Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Methods of Mortifying Pt.3

Hallelujah! Amen. Talked to Ronnie this afternoon, and things are looking good for the trip to Africa. We're excited about doors that are opening, and still a lot of questions at hand so we ask you to pray and just believe God to order our steps. A lot of what we're doing is just a fact-finding tour. We're trying to find the faithful men that we can commit to. We're really looking for the wisdom of God as far as the involvement in ministries that are already existing there and then also the cities that we're going to be looking to possibly headquarter in and start the Bible school.

A lot of things that we really are in need of the Spirit's guidance, so be prayerful and just believe God to speak to us. Doors of utterance have been opened more than we can go through, so we want that wisdom also in which avenue to pursue. We're setting a course and trying to, as Paul did, choose the things that seem to be logical and then believing that the Holy Spirit will forbid us if that's not where we're supposed to go. Wherever that Macedonia vision is, that's where we're going to find ourselves. Just be prayerful, and we're really excited about what Father has for us and that we can possibly affect some lives for the Kingdom there that are going to be faithful until the Lord comes. Make that a matter of prayer.

Let's turn to Colossians. We want to pick up where we left off this morning over in Colossians, chapter 3. Just before we spend some time at the Lord's table this evening, we want to continue with that aspect of the mortification of the flesh. We were drawing the conclusion this morning and the understanding that abstaining is not enough. It's not just putting off the old man, but it's putting on the new man--as the elect of God, holy, and beloved--these Christ-like character traits. So it's not what we're doing without that makes us holy; it's what we're partaking of. It's not just restraining the flesh from its participation in different activities, but it's the offering up of the flesh to the glory of God. That's what holiness is. Holiness is presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to God so that we're saying, "I'm not my own any longer. I'm not going to have a life that is intermingled with the world or with the fleshly perspective, but I'm giving myself over to the wisdom of God, the purposes of God; and I want to be a candidate to be used."

Now, where we get in trouble is this--and I was sharing, we were going over a number of different areas earlier this evening concerning ministry and some different things, and we were talking also about the message. I was sharing with the guys that the thing that I really want us to understand before this is over this evening is the aspect that, when we're talking about walking in the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit, we're not talking about a supernatural force coming upon us that's irresistible and all of a sudden, there's this transformation of all of our emotions and all of our appetites to where we just embrace all of the things that are spiritual and all of the things that are eternal, and in the process of it, we're delighting in that and that the flesh is just in total agreement. We need to understand that the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. Amen?

So when I'm talking about walking in the Spirit, I'm not talking about coming to this place where it's not difficult. I'm not talking about coming to a place of walking in the Spirit to where you feel like doing it. You do it from obedience, you do it out of commitment, and that is walking in the Spirit. A lot of us seem to think unless I feel it, "You know, I just don't feel like doing this, and so there's no sense in doing it if it's not the Spirit because if it was the Spirit, then I'd be delighted to do it."

I want you to understand something. There's a lot of things, when you're walking in the Spirit, that you do that you don't want to do, that you don't feel like doing. There's not any way that we can gauge off of our senses what the Holy Spirit is directing us to do. So take your sensory observations and take those out of the equation and realize that what you choose to do, when it's righteousness, is the Spirit of God because you wouldn't have chosen that in the natural. The flesh never chooses to do right.

Anytime that you're gravitating towards righteousness and obedience, that is not you, the flesh man, that's you, the man that's alive in Christ Jesus. You know when Paul said it's no longer I, but sin that dwelleth in me? What he's talking about here is he's making the distinction between the regenerated man (the "I" who now has been bought with a price; the "I" who has committed his life to Jesus' lordship) as opposed to the old man and the appetites of the old man that still reside in our members.

Let's pick up where we left off then this morning. Chapter 3 of Colossians, verse 8, "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice..." You start reading these, and I wasn't going to get into this, but let's stop for just a second and backtrack. Let's go back to verse 5. Paul's talking about being risen with Christ, seeking the things that are above, and he says in this process, verse 5, "Mortify therefore your members...[that are earthly--those that are the carnal members--and then he lists] fornication [impurities of all kind--thought, motive, action, all that is impure and defiled--that that's expressed in living of lascivious behavior]..." He said, I want you to put those things off. Mortify "fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection..." That's talking about the overpowering lusts that dictate the natural man. "For all that is in the world," the Scripture says, is "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" that we were talking about this morning that express themselves in every one of our members.

The reason that Jesus was so hated was that He was tempted in every way that man was tempted and yet didn't sin. He said you hate Me because My obedience made you guilty. When we look around ourselves here and we begin to sometimes get involved in conflict and strife, you need to ask yourself the question, Why is it that those that are doing righteousness upset you sometimes? Why is it when they're requiring of you what the word of God speaks that you respond in a way other than that that might be edifying? I wonder if it has to do with inordinate affections. A lot of people say this is talking about homosexuality. That's not what this is talking about. It's talking about every area of lust in our lives that elevates self: the things that are self-satisfying.

It's a very interesting thing when you look at this passage that's being spoken of here. We ask ourselves the question then, "How is it that these things are so evidenced in my life and the fruit of the Spirit then obscure, when we talked this morning about the fact that as Spirit-filled believers, the fruit of the Spirit ought to be obvious, and if they're not, we are walking under the power of the flesh? Though it may not be to the extreme of this list--read this list. Most of us don't have trouble with that. Yeah, man! Mortify that fornication and that impure heart and action and that inordinate affection and the evil passions, concupiscence, the evil passions, that dictate the life of individuals, that ugly spirit of covetousness which is idolatry (covetousness which is always in it for the self-gain and jealous of what others have obtained and all of these different things, and it becomes an idol in the life of individuals).

Those things, we're pretty moved by them, and we say, "Yeah, that's ugly stuff." But it's interesting that he goes on and starts another list. When he talks about anger--how many of you just have trouble with anger? Scripture says, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath." What about anger? "Well, this is just something that some individuals just have trouble with." Anger's not quite as ugly as fornication, do you think? Which would you rather have in your midst? We begin to pick and choose and categorize sin.

I want you to understand something: that anger is as bad as fornication. There's no difference. Guilty of one, the Scripture says, we're guilty of all. The filthy communication that proceeds out of our mouth. What is that? What about when you talk ugly about a brother or sister or you slant some information that gives you the edge in the thing and prefers yourself over brothers and sisters? What about the gossip and the slander? What about the criticism? What about some of the course and foolish jesting that so many believers tolerate? You get familiar with people, and then the next thing you know, it's a little easier to make comments or observations.

The apostle says here by the Spirit, I want you to guard against these things and understand that these all have to be put off. What he's saying here is, there is no degree to sin. There's none that are acceptable. There are some that society happens to frown more upon, but to God it's all a reproach and to God it's the perspective of what's in the heart of man that sent Jesus to the cross. So when he talks about putting these things off, it's not just the keeping of a score here as to how holy you are. You remember we said this morning that too many Christians mistake morality with holiness, and they're two entirely distinct things. There's a number of moral people who are not born-again. We need to realize then that holiness is being separated to the purpose of God and being governed by the presence of God, the power of God, in our lives. Now, how do we know where we are?

Verse 12 tells us. "Put on therefore, as the elect of God..." If you're the elect, if you are born-again, if you've been ordained from before the foundations of the world, if you are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, if predestination is operating in you, then you are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. That is the end of the elect--conformity to the image of Jesus Christ--and we are predestined. Now he says to those of you who are predestined, to those of you who are elect, you still got to do something: put on, as the elect of God. Those who I've already declared holy, those who are the beloved of God, here's what I want you to put on: "bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity [love], which is the bond of perfectness [maturity, holiness]. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts..." And "Let the word of Christ [verse 16] dwell in you richly..." "And whatsoever ye do [verse 17] in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

Then another very interesting contextual thing. Look what it goes on to talk about. Verse 18, the role of the wife; verse 19, the role of the husband; 20, the role of the children; 21, the role of the fathers (we had a husband; now, we have a father); then verse 22, the role of a servant; and then chapter 4, verse 1, the role of a master. We begin to see that the Spirit of God and the apostle here are talking about interaction, relationships--that the way to understand whether you're walking in the Spirit or not is how you're functioning in the role that God's ordained you in: husband, father, wife, child, master, servant--because in every one of those roles there's responsibility. There's actions that must be perfumed that can't be performed in the natural; they have to be ministered by the Spirit of God. You're incapable of fulfilling that role without Christ working in you and the Spirit of God manifesting Himself in you.

Then he told us in the earlier passages that we were looking to, when he talks about the putting on of mercy and kindness and humbleness and meekness, look at it again. It's all interaction isn't it? It's an attitude that we have to choose to be able to walk free from the power of sin that's in our members. The choosing of fulfilling the role to which we've been called is the mortification of the flesh. See, we seem to think that the mortification of the flesh is just the decision to abstain: shun the very appearance of evil; flee youthful lusts; resist the devil, he'll flee from you--all of these different things. It's not just putting off; it's putting on.

Now, here's what I want to drive home to us tonight. I'm not saying you have to feel like it. I'm saying you have to recognize what's in your flesh that's contrary to the fruit of the Spirit and willfully choose to mortify that aspect in our flesh (and this is going to be interesting to some of you) because apparently here in Colossians God is wanting you to deal with your flesh for a greater reason than your personal victory. It appears as though it's to be for the edification of the body. God wants each of us free that we might be strong to comfort others; wise, to give counsel; loving, to extend mercy. Again, we see the underlying theme that we've talked about--it's not about you. It's about the love of God and the grace that's been extended to us.

Since the purpose then--and this is what's important--since the purpose then is for mutual edification through individual holiness and with the humbleness of mind that we talked about this morning in realizing that we can't do it in our own strength--we can think we're doing it. We talked about the self-righteousness and the carnal mind and the flesh that keeps the law and is legalistic and judgmental of those around that are not keeping it to the degree that we do: those who have consciences that are different than ours are carnal, and we give no latitude to the Spirit of God or to the working of grace or conscience. That's carnal, it's sinful, it's pride, it's self-righteousness. Then, in the process, those who are legalistic, when you sin, then you can only respond one of two ways. You're either too holy to sin, and so you deny that what you did was sin; and now your light's become darkness. You've deceived yourself, and there is no greater power than self-deception. You can never be under greater power than self-deception. It's greater than any demonic power. It's greater than Satan's power because you're believing a lie to be truth.

When a person finds himself in that arena, it's a very dangerous place. So we talked this morning about mortifying the flesh. We said the way to do that then is to stop being an entity to yourself. Humble yourself, admit the carnality, deal with the ugliness in your life, humble yourself by not only repenting, but humble yourself by now providing the access, the care, of the body of Christ to minister to your life because here's one of the keys that's going to help you in your mortification process. It's very important to understand this: you're not going to make it on your own, period. No man, without the ministry of the body of Christ, is able to walk free from the power of sin in his members. You will end up deluded. You'll end up with a perspective of sin, you'll end up with a perception of yourself that is tainted, perverse, because God never intended for any member in the body to stand alone.

We're not going to get into the teaching on the body ministry that we did a number of months back, but we all know the basic principle don't we? That every member is to have the same what? Care one of another; and that we're to be knit together, fitly joined. So when we talk about mortification, what kills the flesh more than having to ask for help?

Anybody here like to admit, "I can't do it; I need your help"? How many of you enjoy doing that? Let me see your hands. "I can't do it. I'm not able. I need help." Does anybody have trouble doing that? Let me see your hands. Let me see if anybody has trouble doing that. Okay, down. How many of you don't have any trouble doing that, truthfully? Hmmm, wonder if that's a common problem among us then since it's a hundred to nothing. So the mortifying of the flesh then, those of you that really want to be free--you know we talked about really hating that sin this morning; you really want to be free. You want to know how to kill the flesh? Go to those that are around you, those that love you, people that have laid their life down for you.

Now, remember, we said this morning you don't do it in the heat of battle do you? You're insane at those moments. You do it rationally like we talked about this morning, and you go to those people that you can trust. You go to your different spiritual overseers. You go to your parents, young people. Don't go to friends. "Well, some of my friends are more spiritual than my parents." Well, you may perceive that. It may look that way to you, and, in fact, in some ways might be. But if, in fact, your parents are regenerated, if, in fact, your parents are pursuing in the Kingdom of God, then there's nothing greater than following this biblical order: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands." "Children, obey your parents." There's no greater safety, and there's no greater mortification than fulfilling that role and coming and saying, "Mom, Dad, I can't do it. I need help. You know what I've come to realize? I'm carnal." Your parents will be shocked and go, "Oh, honey, we didn't know that. Oh, dear, God. How could this be?" They know. They know. They live in the same house with you. Who do you think you're fooling?

It's really kind of interesting. Isn't it interesting how children have trouble going to their parents. You get some young men, and they're now becoming adolescents. The voice is changing a little bit, and there's one big, long, straggly hair that's coming out (Pastor puts his hand to his chin). They're starting to be a man now and got this foot-long hair. They curl it and hair blow-dry it, standing there and looking at their manliness. Now, this young man is dealing with some of the aspects of life, and in his home is another male who's been through that fifteen years ago, twenty-five, forty years ago, whatever. For some reason this young man doesn't think that Dad can identify. Nobody's ever been through this before. "I can't share this with my dad. What's he going to think?" He's going to think you're strange if you're not going through it. That's what he's going to think.

Dads, what's wrong that you can't talk to your kids in these areas and comfort them with the same comfort, and rather than them thinking that somehow when you get as old as twenty that all of these problems magically go away, and you're free? "If I can ever live to be twenty, I'll be free. Oh, wretched man that I am." You share with them and say, "Son, look, man, this thing is part of life. Here's some of the ways that you can protect yourself. It's bringing things to the light that you're not giving any place to the enemy. I know where you are, and I'm here not to judge you. I'm here to help comfort you. I want you to understand that in the process I've learned some things that can help you."

What is more mortifying than a young man assuming his role as child and humbling himself and going to dad for help? That's how you mortify the flesh, and all the fathers said, "Amen." You wish your kids would come to you, and you say, "Man, I'm there for them," and then you don't go to the help that's been provided for you because it takes the same, no, greater humility because, now, I'm an adult. Adults don't say, "I need help. I can handle this. I know everything." Or at least we're raised to have to try to give the impression. We're told that we have to look like we know everything, and we live lives that are so deceitful. We all have our defense mechanisms and all of the masks that we wear and everything to protect how fragile we really are because we're all afraid and we're all weak and we're all failures and we're all tempted with the same temptations and we all fall and yield to the same temptations, but we like everybody to think we don't. So we all pretend like it's not really an issue, and it is.

When we can realize the commonness of the sin that's among us, and we can humble ourselves to the point where we're free from that self-righteousness and that hypocritical--and it's not always hypocrisy--I'm not talking about having to bring every incident in your life or every thought you have to the light and share it with somebody. What I'm talking about is that fear and that hypocrisy that destroys vulnerability that keeps you from getting help and being able to mortify the deeds of the flesh. I'm talking about being able to admit it. We've talked about different things that you can do for your young people. We talked about if your eye offends you, pluck it out or whatever.

I want to share with some of you. Some of you give far too much credit to your young people. I want to tell you something. You need to be more aware of what they're doing in their lives. You need to know where they are, what they're doing. You need to know where they are and what they're doing when they're under your roof. You especially need to know what they're doing if you have the whole world coming into your home through a little wire that may even have a filter on it. I want to tell you--the most dangerous thing, the thing that is most likely to send your child to hell, is the computer you have in your home if you're on the Internet. I'm not talking about pornography. You can have your little filter and screen that out. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about, do you know what's going into the hearts and minds of your children? Are you aware of it? Are you involved in it? Are you overseeing this? Because if you're not, then you're not fulfilling your role as father.

Very frankly, some need to begin to put some restraints on your own lives as well as others--guidelines. Some are to the place where you've lied to yourself and to your children. "Well, this thing's under check. We've got this covered." Really? Take it out for thirty days. Some of you are already sweating. You've broken into a sweat, the thought of it. Then you're lying to yourself. "I can take it or leave it. Mostly, take it."

We're talking about mortifying the deeds of the flesh. We're talking about the fact that we don't always know our own hearts. We're talking about the fact that we need other people to speak into our lives and give some input and bring reproof and rebuke and instruction and bring edification and bring about an encouragement and bring about a reckoning to righteousness. If you've got a friend--and I'm not talking about a certain age group here. If you've got a friend who's been vulnerable to say, "I'm wanting to mortify this thing in my life. I'm just wanting to be free from this, whatever it is, this obsession that's not pleasing to God. I just want to be free, man. I'm just--I have to..."

There's people that walk around with little pagers, and they pull them off; and they look to see what the score is of the ball games? What's that all about? You can't make it to the end of the day? That's not sin in and of itself, but is it becoming a habit? Is it something that is dominating your life? Is this information glut something that's got a hold of your mind that you're not able to control? Now, you recognize some things. You say, "I want to be free from this." Well, then the next time brothers or sisters come over, and you're getting ready to go, then don't get mad when they say, "Leave that thing at home, the pager." You say, "Well, I couldn't talk to one of my brothers or my sisters. They're adults, man; they're not little kids." Didn't they tell you they needed the help? Didn't they humble themselves and say, "I need you to help me. This thing's got control of my life." Leave it at home! "This thing's got control of my life." Wait for your friend to go to work; steal his television. Leave him a note, and tell him you did it; and say, "You told me that you needed help. I'm helping you. I'm holding it ransom."

Beloved, these are the practical ways of the body edifying itself. These are the practical ways of caring one for another. These are the practical ways of iron sharpening iron. It's not just speaking a word. "Well, I rebuked him; I said a word." What's that done? How many times have you rebuked him, and there's no change in their life? But they've come to you and said, "I want help, man. I want to mortify. I'm in need." Then where is the forbearing and the forgiving? Where is the tender mercies and the kindness to assist one another? You say, "Man, I don't need that grief; I got enough problems in my own life. I don't need another kid to raise." It's called discipleship. It's called preferring others better than ourselves.

What's interesting is that there are those of us here that are sitting here and saying, "You know, that's true, man. The majority of these people really need that. I'm so thankful that I'm able to take care of things in my life." Except maybe self-delusion?

So we realize that if we're going to look at the practical aspects of bringing reproof and correction and instruction, you see, the very word "reproof" brings with it a disciplinary action. It's not just a statement, but the reproof is one that brings with it authority. Now, that authority was invested in you when they said, "I need your help. I want you to help me."

Even the world knows this works. What's AA do? It's a principle. It's a biblical principle, but what does AA do? They give you some kind of a buddy--right?--that you call when you're in trouble. Now, most of them don't get the call soon enough because they get a call (Pastor imitates someone who is intoxicated and cannot be understood). So you go down there and you pick them up and they vomit on you and you bring them home. You've been there. When you come out of a family like I have with alcoholics and uncles dying in the gutters with the d.t.'s and others alcoholics, granddad that commits suicide and blows his brains out, and other alcoholic uncles who are murderers; and you see it, the one thing you say as a young person growing up is, "I'm never drinking, man." When your uncle almost kills you on numerous occasions and you see what it can do and you say, "There's one thing, man, one thing I know. I'm never drinking." A few years later you find yourself in the same condition.

They make great efforts in the natural to try to assist some, and many get freed from the power of drink. "Hello, I'm Bob, and I'm an alcoholic." No, you're totally depraved--now, you're getting somewhere! Because now the merit is not in your own will, it's not in the individual who's assisted you, but it's in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Some of us seem to think that there's some kind of a magical thing that takes place at regeneration--that when old things pass away, that means that sin's power over us has been diluted to the point where it no longer is able to dominate us. Then it's not too long, as new believers, that we find out that we still sin. Then, thank God, we understand that "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." "Well, praise God. Okay. Man, I feel better." Read a few more pages: "...these things write I unto you, that ye sin not"; "He that committeth sin is of the devil." "Oh, man! I like that confessing it part, but now I read on a couple of chapters, and it said if sin is habitually manifesting itself in my life, I'm of the devil. What am I going to do?" If you read the first epistle of John, there's a lot in there about this very principle that I'm sharing, of subordinating ourselves to the commandments and to the body of Christ and that discipline of loving our brother, not as Cain loved. We need each other, beloved.

When you read Colossians 3 here and the mandate of seeking the things that are above where Jesus is at the right hand of God and setting your affections on the things above, all of those things that you do individually are the character-building responses to God's commandments that allow you to humble yourself and receive the greater working. I say greater because it's the ultimate plan that you now fit within the body, and the body cares and ministers to itself in love. You're not going to do it on your own. The mortification is not going to take place on your own. As we become aware of the process that each of us are going through, what is it going to take? It's going to take humbleness of mind. It's going to take meekness. It's surely going to take the forbearing of one another, as we watch them start, fail, start, fail. We assist. "Please help me." I help you; you reject me. You get mad at me. "See if I'm going to help you again." Of course you have to help him again because we forbear and we prefer others, and we forgive because we've been forgiven. That's how you walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Father, we thank You for the word of God. As we take this time now at the Lord's table, we ask that we would understand the power of this blood that was shed for us. As we celebrate tonight the finished work, that our boasting would be in Your work, Lord, and not in our own strength, not in our knowledge, not in our natural capabilities because every one of us are failures. Sin in our members cannot be controlled without the lordship of Christ in our lives because what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh--see, the law couldn't finish the task. It could only tell us what was expected and tell us that we fell short, and we always fall short because of the weakness of our flesh.

God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin and condemned sin, and the only way we can now be pronounced righteous is through His righteousness, not our own. We are never righteous of ourselves. We are righteous through His imputed righteousness. He has conferred it upon us. We are seen through His righteousness. We are seen through His obedience. We are seen through His holiness, and then at glorification, the sealing of the Holy Ghost is recognized now finished; and we as sons and heirs bring glory to Father. Sin's power is no longer resident within our being--free indeed. We can't boast; it's all a gift.

As we partake of these emblems tonight, do not see "me and Jesus" as the conclusion of the matter. Yes, it is you and Jesus and you're working out your own salvation and you're seeking those things that above, but as you now partake and you humble yourself, Jesus said if you don't discern the Lord's body, it brings judgment upon us. Not only discerning His physical body broken for us, His innocence having been made sin with our sin, but we discern, now, the expression of His body, the church. To reject what the other members perform is to deny His body. You have no right drinking from this cup tonight and eating this bread if you're not willing to submit yourself to the body of Christ and recognize yourself as a member in particular, not an entity to yourself.

He wants you to be free tonight. He's given us every thing that pertains to life and godliness in Christ Jesus. He's indwelled us by the Spirit of God. He's infused the Holy Spirit into us that brings all things to our remembrance. He's given us bold access into His presence through prayer, and He has given us the promise of His coming that causes us to look and expect and to purify ourselves even as He is pure.

One of the ways of doing that is through the iron that sharpens iron, the reproof, the rebuke, the instruction in righteousness, that the man of God might be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. How ready are you to hear tonight? How bad do you want to be free? How humble are you willing to become? Every one of us can take the approach of that adolescent that seems to think, "Nobody else has been here; they won't understand. I'm so embarrassed. I hate to admit this." Everybody's battling the same thing, and if the enemy can keep you in darkness and think you're the only one, he's got you. We're all there. We're all fighting the same thing. We all need the same help just in different areas. Let's receive His forgiveness tonight. Let's receive His empowering tonight. Let's humble ourselves to mortify the deeds of the flesh, to put off the old man and to put on Christ. As that Colossians passage goes on, it says in everything you do, do it for the glory of God.

Let's stand before the Lord as the brethren come and Janet plays for us. This cup that we partake of tonight declares that it's finished. The victory's won. We're clean by the blood of Jesus. 1 John tells us then that as we walk in the light, the more the illumination takes place, the more we're aware of the need to be cleansed by His blood. The fellowship with Him is the acknowledging of the finished work, and then His blood cleanses us from all of our sin. I recognize that it's done. I recognize that it's being done. I recognize the day of glorification that awaits me. Until that time, I need help. I need the word of God. I need to study. I need the illumination of the Holy Spirit. I need to pray, and I need brothers and sisters to lift up my hands. I need to humble myself. You've provided all of those, Jesus, through Your blood. Help me not to reject it because of my pride, my fears--me, me, me--but that You might be all in all.

As the brethren serve, hold the emblems. We'll partake together. Let's sing this, "Change My Heart." Hallelujah! Change my heart. Yes, Lord. Oh, Lord, make me in Your image. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! As Janet continues to play that, just take a moment now, and fellowship with the Lord; and make that your prayer tonight. "Change my heart, Lord. Lord, direct me to seek the things that are above, and restore unto me the first love. Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me. It's for Your glory, Father, that I ask these things, that I might glorify You."

The awareness of how much you're walking in the Spirit is when the emphasis is no longer--and I'm talking really truthfully in your heart; I'm not talking about how you fooled yourself. I'm not talking about what you're answer would be if somebody asked you. The walk in the Spirit is when you begin to be aware that, you know, it's no longer about going to heaven, escaping hell. It's no longer the freedom from the guilt and the desire: "I just hate being under the power of sin. I hate losing. It's a competition. I hate sin beating me, and the devil beating me." It's not about that anymore. It's about the glory of God. It's really about the glory of God.

I'm not talking about even just a conscious thinking of, "Okay, now, God's got to be glorified in everything I do." I'm talking about, all of a sudden it begins to dawn on you, "Man, I'm thinking about the heart of God first. I'm not thinking about the consequence--what will happen if I do this thing? I hate this. I see the propensity in me toward it, but I'm not doing that. That's not I; that's sin in my members. I'm not my own; I'm bought with a price. It's not even a consideration of making conscious choices to do my thing."

We still find ourselves in presumptuous sin, but the besetting sins are losing their power. The habits of sinning are broken. Now, I find myself yielding my members as instruments to righteousness. I'm habitually making right choices because I made a right choice before this choice. I made the right choice to stay and pray instead of go and play, and sin was averted and the visitation of God became a reality. I tasted of the Lord, and I saw how good He was; and I ate His word, and it became the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. The things of earth grow strangely dim.

Father, we take these emblems in our hands tonight and with thanksgiving for the bread and the cup, with hearts of thankfulness and praise and worship, we receive them, and we partake of them with this one bold declaration, as we agree with Your word. We say in the name of Jesus, by the power of Your Spirit, and in recognizing and in remembrance of that work we say, "It is finished." Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Jesus. Hallelujah! We worship You, Lord, and we thank You for the work done. Glory to God!

As you celebrate the finished work, just in your own time, partake of the bread and the cup--we've already given thanks--and worship Him and thank Him for the work finished. Glory to God! Take your time and worship Him and honor Him. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We delight in You, Lord, and we declare it. For Your word has spoken it, Lord. It's been decreed from eternity past. It's been predestined for the Lamb was slain from before the foundations of the world. We drink Your blood recognizing that we are clean through Your holiness and Your righteousness. Hallelujah! We delight, Lord, in the victory won. Glory, glory, glory. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! It's finished.

You're not the only one in here tonight. We all need help. We're all fragile. We're all afraid. We're all carriers of sin in our members. We are where we are by the grace of God, and we are because God has worked in us to will and to do His good pleasure. There's no boasting. There's only need of more help. There's only comforting with the same Comforter. You grow in proportion to your willingness to give. How much will you lay down that others can live? That's the spirit of your Savior. That's the walk of the Spirit. That's the mortifying of the flesh. Hallelujah! Oh, we thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Get in the habit--listen to me very closely--get in the habit of calling for help before you think you need it. Let Him be glorified in your life. We'll give You the praise, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "It's finished, praise God." Amen. Go in peace. God's love go with you.

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