Wayne Van Gelderen: Well, let's turn to our second set of notes there. I will use the ones that are in the notebook. So, we are glad to have you here.

I'm beginning to feel sorry for junior hires. I don't know what it is about evangelists. I'm a pastor.

Brother Bailey, you've got to come around on this. But junior hires, it does get better. I want to assure you of that.

And in fact, things begin to reverse. What begins to happen is that the younger you are, the better it is. I just read a story about a lady who went into a doctor's office and looked up on the wall.

You know, a lot of times they'll hang those diplomas up there. And she saw the name. It was first, middle, and last name of one of her classmates that she graduated with.

And she thought, could it be that this doctor graduated with me? Well, when she finally met the doctor, she looked at him, and he looked very old. And she's thinking, no, there's no way.

I mean, he's really, he's got to be quite a bit older than me. But it just was such an unusual name, she finally got up the courage to say, did you graduate in 1961 in Claiborne, Texas?

And he said, yes, I did. She said, you did? Well, you were in my class.

He looks a little shocked, looked at her closely. Which class did you teach? I'm telling you, young people, it doesn't get any better.

It's junior high, you know, things just all become relative. But at least being younger will be better for you as time goes on. I want to deal with a subject this morning, young people, that really affects many of you.

It's just amazing how the Lord covers a broad range of subjects, even though we don't coordinate this ahead of time. And I appreciated these first two messages have gotten right down to where so many teenagers live.

But many of you are going to fall into the category that the Lord has led me to speak on this morning. If you look at your notes, you see I wrote out for you an old story. This happened years ago about a train in Missouri.

The conductor noticed that the cars were rushing at a fearful speed around Kerr's and through several small stations where they should have slackened speed and that they had not stopped at a place where a halt was required on a schedule.

So that conductor became very, very concerned. He hurried through the smoking and baggage cars, climbed over the tender, and he saw the engineer sitting in the cabin as a custom place with his hand on the throttle

while the fireman was shoveling in coal. Struck with the motionless figure before him, the conductor drew nearer rapidly and looking around and into the face

that was gazing through the window saw that the man was dead. it had a heart attack evidently a dead man had been running the engine for the last 17 miles the fireman a raw recruit and a thick skulled fellow to boot had in his attention had his

attention to the furnace had failed to observe the catastrophe while the lifeless engineer propped up by his seat between the wood and iron wall on either side held his position looked like a living engineer with his hand on the throttle and face fronting the window

and yet he was a dead man all the while. What a shock it was to the people to hear that a train, the train they had been on,

that a corpse had been running it for nearly 20 miles. The horror was simply indescribable. And this illustration is given, as you can see the latter part of it,

in what consternation would fill the hearts of thousands of church members today could they see what God sees, a backslider in the pulpit, a dead man in charge of immortal souls,

piloting and directing them to the grave and to the judgment bar of God. But young people, we need to understand that many Christians act like they are spiritually alive when they are actually very carnal and very fleshly.

In your home, young people, you may think you're doing okay, But in Galatians chapter 6, it says when you sow to the flesh, you sow corruption. You're actually hurting your brothers and sisters more than you know.

You think you're okay in your youth group, but really, even though you're one of the good kids, you're actually quite a detriment to the cause of Christ. Maybe in your Christian school, or maybe in the ministry that you're involved in,

you think you're doing pretty well. And as I put here in the notes, there's a tragedy today, and it's very common among American Christians,

identifying carnal Christianity as genuine, spirit-empowered Christianity. Young people, if nothing else, for these two days that we have left, you need to identify the difference between a carnal Christian

and a spiritual or spirit-filled Christian. And our purpose this morning in this session is to awaken us to how often we're carnal, and yet we think we're okay, and we're not okay.

We're on a dangerous, slippery slope. Galatians 6.3 says, For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

There are young people here today, and you know you're not right with God. You know you're in real trouble. There's a number of you here today that feel pretty good about yourself

because if you were to characterize your youth group, your Christian school, you would be in the top level. But the fact of the matter is you're as carnal as the kid who is stiff-necked against God.

Turn with me to Galatians chapter 5, and I want us to open our hearts here today and let's be honest with God. You know, every one of us is preachers, every leader here.

We've come to this conference saying, Lord, expose my carnality. Oh, help us to grow. Self-deception is one of the deepest problems that we face.

It is really something how quickly we think well of ourselves. I couldn't help but mention this story since we got to talk about frogs, you know. If you go to my daughter's music teaching classroom, there are frogs everywhere,

and she doesn't even like them. I guess some people have started giving her frogs. So I know a few frog stories.

And one, I think it's sort of a cute little story, is there was this frog who had made real friends of two ducks. They were on this little pond, and they were good friends.

Well, the only problem was, in the middle of the summer, the pond dried up. Well, they were all three in trouble, especially the frog. And the two ducks just simply said, well, we're going to fly to another pond.

Well, the frog said, well, what am I going to do? And then he thought, I got an idea. He said, get a stick and put it in both of your beaks or your bills,

and I'll grab on with my mouth, and you can fly me to the next pond. Oh, they said, that's a great idea. He was feeling, you know, frogs can puff themselves out anyway, so he was quite puffed out.

So he grabs onto that stick, and they start to fly, and it was really an amazing work of art to see this thing going on. And the farmer stopped and looked up there and said,

wow, I wonder who thought of that. And the frog said, I did. Anyway.

But it's very easy for us to think far too highly of ourselves and that's when we get into real danger. You know, oftentimes teenagers think they're cool when they're not.

You know, I really thought at different times, especially before I surrendered to the Lord in high school, I thought I was cool until I look at my pictures.

Especially when my kids look at my pictures. It is really sad. You know, here's this guy in high waters, you know.

And high waters were somewhat in, but not that high high waters. It was my parents couldn't buy me pants as fast as I was growing. And then I had these paisley shirts where you roll up the sleeves,

really dumb looking, you know. And then I thought it was really cool. I had my hair, my bangs down to my face, you know, and you look back and it was atrocious, you know.

I'm embarrassed when I see that. Now, since I'm the older brother, I can tell on my younger brothers, you know. Dr.

Jim really never thought about being cool or not. I don't know. Did you ever think you were cool?

I don't. Well, anyway, pictures of him we've destroyed in high school. I distinctly remember I was his youth pastor your senior year I believe it was his senior year

and Jim really was a good high school kid he really was he was a great joy for me to to pastor except for one thing he wasn't cool I remember that pair of checkered pants and that striped shirt you wore I couldn't believe it I didn't know how to tell my parents do something

about this kid. This is an embarrassment. We've got to at least be sharp, you know, but he married

Rhonda and all is well. He is one of the sharpest dressers. Now, my brother, John, he was cool.

In fact, he was a class act. My kids look back at pictures and they go, wow, even back then. And so

my sons have tried to emulate Uncle John. He's the one of the three of us that genuinely was cool all the way through but you know uh there's nothing worse than um than thinking you're something

and you are not that but it's especially true young people when it comes to our christian lives let's let the holy spirit open our hearts let's pray right now lord as we take this passage we're going to look a lot of verses these young people have shown a great heart to listen i pray you'll

Give them strength. I know many are tired. And Lord, as we look at this entire chapter, would you open it up for us here in this time?

And Lord, just reveal our need for you. Only you can do that. We call upon you now to do that work in our hearts.

In Jesus' name, amen. In verses 1 to 15, number one, we find the exposure of our false security. The exposure of our false security.

There are two opposites that characterize a lot of Christians when it comes to thinking you're okay when you're not. The first, I would say, has been over the years the more normal one, and that is A, dependence upon human works.

Dependence upon human works. I'm not going to read all the verses, verses 1 to 12, but here you have reiterated again really the thesis of the first few chapters,

and that is how the Judaizers had attempted to get Christians back to looking at their growth being based upon the law. And if you look at chapter 3, verse 3, it says,

Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are ye now made perfect by the flesh? This dependence upon our own efforts to change ourselves

to be pleasing to God. Now, when you witness, what's the number one issue that you face with most people?

What are they depending upon? They're good works, aren't they? So you've got to talk about faith alone.

I mean, you make a big deal of the fact it's not through rituals. It's not through sacraments.

It is through grace alone. On Monday night, I had the privilege of leading a couple to the Lord,

and they're both staunch Roman Catholics. So guess what I dealt with all evening? It's not by works.

It's not by works. It is by grace alone. And I tell you, when it dawned on them, it was so thrilling.

And when I asked them, if you were to die right now, where would you go after they had prayed? I want to go to heaven. I just love that look in the face when someone gets saved.

And so that we understand. But did you know that Christians find themselves in that place all the time? Brother Bosler just mentioned in his testimony how that he had thought through his own efforts.

He's going to keep this whole set of rules, and he continued to fail in doing that. Now, the whole set of rules and the law, as we find in this book, is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.

It reveals the glorious holiness of our God. But the fact is, young people, you can't get there through your efforts. And so this passage deals with that.

But in verses 1 through 12, it talks about this. For instance, verse 1, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,

and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Verse 4. Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law.

You're fallen from grace. Listen, the minute you depend upon yourself, what happens to grace? You are no longer, by faith, accessing God's involvement,

as was preached last night, in your life for transformation power. For through the Spirit, for we through the Spirit, Wait for the hope of righteousness.

And so it deals very forthrightly. In fact, in this passage, the Apostle Paul very strongly condemns those that were teaching this. Well, how do we apply this to ourselves?

Young people, if you feel as though you're okay because of your faithful church attendance, your support of your youth pastor, your good involvement in the things that are going on there in the ministry,

the fact that you have turned from bad things. And by the way, all of that's good. Praise the Lord for that.

I mean, you have come up to a standard of how you look that fits in with approval on the part of the leadership. They are very happy with how you are grooming yourself.

You have turned from some of the things in the world. Those are all wonderful things. You may even regularly go to your outreach time

once a week or twice a week, and you're out there and your heart at times is stirred by it. But the fact of the matter is you're feeling good about yourself

primarily based upon what you do and don't do. The wonderful devotional commentator Griffith Thomas says that the supreme danger in the Christian life is

though we're justified by faith, we are sanctified by struggle. And so many kids will get into that place. They're feeling good about the fact that they're doing right,

but down deep, they know there's no reality. There's big temptations. There are areas of failure.

You feel bad about it. You know you're not where you ought to be. But yet, because you have enough good things,

you're really not under that much conviction, and you're looking over at the other teenager who's stiff-necked against God,

you're saying, I'm glad I'm not like that person. But tell you what, you're not walking with the Lord. See, you're satisfied with faithfulness,

not understanding genuine spirituality. You're not living a life of faith. You're not seeing the power of God.

You're not seeing God's work. You don't understand what grace is all about. As John 15, 5, in that great abiding passage,

I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.

For without me ye can do nothing. And I want you to get this, young people. This is something that I had to learn.

I surrendered my life in the 10th grade. God dramatically got a hold of my heart. I was a preacher's kid,

and I really didn't have a problem about being a preacher's kid, but I'd gotten caught up. We had a very carnal youth group, and my dad had moved to Chicago,

and I allowed that to overwhelm me somewhat. Had a couple of years where I was clearly not in the will of God, And God, during my sophomore year, broke my heart through several things that happened.

And after I surrendered, I began to feel good about the direction I was going. I never looked back. Surrender really wasn't the big issue, but spirituality was.

And now that I look at those final couple years of high school and even college years, I realize that much of what I thought was a good time, and God used it, or it was really not the walk of faith and the power of God that I could have had.

And therefore, that's why I had some of the struggles that I did. And I want you to note this. Really focus in on this point here.

I was fooled into thinking that I was spirit-filled because I had a heart to do right, and I loved the Word of God. If you were to study Romans chapter 7,

Paul is very honest there, and he says, you know, I struggle with the flesh. I want to do right, and I don't.

And I know there's things I ought not do, and I do them. Ever been there? Constant struggle, struggle, struggle.

And right in the midst of that, he says in verse 18 of Romans 7, For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Now what's that telling me? In the midst of my carnal fleshly state, I still have a heart because I'm saved. a desire to do right.

And because I respond to preaching, because I do have a heart to do right, I can fool myself into thinking I'm spiritual,

but that's only because I'm saved that I have that. That isn't a mark necessarily of genuine spirituality. Then I want you to look at verse 22.

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,

bringing me in captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. Did you know that you can enjoy the Scripture in Bible reading and still be carnal?

Well, that's a tough thought to think about, isn't it? There are many Christians that regularly have devotions because their heart responds to truth, but they're not walking in dependence upon the Spirit of God.

You know how you can know that? You're not praying along with your Bible reading. Spirit-filled Christians are the only kind of Christians that can really pray.

You know, you can read your Bible being carnal. You can have a heart to do right. You can even enjoy preaching.

You can enjoy being around Christians. And you can have a form of devotions. But to really begin to pray and walk with God,

only the Spirit of God can enable you to do that. And the Word of God, obviously, isn't going to be open to you when you're carnal. But the fact of the matter is,

there's a lot of quote-unquote good kids who are really not spirit-filled kids. Same thing with adults.

Same thing with Christian workers. And right in that same passage, look at the last verse, verse 24.

Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Listen, young people,

those of you that have a heart for God, those of you who aren't really stiff-necked right now, God wants you to have far more power than you have.

God doesn't want you to continually repeat the sins that you're just grieving about. God doesn't want you to have the broken-down relationship

with your parents that you have. You may really want to do right, and your youth pastor is thankful that you're going the right direction,

but you know down deep, and your leader knows down deep, you're not really walking with God. Let's don't fool ourselves.

That's the whole point. I remember how the Lord at times, between my surrender and through my college years,

God would get me up against something, And I'd have to call upon him. I'd depend upon him.

I'd have a measure of blessing. And then I'd get back to feeling pretty good about all the things I was doing for God. One of the best experiences happened to me my junior year of college.

I led a male ensemble out west. And this was a bunch of young guys that, frankly, very few of them really had a heart for God at the top of all.

And I had to preach 90 times. I had all of about three messages, you know. I was a real deep preacher.

And I was, at first, boy, I thought, I'm doing great. You know, we were doing pretty well. But I got out in California.

And California will test your spirituality. And we were in a number of churches that were dead, I mean dead and worldly. And I began to wake up to the fact I didn't have a thing to offer.

I think I had a whole string of real, I laid probably five eggs in a row. I mean, it was bad. One bad message after another.

I mean, no power, dead. The group was as carnal as can be. And I'm realizing, you know, you don't have as much as you thought you had.

We were, I remember very distinctly, we were in Ventura, California, and they had put us up in a hotel right on the beach, which was very nice. I should have been excited about that.

My ensemble, it was dusk, and there was nobody out on the beach, and they were walking around, and I was just sick in my soul. I don't have any power.

I hadn't been in a church for a couple of weeks that was experiencing any blessing. I was even doubting my Christianity. I had to preach twice.

I had to preach in a fairly large church that next morning, and I was not ready. And God allowed that ensemble to stay out for a long time, all the rest of the guys. And I sat in that room, and I remember it got darker and darker, and I didn't turn on the light.

That was my mood, you know. It was just darker and darker. I said, Lord, where are you?

And finally I said, you know, Lord, I'm a failure. I don't have it. And the Lord seemed to say, well, it's about time you understand that.

You can't do a thing without me. And I'll tell you, young people, God broke through in my soul in the darkness of that room. And the Lord Jesus met with me and told me, I'll do it if you'll trust me.

And it was one of the sweetest couple hours. Again, it was wonderful the fellows didn't come back. I think they broke their curfew, but anyway, that's another story.

But I was thankful that night, and God worked in my heart. And I'll never forget, I got up in the pulpit that morning in this significant church, feeling totally incapable, and heaven came down.

God broke open that service. God dealt with a number of the ensemble members. And I realized when God steps on the scene, everything changes.

Now, I'm just being honest with you. Everyone would have said from my 10th grade year through my senior year of high school, I was a good kid.

But I can tell you an awful lot of that time I was not a spirit-filled young person that had the power and blessing of God. I was far too self-dependent.

And I tell you what, God was good to protect me during that time, as we're going to see in this passage. So we need to be very careful about that.

Now, there is another side to this. verses 13 to 15 let me read those to you verse 13 here in chapter 5 of galatians for brethren ye have been called unto liberty see the grace of god gives us the liberty to do what god wants us to do

it's a glorious thing only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh but by love serve one another for all the laws fulfilled in one word even in this thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but if ye bite and devour one another take heed that ye be not consumed one of another

so on the one side here's this great danger of self-dependence which is so common to our human thinking because we're doing all these things and not doing all these things we're part of the good crowd and we're trying to do right that we're earning our spirituality when frankly we don't

have any power we're not walking with god but then there's the other side which is far more common today now because of of compromised christianity and that is if you just have a good heart toward god you can be worldly you know you're not under the law you can basically do what you want just

don't go too far you've got liberty and so now you have young people in the name of christianity listening to music they have no business listening to feeling free to go out and watch hollywood movies that are in opposition to the truths of god's word you have young people that will come

and go to a youth group and are living, are on the Internet, they're involved in things, and they honestly feel like, well, you know, I'm a good Christian.

I'm under grace. I don't have to worry about the law. Now, look at verse 13.

That deals with this very quickly. You have been called into liberty because it's the grace of God. It's the Spirit of God.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But only use not liberty for what? An occasion to the flesh.

You see, the law, young people, reveals to us what the flesh is and how holy and good God is. We make very clear in James chapter 4,

if you're a friend of the world, you're an enemy of God. The flesh is at enmity with God. It is never right to be in the flesh.

It is never right to do that which Satan's world is causing you to do. And so we've got to realize that this is the other side of the coin that is very, very dangerous.

And so we've got to understand that the purpose of the grace of God is to cause us not to fulfill self but to do what? Verses 13 to 15.

Love one another. Use this liberty to have great opportunity to love one another. When I was growing up, I was under the law of my father.

You heard a little bit about my father last night. He was exactly what Dr. Jim said.

And though he is a very gracious and loving man, you better obey the law. And if you didn't obey his law, the law of the mother was a whole lot worse. So my mother had a conscience that was absolutely firm and watertight.

And no compromise allowed. So we grew up with the law to bring us to Christ. And I'm thankful for that.

But I remember, again, going back to my sophomore year of high school, when I gave my heart to the Lord, I also gave my heart to my dad. And God began to build convictions in my life

and those moments where I would yield to him and trust him. And guess what happened? I stopped worrying about the law with my dad because I agreed with my dad.

I had surrendered to his God. There was liberty. Not liberty.

And when I got out, now I became 18, I went to college, I wasn't free to do what I wanted to do because in my heart, the law was written on my heart.

I remember going to college and boy the kids were groaning about these rules they said this is horrible we can't do this I'm looking around thinking man I got it made after the home I came out of this is this is as easy as I've ever seen it a totally different perspective but mainly

because I had freedom in my soul and this term liberty young people though really speaks of the liberty from the hold of sin and the freedom to accomplish the law in your life and it is just a glorious thing to see the lord do that it is not to fulfill the lust of the flesh now i want you to

note the last part of verse six uh 15 or the whole verse 15 but if you bite and devour one another take heed that you be not consumed one of another now young people here's a mark of a young person who has a good heart maybe as i said in the first 12 verses where you're depending upon the law or

here you think well you know you can do all these things and still as long as you serve the lord you're okay whatever philosophy and by do not a lot of teenagers think the second point a lot of parents do but regardless the mark of that kind of fleshliness is relationships problems bout

devour one another take heed that ye not be consumed on another bite and devour pretty picturesque language there what happens even in a good youth group when there isn't the spirit of god in control you bite and devour your relationship with your parents isn't what you ought to be

because you're not submitted submitted to god like you should be and then what happens is maybe boy girl relationships begin to happen and should not occur outside of the timing that god wants under the leadership of your parents and you begin uh to have jealousies and envies and

pressures come and gossip begins to go and and because you want to have this position you attack somebody over here i'm telling you you could make a great soap opera out of a lot of youth groups all the things that are said below below the radar so to speak by the way the radar is not as high as

you think it is amazing to me how god allows his radar to get right down where you are i have always been amazed how notes can fall out of backpacks and how things are heard. I probably shouldn't

say this now. All the kids will be careful, but my little inner study is right on the hallway. And so the door is not insulated.

And so that's why I don't talk in that room, but I can sure listen in that room. And it's amazing.

The radar goes very low. But anyway, a little warning there. be careful kids can show you which door to watch out for there so uh but uh the lord is good uh to

help us in that regard but the point i want to say is this you know you can think you're doing pretty well you can think you're spiritual young people when you don't have a love for god a love for your parents a love for the lost when you're saying things that are hurtful when you're selfish and

immature mark it down you may think you're doing well but god doesn't you're hurting yourself you're corrupting yourself you're corrupting people around you and one of the hard things is when you're known as one of the good kids and you're in the flesh you are really hurting the

cause of christ you need to learn what the spirit filled life is all about so let's go now then to Point in the Roman numeral number two. Examination of our fleshly sin.

Now the main purpose of this message is to identify the fact that we are in need of God taking over in our lives. So I'm going to go from the positive side. Let's evaluate the standard of the Spirit-filled life.

Young person, one simple truth here, and you'll probably hear it some throughout this conference, is that at this very moment, either you are in control of your life, if you're a believer, or the Spirit of God is in control.

There's no 40, 60, 20, 80. He's a person, you're a person, either he's in control or you're in control. Now, you may be more mature than someone else because you have spent more time under his control.

He's changed your thinking. He's illuminated truth to you. Your character has become firmed up.

There's some real transformation that occurred. And by the way, that's one of the dangers that can occur because we've grown, and then we get in the flesh, we think we're doing pretty well,

but that's past victory that we're riding on. But right now, if God were to reveal it to us, we'd have, if it was, let's say, blue for carnality and red for spirituality,

everybody would either be full blue or full red. There would be no in between, no purple. Okay, is that right?

Red, blue, purple? Good. Learned something from elementary school.

But anyway, so where are you today? That's the whole point. And I want to tell you, you're on a downward path if you're controlled by the flesh.

You're in a dangerous position if you are not spirit-filled. You ever wondered why kids that really were sincere in high school are not living for God today? Do you wonder why so many that were headed to the ministry are just consumed by materialism?

Do you wonder why your older siblings that once were a testimony to you have just gone and tanked? It's because they were good, but they were not godly. They had a form of godliness, but they did not have the power of God in their life.

And I just want to tell you, as we're going to conclude with this, your humanity, your flesh is no match for Satan and the world, but the Spirit of God is. And so we have to be in one place or the other.

And today is diagnosis time here today. All right. The standard, that's A, of the Spirit-filled life.

Let's look at verse 16. This is one of the first verses that I learned as a kid of the Spirit-filled life. This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

How many of you believe that the Bible is the Word of God? How many of you believe that God means what He says? Alright, He means what He says here.

Would you read it out loud with me? Verse 16. This I say then,

Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. That means any believer here can have glorious victory.

In fact, God says, I want you to have glorious victory. I died on the cross so you could have victory. Listen, young person, He died not just to save you from hell.

He died to save you from yourself in this life to glorify Him. And you've got everything you need to have victory in your life. Now, I want you to note this glorious verse is a command.

It's an imperative. It's also in the present tense. We are to be regularly having victory.

Every part of our life, walk, speaks of your entire life. Walk in the Spirit. It's not partial, as I said.

You commit yourself to Him, you yield to Him, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. So every moment, young person, every moment,

you are yielded to the Lord, the Spirit of God will give you victory. Now, there is no great experience that you have

that all of a sudden you just become a perfect Christian. Wouldn't that be nice? It doesn't work that way because we have a will.

Now, there will be crises when you surrender and learn truth, which it could happen during this time, and where you're different like I was

at a couple different junctures in my life. But every moment you can go back to the flesh, but the positive side is every moment you can turn to the Lord.

And did you know if you'll stay humble, honest, correctable, stay in submission, and stay dependent, you can grow and be like the Lord Jesus on a regular basis,

believe it or not, Monday as well as Sunday. Friday night as well as Sunday night

you can have victory in the home with your siblings as well as in the middle of your peer group you have all you need

moment by moment step by step on a regular basis if you will be willing to believe

the Lord and to trust Him now look at verse 16 verse 17 I'm sorry

for 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 you would now you got to understand this i just gave you that glorious

reality that moment by moment i can have victory but also moment by moment there's a battle you know we talk about satan the world and the flesh what is your biggest enemy to your flesh now satan's powerful the world's powerful but if a flesh isn't in control they

don't have any hold over you your big problem is yourself and so we've got to understand that there is a battle within you the spirit of god is in you endeavoring to convict and convince and to work so that He can have control

because He loves you and wants to bring to you all that Christ has obtained for you. But your flesh is self-willed.

It is part of the Adamic nature. It wants to fulfill its sinful impulses. The body of sin is how Romans 6 calls it.

And so there's this constant battle, one with the other. And so you have to understand

that though you surrender now, there will be a constant set of choices that you'll make but the more you know about the truth and the more god changes your life and the more your mind will and emotions develop the less the battle is

as acute but it is always there and so you need to understand that i remember a young man named terry was saved when i was in high school and he got on fire for god and we had some precious times I remember how my first attempt at fasting and prayer I did with Terry.

We wanted to see God bring revival to our youth group. The only problem was we decided to do it while I had eight-hour shifts at Gossage Grill preparing food. Bad idea.

And I remember absolutely horrible misery. And so I collapsed. My fast was no good.

And anyway, we didn't learn a whole lot. But that was the kind of relationship that we had. But I remember how he had that great experience of salvation and dedication early on.

But he just didn't get a hold of the fact that, you know, you have to deal with your character issues. His attitude toward his parents wasn't right. They were lost, yes, but he would not handle that.

He began to be pretty proud and self-dependent. He thought because he had done all these things that somehow he was going to be the super Christian.

And I mean he crashed and burned. It was one of the great griefs to me as a junior in high school. A few years ago I was coming into the Milwaukee airport

from I think I was in Washington, D.C. for something. And I walked out into the Northwest Terminal

and there standing was Terry. And I could just tell it just was like a thunderbolt to him to see me. In the world, had a heart for God.

I think he was going to an evangelical church, but you could just tell his life was ruined. And I remember he said, well, you're a preacher, aren't you?

And I said, yes, I am. It's by the grace of God. But it struck me, that danger, the thinking,

that, you know, a couple of key decisions, and I'm okay. Young people, it is a walk with God of dependence. You have a roaring lion out there seeking to devour you.

You need to learn everything that we're giving you these days and much more as time goes on. But we're going to end this message,

and you're going to hear over and over, there is great victory for every believer. But never forget the fact that there is a battle.

So there needs to be a constant awareness that you are spirit-filled. Let me just mention this, young people.

Oftentimes Christians will ask me, well, how do I know if I'm spirit-filled? If you're spirit-filled, you're God-conscious.

You know it. Not that you're having the experience. Not that there's some wonderful feeling that you're having

or some ta-da, you know, happening all the time. No. But there is a constant, humble dependence upon the Lord.

Think of how many days you go by, young people, without even thinking about Him. Think of how much you do in your own strength.

Think about how many plans are your plans. Think about how many times when you're prompted to the Lord to do something or not do something,

you just go ahead and do it. Friends, that's not Spirit-filled living. if you're spirit-filled, you're very humble about it.

It's not like you feel powerful or feel great. In fact, you feel the opposite. You realize your need for him, but you know you're depending on him.

So let's look at some of the characteristics here of a spirit-led person. There's freedom. That first verse that I read in Galatians 5.1,

Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherein Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. I tell you, young person, you know you're spirit-filled when you have confidence in your soul

that sin doesn't have to have dominion over me. If right now you have this fear that you can't get over this sin, then you're depending upon the flesh.

The spirit-filled life is a life of holiness. We just read there in Galatians 5, 16, Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Young man, young lady, whatever the besetting sin is, you don't have to live with that besetting sin. You have within you the conquering one.

We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. So how are we doing on this? Do you have liberty?

Do you have holiness? Are you having regular victory over sin? These are marks of the Spirit-filled life.

Truth. Thrilled about truth. John 16, the Lord Jesus in those final hours before he's crucified said,

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself. But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come.

He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine.

Therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and show it unto you. Listen, the Spirit-filled Christian not only loves the Word, It is coming alive.

Oh, I see it. This is not something you can manipulate. This is not something you can force into a youth group.

But a group of kids in a peer group are spirit-filled, naturally talk about what they've learned in God's Word. Now, you may think you're a pretty good little spiritual clique,

but if you're never talking about God's Word, I'm telling you, when God explodes truth in your mind, it is just wonderful.

I'll be honest with you. I love to get a phone call from one of my brothers or my family members or other godly people.

And inevitably, this is what God showed me today. And I tell you, it becomes my treasure. I love to get together as a family.

We talk about how God's dealt with us. Listen, spirit-filled people not only have a heart for the truth, it is coming alive to them.

Young people, you've got to understand, in a world that's searching for truth, in a world that's cynical,

in a world that's just in misery right now, and they're using every avenue they can to try to figure out what's going on, you have in your lap this morning the truth from all eternity.

God loves you. He has saved you. The Spirit of God is there.

And if you would yield to him, the Spirit of God would just give you all you need to know about life. It's a precious truth. But you know, if you can get five minutes in, you feel pretty good.

Not a matter of how much time, the Spirit-filled person is a person being led into truth. There's an access to God in prayer, Ephesians 2.18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit into the Father.

There is the prompting of the Spirit to pray. In fact, as Galatians 4 says, because ye are sons, we can cry unto the Father, Abba, Father.

The Spirit leads us into that reality. There is a relationship reality where we know we can pray. Spirit-filled Christian has assurance of salvation.

You know, for most teenagers that have been brought up and properly taught, the assurance of salvation issue is probably a spirit-filled issue. Now, there are some that never did come to know the Lord.

But I have found this. I remember one man, one young man that I worked with for several years, and he just had some insecurities,

and he would continually fall back into thinking about exactly what happened when he got saved. And oh boy, here we go again. I'll never forget a while back, he came to see me and he says, I got it.

He said, every time I'm walking with God, I know I'm saved. As you read there in Romans 8, 16, the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

And he said, when I start getting shaky about it, my problem is not my salvation, it's my dependence upon the Word of God and yieldedness to Him, and I see it. And so there is a wonderful assurance that I am His and He is mine.

You see, when you're in the Word and the truth is real and you're conscious of Him and these things are precious to you and you've got freedom and you've got victory over sin,

listen, the assurance issue is dead and gone. Some of you need to get that out of your… You know, it's really sad that every time you hear somebody preach,

you're worried whether you're saved or not. It's time for you to go on. You know, I mean, honestly, and you're constantly thinking,

If I'll come forward and maybe get saved again, I'm going to be able to go on for the Lord. No, you need to depend on the gospel,

get that settled in your soul once and for all and start realizing it, surrender and trust in the Lord and learning your relationship with Him.

And that will really help you. Leadership in prayer. Oh, when you're spirit-filled,

not only does God prompt you and lead you into prayer, Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, there in Romans 8, for we know not what to pray for as we ought,

but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart searcheth what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

I had a dear godly grandmother, my dad's mother. We often talk about her here. My grandmother knew the secret of the Lord.

She was a woman that entered into the Holy of Holies on a regular basis. She was a woman totally surrendered to God and believed God with all of her heart. Had a simple, she grew up in Alabama.

She was a simple Christian, well-educated, but very, very devout, very unusual. Our whole heritage comes from her. But I remember how she would become convinced over and over and over,

God told me it's going to happen. By the way, it always happened. I don't have time to give you some very major incidents in my life

in which God dealt with her about what God was going to do in my life before it happened, and it happened exactly like she had prayed. And so I know that God heard her prayers.

How did she get that assurance? Was it because she was a great prayer warrior? No, she just happened to be yielded to the Holy Spirit

who took the Word of God and impressed it on her heart, applied it properly, and let her know what he was going to do. You know, close friends share secrets.

And she so walked with the Lord that there was a reality. Listen, young people, if you're spirit-filled, prayer becomes more precious. All those things you're worried about, all those things you're burdened about,

a lot of the heartaches that you're facing, when you're praying, God will very clearly show you. I remember as we were praying for my son, Wayne, when he was two and a half years of age, he had a massive brain tumor.

Some of you know the story. We were told that he would not live. No one had ever lived.

And so I needed to pray with some real clarity because the whole church, Market Manor Baptist Church at that time, where I was co-pastor, was watching and people's faith were at stake.

And I remember saying, Lord, if ever you've led, I need you to lead. Then I realized I needed other people to help. And thank God I had some godly deacons that got on their face before God

and godly staff. And over about a month period of time, they entered into this reality, the Holy Spirit would lead them in prayer.

And God gave us confidence. I'll never forget when they prayed around the crib of my son. I tape recorded it.

They confidently prayed for healing. And he is still alive, 30 years of age, the only living survivor. I learned a lesson there that God answers prayer, yes,

but God answers prayer to those who are depending upon him where the Spirit of God leads us in prayer. You know what that's about?

That's a dramatic illustration there. But you know, in little things, little things to see God work in your heart

and that confidence that He gives. What about witnessing? Acts 1.8,

But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me

both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Listen, young people,

you may be very faithful. You're one of that good crowd that's out on soul winning. But the fact is, you have never seen the power of God come upon you

as the Word of God has gone forth, seen the gospel be the power of God unto salvation, or you've rarely seen it.

A spirit-filled Christian is, on a regular basis, seeing divine appointments, aware of God's power, when you realize, I can't do this without the Lord.

And so, that should be part of your life. let me just ask you right now how you doing on this checklist for for living a spirit-filled life i remember as a lot younger i'd ask myself am i spirit-filled

well it's not a feeling it's not an experience i'm just giving you some of the very clear things that the spirit of god does when he is in control submissive joy i love this ephesians 5 18 we all would know if we were going to speak on being spirit-filled and be not drunk with wine where

it is excess but be filled with the spirit and here are three very good evidences number one speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the lord number one i've already alluded to this if you're spirit-filled you're conscious

of god by the way young people that's why you don't want to watch tv you're going to have the aura of secularism just snuff out a walk with god oh in this secular world that satan has such a hold of your tender spirit to know him and to walk with him and how good he is you don't want anything in

your life that's going to take away from that or hinder that and um and i tell you it's wonderful when you're filled with the spirit you're so aware of his goodness you're so aware of his person that you break out in song i love it when i hear teenagers just break out in song and you can tell

a spirit-filled youth group they're a youth group that wants to sing because it comes from the heart then uh the second one giving thanks always for all things unto god and the father in the name of our lord jesus christ this is the opposite of bitterness as was preached last night when you're

spirit-filled god gets a hold of your heart you realize he's in control and you can trust him And it doesn't matter how bad it is. It doesn't matter how hard the circumstance is.

It is going to work together for good, and you can be thankful, and it's a wonderful thing. You're free from that negative reaction.

And then thirdly, submitting yourself one to another in the fear of God. Don't tell me you are a godly Christian if you have a resistant attitude towards your parents,

towards your youth director, towards your school teachers, toward anyone else who is in authority, toward the person that you work for.

A submissive attitude, submitting our rights is part of the spirit-filled life. And by the way, that's one of the great encouragements. Because if you are struggling with submission,

God will give you victory real quickly if you'll yield to him. Now, I want us to look down. I appreciate you staying with me here.

I just want to stop, though, and just ask you right now, are you spirit-filled right now? Who's in control of your life?

Are these realities? This is not something you grow into, young people. This is something you can have right now.

Right now. Now, I'm going to quickly go through the rest of this material, not because of time, because I've got the time,

but I don't want to lose you here, but I want you to just continue thinking, am I really as good as I thought I was?

Look with me at the familiar verses. and jump down to verses 23, 22 and 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. Here we have what is the supernatural working in our lives

if we are Spirit-filled. Let's just look at them very quickly. If you are Spirit-filled, you're freed from yourself during that time.

You are concerned about God and His name, And you are concerned about the relationships you're in. You're not worried about what your rights are.

You're not worried about your own fulfillment. You see, the problem we have is self-centeredness, looking out for ourselves, not wanting to go beyond the comfort zone,

concerned more for our reputation than for the advancement of others. As one of the early historians said, looking at those early Christians, see how they love one another.

Let me just ask you this. When somebody in your class, somebody in your youth group gets something good that you would like, but you don't get it, do you rejoice because they got it?

When someone's honored and you're not honored, are you happy about it? You can't be humanly. Only spirit-filled people are.

It's really neat. You know, I tell you what, youth groups can be in a place where there is true love for one another and there is a true support for one another rather than the selfishness in there.

That is the spirit-filled life. Joy, love, joy is a deep and abiding inner rejoicing which is promised to those who abide in Christ.

John 15, 11, the Lord said, These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you or abide in you and that your joy might be full.

I want you to get this. Right now, if the heavens would be opened up and we'd see the Father, the glory of the Father,

and then we'd see the glorified body of Jesus Christ and we'd see all of what was going on in heaven, the one thing that would really get to us is the joy of the Lord.

You know what he's saying right here? My joy. Not human joy.

Not something that comes out of your own emotions, but in your innermost spirit, because you're saved, young people, when you're spirit-filled, no matter what's going on in life,

you can have the joy that God himself is experiencing at this moment on the throne. That's pretty exciting. I tell you what, you look at the stars in any area,

from entertainment to sports to corporate world and look at their inner lives. Pretty sad when you have to go to sleep with IVs and anesthesia.

That wasn't success. There's no joy outside of God's joy. There's temporary happiness based on circumstances.

It gets burned out pretty quickly. Mark it down. I like what Brother Bailey said.

God lets you get judged sometimes by giving you everything you want and more, and it just wrecks you. Oh, the joy of the Lord.

I remember distinctly my dear sister Joy, Mrs. Hearth here, who has been through seven, eight years of cancer now, battling that.

The type of cancer she has ends up with brain tumors. And when I heard that the first one appeared, I realized we were at the time we were going to have to cry out to the Lord.

And then three more appeared, and it was happening rapidly, just like it says. And we met together in December. And the family is under great pressure, knowing we have to pray.

This is time to call upon God. And guess who had the most joy of all of us? The one named Joy.

That's why I knew God was going to work. In fact, she didn't get moved. Now, she shed a few tears, because she does anyway.

You know, that's just part of her demeanor. But honestly, I was lifted by the throne's joy, not joy's joy. I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit for hours.

Totally supernatural. And she got far more concerned for revival here at our church and at Armour Baptist Church and for the cause of Christ

than she did about her own situation. Then God gave us confidence, and especially her dear husband who prayed that through and they're gone.

Praise the Lord. But I tell you what the greater miracle was than God miraculously taking those brain tumors away

was the joy that comes from the throne. That's just a very real thing. The peace of God which passeth all understanding.

That's the third part of the fruit of the Spirit. And again in John 14, the upper room discourse, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,

not as the world giveth. Peace only comes when tranquil situations come, but they don't come very often, young people. You think your life is busy now.

You think you have pressures now. You have no idea what's ahead. You know, I get sort of a chuckle when I look at high school or just can't wait to graduate.

And I'm thinking, you've got it made. Slow up. I mean, the minute you graduate, you're in trouble.

College, a whole other set of issues. All the college students would say, amen. All right, didn't say it loudly.

But, and then, they want to graduate from college. Yeah, wait till you have kids. Wait till you're married and have to bear the burdens of all of that,

which is a glorious thing, and be in the ministry, and everybody expects everything from you, and all of that. I tell you what, peace, we know very little of circumstantially,

but God's very peace. You know, he's got everything together. and did you know when your spirit filled in your spirit everything's together

i can tell you right now some of the most tumultuous times in my life have been some of those peaceful times they're just glorious there's just peace i mean no just sitting by an ocean and just enjoying a wonderful vacation would not bring the peace that comes in the inner spirit

when you're walking in the spirit it's a glorious thing long suffering this is a distinctly christian word never used in classical greek because it was not seen as a possible virtue i like what uh chrysostin the early reformer said the spirit which could take revenge if it like but utterly

refuses to do so or as the commentator of a century ago lightfoot said the spirit which will never retaliate oh that's a beautiful thing isn't it you don't fight back that's god aren't you glad He doesn't fight back with us.

He deals with us fairly and mercifully. Gentleness. Oh, the kindness which causes us to deal graciously with others.

A sweetness which pervades and penetrates the whole nature. A kindly disposition. Now, I want to remind you, young people,

remember I said it's all or nothing? You're either spirit-filled or flesh-dependent? You say, well, you know, I got that, but I don't have that.

No, you don't really. Now, we develop in these, but I'm telling you, you, when you're spirit-filled,

your heart leans this direction in every area. Gentleness. I think of the wonderful story of Jonathan Goforth.

How many have heard of Jonathan Goforth? If you've not heard of him, you need to get a biography of Jonathan Goforth.

It'll be life-changing for you, and they do sell them out on the table out there, so I'll give Revival Focus a little push there.

But Jonathan Goforth really got on fire for God a teenager he went to college thinking everybody else was on fire for god and it was a very carnal backslidden college in fact he looked like a hayseed and they made fun of him did all kind of things

to him but he he walked with god he just he didn't he just loved the lord he got out in the slums of of toronto there and and uh saw many many converts and he exhibited by miraculous grace the gentleness of Jesus both to his fellow students and to the community around and when he determined to go

to China he was supported by guess who the very people that ridiculed him he was supported completely wasn't he basically by fellow students a good portion of those just a miracle why that happened because walking in the spirit shows forth the reality of Jesus

and that stirs people and gives them confidence. Listen, folks, toughness and getting even and ugliness is never right. Goodness.

This word, it's a hard one to translate. I remember preaching on this, the whole message on it. It's moral goodness, the energy that comes out of just a heart.

It's what you think of as God, just how good God is. By the way, this doesn't come out of someone with impurity in their soul. In fact, let me just say,

so many things can be done secretly with technology, young people. And so many of these attributes you know very little about because you're not happy.

You're short-tempered. You're guilty. There's yuck in your soul.

You don't have moral goodness. There isn't that sweetness of disposition. You're developing a personality that is not going to be good in the days ahead

because you're defeated in your inner life. Faith. Do you know that when you walk regularly under control of the Spirit,

He leads you from faith to faith to faith. You begin to develop a confidence in God's Word that causes you to be faithful, and you begin to see unbelief exposed.

A person who's walking in the Spirit longs to believe God. In fact, that's what you hear. They'll ask to just pray that I'll trust the Lord,

that I'll believe these promises. I need to stand upon spiritual truth. A person who's growing in the Lord learns how to pray,

and God gives them a biblical transaction about that prayer. And even though they don't see it answered for a while, they are the kind of person that is still trusting the Lord regardless of what they see.

That comes out of a spiritual life. Meekness. Strength under control.

This is where you give your expectations and rights to God. Because you're saved, I mean, because you have been transformed by the Lord, you're not worried about yourself.

And I tell you, a temper, an uncontrolled tongue is the very opposite of that kind of a heart. And then temperance, self-control. You know, one of the big problems we have today is the lack of character.

Last night we talked about uninvolved dads. If I was to ask, and I won't, so don't worry, but how many of you were spanked more than ten times?

Many of you would not be able to raise your hand. You've got a problem with temperance. But God's able to make up for it.

By the way, his chastening is a whole lot harder. If I was to ask how many of you have been disciplined since you were in junior high and you're in high school now,

very few of you would would raise your hands that's why you got problems with your character and you need to right now realize that a spirit-filled christian is aware of that and they and and longs to be under control of authority and under control the flesh

to do what god says immediately to do what authority says immediately and you will not tolerate fleshly indulgence you will get up on time you will do what's important these are not things that earn spirituality but they are the mark of a spiritual person and you realize that

god's got to change your character and by the way he will did you know some of the most disciplined people i've ever known in latter years are people that did not have the training but they learned to walk with god and he is a great heavenly father so how we doing how we doing how much of the time

were these evident in your life i tell you it's convicting for all of us remember either you are spirit filled or your flesh human controlled now let me rapidly go through these final notes stay right with me be the seriousness of the flesh control life you jump back to verse 19 and you're

almost repulsed by the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies envying murders

drunkenness revelings and such like of the which i have told you before and i have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of god this is characteristic of the unregenerate world but he's speaking here of the christian life of how this can happen

now here's what i want you to get when you are not yielded completely and walking in the spirit young people the flesh begins to dominate it starts with smaller things like envy and strife with satisfying lusts that aren't so major by being rebellious to authority and in more

inconsequential areas but the spirit of god is quenched you don't have his leadership you don't have his power and you forget how bad the flesh is i've been in cambodia a couple times and both times i've visited the killing fields if you want something to just make you sick it's unbelievable

probably a million people there in that one area were slaughtered by pol pot's regime they have a monument that's made up of human bones in glass i mean we as americans that's just not something we're used to and what's really hard is when you're walking around because there's

so much moisture there those that whole area is an open burial spot so you never can go at any time without bones sticking up all over the place and you realize that's how bad if you ever read about pol potter if you want to read about hitler if you want to read about any of the other wicked regimes

you could be the same if you let yourself go you see sometimes we just think we're okay and we are just lulled to sleep because we're in church we're in a christian school we're homeschooled you know things are okay around us friends we have a

wicked heart as paul said oh wretched man that i am i'm looking at young people that could either to turn this world upside down for Christ or can bring great disgrace to the name of Christ.

And frankly, it's going to be one or the other. It's a scary thing. This is a dividing time.

And so the flesh is bad. And that list, you know, I think, I don't want anything to do with that.

Most of you say, I don't want to go there. But what I want to tell you is you stay in the flesh long enough

and you're going to go there one way or the other. and that's the whole thing as the Lord Jesus warned in Mark 7

20 to 23 that which cometh out of the man that defileth the man for from within the heart of man

in those choices you make come all of these wicked things out much like that list

four categories of fleshly sins young people sexual sins

make no mistake about it many young people in Christian schools up in sexual immorality fornication or impurity or debauchery you can just read those there what

a tragic thing but what happens is you don't walk in the spirit you don't have the have that great victory as verse 16 talks about lustful thoughts begin to come in it's all around us you're not careful about the media that you're listening to and watching you have immediate access young people

to stuff that that just a generation ago wouldn't even been known about an unthankful spirit and a lack of self-discipline all develops in a fleshly life that leads to being overcome by this and young people it's not my job to preach on this this time but you need to make some strong

decisions that the only woman or man in your life is the one that god has for you in marriage and you need to work it out with your parents that you're going to keep your mind body and soul for the one that god has for you at the right time the right way and do it by faith you see it's the flesh

that drives you to want something that god doesn't want you to have at that time it's beautiful god has wonderful things for you listen for most of you here god wants you to be married and he wants to do it in a way that far exceeds what you would ever think he wants you to have a beautiful

family there's not a person here no matter how bad your background may be that the grace of god cannot bring you into a place where you can just see wonderful things happen in your family well he's a good god he thought of marriage he thought of the whole matter of the physical

relationship it's all beautiful it's sacred it's the world of the devil that has ruined it the young people if you're in the flesh long enough you're not going to think right but you're walking in the spirit guess what you're not going to go that direction

there's going to be some of you here they're going to wreck your lives and you think you're pretty good right now

if you're not experiencing the fruit of the spirit if you are not experiencing the victory of verse 16

the flesh will lead you and lead you and lead you to finally do

what you never thought you would do then there's the religious

sins idolatry and witchcraft this is uh just living for that which is not a real relationship with god and it really has the idea of drugs pharmaceuticals we get from the word witchcraft there and um

and really covetousness which is which is idolatry the inner fleshly sins anxiety how do people get caught up in drink and drugs and all this stuff i can tell you why they're not meeting the needs of their life and they've got to escape.

And listen, if you are in the flesh, I can tell you right now, if you've been in the flesh long enough, you've got to have the latest thing.

You've got to have the latest toy. You've got to have the latest clothes. You've got to have

the latest fad that's going on. And you're just

torn with emotion. You go through all kinds of moods.

You can't really get rest in your soul. You have great times

at times. At other times you're not happy and you're just all in turmoil.

And listen, if you go long enough and get out of your authority without getting that reconciled you are going to be a candidate for this kind of junk

relationship sins hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition factions dissensions envy i don't have time to get into all those oh that characterizes homes and and groups of people and that comes from bitterness within that when you're by the way ephesians 4 says if you have

bitterness you're going to you're going to grieve the holy spirit of god pride jealousy all those things are products of the flesh that just lead to these kinds of relationship issues and then finally the worldly sins drunkenness and orgies let me just say this young people

been in ministry long enough 32 years to see some of the best looking kids end up in this it hurts as a pastor I can't tell you how it hurts

hurts so bad you can hardly stand it sometimes every pastor here knows what I'm talking about kid that really didn't walk in the spirit

flesh was really in control get out from the control of authority and I tell you what I found that Christians in fundamental churches seem to go deeper

than even the world. The world looks at a backslidden teenager that went to a Christian school or was homeschooled

and just scratched their head why they just sort of have an unbelievable, abandoned dissents.

Isn't that interesting? This is all put together, folks, for us. And so we need to realize that this is a big deal,

the decisions we make. But let's end on the positive note. That's exactly what happens here.

Look with me now at verse 24. After we've looked at the difference between the spirit-filled life and the works of the flesh, verse 24,

And they that are Christ, hallelujah, have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. I want to give you some real quick good news. You know what happened when you got saved?

What happened when you got saved was that your spirit, which was dead in trespasses and sins, became alive. You were regenerated.

You were born again. You became a child of God. And in that Spirit that is now able to commune with God

because it has been justified through the blood of Christ, who moved in? The mighty Spirit of God.

Because He can only dwell in the place that is holy. The Bible says that our new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness.

So your inner man is justified, is created righteous and holy, You dwelt by the Holy Spirit.

But you still have the body of sin. You still have the flesh. You still have this awful problem that we've been talking about.

But you've got the mighty Spirit of God. Before you were saved, you were under the control of Satan and the world. He was your father.

And you were just driven by the different ways that he drives lost people. From religiousness to debauchery to materialism to idolatry, whatever. But now you're saved.

And here's what I want you to realize. A, the explanation three, I'm sorry, is of our faith solution. A, victory is assured.

We are in a place in which when we are in the spirit, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his victory is applied to our life.

We live in newness of life and we'll be talking about that. Before I was saved, I couldn't control my flesh. Even my righteousness was as filthy rags.

After I was saved, the Spirit of God is all-powerful, and I can walk in victory. And so victory is assured.

Verse 6 of Romans 6, Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him. Isn't that wonderful?

That the body of sin might be, and it's better translated, rendered ineffective. that henceforth we should not serve sin. And so we can, if we'll turn to the Lord,

have regular victory over the flesh. And so the flesh no longer has to dominate and be victory is commanded.

Look at verses 25 and 26. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory,

provoking one another, envying one another. We are to live and walk in the Spirit. Well, how did the examination go, young people?

Are you walking in the Spirit or are you walking in the flesh? Are you a good kid or really a genuine, Spirit-filled young person? You know, that can change right now by surrendering to the Lord,

by stopping self-dependence and any rebellion against God, the Spirit of God can have control of your life, and the fruit of the Spirit can be your life.

Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you'll take this look. This is somewhat of a teaching look,

but, oh, Lord, use truth now to go deep within our hearts. May we not be fooled. May we not think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

Would you do a mighty work now in all these young people's hearts and lives and all the adults here.

And Lord, may we truly walk in the Spirit. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name.

Participant: Amen.