Choose God to Be in the Driver's Seat - Romans 8 #2 | Jonathan Pokluda

my life before Christ was a pursuit of happiness that always left me wanting more growing up and author out high school and college culture defines what I thought and believed music TV and movies all told me that happiness can be found and having the perfect beach body dating the guy everyone else wanted having lots of money and living the Spring Break lifestyle all year round which was easy since I grew up in Florida so I chased those things and in college I found myself drinking nearly every night working at a club in downtown Orlando and finding identity and what people thought about me especially the guys I would date at times I felt happy I even convinced myself I was living the dream but as morning broke and the high of this world faded as it always did I wondered why none of it was ever enough during college I went to Las Vegas on a girls trip and met a guy who the world would consider prince charming it made sense to me that the one thing I was missing to make my life feel complete was a husband like him I thought to myself this is it he is a missing link so two days after graduating college I packed my bags and moved to Seattle where he lived in hopes of fulfilling my pursuit of happiness after moving to Seattle I soon realized that I had everything I thought would make me happy but it still didn't feel like I was enough I still felt so empty life became dull and repetitive with nothing this world had to offer being able to satisfy me I started getting anxiety and panic attacks that were mentally and emotionally paralyzing my heart racing sweaty palms feeling really lightheaded and a fear of impending doom would rush over me I started attending church and hopes to find relief I went to church as a kid and I knew about Jesus and how he had died for my sins I even called myself a Christian but I was not following Christ I was following the world one day at church I heard a story from the Bible about how even two demons acknowledge that Jesus is Lord demons believe in Jesus for weeks that thought raced through my mind I would think about it often and eventually came to the conclusion that I was not a believer just because I said I was through many encounters with God's Word and his people I ended up surrendering my life to Christ I turn from my sin and my pursuit of happiness and trusted in him during that time a friend sent me a podcast from the porch and as I listened I realized Christianity wasn't just a thing you do on Sundays it's something that informs every decision that you make through listening to the Portsmith messages I began to learn what it looks like to follow Christ and it changed everything about my life my playmates my playgrounds even where I lived I applied and was accepted to the watermark residency program and I'm now serving and the very ministry that Jesus used to capture my heart before Christ I followed what the world said would make me happy and was left empty-handed knowing Christ I gave up everything I had to follow him and found more joy than ever before now my identity cannot be shaken because it is secure in Christ I no longer have to question Who I am I am a daughter of God and an heir to his eternal Kingdom my past sin does not defy me and my future sin cannot separate me from his love because of Christ I am set free from my pursuit of happiness and I have true joy and the Lord it is finished roll up my sleeves for this one you guys ever been stuck stuck in life like you just you feel like you can't go forward like kind of spiritually apathetic continuing to beat your head against the same walls like a dog to his vomit is the proverb say you continue to return to the same sins wanting freedom but can't get it I love Elena's story than when she moved over in that driver's seat and God came in and God consumed her life everything changed it's been real it's been a lot of fun for me to have a front row seat for the second part of that story that that she just shared with you guys growing up my family we would vacation in a place at the beach called Port Aransas anybody ever been to Port Aransas it's kind of Beach ish it's just kind of beach and and my dad we grew up on a farm and so my dad had this big extended cab long bed Chevrolet pickup truck that he would use to pull a trailer and so it had a it was a standard it was a stick shift and we would the cool thing about Port a is you could drive on the beach you could drive in the sand a lot of places you can't do that but we would go there this is where we would vacation as a family and you could drive on the beach and so one of my favorite things to do was take my dad's truck up and down that beach but there was one problem with that there was just something about maneuvering that standard maneuvering that stick shift that and I just didn't get along and so I would always get stuck on the beach and this happened multiple times not just once or twice many many times I would stud get stuck in his truck on that Beach and so I could remember very vividly being me in the driver's seat my buddy with me and just like oh no I like you kind of the wheels start spinning and so I would you know shift in the first and throw sand everywhere and then shift into reverse throw sand everywhere and like just wasn't going anywhere and the more I try to get unstuck eventually I just buried the axle like we weren't going anywhere and so that this is like in my shame now you know probably about an hour later my buddy gets out of the truck and he goes to get my dad at whatever hotel were staying up at there along the beach and there my and I can remember this would happen every time my dad would come he'd open the driver's side door and say scoot over big you know and then he would just shift in Reverse give it some gas shift in the first and just pull out and I was like how did you do that it was like magic and he would always do it not just like I don't understand like how did you do that I've just spent the last hour trying to get unstuck only to get more stuck and then all of a sudden we he comes in the driver's seat he just pulls right out and I share that with you because some of you came in tonight feeling stuck there's there's really three categories of people in the room right now there's this category of folks who are experiencing the fullness of life that Jesus Christ comes to offer they're not the naive ones they are the blessed ones they are the ones that figured something out that a lot of us haven't figured out yet and then there's some others of us that continue to beat our head against the wall and we're kind of white knuckling this thing and we're thinking we're trying to get unstuck and we're just burying the axle and we realize it but we don't know what to do and we're just continuing to try to beat you know try to get inspect but we're beating our heads against the same wall and then there's those of you there's another category of folks who are doing the wrong things and delighting in it you're like I don't I don't really care like give me a little bit of God on Tuesdays maybe on Sundays and then let me have my freedom with the rest of my life I'm going to do what I want to do and so this evening I want to speak to all three of those categories as the Apostle Paul teaches us from this book of Romans we're in a series now Romans 8 if you want to turn there we're going to be looking at verses 5 through 13 in Romans chapter 8 we've entitled this Romans 8 walk by the spirit and last week David just did a great job of talking about what it looks like to live a life of independence to the spirit of god and i want to elaborate on this tonight letting the spirit of god drive your life who is in the driver's seat of your life is it you is it God is it your flesh do you do what you want to do and you want to do it or is it God the creator of the heavens and the earth who is in the driver's seat of your life and so we're just gonna talk about tonight how one the flesh and the spirit are fighting for your mind to who wins will determine where you go and three before you leave here this evening I want to admonish you exhort you to decide now who will drive your life and I think the reason this is so important this evening is because you cannot have a full life without an understanding of this message you cannot experience the full spiritual life that God desires for you if you do not understand what this message this evening teaches and so I think we need to re-evaluate who is driving let's go verse five those who live according to the flesh now that word the flesh that's just not a term that we use often outside of church and so what is that that is your sin nature the flesh this word right here means the part of you that loves to sin this is the part of you that hates Authority this is the part of you that hates accountability this is the part of you that wants to hide those things that you do on the weekend this is the part of you that does not want to talk to your community group about those types of things this is the part of you that loves to sin and this part of you has your mind has their mind set on what the flesh desires it only cares about what it wants but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires spirit there is god's spirit it's the Holy Spirit the Holy Ghost a person of the Trinity the mind governed by the flesh is death but the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace the my governed by the flesh is hostile to God the mind governed by the flesh hates God the part of you that loves the sin does not like the one who has the rules that lead to life the part of you that loves the sin wants to be free from God it's hostile to God it wants to do what it wants to do whatever it wants to do it it does not submit to God's law nor can it do so those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God when you live according to the flesh you cannot please God and you say well maybe I can do good when I live according to the flesh you doing good with the wrong motive is not good it's bad first Corinthians 13 says if I do all of these things but I don't do them for the right motive it's for nothing and so you doing good with the wrong heart you're doing good not to please God even you're doing good to please man is sin and so my first point this evening is there is a fight for the driver's seat of your mind Paul is writing to us talking about the mind and where it goes and there's this there's this kind of dichotomy going on the flesh wants to drive but the spirit wants to drive there's a battle over your mind you can picture this and I want you to listen if the enemy can win the mind of a man he can keep him from the pleasures of God let me say that again if the enemy can win the mind of a man he can keep him from the pleasures of God but if a person's mind belongs to the Lord so does the entire person if God has your mind and he has your life he has you and so there's these two drivers at war with a natural human two drivers fighting for the will one is the flesh that's the one that desires to kill you to take you off a cliff to send you to a despair you listen I don't have to prove this to you think about people who do whatever they want to do whenever they want to do it they are some of the most dysfunctional people you'll ever meet and the least godly do you hear me I mean these are the types of people reality shows are made out of because we are entertained how comedic and sad their life is people who do whatever they want to do are some of the most desperate despairing people you will ever meet and the least godly and the most dysfunctional see that the flesh your flesh right now the sinful nature of you the sinful part of you the part of you that loves to sin desires to feed itself it is excited at the opportunity to do wrong let me explain do you remember my parents would travel sometimes you know when I was in high school they would go on vacation together and they'd leave me at home by myself which was crazy but they would leave me at home by myself and I can remember just when that door would shut with them on the other side of it and them driving down the road knowing they were gonna be gone for a weekend and just like it's on I can now do whatever I want to do which is really to say I can feed my flesh party it's on and so maybe that wasn't you but maybe it was when you went to college you get to college parents drop you off right you've got all of your belongings in a suitcase and the twin size mattress and there you are in your dorm room or some apartment with your ficus tree and nothing else and you're like oh my goodness freedom at last like I can do whatever I want to do that is the excitement of your flesh at the opportunity to do wrong or maybe you've gone to Vegas like Elena and you get off that plane and you're like what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and in a moment at your fingertips his money is gambling his prostitution is alcohol his party and it's just that like we're here baby not your flesh that's the part of you that desires to kill you maybe you don't need Vegas maybe you're just out and Dallas or maybe you're out in Fort Worth you're there at Sundance Square or maybe you're in Uptown and you're thinking okay man Friday night it's on or maybe it's Monday and all you can think about is Friday that's the part of your flesh that desires to kill you it's a little bit unsettling if you think about it for too long or maybe you travel for work and you get off that plane in some foreign in some other city and you're like no one really even knows where I am right now I can do whatever I want to do and you call it freedom but what Paul is saying is no it's not just freedom from the rules it's freedom from integrity and what it really is it's freedom to forget about God and if you keep pursuing the freedom to forget about God you're not gonna remember God any longer until you meet him in the afterlife this is the hostility toward God that our flesh pursues but the spirit god's holy spirit verse 6 gives life and peace a seat allowing the spirit to drive is not optional for this full spiritual life it is absolutely mandatory without the spirit driving your spiritual life is dying it's like trying to go on a road trip with an empty tank of gas like you may be able to run on fumes for just a few miles but pretty soon you're gonna be dead on the side of the road this is what is like trying to pursue God without allowing the spirit God's Holy Spirit to drive your life and so God he's not trying to keep something from you God's not trying to rip you off God wants to set you free God's not trying to you know keep that that guy from you in Seattle he's not trying to keep that job from you he's not trying to keep you know you from going out with all of those friends he's trying to show you a path of freedom he doesn't want you to die he doesn't want your flesh to take you off a cliff see some of you you're here tonight you got one foot in the church and one foot in the world and you've got the best of you got the worst rather of both worlds like like you're going like this your life's a train wreck you're swerving all over the road you're like oh I'll give me a little bit of church and little bit of the party and it hasn't worked out for anyone in the history of history I've tried to believe me I talked to a lot of you who've tried it I've never talked to the person like nah man I got one foot in the church one foot in the world it's working like a champ man's working great going great for me no it never works you're swerving all over the road you look in the rearview mirror and there's just a pileup of cars and the only bad driver on the road is you because there's a fight for the steering wheel see letting your flesh Drive it's not just a bad idea it's suicidal its suicidal to your spiritual life it's suicidal to everything that God desires for you the other night I've got a three-year-old at home right now West and my son and and he was sick and so he was just like crying hysterically all night really out of character for him he's a pretty happy dude and but this particular night I mean he's just screaming his head off like that that like hyperventilating crying so we eventually go up there you know like I don't think he's going back to sleep babe and so I go up there and like I pull him out and I'm Rob McClendon he will not calm down and I'm like I'm desperate cuz I'm tired you know I'm like I don't even feel completely out of it I'm holding him I'm like buddy you just need to stop and he won't stop and so and don't judge me for this okay it was like parenting low moment but I like go to bribery I'm like hey buddy I will buy you a remote-control car if you stop and the truth is I wanted a remote-control car and this was just like an excuse to get it but I like okay and it worked like clockwork again don't judge me but it worked I mean he stopped he's like all right uh you know he's like I want her red and gray when Daddy I'm like okay and so he goes back to sleep sleeps all through the night I wake up the next day I'm like I tell Monica I'm like hey I gotta buy Western a remote-control car she's like like the one you wanted I'm like exactly the one and so I go I go to the hobby shop I'm like okay you know I'm new to the game he's like well what what are you looking for I'm like red and gray and so they have one red and gray when I leave with it and so we go home and I driving I mean he's just ecstatic you know and so we're driving it and I mean this thing these things have evolved like I don't know when the last time you played with a remote-control car is but the game has changed man I mean it goes 30 miles an hour and just does all this crazy stuff like this is awesome and so I'm driving in the whole time it's like daddy let me drive daddy let me drive daddy let me drive daddy I'm like what do you think it's yours you know and so anyways and so he just keeps saying that and so eventually you know I get weak and I handed the remote-control car well he takes it it takes about three seconds for him to hammer the gas and drive it 30 miles an hour directly into the curb you know cars in pieces okay and so I go and I get it and I kind of piece it back together and and I make it drivable again and that I'm driving and I'm you know showing him everything that he can do he's like let me drive let me drive let me drive let me drive let me drive and so I'm like okay but listen you can't take it straight to the curb he's like okay I won't daddy yeah well I give it back to him he hammers the gas boom straight into the curb cars and pieces again I go I put the car back together I'm driving he says let me drive let me drive let me drive let me try we do this about four or five times until it's broken like like to the point that it can't be repaired by me anyways I've got to take it back to the hobby shop and say hey can you guys fix this no he's a three-year-old I know and so um what's funny about that is like he never changes the conclusion like I'm not good at this like even though he was really bad at it he was like let me drive let me drive let me drive let me drive that's your flesh your flesh doesn't care if it's running into walls at 30 miles an hour it just wants the steering wheel it doesn't care if your life's a train wreck it doesn't care if you're sad if you're just you're desperate if you're despairing if you're depressed it doesn't care if you're drunk or hungover it doesn't care how you feel it just wants the steering wheel and it continues to do the same thing over and over and over and so you're like maybe this time we will get married no you probably won't it's probably gonna end in flames because you're not letting the spirit drive this time I won't feel so bad yes you will because you have the Holy Spirit and you've grieved the spirit when you sin I've heard it said when you become a Christian you're not sinless you just sin less and you feel worse when you become a Christian you're not sinless you just sin less and you feel worse so Paul writes verse 9 you however you there's this like new category like okay there's the one who lives by the flesh and runs cars into walls at 30 miles an hour and their lives in flames but you're different you're different you're not in the realm of the flesh but you're in the realm of the Spirit the Spirit of God you live for eternal things you don't live for the merely stupid temporary natural things the things of this world that won't be here you live in the realm of the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you and if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ then they don't belong to Christ but if Christ is in you then even though your body is subject to death because of sin the Spirit gives life because of righteousness whose righteousness your righteousness now this is the gospel right here this is what we just celebrated at Easter that he gets the death that you deserve and you get the life that he deserves his righteousness is imputed to you accredited to your account that God sees you as righteous because his son died in your place and if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you he who raised Christ from the dead okay I'm just reading this but just in case like you toned out tuned out like like lean in he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you grass now with me this profound reality that the same spirit who brought Christ who was dead bloody okay puncture wound and his side he bled out he's been whipped to death he hung crucified on a cross he's now wrapped in all these burial clothes and put in a cave with a big stone in front of it and then all of a sudden his spirit that's so powerful that it's like he's back that spirit lives in you just me I'm like serious that spirit lives in you see when the non-believer sins right that's just their job description that's that's what verse 9 and 10 are saying they're just doing what they're supposed to do but when a believer lives in sin that's confusing because the Spirit of God does not live in sin so my second point this evening is your driver determines your destination who's ever at the steering wheel that determines where you go you don't have to go the way of death see if you're a Christian you have a ready willing and able driver in Christ Jesus Christ his spirit lives with you but if you have no desire to do the things of God if you have no desire to go where God is leading then you are most likely not a Christian like if there's no desire in you to satisfy God to go his way to go where he's leading to let drive then you are most likely do not have the Holy Spirit in you you are not a Christian but if when you sin you're grieved you're saddened you want to jump back on the path of righteousness you want to pursue God you believed upon the gospel that's a different story your driver determines your destination a part of being gone these five weeks Monica and I had the incredible opportunity to go to Israel and so we did this tour in Israel which was my I mean just amazing trip of a lifetime truly and we had this incredible driver we're on this tour bus you know with friends and and the first thing that he would do and we'd get in on the bus is he would punch in the destination in the GPS that's what a good driver does the driver starts with the destination in mind is like okay where do you guys want to go let me make sure that I take you there even if he knows the destination he's putting it in seeing hey what are the right traffic routes to take what are the rights to how do I make sure that I get there and in the right amount of time you begin to punch in that destination when it is them the mind kind of works this way kind of like a GPS system right when you've continued to go to the bars of Uptown the bars of Sunday and square the bars in Houston wherever you're at if you're listening somewhere else when you continue to live the lifestyle of the world the lifestyle that cannot please God right you're punching in those addresses and what does a GPS system do it begins to auto populate it's like oh you want me to go there oh I know that place let's go like you put in the first two numbers of the addresses like oh you want to go home I know home first two numbers of the address it's like oh you want to go to work I know work I know that way I'm ready to take you there put in the first to address the numbers of strip club like oh yeah we've been there let's go bar let's go party let's go right but what happens when you stop going to those places it forgets those addresses the spiritual life you begin to put in new address Elena said I changed my playmates in my playground even where I live she said I begin to punch in new addresses and the old ad dresses fell out and the new addresses begin to populate the GPS and that's where I wanted to go you want to go to church I know Church let's go to church you want a fellowship with those friends okay I know those friends let's go with us bring you a community let's go let's go let's go I'm ready and uh listen you have a new life what why because you change drivers now the spirits driving is taking you to different places different destinations the flesh desires to kill you that's a weird statement like how is the flesh you just keeps saying you lot if you pursue the flesh if you let the flesh Drive you're going to die why is this because everything the flesh wants hurts your relationship with God which gives life and so what is this death that comes from feeding the flesh it's anxiety its exhaustion anybody tired it's hangovers it's pregnancy scares it's heartbreak oh I can't go on I feel like I can't go on like this my whole life was wrapped up in him I just feel like I can't move on it's guilt shame I feel bad it's depression it's despair and maybe worse than all of those things is apathy it's a life without meaning you know what I haven't done anything with my life that has eternal implications no I mean I'm the king of the city but an eternity my life won't matter because I've lived my life for me and I'm like kind of like those dysfunctional people that he talked about right that's that's some of us or not all of us but that's some of us some of us need to hear that but we have a God you have a driver that you can trust who's leading you to life this is the good news right you have a driver that is wedding ready willing and able in Christ and he's leading you to life some of you if we've hung out together for a while you know that I had a terrifying fear of flying like a debilitating fear of flying and that was really unfortunate because I had a job that required me to fly and and every time I'd get on that plane you know is like my palms were sweaty knees weak arms were heavy vomit on my sweater No and so every time I'd get on that plane it was just like anxiety like overwhelmed me you know and I'm sitting there and and until a moment there's this really defining moment that changed everything and it was a conversation with a pilot and I was just like man well you know when we hit turbulence it feels like the wings are gonna fall off he's like the wings are gonna fall I'm like are you guys scared he's like the turbulence he's like man we're having fun you know most of us like the airlines they hire like X fighter pilots like have you noticed the guys like they're old guys they're coming out of the army they've been dogfighting and flying planes at lick who knows how faster than the you know sound barrier and breaking the sound barrier and all this and he's like telling me this he's like when we hit turbulence like that's the only part that we actually enjoy because like we're like sleeping at the will I'm like well that doesn't make me feel better but he's like he's like man we're out there like flying you know from this town this city to this city like that's born like the turbulence that's kind of fun you know like you're having fun we're having fun he's like you think that planes gonna fall out of the sky cause there's some bumps I don't think no I wouldn't think that and and it was just like that conversation and so what happened is I began to look at the pilots and they're like man they had some grey hair they had these like official shirts with these stripes on their sleeves and I might do these guys are pros like they're really experienced the guy that you can trust is experienced but you think you think that you're gonna bump up against something that he hasn't dealt with countless number of times like like he's thrown for a loop like you're like yeah I don't know what I just got laid off and I know you don't know what to do he's like do you know how many people got laid off the day and I'm taking care of him look at the birds of the air it's a god he broke my heart I know this has really thrown you for a loop he's like come on man I got you I love you I got a plan for you you think I haven't been here a billion times do you trust me hand me the keys hand me the keys let me drive stop driving God's Spirit has a perfect track record right he can bring the dead what's the worst that can happen to me I can die he's like dude I got that I've been there you know see also East her right a life of trusting God's Spirit this comes straight from Galatians 5:22 through 23 if you want to write that down a life of trusting God's Spirit is a life full of love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness and self-control that's what God's Spirit gives that's where he leads that's where he's driving you to that's the one that you can trust and so Paul is teaching us this incredibly valuable lesson that is simply this your thoughts take you places what you think about is taking you somewhere and it's different destinations destinations in this world right you have never ever found yourself in sin without first thinking about it no one in the history of existence has sinned right without thinking about it have some thought start in their mind and it caring it carries them there James says this in chapter 1 verse 14 that it begins every sin begins with our own desire a desire within us that takes us there and so different destinations in this world but also different destinations in the afterlife here's what I mean by that your thoughts point to ultimately who you've trusted in whether that's yourself or Christ his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins and so you might say well I I can't control my thoughts JP I can't stop sinning I'm a Christian and I can't stop committing the same sin and I'm just like what you're telling me that the Spirit who gave life to Christ the one who busted open the tomb who defeated death that same spirit can't help you stop looking at porn what is he broken he's not working for you that same spirit can't help you stop obsessing about a relationship like he can bring Jesus back to life but he's just stumped at the fact that you're obsessed with your body oh man it's the spirit who brought Christ to life that lives with you have you tried surrendering to him god I can't believe can't get out tried everything covenant eyes XXX Church accountability community I tried community membership I tried membership I've tried everything cool have you tried trusting me have you tried surrendering sometimes just say this kind of doesn't even address me but like I met with some of you recently who are like obsessed with conjuring up the Spirit of God for the gifts of the Spirit you know I'm speaking tongues my cool but but man you know that like you're stuck in pornography and that doesn't honor God and so man maybe you could switch out tongues for you know putting to death the deeds of the flesh like we get so excited about conjuring up the gifts of the Spirit he's like hey man how about long obedience in the same direction how about trusting me for a change how about handing me the keys your life and let me drive how about submitting to Authority how about coming into a church and belonging like I clearly asked you to in my word how about trusting my spirit in that way and stop treating me like a genie or a party trick verse 12 therefore brothers and sisters we have an obligation we have an obligation but this obligation it's not to the flesh to live according to the flesh that's not what we're obligated to do for if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live Jesus says you will have life and have it to the foolish you will have life and have it abundantly following God is not a cop-out it's real - it's where the real party is and I'm not naive like just in case we don't know each other like I partied like I probably partied as hard as any one of you in this room right now okay and I'm so I'm not crazy I'm not brainwashed by the church I'm telling you life is found in Jesus and Jesus alone nowhere else that's what Elena told you - like she's not up here we didn't brainwash her we didn't have her drink you know some kool-aid or something like she's just like hey I found something good I want to tell you guys about it and so my third and final point is designated driver designate a driver your flesh or God's Spirit you choose tonight you get to say hey who's gonna drive the rest of my life designate a driver because you are obligated to your driver and if you're choosing the spirit you're obligated then to put to death the deeds of the flesh so you have the help of the same spirit who raised Christ from the dead now listen your flesh is gonna want to continue to drive is just like Weston crazy in a good way no but the flesh isn't I'm just saying my son I felt bad for calling him crazy so my son's not crazy your flesh is crazy now we're clear your flesh wants to kill you it wants the steering wheel but it wants to drive you off a cliff if that has not been crystal clear I hope that you leave with that and so you must make it a practice to surrender your thoughts to the spirit not to dwell on what the flesh desires not to watch movies that feed your flesh not to watch shows that feed your flesh not to listen to music that feed your flesh I know that sounds legalistic and kind of man you just kind of went where the church I grew up in I'm not trying to I'm just telling you there is some truth to that you are feeding your mind and it's feeding your desires and you listen to a song and this all the sudden it's like man I want everything that song said you watch your showings like man I want everything that show just showed I want twenty four guys chasing me right it's like what it's crazy but as you walk by the spirit as you walk by the spirit you're closer to heaven with every step that's a beautiful reality as you walk by the spirit he is leading you to a destination which is eternity with God you're closer to it with every step the other day a couple of weeks ago we went to Six Flags took the kids to Six Flags they had never been and the big deal you know that were they're excited and and as we got close to Six Flags if you've been there you know if like from far off you can see the tops of the roller coaster and and it's so interesting the second they saw the tops of the rollercoaster all of the joy and all of the excitement of being in the amusement park was now in the car it's like we we see it we're gonna get to ride that we're gonna and and with every turn we were closer to those roller coasters they became bigger and more real and closer to us with every rotation of the tire we were closer to our destination and the excitement of the destination filled the car until like one moment we're at the kind of toll booths where you pay to park in the next moment we're in the park it was just a natural progression when you walk the spiritual life by the spirit when you die and you pass from this world to eternity in the presence of God also known as heaven it's just the next natural progression you've been looking at it with every step in the excitement and anticipation of eternity with God a glorification is filling your life and the joy that comes from that is now in your world and every step you take with the spirit in the driver's seat is taking you there and the excitement builds as you move closer to eternity with God so much so that when your heart stops beating is just the next natural step to eternity life with God to eternity with God to eternal life with God it's just the next thing it's just where the spirit has been taking you since you were 21 since you were 32 since you were 40 5677 83 hello Jesus it's just where you are that's allowing the spirit to drive and so we're experiencing more and more of him where real life is found and the flesh simply desires to take you off course and so what's the application real quick the application is simply letting the spirit drive and you say well how do I do that it's verse 5 live in accordance with the spirit it's filling your mind with God's instruction here's a thing it's meditation and you meditation really see I think we've been confused on what meditation is Eastern meditation is emptying your mind it's not thinking about anything biblical meditation is filling your mind with the things of God the truths of God learning the scriptures of God yielding to the Spirit of God biblical meditation is not at all emptying your mind but filling it so that when you fill your mind with the things of God you filled your life with the things of God you are the things of God and it begins with you filling your mind with the things of God this is what it looks like to let the Spirit Drive and so in summary there's a fight for the driver's seat of your mind between the flesh and the spirit and your driver determines your destination both in this world in the world to come and so tonight I'm in Mohnish you I'm exhorting you to designate a driver your flesh or God's Spirit I want to end in a way that it's really how I wanted to start I didn't want to distract you but the other day I was on Twitter and a friend of mine had you know I was reading a tweet from a friend and it had a hashtag and I it was a curious hashtag it wasn't an immoral hashtag in any way it was just a curious hashtag and and my flesh began to wonder what's on the other side of that hashtag and so I clicked on it I scrolled with my on my phone or my iPhone I scrolled down and I felt that kind of excitement wondering if I was gonna see something maybe a girl in a bathing suit something like that and and I didn't but I saw another hashtag and my my flesh wondered what's behind this hashtag maybe something more promising and so I clicked on it and I scrolled and I saw nudity I saw a topless woman and I kind of woke up if you I kind of came to I was like oh like startled and and I knew it wasn't like I had done that accidentally I knew that there was a huge part of me that was seeking that out and I was so grieved because it's been years since I have pursued pornography and there I was in that moment I found myself back in that place how did I get here in the shame and the guilt and everything came back in that moment and by the grace of God I put my phone down I go to my computer I didn't act out on it any further than that but I go and I emailed my guys and I said hey I want you to know what I just did I sought this out and I walked him through the same process that I just walked you through I clicked here I didn't see something I went further in and I just found something I said will you pray for me that I would forget it that I'd be free Monica got home my wife got home and the baby sit down and talk to you so what's wrong I said I want you to know what I just did I told her all the while my flesh is that you can't tell her like she's gonna you can't do that man down put the death the deeds of the flesh Monica is what I did will you please forgive me and and then shortly thereafter I was with a group of pastors we were meeting to pray and to dream about the church said guys before we'd go further we were at a meal I said I want you to know what I've done I told them I want to tell you I don't I don't want to be a hypocrite over here like hey don't give in to the ways of the flesh acted like I cave in to the way of the flesh would you guys please forgive me as your pastor I won't be a fraud you know I don't want to preach one thing and do another would you please forgive me would you please forgive me I'm asking thank you thank you now I want you to know how I got there it wasn't a long strategic plan it wasn't something you know premeditated the day before it was in a moment my flesh opened the driver's-side door and said hey scoot over let me drive for a few minutes a few seconds let me drive myself off a cliff not trying to avoid being culpable it was me it was the part of me that loves to sin it was the part of me that grieved the spirit it was this part of me that wanted the steering wheel it was the part of me that can't honor God it was the part of me that Christ died for was the part of me that has found freedom in him and so tonight with you I designate the Holy Spirit as driver of my life and I want you to do the same I want you to meet a friend of mine who also has done that my name is Phillip Ward and uh my life before Christ was a lie I grew up in a Christian home I went to church on Sundays but I thought Jesus was just a complete fairy tale and so because I thought Jesus was a fairy tale I lived my life like there were no consequences I started DJing when I was in eighth grade and uh I had dreams of just becoming the next big music mogul I wanted to be just like Diddy that was my goal and so I was introduced into the music industry after college a friend that I was managing an artist signed a record deal and the song went big on the Billboard charts and so we were everywhere we were touring across across the country so sex alcohol and drugs they were all readily available on my fingertips whenever I wanted and I did not deny myself I lived it and I was there the club's the lights the fast money the fame the vainglory I drink from that cup deeply but still I thirsty for more for years I chase for more why because I knew I knew it deep down it would never be enough never enough money never enough fame never enough sex never enough drugs it's never enough and in 2013 I got brought to this place to the porch and I was the guy who would come to church just to take a picture for social media to share so people would think that I was a good guy and so I wasn't but I kept coming back because never in my life had I heard someone passionately speak about how broken they were before Christ and drive home the point that there was no life outside of Christ I thought this guy JP he's been where I've been he really believes this he really believed this Jesus thing and soul on Tuesday night broke me I was sitting about right there and JP from the stage he screamed out you're not a Christian you're not a Christian you're not a Christian and I think it - my seat and that was the first time I realized I'm not a Christian and so I began a mission to get to the truth did Jesus really died for my sins did he even exist and did he rise and what I found yes he did and I gave up everything I completely left the world I was living in because what else can you do when you meet a guy who can defeat death but following and so now my life with Christ has been a radical transformation Saturday actually marked two years since I've trusted in Christ and I finally found the one thing that is enough Jesus because of the cross I've been set free from chasing after six alcohol drugs fame my mission now is to make him famous for who he is and what he's done let's pray God thank you for being the good driver in our lives lord I pray for the souls in here who don't know who he is I pray that tonight some will realize that they are not a Christian and they will come forward and trust in the one and only hope that we have Jesus Lord I pray for all my friends who have the spirit and drilling in them that they would run after you that we would put to death the deeds of the flesh that we were trusting you more but I pray that you would continue to work in hearts and broken men and women to change lives and to tell stories of grace which you continue to work through us Jesus name Amen the Holy Spirit I don't I don't want to belittle the Holy Spirit at all and with this metaphor but I was thinking about as we were singing and and he's he's like a driver I mean that's been the metaphor throughout this evening and when I was thinking about drivers like professional drivers they love people who can't drive like their whole job security depends on it right and so if you're here and you look at your life and you're like midnight you don't understand like I'm I'm a terrible driver I mean I've done things that I can't even get out of my mouth I can't even say the words like God delights in forgiving you like it brings him great joy to restore you to take an incredible sinner and make him or her an amazing saint for eternity and it's his work not yours you don't need to leave here with any guilt with any shame in a moment all your sins can be forgiving forgiven by trusting in what Christ has done on the cross his finished work like my friend said so eloquently tonight it is finished paid for time that's what we just celebrated and so heinous I'm glad if I were you Philip my set a lot of JP JP is a fool JP will have to chase some hashtags man I just know a great guy and I want you to know a great God who will set you free who will course correct your life in a moment talks a lot about the Holy Spirit tonight the Holy Spirit speaks to you in three ways the most sure most confident way his word the written word of God his people in the prayer that quiet voice within you but all three of those ways he speaks to us the word says and so if you don't if you're not surrounded by his people you have hushed the Holy Spirit you have quieted God in your life you you've you've asked him to be silent in this Avenue and so every Tuesday we give you a way to do that in open community groups and so if you want to hear more about what it looks like to belong to a community group guys you can walk down this hallway and there's a room full of men who would love to talk with you about that ladies you walk down this hallway and there's a room out there full of women who would love to talk with you about that it's a joy to travel with you through Romans eight go in peace to love and serve the Lord

Channel: The Porch

Views: 15,413

Rating: 4.8959107 out of 5

Keywords: Romans, Romans 8, fight, sin, death, fix, mind, leads, GOd, the porch, porch dallas, Jonathan Pokluda, watermark, dallas, flesh, sermon

Id: SMr-wpALYiE

Length: 54min 34sec (3274 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 31 2016