1. Loving one another! (John 13:35) – “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

(1John 3:17,18,23) “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth…. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

There we have it. Loving others is the key to really loving God. Do you love others?

2. Loving God’s way! (1Cor 13:6,7) – “….Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.”

This is the biblical definition of love? What is your definition of love?

3. Loving the Lord! (Matt 22:37,38) – “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Loving the Lord is probably easier than loving all of our neighbors, wouldn’t you think? Are there any neighbors that you don’t love?

Introduction: Are you doing what you can in serving the Lord? Just do what you can. Don’t worry about what you cannot do, just do what you can!

Learn about this special woman who Jesus commended; she did what she could.

1. Will you do what you can in serving the Lord? (Mark 14:8) – “She hath done what she could.”

She did what she could even though others thought it was a waste. The world will look at you while serving Jesus Christ and think it is a waste. But it is not according to Him.

Here is a promise.

Plus, not only will Jesus come back for us but He will take us to the Father’s house that He built!

Imagine that. 

3. That Day we will see our love ones and that will be GOOD! (1Thess 4:16,17) – “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

What a glorious reunion that will be! We can hardly wait. It is going to be great!!

Conclusion: The lesson: Do what you can now because it will matter later!

Keep up the good work. 

Introduction: Are we in a fight or what? Do you feel the war within, not only with principalities and powers but also from the flesh?

1. How can you tell we are in a FIGHT? (Gal 5:16) – “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

First of all, look at the word “walk”. It is the word περιπατέω, (per-ee-pat-eh’-o). It means to conduct my life, or the way we live. So we are to “walk” in the Spirit. In so doing, we will not fulfill the “lust” of the flesh.

The word “lust” is ἐπιθυμία,(ep-ee-thoo-mee’-ah). It means to desire, or an eagerness for; it can mean an inordinate desire, or simply put lust. Please notice the desire “lust” is for the FLESH.

2. Who wins the Fight? (Gal 5:17-21) – “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye 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, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, 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.”

Wow! This is an ugly description of the bad fruit of the Flesh.

• Sexual Sins
• Satanic Sins
• Shameless Sins
• Selfish Sins

3. How can we win the Fight? (Gal 5:22-24) – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

The words “have crucified” are σταυρόω (stow-ro’-o). It can mean to fence with stakes, or to fix to the cross. Lastly it can mean to mortify. In other words, this is a divine act but must be activated by faith thru the Holy Spirit. Obviously, there is more to it than space will allow at this point.

Conclusion: The Big Fight is on! However, as we have explored, the Lord Jesus has already made provisions for His children to overcome the flesh and “walk” in the Spirit (Gal 5:25).

See this word “walk στοιχέω (stoy-kheh’-o). It means to be in rows, or to walk by rule.

Keep walking brother, keep walking sister, until we see Jesus!

1. Pray according to the Will of God! (1John 5:14,15)

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

When we are not sure from a biblical perspective what God’s will is in the matter we should pray in faith for wisdom and grace to accept His divine purpose. Will you do that right now?

2. Pray in faith because our Lord knows what is best! (Mark 11:22-24)

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

1. Sit Back – and know that God is in control! (Psa 46:10)

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

With all the suffering and injustice going on in our world, it seems like God is not in control. But remember. We are free moral agents. Secondly, we live in a sin-cursed world.

2. Relax – the Lord will be exalted in all the earth! (Psa 46:10)

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

• Our Shepherd, (Psa 23:1)
• Our Friend (Prov 18:24)
• Our Redeemer (Job 19:25)
• Our Life (Col 3:4)
• Our Savior (Acts 4:12)
• Our Lord (Phil 2:10,11)
• Our Lover (Gal 2:20)

Introduction: Will it hurt anything to fellowship with unbelievers? That does not mean talk and reach out to them. It means support and sometimes incorporate their practices which are contrary to a believer in Jesus Christ.

1. Unequally Yoked (2Cor 6:14-16)

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

The words “unequally yoked” is the word ἑτεροζυγέω: (het-er-od-zoog-eh’-o), which means to be yoked up differently. If you’ve ever seen a yoke which is an instrument that connects two animals together, you know that they must be together, pull together, and work together. 

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

The word “fellowship” is μετοχή,(met-okh-ay’), which means sharing, or partnership. Our Lord is protecting us from bad decisions which leads to compromises and then ultimately consequences. Are you choosing your friendships wisely? 

Conclusion: There is a balance between these two. Witnessing to unbelievers is one thing. But to approve and participate in their practices is quite another. Jesus was around unbelievers but only for the purpose of sharing with them to trust in Him. 

Are we doing the same? 

Introduction: Listen. We are all facing “things OUT of our control.” What should we do? How can we honor our Lord when things are OUT of our CONTROL?

“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psa 55:22).

1. First, we must “LET GO” of trying to be in CONTROL! (RELEASE) 

• By recognizing we can’t control.
• By realizing we are not in control 
• By releasing the control

2. Second, we must “TAKE CONTROL” of only what we can CONTROL! (REGAIN)

• Our mind 
• Our will 
• Our emotions

3. Third, we must “LET JESUS take CONTROL”! (REDEDICATE)

• Yield control into His hands 
• Refuse to try to take it back UP

4. Fourth, we need to REMEMBER JESUS is in CONTROL! (RECALL)

• Have His PEACE & REST 
• Have His PURPOSE 

Can our Lord use things that are out of our control for His purpose and plan?

Conclusion: When things get out of our control, remember these steps. Then, we can let go of control because Jesus is in control.

Introduction: It’s not what we are eating that’s bothering us, but instead it’s what is eating us that’s bothering us. What’s eating you? Please go over this list honestly and deal with each one accordingly.

1. Resentment (Col 3:8,9) – “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.”

Being angry and living with resentment will eat away at any relationship with Jesus or with others.

2. Remorse (Col 3:8,9) – “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.”

Guilt will eat away your happiness.

4. Remember (Col 3:13,14) – “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

Please don’t ever forget Jesus forgave us! Therefore, we can forgive others because of His grace.

Introduction: How can we use wisdom in dealing with people both in the Church and outside the Church? Here are three principles that may help in this discussion.

1. Love (Matt 22:36-38) – “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” 

Would you agree that there is a difference in God’s love and man’s love? For example, the writer to Hebrews expresses some incredible insight to our Lord’s love. 

“My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb 12:5-6).

This is proof that we are children of God; i.e. we are disciplined when we get out of line. Therefore, we can conclude that our love for others ought to be based on God’s love for us. Sometimes, we need to exercise discipline to those we love. Not because we are “judgmental” or “legalistic” but because the Truth of God’s Word must supercede our feelings.

2. Legalism (Matt 23:1-3) – “Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their finger.”

The Pharisees were legalistic. They made the outside clean, but the inside was left dirty. But they tried to impose their 613 commandments – plus – on every body else. Basically, Jesus called them hypocritical. Both before becoming a CHRISTIAN and afterwards, we can easily get caught in the trap of legalism; i.e. trying to enforce our “rules and regulations” on everybody we know.

3. Liberty (Gal 5:13) – “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

Here again, these Galatian believers as well as us today were prone to use their “liberty” once they had been gloriously saved to do whatever they wanted to – not necessarily sinful in itself. But, if it caused others to “stumble,” then it would be wrong. A certain example was in regards to eating meat that had been offered to idols (Rom 14-15). Stronger CHRISTians said it did not bother them to eat the meat since there was only one God; however, the weaker CHRISTians didn’t think it was right. Therefore, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit declares it would be wrong to eat it because of the stumbling block effect even though they had liberty to do it.

Are you using your liberty and causing others to stumble?