0:07 Lord, save me. Do you know who says that? Many people say it, but from that picture, what do you think? Who do you think is asking, "Lord, save me?" Go ahead. Peter. 0:25 Yes, very good. It was Peter. And Jesus asked him to call. He called He called him out uh actually Peter asked if it is you, bid me to come. Uh turn with me to Matthew 14. 0:43 Matthew 14, we can start with verse 28. Matthew 14:28, Peter said to him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." Verse 29, and he said, "Come." And Peter got out of the boat and walked 1:01 on the water and came towards Jesus. Verse 30, but seeing the wind, he became frightened and began to sink. He cried out, "Lord, save me." And today we all are here 1:19 and we also may have a longing. Jesus asked us to come and follow him and we have a desire to follow after him. And as we're following, maybe this is our cry this morning. Sin is pulling us down and we're like, "Lord, save me." 1:36 Peter's longing was a good one to follow Jesus, to walk above the water just like Jesus did. But as he went, his faith was wavering and he started to sink. And today also, I don't know where you are at today, but the Lord is able to save to the 1:55 uttermost. He's able to deliver. And I think often that, you know, different people came to Jesus with the challenges of life. If you turn with me to Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9. Another person. Verse 20. Mark 9:20. They brought the 2:19 boy to him. And when he saw him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion. And falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. Verse 21. And he asked the father, "How long has this been happening to him?" 2:37 And you can see the desperation from the father. Verse And he he said, "From childhood." Verse 22. "It often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him." The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And this is what the devil 2:55 seeks to do in people's lives and in this boy's life. "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Lord, this is my life. I'm struggling with sin. I'm battling, Lord. Deliver me. 3:13 If you can do anything, have pity and save me. Help us. And verse 23. And Jesus said to him, "And picture this. I made the heavens and the earth. I made every single person. 3:30 And you're asking if I can do something? It's not if I can. All things are possible to him who believes." Verse 24. Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe. Help my unbelief." And today also, 3:49 you You have seen the situations, years and years of failure. And you might be there as well. Lord, I want to believe, but help me. Help me with my unbelief. When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly 4:07 gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit saying, "You deaf and mute spirit, I command you to come out of him and do not enter him again." Verse 26, "After crying out and throwing him into a terrible convulsion, it came out and the 4:21 boy became much like a corpse." And most of them said, "He is dead." And you can see the parents and all of the dad what he's feeling right now. I came to Jesus and all my hopes was here. And just as I made hopes were being held up, 4:42 it drops down. My son, it looks like he's dead. Verse 27, "But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him and he got up." "And when he came to the house, the disciples asked him privately, 'Why could we not drive it out?' And he said, 4:58 'This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.'" And so you see that when Jesus went around this world, there was people in all kinds of situations and circumstances that come to him with desperation. And today you may be there as well. 5:18 And the good news is what he did for this boy, raised him up, cast out that demon. What he did for Peter, put out his hand and raised him up. God can do for each one of us. There was another man, again, 5:38 desperation. You see this desperation. Uh turn with me to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. This man who had been sick for how many years? Lying paralyzed. 5:56 For 38 years. That's probably older than most of us here. 38 years. He was paralyzed and sitting there. Lame there. And so, let's read from John chapter 5 verse 2. 6:13 Now there was There is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters. 6:30 Verse 4. For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons in the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever then was there in first after the stirring up of the water, stepped in, was made well from whatever disease which he was 6:46 afflicted. And it says there, this man was there for 38 years. And so I could picture this man every time the water started stirring, he was hoping somebody would carry him, put there, and just to see that somebody 7:04 else went there just a moment sooner. And that guy's celebrating, excited, jumping up and down. And I don't know what's going through this mind. He's probably I wish I felt happy for him, but I look at my life and I wish I was him. 7:21 And this was not 1 day, 2 days. This was 38 years. Every time that stirring happened, he was hoping, maybe today's the day. And failure after failure after failure after failure. He's probably at the point like, what's 7:40 the point? What's the point of trying? I failed so many times. What's the point? Some of us might be there with sin as well. What's the point of trying? Because I failed so many times. I know I've been there. 8:02 Lord, what's the point of getting up if the only thing I'm going to do is fall down again? There is a day when I went skiing and I remember that day vividly. It was more than 20 years ago. And as I was going down that slope, one 8:14 of my skis fell off. And I fell down. And I tried to get up and every time I got up, I'd fall down again. Get up again and I'll fall down again. And there was a point in time where I remember crying on that slope saying, 8:29 "Lord, what's the point of getting up if I'm only going to fall down one more time?" And God helped me somehow to get up that day and crawl up and get that other ski and get back. But I never forgot it. Just like I was struggling without hope 8:45 that day, so was my soul also struggling. Lord, sin is like that. Every time I hope to get up, I fall back down. And then it says Jesus asked this question to him, "Do you wish to get well?" And I'm thinking, Jesus knew that he was 9:04 in that condition for 38 years. He asked the question, "Do you want to be well?" Why would Jesus ask that question? I believe he wanted to see what was going to come out of this man after 9:22 being there 38 years. And verse seven, listen to this. The sick man answered him, "Sir, when you ask a question, do you wish to get well? What's the answers? What are the two possible answers? A yes and a no. This man's answer was, "Sir, I have no 9:41 man to put me into the pool when the water's stirred up. But while I am coming, another steps down before me." I I I feel that, you know, each one of us might be there today as well. Lord, just as I want to get well, 10:00 something happens and I find myself in the same place I was. I have a question for each of you, and 10:19 you can shout out the uh I'll tell you the options first. Which of these can heal pneumonia? The P is silent. Which of these can heal pneumonia? Option A, insulin. Option B, penicillin. Option C, aspirin. 10:38 So, if you think it's option A, insulin, raise your hand. If you think it's option B, penicillin, raise your hand. If you think it's option C, aspirin, raise your hand. If you said option B, penicillin, you are correct. 10:57 Penicillin Penicillin was actually invented or actually was kind of invented or discovered by surprise. So, a man named Alexander Fleming in 1928 went on vacation. And when he came back, he saw the bacteria that he had, 11:17 some of it was dying, which was near the mold. And he said, "These things are dying over here. This bacteria is dying because of this mold, so there must be a a cure in this mold." And that's how antibiotics was discovered. 11:32 And it was kind of like an accident that it happened. But it was in 1928, but it was only 1945 after World War II that it was available for others to be able to go and get some. And so for all these years 11:50 whenever a person got pneumonia there was a very low chance that they would survive. It was almost nearly if you got it you would die from it. But after 1945 and after you could get the medicine guess what? Once you get 12:09 the medicine you had a lot of chance to be healed of it and cured of it because of the medicine. And for us too you might say, you know what? If you lived in the 1800s like Samuel Morse did you know that Samuel Morse when he 12:28 came from Africa, he came to the United States and he wanted to be a missionary here? And as he was here I think he got he went in the cold and he got pneumonia and he actually passed away at the age of 19 or 20 because of pneumonia. 12:42 But if he had lived a little longer there might have been penicillin which could have healed him. And you might ask what what's the point of this? What's your point? It's the same way with sin and overcoming sin. 13:01 Before Jesus came and died and rose again and sent the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit could come upon people and they could do mighty things. But inside the Holy Spirit could not dwell in them because their hearts were not clean yet. 13:21 And because of that lust and anger all of that would tear them into pieces. And if you went to a person and before after 1945, you could say, "There's good news. There's a cure for pneumonia." And like that, after the Holy Spirit has 13:39 come, the same we can say as well. There's good news. You don't have to live defeated by sin. And if I heard a bunch of people coughing here this morning, I would say, "You know what? There's good news. 13:58 If this was before the 19 before the in the 1800s, I wouldn't have any good news for you. And before the Holy Spirit came and dwelt inside us, I could say, "There's no good news for you." But today there is good news for each 14:12 one of us. And if you went to a hospital and there was a bunch of people with pneumonia coughing, coughing, coughing, what would you say? There's no reason to worry. Each one of you can take some of this penicillin and you'll be healed. 14:30 And like that today, if you're sitting here coughing not with pneumonia but coughing with sin, there's good news. God can set you free. And so I wanted to 14:48 see a couple of sins. And you see a man, his name was Saul. He later became named Paul. And he was a man who lived and and studied under a man called Gamaliel. And Gamaliel taught him He was a 15:07 respected teacher and he spoke about how to live a godly life. And if I went to Paul and asked Paul, "Paul, you studied under Gamaliel all these years. What is the fruit of your life 15:24 in the area of anger? You went to the synagogue daily, you read the scriptures, you heard preaching. What did it do to you? What was the fruit of your life in the area of anger? You know what he would say? At least this is what I think he would 15:41 say based on Acts 26. Turn with me to Acts 26. Acts 26 Verse 9. So then I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to 16:00 the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Verse 10. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem. Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prison having received authority from the chief priest but also when they were being put to 16:14 death, I cast my vote against them. And so if you had a vote and there's seven people in the putting a vote you need to get How many votes do you need to get to get a majority? Four. So if you have three votes, that said, release them. These Christians, 16:33 they didn't do anything wrong. Just release them. And then three of them said put them to death. And you had a one vote which is a deciding vote and Paul had that deciding vote. And he's seeing these eyes looking that have mercy on us. 16:52 Don't put us to death. And they're like pleading for him. Hey, please, please. Do you know which vote he would put? It says there when they cast votes I cast my vote against them. 17:10 So if there was three votes to keep them alive and three votes to keep to put them to death he would say put them to death." And then you could see the eyes of those people as he did this. And you look at and here verse 11, 17:27 "And I punished them often in the synagogues. I tried to force them to blaspheme." That means he was not okay with them just being you know, angry or bitter. He wanted them to blaspheme. "And being furiously enraged at them, or 17:46 in one translation, I was so angry. I was so angry with them. And I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities." And so, this was the man after listening to the teaching and going to the synagogues and reading the scriptures, 18:04 sitting under Gamaliel. At the end of all of this, the fruit of his life was a man full of anger. What is the seriousness of anger? Turn with me to Matthew 5. Recently I read 18:26 this verse slowly. And it says here in verse 21, Matthew 5:21, "You have heard the ancients were told, you shall commit you shall not commit murder and whoever commits murder is liable to the court." Verse 22, "But I say to you, everyone who is angry 18:46 with his brother shall be guilty before the court." Who's angry with the brother? And then it goes on to say, "And whoever says to his brother, you good-for-nothing 19:04 shall be guilty before the supreme court." That means he says, "Hey, you're useless. You're good-for-nothing." And then if he says And whoever says you fool shall be 19:21 guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Again, this was Jesus who spoke these words and I was thinking to myself the other day, you know, how sometimes we say things and we And I was thinking to myself, if I said to somebody, "Hey, you're useless. 19:38 You're you're you're good for nothing." And you see that. This is something that, you know, is very common. Oh, that yeah, that person's useless. That person he he's he's such a foolish person out of anger. And I thought about that. If I said 19:57 something, oh, this person's useless. And let's say at that point in time I entered into eternity. What would happen? I'd be standing there. It says here, "Stand in front of the Supreme Court." And I think I would have got a surprise. 20:13 Lord, I lived for you faithfully so many years, Lord. Why am Why am I here in front of the Supreme Court? And as I see that, I say Jesus says, "Did you not read that if you told somebody that they're 20:31 good for nothing, that you would stand before the Supreme Court?" I think I would immediately say, "Yes, I acknowledge that." But what would have gone through my mind? Lord, I really didn't think it was that serious. And if I said you fool to somebody, and 20:51 then I stand I stood in front of the Lord in eternity, God would say, "You're guilty enough to go into the fiery hell." A place where the worm never dies. The fire never gets to extinguished. And you might say, "Lord, for saying you 21:11 fool to this person who did this me this harm to me? I will go to hell for that?" I want to take the Lord's words seriously. When I got that picture of entering into an eternity just after 21:29 saying those words, I said, "Lord, I want to believe your words. From my point of view, saying you fool, "You're useless." didn't sound or seem that grave of a sin. But when I read this slowly, I saw how serious it is. 21:49 When I'm angry with someone and I say something like, "You're useless." or, "You're a fool." Yes, the world may say it, other people might say it. But I take the words of the Lord seriously. This is the man, Isaiah 66:2. 22:07 This is the man upon whom I will look upon. The one who's humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my word. And I said, "Lord, from today onwards, I want to take this word seriously because I'm going to see this played out where 22:20 you're going to bring out people who said, 'You're useless.' to people, said, 'You're a fool.' to people, and they will be standing there. It's going to happen just like you said. And I don't want to be in that number, Lord. I want to take your words 22:35 seriously. It's going to happen exactly as Jesus said. And sometimes for us as as we read God's word frequently, sometimes we can pass by these things and it becomes like water off a duck's duck's back. I've read that so many times. Oh, yeah. 22:55 It's He says, "Don't say call anybody useless or fool." I know that, but move on. Move on. Do you know what the most poisonous snake is? It's the inland taipan. And that's a picture of the inland 23:14 taipan over there on the If you get bit by an inland taipan, you'll have about 30 to 45 minutes to get the antivenom. That's how deadly poisonous it is. And I was thinking, if I went to a place where there was these snakes, 23:33 I would probably avoid all those places, and I'll be like, "You know what? I'm not going there." because I know how serious it is. The moment I got stung by this, I have only 30 minutes before I can save my life. Why do I take that seriously? 23:49 Because I know the consequences of it. That's why if I see a inland taipan, I'm not going to go and play around with it or go anywhere close to it. They live in Australia, so I'm happy that they're not anywhere close by. We 24:01 have rattlesnakes, but the same thing. If you go for a hike and they bite you, there's only a couple of hours before which you have to get your antivenom. And so when I go hiking, I usually like to go with others. I don't like to go by 24:14 myself. Why? Because I take that seriously. I know that it can cause death if not treated immediately. And I was like, "Lord, I take snake venom that seriously. Why don't I take your words seriously, which the consequence 24:31 of eternal consequences? This has only earthly consequences if I get bitten. This has eternal consequences." Let us take seriously the eternal consequences. Things that Jesus takes highly takes seriously highly. Let me take it 24:48 seriously as well. Another thing is lust. You might remember that picture of Peter. Lord, save me. I don't know how many people 25:07 are bound by lust today. And all of you, each one of us come here, spend time here together. And we might all look like everything's going well on the outside. 25:27 But I don't know how many of us are in a cage today struggling with lust. There is a man, Samson, God used him mightily to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Turn with me to Judges, chapter 16. 25:54 And the Philistines just were waiting for a chance to get back at him because he was defeating their uh their armies. And so they said, "You know what? Let's 26:14 go and find out what his weakness is." And this man who was able to tear a lion. There's actually two people in the Old Testament, actually more than that, but there's two people who tore lions. One was Samson, the other one was 26:34 Do you guys know? The one who killed Goliath? David. He also killed a a lion, and then there's others, but both of these two men who killed lions, the lion of lust got them. Two men who ripped up in a physical 26:53 lion, the lion of lust, ripped them apart. And you read this it says here in Samson about Samson, Judges chapter 16 verse 4. After this it came to about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 27:11 Verse 5, the lords of the Philistines came up and to her and said to her, "Entice him and see where his great strength lies and how we must might overpower him and bind him and afflict him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces 27:27 of silver." So, verse 6, so Delilah Samson "Please tell me where your great strength is and how you might be bound to afflict you." And verse 7, Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven 27:44 fresh cords that have never been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man." I'll be like an ordinary man. Right now you see me who tears a lion apart. Once this happens and now 28:02 he says that and then the verse 8, the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords and that had not been dried and she bound him with them. Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room and she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, 28:20 Samson." But he snapped the cords as a string of tow snaps when it touches fire, so his strength was not discovered. And then he goes and tells her again. Teasing with sin. Playing around with sin. This was the first time, the second time 28:40 he gave her the wrong reason again. And then the third time he gives her a different reason as well, not telling the secret. But listen to verse 15. Then she said to him, "How can you say I love you when your heart is not with me?" 28:57 And that's what lust is going to cry out and say. "How can you say that we're all together? Come on. Let's Let's How can you say that you love me if you're not going to tell me your secret?" And you can see how lust is teasing with 29:13 Samson, this mighty man of God. "You deceived me these three times and not told me where your great strength is." Verse 16. It came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him that his soul was annoyed to 29:33 death. And he told her all the things that was in her heart was in his heart and said to her, "A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will 29:47 leave me and I'll become weak and be like any other man." Without God in our life, this is what we are. We're like any other man. With God, this man could tear a lion, but without God, he was like any other ordinary man. 30:07 And verse 18. When Delilah saw that he told her all that was in her heart was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines saying, "Come up one more time, for he's told me all that is in his heart." The lords of the 30:21 Philistines came up and brought her the money in their hands. She made him sleep on her knees and called him called for her a man and shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him and his strength 30:36 left him. This woman was beating and he couldn't even stand against her. Verse 20, she said to the Philistines, "Upon the Philistines upon you, Samson." And he woke up from his sleep and said, "I will go as it 30:55 as at other times and shake myself off free." And this is probably one of the most saddest words in the Bible. But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. And this is what happened to this man, 31:15 this man who could tear lions. Verse 21, "The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains and he was a grinder in the prison." And this is what the sin of lust can do 31:32 to a person. Going around and round, that's what they did, grinding the grains. Grinding. Eyes gouged out. Painful. Did he know that? When he was going to tell the secret to Delilah, this this is what's going to be the end of his 31:49 If he knew it, he wouldn't have told the secret. Eyes getting being gouged out and then going around and that's what the devil wants to do for each person. Spiritual godly men wants to take them and put them into lust. And the devil what plucks out their 32:06 spiritual eyes, they can't see anymore spiritually. And you might be there today. Bound by sin. Satan having the upper hand. Caged up. But the good news is you don't have to be there. God has not called us to be held captive. He's come to set the 32:26 captives free. And that's the good news. We're living in days where there is a healing, there's a cure. Jesus said if you lust after a woman um you're in danger of going to 32:46 hell. Today you might be overwhelmed. That might be the the jail the jail the the cage you're in. And every time you solve a problem 33:07 and you're the worry that particular worry is put away the next worry comes up. You saw that with the children of Israel. God would solve the first problem and they'll cross the Red Sea. They'll be happy. Then the water 33:23 there's a problem with the bitter water. They complain again. Then one once God addresses that problem they worry about the next problem. And that is like a vacuum. Anxiety vacuum. Every time you try to satisfy that anxiety and wrap it up then God 33:42 then then there's another anxiety that you come up with. And you're in a chain you're chained by this. And your night night as you're thinking about you're like oh what happens if this happens? What if this person says this if this person says that? 33:57 You know what? If they say that then I'm going to say this. And you're struggling and every day you're anxious about what what's going to happen tomorrow. And I was there. More than 10 years ago there was a time in my life where I was there and 34:16 I remember as it says in Matthew 11:28 you can turn with me Matthew 11:28. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden or it says worked unto exhaustion and I will give you rest. And I said Lord I'm like this man. 34:34 I've been working under exhaustion. I'm anxious, Lord, about many things. Lord, but you promised if I came to you, you'd give me rest. I said, "Lord, I I'm right now I'm not even able to do anything, Lord. 34:52 I'm feeling very, very weak spiritually. You're asking I can't even do the big commands. I remember God kind of impressing in my heart, "Okay, you don't have to do the big commands. I'll give you something small. Can you 35:08 do it?" If you turn to me with with me to Matthew 6, verse 26. Matthew 6:26. "Look at the birds of the air. And God was speaking to my heart saying, 'AJ, can you do that? You might not be able to do big things, 35:27 but can you do that? Can you look at the birds of the air?' I said, "Lord, yes, I can look at the birds of the air. That's not too difficult. I can do that. I can see how they don't worry. You take care of them so well." 35:41 And then he said, "Can you do one more thing? Can you look at the flowers and the lilies?" I said, "Yes, Lord, I can do that." And so I said I I used to take a walk in the morning and as I go through the walk, I just do these two things. Not anything 35:54 big. Look at the birds. Look at the flowers. And I say, "Lord, they're not worried. You take care of them really well." And as I do that walk over and over again, God gave me faith that Lord Lord's who take care of this bird and this flowers 36:10 is the same one who takes care of me. The one whose eye is on that sparrow is the one who watches over me. I remember how he he would talk to me and encourage me during those days and give me that rest. He said, "Come to 36:24 me and I'll give you rest." And maybe you're that's that's the pit in which you're in today. Full of anxiety and cares, worries about tomorrow and what's going to happen. How am I going to deal with this person, this relative, this 36:36 co-worker? But no matter what situation you're in today, you can cry out like Peter did, "Lord, save me. Lord, I live in days where the Holy Spirit has been poured out. I don't need to be living in sin." And so, if you ask Paul, Paul, "You were 37:05 angry, and it says in Romans 7, you can turn with me to Romans. After you listen to Gamaliel, what was the fruit of your life in the area of anger?" And you'd say, "I was so angry. After going to the synagogues and reading God's word and listening to 37:23 Gamaliel, I was full of anger." Okay, what about lust? Paul, how was how was your how was lust in your life? If you turn with me to Romans 7, this was Paul's testimony of how lust was in his life. Verse 8, 37:44 Romans 7:8, "But sin taking opportunity through the commandment produced in me lust of every kind." Even though he went to the synagogues and heard good preaching, what was missing? He still was living in lust in secret. 38:06 All kinds of lust. That was the fruit of Gamaliel's ministry. And that was the fruit of his life in Paul's life. And that should never be the case for us as well. We should not be in a situation 38:25 where we're ruled by anger, lust, and worry, and all of that. And Paul says here in Romans 7:18. Turn with me to 7:18. Romans 7:18. Verse 18, "For I know nothing good 38:44 dwells in me that is in my flesh. For the willing, that means the desire is there in me. I have a great desire not to lust. I have a great desire not to be angry. But what's the problem, Paul? But the doing of the good is not in me. 39:01 I'm not able to do it. I just don't have the power to do it. I know lusting is wrong. I know getting angry is wrong, but I just don't have the power to do it. Gamaliel can teach me what is right and what is wrong. But he couldn't He fell short. He didn't 39:20 have the cure for what I needed most to overcome the lust and the anger. And so God I I love Paul when he says to the Corinthians, "When I came to preach to you." If you 39:38 turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. After he Having listened to wonderful preaching from Gamaliel, this is the decision that he made when he started to share God's word. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. He didn't want those who heard him 39:57 also to say, "Good job, Paul." and live in lust and anger in private. He wanted them to hear words that could change their lives. That they would come to a meeting, they would hear God's word, and God would change their lives so they 40:13 were not ruled by lust and anger and worry. Read with me 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 2. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was verse 3. I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. 40:32 Verse 4, and my message and my preaching was not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of what? The spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest in the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 40:51 After you come for the meeting, yes, you get faith, but where is your faith resting on? Is your faith resting on oh, I heard something really nice this morning, but I go back home and it doesn't change my life because there's no power. 41:09 Or I do I come to the meeting and I say, "Lord, I want these words to bring faith in my life. That no not only will you give me the desire, Lord, not only will you give me the desire, Lord, which Paul had and Peter had and 41:25 many others David had this desire, but you'll also give me the power, Lord." Jesus gave a wonderful promise, "Not only will I write I'll I don't write now in tablets of stone, but I'm going to write in your heart in your minds, giving you a desire, 41:44 a desire to do your will. And also the power to do your will. So that after you go from a meeting, your faith is not just I heard a meeting and I in the meeting that I have a desire not to lust, not to get angry, not to be bound by 42:02 anxiety, but also the Holy Spirit will give me the power. And that's what Paul desired, that people in Corinth and everywhere he preached would not go away just with a desire, but also will seek the Lord to be filled with His Holy Spirit 42:21 so that they would have the power not to be bound by the devil. What good news is there if people go back home bound by sin, anger, bitterness, lust, unforgiveness? What's the point? Their faith was resting on the wisdom of man and not the power 42:40 of God. And so it says there in Matthew I'm sorry, Philippians 2:13 and let's take this scripture so that we know where it is. Philippians 2: 13. Verse 13, "For it is God who is at work 43:01 in you both to will" that means give me a desire and to work for His good pleasure, meaning give me the power also. And He says by the deeds by the Spirit, turn with me to Romans 8. 43:19 Romans 8: 13. And the Holy Spirit will do that work. Verse 13, "For if you're living according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you're putting to death the deeds of the body, you will 43:38 live." And that's the promise that God has given for each one of us, that we would be filled with the Holy Spirit and through His power we will have the ability to say no to lust and say no to anger, say no to anxiety. It's not in our own strength. 43:55 And the reason He made it so that it's not in our strength so that when we all get together, no man can boast. Not one person can say, "Yes, I got I overcame my lust and anger because of something I did. No. Lord, I couldn't. I was that man 44:12 helplessly chained up. And you in your mercy, Lord, filled me with your Holy Spirit and gave me power that I lacked. And as we close with this I want to close with this verse in John chapter 5. 44:31 That man who struggled for 30 eight years. Did that story end there? No. The good news is verse 8. Jesus said to him, John chapter 5 verse 8. Jesus said to 44:51 him, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk." And for each one of us who's sitting there paralyzed, striving hard, every time falling short in our own abilities, having a desire to go and get healed, getting stirred up every time a 45:08 Sunday comes we get stirred up, but no power. Jesus is saying to you and me, "Get up. I'll fill you with the Holy Spirit." The same Holy Spirit verse 9, immediately he the man became well. How? Because the same Holy Spirit 45:26 that allowed Jesus to heal this man is the same Holy Spirit that will give us power to overcome as well. Immediately that man became well and picked up his his pallet and began to walk. May the Lord do that. And my cry here this morning is that for 45:45 all of us who are bound by sin, that's not the good news. The good news is there is a cure. We're living in days where the Holy Spirit has been given power to overcome not living things. So may our lives be one of love for Jesus and our savior. 46:01 That we would be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we live lives honoring to him. That this Sunday would not be like every other study with a stirring. But we ask the Holy Spirit, Lord, let my life not be the same anymore. Fill me 46:14 with your Holy Spirit. Change me, Lord. May the Lord do that in each one of us. Amen.
