(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you For on Thursday, and then what was other one Friday? one each you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord let's pray dear heavenly father i pray that you'd bless the service and you'd help us to glean something from your word i pray that you'd give pastor boldness to preach the truth and that this uh the soul winning after this service would be blessed and everything would be done to honor and glorify your name amen you all right so this morning i want to preach a sermon and kind of it's kind of a follow-up from the the midweek service from the the bible study in galatians chapter five because there's so much content there that that i went over and i really kind of blew past the the end portion of that chapter and i wanted to dig in a lot more on um you know i gave the homework for reading romans chapter 7 if you were here or you listen to the sermon and we're going to be going over romans 8 and romans 7 in depth this morning just because i think it's really important to do that and hopefully there's something even if it's just one small thing that you can glean from the sermon this morning that will help you out in your struggle in your battle against the flesh right this is something that's that we all have to experience we all go through and we have to deal with it and that was what was referenced near the end of galatians chapter five i'll read a few verses from galatians chapter five and go and we're going to stay in roman chapter eight uh in in galatians 5 16 the bible says this i say and walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh for the lust the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that ye would it's our flesh that causes us to not do the things we want to do and says the things that you would it's it's would just means it's your will it's what you want to do so spiritually we want to do good in the spirit we want to do what's right we want to serve god it's it's you know we have this this vision or this idea of how we can live our lives and like man i want to read my bible more i want to pray more i want to reach people the gospel of christ more i want to just live a wholesome life i don't want to get involved in sin and bondage and and bring all that mess into my life i don't want to have a bunch of drama that's just completely unnecessary just as a result of pride as a result of sin whatever the case may be right i don't want that i want to have the joy and the peace and the love as galatians 5 states but we have this flesh and the flesh is warring against us and fighting against us which is what's not allowing us to really walk in the spirit on a regular basis the bible says in verse 18 there of galatians 5 but if you be led of the spirit you're not under the law now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these and it lists off specific sins just talking about the works of the flesh adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variants emulations wrath stripes additions heresies envying murders drunkenness revelings and such like it i mean just all manner of sin right there's all different kinds of sin there's some that we would think are just absolutely terrible like adultery and then there's other ones that may not seem as big of a deal but look they're all they're all uh the works of the flesh of the witch i tell you before as i have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of god and i covered that already in the wednesday night sermon you could go back and hear uh that verse expounded there but obviously it is a big deal bringing up all these sins and it's something that we want to not have in our life it's something that we ought to be striving to get out of our life on a regular basis because it's so much better to be experiencing the fruit of the spirit which is love joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance right having peace in your life is a good thing having love having joy being happy right all of these things they're great that's what everybody wants their life about that's what unsaved people want to have in their life you want to have peace you want to have joy you just want to you want to go through life and just love it and have have a great experience in your life you don't want to have to deal with all of the garbage and uh baggage that comes along with sin so back in romans 8 we're going to dig in a little bit deeper into this because i want to just drive home one how bad sin is you know we got that list in glacians five there's lists in other portions of the bible like he even referenced they're saying look i've already told you about this i've told you in times past i'm telling you now again and when we see these things hey this doesn't have to be groundbreaking earth-shattering mind-blowing i've never seen that before in the scripture sunday morning it's we're aware of this and we need to remind ourselves of this because sin as a way of creeping in sin as a way of deceiving you sin as a way of of of getting a foothold in your heart and then once it's in your heart it will always grow beyond that and always leads you down a path you don't want to go so we want to try to stop that and hopefully like i said you know you can gain some insight some tactic some wisdom to be able to just combat your flesh and to be able to fight that sin and weaken the body and weaken that flesh and strengthen that spirit because hey if we're walking in the spirit we're not going to fulfill the lust of the flesh and the title of and the title of my sermon is to be carnally minded is death to be carnally minded is death and that comes from romans chapter 8 verse 6 specifically and as a theme when we go through this remember to be carnally minded if you are going to try to ensure that you're not going to be getting into sin you have to be making a conscious effort it has to be something that you've decided in your mind it has to be a direction that you want to do the spirit is there to prompt you and to help lead you and guide you into all truth and to and to that desire to even want to do what's right comes from the spirit but we have a will god has given us a mind he's given us a will to choose what we're going to do and we have to recognize and think about things and plan our days and have our steps to some degree laid out we have to have planning to not allow ourselves to get involved in sin it has to be conscious it's not easy if you just take the approach of just well i'm just going to kind of take everything as it comes and not really have much of a thought or much of a plan anything you're gonna be more likely to just find yourself in sin because naturally we're prone to sin from the natural man from the flesh and if you don't have some goal some objective something that's going to lead you and guide you you will just end up finding yourself in sin and especially when you got you got time or you got money or you've got whatever just kind of this abundance of stuff and you're at ease is the the easiest time to to slip into sinful activities but let's look at romans day which is kind of like a bible study this morning verse number one the bible reads there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in christ jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus have made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh god sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit this is really interesting here it's kind of you know you got to take a minute and think about this what it's saying because we're not saved by the law we're not saved by the works or by the law we're actually condemned by the law because we're sinners but once you're trusting in christ once you're born again you're free from the law but now we're supposed to be following the law right it's it's this we're not we're not saved by the law but that the righteousness of the law should be fulfilled in us we don't walk after the flesh but after the spirit so there's a way of like coming we come back to the law but it's not it's definitely not as a as a requirement or means for salvation it's because we're born again and because we want to walk after the spirit and not after the flesh which is why we then turn to the law because it's all of those things that we read in galatians five all those sins it's breaking god's law right and that's the work of the flesh so we go how are we going to first even identify and look and see well how am i going to not walk in my flesh but in the spirit well look at the law because you don't want to be getting in sin right verse number five 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 and you know don't let that pass you by being carnally minded having your your mind your thoughts just your your goals your desires your wishes how you're gonna live your life if it's focused around carnality on your flesh and that could be so many different things so many different things if it's in the covetousness of money and greed and wealth and and you know or vanity and in you know even you know just power and and fame and or drugs or what you know anything you want to satisfy your flesh you know all these different objectives and and goals and desires that you want to have and if if you're carnally minded and you're focused on these things and that's what's important to you and that's what your life's about hey being carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace we need to maintain a spiritual mind and when you really and hopefully you do and hopefully you believe this and hopefully you're with this that our whole life here it's not about your money it's not about your status it's not about your possessions it's a short amount of time and young people especially listen up because you kind of you kind of feel like you have all the time in the world and you've got all these things you can do but listen don't get distracted on what's important and what life really means and what it's about it is not about the houses and cars and things that won't bring you life and peace it doesn't it doesn't even bring you joy what it what it usually does it's going to leave you wanting more whatever you attain to you're going to want more and you're going to be miserable because you don't have it that's what covetousness covetousness does that's what envy does you take it or not but the bible says to be carnally mine to be currently minded is death and you know the wages of sin is death and if you if you have this desire to just satisfy your flesh gratify the flesh and just live a life where you're just okay with sin hey the wages of sin is death and obviously we believe and i teach that the wage of sin is death like there's the eternal death punishment of hell however just sin itself will also brings physical death i mean death wasn't in the world until adam sinned and if you want to tempt god you could go ahead and just try keep living like a real sinful life and just go off into sin and see how long you live physically on this earth yeah you have eternal life i'm not saying you're going to lose that but go ahead just tempt god and see and see what he thinks about that look at verse seven because the carnal mind is enmity against god so not only is the car is to be carnally minded is death but you are at enmity like you are god's enemy you are opposition you're you're you are opposed to god when you're carnally minded it's like whoa wait a minute hold on a second you know that might hopefully that makes you think twice about the fleshly things you just want to indulge in fill in the blank whatever they are for you and when you have that mindset and you have no i want to do this and you know it's wrong especially you know what you're doing you're putting that above god you're putting that desire that that whatever that is that that consumption of that lust that makes you at enmity against god 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 which is why i want to strive to be in the spirit right 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 and if christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness but if the spirit of him that raised up jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh for if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live now i read a longer portion here because i want you to see there are two points being brought up in this passage it's not just one it's not just one that says you have to obey the law or else you're gonna die that is being brought up here and it's not just the one that says oh hey well if you're saved then you're free from the law and you know god's pleased with you or whatever and you're good because the law has no dominion over you it's teaching both it's not just one so in the portion that we were reading he says hey you're not in the flesh if god's spirit lives in you right like like there's that so so amen we have the holy spirit residing us we're born again we're saved we got the new creature great but he follows that up by saying okay brethren so brethren guess what brethren guess what brothers in christ we're debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh so we're a debtor to the spirit we're a debtor to god because he saved us not to our flesh so we shouldn't be indulging in the flesh we should be mortifying the flesh instead for if you live after the flesh ye shall die he's got done saying like you know hey you've got eternal life because of the spirit but go ahead and try living a life of sin as a believer as a christian i said we'll see how long you make it because you know if you are not being useful here and look god's long suffering and god's merciful and god gives a lot of chances okay and god will will he he really wants people especially his children to get right with him you know and to come back to him and he gives a lot of grace but don't tempt him and you know the the there's a lot more grace when god sees a penitent heart too so you might have someone who's struggling hard with sins but they keep coming back to god and they keep on having a broken heart you know god will be able to give a lot of grace for that because he sees the effort he sees where their heart is but the person who's just stiff necked and hard-hearted when it comes to sin and just saying i know what's wrong i'm just going to do it anyways and not be grieved and not really care that much and just say now or start lying to yourself about what's in and what's not just because you want to do something that gratifies your flesh it's a dangerous place to be in and we'll see that especially at the end of the sermon but that's why it says there in verse 13 but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body shall live right the wages of sin is death so you live in the you live after the flesh you die and if you mortify the deeds of the body you live for as many as are led by the spirit of god they are the sons of god for you have not received the spirit of a bondage again to fear but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry abba father the spirit itself bear with witness with our spirit that we are the children of god and if children then heirs heirs of god and joint heirs with christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together for i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed us and this is now being spiritually minded right the sufferings of this present time it's not even worth it's not even worthwhile it can't even be compared to the glory that's going to be revealed later like it you know we think it's so bad whatever the sufferings are right now but in the contrast in the comparison to god's glory and to and to you know going to heaven and being with the lord it's just like not like why would you even bring that up like once you're there you're gonna be like why would that even be a thing it's so far outshined and so far outweighted it's just kind of like like it's a drop in the bucket it's like nothing that suffering that you think is so bad here in the end is just like yeah that's that's that's really nothing but see you have to be spiritually minded to even see that and to be uh you know to have the faith that knows that this is true that these words are true because we're not there yet verse 19 for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of god for the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of god for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now and not only they but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body turn back if you would to romans chapter 7 we started in romans 8 but obviously romans a is a continuation of roman chapter 7 it's it's all part of that same um the same epistle and same thoughts even going into that we started a little bit ahead but i wanted to do that and then jump backwards and get further context here of what we just read romans 7 verse 1 the bible reads know ye not brethren for i speak to them that know the law how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth for the woman which has an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth but if the husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband so then if while her husband liveth she be married to another man she should be called an adulterous but if her husband be dead she is free from that law so that she is no adulterous though she be married to another man and look this is a real simple teaching but this is why i don't believe in divorce and remarriage because when you get married you make a vow it's until death do us part so you are marrying that person until death now people get these divorces and then they get remarried but just like the bible says here hey look if if a woman which uh you know when she has a husband she's bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth she's bound why because there's an elf there's a covenant there's a marriage that's why you don't just get married willy nilly you think about it you you there there's there's sanctity in marriage it's set apart it ought to be at least it's not anymore these days in american culture but you know what in in christian culture it ought to be and we believe that here that it is very special and that it is something be treated uh whole as something that's holy and righteous and that we do believe that that when you make that vow when you make that commitment it is until death as is what's being described here in roman chapter 7 that okay now once the husband is dead now that that's gone right that that covenant is broken because he's passed away so it's it's no longer in effect and now she could go ahead and be married to whoever she wants but then in verse three says so then if her if while her husband liveth she be married to another man she should be called an adulterous so you can't just go off and marry someone else because you don't like that guy anymore or whatever that's according to bible here is she's called an adulterous but if her husband's dead she's free from the law so that she's no more an adulterous though she'd be married to another man and that's all just an analogy anyways to teach what he wants to teach here in verse number four wherefore my brother and ye also are become dead to the law by the body of christ so we were bound to the law or married to the law as it were but we're sinners and we're in bondage but christ came and fulfilled the law and he you know when he was sacrificed up on the cross and rose again from the dead so it says ye are also become dead to the law by the body of christ through what christ did now we become dead to the law which then frees us to be married to another that you should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto god for when we were in the flesh the motions of sin which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death but now we are delivered from the law that being dead wherein we were held that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter what shall we say then is the law sin god forbid nay i had not known sin but by the law for i had not known lust except the law had said thou shalt not covet but sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence for without the law sin was dead for i was alive without the law once but when the commandment came sin revived and i died and the commandment which was ordained to life i found to be unto death for sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it by the law slew me wherefore the law is holy in the commandment holy and just in good so the law is good the law is guiding you and teaching you and commanding you to abstain from all bad things things that will harm you things that are not good for you right that the law is good no doubt about it but the problem is that we are sinners because there is a law we're transgressors of the law which then makes us have a debt that we owe because of that which brings us into bondage before god because we can't keep his law which is of course what then shows us that we need a savior because we break his law and that's also then what frees us from that punishment from that debt but the commandment is still always good verse 13 was then that which is good made death unto me god forbid but sin that it might appear sin working death in me by that which is good the law is not bad sin is bad right the law is good but the the breaking of the law is bad it's it's the sin that's bad not the law that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful verse 14 for we know that the law is spiritual but i am kernel sold under sin for that which i do i allow not for what i would that do i not but what i hate that do i and it's a little bit of a tongue twister but all he's saying here is that the things that i do are are not the things i really want to do he's like i end up finding myself doing things which says that which i do i allow not so he catches himself doing things that he doesn't want to do he has rules for himself like no i'm not going to do this right because he cares about the word of god he doesn't want to get into sin but he says i still end up doing these things but then he's like then what i want to do that do i not i don't do it right i mean how many times have you wanted to to preach the gospel or if you wanted to read your bible you want you know you have these thoughts maybe like you come home from work or you're going like oh man here's what i'm going to do today and then and then and then it doesn't happen right i mean how many times why because of the flesh ultimately it's because of the flesh because something else becomes more important or whatever or we just distract ourselves with other things which is one of the reasons why we're trying to do the digital detox last month is to show you like hey you could you could get away from that and maybe accomplish some of the things that you want to do that you're not doing right and then he says but what i hate that do i so it's and as we'll see let's keep reading if then i do that which i would not so if i do the things i don't want to do i consent unto the law that it's good the law is still good it just because i break the law doesn't mean the law is bad right the law is still good verse 17 now then is no more i that do it but sin that dwelleth in me and and look don't take this as a cop out it wasn't me it was the sin right like it's not no we all have the will okay we still have the choice you can we have the flesh and we have the spirit but there is a decision making that's going on between walking in the spirit and walking in the flesh and this is why you have to be mindful you have to actually think take time out and and and make plans and think and say how can i accomplish this and and what can i do to to try my best to avoid falling into this trap of getting into sin and end up doing the things i don't really want to do and there's many ways and i encourage you and i'm not going to go through everything i will give a few examples though just practicality you ought to be on guard obviously i think have the most uh thought and and uh your mind just made up and settled on some of the worst sins like have that be really important and then keep going down the list on the things that you know so like anything that would be a capital crime like adultery for example make the rules make the effort to make sure that will never happen don't you don't want to give your flesh an opportunity right because if you have that weak moment if you put yourself in a position you find yourself in a spot where you might actually be able to commit adultery then it could happen but if you are never in the position where that could even happen it's not going to happen so you know and and some people call me crazy but look i think this is great advice and i was so happy when when i received this preaching of the word of god a long time ago before i was married because it makes a lot of sense and the world today is going to you know if they hear some of the things that like that i believe or what i do they might think i'm crazy they do think i'm crazy but i think it's wise so for example my wife and i we don't have friendships with people of the opposite gender that we just have these for now look it doesn't mean i can't talk to a woman or she can't talk to a man but we don't have the friendships of like she's communicating with other guys chatting them up having messenger doing whatever and just having all this communication and i'm not doing that either with women okay now we have a lot of friends we have a lot of married couples that are friends and we talk to everyone you know we we enjoy the company and can get to know people and everything else and that's great and that's fine but it's all appropriate and nothing is being said that the other one doesn't know about nothing and i think that's safe and i think that's wise because oftentimes one person may not be wanting or seeking out a relationship oh but it just happens all of a sudden people start getting close and then there's this rough patch and then there's these fights and then there's these arguments and then one of the spouses isn't feeling you know isn't feeling very loved or isn't feeling very respected or appreciated or whatever and they're going through a rough patch in the marriage but you got your friend there that's what happens like so many times see the patterns be wise and say you know what i care a lot about my marriage i care about my wife i care about my husband i want to make sure this never happens i care about following god and his commandments and i see that adultery carries a death penalty i never want to be put in a place where i have this lust of my flesh that's going to be you know maybe wanting to be satisfied at some point and committing such a horrible crime and doing something that is just so damaging and so scarring to your spouse like they're usually you oftentimes there's not coming any coming back from that it's it's a permanent damage if nothing else even if even if you can maintain a marriage after that it's not the same it won't be the same ever ever it it's it's a wound it's a scar it's deep i mean in the bible according to bible you'd be put to death but even here now if that's not happening it's still going to be really really really damaging and that's just one example right so we could go down the list on many things you know if you want to look at drunkenness look at um you know fornication fornication dads we put the rules in place for our daughters and our sons to not be able to even get in those situations where they're just all by themselves somewhere in some bedroom or or wherever who knows to be able to have that type of interaction going on and you have to do your best to do that to to try to put those rules into place and make sure it's not going to happen if you're dating and single you don't care about that you should be thinking about that and going i'm not going to put myself in that even if even if the opportunity arose i'm not going to put myself in a situation no we're going to stay in a public place drunkenness don't don't go hanging out at the bars don't go don't accept the invitation after work to go hang out with the guys for a drink or even even if you don't drink because then it's going to be the pressure is going to be there and then so you know it's it's well how can you be pressured to drink if you don't put yourself in the situation to begin with you see what i'm saying this is and this is thoughtfulness this is you have to be consciously thinking about these things and saying what can i do to make sure i don't fall into these traps of sin and i mean we'd be here all day if i just started listening every single sin and talking about all the different things that you got to try to do to avoid it but look you have to take the time and think about those things for yourself and and how are you going to manage your time in your in your days to to do your best to avoid any of these things from happening because we know that we have a flesh that's going to cause us to do the things we don't really want to do the flesh is going to drive you to do that it's the sin that dwells in you and take heed let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall and seriously you don't want to to be too puffed up in your attitude in your mind oh that would never happen and look that's pretty easy to do especially over time you know i could easily say oh i've been i've been married now let's see i've been married for you know over 15 years that's never going to happen and look i believe that wholeheartedly but i'm still not going to be foolish enough to start just opening up the door a little bit and allowing for these occasions to happen you have to care about it and think about it be conscious about that see what verse did we leave off on verse 21 i think i find then 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 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 this body the feeling the cravings the lusts are what's driving you to sin and your mind is going no i don't want to do that but hey your mind can be pretty smart right like i said trying to make these conditions under which it's going to be a lot harder to sin so try to outsmart your flesh but that's also why you can't just go off of feelings because we have a sinful flesh and it's i mean people do that again going back to the adultery and fornication oh you feel like you love someone okay but you can't just act on those feelings because that's also a lust of the flesh that can drive you in the wrong direction you have to use your mind and think about it and say no what's right what should i be doing and and guarding yourself against sin oh 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 serve the law of god but with the flesh the law of sin notice that with the mind i myself serve the law of god it's the mind to be carnally minded is death but hey with your mind i'm going to serve the law of god with the flesh it's the law of sin with the with the mind though you've got to guard your mind you have to resolve in your mind what you're going to do turn if you would james chapter one james chapter one this is another important point hopefully it's practical for you and this is something just even through my experience and just i've acknowledged it over time that we need to try our best to prevent the lust from conceiving in your heart and when i say lust it's not just like towards a someone the opposite gender it's just it's whatever that desire is whatever that fleshly desire whatever that gratification is going to be coming from right whatever that is you need to try to prevent that from even coming around in your heart now the flesh is going to be tempting and those things are going to happen but what we need to try to do is right away push it off as a foolish thought so don't give he don't or don't don't give place to those types of fleshly desires or carnal desires to even allow it to to grow and fester in your mind a little bit like don't give it consideration so you can't always control the thoughts the fleshy desires whatever that's going to happen because we're in this flesh we're in this body of death and i can't wait until we're we're out of this sinful body but while we have it we have to recognize it as such and there's moments where you could have that thought you can have that desire you can have that lust creep in and you've got to be able to push it out as quick as it comes in because even letting it have a foothold for a small amount of time it's going to conceive in your heart and then you're going to have sin and as we're going to see here you're going to bring forth death look at verse number 12 of james one blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he has tried he shall receive the crown of life which the lord hath promised to them that love him let no man say when he is tempted i am tempted of god for god cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man and this is also just so you know god is not the one trying to get you to sin it's not god that's going oh hey let me just put this image in front of this person let me put you god's not doing that to you god doesn't have a desire to want to even to see like like hey let me do this and put this stumbling block in front of him to fall god is not trying to do that now sometimes god will test people when situations arise where he's not going to intervene and he's going to step back and just say okay let's see how this plays out but he's not the one doing it he's not the one just inserting these these uh creating these situations is it you know makes sense he's not trying it's just like he wasn't god wasn't the one that had killed joe's sons god wasn't the one that you know killed all of his his aunt his livestock and and and you know depleted as well satan did that now god knew about it of course and he withheld from stopping it but he did not cause it and it's a very important distinction understand that too just with all temptation and stuff hey god is not the one who's who's making this happen the bible says here but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed it's your lust it's your sin it's your flesh that's drawing you into this stuff it's not god but look at this read verse 14 again but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed something enticing is thrown out there something enticing comes into the mind enticing to the flesh enticing to your carnality it starts when he's drawn away of his own lust that starts internally then when lust hath conceived because the lust might pop up from time to time you've got this flesh you got this lust that's why so you have to deal with it but when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin so now what you've done is you've decided to hold on to that lust you you've you've allowed it to stay around and be able to develop and grow and to conceive into something that now is going to bring forth bad fruit the conception you know is that is that new life it's that new that fruit that's going to be brought forward but it's bad fruit because it's coming of your lust it's coming from your flesh which is why at that at the first thought at the first you know push it out don't give place don't ponder don't start thinking like oh well what if i do x y or z what what if i you know don't even let it get that far in your mind and it's not easy to do it's not but this is going to if you if you can do that if you could train yourself in your mind and be on guard and be vigilant right like the bible says because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking who we may devour we need to be vigilant we need to be mindful of these things because when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death to be currently minded is death we need to learn to deny our lust we need to learn to starve out turn to galatians three starve out the temptations weaken the flesh so you could strengthen the spirit and also take stock take stock in where your affections are where is your heart what is it that you want what what are you what are you affected towards what do you like what do you want in life what do you want i mean just ask yourself that what is it that i really want and think about what are the things i've wanted and what what are what have been all my objectives what i've been thinking about a lot what is it that that i just keep on looking for and you know whatever and think about your cravings your appetites your affections are they on anything of god are they the things of god in general or just have nothing to do with that not even remotely obviously there's a little bit of overlap you could be like you know you know in being right with god we need to you know husbands and wives need to you know as we need to provide for the family and for you know so you're going to be minded on those types of things which aren't directly spiritual but indirectly they are because you're trying to accomplish that but you're keeping even that in check of not getting overboard on the carnal side of that of just but saying hey okay i'm going to provide the best i can but i'm not going to give myself over to serving mammon right i'm still going to be focused on serving god so i'm going to do my best to provide while being spiritually minded and the same thing wives hey i'm going to you know obey and love my husband and do all these things for him but i'm also going to do some things to serve the lord too right it's it's not just just for the husband it's it's it's you know you're going to be having your own spiritual walk with god colossians 3 verse number one the bible reads if ye then be risen with christ seek those things which are above how you're going to seek that with your mind you're making a decision hey i'm i'm risen with christ i'm a believer seek those things which are above and please take the wisdom of scripture today we're going to be different you're going to be different than the world you're just going to have to get get over it and get used to it oh you're always thinking about the things of god oh you're always talking about church oh you know it's like yeah yes i am okay yes i am and you can make fun of me you can you can you know call names or whatever but i want to take heed to what the scripture says it's it's it's here for a reason it's wisdom that's being given out and it's up to you to receive it and you can either care about what other people think and what other people say or you can care about what this book says and and take heed and say you know what no i think you know i will i will try to do this i am going to make the effort i am going to go in my mind i'm going to seek those things which are above where christ sitteth on the right hand of god set your affection on things above not on things on the earth where are your affections what do you love is it all about the sports or the things or whatever it is here in this earth or is it about spiritual things where is your affections if if it's not on things above then change it because to be currently minded is death verse three for ye are dead and your life is hid with christ in god when christ who is our life i mean our life is tied in with christ it's the only reason we have life is because of christ oh i think we ought to have our affections toward christ see only reason we have life today is because of christ so maybe we ought to have affection towards christ and not all of the things that were keeping us from christ to begin with when christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth mortify it's destroy kill kill the body not physically right mortify therefore your members which upon the earth for and that's why there's a fornication uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry and there's another smaller list but similar to what we saw in galatians chapter five and in first corinthians chapter six and elsewhere in scripture for which things sake the wrath of god cometh on the children of disobedience in the which ye also walked sometime when you lived in them but now ye also put off all these so not just the fornication uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness also put these off anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy communication out of your mouth and let that sink in too because the world is just becoming more and more um profane is a way of putting it more base not based like oh he's real based he's cool but base as in like just real down to the the sinful nature of man down to the bottom level the lowest most basic sinful attitude or whatever that that's that's what um that type of communication it should not be in 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 the knowledge it's the mind again where there is neither greek nor jew circumcision or uncircumcision barbarian cithian bond nor free but christ is all and in all put on therefore as the elect of god holy and beloved bowels of mercies kindness humbleness of mind be have humility okay stop being so proud and a know-it-all and a jerk and arrogant have humbleness of mind meekness long suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another isn't it amazing how these also kind of line up with the fruit of the spirit just saying you put on the new man this is what you get you're walking in the spirit and that's why we ought to have these things and be conscious of these things too look you you can don't just rely on well hey i'm walking the spirit so these things are going to come you have control over whether you're going to be forgiving of one another you have control whether you know it's as if any man have a quarrel against any to forgive them you can be long suffering with people you can show humility and and choose to not say some things that you might otherwise say when when the pride is coming out you can do those things and on that forgiveness is that the rest of that verse 13 says even as christ forgave you so also do ye and above all these things put on charity which is the bond of perfectness and let the and let the peace of god rule in your hearts let it happen you have to let it happen you have to allow that to happen to the which also you're called in one body and be ye thankful last place i'm going to look is proverbs chapter 16 look if you generally if you genuinely excuse me don't have any real desire for spiritual things then you're spending way too much time in the flesh and you need to change at least it would be wise to change okay you do what you want to do hey you can you can god's given you the mind and the will to do whatever you want to do but we care about the things of god and we want our lives to be about spiritual things there's always going to be other things mixed in don't get me wrong i'm not saying you can't ever enjoy yourself and in another way of like going to a beach or going you know whatever that might be some type of entertainment or something but that is not what life is about it's just not it's not what life's about okay we need to have our life about the spiritual things and make that be the driving force and that's what we're committed to and that's how we're going to live and make decisions and and be mindful and and thinking about things so we don't do them and look to be spiritually mine is death but but think about this too and this is why this is also important if you want to work on being able to stop the sin before it happens and you want to be and you want to be able to identify that lust before it conceives and to get rid of that also just keep in mind what the bible says in proverbs 16 verse 6 by mercy and truth iniquity is purged hey amen right and by the fear of the lord men depart from evil we need a healthy fear of the lord any other thing if you've experienced the mercy of god a lot in your life it's it's kind of ironic because this can this can also be where people start to lose the fear of god right god extends a lot of mercy you do something you screw up you do things that that ought to you ought to be chasing and chasing hard for but then maybe god decides to extend some mercy unto you don't let that cause you to lose the fear of the lord that is a foolish thing to do we we ought to be you know especially with a lot a lot of these things like you look at the bible and look how how the bible talks about them how bad they are you know you ought to be scared to death of even the thought of those things coming into your mind and say you know what i need to up my fear of the lord be not deceived god is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap that was not given to unbelievers only okay we we all can can use a healthy dose of the fear of the lord and and allow that and and you know i i hate people saying i don't like making decisions based off of fear well you know what you ought to change that there's many ways to motivate and i think that uh you know fear shouldn't be the only thing and notice i mean this is i just brought this up last that's one small point but it's an important one i don't make decisions based off of fear hey there's we have there's a certain fear that's that gives us caution that is good for example you know if you go to the grand canyon and there's this you know rock that's jutting out over the canyon and you see cracks in the rock it's you know having a fear of stepping out to the tip to the tip point of that because you don't want to fall that's not a bad bad fear to have and why because you know that there could you know that you can be destroyed right that's why well god can destroy i think the bible says fear not uh i know it says fear not man but it says fear not him that's able to to to kill the body that's not able to kill the soul but fear him that's able to destroy both soul and body and you fear him thank you yeah don't just fear the guys that can take away your life physically right fear the fear god who's just in charge of everything and he's able to cast people in hell like that's who you need to fear and and we need to have that healthy fear and reverence for the lord and the world lord uh let's bow our heads have a word of prayer dear heavenly father thank you so much for saving us we thank you that salvation is this free gift we thank you for recognizing our sinful condition and still loving us even though we've transgressed against you and against your law and didn't have um regard to your word but you've chosen to love us and and do and give us such an amazing gift the unspeakable gift dear lord of eternal life and i thank you for doing that for us please help us now to show our gratitude and to show our love for you by um keeping the commandments and i pray that you would please help us to overcome our flesh we know that we have to deal with this but lord strengthen our spirit help us to do things to walk in the spirit more so that we can put away and mortify the deeds of our flesh and lord help us to identify these things and be strong enough to just overcome them before they grow before they get out of control before they really um fester and cause a lot of pain and suffering and misery in our life lord help us to just get that sin out uh daily help us in our in our in our struggle and our battle against the flesh and lord we love you and and please lead us in this in jesus name we pray amen all right we're gonna sing one last song before we're dismissed brother peter would you please lead us right church if you can grab your hymnals and open up the song number 169 psalm 169 on the first song here i raise jesus this last verse let's sing this out on the last is thank you so much for coming you guys so you