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Just bless this time we have together Lord. We pray this all in Jesus name. Amen Okay, we're in Galatians chapter number five this evening and the title of my sermon is the works of the flesh I want to talk about the works of the flesh what we see here in Galatians chapter 5 verse 19 It says now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these? adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies envings murders drunkenness revelings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they would do such things Shall not inherit the kingdom of God and so here in Galatians chapter 5 the Apostle Paul gives us a list That is isn't really necessarily extensive Obviously, we know there's more works of the flesh than these the Bible refers to other sins that we in the New Testament Throughout the Word of God that are equally as bad but he pretty much gives us an overall view of a lot of things that Christians are actually capable of doing and he refers to them as the works of the flesh because of the fact that When it comes to believers we have two combating natures, okay? We have one nature that is considered the new man who cannot sin because he is born of God And then you have the flesh who is capable of committing these sins if they don't walk in the spirit They don't fulfill the lust of the flesh or excuse me If they're not walking in the spirit They will fulfill the lust of the flesh and we see that listed here now before we get into the actual works of the flesh Let me give you some introductory statements first regarding the book of Galatians This is actually a letter that the Apostle Paul is writing to not one specific church But actually various churches in the region of Galatia So what's taking place here is that you have these Jews Pharisees Judaizers who are actually going? To different churches that have already been planted and maybe they don't really have strong leadership maybe they don't have a pastor someone who's preaching there and they're just kind of going through each church dropping off leaven teaching false doctrine and Really what they're doing is they're trying to bring people back under the law trying to get people to get circumcised and teach a false Way of salvation and so the Apostle Paul finds himself Having to kind of fix the mess that these Judaizers have left behind Okay, and what this shows us is that you know Possibly a lot of the people in these churches are babes in Christ Because of the fact that they're being tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine It seems as though they're kind of believing what the Judaizers are putting forth that you have to be circumcised Then you have to observe days and months and years and just have to kind of be brought under the law So the letter to the Galatians is a strong rebuke towards that and he makes a great case If you read the book of Galatians It's an awesome book that goes to the history of Israel explains that we're the children of God because we're of Isaac so on and so forth and so that's the background to the book of Galatians and one thing that we can take away from this Book that really we can apply today is this is that even Christians can believe the wrong things Even Christians can believe the wrong things in regards to salvation sometimes they can get mixed up with terminology they can get mixed up with false doctrine and In fact when you look at the works of the flesh what is one of the works of the flesh that we see listed heresy That means if a Christian is not walking in the spirit if they're not reading the Word of God They're doing things that pertain to the kingdom of God. They're not spiritually minded. They can get caught up in heresy now Here's the thing and I'm gonna explain this in a little later in the sermon You know, I don't believe that Christians will just full-blown deny Jesus Christ Okay, I don't think they'll get become a full-blown Jehovah's Witness a full-blown Mormon or just just completely Just completely reject Jesus Christ in the Bible. I think they can become confused Okay, and I personally believe and I'm going to show you according to this specific chapter here Is that they don't remain in that state for very long if they're really saved Because we actually do believe in what people refer to as perseverance of the Saints The difference is this you don't persevere in your works to maintain your salvation You have to persevere in your faith in the right doctrine to actually be saved, right? So in other words, it's like if you believe right into the end then you're actually saved But if you for some reason at the end of your life or throughout your life You just deny the doctrines of Christ you depart from that which is The Godhead the Trinity the Word of God Salvation and just go full blown into damnable heresy. We wouldn't say that you lost your salvation We would just say that you never saved to begin with you are what the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 15 as believing in vain Okay Now the Apostle Paul has some pretty strong words to say to the Galatians here because he tells them in previous chapters That he's afraid of them doesn't mean he's like scared of them He's saying he's afraid that there might not be even be saved. And in fact in previous chapters, he talks about Travailing in birth till Christ be formed in you what he's saying is I'm gonna hammer in doctrine and the right way of salvation and And what the Bible actually says until Christ is formed in you in other words until you're I know for a fact that you're saved That's what he's talking about. And I believe that basically by the end of the book Paul's convinced that they're saved They're just simply confused. Okay, and that's why we have this list being given here in Galatians chapter number five so one thing that we can learn from this book is that believers can be Entangled in the yoke of bondage look at verse number one. It's a stand fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of Bondage now when you and I think of you the yoke of bondage We don't necessarily related to that which we believe but rather the things that you do You know when you get someone who's involved in drugs or alcohol or they're involved in some sort of vice We would say they're in bondage to that sin. They're in that yoke of bondage and that's definitely applicable But what we see here in Galatians chapter 5 the yoke of bondage that the Apostle Paul is referring to is Judaism, Jude Judaism, okay He's saying look you're going back under the law You're starting to believe these things that these Jews are teaching and you're not standing fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us Free and so you and I both know people who are Christians, but they're just deceived by some sort of false doctrine Maybe they got the terminology mixed up These are people who are entangled by the yoke of bondage and who is the one entangling them? It's some false teacher, right? I mean I guarantee you I Guarantee you there are safe people in this world who like John MacArthur's preaching Believe it or not. I Guarantee you there's a safe people who like Joel's teens preaching Yeah, I'm sad. It's out there. I'm sure I'm as shocked as you are Because here's the thing is that Joel's thing doesn't really espouse false doctrine he just it's just nice all the time he just kind of gives a motivational speech and you know, you're gonna be rich and all these things and and and You know, he's not necessarily going down deep on doctrine You understand like I've never heard him. I mean, I don't listen to his sermons, but from what I have heard I've never heard him give any deep doctrine understand and I've known people who are saved They don't read the Bible, but they like Joel's thing cuz he's nice Understand so look there's people out there who like false teachers and it's because they're not able to distinguish They're unskillful in the word of righteousness They don't know what the Word of God says and so they're easily deceived if that wasn't the case Why is there so many examples in the Bible where God is constantly telling people don't be deceived Because it's possible to be deceived He's constantly telling them don't be deceived There's gonna be wolves that are creeping in among you to draw away disciples after them disciples are referring to say people Right, and so we see here that it's possible for people to get into stupid doctrine Heresy, etc. And so we want to avoid that as much as possible and the way we do So is by feeding the flock of God, right? We don't want people to avoid false doctrine by saying don't listen to so-and-so Right. We don't want that. We don't want I never want to get up here and say hey, don't listen to this pastor Don't listen to this preacher. Don't go on the internet and search this person up What we do is just teach the right doctrine and then you can just discern false doctrine on your own Know that it's not of God know that it's not biblical Etc. Okay Now look what it says in verse number 10 it says I have confidence in you through the Lord That ye will be none otherwise Minded but he that trouble with you shall bear his judgment Whosoever he be so Paul's actually convinced that they're not gonna go full heretic now This is a tone that's a lot different from what he previously said when he said I'm afraid of you Right, he's saying I'm afraid of you. He's not sure if they're saved here is saying you know what though? I'm convinced, you know, I have the confidence in you that you're not gonna be otherwise minded You're not gonna believe these this stuff for very long That's why he's given him this doctrine to kind of remind them of the right doctrine Okay, the right way of salvation and so he's convinced that they're not gonna go full heretic now How do we apply this to our church? Well, if you have someone who leaves our church and starts believing some weird doctrine out there, you know for me It's like well, I'll just count them as being deceived, right? But if they start embracing it they start teaching it they just completely deny the doctrines of Christ then for me It's just like well, let them be anathema then Because obviously this person never believed to begin with they didn't have the right doctrine to begin with they were never safe to begin with Therefore let them be anathema they were just playing the role while they're here in church Okay, so he's convinced that they won't go full heretic go to the book of Hebrews if you would go to Hebrews chapter number three Hebrews chapter number three if you would Hebrews chapter number three Let's see here It says in verse number 4 for every house is builded by some man but he that build all things is God and Moses very was Barely was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after But Christ as a son over his own house whose house are we look what it says if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end So the condition there is that we hold it firm unto the end in other words believe right all the way into the end I mean that doesn't mean that people can't have a lapse of you know belief towards the middle you have Different people throughout the Word of God like the book of Galatians where they got into some heresy and who knows maybe they did bounce Back, but what it's saying here is that we need to hold it firm unto the end We didn't even believe the right things all the way until the end and that's how we know okay this person You know got off doctrinally Maybe they believe some weird stuff and then dig in back on track and look folks How about this you know there's people out there who are saved who believe in the flat earth, right? Aren't there people out there that believe in the flat earth? Who are saved I I know people on the internet who listen to my preaching and they are flat earthers And they get really mad when I like make fun of flat earth and all that and you know they get really mad at me But but they're saved they believe in the right gospel. You know well you say how do you explain that well the works of the flesh? Are made manifest one of them is heresy you know and so But here's the thing that's not a doctrine That's necessarily will mess with salvation, right? That's not something don't mess with salvation. That's just a stupid doctrine, okay? But you know what there are times when people can get mixed up on salvation for example You know I've met people who will say we have to believe on Christ But you have to repent of your sins right and then you you kind of corner them And then they'll say well not really repent your sins because I know you can't but you have to feel sorry for yourself And then you corner them on that be like well Not really you know that really just feel sorry for your sin And then when you remove all those excuses to say well what if they don't repent of their sin are they still saved well? Yeah, or they don't feel sorry for their sin. Are they still saved well if they believe on Christ and yeah So we don't say that person obviously is just being duped by some false teacher That's just espousing that type of terminology, and they're using that terminology. It's wrong, but it doesn't mean they're not saved It's just that they have the wrong terminology now. I would say if a person responds by saying No, you do have to repent of your sins And you corner them and say what if they don't are they still saving it and they say no then that person's not safe Easily put or if they say well you have to feel sorry for your sin What if they don't then they're not really safe, okay, then that person's not really saved it You understand, but I've cornered enough Christians out there who use that terminology and when you corner them They'll say well if they believe on Christ and yes of course They're saved you know and it only shows that they just been they've been given this false doctrine They've heard it so many times that they're just kind of repeating what everyone else says, okay? So next thing I want you to notice is that Paul then explains the two combating natures in verse 16 He says this I say then walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh For the flesh lusts against the spirit the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other So they cannot do the things that you would but if you be led of the spirit Ye are not under the law so he says here He talks about the two natures which by the way proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that even though you're saved You're still gonna commit sins Because it says the works of the flesh. We are covered by flesh my friend When you get saved your flesh doesn't automatically go away When you get saved your old nature does not go away And they'll often say well, you know if any man be in Christ He's a new creature old things that passed away behold all things that become new Haven't you heard someone say something like that and they're absolutely right because that's what the Bible says But what they're interpreting it as they're basically saying well all things are new and your flesh is no longer there No, it says it's passed away What's another word for passed away? What death Right our flesh is crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the faith that the life that I now live is by the faith in the Son of God so what the Bible is actually telling us is that the old man the old nature is Crucified with Christ doesn't mean it's no longer there. It's just passed away Okay, and why is it passed away because when we get saved we've crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Let's let the Bible teaches. Okay, and So what we're looking at here is these two natures that are constantly combating one with another So what happens when the Spirit is winning well when the Spirit is winning you doing that which is pleasing unto God Then the fruit of the Spirit is manifesting in your life You know the love joy peace long-suffering gentleness meekness all these wonderful things that God Manifest in you to be a benefit to someone else, but if you're not walking in the Spirit You're just kind of feeding the flesh. You're feeding the old man Then at that point you're gonna be a manifestation of your old man Okay, this is why it's important that on a daily basis we die You know Paul said I die daily and he's not referring to his new man He's referring to his old man because although the old man is crucified with Christ, you know He kind of comes back to life every single day That's what the Bible says that we are, you know, the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 12 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holding acceptable unto God which is a reasonable service so that means we're supposed to kind of Sacrifice ourselves every single day, you know Put ourselves in the altar die daily because if we don't we're gonna manifest the works of the flesh in our own body eventually Okay, you will become like the old self Sooner or later, so we got to keep feeding the Spirit feeding the Spirit by reading the Bible by communing with the Lord by praying Okay by conscientiously actually thinking about walking in the Spirit, you know Walking in the Spirit is not something where you you feel something in your chest or you know You got the burning sensation going on or you know, you just feel like you just filled with the Spirit or something like that No, it just means that you're heavenly minded. You're you're you're spiritually minded about the things of God Now look there's times when you're walking in the Spirit and you do feel great Right, you feel happy You're you're joyous. You're emotional about it But there's other times when you don't because it's a spiritual matter not an emotional matter folks okay, we walk by faith and not by sight and So he describes those two natures there and then he goes on to describe the works of the flesh in verse 19 all the way to verse 21 now, I want you to notice the latter end of verse 21 He says as I have told you in time past that they would do such things Shall not inherit the kingdom of God Now a lot of people namely Pentecostals, Charismatics, people who believe you could lose your salvation. They love these verses By the way, I love them too. Amen. This is in the Bible What I'm saying is that they like to they love to pervert it. Okay, they love to twist it They look because it says it gives these lists of sins and then it says they which do such things Will not inherit the kingdom of God. So if you don't know the rest of the Bible and You only have this passage This can be proof that if you're committing these sins and you're saved and you're not you're gonna lose your salvation or something like that Okay But here's the thing we know the whole Bible though We have the whole Word of God Okay, now there's two schools of thought when it comes to interpreting this specific verse and I think they're both right, okay Number one is the fact that the Bible talks about the works of the flesh are Manifests and then it says that they would do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God So here's a school of thought number one. Number one. It's referring to the fact that Bruce's flesh Shall not inherit the kingdom of God Because this nothing corruptible enters into heaven Understand so this corruption must put on in corruption in order to stand before the presence of God Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God. So the new man, okay the new Bruce Mejia He doesn't commit these things He doesn't do commit adultery or drunkenness or revelings or emulations He doesn't do any of these things because of the fact that you know He that is born of God does not commit sin for a seed remain within him and he cannot sin the Bible says So he's born of God. He doesn't commit sin. He's completely perfect. He will inherit the kingdom of God the old man will not That's why when the old man when you when you physically die you get buried into the ground It has to transform into something completely else. It's called glorification Because the properties of your flesh has to change to become something that's acceptable in the sight of God has to be redeemed It has to be upgraded in order to stand before the presence of God So when it says they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God It's absolutely right because the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God The flesh is powered by blood right It's the blood that gives life to the flesh Whereas the glorified body is not powered by blood. It's powered by the Spirit Okay, you know the Bible tells us that The the flesh profit is nothing the words that I speak unto you They are spirit and they are life the Bible says it is the spirit that quickeneth quicken It means be brought to life. And so the new man is powered by the spirit which will inherit the kingdom of God So that's easy to explain but here's another school of thought is the fact that when we read passages like this Where it might seem like it contradicts other portions of Scripture. Well, we have to look at it in light of other scriptures To reconcile what it means We don't want to be like these Christians that just pull out one verse out of the Bible and just discredit the entire Word of God just because it says and it seems to say something different than the rest of the Word of God Because we know that the Word of God is perfect. It's an errand. Okay, it doesn't have any errors in it God doesn't contradict himself. We understand that what he's saying is correct So we have to reconcile it based upon other portions of Scripture. Okay. Now what's the second school of thought? Well, here's the second school of thought Paul's already writing to save people So he doesn't have to explain The fact that they're gonna inherit the kingdom of God, even if they're guilty of some of these sins Why cuz they're safe people. I mean he just got finished writing for the chapters explaining why they're the children of God Okay now go to 1st Corinthians chapter 6 if you would 1st Corinthians chapter number 6 Because We see a similar list in 1st Corinthians chapter 6 and it almost has the identical wording It just gives us another list of sins as well. Okay Look what it says in 1st Corinthians 6 and verse number 9 Knowing not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God Similar wording there, right? He says be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate Nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards No, revilers nor extortioners and again shall inherit the kingdom of God So again these Pentecostal Charismatic types love to point to portions of scriptures like this to say you can lose your salvation Because it plainly says right there if you commit these sins you will not inherit the kingdom of God, right? Well, look what it goes on to say in verse 11 and such were some of you But ye are washed ye are sanctified Ye are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God So we see there that yeah, they shall not inherit the kingdom of God, but that's not you because you're saved is what he's saying so we can use that same portion of Scripture and apply it to Galatians chapter 5 Because they mean the same exact thing It's not like well if they're guilty of these specific sins of verse Corinthians chapter 6 No, he's just saying sins in general I mean, he's not gonna give us an entire book of all the sins that we're capable of committing. Okay? He's just saying look whoever does these things. They're not gonna inherit the kingdom of God We can plainly say he's basically referring to any kind of sin It's not just saying well, it's just adulterers It's like Revelation 21 8 is not an exhaustive list of all sins that exist that people will go to hell for It's just giving you like the general ones, right? So we can interpret Galatians chapter 5 based upon 1st Corinthians chapter 6 Because 1st Corinthians chapter 6 gives us an expanded Version of it and tells us and such were some of you but you're washed you're justified so on and so forth You're saved you're washed. Okay, so we can we can apply that Galatians chapter 5 because he's talking to believers Now I want you to notice that in Galatians chapter 5 there's one sin that's actually missing from there There's one sin that Galatians 5 does not mention isn't that interesting? What sin is that sodomy? Because Christians aren't capable of Willingly wanting to commit such a filthy act Think about that right now obviously we understand there's people in this world. Maybe they're Christians Who got involved in that due to peer pressure or whatever may be or you know, they were forced into that Maybe they're in a in a volatile relationship where the the partner made them do something like that or whatever may be But what we're talking about what the Bible specifically is talking about is someone who's burning in their lust one toward another Because you know, they'll try to put that sin amongst all the other sins. Like it's just like every other sin Well, it's not mentioned in 1st Corinthians 6 and it's not mentioned in Galatians chapter 5 You would think that He would mention it because such a grievous sin and if Christians were capable of committing it why not put it in I mean adultery is punishable by death. Is it not? That's a very grievous sin Heresy is a very grievous sin and yes sodomy is not there why because Christians people who are saved are incapable of committing it now surely someone will point to 1st Corinthians 6 and Ah Abusers of themselves with mankind pastor Mejia that's talking about homosexuals Arsenal kitties It's in the Greek You know No, I don't know I don't know what you're talking about and neither do you You Know people it's it's funny how people want to use this portion of Scripture as their proof text of how sodomites can be saved But they just completely throw out Romans chapter 1 They just completely throw out Genesis 19 They just completely throw out judges 19 and every other portion of Scripture that clearly lays out what God thinks of it And just point to this obscure scripture and 1st Corinthians 6 where it doesn't even mention sodomy It says abusers of themselves with mankind, oh, let's slap it on there. That's what it's talking about. Really? and by the way, you go to the modern versions of the Bible and What they'll do is, you know, they'll change it they'll put Men having you know, whatever with men or if they do put abusers themselves with mankind to put a footnote Where it says this is referring to homosexuals And Here's the thing they'll say well where it says effeminate because they'll take they'll take effeminate completely out and Then literally just put men with men or whatever They don't even have you feminine on there And they'll say well what it says effeminate, but it's referring to like the male You know the the the passive member in that relationship or something like that because that's what it is in the Greek You know, they hide behind that or whatever but wrong wrong wrong It's not true and look folks. This is why it's important. Do you use a King James Bible? Because the King James Bible is not gonna deceive you it's not gonna throw out random words out there random commentary out there You know telling you that it's referring to sodomites or whatever. You say well, how do you know then? That that's what it's referring to. Well effeminate in our modern Terminology, what's a synonym for that someone who's what? soft, right That's a grievous sin for a man to be soft You know, it's not right for men to be soft men You know God expects for men to be manly and to act like man talk like men look like men It's not right for a man to be girly, right? So he says, you know effeminate people will not inherit the kingdom of God It means soft and when you look at the Greek word for that It says soft and I'll say we have but that's soft like like a homosexual soft though But When you look at that term in the Gospels, okay, you know you You read about John the Baptist and Jesus is praising John the Baptist and he says that they that were soft Clothing are in King's houses and that word for soft is the same word that's being used here And let me just let me just clarify something. He's not saying they that were a faggoty clothing Homosexual clothing, okay Soft just means soft because Kings that's how they dress You know, someone told me like I put out a video on King James because you know He's always accused of being a homosexual and all these things and people You know They'll they'll rail on him and say that he was a homosexual should try to discredit the King James Bible And I had a picture of King James, you know, he's dressed like a king and they're like, well, he looks the way he's dressed he looks like a homosexual and I kind of explained to him. I said well, this is how Kings dress though Because they that wear they wear soft clothing when they're in King's houses Yeah, I mean, I'm not saying like that's what I would want to wear, but I'm just saying that's what they wore I mean when you're the king who's gonna tell you any different If he wants to wear a velvet purple or whatever is like dude you're the king, you know, that's what you want that's what you want, you know, and so What I'm saying is that the word effeminate just means soft But they do is they just completely remove soft and say well it's the passive member of a homosexual relationship Which shows us that someone who does not have the Spirit of God they pervert the things of God Until the pure all things are pure But into them that are defiled is nothing pure but even their mind of their conscience is defiled So when they interpret the Word of God, they interpret it through perverted lenses. Oh, it means homosexuals for sure No, in fact, look what it says Let's look at the context here. He says it at the latter end of verse 9 Effeminate nor abuses of themselves with mankind He talks about such were some of you and then he says in verse 13 meets for belly and belly for meats But God shall destroy both it and them Now the body is not for fornication before the Lord and the Lord for the body and God has both raised up the Lord And will also raise up us by our his own power Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid What know you not that that which is joined to a harlot is one body for to say if he shall be one flesh This is referring to just women sleeping around is what it's talking about Okay, when it says abuses of themselves with mankind's referring to a woman who just sleeps around So why didn't it say that then because he's just using this terminology He's expecting for people not to have a perverted mind and just understand what that means and This phrase is only used twice in the King James Bible It's rendered as defy themselves with mankind in first Timothy chapter 1 verse number 10 and in context You could see that it's referring to a woman doing those things Okay, so it's not referring to sodomites and look we don't get our teaching of What a sodomite is if they can be saved or not based off of this One portion description is completely obscure only bad people do stuff like that Only bad people like the Jehovah's Witnesses will go to Ecclesiastes to try to teach you about salvation Right. Oh, they're going to sleep in the ground I'm gonna say it's like why don't you go to the clear passages of the Bible not the obscure Passages that really have nothing to do with salvation Because that's what they have to do in order to try to deceive people They don't want to go to the clear passages because the clear passages tell the truth Okay, and obviously the the obscure passages tell the truth But they can just twist it to mean whatever they want it to mean to fit the theology and their heresy Go back to Galatians if you would So I wanted to chase that rabbit because it's an important rabbit to skin kill eat You know and take care of you know, it's true They which commit such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God Number one because our flesh is not gonna inherit the kingdom of God But number two, he's he's not telling them that they're not gonna inherit the kingdom of God because they're actually saved Okay, they've already believed on Christ. They're saved. They're sealed, etc. Okay, and look folks, you know If when you get saved everything just comes already included Batteries included you're not gonna commit these things then why would he tell them to walk in the spirit? Why would he tell them not to fulfill the lust of the flesh if that already comes included? Well You know if you're saved you're gonna have a desire to do those things and that's why yeah, but here's the then Why is he commanding it? The letter should just be like, you know You guys are good to go. You're perfect. You know, you're never gonna sin. No, he lists these sins Because of the fact that they're capable of committing those things. It's still possible for them to do so Now Here's the thing is that obviously when we get saved we're dwelt by the Holy Spirit Right Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us, but then there's that dichotomy where we think of well, you know If I'm in dwelt by the Spirit, why is it that I'm commanded to walk in the Spirit? You know, why do I have how is it that I'm supposed to be filled with the Spirit if I'm already in dwelt by the Spirit I just don't get that how does that work and I've explained this many times before but it's like a car with an engine When you put an engine into a car Now it has the ability to go somewhere, right? But what does that car need? gas and it needs to be filled with gas to get from point A to point B and If it doesn't have gas we're not gonna say well that car is not really a car Well, it has a motor It just needs to be filled Now given there's a lot of Christians out there with the motor and no filling no gas in it Right, but we're not gonna say they're not saved just because they're not filled with the Spirit you understand they're in dwelt by that motor Known as the Holy Spirit that will make them capable of serving God and doing that which is pleasing in his sight Okay, and so this is an important lesson and it's just a reminder to us all that you know We're capable of these things and we need to make sure that we're walking in the Spirit on a day-to-day basis Especially tomorrow Monday morning. We're starting off the week You know you get home late or you're having a rough weekend or whatever you get up you get filled with some coffee first And then and then you're just like Lord help me today, you know I want to just submit my mind to you How many live a life that's pleasing unto you and being walking in the Spirit just being conscious of the things of God Just recognizing I'm a Christian. I need to make sure I'm reading my Bible. I need to make sure that I'm praying I need to make sure that I'm thinking of the Lord. Okay? Let's go through some of these right here. So he goes through some of the works of the flesh He says in verse 19 the works of the flesh are manifest which are these? Adultery. Okay. So the first one is adultery and this is referring to voluntary intercourse between a married person and Someone other than their spouse. This is a very grievous sin that Christians are capable of committing now Although fornication is the next sin which is basically sexual relations Before marriage these although they're both grievous sins, obviously one is worse than the other Okay, and the reason we know that is because of the punishment that's instituted for people who commit adultery in the Bible Now obviously today that same punishment is not being dished out, but it doesn't make the law of God null and void You know just because the United States of America does not place the same severity of punishment on these crimes doesn't make it not bad Doesn't make it as everyone does it well in God's eyes it's still bad Even to the point where someone deserves the death penalty if they were to commit that. Okay, so he talks about adultery talks about fornication Here's another one uncleanness. I believe that this is referring to sanitation Okay, and You know, I think God wants us to be clean I think he wants us to be sanitary Because of the fact that it's a reflection of who we are as Christians and look if you don't believe me Just go to the where's like the dirtiest place in California Wrong, LA is not the dirtiest place in California, San Francisco Does anybody know what I'm talking who doesn't know what I'm talking about raise your hand, okay, San Francisco has feces all over the place everywhere Needles and feces and look I know by personal experience because we went to us we did a sowing marathon in San Francisco You know and I had heard about it and then you know, I saw with my own eyes unfortunately, I saw with my own eyes You're walking there. He's just like what in the world, but you know, what is it really surprising? because of the fact that Sin abounds into San Francisco. And so there's all types of uncleanness There okay, and So, you know, I I think God wants us to be clean people because it's a reflection of biblical principles You understand, you know take showers brush your teeth You know all that stuff, okay Just don't be a dirty person Don't be a person who is odor is offensive. I think that's important to note. You know, you want to be the person who? You know just stinks all the time. I don't think that's right You know and you say oh man, it's like that's kind of personal isn't it? You know, you're just kind of talking about like not being yeah But you know what one of the reasons why we want to be clean is because we don't want to offend people around us Because obviously it doesn't offend you you live with yourself and you probably don't even smell it It's the people around you that you offend. Okay, and so, you know being clean takes other people into consideration This is great preaching. I promise you, okay Very Applicable, okay, and I'm not thinking of anybody in here I'm not saying that I'm not preaching this because there's like a dirty person in our church or something like that You know, but hey, you know if the shoe fits amen if you feel like, you know Adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness, this is lewdness Lust just being fleshly. That's what it's referring to Okay, where you're just kind of Kind of abounding and lustfulness and in the flesh you're just basking in the flesh you're being a fleshly person He says in verse 20 idolatry now Obviously, this isn't necessarily an issue of huge issue in the United States when we think of idolatry We think of a place like Southeast Asia, right? But if you think about it idolatry does abound in the United States, maybe not as much as Southeast Asia But it does about in two ways. Okay number one in the most literal way Because now we have Catholicism and you have Buddhism and Hinduism Making its way through the United States and people are adhering to it. You go to restaurants. There's all types of idolatry There's that fat Buddha there and they have all types of devils of statues. I mean that is idolatry right So you have that you have Catholics with their Virgin Mary and and and you know the the the white looking Jesus and everything like that and you know carved on a cross Okay, that is considered idolatry folks Now obviously again, it's not as bad as Southeast Asian because it's Southeast Asia They literally have it on every corner where people are literally bowing down to those idols and they're worshipping those idols But I mean in a sense it's just as bad because people put it in their homes here Okay, where people put shrines you have You know the Orthodox Church that does that's even worse, you know, they don't call it idols to come icons Just as the Catholics they don't call it worshipping to call it venerating Okay, it's like you can change the word all you want. It means the same exact thing But you know then you have idolatry what the Bible also describes spiritually speaking as covetousness You know according to what is it Colossians chapter 3 where it talks about idolatry, which is covetousness Okay, where you can idolize the almighty dollar Okay, that's a form of idolatry according to the Bible We obviously understand that the physical statue is probably worse But there's a reason God put idolatry being likened unto covetousness in the Bible because of the fact that Christians can have a propensity to commit that type of idolatry all the time where possessions money finances resources Bitcoin Bitcoin and Bitcoin and Bitcoin Can be an idol to some people now, I don't know how Bitcoin is doing now, you know for all I know It might have crashed or something like that. I have no idea how that works But you know what? I've talked to people where they're just like they're just all about I mean They're checking their phones on Bitcoin and seeing how their thing is doing their stocks or whatever that's called That's a form of idolatry according to the Bible Because your heart is there It's just constantly idolizing it constantly thinking upon it And so that is a work of the flesh that's being manifested. That means you're not heavenly minded. You understand So he says idolatry Witchcraft believe it or not Christians can be involved in witchcraft. Ah Really well, how about Saul I Mean there's a reason why the example of Saul is given to us in the most extreme example of a believer Who went to a witch? to commit You know necromancy to bring up Samuel from the dead That's witchcraft Okay, you say you think Christians are capable of doing it? Absolutely You know, it's a work of the flesh where you know people can become desperate and you know They might even go to like a palm reader or something like that or you know Maybe their pastor their church is not giving them the answer that they want So they go to someone else some sort of medium to try to get answers. I mean it's out there Okay, but the Bible also says that witchcraft is likened unto what? rebellion so guy Rebellion is another list that we see here, but witchcraft is likened unto rebellion Okay, and we know that Christians can get involved in that when they rebel against authority whether it's their parents church authority governmental authority Things of that nature. Okay, and I'm not saying oh you're if you don't wear the mask you're going against a governmental authority I'm saying like when you're like willingly breaking the law like committing crimes According to the Bible you understand you're violating someone or you're stealing You know, that's a violation of governmental law Idolatry witchcraft next one hatred Hatred is a work of the flesh Now here's the thing is that people would point to this and say see you guys can't hate them. Why you guys hate me? Bunch of you guys you're a church full of haters over there. Well, hold on a second. This isn't saying Not that hatred is bad for everyone It's saying hatred in context of what hating your brother Cuz it is a sin. It's a grievous sin to hate your brother in Christ And when I say brother in Christ, I'm referring to what save people The reason I got to clarify that is because I got so many people mad at me right now Cuz of John MacArthur, do you hate your brother? I'm like insulted by that They're like checkmate You're in darkness you hate your brother. I'm like, he's not my brother the guy's not even saved. What do you mean? And I feel like Tom like it's like Satan your brother You have brothers for Devils Devils for brothers I Mean these people are sometimes so nice you think you would think that they're about to say that Satan's redeemable or something like that But we should give Satan grace or something, you know This hatred is referring to hatred towards a brother in Christ and it's a sin that people are capable of doing folks They can come about because of bitterness you're angry with the brother a sister in Christ. By the way, this applies to sisters as well. Okay Sometimes even more so than Than the brothers and then just put that out there. I'm saying Sometimes they can you know, they can become bitter towards another person in the church to the point where they hate them It's not right Okay, but it is possible because it's a work of the flesh that's being made manifest, okay You say well, how do I combat that? Well the fruit of the Spirit when you walk in the Spirit, you're gentle you are kind You have joy you have long suffering What does it mean to be long suffering means you suffer along with other people's? Offenses the things that they say to you the things that they've done to you you suffer You're willing to just be patient with that person and not hate them in your heart. Okay, that is a work of the flesh So if those words ever come out of your mouth, like I hate this person just mark it down. You're just in your fleshly You're in sin, okay Now some of these sins are Can can cause you to get kicked out of church, but others you can't okay, you know, obviously adultery fornication Yes uncleanness. I can't kick you out because you stink You know idolatry, of course Witchcraft the actual act of witchcraft where you're just like you're known for playing Ouija board or something like that Or yeah that can get you get you kicked out But rebellion in a sense of like you're rebelling towards your parents or you know in your job not necessarily Hatred can't kick someone out for hatred You know if you hate someone in the church you hate a sister or sister hates a brother whatever may be I cannot kick you out, but I can Tell you that you need to make sure that you are kind to the person you don't have to love them You don't have to like them. It's wrong for you to hate them, but I have to make sure that you are Being diplomatic about it You're not trying to recruit other people to cause them to hate that person as much as you do. Okay So idolatry witchcraft hatred Variance. Okay. Now what is variance? Variance is just you think of you know a variety right? In other words, it's someone who's just constantly disagreeable They're just constantly fighting you on every nook and cranny of everything They just contradict you on everything That's a sin actually according to the Bible. It's a work of the flesh What does that mean? You just you always have to go against the grain of Whatever thought someone has You understand? Now look, we're not always gonna agree on everything, right? But when it's just like you just don't seem to agree on Nothing, you just don't agree on anything. You're just a variant type of a person. You're just a contrarian You know, that's a character flaw that's not a that's not a virtuous quality Though I just question everything and everything, you know, I just want to prove all things hold fast that which is good But but here's the thing. Sometimes you could just keep your mouth shut though And you don't have to be vocal about it Because look all of us Someone's gonna say something in church that we just don't agree with Do we have to just vocalize that we don't agree with it? No, because if it's something that it's a little nuance doesn't really matter Right, but the contrarian the one who's variant Always wants to contradict because of the fact that he wants to show that he's right and that they're wrong You understand That is a work of the flesh. Now. What's the work of the flesh that's behind being variant? pride Pride Because a person who is humble is willing to say well, you know, that might be wrong, but you know, who knows? Maybe that might be right maybe I'm wrong and the contrarians have a trouble have trouble You know Recognizing that they might be wrong on some things They think they're always right Even when you prove them wrong When it's just like it's in the bag you've proven them wrong. They just so stubborn and prideful They're not willing to do that. So don't be a contrarian Don't be someone who's given to variants and you're always disagreeable You can never come to terms with someone just because they you know, you're just always right. No, you're not always right okay, and so It's not a grievous sin, it's just an annoying sin actually It's not a grievous sin, but it's just an annoying sin. It's a stubborn sin. It's like and it's big to be described as stubbornness You ever met a stubborn person? They're just not willing to admit that they're wrong or admit that they lied or something or admit that they made a stupid Comment or they made a mistake. It's like they're not willing to admit it Okay, and you know, I think we as men have trouble doing that sometimes Because we're men. All right But we need to come to a place in our lives when we when we were willing to take correction And if we're wrong, we're wrong I mean I've had times when I made mistakes in sermons and people come talk to me and they say hey you made a mistake And it's just like oh man, I guess I made a mistake then You know or on a video someone will point out a mistake that I made in a sermon or in a video and I'll say You're absolutely right about that and I'll put in the comment section and I'll pin it. I misspoke in this area This is the word I should have used. Oh Oh You know, but isn't that embarrassing? Well, yeah, of course, but I'm not always right though I'm allowed to make mistakes, too Okay, and by the way contrarians you don't always have to point out when people are wrong or make mistakes Sometimes it's not even worth it. Oh You said uh instead of the You added an S to that You said verse 15 when it was actually verse 16 I'm sorry. Some things are just not worth mentioning It's like you know what I just screwed up all the doctrine of the church I can't believe everyone sit back down We're gonna have the sermon again But a contrarian will want to do that Okay So the contrarian the one who is given to variants needs to be humble and look I'm not saying don't speak up at any time, but choose your battles wisely Okay so idolatry witchcraft hatred variance Emulation that's the desire to be better than others Okay, that's when you compare yourselves among yourselves and you're unwise for doing so you you you have a desire to exceed Others okay to be better than someone else now You know, obviously we should have the desire to excel at what we do understand we want to succeed You know, I find it weird when people don't want to succeed at something or they're just kind of like a blob They just kind of let life happen or whatever. I have a problem with that because to me It's just like we only have this one life to live, you know, whatever you do Whatsoever that hand finds to do do it with thy might do the best that you can at it It's great to excel and succeed at what you do But here's the thing is that you don't want to do it at the expense of someone else Where you just like why do you want to be better than everyone else? Understand especially in a church setting You know, we're on the same team here a man. I want to be better soul winner than anybody in our church I want to have the best illustrations the most salvations the the best verses to give I want the best King James Bible. I Want the best knock I want the best everything because I want to be the best at this, you know That's not necessarily the best attitude to have because we're all the same team We're all the same team Okay, and so, you know, the only one we should be competing with is number one ourselves Right, we should compete against herself. And then we're also competing against the devil himself and his armies Because you know, we want to beat the forces of darkness We want to tear down the gates of hell to be able to win souls to Christ Okay, but just not how about just not in spiritual matters just in matters of life period I want to make more money than So-and-so I want to have more possessions. I want to have a better car. I want to have better clothing I want to have better this or better that you know, then someone else it's not bad to want those things It's bad if you want to do it to be better than someone else. It's called emulation Okay, we're all on the same team and we need to support one another amen That's why folks like, you know, if someone chooses a diet in our church as long as it's not veganism or vegetarianism Don't hate on them for that Don't put them down for that if they choose to get on keto and you're anti keto Don't hate on them for that. They're choosing to better their life. It's keto is probably way better than what they're choosing Now what they're doing now It's better than their jack-in-the-box and and McDonald's Why are you gonna put them down for choosing for choosing keto? Support them and Doesn't mean you have to partake with them But but you know if they're doing it, they're losing some weight. What's wrong with going to say? Hey, man, you're losing some weight What they want to hear I'm not saying lie to them, but I'm just saying like Why disagree with the ketogenic diet well then don't do it then Let them do it Okay, because there's people in this world who have been have benefited from the ketogenic diet whether you agree with it or not Yeah, but it's only water weight though 30 pounds must be a lot of water weight from what I heard that water weighs only like 10 pounds Okay Yeah, but it's only because of caloric deficit okay, but you know what ketogenic diet assisted that person doing a Caloric deficit by feeding them the fats getting them satiated so they can lose the weight. Can you just support a brother? Good night in the morning Can't do right in front of people sometimes People trying to better their lives, and they're just trying to you know they get into carnivore diet Oh, I can't believe you're doing a carnivore diet. Don't you know that it's like dude chill out You do you then? Okay, don't be a person of emulation where you just have to have the best way to do it There's different ways of getting success Okay, and you know what and if someone has a different way than you, but they're successful at it. Just just say man That's awesome What do you have to gain by criticizing others if they're succeeding a different by using different methods than you do What do you get by succeeding in that nothing? you know you get you got other people looking at you saying this person is a contrarian This person involved in emulations. They always have to say something wrong to the person You know hey if you get some guy in our church. They're brand new and they start lifting don't hate on them for that Courage them in there amen they start lifting a little bit. They're there. They're you know. They're they're doing curls and They start running. I'm not into running I I don't like running, but you know someone runs, and they like it. I'll praise them for that Because at least they're doing something Okay, now if they come to me, and they say you know if they ask me for my opinion on diets obviously I'm going to give them my opinion But notice that they have to ask for my opinion for me to give it to them Right I'm not going to just slam them and say oh, I can't believe you do now I will say this if it's veganism absolutely I will Jump in and say that's not in fact. It's it's anti Bible to be a vegan okay, and So What sin are we on here Emulation Being better than everyone you got to have the better diet you got to have the better this you got to have the better that Folks we're all on the same team, and if someone's succeeding they're bettering their life support them Don't be a contrarian. Don't be a person who's just into emulations. We just have to be better than everyone else and look Nothing wrong with by the way. Let's let's say You do have a better way of doing it per se okay? Let's just theoretically say you have a better way of doing it. There's a way to Give that information why without sounding like a prideful arrogant individual Like this is what's worked for me. This is what I've done This is the research that the research that I've done has gotten me to this point. This is what I've learned I know how people have different way of doing this is what I've learned What do you guys think instead of just putting everyone else down saying this is the right way to do it? Now we can do that when it comes to salvation Because there's only one way of salvation folks There is only one way Okay, but there are different diets out there that people can adhere to and get the same results, and they're fine Oh, no, but you're gonna mess up your kidneys if you do carnivore diet. I haven't you're gonna mess up your liver. I haven't So what now well you're the exception why I know someone else who hasn't either I know a bunch of people who have it So you know if you want to go down that route, but let's not go down there I let's just support people if they decide to better their life Okay Not veganism or vegetarianism okay, or fruitism or whatever what's that called? Fruititarians it's out there fruititarians It was like I only eat fruits okay Bunch of fruititarians I don't treat witchcraft hatred variants and relations wrath Okay, the Bible obviously talks about being slow to wrath strife Seditions that's referring to rebellion heresies you know Christians can get involved in heresies when little Riley excuse me when they don't rightly divide the word of truth When they are watching too many YouTube channels of people who adhere to the book of Enoch and Not the Word of God okay, they can get involved in heresies Heresies envings Murders drunkenness these all speak for themselves Revelings reveling is just like the party like spirit Where every day is a party you know there's a time to celebrate okay? But this is time to just read the Bible work Feel pain feel suffering get sober get serious about the things of God I'm not saying be sober because you were drunk. I'm saying be sober minded be alert You know think there's times when we where it's not a time to laugh men. It's time to take things serious Okay envings murders drunkenness revelings and such like of which I tell you before as I've told you in time past that they would do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God so I just want to point those out there that you know these are some pretty bad sins some worse than others But I want you to notice that you know Christians are just capable of doing these things Okay, and if you are if you have the propensity to Flesh out these certain things. Here's the remedy walk in the spirit, and it's not hard It's not hard to walk in the spirit. It's just a matter of Recognizing I need to walk in the spirit at this moment Okay, people go in and out of the spirit all the time I was probably in and out of the spirit pretty much all day today or something You know get in the spirit and then you get out because you get upset or you hear something You're just getting a little out of hand and then you're just like I got to control myself. All right, Lord Help Lord help me, you know, just like filling with the spirit. That's constantly how we live Okay, so walk in the spirit. You won't fulfill the lust of the flesh and that's pretty much it. Let's pray father we thank you so much for your word Lord, and we're thankful that We have the new nature that can combat our old nature and The real honest truth is that we as Christians we're sometimes we're grieved at our old nature. It bothers us Especially when we want to do right, but then we realize that friend me that is in my flesh dwells No good thing and it just reminds us of a couple truths. Number one, of course, it reminds us that We need to walk in the spirit to live a life. That's pleasing to you that we can't do it in our own power We need the power of God in our lives to be able to do these things But also it just helps us to look forward to the day that we are that our bodies are redeemed When we get a glorified body, we no longer have to struggle with the old man. He can be put into the ground Permanently we never have to deal with that the old man ever again and we look forward to that day Lord