Blessing to be in the house of the Lord this morning to think about how good the Lord has been to each one of us in so many ways. His kindness shows up day after day. But the greatest act of kindness was when he stepped down to this earth and walked among men and was willing out of a great love and grace to die in our place. so that we could say, instead of being under a curse of the law, we could say, I have been blessed. I am under the blessing of the Father. This morning, if you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to turn with me to the fifth chapter of Galatians. Galatians chapter 5, and we'll be reading in verse 16. As we think about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, It's not just something to be believed. It is something to be believed, but it's also something to be practiced. You know, the gospel is to be practiced. There are a lot of people who believe the gospel, but many of them fail to practice it. It's very important that we allow the gospel to work itself out in our everyday life. Paul had many things to say to various churches. He would write to the church at Corinth that they were carnal. He said, I could not write unto you as spiritual, but as to carnal, because they were babes in Christ, because of their behaviors and the way in which they were living their lives. But Paul has been defending the Gospel historically. He's been defending the Gospel in the book of Galatians theologically, and he's going to defend in these last two chapters the Gospel practically, If we have a gospel that does not work itself out in everyday life, then I wonder what you are believing. So it's very important that we stand on this truth. And the Lord has told us that there is only one gospel. There's only one gospel that He has commissioned unto man, and all other gospels that are being promoted throughout the lands today are a false gospel. And they're actually under divine ban. God said, as Paul said, let them be accursed. And so we are standing on the truth of God. And it's important that we believe this truth and live out and walk out this truth as we know it plainly that salvation is by grace through faith. Last night as I was coming back home, I got out of the car and I was walking around the subdivision. And I looked up at the stars, and I like looking at the constellations. And I began thinking about Abraham, and what it must have been like that he did not have a child of his own through Sarah. And God had told him, look up at the sky. And He said, just as you see all these stars in the sky, so shall the number of your descendants be. Can you imagine that? He did not have a child through Sarah, but yet God told him, look up here and see how many stars you can count. And I tried that last night and I just gave up because there are so many stars out there to count. He said, that's how many of your descendants there will be. And Abraham believed God. And it was accounted to him as righteousness. Over the last few weeks, I've had a couple men come to my office where I work, and they've been trying to get their lives right with the Lord. They've lived filthy lives involving irresponsibility, sexual immorality, drugs and alcohol, and much confusion. As we've been walking through the Gospel, and in particular, looking at the Law of God, the Law has been exposing the guilt that they are under. There's a guilty sentence that has been resting upon them, and as we look at the Word of God this past week, they saw that they were currently under the wrath of God. And it was weighing heavy on one of the men as he came in my office. He knew that he was condemned and he was looking for relief. And as we were walking through the Gospel, I was talking to him. I said, whoever does not believe in the Son is condemned already and the wrath of God remains upon him. He was trembling. His heart was quivering. Just like my heart and your heart was quivering the night that you were under the weight of the law of God and it had exposed you. He was in his forties and I said, do we just need to stop right now and pray? We got on our knees in the office. Before I could even pray, he began calling out to the name of the Lord for salvation. He was asking the Lord to forgive him for all the things that he had been doing, the ways in which he had been disregarding God in his life. And he told me that he had actually made a profession of faith early in life. And he came into my office and he asked me, do you believe once saved, always saved? And I said, I do believe that. If you've been genuinely born again of God's Spirit, you will persevere to the end. But by your lifestyle, it's showing no evidence that you have ever been saved. And as I talked to his dad, he said that I don't believe He saved either, and so there were two that had seen His life, and he was fearful and under the wrath of God, and he called out on the name of the Lord right there in front of me in the office. After we got done praying, he said, I feel like a million tons have been lifted off my chest. He said, I can finally breathe. I believe the Holy Spirit works in powerful ways to transform our lives from the inside out. That was on Tuesday. The next day, I had another man come into the office and he said that he had not been able to sleep very well over the last two weeks. His conscience had been getting to him. As we'd been walking through the gospel, it had been troubling his soul. He had realized that, I've been living in disregard to God. And he said, I got into my bathroom and I talked to God just like I'm talking to you right here. And he said, Lord, I know I can't do this, on my own, I need your help." And he said, a burden rolled away. The guilt and shame had been forgiven as he sought the Lord of the cross. I reminded him of what Jesus said, coming to me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And this man, I've never seen him any more joyous. He said, I can't put it into words. I've never felt this way before. I don't know how to explain it. And I said, it's joy unspeakable and it's full of glory. Like these men, the Apostle Paul would remind us that Jesus Christ has set us free. And he tells us not to be entangled again in the yoke of bondage. We are called to live in this freedom in Christ and cling to the cross. And Paul has written to the Galatians, he said to this in chapter 2, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." As a result of this freedom, we are called to live under this law of love. The love of God is freeing, isn't it? It's serving one another. It fulfills the law of God. And it leads us into fellowship one with another. And it enables us to fight not for our own desires and our own wishes, but we humble ourselves and we fight for the glory of God because do you not see here in this church today and around the world that God needs to be lifted up and a witness needs to go out into this world that men and women can see that there is power wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb that was spilled on our behalf. And it was done out of love. Now we get to this passage here in verse 16. I want to speak this morning about walking in the Spirit. Do you know that we cannot live a Christian life in our own power and our own strength? and part of being a Christian as Jesus was sent into the world. It says that at due time, Jesus came into the world, but He also said to those that had believed in the Gospel there at the Church of Galatia, in chapter 4 and verse 6, He says, He has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. If you've been born again today, God's Spirit is in your heart today. He indwells you. And so this morning, I want us to look at walking in the Spirit. And we'll look at verse 16 down through 21. And this is what I want us to think about. The command to walk in the Spirit. In verse 16 and verse 17 and 18, the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit. Brothers and sisters, we are currently in a war within our own selves. that will we give in to the flesh and give our lives over to our own fleshly desires and put me first and you first, or will we submit ourselves to the Spirit of God and let our lives be controlled by Him? And finally, I want us to see the clear evidence of walking in the flesh, and the warning that if we are walking in the flesh, and that's our lifestyle, According to the Bible, he says that those who live in a habit of a sinful lifestyle will not go to heaven. So Paul gives us some clear instructions here. Let's read. He says in verse 16, This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these? Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Now the message today is going to be, all of them are quite practical, but we are looking at some of the imperatives in Scriptures that these are things that the Lord tells us clearly and plainly that we should refrain from, that we should, if we are walking in the flesh, this is what it looks like, and we can have a clear picture of what it looks like when we walk in the flesh. So let's begin with this command to walk in the Spirit. Do you know that we should all be under the influence and control of the Spirit? As a believer, we need to bring ourselves under subjection to the Word of God. We can't say that I'm saved and now I'm just going to live any kind of way that I want to, but I've got to be careful about my thoughts, I've got to be careful about my words, I've got to be careful about my actions. All of those things. I'm either walking in the flesh with those, or I am walking in the Spirit, and there will be a difference between the two. And so, Paul tells us here, and one of the things that he was concerned about at the church of Galatia is this. If you back it on up in verse 15, he says, But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. Now Paul was aware that there was trouble in the Galatian churches. And part of that trouble was that false doctrine had been brought in to the house of God. That they had been saved by the grace of God, the Spirit of God. had convicted them, just as I mentioned those two men that I've seen God work in this week, God had convicted them, as many of them had been saved, but then they began to believe that they were justified by works of the law, that now I need to do a certain amount of things in order to maintain my relationship with God, and if I do that, then everything's okay. Now, let me remind you what that looks like today in the house of God, You might say, well, I was saved several years ago and all I've got to do in order to maintain a good relationship with the Lord is to show up at church on Sunday morning and everything will be okay. No, no, no. This is about a relationship with Jesus. Are you in devotion with Him on a daily basis? Are you examining your hearts and asking the Lord to show me the sin that is in my life? Show me, Lord, the things that I need to do because if we're not, it will begin manifesting itself in the flesh if we do not examine our own hearts. This is about a relationship. This is about, as Paul says, we are called to walk in the Spirit. That word walk means a continuous action. It means a daily lifestyle. It doesn't mean that all of a sudden I'm saved and now I can push the pause button and go live like I want to. No, it's a day-by-day interaction with God. And either we're giving over to our flesh, or we're giving over to the Spirit. And so it's very important that we walk in the Spirit. But false doctrine had entered into the church. And with false doctrine, do you know what usually comes with false doctrine? Fleshly living. Fleshly living comes with false doctrine. Because as they began to think that they could earn or maintain their relationship by their own works, pride began lifting up in their hearts. And as pride began lifting up in their hearts, they began to be about number one, and that was them. And it wasn't God. And so, as Paul is writing to the church at Galatia, he says that you are biting after one another, like snakes that are biting after one another. He says that you are devouring one another, or to gulp down, or to fight with one another tooth and nail. It was like a cat fight and Paul was seeing this. He says, be not consumed one of another. It was almost like beasts that were thrown in the middle of an amphitheater that were there to destroy one another until they took their last breath. And that was what was going on in the church house at Galatia. Paul said he was vitally concerned. that this type of activity was going on, because if they were getting in the flesh, then the work of the Spirit was going to be devoured and consumed, and the church would be ripped apart, and so He calls them back to humility. Because if we walk in the Spirit, we're going to walk in humility. We're called to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And if we're walking in humility, we're also going to desire holiness. And those were the two things that were being dismissed from the church. They were not walking in humility and they were not walking in holiness. They were desiring to go about things in their own way. And so, He commands the Galatians to walk in the Spirit. Now, as we think about this, this word walk means to walk before the Lord. Do you know that everywhere we go, everything we do, whether we're here in the house of God, or whether we're in our own homes, or whether we're on our job, or whether we're even driving down the road, we are before the Lord in every place we go. And so, our walk, the integrity of our walk, is being tested by the Lord. He knows our lives and He is calling us to live a moral and ethical and a religious life that pleases Him at all times. This Christian walk is not something that we compartmentalize and say, well, I'm going to be a good little Christian in the house of God, at church, But then I'm going to live the way I want to the rest of the week. No, no, no. God says you're walking before the Lord. And ever how you walk on the outside of the house of God will greatly impact our worship here. Because we are one body. We are one body. We have been united together by the Holy Spirit of God, those that have made a profession of faith, and they have come and covenanted themselves together. We are one body of believers right here. As the Spirit of God has united us, and He has called us, as Paul is telling them, to walk in the Spirit. To be under the influence of the Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity. Now, as we think about the Spirit of God, let me remind you that He is not an it. Many people, as they say, well, it told me to do something. I want you to know that isn't offensive to God, because He is the third Person of the Trinity. He's the Person of the Godhead. He can be grieved and He can be quenched, and so we must give reverence to the Holy Spirit. He's not just a force, but when He does show up, He brings with Him The power of God. And if there's any one that we need today, it is the Holy Spirit among us that will bring about the power of God to change our hearts and to change our lives. What does the Holy Spirit do in our lives? Well, number one, the first introduction that we had to the Holy Spirit was He told you the truth. And it was convicting to your heart. And it led to this condemnation that you knew that you were under the weight and law of God, but He didn't stop there as He was calling out to you. He led you to repentance and He led you to faith. And what He did was He brought about you were born of the Spirit of God. You were not born of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, nor of human genealogy. You were born of the Spirit of God. And so, He took up residence in your hearts. He began setting you apart and sanctifying you and making you more and more like Jesus as you submitted yourself unto Him. He sealed you with the Holy Spirit of promise. He has given you an assurance that as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And the Scriptures teach us that if you have not the Spirit of God, then you are none of His. So it's very important that we have a close relationship with the Spirit of God. And He says that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not gratify The lust of the flesh. In the Bible, the flesh is sometimes seen as our outward body. God made us flesh and bone, it says in Genesis 2 and 21, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. God made this flesh, this body. This body is good. God has given us this body to live in, but there is a part of this body that is part of this human fallenness, that it has a sinful nature that we deal with on a daily basis. The Holman Illustrated Bible says this, this terms of flesh and spirit. He says the term flesh is often ascribed the connotation of an ungodly lifestyle of selfishness and sensual gratification. The flesh will choose what I want and what I think and what I need over the spirit every day. And so, Paul says, if we walk in the Spirit, we will not gratify or give pleasure to the flesh. These lusts, these desires he's speaking of, do you know that God has placed a desire in your heart and in my heart? There is a desire, a part of us that has a capacity to want more, and more, and more, and more, and more, that it will never stop. And the only true place that those desires and those affections need to be directed to is the one true and living God. Those are the only desires. It says, Whom have I in heaven but Thee? There is none on earth that I desire besides Thee. Though my heart and my flesh may fail, Lord, You're the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those desires need to be set on pleasing God. Because if they get set on pleasing myself, danger is lurking at the door. So there is an amazing capacity. to worship and to pursue things in life. And they need to be set on the Lord. He says, walk in the Spirit and you will not give in to the lust of the flesh. We have these impulses. We have these cravings and every one of us have them. Every single week, do we not? We have these cravings of things that, oh, I want to please myself here, but we need to be careful that we bring ourselves under the submission of the Holy Spirit. So we see the command to walk in the Spirit. Secondly, let's see the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit in verse 18. He says, "...for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other." The flesh won every battle before we were saved. Did you not do like me? We committed sin, and we laughed at it when we saw somebody else sin. We thought it was funny. You see someone get sloppy drunk, and you're out in the middle of that, and you just laugh at it. I don't know if you're like me, but that's what I did before I was saved. They do some stupid things, Oh, that's funny. We need to try that again. The pre-conversion lifestyle was, we laughed at sin, but oh, how has it changed today? It is sad to see someone given over to the lust of the flesh to cover up some pain that's in their life that they're not going to God for, but they're choosing to please themselves. Oh, how dangerous it is! And if we would but open up our eyes, we will see those clearly that are walking in the Spirit, and we'll see those that are walking in the flesh. We not only did we commit and laugh at sin before we were saved, but we spoke evil of others who didn't join us. We made fun of others that didn't want to partake in all the sinful deeds of the flesh. We said, hey, you're not a part of us. And oh, praise God that they weren't. Because of some of the things that we did that were dishonoring and shameful even to speak about. Because Paul says that this flesh that dominated the old man, he said, what fruit did you have? It led to shame. And it led to death. So there's a great conflict. The flesh desires to please itself and it wars against the Spirit. The desires are in conflict. Paul says this flesh is the ungodly lifestyle of selfishness and sensual self-gratification. And within each one of us, this war is going on. Paul writes here, but he says, so that you cannot do the things that you would. The flesh is in hostility and opposition. It is lined up against the Spirit. And if we give in to our flesh and we are feeling motivated, if I do everything based on how I feel and what will please me today, what in the world would I be doing? I might have slept in this morning instead of coming to the house of God. I might have thought, well, I need to go buy something new and so maybe I need to go work somewhere to make some money. But oh, thank God that He has given us a greater power to overcome the flesh that strives against us. Paul said it drove him. He said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? But he said, but I thank Jesus Christ our Lord who has given me the victory that I will either please my flesh or I will please the Spirit and I can do both at the same time. I'll either do one or the other. It is very important that we have a desire to please God and go against our feelings. Do you ever wake up in the morning and say, well, I really don't feel like going to work today? If you're honest, everybody would shake their heads that you've had a day like that. I don't feel like doing this. And my flesh says, lay around and be lazy all day long and do nothing. But the Spirit of God rises up in me and He tells me to be a faithful provider and to go out and spread my word and don't depend upon your own strength, but depend upon my power and my strength and just call out to me because I will enable you and empower you and I will help you. But there's a war that is waging inside of each one of us. And we need to submit ourselves to the Lord. We need to practice self-denial. We have to be able to tell ourselves no when those feelings arise. We can't just say, I'm just going to go about every single desire that I have. No! I've got to be able to wage war with the Word of God and the Spirit of God and allow Him to reign in those desires that I might please God. Brothers and sisters, do you have in the depths of your heart the utmost desire to please God and Him alone? If you do, we'll submit to Him. Now let's see what He says. What does it look like when we're controlled by the Spirit? It means that we don't need an external wall to keep us doing what's right and what's wrong. Because there's an internal work of grace in our hearts that teaches us to love. It teaches us to have joy in the midst of circumstances. It teaches us to have peace and to be a peacemaker and fight for peace. Because He says, if you're led of the Spirit, you are not under the law. I tell people all the time, I would tell my own children this, if you would just love me and listen to the things that I teach you, we won't have to have any kind of rules. But they don't love me enough. My children don't love me enough. But neither do we love God enough, oftentimes, except by the work of the Spirit of God that teaches us. He has shown us if we want to walk in the Spirit, we need to hang around the Master Teacher. And if we'll hang around the Master Teacher, we will be walking in the Spirit. Now, what does it look like? This is an ugly picture. But what does it look like? The clear evidence of walking in the flesh. Do you know the works of the flesh are made visible? They're made manifest. And they can show us who's controlling us. Now I want you to look at these. They may be uncomfortable, but they're true. The first set has to do with sexual relations. The next few deal with religion. The third group deals with interpersonal relationships. And finally, the last group in this list that Paul names deals with indulgences. And he says in verse 19, now the works of the flesh are manifest, which means there's clear evidence of who we're being controlled by. He says they're these. The first four deal with sexual relations, sensuality, He says adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lasciviousness. You might say, well, we don't need to know about that in the house of the Lord. Well, if we don't teach it in the house of the Lord, and we get our information from the world and the billboards that we see driving down the road, then we're going to get the wrong answers. And it's going to lead to pride, and it's going to lead to a lack of humility, and it's going to lead to a lack of holiness in the house of God. And it's time that the house of God begins pushing back against the world and stands on the truth. In the house of the Lord, it's getting too worldly so many times. But what does He mean? These sensual passions. We know what adultery means. That means to have a sexual relationship with another person that is not your spouse. We know what fornication means. These are two words that Paul mentions, and so he would have mentioned them in the house of God when he preached. So please don't nail me to a cross because I'm preaching what the Apostle Paul preached, because this is what he shared. Because he sees that when we are doing those things, we are not loving God, and we're not loving other people. Because that's someone's son or daughter, mother or father, He says uncleanness, which is the defilement of sexual sin, which requires cleaning through confession and repentance. So he's saying if someone is living in a lifestyle of this, now realize that we sin, we get in the flesh and we go off and do some of these things, but if we're God's child, we will quickly return, we will quickly confess our sin and repent and realize that it was dishonoring to God and we will get back in step with the Spirit of God and praise God that He forgives us and cleanses us of all unrighteousness. He says, last, chiviousness, which this is, William Barclay says this, it's a love of sin so reckless and so audacious that a man has ceased to care what God or man thinks of his actions. That is a sensual lifestyle that you get to a point, I'll do whatever I want to do, this lewdness and sensuality that I don't even care what God thinks, and I really don't care what anybody else thinks. Now that is getting dangerous because many people at least care about what their family and other people think, but when they get to this point of just living this, I don't care about anything, they have totally given themselves over to fleshly living. These are dangerous. These are the works of the flesh. He says the next ones have to do with religion. He says idolatry. Idolatry was prevalent in those days. They would worship statues. They would bow down from the occult god of the Baals of the Old Testament to the temple of Aphrodite in the city of Corinth that practiced prostitution before their gods. Now, these things are often linked together that if we have false doctrine, it often leads to fleshly living. But let it not be so in the house of the true and living God. But there must be humility and holiness because we are worshipping and serving a God who is holy today. The angels are crying, holy, holy, holy. Let us not run to comfort and to pleasure and to control in any other place other than the true and the living God. Because we too can be guilty of being idolatrous that we, for a little while, we'll get in the flesh and we'll put something else above God and we will go with that for a little while. But once again, let me remind you that if we're walking in the Spirit, we'll not gratify the lust of the flesh, but we will be pleasing in Him and honoring Him. What a blessing that is. He uses the word witchcraft. which the Greek word is pharmakeia. What does that sound like? Sounds to me like pharmacy. Those that are given over to drugs and the influences of those drugs. You know, I hear stories, and this is dangerous. There have been some that I've heard that were on fixed incomes and they got an amount of pills and they would sell them in order to be able to make ends meet and pay their bills. That is lust of the flesh and that is ungodly. It is rampant all around us with the amount of prescriptions that are being passed out and they're traded and passed everywhere around us. And not only that, but the trying to get outside of my problems and trying to be under the control of some other substance. It is dangerous and it wrecks homes and it wrecks churches and it wrecks communities. And let us not walk in the flesh. And they often go hand in hand. Now what does he say about interpersonal relationships? He says here in verse 20, he says, which is the opposite of love, that is holding resentment toward others and active hostility. He says variance, which is, it means to have discord among the brethren, the opposite of harmony. It says in Proverbs 6 and 19, a false witness speaks lies and he that sows discord among brethren. And so, Paul is saying those are the works of the flesh and those Judaizers that were coming to the house of God, They were trying to divide the people of God. They were trying to bring destruction in the house of the Lord. And they were teaching this fleshy living, and it was impacting the church. But God was using Paul to raise the standard of love, that we must love one another, and we love in the truth of God's Word, as we all cling to the Gospel and allow it to humble us. He says emulations, which is a type of jealousy. A jealous person is one who wants what someone else has, and it can lead to bitterness and ingratitude to God. And he goes on and speaks of wrath, which means that is an outburst of anger. That is not being able to control my temper. That is the work of the flesh. Let's think about this past week. Did anyone have an outbreak of their temper? Were they quick-tempered? We need to guard our hearts and be under the influence of the Spirit. And I realize this is getting in the quick. It gets in the quick on me. And I see the areas that I'm not always under the influence of the Spirit like I need to be. And I need to be quick to go to the Lord and ask Him to help me to repent and to turn and to hate that sin that I see in me. So that God's Spirit and His love and the fruit of the Spirit might be manifest. He says strife, that is selfish ambition. That is me desiring to seek an office or canvassing for an office, not for the purpose of serving someone else, but for the purpose of having the office and being popular. That is a work of the flesh that any place... I'll tell you that this place here behind this pulpit I'm not here so that I'll be popular in your eyes. I'm here because I have a desire to serve the true and the living Gods. In any office that we have, it needs to be for the purpose of serving one another in love. It shouldn't be that I have a certain amount of power and can sway things this way and sway things that way. We are not to do that in the house of the Lord. He speaks of seditions and heresies and in-beings. And I think we all get the picture that when we are walking in the flesh, it will bring divisions in the church because we will put ourselves first. And if I remember correctly, Every single one of us that have been saved had to come in absolute humility before the cross and beg for mercy and ask for grace. That'll keep us on a level playing field if we will see our great need. He spoke of murders, which would be the culmination of all those desires for division. And then he gives the last two the clear evidence of walking in the flesh. He says drunkenness, abusing alcohol. You might say, well, I don't think that happens in the church. I hope and pray it's not happening here. But it's happening all around us. And who knows what's going on behind closed doors? And it will erode a marriage. It will destroy family life. It will lead to verbal and physical abuse. It will rip the hearts out of people. The works of the flesh just to please myself. And it is dangerous in our communities. And we need to be aware. He said revelings. What does that mean? That means carousing. That means loud drinking parties. Going out into the back fields with the big trucks, down those old dusty highways, tipping up a bottle and laughing about it with loud music. That is a work of the flesh and there are many that are glorifying and singing about it all the time. time and our young people are singing those songs and those truths or those false lies are being infiltrated in their minds that that's the way they need to live and laugh about it and oh how dangerous it is. Because here's what Paul said and I'm about to wrap it up. We've seen the command to walk in the Spirit. I wonder why they call some places where you can get spirits. It's a wrong spirit. Be not drunk with wine. We're in His excess. There's excess, but He says be filled with the Spirit of God. If you're filled with the Spirit of God, there's going to be love that's raining in your heart, and you're going to be walking in truth. But here's what Paul says. these drunkenness and revelings and such like. He said there's many more things I could tell you about. There's many more things I could get very specific about sin today. But he says that if this, of which I tell you before, I've told you this before, Paul said, when I was there in the churches of Galatia, I preached about sin and the dangers of sin. Because if you continue to live in a lifestyle of sin, here's what he said. that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." You know, Paul said this to the Corinthians. He said, they that live in these ways, that do such things, they said, don't be deceived. God is not mocked. He's not going to laugh at sin. He's going to punish sin. And you know what he said? This is good words in 1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 11, he said, None of us should get too proud because if we think about where we were before we got saved, He said, such were some of you. Praise God the righteousness of Christ has covered up the shameful activities of your past. Aren't you glad? I'm thankful I'm not who I used to be. I'm thankful I don't have to sit up here and expose everything about what I did. I was a sinner and a good one at it. But praise God, He redeemed me. He brought me as His own. And He gave me this promise in Revelation chapter 21. I want to close with this thought. He says, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. He's given me a promise that not only can I have victory today, but He's promised me that a victory is coming for the people of God, that we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb, that we as God's people will walk in the Spirit, and God will complete that work, because if we get out in the flesh our loving Heavenly Father, He will discipline us and bring us back. But if you are without discipline, listen to what these words say. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for a husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God, is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. Do you know when that day comes, there's not going to be a proud soul that's going to be standing? Every single one of us are going to be in complete awe of God, in the fear of God, in absolute humility, that God would come down and dwell among men. There's not going to be any room for pride in heaven. There should not be any room for pride in the house of God. And he says this, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. You know I cry sometimes when I see sin get a hold of my life. And I cry out to God to help me. I cry when I see the works of the flesh destroying a marriage. And I see people that I love that were once vibrant in faith and with one another and they divorced. It tears my heart to pieces. When I minister to someone and they decide to reject the gospel and walk in their own idolatry, it tears my heart to pieces. When I see things in churches all around of various troubles, it breaks my heart and brings me down to tears. But I'll tell you, God one day is going to wipe away every tear from my eyes. And I want to see Him get as much victory as He can in this life. He said, There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. For the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. You know, the Spirit of God is doing something new in our lives as we walk in the Spirits. But one day He's going to make it completely new. But John warns at the end of the Bible, He says this again, just like Paul said in Galatians. He said, unto me it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son. What an amazing joy it is to be a child of God. And if we say we know the Father, when my dad was tilling up the garden growing up, I'd walk, as he tilled up that fresh dirt, I would walk in his footsteps. I wouldn't try to touch the dirt that he had tilled, but he had some old boots that he had come home from work, and I would try to put one foot in front of another, and I wanted to keep in step with him as he went, so I had to have patience. If we're a child of God, we need to keep in step with the Spirit of God and look like our Heavenly Father. Because He says if we don't, He says, but the fearful, speaking of those that are more afraid of what they're going to lose in this life instead of having a fear of God, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the whoremongers, the sorcerers and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And I say that with a sober mind today. That if we're living lives that are fleshly, they're not honoring to God. We need to walk in the Spirit. Not gratify the deeds of the flesh. And we need to quickly, when something is not in order and something is not right, we need to quickly do all that's in our power to make things right. Because this is not about us. This is about the God in whom we serve. and how we live will show in this world. As we get a song and sing this morning, let's be obedient to the Lord as we stand.