Mortify flesh by the Spirit. Seed from God is amazing. He can sow immovable things in our hearts. Spirit does a planting of the Lord of great blessing. Jesus entered boat and storm stopped and we reached other side. (John 13:23; Romans 7:24-25; 8:12-14)

Speaker(s): Thomas Schaller, Mat Gehret
Sermon 12494
6:30 PM on 4/16/2023

P. Schaller –

Just to have a prayer. What a beautiful worship service. Wow! It’s a lot of fun. Amen. That was fun. That was
great. Wow! Wow! In the name of Jesus. Wow! Wow! Great. (Prayer). P. Matt Gehret is the head
of Bible college and he’s been doing a great job. We love him so much. He’s going to come up
and share a word with us. Welcome P. Matt.

P. Matt Gehret –

How are we doing? Let’s go back to John 6 from earlier this morning. Maybe
one quick thing about the Bible college before we get into this. It is now what? Mid April, right?
What’s today’s date? April what? You’re on the ball. April 16th

. It’s April 16th

. Most students by now probably heard back from the colleges they applied to. They’ve probably gotten acceptance
letters or possible rejection letters, and all I want to say to you whether you are looking for night
classes or whether you are looking to learn how to live your life according to the Word of God,
Bible college is for you. If you have not met the expectations that you thought you would with
your acceptance letters, then please it’s not too late to apply. Please apply for the 2022-2023
school year. Okay. We’re right back here behind the church in a little hallway that packs a
powerful punch. Alright?

John. 6. The verses we heard earlier this morning. I’m going to read vs. 16-21 and then we’ll pray.
So, I want to put a different spin on these verses for you. If you were here in the morning
service, you heard a really great message about these verses, but I’m just gonna stay away
from that for a little bit and talk to you as if we’re a room full of unbelievers and we’re entering
into this ship called life, okay. We’re going to enter into this ship called life, and it starts in the
middle of the night when the disciples go down into the sea. It starts in the middle of the night
when the disciples go down to the sea.

Notice, you’ll read later on that it was dark, and Jesus
had not come to them yet. So, that’s why I’m going to speak to you as if we are all a bunch of
unbelievers right now. We’re in this ship. We’re going through life. We’ve gone a couple miles so
far, that King James measurement. None of us have any idea what it means. Thank God for
other translations of the Bible. That’s about three or four miles that they have been going on the
water so far.

So, let’s put that into the terms of our lives today. Let’s just use decades for the sake of it. Three
or four decades you’ve been alive. You’ve been cruising through life and all of a sudden, one of
many of life’s storms pops up right in the middle of the sea, right in the middle – you’re in
between lands. Capernaum is in front of you about another three or four miles away, and for you
to go back the other way would be just as perilous because this storm was heavy. This storm
scared the disciples. This storm scares us in everyday life.

What kind of storms scare us in everyday life? What takes place every day in life that could just
derail us, sidetrack us. Take us to a really difficult place in our hearts and in our minds. I’m not
going to name them. You guys can think of them. We don’t need to go there, but you can think
of it right now in your hearts.

Jesus is not with them. They are in the middle of a really terrible situation and they’re scared.
Does this not sound like every single one of us before we were believers? Whatever the
situation was, whatever it may have been – um, okay. Maybe I’ll name a few. A teenager, my
parents sit us down at Christmas time. Hey, we’re getting a divorce. Ouch! Man! It’s Christmas.
Now’s a great time to share that. Thank you. It’s hard, right? That’s very hard. More and more in
society today, people are dealing with that kind of tragedy, their family breaking apart. You’re a
mother. You had a child for a couple weeks and then SIDS happened. Sudden infant death
syndrome. No cause. No idea. No explanation. What’s going on? What’s going on? What is this
thing called life? What is happening? What am I doing here? What is my purpose? Why am I in
the middle of this sea rolling along as if this is what I am supposed to be doing with my life?
What good is that doing?

This storm right here right now whatever it may be, it can overtake me. Right here and right
now, this could be the end of my life. This could be it. And then all of a sudden out of no where,Jesus is walking on the sea drawing near to the ship. Let me ask you guys something just point blank honesty here. The first time someone talked to you about Jesus, were you a little skeptical? Were you like, thanks. I’ll think about it. Have a
good one. Did you, did you just take in the information in one ear out the other? Jesus is walking
to the disciples on the water. What’s their first reaction? Woe! I don’t know about that. What is
that thing? That doesn’t sound right to me. That’s outside of my normal circumstances. That’s
outside of what I know and understand in this life as I go through it. That’s different. That sounds
a little too far fetched.

You go through life like any other person. P. Schaller talked about this this morning. You feel like
you got to earn your way. You got to work, work, work and get ahead, get ahead. And go up a
notch. Go up another notch. Go up another notch. Pass what? Pass elementary school, junior
high, high school maybe, college, maybe trade school. Get a job. Maybe get a family. Maybe
have two and a half kids. Maybe you retire one day and then what? And then what? Suddenly.
Suddenly, right?

I remember I was speaking to a girl one time. What’s the capital of Maryland? Annapolis. I was
speaking to this girl in Annapolis. We had a band there. They were playing live music outside
and we were trying to evangelize to a few students that were there. I give this girl the gospel as
plain and simple as I know how. She’s like 17 or 18 years old, and she just looks at me and
says, yeah. Not right now. Thanks. Like that’s okay. That’s not for me. Maybe one day in my life.
Maybe at some point I’ll think about that some more, but I’m good for right now. Have you had
that response before whether giving the gospel or someone giving it to you. I remember thinking
that way. I remember thinking I could live a good, moral life. I could live going up notch by notch
even if I got knocked down a little bit. I could work my way up a little bit higher on those notches.
I’d be fine.

But when Jesus comes to the disciples walking on the water, I want you to think about this like
this is a very supernatural event that’s happening. This defies the laws of physics. This defies
the laws of gravity. This defies basic – I forget what this is, but what’s it called whenever you
measure your weight by dunking an object in the water? Buoyancy. Thank you. Buoyancy.
Wow. You guys are really on the ball tonight. I am so glad you guys are here. Buoyancy. Defies
the idea of buoyancy. Jesus is just tip toeing along on the water. Okay.

When Jesus comes into your life, it’s a supernatural event. It is a supernatural event. Your
natural thinking says I can earn it. I can find a way. I can make it. However I’m going right now,
whatever this storm is, whatever is going on, I can pass this test. I can get beyond it. I can keep
going in my own strength. And then you see someone out of no where walking on water. What is
that? That is not normal. That is not it. That is not what I understand life to be about. But he has
an answer. He has an answer.

He said something so simple, “It is I.” It is I. He claims to be who he claims to be. Jesus never
backs down from anyone. Jesus never says he’s anything less than who he actually is. I AM that
I AM. Before Abraham was, I AM. Jesus always claims who he is. “I am the way, the truth and
the life. No one can get to the Father except by me.” “Nicodemus, you must be born again.” You
must be born again. He never backs down.

He comes to the disciples. They’re going through whatever crazy situation they’re going through.
You’re going through life. You’re going through whatever crazy situation it is. Here comes Jesus
with a supernatural answer to your, to your small life up until this point. Hey, I want you to break
out of this small life. I want you to believe in me. I don’t want you to be afraid. I don’t want you to
live in this storm and think this is the only thing that your life is all about. Because after this,
there’s so much more. There’s so much more that I have for you.

So, we go through life. We have a chance encounter with Christ whether someone brought him
to you, someone brought you that message. What is the gospel by the way? Romans 1:16, what is

the gospel? It’s the power of God unto salvation. Do you know how powerful it is for Jesus to
announce himself to anyone? It is the power of God unto salvation.
Hey, I don’t know if you know this. I know you are going through a tough time. Do you know that
Jesus says he is the door to the sheep, and if you enter through him you will be, you will be kept
by him forever. You will hear his voice forever. You will have no threat of enemies jumping in
over the walls on one side or the other. You will be safe and secure in his arms. He and the
Father are one and nothing can separate you from them. That’s like John 10 summed up really
quick in a little bit of a way.

When he comes into your life, he says get out of your natural thinking. Get away from you can
do it. You can do it. A little bit farther. A little higher up. A little bit more. He’s saying stop where
you are. I went the whole way to hell for you and back. I went the whole into the grave. I stayed
there for three days. I took captivity captive. And I rose again from the grave. What’s the Easter
verse? Luke 24, the angels are speaking. vs. 6. He did a supernatural thing to prove the
supernatural act that is happening right in front of you, and he says if you just get out of your
own heart and your own brain for a second, I can save you. I can save you.

What does it say the very last verse? I got to get back there. What does it say? John. 6:21, You’re
an unbeliever right now in this room. Jesus is speaking to you hopefully. God, we pray that is the
case. I hope you hear this so clearly right now that you can not say that anything else is
happening. Jesus is speaking to you. He says hey, I’m standing at the door. Let me in and I’ll
sup with you, Revelation 3:20. Hey, I’m right here. I’m the answer to your problems. I am the way, the
truth, and the life. I have every answer that you could ever possibly need, and all you have to do
is willingly receive me into your life, into your ship.

And then the moment that that happens, the most amazing thing takes place. 2 Corinthians 5:17, you
are a new creation. You are a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things
have become new. Ephesians 2:1, what does that say? “You has he quickened.” You has he
quickened. You were dead in your sins and your trespasses. But he has quickened you. And
Ephesians 2:6, “he has made you to be seated in heavenly places.” In an instant, in a moment, the
moment that they willingly received him into the ship, you’re on the land. You’re in heavenly
places. You are exactly where you are supposed to be. Colossians 2:13, “you’ve been translated from
the kingdom of darkness.”

Remember it was dark before Christ showed up there. It was dark in
the middle of that sea, in the middle of that storm going on, and he showed up into your life. You
received him. And you’ve been translated into the kingdom of his dear Son, of himself. And you
are one with the Father. You are one with the Son. And now you have the Holy Spirit.
You have a supernatural thing happening in your life right now if you are a believer. You have
the seal of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 4:30. You have the seal of the Holy Spirit. You are
his. You are marked. People always talk about the mark of the beast in Revelation, but they
seem to forget about the mark that you already have in your life right now as a member of the
Body of Christ. It’s the Holy Spirit. Christ knows them that are his, and he also prays to the
Father in John 17 that I will not lose a single one that you send to me.

I will not lose a single one that you send to me. Maybe you are being sent to him tonight. Receive him. Let him into your
ship. Let him into the situation. He will calm the storm. He will do far above and beyond calming
the storm. He will take you the whole way through to the other side and put you in a heavenly
mindset, so you can walk through the other storms that will take place in your life. Amen.

P. Schaller –

I want to do something. We usually – we don’t do it very often, but there’s what I
want you to do. It will take us a couple minutes. Two or three minutes maybe. Alright. Look
around the room. Look at everybody around the room. We usually sit in the same place. That’s
fine. But look around the room and prayerfully think about people you don’t know. Somebody
you’ve never talked to. Never. And you’re going to go to that person and you are both going to
listen to each other. You’re going to go to somebody in the room. Maybe you don’t know them at
all. Maybe you do but you haven’t had a word. Maybe you have a word for somebody. Word of
joy. Word of encouragement. Word of faith. Alright. So, would you all stand with me. Look around the room. Look behind you. Look to the right and left.

Think about it. And take it as from God. I’m going to go and build up that person. Not your friend but somebody you haven’t been with. Okay Go ahead.
Okay. You may be seated. Alright. We can start up. Alright. So I need a couple volunteers.
Maybe just to stand up here. Turn to John. 13. P. Steve, I got you as a volunteer and Matt also.
Yes. John. 13:23, tonight we will speak about the Holy Spirit from Romans 8. Get some insight.
We’re looking at our spring and summer. Anticipation of God’s work amongst us. We did the
Easter play and new people have come to Christ and growing in it and what is the plan that God
has for us this summer in Baltimore. And we have July Alive. A month of outreach in the city that
we are doing.

We’re also doing foreign missions. There’s a trip to Bolivia and Indonesia. P. Gary is taking a lot.
He’s going to South Korea, Indonesia, Europe. There will be some trips in Europe and so on.
And then your life and how you are navigating in life like P. Matt said. We receive Christ on our
boat and we are immediately on the other side. It’s almost like the boat is out here in trouble.
They’re having trouble. And then Jesus comes on and it disappears. And the boat appears over
here at the shore line in the reeds. It just appears here. They could say, what happened? What
happened? How did that happen? Who did that?

So, we talked this morning about what and means and processes and then we said who. What
and then who. When you go to get directions, you use your GPS. Maybe I can have you guys sit
down, because it’s going to take a while. The Trinity went over to sit down over there! So, the
duo. Your GPS can tell you how to go somewhere. But there’s another way to navigate and it’s not
my GPS that’s going to tell me where to go. It’s the person. It’s the person that comes on the
boat and suddenly there’s a change. And suddenly like it’s different. He did it. Jesus is called the
El Camino in Spanish. El Camino. He is the way. He is the living way. He is the truth and the life.
Where did he get the truth and life from but the bosom of the Father. So, if you look at this word
“bosom” here in John. 13:23, we know that was John. He uses that phrase five times in his gospel.
John was leaning on the bosom of Jesus. But then we see that phrase “the bosom” regarding
the Father in John 1. So, turn with me to John. 1:17-18.

Same word. When John was leaning on the bosom of Jesus, he was near the heart of Jesus
and he was secure. How do we know that John was secure more than the other disciples at that
table, the Last Supper? How do we know that John was secure. Because of this. Follow this
with me. Jesus said one of you will betray me and what did they say? They said, is it I? Is it I?
Except John didn’t say, Is it I? What did he say? Who is it? He wasn’t insecure. He wasn’t
saying is it me? Cause when you are connected with Jesus, this is the principle. When you are
connected with Jesus, he is loving you. He is loving you. You have a security. This is what
happens to people. They become secure. I don’t know if you realize how secure you are,
because the Holy Spirit fills you and so you are secure. You have forgotten how insecure people
are, because you are not living like that. You are living with security. Cause God is loving you.
God is loving you. God is building you up, so you are growing in security as a person. We’ll talk
about it in a minute.

Now, let’s have the Trinity over here come on up. God the Father and God the Son. Which one
of you is the Father? P. Steve because he has white hair! I don’t know if the tall guy can lean on
his bosom without, you know, like, you know. Do you want to give it a try? Yes. Let’s see.
Now when Christ came into the world – come on over here – when he came into the world, what
did he show us? He showed us the Father. It says here he exegeted. He declared the Father,
because he was in the heart of the Father. From, eternally, always, coming from the Father.
Never had a beginning but was always emanating from the Father. This is the nature of reality.

The nature of reality is that you have God and God is love. Who does God love but himself.
There was a time when nothing existed except God. God is – there was no cosmos, no
universe. He created it at one point in time. And before the foundation fo the universe they
always were, and he was always delighting in the Father and the Father was always delighting
in the Son. And the Holy Spirit, the third one, is that reality between them. The Father, the Son,
the Holy Spirit. The Trinity. When Christ came, he showed us the Father. And what did he do but
the Father’s will.

There’s a number of words we could bring up. I think it takes many messages, but the Father’s
heart – I’ll put here “Father’s heart.” You have truth. Very important. You have judgment. That
means I violate truth and it means something to the Father. If you violate reality, there is an
effect or a consequence. The Father agrees or disagrees. The Father is truth. No lie at all. You
cannot be in God and lie. In him is light and no darkness at all. God cannot lie, Titus 1:2. So, if
we lie, there is a judgment for the lie. Another word here is “love.” God is love. We have also
forgiveness in the heart of the Father. We have grace. Christ came into the world and he taught
us these things from the Father.

So, here you have reality. The three. He comes. He goes back
to the Father, John 17, and he sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts. And the Holy Spirit reveals
to us the heart of the Father. And these words. Holy Spirit builds you up with these words. The
nature of God’s world, God’s reality. It’s fantastic thought that this is our calling to know him and
to know what is in the heart of the Father. So, this is how I understand it and how I see it and
what we want to talk about to go further in it a little bit tonight by turning to Romans 7 and 8. You
may be seated. Thank you.

Now, I have to add one, one piece to what I want to share, but I don’t want you to get off track in
it. But maybe it will help you in our meditation tonight. We said this morning if you walked
through a forest and maybe some of you know what I mean. You’ve been in the woods. A forest.
And how old is the forest? Is it 50 years old or a hundred? A couple hundred years old. A forest.
And how they change and they grow and what they are. What kind of forest is it? It’s like a real
science, you know. A forest. And could you be walking in a forest – I read this in a devotional.
That you could walk in the forest with another person and just say what would it take to move
this forest from here to another location?

That’s not the average way that people think, but it is a thought. What would it take? How could
you do it? How could you take trees that are 200 feet tall? How could you take bushes and all
the vegetation and all the flora, the animal life. Everything. How could you pull it up and move it
to another location and what would it cost you to do that? You know, earth moving machines
and all by all means. It would be impossible. Christ did use that. He said this tree, if you have
faith like a mustard seed, you could say to this tree be plucked up and cast into the sea. And
with this idea of seeds.

Do you know how you can do it? Before the forest has been planted by nature and so on, you
have a bag of seeds. And you just take that bag and you go to your location and you sow the
seeds. And that’s it. It’s moved. It’s one way of saying that in my life and in my heart I need to be
careful what I do with the seeds. What are the seeds? And are they actually being planted. Are
they actually a part of my life? Is it actually meaningful what I am thinking, what I am doing, how
I am believing, and how we are walking.

Because these seeds are actually, are they reality? We had two brothers here, God the Father
and God the Son and you know what comes from the Son of God? Seed. And you know what
happens when you take that seed and it’s planted in your heart? It grows like a forest or garden
or whatever you want to call it and it’s not easily moved. If that seed is the seed that comes from
God, that’s an amazing gift to us. That’s why we take effort to hear what the Son of God is
saying to us, to relate to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. Cause like do not be deceived. You
will reap what you sow, right? Take heed. Beware. Be aware of what it is you are hearing, what it
is you are believing and what you and I are practicing.

Unfortunately, you could have bad seed planted in your life and it’s getting deeper and deeper
and it’s hard to move it. That’s, I believe that. I believe that can happen. That’s not my message.
My message is more along these lines that from, in God’s plan what is in God’s heart is brought
to us by Christ, by the Spirit, and this is the planting of the Lord. This is where we reap what we
sow. If you sow to the flesh, you reap the flesh. And unfortunately, there can be whole jungles of
fleshly living that’s not easily moved.

On the other hand, when you live in the Spirit, when you walk in faith, that planting that is from
God, that’s a great blessing to you. When your life is in trouble, you got real roots, real life. You
got Christ who is your teacher and the one that is taking care of you.

Okay, let’s go now. This will be Romans. I think we’ve got 7. We know 7 I hope. We have the sin
nature. And I think we’ll make a little sketch. We have the reality. We’ll make a box here. This is
the old sin nature. This is my flesh. This is a very real part of my life. My old sin nature that we
carry around with us in this life time. It’s called “O wretched man” in vs. 24 of Romans 7. Don’t
let him run your life. O wretched man! Who. It’s got that word “who.” That pronoun. “Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? O wretched man.

Then he goes with this understanding he goes to vs. 25. there is the understanding of the mind,
the mind of the believer. The Word and the mind. They go together. The Word of God, the Spirit
of God and the mind of the believer. What is in my mind. What is imparted to me. The mind. We
have the mind of Christ. We have the Spirit of God. We have his thoughts that come from the
heart of God. From the heart, Christ comes and speaks to our hearts.

What are some things that he said? Remember about paying taxes or parables about hypocrisy
or grace. Parables. Teachings. Sermon on the Mount. The mind of Christ. The mind. We have
his mind. This is God’s heart for us. This is Romans 8. This is Romans 7 and 8. Then we have
Romans 8 and we have another power. This is the Holy Spirit. A person. Who will deliver me.
We’ll put here Holy Spirit. Who is the same as Christ. Who is the same as the Father and this is
our new life. Our new life is from the Father. This is our new life. This is our way of life now. This
is how we are planted. We are rooted and grounded. We are learning this.

Let’s go to Romans 8. We will look at the Holy Spirit mentioned in vs. 1. There is no
condemnation. Very important verses down through. We have the Holy Spirit mentioned in every
one of these verses just about. And then we come down to vs. 12. We’ll look at vs. 12-14 and
pray this will speak to us. Look at our diagram. The flesh says I’m alive. I’m alive. You owe me.
You owe me. You have to do what I say. I am here.

We say, I am not a debtor to you. I don’t owe you anything. The flesh says many different things.
It’s self-orientation, self-occupation. You are a debtor to me. I am saying to you that you must
thing this way. You must be jealous. You must be lustful. You must be coveting. You must be
wanting this. You deserve this. You owe this to yourself. Be aware of all the kinds of sentences
that our flesh says. You lived the Christian life for a long time. Now, just do it your way. You are
debtor to me. You have to do what I say. You have to pay me. You have to be accountable. You
have to be directed by me, by the flesh. You have to do this. That’s what the flesh is saying.
But is that from the heart of God? Is the heart of God – what does the heart of God say about
my flesh? It says it was judged, crucified. I’m not a debtor to the flesh. That’s the meaning here.
We are debtors. You know how it is. You feel indebted. You feel you have an obligation.

I remember somebody made a deal with the devil through the years. As a pastor, I counseled
somebody and they said I made a deal with the devil. I go, okay. What about that? I said now
you are saved, so that doesn’t count anymore. No, I made a deal with him. And so, are you a
debtor to that deal? Are you in that deal? You made a covenant with the devil, so does that
covenant stand? What do you think?

You know, the heart of the Father, what would he say about that? He would say I judged your
flesh. How about Isaiah 28. the covenant you made with hell has been disannulled. It is not
binding anymore. How about in Numbers 30? You can look this up sometime. Nu. 30, when a
woman makes a vow, her husband or father has the right to cancel the vow. It an be cancelled
because her head is her husband or her father. If she made a vow, it’s not binding if the guy
over her cancels it. And in a similar way, when the Father says all covenants made with the devil
and with the flesh are all cancelled.

For my Son went there and faced everything we have ever done in our flesh and has dealt with it all. It’s all cancelled and removed. There is no legal right to it. Even in our covenant with death. It is over. Where is this coming from? The heart that’s in God where he decided in his own heart to love us with a love that will never fail.
We have many things in our flesh here that challenge us in our faith. Let me say something here
about the flesh. Make a short list. Here’s my flesh. A very common thing is condemning yourself.
Okay. Condemning yourself. Do you do that? Do you condemn yourself even a little bit? Are you
finding fault with yourself all the time? Are you all the time finding fault with yourself? The way
you live. The way you think about things. Are you all the time apologizing? Are you all the time
saying I’m not what I should be. I’m not what I should be. Is condemnation a common part of
your mental thought processes? Probably you know that is a condition of our minds and our
hearts.

Another thing. We are afraid. It’s a very common thing. Fear. Anxiety. Worry. Even when things
are good, we start to worry about how they are going to be bad. We only got one more day and
it will be a disaster! I worry about things. Not that they are good now. They’re great. I worry in
life. We are afraid. We have anxiety and fear. That’s my flesh. This is my flesh. Insecurity.
Holding back. No risk. Afraid of falling. Afraid of failing. Afraid of people. There are so many
things that people are afraid of and we live in our flesh and we say, God, my life. What do you
have to say to me? God says I sent the Holy Spirit so you would be led by the Spirit. Let’s read
it. Chapter 8:12.

You don’t let the flesh control your life. You do not. Turn to your neighbor and tell them. You do
not allow your flesh to run your life. Go ahead. Do not have the flesh in control of your life. Do
not have the flesh turn you away from the life that God has for you to live. Okay.
Two more verses. vs. 13. Let’s put here a big word, “mortify.” Now, this is the filling under the
category of the filling of the Spirit. The Spirit fills us and leads us. He leads us to mortify the
deeds of the flesh, the mind of the flesh. I condemn myself. I say I’m not living in condemnation.
I’m not living in condemnation. I’m rejoicing in God. I’m walking by faith. The Bible says rejoice
always. That’s the way I want to live. Always thankful. Always thankful. Mortify my flesh means
actually killing it and it’s like two things. Like a piston and an engine. There’s the down
movement and then the up movement and it’s like one movement. It’s like one thing but two
parts.

There’s mortify and then there’s the victory. There’s mortifying and then the praise. There’s – I
condemn myself. No, I’m not condemned. I’m not condemned. I believe in God. You see that?
It’s the same. You’re in the flesh maybe running after a better career, a better job. I’m consumed
with my career. I want a better job. I want a better life. Maybe I will have that one day but I’m not
going to be a better to my flesh that says I need self-importance. I need success. I need to really
show people who I am and so on. I go none of that. Mortify that. I’m victorious and I’m carefree
about my career.

I have a great story about that. Let me share it with you. Years ago in Finland in the best
premier music school in the country, Sibelius Academy, there were the cream of the crop young
people who played musical instruments when they were four years old and six and twelve,
sixteen and so on. They go to this school. They are the best musicians. I mean they are on the
road. They are the best. So, revival broke out in the music school when we were living there,
and about 30 of these top musicians got saved. (He’s naming names). A number of different people. They came to our meetings. We had like five cellos. We had violinists. We had like a,
you know, they could do, you know, really classical music.

Anyway, the strangest thing about them was music wasn’t first. Music wasn’t first in their lives. It
was and even there were conflicts with professors cause the professors say listen. I’m teaching
you. You will be the best. I’m working with you. But you got to be totally dedicated to music.
Music is number one in your life. Guess what they were thinking? No, God is number one. God
is number one. That’s what they wanted. They were in our church learning and growing. And
they went to Bible school in some cases. Some became pastors and missionaries.

So, Aalu, first violinist in the Helsinki orchestra. And Aalu, I’m sorry if I got this wrong. I think I got
it right. But she’s amazing. You are amazing. She had it in her heart to go to India as a
missionary, so she took her valuable violin cause these things are very valuable instruments and
she left it at home, and she got a cheaper one and went to India as a missionary. She left her
job. You don’t leave your job. Just like Lenin over here. Lenin, just give a wave. He had a job in
India that people would die for but he left it to be a disciple and go to Bible school and come
here. It’s amazing, you know.

So, what I want to say is Aalu left her first position violinist in the orchestra, comes back some
years later and very relaxed. If I get a job, I get a job. And she gets her job back. And the other
violinists are saying that’s amazing. You’re not worried about it. You’re not nervous about it.
You’re not driving for it. You’re not striving for it. And she just said God did that. What a way to
live.

The piston in your life, the thing that you are going to deny or mortify is coupled with the Spirit of
victory and filling and you’re satisfied. I got God. Yeah, what about your career? Well, that’s fine.
I got a job. I got a thing to do and I do it very well, but that’s not my life. I found Jesus Christ and
this is from the heart of the Father that is put in us and we have found a new way of living.
Notice the text here, vs. 13. Can I say something about that? Go ahead. Feed our flesh. Go
ahead. Feed your flesh. You will die. You’ll be guilty. You’ll be afraid. You’ll be insecure. You’ll be
empty. You’ll be lonely. Feed your flesh. Haven’t you learned that yet that you will die? Your flesh
is not your friend. Your flesh needs to be mortified. You need to deal with that and say no. The
same power, you say no. you say no and the Spirit says amen. You are free. You are a child of
God. You are free. This is in the heart of God. This is what Jesus does for us and it’s written
here. Let’s read it.

vs. 14. This is where we will end. Okay. What does that mean? Aalu had her violin but she was
led by the Spirit of God to not make that violin her God. She was led by the Spirit of God. I’m
sure you have stories where you were led by the Spirit of God. Knock it off. Stop it. Mortify the
works of the flesh. Don’t live by them. That’s not the planting.

If you let your flesh plant your life, it might be hard to move that forest and that might be your
life. And you lie down in that sorrow. You lie down in that bondage. That’s not God. God has
something else for us but we must be led by the Spirit of God in how we think and what is
important to us and the Father will always say, he will always say I am your delight. At my right
hand are pleasures forevermore. I will satisfy you deeply. And Jesus comes into the world and
he tells us that. He says my Father sent me. My Father is the answer. The Father sends the
Holy Spirit into your heart and teaches you these things. And you say, oh, yeah, I found it.
Narrow is the way and few there be that find it. But when you find it, you actually find it and the
Spirit leads you so you know it. You have found it and you know it in your heart.

So, the flesh will be there again. There will always be – it will be there again and say, hey, hey,
hey! Pay attention to me. I am in charge. I go, I got to check that with the Holy Spirit. I want to
check that with what the Word says. I want to check that with my brothers and sisters because I
don’t believe you. I don’t believe you. I’m not accepting it. I deny. I avoid. I ignore you. I’m not,

I’m not in that. I’m like walking in a different – I want this in my heart what Jesus says to me.
Okay. So, we read vs. 14 one more time. Now, I want to say, I always think of this geographically that
God leads me down Oak Ave instead of Maple Drive, you know. The Spirit leads me. I walk over
to that way instead of over that way. But I don’t believe that that – I believe it’s more what I am
saying this way. The Lord leads you about how you think about your violin, how you think about
your children. The Lord leads you in how you think about your church.

The Lord leads you in how you think about pornography. I mean, are you serious about it or not? The Spirit leads you
and says knock it off. The piston is this way that I mortify and I live with God by faith and I’m
filled with the Spirit and I say the Spirit hates that flesh. And it’s not controlling my life by God’s
grace. Not perfect. We’re not perfect but we are led by the Spirit of God. Isn’t that amazing?
What other examples would there be? I don’t know. I guess there could be general insecurities,
fears of different kinds. Fear of people. I’m afraid of people. I’m not going to church because I’m
afraid of people. I’m afraid. Well, you got to be led by the Spirit in how you think about this.
Cause the heart of the Father is not for us to be controlled by people.

The fear of man is a snare. You can’t fear people. Jesus comes into the world and he’s not afraid of people. Like he
is so fresh. He’s so refreshing. He’s in the presence of people and he has a ministry. He
ministers to people. He is led by the Spirit. You and I led by the Spirit means that our life will be
changed. We will be living a different way for another reason.

We were at the Latino church in Dundalk this afternoon, and I asked a young lady what
happened. How did you get saved? And she told me what happened. What is a characteristic of
your changed life since you got saved? She said when I got saved, I sensed immediately joy
and I sensed purpose. Like I’m living for a reason. What happened? She was led. The Spirit led
her in those thoughts. You are valuable. You have a divine purpose. I give you my joy that your
joy will be full. You are led by the Spirit of God.

Okay. Whenever you condemn yourself just say this is not the Holy Spirit. This is not the Holy
Spirit. When you feel defeated and discouraged to the nth degree, lonely and the whole thing
maybe. Really down. Just say, hey. I know this is not the Holy Spirit. This is not God’s mind.
God’s mind. No. I’m down and I understand that happens, but my flesh is not in charge of my
life, right? But we walk by faith and so we live a different way. Okay. Amen. Would you pray with
me.

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