The Holy Spirit vs. The Spirit of the World"

We live with our own eyes in vision, the seat, the seat of the universe. Stephen is mentioned, Paul and John, and the event had a very profound effect on each one of them. Remember Stephen when he was talking to the Sanhedrin, and he knew they were about to kill him? And he spoke of seeing. He looked up, he was full of the Holy Spirit, and he notated seeing the glory of God, and Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God. He was given a view of heaven, he was given a view of God's throne, he was given a view of God sitting there, and Jesus Christ not sitting there, but standing up like pulling for him. Come on, you can do it! You can do it! And he was able to go to his death, the death by stoning. You have Paul. Paul talked about, to the Corinthians, he wrote to them about how that speaking in the third person about himself, but speaking about himself, how he was caught up into the third heaven, and how that it was so real to him, that by his senses alone, he couldn't tell he wasn't really there. That's how powerful it was on what he saw, what he heard, what he experienced in that vision. And remember, that's the man who said, I reckon that the sufferings of this world aren't even worth being compared to the glory which he had seen that's going to be revealed in us. And then the third one, John. Lasted the original twelve apostles, used for the final canonization of the Bible, and sealed it with the book of Revelation. Let's notice Revelation 4, verses 1-4. John says, After this I looked, and behold a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up here. A door was opened in heaven. Come up here. I will show you things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne, and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were twenty-four seats, and upon the seats I saw twenty-four elders sitting clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. Now, also bear in mind, he was also given to see in vision, as it says in Revelation 21, the new heavens and the new earth. Powerful things. Now, these three men were given to see the seat, the headquarters of the entire universe. What would you give to have that experience? How powerful would that experience be upon you? How much would it affect you in such a profound, positive way? They were given to see the seat or the headquarters of all eternity. They were given to see the control center, the control center of all things that had to have had and did a most profound effect on them.

For in looking upon the seat of the universe, they were also looking upon the source of the universe, the power by which all things exist and by which all things are maintained. If you ever wondered about verse 5, if you're still in Revelation, if you're in Revelation 4 and verse 5, if you ever wondered about that in one sense, an out of where? The throne. Out of the throne. Now, does it mean out of the throne that God sits on, that the throne itself is a source of power, per se, or is it the being that sits on that throne, God Himself?

When it says out of the throne, it's going right to the seat of God. It's going right to God. Out of the throne, or that is, out from the one who created that throne, who made that throne, who built that throne, the one who sits on it, out of the throne, which is from God who sits on it, preceded lightnings and thunderings. You know, sometimes you're lying in your bed, you know there's storms in the area, you're not asleep yet, in the room, all of a sudden, just brightens up. You can see everything, just for an instant. And then you hear the clap of thunder. The lightening creates the thunder. And by the old count, one second, two seconds, three seconds, you can kind of judge the distance of miles it is from you.

But lightnings and thunderings go together. And voices. What do you think those lightnings and thunderings are? That's pure, raw power. Proceeding. How do you think that the sun is maintained, and the stars, and the universe, and the life systems? It's all supported by the power of God.

Jesus is appointed by God to maintain all these things. The power goes forth. This is speaking of God's power. See, John is given to see certain things, and he uses words which express what it looks like to him and what it sounds like. And so, lightnings and thunderings. Power. And the noise that goes with it. And God is letting him see pure, unadulterated power that's going forth. And he says, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.

They were also, Stephen, Paul, John, they were also looking upon the source of something that was in each one of them. They were looking upon the source of something that was in each one of them. The source of something that each of them had and used. Remember how they were told in Acts 1.8 that power would be given them?

Stay here in Jerusalem until power from on high is given you. Remember that. John 14 verse 23. John 14 and verse 23. Jesus answered and said to him, John 14, 23, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my father will love him. And we, Christ and the Father, we will come to him and make our abode, or that is dwelling. We will make our dwelling with him. If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my father will love him. And we, plural, will come to him and make our abode with him. Verse 26 here. But the comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send, the Father will send in my name.

He shall teach you, or he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. The comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. And then, John 15 and verse 26. John 15 and verse 26. But when the comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me, from the Father.

Stephen, Paul, John. They had a portion of the Father in them. A portion of the Father in them. This is the spiritual seed of the Father, causing or initiating a spiritual conception. I know of no better way to express it. It's the most accurate way that it can be expressed. It's a type of spiritual conception. The spiritual seed of the Father given through Christ, causing or initiating a spiritual conception. And it therefore engenders a new beginning. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17.

Paul wrote, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature or a new creation. Old things are passed away. Old things are passing away. Behold, all things are becoming new. It engenders a new beginning, a new creation, because God is a begetting Father. He is a begetting Father. Right here in 2 Corinthians, in chapter 6, verse 18, is the Father being quoted. And will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

They were allowed to look upon the source of that which had been poured out upon them, that which they shared in. You and I have not been given in vision the sight of God is thrown, the glory, the color, the brilliance, the beauty, the power that they were given. We'll get to see all that beauty and glory and power someday. We will be part of it. But what they were given to see as the source of the power that was in them, we have a portion of that same power in us. When we are baptized into Christ, we are given, obviously, a portion of that same power. That power that appeared to John like lightnings and thunderings. You know, it takes a lot to maintain the universe, but God's up to it. He reveals to us, and with the minds He's given us, we're able to grasp, we're able to get a strong feel for and grasp His nature. His righteousness, His love, His character, that's within our capacity. And it's only partly in our capacity to grasp His power, because there's no human mind that can fully, fully wrap itself around the magnitude of the unbelievable power of God. And they were given to see some of that, and part of what was so encouraging to them was that that power that God is, that they had a tiny, a small, yes, portion of it, but they had a portion of that power in them, and it was through that power in them by which God the Father and Christ was dwelling in them. That's true of us. I might just turn over...don't have it in my notes, but I'll turn over to 1 John. 1 John 3, 24. And He that keeps His commandments, 1 John 3, 24, and He that keeps His commandments dwells in Him. You know, if a man loved me, He'll keep my words. Dwells in Him, and He in Him, and here by we know that He abides in us, that He dwells in us, He abides or dwells in us by the Spirit which He has given us. But again, I go back to, this is the seed of the Heavenly Father. Notice 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1, verses 3 and 4. According as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, God will not make you a star forward on the basketball team, especially if you're 5'6". He will not make you a center. He will not make you an offensive lineman on a football line if you're 6' and weigh 150 pounds. There are just certain things that are not in the picture. But when it comes to the things that pertain to life, good life now, and most important, eternal life later, and godliness, yes, He will.

Through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue. We're being called to glory and virtue. And it says in verse 4, whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers. Somebody holds out a dish to you and says, hey, try some of this. Partake of it. It's good. And so you take a portion. And it says here, given to us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of what? Here, try this. Have some of it. Take a little bit of it. The divine nature. Well, what is the divine nature? It's the nature of Christ. It's the nature of God.

And it's actually the nature of the holy angels, the righteous angels. But it's God's divine nature, which is partaken of by God taking a portion, the Father taking a portion of Himself through Christ and seeding in us.

It's the nature of heaven. It's the nature that heaven runs by. You know, you do not have Satan and his demons flitting in and out through all activities in heaven. The holy angels that come and go, that do God's bidding, you do not have them constantly bumping shoulders around the throne and throughout the holy city, heavenly Jerusalem, and all of that. You do not have that going on. The nature of heaven excludes the spirit of Satan and his demons. The nature that heaven runs by. The spirit that permeates the streets of that city. There is a heavenly Jerusalem. It's got streets. And there's walking on those streets. Not by humans. No human is there. The only one that is there who was among humans was the one who became human. The Word beside God, who became flesh and blood, came here. They had the perfect, sinless life, died as a sacrifice, resurrected, and he sits back there again with God at his right hand.

The universal city of God. So in one sense, we have a portion of heaven, we have a portion of the holy city planted in us. And no, we're not going to heaven when we die. We'll sleep to the resurrection until Christ returns. Then we're going to serve with him on this earth. There's a job to do. Then in due time, as John saw in Revelation 21, heaven, the heavenly city, the holy city, New Jerusalem is coming here. And the Father himself is transferring everything and transforming everything, and he's coming here.

But we already share in a very important and significant feature of it.

And as such, you and I who share in that become the spiritual property of God. The spiritual property of God.

Do we forget? If I may use the title of the last sermon I gave, do we forget what 1 Corinthians 7.23 says?

1 Corinthians 7.23 Do we forget? You are bought with a price.

You're bought with a price. Be not the servants of men.

And obviously, it goes without saying there, but what's meant by it, whenever there's conflict between God and man, you go with God.

Because you don't belong to man. You belong to God. That's just like I have said. I am your pastor.

Mr. Hall is your pastor. I am your pastor. I don't own you.

My blood didn't purchase you. It's the blood of Christ that purchased you. It's the blood of Christ that purchased me.

You are sheep. I am a sheep. And I'm just simply a sheep that God has put pastoral responsibility on among the sheep.

You're my brothers and sisters in Christ. We're all bought and paid for with the blood of Christ. We're bought with a price.

And property that is purchased is usually done so for development.

Have you ever known somebody to go buy a piece of property?

Maybe. I mean, there's some strange people in this world. I know that. But generally speaking, normal times, situations.

If you've known somebody to buy a piece of property and you said, Hey, Joe, what did you buy that property for? Oh, no reason. You just bought it to buy it? Yeah. You know, you've got too much money in the bank. Whatever. Who knows?

Why did you buy it? What are you going to do with it? Well, don't have any plans. What did you like it? Well, not necessarily. It was for sale and I just bought it.

People buy property with purpose in mind. Maybe they want pasture land. Maybe they want to put cattle on it, goats, sheep. Maybe they want to put a house on it. Maybe they just want to develop it, keep it up, to give to somebody. Whatever.

But property is purchased for development. It's purchased for development. Romans 6 and verse 13, it's purchased for development.

You're bought with a price. Be not the servants of men. Property is purchased for development.

So in Romans 6 and verse 13, and again, you're bought with a price, you're not your own. Be not the servants of men.

Following up with that here in Romans 6 and verse 13, neither yield you, your members, as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.

Don't turn your mind and your body and your members over to serving sin.

But yield yourselves to God as those that are alive from the dead. Death penalty no longer hangs over you. That's been removed.

You don't want to put it back. You want it to stay removed. And your members, as instruments of righteousness, unto God.

We will use the term on Pentecost, firstfruits. And we will talk about, we are firstfruits. Firstfruits of what? Firstfruits of God.

Firstfruits of God's development. Firstfruits of God's working. The first workings of God of mankind. God is transferring of Himself into us. That's not overstating it. He is transferring of Himself into us.

We don't lose our identity. We don't cease to be the individual that's been granted life by God.

But He transfers Himself into us. That's what Peter was talking about when he says, partakers of the divine nature.

Partakers, God shares His divine nature with us because the spiritual seed of the Father that is planted in us in a type of spiritual conception through Jesus Christ is genetically blueprinted with the things of God's nature.

It's genetically blueprinted with the things of God's nature. When we read, and again, one of those very well-known scriptures, Galatians 5, 22, and 23, Galatians 5, verses 22 and 23.

When we read, but the fruit of the Spirit is, think of these as forming the genetic blueprint of God's nature.

Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, breeding in the King James, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Against such, there's no law because these are the things that are good. These are the things of God's divine nature.

These are the things that are 100% magnified and full in His makeup, which is genetically seeded in us, the things of His nature.

And, of course, if you were to look at this on a human scale, we've all known some people that seem to have more long-suffering than others, just naturally, as a human being.

Some were gentle, some were rough. Some seemed to have quite a bit of basic faith, and some seemed to just be trapped in fear.

You could go through these and think about people and the variations of these things, and then they're called and brought into the truth of God.

And they automatically begin to excel in some of the things that they had more natural in their human makeup, but they struggle the most with the things that they were previously so weak in, and still weak in, and have to grow in. But God's Spirit begins to help bring growth in those areas. We understand that.

If you go with me to 2 Corinthians 3.3, 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 3, God's nature is being written upon us by and through His Spirit. His nature, which is our partaking of His divine nature, and keep in mind, God says He's holy and He says He's made of Spirit. So that's Holy Spirit. He is composed. Holy Spirit is not a person. It's power. It's energy. It's what the Father and the Son are composed of.

It's powerful. It's eternal. And they share a little bit of themselves in that regard with us sufficient to this time, sufficient to our growth and development if we will but use it.

God's nature is being written upon us by and through His Spirit. Notice how Paul words this right here to 2 Corinthians 3.3. He says, For as much as you are manifestly, or that is obviously declared to be the epistle, or that is the letter of Christ, ministered or served by us, speaking to them like a letter written, ministered by Paul. Notice, and he's using the analogy of writing. Written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.

He does an analogy of writing with the Spirit of the Living God. Now, when this letter was received by the Corinthians, and it was read to them, whoever read it to them could have said something like, Brethren, this letter we have from the Apostle Paul. Brethren, as I read this letter, I want you to picture Paul in your mind, sitting there at some kind of a small table with ink and quill and him dipping in the ink and writing and dipping and writing and dipping.

What had to happen for the letter to be written, the quill had to move. If I said, excuse me just a moment, let me find my pad. I need to write something. I need to write out a sentence here. Hold on just a minute.

I stand in this position and it doesn't change. You say, he's not writing anything. He's got his pad and he's holding his pencil, but that pencil is not moving. He's not writing anything.

You're 100% correct. Nothing is being written. The pen has to move to write. The quill has to move to write. There has to be action. There has to be movement.

God's spirit has to move in us. It has to be exercised. It can't be stagnant. It's got to be dynamic. It's got to move.

God is developing his nature within us. Yes, we are developed as a container of and for his spirit. We're prepared as a vessel for his nature.

Think about even the preparations to become a container of God, of his spirit.

Even the preparations to become a vessel for his nature. That there has to be movement, growth, doing.

Preparations are made so that we may receive of and grow in God's divine nature.

You're brought to the point of baptism. You're worked with.

God cannot and will not just go out here anywhere and say, El Zappo, I'm giving just so-and-so my spirit, I'm just going to impregnate him with my spirit. He can't do that. There are concrete reasons he cannot do that, and he will not do that.

We have to be brought to the point of baptism. And through what that signifies in pictures, then we stand clean before God because we're buried into Christ.

Then as a clean vessel in his sight, he initiates his divine nature in us. It's by no means the fullness of it.

But he initiates his divine nature in us through the seed of his spirit, given us by the laying on of hands. And when this occurs, when this occurs, a confrontation begins to take place. A real confrontation. A real serious confrontation.

Because, as I've said in times past, human nature never rolls over and plays dead.

Pouring out of God's Holy Spirit means empowerment, but it doesn't mean human nature rolls over and plays dead.

The spirit of God locks in battle with the spirit of this world.

Now, before God worked with you, brought you to the point that you could be a clean vessel in Christ, and he could give you his spirit.

Oh, did Satan love you before that? No. He hated you.

Satan does not love any human being. He will use humans, but he hates humans.

Because humans have a potential, but he doesn't.

And he hates that potential, and every human being represents that potential.

And the way he sees it, the further he can push people away or lead them away from that potential, the better.

It says he has the world deceived.

But when God lifts the deception, and God, whom Satan hates with a vengeance, when God brings somebody out of that deception, cleans them up, puts a part of himself in them, oh boy! The Satan now hate with a hatred that so supersedes his hatred of those that God hasn't yet cleaned up and delivered from his hold.

So the Spirit of God locks in battle with the Spirit of this world.

And the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God, which comes from the third heaven, has to do battle with the Spirit of Satan, which comes from and resides in this first heaven, this atmosphere that we're encased in here.

And we, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, and me, we, we're the battleground.

We're the battleground on which that battle takes place.

1 Corinthians 2, 12. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 12.

Now, 1 Corinthians 2, 12. Now, we have received not the Spirit of the world, because, see, that's the Spirit that we previously operated under, the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God.

We have received not the Spirit of the world. That's what we've been accustomed to, but the Spirit which is of God.

Two spirits mentioned here, the Spirit of the world and the Spirit of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Ephesians 2, 2. The Spirit of this world. You know, Paul was very consistent, because he understood the truth, and the truth is consistent.

And he would bring out certain aspects of certain things in one place, and then bring out additional aspects in another place, or maybe the same thing, but just word it slightly differently. But that's Spirit of the world.

Wherein in time passed, Ephesians 2, 2, wherein in time passed you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.

Paul wrote those words in Corinthians and Ephesians, and Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4, verses 1 through 3, It's easy to put it together, and what the issues are and become.

For as much then, 1 Peter 4, verses 1 through 3, For as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, For he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lust of men, but to the will of God.

For the time passed of our life may suffice us. That's sufficient to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, For we walked in lasciviousness, lust, excess of wine, revelings, banqueting, and abominable idolatries.

We're firstfruits. We're the first recipients of this age, of mankind, of God's Spirit.

And it generates a battleground. And we're the battleground. And it can very accurately be expressed it's the Holy Spirit versus the Spirit of this world.

Because the Spirit of the world is still there.

We who carry God's Holy Spirit are encased with a surrounding world, For the Spirit of this world still has the dominance.

We see the dominance of that in America today. There is a dominance of that Spirit. And don't kid yourself. Is some of these riotings and all that are going on?

It's not just human beings rampaging on the streets.

There's demons flitting in and out throughout all of that. Anyway, if you'd like a title, The Holy Spirit versus the Spirit of this world.

The Holy Spirit versus the Spirit of this world.

And why is this such a confrontation? Well, because the Spirit of this world hates God's Holy Spirit. And that's true. But it's also because Satan has left his tread marks all over us.

He's left his tread marks all over us. He's left his muddy tracks all across our human nature. Like clay under pressure. He's marked us. He's marked us.

You ever get up and you stagger to the bathroom and you're still half asleep and you turn the light on and you look in the mirror.

And you've got all these deep, impressed wrinkles on the side of your face. The sleep marks, because your pillow got wrinkled under your face and it impressed and you think, I've got to be at work in 30 minutes and I'll never get all these worked out. I mean, it looks like I just got up.

We've all done that at times. Sleep marks. Sleep marks. Wrinkles.

Like clay under pressure, he's marked us. And God has awakened us and we begin to realize that Satan has marked us.

He has put some fruit, not just wrinkles, into our makeup. His marks are all over us. He's had his inroads. He's had his inroads.

And the more God turns the light on through His Spirit in our minds to really see and understand how Satan works, and to understand ourselves, the more we realize what inroads he has made into us, even from the earliest age.

The earliest age, especially during the formative years, the day's cast. And it's deep and it's strong and it's instinctive and it's natural and it becomes second nature. And so we begin to look and say, oh, what I am made of, the patterns that are made, the habits that are made, the concepts I have, the attitudes that I function by, the approaches I take, the perspectives, the way I see things, the motivations, what drives me and moves me.

We begin to realize, I've got a battle on my hands.

God has freed me from the death penalty.

God has broken Satan's hold over me.

But Satan has done what he could, while he could, to make a spiritual wilderness out of me, a spiritual wilderness with each of us. And again, Satan's approach to the world is to make it as much a spiritual wilderness as the limits on him and the parameters will allow him to do.

And some parts and places are more of a spiritual wilderness than others, but the whole world outside of God is a spiritual wilderness.

And into this spiritual wilderness, God steps to carve out an opening for growth.

When he reaches into the spiritual wilderness and calls one out to begin to work with them and develop them and bring them to baptism, bring them to Christ truly, him to Christ through baptism, and to make a clean vessel out of them and give them his spirit, what he is doing is he is carving out an opening for growth.

It's kind of like carving out a place in the wilderness, the physical wilderness.

You know, you go into the physical, the pioneers, they go into the physical wilderness, and they carve out a place in the wilderness to where they can have a spot of civilization, where they can have a spot of growth, where they can build a house, where they can plant a crop, carving out a place in the physical wilderness.

God makes a clearing. He carves out a place where the planting of seed, his seed, his divine nature, and then ensues a struggle for God's nature to really take hold in us and grow.

A struggle for God's nature to really take hold in you and grow.

And as I have said by just way of example, they are different in various ways. You can know if you are making growth, the highways, people running you off the road, whatever, your reactions, chasing them down, running them off.

And you get to a point where you realize you don't let certain things that happen on the highways really upset you. You don't respond with the same level of anger.

And then one day when you think you've got it all really mastered and you have grown and you've gotten better control of your own nature and improper anger at times or whatever, then you find yourself in Atlanta traffic and you realize, I haven't grown enough yet.

But there is a battle that ensues a struggle because we have been affected deeply by Satan's nature.

The grooves, the channels have been cut deep. And he cuts them as deep as he can. It is interesting. Well, it's right here. The Bible is open to it, so I'll just read it as 1 Corinthians 3.3.

It's interesting that Paul writes to them in 1 Corinthians 3.3, he says, For you are yet carnal. He's talking to people who have got spirit. He's talking to people who are in Christ. He's talking to people who are members of the body of Christ. He's talking to people who have received of the divine nature. But when he says you are yet carnal, in the context what he's talking about is you've got a lot to overcome. You're still acting and reacting according to that which the spirit of the world which was ingrained in you that you've been delivered from. I remember Mr. Armstrong used to say when I was a young man years ago, Mr. Armstrong would say, after conversion, after conversion, after you've been baptized, after you've received God's Spirit, after conversion, we are still 99.9% carnal and 100% human.

Maybe those numbers would be a little bit high, but maybe they're not because we have to battle that which has been grooved into us. And we have to battle the ongoing push against us. So this push that's against us to try to get us to revert to what we have turned our back on. And it truly is a battle of God's Spirit really taking hold and growing in us. There's no doubt about that. And like a clearing, what happens to a clearing in a physical wilderness?

If you go out and you carve out a field in woods, and you grow corn or whatever, or you make pasture land out of it and you run cattle on it, but then one day you don't grow a crop anymore. You just quit growing any crops out there. And you don't run cattle on it. And you don't bush hog it anymore. You just leave it alone. Is that clearing still going to be there when you come back 20 years and look at it? I want to go down memory lane.

I want to go back to that field I used to run cattle in or had to hold corn in or whatever. If you go back, it's a pine thicket. It's tangled. There's briars. The wilderness, so to speak, has reclaimed it. It's been reclaimed. Like a clearing in a physical wilderness where vines and weeds and brush will try to reclaim it. And I've seen places where fields grew back up with pines, not seated, just naturally seated, by the wind and all, to where, as we say, the pines were thicker than dog's hair.

And vines and briars had grown through, and you couldn't even walk through it. It was such a tangled mess. And again, like a clearing in a physical wilderness where vines and weeds and brush will try to reclaim it, so it is with the spiritual. And God warns us of such. In Luke 21, this is a Scripture that we've read many a time. But the things that can happen in our world around us can all of a sudden magnify a verse to us. And it can all of a sudden make a verse just be so much more relevant to us, so timely.

And in Luke 21, verses 34 through 36, Christ said, Take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged or overwhelmed with excesses and drunkenness and cares of this life. Cares of this life, which are important. But they've got to be kept in the proper, prioritized arrangement. And so that they come upon you unawares because as a snare, like the jaws of death just snapping shut all of a sudden, the jaws of a trap, as a snare shall it come on all of them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

It's going to come on them that way. You don't want it to come on you that way. Christ is saying to them, Watch therefore, pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.

And then, approximately 30-something years later, Peter, who was told that along with the others, who's standing there and told that along with the others, 30-something years later, Peter says in 2 Peter 2.20, 2 Peter 2, he successfully had not allowed that to happen to him. And so, he's sharing again with different words, but carrying out the same meaning, 2 Peter 2.20, For if after they have escaped the pollution of the world, the pollutions of the world, the spirit of the world, which we have been broken free from, it's not gone away, it's there, but we have been delivered from it.

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled, overgrown, overwhelmed, entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with them than the beginning, entangled. Like jungle vines that grow 2 feet a night. And for you to know it, you know, all this is just, you've just gotten yourself so entangled and caught, you can't get free. You know, a long time ago, and I'm not sure who it was, it brought kudzu into the nation in the south to controlled erosion or whatever. You ever try to get rid of kudzu? No, there is a constant struggle to keep from being overgrown again, in part because of old habits and old patterns, and in part because Satan is still around to try and push our buttons, pull our triggers, but there is a key.

And again, it is so simple, if we will but use it.

Exercise what God has given us. Exercise what God has given us. Put the Holy Spirit to use in our life by putting into action the things it conveys. It will regroup us. It will reform us. It will transfer God's nature to us. You know, what good would it do us to know these things that we learn if we don't put them into active use in our lives? I want to go to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2.

Verse 10. Ephesians 2.10. We know it well, don't we? For we are His workmanship. We are His workmanship. Created how? In Christ Jesus. Created in Christ Jesus unto what? To good works. Thus works of obedience, which God has before ordained or appointed or prepared that we should walk in them. Because as we walk in these things, a funny thing begins to happen. Over a period of time, bit by bit, piece by piece, slowly but surely we begin to be reprogrammed with a new nature. It really begins to take hold. A pen to write must move. God's Spirit moving in us, writes on us the things of God. That's why we so strongly admonish feeding that nature. And yes, we must through prayer. Yes. And we must through Bible study. Yes. And we must through fellowship. Fellowship is a tool, a spiritual tool of growth that so many times is not included in the list or overlooked. It's so valuable. And that's why we admonish so strongly the special fellowship and learning of church services. So important. And that's why we urge so strongly the exercising of what you have and what you know because it is the power to transform. This is why Paul wrote what he did to the Romans in Romans 12 too. Romans 12 and verse 2. He said, Be not conformed to this world. We have just naturally, by human nature, easily, and especially before God started working with us, so easily conformed to the world. And the world has left its mark on us. The Spirit of this world has left its marks on us. Its trademarks, its fingerprints. And we have to fight against all of that. Yes. And that Spirit is still active. And we resist. Don't be conformed to this world, but be you transformed. Transformation is made possible by that power that God has shared and is sharing with us by the renewing of your mind. And that's where the greatest renewing is, because that's where the will is, the motivations, the drives, the affections, the perspectives, the concepts. That's the thinking part of the body, isn't it? That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. It's the power to transform or to reprogram as we diligently apply and do. Philippians... not Philippians... Ephesians 4. As we wrap this up, Ephesians 4. Verses 22 through 24. Ephesians 4, verses 22 through 24. That you put off concerning the former conduct, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And it's in the spirit of your mind, that's where God's spirit resides. And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. And then final Scripture, 2 Corinthians 4. 16. 2 Corinthians 4. In verse 16, Paul said, For which cause? We think not. We don't quit. But though our outward man perish, you know, we're running downhill due to mortality, as far as our composition, our energies, and all of that. It's just the way it's designed. Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Here's what we must always bear in mind. In this issue of God's spirit, Holy Spirit versus the spirit of this world, God's spirit can win, anytime, any place over Satan's spirit, hands down, where the person will use it. Happy Pentecost weekend! I will see most of you folks tomorrow at 11 o'clock.