SPEAKER_00: This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist.
SPEAKER_00: Helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_00: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProquay.org.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we understand when we sing simple hymns like that that the thing that you desire the most, the thing that you place the most value on, is us.
SPEAKER_01: It's not our stuff, it's not our money.
SPEAKER_01: It's us.
SPEAKER_01: With your blood, you purchase people for God.
SPEAKER_01: You've always valued us.
SPEAKER_01: You're not here to get your hand in our pocket today.
SPEAKER_01: You're here to put your hand on our heart and say, like the seagulls in binding Nemo, mine, mine, mine.
SPEAKER_01: It all belongs to you.
SPEAKER_01: So, Holy Spirit, lead us into the truth today.
SPEAKER_01: Illuminate the scriptures today so that we'll be provoked to godly thinking, so that our minds will be brought into submission and alignment with the truth, and our lives will be freer when we walk out than they were when they walk in.
SPEAKER_01: This is the byproduct of truth.
SPEAKER_01: It's not oppression, it's freedom.
SPEAKER_01: So we've come today because we are created for freedom.
SPEAKER_01: We want to understand freedom.
SPEAKER_01: We want to experience more freedom today.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit, make that happen as a result of what you do in our head and our heart during this time.
SPEAKER_01: We pray in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_01: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: You can have a seat.
SPEAKER_01: If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Galatians chapter 5.
SPEAKER_01: Galatians chapter 5.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're our guest, I want to just tell you, we're preaching through the book of Acts, and we were kind of got to Acts chapter 24, and we got on a we got on what we call where I grew up a honey hole.
SPEAKER_01: If you go, if you if you like the fish, say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, I was I grew up in East Texas in a small town.
SPEAKER_01: There was a weird man in my church that I started going to once I was converted, and he would go around, he was weird because at Christmas, he would go around at church and tell everybody, put your Christmas tree out by the street, and I'll come by and pick it up.
SPEAKER_01: And this cat would have a flatbed trailer full of Christmas trees.
SPEAKER_01: What we didn't understand is that he would tie them all together in bundles, load them on his boat, and then go out in the lake and he'd sink them in a certain spot.
SPEAKER_01: And basically he had this great barrier reef of sunken Christmas trees.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what happened was little bait fish get in there because it's safe.
SPEAKER_01: They feel like they're safe from bigger fish.
SPEAKER_01: And then he would go out there and just slay them.
SPEAKER_01: He'd fish one spot every time.
SPEAKER_01: And every time he went, he would come back with a boatload of fish.
SPEAKER_01: And finally, someone followed him and said, Oh, dude, he's got a man-made honey hole.
SPEAKER_01: I remember I was 18, I didn't know what that was, but man, I want one of those.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, because every time he went, he came back with success.
SPEAKER_01: We stumbled across just such a thing in Acts chapter 24.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you don't have to turn there, but I want you to understand why we're gonna be in Galatians 5 this morning, okay?
SPEAKER_01: We were in Acts 24, starting in verse 24, and we read these words.
SPEAKER_01: After some days, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who is Jewish, and he sent for Paul and he heard him speak about faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: He's Paul's in prison in Acts because he got in, he preaches the gospel and gets in trouble.
SPEAKER_01: He's in prison.
SPEAKER_01: Felix, like, hey, you're on trial, but I want to understand this whole faith in Jesus thing.
SPEAKER_01: Look how the Bible talks about faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It says it, he said for Paul, heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: As he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, Go away for the present, and when I get an opportunity, I will summon you.
SPEAKER_01: But see, according to the Bible defines biblical faith in a way that we don't.
SPEAKER_01: It says, uses words like righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.
SPEAKER_01: A couple of weeks ago, I talked about righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: Today I want to talk about everyone's favorite subject, self-control, just in time for the holidays.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's not what you think.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you think, well, matter of fact, I'll just give you three introductory thoughts.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just warn you, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I've been studying with this for a couple of weeks.
SPEAKER_01: This is in my bones, and so it's gonna be a lot this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, so if you have a phone with a camera, you might want to get it ready and just take pictures of things that pop up on the screen because you might not be able to write them all down, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01: Say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but let me say this.
SPEAKER_01: Few things in my life, I'm a little giddy this morning because few things in my life, I can, well, not few, nothing in my Christian life has made a bigger difference in my Christian life than what I'm gonna teach about this morning.
SPEAKER_01: When I understood this, and I'm not gonna say my faith went to the next level.
SPEAKER_01: No, my faith got enjoyable.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't labor, it was reflex.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't duty, it was delight.
SPEAKER_01: And I and I want you to get this.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just give you some uh I want to talk to you in part two about components of biblical faith, self-control.
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you three introductory thoughts.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, there's a difference in self-control and self-discipline.
SPEAKER_01: There's a difference in self-control and self-discipline.
SPEAKER_01: We confuse the two.
SPEAKER_01: Deciding to stop eating sweets for the holidays or after the holidays is self-control.
SPEAKER_01: Start to eat vegetables is self-discipline.
SPEAKER_01: You can succeed at one and fail at the other.
SPEAKER_01: And I would say in our day and age of personal trainers and life coaches and protein sheikhs, uh, I believe we're succeeding at self-discipline and we are failing at self-control.
SPEAKER_01: So we have prettier people who live less moral lives.
SPEAKER_01: That's not success, beloved, that's failure.
SPEAKER_01: Because self-discipline makes you appear uh uh better on the outside, uh, but but but that doesn't mean you're changing on the inside.
SPEAKER_01: Uh self-control is evidence of the spirit's work in your life because it changes you from the inside out, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Second introductory uh thought.
SPEAKER_01: Uh thinking about this should cause you to think deeper about your salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Thinking about this should cause us to think deeper about our salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Translation, many people uh have never been genuinely converted.
SPEAKER_01: Uh instead, they just get they go to like a camp or to a comment or to church and they get more self-discipline for a brief period of time, but at their core, they've never really changed.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, thirdly, self-control requires a power greater than ourself.
SPEAKER_01: Self-control requires a power greater than ourself.
SPEAKER_01: You say, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: That's what I want to talk about today.
SPEAKER_01: Because self-control is not you hating you and requiring more of you and increasing your determination.
SPEAKER_01: I would say that's legalism.
SPEAKER_01: Self-control, as the Bible talks about it, is not about determination, it's about understanding.
SPEAKER_01: And when I understood this section of scripture, it is like I went from a black and white TV to a colored TV, and I was like, shut up.
SPEAKER_01: I ain't never going back.
SPEAKER_01: Are any of you old enough to remember a black and white TV?
SPEAKER_01: I just said something, and you kids are like, What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Black and white TV.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: And I any of you remember rabbit ears, you had that on top of the little thing.
SPEAKER_01: I lived in the country, my dad goes, We got there and turned in, Tim, the cowboys are on.
SPEAKER_01: And I had to turn the pole, and my dad's screaming at my brother, who's screaming at my brother, who's screaming at me.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just like, just come out here and whip me and get it over with, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Because I never could could find the right place where it wasn't all staticky.
SPEAKER_01: Uh now we got DVR, we got satellite, we got direct TV, we got Hulu, we got D, we got everything.
SPEAKER_01: I just want to say, when you went from a black and white TV to color, it's kind of like, oh my gosh, if you understand what Galatians 5 talks about today, when it comes to self-control, it is like going from black and white to color.
SPEAKER_01: But let me just warn you, there's 27 words in this section of scripture that get all the attention today.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I don't want to focus on any of them.
SPEAKER_01: There's 27 words, you'll recognize them, and you'll be like, that's what the church in America has focused on those.
SPEAKER_01: I'll let you figure out what they are, but I'm just gonna say this they are not the focus of the text.
SPEAKER_01: And matter of fact, if you focus on those 27 words, you are going to miss what the Bible is saying.
SPEAKER_01: So without without more introductory statements, Galatians chapter 5, I'll start reading verse 16.
SPEAKER_01: But I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
SPEAKER_01: But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.
SPEAKER_01: Now the works of the flesh are evident sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
SPEAKER_01: I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 22 says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
SPEAKER_01: Against such things there is no law.
SPEAKER_01: And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
SPEAKER_01: If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.
SPEAKER_01: Now, to experience self-control, which by the way is a fruit of the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when I say a fruit of the spirit, what I'm saying is that this is something that the Holy Spirit of God produces inside of you.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I don't have time to get into this part of it, uh, but eventually I want to preach to the book of Galatians because it's a very helpful book.
SPEAKER_01: But notice that they got these nine things that are plural, and the Bible uses the singular word fruit, because the fruit develops symmetrically.
SPEAKER_01: You don't just get better at being loving or patient or more self-control.
SPEAKER_01: All of these things, when you and I walk in the spirit, you understand?
SPEAKER_01: When I say walk in the spirit, I'll give you a definition of that in a minute.
SPEAKER_01: But when you become a Christian, that God's Spirit, He puts it, His the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And you're to be led by, you're to be full of the Spirit, you're you you're to walk by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It's the thing, and here's how I say it: you stop living from the outside in and you start living from the inside out.
SPEAKER_01: It makes the hugest difference in your life.
SPEAKER_01: And so uh to experience self-control, which is a fruit of the spirit, uh, which means it's something the spirit of God does inside of us, uh, to experience self-control, you need to understand four things from the text.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, you need to understand what it means to walk by the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 16 says this.
SPEAKER_01: Hear it again.
SPEAKER_01: But I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: We have tried everything in the American church to get people to stop sinning, except saying, hey, you need to learn to walk by the spirit, because if you walk by the spirit, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when the Bible says the desires of the flesh, do you know what the desires of your flesh are?
SPEAKER_01: Say yes or no.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are like, all too well.
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
SPEAKER_01: So when I say walk by the spirit, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so what does it mean to walk by the spirit?
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you a definition.
SPEAKER_01: To walk by the spirit is what happens when the desires produced by the spirit are stronger than the desires produced by the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit produces desires in us that are in keeping with God's word and lead us into the experience of God's will.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh Christianity is not just forgiveness for living in your will.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just forgiveness for oh, the desires of the flesh got me again.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh now, the the opposition of spirit and flesh, people say, oh, a lot of times in counseling is I don't know what my deal is.
SPEAKER_01: I know the right thing.
SPEAKER_01: I just don't do it.
SPEAKER_01: And I say, Well, I can explain it to you.
SPEAKER_01: It's right here in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: The opposition of spirit versus flesh is what keeps you from doing what you want to do.
SPEAKER_01: See, I don't doubt people when they say, I want to do the right thing.
SPEAKER_01: I don't doubt that at all.
SPEAKER_01: I doubt people when they say, I don't know what the wrong, I don't know what the wrong things I want to do are.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, really?
SPEAKER_01: Have you read read the Bible before?
SPEAKER_01: Because if you look right here in Galatians chapter 5, verse 17, after he says, Hey, if you walk by the Spirit, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh, he said, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
SPEAKER_01: See, the Bible affirms you want to do the right thing, but it is your flesh, it is your natural way of thinking and being morally, physically, emotionally that is in opposition to what the Holy Spirit wants inside of you.
SPEAKER_01: So, walking by the Spirit, let me just say this: this is not a new thing, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Walking by the Spirit is the fulfillment of a promise God made to his people a long time ago.
SPEAKER_01: So I want you to understand it's not like, oh, well, this is the latest book that they're selling at the bookstore.
SPEAKER_01: No, uh, this kind of living has always been God's desire and God's design for his people.
SPEAKER_01: The spirit-led life is God's design.
SPEAKER_01: Let me read something from the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: This is way back there, the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36.
SPEAKER_01: God says this listen to this promise God makes to his people.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.
SPEAKER_01: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you, and I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
SPEAKER_01: I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
SPEAKER_01: It's that little line right there at the end I want you to draw your attention to, and be careful to obey my rules.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever had the experience where you feel like I'm fixing to obey, to disobey?
SPEAKER_01: I'm fixing to, I know this is wrong, but I think I'm gonna do it anyway.
SPEAKER_01: And something inside of you just says, be careful.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful.
SPEAKER_01: That is the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Then the Bible says that what God does when his spirit comes to live inside of you.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: This is the way God's designed you and I to live, not from the outside in.
SPEAKER_01: I heard a sermon or I went to a Bible study or I read a book and I gotta get this, and I'm gonna force it inside of me.
SPEAKER_01: If it kills me, it will.
SPEAKER_01: You will become just another burned out, joyless Christian that no one wants to be like.
SPEAKER_01: But God says, I'll take out your heart of stone, that's your natural heart is hard towards God and the things of God.
SPEAKER_01: And I put in you a heart of flesh where you can feel what this feels like.
SPEAKER_01: And I put my spirit in you, and he says, and I will move you and I will cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
SPEAKER_01: He's talking about what everything the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: You should have the experience as a Christian of consistently hearing the the Spirit of God kind of just whisper, be careful.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes he doesn't whisper, sometimes he gets very loud.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like the game Operation.
SPEAKER_01: Remember you were a little kid?
SPEAKER_01: You ever play the game Operation?
SPEAKER_01: What happened when you touch the sides?
SPEAKER_01: You're like, hoo, hoo, hoo.
SPEAKER_01: I remember the first time I played the game Operation.
SPEAKER_01: If I didn't know the word trauma, but if I did, I would have used it, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Because they thought, oh, we're just taking plastic bones out of these little holes.
SPEAKER_01: And then I took those metal.
SPEAKER_01: I should have known when the metal tweezers had a wire connected to them.
SPEAKER_01: Something's going on here.
SPEAKER_01: I touched the side and I was like, oh my God.
SPEAKER_01: And they go, grab the thing, go, your turns up.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, well, thanks for the shame and the deep sense of failure.
SPEAKER_01: But if you were ever going to experience one of the components of biblical faith, which is self-control.
SPEAKER_01: Self-control does not come through self-hatred or determination.
SPEAKER_01: It comes, first of all, you got to understand what it means to live by the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, you've got to understand what it means to be led by the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: To be led by the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: That's what he says in verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: And notice this, he says, but if you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law.
SPEAKER_01: You are not under the law.
SPEAKER_01: Now, that does not mean that the law is no longer in effect.
SPEAKER_01: What he's saying is that the Spirit of God works in you in such a way that the righteous demands of the law are being met, not by external rule keeping, but by an internal reality that you're enjoying on an ever-increasing level.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense to anybody besides me?
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when he says, hey, verse 18, again, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
SPEAKER_01: Do you remember when your kids got old enough to where you didn't have to, you could parent them differently?
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are like, no, we're not there yet.
SPEAKER_01: There should come a point where you can parent your kids differently.
SPEAKER_01: You can say to your kids, hey, can you be trusted?
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm not gonna stand over you all the time and ground you and take your phone away and blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_01: Grow up and be able to be trusted.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, God's the same way.
SPEAKER_01: It's why he says in Hebrews chapter 5, hey, you people are still on milk.
SPEAKER_01: You should be on to solid meat, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But you're like little babies because you still need milk.
SPEAKER_01: There should come a point in a time where you outgrow milk and you've moved on to meat in the way you relate to God.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this is what happens when the language used, it says, be led by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: If you're led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: It means two things.
SPEAKER_01: You're not under the law's condemnation.
SPEAKER_01: You're not have this sense of, uh, I'm just consistently failing and I don't know what my deal is.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, I was in a Bible study last week and I wanted to just scream, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Because apparently the guy didn't study or something because he just got up there and plattered on and he just kept saying, hey, we're all losers.
SPEAKER_01: You know, that's just you, you're just loser.
SPEAKER_01: You got to embrace the loser in you, and that's when you win.
SPEAKER_01: And I just thought, no, no, unamen.
SPEAKER_01: Because here's what it is we just lower the standard by just saying, Oh, we're all losers, we're all losers, we can't do this.
SPEAKER_01: Well, why did God put his spirit in you if you could never do it?
SPEAKER_01: You can't, but the spirit in you can, and you should experience the spirit's power or go back and check your salvation experience because you didn't get a defective model, a broken model, or a discontinued model.
SPEAKER_01: You got the spirit of God, which is a third member of the Trinity, not the junior executive of the Godhead.
SPEAKER_01: And he lives inside of you.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not like, hey, you're just a loser, everyone else is a loser.
SPEAKER_01: So, so this is why we love the word community in church so much.
SPEAKER_01: We're all losers.
SPEAKER_01: That's not the gospel, that's you lowering the standard and letting yourself off the hook.
SPEAKER_01: Be led by the spirit means two things.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, excuse me, he says if you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: Two things.
SPEAKER_01: You're not under the law's condemnation.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, you're not under the law's constraint.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, you don't need the law trying to make you do things you have no desire to do.
SPEAKER_01: You should not need the law, the rules.
SPEAKER_01: This right here.
SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't read the Bible just to feel bad and like, okay, okay, give me three things to do today that I absolutely hate.
SPEAKER_01: Like your mom students waking you up and kind of going, hey, listen, I don't really care about you, but I'm contractually obligated to cook you breakfast and take you to school.
SPEAKER_01: So get up, let's get this over with.
SPEAKER_01: You should at some point be like, it's okay, I want to be adopted.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: See, there's a progression in our posture towards the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: There's a progression in our posture towards the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It's this four-step process.
SPEAKER_01: It starts with knowing and then understanding and then trusting and then enjoying.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say it again.
SPEAKER_01: It starts with knowing, or you just you don't just I just know God.
SPEAKER_01: No, but but I know what the Holy Spirit's like, how he leads, what his voice is like in my head and in my heart.
SPEAKER_01: Knowing, understanding, understanding.
SPEAKER_01: So, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: What questions come up on you when people talk about the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_01: I the church I preached at last week, super charismatic in Amarella.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they had banner dancers in the back waving stuff around.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, easy gonna poke someone's eye out.
SPEAKER_01: And the pastor leaned over to me and goes, Are you are you are you okay?
SPEAKER_01: We're kind of in a spirit.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Charismatics don't have a I didn't corner the market on the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful.
SPEAKER_01: The Baptists have the Holy Spirit too.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Oh, I don't know about that.
SPEAKER_01: Whether they realize it or not, they do.
SPEAKER_01: Knowing, understanding, trusting.
SPEAKER_01: You want to get to the point where you trust who the Holy Spirit is and how he leads in your life.
SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, enjoying.
SPEAKER_01: This is what you want to get to as soon as possible, where you just enjoy the life.
SPEAKER_01: This is why you walk in the spirit, you'll not fulfill the desires of your flesh, because you enjoy the life the Holy Spirit introduces you to more than you enjoy the life that your flesh introduces you to.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need your parents standing over you going, be home by 11.
SPEAKER_01: Did you smoke weed today?
SPEAKER_01: Grow up.
SPEAKER_01: You will never here's the sad part about all that.
SPEAKER_01: You will never enjoy this life, the way God intended it to be enjoyed, and the way you were created to enjoy it, if you're always under constraint, you're never moving and growing in your understanding of, your trusting in, and your enjoyment of.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Again, not saying the law is no longer in effect.
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying the spirit works in such a way that our lives is reflex, not labor.
SPEAKER_01: It's just reflex.
SPEAKER_01: You're just like, oh yeah, yeah, that's what I do.
SPEAKER_01: Uh the Bible talks about if you're in Galatians 5, you got a Bible and see this, turn back just a couple chapters to Galatians chapter 3.
SPEAKER_01: I'll start reading verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: Hear the way God structured this from the beginning.
SPEAKER_01: For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.
SPEAKER_01: Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here and you think you can be, your good is gonna outweigh your bad, the Bible's fixing to indict you.
SPEAKER_01: It's fixed to punch you in the throat.
SPEAKER_01: Get ready.
SPEAKER_01: For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone here, can you abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them?
SPEAKER_01: Say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Unamen.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 11.
SPEAKER_01: Now it's evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith, but the law is not of faith.
SPEAKER_01: Rather, the one who does them shall live by them.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.
SPEAKER_01: For it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree, so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_01: So that's you and me, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
SPEAKER_01: See, Jesus did, here's what Galatians 3 is telling you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus did what he did so you could receive the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: So you couldn't just get a Bible and kind of go, Well, I'm gonna try my best and I hope it's enough.
SPEAKER_01: It's not.
SPEAKER_01: Remember a couple weeks ago, all your righteous deeds are as filthy rags in the sight of a holy God.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And so you say, Well, okay, well, I don't know what you mean.
SPEAKER_01: Be led by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 19.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the 27 works.
SPEAKER_01: When you talk about Galatians 5, here's the only part that people are accustomed to.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not your fault, it's it it's the fault of lazy preachers who like lists.
SPEAKER_01: We like lists because lists appeal to our desire to actually do something.
SPEAKER_01: But look at verse 19.
SPEAKER_01: This will sound familiar.
SPEAKER_01: After he says, But if you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 19 now the works of the flesh are evident sexual morality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife.
SPEAKER_01: Jealousy.
SPEAKER_01: This sounds like topics for youth camp.
SPEAKER_01: Fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
SPEAKER_01: And when he says orgies, he's talking about drunken revelry.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So not only do these people get drunk, but they get drunk together and they act like fools, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And before that, those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: He says, and things like these, and I warned you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: That's the naughty list.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's the nice list.
SPEAKER_01: But, verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what the church does is say, hey, you don't want to be on the naughty list.
SPEAKER_01: You want to be on the nice list.
SPEAKER_01: And then preachers stand up and try to teach you how to be more loving, how to have more self-control, how to be kind, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just submitting to you this morning, look at me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just submitting to you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: If you'll learn to live by the Spirit and be led by the Spirit, the Spirit of God will produce those realities inside of you.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what Christianity, it is Christianity is not you looking at the list and kind of going, oh man, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Today I'm gonna be, I'm gonna practice goodness and faithfulness and gentleness.
SPEAKER_01: Gentleness.
SPEAKER_01: Until I get cut off in traffic.
SPEAKER_01: Or let me stop myself, driving back heroically from Birmingham.
SPEAKER_01: I got up at three in the morning to get my wife home so you could have hot tea, okay, before it was too late for her to consume caffeine.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're driving on I-10 East, and I'm on world record pace.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about the rest of you men, but I'm looking at the clock and I got a personal record going here, and I'm like, man, it's gonna be great.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna hit the HOV lane and just zip down I-10.
SPEAKER_01: Well, there's two HOV options when you get into Houston on I-10 West, okay?
SPEAKER_01: When you're coming in.
SPEAKER_01: The first one takes you to 290, okay?
SPEAKER_01: It says Katie something, but it takes you to 290.
SPEAKER_01: The second one is the one I want to be on, which just allows you to just speed down I-10 and beat everybody and set your personal record.
SPEAKER_01: I was in a state of exhaustion.
SPEAKER_01: I saw Katie Toway or HOV.
SPEAKER_01: I thought, oh, that's me.
SPEAKER_01: I pulled, and by the way, once you get in that, you can't get off for 12 miles.
SPEAKER_01: There is no exit.
SPEAKER_01: You were walled in on both sides.
SPEAKER_01: And the lid on the pot was starting to rattle.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, Sakawe, are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_01: And I look over, my wife's just doing this.
SPEAKER_01: And clear as a bell, the Holy Spirit said, now we're talking about self-control on Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: And I tried to circumnavigate where the where the uh where the metro buses are and get out, and they had I-10 East blocks.
SPEAKER_01: I gonna drive over the curve, and but and so I just had to just take my medicine.
SPEAKER_01: And it said, in 12 miles, take the exit.
SPEAKER_01: And then I had to, you know, in my mind, and maybe a little bit out loud, talk about what idiot designed this where you cannot get off for 12 miles.
SPEAKER_01: This is not fair.
SPEAKER_01: I said that.
SPEAKER_01: And then I just started saying to my wife, I want to bring you out here and see you how Jersey Village, how, how, how developed Jersey Village has become.
SPEAKER_01: Look, they have a Whataburger.
SPEAKER_01: And she's just shaking her head.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm looking at this as like 19-minute setback right here.
SPEAKER_01: And I am not happy about it.
SPEAKER_01: Now, why am I telling you this?
SPEAKER_01: Because here's the thing.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it if I look at that list and I know love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, in that moment, I ain't feeling none of that.
SPEAKER_01: But in that moment, what I can do, look at me, is I can laugh and kind of go, I made a mistake.
SPEAKER_01: I just made a mistake.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the hickey, we're gonna have to take this, honey.
SPEAKER_01: And my wife's like, I'm fine.
SPEAKER_01: Well, could you be a little more upset than I'm fine?
SPEAKER_01: No, no, not at all.
SPEAKER_01: See, here's the thing when I say that these 27 words usually get all the attention, these two lists, because we read those lists, we try to stop doing one and start doing the other.
SPEAKER_01: And our entire Christian life is a series of stopping and starting and then eventually quitting.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you in this room relate to that.
SPEAKER_01: That's you.
SPEAKER_01: January 1st, I'm gonna get back in church.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do.
SPEAKER_01: Through the works of the law, no one will be justified in God's eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Say, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: Hear this self-control that's rooted in the flesh redefines Christianity in terms of your effort instead of your experience.
SPEAKER_01: Self-control that's rooted in the flesh redefines Christianity in terms of your effort instead of your experience.
SPEAKER_01: And it gives this false sense of assurance when it comes to salvation because people think that because, hey, I haven't given up on myself, then I guess I still am a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: However, your whole life is one of walking in the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: And here in verse 21, the Bible makes it very clear those who walk in the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: You can con people around you.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you in this room could be having an affair right now, and you think, my spouse doesn't know, nobody knows.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like the James Bond of cheating.
SPEAKER_01: And I just say to you, in love, you're walking in your flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Unless you repent, that that is not evidence of a person that has the Spirit of God inside of them.
SPEAKER_01: Unless you repent, you it's not gonna be well for you.
SPEAKER_01: And then it ends with this after it gives those two lists in verse 23 goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, it drops this little nugget on us.
SPEAKER_01: Against such things, there is no law.
SPEAKER_01: Against such things, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: The law prevents, but the spirit of God in you creates.
SPEAKER_01: There's no law to make you a more loving person who experiences the fruit of the spirit and spreads joy.
SPEAKER_01: There's not a law for that.
SPEAKER_01: There's not a formula for that.
SPEAKER_01: Against such things, there is no law.
SPEAKER_01: He starts off in verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: He says, if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law.
SPEAKER_01: And he ends his section by saying, Hey, against these realities that the Spirit of God does in you, the law can't make this stuff happen.
SPEAKER_01: The law's intended to prevent.
SPEAKER_01: Stop, slow down, don't speed.
SPEAKER_01: The Spirit comes along and says, Let me just breathe some joyful life into this.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to experience self-control, you have to know what it means to be led by to live by the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And thirdly, you have to crucify your flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: You masochistic people are like, finally, a reason to hate myself.
SPEAKER_01: No, no.
SPEAKER_01: He said, What do you mean, crucify your flesh?
SPEAKER_01: Verse 24.
SPEAKER_01: Look at what he says.
SPEAKER_01: He gives all the list, and then he says, This, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.
SPEAKER_01: I used to be a part of an accountability group of men in ministry.
SPEAKER_01: We would get together, and this would be one of our mantras.
SPEAKER_01: We'd consistently say, Hey, what have you crucified lately?
SPEAKER_01: What have you killed lately?
SPEAKER_01: They've crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.
SPEAKER_01: And one of them, who's a youth pastor at a very large church, not far from here, said, Oh, my lust, my flesh wants to be the best youth pastor anybody's ever known.
SPEAKER_01: And another guy in the circle said, You should give that up because you're not that great.
SPEAKER_01: And I just sipped my coffee and I thought, yeah, I'll get up at 5 30 in the morning for this.
SPEAKER_01: But if we're gonna get up at 5:30, I'm not gonna get up at 5 30 in the morning and play Christian badminton.
SPEAKER_01: Boom, how are you?
SPEAKER_01: Good, good, good, good.
SPEAKER_01: How's your marriage?
SPEAKER_01: Good, good, good, awesome.
SPEAKER_01: How's your kids?
SPEAKER_01: Good, good, good.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, look out, here comes a big high one.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: It was like getting in a room and just taking your shirts off and getting your pig sticker off the back of your belt.
SPEAKER_01: And just, hey, I'm gonna make you bleed.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna put this in your flesh.
SPEAKER_01: You think, like, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: One of the guys kept talking about, hey, you wanted to lose weight, you wanted to lose weight, you wanted to lose weight.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, for like nine months, and finally one morning with the quietest guy in the group, I said, Hey, who's got something stirring in them?
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Yeah, I'll go first.
SPEAKER_01: Man, for almost a year, you've been talking about how you want to lose weight, but you're still fat.
SPEAKER_01: Why are you still fat?
SPEAKER_01: That's a quote.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all are like, I don't want no part of that.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: It was glorious.
SPEAKER_01: Then the guy started talking in the quiet, go, I can't hear you anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Shut up and do something about it.
SPEAKER_01: Just be quiet.
SPEAKER_01: It was like a waste of our time.
SPEAKER_01: You hating yourself, but you're not changing.
SPEAKER_01: You know those fluorescent lights have in all churches?
SPEAKER_01: When it's real quiet, you can hear him hum.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, he was weeping when he said that.
SPEAKER_01: And then he looked at him and said, I'm not going to explain to your son what kind of man you were because you can't beat your body and make it your slave.
SPEAKER_01: And so when I read Crucify Your Flesh, I just go back to that group and I just think, hmm.
SPEAKER_01: Crucify the flesh basically means it refers to the act of putting to death your own sinful desires and passions.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, it's not the church's job.
SPEAKER_01: It's not your mom and dad's job, kids.
SPEAKER_01: It's not your Sunday school teacher's job.
SPEAKER_01: It's not my job.
SPEAKER_01: It is your job.
SPEAKER_01: The word crucify means to drive down stakes, to destroy its power.
SPEAKER_01: Now, as morbid as that sounds, this is not rooted in self-hatred as much as self-awareness.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: It's not rooted in self-hatred, it's rooted in self-awareness.
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you a quote that may help.
SPEAKER_01: This is Tim Kell, who passed away a couple of years ago.
SPEAKER_01: Great pastor and thinker and writer.
SPEAKER_01: He said, crucifying the sinful nature is really the identification and dismantling of idols.
SPEAKER_01: If you're looking for a tattoo, that's it right there.
SPEAKER_01: Crucifying the flesh is about strangling sin at the motivation level rather than simply setting ourselves against sin at the behavioral level.
SPEAKER_01: Real changes in our lives cannot proceed without us discerning the idols and desires that come from our individual sinful nature.
SPEAKER_01: Crucifying your flesh, what does it mean?
SPEAKER_01: He's referring, Keller is so there's a man named he's also died, David Powellson.
SPEAKER_01: He was a great counselor.
SPEAKER_01: He's the one that pioneered what he calls four-root idols.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Everyone in the world has four root idols that drive our behavior.
SPEAKER_01: He's the one.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody came from a church in Austin, oh, my church came up.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, your church did come up with that.
SPEAKER_01: That's David Powellson.
SPEAKER_01: Stop lying.
SPEAKER_01: David Paul, the preacher's acting like, well, he's dead.
SPEAKER_01: I can take credit for it.
SPEAKER_01: No, you can't.
SPEAKER_01: Have some integrity, Skippy.
SPEAKER_01: But four root idols that drive our behavior.
SPEAKER_01: I would say to all of you in this room, okay, we're done in just a few minutes.
SPEAKER_01: You're still with me, say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Now look at me.
SPEAKER_01: Everything you do is driven by one of these four behaviors, okay?
SPEAKER_01: You say, What are these four root idols?
SPEAKER_01: Here they are: power, control, comfort, and approval.
SPEAKER_01: Power, a longing for influence or recognition.
SPEAKER_01: You feel that?
SPEAKER_01: It's like, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Control, a longing to have everything go according to my plan.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, well, neither one of those touched me, Pastor.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just let me sharpen the focus on the microscope just for a second.
SPEAKER_01: I have a friend that took his kids, four of them, skiing in Colorado a couple years ago.
SPEAKER_01: You getting this?
SPEAKER_01: On the way, they stopped at a drive-thru, like a Wendy's or McDonald's or something.
SPEAKER_01: And the kids couldn't decide, yeah, yeah, they're touching me, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: And dad absolutely lost his mind in the drive-thru.
SPEAKER_01: Turned around and said, Shut up! We're just trying to order.
SPEAKER_01: What do you want?
SPEAKER_01: And the mom was like, Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa.
SPEAKER_01: And the kids are like, ah, it looked like the end of the Pearl Jam Jeremy video, like, ah.
SPEAKER_01: And then the kids got their food, and dad just threw it back there and just sped off.
SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't even touch his.
SPEAKER_01: Now, how do you know this?
SPEAKER_01: Because he got back and he said, Hey, my wife's not talking to me.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, like a good friend, oh, what a bad woman.
SPEAKER_01: What's her problem?
SPEAKER_01: No, I said, Is there a reason?
SPEAKER_01: He said, Well, we kind of had a little, ugh.
SPEAKER_01: He goes, I don't, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Oh, I I I can help you.
SPEAKER_01: This is good, but yeah, man, this is a great opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: He goes, Okay, what?
SPEAKER_01: I said, tonight at the dinner table, I want you to look at all your sit down, look at all your kids and say, Hey, before we pray and do anything, what dad did on vacation, what that revealed to me is that my my root, the my heart idol is control.
SPEAKER_01: I want everything to go according to my plan.
SPEAKER_01: So when dad melted down the drive-thru, my idol of control is being exposed, and that's terrible and sinful.
SPEAKER_01: And I know not only do I want to confess that to you kids and to mom, I want to ask your forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: That's how you crucify your flesh.
SPEAKER_01: The line starts right here.
SPEAKER_01: Who wants to get in it?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, mom, you say to your kids every once in a while, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: One of mom's hard idols is control, and I'm yelling at you because I'm not getting my way.
SPEAKER_01: It's not your fault.
SPEAKER_01: Your mom just craves control.
SPEAKER_01: Pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: Comfort, it's a longing for pleasure, approval, a longing to be accepted or desired.
SPEAKER_01: Uh parents, can you imagine your kid coming home next weekend and saying, hey, mom, I smoked weed for the first time, and not because I'm a pothead, or I'll I want to, you know, be 40 wearing sweatpants, eating Cheetos, living in the basement.
SPEAKER_01: Playing World of Warcraft online with other losers around the country.
SPEAKER_01: I can't find a job because I can't pass a drug test.
SPEAKER_01: No, here's why you do that.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine your 16-year-old daughter saying this to you?
SPEAKER_01: No, I I've been thinking about it, and really, I think my heart idol is approval, and so I long to be accepted or desired by other people, and so I engage in behaviors that they engage in in the hopes that they'll accept me.
SPEAKER_01: That's how you kill your heart idols.
SPEAKER_01: It's not self-hatred, it's self-awareness.
SPEAKER_01: Say, oh John Calvin said this.
SPEAKER_01: He said, The evil in our desire typically does not lie in what we want, but that we want it too much.
SPEAKER_01: The evil in our desire typically does not lie in what we want.
SPEAKER_01: Driving home on Friday with a personal record, all the way from Birmingham.
SPEAKER_01: Got up at three in the morning to go to the bathroom, and that little ding in my head said, Hey, you're awake enough to get home.
SPEAKER_01: The other side said, It's 10 hours.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, who else can do this but you?
SPEAKER_01: Let me see what hard idol that is right there.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Power, a longing for influence or recognition.
SPEAKER_01: Check and check.
SPEAKER_01: And then I get blocked because I made a mistake.
SPEAKER_01: The evil in our desire typically does not lie in what we want, but that we want it too much.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the fourth thing: self-control.
SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna control the self, you gotta live by the spirit, you gotta be led by the spirit, you gotta crucify the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: And then fourth and finally, you gotta keep in step with the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 25.
SPEAKER_01: It's right there.
SPEAKER_01: Right in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Get off the list.
SPEAKER_01: List Christianity is boring.
SPEAKER_01: Gives you this false.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't, I don't, I don't engage in all those things those sinners do.
SPEAKER_01: If we live by the spirit, let us also keep in step with the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
SPEAKER_01: If we live by the spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: God left his spirit here on earth to tea the ministry of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And every day you wake up, every day I wake up, I'm either gonna get in sync with that, I'm gonna get synced up with the Holy Spirit, or I'm gonna just jump out of bed, slam a protein shake like Brady Quinn, and go, now I'm done, and go out there to engage the world.
SPEAKER_01: And then at the end of the day, I'm gonna ask God for forgiveness and then thank God for all the good stuff that happened.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive me for the bad, thank you for the good.
SPEAKER_01: And here's a tragedy in that.
SPEAKER_01: You somehow come to believe that's biblical Christianity.
SPEAKER_01: And I would just submit to you today, it's not.
SPEAKER_01: That's American Christianity, that's capitalistic consumerism, or as someone said years ago, that it's moralistic therapeutic deism, not biblical Christianity.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because you don't enjoy it, you don't your enjoyment of God is not increasing, your enjoyment of yourself is not increasing, the enjoyment of your life is not increasing, fruit's not being born in you.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, fruit is not for you, it's for other people.
SPEAKER_01: People not coming and feasting off the realities that are being demonstrated in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Because you're just a loser, and by God, how why should we expect anything from you?
SPEAKER_01: Let's just embrace the loss.
SPEAKER_01: I wanted to scream out last week.
SPEAKER_01: Your church should fire you.
SPEAKER_01: Stop talking.
SPEAKER_01: That's terrible.
SPEAKER_01: You're not you're not humble, you're lazy.
SPEAKER_01: But I didn't because my wife was with me.
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to keep in step with the spirit?
SPEAKER_01: I brought you four or five things that we'll be done.
SPEAKER_01: To keep in step with the spirit is to live from the inside out in a world full of people who live in from the outside in.
SPEAKER_01: It's to live in bondage to the invisible in a world full of people who live in bondage to the visible.
SPEAKER_01: You no longer fear getting caught, you fear missing out.
SPEAKER_01: You don't fear getting caught because guess what?
SPEAKER_01: Sin loses its appeal because you're walking in the spirit, you're led by the spirit, you're keeping in step with the spirit, you're crucifying the flesh, not as an effort, but as a reflex, not as labor, but just reflex.
SPEAKER_01: No, that's not a part of my life.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because it's less than what God died for me to experience, and I'm not settling.
SPEAKER_01: I'm done.
SPEAKER_01: The time that is passed is sufficient for doing what pagans want to do.
SPEAKER_01: No, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: You may be popular in this school, but you're nobody.
SPEAKER_01: Go away.
SPEAKER_01: Who told you you were somebody?
SPEAKER_01: You don't fear getting caught, you fear missing out.
SPEAKER_01: Here's another one.
SPEAKER_01: You understand that deep calls out to deep, and you got tired of that producing an echo in you.
SPEAKER_01: You got tired of people at work talking to you, and you're like, ah, where's the pocket preacher I could pull out and he could talk right now?
SPEAKER_01: Say something.
SPEAKER_01: Why do streams of living water not come out of you?
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus said, anyone who tastes this water again, it'll become in them a well springing up to eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: The best you can say to people when they present their issue is, Well, I'm sorry, man, I'll be praying for you.
SPEAKER_01: You might want to think about some things.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need external rules because you're now governed by an internal reality.
SPEAKER_01: And again, I'm not saying the Bible is not a necessary good.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: You just don't need someone to stand over you all the time.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'll close with a visual.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Mike Rice may remember this because he was there.
SPEAKER_01: This happened in 1982.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, excuse me, 1981.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, 81.
SPEAKER_01: Or 80.
SPEAKER_01: We're getting even better.
SPEAKER_01: I was a junior in high school, okay?
SPEAKER_01: It was the fall of 80, that's when it happened.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, our football team, I I was supposed to play varsity football that year, but my family struggled, so I had to get a job, so I had to quit.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so uh our football team was really good.
SPEAKER_01: Our football team, first game of the season, we played our big rival across the creek, Mount Pleasant.
SPEAKER_01: Mike Rice was a coach, Alan, at Mount Pleasant in 1980.
SPEAKER_01: I'm in the stands because me and my buddy Terry, who was dating the drum major named Melissa, we go to the game, and I'm like, oh, I should be down with my boys.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm like, I gotta work, have my mom raised by a single mom.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and so I'm like, a little tension in me because man, the team is good.
SPEAKER_01: We could go far this year, first game of the season, um, and it's halftime.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, dude, let's go get Terry Martin's, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: I told Melissa I'd watch the band.
SPEAKER_01: Who wants to watch the band?
SPEAKER_01: No offense, band people.
SPEAKER_01: I want to come watch you.
SPEAKER_01: But back then I wasn't a Christian, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And I didn't care about the band.
SPEAKER_01: But now that I'm a Christian, I love the band.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a band booster, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And I thank God I watched the band because this was the greatest thing I've ever seen at halftime.
SPEAKER_01: She's out there, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, and they're turning, and I'm just like, they're just walking back and forth.
SPEAKER_01: They do this every halftime.
SPEAKER_01: Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_01: Because usually I'm in the field house getting dog cussed by the coach.
SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden, they're getting their big finale, okay?
SPEAKER_01: They're a military-style band, and they're going all the way to the end, and my friend's girlfriend, the drum major, who's out in front of everybody with the big furry hat on.
SPEAKER_01: I remember thinking, didn't Fred Flintstone wear something like that in an episode of the Flintstones?
SPEAKER_01: She forgot to blow the whistle.
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and they're marching, dumb, dun.
SPEAKER_01: She forgets to blow the whistle.
SPEAKER_01: They're supposed to turn on about the 10-yard line and put the trombone down and then swing it back up.
SPEAKER_01: Half the band had this internal reality that just said, I know what I'm supposed to turn, and I'm turning on memory.
SPEAKER_01: The other half was listening for an external cue and just kept going.
SPEAKER_01: And half the band marched into the end zone and she turned around and she was and we're screaming, go up.
SPEAKER_01: I am laughing so hard.
SPEAKER_01: My friend's like, in bunny, getting funny.
SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden she looks back and she starts running blood.
SPEAKER_01: Get them to stop, get you to and she gets them all lined up.
SPEAKER_01: She finally stops, gets everybody in place, and then they continue, and then they turn to face the stands for the big finale.
SPEAKER_01: And we were howling.
SPEAKER_01: We were just like, oh my God.
SPEAKER_01: Now, at this point, you should be thinking, What?
SPEAKER_01: What does he gotta do to keep his head of the spirit?
SPEAKER_01: That's a picture of most of your days.
SPEAKER_01: You're the drum major.
SPEAKER_01: Back here, you stop, you start, come on, come on.
SPEAKER_01: My friend, he said, Oh man, what do I do?
SPEAKER_01: I said, I'll walk home, I'll get another ride.
SPEAKER_01: You're on your own, bro.
SPEAKER_01: And he went and found her because the band gets to go to the concession stand, you know, beginning the third quarter.
SPEAKER_01: And he just, I saw him mother holding her.
SPEAKER_01: She was just and I just walked by, I got a ride, man.
SPEAKER_01: You're good.
SPEAKER_01: You got your hands full.
SPEAKER_01: There.
SPEAKER_01: Look at me.
SPEAKER_01: Now, my favorite part was one kid, he had the trombone and he did the little thing and he snapped it up right into the face of another kid.
SPEAKER_01: I am a band booster for life.
SPEAKER_01: But look at me, we're done.
SPEAKER_01: You've ever seen a really good band like the Fulshire band?
SPEAKER_01: You ever seen the Fulsher Band?
SPEAKER_01: It's like Fulshire volleyball team.
SPEAKER_01: They're good.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: It is on point.
SPEAKER_01: They got it going on.
SPEAKER_01: Or have you ever seen the Florida AM band?
SPEAKER_01: Oh I say it like this.
SPEAKER_01: They got some color in that band.
SPEAKER_01: They know how to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Look at me.
SPEAKER_01: When you keep in step with the spirit, there's a sense of orchestration to your life.
SPEAKER_01: Not just instrumentation.
SPEAKER_01: Not just you got this internal reality.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need a drum major brother whistle.
SPEAKER_01: You know that when my foot hits this thing, I am turning and I am going the other way.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need the law to stand over you and kind of go, hey, quiet time is time alone with God and His Word in prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Use last for 15 minutes a day.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
SPEAKER_01: Time to check the box.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: No, you get up and in the background you hear Barry White music play, and you're like, oh yeah, it's gonna be a good day today.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because you're gonna keep in step with the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And look at me.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit of God will introduce you to realities that you could never discover on your own.
SPEAKER_01: And you have to trust him.
SPEAKER_01: And you have to enjoy him.
SPEAKER_01: And look at me.
SPEAKER_01: He has to trust you.
SPEAKER_01: So you should ask yourself today does the spirit, does the Holy Spirit trust you enough to reveal things to you?
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: We'd like to teach the Bible and then give you some time to think about it.
SPEAKER_01: So some questions come on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just take a minute before we're dismissed.
SPEAKER_01: And just be still and just, hey, don't think about everything.
SPEAKER_01: Think about one thing.
SPEAKER_01: And ask the Holy Spirit, what had your name on it today?
SPEAKER_01: Let's just think for a moment, church.
SPEAKER_01: Father, that's our prayer today.
SPEAKER_01: Is it crucifying our flesh is not hating ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: We don't need any help hating ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: We do need help understanding ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: We don't drink too much because we have a drinking problem.
SPEAKER_01: That's a symptom.
SPEAKER_01: We drink too much because our idol is comfort.
SPEAKER_01: And we work hard and then we comfort ourselves with our favorite source of comfort.
SPEAKER_01: Be it food or pornography or alcohol, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: But it's really what's happening is our root idol of comfort is manifesting.
SPEAKER_01: I deserve to be left alone.
SPEAKER_01: So when I drink to excess, people expect less of me.
SPEAKER_01: Yea, me.
SPEAKER_01: Gotta pray for anyone in this room that has that idol.
SPEAKER_01: They just realize you don't have to disqualify yourself in order to be comforted.
SPEAKER_01: You can stay engaged in this family and be comforted.
SPEAKER_01: So, Holy Spirit, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible's very thought-provoking.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Holy Spirit, lead us into the truth.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever the truth is, it sets us free, and so we want it.
SPEAKER_01: And so we thank you for it in Jesus' name and everyone said.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: If you're our guest today, let me say thank you for your presence.
SPEAKER_01: You're always welcome.
SPEAKER_01: If you have any questions about anything you saw or heard this morning, some of our pastors be available down front.
SPEAKER_01: We'd love to help you process and take your the next step in your spiritual journey.
SPEAKER_01: All we ask of you is you just text the word welcome to that number on the screen behind me.
SPEAKER_01: That gives us a record of your visit.
SPEAKER_01: We'll shoot you back a text.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we want to help you find the right church for you and your family.
SPEAKER_01: Even if it's not this one, we want you to find the right place for you guys to get plugged in and to grow spiritually, okay?
SPEAKER_01: We have different opportunities for spiritual growth in the life of our church.
SPEAKER_01: We make you aware of those every week by way of our video announcements.
SPEAKER_01: So check out the screen this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: We are thrilled to announce our newest mission partner, the Sanctuary, which is a foster care ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Be on the lookout for ways to get involved in January 2025.
SPEAKER_00: The varsity is happening this Thursday, November 14th, from 10:30 to 12:30 in the gathering room.
SPEAKER_00: It's a great chance for adults 16 over to enjoy lunch and connect with others.
SPEAKER_00: Today is the final day to register, so sign up at grandparkway.org slash events or in the lobby.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, save the date for spring midweeks.
SPEAKER_00: They will begin on January 14th for our women and Wednesday, January 15th for all adults.
SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_01: Let me remind you of one thing that it's not an announcement, and that is the table.
SPEAKER_01: The table is a worship gathering for women that happens in this room right here tonight at 6 30.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I'd love, ladies, to be you, you're all welcome to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: Starts at 6 30.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Lindsay, Alex, and Annie Fairly Be Leading Worship.
SPEAKER_01: My wife Marcia will be teaching.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so Vlove, you'd be a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: Men, let's encourage our wives to get away from us and breathe some unclaimed air, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Pry your kids off your wife and let her go be a woman and a friend.
SPEAKER_01: If that makes sense, say amen.
SPEAKER_01: All right, we'd like to conclude our service with a spoken blessing.
SPEAKER_01: So stand to your feet.
SPEAKER_01: Hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says that the Spirit of God in you is the hope of glory.
SPEAKER_01: Your hope of getting there is that you understand and enjoy the Spirit of God who resides inside of you if you're a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Depart now and increase your understanding and enjoyment of the Spirit's presence and his provision.
SPEAKER_01: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Bless you.