In this sermon, the speaker questions the spirit behind our enthusiasm for worldly things such as electronics, gadgets, and cars. He suggests that we should consider whether these pursuits align with the spirit of God and if they are the best use of our time and energy. The speaker encourages young people to set a standard for themselves and not be swayed by the lies of the serpent. He emphasizes the importance of seeking God's approval and living a righteous life.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, AFPA, 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. God bless you. Well, it's been a good week. You've been a group of good students. God bless you. I was really blessed at how with open hearts you received yesterday's message that I shared. It's one of those truths that young people can easily recoil at. And you just opened your hearts and received it. God bless you for that. I want to thank you for your prayers this week for me. I needed them. And I still need them today. God bless you for your open hearts seeking His face. Your commitment to the Lord and enthusiasm to follow Him. It inspires people like me. And it blessed my heart this week to see that. So, God bless you for all that. I trust as you go home, you'll find the grace to apply to your hearts all the things that you heard this week. I don't know what they were because I wasn't here most of the week. But I trust that you can take them home and apply them. This morning I'd like to answer a question that was brought to me yesterday. The question was, how do you go home and give your heart to your father? Especially if you've not had a good relationship with him. And I would like to just say, I don't know that it makes any difference whether you had a good relationship or not as to how you should do it. It will be a little bit harder to do if you haven't had a good relationship. But I believe we should do the same thing. Even if we didn't have a good relationship. There was a point that I made very lightly yesterday on humility. And I'd like to make it a little bit more plainly to answer this question. In James chapter 4 verse 10 it says, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord. It tells us to humble ourselves. And this becomes a very important ingredient when it comes to giving our hearts to our father. There's other areas as well in preferring one another and esteeming others. And I would have wished I had a little bit more time to go into that yesterday. And I'm going to have to leave that today as well. But we make a move. We make a decision. We make a choice. I'm going to humble myself. It's not going to flutter out of heaven like some rosy feeling. And just sort of spontaneously flow out of my life. I need to make a choice. I need to make a decision. And then I need to go carry that decision out. And I'm going to give you a suggestion of how you might carry that out. And it might vary in each one of your lives. Monday comes or whenever you're going to go home. And you go home. And you arrive at home. And I like you to, if you're one of those that is not living with your parents. And you're in someone else's home or whatever your circumstance is. Your spiritual authority is what I'm really wanting you to be after here. You go home. How is Bible school? Oh, Bible school is a blessing. God spoke to me there. And the next thing I would suggest you do is, Dad, I need to talk to you about some things. If they don't ask you, tell them Bible school is a blessing to me. And I have some things I need to talk about. So you sit down and don't push it off a long time. Do it right away. Sit down with your father and with your mother. If you failed in the past, I'd encourage you to open it up and just spill it all out. And ask their forgiveness. Clear your heart. And then you look back on the decision that you made that I'm going to submit and I'm going to give my heart to my father. And I'm turning my heart. You take that decision and you speak that decision verbally out of your mouth with your tongue. And I'll guarantee you, your heart's going to be pumping. It's not going to be just a few light words that don't mean anything. Because Dad is sitting there and he's listening. And it's fine for you to just cry. Just open your heart. And say, Dad, I'm turning my heart to you. I'm giving you my heart. Ask your father to guide you. Dad, I'm submitting to you. I'm giving you my heart. Would you guide me? Guide me. Please, let me know where I fail. Let me know, Dad, where I fail. I'm choosing to submit under your authority. And I'd like to say one more thing. I could say if. I think I'm going to say when. Your dad fails to do that. Please, don't hold it against him. You might have a dad that is not at all prepared to hear such a thing. Have some mercy on him. Don't hold it over his head. Don't hold it over his head. Be forgiving and patient with your father. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. Humble yourself in the sight of your father. Alright. Again today, I would really desire that you hear my heart. I hope I can convey it. I pray I can. From God's heart. Title of the message this morning is, The Spirit and Message of My Life. The Spirit and Message of My Life. All of us carry a spirit about us. All of our lives are giving a message. And I would like to draw our attention to what spirit are we of. You know, Jesus told his disciples at one point, You don't know what spirit you're of. There are times that we don't realize what spirit we're of. What is the message that is coming out of my life? It's good for us to observe it. Maybe ask our authorities, What is the message that is coming out of my life? And the spirit of our life has a lot to do with the message of our life. The spirit of our life has a lot to do with the message of our life. Therefore, it becomes very important what spirit we are of. I'd like to just bow our heads and pray. Oh, Lord Jesus, we plead with you this morning that you would come by the Holy Spirit and touch our hearts. Fill us, Lord, with your spirit. Lord Jesus, would you let the Holy Spirit descend upon us today, upon me today. Lord, open our eyes. Let us see some new things, some deeper things. Give us grace to be real about our lives. Lord, we want to be genuine. The message coming from our lives, we want it to be your message. And therefore, Lord, we plead that you'd fill us with your spirit. And God, we pray, show us where we're of a wrong spirit. Show us, Lord, where we don't portray a right spirit. Where the message of our life is confusing and isn't right. We plead with you, Lord Jesus, that you would come, have preeminence here, and rule over our lives and this meeting. Lord Jesus, we beg you for grace to walk worthy of you. Lord, the world looks on the church and many point and talk about hypocrites. But, oh God, give us the grace to live lives that look like you, Lord Jesus. By the Spirit that comes out of our lives. Oh Lord Jesus, give us grace. In Jesus' name we pray. Matthew chapter 10. I'd like to read verse 16. There's several illustrations here that we can take out of this one verse. Matthew chapter 10, verse 16. The Spirit and message of my life. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Jesus is speaking to his disciples and he's telling them, disciples, I'm sending you forth into the world to preach the gospel, to be my witness, to be my testimony, and I send you forth as sheep. But as sheep, you're walking in the midst of wolves. I don't know what your thoughts are about those two, but sheep and wolves are very opposite, are they not? A sheep is a defenseless, surrendered, nonviolent creature. In fact, Jesus was called the Lamb of God, was he not? The Lamb of God. Defenseless, surrendered, nonviolent creature. A wolf is exactly the opposite. He'll attack something. He'll devour it and kill it. It's a dangerous species. He's defensive. If you come against the wolf, he'll stand right up against you and charge you and defend himself if he needs to. A lamb just surrenders. Just surrenders. I don't know if you've ever seen a sheep getting sheared. If you haven't and have the opportunity, I'd encourage you to take it. A sheep gets caught and set on its hunches and there it sits and it gets sheared the whole way through. And they just get turned from one side to the other and rolled over until you're done and then they get up and they sort of leave. Can you imagine shearing a wolf? A pretty sorry sight, really. They're very opposite, aren't we? There's a great difference in the spirit of those two, is there not? There's a big difference in the message of those two. When you think about a sheep and a lamb, you immediately think about a spirit and a message from that sheep and from that lamb. When you see a wolf, you also think about the spirit and message of that wolf. And they're very different. What spirit are we of? What is the spirit and the message of my life? And the burden on my heart is that we could set a standard in our youth to have a spirit and message of a lamb, defenseless, surrendered, harmless, non-violent. I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Now a serpent is very good at seeing danger coming. And they're good at slipping away without getting hurt. He says, be wise like that. But be harmless as a dove. Be harmless as a dove. What is the spirit of a dove? Is it not very similar to that of a lamb? What spirit are we of? Now I'd like to go a little bit further on the serpent as well. Here he tells us to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. There is another picture in the Scriptures about a serpent. If you want to, you can turn to Genesis 3. I'm sure you're very familiar with this Scripture. It says, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he, the serpent, said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not truly die. For God knows that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods and no good and evil. And she took and she ate and she gave to her husband and he ate and the whole scenario followed. That was the serpent. He was more subtle than any other creature that God had made. He questioned, Did God say that? Have you ever heard that in our day? Did God say that? Oh, God knows if you would eat thereof, then you'll know a little bit more than you do now. You won't be so innocent and ignorant anymore and He's just trying to keep you ignorant. You won't surely die. And in one sense, He was right. When they ate of that fruit, they didn't just fall over dead like Ananias and Sapphira, did they? But they died spiritually. And the day came that they did die physically. So, there was a partial truth there, wasn't there? But the serpent took it and twisted it. And we'd like to look at that today. Taking something and twisting it. Questioning God. What is the spirit and message of my life? The serpent is deceptive. Did he say the truth? No. He didn't say the truth. But he took the truth and twisted it and therefore, he can get us to think it's truth when it's really not truth. But rather, heresy. Did the reward that the serpent offered turn out to be a blessing? If you eat of this fruit, you're going to get to be like God. You're going to get to be like God. You're going to know what good and evil is. Doesn't that sound wonderful? He has it all painted up looking real good. But that reward turned out to be a curse. That reward turned out to be a curse. One thing you notice about serpents is they do very well at hiding. They do very well at blending in. They like to sit in a corner somewhere where people don't notice them. They like to blend in to their surroundings and just sort of be there. In fact, people can walk right past them and not know that they're there. I don't know if you've had that happen or not. I have. And you're walking and all of a sudden, Whoa! Whoa! What's that? And there's a serpent. And I wonder how many times in our spiritual lives, we walk past a serpent that is lurking there, quietly, taking the Scripture and taking the truth and twisting it. Yea, hath God said? Is it really that bad? Show me that in the Bible. Do you ever hear statements like that? Whatever happened to the heart that wants to be pure, that wants to be holy, that wants to be as godly as I can possibly be for my Lord that gave His life on the cross for me? I was His to start with. And then I rebelled against Him. And He has purchased me back. And now I want to just hold Him at arm's length and well, I don't want to be any more godly than I have to. It's a serpent lurking under the bushes, twisting the truth, trying to say things. And that serpent lurking there, given the right opportunity, will sink its fangs into us and inject spiritual poison and cause us to go a wrong way and to die. And His mission is accomplished. And straightway, this is in Mark chapter 1 verse 10, and straightway coming up out of the water, He, Jesus, saw the heavens open and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him. And there came a voice from heaven saying, Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The Spirit descending like a dove upon Jesus. And today I would like to take a look at what spirit are we of? Am I listening to the lies and the deceptions of the serpent that is tugged away, where he's hard to see, where most of us don't notice him, and yet he's there twisting the Scriptures? Or am I living under an open heaven with the Spirit of God descending upon our lives in the form of a dove and God's blessing on our lives? This is my beloved Child in whom I am well pleased. What spirit am I of? What is the spirit and the message of my life? And young people, every last one of us here today have a message coming out of our lives. Which one is it? Which one is it? Is it the blessing of God descending from heaven like a dove upon our hearts in the form of the Holy Spirit? Or is it a lying, twisting serpent that is trying to comfort our hearts that you're okay and it doesn't matter and they have no business telling you these kind of things? You don't have to be a holy roller. I don't know that you need to roll, but God says you need to be holy. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord, the Bible says. What spirit are we of? What spirit are we of? You know, a dove is harmless. It's gentle. It's peaceful. It's calm. It's quiet. It's at rest. You know, I put this dove up here to start with on purpose. It's out in the open and it has nothing to hide. But most of you sitting here had no idea I had a serpent up here, did you? And some of you in the back still haven't seen it. I wonder how many in the front row saw the serpent when you sat down. They're shaking their heads in the front row up here. They didn't notice it. One did. He's right here, tucked away underneath. He does not like being put up here for everybody to see. He does not like being there. In fact, he'll throw fits when you get him out in the light and expose him. He'll throw fits. And my dear young person, if you're wanting to throw fits in your heart today as we consider this matter, consider who you're listening to. I beg you, consider who you're listening to. What spirit am I of? What is the spirit and the message of my life? The dove, the Holy Spirit of God, doesn't need to hide. It doesn't need to hide. It's right out in the open. It lives in transparency. This closing over, wanting to be tucked away and not opening my heart, it's of the spirit of the serpent. It's not of the Holy Spirit. In fact, I went through a struggle yesterday even carrying that thing out of Walmart. I do not have an attachment to snakes, I'll be honest with you. I believe when God said there's gonna be enmity between the woman's seed and the serpent, that's what He meant. And I feel that in my spirit. So, this is really not a delightful experience to me to have this thing up here this morning. But, young person, the burden in my heart is that we would get the message what spirit am I of? What spirit am I of? Now, first of all, let's look at love not the world. Love not the world. I'm gonna go to a familiar verse again. 1 John 2, verse 15 and 17, simply says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Love not the world. God is clearly telling us don't love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And John, he makes it so clear, we don't have to wonder where it's at. He says, if we have a love for the world, then the love for the Father in heaven is not in us. We don't even need to discuss it. He just makes it matter of fact. That's the way it is. For 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 of the world. And all that lust is gonna pass away. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. He that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Now I'd like to read James chapter 4, verse 4. Starts out saying, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. I wonder how many of us in here would like to be the enemy of God? I don't think. Is anybody in here? I trust there's not. That would want to be the enemy of God. But he says here, if we're friends with the world, we can kid ourselves all we want that I don't want to be the enemy of God. We are the enemy of God. If we love the world, if we're friends with the world, we just automatically become the enemy of God. And thus it becomes very important that we stop and look, what spirit am I of? He says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Don't let things of this world even start competing for the spot of Jesus Christ in our hearts. Don't even let them start competing. Much less let one of them get ahead of our love for Jesus Christ. And by the way, and I don't have this in my notes this morning, the Bible says, if we love God, we will keep His commandments. And he says that over and over. Could have a whole message just on that. Do we love Jesus? Do we love Jesus? Is the spirit and message of my life portraying that I love Jesus? And young person, if you could set this standard in your youth and follow it the rest of your life and not listen to those twisted lies from the serpent, you will come out right. You will come out right. Now, I'd like to just bring up a few things that come up in young people. A lot of enthusiasm and excitement about life. And it's been interesting to me how young men can with great enthusiasm discuss all kinds of cars. They know all the models, got it all down, know exactly which year which one was, what motor is in it, what extra boosters you can put on them, which one has which defects and which one is the one that's the best one of the year and on and on you can go. Trucks the same way. Lots of fun talking about four wheelers. You know, here we go, lots of power, which one will go how fast and how high you can jump with it and what I did with it. And all this excitement. My friend, I'd like you to ask the question, what is the spirit and the message of such enthusiasm? My friend, where will it take us? Where will it take us? Computers are the same way. There are some people who can hardly talk anything about but computers. Are we worshipping the dumb thing or what? And I have a computer, but where is my love? Where is my affection? Computer games. There I sit, playing avoid the sheriff or something like that on a computer game. Those are real games. Trying to evade the sheriff. What spirit is it of? Oh, it's just a game. Wonderful suggestion from the serpent, isn't it? Wonderful suggestion from the serpent. And we swallow it. What spirit is it of? Is it something that heaven could open over, the Holy Spirit could come down upon our lives and God could say, My beloved child in whom I am well pleased. I think we know the answer. It would be embarrassing to play one of those when Jesus flipped the eastern sky. What spirit am I of? Videos go right with it. Oh, but it's a good one. It's educational. My friend, could that be a suggestion from the serpent? Think about it. It might be good, but is it the best? Is it the best? What spirit is it of? Is it the kind of thing that the Spirit of God could descend out of heaven upon our lives and God could say, This is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased. Electronics. Electronics, period. All kinds of gadgets. I don't know if you have one of them organized or not. I have one. But what do we have it for? Things like that to compare. Cameras looking, comparing different ones. Cell phone craze. What all games can you play on the cell phone? And how can you make it ring a different way? And all this thing of running the whole thing. I have mine to use. Where is a heart passion? Where is my love? You know? Would have loved Jesus with all of a heart. Now I have this other affection I put beside Him. And He says, if that's the way it is, you're an adulterer and an altruist. Because you're going and sporting off with something else rather than Him. Suggestion from the serpent. Twisted a little bit. The air of a macho. You know, I like to be pretty well set here. And by the way, I want the girls to notice me. What spirit is it of? Is it of the kind of spirit that the Spirit of God could descend out of heaven upon and God could say, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. It's not. It's not. It's one of them twists from the serpent. It's one of them twists from the serpent. Oh, nothing wrong with talking with girls. I don't think so either. What am I after? How am I carrying myself? What am I doing to their hearts? Serious questions. If I arouse desires in her that I can't lawfully fulfill, I'm defrauding her. I'm defrauding her. And then think about the Spirit of God descending from heaven upon your life and God saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. It just won't happen, will it? It won't happen. What spirit am I of? Young ladies, same thing. A flirting spirit trying to get the attention of the young men. Oh, it feels good. It flutters my heart. What spirit is it of? What spirit is it of? Can God look down from heaven, open heaven over your life and let the Holy Spirit descend upon your life in the form of a dove and say, this is my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased? When I'm flittering my heart towards a boy, turning the fantasies in my mind, picturing things I'd like to do, reading a romance novel. Oh, it tingles my heart. Well, while you're reading that romance novel, do you think God could look down from heaven and let His Spirit descend upon your life and say, this is my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased? Or would it be embarrassing if Jesus split the eastern sky while I'm reading that novel? Would I have some explaining to do? Often we just sort of go by what the flesh is telling us and we're listening to suggestions from the serpent. They're not going to come out right. They're not going to come out right. The spirit of a harlot. The spirit of a harlot. I don't think there's any of you young ladies here today that would profess that you want to be a harlot. I don't think there's any of you. And yet, the spirit of a harlot communicates and suggests immorality. Right? Now, let's stop and think. The way I conduct myself and the clothes I wear. What are they asking? What are they suggesting? Does it matter? And I'd like to just talk plain to you young ladies. When you dress to show off your body it's the spirit of a harlot. Whether we want to admit it or not. If the way we dress and the clothes we wear suggest that someone a young man or any man should lust after us. That is the spirit of a harlot. Somebody's telling us well, it doesn't matter. They ought to go deal with their lust problem. That's the serpent. That's the serpent. And the fashions of the world today are totally geared into this alley. You go out through Ephrathah. Whenever I leave here at lunchtime to go prepare for the next day, I've made a few trips to Wal-Mart. It just feels like, ah! I've come out of a holy place and I went into defilement. It's everywhere. And the things you see are horrendous. Have we listened to the suggestions of the serpent? Are my clothes form-fitting? And to be real plain, do my tops, are they tight? Sometimes if we don't talk plain enough we don't get it. Can I wear a tight top, young lady? And can you wear clothes that have these wonderful light lines on them, suggesting all kinds of immorality? Can you have those things or have slits in your skirts and let God look down from heaven and let His Spirit float down upon your life and God could say, this is my beloved daughter in whom I'm well pleased and she's seducing a man over here to lust. It's a suggestion from the serpent. And this serpent wants the opportunity to someday sink his fangs into you and inject deadly poison to destroy your soul. I need to keep moving. Sports. Sports. The young people are together, let's play volleyball. Maybe let's play softball or go play basketball. And it's play, play, play, play, play. America is play crazy. And I'm not against playing a few games every once in a while, but we are play crazy. It has come into the church rapidly. In fact, I'm concerned it comes into our circle sitting right here. We think we've got to play, play, play. You know, really, if that's where our heart and affection is, can heaven open over our lives and the sweet blessing of God come down upon us? Let's be honest, when we're done playing a game and we just won, do we have the same edification in our hearts as you do at the end of a day of Bible school? Which spirit is it of? Which spirit is it of? Hunting. Guns. And etc. on and on and on. Utility. Utility. What takes my time? Where am I spending my time? And what makes the emotions of my heart the most exciting? Excited. Where are my affections? Would be another way to say it. What gets me going the most? That's where our heart is. And which spirit is it of? If I have a choice, what will I choose to do? Number two, foolishness. 1 Corinthians 13.11 When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. And I'd like to suggest, if you were old enough to come to Bible school, then you're old enough to put away childish things and become a mature person in Jesus Christ. It's time to put away childish things. Proverbs 19.3 says, The foolishness of man perverteth his way. The foolishness of man perverteth his way. And is that not what we said the serpent does? He takes the truth and he just sort of twists it and perverts it and turns it into heresy. So, what spirit is foolishness of? Foolishness, lightheartedness, immaturity. What spirit is it of? What am I about? Am I a sober-minded young boy or girl, young man or lady? Or do I always like to be cutting jokes and laughing and having a good time with the friends, you know? And you know, we stand in a circle and be silly when we're done. It's like we're just drained. Right? It's not at all the Spirit of God coming out of Heaven upon our lives. This is my beloved child in whom I'm well pleased. Is it? It's not at all that way. There were ten virgins. Five were wise. Five were foolish. Five were foolish. What happened to the foolish? What happened to the five foolish virgins? They lost out. They didn't make it to Heaven. They went to eternal damnation. All of a sudden, foolishness becomes a serious issue. Mark chapter 7. Verse 21 through 23 talks about a list of things that come from within out of the heart of man and they're evil thoughts. The last one there is foolishness. Foolishness. And it says, all these evil things, it calls it an evil thing, come from within and defile the man. Foolishness defiles us. No wonder we feel empty when it's done. Well, but, surely you've got to have a little bit of fun in life. Well, I'd like to recommend to you the joy of the Holy Ghost. And whatever fun you want to have needs to be in such a realm that it does not grieve the Spirit of God and take away the joy of the Holy Ghost. Which spirit is it of? Another one in Proverbs 24, verse 9 says, The thought of foolishness is sin. The thought of it, the formulating of it, is sin. The Bible tells us, also if we're in Proverbs, that foolishness is bound in the heart of the child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him. It's instructing parents, get rid of this thing in the heart of your children. Foolishness. Well, it's time to grow up and put away childish things. And foolishness is at the center of it. Suggestions that foolishness is okay sounds like one of those suggestions from the serpent. We need to get him out in the light where we can see what his suggestions are. Number three, the fear of man. The fear of man. You might be sitting here this morning and God is speaking to your heart. You see needs in your life and you'd like to change. But what are my friends going to say? What will they think about me? Oh, at home, they'd think I've gone off the deep end. That's a snare. A snare. It's the fear of man. The fear of man bringeth a snare. And I'd like to portray a snare with this this morning. It does the same thing. There's things in life that we step into without seeing. A snare usually is tucked away for animals where they don't see it and it's left in a noose like that and it's hung off of the ground so that when they come through it'll catch right underneath their neck and they pull into it with their chest and as they pull it starts pulling and the problem is it won't loosen up. So as they struggle it gets tighter and tighter and tighter. It's not supposed to tear either. I wanted to snip this one off and I guess I put too much strength to it. It gets tighter and tighter around their body and it literally chokes the life out of them. And my friend, if you're here today and you're letting the fear of man make your decisions, I'm here to plead with you because the very life that Jesus wants to bless you with is going to be choked out. It's going to be choked out. Galatians 1, verse 10 says, For do I now persuade men or God? Are we going to persuade my friends or are we persuading God? Who are we talking to? Who are we concerned about? Or do I seek to please men? Do I seek to please my friends or do I seek to please God? Then he goes one step further. For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. He tells us we have a decision to make. Whether we're going to let the fear of man grip us and all those things that suggest in our hearts and lives are suggestions from the serpent to keep us stuck in the fear of man. They're suggestions from the serpent. Am I going to listen to the Spirit of God? Or am I going to listen to what my friends say? Who am I wanting to please? I would plead with you today. Choose to please the Almighty God in heaven that can open heaven over your life and let His Spirit like a dove descend upon you and say, this is my beloved son or daughter that I am well pleased in. Number four. Serving God. Serving God. 1 Corinthians 6. Verse 19 and 20. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you? Which is what we're talking about this morning. Which ye have of God and that ye are not your own? You have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit. Glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. Here He's telling us we are bought with a price. We are not our own. And because we've been purchased by the precious blood of Jesus, He's telling us that we are the temple, purchased possession temple of the living God where He wants to put His Spirit in. And because of that, glorify God in your body. It does matter what we do with this body. And in your spirit that dwells in this body. The message coming forth out of our lives, it matters. Because you've been bought with a price. You've been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus. The serpent wants to say, oh, it doesn't matter that much. But that's a lie from the devil. Serving God. Here's a young person that loves Jesus. Given his life over to Jesus. Have your eyes on Jesus. A single eye. A single affection. I'm following Him. Wherever He moves, I'm going to move like we heard Monday night. I'm going to follow Him with all my heart. My affection is right there and I'm going to stay right there. Praying and blessing His name and reading the Bible and being about the work of God. Witnessing. Sharing the Gospel with others. Get together with young people. And we're going to sing. We're going to have a prayer meeting. We're going to love Jesus. And oh, heaven opens up and the Spirit of God descends like a dove upon such and God says, this is My beloved child in whom I am well pleased. It just about gives me goosebumps to even talk about it this morning. The blessing that God wants to let pour out on our lives. But it's of essential importance that we have the right spirit and not compromise with the suggestions of the serpent so that the Spirit of God can descend upon our lives. And we can be fruitful. We can be fruitful. Oh, I love to talk about the Bible. It tells me about my Jesus. I love to read the Bible and discuss it because in it I find the heart of my God. And He talks to me. I like to hear His voice. Oh, it's a blessing and a comfort to me to hear His voice. What a joy and blessing to just bring Him my heart and needs and lay it before Him. Just this morning, before I came, I was having a struggle. I just couldn't get through where I felt connected. And I laid my life open before the Lord. And finally it came down to one statement that I said to my wife last night. So I repent of it and ask God to forgive me. And I meet my wife in the back before it's time to get up here. And heaven opens up. And God looks down from heaven and He lets His Spirit come down on our hearts and says, this is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased. Young people, it's that passion to serve Jesus. That passion to remove everything that would get in the way. Everything. And all of a sudden, cars look strangely dim. Strangely dim. The computer doesn't matter if it's out of date. I heard a comment like this. And I think it's right. I got rid of all the games on my computer when I got it. Amen. God bless you if you did that. I think that came from a young man here somewhere. I can't remember. And God smiled. Amen, son. God bless you. And He blesses your life. Walking in humility with a meek and quiet spirit. I'd like to look at number five yet. Serving others. And I'm going to have to move through this fairly quickly. So, fasten your seat belts. Matthew 20. Verse 25-28. But Jesus called them unto Him and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of Man came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister and gave His life a ransom for many. Serving others. Serving others. Jesus came to serve others. And heaven opened over His life. And God said, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And the Spirit of God came down upon His life. He is telling us we need to do the same thing. In Luke chapter 19, it talks about a nobleman going into a far country. And he called ten servants and he gave each one of them a pound. And told them, Occupy till I come. One went out and gained ten more. Another went out and gained five more. One laid it up in a napkin and just kept it for safekeeping. The one that got ten, heaven opened over his life. The blessing of God came down. This is My beloved servant in whom I am well pleased. I've given you a little. I'm going to give you much. The one that gained five got the same thing. What happened to the one that folded it up in a napkin for safekeeping, lest he lose it? They took away even that which he had and he was sent and condemned to eternal damnation. Which spirit are we of? Are we willing to be servants that get in there and apply ourselves? Servants to dad. Servants to mom. Servants to my brother. Servants to my sister. Servants to my grandpa. Servants to my grandma. Might be the grandpa or grandma down the road. Just this sweet blessed servant that comes around serving others at church, seeing the little things that anyone can do. Oh, I'll do that. I'll take the bottom rung on the ladder. Do the behind the scenes things. The menial things that you probably won't be well thought of. Notice the things that need done where you can be a servant. Remember, Jesus went home with his parents to Nazareth and submitted himself. And God looked down from heaven and said, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. What spirit is it of? What spirit is it of? Want the blessing of God? This will bring the blessing of God. In the community, go to nursing homes. Go to hospitals. Go sing for sick people. Be a blessing to them. Spend yourself for others. For widows. For fatherless. Yes, at the same time, you need to be under authority. Be under the direction of your parents. Maybe, blessed God, mom and dad can go with you. Wouldn't that be special? And you would just love having them along. And my friend, heaven will open up and God will look down from heaven and let His Spirit descend upon your life and say, This is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased. We like to go to nursing homes and we like to sing, but do your mom and dad have to be along? Doesn't that sound like a suggestion from the serpent? Do good things, but miss the blessing. Miss the blessing. Ephesians 5 verse 14 Wherefore He says, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. As wise. Listen to the message and the Spirit of the Spirit of God, the Holy Dove from heaven, and not the serpent. Redeeming the time. Make the best use possible out of my time. There I sit in the evening, flipping away on a game. Or, I can be reading my Bible. I can be having fellowship with my dad. I can be doing a job for mom. And young men, that fits you too, doing a job for mom. And you can attach and attach and attach. What you could be doing, instead of flipping that game. Because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Be not drunk with wine, be sober. And be filled with the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. And in order to be filled with the Spirit, God is going to need to be able to look down on our lives, and say, this is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased. And if we're listening to the twists and the lies of the serpent, that will not happen. That will not happen. Strangely, heaven closes over. It ices over. The clouds blow in. But we can be of those that are filled with His Spirit. If we will be those that apply our lives to follow Him, and pay attention to not listen to the lies of the serpent, but to listen to Him. And time after time, He will let His Spirit come down and fill our hearts and lives. Oh, young person, this is a foundation that is of great importance. To lay a standard to set, lifted high in your heart. Lifted high. Jesus being Lord of my life. Being a praying, enduring warrior. Reading my Bible with a relationship and a compassion for Jesus in a constructive manner that builds my life. Submitted and humble and of a right spirit. Not compromising with the ways of the world. God bless all of you.