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[0:00] As we just read, 1 Peter 2, there's a war on. We're in a war, a battle, and a warring that's a warring in the soul. And many people are living in defeat.

[0:12] But thank God for Sam, he's made a stand today that he's going to abstain from that which is his temptation. And he's going to stand for God.

[0:22] And that's a decision you can make today, this morning. And so friends, people are living in defeat. They're overcome, overwhelmed. How can we get victory? The Bible shows us how.

[0:33] How we can live a life that brings God glory. And we can walk with God. We can live in victory. The Bible shows us how. We can all have that fighting within. Look, I've got my own struggles.

[0:45] We've all got them. We're all fighting. There's the daily battle, isn't there? Day by day, the flesh and the spirit. There's warring against the soul. But friends, the Bible gives us keys to victory.

[0:56] And we can take those today and apply them. We can know the victorious Christian life and walk with God day by day in that victory. So what does it look like to get this victory?

[1:09] What does it look like to be one of the sanctified? To be one who's living right? Living God helping you to live for Christ. To live to please God. To make those decisions that might be life-changing for you.

[1:22] God can sanctify you. The Bible says that we are made holy. We are made separate from worldly things. And we're set apart unto God. There's a two-folder, away from sin and unto God.

[1:35] And that's a work that he can only do. Only he can do. And it's a process. It's a growing. It's a spiritual maturity. Like we read in 1 Peter 2 there. It talks about a newborn babe.

[1:47] As a baby grows, so a Christian grows. We have those moments when we might falter. As Sam shared. And we might take some steps backward.

[1:59] But God helping you, you can grow as a Christian. As a baby grows. As a temple grows. It's brick by brick. One brick on top of another brick. The temple grows. It gets built.

[2:09] And it's the same with you and me. Brothers and sisters. As believers. As holy ones. As the Bible calls you. You're saints. If you're saved, you're a saint. You may not feel like one.

[2:20] But the Bible says you are. And God even calls the Corinthians saints. As we see there in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And friends, the Corinthians weren't really outstanding examples of a church.

[2:36] The church at Corinth had a lot of problems. But God even called the Corinthians saints. It says there, For unto the church of God, which is at Corinth. To them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus.

[2:49] Called to be saints. God calls the Corinthian believers saints. He calls them holy. Set apart for his service. And he says that for you and me. As much as we might feel inadequate of that.

[3:01] But friends, there's victory for you. The word of God tells you that. And there's a couple of things I'd like to draw out this morning. As to the victorious Christian life.

[3:14] Firstly, it's a new nature. There's a new nature. The Christ life is what happens. When we're saved, it's Christ in you. He's the one who motivates, who strengthens, who enables, who empowers us.

[3:28] 1 Peter 2 verse 2 talks about we're like newborn babes. Crying out for the mother's milk. We're crying out for the sincere milk, the pure milk of the word.

[3:40] Why? That we may grow thereby. We get that hunger, that thirsting, that spiritual anchoring after God. And God puts a new nature in us. It says that in 2 Peter 1.

[3:51] That these exceeding great and precious promises they're given unto us. Why? That ye be partakers of the divine nature. Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

[4:04] You can be a partaker of the divine nature. Think of that. A new nature. You're born again. You have a new nature. You become a newborn babe. Born again. It says become unto God.

[4:16] And we made children of God by faith. As many as received Him. He made them. Children of God. He does a work in you. In me. He gives us new life.

[4:27] And He makes us saints. How so? Christ in you. That's what matters. That's what makes it happen. And we can ask, so what? What about this new nature?

[4:38] It makes a difference in you. Christ in you makes all the difference, doesn't it? He's our victory. He's our sanctification. He's our redemption.

[4:49] He's our righteousness. What difference does it make? It ought to make a difference. Peter tells about laying aside some things. He talks about laying aside those things that would hold us back.

[5:02] Those things of the old life. As it says in verse 1. Laying aside all malice. You know, anger. Rap. Guile. Lying. Hypocrisies. Envies. Evil speakings.

[5:13] Lay them aside. Lay them aside. And then he talks about growing spiritually. Friends, there's a new nature that you get when you're saved. You get a new heart. A new start. Ephesians 3.17 says that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.

[5:28] There's that real sense where Christ does come and dwell in your hearts by faith. And notice when it says he dwells in your heart. It means that he dwells there.

[5:39] He resides there. It's permanent. When Jesus comes into your life, he comes to stay. He's not just a visitor. He comes over for a cup of coffee or something.

[5:50] He just pops by and then leaves. He doesn't come to stop by. He comes to stay. Amen. When Jesus comes, he comes to stay. And Paul testifies, for me to live is Christ.

[6:05] That's my life. He is my life. How about you and me? Is the Lord at home in your heart? He can be. What an awesome thing that God in Christ should dwell in your heart by faith.

[6:17] And Peter tells how he's tasted of the Lord. He's gracious. He's precious. And we're living a world that by and large rejects him. And like the story that we read, the text there, of how they treat him, he's like a stone that the builders rejected.

[6:33] Should be the chief cornerstone, but the world doesn't want it. Doesn't want him. Rejects him. He's a rock of offense. He's a stone of stumbling. He's politically incorrect. And so are all of us that follow him.

[6:47] That world doesn't want to know still, by and large. When we go witnessing, it's probably 90% rejection rate. They're not rejecting us or what we say, but they're rejecting the one that we're testifying on.

[6:59] And it's still true today. But friends, we that are saved, we've got a new nature. And we can be more like him. More like him. Day by day. Grow more like our Lord Jesus.

[7:11] He is our holiness. And we don't live for self, but for Christ. He is our life. This is really living. For me to live is Christ. And in Acts 17, it says, For in him we live and move and have our being.

[7:26] We live in him. As a child of God. Friends today, you've got a great blessing. He's called you out of darkness and into the marvelous light that he is, Christ.

[7:38] And it says, We're called to be holy. 1 Peter 1.16, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Would he tell us something if we cannot be it?

[7:51] We can be holy in Christ. We can know his holiness given to us. If he calls us to be holy, then he can affect that holiness in you.

[8:04] That dying to sin. That daily victory. That coming alive to him. That being in Christ. Like Christ. Like him. How can we practically get there, you might say, in the reality of life's struggle where we're inclined to not be like Christ?

[8:22] We can be changed from glory to glory to glory to glory to glory. We can be conformed to the likeness of the Son. Romans 8.29 As we desire the word of God, we can grow thereby.

[8:39] There is growth. If we but feed our soul on his word. We can say no to sin. We can say yes to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

[8:50] You can have a new nature. And that's your victory. That's one of the steps to victory, really, is to be like Christ. And another factor, not only do we have a new nature, the Christ life, Christ in you, but you're also part of a new nation.

[9:11] A new nation. My nature has changed. And also, my nationality has changed. I know I've laboured on this sort of truth before, but it's still important to reflect, as Peter writes, that you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness and into his marvellous life.

[9:40] You can know a new nature. In Christ, be born again. And you can belong to a new nation. We're not on our own in the Christian life, friends.

[9:52] We've got one another. Sam's encouraged me with what he's shared today. He's testified of what God's doing in his life. It speaks to me. It speaks to all of us.

[10:02] We can encourage and exhort one another. That's what church is. We're not on our own in the Christian life. There's a big mob of us who know the Saviour. Brothers and sisters, that's who we are.

[10:14] It's interesting when we go witnessing, we talked to someone yesterday, a professing Christian. She admitted she hadn't been to church for, was it decades?

[10:27] I think it was 20-something years. She hadn't been to church, but she still professed to be a Christian. And I thought, that's kind of sad, really, isn't it? She's missing out.

[10:40] We're missing out on her being here. We can encourage her. She could encourage us. She could grow in her faith. And she could just get amongst us. There's a war on.

[10:51] And we're in this together. This war effort. As we think, as Anzac Day, of the war effort of an enemy. Sam's identified his enemy. And he's going to abstain from it.

[11:03] Amen? We've got to recognize the enemy. Whatever it is. The fleshly lust. The war against the soul. We can get victory. And we can help one another. That's what church is about.

[11:15] Another man we met recently was a very lonely man. Just living in his four walls. I said, you know, you can talk to God. He says he talks to his dog.

[11:26] That's all he's got, his dog. You know? And he might even be watching now. God bless you, man. We love you. We're trying to reach this man. We've got some things in train. But there's people like that.

[11:37] They're lonely. They're shut off. They're cut off. There's no one there for them. They're living in their four walls. We don't have to be like that. We've got brothers and sisters all around us.

[11:49] We've got a family of God. And there's a war on. We're in this together. We're a holy nation on this planet. No wonder people think we're weird. Well, some of us. Because we're not in the darkness anymore.

[12:00] We've got to stand out. We should be a bright and shining light in a world full of darkness. As the Bible speaks of he's taken us out of the darkness and into his marvellous light. Peter says, 1 Peter 2 verse 10, you're now the people of God.

[12:15] Wow, that's something, isn't it? To be the people of God. Our nationality is Christian. For our conversation, it says, or you could put it, our citizenship is in heaven.

[12:27] From whence also we look to a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's saying that our place we belong to, our conversation, our way of living, our citizenship, if you like, our country, who and what we identify with is heaven.

[12:44] And as we look down at this world below, it's unclean, it's unholy, it's in serious trouble. The devil's running riot, wrecking homes, ruining lives, hurting people. One of the people we talked to yesterday, we tried to reach out to her and she says, oh, I don't believe in God.

[13:07] And we said, well, you know, I kind of challenged her respectfully. Well, how so? She said, the whispering wall. As if that man who killed himself and his child, it's God's fault.

[13:20] It's actually sin. It's the devil. It's this world that knows not the saviour, the hope. A lost man. It's just further testament to the misery that sin degrades and destroys the devil.

[13:39] Steals, kills and destroys. Friends, it's all and more reason to reach out to the one who can save. This world, it's unclean, it's unholy, it's in serious trouble.

[13:52] Furthermore, it's a harvest field. There's a harvest field all around us. All the streets and doorways, the homes, the families, the souls.

[14:02] And we're called into it as missionaries. As Christians, we've been set apart from the world as holy. And we know the word tells us how we should love not the world as in those things of the world.

[14:17] Not that the things that are in the world, if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. But for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.

[14:30] And the world passeth away and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. There is hope for the world. And you're it. You've got that message.

[14:41] On your lips. Impart it. Impart it. Here's a story to illustrate how we can get dragged down like the world all around us. We live in the world.

[14:53] You're in secular workplaces. You're working amongst worldlings. But you should be shining the light there. Here's a story to illustrate this.

[15:05] It's a bit of a tongue-in-cheek one, of course, as such things go. So, you've probably heard something alike to this. There's a story about a little eagle that fell out of its nest and landed in a turkey farm.

[15:22] And the eagle grew up among the turkeys. And although he looked a bit different, he learnt to waddle like a turkey, bob his head like a turkey, and act like a turkey. One day the young eagle looked up and he saw in the sky this beautiful angel soaring high above.

[15:37] And the little eagle in the turkey yard thought, Oh, I'd love to be able to do that. And as the eagle soared overhead, he looked down and saw the young eagle below. Suddenly the one flying swooped down and asked, What are you doing here?

[15:52] And the little eagle replied, I'm just here in the turkey yard where I've always been. And the great eagle looked and said, Spread your wings, boy. Just do this. Just do this.

[16:02] Watch what I do. Follow me. And he flapped his wings and lifted off the ground. The young eagle tried it too. Whee, this is alright. And see, the mature eagle said, You've been living among these turkeys so long that you're beginning to believe you are something you are not.

[16:18] Follow me and you will find out what you really are. So the little eagle began to soar and fly and he loved it. But the turkeys down below called out to him and said, Hey little guy, what are you doing up there?

[16:29] You belong down here. No, I don't, called the young eagle. I used to belong there, but now I am what I am created to be. I do not belong with you anymore. For instance, the same with you and me.

[16:41] We were once turkeys. Now we're eagles. And as it were, flying with God. He's given you a new nature. He's given you a new life. You're born again. He's called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

[16:55] 1 Peter 2.11 tells, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Friends, you've not only got a new nature, but you're a new nation.

[17:09] We're pilgrims, it says. This is really just a tempering place that we do not belong to. We belong to heaven. We're not Australians. We are heavenians, if you like.

[17:22] On my passport, I've said it before, and it says permanent residency status is Australian. It's not true. My permanent country is heaven. And that's the same for you that have believers here today.

[17:34] To be saints. We've been made not to fit in, but to stand out. It's not made us to stay in the turkey yard, but to be, as it were, eagles. Here's something to think about further.

[17:46] There was a shipwrecked sailor who spent three years on a desert island. And he was overjoyed one day. The ship came sailing into the shore and dropped anchor, and a small boat came there, and one of the officers handed the sailor a bunch of newspapers.

[18:01] The captain suggests, he told the sailor, that you read what is going on in the world and then let us know if you want to be rescued. It's a bit like that, isn't it? When you see what's going on in the world, you don't really want to be part of it.

[18:14] A world that's filled with woes, living on a desert island, it may be not such a bad thing. Friends, we're living this life on a fallen planet, in a failing, temporary world, a God-hating world.

[18:28] Let us be mindful of eternity, friends. Let us be mindful of eternal things. We're like a little colony of heaven on earth. And God gives us this foretaste of eternity. When we're praising God together, when we're shaking hands and greeting one another and showing Christ's love, it's a foretaste of eternity, of the forever.

[18:47] And he that does the will of God will abide forever. What is the will of God? Trust Christ. Trust Him. Call on the name of the Lord. This world and its things are not forever.

[18:59] We should not grow to love them. Our love should be His will, to please our Heavenly Father. Set your affection, Paul says, on things above, not on things on the earth.

[19:11] Where is your affection? Brothers and sisters today, where is your love, your desire? Let's be that victorious Christian that's got a new nature in our heart and knows we belong to a radically new and different nation.

[19:24] And a nation, when we belong to a nation, as they say for those that might aspire to naturalisation, to take out Australian citizenship, there's certain obligations and responsibilities that flow from being a citizen.

[19:40] A couple of them here, a duty to obey. When you become a citizen, you have a duty to obey. Our government is Christ. One day it says for, unto us a son is given, unto us, sorry, a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government, it says the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

[20:06] Our government is Christ, and we're called to obey. He's the ruler, He's the King, our allegiance is to Him. He is our one, that our desire should be to please Him.

[20:18] And if He's truly our Lord, won't we want to please Him? Friends, I urge you to that. It calls us to that. In Colossians 1, it says that you might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

[20:36] You're called to this, this life that's truly living, life more abundant, that our whole life, God helping us, will be to please Him. And we'll have a healthy fear, as the churches of Acts 9, that we're walking in the fear of the Lord.

[20:54] And that fear is that love, that respect, that sense of His authority over us. There's an obedience, that's a good thing, in a negative way concerning sin, that will refuse it, abstain, and in a good way that will serve, will want to serve, in a positive way.

[21:15] It affects us. We're separated from sin, and we're separated unto God. Now, friends, sometimes we're tied to the old habits. Another little illustration of that, one night, it was getting dark, and there was a drunken man, who wanted to cross a river, and he entered his rowboat, on one side, at night time, he picked up the oars, and he pulled away, so he thought, and he rowed all night.

[21:45] All night, he was rowing, rowing like mad, but he did not reach the destination. And when daylight came, he was surprised to find, he was right where he started, the night before, he forgot to untie the boat.

[21:59] Friends, it's the same with some believers, they're still tied. They're still tied to the shore. They're still held there. They're still tied to their habits, their desires, their cherished idols, or the idols of their heart.

[22:14] They've got to cut the tide, break that rope, cut it off, so you can row free, and cross to the other side. Friends, we don't want to be, as a shore bound Christian, that never flourishes.

[22:28] We want to be, in victory. We've got a duty to obey, about sin. It says, that, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

[22:41] Sin will hinder your spiritual life. It'll hinder your prayers. Friends, you can be a Christian and sin, but you're going to be failing. You're going to be held back. You're going to be tied, to things that God wants you to chop off.

[22:54] God will help you to break that tide. Often that sin in our lives, is disobedience to God. It's unforgiveness. It's a, it's a stumbling block for you.

[23:06] God wants you to, to make a stand, like our brother did this morning. Now God's going to test him, with that stand. God's going to test you, Sam. Amen. There's going to be temptation.

[23:17] You're going to have to say, no, I don't touch that anymore. Friends, you can be strong, because God will give you the resolution, to stand by your testimony, to stand by your confession.

[23:28] Some people are like that man in the story, they're tied to worldly habits, that have hindered their walk, and they're hindering still, they're stopping them, being an effective Christian. God's victory plan, is that will break that tide.

[23:41] That will be that holy nation, a holy people, that will be brought together, we're here for each other. That's part of your support group. You don't have to be like that man, living in his four walls.

[23:52] You can be part of the family of God. You can know that strength, that comes from mutual exaltation. So let's obey our Saviour, our Lord. There's a duty to obey.

[24:03] Secondly, there's a duty to serve. There's a duty to serve. Believe it. God calls you to do something. Strive to do what pleases Him.

[24:14] Now sometimes the hardest thing is the first step. Just step out. Take that step. Some people are like, as they've been called, Dead Sea Christians. They might come and get lots of knowledge, and lots of Bible studying, and information.

[24:30] It's all receiving, but they're not imparting to others. No wonder they're spiritually stagnant. Some Christians are weak in their faith. They're disobedient, because of neglect.

[24:43] Maybe a neglect, of Bible study, of fellowship, of prayer, of witness. Their faith has become stagnant. Friends, we should not neglect our salvation, as if it's something we could put on the mantelpiece, and just gather, it's gathering dust, and we might take it out, and dust it off now and again.

[25:02] It's growing cobwebs. God wants our faith to be growing, to be developing, to be increasing. That's the prayer of the disciples. Lord, increase our faith. Let that be your prayer, that you'll ask God, to give you the faith, of Him, of His faith, of increasing that faith.

[25:19] How do we make our faith grow? Get together. Get together. Attend church. Develop your faithfulness, your effectiveness as a Christian. Live out your life.

[25:30] Be God's servant. Take the opportunities to serve. Sometimes, as I say, that first step, is the start.

[25:41] Take the step. Take the step. And you'll be glad you did. It's going to be scary, but you'll be glad you did.

[25:52] Now, bear with me on another illustration. It really, it graphically relates there. You might have heard the worldly story of the little red hen.

[26:05] Well, there's a church equivalent of that. And once upon a time, there was a church. One day, the Lord found a lost and dying world, enslaved in sin, and destined for hell. Who will share the gospel with those who know not the way of life eternal, said he.

[26:20] Not I, said the elder. Not I, said the deacon. Not I, said the Sunday school worker. Not I, said the choir member. Not I, said the member. Very well then, said the Lord. I will find someone else.

[26:32] And he did. And sometime, the gospel seeds sprouted and grew. Who will teach these young in the faith of the way of righteousness and truth, asked the Lord. Not I, said the elder.

[26:43] I have other things to do. Not I, said the deacon. That's not my job. Not I, said the choir member. I do not like the deacon. Not I, said the member. Let the Sunday school worker could do it. Very well then, said the Lord.

[26:55] I will find someone else to teach my word. And he did. Now, said the Lord, the church's children and teenagers. Who will shepherd and direct them in my ways? Not I, said the elder.

[27:05] That's not my job. Not I, said the deacon. I don't like the choir member. Not I, said the Sunday school worker. I have other things to do. Very well then, said the Lord. I will find another. And he did.

[27:16] Again, the Lord said, the meeting house needs some work. Who will clean it, mend its roof, paint its walls, so it may bring glory and honour to my name and joy to those who gather here? Not I, said the deacon.

[27:28] I have other things to do. Not I, said the Sunday school worker. That's not my job. Not I, said the member. Let the deacon do it. Very well, said the Lord. I will find someone else.

[27:38] And he did. Later, the Lord said, some of my children are in need. Who will share what is theirs so that others may have? Not I, said the elder. Let the deacon do it. Not I, said the deacon. Let the Sunday school worker do it.

[27:50] Not I, said the Sunday school worker. Let the choir member do it. Not I, said the choir member. Let the member do it. Not I, said the member. Let the elder do it. Very well then, said the Lord. I will find someone else.

[28:01] And he did. Eventually, after the gospel was preached, the week taught, the young guided, the meeting house repaired, and those in need helped, the Lord said, who will share in the joys of Christian service?

[28:13] Who will come taste the blessings of faithfulness? Who will know the fruit of spiritual growth? I will, said the elder. I will, said the deacon. I will, said the Sunday school worker. I will, said the choir member.

[28:24] I will, said the member. No, you will not, replied the Lord. My rewards will go to those who do my will, not their own. Now, it's a telling story, isn't it?

[28:36] Friends, serve God. Serve God. We've got a duty to obey in this nation. We've got a duty to serve in this nation that is the holy nation.

[28:47] Friends, we're built up to be a spiritual house, a lively stones, living stones. We're called to lift up spiritual sacrifices. Friends, we must take the challenge.

[29:02] Serving God may involve sacrifices. Now, taking time to go to meetings, sometimes that's, things like to sacrifice, just to turn up. And as Christians, as citizens of this heavenly kingdom, we're called to duty, to duty to obey our master and king.

[29:20] And it's a glad duty, a glad service, a duty to serve. It's a holy life, a whole life, a rewarding life. The Bible speaks about how the God of peace sanctifies you, make you holy, holy, as in the whole of you, all of you, your whole, spirit, soul, and body.

[29:41] Notice the Bible puts it the different way around. We often say body, soul, and spirit. Actually, your body's the last thing to worry about. Get your spirit right, get your soul right.

[29:53] God wants to preserve you, blameless. Friends, and it says you're complete in him. He's the head, he's the master. You're complete in him.

[30:05] We find our completeness there. Friends, there's complete victory there for you, in Christ. I urge you, if you're not in Christ, please, I urge you, jump in.

[30:17] Jump in to Christ. Let Christ be your life. If Christ is not in you, you're not complete. And you believers here today, you've got everything given you that you need.

[30:33] You've got victory. He grants it you. He is your victory. He is your peace. He is your, as we read earlier, your sanctification, your redemption, your righteousness.

[30:45] The Bible says, sanctify yourself. There's a call for you to say, yes, I'm going to, I'm in. As our brother did, to confess, yeah, I'm going to sanctify myself.

[30:56] I'm going to make a decision. I'm going to stand up for Christ. I'm going to confess him. I'm going to determine. I'm going to let go of some stuff and get hold of some stuff. God's called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

[31:08] Friends, take a stop, take today. Set it apart unto God. Your mind, what it is that we take in. What do we read? What do we study? What's going in there? The ear gate.

[31:19] What's going in? The mind. What are we absorbing? It's like a sponge. Your brain. It's a sponge. Sometimes you've got to squeeze out all the muck, don't you? Get it clean.

[31:32] Brainwashed. The washing of the word. What do we read? What do we study? Set apart your mind. Your eyes. What do we look at? What attracts us? What's taking our attention, our focus?

[31:43] Our ears. What are we listening to and receiving? Our heart. What it is that we love, we enjoy. God wants to transform you, sanctify you wholly. Spirit, soul and body.

[31:55] Friends. And it calls us to this life, to live. And it's a daily living, a daily walk, a striving to be dead to sin and alive to God.

[32:06] He'll help you. You can get victory. You can win this war that you're in. God is at work in the victorious Christian. And the victorious Christian is at work in God.

[32:19] It says, Philippians 2, 12, in part it says, work out your salvation. Work out your own salvation. Work it out with fear and with trembling.

[32:31] And it's God who works in you both to will and to do. Here's good pleasure. So what's the application of this message?

[32:42] You know, it's often said to preachers, make it, give people an application here. And you can hear all of this and think, oh, it all sounds fine and dandy and in theory, yeah, I kind of agree with it.

[32:57] But it's about what you do with it. That's what matters. What are you practically going to do? Peter talks about laying aside, laying aside some things. He talks about laying aside malice, guile, hypocrisies, enthies, evil speakings.

[33:13] He's talking about one who's delivered us out of darkness into his marvelous light. And he urges the people. He says, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

[33:27] What is that in my life? These things that I do well to lay aside. Could it be the danger of drink? It destroys lives and families.

[33:39] The world knows what it does. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know what drink does to people and to families. It's dangerous. The vice of gambling is addictive.

[33:51] People spend their living on one-armed bandits, robbing them blind, leading to broken homes, ruined lives. Television. I urge you to watch television.

[34:03] In other words, watch out for it. I'm saying watch what you watch. And it could be any screen, couldn't it? What's going to harm your faith? What's going to conform you to the wickedness of this world?

[34:14] Leave off. Turn the channel. Turn the channel on. And temptation, whatever it is, avoid it. Steer away. All appearance of evil.

[34:27] Are we trying to be acceptable to the world and its ways? Or are we meant to be pilgrims and strangers? Are we meant to be, oh, he's one of those oddballs? Not saying you have to go out of your way to be thought of as odd, but we should be different.

[34:43] That's the point. And God wants you to be a testimony for his glory. Where people behold your good works, it says, and they'll glorify God. It says in 1 Peter 5 that we should have humility in this.

[34:59] God resists the proud. He just wants us to get humble. What a humbling thing to get up and testify. I've got a problem. But I'm standing up for God. Pray for me. We need more of that, don't we?

[35:11] Who's going to testify next week? Amen. What's God doing in your life? What's victory? What's the victory for your life that you want to share with the saints? Be clothed with humility.

[35:22] It's a humbling thing to talk to you. We need to humble ourselves and seek after God, friends. Take on that new nature.

[35:36] The Christ life, Christ in you, dwelling in your hearts by faith. That new nation, and I'm part of a holy nation. Australia's just a travelling through place.

[35:48] Love not the world, and all of it's junk. Let the government be on his shoulder of your life. That you'll have that glad duty to obey him, to serve.

[35:59] And we're all in this together, friends. This war that we're fighting, we're in arming, believe it or not. We're in arming. We're a nation in combat.

[36:09] We're our support network. So don't hesitate to contact, to reach out, to touch others. We need one another. That's the church.

[36:24] And sometimes you've got to reach out, because we can't read your mind. Humble yourself, ask for prayer. Get together.

[36:36] Share your heart. We're in this together. God's working in you, both your will and to do, of his good pleasure.

[36:48] He will make you, he will affect the victory in you that you need. He will fight for you. Friends, we're still fighting this side of glory, this side of the grave.

[37:00] It's a fight. There's a war on. It talks about, as we read, of that war, that wars against the soul of fleshly lust, that war against the soul.

[37:17] The battle is now. God will give you the victory. I urge you this morning, do you know the new nature? It says it's newborn babes.

[37:29] You've got to be born again and be a child of God, seeking his face, wanting his will. He can bring victory. He wants you to have victory.

[37:39] He can affect that victory in you. It's Christ in you. That is your victory. You are complete in him. Without him, you're not complete. He's at work in us. He's working in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

[37:53] You can know that you know that you're saved this morning. You can't get it from osmosis. You have to say, yes Lord, I believe.

[38:07] I believe for myself. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sin, took my place, paid my penalty. I received that gift. That's salvation.

[38:20] And then sanctification. salvation. He's going to will and do of his good pleasure. And he's going to affect that. He's giving you a new nature. And you're part of a new nation.

[38:30] So, treasure the church and be a part of it for God's glory. Let's pray. Lord, we know you're building a spiritual house, a holy people, a holy nation, peculiar people.

[38:45] Lord, we want to be that people that make a difference. We pray, Lord, help us to impact others. We know there's many outside of your salvation.

[38:55] Lord, we can reach them. That they can glorify God. Lord, that they can see your work in us and they'll evoke that response that they will glorify God.

[39:09] Lord, that you can be glorified. Lord, we want to live lives that glorify you. Lord, help us to have that holy work that only you can do.

[39:21] Firstly, to save and then, as we know, for us to grow. We know it takes our commitment to to grow. Help us, Lord, we pray to get that victory day by day.

[39:34] In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.