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In Paul letters he shows us people in three categories:

He talks about the Natural man.

He talks about the Carnal man, or Fleshly man.

He talks about the Spirit-led man.

Often the most miserable people I come across, are fleshly/carnal believers.

If you are going to follow Christ go all the way.

There are 3 forces that constantly wage war against us.

John calls them: the World, the Flesh, and the Devil.

The most destructive is our own flesh.

What does the term “Flesh” mean?

“Flesh” is human intellect, human will, and human emotion, acting independently of God.

The Spirit gives life but the flesh counts for nothing.

True Christian worship is doing what God wants.

Christ broke the power of sin over you.

In Christ you’re not the same person you used to be.

Study is meaningless without a solid foundation.

The entire Bible is a text for the study of the Holy Spirit.

Paul knew he was not walking alone, he was being led, he was being empowered, by the Holy Spirit.

1. He is a Person, Not an It.

2. He is the Holy Spirit.

3. He is Spirit.

4. The Holy Spirit is God’s Agent.

When God wants to act, he acts through the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit empowers.

A series on the Holy Spirit and the Spirit Filled life.

We have been passed from condemnation into acceptance.

- By virtue of the blood of the lamb He passes over our past sins.

- He empowers us to live differently, righteously and holy lives.

He gives you the lamb within to empower you.

It’s impossible to live the Christian life apart from the Holy Spirit.

Heaps of people try to live in their own abilities:

1. On the basis of their mental power.

2. On the basis of their will power.

3. On the basis of their emotions and feelings.

All of those are deficient.

Today lets note these 2 things:

1. Awareness.

That you can’t live the Christian life by doing the best with your flesh.

2. Begin to pray now.

That in these coming weeks God will encounter all of us.

· We are often tempted to doubt God’s promises because of appearances.

· Using the twin lenses of unbelief and fear, rather than the lenses of God’s character and God’s promises, will distort our view of life.

· Hope and courage in this world rests on discernment.

The ability to look behind appearances and see God at work.

1. Paul stood before Felix.

Paul was free from the power of sin. Felix was a slave to sin despite his throne.

2. Paul stood before Festus.

God often allows evil to serve his purposes.

3. Paul stood before Agrippa.

Unbelief doesn’t defeat God’s purpose.

When unbelief rejects the gospel, it isn’t the gospel that’s deficient,

it’s unbelief that’s deficient.

Paul wasn’t on trial before kings.

The kings were on trial before God.

The story we choose to believe determines our destiny.

If it’s true it will lead us to God.

When storytelling goes bad in culture the result is decadence.

God sent Paul to Jerusalem one more time.

God’s story describes the difficulties of life and how God in the midst works tirelessly to overcome.

You are called by God to join Him in the task of telling His story.

Every story is compelling when you talk like a human being, when you talk like yourself.

Our personal stories are often a most powerful and persuasive witness.

Telling God’s story will not always be easy.

We can rest in the knowledge we are telling the most powerful story the human heart can ever hear.

Each of you has a unique and wonderful story to tell.

Take the time to recall God’s goodness and faithfulness to you.

1. Having Confidence in God’s Grace will Birth Courage in following God’s Will.

2. Courage is the Conviction that God’s Grace Enables us to Boldly face Difficulties.

3. God’s will is to be Sought and Embraced, not Feared and Resisted.

4. God’s kingdom Advances through Sacrifice.

5. Challenges to courage may come from People who Love us.

6. We add our own Agendas, Emotions, Desires to God’s revelations.

7. Resisting our Jerusalems leads to being spiritually Hearing Impaired and Near-sighted.

8. Friends calling the Apostle Paul away from God’s will, encourages us to ask ourselves some Serious Questions.

9. Shielding friends from Hardship may end up shielding them from Growth.

10. We may miss God’s Intent when we refuse God’s Itinerary.

11. God’s wisdom may not appear Immediately.

But it will come into Focus over Time and be counter-culture.

12. We don’t know enough about God’s Blessings to Secure them on our own.

That’s why courage needs to be grounded in Grace, not Knowledge of the future.

· Reflecting on God’s Grace affirms that He often does His Best work in the Least Likely places.

· There is No One nor any Situation beyond the saving Power of God’s Grace.

· When we say Goodbye the thing we Leave behind is our Influence.

· He can Keep you wherever He Leads You.

· Serving God requires Sustaining Grace.

· Serving one another is only Sustained by proactive Love and Grace.

· There is no Resistance that is beyond the Sanctifying power of God’s Grace.

· We are set apart for God’s Blessing and Future.

· We can Finish Well due to God’s Grace.

· There is a connection between separation from the world as Jesus followers, and the spread of faith in Jesus.

· As God’s people separate themselves from sin, sinners separate themselves from unbelief.

· Separation is the exclusive love for God that makes all competing loves unacceptable.

· “Love God, and do as you please.” (Augustine).

· Love observes boundaries.

· “Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity…”

· Doctrine is not the enemy of devotion.

It’s the backbone, the skeleton of truth, meant to be clothed with a holy life.

· All sins are attempts to fill voids.

· We must make clean breaks with sin, not gradual ones.

Growth in grace is gradual, but rejection of sin must be surgical.

· Those who have most helped the world, have been those who have most contradicted it.