Winning The War With The Flesh | Doug Batchelor

if you go to the book of genesis we're going to talk about beans genesis chapter 25 and the wife of isaac her name was rebecca was barren it's interesting in all three of the patriarchs abraham isaac jacob their three principal wives were barren and it was through a miracle they finally had children you know abraham was sarah isaac with rebecca and jacob with rachel and each of those children became a type of christ and i'm sorry i just saw a good friend out here i didn't know hi gm and judy and is it another judy i work with jim crabtree and judy at the sacramento central 20 years ago so good to see you here today you must have got lost how'd you end up here good to see you today so rebecca couldn't have children isaac prayed for her and as a result of that she got pregnant but then there was a complications you might say it says the children struggled within her she's having twins she said if all is well why am i like this so she went to inquire of the lord and the lord said to her two nations are in your womb two peoples shall be separated from your body one people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger which was very different from the way it was designed it was usually the firstborn that would have the the leadership now of course then she has these two twins that are very different and what were their names jacob and esau it says jacob was smooth-skinned esau was hairy it tells us that jacob was a peaceful shepherd he had domestic domestic animals esau went after the wild animals and he was a hunter and they were about as different as two boys could be and of course mom favored jacob and dad favored esau he saw had a bumper sticker on his pickup truck that said that uh if it moves shoot it he was you know one of these guys and and uh jacob on the other hand he was always thinking ahead esau thought i'm gonna live in the now when the here so with that in mind then you go to genesis 25 29 it says now jacob cook stew he was making his dinner and esau came in from the field he had been out on a long hunt but he hadn't gotten anything and he was weary and esau said to jacob please feed me with some of that same red stew they think it may have been red lentils or something for i am weary he wasn't just weary the word weary there he says i am famished therefore his name was called edom edom means red very similar to the word adam which means like red earth and jacob said sell me your birthright as of this day you're the firstborn you get the birthright you sell me your birthright and see they knew that god had promised that the savior of the world was going to come through the descendants of abraham and isaac jacob wanted that promise on the other hand esau thought ah you know that could be a long way off and what good is a birthright he actually says that he said i'm about to die what good is this birthright to me jacob said swear to me this day so he swore to him and he sold his birthright to jacob and jacob gave esau bread and stew of lentils he got some japanese and some beans and he ate and he drank and he arose it's interesting it says he ate and drank and tells us that when they worship the golden calf they ate and drank and they rose up to play he ate drank he rose and went his way thus esau despised his birthright through the bible you'll find that esau sort of becomes a character who's the champion of the flesh carnally minded he wants the here and now jacob he wanted the birthright he was thinking ahead esau got married right away and he married the local girls whereas jacob was told no you marry in the faith take your time and they were very different you can read here in malachi chapter 1 verse 2 and 3 yet jacob i have loved but esau i have hated the lord says now god does not arbitrarily hate anybody i mean you say god is love but it was the behavior of esau he hated to live for the flesh and to be carnally minded you can also read where paul says in hebrews 12 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like esau who for one morsel of food sold his birthright there's a lot of people who say they're christians that have sold their birthright for less than a pot of beans it is possible for us to trade eternity for the pleasures of sin for a season some do that that's why this is very serious so like jacob and esau fighting within rebecca all of us have a similar war within going on the bible calls it the spirit and the flesh or you might call it the carnal nature and the spiritual nature and it's a conflict that's very real we're going to talk today about how do you win the war with the flesh look in first peter 2 verse 11. i'm going to give you several verses i started counting and i gave up at about 35 different verses i'm going to share with you today so it's going to be a bible sermon first peter 2 verse 11 dearly beloved i beseech you as strangers and pilgrims we're passing through this world abstain from fleshly lust that war against the soul every time we surrender to the flesh uh it wars against the spiritual side you cannot serve two masters james 4 1 from whence come wars and fightings among you within the church sometimes when there's wars and fightings you know what it is paul says i'm speaking to you like children because you're carnal they're we're not being spiritually minded yes even in the church a lot of people are living in the flesh from whence come wars and fightings among you come they not hence even from your lusts that war in your members romans 7 23 but i see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members people are enslaved by sin that's why jesus came to set the captives free galatians 5 17 for the flesh lusts against the spirit see there's this battle between the spirit and the flesh the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and the spirit is pleading with us to follow god and to do the right thing in romans 8 verse 7 and 8 because the carnal mind the fleshly mind is enmity against god it's opposed to god for it is not subject to the law of god nor indeed can be it cannot be so it's not just my carnal mind or your carnal mind all carnal minds are at enmity with god so then those who are in the flesh cannot please god now do we want to please god then we cannot be living lives where we are controlled by the flesh instead we should be controlled by what the spirit we're to walk in the spirit christians are to live in the spirit matthew chapter 26 41 the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak we want to but even the apostles there in the garden of gethsemane they kept falling asleep because the flesh was weak they wanted to pray with jesus but they were tired and they said well later in john 16 33 jesus told us in the world you'll have tribulation but be of good shear i have overcome the world so maybe i should explain for a minute why is there this war who started this war i didn't ask to be in a war well you can read in genesis 2 verse 17. god told adam in the day you eat thereof you will surely die and if you haven't heard adam ate it and evaded and death then passed on the human race romans 5 12 therefore just as through one man adam sin entered the world all of us and death through sin in romans 5 18 therefore as through one man's offense a judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation it just doesn't seem fair that we should be born slaves because of a decision our ancestors made have you read in the bible that the children of israel they were slaves in egypt not because of their decision but because of a decision their ancestors made and so you could go around pointing fingers and saying i'm a victim but the fact is that we are born in captivity but jesus came to save us from our sins you don't have to stay there that's the good news so when we talk about being carnal or the flesh probably ought to define that what does that mean because we're going to talk a lot about that what specifically is that dealing with carnal means anything related to fleshly or worldly the temporal appetites and desires relating to the body if you've been to a carnival how do you say how do you say meat in spanish chili con carne and a carnival you know where that word comes from it's a latin word in the roman coliseums there would be so much bloodshed when the gladiators fought it was called the carnival think about that next time you go to the state fair carnival yeah and uh so often when it talks about the flesh you know you're going from either greek or latin this is one place where the niv i think gets it right it means sinful nature so when we say flesh sometimes we're inclined to think it must be a physical appetite like food or sex or something no not necessarily you're driving in traffic and you miss your turn and you realize you can make a u-turn but the sign clearly says no u-turn but you look in the intersection you say there are no cameras here and you look around and you say there are no police here and i'm going to save a lot of time and you make that turn that's called the carnal mind i was wrestling with that yesterday pray for your pastor i just thought i was convicted right after i did it i thought what right do you have to talk to these people about the carnal mind so you just made a decision purely not upon what was right but on i want to do it now i don't want to wait another quarter mile for the turn but we deal with it every day in a thousand ways jesus wants to go through samaria but the people of samaria says if you're going to worship in jerusalem don't bother stopping here because you're not supposed to worship in jerusalem you're supposed to worship on our mountain mountains and when they heard that they were not going to receive jesus to stay in their hotels james and john said jesus elijah called fire down from heaven give us power we will call fire down and burn them up and jesus said you do not know what spirit you are of the son of man did not come to take men's lives but to save him here you've got the apostles carnally minded so don't just restrict the carnal mind or the flesh to being like i said the fleshly needs it's talking about a whole unspiritual way of thinking whenever you think selfishly you're thinking carnally now you realize jesus was a hundred percent god and 100 man jesus had a body like you and me isn't that right did jesus get tired fell asleep in the boat did jesus get hungry in the wilderness was he thirsty on the cross was he lonely in the garden but here's a question did jesus ever put his flesh needs above his spiritual needs never what is a christian supposed to do be like jesus so with god's help we can be new creatures now this is a life and death and just in case you are not clear i'm going to read the bible if you have problems with this take it up with the lord galatians 5 19. the works of the flesh are evident plain which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lewdness idolatry sorcery hatred contentions a lot of arguments are just works of the flesh jealousies outbursts of wrath selfish ambition dissensions heresies envy murder drunkenness revelries and the like he said this is not an exhaustive list of which i tell you beforehand just as i have told you in time past now friends please don't miss this those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of god we must not be practicing those things maybe i misread it but it seemed really plain to me let me read you another one first corinthians 6 9 do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of god i want to be in the kingdom do not be deceived yes there are people in the church that tell you you can continue living a fleshly carnal life just trust in jesus and you'll be saved that's not what paul teaches paul teaches that those people will not inherit the kingdom of god do not be deceived do you not know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of god neither fornicators or idolaters or adulterers or homosexuals or sodomites or thieves or covetous or drunkards or revelers or extortioners will inherit the kingdom of god and such were some of you stalking to the church so all the things i just listed there paul says there are people in the church who were those things but what happened you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the lord jesus christ by the spirit they became spirit followers it's not safe to believe that we can continue to live as carnal christians and make it to the kingdom christ wants us to save us from the captivity of sin in the flesh and you'll never convince me he can't do it because what you'll be doing is trying to convince me that the devil is more powerful than jesus and i've seen it in my own life now i'm not there yet but i see all the time how god is changing me and that's what the christian walk is about that's what justification or sanctification is all about that he he makes you holy he changes you but you cannot be content to surrender to the flesh the christian life is one where you're warring against the flesh every day and i know that can seem exhausting you ever heard about the hundred years war can you imagine being born in a life in a time where from the time you're born until the time you die you're always at war from 1337 to 1453 i know that's more than 100 years it's actually more than 100 years but they call it the 100 years war it was one of the most intense conflicts in history five generations of kings in france and england fought for an empire in western europe war war war hundred years well i don't want to discourage you but if you uh first of all everyone's at war in this world there's battles between good and evil even if you surrender to the devil you can't get off the battlefield so if you think that by surrendering all of a sudden you're going to have peace there are problems in life for everybody the question is do you want to have problems with resisting god or resisting the devil you're going to have problems with one or the other you just got to make up your mind who's going to win right we know who wins this war so there is no reprieve you'll get occasional r and r even jesus when he fought with the devil it says the devil left him for a season so there are peaceful spells but you just got to know that there as long as you've got this body there's going to be battles as long as we've got these fallen selfish natures we're going to have to resist the desire to live that way that's why paul says i die how often daily jesus said if you would come after me you must deny yourself how often daily take up your cross and follow me every day we not only die but we need to be born again because if you die daily and you're not born again daily theoretically you're more dead than alive right so you need to just surrender yourself every day to the lord and experience that new birth otherwise you're just giving in to the enemy i heard one time about an eagle that was doing some hunting fishing on the niagara river and a lot of spectators were watching they're above niagara falls you can karen i've been there a couple times you can go see the river from either side and it was very cold and there's actually blocks of ice floating on the river you know one time it got so cold in niagara i was in buffalo new york one time it was so cold i thought i was gonna turn to an ice cube it got so cold once in niagara the falls froze it gets cold in that country so the eagle it's not that bad yet it's hunting and it sees a fish and it swoops down it gets the fish in its talons but instead of flying all the way to shore he sees a block of ice he figures i'm just going to land on that ice it's handy and he lands on the ice and he begins to enjoy his meal it's convenient they don't want to go very far and he thought i realize i'm floating towards the falls the eagle had hunted there for years and he thought i'm an eagle when it gets to the falls i'll be done by then i'll flap my wings and fly away and people were watching from the shore as the eagle was casually relaxed enjoying his fish and just before the block of ice went over the precipice crashing below the eagle stretched out his wings to fly away but he didn't realize that his talons had frozen in the fish that was frozen to the ice and that block of ice went over the falls and the eagles struggled and flapped all the way down and never made it you think that you can live for the flesh and get away whenever you want it's not so easy when you hear his voice that's the time to respond ephesians 5 5 for this you know that no fornicator unclean person or covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of god now there are good people out there in the world you know i'm just so thankful for people like einstein and benjamin franklin and isaac newton but you know they all struggled with the flesh and as i read in the bible and you read about david did david struggle with the flesh you read about solomon the wisest man did he have those struggles the bible says so how about samson don't have to read very far do you strongest man who's ever lived and what shall i more say i mean you can talk about jonah and elijah and you just go through the litany of bible heroes and they all had these struggles the bible tells us in the book of james that elijah was a man subject to like passions as us and yet he overcame and he's in heaven now where you want to be so don't believe that you can't make it now what i'm going to share in these next few minutes is do i really only have 10 minutes left i hope that clock is wrong i'm going to pretend it's wrong all right so now i'm going to talk about what i think is uh the most important issue that is often misunderstood paul in the book of romans has the most beautiful explanation of salvation but there's a passage smack dab in the middle of of chapter 6 and chapter 8 where he talks about victory where you look in chapter 7 and it talks about defeat and it talks about the battle and we're going to look at that if you go to romans chapter 7 i'm hoping you have your bibles and we'll look at a few verses we'll have some of these on the screen for you as well look for instance in romans chapter 7 you can see here in uh oh look at verse 15. what i am doing i do not understand for what i will to do that i do not practice you probably all felt that way but what i hate that i do i keep telling myself don't ever say anything if you're going to say anything unkind about someone else and i make this resolution don't ever speak if you're going to say anything that's unkind if it's not redemptive don't say it i say okay settled and then i catch myself saying something unkind you ever do that that which i don't want to do i do i agree with the law that it is good but now there it's no longer i that do it but it's sin that dwells in me for i know that in me in my flesh nothing good dwells for her will is present with me but how to perform he says i'm frustrated how do i perform what is good i don't find now the big question is what is paul talking about is paul the apostle filled with the holy spirit saying i can't figure out how to be obedient let's read on find out for the good that i will do i do not do but the evil i will not do that i practice now if i do that which i will not to do it's no longer i but sin that dwells in me now is paul saying well i guess this is just what we're we're doomed to defeat we're going to continue doing what we don't want to do because it's sin that dwells in me whereas paul describing his nicodemus experience you realize that paul the whole beginning of chapter 7 he talks about the law and the law shows us our sin but the law can't save us he's describing to a lot of the jewish believers in rome i know where you are i thought i could save myself by the law i knew the law but i kept doing the things that the law said i shouldn't do and he became exasperated how many of you remember when nicodemus came to jesus at night and jesus says to him you must be born again and you'd think that this leader teacher in israel who's part of the sanhedrin would say wait a second here i know the law i know god i'm a leader of the people i'm a teacher and jesus said and you are powerless you don't have the holy spirit you're in the same condition paul is describing who is also a pharisee paul said yeah i've got the law but it's not happening in my life am i to be forever doomed to defeat and failure in the battle with the flesh is that god's plan christians are just trying to sin a little less than other people is that where we're at or does god want us to have lives where we are new creatures the old things are passed away you know those lists i gave you the works of the flesh are we to be living in those things and just say oh well i didn't want to it was the flesh and still think to get to heaven i think not understanding this friends can be fatal let's read on here for the good that i want to do i don't do but the evil i will not do that i practice now if i no longer do i'm by the way i'm in verse 19 and 20. now if i do what i will not to do it's no longer i but sin who dwells in me i find then that there's a law a evil is present with me the one who wills to do good for i delight in the law according to the inward man i acknowledge the law is good the bible says the jews glory in the law but i see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members and then he says o wretched man that i am now i've got to stop you and ask this question is paul telling us get used to it the christian experience is a wretched one let's hope not but you know there are people in the church that say we're just doomed to be wretched it says a wretched man that i am who will deliver me from this body of death now just so you understand what he's talking about there the romans had a hideous practice for some of the worst criminals not only did they crucify but in some cases they would take extremely offended offensive criminals and they would chain them securely to a dead body i know i hate even talking or thinking about this and they would have that body chained to them that they had to carry it with them and as that body decomposed the contagion and putrification would eventually infest them and they would die from gangrene they're carrying around this body of death and paul is describing all of us that way saying we've got this fleshly carnal nature we're dragging around this decomposing body we're under this sentence of slavery this tyrant is torturing us paul is saying no wretched man that i am who will deliver me from this body of death i thank god through jesus christ my lord now if we stop right there and jump to chapter eight there'd be no problems but there's one more verse that confuses people the next verse see if i if i stopped where it says i thank god through jesus christ and then i jump to chapter eight and it says verse one there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit but he says something that throws people in chapter 7 you read the last part of verse 25 so with my mind i serve the law of god but with the flesh the law of sin you'd be surprised a lot of people circle that verse and that's their theology they say i guess well paul said i'll serve god with my mind but my body it's the devils and i'm going to resign myself to live a life of sin no no no that is not what he's saying god forbid that we would believe that is that what it means to be saved and i'm going to give you the other verses before and after paul is basically saying i've described for you what the condition is when i was a jew thinking i could save myself with the by the law you know my mind i wanted to serve god but my flesh it was the law of sin so he summarizes that and he says now here's the solution chapter eight there's no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit for the law of the spirit of life and jesus christ has made me free from the law of sin and death through the flesh god did this by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin he condemns sin in the flesh that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit it's it's really clear friends and let me give you just i want to go back to chapter six in romans real quick just to show you so that we get the context for paul because there are no chapters in the bible verse 1 chapter 6 what shall we say shall we continue in sin that grace might abound certainly not god forbid look here in verse 6 knowing that our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to sin jesus came to save us from that slavery to the flesh look at verse 11 likewise reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive unto god therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lust and i want you to underline the word rain rain and i'm going to turn the page here and i want to read in verse 14. romans 6 14 sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law but under grace reign and dominion they're two kingdom terms you can have we've got these two natures before you're saved sin reigns on the throne of your heart after you're sane saved the spirit christ reigns on the throne of your heart now when you've got a kingdom you can have a peaceful kingdom they can still have a criminal every now and then you know what i'm saying but they don't have control you can have a peaceful kingdom that might have a rebellious person or two one day when david came back from victory someone named shimmy i was throwing stones david said let him throw stones he says i've got the kingdom when christ is on the throne of your heart and he reigns he has dominion over you the occasional good deed or misdeed does not determine who has the heart who reigns it's the habitual words and acts you see what i'm saying otherwise we'd all give up amen but what's the trend of your life who reigns in your heart if sin if you're if jesus said you'll know them by what the fruits what are the fruits do you have the fruits of the flesh or the fruits of the spirit it's it's not rocket science and if we've got the works and the fruits of the flesh in our lives then jesus does not reign if we have the fruits of the spirit jesus reigns if that was clear say amen you're awful quiet right now it's worrying me that you're either sleeping or thinking real deeply i'm hoping it's the latter all right go back to my notes i was just sort of walking us through romans a little bit there because this is a place where a lot of people get hung up for if you live according to the flesh look at romans 8 13 this is a life and death thing friends if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live now there's a battle there the bible says we fight the good fight of faith there is a war going on so some christians want to say that i know i say this prayer and i ask jesus into my heart no more struggles that's not realistic the terms that are used for the christian life are we strive we wrestle we fight we war we run there are battles and sometimes we must subdue the the flesh how do we do that we're going to get to that that's i think one of the most important parts of the message how do we go about that i heard about a boy that was walking through the woods with his grandfather and their farm years ago and and the grandfather thought well you know i've got him alone this is a good teachable moment and he said grandson all of us have two wolves inside you got a good wolf and a bad wolf and the good wolf is wanting you to be kind and loving and considerate and um just and honest and then there's an evil wolf selfish and proud and stealing and hateful and he said you need to make sure that the right wolf is in charge and he said i was quiet for a little while and boy said grandpa how do i know which wolf's going to win and he said whichever one you feed will win we have a spiritual nature and we have paul made that very clear and we've got the carnal flesh if we are feeding the flesh it is going to get stronger and when a battle of temptation comes you know who's going to win if we are feeding the spirit it gets stronger so how do we do that well do you all know how to feed the flesh i think you do what are you taking into your mind sometimes what you're taking into your mouth what you're taking into your ears in your eyes what you're talking about thinking about you can be thinking things that are spiritual you can be thinking things that are carnal how do you feed the spirit feed on spiritual things this is the bread of life read the word when i drive around i'm listening to sermons i'm listening to christian music i'm trying to feed and you know what i'm just like he sometimes i like carnal music but that's the carnal side of doug so he's off the hook right he can't help it there's things i like to look at and listen to that i know are not good for me spiritually and i have to choose to resist those things because i know where it leads and what it does to me so i must actively choose to feed the other side and i find when i do that when i walk with the lord and i talk with the lord and i feast on the word when temptation comes i said jesus is right here with me i'm not even tempted but if i keep feeding the carnal nature and when temptation comes along it's already a given which wolf do you feed jesus said it's the spirit that gives life the flesh prophets nothing the words that i speak to you they are spirit and life feasting on the word galatians 5 16 then i say and this is galatians 5 16-24 walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh if that's clear please say amen surround yourself with the things of god talk about god read pray the music you listen to the activities you're involved in make sure everything is something god can bless and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh whoever abides in christ this is what the bible says whosoever abides in him sinneth not that means they do not practice a life of sin we spend our time abiding in christ thinking about him wanting to talk to others about him those who are christ have crucified the flesh and its passions and desires they're not on the throne if we live in the spirit still in galatians 5 verse 25 if we live in the spirit let us walk in the spirit let us not become conceited provoking one another envy in one another so how do we win the war fight the good fight of faith this first timothy 6 12 fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life to which you are called second corinthians 10 verse 3 for though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they are mighty in god for pulling down strongholds casting down arguments sometimes the flesh is an argument rationalization you can rationalize anything do you know that every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of god bringing every thought into captivity to obedience of christ even in our thinking we get in trouble with our flesh because of what zig ziglar calls stinking thinking but if we by the grace of god focus our minds on the things that are above i beseech you romans 12 do not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your your mind that you might prove what the good and acceptable will of god is ephesians 6 verse 10 finally brethren be strong in the lord the power of his might put on the whole armor of god now i'm not going to go into the armor right now that's a whole different sermon but that's how we fight we put on the armor romans 6 12 therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lust do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourself to god as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness sin shall not have dominion over you for you are under grace not the law and then going back to romans 5 i know it sounds like i'm going backwards as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners who is that one man adam also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous christ said i'm going to the father that i can send the spirit to you did he go to the father did he send the spirit at pentecost has he revoked that promise or is it still accessible through the spirit of christ in just as surely as through adam we struggle just as surely through christ you can have victory how much is possible if you believe all things and then the fruit of the spirit love joy peace long-suffering kindness goodness faith gentleness against such there is no law now you need to be careful as you're in the battles with the devil you're going to have victories there may be defeats if you have several victories be careful because you don't want to be trusting that oh i got this under control the bible says in first corinthians 10 verse 12 therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall pastor adrian rogers calls this the dove and the devil he talks about how jesus went right from baptism with the dove and then he meets the devil in the wilderness you see this principle often through the bible jesus is glorified on the mountain talking with god moses and elijah comes down to the valley and there's a demon-possessed boy moses goes from the glory on the mountain talking to god goes down in the vallet and the worshipping devils in a golden calf david goes from the pinnacle of victory he's conquered all the nations and then he is conquered by bathsheba that's not her fault but you know what i mean the lusts of the flesh after elijah defeats the prophets of baal next thing you know he's under a bush praying that he might die i mean so we need to go humbly for peter says though all men might forsake thee i'll not forsake thee what does he do in a few hours he denies he even knows the lord christians need to meekly live from day to day praying for victory when we get a victory praise the lord stay on your knees and uh don't uh start boasting the christian life you're going through this is a practical illustration that at least makes sense to me you're going through uh the wilderness and several times we've put roads in the woods and i want to tell you putting a road through the woods is a lot of work there's rocks in the way there's trees in the way and the first effort is monumental it really helps with the bulldozer but it's still a lot of work then after karen and i just did this a few weeks ago so it's fresh in our minds had to put in a new road and then after you put the road in then you go through and you throw the rocks and the roots out of the road and then you go through and then you take a shovel and then you go through with a rake and now the road's looking pretty good but you know what i will always have to maintain that road the road is great now i can pass down that road but it requires regular maintenance it'll rain it'll get ruts i have to fill in the routes it'll be windy trees will fall branches will fall and i have to throw them back out of the road once you get the road there it is a lot easier to take care of and that's way it is with resisting any temptation any bad habit it's really a battle at first but you know once you get there i you've heard me say it ad nauseam but i struggled with smoking that to me was harder than virtually anything and boy those first few weeks it was a battle i couldn't stop thinking about it i don't think about it anymore and you know the only time i think about it is when i walk outside of a store and everyone's gathered smoking it's like you have to walk through a cloud of smoke to get out and i'll smell it every now and then those memories come back but it's gone i'm not even tempted see you learn to do evil the bible says you can learn to do good and this is how we gain the victory this is sanctification you accept jesus you're justified it is i'll not leave you and forsake you as long as you keep your eyes on him and you pray for his spirit he will help you to walk in the spirit now there's a lot more i could say about all the verses in the bible to talk about this but let me let me kind of wrap this up with an illustration in fighting that final battle we started out talking about esau and now he's sort of an illustration of the flesh jacob was wanting the spiritual blessing and of course he got it did jacob have to wrestle with god sometimes wrestling that goes on you know the bible tells us the grandson of esau was someone named amalek and amalek that tribe they like their grandfather they grew up to be a very carnal evil people when the children of israel came out of egypt after going through the red sea miracle they praised the lord and then they got hungry god gave them bread from heaven then they drank from the bitter waters and god healed the waters then god gave them water out of a rock and god was doing all these wonderful things for them but out there in the wilderness this army of violent evil amalekites came and attacked israel they attacked the old the tired the hungry the weak the stragglers who were on the back end of the group that's what the devil does he tries to get you when you're weak and god told moses says you're gonna have to fight with amalek get joshua by the way how do you say joshua in greek jesus said get joshua get the fighting men you can get they were not an army they were still slaves but they got the men who could fight he says you go out against them i'll be up in the mountain i'll be interceding to god for you so joshua engaged the amalekites the next day and israel fought and amalek fought and moses was up on the mountain and he had his hands outstretched and he was interceding to god for them they could look they see moses up there praying for them they thought about all that god had done to save them and as long as they could see moses interceding for them they won the battle with the amalekites but moses arms got tired because you know what he had flesh and he started to drop his arms you know what happened as he started to drop his arms they no longer saw moses then they put their eyes on the enemy they started to be defeated and moses saw what was happening he put his arm back up again i remember in military school when you misbehaved they made you stand like this with your arms stretched out and then the arms went down again and they started losing again and finally it says aaron and her came alongside moses aaron his name means light her's name means white or splendor they held up his arms and then they got the victory as long as they could see him interceding well friends you've got someone that is before the father spreading out his nail pierced hands interceding for you and whenever you are tempted and the flesh is battling look at the love of jesus for you look at what he's paid to save you from sin you will gain new strength it's love that gives us strength right it's the love of god that gives us the victory and when they saw moses up there and you know this is why it tells us in the bible god says in exodus 17 16 because the lord has sworn he will have war with amalek from generation to generation there's always his war with the flesh esaun the descendants of esau it's going to be there in this life someday when christ comes we get all glorified bodies he won't have that anymore there'll be no more devil amen but you don't have to be a slave to the flesh jesus wants you to have that victory and that comes from trusting in him and his sacrifice for you being a christian is a day by day moment by moment experience and the lord wants us to enjoy that how many of you would like to say lord i want to walk in the spirit i don't want to be controlled by the flesh i don't want to have that defeated attitude that oh well i guess i'm just doomed to continual slavery with his body of death jesus wants to break the chains and set you free and give you lives of victory and you can have that by faith through the holy spirit we're going to sing about it so i'd like to invite you to stand invite our singers to come out we're going to sing our closing song which is number 507 moment by moment and then we'll pray as we conclude dying with jesus looking to jesus i [Music] is looking to jesus [Music] [Applause] is [Music] r [Music] looking to jesus [Music] i am a heart again he thinks [Music] moment by moment fly from above looking to jesus [Music] never a weakness [Music] sickness [Music] jesus [Music] is looking to jesus [Music] friends this is what it means to to be a christian to have a daily walk that's a moment by moment experience with the lord where you're walking with the lord like noah like enoch walking with jesus he said i'll be with you wherever you go and he can give you lives where you can win the battle with the flesh you can be led by the spirit father in heaven i pray that we might all know firsthand what that experience is like we can know what it means to hear your voice speaking to us and leading us we can sense the spirit giving us strength that when the battles come through your grace and wearing your armor we can quench the fiery darts of the adversary and we can represent jesus in our lives help us to bear it in our lives lord the fruits of the spirit that we can be christians not just in word but indeed and i pray you'll give us each one the mind of christ thank you so much lord for your word for the promises that you give us in your word and we give you permission to work in our lives to make us like your son we thank you and we ask in his name amen god bless you friends have a blessed sabbath and remember we're still receiving the offerings at the door and if you want to leave one of those ministry partner cards with us too we'd be happy to know where your spiritual gifts are and how you can serve god bless

Channel: Doug Batchelor

Views: 63,294

Rating: 4.931253 out of 5

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Id: uC4K9iJXkbc

Length: 53min 25sec (3205 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 05 2021