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[0:00] I greet you in the name of Jesus this morning. It is very good to be here today. Are we building on the firm foundation, the rock Christ Jesus?

[0:21] And he is building a people of power and a people of praise and it is as we are one with him that we can be one with one another and we can be one in the kingdom of God.

[0:41] We can be a people of power. Turn to Jeremiah 17 with me this morning. Today I want to talk about the heart.

[0:53] But Proverbs tells us to guard our heart. It says, Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.

[1:07] You know, in the natural, our heart is the most important little gadget in your body.

[1:26] You know, without that heart functioning properly, our body will not function properly. And in the spiritual, the issues of life come out of our heart.

[1:44] And the person that is on the throne of your heart is the one that dictates how you live your life. That is why Proverbs tells us to keep our heart with all diligence.

[2:04] To keep it with all diligence. You know, like our brother said, you know, we have a foundation of being born again.

[2:15] When that foundation is laid, that building that must be built upon that foundation, it will not happen unless we are diligent.

[2:31] And for us to have a pure heart will not be unless we are diligent to keep it pure and to keep it undefiled.

[2:42] In Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9, it says, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

[2:54] Who can know it? You know, if we just take this verse by itself, it looks like it's a hopeless task. But the next verse says, I, the Lord, search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

[3:17] So God searches the hearts. He tries the reins. He tries our motives. He, you know, He tries us to see what's in our heart and to bring our heart to a place that He can bend it.

[3:37] He tries to rule in our heart, but it is up to us who is of our hearts and of our life ultimately.

[3:48] You know, I want to get a verse in Hebrews. We'll look at it later, I believe.

[3:59] But Hebrews 4.12 says, For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[4:21] You know, we read in Jeremiah that God searches the heart and He tries the reins. And in Hebrews, He says that God, the Spirit of God, is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

[4:36] And as we go along here, we will see, we will see that God knows what's in your heart, but He also brings testing to test you, to prove you, to see what is in your heart and to see who is on the throne of your heart.

[4:57] Now, let's back up a few verses here in Jeremiah. Jeremiah. You know, He is writing here to the children of Israel and to Judah.

[5:12] And they have backslidden and they've drifted away from God. And He says here in verse 4, in the middle of the verse, He says, I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not.

[5:34] You know, and I believe it's the same for people today. You know, we have an enemy and He wants to be on the throne of our heart.

[5:45] And if we will follow Him and if we will follow His voice and what He is saying, we will end up being a servant to our enemy, the enemy of our soul.

[6:00] Now, let's continue in verse 5. Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

[6:16] For he shall be like a heath in the desert and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabit it.

[6:32] Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when hate cometh.

[6:47] But her leaves shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

[6:59] You know, here He lays out both sides. He says, He talks about us when we trust in our own self and in man and He talks about us if we will trust the Lord in all of life.

[7:20] But He says that the men and in these times in Jeremiah's day what was going on here is the people wanted to go to Egypt and the word of God was don't go to Egypt but they wanted to go to Egypt for safety.

[7:37] They were trusting in the king of Egypt to protect them from their enemies. I believe it's the same with us today.

[7:50] If we will if we will follow self if we will follow if we will follow our enemy instead of God then we will end up like He says here.

[8:07] He says that the man who trusts in the arm of flesh the man who trusts in anything besides the almighty God he will be cursed.

[8:19] Why? Because we are trusting in something other than God. If we put our trust in something other than God then we have someone else on the throne of our hearts and the Spirit of God will be quenched will be held back and cannot function cannot use us cannot work through us.

[8:49] But He pronounces a curse upon the man who makes flesh his arm and whose heart departs from the Lord. And He says even you know this man there's just not much hope for him because he's like a heath out in the desert and he doesn't even see when good cometh.

[9:09] Why? Because he's looking at the arm of flesh which is worthless in reality. But blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is.

[9:25] And then He describes the life of this man. He says the one that trusts in the Lord he is as a tree planted by the waters that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh but her leaves shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

[9:53] So which do we desire to be and which will we be you know these things are decisions that we make every day will lead us to one or the other and we'll be looking at that as we go along here but this is not a decision that you made yesterday or a year ago and you're good to go no but these are things that we face daily we face decisions will we trust God will we follow God will we lay down our life and follow him or will we stay in ourselves and will we trust in self and will we serve the flesh he says the man that trusts in the Lord he is like a tree that's planted by a river you know and we know how it is on the dry hills you see these little trees that they just never seem to grow they just never they never attain much height at all but a tree by the river he's tapped into that that water in the river and even in the year of drought there's still water there's still nourishment there's still life and the tree planted by the river you know even in the year of drought that tree will still continue to grow it will still bear fruit as he says here says it will not cease from yielding fruit you know as Christians we go through these years of drought these dry times these times of testing these times of trial these times that we go through hard times do they destroy you or is your hope in God and there is still fruit coming from your life how is today he says here he warns us

[12:07] I believe this is a warning to each one of us in verse 9 that the heart is deceitful you know and he's talking about that old life that old man that's within us you know will we will we yield to him or will we follow our God and crucify that old man but he says the heart is deceitful above all things you know those desires they come and they you know the enemy he knows he knows what to tempt us with he knows where we're vulnerable he knows the things that that affect us and not only things that might affect us and might draw us away but he'll bring things to try to defile us and he works upon that old man that old life and here the prophet tells us he says the heart is deceitful you know it will make things look so good it will explain away all the reasons why he will explain away all the word of

[13:44] God and he will bring that reason why you should yield and the Lord the Lord knows our heart he knows the very thoughts and intents of our heart says here he tries us he tries us to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings and what comes out of our life you know I want to get a couple verses in Deuteronomy chapter 10 you know God had given the covenant of circumcision to Abraham and that circumcision it was an outward sign of something and here in Deuteronomy 10

[14:48] God talks about the real reason for circumcision he says here in chapter 10 and verse 12 he says and now Israel what doeth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul verse 16 circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff necked you know the the physical circumcision was a sign of the covenant with God and his people but what God was after was this was the circumcision of the heart and that is still what he is after with us today that we are circumcised in heart and here notice what he says here he says circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff necked cut away that thing that continually argues against

[16:09] God cut away and put to death that thing that that is continually arguing against the word of God that thing that whenever God speaks there's always it brings a question cut it off and get rid of it that is what he's saying here he wants us he requires of us to fear the Lord and to walk in his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul with all our mind with all our strength this is what he's after this is what he desires the only way we can do this is if we cut away that thing that is always arguing against God you know and a couple weeks ago we might read it again today but in

[17:09] Colossians he talks about the circumcision of the heart and how that in baptism and when we come to our Lord that is what is happening is we're circumcised in hearts but before we go on into the New Testament I want to look at I want to look at a few verses in Joshua we have an account here in Joshua chapter 5 we have the children of Israel they had been brought out of Egypt they crossed the Red Sea they were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and that continued on and here we are 40 years later they are crossing the Jordan they cross the Jordan and now here in chapter 5 we have

[18:19] Joshua coming well God had commanded him to circumcise the children of Israel because they had not circumcised the young men as they were born in the wilderness and you know I believe that here this was this all happened at Gilgal they had crossed the Jordan and they were encamped in the plains of Jordan and the place where they were at they called it Gilgal as God said after they were circumcised he says he rolled away the reproach of Egypt from them Jared this this I believe is talking of that spiritual circumcision of the heart rolling away the reproach of

[19:19] Egypt from our heart so this is in chapter 5 and then going on they went to Jericho and as they we know the story we won't look at it how they marched around the city for 6 days and then on the 7th day they marched around it 7 times and the walls fell down now in verse 18 in chapter 6 before before the walls came down and they went in to take the city in verse 18 Joshua commanded and he said and ye in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing lest ye make yourselves accursed when ye take of the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it so here was the instructions that Joshua gave the children of Israel before they went in to conquer

[20:37] Jericho and you know another thought with the need to be circumcised is you know here we have Israel they had fought some battles and so on but here they were they had just crossed the river and they were ready to go into this land and to overtake it and to destroy the enemy and they were they were going on in to inherit the land there were many battles ahead of them and I believe that you know it's the same with us today as we fight the enemy as we as we face the enemy day after day some days yes are much harder than others I believe that it is of utmost importance that our heart is circumcised and that that thing that argues against God is removed from our heart because if it is not it opens a door for us to be defeated and that's what I want to look here in

[22:00] Joshua chapter 7 you know Israel won a great victory they over they overcame Jericho there were no problems they defeated the city they destroyed everything except they saved Rahab and her family but then they went and they sent some men to Ai and what happened those men went to Ai and they were terribly defeated and 36 men lost their lives Joshua he fell on his face before the Lord and he said in verse 8 oh Lord what shall I say when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies you know I believe Joshua he didn't he was confounded he didn't know what to think here we just had this great victory and you know the children of Israel they went in without wavering they went in and they conquered the city of Jericho but now here's a small city and we sent the best of our men there and they turned away and they ran from them and yes some of them were killed and he just comes before the

[23:25] Lord and he says what can I say Lord when Israel turns their back to the enemy and in verse 10 the Lord said unto Joshua get thee up wherefore liest thou on thy face Israel has sinned and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them for they have even taken of the accursed thing and have also stolen and dissembled also and they have put it even among their own stuff therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies but turned their backs before their enemies because they were accursed neither will I be with you anymore except ye destroy the accursed from among you you know God God did not allow sin in the camp of

[24:28] Israel and he will not allow sin in our lives he will not allow compromise in us God hates compromise and that day remember Achan you know we can go on through and we could read this whole account of how Joshua brought the children of Israel together and they drew the lot and finally after the tribe of Judah and on down the families the lot came upon Achan now remember Achan I'm sure he was circumcised along with everybody else but his heart was not circumcised and so when he saw there let's read what he said well so God was instructing Joshua here in verse 13 we'll just continue reading a little bit up sanctify the people and say sanctify yourselves against tomorrow for thus saith the

[25:37] Lord God of Israel there is an accursed thing in the midst of thee O Israel thou canst not stand before thine enemies until ye take away the accursed thing from among you and then he went on and they chose they cast the lot until they until Achan was taken and then in verse 19 Joshua said unto Achan my son give I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him and tell me now what thou hast done hide it not from me and Achan answered Joshua and said indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel and thus and thus have I done when I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight then

[26:45] I coveted them and took them and behold they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it you know this man Achan as I was saying he was circumcised along with everybody else but there was something in his heart that was not right his heart you know what did we read in Deuteronomy that cut away that thing that argues against God you know Joshua had very plainly given the command and he said in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing lest ye make yourselves accursed when ye take of the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it you know that was the command of

[27:50] Joshua that he gave to the people and that is exactly what Achan did is he did exactly what Joshua told him not to so Achan had not dealt with that thing in his heart that argues against God have you dealt with that thing in your heart that argues against God that argues against the word of God that tries to explain away the word of God that argues against the spirit of God that refuses to yield when the spirit of God speaks to you how is it with us today Achan here he just admitted you know what can you do after all the all the multitudes of

[28:54] Israel out of all the multitudes of Israel God revealed who the man was you know he had hidden this stuff under the floor in his tent but it was not hidden God knew all about it God knew what was in his heart!

[29:12] and Achan he paid the price for it but not only did he pay for it but his whole family was destroyed and the 36 men that were killed at AI sin brings death and sin affects more than just yourself allowing compromise in our hearts affects more than just our self and we'll be looking at that here in just a little bit but remember this when we when we say no to the spirit of God we will reap for it yes but I'm sure there will be other people that will also be included in the reaping that will also be included in what comes out of our life let's turn to

[30:26] Hebrews chapter 12 here we have we'll just read a few verses here to start with let's look at verse 16 here we have Esau the account of Esau well let's start reading let's read verse 14 start in verse 14 follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the

[31:33] Lord looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled remember what what I said about Achan and other people reaping his whole family was destroyed they were killed because of his sin but here he warns us that if this root of bitterness springs up within us it will defile others it will defile many and then he goes on and he says lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright for you know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears you know and

[32:49] I had to think I had to think about about Esau and what was the sin of Esau you know and I believe that so many times the devil will use the same thing in our day he will tempt us the same way that he tempted Esau when he gave in there you know just think with me a minute so Esau he come in after a long day and he was hungry he could have gone to his tent he could have fixed a meal he could have had just like any other evening but here he comes and Jacob had this meal all cooked and ready he was ready to sit down and eat and Esau comes and what did he do he traded he traded what was what had eternal value for the temporal he traded something of spiritual value he traded it for instant gratification of the flesh and

[34:14] I believe that is one of the biggest temptations the devil will bring he will put something in front of us that will bring instant gratification to the flesh something that your your old heart yearns for something that it used to enjoy something that that you used to live in something that you used to love he will bring that he will bring that and you can have it Esau could have that porridge he could have that meal he could fill his tummy and he could feel satisfied but what was the price the price was something of eternal value and that is where we're at today in so many things and so many times when we face temptation when we when we come into that hard place and we we you know we're down we're out we're hungry we're whatever it might be we're discouraged and instead of trusting in

[35:35] God and keeping on or instead of saying no to the flesh we give in we give in to this instant gratification that he offers to us and we sacrifice the eternal for the temporal this this revealed Esau's heart what does it say here says he was a profane person he had carnal appetites he allowed the carnal appetites to rule his decision process he made his decisions according to the here and now according to the pleasure of this life the pleasures of this world isn't that exactly what we face every day do we love the world or will we die to the world will we die to self will we live for for

[36:57] Jesus Esau it says here he found no place for repentance though he sought it carefully with tears you know Esau yes he he asked for the blessing he wanted the blessing but he had not been willing to pay the price he was not willing his heart was not willing to live a life in submission to God almighty Esau was impulsive he was ruled by the flesh he traded the eternal for the temporal the the temporary gratification of the flesh he went after that what are we going after are we willing to trade the eternal for something some temporary gratification some temporary pleasure some temporary foolishness some temporary there's an endless list of things we could name we could go after here let's back up a few verses here in Hebrews 12 he's talking about chastening and the end of verse 10 he says that chastening is for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby you know failure is not final if we will allow

[39:12] God to chasten us and to try hard and to bring us into a place that we come into submission to him but if we refuse chastening you know there's a verse that says that the son whom he loveth he will chasten him something like that you know if we endure chasing if we receive chasing it is because he loves us and if we endure it will bring forth fruit unto holiness that we might be partakers of his holiness verse 12 wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees you know sometimes we're going through a time of chastening we're going through a time of trial and this is us our hands are hanging down we're feeble knees but he tells us to help each other to lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees and to make straight paths for your feet lest that which is lame be turned out of the way but let it rather be healed you know he he doesn't want us to be turned away but he wants us to be healed and if we will yield ourselves to his spirit if we will yield ourselves to the word of

[40:54] God then we can repent we will not be like Esau who could repent but we will be we will be like Jacob that we will repent and we will come to him follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God for for us to fail the grace of God it is available for all of us but we might you know there is a possibility for for us to fail if we will not yield to

[41:58] God but he says here lest any root of bitterness bringing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled you know we've all I believe we all know what he's talking about we've all struggled with this we've all had it at some time at some point of our life some bitterness that wanted to get a hold of us and usually it comes from unforgiveness when we refuse to forgive someone who has wronged us and and we we allow it to simmer and to and to keep on boiling and to keep on stirring until it turns into bitterness and and then that bitterness comes out of our mouth and it defiles many and then he goes on and talks about

[43:02] Esau he says this root of bitterness that and many be defiled lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau and he goes on I think we will move on let's go let's Let me get a few verses in Proverbs.

[43:37] Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs 4.

[44:08] That shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is darkness. They know not at what they stumble. My son, attend to my words.

[44:23] Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them in health to all their flesh.

[44:37] Keep thy heart with all diligence. For out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a frobert mouth. And perverse lips put far from thee.

[44:50] Let thine eyes look right on. And let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet. And let all thy ways be established.

[45:03] Turn not to the right hand nor to the left. Remove thy foot from evil. So, he lays it out.

[45:14] The path of the just is as a shining light. And this is hopefully our life. That the glorious light of the gospel is shining through us.

[45:25] That we are the light of the world. And the verse 20. My son, attend to my words.

[45:37] You know, are we giving heed to the word of God? Are we attending to the word? Are we just passing it off? Are we, you know, it is so easy to read the word and not comprehend it.

[45:54] It is so easy to hear the word and not allow it to take root in our heart and to change us. But he admonishes us to attend to the word and to incline our ear.

[46:09] You know, in other words, I believe what he's saying is we must hear on purpose. We must determine in our heart to receive the word of God.

[46:22] And allow it to come into us and to change us. Keep it in the midst of thine heart.

[46:39] The psalmist said, Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Verse 22. They are life unto those that find them.

[46:52] The word of God. It is life. It is life to us if we find it. And health to all their flesh. Then verse 23.

[47:03] The verse that I quoted several times already. Keep thy heart with all diligence. You know, keep thy heart.

[47:14] You know, Achan did not keep his heart. But he allowed. When he saw that Babylonish garment. When he saw that wedge of gold and that silver.

[47:26] When he saw that, he allowed his heart to follow after it. And to lust for it. And so he took it. And he allowed his heart.

[47:38] He is carnal mind. It was racing. And it was, how can I do this? How can I hide this? Well, I'll just slip it under my garments.

[47:49] I'll take it home. And I'll hide it under the floor of my tent. And nobody will ever know. Keep thy heart with all diligence.

[48:05] How important is this? Well, the next phrase answers that. For out of it are the issues of life.

[48:18] If we do not keep our heart. We will lose life. Just like Esau.

[48:30] His heart followed after instant gratification. His heart followed after the gratification of the flesh.

[48:44] And he lost eternal life. That is what's at stake. Put away from thee a ferovert mouth.

[49:00] And perverse lips. Some very, very good admonition here.

[49:11] Let thine eyes look right on. The eyelids look straight before thee. You know, I believe what he's saying is we must guard what we see.

[49:24] We must keep our eyes. And we must be careful what we behold with our eyes.

[49:35] He says, ponder the path of your feet. Ponder the path. You know, in chapter 5, 21, it says, The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

[49:57] The Lord ponders the path of your feet. We should also, you know, the things, you know, the things we do, the places we go, the things that we, you know, maybe we should put in here.

[50:16] Ponder the clicks that you do on your computer, where it takes you, where you go on your computer. Ponder where, what is the reaping that will come from the places you go, the things you see.

[50:33] We put that in your heart. God is. God is. Yes. One, Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5 is this verse.

[50:50] I'm sure we all know it. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. With all our heart. Do we trust him with all our heart?

[51:01] And lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path.

[51:12] Be not wise in thine own eyes. You know, isn't this, again, you know, if we can be wise in our own eyes, but then we exclude the way of God.

[51:26] If we are wise in our own eyes, we exclude the fear of God. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. There's great reward in fearing the Lord and in departing from evil.

[51:41] It says, Yes. It shall be health to thine navel and marrow to thy bones. Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

[51:58] And yes, there is great reward in following the Lord and in walking in the way that he would set before us.

[52:12] Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7.

[52:44] Mark chapter 7.

[53:14] Mark chapter 7.

[53:44] Proverbs said, With all diligence. It is of utmost importance. And Jesus said that all these evil things, they come out of the heart of man.

[53:59] Out of the heart of man. Out of the heart of a man that has not guarded his heart, that has not allowed the Spirit of God to circumcise that heart and to cut away that thing, that evil heart of unbelief that argues against God.

[54:16] All of these things, they come out of the heart of man. All of these things, they come out of an evil heart. And it says, they come out of an evil heart. And it says, they defile the man.

[54:28] Are we allowing defilement? Are we allowing defilement? Are we allowing?

[54:41] You know, we look at this list. You know, we look at this list. It starts with evil thoughts. And then we would think, oh, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, all those things.

[54:58] You know, that's not us. But how about evil thoughts? How about foolishness? How about pride? How about an evil eye?

[55:10] Deceit? All of those things. Are we allowing any of that? Are we allowing our heart to dwell on things that bring forth evil fruit?

[55:28] Pride, foolishness. It all comes from a proud heart. From a selfish heart. From a heart that has refused to allow Jesus to be on the throne.

[55:51] 2 Corinthians. Here we have an answer. Again. 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians.

[56:01] Chapter 10. He says, starting in verse 3.

[56:15] He says, Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. Yes, we live in a body of flesh. But our war is not in flesh.

[56:27] But our weapons, the weapons of our warfare, they're not carnal. But they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

[56:38] So we're in a spiritual war. We're in a spiritual battle. And what does he say here? Casting down imaginations.

[56:51] And every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

[57:02] Here we are again. The war of the ages. It is fought. It is fought. In our minds and in our hearts.

[57:15] You know, I've heard say, the greatest nation on earth is imagination.

[57:28] He says, casting down imaginations. Things that are not true. Things that are not of truth.

[57:40] Things that are not of truth. And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. This is where the battle is at.

[57:52] This is where the battle is at in your heart. Have you allowed, have you allowed the circumcision of the heart to be real in you?

[58:10] Have you cut away that thing that continually wants to argue against the Holy Ghost? That continually wants to argue against the Word of God?

[58:23] That continually wants to argue. And say, well, it won't hurt you. It's just fine.

[58:33] Just go ahead and do it. You can enjoy it. You can come back and confess your sin later.

[58:45] You can also pray. Those fleshly lusts that war against the soul. You know, it's a continual war.

[59:00] It's a continual war. And it starts. It works in the heart. The outworking of it is in the flesh.

[59:10] Yes, but it's in your heart. It's in your mind. Casting down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

[59:31] And then bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

[59:50] You know if we, I believe if we bring every thought into captivity. To the obedience of Christ we will be living a life of total victory.

[60:07] Complete victory. Yes. Proverbs says, be not wise in thy own eyes.

[60:22] We read that, didn't we? You know, isn't that how we want to be?

[60:33] We want, you know, our old mind, our old man, it wants to be wise in its own eyes. Yes. But we need to bring every thought.

[60:48] Casting down imaginations. All those things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. Yes.

[60:59] Now, let's go a little bit yet to Colossians. Verses that we read the other Sunday.

[61:10] Okay. I think we want to start in verse 6.

[61:30] As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

[61:46] Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. You know, here we have it. That old carnal mind, that deceitful heart.

[62:03] And now he's talking, not only you deceiving yourself, but your fellow man deceiving you. Deceiving you through philosophy and vain deceit.

[62:17] And, oh, just explaining away the word of God and explaining away the things of God. Explaining away the need for holiness and righteousness by Jesus Christ.

[62:52] After the rudiments of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.

[63:13] We are complete in Christ. We are complete in him. You know, there's today, you can, if you listen, there's all kinds of voices telling you all kinds of things that you need.

[63:28] All kinds of things you should follow. All kinds of things that you should do. But we are complete in Christ. We are complete in Christ.

[63:40] Because he in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And we are complete in him.

[63:54] He is the head of all principality and power. In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands.

[64:05] In putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Have we been circumcised?

[64:16] Have we allowed him to cut away that old heart that argues against the things of God? Have we been buried with him in baptism?

[64:31] Have we died with Christ? You know, if we have been buried with him and we rose again in newness of life, let's let that old man stay buried and stay dead.

[64:47] Yes. Yes. You know, how often do we make excuses for our failures? How often do we make excuses for not building, like our brother said, not building on top of that foundation?

[65:05] We're satisfied where things are right. No, we can never be satisfied. But we need to keep on building on top of this foundation and building for a habitation of God through the Spirit.

[65:20] But what does he say here? We are buried with him in baptism. Wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead.

[65:34] The Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are raised with him. He says, verse 13, And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

[66:03] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

[66:14] He disarmed those principalities and powers, the same principalities and powers that we read about in Ephesians 6, that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, those principalities and powers.

[66:37] Jesus disarmed them. And he made his show of them openly. Yes, so they are defeated today.

[66:48] And we, as we abide in Christ, we can live in the victory of Christ. When we fail, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, like 1 John says.

[67:18] Let's not blame him, but let's take the responsibility and let us arise and walk again in faith.

[67:28] Maybe we should read those verses in 1 John. He says here, in chapter 2, verse 1, And my little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.

[67:48] And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he is a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also the sins of the whole world.

[68:05] And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Yes. You know, I believe that he has made all provisions for us to live a life of victory.

[68:29] But if we find ourselves that we have failed, let us come to the foot of the cross.

[68:42] And like it says here in 1 John 1, 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[68:55] He is our advocate. Yes, he is the propitiation for our sins. He paid for them. And as we confess them and forsake them, he will cleanse us and set us free and give us the victory again.

[69:14] Yes. The word of God, it is quick and powerful. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. Discerning our heart and what is in it, he will, he will search us, he will try us.

[69:35] Yes. It says, dividing asunder soul and spirit in the joints and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[69:47] You know, when he reveals something, let us yield to him. When we fail, let us yield to him. You know, like we read there in Hebrews 12, you know, he wants, he wants us to be healed.

[70:08] How's that prophecy in Isaiah? It says, a smoking, a broken reed, he will not, a bruised reed, he won't broke and a smoking flax, he will not quench.

[70:25] But he would rather have us healed. He would have us healed. Yes, here in chapter 12 in Hebrews, he says, you know, if, if we are, if we find ourselves in a time of chastening, we're of all our partakers, let's not, let's not give up.

[70:50] But let's allow him. Why? Let's yield to him. Why? Because the purpose of chasing is that we might be partakers of his holiness.

[71:09] Yes, God. God wants to sanctify us. He wants to cleanse us. He wants to set us free that we might be more useful in his kingdom.

[71:29] Putting off the body of the sins of the flesh and rising again in newness of life. He has made all provisions for us.

[71:41] Hallelujah. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you. Lord, we thank you. And Lord, help us to guard our heart diligently.

[71:57] Lord, that you can have your way. Lord, that you can cleanse us and you can set us free and you can make us the men and women you want us to be, Lord.

[72:18] Lord, remove those things that hinder us. Lord, the foolishness. Lord, the hypocrisy. Lord, whatever you might find in our hearts, uncover it and remove it, Lord.

[72:41] Lord, like the psalmist prayed, search me and try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

[72:54]  Might this be our prayer today, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.