Sermon Transcript
The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.
- Opening
- Continue with the Lord
- Purpose of Heart
- The World
- The Devil
- The Flesh
- Last Word
- Closing Prayer
Opening
Good morning, how are you? Open your Bibles, we’re going to look at Acts 11 again. I want to continue some of my comments that I really did last week, and I was giving an exhortation to the campers, but what I want to say is, is to them, but it’s really to all of us. Acts 11, starting in verse 19, it says, Now those who were who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyrus, excuse me, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them, some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, or the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem. Now Jerusalem was what was known as the mother church. This is where all the apostles were hanging out. So they went and told the apostles what was going on. And they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. And when he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. And today I want to talk about continuing with the Lord. And we’re going to look at what that really means to continue with the Lord and what it means to continue with the Lord with purpose of heart. I’d like to pray first. Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you that your word is true. Lord, we thank you that you’ve given us your Holy Spirit to interpret the word for us, to open our eyes, to understand the word. I ask that you give each one of us ears to hear. What your Holy Spirit has to say to us today. Lord, speak to your people. Feed us. Shepherd us. Today we ask. We pray in your name. Amen.
Continue with the Lord
First thing here is Barnabas exhorts them to continue with the Lord.
The word continue here means to stay with, to abide with, to dwell with. The idea is to continue on in the present state that you are in. They came to know the Lord, they entered into a relationship with the Lord, and he sang stay there, abide there where you are in this relationship with the Lord. And this is reminiscent of John 15, if you recall, where Jesus said that He was the vine, we are the branches, right? Remember that? Let’s look at that. If you’ve got your Bible, look at John 15. We’re going to come back to Acts. In John 15, Jesus says in verse 1, I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. [audio unclear] Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.“ This is the same concept, a different word, but same concept. Jesus, Jesus says here that if we’re going to bear fruit in the Christian life, we need to abide in Jesus.
The question is how do we do that? What does that mean on a practical level? on a practical level. What does the mean on a functional level, if you will? Well, it means several things. First, it means we must continue or abide in His Word. In His Word. Jesus even goes on and He says this in verse 7 of John 15, If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples. As the Father loved me I also have loved you abide in my love. Notice here, Jesus says, first he says, I abide in you, now you abide in me. Then he says, I abide in you, let my word abide in you and then you can. If we want to abide in In Jesus, if you want to continue with Jesus, then we have to continue in His word. These things are inseparable. In order to be close to the Lord, to dwell with the Lord, we have to be in the Lord’s word. Why? Because it is through His word that He communicates with us. Through His word, He feeds our souls. Through our word, He reveals to us who He is. Look at Psalm verse 1. Psalm 1 verse 1, where the psalmist talks about the Word of God.
In Psalm 1.1 it says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, But his delight, note the word delight, his delight is in the law of the Lord, meaning the word of the Lord. The word here is Torah, the teaching of the Lord. His delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night.
Day and night of course means continually. The Lord says, continue with the Lord. Stay, persevere, day and night, night and day. Don’t we have a song like that? Day and night, night and day? Maybe we should sing that when we’re done. Day and night, night and day. Continually. And then notice the blessings that come in verse 3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, whatever he does, shall prosper.” So as you abide in his word, as you dwell in his word, continue in his word, then you continue with the Lord because it is… your relationship with the Lord is inseparably bound up with abiding in his word. But secondly, you need to abide in prayer. abide in prayer. Look at Colossians 4. It’s interesting as we look at various passages on prayer in the New Testament, it struck me how often we’re told, exhorted, not just to pray, but to continue in prayer, or to pursue prayer, or to persevere in KJV. Here in Colossians Verse 2, it says, continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it, meaning in your prayer, with thanksgiving. It doesn’t say pray, but continue or be constant in prayer and be vigilant in prayer.
Look at Ephesians 6, right before Colossians. Ephesians 6, after talking about spiritual warfare, Paul says in Ephesians 6 verse 18, y’all there? Say I’m there. All right. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Notice this repetition of words here. It doesn’t just say pray, but pray always, but not only pray, but be watchful while you pray and while you pray also persevere while you pray, supplicate while you pray. And the idea is of being continually about doing this thing and doing it fervently, doing it earnestly, continuing to do it, if you will. One more text, 1st, thessalonians 5. Tell me when you’re there. 517. Wow, some of you are fast. You’ll be using your Bible on your iPhone. Thessalonians 5, verse 16, it says, rejoice always pray without ceasing and everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you do not quench the spirit these exhortations are all related thanksgiving prayer not quenching the spirit all of these things are related to one another so if we’re going to continue with the Lord, we must continue in his word, we must continue in prayer. I think prayer is an art form, and I think it takes time to learn to pray. I think it takes practice. I think it takes diligence, and that’s why we see these His exhortations repeated to keep at it, keep on doing it, persevere in it. Jesus even taught us in several of His parables that men should always pray and not faint.
Not faint. Don’t stop praying. Keep on praying. Continue in prayer if you are going to continue with the Lord. Thirdly, continue in community or continue in fellowship. Look at Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2 we have the birth of the church. And in Acts 2, after the very first Christian sermon, if you will, post-Pentecost sermon, it says in verse 41, that those who received, oh I didn’t ask you, are you there? Okay, Acts 2 41. Then those who received his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every signs and wonders were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and they had all things in common. And they sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Notice here it says in verse 42 that they continued steadfastly in these things, one of which being prayer. They not only. Continued, but they continued steadfastly. You get the idea of, of going on, of persevering, of being constant at this thing that they were doing. And what were they doing? They were in the word. They were in prayer and they were in community and they continued in these things. They persevered in them. Then you notice again in verse, um, 46, it says, my version says, so continuing daily with one accord.
So they continued steadfastly, they continued daily. They didn’t go to a camp once a year and get close to Jesus and then walk away from Jesus until the next camp. They didn’t go to church on Sunday, get close to Jesus and walk away from Jesus all week and then come back to church and get close to Jesus. They continued with Jesus daily, steadfastly. And how did they do it? By the word of God, by prayer and by community. I think many Christians fail because they are not taking advantage of the benefits of community. And they are not in the Word. They’re not really praying in private. they’ll pray over their meal, maybe they’ll say a [audio unclear] community. So often Christians who fall away from the Lord, you’ll see this because they fall away from the community. We need the Lord and the Lord is amongst his people. So he must dwell with him, continue with him by continuing with his people because he is among his people. So Barnabas exhorts the young believer, and it applies to young or old believer, to continue or abide with Jesus.
And we do that through the word, through prayer, and through fellowship. If you’ve known the Lord for any length of time, you’ve heard of the Bible and praying and fellowshiping over and over and over.
And this morning you heard it again. heard it again, the question is, did you really hear it? Did you really hear it? Are you really in the Word? Are you really praying? Is it accurate to say that you have a private prayer life? Do you really fellowship with Christians? Or do you attend church, walk out the door afterwards, and not truly dwell with other Christians in the Spirit. Easy to say, very different to do. So the Barnabas here exhorts them to continue with the Lord, but it’s very important that we go back to Acts 11 because I want you to see this and this is maybe the most the key thing of all in this passage. Back in Acts 11, tell me when you’re there. Some [audio unclear]
Purpose of Heart
How do we do it? Word, community, worship. But we must do it with purpose of heart, because if we don’t do it with purpose of heart, we won’t do it. It is interesting, this word purpose here, purpose of heart, is a word which means with predetermination or with determination or with a plan, to do it with a plan.
It’s the same word that’s used in a couple of verses where it talks about the fact that God has predestined us to sonship in Jesus Christ.
Now, God the Father and Jesus weren’t just hanging out in heaven having a good time, and one day they looked down and said, oh my gosh, there’s a bunch of sinners down there, what are we going to do? [audio unclear] You need to be determined to stay with Jesus and you need to be determined ahead of time.
That’s what predetermined means. I remember hearing a sermon by I think it was Swindoll, I forget it was years ago. Maybe, he’s talking to really primarily talking to men about temptation and about how men need to be prepared, and if they’re going to protect their marriage, they need to prepare ahead of time for those temptations that come, those opportunities that come. And he was talking about when he would travel, he would do certain things ahead of time to make sure and I was at this, where was I? I think I was in Atlanta, I can’t remember where I was. So some years ago. And the way this hotel was. And I was at this, where was I? I think I was in Atlanta. I can’t remember where I was. So some years ago. And the way this hotel was, there was this huge open area where they had, they held like kind of like banquets and parties and different things that would kind of middle of this complex, but all, you know, the room surrounded it, you know. And so, apparently some big shindig was going on that wasn’t related to why I was there. I was going to a conference at a different location. And I’m in the elevator, and I was thinking about swindall sermon because I was traveling, about being prepared. I’m going up to my room, elevator door opens, a gorgeous brunette stumbles into the elevator into my arms.
Well, here it is. Served up on a platter. She had a glass of champagne in her hand and she was easy pickin. I got out of the elevator and it wasn’t even my floor. And off she And off she went. I was prepared. I had been thinking about the fact that I was going to be tempted ahead of time.
I can assure you, and I want to say this to the young people who went to camp, but it’s really for all of us, if you want to continue on with the Lord, there will be opposition. The opposition is real. It is real. If you’re going to continue on with the Lord, it’s not something that is going to happen to you.
It’s something you do. Barnabas said, hey guys, the Holy Spirit showed up and look at all the cool things you did. So just hang out and he’ll just show up and he’ll just bless you and do all the cool stuff. And you don’t have to do anything. [audio unclear] You can’t just be passive in the Christian life and expect to continue with Jesus. They like, they like my sermon so much. They’re coming back in. That’s [audio unclear] say, continue with the Lord, he says, continue with the Lord with purpose of heart, which means to continue with the Lord with determination, to continue with the Lord with a plan.
I’ve worked with many Christians over the years, many different men who have important jobs. They sit on boards and they make important decisions and they plan for their company. One of the things that astounds me is whenever I ask one of these guys, so tell me your plan for your spiritual life. They look at me like I just landed from Mars. They plan their family finances. They know where the kids are going to college when they’re two years old. They plan everything. They plan the next car they’re going to get five years before they buy it. They plan things at work. They have a five-year plan, a three-year plan, a five-year plan, a seven-year plan, a ten-year plan. They can plan the universe, but they can’t plan their own spiritual growth. If you don’t have a plan, then that’s your plan. That’s your plan. Anybody watching the World Cup, the soccer? Pretty awesome, isn’t it? I can guarantee you, although it doesn’t look like when they go in the field, they have a plan. Now this is why Americans like football, because you can see the plan, right? This play goes this way. Soccer looks really random, but they have a plan. They have a strategy. And no World Cup team is going to go on the field and the coach says, okay, guys, huddle up. Here’s our plan. Win. Just win. No, they have a plan. They know the strong players, they know the and defensive guys they they [audio unclear] your plan. We need a plan because anyone who genuinely pursues the Lord, continues with the Lord, strives to abide and dwell with the Lord will experience opposition and obstacles. And there’s three of them which I’ll mention very briefly.
The World
The first obstacle is the world. world. You say, what is the world? The world is very hard to define, actually, but the world is the kind of the spirit of the age which communicates to us the values, the principles, which communicates to us the values, the principles, the priorities, the perspective of the world apart from God. [audio unclear] And that’s the key phrase, apart from God. It is man’s perspective on his world at any given time in history. And it changes during different times of history. history, but it’s man’s perspective on his world apart from God.
Worldliness really simply means looking at the world apart from God.
And if we look at the world apart from God, the world shapes us and we become like the world. And we see this in many ways in our own day in the church, and how the church is conforming to the values of the world. I mean, it’s astounding to me to read some contemporary Christian writers who said, But by the way, for 2,000 years, the churches had it wrong on marriage.
All the great minds of Christendom, through the ages, every one of them had it wrong on marriage. God never, never forbade gay marriage. He would never do that because God is love. We’ve had it wrong the whole time. Well, you know what’s funny about that? Is that until the world pressed the issue, no one, no Christian came up with it.
But once the world pressed the issue, all of a sudden Christian thinkers got a revelation.
Well they got a revelation, alright? But it wasn’t from the Holy Ghost. I mean, are you hearing me? So this happens at every age. It has its own foibles and its own twisted perspective.
And Lewis, C.S. Lewis said one of the benefits of reading old books is that you usually, you won’t be taken in by their errors because you’re not in the same environment that they were in. And you can see, so you can benefit from the good things, but you won’t be deceived by the bad things. So go to Romans 12.
Paul says to the Romans, I see, are you all there? 12, 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, about the mercies of God, meaning, what he says by the mercies of God, he’s really saying, based upon everything I just told you in the the first 11 chapters, which is that you are saved by grace, that Jesus Christ died for your sins, that he was buried, that he’s resurrected, and the full gospel that he gives us here, based upon all of this that God has done for you, now you present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, or logical worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern or prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We are told not to be conformed to the world, and we are told how we are not We are not conformed by renewing our minds. Now, this brings us back to my first point about continuing with the Lord and continuing in the Word. The only way we can renew our minds, the only way we can step outside of time, if you will, our time, the only way we can get outside of all of the influences and presuppositions and perspectives that want to shape and mold us, the only way to get outside of these things is to get into the word.
Because the word is not governed by these things. The word is not shaped by these things. And the more you read the word, the more you will be able to see the foibles and the errors and the folly of the age in which you live. because you will have a divine and an eternal perspective on life. So, the world wants to shape you, and you have to actively resist that pressure, actively resist it.
This is why you have to be determined and why you have to have a plan. Because if you don’t have a plan, the world is going to shape you. So one of the things you need to do to apply the sermon is you need to develop a plan for how you’re going to renew your mind. How are you going to do that? I told you the story before, but I’m going to tell it again because I want to embarrass Adam. When Adam was about six years old, five years old, I don’t know, he was in the age of transition. And you go from the bathtub to the shower. Big age. Anyway, we’re driving in the car one day. I don’t know, we’ve got the radio on, we’re not really talking much. He said, dad, when you take a shower, do you wash your hair first or last?
And I knew already what he’s thinking, okay, what’s the best way to do this? I said, well, I think I do. My hair laughs. He said, I don’t think that’s the best way to do it. He said, it seems to me if you wash your body but then you wash your hair, all the dirt in your hair gets on your body. So it seemed to me you’d want to wash your hair first and then wash your body. Logic. Right? Logical worship. Right? Now, it’s a funny little story, but what’s funny about it is it struck me that he understood the goal. What was the goal? Get clean. Get clean. He understood the goal. And he’s thinking, what is the best way to achieve the goal?
You know, God has the same goal for you and I. Get clean. Get clean. Get the sin out of your life. Don’t be conformed to the world. Get clean. So what’s your plan?
Adam gave more thought to how to get physically clean than some Christians ever do to how to get spiritually clean. How are you going to conquer those sins in your life. What’s your plan? And if you don’t have a plan, guess what happens to the soccer team with no plan? They lose. You need a plan. The world wants to shape you. It wants you to buy into its values and its priorities, and you must actively resist. And the only way to do that is to be transformed by the renewing of your mind through the Word of God.
The Devil
Secondly the devil, the devil, he’s bad, amen. It’s striking that in scripture there are only only two times in all of scripture where Satan has a direct recorded conflict with man. Only two times. The first one is in Genesis with the first Adam and the second one is in the Gospels in the wilderness with the second Adam. Let’s look at them both very quickly. Look at Genesis 3, verse 1, if you’re there, say I’m there. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the servant, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. And then the serpent said to the woman, You will not truly die. For God knows that the day you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took the fruit of it and she ate, and then she made a fruit salad for her husband. And then he ate. The point to be made here, and there’s many, many points that we could derive from this text, but the point that I’m making this morning is this. The tempter attacked the word of God. God had said, do not do this, do not eat this tree but eat this tree. And this was a very simple task of their loyalty and their faith. Do not eat this tree, eat this tree. So what does he say? Has God indeed said? So has God really said that? And then after she reiterates what God said, but by the way Eve added something God did not say, God didn’t say you couldn’t touch it, he said don’t eat it. Then he directly contradicts the word of God, and says God didn’t say that. What God really is doing, you see, is He’s holding back on you. See, God doesn’t want you to touch or eat that tree because God knows that when you do that, you’ll be like God. God’s holding back on you. God doesn’t really love you. God doesn’t have your best interest at heart. I do. So He casts doubt on the Word of God. And by casting doubt on the Word of God, He casts aspersions on the very character of God. Because as we have learned recently when we talk about faith, you cannot separate God’s Word from God’s character. God’s Word is true because God is true. We trust the Word because we trust the Word to give her. Now go to Matthew 4. Jesus going into the wilderness, being tempted in Matthew 4.1. Then it says, Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights afterward he was hungry. Now when the tempter came to him he said, if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. Now the significance of this statement is that right before entering the wilderness what happened? He was baptized, right? And what happened when Jesus was baptized? Look here in verse 16 of chapter 3, when he, Jesus had been baptized, when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God spoke audibly from heaven to Jesus and really to all who are there. This is my Son. Jesus goes into the wilderness.
He fasts; 40 days later he’s really hungry, he’s probably very weak, right? The devil comes and he says, are you the son of God? Are you sure you heard that, right? The same thing he did with Eve. Did God really say that? Did he really? Are you sure about that? I don’t think he really said that. I don’t think he really meant that. And so the devil, who’s a very real person, that’s not an impersonal force, and by the way, the devil isn’t wearing a little red outfit and have a long tail, no, that’s not the devil. A very real spirit person, the devil, and his minions, will attempt to undermine your encounter with the Word of God. He will try to keep you from the Word, keep you from it. That means you’re not reading the Word. And then if you are reading the Word, He’ll try to to get you confused about what it really means. He’ll try to get you into false doctrine. He’s really good at that. Right? Jesus tells the parable of sower and the seed. Remember, He says, the first kind of ground, he sows the seed, says the devil comes and immediately steals the word out of the heart. Some of you, by seven o’clock tonight, will not remember the verse that we open with tonight.
Most of what has been said, most of what has been read will be out of your heart by the time you get home. Scary thought, but it’s true. and you know it because you’ve experienced it and so have I. The devil doesn’t want you abiding with Jesus. He doesn’t want you continuing with Jesus. He doesn’t want you fellowship with Jesus. And so he will oppose that at every step. He will oppose you being in the word and if you’re in the word he’ll try to distort it. He’ll try to cause you to doubt it. He’ll try to steal it out of your heart. If you’re in prayer, He will oppose you in prayer. Why do you think that if all the meetings, and this is true of the church, not just this church, that if all the meetings that the church holds, the prayer meeting is the least attended meeting? That is not a coincidence. It’s because prayer, intercessory prayer, and I believe even worship, is a form of spiritual warfare. It’s spiritual battle. We were I was informed that during camp the Lord did amazing things, I can’t, but he broke through on Wednesday night. Yes. Well, what was happening on Wednesday night? We were having an intercessory prayer meeting. That’s what was happening. We were engaging in spiritual warfare and intercession on behalf of other people. And that’s how it works. Prayer is warfare. Go back to Ephesians 6. We read the Scripture here in verse 18, where Paul says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. That Scripture is not to be divorced from the context which begins in verse 10. Notice, finally brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wilds or schemes of the devil or the evil one. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your ways with truth, that he put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shodged your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and above all taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always.
Praying always because you are in a battle. and if you don’t know you are in a battle, then you have already lost the battle. It’s the guy sitting on the bench that’s not sweating. If you pre-determine, if you purpose in your heart to continue with the Lord, and I mean to know the Lord in a real vital way, to grow in your knowledge of the Lord, to grow in your relationship with Him, to grow your faith, determined to genuinely do this, there will be opposition and you will feel it. How many times have you closed your and decided to pray and all of a sudden your phone freaks out? People that you haven’t talked to in 10 years call you. It’s the most bizarre thing. It’s the most bizarre thing. You know how often when I’m giving a gospel invitation to an audience, all the babies cry? These things are not coincidences. And that can give you thousands of examples of crazy things that go on when you set your heart on the Lord. That’s why Barnabas said we have to determine, we have to be determined of heart to continue with the Lord. Because it’s not passive and at times it’s not easy. It is a battle. We’re in a battle with spiritual forces and they are real and we are commanded and exhorted to stand against them. And we are told how in this passage, we stand against them. We’re told and James, resist the devil and he will flee. Now it doesn’t mean he won’t ever come back, but it means that you win that battle and You must learn to fight. You must learn to be aggressive in your Christianity. If you do not pursue, if you do not press in, if you do not predetermine, if you do not act with purpose in your spiritual life, you will backslide. I did not say you might backslide. You will backslide. inevitable. In the Christian life, it’s either forward or backward. No sideways.
The Flesh
Third obstacle that I’m going to close is the flesh. I think in some ways this is the most terrible enemy of all, because it’s the one about which we can be the least objective. And the flesh here is something that that principle in our heart which likes evil.
Paul says in my flesh I can do no good thing. In my flesh there is nothing good. So even though we are born of God’s spirit we have this tendency to do evil within us if we don’t walk in the spirit. Go to Galatians 5. Now some people talk about the flesh and they say, well, yeah, we have the flesh, so you just have to sin. That’s not what the word of God says. Just as you can have victory over the world, just as you can have victory over the devil, you can have victory over the flesh. You can walk in victory. Galatians 5, 16, I say then, walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, but the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. Now some people interpret that phrase, which means even though you want to do the right thing you don’t. I think it’s just the opposite. Even though the flesh wants you to do things, you don’t. Because you’re walking in the spirit. But if you’re led by the spirit, you’re not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, envy, murder, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. In other words, I could keep the list going, but there’s one common denominator, these are all bad. These are not good. And that’s what the flesh produces. You know, you can give a pig a bath, and you can sew a pig ribbon around his neck. You can even put tuxedo on him and send him to church, but he’s still a pig. And you can wash up the outside. That’s what the Pharisees did, and they were religious, but they were still dead inside.
Dead men’s bones, Jesus said, were in their hearts. You can doll up the flesh, but it’s still the flesh. So what we need is the Spirit. What the world needs isn’t your Christianity. The world needs Jesus Christ in you. Not your Christianity. It needs Jesus Christ in you and through you. That’s what the world needs. So the fruit of the Spirit, verse 22, love. Don’t you want love? Say amen.
You want some joy? You want peace? Long suffering? Not so much? You’re going to need it because I’m going to keep on preaching. No, I’m kidding. Kindness? You want that? Goodness? Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There you go. It’s in the spirit, man. It’s in the spirit. Walk in the spirit and you can have all of these things and even much more. Even much more. Your flesh doesn’t want you to read the Bible. And your flesh doesn’t want you to pray. Your flesh doesn’t want you to worship. Your flesh doesn’t want you to be around godly Christians. But the spirit wants all of those things. So you must learn to walk in the spirit. You must learn to yield to the spirit. And we should make it our daily prayer, if not our hourly prayer. Lord, fill me with your spirit. Fill me with your spirit. You can pray that at home, at work, at church, any time of day, any time of night, Lord, fill me with your spirit. And you will learn, if you continue on, you can learn how to walk in the Spirit of God.
And you can learn to walk in victory over the world, over the devil, and over the flesh. You can have victory. As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t settle for anything less. Amen.
Last Word
Last word. When Barnabas exhorted them in Acts, it says, when he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and he encouraged them all, all, that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. I think a lot of young people say, well you know, I’m young and I’ll get spiritual later. And I think a lot of times Christian adults can encourage that. Well, when they get older, then they can read the Bible. When they get older, they can learn to pray. When they get older, you know, whatever. I remember when I was teaching a Bible study to high school kids years ago, we had a question and answer kind of format. They were asking wonderful questions. And I remember, during the meeting, during the meeting, these kids are going to school, and they’re studying trigonometry and algebra and geometry and all of that.
If they can study geometry, they can study theology. And I began to teach them as if I were teaching adults. What was amazing is the ministry flourished. What was more amazing is that over the years, a number of these people, as I developed friendships with them and as they grew in the Lord, they said, you know, the thing that attracted us to your ministry was that you didn’t talk down to us. When I went to church, they talked down to us in Sunday school. My parents would always talk down to us. You didn’t talk down to us. And I didn’t because I respected their intelligence. But what I really did is I raised, the bar., Any kid that is in high school can study theology. If he can study science and higher math and all of these things that he’s learning, he can study theology and really study the Bible. And he ought to be. So the exhortation to continue with the Lord is for all. Young and old. Whether you’ve known the Lord for a couple weeks since you met him at camp, or whether you’ve known the Lord for 30 or 40 years, Continue on. Continue in the word. Continue in prayer. Continue in community. Continue in worship. Continue on with the Lord. Amen? Amen.
Closing Prayer
Let’s stand. Lord, we thank you. Lord, when we read your word, when we read about when you came to earth, When you began your ministry, one of the first words you said was, come and see.
That you invite us to come and know you. You invite us to come and fellowship with you. You invite us to come and to abide with you and to learn of you, to learn from you.
And I pray for all of us, Lord, young or old, that we would pre-determine, that we would purpose, that we would plan to continue on with you. And if we don’t have a plan, I pray that we would make a plan.
I thank you Lord for the victory that you give your people. As we stay in your word, as we walk in your spirit, that we can truly have victory over the world of flesh and the devil. I thank you that none of us need be defeated because in Christ Jesus, you have made us more than conquerors. We pray in his name. Amen.