Eight Ways to Overcome Sin

Well, brethren, as I already mentioned, this is a very meaningful time of year. It's a beautiful time of year. It certainly is a wonderful opportunity that we have to be called out of this world to be given knowledge and understanding and truth that so few really have. It's such a blessing. I don't believe we can overestimate at all the value of our calling. It's just wonderful. You know, we know the Father draws us to His Son, Jesus Christ. The Father is the one who draws us to the Son. Then we have to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. We have to accept Him. We have to make a commitment to Jesus Christ and to the Father. And then the Son reveals the Father to us. And it's a lifelong process. Getting to know Jesus Christ and getting to know the Father. And it's just very, very exciting to get to know the Father and the Son better. So that's something that I hope we treasure. I hope we realize how significant, how important that is. On Passover evening, of course, we read about and thought about the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And I couldn't help but think what the Scripture says about how the life is in the blood. The life is in the blood. And Jesus Christ laid His life down so that we might have life. He shed His blood. He laid His life down. He shed His blood that we might have eternal life. So life is truly in the blood. It's in the blood of Jesus Christ shed for us. And of course, as Mr. Nunn mentioned in the sermon at, Christ now lives in us through the power of the resurrection. And that's just an awesome understanding. It's a tremendous blessing.

Putting leaven out, that's what these days are all about. The days of unleavened bread. We don't eat any leaven. And we've already got the leaven out of our homes and our quarters. These are the days of unleavened bread. We're supposed to put sin out of our lives, right? Isn't that what this means? Putting sin out, putting leaven out. It's a very, very important theme. And frankly, it is Christ in us and also the Father in us who gives us power to overcome sin. It is Jesus Christ living in us and God Himself, God the Father, living in us through the power of His Spirit that allows us to put sin, gives us the spiritual strength to put sin out of our lives.

How can we overcome sin? That's what we're going to talk about today. This is going to be a how-to sermon. People, I think, generally like how-to. Ministers get up here and talk a lot about what we should do, but sometimes they don't tell us how to do it. Today, I'm going to tell you how to do it, but the rest is going to be up to you. So I'll give you the points today, and what you do with them will be all-important. So let's talk about actually eight ways to overcome sin, to put leaven out of your lives. And the first way is to pray for spiritual success or pray for spiritual strength every day of your life. Pray without ceasing. As the Scripture says, pray for spiritual strength. The Scripture is very clear. Ask and you shall receive. If you don't ask, then you won't receive. So how often are you praying for spiritual strength? Is that a main theme of your prayers? It should be that God will give you spiritual strength. He wants us to be strong spiritually because we represent Him better when we're strong spiritually, don't we? Much better. In Matthew 6, and actually we just heard the word sung to us. Matthew 6. What does it say?

Verse 13, and do not lead us into temptation. This is one of the aspects of this prayer that Christ gave the model prayer. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

So we need to pray for spiritual strength every day. We need to pray in this manner. As Christ said, this is the manner. Are you praying every day that you will be delivered from temptation? I find that many people do more praying after they've sinned because they feel guilty. So they go and ask God to forgive them because they know they're in trouble.

They know they're in spiritual trouble. But, brethren, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to pray hard before you sin so you don't sin? Doesn't that make more sense? Wouldn't that be better? Wouldn't that be pure? Instead of waiting until after you've sinned, why not pray before you've sinned? Pray for spiritual strength every day of your life, and pray it like you mean it. Deliver me from temptation, God. Deliver me from temptation. I know it's coming. I know Satan's the roaring lion. I know he's seeking me who he wants to devour.

So please, God, help me. Help me all day long because I know he's out there and he's going to try to tempt me sometime today. So give me the spiritual strength to say no. Deliver me. From temptation. That should be our prayer every day. Deliver me from Satan the devil. Deliver me from the evil one. Deliver me from temptation. So, brethren, ask and you shall receive. Pray. Secondly, study God's Word for spiritual strength. Study the Word of God for spiritual strength. Read it. Study it. And look for the strength that is in the Word of God. There is tremendous spiritual strength in God's Word.

And if you're not studying the Bible, if you're not reading the Bible, if you're not meditating, which is another point we'll get to, if you're not doing these things, then you're cutting your spiritual growth short. You're not growing spiritually like you could.

It's imperative that you study God's Word and that you study for spiritual strength. Look in the Scriptures for the power to overcome. The words are there, but you have to write them in your hearts. Write them in your minds. We're under the new covenant. We can have power over sin. We can have the strength to overcome, to be different, to put sin out.

Even if you've been around for 40 years, you can be given greater strength now than you've ever had, if you'll just take it seriously and seek the strength of God written in His Word. In Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12. As Mr. Nunn pointed out, Christ is our high priest. Hebrews talks about Christ as our high priest. In Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, for the Word of God is living and powerful. It's living and powerful. Why wouldn't you want to read it? Why wouldn't you study it? It's living and it's powerful and it's sharper than any two-edged sword.

A two-edged sword does a lot of damage. No matter how you swing it, it's sharp on both sides. I wouldn't want to come up against a two-edged sword that someone was swinging at me. That's powerful. God's Word is powerful. It's sharper than any, any two-edged sword. You know, I'm sure some two-edged swords are, you know, they are sharp.

They are very, very sharp. And throughout the ages, swords have killed many, many people. They've been used as an instrument of war, but we can use God's Word as an instrument of peace. That's what God wants us to do.

But we need to study it. We need to read it. Piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and morrow. Interesting verse how it's written, isn't it? The division of soul and spirit and of joints and morrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. We were told to examine ourselves. The Scripture tells us to examine ourselves and to take the Passover worthily in a worthy manner. And we talked about what that means in a sermon prior to Passover.

God's Word is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. God's Word will convict you where you have sinned. God's Word will show you what you need to change in your life. God's Word will give you what you need, but you have to go looking for it. God doesn't make it that easy for us. He expects us to do our part. He expects us to dig deep and do our part.

He says, and there is no creature hidden from his sight. So you can't hide from God anyway, so you might as well get into the Bible and find out about yourself. God knows you better than you know yourself. Look into the Bible. You'll see that it will reveal to you who you really are, what you're really like.

Look for it in the Bible. There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Notice the word must. We must give an account. We're going to have to give an account. We can't slip by. We're going to have to give an account.

And then it talks about a high priest. We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. You know, Christ knows us better than anyone. Christ came in the flesh. Christ was tempted in every point as we are. You can go to Christ for help. Christ will give you the help you need. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, this is a very powerful scripture, and it's very, very comforting and encouraging and powerful. I've thought about this scripture often, and when I've sinned, I've especially thought of this sermon. Come boldly before the throne of grace to help you in time of need. Father, I've sinned. I need forgiveness. I need your forgiveness of my sin. Please forgive me, but I wonder how many of us should be thinking about this before we sin.

That's when you need help, too, isn't it? When you're being tempted. You need help when you're being tempted. I need help when I'm being tempted. Then I might not have to pray afterwards and ask for forgiveness. Isn't it much better to go boldly before the throne of grace in time of need? Father, I know I'm going to be tempted by Satan, or Father, I am being tempted by Satan. Please give me the strength not to sin. Not to break God's holy and righteous and wonderful and perfect law, but to keep it. You know, this world says the law is done away. It's been nailed to the cross, but the Scripture says, think not that I came to destroy the law. Christ did not come to destroy the law or the prophets, what the prophets prophesied about and what's going to be happening in the future. However, Christ lived a perfect life without sin, and He's offering you help to overcome sin in your life. You've got to go and ask, and then you've got to go study. First two points.

Pray about it. Read about it. Study about it. Focus on the Scriptures that address spiritual weakness in your life. We're all a bit different, but we're all also flesh. We're all carnal. The carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of God. So we need help to walk in the Spirit, so we do not walk in the flesh.

So why not go to God, admit where you are weak, analyze yourself, examine yourself. Father, I'm always tempted in these ways. You know, I have a hard time in these ways. Do a study in the Bible about your weaknesses. If you need something to study, then study your own weaknesses. If you tend to gossip, get into Scriptures and study all the verses that talk about that's not what a Christian ought to be doing. Write them on 3x5 cards. Read them on a continual basis. Think about them, which is the next point, which will be meditation. Think about it. Write it down. Think about it. Go to God and let him know you're serious about putting sin out of your life. What are your major temptations? Where are you most apt to sin? In what ways? And then when you work on that, God will show you another area that you need to put out. And then when you get some control of that one, he'll show you another area. And he'll keep showing you until Christ returns or until you're in the grave. That's the way it works.

So the second point is study God's Word for spiritual strength. And the third part, the third step, is practice meditation for spiritual strength. Practice meditation for spiritual strength. Meditate on the things that you read about in the Bible. Think about them. Talk about them. Meditate on them. In Hebrews 5, we're there already. Hebrews 5, verse 14, But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, mature. That is, though who by reason of use, notice that by reason of use, you have to do something. By reason of use, have their senses exercised. You have to exercise spiritually. Are you exercising yourself spiritually? Maybe you're pretty good at doing it physically. Maybe you have a habit physically exercising every single day except the Sabbath. Rest on the Sabbath. You exercise physically, but are we all exercising ourselves spiritually? It's far more important to exercise spiritually than it is to exercise physically. And physical exercise brings great reward, doesn't it? It brings great reward physically. In the same way, spiritual exercise brings tremendous spiritual reward.

So, it says, By reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil, so that you will know which way to go. What is God's will? God's will is to do that which is good. You will know God's will if you will practice these things. If you'll meditate on them, you will no longer be so immature as a spiritual person. You will become spiritually mature. Notice verse 12, Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. In other words, you haven't done your part, you people that the writer of Hebrews was addressing this, he was correcting them. He said, You can't handle solid food spiritually, you need milk. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. A little baby needs a little milk, and he needs a little milk. He needs a little milk. He needs a little milk. A little baby needs milk. A little baby can't handle solid foods.

But we're not babies any longer, are we? We're supposed to be growing spiritually. Those of us who've been around a while, we're supposed to be spiritually mature. We're supposed to be teachers. So exercise yourself. Put to good use these things. Practice meditation.

Practice meditation for spiritual strength.

Think about these things. In Philippians 4, it tells us some other things that we need to meditate on. And we're familiar with these verses, but they tie in very well today, so I want to go there. Philippians 4. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, these are all wonderful things that we're talking about. Things that are true and noble and just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report. If there is any virtue and if there is anything that's praiseworthy, then meditate on these things. Focus your minds on those things which are good. Don't become a grumbler or a complainer or a backbiter. That's not healthy for your spiritual growth. You need to do what the Scripture says and meditate on those things that are praiseworthy, that are right and good. Don't be so concerned about other people, but focus on yourself spiritually and get yourself cleaned up with God's help. Remember, you're supposed to get the plank out of your own eye. Then you can see to help someone else.

So, brethren, meditate on these things. Verse 9, The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do. Paul knew that he was an example, and he said, Do these things and the God of peace will be with you.

Meditate on the things that are right and good. You know, Paul was tremendously persecuted, wasn't he? But from what I read, he was a very, very spiritually positive person.

Now, you don't find grumbling and complaining and backbiting from the Apostle Paul.

No, the Apostle Paul practiced what he preached. He went to God, and God strengthened him, and God saw him through so many trials.

His life was completely transformed by God. He was grateful for that. You know, he had persecuted the people of God. He had ascended to their being drugged off and taken to prison and even killed.

But Paul was completely transformed on the road to Damascus. His life was changed. He was struck down. He was blinded physically that he might learn to see spiritually. We need to learn to see spiritually. We need to meditate on these things that are right and good and pure and lovely. That's the kind of people we should be. We can also meditate and ask ourselves, how will this action that I'm contemplating help? How will it help me? How will it help my family? How will it help the church? Well, we might say, how will it hurt me? How will it hurt the church? How will it hurt? Think on these things. Meditate on these things. Examine yourself. Look in the mirror.

Point number three. Step number three. Practice meditation for spiritual strength.

Step number four. Fast for spiritual strength. I've given sermons, entire sermons, about fasting. I know there is great strength, spiritual strength in fasting. And you know, Christ did tell the Pharisees, they wondered why his disciples weren't fasting. And he said, well, when I'm gone, they're going to fast. You know, it's clear he wasn't talking about the Day of Atonement, because they were already keeping the Day of Atonement. He was talking about other times during the year. My disciples will fast. If you are his disciple, then you will fast.

Now, it's up to you. All the other ones were pretty much practice meditation every day, pray every day, study the Bible every day. Well, you don't have to fast every day. But you set the time. How often do you want to fast? Or how often will you fast? Think about that. Consider that. If you really want to grow spiritually, then fast more often. Because there's spiritual strength in fasting. Tremendous strength. In Matthew 17, it clearly says some things don't happen except through prayer and fasting. And it's not just demons being cast out. It's spiritual growth that is made when someone humbles themselves and in a right way seeks God and his guidance in their life draws close to God through fasting. Matthew 17, verse 21. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Let's back up a little bit and see the context here. Verse 14, and when they had come to the multitude, a man came to him to Christ, kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son. For he is an epileptic and suffers severely, for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him. They couldn't heal him.

Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me. Apparently, Jesus was a little frustrated that his disciples didn't have the faith to take care of this problem.

Verse 18, Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, Why could we not cast it out? Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief, because you don't have the kind of faith, that you need to have, because of your unbelief, because of little faith, it says in the margin in my Bible, because of little faith, you didn't have great faith, you had a little faith. You need more faith. For assuredly I say to you, if you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind, this demon here, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Wow! That puts a lot of credence in prayer and fasting, doesn't it?

Prayer and fasting is powerful. So powerful that it will increase your faith. So powerful that with it you can cast out demons. Greater work will his disciples do. Are we there yet? Or do we have a ways to go?

Maybe some of its timing, because if we all had the power to heal and cast out demons, then we would be well known around the world. Very well known. People would flock to us as they flock to Christ.

But will there come a time when God will give us the strength and this power in greater ways?

Will we have the faith to step out in faith? Important questions to ask and to consider. Fast for spiritual strength.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. If you fast, you are drawing near to God. You're humbling yourself. You're giving things up. You're sacrificing. Remember, Christ fasted 40 days and 40 nights before the great temptation of Satan the devil. And remember what he did? He quoted scriptures too, didn't he? He knew his Bible. He knew the scriptures. He quoted the scriptures all the time. Christ was practicing these things that we've talked about. Christ fasted. Christ prayed. He prayed to the Father. He prayed all night long at times. He prayed without ceasing. He meditated. He was completely consumed with his Father's will.

I and my Father are one. One. We're just like this. We're one. We need to become one with God and with Jesus Christ. So step number four is to fast for spiritual strength. Do you want to overcome sin? Do you want to learn the lesson of the days of Unleavened Bread?

Then pray and study your Bible and meditate and fast and do it diligently. And stop making excuses for why you can't. Step number five. Make no provision for the flesh. Flesh is weak. The flesh is weak. Scripture says, make no provision for the flesh. Romans 13. Let's go there. Romans chapter 13. It clearly says, we should make no provision for the flesh because if we make provision, if we provide for the flesh, then we're going to walk in the flesh. We're going to walk carnally. We're going to walk in the flesh if we provide for it. If we meditate and dwell on physical things, material things, if we lust after things and covet things, then we're providing for those things. We're giving place for the devil to move in. The Scripture says, make no provision for the flesh. Again, Romans 13. Romans chapter 13.

This is one of those things I didn't write down the verse. Oh, here it is. Wait, this is not it. Okay, verse 14. The reason I didn't write this down yet is because I was getting ready to leave. I had taken my shower. I was fully dressed. I was going to go up and write a conclusion to my sermon. Lightning struck. The power went off. My sermon is in my computer. My wife drove here so I could reconstruct my notes.

But with God's help, it's getting done.

You know, a long time ago, I would have stressed out about that.

That would have been a grievous trial for me. I would lose my notes on a holy day, on a high day of all times.

You know, I can say, gratefully, that over the years, I've learned to rely on God a bit more than I did earlier on. God's bailed me out many times. Trust me, if you're a minister and if you're as disorganized as I am, you need God's help. God has provided continually. For me. So, I scribbled down Romans 13. I remembered it was somewhere in Romans 13. It's verse 14. But actually, I want to read beginning in verse 11.

And do this, knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Paul is putting an urgency to this. Undoubtedly, he knew many people would read this epistle.

And God certainly knew it if he didn't. God knew it. How much more is it true today?

Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. These are works of the flesh, are they not? Envying other people, striving with other people, striving with people over sometimes foolish things. Someone who is drunken, who is a partier in revelry. Let us walk properly, not as the heathen does. Let us walk properly, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not be involved in these other things. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Allow Christ to live in you. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its loss. So how do you make no provision for the flesh? Well, I'm going to even tell you how to do that. This is a how-to sermon. You do it by practicing, and this is a verse I never had time to write down, bring every thought into captivity. I think it's in 1 Corinthians 10 maybe, or 2 Corinthians 10, or somewhere like that. You're familiar with the verse. We are to bring every thought into captivity, unto the obedience of Christ. That's what the Scriptures says, 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Let's go there. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Okay. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Let's pick it up.

Okay, let's pick it up in verse 1. Let's read verse 1. Now I, Paul, myself, am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. You know, Paul was one who didn't mind pleading at times. You know, I sometimes plead with you, don't I? Paul, at times, pleaded with the brethren here in Corinth. I, myself, Paul, and I don't mean to put myself up with Paul, by the way, by making that statement at all, but every minister, I suppose, pleads at times with God's people, tries to get through, tries to help them understand and see things as he believes God is helping him see things. So I am pleading with you by the meekness and the gentleness of Christ, who in presence am lowly among you but being absent and bold toward you. But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. See, Corinth was a big problem. In fact, last year I gave a couple of sermons on lessons from Corinth. You know, there was a lot of division, there was a lot of strife, there were schisms, there were people picking favorite people to follow. Those kinds of things were going on in Corinth.

And people were talking against Paul and other ministers. They were backbiting, they were filled with complaints and criticism, and Paul could see that. He says, I'm going to deal with it when I come because we don't walk according to the flesh. Verse 3, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. We don't war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or fleshly, but they're mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. In other words, spiritual weaknesses that you have. Satan has a stronghold on you. He has a stronghold on you. If you are a drunkard, he has a stronghold on you.

He has a very strong hold on you, and you have to break that off.

For the weapons of our warfare, they're not carnal, but they're mighty in God. And it's mighty in God. It's not mighty in the flesh. It's mighty in God, in the God Spirit dwelling in us. And it helps us pull down these strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself. It's talking about pride, and these days are against pride. These are days of unleavened bread, humility, not walking in pride, but walking humbly.

Every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, that's how you do it. That's how you make no provision for the flesh. You bring every thought into captivity. You grab ahold of that thought, and you imprison it, so it doesn't go any further.

You grab the thought, that evil thought, that carnal thought. You grab it quickly, and you imprison it.

You don't dwell on it, you don't think about it, you imprison it, and you leave it there.

And you think on whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely.

That's how you overcome.

So grab those evil thoughts, and don't allow them to take root in your life.

Get rid of them. Cast them away. Casting down arguments, casting everything away that exhausts itself against God. Sin exhausts itself against God. So declare war on sin. These days I'm 11 bread, brethren. I challenge you, I encourage you to declare war on sin. Put sin out of your life. Make this week the most pure week that you have lived in many, many years.

And let this be a springboard for greater days in the future. Don't go back into sin after these days are over, but continue on stronger than ever. So it says, you bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Christ was perfectly obedient. Never wants sinned. That's how perfectly Christ lived his life. And there is life through Jesus Christ. There is eternal life through Christ. And being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. You know, when you've made some great changes in your life, then maybe you'll be able to help somebody else with their life. You know, that's what God's saying. He said, you know, have a humble approach about this. You know, take care of your own problems. Bring those thoughts into captivity yourself. Then maybe you can help somebody else.

So the fifth step is to make no provision for the flesh. That's step number five. Make no provision for the flesh. Bring every thought into captivity unto the obedience of Jesus Christ. Point number six.

Flee temptation. Okay, we already told you to pray that God would deliver you from temptation, right? The model prayer. Deliver me from temptation. Satan's after me. I know that. You know, don't let him get to me. Well, sometimes God does let Satan get to you.

Sometimes he does. Sometimes temptation, you've done all that you can do, but temptation is there anyway. So when temptation comes, the biblical instruction is to flee. Don't hang around trying to see how strong you are.

Because I can almost guarantee that you'll find out you're not so strong. If you hang around when temptation is there, it's going to get you.

So the instruction is flee from it. Don't think you're so strong spiritually that you can stand right there in the middle of temptation.

Flee from that temptation. In Jeremiah 51 verse 6, it says, we are to flee from the midst of Babylon. Jeremiah 51. We know that Babylon is a system that the Scripture talks about from the very beginning to the very end of the Bible. Babylon. Nimrod was in Babylon, wasn't he?

Revelation says, come out of Babylon. So from Genesis to Revelation, the theme is come out of Babylon. Flee from the midst of Babylon. Jeremiah 51.

Jeremiah 51. Jeremiah chapter 51 verse 6.

Flee from the midst of Babylon and everyone save his life. Now, of course, this is talking about a real event that happened way back then when Jeremiah was instructing the children of Israel, the children of Judah, actually. Flee from the midst of Babylon and everyone save his life. Do not be cut off in her iniquity, in her sin. Do not be cut off in Babylon's sin, for this is the time of the eternal's vengeance. He shall recompense her. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, therefore the nations are deranged. Okay, the great whore of Revelation 17 represents Babylon. She is drunk with the wine of her fornication. This is a theme throughout the Bible. Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. No, Babylon has been an instrument in God's hands to correct God's people at times.

In the past, Judah went into Babylon. They went into captivity. They were punished by Babylon. They were imprisoned by Babylon. See, Babylon still wants to imprison you, spiritually. Satan is the great dragon, the great power in that end-time beast power that's going to rise up. Satan's behind all that. Babylon will be there. He says, flee from Babylon. The word is consistent. You are to flee from Babylon. You are to come out of her, my people. Let my people go! God said back in Exodus, let my people go, Pharaoh. Let them go.

He's saying the same thing today. We need to come out of Babylon. In 1 Corinthians 6, verse 18, we are also told to flee. 1 Corinthians 6.

1 Corinthians 6, verse 18. Mr. Palmer, can you tell me when it's 10 minutes for me to get out of here? 10 minutes before time. I have no watch. I told you I'm disorganized. I didn't bring up my cell phone, and there's no clock in this building. So about 10 minutes till if you'll just... Oh, that's even better. Thank you.

Time is moving right along, isn't it? 1 Corinthians 6, verse 18.

Flee sexual immorality. Don't cozy up to it. Flee it. Don't allow yourself to be enticed. The book of Proverbs talks about that, doesn't it? I think it's Proverbs 6. Anyway, it talks about the woman that might try to entice you. Stay away from her. Flee sexual immorality is what it says here in verse 18.

Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own, for you are bought at a price? Of course, what is that price? It's the shed blood of Christ. That's the price that was paid for you. Thankfully, Christ was resurrected. Christ is at the right hand of God, and we are saved by Christ. We're saved by his life. Christ lives in us through the power of his Holy Spirit. Galatians 2, verse 20. Christ lives in you by the power of his Holy Spirit, the Father lives in you by the power of the Holy Spirit. So do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, whom you have from God, you are not your own, you're bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's? You have been bought with a price. You are no longer your own. Christ died for you, you are to live for him. It's that simple. Christ died for you, you are to live for him.

So, flee temptation, chapter 10, verse 14.

Chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, verse 14. And we don't have time to read everything that goes up to it, but it talks about Old Testament examples. It talks about things that happened in the Old Testament. They are to be for our admonition. We are to learn from those people who came out of Exodus, our forefathers who came or came out of Egypt in the Exodus. We are to learn from them, and we are to put to practice these things. Remember, there was sexual immorality, there was a golden calf, there was idolatry. They were engaged in these things. We're not to do that. We're not to follow their example. Also, they complained, didn't they? In verse 10, they complained, and so they were destroyed by the destroyer because they weren't thinking on whatsoever things are good and pure and lovely. They were being accusers of the brethren. Satan is an accuser of the brethren. That critical spirit will kill you spiritually. It will kill you if you become spiritually critical. It has the power to kill you. You should not be a spiritual critic. That's a very dangerous approach to take. Yes, we are discerned good and evil, but we have to be very careful when we start pointing the finger at other people.

They were complainers, and so they were destroyed. Now, all of these things, verse 11, happened as examples for our admonition. Therefore, verse 12, let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. No temptation is overtaking you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape. Now, if you're praying about it and asking God to lead you out of this temptation or to not allow Satan to get to you, on some occasions when that is allowed, you still have faith in God and you look to God, and you know that there's nothing that you can't overcome with Christ's help. With God's help, you can overcome all things. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things. So you can overcome, you can grow, you can escape, and God will give you a way of escape. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Flee from anything that smacks of idolatry, anything that gets between you and God is an idol. You need to flee from that. Don't allow that to be a part of your life any longer. Flee from that. 1 Timothy 6, verse 11.

1 Timothy 6, verse 11. 1 Timothy 6, verse 11. But you, O man of God, flee these things. Now, we don't have time to read all these things, but it talks about being greedy, it talks about being covetous, it talks about the riches that will pull us away from God, it talks about all kinds of evil in verse 10. And it says, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, so we must be careful not to love money and not to be greedy. But you, O man of God, flee these things, flee all these evil things and pursue righteousness, pursue godliness, pursue faith, pursue love, pursue patience, pursue gentleness, and fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life, lay hold on it to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless. That's unleavened, isn't it? Unblemished, unleavened, without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ appearing. That's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to become blameless. Be you holy even as I am holy. God says, that is your calling, brethren. That's what God expects of you. That's what he wants of you. So, flee temptation. 2 Timothy 2, verse 22. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 22. Flee also youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, pursue faith and love and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. He says, but avoid foolish and ignorant disputes. Don't get involved in the internet that gets in on these ignorant disputes. Constantly ignorant disputes. Church websites, they get into these ignorant disputes. God says, don't do that. Do what God says.

Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. Boy, isn't that the truth. They generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach and be patient, and in humility correcting those who are in opposition. I haven't always done well at that. When I've been opposed by others, I haven't always humbly dealt with them. And I apologize to anyone here that I may have offended. I apologize to you if I've offended any of you. Because it isn't always easy to be a minister and to be gentle when someone's opposing you. It isn't easy to do. And I've failed at times. So, please, forgive me, and may God strengthen me, and may you all pray that God will strengthen me, that I may not ever do that again. So, flee temptation. Flee all sorts of temptation and become holy as God is holy.

It's good to ask yourself, what would Jesus do under these circumstances? How would He act? Remember, He was reviled. He did not revile back. You know, He was accused, and He did not accuse back.

He said, if you suffer wrongfully and you take it patiently, then it is commendable to you. It's commendable if you suffer wrongfully and you take it patiently.

That brings unity, doesn't it? If someone suffers wrongfully but they take it patiently, that brings unity into the body of Christ. Otherwise, it brings division. So, we all need to follow what the Scripture says. The Scripture is clear. Point number seven. Step number seven, confess your faults one to another and gain spiritual strength from others. Confess your faults one to another. Now, I didn't even write that one down. I know there's a Scripture that says we are to confess our faults one to another. Pardon? Book of James chapter 5.

Okay, Book of James chapter 5.

Verse 16. Thank you. It's a team effort. It is a team effort. That's a good example. We're all in this together. We are a team. We are a family. And we should stick together and stay together and help each other. Verse 16. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. Oh yeah, the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. It's in the context of Elijah, a man with a nature like ours, but he prayed. And it didn't reign for three and a half years. That was powerful. That was great power. Confess your trespasses to one another. Confess your sins, it says. Now, I don't think it means to be indiscreet about confessing your sins to everybody and everyone. And, you know, I don't think that's what the Scripture is saying. But we should all have some close friends that we can confide in. Our wife, our husband, should be such a person. We can confide in them. We can confess our sins. We can grow together. And you may have other friends. If you're not married, you can have other close friends. Hopefully your minister is your friend. Hopefully you can confide with your minister. I hope you would feel comfortable to do that. You know, it is very, very important that we practice what the Scripture says. Confess your sins one to another. Find someone that you can talk to about your issues. And if it's not the minister, then find somebody else. But find someone that can help you. Help you grow spiritually. Help you overcome. Point number eight. Step number eight.

I didn't even write this eighth point down. No, wait a minute.

I'm not sure I brought that note up here. All right, let me think. I know what it is.

That's bad, isn't it? That's terrible. Point number eight. My wife is looking at my other papers. Let me think. Point number eight. What was my last point? A very vital point. Extremely vital. You know, seven points are perfect.

Seven points are perfect, and it's about seven minutes till. Oh, you found it. Okay. Oh, yes. Excellent point.

Okay, let's say you've done all seven points. You've done seven points faithfully, and you still sin. All right. See, I want you to do the first seven points faithfully, and I guarantee you'll sin a whole lot less than you have been if you'll follow those seven first steps. But let's say you do your best or maybe you do your best, but it's not quite good enough. Okay. We're human. You know, we try our best, but we fall short. Now, you can't perfectly keep those seven points. Not always. At least I haven't ever been able to. So, when you sin, have faith. Have faith that God will grant you repentance. Have faith that He will grant you repentance. Trust Him that He'll grant you repentance. You know, it takes a repentant heart to be given repentance. And you know, if you do those seven points, God will see your heart.

God will know you have a heart to obey Him. It'll be very clear. You know, if you're doing those first seven steps, God will see clearly you have a heart to obey Him. You just need help. You need forgiveness, and you need repentance, and God will grant you the repentance that you need. You can have faith in that. You can trust God. You can take that all the way to the Kingdom of God. Not to the bank, but to the Kingdom of God. That's where you can take that one, all the way to the Kingdom. That's pretty exciting, isn't it? I think it is. I'm thrilled to be here.

I'm thrilled to be among you, and I'm glad God's here with us, and Christ is here with us. He lives in us. So, brethren, let's be inspired by these days. Let's be inspired by the days of 11 bread. It does mean we are to put sin out of our lives. We are to overcome sin. So let's stop making so many excuses for the flesh, and let us truly learn to walk in the Spirit. Christ has promised to live in you. It's a nice watch. Take care and have a good feast.