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?

Introduction: What is our MISSION? What is our VISION? The book of Acts records the experience of the early Church. Whereas, it is not necessarily a total model for every single event in the book, it is an historical record of what the Holy Spirit did thru the disciples. There are patterns that are applicable for today. Let’s glean several truths that will transform any Church.

1. Edified! (Acts 9:31) – “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”

2. Multiplied! (Acts 9:31) – “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”

The word “multiplied” is πληθύνω: (play-thoo’-no). Its definition is to increase, to be increased, or to multiply. This should be both spiritually as well as numerically. A Church can be growing numerically but not spiritually, but it cannot grow spiritually without growing numerically. Are you reaching others?

3. Unified! (Acts 9:31) – “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”

Did you notice two other key words? “Rest” and “Peace.” That speaks of being UNIFIED! The fear of God kept them walking together.

1) Israel was instructed to OPEN its borders! —“Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21). The Hebrew word for “stranger” is ger (גֵּר), which means a sojourner. God wanted His people to remember that at one time they were strangers. “And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee” (Leviticus 25:35).

Many point to the words of our Lord in Matthew 25:35, “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in.” However, the technical interpretation is that this is during the tribulation—namely at the end when Jesus Christ returns in His second coming. Both the sheep and goats will stand before the King. The “strangers” will be the Jews during the tribulation, and how they are treated by the Gentiles.

These passages in both the Old and New Testaments reveal that God has pity on the widows, orphans, and strangers. But keep in mind, these strangers (resident aliens) would be law-abiding citizens who incorporated the Jewish way of life into their families. That is a “huge” difference than what is going on in our land today.

Even cities of refuge were established by God for refugees (Numbers 35:15).

2) Israel was instructed to CLOSE their borders!—“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it” (Numbers 33:51-56). God knew that the illegal strangers in the land would turn His people’s hearts away from His Will. Therefore, they were not to allow them in the land. Looking back in retrospect, they did not fully obey the Lord and consequently, they sinned against God and were eventually taken into captivity.

Conclusion: There seems to be a biblical balance on the subject of allowing strangers (resident aliens) into the land. On the one hand, legal aliens were permitted as long as they obeyed the laws of the land and incorporated the Jewish practices into their lives. Does this sound familiar? The Word of God encourages believers to have fellowship with other believers. But it forbids to fellowship with unbelievers.

How are you doing? Are you praying?

2. Fig Tree Faith! (Mark 11:22,23) – “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.”

Did you hear about the Church that called a prayer meeting in order to pray for rain? Only one little girl brought an umbrella! She had FAITH in God!! Do you?