In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of making a firm decision to resist the temptations and deceptions of the enemy. Drawing from the story of Daniel in the book of Daniel chapter one verse eight, the speaker encourages the audience to purpose in their hearts to remain faithful to God and not defile themselves with worldly influences. The speaker also shares a story about two horses representing the battle between good and evil within a person, highlighting the need to feed the good and resist the evil. The sermon further explores the concept of yielding to God and choosing righteousness over sin, referencing Romans 6:13. The speaker emphasizes that although we are engaged in a spiritual battle, the Holy Spirit empowers us to have victory over the enemy.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the Sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. ...would be living in the hands of the Holy Spirit tonight. Holy Spirit, take up the sword, which is the Word. Come against our enemies, O God. Come against, Lord, everything that hinders us. And Lord, those things that would even slay us, Lord. But we're not for your love and your protection and your strong arm on our behalf. Lord, I ask you to sanctify me in Jesus. I would ask that you would reveal yourself tonight like we've never heard you before. Teach us something new, Holy Spirit, about our Jesus. And we love him, and we praise you, and we give you all the honor and all the glory tonight. And we pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Hallelujah. When I was a young Christian, someone told me a story, and it stuck with me. And I tell it to you. And they said that when a person becomes a Christian, what happens in their life is a lot like when two horses come and live inside you. And there's an evil one, and there's a good one. There's one that dwells in light, and there's one that dwells in darkness. And they compete for mastery over you. And who will win? The one you feed. Now, that's a good story, but is it good theology? Let's turn to Romans 6. Will you turn with me to Romans 6? See what the Word of God has to say tonight. Romans 6 and verse 16. We're going to be in the book of Romans tonight, 6, 7, and 8. It says, Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey? His servants are ye to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. The Scripture is saying that we are in a servant position in this life. Many think that when we come to Jesus Christ, that when He comes and He lives in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, that He comes and He replaces everything with Himself. Now, that's the ultimate goal. And when we're in heaven, we will be free from every hindrance and sin that so easily besets us. But this Scripture is telling us that you have to understand something. That whoever you yield to, whatever voice you listen to, that's your master. In Romans 7, verses 22 and 23. You could turn quickly there. Romans 7. It says, For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. And we have the cry here of a saved man. He says, I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But He says, There's another law in my members. And when we begin to read tonight through the Word, when it says members and when it says flesh, we're going to understand those words to mean the corrupt nature. We're going to understand the sin that dwells in us. That's what it's referring to. And warring against what I know to be good and holy and true. And this thing seeks to draw me into captivity. There are two natures battling in us. And brothers and sisters, it's a life and it's a death struggle. Scripture says that in Romans 5.19. It's talking about Adam. And maybe you're familiar with this. For some it might be new. But Jesus Christ is referred to as the second Adam. Because the first Adam through his sin, by his sin, all of his descendants in the human race were now subject to a sin nature. We would have a corrupt nature. We do not have to teach a two-year-old how to disobey. We do not have to teach it how to be rebellious. It is in there. That's why we must train them. And the Scripture says, For as one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one, Jesus Christ, shall many be made righteous. We have two natures in us. And the one we feed is the one that's going to win. You know, that sounds almost contrary to the doctrine of what it is to be saved. And it isn't. Because we know that salvation is trusting by faith in what Jesus Christ has done for us. We understand that he was fully God without sin. And we are sinners now because we're the descendants of Adam. And we needed a Savior to have relationship with God the Father. And without the shedding of blood that would cover our sin, the Father could not have relationship with us. For he is so perfectly holy. Sin cannot dwell in his midst. But he is so perfectly good that he longs to have fellowship with what he created. And so he poured his wrath out upon himself. He turned to his Son and said, Son, and they knew, because the Scripture says, from before the foundation of the world, before we were ever created, God's heart of love knew how he would draw us back to himself. And so when we, by faith, accept this salvation, and it's shown that we have a true faith in what Jesus Christ did for us, it's shown because love starts to come into our heart. Love, there's a new power in our lives, and there's a new quality in us. And it's shown as we mature in Christ, in love and faith and perseverance. But this does not negate what the Scripture is now going to teach us in Romans 6, 7, and 8, that there is something that is competing with Christ for mastery over us the whole time we walk this earth. We can have victory because Jesus said, I will send the Holy Spirit. It's needful that I go. And you know what that must have sounded like to the disciples when he said, it's needful I go. It's like, you have to go? We gave up everything to follow you. You're just starting to teach us things we've never heard from our scribes and Pharisees. You alone have the words of eternal life. Don't leave us. He said, I must go because if I go, I will send the Holy Spirit. And if you have been saved for any length of time, you will understand how needful it is that the Holy Spirit, who has our power and comforter, have come to each of us. There's not now one physical man we must all group to, but he sent the Holy Spirit and he comes and he lives in us If we've trusted Jesus Christ to give us power, if we want it. The thing is that when the Holy Spirit comes in our lives, he has now ignited a war. He's ignited a war in us. Our carnal nature and our spiritual nature. If you would turn with me to Romans 6, 12. Romans 6, 12. What's this carnal nature that we battle now? What does it look like? How does Scripture describe it? What is Scripture going to tell us about a mortal enemy that dwells within us? This is not a far-off battle. This is something that Scripture in Romans 7 we're looking at is going to say, it dwells in us. And it is out to rob everything that Christ has won for us, that by faith we take. And it says, let not, in Romans 6, 12, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. You see, this carnal nature, this corrupt nature that is in us, wants to reign in us. It would rule us. In spite of the presence of the Holy Spirit, it will war with the Holy Spirit. It wants us to obey it. It craves that we would obey it, that it would find satisfaction in our obeying its lust. It would keep us a servant. There's a Scripture, there's a song, that Bob Dylan, in one of his more clearer years, in that man's confused path to find God, when he wrote a song, he says, you've got to serve somebody. You know, he was right on, because that's what this Scripture teaches. We're either going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, or we're going to serve sin and Satan himself. And as long as we walk this earth, we will serve one of those. My husband and I, we used to have a sheep farm. And we had a neighbor who was a sheep farmer. And after a while, he lost heart. And those sheep lived on the driest, dustiest piece of ground you could imagine. And when we would go to visit him, it was almost painful to look in his paddock. Those sheep were so withered. They were so uncared for. You could look at them and see things. You could almost see things crawling through them. Those poor sheep. They were under their master. Their master did not love or care for them. And it was painful to see. But there was nothing we could do about it. They were his sheep. And so this carnal nature, that's what it would do to us. It would keep us spiritually impoverished. It would keep us spiritually blind. It would keep us spiritually immature. It would keep us longing for things that would kill us. In Romans 6 verse 13, it says, Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. This scripture in verse 13 tells us, even though we're locked in a mortal combat, when the Holy Spirit comes, we have choice. You see, the devil, the way he operates, is to control. And the more we yield to him, the more control he takes over our will. His job is to keep us captive. His job is to keep us captive even against our will, many times the scripture says. But when the Holy Spirit comes, he operates in another way. The Holy Spirit comes and he leads us. The Holy Spirit comes and he woos us. Now when we have a choice, we have to understand that every waking moment as believers, we have a choice to what we will yield to. And we know that. The more we yield to that corrupt nature, the stronger it grows. In Romans 8 verse 5 it says, For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. If you could turn there with me, Romans 8 verse 5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. But they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Every time we constantly decide to whom we will surrender, when this troubling comes in. You see, we would love to leave here and know an uninterrupted fellowship with the Holy Spirit. But that is not to be. For in order to us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, one of the battles we will face is that inner corrupt nature the second we leave here. We have a continual decision to make of who we will serve and follow. Now the scripture is telling us plainly here. The more that we give in to sin, it will grow in strength. For to be carnally minded is death. It says the things after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. So flesh is death. That corrupt nature is death. And the more that we go out and we give in to that corrupt nature, death starts to come and feed more and more into our spirit. It's not that we can't hear the voice of God. It's not that we won't read the Word. But all of us know what it is when we have been enticed by this other thing, move away from areas where we know the Holy Spirit would have us be, and where that peace is, and where that cleansing is, and move away out of that and begin to feed on death. And if we have the Holy Spirit, we know what it is to move into that sphere of giving in to the carnal nature. To be carnally minded is death. When we are called or beckoned by this carnal nature, that is the way the tree grows. Let's understand that. The tree grows with this natural bent. And as the wind of the Holy Spirit blows in our life, and we cry out for deliverance, and we begin to ask Him to teach us what it is to walk in the Spirit, the tree grows upright. But without that wind, without that power in our lives, that tree will grow back to the natural bent. And that's why it's a battle all the time. That's why when sin is unresisted by the Holy Spirit, unresisted by the Holy Spirit, in other words, we're not calling out for help, or we quench the Holy Spirit, or we ignore His convicting, we invite a growing death. The Scripture says that this carnal mind is enmity against God. That means a bitter hatred. It means a bitter mutual hatred. That's why there's a war in you. These two spirits are at enmity, they're at war, and it's a mutual hatred. The Scripture says, David cries out, that I'm going to have a perfect hatred for mine enemies. And there is a perfect hatred. And the Holy Spirit can show us these things. But friends, I'll tell you something. We know what I'm speaking is true, because what we face Monday mornings, what we face in our families, how within us is a longing to walk with Him and serve Him, and we fight something, this other. Now this church is moving, I believe, being called and beckoned into a moving of the Holy Spirit, such as we have never seen. And all those that have a longing and a heart to move with this Holy Spirit, and to move with this river of God, you will fight opposition like you never have before. You will understand how true this Word is when you set your heart to walk His way. And don't be surprised, you know, many times we get discouraged, or we feel, Lord, you know, I want, I so want to walk with You and do it Your way. And like as never before, I seem to be experiencing defeat. I can't believe what I think. I can't believe what I'm drawn to. Lord, I get ashamed of myself. And I begin to feel like I'm losing ground. I begin to feel like the devil is winning. I believe like I'm going backwards instead of forwards. No, no, no. I'll tell you what, you're setting your face to enter the Promised Land. You're setting your face to leave that wilderness where we were led, first of all, out of Egypt. But you know, when the children of Israel were in Egypt, every time there was a difficulty, every time there was no food, no water, an obstacle, it looked like God wasn't with them, it looked all was lost, they turned back to Egypt and said, Oh, if we could only go back there. See, when we're in the wilderness, Egypt's not out of us yet. But sooner or later, we sit under the anointing of the Holy Ghost. We begin to hear that Word preached, and something gets stirred up inside us. We say, I'm not looking anymore to Egypt. I don't want Egypt anymore. I want the Promised Land. And there's a longing in us, and He creates that longing in us. But when we set ourselves into that Promised Land, what was waiting for them? The giants. That land was going to be contested. Joshua stood before an angel of the Lord. Actually, it was a theophany, that means it was actually Christ Himself in another form, stood before Him, and was going to lead them into the Promised Land. And they were told, wherever your feet trod, that's yours. Be strong, and be of good courage. I go before you. And if I lead you, you will win. If you will do it my way, you will have success. There's a saying that says, God's work done God's way, never lacks God's supply. That means that if we're determined to walk by the Holy Spirit, this indwelling carnality, this indwelling enemy, this indwelling death that is present in all of us, will be subdued. The Promised Land is before many of us tonight. Some have entered. Some of you are in hand-to-hand combat. You're not going backwards. You're going forwards to subdue that land. You're going forward against an indwelling enemy. You didn't know they were there, because when you were in Egypt, all you thought were these lusts that wanted to draw you back. But now there's a longing, being led by the Holy Spirit and this new commander, to take ground for Him. And you're facing opposition like you never have before. And that's what this Word is about. Jesus said, Whosoever commit a sin is the servant of sin. First of all, we need to understand that this enemy has the power to defeat us. Now that's not to negate at all the cross. That's not to negate the blood or the Holy Spirit. It is the Word of the Lord. It's to put a soberness in us. And it's to make us understand that we cannot sin securely. You know, there are some that preach the Gospel and love Him. But they tell you that once you're saved, you are forever secure. And that doctrine can sometimes produce a carelessness and a dullness in people who have not yet had their hearts circumcised. Who have not yet had a longing formed in them for Jesus at all costs. Have not yet had something placed into them that makes them begin to despise the world and despise the carnality in their heart. That makes them say, I'm going to go out there and by your power, Jesus, I'm going to live the life that you're calling me to live. Yes, I'll know all failures. Yes, I'll know when I trust in my own arm I'll fall. Yes, I know I've disappointed you before. But I hear you, Lord, and I know you're putting something new into me because you're circumcising my heart. You're taking away the heart of flesh. You're causing a hatred in me for this corrupt nature. And I will war with it all the days of my life. And it will not have victory over me. But there are many because they've not sat under the Gospel and have not had the washing of the Word, have not had the Holy Spirit come in and give them life and an understanding of this Word. They sit and that doctrine makes them dull. And they think there is a license to sin no matter what. Let me show you what a right understanding of grace, where it leads us to. Romans 6.1 Back to Romans 6.1 You see, Jesus said, Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he, the Lord, taketh away. It goes on to say, we're going to get to Romans 6.1, but I just want to say that that branch that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. But it says, If it beareth fruit, the Lord will purge it, that it will bring forth more. Friends, in Christ, we have that choice to be fruitless or fruit-bearing. And the Holy Spirit comes, He will dung our tree, He will do woe to us, He will convict us, He will show us error, He will strive with us, He loves us. But if we willfully sin, if we deliberately set our faith to give in to that corrupt carnal nature, it is so dangerous. And we no longer, we will cut ourselves off from the life of Christ. That life that comes from enduring faith and love, it will separate us from vital union with Christ. Now those that preach that you are eternally secure, they do have an understanding of the love and grace of God. And they preach that so well. And we need to understand that to the depths of our being. But part of that grace is a fear of the Lord. And part of that grace is understanding this whole word. And in Romans 6-1, it says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? See, for some, they will preach we're saved, justified, sanctified, righteous, and that's as far as we need to go. But what happens is that we can end up in our walk of sin confessed, sin confessed, as Brother Dave says, mountaintop experience or failure, then we go back up to the mountain and then we experience failure, and mountaintop failure. But I'll tell you something, the Holy Spirit wants to teach us something tonight. He wants to run a road right through that theology. He wants to take us up on higher ground and show us we do not have to live in a cyclical pattern. But He can break us free no matter how old or how young we are in Christ. He can show us a better way that we may enter that promised land and we may know what it is to subdue the corrupt nature that dwells in us. Romans 6-2. What? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? And flip down to verse 6. Knowing this. Knowing what? That we're dead to sin. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him. That the body of sin might be destroyed. That henceforth we should not serve sin. The shortcut through that cyclical walking of sin confess, sin confess is the cross. And is becoming dead to sin. The cross. The cross is the heart and the power of the gospel. We have the life of Jesus Christ to follow, but we celebrate His death. It is His death that allows us life. It is in that death of the cross that we have everything we have as Christians. And apart from that cross we have nothing. Those that would learn to walk with Christ and have the Holy Spirit lead will learn the scriptures that talk about that crucifixion. Galatians says, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. But not I, it's Christ that lives with me. Lives in me. It says, reckon yourself to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God. Scripture says, we preach Christ crucified. And unto the Jews or unto the religious, that's a stumbling block. But under the Greeks or to the non-religious, it's foolishness. Why? What other religion has at its core a cross? Has at its core death? Yet the Lord would have us understand by the Holy Spirit that that is where all life as our walk as believers begins and is sustained. In the days to come, the Holy Spirit wants to teach us this principle. Now it's not death to everything we enjoy. It's death to the carnal nature. It's death to that which dwells in us that would reach up and if it could take everything we have away in Christ. It's what marrs our testimony. It's death to what keeps us selfish and self-centered. It's death to everything that is unlike Him. And the Holy Spirit will teach us how to do this work of crucifixion. You know, when Jesus was on the cross, they called up at Him, come down from the cross. If you're the Son of God, come down. And He had the power to do it. And that still cry still comes out to us. This carnal nature would say, you don't have to walk this way because it knows that's where its defeat is. I'll tell you, the carnal nature, you can't pinch it away, wish it away, kick it away. The scripture says it warrants death. And that is where our life begins. We're allowed to enjoy simple pleasures. We're allowed to enjoy all the good thing God brings to us. The crucifixion is for our mortal enemies. That indwelling sin nature that is in us. Jesus, Paul said, for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Here was a man filled with the knowledge and understanding of the law that he could dazzle anyone who came to listen to him. He began to preach and write through the epistles and Peter himself said, Paul writes hard things. This man is understanding. Not only did he know the law, the Torah, he had revelation that God gave him, it tells us in Corinthians. And the Lord Himself by the Spirit brought him up to the third level of heaven. This man could have told us things that not one other man could have brought forth. He says, I'm determined, I am determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Why? Because he could have told all the stories about heaven and we would not have been edified because that thing in us could still reach up and take our life. He could have told us and shared things that we could have been speaking about even to this day. But we would still be in a mortal combat with a corrupt nature that if it could will mar and remove everything that Christ died that we may have. And so he said, a man with all this knowledge and all this learning, I'm determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's when we keep that focus in the days to come, if your heart is set on following Him with all your heart, that has got to be our focus to make it. Only the Holy Spirit can teach us these things about crucifixion. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal Jesus and what that crucifixion was. Only the Holy Spirit can show us as we read this word the power in our following of crucified Christ. But He will. It's for those who want to. Now Paul freely acknowledged this deadly war. Turn with me to Romans 7. Romans 7.15. Now Paul starts to give his testimony and some would jump up and say, Paul, don't say that. You are the author of the New Testament. You are a man of great understanding and learning. You've had a Damascus road experience. The Lord Himself has appeared to you a number of times. You have a knowledge of heaven none of us know. Don't say this about yourself. But Paul knows the deadly conflict we're in, so he writes it for all the ages to be able to say, Paul, the great apostle, says I know what your battle is. I had it too. I know with all your heart you want Jesus and yet you still battle with a lying tongue. You're still angry in your family. You still lust and covet. You still want the things you hate you do. He says, I know what I did it to. Verse 15. He says, For that which I do I allow not. For what I would, that I do not. But what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, in my corrupt nature, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me. I want to do good things. I want to please the Lord. I want to walk with him. But how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good which I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that, I would not. It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. This is exactly what we're talking about tonight. Here is Paul outlining so clearly what our struggle is. Jesus Christ knows all about this struggle. That's why Paul ended up saying, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? And he says in verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's who the deliverer is going to be. But verse 7, ending on a very sober note, says, So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. So where is our hope? Paul knew the Lord Jesus Christ so well. He could not leave us in that state. And the book of Romans 8 is an incredible testimony of Jesus Christ. And it becomes even more incredible as we understand why Paul has determined to do nothing but a crucified Savior. And he said, And that which is carnal and causing me all this grief shall know the same end, a crucifixion. If you go to Romans 8.13, we're going to understand the way out, the door of hope in all this. Romans 8.13 says, For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Now, mortify, mortify the deeds of the body, it says here. Mortify means to deprive. Mortify is a French word, means to put to death. But it means to put to death by means of deprivation. For example, by depriving our body of food, we will die. By depriving our corrupt nature, it will die. And this mortifying is here, when we read through that chapter, it's going after these sins that are the strong men in our life. In Colossians 3.8, it tells us, For some sins we put off. Anger, malice. And it's like there are some sins that as soon as we put on a garment of righteousness, it's like the blood of Jesus takes care of it right away. But Paul, understanding the heart of man so well, knew that there were some sins that were the strong men in our life, and that they would battle us every step of the way. They would battle and oppose every move, step forward in Jesus Christ, that we would make. And he knew it would be hand-to-hand combat someday. He knew what a heyday the enemy would have in accusing us. As our heart longs for him, and yet we seem powerless before an enemy someday. And understanding this, he said, now listen to me. These strong men's sins, these strong men's sins, you're going to mortify them. You're going to deprive them of what feeds them. You're going to learn to shut these things off what feeds them. And these things are going to die and wither. They're going to go from weakness to weakness to weakness. Whereas if we learn to walk in the Spirit, we go from strength to strength and glory to glory. Paul was a realist. He said there are days we battle. That's why he said, I die daily. I can't move forward in this fight lest I die daily. What dies daily? That corrupt nature. That strong man in him that battles him every step of the way. And that's why finally, triumphantly, in Romans 8, 1, he says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. But that's the most ill-quoted verse in the Bible because what does it say after that? In verse 1, chapter 8, it says, there is no more condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. That means that I no longer obey the beck and call of my corrupt nature, but I choose to walk after the Spirit. And there is no condemnation to the man who is battling hand to hand with the strong man in his life, but he's learning to starve it. He's learning to mortify it. We may lose some battles, but we win the war in this. The nature, what nature will win, the one we feed. I have to, you have to go, I don't have, I'm running out of time, but I have to take you to this key verse that the Lord ministered to me to put it all together and it's Galatians 5, 24. Galatians 5, 24. You see, even though these two natures battle one against the other, they are not equal. They are not equal. For when the Spirit of God comes and lives in us and we have the power of the Holy Spirit, nothing can stand before us. But God gave us a gift of a free will. And God gave to us a mind and an understanding. And there is something so key to this battle that we must understand in order for us to have victory. Galatians 5, 24. It says, and they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust. Do you see that? And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with affections and lust. Friends, this Word is telling us that we can count it as true, this truth, that if you are in Christ Jesus, His blood cleanses you and the Holy Spirit comes and lives with you. And now He's leading you on and giving you a desire for purity. It says, you have crucified. What does that mean? It means you have the power to crucify. You have the power to crucify this carnal nature. You have the desire to crucify this carnal nature. You have the will to crucify this carnal nature. You have everything you need to crucify, to triumph over this carnal nature that would take you down. That would rob Christ from you. You have the power through the Holy Spirit. You have the power to crucify. The Scripture says, you have crucified it. That means we must determine, Lord, this is how I will walk my walk with you. You have said, I have crucified it. And now by faith I stand in this. Because you've given me the power, you've given me the desire to do it, you've given me the will to do it, and it shall be done as I stand in this determination. There was a determination in the heart of Christ before we were ever formed. Behold the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. He knew when the Spirit moved on the face of the deep, and He created Heaven and Earth, and God created man and blew into him the Spirit of Life, it was going to cost him his son. And He determined even before any of that happened, that's what He would do to win us. And like-minded, if Christ dwelleth in us, then we are equally determined. We will walk the same way. And I'll tell you, there is so much power in determining beforehand, before we face that enemy. If we leave here tonight determined, I will walk this way. Our battle, what we fight, these strong men that oppressed us and won for so long, we begin to rob it of its power. We begin to come against it at its weakest point. It must lie to us. It must deceive us. It must convince us we failed so many times before, why even try? What's one more message? What's one more altar call? What's one more your determination? Friends, in the book of Daniel, in the book of Daniel, chapter 1, verse 8, when these young men were taken into captivity and they were put in a hard place, Daniel said, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine he drank. He determined. There were other young men with him said, listen, this is stupid. We're in captivity. Why are you going to determine not to eat the king's meat and drink? Don't you think you need his favor to exist here? Why are you going to make, why are you going to stand out? Why don't you just be politically correct and blend in? Why don't you just do yourself a favor and go along with the crowd? You're in captivity. Who expects you now to do anything? Because it's those that are in captivity, the most, that need to determine, Lord, I'm going to take this word. I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit to pick it up in my life and be a sword against my enemies. I will be determined. Your word says, I have crucified the lust. I have crucified this carnal nature. It needs for me to stand up and say, Lord Jesus, I believe you. And then just as we accepted salvation by faith, we accept this deliverance from the carnal nature. We move into the promised land determined. Determined that God won't fail us. Determined that God knows what he's doing. Determined in that knowledge that he loves us with an everlasting love. Determined that we can give all of ourselves to the crucified love and we will triumph. Friends, Romans 8 to my final scripture. Start again at verse 1. Romans 8 verse 1. There is therefore now. I love that. When we've determined, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit, who walk not after the flesh, who know the flesh troubles them, who until the day Jesus Christ takes them home will battle them. That's why heaven will be so sweet. This flesh will be dispensed with. But till we come home, you're going to battle, I'm going to battle. Don't let the enemy tell you you're going backwards, you're going forwards. Don't let the enemy tell you you're losing, you're winning. Because if you have determined that this corrupt nature will know a crucifixion, then if you suffer a few things, there is no condemnation. Because in your heart there's a yearning, a yearning to obey. You know it's going to cost you some failures in learning this. There's a yearning to be pure. So it's going to mean some failures, but that's alright. You're going to get more compassionate to the one beside you. And we walk after the spirit. Verse 8-2 says, For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. And friends, that's why every Sunday it's told us, and I rejoice every time I hear it, that we sit under a gospel of repentance. Because that gospel of repentance goes after that corrupt nature that seeks to destroy us. It goes after what would rob us of life. And then the Holy Spirit can move in and can bring life because life begets life. Life begets life. We cry out to the Holy Spirit and He fills us. We cry out for the life of Christ and He answers us. We cry out for all that is life. It says, For the law of the spirit of life hath made me free from the law of sin and death. That repentance gospel, that's not a dreary, spiritual neurotic always taking his pulse, trying to invent sin. It's not a sin-inventing walk. That message of repentance exposes light and it shows us where death is. And we see it and we come against it by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the blood of the Lamb and by not loving our lives unto the death. And life comes in and replaces what was death. And we become a free people. This Scripture says so. That the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from that carnal nature. I'm learning to have victories. Hallelujah. I'm learning to put that condemning voice under my heel because in my heart I want purity. I want that walk. I want to live on my heart. So let the enemy lie. Let him condemn. It will not come through that shield of a heart that wants him and wants purity because I'm learning. I'm thrusting it through with the sword. That's why it's crying out in my ears. That's why it's telling me be quiet, stop, go back. It's because the sword of the spirit which is truth is making me free. There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. Will you stand? Thank you Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The Holy Spirit is saying to us tonight the key is determination. We are going to leave here and we're going to be in one battle. I'll tell you. Because truth has been preached and the enemy fears that because it is cannon fire into his arsenal. But I'll tell you something. Let's prove God. Let's take Him up in His words. Let's see, is this true? Is it true that the spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes me free from the law of sin and death? Is it true if I determine that I have crucified this carnal nature? Let's test Him. Let's test Him. We will be tested. So let's prove Him tonight. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I want to give an altar call tonight for those that are fearful. That with all your heart you would like this, but you have experienced many defeats and you're fearful. I confess that I have promised the Lord many times things and have not been able to keep them. And then He has reminded me, Teresa, because you look to yourself. But when you look to me and then I awaken this word, then your gift to me is a determination to believe this word and a determination to follow the Holy Spirit. And then watch me work. Then I want you to live in a realm of miracles. And I believe with all my heart, in 1997, that's what God wants to do. He wants to do a miracle in our lives. He wants to give us a walk we have never had before. And it's a walk in the Spirit. So many of us know very little about a walk in the Spirit. But He would teach us this year. It starts with a humble attitude. Many of us and many of you maybe have been used by the Holy Spirit and the Lord. But there's so much more. There are many tonight that your pride is going to keep you from really hearing this message because you will say in your heart, I've done some of this. I know that. I sat under a repentance gospel for many years and a spiritual blindness came over my life because I was proud. And when I realized how cut off I was and I realized how rich I had been in Him because I had been small in my own sight, I began to cry out and He heard me. So tonight, for those that are fearful and you don't have it all together, but there's a longing in your heart, come and the Lord will do that. Hallelujah. That song, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, might be one of your favorites. It says, Though none go with me, still I will follow. It says, The cross before me, the world behind me. Every heart that cries that out, I tell you, on the authority of this Word, the full power of the Holy Spirit will come and teach you that walk. And He doesn't want you to fear what the enemy is painting in your mind. He doesn't want you to pay any attention to that. He wants you to begin to listen to His voice and His alone. He will show you how to shut out those voices that condemn you all the time because that's your carnal nature out to destroy you. And He wants to shut off those voices that you may learn to put those voices in their place. Recognize their lies. Recognize they are from the enemy. If there is truth in them, the Holy Spirit will deal with that. If there is truth in their lesson to be learned, trust it to the Holy Spirit. Say, Holy Spirit, whatever He's saying that I need to know, I put it in your hands because you're pure, you're holy, you love me, you will convict me, you won't condemn me, you'll set me free, you'll not put me in bondage, you won't have me feeling like I'm the worst Christian in the world, but a loved one with hope. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Father God, I ask you to give me the heart to believe every word that you've spoken to my heart tonight. Keep the condemning voice away from me. Teach me a walk in the Spirit. I thank you, Lord, that you will do this for me. I thank you, Lord, your cross will be my guide. I will put my enemies on that cross and I surrender to you, Jesus. Thank you for the victory. Thank you for the Holy Spirit. Thank you, I do not have condemnation. As I walk in the Spirit and I put to death the flesh. Thank you, Jesus. This is the conclusion of the tape.