All right, so I wanna go back to Galatians, the second chapter, Galatians, the second chapter, and I wanna read out of a different translation today, verses 17 through 19. Galatians, the second chapter, verses 17 through 19. Amen. I wish I could say, when you have it, say amen. Amen. The Word of God reads in the second chapter, but suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Paul's response here through the Holy Spirit is absolutely not. Rather, he says, verse 18, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I have already tore down. Verse 19 says, for when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law. Mm-hmm. I stopped trying to meet all its requirements. Watch this. So that I might live for God. Amen. I want to pretty much teach on that last part. Living for God by not trying to meet all the requirements. A lot of us, when we get saved, We try to do everything right, and we realize that we fail. We are newly saved. We're excited for God. And then, as time goes on, we start to realize that there is still an old you. And so I want to talk to you this morning from the title, Battling the Other Me. Battling the Other Me. If you're honest with yourself, we're going to be relaxed today, I'm just going to be real with you. If I'm honest with myself and you're honest with yourself, when you got saved, that was not the end of your battle with sin. Amen? We are positionally placed in Christ. So here's the thing. You cannot take my salvation. It's done, it's final. Jesus said it's finished on the cross. Amen. He paid for it all. God was not going to accept some kind of partial payment from Jesus to deal with sin. God had been dealing with sin long enough. Amen? And in the Kairos moment, when Jesus came to the earth, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life before God and man so that we could see what God looked like through Jesus Christ. Amen? Then went to the cross, died on the cross, paid for our sins. That was the payment once and for all time for everyone who would believe in Jesus Christ. So here's the thing. Sin has been paid for. The question is, by faith, do you have your receipt? Do you have your proof of salvation? And what I mean by that is, are you certain that you are saved? Have you received Christ? Have you repented of your sins? Have you turned from your wickedness? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ to save you, leaning on His goodness? And not your own, because as I said, your battle with sin, if you're honest, is not over. I don't know about you, but I deal with it all the time. Some people say, well, you know, hey, pastor, I don't do what I used to do. No, you don't. But every now and then, the thought comes about what you used to do. And you have to get your mind off of those things. Like it says in Philippians, think on these things. Those things that are true. Those things that are virtuous. Those things that are a good report. Those things that are lovely. You have to think on those things that are godly. Amen? But sin will come. As my dad used to say, he would get through preaching, and then a thought would come right after that, and he'd be like, what was that? I thought that I was OK for the day. and you find that you're still dealing with the old you, the other you. It is ever-present. Paul said, for when I tried to keep the law, and Paul was a Jew of Jews, he was the top Pharisee. He was Mr. Holiness himself. He was, you know, everybody knew that Paul was zealous for God, even though he had the wrong idea of who God was and was completely confused as to what to do. He ended up calling himself the chief of sinners because of what he did to the church. But he said something that he tried to keep the law. When he tried, the law condemned him. Why? Well, the law is perfect for converting the soul. The soul needs the law because the law shuts the mouths of everybody. And it causes everybody to go, well, you know what? No matter how good I get in my aspirations to be sinless, sin is with me. And I still battle. I still deal with it. And so Paul, being as zealous as he was, and I personally believe that Jesus Christ, this is just me personally, I believe Jesus Christ personally used Paul because he was so dogmatic. He was so emphatic about everything. He was right about everything. He was dotting every I and crossing every T, and he was trying to make sure he did everything right. And then when he understood the heart of the law, he said the law condemned him. Even his best wasn't good enough. And I don't know about you, but Paul did all kinds of missionary journeys and all kinds of things and was used to write a bulk of the New Testament. Ain't none of us touching Paul. None of us. And Paul says that even with his track record, the law still condemned him. So he says he died to the law. Meaning, he says, I stopped trying to meet all its requirements. Do this, do that, make sure you don't do this, make sure you don't do that, make sure, you know, all of that basically was coming from Paul himself, you and me. our own effort in trying to please God and trying to do everything right. When we go up against the law, we lose every single time because in this flesh dwelleth, thank you, Holy Spirit, no good thing. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. So to throw up our effort in front of God is pointless. Amen? That's why he sent Jesus Christ. Why? So that, verse 19, I might live for God. I might live for God. So there's no contradiction in what Jesus is telling all of us to do here. Don't live in the law. Live in grace. Live in my power. Paul says he had to tear down that old system that he came from in order to really live. Some of us are so burdened, so bound, You know, let me just skip ahead a little bit. Galatians, it's got two sides. It's basically pointed us right in the middle, in the sweet spot, as I call it. Because what happens with a lot of people is they are either excited about the grace of God, so they swing all the way left into just total liberalism, and end up in bondage from the habits and the sin that begins to dominate them or we swing hard right in our own effort and end up in bondage where there's no love relationship with Jesus Christ because I'm just sick and tired of doing everything myself because you get to the point where it's just like I'm just going to do and do and do and do and you can't even rest in the relationship. Not only that, you become hard and callous and you singe people with your holiness and you end up putting a lot of people in bondage along with you. Well, you're doing this, you're doing that, you're doing that, you can't be doing that. No, no, no, no. There's some things that we are not supposed to do, but here's the thing. Saints, this thing is, this Christian walk is supposed to be walked out through the power of the Holy Spirit, where he will let you know the fine-tuning. Don't take your car to the mechanic and work on it yourself. Let the Holy Spirit who knows what he's doing work on you. Amen? Okay, I would make some adjustments to please people. That's what the Pharisees did. I would make sure that whenever you saw me, I looked a certain way. I mean, every time you caught me, I looked holy, but it was not always a representation of what was happening privately, but I would make those adjustments in front of people, and that's hard on the believer. That's hard on the believer. Jesus says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, but my yoke is easy. Huh? My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Well, what's happening? I want you to live, to just live by faith. I want you to live in me. Romans 3.23, where are you going with this, Pastor? Well, in our church, we've dealt with the question of whether or not we are sinners saved by grace, whether or not we are saints, whether or not we are people who because we are now in Christ Jesus should we no longer classify ourselves as sinners. And some people, you know, you don't go to hell if you get this wrong. Okay, you don't go to hell if you disagree with me on how I would like to title the believer. I'm just saying from my personal experience since I have not been sinless. Now, I'm not saying I'm out there doing what I used to do. I'm saying that God has cleaned quite a bit of my act up and I am amazed by that, but I am also key in understanding who did the cleaning. I'm also very, very aware of what I could do before and what I can do now. And there's a major difference, and I know that the difference is not my effort, because my effort landed me in the same place that it landed Paul, condemned. So what I'm saying here is some people would say, well, now that we are in Christ Jesus, we are in the family of God, we are baptized, our sins are washed away, we are redeemed, we are bought back from darkness and placed into the marvelous light. Some people would say, I no longer classify myself as a sinner. I would say yeah Jesus Christ is his blood is covering you and you are a believer and you are now in the family you are redeemed that is very true but I would also say that how was your week last week did you do everything perfect because if you didn't and you're not sinless then you're a sinner who needs grace amen you're a sinner who needs grace so here's the thing Give me Romans 7, 14, and 20, because I'm going to balance this a little bit. And I hope I'm not getting ahead of my study. I'm going to balance this a little bit. All right. So in Romans 7, verses 14 through 20, there's a should do, would do verses. And a lot of us are used to that. I'm going to read out of a different Translation. One second. Not that one. I don't trust that one. This one. Let's go. All right. One second. Here we go. Verse 14 Romans 7 says this struggling with sin. I love that they titled it for me. That's great. So the trouble verse 14 says so the trouble is not with the law for the law for the spiritual and good the trouble is with me. I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself for what I want to do, for I want to do what is right, you see that? But I don't do it. You know, I set out to have a great week, I set out to do what is right. I set out to control my tongue. I set out to think on the right thoughts. I try and I do my best, okay? And then he says, but I don't really understand myself. He says, verse 15, oh no, 16, here we go. If I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong, it is sin, uh-oh, living in me that does it. Now, here's where we gotta make the separation. I am saved, you are, the believer is saved, and yet, Paul says, there is yet sin living in him that does the things that he should not do, says the things he should not say, thinks the things he should not think. And verse 18 says, and I know that nothing good lives in me that is in my sinful nature. He's making a separation. There is the side of Paul or the believer that is trusting God and walking with God, and then there's this other thing that's always trying to take control. Amen? I want to do what's good, but I don't. Verse 18. I know it's my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. I'm going to read all 18 chapters of the Bible today. And the phone rings. And then Facebook calls me. And then, like I used to be, my TV show that I can record. I could watch it later, but that's in the way. You hear me? There's these things. But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one that, let me read that again. But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong. It is sin living in me that does it. Are you hearing that, saints? Are you hearing? I discovered this principle of life, that when I want to do what's right, I inevitably do what's wrong. There's another side to, hear me saints, the bishop of bishops. The greatest pastor in the world has a side that he has to deal with. And the truth is, is that I may want to think of myself and should think of myself as a believer who is saved by grace and I have the power to do what God has called me to do. And then I also have to be honest with myself and say, there are times and seasons and moments, possibly during just in one week, where I struggle and I have to fight. Amen? I have to fight. I have to fight to do what's right. Amen? Here's the thing. Why does God allow this? Why does God allow this? Get me 2 Corinthians 12, 7 and 9. 2 Corinthians 12, 7 and 9. It reads this, same translation, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God, so to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me, or as the King James says, to buffet me, to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. There it is in an essence right there. The believers have to learn that we need to rest in Jesus Christ for everything here. He is this is not some regular Christian here. This is a man who is mightily used by God. We would say that Paul's level of achievement is way the bar set way way high and here he is saying that you know, I even get great revelations from God. I know stuff that nobody knows. I talk to God in a way that people, I'm on Moses' level. Are you hearing me, saints? I hear, Paul was given the revelation of the mystery. He unlocked the revelation. The Holy Spirit gave him the understanding of what was happening even between the Jew and the Gentile, and how the enmity was put away, and how we are all one in Christ. God gave that to Paul. And Paul is saying that I'm getting all this revelation, and God only knows what else he got. And he's saying, but to keep me from becoming proud, I got this little problem. Got this issue. I got this situation. And we don't know what it is. There's been so many people who have tried to label this. The Holy Spirit very wisely did not tell us what it is so that we could all relate to it. Amen? So here's the thing. In order to keep me from being proud, God has allowed me to have, oh wow. Not that God agrees with it. God's allowed me to have the storm. And verse eight says, three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. And each time he said, here we go, right here. Keyword, my grace is all you need. My grace is sufficient. My power works best in weakness. So he says, so now I'm glad to boast about my weakness so that the power of Christ can work through me. Here's the thing, saints. This thing, in some way that we can't really understand, works to keep us humble, to keep us on our knees, to keep us praying, to keep us trusting, to keep us leaning on God, because the bottom line is when your record is clear, sometimes you get a little puffed up. When your record's been wiped out and cleaned off, and all your dirt has been, you know, can't even be read, and God looks at you through the eyes of Jesus, sometimes we forget where we come from, sometimes we forget that we stood. things we deal with and we treat people in ways and talk to folks in ways we probably, that are kind of nasty and kind of, you know, not Christian-like. Why? Because we've forgotten. We've forgotten that Christ has cleaned us up. So, here's the thing. What happens is the Lord allows us to struggle. He allows us to struggle, and the struggle keeps me humble. It keeps you humble. And when the person that comes to you and they're struggling, and they're dealing with sin, your come across will be a lot more godly and more Christ-like when you have something that you're praying and leaning on God for, just like they are. Huh? So here's the thing, so that I don't get caught up in who I think I am and whatever. I'm a new creature in Christ Jesus, but if I'm going to be haughty and cocky and nasty to folks and forget where I came from, that's not going to help the kingdom at all. That's actually putting a black eye on the kingdom. So what does God do? He says, no, no, no. You can pray about it all you want, but some stuff the Lord may not take. There's some stuff the Lord may allow you to struggle with. There's some stuff the Lord is going to have you to keep looking at Jesus so you don't sink. Huh? You can walk on water this week, but you got to keep your eyes on Jesus because the moment you take your eyes off Him, that's when blip, blip, blip, blip. Amen? Amen. My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weakness. Huh? I'll never forget. I was on tour, and I was boasting about the fact that I didn't do certain things in myself like everybody else. I'm the church kid. I'm the Hawkins kid. I don't do that. I don't get down like that. And I got in the elevator, and I went upstairs in my room with my cocky, sanctified self. And the very next night, the very next city, God allowed me to see just how powerful I really was. And I failed. I was broken. My little ego was crushed. And I learned right then and there that I am a sinner saved by grace, and I better learn how to lean on that grace. Amen? Because my law-keeping didn't save me. God just pulled back the protection just a little bit, and I got a chance to see who Jamie Hawkins really was without James. Amen? I'll never forget it. That lesson is seared in my mind, so much so that I am trusting in the grace of God. Now, I don't use that as an excuse, but I realize that that weakness is the key. That humility is the key to me getting out of Jesus's way. So that Jesus can work through me and how I live is not by the law. I live by faith. I live trusting him. I want to live in Jesus Christ. That's how this is done. I live in Jesus Christ by trusting in his strength and recognizing my own weakness, which means that that getting caught out there. You know, it can still happen, and it does happen, but not to the level that it used to because I'm on guard. I know myself, and I know the power of God. I have seen ways of escape made. This week, even, with thoughts and attitudes and, you know, no, I don't sleep around, and no, I don't do drugs, and no, I don't drink, but that's not the only sin. You know, we got attitude issues. We got anger management issues. We got, you know, I live in a house full of people. I have to stay on point. I better be filled with the Holy Ghost all the time. Are you hearing me? Because there's some things that can come out of me that are not Christ-like, and if I'm cocky, then I'm not trusting in Him. If I'm not a person who is leaning on Jesus Christ, then what will happen is I will fall. I'll misrepresent. So that's the God part. Now here's the other part. When you're dealing with the other you, we are leaning on Jesus Christ, and that humility causes us to lean on Jesus Christ, amen? And understanding that no matter how deep we get in God, we need to make sure that we lean on Jesus Christ, because there will always be something there, because in this flesh dwelleth no good thing, and that Jesus Christ may take some things away, and then some things he will not, some things he will allow us to struggle with. Got all that? That's the God part. Here's the you part. Turn to Ephesians 5.18. Now that I know, this is one of my favorite scriptures, let me end it here. Now that I know that it's not me, that it's the power of God, it's grace, it's not my rule keeping that's keeping me. Now that I know that, that will say to me, well, let's not take this grace for granted. Amen? Let's not take this grace for granted. Let's not be in a position where we place ourselves in harm's way, where we do damage to our soul. Amen? By doing, by running into the things, the very things that Jesus saved us from. Amen? Ephesians 5, 18 says, don't be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, as I have grown, I was very dogmatic about this scripture. And I can expose that to you. Now it's very dogmatic about this scripture because I grew up, let me just be very, very careful how I say this. I grew up in a way where Pastor Hawkins will not drink. I won't touch it. I've never been drunk in my life. I've had sips of wine. I've seen people throw up, and I'm just not interested in that. I've seen people do crazy things and cannot remember what they did. And I've seen people do terrible things to people and say terrible things to people that they can't take back. And it was not them. There was this demonic spirit on them. when they were drinking. And the alcohol was used as a gateway to get them there. And so what I have done with my life is I have decided I don't drink anything. I drink water, juice, and that's it. And I don't say that to be proud. I'm just saying that's what I've learned. The Holy Spirit has let me know that. I don't feel like I have an addictive personality in that area. I just seen what happens and I decided of staying clear of it. And I used to go around telling everybody else don't you even have White Zinfandel. I mean, I don't even want to see it. Don't even eat it with your fish. No, don't drink it. Don't drink nothing. Don't. Nothing. And that was where I was. And some of y'all remember that. Now, where I'm at right now is I'm seeing a little bit differently now. We grow. I still don't drink. I still don't want y'all to drink, OK? But here's the thing. As it says here, that will ruin your life, but there's an option. He says, instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. So the emphasis is not on stop drinking. The emphasis is be filled. Are you hearing me? So now I'm moving from the law, the legal thing, you know, don't do this, don't do that, to, okay, well, what do you want me to do, Holy Spirit? I'm not even focused on the do's and don'ts too much. I'm focused on what do you want me to do? How are you leading Jamie Hawkins? Can I get so in tune with you to where I walk step step-by-step by the Holy Spirit. And if I am filled with the Spirit, I'm not going to go into a bunch of stuff that's sinful. But my mind is not on working to make sure I don't do what is wrong. My mind is on how can I walk step-by-step with the Holy Spirit so I'm always with Him and I ain't tripping off of what's wrong. I just do what's right because I'm with Him. Why? Because He's flowing through me. Why? I live in faith. I live in the grace. I'm not living by the law. I live with the Holy Spirit, so much so that, you know, he's got me thinking about other things. You know, my attitude problem. Some of us can be very defeated, cynical, everything, the sky is falling. I'm having a horrible week. I had a horrible week last week. I'm having a horrible, horrible week this week, and I'm probably going to have a horrible week next week. Well, that's a horrible witness for the kingdom. Where's the joy? Huh? I've had to start realizing I don't need to compare myself to nobody else. I need to just rest in Jesus and what he's done and know that he's loved me. And if I just walk in that love, that love will flow out of me. So what? I'm being filled with the spirit. Now there's a mechanical way to do that. It's not just feel, feel, feel, feel. Okay, there's something we actually physically do, and I'm gonna end here. Talking about dealing with the other you here. Colossians 3.16, which is the twin scripture of Ephesians 5.18. Give me Colossians 3.16. Ooh, I can't believe this is coming out like this. Pray the Lord. Colossians 3.16, here we go. Let the message about Christ and all his riches Fill your lives. Are you seeing that? Just that first part. In fact, you know what? Go back to Ephesians 5.18 and get me the King James Version. I'm gonna read it out of that real quick. And then we'll go back to Colossians 3.16. Okay, don't be drunk with wine. Because that would ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. And then it goes into... Let's see here. 518. There. Then it goes into... singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves and making music in your heart to the Lord's, right? You see that? Okay, and I'm in a wrong translation. Here we go. Get back to the right translation. Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick. There we go. Yes, okay, so, and don't be drunk with wine, weariness is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Then it goes into submission of the wives and the husband, amen. Now, go into Colossians 3.16. And what we see there is verse 16 says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in songs and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. So as I said, it's not just a. Feel something. It's something we actually put into practice. How do I feel myself, myself? Be filled. That's something, okay, I don't want to get into that. But be filled with the Spirit. Amen? That's a command. Amen? That's telling you something. We are indwelled by the Holy Spirit in salvation, but he's saying on a continual basis, be filled with the Spirit. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. That's how you do it. How do I change my thoughts? I let the Word. of God, the Word of Christ dwell richly in you. And then I sing to myself. I sing songs, spiritual songs. I'm setting the atmosphere. A lot of people want to come to church and set the atmosphere. Why don't we do that in our own homes? Set the atmosphere in your own home. Set the conditions. Make the conditions right. You come into the house, and if it's too cold, you turn up the heat. And same thing with you. If you're feeling kind of cold spiritually, turn up the heat. How do you do it, pastor? Get in your Word. How do you do it, pastor? Sing a song of the Lord. How do you do it? Pray. Get on your knees. Commune with God. Huh? But get that word in you so we know what we're talking about here, so that we're correct in our theology, so we're correct about how we see God, how we see ourselves. Huh? This is how we do this. That way, I'm in balance. Are you hearing me? I'm in balance. And that's what we're talking about today. Galatians is getting ready to shift gears in just a minute. We're going to start talking about the part that we do. how we begin to participate with God, not in a legalistic, claiming credit way, but in how we walk step by step with the Holy Spirit, and you know, you'll, I don't know about you, but you'll feel him nudge you. Turn that TV off. Don't you think you, hey, spend some time with me. Every believer needs to feel that. And then, here's the other thing. You feel, F-I-L-L, your mind with his thoughts, with his word. Are you hearing me? And that begins to give you the balance. That begins to give you the balance. Because you don't want to set a prison over here because of grace. And you don't want to misunderstand the grace and set a prison over here where you become legalistic, where you got either your habits over here that's causing bondage? Or are you causing this really rigid relationship that's all about your effort? It's a prison. Are you hearing me? How do you deal with the other you? I'm a sinner saved by grace. That's who I am. You may say that you don't want to give yourself that title. Okay. As long as you understand this, that you're leaning on them. for everything, for how you think, for how you live. You're leaning on that grace. We all got our thorns, don't we? Some of us got several. Some of us got quite a few. And we're deciding which ones the Lord should take so that they, you know, we want to cherry pick which ones he wants to deal with because some of them are more embarrassing than others. But the Holy Spirit, he's the mechanic, he's the doctor, he knows which ones that he's most concerned about and which ones that need to be taken from you and the other ones that you just need to go ahead and struggle with to keep you in check. Huh? Because here's the thing, a humble Christian leaning on Jesus is way more useful than a Christian who does everything right and has no humility and no grace and there's no love coming from them because all their efforts takes all the credit for everything that actually God is really doing. Are you hearing me, saints? Are you hearing me? I want you to be free. This book of Galatians is about freedom. It's about freedom. free from the law and free from me.