Get Up and Win This Race

You're shackled. The strongholds of whatever they are have got you bound. And that's why it prevents worship.

God, we pray that you would release these this morning. Pride and lust, envy, jealousy, bitterness, critical spirit, modern day Pharisee, Lord, we call it out this morning. God, break the pride out of our hearts.

Turn men into worshiping warriors. God, only you can break the chains. I can preach for a hundred years, but a moment with you will break those chains.

Lord, you've got to show them, open their eyes, have them humble themselves, show them that they are bound. God, I pray for anger. So many homes are explosive.

They resemble a volcano, not a powerful place of worship and a sanctuary of wholeness. God, do what only you can do. Bring us to deep repentance this morning in Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. Thank you, worship team.

I've got a lot of announcements, but I'm going to go right into the message. Me versus me. Anybody ever been in this situation? Me versus me.

And as much as we want to be encouraging, we also have to be convicting, of course. But especially on Father's Day, it's difficult, especially as men. I've lived it.

You've lived it. You want to do good. You want to follow God, but there's something also working against that.

And one of the biggest eye-opening things for me was when I came back to the Lord or got saved, you know, you think, oh, man, everything's going to be great now. All the issues are over. Oh, praise God.

Heaven on earth. And I don't quite understand it. No pastor will be able to tell you perfectly and precisely theologically why that still exists within us.

We know that our spirit has been redeemed, but we still have to carry around. Anybody have old injuries? And we have to carry those things around. But it's so important to talk about this topic.

But before we put anything up on the screen, I want you to listen to this by Jay Hayslip. He said, King Josiah didn't play games. He tore down every idol, smashed every altar, burned every demonic thing that stood in the way of true worship.

He didn't just tweak the culture, he transformed it. One man's obedience turned an entire nation back to God. We need that same fire today.

No compromise. No mixture. Tear down every idol.

Remove every distraction and tear down every false altar. And the reason I passionately preach this is because I've seen it. I've seen one man transform his family and his community.

Sometimes the church, the state of California. God, again, just needs you. You plus God is the majority.

You plus God is the majority. And we know just how destructive our sin nature is. But we also see what God can do with obedience, with humility.

And that's why we will not stop preaching difficult messages here. We've seen too much fruit. You're going to have to take it up with the Lord.

And the enemy does it all the time. Just twice this week, I heard from two different people. Well, I know people don't like that church.

They talk bad about you because you're too loud. You're too extreme. You know what? Look at the fruit.

I don't know. Am I perfect? Of course not. But look at the fruit.

Look at the lives being radically changed. That's what we have to look at as well. And nine times out of ten, those people are just convicted.

I don't like me either when I'm convicted. I don't. I'll turn myself off on the radio.

I don't want to hear anything. I would have hated me in my 20s. And so I understand it.

But then that's the war. Because when you go after that war within, when you try to take out that enemy within, it's challenging. People don't like to be convicted unless they're ready.

And that's what we don't know. Romans 6. We're looking at chapter 6. Romans 6. We're going to go through some Scriptures in Romans today before I'm back in Acts. I'm excited to get back in Acts, because it's not the old man that... My old man doesn't let me do this.

It's not that. The old was crucified with Jesus. I had to remove a few to do that at some point, go through Romans.

But we would need a sabbatical before I prepare those messages, because there's just so much there. And realizing that our old man was crucified with Jesus, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. And this is so important because our Adamic nature, our sin nature, our pride and rebellion on our way to hell, that was crucified with Jesus.

That's been done, so we're no longer a slave to it. It's not what I would call death row for eternity. We're no longer on death row for eternity.

He paid the price. Our flesh has been crucified with Him. That enslavement is over.

Praise God. But the influence is still there. That's what really tilts the scale in the difficult direction.

And he goes on to say in Romans, therefore, because of this, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. So this is going to be a very interesting message for those who love to err on the grace side. And I love to err on the grace side.

Who doesn't? Anybody need more of God's grace? But when you look at all the Scriptures dealing with obedience, you realize there's a happy medium here. We're actually called to not let sin reign in our body, which means if sin is ruling and reigning and taking authority and controlling us as believers, carnality, we're supposed to do something about that. And I've just seen over the years when I talk to people about this, they're like, brother, I'm not under the law anymore.

I'm under grace. Well, I don't know what you're going to do with a lot of Scriptures. Because you're actually abusing grace.

Grace doesn't give you a license to sin. You don't even understand the Word. The Word means thank You, Lord.

Mercy is Him not giving me what I deserve. Grace is unmerited favor. And because of those things, I want to live a way that pleases Him.

Not get away with things. It's not about how much can I get away with. It's about how close can I get to my Savior.

Do not let sin reign in your body. Don't obey its lust. And this is why some say that obedience is legalism.

To me, obedience isn't legalism. It's freedom. Isn't this a very interesting topic? And people say, oh, Christians, you can't do this.

You can't do that. You can't. You've got all these rules.

And if you follow rules, it is legalism. That's what legalism really is. I'm going to get God's favor by not going to the movies and not watching TV and not watching all these things.

I'm just so spiritual. God must love me. And I'm going to judge you if you do them.

Do you ever have any judgmental people around you? They don't understand that it's not about following rules. It's about our relationship with God. And when we obey the Scriptures, to me, there's tremendous freedom.

As a believer, maybe not as an unbeliever, they see it as rules, but as a believer, when I'm following God's Word and when I'm obeying, there's joy. There's freedom. I don't feel bound to all these rules.

I don't want to watch horror movies because of what it does to my spirit. I don't want to watch comedies with all these women barely clothed because it's a wrong type of lust. There's so much freedom when you want to obey God's Word.

However, you still have those members working inside of you that want to take you back to the old man. And that's why Paul is experiencing this working in his heart that's very difficult. And we're going to read about that in just a minute.

But I'm going to paraphrase Romans 7. 4-6, just very short. Because we have died spiritually to what used to control us. So the sin, the law, showing us what is wrong in our hearts.

There's nothing we can do about. We have died to that. We've been released from the tight death grip of the law.

So now, because of that, we live in the new life of the Spirit and not under the law. And again, I had to take out some things because we're no longer under the law. We're under grace.

And that whole argument, depending on what side you're on, it's really an excuse to continue sinning. Many of the people say, hey, brother, I'm not under the law anymore, I'm under grace. Nine times out of ten, it's because they don't want to change.

And they use the grace card. Let me pull out that grace card here. If you read Scripture, actually, Paul goes on to say we won't have time.

Because grace is freely given when I sin, should I sin more so I get more grace? He says certainly not. In short, you've been released from jail. So stop walking back in.

If I could break this down, that's what we do sometimes. The door has been opened, set free. I'm no longer bound by sin because of what Jesus did.

And you walk free. But there's a little voice back in the jail cell. Hey, you ever hear that guy? That little stinker? Hey, remember me? Well, I don't know, I've been set free.

Yeah, but it's fun. The good old days. And you're like, okay, well, hope nobody's looking.

You go back in, the door's shut. You're back in prison again. The strongholds, the addictions, the lust, the anger.

But I've been set free. Why am I still struggling with this? Well, me versus me. The new me versus the old me.

I'm so glad for this verse. I'm going to read it for you. Romans 7 again.

I don't know, I've had to go back to this a lot. This is the Apostle Paul. Probably up there with the top Christian in the world ever who lived.

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, in other words, what I want to do. Men, we want to do.

I do not practice. I want to do these things, but I do not do them on a consistent basis. But what I hate, lashing out in anger or whatever you fill in the blank.

And I hate those things I do. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. There's nothing good in your flesh.

Your flesh says, feed me so I can destroy you. Have you ever noticed that the flesh is not satisfied? It just wants more, more. Give me more of whatever that is.

And because of this, I find then there is a law that evil is present with me. I mean, guys, once we understand this warfare inside, you probably won't beat yourself up as much either. You'll get back up and keep fighting the battle within.

Me versus me. I know you've probably heard it before. I just thought of it actually right now.

But I think it really, I think it was Billy Graham who said it, about the young man who came to a pastor and said, I keep doing all these bad things, but I want to do good things. It's like I have two dogs battling within me. One is good, one is evil.

And the evil dog keeps winning. And so the pastor looked at the young man and he said, you need to starve that dog to death. You're feeding it too much.

You're giving it too much rule, too much reign. And I know this is a challenging message, because if you put too much emphasis on works, and doing these things and not resting in Christ, but rest takes work. If you ever got a good rest, it's not easy.

It takes a little bit of work. And it actually, the Bible says to work out, work out your salvation in fear and trembling. And so there's something evil present in me.

And I want to do good, but this evil is still present. For I delight in the law of God. According to the inward man, I want to do that.

But I see another law in my members. Members means in his body, in his flesh. And it wars against the law in my mind.

I want to do these things. I'm hoping everybody can relate. You want to do certain things, and you're motivated to do certain things.

Anybody get motivated? I bet many of you are going to be motivated for tomorrow. Okay, come tomorrow. Motivation starts a process, but it's spiritual disciplines who are going to get you to the end of the journey.

Motivation alone, forget it. How many of us are motivated on January 1st to lose weight? That's good, you'll buy your juicer, you'll clean out your pantry, you'll get your refrigerator, you're good. But your motivation alone has to be backed by discipline to truly be effective.

They are married together. And an incredible verse, O wretched man that I am, O wretched man that I am. That word, I looked it up actually this morning in the Greek language.

It's a long word I can't pronounce, so we'll just leave it at wretched. It's miserable. I kind of thought it was maybe like evil, wicked, which it can be.

But it's really, I'm a very miserable man when I'm caught in that sin. And guys, let me tell you, maybe you'll listen to this later, this is why we at this church shoot people straight. We want them to come out of that misery.

They're miserable. And often when we're miserable, instead, please tell me what I want to hear. I'm going to be okay, right? Everything's good.

But if you need to be lovingly confronted in order to change that miserable state, that's God sent. So I'm miserable. So who is going to deliver me from this body of death? Do you ever feel that way when you're caught in sin or when it comes knocking at your door? And this body's just filthy.

It's just full of death. But he says, I thank God that I will be delivered. I have been delivered through Jesus Christ.

That's how I was delivered. That's how I was set free. So see, a Christian can still love the Lord.

They've been set free, but they still have a little... I still have the old me that is still in this somehow until I die. And that old me has to constantly be restrained, starved, crucified. Me versus me.

Guys, that's the Christian battle. And that's why perseverance is so important. And that's why I added the title, Get Up and Win This Race.

Get up and win this race. It's not about staying down and defeated. It's a man of God is a broken man, okay? A man of God still has failings and faults.

But me versus me, they get back up and they give that guy a right hook. They give him a Mike Tyson every now and then. And they shut him up.

And then when the old me gets out of critical care unit, ICU, he's ready to start fighting again. And usually at a time when you're worn out and worn down, the enemy looks for opportune times. Those times, opportune times.

The key is know your true spiritual condition. Know your true spiritual condition. Just because a convict is set free doesn't mean that they don't struggle with what they went through.

Although their sentence has been pardoned, they still live with the consequences of their actions. We must stand guard as a soldier on enemy ground. Paul, he still fought.

He did not cave in. He still contended. He did not complain.

And he confronted. He did not surrender. And again, a good reminder, a good motivation for you guys.

You are never too far gone. You are never too far gone. I know, and people say, Shane, it's been 20 years.

I know what God called me to do. And I walked away from that calling. Or I'm so deep into sin, it's got me bound.

And I want to remind you that you're never too far gone. You will never know the fullness of Christ until you know the emptiness of everything else. Sometimes God lets you get at the end of your rope, or better yet, rock bottom, so you finally realize there's nothing at the bottom worth pursuing.

I need to completely turn to Him. And those who have been forgiven much, love much. I don't want to, don't go out and sin.

But oh, the great sinner, when he knows a great Savior, he follows Him all the days of his life. He holds on to that hem of his garment. He gets up and he keeps fighting because he says, I know what Christ has brought me through.

So don't stay caught in that cycle of shame and guilt. And I've been dealing with all of my life. I've been dealing with the old Shane, I don't know, for 55 years.

So I know just how it works. I know the enemy wants to take us out. But Paul doesn't stop there.

He said, yes, I've been set free by Jesus Christ. But so then with the mind, with the mind, I will serve the law of God. Even though the flesh serves the law of sin.

Once you realize there's nothing I can do about my flesh. Have you ever tried to discipline the flesh? You can, but you can't cast it out. Have you ever heard people trying to cast out their flesh? That demon of fast food.

I don't want it. Never again. Just so you guys know, no matter how much I want to, you know, take care of my body too and health and eat, that double-double bacon cheeseburger still looks good.

From wherever when they invented that, it still looks good. In and out, a couple double-doubles, french fries, chocolate shake. There's nothing I can do about it.

Boom, boom, boom. It wants it. Throw in panda, coal stones.

I mean, because that really struck a chord, I guess. Because the flesh is always there until the day you die. Day you die.

I remember there was a story about, they interviewed this man who was 80 years old and said, when, at what age finally do you stop lusting? He said, well, you have to ask someone older than me. And so these parts that we want to cast out, get rid of. How many prayers have went up in your life where you said, Lord, take this away? And it remains.

It remains because the flesh is drawn to the law of sin. So with the mind, Paul said, with the mind, I have to serve the law of God. I think that verse is so important and many people don't realize the power of it, that you need to take your thoughts captive.

Take your thoughts captive. Actually, in the context of spiritual warfare, isn't it? The devils, the wiles, the trickery, the deceit of the enemy. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers of the rulers of this age.

And taking those thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. And that might require daily captivity. Locking them up in the jail cell on a daily basis.

And then chapter 8, we get into the famous part about that there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Praise God, those who are in Christ Jesus. We're not condemned.

We're in warfare. Aren't you thankful for that? We're not condemned. It's not the wrath of God is abiding on us and we're condemned.

No, we've been set free, but there's a battle going on until the day we go home. And there's no condemnation. Who do not walk according to the flesh.

That tells me that I have to make a choice. Anybody walk according to the flesh from time to time? Yeah, just get in a hurry in traffic and we'll see it come out. But according to the Spirit.

So don't walk according to the flesh, walk according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh, they set their minds on the things of the flesh. So what do you set your mind on? That's where it really begins.

When the flesh is eventually fulfilled, the mind already was set on it. Maybe it's happened before. I don't know, but I've never met.

You know what? I just fell into sin. I don't know what happened. I woke up and there it happened.

Just unbelievable. Started. And that's why we have to have hard dialogue from time to time.

You have to say hard things because people start to believe a half-truth about things. It's a lie. They begin to be deceived by the deceiver.

Maybe a partial truth. And they'll start to say ridiculous things. And it usually starts with this.

I know what the Bible says, but any but people out there? I know what the Bible says, but you don't know my situation. You don't know what I'm dealing with. You don't know what I'm going through.

I know what the Bible says. I got it. But our divorce should be final in a couple of months.

Lies, deception. The flesh has taken over. And the flesh begins to dominate their life and their choices.

And that's what a carnal Christian is. I hope you come back next Sunday if I make this confession. But I have the ability.

You guys ready for this? You go, okay. This side, I feel support. I don't know about that side.

Here we go. I can become carnal. I can show up next Sunday and I'll be living in a carnal state.

It's that easy. Isn't it? Start on the way home. I'll just get as much fast food as I want.

Gosh, that sounds good. I'm going to get a 12-pack of IPA. Maybe a couple of those.

Maybe make it all week. Maybe watch some things I shouldn't watch. Maybe attack some people I should attack.

Pop off. Be arrogant. Gossip.

And by next Sunday, I wouldn't want to hear that sermon. But see, all of us can go back to that carnal state. And we actually struggle with it.

I'm not up here perfect and set free and that carnal stuff is in my past. Guys, this is about as holy as you can get. Poor people.

But that'll also give you a lot more grace. Want it to help people? Because you know what? I could be there too. Let's get back up.

Let's finish well. Man, the more God spanks you and humbles you, the less judgmental you are. So what do you set your mind on? What do you set your mind on? That's going to set the outcome.

Have you noticed that? The guys that are... And again, I can also be carnal. I can also get pretty angry and aggressive. Any men relate? Oh, that one.

I can, if I set my mind on things. Because my flesh loves to... I mean, if I put on some MMA, the old Conor McGregor stuff, and the guys from Russia and Pakistan, and these guys, it's like, Oh, yeah! I'm ready to run into somebody at the store. Give me an attitude.

Or you're watching the old movies and the violence stuff and you're feeding your mind on, Yeah, those people don't like you. They just talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you're feeding that anger with your mind. Guys, do you like guys riding in your car? Like, come on, guy. Please, Lord, please.

Not today. And you feel that anger. I'm a little teapot.

And I have to take that thought, Lord, they're probably in a hurry. The wives need to get to the hospital. I don't know.

Please take those thoughts captive. Because if this Dodge Hellcat doesn't get off me, I'm following him. And the old Shane is going to come out.

Doesn't that happen? I hope I'm talking to real Christians here this morning, because that's the battle. That's the battle. Taking those thoughts captive and encouraging others instead of constantly beating people down.

Maybe it needs to be said, if you feel beat down a lot with these sermons, could it be that you're not surrendering certain things that God wants you to surrender? Because this shouldn't beat you up with the hope of leaving you beat up. What we do is we wake you up. Maybe a right hook.

Fall on the floor, spiritually speaking, now, here's how you get back up. Here's how you leave here with joy and with peace and contentment. But those who live according to the Spirit, they set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. That preaches. That sentence.

All these believers think that they're pleasing God. They're going to tell you off. They've got a critical heart.

They think they know everything. They're not pleasing God. They're in the flesh.

The flesh isn't always all these big sins. The flesh is also a critical heart. A judgmental heart that wants to pick apart everything.

That worship this morning was too long. They were too emotional. Oh, golly.

On Father's Day, we've got places to go. No wonder you can't worship. But the reason you're bound is because you've been living in the flesh.

That's why you can't hold your wife correctly. Pick up your kids. Love your kids correctly.

It's hard to worship the Lord like this. I don't know if I can get this to lock. It's hard.

You never know when they're at a Dodgers game or an NASCAR event. Plenty of time to go to the gym. That's a man.

But your family's falling apart? Walk in the Spirit. Guys, I'm telling you, because I've destroyed things before. I praise God I didn't have kids in my 20s.

I've shared with you before. I've had to call people and explain, why is there holes in our wall? The drywall guy, tell them, oh, yeah, what happened here? Anger. That's why many men are anger, angry and abusive.

They don't want to be, but the flesh is dominating. Kill the flesh, crucify it. Humble yourself.

Say, I need help. I don't judge you. I need help.

All that wickedness can still come out of Shane Eidelman. Did you know that? Did you know I can still get drunk and eat too much and look at the wrong thing? Are you aware of that? I hope you are. I hope so.

Oh, I don't like that though, Phil. That's not good. He's not coming after me more.

He's coming after you guys more. The enemy. But see, anytime that flesh is given permission, those things can come out.

And I think it's going to be transparent because when you're transparent, sin can't grow. Oh, I can't believe you open up about so much. Hey, let it grow.

Got some girlfriend on the side. Only one girlfriend right there. Front row.

Transparent. Here's the phone. Leave it out.

Here's the password. Who's texting? I don't know. Text him back.

Transparent. But does she know? Does Morgan know I can fall? Do I know she can fall? Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

Well, why is that funny? No, but really. Okay, let me fix it for the next service then. But sometimes, hey, I got this message from this guy on Facebook.

Can you respond? Absolutely. I'd love to. It happened.

Hey, I'd love to get lunch. I'm free. This is Shane.

Here's myself. Transparent. He's looking for any little open door, flirtatious things that go unchecked.

Do you know before adultery starts or happens, it's actually up here for a while. For a while. This side, you're like, that would never happen.

A couple of weeks later, right? All these thoughts come in. Get a little closer. Just a little closer.

Never took the thoughts captive good enough. And here it's just a little closer. And you begin to start believing a lie.

Maybe I wasn't supposed to marry that person. Maybe God, I've heard this, it's insanity. Maybe God brought this other person into my life, because this is who I'm really supposed to be with.

Wouldn't you know it? I love how God works. A lie. Because line it up with the Word.

And you'll see discerning of the spirits. Look at the Word. Discern.

This sermon is too transparent, I think. I'm going to have to put on the brakes a second service. No, yeah, easy for you to say, let it roll.

You're not the one who's... In the flesh basically means, when I'm in the flesh, when you're in the flesh, when you're in the flesh, you're out of repentance. That's the difference. I explained it yesterday for the men.

A question came in, I'll explain to you as well. We repent for salvation. There's repentance unto salvation.

You're done. You don't have to go repent for salvation anymore. But the Christian should have a repentant attitude.

A humble attitude. A contrite attitude to rein the flesh back in. And repent from the lust of the flesh that came out.

That's how you keep the flesh in check. That was wrong. Shut up.

Go back in the box. Be quiet. I repent that that came out.

I repent that I acted in the flesh. And when you do that, that disarms the flesh, because the flesh is strengthened. Have you noticed this in pride? That's how you feed the flesh.

It loves pride, doesn't it? The prophet said the pride of your heart has deceived you. And that's how the flesh is fed off of pride. And then you get prideful people together, and they feed their flesh.

Each other's flesh. I hope it doesn't happen, but I can see it happen. A couple prideful guys getting together after the service.

Did you hear what pastor said? He thinks he's so special. Pride, pride, pride. Birds of a feather flock together.

A lot of times you'll see the prideful hearts are a group of certain people. And the humble don't want to get in there. But this prideful group, the chosen frozen, and that flesh is just elevated.

And they'll say, well, I could be wrong. Oh, no, brother, you're not wrong. Just feed that pride.

It's disgusting. The law says do this and you shall live. But grace says look to what Jesus did.

Trying to obey the law out of obligation rather than celebration. Out of self-preservation rather than desperation always results in failure and disappointment. So when we talk about obedience, it's not out of obligation.

God's Word says this. Oh, my goodness. It's out of celebration.

Celebrating what God has done for me. God wants a healthy marriage for you. He wants these certain things in your life to be vibrant and healthy.

Key to crucifying the flesh. Are you ready? Key to crucifying the flesh. Obedience out of desperation, not obligation.

Obedience out of desperation, not obligation. I'm desperate, God, for You to change me. And for all the people who don't think obedience is a big deal, let's look at some verses and see what they say.

1 Peter, there's that nasty word again. Obedient. As obedient children, be obedient.

Do not conform yourself to your former lusts. You were ignorant when you did that. Don't keep going back to the old man.

I mean, read 1 Corinthians if you want to just smile. Like all the filth that was in the church. 1 John, all who have this hope in Jesus, they purify themselves just as He is pure.

Now reading that, that might sound weird, but he's not saying you purify yourself as in you're holy, you're righteous, now you're good with God because you did that yourself. No, because Jesus saved you, now you want to live a life of purity and holiness and remove the filth and the deceit that takes us out and takes us down. Romans 6, it tells us to present our bodies as slaves to righteousness.

Peter said, what sort of people should you be in holiness and godliness? Matthew, Jesus, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Ephesians, in referencing our former selves, said, lay aside the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit. Guys, there's a lot of warnings about the old man, the flesh, that wants to keep pulling us back.

So the key with me versus me again, the paraphrasing of Romans 6.16, whatever you choose to obey, becomes your master. I mean, just think about how profound this is. Whatever we choose to obey, we can choose the flesh.

Do we have daily choices on this? How about you? I'm faced with gossiping quite often. Are you? I'm faced with being critical. Are you? Getting angry.

Getting upset. Letting the flesh come out. These are daily choices.

And do I choose to obey? Sometimes, I'll be honest with you, I choose wrongly. And so does everyone in this room. I love this part.

God's direction in life is often fulfilled more by discipline than by direct mandates. How many people think, I'm just waiting for God to yes or no? Just tell me, Lord. Just tell me.

I'm still waiting. I'm still here. Lord, come on.

Well, it's actually a lot of things are in His Word already. Walk in the disciplines that we know. If God's will is not some secret mystery that you'll someday find, it's actually His will is clear in Scripture.

A lot of things He actually says, His will is that you be holy and set apart. His will is that you worship Him. His will is that you create disciples.

And His will is that you are saved. And when we walk in His will, Lord, this is what Your Word says. I'm going to walk in that.

You're walking in God's direction. And then you trust that He knows how to open and close doors. So when people are so worried, they're going to make the wrong decision.

Well, if you're in the Spirit and not the flesh, God will lead you. But you have to listen to those promptings. You have to listen to God directing you.

We are angry when we're enslaved and we're bitter when we are bound and we're vexed when we're shackled by sin, by the flesh. James 4, 7, Submit yourselves therefore to God. What are we supposed to do? Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

There's a resistance. I'm going to talk about three things of holiness to kind of sum it up that will help you. Number one, obedience, holiness.

These things we're talking about. It does not mean that you never sin. Those who seek holiness realize just how sinful they actually are.

And the closer we draw to God, the clearer the picture of sin becomes. How many of you remember when you were younger? You thought you're pretty good. I mean, I can go a couple of days without sinning.

I thought in my 20s I was pretty good. You're like, okay, I blew it that week. But overall, but then when you come to the Lord and you have the Word open, and that tone wasn't right, lazy choice wasn't right, or that way I perceived that or what I thought in my heart, and you begin to realize just how much you need God.

Holiness as a believer does not lead to forgiveness of sin. God declares a believer righteous, holy because of what Jesus did on the cross. Christ plus something else equals salvation is not biblical.

We're declared right before God when we put our complete trust in God and not in our good works. Finally, holiness is not as much about what I don't do as why I don't do something. The heart.

It's safe to assume that those who live strictly by rules rather than by a relationship with Jesus are not truly holy, they are religious. They might avoid people and places and things, but they are still critical, judgmental, jealous, arrogant, and angry. They have a form of godliness.

And they'll put rules on you. Do you ever have people putting rules on you? And it hasn't happened in a while, but I get this sometimes. Pastor, I love what you have to say, but you're following the Antichrist meeting on Sunday instead of Saturday.

Oh, wow, how did you come to that conclusion? Oh, I read this book. Or, well, Pastor, we appreciate the church, but you guys don't celebrate the Jewish feasts. You don't do these things.

You know what? I've come to your church, but the women have got to get their dress about right there. Now, not a bad idea. Not a bad idea.

But see, all these rules, rules. You can't have women up here on stage praying. Rules.

Rules. And it often comes from a critical heart. Doesn't mean a person can't have genuine questions, but you have to make sure what's behind your rules.

They should draw you closer to God, not get conformity. Because the more rules you put on your children, the more apt they're going to want to rebel against God if you don't explain the rules and show them how to fall forward. Show them why it's important.

Obedience in your body is a reflection of surrender in your soul. You can't beg God to heal you, but still tolerate what's killing you. My daughter sent me a spot you could grab free quotes from.

I'm going to take advantage of that one. Your life as a Christian should make people curious about Christ, not comfortable in sin. And again, you will never know the fullness of Christ until you know the emptiness of everything else.

And guys, here's what I really want to drive home. The man of God, but they're also flawed. You're used.

You're used by God, but you're also defective. You're anointed as a man of God, but you're also broken. But I want to encourage you to get back on track today.

Get back on track. It's very simple. Repent.

Easily defeated when we stay down. The enemy wants the man of God up. The enemy wants you down and defeated.

Correct? Don't do anything. God wants the might. Fight with the spiritual weapons.

Pursuit. Pursuit of God must now be your main priority. Spiritual renewal always plays a role in breakthrough.

Always. You'll find peace through pursuit, not just obedience. Don't look at obeying God as just following these rules, but pursuing Him.

Because the more I pursue Him, the more I find Him. The more I find Him, the more I love Him. And obeying God's Word, the joy comes out.

And without this joy, you will control and crush your family. Do you know that's why many families are very dysfunctional in the Christian community? Often because the parents are caught in sin and carnal and in the flesh. And the flesh, when it is ruling and reigning, is dirty and demonic.

I mean, think what kind of man you would be without the Spirit of God. But remember, outward expression doesn't change inward warfare. So you don't want to say, well, now I've got to do this.

I've got to do this. I've got to do this. No, there has to be an internal submission to God.

And also remember this, God will use your struggle to strengthen you and your stronghold to weaken pride. When you start to view your struggle as something that God can use to strengthen you and the stronghold in your life will weaken your pride, that's how you develop into a man of God. Because so many people, well, I've got this struggle and I keep falling.

I keep falling. I keep falling. I keep caving into the struggle.

Instead of doing that and woe is me, start saying woe is God. Strengthen me, Lord. Get back up.

Me versus me. Get back up and win this race. The man of God is not short on failings and faults, but they get back up and they keep fighting and they develop character and they strengthen themselves and they learn from their mistakes.

Oh, that ditch got me last time. You ever fall in a ditch? Oh, that rattlesnake almost got me last time. And you learn and you grow from these things.

I haven't done this in a while, but it's a little lengthy, but it's important. It's actually, since we're talking about getting back up and finishing the race, it's actually titled The Race. And it's about these little boys who are lined up, ready to race and to make their dads so proud.

Men, isn't that so true in our lives? Wanting to make God proud. Wanting to be that man of God. And so the whistle blew and off they went, young hearts and hopes of fire.

To win and to be the hero there was each young boy's desire. And one boy in particular whose dad was in the crowd was running near the lead and thought, my dad will be so proud. But as they sped down the field across the shallow dip, the little boy who thought to win lost his step and slipped.

Trying hard to catch himself, his hands flew out to brace. Amid the laughter of the crowd, he fell flat on his face. Sound like our Christian walk sometimes? So down he fell and with him hope.

He couldn't win it now. Embarrassed, sad, he only wished to disappear somehow. But as he fell, his dad stood up and showed his anxious face, which to the boy so clearly said, get up and win this race.

He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit, that's all. And he ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall. So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win, his mind went faster than his legs.

He slipped and fell again. He'd wish he'd quit before with only one disgrace. I'm hopeless as a runner now.

I shouldn't try to race. How many of you can relate to that? But in the laughing crowd, he searched and he found his father's face. That steady look which said, get up and win this race.

So he jumped up to try again 10 yards behind the last. To gain those yards, I've got to run real fast. Exerting everything he had, he regained eight or 10, but trying so hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.

Defeat, he lied there silently, a teardrop from his eye. There's no sense in running anymore. Three strikes, I'm out.

Why try? The will to rise had disappeared. All hope was gone and fled away. So far behind, so air-prone, a loser all the way.

I've lost, so what's the use, he thought. I'll live with my disgrace. But then he thought about his dad, who soon he'd have to face.

Get up, an echo sounded low. Get up and take your place. You were not meant for failure here.

Get up and win the race. With borrowed will, he got up and said, the dad said, you haven't lost at all, for winning is no more than this to rise each time you fall. So up he rose to run once more, and with a new commit, he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn't quit.

So far behind the others now, the most he'd ever been, still he gave it his all and ran as though to win. Three times he'd fallen, stumbling three times, he rose again too far behind to hope to win. He still ran to the end.

And so they cheered the winning runner as he crossed the line first place, head high and proud and happy. No failing, no falling, no disgrace. But when the fallen youngster crossed the line last place, the crowd gave him the greater cheer for finishing the race.

And even though he came in last with head bowed low and unproud, you would have thought he had won the race to listen to the crowd. And to his dad, he sadly said, I didn't do too well. But to me, son, you won.

You rose each time you fell. For all of life is like a race with ups and downs and all, and all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall. Men, that is the secret to the Christian life.

That is the secret to the Christian life. And that's why I brought, this is why many men are still like this. They've fallen, and they're not getting back up.

God's encouragement to us is to get up and win that race. Get up and win that race. And again, I know, guys, how many times we've been to the altar? How many times have we repented? And some things are a battle.

Some things are going to take knocking it down one brick at a time. It's called spiritual warfare for a reason. Nothing in the Bible says spiritual one-day victory.

Follow this checklist. Wouldn't you like that? One-day spiritual war. Here's how to get your breakthrough.

You might hear that on YouTube or TV get you to buy their book, but we are in spiritual warfare until the day we die. It's sobering, isn't it? I'm in spiritual warfare until the day I die? The enemy wants to take me out? My, talk about stress. But only if you're living in the flesh and trusting in your works.

Resting in God. He who began a good work in you shall complete it. But guys, you have to say, Lord, complete it in me.

I give up my control, my pride, my arrogance, my excuses, my blame shifting. Anybody good at blame shifting? Oh, yeah. So get up and win this race.

Come forward if you need to. Kneel at the altar. Come for prayer.

Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes, guys. And we believe that God can change a man from the inside out.

He can a woman as well. Women, you're welcome as well. You're welcome to come forward.

This isn't just Father's Day. This is a time for all of us. And the reason I say all these things is I've seen where darkness can lead.

I've seen where depravity can take us. And I've seen a person be able to turn back to God and have that fire ignited in their heart again and watch them make a difference in their lives, in the lives of their family.