Conquering Money | Test Drive the Promises Series | Pastor Dwain Wolfe

Father, we thank you for your word today. We thank you that you

are already here visiting us with grace, with insight, with wisdom from above,

and we welcome you to continue in Jesus' name. And everybody said,

ef heeas ins two one through five. As for you, you were dead

in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the

ways of this world. Everybody say, ways of this world, And the

ruler of the Kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work

in those who are disobedient, not on those, but in those. All

of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our

flesh. Said together, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires

and its thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich

in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in

transgressions. For it is by grace we have been saved. So we got

these passions and desires. We've got these cravings and those used to rule our

life. That we still have appetites, cravings and desires, but they don't

rule our life anymore. That's the hope of the power of the Gospel,

and the hope of the power of the endwelling Holy Spirit within us, not

only convicting us of righteousness, but empowering us to overcome. Right, Yeah,

come on on preaching good for Sean two sixteen. For all that is

in the world. So here's the topic of the world again. All that

is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the

eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is

of the world. So this insatiable, craving, desire, yearning, not

the common appetites that we have, not the appetites He gave us, but

turbocharged appetites, the demand to be fed, demand for self pleasure, and

partner with the demonic realm in how they are fulfilled. That's not of God,

it's not of our Father. It's of the world's system. So we

reject it. Here's the amplified for all that's in the world. The lust

and sensual craving of the flesh, and the lust and longing of the eyes,

and the boastful pride of life. These do not come from the Father,

from the world. Last James four. I want to go to James

four. James four, four through seven. This is kind of heavy.

Most all of James is heavy, right, most all of it is like

punching you in the nose. All the way through. James is just right.

Hook uppercut left hook James four, four through seven. You adulterous people.

He starts with you, adulterous people. Don't you know that friendship with

the world means warfare with God. Friendship with the world means enmity with God.

So here's our third time talking about the world system. The desires of

the world. Now, these aren't outside of you. Are literally things that

we need to put to death all the time. The water of baptism is

about burying and putting to dead the former life. You can't counsel it out,

you can't talk it out. You got to put it to death.

And it's an everyday it's literally a moment by moment thing like this afternoon you're

gonna have to do it again, and this evening you're gonna have to do

it again, and tomorrow morning you're gonna have to do it again. At

lunchtime, you might have to do it. Because God gave us appetites,

and those appetites ruled us. But by the Spirit of God, now we've

been given the spirit of love, power and self control. We've been given

the spirit of love, power and self control. So even at lunchtime,

I might have to control myself, because when I came to the Lord,

he didn't remove my appetites. He just gave me the ability to regulate them.

He gave me the ability to feed them under the promises of the Word

of God, to feed them according to the Word of God. They still

get fed, but they're not fed in a partnership with the demonic realm.

I've put that realm of satisfaction to death in the waters of baptism, in

the burial service of Baptism. Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend

of the world becomes an enemy of God. Now, I think that James

gave us that in a big splash, right, that's like a big broad

brush splash. Anyone that chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an

enemy of God. But I think that it can be more categorically, and

that most of the time it's understood and practically it's lived out more categorically than

it is. Oh, I've got this going on in my life. I'm

no longer a friend of God. I think a bunch of us, me

included. I think a bunch of us that are friends of God, worshiping

God, loving God, passionate for God, broken by God, want more

of God. Also struggle at times with having methodologies and processes in our life

that actually cause God to be our enemy in that category. And that's part

of the work of sanctification. Is the washing of the Word, is that

He embraces us recovered by the righteousness of Jesus, not our own. I'm

not the righteous one. I guarantee, I'm not the righteous one. He's

the righteous one. He covers me with his righteousness. And then he opens

the robe and scoops out the crowd every so often as the robe of righteousness

is covering over my cride, bringing me into acceptance with Father, where I

can still have communion with Father and be washed by the washing of the Word.

Thank the Lord for the washing of the Word. Anybody ever get washed?

I was getting washed this morning. I was getting washed by the washing

of the Word this morning. So do you think for no reason? The

scripture says that he jealously longs for the spirit that he's calls to dwell in

us, but he gives more grace. That's why Scripture says God opposes the

proud, but shows favor to the humble. So submit yourselves therefore to God

resists the devil. Oh, it's not just you. It's not just you.

It's not like you've got this. It's not like you're purposing to destroy

yourself. It's not just you. Sometimes we're actually deceived. Sometimes we're actually

being moved by things outside of us our own mindset. Things are moving us

and we don't even know we're moved, but then we act out in ways

that it poses God. Therefore it's seen as pride, and he has to

resist us. He can't dispense grace when we're partnering with the world's system or

the way the world thinks. As you know, you saw him by the

video. The cute, precious thing that I started smooching forty two years ago

is in Mexico, and so I had really good intentions. But the kitchen

looks like a bomb went off, and I sent her a video of the

kitchen last night. I thought she'd really like to see that. So I

swept every count top, you know, with the camera, and I'm like

a bomb went off in the kitchen. And she did not say I'll have

it cleaned up when I get home. She didn't say I'll take care of

you on Thursday. She said, you've got till Wednesday. I am married

to one tough nut, and so all right, thank you, love.

But I told her I got other bad news. She said, what's that.

I said, I've gained weight. So I wanted to talk to you

this morning about three appetites, the eating appetite, the sex appetite, the

prosperity appetite. So all of these appetites, like we can be moved upon

by the unclean realm, and some times it's due to I told her,

its loneliness. Why I have one piece of chicken when you can have two.

The satisfaction lasts longer. And then she buys these dark chocolate chips and

I know exactly where they're sitting on the pantry. And then we never eat

ice cream, but there was a carton in the freezer. We never eat

it, so it starts getting old. But I figured I could scoop past

the old stuff and find something good. She wasn't there. The regulator was

gone. Glory to God. Here's the crazy thing with these appetites. God

gives us these appetites, and the enemy knows that an appetite is a vulnerability.

An appetite is a vulnerability. And even when you drive out or confront

the unclean realm, the appetite doesn't go away. So it's a vulnerability.

At five o'clock again, it's a vulnerability. I don't know when you have

dinner, but it's around five at my house because if we eat later,

we get fatter, So we got to eat soon, right, So I

don't know, come on, and so then you know there's going to be

another meal, and another meal creates a and don't take me to those all

you can eat buffet things. Don't take me there because I will blimp right

up. It won't be good, right because I need help with self control,

right. And so I'm just saying that the enemy knows we've got these

vulnerabilities. And sometimes our vulnerabilities are fed by loneliness, reject depression, sorrow,

self loathing, lack of fulfillment, the need to feel good. I

mean, there's things that partner with these appetites. With regard to the enemy

impressing himself upon her appetites to where all at once, now the appetite is

getting more attention than the lord. And we've lifted the appetite above the lord.

And now when the appetite is telling what the lord what to do instead

of the Lord, remember that it's he's called lord because he's supposed to be

in charge. But if your appetites in charge instead of the Lord's in charge,

now all at once we have an idol. And what I really want

to talk about was money, because the money appetite. A lot of times

we don't realize this, We don't realize that we literally have a god given

appetite to prosper. Do you have a God given appetite to be fruitful?

It's one of the first commandments in the garden, be fruitful, be fruitful.

God hired hardwired you to prosper, to be fruitful, to increase,

to build, to plant, to grow. God hired hardwired you with that

appetite. But that appetite also creates a vulnerability because the enemy says, shouldn't

you partner with me? Shouldn't you partner with a little cheating? Shouldn't you

partner with a little exaggeration. Shouldn't you partner with a little lying? Shouldn't

you partner with a little bit of theft? Shouldn't you partner? I mean,

you really don't. They aren't even there collecting. We'll just walk on

through. Shouldn't you just walk on through? There's always, continually every day,

even if you think you're delivered of the unclean realm, there are every

day opportunities for you to partner with the unclean realm in a new, fresh,

wonderful way. I didn't mean wonderful, That was facetious. But what

we have to remember is that when we partner with the unclean realm concerning money,

now we're circumventing the grace. So we might have grace for healing,

we might have grace for health, we might have grace for salvation, we

might have grace for love, we might have grace for kindness, we might

have grace for other stuff. But if our partnership with the methods of the

world concerning money are lifted up in that appetite and the fulfillment of that appetite,

now God has to resist us. So other things could be pretty good.

But God's resisting us in the money realm because our thinking is wrong,

our partnerships are wrong. We're engaging in worldly methodology, which he sees as

pride instead of humility. And so the grace from God, not the grace

from the sinners, not the grace from other people, maybe not the grace

in this and that, the grace from God for you to increase stops flowing.

And the Bible calls it the love of money. The Bible calls it

the love of mammon. The Bible calls it the exalting of Mammon, trusting

in Mammon instead of trusting in God. We used to trust in God.

It was on our money. But now that every store is opened on the

Sabbath or on Sunday, we know we really don't trust in God anymore as

a nation, because we've elevated our prosperity above sanctifying his name. But we

can do this ourselves. We can do this personally. We can do this

in our own experience, where we elevate making money or spring above what it

is to serve him, lift him up, make his name great, and

trust him so that he releases the shalom of increase over our heart and leads

us into prosperity. You, okay, I need to wind this up because

we're going to baptize people and they are going to partner with Holy Spirit to

put the unclean realm to death in the waters of baptism. Amen. Four

steps in two minutes. If you're getting baptized, I'm going to dismiss you

to begin to prepare. And then are we coming right up to the front?

Are we going around the building? We're walking right up here. Okay,

so let's do that. And you that are dunking, come on up

and get ready. The band, the polease come up and get ready.

Roman chapter six, verse six says that we present ourselves dead to sin.

Everybody say I'm dead to sin. That means when the temptation comes, the

temptation to feed an appetite, an eating appetite, a sexual appetite, a

prosperity appetite, when that temptation comes defeated with an illicit or an unclean method.

You remember something. What do you remember? I'm dead to sin.

I'm dead des sin. Say it with me, I'm dead. Descend number

two. We meditate on his word. Part of the reason that Joshua was

told meditate on my word day and night and never let it depart from you.

Is because your appetites don't go away, and you're attempted to fulfill them

with unclean methods day and night, day and night, moment by moment.

So Joshua one six through a meditate on my word, Meditate on my promises,

day and night, never let them depart from your mind or from your

word. Why because the enemy is right there twenty four to seven to draw

you away, to feed those appetites in an unclean way, which will stop

the grace of God. So we feed on his promises. Number three.

I'll just give you three. Number three. Take every thought captive to the

obedience of Christ. Say it with me. Take every thought, Take every

thought captive? Say it again, Take every thought captive? How many thoughts

do I take captive? What am I taking? These thoughts captive to the

victory of Christ, the promises of Christ, the anointing of Christ, the

enablement of Christ, the thoughts of Christ, the superiority of Christ, the

testimony of Christ over me before the Father. Take how many thoughts captive?

And bring those thoughts in to obedience. When I do that, I'm exercising

the weapons of warfare to put the enemy under my feet. When I do

that, I'm exercising the weapons of my warfare to put the enemy under my

feet. Stay it with me. This morning, Frank and Angelo are going

to lead us out and our baptisms. Come on up, would you please,

we'll just prepare for that. Moms and dads, if you want kids

in here from Nitro or Kingdom kids, as soon as I finish my prayer,

go back and get them and bring them out and come right up to

the front. Moms and dads, bring Nitra kids in and Kingdom kids in.

Say this with me, Holy Spirit, I agree with you that I'm

dead to the old nature. I have no obligation to listen to it.

That natures and buried in the waters of baptism, and I disregard its voice.

I silence the enemy speaking through it. I'm as good as dead to

sin, and sin is dead to me. Holy Spirit. I thank you

that you've filled your word, and you're filling my heart with the promises from

above to satisfy every appetite better than any method Satan can offer. I receive

your promises. I meditate on your word day and night. I never let

anything but your word dominate my heart and mind and holy spirit. I take

every thought captive, I regulate and watch over every thought, and I bring

it into the obedience of the supreme victorious One who's giving me victory and pouring

out his grace upon me. In Jesus' name. Give the Lord a thank offering.