Look at verse number 14 where the Bible read,
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
And the title of this morning's sermon is The Struggle with Sin.
The Struggle with Sin.
Now, when it comes to understanding the struggle with sin,
there's a lot of different false doctrine about this.
Some people think that the struggle with sin is because people are not saved,
because they've never really believed in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and they try to equate your works with your faith.
This is false doctrine.
And the more that we understand why we struggle with sin,
the more we'll realize that it has nothing to do with being saved,
and it'll also help us actually get the sin out of our lives.
Because if you don't really understand why you have a problem,
it's going to be hard for you to fix that problem.
It's good to understand why we have certain problems
so that we can address them,
and then be able to actually have victory or success with that problem.
But keep your finger in Romans 7, because we're going to keep coming back to it.
But go if you went to Leviticus chapter number 18.
Leviticus chapter number 18.
Paul describes himself as being carnal.
And any time you have a problem,
the first step is always just admitting that you have a problem.
Right? Isn't that what they say at addiction places?
You know, it's like, hey, my name's Paul, and I'm an addict.
You know, I'm carnal.
But what does carnal really mean?
Well, when we study the word carnal,
I think the best way to describe it would be that of being a physical nature.
That which is physical.
What we see in the world.
You know, your five senses.
This is what it means to be carnal, or something that is carnal.
Look at Leviticus 18 verse 20.
The Bible says,
So carnal just means your physical needs.
It just means the physical aspects of our lives.
The fact that we need to eat food.
That's carnal.
The fact that we want physical relations with other people is carnal.
All of these things the Bible is saying.
And it's just the desires of your flesh.
But this is natural.
This is normal.
We all have carnal needs.
Carnal wants.
Carnal desires.
Why?
Because we're mankind.
You are carnal.
Paul is carnal.
I'm carnal.
We're all physical.
We're all mankind.
And we all have a sin nature.
Is what the Bible teaches.
Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number two.
I'll read for you.
The Bible says in first John chapter number two verse 16,
So according to the Bible, there's three aspects of the world that we all are subject to.
But it has nothing to do with God the Father.
It says, hey, the lust of the flesh.
What is that?
It's what your physical body just desires.
What your physical body needs.
We all need lots of different things.
We all need food.
We all need drink.
We all need rest.
We all just need a lot of different things.
And we're going to have a lot of desires of our flesh.
Things that our flesh wants, it needs.
How about of the eyes?
Just things that we like to look at and we notice, hey, this is something that's pleasant
to look at.
The definition of beauty.
And the definition of beauty is just something that you look at and it gives you a good emotion.
You feel good.
It's pleasant.
And the physical body, it wants to constantly satisfy all these physical needs.
That's all it cares about.
It only cares about satisfying your flesh, making it feel good.
Your flesh feeling good.
Your eyes feeling good.
That's why constantly in the world today, this is what people are constantly striving
for.
To just satisfy their eyes and their flesh.
That's all they really can care about because that's all they have.
Another thing is pride.
Pride is a very carnal emotion.
It's something that we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.
We want everybody to recognize us.
We want to be the king supreme in our flesh.
We want everybody to bow down to us and tell us how great we are and think that we're special.
This is just your physical body and what it's like.
But go to Ecclesiastes chapter 2.
Let's read about what Solomon did because Solomon, he really understands the carnal
world.
He even gives himself over to the carnal world and he breaks it down.
When we study our Bibles, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 4, the word of God is quick
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing, even dividing asunder of
soul and spirit of the joints of marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents
of the heart.
One thing about the Bible that's undeniable is the fact that it will describe everything
about you.
The Bible will tell you everything you could possibly want to know about yourself, things
you didn't even realize.
You start reading the Bible and it's like, wow, that's what I'm like.
This is what I do.
These are the thoughts that I have.
Why?
Because the Bible is infinite.
God's understanding is infinite.
And Solomon, he was one of the wisest people on the planet.
In fact, the Bible says there was none wiser before or after.
That's barring obviously the Lord Jesus Christ, but in a physical sense, this was the wisest
person.
What he describes here in Ecclesiastes chapter number two is the fact that he really tried
his hardest to satisfy every carnal need, every carnal aspect.
What he does here though is he basically just explains all of our own carnal natures.
He tells us every single aspect of the carnal life and what your flesh is like and what
we all desire.
Look at verse number one.
So what is he saying in verse number one?
He's saying, look, I want to test myself.
I want to prove myself with mirth.
What is mirth?
Mirth is joy.
Mirth is something that is pleasant.
And he's saying, you know what?
I want to just have the most pleasure possible.
Think of the celebrities today.
Think of the people that have lots of money.
What do they do?
They want to have a party in their mouth.
They want to have a party for their eyes, and they want as much pride in their life
as possible, don't they?
I mean, they just want to satisfy every single desire of the flesh as much as humanly possible.
Solomon actually tried this.
Solomon is saying, hey, I gave myself over to every desire of the flesh, and I wanted
to prove myself with mirth.
I want to see what it's like.
I said of laughter, it is mad, and of mirth, what doeth it?
And if we look at the world today, people wholeheartedly give themselves over to entertainment.
They love to entertain the flesh.
This is why movies and TV shows and Hollywood and all these things are so prominent.
I looked up some statistics.
The average American will watch over 5,000 movies in their lifetime.
5,000 movies.
That's a lot.
You say, why?
Because inside your flesh, you just want to constantly make something pleasing into your
eyes.
So we just got to watch all kinds of different movies.
It's not that they're getting satisfied from it, because as soon as they watch one movie,
they got to watch another one.
Let's watch another one, and let's just put another thing before my eyes.
And I just, I'm never satisfied.
Some people watch the same movie 100 times.
I've been guilty of seeing the same movie over and over just because I liked it, just
because it brought pleasure into my eyes.
I looked at another statistic.
It said in 2017, the U.S. consumer spent 238 minutes daily watching TV.
That is almost four hours average every single day.
So they're watching 5,000 movies.
They're watching TV four hours a day on average.
And look, obviously when that's average, there's a lot of people bringing up that bar.
They're spending six, seven, eight hours daily watching television.
They're just trying to satisfy the lust of the flesh, because look, the flesh wants that.
The flesh desires it.
We all do.
I would love nothing better than to just sit around and just watch things that are pleasant
into my eyes.
It's not like I don't desire that.
It's not like my flesh wouldn't enjoy that.
It's not that it's not pleasurable.
It's just we have to understand why it's because we're carnal.
Because we're carnal, the carnal person, the carnal mind desires this.
I also looked and said another report average was five hours that people are watching TV.
So one report was four hours.
Another one said five.
That's about 77 days per year.
Think about that.
How much of your life are you wasting just watching things?
I mean, what profit do you really get of watching TV, watching these movies?
It doesn't really add anything.
The film industry is $43 billion a year industry.
And the Bible says, go view it to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians 15.
I know I said to keep it in Romans 7.
Also keep it in Ecclesiastes 2 because we're going to go through that chapter.
The Bible says in Acts chapter number 4 verse 20,
For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
And this is true whether it's positive or negative.
If you go to the workplace and the only thing your co-workers can talk about is the TV show
last night and whatever movie they saw.
You know why?
You can't help but just speak all the things that you've seen and heard.
And if Hollywood can sit there and just infect your mind for hours and hours and hours and
hours and hours of every single day, guess what people just constantly talk about?
Whatever Hollywood told them to say.
You just sit there and program your mind to world carnal things.
And guess what's going to come out of your mouth?
Worldly carnal things.
Just over and over and over.
You are what you eat.
Also you are what you watch.
You just sit there and watch that junk over and over and over.
That's why culture constantly goes like this.
It looks completely different.
Different fashions, different foods, and it has this weird cycle.
Why?
Because it's whatever they're programming on the TV box and everybody just does it.
Everybody just responds.
Everybody just says, okay, that's what we're going to do.
We're not zombies.
Actually you are zombies.
Are what you eat.
In the carnal mind, these people, you go to work and all they can talk about is everything
that they watched.
That's the only conversation points they have.
They're only as smart as the TV and look, it's not smart.
Very foolish.
It's very idiotic.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33, be not deceived.
Evil communications corrupt good manners await to righteousness and sin not.
For some have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame.
So the Bible says, hey, don't be deceived.
If you sit there and watch TV for five hours every single day, you're going to have bad
communications.
You're going to be an idiot.
You're going to be a fool.
You're going to look like the world, talk like the world, and act like the world.
It's going to happen.
Whether you like it or not.
And when you satisfy that carnal desire, look, you're going to reap what you sow.
You're going to reap to the carnal world.
How about just the entertainment sports broadcasting network?
I don't know if anybody would watch the ESPN.
Oh, a lot of people do.
Eight billion revenue per year.
You say, I keep struggling with sin.
Well maybe if you just turn off the TV for the five hours you're watching it every day,
it would make an impact in your life.
Do you honestly think that I could watch five hours of TV every single day of my life
and it would not affect me?
Even as a pastor?
It doesn't even matter.
It doesn't matter that I'm a pastor.
If I watch five hours of junk, it doesn't matter what channel because they're all junk.
Whether it's daytime shows or reality TV which is never real, whatever it is, it's going
to major have an impact on my life.
And you say, man, I keep struggling with sin.
Well, why don't you lose the chain of that five hour TV box?
Maybe it'll make a difference in your life.
You know, the ESPN was eight billion dollar industry.
If you just look at sports in general, the NFL is a 13 billion dollar industry per year.
MLB is a 9.5 billion.
Football, as far as football, you know, soccer, 5.3 billion.
The NBA, 4.8 billion.
NHL is 3.7 billion.
And you say, what is sports?
Well, it is entertainment.
It's vanity.
But you know what it really is?
It's glorifying man.
We're looking at a particular individual who can do a physical activity the best and we're
glorifying it.
We're saying, this guy can run the fastest.
This guy is the strongest.
This guy can throw the hardest.
This guy can hit the best.
Whatever the action is, this person, you know, has the most accuracy if you're thinking about
golf.
But we're just looking at physical traits in a physical person and we're glorifying
that person.
We're glorifying something that is completely carnal.
There is nothing spiritual.
There's nothing special about it.
It's just complete carnality.
And we look at these people who just sit there and all they do is practice on this one physical
skill.
They have a lot of natural talent given to them by God.
And what do we do?
We glorify man, don't we?
We glorify the physicality of a human being.
The same thing could even happen in the Christian world, in the Christian church.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 3.
We ought not glorify a particular individual.
And we see the world loves this, don't they though?
I mean the world loves it.
The world loves to have their Michael Jordan.
The world loves to have their Tiger Woods.
When golf does not have Tiger Woods, their ratings drop significantly.
They don't do as well.
Nobody wants to watch.
But when they have their Tiger Woods, when they have their Michael Jordan, viewership
skyrockets.
Why?
Because mankind loves to just see this great champion, their Goliath, that goes out and
he's so great and he's so wonderful and we can just ooh and ah and ah.
He's so amazing.
It's so carnal.
But you know what?
Even within Christianity, people like to do this.
People like to lift up a particular individual and glorify a particular individual.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 1.
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even
as unto babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk and not with meat.
For hitherto you were not able to bear it.
Neither yet now are you able.
For ye are yet carnal.
For whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and
walk as men?
For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, and ye are not carnal?
So we see even within the Christian sphere, there could be a tendency to say, well, I'm
a better Christian than you because I'm of this guy.
Or hey, my pastor's so and so.
Or my church is so and so.
Who cares?
It's carnal.
We're all serving Christ.
The goal of church this morning is to glorify God and to glorify His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and to be edified by the Word of God.
It's not about the minister.
It's not about the individual.
And you know what?
What does carnal mind want to do?
It wants to elevate a particular individual.
It wants to elevate a man and say, oh, look at this guy.
You know, he has such a great voice.
He has such a great way to stand.
Something carnal, something physical, not something that's coming from the Word of God.
Not saying, wow, look at what the Bible said this morning.
Look at comparing those verses with verses.
Standing in awe of God's Word.
Standing in awe of the gifts and the things that God's given unto us.
The power of the Word of God.
Not the minister, not the individual, not the person.
And the people that are carnal, they care way more about the person delivering the message
than the message.
You know, what we should do is we should only care about the message.
We should only care about the Word of God.
That's where we should put our emphasis on is what the Bible says.
You know, God did not choose LeBron James and Tiger Woods and Roger Federer and Cristiano
Ronaldo and Messi and Stephen Curry and Muhammad Ali and Sidney Crosby and Derek Jeter to go
out and be the 12 disciples, did he?
Was that the 12 disciples list?
Oh, it's just all these guys that are great in the flesh, right?
I mean, all these guys are super strong and they're super amazing and they're the best.
No.
He picked fishermen, didn't he?
He picked just hardworking, humble men to go out and do what?
Do one of the greatest jobs imaginable.
Be an apostle of Jesus Christ.
In fact, they're going to sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel in the millennium.
Who's more powerful, him or LeBron?
Oh, but he's so amazing, he can dunk it really good, you know.
It's carnal.
It has no value.
It's vain.
But we understand that our physical body desires this.
Our physical body wants this.
We want to glorify man.
We want to lift up man.
We want to ooh and aah over man.
We ought to ooh and aah over the Bible.
You know, a lot of times they didn't like Paul because they said he's, you know, contemptible
in the flesh.
You know, he's weak in the flesh.
Who is this guy coming in here?
You know what?
He had a lot of power through God's word.
He was a great preacher.
I would love to hear Paul preach the Bible.
Not because of any physical sense, but because of the Spirit of God upon him, because of
the messages he was delivering.
Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter number 2.
You say, well, I'm not going around bragging about who my pastor is, and I'm not doing
all these things.
Well, let me give you a practical application of how people glorify the man over the message.
They glorify the man over the things of God.
You say, I'm going to go to church this morning because a certain preacher is behind the pulpit.
It's carnal.
I'm not going to go to church because so-and-so is preaching.
Carnal!
You know what?
You should just show up to church because you love God, because you want to hear God's
word being preached.
It's not about the minister.
It's about God's word.
And we see there's the struggle with sin.
Well, if you just show up to church three times a week, and you actually get some spiritual
mindedness, maybe you wouldn't struggle with sin so much.
But when you're so carnal, well, I only go to church when the really cool preacher's
in town.
He has the cool message, and he gets up and does cool things.
You're carnal.
You're missing the point.
It's not about all the physical aspects of preaching.
It's about God's word.
It's about getting God's word into your heart.
You say, I constantly struggle with sin.
Well, maybe you're going to church for the wrong reasons.
Maybe you're reading the Bible for the wrong reasons.
Maybe you're serving God for the wrong reasons.
I've heard a guy, he got thrown out of church, and he's like, I've been serving the pastor
for ten years.
No, that's wrong.
The pastor is supposed to serve the flock, first of all, and secondly, if you come to
church it's to serve God.
You have the bad motivation if you're coming here to serve me or some leader here, wrong.
Just go figure out something else because you're not.
You're serving God or you're not serving Him at all.
It's not to serve me and my physical wants and desires.
That's what Peter thought.
Hey, Lord, you can't wash my feet.
You can't do that unto me.
He says, hey, if I don't wash your feet you have no part with me.
Why?
Because it's not about how much I can do for another particular individual and praising
this individual.
It's about serving God.
Go back to chapter 2, look at verse number 3.
I sought mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainted mine heart with wisdom, and
to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they
should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
So not only does he just love to fill himself with entertainment, but even unto wine.
And when we use the word wine in the Bible, we have to let the context define it for us.
But in this particular context, he's not saying an alcoholic wine.
Solomon did do sinful things, but he's not giving himself over to drunkenness.
What this is meaning is he's giving himself over to luxury.
When you study the word wine in the Bible, oftentimes it means prosperity or something
that is a luxury.
If you just went into the desert, you're not going to find a bunch of fruit, and you're
not going to be able to have it all seasons of the year to be able to drink fruit juice
and to drink the wine.
So wine is a delicacy that only the rich can afford, or it's very seasonal.
So it's something that's kind of a luxury, but we see Solomon, I'm just going to give
myself to wine.
I'm just going to give myself to every possible luxury imaginable.
And look, when you're the king, and you have unlimited wealth, you can do this.
And he said, you know what?
I just want to let my carnal needs just go to the full extent, and I just want to give
myself completely unto wine.
Go ahead to 1 Timothy chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter number 3.
Wine is a beverage of prosperity.
It's of indulgence.
It's a sugary beverage.
And in America today, we've given ourselves over to so much luxury, so much delicacy,
we indulge too much to the point that we don't even realize how good wine is.
There's lots of parts of the world today where people never get this.
They don't get fruit juice and orange juice and all these different beverages.
And in fact, even my children, at least they understand, if we were to go out to a restaurant
and I were to order them an apple juice, they would get excited.
They like that because it's special.
It's unique.
It's not something that happens every single day, whereas some people, they have juice
every single second, and they don't realize what they're doing to themselves.
But when it comes to Solomon, he was giving himself completely over to luxury.
And that's why it says in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 3 that the bishop is not given to
wine.
You say, what does that mean?
I thought that means he's not supposed to drink alcohol.
Well, he's not supposed to drink alcohol because he's supposed to be sober, but not given to
wine means he's not just giving himself over to luxury, giving himself over to every
desire of the flesh, just letting every single thing of the flesh just be fulfilled and satisfied
and I'm not holding anything back.
No, the pastor needs to be one of self-restraint, one of self-control, saying, you know what,
I'm not going to just give myself over to pleasure and give myself over to indulgence.
But we see so many people today, they just give themselves over to the lust of the flesh.
They don't try to restrain from anything.
You know, he also said in chapter 3, go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 2, he said that he
laid hold on folly.
What is folly?
Well, the Bible says in Proverbs 9 verse 13, a foolish woman is clamorous, she is simple
and knoweth nothing.
Now Solomon, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines.
I bet there was a couple of foolish women in there.
And in fact, if you just go out in the world today and you just go to the restaurant, you're
going to hear that loud, obnoxious, stubborn woman.
She's all over the place.
She's everywhere.
You can find her everywhere.
And you know what?
That's folly.
And he was laying hold on these type of women and committing folly with them.
And we see, what does the carnal body want to do?
It loves that.
It desires that.
It wants to go find as much folly as it possibly can and lay hold on it and desire it.
The Bible also says in Proverbs 14 and 9, fools make a mock at sin, but among the righteous
there is favor.
You know, the flesh wants to even mock the Bible.
The flesh wants to mock God's commandments.
It wants to join in with the people at work that are saying foolish things about God,
foolish things about the Bible.
And when you give yourself over to folly, you're going to go down a dark road mentally.
I've been on all kinds of situations where people are mocking what the Bible says.
They don't realize that they're mocking the Bible necessarily, but they're just mocking
things about righteousness.
Oh, can you imagine people who just get married to one woman and they don't lay with all kinds
of different women?
How stupid and foolish.
I'm thinking, that sounds great.
That's what I want to do.
That's what the Bible teaches.
I'm going to keep myself under my wife.
I'm not interested in going around whoring around and being an adulterer.
You know what?
The world wants to do that.
The world desires that.
The world teaches that.
And when you're around fools every second, they're going to constantly mock sin.
They're going to mock the idea of being a virgin on your wedding night.
They're going to mock the idea of not drinking alcohol.
They're going to mock the idea of going to church three times a week.
They're going to mock the idea of you reading your Bible for lunch instead of filling your
face full of wine and your gullet full of a big burger.
They're like, what in the world is this guy doing?
This guy's an idiot.
Why would you read the Bible?
It's so outdated.
It can't tell me anything about my life.
Actually, it'll tell you everything about your life.
It'll tell you how stupid and foolish you are, and it'll tell you how much you just
give over everything to the lust of the flesh.
You just can't stop satisfying your eyes and your physical needs and all these different
things.
Look at verse four.
I made me great works.
I built me houses.
I planted me vineyards.
I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits.
I made me pools of water to water therewith the wood that bringeth four trees.
Another thing that the physical body desires greatly is great possessions, having really
nice houses, having really nice cars, having the boat, having the RV, having the vacation
home, having the ski resort, having a timeshare.
Don't buy a timeshare, all right?
I haven't had one, but I know people that keep buying them, and it's just like, what
are you doing?
As a young child, I desired that.
I was like, I want the biggest house.
I remember there was this movie I'd watch.
It's called Richie Rich, and this kid, I mean, he had the coolest house.
He had a McDonald's in his house.
He had a full-service McDonald's just in the house.
He just opens the doors, and there's like 20 workers, and it's just whatever he wants,
Big Mac, fries.
He even has his own roller coaster.
I mean, he just goes outside.
He's got his own roller coaster.
He has everything he could possibly desire, and as a kid, I thought, that's awesome.
That's so cool, and then you grow up, and you start cleaning your house.
You're like, I don't want that house.
I don't want these things.
I have to pay for it.
I don't want these things.
You know, it kind of puts a damper on some of those riches, but the reality is that the
carnal mind, the carnal body, desires these things.
That's why we constantly see bigger houses being built, right?
I mean, everything's bigger in Texas, right?
Well, you just keep seeing bigger house and bigger house, and are they making, well, they
do have those tiny houses.
Those are stupid, all right?
But I'm just saying, like, we do see, you know, these bigger houses and mansions, and
I look at some areas, and I'm just thinking, how are this, this many people having these
type of houses, you know?
It's crazy what we're doing.
Go to Luke chapter number 12, Luke chapter number 12.
We see Solomon, he wanted to be satisfied with his works, so he's just building great
things.
He's building houses and gardens and vineyards, and he's just trying to build as much things
as possible.
And look, when we go through these lists, all of these things are things that we have
to have.
We have to have food, we have to have clothing, we have to have a dwelling place, and in fact,
I believe that you need to have pleasure.
You need to have fun in your life.
I'm not a Puritan, okay?
I don't think that we should just, well, circles and squares are sinful, and let's all just
stare at the wall, and the only fun is reading Leviticus, you know.
Don't even laugh.
It's sinful to laugh, no instruments.
I don't believe in that for one second.
God created us to have fun.
God created all these things to be pleasurable.
God created marriage for you to have your physical needs fulfilled.
God created all the foods for us to enjoy what we eat.
The reality is, though, we have to understand that our physical body has no stop button.
The physical body says, you know what, food?
Let's just keep on coming.
Bring the truck up.
You know, let's just keep on loading up.
You know, clothing, I mean, look at the closets today.
I mean, some closets are as big as a bedroom.
Why?
Because it's just loaded up.
There's more shoes.
I need every color shoe.
I need five shoes to match each outfit.
I mean, just in case, I need everything that I could possibly desire.
I want to have 18 bedrooms.
I want to have the tennis courts and, you know, the swimming pools, and I want to have
all the gardens, and look, I'm not against you having a nice house.
I'm not against you having nice clothes.
I'm not against you eating a good meal.
We have to realize why we want those things.
Your flesh desires it.
Your flesh is saying, more, more, more, more.
That's constantly what your flesh is saying.
It's constantly wanting it.
Look at Luke chapter 12 verse 13.
And one of the companies said unto him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance
with me.
And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth
not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.
Most people think that their life is their balance sheet.
What are all my assets?
What are all the goods that I have?
What are all the things that I have acquired?
Let me measure myself based on my balance sheet.
And in fact, I worked in the financial industry for a while.
I worked as a senior credit analyst for a bank.
And you know what?
I got sick of it because the only way I looked at people was based on their balance sheet.
I looked at a person, and I thought about them based on their balance sheet.
What kind of house do they have?
How much money do they make?
What kind of assets do they acquire?
And that's how I would determine people.
That's how I looked at people.
I would just put a net worth above their head, and that's what I looked at them on.
And the carnal mind does that.
The carnal mind wants to think, well, I'm only worth what I'm worth monetarily.
That's my value.
That's the person that I am.
But the reality is, Jesus Christ, his net worth was zero.
As far as while he was on this earth, he didn't even have a place to lay his head.
He's just walking around with the clothes on his back.
Now I guess they had a little bit of value because they did cast lots for him, all right?
But I mean, virtually, this guy has nothing.
But he was of great value.
And obviously, the Lord has a cattle and a thousand ills.
Obviously, all the earth is the Lord's.
So obviously, he has abundant riches.
But when he came to this earth, he wasn't seeking to have a bunch of great physical
possessions.
He wasn't seeking to have all these goods.
Look at verse 16.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plenally.
And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do?
Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits.
And he said, This will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and
my goods.
And I will say to my soul, So thou hast much goods laid up for many years.
Take thy knees, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said unto them, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, then
whose shall those things be?
Which thou hast provided.
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life,
what ye shall eat, neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Now, let's understand a couple things here.
First of all, did this guy have a barn already?
He did, didn't he?
Did God condemn him for owning a barn?
No.
What did he condemn him for?
The fact that he was not satisfied with what he had.
I need more.
He was constantly going to get more.
And as soon as that barn was filled, well, let's build another barn.
And then the next barn.
And his life is consumed with possessions.
Look, there's nothing wrong with possessing items.
God wants you to have possession.
And in fact, in the children of Israel, they all had possession.
They all had inheritance.
And it was important for God to constantly return it to them.
And the reason why he gives you possession is that's the only way you can even give a
free will offering.
How can you give a free will offering if you own nothing?
But the reality is, what is your life consisted of?
Is your life consisted of gaining more inheritance, or just being content with the things that
you have?
Needing constant excess.
Needing to just satisfy every desire of the flesh.
And he says, look, this guy's laying up treasure, but he's not rich toward God.
We got to put more emphasis on being rich toward God than laying up anything on this
earth.
And there's a ton to lay up goods.
Didn't Joseph provide goods?
But why did Joseph lay up corn in Egypt for seven years?
To make provision for the famine, didn't he?
Didn't he just do it because he thought it would be cool?
I just want to build great pyramids just to see how great I am.
No, he was doing it on purpose.
And in my opinion, if you're just laying up goods with no purpose, it's probably sin.
Look, it's okay to have an emergency fund.
It's okay to save up money to buy a big purchase.
It's okay to save up money to go on a vacation.
It's okay to be wise and be good stewards and diligently consider thy flocks.
And God blesses a lot of people with wealth in the Bible.
But the question I have is why are you having so much laid up?
I have no purpose.
I just want to see how much I can lay up.
I just want to see how big a barn I can get.
Beware of covetousness.
You need to be rich toward God.
You ought to say, you know what, I want to see how big a barn I can get in heaven.
I want to see how much I can get in heaven.
But the physical body is never going to be satisfied.
Go to Proverbs 27.
You're always going to want a newer car.
Look, there's some people, they literally cannot have a car that's one year old.
I mean, they'll buy the 2019 and then as soon as it's 2020, they're going to trade up for
the 2020.
It's called the lease program, right?
They just constantly have to trade up.
You can't have a one-year-old phone.
You just got to get the new plan.
You got the up package.
You just, the next phone, I got the next one.
It's like the next plan or whatever, right?
AT&T, next phone.
You got to get the next car.
You got to get the next house.
I mean, you're just constantly ready to buy something else.
You're constantly ready to get the new thing.
You're constantly ready to have more and more and more.
Why?
Well, Proverbs 27 verse 20 says, hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of
a man are never satisfied.
When you realize that you can't satisfy the flesh, it'll help you realize, I need to just
keep it under control.
I need to try my best to temper the physical body, to keep it subject under me.
Because why?
It's never going to be satisfied.
You're never going to have enough.
You're never going to have the house that you want.
You're never going to have the cars that you want.
You're never going to have the food that you want.
You're never going to have the clothes that you want.
Just get over it.
And the person that constantly pursues this is going to pursue it unto death and misery
and pain and heartache, just like Solomon.
Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter number 2.
Say, I struggle with sin.
Well, the first step is just realizing what your flesh is like.
Your flesh is never satisfied.
Your flesh is always wanting more, and it's wanting all the things of the world.
Your flesh does not desire God one ounce, not even a little bit.
It only desires these things that we're mentioning.
Look at verse 7, I got me servants and maidens, and I had servants born in my house.
Also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above, all that were in Jerusalem
before me.
I gathered me also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces.
Look at verse number 8.
I gathered me also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of the kings and the provinces.
I got me men singers and women singers and the delights of the sons of men as musical
instruments and that of all sorts.
So you know, the Bible says, for the love of money is the root of all evil.
We've talked about how, look, gathering up silver, gathering up gold, the peculiar treasures.
I mean, people hoard up all kinds of things, stocks, bonds, 401k, precious metals, bitcoin,
all these things.
Why?
Not for a purpose, just to see how rich they can get.
Just to see how much money they can possibly have.
But we also see in verse 8 at the end part, it talks about men singers and women singers.
Now this is very interesting because throughout time, people have not been able to indulge
the flesh as much when it comes to music as today.
And in fact, it's increasing very steadily.
When they went to the marketplace, they're not just playing CCM and playing Backstreet
Boys and playing on every store that you go into and every restaurant that you go down
and every car has a radio.
I mean, it's just like the chariot did not have a radio, okay?
They did not have a private, you know, choir that's singing unto you.
They didn't just walk around with an iPad, with their iPhone, with just listening to
music and a Discman and a Walkman.
They didn't have these type of things and in fact, mankind is just going head over heels
even in music.
Let me give you some statistics on this.
Americans now spend more than 32 hours a week listening to music.
That's four and a half hours a day.
So you take the five hours you're watching TV a day, then you match it up with the four
and a half hours you're listening to music, okay, then you add all the movies that you're
watching on top of that.
That's not even considering the sporting things and whatever.
You're like, I wonder why I'm so carnal.
I wonder why I struggle with sin every second when the only thing that you're pumping into
your mind just over and over and over is just world, world, world, world, world.
I mean, I don't listen to any worldly song that just glorifies God.
It's not glorifying God.
It's not of God.
It's of the world.
It's constantly talking about fornication and adultery and drunkenness and divorce and
covetousness and just giving yourselves over to the flesh and that's going to affect and
rot your mind when you're just constantly listening to this filth and then you go watch
the filth and then you go back to listening to it more and then you just go to sleep and
your brain just sits there and repeats it.
You just dream about it and think about it and then you wake up in the morning and you
watch it more and you're like, yeah, I just struggle with sin.
Yeah!
I'm not that surprised.
I'm not that shocked.
And look, we're all going to struggle with sin but when you don't realize what your flesh
is like, you're going to just keep giving yourself over to it and really struggle.
You just keep going back to Egypt, turning on the Egypt channel, watching the Egypt channel
and in fact, even on YouTube, the most popular videos are music.
People love to just gratify every aspect of their life, what they hear, what they look
at, what they feel, just every one of your senses just to the max.
They just want to max it up.
Even just me myself, I would play computer games while I'm listening to music and eating
snacks.
I was sitting there just trying to fulfill every lust of the flesh.
I'm sitting there eating cookies, playing video games, listening to music, just max
as much as I possibly could satisfy the flesh.
You know what?
I was never satisfied and the unique thing about it was I could make time fly like this.
If I got into that mode, I would like, as soon as I got out of it, I'd be like, that
was like five hours.
It's like you get in this trance, you don't even realize what you're doing.
You know, if you're really enjoying a movie or a film or something, you can just let hours
go by very quickly.
You'll just watch your whole life pass by and it was just a vain vapor, just something
that you just didn't even realize was going on.
You know, in the music industry, it says that Americans have hit play on 184 billion songs
on Spotify and Apple Music.
I mean, we just play.
You're just letting the flesh just say, play another one, play another one, just one more,
just keep going.
Why?
Because it's never satisfied.
Just giving yourself over the vanity.
Go over to Romans chapter seven.
Let's go back to Romans chapter seven now.
You say, oh, you're just so mean.
Well, this is just the Bible, my friend.
This is what Solomon had discovered when he just gave himself over to the flesh.
I'm helping you realize what your flesh is like.
And if you're honest with yourself, we would all say, yeah, do I like food?
Checkmark.
All right?
Do I like entertainment?
Checkmark.
You know, probably like five checkmarks on that one, all right?
Do I like music?
Checkmark.
Do I like all the lusts of the flesh?
Checkmark.
Would I like a cool house?
Checkmark.
Would I like all these things?
Yes, because the Bible knows exactly what you're like.
God knows what you're like.
You're carnal.
And you know what?
Paul, in all his wisdom, he said, guess what, guys?
I'm carnal.
Just to wake you up, just to realize, even the apostle Paul, one of the greatest Christians,
he went and preached the gospel to everyone.
He said, guess what, guys?
Even though I'm preaching the word of God, I have the word of God, you know, coming out
of my mouth constantly, I have the Holy Ghost coming upon me, and I'm writing scripture.
I mean, talk about a pretty sold-out Christian.
You know what he said?
I'm carnal.
You know what?
If Paul's carnal, I know I'm carnal.
I know I'm real carnal, and it's real easy for me to give in to the lusts of the flesh.
Bible says in John chapter 6, it is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
So he said the word is spirit, and we look at verse 14 where we read, for we know that
the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
You know, God's word is alive, it is spiritual, and it wants to get you off the things of
the world.
Say, oh, the Bible's just a bunch of don'ts.
Yeah, it's warning you about all the problems that your flesh is going to try and get you
into, all the things the flesh desires, and it's saying no.
Say, oh, I don't like that.
Well, it's just because you're not spiritual, you're carnal.
Let's keep reading.
It says in verse 15, for that which I do, I allow not.
For what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I.
Not only was Paul carnal, he struggled.
Not only did he realize that he had these tendencies, he failed.
Notice, he says that which I do, so he's saying the things that I do are things that I teach
not to do.
I say, hey, the thought of foolishness is sin, and then I have foolish thoughts.
I say it's wrong to ever lie.
I lie.
I say it's wrong to steal.
I steal.
He's just admitting the fact that there's no person on this earth that's just going
around living perfectly, even the apostle Paul.
And he's saying the things that I would say no to, I end up doing.
And if we were honest with ourselves, we would say, you know what, there's a lot of things
that I say I shouldn't do, and I do it.
I struggle.
Why?
Because you're carnal.
He says for that, or for what I would, that do I not.
He also says, I had these great plans today, I was going to read my Bible for an hour,
and I was going to pray, and I was going to go to church, and then I find myself taking
a nap, just doing something else, just struggling, just satisfying the lust of the flesh, just
doing whatever else I wanted to do, just looking at Facebook for the whole hour instead of
actually reading my Bible, just gratifying myself, feeling good about myself.
He even says this, but what I hate, that do I.
He hated the sin in his life, but he said, you know what, I keep sinning.
I hate it.
It's a struggle.
You say, oh, man, I'm struggling with sin.
Welcome to Paul.
Welcome to Paul's epistle.
Everyone struggles with sin.
You know, and some people, they look at it, and they say, I'm just going to give up on
church.
It's hard.
Yeah, it's hard.
The apostle Paul was saying, I'm doing that which I hate.
Why?
You've got to realize your flesh desires nothing good.
There's nothing good about your flesh.
What does the flesh want to do?
It wants to be covetous.
It wants to envy.
It's prideful.
It wants to cause strife.
It wants to self-indulge in food and fornication and adultery.
It wants to be apathetic.
Man, apathy is such an epidemic today.
It's so frustrating today, but when people just fill themselves on the flesh, they don't
want anything else.
I'm good.
You know what?
I stayed up all night watching movies and eating and going to do whatever I want.
I don't want to go to church in the morning because they're full.
They're full on a bunch of junk, so they don't want anything spiritual.
They get apathetic.
They're self-loathing.
They're just so full on the world, but they're empty on God.
You know what?
If you'd empty yourself on the world, you'd have a lot more room for God.
You say, hey, I don't want to watch the TV.
I don't want to listen to worldly music.
I don't want to just satisfy every lust of my flesh.
My life is not just about seeing how many houses I can get and how many foods I can
get and whatever the other stuff is.
I'm going to just focus on God.
And in fact, the world loves to give itself over to lasciviousness.
Fornication is rampant in this world today.
I looked at a statistic that said 3% of Americans wait until marriage to have that relation.
3%.
The reality is mankind, the flesh, it just desires to do that, which is wicked, to give
in.
This article says in highly religious groups, though, up to 20% wait.
That's at least a good direction.
I mean, saying the world, 3%.
At least in very religious situations, it's 20%.
But let's get the reality, parents, 20% is the best you can hope for.
And honestly, it's probably Mormons.
It's probably not even the Christian churches.
It's probably some of these cults that are being more faithful than even in Baptist circles
and Baptist churches.
Look, I went around the Baptist churches.
I went around the Christian churches.
It felt like less than 3%.
It's ridiculous.
Why?
Because mankind just desires to satisfy the lusts of the flesh.
And if you just let teenagers go do whatever they want, I'm going to give you the answer.
They're going to be in that 97% every single time.
Why?
Because they're carnal.
Paul's carnal.
He even does the things that he hates.
You say, yeah, but my kids, they think that it's wrong.
Paul thought it was wrong and he did it.
Paul hated it and he did it.
You say, all my kids, they would never do that.
Well, just be like the other 97%.
You know, it says more people actually waited in the 1950s.
It was 11% in the 1950s.
You know, if you want to glorify the 1950s as being amazing, it was still 11%, okay?
The majority was still wicked.
The whole world lies in wickedness is what the Bible says.
Look at verse 16.
If then I do that which I would not, I consent under the law that is good.
Now then there's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelt in me.
For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.
He's saying, look, I've searched my flesh and it never wants to do good.
I mean, I want to do good, but my flesh only wants to rebel.
My flesh only wants to do things for itself.
He even says to the point that, look, there's nothing good in me.
There's dwelleth no good thing.
Your flesh is not good.
But some people, they think that when you get saved, your flesh starts to become to
sanctify and they'll try to misuse sanctification.
Look, sanctification is the process of you saying no to the flesh.
You're saying no flesh, yes God.
You know what?
I'm not going to turn on the TV this morning.
I'm going to open my Bible.
That's sanctification, but bad false teachers, they teach that sanctification is just you
wake up and you're just like, I want to serve God.
I want to just do that which is right now.
I just want to do good.
Look, if you don't make a plan, if you don't put in effort, if you don't try, you're just
going to satisfy the lusts of the flesh over and over and over and over.
That's why so many Christian churches today, you couldn't even tell if they weren't in
the physical building that they were more Christian.
In fact, a lot of times they look more faggoty and effeminate and worldly than just normal
unsaved people.
I mean, a lot of unsaved people, they seem more normal to me than the guys in these Christian
churches wearing their metro faggoty pants and looking like a queer and a sissy.
As the unsaved construction worker, he seems more normal, less carnal, less wicked, less
worldly.
Go to Romans chapter number 8 and look at verse 5.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are
after the spirit, the things of the spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because
the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
This is letting your flesh control you.
Look at verse 9.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit.
If so be that the spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
So according to the Bible, your flesh cannot please God.
And when we understand this, when we realize that we have this dichotomy, you have a dichotomy
in your body where when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you have a new birth.
You need a new birth because your flesh can't profit anything.
Your flesh is dead in trespasses and sins.
Your flesh is not pleasing to God.
It's at enmity with God.
It's a complete enemy of God.
You say, what do I need?
You need a new birth.
You need something new.
You need to be born again.
And when you get born again, it doesn't change the flesh though.
It's already dead.
It's already corrupted.
It's not fixable.
It's like when you take one of those slinkies and you just kind of twist it a few times.
It's done.
You can't make that straight which is made crooked by God.
Go to Ephesians chapter 4.
We're going to see what the Bible teaches about the dichotomy.
But according to the Bible, when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, your spirit is quickened.
What does that mean?
Made alive.
It becomes, it's what's known as the new birth.
And at that moment, you now have two options.
Before you're saved, you have one option.
Flesh.
And you know what?
The flesh does nothing good.
There's nothing good in the flesh.
It only sins and rebels against God.
It's wicked.
But once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, now you have the spirit.
And you have a choice.
Do I want to continue just walking in the flesh?
Or do I want to now try to walk in the spirit?
And when you walk in the spirit, you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh with the Bible
says.
Look at Ephesians chapter 4 verse 22.
That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
So the Bible tells us how to describe these two.
There's the old man and there's the new man.
The old man is your flesh.
Is that what you were born with?
Is that what was just born of your mother?
The new man is what was born of God.
And that which was born of God is perfect.
It only wants to please God and the flesh only wants to rebel against God.
And the Bible's commanding you to put off the old man and to put on the new man.
Now some people teach that this is automatic.
But then why would I have this commandment?
Why would he be told to do it if it's just automatic?
It's because it's not automatic.
And they say, why am I struggling with sin?
Because you're making no effort to stop sinning.
You say, I don't do anything.
I never open my Bible.
I go to church on Easter.
I never pray.
I never sing any songs to God.
Guess what?
You're going to struggle with sin horrifically.
It's going to have complete dominion on your life.
You know how you have to get that sin off of you?
You have to die daily.
You have to crucify the flesh.
You have to put off the old man and you have to put on the new man.
And even when you put on the new man, you still realize I'm carnal and I'm going to
struggle and I'm still going to fail and I'm still going to do that which I hate.
Why?
Because we constantly have this struggle until we die physically.
Until you can completely shed that old flesh, it's going to be a struggle until the end
of your life.
That's why we love eternal security because if it wasn't for eternal security, none of
us would make it.
None of us would get to the end.
They say, oh, the perseverance of the saints.
I'm not going to persevere.
I failed.
I sin every day.
I have foolish thoughts.
I would love to get rid of the foolish thoughts, but it plagues me.
Just like it plagues you.
And you say, how do you know that?
Because the Bible told me.
Because we saw what Solomon is like.
We see what the Bible teaches us.
Go to Colossians chapter 3.
I'll read for you from Romans 12.
The Bible says in verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
You know, the Bible says that you don't automatically become Christlike.
You know how you become Christlike?
By every day transforming and renewing your mind with the word of God.
Washing all the filth off of your mind and your flesh with the word of God.
And when you don't, you're just going to go back to the flesh.
And you're just going to live of the flesh.
You're going to be like Lot.
Lot was saved, and he did nothing good.
Why?
Because he only satisfied his flesh.
He pitched his tent toward Sodom.
He just turned on the Sodom box, and he watched the Sodom box, and he listened to the Sodom
box, and then he went and dwelt inside the Sodom box, and you know what?
Everything that he did was wicked.
This guy didn't do anything right.
His whole family is screwed up.
His children are screwed up.
He ends up committing fornication with his own daughters.
He gets drunk.
You say, why is he doing that?
Because he's not trying to serve God, because he's not crucifying the flesh, because he's
not putting off the old man.
You say, why do I keep struggling with sin?
Is God not trying?
No, you're not trying.
God's giving you everything.
God said, hey, I have the cure, but people just don't want the cure.
People aren't interested in the cure.
Or oftentimes, I believe people are just ignorant.
They just don't realize that's what it's like.
They don't realize that they have to put in effort.
They don't realize that it's going to be a struggle.
They don't realize that they need to do all this different planning and constantly seeking
God and constantly transforming themselves.
So they just go through life struggling, not realizing what the problem really is.
Look at Colossians chapter 3 verse 7.
In the witch ye also walked sometime when ye lived in them, but now ye also put off
all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.
So what does the Bible say you've got to do to put that new man on?
Constantly renew yourself with knowledge.
Constantly go to church.
Constantly read your Bible.
Constantly seek God's word.
Sing praise unto him.
Pray unto him.
You know, the prayer that Jesus gave us said, lead me not into temptation.
Why?
Because when I get led into temptation, I'm probably going to fall because I'm carrying
carnal, because I struggle, because the things that I hate, I still do.
So I've got to pray to God and say, please, lead me not into temptation.
Please help me.
Please help me with this flesh.
And when we see what Paul was like, one of the most spiritual men of the Bible, he says,
I'm still carnal.
You know what it tells me?
You're carnal.
I'm carnal.
We're all carnal.
We've got to work on it.
We've got to try.
And when we realize we're going to fail, it's going to help us see that we need to just
keep fighting because it's going to be that constant struggle, that constant battle.
Go back to Romans chapter number seven.
Let's finish this chapter quickly and there's a couple other thoughts.
Look at verse 19.
For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find that a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me, for I delight in
the law of God after the inward man.
That's that new man.
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then with the mind I myself stir the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
He comes to the conclusion, how am I going to escape this flesh that's got me captive,
that I keep failing with Jesus once we finally die and we get our new body.
That's how you're going to succeed over sin, the new body.
And every second, every moment of your life is a fight.
The flesh is at war with the spirit.
The flesh is saying, you know what, give in to all the luxury and the pleasure and
the fornication and the adultery and just satisfy the eyes and just satisfy the ears
and just, I just want more and more and more.
And it's going to war against that spirit.
It's going to say, don't go to church, don't read the Bible, don't sing praises, don't
pray to God.
It's going to be a constant battle and a struggle and a fight.
That's why we need to constantly crucify the flesh because when you get out of the battle,
you stop fighting, stop reading.
Look, if I just go home and I just start watching TV, listen to worldly music, I'm going to
get out of the fight.
I'm just going to become so carnal and so worldly and not serving God and I'm going
to struggle with sin way more than I ever imagined.
And sin will take you further than you want to go.
Let's get the solution.
Go to Romans chapter 13.
There's a lot of other scriptures that we could look at.
Proverbs 24 verse 16 says, for a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again.
The reality is the righteous guy is not perfect.
You know what the righteous guy is?
The one that keeps fighting, the one that keeps struggling against the sin, that keeps
saying, you know what, I want to keep trying to read my Bible.
And whenever you sin, whenever you struggle with something, whenever you fail, you know
what the best thing to do is?
To immediately get back on the horse, immediately get into prayer, immediately open your Bible,
go back to church, sing praise unto God, just immediately say, you know what, I'm going
down a bad path, I need to immediately make a course correction.
I need to immediately say, why?
Because the further you get away, the harder it's going to get, the more difficult it is.
And in fact, oftentimes when you sin, every single ounce of your body doesn't want to
do anything spiritual at that moment, because the flesh is in control, the flesh is in the
driver's seat.
So sometimes you've just got to force yourself, you know what, nope, I'm going to open my
Bible, nope, I'm going to read the word of God, nope, I'm going to memorize a scripture
that's going to help me with this struggle of sin.
Why?
Because if you don't keep fighting, you're just going to fail.
But you know what the just man does?
He keeps rising up.
He just keeps going back to the word of God.
He just keeps striving and keeps pressing towards the mark of God.
You're all going to struggle.
You're all going to fail.
We're all going to have things that we hate about ourselves.
We're all going to have sin in our life.
You know what separates the just from the unjust?
The one that keeps fighting, the one that keeps getting back up, the one that keeps
saying, look, the just man, he fell seven times.
That could happen in like 10 minutes, you know?
It just keeps happening.
When we don't, we limit God.
If you look at Joshua, when they destroy Jericho, they're going to then go and destroy
A.I.
But they end up failing.
Why?
Because there was sin in the camp.
And when we have sin in our lives, it will limit God and how he can bless us.
You know, it says, he that turneth his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall
be abomination.
When you don't want to follow God's word, when you want to just keep following the flesh
and the flesh and the flesh, you know, your little last ditch effort isn't going to really
matter.
God wants to see the guy that's constantly striving and constantly trying to be righteous.
The Bible says, be therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
So we ought to strive for perfection.
But we balance that to realize, I'm going to fail.
I'm not going to be perfect.
And God's long suffering and grace is there to carry us through when we fail, when we
struggle.
But you know what?
His mercy and grace is conditional on something, you being repentant.
You keep fighting.
You getting down and on your knees and saying, God, I'm sorry, please help me.
Leave me not in temptation, going back into God's word and letting his word constantly
renew our minds.
And a practical application of this is Romans 13 verse 10 says, love worketh no ill to his
neighbor.
Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to wake out of sleep.
For now is our salvation nearer than we believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light.
Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering
and wantonness, not in strife and envy, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not
provision for the flesh to fulfill the lustre of.
You say, how do I battle the struggle with sin?
You have to not make provision for the flesh.
You have to put boundaries up and just realize, hey, my name is Pastor Shelley and I'm carnal.
I struggle.
So you know how I'm going to combat that?
I'm going to put up boundary marks to where I can't get over here.
Hey, if I throw the TV in the trash, I can't watch it.
That's going to help me not make provision for the flesh, isn't it?
If I don't have any of the world music to listen to, I can't listen to it, can I?
If I put the things in my flesh away and I put boundaries in my life, then it's going
to help me succeed.
And the guy that doesn't have any boundaries, he constantly struggles with sin way more
than anybody else.
He's like a city without walls, what the Bible says.
He has no control over his own spirit.
If you don't have any boundaries in your life, if you don't realize that you have problems,
you're just going to live in Egypt and stay in Egypt and struggle in Egypt.
I want to actually walk to the Promised Land.
And you know what?
On that journey, I'm going to have a lot of failures, okay?
I'm going to have a lot of difficulty.
You know what?
I want to be walking in the right direction.
And if you don't make a constant effort, you'll be walking in a direction you didn't even
realize.
When you stand in that ocean water and the tide keeps coming, you just keep getting washed
out further and further and further just by standing still.
You've got to constantly walk towards the shore if you want to get out of the depths
of sin.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you, Father, so much for your Word.
Thank you for having so much grace and long suffering towards us.
Thank you for the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can shed this body of death and get
a new body.
Thank you for renewing our spirits when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and giving
us the ability to walk in the Spirit.
I pray that we would all understand the gravity of sin, that how damaging it can be in our
lives, the vanity of our flesh.
And I pray that once we realize that, we would make a constant effort to put boundaries in
our life and to strive to continue to follow you.
And realizing no one's perfect, we're never going to be perfect.
And we thank you and love you for giving us the grace and the mercy.
I pray that in our hearts we would keep that in our mind so that when we fall, we'll rise
up back again.
And we'll keep fighting and we'll keep striving so that you can get more glory and more honor
through our bodies.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.