1 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,400 Welcome to the podcast of the White Church in Adelaide, South 2 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:18,400 Australia. Sin no longer has dominion over 3 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,400 us. Romans 6 We can live victorious 4 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:28,960 over sin over the flesh. We can live righteously, and we 5 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,520 should. But more importantly, we can. 6 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:39,360 Yeah. And I just want to just try and 7 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,280 help us define, you know, the flesh. 8 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,840 What is the flesh? When we say that, you know, we 9 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,720 need to not be in the flesh but in the Spirit, what is it? 10 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:55,360 What are we talking about? So we are, we are in the flesh. 11 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,200 You know, that might just mean our physical bodies, like 12 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,000 there's our physical bodies are made-up of flesh. 13 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,400 And you know, God breathed the Spirit into us. 14 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:14,600 So if we were flesh and spirit and God is spirit like there's 15 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,120 there's a difference between the man that he formed from the dust 16 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,880 and God himself. God is spirit. 2 Corinthians 3 17 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:26,440 says now the Lord is the spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord 18 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,760 is, there is liberty and it and it teaches that Jesus is the 19 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:35,720 word that became flesh. So that was God coming into a 20 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,480 fleshly body. God is not flesh. 21 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:40,960 God is spirit. Jesus is both. 22 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,840 But Jesus was, Jesus is very special. 23 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,440 Jesus was God as a man in the flesh. 24 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,360 Amazing. And so there is a difference 25 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,960 between the spirit and the flesh. 26 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:04,040 And we mustn't trust in our flesh. 27 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:09,919 We must trust in the spirit. I'm going to, I'm going to let 28 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,680 me just keep going. So there's, there's a 29 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,640 separation, as I said, between the spirit and the flesh. 30 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,800 And we're called to live in the spirit and not the flesh. 31 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,760 So the two like, although I am a spiritual being in a fleshly 32 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,000 body, but there is a separation and there is a difference. 33 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:34,240 And I'm and I'm called to live a life submitted to God the Spirit 34 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:39,840 and follow the spirit and not follow the flesh. 35 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:42,840 And we're and again, we're not talking about my physical body, 36 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,400 but but So what is the flesh then? 37 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:51,160 So the flesh, the flesh wants to to rule. 38 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,120 Gosh, I haven't worded this well so far. 39 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,520 Our flesh wants to rule, right? So, so when, when Adam and Eve 40 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:04,760 were created, we were created to be subject to, to God. 41 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,120 God ruled over over his creation over people. 42 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:14,840 And so there was a problem when when we stepped outside of that 43 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,560 of of that rulership, outside of that lordship, how did we step 44 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,920 outside of that lordship? God through sin. 45 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:26,800 So God gave us command, don't eat from that tree, from all of 46 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:28,960 these other trees, just don't eat from that tree. 47 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,560 And we stepped out from under the authority of God, under his 48 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:37,600 Lordship, under his rule. And when we did that, when we 49 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:41,400 separate ourselves from being under his, his lordship, do you 50 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,880 know what happens? We become Lord, we become they 51 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,600 chose to do what they wanted to do. 52 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,760 They listen to their own desires, their own flesh. 53 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,720 This is the flesh. It's it's wanting to rule. 54 00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:01,040 Your flesh wants to be king. Your flesh wants to have its own 55 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,640 way. But we were never created to 56 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:09,000 live that way, to be the king, to be the Lord to to be the 57 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,920 ruler of of myself. We were always created to be 58 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:19,320 under the Lord, under his protection, under him. 59 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:20,959 This is what we're designed to do. 60 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:25,160 So when you step out of design, things don't work anymore. 61 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,480 You know, if I try to use a spoon to cut a steak, it doesn't 62 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,480 work. It's not designed to do that. 63 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,760 And so when we live outside of God's design, things don't go 64 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:37,960 well for us. And you can vouch for that. 65 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,160 Like, you know, think about the life that we've lived in. 66 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,160 Things just haven't really gone right for us. 67 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,600 There's a reason for that because we were never designed 68 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,640 to be Lord and to be king of our of our own universe. 69 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:54,960 And so we see that. Does this make sense? 70 00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:00,680 So, so your flesh wants to the rule wants to be #1 that's the 71 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,120 thing inside us that we need to recognize. 72 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,480 That's what we need to be able to discern. 73 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:11,320 Am I trying to be my own boss right now, or am I submitted to 74 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:13,720 the Lord? We need to be able to discern 75 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,360 that. Satan tempted flesh, didn't he? 76 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:22,280 He tempted that desire to be king, to be Lord, to rule for 77 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:25,480 yourself. Did God really say that if you 78 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,560 eat that you will have this for yourself? 79 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:29,760 You what does he say? It says that you will be like 80 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,120 God, which is interesting, isn't it? 81 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:37,160 So you can see clearly that Satan is tempting this fleshly 82 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:41,480 desire that wants to rule and and obviously Adam and Eve fell 83 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,640 to that. They thought, sure, that sounds 84 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:50,720 good, wasn't good, right? And so, you know, the Bible is 85 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:55,320 very clear that, you know, that that temptation came from Satan. 86 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:00,720 Satan wasn't doing anything new. You know, Isaiah 1414 says this 87 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:02,720 of Satan. This is his words. 88 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,760 He says, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud. 89 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:10,000 I will be like the Most High. Do you see the problem? 90 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:15,080 Satan thought it was a good idea that he should rule. 91 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,800 Well, I, I'm wonderful, I'm powerful. 92 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,960 I should rule. You should share, you know, your 93 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,080 lordship with me. It's exactly the same thing. 94 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:30,160 This is exactly what Satan tempts Adam and Eve with. 95 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,200 It's the same thing that they fell to. 96 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,800 And so, you know, we would say that they, that you know, they, 97 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,920 they, they came out from under the lordship of Christ of God 98 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:49,400 and became their own gods. But we know that what really 99 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,240 happened is they became under Satan. 100 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,320 He was now their Lord God gave a commandment. 101 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,480 They rejected the commandment. Whose commandment did they 102 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:03,680 follow? Satan's. 103 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,720 They followed Satan's leading. Satan gave them an option, and 104 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,240 they took that option. Not gods. 105 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,520 So they became under his authority. 106 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,920 Do you see? All right. 107 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:29,480 I hope that's making sense. What happens with me is I go off 108 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,920 note and then I say all the things that are in my notes, and 109 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,000 then I have to come back in here and try and find out where I'm 110 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,200 at. Maybe one day I should just do 111 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:41,720 away with the notes, right? All right, so resisting the 112 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:48,400 flesh and coming back under God's authority and being led by 113 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,120 the Spirit. Well, I just gave it away. 114 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,280 What's that called? That's been called led by the 115 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,200 Spirit, right? We are called to be led by the 116 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:58,920 Spirit. And so when we, we choose, you 117 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,520 know, we spoke earlier about there's a choice that needs to 118 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:06,240 be made by us that we choose to open ourselves up to the Lord. 119 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:08,840 We choose to come back under his authority. 120 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:10,600 That's what happens when we're saved. 121 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,720 We say, Lord, you are my Lord, you are my king, you are my 122 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:16,040 Saviour. I yield to you. 123 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:20,520 And when we do that, we are yielding to the Spirit of God. 124 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:26,080 And that's like a moment by moment walk for you and I now, 125 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,800 because we still live in the flesh. 126 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:35,799 We still live with these desires that want, you know, I want 127 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:39,360 what's best for me, not what's best for others at any given 128 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,520 moment. Gosh, I just think about my life 129 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,680 and, you know, having kids and and these sort of things at any 130 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:47,880 given moment. I just want things to work out 131 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,680 better for me. You know, it takes sacrifice to 132 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:55,160 raise kids well because you have to put off your own wants and 133 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:59,200 desires to for them to help them to be raised up. 134 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,040 It's no different with the life that we live. 135 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,360 We have to submit our own wants and desires for the good of 136 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:07,560 others. And that's what love is. 137 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,440 When you define love, that's what love is. 138 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:16,600 Love is selflessness, isn't it? So we're where God is trying to 139 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:23,040 form us to be like him, loving. Did Jesus do the will of the 140 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:24,400 Father? Yes, of course. 141 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:29,120 Did Jesus do the things that he didn't want to do for the 142 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:30,680 greater good? Yes, he did. 143 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,280 Jesus didn't want to go to the cross. 144 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,280 Jesus's flesh really didn't want to go to the cross. 145 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:45,720 And we read that, which is a powerful thing because you know 146 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:47,920 Jesus. Like we see there's this pattern 147 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:53,680 here that Adam and Eve, they fell to these desires to do 148 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:57,960 their own will and they and sin came into the world and ruined 149 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:03,600 everything. Jesus, God in the flesh came and 150 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:10,320 lived and didn't succumb to the, to the flesh, to the, to the, to 151 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:15,040 the pool to want to do what he wanted to do, but he, he was 152 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,880 subject to God's will and he was victorious. 153 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:21,920 He saw that thing through, which is pretty powerful that you and 154 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:25,320 I could be saved because we didn't see it through either. 155 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,080 You know, I, I say that, you know, Adam and Eve is just like, 156 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:33,480 gosh, any single one of us in the garden would have made 157 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:35,720 exactly the same mistake as Adam and Eve did. 158 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:39,240 Every single one of us would have fallen. 159 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,520 God knows that. But thank God that that that God 160 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:49,280 sent his son Jesus, because he knew my son, my son will be 161 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:51,440 victorious. My son will not yield. 162 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:53,840 Yeah. And we are the sons of daughters 163 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,920 in Christ. And so let's just talk about 164 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:01,200 emotions for a moment here. Are emotions bad? 165 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,760 No. God gave us emotions. 166 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,360 Did Jesus display emotion? Yes. 167 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,280 Did what? What sort of emotions? 168 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:17,600 Joy. Peace, sadness. 169 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:21,760 You know, he, Jesus wept. Jesus showed compassion. 170 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,320 Jesus showed anger. Don't look at me like I'm just, 171 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:28,360 I'm just reading what the Bible said, right? 172 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:33,160 Jesus showed anger. Did Jesus show anger in a, in a 173 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,160 fleshly way? No, it wasn't selfish. 174 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,000 Jesus was angry for what they had done. 175 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,280 You know, Jesus made a whip. Jesus drove him out. 176 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,080 Jesus turned the tables. Was Jesus mad because they'd 177 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:47,960 messed things up? Oh my gosh, they've done it 178 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:52,440 again, throwing the tables. No, Jesus was had zeal for the 179 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,000 house. What if you guys doing to the 180 00:11:55,000 --> 00:12:01,120 Father's house zeal, anger. You know, the the Bible says be 181 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:05,840 angry and do not sin, So you could feel anger and not sin. 182 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,440 Isn't that interesting? Like we think that if you're 183 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,520 angry that you've fallen into sin, that's not true. 184 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:13,960 What about people that are abusing children? 185 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,800 What about people that are doing horrible things in our earth? 186 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,440 Should we be angry about that? Should that stir something in us 187 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,560 to go, no, we're not going to stand for that. 188 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:29,480 Righteous anger is a good thing. Acting out in in a, in a fleshly 189 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,240 way because of the anger is a bad thing. 190 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:36,680 If I take it on myself to, to rid the earth of all of these 191 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:39,280 people, is that righteousness now? 192 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,240 No, I'm acting out in my flesh, right? 193 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,080 God will judge. God will deal with it. 194 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,920 God will deal with it. All of the atrocities in our 195 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,760 earth, all of the things that have happened, God will deal 196 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,280 with it. I can be angry about it, but I'm 197 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,440 going to trust him, right? We're going to trust that our 198 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:03,360 Lord and Saviour, he's finished work and the work to come, 199 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:05,600 right? There's a finished work on the 200 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:07,680 cross, but God has work to do still. 201 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:10,720 God's going to judge the earth, right? 202 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,760 There's a work in that. And so all of that to say that 203 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:18,240 emotions are not an enemy. We just have to make sure that 204 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,800 our emotions don't rule over us, that the Lord rules over us. 205 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,800 We have to submit our emotions to the Lord. 206 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:28,280 Lord, I'm feeling something right now. 207 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:32,640 Gosh. Plus submit to you, Lord, just 208 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:34,560 just use me, do whatever it is you want. 209 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:36,280 Don't let me act out in my own flesh. 210 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:38,840 Don't let me act out in my own strength. 211 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:46,480 Lord, you know, we see that Jesus was tempted by Satan. 212 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:50,800 Did Jesus like it's the same story again. 213 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,440 The, the, the pattern is all the way through the Scripture. 214 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:57,680 Did did Satan tempt the Spirit of God or did he? 215 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,040 Did he tempt the flesh? You're hungry. 216 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,560 You've been fasting for 40 days. Why don't you just make some 217 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:06,520 bread and eat the bread you know you'd like? 218 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:08,800 You're the Son of God. Why don't you just throw 219 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:10,680 yourself down there and see if God will save you? 220 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:13,760 Why don't you just take the Kingdom for yourself? 221 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:18,800 It's yours anyway, right? He's tempting the flesh, and 222 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:22,440 Jesus is not having it. I will take nothing for myself. 223 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:27,240 I will let the Father decide, you know what he is going to 224 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:28,840 give me. I will yield to him. 225 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:33,360 I will do his will right. And and we love talking about 226 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,920 how Jesus fought, fought Satan in this by the word of God. 227 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,280 And he didn't just like, it's not like he just picked up a 228 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,720 Bible and just, you know, he didn't pick up a Bible, but it's 229 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:46,880 not just he didn't just speak these words to Satan to rebuke 230 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,160 Satan. It wasn't just like, well, the 231 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:50,960 word of God says this, so run away. 232 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,320 Do you know that he actually believes these words? 233 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,200 Do you know that when Jesus spoke the word that he was 234 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,520 submitting to the word, he was submitting to God, He was 235 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,680 saying, no, what you say is, is a liar. 236 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,920 These words are true. What the Lord says is true. 237 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,840 So it's not, it's no good just to know the Scripture and to say 238 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,040 it and to try and fight the enemy and fight your flesh with 239 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,240 the word. You know, it's believing it, 240 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:24,000 it's having it live inside you, it's trusting the Lord, it's 241 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,200 yielding yourself to to God and to his word. 242 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:32,360 That's how we fight the enemy. That's how we overcome Satan, by 243 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,000 believing it, not by just knowing it. 244 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,520 All right, I'm actually doing pretty good for time. 245 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:51,600 This is great. All right, so I'm going to read 246 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,000 when when Bruce was sharing in one of these meetings, I can't 247 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,440 remember which one it was, but a scripture came to mind for me 248 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:02,920 from John 831. And I'm going to read it for us 249 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:06,080 here. But I just want to sort of set 250 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,520 us up for this because I want to try and test us a little as I 251 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,040 read this. And so I'll give you some of the 252 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:18,520 context of the passage. Jesus is, is teaching and, and 253 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,000 Jesus says that he is talking to believers, those that believe 254 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:27,600 Jesus. And Jesus is sharing good news. 255 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,160 You know, he's talking about freedom. 256 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:34,520 Jesus is sharing a good thing. He's saying good things to 257 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,480 believers, right? That's the context or some of 258 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,880 the context. But I want us to be aware of how 259 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,800 these believers respond to Jesus. 260 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:51,560 I want to help us to be able to discern the response that's 261 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:57,320 going on inside them, whether it is of the flesh or whether it is 262 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,120 of the Spirit. And this is going to help us to 263 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:06,240 be able to discern in our own lives when the Word of God is 264 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,599 spoken to us. When you read the Word of God, 265 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:12,720 the things that I'm sharing today, what is our response? 266 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:17,920 Is it a fleshly response or is it a, a response in the spirit? 267 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:22,480 Because this matters a lot. And so I'm going to read from 268 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:26,599 Galatians 5 before we get there. And this is the fruits of the 269 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:28,800 flesh, right? These are the things that we 270 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:33,160 need to be looking out for, fruits of the flesh, enmity, 271 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,640 strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, 272 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,200 divisions, right? Let's look out for some of those 273 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:43,040 things and the works of the Spirit. 274 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,480 These are the other, the other side that we need to be looking 275 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:49,120 for. Love, peace, joy, patience, 276 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:52,680 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 277 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,160 self-control. All right, does that make sense? 278 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,000 We know what we're looking looking for. 279 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:00,760 Excellent. John 831. 280 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,040 There's a big chunk of Scripture here, so I'm just going to read 281 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:07,880 through all of it. So Jesus said to the Jews that 282 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:12,640 had believed him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my 283 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,680 disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set 284 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,360 you free. They answered him, We are 285 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:23,000 offspring of Abraham. We have never been enslaved to 286 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,000 anyone. How is it that you say you will 287 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,000 become free? Jesus answered them truly, 288 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,320 truly. I say to you, everyone who 289 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:36,360 practices sin is a slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the 290 00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:39,160 house forever. The sun remains forever. 291 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:44,000 So if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed. 292 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:49,000 I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me 293 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,000 because my words find no place in you. 294 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,280 I speak of what I have seen of my father, and you do not. 295 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,280 And you have not heard from my father. 296 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:05,440 They answered him. Abraham is our father, Jesus 297 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:07,920 said to them. If you were Abraham's children, 298 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,560 you would be doing the works that Abraham did, but now you 299 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,600 seek to kill him. But now you seek to kill me, a 300 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,760 man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. 301 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:23,880 This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works of your 302 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,760 father, they said to him. We are not born of sexual 303 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,240 immorality. We have one father, even God. 304 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,520 Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love me, 305 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,600 for I come from God and AM, and I'm here. 306 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,080 I come not to do my own accord, but he that sent me. 307 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:46,680 Why do you not understand what I say? 308 00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:50,280 It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 309 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:55,640 You are of your Father the devil, and your will is to do 310 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,960 the Father's desires. He was a murderer from the 311 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,080 beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no 312 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,360 truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of 313 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:10,400 his own character, for he is a liar and the father of liars. 314 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,960 But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. 315 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,720 Isn't that interesting? How are these believers going? 316 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:22,920 Not great, right? Not great. 317 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:27,280 Jesus is speaking to believers. How much joy and peace and 318 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,680 patience and self-control can we see in their response there? 319 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,640 It's like from the get go they're offended. 320 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:39,360 Oh my God, you, you can't say that, right? 321 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,640 Strife, jealousy, fits of anger, divisions. 322 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,240 There's the the fruit of the flesh is evident in their 323 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,160 response right now. I would say they are fleshing 324 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:59,440 out right and and it's crazy because Jesus again, Jesus is 325 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,400 speaking to believers and Jesus is offering them freedom. 326 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:08,880 He's offering those that believe him something good and they're 327 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:10,920 offended and they don't want to borrow of it. 328 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,200 And Jesus even tells us that they're in the flesh. 329 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:21,120 He says you are of your father the devil and your will is to do 330 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,880 the Father's will, right? Your will is not the Father's 331 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,240 will. You're not seeking the Spirit of 332 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:29,960 God. You're not being led by the 333 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,800 Spirit of God. Your will is to do the will of 334 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,920 of your father, Satan, which is again, it's what we started off 335 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:39,240 talking about. This is what happened. 336 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,600 People were LED astray by their flesh by temptation. 337 00:21:49,180 --> 00:21:53,860 So you realize that this is super relevant for us today, 338 00:21:53,860 --> 00:21:58,760 right? Because we do this like when we 339 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:03,200 hear the word of God, those challenging things that the the 340 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:08,080 challenging words that that start to to spike something in 341 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:12,600 here. Like we're we flesh out 342 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,800 sometimes to the word of God, to truth. 343 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,880 I can think of many things for me and I know that you can like 344 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,640 we've been, we've been under the word of God for long enough to 345 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,160 just go not listening to that thing. 346 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,840 And it's scary because it's like Jesus speaks to believers and 347 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:33,040 offers them freedom and straight away they're offended. 348 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:34,600 They don't hear a word that he says. 349 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,880 They hear nothing. And Jesus is almost marvelling, 350 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,280 actually not listening to what I'm saying. 351 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,680 But then he goes, of course you're not listening because 352 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:46,960 you're of you're of devil, you're of the flesh, you're not 353 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:48,800 of the spirit. Of course you can't hear, you 354 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:53,240 are unable to hear right. And it's, and it's relevant to 355 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:59,600 us today because we do this all the time with the Word of God. 356 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,840 God wants to shape us and form us and grow us to be like him. 357 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,760 And quite often we're digging our heels in and just unwilling, 358 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,600 unwilling to hear. And the problem is that when you 359 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,280 first dig your heels in, you're not going to hear the rest of 360 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:15,840 it. You could dig your heels into 361 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,680 something I said when I started talking and miss every other 362 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:24,440 word. You could dig your heels into 363 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:26,480 something that was said at the start of the meeting. 364 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,000 You could dig your heels into to something that we've sung. 365 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,720 You could come in with a heart that's already dug in because 366 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,720 something didn't go your way this morning and you could just 367 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:43,720 be fleshing out right. You might just come into church 368 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,160 and everything's gone wrong and your people did just hurt you or 369 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:48,800 whatever. You could miss the whole thing 370 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,680 And, and it's funny to us because it happens all the time, 371 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:58,480 all the time. None of us are safe from that if 372 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:03,000 we're not able to discern. You have to be able to discern 373 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,000 where you're at right now. You know, I said something to 374 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,120 Hillary this morning. I said he's up the flesh or he's 375 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:10,600 up the spirit. She didn't want to hear it like 376 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,880 I and I know that she didn't. And but we sort of we're joking 377 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,840 now and because it's because it's like it's lighthearted in 378 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,360 our relationship with one another. 379 00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:22,600 You can get out of it. But when you're truly offended 380 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:24,760 and you're like, this person is just trying to ruin me, you're 381 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:28,400 not going to hear it, you know? So it's through relationship 382 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:31,680 that we're able to poke and Oh, I don't know that. 383 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,640 What about that one? And you just go, oh gosh, you 384 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:35,880 know, she does it to me all the time. 385 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:37,720 And you just walk away and you just go, I don't want to hear it 386 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,360 yet. Just give us 10 minutes, you 387 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:42,760 know, just give us 10 minutes to the for the flesh to settle 388 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:43,920 down. And then I'll listen. 389 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:46,120 You know, I'm going to get better at listening straight 390 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:48,000 away anyway. This is I'm getting sidetracked 391 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,640 here. And so again, like these, these 392 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,600 were believers, it said and, and Jesus said, like the scripture 393 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,760 says that that he was speaking to the believers. 394 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:04,600 And so, you know, our confession, like, how do we know 395 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,600 that we're sons of God? How do we know that we're 396 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,560 daughters of the king? How do we know that we follow 397 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:16,720 his will? Is it through confession or is 398 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:23,400 it through action? It is through action. 1st 399 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,000 through His confession, then through action. 400 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,640 But the action has to be there, otherwise it's just the 401 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,800 confession. These people were confessing to 402 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,240 be followers of Jesus. What did they do in action? 403 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,400 Rejected completely, couldn't hear him. 404 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:45,120 So for us, we need to be following Christ in confession, 405 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:51,880 but in action that means putting to practice the word of God. 406 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,760 And so I just got a couple of scriptures here that I just want 407 00:25:55,760 --> 00:26:00,320 to read just to just to, you know, strengthen this point that 408 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:02,840 is through action and not not just through confession. 409 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:09,320 Matthew 715 says beware of the false prophets who come to you 410 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,200 in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous 411 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,000 wolves. You will know them by their 412 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,360 fruits. That's saying that, you know, 413 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:24,560 someone could be a leader in a church and they on the outside, 414 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,600 you know, through confession, they could say all the right 415 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:33,240 things, but through the life that they live and the things 416 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:37,520 that they submit to in in God and in his will, you will know 417 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,080 them by their fruits. You'll be able to look at their 418 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,480 the action side of this and you go, something's not right here, 419 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:50,240 right one John 2 but whoever keeps his word, truly the love 420 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,760 of God is perfected in him by this. 421 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:57,320 We know that we are in him. He who says he abides in him or 422 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:02,280 also himself also walk just as he walked. 423 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:07,120 So it's confession, but it's in action. 424 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:09,520 We have to. It's no good just to say that 425 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,960 you believe if you don't walk this thing out. 426 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:18,800 One more. James 214. 427 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:21,440 No, that's not right. I think it's 18. 428 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,360 Anyway, let me just read it. I don't know if it's I've got 429 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:28,320 the right number here, but someone will say you have faith 430 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,640 and I have works. Show me your faith through your 431 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,600 works and I will show you my faith by my works. 432 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,920 You believe there is one God. Listen to this. 433 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:44,640 You do well to believe that even the demons believe. 434 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:51,960 Even the demons believe that Jesus is who he says He is. 435 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:57,360 So it's no good for me just to confess that Jesus is Lord and 436 00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:04,200 not submit myself unto Him, and to do what he's called me to do 437 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,000 and to live how he's called me to live. 438 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,200 Even the demons know that Jesus is Lord. 439 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,200 They don't submit to His will though, I can tell you that, 440 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,160 right? This is really powerful stuff 441 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,880 for us guys, because, you know, you could sit in a church your 442 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:24,160 whole life and confess, confess, confess, confess and it could be 443 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,320 meaningless. You would you, you could miss 444 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,600 that. It takes you actually living in 445 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:32,800 it. You know, if Jesus could have 446 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,040 confessed the word of God to Satan and it would have had no 447 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,440 power, but he, he knew it, he lived it. 448 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:45,680 The the power was in him. Do you see very powerful, I 449 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:48,120 mean, Jesus, you know, when Jesus tells Satan to run, he 450 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:55,400 runs anyway. So he's God, all right, So 451 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,720 learning to discern. I wonder what's going on right 452 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,840 now. I wonder what's going on in US 453 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:05,640 right now, whether there's this thing in US that just going, oh 454 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,000 gosh, I don't want to hear any of this or, or whether you're 455 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:14,240 just like, like, you know, I wonder what's going on or 456 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,680 whether we're sitting and we're like, Lord, I want to yield to 457 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:21,760 you. I, I struggle, it's hard. 458 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:25,920 I know that I must change. I know that I must, you know, 459 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,680 review my life and go, oh, I can't do that anymore. 460 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,640 You know, when, when we talk about the, the good seed of the 461 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,600 good soil of our hearts, I love this. 462 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,320 It says that, you know, when the word is sown. 463 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,960 Let me just read it. Mark 414 The so or so is the 464 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,200 Word and, and these are the ones on the path where the Word is 465 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,520 sown. When they hear it, Satan 466 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,120 immediately comes and takes it away. 467 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,000 The Word that was sown, that is a hard heart. 468 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,880 That is someone that is not yielding to God and to His Word. 469 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,200 That is someone who could hear the Word. 470 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:11,080 And Satan comes and tempts your flesh and grabs it and runs away 471 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:14,520 with it, and then it doesn't take root inside you. 472 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:18,040 So this is the soil of our hearts. 473 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:25,400 And so when we respond to God and to His Word and to His 474 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:29,200 leading and to His guiding, when we respond in the Spirit, when 475 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:33,240 we willingly yield ourselves completely over to Him, it's 476 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,440 just like, well, the Word of God says it. 477 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:38,080 That's it. If that's what you were telling 478 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,080 me to do, I'll try it. I'll try my best, Lord, but 479 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:42,920 you're going to have to help me. Do you know what I mean? 480 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,720 Like I like I want to Lord, you're going to have to give me 481 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:46,600 grace. You're going to have to 482 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:48,400 strengthen me. You're going to have to help me 483 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:50,640 work, work this out. You're going to have to help me 484 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:54,400 to be have courage to be accountable, right. 485 00:30:54,720 --> 00:31:00,000 But I want to and I choose to. And so this is when the when the 486 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,280 seed can take deep root in our hearts. 487 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:08,320 So this is by but these are the ones whom that was sown on the 488 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:11,480 good ground. Those who hear the word, listen. 489 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:17,440 Those who hear it accept it, accept it, and it bears fruit. 490 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:21,440 Some 30, some 30, some 60, some a hundredfold. 491 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:27,440 They hear the word and they accept it and it and it takes 492 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:29,600 root in our hearts and there's a harvest there. 493 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:45,980 All right, So when Satan comes to steal the seed, how do we 494 00:31:45,980 --> 00:31:48,600 fight that? What do what do we do with that? 495 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:53,320 Because he's coming and he does and he and he pokes the flesh 496 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,680 and you've got it. You know, you're not free from 497 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:59,560 it, right? So he's got Satan's got a way in 498 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:02,160 through the flesh. How do we battle that? 499 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,160 You know, it starts with humility. 500 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,880 It really does. Like it starts with being humble 501 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,960 with, you know, I've said all this already, but like bending 502 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:17,680 the knee of your heart to the Lord, humility, move right back 503 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:20,920 from the beginning that he would be God, that I would be not, you 504 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,280 know, that I, that I would be subject to him that he's Lord, 505 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:27,560 that I'm not that he's God that I'm not that I'm his servant. 506 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,280 He's my master. Humility does that. 507 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:34,200 You can't submit to God with a prideful heart. 508 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:39,600 It won't allow you to. We have to be humble to come to 509 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:45,760 God and you know that the word says God gives something to the 510 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:46,880 humble. Do you know what it is? 511 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,360 Grace. How good is that? 512 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:56,920 God gives grace to the humble to help us, to grow, to shape us, 513 00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:59,400 to empower us. God gives grace to the humble. 514 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:01,720 We should be seeking grace because we need it. 515 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:03,720 How do we seek it? Through humility. 516 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,520 And I am closing here. I'm doing, I was like 4 minutes 517 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,040 to spare. We are we're smashing this 518 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:12,440 today. Thank you Lord, so you know, 519 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:14,560 everything that we need is in Scripture. 520 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:18,840 Hope you guys know that it's just like every single thing 521 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:23,520 that you need for life and God, godliness can be found in his 522 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,040 word. Everything. 523 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,520 There is nothing that you are lacking that God hasn't put in 524 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,480 his word for you to find. But you know, the word says that 525 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:37,120 like it's an honour to dig in there and to find it you have to 526 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,200 go searching. You know, you got to go 527 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,920 searching for the treasure and God's willing to give it to you, 528 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:45,440 but you have to do something. There's action, right? 529 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,640 Confession. Lord, I believe your word action 530 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,400 is going and finding out what it says, right? 531 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:57,120 And so God offers us these amazing promises in his Word, 532 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:01,240 and He also gives us the path to be able to take hold of the 533 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,880 promises. And so I'm just going to, I'm 534 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,480 closing by just reading this one last text here in James 4, 535 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:11,400 starting from verse 6. Have a look at this with me. 536 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:18,440 It says that James 4, verse 6, it says God resists the proud 537 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:24,679 and gives grace to the humble. Verse 7, listen for this. 538 00:34:24,679 --> 00:34:28,760 This is a command. Verse 7, verse 7 is a command, 539 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,040 OK? And what we're looking at here 540 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:37,040 is God's commands and promises, commands and promises, commands 541 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:39,159 and promises. You know, that you can't take 542 00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:42,120 hold of God's promises if you're just not willing to walk in his 543 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:46,679 commands, like these promises he's given us. 544 00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:49,880 You know, there's conditions to the promises. 545 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,440 It's not. Yeah, freely, like just all the 546 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:53,920 promises of yours. Just walk in them. 547 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,239 Yeah, I'm just going to sin and, like, walk in the grace of God. 548 00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:01,480 Like there's conditions to to receiving the promises, 549 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,120 humility, right? God gives grace to the humble. 550 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:08,200 But anyway, so verse 7 is a command. 551 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:12,600 It says therefore submit to God, resist the devil. 552 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:17,720 That's the command. Resist the devil, submit to God. 553 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:21,800 And then there's a promise. What is the promise? 554 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:27,440 And he will draw near to you. There's a command and there's a 555 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:32,040 promise. Verse 8, Command. 556 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:34,560 No. Did I do that one already? 557 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,200 Yeah. OK, so the next command is it's 558 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,360 the end of verse 8. It says clean your hands, you 559 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,640 sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. 560 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:50,080 Lament and mourn and weep and let your laughter be turned to 561 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:53,200 mourning, and let your joy into gloom. 562 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:56,760 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord. 563 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:02,960 It's like don't just go on living, you know, just in, in 564 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,360 ignorant bliss, just in happiness and joy and peace. 565 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:09,440 If if you're not willing to submit to the Lord and you're 566 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:11,960 living in your, it says like humble yourself. 567 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:17,240 Realize that you are broken. It takes humility to realize 568 00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:19,040 that you are broken. You know what people don't want 569 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,520 to hear that they're broken. I've experienced this in the 570 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:25,720 last couple of weeks. Broken people don't want you to 571 00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:31,000 tell them that they're broken. Maybe I just need to be more 572 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:32,120 tactful. I don't, I don't know. 573 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:37,400 And so, you know, that was the command. 574 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,200 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord. 575 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,240 Promise, and He will lift you up. 576 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:46,560 How amazing are these promises? And He will draw near to you and 577 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:52,160 He will lift you up, right. So all of that just to say like, 578 00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:55,120 let's be encouraged today. Let's not just live like, Oh my 579 00:36:55,120 --> 00:37:00,360 gosh, that was heavy. There is such peace and and life 580 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:06,880 in the truth of the word of God. But in order to take hold of the 581 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:10,520 truth, it's going to require something of us. 582 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:14,720 And it's a simple thing. God hasn't made it hard for us. 583 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:20,320 God has just made it so that we would willingly, how good is 584 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:26,200 this, willingly submit to him. That's the reason that that's 585 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:31,720 what God has designed us to do. And there's such peace in living 586 00:37:31,720 --> 00:37:35,800 in your design. My gosh, there's peace in living 587 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:38,640 in your design doing the thing that you're called to do. 588 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:44,000 How amazing is that? So I just, I encourage you like 589 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,080 I again, I don't know what was stirring in our hearts in this 590 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:50,880 place. In a sense, I, I, I hope that 591 00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:54,200 there was a bit of the flesh going on because we're talking 592 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:57,400 about discerning. We're talking about being able 593 00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:01,400 to see the difference between the flesh and the spirit when 594 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:04,080 the word of God is spoken. How am I responding to you, 595 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:09,440 Lord? But we don't I don't want to 596 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:13,640 leave us there in this place of of just, you know, 597 00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:18,320 unresponsiveness. And so Ioffer us an opportunity 598 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:22,480 to seek the Lord together. You know, the word of God is 599 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:26,560 challenging, but it's challenging because there's a 600 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:29,240 powerful work that needs to be done in US and through US. 601 00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:31,640 Amen. So let's just pray. 602 00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:34,560 Father, we thank you for your word. 603 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,040 We thank you for your divine purpose. 604 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:44,080 Lord, we thank you that that you are a good, good Father, that 605 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:49,200 you're a good God, and that you have nothing but good intentions 606 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,840 for us, your creation, your people. 607 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,880 We thank you, Lord, that you made a way for us through Jesus 608 00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:59,200 and through the cross, through the death and the resurrection, 609 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:03,880 for us to be restored to you, for us to be able to overcome, 610 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:07,000 to be able to be empowered, Lord, to walk this thing out, to 611 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,760 have victory over sin. We thank you for that this 612 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:13,720 morning. And Lord, in in whatever the 613 00:39:13,720 --> 00:39:18,800 things that you're speaking to us in this place, we willingly 614 00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:22,440 choose to yield to you. And we know that we're not going 615 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:24,920 to just walk out of this place and get it all right and be 616 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,880 living, you know, perfect because there's still work to be 617 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:31,840 done. But we prayed earlier, Lord, we 618 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:37,760 want to leave this place greater equipped, shaped to be more like 619 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:39,800 you. And we believe we take a hold of 620 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:43,280 that by faith, Lord, that you would be doing a work even right 621 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:47,640 now, that we would walk out of this place empowered and strong 622 00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:54,280 and able to walk this thing out. We thank you, Lord, we love you. 623 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:59,920 Lord, we bless your mighty name, Jesus name, Amen. 624 00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:03,600 Excellent. Cool. 625 00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:18,000 Yes. Yes, we are OK. 626 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,600 It's. The it's the problem of how hard 627 00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:24,080 it is. You've spoken about it and I 628 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:28,880 think we all agree that when you're tempted, it's very hard. 629 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:34,720 And and I want to share 1 little thing that was a great blessing 630 00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:37,440 to me. It has really helped me and that 631 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:44,600 is Jesus said I I must go for if I don't go, I can't send. 632 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:49,280 This is of course, paraphrasing. I can't send the helper, the 633 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:54,840 Holy Spirit. And he said when he comes, he 634 00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:58,640 will, he will he he will lead you into all truths and all the 635 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:04,560 other things, but we need to nuts. 636 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:06,480 All right, I'm OK. I put my brakes on you. 637 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:12,080 So we don't as I got brakes, wheels and brakes. 638 00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:18,560 The, you know, if you study, if you know something about the 639 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:22,400 history of our English Bible, it's in the most amazing story. 640 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:32,240 And we, it, it, it, it virtually was based on the Greek text of 641 00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:35,680 the day. The Greek language, which isn't 642 00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:40,560 the same as today was the, the, the lingua franca, the, the, 643 00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:44,840 the, the, the, the language of the whole of the Mediterranean 644 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:47,360 spoke. It was the Romans had the power 645 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:49,480 and the Greeks had the, the culture, you see. 646 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,840 And so don't confuse those two. But it's based on that Greek, 647 00:41:54,120 --> 00:42:01,400 that Greek text and the Greek that we translate as the helper 648 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:05,480 or and so on. The Greek word. 649 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:08,680 And I don't want to make you all Greek students now, but it's 650 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,880 pretty simple. These paracletos. 651 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:17,600 Now if you if you take that word and you break it up, you find 652 00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:23,520 that para we know is alongside like parachute. 653 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:30,640 OK, Para is alongside Claytos is a form of kaleo, which is a 654 00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:38,120 Greek word for calling. So it is calling something 655 00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:45,280 alongside and it, it evolved from the the practice in those 656 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:50,600 days people were not wealthy. There were the masses were very 657 00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:53,440 poor. Very few of them could have a 658 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:57,840 donkey, let alone a horse. And if you didn't have a donkey 659 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:02,040 and you wanted to get, take your, your produce to the 660 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:05,360 market, you had to have some means of transport. 661 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,800 So they made little carts and they, they would drag these 662 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:13,640 little carts behind them. And so the, and, and of course, 663 00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:16,560 in those days, the roads were just tracks up and down the 664 00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:18,640 mountains. I hadn't cut anything out. 665 00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:24,080 So there were lots of hills. And the practice was that when 666 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:28,480 they, when, when you got to the bottom of a steep hill, there 667 00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:32,760 would be a paracletos there. He's a guy that's waiting there 668 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:37,200 and you say him how much? And he will say OK, X amount you 669 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:40,200 pay him. Now this is the secret and this 670 00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:42,240 is the thing that's helped me tremendously. 671 00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:48,240 He you take the they, they would take the cart again and he would 672 00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:55,200 start up the hill and the paracletos would go behind the 673 00:43:55,400 --> 00:44:00,440 the the the cart and push. Now the, the key issue is this. 674 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:04,280 The two of you are pushing that card up the hill. 675 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:09,520 You're still straining working at it to get to the top of the 676 00:44:09,520 --> 00:44:16,520 hill and and he's pushing. You don't feel, you don't sail 677 00:44:16,520 --> 00:44:18,680 along, You don't. He doesn't push the whole thing. 678 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:22,400 He gives his, his, he's come alongside to help. 679 00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:25,840 You see, when you get to the top of the hill, you turn around and 680 00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:29,240 look down the hill and you think, Gee, I couldn't have done 681 00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:33,000 that without his help. Now the secret is this. 682 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:38,080 And, and, and it has to do with that moment where you get to the 683 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:43,240 fork and your spirit of God is showing you what the Lord wants. 684 00:44:43,240 --> 00:44:48,000 And the flesh is, is shouting its head off on the one side. 685 00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:55,080 And and you, it's so hard. It looks impossible because your 686 00:44:55,080 --> 00:45:02,600 your flesh, you know, even Paul said in, in, in Romans 7 and not 687 00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:07,600 Romans 7. Yes, Romans 7, he said, I, I 688 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:10,600 want to serve God with my whole heart, but there's other thing. 689 00:45:10,720 --> 00:45:14,360 There's another thing in me, this other law in me that that 690 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:18,360 is so, so making it so hard. Now the issue is this. 691 00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:25,480 We think, if the we think too, we do not understand very often 692 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:29,360 how the Holy Spirit works. He's more gentle than harsh. 693 00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:32,880 He can be harsh, He can blow the mountains away, but he works 694 00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:37,000 gently. And so when you get to the fork 695 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:42,320 and you, you have the choice between the Spirit and the body 696 00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:46,400 and the, and the, and the, and the flesh and you, you, you, 697 00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:49,160 you, you make a decision at that point. 698 00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:51,200 That's the problem. We have to make a decision. 699 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:55,720 I am going to walk in the spirit. 700 00:45:55,720 --> 00:45:58,800 That term is not used very much. It's disappeared from our 701 00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:03,120 scriptures because, and it's such a pity because we how do we 702 00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:05,320 go through life? We walk along a journey. 703 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:09,640 See, that's what the Bible says, walk in the Spirit and not in 704 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:12,520 the flesh to fulfill its lusts. The. 705 00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:18,360 Moment you make the decision as hard as it looks and you say I 706 00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:24,880 will walk in the spirit and you launch out and do or say what 707 00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:30,120 the spirit is showing you. The paratry starts pushing and 708 00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:33,200 you find it's easy. You find you can do it. 709 00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:37,480 You see we look at how hard it is and we I just go and do I'm 710 00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:40,440 not that kind of person. I haven't you know, I'm not like 711 00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:42,480 that. I'm I'm I'm I'm just this that 712 00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:47,600 in the next thing and but if you make the decision and because 713 00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:50,920 the spirit is there, the Paracleteus is alongside us all 714 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:53,560 the time. Actually English Anglicization 715 00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:56,600 of that is Paraclete, maybe the Paraclete. 716 00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:58,880 So the Paraclete is alongside us. 717 00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:01,480 He's waiting. Jesus has paid him. 718 00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:07,400 He doesn't have to be paid and and you and and so so if you and 719 00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:11,160 it comes to any kind of temptation for food or anything 720 00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:16,880 and and I think most of us men know that the problem is that 721 00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:21,120 the big problem is to look away. You know, that's a big problem 722 00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:24,560 and the ladies don't understand that their curves are a big 723 00:47:24,560 --> 00:47:30,240 problem. Well, this is a real good all 724 00:47:30,240 --> 00:47:32,640 you guys all you guys know we're talking about. 725 00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:34,600 I'm really taking over your ceremony. 726 00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:41,560 But, but let's say that the minute, the minute you, you are 727 00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:46,160 tempted and you say, I will walk in the spirit, you find you can 728 00:47:46,160 --> 00:47:49,160 do it. And what happens is that many of 729 00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:53,840 the habits that we've developed in our lives because of the 730 00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:57,040 flesh, we've lived in the flesh. We didn't know anything else. 731 00:47:57,040 --> 00:47:59,080 All these little ones that are running around here are 732 00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:01,560 operating in the flesh. That's why we're going to look 733 00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:06,640 after them and we grow up in it. And, and, and, and, and so we 734 00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:11,160 have a habit. So we habitually respond to some 735 00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:13,760 of these things. Now you're going to break that 736 00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:18,080 habit. And I can I can testify today 737 00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:24,640 that if you keep choosing to walk in the spirit and you trust 738 00:48:24,640 --> 00:48:28,560 the Paraclete to push from the back and you can get it done 739 00:48:29,440 --> 00:48:37,400 eventually, break that habit. Thank you for joining us for 740 00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:39,800 today's message. For more information about The 741 00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:44,000 Way Church, please visit ourwebsite@thewaychurch.com dot 742 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:45,400 AU. Have a blessed day.