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Amen. Nice seeing you guys back a little bit farther. I don't feel as quite as claustrophobic. All right, so we're continuing on with our series this morning about getting to know your enemies. Remember we started off with part one talking about the devil and his armies. Then last week we talked about doubts, about dread, about depression and those sorts of things that plague Christians. Well, today's enemy is quite different from all the rest of the enemies and here's why. The enemy that we're going to talk about today is with every single one of us every day. So as soon as you open your eyes, you have to face this enemy. In fact, he's there even while you're sleeping. So as soon as that alarm clock goes off, he's right there ready to battle with you every single morning and he's there until the the minute you lay your head down and go to sleep and even plagues you in your dreams sometimes. And that is the old man or the flesh. So we're going to talk about the old man, what his tactics are and how to overcome the old man. And like I said, nobody in here is above the old man. Every single one of us is plagued by him. Some of us more than others. And that's what this sermon is for. It's designed to help you get the victory over your flesh, over the old man. So, you know, it's kind of like, you know, when countries go to war, right? Every country studies the other country before they go to war. They try to learn their tactics, how much manpower they have, how their economy is doing. It's the same thing with sports, right? Baseball teams, they scout out other players. What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? You know, what are they good at? Football teams do that even religiously. Fighters do that, right? They watch tape. They watch, or I guess not tape now, CDs. No, USB, YouTube, right? They watch YouTube or whatever the media is these days. I'm getting older, you know, so I still have some of that lingo. Last time I said tape brother, Rick corrected me and thanks for that. So anyways, you know, it's beneficial for us to understand our enemies, what they do to us, what their goal is, what their tactics are. So the verse that we're going to use for the sermon is right there in verse 22. Ephesians chapter four, verse 22, it says that he put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. Now turn to Romans chapter six. We're going to read quite a few verses in Romans chapter six, because it's a good place to start to get your bearings on the old man versus the new man here. And so Paul's warning the Ephesians, he's saying, Hey, you have the choice to put off your old man, right? To put off your flesh. It's not like this. It's not like you get saved. And then all of a sudden everything's okay. Life's great. You don't sin anymore, right? That's what this church behind you will teach you, that Episcopal church. That's something that they would teach you all. If you're really saved, you wouldn't do X, Y, and Z. That's not what the Bible says though. So if you're there in Romans chapter six, you know, he says in verse one, he says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? The reason why he opens up that chapter with that is because in Romans chapter five, he makes this famous quote in verse eight, he says, but God commendeth his love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so he spends the rest of chapter five saying, Hey, you know, you didn't have to get right first and then get saved. Christ died while you were yet sinners. And then he goes on to say, well, does that mean basically that we should continue in sin? He says, God forbid. And so he opens up the chapter with a statement. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? First two, he says, God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. And if any, we talked about this a little bit on Wednesday about baptism, right? What that word means, it means to be immersed. It means to be placed into this is not talking about water baptism necessarily. He's basically just saying, Hey, you who are converted, who are saved, you were placed into the body of Christ. That's what he's saying. And that we should write in verse four, we should walk in newness of life because once you're saved, now you have a struggle, right? You have an enemy that's with you every day. You have the old man, the Jesus said the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And so you have to make a choice every single day. Okay. Right when I wake up, what does the old man tell you? Hit that snooze button, right? You know, it's true. Hit that snooze button. That's I mean, look, there's no enemy on this planet. Like your old man. I mean, think about it. As soon as your eyes, as soon as that clock goes off, he's right there ready to attack you at the beginning of the day. That's why it's so important that you fight the flesh daily that you don't cave into that because what could happen? You could be late for work. You could get a bad reputation. I mean, you've, if you, if you allow your sleep to overcome, you have already lost the first victory of the day. So I think it's important right off the bat to tame that old man. You know, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to get up so that I'm not late for work and go on about your day. You know, it's better to start that day off with a victory than it is with a defeat. So look at verse five. He says, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth, we should not serve sin. So it is settled. It's a done deal. The old man will die someday. Someday, God is going to completely destroy that and you will get a new body. You will no longer have to face that enemy. Look at verse seven. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Like how it says that he died once it was one offering for all sin, right? These people that want to tell us, well, you know, I know I'm saved as long as I ask for forgiveness every single day, right? That goes completely against what the Bible says. That's works. That's not true. That's their old man. That's their carnal mind playing games with them and telling them that along with the devil and his armies, right? Their preachers, their ministers of unrighteousness. And that's another battle that we have, right? We have to go out there and educate that, educate these people and tell them, Hey, that's not true, right? Nobody wins all the old man's battles every single day, but some of us can tame him a lot more. Look down at verse number 11. He says, likewise, reckoning also yourselves to be dead, indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Look at verse 12. He says, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. And that's exactly what Paul told the Ephesians in verse 22, where he said that he put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, right? And so what is Paul saying? Let not sin therefore, because of these reasons, because you're in Christ, because you have eternal security, he's saying, don't let sin reign, meaning don't let sin be the King over you. And it starts in the morning when your alarm clock goes off. Or if you're lucky enough, you don't have to wake up to an alarm. It starts when your eyeballs open up. That's when the battle starts. That's when you have to win that first victory. Don't let that sin reign in your mortal bodies from the moment you open your eyes, because if you do, it's going to be extremely difficult to go the rest of your day and have success. Look at verse 13, neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. So he's basically just saying, Hey, make the choice to walk in the new man every single day. Look at verse 14 for sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law, but under grace. What then shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace, God forbid. So he's being very careful here to say, yes, you have eternal security, but that doesn't mean you should live the rest of your life in sin. That doesn't mean you should allow sin to reign over your mortal bodies. It is a battle. The enemy is real. It's with you every single day. And we have got to get the victory over it because if we don't, we're never going to be successful. You're going to get to the judgment seat of Christ. And all you're going to have is that wood, hay and stubble. And thank God you'll be safe. Thank God. You're still going to get that new body, but it could have been so much more. Eternity is far longer than your vapor of a light on this earth. And it is so important that we just really, as a church understand this and apply this to our lives. Look at verse 16, no, you not that whom or that to whom you yield yourself servants to obey his servants. Ye are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart, that form of doctrine, which was delivered you. And he's basically alluding to that. If thou shall confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart, that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. That's what he's talking about. It's like, look, you've made that commitment. You've made that conversion. You've made that decision from your heart to be saved. So let's move forward here. Verse 18 being then made free from sin. He became the servants of righteousness, right? Romans chapter four, that godly righteousness that gets imputed unto you. That's a free gift. Verse 19, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity and to iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. Now turn to Proverbs chapter 26. So he's basically saying, Hey, I'm telling you these things because I understand, I know the infirmity of your flesh. We all have to understand that our flesh, our old man is an infirmity. That means fragile. That means weak, right? The old man is weak. The old man wants to cave into the world. The old man wants to do what the world offers. That's what he's basically telling us here. And he's saying, Hey, yield yourselves, right? Stop, halt yourselves to the things of God, not to the things of the world. So back while you're turning to Proverbs 26, I'm just going to read Ephesians 4 22. Again, he says that she put off the off concerning the former conversation, the old man. So Paul, actually, if you pay attention to that verse, he calls the old man a conversation. He says that she put off the former conversation, the old man, he doesn't say of the old man. Why does he refer to the old man as a conversation? Well, I've already alluded to it, right? I mean, think about it, right? When you wake up, what happens? The old man's there conversing with you, right? He's trying to get you to do his will. What happens when you make a goal? What happens when you make a new year's resolution? Okay, I'm going to lose all this weight. What happens in February? Those cookies and those donuts back there look pretty darn good, don't they? Right? That's the old man. That's his conversation. That's what he does. He is a conversation and he's not a good conversation. Think about studying, right? Studying the word of God. Let's say you make a commitment. I want to read the Bible every day, 10 chapters a day. Let's just say you do that. The Bible says that studying is a weariness of the flesh. Look, if you think you're going to read 10 chapters a day, I hope you do. I hope everybody in here reads the Bible every single day. I think that's good. If you're zealous, read that 10 chapters a day. If you're not reading at all, start with like three or four, okay? But nonetheless, what I'm trying to say is you have to work up to that because if you start off today, you're not used to reading the Bible. You're like, okay, I'm going to read my 10 chapters a day. I guarantee you by Wednesday, you're going to be tired. You're going to be zonked because the Bible does say that studying is a weariness of the flesh. I mean, think about it. Was it easy for every one of us to pay attention in school? No. I mean, your mind wanders. At some point during the sermon, everybody in here's mind is going to wander off to something else. That's the conversation of the old man. And that is called reasoning. And so we're going to start looking at the tactics of the old man. And number one, the number one tactic that he uses is reasoning. Reasoning. So you're there in Proverbs 26, look at verse number 16. Proverbs chapter 26, look at verse 16. It says the sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. So what is Solomon saying here? What is, what is God's trying to explain to us here? He's saying, Hey, look, a sluggard, what's a sluggard, a lazy man. He's saying that person is wiser in his own conceit because people that are sluggards, lazy, that don't want to work, that don't want to hold a job. A lot of times they are conceited. That means they have excessive pride about their appearance, about how they, how they are perceived among other people. They, they, they, they feel like, well, you owe me, right? That's why the Obama phone and all this subsidized housing is so popular. That's why if you go to a subsidized neighborhood and you'd go soul winning, a lot of them will be like, well, God owes me. I know I'm going to heaven because you know, I said so. I remember one time I took the kids and we went and knocked this whole subdivision. It was all the subsidized housing, nice housing, right? You know, Obama's paying for all this stuff at the time and not a single person wanted to hear the gospel, right? Because they're getting these handouts. They're all sluggards. But the Bible is saying that those people are wiser in their own conceit than a man or than seven men that can come up with an excuse than seven men that can render a reason why they shouldn't read the Bible, why they shouldn't do the right thing, why they shouldn't study, why they shouldn't go to work that day, why they shouldn't do whatever, why they shouldn't save money, why they shouldn't pay their bills. The Bible said, Hey, that sluggers wiser than you who can render a reason. And so think about that. The tactic of the enemy is reasoning. That's what he does. You set out a goal to save money. I guarantee you, you're going to, your eyeballs are going to see something and be like, wow, you know, I know that wasn't part of the plan, but man, that sure does look good. You know, and that old man's going to be talking with you, Hey, wouldn't it be nice to have that jet ski? Wouldn't it be nice to have that boat? Wouldn't it be nice to have that motorcycle? Wouldn't it be nice to have these things? I mean, look at how cool you'd be amongst your, your, your friends, your coworkers, your, your church members. And before you know it, he's got you off track and you're doomed, right? Unless you learn how to tame the old man and turn to Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine, while you're turning there, I'm gonna read for you what Jesus said again, Matthew 26, 41. He says, watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. You got to understand that, right? Your spirit is willing, right? I hear this all the time. You know, people have the, they set these goals. I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna read through the Bible four times this year and you get to the end of the year and you'd be lucky through even in church sometimes. And why is that? Because they didn't take Jesus' advice. He says, watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. So what that tells me is if your prayer life is lacking, you're going to enter into temptation. I mean, think about it, right? If you set a goal right now, everybody in here should have this goal. If you set a goal, a certain time to pray every single day, that old man is going to come at you. And you know, it's true. You know, it's true, right? Try to pray right before you go to sleep and watch what happens. That old man will put you down faster than a Vicodin. He'll put you right fast to sleep. And you know, that's true. That's why you got to pray early in the middle of the day, maybe after you drink your coffee or what have you, you know, come up with a good time that works, you know, as you're laying your head down on the pillow, you know, not all of us are disciplined enough to do that. But he says, watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. So if you want to have the victory over the old man, if you want to squash his reasoning, learn to pray. So Luke chapter nine, before I read that, I got one more verse for you. This trait of reasoning is found in Genesis chapter three, right after the fall of man. So think about that. That's how important this is. Listen to this Genesis three 12. So right after the fall of man, it says, and the man said, the woman whom now gave us to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. So we need to understand that this tactic was brought up right away, right after the fall of man. So think about it. It's very important that we understand this completely so that we know how to combat it so that we know how to fight it. So you there in Luke chapter nine, look at verse 57, Luke chapter nine, verse 57. This here's a good account in the Bible of people coming up with reasons, excuses, right? As people said, yeah, we're interested. Yeah. I watched new world order Bible versions. I'm interested. I'm on board. I'm on fire. And so Jesus says, okay, follow me. Look at verse 57 says, and it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes and birds have the air. I'm sorry. And birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go bury my father. Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but thou go and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. And so you can see right there, what happens when you make a decision in your mind to follow Christ, to get zealous, to get on fire, what happens? That old man renders a reason. That old man comes up with a conversation. That old man is right there trying to talk you out of it. And what are you supposed to do to stop that? You're supposed to watch. You're supposed to pray. You're supposed to move forward because the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And so the stronger you get, the more used to walking in the spirit that you get, the less that old man is going to have victory over you. Go to Luke chapter four, Luke chapter four. So I said, tactic number one is reasoning, reasoning. That's the first thing the old man does to you in the morning is he reasons with you how five more minutes of sleep is going to be beneficial. I fall for this too. Like I'm like, I don't have to be at work for X amount of time today. My next job's over there. I can sleep just a little bit. I was up studying late last night, whatever, you know, that's my old man, right? That's, that's my flush talking there, you know, and that's something that we all have to battle with. We all have to learn to get over. So tactic number two, tactic number two. So I said, number one is reasoning. That's his main weapon is reasoning. Why? Because he is a conversation. That's what Paul said. Put off the old man, right? Cause he's a conversation. Tactic number two is the old man uses temptation to enhance reasoning, right? So when the old man reasons with you, when he talks with you, what is his tool? What is his main thing he's trying to get in front of your face? And that's temptation. That is temptation. That's what he does to Jesus here in Luke chapter four, look at verse number one, Luke chapter four, verse number one, it says, and Jesus being full of the Holy ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness being 40 days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing. And when they were ended, he afterward hungered and the devil said unto him, if thou be the son of God, command this stone, that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him saying, it is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God and the devil taking up and taking him up into an high mountain showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, all this power will I give thee and the glory of them for that is delivered unto me and to whom so ever I will I give it. If thou therefore will worship me, all shall be thine. Look at verse eight, and Jesus answered and said unto him, get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written, thou shall worship the Lord thy God and him only shall thou serve. Now look at verse, jump down to verse 13, as he keeps on going with his temptation. Verse 13, and when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. So you say, why read this? You know, we understand Jesus was perfect. He didn't have, his flesh was not corrupt at all. And we understand that, but what happens to us when we fight two enemies, when it's two on one, now you've got the conversation of the old man. And then what happens if you allow the old man victory over you? Now comes the devil. And now you're having to fight two people, two enemies instead of just one. So these are in the Bible for a reason. This account is in here so that we can learn to get our flesh in check because guess what? When the devil comes knocking, there's no way you're going to be both, right? You got to deal with that old man before you can get right and face the devil. And so we need to understand that. Now go over to Luke chapter 22, Luke chapter 22. And so, so far, you know, we can pretty much just come to the conclusion that the conversation of the old man is always deceitful lusts, right? That five more minutes in the morning, that's a deceitful lust, right? Spending that savings that you had as a goal, right? Guess what? That's a deceitful lust. You know, anytime you get instant gratification for something and your body's like, okay, well, you can just pay later. You can just bet that's a deceitful lust. And then that's a corruption because that's why Paul said that you put off the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. So his conversation is always corrupt. It's always corrupt. And his lusts are deceitful. So Luke chapter 22, look at verse number 46, Luke 22, look at verse 46. He says, and said unto them, why sleep ye, rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. And we just talked about this, right? He's saying, hey, I want you disciples to watch and pray for me because he's about to be delivered up to be crucified, right? They do it for a little while and then they fall asleep. Why? That old man said, hey, just a little slumber, you know, a little folding of the hands, a little quiet time isn't going to hurt you. And Jesus wakes him up. He's like, hey, look, you know, you being asleep right now is just going to deliver you into temptation, right? So how do you fight the reasoning? It's the same way by prayer. How do you fight temptation? It's the same way by prayer. Ask God to deliver you from these things, right? That's what he's saying there. If you neglect prayer, the Bible says you will be subject to temptation. And so we need to understand that. And I turned to first Corinthians chapter 13, first Corinthians chapter 13. And while you're turning there, I'm going to read for you first Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13. So you turn to first Corinthians 13, I'm read for you first Corinthians 10, 13, which says this, it says there has no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. Now that's a slap in the face because a lot of us will be like, well, I just, I don't know what it is, man. I just can't get over this thing. I just can't wake up on time. I just can't get to work. I just can't read the Bible. I just can't pray. I just can't go soul winning. I just can't give. I just get, what did Paul say? He's like, Hey, there's no temptation that you can't overcome with his help. He and he will make a way for you to escape. So the only thing left is that it's an excuse. That's all it is. You're just basically rendering a reason and you fall into the category of Proverbs 26, where he says, Hey, a sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. So remember that when you're struggling with temptation, when you're struggling with this reasoning, there is a way out. There always is. That's what God says. And we believe the Bible. We believe every promise. So first Corinthians chapter 13, look at verse number 11. This is what Paul says. He says, when I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. So what that means is you need to, as a church grow spiritually, we don't want to stay babes. We don't want to just stay on the milk. You want to consume your milk, right? It's good. All of us are on different levels here, but we need to eat our necessary food so that we can move on to the next level, because that is how you get the victory. That is how we win. So I said, number one, point number one, or tactic number one is reasoning. That's the goal of the old man. That's what he uses. Remember, he's a conversation. He uses reasoning. Tactic number two, the old man uses temptation to enhance that reasoning. Now, number three, the old man will try to entice you with the world to become the enemy of God. That is the ultimate goal. Turn to James chapter four, James chapter four. There was a popular saying, I can't remember who said this, but it was something like the ship is safe in the ocean as long as the ocean is not in the ship. Likewise, the Christian is safe in the world as long as the world is not in the Christian. And that's so true. You know, a lot of people say, well, we got to make some kind of a community out in the woods and, you know, and live away from everybody and be like the Amish. Now that's not what Jesus said. You know, we're in the world, but we're not of the world, right? We're safe because we have Jesus Christ. If we abide by his judgments, right? If we watch, if we pray, if we learn how to beat down this old man, if we learn how to combat his conversation, his reasoning, his temptations, then we can have victory. And so number three, the reason why I chose this, because this is the goal. It starts with reasoning. It goes to temptation for this one goal. And that is to get you to become the enemy of God, because your flesh knows if you could become the enemy of God, you're not going to make it do what it doesn't want to do. So you're there in James chapter four, look at verse number four. It says, ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. And you can be a saved Bible believing Christian and become the enemy of God, because you decide to forsake, like Demas did, right? Forsake everything, having to love this present world and wind up being on God's bad side. You know, is that how you really want to live your life? Is that going to profit you in any way? You might get some satisfaction for a year. You might get some satisfaction for a few months, but look, Christians don't get to play the way the world does. We need to understand that if you're saved, you can never, and you will never get away living like the world does. God will come down on you like a ton of bricks. He always does. I've seen it time and time and time again. I've had it happen to myself. It will happen to you if you don't learn how to deal with this. Now go to Romans chapter eight, Romans chapter eight. So that is the whole goal of the old man is to get you to become the enemy of God. So that way you will do his will and not the will of the new man. So Romans chapter eight, look at verse one. This is how to beat down the old man, how to beat him down, how to start progressing in the right direction, how to start having that victory in your life, right? Look at verse number one. It says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walked not after the flesh, but after the spirit. He's basically saying the same thing we read earlier in Romans six, right? Once you're saved, you're always saved. But look at verse two for the law, the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do and 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. Verse four, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walked not after the flesh, but after the spirit for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things after the spirit. And what he's basically saying there is the new man inside of you, right? Does desire to walk in these things, right? But there is a process. There is an order. You do have to learn how to fight him so that you can be victorious. Verse six, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. You need to understand that about the world. They're carnally minded. They don't have God's interests in their hearts. They can't, they can't understand the Bible. They can't know the Bible. They don't care about that. So by us yoking up with them, us befriending them, us hanging around them is going to do nothing but pull you down and get that old man to start talking with you and to get you to bow down to his will. Be like, Hey, you know, I think you should take that job, even though you have to work Sundays, even though you have to work Wednesdays, even though you have to work Saturdays, I think you should do that. I think that'll elevate you. God doesn't care. God doesn't judge, right? God loves everybody. You're going to heaven anyways. What's the big deal. That's his conversation. But Paul's saying otherwise, Hey, don't be carnal minded, right? A big part of this is dealing with the mind. Look at verse eight. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. It's the same thing for us, right? When we walk in the flesh, we cannot please God. It's as simple as that. Verse nine, but you're not in the flesh, but in the spirit. 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. Now go to Romans chapter 13, Romans chapter 13. Now I've got three quick points on how to deal with the old man. Three quick points. All right. Point number one is how do we, how do we overcome the flesh? How do we fight this? What do we do here? You're like, okay, I get it. I understand reasoning. I understand temptation. I understand what his goal is. It's to get you to be part of the world so that you can become the enemy of God. What do we do from here? What you're going to do is you're going to purposely and presently cut off provision for the flesh. I said, you're going to purposely, presently cut off provision for the flesh. That means you do it with intent. You do it with urgency and you do it today. You don't wait till tomorrow. You don't listen to that old man. You don't listen to his conversation. You do it right now, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, right now. You're there in Romans 13. Look at verse number 14. It says, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh. Why? To fulfill the lusts there of, and you're always going to see that flesh and lusts, flesh lusts, old man lust. Why? Because that's what he's about. That's what his conversation is. It's deceitful lust is to put things in front of you that are tempting, right? It's that conversation is to get you to fall, is to get you to lose and look, we don't want to be a church full of losers, right? We want to be strong Bible believing Christians. You say, okay, well, what is provision? Well, provision is the action of providing or supplying something for use. Here's some synonyms, providing, supplying, furnishing, giving, allocating, right? So how do we overcome the flesh? You don't give a provision, right? That means if you like, let's say, let's say a young guy likes a girl, right? You don't ride in a car alone with him. You don't go in and talk with him. Why? Because that is giving your flesh provision. You're basically allocating room for sin, right? You don't, how about this? I don't know if this is possible because most people use their cell phones, but if you have a problem waking up in the morning, you know, you don't give yourself that option of a snooze button. I don't know. Maybe you rip the thing out or maybe you have your wife beat you over the head, you know, or some, some kind of way, right? You take away that provision. You take away the allocation. You take away that space. How about this? Let's say you're on a diet, right? You don't go in the back room there near those donuts, right? You stay up here or maybe we, we, we talk and, you know, we'll just bring carrots or something. I will try to help each other out. I don't know. But you get what I'm trying to say, right? We don't supply. We don't allocate. We don't provide additional temptation, right? We don't provide situations. We don't put ourselves in compromising positions so that we'll fall so that we'll sin, right? What about TV? That's why I don't have a TV because I don't want to give myself or my family provision for the flesh. I don't want that temptation in my household right now. There's nothing wrong with having a TV per se, right? I mean, we have a monitor in there, you know, a lot of people have monitors TVs and they watch documentaries and they don't watch TV, right? But here's how you would make provision. Let's say, okay, I got the monitor, I got the TV. Now I'm going to go down to cable one and get, you know, all these additional channels. I'm just going to watch the history though, or I'm just going to watch National Geographic, or I'm just going to watch the cooking shows. I'm just going to watch whatever. Now you're basically setting yourself up for failure. You're making provision for the flesh and you're going to fail. So I said point number one is you presently and purposely cut off provision for the flesh. So you do a self audit and you say, okay, these are the areas I'm weakened. This is what I'm going to do to help myself fight it. I'm going to get rid of whatever it is. I'm going to get rid of the TV. I'm going to get rid of the cable. I'm going to get rid of the snooze button. I'm going to get rid of, you know, going to the store and just browsing products, you know, so that I can actually save my money and get through, you know, and actually accomplish something for the, for my life. That's what it's saying. All right. Turn to Acts chapter four, Acts chapter four. What are some other ones? How about what you, what you put in through your ears, right? Listening to the wrong kind of music. You know, I'm just going to turn the radio on and just listen to the Christian radio station. That's it. You know, first of all, that stuff's shallow, you know, it's not, I'm not going to say it's, it's, it's sin. It's just, it's just shallow. I mean, I mean, it could be right. It could be a provision. It could cause you to go liberal because we cannot help but speak the things which we hear and see the Bible says, and we're going to read that here momentarily, right? What about watching movies? You know, I'm just going to watch the good parts. I'm going to mute. You know, I, I grew up, you know, I got saved in a Baptist church in Port Orchard, Washington, Bible Baptist church. And you know, this family, they brought me there and I wound up getting saved. And I remember, you know, we'd be going to church and then I always hang out at their house and they'd be like, well, we're going to watch the predator, but we're going to mute all the cuss words. You know, dad knows where they're all at. And you know, the, they got this big old giant remotes in those days and they would, he would just hit the mute button, you know, but he would miss half of them, you know, and it's like, you know, okay, you know, we're going to, this part's kind of gory or whatever, you know, we're, we're going to, we're going to have you guys turn your heads. You know, I remember being in public school, we watched this movie is called Short Circuit. Who remembers? I think it's called, yeah, Short Circuit. Yeah. You know what I'm talking about, right? It's this robot. Well, I can't remember what it was, but there was a point in this movie where there's some cuss words. And I remember I was in second grade, you know, I was already saved, but I remember, I remember the, the teacher was like, oh yeah, we're going to watch this movie. Kids is going to be great. And I remember me and my friend like, oh, there's some cuss words in here. This is going to be funny. You know, she heard, she heard me and him talking about it and she's like, oh, well, if there's cuss words, just plug your ears. Okay, guys, if you guys know where they're at, just, just plug your ears, right? Well, all they're doing is providing provision for the flesh. You know, all they're doing is, is trying to get you on the platform so they can get you that whole meal. That that's, that's the whole goal right there. That's why we need to learn to cut these things out. So verse, Acts 4, verse 14, it says, and beholding the man, which was healed, standing with them, they could say nothing against him. So again, the apostles are in trouble. They're healing people to preach in the gospel, just like always verse 15. But when they had commanded them to go, uh, to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves saying, what shall we do to these men for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest unto all them that dwell in Jerusalem. And we cannot deny it verse 17, but that it spread no further among the people. Let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. Look at verse 20, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So what he's saying here is that these guys were on fire, right? These guys were taught by the Lord Jesus Christ. These guys are right. These guys have put the old man aside. They're doing the works. And what do they say for we cannot, but speak the things which we have seen and heard. You know what pastor men is does to people that would want to go in the ministry, right? He has conversations with them. He has other people have conversations with them. Why? Because from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, we cannot help, but to speak the things that we see and the things that we hear. And so he knows by what he hears coming out of your mouth, whether you're serious, how in the world you are, right? How serious you are, how dedicated you are. It's really, we, we tell on ourselves, you know, you talk to somebody, you can tell, I can tell right away. If you read the Bible within about 10 seconds, it's very, it's very simple because why? Because of this verse here for we cannot, but speak the things which we have seen and heard. If you see and hear the right things, the righteous things, that's what you'll speak about. That's what you'll become about. If you're filling your head with a bunch of junk, that's going, you know, going, coming out of the TV or whatever, right? It's going through your eyeballs. It's going through your ears. It goes down into your soul. And guess what? That's what you're going to speak about because you cannot help, but to speak the things that you see in here. So it goes both ways. It goes both ways. And so why not cut off provision for the flesh? Don't subject yourself to that stuff because it will hinder you. It comes out, you can't hide it. You can't hide it. There's, there's, there's just no way God has set it up to work against you. Like I said, Christians don't get to play by the same rules as the world. The Bible says, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heat thereto, according to thy word. That means if you take heat to this book here, you read, you study, you meditate, that's what's going to become your conversation. That's how you're going to beat down the old man. That's how you're going to become victorious. That's how you're going to beat the enemy. That's how you're going to get yourself in the right situation so that you're not fighting two enemies or possibly three, right? Because the devil's going to bring the doubts. He's going to bring the, you know, the, the dread and the depression and all that stuff along with the rest of his tactics. So number two, turn to first, turn to first John chapter two. Yeah. First John chapter two. First John chapter two. So point number two here on how to beat down the old man is to purposely and presently decide to cleanse yourselves from the filth of the flesh. And I got that from this verse here. Second Corinthians seven, one says this. You don't have to turn there and you go to first John two. It says having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The Bible says that the fear of God will bring you knowledge. And if you use that knowledge, it says the fear of God will bring you wisdom, right? Wisdom is knowledge applied. That is the key. So what are we going to do? We're going to purposely and presently decide to cleanse ourselves from the flesh. Again, you do a self audit. You know what plagues you? It's not my job to do it. I just preach the word and some people are going to come up to me later and be like, Oh, you're preaching against me. It's like, I don't know. Maybe I just write these things. You know, I don't know what everybody's up to. I'd rather not. I'd rather just let the book, let the Bible become that discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart. That's what the word of God is. It's a sharp two edged sword, right? It divides. It's going to cut you to the heart. It's not me being mean. It's God's word. But what does Paul tell the Corinthians in a second letter? He says, having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh. It's a matter of the mind. You get the right mindset and you take action, right? So you're there in first John chapter two, look at verse 15, real simple advice. Look at this. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. Look at verse 17, verse 17. It says, and the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that do with the will of God abideth forever. So he's using two aspects here, right? He says the world passes away and the lust thereof. And I've already said this. So understanding the beginning of verse 17, and the world passeth away and the lust thereof, understanding that the things that the world wants to converse with you about, they will someday be no more. There's no eternal value in those things. But then he says, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Well, what's the will of God? You don't have to turn there. It was John 6 40. And this is the will of him that sent me that everyone which seeth the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day. That's the will of the father that you would believe on him. And so knowing that, right, understanding that, understanding that eternal value, that's what we need to sow to. That's what we need to work for. Work for those gifts, for those crowns, for those rewards that will last a lifetime. Because look, I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend my eternity in regret. I want to go down swinging. I want to go down knowing, hey, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Isn't that what everybody in here wants? It's what you should want. And if not, you need to purposely and presently cut off provision for the flesh. You need to purposely and presently decide to get rid of the lusts of the flesh, cut all the temptation and garbage out of your life. That's what he's saying here. Turn to Colossians chapter three. We're almost done. Point number three. Purposely and presently adjust your mindset. Purposely and presently adjust your mindset. That means we're going to listen to Paul. That means we're going to put on the new man. Remember Jesus said the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And what did Paul say about the flesh? He said it has an infirmity. It cannot be cured. The only cure for the old man is to get buried in the ground, right? But that doesn't mean we can lose. That doesn't mean we're, you know, we're just without hope, right? Because what did Paul tell the Corinthians in chapter 10? He said, Hey, there's no temptation that you can't escape. There's no temptation that's too strong for you because God has provided a way out. So there in Colossians chapter three, look at verse one. He says, if ye then be risen with Christ, 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. And that's your key. That's how you're going to grow. That's how you're going to beat down the old man. That's your mindset though. If you don't get your mind right, you're never going to be able to go through with it. Look at verse three for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ and God. 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 fornication and cleanness inordinate affection, evil concupiscence and covetousness, which is idolatry for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. Look at verse seven in which he also walked some time when he lived in them, but now ye also put up all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Look at verse nine, lie not to one another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, right? And so he's basically telling us, Hey, all these things come from your old man. All of these things are the conversation that your old man has with you, with your spirit, with your soul, trying to get you to do the wrong things. Look at verse nine, I'm sorry, verse 10 in have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Look, don't say you can't do it because that new man was created by Jesus Christ, by God. The Bible says that you can walk in that new man and that new man is perfect. That new man will guide you because that new man is going to cause you to read this book. That new man is going to cause you to get to church. That new man wants you to go so any, that new man wants you to get in the fight. Look at verse 12 put on there for as the elect of God, Holy and beloved bows of mercies, kindness, and don't miss this humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering. This I know arrogant and prideful Christians do not read the Bible because the Bible will keep you down low because it was written by God. You see, if you read a bunch of books that are written by a man, your, your knowledge is going to go up here and the Bible says that knowledge puffed up, right? And the answer to that being puffed up is getting wisdom, right? Applying that knowledge, getting beat down, actually reading the Bible because it's written by God, right? You know, when you do that, the Bible says you will get that humbleness of mind. Look at verse 13 forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. So don't be bitter against your brother because that is something that's going to cause contention. That's, you know, we, we just need to learn to let things go. Sometimes we're going to offend each other. We spend a lot of time together, you know, it's going to happen, right? Learn to let things go because when you don't, that flesh is going to come at you. That conversation is going to destroy your works for God. Now look at verse 14, it says, and above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the witch. Also you're called in one body and be ye thankful. I love this chapter because it just proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that when you get saved, it doesn't automatically mean you're super Christian. Doesn't, Oh, I'm all things are becoming new. That's not what the Bible says. All things are become new. Meaning that new man is new. And you know, now, now we have this enemy. Now we have this battle. Verse 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Right? Why? Because that's what edifies. I listen to the conversations around here. A lot of people are talking about the Bible and the Bible stories and, you know, talking about different things. That's great. That's edification. That's what we need to grow as a church. Verse 17 and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the father by him. So look, if you can't remember anything else in this sermon, remember this, if you want to beat that old man, you want to beat the flesh. You have to purposely, and you have to presently decide that you want to win. Cause if you don't get that mindset that I'm going to do it purposely, I'm going to do it presently, you will fall. And don't say nobody warns you because that's what the Bible teaches. We need to learn to do these things because the battle is real. You know, go knock on a few doors with us and you'll see, you know, there's a lot going on out there in this community and across the country, across the world, time's running out. We need to get into the fight. We need to step up our game. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this church. I thank you for this building you gave us, Lord. I pray you keep blessing us, Lord. Please keep us zealous for you. Please help us to fight the old man, Lord, every single one of us. Thank you so much, Lord, for your love and your grace and your truth in Jesus' name. I pray. Amen.