And we're still idolaters. We're going to look at that in just a minute. That's a work of the flesh, idolatry. And what it is, is that everybody worships something. If you don't worship the God of heaven, you most likely worship science, or your own intellect, or your own view of life. Everybody has a view of life, and you think your view of life is superior than the Christian's view of life. And so you put yourself above, and you worship that. We all do it. We're all guilty of that. Even as Christians, we can do that. But it says here, if we read on, so the simplicity that's in Christ. Just believe that there's a God, just believe that He's a triune God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and just believe that He sent His Son to die on the cross for your sins and to take your place. That's very simple, but we like to overcomplicate it, don't we? And we like to add a bunch of rules and do's and don'ts to that. I could say a lot about that, I have to move on. Verse four, for if He that cometh, someone else comes besides me, he's saying, cometh, preaches another Jesus, Now, there's Jesus, right? Who is Jesus? Well, we know we think we go to the Bible to find out who Jesus is. Well, if you rewrite the Bible and you reword the Bible and you make it easier to understand, and I'll also throw this in because I like to, and you have to change it at least by 20% to get your copyright so that you can make your dollar. You know, the King James Bible has no copyright. There's nobody making money on it. Now there's printers that publish it that are making money, but there's no one person sitting back there who wrote this Bible who's getting paid on all the royalties from the Bible. But that's what a copyright is for. I don't understand why anybody would put out a Bible and put a copyright on it. But they have to change it by at least 20%. So even if they know this is the right way to say it, they're going to change it to get their copyright. So if you take that and you say, well, now who is Jesus? And we look in the Bible, now who is Jesus? And I could take you to places where those Bibles show you that He is not God. And that lines right up with the Muslims, that lines right up with the Mormons, that lines right up with the Jehovah's Witnesses. So they don't, anyway, there's another Jesus, even though we know who Jesus is, we should know from the Bible, the Bible, we don't. Ask people who Jesus is, watch the commercial that he talked about the other week. Jesus gets us, he gets us. He is right. No, we need to get him. We need to learn his ways. He doesn't get us. He gets us all right, and he says, ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. And so, you know, learn of me. I am meek and lowly. He says, learn of me. Help me out with the verse. Burden is light. I know that. I'm looking around. My yoke is easy. That's the one I was missing. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. So we need to get to know him. But anyway, for if he that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, So there's obviously a difference. Or if you receive another spirit, we talked about that last week, people in churches receiving another spirit. The friend I had that said she felt so much peace during Ramadan because the spirit of Allah and the Muslim religion. So you can receive another spirit which you have not received or another gospel. Another gospel, the simplicity of Christ in verse 3, that's what Paul got in trouble for. Just believe in Jesus Christ. No, no, no, that's not what the world wants. The world wants another gospel. They want you to take a wafer in order to receive Him. They want you to take their wine in order to receive Him. They want you to do these commandments in order to receive Him. They want you to abstain from pork. in order to receive it. Vegetarian diets and whatever else goes along with it. They want you to do all these things. That's not the gospel. They want you to get baptized. Get baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. That's not for you. Now we're not going to teach that. You should all know that by now. But they add so many things to church membership and all that. Of course, that's another gospel. "...which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with them." He's saying you might bear with them. You might actually listen to them. You might actually accept what they're saying. Now, how is it that you won't accept what they're saying? Well, if you get in the Bible, the Bible, the King James Bible, and understand that there is one Bible, there is one final authority, there is one place where all truth is. God didn't leave us without. He didn't leave us with concepts. He didn't leave us with stories, children's stories. He didn't leave us with just ideas. He left us with His pure words, the exact words. So you can know the gospel. And we rejoiced last week that we could know that we're right. It's nice to know that you're right about something in this world, especially when it comes to heaven and hell, life and death. That's very important to know. So we looked at that last week. I just wanted to reiterate that. Then let's go to Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five. And we looked at this too, but we're going to look at it again because we had to stop here for sake of time. But let's start in Galatians 5 and let's start in verse 16. Before we do that, just look at your sheet, what I have on your sheet for you. I'm picking up right after Ephesians 1.17, it says, we must be sure we are believing in and worshiping the God of the Bible. That's very important. If anybody asks you about your religion, say, well, I believe in the Bible. I'm a Christian according to the Bible. I believe in the Jesus of the Bible. I believe in the God of the Bible. I believe in the religion of the Bible. Religion is not your word, really. But, you know, they understand that word. So my religion is the Bible. We're Bible believers, Baptist Church. That's the reason for the name. That's not a denomination. That's a description. What are you? I'm a Bible-believing Christian. What are you? Well, if you're a Bible-believing Christian, which Bible are you believing? Well, you know, I have about 10 different Bibles that I think are really good. That's what most preachers will say. I have about a dozen Bibles that I have subscribed to that I feel are most accurate. A dozen Bibles, really? Well, let's pull those out and let's see where they differ. And then you can, let's narrow it down to which one is really the truth. And then if you decide, if you decide which one is really the truth, guess what that makes you? An idolater. That makes you to say, well, I think that this is what, that's another Jesus. Perhaps. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe you got it right, but maybe you didn't. And there's a lot of preachers preaching bad, bad doctrine out there because they didn't pick the right Bible. So we must be sure we are believing in and worshiping the God of the Bible. Idolatry is a work of the flesh. That's why we're in Galatians, but don't look at Galatians yet. Read on. Idolatry is a work of the flesh and there are many gods. There are many gods. In fact, keep your finger in Galatians and go to the reference there in 1 Corinthians 8 before we read Galatians. There are many gods. 1 Corinthians 8, verse 5 and 6. Paul verifies this. The Lord verifies this. 1 Corinthians 8, 5, For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, so they're all over the place, as there be gods many and lords many, But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him." You see where that's going? That's the idea we've been harping on already since last week, that there is just one Jesus Christ. They were preaching, Paul said, you might bear with another Jesus, you might bear with another gospel, you might bear with another spirit. And what's your rule of thumb to figure out which one is right and wrong? How you feel, how you view it, what resonates with me, my world view, my tradition and how I like to worship God versus how you like to worship God in your tradition. That's the words they use, by the way. Well, you like the more conservative style and you like the more upbeat style and you're younger and you're older and all that thing. But we're confirming once again, there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. Howbeit, in verse 7, there is not in every man that knowledge. for some with conscience of the idol. Now, notice how gods and idols go together. Idol unto this hour, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their consciences being weak is defiled. Now, you may say, well, yeah, that's those stupid people back then, you know, that lived in Paul's day, and before that they had idols. Well, you might be surprised that you have some idols too, and that I might have some idols too. Some of our idols might be how we dress this morning. you know how do I look and you're walking around looking for the praise of men and how you look and how your hair is and what your makeup looks like and you know and whatever and some of it is obviously an idol can be money. Right? How much money do you make? How much money do you make? Well, I have a good job. You have a good job. How's your career going? And that becomes our idol, right? And we can just go down the list, right? We don't have to name them all. But we all have, we don't have to have little statues, but we have things that we worship in place of God. And so that's just Bible reference to show you, go back to Galatians to show you there are many gods. And do I have it on your paper, Genesis 3, 5? Is it there? Read that before, go back to Galatians, but look at your sheet where it says, why is man this way? because that's how man sinned in the first place. We go back to one of our first lessons when we started the whole Genesis study and we look back at here comes Satan in Genesis chapter 3 and he's tempting Eve and the subtlety we talked about here of him in the garden and coming in and beguiling her with what? What was the number one thing I think he beguiled her with is the fact that she could know something that she didn't know. And you know that's our problem today still. We all want to know something that we don't know. And even if we don't need to know it, we want to know it. Tell me anyway. I'll keep a secret. You can always tell me. Right? Don't we say that? Trust me, I'm a vault. You know, you can tell me anything and I'll keep that secret. Why? Because you really just want to know. It isn't because you want to help that person or help them unload their burden. You just want to know. And that's your problem. That's my problem. And Genesis 3, 5, look at it. It says, For God doth know. Here's the devil talking to Eve about what God knows. You want to know what God knows, but He's not telling you? For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as what? Gods. Ye shall be as gods, knowing. Knowing good and evil. So, that tempted Eve. That's what she really wanted. I want that. And you know what, I believe, and I'm not going to get into it for time's sake, but I believe that those gods, those sons of God, were there. Because how could she understand the reference? You shall be as gods. Eve probably said, what's a god? There's God, I know Him. I don't know you, I don't know why you're talking to me. Chances are she had talked to Him before or seen Him before. Chances are she could look around and see these other gods, but that's another point. But the fact is that we are tempted. That sin that beguiled her, that caused her to eat that fruit, is still in us today. And you may not think you're an idolater, but you can just think about all the things that you put before God. Now some things, you know, we have to have priorities in life. Don't think that every moment of every day you have to be praying. Don't think that every moment of every day, if you're not reading your Bible, you're sinning. But if you have things that are in place of God, And you didn't get to any prayer today. You didn't get to any Bible reading today. Thank God we're all in church today. At least we set that time. See, America, that's a good thing about America. At least America, the culture of America has been has been the church. For many, many, many years, hundreds of years, the church has always been, on Sunday, businesses used to all be closed down, right? So at least we kind of do that out of somewhat of a cultural thing. But chances are, there are people in church this morning only being there because they have to be there, because their wife wants them to be there, or their kids want them to be there, or the husband wants you to be there, or because so-and-so is expecting me to be there, or because I need a date. and I want to find a girl there or because I need business partners and that's why I go to the big 3,000 plus member church because I need to meet business partners. That's exactly what goes on today. People aren't going to church because they're trying to put God first. They're idolaters. They're putting themselves first and we all do it and you can kind of look down in your own life and see what am I doing in place of God and making that an idol. Where am I at? In Galatians chapter 5, we're going to look at verse 16. We'll start reading there. And I know I'm hanging out here, and that's what I intend to do. Okay, I'm hanging out here for a little while. And you've got the notes. I already told myself if we don't finish the sheet, we're going to go to chapter 32 next week anyway. You can just read it, and you can figure out what I had to say. So first, no, Galatians chapter 5, verse 16. This I say then, walk in the Spirit, capital S, When you got saved, what did you get? You got the spirit. That's what puts you in the body of Christ, you realize that? That's what seals you to the day of redemption. That's what separates you from the Old Testament saints. That's what separates you from the tribulation saints. You and I are the only group of people, and it's been happening for the last 2,000 years, that when we have the simplicity that's in Christ and we just believe on Jesus Christ, we get a gift. And that gift is the Holy Ghost. And you read Ephesians chapter 1, you read Ephesians chapter 4, and you're going to find out that you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And that's what keeps you eternally saved. Thank God I can't lose my salvation. Because I'd be as good as in hell right now. Alright? Because I sin every moment of every day. And you can't keep, I laugh at these guys. I mean, Ray Comfort is one of the guys that I actually like. He gets online and I like watching him because he debates with so many people on the street about getting saved. And then one of the day, one time I was watching him, Ray Comfort, raise your hand if you know who he is. Okay, you've seen his videos. They're good thing, good arguments that he makes for on behalf of the Lord and the Bible. But then when he gets the point to the person, they're like repentant. And they're really sorry, and they're like, what should I do, Ray? What should I do? He says, well, go home and read your Bible. Go home and read your Bible? Well, where am I going to read? Start reading in Chronicles? You know, that should bring a smile to your face because not all the Bible is for you, to you. It's all for you, but it's not all to you. And you want to go to the parts that are to you, that's why we write gospel tracts. Now, they've got Christians, and I'm segwaying too much, but you've got Christians who won't hand out a gospel tract today because, well, that's so limiting, or that's just putting them in... No, just hand out a gospel tract. People don't know what to read in the Bible. So he says, and then he, but the point, the bigger point is Ray believes that you can't do anything to get saved except receive Jesus Christ. But once you are saved, you have to keep your own salvation. That if you go back and do a sin, any kind of sin, that you've fallen out. Now, wait a minute, Ray, you're a smart guy. You know, you have the wonderful arguments. You just got through telling them they can't do anything to get saved. But then you're telling them they have to do it all to stay saved? That doesn't make any sense. Does it make any sense? No, Jesus, you have that gift. You have that Holy Spirit that enters you upon belief in Jesus Christ, and it seals you up. You can't lose it. That's grounds for rejoicing. So anyway, this I say, then walk in the Spirit, capital S, Galatians 5.16, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit. So you've got a battle in you. And Brother Peacock, I don't think he's the first one who ever said it, but he said you've got the black dog and you've got the white dog. And you've got a black dog inside of you, and that represents sin. You've got a white dog inside of you, that represents Jesus Christ and holiness. And they're fighting all the time. And which dog is going to win? The one you feed the most. Right? And it says it right here, for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other. Brother Ruckman used to call you a schizophrenic. He said every person who gets saved is a schizo. Because you have two personalities now. You didn't have two personalities before. You had a conscience before that bothered you that you could just put away. But now you've got something called the Holy Spirit inside of you. And that Holy Spirit is saying, Hey, I don't like that. That grieves me. That makes me sad. You're quenching me. Hey, this is not the joy is going down, down, down, and the sin is going up, up, up. And so these these are at war. That's that's going to be your life from now on. So what what do we do about that? And this is all in context of being idolatry. Idolatry. We'll see it here as a work of the flesh. So the fleshless against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot. That's an amazing statement that you cannot do the things that you would. You're so limited right now. You had to drag yourself to church. I know you did because I had to drag myself here. And it's not always, you know, woo-hoo, I get to go to church, right? But I know I need it. And it's that way when you go to work. It's that way kids go to school. There's things you have to do. And these things are contrary. So when you want to do something that's right, the body is saying, no, no, no, no. Just like if you're feeling hungry this morning because you didn't get breakfast because you raced here, and you're wishing that, when can this over? And you're already thinking about what you eat. You know what that is? That's your body. That's your body. The spirit, Jesus went 40 days without food, didn't he? How could he do that? That's impossible. Nobody can do, he did it. There's others who've done it. How can, see the spirit and the body, they fight. And that's a small example of how hungry you are, how tired you are. But you cannot do the things that you would. But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law. There's so much in that statement too. You realize that, I can't do it right now, I don't even have the verses in front of me, but you realize why the law came, right? Paul tells you in Romans why the law came. The law came to show you how sinful you are. You know what Jesus said when he got here? He said, if you hate your brother, you killed him, you're a murderer. He said, if you look on a woman to lust after her, you're an adulterer in your heart already. It's like, well who hasn't done either one of those things? Well, that's the point. The law came to show you and Jesus raised the bar. He goes, I'll make it even one better. If you hate your brother, you're a murderer. What sacrifice in the Old Testament law was there for murder? None. So why do you point that one out? What sacrifice under the law was there for adultery? None. So why do you point that out? to condemn the whole world. He said, I came not to condemn the world. He was trying to show us through that law that you cannot be like me. You cannot be like me. And I'm just indicting all of you right now in those two statements. And so what he's saying here is if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Do you realize how liberating that is? Do you realize that if you're a Christian, and you receive that simplicity that's in Christ, and you go ahead and receive the Lord Jesus Christ, and that Holy Spirit comes in with you, do you realize that you were under the law right here, and you just stepped right over here, and you are no longer under that condemnation? You know that law is not to, hey, Catholic Church, that law is not so that you can be holy. Hey, whatever denomination you are that follows that law, that's not to show that, oh, look how good you are and how holy you are. That's to show you you're condemned. You are condemned when you stand in this place. Right? I shouldn't do it here. You're condemned if you stand in this place. But when you get out from under that, guess what? You're saved. You've passed from death unto life. You're on your way to heaven. You've become born again. You are a child of God. You're spending eternity. You're part of His body. You can't lose that inheritance. And so you don't want any part of this. So what do I do then? Live lawless? Romans chapter 6. We won't turn to it. You should know it. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace Grace may abound, God forbid. Well, wait a minute though, but the law, forget about the law. Don't look at the law and say, well, okay, keep the Sabbath. No, don't do that. Okay, abstain from pork and from, you know, from shellfish. No, that's not for you. There's other things, of course, that are about the law that are good, but when you're over here, you're in a superior place. That place is found in verse 18, but if you be led, Pastor preaches on not being driven, but being led. God leads you. He doesn't drive you, doesn't push you, doesn't force you. He leads you. He says, Hey John, come with me. I'm over here. Well, wait a minute, Lord. I got this to do over here. No, he keeps walking and you're supposed to be led by the Spirit and following him. He says, if you'd be led by the Spirit, you are not under the law because the law would condemn you. Now the works of the flesh Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. We talked about envy with Rachel and her sister. Verse 20, idolatry. And notice that verse, how it's segregated from the rest. That verse talks about idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies. Those are all devilish things. Those are all things that the devil is involved with you and being that temptation to be a god. I want to get into witchcraft. Why? Because I want power. I want to get into idolatry. Why? Because I want power. I want something like the Marvel movies have to offer me. You know, I want that. I want more out of life. And that's where that stuff comes. That's a work of the flesh. Now, the point is that if you want to have victory over your self, which is your flesh, then there's some things you need to do. Go to Romans chapter 8. You need to be led of the Spirit, basically. Go to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 is probably the one chapter in the Bible that you're going to learn the most about being in the Spirit. Romans chapter 8, starting in verse 1, there is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. You see that? You're not under the law. If you're led under the Spirit, you're not under the law. There is therefore no condemnation. You're not condemned. Well, how did I do that? Well, you believed on Jesus. That's so simple. Yeah. That's why Paul says, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And read all of Galatians and see how he was persecuted for just believing that. And the other side, the Jews, the people that he wanted to save, were the ones persecuting him because they glory in your flesh. They want you to be just like me. Hey, wear a suit and a tie just like me. In fact, if I had my way, you would wear the exact suit and the exact tie. And you would be just like me. That's what the Mormons do, right? You'd look just like me. You'd walk just like me. You'd talk just like me. And we would all be happy. And of course, isn't that the New World Order? Sorry to get off on that. But don't they just want you all to be the same? The 2030 agenda, that keeps coming up in my life lately. I've been hearing about it from my own company, the 2030 agenda and all the sustainability and the things that you're going to do to preserve the planet and how every corporation should get involved in that and help. Let's go over to China and talk to them for a little while and see what they're doing about it. Or India, let's go see what they're doing about it. They're way more than us. you know, five times, six times more people. But anyway, so they all, but ultimately at the end of the day, they just want everybody to be, the slogan that I've seen all over the place is, you will own nothing and you will be happy. Right? Because we will tell you everything you need to know, everything you ought to do. Well, I've heard things, this is really getting off, but I've heard things where they'll put you in a room and they'll just put TV screens all around you. So if you want to see something, they'll just show it to you. Right? You don't need, that's, now that may never happen, but that's in their minds of what they want to do. But anyway, being Christian makes you independent. You're going to walk in the spirit. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. That's a statement of fact. Once you're saved, you don't walk after the flesh anymore. You walk after the Spirit. It's not a conditional statement. It's a fact statement. Verse 2, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. So you're free from the law. Listen, don't go back to the Old Testament and read the Ten Commandments and think, well, if I just do that, that's not how you're going to please God. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. And if you walk by faith, it's that you're walking in the Spirit. And guess what the Spirit's going to have you do? The right things. The right things. Now, there's different things in the New Testament, like love the brethren. We're not going to talk about that, but that's one of the things. You didn't have brethren, really, in the Old Testament. You had Jews loving each other, probably, and not taking advantage of each other. But in the New Testament church, you have brethren. That's everybody here. And you know what you're supposed to do? You're supposed to forgive them and you're supposed to love them. Say, well, not that person. You're supposed to forgive them and you're supposed to love them. Well, yeah, but Lord, certainly. See what I'm saying? You want to walk in the Spirit and He'll direct you to the right things. They're not necessarily all the Old Testament laws. All right. But anyway, verse three, for what the law could not do, See that for what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh. Wait a minute, we're walking in the spirit, we can do all things through Christ with strength and with me, right? Isn't that what the Bible says? I can do all things through Christ with strength and me. Well, here he's telling you in the Old Testament, you couldn't even do it because your flesh is so weak. That's different. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. pausing on purpose, the Lord condemned the sin in your flesh. You know what the Bible says about your body? You can read down in the chapter, it says you're dead. You're dead and your life is hid in Christ and God. I got that order wrong. We're supposed to reckon ourselves to be dead to this world and alive unto God. And so that's what he's saying there. It says in verse 4, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. How is that? You mean I actually fulfilled the law? I did everything in the law? Yeah, because you received Jesus Christ. And isn't He the one who fulfilled the law? Isn't He the one who came and lived the sinful life? And you couldn't catch Him on any one of the things in the law? Even Satan came and tempted him, and it was impossible. So when we receive that, guess what we've done? Same thing. We've stepped over here. We're no longer under the condemnation. So verse 5. or verse 4, that the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. That's what we do. We don't walk after the flesh anymore, we walk after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded, that's fleshly minded, is death. But to be spiritually minded is life in peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Your flesh cannot do it. If it hasn't been clear already, your flesh cannot fulfill the law. It cannot please God. So then, verse 5, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. So here's the thing, and I was going to give you more, but I don't think I'm going to. I have a lot of things here written down about walking in the Spirit. I'll take you to one other place. Go to 1 Peter chapter 4. And while you're turning to 1 Peter 4, I'll attempt to say another comment to you, which is those works of the flesh that you read about in Galatians, you look at that list. And as you read the Bible, I think if you do what I do, you say, is that me? No, I'm not that. Yeah, that's me. No, I don't do that. Yeah, but I do that. And if you look down that list and you identify all the things on there that you are guilty of, and I'm being serious, you're not guilty of all those things. You know, not everybody is a crook. Not everybody, I mean we all lie, every man's a liar, but we don't all intentionally lie all the time, right? You might be good about that. You may not be a drunkard, you know, so you may look on that list and you say, well, yeah, but that one's me and that one's me. And then what you might want to do is just, and I don't mean to make this a mental exercise necessarily, it's a spiritual exercise, but what you would look at that list and say, When that thing comes my way, when that lust of my flesh comes my way, which cannot please God, which is contrary to God, I recognize that as my enemy. I'm not, what I'm saying is there's a spiritual battle, right? That's very clear in Ephesians, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, right? There are, if we could open our eyes today, I have no doubt there are spiritual forces all around this. Just like, and I look at it like the bugs, the insects. There are, I mean, there's got to be zillions and quadrillions or whatever number you can come up with of insects out there, right? Flying around, and sometimes you see them and sometimes you don't. That's how I look at the spirit world, or I think about the spirit world. They're out there. And I don't know how many God made, but there's a lot of them. There's more than one for every human being, I'm sure, in this planet. And so they're out there, and they're out there trying to get us. And so when those things, they know you, They've known you, they've watched you from a baby. They know what you like to do, what gets you to laugh, what gets you to get sad, what gets you depressed, what gets you happy, what gets you going. And they know John Albrecht very well. I can tell you that. And so what happens is when I get a temptation and when I get a lust that starts to conceive, as the Bible puts it, I recognize it's in that list of a work of the flesh. You get where I'm going with this? And if it's a work of the flesh and the Bible tells me the only thing I got against it is not go more church, you know, or do more of this or do more of that. It's to start to walk in the spirit and to get close to God. And I have a whole list and I'm not I can't preach it today of how do you do that? How do you get more of the spirit versus more of this world? And you don't try to beat it in your flesh. But you recognize, it's a mental exercise, I guess really it is, you recognize that that's just the mechanics of it, right? This is what my body wants to do, versus what maybe your body wants to do, and this is what the Spirit wants me to do, and this is what the body wants me to do. So make a choice. That's really what it comes down to. Pastor preaches all the time, put off the old man and put on the new. You know what that is? That's just a choice. That's just a free will choice. That's just something that at the moment you've got to decide. And so what helps is when we're strong. The stronger we get in fellowship with believers, the more we are in the Bible, the more we are with the right kind of music. I'll give you a short list here. You're in fellowship. You're listening to the right things. You're thinking on the right things. Think on these things. in the book of Philippians. There are a whole bunch of things we can do to keep our minds right so when the temptations come it is a little easier to choose how to walk in the Spirit versus walking in the flesh. I had you in 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 1 and 2. This is a very interesting verse in your Bible. It says, for as much then as Christ hath suffered. Now I was talking to Brother Angus Hath about this the other day, you know, like all this suffering. And we were talking about the situation in Haiti and the idea of, you know, why does God allow it? And Brother Peacock was just talking about what happened to Joseph and how he was hated and kicked off and stripped down and sold off into slavery and how he's falsely accused, he's in jail. And all these years go by and Moses and all these people that God just allowed to suffer. But you know what? Jesus suffered. And you know, part of the suffering, we're going to see, and I said, isn't it interesting how, why, I don't really, I told him, I don't really know why. I don't know why. I know some why. And we're going to look at it right here. For as much then as Christ hath suffered for us, He did it for us. You know that your sin causes you to suffer? Not just a guilty conscience, but it actually kills you. It wears you down. It makes you sick. It can make you physically sick. The world says, don't have any stress in your life. Get rid of all your stress because stress will make you sick. Yeah, that's great. That's nice. The world recognizes that, but so does all the other sins that we do. It makes us sick. You know, it's more likely that you're not going to die of liver failure if you're not a drunk. It's more likely that you're not going to have COPD or some other kind of breathing ailment if you're not a smoker. It's more likely that if you live according to the Bible, you will live a better life, right? Just because you're not doing the things in the world, you're not taking the drugs that they're taking, you're not staying up all hours of the night doing what they're doing, right? You're getting some rest and things like that. So it's very obvious. But anyway, the wages of sin is death, right? I mean, that's very plain. For as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. Now look at this, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. Do you know that's why people become monks and nuns and things like that? because they say, well, I'm just going to go live and I'm just going to go live where nobody else is. And I'm going to I'm not going to speak and I'm not going to see people. And I'm just going to go away and I'm just going to read books and read the Bible and do it. And they do that because of verses like this in their Bible. They think, well, I want to cease from sin. But the point is, and look at verse two, that he should no longer that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh. to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. So all I'm going to say on this, and then we'll actually move on in your paper, is when you suffer in the flesh, you say, well, that Christianity stuff, that's so boring. That Christianity stuff, that's so limiting. I mean, you want to take all the fun out of my life and people don't get saved for that reason. I have a friend, I've told you about him, I'm not going to, I'm going to leave him unnamed, but he's a friend I've known for about 20 years and he will not get saved to this day. He will not get saved and he will admit to me, John, I'm not ready. And I'll say, why aren't you ready? After I just preach him like a 20 minute sermon over the phone. Why aren't you ready? Am I not convincing enough? No, you're convincing enough, but I am not ready. I'm not done living. He says. And people think that the Christian life is so limiting. But I'm going to tell you, you know what the Bible says about it? It says, yeah, absolutely. It's limiting and you're going to suffer. Jesus suffered. Why did he suffer for you? Aren't you glad he suffered for you? Aren't you glad the Bible says he came down and was touched with the feeling of our infirmities? Your sin is dragging you down and he came down and experienced that same drag on his own body. He experienced that same hunger and that thirst and those temptations and the sorrows and the cares of life. He had all of that on him. And you know why he took that? Because he's a faithful creator. And before he ever made Adam, he said, look, if Adam sins before the foundation of the world, I already know what I'm going to do about that. Because I made man in my image. And I love that. And I want to have fellowship with that. In fact, I'm going to have a plan that when they believe on me, I'm going to put them right in my body. And they're going to be part of me. And that's an amazing thing. When we get to heaven, we'll figure that all out. But it's like incomprehensible, his thought process, why he did that, and what he intends to do in the future with that. And I can tell you already what he intends to do with that. You can read the book of Ephesians. He plans to put us on display for all the principalities and powers to look at. You say, well, what's the big deal? The big deal is that is Satan versus Jesus. You are not the big deal. I am not the big deal. I am just in on it. The big deal, if you read the Bible, is who Jesus Christ is versus who has betrayed him. And that is the devil. And so one these days, you know what you're you know what we're saying? I know I'm getting off all these thoughts flood my mind. But you know why you're saved? You why you get saved the way you get saved. You're a provocation to who? The Jews, Israel, Romans chapter 11, you read that, how that we're a provocation to Israel because we get in on the blessings that they didn't want. Do you know it's a bigger story than that? Do you know what the bigger story is? Hey Satan, look what I'm going to do for these dirt balls. I'm going to make them out of the dust of the ground that you didn't want. I gave you that planet, now I know we're going back to Genesis here, 1. And if you weren't here, I might be confusing you, but I gave you that planet and I gave you those sons of God and I gave you all the opportunity and you didn't take it. So I raised someone up out of the dirt and I made them and I made them in my image. I didn't make them like you. I made them like me. And so what I'm going to do for them, I'm going to show you what I'm going to do for them. Wait till I show you my glory one of these days and they'll be put, you'll be put on display for Satan to look at for all of eternity and just grint his teeth the whole time. I mean that's God's plan and I'm glad to be in on it. I'm happy to be in on it. I'm glad I'm not making the devil my father and I make God the father my father through Jesus Christ. But anyway, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. So if you want to get rid of sin out of your life, guess what? It isn't going to be free. You're going to suffer for it. And so that war that's going on between the two men, the two natures in you, it's just going to be, guess what? I hate to give you the good news this morning, but your life is going to be suffering. You're going to want that so bad and you're going to wish for that so bad and you're going to say, why can't I? And it's going to come right down to, are you willing to suffer for Jesus like He was willing to suffer for you? That's really what it boils down to. Say, John, are you good at that? You're preaching that. No. I don't like to suffer. I don't want to suffer. I don't do well at this. But I'm going to guess that you're just like me and that you don't do so well at it either. But that's just the reality of it. So we'll move on from that idea. That's the idea though of idolatry. Now let's go down, because we're on that path, let's skip down to the point where Laban is dealing with his idolatry. Let's go down to Genesis 31, 22, where it says Genesis 31, 22. And we'll probably just wrap it up with this. Genesis 31 verse 22. Jacob had already made up his mind to leave. We won't talk about that right now. Rachel had stolen her father's gods and I think she just did it for spite. I think if you read the context she was saying that my father sold us, he didn't care about us and there's a lesson in there, I have it on your sheet. Fathers be careful, be careful that you don't go out there and earn so much money in this world to take care of your family that you're not a father. and that you avoid your family and you're always gone. And if you're always gone, then that's not going to be good. Well, I'm providing for them. Well, then how much do you need? And so he did that, Laban did that, and his daughters were bitter and they said, he sold us. And so we have no inheritance. So they left. Jacob finally left. He broke off the relationship as he should have done. And as he left, Rachel stole her father's gods. Now, the lesson there, again, I said I wasn't going to get into it, but the lesson there is whenever you decide, this is a real good lesson, whenever you decide to break off something with somebody, just do it clean. Just break it off. Don't have to be the one that puts in the last word or the last dig or to steal something. Those are mine and that belongs to me so I'm taking it. Just leave and leave empty handed. Leave the situation and leave it as clean as you can. You don't have to be the one to get the last final word in there. And I think that's what she was trying to do to her father. But anyway, verse 22. It says, And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. And he took his brethren with him and pursued after them seven days' journey, and they overtook him in the Mount Gilead. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob, either good or bad. Can you recall back a little ways in Genesis where that phrase shows up already? Now I do because I've been studying it. But back when Rebecca was taken for Isaac, Laban is the one who said, we're not going to speak good or bad about this. And so God gives him those same words that he said about what God was doing back then and reminding him of who he is. Hey, listen, I remember those words you speak. I'm telling you now you don't speak them here either. towards Jacob. And here he is running after Jacob, mad because Jacob is leaving, but also mad because my gods are gone. And here the real God shows up to him and reminds him of words that, remember how God, we started this lesson out, God reminds you of who He is? He's always going to remind you that He's the real God, the right God. And if He can remember what you said, you know, years and years ago to the very word, don't you think that you should not be so concerned about your gods anymore? that maybe this is the God I ought to pay attention to. So verse 25 he says, Then Laban overtook Jacob, and now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done? that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword. Wherefore didst thou leave, and flee away secretly, and steal away from me? And didst not tell me that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, and with tabernum, and with harp?" Yeah, sure you would. Verse 28, and remember, when you read things in the Bible, they can be sarcastic. He wasn't ever going to do that. You have to kind of know the character of the character, right? And then you would realize that that's sarcastic. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt. But the God of your father spake unto me yesterday night saying, notice how he's still jabbing him. Those are my kids. Those are my daughters. Those are my cattle. And I have the power to do you wrong. I could hurt you right now. But God said, don't speak good or bad. Well, you're sure getting it in there, aren't you? And so we do that, don't we? Now, okay, you're forgiven. You're forgiven. But let me tell you something. But I forgive you. I forgive you. But let me just remind you. That's the idea here, right? That's kind of hypocritical, isn't it? I mean, is that really forgiving when we... Let me just tell you what's wrong with you. But, you know, I forgive you. But let me just tell you what's wrong with you. and let me demean you and put you down and push you down so that you never want to do it again, but I forgive you." You know, that's not the Bible method. The Bible method is instruction, and if it's a child, the Bible is to spank them. Spank the foolishness out of them. Put the fear of God into them that way. But anyway, where did I stop reading? Verse 29, It is the power of my hand to do you hurt, but the God of your father spake to me yesterday night, saying, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob, either good or bad. and now thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longest after thy father's house. Yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?" Now Laban just encountered the real God and he quoted the real God. He showed up in my dream and he told me not to speak good or bad and I'm fearful of him. I remember him from back when your mother was trying to marry your father and he quoted me and he came to me and told me and I told him I wouldn't speak good or bad but where's my gods? I mean what kind of a person wants their gods after knowing the real God? Now, wait a minute, before we indict Laban, right, we go to church and as soon as church is over, boy, we go right back to our gods. You say, where's my gods? Where's my tennis rackets? I mean, I need to play. I mean, I have stuff to do. Forget about church. right? So we can be just like that. As foolish as it looks when we read about it from other people, we can do the same things. Go to Isaiah chapter 44 and we'll just wrap it up here. Isaiah 44. This is what God says about this stuff. And it will show you how stupid we are. Sorry for using that word, but we're dumb. What was that word? Dumb dogs. Isaiah 44 and look at starting in verse 15. Look at verse 14. Isaiah 44, 13, The carpenter stretcheth out his rule, he marketh it out with a line, he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with a compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest. He planteth an ash, and rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn, for he will take thereof, and warm himself. Yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread. Yea, he maketh a god, and worshipeth it. He maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire, with part thereof he eateth flesh, he roasteth roast, and is satisfied, yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire, and the residue thereof he maketh a God, even his graven image, and falleth down unto it, and worshipeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my God. And then look at verse 18. They are neither known nor understood. For he that hath shut their eyes that they cannot see, and their hearts that they cannot understand, and none considereth in his heart. Neither is there any knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned a part of it in the fire. Yea, I have also baken bread upon the coals thereof. I have roasted flesh and eaten it, and I shall make the residue thereof an abomination. Shall I fall down to the stalk of a tree? Now guys, you don't have to go far in this world to go into, you can go into tourist traps all around this country and you can find the little God statues that people want to buy. And you can go all over this world and you can see all the Buddha statues and whatever other statues and you don't have to go far to see that people just make these things out of rocks and out of the, I just, well what should we do with the rest of this log, we just had dinner, well let's just turn it into a God. Let's fall down and worship it. How stupid is that? Right? And God's mocking it in this chapter and He's saying, they don't even know. And because they don't know, one of the things we need to know about God is because they don't know, but they do it anyway, I'll make them even more blind. Because they see, I'll make them that they see not. Because they hear, I'll make them that they hear not. I'll blind them even more. Because they want to keep going down the path of their ignorance. But I hope we understood the moral of today's lesson, which is the idolatry. You say, well, idolatry, that's Old Testament stuff. That's Bible stuff. No one's an idolater anymore. Well, think again. Because we're just as bad as Laban going after those gods. We're just as much guilty. It's a work of the flesh. Don't tell me it's not in you. It's in you, it's in me to worship something other than God, to desire something other than God, to think that this is second best, that this life is like, okay, I gotta do it. That's wrong thinking. You know when those things happen that you're in the flesh and you have a list of the things given to you in the Bible of what the works of the flesh are. And when you recognize, when you read that list, maybe you read it every day, and you read that list and you say, Yeah. And just be honest with yourself. Right. That's one of the things people can't seem to do. Just don't. I'm just not going to be honest with myself. I'm going to ignore that. Don't show me that. I don't even want to look at that. Don't talk to me about that. Don't preach to me. Well, the Lord says that he wants people to preach, preach the word. And if we don't preach the word, people aren't going to get woken up to it. And if they don't recognize on that list, well, yeah, I'm doing that's on that list. I'm doing that. So, what should I do about that? Well, I can make a choice. I can keep doing that, and I know if I keep doing that, I'm in the flesh. And they that are in the flesh cannot please God. So, okay, I choose that. Say, well, I didn't really choose it, it was an accident. No, you chose it. We all choose it. We all have a free will. There's no divine anyone making us do anything. They're influencing you, but they're not making you. Say, well, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to make a conscious effort today to do what the Bible says in Romans chapter 8, to walk in the Spirit and see if I can't just beat that flesh of mine and feed the white dog instead of feeding the black dog. Alright, time is up, so we'll stop there. Thank you, Lord.