And you say, well, that's difficult. I don't know if I want to do that.
Keep something in Romans, go to Isaiah 50. Living sacrifice, you know, what kind of church is this?
You guys are going to put on some robes later and light candles and pull out a knife? I mean,
good night. It's not that kind of sacrifice, right? It's a living sacrifice. We're presenting
our bodies a living sacrifice, right? You say, well, that sounds difficult. That sounds hard.
Well, it is. It is difficult. You know, I'm not going to lie to you, but you know what?
Jesus set the example, didn't he? You know, we need to consider him who endured such contradiction
against himself, lest we be weary in our minds and think we have not resisted yet unto blood.
Like he did. The Bible says in Luke nine, you're going to Isaiah 50, it says in Luke nine,
and it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up. He steadfastly set his
face to go to Jerusalem. You know, when Jesus had to go to Jerusalem and what, look, when he went to
Jerusalem, that wasn't easy. That wasn't a pleasure cruise. I mean, he went there and made people mad.
He's flipping tables. He's whipping people. He's rebuking Pharisees. He's calling them vipers and
making enemies. He's going there and being, you know, eventually he's crucified and tried and beaten
and all that. When he goes to Jerusalem, it's a difficult thing. That's why it says that he
steadfastly set his face to Jerusalem. He said, I have to go there. It's something I must do,
right? Not something, oh, I feel like it. This should be fun. No, it was a hard thing that he did.
Now, you're there in Isaiah chapter 50, verse six. It says, I gave my back to the swiners. Of course,
this is prophetic of Christ. I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked
off my hair. And that's exactly what they did to Christ. They whipped his back. You know, they
scourged him and they literally pulled out the hair. They pulled his beard out. You know that.
I hid not my face from shame and spitting. They buffeted him. They spat in his face, right? For
the Lord God will help me. Therefore, I will not be confounded. Therefore, I have set my face
like a flint and I know that I shall not be ashamed. You know, he set his face steadfastly.
He set his face like a flint and went and did that, which is hard in Jerusalem, didn't he?
He went and presented himself a sacrifice. He did something difficult. So when God is asking us,
if you want to go back to Romans chapter 12, to present our bodies a living sacrifice,
you know, we shouldn't complain about that. You say, oh, I want to be transformed. I want to be
a better Christian. Great. I hope you're up for some sacrifice. Sacrificing your time to go to
church. Sacrificing your time to get in the Bible. Sacrificing your time to go out sowing. These are
the things that are going to make you a better Christian. You know, those are all sacrifices
that we make. You say, well, it sounds difficult. Well, you know what? It says it's our, we should
present ourselves, our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. And how does it end
there? Which is your reasonable service. You're saying, look, it's reasonable for God to ask you
to sacrifice your body as a living sacrifice. I mean, consider everything that Christ gave for us.
I mean, what are we ever going to give in return to God that we can say, well, that should not be
in Jesus or even, you know, we'll never come close to that, anywhere near that. So that's why it's a
reasonable service to show up at church. It's a reasonable service to live for the Lord, to read
your Bible, to do the soul wedding, to do the prayer, to do, to do these things that God asked
us. It's reasonable to make that sacrifice because he made that for us. And look, we can, you know,
I could preach this and try to motivate us to make those changes that we need to make in the coming
year to be that new you in 2022. But it's not going to happen if you don't want it. You have to want
it. If you would, go to Philippians chapter number three. Philippians chapter number three. We're done
in Romans. You can, you can get out of there, but we're going to be in Philippians three for a little
bit. Look, you've got to want it. It's not for me. It's not enough for me to just get up and try to
preach a few sermons about making changes and being a better Christian. You know, you have to
want to do that for yourself. The Bible says in Proverbs 18, through desire, a man having separated
himself, seeketh an inner metallist with all wisdom. You know, a man seeks and intermetals
with wisdom. You know, he gets in the book, you know, he does the study, he does the hard work
because he wants to. He does it through desire. You know, that's, that's true of anything in life.
Anything difficult in life that you're going to do, you're going to do it because you want to do it.
And obviously there's a lot of things we do just when we don't want to do them, right? But we have
a desire. We have something that's compelling us to do those things which are difficult.
You know, we, we might think of some of our resolutions like, well, these are going to be hard.
Well, we should think about the end goal. You know, if you think about the resolutions we're making
going into 2022, you know, what I like to do is think about, well, what's it going to be like a
year from now? When I get to the end of this next year, will have I accomplished this goal or do I
have not accomplished this goal? You know, that's, that's where I get the desire to do those things.
Say, look, the desire is I want to reach the end of this year and, and not feel like a bum. I feel
like I didn't do anything. Another year went by and I haven't made any changes. You know, if anything,
you know, people get worse if they're not trying to improve themselves. You have to want it. You
know, Paul's a great example of somebody who wanted, if you look there in Philippians chapter
three, verse 13, he said, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I
do is saying, look, I haven't arrived. I haven't apprehended. He's not saying, look, I've reached
the pinnacle of Christianity. I am the ideal Christian. Everyone looked to me and look,
if there's anybody that we would probably say could have said that it's Paul, but Paul had
the humility and, and, and the understanding and the knowledge of the reality that he had never
ended, that he wasn't perfect, right? He says, I have, I count not myself to have apprehended,
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things are which behind and reaching forth
unto those things which are before. He said he reached forth for those things. You know,
that's his desire. Through desire, Paul reached forth and became the, the Christian that he was.
And look, did not that desire that Paul had resulted in some things in his life?
Didn't Paul make some big changes in his life that were probably not easy? I mean, he, you know,
he, he's persecuted by his own brethren because, you know, he's no longer, he forsakes the Jews
religion and they turn on him. There's literally stoning death. I mean, he presented his body,
a living sacrifice, literally, you know, but he made some changes. He did some difficult things.
How did he do that? Through desire. Because he reached forth unto those things which are before.
He didn't just think about the present moment and think, well, I would do this, but it's so hard.
He thought about the result. He said those things which are before, those things are what should
come, the results of reaching forth. That's what he was aspiring to do. He goes on and says in verse
14, I press toward the mark. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. So again, there's this effort, right? He's saying I'm pressing toward it. He
didn't say I post toward the mark. You know, I just kind of dilly dally, I just kind of flounder
towards the mark and hopefully I'll land on it. You know, hopefully I'll get to where I need to be.
Hopefully I'll achieve that just by kind of drifting through life. You know, he said I had
to press toward that mark. I had to reach forth unto it. I had to make a decision and set a goal
and go after it. I wanted it. He said I press toward the mark. You know, and it's interesting
that he says I press toward the mark. You know what that tells me is that if there's some kind of
pressing going on, if he's pushing up against something, you know, that infers that there's
going to be resistance, doesn't it? I mean, if you're pressing, that means there's something
pressing back. You know, if you go to shove something that isn't there, you're going to
end up on your face, right? I'm no physicist, but that seems to be the case for me. You know,
if I just took a running jump at something and lunged at it at thin air, I'm going to end up
on the ground. He was pressing against something because there was something pushing back. There
was an obstacle. And look, the Christian life is difficult. If you haven't figured that out yet,
let me just go ahead and peel the band-aid off and tell you right now. It's hard. That's why so
many people, even Christians who are saved and out of their heaven, choose not to live the Christian
life. They just, they would rather be conformed to this present world because it's easier just
to conform, to go along with the world, to adopt their philosophies. You know, it's hard in the
sense that it's not going to ask anything of you. People won't persecute you. People won't, you
won't stick out like a sore thumb. It's still going to be hard. The Bible says the way of the
transgressor is hard. Life's going to be hard one way or another. You know, life's going to be hard
if you live for God and life's going to be hard if you live for the world. It's just, you know,
which one do you want? You know, at least living for God has a prize to press towards. At least
there's some kind of a reward at the end. You know, the Bible says that the wealth of the
sinner is laid up for the just. I'm paraphrasing. You know, this world, they labor for that which
is not. They work hard at it, don't they? And they make sacrifices for that which is just going to
grow wings and fly away. But at least in the Christian life, although it's hard,
has something to reach for it unto. But again, there's a pressing, right? And go over to Hebrews
chapter 6, Hebrews chapter 6. There's going to be resistance. And we know in 1 Peter 5,
be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walked about,
seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith. You know, what am I pushing against?
The devil, the world, the flesh. These are the things that Paul and we have to push against in
the Christian life. That's what we have to press against to get to that mark, the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Now look there in Hebrews 6, it says in verse 1, therefore leaving
the principles of the doctrines of Christ, let us go unto perfection. He says, let us go unto
perfection. You know, perfection in the Bible just means complete and entire, wanting nothing,
being a perfect, complete, and whole person. Not sinless, okay? But what that shows me is that,
you know, you couple this with Philippians and other passages is that the Christian life is a
life of momentum. You have to get momentum going in order to press toward that mark. You know,
it was explained to me in Philippians 3, someone explained to me, I've never forgot this
illustration about, you know, if you're going to press toward something, you have to kind of,
you kind of have to brace yourself to really push against it, right? Like we got a lot of football
guys here, right? You know, if you were the center on that, on that, on that, is it the scrimmage
line? Would they call it a line of scrimmage where everyone lines up? Okay, I'm getting some
nods. If you were that center, you know, that big guy in the middle of the pack, whose job is to
block and to push through and make way for the running back and make sure that the quarterback
doesn't get sacked. You know, if you walked up to that line of scrimmage and you just stood up
like this and said, and just waited for him to snap the ball, you're going to get blown right
over, aren't you? You're going to get picked up off your feet. They're probably get carried off
the field, right? Cause you're, look, this is not, is this how you press against something?
Now, I don't know if I want to do this. I might, you know, tear some clothing or something like
that, but if you were to get down, I'm not going to do it. If you got down to that three point stance,
you know what it is, right? Who wants to come up and demonstrate? I'm just kidding. You got,
but if you got down to the three point stance, like they teach you, right? You put your knuckles
down and get in and get ready and you're just, you're coiled up. You're ready to just, as soon
as that ball snaps, you just go at it. You're going to push that guy back, aren't you? Look,
that's how you press against something in a Christian life, isn't it? You have to, if there's,
if there's something you have to press against, you want to get what? Momentum. You want to get
some force behind it. That is the Christian life. You know, early on in Christian life, probably the
best thing for us to do is just learn to get down to that three point stance and get ready to push
against something. Start reading your Bible. Start getting that, start getting in church.
Just do those basics. You know, get ready to push against something because the devil's coming.
You know, the devil doesn't spend his time pushing against people who he could just blow right over.
A lot of times he can just, he can just get their flesh going and, and, and the world will just take
care of them. Look, the devil isn't omnipotent. He's not omnipresent. He's not God. He can't be
in all places at all times. He can't, you know, he doesn't have all power. You know, he has to
be careful about how he spends his times and energies, you know, and, and, and so how much
time is he going to spend on us if, if, you know, if, if we're just standing at that scrimmage line,
just kind of just completely unaware of what's going on. You know, light, all he has to do is
wait for life to snap that ball and we're getting knocked over. But if he sees us get down at three
point stance, if he sees us getting our Bibles, getting to church, doing the work, making those
sacrifices, pressing towards that mark, so I got to push back against this guy. He's getting out
of control. He might actually accomplish something for God. That's the person he's going to press
against. So what I'm saying is this, is that the Christian life is momentum. And, and early on,
what we need to learn to do is just get ready, get ready to push back, to resist the devil
steadfast in the faith, because it's coming or it's not, or it's not coming. You know,
if we don't get down, if we don't try to live for God, you know what? We probably won't have to
resist the devil. The world and the flesh will just do all this dirty work for him. But the
Christian life is one of momentum. He said, let us go on unto perfection. It's forward or backward.
As I started out, there's no plateau in the Christian life. There is some degree of,
you know, some degree of an angle there in the Christian life. It's an incline or decline.
You know, some people's lives are very steep in one direction. Others, it might be very subtle,
but it's there. So, you know, what's the new you in 2022? When we go into 2023, well, if you've
been on the rise or you've been declining in the Christian life, one of those things is going to
happen. So when it comes to this idea of momentum in the Christian life, of pushing forward,
we have to, how do we do that? You know, how do we make that happen? How do we make progress?
Okay, how do we get that momentum? How do we get the ball rolling in our favor in the Christian
life? Well, if you look there in Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 1, he says, therefore,
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection,
not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and so on and so forth. He's saying,
look, if we're going to go on unto perfection, we can't lay again the foundation. We can't keep
rehashing the same material. We have to what? We have to forget the past. Okay. Now, obviously,
he's talking specifically, and I'm kind of using this as a springboard to make application.
Obviously, we don't want to just forget about doctrines that he mentions here. That's not what
he's saying. He's saying, look, once you have these things nailed down, then we can move on.
You know, and so that's the way it is in the Christian life, too. There's some things that
if you just never get them nailed down, God's just going to keep bringing you back. You know,
we get going in the Christian life, then we stumble, we fall, we get backslidden,
and we pick ourselves up and want to get back in, and God says, okay, well, let's go right back
to where we left off and try this again. Because there are some things, some foundational things,
that just have to be there. But look, once they're there, let's go on unto perfection. Let's take on
that next challenge. Let's keep the momentum going. Right? That's what he's saying here.
Now, if you would, go back to Philippians chapter number three. I should have had to
keep something there. Philippians chapter number three. Look, the past has to be forgotten.
You know, and I'm saying, of course, obviously, sin, bad things, because a lot of people get
hung up in the Christian life and think, look, I'm never going to be able to press toward that mark
like Paul did. I'll never be able to get that momentum going because of my past. Because, you know,
maybe 2021 was just not a good year for you. You know, maybe you're reflecting on 2021 and thinking,
man, I failed. All those resolutions I made in 2020, I failed. You know, I'm a worse Christian
now than I was when I started the year. Well, you know what? Don't let that discourage you from
being the new you in 2022. That should motivate you to do even better in this coming year.
To try again. To dust yourself off. Get back in the saddle and try again. I mean, what's the other
option? Just sit there and remain defeated? You know, that life's not going to get better if you
do that. That's not a healthy choice. That's not a wise option to take up. You know, forget,
of course, forget those things which are hindering us. Now, we want to confess them and forsake them.
We can't just pretend that it didn't happen. Obviously, we have to, you know, we should,
we should, you know, let our laughter be turned on in the morning and our joy to heaviness. You
know, we should cleanse our hands and not be double minded. All of that. Get that. Okay. But
also, we don't want to just get puffed up and think, well, I accomplished so much in 2022. I
am so, so much better of a Christian going into 2022. I don't know that there's any room for
improvement. You know, I doubt any of us have that mentality, but we got to look out for that.
I think, well, you know, I want so many souls. I read my book. It's great that you've accomplished
things. But again, the Christian life is not a plateau. It's not static. You have to keep the
nose up if you want to keep getting better. And we should be looking at ways in which we can improve
this next year, even if we've already made improvements this previous year. What are we
going to do better? Obviously, we want more of the same, usually is what it is. Look, if you
read your Bible once last year, this is the year for twice. You read it twice, this is the year
for three times. Whatever. You know, you were Sunday morning only this year, this last year.
You know, I'm preaching the midweek. I can really get after you now because you're here on Thursday.
You know, you should be in church on Thursday night. Come on. You're not going to amen that.
You're here. Right. You know, I should be preaching that on Sunday morning. They'll
get it though. But hey, that's what I'm saying. What other areas in Christian life can you improve
on this year? Don't just, you know, this idea of pushing, pressing toward the mark, of not laying
again the foundation, of going on to perfection. You know, that includes not just, you know,
dwelling on the things that we did that were good and letting say, well, I'm just going to rest on
my laurels now because I've arrived. Paul said, I've not apprehended. He said, I don't count myself
to that. He said, I haven't arrived. And there's, you know, if Paul didn't say that, I'm certainly
not going to say that. Look there in Philippians chapter three, verse four. He said, though I might
also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh he hath whereof he might trust in
the flesh, I more. He's saying, oh, people want to boast about, you know, their pedigree. He says,
I could do that. Verse five, circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin
and Hebrew of the Hebrews is touching the law of Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church,
touching the righteousness, which is in the law blameless. And that's quite the claim. The things
which were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ aid, doubtless I count all things, but lost
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, my Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things and do count them, but none. Look, even I believe even the good things, you know,
the righteousness, which is in the law, that's a good thing, isn't it? I mean, it's wrong to trust
in it for your salvation, but the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. You know,
those are good things that are in the law. All saying, look, I didn't sit there and just rely
on that, you know, obviously supplying salvation, but look, whatever good things you accomplished
this last year, you know what you need to do? Count is done. And don't go into this next year and say,
well, I did good enough in 2021. What, I mean, how could I do any better? I mean, I don't know how,
if that's your attitude, you know, you need to check that right now because we all will always
have room to improvement for improvement because we always have to be in what the process of being
renewed in our minds of continually offering ourselves as that sacrifice. We all have room
for improvement, you know, so it's both. It's, you know, not relying on the good things that you did,
not just resting on your laurels and not letting your past failures hinder you. You know, don't
let those things hold you back either. Go to First Timothy chapter one. Now, this is probably
the case with most people. I doubt, you know, the vast majority of Christians aren't, you know,
suffering from, you know, having done, you know, too much. They're not saying most of them aren't
struggling with, you know, this idea of, well, I was so good this last year. I don't know how
I could do any better. That's probably not the case in my experience. And most people that I've
interacted with, and even in my own case, you know, our struggle typically is, you know, we fail
and we get discouraged and we think, well, you know, what's the point? And people tend to just
kind of have this attitude of, well, I'm just going to give up. It's too hard. I can't do it.
They say they let their past failures discourage them. Look, you can't let that happen.
The Bible says, you're going to First Timothy one, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not
consumed because His compassion fails not. You know, God's not up in heaven tonight just like,
you know, saying, well, I hope you keep screwing up in 2022 so I can let you have it.
You know, God is merciful. His compassion fails not. You know, He wants us to do better this next
year, despite whatever failures we had in this last year. Whatever ways we sinned or we let God
down or we didn't accomplish what we needed to, or wherever we're coming up short in the Christian
life, God's not just, you know, warming up a bat, just, you know, waiting for us to get it, right?
He's up there, you know, compassionate, merciful. It says that His compassion fails not. They are
new every morning. They're going to be New Year's. New Year's morning, they're going to be new.
January 2nd, they're going to be new. January 3rd, 4th, 5th, all 365 days of this coming year.
God's mercies will be new every morning. That's right. If you're there in 1 Timothy 1,
look at verse 12. I mean, this is a reality for Paul. We looked at how he didn't just count on,
you know, his own righteousness in the past, but he also didn't let his past failings
hold him back from pressing forth the mark either. 1 Timothy 1, verse 12,
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me for that economy faithful,
putting me in the ministry, who was before a blasphemer and persecutor and jurious.
Now, think about what he just admitted to, being a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a jurious. I mean,
we just read a minute ago in Philippians where he's talking about how concerning zeal persecuted
the church. And it's always amazing to me when Christians, you know, give up on the Christian
life because of some sin. It's like, oh, well, what did you, did you do something worse than Paul?
Were you, were you, were you, you know, persecuting the church? Were you blaspheming?
They're like, no, I got into some sin. I'm like, and I'm not excusing sin. I'm just like,
that's no reason to quit. What, you know, I, you, you, you backslid and got into some sin and you
think that's it. You're Christian, like God's done with you. You haven't done this. I mean,
if you did this, Paul is still an example of somebody who, despite having done things as
bad as blaspheming and persecuting the church, hailing men and women and having them arrested,
going with letters to have, literally have Christians pulled out of churches and hauled
off to prison for, you know, to, to be imprisoned or even killed in some instances. And that's what
he did. So don't let any, just, you know, any past failures you've had last year or even early on in
life discourage you from being the new you in 2022. Do better this year. Don't let your past
hold you back. You know, that's really what people struggle with more than, you know,
struggling from pride, from having accomplished too much. That's usually not the case. He says
in verse 14, and the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love. Look,
it's new every morning, right? His compassion has failed not. Verse 15, this is a faithful saying,
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.
You know, I'm going to let Paul have that title. I'm going to, if Paul wants to claim
of being the cheapest of sinners, I'm going to say, you know what? You know, I'm not,
I'm not trying to toot my own horn up here, but I've never done any, I haven't done any of that.
You know what? You probably were a worse sinner than I was at one point, Paul.
I haven't hailed the church and gotten imprisoned and killed. I haven't, you know,
blasphemed and done all these wicked things, but Paul did that. You know, that's, you know, and so
my point is this, if Paul can say that about himself and still talk about how he presses
toward the mark, how he, how he pushes forward to attain that prize, why can't we not let our past
hold us back? Verse 16, howbeit for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Christ Jesus
must show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him
to life everlasting. Don't miss that in verse 16. What's he saying there? He's saying for this cause
I obtain mercy. What cause? That in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering,
that we might see the long suffering, the mercy, the compassion, and the patience of Christ in Paul,
right? That in me first Christ Jesus might show forth all long suffering. Why would, why, why, why
does it, why did God want to show that in Paul? Goes on, for a pattern to them, a template, a pattern
to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. He's saying here that God, Christ
showed that mercy to me so that I could be an example to other people. What's the example? That
your past should not hinder you from doing better this next year. Whatever failures you made last
year, however ways you came up, and look, it might not even be simple things. We're all probably,
hopefully we're all making resolutions and we're going to get to the end of this year and say,
you know what? I didn't get everything done. I wanted to get done. So we should just, well,
I'm just never going to make a resolution again. I'm just never going to try and change ever,
New Year's or whenever. That should not be our attitude. I mean that's not what Paul had. I mean
that's not what Paul did. I mean that's why Christ used him to show us, look, that there is a pattern
here that God can still use us in spite of our past. So hopefully, you know, I'm trying to just
motivate us tonight. This is a motivational sermon. To make these resolutions, to not make
excuses, and look, because there's going to be a new you in 2022. I just want it to be a better
version of you. I don't want you to, I don't want to get to this end of the year with you
and have you worse off, you know, have you be less of a Christian, less of a, you know, a godly
Christian than you are this evening. I want you to be better, okay? So don't let your past stop you,
so hopefully you are motivated. Hopefully this is having an effect, and you're saying, look,
I'm going to do it, but look, you're not going to accomplish this in your own strength. Go over to
James chapter 4. James chapter 4. We're almost done. So you know what? You're right, brother
Corbin. You know, I was kind of feeling a little down going into New Year, thinking about how,
you know, how I kind of came up short this last year. I wondered if I should even bother trying
to make changes anymore, but you know what? You've convinced me. You showed me from some
passage from the Word of God. He showed me about Paul. You know, I'm ready to do this.
Great. I want to just warn you right now, you're not going to accomplish it in your own strength.
Whatever spiritual goals you have, look, we might accomplish a lot of, you know, more carnal goals
than we have. You know, we want to make changes in our health or changes in our finances. The
world does that all the time. They can help you with that. You really don't need the Spirit of
God to do that, although, you know, you could gain a lot of wisdom through the Spirit of God
in those areas too, right? But hopefully some of our resolutions this year are spiritual
resolutions that are going to make us better Christians. If that's the case, then you're not
going to be able to accomplish that in your own strength. You're going to need the Lord's help.
You're going to need the Holy Spirit. Look at James chapter 4 verse 7.
Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We talked about
that pressing, right? And there's going to be that resistance, and the devil's going to fight back.
So how are we going to win that tug of war? How are we going to win that shoving match by resisting
the devil, by pushing back? You know, if we keep pushing back, he's going to say, well, this guy,
you know, he's got the Holy Spirit. You know, I can't resist him. He's going to win this match.
He'll leave. That's what it says. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
You know, in those times of temptation, if we would just resist, that temptation wouldn't go away.
The devil will flee. Doesn't say he's going to stay away from ever. Doesn't say it's one and done
with him. It just says, you know, in that moment, he's going to flee from you. He'll come back later
and try and test, see if you're still in that stance or not, see if you're, you know,
still a bulwark, you know, or if you're more of a limp noodle now, you can just blow over.
He'll come back, but look, if he comes up against us and pushes and there's resistance,
he flees. But notice here what that resistance is. It's in verse seven, submit. So you have resist
the devil, but how do you do that? By submitting yourself to God. That is the resisting the devil.
It's not just you, just, well, I'm just going to be this stalwart bulwark of the faith.
I've set my face like a flint. Come on, devil. You know, you're going to be one of these dummies
that wants to get in a boxing match with the devil, call the devil names, right? No, the
resisting of the devil is submitting yourself to God. That's how you resist the devil.
By saying, you know what, I'm not going to commit that sin because the Bible says this. I'm not going
to get into fornication and drunkenness and all these other sins that are out there because the
Bible condemns them. Rather than going along with what the devil wants me to do, I'm actually
going to resist him by submitting to this. That is the submission. Look, if you're going to accomplish
things for Christ in this coming year, you're going to do it through the power of God and through
his power, not your own. You're going to have to submit yourself. That's what it says here.
Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. That's a great promise in the Word of God.
God seems so far away. You know what, God's saying the same thing to us. You seem so far away.
When was the last time we got with God? When was the last time we got in that prayer closet
and actually spent some time there with God? When was the last time you decided to draw
nigh to him? You see, it doesn't seem like God, you know, is in my life. He seems so far away.
It's because we're so far away from him. He hasn't gone anywhere. He's still there,
still wanting to hear from us. The throne room is still wide open and we still have access
to the throne of grace through the Spirit anytime we want it. It's there. We could fall down on our
knees at any moment, confess our sins, and forsake them and have mercy and have that fellowship
restored. It's there. But we're the ones that have to draw nigh. God hasn't gone anywhere. Draw
nigh to God. He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts,
double-minded. Be afflicted in morning and week. Let your laughter be turned to morning,
your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
These are promises that we have that if we really want to get right with God and do better this next
year, it's there. It's available to us. We can have that. Go to Hebrews chapter 12. Look,
if we're going to accomplish these things, if we're going to be better Christians in the coming year,
we're going to do it through the Spirit of God, not our own strength. Paul told the Ephesians
that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with his might,
by his Spirit. With might, by his Spirit. How are we going to be strengthened with might?
By his Spirit. Not by our own flesh. Not through our own, you know, just motivation or whatever.
Colossians 1, he said that we would be strengthened with all might according to his glorious
power. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily to set us.
We need to lay aside every weight and the sins. Now, there's some things that hinder us in the
Christian life that aren't even sins. They're just weights. You know, that sin is a weight.
Beating ourselves up over a past or something. That's not sin, but that is a weight, isn't it?
Beating ourselves up over the failures of this last year. That's not sinful,
but it's definitely a weight, isn't it? Now, there might be sins too. You know,
we could probably all think of some sins that we need to get out of our lives.
You know, but if we do that, then we can run with patience the race that is set before us.
Look, in the Christian life, there is a race set before you. There is a prize that is worth
reaching forth unto. There's a prize that is worth pressing forward for. That, you know,
we are going to be conformed into the image of His Son. It's our destiny. You know, we might as
well go ahead and get in that race now. We might as well go ahead and start pressing toward that
mark now and run that race, what, with patience. Looking unto Jesus. Again, we're not going to do
it in our own strength. You know, being motivated by some sermon, you know, right before New Year's
is not going to be enough. You have to keep your eyes on the prize, right? Looking unto Jesus.
And if we think it's too hard, again, there's that reminder, who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of God. You know, He had
something that He was looking unto. You know, being glorified and sat down at the right hand
of His Father, going back to the throne from whence He came. But He had to go through the
cross to get there, didn't He? And look, He pressed toward that mark. You know, He endured
the contradiction of sinners against Himself. He endured the cross. He despised the shame,
and He accomplished His goal. You know, He is the forerunner of our faith. He is the example that
we need to look to. If we're going to accomplish something in this coming year for God, you know,
it's going to be hard. There's going to be difficulties. Change is not easy. You know,
that's why nobody wants to do it. That's why you have to, that's why we have things like
New Year's resolutions. Because, you know, it motivates people to do that, which is difficult.
So have goals this year. And we're going to close in Philippians 3, if you kept something there.
Have goals. Why? Because there is a prize. There is a prize. You say, well, you know,
this sermon's not really for me because I haven't made any goals this year.
Well, you know what? Then we're just going to start a timer right now, and we're just going
to wait and see how you turn out in the coming year. Well, I haven't made any, I'm not making
any changes this year. I haven't set any goals for myself. You know what? Then you're probably
doing this. And we will just wait, and you know, you probably won't be a better Christian this
time next year if you haven't set any goals. There is a prize. Set some goals. Look at Philippians
chapter 3 verse 13. Brethren, I count on myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth in those things which are forth,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Was that just some pie-in-the-sky thing that Paul just made up?
What prize? Well, it's there. That prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus is there.
Those words, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou in the joy of thy Lord.
That's quite the prize. You know, the world, they strive to attain a corruptible crown,
but we need an incorruptible crown. Rewards in heaven. And just those words alone of
well done, that's quite the prize. To have the praise of God when you go into glory.
That's something worth pressing forward to in this year. So that's the sermon tonight,
a new you in 2022. You know, what will change? Something will. Something will change. You will
change this. You will be new in 2022. The question is, will you be better or will you be worse this
time next year? Let's go ahead and pray.