From Flesh to Spirit

Open your Bibles to First Corinthians. First Corinthians, chapter

two. It's good to see you all night. Happy hump day. All right,

almost there. I say, almost there. I can't believe it's almost

Christmas, man. This year we say that all the time, don't we?

I can't believe it's already, but I never would have believed it

when I was Noah's age. But now that I'm my age, I'm like these.

The time just flies. Oh, my soul. So if you're younger, take

advantage of it. Amen. Live. First Corinthians, chapter two. Are

you there? All right, I'm going to read verse one through five.

The Bible says, and I, brethren, when I came to you, came

not with excellency of speech or. Or of wisdom, declaring unto

you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything

among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with

you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech

and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but

in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that your faith should

not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Paul's

desire for these believers was that their faith should not stand

in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God that was his desire.

If you're familiar with the letters to the Corinthian church,

you know that they were a very carnal, a very worldly church. The

letter consisted mostly of correction and rebuke. In short,

this church was full of Christians. There was a high percentage

of Christians in this church who stood, walked, and served in

the power of the flesh rather than in the power of God. The demonstration

of the Spirit was not present in their lives. Now, the Corinthian

church was full of problems. And we read that over and over. But

before we throw them completely under the bus, we have

to remember that God allowed these things to be recorded in an

eternal book, not because he wanted us just to have a little story

that we could read and compare ourselves. Oh, man, I'm glad we're

not like them. But the fact of the matter is, God allowed that story,

that letter to be recorded because he knew that in 2025, there

would be churches in America, churches in Texas, churches in Tarrant

county, maybe even churches in Haslett, Texas, comprised of at least

a percentage of the churches comprised of Christians who never

look at their Bibles outside of the church service, who only pray

at mealtime, who do not censor what they watch on television or

the Internet and who can't seem to overcome even the most fundamental

sins of the flesh. There are those people in churches today. And

God allowed this letter to be penned in an eternal book for our

benefit in 2025. God knew that in 2025, there would be churches

not unlike the church at Corinth, whose members live, serve,

and walk in the power of the flesh rather than the power of the

spirit. So I want to preach this evening on faith that stands

in the power of God. Now, some might be saying, well, pastor, I'm

fine. I'm fine. I mean, my life is good. I'm in church tonight.

And I mean, I, you know, I. I'm a Christian. I've been saved

since I was a kid, and I don't really see the need to change anything.

Well, here's the thing. What's the alternative to a life that stands,

a faith that stands in the power of God? What's the alternative?

And so before we look at faith that stands in the power of God,

I like to look at the alternative. I want to take a superficial

look, just a reminder, and if you will, of six dangers to living

in the flesh. And I mean, I'm going to go through these quickly

because the message I want to preach is about living in the power

of the spirit. But I want you to look at the contrast first of

all, before we get to that. So I'm just going to run through these

quickly. So six dangers of living in the flesh. Now, first of

all, the biblical meaning of the flesh. A lot of times, I think

that we preachers will say things, you know, churchy things,

Pastor y things, preachy things. And sometimes people out

there have no idea. What do you mean, the flesh? How else am

I going to live? Of course I'm living in the flesh. Of course I'm

walking in the flesh. How else am I going to do this? So let me

just explain then, what the Bible means when it talks about the

flesh. The flesh often refers to human nature corrupted by sin.

It's the part of us that resists God and desires to please

self. So when the Bible says we're walking in the flesh, do not

walk in the flesh, that's what it's talking about. Don't allow that

part of you that wants to reject God and please yourself. Don't

let that part of you have its way. That's what he means when he

says, don't walk in the flesh, because that's what the flesh means.

So let me give you Six things. Number one. The flesh opposes the

Spirit. The flesh opposes the spirit. Galatians 5, 16, 17 says

this, this I say, then walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill

the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit

and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the

one to the other. So that you cannot do the things that you would

always. Every day the Spirit of God that dwells within us is trying

to keep us from giving in to the things that displease God. And

the fact of the matter is just so many Christians, so many. I don't

know about how many in this room. Maybe none, but statistically

there are a lot of Christians who give in to that all the time.

They don't really stop to consider what God wants throughout

the day. Just lives according to the flesh. So living after the

flesh creates conflict with the Spirit of God, hindering spiritual

growth and obedience. So the flesh opposes the Spirit. Six dangers

of living in the flesh. Number two. The flesh leads to sinful behavior.

The flesh leads to sinful behavior. Galatians 5:19 says, now

Galatians 5:19

the works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these? I mean,

this is all of us. If we just spend one day and say, God, I'm not

going to listen to you. I don't want anything to do with you.

And we won't say that out loud, but our lives will say it.

The works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these? Adultery,

fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft,

hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

envyings, murders, drunkenness, Ra revelings and such

like. I like that. He just covered the bases, doesn't he? And

such like of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you

in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit

the kingdom of God. Does that mean we're not saved? Does that mean

we're going to go to hell? Certainly not. The works of the flesh

lead to moral corruption and separation from God's kingdom. The

Word of God tells us in Romans 14:17, the kingdom of God is not

Romans 14:17

meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in

the Holy Ghost. So if we're going to walk in the flesh, if we're

going to deny the Spirit of God to have a place in us and to

rule over us, we won't have the joy that comes from pleasing

God. We won't have the peace that passes. Understanding that you

only get through walking in the Spirit, and you will not have

a Life of righteousness. But what's the alternative? A life of

unrighteousness. And that's what the word of God says. Number

two. The flesh leads to sinful behavior. Number three. The flesh

cannot please God. Talking about the alternative to walking

in the Spirit, the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8, verse

Romans 8:7

7 and 8. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it

is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be so. Then

they that are in the flesh cannot please God. That's about as

plain as it gets. They that are in the flesh cannot please God.

So a person controlled by fleshly desires is at odds with God

and cannot live in a way pleases him. Cannot. Cannot. Number

four. The flesh leads to death. Romans 8:13. For if you live

Romans 8:13

after the flesh, ye shall die. I mean, you know, I'm just throwing

a paper in the yard. I'm not writing what's in the paper. Amen.

I'm just tossing it in the yard. But if you, through the spirit,

do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Now, life according

to the flesh brings spiritual death. Obviously, God's not going

to kill you. The fact of the matter is, sometimes it would have

been a better thing for us if God had just taken us home. Because

the problem is, when we do something, when we live according

to the flesh, and we say, well, God didn't kill me, it's easier

the second time. Then when he doesn't kill us the second time,

it's even easier the third time. And the fourth time. Can I

get an amen? It's easier. It's easier. The flesh leads to death.

Number five. The flesh prevents spiritual discernment. The

flesh prevents spiritual discernment when we live according

to the flesh. Romans 12:2 says, Be not conformed to this world,

Romans 12:2

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That you may

prove or discern what is that good and acceptable and perfect will

of God. So the opposite of that is, if we. If we are conformed

to the world, then we cannot discern the will of God. And then

number six. The flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41. Watch and pray. We

Matthew 26:41

think we're strong, but if we're not walking in the spirit,

we truly are weak. Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth what no good

thing. Jesus said, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Human strength

alone is insufficient. The weakness of the flesh leaves us vulnerable

to sin and temptation. As a child of God, we have this. We have

this amazing. We have access to this amazing ability called walking

in the Spirit. We have access to it, and every day. I've said it

before. This is our theme verse in the Bridge to recovery,

Galatians 5:16. Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill

Galatians 5:16

the lust of the flesh. And I say this every time. Easy to say,

easy to read, hard to do, but not impossible. If God didn't expect

us or enable us to do it, he wouldn't have put it in there. We

can do it. We can do it. We can walk in the flesh now, if we

tr. I mean, we can walk in the spirit if we truly desire to have

our faith stand in the power. Now, I don't believe that anybody

in here really. I don't think anybody in here says, well, you know

what, Brother Stone? I kind of like living opposed to the Spirit.

I actually like, you know, living a sinful behavior. I actually

kind of like living in a way that doesn't please God. I kind of

like that living that, you know, having that. That flesh take

over so that I can, you know, die spiritually. I. I'm kind of like

that. I. I don't really want spiritual discernment. I like being

weak. I don't think there's anybody in here that would stand

up and say, yeah, I like all those. You wouldn't raise your hand

to that. I believe that everybody in here, I truly do, everybody

in here that's saved wants to do right. And I believe that everybody

really wants to walk in the spirit of God. Everybody wants the

power of God in their life. I. I truly do believe that. I don't

believe there's anybody in here that wants to live according

to the flesh and live the consequences that come as a result

of living in the flesh. So if we truly desire to have our faith

stand in the power of God rather than in the power of the flesh.

Listen to this. Now, we need to attempt to live in such a way

that would render our own efforts useless or vain. So, in other

words, you got to do something that requires God working through

you. We have to live in such a way that it can only be explained

by the power of God or by the Spirit of God. So I want to give

you five things to do in the course of your daily life that can

only be done through the power of the Spirit. Five things that can.

They can only be done through the power of the Spirit, and you

can do them. And so if we want God. Now, I can't exhaust this subject,

but I want to give you five Things that we're supposed to do

anyway. But I want to give you five things that can only be done

through the power of God. All right, here we go. Number one. Reach

souls. You can't do that. You cannot do that. I don't care how

much Bible you read. I don't care how much you pray. I don't.

You can't do it. It doesn't matter how much Bible you memorize.

You cannot reach a soul. Only God can save a soul. Only God can

do that. Acts 18 says, Ye shall receive power after that. The

what? After the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses

unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and the uttermost

part of the earth. Acts 4:33 says, with great power gave the apostles

Acts 4:33

witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was

upon them all. Romans 1:16. Paul said, I am not ashamed of the

Romans 1:16

gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone

that believeth. To the Jew first and also to the Greek, 1st

Corinthians 1:18. For the preaching of the cross is to them

that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the

power of God. Brother, I know that. David. David, the guy who led

me to Christ, David Lofty, he was really kind of an unassuming,

really kind of a timid guy. He was a good Christian. We. Everybody

knew he was a Christian. He was basically the only one who actually

walked the walk and talked the talk on the job site. He was the

only one. And when they told me that David was going to work with

me that day, I was like, oh. Oh, man. I really didn't want David

working with me that day. And it was only through the power of

God that David even turned himself loose and allowed God to

use him. And he looked over at me and he said, man, we had a good

time in church on Sunday. This was on Wednesday night. I mean, Wednesday

morning. And I just, you know, kicked those doors open. What kind

of church you go to? Oh, we go to a Baptist church. Well, what does

a Baptist believe? We believe a man's got to get saved to go to

heaven. Saved? What in the world does that mean? And he just

took. And he just. He just poured his heart out. And it was

the power of God that turned my heart. And at that moment, I said,

I want that. I need that. And I got saved right then, that very

second when I heard the gospel in its truest form. And I wanted

it and I needed it, and I believed it. I Believe God saved

me at that moment. I didn't have. Now, he said he didn't think

that I had. You know, he thought that I had to go to the same

barn he went to and get kicked by the same mule. And so he said,

you got to go to church. You got to come to church, and you got

to come down to the altar and you got to pray a prayer. But you

know what? I didn't have to do that, but I did it because I thought

he knew what I was supposed to do. It wasn't until later that I

realized I got saved in that van. But it was God that saved me.

It was God that saved me. It wasn't that prayer that took that.

When they took me in that other room. It wasn't that prayer

that saved me. It was. It wasn't walking that aisle. It was

God. The power of God saved my soul in that van that day. And David.

God used David. And I don't reckon David ever led anybody else

to the Lord that I know of. When I started going to the church,

I started going to what they called, we call it Soul Winning Outreach

Visitation. Back then it was called calling. How many of y' all

have heard that term in church? Going to go calling, calling.

And so I went calling. But you know what? David never went. I started

going calling with the church, with the pastor, with the guys. David

never went. So there was nothing about David that saved my

soul. It was God used David because David had a burden for me,

I suppose, that day. Reaching souls. If we want to live in such

a way that the power of God uses us, then try to reach souls.

Because that's the only way it's going to happen, is through

the power of God. It's the only way. Number two. Resist Satan.

Resist Satan. Submit. This is the order of the verse. Submit yourselves,

therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

It didn't say, resist the devil and the power of God will come

on you. It said, submit yourselves to God and the devil will

flee. Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will

flee from you. Resist Satan. You are not strong enough. I am not

strong enough in my flesh to resist Satan. I have the Holy Spirit

dwelling in me, and most of the time I am not strong enough to

resist him, even with the Holy Spirit dwelling in me. Why? Because

I don't submit myself to the power of God to make it happen. Submit

yourselves, therefore, to God. If I want to resist, and we have

to. I don't want. I don't want to Live the alternative to. To walking

in the spirit. I don't want to walk in the flesh. I don't want to

live my days in the flesh. I find myself doing that as we all

do, and immediately I'm like, oh, Lord, I'm sorry. Oh, my goodness.

I can't believe I just did that. I can't believe I saw that.

I can't believe I said that. I can't believe I remember that song

and sang it all the way through, right? I was walking in

the flesh. I didn't even try to resist Satan. But sometimes, and

hopefully most times when I recognize it, I have to just give

myself over to God. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. I can't do this.

Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. The only way you want to

walk in the power of God. Submit yourself to God. Resist the

devil and he will flee from you. Ephesians 6 says, finally, my

brethren, watch this. We know chapter six. Ephesians, chapter six

talks about the armor of God. I love to read about the armor of

God. I love a good sermon on the armor of God. I love a good series

on the armor of God. I love to hear it. And, boy, it strengthens

me and it encourages me. It inspires me to want to pick up those

weapons and put them on and walk out and just, you know, punch

the devil right in the eye, kick him in the shin, just fight

him. Amen. But what comes before that? He says, finally, my

brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the what power of his

might. And then after that, he says, put on the whole armor of God.

But you can't put on the whole armor of God until first you are

strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Only in the power

of the God can you actually put on that armor and go fight the

devil. Only in the power of God. We can't do it in our own strength.

Resist Satan. Reach souls. Number three. You want to stand in

the power of God? You want your faith to stand in the power

of God? Repudiate sin. Reach souls. Resist Satan. Repudiate sin.

Wait a minute now, Brother Stone. I. I kind of like this little

one here that I've reserved for me. Mmm, I kind of like that

one. I mean, God can have all of it, but this one here. I just.

I don't really want him to have this one. We talked about our

house the other day, the house of our body, about being hoarders.

Now, Lord, you can go ahead and have, you know, clean out that

room. Clean out that room. Clean out that room. But this one

here, just, you know, just stay away. This one's. This one's

mine. It's mine. Do we truly, if we want to stand in the power

of God, we got to repudiate sin. Not just a little bit of it.

All of it. All of it. The word of God tells in Romans 12, 9, abhor

that which is evil. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which

is good. 2nd Peter 1:3, according as his divine power hath

given us. Hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life

and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called

us to glory and virtue. According as his divine power hath

given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.

I can abhor evil because God has given me the power to do it.

He's given me that power. But when I choose not to access that

power, I don't repudiate sin. I mean, after all, feels good. Feels

good. Feels good. For a little while, anyway. There is pleasure

in sin for a season. Repudiate sin. If we want to walk in the power

of God, if we want our faith to stand in the power of God and

the power of the Spirit, if we want to have the demonstration of

the power of the Spirit upon us. Repudiate sin, man. Just that

word. Be holy from holy. That's still in the Bible. A holy

life. Come out from among them. Be separate, saith the Lord.

Touch not the unclean thing, Christians. That's still in the Bible.

Amen. We ought to repudiate sin. Live. We were just talking.

Who was I just talking to? Brother Vines. He said he grew up

Pentecostal. How many of you grew up Pentecostal? There's probably

more than one. There's two. Anybody else? You know what I called

when I first got saved and I started going to that Independent

Baptist church? We were driving down the road to go to the

pizza place the first Sunday, my first Sunday that I went to that

church. And service was over. And we were going to the pizza place,

and I was sitting in the front seat, and I saw a bunch of ladies

get out of a van with dresses plumbed down to their ankles, sleeves

all the way down to their wrists, hairs up in buns. Couple

of them had long. I said, what in the world? And David, the guy

who led me to the Lord, he said, oh, them's holy rollers. Y'

all heard them called holy rollers, haven't you? Holy rollers.

That's what he called them. Holy rollers. Would of God, People

would call me a Holy Roller, not because of the way I dress, but

because of the way I live. Amen. Holy. Holy. But the only way

that's going to happen is if we repudiate sin. It's not your embroidered

hair. It's not putting up in the bun. It's not the way you dress.

But I can tell you what people will say, boy, they're not holy by

the way you dress. Repudiate sin. Resist Satan. Reach souls. And

then number four, rejoice in sorrow. Rejoice in sorrow. Can you

do that in the flesh? I mean, if we leave God out of the equation,

none of us in here are going to rejoice in our sorrow. None of

us will. We'll get angry at God, mad at God, mad at the world.

You know, it's a sad thing, and I've seen it, and I hope. I don't.

I don't. I don't mean to bring open up any wounds. I really don't

mean to do this, but I'm going to say it, because it's been my experience

that husbands and wives, typically in their younger years,

if they lose a child, they don't know how to reconnect with

each other outside of the Lord, if they don't have the Lord,

if they don't have a strong relationship with God. That I've

seen husbands and wives not make it, marriages fall apart because

of sorrow that they couldn't get past. It's a sad thing. And then,

on the other hand, I have seen couples go through the deepest valleys

together and come out on top because they did have a strong relationship

with God, because they did trust in God. They asked for the

power of God to keep them through those sorrows, and they even

rejoiced in them because they realized that God was going to use

it for their good and his glory. Second Corinthians 12 says,

he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength

is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather

glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon

me. Rejoicing in sorrows. It can only be done by the power of

God. It can only be done when your faith is standing in the power

of God. Rejoicing in sorrows. Many of you in here have faced some

tremendous sorrows, and you're still here. I praise God for you.

There are some of you that may yet face some sorrows, and you're

not going to see any way through it. You're going to wonder

how in the world. Could this be of God? How can God allow this

to happen? I don't have an answer for that. The only thing that

I can say is God is always good. Even when we don't see it or

feel it, he's always good. And when you do go through that dark,

dark time, please trust God. Just trust him. Continue to love

him and call out on Him. Rejoice in sorrows, repudiate sin,

resist Satan, reach souls. And then finally, you can only do this

in the power of God as well. Every time you feel like throwing

in the towel, anytime you feel like just giving up. Reenlist for

service. Reenlist for service. What in the world are you doing?

What are you doing? Listen to what? Second Timothy. Listen what

Paul said to Timothy. He said, for God hath not given us a spirit

of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be not

thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me

as prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the

gospel according to the power of God. Sign up for affliction. Sign

up for persecution. Reenlist for persecution. Reenlist to be hated

by the world. Reenlist to go on for the crucified one. Amen. It

takes the power of God to continue on when the rest of the

world can't stand you. And brother, we are living in a day where

you are less and less liked by the world. If you stand on this book

and. And if you raise the banner of Jesus Christ, you are less

and less liked by the world. But you know what? When they cuss

you out at work, when they call you deacon, when they call you

preacher, when they call you, whatever, reenlist. Just reenlist

for service. Just keep on going for the Lord. Amen. First Corinthians

15. What does he say? This is one of my. In fact, when I sign,

if anyone asks me to sign a Bible or if I'm signing something,

I always put this verse underneath it. Therefore, my beloved

brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the

work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not

in vain in the Lord. 1st Peter 1:5. We are kept by the power of

God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in

the last time. Continue. Continue. Just reenlist for service.

We are kept, all of us are kept by the what? By the power of

God. By the power of God. Live your life in such a way that it can

only be explained as being done, done by or through the power

of God and the only way. Listen, these are the things you

reach souls. No one's going to brag on you. Boy, you should have

seen that Mark Vines. You should have seen him. Boy, he was

really at work out there, witnessing to that guy. He waxed

eloquent. Boy, I tell you, you should have heard his presentation.

Don't let anybody ever say that of us. Don't let anybody ever

brag on. Boy, he is a soul winner. I mean, that's fine if you

want to say, you know, he's zealous, but it's God who saves souls.

It's the power of God that saves souls. Live your way in such

a way. Live your life in such a way. Reach souls. Resist Satan.

Every one of us has to do that every day. Every day you're going

to get up in the morning and have to resist him. You may have

to resist him before you get home. Repudiate sin. I mean, just

hate it. Just hate it. You know, I got saved when I was 20,

and there was a whole lot of. There was a. There's a truckload

of baggage and there were a lot of habits. And I'm not talking

about just. I'm not talking about just the other, you know, the

bad stuff, the drugs. Now, I'm not talking about just that. I'm

about talking. Talking about just daily habits that went with

living as a lost person. And I can tell you this, that while I didn't

give all of them up immediately, I tried. And especially

cussing was probably one of the hardest ones for me to give up.

And every time I did, I just have to slap my mouth. But there

were other things, and I can't understand it. I honestly, I cannot

understand. I can't explain it to you. All I know is that when I

got saved, the Holy Spirit of God gave me just a hatred, a hatred

for the things I used to do, for the things I used to really like

and love and enjoy doing. The Holy Spirit of God just changed it.

Repudiates. And I didn't fight against that. There was a couple

of things I fought against, but most of it. And eventually. Eventually,

right. Repudiate sin, rejoice in sorrows. That's the hard one.

But I'm begging you to do it. When hard times come, rejoice in

sorrows. And then reenlist for service. Five ways that your faith

can stand in the power of God. Amen. The alternative is walking

in the flesh. And nobody in here is going to raise their hand

said, let that be me. I don't believe that. Let's all stand together.

We'll have an invitation. If the spirit of God spoke to your heart

tonight. Now, I know I'm preaching to Christians. I know Wednesday

night is typically that, but I certainly don't want to take that

for granted. You may be in here tonight and you're not 100%

sure that Jesus is your savior and that if you died, you'd go to

heaven. You're not 100% sure if that's you. If you're not 100%

certain that you're going to heaven when you die. We've got folks

down here who want to take the Bible and show you how you can know,

if you're interested in knowing. If you're concerned about

your eternal state, we can show you tonight if you're willing

to come. For the rest of us who know that we're going to heaven,

why don't we determine tonight that we're going to live a life that

is demonstrated by the power of the Spirit, the power of God.

Father, tonight I pray that you would help us to take this message

and apply it to our own hearts, to our lives, and for our

good and for your glory. Please have your way in our heart

and in this invitation. In Jesus name I pray.