Paul
Our God Saves
Not To Us (half time/double time Lindy)
Revelation 10,000*10,000=100,000,000 angels
Niche movement of Christianity, when there’s thousands and millions of angels
Love Song
How Great Is Our God with a chaser of How Great Thou Art
Jon
Galatians 5:16-26
16 But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions,
21 envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24 Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another.
These attributes reflect God in us
Self-control is not a single entity that we pull in
We all have breaking points
Sometimes we snap with our tongues or our emotions or our habits
The flesh is nit our physical body
These are physical things, but not entirely physical – envy, fits of anger are emotional
1 Corinthians – athletes
Greco-Roman culture raced for physical, perishable wreaths
Christians change for an imperishable prize
I run this race for the sake of the entire body, the community, to remove backbiting
Galatians 5:24 Why are we crucifying our desires? For Christ Jesus
To the Greeks, all other virtues came out of self control
I’m doing this for me, it’s good for me to have virtue
Stoic approach
Stoics appear to have self control
Stoicism is masking itself as the counterfeit of self control
Self control comes when you want more than yourself
Not just exercising self control to get something for yourself
Matthew 12:43-45
Demonically oppressed person
…
Addictions stem from self-loathing
Simply want to run a marathon
His body gets into a place where he can run the marathon
Did it make him feel better about himself? Yes
Did it help with his addiction? Yes
He actually achieved a standard that he set for himself
Teaching kids to get control at the expense of his pride
Shown him subconsciously to care about what others think of him
All you need to do is get in control of your self esteem
Pressure of self is terrific and crushing
Heroes is someone who sets fear and self aside and does something for someone else
A self-appealing person isn’t aware of self focus
Self control comes when you want something more than yourself
Our society has never had more troubles with self control
Think of all the disorders in society that weren’t around 50 years ago
We see it everyday
I’m just going to be stoic
That doesnt work in the long run – it’s self control without God
Proverbs 25:28 – Like a city that is broken down and without a wall, so is a person who cannot control his temper.
Hatred can grow into murder
Envy cab grow into paranoia
Rationalization grows into lies
Lust grows into adultery
Human heart needs a wall to contain these seed that want to grow into other things
Ephesians 2:8
Craving actually means command
Your flesh commands you to do things
Mentor told him just because you think you’re done with a sin, doesn’t mean the sin is done with you
Cats hide before pouncing – same with sin
The flesh is sending commands to your heart
Inside the human heart is an idol workshop – these are the things I need in life
Takes the blessings of others and turns them into gotta-haves
You need to achieve this or you are dirt
These are deep in the human heart
Flesh doesn’t sit back and say it’s a good idea to lust after someone – it commas you to lust
Problem with a lot of Christians – Knee jerk reaction to call really bad things like addictions Satan and shout at it (“be gone Satan”, etc)
Your flesh is making commands not suggestions
He knows demon possession is real
But if you sit there and say you’re possessed…you’re not
If you’ve been reading about mental retardation, it doesn’t make you retarded
Three enemies – world, flesh,devil
World = now-ism
Flesh go after your self
And you call yourself a Christian
Christian conversion is the planting of the fruit of the spirit
Holiness is seen through the prism of the fruit of the spirit
Self control is the ability to pick the important thing over the urgent thing
Get in touch with who I am
Seek joy in others and you will find it in yourself
Seek first the kingdom of God
Stop looking for yourself
Look for Him and you will find out who you really are
As I chase the heart of God I gain self control
1. Envision long-term goals
Not on it to win it – in it for Christ and the church
Paul envisioned what He wants
Run to gain Christ and lose myself
Sin is an infection of the imagination
What you see controls you and you give
It comes from meditation, from seeing
Acts 23 High priest slaps Paul, Paul says God’s going to white wash you, you wall
Exodus 12/28 – don’t revile a ruler
Corinthians 9
For Christ’s sake
Do you have a friend you can call to fight the urges?
Self control comes from looking at Jesus Christ
Nothing will deter Me from going to the cross
Chooses the important thing over tue urgent thing
You’ll have a wall around your city and control
Paul
Surrender and letting go of what we think is important
I Surrender All
Jolene
Quote from book – western people have so much that they don’t need God
