Defeat The Flesh - Walk In The Spirit

I want to talk to you guys this morning about an important topic. As you know, we're going through the different principles of healthy masculinity. Masculinity is under attack right now in our culture.

Boys want to be girls and they want to feminize everything and downgrade, and even some of the Navy recruitment is just bizarre. And our nation is needing the masculinity that the Bible talks about. And the reason they're coming after masculinity, I believe, is because God has created men a certain way.

And in that creation, that's where the leadership comes from. So try to minimize the leadership. Try to take away that bold edge and that masculinity, that toughness.

You hear the World War II generation often, right? Those guys, man, going to war at 18, now we've got people who don't even know what they want to do at 18. They don't want to cry in a room if the wrong person is elected president. So it's just what they go after though is a masculinity.

The enemy wants to take away that boldness and that drive and that toughness. Now those things can be wrong if we don't point them in the right direction because those can actually become characteristics of men who are domineering and forceful and controlling in their homes. That's why you need that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

So the topic, the principle of masculinity today is the principle of fighting. Fighting, some things are worth fighting for. You've never lived in a time like this, obviously because you've only lived once, but we've never lived in a time like this in the history of our nation where the need for biblical masculinity and to fight and to get back up.

Remember, in fighting, you don't always win every single round or you don't always get every single punch in. Some of you guys that like the MMA and the boxing and things like that, they get hit. The guy who wins gets hit a couple of times.

Or he's getting down on the mat and then something happens and now he's... And so fighting is an exchange of opposing forces. And that's what we're gonna look at this morning. This topic, guys, is so important.

The title is Defeat the Flesh, Walk in the Spirit. Defeat the Flesh, Walk in the Spirit. But let me tell you something up front that will hopefully encourage you.

Unless you've mastered this, come and talk to me afterwards, but I've never been able to walk completely perfectly in the Spirit for a long amount of time. I'm doing good for a while, and then here comes the flesh. Here she comes, just right on time.

Knows those opportune times. When you help people in addiction, there's something called HALT. Hungry, angry, lonely, tired.

That's when the addiction usually comes back. And we can probably relate to that. Hungry, angry.

How many of us have ran to something because we were angry? Or lonely, or tired. And you need that whatever it is. The list is long.

The flesh doesn't care what it craves as long as it gets what it craves. So the Christian faith, I really wish I had known this earlier on, because I want to perfectly serve the Lord like many of you, don't you? We don't want to fall. We don't want to fail.

We beat ourselves up. Sometimes too much so. We get caught in discouragement and just get in this downward spiral trap that is hard to get out of.

But then understanding that even Paul said, oh wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of sin and death? I want to serve God with my mind, but the flesh is pulling. And a lot of the biblical Pauline, they call them the Pauline epistles, deal with the lust of the flesh.

And also even the writers, many other writers deal with that. So it's not permission to sin and say well, this is how I'm designed. What it is, it's permission to get back up and keep fighting.

And we need that encouragement. Okay, and most of the people, maybe they don't realize this, they might think, because how I preach is not how I treat others. You can ask Phil who's watched, been in a lot of meetings I've been in.

It's not like, you get out of this church. It's always like, hey, you fell, let's get back up. Let's get you an accountability group.

Let's get you this book on addiction. Let's restore this. It's never beat up, beat up.

Now there comes a time where after the Bible talks about after repeated efforts and the person's just caught in their pride and their rebellion. You know, Matthew 18 where you have to come and say, hey brother, I love you, but we've got to depart because you're not wanting to change. You keep this behavior going.

And so the model of our church is to encourage. It's not, I can't believe you fell again. I mean, we get texts 52 weeks a year.

My husband, he's back to drinking again. He's hooked on fentanyl. He won't give up his porn.

The wife is leaving her husband in this church. And so we never come, how dare you? It's like guys, man, get back up, repent, fall forward, God can restore this. And you encourage, but there comes a point where if they're like, I don't care what you have to say.

I'm going to keep doing this. Then you have to say, you know what? We can't continue fellowship. I have to sternly warn you.

This is a very bad direction. And anytime we've warned people and you know, it doesn't end up well. Guys that have traded in their wife for the newer model, the newer model ends up leaving them.

Divine justice. You reap what you sow. Be careful.

Be careful, men. But the encouragement is the flesh will get the better of you from time to time. That's just biblical.

Doesn't mean we give in. Doesn't mean we excuse our actions. It means we get back up and keep fighting.

And we do say no. And I believe we have the ability to say no as Christians. Unless the Scripture is wrong, which we know is not, that no temptation is overcoming you, which is not common to all of us.

But God who is faithful will allow the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. There is a way of escape. If you look back at every single time you've fallen, there was an exit door.

But what was blocking the exit door? Mr. Excuses. I can choose that exit and Lord, thank You. Or you know what, man, man, my wife, she doesn't understand me.

She's been a real pill lately. You know what, I'm going to do this. We bypass the way of exit.

So this topic is about walking in the Spirit. How does that work? Well, be prepared. Arthur Wallace said, it is a deeply solemn matter to seek God's face for revival, for He may deal with us as He does not deal with others.

What that means is when you set your face towards God and fully surrendering and seeking Him, with all of your heart, with all of your soul, He's going to deal with you on issues. The old saying used to be, others may, you cannot. I think I preached on that years ago.

Others may, you cannot. The Christian seeking God's face and we're praying for revival. We're praying, and what that term is, I know some of you are new.

To me, it's not a weird term. People are like, you might not want to use that term. Well, I don't know what other term to use.

The Bible says, wilt thou not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Lord, give us a measure of revival in your bondage. God, come on, rip open heavens, rend and visit your people again. Revive us, awaken us, restore us, renew us.

And so, that is our only hope for our nation. Without a shadow of a doubt. I'm hesitant to say this because it might not happen, but I got a text that asked if I was willing to possibly go to Mar-Go-Lago with 150 other Christian leaders and meet Trump in three weeks.

And I said, depends on when it is, but if I'm able to speak, that's exactly what I'm going to say. We can have the right policies, but the wrong heart. Revival is the only hope for our nation.

Brokenness, humility, prayer, turning back to God. Not policies, platforms, political parties. It's God reviving His people.

Now, whether that ever happens or not, I don't know. But that is the only hope. That is what we have to get back to.

That's what we have to press in. And when you decide, you know what? He's right, I'm going to press in like this. Get ready, there's that quote.

It's a very solemn matter to seek God's face for revival. For He will deal with us as He does not deal with others. And I don't know about you, but the closer I draw to Christ, the more I see just how much I need Him.

That wrong attitude that comes out, that addiction that God wants to get rid of. You know, even the little things sometimes that He wants to deal with us on, He will deal with us as He does not deal with others. God honors the fight for freedom, not surrender.

So we fall forward. We want that freedom in Christ. And we're not going to surrender.

Okay, devil, you got me. I mean, how many times have I said, Lord, I'm going to fast today and I pig out at night? Just like, Lord, I'm sorry, I wanted to fast and seek You, but King's stomach got the better of me. So I could say, well, I'm just going to give in now.

Who cares? No, you don't surrender. You keep fighting. God is looking for repentance, not capitulation.

What does that mean? I repent of these things. I don't give in to them. Return to Him rather than flee from Him.

That's a goal in our journey, to surrender and get back up, surrender to God and get back up and fight, not surrender to sin. Repent of these things, don't give in to them and return to God rather than flee from Him. Because you realize, right, that's what many of us, especially guys, have you ever been there where you're failing and falling and you just kind of run from God for a while? And that season turns into weeks, months, years.

When I run into people, I ran into a lot of people, GraceFest and all over, that you've left the church over the years. We've been here 14 years, or we've had a church 14 years, thousands of people came through our door. Obviously, sometimes it's my fault, right? I'm not perfect just like some of you, but hopefully I apologize and we try to work on things.

Those who have stayed and we work on things, the relationship is great. But those who have left, it's usually one of two reasons. There's either an offense they're holding onto, I was offended, and they're not going to let you know what it is because they want to hold on to it, and they just, you know, the church hurt my feelings by you fill in the blank, right? Whether it's not visiting me in the hospital, not returning my calls.

I mean, a lot of times we don't even know if a person's in the hospital, unless they let us know. Or sometimes, you know, things fall through the cracks, it's good to follow up. But anyway, the offense.

But the second biggest reason people stay away is caught in sin. Think about it. If you're caught in sin, you think you want to just come to church and see everybody? Porn's got a hold on you.

Alcohol is controlling. Back on the pain meds. Yelled at your wife, hit the cat, punched a hole in the wall.

And you're just full of rage. You're going to want to come to church? You're going to want to do anything for the Lord? No. That's why this is so important to repent and get back up on track.

You know, I've blown it in many of those areas. Not on hitting the cat, not on other things, but you know, I don't want to come Sunday. All hell breaks loose on Saturday.

Anybody had those issues? I've had family members on drugs tell me they're going to sue me. It's like, what? And then you get all fired up, right? Oh, let me tell them. I'll lawyer up too.

That doesn't go anywhere. Of course, all that falls apart because it's just all drug-induced. And then I have to deal with a lot of people sometimes that go back to their alcohol.

And I'm the problem because I'm calling them out. And so I know when that's speaking, that's demonic, and I just block the number. I can't deal with these things that are demonic.

And so does that wear me down? Absolutely. And all the other issues that go along with parenting, just like you guys, five kids at home, three teenagers. Somebody's always upsetting somebody.

Or somebody's feelings are hurt about this. They did this at school. They did this at practice.

It's just constant, constant. Everybody goes, did you get a good rest on your vacation? No, vacations are not for rest. They keep the kids busy for 12 hours a day and we come back exhausted.

As men, we need encouragement, don't we? But we also need conviction. The Bible actually says that we're in a battle, we're engaged in warfare, and we have to use weapons. That sounds pretty intense to me, and the need for practical application.

So here is God's Word up on the screen, Galatians 5. Many of you are familiar with this, but I don't know about you, but I need to keep Scripture going in my heart all the time. I know sometimes people say, oh, I know you've heard this before. It doesn't matter.

Sometimes you hear it afresh. Or sometimes it finally sticks. And we see this as pastors.

I'll be praying for people in the prayer room, and they'll come in and maybe come to Christ, or they'll come to repent, and they'll give their fully surrender. Like, man, you said this. I'm like, dude, I've been saying that for six years.

I know, but I was just checked out. Or my favorite, I didn't want to hear it. See, there is something that people don't understand about God's Word.

You have to want to receive it. If your heart is hard as stone, you're not going to receive it. I love reading the Puritans, and they often said that the same sun that melts the wax will harden the clay.

So it's not the Word, it's the heart. The heart has to be open to these things. So I say then, Paul, and we could go, the first part of Galatians, he's talking about different things that could happen.

So I say then, here's how to prevent this. It says, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Now, it's interesting.

It's not run in the Spirit, hurry up in the Spirit. It's a nice, you picture Jesus walking to Galilee, right? It's walking in the Spirit. So it's day-to-day choices, correct? Walking in the Spirit.

Your spouse says something you don't like, you're going to walk in the Spirit. Somebody ticks you off, you're going to walk. Notice I'm saying this, it's easier said than done.

Somebody, you know, any of you guys don't like people to ride on your car? Just me, I've got to work on that one. Because the old shame pulls over and says, hey, pull over, tough guy, let's talk this out. Just ride on you.

But I can go from, man, great, fill up the Spirit after church, and somebody's riding on me over the hill. It's like NASCAR. So I get in the habit of just pulling over often.

Especially if you try going over that hill on Monday through Friday at 5.30 in the morning, good luck. You are, it's a nightmare. But all these things, so walking in the Spirit, choosing, I'm not going to get the last word in, I'm going to humble myself.

But a lot of that, the choices that are made as you're walking in the Spirit, were first instilled in you earlier in the day, or in the week, by reading the Word of God, by praying, by humbling yourself. Basically, walking in the Spirit is a manifestation, if I can use that word, of what you've already been doing throughout the week, or of that day. It's going to be real hard to walk in the Spirit if you just got off your computer and were looking at things you shouldn't.

You see what I'm saying? It fuels, the right decisions fuel other right decisions. So Paul says, walk in the Spirit. Hey, I'm going to handle that correctly.

I'm not going to let anger rule and reign. I'm going to just, Lord, I'm going to get in Your Word. I'm going to pray.

I'm not going to react. And in order to walk in the Spirit, you're usually challenged by things that oppose it. Patience, not listening to godly counsel.

Thank God sometimes for our wives, right? Godly counsel, hearing the other side. Funny story just happened yesterday. I probably won't tell this on Sunday, but you guys know a year and a half ago or so, I was fasting and I loved it.

I was like 195 pounds. My wife's like, before you give those clothes away, you might want to keep some of those. I was like, no, no, no, I'm good.

I'm going to stay right here. Well, here we are, 25 pounds, 20 pounds later. I have no clothes to wear for church and Wednesday.

So I got to find some, right? It's just like, God gives us that second half to help us navigate life a little bit. And listening to godly counsel. Or what about when something happens? You guys probably don't know this, but something happens every Sunday, every Wednesday, that man, if I'm not careful, it's going to tick me off.

I'm going to get up. Pastor? Oh, yeah. Why? Because Elisha was just like us.

There's no difference. God just calls people for certain things. And then we obviously have to walk carefully and can't cuss like many of you, can't chew people out, can't get in arguments.

Praise God, I've never yelled at anybody in meetings and cussed them. I can't do those kinds of things. But it doesn't mean it's not stirring.

And things that just come and tick you off, the things that you didn't expect or people change plans or people don't tell you, and making choice to walk in the Spirit. And so as we make that choice and we do that, you do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. But as you're fulfilling the lust of the flesh, you're not going to be walking in the Spirit, correct? So basically, a choice is made.

A path is chosen. There's no way around that. For the flesh, here's what the flesh does.

The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit pulls against the flesh. And these are always contrary to one another so that you do not do the things you wish. That really goes against Christian perfectionism.

Have you ever heard of that term? I think it was coined back probably in the 1700s, where, and still I run into people today and I get emails today scolding me because I don't preach Christian perfectionism. And what they're saying has a little bit of truth. It's this.

A Christian can reach a perfect state because the Bible says to walk in the Spirit. The ability is there, but the pull of the flesh is so strong that it doesn't happen. So there's no such thing as being able to walk in the Spirit perfectly.

Guys, I have not sinned all week. Can you imagine me saying that? I made it all week without sinning. Nothing.

Just like Jesus? Yeah. But see, the truth is, the ability to say no is there. The Scripture says walk in the flesh.

Say no, overcome. So I'm raising myself to that standard. That's what I'm attempting.

That's what I'm doing. Obviously, the Christian falls for it. But the flesh is so strong, the pull that after time, sometimes you lose a battle.

And you get back up. And that's what this says. Look it, so that you, actually, you will not do the things you want to do from time to time because the flesh is that strong.

Something that I don't know if a lot of people realize is your spirit has been reborn, right? The Bible talks about reborn. Made new. And so there's something about it, spiritually speaking, we live for eternity.

We're children of God. This wonderful thing is going on inside of us, right? This fullness of the Spirit, this joy you guys feel it. But I also live in a body that has not been yet redeemed.

Think about it, has it? Is the body redeemed too? Or is it dying? Decaying? And so I have this spiritual new life. I'm ready to go see Jesus, but I've got this anchor, this weight of the flesh that has not been renewed. And some people think that, and that's why they say if I just, I gotta cast out this demon.

Well, how do you know you don't have to discipline your flesh? It's not always a demon. And I've talked about spiritual warfare. Well, again, it's hard to navigate those waters because you have to take it to the Lord, you have to pray and see what could be a demonic stronghold.

I know a lot of times a demonic stronghold would be when you give in to something again. And have you ever been there where now it's got you? And there's that stronghold, it's like you can't stop thinking about it. And now something, there could be a demonic element to that to where I believe people could pray for you.

And there could be a release there. And that's why we've never teach that Christians can be possessed by demons. But can they be harassed? Paul said, a messenger of Satan was sent to me to buffet my flesh, a thorn, but God said my grace is sufficient.

That sounds like a demonic harassment to me. There's no other way to unpack that. There's other things that talk about pulling down strongholds and high things and things.

And so I believe that the demonic realm can be given more and more control in your life the more you surrender to that influence. Or you can break those chains of demonic influence. And then sometimes it's just the flesh.

I think a good way to know is the flesh will have a pull for something, but the demonic will be there harassing. And it's like, I've talked to people with counsel people that said, I felt such an impulse to drive to the liquor store. It's like I was fighting it all day.

I couldn't, that to me would be more demonic versus the flesh just desiring that. Does that make sense? And it's hard to navigate, because no Scripture clearly says this is how you know what is harassing you, what is pulling you. And then he said, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now that is interesting. So what this clearly teaches is there's a battle within. I won't go into a lot of detail, because I've talked about this a lot before in sermons, especially when the church was in Lancaster.

But many of you heard the story, I think Billy Graham told, where a young man came to a pastor and he said, I've got this battle inside of me, this evil dog and this good dog, and the evil dog keeps winning. And the pastor said, then you need to starve that dog to death. See, that's the battle within.

Whatever you feed, whatever you choose to obey becomes your master. So the more we feed on carnal things, what we're watching, right? And I mentioned MMA and all those things, and you know, I'm not gonna get, but are you sure that's edifying? Are you sure, you know, the girls with the bathing suits and the beer commercials and all this? Are you sure that's, you know, gonna really build you up spiritually? What about getting involved in all kinds of sports all the time? Sports, watching sports, this sports, getting your kids in sports all the time. It becomes this idol to some degree.

And because of that, we have this battle inside of us. And he says, choose to walk in the Spirit. Led by the Spirit, not the law.

Basically, that means relationship over rules. So what they would do, and Galatians actually, I believe he said at the beginning, oh foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you? Are you going to finish in the flesh what began in the Spirit? And so the whole point of Galatians is they wanted Jesus Christ plus this. Okay, you're a Christian, but you better do this.

You better circumcision, different things. Thank God we don't have to do that now, right? But some, I mean, that's a whole nother topic. If you don't know what it is, ask your friend.

So this law that they had to obey, they would begin adding these things. So it's like, hey, I'm walking in the Spirit. I want to go to see that new Reagan movie or something and feel good about it.

And the legalist says, no, you can't go to Cinemark. Law. Or people who've come, when we used to be on Saturdays, this was so funny, I had to deal with this a lot.

After Saturday service, people come, I'm so glad you meet on Sundays. I mean, Saturdays, why? Because Sundays of the Antichrist, the Pope initiated that back in, I'm like, what? We're worshiping the Antichrist if we come on Sunday? Yeah. And you have to observe the festivals.

The Old Testament festivals that Jesus Christ fulfilled? Yeah, you've got to fulfill those. You've got to meet on Saturdays and see how we, that's not lead of the Spirit. Now you might want to prefer Saturdays and you might want to celebrate the festivals.

Good. But when you start to say, you've got to do these things, right, and I've dealt with families, Christian families that are falling apart because the man was too legalistic. Don't follow these rules, got to do this.

They were hard and unloving. They had the law, but they were not lead of the Spirit. And that's when the kids get older, they just retreat from all of that.

They turn from it all. I don't want that. However, that doesn't mean we just do whatever we want.

Right, you're lead of the Spirit. That's why Paul says, if somebody eats meat, they don't know if it's sacrifice to an idol. They're lead of the Spirit.

They're not under the law. If somebody wants to do something where the Bible's not clear either way, it's lead of the Spirit. You're not under the law.

And we try to put our laws on others. For example, if God doesn't want me doing something, we try to put that on others. The big one, of course, in many churches, it will never get settled.

It's the whole topic of alcohol. Right, because the Bible allows a little, have a little bit in the wine and stuff. But then we try to, you know, people try to put their law, what God has told them to do, because they have an issue with it, on others.

And they get real vocal about that. So he's saying walk in the Spirit, not the law. Those who are lead by the Spirit, I haven't noticed this, those who are lead by the Spirit exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.

Is that interesting? They're lead of the Spirit. They're not sinning. They're lead of the Spirit, so there's love and joy and peace and long-suffering and gentleness and kindness.

Brother, good to see you this morning. Hey, I fell last weekend. Don't get back up.

Let me pray for you. They're just fruit, right? They're full of the Spirit. They're lead of the Spirit.

But the legalist is often like this, aren't they? I'm following the Bible. I read it in an hour this morning. I've got my theological books out.

I've got this going on and you can't do this and the church shouldn't be doing this and those songs are too emotional and you should be using King James only. And it's just legalist. They miss the fruit.

Correct? You see those hard guys that come in here? Man, they're hard. Dude, where's your fruit? I don't want to listen to you if you don't have the fruit of the Spirit. Love, you have anger.

Irritability, angst, you're always contentious, always critical. That's not the fruit of the Spirit, guys. And so those who exhibit the fruit of the Spirit are often lead of the Spirit.

Those who are led by rules are often mean-spirited. If you're not sure, just go ask your spouse or your kids. They'll tell you.

Well, maybe not because you're mean-spirited. They don't want to upset and have the volcano erupt. Ask me.

Ask Pastor Abram. We'll shoot you straight. We can tell.

We can tell the stiff-necked Pharisee. Not too excited to be in here. Always critiquing, always critical.

No fruit of the Spirit. I can see it in their wives. Their wives usually look down.

Their wives are usually beat up. I can tell when fruit of the Spirit is present. Their kids aren't controlled like robots.

Can't do anything unless dad's going to blow a gasket. Guys, if you don't have the fruit of the Spirit, you're hurting others. Not helping.

And this is coming from somebody who can shift to the legalistic standpoint side very quickly. Anybody else, amen? You love the truth and sometimes... Yeah, I can relate to the older son in the prodigal son story. Dad, I've been following all these rules and this guy went to Vegas and blew it all.

Look what I've been doing. Why aren't I rewarded? The law, the law, the law, legal, legal. So you have to actually have both.

And that's what I talk about often. We've got to have sound doctrine and the power of the Spirit. Sound doctrine and the fruit of the Spirit.

I should stop. But I hate trying to get advice from people. I know they're well-meaning, but there's no fruit.

All they have is theological things or they're just mad, they're critical, they're contentious. And that there's no fruit of the Spirit. At least let me see some fruit.

I can listen to people with fruit. Why, because it's soft, gentle, understanding, teachable. That's really the key.

Now the works of the flesh, in case you're curious what these works are, Paul does not mince words here. The works of the flesh, so when the flesh is pulling you in the wrong direction or when you feel a tendency, remember temptation is not sin. Jesus was tempted in all points, yet was without sin.

So if you have the temptation, and say, you know what, that's not right, I'm turning from it, it's not sin. Just because there's a temptation. Now if you start to entertain the temptation, kind of think it through, then it becomes, now it's got that hold on you.

So here are the works of the flesh. It's adultery, which today is pornography, and even actual adultery. What about fornication? Sex outside of marriage.

Uncleanness, it's just those rude, lewd type of people. Idolatry, and that's putting anything before God. And what happens during this time of year, I might mention tomorrow, and I've been there, so I can relate, but as parents, sometimes we let sports, you know, well, I'm gonna have to miss four Sundays, or I'm not gonna make, and I want my son to be the next liberal, or I want James or Mike Trout, or my daughter to be the next whatever, Simone Biles, and that becomes our idol, and we become to put that first, and see, that's the flesh pulling us away from God.

That's why you have to have boundaries, and say, hey, I want my kids to have fun, I think sports is important, competition, learning, but if it begins to pull us away from God, and we begin to feel and experience the angst of that, then we need to make some changes. And then he goes on to say, sorcery, which is just being open to tarot cards, and witchcraft, and seances, and things like that, and those who've came out of that, sometimes are pulled back to that. Like, oh, that tarot card reading was, man, that was spot on four years ago, I wonder, I need to, I might try that again.

And see, their flesh is pulling them, but if you're like me, that stuff doesn't even have a hold on me. I want nothing to do with witches, I want nothing to do with any of that stuff. But others struggle with something that you might not struggle with, and vice versa.

That's why the list is so clear here. What about hatred? The works of the flesh are hatred. They just hate people.

Or they're contentious. Did you catch that one? We look at the big ones, but this person is contentious. It's right up there near the top.

So, if you like to debate, there might be a problem there. If you like to show how smart you are, biblically speaking, there might be a problem there. And I've done this before, I'm guilty, I'll meet other pastors, I'm like, so what church, what denomination? So I can size them up.

Right, are they woke, or have they woken up? And debating, right, we want to know, we're contentious. Now, there's nothing wrong with having health issues, and healthy dialogues on different things. Everything, women pastors, Calvinism, free will, church and politics, it's good to have a healthy dialogue.

But when we are looking for a fight, you know those people, right? They're looking for a fight. Because that's their struggle, that's their stronghold. They're contentious.

They're contentious. And they usually carry their Bible around, they're ready to just show you, to tell you just as soon as you miss something. Right, they want to argue, they want to debate.

And this is why a lot of times I don't answer much, I don't see all the social media feeds, but nine times out of 10, when a person's asking a question, they don't care what my answer is. They want to engage and be contentious. I had to learn this lesson the hard way years ago.

It's like, oh yeah, here's why, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh, here's why, here's why.

Oh, you don't want to know what I think. You're not open to that. You just want to spill your legalistic Pharisee agenda and push, push, push.

And that person needs to repent of being contentious. And guys, I'm not going to go into details, but I've talked about this before. I've had to go through all these things.

In 2005, my mom came to me and said, son, nobody wants to be around you. I've been a Christian now with the Lord for five years. And the problem was I was reading all these books, right? Norman Geisler's Systematic Theology, Wayne Grubin's Systematic Theology, Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students, Charles Hodge on Calvinism and free will, and Martin Luther and his debate with Erasmus, and I think it was Erasmus and Luther, and Augustine and Plagian.

And man, I could tell you, I could put you down. I could make you feel stupid. But nobody wanted to be around me.

My family, because it's just too, right? Too arrogant, using that knowledge to hurt others. What it is, it's pride. Let's be honest.

Oh, he knows so much. Wow. Theology is so important, guys, but if you don't have the humility and brokenness to undergird it, you'll hurt people instead of help them.

It happens all the time. And jealousy. I don't know how many of you struggle with that.

It's never really been an issue for me. Jealous of other people, jealous of career, jealous of how God's promoting them. But that's not one of mine, but maybe it's one of yours.

Outbursts of wrath. Have you ever felt that? Anybody raise an angry home? When they were little, like I was, that's how my family from the farms of Oklahoma, that's how they communicated. You increase the volume to get your point across.

The battle for yelling. Outbursts of anger. Love my dad, but he was a very angry man.

He didn't come to know the Lord till later. Just outbursts over silly, stupid things, like going to church. Mom would say, hey, can we go to church today? Pssh! Boom! Pssh! Run for cover.

The Oklahoma Sooners are on. Oklahoma football Sooners. Brian Bosworth, come on, dating myself.

You guys know. Dissensions. There's dissensions.

They're just, again, that's kind of along the lines of being contentious. They're creating problems. You know those people? Come on, we know what we call this.

Remember that dance? Don't worry, I'm not gonna do it. They're stirring that pie. You know what the pastor said? Oh, yeah.

See, if somebody loves you, they'll build you up to others. They won't put you down, but there's those who stir the pie. If you knew how often I had to correct this, you'd be amazed.

People love to put their little twist on things, and when I talk to them, and that's why Proverbs says, hear both sides before forming a judgment in a matter. I'm like, that's not how it went down. Here's how it went down.

Here's the others in the meeting. Oh, they didn't tell me half of that. Exactly.

It's actually, isn't it one of the seven things that God hates? In Proverbs, going off memory here, right? The lying tongue, hands shed innocent blood, feet that are swift to wrong and evil, one who sows discord among the brethren. The discord people, they sow that discord. God does not like that.

Tell people the truth. And build them up. Build them up.

I don't think they meant that. You should talk to them. And it's like we look out for each other.

Maybe I shouldn't, a lot of this stuff, I won't hopefully, I mean, maybe I will say on Sunday, but a lot of times, you know, we just dealt with this recently, that people say, you know, kind of standoffish or unapproachable sometimes. I've got to work on it. You know, I'm trying to get to know, how do you get to know over 1,000 people? I don't really know.

And in the surface, if you dig in deep, the reason is we've been hurt so much over the years. No family's hurt more. And I don't want you, oh, of course, no, it just goes with the territory.

It's no big deal. But that's why, once you've been stabbed in the back 1,000 times, and people say things about you that just aren't true, they make up lies, you have a quick conversation, they take it and run with, it's just like, I'll come and preach, and I'll see you next week. I'll come and preach, I'll just, because there's so much pain and hurt by dissension.

People stirring the pot, saying things that are untrue. And that's why a lot of that is demonic. Planting seeds and planting thoughts.

Let's pull down the pastor. Let's pull down the leadership of the church. And the reason is, it's just a work of the flesh.

It's a work of the flesh. You think I talk nicely about everybody all the time? I struggle with this too. I don't cause dissension, I try to help it.

But I will say things I shouldn't say. I have to repent and apologize sometimes. Because sometimes it comes out of frustration.

Sometimes it comes out of just wanting people to know something, but then you say too much. And so, dissensions and contentions, guys, are so harmful to the church. It's something that has to be repented of.

It has to be repented of. And if something is true about someone, the biblical approach, how somebody truly led of the Spirit would do, is they would actually go to the person and share, hey, here's how I'm feeling. They don't go and tell other people.

The definition of gossip actually is telling somebody something that's true that they don't need to know. That's the definition of gossip. Slander is making up stuff and lying against others.

And if these works of the flesh come out, we have to repent of them. And then heresies, we all know, a heresy, the biblical definition, is a self-willed opinion that opposes the truth. So if God is wanting you to embrace the truth, but you're trying to embrace some heresies, and I tell people, stop watching YouTube videos for a while, calm down, calm down, okay? Just calm down.

But they start to watch all these things that really, the Nephilim and the aliens, and like, guys, just shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, stay with the Word of God, don't go listen to Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons and try to entertain those thoughts. Well, I was talking to a good Mormon, and they said they had a burning in the bosom. And so it must be right, no, that might be demonic.

You don't, if an angel preaches any other gospel, Paul said, let him be accursed. In Galatians, if anybody preaches any other gospel, you shut them down. I can't be open to that.

So if you are struggling with embracing heresies, that's a work of the flesh. Envy, murder, drunkenness, rivalries, like being a fighter and the like, of which I tell you right now, just as I have also told you in times past that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now, I think I added this a little bit later. Actually, yeah, this morning I added it. Funny thing is I added it, and somebody asked me if I could talk about it right before the service.

I need to clarify this point. This last sentence is so important. I'm gonna make a clip out of this probably.

Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So many times when I talk about these issues we just mentioned, or Paul has another list, you know, the other list where he says thieves and those who covet homosexuals, adulterers, idolaters, people sometimes won't hear what I'm saying. And so it's good to clarify.

These lifestyles will not inherit the kingdom. He said those who practice these things, and the other list says those who practice homosexuality. It's a big issue right now, transgenderism.

It's the practice of them versus a struggle. Did you know that a person can repent and believe in Jesus and still struggle with the old nature? If you don't anymore, I'd love to meet you. Man, I've been completely set free of everything.

Nothing, nothing pulls anymore. Well, you're not dead yet and in heaven, so I don't think that's true. So what, and people take out of, are homosexuals welcome here? Of course.

We've prayed for people in the last month and a half that want out of the same sex attraction. Everybody's welcome. Absolutely.

But do we affirm? No. No, we don't affirm a sinful, Bible calls it a sinful lifestyle. So I can welcome you, I can love you, I can take you to lunch, I can tell you about the Gospel, and just like a normal person.

But if you're engaged in sin, unrepentant sin, sticking your face at God and embracing a lifestyle the Bible clearly calls sin, we say we can't affirm that. So although you're welcome, we can't affirm. Now what would that look like? Let's say somebody is in, for example, let's use that lifestyle.

And they're in that lifestyle and they need repentance or they need help and they're working towards good. That's a lot different than the person says, nope, it's who I am, it's how God made me, I wanna be an usher. Well, I can't let the man who's currently living with his girlfriend be an usher either.

Correct? Guys, this is no brainers. His wife says, this guy's been addicted to porn for 10 years, he just looked out last night, he's one of your ushers. Can we let that person be an usher? No, they need to step down.

So that's the difference between affirming and welcoming. We welcome anybody that struggles, but we can't affirm the lifestyle. You don't know it maybe, but there's all kinds of people who've been to this church.

I'm sure you can imagine, right? Every single sin under heaven. Always welcome, this is a hospital for sinners. Correct? We're worshiping God, churches primarily, I believe, for believers to come and worship God, but people can come and, listen if they want.

But that's our stance on this. There's a big difference between a person who practices something, it's like, this is my lifestyle, I don't care what God says, I was born this way. They're practicing it.

Versus someone who turns, repents, and is working on it. You ever need to work on something? There's the difference. Isn't the issue the heart? Why, because this heart is in rebellion.

I don't care what God's Word says, this is how I was made. I was born this way. And God is binary.

He's not male or female. He's transgender. That's weird stuff.

That is a mind is made up, they're in rebellion to the will of God. This person has submitted to the will of God, they're repentant, and they're like, Lord, help. I need a little help sometimes.

My attitude's wrong. This is wrong. And so, this is why those, and Paul is right in saying, those who practice, if you're like, I don't care, I'm gonna continue these things, you're on very dangerous ground.

And it tells us to pluck out the bad fruit by repenting of it. And again, are you struggling or are you practicing this? And then he contrasts everything, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Guys, I can tell you, as God is my witness, that's my goal.

And are there times where I feel so much love and joy and peace? Absolutely. Long-suffering and gentleness and kindness and goodness and just everything's going good, gentleness, self-control. Yes, but are there times where it's hard to fight for the fruit? Yeah.

There are times I don't feel too loving. That's why I can only watch a little bit of the news to see what Calamity Harris and the team are going to do to the USA. Well, hold on.

Not happy with a lot of Trump's attitude either and his tweets and his attitude and his demeanor. It's like, golly, you guys. My goodness.

It's hard for me to watch. It just makes me so angry over these issues. Not necessarily me, because I'm gone out of here in a decade, two decades, whatever.

But what about our kids and grandkids? It's righteous indignation for what is going on. And I feel that anger welling up and I feel these things and I don't feel a lot of joy when I focus on that. I don't feel a lot of peace when I focus on those things.

But when I repent and get back in God's Word and let the Holy Spirit come and obey. Obey, isn't obeying important? Because when you're obeying God, that's the fruit as well. That's the fruit as well.

Obeying God, experiencing that fruit. I'll tell you, it keeps popping in my mind for the last half hour. I didn't want to say anything, but I'm going to say it.

I've talked about it before. I know you guys don't like when I talk about it, but too bad. One of the things that God has been dealing with me with, and that's why I showed you that cup this morning, is having coffee.

Because the caffeine, it's a drug, it's a central nervous stimulant. It blocks adenosine and different things. And I know, I can feel, I'm a jerk the more caffeine I have.

It gives me everything opposite the fruit of the Spirit. So for me, personally, that's an issue God's dealing with. And so I tell people that like, well, that's for you, I'm fine.

Okay, good for you. I don't care. You go obey somewhere else.

But that's, and anytime I fight that issue, right, I don't experience that fruit because God's saying, I want you to get off this drug that is making you irritable, that's making you anxious. Why? Because you're always in a fight or flight all day long. That's good if you're doing that, but every day, always on edge, always irritable, always, that's how you live.

The cortisol's increased, your adrenal glands, and if that's how you live all the time, it's gonna be really hard to have love and joy and peace and gentleness. So that's an issue. And so tomorrow's actually weaning off the last week and a half.

Tomorrow's hopefully the last little bit in the morning, praise God, because this is not easy. That means no green tea, no chocolate, nothing. But I feel so much calmer.

Again, me personally, how God deals with me. Yours might be alcohol. Yours might be nicotine.

Yours might be the lust of the flesh. Well, that's mine too, the too much eating. Right, these areas that God, and when I obey, I experience the fruit.

When I'm like, nope, nope, nope. Because I'm like, Lord, that's no big deal. What's wrong with the cup of Christian crack in the morning? Come on.

But as addictive personality, addiction, have to have that before my time with the Lord. And if I don't get that, don't want to be around me. There's something wrong there.

And when it gives me all the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit, God's working in my heart. So that's just one thing I want to share with you privately. Maybe, well, now it's gonna go out on the internet.

But your thing might be, well, here's the funny thing. You guys are gonna laugh at this. One of the biggest, we get emails in, you know, from all over.

Somebody actually just told me this morning. One of the biggest changes people have made is on this issue. From all over, Canada, UK, Florida, Texas.

I finally got off coffee and I feel so much better. Thank you for speaking about this issue. We get that a lot.

Founders of ministries have emailed me. It's like, wow, maybe this is an issue nobody wants to talk about. Why? Because you don't want to touch the golden calf.

You don't want to touch what everybody struggles with because then you're like the bad guy. There's the no coffee guy. No, I'm just saying, I'm just the guy who says, obey God.

Obey God. Understand it's a drug. It is.

There's just no way around that one. But maybe you have, maybe you have that freedom from God. My mom did.

She had a little bit now and then. She goes, and other people I know, but for me, and she would say, Shane, keep preaching. You're right on the money.

Because she was a therapist, family therapist. And she would teach on the mental diagnostic manual for mental disorders. And they had five things in there that are caffeine related.

At 500 milligrams. In the manual for disorders. And so you don't want me to talk about this issue? When I'm praying for people who are beating their dog and yelling and screaming at their kids and they're on 1,000 milligrams a day and that's what's causing it? See, if we don't get to the roots sometimes of what's going on in our hearts and what we're feeding our body, we're not gonna be able to help people.

And people that get offended, I don't care. I have to go home and answer to God, not you. Oh dear, let's get out of here quickly.

So to develop this fruit of the Spirit, we are often challenged by the opposite. So to develop love and joy and peace, you're gonna be challenged with opposing things. And you have to submit to God and work on those areas.

And so I'll close with this statement. My experience with the Spirit, guys, many guys are controlling and angry and fearful. Controlling, angry, and fearful.

And guess what? That comes out in their homes. And they hurt their spouses and their kids. Or they're lazy, aloof, and disengaged.

That's the two groups. And what the Holy Spirit does is He brings all that in order. So as I've been going on the book of Acts and Wednesdays and Sundays, as we submit to that work in the Spirit, the deeper the work of the Spirit, the more healthy you'll become spiritually.

So the only way you get rid of these deficiencies, and not that they'll still be there, they won't still be there from time to time, but the more you submit to God or feel the Spirit coming in on the Tuesday studies or the Wednesdays or the men's breakfast or church or putting on worship, turning off all this garbage on TV, hanging out with the wrong friends, the more you're doing that, and the more filled you are with the Spirit, the more gentle you'll be at home, the more easy you'll be, the more soft tones you'll have with people. Or those who lack courage, the byproduct can be boldness. Those are the two extremes.

In this room, even right now, angry, controlling men at home. Fearful, angry, controlling, they're not gonna let their spouse drive their car. They're not gonna let their spouse spend money.

It's controlling. How do I know that? Guess what I was? Hello? You think I was a calm, lazy, aloof? I'm making the money. I don't want the car, I'm controlling.

And you will stifle your family. It's leadership, not domination. And as you soften up by the Spirit, you give more freedom.

You give more things. And you get on the same page, you're on the same team. The house is flowing much better.

It's not an angry volcano, ready to erupt because dad's gonna get upset. Never mastered all these areas, it's gonna be till the day I die. Just like you, but we've gotta get up and fight.

And repent. Maybe some of you need to go home and repent. The funny thing is here, I look all across this room and I can notice six faces that aren't here that actually need to hear this message.

Avoiding the conviction. I know what they're doing to their homes. And they're so proud and arrogant.

I never see them at the altar. I never see them in the prayer room. I never see them truly, genuinely worshiping the Lord.

Guys, this is a big deal. This is a huge deal. We hurt and harm others when we're not filled with the Spirit.

I mean, we'll do that anyway. But at least it's to a much lower degree. Fill the room with the Spirit.

Fill it with the Spirit doesn't mean you're perfect. It means you catch yourself real quick. It means you're gentle.

It means you wanna leave here and be different. But I wanna encourage you, look at some of the things you're taking in. If you're on medication, look at the adverse reactions.

If you think alcohol's okay, do a little search on the effects, the adverse effects, from bad sleep to sleep deprivation, to mood swings. It's the mood swings or these other things I've been talking about. What you put in your body is actually gonna really either help spiritually or hurt spiritually.

Correct? Let's just be honest. What about if I popped a 24 in a Xanax before I came up here this morning? You think we'd have the same sermon? Why? Why wouldn't we? Why wouldn't we? Because the physical can't affect the spiritual. And with your daily lives as well.

You don't think these things affect you, but they do. At a very deep level. So take it to the Lord, pray about it.

Pray for release this morning. Even if you're here serving, ushering or whatever, even if you're here serving, you can come up front to the altar. Pride must be crushed.

Get this, guys. Pride must be crushed in you. Or the power of the Holy Spirit cannot reside in you.

And sometimes it's not a once for all thing. Pride wants to come up again. I've humbled myself before.

I've felt completely barren before the Lord. I felt so filled with the Spirit. Oh God, this is great.

And then a couple weeks later, where did this pride come from? Where did it come from? Feeding on the thoughts, the fiery darts of the enemy. Not being in God's Word as much. Fueling those thoughts, those offenses.

And just, yeah, and somebody said something, yeah, you get that stiff neck and you get upset at somebody and pride begins to build in your heart again. So you have to crush that pride. Sometimes on a weekly basis.

Say, God, I've become prideful in these areas. I want the last word in with my spouse. I cut them off.

I don't want to care about this. And I've become so prideful. One sign of being prideful is unteachable.

You don't want to hear the other side. You don't care what the other side is. I don't want to know.

I'm right, you're wrong. That's pride. You think God likes an unteachable spirit? He actually says, I will pour out my spirit on a contrite and broken spirit, on a broken heart, a broken person.

Not broken in a bad way, broken in a good way. The pride is broken out of you.