WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:10.019 Elation Church. This is week number three. Everybody 00:00:10.019 --> 00:00:13.160 say week number three. Week number three in our 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:20.339 series on self -control. Self -control. I hope 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:23.320 this becomes a popular series and not a dreaded 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:27.920 series. Self -control gives us the idea that 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:32.380 we have some responsibility. And it's a very 00:00:32.380 --> 00:00:36.640 biblical thing, right? 2 Peter 1, verses 3 through 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:41.659 8. We read these verses a lot. By His divine 00:00:41.659 --> 00:00:46.539 power, God has given us everything we need for 00:00:46.539 --> 00:00:49.920 living a godly life. Look at the person beside 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:53.140 you and say, He's already given it to you. It's 00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:55.299 up to you to take it up and apply it, but He's 00:00:55.299 --> 00:00:59.100 already given it. We have received all of this. 00:01:00.109 --> 00:01:03.649 By coming to know him. So we receive everything 00:01:03.649 --> 00:01:07.230 we need when we come in Christ, when we come 00:01:07.230 --> 00:01:10.030 into Christ, when we're born again, when we become 00:01:10.030 --> 00:01:13.189 a Christian. We receive everything. We've been 00:01:13.189 --> 00:01:17.930 given everything we need. We received all of 00:01:17.930 --> 00:01:20.269 this by coming to know him, the one who called 00:01:20.269 --> 00:01:24.209 us to himself by means of his marvelous glory 00:01:24.209 --> 00:01:30.000 and excellence. And because of his glory and 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:35.120 excellence, he's given us great and precious 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:39.459 promises. I want to personalize it again. He 00:01:39.459 --> 00:01:49.299 has given you great and precious promises. In 00:01:49.299 --> 00:01:55.040 his word, these are the promises that enable 00:01:55.040 --> 00:02:00.620 you to share. his divine nature, and escape the 00:02:00.620 --> 00:02:07.640 world's corruption caused by human desires. How 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:09.280 many of you need some escape every once in a 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.240 while? And we find out that the corruption is 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:17.039 caused by human desires. That's what messed everything 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:21.000 up. God's a good God. God brings good things 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.840 into your life. The corruption comes from human 00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:30.599 desires. that are not godly desires. It began 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:36.819 in the garden. Now, since we realize all this, 00:02:36.860 --> 00:02:40.680 since we see all of this, that he's already given 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:45.419 us everything we need, and he gives us great 00:02:45.419 --> 00:02:49.780 and precious promises, in view of all this, make 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:52.080 every effort. It's going to take some effort 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:57.650 on your part. Make every effort to respond to 00:02:57.650 --> 00:03:01.789 God's promises. Supplement your faith. Faith 00:03:01.789 --> 00:03:03.770 is how we're going to take hold of his promises. 00:03:04.909 --> 00:03:07.270 But he's telling us to add some things to our 00:03:07.270 --> 00:03:11.870 faith. Our trust, our belief, our surrender to 00:03:11.870 --> 00:03:15.610 what he says. We need to add some things in order 00:03:15.610 --> 00:03:19.530 to be able to take hold of those promises. Supplement 00:03:19.530 --> 00:03:22.229 your faith with a generous provision of moral 00:03:22.229 --> 00:03:27.400 excellence. Sloppy lives are not going to bring 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:29.759 the blessing and goodness of God manifest into 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:33.139 our lives. I figured I'd get an amen there, but 00:03:33.139 --> 00:03:37.979 anyway. Supplement your faith with a generous 00:03:37.979 --> 00:03:41.240 provision of moral excellence and moral excellence 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:48.099 with knowledge and knowledge with self -control. 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:53.360 Everybody say self -control. So we need some 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:57.469 self -control. Self -control with patient endurance. 00:03:59.169 --> 00:04:02.210 We need some patience too. Some patience to endure. 00:04:04.449 --> 00:04:06.710 While we're waiting to see the promise fulfilled, 00:04:06.949 --> 00:04:09.509 we're holding on. It's going to take some patient 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:13.169 endurance with godliness. And godliness with 00:04:13.169 --> 00:04:17.069 brotherly affection. Look to the people on your 00:04:17.069 --> 00:04:20.069 left and your right and say, I guess that means 00:04:20.069 --> 00:04:28.910 I got to love you. And get this, in brotherly 00:04:28.910 --> 00:04:32.329 affection with love for everybody, for everyone. 00:04:33.910 --> 00:04:39.370 We not only love our family of faith, we're instructed 00:04:39.370 --> 00:04:44.930 to love everybody. The Bible says they'll know 00:04:44.930 --> 00:04:48.569 that we're Christ followers by our love. And 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:50.529 then he says, the more you grow like this, the 00:04:50.529 --> 00:04:54.269 more productive and useful you will be. In your 00:04:54.269 --> 00:04:56.230 knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who wants 00:04:56.230 --> 00:04:59.990 to be productive? Who wants to be useful? About 00:04:59.990 --> 00:05:07.889 half of us. So supplement your faith with a generous 00:05:07.889 --> 00:05:13.649 provision of self -control. To be more productive 00:05:13.649 --> 00:05:18.550 and useful in the kingdom of God. Word self -control. 00:05:19.009 --> 00:05:21.889 It's a compound Greek word. N means in the sphere 00:05:21.889 --> 00:05:27.790 of. Kratos means dominion mastery. So it's dominion 00:05:27.790 --> 00:05:35.129 within. It's self -control. Controlling our actions, 00:05:35.269 --> 00:05:38.610 controlling our thoughts, controlling our feelings. 00:05:40.410 --> 00:05:44.290 We have self -control. We're supposed to have 00:05:44.290 --> 00:05:48.350 self -control. 1 Corinthians 9, 24. Don't you 00:05:48.350 --> 00:05:53.300 realize that in a race, everyone runs? But only 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:59.819 one person gets a prize? No participation trophies. 00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:04.980 So run to win. Look to the person beside you 00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:08.500 and say, run to win. If you're going to run, 00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:13.379 run to win. If you're going to run in this life, 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:17.420 if you're going to run this spiritual race, this 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:27.129 marathon, not a sprint, Run to win. All athletes 00:06:27.129 --> 00:06:32.709 are disciplined. Look to the person beside you 00:06:32.709 --> 00:06:36.850 and say, same word. Same word. Even though it's 00:06:36.850 --> 00:06:39.029 translated discipline in this text, it's the 00:06:39.029 --> 00:06:43.870 same word. All athletes exercise self -control 00:06:43.870 --> 00:06:49.910 in their training. So in our spiritual race, 00:06:50.490 --> 00:06:55.170 Our spiritual marathon, we need to exercise self 00:06:55.170 --> 00:06:59.290 -control if we're going to win. They do it in 00:06:59.290 --> 00:07:02.310 just, you know, in sports and all that. They 00:07:02.310 --> 00:07:05.529 do it to win a prize that will fade away. But 00:07:05.529 --> 00:07:09.750 we do it for an eternal prize. So I, Paul says, 00:07:09.990 --> 00:07:16.689 I run with purpose in every step. I'm not just 00:07:16.689 --> 00:07:21.879 shadow boxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:27.220 training it to do what it should. Everybody say 00:07:27.220 --> 00:07:30.720 self -control. So in this text, we find out that 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:34.019 self -control is essential to living with purpose 00:07:34.019 --> 00:07:39.480 and to living in victory. Look to the person 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:41.000 beside you and say, it's going to take some self 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:44.800 -control. Y 'all looking way too serious. I mean, 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:47.379 I know this is a serious topic, but you can smile. 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:50.620 And if you smile, I won't think that you're getting 00:07:50.620 --> 00:07:52.819 under big -time conviction because you don't 00:07:52.819 --> 00:07:58.439 have any self -control. All right. Galatians 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:04.360 5 .22. The Holy Spirit produces this kind of 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:12.639 fruit in your life. Love, joy, peace, patience, 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:19.519 kindness, goodness. faithfulness, gentleness, 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:27.180 and self -control. Self -control. Know what this 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:31.759 means? You're not alone. Because when you're 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.019 in Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up residence 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:36.779 only inside of you. Your body is the temple of 00:08:36.779 --> 00:08:40.919 the Holy Spirit. And when we acknowledge Him, 00:08:41.179 --> 00:08:43.220 like we looked at last week, when we acknowledge 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:48.750 Him in our moments of decision, When we acknowledge 00:08:48.750 --> 00:08:51.850 him, he will empower us. He will help us. He's 00:08:51.850 --> 00:08:55.830 our helper. He will empower us to exercise self 00:08:55.830 --> 00:09:02.389 -control. But we have to acknowledge him. We 00:09:02.389 --> 00:09:04.669 have to acknowledge him. The fruit of the Holy 00:09:04.669 --> 00:09:09.269 Spirit is self -control. I like the word studies 00:09:09.269 --> 00:09:12.070 that we looked up. Self -control is proceeding 00:09:12.070 --> 00:09:16.750 out from within oneself, but not by oneself. 00:09:22.700 --> 00:09:26.759 Come on, somebody. Self -control is proceeding 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:30.279 out from within oneself, but not by oneself. 00:09:31.179 --> 00:09:33.799 Not if you're in Christ. It's not just by yourself. 00:09:35.379 --> 00:09:37.559 Now, if you're not in Christ, you're just on 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:43.100 your own. But when you're in Christ, it don't 00:09:43.100 --> 00:09:47.399 have to be by yourself because you have a helper. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:52.799 True mastery from within. can only be accomplished 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:58.200 by the power of the Lord. Self -control is not 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.139 just about abstaining from excess. Most of the 00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:03.279 time, when we think of self -control, we're like, 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:07.159 well, I need to watch those lines in my life 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:09.919 and not cross over a line. But it's more than 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:14.039 just abstaining from excess. It involves a positive 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:18.159 mastery and direction of one's energies and desires. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:25.279 Towards godly purposes. Allow that to sink in. 00:10:27.620 --> 00:10:30.179 Here's the deal. We can't control everything 00:10:30.179 --> 00:10:34.200 around us. How many of you have tried to control 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:36.779 everything around you a few times? Have you realized 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:40.179 you can't control everything around you? Has 00:10:40.179 --> 00:10:42.679 anybody tried to control some people around you 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:45.919 before? Yeah. You figured out that you can't 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:51.399 control everybody around you either. Right? Here's 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:54.700 the news from the word. You can control yourself. 00:10:57.860 --> 00:11:03.639 You can control yourself. I know some of you 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:05.500 in your mind right now, you're saying, I just 00:11:05.500 --> 00:11:10.919 can't control. I can't control it. Yes, you can. 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:16.960 Acknowledge God. Allow his spirit to empower 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:23.000 your self -control. You have a helper. Today 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:24.659 we're going to talk about self -control of our 00:11:24.659 --> 00:11:32.620 thoughts. Self -control of our thoughts. So, 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:35.100 how many of you are glad you came? How many of 00:11:35.100 --> 00:11:36.419 you are thinking, man, I shouldn't have come 00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:43.159 today? Because every single one of us, this is 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:45.340 not just an individual thing. See, here's the 00:11:45.340 --> 00:11:47.799 lie of the enemy is that you are the only one 00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:51.740 who experiences these kind of things going on 00:11:51.740 --> 00:11:59.940 in your mind. And then you get defeated. Every 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:02.179 single person in this room has times when their 00:12:02.179 --> 00:12:06.779 thoughts are out of control. Let's fess up. Let's 00:12:06.779 --> 00:12:11.870 be real. We all come to those places where our 00:12:11.870 --> 00:12:13.710 thoughts would just go out of control. Our mind 00:12:13.710 --> 00:12:16.250 is racing in a hundred different directions. 00:12:18.330 --> 00:12:24.710 Has anybody ever experienced any of that? This 00:12:24.710 --> 00:12:29.669 is what God says. This is what the Holy Spirit 00:12:29.669 --> 00:12:32.269 wants to say to you today from the Word of God. 00:12:34.789 --> 00:12:46.899 Set your mind. There's an understood you. I think 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:49.740 that works in English. I'm not an English teacher. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.200 How many of you know there's an understood you 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:57.480 in front of this sentence, right? You set your 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:04.039 mind. The Holy Spirit will help you set your 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:08.179 mind, but God's not just going to set your mind 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:20.059 without your involvement. Empowered by the Holy 00:13:20.059 --> 00:13:25.299 Spirit, have the power to set your mind on things 00:13:25.299 --> 00:13:33.039 above. Not on things on the earth. This is powerful. 00:13:34.340 --> 00:13:38.639 Set your mind. This is what that phrase means 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:44.879 from the Greek, to exercise your mind. What does 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:51.840 that mean? Use it. Put your mind to work for 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:56.740 you. Exercise your mind to properly, everybody 00:13:56.740 --> 00:14:01.340 say properly, properly regulate and moderate 00:14:01.340 --> 00:14:09.340 your thoughts from within. Your thoughts need 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:12.899 a moderator. Have you ever been to a business 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:14.580 meeting where there was a moderator, somebody 00:14:14.580 --> 00:14:17.480 trying to keep everything happening correctly 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.409 within the meeting? Sometimes we don't like it, 00:14:20.450 --> 00:14:23.610 but, you know, when Robert's rules of order take 00:14:23.610 --> 00:14:26.750 over, sometimes people don't like that. Right? 00:14:27.309 --> 00:14:32.110 Because we need a moderator. Your mind needs 00:14:32.110 --> 00:14:43.830 a moderator. Set your mind. Properly regulate 00:14:43.830 --> 00:14:50.920 and moderate your thoughts from within. intentionally 00:14:50.920 --> 00:14:58.500 direct your thoughts. If you do not intentionally 00:14:58.500 --> 00:15:03.820 direct your thoughts, your imagination is going 00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:09.159 to run wild. If you leave it to where you're 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:11.620 not the moderator over what's going on between 00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:18.419 your two ears, it's going to be a mess. I mean, 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:20.659 When I was growing up, I mean, my dad was a Baptist 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:23.879 pastor, and we had a business meeting every month. 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:29.039 And we had some knock -down, drag -out business 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.399 meetings. I mean, I know churches where they 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:33.960 had to call the police and the EMS after a business 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:36.779 meeting in Seneca, South Carolina. This church 00:15:36.779 --> 00:15:39.159 made the front page of the Greenville News. Now, 00:15:39.179 --> 00:15:42.679 I was never in one quite like that, where they 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:44.440 had to haul people to the emergency room and 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:49.009 to jail. But I would sit in the room and my dad 00:15:49.009 --> 00:15:51.110 was the moderator. See, he didn't have a vote. 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:55.190 He was just the moderator. But everybody would 00:15:55.190 --> 00:16:01.649 just get mad. You know? Looking at every penny 00:16:01.649 --> 00:16:05.669 of the budget every month and somebody would 00:16:05.669 --> 00:16:10.549 say, well, I can't believe we bought the toilet 00:16:10.549 --> 00:16:14.570 paper this month from Bilo because Walmart had 00:16:14.570 --> 00:16:20.029 it on sale. And we're wasting God's money. And 00:16:20.029 --> 00:16:22.230 people get mad and fight over a mess like that. 00:16:25.450 --> 00:16:29.269 We had a section, we had a huge graveyard beside 00:16:29.269 --> 00:16:31.710 the church. Way more people than had ever been 00:16:31.710 --> 00:16:35.009 in the church was in the graveyard. And it was 00:16:35.009 --> 00:16:37.710 in four sections. One section was just grass. 00:16:39.370 --> 00:16:45.710 Just grass. No one buried there. I'll never forget 00:16:45.710 --> 00:16:49.330 one business meeting because the children were, 00:16:49.470 --> 00:16:53.830 which included me, we were playing in the big 00:16:53.830 --> 00:17:06.210 grass field. I ruffled up somebody. That was 00:17:06.210 --> 00:17:09.710 the whole business meeting. It was a church fight 00:17:09.710 --> 00:17:16.779 over those kids. desecrating holy ground, calling 00:17:16.779 --> 00:17:20.380 the unused part of the cemetery holy ground, 00:17:20.700 --> 00:17:23.519 and those kids should not be playing on that 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:35.819 holy ground. Fight. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. They'd 00:17:35.819 --> 00:17:38.299 rather us play in the tar and gravel parking 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:43.700 lot with cars going around. I got a whipping 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:50.900 every Sunday night. You know why? Because, no, 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:52.519 I didn't get to play in the grass anymore. I 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:54.759 had to play on the tar and gravel. If you've 00:17:54.759 --> 00:17:56.579 ever played on tar and gravel, it's not solid 00:17:56.579 --> 00:17:58.700 like asphalt. That gravel just slides out from 00:17:58.700 --> 00:18:01.079 under you all the time. Well, it's hard to play 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:07.079 freeze tag on tar and gravel. So, I mean, me 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:10.299 and my family, we didn't have much. But every 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:14.980 Sunday night, After church, dad would say, come 00:18:14.980 --> 00:18:19.200 here, Dean, let me see your knees. And if my 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:22.259 knees were bleeding and my pants were ripped, 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:26.480 I mean, my mom had to patch the knees of my pants 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:30.059 every week. I'd rip holes in them, my knee would 00:18:30.059 --> 00:18:32.140 be bleeding, and then I'd get a whipping on top 00:18:32.140 --> 00:18:35.460 of that. It's like I'm already bleeding, just 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:44.240 put alcohol on it or something, right? Yeah, 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:49.980 and I did Jeffrey the same way. If he is bleeding 00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:56.599 because he did something stupid and unthoughtful, 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:02.839 I put alcohol on it. If he was bleeding from 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:11.890 an accident, he got peroxide. I'm teaching him 00:19:11.890 --> 00:19:18.230 self -control is what I'm teaching. Back to self 00:19:18.230 --> 00:19:24.470 -control. Back to the business meeting. My dad, 00:19:24.670 --> 00:19:29.910 it didn't matter what side. People would be fighting 00:19:29.910 --> 00:19:32.869 each other. And because my dad was moderating, 00:19:32.990 --> 00:19:35.829 everybody wound up mad at my dad who didn't even 00:19:35.829 --> 00:19:37.670 have a vote. All he was doing was moderating. 00:19:39.339 --> 00:19:43.500 Didn't make any sense. It's just keeping order. 00:19:48.059 --> 00:19:57.119 Your thoughts must have a moderator. If you're 00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:59.039 going to have self -control for your thoughts, 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:06.079 you have to intentionally direct your thoughts. 00:20:06.140 --> 00:20:09.140 You've got to... Properly regulate and moderate 00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:13.539 your thoughts. You have to do it. God's not going 00:20:13.539 --> 00:20:19.819 to do it for you. Set your mind on things above. 00:20:21.539 --> 00:20:25.339 Everybody say things above. And studying those 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:28.680 Greek words, it means to encompass. Things above 00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:32.539 encompasses truths and realities anchored in 00:20:32.539 --> 00:20:39.960 the person and work of Christ. So you need to 00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:47.680 set your mind on what God has done and provided 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:51.000 and promised surrounding what you're dealing 00:20:51.000 --> 00:21:03.680 with at the moment. Listen, if you can just get 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:06.339 a hold of this by 25%, it's going to make a difference 00:21:06.339 --> 00:21:12.440 in your life this week. I mean, we all need to 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:14.380 be working towards 100%, but if you can just 00:21:14.380 --> 00:21:17.880 get 25 % of this implemented and applied in your 00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:23.819 life, you're going to have a lot better week. 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:33.680 Things above includes God's character. It includes 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:36.960 everything that surrounds Jesus' finished work 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:40.099 on the cross. We read about that, and that's 00:21:40.099 --> 00:21:41.960 part of his great and precious promises that 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:44.019 are made available by what he did on the cross 00:21:44.019 --> 00:21:48.279 for you and for me. Things above includes the 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:52.180 righteousness that's imputed to us, put on our 00:21:52.180 --> 00:21:57.880 account. Things above is including in the eternal 00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:02.359 hope and resurrection that is ours in Christ. 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:07.619 Look to the person beside you and tell them to 00:22:07.619 --> 00:22:15.660 listen faster. 2 Corinthians 10, 4. The weapons 00:22:15.660 --> 00:22:20.500 of our warfare and the battle that's taking place 00:22:20.500 --> 00:22:23.519 is between your ears. That's the biggest battle 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:28.160 that's taking place. The weapons of our warfare, 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:34.240 the weapons of your warfare are not carnal, but 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:40.309 they sure are mighty. Mighty in God for the pulling 00:22:40.309 --> 00:22:45.130 down of strongholds. So many times we have a 00:22:45.130 --> 00:22:48.210 mental stronghold about a situation or about 00:22:48.210 --> 00:22:54.170 something from our past or, you know. And our 00:22:54.170 --> 00:22:57.329 minds, when they race, they run to that negative 00:22:57.329 --> 00:23:05.650 stronghold that's in our mind. The weapons of 00:23:05.650 --> 00:23:08.250 your warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God 00:23:08.250 --> 00:23:12.730 for pulling down those strongholds, for casting 00:23:12.730 --> 00:23:17.230 down arguments. This is part of moderating your 00:23:17.230 --> 00:23:20.750 thoughts and regulating your thoughts. It's not 00:23:20.750 --> 00:23:22.630 talking about you arguing with somebody else. 00:23:22.690 --> 00:23:25.109 It's talking about the arguments that are going 00:23:25.109 --> 00:23:34.839 on in your mind. Casting down arguments. And 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:41.359 everything, every high thing, every high thought 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:46.599 that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. 00:23:51.880 --> 00:23:53.980 I might have to preach this same sermon next 00:23:53.980 --> 00:24:02.950 week. Listen. Bringing... Every once in a while, 00:24:02.970 --> 00:24:09.150 a thought or two. Is that what it says? I saw 00:24:09.150 --> 00:24:10.809 you shaking your head. Nobody else was shaking 00:24:10.809 --> 00:24:12.250 their head. They were just like, okay, if that's 00:24:12.250 --> 00:24:16.769 what you say, that's what's right. No. Bringing 00:24:16.769 --> 00:24:21.849 every thought as the moderator, as the regulator, 00:24:21.930 --> 00:24:27.009 bringing every thought into captivity to the 00:24:27.009 --> 00:24:35.799 obedience of Christ. So when we moderate our 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:39.640 thoughts and this thought pops in our head, we 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:41.859 got to moderate it and say, well, is this something 00:24:41.859 --> 00:24:45.380 I'm going to think about and dwell on? Or is 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:47.420 this something, is this some kind of high thought 00:24:47.420 --> 00:24:50.960 that's trying to raise itself above what the 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:53.440 word of God says, what God says about me, what 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:56.960 God says about this situation, what God has promised? 00:24:57.779 --> 00:25:00.980 Is this thought trying to be higher than what 00:25:00.980 --> 00:25:11.400 God has said? We moderate. And if it's trying 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:14.819 to exalt itself above, if that thought that comes 00:25:14.819 --> 00:25:17.539 into your mind is trying to place itself above 00:25:17.539 --> 00:25:22.539 what God said, just smack it down. Throw it in 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:25.779 a trash can. Somebody hold out your hand and 00:25:25.779 --> 00:25:28.099 say, I'm going to smack it down. Just smack it 00:25:28.099 --> 00:25:38.509 down. Hallelujah. Here's the deal. We can't control 00:25:38.509 --> 00:25:42.750 the thoughts that pop into our minds. Some of 00:25:42.750 --> 00:25:46.490 us, when that thought comes, we think we're already 00:25:46.490 --> 00:25:49.109 defeated because the thought actually came into 00:25:49.109 --> 00:25:56.990 our mind. So we surrender. Well, since that thought 00:25:56.990 --> 00:25:59.950 came in, I know where it's going to take me, 00:25:59.990 --> 00:26:07.710 so I'm just going to... Write it down. We can't 00:26:07.710 --> 00:26:09.690 control the thoughts that pop into our minds, 00:26:09.769 --> 00:26:13.230 but we can moderate, we can control, we can regulate 00:26:13.230 --> 00:26:16.490 what we think about, what we continue to dwell 00:26:16.490 --> 00:26:21.509 on, what we meditate on. You have control over 00:26:21.509 --> 00:26:28.789 that. Now, our enemy doesn't want you to think 00:26:28.789 --> 00:26:32.079 that you have control of that. Oh, you can't 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:37.500 control it. Because of your past, because of 00:26:37.500 --> 00:26:42.200 your trauma, because of your experience, you 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:47.440 can't control it. Well, that sounds like a thought 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:50.480 that's trying to set itself above what God said 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:55.359 when God told you to set your mind to moderate 00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:59.480 your thoughts. Would God tell you to do it if 00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:02.410 you can't do it? Would he tell you to do it if 00:27:02.410 --> 00:27:05.269 he's not going to empower you to do it? In Christ, 00:27:05.329 --> 00:27:08.410 you have a helper. I mean, I can see people who 00:27:08.410 --> 00:27:10.849 are not in Christ really struggling in this area, 00:27:10.930 --> 00:27:16.369 but we have a helper. Hallelujah. We need to 00:27:16.369 --> 00:27:26.329 acknowledge him. Here's your four example. Numbers 00:27:26.329 --> 00:27:31.079 13. We've talked about this story before. How 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:32.819 many of you know when you look at a story from 00:27:32.819 --> 00:27:39.779 the Word of God, there's multiple facets? Multiple 00:27:39.779 --> 00:27:43.240 facets. Just like in self -control, we're looking 00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:46.420 at all these different facets of self -control, 00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:51.460 but it's all self -control. Numbers 13, 1. The 00:27:51.460 --> 00:27:54.700 Lord now said to Moses, Send out men to explore 00:27:54.700 --> 00:27:58.039 the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the 00:27:58.039 --> 00:28:02.180 Israelites. Send one leader from each of the 00:28:02.180 --> 00:28:06.539 12 ancestral tribes. So Moses did as the Lord 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:13.319 commanded him. Verse 17. Moses gave the men these 00:28:13.319 --> 00:28:16.819 instructions as he sent them out to explore the 00:28:16.819 --> 00:28:21.539 land. See what the land is like. Find out whether 00:28:21.539 --> 00:28:24.960 the people living there are strong or weak, few 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:29.240 or many. See what kind of land they live in. 00:28:29.819 --> 00:28:34.519 Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls 00:28:34.519 --> 00:28:40.420 or are they unprotected like open camps? Is the 00:28:40.420 --> 00:28:47.579 soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do 00:28:47.579 --> 00:28:50.859 your best to bring back samples of the crops 00:28:50.859 --> 00:28:58.309 you see. Verse 27. So they went into the land. 00:28:58.369 --> 00:29:00.670 They spied out the land. There were 12 spies. 00:29:02.150 --> 00:29:07.490 This was their report to Moses. We entered the 00:29:07.490 --> 00:29:12.730 land you sent us to explore. And indeed, it is 00:29:12.730 --> 00:29:18.589 indeed a bountiful country. A land flowing with 00:29:18.589 --> 00:29:22.970 milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it 00:29:22.970 --> 00:29:27.319 produces. Took two grown men with a pole between 00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:29.619 their shoulders to hold one bunch of grapes. 00:29:30.619 --> 00:29:32.759 I've never been in the publics where I couldn't 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:36.200 pick up a whole bunch with my hand. Took two 00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:42.519 men with a pole. I want you to consider something. 00:29:43.960 --> 00:29:48.079 All 12 spies, everybody say all 12. All 12 spies 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:55.059 were given the same instructions. They went to 00:29:55.059 --> 00:30:01.859 the same place. They saw the same things. Everybody 00:30:01.859 --> 00:30:06.660 say same. They all experienced the same thing 00:30:06.660 --> 00:30:11.160 as they went in to spot the land. They saw that 00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:15.480 the land was good. The soil was fertile. It was 00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:18.880 a bountiful and fruitful land. They all saw the 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:32.210 same thing. Just like us. I mean, there may be 00:30:32.210 --> 00:30:37.910 some differences in what we see. Listen. There 00:30:37.910 --> 00:30:42.349 may be some differences in what we see. But I 00:30:42.349 --> 00:30:44.089 believe there are a whole lot more similarities 00:30:44.089 --> 00:30:50.309 than there are differences. Here's the deal. 00:30:50.349 --> 00:30:54.450 We process what we see and experience. How do 00:30:54.450 --> 00:31:00.869 we process it? With our thoughts. Are you with 00:31:00.869 --> 00:31:07.990 me? Come on, somebody. Stay with me. They all 00:31:07.990 --> 00:31:10.130 had the same instructions. They all saw the same 00:31:10.130 --> 00:31:13.609 thing, but they processed what they saw differently. 00:31:13.809 --> 00:31:16.690 They processed their experiences differently. 00:31:23.549 --> 00:31:28.369 Here's a question. Will we? Or will you exercise 00:31:28.369 --> 00:31:33.630 self -control to take your thoughts captive by 00:31:33.630 --> 00:31:39.250 comparing what we see to what God has said? Or 00:31:39.250 --> 00:31:51.450 will you let your imaginations run wild? See, 00:31:51.529 --> 00:31:55.940 10 people let their imaginations run wild. They 00:31:55.940 --> 00:31:58.039 didn't compare what they saw with what God had 00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:04.799 promised. But two, compared what they saw and 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:07.240 what they experienced with what God promised. 00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:22.900 Do you get it? Self -control of our thoughts 00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:28.779 is vital. To walking by faith and not by sight. 00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:36.720 You will never walk by faith without having self 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:42.380 -control of your thoughts. When you don't have 00:32:42.380 --> 00:32:44.480 self -control of your thoughts, you will always 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:53.569 walk by sight and not by faith. Here's something 00:32:53.569 --> 00:32:55.950 else to consider. All 12 spies, everybody say 00:32:55.950 --> 00:33:00.309 all 12. All 12 knew that God had brought them 00:33:00.309 --> 00:33:03.009 there with a promise to give them this land. 00:33:03.910 --> 00:33:07.730 All 12 of them. That's why they had journeyed 00:33:07.730 --> 00:33:10.509 so long because God had made them a promise. 00:33:10.769 --> 00:33:14.170 And that promise was worth the journey. I'm telling 00:33:14.170 --> 00:33:16.730 you, God's promise for you is worth the journey 00:33:16.730 --> 00:33:28.170 to get there. Let's go to verse 28. But the people 00:33:28.170 --> 00:33:31.230 living there are powerful, and their towns are 00:33:31.230 --> 00:33:35.210 large and fortified. We even saw giants there, 00:33:35.450 --> 00:33:39.289 the descendants of Anak. The Amalekites live 00:33:39.289 --> 00:33:42.589 near the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, 00:33:42.650 --> 00:33:47.410 and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites 00:33:47.410 --> 00:33:50.069 live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea 00:33:50.069 --> 00:33:56.740 and along the Jordan Valley. Uncontrolled thoughts. 00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:06.500 Thoughts that are not moderated with the truth 00:34:06.500 --> 00:34:10.420 of God or the promises of God. Uncontrolled thoughts 00:34:10.420 --> 00:34:15.219 will always focus on problems, obstacles, and 00:34:15.219 --> 00:34:22.619 challenges. That's just where they go. Because 00:34:22.619 --> 00:34:28.199 that's what those guys did. In verse 30, but 00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:31.719 Caleb tried to quiet them. He said, hush up, 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:34.579 y 'all. If he was in the south, that's what he 00:34:34.579 --> 00:34:42.340 had said. Hush up, y 'all. Shh. Caleb tried to 00:34:42.340 --> 00:34:44.420 quiet the people as they stood before Moses. 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:52.039 This is what a moderated self -control thought 00:34:52.039 --> 00:34:57.670 life looks like. Let's go at once to take the 00:34:57.670 --> 00:35:06.550 land, he said. We can certainly conquer it. How 00:35:06.550 --> 00:35:14.210 could he speak like that? That's the way faith 00:35:14.210 --> 00:35:21.650 speaks. He had a promise. He had a promise. Here's 00:35:21.650 --> 00:35:28.219 the deal. You have a promise. Be like Caleb. 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:35.219 Moderate your thoughts. Have some self -control. 00:35:37.639 --> 00:35:39.780 Smack it down if it don't line up to what God 00:35:39.780 --> 00:35:42.679 said. Smack it down if it don't line up to the 00:35:42.679 --> 00:35:56.420 promise. Don't dwell on the challenge. Self -controlled 00:35:56.420 --> 00:36:01.579 thoughts focus on God's promises. Amen. Verse 00:36:01.579 --> 00:36:05.800 31. But the other men who had explored the land 00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:10.960 with him disagreed. We can't go up against them. 00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:17.079 They are stronger than we are. So they spread 00:36:17.079 --> 00:36:20.679 this bad report about the land among the Israelites. 00:36:22.510 --> 00:36:25.429 At least 1 .4 million people, maybe as many as 00:36:25.429 --> 00:36:29.449 four or six million. So they spread the bad report. 00:36:31.090 --> 00:36:32.969 Here's what they began to tell everybody. This 00:36:32.969 --> 00:36:37.210 land we traveled through and explored would devour 00:36:37.210 --> 00:36:42.409 anyone who goes to live there. Listen, their 00:36:42.409 --> 00:36:46.610 first report, listen, their first report was, 00:36:46.769 --> 00:36:54.409 you know, we saw some giants. But now, after 00:36:54.409 --> 00:37:00.130 their mind has been set on not being controlled 00:37:00.130 --> 00:37:03.389 and not being moderated, now it's like all the 00:37:03.389 --> 00:37:08.829 people we saw were huge. Now everybody's a giant. 00:37:10.230 --> 00:37:14.090 At first it was just a few giants. Now everybody's 00:37:14.090 --> 00:37:20.900 a giant. Because when you dwell on it, It just 00:37:20.900 --> 00:37:23.360 keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger and 00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:32.219 bigger. We even saw giants there, the descendants 00:37:32.219 --> 00:37:36.360 of Anak. Next to them, now our feelings are going 00:37:36.360 --> 00:37:39.500 to take over because of what we've set our mind 00:37:39.500 --> 00:37:42.579 on. Now, you know, we're so out of control now 00:37:42.579 --> 00:37:48.219 that our feelings are just going. Next to them, 00:37:48.239 --> 00:37:56.110 we felt. Like grasshoppers. Not only now do we 00:37:56.110 --> 00:37:59.190 feel like grasshoppers, we've got a feeling that 00:37:59.190 --> 00:38:01.550 they felt that we look like grasshoppers too. 00:38:06.849 --> 00:38:08.610 Yeah, that's what I want you to think about. 00:38:08.670 --> 00:38:11.710 I want you to think about a thought that has 00:38:11.710 --> 00:38:17.289 popped into your mind that you should have looked 00:38:17.289 --> 00:38:21.030 at it or moderated it. To know that it's not 00:38:21.030 --> 00:38:23.650 true and it's not part of God's truth and what 00:38:23.650 --> 00:38:26.190 God says about you and what God has provided 00:38:26.190 --> 00:38:28.409 for you. How many of you have seen those thoughts 00:38:28.409 --> 00:38:31.210 when you choose to meditate on that and let that 00:38:31.210 --> 00:38:33.789 stir and go out of control? How many of you have 00:38:33.789 --> 00:38:36.110 seen it as personal experience that it just keeps 00:38:36.110 --> 00:38:37.730 getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger? 00:38:49.639 --> 00:38:53.460 To the point that you think there's no way out. 00:38:59.019 --> 00:39:04.860 Uncontrolled thoughts and imaginations lead to 00:39:04.860 --> 00:39:10.639 fear and defeat. If you have a thought that leads 00:39:10.639 --> 00:39:12.980 you to fear, you should know automatically that 00:39:12.980 --> 00:39:16.199 that is not from God. Because God does not give 00:39:16.199 --> 00:39:18.739 you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and 00:39:18.739 --> 00:39:31.099 a sound mind. Self -controlled thoughts and imaginations. 00:39:33.199 --> 00:39:35.019 When they're moderated, when your thoughts are 00:39:35.019 --> 00:39:39.260 moderated and self -controlled, what are they 00:39:39.260 --> 00:39:43.199 going to lead you to? They're going to lead you 00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:46.110 to faith. They're going to lead you to victory. 00:39:53.909 --> 00:39:58.889 God help us to apply. What you set your mind 00:39:58.889 --> 00:40:02.829 on ultimately establishes your emotions, your 00:40:02.829 --> 00:40:07.070 feelings, your attitudes, your words, and your 00:40:07.070 --> 00:40:21.610 actions. Set your mind on things above, not on 00:40:21.610 --> 00:40:27.150 things on the earth. Exercise your mind. Properly 00:40:27.150 --> 00:40:30.010 regulate and moderate your thoughts from within 00:40:30.010 --> 00:40:36.309 with the help of God the Holy Spirit. Intentionally 00:40:36.309 --> 00:40:41.869 direct your thoughts. It's not the challenge 00:40:41.869 --> 00:40:44.070 from your preacher, that's the challenge from 00:40:44.070 --> 00:40:50.639 God. It's not even a challenge from God. It's 00:40:50.639 --> 00:40:58.380 really a command from God. You set your mind. 00:41:00.739 --> 00:41:05.199 How are you going to know the promises and what 00:41:05.199 --> 00:41:07.079 God says? How are you going to know that? Well, 00:41:07.179 --> 00:41:15.639 it's all in the Bible. Don't... It's so... easy 00:41:15.639 --> 00:41:18.320 to find things now so much easier than it used 00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:23.340 to be I mean you can I know Google can mess up 00:41:23.340 --> 00:41:25.380 a lot of things but Google can help you find 00:41:25.380 --> 00:41:29.480 what God says about something pretty quick and 00:41:29.480 --> 00:41:31.619 then check it up we found some AI that didn't 00:41:31.619 --> 00:41:34.119 match it gave us a Bible verse and that wasn't 00:41:34.119 --> 00:41:35.980 even a Bible verse and we had to find it somewhere 00:41:35.980 --> 00:41:39.940 else so don't trust it all the time but you can 00:41:39.940 --> 00:41:45.190 use it as a search instead of Having to read 00:41:45.190 --> 00:41:51.389 your whole Bible and memorize it. You have help. 00:41:51.650 --> 00:41:59.349 You have the Holy Spirit, most of all. How many 00:41:59.349 --> 00:42:00.949 of you think we have some things to think about 00:42:00.949 --> 00:42:07.050 this week? You know, some of this stuff can be 00:42:07.050 --> 00:42:11.199 pretty intense. Some of this information from 00:42:11.199 --> 00:42:13.699 God's Word can cause people to bow up on the 00:42:13.699 --> 00:42:19.300 inside. If you feel like you're bowing up on 00:42:19.300 --> 00:42:22.739 the inside, it's coming from a stronghold of 00:42:22.739 --> 00:42:25.480 a belief pattern that is not in agreement with 00:42:25.480 --> 00:42:32.099 God's Word. But the Holy Spirit will help you. 00:42:33.460 --> 00:42:36.860 The Holy Spirit will help you. He will empower 00:42:36.860 --> 00:42:42.530 you. You just have to trust God. You have to 00:42:42.530 --> 00:42:48.989 have faith in God. The problems that we face, 00:42:49.110 --> 00:42:55.690 the biggest answer is have faith in God. Trust 00:42:55.690 --> 00:43:00.429 God. Trust what he said. Trust what he's done. 00:43:01.630 --> 00:43:04.230 Think back on the times in your life where God 00:43:04.230 --> 00:43:06.349 has brought you through and brought you out. 00:43:06.909 --> 00:43:17.610 And stand. Stand. Unwavering. Stand. This online 00:43:17.610 --> 00:43:20.210 worship experience was brought to you by the 00:43:20.210 --> 00:43:22.210 friends and partners of Eulation Church.