Dictators

The title of my sermon today is, Dictators. Have you ever known any? A dictator is one who rules with total power and authority. Perhaps you have known some. You watch the news, you can tell dictators. We'll touch a little bit on that a little bit later. But that's kind of the lead-in to my sermon because I want to pick up where I left off yesterday in my sermon. And I want to talk about our part of intimacy. And that's what today is about. It is the Feast of Pentecost. I have gone through this meaning of Acts and so forth in the past here. And many of you have read that, so this will be a little bit different, but definitely be the tie-in to our understanding of the Day of Pentecost and the giving of God's Holy Spirit. So our part of intimacy is discipline. Discipline. Most people don't think about it. Wait a minute. Intimacy? Discipline? How about opposites attract? Too many people, especially today, the word discipline conjures up scary, fearful thoughts or memories. And that's understandable because a lot of people grew up with knowing discipline just meant harsh taskmasters. It's what Israel thought because of their taskmasters back in Egypt. But I want to look at a different view today of that and why it needs to be a part of our intimacy with God. The Greek word for discipline, one of the Greek words, is gumnaso. Not a word you hear thrown around every day in Vero Beach. Gumnaso. In fact, the transliteration of that word is where we get the word gymnasium. The U being a Y. As Christina can decipher transliteration with her skills and job. But that is where we understand about gymnasium. When you hear gymnasium, what do you think about? Workout. The actual definition is physical training. How's yours? How's your physical training? Well, that's what we think of. Oh, I gotta go to the gym, I gotta go to UFit, I gotta go sweat, I gotta ride my bike. That's how you get in shape. Tell trucks get in your way. But doing things physically. Gumnaso is what the Greek word for discipline is because it takes discipline. For athletes to stay in shape, it takes what? Discipline. You gotta go work out. You gotta go put in the time. Well, I'm not talking about physical athletes in this room today, but I'm talking about spiritual athletes because that's what we're called to be. How does this tie to intimacy with God? Perhaps you've seen someone who is really in great shape, one of the mates, like Mary, and then you see somebody like me who's not in as good a shape physically, and you think, what's she doing with him?

But I want you to think about that with, thankfully she does love me, whether I, see, I was 172 pounds when she married me, and that's been 40-something pounds ago.

But she still loves me, but can God still love us if we're spiritually out of shape and we don't even care to get in shape? He could. Still love us. Is it what he's looking for? He's looking for someone to marry his son who is a like mind, like body, in spirit. They are one, as a matter of fact. So his son is going to marry a woman she doesn't pray, she doesn't study, and never read the Bible. Wouldn't dare think about fasting. He doesn't even meditate. Is this who he would pick out? Maria said a definitive note. Oh, we have to ask ourselves the very questions. So that brings me to the point of my sermon today about discipline. Discipline. Are we spiritually disciplined? I'd like to go here in Proverbs. Proverbs 25 will be reading from the New Living Translation. Because what's another word for discipline? Self-control. Very good. Didn't we hear that earlier? Self-control, discipline. Sound mind? Yes. Because to God that is a sound mind. One who's disciplined and self-controlled. So let's see what this is. A person without self-control is like a city with broken down walls. That means you come and go. Armies could come and go. A person without self-control or discipline.

There's no chance of a siege.

When cities were overtaken, or when they were, an army would come up against one. They had their walls. They would build sea trams. They would build ramparts to keep bad, bad things away. The walls would protect. So God is relaying to us here. A person with no self-control or discipline is like a city with broken down walls. Who wants in your city? Very good. Yes. He wants in your city. Why? Because he wants you. He wants you. You see how important when you think about it that way that God put it so we understand that we need to have our wall built, don't we? We need to have the self-discipline to where, not coming, not going to come up against this one. And when? Let's go if we can. Get rid of this New Living Translation now. Go back to my New King James. I'd like you to go with me as you think about Gunaso. Because God inspired that word. For us. Spiritually. So that we could even relate to it like a gymnasium. Because I don't know about you. When growing up in our little country area, there was a high school. And they had the gymnasium. And when ball games weren't going on, it was only basketball. All this little town had. But during the summers, I could actually go down there and they had things you could work out with. They had the, there wasn't many people. Matter of fact, many times I had the gym to myself. But they had a coach there. He got paid for just sitting there and opening the place up. But it's amazing because you had a way to stay in shape. You had the discipline to go. So let's go, as God talks about, let's go to where? Galatians 5. We all know about Galatians 5. That's okay. No problem. Let's look at Galatians 5. If we will. If we will. Galatians 5 and verse 16.

Anybody? Do we have it up there? No, we have 17. So let's go to Galatians 5 and verse 17. It said, here we go, for the flesh lust against the, what does your Bible say? Spirit. You have flesh and you have the Spirit. For the flesh lust against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And they are contrary to one another. He said, well, I understand that, but do we? Do you understand we can't live on both sides of the tracks? Because they're opposite of each other. So if you want to feed the flesh, you're going to starve the Spirit. You want to feed the Spirit, you're going to starve the flesh. It's also discipline. And they are contrary to one another, so you do not do the things that you wish. Discipline. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Well, no, it's the penalty of the law. Why are you not under the penalty of the law?

We don't have to. If you're under the Spirit, my right Christ even told us about what? The Spirit of the law. So he said, if you're even to look upon a woman, you've committed adultery. What a higher standard! So if you're under the law, the Spirit of the law, you're not even going to go there. He said about murder, you can't be convicted by the law if you don't even get angry. This is what he is telling the Galatians. So let's go on down to verse 19.

Wow! That's quite a list, isn't it?

Struggle with any of these? No. Struggle with any of the Spirit of these things. You got a temper? Outbursts of wrath? I've had to work with men in prison who are there because of outbursts of wrath. But God has called them and they're having to sit in prison now because of what they did. One man actually killed two people. Now he's teaching God's Word in prison. It's a change. It's a change. He had to change. The only way, as he even told me, the only way in which he would have come to the understanding was what he had to go through, being thrown in prison and being on death row for a while. Though God decided not going to take your life. I'm going to use your life. Beautiful thing. So let's look at this because without discipline ourselves, go up to verse 16. Saying then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You get that? The purpose for this day, 1994 years ago, was what? To give the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit, to us so that we could fight the flesh. So we could overcome the flesh. If we walk and are led by that Spirit, which is God's, we will not, as it says, you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, which tells us what? Tells us if we don't walk in the Spirit, we will walk in the flesh. You are going to do these things. It's like the man in prison that I worked with. He knew, unless they put him behind bars, he would kill again. It was his nature. How many? 20 years ago? 18, 20 years ago? So he doesn't complain about being behind bars. But now he's a changed man, and even the his advocate when he was on death row that I worked with, his advocate said, man, you would not know this man from when he first came in this. She said, I've seen these things, but nothing like this. I've never seen somebody change. She said, I've seen them fake religion. In fact, even the chaplain, she told me this man was not a fake. He really has changed, but it took what? Really, from the time I took 12 years sitting in prison, and then God started working with him, and he's been in there for another nine, ten, no, eight, nine. He followed the flesh instead of the spirit. Now he, as the warden actually told me, he brings peace to the prison. That's why they wanted to keep him where they kept him, because he had a way of bringing peace, because he taught.

He had a way of reaching people. He could see because he's a big guy.

And this man gave himself over to God. What an example. I wish I could say the same thing about myself, but he represents that. So, what are we going to do? Do we have any other choice, brethren, than to walk in the spirit? Because the Bible says, if we're not, we're going to walk in the flesh. And you know all these things? We're going to get into sorcery. Oh, not me. Yes, you would. Mm-hmm. Fornication, adultery, lewdness, and cleanness. Yeah, we could find you being lewd. Oh, not me. Don't believe me. Believe what the Bible says.

This is why you were given the Holy Spirit. This is why we celebrate this day, because it's a change. It's a change for each and every one of us. And even though we may slip and fall, this reminds us each year it's time to stir up that spirit. What did we just hear? Stir it up. Fan the flames. Let's get it going. And not many times do I recommend you listen to my sermon this morning, but I'm saying it now. If you want to understand just how powerful that spirit is.

So if you do not walk in the spirit, you will be controlled. If you do not have self-control, something else will control you. Outside forces, outside friends, the world, the work, the business partner, the people you shouldn't even be around, they will control you. To where it's just easier to give in. That's what happens. So you will be controlled by the flesh. Galatians 5 22. Last but not least of all these things that we need to deal with. Galatians 5 22. But the fruit of the spirit. Fruit. I had a pear coming up here. I had grapes. Fruits. Juicy fruits.

What fruits do you really show in your life? I know what's listed. You know what's listed. Galatians 5 22. Love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, and so on and so on. Go through the whole thing. You know what's up there. Do you have a specific fruit that you readily show? Most of you do. That I've gotten to know you there. There's quite a few fruits that you guys show forth.

But you know what I don't see? I don't see it myself either. Every fruit. Every fruit in every one of us. Do you know that's God's calling for us? Because Jesus Christ, what? He bore every one of these. And we're to be like Him. His mate, He wants to be like Him. That's that intimacy. So look at those fruits. But look at the last one. That's what I want to touch on with the time I have left. Is that last one? The last is definitely not least. Matter of fact, I've always wondered whether God put it last just because it's most predominant for so many of us. Self-control.

Have you ever met someone that is just so disciplined, self-controlled? Yes, I have. Their life usually goes pretty good. Or it is off the rails. And they are so self-righteous. Pharisees, they looked at themselves as being self-controlled. The sadducees. The sadducees. I fast twice a week. Tuesday and Thursday because the other days are not worthy. That's what they said. Okay. I do all this yet they couldn't stand in Christ and they were so not self-controlled that they said, well, it's better that He die. Then we lose our jobs. Hmm. So what about us? Self-control. Hmm. That's such a negative word for some people. Self-control. Don't you have any more self-control than that? About what?

Eating. Okay. Second piece of pie. Third piece of pie.

It's outdated, really, in today's world, isn't it? The word self-control is outdated because you're being hard on people. They may... it's not their fault that their parents let them eat anything they wanted to eat. We need to have compassion because they don't have self-control.

You see a lot of the problems in the world today. Lack of self-control. Terrible. Terrible self-control. As Maria says, they don't hold them accountable. Yeah, that's one thing, but if you had more self-control, you wouldn't have to make people accountable because we would hold each other accountable.

But how dare you say anything that might offend me? How dare you might suggest that I dress with a little more clothes on? How dare you say my top is cut way too low? I'm here to show my breasts. Slit in my dress. Guy that wears pants way too tight. Mary showed me a picture this week of a major artist. What was his name? She don't want to tell me. I can't remember. He was a big 70 or 80s guy, whatever it was. So he's like 70 years old and he's got skin-tight bridges, leather pants on without any underwear.

Nobody needs to see that. Okay. But how dare you would say, well, this is the world in which God has put us. Does it control us or do we have control over ourselves? Is it too confining? You know the Greek word for self-control is in kratia. In kratia. Okay. In kratia comes from the root word kratos, meaning strength, might, or dominion. And then, Ian makes it personal. Self-control is that you have the strength, the might, the dominion to control your life.

It's really great. Don't we? So do you have in kratia? Because you see, when this was written and the Greeks read this, they would have known exactly what it meant when you use the word in kratia. So, in reality, in kratia means having strength and control over one's impulses or desires. That's right. You have the strength, the power, the might, to control your desires, the impulses. See, advertisers, they want impulse buyers, don't they?

As a matter of fact, back when we had stores or whatever, and I was working with this one guy, and he had his impulse items up by the cash register. So people went by, and they got what they wanted at the store. But then, all of a sudden, whoa, here's these things right here. We can just get you to grab impulse items. You don't need them. They weren't on your list, but why not? Why not? See, Satan loves that attitude of why not?

Just once. It's not going to kill me. So, do you have control over your impulses and or desires? There was a book I read probably, oh, wow, been 15, 16 years ago. It was by Chuck Swindoll, a theologian, and he wrote a book, and I had to pick it up because the title hit me. Do you want to be like Christ? And so, by impulse, I picked it up because I wanted to be like Christ.

That's what I wanted to try to do and be. So I had to pick it up. It was a great book. I had everything in it, no, but at least half the book I really got something from, and he really talked on this about our desires and impulses and going by the way of the Spirit or the flesh because that's what it all comes down to. So, let's go back to my original title now that we're talking about impulses and desires in Cretea.

So, do you have a dictator in your life? Do you? Is it possible that your desires, your impulses have taken so control of your life that they are your dictators? When you think of dictators, who do you think of? Anybody? Who? Hitler. Stalin. Yes. Mussolini. How about Putin? Think he's a dictator? If you were over there, you would. No. Bassat. From Syria, they ran him out. Assaad? Is that his name? Is it Bassaad or Assaad? Assaad. Yes. We had one down here in Cuba for a long time. Remember him? What was his name?

Fidel Castro. Yes. Yeah, we've got one down there. So, there are plenty of dictators. I ask you again, do you have a dictator in your life? And is that dictator, is that your desires, your impulse? See, the exercise of self-control prevents desire from being your dictator. Say that again. The exercise of self-control prevents desire from being your dictator. And if you do not have that self-control, your desires will be your dictator. Think about things in your life. I've counseled a couple of young guys that were addicted to porn. One of them lost his marriage because of it.

He'd been married for six months. She didn't know about it before. I didn't marry him, but he called me because he was trying to. She just divorced him or had to marry Janelle. And he was trying to get her back.

He had a dictator. Couldn't stop. I've known people who had drug problems. Couldn't stop. They had a dictator. I've known people who were alcoholics. Couldn't stop. They wouldn't stop because they didn't have, in kratia, self-control.

So think about it. Do you have an area like that? I have to watch my clock. I have so many stories I could give because I deal with this. I had a very good friend of mine who worked for me. I really liked him. Mary knew him well. Great guy. Would help you do anything. Gifted. Smart, strong. He was 6'1", 230 pounds of pure muscle. Great athlete, everything. Could ask for it. Work construction. Could figure anything out. Could do anything. Great. God gave him so many gifts. Except he had one dictator. Yeah, he had served time in prison because some of these other things, fruits of the flesh, got him. But he had one big, big dictator. His temper. His temper. And it controlled him from a young person. In fact, I was going to go to his graduation. I was five years older than him. I was going to go to his high school graduation the last week of his graduation. He was suspended because he got into a fight with another boy who was the same age. Principal and the coach tried to break it up. He knocked each one of them out. He was shot three times breaking into a house to where his former wife was because he's kicked in the door. Stabbed three times in different fights. And I asked him because I'm having to read some of the police reports. There was mother. When he lost his temper, he literally went insane. And when you get somebody that big, that strong, as the police said, it's a miracle he didn't kill four or five people because he couldn't stop beating someone. He just lost it. And this guy grew up in the church. But he just couldn't control. He lost control, his dictator. It wasn't until he was in the hospital at 50 years of age. Was he 48? 48. He asked me to come and visit him. I was already down here. And I went back up there for something, and he asked me if I'd come by. So I went by the hospital to see him. And he said, man, did I ever mess up? He said, I know. He said, I've had a chance to lay here and go back and read the Bible when I was taught when I was younger. He said, would you help me? He said, would you baptize me?

And I said, well, when you get out? And he said, but I don't want you to put hands on me. I don't want to receive the Holy Spirit. He said, I don't deserve it. And he said, I just, there's no way. I just want to be forgiven of all my sins because I've had so many. He said, I'm so sorry for what I've done and I've wasted my life. I said, when you get out, let's talk. He died about two weeks later. After he got out of the hospital, he died. I was tired of him going to the Caribbean. His mother asked me if I'd come and preach a funeral. I couldn't. And Cretea, man, is learning control. Now, that may be, that may be, well, I'm not like that guy. But guess what? We may have other things. God gives his Spirit to us because he doesn't want something getting control of us. He wants his Son to marry a church that is under control, brides that are under control. Let me finish this up.

You want to know about desire? Just read James 1, verse 14-15. I don't have time now. I'm not out of time, but, you know, it tells you exactly why we sinned, why we're pulled away because of our desires. Did I have it up there? I could do. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and he's enticed. That's you and that's me. And we get there. And when this desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown. It will bring forth our death.

I think when this young man is resurrected, I don't think he'll have any trouble. He was trying to get right. He just ran out of time. I think he must say, I love the guy. Really did. He worked for me for about three years. I don't want to see any of you run out of time or use up your spirit and you quench it, as the Bible says, or God has to take it away. This is why you've been given it so that you can have that power to overcome. A dictator has total control over his subjects. He does. And if you do not control your desires, your emotions, your addiction, the dictator will take over your life. It's that clear. It's that simple. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9, last verses here. 1 Corinthians 9. Verse 24. Paul is trying to tell those Corinthians, Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives a prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is what? Temperate. You know what my margin says? Self-controlled. Exercises self-control in all things. That kind of puts it on us, doesn't it? Now, they do have to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore, I run thus, not with uncertainty. We know why we've been called. We know why we've been given his spirit. He said, Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, shadowboxing. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself become disqualified. Because he didn't do it. He taught other people, but he wasn't disciplined himself. What an incredible. Do we discipline our body? Our spiritual body? Only you can answer that, except for God. He knows exactly. So with God's Holy Spirit that we celebrate here today, we can overcome the dictator. Do you want to? Do you want to end the regime? Conquer the enemy and free yourself from the clutches, imprisonment of the dictator? Because it's out there.

We must admit, or you have to recognize, I have a dictator. Who is it? What is it? I must say that. And nobody else can help you get rid of this dictator. Nobody else can help you do it, because then if you rely on somebody to help you do it, it's not self-control. You're using them. God has given you the Holy Spirit to overcome it. Oh, should we help people? Yes, but they can't rely on us. If we can be a crutch, we point them to God, the Holy Spirit. That's the strength. That's the power that's going to make it happen. That's going to make us hopefully be able to overcome.

Areas where we constantly lose, it is due to us not using the Holy Spirit. Greatest power God has ever given man is the Holy Spirit. The greatest, not even close. Close. It's actually greater than nature itself, because everything you see in nature, look up at the skies tonight if it's clear. See the universe created through what? By what? The Spirit. So it's time for us to overthrow and expel the dictators in our life. We've been given the power to do it. I've been given the army to do it, to overthrow that dictator. And so interesting, I have just two minutes, but I just have to give this story. I just can't help because I didn't understand. I read about communism in school. And you read, I watched Animal Farm. I did all this kind of stuff, but I didn't understand till we were in the Bahamas. Mary and I were married. We were at a feast, and after the feast we spent time on this beautiful place there, and went out by the beach one day. It was a very nice resort. We were by. And so at that time I was just, I was in my 30s, and I just met this old guy. I'm going, look at this guy over here. Kind of had the hat on. You know, he's out in the water. He looked kind of regal, but he just like something about him. I gotta go, I gotta go see this guy. So I walk over and I start talking to him. Of course, he's older. He's in his probably 60s then. I thought that was old. And so I'm seeing, but I look over on the beach, and there he's got some young girl about 25 or 30 young. So I figured, well, he's probably got money. He did, a little bit. But it was interesting because he wanted to know what I knew about history. And did I know the name Gary Powers? And I said, yes, I do. He was a flyer, a spy plane. It was shot down, what, 59, 58, something like that. And I said, yes, I'm, I read history. I love history. I knew that. And he said, well, I knew him. I said, you did? He said, I was his lawyer. Really? And I said, so how did you get him out? And he said, I was his appointed lawyer. I was in Russia. I was a lawyer for Russia. For the government, I was sent to him as an attorney. And so then he got telling me the story, and I was fascinated by it. And then I said, well, what was it like? You're over here now. He goes, oh, yes. He said, if you lived, and he said, I was part of the government. I had a nice home and the lawyer. I was one. But he said, I'd rather be in a, in a slum than to be over there in a castle. He said, because everything was controlled. He said, even I was spied upon. They trust no one. He said, when you're under a dictator, you look every single day and wonder if you're going to get another, another day. So he made me feel very blessed as I spent time talking to him. Why do I bring that up? Because I didn't know dictators. But after his explanation, I thank God I'm in America. I thank God, even though we may have our own troubles with government. Guess what? I don't want anyone else right now. So we have been blessed in this country. So it's time for us to expel our dictators. You're the power. You're the power to do it. You have the country in which you can actually live free. You're the power to free yourself from dictators. God has given you the Holy Spirit. The big question, I guess the only question God has for you and for me when we leave here today, is will we use it?

Four o'clock on the button.