Cultivation - The Practice of Disciplemaking, Part 2

Father, we thank you so much, Lord Jesus, for all that you do. We are blessed to be able to spend this midweek in your word. Taking time out from the busy of this day and week to be refreshed in the Word of God. And we ask, Lord, that the things you teach us tonight would stick deep. Deep in our lives. And we leave this place energized, excited about what you're going to do because we believe. In the name of our God, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We have been looking at the practice of disciple making.

And partic, what it means to stir up the life of an individual that they might be able to grow in their walk with the Lord. We call it the cultivation practice. the ability to stir up the ground so that the soil is ripe to grow in. And we have begun looking at the essential element of that. What is the principle that governs how that happens? And it's different than what we would normally expect, but it's important because we need to understand it. And we said that the essential ingredient to the cultivating practice of disciple-making is to have no confidence in the flesh and have all confidence In the Spirit.

That is, God has gifted us, and we have many talents and many opportunities to do many things. But yet he doesn't want us to rely upon our own resources. He wants us to rely upon him. And so by looking at Philippians 3, verse number 3, we realize that the marked ones, the Christian, the true believer, Is the one who worships God in spirit and makes or takes no confidence in his own flesh. That is, he doesn't rely upon his own human resources to accomplish a spiritual objective. It's all about the Spirit of God energizing that life and the people you work with.

Paul would understand that in Philippians, or excuse me, Ephesians chapter 3, he would pray this prayer for those in Ephesus. He says in verse number 14, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father. From whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit. In the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth.

And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Paul specifically prayed. That we would understand and be strengthened with p through His Spirit, the Spirit of God, in the inner man. Paul understood that without the power of God's Spirit energizing our lives, then we would not even begin to understand God and His wonderful love. And we wouldn't even be able to understand verse number 20 about in Ephesians 3 about he who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think.

By relying upon God to do the work, those things begin. To happen. We looked at the essential ingredient. And then we looked at someone who best exemplifies that. And we looked at the life of Moses. And we wanted you to see that this man, Moses, was one who prepared himself to lead the Exodus. He believed that he was equipped. He had been educated in the finest schools of his day. He was prepared mentally. He was prepared emotionally. He was prepared educationally. He was prepared physically, but he wasn't prepared spiritually.

And so, as he enacted his plan to lead the nation of Israel out of bondage by showing them his physical prowess, by showing them how strong he was. Israel refused his leadership. They wanted no part of it. And so he would flee Egypt. He would go to the backside of the desert. He'd be there for 40 years. Now, we don't know what took place during those 40 years. The Bible doesn't tell us. It's irrelevant. What is relevant is that when he comes out of the desert and God appears to him in the burning bush, he is a changed man He is a new man.

He is a different man. Gone are his self Reliance or is his self-reliance? Gone is his self-confidence. Gone is his self-ass. All those things have been stripped away. No longer does he believe in himself. And God now has him right where he wants him. Because now God has prepared him. God did something in this man's life. It took 40 years in the backside of the desert for it to happen. But God prepared him. And God molded him so he would be ready to enact God's plan in God's time. Moses knew everything except what it meant to be still and know his God.

When he came out of the desert, he would begin to understand. That con. He would understand that it wasn't his responsibility to be Israel's deliverer. He would be the instrument God would use to deliver Israel. There's the difference. You see, we think that we are the man or we are the woman to do the job. Instead, we have to see ourselves as an instrument in the hand of God to be used by God to accomplish God's purposes. Moses had to learn that. Once he learned that, he was able to have no confidence in the flesh and have all confidence in the spirit.

He would learn to rely up God. And God would come to him in that burning bush. And he would speak to him. And Moses would come back and would reveal his insecurity, would re his inade, would reveal his ineptness. And God would always come back with an answer. You have my presence. You have my power. You have my provision. You have all that you need, Moses, in me. What you lack, I have. What you think you need, you don't need. You just need me. And Moses would learn. On that day before the burning bush, that God really truly wanted to use him.

Even when he said, Wait a minute. Send somebody else. I'm not the guy. And the anger of the Lord burned against him because of his lack of availability. And let it be known to you and to me that the anger of the Lord burns against us when we say, Lord, send somebody else. Lord, have somebody else teach the class. Lord, have somebody else do evangelism. Lord, have somebody else go on a mission t. I don't want to do it. I'm not available. I'm too busy. I got another agenda. That doesn't sit too well with the Lord.

And God had to revolutionize that man's thinking, and He did. And you realize it back in the book of Exodus, the 14th chapter, after he leads them out, all those Jews standing by the Red Sea. And Pharaoh coming down upon them, pursuing them. And in Exodus 14, verses 13 and 14, you have the essence of no conflicts in the flesh. And all confidence in the Spirit when Moses said to the people, Do not fear. Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.

The Lord will fight for you while you keep silence. There's the essence of Philippians 3, verse number 3. God will fight for you, God will do the battle, God will handle the conflict, God will make the way. And God did. And God would allow them to go through and pass through in the Red Sea on dry land and then drown Pharaoh's army. It's a great story. We'll get into it in the month of. December or January of next year as we study the book of Exodus. But Moses learned so much. He needed to be a humble man.

He needed to learn to depend upon God. And he did. And he was Israel's greatest leader. The greatest leader they ever had. And from his life, we learned the lessons, the lessons of leadership. But more than that, we learn not to put our confidence in the flesh. But to put our confidence in God Himself, His Spirit, and His operating in and through our lives. And that is the essential ingredient to the disciple-making process. I mean, we can talk about all the methods, we can talk about all the how-tos, we can give you a great, all outline as to what you need to say and how you need to say it.

We do it in evangelism classes. We do it on Sunday mornings. We tell you exactly what the word of the Lord says. But the bottom line is this. It's no confidence in the flesh. It's no confidence in my ability. It's no confidence in my education, in my income, in my Athletic prowess, it's confidence in God alone. And until we learn that in our marriages, with our families, in our church, the disciple-making process. Will break. It won't happen as God wants it to happen. You say, I want to do that. I want to make sure that happens in my life.

How is it I can begin to operate in the spirit? How is it I can begin to set aside my flesh? Set aside my humanness, set aside my own ingenuity, set aside my own plans to accomplish God's plans in God's time with God's power. How do I do that? And that's the third.

Aspect of point number one, how this whole thing is incorporated. And I want to spend some time here with you this evening because I want you to get it, I want you to understand it. Because you need to understand the whole process of letting God in cont, letting God take over, letting God do the work. So important. You say, well, wait a minute. Does that mean I'm just to let go and let God do everything? Well, to a degree, yes. To a degree, no. The psalmist has said in Psalm 31, verse number 5: Commit your ways to the Lord.

Trust also in him, and he will do it. He will do it. Trust in the Lord. Commit your plans to him. That means you got some kind of plan, you got some kind of agenda, but you want to commit it to him. Subject it to his authority, his rulership. And it says, he will do it. Over in Psalm 3, verse number 23, it says these words: The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and he delights in his way. When he falls, he should not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the one who holds his hand. God is holding your hand.

God is taking care of you. God is doing the work. Proverbs 16, verse number 3: Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Many years ago, an individual wrote this about let go. To let go doesn't mean to stop caring. It means I can't do it for someone else. To let go is not to cut myself off. It's the realization that I can't control another. To let go is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences. To let go is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.

To let go is not to try to change or blame another. I can only change myself. To let go is not to care for, but to care about. To let go is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being. To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own outcomes. To let go is not to be protective, it is to permit another to face reality. To let go is not to deny, but to accept. To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue, but to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.

To let go is not to adjust everything to my desire, but to take each day as it comes. To let go is not to criticize and regulate anyone, but to try to become what dream I can be. To let go is not to regret the past, but to grow and live with the future. To let go is to fear less and love more. How do I do that? How do I let God do what God's going to do? How do I get out of God's way so God can accomplish His purposes and His plans for those in whom I invest my life? Let me give you some.

Some principles. Number one, I want to talk about the reasons. The reasons we operate in the flesh. Why is it we don't let go? Why is it we hold on? Why is it we try to control our spouses? Try to control our family. Try to control our church. Try to control our own lives. Why is it we do that? Just let me give you a few suggestions this evening.

Number one is my popularity. My popularity. I'm extremely fearful of what others might think of me if I don't produce a result. What will other people think if I don't produce some kind of substantial result? What if I don't make it? What if I don't succeed? And so I think that by my holding on to everything, trying to control and operate in the flesh, that I could accomplish a great work for God. All the while, I hinder the work of God. You see, in our society, to be a man, to be a woman, you need to be in control of your destiny, right?

You need to be in control of your environment. To be out of control shows that you're inade, incapable. Unable. And so we do all we can to control everything, right? Because we want people to think that we're adequate, not inade. That we are able, not unable. That we are really good and they can count on us. And yet, man's biggest fear is confusion. Because confusion puts you out of control. Confusion makes it look like you don't know what you're doing. That's why when you're driving and you're going on vacation and your wife says, Honey, where are we going?

Oh, I know where we're going. Have you read the map? You don't need to read the map. I know exactly where I'm going as you travel down these lost roads in the middle of the night. You're in control. You don't want to show that you're out of control. You don't want to show that you're confused about where you're going. So, what do you do? You get angry at her. Don't tell me where to go. I know where I'm doing. Don't give me any suggestions. I know what I'm about. I know who I am. I know where I'm going.

Don't question my manliness. We're not saying that out loud, but that's what we're thinking inside. I'm in control. Don't make it look like I'm out of control, honey, because I have my destiny in my hands. See, our popularity is extinct. And so we don't want to use or lose what people think of us. And so we realize that society says that the mark of a man is to be in control of his destiny. But the scriptures say that the mark of a man Is se by the fact that he knows the God who is in control of his destiny.

You see, it's God who's in control, not me. Although I want to be. And that's why I operate in the flesh. And that's why it's so hard for me to let go because my popularity is at stake. And if I got to trust God, and I have to live in the land of. Limbo for a while, not knowing what I'm doing. It makes me look like I'm out of control. I'm confused, and I don't want to be there. Over in the book of Galatians, it says these words. Paul says, listen.

Galatians chapter 1, verse number 10. For am I now seeking the favor of men or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bonds of Christ. You see, the reason my popularity is at stake is because down deep I'm trying to please people. I'm trying to please others. And I want them to be pleased with me. It's not about me pleasing God. It's not about me honoring God by trusting Him, leaving things in His hands. Taking things into my own hands because I want people to see me as someone of great significance.

My popularity is at stake. Paul said over in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 1 and 2, these words. Let a man regard us in this manner as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of a steward that one be found Trustworthy wouldn be found faithful. Listen, it is not a requirement for you to be found fruitful. It is a requirement for you to be found faithful. You see, we think that we have to produce results. We are household managers of God's system, in God's kingdom.

And therefore, our job is to be faithful at doing what it is we do. I told you on Sunday morning that one of the things that God has taught me over the years is that when people leave, let them leave. Don't worry about it. Just let him leave the church. When our church first started almost nine years ago.

When our first church first started, I used to go through the directory and every day I would call people in the church.

You know why? Not because I cared about him, but because I didn't want him to leave. Say, oh, that's a terrible thing. I'm just being honest with you. I didn't want them to leave. I thought that if I called them and talked to them, they would stay. And we'd be able to build this church. I mean, it was a brand new church. It was just getting started. We planted a church in a park, and then we went to a school. And I thought, if I called everybody and they thought that I cared about them, they would stay and they'd keep coming.

And I found out something. The more people I called, they were the ones who left. And God kept trying to tell me, listen, you can call them, you can go to their house, you can babys them, you can even pay them. But you know what? If they're going to leave, they're going to leave. Let them leave. But I thought that I could control their staying, that they could be here. And God, within the first sixth month of our church's existence, God taught me a very valuable lesson.

He's going to build the church, and I'm not. He builds it. Get out of the way. So I did. I stopped calling the people in the church. That's not true. But the bottom line is that the motive was get them to stay. Get him to stay. Because you see, my popularity was at stake. What will people think of the church if no one stays in this guy's church? What's wrong? Can't he build a church? Can he start a church if people come? What's wrong? He must not be a very good preacher. He must not be a very good leader.

So, my popularity is at stake. So, I got to control my environment. So, what do I do? I call him on the phone. Why are you going? Stay, stay with us. All the while, they just kept on leaving. Family at a time, three at a time, twelve at a time. And God said, It's not about you. It's about me. And that's a very important lesson for all of us to learn, isn't it? Be faithful. God doesn't require me to be fruitful. God doesn't say, listen, when you get to heaven, how many people were in your church? How many did you have?

Were you growing? Did you have more year one or year two than you had year one? Did you have more year 10 than you had year five? What's wrong with you, sp? Couldn 't you do the right thing? What's your problem, man? God's not going to do that. God just requires me to be faithful. Faithful. And to be honest with you, you know what? We have more people in our church that I want to be accountable for. Be honest with you. In fact, if nobody else came, I'd be happy. Because if somebody else comes, guess what?

I'm accountable for them as well. So the more people who come, The greater my accountability when I stand before God on the day of judgment, right? What did you do with those souls? What did you teach those souls? See? So, God's been teaching me a very valuable lesson. He's going to build a church. Just do what you've been called to do, be faithful. Don't worry about your popularity. Don't worry about what other people think of you and your church. Think about what God thinks of you and your church.

Isn't that important? See, we think about what others think of me. What others will think of my ministry in the church. Or my family. If we would spend more time think about what God thought of us rather than what other people thought of us. Boy, I tell you, we'd be pretty God-conscious. But instead, we're man-conscious. We're man-centered. That's not the way it should be. So one of the reasons I don't let go and trust my God to handle everything is because it's my popularity is at stake. Number two is my destiny, my destiny, I believe, is in my hands.

And I know what's best for me. Now, listen, this is going to be so eye-opening to you this evening. Maybe you already know this. If you do, just sit back, smile, nod your head. But this is so good. Watchman Nee said these words years ago. Anyone who serves God will discover sooner or later that the great hindrance to his work is not others, but him. If you get a hold of that concept, it'll revolutionize your disciple-making. The great hindrance to your ministry is not other people, it's you. You see, we want to blame somebody else.

It's their fault. It's their problem. In marriages, we do it all the time. We want to blame our spouse. Well, if they weren't that way, I wouldn't be this way. If they wouldn't have said that, I wouldn't have thrown this. As if everything depends upon them. But the greatest hindrance to your marriage is not your spouse, it's you. The greatest hindrance to your family is not your children, it's you. The greatest hindrance in the church is not other people in the church, it's you. And boy, I tell you, when you get that all settled in your mind, you realize that's more than anybody can handle.

Just trying to get my life in order to honor God. And yet, my destiny, where I'm going, I really believe I can take. My life and the life of others to a better place than God can. Now, we wouldn't readily admit that. But that is true. I believe my way is best, and God really doesn't know what He's doing. Now, I know some of you are thinking, what does this have to do with discipleship? It has everything to do with discipleship. Why? Because discipleship is an outflow of the godly life. An ungodly person.

Should not want to reproduce ungodliness in the life of somebody else, right? A godly person wants to reproduce godliness in the life of another individual. As a parent, I want to reproduce God in the life of my children. As a father, I want to reproduce godlike qualities in the life of my wife. As a pastor, I want to reproduce godlike qualities in the life of the people in the church. And so I need to understand that God is in control and that God has a plan for his people. I need to understand that plan.

I need to follow it. Now, for example, turn back with me to Jeremiah 42 for a moment. And I want to spend some time here because this is so un. And yet, it happens every day in the church. Every day. Children of Israel came to Jeremiah in verse number 2 and said these words: Please. Let our petition come before you and pray for us to the Lord your God that is for all this remnant because we are left. But a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us. That the Lord your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.

Think about that. That would be like the people in the church coming to the pastor of the church saying, Pastor, go to the Lord. Go to the Lord. Seek the Lord. And tell the Lord and ask the Lord which way we should go, which way we should walk, what thing we should do. That's a good request. Sounds good, doesn't it? It says in verse number 4, Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words. And it will come about that the whole message which the Lord will answer you, I will tell you, I will not keep back a word from you.

Then they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the Lord your God will send you to us. Whether it is pleasing or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you in order that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God. Now that sounds great. We will do whatever God says.

We're going to listen, Jeremiah. We don't want you to hold back any of the word of the Lord. Whatever He says, just give us the whole kit and caboodle. We want to hear it all. We want to know what he says. Because we're going to do it. We're going to obey the voice of the Lord. Now the problem, as you'll see, is that they would come to Jeremiah and claim that they wanted God's guidance. They wanted God's direction. They wanted God to lead them. But what they really wanted God to do was to confirm his blessing.

To what they had already decided to do themselves. You see, they were going to turn their backs on their homeland. And they were going to journey down to Egypt, and they wanted God's blessing in their journey. They had already made up their minds what they were going to do. They didn't like the rule of the k of Babylon. And so they decided to go a different way. They had already made up their mind what they wanted to do. They went to Jeremiah. They said, Jeremiah, go to the Lord. Ask him what he wants us to do because they really wanted God to confirm their dec.

You ever met people like that? I find them all the time. They come to me for counseling. They call me on the phone. Or they even come to church. And they want God to confirm what they have already decided to do with their marriage or with their children or in their own personal lives. They've already made up their mind. No matter what God says, That's irrelevant.

But they come and they say, You know, I really want you to tell me what God says about this. What does God say about this? And when they don't hear what they want to hear, they go to another church or to another counsel until they finally hear what they want to hear, and then they say, Yep, see, God told me what to do, God guided me.

Now, listen to this. This is unbelievable. Verse 7. Now it came about at the end of the 10 days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Now, why was it 10 days? Why 10 days? Why did God wait 10 days to come to Jeremiah and speak to him? It's because he wanted Israel to search their hearts. He wanted Israel to confess their sins. He wanted Israel to get right with their God. So he waited patiently. They called for Johannan, the son of Geria, and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people, both small and great.

And said to them, Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before him. If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you. For I shall relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand. I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion Passion on you and restore you to your own soil.

God says, Listen, this is what I want to do. I want you to stay right here. I don't want you going down to Egypt. I want you to stay right where you are. I will plant you. I will build you. You don't have to worry about the king. I'm in control here. I will have compassion on you, and I will make sure he has compassion on you. This is the word of the Lord. Don't go, stay. And this is my promise to you. This is what I will do for you. Sounds good. Verse 13, but if you're going to say, we will not stay in this land, so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God, saying, no, but we will go to the land of Egypt.

Where we shall not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we shall stay there. Then, in that case, listen to the word of the Lord, O rem of Judah. Now, listen, they already have made up their minds what they're going to do. They're going to Egypt. They wanted God to confirm their journey. God says, Don't go, you got to stay.

You stay, I'll bless you. You leave, you're in big trouble. Don't leave. Don't do that. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, if you really set your mind to enter Egypt and go in to reside there, Then it will come about that the sword which you are afraid of will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, the famine which you are anxious. about which you are anxious will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.

And they will have no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them. Now that's pretty, pretty plain, isn't it? God says, you stay, you're blessed.

You stay, you'll prosper. And I will relent of my calamity that I have brought upon you. But if you leave, if you go to Egypt, now remember.

Israel, whenever they got in trouble, where do they go? They went to Egypt. Why? Because Father Abraham went to Egypt way back in Genesis chapter 12. Remember him? When there was a famine in the land, what did he do? He didn't seek God. His destiny was already made up. He knew what to do. Go to Egypt. Go down to Egypt. In the Old Testament, Egypt always refers to the world. Go to the world. Go to where it's safe. Go to where it's comfortable. Go to where you can take care of yourself. Go to where you're in control.

Don't trust God. Don't let God take you through the difficult time. Escape the difficulty. Do whatever you want to do. God says, don't do that.

Don't do that. If you do, you'll die by the sword. You'll die by the pestilence. You'll die by the famine. All those things you are afraid of now will follow you to Egypt, and you will die there. What would you do? Verse seven, chapter forty-three and they entered to the land Of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. Can you believe that? Can you believe that? And on top of that, listen to the excuse they give over in chapter 44, verse number 16. H's the excuse. As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you.

Can you believe the audacity of that people? What do they say in chapter 42? Whatever the Lord says, we will listen.

We will do. And now, what do they say? We're not listening. We're not doing it. But rather, we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths. We're going to do what we want to do, Jeremiah. It's not about what God wants, it's about what I want. And if God wants what I want, God's okay. But if God doesn't want what I want, then God's not okay. How do we know that? Read on. Let me read verse 17 again.

But rather, we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths by burning. Sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings, and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food. And were well off and saw no misfortune. But since we stopped burning sacrifices at the Queen of Heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine.

Do you know what they're saying? They're saying, listen, our forefathers, our fathers, when they committed idolatry, when they turned their back on God, They were comfortable. They had food. They had everything they needed. And when Josiah came along and Josiah turned us around so that we would no longer offer sacrifices to this Queen of heaven, this false God, things got worse. They got worse. And we're not going down that road again. Because we believe our ways best. So we're going to do our thing.

Not God's thing. Can you believe that? But you know what? That happens all the time, doesn't it? In 21st century Christianity, we're just like the nation of Israel so many times. Well, what does God say about what I should be doing? Well, this is what the word of the Lord says. Oh, yeah, but I don want to do that. I don't like that. That doesn't fit into my agenda. You see, whenever you follow the Lord, whenever you obey the Lord, let me tell you something, it's painful.

When you disobey the Lord, it's pleasurable. That's what the Bible says. Moses would forsake Egypt. Hebrews 11. He'd rather endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. You see, whenever you obey God, it's painful. Whenever you disobey God, it's pleasurable. But.

The end result of obedience is pleasure, and the end result of disobedience is always pain and misfortune. You see, because the temporary pleasure in sin is just that, it's temporary. And the temporary pain in obedience is just that. It's just temporary. In Israel, what do they say? There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the ends thereof are not the ways of life, but the ways of death. And God warned them: don't do it. You'll die. And what do they say? We're not going to listen to what God said.

Even when He told Him, this is what's going to happen. God, you can't be serious. Our way's better. We're more comfortable this way. Good things are happening to us. I'm making more money. I got more money than I've ever had before. Great things are happening. It's okay that I'm walking out of the will of the Lord. Why? Because what's important is how I feel. What's important is what's happening to me. I am an idolater. I'm all about me. And that's the way most people live their lives. And that's why we don want to let go.

Because if we let go, we don know what's going to happen. And it might be confusion, and it might be painful, and it might be difficult, and I don't want to do that. So we hold on for dear life. Because if we ever got serious about the Lord and the bottom fell out, what would we ever do? Answer. Trust him. Hope in him. Believe in him. And thirdly.

Another reason we don't let go is because of my credibility, my popularity, my destiny, and my credibility. I am forever relying on my own self-resources, so much so that I think God's answer to the dilemma of our society is me. After all, I have all kinds of credentials. After all, I have all kinds of potential. After all, I have all kinds of utensils. All kinds of giftedness. And so I look at my credibility and think, I am so good.

And that's what Paul said in Philippians 3. When he looked at everything that he had, being of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day, he was. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He said all that stuff was sc. Know what sc is? Dung. You know what dung is, don't you? He said, everything I thought was great in my own personal life, everything he had a paperweight on his desk that said, most likely to succeed. He probably had a banner in his house of who's who in Judaism. He says all that's just sc, means nothing.

To the surpassing great of knowing my God. See, he had all the credentials. Humanly speaking, he was just like Moses. He had it all. But all of that was worthless when it came to serving his God. He needed the power of God in his life. He would testify to that. In 1 Corinthians 2, he said, We could have come to you with persuasive words of wisdom, but we didn't. We came to you in the power of God. We could have persuaded you with our eloquent style of speaking, but we didn't do that. It was all to the glory and power of God.

Puritan Abraham Wright said these words The cause why our oppressors prevail oft against us is because we trust too much in our own wits and lean too much Upon our own inv, opposing one evil device to another, matching and maintaining policy by policy, and not committing our cause to God. He's right. James Stewart, a Scottish preacher, said, It is always upon human weakness and humiliation, not human strength and confidence, that God chooses to build his kingdom. And that he can use us not merely in spite of our ordinariness and helplessness and disqualifying infirmities, but precisely because of them.

It is a thrilling discovery to make, and it can revolutionize our missionary. Outlook. Those are some of the reasons we are not willing to let go, instead, to operate in the flesh. What are some reasons or some results of operating the flesh? As you can see, we're not going to finish our outline this evening. Sorry. But this is so important. What are the results? If I do that, if I'm concerned about my own destiny, my own popularity, my own credibility, what happens? Two things, one spiritually, one person.

Spiritually, I'm going to quench the spirit and I'm going to grieve the spirit. See, the Spirit of God is a personal, person being. He can be quenched. He can be grieved. Need to understand that. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, Do not quench the Spirit. We quench the Spirit when we seek solutions apart from his leading. We put his fire out in our lives when we push him aside and treat him with indifference and deny his power and say, I can do it. I don't need the Spirit of God. I can accomplish this. And we quench the Spirit.

Paul says, don't do that. Ephesians 4: says, and do not grieve the Spirit by whom you were sealed until the day of redemption. He can be grieved. By refusing to respond to his leading, by engaging in sin, by disobeying the voice of God, we must begin to move in the power of the spirit of the church. If ever we're going to stop doing things our way and doing it God's way. So many times we grieve and quench the Spirit of God just because we say, Don't need you. And Jesus said, John 15:5, without me, you can do what?

Nothing. He said it. You can't do anything in the spirit without me. You can't do anything for the church without me. You can't do anything for your family without me. Anything of lasting value? Anything of spiritualness. You can't do it. You need me. And we just keep on trumping through life thinking we don't need anybody. We're autonomous. We're independent. And all the while we quench the spirit, we grieve the spirit. Sadly, for the most part, we didn't care. God cares. And then we find ourselves incredibly frustrated.

Ever find yourself there? Incredibly frustrated. Maybe you get angry a lot. Maybe you're depressed a lot. Maybe your life is filled with stress. Why is that? Why does those things happen? Why do feelings of anxiety and guilt and inade well up inside of me? What happens? Simply this: My whole purpose of existence is for me. It's all about me. And when things don't happen my way, I get angry. When things don't go my way, I get frustrated. Why? Because I'm trying to control the events of life thinking that I am in control, and you're not.

I told you on Sunday, you're in control of one thing and one thing only. Just one, nothing else. You are in control of whether or not you choose to magnify the name of God in every situation you find yourself. That's it. And everything else, everything else is something you cannot control. You might be able to influence it. But you can't control it. And that's why it's so important that we understand that we assume responsibility for our number one objective in life-to glorify God-and we pray for everything else.

You don't have to pray about glorifying God, you just got to do it. But you pray about everything else. You pray about the things you cannot control, the things you can't determine. You can't control your health. Oh, you can exercise, you can eat right, but guess what? It's appointed unto man who wants to die after the death of judgment. No matter how much exercise you do, no matter what you eat, you have an appointment with death. It's going to happen. No matter what you do, right? It's going to take place.

We really truly believe that somehow I can control the salvation of those in my family. You can't. You can influence it. You pray about it. You got to magnify God in it. But let God do God's work. And trust him for the outcome. We believe that somehow. I'm in control of my marriage. That if I do all the right things, say all the right things, my wife won't leave me. That's not true. Because you can't control whether or not she leaves or stays. You can influence it, but you cannot control it. What can you control?

You can control whether or not you will magnify the name of God, whether she stays or whether she leaves. You can control that. Because that depends upon you. It doesn't depend upon her, right? And listen to this. Your dec to magnify your God is what demonstrates Your identity in Christ, more so than anything else, and who you are. You see, those other things have nothing to do with your identity in Christ. Nothing. How much money you make or don't make, whether you're married, stays together or doesn't, whether your children obey or they don't.

Whether your church grows or it doesn't, whether the people you disciple follow the Lord or they don't. You're magnifying the name of Christ is who you are as a child of God. And that's what you need to do. In every situation. And that's why. And that's why. Paul said, I've learned to be content in whatever state I am. Because he was adequate in reaching his most valued goal in spite of great suffering over unmet desires. He knew what his goal was to magnify the name of God. He knew that. That's what it was about.

Putting God on display. That's what we need to be doing. So, what's the resource? That's a third aspect of incorporating this principle in our lives.

How's it going to happen? It's simply this. Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 18 says, And be not drunk with wine, and which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit of God. Pl ra'o, which means to be controlled, dominated by the Spirit of God. How does that happen? How do I make that happen? Let me give you a simple illustration.

All of us know what a glove is, right? You put a glove in your hand. Not a mitten, but a glove. That glove has five fingers, just like your hand has five fingers. You take that hand, you put that hand inside that glove. And that glove is able to do exactly what your fingers move it to do. If you only put four fingers in that glove, only four fingers Will move at the command of your hand. The thumb part won't. It'll just dangle over here. It'll be worthless. Can't use it. If you were to put your hand in the glove and try to put four fingers in there, if you had Dave come up here and only put four fingers in the glove, and could he play the piano accurately?

No, he couldn't. That glove could not accomplish the purpose that hand wanted it to do. But once the fingers and the thumb, once all sections are filled with the hand, that glove can operate at will. That's the same way it is in the spiritual realm. Our lives are like the glove, and the Spirit of God is like the hand. And God's Spirit needs to permeate every part of our lives so that we operate under the control, the dominating control of the Spirit of God. Now you're going to ask me, how does that happen?

Simply this. The Bible says in Colossians 3. let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let it dwell on you richly. Why? You will note, won't take the time this evening. If you read Ephesians 5, 18 and Colossians 3. 16, you will note that the results of being filled with the Spirit are the exact same res. The word of Christ dwelling in you richly. And what are they? Singing, saying thanks, and submitting to one another. So the Bible is very clear. If you want to be dominated by God's Spirit, you must let the Word of Christ be at home in your hearts.

You must be men and women of the word. You must be men and women who obey the word, who follow the word, who serve the word, and make the word an intricate part of every aspect of your life. So that the Spirit of God controls you because the Spirit of God works in conjunction with the Word of God. The two go hand in hand. And let me tell you something.

The more of God's word you know, the more God's Spirit controls your life. And the less of God's word you know, the less He controls your life. It's simply put this way: when God's Spirit controls your life, it's because God's Word controls your life. And how you know God's Word is controlling your life is because you recognize the presence of God every moment of your life. You see, letting the Word of Christ dwell in you witching is a God consciousness. There's a great illustration in the life of Peter.

When Peter was conscious of God, when Peter operated in the presence of God, he did the miraculous, he said the miraculous, and he had miraculous courage. He was able to walk on water. He was able to say, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. He was able to cut off Malchaz. In John 18, because of those soldiers coming, he had all kinds of power because God was with him. He recognized the presence of God in his life. But as soon as God was out of his life, what did he do? He denied him three times.

And he couldn't even stand up to a little girl by a fire for the name of God because he was so afraid. But you pick up the book of Acts and you read that epistle, and what do you have? You have Peter saying the miraculous, doing the miraculous, and having miraculous courage. Why? Because the Spirit of God came, and the Bible says that when you receive the Spirit, you will receive the power of God.

And Peter was able to be controlled by God's Spirit because he was dominated by the Word of God. And so he lived with a God consciousness. He lived in the presence of God and he was able to preach to a thousand people and 3,000 of them got saved. He was able to heal a layman. He was able to boldly proclaim Christ even though he was threatened. He had the courage. He had. The stamina. Why? Because God energized his life through the power of the Spirit of God because he was dominated by the Word of God.

That means he lived a life conscious of the presence of God always in his life, and that's what God wants for you. That's what God wants. And what does it say of the apostles? They turned the world upside down. Whose world are you turning upside down? Let's pray, Father God. We thank you for your word. Lord, forgive us for trying to run our church in the flesh. Trying to run our families in the flesh. Trying to live the Christian life in the flesh. Forgive us, Lord, for not walking in the Spirit and relying upon you.

Forgive us for putting confidence in the flesh and no confidence in the spirit. My prayer, Lord, is for all of us that we would understand this essential ingredient to the disciple-making process. That we need to depend upon you for everything. May we learn that. Day by day. And with each passing day, may we learn to depend upon you more and more and more. So we, like the Apostle Paul, would be able to say, He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ever imagine. Because he does it and we don't.

In Jesus' name, amen.