Are You Feeding the Flesh or Following the Spirit? | Galatians (Part 11)

Well, good morning, church. Can you stand with us? We're gonna worship Christ the King. Is that all right? Let's do that together. Come on, put your hands together. We've got joy this morning. Come on, we're gonna rejoice in the Lord this morning. We'll tell our soul to rejoice. Yeah. Come on, let's sing. Come on, let's sing. Come on, we're gonna choose hope. Come on, we're gonna rejoice. A song of praise I'll bring for your joy. A mountain suffering. On a mountain high or valley low, my soul will bless you, Lord. I rejoice again and again I say rejoice. Come on, no matter what the circumstance is, we're gonna rejoice in the Lord. No matter what it may look like, we're still gonna rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice always. Tell my soul rejoice always. It's been too good not to rejoice. Rejoice always. Come on, go ahead and speak to yourself this morning. Say rejoice. Rejoice always. Always rejoice. Always. In season and out of season rejoice.

Always. Always, always good. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy. It's down in my heart. Down in my heart I got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy. And oh. Come on, lift it up. A song of praise I'll bring for your joy. A mountain suffering. On a mountain high or valley low, my soul will bless you, Lord. Oh. I rejoice again and again I say rejoice. Yeah. Come on, everybody in this building, we're gonna rejoice in the Lord together. He's been too good. Come on, somebody get excited this morning. Yeah. Rejoice always. Rejoice always. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy. Down in my heart. Down in my heart I got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy. Oh. Always. Come on, lift up a shout. Hallelujah, Jesus. That's a good way to start this morning, amen? To rejoice in the Lord always. We talked to you a song last week that says this. We're gonna believe that even if Jesus did one thing, it was more than enough.

And we want to sing that. that as we kind of posture our hearts now to lean in to the King this morning. So let's sing this again together that if even if he just did one thing it would have been enough for you and for me. I wouldn't have a beginning, if you didn't breathe in my lungs. And I would have no rhyme or reason, if you didn't give me a song. I would be dead in my sin, wandering around in the dust. But you wrapped me up in perfect love, it would have been enough. And you did more, so much more. And I can't deny, I'm still asking why my King left his throne for me. Oh and you did more, so much more. And I can't bend, it doesn't make sense why you saved a wretch like me. Cause you did more, so much more. And I wouldn't know where I'm going, if you didn't guide every step. And I would have no hope for heaven, if you didn't call me a friend. And I would have no foundation, a life built upon the sand. But you set my feet upon a rock, and it would have been enough. And you did more, so much more. Yes you did. And I can't deny, I'm still asking why my King left his throne for me. And you did more, so much more. I can't comprehend, it doesn't make sense why you saved a wretch like me. Cause you did more, so much more. You did more, so much more. If you gave your life, what a sacrifice. It would have been enough, but you did more. If you rose again, conquered death and sin. It would have been enough, but you did more. If you saved my soul, made my heart your home. It would have been enough, but you did more.

If you set me free, won my victory. It would have been enough, but you did more. If you gave your life, what a sacrifice. It would have been enough, but you did more. If you rose again, conquered death and sin. It would have been enough, but you did more. If you saved my soul, made my heart your home. It would have been enough, but you did more. If you set me free, won my victory. It would have been enough, but you did more. So much more. I can't deny, I'm still asking why my king left his throne for me. And you did more, so much more. I can't comprehend It doesn't make sense Why would you say direct like me? Cause you did more So much more You did more So much more You did more So much more You did more Yes you did So much more Yes you did, yes And you have all I need You have all I need In the riches of your glory I find all I need

And you have all I need You have all I need In the riches of your glory I find all I need And I'm thankful that this morning we can find all we need in Jesus In Philippians 4 it says this, it says Don't worry about everything But pray about everything Thank God for all that he's done And I want to invite you in this moment as we petition Let's thank him this morning, he's all we need If you need prayer, if you want to come down and just thank him I just want to open this altar up for you to lift up Jesus And to be grateful for a king who loves you And we're going to continue worshipping Cause he's worthy of everything we can bring in this place So let's sing this together Oh I lift my eyes To the heavens where my treasure lies And I feel your peace that guards my soul Wherever I go My future you hold And I'll tell my soul Rest again he's in control And at every trial my God is near So why should I fear There's nothing to fear Cause you have all I need You have all I need Oh in the riches of your glory

I find all I need Come on let's lift our hands in this place this morning I lift my eyes Yes we do Jesus I surrender and rejoice again I got a song to sing for all my days Oh I'm gonna praise, yes I am And I'm gonna praise Cause you have all I need We believe that Jesus And you have all I need In the riches of your glory I find all I need Say whatever's pure, whatever's true Whatever's right, whatever's holy We're gonna think of these things Come on let's sing Whatever is true Sing it out Whatever is lovely Yes Jesus Whatever is good How it is worth Whatever is right, whatever is holy, whatever is right, I will think about these things. Whatever is true, whatever is lovely, whatever is good. If it is worthy of my praise, whatever is good, whatever is holy, whatever is right, I will think about these things. You are true. You are lovely. You are good. You are worthy of my praise. You are pure. You are holy. You are right. I find all of these things in you. You are all I need. You are all I need. In the riches of your glory, I find all I need.

You are all I need. Yes, you are. And you are all I need. In the riches of your glory, I find all I need. Yes, we do. And I find all I need in you, Jesus, in your presence. I find all I need. I find all I need. Father, we find all we need in you, Jesus. You're worthy of our praise. And I'm so grateful God shows up each week. It's amazing. I'm thankful for Christ and his goodness to us. Thanks for lifting up Jesus in this place with us. He deserves it all. Amen. Hey, we're glad you're here. Once you find someone you don't know, shake their hand and introduce yourself. We have about 30 seconds to do that. We'll keep going here. Before I had Christ in my life, I felt never enough, like I was always needing to work, to build a bridge to this holy and perfect God who was far away. And that each time I failed, all my progress was lost, or that I would never be good enough. This tension between knowing I needed to be perfect, because that's what I learned in church, with knowing that inside I never would be. I grew up as the eldest daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher deep in the South, so I always knew the gospel. I just never knew it personally for me. While I know it wasn't the intention with growing up in church, my takeaway from it was really production and performance based, right? Like dress up in your Sunday best, go to church, do all the right things, say all the right things, go home and then back to life as it is. So I knew that we were sinners. I knew that God sent his son to die for us. And I knew how to answer all the questions the right way. But inside, I didn't know the gospel for me. It was really a faith that was built on the sand. It was actually a long journey to find Jesus and for Jesus to capture my heart. It was when I was in high school, my family, we went through a really tumultuous situation, and it really shook the foundation of what I had built for myself on religion. And with each kind of hardship that came through life, the sand underneath that faith sand castle started to erode away. So I actually had to walk through a lot of hardship. from college into my early 20s before Jesus found me and asked to take hold of my life and I was very honest that I'm not perfect I can't be perfect I carry a lot of shame and a lot of guilt that I could never walk in what he called me to do and he met me in that space and said you don't have to be my grace is sufficient for you and so it was church and religion and shame and guilt that

told me that I had to be perfect and it was Jesus who met me in that space and said the finished work of what I've done is enough and that God invites me to surrender everything and that all I have to do is just abide in the finished work of the cross the a life means that I get to live a life of abundance a life of peace a life of joy a life that I don't have to strive to earn or work for it means that I get to live in a place of joy that I never got to live in before it means that instead I get to live in all of the hope and all of the freedom that Christ gives me access to Jesus plus nothing equals everything yes that is what we're learning in the book of Galatians Jesus plus nothing equals everything when Jesus said it is finished he died for your sin there was nothing more to do he really meant the work is done and when you say yes to Jesus everything begins to change now listen seriously I love Rachel's story because I think we can all relate in some way I mean here's a young lady not only raised in church raised the daughter of a preacher did you know you can be raised in the house of God and still not really know God I mean here's a young lady heard the gospel over and over again but never really had embraced it for her personally let me ask you have you embraced Jesus personally that he died for your sin is merely history but you must receive him personally that's when it becomes salvation and you become this new creation Galatians chapter 5 is where we are we've been studying verse by verse this letter from the Apostle Paul to the churches of Galatia because there was false teaching going on Paul had been there he led many of these new believers to Christ they had learned that Jesus plus nothing equals everything but then false teachers had come behind him and they began teaching oh no it's not Jesus plus nothing is Jesus what he did for you now there's some things you got to do too and you see that becomes a false gospel a counterfeit gospel and Paul's writing this letter to teach them that real change doesn't begin on the outside that's mere religion but on the inside it's a work of redemption and he's really beginning to teach in Galatians 5 how then to become a new creation if the answer is not religion work harder do better and that was really what you

heard about Rachel what you heard in church growing up is you're not perfect and you got to be perfect to get to God but the gospel is this you don't have to be perfect because you can't be perfect you couldn't get to heaven so heaven came down to you and his name is Jesus because you couldn't build that bridge and you heard what she did over and over again feeling like man I got to start over again no listen carefully heaven came down to you because you couldn't get to heaven and his name is Jesus now how then do you start to walk this out if God has made you a new creation it's not on the outside that's religion it's on the inside what Jesus does inwardly not merely the work of men outwardly and what we're learning in this chapter is simply this our hearts have become Christ's home that he literally comes to live inside of you to do for you what you could never do it begins to change you from within the moment you receive the Son of God you also receive the Spirit of God Romans 8 9 says he that has not the Spirit of Christ is none of his meaning if you didn't receive the Spirit you didn't receive the Son you need to be born again that's what Jesus called it the new birth and what happens is simply this through our heart submission we give Jesus complete possession and he makes us a new creation I told you I'm a man possessed you've heard of demonic possession it's a real thing but listen carefully there's something else called Holy Spirit possession it's a real thing and the Holy Spirit comes to possess you to change you in ways you never could no matter how hard you might have tried and this is what happens when you give your heart to him complete submission he takes total possession he starts to make you then a new creation it says these words in second Corinthians 5 17 therefore if anyone is in Christ he's a new creation old things have passed away behold all things are become new Now, if you're like me at times, you've asked the question, wait, if I'm a new creation, why do I still feel the same? Like, if I'm a new creation, and the old things have passed away, why does it seem like I still struggle

with the old things, yes? Am I the only one here, seriously? Really, like, yeah, I know I'm a Christian, I've given my life to Him, I know I'm forgiven, why do I still struggle with those same negative emotions, those same dysfunctional patterns? Why do I still struggle with that same sin again and again? And this is what Paul's now talking about, how to start walking in the newness and really start to leave behind the old, how to start walking in your true identity in a way that it shows up in your outward activity. And Paul's teaching these new Christians, listen, it's not some man-made system, metric system, that's religion, and how we try to measure somebody's spirituality, no, no, it happens inwardly, in ways sometimes others can't even see, not initially, listen carefully. As Christians, here's the problem, we have two natures living within. There's the sin nature, and there is the spirit nature. See, as a person before Christ, you had one nature, why is it so easy to sin? Because it's what we do. Romans 3.10, there's none righteous, no, not one. Romans 3.23, all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. Why? Because we're born with this sinful nature within,

it's the fallen nature that we have as members of Adam's fallen race. We just naturally do what is wrong, even when we know what is right. But check this out, the moment you came to faith in Jesus, the spirit of God comes to live inside of you, and gives you a new nature, a holy nature, a God-like nature. And now these two natures are constantly at war, one with another. I don't know if this works for you, but I'm a simple man, so let me explain it like this. So I was raised on Saturday morning cartoons. Is Tom and Jerry still a thing? Kids today, good, they're still watching the old classics. Tom and Jerry. You remember Tom and Jerry? You don't know the theology in Tom and Jerry. I mean, there's theology in Tom and Jerry. There's Tom, the cat that's always trying to catch Jerry, the mouse, and how many times you have a little devil on one shoulder, and the little angel on the other shoulder, and they're whispering in his ear, and both of them trying to control him, manipulate him. That's some pretty sound theology, because you got both those natures within. The godly nature that wants to run to what is holy and Christ-likeness, then there's the old nature, the old you, the sinful you, that wants to run back to the sin again and again.

And these are contrary one to another. Paul's gonna talk about the war within. If you cannot win the war within, you cannot win the war without. It all begins within. He puts it this way in Galatians 5.16. You ready for this? Let's go. Let's go. It says this. I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, when the Bible talks about the flesh, it's seldom talking about the skin. We think of our flesh being the skin that's kind of wrapped around this muscle and bone. That's not. The flesh, most of the time in Scripture, speaks of your old nature, that sinful nature. He's saying, listen, if you walk in the Spirit, the new nature, you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh, that of the old nature. Now, watch this. He's gonna talk about this warfare that goes on within us all. It says, for the flesh, lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary one to another so that you cannot do the things that you wish. I mean, even when you want to do what is Christ-like,

it's still so easy to do what is Christ-less. Why? Because these two natures are constantly struggling for control. It's a tug-of-war within us all, at all times. And Paul's acknowledging this, that at all times, we live with these two natures trying to control us. Now, I'm telling you this because, listen, we all are made of the same stuff, which means we all go through the same stuff. I go through the same stuff. Here I am, Pastor Phil. I've been pastoring 26 years. And I go through the same warfare constantly of all time. My old nature, my old man, my old me that wants to win. The new nature, the God nature within me. And it's constantly a war within. I'm just telling you, we all go through this. Because there's another side of me most of you have never met. I don't know if I've ever introduced to you my evil alter ego. Yeah, I have an evil twin. We all have a split personality. You know, I have that split personality. I have an evil, evil twin that I hope you never meet. I'm gonna introduce him to you now, just so you know him when you see him.

The Pastor Phil I hope you never meet. That's my evil alter ego. Her ego right there, man. My evil twin, the evil pastor Phil, that side of me, I'm just telling you, you've got one too, you know you do, yes? I mean, honestly, he lives within us all. Now you guys maybe know the story, the Marvel movies have made him famous, the Incredible Hulk. Bruce Banner, you know, when he's in his normal self, he's a good guy, nice guy, everybody would like Bruce Banner, but when he gets angry and he can't control his anger or his fear and he gives in to his anger or his fear, he becomes an entirely different person. All of a sudden, he is this Hulk-like figure and he is bent on destruction. You understand? Your flesh nature is bent on destruction? It's all it can do. When you get in the flesh, it's gonna bring destruction to you and those around you, and that's what Paul's now telling us. Now check this out. While the Incredible Hulk is a superhero, your evil alter ego is not a superhero. But check this out. You do have a supernatural power within you. I want you to recognize something.

If as a child of God, born again by faith in the Son of God, filled with the Spirit of God, you don't have to live a natural life. You can live a supernatural life. You have the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ living inside of you to do things you never could have done to be the person you never could have been. You have the power to overcome that flesh nature. And Paul's gonna tell us how. Now listen carefully. We allow our flesh nature or our spirit nature to take possession with every single decision. What Paul's gonna teach us is that with every decision, we are giving control to one or the other. This is why you can be in church on a Sunday morning and you can be filled with the Spirit of God, alive with the Word of God. You've sang songs to the Son of God, and before you even get home today, you will have bit your husband's head off. You know what I'm talking about. Yeah, you're in the Spirit one moment, you're in the flesh another moment, just like that. Because we're gonna learn, it's about a daily walk. We're gonna see, listen carefully, the moment you came to faith in Jesus, you put your faith in Him, what Jesus called born again, the new birth, the Spirit of God comes to live inside of you, Romans 8 and 9. Instantly, He indwells you permanently.

But check this out. You have to be filled repeatedly. The filling of the Holy Spirit is different than being indwelt by the Spirit. You are indwelt by the Spirit of God, but are you controlled by the Spirit of God? In every single moment of every single day, you're either controlled by your flesh or you're controlled by the Spirit. And He's gonna compare and contrast the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. See, walking in the Spirit is done by taking every step in submission with Him. Instead of being in submission to my flesh, submission to my fallen nature, I'm walking instead in submission to Him, submission to the Spirit of God living within. That's why He says, if you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Every single moment, you're gonna allow one of two to take possession. I'm a man possessed. I'm either gonna be possessed by my sin and my fallen nature within, or I'm gonna be possessed by Him, filled with His Spirit. I want you to see that failure to give Jesus complete possession will eventually lead to our destruction. The wages of sin is death. He goes on, now watch this. Verse 18, but if you are led by the Spirit,

you're not under the law, meaning the law of sin and death. The wage of sin is death. He says, now the works of the flesh, here it comes. I'm telling you, it's gonna get ugly. Hulk is not a handsome man. Yeah, he's ugly. This is gonna get ugly. The works of the flesh, when that evil alter ego takes over, here it is, it's evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness. Do you know what lewdness is? I don't either, but it sounds awful, doesn't it? Whatever it is, you don't wanna do that. I mean, lewdness is just kind of a catch-all term for the spirit of our age. We live at a time of complete debauchery, complete depravity, and anything goes mentality. That's what Paul's talking about here. Adultery, a fornication, is all other forms of sexual immorality, promiscuity, uncleanness, lewdness, debauchery, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in times past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. God. Now listen carefully. He didn't say those who have done such things won't inherit the kingdoms of God. Those who practice such things won't inherit the kingdom of God. We all struggle

with some of those things. Now listen, all of our sin nature is not bent in the same direction. That's why for one person, their sin leads them into sexual immorality. For another person, it leads them into addiction, alcoholism. For somebody else, it's what Paul calls outbursts of rash. You've got anger issues, right? We don't all manifest in the same way, but our sin natures all run one way or the other ultimately to what? Bring our destruction. This is the A-life, two-year discipleship journey. Remember what we're going through. Jesus said in John 10 and verse 10, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I've come to give you life. You can have it more abundantly. We're learning the ways that Satan as the thief wants to steal from you to take you into captivity so you can't live in freedom and liberty. He wants to take your sin nature, that which comes naturally, and lead you to a place of captivity where Jesus comes to bring freedom. Freedom comes from the kingdom of God. Now listen, the kingdom of God is simply the rule of God. The kingdom of God means the rule of God. He says those who practice such things practice these evil sayings because they're not living under the rule of God. They're living under self-rule. Listen, we live in a time increasingly where the average American has chosen self-governance, self-rule. I'll sit on my own throne. I'll be king over my own kingdom. I'll be queen over my own queendom. I'll do it my way instead of God's way. What he's teaching here is they will not inherit the kingdom of God because they've chosen instead to reject God, to reject the rule of God, to live instead in self-governance independently of God. Consequently, they're not going to inherit the kingdom of God. Now listen, he didn't say, well, I've done one of those. I'm not sure I'm going to heaven. That's not what he's saying. We've all done some of those things. That's why we need Jesus. He's trying to compare and contrast somebody who is practicing this lifestyle is representative of someone who doesn't know Jesus. They've never truly been born again. It's a life of destruction. Listen carefully. When we refuse to live in submission to Christ's authority, it leads to a life of anarchy. This is where we live now as a society. We live in a time of moral anarchy. We live in a time of spiritual anarchy. See, when you do not put God in his rightful place, all of a sudden you will dethrone God and you will enthrone yourself. You will deify self. We live at a time of self-idolatry, self-worship, self-rule. It leads to a life of anarchy. You understand anarchy always leads to captivity. Guys, I'm telling you, we are watching this happen currently in our

society. The social science doesn't lie. Statistically, all-time high of suicides in our generation. All-time high of worry and paralyzing anxiety in our generation. All-time high of depression in our generation. See, people have learned the lie of the enemy that says you can rule your own body. You can rule your own soul. You can be master of your own destiny. I'm trying to tell you the social science is saying anything except life abundantly. A life of anarchy does not lead to life abundantly. It leads to a life of captivity. It's ultimately our destruction. This is why Jesus wants to get in our way. Now he's going to show us how to live the A-life. Life abundantly actually comes from living under Christ's authority. No, I don't get to do whatever I want. I don't get to say whatever I want. I don't get to use my body however I want. I'm living under Christ's authority, which actually is the only way to the A-life. Life abundantly. Now look, he's going to compare and contrast the fruit of the Spirit with the works of the flesh. Look what he says in verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. You're no longer under the law of sin and death. I want you to think about what is the fruit of the Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit is what shows up in your life outwardly, naturally, simply from abiding and aligning your life with Christ. You heard, man, I love what Rachel said. There's so many takeaways here. She's learning to abide in Christ. Abiding in Christ simply means you're living under the rule of Christ. You're living aligned with Christ. And so consequently what happens, the fruit of the Spirit, of giving control of your life to the Spirit of Christ, within, walking in the Spirit with every decision, submitting to the Spirit, surrendering to the Spirit. It leads to the fruit of the Spirit. Now, the first one is love. I want you to notice something. The world talks a lot about love, doesn't really even know what love is. Love is performance-based. Man, the world will love you if you look a certain way, if you act a certain way, if you do certain things. I mean, think about it. That's not love at all. I mean, People Magazine, every year they have a feature article, 50 of the world's most beautiful people. You ever notice they never have an article 50 of the world's ugliest people? No, the world's going to love you if you fit a certain persona, certain socioeconomic ability. No, this love is something different altogether. This is divine love. God gives you the ability to love people who otherwise to you would be unlovable. The word here

is agape. It's not the Greek word eros, from which we get the word erotic. That speaks of romantic love, sexual love. It's not the word phileo, from which we get the word brotherly love or friendship love. This is the word agape. It's represented by Jesus on the cross dying for you. See, this kind of love is self-sacrificing. It's self-denying. All of a sudden, supernaturally, you've got the ability to love your enemies. Remember what Jesus said? Love your enemies. This is not natural. This is supernatural. It's the supernatural in you, the spirit nature taking over you, where all of a sudden you can love people that frankly are hard to love. Anybody know somebody right now that's just hard to love? Somebody close to you that's just really, really a challenge to love. Somebody you're sitting next to right now. All of a sudden, you've got power, supernatural power to love people the way God has loved you. How about joy? Joy is not happiness. Joy is something far different than happiness. Happiness depends on happenings. When happy things happen to you, you're happy, but when unhappy things happen to you, you're unhappy. No, that's different than joy. Joy means you can have something deeper that's unshaking, that's unchanging, even when happy things don't happen. It's joy in the midst of sorrows. It's supernatural, not natural. How about peace? Peace in the middle of life storms. You may be going through a category five hurricane right now personally, yet there's a sense of peace. On paper, you should have no peace. You should be ate up with worry and anxiety, but it's a supernatural ability to have peace, even in times of uncertainty, long suffering, sometimes translated as patience. Man, I lack patience, especially in times of suffering. Man, just put me on the interstate in rush hour traffic. I'm telling you, the Hulk comes out. I mean, I am so impatient. When I'm coming up to a stoplight, I am literally looking at the model and make of the cars in front of me to decide which lane I'm going to get in. Full disclosure, I'm trying to figure out which one's going to be fastest off the line. I'm just telling you, because I just don't have… I mean, I struggle with this. Now listen, what he said, long suffering, the ability to suffer long. Supernaturally, when you're going through a time of sadness and suffering of which life has a lot of it, you have this ability to suffer long, to not give up, to not give in. Kindness in a world of hostility, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control in a world that is out of control, in a world that says, have no control. If it feels good, do it. I mean, feed yourself whatever you want to. He says, no, the spirit

of control is the spirit of the one in you, the fruit of the spirit. Now, I'm going to try to put some handles on this for you. Look at what it says in verse 24, and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. What's he saying here? Again, he's come back to the crucified life. The crucified life is the A life. It is the abundant life. It is the spirit-filled life. What's that mean? The hulk in you, that evil alter ego, it cannot be controlled. It's got to be crucified. It cannot be managed. It cannot be contained. It's got to be crucified. And you need to understand at the moment of your salvation, your evil alter ego, the sinful nature in you, was crucified. Romans 6 and verse 6, do you not know that your old man, your old woman, you got an old man, you got an old lady? I'm just quoting the Bible here. It speaks of your fallen nature, the old Jew. Your old man was crucified. Crucified with him that's a body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin I'm a walking dead man. I'm dead to my old life Now listen positionally that's true of me Daily it happened instantly at the moment of my salvation But first Corinthians 1531 says I die daily now I have to do it daily Sometimes over and over again in the same day to walk in the spirit and not allow my old man that evil twin control over my life And let me try to help you with this There's a chain of command That God wants you to understand everything God does he does for a chain of command if Satan wants you to live a life of anarchy Knowing it brings destruction and captivity What's the opposite of anarchy its authority? See where there is no authority there's always anarchy When God is your authority, and you're submitted to his authority you won't live a life of anarchy you'll live a life abundantly But Satan wants you to invert the chain of command Where you're no longer living under God's authority now It works like this you have as a child of God you have a body you have a soul and you have a spirit God

Made you a triune being like him remember what he said in Genesis 1 26 Let us make man in our image in our likeness What does that mean it means God made you to be a triune being? Like him as he is one God Father Son and Holy Spirit He made you to be one person body soul and spirit to reflect that triune image that triune nature now What happened when Adam sinned God told Adam don't eat of that tree and the day you eat through of you shall surely die He ate of the tree what happened he did not die physically not immediately Though he was destined to eventually what happened he died spiritually instantly The spirit of the man or woman was meant to be always what communes with God's spirit to be at one with God's spirit But when he died spiritually he was separated then from God This is why Jesus said you must be born again you came into this world as a Fallen son of Adam or a fallen daughter of Eve with a living body a living soul, but a dead spirit Now what happened when you were born again by faith in him? You got back the image of God that Adam lost in the garden your spirit was given life What Jesus calls the new birth and your spirit is now the dwelling place of God's spirit? Now the spirit-filled life or walking in the spirit being controlled by the spirit comes when the spirit is Ruling your soul, which is the mind the will and emotions and the soul is ruling your body Now once you notice often people use the spirit and soul interchangeably. They're not the same thing biblically They don't mean the same thing. We use them synonymously But that's not how the Bible use them Hebrews 4 15 The Word of God is living and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword able to pierce even to the division of soul and spirit So what happens at the moment of salvation? The Spirit of God takes the Word of God and cut your soul free from your spirit So your spirit can live and live and work independently now of your soul. Now, what is the soul? It's the mind the will the emotions in The moment of salvation your spirit was reborn instantly But this is why you still struggle with those same thought patterns as before Christ or the same dysfunctional

Sinful habits before Christ why because the mind stays the same This is why the Bible teaches the mind is never reborn. It must be renewed This is the process now of sanctification. This is the process now you're going through as a child of God sanctification Is being delivered not simply from sins penalty, but rather sins power and this is a process Paul calls it renewing your mind Romans 12 and verse 2 Be not conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of the mind. This is something that now happens daily What is the soul the soul is the mind the will the emotions in the same way the flesh seldom speaks of your skin But rather your sin nature that lives within When the Bible speaks of the heart it very seldom is speaking of the muscle beating blood throughout your body It speaks of the soul. The heart is the soul Proverbs 4 23 guard your heart with all diligence For out of it flows the issues of life Satan knows he has lost your spirit, but now he's coming after your soul He wants to control the heart the heart is the control center of the human being The heart is where you set your direction the heart is where you define your moral values your your moral system your vision so Consequently, it's a battle now for the soul. The battle is in the mind. Now, I want you to notice something. Most of the time, we invert this chain of command. The body calls the shots, and the mind simply obeys. And the spirit stands idly by doing nothing because we don't know how to walk in the spirit, the spirit-filled life. So I want you to think about this for a moment. Paul said this in Ephesians 5, 18. "'Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, "'but be filled with the Spirit.'" Now, you are indwelled by the Spirit permanently as a child of God. Romans 8, 9, if you don't have the Spirit of Christ,

you never received Christ. When you received Christ, you received His Spirit as well. He indwells you now permanently. Ephesians 4, 30, "'Grieve not the Spirit of God, "'whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.'" See, your sin can grieve the Spirit of God, it can quench the Spirit of God, but it cannot break the seal of the Spirit of God. This is why you don't need to worry about losing your salvation when you stumble into sin. Because if you could lose your salvation, you'd lose it every single time. Some of us couldn't keep it for the next 10 minutes. Aren't you glad we're saved by grace? Yeah, you're saved by grace, and you stay saved by grace. What Paul's teaching here is the Spirit of God is the guarantee of your salvation. He seals your salvation unto the day of redemption. What's the day of redemption? The day you stand before God in heaven. Sin can grieve the Spirit of God, but it cannot break the seal of the Spirit of God because your work, no matter how sinful, can't undo Christ's work. That's the gospel. Now watch this. Most people invert this chain of command, where my body's now in charge. Meaning, we want to fulfill the lust of the flesh, the cravings of our body physically.

The bait of Satan always comes in three forms. First John 2.15, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. What is the lust of the flesh? The desire to fulfill the cravings, the sinful cravings of our flesh. Now, it can sometimes be something obvious, sexual immorality. Many, many Americans are completely addicted to pornography. Satan has taken them into captivity. The lust of the flesh. But it doesn't have to be something as sinister-sounding as pornography. Chad talked last week in a great message on liberty, and Paul talks about liberty, meaning something is not necessarily sinful. It's a matter of Christian liberty. But what is liberty to one person is captivity to another. The most obvious example would be alcohol. Listen, drinking a beer is not a sin. It doesn't say that. I was raised, much like Rachel was raised, I'm certain, where I told you my story, like, you know, it's an unpardonable sin, having a glass of wine, if it contains alcohol. No, listen, the Bible never says that. But listen carefully. While it's not sinful to have a glass of wine or have a beer with your hamburger, one person has liberty,

because it's not a source of captivity. But somebody else sitting on the same row cannot have a beer, cannot have that glass of wine, because you know it's gonna take control if you do. It's addiction. But listen, it doesn't even have to be addiction. Alcoholism, here's one we never talk about in church. Let's talk about it today. How about gluttony? Yeah, I'm not hungry, I just like it. It's pleasing to my palate. It's the lust of the flesh, guys, I'm just telling you. Believe it or not, I go, I mean, I love to eat. I mean, people say, well, you're either a salt person or a sugar person. No, not true. I'm salty and sugary, like, I can eat my weight in chips and salsa. I mean, I really can, and I can wash it down with donuts and ice cream, no problem. Full confession, I love Lay's Potato Chips. Man, I love Lay's Potato Chips. Oh, that salty, crunchy, mm, mm, I could pound a whole bag. Remember one of the fruit of the Spirit, self-control. There's nothing sinful about Lay's Potato Chips until you lose control and eat a whole bag. See, the fruit of the Spirit is now you have self-control. You're not being taken into captivity by an area the Bible calls liberty. I was on a Alaskan cruise last week at this very hour.

Way above my pay grade. I'd never do this on my own, but I was asked to be a part of a teaching cruise with Amir Sarfati, who's coming here in September again. We hosted him last year. So, Amir is one of the premier prophecy. scholars of our day. He's a Messianic Jew, a Jew that's following Jesus like you and me do, and he happens to live, literally, in Israel in the Valley of Armageddon. So when we talk about Bible prophecy, he has an up-close-and-personal example every single day. He's coming back in September for another conference. You should come, September the 12th. So he asked me, last time we hosted him last fall, if I wanted to come on this cruise with him. Fully expensed. All expenses paid. So, I went on this cruise, man. It was amazing. I've always heard about Alaska, Alaskan cruises. Yeah, it's all that. I mean, it was a real gift. Really thankful. Got to go. Completely free. The best part of the trip? Five-star restaurants on this ship. As much as you want to eat. I just need to be up front because I feel I need to get this off my chest. I had ice cream every day. Now, that's not the worst of it. I had ice cream every day by 10 a.m. Yeah, no control whatsoever. I got home 2 o'clock in the morning, Friday night. Jumped on the scales to see the damage. I gained eight pounds in one week. Eight pounds, church. Eight pounds in one week. Man, I pounded it. I did. I'm just telling you. Gluttony. I've already started. I've already started the control again. I was just like, yeah. OK. So, like today, I just want to celebrate this with you. So, every time the choir sings up here, somebody brings a big box of Lamar's Donuts and puts them back there. I almost went and got one, but I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. I'm just trying to tell you. In some way, the body wants control. It wants to feed itself in sinful ways. Sometimes it's obvious. Sometimes it's less obvious. Food, that's less obvious. I want you to see what happens when we invert the chain of command. My body calls the shots. My mind obeys, and the spirit stands idly by. Now, listen. For some of us, it's not our bodies. It's not the physical cravings of our flesh. It's our soul that's the problem. Our emotions. You cannot be a spiritually mature person if you're not an emotionally mature person. And a lot of us here lack emotional maturity. Somebody

that lacks emotional maturity is someone who always reacts emotionally. You're led of your emotions instead of being led of the spirit. Your emotions are in control. Your emotions call the shot. Somebody makes you angry, so you react angry. What Paul calls the works of the flesh, outbursts of wrath. All right? Now, listen carefully. Somebody with emotional maturity has crucified those emotions. You put your emotions under the rule of the spirit. So when somebody makes you angry, you don't immediately respond angry in the flesh. You take a minute. You pray, God, fill me with your spirit. Control my emotions so you can respond accordingly. Does that make sense? That's being filled with the spirit in that moment. That's bringing your emotions under control of your spirit. Because when the flesh starts controlling your emotions, it's death to you and everybody. I'm telling you, I got that evil alter ego. We live at a time where people are paralyzed with anxiety. I want you to understand something. If you have times where you're paralyzed by anxiety, you don't necessarily need a diagnosis. It's called being human. It's normal. Honestly, I have anxiety almost all the time. You got things to worry about? I do too. Things you can't control. Things of uncertainty. We live at a time where people are paralyzed with anxiety. What do you do? You bring that anxiety under the rule of the spirit. How do you do that? When you're feeling what is wrong, you choose to think what is right. Anxiety comes from feeling like, man, I've got to control things I can't control. Anxiety comes from believing the lie, you're enough. I see this on a t-shirt all the time now. You are enough. It's a lie out of the pit of hell. You're not enough. That's why you need Jesus. Jesus is enough. And when I start walking in anxiety, it's because I feel like, man, I've got to control this. I've got to do this. I've got to be the one to fix this. And here's the reality. Anxiety comes from putting God in control. Instead of feeling like, man, you've got to be in control. I don't got this. God's got this.

See, that's where confidence comes from. So what do you do? You wage the war for your mind, the war for your emotions, by submitting your mind and emotions to the rule of the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 10, verses three through five. Though we walk in the flesh, we don't war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or physical, but mighty in God, supernatural, for the pulling down of strongholds. He says, how do you do that? Casting down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring it into captivity, every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ. When you realize you're feeling what is wrong, you choose to think what is right. Right thinking will eventually lead to right feelings. I mean, who feels forgiveness for somebody that's hurt them? It's impossible to forgive someone that's betrayed you and hurt you. It's not natural, yet God commands us to. What do we do? We submit our emotion to the rule of the Spirit. God, I choose to release them to you. I will no longer hold this against them and over them. They're for you to judge. I give them to you.

Now listen, you don't feel that in the moment, but you do it out of obedience to the Spirit. And check this out, when you put your obedience in motion, eventually, if you'll keep doing it, the emotion will follow. You'll actually feel it. I'm trying to put handles on this for you, is it helping? Like when my body in that moment says, man, go get that Long John. You need that Long John. I mean, you're gonna be preaching three times today. You need your carbs, you need some calories. You know, we can lie to ourselves, rationalize ourselves. Nope, I am under control of the Spirit today. I am not going back there to get me a Long John. Nope, I had ice cream every day last week. I don't need ice cream today. I'm walking away. I can go to the mall and not buy a thing. I am walking away, yeah. I want you to see the Spirit of God gives you power to do things you don't naturally do in your natural self. You don't have to be in captivity to that pornography. You have the power to walk away. You don't have to stay. When you submit your body to the rule of your mind and you submit your mind to the rule of the Spirit, that's how you walk in the Spirit every day. It's called a walk with God because it's not something you do one time.

It's never one and done. It's something you repeat over and over again throughout your day with every conversation, with every decision. I'm submitting to the rule of the Spirit. And as I submit my mind to the rule of the Spirit, now my mind can rule my body. Nope, you're not in charge today. And you start living the Spirit-filled life, which is the A life. Instead of a life ruled by your flesh, you're now living a life ruled by your Spirit. In God's chain of command, the Spirit in union with your Spirit is meant to rule the soul, the mind and emotions, and the soul's meant to rule the body. We all have unclean thoughts. We all struggle with lustful thoughts, thoughts that pop in our mind that you know shouldn't be there. In that moment, you have a choice. Will you harbor that thought? Will you meditate on that thought? Till that thought becomes an idol, that mental image, or will you cast that thought out and submit it to the rule of the Spirit? This is how you wage the warfare daily, to walk in freedom and victory, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our lives outwardly will begin to be a reflection of whichever nature we submit to inwardly. And they are fighting for control. Daily. We bear the fruit of the Spirit outwardly as we submit to His Spirit inwardly. This is how you walk out the a-life, the abundant life, life abundantly, lived under the rule of God Almighty, as opposed to a life of anarchy, self-rule that only leads to destruction. Would you bow with me right now? I'd like our response team at every campus to make your way to the platform, right here in Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, Crossroads, Independence, Johnson County, Tipton Correctional. center, church house leaders all over our country, would you just maybe stand and make yourself ready to minister? Listen, these men and women are here every single week because they love you, they care about you, they're here to minister. Some of us today need to walk this way for prayer. You don't do this by yourself, nobody's meant to do it in isolation. Somebody's not sure of a next step, it's called a walk with God, there's always a next step. Somebody aren't sure, maybe even if you're a Christian, are you really forgiven? Here's a young lady, Rachel, raised in the house of God by a daddy who preached the Word of God, but has still never really received the Son of God. These men and women are here to talk to you about that very thing, answer questions for you, and I'm gonna pray for you, then I want you to take your next step, whatever it is. Jesus, I lift up these precious men and women under the sound of my voice in this Lee Summit Auditorium, somewhere else in this city and around the world,

that God in heaven, you would meet with each of us individually. The Lord, you would remind us daily of your love upon our life, that we are a hundred percent accepted in Christ because of Christ. The Lord, we would take our next steps, that we would walk with you and live on mission with you, that we would live in submission to you, to be all that you've called us to be, to know the full joy of Jesus. And Lord Jesus, we thank you for your constant grace and mercy upon us all. Help us, Lord, to be filled with your Spirit daily, to be not controlled by sin and self, but controlled by the Spirit of God within. And I thank you, Jesus, that you've empowered us, equipped us to win, now and forever. In Jesus' name, Amen. Would you give him the glory today? Praise him, church, would you?