What's up everybody? Come on. Somebody make some crazy noise for Jesus in this place.

Oh come on. We just baptized. I don't even know how many I lost count, but as Sarah said, all of heaven rejoices over one sinner that repent. How much more should we rejoice with our brothers and sisters who've been water baptized? Come on, somebody make some crazy noise and celebrate the fact that people have made a decision to follow Jesus. Oh, I love baptism Sundays. They're so awesome. Now, let me just say this. If you're here and you're watching people get baptized and you're like, man, I should have pre-registered, don't even worry about it because after this sermon, I'm going to give you an opportunity that if you feel that tug to get water baptized, we got shorts. Ain't nobody wore. That's important. We got a T-shirt for you. We got a towel and the water is warm.

So if you've never been baptized or you were baptized as a small child and it wasn't your decision, then I encourage you to get water baptized before you leave this place and promise you we will baptize all day if we have to. For anyone that wants to get water baptized. All right, I want to say welcome, welcome, welcome to Embassy City Church for all those that are our guests today. Thank you for being here. We pray that you feel welcomed and at home and for those who are joining us online and into overflow, thank you so much for joining us. I want to get straight into the word because I need as much time as I can get y'all ready. Alright, grab your Bibles. We're go into Galatians chapter five, the book of Galatians, chapter five. We're actually going to read three passages of scripture. Galatians chapter five, Titus chapter two, and second Timothy chapter one. So if you brought a physical Bible, get your thumbs warmed up. We get into this word, we're kicking off a new series today that I'm very excited about. Lemme just say this, I believe that this series, if you will dig into it, will change the course of your life.

Now, I know you're thinking, you say that with every series, bro. I believe that about every series, but this one in particular, I'm telling y'all we going deep today. Alright, so get you a snorkel, gear on buckle up, do whatever you got to do because we getting in this word. All right, Galatians five, verse number 16. But I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify. The desires of the flesh

For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you're led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now, pause, like just in case you're wondering now the words of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, I impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things. There is no law and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires. We just getting started, y'all Titus chapter two, verse number 11, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. One more passage, two Timothy chapter one, verse number seven,

For God has not given us a spirit of fear. Come on now. For God has not given us a spirit, I can just stop and preach on that. A spirit of fear but of power. I'm up here dying y'all and love and self-control. The series that we are getting into is called Control Your Self. Oh it's going to be real today. Now when you go to watch a movie, they will give you a rating for the movie, an advisory warning, and based on the rating of the movie, that should determine whether or not you want to watch it. They're warning you ahead of time. This is rated R, this is rated pg, this is rated PG 13. How many that grew up in the nineties know that PG in the nineties is R rated today. There's some movies that I watched today with my kids. I'm like, how did my parents let me watch that. But I want to give you a rating for this sermon series so that we are all clear about what's going to happen for the next few weeks. Alright, here we go. This series is rated G for growth. Warn warning, the following is only intended for maturing audiences. Viewer and listener discretion is advised, spiritual growth may occur now. Now I got to read it again because some of y'all think I'm playing. Warning, the following is only intended for maturing audiences. If you don't want to grow time to log off, viewer and listener discretion is advised, spiritual growth may occur. The vision of our church is come to know God, grow in faith, go change the world. We do not play about growth. God wants you to grow. So I'm just giving you this as a caveat for what we are getting into because you got to buckle up, we getting into it. So my title for today is The Struggle is Real.

Look at your neighbor and say, neighbor,

Neighbor,

The struggle. The struggle is real, is real. Look at your other neighbor because the one that you just talked to, don't believe it. Their life is perfect. Look at somebody that looks like they're struggling and if you just got looked at, I'm sorry, look at your other neighbor, the one that looks like they're struggling and say, neighbor, the struggle, struggle is real.

Isn't it funny how sometimes you ain't even got to ask what someone's going through? You just can tell, but the struggle is real. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your goodness and your mercy. We thank you for allowing us to be in your house. I pray in the next few moments as we dig into your word, that you would give us ears to hear, a heart, to receive a mind, to understand what the spirit would say to us. Help us to walk out of here different than the way we walked in. Give us revelations from your word. Help me to get out of the way. Holy Spirit, take control. We give you name, the praise, the glory and the honor because you are worthy of it. In Jesus' name. Everybody shout. Amen. Amen. One more time, give Jesus some praise in this place, the struggle is real.

In 1886, there's a man by the name, he's a Scottish author and his name is Robert Lewis Stevenson and he wrote a gothic novel, a short novel that was titled The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Now some of you, how many have read that? You've read that book probably in some English assignment. If you did, you probably forgot about it. But lemme just refresh you on the storyline. Essentially, Stevenson is giving us this story where there's a guy, his name is Dr. Jekyll, who is a respected individual in his society. He's successful, he's perceived as somebody who is on the up and up in his cultural context. And Dr. Jekyll is from all intents and purposes from the outside, he looks like he's a very successful man, but he's got a problem. He has been dealing with an innate inner war within himself between what he has been doing, which is good and evil urges within him.

And so Dr. Jekyll comes up with this idea and he creates a serum or a potion that when he drinks the potion, it allows his alter ego to present itself, which is named Mr. Hyde. And Mr. Hyde, unlike Dr. Jekyll is evil. He's remorseless and he gives in to all the urges and desires to participate in anything evil that he thinks of. And so Dr. Jekyll, when he takes the potion, he turns into Mr. Hyde, he does all this evil stuff. And then when he turns back into Dr. Jekyll, he has no recollection of his evil ultra eagle. And it's very interesting because in 1886 when this story was written, it was written as a fictitious story. But since then it's become a psychological phenomenon, the basis to start studying the duality of human nature. And even though the story is fictitious as a human being, when we read that story, we feel a sense of relatability to it because all of us deal in some sense with a duality of human nature. We know that there is good that we should do, but then we also know that we wrestle with and struggle with evil desires. And so Dr. Jekyll, he suppressed these evil desires for an amount of time until he figured out the serum. And if we're going to be honest, a lot of us would love to have a serum

To unleash this inner desire that we know would be frowned upon. Now, some people use a serum if you laugh and you know what I'm talking about. Here's the thing, just because you became a Christian, it doesn't mean that you no longer struggle. In fact, if somebody told you that the moment that you give your life to Christ, you would no longer struggle, you would no longer be tempted, you would no longer lust, you would no longer fall, you would no longer sin. They lied to you. In fact, the person that probably told you that is dealing with the struggle, the lust, the temptation, the fallenness and the simpleness. Let me define what sin is. Sin is failure to live up to what God expects of us in act thought and being. Lemme say it again. Sin is failure to live up to what God expects of us in act thought or being. Here's what we do know in today's culture, we steer away from the topic of sin. We don't like to talk about sin. Why? Because sin just like death has a negative connotation. And we're in a society that emphasizes the idea of mental clarity,

Positive affirmation. Some of y'all got all types of stuff written on your mirror. You can't even hardly see your face. I am strong, I'm great, I'm good looking, I'm powerful. And we have all these positive affirmations and we don't like to talk about sin. In fact, many are unable to grasp the concept of sin as an inner force, an inherent condition of controlling power. We would rather separate sin into an external experience. We would rather define sin as something that we do externally instead of accepting the fact that we are not simply sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners. Lemme say it again. We are not simply sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Now here's the thing, we understand and we're okay with accepting the concept that sinners sin, listen, when people get all up in arms about where the world is going, and I just can't believe that our world is in chaos. Sinners sin, dogs bark, cats meow, babies scream, complainers complain, right? Sinners sin. But what about those of us who are saved, have been saved, have committed our lives to Lord and we still struggle?

How can you be saved and still deal with urges of the flesh? How can you be saved and still deal with anger, lust, pornography, hostility, gluttony, thoughts of evil? If we are to be honest today, we would all say that we all wrestle with a duality of nature's within ourselves, that we want to do the right thing, but we struggle with doing the wrong thing. And we have within ourselves a Jacqueline Hyde situation. We can relate to the story. Now let me offer you some comfort here today because for many of us we read this fictitious story of Jacqueline Hyde and we think that Dr. Stevenson was onto something. But while Dr. Stevenson wrote, a Stevenson wrote a fictitious novel, there's a ma by the name of the apostle Paul

Who decided to let us in on his own personal struggle. This is in Romans chapter seven, verse 14. Here's what it says. So the trouble is not with the law, but it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin, I don't really understand myself. How many can relate to that? I don't really understand myself for what I want to do for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree with the law that it is good. So I am not the one doing wrong. It is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me. That is in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. Anybody can testify to that. But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong. It is sin living in me that does it.

I was waiting for my passage. God, man, he's dramatic. Today I have discovered this principle of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. Anybody testify to that? That you love God, that you want to do what's right, but you are still struggling within you? Lemme tell you something, Paul, who is not just some bystander Christian, Paul is called the Apostle Paul. This is a certified called by God apostle that could have, he's the one that wrote Romans. He could have admitted this. He could have hid his personal struggle like most of us do. He could have presented himself as this man who was called by God who's who went to the third heaven who saw this stuff. But he lets us in on his little secret and he says, even though I am saved, I'm still struggling.

In other words, the struggle is real. And so we have to ask this question then what cause us the internal struggle within us, even though we're saved, what causes us to struggle? Paul calls it his flesh. It's also another word for the human nature. And the word flesh is the Greek word SARTs. And by flesh, Paul is not talking about the material aspect of you. He's not talking about your skin and your bones and your blood. He's talking about the immaterial aspect of you, the nature part of you, the sinful nature. He is talking about the immaterial nature of human beings that tend and are motivated toward sin. Lemme say it this way, flesh, the Greek word is sarks is generally related to unaided human effort. It's decisions or actions that originate from self or are empowered by self. Paul acknowledges that though he is saved, he is still struggling to do the right thing and therefore he still has a human nature and will that is opposed to God. Now, Paul is not saying that your flesh in and of itself is evil. He is saying your flesh if it lacks self-control will control yourself.

If you lack self-control yourself will control you. And often we love to blame sinful desires, but the desire itself is not sinful. The fact that we give into the desires leads us to sin. So I'm just going to teach you a little bit. In order to learn how to control yourself or your human nature, we have to understand the source of sin because when you understand the source of sin, you know how to properly create the boundaries necessary for you not to fall into sin. I got to add this clarifying, add this clarification. Sin is not caused by God. Sin is not caused by God. James tells us in James chapter one, verse 13, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. How many times have we heard that for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one? It's important to understand that God is not the one who created evil and sin. James is aware that there will be some people in the church house that are going to blame God for their sinful behaviors. Well, if God really wanted me to live victorious, he wouldn't have created evil

Just like that. So then the question obviously is, well didn't God create the devil? Didn't God create Lucifer? The answer is yes. Now, God created Lucifer as an angel along with all the other angels, Michael, Gabriel, all them dudes. God created angels.

Then God gives angels free will, which means that angels have the ability to choose either to serve God or to serve their own self-interests. Now, how did Lucifer mess up? Well, Isaiah writes about it, Lucifer, his name means morning star, and Isaiah wrote about it in Isaiah 14, verse 12 through 14. He says, how are you falling from heaven? Oh, day star, son of dawn, how you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nation's low, you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high. I will sit on the Mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high. The first act of treason against the kingdom of God and against the king of kings was motivated by self-interest. Yes sir. Lucifer refused to stay within the boundaries that God had set for him as an angel. He wanted to become like God. He wanted to replace God on his throne. And because he was motivated by self-interest, in other words, er lacked self-control, and so his self-control him. This is how sin comes into the world. So God did not create evil, but he allowed for it to happen. But because God is just, he also punishes it.

Can we go deeper? So here's the question. What us to sin? It's important for us to understand the process we go through that leads to sin so that we can create preventative measures not to live in a sinful life, but to live in the spirit. Okay? Because our view of what influences us to sin will affect what we do to reverse it. So James tells us God is not the cause of sin, but then James says, what leads to sin sits at the door of the human. James chapter one, verse 14. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by somebody else's desire, by his own desires. The first step that leads to sin is desires. Now every human has natural desires given to them by God, and those desires are not inherently evil or wrong. You have desires that were given to you by God for a certain purpose. Let me just get real with y'all. Here's an example. Hunger. How many have a desire of hunger? You may have it right now. When you are hungry, your body is telling you, I need to be fed. Why do you need to be fed? Because if you don't eat, you will

Die, right? Your body is telling you, Hey, it is important for us to satisfy this desire of hunger so that your life can be sustained. The problem happens when your natural desire to eat becomes a motivation just to gratify yourself. So when you don't just eat to sustain your life and to enjoy the food, but now you are seeking to diminish your anxiety by eating more than you should be eating. Now you've entered into gluttony, which is a sin. So the desire, hunger is not the problem. The problem is when the desire moves outside of the boundaries that were created for you to live in sexual desires, you were given a sexual drive by God. Why? Because it is that sex drive that actually brings you pleasure and is for the continuation of the human race. If nobody

What's coming together, the human race would stop. It's not the desire, it's not the sexual drive that's the problem. The problem is when you try to satisfy that desire outside of the confines of what the Bible and what God has created, when God says, listen, you can have all the sex that you want for pleasure, for reproduction within the confines of marriage. When you step out of it now, your natural desire to have sex is now being used to lead you into sin. Adam and Eve, can we talk about Adam and Eve? Look at Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve in the beginning. This is the perfect example of how sin comes into the world. Adam and Eve were placed in the garden. God gives them natural desires. He places them in the garden and he says, listen, you can eat of all the trees in the garden except for the tree in the middle.

And then he gives them desire to eat because Adam and Eves are human beings. So they desire food for their sustenance, but God also creates them in his image and likeness, which means that Adam and Eve were created to be like God. God also tells Adam and Eve be fruitful, multiply, replace earth, have supplanted and have dominion Who had dominion? God. So if God is telling Adam and Eve to have dominion, he is telling Adam and Eve to be like him. So the natural desire of Adam and Eve was to eat and to be like God. The problem wasn't with Adam and Eve that the desire to eat and the desire to be like God. The problem was when the enemy perverted their natural desires and tried to pull them away from doing it God's way. The problem wasn't that they hungered or that they wanted to be like God. That was a natural desire given to them by God. The problem was when the enemy tried to get them to satisfy their desire outside of the divine boundaries that God had established, sin always begins with a natural appeal to your natural desires. We always like to think of sin as some far out thing, that it's the cret and full of depravity. No sin appeals to your natural desires. That's why it's very important for you to understand what you desire.

The desire to enjoy things is a desire given to you by God. But when it's perverted, it becomes the desire of the flesh. The desire to obtain things is a desire given to you by God. But when it's perverted is the desires of the eyes. The desire to do things, to achieve things was given to you by God. But when it's perverted, it becomes the pride of life. You can read about this in one John chapter two, verse 16. So James tells us that the first stop on your way to sin is your natural desires. Let's continue James chapter one, verse 14. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Alright? Here's where it gets tricky because we know that we have natural desires, but a natural desire becomes a temptation that leads to sin when we fail to accept the divine limitations imposed on our desires by God and we instead seek to gratify ourself. Lemme say it this way, a temptation is not a sin, it's the gateway. Lemme say it again. A temptation is not a sin, it's the gateway. Adam and Eve were tempted with human natural desires, the desire to eat and the desire to be like God. But those desires are not evil per se, their natural desires, but they became a temptation to sin when the fruit that they were hungry for was a fruit that was off limits.

The desire to be like God was given to them by God, he wants them to be like him. But it became a temptation towards sin when the motivation to eat the fruit was to replace God.

Satan appeals to your natural desires and this is how he does it. He's so slick because if he can get you to think about your temptation as just, oh, this is natural. God's the one that gave me the desire to have sex. God's the one that gave me the desire to go buy things. God's the one that gave me the desire to eat. Here's the thing, but you got to do it within the confines of his divine boundaries. Satan is slick. Did you know he didn't tell them to eat the fruit? He posed the question like this has God said that you cannot eat Of all the fruit, temptation, the sins often appeals to our natural self desires. Lemme just be playing with you. I have never smoked crack. Cocaine just wasn't my vice, y'all. I've never smoked crack cocaine. So if somebody comes up to me, strutting up to me, twirling a crack pipe, Hey doc, you want to take a couple of puffs with me? Here's my answer. No, I don't even have to. It ain't a struggle for me. Why? Because I no desire to smoke crack cocaine. Maybe a different story for you.

I mean funny and not right. The devil doesn't tempt you with stuff that you don't want. Yo, the devil is not going to tempt you with stuff that you don't naturally like or desire. He appeals to things that you naturally have an inclination to. If you don't like chicken, he ain't coming to you with chicken. But if beef is your thing, he's coming with beef. This is why it's very important for you to be aware of what your natural desires is, what your traps are, because here's the thing, your natural desires, it is the scheme of the enemy to pervert your natural desires to lead you to sin. He will take your drive for intimacy and he will send the wrong one. Well, I just have a need for intimacy. I desire to be close to somebody. The enemy will find the right person to whisper the right stuff in your ear to try to get outside of the bounds of how you should find intimacy. If I ain't your thing,

He'll get you with whiskey. The devil doesn't fight fair. He's not going to. If you don't have a natural desire for something, it don't even tip you. Why? Because there's no desire. This is why James said that you are tempted by your own desires. If you don't have desires, you can't be tempted. He can't tempt you with stuff that you don't like. He only comes after you with stuff that you naturally like. If your desire is tall, dark, and handsome, he is not bringing short, pale, and ugly. It just ain't going to be a thing y'all. It ain't going to be a temptation for you, bro. I ain't even tempted with you. I just broke hearts today. So that's what's been happening. Alright, let's talk about Jesus who was tall, dark and handsome most likely. Okay? Jesus. He is led by the spirits of the wilderness right to fast 40 days and 40 nights. And there the Bible says He is tempted of the devil. Now remember, you cannot be tempted unless there's a desire within you. So even Jesus was tempted in points of his desire. Now, Jesus desired natural things. If you've been fasting for 40 days,

Stop playing, you're going to be hungry and it's natural for you as a human to be hungry after fasting. So Jesus, his desire to eat wasn't unnatural, but what Satan was trying to do is get him what outside of the bounds of his fasting period to perform a miracle before his time to satisfy a natural craving. If Jesus would've violated the natural time that was divinely within him, he would have been led to sin. This is why Jesus couldn't sin. He could be tempted, but he couldn't be sinned. This is why the Bible says that he was tempting all points like as we are yet without sin. Why? Because Jesus stayed within the bounds of his divine purpose. Okay, I get that about Fubu. What about when he went up to the temple? It is natural for Jesus to want to descend from the temple without getting hurt. It's natural. We desire safety, but it would've been a temptation unto sin to display his power. Before it was time, it was natural for Jesus to desire to display his power over all the kingdoms. They were rightfully his, but it would be a temptation unto sin to go about it by worshiping the prince of the power of the air. So you can be tempted,

But only in your natural desires. Satan does not appeal to things that you don't want. This is why it's very important for you to know what your natural tendencies and desires are because you have to guard them against the enemy. Alright, point number three. So number one is desires. Number two is temptation. Here's number three, James chapter one, verse number 15, A, when desire, then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. So number one is desire. Number two is temptation. Number three is conception. If we don't deal with temptation properly, it will lead us to be impregnated with sin. Now, I don't know if you know this or not, but you don't just accidentally get pregnant. You can't just look at someone and be like, pregnant. It don't work that way. I always laugh when people are like, we don't know. It was just a surprise, was it? Now, are you married? We know what it takes to get pregnant, right? It takes intimacy. Luther Vandross, rose petals, dim lights. We know what it takes to get pregnant. It's interesting that when James is talking about sin, he uses the picture of getting pregnant

Because sin works much like pregnancy. When you get pregnant initially no one knows, no one can see it. It's not obvious. In fact, most of the times you don't even know. Now you know did the deed, but you don't even know. And James said, sin is the same way. If you don't deal with the temptation, if you don't have the proper boundaries around your desires and you entertain temptations, once temptation has led you, you end up impregnated with sin. And initially you can't even tell because nothing changes. But then after a while, once sin begins to germinate, just like a baby, a baby goes in as a sperm and then it becomes an embryo and then becomes a fetus. And next thing you know, now it's born, but for a while no one knows. But at a certain period of time, everybody begins to notice something is different about you. I don't know what it is, but something is different about her. And guys don't ask, don't do that. Something is different about you and why are you dealing with morning sickness? Why are you ill? Something's growing within you. This is the same thing that happens with sin. When you get impregnated with sin, it begins to alter your life.

And at first it isn't obvious because you can still move around and act and be with everybody. But at a certain point somebody goes, something is different about you. Something has changed about you. You seem different. That's what sin does. Lemme just say it this way. Sin does not happen by accident. Sometimes we talk about sin like this. How did I end up here? And we come up with all kinds of excuses. Listen, I just went over there to do a Bible study with her and I was just going to give him a ride home and he said, come in, y'all think I'm playing. But I was a youth pastor for a long time. I heard all the excuses. I wasn't going to go out, but I didn't want to make them feel bad, so I turned up with 'em to make them feel comfortable. I just did listen. Sin is the choice of the person who commits it. I'll tell you, I'm going to be real today. The desire to do what is done may be present naturally the desire, and there may be external inducements as well, but the individual ultimately is responsible.

Because if you lack self-control yourself will control you. Adam and Eve chose to act upon the impulse and suggestion. Jesus chose not to. Here is what's interesting to me. When God created the garden, he places the tree in the middle without offense. Have you ever wondered, God could have very easily stopped them by divine power, but instead he allows them to walk past the temptation every day having to make a choice. Do I control myself or will I let myself control me? Adam and Eve chose to be controlled by their impulses and desires. Jesus chose not to. Adam and Eve failed to exercise self-control. Jesus exercised self-control. Can I just be hot with y'all? Can I be honest, open and transparent with y'all, please? Anybody? I don't know since I've been saved every time I've sinned, I knew it was a sin. I have not sinned by accident since I've been saved. This is what Paul says. The law made me aware, it brought it to light. If you are on the auto bond, you can go as fast as you want. You ain't even committing no crime. But if you come over here and the speed limit says 60 and you go 70, now you know you wrong.

Well, I just drive 65. I'm just, I'm going with the flow of traffic. Anybody use that one? I'm like, I'm setting the pace, y'all. Y'all go with the flow of traffic. Let's pray for all those that drive slow in the left lane though. Amen. That's a real thing we got to pray about. And my spirit is always like, Lord, then I'm like, I got a vanity plate too though. You know what I'm saying? I got to act right. There's a battle. The struggle is real. But the thing is, I don't even know what I was talking about. Limitations. Once you are aware, he that knows to do good and doesn't do it to him, it is sin. I was just looking for shoes. I don't even know how I ended up on that website and just stop playing. We as humans are slick. We always try to find some kind of excuse so we can backtrack and create a storyline of how we ended up here. This is what happened to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve, particularly the fruit. God's like, yo Adam, did you eat of the tree that I told you not to? Well, what had happened was the woman that you gave me,

You did this to me. God, she ate. She gave to me. I was trying to be a good boo and I ate with her. I didn't want her to feel alone. And then Eve, did you eat? Well, the serpent done got me. You knew because when Satan asked you, you answered correctly. It's tight, but it's right. I told y'all rated G for growth. Ultimately, what leads us to sin is a lack of self-control. We love to try to blame the sin or the external measures or the fact that the Holy Spirit didn't stop me. Lemme tell you, the Holy Spirit will not stop you from sin, but he will convict you. You get to decide, do I exercise self-control or do I let my self control? Hey, y'all better get ready for next week because next week we going to talk about it. This is just an appetizer. Here's point number four, James chapter one, verse 15. Let's finish this passage. And sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death.

Number one is desire. Number two is temptation. If you don't have boundaries around your desires, it can lead to temptation. If you don't stop temptation in this track, it will lead to conception. Once you have conception, it will lead to the consequence. The consequence of sin is always death.

What kind of death? Spiritual death, separation, burial. Also natural death is what happened to Adam and Eve. They weren't created to just live a few years. They were created for eternity. But sin, when it is conceived, it brings forth death. Lack of self-control removes you from blessing. How many know this to be true? I know this to be true. If you lack self-control, it will not only you, not only will not satisfy your immediate craving, but it also removes you from potential blessings. Adam and Eve, when they ate of the tree, God didn't just remove the tree.

He removed them from the garden, which means that because they lacked self-control, they were removed from all the blessings that surrounded them. Why? Because they just gave into one tree. When you lack self-control, it not only will leave a bitter taste in your mouth for what you partook in, but it also removes the blessing of everything surrounding it. Lemme tell you something when this is always the sad case of infidelity because infidelity is a lack of self-control. There's a lot of things that have to happen to lead to infidelity. But when you commit infidelity, what ends up happening is not only will you have a bitter taste in your mouth from what you've done, but now you've affected all the blessings around it. Your family, your kids, your environment, your home, all those things are a result. Why? Because you lacked self-control. Do you see why it's important to control yourself? Because there are benefits that God has for you that when you give it to yourself, impulses,

God, this is heavy. It is.

Sin separates us from God. This is why we got to talk about sin, because sin separates from God. It alienates us from God. Romans chapter six, first number 23 says that for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The problem lies in the fact that human beings, since the fall of mankind, are inherently sinful and we crave things of the world powerfully. And when we have these external forces that draw us, the only cure to sin is that we are regenerated and we are redeemed by a supernatural power called the Holy Spirit. Because here's what I love about this whole topic. The struggle is real. Y'all can anybody testify to that? The struggle is real. In Romans chapter seven, Paul tells us, y'all the struggle is real. I want to do right, but I keep doing wrong. I want to do the right thing, but I keep doing wrong. I don't want to sin, but I keep sin. And most Christians will read chapter seven and think that to be a Christian is to live in this point of depravity. Oh God, all these temptations and my desires.

And that's why a lot of Christians walk around with not wearing a smile on their face. They're jaw dragging the carpet, vacuum in the carpet. They're downtrodden. Why? Because they've been taught by somebody that to live as a Christian, you got to live in the struggle between good and evil, right and wrong. But Paul did not end the book in chapter seven. I love the fact that Paul says, yes, I'm an apostle. Yes, I'm saved. Yes, I struggle. But guess what? God does not leave me in the struggle. But God creates a way for me to be an overcomer. So this is what Paul says right after he gives us this entire depiction of the struggle in his life. He goes to Romans chapter eight, verse number one, and he says, there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Think about that. Some of y'all are in here. You barely got here because you're living under such a weight of condemnation. There are some people watching online. You haven't gone back to church because you're dealing with condemnation over your struggle. And somebody has lied to you and told you that you got to live in a depraved state or wretched man that I am who should deliver me from the body of this death. You feel like you're carrying a way of death on you

And you feel like your Christian life and it's hard to fathom living the rest of your life as a Christian with a weight on your shoulders. And yet many of us have adopted that type of lifestyle in the body of Christ. But Paul says, it's not the will of God for you to live condemned in the struggle. He acknowledges the struggle. But then he says, listen, for those who are in Christ Jesus, there's no condemnation. And some people misunderstand this passage. They think, oh, so I can just and do my, I'm going to go out tonight. She ever continue in sin that Grace May a bound, God forbid, how can those who live in grace live any longer you're in? Paul says, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not saying you can go out and do your thing. I'm just telling you that as a believer, there's no condemnation for the struggle. God don't want you to live in the struggle, but he also acknowledges that you struggle. Now, if you're not in Christ Jesus, the struggle will continue in your life and it don't lead to the good stuff. But for those who are in Christ Jesus,

We can struggle. We can go back to God

Because a righteous man may fall seven times, but he gets back up. The definition of a righteous man is not somebody who is perfect. It's not somebody that doesn't know how to struggle. The definition of a righteous man is somebody who struggles, who has fallen, but they get back up. Why? Because they're in Christ Jesus. And if you're in Christ Jesus, he'll pick you up When down, he'll put you together. When you crumble, he'll make your path straight. When you feel crooked, he'll give you peace. When you feel like you're in the middle of a storm, oh, we want to talk some more about it, but I want to appeal to those of you that are in this house that may not be in Christ Jesus. Maybe the reason you feel condemned and you feel like you can't move forward and you feel like there's a body of death on you is because maybe you're not living in Christ Jesus. And if you're not in Christ Jesus, we're going to fix that right now because there's no reason for you to live in condemnation without hope. God wants you to have hope. And then it's not just enough to confess, but your next step is water baptism. Here's what Galatians chapter three, verse 27 says, for as many of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, you are in Christ. That word baptized literally means to be momentarily immersed in water. This is Bible. So if you're in this place that you haven't been water baptized, you haven't given your life to Christ, do not leave this place and continue the struggle when you got hope right in front of you. Well, I don't want people to see me. Do you want people to continue seeing you struggle. I'm just being real. God wants you to live in victory. He wants you to live following the spirit. He wants you to live free from the grip of your own human nature that keeps pulling you to it, to sin through temptation, since you would stand to your feet all across this place. If you're in this place and you have, you feel it, you feel the draw of God, it's time. The Lord's brought you here to hear this word. You're watching online. You're in the overflow room. I want you to pray this prayer with me. We're going to shore up. We're going to make sure that we're in Christ Jesus. So if you're in this place and you've never gotten into Christ Jesus, or maybe you don't feel like the first time you did, it was sincere, I want you to do I pray this prayer with me. Say, dear Jesus, I acknowledge my need for you. I acknowledged I've sinned. I'm a sinner and I know that I need you. I believe that you came, that you died, that you were buried and you rose again, and you did it all for me. So Jesus, forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart. Be the Lord of my life. Thank you for just now hearing my prayer. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Somebody make some crazy noise. Lemme tell you something. If you pray that prayer with me is the beginning of a new life for you, but the buck don't stop here. Now it's time to get water baptized. Well, I didn't pre-register. No sweat. We got you shorts. Ain't nobody worn T-shirt. That's fresh towel. That's clean water, that's warm and a whole cheering squad.

So this is what I want you to do. I want you to be bold. If you just prayed that prayer with me for the very first time, or you re-upped and you're ready to get water baptized, I want you to right now, in this moment, we're about to cheer. And when we do, I want you to leave from where you at, move people out the way. If you got to get out those back doors, turn right, there'll be a whole team of people that are going to help you get there so you can get changed and water baptized. But do not leave here if you have not been water baptized. Get yourself in this water and experience what it's like to live in Christ Jesus. So right now, once you start moving, if you want to get baptized, start moving. Come on church. Let's celebrate all those who are making a decision to go down in the water. Come on somebody. Come on. Somebody ought to keep cheering. Keep making some crazy noise. Lives are being changed right now. Renewed, transformed, changed. Somebody gives up some break.